Chapter 3498 — Calm Retreat

"So will you be staying in one room or three?" asked the man in the Eight-Trigram robe.

"One suite," Wei Zhao said. He and Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi were already so close that there was no need to split rooms at all; and though the two women possessed strength at the peak of the late Heaven rank, at Great Perfection, in truth they had strength but no fighting power. For safety's sake, Wei Zhao wanted to sleep in the same room with them.

The man in the Eight-Trigram robe nodded and registered their request, then handed Wei Zhao a room card. "Third floor, room 301."

Taking the card, Wei Zhao prepared to go upstairs with Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi. The inns here all had the crudest sort of stairs, with no elevators. But just as the three of them were about to ascend, a trial participant above them was coming down.

The staircase, however, was narrow, wide enough for only one person to pass. Wei Zhao climbed two steps, and the other man descended two—it was a spiral staircase with no landing in between, so one side would have to retreat.

Wei Zhao had only just arrived and naturally did not want trouble. Moreover, by the customs of the mortal world, those entering yield to those leaving, and those below go up after those above come down. So Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi were just about to step back down when the man above spoke.

"You down there, get out of the way, damn it. Who knows where this vagrant cultivator crawled out from, and he's even brought two little girls—does he think this is a pleasure trip? What a bumpkin!" This man was a disciple of a sect from a foreign land, named Lou Taixie, possessing strength at the peak of the late Heaven rank, at Great Perfection—a formidable presence even in the trials. So he had always thrown his weight around; that very morning he had bullied a vagrant cultivator at the peak of the late Heaven rank, and his confidence was bursting.

Moreover, in theory, participants were permitted to bring spirit beasts and servants, so long as the servants did not follow them into the trials; it was normal enough for them to tend to the participants in their rooms. It was just that most participants came here for the trials, not for pleasure.

So Lou Taixie naturally took Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi for Wei Zhao's family. And some vagrant cultivators, with a bit of strength, did not know their place—before ordinary folk of the mortal world they were fearsome indeed, but before the ancient sects they were nothing at all.

Wei Zhao found it rather amusing. Here at the ancient level, there were still people who did not recognize him, putting on airs before him? Did he not know that those who had put on airs before him were all dead or crippled?

But just as Wei Zhao was about to speak, a nervous voice sounded from behind him: "Fellow brothers, when traveling abroad, taking a loss is a gain—if you can yield, yield..."

Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. He turned and saw a rather gaunt man of about twenty or thirty standing behind him—though of course, Heaven-rank experts were ageless, so who knew how old he really was.

"Thank you for the reminder..." Wei Zhao thought it over, then decided to let it go. His mindset was different from before; he truly could not be bothered with such a clown.

So Wei Zhao stepped back two paces, letting the cultivator who meant to come down pass first.

"Hahahaha!" Seeing Wei Zhao beat a retreat, Lou Taixie was instantly delighted. He came down the stairs and swaggered off, and as he went he did not forget to flaunt his Heaven-rank Great Perfection strength: "In this life, never overestimate yourself—otherwise you won't even know how you died!"

Wei Zhao shook his head helplessly and looked at the man who had warned him. He did not know this person, and this person probably did not know him either—otherwise he would not have bothered to warn him. After all, Wei Zhao's reputation at the ancient level was fearsome; who would dare provoke him now?

"Fellow brother, take a step back and the sky opens wide. And you have family with you here, so it is all the more unwise to make an enemy of a man so petty," the man advised Xiao Chen.

"You are not wrong. May I ask your name?" Wei Zhao asked.

"This one is Xiao Che, a son of a fallen house—the ancient Xiao family of former days. Have you heard of it, brother?" Here Xiao Che could not help but smile bitterly at himself. "Because my family has already been demoted from an ancient house to an ordinary one, I have come as a vagrant cultivator... I am now an expert at the peak of the late Heaven rank! What is your name, brother? You look like a vagrant cultivator too?"

"Oh? Why do you say that? Could I not have come from a sect?" Wei Zhao asked, slightly startled and somewhat puzzled. As for this ancient Xiao family, he truly had never heard of it. It was probably a thoroughly fallen house, like Elder Qingbo's sect once was—no longer even qualified to take part in such trials.

"Those sect disciples all hold their heads so high they cannot see their feet—who among them would be willing to yield?" Xiao Che said, then smiled bitterly. "Only vagrant cultivators are as modest and mild as you, brother. And this is a trial; most people do not bring their families. But you brought two women, so you must be a vagrant cultivator—because the sons of sects and houses would never do such a thing, as it would divide their attention. So I suggest you send the two of them back..."

"Heh, thank you for the reminder, Brother Xiao, but they have come to take part in the trials as well." Wei Zhao smiled. "They are both Heaven-rank Great Perfection experts. My name is Wei Zhao, and I am indeed a vagrant cultivator! Well, I should be going upstairs. Go about your business, Brother Xiao!"

"Ah? Both Heaven-rank Great Perfection?" Xiao Che stared at Wei Zhao as if he could not believe it, then suddenly cried out, "Ah, you are the legendary Wei Zhao?!"

"..." Wei Zhao nodded, somewhat speechless at Xiao Che's reaction. Even if he was famous now, there was no need to be so dramatic about it, was there?

"So it is Brother Lin—then I have been meddling..." Xiao Che shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Then I will not disturb you, Brother Lin..."

"Very well, let us talk more another time..." Wei Zhao nodded, then went upstairs with Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi.

Only after Xiao Che had gone did Wang Xinyan say, "That man is not bad—a warm heart..."

"Mm, he probably suffered at that man's hands earlier. Still, he is an honest sort; we can talk more with him in the future. But for now, let us get settled first," Wei Zhao said. "At present we do not know who among them are Ancestor Xuanchen's people, so it is best not to form cliques—let us see how things stand first."

"We will both follow your lead anyway, and we could not form a clique even if we wanted to," Wang Xinyan said with a nod.

The rooms here were of quite a high grade—top-tier suites. But these cultivators did not care about such things; they were all top experts who had already enjoyed whatever there was to enjoy. RS