Chapter 4316 — The Standing of a Disciple

"Of course, even a genius has to learn to latch onto someone powerful once they get there—learn to keep their head down and scrape by. If you've got no real skill to speak of and still walk around full of arrogance, you'll probably be done in before long. Hmph, I'd say that hedgehog-head won't escape that fate either," Ge Wei sneered.

"So by your account, unless someone is overwhelmingly powerful and domineering, the more conspicuous and showy a genius is, the more likely they are to fall?" Wei Zhao said, arching an eyebrow.

"Exactly, that's the idea. Of course, if after getting there you don't fight or grab, keep a low profile and play the dutiful grandson, and don't go thinking you're exceptionally gifted—don't go chasing after the Three Fairies just because you fancy yourself a genius—if you avoid that sort of foolishness, then you might just live a bit longer. Otherwise you won't even know how you died," Ge Wei said with a click of his tongue.

This was a far cry from what Wei Zhao had imagined. He had assumed that a cultivator academy would be a place where everyone devoted themselves single-mindedly to training, with a relatively peaceful and serene atmosphere. Never had he expected that, from the mouth of this Southern Continent's Ge the Informant, it would sound so brutal—a place drenched in blood and slaughter!

Seen in that light, the North Island Welcome Pavilion really was a greenhouse by comparison.

"Doesn't the academy manage any of this? They go to such great lengths, finally recruit a few genius disciples, and then those disciples get killed off by their own people before you know it—there's no justifying that, is there?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Manage? How would they manage it?" Ge Wei said dismissively. "Anyone capable of striking from the shadows is hardly a simple character—those are the cream of the geniuses. Besides, without competition, how would stronger and more outstanding disciples ever emerge? Those who survive other people's schemes and now spend their days oppressing and plotting against others—every last one of them clawed their way out of the jaws of wolves and tigers, fighting their way up the whole way."

"That's true enough, but in that case, each class suppresses the one below it. Wouldn't the newcomers never get their day?" Wei Zhao couldn't help but wonder.

"Not necessarily. As long as you can hold out, then even in a place like Morning Star Academy you can still rise to the top—it just takes the right timing, the right place, and the right people," Ge Wei explained. "Such a person needs not only sufficient strength and capital, but also to catch the right opportunity. For instance, when the batch of geniuses originally suppressing them has grown into a new realm—either taking up important posts in the academy or already gone off to higher Mystic-Rank academies for training—that naturally frees up a batch of positions, and the newcomers can move up."

"Heh, that sounds like no small feat—the sheer ferocity of the competition really is appalling," Wei Zhao said with a laugh and a sigh.

"Isn't it just? That's why I say a creature like hedgehog-head—modest ability but with his eyes fixed above the clouds—going off to Morning Star Academy, I'll bet you anything he won't last three months. If he does, I, Southern Continent's Ge the Informant, will eat shit on the spot!" Ge Wei declared with utter certainty.

"Brother Ge, a word of advice: don't speak in such absolutes just yet. I figure that even if Morning Star Academy really is that dangerous, hedgehog-head is, after all, Wei Hebei's disciple. Even if people target him, they'd probably at most rough him up and teach him a lesson—they wouldn't just kill him outright, would they? If things blew up like that, it'd be the same as slapping his master Wei Hebei across the face. Could Wei Hebei let them off? Or are these people already strong enough to stand against a titan of the Mountain-Opening stage like Wei Hebei?" Wei Zhao was rather skeptical of this.

No matter what, once hedgehog-head had been labeled as Wei Hebei's, he was Wei Hebei's man. And even if only for the sake of face, Wei Hebei could not simply let his people be killed at will—because to a vice-headmaster of the academy, that would be a challenge to his authority. It would be a slap across his face!

"Brother, there's nothing wrong with thinking that way, but you're overlooking one thing. Remember what Wei Hebei said just now?" Ge Wei suddenly smiled.

"What Wei Hebei said? You mean taking hedgehog-head as a disciple?" Wei Zhao frowned.

"That's certainly what it meant, but brother, you should know that disciples, too, come in grades and ranks. Wei Hebei did take him in, yes—but only as the least regarded of nominal disciples," Ge Wei said, shaking his head again and again.

Only then did Wei Zhao catch on. In the long-standing tradition of the cultivation world, a nominal disciple truly had no standing to speak of.

"A titan of the Mountain-Opening stage like Wei Hebei has at least several dozen nominal disciples under him. He might not see some of them for ten days or half a month, let alone pay them any mind—who could possibly manage that many?" Ge Wei said glibly. "If hedgehog-head really did come to harm, Wei Hebei would indeed be furious, but how much would he truly care, do you think, brother? And whoever moved against hedgehog-head would hardly have weak backing either. In the end, nine times out of ten, the two sides would quietly settle it and let the matter drop—and in the end, hedgehog-head would die for nothing."

"That does make sense," Wei Zhao nodded in agreement. As expected of someone who specialized in intelligence—Ge Wei's analysis really did hold up.

"Didn't you ask me just now, brother, whether hedgehog-head taking Wei Hebei as his master meant his standing could compare with that of the Third Fairy, Wang Xinyan?" Ge Wei chuckled. "Both are under titans of the Mountain-Opening stage, but one is an inconsequential nominal disciple while the other is the sole personal disciple. The gulf in standing between them is more than just worlds apart—they're not even in the same conversation. Someone like Wang Xinyan—now there's a person no one dares provoke. To provoke her is to provoke the East Sea Divine Nun, and that truly is to die with no place to be buried."

"Oh, right—the East Sea Divine Nun is a titan of the Mountain-Opening stage, so why does she have only this one personal disciple?" Wei Zhao asked, struck by a thought.

"That I haven't really looked into in any detail, but reasoning it out, it probably comes down to just two reasons. First, the East Sea Divine Nun is a female cultivator, so she only takes female disciples—that alone rules out every male cultivator. Second, she has exacting standards. Something like hedgehog-head's so-called four-attribute spiritual root wouldn't even register with her; it has to be a variant spiritual root," Ge Wei speculated.

Wei Zhao nodded. Barring any surprises, those were surely the two reasons. And that was just as well—at least the East Sea Divine Nun would pay Wang Xinyan particular attention, so she wouldn't suffer any bullying or mistreatment. (To be continued) R655