"All right, off you go, both of you. The first order of business is to seize control of the situation—nothing matters more than that," Wei Zhao said with a wave of his hand.

"Yes." Xin Yi'an and Hong Zijun left at once, brimming with resolve.

"Ha, fate really does play strange tricks. Hong Zijun used to be the leader of these two, and now he has to play the underling to Xin Yi'an—and he takes it without a flicker, too. That temperament of his is one of a kind," Wu Chengtian and the others laughed from the sidelines.

"Birds of a feather," Ying Ziyu said, with the air of one who had seen straight into their hearts. "Those two are cut from the same cloth—both of them soft-natured, the sort who at first glance look like good old souls out only to keep themselves safe. Yet each nurses his own ambitions, and only when they are harried like rabbits do they turn and bite. Now that Brother Wei Zhao has shown them an open hand, of course Hong Zijun won't go looking for trouble!"

"Face is a small thing; life is a great one," Qiu Lingshan agreed with a nod.

Wei Zhao burst out laughing at that. "You lot certainly know how to read people. Enough—don't crowd around here skiving off. Off with you all, and cultivate properly."

"Yes, yes, yes." They exchanged smiles.

Left to their own devices, they might not have been so diligent. But Chen Jiu and his kind had taught them a lesson in the most direct way possible: without real strength, one could not take a single step in this little jianghu of the ancient times. Every one of them had a proud heart, and none of them wanted to spend their days sheltering forever beneath Wei Zhao's wings, scraping by on borrowed safety. Even if they could not keep pace with Wei Zhao, they could at least refuse to be a drag on him.

Middle Island. Mount Que Luo.

No sect was stationed nearby, and fierce spirit beasts prowled the area from time to time, so for tens of miles around there was scarcely a soul—unless some sect came to conduct trials or the like. Otherwise the place was, to all intents and purposes, no man's land.

A giant spirit vulture descended from the sky. This was the most recognizable flying spirit beast of North Island Cangwu Sect, a bird of prey rarely seen anywhere in the whole little jianghu of the ancient times. Aside from the sect master himself, only the higher-ranking Supreme Elders were entitled to ride one.

And the riders on the vulture's back were none other than Chen Dongcheng and Lu Ping'an, who had slipped away in secret, along with the senseless Supreme Elder Chen Jiu.

Having chosen to flee North Island Cangwu Sect in secret, they were in substance no different from sect traitors. That being so, North Island was plainly no place to remain, the other islands lay too far off, and they were none too familiar with them besides. After discussing it at length, Chen Dongcheng and Lu Ping'an finally decided to flee to Middle Island. Mount Que Luo, governed by no one, was a ready-made place to settle.

Dangerous as Mount Que Luo was, one of them stood at the very peak of the late Golden Core stage and the other at the middle Golden Core stage; so long as they conducted themselves with a little caution, they would have no trouble keeping themselves safe.

"Old Lu, we had better think this through carefully—where do we go from here? We can't very well bury ourselves in this godforsaken gully forever, can we?" Chen Dongcheng said with a frown. He came from the Chen clan of North Island and had long been groomed as its heir; he had been raised in silks and delicacies since childhood. Now, driven to take refuge in Mount Que Luo, a day or two was all very well, but over the long haul he could not endure it.

"But North Island Cangwu Sect has fallen into Wei Zhao's hands, and the two of us have likely already been branded traitors. If we go out rashly and catch some watchful eye, the trouble will be no small matter." Lu Ping'an's head ached as well. No one would choose to moulder away in such wretched, barren country, but the problem was that sect betrayal was a crime of the first order in the little jianghu of the ancient times. Even stepping out from Middle Island, they would be hounded by all; and should they run into some Middle Island sect on friendly terms with North Island Cangwu Sect, the consequences did not bear thinking about.

"Still, we have to try something. This can't go on; if we truly waste a few months here, the sheer cost of our cultivation resources will be a major problem," Chen Dongcheng said, shaking his head.

An ordinary expert at the Foundation Establishment stage might just manage to scrape together some cultivation resources. But the two of them were experts at the middle Golden Core stage and above, and virtually all the cultivation resources suited to the Golden Core level throughout the little jianghu of the ancient times were held in the hands of the various sects and clans. Never mind here in sparsely peopled Mount Que Luo—such things were hard to buy even in the open market.

The path of cultivation is like a boat rowed against the current: given time, their strength would inevitably slip backward rather than advance, and then they would be weeping with no place to turn.

"What if..." Lu Ping'an mused for a moment, then proposed: "What if we simply throw in our lot with another sect? With our strength, I believe any sect of the ancient times would be glad to take us in. And once there, we spread word of how Wei Zhao seized the nest from the magpie—it is bound to draw the attention of the whole Ancient Alliance, and we shall be in an unassailable position."

"That does sound like a good idea." Chen Dongcheng nodded in agreement. He was an expert of the middle Golden Core stage, and Lu Ping'an stood at the very peak of the late Golden Core stage; with strength like that, they would be treated well wherever they went among the sects of the ancient times—provided, of course, that they could win the other side's trust. Fortunately, in recent years Chen Jiu, seeking to raise him up, had taken him to show his face at many a sect of the ancient times, a few of which were on good terms with them; going to seek refuge there should pose no great difficulty.

"Then shall we set out now?" Lu Ping'an looked at Chen Dongcheng. Though his own strength was the greater, he still kept a humble posture before Chen Dongcheng—after all, Chen Jiu was not truly dead. If some means could be found to cure him, then with that old monster of the Nascent Soul stage at their backs, their days would be comfortable wherever they went.

"There is still one problem: what am I to do with my old ancestor here? We can hardly carry him on my back to go knocking on doors for refuge, can we?" Chen Dongcheng was still frowning. Chen Jiu was the greatest hope for him and Lu Ping'an to turn their fortunes around; unless it was certain he was utterly dead, they could never abandon him. How to settle him for the time being was a major problem.

"That certainly won't do. Our master's identity and strength are far too sensitive. If we brought him to their door rashly, quite apart from how few would dare take us in, even those who did would surely breed all manner of ugly schemes—and that would be worse than useless." Lu Ping'an shook his head. After all, if he were truly brought back to life, he would be a genuine old monster of the Nascent Soul stage, and North Island Cangwu Sect had already played out one seizure of the magpie's nest; the other sects of the ancient times would hardly repeat the same mistake.

"In that case, we have no choice but to split up. One of us goes first to test the waters, the other stays behind to look after our old ancestor. Once everything is arranged on that side, we find a way to move the old ancestor over in secret. How does that sound?" Chen Dongcheng said.