Chapter 3504 — Repaying a Peach with a Plum

A glint of smug satisfaction flashed across Lou Taixie's eyes. He really was a man of high intelligence—just a few words, and he had set the great master of the Tomorrow-and-Tomorrow Sect against Wei Zhao, escalating it all the way to a formal duel.

Seeing Wei Zhao beaten was something he would relish. When that time came, he could trample Xiao Ran underfoot once more! Damn it, you petty little upstart—this young master will show you that your patron Wei Zhao is a worthless piece of trash too!

Though Xiao Ran had received a helping hand from Wei Zhao, he knew his own situation better than anyone. He and Wei Zhao had no ties whatsoever; that Wei Zhao would step in for him even once was already extraordinary. To expect Wei Zhao to keep helping him was hardly realistic! Most likely Wei Zhao had merely done it in passing, a small kindness.

So Xiao Ran finished his food quickly, and when he saw Zhang Naihui and the others come in, he left the dining hall. He did not want to cause Wei Zhao any more trouble. Lou Taixie had clearly already thrown in his lot with Zhang Naihui—so if trouble came looking for him then, would Wei Zhao help or not?

But no sooner had Xiao Ran stepped out of the dining hall than he heard people discussing Zhang Naihui. It was a few other trial participants, chatting with the Eight-Trigram-Robe proprietor!

The Eight-Trigram-Robe proprietor had just reported the Tomorrow-and-Tomorrow Sect's arrogance and bullying to Ancestor Xuanchen, but Ancestor Xuanchen said nothing. After all, the Five Luminaries Sect was not what it once was. In the past they could suppress the Tomorrow-and-Tomorrow Sect with absolute superiority, but now—how many capable hands did they have left?

Moreover, the plan to open Cloud-Tier Island truly required Zhang Naihui's help; they could not afford to offend him. So Ancestor Xuanchen kept silent and told the proprietor to leave them alone for now.

But though the Eight-Trigram-Robe proprietor knew he was no match for them, grumbling in private was still permissible. It happened that a few cultivators were present, and so they fell to talking.

They spoke of rumors about Zhang Naihui on the road—with the Divine Fist Hall and with Dongfang Badao—which left the Eight-Trigram-Robe proprietor clucking his tongue in amazement even as cold sweat ran down his back. He thought to himself that it was fortunate he had not provoked Zhang Naihui or clashed with him; otherwise, would he too have been brought under control?

Xiao Ran had not expected Zhang Naihui to be so formidable—to have brought a top external-family expert of the Divine Fist Hall under his control just like that? Was he really that vicious? Wei Zhao must not be controlled by him! He did not know the difference between how Zhang Naihui's mental technique worked on internal-family versus external-family experts, and assumed it was the same for both. So he thought he had better warn Wei Zhao at once!

To repay kindness with gratitude—that is the virtue of cultivators like us. Seeing that Dongfang Badao, an internal-family expert, was also Zhang Naihui's follower, he assumed Dongfang Badao too had been brought under Zhang Naihui's control!

With that thought, Xiao Ran turned back and returned to the dining hall. He bought another bottle of water, then sat down beside Wei Zhao as if nothing had happened—which left Wei Zhao rather puzzled. Why had Xiao Ran come back?

"Brother Lin, listen to me," Xiao Ran said in a lowered voice. "Do you know about Zhang Naihui?"

"Oh? Know what?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback.

"Someone was outside just now talking about Zhang Naihui—I heard them!" Xiao Ran wasted no words and went straight to the point. "I heard that on his way here, Zhang Naihui clashed with the Wufa Boxer of the Divine Fist Hall. The Wufa Boxer wanted revenge for the disciple of the Divine Fist Hall who was crippled last time, but before the fight even began, Zhang Naihui subdued him in a single move and made him his follower!"

"Oh? The Wufa Boxer? Of the Divine Fist Hall? Became Zhang Naihui's lackey?" Wei Zhao frowned at once, somewhat astonished. He had only seen Dongfang Badao before; that Dongfang Badao would throw in with Zhang Naihui was understandable—after all, Wei Zhao had killed far more of their family than Zhang Naihui had, so shared hatred was only natural. But the other one was actually the Wufa Boxer of the Divine Fist Hall? Li Ciba of the Divine Fist Hall was Wei Zhao's own lackey—and now the Divine Fist Hall's Wufa Boxer had become Zhang Naihui's lackey? Truly ironic. "What is the Wufa Boxer's strength? How did Zhang Naihui manage it?"

Though Wei Zhao did not know exactly how strong the Divine Fist Hall's Wufa Boxer was, anyone who could join the Heaven-rank trial was surely no weakling. That Zhang Naihui could subdue him and make him a lackey was truly hard to fathom!

Could it be that, after the Bee-Absorbing Divine Art, the Thorn Divine Art, and the Hellish Yin-Demon Fist, Zhang Naihui had cultivated yet another formidable martial art or mental technique? Thinking about it, that was rather possible. After all, Zhang Naihui's devious tricks had always been endless; if he were not confident this time, he would not dare be so arrogant!

"A late-stage Heaven-rank, peak-strength, Great Perfection external-family expert! One of the top experts—even stronger than most internal-family Great Perfection cultivators!" Xiao Ran said with a sigh. "As for how Zhang Naihui did it, I don't know the details. I only heard that Zhang Naihui casually patted the Divine Fist Hall's Wufa Boxer once, and the Wufa Boxer suddenly fell to the ground, rolling about in agony, wishing he were dead."

"What? Such an unbelievable thing happened?" Wei Zhao was stunned. Could it be that Zhang Naihui had now reached a realm where a mere flick of his hand could control experts of the same level? What was he relying on?

"This... well, it's only a rumor, but I think it's most likely true... Otherwise I really can't understand why the Wufa Boxer would get mixed up with them. The Wufa Boxer and the Tomorrow-and-Tomorrow Sect have deep, bitter hatred!" Xiao Ran said quietly. "Besides, I suspect that Dongfang Badao was also subdued by Zhang Naihui, because he too is a late-stage Heaven-rank, peak-strength expert. There's no need for him to be a follower, currying favor like that! Look at how he and the Wufa Boxer treat Zhang Naihui—completely different from Lou Taixie. Lou Taixie is the clever sort, using others' strength against them, finding a patron. But those two seem genuinely afraid of Zhang Naihui..."

"Is your information reliable?" Wei Zhao nodded faintly. He had to admit that Xiao Ran's analysis was quite accurate.

"Ha, I'm just a lone cultivator—what channels for information would I have? I just stepped outside earlier, heard people discussing it, and paid attention." Xiao Ran said. "Brother Lin, just be careful. I'll be going now—I don't want to bring you trouble here. If Lou Taixie uses me to make trouble for you, that would be bad!"

Wei Zhao nodded and patted Xiao Ran on the shoulder. His impression of this man was rather good.

Xiao Ran stood up and quietly took his leave. Though Lou Taixie had noticed Xiao Ran go out and come back, he did not make trouble. Now that Zhang Naihui had already set his sights on Wei Zhao, there was no point in Lou Taixie stepping forward to trouble Xiao Ran! (Second update—begging for monthly tickets. If you have monthly tickets, please cast a few for Yuren, thank you! RS)

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