Chapter 3722 — Meng Zhou's Trump Card

Hu Yunfeng's "nameless mockery" was only the first wave. Next, these people would keep trying every trick they could think of to provoke Wei Zhao—to prod at that show-off nerve of his!

In fairness, the scheme Meng Jueming had devised was quite ingenious. Had it been any man who genuinely loved to put on airs, one who had not received advance intelligence and who did not have formidable strength to conceal, he would likely have had more than a ninety percent chance of falling into the trap.

Unfortunately for them, Wei Zhao not only possessed both of those advantages at once—more crucially, he was not a creature who truly loved to put on airs. In his style, when the situation genuinely called for him to back down, he would never lose his head and bull recklessly ahead.

"Very well. Next, Elder Zhao will seal the strength of these Law Enforcement Hall examiners on the spot. Make your preparations—the trial begins shortly!" Hu Yunfeng announced at last.

The newcomers at once gathered in twos and threes to make their final preparations. Around Wei Zhao, naturally, clustered the long-suffering senior brother, along with Xiao Che, Qiao Hongcai, and a few others.

It was then that Meng Zhou came over, leading a great crowd of Qingyun Pavilion newcomers. He cast Wei Zhao a sidelong glance and sneered down his nose. "So, Mr. Show-Off Newcomer—last time the pressure-formation went out of control and your dog-shit luck handed you a perfect score. But this time it's real strength on the line, and no bit of dog-shit luck is going to carry you through! I've gone to the trouble of asking around—so tell me, what tier do you plan to choose?"

Wei Zhao's eyes narrowed slightly, but before he could speak, the newcomers trailing at Meng Zhou's side had already begun mocking him with relish. "What's there to ask? Of course he'll pick Heaven-tier Great Perfection! This fellow only managed to scrape into Foundation Establishment thanks to a single Foundation Establishment Pill—he's got no real strength at all. If he picked early Foundation Establishment, he'd be beaten to death on the spot!"

"Exactly! Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng just said it himself—challenging above one's tier isn't heroic, it's idiotic. But for our Mr. Show-Off Newcomer here, that saying needs amending: challenging at one's own tier is absolutely idiotic too. So it's safer to pick Heaven-tier Great Perfection!"

"Heaven-tier Great Perfection? I say he should pick Heaven-tier late-stage peak. What if—just by some slip—our Mr. Show-Off Newcomer, a fine early Foundation Establishment hand, got killed in one blow by a Heaven-tier Great Perfection? Think how ugly that would sound once word got out! So Heaven-tier late-stage peak is the reliable choice—sure to pass with ease!"

……………………

The pack of newcomers who had arrived with Meng Zhou threw in a word here and a phrase there, mocking him to the utmost, ceaselessly testing the bottom line of Wei Zhao's patience. Yet no matter what they said, Wei Zhao only watched coldly from the sidelines, betraying nothing.

Put plainly, the sole reason Meng Zhou had brought these people over was to provoke him.

None of them knew the core of Meng Jueming's plan. But so long as they were promised some benefit, coming over to fire off a few taunts at Wei Zhao was no hardship at all—they were glad to play along. All the more so since they had already had run-ins with Wei Zhao back during the mountain trial, and since Wei Zhao had then gone and taken a god-tier perfect score that made their eyes burn with envy. They had long since found him unbearable!

Wei Zhao had known the truth all along, so no matter how these people taunted and provoked, he remained unmoved. But the long-suffering senior brother and the others at his side could not stomach it.

The long-suffering senior brother could not help but step forward to dress them down. After all, he was the managing senior brother of the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers. However thoroughly Meng Jueming had stripped him of real authority, the right to reprimand newcomers was still his.

As for Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, they were even more indignant, itching to step forward and issue a challenge—to properly teach these ungrateful wretches a lesson!

But Wei Zhao reached out and held them back. Arguing with these people of ulterior motives was a pure waste of breath, utterly pointless. Still, his expression could not help but darken a shade or two.

Seeing Wei Zhao's face darken and his lips stay sealed, Meng Zhou was secretly delighted. In his view, the more Wei Zhao choked down his words now, the more likely he was to bull recklessly ahead later—because this creature was so used to putting on airs that he would surely pick a high tier just to slap them all in the face!

But before that, they still had to administer one more strong dose of medicine, to make absolutely certain nothing went wrong.

Meng Zhou raised a hand, and the pack of newcomers behind him fell silent at once. Only then did he declare smugly, "Whatever tier you plan to choose, Mr. Show-Off Newcomer, I, your lord, will graciously inform you of mine—lest your hard-won dog-shit-luck points get overtaken and you do something foolish like killing yourself in despair. That would be a shame! Hear me: I intend to choose early Foundation Establishment peak!"

At these words, the surrounding newcomers obligingly gasped. Their shock was no act—it came truly from the heart. Because never before had Meng Zhou said a word about choosing early Foundation Establishment peak!

Challenging above one's tier was idiotic behavior—Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng's words of a moment ago were no idle jest. Remember, defense was a weak point for the vast majority; to withstand a full-force blow from a peer of one's own tier was already considered remarkable. To propose a challenge above one's tier under such conditions was little short of courting death!

Yet Meng Zhou had declared it with utter confidence, and from his expression there was not the slightest trace of bluff. He genuinely meant to challenge above his tier!

"Heh… and when the time comes you'll hold a fourth-grade Great Return Pill in your mouth, while the examiner secretly lets the water flow? Now that would indeed give you the capital and the confidence to challenge early Foundation Establishment peak." Wei Zhao laughed coldly to himself, betraying nothing. This was a point Li Zhengming's intelligence had specifically mentioned.

Originally, for the sake of fairness and impartiality in the trial, no one was permitted to take any pills. Otherwise, if one swallowed a fourth-grade Great Return Pill—a life-saving elixir bordering on the heaven-defying—so long as one held on to a single breath, death was all but assured to be kept at bay, and afterward the injuries would recover swiftly. That was flat-out cheating!

Had it been anyone else, Elder Zhao Hongbo, sitting as judge, would surely have stepped in to stop it, to preserve his own shining, upstanding image. But Meng Zhou was a key link in their plan to provoke and bring down Wei Zhao. For the sake of Xu Lingchong, young master Xu, even Zhao Hongbo would only turn a blind eye.

In any case, so long as they themselves did not leak it, no one else could possibly learn the truth. Everyone would simply think this Meng Zhou fellow was truly something else—that he could even challenge above his tier and walk away unscathed! [Tomorrow, the Yuren Book Club will be held at Harbin University of Science and Technology—fans in Harbin, don't miss it! For details, see Yuren's WeChat 22.]

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