Chapter 3774 — A Challenge by Name
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
Those who truly possessed the absolute strength to crush the other Azure Cloud newcomers were, plainly put, only Wei Zhao and Meng Zhou. Both had already succeeded in Foundation Establishment and had thoroughly transcended these peak Heaven Grade newcomers. One-on-one, absolute domination was only to be expected.
And now, because Wei Zhao had exchanged cave dwellings with Xiao Che and willingly leapt into the pit, unable to extricate himself, the only one left with the capital to flaunt himself so grandly was Meng Zhou.
After all, the strength of early Foundation Establishment was plain for all to see, and no matter how much Qiao Hongcai disliked Meng Zhou, it was a fact he could not change.
Listening to Qiao Hongcai's complaints, Wei Zhao and the others exchanged smiles. It was just as well that one could not initiate a challenge against Meng Zhou, whose cave dwelling rank was lower; otherwise, given his temperament, Wei Zhao might well have been the first to leap out and challenge him, and Meng Zhou would have had no choice but to respond passively.
"Let us see whom this fellow intends to challenge. If I am not mistaken, he will likely make his first cut at the two of you," Wei Zhao speculated.
Sure enough, before Wei Zhao's words had faded, Meng Zhou on the stage had already locked his sights on Xiao Che beside him. With a contemptuous look, he declared loudly and smugly: "I, Meng Zhou of Mountain-Low Cave Dwelling No. 15, challenge Xiao Che of Mountain-Low Cave Dwelling No. 14 by name!"
At these words, the other Azure Cloud newcomers visibly breathed a sigh of relief, and then, with gloating eyes, they all fixed their gazes on Xiao Che.
Strictly speaking, Meng Zhou and they all belonged to the same faction under Meng Jueming, but precisely because their faction was so large, they in turn received even less benefit and care.
Challenge points concerned their future prospects. Meng Zhou would not yield, and neither would they, and if Meng Zhou wished to rise, he would ultimately have to climb up over their corpses. That was unavoidable.
Still, before being trampled beneath Meng Zhou's feet, to see Xiao Che fall into misfortune ahead of them was a spectacle they were still delighted to behold.
Though he had long been mentally prepared for this, when the moment truly arrived, Xiao Che still paused for a moment before stepping toward the arena.
"Do not push yourself too hard. Take care to protect yourself. It will not be too late to reclaim your ground after you have reached Foundation Establishment. The tournament will last a long while yet; if you cannot win, concede." Wei Zhao suddenly called out from behind him in warning.
Strong as Xiao Che was, against a capable early Foundation Establishment cultivator like Meng Zhou he was still far outmatched, with almost no hope of victory.
Yet Wei Zhao was not worried that Xiao Che would get hot-headed and fight Meng Zhou to the death. What worried him now was that Meng Zhou might use the match as an opportunity to strike a killing blow against Xiao Che!
The nature of the challenge tournament was in fact essentially the same as a duel. Though there were some emergency measures, life and death were never avoided. Fists and feet have no eyes, and life and death are fated: such was the natural rule of the arena, and even the Welcoming Pavilion, which had always been quite protective of newcomers, was no exception.
As with duels between newcomers, the challenge tournament had no forbidden moves and no other prohibitions whatsoever. Even if one beat an opponent to death on the arena, one would not be held responsible in any way.
There was, however, one point: these challenge tournaments all expressly stipulated that no weapons of any kind could be used. After all, a divine weapon of quality could, to a great extent, affect a person's strength.