Chapter 3951 — An Abrupt End
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Yet Wei Zhao felt no great regret over this. To him, Kang Jingming's death would certainly have been a gratifying sight, but even if the man survived, that was not entirely a bad thing either.
He had, after all, taken the opportunity to divert the attention of Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang onto Kang Jingming. He did not flatter himself that he could keep fooling those men forever, but at the very least, the fellow could serve as a smoke screen for a while.
If he had simply killed Kang Jingming here and now, it would not only risk bringing down the vengeance of Xu Lingchong and his ilk, but would also easily draw back Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang, who for some reason had lain low of late. And if Meng Jueming were then to sidle up to them, Wei Zhao's situation would be perilously close to collapse.
So Kang Jingming's narrow escape this time was, in Wei Zhao's eyes, of some use after all. So long as the man kept clinging to his miserable existence, he could continue to confuse Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang, and keep those people from growing desperate and reckless in their pursuit of the Star Ink Stone.
And so long as he could hold those people in check for the time being, then before Meng Jueming made contact with them, Wei Zhao still had a sliver of a chance to resolve the latent crisis. Slim as the odds were, he had to make the attempt regardless.
After all, compared with Nan Tianguan and Yu Jiang—and even the far more formidable Nan Tianxiong behind them—Meng Jueming was little more than a minor nuisance. Wei Zhao had no strength to contend with Nan Tianxiong for the moment, but if all he needed was to dispose of Meng Jueming alone, he still had no small confidence of success—provided he could find the right opportunity.
Whether Kang Jingming lived or died, there were advantages and drawbacks either way. It was precisely for this reason that Wei Zhao had behaved so unpredictably on the arena platform earlier.
Otherwise, had he truly set his mind on killing Kang Jingming and having done with it, then with Kang Jingming's paltry cultivation, the man could have had ten lives and still been dead long ago—how would he have had the chance to linger on until now? Had Wei Zhao simply unleashed a true-qi bomb and fought him head-on, Kang Jingming would assuredly have died swiftly. But in doing so, Wei Zhao would also have exposed himself.
The Grade Four Great Restoration Pill was, after all, a sovereign remedy for healing and saving lives. Kang Jingming, reduced to such a wretched state by his own pill-fire bomb, had nonetheless been kept hanging on to his last breath—not only did his breathing gradually steady, he even regained consciousness before long.
But before he could rejoice at having snatched back his pitiful life, Wei Zhao's next words nearly made him faint dead away on the spot.
Wei Zhao cleared his throat and announced loudly to the whole hall: "According to the rules, Cave Dwelling No. 1 at the summit now belongs to me. But I have little interest in the place. If anyone here wants it, by all means speak up—so long as the terms are right, I have no problem trading it to whoever it may be."
At these words, the entire hall erupted in an uproar. Everyone had assumed that today's affair was merely a cross-pavilion challenge, that whatever one wanted had to be won through one's own hard strength—never had they imagined there would be such a benefit on offer.
Cave Dwelling No. 1 at the summit was, without question, the finest dwelling a new disciple of the Welcome Pavilion could obtain. There was no second.
Nearly half a year still remained before the new disciples' one-year term was up. Setting aside the risk of being isolated and targeted, this prospect was still exceedingly tempting to every new disciple present.