"That's more like it!" Only then did Xue Jianming smile in satisfaction. He did not care about the rest; to him, so long as Wei Zhao and the others could be made to enter the Trial Grand Tournament, his plan was more than half accomplished.

"Right, I've said all that needs saying. Everyone, go back and prepare properly." Xin Yi'an announced at once.

The group dispersed to conserve their strength and prepare for the Trial Grand Tournament three days hence. Wei Zhao, however, gathered Qiu Lingshan and the others together and said gravely, "Only three days remain, but as the saying goes, even a last-minute sharpening of the spear will make it shine. Otherwise the Trial Grand Tournament won't be easy to muddle through."

"Leader, only three days—even if we cram at the last moment, isn't it too late?" Wu Chengtian and the others said with bitter smiles.

"Not late, not late at all." Wei Zhao merely smiled and told them, "So long as you memorize what I'm about to teach you, I can't say what other use it'll have, but it should come in handy in the Trial Grand Tournament."

"What thing? Something that can be mastered in three days?" They could not help but ask curiously.

"Heh, nothing profound. Do you remember that compendium of cultivation methods I received a few days ago?" Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"I remember, but those are the cultivation methods of the Cloud-Tier Island sects, aren't they? What use are they?" Qiu Lingshan asked curiously.

"Judging from the Cangwu Sect of North Island and various other clues, Cloud-Tier Island and the Ancient Little Jianghu are bound together by countless threads. The cultivation methods of sects sharing the same name in both places are broadly similar, so although this compendium of mine is of Cloud-Tier Island sects, it can in fact be called a compendium of the Ancient sects as well." Wei Zhao explained.

Everyone nodded, but they were still baffled: "What does that have to do with the Trial Grand Tournament?"

"Simple. Now that we have the cultivation methods of each sect, we can infer the fighting styles of those sects' disciples, grasp their strengths and weaknesses, and thereby devise the most effective strategies for matching against them. And while studying the compendium these past few days, I also happened to create some counter-moves." Wei Zhao said.

"Counter-moves?" Everyone's eyes lit up at once.

"Indeed. There aren't many—only two or three for each sect, and none of them complicated. Simple and practical. If you can master these moves within three days, the benefits go without saying." Wei Zhao nodded.

"Good heavens! Leader, this is more than last-minute cramming—it's outright smuggling in a cheat sheet! If we master all of this, won't we have those Ancient sect disciples completely at our mercy in the Trial Grand Tournament?" Wu Chengtian and the others said in delighted astonishment.

"Not necessarily. For these counter-moves I'm teaching you to take effect, the precondition is that you have the corresponding foundation of strength. If the opponent is far stronger, they'll have little effect. But in that case, no amount of scheming would help anyway—better to simply concede." Wei Zhao smiled, then said, "All right, time is short. Let's begin."

"Right!" everyone answered in unison.

Three days later. Everyone on the Transfer Archipelago, high and low, gathered once more. Including Xin Yi'an, all eyes were fixed eagerly on the teleportation formation.

At last, a flash of white light, and a scroll suddenly appeared within the formation. Xin Yi'an stepped forward at once and opened it. What was written inside was precisely the rules of this Trial Grand Tournament.

Xin Yi'an read it through from top to bottom, stroked his beard, and nodded in understanding. Only then did he announce, "Listen carefully, all of you. What this old man is about to say are the rules of this Trial Grand Tournament. If you miss a sentence or half a sentence, that loss is yours alone."

"Yes," everyone said, all ears.

"First, this Trial Grand Tournament is divided into eight teams. Those below the Foundation Establishment stage form one team. Early Foundation Establishment, peak early Foundation Establishment, mid Foundation Establishment, peak mid Foundation Establishment, late Foundation Establishment, peak late Foundation Establishment, and Foundation Establishment Great Perfection each have their own team. Find your own places accordingly, and please form up by team now." At Xin Yi'an's command, everyone immediately began to line up according to their strength.

At a time like this, no one would try to cheat. For one thing, they did not know what purpose this division into teams served; for another, there were no secrets among senior and junior brothers of the same sect—each knew the other's strength and realm clearly. And with a Golden Core expert like Xin Yi'an watching, any attempt to muddle through would not get past him.

Wei Zhao shot the others a look. Qiu Lingshan and the rest nodded and stepped into the ranks of the early Foundation Establishment team, which immediately set the onlookers abuzz. Many had not noticed before that these people had all succeeded in Foundation Establishment; they had assumed they were still merely at the peak of the Heaven Tier.

But they were only briefly surprised, and did not truly take Qiu Lingshan and the others seriously. After all, even if these people had succeeded in Foundation Establishment, they were merely the weakest early Foundation Establishment experts, no threat at all to Ancient Alliance disciples like themselves, so naturally there was no need to take them to heart.

As for Wei Zhao himself, though nominally the junior grand-uncle of the Cangwu Sect of North Island, that status was of use only before the likes of Xin Yi'an. The Ancient Alliance did not recognize it. That they were willing to acknowledge him as a member of the Ancient Alliance at all was already great face shown to the Cangwu Sect of North Island. If he wished to take part in the Ancient Trials, he must, like everyone else, pass the test of the Trial Grand Tournament.

Wei Zhao did not mind in the least. He walked unhurriedly into the ranks of the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection experts. In any contest, below the Golden Core stage, no one would be his match.

But there was one exception—none other than Xue Jianming, standing to the side at this moment with a cold smile. This fellow had all along followed Dr. Glasses's orders and not revealed his true strength, still outwardly appearing a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection expert. In his heart he could not help but secretly regret that, had the higher-ups not strictly forbidden him to move against Wei Zhao, he would absolutely have taken this chance to do Wei Zhao in and wipe out his former shame.

"Killing is out of the question, but this chance is open and legitimate. I can take the opportunity to give him a beating and vent my anger—even the higher-ups can't say anything about that." Xue Jianming calculated inwardly.

In the blink of an eye everyone had finished forming up. Only two remained standing outside: one was Xin Yi'an, the other Bing Wushuang. Though not the leading junior uncle, he was after all a well-known Golden Core expert, and entering the Trial Grand Tournament would be utterly meaningless.

"Good. Next, this old man will announce the rules of this Trial Grand Tournament. Simple: within each team, lots will be drawn for one-on-one matches. Two days per round, ten days running, five rounds in all. Win three of them, and you automatically earn the qualification for the Trials." Xin Yi'an announced.

The rule was easy enough to grasp. Since the matches pitted experts of the same tier against one another, winning three of five proved one's strength was among the upper ranks and worth the Ancient Alliance's focused cultivation! (To be continued.)