Chapter 4842 — Regret Comes Too Late

Judged purely by status, Wei Zhao now stood at least on equal footing with the three titans of the Morning Star Academy—perhaps even a generation above them.

After all, Qing Xuanzi was the Academy's chief alchemist, a man whose standing fell scarcely short of the three titans themselves—and now Wei Zhao had become his master. The very thought of it was enough to make one's head spin.

Strange as it sounded, however, the world of cultivation ultimately revered strength above all. In whatever field one's strength was transcendent, so long as it was great enough, one would earn the world's respect—and so it was with the Way of pill refinement as well.

By his current strength alone, Wei Zhao naturally could not begin to stand on equal footing with the three titans. But if he truly was, as Qing Xuanzi claimed, a legendary Mystic-Rank first-grade alchemist, then it was not merely a matter of equal footing—he would stand a full head above them.

"Heh, a most interesting young man." Ling Yuanqing fixed Wei Zhao with a long look from amid the crowd, then turned and walked out of the Morning Star First Tower. By now there was no need for him, as Academy Head, to step forward and speak; of that there could be no doubt—the Hong Clan Trading Company would be the Academy's sole supplier from this day on.

"Academy Head, that brat slipped right past us back then—feeling a little regretful now, are you?" Wei Hebei had suddenly appeared behind Ling Yuanqing, his expression peculiar as he glanced back at Wei Zhao in the crowd.

In truth, he was giving voice to his own feelings. If anyone among the three titans hungered most fiercely for prodigious disciples, it was Wei Hebei—and to discover that such a heaven-defying young man had slipped through his very fingers left him so full of regret his guts had turned green.

"Regret comes too late. The boy now stands as an equal to the two of you—and if you tried to have him bow under your gate at this point, word would spread and you'd be a laughingstock. Qing Xuanzi's face, at least, would be a sight to behold." Without anyone marking when she arrived, the Holy Nun of the Eastern Sea had appeared before the two of them.

At her side followed Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao, both of them turning again and again to look back. From the moment they had discovered Wei Zhao, they had been dying to reunite with him; only the crowds and prying eyes of this place, and the Holy Nun's earnest, painstaking persuasion, had at last restrained them.

At this moment but one thought filled the hearts of both young women: to hurry back to the Academy, and then slip quietly away to the Hong Clan Trading Company to see Wei Zhao.

Hearing the Holy Nun's words, Ling Yuanqing and Wei Hebei exchanged a helpless, bitter smile, and could only look at Huang Xiaotao. "Xiaotao, oh Xiaotao, why didn't you say something back then? Getting your senior fellow apprentice to join the Academy too would have been wonderful—with talent and strength like his, his treatment would have been beyond reproach. Ah..."

For the Academy, Wei Zhao's joining would not merely have added a prodigious disciple—more crucially, it would have added a top-tier alchemist, suspected to be a Mystic-Rank first grade. The benefits were beyond measure; alas, it was now too late for any of it.

"Master's uncle, that was my senior fellow apprentice's own decision. I couldn't interfere in it," Huang Xiaotao said, sticking out her tongue and exchanging a smile with Wang Xinyan.

The passersby parted and stared, watching the three titans of the Academy take their leave. Meanwhile, back at the Morning Star First Tower, the auction's dramatic turmoil having played itself out, Qing Xuanzi at once proposed, "Master, would you care to take a look at our Academy? The scenery there is rather fine. And while you're at it, you might give my pill-refining chamber a few pointers."

"Very well." Wei Zhao nodded at once. He had been worrying over what excuse might get him into the Academy so he could hurry and see Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao; Qing Xuanzi's suggestion suited him perfectly.

Chai Laoshi, seeing this, said nothing; after handing over all his remaining business to Cui Mingshan, he hurried to accompany Wei Zhao and Qing Xuanzi on their way.

The rest of the grand auction now had nothing to do with the Company. His most pressing task was to keep Wei Zhao good company, and at the same time to quickly build a good relationship with Qing Xuanzi, the future partner alchemist—after all, once Wei Zhao was gone, he would have to rely mainly on Qing Xuanzi to supply high-grade pills.

Under the watchful eyes of the surrounding onlookers, Qing Xuanzi personally led Wei Zhao to the Morning Star Academy. Having just taken Wei Zhao as his master, he was in a fever of excitement, bent on showing himself off before Wei Zhao and scheming up every means to curry favor with him.

Qing Xuanzi took a shortcut, and when they arrived at the Academy's main gate they happened to run head-on into Ling Yuanqing and his party, coming the other way.

Qing Xuanzi was startled for a moment and hastened to introduce the newcomers to Wei Zhao, thinking that Wei Zhao knew only Ling Yuanqing and was unaware that the other two were the Academy's two remaining titans.

As they listened to Qing Xuanzi's introductions, Ling Yuanqing and the others exchanged glances. Speak of the devil and he appears—they had been discussing Wei Zhao all the way here, and now they had run into him head-on. For the moment they were struck dumb, not knowing what to say.

Wei Zhao, for his part, had not heard a word of it; his gaze was fixed straight on the two young women behind the Holy Nun of the Eastern Sea. Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao were likewise gazing at him in overjoyed surprise, so happy that tears had come to their eyes.

By a cultivator's reckoning, the time Wei Zhao had been parted from them could hardly be called long—but longing is like a disease: the deeper the feeling, the deeper the affliction. In the case of Wei Zhao and these fair confidantes of his, one could only say the illness had reached the marrow, beyond all cure.

A thousand words were spoken in that one silent exchange of glances.

"Young hero Lin, we meet again." Ling Yuanqing spoke at last after a long silence. As the foremost man of the Morning Star Academy, there were few indeed whom he greeted in such a tone—least of all a youth of Wei Zhao's generation. Yet by his merits, Wei Zhao was wholly worthy of such special regard.

"Senior Ling, Senior Wei, Senior of the Eastern Sea—long time no see," Wei Zhao said with a nod and a smile.

At this, Huang Xiaotao's eyes stirred, and she could not help but want to come over and embrace Wei Zhao. Yet with Wang Xinyan standing right beside her, she could not help feeling embarrassed; after all, Wang Xinyan ranked before her, and as the younger sister she could hardly rush ahead of the elder. In this, Huang Xiaotao was a woman of firm traditional notions of seniority and propriety.

Wang Xinyan could not help but laugh and pinch her hand. Having kept each other's company day and night for so long, the two understood each other thoroughly; one glance from Huang Xiaotao and she knew what was on her mind—such was the wordless understanding between sisters.

Huang Xiaotao flushed with shy embarrassment. Under the gaze of so many, she dared not be too forward, and so she suppressed the surging feelings in her heart and stepped before Wei Zhao, her voice trembling as she said, "Senior Brother Lin."

At that single greeting from Huang Xiaotao, Qing Xuanzi was instantly struck dumb. (To be continued...)