Chapter 3640 — A Patron for the Bitter Senior Brother

Beside him, Zhong Yongliang was laughing along with the rest, though in his heart he was not laughing at Wei Zhao but at Kang Jingming and his lot. Fools though they plainly were, they still dared to laugh at their leader Wei Zhao—a man who had clawed his way up from the very bottom of the mortal world. Wei Zhao's cultivation talent was surely unmatched in all history and would never be equaled in ages to come. For something as simple as this, they still had to ask others? Ridiculous!

Though Zhao Hongbo had quietly set him up like that, Wei Zhao had by now learned about as much as he needed; his purpose here had been achieved. Still, he deliberately put on a dejected, downcast look. "That was three questions already? I thought it counted as just one!"

"Ha, you can't even tell one from three—I'd say you're the two in the middle!" Kang Jingming was even more smug at the sight. Watching Wei Zhao, his bitter rival, swallow a silent loss was simply delightful.

The people around them burst into laughter at once, pointing and jeering at Wei Zhao with utter abandon.

Watching this, Xu Yuanzheng, standing at the very center, frowned. Yet he did not stop the laughter; instead he looked at Wei Zhao and said, "This disciple simply doesn't measure up—far too foolish! Given such a rare opportunity, he did not ask about cultivation, but instead asked idle gossip. That runs completely counter to the very purpose of an instruction day! Since he is so derelict in his duties, he should not be given so many cultivation resources in the future. Give them to the more diligent disciples instead!"

At those words, the eyes of everyone present turned on Wei Zhao with even greater schadenfreude. As for Lu Bianren, the Bitter Senior Brother, and the others, each wore a look of deep worry, anxious on Wei Zhao's behalf.

Xu Yuanzheng was a towering figure on the Elders' Council! Any remark he casually made here was worth its weight in gold, no different from an imperial edict. And so Wei Zhao's days in Welcoming Pavilion would only grow harder from now on!

Sure enough, beside him Hu Yunfeng nodded hurriedly in agreement. "The Third Elder's criticism is most just. This disciple also believes that some newcomers lack the will to improve, and that their share of cultivation resources should be given to others. Only thus can we better spur the newcomers on to contribute to our North Island Sect."

"Mm, that is a very good thought of yours," Xu Yuanzheng said with an approving nod.

Among the crowd, Meng Jueming was overjoyed to hear this. If so, would it not be all the more justified for him to torment Wei Zhao in the future? This was carrying out Elder Xu Yuanzheng's wishes—who would dare say a word against it?

As for Wei Zhao himself, though the meager cultivation resources Welcoming Pavilion allotted him were nothing in his eyes thanks to the jade pendant's space, he still had to put on a pitiful, helpless air for the moment.

After all, even the most arrogant and capable newcomer could not help but despair before Xu Yuanzheng's words. If Wei Zhao alone remained utterly unmoved, that would easily invite suspicion.

And the more pitiful Wei Zhao appeared now, the more smug Xu Lingchong and the others naturally became. With that final, fatal remark from Xu Yuanzheng to cap it off, today's whole scheme could be called a complete success. From now on, all of Welcoming Pavilion would be Wei Zhao's enemy. Let the fool look forward to a bitter taste of suffering!

After the small storm of the Wei Zhao episode, the public instruction day finally drew to a proper close. Hu Yunfeng and the others respectfully saw the three elders off, while the other newcomers scattered in twos and threes, chatting and laughing. And their topic, naturally, could not stray from Wei Zhao, the unlucky wretch who had become the final center of attention.

"Junior Brother Lin, you... ah..." Lu Bianren, the Bitter Senior Brother, Xiao Che, and Qiao Hongcai gathered around Wei Zhao, every face clouded with worry, words hovering on their lips.

However much they might burn with indignation on Wei Zhao's behalf, matters had come to this pass, and even if they wished to help him they were utterly without means. After all, the other party was a towering figure on the Elders' Council; they were mere bottom-rung underlings who could be crushed with a single casual word, with no strength to resist at all.

Seeing that the others had mostly dispersed, Wei Zhao finally dropped the helpless expression he had been deliberately feigning and said with a faint smile, "You truly need not worry about me. Even if they target me, the worst they can do is dock my cultivation resources. Surely someone like Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng can't simply challenge me to a duel outright. And as for those few resources, I have my own ways of making them up through other channels. So there's nothing to worry about."

The others exchanged glances. Seeing that Wei Zhao, the man at the center of it all, looked so unconcerned, they would seem rather more anxious than the emperor himself if they, his companions, remained so grim.

"Heh, Junior Brother Lin is truly a man of broad mind—admirable indeed! By comparison, though I flatter myself that my own state of mind is decent, set against you, Junior Brother Lin, it still falls short. How ashamed I am!" Lu Bianren said with a laugh.

Only then did the others realize that Wei Zhao was not the only one in an awkward spot. In a sense, Lu Bianren's position was now even more precarious than Wei Zhao's! After all, however difficult Wei Zhao's situation, he at least still had a chance to meet each move as it came. Lu Bianren, though, might not even have that chance!

"Senior Brother Lu, you surely won't come to any harm, will you? After all, Elder Zhao didn't say anything just now," the Bitter Senior Brother could not help saying, clinging to a faint hope.

Though Lu Bianren had long since been stripped of real power by Hu Yunfeng and the others acting together, he was still, after all, a third pavilion master, a pillar of support for them. Even if he held little authority and often could not help much, he could at least offer some experience and insight to point the way for them.

Lu Bianren shook his head helplessly. "With any other elder, there might be a sliver of hope. But this is Elder Zhao we're talking about. Given his relationship with our patron, do you think he will let me off? If our patron were still at Azure Cloud Pavilion, there might be a chance he could protect me. Unfortunately, he left long ago on a mission to the outer islands, and there has been no word of him since!"

Their patron? Wei Zhao's heart stirred at the words. It was hardly strange for Lu Bianren and the Bitter Senior Brother to have a patron at Azure Cloud Pavilion, but from the way Lu Bianren spoke, could their patron actually stand against Zhao Hongbo, the Fourth Elder of Azure Cloud Pavilion?

If so, even if that person was not an elder, he must at least be someone of formidable strength. And birds of a feather flock together—if he had earned the recognition of Lu Bianren and the Bitter Senior Brother, his character was likely good as well. If the chance came later, he ought to get to know this person.