Chapter 4212 — Shangguan Tianxia's Verdict
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
After all, by Huang Xiaotao's own experience, if the Skyward Pavilion could demote a disciple to the Azure Cloud Pavilion, then naturally it could take disciples from the Azure Cloud Pavilion as well—and with Shangguan Tianxia himself having spoken, all the less would anyone raise an objection.
Below the arena, every gaze fixed on Wei Zhao was blazing with heat and envy—yet Wei Zhao alone remained calm and composed as ever.
Feeling Shangguan Tianxia's gaze upon him from above, Wei Zhao lifted his head and met it for a moment. He said nothing; the corner of his mouth curved very slightly upward. What he was thinking at that moment, no one knew.
And Shangguan Tianxia, at the center of the stands, after those four words, suddenly smiled—and then rose and departed, leaving the whole assembly utterly baffled.
What was that supposed to mean? He says Wei Zhao is not bad, then simply walks off—so does that mean he means to take Wei Zhao as a disciple, or was it just a word of praise?
"Grandfather, are you taking him or not?" Shangguan Lan'er was just as anxious, and hurried after him to ask.
"Little Lan'er, if I took Wei Zhao as a disciple, his seniority would rank above yours, you know? Do you agree to that?" Shangguan Tianxia laughed teasingly as he walked.
"Ah? That..." Shangguan Lan'er was stumped on the spot. She had no wish to see little Wei Zhao promoted a rank above her for no reason at all—that would be awkward on the surface, and could make trouble in certain matters besides.
"Heh heh, and that is precisely why I am certainly not taking him," Shangguan Tianxia said with a smile.
"Then... Grandfather, why did you still call out little junior brother's name?" Shangguan Lan'er asked, baffled.
"That boy Wei Zhao is no creature of the pond. Unless it were a true master of the Way, whoever took him as a disciple would only shackle his growth—the harm would outweigh the good, and it would be better by far to let him develop on his own." Shangguan Tianxia's face turned grave. "I do not wish to shackle him. And the reason I said what I said just now was to keep the others from rashly taking Wei Zhao as a disciple."
With Shangguan Tianxia's level of attainment and discernment, he could read almost anyone's potential and future at a glance—yet Wei Zhao alone he could neither see through nor fathom.
To put it in a common saying, all Shangguan Tianxia knew was that Wei Zhao's future lay among the stars and the vast sea, and that any so-called instruction could in the end only become a shackle upon him.
If one insisted on finding a precedent, the case set before Wei Zhao was Gongyang Jun, who had burst upon the world in his day. Shangguan Tianxia had employed the same strategy with him, and in the end had produced the unfathomable Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall of today.
And so, though Wei Zhao had been named publicly by Shangguan Tianxia, and on an occasion as telling as the aftermath of the inner-sect tournament, he could not quite be counted as his disciple—only half of one.
After Shangguan Tianxia left the field, the assembly sat stunned and silent for a moment, then the choosing resumed, proceeding down the line from the Pavilion Master of the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion to the Pavilion Master of the Azure Cloud Pavilion and on through the assembled high personages of the Elders' Council, each in the order of their accepted station and strength.
In the end, the disciples who had shone in this inner-sect tournament were each taken as nominal disciples by the high personages, leaping to the heavens in a single step. Yet it is worth noting that from first to last, all the high personages seemed to have put Huang Xiaotao entirely out of mind—not one of them so much as mentioned her.