Chapter 3583 — Wei Zhao Steps Forward

"Senior Brother Meng, count me in!"

"Senior Brother Meng, me too, me too!"

"..."

The crowd instantly surged around Meng Jueming, each one falling over himself to curry favor. Though Meng Jueming was pleased with himself, he still put on a show of displeasure. "Quiet, quiet! What is this racket? Is this any way to behave? One at a time! Anyone who wants to sign up, raise your hand high!"

With power firmly in his grasp, Meng Jueming watched as the crowd hurried to fall silent and obey, terrified that one wrong move might cost them their livelihood. Anyone who so much as faltered now was immediately fixed with the glares of all the rest, courting universal wrath.

This was exactly the effect he wanted!

Meng Jueming smiled smugly. In years past, he would have had these newcomers eating out of his hand by the first day of registration. Who would have thought that this year would produce the freak Wei Zhao, who had stolen the spotlight on day one, making Meng Zhou a laughingstock and leaving him, the managing senior brother, with egg on his face—to say nothing of establishing any authority over the newcomers.

But in the end, an arm could never twist a thigh. When all was said and done, he, Meng Jueming, was the managing senior brother with real power in his hands. It had taken some trouble, but these newcomers would still have to listen to him! If not to him, then were they going to listen to that country bumpkin from the secular world, Wei Zhao?

One after another, the newcomers who wanted to sign up for mining raised their hands high. Meng Jueming called out a name at random, and the newcomer would act as though he had won the grand prize, showering him with gratitude and flattery. Some even swore on the spot to obey him in all things from then on, which pleased Meng Jueming immensely.

After going around the circle, twelve of Azure Cloud Pavilion's fifteen newcomers now stood behind Meng Jueming. The remaining three, needless to say, were Wei Zhao and his companions.

Under the mocking gazes of the crowd, Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai clenched their fists in unwillingness. Truth be told, like the other newcomers, they too were eager to seize this chance to earn spirit jade—but the trouble was, they could not.

This was not purely a matter of allegiance. More than anything, it was because of what Miserable Senior Brother had analyzed for them while Meng Jueming was calling names. He had already laid it out for Wei Zhao earlier, and it came down to ten words: mining carries risk; enter the trade with caution.

The risk was not to life or limb, but this: if they were assigned to the poorest-quality mining zone, the likely outcome was that they would waste vast amounts of cultivation time and, in the end, fail to dig up even a hundred pieces of spirit jade, earning no reward at all—the loss outweighing the gain.

Among the three, Xiao Che already had Cave Dwelling No. 1 at the foot of the mountain, so he was less dependent on spirit jade than the others; all he had to do was cultivate diligently. Qiao Hongcai, though he had only the rather unremarkable Cave Dwelling No. 13 at the mountain's foot, was currently at the peak of the late Heaven Tier, with a short-term goal of breaking through to Heaven Tier Great Perfection—a stage that did not demand too much spirit jade, and one he could well achieve with his existing cultivation resources.

Having heard Miserable Senior Brother's advice, the two weighed their options and ultimately chose to give up the opportunity. One should not grasp for more while holding what one has; tending to the present was what mattered.

Yet, to everyone's astonishment, it was not Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai—Wei Zhao's two henchmen—who failed to raise their hands. It was Wei Zhao himself who, at this moment, unhurriedly lifted his hand. "Senior Brother Meng, I want to sign up."

What was going on?!

The newcomers erupted in an uproar. Even his two lackeys had steeled themselves to resist the temptation—and yet Wei Zhao, their leader, had failed to? This was just too spineless! Did this fellow have any shame at all?

"Oh?" Meng Jueming was taken aback for a moment too. Once he recovered, he sneered with a strange look on his face. "Seems the lure of spirit jade truly is not to be underestimated—even our strongest newcomer is tempted! As the managing senior brother, I can hardly play favorites. Since you've set your mind on signing up, I'll count you in."

"Then many thanks, Senior Brother Meng," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"Think nothing of it, think nothing of it." Meng Jueming chuckled with a meaningful look. A public registration like this was not something he could refuse—and of course, he had no intention of refusing.

Off to the side, Meng Zhou grew anxious at the sight and leaned close to Meng Jueming's ear. "Cousin Jiu, how can we let that bastard Wei Zhao get the better of this? If he gets lucky and earns spirit jade, my ranking match next month will be in jeopardy!"

"You fool! I'm helping you, don't you understand!" Meng Jueming twisted his head around and cursed in a low voice, exasperated by his cousin's stupidity. "If he hadn't signed up, I'd have had no hold over him. But now that he has, all I have to do is toss him into a dead mining zone, and I guarantee he won't dig up a hundred pieces of spirit jade in his whole life. That way he'll have no time to cultivate, and your chances of winning will soar. You idiot—truly a piece of rotten wood that can't be carved!"

Of course, there was one thing he did not say: that Wei Zhao, that thorn in the side, had bowed and scraped before him, the managing senior brother—so would the others not be even more docile? By means of this affair, Meng Jueming had also recovered the face he had lost before!

"So that's it! Cousin Jiu, you're brilliant!" Meng Zhou finally saw the light. He had never even considered this angle, and had been afraid Wei Zhao might earn spirit jade. Now, hearing Meng Jueming's explanation, he understood—this fellow Wei Zhao was simply courting death!

"Of course. If it were left to that pig brain of yours, you couldn't even grasp an opportunity delivered to your door!" Meng Jueming curled his lip, then asked in a low voice, still uneasy, "That business I had you take care of earlier—is it all settled? No mistakes, I hope?"

"Heh, Cousin Jiu, rest easy. I did exactly as you said—absolutely no mistakes!" Meng Zhou caught on at once and vowed solemnly.

"Good. If this plan succeeds, you won't need to worry about how to deal with Wei Zhao in next month's ranking match—because he won't live that long! A mere newcomer from the secular world dares to defy me? This time I'll teach him properly just how many eyes the Horse King has!"

Meng Jueming gave a cold laugh, then turned to face the crowd and said loudly, "Some of the rules here at Welcome Pavilion are much the same as the market rules I explained to you before! Since you're going down into the mines, I must mention one thing: cultivate the self before cultivating the art; conduct yourself rightly before doing anything else. The disciples of Welcome Pavilion must be upright in character. Spirit jade may be tempting, but you had best keep your hands to yourselves. I'll say the ugly part first: if anyone is caught pilfering what he shouldn't, and brings disgrace upon the discipline of this place, then by the rules of our sect, an inner-school expert shall have the meridians of one hand and one foot crippled! An outer-school expert shall have his hands and feet broken outright! And that's if I catch you. If the Enforcement Hall catches you, you'll be beaten to death on the spot—and you'll have only your bad luck to blame!"