Chapter 3768 — The Biggest Beneficiary

This was an innate advantage, one that no amount of effort could ever alter.

So judged from that single angle, on the very first day at the Newcomers' Pavilion, when Wei Zhao had seized Mountain-Low No. 1 from him and handed him the most broken-down, most ramshackle Mountain-Low No. 15 instead, in a certain sense the man had actually done him a favor. After all, no one at the time could possibly have guessed that the challenge tournament stage would turn out to be governed by rules like these.

Facing the complaints and confusion of Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, the much-put-upon senior brother laid out his analysis: "The intention behind those above drafting the challenge tournament rules this way is actually quite plain. They want to encourage newcomers to cross blades with as many of the others as possible. Only in that way can a newcomer hope to rack up as many points as possible, and only in that way can each newcomer's potential and shortcomings be gauged to the fullest extent, so that the points that emerge carry any real reference value."

"Exactly. If a man does nothing but chase a high rank, it's useless even if he succeeds. Once he's taken his fifteen points, all he can do, as Xiao Che is doing right now, is sit and wait for challenges—he can't initiate any himself, he's thrown completely onto the defensive, and that's a thoroughly awkward spot to be in. Far better to start from the bottom rank and work his way up one by one; that way he harvests far more points," Wei Zhao agreed.

Hearing this, Qiao Hongcai groped his way toward the gist of it, and the truth burst upon him: "So by that reasoning, people like us, who started out in the low-ranked cave dwellings, actually come off better?"

He held Mountain-Low No. 13, and apart from Wei Zhao in Mountain-Low No. 14 and Meng Zhou in Mountain-Low No. 15, his position really was more favorable than that of any of the other Qingyun Pavilion newcomers.

"Just so. You need only challenge your way up one cave dwelling at a time, and with the strength you have now, you should stand a very good chance of claiming a fair haul of points," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"Heh heh, I never would have thought a wreck of a cave dwelling like ours could come with a perk like this. Looks like that month and more of grinding wasn't wasted after all!" Qiao Hongcai could not help laughing.

For newcomers starved of cultivation resources like spirit jade, the quality of one's cave dwelling was crucial. Especially for a newcomer like Qiao Hongcai, whose starting strength was nothing remarkable—had he not received every manner of care from Wei Zhao, he could never have climbed to where he now stood, one thin line away from Foundation Establishment. He would have sunk to the very bottom of the newcomers, and without some other stroke of fortune, he might well have been a man of no prospects for the rest of his days.

And yet, even without having yet broken through to Foundation Establishment, Qiao Hongcai's current strength was enough to rank him among the top five of all Qingyun Pavilion newcomers. Add to that this extraordinarily favorable starting position, and with a well-laid challenge plan, he truly did stand a fine chance of raking in points by the armful.

Xiao Che, by contrast—though his strength still surpassed Qiao Hongcai's—had been planted from the outset in the most awkward position of all, Mountain-Low No. 1. Barring some dramatic turn of events, it was hard to see him making much of anything of it.

At the thought of Xiao Che's present predicament, for a moment no one knew what to say. When Wei Zhao had won Mountain-Low No. 1 and handed it over to him, his heart had been set on nurturing one of his own, and over the past month Xiao Che had indeed benefited greatly from it.

By Wei Zhao's reckoning, scanning the whole of the Three-Tiered Pavilions, apart from the four of them who had already broken through to Foundation Establishment, Xiao Che was unquestionably one of the mere handful among all the remaining newcomers closest to that threshold, and his depths of strength were solid—in no way inferior to those few luminaries of the Soaring Heavens Pavilion and the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion. Once he broke through, even a seasoned hand like Meng Zhou, who had reached Foundation Establishment some time before him, might not prove his match.

But no one could have foreseen that Wei Zhao's well-meant decision would instead land Xiao Che in such an awkward strait.

Of course, the blame for this could not be laid at Wei Zhao's feet. Even Xiao Che himself felt nothing but gratitude and reverence toward him, never the least resentment over good intentions gone awry. One could only say that fate makes sport of men; that matters should have come to such a pass was beyond anyone's expecting.

Wei Zhao mused for a moment, then suddenly spoke up with a proposal: "How about this—Xiao Che, you and I swap cave dwellings. That puts you in Mountain-Low No. 14, in as favorable a position as Hongcai, and well placed to compete for challenge points in what's to come."

At these words, the much-put-upon senior brother and the others were startled on the spot, and Xiao Che in particular was visibly shaken.

"Absolutely not! Senior Brother Wei Zhao, you fought hard for a score that high, and you're charging along in full cry, leaving a deep impression on the Three-Tiered Pavilions' high elders and paving the way for your future. If you throw away an opportunity like that for my sake, I couldn't bear it!" Xiao Che said once he had collected himself, refusing outright.

Wei Zhao had turned in divine-tier showings, full marks in both of the preceding stages. If he could keep that rhythm going, then not only in Qingyun Pavilion but counting the Soaring Heavens Pavilion and the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion besides, he was indisputably the newcomer without peer.

Entering Qingyun Pavilion in days to come with credentials like these, he would surely earn the appreciation of the high elders, and a meteoric rise thereafter would go without saying!

But if he were now to swap cave dwellings with Xiao Che and leap of his own accord into the pit that was Mountain-Low No. 1, he would have little room to maneuver in the challenge tournament stage to come. If no other newcomer came to challenge him, then no matter how great his strength, it would avail him nothing; he could only stand by and watch his rival Meng Zhou reap points by the armful while he himself was powerless to do a thing.

And let no one forget: although Wei Zhao had banked no small advantage over the first two stages, Meng Zhou had backing from the likes of Meng Jueming, and his showing had not been poor either—the gap between them was a mere thirty-three points.

In this challenge tournament stage, however, the theoretical maximum was a full one hundred and nineteen points. Once Wei Zhao was mired in the deep pit of Mountain-Low No. 1 and unable to extricate himself, it was all but certain that Meng Zhou would overtake him, and might even open up a sizable gap in the process.

And with that, his divine-tier full marks from the first two stages would all have gone for naught.

After all, the high elders looked only at the final tally; they would not pore over one's performance in each individual stage. When the time came, the first place in Qingyun Pavilion would most likely be Meng Zhou's, and Wei Zhao at best could do no more than settle for second. And in that case, he, Xiao Che, would go down in history as the villain of the piece!

So although Wei Zhao's proposal moved him deeply, he would never, ever agree to it!

"Indeed. Junior Brother Lin, however chivalrous you may be, you still have to pick your moments. Your doing this may free Junior Brother Xiao, but the fact is that the biggest beneficiary would be none other than Meng Zhou. You really must think this through," the much-put-upon senior brother urged from the side.