Chapter 3607 — You Need a Backer on Cloud Step Island

"Tch. Every time, he tosses in worthless jade like some ragpicker, as if he'd dug up a heap of fine stones. Mud that won't hold up a wall, honestly. He's a disgrace to Azure Cloud Pavilion!" Meng Jueming caught Xu Lingchong's puzzlement and slipped in the explanation right on cue.

So that was it! Xu Lingchong's expression eased a little, and with a faint sneer he turned to Kang Zhaoming. "Tell me, Junior Brother Kang—are all you people from the mortal realm as dirt-poor as this? Can't even bear to part with a few chunks of worthless rubbish jade?"

"Young Master Xu, we mortal-realm folk may not have seen much of the world, but we aren't all born ragpickers. Still, Senior Brother Wei Zhao and I are not the same sort. We may come from the mortal realm, but we hail from proper top-tier sects—I'm from the Five Luminaries Sect, this Junior Brother Zhong is from the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect, and as for that Wei Zhao, he's an out-and-out lone cultivator! He only got to Cloud Step Island by the dumb luck of a dog sniffing out a dung heap. People like him, we all look down on and turn our noses up at!" Kang Zhaoming grinned with a heh-heh, and in every word and every pause he ground Wei Zhao into the dirt—despised here on Cloud Step Island, despised still back in the mortal realm, a man abhorred by gods and men alike!

"Oh? So you're from the Five Luminaries Sect, are you? Now that's a sect of standing. Grandmaster Zhang Liju, the Pill God who came out of our own Sky Tier North Island, was a fine hand from your mortal realm's Five Luminaries Sect! And the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect—I've heard of it too. That was once a sect of the Middle Island. You're all heirs of renowned houses; no wonder you joined my Soaring Heavens Pavilion. It fits nicely!" Xu Lingchong's face cleared in understanding. Proud as he was, he plainly held the Five Luminaries Sect's Zhang Liju in high esteem and admiration. At the mention of Wei Zhao, though, he could not help roaring with laughter. "Well, that figures. If you were the same as this creature, I'd never have taken a liking to you in the first place, young master that I am. Wretches who can do nothing but pick through rubbish belong to Azure Cloud Pavilion and nowhere else."

Xu Lingchong said this before everyone present, and the faces of the Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers changed on the spot. Did his words not amount to calling them all wretches as well? Azure Cloud Pavilion might be the weakest of the three stacked pavilions and might bear the name of a dumping ground for castoffs—that much was true—but to say such a thing in front of so many of its newcomers was to point at a monk and curse the bald. This Young Master Xu was going too far in his bullying!

Yet Meng Jueming, the steward senior brother who was the best representative Azure Cloud Pavilion had on hand, turned a deaf ear to Xu Lingchong's words and went on fawning over him, his face positively dripping with servile flattery.

For a moment, the newcomers felt their hearts go cold! Rootless lone cultivators they might be, and they could accept Azure Cloud Pavilion's weak and lowly state—but that did not mean they were willing to swallow such unbridled insults to their faces!

And thanks to yesterday's upheaval, though they had gathered here today partly to watch Wei Zhao make a fool of himself, they were for the most part still in a wait-and-see frame of mind, not fully on the same side as Meng Jueming and his lot. Now, stung by Xu Lingchong's words—and especially after witnessing that ugly display from Meng Jueming—they suddenly found themselves sharing Wei Zhao's enmity!

With the newcomers' change of heart, the mood on the spot shifted abruptly. This circle of people had gathered to laugh at Wei Zhao, yet now it felt as though they were cheering him on. Far from wishing to see him humiliated, they now hoped he would produce a pile of fine jade like yesterday and blind the dog eyes of Xu Lingchong and Meng Jueming and their ilk!

"Heh… so these fellows aren't entirely beyond saving after all." Wei Zhao smiled thoughtfully. He had assumed this batch of newcomers had already sunk to the level of Meng Jueming's lapdogs, but it seemed they still had a last spark of spirit that had not been ground away.

It was not only Wei Zhao—Meng Jueming, too, soon sensed the subtle shift. Seeing the newcomers' hostility turning, however faintly, toward himself, he was furious and at the same time could not help inwardly crying out at his misfortune.

He was a man bent heart and soul on currying favor and climbing high. A chance to rub shoulders with a young master like Xu Lingchong was a blessing earned over eight lifetimes—surely he could not give up such a golden opportunity over one remark? But then again, if he wanted to rise in the future, he had to hold on to his present post, and to hold on to the post of steward senior brother, he had to win over these newcomers. Yesterday had been a golden opportunity, and Wei Zhao's uncanny "dog-shit luck" had wrecked it. Today was another opportunity, and who would have thought he'd run into such a wretched dilemma.

If he did not rebut Xu Lingchong's mocking words just now, then he, Meng Jueming, would surely lose standing in the newcomers' eyes. Where dignity and backbone were at stake, that was deadly serious. Once such an image set, winning them over later would be all the harder.

But if he did rebut Xu Lingchong, that might gratify the newcomers—yet the consequences would be even worse. A single casual word from Young Master Xu to Hu Yunfeng, and Meng Jueming would never be able to turn himself around for the rest of his days!

Offend the newcomers, or offend Xu Lingchong—suddenly driven into such a dilemma, Meng Jueming would have happily hacked Wei Zhao to death on the spot. If not for coming to gloat over this unlucky wretch's misfortune, would he ever have landed in such an awkward spot? And now, of all things, before he'd even had his laugh, he'd become the unlucky one caught in the crossfire!

Yet at this moment Xu Lingchong seemed to perceive Meng Jueming's predicament. It was true that he took a dim view of Azure Cloud Pavilion, but he was a man of both ambition and intelligence. For all his usual arrogance and domineering airs, his scheming was in fact most meticulous.

Meng Jueming meant to attach himself to Xu Lingchong, and Xu Lingchong would naturally accept—how splendid it would be if all of Azure Cloud Pavilion's people became his underlings! Still, to make underlings loyal unto death, a master must give them their due face.

So he spoke mildly: "When I called Azure Cloud Pavilion trash just now, I meant only Wei Zhao, Xiao Ran, and Qiao Hongcai and the like. Following a dead-end wretch like that, they're trash for certain. But following me and following Junior Brother Meng is a different matter. Even if you're trash, there's still a time for turning the tables—because on this Sky Tier North Island, what does it take to make a name for yourself? A backer! You're all fine hands of the Sky Tier, your aptitudes can't be poor, you all start from the same line, and what decides the race is cultivation resources. Following the right person matters above all. Otherwise, all you'll have to rely on in the future is dog-shit luck!"

Xu Lingchong's words set the blood of the Azure Cloud Pavilion disciples present racing! Yes—on this Sky Tier North Island, what was the contest really about? Was it not whose backer was the sturdiest?

Don't envy that Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao is simply lucky! RS

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