Such a possibility was not entirely out of the question, but it could not be very likely. Compared with that, Wei Zhao was more inclined to believe a different, even less plausible possibility: there were others in this trial ground!

Perhaps there had always been natives here, known to few outsiders—or perhaps there were trial-goers who had been teleported here from other places?

An ordinary person would never hit upon such a thought, but for Wei Zhao, who had come back from Cloud Terrace Island, it was rather a matter of course. After all, no one had ever said this teleportation formation could only correspond to the Archipelago; perhaps it also connected to places like Cloud Terrace Island.

"By the way, where are Bing Wushuang and Xue Jianming?" someone asked. The others all shook their heads. Those two, relying on their Golden Core cultivation, had paid no heed to the threat of the Fire Bats and had charged out early; there was no trace of them now.

"Need you even ask? They must have rushed off to the River of Divine Consciousness long ago. You think they would stay here waiting for us?" someone else said with a curl of the lip.

"That's not necessarily so. This trial ground appears only once in a thousand years. It stands to reason the River of Divine Consciousness is not the only good place here. Coming to a place like this so rarely—if you set your mind on nothing but racing straight to the river, that would be foolish. Who knows how many strokes of good fortune you'd miss!" someone scoffed.

"In that case, what are we wasting time here for? Let's go!" Everyone at once made ready to set out, eager to be off—but one look at the three paths before them and they halted as one. After exchanging glances, every gaze came to rest on Wei Zhao.

"What's this? You still want my Brother Wei Zhao to open the road for you? You people are despicable!" Ying Ziyu said angrily.

"Well..." Seeing their thoughts laid bare, the crowd all looked somewhat ashamed. That was indeed exactly what they had in mind. Apart from Bing Wushuang and Xue Jianming, those two thick Golden Core thighs to cling to, Wei Zhao was the strongest among those remaining. Just as before, in this perilous ancient trial ground, only by keeping close to Wei Zhao could one be assured of enough safety.

"Heh. You've got it wrong. I only wanted to see which path Brother Lin chooses, so ours don't overlap." A man stepped out from the crowd with a faint smile—Ling Tianyou, young sect master of the Thousand Blades Sect.

"Same here," Duanmu Yu said, likewise with a faint smile.

Only then did the others understand. No wonder these two had followed along all this while without a word. So this was what they had been scheming!

True enough, following behind Wei Zhao would naturally be much safer—but by the same token, the moment any treasure or stroke of fortune appeared, it would inevitably be snatched up by Wei Zhao and his group. These people need not dream of even a mouthful of broth, let alone a share of the meat.

"So that's how it is. Then let us part ways here, you two." Wei Zhao nodded to them. These two were perhaps the only ones among the whole Ancient Alliance who truly caught his eye. This was fine too. Each choosing a path of their own meant fewer conflicts—no bad thing.

After the exchange of farewells, Wei Zhao at once led Qiu Lingshan and the others toward the leftmost stone path. None of the three paths was the one marked on the map; no one knew where any of them led. He had simply picked one at random.

Seeing this, Ling Tianyou smiled and promptly chose another path, taking the lead as he went. Duanmu Yu chose the third, leaving the rest to keep looking at one another, still wavering.

Setting aside Bing Wushuang and Xue Jianming, whose whereabouts were unknown, each of the three paths now had a capable leader. Among them, Wei Zhao's group was of course the strongest—not only was Wei Zhao there to hold things together, but there was also Leng Leng, a top-tier expert at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment. In addition, Qiu Lingshan and the others were for the most part only at early Foundation Establishment, with two or three at the peak of early Foundation Establishment, yet none of them were simple characters. More importantly, the group was extremely united; the others could never hope to contend with them.

As for Ling Tianyou and Duanmu Yu, the two were about evenly matched. The former, though only at the peak of late Foundation Establishment, was a peerless prodigy of the Thousand Blades Flying Together; apart from freaks like Wei Zhao, he was all but invincible among Foundation Establishment cultivators. The latter, though less renowned, was no less formidable. Still, compared with Wei Zhao's group, these two were plainly far too few in number and too weak in force.

Soon everyone had made their choice in turn. Most chose the paths of Ling Tianyou and Duanmu Yu; only three lone souls chose Wei Zhao's path. Compared with that slim chance of good fortune, these few clearly valued their own safety more. They harbored no grand hopes for the other fortunes of this ancient trial—only the River of Divine Consciousness.

Even if Wei Zhao's group was large and could seize every treasure and opportunity ahead, surely they could not monopolize the entire River of Divine Consciousness?

The group had not been large to begin with, and with this split it looked even thinner. Yet this did not trouble Wei Zhao's party in the least. For them, so long as they supported one another, that was enough; they would not have been pleased had all the other Ancient Alliance disciples truly followed along.

Once there, they would have had to guard not only against the countless perils and unforeseen dangers of the trial ground, but also against that pack of ungrateful wolves at their backs. Just thinking about it made the head ache. Better to have things quiet and simple as they were now.

Thus the group walked on without incident for a good half hour, and gradually even Qiu Lingshan and the others began to feel something was off.

"Brother Wei Zhao, this place feels strange to me—like something is always watching us." Ying Ziyu shrank back, glancing around with nervous suspicion. All about them was still lush primeval forest, yet somehow it did not feel like that at all; she could not say just what was wrong.

"Yes, I feel this place is uncanny too," Qiu Lingshan said, nodding along.

"Mm. Uncanny," Leng Leng agreed. Her sense of divine consciousness was far inferior to Wei Zhao's, but far keener than the others', and this sense of wrongness came to her all the more clearly.

Wei Zhao glanced at them all and said in a low voice, "You're right. Something is indeed watching us. We don't yet know what it is, so everyone stay on guard—we should find out soon enough."

"Understood!" they all answered with a nod.

This display of facing a great enemy gave the three Ancient Alliance disciples trailing far behind quite a fright. Each grew suspicious of every shadow, yet never once caught a trace of any real danger. The more this went on, the more terrified they became, frightening themselves half to death—and scaring oneself like that can truly drive a person mad. (To be continued.)