Chapter 4168 — A Warning Before the Duel

"Hmph, I don't care about any of that! Su Zhaohe bullied our junior brother, and that makes him wrong! Grandfather, you're awful—you must have a way, you just don't want to help me!" Shangguan Lan'er stamped her foot and turned to leave in a huff.

Watching Shangguan Lan'er's retreating back, Shangguan Tianxia stroked his beard with a helpless sigh. If he truly wished it, halting this duel would take no more than a single word. The reason he had refused her request was not merely that he did not want to break the rules—above all, he wanted to use the occasion to take a proper measure of Wei Zhao's potential.

For Wei Zhao as he stood now, Su Zhaohe was a fine whetstone. If Wei Zhao lacked even this much assurance and rushed into battle on impulse, then he did not deserve little Lan'er.

In the teahouse of the Central Chamber of Commerce on North Island, Nan Tianxiong, Nan Tianguan, Kang Jingming, and the others had gathered in one hall to host a welcome feast for Si Haitao, newly returned from Central Island.

By seniority, the Nan Tianxiong brothers sat at the head of the table, closest to Si Haitao; next came Murong Zhen and Zhong Yongliang; while Kang Jingming could only suffer the humiliation of the very last seat, nearly squeezed out the door.

There was no help for it. However much Xu Lingchong had valued him before, that was all in the past. This was Si Haitao's circle, and everything revolved around Si Haitao—and in Si Haitao's eyes, Kang Jingming had not a shred of merit or achievement to his name.

"Oh, that's right—Kang Jingming, I hear you're Xuanchen's last disciple?" Si Haitao noticed the stiffness in Kang Jingming's expression and suddenly recalled the Xuanchen Patriarch of Central Island.

"That's right. How did you know, Steward Si?" Kang Jingming was taken aback.

Matters of the secular world were hardly secrets, and there was nothing shameful in them anyway. Zhong Yongliang here knew them inside and out. But surely this fellow would not have been so loose-tongued as to secretly report such things to Si Haitao—they were utterly worthless.

"Ha, so it really is a small world. I don't mind telling you, your master Xuanchen is on Central Island right now, and he's already joined the Center alongside my old friend Nan Tian—we're all on the same side. Before I left, he asked me to look out for you." The corner of Si Haitao's mouth lifted.

"Master is on Central Island? And he's joined the Center? That's wonderful!" Kang Jingming was overjoyed. To be honest, given his selfish nature, he would ordinarily never trouble himself over how the Xuanchen Patriarch was faring—but hearing word of him so suddenly did genuinely gladden him.

It was simple enough: if the Xuanchen Patriarch could attach himself to a figure as great as Nan Tian Liuguang, then he must be doing rather well for himself—otherwise he would never have had the standing to ask Si Haitao for a favor. To Kang Jingming, this was the rhythm of finding himself a new patron!

Though Si Haitao had yet to make any further gesture, his manner of speaking had already struck Kang Jingming as markedly different. Even if his seat had not changed, Kang Jingming's spine had visibly straightened and his confidence swelled. At least when he looked toward Murong Zhen and Zhong Yongliang, he no longer felt a head shorter than before.

"A while back on Central Island, your master and I, along with my old friend Nan Tian and a few others, laid a plan to set the Snow Sword Sect against Wei Zhao. We were on the verge of success, only to fail at the final step. What a pity to think of it." Si Haitao sighed ruefully, then promptly rallied. "Still, it's just as well—that brat Wei Zhao dug his own grave and made enemies of everyone. I thought no one could bring him to heel, but who'd have guessed Su Zhaohe would be waiting the moment I returned. With Su Zhaohe's strength, the duel five days from now will be Wei Zhao's death day. Self-made calamity cannot be escaped—hahaha!"

"I once crossed hands with Su Zhaohe. The man is truly unfathomable; no one in the Foundation Establishment stage could stand against him. Wei Zhao has run into a wall of iron this time." Nan Tianguan nodded in agreement.

He had squatted in the post of senior managing disciple of the Heaven-Rushing Pavilion for several years, and knew the true depths of every disciple there inside and out. As to just how strong Su Zhaohe was, he had the greatest say of all.

"Still, that brat Wei Zhao has always been uncanny. I think we'd best find a chance to give Su Zhaohe a reminder. This time Wei Zhao is courting death by accepting the challenge—a heaven-sent chance to finish him off fair and square. We mustn't let the boat capsize in the gutter." Kang Jingming chimed in with a warning from the side.

In the past he would never have had the right to say such a thing, and no one would have paid it any mind—but this time Si Haitao nodded.

"True enough. That brat does have some tricks about him. In less than a month he's managed to gain a foothold and make a name for himself on Central Island, where the powerful gather—no ordinary man to be taken lightly. If Su Zhaohe underestimates him and doesn't take him seriously, there's no telling but the boat really might capsize in the gutter." Si Haitao agreed.

Since Si Haitao had spoken thus, the others—Nan Tianxiong, Nan Tianguan, and the rest—might disagree in their hearts, but none would voice opposition. The group promptly set out to find Su Zhaohe.

At the sudden visit of Si Haitao and his party, even Su Zhaohe—whose confidence had swelled these past days, and who styled himself Shangguan Tianxia's quasi-disciple—came out to receive them in person. After all, among the visitors were Si Haitao, the North Island steward of the Central Chamber of Commerce, and veterans of the caliber of Nan Tianxiong and Nan Tianguan—no small weight to any disciple of the Heaven-Rushing Pavilion.

"What brings you all to Su? What guidance do you have for me?" Su Zhaohe looked the group over and asked slowly.

"Five days from now is the day of your duel with Wei Zhao. We have come especially to give you a warning—do not dismiss that brat because he is a newcomer; he is not to be underestimated." Si Haitao's expression turned grave. "He killed Nan Tianyong, at the very peak of late Foundation Establishment, with a single move. And not long ago he gravely wounded Wei Shenjin of Central Island's Snow Sword Sect, a core disciple whose strength is already at early Golden Core. It was a sneak attack, true, but you still must not let down your guard."

"Thank you for the warning. But even without your counsel, I would not be so foolish as to underestimate him." Su Zhaohe smiled, then asked mildly, "By the way—this Wei Zhao. I've heard rumors about him before. He's the number one newcomer of your Welcome Pavilion, isn't he? I hear you even gave him a nickname. What was it—the Put-On-Airs Chief?"

"Ugh, I came up with that one off the cuff. The real reason is that the brat does nothing but put on airs from morning to night—it makes you want to kick him in the face just looking at him..." Kang Jingming broke into a sweat. That nickname had first spread from his own mouth, after all. (To be continued...)