Chapter 4939 — Not What They Imagined
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
And just as the two of them were gloating over the disaster, their expressions froze at the same instant. To their astonishment, they saw Wei Zhao and the others returning without a scratch, and not a single shadow of the Alliance Guard Corps anywhere.
"What in the world is going on here?" Bao Zuoliang's jaw dropped. This was completely different from what he had expected.
"It really is a bit strange, but one thing's for certain—Wei Zhao has definitely broken the rules. Look, Young Master Bao, even the Alliance Chairman was stirred up and came in person to escort him back. That shows how serious this is!" Su Kesheng had grasped the "truth" in a single glance.
"Yes, yes, you're the sharp one—hit the nail right on the head. I was almost fooled into thinking he'd gotten off scot-free!" Bao Zuoliang breathed a sigh of relief at once.
As the two spoke, everyone else on the ship had spotted Wei Zhao and his group as well. Catching sight of Zhuang Yifan all of a sudden, the lead officiating alchemist—who had been wringing his hands in helplessness—was badly startled, and without a second thought hurried down from the ship to meet him.
"This humble one is Li Ren, lead officiating alchemist of Morning Star Academy. I did not know Chairman Zhuang would grace us with his presence, and failed to welcome you from afar. I beg Chairman Zhuang's pardon." Li Ren hurried forward, trembling with dread.
Though seeing that nothing had happened to Wei Zhao and the others eased his mind, Zhuang Yifan's personal appearance here still made his heart quake with panic. Because of the news from before, he had, like Bao Zuoliang, jumped to the conclusion that Zhuang Yifan had come in person to escort Wei Zhao back.
"Master Li, you exaggerate." Zhuang Yifan waved a hand with a cool expression, having no interest in exchanging many words with Li Ren. He was, after all, the august Alliance Chairman, while the other was merely a petty officiating alchemist; in both strength and station, the gap between them was immense.
Zhuang Yifan might lower himself before Xuan-rank alchemists like Zang Zili and Wei Zhao, but before these people he was the lofty Alliance Chairman, awe-inspiring and utterly commanding.
At ordinary times, Li Ren would not have dared strike up a conversation with Zhuang Yifan so rashly. But now he had no choice; steeling himself, he offered his apologies: "Chairman Zhuang, Master Lin is an important honored guest of our Morning Star Academy. His participation in the Giant's Path trial this time was reported to and approved by Alliance Headquarters. Considering that he is not yet familiar with the various rules of the Academy Alliance, if he has committed any fault, I beg Chairman Zhuang to be forbearing. Our Morning Star Academy is willing to bear full responsibility!"
"Bear full responsibility?" Zhuang Yifan gave him an odd look. If Wei Zhao were not a Xuan-rank first-grade alchemist, what he had just done would have been punishable by ten thousand deaths. Even Zang Zili had been beaten into a state of unknown life or death—how could a mere Morning Star Academy possibly bear responsibility for such a thing?
Zang Zili was, after all, the chief alchemist of Dingcheng Academy, and across the entire Yellow-Rank Sea Region she could be counted among the foremost figures of the alchemical world. Now that something had happened to her, anyone with half a brain could figure that Dingcheng Academy would never let the matter rest; their retaliation to come would surely be on a grand scale!
Morning Star Academy was no weakling, but compared with a cradle of alchemists like Dingcheng Academy, it still fell far short. If a fight to the death truly broke out, nine chances out of ten Morning Star Academy would collapse on the spot.