It was not that Wei Zhao was eager to leave, but that an outsider lingering so long in the Xuejian Sect was bound to draw criticism—especially since his very arrival had been so conspicuous that talk of ulterior motives was only to be expected.

For all that Hong Qingyuan and the others were as meek and deferential as grandsons before him, in private they were wary to the extreme, terrified that Wei Zhao might harbor some dark design none of them could withstand. After all, they had all seen how Xue Jianming had been handled that day; even Elder Taishang Yu Taikang might not fare much better.

None of them knew, even now, that Yu Taikang had long since followed Xue Jianming to Quelluo Mountain. If Wei Zhao had entertained the slightest notion at such a moment, there would have been no one in the entire Xuejian Sect to stand in his way.

Fortunately, Wei Zhao had no such notion at all. Apart from dealing with the Center's expansion, his trip to the Primordial Small World had been undertaken largely in the spirit of a sightseer. Had fools like Chen Jiu and Chen Dongcheng not pressed him step by step, he would never even have thought of taking the North Island Cangwu Sect into his grasp, let alone the Xuejian Sect.

Leaving the Xuejian Sect, Wei Zhao did not return straight to the North Island Cangwu Sect. With Xin Yi'an holding the reins and Hong Zijun assisting at his side—and above all, with Chen Jiu, the greatest variable of all, already eliminated—the once-lofty Chen faction was now shattered, and what remained of them lacked not merely the nerve but the strength to stir up trouble. The North Island Cangwu Sect no longer gave him any cause for concern.

Since a visit to the Middle Island was such a rare thing, Wei Zhao meant not only to call on Leng Leng but to look around a while, to take the full measure of the Primordial Small World's customs and manners, and, by the by, to sound out the true depths of its top-tier figures—all so that he might plan accordingly in future.

His next destination, he had decided, would be the Yeling Sect.

He was going to the Yeling Sect, naturally, to see Duanmu Yu. After their wondrous shared ordeal in the Primordial Trial, the bond between them had long since gone far beyond that of ordinary friends. Now that he had come to the Middle Island, sentiment and propriety alike demanded a visit.

Quelluo Mountain, once a masterless place, had by now been cultivated by Dr. Spectacles and his people into a branch base of the Center. Though it was still only a rough outline, a rudimentary shape had emerged—plainly a replica of the Center's secular headquarters. Its overall structure, however, was exceedingly well concealed; without an insider's knowledge of the hidden doors, not even Primordial disciples who blundered in to test themselves would normally detect the slightest hint of it.

Inside a vast underground chamber stood five ice coffins arranged in neat order, a figure lying in each. From left to right they were Chen Jiu, Chen Dongcheng, Lu Ping'an, Xue Jianming, and last of all Yu Taikang.

Yu Taikang, the Xuejian Sect's Elder Taishang, was now, like Xue Jianming, a member of the Center.

As a matter of fact, when he had first followed Xue Jianming to Quelluo Mountain, Yu Taikang had not been entirely set on joining the Center. Xue Jianming's words had indeed stirred him somewhat, but to speak truthfully of his attitude at the time, it had been chiefly half in hope and half in doubt.

Yet when he saw the three men lying in the ice coffins—especially when he discovered that Chen Dongcheng and Lu Ping'an, those two golden-core elites of the North Island Cangwu Sect with whom he had once crossed paths, had both now stepped into the early nascent-soul peak—Yu Taikang was utterly shaken.

After the shock, what followed was simple enough. Since the Center had proven its ability to mass-produce nascent-soul monsters, elevating a man to nascent-soul great perfection was plainly no great stretch of the imagination. Yu Taikang did not hesitate long before accepting Dr. Spectacles' invitation.

Such was the outward appearance. In truth, for a man like Yu Taikang to pledge himself wholly in an instant was a thing that might not be impossible, but was certainly vanishingly rare.

It was a marriage of convenience. Once he reached nascent-soul great perfection, there would be no stronger being to be found anywhere under heaven, and then he could break away from that unfathomable organization and no one would be able to stop him—that was Yu Taikang's true thinking.

The Center was, after all, too secretive and bizarre. Even having nominally agreed to join, he felt no real sense of belonging in private; it was at most an organization of considerable use value. A man accustomed to power and eminence like Yu Taikang would never submit so easily.

Little did he know that from the moment he gave his consent, Yu Taikang was already doomed never to escape the Center's shadow. Were the Center's favors ever so easy to take?

Gazing at the five ice coffins before him, Dr. Spectacles hooked the corners of his mouth in excellent humor. The expansion plan for entering the Primordial Small World might still be in its preliminary stage, but it was proceeding smoothly beyond all expectation!

At this rate, it would not be long before they could replicate the success of Cloud-Tier Island, and one could foresee that this side would seize control of the whole far faster than Dr. Luan's side—after all, the Primordial Small World's power tiers were far, far beneath those of Cloud-Tier Island.

A great merit, and from this day on he would truly rank among the Center's upper echelon—so Dr. Spectacles thought, brimming with delight…

Xuanye Lake was not the Middle Island's largest lake, but it was unquestionably the most renowned lake in all the Middle Island, indeed in all the Primordial Small World, and at the same time one of its acknowledged most unfathomable places. The reason was simple: it was the seat of the Yeling Sect.

A vast sprawl of pavilions and terraces had all been built in the middle of the lake—this was the Yeling Sect's most distinctive trait, and this alone sufficed to show the depth of its foundations. After all, it consumed enormous manpower and wealth, and demanded a whole array of special protective formations and supporting works besides. Such a grand gesture was not something an ordinary sect could manage.

Though the Yeling Sect had carried on its line unbroken for a thousand years and more, its disciples had always been sparse. Compared with the other prominent Primordial sects, its numbers were at most a third, perhaps even less—yet it had held its place all along among the Ten Minor Sects and Clans, proof enough of no small depth.

"The scenery really is fine—a splendid place for an outing." Wei Zhao lay half-reclined in a small skiff as it drifted slowly toward the pavilions at the lake's center. Gazing at the scene around him, where water and sky merged into one hue, he could not help but feel his heart expand with delight.

Duanmu Yu had not spoken much of the Yeling Sect before, but in their idle talk she had touched on it now and then. Xuanye Lake was one of the famous scenic wonders of the Primordial Small World, and such a name was not bestowed for nothing.

"Are you a mere sightseer, sir?" asked the middle-aged man poling the boat, unable to restrain himself at the sight of Wei Zhao's easy contentment.

"You could say so. Though chiefly I've come to see a friend. From your garb you must be an outer disciple of the Yeling Sect—do you know Duanmu Yu?" Wei Zhao asked casually.

"The senior sister?" The middle-aged man was startled at the words. Though he was much older than Duanmu Yu, his strength fell far short of hers. (To be continued.)