Chapter 3684 — The Resentful Lan'er

But when Meng Zhou proudly displayed his basket before the crowd, everyone gasped—a full sixteen hundred points!

My heavens! The crowd was instantly in an uproar. Even if the nearly five hundred points he had snatched from Qiao Hongcai had all gone into that basket, it still meant Meng Zhou had earned eleven hundred points on his own—that was simply absurd!

Everyone knew that Meng Zhou, like the rest of them, had only had a day and a half of real gathering time. To pull in eleven hundred points in a day and a half—what kind of concept was that? Was this creature really hiding his true depths, simply looking unimpressive on the surface?

Not just the crowd—even Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback at the sight of that score, though he quickly regained his composure, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint half-smile. As for Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, watching Meng Zhou's smug expression, they could barely hold back their laughter.

Up to this point, because everyone had been so in awe of Wei Zhao and kept their distance, no one had gotten a close look at his score. As for Meng Zhou, the fellow who had turned tail and fled the moment he arrived, he had no idea what Wei Zhao's basket even looked like, and assumed this fool could scrape together five or six hundred points at most!

He had originally worried that after robbing the other rookies, Wei Zhao might end up ahead of him—but when he heard that Wei Zhao had only extorted a hundred points from each person, his worries instantly evaporated.

"Only a hundred from each—so a thousand extra at most. And given your taste for putting on airs, you'll probably hand some to those two worthless lackeys. Add what you started with, and a thousand is the ceiling! Heh heh, Mister Show-Off, looks like this time you really have shown off your way into being a fool!" Meng Zhou chattered on smugly.

As for the other rookies, the way they looked at Wei Zhao now had turned somewhat mocking. True, Wei Zhao hadn't dealt with them harshly, but he had still made them pay a hundred points each—so they were more than happy to see him come to grief.

"Is that so? Then let's wait and see." Wei Zhao smiled faintly, then shot a glance at Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai. The two of them deliberately shifted to block his basket even more tightly.

Since Meng Zhou was so pleased with himself, let him stay pleased a while longer—surprises were always best saved for last!

"Heh, a dead duck's mouth is the hardest of all!"

Seeing that Wei Zhao offered no retort, Meng Zhou grew even more smug. Besides the points he had snatched from Qiao Hongcai, the key to his haul this time was a cheating device Meng Jueming had given him beforehand—a wood-attribute sensor!

This wood-attribute sensor could automatically detect every spirit herb within a hundred meters and indicate their direction and location—a veritable divine tool for gathering herbs! Compared to that, gathering herbs by observation alone, the way Wei Zhao did, was the act of a pathetic weakling, utterly beneath comparison!

What Meng Zhou did not know was that in this world there existed a spirit beast called the Heavenly Thunder Pig, and its ability was at least ten times that of a wood-attribute sensor!

As they spoke, noon had arrived. Just as before the trial began, the new disciples were once again assembled in the plaza before the Rear Mountain Hall, waiting in silence, while the three elders they had seen before still sat upon those three broad outdoor chairs, as stately and imposing as ever. It gave one the feeling that these three days had never moved at all from first to last.

And flanking them, besides Hu Yunfeng, master of the Welcome Pavilion, and several senior stewards, there were two unexpected additions—and Wei Zhao was acquainted with both of them.

One was Xu Lingchong; the other was the young woman he had met once before, Shangguan Lan'er.

Catching sight of Wei Zhao among the new disciples, the little curly-furred bear clinging to Shangguan Lan'er immediately squealed with excitement. Had she not held it back, it would surely have struggled free and run to Wei Zhao's side.

"Hey, hey, you heartless little white thing, what kind of spell has that creature cast on you? All these years, from the time you were small, you've never once been this eager with me!" Shangguan Lan'er pouted, grumbling with unconcealed indignation.

The Rear Mountain Hall was one of the most remote corners of the Triple Stack Pavilion. Were it not for something special, she would never have been willing to come all this way—and this time she had come purely because the little curly-furred bear had wheedled and pleaded without end.

It had all started when, chatting idly with the other young masters and misses, she heard Xu Lingchong casually mention the Welcome Pavilion's new disciple trial—and from that moment the little creature had been bewitched, insisting on dragging her along to join the fun.

In the end, utterly helpless, Shangguan Lan'er had no choice but to indulge it; otherwise the little thing would truly have turned the house upside down.

At first she had found it odd, assuming the little curly-furred bear simply wanted to slip off to the rear mountain to play. But now, seeing how it behaved, her heart was clear as a mirror—the little thing had come all this way just to see Wei Zhao!

Ten-odd years of pouring out her heart and soul, and yet the little creature was fonder and more eager toward Wei Zhao after only a few hours of play—how was that for mortifying!

For a moment, the look Shangguan Lan'er turned on Wei Zhao began to carry a sour resentment.

Sensing this, Wei Zhao shrugged, baffled. To this day he still had no idea who this young woman was, though judging by how deferential Xu Lingchong and the others were toward her, her background must run deep!

Seeing everyone assembled, Hu Yunfeng sought the three elders' permission, then cleared his throat and announced, "Silence, all of you. We now begin registering the points from this new disciple trial and determining the final rankings."

At those words, the six senior stewards of the Welcome Pavilion entered their respective camps of new disciples and began calling out names and scores one by one. As for the three exalted elders, naturally they need not bother with such trivial matters—they had only to ensure fairness and impartiality, and that no one tampered behind the scenes to sully the Rear Mountain Hall's reputation.

The process was not conducted simultaneously across the Triple Stack Pavilion but in sequence. Heaven-Rushing Pavilion went first, the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion second, and the Azure Cloud Pavilion, naturally, came last.

Since the numbers were not large, the Heaven-Rushing Pavilion and the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion quickly settled their rankings. Both pavilions averaged over five hundred points, a respectable showing compared with previous years. Worth noting was that the Heaven-Rushing Pavilion's first place was ultimately claimed by the dazzling Kang Jingming, while Zhong Yongliang took third, obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill as he had wished. (To be continued...)

(.)