Chapter 1467 — An Invitation to Join
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Many thanks for your understanding, Brother Zhao!" Wei Zhao gave him an ambiguous, "you know what I mean" sort of smile, and raised his wine pot as well, taking a deep draught.
"Good! Bold and hearty!" Zhao Qilei and Zhao Qiwu each drank too, then set their wine pots down.
Though the leg and the rack of lamb would take a long while to roast, none of the three was in any hurry.
They had not come here to eat: Zhao Qilei had come to cultivate connections, and Wei Zhao to fish for information.
"You two came very early — arriving to take part in the trial so soon?" Wei Zhao deliberately steered the conversation toward the Ice Palace's trial, hoping to learn a thing or two about cultivation through Zhao Qilei and Zhao Qiwu.
"Haha, and has not Brother Ling come even earlier?" Zhao Qilei laughed. "I am afraid Brother Ling must be the first to have arrived here."
"That's right..." Wei Zhao shrugged and said, with some helplessness, "There was nothing to be done — my master just happened to enter secluded cultivation at this very time, and there was no point in my idling about the sect, so I came here a step ahead of everyone."
Wei Zhao laid out his own circumstances plainly, so that even if there were things he did not understand later on, he could excuse himself by saying that his master was in seclusion and he knew no details — and thus Zhao Qilei would suspect nothing.
"Oh? What a coincidence — my grandfather is in seclusion as well, so there was no use in our staying at home either, and we came here a step ahead too." Zhao Qilei looked at Wei Zhao in some surprise. "Brother Ling, the two of us truly were fated to meet!"
"Oh? You as well? That is a coincidence." Wei Zhao laughed inwardly; he had not expected to hit the mark by pure luck. Splendid — now Zhao Qilei would suspect nothing at all.
"Indeed. As the saying goes, those who are fated to meet will come together from a thousand miles apart!" Zhao Qilei smiled. "I wonder what strength Brother Ling possesses — might you disclose it? This trial is restricted to Profound Rank experts. Which level of the Profound Rank are you, Brother Ling?"
Fearing that Wei Zhao might hold something back, Zhao Qilei deliberately spelled out the rules of the trial: everyone here was a Profound Rank expert, so there was nothing for him to worry about. He said this, too, out of fear that Wei Zhao knew nothing at all — that the man might be even greener than himself.
"I am hardly worthy of mention; I have only the strength of the peak of the mid Profound Rank." Wei Zhao smiled wryly. "My sect is somewhat thin in the middle ranks — those of my generation are all Earth Rank experts, while those who entered after me are only Yellow Rank. By any reckoning, I am the only one who meets the conditions of this trial."
Wei Zhao let the words slip out casually. Only his strength was true; all the rest was invented. And what he said fit the actual situation well enough.
"So that is how it is. No wonder Brother Ling came alone — so that was the reason..." Zhao Qilei said this aloud, but inwardly he was quietly startled. It seemed Brother Ling's sect was no small one, if its younger generation were already Earth Rank experts; such a sect was surely out of the ordinary. At the thought, he too began to toy with the idea of befriending Wei Zhao.
And Wei Zhao had wanted precisely for Zhao Qilei to misunderstand — for without a misunderstanding, how could the man open his heart to him?
"Quite so. And what of you two, Brother Zhao — what is your strength?" Though he already knew, Wei Zhao asked again without betraying a thing.