Chapter 1491 — To Think He Was an Earth Rank Expert: With This Thought, Wei Zhao Smiled and Reached Out His Hand

The innkeeper took Wei Zhao's hand, and the very next moment a look of bewildered astonishment came over his face — for in his perception, Wei Zhao had no strength at all! Not the slightest difference from an ordinary man!

Could it be that he had never recovered, and that everything written on the form was merely a lie?

"Your strength..." The innkeeper had barely begun to ask when he suddenly and sharply sensed a shift in Wei Zhao's power! From nothing at all, Wei Zhao's strength leapt in an instant to the peak of mid-stage Profound Rank!

From the innkeeper's expression Wei Zhao could tell that his guess had been right: so long as he did not circulate the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, his strength remained hidden — hidden so thoroughly that even a man like the innkeeper could not accurately judge it.

Of course, Wei Zhao was only making a test of it; he had no wish to embarrass the innkeeper too badly. After all, this time he was the one who needed something of the Ice Palace — and if things turned sour, how would he ever ask for the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit?

Besides, Wei Zhao's own origins were questionable to begin with; naturally he could not afford to stir up trouble on the side.

Still, to test whether he could truly conceal his strength, Wei Zhao first suppressed himself to the peak of mid-stage Profound Rank, to see whether the innkeeper could discern the whole of his power.

"Eh?" The innkeeper gave a slight start, a strange light flickering through his eyes. He looked at Wei Zhao as though he could not quite believe it, and muttered under his breath, "Peak mid-stage?"

Wei Zhao smiled faintly. This time he held nothing back, and in an instant his late-stage Profound Rank strength stood fully revealed.

The innkeeper gave him a long, meaningful look, but said nothing more. That Wei Zhao's strength could be suppressed and concealed lay quite beyond the range of any test the innkeeper could make. Though his heart was shaken, the matter touched upon another's cultivation method, and he could not possibly inquire — that was the great taboo of the martial world. The more ancient the sect, the more gravely it regarded the rules of the martial world.

And Wei Zhao himself did after all meet the qualifications for the trial. Though he could conceal his strength, that violated no rule of the trial; so the innkeeper announced outright: "Ling Yi, unaffiliated cultivator, late-stage Profound Rank. You may go pay your deposit!"

"What! Late-stage Profound Rank!" Zhang Naipao was the first to blurt out.

It was he who had drained Wei Zhao's strength dry; he knew perfectly well that Wei Zhao had been reduced to a cripple. Now the innkeeper was declaring Wei Zhao to be late-stage Profound Rank — he simply could not believe it. How was it possible?

Just so, Zhuang Niaopao, Zhuang Niaoqiang and the rest of Zhang Naipao's companions were astonished beyond measure. They had witnessed with their own eyes the whole process by which Wei Zhao was made a cripple — and yet now, how could Wei Zhao be late-stage Profound Rank?

Could there have been some mistake? But though such doubts stirred in their hearts, they were not Zhang Naipao; lacking his formidable backing, how would they dare speak out of turn?

"Young Li's test cannot possibly be wrong. Do you have some objection?" Xiao Qing plainly held the innkeeper in complete confidence. She glanced at Zhang Naipao and asked in an indifferent tone, granting him no special face on account of his ancient sect. That was the way of the Ice Palace: it was kindness enough that they had bent the rules for your sake this time; anything further was out of the question.

"No..." Zhang Naipao shook his head. With matters put that way, what else could he say? Yet he shot Wei Zhao a venomous glare, and though he did not know why the man had not lost his strength, he warned him coldly: "Whether or not you truly are late-stage Profound Rank, we shall see how it goes in this trial!"

It was Zhang Naipao, and Zhang Naipao alone, who would dare speak so in such a setting; anyone else would surely have quailed before the power of the Ice Palace.

Of course, Zhang Naipao had weighed things precisely. What he did was aimed at Wei Zhao, not at the Ice Palace, so the Ice Palace would have nothing to say about it.

"Good. I was just preparing to settle accounts." Wei Zhao nodded at Zhang Naipao.

Zhang Naipao was about to speak, but Feng Nitian beside him laughed and said, "Is a man like that worth your anger? When the time comes, just cripple him!"

As for those who had at first taken Wei Zhao for a man without strength, they now understood: Wei Zhao had not lacked power at all — he had recovered it! And besides, with the innkeeper presiding over the test, no one could slip through by trickery. Join the trial without strength? Impossible.

"You have the right of it!" Zhang Naipao nodded. "That sort of man is no more than an ant; crushing him is the work of a moment! Since he has delivered himself to my door, he is simply a boost to my strength — I will turn him into a cripple again, and I refuse to believe he can recover a second time!"

"Exactly!" Feng Nitian said, not without envy. "Brother Naipao, you are something else. For you, leveling up is nothing but ease and delight!"

"Naturally..." The words came from Zhang Naipao's mouth with all the pride in the world, but in his heart there was only bitterness. Who knew the pain and the sorrow of his own cultivation? You people enjoy yourselves even as you cultivate; I, after castrating myself, am bitten by venomous bees and poisonous insects every day just to train. How could the two be compared?

Wei Zhao looked at these two, each so busily flattering the other's vanity, and smiled a cold smile without leaving a trace of it on his face.

After Wei Zhao swiped his card, it was the turn of Yu Bing and Yu Shan of the Yu family to step up, test their strength and pay their deposit. Those who followed also passed without incident; there was no further business of concealed strength.

Once everyone's deposit had been collected, Xiao Qing had the innkeeper distribute the electronic point cards, and only then said: "Six thirty tomorrow morning, be here on time. I will lead you to the Ice Palace's trial grounds! Latecomers will not be waited for!"

"Yes!" everyone answered gravely.

"There is one more thing I must remind you of: every thing that happens from the start of the trial until you leave the Ice Palace must not be spread abroad! If I should come to hear of it, then you may look forward to being hunted down by the Ice Palace!" Xiao Qing swept her gaze over the crowd and warned them coldly.

"Yes!" the crowd answered hurriedly, silent as cicadas in winter. Who would dare test the Ice Palace's pursuit?

Xiao Qing said nothing more. She turned and drifted away, and in that instant her mid-stage Earth Rank strength was revealed in full, drawing gasps of wonder from the young trial candidates present! A maidservant of one of the Ice Palace's palace masters was mid-stage Earth Rank — then what strength must the palace masters themselves possess?

Could it be nothing less than peak late-stage Earth Rank?

Of course, they only turned such thoughts over in their minds, not daring to speculate aloud. If this maidservant was already so formidable, the palace master must be more formidable still. Xiao Qing had not yet gone far; if she should overhear them gossiping behind her back, whatever would they do?

Wei Zhao too was startled. Truly, until one climbs to this level, one can never understand what is meant by a heaven beyond heaven and a man beyond man, by one mountain rising higher than the next!

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