Chapter 4750 — Leaving Together

The hall erupted in thunderous applause. The spectacle was over, and now it was only proper to give the hosts their due—no one wanted the mood to fall flat. Besides, many of the trial participants had witnessed Wei Zhao's strength firsthand and were thoroughly convinced of it.

"Wei Zhao, from this day on you must engrave this on your heart: you are not only a disciple of the North Island's Sandie Pavilion, but one of West Island's own. In all your conduct abroad hereafter, you will put West Island's greater interests first—remember that well!" Ning Shanghe admonished him publicly, then her tone shifted. "Of course, should anyone or anything provoke you, there is no need to swallow your anger. West Island may be all women, but we have never feared trouble. I, and the whole of West Island, will be your firmest backing."

At these words, everyone present was consumed with envy and jealousy, and Wei Zhao himself could not help but feel his heart surge—until this very moment, when a realization struck him, belated as it was.

On Central Island there was the Tianxing Dao; on North Island, Shangguan Tianxia; on West Island, Ning Shanghe; and add to that the old thing Gui Dongxi, former Azure Dragon of the spirit beast clan—and somehow, without his noticing, a formidable alliance of power had coalesced around him!

With a lineup this extravagantly magnificent, if it could truly be mobilized in full, it would be enough to fight a war for the ages on Cloud Terrace Island. Never mind the East Continent—in these other places, at the very least, he could walk wherever he pleased.

"I shall obey the Island Master's teachings!" Wei Zhao said at once, nodding gravely.

"Very good. You and Feifei are both still young—not yet of marrying age. But according to the rules passed down from West Island's forebears, I will arrange for the two of you to go together to the East Continent Academy for further study: first, to broaden your horizons; second, to strengthen your cultivation; and third, to cultivate your affection. I hope that when you return, having completed your studies, you will support and complement each other, and shoulder the responsibility of guarding West Island together!" Ning Shanghe instructed.

"That..." Wei Zhao could not help but mutter inwardly at this. Wouldn't an arrangement like that throw all his own plans into disarray? From then on he would be utterly bound to West Island, with no chance even to act freely?

Ning Shanghe saw the worry in Wei Zhao's eyes, smiled faintly without a word, offered a few more words of encouragement, and then formally brought this twist-and-turn West Island trial to a close.

The crowd dispersed one after another. Apart from the West Island guards stationed there, the side courtyard soon held only Wei Zhao and his companions. Wei Zhao's mind was full of cares; Ning Xuefei, blushing furiously, did not dare raise her head to look at him; while Han Jingyi and Shangguan Lan'er's gazes darted back and forth between their faces, staring hard enough to make flowers bloom.

"We finally got a happy ending, and you lot can't even spare a word to celebrate? Why is everyone so quiet?" Han Jingyi asked, puzzled.

"Exactly. Now that you're our little junior brother's fiancée, let me interview you, Feifei—do you have any acceptance speech?" Shangguan Lan'er produced a rolled-up sheet of paper from somewhere and held it out to Ning Xuefei like a microphone. The girl had spent over half a month with Han Jingyi, and had grown ever more familiar with the ways of the mortal world.

"What do you mean, acceptance speech?" Wei Zhao burst out laughing at that. Though gaining Ning Xuefei as a fiancée so suddenly left him somewhat at a loss, it was, after all, something long since agreed upon between them, and no formal marriage had taken place. So he was hardly truly uncomfortable with it—he merely found it rather novel.

"Lan'er, you're such a mischief-maker!" Ning Xuefei giggled too. At heart she was a simple girl. Just now she had seen Wei Zhao sitting silent and taken it for regret, which was why she had grown nervous; but seeing his expression now, she knew she had clearly been overthinking it.

After all that commotion, the somewhat awkward atmosphere finally returned to normal. Wei Zhao and the three girls were just as they had been before, with no real change—if anything, at most the bond between him and Ning Xuefei had imperceptibly grown a little closer.

"Wei Zhao, what were you thinking about just now? Could it be Sister Huo?" Ning Xuefei's eyes flickered, and she suddenly proposed, "That's right—we haven't properly thanked Sister Huo yet. Shall we go find her now?"

"Yes, yes!" Han Jingyi and Shangguan Lan'er nodded eagerly. Huo Yudie was Wei Zhao's great benefactor, and therefore theirs as well; moreover, in their hearts Huo Yudie was already a sister, so of course they wanted to gather and have fun together.

Wei Zhao smiled at this. Though the three girls were all simple-hearted, Ning Xuefei was, relatively speaking, the more perceptive of them. She must have noticed that Huo Yudie seemed a little downcast earlier, and so thought to use this chance to comfort her, hadn't she?

"No rush on that. Feifei, let's go see your mother first—there's something I'd like to ask her," Wei Zhao said.

"Huh? What is it?" Ning Xuefei was startled, then her pretty face suddenly flushed crimson, and she said meekly, "You're not going to ask when the wedding is, are you?"

Pfft! Wei Zhao nearly choked on that. They had only just settled the engagement, and already she was thinking of marriage—what was going on in this girl's head? Did he really look that impatient?

"No, it's something else I need to discuss with your mother. Feifei, you know as well as I do that it's not very realistic for me to just stay on West Island indefinitely—I still have a great many things to do," Wei Zhao said, speechless.

"Oh..." Amid the teasing giggles of Han Jingyi and Shangguan Lan'er, Ning Xuefei turned bright red and took a long while before explaining, "Actually, even if you and I... did that... you still wouldn't have to stay on West Island the whole time..."

"Really?" Wei Zhao's eyes lit up.

"Really. My father didn't stay on West Island all the time either, so you can move about freely just the same," Ning Xuefei said.

"That's wonderful." Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "By the way, I've never heard you speak of your father. Is he not on West Island at the moment?"

"No. A few years ago he left with two persons of great divine power to safeguard the peace of Cloud Terrace Island, and no word has come back since..." At this Ning Xuefei could not help but feel a little forlorn, though she was not overly worried—after all, her father was a figure of heaven-reaching strength, and even with all news cut off, it was unlikely that anything beyond remedy had befallen him.

"Left with two persons of great divine power?" Wei Zhao nodded thoughtfully and did not press further, still proposing, "Let's go see your mother. Regarding the matter of the East Continent Academy, I'd like to seek her guidance."

"Oh, all right then." Ning Xuefei had no objection to that. She at once led Wei Zhao to find Ning Shanghe, and along the way no announcement was needed—they went straight to Ning Shanghe's study.