Chapter 2089 — Barred at the Gate

"So Mr. Lin has already noticed me?" Han Tianba was rather surprised as well. He had feared disturbing Wei Zhao and had walked with great care; he was a mid-Earth-Rank expert—newly broken through, true, but still mid-Earth-Rank—and he had been very careful to restrain his own aura. Yet Wei Zhao could still sense him?

"Heh heh, I have too many enemies. Vigilance has become a habit," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

Han Tianba nodded. There was a question in his heart that he had never voiced—he had wanted to ask it the day before, and today, after Wei Zhao had sensed his aura, he wanted to ask it even more, yet he could never bring himself to speak it aloud.

"Elder Han, is there something you wish to ask me?" Wei Zhao, seeing the doubt in the old man's face, asked.

"This... Mr. Lin, forgive my presumption, but I would like to ask—just what is your true cultivation level?" Han Tianba asked cautiously.

"My level? Did you not see it for yourself?" Wei Zhao smiled and answered with a question of his own.

"My eyes are poor... Is Mr. Lin perhaps a peak early-Earth-Rank expert?" Han Tianba ventured. The day before, when he had watched Wei Zhao unleash his martial technique, he had sensed the strength of a peak early-Earth-Rank. And yet—could Wei Zhao possibly be merely a peak early-Earth-Rank?

"Heh heh, you saw it yourself, so why ask again?" Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"But... it is rumored that Mr. Lin can, within a single move, instantly kill three Earth-Rank experts—among them one of late-Earth-Rank strength?" Han Tianba asked, somewhat perplexed.

"With hidden trump cards, naturally one can fight above one's level," Wei Zhao said, without explaining in any greater detail.

"So that is how it is!" Han Tianba nodded and asked no further.

This time, with Wei Zhao joining the Hidden Han Family, there was no need for the other disciples to venture out. Only Han Tianba, Han Xiaopo, and Wei Zhao—keeping a low profile—rode in that same Mercedes-Benz S600 and set off for the Hidden Zhao Family.

Wei Zhao had never been to the seat of the Hidden Zhao Family in East Sea City. It was in exactly the opposite direction from the Hidden Han Family's seat—one to the south, one to the north. And the Hidden Zhao Family's seat was far finer than the Hidden Han Family's: it stood by the seaside, amid green hills and clear waters.

Clearly, this was the advantage of an old-line hidden family. Even with the Hidden Han Family's present wealth, it would be difficult for them to buy a large plot of seafront land on which to build a manor—after all, those places had all been developed, with amusement parks, bathing beaches, villa districts, companies, holiday resorts, and so on. Thus the Hidden Han Family could only build its manor in the suburbs of East Sea City.

"So this is the Hidden Zhao Family? Quite imposing!" Wei Zhao said in admiration as he looked over the scenery around the Zhao Family manor.

"Yes, this is the place!" Han Tianba did not seem envious. "My Hidden Han Family rose rather late; to have held on to our standing is already no small feat. All this manor scenery is nothing but emptiness."

The car drove all the way to the gate of the Hidden Zhao Family manor, only to be stopped. A disciple of the Hidden Zhao Family barred the way before the car and asked, "This is private property. Idlers and outsiders are not permitted entry. Please leave at once!"

As a rule, hidden families coming here for the summit would not arrive in just one car—at the very least, two or three would come together. But the Hidden Han Family had only this one Mercedes, and with East Sea City local plates besides, so the disciple at the gate naturally assumed they were tourists who had taken a wrong turn.

"We are here to attend the Hidden World Families Summit. Here is our invitation!" Han Xiaopo, sitting in the driver's seat, took out a red invitation card and handed it over.

"Oh? Please wait a moment!" Seeing the invitation, the disciple's attitude grew considerably more respectful. But when he took the card and opened it, the expression on his face turned somewhat strange.

"Very well..." Han Xiaopo nodded, thinking nothing of it.

But the disciple handed the invitation to another man beside him. That man glanced at it once, then ran at top speed toward the interior of the manor...

In the council hall of the Hidden Zhao Family, the heads of several hidden families were already seated. The Hidden Zhao Family was the host of this Hidden World Families Summit, so the Zhao Family patriarch naturally sat in the seat of honor.

Moreover, given the patriarch's status as a Heaven-Rank expert, only the heads of a scant few families—the Yu Family, the You Family, the Tang Family, and the like—could rival him. The heads of the other hidden families were at best peak late-Earth-Rank; none had yet broken through to Heaven-Rank!

So it was hardly excessive for the Zhao patriarch to occupy the seat of honor.

"Reporting to the patriarch, the Hidden Han Family has arrived!" This disciple was the very one who had been responsible for receiving invitations at the gate.

"Oh? The Hidden Han Family has arrived?" The Zhao patriarch was slightly taken aback. "They have come quite early! How many of them are there?"

"Just one Mercedes sedan—five people at most, no more!" the disciple reported truthfully.

"Only one car?" The Zhao patriarch was instantly dumbstruck, and looked in some bewilderment at the family heads present. "Could the Hidden Han Family mean to give up? To bring only five people? If one of them is Han Tianba, that leaves but four places—do they mean to forfeit rather than compete?"

"Heh, Old Zhao, the Hidden Han Family's disciples are at most mid-Yellow-Rank in cultivation. To have them come and sign up for the competition—is that not inviting humiliation?" The speaker was the Tang patriarch of the Hidden Tang Family. "The way I see it, they are just going through the motions. They have given up!"

"Quite right!" The Zhuang patriarch of the Hidden Zhuang Family also laughed heartily. "Apart from old Han, the rest of those disciples are probably just here to broaden their horizons. When they step onto the arena, they may well forfeit on the spot! Scare them to death!"

"Heh, Old Zhuang, your Hidden Zhuang Family has the two brothers Zhuang Niaoqiang and Zhuang Niaopao entering together this time—the victory in the paired arena is yours for the taking!" The speaker was the You patriarch of the Hidden You Family.

"Is it not the same for everyone? Each family sweeps one event's victory, do they not? But Old You and Old Tang, you two have swept the victories of three events!" the Zhuang patriarch said with no small envy.

"Haha, do not forget that we paid a price for that as well. How did those two disciples of yours advance in rank? Was it not by taking our pills?" the Tang patriarch said.

"Enough. Let us not indulge in these fantasies. So long as everyone understands without saying it aloud, that is sufficient!" The Yu Family's ancestral elder spoke up, saying this mildly.

For the Yu Family, it was not that they truly coveted the Hidden Han Family's possessions; it was simply that the Hidden Yu Family's present standing among the hidden families was unmistakably that of a leader.

So in a matter like this, the Hidden Yu Family could hardly refuse. After all, everyone else was taking part—if you alone abstained, would that not make others think you too aloof and lofty? Besides, to leave an advantage unclaimed was hardly defensible either.