Chapter 3690 — After-the-Fact Analysis
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
The new disciples all looked at Meng Zhou, and Meng Zhou had no choice but to step forward. "Ninth Cousin, the plan really was going smoothly at first, but then something happened that threw the whole thing into disarray. You can't blame us for not trying."
"Can't blame you for not trying? Fine, then tell me—what exactly went wrong in the middle that let them turn such a hopeless disadvantage around?" Meng Jueming snapped.
"Ninth Cousin, you probably didn't notice before, but Wei Zhao is already an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator." Meng Zhou gave him a bitter, rueful look.
"What? An early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator?" Meng Jueming had expected some far-fetched excuse from Meng Zhou. At these words he was startled, and he swept a look of disbelief over everyone present. "Impossible. Did all of you see it?"
Every head nodded in unison. Meng Zhou said grimly, "Saw it with our own eyes. We had him completely surrounded, and one more push would have finished it. But he wasn't afraid of us at all. He let loose the aura of an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and it scared the lot of us stiff on the spot."
The new disciples shot Meng Zhou odd looks. It was true enough that they had all been frightened stiff—but if Meng Zhou had not been the first to run and set off the panic, things would never have sunk to the point where Wei Zhao alone held the entire field.
After all, there had been twelve of them, while Wei Zhao still had Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai at his side—two dead weights, utterly spent. Had it actually come to blows, the outcome might well have hung in the balance.
Of course, Meng Zhou was plainly not about to admit anything so humiliating. And since he would not say it, no one else present dared speak up either—to do so would be to offend him, and they would surely be made to pay for it later.
Seeing them all speak with one voice, Meng Jueming had no choice but to believe it. "So Wei Zhao really has broken through to early-stage Foundation Establishment? But from the aura he showed just now, it didn't look that way—no different from any of you at the peak of the Heaven tier! Did you actually trade blows with him to confirm?"
"Uh, that we didn't. When we saw things turning bad, we just scattered on the spot," Meng Zhou answered awkwardly.
"You never exchanged a single blow?" Meng Jueming was taken aback, then fell into thoughtful calculation. "So what you're saying is, you were merely frightened off by his aura?"
The disciples exchanged glances, then nodded one after another. Humiliating as it was to admit, they had indeed been broken by the sheer force of Wei Zhao's aura.
"That settles it. You must have misread the situation!"
Meng Jueming slapped his palm. "Do you know of a pill called the Limit Golden Core? Take one, and you can instantly unleash power far beyond your normal level. Even a peak Heaven-tier cultivator can put on the majesty of an early-stage Foundation Establishment expert—only the effect lasts a very short while. My guess is that wretch Ku Bi slipped him a Limit Golden Core beforehand, and that's what had you all cowed!" RS