Chapter 4662 — The Restless Haunting

By the time Wei Zhao arrived at the plaza with Han Jingyi and Shangguan Lan'er in tow, registration for the West Island Trial had already officially begun. The process was simple: all one had to do was sign one's name on the trial roster. So long as one's cultivation did not exceed the Nascent Soul stage, there was virtually no other threshold—making this, by all accounts, the most lenient set of conditions in the history of the West Island Trial.

Naturally, there was still a minimum floor of strength required to take part. At the very least one had to be a Golden Core expert; otherwise, even if one went to the ruins of the ancient battlefield, it would be nothing but throwing one's life away, utterly meaningless.

Wei Zhao glanced at the presiding platform. To his faint disappointment, Ning Xuefei was nowhere to be seen, nor did Ning Shanghe, the Island Lord of West Island, put in an appearance. The one presiding over this West Island Trial was the Vice Island Lord, Yan Xinlan.

"Only experts below the Nascent Soul stage may take part in the trial. There is no use in trying to conceal your strength and slip through—this is not judged by us by human reckoning, but by a special teleportation formation. The formation is most peculiar: only those below the Nascent Soul stage can be transported by it. Any guest whose cultivation lies above that need not waste their effort, lest they make fools of themselves." Yan Xinlan spoke calmly as she surveyed the bustling crowd of registrants.

At her words, a few people in the crowd indeed withdrew with awkward, sheepish expressions. They might not have come to compete for Ning Xuefei's hand; likely they simply wanted to take a turn through the ruins of the ancient battlefield. After all, it held not only all manner of rare treasures, but—with a bit of luck—ancient inheritances as well. Even Xuan Sheng stage experts would be green with envy.

Wei Zhao smiled faintly at the sight. Where heavy profit beckoned, one truly found every sort of person. Turning to say a word to Han Jingyi and Shangguan Lan'er, he squeezed through the crowd and stepped up to register.

"Brother Ling!" Just as Wei Zhao was signing his name, someone suddenly clapped him on the shoulder from behind. It was Qi Wenmo.

"So you've come." Wei Zhao turned and greeted him, and only then noticed a woman standing beside Qi Wenmo. One look at Qi Wenmo's somewhat embarrassed expression and he understood at once: this woman must be the one this fellow held dear—none other than the daughter of the Ship King.

Wei Zhao's interest was immediately piqued, and he could not help giving the woman another glance. He found her dressed most plainly, utterly inconspicuous in the crowd. Even her features could only be called ordinary; taken as a whole, she gave the impression of a wholly unremarkable woman, with not a single outstanding quality to be found. Set beside Shangguan Lan'er, Ning Xuefei, or Han Jingyi, she could not bear comparison in the slightest.

Yet Wei Zhao soon spotted something amiss. Though her flaw was tiny, it could not escape his eyes—her appearance had been disguised!

An ordinary person would have found it hard to notice, but Wei Zhao did not judge people by their looks alone. He paid more heed to their bearing. These days a face was easy to disguise, but bearing was very hard to change. At the very least, there was an obvious gap between this woman's bearing and the ordinary face she now wore. On that alone he could conclude that she had certainly altered her appearance.

Still, that was hardly surprising. A female cultivator traveling abroad was inherently in far greater danger than a male cultivator, and she was the daughter of the Ship King besides. This time she was on a secret mission as well, so disguising herself was only a normal precaution.

"Hello, I'm Wei Zhao. A friend of Brother Qi's." Wei Zhao shot Qi Wenmo a teasing look and introduced himself on the spot.

"My name is Xia Qianqian. You're quite famous in our South Continent seas—Wenhan always says the two of you are as close as brothers. Today I finally get to meet the real man." The woman nodded with an easy, gracious smile.

"Ha ha, Miss Xia flatters me." Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow at Qi Wenmo. Hearing him belittle himself so before, he had assumed this daughter of the Ship King must be some lofty, unapproachable figure. So the two of them were already this intimate—it seemed wedding wine would not be long in coming.

Only now did Wei Zhao think to size Qi Wenmo up afresh. He found the fellow's aura utterly transformed; he had indeed successfully condensed his Nascent Soul and become a genuine early Nascent Soul expert. No wonder the man had grown so much more confident.

"Ahem—speaking of which, Brother Ling, are you registering alone this time?" Qi Wenmo, embarrassed under Wei Zhao's gaze and fearful the man might say something he shouldn't—after all, his relationship with Xia Qianqian had not yet been made explicit—hastened to change the subject.

"That's right. I'm not like you two, coming as a pair. Judging by the look of you, you must be registering as well?" Wei Zhao said with an amused smile. Shangguan Lan'er and Han Jingyi had actually wanted to accompany him, but the West Island Trial was fraught with peril, and he dared not vouch for the two women's safety. To be safe, he had talked them out of it. This was no pleasure outing, after all—for Ning Xuefei's lifelong happiness, there could be no room for error.

"Uh…" Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian exchanged a glance, then hastily looked away the moment their eyes met. Xia Qianqian lowered her head, blushing, while Qi Wenmo hurriedly said, "We're entering for the rare treasures, not to compete with you, Brother Ling, for the Princess of West Island. Don't misunderstand."

"I know. That's why I said you two come as a pair." The moment the words left Wei Zhao's mouth, Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian blushed even deeper and fell silent with their heads bowed, yet every so often they would steal a glance at each other, only to look sharply away the instant their eyes met.

Wei Zhao could not help but be amused. He had said it deliberately for exactly this effect. When a man and a woman reached a certain point, someone had to break through that last thin veil sooner or later; he was merely giving the boat a push, so that Qi Wenmo would not keep dithering and second-guessing himself forever.

As he spoke, Wei Zhao had already written his name on the registration roll. He also ran a cursory eye over the roster, and there discovered the names of two old acquaintances: Xu Lingchong and Kang Jingming.

"Hah, so they really are haunting me still." Wei Zhao gave a cold smile. He had already sensed it back at the welcoming banquet—these two seemed deliberately set on smearing his name, and above all on ruining his relationship with Ning Xuefei. He had no idea what the pair were plotting. Did they truly mean to become Ning Xuefei's husband?

One was a man who was no man at all; the other a petty wretch who did more harm than good. And with just such wares as these, they meant to compete for Ning Xuefei? What a joke!

A short while later, everyone present had finished registering. Only then did Yan Xinlan, standing on the presiding platform, speak: "Very well. Next, I will explain the matters to note for this West Island Trial. I hope every one of you will take it to heart, for this concerns not only whether you can win, but your very lives. Let me remind you all in all seriousness: the West Island Trial is a very dangerous affair." (To be continued…)