Chapter 4619 — Recommended by the Three-Tier Pavilion
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"And then what happened?" the others pressed, still staring at him with eager eyes.
"Then we got back to Zhenduan City from the Lufeng Forest, thinking we could finally return to Weihu City—only to run smack into the East Continent Morningstar Academy's recruitment. The whole dock was under martial law, and there was no way out." Wei Zhao chuckled.
"The East Continent Morningstar Academy?!" The name made them all start. The rest looked utterly baffled; only Hong Zhong and Shangguan Lan'er showed no confusion—nothing but a flicker of surprise.
"So did you two go to the trials?" Hong Zhong and Shangguan Lan'er asked almost in unison. Hong Zhong needed no explanation; as for little Shangguan Lan'er, though she had never been to the East Continent, her Shangguan family upbringing ensured she would never overlook the East Continent—the most important of the five Cloud-Tier Islands. What the words "East Continent Academy" carried, the others in the room did not know, but these two knew perfectly well.
"We went. Figured we had nothing better to do, so we joined the crowd in the square to watch the fun—and ended up registered as applicants by default." Wei Zhao shrugged with a wry smile.
"And the result? How did it turn out?" the two asked quickly.
"The result's obvious—I was rejected, but Little Tao was chosen. She became one of the two personal disciples of the East Sea Holy Nun of the Morningstar Academy—a heaven-sent stroke of fortune. The other party is an Opening-Mountain-stage titan, you know." Wei Zhao smiled faintly.
"Really? That's wonderful! Sister Little Tao is amazing!" Shangguan Lan'er broke into delighted laughter. In her simple, guileless nature she never took pleasure in others' misfortune—this was joy for Huang Xiaotao from the bottom of her heart. After all, Huang Xiaotao's life had been bitter; to become the personal disciple of an Opening-Mountain-stage titan was an opportunity the world dreamed of. Perhaps this was Heaven's compensation to her.
"Young Hero Lin, how could you be rejected? That's impossible, surely?" Hong Zhong's attention was not on Huang Xiaotao at all. The breadth of the world he had seen and the caliber of people he had met were beyond ordinary imagining; of so-called top-tier prodigies he had seen no fewer than a hundred, if not eighty. And if anyone could be guaranteed to stand out among them, it was Wei Zhao—of that there was no doubt.
Hong Zhong had been to the East Continent and had seen the prodigy disciples of those academies. In his eyes, Wei Zhao in both potential and ability stood far above them. This was no fondness born of closeness, no partiality for a friend; it was plain, objective truth.
If even Huang Xiaotao could become the East Sea Holy Nun's personal disciple, then how could Wei Zhao—whose aptitude was at least ten times hers—possibly be rejected? If that were truly the case, Hong Zhong could only conclude that the upper echelons of the Morningstar Academy had lost their minds.
At Hong Zhong's words, Shangguan Lan'er finally caught on as well, and she could not help adding in puzzlement: "That's right! Even my grandfather never stops praising Little Junior Brother. How could he be rejected? I remember Grandfather saying that an East Continent academy once tried to recruit Senior Brother Gongyang, and he came back after only a month, treating their prodigy disciples like weeds. Grandfather's opinion of Little Junior Brother is no lower than his of Senior Brother Gongyang!"
"Exactly. For someone with the Leader's aptitude to be rejected is simply a colossal joke—those people must be blind!" Qiao Hongcai and the others all spoke up in Wei Zhao's defense. They had little notion of what the East Continent Academy was, but with Gongyang Jun as a ready-made comparison, their own Leader could not possibly lose to Gongyang Jun, no matter how they looked at it.