Chapter 4924 — You Don't Even Share Your Father's Surname?

"Good heavens! You don't even know my name, so what on earth are you remembering?" Wei Zhao nearly tripped over his own feet. Amid Wang Xinyan and the others' snorts of laughter, he could only smile helplessly and say, "My name is Wei Zhao."

"Wei Zhao? That sounds so ordinary. I thought it'd be something impressive!" Ni Caiyue pouted.

"Names can be impressive or not?" Wei Zhao was caught between laughter and tears. This was the first time he had ever heard such a novel and unique notion.

"Of course they can. But Wei Zhao will do, I've got it memorized." Ni Caiyue smiled faintly, then said, "Then let's meet again in the Mystic-Tier Sea Region. When we do, we can be friends..."

"Let's not. In my eyes, women can only ever be girlfriends, so forget it." Wei Zhao joked.

"Ah! You're teasing me again!" Ni Caiyue's pretty face flushed red at once, though with the veil on, others could not quite tell.

"You're far too sensitive, little girl. You call that teasing? Fine, off you go now—your academy people are all calling for you." Wei Zhao reminded her with a smile. Far off, someone on a treasure ship was waving in their direction, and judging by the flag, it was the East Glory Academy where Ni Caiyue belonged.

"Oh, oh, then I'm off. But no more teasing me next time, all right?" Ni Caiyue hurriedly waved back at the people on the treasure ship and was about to turn and leave in high spirits. But the moment she turned, she came face to face with a face dark as water, and she jumped in fright, crying out in alarm, "Chang... Chang Laiting!"

"Heh heh, surprised, aren't you? I've been waiting here for you all along!" Chang Laiting sneered. Behind him stood Old Xiao, though Old Li was absent—having taken that blow from Wei Zhao, comparable to a lightning tribulation, he had been spared death on the spot only by Wei Zhao's mercy, but there was no getting out of bed for him for several months.

It was Chang Laiting's sudden appearance here that rather surprised Wei Zhao. This fellow's injuries had not been as severe as Old Li's—after all, Wei Zhao had only been testing his moves on him at the time, and had stopped once he got through the four-attribute martial techniques.

But how many days had it been? This fellow was already lively as a dragon, and apart from some lingering scars, he moved about as usual. Clearly he must have swallowed some top-grade restorative pill like a seventh-grade Great Return Pill; otherwise, ordinary healing methods could never have brought him back so quickly.

"Don't come any closer!" Ni Caiyue, frightened out of her wits, instinctively ducked behind Wei Zhao.

Chang Laiting's already gloomy face turned blacker still. The academy disciples nearby who knew the inside story all began whispering among themselves. Ni Caiyue was not only one of the Three Fairies of the High-Descending Sea Region, but also Chang Laiting's betrothed dao companion. And now, to avoid Chang Laiting, she had fled behind another man—the scene was strange no matter how one looked at it!

There is never any shortage of gossipmongers anywhere. In mere moments, one freshly minted tale after another of anguished love triangles woven with love and hate was hot off the press and spreading through the whole crowd in an instant.

Listening to these absurd whispers, Chang Laiting was nearly bursting with rage. He pointed at Wei Zhao and bellowed, "You little bastard, I've finally found you! Fine—sneaking an attack on me in there doesn't count, but now you dare openly flirt with my dao companion in front of everyone! Do you even know who I am?!"

Bullying others with his power was not, in fact, Chang Laiting's usual style. Normally he would strike first and cripple the man, then flash his formidable background—only thus could he give full expression to the prowess of the Fourth Young Master of the Nascent Soul stage.

But not this time. Their earlier exchange had laid the gap in strength between them bare for all to see. Chang Laiting was no fool; arrogant as he was, he knew he was no match for Wei Zhao. So he could only change tack and directly use his formidable background to crush the man with sheer influence!

"Oh? Aren't you Chang Laiting? We crossed paths just a few days ago—I'm not that forgetful. What else is there?" Wei Zhao gave him a lukewarm glance.

"Hmph, good that you know it. I don't mind telling you—I am the son of Zang Zili, chief alchemist of Dingcheng Academy!" Chang Laiting announced his pedigree with his nose in the air.

As the words fell, a great clamor of discussion erupted around them. The chief alchemist of any academy was a personage of consequence, at minimum one of the academy's top five senior figures—though under normal circumstances, however lofty the chief alchemist's status, he could only rank second, beneath the academy's headmaster.

Dingcheng Academy, however, was a very special case. There, the chief alchemist's status superseded even the headmaster's, for it was an academy devoted chiefly to alchemy—at least half its disciples were alchemists!

It was no exaggeration to say that Dingcheng Academy was the cradle of high-grade alchemists. To become chief alchemist in such an academy carried a weight far beyond that of any ordinary Yellow-Tier academy. In the Yellow-Tier Sea Region of the Eastern Continent, it was practically the banner and standard-bearer of all alchemists—its status and influence were no small matter.

Wei Zhao, however, knew none of this. To be precise, even if he had known, he would not have taken it to heart. After all, even a seventh-grade alchemist like Qing Xuanzi was willing to take him as master. Dingcheng Academy might be a cradle of alchemists, but it could hardly make a seventh-grade alchemist willingly become another's disciple, could it?

"Oh, your father's surname is Zang, but you go by Chang? Are you from a second marriage?" Wei Zhao's attention had snagged on something rather peculiar, and he wore an expression of eager curiosity and gossip.

Chang Laiting nearly spat a mouthful of blood at that. "That's my mother's surname!" he raged.

"Oh, I see. So the chief alchemist of Dingcheng Academy is a woman. My apologies." Wei Zhao smiled with not a shred of sincerity, then obligingly asked, "And your father?"

"Hmph, I'm about to tell you. You'd best plant your feet steady, lest I scare you flat on your back—making a public spectacle of yourself would be far too ugly!" Chang Laiting said with a look of lordly disdain.

"Oh, I'm listening. Don't worry about me—I've always got a big heart. Go ahead and try to scare me!" Wei Zhao smiled faintly, wearing the playful look of a man practically begging to be slapped in the face.

This little bastard really is asking for a beating! Chang Laiting ground his teeth in fury at the sight, yet dared not strike outright, and could only keep up his air of disdainful superiority. "Listen well—my father is the town lord of Dingcheng Town!"

Another gasp of shock rippled through the crowd, but Wei Zhao merely looked enlightened, nodding again and again. "Oh, now I understand. Your Dingcheng Academy is a tiny backwater place—other people's academies are cities, but yours is a town."

Aiya! Chang Laiting was so enraged he nearly coughed up blood, and everyone else around them collapsed in disbelief, staring at Wei Zhao as though he were an alien. Where on earth had this idiot crawled out from, daring to call Dingcheng Academy a tiny backwater place in front of everyone?