Chapter 2113 — Not a Hard Question

"From here on, all the Hidden Han family needs to do is rest, recover, and devote yourselves to cultivation. Since you have money, stay out of those money-making ventures the hidden families run!" Wei Zhao said. "I will help you step by step as well, though I fear I cannot be of much use for the moment. Once your Han family produces several experts at the peak of the late Earth Rank, your position among the hidden families will be secure. And if by some stroke of fortune one of you breaks through to the Heaven Rank, who is to say you might not become the leader of the hidden families?"

Han Xiaopo nodded and fell into thought.

"As for the materials for the Qi Gathering Pill—gather as many more portions as you can," Wei Zhao said.

"Understood!" Han Xiaopo had no idea what Wei Zhao wanted with so much Qi Gathering Pill material, but the fate of the Hidden Han family had, over the course of this summit, become bound to Wei Zhao. Only if Wei Zhao grew stronger would the Hidden Han family rise with him.

They arrived at the Zhao family's council hall. Following the usual procedure, they registered the names of the contestants and their wagers. When the others saw that the Hidden Han family had again put forward Wei Zhao's name, they were not surprised—they had gradually grown numb to it.

"This contest is a test of identifying poisons!" Old Master Zhao waited until everyone had finished registering and taken their seats, then spoke slowly. "The rules are simple. We have here one hundred poisons made from all manner of venomous insects and toxic herbs, loaded into the computer's poison-mixing machine. The machine will randomly draw ten of these hundred poisons and combine them into a new poison. The mixture is random, and every draw is different, which rules out any chance of cheating by memorizing the formulas in advance! Once the poison is made, everyone will draw lots to select one of the prepared poisons and identify it within the allotted time. Whichever contestant correctly identifies the most poisons wins! Naturally, the answer sheet may list up to ten poisons. If anyone tries to hedge by listing a whole pile of names, anything over ten counts as an automatic forfeit!"

"That does not seem right," Han Xiaopo objected again.

"What is your objection now?" Old Master Zhao glared at Han Xiaopo in irritation. Was there anyone who found more fault than this one?

"Your rules have a loophole. If several contestants all get everything right, how do you decide the winner?" Han Xiaopo was a clever fellow, and he made a specialty of sniffing out loopholes in rules.

"Everything right?" Old Master Zhao frowned. "Do you think that is possible?"

These venomous insects and toxic herbs were utterly bizarre and varied. Even the disciples of the Hidden Tang family and the Hidden You family might not identify them all correctly in so short a time; mistakes were likely. So even if one person identified everything correctly, it would be a fluke—how could there be several?

"What, then? How about this: if anyone else gets everything right, the same as our leader, then count it as our leader's victory. How does that sound?" Han Xiaopo asked.

"Before the contest has even begun, you already know Wei Zhao will win?" Old Master Zhao sneered. "I think your heads have been turned by your earlier victories. You suppose all the victories to come belong to your family?"

Wei Zhao's medical skill was formidable—that Old Master Zhao knew well. But however formidable, could it surpass that of people who had devoted themselves to this study?

"If several contestants get everything right, then the deciding factor shall be the time taken to identify," Old Master You added.

"Indeed. Does that answer your question?" Old Master Zhao nodded and asked.

"It does," Han Xiaopo said with satisfaction.

"In that case, contestants, take your places and prepare for the contest to begin!" Old Master Zhao said. "The poison-mixing machine will begin preparing the poisons; contestants, draw your lots here!"

There was no chance of cheating in such details—so many eyes were watching. Wei Zhao casually drew a lot and stepped to one side, and so did the others. Everyone went straight to the draw without fumbling about, clearly unwilling to let anyone suspect them of cheating.

When the drawing was done, half the tags remained in the bucket. Those tags corresponded to poisons in the mixing machine as well, but since no one had drawn them, they were naturally unused. This too was for the sake of fairness.

Each contestant, according to their tag, collected their own little bottle from the mixing machine, walked to one side, sat down, and began identifying the poison within.

Identification was Wei Zhao's strong suit. As a child, he had grown up practically in a heap of medicinal herbs, and the old man had set him such nasty problems every day. Be it venomous insect or toxic herb, there was almost nothing Wei Zhao could not identify—unless it was something exceedingly peculiar, like the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit, something he had never seen.

But such precious things could never appear in the contests of the hidden family summit. To casually mix such a treasure into a poison as examination material would be a wanton waste of heaven's gifts; even if a family won, the loss would outweigh the gain.

So Wei Zhao merely tasted the poison in his bottle ever so slightly, spat it out, and used true qi to encase and expel the remnants in his mouth. Then he quickly picked up his brush and wrote on the paper the names of ten venomous insects and toxic herbs, and rose to his feet to signal that he had finished.

Seeing Wei Zhao the first to stand, Old Master Zhao's face twitched twice. Was that not a little too fast?

Old Master Tang and Old Master You wore looks of equal shock. Wei Zhao coming out so early meant only one of two things: either he had given up, or he had already finished identifying. But would Wei Zhao ever give up?

From what they knew of Wei Zhao, he was not one to surrender easily. Not only would he not give up—he would strive with all his might for first place.

"Leader!" Han Xiaopo rushed over the moment he saw Wei Zhao stand. "All done?"

"More or less." Wei Zhao showed little pride. This was his strong suit; winning was winning, nothing worth boasting about. The earlier contests had cost him some effort and thought, but this one had held no suspense at all.

Whether Wei Zhao had given up or finished identifying, the disciples of the Hidden You family and the Hidden Tang family could sit still no longer. The second to emerge was a disciple of the Hidden Tang family, with a disciple of the Hidden You family close behind.

They had no intention of letting Wei Zhao win and then, after losing first place, forfeit second and third as well—that would be a humiliation beyond all bearing! This contest had been designed to target the Hidden Tang and Hidden You families, yet it had instead made Wei Zhao's name. How could they take that calmly? (To be continued)

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