"Th-this should be enough, surely..." Xue Jianming said, gritting his teeth against the agony.

"Get lost. If there's a next time, you won't be kneeling." With that, Wei Zhao kicked him flying before the whole assembly. Three strikes and out—should there be a next time, it would be Xue Jianming's day of death, and by then, even if Wei Zhao still did not wish to go to war with the Center prematurely, he would absolutely no longer suffer this scourge to live.

Supported by Xue Liping, Xue Jianming beat a panicked retreat, and the eyes of everyone present once more converged on Wei Zhao. Having witnessed that scene, Hong Qingyuan and the others felt nothing but shock and awe; not a single stray thought dared stir in their hearts. This man was simply too terrifying!

"This humble one is Hong Qingyuan, sect master of the Snow Sword Sect. May I ask the senior's esteemed name, and what instructions the senior has come to our Snow Sword Sect to give?" Hong Qingyuan steeled himself and asked on behalf of the crowd.

"My name is Wei Zhao. As for my station—for the moment, I am the grand-uncle-master of the Cangwu Sect of North Island. There's no need for you to be so stiff. I came this time to look in on Leng Leng and Wuqing; nothing else." Wei Zhao answered casually.

Though they had suspected as much, hearing it from Wei Zhao's own lips still shocked everyone present, and the way they looked at Leng Leng and Bing Wushuang shifted somewhat. They thought to themselves: no wonder these two had advanced so rapidly in strength—they had found themselves such a vastly capable patron out in the world. Formidable indeed!

At that moment, even Hong Qingyuan and the other elders could not help breaking into a cold sweat. Thank goodness they had never offended Leng Leng before; otherwise, had they gone around like Xue Jianming, calling her a traitor disciple at every turn, they would have ended up worse off than Xue Jianming this very day—even more wretched than he, in fact, for they did not have his strength.

If Xue Jianming was an ant before Wei Zhao, then everyone present did not even rate as ants—they were nothing but dust...

"So it is the grand-uncle-master of the Cangwu Sect of North Island. We have long heard of your fame. We have been remiss and discourteous—we beg the senior's forgiveness." Hong Qingyuan and the others hurriedly performed a collective grand salute to Wei Zhao, their manner even more humble than that of the Cangwu Sect's own people.

Though the other party belonged to the Cangwu Sect of North Island and had not the slightest connection with the Snow Sword Sect of Middle Island, dust must know its place as dust. Other matters aside, at the very least the outward show of deference had to be made in full.

"Ignorance is no crime. Besides, I come this time in a private capacity, so there's no need for all these formal courtesies." Wei Zhao paused, then said, "Though as an outsider I ought in principle not to comment on the affairs of your Snow Sword Sect, since Leng Leng is involved, I must make a proper inquiry. Is she a traitor disciple of yours?"

"Of course not." Hong Qingyuan and the others hastened to deny it.

"Since she is not, then why, when she was treated thus by Xue Jianming, did none of you step forward to stop it? Has the Snow Sword Sect lost even this much basic discipline?" Wei Zhao said with a frown.

"This..." Hong Qingyuan and the others could only exchange bitter smiles. Had they possessed the strength to stop him, would they ever have allowed Xue Jianming such free rein? But the man was a Nascent Soul old monster—even Bing Wushuang had been gravely wounded by him. What could the likes of them possibly do?

"You are one of the Ten Minor Sects and Clans, after all. Carrying on like this is rather a disgrace," Wei Zhao mocked without the least mercy. Truth be told, a smoldering anger was pent up in his heart at this moment. It was only by chance that he had happened upon this; otherwise, had something truly befallen Leng Leng—Xue Jianming would of course be the chief culprit, but these high-ranking members of the Snow Sword Sect who had done nothing could not escape the name of accomplices either. And when that time came, the entire Snow Sword Sect would have to bear his wrath.

"The senior must think us a laughingstock..." Hong Qingyuan and the others were collectively covered in shame.

Harsh as the other's words were, they truly had no rebuttal. However overbearing and invincible Xue Jianming might be, when all was said and done, they were the ones who made the actual decisions in sect affairs. By the ancestral precepts, unless it was a matter of life and death for the sect, the supreme elder was not permitted to meddle at will in sect affairs. On this point alone, the entire high council of elders had collectively failed in their duty.

"In reason, an outsider like me should not say such things, but Leng Leng's relationship with me is no ordinary one. I do not wish anything to happen to her, otherwise..." He left the sentence unfinished, but the meaning was clear enough. Wei Zhao smiled. "Come to think of it, I have some small connection with your Snow Sword Sect. Unless it comes to the absolute last resort, I do not wish for unpleasantness. Will that do?"

"Yes, yes—we shall keep the senior's instructions firmly in mind." Hong Qingyuan and the others hurriedly assented, yet inwardly they were somewhat puzzled. This grand-uncle-master of the Cangwu Sect of North Island had actually said he had some connection with their Snow Sword Sect—what could that mean?

Little did they know, the connection Wei Zhao spoke of was in fact with the Snow Sword Sect of Cloud Terrace Island. After all, Xue Li had once stayed in the Snow Sword Sect, and even Wei Shenjin was a man of the Snow Sword Sect.

Wei Zhao was honored by Hong Qingyuan and the others as their guest of highest esteem; every one of them was deferential to the extreme, even more humble than they would have been before the likes of Xue Jianming. This showed not only how poor Xue Jianming's standing among them was, but also fully embodied the philosophy of getting along in the remote little world of the ancient times: the strong are honored.

Elsewhere, Xue Jianming, having escaped disaster, did not go into hiding to tend his wounds, nor did he seek out Dr. Glasses and the others. Instead, he went straight to the forbidden ground of the Snow Sword Sect—Snow Peak Summit.

As one of the Ten Minor Sects and Clans, the territory the Snow Sword Sect held was naturally not small, and Snow Peak Summit was the highest peak within a hundred li. Bizarre crags and strange stones soared into the clouds, the summit was capped with perpetual snow, and the temperature there was incomparably low. To say nothing of ordinary people, this place was an out-and-out forbidden zone even for experts at the Foundation Establishment stage, and even high-ranking figures at the Golden Core stage could not hold out there for long.

This place was the exclusive domain of Nascent Soul old monsters. And before Xue Jianming and Bing Wushuang rose to prominence, the entire Snow Sword Sect had but one Nascent Soul old monster: the supreme elder, Yu Taikang.

Without Yu Taikang's consent, none but the sect master Hong Qingyuan dared trespass upon Snow Peak Summit. Xue Jianming, however, plainly did not take such rules to heart. In the past he had not come because he did not wish to; after all, with the summit's climate so harsh, it was better to lord it over the lowlands than to come up here and suffer. But now the situation was different. Because of Wei Zhao's presence, this was quite likely the one place in the whole Snow Sword Sect that was relatively safe for him.

Unless Wei Zhao was determined to tear all pretense of amity with Xue Jianming, surely he could not force his way into the forbidden ground to make trouble for him?