Chapter 3888 — The Day the Spirit Herbs Were Handed In
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Even with the final month to cultivate at full strength, the final results left jaws dropping: apart from Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, who each handed in six spirit herb seeds, the best of the rest was Meng Zhou, with a total of only three seeds successfully cultivated. Most others had a mere one or two, and quite a few had scored a big fat zero.
That is to say, by the scoring method of the spirit herb trial, apart from Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, even Meng Zhou—the best performer—would still have points deducted this round. As for the rest, needless to say, their prospects were even gloomier.
Fortunately, these people had been fairly sensible when they first drew their spirit herb seeds, choosing only the minimum of ten. Had they chosen more, this stage might have cost them a dozen or more points, and they would have had nowhere to cry.
However, with a reminder from some interested party, the newcomers recalled that not everyone had registered for only ten seeds when the draw was made. A certain formidable Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomer seemed to have signed up for the maximum of forty spirit herb seeds in one breath!
Yet now, with the deadline already upon them, this self-styled number one newcomer of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, this master of ostentation, seemed not to have handed in a single successfully cultivated spirit herb seed.
Envy for what others have and glee at what they lack—such was the mindset of the vast majority, and even cultivators like them were no exception. When one suffered a loss and felt miserable, one simply had to find balance by looking at someone else's misfortune.
At least in the spirit herb trial assessment, Wei Zhao was absolutely the one who could make them feel best about themselves!
He had drawn a full forty spirit herb seeds back then, and now there was not a peep—which meant the fellow was about to have forty assessment points deducted in one go. To watch this number one newcomer take such a fall—what a delightful spectacle!
This was originally Wei Zhao's own business alone. No matter how many points he lost, it had not a single spirit jade's worth of relation to anyone else. Yet under the deliberate fanning of the flames by Meng Jueming, Meng Zhou, and their ilk, it had become a matter of intense public attention.
Especially on this final deadline day, every newcomer of the Azure Cloud Pavilion came out in full force, doing nothing else but gathering to watch Wei Zhao take his fall.
Seeing Meng Jueming lead the Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers to blockade Wei Zhao's cave dwelling entrance first thing in the morning, Miserable Senior Brother, Xiao Che, and Qiao Hongcai could only exchange bewildered glances.
"Are these people out of their damn minds? Instead of cultivating, they run over to gawk at the boss—they've got nothing better to do! Even if the boss loses forty points, taking first place afterward will be a matter of minutes. You bunch of weaklings don't amount to shit!" Qiao Hongcai wore a face of open displeasure as he watched the gloating, spectating expressions on the crowd's faces.
Even Miserable Senior Brother, an honest man through and through, was now filled with righteous indignation: "Meng Jueming is going too far. Making such a fuss and stirring up trouble—it's nothing but an attempt to erase the prestige Junior Brother Lin built up in the earlier assessment stages, so he can cover up his own incompetence!"
Though he stood on Wei Zhao's side, even Miserable Senior Brother could not help breaking out in a cold sweat for him.
Having spent all these years in the Threefold Pavilion, he saw things far more deeply than newcomers like Qiao Hongcai. If all forty spirit herb seeds came to nothing, it would be far more than a simple forty-point deduction—if anyone with an agenda wanted to make an issue of it, Wei Zhao would be in serious trouble this time. RS