Chapter 3934 — A Heaven-Tier Peak Blackback Staff-Ape, and Yet It Could Not Best a Mere Heavenly Thunder Pig

Even if this Heavenly Thunder Pig stood at the Heaven-Tier Great Perfection level, it was, after all, not a combat-type spirit beast by nature. What use was a high rank? Surely a high rank alone could not mean it had somehow developed other, more lethal racial talents?

Had they not seen it with their own eyes, everyone would have sworn such a thing was nonsense. But the facts lay right before them, and they had no choice but to believe: the Blackback Staff-Ape truly had been killed in a single blow by the Heavenly Thunder Pig. Meng Zhou, its master, had vomited blood and was gravely wounded besides. There was no faking any of it.

"I said it before—underestimating an opponent is the greatest taboo. Now he has died with his eyes still open in protest. Who else is there to blame?" Wei Zhao lifted his eyelids faintly, then turned to the referee. "Referee, sir, why have you not announced the verdict? Is there still some objection?"

Only then did the referee come back to his senses. He cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "The Blackback Staff-Ape is dead. Therefore, in this match, the Heavenly Thunder Pig is declared the winner!"

Though no one could understand just how the Heavenly Thunder Pig had killed the Blackback Staff-Ape, the outcome was plain before them. That the Heavenly Thunder Pig had won was an indisputable fact. If anyone present took issue with it, that could only mean the man's own eyes and understanding were lacking—that he had never seen the wider world.

The world is vast, and nothing is too strange to exist. Who ever decreed that a Heavenly Thunder Pig could not kill a Blackback Staff-Ape? Given the right opportunity, there have even been precedents of mortals slaying cultivators!

The spirit-beast duel drew to its close beneath the dull, staring gazes of Meng Jueming and the others. Wei Zhao, beyond all doubt, had laughed last.

And Meng Zhou, who beforehand had been so smug and overbearing beyond all measure, had not only lost the Blackback Staff-Ape but suffered a backlash himself when his spirit beast was slain. His divine sense was gravely damaged. Unless he lay abed for ten days to half a month, he likely would not even be able to get out of bed.

When the crowd finally recovered their senses and looked upon the Heavenly Thunder Pig again, the eyes fixed on it had turned, all in unison, from contempt to wariness—and even to fear.

Its three consecutive promotions in the earlier rounds had been luck; their belittling of the Heavenly Thunder Pig had been forgivable then. But this final match was a true display of strength. To kill even the Blackback Staff-Ape with ease—this seemingly foolish, "weakling" Heavenly Thunder Pig was, just like its master Wei Zhao, hiding far more than it revealed!

Most of the new disciples present were Heaven-Tier Great Perfection experts, and in a real fight they might not even be a match for the Blackback Staff-Ape. If the Heavenly Thunder Pig could kill the Blackback Staff-Ape in a single blow, that meant it could do the same to them. And the crux of it was that they could not even comprehend what method it had used. Such terrifying strength sent a chill through anyone who thought on it!

With the fifth stage of the new disciple assessment, the spirit-beast trial, now entirely concluded, the highest scorer among all the Azure Cloud Pavilion new disciples was naturally Wei Zhao, for he had once again earned full marks on the theory portion of this stage.

The Heavenly Thunder Pig's rank was Heaven-Tier Great Perfection, so its spirit-beast rank score was twenty-five points. It had won four consecutive rounds and laughed last, so its spirit-beast strength score was forty points. Together that made sixty-five points. Added to the five preceding stages, Wei Zhao's total score in the new disciple assessment reached an astonishing two hundred eighty-one points, leaving all the other new disciples far behind.

After him came Qiao Hongcai with one hundred eighty-one points, in second place. Meng Zhou had one hundred eighty points, trailing Qiao Hongcai by a single point in third. As for fourth and fifth, those places were held by Xiao Che and Li Zhengming respectively.

The title of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's top five new disciples was truly not an empty name. At least within the ranks of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's new disciples, no one could shake their standing anymore. The gap between them and the rest would only widen, never narrow.

Even Murong Zhen, an expert at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, for all her strength, had been unable to secure a place among them. True, she had joined midway, and true, she did not set much store by points—but this result alone was enough to prove the point.

Though one final stage of the new disciple assessment remained, by this point the situation had become entirely clear. Setting aside the anomaly that was Murong Zhen, among all the Azure Cloud Pavilion new disciples of this cohort, these five alone had the strength to rise to prominence once they entered the Pavilion in the future.

And among them, Wei Zhao, as the undisputed number-one new disciple, was certain to be the one who drew the most attention!

Though Meng Jueming was now an expert of the mid Foundation Establishment stage and was about to be promoted to the position of Third Pavilion Master, making him seem at the zenith of his fortunes in the eyes of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's new disciples, even he was gradually losing the ability to suppress Wei Zhao's rise.

By now Wei Zhao's name had even spread into the inner ranks of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, drawing the attention of several high-ranking members. A new disciple of such boundless potential was, to the long-weak Azure Cloud Pavilion, nothing short of a treasure dropped from the heavens. After all, there was already a Zhang Lifeng to serve as precedent—they could hardly keep themselves from letting their imaginations run wild.

Also of mundane-world origin, also standing head and shoulders above all others during his time at the Welcoming Pavilion—there were even rumors in the streets that Wei Zhao, like Zhang Lifeng, was an alchemist. The two shared far too many traits, and people could not help but arrive at the same thought: would this Wei Zhao fellow become the next Zhang Lifeng?

In those years, one Zhang Lifeng alone had roused the long-weak Azure Cloud Pavilion to a great surge of vigor. At its height, it had not only stood shoulder to shoulder with the other two Pavilions but had even shown faint signs of becoming the foremost of the Three-Tiered Pavilions. That momentum held until Zhang Lifeng departed for the Middle Isle; with no worthy successor, the Azure Cloud Pavilion had slowly sunk back to the state it was in today.

If another legendary figure like Zhang Lifeng could arise, it would be a blessing beyond measure for the Azure Cloud Pavilion!

Of course, the Azure Cloud Pavilion was no monolithic bloc. Some were delighted; others were rather less pleased...

When he learned from his long-suffering senior brother's mouth that he had entered the sight of several high-ranking members of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, Wei Zhao was caught between laughter and tears. Even though his senior brother had not said so outright, it was not hard to guess that there was a reason he had drawn such attention—someone must be quietly building momentum for him.

And that someone, no need to think twice, could only be the former Third Pavilion Master, Lu Bianren, who had by now been pushed out of the Welcoming Pavilion.