Chapter 3926 — The Spirit Beast Tournament

Meng Zhou burst out laughing, gloating: "Who the hell needs evidence for something like this? All I have to do is put the word in Cousin Ninth's ear—then you tell me, will he believe me, or will he believe you?"

Li Zhengming was left speechless. Meng Zhou might not have much of a brain, but the talent for stirring up filth was practically bred into his bones, and even a man of Li Zhengming's exceptional patience and self-control felt an urge to slap the wretch to death.

"What? You little punk think you've got the guts to defy me?" Seeing Li Zhengming's face darken, the veins at his temples twitching, Meng Zhou was not the least bit afraid—he only grew bolder in his taunting.

Among the newcomers of Qingyun Pavilion, Li Zhengming had been the first to throw in his lot with Meng Jueming, after Meng Zhou himself, and he had always shown himself loyal and capable. By all rights he should have been highly favored—yet in truth he was the one whom Meng Zhou had squeezed and trampled most cruelly.

For no reason at all, Meng Zhou simply hated him. The mere sight of the man set his teeth on edge; he wanted to step on him, to bully him, even to destroy him.

Li Zhengming had sensed that malice long ago. Had it not been that Wei Zhao needed him to keep playing the inside man, he would have found an occasion to break with Meng Zhou outright, lest delay breed trouble.

After a long silence, Li Zhengming drew the spirit-beast talisman from his bosom and tossed it down before Meng Zhou. Then, without a word, he turned and walked away, vowing silently in his heart: one last time I endure this. Next time, I will kill you.

Even if it meant exposure, even if it meant Meng Jueming's revenge—he would not begrudge it.

"Hmph! At least the brat knows his place!" Watching Li Zhengming's retreating back, Meng Zhou sneered in triumph. Without a second thought he picked up the talisman and, gritting his teeth against the pain, hobbled toward the black-backed staff ape not far off.

The black-backed staff ape was, after all, no common beast to be found at every turn. Murong Zhen, that woman, had shown no interest at first glance—but what if she suddenly changed her mind? If she took it into her head to seize the ape, Meng Zhou would be utterly powerless to stop her.

Murong Zhen read the wary tension in his face and scoffed, "Rest easy. An ugly, graceless beast like that isn't fit to be this beauty's spirit pet. Only a waste of a man like you would think it a rare prize!"

Harsh and grating as the words were, Meng Zhou felt his heart loosen at the sound. So long as she did not come to snatch it now, all was well. Only creatures like women would be foolish enough to chase after so-called grace. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, strength alone was king.

Once the black-backed staff ape knocks your spirit pet flat, you'll be on your knees licking my boots, you cheap woman!

Time slipped by in a flash. A full month had now passed since the newcomers of the Welcome Pavilion had entered the back mountain. The vast majority had returned half a month earlier, while those of sturdier strength had lingered in the depths until only these last few days, when they too drifted back one by one.

The spirit-beast trial had finally reached its last stage: one-on-one, the spirit-pet elimination battles.

The newcomers gathered with their spirit pets around the arenas of their respective pavilions, following the same arrangement as the earlier newcomer challenge tournament. But across the whole of the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers, every eye was now fixed, without question, upon a single ape-type spirit beast—the black-backed staff ape that Meng Zhou had subdued.

Its strength alone had already reached the peak of the late Heaven rank, and after Meng Zhou's return he had enlisted Meng Jueming's help to fit it specially with a keen-edged dark-iron staff.

The Welcome Pavilion's rules were explicit that newcomers dueling one another must never employ any weapon—but never once had it been said that their spirit pets could not be armed.

This time Meng Zhou had slipped through a loophole in the rules, and no one could say a word against it.

Leaning on the dark-iron staff with one hand, the black-backed staff ape merely stood there, and the domineering aura that leaked from its body was enough to send a chill through every newcomer present.

Facing the black-backed staff ape one-on-one, to say nothing of the spirit pets they had subdued, even if the great majority of those present took the field themselves, they would likely not be the ape's match.

A spirit beast of formidable battle talent was already stronger than human cultivators of the same rank; add to that the advantage of a weapon, and crossing ranks to challenge these Heaven-rank grand-completion experts was hardly any difficulty at all.

Compared with the imposing, domineering black-backed staff ape, the prizes the other Qingyun Pavilion newcomers had won were pitifully outmatched. A glance around showed not one that had reached the Heaven rank—not one that could pose the slightest threat to the black-backed staff ape.

Of the dozen or so newcomers present, four had not even managed to subdue a spirit pet at all. The low-grade spirit-beast talismans given them had, after all, a success rate that was none too high once they encountered any beast of even modest strength.

"Why haven't the others shown up? Too ashamed to bring their pets out for people to see, because they're so second-rate? A pack of cowards who can't face the world!" Meng Zhou threw back his head and laughed unrestrainedly, one hand resting on the black-backed staff ape's shoulder.

At this moment, besides Meng Zhou himself, the other personages among the Qingyun Pavilion newcomers had yet to arrive. Not only had Wei Zhao's group not appeared—even Murong Zhen and Li Zhengming were still conspicuously absent.

Yet even with these people missing, the black-backed staff ape's fighting strength made it well-nigh invincible at the Heaven rank, and Meng Zhou could scarcely wait to see it unleash its might.

After a spell of waiting, these people finally began to appear one after another. The first to come into view was Li Zhengming.

"Heh heh, the brat probably has no spirit pet and is too ashamed to show his face, that's why he's so late!" Watching Li Zhengming come alone, Meng Zhou sneered with malicious glee.

Because he had subdued the black-backed staff ape so early, Meng Zhou had already returned half a month ago, among the very first batch of newcomers.

But Li Zhengming, whom he had fleeced so thoroughly, had fared miserably. Word had it he had not dragged himself back until yesterday, and no spirit pet had been seen with him either.

Meng Zhou had foreseen this outcome back when he snatched the other man's spirit-beast talisman—or rather, he had been looking forward to this very scene from the start, to watching Li Zhengming make a fool of himself before everyone.

Never mind whether Li Zhengming had the nerve to rob another newcomer of a talisman—even if he did, the other newcomers had long since scattered like birds and beasts, and in the vast outer reaches of the back mountain he would be hard-pressed to stumble on one. And even if luck favored him and he caught someone, he might not have the fortune to subdue a powerful spirit beast.

And from the look of things now, Li Zhengming stood alone, having indeed subdued no spirit pet at all. This spirit-beast trial was already doomed to a zero—a weakling through and through. R1152