Chapter 3882 — Challenging Wei Zhao!

As the situation now stood, among the three factions of newcomers in the Azure Cloud Pavilion, Murong Zhen's strength stood a notch above the rest, but she was still isolated and outnumbered. Meng Jueming could rely only on Meng Zhou, and was unlikely to improve his standing any time soon. The strongest faction, therefore, remained Wei Zhao's group.

If Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, those two wings of Wei Zhao, could be cut down by some opening, it would benefit both Murong Zhen and Meng Jueming with no downside whatsoever. No one would lightly let such an opportunity slip by.

Seeing that Wei Zhao had spoken thus, Qiao Hongcai, even if he had harbored thoughts of showing off his bravado, could only strangle them in the bud for the time being. He nodded and said, "Rest easy, boss. I treasure this little life of mine. I'm not about to go looking for trouble."

Wei Zhao and the others burst out laughing at once. You, of all people, dare call yourself a lover of life? Then who was it that clashed head-on with Meng Zhou twice in a row and nearly got himself killed?

As everyone had expected, several days later, in the seventeenth round of the newcomer challenge tournament, Murong Zhen named her target: Qiao Hongcai of the second cave dwelling at the foot of the mountain.

And because of Wei Zhao's stern warning beforehand, Qiao Hongcai, though itching all over and burning to have a proper contest with that venomous woman, ultimately chose to forfeit.

"What a wise and adorable young man!" That was Murong Zhen's assessment of Qiao Hongcai.

This was no polite formality but a sincere appraisal. Had Qiao Hongcai truly been a man of single-track obstinacy, then even with Wei Zhao's warning beforehand, Murong Zhen could have provoked him into striking first. But the facts proved that no matter how she spun her honeyed words, Qiao Hongcai remained restrained from first to last, displaying all the composure of a great general unmoved as a mountain.

Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai—two subordinates in a row had earned considerable praise from Murong Zhen. But precisely because of this, she grew all the more interested in Wei Zhao, their leader.

Though she had tried to make contact with Wei Zhao on her very first day at the Welcome Pavilion, she still knew nothing at all about his true strength. Someone who could make both Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai follow him without question was surely no ordinary man.

Three days later, the eighteenth round of the newcomer challenge tournament arrived on schedule. This was the closing battle of this assessment stage, and it naturally drew everyone's eyes.

Everyone was raring to go. Looking back over the previous four newcomer assessment stages, the challenge tournament was without question the easiest stage in which to rack up points, provided one had the strength. And now this eighteenth round was the final chance.

If one did not fight hard now, then when the spirit herb assessment stage came and one could only watch helplessly as points were deducted while being powerless to do anything, one would truly have no tears left to cry.

The ferocity of this closing round was only to be expected.

Beyond that, there was another, greater point of interest. Murong Zhen now held the second cave dwelling at the foot of the mountain, having already knocked out two of Wei Zhao's underlings, Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai. So in today's final round, would she challenge Wei Zhao?

One was a top-tier early Foundation Establishment expert who had joined midway; the other was the number one newcomer whom everyone found impossible to deal with. Once these two crossed hands, in the eyes of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's newcomers it would be nothing short of Mars colliding with Earth—a battle that could well decide the shape of things to come.

Yet Murong Zhen was no fool. Although she had already knocked out Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai in succession, that did not mean she would take the initiative to move against Wei Zhao.

She had merely been currying favor with Meng Jueming before, and had not thrown in her lot with him entirely. If she challenged Wei Zhao today, then regardless of victory or defeat, the greatest beneficiary could only be Meng Jueming.

When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits—that principle needed no elaboration.

If, before this, Murong Zhen had not taken the rumored early Foundation Establishment Wei Zhao too seriously, then after witnessing the potential of both Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, her thinking had already changed.

Even if Wei Zhao's strength truly was only early Foundation Establishment as others said, this was most certainly not an early Foundation Establishment to be trifled with. One slip, one moment of carelessness, and one might well capsize in the gutter.

So by Murong Zhen's original intent, she had not planned to challenge Wei Zhao today. But one sentence from Meng Jueming the night before had quietly changed her mind.

"It has been decided above: before long, I will take up the post of third pavilion master of the Welcome Pavilion. Whether that news is true or false, with your connections, Miss Murong, I trust it will not be hard to verify. And when that time comes, the post of senior disciple managing the newcomers of the Azure Cloud Pavilion will fall vacant."

That one sentence set Murong Zhen's heart pounding.

Over the past month or more, she had thoroughly investigated the matter: the reason she had been banished to the Welcome Pavilion was entirely the work of Lou Tianyou.

This man was not only Xu Lingchong's diehard brother but also the eldest young master of the Soaring Heaven Pavilion, with deep backing of his own. Add to that his spreading the tale of how she had once offended the eldest young miss of the Shangguan family, and Murong Zhen had by now become all but a rat crossing the street in the Soaring Heaven Pavilion. Even that Elder Murong behind her did not dare raise his head to speak for her, and others certainly would not speak up on her behalf.

Barring any accident, her becoming a disciple of the Azure Cloud Pavilion was already a settled matter. In the future, even if she entered the Three-Tier Pavilion, she would still be one of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's people and could never return to the Soaring Heaven Pavilion.

If she wished to rise in the Azure Cloud Pavilion, if she wished to take revenge on that eldest young miss, Shangguan Lan'er, she could rely only on herself.

As for the post of senior disciple managing the newcomers at the Welcome Pavilion, though it could not be called especially important or illustrious, nor did it carry much power, if she, Murong Zhen, could hold it concurrently during her newcomer period, it would be a most impressive and rare line on her record.

Then, once she entered the Azure Cloud Pavilion, she would immediately be promoted another rank. Such an opportunity was all but unattainable.

Murong Zhen wanted that position. And if things truly went as Meng Jueming said, and he was promoted to third pavilion master of the Welcome Pavilion, then he would be both her former superior and her immediate superior, with enormous say over who filled that post.

Meng Jueming saw through Murong Zhen's ambition and so set forth his condition: he would recommend her for promotion, and the price was that she challenge Wei Zhao.

"Judge, sir. Murong Zhen of the second cave dwelling at the foot of the mountain challenges Wei Zhao of the first cave dwelling at the foot of the mountain." Once on the platform, Murong Zhen cast off her usual coquettish, flirtatious manner, her expression more grave and stern than ever before.

Amid the uproar, Wei Zhao raised his head with no small surprise. He simply did not believe that a woman like Murong Zhen would willingly become Meng Jueming's dependent. For her to do such a foolish thing now, there had to be a reason behind it.