Chapter 4939 — Not What They Imagined

And just as the two of them were gloating over the disaster, their expressions froze at the same instant. To their astonishment, they saw Wei Zhao and the others returning without a scratch, and not a single shadow of the Alliance Guard Corps anywhere.

"What in the world is going on here?" Bao Zuoliang's jaw dropped. This was completely different from what he had expected.

"It really is a bit strange, but one thing's for certain—Wei Zhao has definitely broken the rules. Look, Young Master Bao, even the Alliance Chairman was stirred up and came in person to escort him back. That shows how serious this is!" Su Kesheng had grasped the "truth" in a single glance.

"Yes, yes, you're the sharp one—hit the nail right on the head. I was almost fooled into thinking he'd gotten off scot-free!" Bao Zuoliang breathed a sigh of relief at once.

As the two spoke, everyone else on the ship had spotted Wei Zhao and his group as well. Catching sight of Zhuang Yifan all of a sudden, the lead officiating alchemist—who had been wringing his hands in helplessness—was badly startled, and without a second thought hurried down from the ship to meet him.

"This humble one is Li Ren, lead officiating alchemist of Morning Star Academy. I did not know Chairman Zhuang would grace us with his presence, and failed to welcome you from afar. I beg Chairman Zhuang's pardon." Li Ren hurried forward, trembling with dread.

Though seeing that nothing had happened to Wei Zhao and the others eased his mind, Zhuang Yifan's personal appearance here still made his heart quake with panic. Because of the news from before, he had, like Bao Zuoliang, jumped to the conclusion that Zhuang Yifan had come in person to escort Wei Zhao back.

"Master Li, you exaggerate." Zhuang Yifan waved a hand with a cool expression, having no interest in exchanging many words with Li Ren. He was, after all, the august Alliance Chairman, while the other was merely a petty officiating alchemist; in both strength and station, the gap between them was immense.

Zhuang Yifan might lower himself before Xuan-rank alchemists like Zang Zili and Wei Zhao, but before these people he was the lofty Alliance Chairman, awe-inspiring and utterly commanding.

At ordinary times, Li Ren would not have dared strike up a conversation with Zhuang Yifan so rashly. But now he had no choice; steeling himself, he offered his apologies: "Chairman Zhuang, Master Lin is an important honored guest of our Morning Star Academy. His participation in the Giant's Path trial this time was reported to and approved by Alliance Headquarters. Considering that he is not yet familiar with the various rules of the Academy Alliance, if he has committed any fault, I beg Chairman Zhuang to be forbearing. Our Morning Star Academy is willing to bear full responsibility!"

"Bear full responsibility?" Zhuang Yifan gave him an odd look. If Wei Zhao were not a Xuan-rank first-grade alchemist, what he had just done would have been punishable by ten thousand deaths. Even Zang Zili had been beaten into a state of unknown life or death—how could a mere Morning Star Academy possibly bear responsibility for such a thing?

Zang Zili was, after all, the chief alchemist of Dingcheng Academy, and across the entire Yellow-Rank Sea Region she could be counted among the foremost figures of the alchemical world. Now that something had happened to her, anyone with half a brain could figure that Dingcheng Academy would never let the matter rest; their retaliation to come would surely be on a grand scale!

Morning Star Academy was no weakling, but compared with a cradle of alchemists like Dingcheng Academy, it still fell far short. If a fight to the death truly broke out, nine chances out of ten Morning Star Academy would collapse on the spot.

Of course, the more likely scenario was that Morning Star Academy, upon sensing the wind turning foul, would pull back in time, pushing Wei Zhao out to vent Dingcheng Academy's fury—sacrificing a pawn to save the rook.

But all of that rested on the premise that Wei Zhao was merely an ordinary academy disciple. And judging by Wei Zhao's feat of toppling Zang Zili against all odds, that assumption was clearly unreliable. What was more, he was a Xuan-rank first-grade alchemist—a figure of such importance that Morning Star Academy would probably hold fast to the bitter end even at the cost of mutual destruction.

After all, once Wei Zhao grew into his potential, he would be a protective umbrella reaching the heavens. If they could win his wholehearted patronage, it was not even impossible for a Yellow-Rank academy to advance to Xuan-rank in one leap. So long as the three giants of Morning Star were not fools, they would surely defend him to the death at any cost. Thus Li Ren's pledge to bear full responsibility was not really out of line.

"Could it be that Master Lin has stirred up some heaven-shaking disaster?" Seeing the strange look in Zhuang Yifan's eyes, Li Ren's heart skipped a beat. The gap in their stations was too great; if the other man truly meant to do something to Wei Zhao, he had no way to stop it at all.

"A heaven-shaking disaster? I suppose so. To anyone else it would indeed be a heaven-shaking disaster, but for Master Lin that is greatly overstated—at most, a bit of minor trouble." Zhuang Yifan smiled with studied reserve. To have said this much was already a great show of face; to expect him to explain further was utterly impossible. At the very least, a mere Li Ren could never command such consideration.

"Minor trouble?" Li Ren was taken aback. This was completely at odds with the news he had just received. Those people had said Wei Zhao had struck down two officiating alchemists of Dingcheng Academy—how could that be minor trouble?

Zhuang Yifan had no inclination whatsoever to explain. Turning his head, he said to Wei Zhao with a conciliatory smile, "Master Lin, I shall not intrude upon you aboard the ship. I imagine you would not welcome me there either..."

So he said, yet his feet showed not the slightest intention of leaving. His intent was plain: now that Zang Zili, whom he had gone to such trouble to invite, was in a state of unknown life or death, if Wei Zhao were to slip away from him as well, he would be well and truly played for a fool. Compared with his grand alchemical scheme, this bit of face as Alliance Chairman was worth nothing at all.

Looking at the utterly bewildered Li Ren, then at the posturing Zhuang Yifan, Wei Zhao felt a surge of helplessness. Since Zhuang Yifan had brazenly put it that way, he could hardly play dumb and really let the man leave. He was the Alliance Chairman, after all—that would be far too ungracious.

Besides, Zhuang Yifan was the honored Alliance Chairman, whom these Yellow-Rank academies ordinarily could not invite even if they tried. His willingness to board Morning Star Academy's treasure ship would be an absolute honor for the academy, a splendid chance to shine before all the other academies!

"What is Chairman Zhuang saying? You are a guest so distinguished that we could not invite you even if we tried. Since you have come all this way, how could we not have you aboard for a while? If word of this got out, it would surely damage Morning Star Academy's reputation—outsiders would all say Morning Star Academy has no manners. I would not dare let Morning Star Academy bear such blame." Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Since you put it that way, Master Lin, then I, Zhuang, must accept rather than decline. In any case, I could hardly smear Master Lin's face, haha." Zhuang Yifan suddenly found Wei Zhao even more pleasing to the eye. A top-tier genius this perceptive was rare indeed; this young man's future was boundless.