Chapter 3779 — Tears Without Tears

BOOM! Zha Wu had no chance to resist at all. Wei Zhao smashed him straight off the stage with a single punch, leaving a human-shaped crater in the ground. He struggled for a long while but could not rise, only able to sit slumped on the ground, coughing up blood.

Though Wei Zhao had not struck to kill, for a weakling newcomer like him, the twentieth form of the Frenzied Fire Fist was already an overwhelming force beyond resistance—and caught completely off guard as he was, surviving the blow at all was already Wei Zhao's mercy. His injuries were certainly severe, and he would not recover within a few days.

"Noisy." Wei Zhao cast a faint glance at the bedraggled Zha Wu, then, under the awed gazes of the other newcomers, turned and stepped down from the stage.

For a moment, everyone present—though still baffled by Wei Zhao's motive for striking—was thoroughly shaken, and many opportunists harboring the same designs as Zha Wu exchanged glances, cold fear creeping in after the fact.

Though Zha Wu was indeed acknowledged to be the weakest of the weak, he was, after all, a genuine peak Heaven-rank expert. Yet he had been reduced to this state by an ordinary twentieth-form strike. Setting aside the absurdly vast gap in strength, one could only say that this creature Wei Zhao was truly somewhat savage!

If killing would not have brought any negative consequences, then given this creature's domineering ferocity, he might well have finished Zha Wu off with a single blow on the spot!

Yet what left the newcomers shocked and, unconsciously, somewhat relieved was that this creature Wei Zhao was not so savage as to kill at will.

The challenge matches did not shy from injury or death, but killing when the gap in strength was enormous and there was no need for it would still breed some ill reputation, which in turn would affect one's future prospects in the Tri-Layer Pavilion—hardly worth the loss.

"Azure Cloud Pavilion Newcomer Challenge, first round, second match—Wei Zhao wins!" The referee finally pronounced the verdict on this duel.

Wei Zhao smiled faintly. Though he did not much care about assessment points, four points were now in hand, bringing his total to one hundred twenty-four—a rather pleasant feeling, all the same.

Especially after blasting away a self-important fool like Zha Wu with a single punch—this feeling was truly satisfying!

"Junior Brother Lin, your decision really caught me off guard. I never imagined you would do that," the long-suffering senior brother and the others said with smiles as they came up to greet him.

"Indeed, I didn't expect it either," Xiao Ran agreed with a nod.

With his own precedent before them, it should not have been hard for Wei Zhao to choose the path of retreating in order to advance. But no one had expected Wei Zhao to pay that no mind at all and simply deal with the opportunist Zha Wu in a single move. This outcome was truly beyond their expectations.

Qiao Hongcai, however, said smugly, "I'm not surprised in the least. Our leader Wei Zhao is a hero of what caliber! A weakling of that sort dared to tug at the tiger's whiskers, thinking that because he held Cave Residence No. 12 at the mountain's foot, our leader Wei Zhao would surely pay him heed. He truly knew not life from death! A clown like that deserves a sound thrashing, to teach him why the flowers bloom so red!"

Wei Zhao and the others could not help exchanging smiles. This fellow's nature was, as ever, one that could not tolerate a grain of sand in his eye.

As he spoke, Qiao Hongcai suddenly paused. He glanced at Zha Wu, still sprawled on the ground from Wei Zhao's blow and moaning without yet getting up, and his eyeballs shifted.

Then, before Wei Zhao and the others could speak, and while the other newcomers had yet to make a move, Qiao Hongcai suddenly stepped onto the stage and declared loudly, "Qiao Hongcai of Cave Residence No. 13 at the mountain's foot challenges Zha Wu of Cave Residence No. 12!"

At these words, the whole hall erupted in an uproar again, and Zha Wu, who had just swallowed a silent, bitter loss, was struck utterly dumb.

When he came back to his senses, Zha Wu felt the world go dark before his eyes and nearly dashed his head to the ground in despair.

My heavens! Do you have no shame at all? Can you not see your leader just beat me into this sorry state? And at a time like this you still jump out to kick a man when he's down—have you not a shred of human decency?

But no matter how wretched and helpless he felt, the challenge match followed its rules: so long as you had not been challenged before, you could not refuse the first time you were.

So even though he was sick with despair, grief-stricken as one mourning a parent, faced with Qiao Hongcai's challenge to his face, Zha Wu could only grit his teeth and take the stage. There was no escape.

The other newcomers now looked at him with gloating in their eyes, mixed with a touch of sympathy. Everyone had harbored improper designs, true, but who had told the fool Zha Wu to rush out first to put on a show?

Now look—his show had failed, he was covered in grave wounds, and on top of that he had to face Qiao Hongcai's merciless follow-up strike. He had brought it all on himself; he deserved his misfortune!

When Zha Wu finally dragged his crippled steps up onto the stage and came to a stop, the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion referee promptly announced, "Azure Cloud Pavilion Newcomer Challenge, first round, third match—Qiao Hongcai of Cave Residence No. 13 challenges Zha Wu of Cave Residence No. 12. Begin!"

Qiao Hongcai did not strike at once. Instead, he looked at Zha Wu and sneered, "Weakling, since you dared jump out to challenge our leader Wei Zhao, you must surely understand the principle of retreating in order to advance, no? Of course, if you don't, then I'll just have to grudgingly help you along."

Because of his grave injuries, Zha Wu's face had already been deathly pale and bloodless. After hearing Qiao Hongcai's words, it flushed crimson—not because his wounds were improving, but because he was purely and simply furious!

What did it mean to reap what one sowed? This was reaping what one sowed—and striking a man while he was down, hounding him to the bitter end!

Never mind that his strength was inferior to Qiao Hongcai's to begin with; in Zha Wu's current wretched state, if he were to fight, he would likely collapse before the first exchange even landed. This was no way to risk one's life.

Yet to simply concede outright made his flesh ache.

After all, he had earned only eleven points across the previous two stages, and because he had challenged Wei Zhao earlier, he had already forfeited the four initial points tied to Cave Residence No. 14. If he conceded now, those points would be deducted from his eleven—and four at that.

If that were all, so be it; he was dead last anyway, and his final score hardly mattered. But the problem was that Meng Tong, Xiao Ran, and that whole pack of ferocious fighters were still queued up behind him, and in the coming rounds he would doubtless keep getting deducted further.

Three points here, two points there—that much was absolutely unavoidable. At this rate his pitiful handful of points would be wiped clean, and if the spirit medicine trial stage then deducted a few more, he might well end up in the negative. That would be no laughing matter!

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