Chapter 3644 — The Road of the Gentry
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Before long, however, Meng Jueming reached his verdict: the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within these two spirit jades was extraordinarily full—they were indeed top-grade jade, without a doubt!
"It seems that fellow is just as Junior Brothers Kang Jingming and Zhong Yongliang said before—he has never once used spirit jade for cultivation. So to this day he still has no idea we fleeced him with scrap jade, and he is probably still congratulating himself on becoming a great country gentleman. What an absolute fool!"
Meng Jueming chuckled smugly, then glanced at Li Zhengming. "You did well. I'll reward you with one of these two spirit jades; give the other to Meng Zhou!"
Li Zhengming's heart sank. By their prior agreement, whoever took scrap jade to Wei Zhao and came back with spirit jade in exchange got to keep every piece of it. Yet now, with a single sentence, Meng Jueming had cut his share in half. Such favoritism was simply beyond reason!
But a man under another's eaves must bow his head. Li Zhengming knew that if he wanted to keep getting along here, he had to find himself a good backer, and at present the newcomers of Azure Cloud Pavilion had only two choices: Meng Jueming on one side, and Wei Zhao on the other—or rather, Lu Bianren and that miserable wretch's lot.
Li Zhengming had once thought Wei Zhao showed signs of hidden depths. But after that little probe just now—especially given how he had deliberately hinted and nudged, and Wei Zhao had shown not the slightest reaction, foolishly accepting a pile of scrap jade on the spot—the man had thoroughly shattered his expectations. In an instant, Li Zhengming decided this fellow was utterly unreliable!
What was more, Lu Bianren, the biggest backing of Wei Zhao's crowd, seemed formidable—a third pavilion master, who at the very least should hold a seat in Welcoming Pavilion. Yet it was not so. Though this bunch looked strong, in truth none of them could be relied upon.
By contrast, Meng Jueming's side—for all that some of what he had seen there chilled his heart—at least counted in Welcoming Pavilion, before these Azure Cloud newcomers, as a great tree. Only by leaning against a great tree could one find shade, and only so could he gradually bring about that obsession in his heart.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Meng," Li Zhengming said. Though aggrieved at heart, he still had to put on a show of being overwhelmed by the favor.
Meng Zhou, meanwhile, had just been handed a top-grade jade for nothing, yet instead grumbled with a grievance: "Since Cousin Ninth has spoken, I suppose I'll let you have one cheap. They were all mine to begin with! I only yielded the grand chance to probe to you. That's how you got to pocket such a huge bargain for nothing—you must be thrilled, eh? Wahahaha!"
Li Zhengming was left speechless, rolling his eyes. Dodge at the first sign of trouble, pounce at the first whiff of gain—how could a man be shameless to such a degree? When the chore of probing Wei Zhao had come up earlier, this fellow had scurried away quick as could be; who would have thought he'd now play the big bad wolf?
Had he not been wary of Meng Jueming's face, and had he not needed to conceal his Heaven-Rank Great Perfection strength, Li Zhengming would have loved nothing more than to give this scoundrel a sound thrashing. As things stood, he could only swallow it.