"Nothing is impossible. The Center's methods are far beyond anything ordinary factions could match—they are truly formidable." Wei Zhao shook his head slightly. He had not the slightest doubt about the Center's strength; they had managed to thrive even on Cloud Terrace Island, so facing the Primordial Alliance now would naturally be even less of a challenge for them.

"This..." Xin Yi'an still found it hard to believe, but seeing even Wei Zhao wear such an expression, he quickly grew serious as well. Frowning, he said, "Is that Center really so tremendously powerful? But aren't all these cultivation factions in the secular world supposed to follow your lead, Martial Uncle?"

"The only thing I can restrain is the Secular World Cultivators Association, and the Center is not among its ranks. You can think of it as an evil organization with heaven-reaching methods. Its threat is absolutely not something a few secular cultivation factions could ever compare to—you must not let your guard down." Wei Zhao warned again and again.

"Then what should we do?" Only now did Xin Yi'an finally adopt a proper attitude.

"Hold our ground and wait to see how things unfold," Wei Zhao said calmly.

After all, he was someone capable of serving as the leading martial uncle; whether in strength or depth of mind, Xin Yi'an was actually not bad. He quickly understood Wei Zhao's meaning and nodded. "Understood. Thank you for the reminder, Martial Uncle. I will have people keep a covert watch and avoid tipping them off."

"Mm, carry on with your work." Wei Zhao nodded and turned toward another spirit eye. The place was still a scene of bustling activity; through everyone's unremitting efforts, the planned seaside villa was beginning to take shape, already showing some of the air of a headquarters. Even Wei Zhao could not help but feel a stir of excitement at the sight.

He had thought everyone was just messing around for fun. After all, even if they were all top-tier Heaven-rank experts, building a house was not like fighting—they were all complete laymen. Yet to his surprise, Wu Chengtian and the others proved unexpectedly capable; looking at it, the work actually seemed quite presentable.

"Boss!" As soon as they saw Wei Zhao, everyone dropped what they were doing and crowded around. Every face was alight with delight as they chattered over one another about the earlier commotion.

"I've already heard about it. It seems bringing Old Man Wei here to hold down the fort was a wise move," Wei Zhao said with a smile, greeting everyone.

"Nonsense—if I hadn't been here, you'd have been in real trouble. You brat, you'd be waiting to be separated from Leng Leng forever!" Lin Dongfang walked over irritably, with Aunt Qing smiling at his side.

"Yes, yes, yes, so you, old sir, are my lucky star. Why not just settle down here for good? The scenery is fine, the spiritual energy abundant—very suitable for retirement," Wei Zhao said with an ingratiating smile.

"You want me to stay here forever as your watchdog? You brat, what a fine dream!" Lin Dongfang snorted in disdain. It was not that he did not want to—he simply had no such luxury. Even though the spirit spring water's hold on him was far less severe than on Ergoudan, he still had to return every so often. Staying to settle down and retire could only be talk.

Wei Zhao chuckled. He of course knew this as well, so it was merely said in passing. Still, he felt a lingering regret: the spirit spring water's restriction was always a considerable nuisance for Lin Dongfang and Ergoudan. Unfortunately, this was not Cloud Terrace Island—there was no Raggedy King to help, nor the automatic forging mechanisms that Han Jingyi and the others had developed. Upgrading the Ten-Thousand-Year Spring Wood Box would have to wait until next time.

"By the way, everyone take these pills and share them out. Put the seaside villa construction on hold for now—it's more important that everyone hurry up and break through to the Foundation Establishment stage," Wei Zhao said as he produced a large pile of Foundation Establishment Golden Pills and handed them to the crowd.

"Break through to Foundation Establishment?" Qiu Lingshan and the others were stunned. Taking the pills, they exchanged glances. "Our strength was all raised by you. Didn't you say we couldn't break through and advance on our own?"

This was the common understanding among them; otherwise they would not have been so calmly busy building the seaside villa after arriving here. If they could break through and advance on their own, people like Wu Chengtian would have long since rushed into seclusion without delay.

They had all assumed that advancing required Wei Zhao's help. But Wei Zhao's current cultivation realm was only peak Foundation Establishment; until he recovered to the Golden Core stage, he could not raise their strength for them. So for the time being they could do nothing but sit and wait.

"I used to think so too, but experiments on Cloud Terrace Island revealed it may not necessarily be the case. The reason the secular world has this limitation, I suspect, is simply that the spiritual energy there is too thin. Here the spiritual energy is abundant, and combined with Foundation Establishment Golden Pills, there's a chance everyone might succeed in breaking through. In any case, we have pills to spare—there's no harm in trying," Wei Zhao explained.

"So that's how it is—then that's wonderful!" Everyone was overjoyed. Not only the men like Wu Chengtian, but Qiu Lingshan and all the girls cheered as well. Everyone wanted to grow stronger; for any cultivator this was almost an instinctive pursuit, and no normal person was an exception.

"Also, Leng Leng, the same goes for you. Although you're already at mid Foundation Establishment, you still need to raise your strength as quickly as possible. If you can advance to peak Foundation Establishment, it would be even better for you to attempt the Golden Core breakthrough here," Wei Zhao said, turning to Leng Leng.

"Oh, all right." Leng Leng nodded obediently. Her heart was now entirely fixed on Wei Zhao; whatever he told her to do, she did. Besides, she was diligent by nature—seclusion and cultivation were almost her normal state, and she did not resist it at all.

Just as Wei Zhao was giving instructions to everyone one by one, Lin Dongfang suddenly spoke up from the side. "Brat, what exactly has happened?"

"Huh?" Everyone was startled and looked at Lin Dongfang in puzzlement. Why would the old man suddenly ask such a thing?

Even Wei Zhao was somewhat taken aback—Old Man Wei's reaction was unexpectedly quick. Then Lin Dongfang curled his lip and said, "What kind of look is that, brat? Can't you see something so obvious? Do you take me for senile? Rushing them to raise their strength so urgently means something must have happened. Hurry up and tell us."

"That's right, boss. If something's going on, tell us about it. Don't carry it all on your shoulders alone," the others said as they finally caught on, nodding in agreement.

"Very well. It's time you were mentally prepared. The Center has already reached its hand into this transfer point. Their people are now lurking among these islands, and they are constantly subverting and controlling Primordial Alliance disciples. Bing Wushuang and Xue Jianming have both joined them, and both have advanced by leaps and bounds—the latter is already an early Golden Core expert, while the former is now a late Golden Core expert," Wei Zhao said in a heavy voice. (To be continued.)