Chapter 3691 — Li Zhengming's Resentment

"It's simple logic. If Wei Zhao really were already a skilled early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, then the aura he usually gave off should also have been that of early-stage Foundation Establishment—not Heaven Rank Great Perfection like the rest of you. Think about it. Less than a month has passed, and no one from even the Chongtian Pavilion or the Xuanji Pavilion has managed to break through to Foundation Establishment yet. Could Wei Zhao, a mere nobody from the secular world, possibly be more formidable than all those newcomers? Nonsense!"

Meng Jueming paused, then asked, "Besides, you just said so yourselves—after Wei Zhao frightened you all, he didn't attack you at all. He simply let you run away, correct?"

"Yes." The newcomers all nodded in unison.

"That only further confirms my deduction!" Meng Jueming sneered, then laid out his analysis. "Think about it. Given the grudge between you and Wei Zhao, if he truly were an early-stage Foundation Establishment expert, then with the ruthless methods he showed on his very first day here—daring to wound Meng Zhou—why would he let you off so easily? Even if the trial rules forbade him from killing you, crippling you should have been no problem at all, don't you think?"

The newcomers were struck dumb. This was precisely what had puzzled them most. Never mind Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming, who had fled first—the rest of them had only had a hundred points each extorted from them. That was letting them off far too cheaply.

"So this clearly shows he was afraid that if it actually came to blows, the Limitless Golden Core's effects would wear off and he wouldn't be able to clean up the mess. After all, the Limitless Golden Core lasts a very short time. The safest course for him was to intimidate you with his aura!" The more Meng Jueming spoke, the more convinced he became—this possibility seemed more than ninety percent likely.

"So that means all of us were played by that brat Wei Zhao? My god, this kid is just too cunning!" Once Meng Zhou grasped it, he ground his teeth in hatred.

Given the circumstances at the time, if they hadn't been frightened off by Wei Zhao, they could have wiped out all three of them in one sweep. If that had happened, none of the later complications would have arisen. Forget competing with him for first place—Wei Zhao would have been lucky to come in dead last!

"But Senior Brother Meng, the feeling Wei Zhao gave me at the time was that he was fully confident—it didn't seem faked," Li Zhengming said, still somewhat skeptical.

Meng Zhou shot him a glare and sneered spitefully, "Are you stupid? If he was dead set on deceiving us, of course he had to put on a confident front—otherwise how could he have fooled us! He's the type who loves to put on airs. What's he best at if not pretending!"

Li Zhengming fell silent at once. Aside from Meng Zhou, the other newcomers were seventy or eighty percent convinced, but like Li Zhengming, they still harbored lingering doubts.

If Wei Zhao had only fooled one or two of them, that would be easy enough to understand. But there were twelve of them in total—surely a few had sharper powers of observation. If Wei Zhao could fool every last one of them with nothing but a Limitless Golden Core, his acting skills would have to be outrageously good.

Meng Jueming glanced at everyone's expressions and said, "The odds that Wei Zhao was bluffing with the Limitless Golden Core are over ninety percent, but the ranking matches are only two days away. We can't be careless about this. How about this—whoever goes to test whether it's real or fake, I'll give him a spirit jade as a reward!"

The group exchanged glances, but not a single person stepped forward.

They might believe it was very likely Wei Zhao was faking, but what if he wasn't? What if he really was a genuine early-stage Foundation Establishment expert? To recklessly go probing just for the sake of a single spirit jade would be courting death!

Besides, even if Wei Zhao wasn't an early-stage Foundation Establishment expert, judging by how he'd defeated Meng Zhou in a single move back then, taking any of them on one-on-one would be a breeze. Going over there would be plainly asking to get crushed!

Seeing this, Meng Jueming had no choice but to call out names. "Meng Zhou, you take the lead and go test him."

"Uh..." Meng Zhou immediately shrank back. Though he believed one hundred percent that Wei Zhao was no early-stage Foundation Establishment expert, he was still afraid of getting beaten up. Rolling his eyes, he promptly deflected. "Cousin Ninth, this is a great chance to earn merit—better give it to Zhengming. He happens to need spirit jade."

"Fine, then Zhengming, you go," Meng Jueming said with a wave of his hand.

Damn it! Li Zhengming was furious. Meng Zhou, that bastard, didn't dare go himself, so he dumped this miserable errand on Li Zhengming's head—and dressed it up as a chance to earn merit. Shameless! Absolutely shameless!

But Meng Jueming had already spoken, leaving him no chance to refuse. Unless he wanted to fall out with Meng Jueming and the others on the spot, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept.

In the end, Li Zhengming clenched his jaw and thought: For the sake of avenging my clan's destruction, I'll endure it!

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, compared to the gloom and mutual suspicion plaguing Meng Jueming's group, Wei Zhao and the others were in excellent spirits. They had even gathered for a rare drink to celebrate.

At the table, after hearing Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai describe how the trial had gone, the long-suffering senior brother stared at Wei Zhao, dumbstruck. "Junior Brother Lin, this is just too much! You broke through to Foundation Establishment in less than a month after coming to the Welcoming Pavilion. If I remember correctly, not only are you the first among this batch of newcomers, you've also broken the Welcoming Pavilion's historical record!"

Though many newcomers were already Heaven Rank Great Perfection cultivators upon entering the Welcoming Pavilion, the leap from Heaven Rank Great Perfection to early-stage Foundation Establishment demanded not only tremendous sweat and resources, but also opportunity and fortune—both indispensable.

Some people could be stuck at this threshold for decades, and if opportunity never came, they would never break through that final barrier.

In the history of the Welcoming Pavilion, the fastest recorded breakthrough to Foundation Establishment was held by none other than the now-reigning Alchemy Sage and Medical Saint, Zhang Lifeng—his record was forty-eight days. And Wei Zhao had beaten him by at least twenty days!

I'd already broken through to Foundation Establishment before I even got here! Wei Zhao smiled bitterly, but couldn't bring himself to tell the truth. Compared to breaking the Welcoming Pavilion's record, succeeding at Foundation Establishment in the thin spiritual energy of the secular world was far more shocking. If word of that got out, some interested parties might very well drag him off to be sliced up for study.

After a few vague, evasive replies, Wei Zhao turned to the others with a serious expression. "Senior Brother Ku, Xiao Che, Hongcai—for now, don't spread the word about my successful Foundation Establishment. After all, low profile is king. Holding a few cards close to your chest might prove useful at a critical moment."

"But didn't you already show early-stage Foundation Establishment strength in front of Meng Zhou and those people?" the long-suffering senior brother and the others asked, puzzled.