Chapter 4215 — Someone Selected
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Although they each had their own cave dwellings, following Wei Zhao's wishes they had all kept rooms in his residence, so as to live together as much as possible, and so naturally they wanted to go and have a look too.
Since Yu Zhenyang had spoken up personally, Wei Zhao and the others had long since guessed that this residence could not be too shabby—but when they actually arrived, they were still startled.
The heart of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner sect: Residence Number One.
Even without any explicit rule, everyone knew that a residence's rank more or less directly reflected its master's status and strength. By the unwritten custom of the past, this Residence Number One at the heart of the inner sect was generally reserved for the senior brother who served as steward of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner sect, and no one else had the right to it.
Wei Zhao's predecessor, however, had been an exception. His name was Zhao Sanjin; his strength could not be called the highest, but in terms of seniority he was the oldest of all the Azure Cloud Pavilion's inner disciples, and he was on good terms with Jia Mufan, the senior brother who served as inner-sect steward. Add to that a consuming vanity, and by every trick he could devise he had talked Jia Mufan into ceding Residence Number One to him.
Who could have guessed that now, at a single word from above, he was to be driven out—and to yield his place to a mere newcomer of the inner sect? Where was his face to be put?
Yet Zhao Sanjin had barely voiced two complaints before he was told who Wei Zhao was, and at once he dared say no more.
He had not attended the inner-sect contest this time, so at first he had known nothing of it. Now that he learned Wei Zhao was the disciple Shangguan Tianxia had chosen before all present—one who in future might well become a legend like Gongyang Jun, or even Zhang Lifeng—who in the hell would dare provoke him?
And Zhao Sanjin, for all his seniority, was only bold enough to throw his weight around before ordinary inner disciples. Before Jia Mufan, that senior brother who served as inner-sect steward, he could do no more than nod and bow—let alone before a disciple hand-picked by Shangguan Tianxia.
With no way out, Zhao Sanjin could only pack up overnight and hurry to vacate Residence Number One, and he had it cleaned thoroughly inside and out, so as not to delay Wei Zhao's moving in.
Strolling about the grounds, Wei Zhao and the others exclaimed in admiration again and again. Residence Number One truly deserved its name as the finest dwelling at the heart of the inner sect—pavilions and terraces, water pavilions, rockeries and wooded hills, nothing was lacking.
Rarer still, many spirit jades had been laid specially, along with formations to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so that wherever one walked the air was thick with it—an eye-opening experience indeed for the much-put-upon senior brother and the rest.
After the delighted party had made a round of the place, the much-put-upon senior brother, having affairs still to see to at the Welcome Pavilion, took his leave without staying long, and Xiao Che and the others dispersed as well.
Wei Zhao saw them to the gate, and just as he was about to turn back, a familiar voice sounded suddenly behind him.
"Well, and how do you find Residence Number One?" Yu Zhenyang had appeared behind him at some unknown moment, and asked with a smile.
"Many thanks, Pavilion Master. I am most satisfied," Wei Zhao said with a nod and a smile—though inwardly he tensed. Yu Zhenyang, weakest of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's masters though he was, remained unfathomably strong; he had appeared behind Wei Zhao without Wei Zhao noticing in the least. A formidable hand indeed!
"Then good. Beyond this, Wei Zhao, is there anything else you would have me help with?" Yu Zhenyang asked in turn, a certain depth seeming to lurk in his gaze.