Chapter 3572 — Three Who Objected

"Fellow brothers of Qingyun Pavilion, I entrust tomorrow's vote to you all. If I, Kang Zhaoming, take the seat of novice deacon, I will not treat you shabbily in the days to come!" Kang Zhaoming seized the moment to pledge solemnly before the crowd.

Of course, his words were nothing but barefaced lies. If he really did become novice deacon, those lowest, filthiest, most exhausting chores would in the end still fall on the heads of Qingyun Pavilion's novices—surely he could not make the second-generation cultivators of Chongtian Pavilion do menial work? And not just the second-generation cultivators of Chongtian Pavilion—even those formidable old fellows of Xuanji Pavilion he would probably rather not offend lightly. The easiest to bully were, after all, the worthless novices of Qingyun Pavilion.

"Heh heh, rest easy, Brother Kang. We novices of Qingyun Pavilion may have no other virtues, but in one respect we are absolute: honest and obedient. Just you wait to become novice deacon—and don't forget your old brother here when you do!" Meng Jueming chimed in with a chuckle.

Though Kang Zhaoming, like Wei Zhao, was a novice who had come up from the mortal realm, since he had Xu Lingchong—the inner-pavilion young master of Chongtian Pavilion—backing him, his weight in others' eyes was naturally different. He was worth currying favor with.

"Then I'll trouble Brother Meng to keep an eye on things for me. This chance means a great deal to me, little brother—I cannot afford any mishap," Kang Zhaoming cautioned, still somewhat uneasy. With his personal prospects at stake, he could not help but be careful.

"Heh heh, set your mind a hundred percent at ease, Brother Kang. This is an open, signed vote—if anyone dares disobey, just watch how I deal with them." Meng Jueming spoke aloud without the least concealment, and the novices' expressions shifted at the sound. The threat in those words was far too direct.

Still, the novices had more or less seen through it: they had no hope of being elected anyway, so whose vote they cast made no difference. It was not worth offending Meng Jueming, the managing senior brother at the very top, over a trifle like this.

Seeing the crowd nod obediently one after another, Meng Jueming could not help but jerk his chin at Kang Zhaoming in smug satisfaction. But when his gaze reached Wei Zhao and his two companions, his expression changed—for the three of them had no intention whatsoever of falling in line. They simply stood there with their arms folded, looking on with cold indifference.

The others feared Meng Jueming because they feared the petty torments he might inflict on them later. But Wei Zhao's trio had already fallen out with him long ago; even if they obeyed him now, there would be no benefit, so they might as well put on a show of backbone.

For Wei Zhao, after all, Meng Jueming was already offended whether he wished it or not, and if Kang Zhaoming got his way and was elected novice deacon, there would be no end of trouble in the days ahead—at the very least, the filthiest, most exhausting work would surely land on his own head. So this time, he absolutely could not let the man have his way.

In fact, even if Xu Lingchong helped him secure the votes of Chongtian Pavilion, that by no means guaranteed the old fellows of Xuanji Pavilion. And by the rule that a candidate must win more than two-thirds of the votes, so long as Wei Zhao's trio here in Qingyun Pavilion refused to nod, then even if everyone else voted for him, there was still a very good chance he would fail in the end.

He had just been thumping his chest and making grand promises, only to see someone refuse to cooperate the very next moment. Meng Jueming's old face flushed hot at once. Had it been anyone else, he would have cursed them out long ago—but faced with a prickly novice like Wei Zhao, he was somewhat at a loss.

The man had made it plain he would not listen to him. Even if he tormented him later, the fellow was not afraid of him. What could he possibly do?

"Brother Meng, can it be that you cannot even handle them?" Kang Zhaoming quickly sensed something was off. After all, the three of them stood immovable as mountains, in stark contrast to the meek, yielding manner of the other novices—and Wei Zhao, in particular, was the thorn in his eye and flesh that he watched most closely. It would have been hard for him not to notice.

"Uh... there are always some novices who think too highly of themselves and refuse to be disciplined. There is plenty of time ahead—I will teach them a lesson they won't forget," Meng Jueming said, forced to put on a shameless front.

"Plenty of time ahead..." Kang Zhaoming rolled his eyes. For Meng Jueming, there was of course plenty of time—but he himself could not wait. The vote was tomorrow morning, and if he could not win over all of Qingyun Pavilion, the tally might well fall short of two-thirds, and then all his painstaking effort would have been for nothing.

No—he had to strangle this risk in the cradle at once. As for taking revenge on Wei Zhao, once he was novice deacon there would be ample opportunity in the days to come!

Kang Zhaoming had no choice but to explain the situation to Xu Lingchong. Xu Lingchong nodded and signaled that he would step in personally to settle it. Kang Zhaoming was, after all, someone he had publicly thrown his weight behind, and he had built up quite a fanfare before coming here. If the man failed to win the novice deaconship tomorrow, and word of it spread, even he, Young Master Xu, would likely lose face along with him!

Kang Zhaoming was overjoyed and hurriedly scurried along behind Xu Lingchong toward Wei Zhao, thinking to himself: with Young Master Xu stepping in personally this time, let's see whether you, Wei Zhao, still dare to keep acting so tough!

Zhong Yongliang, following behind them as well, was at this moment rather worried. Though outwardly he had thrown in his lot with Xu Lingchong, in truth he was Wei Zhao's mole. After spending these few hours together, he had already learned that Xu Lingchong was not only backed by deep connections but was himself extremely powerful. If Wei Zhao took the lead and recklessly defied him, he would very likely suffer badly!

"So you are Wei Zhao? I hear you cut quite a figure in the mortal realm!" Xu Lingchong led his people to a stop before Wei Zhao, his face mocking, looking down at him from on high.

At once this drew the eyes of everyone present. Seeing that the center of attention was once again this Wei Zhao from the mortal realm, they could not help but put on expressions of relish. Sure enough, putting on airs invites a thunderbolt—this Wei Zhao seemed to have landed himself in real trouble!

In truth, Xu Lingchong had previously disdained to stand up for Kang Zhaoming. Given his status on the Northern Island of the Heaven Tier—a name renowned throughout all three pavilions—it seemed rather unbecoming to teach a lesson to an outer-pavilion disciple who had only just landed on Cloud-Tier Island. If word got out, it would look as though he were using his greater stature to bully the small.

But Xu Lingchong was genuinely angry today. Earlier he had taken Kang Zhaoming to Xuanji Pavilion. Though the two old fellows in charge there had done him the courtesy of putting in a word for Kang Zhaoming, it was plain to see that they were not much enthused—only a scant few had responded, and who knew whether they meant it or not.

This left him feeling somewhat humiliated. But Xuanji Pavilion's strength was, after all, only slightly beneath Chongtian Pavilion's, and he, Xu Lingchong, did not yet have the power to put on airs before those old men.

All along, the novice deaconship had been contested between Chongtian Pavilion and Xuanji Pavilion, going to the abler. Even if Xuanji Pavilion could not win the election, they would not lightly lend their support to Chongtian Pavilion.RS

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