Chapter 4816 — Heading for the Morning Star

"This... could I speak with Brother Lin face to face? There's a small favor I'd like to ask of him. I'd be grateful if Brother Leng would grant me the convenience." The man peered past him at Wei Zhao.

Leng Rufeng was just about to drive him off when Wei Zhao suddenly spoke. "Never mind, Rufeng. Let him through."

"Thank you, thank you." Only then did the man hurry over, and reaching Wei Zhao he bowed deeply. "Brother Lin, my name is Jiang Yuechuan. I heard you were preparing to go to the Morning Star Academy, so I have taken the liberty of seeking you out. I was hoping you might do me a small favor."

"Oh? Whatever you have to say, Brother Jiang, just say it plainly." Wei Zhao gave him a somewhat surprised glance. The man's cultivation was utterly ordinary—only the early Nascent Soul stage—and yet he actually knew Wei Zhao was bound for the Morning Star Academy. His information network was impressively quick. After all, Wei Zhao had never mentioned the matter to any outsider; he had merely asked Chen Xinglan to help him find a map.

"It's like this. I have a betrothed named Qin Chan, and she is at the Morning Star Academy as well. We have not seen each other for ten years now, so I hoped Brother Lin might carry a pill to her for me, just to show my heart. I would be endlessly grateful." Jiang Yuechuan made his request with an earnest expression.

"Ten years without seeing her? Then why not go see her yourself? The Morning Star Academy may not be close, but making the trip isn't all that difficult, is it?" Wei Zhao and the others exchanged looks of puzzlement.

"To tell you the truth, it isn't that I don't want to go—I simply cannot go at all." Jiang Yuechuan shook his head with a bitter smile and sighed. "Brother Lin, you may not know this, but disciples of a Yellow-Tier Academy are forbidden to travel to other academies on their own, except on official exchanges arranged by the academy! And the ones who qualify for those exchange slots are either the academy's own inner disciples or cultivators at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. I am nowhere near qualified!"

"There's such a rule?" Wei Zhao glanced at Jiang Yuechuan and shook his head, speechless. To him it had seemed the simplest thing in the world for Huo Yudie to come to the Xiangyun Academy; he had never imagined there was so much hardship involved.

"Indeed! Only someone of Brother Lin's standing and strength can roam the Yellow-Tier Seas at will, while I..." Jiang Yuechuan gave an awkward laugh, his expression gloomy. "My betrothed Qin Chan and I both come from poor families, and we have no connections in the academy. I imagine she is still at the Golden Core stage, just as she was ten years ago, so..."

"Very well. Seeing how deeply devoted you are, I'll do this favor." Wei Zhao nodded. The man's persistence reminded him of himself—had he not traveled thousands of miles to Cloud-Tier Island precisely to find a way to wake the Young Mistress and Yu Xiaoke and the others?

"Thank you, Brother Lin!" Jiang Yuechuan was overjoyed and hastily produced a pill he had long since prepared, handing it to Wei Zhao.

A Gestation-Forming Golden Pill? Wei Zhao recognized it at a glance and found his opinion of Jiang Yuechuan rising another notch. To an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, this Gestation-Forming Golden Pill was a rare and precious thing—and here was a man merely at the early Nascent Soul stage, bold enough to entrust a perfect stranger with such a treasure. That took real nerve.

"Heh. Aren't you afraid I'll pocket it myself?" Wei Zhao said deliberately. Since Jiang Yuechuan could not go see Qin Chan in person, Wei Zhao could have swallowed the pill along the way and no one would ever be able to prove otherwise.

"Brother Lin jests. You are the consort of West Island, and you can casually produce seventh-grade pills to give away—a sixth-grade Gestation-Forming Golden Pill would hardly be worth your notice. Besides, you are a man of your word, which is precisely why I dared to presume upon you." Jiang Yuechuan's face was grave.

"Heh. It seems you know quite a lot about my affairs. Your information is indeed quick." Wei Zhao smiled faintly.

"I wouldn't presume. My strength is meager, and I cannot serve as a close guard to you and Miss Ning the way Brother Leng does, but after all I have spent ten years in this academy. On the strength of that seniority I have made a fair number of connections and have ears in many places. There are great services I cannot render, but if Ren Zhongyuan and his lot make any move, I can inform Brother Leng at once." Jiang Yuechuan offered himself.

"Very well, then I'll trouble you." Wei Zhao nodded. With Jiang Yuechuan passing along word and Leng Rufeng standing guard at her side, Ning Xuefei would have double insurance and be absolutely safe. Then he could set his mind completely at ease.

"It is only my duty." Jiang Yuechuan's face lit with delight. This was not merely a return of kindness; the chance to forge a connection with a formidable figure like Wei Zhao would greatly benefit him as well. Then he deliberately lowered his voice. "By the way, a few days ago Yi Xiaotian slipped off on a mysterious long journey. I don't know what he was up to, but the very first thing he did after returning was hold a celebration with Ren Zhongyuan. I suspect something is afoot, Brother Lin. You would do well to be careful."

"Yi Xiaotian? Good. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Let us part here, and meet again in time." With that, Wei Zhao took his leave of them all.

Huo Yudie and Ning Xuefei were both reluctant to let him go. They had long since steeled themselves for this, yet when the moment of parting truly came they could not hold back their tears. Only after Wei Zhao repeatedly promised that they would meet again before long did the two finally laugh through their tears, and each gave him an embrace before they could bear to let him go.

Even after Wei Zhao's back had vanished beyond the academy gates, the two women still would not turn away for a long while. Liu Ziqi and Chen Xinglan once again offered earnest consolation at length, and only then did the two finally snap out of their wife-watching-stone stupor.

After that, Huo Yudie did not return to the Chenjiao Academy. The disciple assessment was already over in any case, so she simply had Chen Xinglan arrange an exchange-disciple slot and stayed on to keep Ning Xuefei company.

Ning Xuefei could not have wished for more. Though Leng Rufeng and Yang Qianshuang were there to protect her, Huo Yudie was, after all, her true sister at heart. Many intimate matters could be spoken of only to Huo Yudie, and were not for outsiders' ears.

Once out of the Xiangyun Academy, Wei Zhao immediately activated the Super Butterfly Microstep and sped on his way. He had not felt it before, but now that he thought of soon seeing Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao, impatience swelled in his heart, and he did not wish to delay a single moment.

Yet barely half a day later, Wei Zhao abruptly halted his journey, changed course, and made his way to a nearby small town, where he found an inn and took a room.

Since the town was not far from either the Xiangyun Academy or the Chenjiao Academy, it still lay, by the markings on the map, within the sphere of influence of both academies—an affiliated town of the academies, so to speak.

Unlike the other Cloud-Tier Islands, in the Eastern Continent's Yellow-Tier Seas the various academies served as the coordinates by which the different regions were divided. Around every Eastern Continent academy a town had sprung up of its own accord, complete with commercial and entertainment districts and every kind of function. Take the two cities nearest Wei Zhao at present: the Chenjiao City and the Xiangyun City.