Chapter 4323 — Let's Talk It Over

The others could not yet see the formidable promise in it, but how could Ling Yuanqing and Wei Hebei, titans of the Opening Mountain stage, fail to recognize it?

And more critically, during Huang Xiaotao's earlier test, that faint ripple of true qi could not possibly have escaped the perception of these Opening Mountain titans. Unlike Wei Zhao, she had no cheat to conceal her strength, and both Ling Yuanqing and Wei Hebei had clearly sensed it: this girl was a peerless expert of the Golden Core stage who had achieved a perfect breakthrough!

The fire-and-wind dual-attribute spiritual root was already a rare and mighty talent, and Huang Xiaotao was, on top of that, a perfect Golden Core expert—one in ten thousand. Such heaven-defying potential would leave anyone gaping in astonishment, and even Opening Mountain titans like Ling Yuanqing were no exception.

Once Huang Xiaotao was taken under their wing, with their insight and resources, given time they could forge a top-tier expert fit to be a pillar of the academy—and one day, perhaps even an equal to themselves. That was no impossibility!

With temptation so immense, it was no wonder Ling Yuanqing and Wei Hebei lost their composure. In fact, at this very moment the other Opening Mountain titan, the East Sea Divine Nun, had not risen to her feet as the two men had, but the look in her eyes as she regarded Huang Xiaotao was likewise full of marvel.

"Huh? I... I've been chosen?" Huang Xiaotao was not as delighted as everyone had imagined. Faced with the olive branches extended by two Opening Mountain titans, she seemed rather at a loss, and could only turn to look at Wei Zhao, who still stood at the edge of the field and had not yet left.

The crowd was speechless at the sight. That hedgehog-head a moment ago had been made nothing more than an insignificant nominal disciple by Wei Hebei, and already he had been fit to burst with pride. And now this girl? Two Opening Mountain titans had simultaneously promised her the position of personal disciple, and she still would not hurry to accept? Truly, one hardly knew what to say!

And at this moment, it was not only the crowd that was stunned. Faced with Huang Xiaotao's pleading gaze, even Wei Zhao failed to react for a moment. He truly had not expected that Huang Xiaotao possessed a wind-attribute spiritual root as well.

No wonder Huang Xiaotao was so skilled at speed, no wonder her archery could be so formidable. At its truly lofty and profound heights, archery was in fact a contest of mastery over the wind, and with such a gift, Huang Xiaotao's control was naturally as effortless as moving her own arm.

All along, especially after she came to know Wei Zhao, Huang Xiaotao had never displayed any particularly remarkable ability. Part of it was that she was overshadowed by the many halos around Wei Zhao, but more than that, even Huang Xiaotao herself had never known that she possessed such a powerful gift!

She had not even the most basic awareness of it, let alone any development. Huang Xiaotao had come step by step from a cultivator tribe to the Threefold Pavilion of the North Island purely on instinct. Even her archery, at which she excelled, came merely from often moving through dense forests—pure coincidence, not because she knew she had a wind-attribute spiritual root and had deliberately trained for it.

If Huang Xiaotao's gift were reckoned at a hundred, then to this day she had developed at most thirty—perhaps not even thirty. One day, when she had drawn out her gift to the full hundred, what a sight would that be?

At this thought, even Wei Zhao could not help but feel a stir of excitement. By talent alone, Huang Xiaotao still fell short of himself with his five-element, seven-attribute constitution, but if she were properly cultivated, she might well be no worse than Wang Xinyan of the sponge constitution—and Wang Xinyan was now treasured by the entire Morning Star Academy as a priceless gem!

The more he thought, the more Wei Zhao's heart surged. Huang Xiaotao was already truly one of his own, and if she was one of his own, then naturally the stronger she became, the better.

Huang Xiaotao watched Wei Zhao from afar, waiting for him to give her an answer. But the others present—especially Ling Yuanqing and Wei Hebei, whose hunter's blood was up and who were bent on taking this genius under their wing—could not wait so long.

"That's right. From this moment on, you are a disciple of Morning Star Academy—and our personal disciple. In both standing and treatment, you are guaranteed the highest level the academy offers. As for whose tutelage you enter specifically, that is for you yourself to decide," Ling Yuanqing said with the weight of experience.

Like the East Sea Divine Nun, he seldom took disciples at all, and personal disciples least of all; his own gates were very thin indeed. If Huang Xiaotao agreed, once she entered the academy her standing would in no way be beneath Wang Xinyan's.

But Ling Yuanqing was, after all, the academy head. However much he favored Huang Xiaotao's formidable gift, he had to consider the feelings of others. Ordinary academy instructors would of course have no right to compete with him for a disciple, but standing right beside him was Wei Hebei, likewise a mainstay of Morning Star Academy, and Ling Yuanqing could not simply act on his own.

One good turn deserves another. With Ling Yuanqing making his position clear, Wei Hebei at his side nodded again and again, raising no objection.

"But... but isn't there still a third trial?" Huang Xiaotao said meekly.

"No need. With your gift, any further test is superfluous," Ling Yuanqing and Wei Hebei, the two Opening Mountain titans, said with a shake of their heads.

A fire-and-wind dual-attribute spiritual root, plus a perfect Golden Core expert such as appears but once in ten thousand—such aptitude already guaranteed that, with even modest cultivation, no expert of her level could possibly match Huang Xiaotao. Infinite potential was assured from the outset, and the so-called potential test of the third trial was naturally pointless.

"Then I... I... I... I want to discuss it with my senior brother..." The situation had suddenly come to this, and Huang Xiaotao was at a loss for what to do. She could only turn once more, pleading, to Wei Zhao at the edge of the field.

"Very well, go ahead. Once you've discussed it with your senior brother, come straight up onto the stage to us," Ling Yuanqing said, making no difficulty of it, and nodded his agreement on the spot.

With anyone else, they would not have given the slightest chance to choose. They would have settled it among themselves and decided on the spot—who would ever ask what the person concerned thought?

But Huang Xiaotao was different. As the saying goes, strength determines standing, and in a place like the academy—especially on an occasion like this—potential could determine standing just as well. They could disregard the wishes of an ordinary disciple, but Huang Xiaotao was a super-genius who might one day stand as their equal. How could she be treated like any ordinary disciple?

So long as Huang Xiaotao did not explicitly say she refused to join, everything else could be accommodated.