Chapter 3857 — Arrival of a Newcomer

Beyond that, in her letter the eldest daughter of the Shangguan clan also mentioned in passing a matter that Wei Zhao cared about a great deal: the hidden card that Xu Lingchong, Meng Jueming, and their like had prepared for Meng Zhou.

"The Zi Wu Heart-Shattering Pill? It can raise Meng Zhou straight up by a whole grade?" Wei Zhao could not help knitting his brows. The effect was nearly as strong as a Foundation Establishment Golden Pill, if not stronger—yet by an alchemist's instinct, he still vaguely felt there was something indescribably strange about this Zi Wu Heart-Shattering Pill.

Even among the native cultivators of Cloud Terrace Island, few had ever heard of the Zi Wu Heart-Shattering Pill; and Wei Zhao had been on Cloud Terrace Island a scant two months, so of course he could never have heard its illustrious name. But by ordinary logic, the more powerful a pill's effect, the more powerful its side effects must inevitably be.

The Foundation Establishment Golden Pill's efficacy was already nothing short of heaven-defying; the reason it had no side effects was that the Divine Alchemist and Sage Physician Zhang Lifeng had poured countless painstaking efforts into researching and refining it.

And this Zi Wu Heart-Shattering Pill was even stronger than the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill. Unless the alchemist who had developed it possessed an art of alchemy even deeper and more terrifying than Zhang Lifeng's, its side effects must surely be staggering.

Back in the mortal realm, Wei Zhao might still have believed that someone on Cloud Terrace Island could surpass Zhang Lifeng in alchemy. But now, having seen and heard for himself the legendary, exalted standing Zhang Lifeng enjoyed on Cloud Terrace Island, he had completely dismissed the notion.

According to his long-suffering senior brother, the Divine Alchemist and Sage Physician Zhang Lifeng's attainments in alchemy were without precedent, utterly beyond comparison with anyone. Otherwise, how could a cultivator of humble mortal-realm origins and no backing whatsoever have become one of the top magnates of the Heaven-Tier Middle Island, where masters stood thick as trees?

From this one could infer that the alchemist who had developed the Zi Wu Heart-Shattering Pill could at best match Zhang Lifeng, and could never surpass him.

"So that's their game. To win back face, these people have thrown every scruple to the winds. But I wonder whether that fellow Meng Zhou actually knows about the side effects." Wei Zhao shook his head, speechless.

In his view, that fool Meng Zhou was most likely being kept in the dark by Xu Lingchong, Meng Jueming, and the rest. Otherwise, if he knew there were violent side effects, then even knowing it could raise him a whole grade, any sane man would not gamble with his life and future.

Still, even if Meng Zhou did advance a grade, the threat to Wei Zhao remained minor.

What did mildly surprise Wei Zhao was this: since Xu Lingchong had the Zi Wu Heart-Shattering Pill, and Meng Zhou's injuries had long since healed, by all reason he could have taken it long ago.

Yet over the past few rounds Meng Zhou had been unusually low-key, and Wei Zhao could plainly see that although the man's physical condition had improved considerably after being nursed back with heaven knows what medicines, he remained at the early Foundation Establishment stage, with not the slightest sign of breakthrough.

Could it be that these people meant to save the Zi Wu Heart-Shattering Pill, their hidden card, for the very end, and give him a surprise at the critical moment?

Wei Zhao thought it over carefully. Developing along these lines, the possibility was not small. This newcomer assessment had six stages; the challenge round, fierce as its contests were, and though those of outstanding strength could indeed rack up great piles of points, was far from decisive in determining the final rankings.

Only one thing could truly exert absolute influence over the rankings: the final stage.

Though Wei Zhao harbored this suspicion, for safety's sake he still had to warn Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, so they would be mentally prepared—lest they rashly run into a Meng Zhou at the peak of early Foundation Establishment and lose badly.

Dodging the eyes and ears of the crowd, he quietly sent Little Curly Bear off. But when Wei Zhao returned to the cave dwelling, he found the caves below in a great uproar—nearly every newcomer of the Azure Cloud Pavilion had come out and gathered together, buzzing with talk.

"What's going on here? Are they announcing some new rule for the newcomer assessment?" Wei Zhao could not help but wonder.

In two months, this was the first time he had seen the place so lively. Not only were Meng Zhou and his lot raising a din, but Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai seemed to be among them as well.

Baffled, Wei Zhao approached the crowd—and one glance stopped him dead. Among these Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers there was, for the first time ever, a woman—and a rather comely one at that!

"A woman?" In two months on Cloud Terrace Island, this was only the second woman Wei Zhao had seen. No—strictly speaking, it was the first woman he had seen since arriving on the island.

Shangguan Lan'er was charming and cute, but she counted at most as a girl, far from the mature allure of a grown woman. This one before him, though… After two months of blending in, even a newcomer from the mortal realm like Wei Zhao had gained a rough understanding of conditions on Cloud Terrace Island. Under normal circumstances, apart from exceptional cases like Shangguan Lan'er, the female cultivators of the five great Heaven-Tier Islands were generally concentrated on the West Island. This was an unwritten rule of the teleportation arrays, and a rule within the native cultivation tribes as well; barring the second or third generation of cultivators from the various islands, there were generally no exceptions.

Which meant that gathering places for cultivators like the North Island invariably had far more men than women—a woeful imbalance.

The Welcome Pavilion was even worse. Were it not for that eldest daughter of the Shangguan clan occasionally dropping by to show her face, the newcomers here could go a whole year without laying eyes on a single woman.

A cultivator's self-control far surpassed ordinary folk; many had even grown indifferent to the pleasures of the flesh. Normally they would hardly pine for women. Yet most cultivators were, in the end, still normal people, and the attraction between the sexes was an instinct of nature.

As the saying goes, after long enough among a crowd of men, even a sow would start to look fine-featured. And what had appeared before the crowd was no sow, but a living, breathing woman—and a beauty at that!

Only—how had such a woman come to be here?

Wei Zhao was just giving in to his puzzlement when his long-suffering senior brother, Xiao Che, and Qiao Hongcai squeezed their way to his side. Wei Zhao could not help asking, "What's all this? Is she somebody's wife or daughter, brought along for fun?"

That was the most natural guess. If she were not here for amusement, as Shangguan Lan'er had been before, then could she possibly be a new disciple who had joined the Welcome Pavilion?

The Tri-Stack Pavilion of the North Island generally did not take female disciples, and even if an exception were made, it could not possibly be made at such a time. Wei Zhao's batch of newcomers had already been here over two months; joining in now—what would that even mean? (To be continued…)