Chapter 11643 — Hard to Say
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
This also explained why even a quasi-god of Yi Liuchao's caliber would suddenly appear in the Inner Royal Court.
Wei Zhao looked Hou Chuang up and down. "You're still a long way from the divine realm, aren't you?"
An early-stage Heaven Rank Venerable was not merely a hundred thousand li removed from a divine-tier powerhouse—the gulf between them was far wider than the gulf between an ordinary Qi Refining expert and a Heaven Rank Venerable.
Hou Chuang said frankly, "Advancing to the divine realm is a prospect reserved for quasi-gods—at the very least, half-gods. A fellow of my level can at best scheme to borrow momentum and break through one or two minor realms. That would already content me."
Wei Zhao asked, "And you think you can borrow that momentum from the Son of Heaven of Zhou?"
"The hope isn't great, but there's still a sliver of a chance."
Hou Chuang smiled bitterly. "To be honest, I'd love to put my chips on one of the real favorites, but I don't have the ability. With the little I've got, I can at most warm up a cold bet like the Son of Heaven of Zhou."
Wei Zhao followed up, "Who are the real favorites?"
Hou Chuang shook his head. "I don't know."
Seeing everyone staring at him, Hou Chuang hurried to explain, "I truly don't know. I only know that in the great upheaval to come, some are the front wave, and some are the back wave."
"The likes of the Seven Great Princely Estates—those who already occupy the stage at this stage—are basically all front waves."
"By past experience, the front wave can almost never laugh last. The real favorites are bound to be among the back waves who haven't truly surfaced yet."
"And that's beyond what a man of my level can see."
"The only thing I can do is scavenge a leftover among the front waves. So long as the man I bet on can last to the midpoint, I've made my profit."
"As for the flood that follows—that's no concern of mine."
At this, everyone present understood.
They had heard the words "great upheaval" many times, but only today did they finally have a relatively clear notion of it.
Wei Zhao pointed at himself. "By your account, I'm a front wave too."
Hou Chuang nodded silently.
In his heart he thought: You're far more than a front wave. The way things stand, you've already replaced the Seven Great Princely Estates as the most conspicuous front-wave leader of them all.
Wei Zhao saw right through him and said with amusement, "The more frantically a front wave leaps, the faster it's bound to die. By normal logic, shouldn't you be avoiding me like the plague?"
At a time like this, rushing over to join hands—by any measure, it ran counter to common sense.
But Hou Chuang said, "To be honest, sir, you're the least likely of the front waves to laugh last. But barring accidents, you still stand a chance of living past the midpoint—and a very good one."
The implication was plain: his own game was already settled on cashing out at the midpoint; so long as Wei Zhao could live to the midpoint, then in his eyes Wei Zhao was a blue-chip stock.
Wei Zhao laughed. "Then I suppose I should thank you."
Hou Chuang said with a bitter look on his face, "Forgive me, sir. I was merely speaking the truth."
Wei Zhao nodded. "Don't be nervous. I like that you speak the truth. Only, since you were scheming to use me, it's hardly unreasonable for me to use you in turn, is it?"
Hou Chuang instinctively glanced at Li Qinghe behind him, then quickly nodded with the appropriate tact. "Not unreasonable at all, not at all."
Wei Zhao said, "Then it's hardly unreasonable for me to brand your primordial spirit, is it?"
"..."
Hou Chuang's face turned black.
He had come today precisely to join forces with Wei Zhao; the only question had been who would lead and who would follow. In the present circumstances, he had already resigned himself to playing second fiddle—at worst it was a bit of a blow to his pride.
But to be branded on the primordial spirit—that was an entirely different matter.