Hearing this, Wei Zhao could not help but curse inwardly: Sect Master Hong has probably already become a corpse by now—how could he possibly wait for your return?

"Then what urgent business brings Vice Sect Master Chen here?" Wei Zhao asked instead.

"There is. When I was making my report to the Grand Elder just now, he mentioned something to me—he happens to be short two female disciples to serve tea and water. But do not misunderstand, Senior Grand-Uncle; these two female disciples would not be there merely to wait on him. The key is that they would have the chance to receive personal guidance from the Grand Elder himself. This is an unprecedented privilege. I thought of the two female disciples here with you the very first moment, Senior Grand-Uncle. They are exceptionally gifted and would be a perfect fit. If they could be trained personally by the Grand Elder, they would surely soar to the heavens. What do you think?" Chen Dongcheng wore an expression that said he had already been exceedingly considerate of Wei Zhao.

"A chance to receive the Grand Elder's guidance? Then that means they still would not count as formal disciples—in essence they would still be serving maids, no?" Wei Zhao asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Senior Grand-Uncle, you may not be aware that given the Grand Elder's status, he has essentially stopped taking disciples altogether. Even to enter his tutelage, one would at the very least have to be of the Golden Core stage. Formal disciples and the like are truly a bit much to hope for. To receive his personal guidance—that alone should have one grinning from ear to ear." Chen Dongcheng explained patiently, while inwardly grumbling: to actually want them made formal disciples of the Grand Elder—why don't you just ascend to the heavens?

"Grinning from ear to ear? You underestimate the ambitions of those two!" Wei Zhao curled his lip. Knowing this was nothing but the other party's scheme, he refused on the spot: "Since you make this opportunity sound so fine, then give it to some other female disciples."

"Ah?" Chen Dongcheng was momentarily stunned. He had thought that once he invoked the Grand Elder's name, Wei Zhao would not dare refuse offhand even if he had a hundred times the nerve. Who would have expected the man would not so much as blink before casually turning him down?

"Ah what? I said give the opportunity to other female disciples. You are not about to tell me that a North Island Cangwu Sect this large cannot produce two female disciples, are you? That is impossible. Do you have some ulterior motive?" Wei Zhao said with a frown.

"Er..." Chen Dongcheng was once again choked by his bluntness. He hastily forced a laugh: "How could that be! I simply have Senior Grand-Uncle and your people in my thoughts, so whenever something good comes up, I naturally think of you first. But I truly feel this is a rare opportunity. Senior Grand-Uncle, why not call the two of them out and ask? What if they are willing themselves?"

In Chen Dongcheng's view, faced with the temptation of personal guidance from a Nascent Soul old monster, ordinary people simply could not resist. As long as Qiu Lingshan and Ying Ziyu were willing to take the bait themselves, then even if Wei Zhao wanted to stop them, he would not be able to.

"Is there any need for that?" Wei Zhao said dismissively.

"There is a need, Senior Grand-Uncle. Our North Island Cangwu Sect has always respected the choice of every disciple. We will not force any disciple to do what they do not wish to do, but neither can we let them miss any precious opportunity. Such is the rule of our North Island Cangwu Sect, and I hope Senior Grand-Uncle will abide by it as well." Chen Dongcheng spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"I see. Very well then, I will call them out and ask." Wei Zhao was accommodating, and immediately summoned Qiu Lingshan and Ying Ziyu, then explained the matter to them.

As it turned out, the two women reacted identically, both fixing Chen Dongcheng with a peculiar look: "Serve tea and water? Do we two really look so much like serving maids? How is that any kind of good opportunity!"

"..." Chen Dongcheng was thoroughly embarrassed. He found that these people simply could not be measured by common sense, and could only curse inwardly: these people from the secular world must all have water on the brain—they cannot even tell good from bad!

Leaving a volley of glares behind them, Qiu Lingshan and Ying Ziyu turned and went back to their cultivation. After a moment of awkward silence, Wei Zhao finally spoke: "We must fully respect the will of every disciple. Vice Sect Master Chen, there is no need to bring this up again, is there?"

"Er, no need." Chen Dongcheng kept a forced smile on his face while inwardly seething with rage—but this was a pit he had dug for himself. He had already made all those high-sounding declarations; how could he take them back now?

Had he known it would come to this, damn it all, he should not have been so polite just now. He should have simply said the Grand Elder had named Qiu Lingshan and Ying Ziyu by name—then even with ten thousand times the nerve, Wei Zhao would not have dared object, and there would have been no trouble at all!

Chen Dongcheng wished he could slap himself twice, but at this point he could only swallow his teeth and bear it. He had no choice but to change the subject: "One more matter—I must urge you again, Senior Grand-Uncle: please transcribe the cultivation method as soon as possible. Not only is the whole sect waiting, but even the Grand Elder is waiting. It is greatly valued."

Wei Zhao shot him a glance and said irritably: "I said long ago—with so many cultivation methods, do you think they can be written out in a day or two? If you keep pestering me at every turn like this, how am I supposed to write? This kind of thing must be done with a focused mind and in one continuous effort; otherwise, if a sentence or two goes wrong, who is to blame for the consequences?"

"This..." Chen Dongcheng, originally a rather scheming character, was now choked speechless. After quite a while he managed to squeeze out awkwardly: "Then I will not disturb you further, Senior Grand-Uncle. I take my leave first."

Once again covered in dust, Chen Dongcheng suddenly found that ever since Wei Zhao's arrival, his brain had stopped being enough. In the past, digging pits and setting traps for others had always worked without fail, but now Wei Zhao and his lot simply did not play by the rules—how was he supposed to handle this?

"Still no good?" Looking at Chen Dongcheng returning in defeat, even Chen Jiu was stunned this time.

"A needle cannot pierce in, water cannot splash in. Even those two female disciples have been bewitched by him into having no minds of their own. Even though your grandson clearly invoked your name, he did not take it seriously at all—the man is a piece of rolling iron, utterly impervious." Chen Dongcheng smiled bitterly.

"The insolent brat dares!" Chen Jiu's anger was instantly stoked. Toward this cheap grand-uncle of his who had appeared out of nowhere, he had been extremely displeased from the start; it was only for the sake of the original cultivation methods and martial techniques that he had pinched his nose and turned a blind eye, letting Xin Yi'an welcome Wei Zhao into the sect.

In the broader environment of the Primordial Lesser Jianghu, once one reached a level like the Nascent Soul stage, taking even a single step further was as difficult as ascending to heaven, for virtually all the spiritual elixirs and heavenly treasures of the Primordial Lesser Jianghu had no effect on them anymore. They could only rely on their own groping cultivation, and the difficulty of that could well be imagined.