Chapter 3787 — Near Ink, One Turns Black

These men growing stronger meant his own faction growing stronger; when that day came, his voice would carry weight accordingly, and if Meng Jue Ming and his sort wanted to pull any more tricks, they would first have to weigh the cost carefully. At the very least, it would spare him a great deal of needless trouble.

Of course, what mattered most to Wei Zhao was still his own strength. But having only just recently advanced to the peak of early Foundation Establishment, another breakthrough in the short term was hardly realistic; he would first have to consolidate for a time.

Beyond that, his most pressing task was to tend those two Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass seeds. Once the two seeds were coaxed to life, the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages ahead would no longer trouble him; otherwise, he would have to start racking his brains over hunting down more Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass right now.

From the day he received the spiritual herb seeds, a full eight days had passed, and despite possessing a cheat of an artifact like the jade pendant space, plus a daily, precisely measured supply of true qi from Wei Zhao himself, the two Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass seeds had shown not the slightest movement, no sign at all of putting down roots or sprouting.

According to what that sissy chief steward of the herb garden had said, under favorable conditions one would generally see results in fifteen to twenty days. Half that time had already gone by; by the growth patterns of ordinary plants, they ought at least to have begun sprouting by now. The seeds' present state, neither plainly alive nor plainly dead, left Wei Zhao rather anxious.

Fortunately, however, it was not only the two Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass seeds that lay still; the other seventy-eight spiritual herb seeds in the jade pendant space were just the same, and that let Wei Zhao breathe a little easier.

He still could not tell whether they lived or died, but at least there was a basis for comparison: the possibility that the two Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass seeds alone had withered could be ruled out, and that was enough.

And if, given conditions as favored as the jade pendant space, all eighty spiritual herb seeds should still wither and die, such an absurd possibility Wei Zhao simply refused to believe, not for anything. If even he, with advantages like his, could not raise them, then the other newcomers might as well give up outright; all their toil would be wasted effort.

Three days slipped by in a blink, and the third round of the newcomers' challenge tournament began on schedule.

This time was different from the previous two rounds. True, the earlier rounds had featured no small number of bouts between newcomers, but none could be called a spectacle.

In the first round, Meng Zhou versus Xiao Che ought to have been a fierce clash that struck sparks, yet it ended with Xiao Che simply conceding. As for the second round that followed, it was even more lackluster: of the top five newcomers of Qingyun Pavilion, apart from Meng Zhou effortlessly plucking three points off Zha Wu's head, the other four powerhouses made no move at all, the whole lot merely going through the motions for a round, nothing worth watching.

In this third round, however, the three powerhouses Wei Zhao, Li Zhengming, and Xiao Che might again make no move, but one thing was beyond doubt: Meng Zhou, now ranked second in points, would face the fourth-ranked Qiao Hongcai. That was already an unavoidable certainty.

To be sure, both men's cave-dwelling rankings were very low at present, so win or lose, the stakes hardly counted as heavy, and set among other newcomers it would not be worth watching at all. But do not forget: these two stood as natural enemies.

Both sides had long since declared openly that they could not stand the sight of each other. Before the bout even began, it was already foreordained that once these two met, it would be a duel of dragon and tiger reeking of gunpowder, with bloodshed foreseeable.

Of course, pitting Meng Zhou's early Foundation Establishment against the mere Heaven-rank great perfection of Qiao Hongcai, calling it a duel of dragon and tiger rather flattered the latter too much. But one thing was beyond question: in this match, Meng Zhou was certain to use Qiao Hongcai to draw blood and sharpen his blade.

The only suspense was whether Qiao Hongcai had the luck and the strength to crawl out from under Meng Zhou's feet with his little life intact.

The third round of the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers' challenge tournament officially began. The other newcomers, taking the hint, all kept their silence, showing not the slightest intention of stealing the show, and quietly awaited the two protagonists' ascent to the stage.

Meng Zhou smiled smugly, thoroughly pleased by the newcomers' respectful, breath-bated deference. He at once strode onto the platform, pointed from afar at Qiao Hongcai, and in his eyes gleamed a sharp killing intent: today is the day you die!

"What's the matter, Trash Qiao? Do I have to invite you up myself? Don't tell me you mean to do like that fellow Xiao and turn turtle at the last moment?"

Meng Zhou stood on the platform looking down on all below, mocking without the slightest restraint: "That would disappoint me far too much. I'd thought that even if you were a bit useless, you were at least still a man, and now I find you're a woman? That's how it is with Xiao, and that's how it is with you, Trash Qiao. No wonder some say Wei Zhao is a starving ghost in a house of flesh. Don't tell me that's the flavor he fancies? My god, now that's what I call a heavy taste!"

The newcomers below the stage burst into laughter. Meng Zhou's mockery, good heavens, what a filthy sense of humor.

Little did they know, this was a speech Meng Jue Ming had specially instructed him to make beforehand, precisely to enrage Qiao Hongcai and rob him of his reason. Otherwise, if the fellow should also turn turtle the way Xiao Che had, the whole affair would be meaningless.

For all Qiao Hongcai's blunt, hot-blooded nature, his earlier move of challenging Zha Wu had in fact been a cunning, disguised evasion of a collision with Meng Zhou in the second round; this time, they had to be on guard.

The opportunity was rare. Watching Wei Zhao's lot grow more arrogant by the day, this time they must kill the chicken to warn the monkey, and leave them a lesson written in blood.

Mocked like this in front of everyone, the Qiao Hongcai of old would have said not a word more and charged up to thrash him. Yet today, his expression was strangely calm and ordinary.

My god! This truly was near ink turning one black: after keeping company so long with a poseur like Wei Zhao, even a specimen like Trash Qiao had learned to put on airs!

Meng Zhou and the rest of the newcomers were secretly astonished, and then they saw Qiao Hongcai exchange a greeting with Wei Zhao and the others, turn, and walk up onto the platform with perfect composure.

In a daze, Meng Zhou suddenly felt that this Trash Qiao before him seemed somewhat different from the man of a few days ago. He was the same man, certainly, yet the impression he gave was as though he had been reborn, the whole man transformed, though just where the difference lay, Meng Zhou could not say.

Damn it, what was there to mind about a mere Trash Qiao!

Meng Zhou hastily flung that bizarre notion to the back of his mind. What he had to do next was beat Trash Qiao into Dead Qiao, and then see whether Wei Zhao and his pack could keep on putting on airs!

Once on the platform, Qiao Hongcai looked Meng Zhou up and down twice, then suddenly spoke: "Boss Meng the newcomer, don't tell me you're going to say you didn't brush your teeth today?"

"Huh?" Meng Zhou's mouth twisted in bewilderment. "What the hell does whether I brush my teeth have to do with you!"