Chapter 3692 — That May Not Be So

Wei Zhao shook his head. "That may not be so. I only let out the aura of the early Foundation Establishment stage without ever truly crossing blows with them. Given how suspicious Meng Jueming and his sort are, they will certainly have their misgivings once this is over."

Miserable Senior Brother and Xiao Che exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Very well, then."

After all, every man had his own way of doing things. Since Wei Zhao had chosen to keep a low profile, they would naturally do their best to play along.

Miserable Senior Brother weighed his words. "By the usual custom of past years, newcomers generally spend a full year at the Welcome Pavilion, but if they succeed in Foundation Establishment, they are also permitted to enter the Triple Stack Pavilion ahead of time and become inner disciples. Junior Brother Lin, what are your plans going forward?"

"Is there any particular advantage to becoming an inner disciple early?" Wei Zhao asked in return.

"Aside from the sect leadership paying you more attention, the chief benefit is early access to some of the privileges of an inner disciple. Beyond that, there is nothing else," Miserable Senior Brother explained.

"Then never mind. I would rather stay at the Welcome Pavilion a while longer and properly raise my strength first," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head.

Given his circumstances, his need for the so-called sect privileges was hardly great. And if he chose to enter the Azure Cloud Pavilion early, not only would he gain no obvious advantage, he would draw the attention of the leadership and become the nail that sticks out, and endless trouble would surely follow. Far better to build up his strength at the Welcome Pavilion first.

Compared with other places, the Welcome Pavilion was, after all, a gentle cradle, free of so much gossip and scheming, and just the place for single-minded cultivation.

Wei Zhao knew very well that if he wanted to go to the Middle Island in search of Zhang Lifeng, then at present anything other than raising his strength as quickly as possible was a waste of time. Wherever one went, strength was king.

"Mm, that works too," Miserable Senior Brother said with a nod.

Over the years at the Welcome Pavilion, he had seen many newcomers who shone brightly there only to fade into the crowd the moment they reached the Triple Stack Pavilion. It was not that they had grown weaker, but that the environment around them had grown stronger.

In the end, the Welcome Pavilion was merely a school, while the Triple Stack Pavilion was the truly cruel world. Early Foundation Establishment strength was quite good by the standards of the Welcome Pavilion, but at the Triple Stack Pavilion it amounted to nothing at all. Wei Zhao's decision to remain at the Welcome Pavilion and accumulate strength before bursting forth was a very wise one.

Just then Wei Zhao thought of something. He pushed the Foundation Establishment Pill he had received across to Qiao Hongcai and said with a smile, "I have no use for it anyway, so this Foundation Establishment Pill is yours. The two of you need to break through as soon as you can."

Qiao Hongcai was stunned for a moment. Wei Zhao had mentioned this during the trial, but now that the moment had truly come and the Foundation Establishment Pill lay within arm's reach, he was still so excited that his face flushed red.

This was the Foundation Establishment Pill that every newcomer dreamed of. Even those second-generation cultivators with deep roots in the Soaring Sky Pavilion, and the powerful old men of the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion, had exhausted every trick and scheme in the trial to contend for a single one of these pills, and even then the vast majority ended up unable to obtain what they so desperately sought.

Yet he, an ordinary newcomer of common stock, with no background and no exceptional strength, who had achieved nothing worth mentioning in the trial and even had his spirit herbs snatched away clean, had instead received such a gift. If word of this ever got out, it would drive a great many people green with envy.

And all of it was thanks to Wei Zhao. Without him, Qiao Hongcai could forget about ever dreaming of a Foundation Establishment Pill; in this trial he would not even have scraped together a fourth-place ranking, and would instead have ended in the pitiful humiliation of last place with a zero, branded thereafter as incompetent and never again looked upon with favor by the sect.

"Th-then I won't stand on ceremony. Thank you, Leader Wei Zhao." As he spoke, Qiao Hongcai rose at once, walked up to Wei Zhao, and thumped his head on the ground three times in quick succession.

Wei Zhao started in fright and hurriedly helped him up, frowning. "What are you doing! Between brothers like us, is there any need for this?"

Miserable Senior Brother and Xiao Che, looking on from the side, were likewise dumbstruck.

In the cultivation world, forming factions and acknowledging a leader was common enough, but as the saying went, a man's knees are worth their weight in gold. Any cultivator was a being who stood above the countless creatures of the world, and apart from the elders of one's own sect, one would never lightly kneel to anyone. Even a managing senior brother like Meng Jueming could never make newcomers like Meng Zhou kneel to him. That Qiao Hongcai would do such a thing truly exceeded their expectations.

"Heh heh, Leader Wei Zhao, don't be angry. I just got carried away for a moment and couldn't help myself." Only then did Qiao Hongcai realize what he had done; even he was a little surprised at himself, and he gave a sheepish chuckle.

Only then did Wei Zhao smile. But though he said so, he knew in his heart that if this fellow Qiao Hongcai had not truly regarded him as his leader, he would never have done something so out of line.

"Next time, don't go kneeling so helplessly. It was only a Foundation Establishment Pill—scared me half to death!" Wei Zhao said with a laughing scold. "I thought you were about to propose to me!"

Miserable Senior Brother and Xiao Che burst out laughing. Wei Zhao's joke broke the awkwardness that had gripped Qiao Hongcai, though as for kowtowing to Wei Zhao, he did not regret it in the slightest.

In strength, in character, in generosity toward his own people—by any measure, Wei Zhao was a good leader such as one rarely met, and far more dependable than the likes of Meng Jueming.

For a newcomer of common stock like him, with no background at all, to be able to serve under Wei Zhao's banner was already a blessing cultivated over several lifetimes.

The four of them drank several more cups together, and over the meal Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai repeatedly toasted Wei Zhao. Xiao Che was reserved and sparing of words; his gratitude toward Wei Zhao was no shallower than Qiao Hongcai's, but he could not express it so plainly, and could only show it through his toasts.

Wei Zhao understood this well enough. Since both of them came from the secular world and their temperaments were compatible, his relationship with Xiao Che was in fact even closer than with Qiao Hongcai. A few cups down, and everything was understood without a word.

When drinking with a true friend, a thousand cups are too few. At their level of strength, ordinary liquor could no longer intoxicate them at all, and the four of them, in high spirits, drank deep into the night before scattering at last, fully satisfied.

This one drinking bout had, without anyone intending it, drawn them a layer closer, lending them something more of the feel of brothers rather than the simple huddling together for warmth of before. In the end, a relationship sustained purely by profit was bound to break one day, but brothers could be brothers for a lifetime.