"Exactly. I did tell you about my origins long ago—it's just that you thought I was joking at the time and never took it to heart." Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"You mean that little island where you learned your craft?" Leng Leng asked.

"The very same. Actually, you've probably heard the island's name before—it's the legendary Cloud Terrace Island." Wei Zhao decided to lay all his cards on the table.

"What? Cloud Terrace Island? But isn't that just a baseless rumor?" Leng Leng was greatly astonished.

"It is no rumor. I have just come back from Cloud Terrace Island, and from what I can surmise, the island shares no small connection with your Primordial Little Jianghu." Wei Zhao nodded.

"No small connection? How do you figure that?" Leng Leng was instantly taken aback. That Cloud Terrace Island actually existed was shocking enough—and now it was supposed to be deeply tied to the Primordial Little Jianghu as well?

"Cloud Terrace Island is divided into five great isles—east, south, west, north, and center. The Northern Isle is led by the Three-Tiered Pavilion, which comprises the Soaring Pavilion, the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion, and the Azure Cloud Pavilion. The Central Isle holds the Snow Sword Sect, the Thousand Blades Sect, and a whole host of other powers. Doesn't all that sound rather familiar to you?" Wei Zhao smiled.

"That... how is that possible..." Leng Leng was struck dumb on the spot. Could there really be such a coincidence in this world?

"Not only that. The introductory cultivation method of the Azure Cloud Pavilion on the Northern Isle of Cloud Terrace Island is the Azure Cloud Serenity Formula—and the Cangwu Sect of North Island in the Primordial Alliance uses the very same Azure Cloud Serenity Formula. A shared name might be coincidence, but when even the cultivation method is identical, surely that can no longer be chalked up to coincidence?" Wei Zhao said.

"The way you put it, the connection really is a deep one!" Leng Leng was left gaping, and it took her quite a while to digest Wei Zhao's words. At last she could not help asking, "Then have you told Martial Uncle Xin about Cloud Terrace Island?"

"No. Until I have a clear picture of the Primordial Alliance, I have no intention of making this public for the time being. You should keep it from them as well." Wei Zhao shook his head. This was no trifling matter; until he truly understood it, spreading word rashly could bring fortune or disaster—impossible to say which. For now, the priority was to firmly establish his identity as an ancestral elder of the Cangwu Sect of North Island. At least where handling the affairs of the secular world was concerned, that identity was the most advantageous.

"All right." Leng Leng nodded. She had not thought that far; since Wei Zhao wanted it kept secret, she would keep it secret for now.

The two talked a while longer, and only as dusk was falling did they return to the mountain gate. Xin Yijie had already had a banquet prepared. True, in this remote place with hardly a soul around, there were no delicacies of mountain and sea to be had, but it made up for that with its pristine naturalness—gathering ingredients on the spot was easy enough. The meal had a flavor all its own.

"Martial Uncle-Founder, there is a matter this disciple would make bold to ask about. And it isn't only this disciple who wants to ask—the higher-ups of our Cangwu Sect of North Island all wish to know as well. What plans does Martial Uncle-Founder have for the future? Do you intend to remain in the secular world, or will you come with this disciple to the Primordial Little Jianghu?" Xin Yijie asked cautiously over the meal.

Since he had reported the situation last time, five days had passed before he finally received word back from the Cangwu Sect of North Island. Upon learning of the existence of Wei Zhao, an ancestral elder from the primordial era, the whole of the Cangwu Sect of North Island—predictably enough—had been thrown into an uproar. And when they learned there was a complete version of the Azure Cloud Serenity Formula, their joy knew no bounds.

With a living fossil of an ancestral elder like this among them, the people of the Cangwu Sect of North Island naturally wanted to invite Wei Zhao over. After all, if the Martial Uncle-Founder would but casually recite a few more of the sect's cultivation methods, those would be priceless treasures. The problem was that Wei Zhao's current identity was that of chairman of the Secular World Cultivators' Association—what if he was unwilling to go to the Primordial Little Jianghu?

"Don't you have a one-year training stint in the secular world? We can discuss this question when the time comes. I haven't decided yet myself." Wei Zhao replied noncommittally. If conditions allowed, he would not mind making a trip to the Primordial Little Jianghu—but at present he was merely a projected spirit body. Who knew whether he might suddenly collapse the moment he arrived there?

Besides, even with Star Ink Stones to replenish his spiritual consciousness energy, who could say how long he could hold out? A single year might well already be the limit.

"That... very well..." Xin Yijie could not help feeling somewhat disappointed, but he dared not say more. Wei Zhao might be only a perfected Foundation Establishment spirit, but this was, after all, an ancestral elder of the Cangwu Sect of North Island. Disrespect toward one's elders was a grave offense—and this was a Martial Uncle-Founder whose seniority was beyond reckoning.

"Since I'm here, let's talk about the disciple selection assembly. I've already put the word out; every cultivation power in the secular world has agreed to send disciples to participate. You fix the time and place." Wei Zhao changed the subject.

"Very well. The sooner this is done, the better—how about the day after tomorrow? As for the location, let's hold it at this very mountain gate." Xin Yijie proposed.

"Oh? Just like that, you'd reveal your rallying point to the outside world? Aren't you afraid of inviting unnecessary trouble?" Wei Zhao asked in surprise.

"Martial Uncle-Founder jests. Apart from an expert like yourself, Martial Uncle-Founder, all the other cultivation powers of the secular world combined are good for nothing but being bullied by our Primordial Alliance disciples. What trouble could there possibly be?" Xin Yijie said dismissively.

"Heh, I suppose that's true." So he said aloud—but inwardly Wei Zhao begged to differ. The secular world's cultivators were indeed far inferior to the Primordial Alliance in strength, but these people of the Primordial Alliance had contracted the most common ailment of cultivators: they did not take ordinary people seriously.

The reason the secular world was the secular world was precisely that it was the world of ordinary people—and this, moreover, was a world with highly advanced technology. If the two sides truly became enemies, a bit of high-tech weaponry would be more than enough to give these lofty Primordial Alliance cultivators a severe headache. Get them truly provoked and drop a nuke on them, and the people here might be fine, but whether their formations and bases survived would be another matter entirely.

It was simply that Xin Yijie and the others did not yet understand secular technology very deeply. Once they grasped what high technology meant—and especially once they had tasted its bitter fruit—they would likely not dare to be so careless and unbridled.

After they had settled matters between them, Wei Zhao went out and made a phone call to Qiu Lingshan, arranging for the Mysterious Investigation Bureau to take charge of organizing the disciple selection assembly. That way, not only could order be maintained, but the bureau could also seize the opportunity to establish its authority—two birds with one stone.