Chapter 4215 — Someone Selected

Although they each had their own cave dwellings, following Wei Zhao's wishes they had all kept rooms in his residence, so as to live together as much as possible, and so naturally they wanted to go and have a look too.

Since Yu Zhenyang had spoken up personally, Wei Zhao and the others had long since guessed that this residence could not be too shabby—but when they actually arrived, they were still startled.

The heart of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner sect: Residence Number One.

Even without any explicit rule, everyone knew that a residence's rank more or less directly reflected its master's status and strength. By the unwritten custom of the past, this Residence Number One at the heart of the inner sect was generally reserved for the senior brother who served as steward of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner sect, and no one else had the right to it.

Wei Zhao's predecessor, however, had been an exception. His name was Zhao Sanjin; his strength could not be called the highest, but in terms of seniority he was the oldest of all the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner disciples, and he was on good terms with Jia Mufan, the senior brother who served as inner-sect steward. Add to that a consuming vanity, and by every trick he could devise he had talked Jia Mufan into ceding Residence Number One to him.

Who could have guessed that now, at a single word from above, he was to be driven out—and to yield his place to a mere newcomer of the inner sect? Where was his face to be put?

Yet Zhao Sanjin had barely voiced two complaints before he was told who Wei Zhao was, and at once he dared say no more.

He had not attended the inner-sect contest this time, so at first he had known nothing of it. Now that he learned Wei Zhao was the disciple Shangguan Tianxia had chosen before all present—one who in future might well become a legend like Gongyang Jun, or even Zhang Lifeng—who in the hell would dare provoke him?

And Zhao Sanjin, for all his seniority, was only bold enough to throw his weight around before ordinary inner disciples. Before Jia Mufan, that senior brother who served as inner-sect steward, he could do no more than nod and bow—let alone before a disciple hand-picked by Shangguan Tianxia.

With no way out, Zhao Sanjin could only pack up overnight and hurry to vacate Residence Number One, and he had it cleaned thoroughly inside and out, so as not to delay Wei Zhao's moving in.

Strolling about the grounds, Wei Zhao and the others exclaimed in admiration again and again. Residence Number One truly deserved its name as the finest dwelling at the heart of the inner sect—pavilions and terraces, water pavilions, rockeries and wooded hills, nothing was lacking.

Rarer still, many spirit jades had been laid specially, along with formations to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so that wherever one walked the air was thick with it—an eye-opening experience indeed for the much-put-upon senior brother and the rest.

After the delighted party had made a round of the place, the much-put-upon senior brother, having affairs still to see to at the Welcome Pavilion, took his leave without staying long, and Xiao Che and the others dispersed as well.

Wei Zhao saw them to the gate, and just as he was about to turn back, a familiar voice sounded suddenly behind him.

"Well, and how do you find Residence Number One?" Yu Zhenyang had appeared behind him at some unknown moment, and asked with a smile.

"Many thanks, Pavilion Master. I am most satisfied," Wei Zhao said with a nod and a smile—though inwardly he tensed. Yu Zhenyang, weakest of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's masters though he was, remained unfathomably strong; he had appeared behind Wei Zhao without Wei Zhao noticing in the least. A formidable hand indeed!

"Then good. Beyond this, Wei Zhao, is there anything else you would have me help with?" Yu Zhenyang asked in turn, a certain depth seeming to lurk in his gaze.

Wei Zhao was at a loss for words. However one looked at it, the man before him was master of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, a top-tier figure of Shangguan Tianxia's caliber—was he not being rather too attentive to a mere newcomer of the inner sect?

He had asked that very question yesterday, and here it came again today. Was Wei Zhao, even with nothing to ask, to invent some matter for him to help with?

"Nothing," Wei Zhao replied, somewhat baffled.

Yu Zhenyang was slightly taken aback; seeing that Wei Zhao seemed to have no intention of making further requests, he cleared his throat and brought it up himself: "Wei Zhao, you have been at the Welcome Pavilion all this while, so you should know its affairs very well. Since Lu Bianren stepped down, the post of third master of our Welcome Pavilion has stood vacant a long time. What do you say to taking that post yourself?"

Yu Zhenyang brought the matter up because Shangguan Tianxia had plainly hinted as much. He had assumed Wei Zhao would think of it, and so had kept prompting him—only to find Wei Zhao had no such intention at all. With no other choice, he had to raise it himself.

Little did he know that the affair of the Welcome Pavilion's third master was merely a wager between Shangguan Tianxia and Shangguan Lan'er. Wei Zhao knew nothing of it, and so naturally it never crossed his mind.

"Third master of the Welcome Pavilion?" Wei Zhao was startled, and asked in surprise, "Me? Am I not already a core disciple of the inner sect?"

Though he had but newly joined the inner sect, Wei Zhao understood this much: core disciples of the inner sect were the future mainstay of the Triple Stack Pavilion, and so their chief tasks were, besides secluded cultivation, to go out into the world and temper themselves, raising their strength. As a rule they seldom took on this, that, and the other odd jobs.

A post like third master of the Welcome Pavilion, though high in rank, came with a tangle of duties, and as a rule was left to outer-sect disciples—and of course only the most outstanding of outer disciples had any chance at it. Ordinary folk could not even dream of it.

"That need not get in the way at all. You need only hold it concurrently—you will still live here as usual, and go over when there is business to attend to," Yu Zhenyang said with a smile.

"This..." Wei Zhao thought it over, and in the end declined: "I am grateful for the Pavilion Master's kindness, but I would rather not take the post. For now I wish only to devote myself to cultivation, without too much distraction."

"That you should be so driven, Wei Zhao, gladdened me greatly. But the post of third master of the Welcome Pavilion cannot stay vacant too long, or others will talk, and that would not do." Yu Zhenyang pinched his chin thoughtfully, and in his heart rated Wei Zhao a notch higher still.

The post of third master of the Welcome Pavilion was well known to be a gilded position; many core disciples of the inner sect, and even some inner-sect stewards, eyed it with great envy, yet Wei Zhao could remain unmoved. Such self-possession and such indifference to gain were rare indeed.

What put Yu Zhenyang in a somewhat awkward spot, however, was that this had been put to him by Shangguan Tianxia. If he did not give Wei Zhao the post of third master of the Welcome Pavilion, would he not be breaking faith with Shangguan Tianxia?

"Pavilion Master, though I do not wish to take it myself, I do have a suitable candidate you might consider—a suggestion only, of course," Wei Zhao said, seizing the moment, having seen Yu Zhenyang's difficulty.

"Very well, let us hear it," Yu Zhenyang said with a nod. At any other time, even if he were to discuss candidates with someone, it could never be a newcomer like Wei Zhao—but today was a special case. In a sense the post of third master of the Welcome Pavilion had belonged to Wei Zhao from the first, and so he naturally had the right to suggest.