"Exactly. You shouldn't judge by appearances—I may look like a normal person right now, but this isn't my true physical body. It's merely a primal spirit body condensed from the energy of my consciousness. Not only is its strength far inferior to my true self, but I can't remain in the mortal world indefinitely. Once the consciousness energy is nearly spent, I'll have to return." Wei Zhao nodded.

"That's so surreal! Boss, you're amazing!" Everyone wore expressions of awe at things they could not quite grasp; at their level, true understanding of primal spirit projection was difficult. All they felt was that this was utterly badass—a technique straight out of illusion.

"So how long can you stay this time?" Qiu Lingshan and the other women had a different focus.

"I'm not sure myself, but a few months should be no problem at least." Wei Zhao thought for a moment. As long as his primal spirit body wasn't shattered by an enemy as it had been last time, several months would certainly be fine—perhaps even longer than expected. After all, he still had the piece of Star Ink Charcoal that Leng Leng had left for him.

"Only a few months..." Qiu Lingshan and the other women were clearly dissatisfied. After three years apart, their reunion would last only a few months—and to make matters worse, they had run straight into this mess with the Primordial Alliance, which would only further reduce the time Wei Zhao could truly spend with them.

"Don't be so hard to please. We have plenty of days ahead. Once I've healed Mengyao and the others, there'll be all the time in the world to keep you company." Wei Zhao could only smile and console them.

"You said it yourself—no going back on your word!" The women's eyes lit up at once.

"Yes, yes, I won't go back on my word." Wei Zhao smiled knowingly, then said, "For now, let's talk about the Primordial Alliance. I've already gathered quite a bit of intelligence. The disciples they sent to participate in this mortal-world trial are all Foundation Establishment experts—what they call the Heavenly Dao realm. If strength like theirs were on Cloud Terrace Island, it would amount to nothing more than newcomer level, but in the mortal world it counts as very formidable. That's why they've kicked up such a huge storm this time."

"No wonder these people strut around with such domineering arrogance, and yet the moment they come before Boss they turn into perfect cowards. So they're really just newcomer level—I thought they were something special!" Kang Xiaobo curled his lip.

"I tested them earlier. These Primordial Alliance people all believe Cloud Terrace Island is nothing but a misty, elusive legend. They consider the Primordial Alliance the ultimate holy land of cultivators, and they even called us mortals frogs at the bottom of a well. The tone and manner were simply hilarious—I nearly lost my composure." Qiu Lingshan laughed despite herself.

"There's always a higher mountain and a higher sky—even I understand that most basic principle. Yet these Primordial Alliance people don't. Seems they're nothing special after all." Ying Ziyu said with disdain.

"Heh, rare to see even you make progress." Wei Zhao smiled at that, then said, "That said, at least as far as the mortal world is concerned, the Primordial Alliance does have the capital to stand above others. And their purpose in coming to the mortal world for this trial isn't hostility toward us. They merely want to recruit disciples of outstanding talent—their starting point isn't bad. It's just that these sects all consider themselves high and mighty, so once they start acting, they turn out just like the Snow Sword Sect and the Qiangkun Sect: things easily go sour—recruitment turns into abduction, and a good deed becomes a bad one."

That was the truth. If the Primordial Alliance truly meant to move against the mortal world, even Wei Zhao could not have stopped them. During the month he had spent recovering his strength, the cultivation powers of the mortal world could have been slaughtered ten times over.

"That won't do. At this rate, sooner or later there'll be a second and a third Snow Valley. Mutual grudges will only deepen, and when the time comes, even those who don't want hostility will become enemies." Yu Bing frowned.

"Exactly. If too many people really die, there'll have to be blood for blood. Reaching a reconciliation would become impossible." Wu Chengtian and the others nodded one after another.

Though they were unhappy with the Primordial Alliance, they had never considered an all-out war with it. Even with a top-tier expert like Wei Zhao on their side, the Primordial Alliance's overall strength far surpassed the mortal world's. A real war would inevitably devastate the mortal world—an outcome no one wanted to see.

"Strictly speaking, the Primordial Alliance has already suffered three consecutive losses at my hands alone. Now that I'm sending those four Qiangkun Sect men back, it's bound to draw attention. It's time to have a proper talk with the people who actually have a voice in this—we absolutely cannot let them keep running amok like this." Wei Zhao said in a solemn voice.

Originally, the mortal world had no strength to negotiate with the Primordial Alliance, but now that he—an anomaly—had appeared, there was a possibility of sitting down together at the negotiating table. After all, the people of the Primordial Alliance weren't fools. An all-out war would bring them no benefit whatsoever; it would only mean more of their people falling at Wei Zhao's hands—a loss that far outweighed any gain.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what we were thinking." Wu Chengtian and the others nodded repeatedly. What they had originally envisioned was using a primal spirit cultivator to deter the other side. Little did they expect that their own leader Wei Zhao was that mysterious primal spirit cultivator—which made things all the more convenient.

"But where do we find these people?" Kang Xiaobo asked.

"That's simple. Xue Jianfeng is locked up in the Mysterious Investigation Bureau. A little interrogation and we'll know." Qiu Lingshan said.

"No need for the trouble. They're actually in Shennongjia—that's the entrance to the teleportation formation leading to the Primordial Small World. Go there and we'll definitely find them. But from what I know, the Primordial Alliance is a very loose organization, and those who came out for this mortal-world trial probably don't include anyone from the true upper echelon. I just don't know whether anyone among them actually has the authority to make decisions." Wei Zhao frowned slightly.

Everyone was rendered somewhat speechless. The most infuriating thing would be if they reached an agreement with the Primordial Alliance, only to find that the person had no real say, and the other Primordial sects continued to do as they pleased—still abducting people everywhere like the Qiangkun Sect. That would truly make them spit blood.

"What's the use of all this wild guessing among yourselves? Isn't there a ready-made gatekeeper outside? Asking him has to be more reliable than your blind speculation." Ying Ziyu curled her lip.

"Right!" Everyone's eyes lit up at once. Wei Zhao immediately called Fei Yangsheng in and asked, "Who is the one in charge of your Primordial Alliance?"

"Uh, there is no one in charge. The Primordial Alliance is a council of elders formed by the upper echelons of each sect, and decisions are made through discussion. Moreover, this mortal-world trial is decided independently by each sect—our Snow Sword Sect, for instance, answers to Senior Brother Xue. People from other sects couldn't possibly boss us around; meddling in another sect's internal affairs is a major taboo." Fei Yangsheng said in surprise. (To be continued~^~)