"Who are you calling a dog? To publicly insult a candidate disciple of the Snow Sword Sect right to my face—am I to take this as a provocation against my sect?" Xue Jianfeng demanded, his expression turning ugly at once.

"I never said who the dog was. Listen carefully—what I meant is that some people are worse than dogs." Qiu Lingshan tilted her chin up. Xue Jianfeng might still command some authority before the other secular-world cultivators, but in her eyes and in the eyes of Wu Chengtian and the others, he truly carried no weight at all.

"Oh my, your skill at cursing has improved. Still, out of the most basic respect for life, we really can't insult dogs like that—they are humanity's best friend, after all," Wei Zhao said teasingly. As for Xue Jianfeng and Yan Zhongding and the rest, he did not take them seriously in the slightest.

"You—!" Xue Jianfeng ground his teeth in fury, but the moment he saw Wei Zhao's gaze swing toward him, his heart quailed. Stirring up trouble was one thing, but if he stirred it too far and drove Wei Zhao into a rage, he would be the one to suffer for it. He could only give a cold snort and say, "Right and wrong rest in the hearts of men. I scorn to argue with the likes of you."

"Exactly, exactly. Thank goodness Senior Brother Xue spoke up and set us straight—otherwise we'd all have been kept in the dark by someone's heretical nonsense. If we'd really cultivated according to what he said, we'd have gone mad from deviation for sure. Anyone who follows a man like that is doomed." Yan Zhongding seized the moment to chime in.

The other secular-world cultivators all wore expressions of belated dread. There is no small matter in cultivation; one wrong step can breed grave consequences. Even if it were only some minor points of principle, if they had truly swallowed Wei Zhao's cultivation insights whole, they could forget about any future in cultivation at all—they should count themselves lucky merely not to suffer deviation halfway through.

On one side stood Wei Zhao's personal heresies; on the other, the mainstream understanding of the Ancient Alliance. Which side to choose was plain at a glance.

Qiu Lingshan was about to retort, but Wei Zhao reached out and stopped her, saying mildly, "It's true that those who follow me do have rather bad luck. They're forever being made to swallow all sorts of odd pills—Foundation Establishment Pills that can send you straight into the Foundation Establishment stage, or even raise you another level once you're already there, for instance. I'd originally meant to let you people have a taste, one apiece at the very least, and now look—I can only give them to these three unlucky wretches."

With that, three pills suddenly appeared in Wei Zhao's hand, and he handed them out one by one to the three candidate disciples of the North Island Cangwu Sect standing nearby.

"Foundation Establishment Pills? Top-grade?" Xue Jianfeng's eyelids twitched violently at the sight. In the Ancient Alliance, such pills were exceedingly hard to come by on the open market, and top-grade ones were rarer still. Though they were of little use to a cultivator like him, already at the peak of Foundation Establishment, even so one fact could not be changed: these were treasures money could not buy!

It was not only Xue Jianfeng. The senior brothers leading the other Ancient Alliance sects all gasped at the sight, staring at Wei Zhao as though he were some kind of monster. What manner of creature was this, to casually give away three top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills?!

"You three, thank your Grand-Uncle-Master at once! Do you realize that with a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, your breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment stage is all but guaranteed?" Even Xin Yijie could not help swallowing hard at the sight. Such extravagant generosity—even the Grand Elders themselves had surely never displayed the like, had they?

"Thank you, Grand-Uncle-Master!" Only then did the three candidate disciples snap out of it and hurriedly express their gratitude. A moment ago they had still somewhat doubted Wei Zhao, and in the blink of an eye a pie from heaven had fallen into their laps—happiness had come too suddenly!

As for Yan Zhongding and the others, their expressions were a sight to behold. By Wei Zhao's account, if they had stayed by his side a little longer, they too would have received top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills. But now they had voluntarily thrown the chance away. One after another, resentful gazes all settled on Xue Jianfeng—it was all the fault of this meddlesome creature!

Even if the cultivation insights Wei Zhao had just described were heretical, hearing them would have done the crowd no harm, for the senior brothers leading their respective sects would certainly explain the Ancient Alliance's mainstream understanding all over again, and they could simply follow their senior brothers' lead when the time came. And if they had merely lingered by Wei Zhao's side a little longer, they would each have received a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill—by Xin Yijie's own account, that was as good as a guaranteed place in the Foundation Establishment stage!

A heaven-sent opportunity, squandered because of Xue Jianfeng's outburst; the top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills that had been within reach had flown away. If the crowd were not resentful now, there would be something wrong with them. They were so regretful their very guts had turned green...

Nor was it only the candidate disciples—the senior brothers leading each sect were resentful too. A top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill meant a ready-made new Foundation Establishment disciple, which meant their mission was as good as complete, and they would be sure of all kinds of commendations from their sects upon their return. And now that too had vanished into thin air...

"..." Under the weight of all those stares, Xue Jianfeng's face could no longer hold. If there had been a crack in the ground, he would long since have crawled into it. He had schemed and maneuvered to sow discord, and in the end Wei Zhao had casually handed out three top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, making him the target of universal resentment. How the hell was a man supposed to live like this?

Fortunately the teleportation array had by now activated. Xue Jianfeng hastily called Yan Zhongding and the others over and teleported out, sparing himself further humiliation by staying. The rest could only watch enviously as those three top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills went by, wait their turn in the queue for teleportation, and, mouths watering with greed, curse Xue Jianfeng without pause—it was all the fault of this creature and his needless meddling!

Wei Zhao and the others, together with Xin Yijie, remained to the very last. Besides the three candidate disciples the North Island Cangwu Sect had selected this time, Xin Yijie had specially reserved two more places for Wei Zhao and Qiu Lingshan. As for everyone else, they could only remain at the Shennongjia mountain gate for the time being—spirit jade was limited, after all.

Leng Leng was rather reluctant to part. She was neither a senior brother leading a sect nor a candidate disciple, so in principle she naturally had to remain outside. She had been reunited with Wei Zhao only a few days before they had to separate again, and she could not quite keep a certain sourness from rising in her heart.

Just then Wei Zhao suddenly beckoned her over, and with a smile at the visibly troubled Xin Yijie said, "It's fine. I'll cover the spirit jade for the North Island Cangwu Sect myself. Since I'm the Grand-Uncle-Master, I should act like one."