Chapter 4320 — Loss of Composure

In that case, no matter whether Huang Xiaotao was selected or not, Wei Zhao could have responded accordingly. If Huang Xiaotao was chosen, then with Wang Xinyan as another tie holding him, Wei Zhao would have had no choice but to grit his teeth and follow them to the Eastern Continent.

But as things stood now, Wei Zhao was deliberately concealing his spirit-root attributes. If he succeeded in fooling them and failed the test, while Huang Xiaotao, coming along behind him, was selected—then what?

And yet, in the other scenario, if Wei Zhao did not conceal his spirit-root attributes and was chosen by Morning Star Academy, but Huang Xiaotao was not—wouldn't that be even worse?

If Wei Zhao were left there all alone, with his abilities he wasn't afraid he couldn't get back to North Island—but Huang Xiaotao would be another matter. She was a woman, and a woman alone was easy prey for trouble. Besides, early Golden Core strength wasn't much to speak of. How was she supposed to get back on her own?

Of two evils, choose the lesser. So to be safe, Wei Zhao decided to hide his spirit-root attributes for the time being. No matter what, the first priority was to secure his own chance to stay. At worst, Huang Xiaotao would be selected—and that wasn't so terrible.

Although he had been arranged into the long queue early on, there were actually still many people ahead of Wei Zhao. This wait lasted a full hour, and only then, in the torment of that endless waiting, did it finally come to Wei Zhao's turn to enter the testing ground.

"Go on over," the academy staff member said, glancing at Wei Zhao and motioning him toward the stone stele to have his spirit-root attributes tested.

Wei Zhao gave a slight nod. Though a little nervous inside, he betrayed not the slightest sign on his face—nor any hint of backing down. At first glance he even looked a little eager to try, almost indistinguishable from the other candidates who were all longing to join Morning Star Academy.

Faced with this sort of spectacle, Wei Zhao knew that the more he shrank back, the more suspicious he would seem. Especially those academy bigwigs up on the platform—they were the kind who saw through everything. Show the tiniest slip, and it might all be over.

Besides, before fooling others, one first had to fool oneself. The more skilled the deceiver, the more open and unguarded he appeared, leaving no trace at all—this was a course Wei Zhao had been required to master before he ever set foot in the world.

Wei Zhao stole a glance at the assembled academy bigwigs on the platform, especially the three titans of the Foundation-Opening stage seated dead center. His current strength was simply too far removed from men like these.

To say he could be killed with a single glance might be an exaggeration, but on paper he was, after all, only at early Golden Core. Never mind fighting these people—if they so much as lifted a hand casually, that alone would already be doing him a favor. As for the outcome, of course there was only one: he'd be casually obliterated by these Foundation-Opening titans.

Facing this cruel reality, anyone would feel powerless, but Wei Zhao could only choose to accept it, burying his frustration deep in his heart and using it to constantly goad himself onward, to constantly grow stronger.

And just as Wei Zhao looked toward the three Foundation-Opening titans, his gaze involuntarily locked with Wang Xinyan's, who sat beside the Holy Nun of the East Sea!

"Lin—" Wang Xinyan blurted out in shock. Then, realizing where she was at this moment, she quickly covered her mouth. Her eyes were full of disbelief—and of joy she could not conceal!

Her seat commanded an extremely wide view. But earlier, when Wei Zhao had been sitting down among the crowd, even knowing in advance it would have been hard to notice him. Besides, she had known nothing at all. Now, however, with Wei Zhao standing out there to be tested, she could see him perfectly clearly!

Compared with the delighted surprise Wei Zhao had felt upon first seeing her, the wild joy in Wang Xinyan's heart now was far greater still. This immortal maiden, universally acknowledged across the High-Overlooking Sea Region as one of the Three Fairies, never lost her composure before outsiders—but at this very moment, she truly could not control herself.

Wei Zhao, too, had never stopped thinking of Wang Xinyan, but she was hardly the only beauty he had to worry about. Wang Xinyan was different, though: over the past year and more, Wei Zhao's figure had appeared before her eyes almost every single day—only ever in her dreams.

What one thinks of by day, one dreams of by night. Over the past year and more, she had thought of Wei Zhao every single day, wondering where he had gone, whether he was well, whether he had suffered any injustice.

More than once, Wang Xinyan had even been impulsively tempted to leave Morning Star Academy and search for Wei Zhao across all five Cloud-Tier Islands if she had to. But every time, her master, the Holy Nun of the East Sea, had stopped her.

Without strength, one could not take a single step on the Cloud-Tier Islands, let alone go searching for someone everywhere—those had been the Holy Nun's exact words of dissuasion. So Wang Xinyan began to cultivate diligently. She who had never been fixated on power now, over this past year and more, became more diligent and hardworking than anyone.

The Sponge Constitution was, by nature, like a sponge soaking up water—a superb constitution for rapidly boosting one's strength. Combined with the Holy Nun of the East Sea's one-on-one guidance and cultivation resources, and with Wang Xinyan's frantic, ceaseless days and nights of bitter training, she had managed in just one short year to leap all the way from Heaven-Tier Great Perfection to the early Nascent Soul realm.

While setting a legend in the cultivation world, this also stood as solid proof of Wang Xinyan's undying devotion to Wei Zhao. Had she not missed him to this degree, there would be no Wang Xinyan of today.

"Yan'er, what's wrong?" the Holy Nun of the East Sea suddenly turned and asked. Wang Xinyan might be deliberately trying to hide it—others unfamiliar with her might truly not notice—but she could not fool her master, who saw her every day. After all, the unsettled look on Wang Xinyan's face right now was plainly different from how she usually behaved.

"N-nothing..." Wang Xinyan hurriedly shook her head, then on a flash of inspiration made up an excuse: "I think maybe while I was cultivating just now, my true qi went a little astray. I'm a bit uncomfortable."

"Really?" The Holy Nun of the East Sea had no particular doubt. She knew about the Sponge Constitution—progress in cultivation came extremely fast, but a single careless moment could indeed easily cause problems. She at once took Wang Xinyan's wrist and, not daring to be negligent, carefully examined her.

A moment later, the Holy Nun of the East Sea looked somewhat puzzled, but she still breathed a sigh of relief and comforted her: "Thank goodness, there's no sign of damage to your meridians. It shouldn't be anything serious. Yan'er, just rest well for a while. Or why don't you go back to the inn first? There's nothing for you to do here anyway."

"Thank you, Master, but your disciple would rather stay here. After all, this is a major event for our academy—it wouldn't do for me to absent myself on my own. Besides, it's nothing serious; sitting here is rest enough." Wang Xinyan hurriedly shook her head. She had finally gotten to see Wei Zhao—how could she leave now? (To be continued) R466