Chapter 4175 — I'm Afraid That Won't Do

"I know, little Lan'er, you've said it eight hundred times already—Grandpa's ears are about to grow calluses from hearing it." Shangguan Tianxia sighed helplessly. The mighty master of the Chongtian Pavilion, conscripted on the spot to serve as a firefighter—it really was enough to make one laugh and cry at the same time.

Able to hold his own against a Golden Core expert? Shangguan Tianxia looked at Wei Zhao on the platform, a faint, ambiguous smile on his face. This little fellow was growing more interesting by the day—but if that was all there was to him, it still wouldn't be quite enough against Su Zhaohe.

On the platform, Wei Zhao and Su Zhaohe faced each other from afar, and every gaze in the hall began to converge upon them, the clamor and chatter slowly settling into silence.

Only Kang Jingming and Nan Tianxiong and their crowd still laughed raucously with undisguised glee. Today was the day of Wei Zhao's death; such a joyous occasion naturally had to be savored to the fullest. It was a pity Si Haitao was not present—otherwise the whole gang would surely have laughed even more recklessly.

After all, this was the Sandie Pavilion's territory, and outsiders were ordinarily not permitted inside; and Si Haitao had once made such a fool of himself by harassing Shangguan Lan'er and Ning Xuefei that if he showed his face here today, he would likely be drowned in the spit of the Sandie Pavilion disciples. So even though his heart was itching with anticipation, he could only hole up in the Central Hub Merchant Guild and await news of Wei Zhao's death.

"Boy, I hear you're the number one newcomer of the Yingxin Pavilion's latest batch, and that you've been making quite a splash lately?" Su Zhaohe finally spoke, and in an instant the whole hall fell utterly silent; one after another, faces lit up with the look of people settling in to watch a good show.

"Can't help it. There are always bored people who come knocking on their own, and I simply have to step on them. I'm doing them a favor, really." Wei Zhao answered flatly.

"Heh. Not much in the way of actual strength, but you've certainly got the airs of a ringleader. You look quite pleased with yourself." Su Zhaohe laughed mockingly, then glanced about with feigned indifference and said, "Let me tell you something—I was the number one newcomer once myself. So don't go showing off your axe before Lu Ban in front of me; that'll only bring humiliation on yourself."

"Oh? So you're my senior, then?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow in surprise, then smiled faintly. "Then that old saying really does apply. The waves behind the Yangtze push the waves before—and the waves before die on the beach."

The crowd below burst into laughter at that. The fight hadn't even begun, but watching these two trade barbs was quite entertaining. Wei Zhao would surely be no match for Su Zhaohe once blows were exchanged, but when it came to words, he gave not an inch.

"Sharp tongue. Only a frog at the bottom of a well could say something so ignorant and fearless." Su Zhaohe sneered. He glanced at Shangguan Tianxia on the platform, eager to put on a display, and said with feigned magnanimity, "Enough idle talk. Let's get started, and not waste everyone's time. As your senior, I'll grant you the first move, so no one can say I bully the small. Go on!"

"Better not. If you give me the first move, you won't get another chance." Wei Zhao shook his head.

"Haha. Childish!" Su Zhaohe laughed dismissively, no longer concealing his strength. Suddenly he released the mighty aura of the early Golden Core stage and said smugly, "You probably don't know—I've already successfully formed my core. Dealing with you today is really just beating up a child, which is why I'm being generous enough to grant you the first move, so you won't die with your eyes open. Hahaha!"

The hall erupted in an uproar. Everyone exchanged astonished glances—they had never heard that Su Zhaohe was already an early Golden Core expert!

If memory served, Su Zhaohe was not yet forty. To successfully form a core at such an age—if not unprecedented, then at least he counted among the rare and exceptional geniuses in the history of the Sandie Pavilion!

"No wonder Master Shangguan took a liking to him—his talent is simply terrifying!"

"Exactly. Forming a core before forty... going back, the last one seems to have been Gongyang Jun, wasn't it?"

"That's right! I never thought he'd already reached a level comparable to Master Gongyang. His title as a genius of the millennium is no exaggeration after all!"

Listening to the admiring sighs from below, the corners of Wei Zhao's mouth curved up slightly. He had never crossed hands with Gongyang Jun, but by pure intuition alone, even the Gongyang Jun of back then was by no means comparable to this paltry Su Zhaohe. These people were actually putting the two on the same level—he wondered what Gongyang Jun himself would think if he heard it.

"Boy, now you see the gap between us?" Su Zhaohe was thoroughly enjoying these words, and said with smug elation, "Even if we're both number one newcomers, the pure gold content is completely different—we're not even in the same league. I was the first among my batch of Sandie Pavilion disciples to form a core!"

"Oh? And so what?" Wei Zhao shot back, neither warm nor cold.

"So what? Hmph. A specimen like you, fit to be called a number one newcomer? Don't you feel ashamed when you look at me? Just how thick is your skin?" Su Zhaohe sneered, needling him.

"Oh? Then what would it take to be worthy of the title?" Wei Zhao smiled, a playful glint in his eyes.

"At the very least, form a core at thirty-five, like me!" Su Zhaohe said, chin lifted high, looking down his nose in triumph.

"Then I'm afraid I can't do it... The difficulty is just too high..." Wei Zhao shook his head helplessly.

"Hahahaha! Even you know you're no good—so you're not yet so stupid as to be beyond saving!" Su Zhaohe burst out laughing.

The crowd below laughed along with him, Kang Jingming and the others laughing the loudest and most gleefully of all. Wei Zhao had actually admitted defeat in front of so many people—this was an absolute first!

But Wei Zhao's next sentence cut the laughter in the hall dead.

"Sorry. I'm only twenty this year—it's a bit early for that..." Wei Zhao said with a helpless shrug.

"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?" Su Zhaohe, like everyone else below, looked utterly baffled, and they all exchanged bewildered glances.

Wei Zhao smiled faintly, and then the aura around him abruptly transformed. The powerful presence of the early Golden Core stage poured out in an instant, and Su Zhaohe—himself an early Golden Core expert—now seemed before him like a small boat tossed amid towering waves, no longer posing the slightest threat, but rather giving the impression that he might be swallowed whole at any moment.

In an instant, the entire hall was in an uproar. Su Zhaohe on the platform, and Kang Jingming and the rest below, every one of them had their mouths hanging open wide enough to swallow a pound of eggs! (To be continued...)