Chapter 3773 — Dismissed with Contempt
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Of course, now that this was all to deal with Wei Zhao, that was another matter entirely. For Xu Lingchong, seeing Wei Zhao humiliated and trampled into the dirt would be a thoroughly gratifying spectacle.
Yet even with the backing and resources of Young Master Xu, he could occasionally help Meng Zhou once or twice. But if every round of the challenge tournament required him to pay out, that would be not only unrealistic but wholly unnecessary.
After all, Meng Zhou's only mission was to sound out the depth of Wei Zhao's strength. To expect him to kill Wei Zhao outright was nothing less than wishful thinking on their part, even with Young Master Xu lending him a hand.
Once they had reached a consensus, Meng Jueming immediately turned back to Wei Zhao. "Since you have made up your mind to exchange cave dwellings with Xiao Che, and since such a rule does indeed exist, there is no reason for me, as the senior in charge, to stop you. Very well. I approve it."
"Good. Then thank you for your understanding, Senior Brother Meng." Wei Zhao smiled faintly. He had expected this answer from the start and saw nothing surprising in it.
"You are too polite, Junior Brother Wei." Seeing Wei Zhao's composed, self-satisfied air, Meng Jueming, Xu Lingchong, and the others could not help laughing inwardly. What did it mean to have a simple mind and well-developed limbs? Wei Zhao was the perfect example. His strength was not weak, but his intelligence was painfully lacking.
Go on, keep putting on that grand act. Since you are foolish enough to leap into the pit of your own accord, stay there and do not dream of climbing back out. Once everything was settled, Meng Zhou would weigh you and see just how much you were really worth.
Now that Meng Jueming had nodded, all that remained was to report the matter to the Welcoming Pavilion. Wei Zhao could then exchange cave dwellings with Xiao Che, and in the first round of the afternoon challenge tournament, Xiao Che could challenge others in his own right as the owner of Mountain-Low No. 14, competing for challenge points.
Time slipped by in a blink. Once noon had passed, the newcomers of the Three-Tiered Pavilions gathered once again in the main hall of the Welcoming Pavilion, ready to begin the first round of the challenge tournament.
Faced with this stage, so reminiscent of the assessment system of years past, every newcomer's face carried, consciously or otherwise, a trace of nervousness and excitement.
This was already the fourth assessment stage, and the newcomers ought by now to have grown thoroughly accustomed to the pace of the examinations. Yet this one was, after all, different from the three stages before it.
The first three, though none could be called easy, were ultimately one-sided assessments. Those with the requisite strength earned points; those without it did not. There was little room for variables or surprises.
This time, however, things were different. The defining feature of the challenge tournament was competition: the ruthless competition between newcomers. The variables and surprises here were vastly greater. Strength alone was not enough.
Planning and luck were both crucial elements.
Without a strategy prepared in advance, even overwhelming strength might prove useless. Once someone targeted you, you might not even know what had killed you.
Whether to issue a challenge, when to issue it, and how to respond when challenged: should one go all out and fight for every possible point, or deliberately show weakness to preserve one's strength, perhaps even retreat in order to advance and leave oneself room to maneuver? These were all crucial questions every newcomer present had to consider.
If one could not find the answer best suited to oneself, then even if one's strength surpassed that of the others by a full tier, one might still end up drinking the cup of defeat.