Chapter 3725 — Beneath His Notice

Yet Wei Zhao's next words, spoken lightly and without inflection, brought the whole crowd to an uproar: "Wei Zhao, strength: early Foundation Establishment. Challenging: peak early Foundation Establishment."

What? Peak early Foundation Establishment?!

Bitter Senior Brother, Xiao Che, and Qiao Hongcai were all startled on the spot, staring at one another in dismay. This was a trap laid bare for all to see—and Wei Zhao had actually fallen for it?

They were not alone. Even Li Zhengming, standing amid the crowd, wore an astonishment he could not mask. Before this, the others present might still have believed Wei Zhao would take the bait, but he alone had been certain otherwise.

After all, he had been the one who, racing through the night, had delivered word to Wei Zhao, laying out the plans of Meng Jueming and his lot in full detail—all to keep Wei Zhao from being caught off guard and, in a moment of hotheadedness, walking straight into the snare.

Surely any ordinary person, forewarned of the scheme, would never fall for it again? And yet Wei Zhao—a dragon among men, one who kept his depths well hidden—had, even after receiving that intelligence, gone and chosen peak early Foundation Establishment exactly as his enemies wished. What in the world was going on?

Li Zhengming stared in disbelief at Wei Zhao, whose expression remained placid, utterly at a loss. Granted, Wei Zhao's own strength had already reached peak early Foundation Establishment—but this was plainly a setup meant to bury him. His opponents would drive the examiner to unleash an attack three-tenths stronger than peak early Foundation Establishment. Could Wei Zhao withstand that?

Of course, with the jade pendant's space and the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Art, so long as he could cling to a single breath even for an instant, he would recover. He could have chosen mid Foundation Establishment and still weathered a blow. But Wei Zhao did not wish to be too outrageous, and he also had to guard against the chance that, were he to select mid Foundation Establishment, Meng Jueming and the rest, mad as they were, would have the examiner raise the strength by another three-tenths—and Wei Zhao feared being killed outright in a single strike.

"Surely our little junior brother Wei Zhao hasn't let his temper run away with him?" Shangguan Lan'er, standing at a distance with Little Curly Bear in her arms, covered her mouth in astonishment.

Though she did not know every detail, Xu Lingchong, in a bid to save face before her, had let slip a little when he invited her over. It seemed the crucial link in their scheme was to goad Wei Zhao into a reckless, overreaching choice—and was this not precisely walking into their trap?

And while the others stood shocked and anxious, Xu Lingchong and the rest—creatures who had schemed so painstakingly to bring Wei Zhao down—exchanged knowing smiles, inwardly praising Meng Jueming as a true veteran of intrigue. This creature Wei Zhao might be a little slippery, but when it came to a battle of wits with Meng Jueming, he was still far too green.

"Very good—that's guts!" Meng Jueming raised his thumb and laughed mockingly. "I only hope Junior Brother Wei Zhao won't turn out to be the sort of fool the Pavilion Master spoke of. Otherwise it would be a shame—Qingyun Pavilion has rarely produced a talent as fine as you, and to see it cut down young would be too great a pity."

With a roar of laughter, Meng Jueming turned and departed, leaving the other Qingyun Pavilion newcomers to continue registering.

Bitter Senior Brother and the others hurried to gather around Wei Zhao, anxious. "Junior Brother Lin, you were far too rash! How could you fall for a trap that's plain as day? These trials will show no mercy—they could kill you with a single blow and bear no responsibility whatsoever. You'd have died for nothing!"

Wei Zhao, however, remained calm throughout, showing not the slightest sign of regret.

Bitter Senior Brother grew frantic. "Junior Brother Lin, you may be at early Foundation Establishment now, and it looks like only a hair's breadth from peak early Foundation Establishment, but in truth the two are worlds apart! Challenging above your level is no easy thing! Otherwise—let me go speak to Pavilion Master Hu, and you can just forfeit this round. Even without earning points, it's better than losing your life. I'm serious—I'm not joking with you!"

This Bitter Senior Brother truly spared no effort in looking out for him!

Wei Zhao was moved. He glanced toward Shangguan Lan'er in the distance, who looked about to speak but held back. If he really did withdraw midway as Bitter Senior Brother suggested, it would bend the rules somewhat, but this young senior sister would certainly step in to help—and he could dodge the disaster.

And yet, it was only a full-power strike at peak early Foundation Establishment. Others might not dare to imagine it, but did he have any need to fear it?

Never mind that his own strength was, in truth, a concealed peak early Foundation Establishment; even if his opponent struck hard at three-tenths greater power, it could not take his life in one blow. And with the jade pendant's space to swiftly replenish his true qi, and the self-healing of the Xuanyuan Dragon Taming Art, no wound, however grievous, was worth a thought.

Wei Zhao at once cast Shangguan Lan'er a look to set her mind at ease, then clapped Bitter Senior Brother on the shoulder with a smile. "Senior Brother Ku, don't get so worked up. I really wasn't acting on impulse this time—I'm confident I can handle it. Set your heart completely at ease!"

"Truly?" Even with Wei Zhao's words, Bitter Senior Brother could scarcely believe it, and Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai exchanged glances as well.

Wei Zhao had always surprised them, but this went beyond what they could comprehend. A capable early Foundation Establishment fighter challenging a full-power strike at peak early Foundation Establishment—this was truly not something an ordinary man could do!

"Truer than true gold—just wait and see," Wei Zhao said with a firm nod.

At that, Bitter Senior Brother, Xiao Che, and Qiao Hongcai had nothing more to say. Since Wei Zhao had put it that way, further argument was pointless; they could only marvel in bafflement and let him be.

A short while later, all of Qingyun Pavilion's newcomers had finished registering. Counting all fifteen of them: three had chosen peak late Heaven Rank, ten had chosen great consummation of the Heaven Rank, and the remaining two—Meng Zhou and Wei Zhao—had chosen peak early Foundation Establishment!

Setting Meng Zhou and Wei Zhao aside, the other Qingyun Pavilion newcomers had all made rather conservative choices; not one had opted to challenge above his level. Great consummation of the Heaven Rank and early Foundation Establishment were, after all, two entirely different tiers, and the gulf between them was even wider than that between early Foundation Establishment and its peak. They were no fools—naturally none would make such an idiotic choice.

And among the crowd, three had even chosen to challenge at a lower level. Such a showing might look somewhat timid, but for those with true self-awareness, it was a sensible choice nonetheless.

Just as Hu Yunfeng had said, challenging above one's level was the act of a fool; but without the strength to back it up, forcing oneself into a same-level challenge was no less foolish—and in the end it was always creatures like these, blind to their own limits, who were hurt the worst and died the most miserably.

Especially a certain creature who, seeing others choose peak early Foundation Establishment, had let his head go hot and made the same choice—that one was the fool of fools.