Chapter 4200 — I Surrender!

And while Wei Zhao surveyed his surroundings, those Golden Core experts around him were likewise quietly watching him—or, more accurately, watching the veiled Huang Xiaotao at his side!

In the North Island's Threefold Pavilion, female cultivators were already few and far between, and those who could reach the Golden Core stage were rarer still. Across the entire field, Huang Xiaotao was the only woman competing in the inner-sect tournament; apart from her, there was only Shangguan Lan'er in the stands, watching the spectacle. Whether she liked it or not, Huang Xiaotao could not escape notice.

"How did that Huang Xiaotao suddenly become an early Golden Core expert—and why is she with Wei Zhao?" Xu Lingchong blurted out in astonishment.

He knew every Golden Core expert of the Threefold Pavilion, yet for all his calculations, it had never once occurred to him that Wei Zhao would find such a partner. It genuinely caught him off guard.

"That Wei Zhao really is a lecher through and through—he'll even take a disfigured woman. The man has no standards at all!" Meng Zhou sneered from the side.

"Hmph, I say he's a cornered dog jumping the wall—forced into a dead end, so he grabbed whatever partner he could. I've no idea when Huang Xiaotao formed her core, but judging by her aura, she broke through only recently, and her strength must be very limited." Xu Lingchong curled his lip in mockery. "Heh heh, two early Golden Core cultivators—they won't even know how they died later. Let's just sit back and enjoy the show!"

Amid the crowd's murmurs, the inner-sect tournament finally began in earnest. The first day's matches were one-on-one, with opponents decided by public drawing of lots.

Curiously enough, Wei Zhao—the famed newcomer king of the Welcome Pavilion—was the very first to be drawn onto the arena, and his first-round opponent was a formal outer-sect disciple from the Azure Cloud Pavilion, Yu Dayong.

Yu Dayong was an early Golden Core expert who had lately risen to prominence in the Azure Cloud Pavilion; before this he had been utterly unknown, and no one had ever paid him any attention. By contrast, Wei Zhao, the newcomer king who never stopped generating talking points, was far more of a draw.

Almost every eye in the hall was fixed on Wei Zhao—some gazes amused, some contemptuous, some indifferent. Everyone wanted to see with their own eyes just how much this newcomer king was really worth.

Wei Zhao stood on one side of the arena with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression calm—and then, once Yu Dayong stepped onto the platform, his formerly placid aura abruptly surged with mad ferocity. One moment it had been still waters; the next, towering, sky-high waves. The onlookers' faces changed in an instant.

Feeling that terrifying aura, Yu Dayong's expression immediately betrayed a flicker of hesitation and inner struggle. They were both early Golden Core, yet comparing the two presences—how could they possibly look like cultivators of the same tier?

"First round of the inner-sect tournament individual battles: Wei Zhao versus Yu Dayong—begin now!" the referee announced at once. This... this referee was actually a Nascent Soul expert, and at this moment he was not suppressing his strength in the slightest, but displaying it in full!

This was also the first time Wei Zhao had seen a Nascent Soul expert in the Threefold Pavilion. As for the other big shots, they never displayed their strength in normal times, and his golden finger could not be used to appraise those above his level, so he had no idea at all of the true strength of Shangguan Tianxia and the others—he only knew that their auras were deeply intimidating.

Below the arena, the crowd's expressions turned solemn all at once. They meant to observe Wei Zhao's strength carefully. Yu Dayong of the Azure Cloud Pavilion was not strong, true, but Wei Zhao was, after all, only early Golden Core. Surely the two should be able to trade a few blows.

Yet Yu Dayong's next reaction exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Hold on—I surrender!" Yu Dayong suddenly raised both hands high and shouted, his face flushing bright red.

For a moment the crowd below erupted in an uproar, jeers and curses pouring out without end—yet on the arena, Yu Dayong remained unshaken in his resolve. He glanced at Wei Zhao, then turned and walked off the platform.

This scene astonished not only the crowd below but even Wei Zhao himself, who was somewhat stunned. The first round was the most merciless of elimination matches: lose once, and all further prospects were moot. A normal person would fight with all his might even for a one-in-ten chance—who would surrender as bluntly as Yu Dayong?

Had Yu Dayong been facing a late Golden Core expert several tiers above him—or someone even stronger—then it might have been understandable. But Wei Zhao was only early Golden Core!

What they failed to realize was that even among early Golden Core experts, strength differed as vastly as heaven from earth. Wei Zhao had killed Su Zhaohe in a single strike—and given Su Zhaohe's strength, killing this Yu Dayong in one blow would have been no trouble at all.

To make him fight Wei Zhao—would that not be seeking his own death? This much self-awareness, Yu Dayong still possessed.

So long as one's strength reached the early Golden Core stage and one came to compete in the inner-sect tournament, no matter what the final result, one was certain in the end to become a core inner-sect disciple. The only difference lay in whether some high-ranking big shot took a fancy to you and accepted you as a nominal disciple—nothing more.

Yu Dayong had never had any backing. Though he too harbored the vain hope that one day some great personage might favor him, he knew perfectly well that such a thing was little more than a fantasy. So long as he could be promoted to core inner-sect disciple, his goal for this tournament would be achieved. To wish for anything beyond that was pure illusion—it would only bring him harm.

"Trash! Coward!" Below the arena, Xu Lingchong cursed viciously at the sight. He had not expected this unknown Yu Dayong to finish Wei Zhao outright, but the man was at any rate an early Golden Core expert—at the very least he ought to have made some trouble for Wei Zhao! What the hell was this, surrendering outright without a fight?

Beside him, Meng Zhou was grinding his teeth in fury as well. At such a critical occasion as the inner-sect tournament, to step up and make one's opponent yield without battle—what a display of prestige! Wei Zhao's reputation as the newcomer king now truly rang to the heavens, making men envious and red-eyed—green with jealousy to the point of madness!

Over on the other side of the stands, by contrast, Shangguan Lan'er was thrilled beyond measure. Though she had great confidence in Wei Zhao, everyone who entered the inner-sect tournament was a Golden Core expert—for Wei Zhao this was an entirely new battlefield. To say she was not worried at all would most certainly be a lie.

Even if Wei Zhao could kill Su Zhaohe in a single strike and was indeed powerful, his opponents were no pushovers either—even a cornered rabbit would bite. And these were full-fledged Golden Core experts, no less. Even if Wei Zhao won in the end, what if he were injured along the way?

She had never expected this Yu Dayong to be so perceptive, conceding and surrendering outright without a second word. Her junior apprentice brother had passed through safely and without peril—what a wonderful thing!

However, Shangguan Tianxia, who had been dragged along to watch, remained calm and unruffled throughout, without the slightest hint of surprise.

"Heh heh, Grandfather, tell me—could this Yu Dayong be an acquaintance or friend of junior apprentice brother? Otherwise, why would he surrender so readily?" Shangguan Lan'er asked, delighting in Wei Zhao's fortune while unable to contain her curiosity.