"It seems to have been here since a very, very long time ago, passed down from generation to generation. Why do you ask?" the Nine Infants said, puzzled.

"Nothing. I just have the simple feeling that it's no small matter." Wei Zhao shook his head, though inwardly he was turning over a suspicion: what hidden connection did this place share with Cloud Terrace Island?

His suspicion was not baseless. After mastering Primordial-Spirit Devouring, he had discovered that it bore a striking resemblance to the Soul-Hooking Hand of the old Western Mountain Sect—similar to the tune of at least eighty percent, almost a copy.

Wei Zhao had once groped his own way into an incomplete version of the Soul-Hooking Hand by imitation, but for want of the crucial core method, its power had been pitifully weak—no good against a peer, and barely enough even for an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. Now he had abruptly realized that the core method behind Primordial-Spirit Devouring could likewise be applied to the Soul-Hooking Hand. It still fell short of the original, but at least it had reached eighty percent of the original's strength.

If this were pure coincidence, then it was too much of a coincidence by far.

Wei Zhao preferred to believe that the reason Cloud Terrace Island's Soul-Hooking Hand and this place's Primordial-Spirit Devouring produced such kindred effects was that Cloud Terrace Island and this place shared some unknown connection—perhaps, indeed, they sprang from the same source.

Ever since the mortal world, Cloud Terrace Island, the small world of antiquity, and now this once-in-a-millennium ancient trial ground—all of them seemed invisibly bound by countless threads.

Of course, whatever connection there was had nothing to do with Wei Zhao. He was merely curious.

Seeing that Wei Zhao had fallen silent, the Nine Infants was quiet for a moment, then cautiously probed: "So... what do you plan to do next?"

"Are you afraid I'll stay and take over the nest?" Wei Zhao glanced at it with a half-smile.

"Uh..." The Nine Infants looked sheepish. That was exactly what it meant. Ever since learning that the other party's primordial spirit was of the Mystic Ascension stage, it had given up all hope of finishing him off. And after Wei Zhao mastered Primordial-Spirit Devouring, it did not even dare entertain such a mad notion. In such circumstances, being able to keep itself safe was already good enough.

Still, having ruled supreme in this ancient trial ground for so many years, it found it hard to adjust to the sudden appearance of a being that stood above it. If Wei Zhao set his mind on staying to lord it over the mountain, things would get awkward for it afterward. Surely it would not really end up as Wei Zhao's lackey from then on?

"Relax. I have plenty of business outside. I've no interest in staying here to play 'that lord' with you." Wei Zhao's answer made the Nine Infants breathe a sigh of relief—but he went on: "I do have one condition. The human cultivators who came in this time—you let them go."

"How can I do that?" The Nine Infants nearly jumped out of its skin. It had waited a full thousand years to finally get a batch of human cultivators, a rare chance for a change of fare. How could it let them off so easily?

"Not willing? That's fine too. I'll stay and train with you at length," Wei Zhao said.

"No, no—I agree, isn't that enough?" The Nine Infants hurried to back down. Losing a batch of human offerings was no great matter to it, at most the loss of one chance to improve its meals; missing it was missing it. But if Wei Zhao stayed and took its territory, its days would be truly miserable.

"Good. Go make the arrangements. Remember—if any of my people comes to harm, there will never be any peaceful coexistence between us. Weigh the pros and cons and act accordingly," Wei Zhao warned.

"Yes, yes. Rest assured." At such a moment the Nine Infants naturally would not go looking for trouble. Its one thought now was to send this plague god on his way as fast as possible. It promptly issued orders through its divine consciousness, strictly forbidding any spirit beast to harm any human cultivator—whoever crossed that line would be the next primordial spirit it devoured.

"Good. One last thing: take me to see the teleportation array," Wei Zhao said.

"The teleportation array? You don't remember where it is?" The Nine Infants was taken aback. A Mystic Ascension primordial spirit—surely its memory could not be that poor?

"I mean the other one. The one-way array that leads directly to the small world of antiquity," Wei Zhao said with a curl of his lip. Though he had the map Xin Yi'an had provided in advance, past experience made it plain that the map was long out of date. Many places were not merely inaccurate—they were wildly off. If one truly followed it, to say nothing of finding a small teleportation array, one likely could not even find the vast River of Divine Consciousness.

"The other one?" The Nine Infants thought for a long while and still could not recall. Then the Water Lily nearby cautiously chimed in: "My lord, have you forgotten? That array is right at the edge of the Emerald Sky Vale..."

"Oh? Lead the way, then," Wei Zhao said at once.

But the Water Lily only smiled bitterly. "We can't go now. Seven hundred years ago there was a great outbreak of poisonous miasma. That area has been shrouded by the vale's poison ever since. Outsiders simply cannot get in."

"Truly?" Not only Wei Zhao but Duanmu Yu was startled as well. This was the only exit from this place to the small world of antiquity. Once the one-way teleportation array was completely sealed off, would they not all be trapped here?

"I remember now. There was indeed such a thing. That outbreak was fierce; I went to suppress it myself. In the end I managed to force the poison back by every means at my disposal, but I took no small hurt doing it. That poison is truly vicious," the Nine Infants said with lingering dread.

"So it's completely unusable, then." Wei Zhao could not help frowning. If it were only himself, it would not matter, but with Leng Leng and the others to consider, a place like the Emerald Sky Vale was plainly out of the question. This one-way teleportation array was no longer worth hoping for.

That left only one option: go back the way they came.

Xin Yi'an had once said that this teleportation array, which connected to the relay archipelago, would not be submerged by seawater for a short while yet. During this time they could return at any moment, but once the seawater covered it again after a month, it would be useless.

Wei Zhao and Duanmu Yu exchanged a glance, both secretly relieved. Fortunately they had not been in this time too long—all told, only about half a month. And fortunately they had learned this news from the Nine Infants and the Water Lily in time. Had they waited until after the month to find out, they would have been well and truly screwed.

By then both teleportation arrays would be sealed tight, and everyone but Wei Zhao would be trapped here for good, cut off from the world for a thousand years...