Chapter 2110 — The Rankings Are Wrong

After all, the grudge between the Tang family and Wei Zhao could not be spoken aloud, and back when they first discussed doing away with Wei Zhao, Elder Tang had not been particularly eager. In his eyes, Wei Zhao could not possibly pose any threat to the hidden Tang family. But things were different now. In his heart he feared that Wei Zhao would take revenge, and so he meant to seize this opportunity to cut Wei Zhao down!

"With all our strength?" Elder Zhao was briefly taken aback, but then he nodded and said, "A good idea!"

"No problem!" Elder Yu and Elder You nodded as well. Elder Yu and Elder Zhao were in-laws by marriage, and Elder You and Elder Tang were likewise connected by marriage; and since all of them bore some grudge or other against Wei Zhao, none of them minded using this opportunity to do away with him!

With the four of them thus agreed, an instant later they fell into perfect accord and raised their true qi to its peak. At once their Heaven-rank strength was laid bare, and Heaven-rank true qi poured like a raging tide into the formation!

Wei Zhao frowned at once. True, the formation had scattered the oppressive true qi of those Heaven-rank elders outside, but with the four of them driving it with all their might, it still brought tremendous pressure to bear on him!

Even after being dispersed and divided, the pressure was not as fearsome as true Heaven-rank force, yet it could still reach the peak of the late Earth rank... or perhaps even higher! Feeling the pressure upon him intensify, Wei Zhao gave a cold laugh and knew at once that those four old things outside had turned murderous!

The Hidden World Clan Summit had its rules, and unless it truly could not be helped, they would not break them—after all, the ancient powers above were watching. But this sort of dirty work in the dark, this underhanded trick to do Wei Zhao to death, fell outside those rules.

If Wei Zhao could not withstand the formation's pressure and died of it, even the ancient powers would not ask too many questions. After all, that would count as overreaching oneself in the contest—if you could not take it, you could simply withdraw. No one was forcing you to stay inside the formation; you could leave at any time!

But since you chose not to come out, since you sought your own death, then you had no one to blame but yourself!

Wei Zhao opened his eyes, cast a faint glance at the Fire Wolf Gang's contestant, a strange smile flickering at the corner of his mouth, and then rose and strode quickly out of the formation!

"Whoosh..." Wei Zhao's exit from the formation actually set the elders of the Zhao, You, Tang, and Yu families at ease. Since Wei Zhao could no longer withstand the pressure, he was probably not a Heaven-rank expert after all—or at most, only at the early Heaven rank!

"So the boy has finally lost one, and not easily either!" Elder Zhao gave a cold snort and said.

He had only recently broken through to the Heaven rank, and his realm was not yet stable, so having used so much true qi earlier left him feeling drained of strength.

"Even if it was not a disciple of our four families who won, at least it is a good start—we have successfully turned our bad luck around!" Elder You said.

That Wei Zhao had failed to hold out to the end came as something of a surprise to Han Tianba and Han Xiaopo. After all, they had watched him persevere all along with an air of perfect composure, and so they had naturally assumed that Wei Zhao would surely be the last one to leave the formation. But unexpectedly, Wei Zhao was still the second-to-last to emerge.

Surprising as this result was, it was not too great a disappointment. After all, it was hardly realistic to expect Wei Zhao to take first place in every single contest; second place was quite good too, and at least they would not lose their own family's wager.

Wei Zhao's emergence meant the contest was over. The last person remaining inside the formation was the winner!

So Elder Zhao, Elder You, Elder Yu, and Elder Tang all at once ceased feeding true qi into the formation, and Elder Zhao came striding over with great pomp, sweeping his proud gaze across the disciples present until it came to rest on Han Tianba, Han Xiaopo, and Wei Zhao. With a faint smile he said, "In this solo endurance contest, the winner is the Fire Wolf Gang, second place goes to the hidden Han family, and third place to the Golden Bell Sect!"

"Hold on..." Just as the people of these two sects were about to step forward and claim their wagers, Wei Zhao spoke up!

"What is it, Wei Zhao? Is something the matter? Do you mean to say you are not satisfied with this result?" Elder Zhao looked at Wei Zhao and asked coldly.

"Not satisfied—of course I am not satisfied." Wei Zhao regarded Elder Zhao with equal calm.

"The result is already out. What more have you to say? You were the second-to-last to emerge—surely you do not mean to dispute the rankings?" Elder Zhao frowned. He assumed Wei Zhao meant to raise the matter of the formation's power increasing in the later stages, but that did not matter; even if Wei Zhao brought it up, Elder Zhao still had his explanations ready!

"Of course I have something to say. Tell me, why was the pressure inside the formation different later on from before? Why did it grow stronger and stronger?" Wei Zhao asked coldly.

In truth, Wei Zhao had not left the formation because the pressure had grown stronger. Had he resisted with all his might, he could naturally have held out a while longer. But he had come out for other reasons, and he also did not wish to force a resistance that would leave him injured.

"Oh, that!" Elder Zhao, as though he had anticipated this very question from Wei Zhao, said blandly, "The power was lesser before in order to eliminate the majority of the participating disciples. Afterward, only the strong remain, and to decide the outcome as quickly as possible, the pressure naturally had to be increased—otherwise, when would the victor ever be determined? There is another contest tonight; if we dragged on like this, would we not delay the evening's events?"

"Oh, so that is how it is!" Wei Zhao nodded, shot Elder Zhao a mocking glance, and said, "I had thought you were deliberately trying to kill someone!"

"Nonsense—how could we possibly be deliberately trying to kill someone?" Elder Zhao snorted.

"Exactly, that is what I said—how much hatred would that take, to kill a man without a trace in such a way? Truly formidable!" Wei Zhao smiled faintly and nodded.

"You have no more questions, I take it? If not, then let the prizes be awarded!" Elder Zhao said with some impatience.

"Oh, I do!" Wei Zhao said. "There is one more problem—you have gotten the rankings wrong!"

"The rankings are wrong? How are they wrong?" Elder Zhao asked.

"First place should go to the hidden Han family, which I represent!" Wei Zhao said.

"Wei Zhao, have you gone mad with longing for the championship? Even if you led all along and won several contests in a row, that does not mean you take first place in every single one, does it?" Elder Zhao said with some amusement. "Wei Zhao, are you unwell?"

"Then let me ask you, old man Zhao—if I am not the champion, who is?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Naturally a disciple of the Fire Wolf Gang!" Elder Zhao said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

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