Chapter 3558 — The Master of the Triple Pavilion

Of the two vice-pavilion masters, Feng Song was the one who posed the greatest threat to Hu Yunfeng's position as pavilion master. His backing might not be as formidable as Hu Yunfeng's, but nearly every newcomer chosen by the Xuanji Pavilion had thrown in their lot with him, and in both strength and influence he was far from weak—Hu Yunfeng's greatest rival at present.

As for the remaining vice-pavilion master, his rank was the same as Feng Song's, but since his backer, the Azure Cloud Pavilion, was utterly ineffectual, and he himself had no remarkable strength to speak of, he had been thoroughly marginalized within the Welcome Pavilion. Never mind competing for the pavilion master's seat—by the look of things, he might not even be able to hold on to his vice-pavilion master post. Even the Azure Cloud Pavilion's own newcomers did no more than call him Third Pavilion Master to his face, so awkward was his standing.

Had it not been for the Three Pavilion Summit, where the balance of power made it necessary to install a Third Pavilion Master, the Welcome Pavilion would have been a world of Hu Yunfeng and Feng Song alone!

Compared with the first two groups, whose pavilion master and vice-pavilion master had come out in person to receive them, the miserable senior brother and Wei Zhao, arriving last, found no one to attend to them at all. Not a single personage of note appeared, and even the lowliest Welcome Pavilion disciple could not be bothered with them. The Azure Cloud Pavilion, a notorious dumping ground for the useless, was fated to amount to nothing in this life—so why bother greeting them?

What puzzled Wei Zhao most, however, was this: fine, no pavilion master had come, but why had no one else from the Azure Cloud Pavilion turned up to welcome them either? Even without any grand retinue, surely their own people should have come?

It made Wei Zhao think that the miserable senior brother's words on the road had not been idle talk—even this, the lowliest of the three pavilions, was not a solid, unified block.

And it was not only Wei Zhao who felt aggrieved. Even Xiao Che, who had been bent on keeping a low profile, was equally dismayed at the sight. After all, everyone who could come to Ascending Cloud Terrace Island stood at the very pinnacle of the mortal world; if not overlords in their own right, then dragons among men, favored children of heaven—when had any of them ever been so coldly neglected?

If everyone had received the same treatment, there would be nothing to feel bitter about. The trouble was that the others all had heavyweight figures come out to receive them, while on their side not even a bottom-rung underling had shown up. The disparity was simply too glaring.

Such differential treatment meant they had lost at the starting line before the race had even begun, and one could well imagine how their days in the Welcome Pavilion would go from here.

The miserable senior brother had expected this. Seeing the two men's faces cloud over, he could only offer an awkward consolation: "Our Azure Cloud Pavilion may not compare with the other two, but we do in fact have a vice-pavilion master. He had said he would bring people to welcome you, but the pavilion master summoned him away at the last moment for some odds and ends, so..."

Wei Zhao and Xiao Che exchanged a bitter smile. Judging by the pomp on the other two sides, it was clear the Welcome Pavilion set great store by its newcomers—yet their own Azure Cloud Pavilion's vice-pavilion master had been dispatched at a moment's notice to run errands, unable even to step out and greet the newcomers. That told them plainly enough how weak his standing was.

No wonder even the Azure Cloud Pavilion could not present a united front internally. Were any newcomer treated so coldly and still prove willing to follow that vice-pavilion master's every word, that would be a genuine ghost-sighting.

A classic case of the general being a bear and the whole army a den of bears!

"Let's go. There's a welcoming assembly in the main hall shortly. Apart from you few who were teleported up from the mortal world, the other newcomers selected from this island are already there. I'll take you over." The miserable senior brother sighed.

Wei Zhao and Xiao Che nodded. Matters had come to this; complaining inwardly was of no further use. There was no changing allegiance at the last minute to seek shelter under the Chongtian Pavilion or the Xuanji Pavilion—quite apart from the fact that neither of them was so shameless, even if they did so, they would not be accepted. Otherwise they would have been picked off long ago.

They could only take things as they came and play it by ear.

Past the main gate of the Welcome Pavilion and through a courtyard lay the main hall, imposing and solemn.

As the miserable senior brother had said, a good many newcomers had already gathered there—by rough count, forty or fifty of them, all selected through layer upon layer of screening from the island's towns and villages. Every one of them was above the late Heaven Tier, and even those at the peak great consummation of the late Heaven Tier were everywhere to be seen.

The newcomers present had already spontaneously divided into three small circles. In the very center was a faction of a dozen or so, all dressed in finery, heads held high, superiority radiating from their every gesture. Apart from their own circle, they looked down on everyone else with open disdain. Theirs were the loudest voices in the whole hall, every inch the born overlords.

That sense of déjà vu reminded Wei Zhao of how city folk in the mortal world looked down on country bumpkins—the two were simply identical.

"These newcomers were all chosen by the Chongtian Pavilion. Every one of them comes from a family of great standing and deep connections—true second-generation cultivators. Whatever you do, don't cross these people in the future. You can't afford to." The miserable senior brother introduced them to Wei Zhao and Xiao Che in a low voice, fearful that the two, ignorant of the situation, might carelessly bring down ruin upon themselves.

Only then did the two of them understand. No wonder this lot went around saying "my family's such-and-such elder" and "my family's such-and-such steward"—so they were all second-generation cultivators. These people might not be especially strong, but every one of them had deep backing. Truly provoking the big figures behind them would indeed be no small trouble.

Just then, Xu Lingchong happened to lead Kang Jingming and Zhong Yongliang past along the side. Zhong Yongliang winked at Wei Zhao, and Wei Zhao nodded in understanding.

In this situation, new to everything and with the lay of the land unclear, having Zhong Yongliang infiltrate the Chongtian Pavilion faction was better than keeping him cooped up with them in the Azure Cloud Pavilion. If nothing else, at least he could gather some useful intelligence that might come in handy at some unknown point later.

"Senior Brother Xu, you see that fellow with the smug, posturing look? That's Wei Zhao." Kang Jingming seized the moment to whisper in Xu Lingchong's ear, itching for Xu Lingchong to deal with Wei Zhao right then and there, to make a public spectacle of him and see how he could show his face in the Welcome Pavilion afterward.

Unfortunately, Xu Lingchong did not oblige him. He was, after all, the legitimate grandson of the Chongtian Pavilion's Third Elder. To step forward on such an occasion and take on a mere newcomer from the mortal world would not only dirty his hands but make him the laughingstock of the second-generation set in his own circle. He would never stoop to something so beneath his dignity.