Chapter 4870 — The Alliance Leader
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Well then, since you've all said as much, I've no objection either—let Master Lin be the captain." Bao Zuoliang declared on the spot.
A stir ran through the crowd. The man had plainly wanted the post for himself—could his attitude have turned around any faster?
Be that as it may, the matter of the captaincy was now settled once and for all. Since Lu Xiaozhong, Bao Zuoliang, Su Kesheng and the rest had all come around to endorsing Wei Zhao, and Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao were close to him besides, it was fair to say every person of consequence present had spoken; the opinions of the rest no longer mattered.
In truth, even if the others had thoughts of their own, they could only swallow them. From this day on, Wei Zhao was the captain of their Morning Star Squad.
Over the next two days everyone remained aboard the treasure ship without incident. Wei Zhao had expected Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng to seize some chance to make trouble, yet they made no move at all, as though they had genuinely accepted the reality of his captaincy—not only did they refrain from stirring up mischief, they were downright deferential toward him.
"What are those two devils playing at?" Wei Zhao wondered privately. He was not naive enough to believe the pair had truly resigned themselves; their present quiet could mean only one thing—the two must be plotting something bigger, and that was why they were holding themselves in check so tightly!
Any possible danger must be strangled in the cradle—that was the operating creed of every assassin. Unfortunately, Wei Zhao could not simply manufacture a pretext to strike at the two of them. For now there was nothing for it but to take things one step at a time, keep his guard up, and stay vigilant.
Two days later, a long, melodious blast of horns suddenly came from beyond the docks, and shortly afterward the Morning Star Libation appeared before them and gave the order: "Enough. The Trial of the Giants' Road is about to begin. Assemble and disembark!"
"Yes, sir!" The crowd's spirits surged at once. Falling in behind their captain, Wei Zhao, they spontaneously formed a neat column, their every movement carrying a hint of discipline.
The sight rather startled the Morning Star Libation. These were all proud, high-minded sons of heaven; even a man of his rank could at best compel their grudging obedience. Discipline of this kind was all but unimaginable.
After making a few quiet inquiries, the Morning Star Libation finally got to the bottom of it and could not help giving Wei Zhao a thumbs-up. If the group could keep in step throughout the coming trial, they would benefit both in protecting themselves and in breaking through—perhaps this trial really would produce a few more Mystic Ascension experts!
Led by the Morning Star Libation, Wei Zhao brought the others to the dockside plaza and sat down cross-legged in the area marked for Morning Star Academy, quietly awaiting the opening of the Trial of the Giants' Road.
Not far ahead stood a raised platform, on which a neat row of seats had been arranged. Many of the senior figures from the various academies had already taken their places, and the crowd buzzed with speculation, privately debating which of those above was the legendary Alliance Leader.
Wei Zhao's thoughts, however, lay elsewhere. From the very start he had been searching out the Morning Pride Academy contingent, trying to pick out Huo Yudie's figure—but in the end he had no luck.
The crowd was unexpectedly vast, and with so many giants gathered in one place, Wei Zhao did not dare casually release his divine sense to sweep the area. Should he happen to displease one of those giants, a mere flicker of their thought would rebound on him and leave him gravely injured—and besides, refraining from casually releasing one's divine sense in public was the most basic rule of the cultivation world.