"In other words, if those two refuse to show themselves, I'm to be trapped here indefinitely?" Wei Zhao laughed at the news. To justify keeping him under house arrest, these people had certainly found themselves a fine excuse.

"For the time being, I can only ask Martial-Uncle Ancestor to endure a little hardship. Fortunately, the scenery here is exceptional—ideal for Martial-Uncle Ancestor's quiet cultivation. A brief seclusion, and the time will pass before you know it." Chen Dongcheng kept his posture low, as always.

"My identity token requires special handling—fine, that explanation I can accept. But what about theirs? Surely the Supreme Elder and the sect master don't need to appear in person for those as well?" Wei Zhao gestured toward Qiu Lingshan and the others.

"That won't be necessary. In fact, that is precisely what I came to discuss with Martial-Uncle Ancestor today. Yesterday I convened a meeting with the higher-ups of the other sects to deliberate. The disciples you have brought are all prodigies of exceptional talent; assigning them a single introductory tutor to teach the basics would be a waste of such talent. So we decided to make special arrangements: we will administer a spiritual-root test to each of them, and based on the results, assign each a dedicated introductory tutor. Once they have achieved some mastery, Martial-Uncle Ancestor may instruct them personally. What does Martial-Uncle Ancestor think of this?" Chen Dongcheng spoke in a tone of soliciting instruction.

Wei Zhao exchanged a glance with Qiu Lingshan and the others. For a moment they could not fathom the man's intentions. Honestly, such an arrangement was thoughtful—had they not been under house arrest, they would certainly have agreed at once. But as things stood, they had to think carefully about whether some unspeakable scheme lurked behind it.

"It sounds decent enough, but I will have to discuss it thoroughly with each of them first," Wei Zhao said.

"By all means. Forging the identity tokens will take three days in any case, so everyone will have ample time to consider." Chen Dongcheng did not press the matter, then added, "Oh, one more thing. Martial-Uncle Ancestor previously gave us the complete edition of the Azure Cloud Serene-Heart Formula. For the entire Cangwu Sect of the Northern Island, this is a blessing from the heavens. I take the liberty of asking on behalf of the other higher-ups: might Martial-Uncle Ancestor also transcribe the other lost heart formulas and martial techniques as soon as possible, to benefit the vast ranks of our Cangwu Sect disciples?"

"Certainly. Whenever I have time, I will write them down as quickly as I can." Wei Zhao answered perfunctorily.

"Then I leave it in Martial-Uncle Ancestor's hands. I have other sect affairs to attend to, so I shall take my leave. I will come pay my respects another day." Chen Dongcheng promptly withdrew.

"What do you suppose this fellow is really selling in that gourd of his?" Watching Chen Dongcheng's departing back, Wu Chengtian rubbed his chin and asked.

"Whatever it is, it's certainly no good medicine," Zhao Qilei and Zhao Qiwu said in unison.

"Right, right—I can't stand these preening, big-tailed wolves!" Ying Ziyu bared his teeth.

"From the way he's acting, I'd say he's adopting a courtesy-before-force stance. First the soft approach; if that fails, the hard one. What do you think, Wei Zhao?" Qiu Lingshan saw through it reasonably well.

"Exactly. Once his patience runs out, he'll come at us hard." Wei Zhao nodded. He could guess that what the man coveted was the Cangwu Sect heart formulas and martial techniques stored in his mind. As for what else he might be scheming, that was not yet clear.

Wei Zhao could give them the heart formulas and martial techniques—but when and how he gave them would be his to decide, and he certainly would not hand them over so casually. Especially under present circumstances, this was something to be played to full advantage.

"So what do we do?" Wu Chengtian and the others asked.

"Meet force with force, water with earth—let them thrash about for now." Wei Zhao smiled dismissively. Even Cloud-Step Island had failed to hold him; was he now to be at his wit's end upon reaching the Ancient Small Martial World? As if!

Wei Zhao did not take it to heart at all. It felt like asking a top student fresh from the college entrance examination to sit the high school entrance examination—if he lacked even that much basic confidence, he would not be Wei Zhao.

"Then that settles it." The others nodded with smiles, each expression more relaxed than the last. With Wei Zhao around, what was there to fear?

Just as everyone was about to disperse and resume their cultivation, a familiar figure suddenly emerged ahead. It was an old acquaintance of theirs: Xin Yi'an.

After cautiously scanning the surroundings and confirming no one else was about, Xin Yi'an slipped inside and said to Wei Zhao with a face full of shame, "Martial-Uncle Ancestor, I have caused you to suffer grievance."

"It's nothing. But why are you sneaking about like that?" Wei Zhao was somewhat puzzled. Xin Yi'an was only an early Golden Core cultivator and did not appear particularly outstanding, but in terms of status he was at least a sect elder. Given their prior acquaintance in the mortal world, coming to visit his Martial-Uncle Ancestor was only natural—why the furtiveness?

"There's no help for it. If Vice Sect Master Chen found out, I might well be confined to the discipline room..." Xin Yi'an smiled bitterly.

"Why is that?" Wei Zhao exchanged a glance with Qiu Lingshan and the others.

"Because..." Xin Yi'an found it hard to speak. Bringing Wei Zhao to the Cangwu Sect of the Northern Island had been something he had strongly supported. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that after all his efforts to invite Wei Zhao and the others back, things would turn out like this. In a sense, he had utterly landed his own patriarch in the mire—he simply had no face to meet Wei Zhao and the rest.

"It's all right. Tell me properly—what exactly is the situation now?" Wei Zhao waved a hand. He did not blame Xin Yi'an; after all, this was clearly not something Xin Yi'an alone could decide. What he needed now was to know what these Cangwu Sect higher-ups were plotting. He had nothing to fear, but being prepared was always better than being unprepared.

Xin Yi'an gritted his teeth and threw caution to the wind. "Vice Sect Master Chen specially convened an elders' meeting this morning. He proposed in public that a dedicated investigation team be established to look into Martial-Uncle Ancestor's specific origins..."

"Investigate my background? In other words, they still don't believe I hail from the Cangwu Sect of the Northern Island? Then why did you people invite me here at all?" Wei Zhao said with a sardonic smile.

"Uh..." Xin Yi'an broke out in a sweat. As a sect elder he was entitled to attend such meetings, and when he heard those words at the time, his whole mind went blank. After all the trouble of inviting Martial-Uncle Ancestor back, the very first order of business was not to help Martial-Uncle Ancestor reintegrate into the sect, but to openly propose investigating his background—was that something a human being would do?

"Did they say how they would conduct the investigation?" Wei Zhao asked, somewhat curious.