Chapter 3785 — The Closed-Door Breakthrough
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
Yet, to the surprise of every newcomer present, Qiao Hongcai made no move at all. He neither challenged anyone of his own accord, nor was challenged by anyone; he simply coasted through the round, neither wind nor rain.
This outcome caught even Miserable Senior Brother off guard, and he could not help asking, "Junior Brother Qiao, didn't we agree you'd retreat in order to advance? Why aren't you challenging upward?"
True, when Qiao Hongcai had first entered the Welcome Pavilion, he had been no more than a peak expert of the late Heaven Rank, with no particular edge over the other newcomers. But since throwing in his lot under Wei Zhao's banner, his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. Even facing other Heaven Rank experts at the great perfection stage, he held a solid advantage—one could not say he would crush them all, but at least his odds of succeeding in an upward challenge were not low.
That would win him another chance to turn things around, buying time to attempt Foundation Establishment before he had to face Meng Zhou. In the eyes of Miserable Senior Brother and the others, this strategy was in fact very sound.
But Qiao Hongcai shook his head and said, "Senior Brother Ku, that's where you don't understand me. A man like me will, at most, take the occasional step back when there's no other choice. If I retreat again and again, that's just not my style. So this time I absolutely will not retreat. Next round is the decisive battle between me and that bastard Meng Zhou!"
The answer was so categorical that Miserable Senior Brother could only shake his head helplessly, temporarily at a loss for words.
Qiao Hongcai was, after all, the hot-blooded Qiao Hongcai. Pulling a clever trick last round to retreat a step in disguise had already been his limit; expecting him to retreat again and again on top of that was simply unrealistic.
His attitude was already firm as could be. No matter what, no matter whether he succeeded in Foundation Establishment or not, next round he was absolutely going to have it out with Meng Zhou—that was a foregone conclusion he could not avoid.
Only, if he succeeded in his Foundation Establishment attempt within the next three days, that would be one thing. But if he failed, then not only would he have to face Meng Zhou with nothing but Heaven Rank great perfection strength—he would also suffer a severe backlash from the failed attempt.
A Heaven Rank expert at the great perfection stage, wounded, going up against an expert in the early Foundation Establishment stage—and one with whom he had long-standing grievances. What kind of ending that would be, even a toe could figure out!
Miserable Senior Brother secretly shot Wei Zhao a look, signaling him to speak up and talk the man around. True, he was the steward senior brother, and nominally Wei Zhao and the other two were junior brothers who had come under his protection—but how things really stood, everyone knew full well.
At bottom, Wei Zhao was the core of their little group. Once he spoke, not only would Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai listen to him, even Miserable Senior Brother himself would willingly follow his arrangements. That much awareness, Miserable Senior Brother had possessed for a long time.
Stubborn as Qiao Hongcai was—once his mind was made up, he would not turn back until he hit the south wall, and once he hit it he still would not turn back, but would batter straight through it before he was willing to stop—this matter also depended on who was doing the persuading. Miserable Senior Brother and the others would be useless at talking him around, but if it were Wei Zhao, it might not be useless at all.
The place Wei Zhao now held in that fellow Qiao Hongcai's heart was absolutely lofty and exalted; one word from him was worth at least a hundred from anyone else.