Chapter 3683 — So What?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
After all, for the Threefold Pavilion, holding these newcomer trials was largely about getting the newcomers to gather spirit herbs. But if the final harvest amounted to only a tiny bit—not even enough to cover the value of those generous rewards—they would be operating at a loss, and that would be truly laughable.
And since the average score in each trial generally reached around five hundred points, the two-hundred-point base threshold was for the most part ignored. This time, however, owing to the unusual circumstances of the trial, it proved useful for once.
If Wei Zhao demanded more, the likely outcome would be that even those newcomers who finished in the top ten would fall short of the two-hundred-point base, and thus lose out on their rewards entirely.
Wei Zhao's demand of one hundred points happened to take exactly that into account. Everyone present could hand over a hundred points and still retain at least two hundred, so none of the rewards they were due would be missing.
For them, this way there was no obvious loss. After all, when contending for the top ten, their real competitors were one another; how many points Wei Zhao and his group held was neither here nor there. So long as they stayed above the base threshold and could still compete fairly among themselves, Wei Zhao could take as many points as he liked—there was no need at all to risk sticking their necks out and falling out with him.
These people were not truly soft targets, after all; they were, every one of them, heaven-grade grand completion experts. Though the field was now completely under Wei Zhao's control, the moment vital interests were at stake—if they were pushed too hard, and someone with a mind to do so fanned the flames a little—a fierce backlash was very likely.
And Wei Zhao, for all his strength, was ultimately just one man. Once this crowd fell into chaos, it would be very hard to keep the situation as perfectly in hand as it was now.
Wei Zhao had already calculated it in his heart: charging each person a hundred points as a penalty would both safeguard the interests of his own group and keep him from making bitter enemies of every newcomer.
These people had only thrown in their lot with Meng Jueming for the sake of profit, after all; their loyalty was hardly deep. If he came down on them too hard this time, it would instead let Meng Jueming reap the fisherman's gain, driving these people wholly into the other camp to become his mortal enemies—such a foolish move Wei Zhao would never make.
Soon the newcomers each handed over spirit herbs worth a hundred points, briskly enough, and then one by one they watched Wei Zhao with uneasy faces, dreading that he might go back on his word at the last moment.
Some had even already decided that if Wei Zhao broke his promise, they would immediately flee just as Meng Zhou and Li Zhengming had before—in the ensuing confusion there would surely be an opening. And if Wei Zhao found himself caught between advance and retreat, so much the better; they might even find a chance to turn the tables and rob him in return!
But Wei Zhao, plainly, was not so insatiably greedy as these people imagined. After a brief tally of the spirit herbs, he simply waved his hand and let them go.
The crowd was instantly overcome with relief and hurried off one after another. And because Wei Zhao had let them off the hook, the final looks they cast his way were not as hostile as one might have expected—at least no great ill will was visible. It was Meng Zhou, the first to flee, who became the object of their contempt in that moment.
"These spirit herbs—the two of you split them half and half," Wei Zhao said, turning to look at Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai.
The two of them were struck dumb on the spot. Half and half meant five hundred points apiece, which would bring Xiao Che's final total to a thousand, and even Qiao Hongcai, who had nothing at all, would end up with five hundred.