"Wei Zhao, president of the Mortal-World Cultivators Association? Never heard of him." Xin Yijie shook his head, looking thoroughly uninterested. Sending a peak early Golden Core expert of the Primordial Alliance to meet with a mortal-world cultivator sounded frankly absurd. This Wei Zhao certainly thought far too much of himself.

"No, Senior, I'm sure you have heard of him—he's that primal-spirit cultivator." Fei Yangsheng thought for a moment, then laid out everything Wei Zhao had done: "Yin Zhiping and Sun Baimei of the Evil-Warding Sect died at his hands. Our Snowsword Sect's senior brother Xue Jianfeng had his dantian destroyed by him as well. And Yu Zhengliang and three others of the Qiankun Sect were savaged by him in the Snow Valley."

"What? He did all that?" Xin Yijie was stunned. He had in fact already heard about the Snow Valley affair from Yu Zhengliang, but he hadn't known who Wei Zhao was. To think it was that primal-spirit cultivator everyone was gossiping about—and that this fellow had actually destroyed Xue Jianfeng's dantian!

Xin Yijie's expression turned grave at once. The rest was one thing, but Xue Jianfeng was reputed to be the strongest Foundation Establishment expert in the entire Primordial Alliance. If even he had his dantian destroyed, then this primal-spirit cultivator's strength was surely Foundation Establishment great perfection—at the very least, Golden Core!

"Indeed, Senior. Not a single word I've said is false." Fei Yangsheng pledged.

"To think the mortal world still harbored such an expert. Truly beyond belief." Xin Yijie muttered to himself. An expert of that caliber was one even he might not be confident of handling. That being so, he had no choice but to proceed with caution.

As the one in charge of this mortal-world trial, Xin Yijie did not much mind if disciples of other sects ran into trouble, but if matters blew up this badly, they would spiral beyond his control. Otherwise, not only would his own disciples from the Cangwu Sect of North Island end up in the same mess, but once he returned he would certainly face severe punishment from the Primordial Alliance's council of elders. He truly could not bear such consequences.

"Do you know his specific origins?" Xin Yijie asked.

"Uh, I don't, Senior. I only know he's a primal-spirit cultivator." Fei Yangsheng shook his head repeatedly.

"A primal-spirit cultivator..." Xin Yijie brooded for a moment. Could it be that this man was some formidable primal spirit left over in the mortal world from the Primordial era? Otherwise, he had never heard of a mortal-world cultivator with a Heaven Dao realm. And if that were so, his having become president of some cultivators' association was only natural. Matters having come to this pass, by both sentiment and reason he could no longer keep turning a blind eye.

Xin Yijie said at once: "Go back and tell him I accept this meeting. The Mystic Investigation Bureau, is it? I'll go and have a look at this primal-spirit cultivator myself!"

Fei Yangsheng was overjoyed. If he failed to carry out Wei Zhao's orders, he had no idea what Wei Zhao might do; if the man took it out on him, he'd be in endless misery. Fortunately, Xin Yijie had unexpectedly taken it so seriously and agreed so readily.

After setting a time, Fei Yangsheng returned to East Sea City that very night and relayed Xin Yijie's exact words to Wei Zhao—though of course he could not resist claiming credit both openly and by insinuation. He was counting on pleasing Wei Zhao into letting him off.

"Very good, Ling Shan. We'll head to the Mystic Investigation Bureau now." Wei Zhao nodded.

"Brother Wei Zhao, I want to go too!" Ying Ziyu said at once, raring to try.

"That's right, Boss, let's all go together—at least we can put on a show of strength!" Wu Chengtian and the others chimed in.

"A show of strength..." Wei Zhao gave them all an odd look, then said speechlessly: "Do you think this is some ordinary gang negotiation? Boss sits at the table, underlings lined up behind him—and I suppose you'll all change into matching black suits and black sunglasses?"

"Haha, that's not unthinkable. I'm thinking of Zhong Yongliang." Kang Xiaobo nodded with mock solemnity.

"Get out of here. You'll all stay put here. Keep an eye on Mengyao and the others for me. Ling Shan and I can go to the Mystic Investigation Bureau ourselves." Wei Zhao waved his hand, half laughing, half crying. "Though Pinliang's all right—he's been cooperating with me the whole time at Cloud Terrace Island."

The other party was, after all, a peak early Golden Core expert. If talks broke down and it came to blows on the spot, his current strength would suffice to protect himself, and looking after one more person was already the limit. If everyone came along, it would only tie his hands. And Qiu Lingshan was deputy director of the Mystic Investigation Bureau, so bringing her was only proper—otherwise Wei Zhao wouldn't have brought even her.

After much persuasion, Wei Zhao finally managed to talk everyone down, then pulled Qiu Lingshan along and set off for the Mystic Investigation Bureau headquarters, leaving Fei Yangsheng behind to guard the place.

The fellow was, after all, a mid-Foundation Establishment expert, and with the divine-sense mark on him there was no fear of sudden betrayal. His presence would also serve as a deterrent to other Primordial Alliance disciples—even if he was no match for the enemy, exchanging empty pleasantries to buy time should be no problem.

Wei Zhao still sat in the passenger seat, though the driver was now Qiu Lingshan. Along the way, he noticed the corners of this little fool's mouth kept curling up unconsciously, and could not help saying strangely: "Is your face twitching?"

"Your face is twitching!" Qiu Lingshan's face darkened, but in a blink her mouth curved up again, and she said with a slightly giggling expression: "It feels so good—just you and me..."

Seeing Qiu Lingshan actually close her eyes in bliss, Wei Zhao jumped in fright and hurriedly said: "No, no, say what you like, but whatever you do, don't close your eyes—you're still driving!"

Qiu Lingshan rolled her eyes at him and muttered: "Unromantic blockhead!"

Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. Of course he knew Qiu Lingshan was dreaming of a world for just the two of them. But with so many lovely confidantes and so many love debts owed, even if he spent all his time with them in the future, a world for two was still practically impossible.

For an ordinary girl, such a thing was the most natural in the world, yet for Qiu Lingshan and the others it had become an unattainable luxury. Wei Zhao had truly wronged them in too many ways.

Wei Zhao's heart was full of guilt, but Qiu Lingshan saw nothing wrong with it. For her, having this stretch of time alone in the car was already satisfying enough. In her eyes, Wei Zhao was destined to command the winds and clouds; if he were like other men, always circling women day after day, she wouldn't have taken a liking to him at all.

The two arrived at the Mystic Investigation Bureau, and they had waited only a short while when a white-bearded elder came to seek an audience.

Qiu Lingshan invited him into the reception hall. The white-bearded elder had a bland expression at first. Though he was not as lofty and overbearing as Xue Jianfeng had been, his attitude made it plain that these people were not in his eyes at all. Xue Jianfeng had been contemptuous toward them; this one simply ignored them outright. (To be continued.)

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