Chapter 4793 — The Academy's Choice

"Much obliged, Captain Oda. Until we meet again." Wei Zhao nodded with a smile.

From their time together these past days, he had come to see that the man was not so bad after all. Apart from his habit of turning on a man as swiftly as flipping a page, he had no great flaws. Wei Zhao knew full well the fellow was only currying favor with him, but a friend in possession of an ancient warship might prove useful one day.

"Fair winds to you—until we meet again!" Oda Ba laughed heartily, open and cheerful. Anyone unacquainted with him would be taken in by that image; let a man truly believe him blunt and forthright, and one day he would be cheated until he bled from the face.

Once off the ship, the East Isle disciples came one after another to bid Liu Ziqi farewell, then departed in twos and threes, each going his own way, each seeking his own mother. Liu Ziqi and Wei Zhao's group, however, did not set off at once for Chenjiao Academy, but found an inn nearby and put up there for the time being.

There was no other reason: over the next few days they had to settle a very important question—which academy, after all, were they to enter?

Ning Shanghe had given no clear answer to that, saying only that Ning Xuefei should choose for herself; and as for Wei Zhao, wherever Ning Xuefei went, he would of course go.

Along the way, Liu Ziqi had asked Ning Xuefei this very question several times, but the girl had been too busy spying out the secrets of the ancient warship to give it any serious thought, and so it had been dragged out until now. Liu Ziqi could only wait with resignation; her task was to escort Ning Xuefei to enrollment in person, and she could hardly walk off now.

Liu Ziqi, Ning Xuefei, Huo Yudie, and Wei Zhao sat around a table, staring at one another wide-eyed, while on the table lay a great stack of materials covering every Yellow-Rank academy in East Isle. To read through them all, Wei Zhao roughly estimated, would take three to five days at the very least.

Ning Xuefei's head swam just looking at it. And she was not alone—even Wei Zhao would have found it unbearable. To pick the one most to her liking out of so many academies all at once was to fish a needle from the sea; how could it be easy?

"Why don't you recommend one for me?" Ning Xuefei had no choice but to turn to the others for help, eyes brimming with tears.

The others exchanged glances. Liu Ziqi and Huo Yudie both said nothing; helping Ning Xuefei choose an academy was no small matter. Should someone with ulterior motives spread word of it, and should she be branded with the label of meddling in West Isle's internal affairs, that would be a grievous wrong done her. Even if Ning Shanghe had no objection, the other East Isle academies would certainly be displeased.

To recruit Ning Xuefei, princess of West Isle, would be a great event for any East Isle academy; in a sense, it was an honor only first-rate academies could enjoy. So this matter could only be decided by Ning Xuefei herself—Liu Ziqi did not wish to leave any handle for gossip.

With no way out, Ning Xuefei turned her head to look at Wei Zhao, who had far fewer scruples in this regard. As West Isle's consort, he had every right to speak on the matter.

"How about Chenxing Academy?" Wei Zhao said after a moment's thought. It was the first East Isle academy he had ever heard of, and both Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao were there. If Ning Xuefei were to take the East Sea Divine Nun as her master, they would be able to look after one another once she was there.

Of course, there was one deeply selfish motive in this: Wei Zhao simply wanted the chance to see Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao again. Since parting in the South Isle waters, two years had slipped by in the blink of an eye without a meeting. To say he did not miss the two women would be an outright lie. This was the perfect opportunity.

Ning Xuefei did not much care either way—whatever Wei Zhao said, she would do. Just as she was about to nod in agreement, Liu Ziqi suddenly cut in with righteous severity: "That will not do!"

"Why not?" Wei Zhao and Ning Xuefei were both taken aback.

"I am Feifei's sponsor, and though that does not mean she must enter our Chenjiao Academy, with that connection between us she cannot join Chenxing Academy, for it is our academy's greatest rival," Liu Ziqi said gravely.

"Is there such a rule?" Wei Zhao was astonished. The only academy he knew was the very one that was Chenjiao's sworn enemy—was that not too much of a coincidence?

"Indeed. Have you not noticed how similar the two names are?" Liu Ziqi asked with a bitter smile.

"Chenjiao? Chenxing? Now that you mention it, you are right—only a single character apart. Is that no coincidence?" Wei Zhao said in wonder. He had never thought in that direction before, assuming it was mere chance.

"The naming of an academy is a matter of the utmost importance—how could it be coincidence? In truth, these two academies were once one, split apart by a great catastrophe. Thereafter they would have nothing to do with each other, and the rift only deepened, which is what brought about the present state of things..." Liu Ziqi said with a sigh.

"Well, so that is how it is." Wei Zhao could only shake his head with a bitter smile. Sending Ning Xuefei to Chenxing had been his ideal plan, but now, by the look of it, there was no chance of that.

"Then what do we do?" Ning Xuefei was at a loss again.

"I am out of ideas too. Chenxing is the only one I know; I have never even heard of the others," Wei Zhao said helplessly, spreading his hands.

Seeing the two of them at their wits' end, Liu Ziqi spoke up: "For a princess of West Isle like Feifei, a Yellow-Rank academy is merely a springboard. In the future she is bound for advanced study in East Isle's Mystic-Rank waters; this is only her first stop. So any of the top-ranked Yellow-Rank academies will do."

"Then why not simply stay at our Chenjiao Academy? We could keep each other company!" Huo Yudie said suddenly, her eyes lighting up.

She had fewer scruples than Liu Ziqi, and it was no great matter to say such a thing. After all, she and Ning Xuefei were close as sisters, and if Ning Xuefei stayed at Chenjiao, Wei Zhao would surely linger a while too—killing two birds with one stone. She was not ready to say farewell to Wei Zhao so soon.

"Wonderful!" Ning Xuefei nodded again and again.

Liu Ziqi watched this with a gratified smile, but in the end she shook her head: "That was my thought as well, but unfortunately there are no openings this year. What a pity."

"No openings?" Wei Zhao was startled. There was such a thing as a quota? Where a princess of West Isle like Ning Xuefei was concerned, any normal academy would be falling over itself to snatch her up—who would turn her away over a trifle like a quota...

"Academy rules fix the roll at three hundred—an iron rule handed down from our forebears. Once the disciples reach three hundred, only a replacement system may be used: one leaves, and only then may one enter." Here Liu Ziqi shook her head with a bitter smile. "In past years there were always at least a few openings, but this year, oddly enough, there are none at all. Even with Feifei's special status, the rule cannot be broken—otherwise Chenxing would seize on this without fail, and there is nothing I could do." To be continued...