Chapter 2797 — Utter Admiration

He had suffered at the hands of Zhang Naipao and his crew before, and he knew all too well how formidable they were. Though he himself was a mid Earth Rank expert, he had gained no advantage whatsoever against two of Zhang Naipao's subordinates; had he not fled quickly, he might well have been crippled too. But never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Wei Zhao could cripple Zhang Naipao's underling and then sit here eating with such ease, utterly unharmed. It was simply inconceivable.

"Li Ciba pays his respects to Young Hero Lin, Brother Lin! You are truly my idol! Brother Lin, you may already know that our Divine Fist Hall's disciples suffered greatly at Zhang Naipao's hands before. We thought revenge was hopeless, but never expected that Brother Lin would vent our grievance for us. I am truly grateful beyond words!" Li Ciba gazed at Wei Zhao with admiration so profound it bordered on worship.

"Zhang Naipao and I were enemies to begin with. During the last trial at the Ice Palace, I crippled him once already. It is only natural that he would come looking for trouble the moment he saw me. That has nothing to do with you," Wei Zhao said with a casual wave of his hand.

"My heavens, Brother Lin, you are that fierce? So it was you who crippled Zhang Naipao last time? Then was Feng Nitian also crippled by you... uh?" Li Ciba trailed off, suddenly turning to stare at Feng Shihua in astonishment. He could not fathom why Feng Shihua would be sitting with Wei Zhao. Had Wei Zhao not crippled a member of the Feng family?

"Brother Li, there is no need to look at me like that. I know my cousin well. He is domineering in his dealings, and during the Ice Palace trial he tried to seize Brother Lin's heavenly treasures by force. His being crippled was his own doing, and no one else is to blame," Feng Shihua said with a shake of his head. "This matter does not affect my relationship with Brother Lin."

In truth, Feng Shihua was no fool at all. Though he had come, and had come to seek medicine for Feng Nitian, he showed not the slightest hostility toward the man who had injured his cousin. Instead, he went out of his way to be friendly—enough to show that Feng Shihua was the type whose great wisdom was concealed beneath a plain exterior.

"So that is how it is." Li Ciba nodded. "Brother Lin is so formidable—I say, for this trial, let us all jointly nominate Brother Lin as our captain! We will form a squad and enter the trial under Brother Lin's leadership!"

"I am all for it!" Ge Xian admired Wei Zhao greatly as well and nodded in agreement.

"Naturally I have no objection either. With Brother Lin leading us, our squad will be like a tiger with wings!" Feng Shihua laughed.

"Wei Zhao has always been my leader. I certainly have no problem with it," Zhao Qilei said.

And so, to his own bewilderment, Wei Zhao became the captain of the group, much to his helpless resignation.

"By the way, Ciba, those two who came with you—whose disciples are they? They seemed rather wary of you?" Wei Zhao asked. Since everyone had nominated him as captain, he did not decline, and he now addressed Li Ciba simply as Ciba.

"Those two are disciples of the Dark Night Palace. Their strength is ordinary—only mid Earth Rank... Of course, I do not mean to look down on Earth Rank. An expert like Brother Lin is even more formidable than us Earth Rank experts!" Fearing Wei Zhao might take offense, Li Ciba added, "Originally, on the road here, those two Dark Night Palace disciples were fawning over us, hoping to attach themselves to me and my junior brother. Later, when we ran into Zhang Naipao and my junior brother was crippled, those two began to keep their distance..."

"Disciples of the Dark Night Palace?" Wei Zhao had heard of the Dark Night Palace. Last time, when he returned from West Star Mountain, he had heard of it... Suddenly, for no apparent reason, a headache struck Wei Zhao. Thinking of the journey to West Star Mountain, he felt that his memories of that time were somehow incomplete, as though much in between had gone missing—yet try as he might, he could not recall it.

"Brother Lin, what is it? Do you have a grudge against the Dark Night Palace?" Seeing Wei Zhao's brows knit tightly and his expression somewhat grim, Li Ciba assumed Wei Zhao bore a deep enmity toward the Dark Night Palace, and said, "Shall I go teach them a lesson?"

"No, do not act rashly." Wei Zhao waved his hand and said, "I was merely thinking of some other matters. It is nothing."

"Very well." Li Ciba had wanted to show off in front of Wei Zhao, but unfortunately the opportunity was not to be.

After a while, more disciples drifted into the dining hall one after another—some known to Ge Xian and the others, some not. One who caught Wei Zhao's attention was a female disciple from the Ice Palace.

Originally, Wei Zhao had thought Zhao Qiwu or Yu Bing might come, but to his surprise, neither had. In truth, the Xuandan Sect's trial was fraught with danger, and Yu Bing and Zhao Qiwu alike were people Wei Zhao had entrusted to Feng Xiaoxiao's care. Naturally, Feng Xiaoxiao would not let them attend such a dangerous trial—especially since Feng Xiaoxiao did not even know Wei Zhao would be participating in the Xuandan Sect's trial.

After all, last time Wei Zhao had joined the Xuandan Sect's trial purely by accident, and the trial itself had little to do with him.

Originally, Wei Zhao had assumed it would be impossible to meet anyone he knew at the trial. But to his surprise, the dining hall door opened and a cool-looking girl dressed all in black slipped in on tiptoe, cautious and quiet, greeting no one, and found an empty corner to sit down in.

"Pfft..." Wei Zhao looked at the newcomer and spat out the drink he had just taken into his mouth. Who else could it be but Yang Qiqi?

What Wei Zhao had not expected was that Yang Qiqi would actually come to participate in the Xuandan Sect's trial as well. What was she doing here at the trial? Could it be she was again trying to exchange for some medicinal ingredient to cure her friend's illness?

"Brother Lin, what is it?" Feng Shihua asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Nothing. I just saw an acquaintance," Wei Zhao said.

"Then call her over to sit with us!" Feng Shihua said warmly upon hearing this.

"No need. Her personality is a bit withdrawn. We will see," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head. He knew Yang Qiqi's temperament well enough; if there was no particular reason, he would not provoke her, lest the girl threaten to silence him at the drop of a hat.

After dinner, Wei Zhao and the others returned to their rooms to rest. Because the dining hall was crowded with cultivators coming and going, Yang Qiqi had not noticed Wei Zhao. After finishing her meal, she left alone—it seemed she had no friends here either.

Whether it was because Wei Zhao had crushed his pride or for some other reason, Zhang Naipao did not come back downstairs after going up to his room, nor did he eat anything.

"Brother Lin, what is that spirit beast of yours for? Why does it look like a pet? It probably will not be of much use in this trial, will it?" Ge Xian, being widely experienced, found the spirit beast in Wei Zhao's hands rather strange at once.

"Heh, I am simply used to keeping it with me." (There were some errors in yesterday's chapter; they have been corrected.)