Chapter 3724 — Still the Same Old Provocation

If he were inherently a defense-oriented fighter, then issuing a challenge to an opponent above his level and gambling everything on a single strike would be somewhat easier to understand. After all, even with a gap in cultivation, it was unlikely he would be killed outright in one move—at worst, he would end up severely wounded. But that creature Meng Jiong was clearly not that type!

It was not only the newcomers from the other two pavilions who exchanged bewildered glances; even the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers who had known about this in advance now wore expressions of utter shock. When they had heard Meng Jiong boast so triumphantly earlier, they had all assumed he was merely saying it to provoke Wei Zhao—never had they imagined that the creature would actually intend to go through with it!

A cultivator who had only recently broken through to the early Foundation Establishment stage was actually going to challenge a full-power strike from someone at the peak of early Foundation Establishment—just thinking about it was enough to set one's blood racing!

"Has this creature gone mad? He actually wants to challenge a peak early Foundation Establishment cultivator—could he have bribed the examiner?" Qiao Hongcai was so stunned that he could not close his mouth, and could not resist muttering his doubts.

If it came down to raw strength, a weakling cuss like Meng Jiong—who had been defeated by Wei Zhao in a single move on the very first day—challenging someone above his level at the peak of early Foundation Establishment would be nothing short of courting death. Apart from bribing the examiner to cheat, Qiao Hongcai genuinely could not think of any more plausible explanation.

Beside him, the Bitter Senior Brother was equally incredulous, but upon hearing this he shook his head and said, "That is impossible. The strength of these examiners has all been sealed by Elder Zhao in person, and that seal does not merely cap the upper limit of their strength—it also locks down the lower limit at the same time. In other words, if Meng Jiong registers for the peak early Foundation Establishment level, then come the trial, even if that examiner wanted to let him off easy, there is no way he could do it—because every single move he unleashes will be at the peak early Foundation Establishment level. If Meng Jiong does not possess exceptional defensive capabilities, then even bribing the examiner in advance would be useless."

"So you are saying Meng Jiong truly has that kind of strength?" Xiao Che said, aghast at the implication.

No matter how one looked at it, Meng Jiong did not seem like the sort of creature who possessed such extraordinary power. If it were Wei Zhao—the leader standing right there beside him—that would make more sense. But even he, if forced to register for a peak early Foundation Establishment opponent, would probably find himself in dire straits.

"Whether or not he has the strength, the fact that Meng Jiong dared to say such a thing in front of everyone means he has obviously made preparations," Wei Zhao said, a wry and playful curl flickering at the corner of his lips.

What the Bitter Senior Brother had just said was indeed entirely correct—but there was one thing he had overlooked. Although Zhao Hongbo, as one of the esteemed four elders of Qingyun Pavilion, was someone ordinary people could not even speak to, let alone persuade into manipulating anything, one had to remember that the great Young Master Xu Lingchong was also standing among them.

To Zhao Hongbo, everyone else present was no more than ants, unworthy of the right to address him. But this Young Master Xu was the direct grandson whom Xu Yuanzheng valued most—in a certain sense, he represented Xu Yuanzheng himself. If the Young Master Xu were to speak up and ask him for a personal favor, then as long as it was not particularly out of line, this Elder Zhao would certainly agree to it.

And this time, the request Xu Lingchong had made of him happened to fall squarely within the limits of his authority—it was merely a matter of lifting a finger.

Xu Lingchong's request was simple: when Elder Zhao was sealing the strength of these Law Enforcement Hall experts, he only had to leave a little leeway in the sealing process for the examiners representing the early Foundation Establishment and peak early Foundation Establishment levels.

By a normal seal, each examiner's strength would be locked into place. Once sealed to the corresponding level, the power of every move they unleashed would be fixed, with no possibility of variance up or down. That is to say, if the newcomers chose the same level, the force of the attacks they faced would be strictly identical—this was the only way to guarantee the maximum possible fairness of the trial.

However, Zhao Hongbo—having been tipped off by Xu Lingchong—left room for up or down variance during the sealing of the examiners at the early Foundation Establishment and peak early Foundation Establishment levels. Though the power on the whole remained roughly the same, as long as the examiner had the intent, he could raise the power by thirty percent upward or lower it by thirty percent downward.

That way, during the trial, they could both go easy on Meng Jiong—so that there would be no risk of accidentally killing him with a single strike—and also ensure with absolute certainty that Wei Zhao was put to death.

Just think about it: if Wei Zhao chose the peak early Foundation Establishment opponent, everyone already considered that an extremely difficult challenge above his level. If thirty percent more power were added on top of that, then death would be all but inevitable—there would be absolutely no chance of survival.

And the reason they had additionally tampered with the early Foundation Establishment examiners as well was simply to serve as a fallback. Although Meng Jueming's plan had a greater than ninety percent chance of forcing Wei Zhao to choose the peak early Foundation Establishment opponent, there was still, after all, a chance of failure.

With this contingency in place, even if Wei Zhao lost his nerve and chose the early Foundation Establishment level, the examiner could go all out and deliver a vicious blow that would be more than he could stomach—and even if he survived by some stroke of luck, he would still be bedridden with severe injuries for at least half a month before there was any hope of recovery.

Just as Li Zhengming's intelligence had reported, Xu Lingchong and Meng Jueming's gang had gone to enormous lengths, racking their brains and exhausting every scheme, in order to deal with Wei Zhao—all to ensure there would be no mistakes, so that they could rid themselves of this thorn in their eyes and splinter in their flesh!

Watching the astonished reactions of everyone present, Meng Jueming smiled with a hint of sly amusement. Wei Zhao was no ordinary opponent, after all; he was not so easy to deal with. If Meng Jiong had only made a feint, rather than being the very first to register, how could they possibly have made this creature fall for it?

After Meng Jiong registered, however, Meng Jueming did not have Li Zhengming—who stood beside him—register second. Instead, he walked straight up to Wei Zhao, and at once every gaze in the hall converged on Wei Zhao, each one tinged with amusement and expectation.