Chapter 3684 — The Resentful Lan'er
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
But when Meng Zhou proudly displayed his basket before the crowd, everyone gasped—a full sixteen hundred points!
My heavens! The crowd was instantly in an uproar. Even if the nearly five hundred points he had snatched from Qiao Hongcai had all gone into that basket, it still meant Meng Zhou had earned eleven hundred points on his own—that was simply absurd!
Everyone knew that Meng Zhou, like the rest of them, had only had a day and a half of real gathering time. To pull in eleven hundred points in a day and a half—what kind of concept was that? Was this creature really hiding his true depths, simply looking unimpressive on the surface?
Not just the crowd—even Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback at the sight of that score, though he quickly regained his composure, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint half-smile. As for Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, watching Meng Zhou's smug expression, they could barely hold back their laughter.
Up to this point, because everyone had been so in awe of Wei Zhao and kept their distance, no one had gotten a close look at his score. As for Meng Zhou, the fellow who had turned tail and fled the moment he arrived, he had no idea what Wei Zhao's basket even looked like, and assumed this fool could scrape together five or six hundred points at most!
He had originally worried that after robbing the other rookies, Wei Zhao might end up ahead of him—but when he heard that Wei Zhao had only extorted a hundred points from each person, his worries instantly evaporated.
"Only a hundred from each—so a thousand extra at most. And given your taste for putting on airs, you'll probably hand some to those two worthless lackeys. Add what you started with, and a thousand is the ceiling! Heh heh, Mister Show-Off, looks like this time you really have shown off your way into being a fool!" Meng Zhou chattered on smugly.
As for the other rookies, the way they looked at Wei Zhao now had turned somewhat mocking. True, Wei Zhao hadn't dealt with them harshly, but he had still made them pay a hundred points each—so they were more than happy to see him come to grief.
"Is that so? Then let's wait and see." Wei Zhao smiled faintly, then shot a glance at Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai. The two of them deliberately shifted to block his basket even more tightly.
Since Meng Zhou was so pleased with himself, let him stay pleased a while longer—surprises were always best saved for last!
"Heh, a dead duck's mouth is the hardest of all!"
Seeing that Wei Zhao offered no retort, Meng Zhou grew even more smug. Besides the points he had snatched from Qiao Hongcai, the key to his haul this time was a cheating device Meng Jueming had given him beforehand—a wood-attribute sensor!
This wood-attribute sensor could automatically detect every spirit herb within a hundred meters and indicate their direction and location—a veritable divine tool for gathering herbs! Compared to that, gathering herbs by observation alone, the way Wei Zhao did, was the act of a pathetic weakling, utterly beneath comparison!
What Meng Zhou did not know was that in this world there existed a spirit beast called the Heavenly Thunder Pig, and its ability was at least ten times that of a wood-attribute sensor!
As they spoke, noon had arrived. Just as before the trial began, the new disciples were once again assembled in the plaza before the Rear Mountain Hall, waiting in silence, while the three elders they had seen before still sat upon those three broad outdoor chairs, as stately and imposing as ever. It gave one the feeling that these three days had never moved at all from first to last.
And flanking them, besides Hu Yunfeng, master of the Welcome Pavilion, and several senior stewards, there were two unexpected additions—and Wei Zhao was acquainted with both of them.
One was Xu Lingchong; the other was the young woman he had met once before, Shangguan Lan'er.