Chapter 3499 — A Change in Attitude

Wei Zhao came down to the inn's ground-floor dining hall with Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi in tow. On the way down, he overheard two men talking not far ahead of them—and one of them was Lou Taixie, the very man he had run into on his way downstairs earlier.

"Brother Lou, formidable as you are, there are a few people in these trials that you absolutely must not provoke!" The speaker was another wandering cultivator from a foreign land. Though a vagrant, he was from the same distant realm as Lou Taixie and had naturally fallen in with him.

"Oh? Little Tu, you're well informed indeed. Go on, then—who is it I can't provoke?" Lou Taixie said carelessly. He was a fine hand at the peak of the Heaven rank, at Great Perfection, and in his eyes there was no such thing as an existence he could not provoke.

"Kang Jingming, from the Kang family, is not to be provoked. He is the son-in-law of Ancestor Xuanchen, the sponsor of these trials. The man is only an alchemist, but we absolutely must not cross him!" Tu Xiaoshou said.

"Oh, that goes without saying." Conceited as Lou Taixie was, he was no fool. He knew the power of the Five Luminaries Sect, and that ordinary folk could never provoke them at will. "Who else?"

"There's also a vicious one in the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect. Word has it that in every past trial, contestants who clashed with him came off the worse. His name is Zhang Naipao, and the mental cultivation method and oral formula he practices are utterly wicked!" Tu Xiaoshou said.

"Zhang Naipao—I've heard of him. He's a nasty piece of work, all right..." The moment Lou Taixie heard the man belonged to the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect, his spirit deflated at once. He knew how mighty that sect was—second only to the Five Luminaries Sect.

"And there's one more, the one you must never provoke above all. He's a wandering cultivator, but I hear that in every past trial he has utterly crushed Zhang Naipao!" Tu Xiaoshou said.

"That can't be. A lone vagrant cultivator, that strong?" Lou Taixie had heard Wei Zhao's name before, but inwardly he thought: how strong can a vagrant cultivator be? It was probably all boasting, cooked up to fool people. So he said with some contempt, "From the sound of it, he's nothing special."

"Shh—Brother Lou, mind yourself! Walls have ears. If word of this gets back to Wei Zhao, you'll be courting disaster!" Tu Xiaoshou said in alarm. "Never mind whether the rumors from past trials are true or not—even if they aren't, Wei Zhao is at the very least a man who can stand and fight Zhang Naipao. Even if he lost, Zhang Naipao never did anything to him. That alone shows he's no simple character!"

"Hmph, true or not? Maybe Zhang Naipao took pity on him and spared his life—who's to say!" Lou Taixie snorted, somewhat scornful of Tu Xiaoshou's timidity. "That Wei Zhao, however strong, is at most at the peak of the Heaven rank, at Great Perfection. He has no sect, no school—just a vagrant. You and I are both fine hands at the peak of the Heaven rank, at Great Perfection. Two against one, and we wouldn't be sure of ourselves?"

"That's true enough as far as it goes, but I hear Wei Zhao's mental cultivation method and oral formula are most wicked, and his martial arts are wicked too. He's hailed as the foremost man beneath the Heavenly Dao, and they say he can cut down a fine hand at the peak of the Heaven rank, at Great Perfection, in a single blow. I say caution never hurts!" Tu Xiaoshou lowered his voice.

"Fine, then. Whatever his strength, we've no dealings with him. Let that legendary Zhang Naipao and Wei Zhao settle scores between them again!" Lou Taixie waved his hand.

"All right... then let's drop it..." Tu Xiaoshou shook his head. It seemed Lou Taixie still did not take Wei Zhao seriously. It was only natural for a disciple of a sect to look down on vagrant cultivators—Tu Xiaoshou himself was a fine hand at the peak of the Heaven rank, at Great Perfection, the equal of Lou Taixie, yet whenever the two were together, it was always Lou Taixie who took the lead.

Wei Zhao had heard every word of it from where he stood, but he had no interest in picking a quarrel with them. He simply did not take it to heart. If the man thought him formidable, then formidable he was. He had not bothered with them on his way downstairs earlier; why should he now?

Wei Zhao shook his head. Only after the two men had entered the dining hall did he lead Wang Xinyan and Han Jingyi inside.

In the dining hall, Wei Zhao at once spotted Xiao Che, the cultivator who had spoken with him earlier, sitting alone at a table eating. Seeing Wei Zhao come in, Xiao Che looked up and gave him a friendly smile.

Wei Zhao nodded back. Since the man was courteous, there was no need for Wei Zhao to answer with a cold face. As for cultivating a closer relationship, he had not considered it. These trials were unlike those of the past; Wei Zhao did not want to stand out too much, nor did he want to form factions.

After all, many of the inheritors taking part in the trials had ties to Wei Zhao. If he went and formed factions with other contestants as well, Xuanchen might grow wary of him and cook up some pointless trouble aimed his way—and then Wei Zhao would lose more than he gained.

His purpose in coming here was simple. He was not here to make enemies with anyone; he only wanted to pass the trials, then take part in the Heaven Rank Assembly and make his way to Cloud Rank Island. So long as he achieved that, Wei Zhao was content to coast through, and there was no need at all to stir up complications.

The dining hall worked on a self-service ordering system, with no waiters; one had to go to the counter to order. When Wei Zhao arrived, Lou Taixie and Tu Xiaoshou were just ordering. Seeing Wei Zhao approach, Lou Taixie gave a disdainful snort. "Get in line and wait your turn like everyone else. Haven't you any manners at all?"

Wei Zhao gave him a faint glance and said nothing.

"What the hell are you looking at? Think you're something special? Just a vagrant cultivator. Dare you give your name?" Lou Taixie glared at Wei Zhao. He had come here to make his presence felt, and he took pleasure in trampling on others.

"My name is Wei Zhao," Wei Zhao said.

"Wei Zhao, eh? Fine, I'll remember that. We'll meet again in the trials..." Lou Taixie was still holding forth when Tu Xiaoshou's face changed beside him. He kept tugging at Lou Taixie, signaling him to say no more. "What are you pulling at me for?"

"Brother Lou, Wei Zhao—he is Wei Zhao!" Tu Xiaoshou reminded him, his face bitter.

"Wei Zhao? What about Wei Zhao?" Lou Taixie started, then suddenly his expression shifted, and he stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief. "You... you you you you... you're the Wei Zhao who stood against Zhang Naipao?"

"Stood against? More or less." Wei Zhao nodded. "Though I should say he was the one wounded every time."

"Uh... Young Hero Lin, why don't you order first... I'll wait a while, I'll wait a while..." Braggart though Lou Taixie was, and contemptuous as he had been, the moment he actually laid eyes on Wei Zhao his legs turned to jelly.

After all, few who came to the trials were truly fools. There is often something to a rumor after all! RS