The silence of Lu Ping'an and the others finally gave every remaining elder and disciple a clear signal, and one by one their faces lit with a strange excitement—it meant that from this day forth, the Northern Isle Cangwu Sect had entered a brand-new era.

For the Chen faction, long accustomed to standing above the rest, that new era was hardly good news; but for the native faction, far greater in number, it was unmistakably a signal to rise.

They had all watched Xin Yi'an's various campaigns and maneuvers in the days before, but as for results—well, they had been negligible indeed. After all, the notion that some primordial spirit of unknown origin could overpower the Grand Elder Chen Jiu—anyone who believed such a tall tale had to have water on the brain.

And now they knew at last that it was not Xin Yi'an who had water on the brain; it was they themselves who had been frogs at the bottom of a well.

Xin Yi'an took in every expression on every face. Truth be told, even a moment ago his legs had still been trembling; but now, seeing the varied looks on the crowd, his heart settled at once.

The Chen faction people still bore their hostility plain to see, but they were clearly dumbstruck, and for the time being they were a flock without a shepherd—bound to raise no great disturbance in the short run. As for Lu Ping'an, the fellow did have a mind to raise his arm and rally the crowd; unfortunately, he was Chen Jiu's personal disciple, not a proper member of the Chen faction, and that was a natural shackle he could never break. He was still far short of the kind of pull that made a hundred voices answer one call.

As for the native faction, because the sect master Hong Zijun had vanished without a trace, they too were now leaderless. The key point was that they bore no particular hostility toward Wei Zhao, the one who had overpowered the Grand Elder; at this moment their hearts were filled with awe and reverence. Even the rare schemer among them would not dare leap forward to challenge Xin Yi'an before he had sounded out the truth of things—biding one's time was the wisest course.

"Very good. Since the times have changed, then some of these outmoded rules ought to change as well," Xin Yi'an said, pressing his advantage. "The Northern Isle Cangwu Sect belongs to everyone—it is not the property of any single house. From now on, no house may be put first in all things; everyone, high and low alike, shall abide by the rules, and there shall be no more talk of privilege."

At these words, the great multitude of native-faction disciples broke into jubilant cheers. If anyone had suffered most at the hands of the Chen faction, it was they.

The Chen faction was few in number, but leaning on the immense halo of the Grand Elder Chen Jiu, these many years any good thing involving cultivation resources had without exception come their way first. They ate the meat, and only then did the disciples of the other native factions get to drink the broth—and sometimes they could not even get the broth. They dared not speak, but dared to resent.

And now Xin Yi'an had opened by calling for the abolition of the Chen family's privileges. It was plainly a move to buy hearts—simple, but highly effective.

"I should like to ask something of this Elder Xin. This 'single house' you speak of—which house, exactly?" A voice suddenly cut through the crowd's cheering.

Every eye snapped to the speaker, and when Xin Yi'an saw who it was, his pupils contracted sharply. Chen Dongcheng!

His primordial spirit had been parted from his flesh for too long—so long that the body had begun to show signs of withering. Normally it would take at least a month to recover fully. That Chen Dongcheng could stand forth at all was nothing short of a miracle.

"The Chen family of the Northern Isle, of course," Xin Yi'an shot back at once. Though in truth he had not the slightest confidence in facing Chen Dongcheng, the vice sect master—now that even Chen Jiu had been finished off by Wei Zhao, what was there left to fear?

"Heh heh. You've all heard him, haven't you, gentleman of the Chen faction? The times are different now. Even a nobody who doesn't amount to a fart dares to climb onto our heads and shit and piss on us—do you accept that?" Chen Dongcheng sneered, taking the lead in open provocation before them all.

At these words Xin Yi'an's heart lurched. The reason the Chen faction people had quieted down before was, apart from their collective stupefaction, chiefly that no one had stepped forward to lead them. Now Chen Dongcheng had suddenly appeared as the bird that pokes its head out of the flock—this scene today was bound to spiral out of control.

Sure enough, once Chen Dongcheng took the lead in provocation, the faces of the other Chen faction members all changed. They might dread Wei Zhao, the one who could kill Chen Jiu, but the man standing before them was merely Xin Yi'an, an early Golden Core good old soul—what the hell was there to fear?

"Hey now, you'd all better think this through. Everything I just said was by the personal command of Uncle-Master Wei Zhao. Are you sure you want to defy his venerable wishes in public?" Xin Yi'an hastily hauled Wei Zhao out as a shield.

"Uncle-Master Wei Zhao, is it? Oh, we're so afraid!" Chen Dongcheng put on a deliberate show of terror, only to jeer the next moment: "True enough, I admit it—that Uncle-Master Wei Zhao of yours is unfathomable, no doubt about it. But what good does that do? Come, come, you tell me—just how does your Uncle-Master Wei Zhao plan to walk out of that Heaven-Ascending Formation?"

This was the confidence that let Chen Dongcheng stand forth and challenge. True, they dared not face Wei Zhao now—but wasn't the Heaven-Ascending Formation still standing in the way? Since Wei Zhao could not get out, what was there to fear?

"That..." Xin Yi'an was stopped short. In fact he had thought of this too, only Wei Zhao's instructions had been hurried and he himself had been too excited, so he had overlooked it.

"Heh heh, you don't suppose you can sneak him an identity token behind our backs, do you?" Chen Dongcheng sneered on. Had the leaderless state of moments ago persisted, it would have been no difficult thing for Xin Yi'an to procure Wei Zhao an identity token; but now that he, the vice sect master, stood here, none of it would avail.

The Grand Elder was fallen, the sect master's whereabouts unknown—by rank, the highest station now belonged to Chen Dongcheng, the vice sect master. And the key was that this was no empty-titled vice sect master; he was the standard-bearer of the Chen faction. Unless Wei Zhao himself appeared in person, everyone else before him had no choice but to bow the head and call him lord.

Xin Yi'an was sick at heart. He had finally steadied the situation, never imagining that this creature would wake halfway through. What was to be done now?

"What's this? Weren't you at the crest of your momentum just now? Elder Xin, to strike your flag so soon—that doesn't suit, does it? Your Uncle-Master Wei Zhao is still waiting eagerly at the Heaven-Ascending Cliff for your good news. To leave the old gentleman gazing out with aching eyes—that's hardly proper, is it?" Chen Dongcheng mocked him again and again.

The rest exchanged glances. Compared with Chen Dongcheng, Xin Yi'an truly fell far short; in but a few words the other man had turned the tables and seized control of the situation.

Xin Yi'an was flushed red with stifled fury—facing Chen Dongcheng, he truly had no confidence at all! (To be continued.)