Chapter 4736 — So Famous?

Was there any man in this world better than her little junior brother? Shangguan Lan'er seriously doubted it. And just as Ning Xuefei refused to marry any other man, she too was unwilling to be parted from her dear friends. At this moment she could not help but think, flushed with shyness, that her little junior brother had already seen every inch of her body—did that not mean their bond was as good as sealed?

Watching Shangguan Lan'er blush and drift off into her own fancies, Ning Xuefei and Han Jingyi dissolved into laughter. They were, after all, girls of simple hearts; after such a commotion, the gloom of before melted away without a trace, and the three of them even began, with great relish, to debate who should be the elder and who the younger...

Elsewhere, after hanging up the phone, Huo Yudie was nowhere near as carefree as those three. Still, Han Jingyi's few words of comfort had set her heart somewhat at ease, and she stopped letting her thoughts run wild, devoting herself solely to watching over Wei Zhao and hoping he would gradually recover.

Wei Zhao was in fact fully aware of everything Huo Yudie had done for him. Though his injuries were so severe that he could not even open his eyes, let alone speak, in this final stretch as his wounds neared recovery, some awareness had already returned to him.

Feeling the gentle warmth of Huo Yudie's presence so close at hand, Wei Zhao was deeply moved. What she had done for him went far beyond the debt owed between temporary teammates. This was not some alliance of convenience; even friends of decades' standing might not go as far as she had.

After all, what Huo Yudie had poured into this was no small thing. To keep him company, she had all but gambled herself away—she was staking her very life on it. And if she would risk even her life, then what of a young woman's reputation?

Wei Zhao might be rather slow in matters of the heart, but he was no fool. In this moment he finally began to understand: perhaps something had already grown between him and Huo Yudie, something he could neither name nor explain.

Why Huo Yudie was willing to go this far for him—in truth, both of them knew.

Since coming to Cloudstep Island, Wei Zhao had not intended to incur any more debts of the heart; it was hardly fair to the women who cared for him. What a pity that a man who was a genius in every other pursuit was, in matters of love alone, so hopelessly obtuse that words failed one.

Every time, he understood only afterward; every time, it was the girl who made the first move. And Wei Zhao was, by nature, exceedingly soft-hearted—to get him to steel himself and refuse a woman to her face was harder than ascending to heaven. Especially in a case like this, where Huo Yudie had cast aside both her life and her reputation for his sake—what could he possibly say?

Moved and helpless in equal measure, Wei Zhao could only tell himself silently that this time, come what may, he must never fail Huo Yudie. For a girl to go this far for him—if he, a grown man, still hesitated and drew back, that would be past all excuse.

As for the present, there was only one thing Wei Zhao needed to do with all urgency: recover.

True, most of the trial challengers had departed, but men like Scarface were still about. Huo Yudie alone could not hold her ground in this trial ground; he had to recover quickly, and only then could they rest easy.

On West Island, within the island lord's palace, in a side-hall study, two women sat facing each other: Ning Shangling, lord of West Island, and Liu Ziyu, vice dean of the Eastern Continent's Morning Glory Academy.

Like a lady's private chambers, the study was Ning Shangling's personal space, one that outsiders were generally not permitted to enter. But Liu Ziyu had been her friend since childhood; though their cultivation differed greatly, she was no outsider.

"Shangling, do you have any idea who this Wei Zhao really is?" Liu Ziyu asked, her face full of puzzlement. She simply could not imagine it—her precious disciple had actually chosen to stay in there for the sake of a strange man. At this very moment she felt an inexplicable emptiness in her heart, as though the flesh of her heart had been snatched away.

"Ha, Wei Zhao is indeed an exceptionally rare talent. Among the young generation that has risen on the five Cloudstep Islands of late, this boy can well be counted a standout." Ning Shangling smiled and answered frankly: "To be honest with you, Ziyu, I actually think highly of him. He is one of the candidates I have my eye on for Feifei's husband."

"Is the boy truly that famous?" Liu Ziyu's face at once showed astonishment.

And who was Ning Shangling? Lord of West Island—one of the very few top-tier existences in all the five Cloudstep Islands!

At her level and station, the so-called top geniuses were scarcely worth her notice. Even in a place as crowded with prodigies as the Eastern Continent Academy, young disciples whose names Ning Shangling bothered to remember were few and far between—let alone one who could draw such high praise from her lips.

At least, so far as Liu Ziyu knew, this old friend of hers had never spoken of a young man in such terms. To be listed among candidates for her daughter's hand was tantamount to being half heir to West Island of the future. Was this Wei Zhao truly so extraordinary?

"I would not call him famous, exactly. If you truly go by renown, he is in fact far beneath those few from Mid Island and your Eastern Continent. But if you look carefully into what he has done, you will see how remarkable the boy is." Ning Shangling spoke with a touch of feeling. Seeing that Liu Ziyu seemed unconvinced, she smiled and gave an example: "You know the West Mountain Heretics are the bane of West Island's heart. For years I have spent a great deal of manpower and effort watching their every move. Among them there is the Old Sect of West Mountain—do you remember them?"

"Of course. My beaten foe!" Liu Ziyu gave a cold laugh. By nature she stood firmly on West Island's side as a trusted ally; whenever the West Mountain Heretics stirred up trouble, she would rush over at once to lend a hand, and she had crossed paths with many of their top experts—among them this Old Sect of West Mountain, the second-ranked giant among their evil cultivators.

"To you he is a beaten foe, but even at the Mountain-Opening stage, the old thief counts as a rare and troublesome existence," Ning Shangling said.

"Hm, the old thief is indeed no weakling. Last time I even came off slightly the worse against him," Liu Ziyu said indignantly. Granted, that setback had come from being caught off guard by a first strike, but the Old Sect of West Mountain was truly no easy mark; even in a fair one-on-one, frankly, she had little confidence of winning.

"According to our intelligence, after the Old Sect of West Mountain left the Heretics, they actually went to the South Continent sea. I had thought they were planning some great move, but never expected the old thief's rush to the South Continent sea was to kill a single man," Ning Shangling said slowly. (3rd update—for more news follow the public WeChat account 22, where Yuren's updates are posted at any time.) (To be continued)

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