Chapter 3900 — The Shame of the Threefold Pavilion

The bald old man? Wei Zhao blinked, then caught himself—she must mean the bald elder seated on the central chair in the Rear Mountain Hall.

But that only unsettled him more. Could the elders of the Rear Mountain Hall truly be so powerful that they could pin him down so effortlessly in the vast rear mountain?

Even with every restriction of the rear mountain working in their favor, such an ability was still so absurd it left one gaping in disbelief.

He had heard rumors and speculation of this before, but now that a living example lay before his eyes, Wei Zhao could not help a chill running down his spine. It seemed he would have to tread carefully in the rear mountain from now on—otherwise his secrets might be exposed at any moment.

Seeing the look of utter incredulity on Wei Zhao's face, Shangguan Lan'er's curiosity was instantly piqued. "Eh? Little Junior Brother, don't you know? I heard Grandfather mention it—with the aid of all those restrictions, the Rear Mountain Hall elders can sense almost the entire rear mountain, save for the innermost core region. Nobody would normally do such a thing, of course, but if they wanted to find someone or investigate something in the rear mountain, it's terribly convenient!"

That much was to be expected. However mighty one's cultivation, human strength had its limits, and no one could keep constant watch over the whole of the rear mountain—doing so would be no joke; one would cough up blood from sheer exhaustion.

As for Wei Zhao himself, had Shangguan Lan'er not specifically asked to come find him, great figures like the Rear Mountain Hall elders would never waste their energy on a trifling newcomer like him, much less keep their attention fixed on him at all times. So long as he acted with care, there should be no real problem.

"The core region—shouldn't that be the place under the closest watch? Why is it the one place they can't sense?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Ah! I let that slip by accident—that's a secret I only know from eavesdropping on Grandfather and the other elders! When the higher-ups discuss it, they call it the Shame of the Threefold Pavilion. Ordinary people aren't allowed to know." Shangguan Lan'er stuck out her tongue cutely.

The Shame of the Threefold Pavilion? Wei Zhao's interest was instantly roused. He had been on Cloud Terrace Island for four months now, but having spent the whole time at the Welcome Pavilion, he knew little of the Threefold Pavilion's affairs—least of all its hidden secrets.

The rear mountain was territory the Threefold Pavilion had formally claimed as its own. That something on their own ground should come to be called the Shame of the Threefold Pavilion by the higher-ups—Wei Zhao's curiosity was hooked at once.

"Never mind, I wouldn't tell anyone else, but since it's you, Little Junior Brother, that's a different matter—I'll let you in on it." Shangguan Lan'er made a show of mystery, motioning for Wei Zhao to lean in, then said, "The Rear Mountain Hall used to be able to monitor the whole rear mountain. But then something happened: an elder of the Rear Mountain Hall was monitoring the core region when the strongest spirit beasts there joined forces and destroyed his divine sense. He's been in a coma ever since and still hasn't recovered. At the time, the Threefold Pavilion gathered a full ten elders to go suppress them, and in the end it all came to nothing. After that, hardly anyone brought the matter up again."

Hearing this secret, Wei Zhao could not help narrowing his eyes slightly. He had assumed the rear mountain was territory the Threefold Pavilion held completely in its grasp, but from the sound of it, that was not quite so.

In name the Threefold Pavilion held the rear mountain, but when it came to those spirit beasts—above all the strongest and most formidable among them—there was probably little they could do. Otherwise, no affair deserving the name Shame of the Threefold Pavilion would ever have come to pass.

Wei Zhao could not help a secret pang of alarm. To hold their own against a full ten elders of the Threefold Pavilion at once—just how powerful were those spirit beasts in the rear mountain's core?

No wonder Gui Dongxi had said during the last newcomer trial that if he faced those creatures at his present strength, a single glance from one of them would kill him as easily as breathing. Those words had been no idle boast.

At that, Wei Zhao suddenly thought of Yu Xiaoke and those comatose women who carried his inheritance, and his heart stirred. "This Rear Mountain Hall elder has been unconscious all this time and still hasn't recovered—didn't they ask Master Zhang Lifeng to lend a hand? Or is it that even he has no way?"

Shangguan Lan'er shook her head. "Master Zhang Lifeng is a figure at the very pinnacle of the entire Middle Island, and the master of the Middle Island's Pill Hall besides. How could he come to the North Island over a trifle like this? True, he came up from the North Island and is somewhat partial to it, but he stands for the Middle Island now. He can't be forever favoring one side over the other, rushing to help at the slightest little thing, can he?"

"I see." Wei Zhao breathed an inward sigh of relief. The Rear Mountain Hall elder's symptoms sounded rather like those of Yu Xiaoke and the others, and if Zhang Lifeng had no remedy for it either, that was cause for some worry.

After all, even though Zhao Hongbo had said on the elders' guidance day that Zhang Lifeng had a successful precedent in healing Master Bing and Master Xue, that was hearsay in the end—not a demonstrated case before his eyes.

"But Grandfather says the reason the Threefold Pavilion's council of elders decided against seeking Master Zhang Lifeng's help was that they hold a favor from him too precious to spend on such a small matter," Shangguan Lan'er went on.

Wei Zhao could not help but grimace. The life of a dignified Rear Mountain Hall elder—and that counted as a small matter?

Then again, on reflection, weighed against a favor owed by Zhang Lifeng, it did rather seem that way.

From the Threefold Pavilion's standpoint, experts of elder rank were rare, to be sure, but they could still be trained and recruited. A favor from Zhang Lifeng, by contrast, was used up one time and gone—a strategic resource beyond price, never to be squandered lightly.

"There! I've told you a secret this big, so now you'd better put your back into helping your senior sister!" Shangguan Lan'er rose on her tiptoes once more and patted Wei Zhao on the shoulder.

"Well... all right then." Wei Zhao thought it over, and in the end nodded in agreement.

He had wanted to use this rare chance to look around the rear mountain's outskirts and search for Heart-Eating Linglong Grass, but traveling together with Shangguan Lan'er would let him do both at once.

Besides, he was uneasy at the thought of Shangguan Lan'er wandering the rear mountain alone with Little Circle Bear. Even if the Rear Mountain Hall elders kept constant watch on her movements, should something truly go wrong, I fear that even their great power would not reach in time.

"But what exactly are these forging materials you want? Do you know where they are?" Wei Zhao asked.

Searching for a single thing in the vast rear mountain was like fishing a needle from the sea. Last time, hunting for Heart-Eating Linglong Grass, he had known its habits and traits and still only barely found it by luck. Without even that much to go on, success was well-nigh impossible.