Wei Zhao was taken aback for a moment. This fellow really is friendly enough, he thought—not a trace of the airs a Heaven Rank expert ought to have. A rare specimen indeed. And that name of his, Shipian—"Poetic Verses"? Why did it sound so much like a man of letters, nothing at all like a cultivator? Then again, the man carried himself with an elegant grace, and there was something of the scholar about him.

Only, something about the man struck Wei Zhao as familiar, as though he had seen him somewhere before. A vague sense of recognition...

Feng Shipian? Of the Feng family? Wei Zhao suddenly thought of Feng Nitian, whose name had come up in those two men's conversation earlier, and his expression shifted slightly. That was it—he must resemble Feng Nitian. Could this man be of the ancient Feng family?

At that thought, Wei Zhao grew wary of him. Harmless as the man appeared, with all the manner of a good-natured gentleman, Wei Zhao was not one to trust appearances alone. If this man knew that Feng Nitian had been crippled by his own hand, might he not strike without warning?

"So it is Young Master Feng. A pleasure," Wei Zhao said, neither warm nor cold, and offered no introduction of his own. Who knew whether the Feng family of today had learned that Ling Yi was in fact Wei Zhao? If they had, would this not be the moment for an open falling-out?

Zhao Qitan, too, saw that Wei Zhao had no wish to make their acquaintance, and so he merely cupped his hands toward Feng Shipian without a word.

"Will you two not join me for dinner? Feng's treat?" Feng Shipian sensed the coldness of the pair but could not guess what had caused it. He had been perfectly warm, had he not? Why did Wei Zhao look straight through him as though he were not there?

"No need. We have only just arrived and must see to our rooms first. Go on ahead and eat," Wei Zhao said evenly.

"This... very well, then." Feng Shipian did not press the matter. Every man has his own inclinations; if the other was unwilling to dine with him, there was nothing to be done. He left with the man who had come down the stairs with him.

Wei Zhao and Zhao Qitan went upstairs. Zhao Qitan was puzzled but asked nothing—if they had been able to hear Feng Shipian speak earlier, then Feng Shipian could very likely hear them now.

Only once they were inside the room—and Zhao Qitan went not to his own but to Wei Zhao's first—did Wei Zhao say, "That Feng Shipian seems to be of the same family as Feng Nitian. The two must be connected somehow."

"Ah?" Zhao Qitan was startled, then thought it over. Was it not so? There was a certain resemblance about their brows and eyes. He had been running with Feng Nitian back at the Ice Palace trial, so he remembered him well; he simply had not made the connection before. Now that Wei Zhao had pointed it out, it came to him at once. "They really do look alike. Could this man... be here for revenge?"

"That I cannot say. It may be that he has simply come for the trial," Wei Zhao said. "From the way he speaks and acts, he seems somewhat naive, without much experience. But a man's face is not his heart—no one can be sure he is not a fool playing wise."

"True enough. In any case, we had best be on our guard," Zhao Qitan said with a nod.

Meanwhile, Feng Shipian had gone with the other man to the inn's dining hall. There were no other eating houses nearby—only the one inside the inn, so there was no other choice.

"Brother Feng, what sort of people were those two? They seemed rather unsociable," said the man with Feng Shipian. He was a wandering cultivator, belonging to no sect or school, and it was no small feat that he had cultivated to the peak of the late Earth Rank. A wanderer of that level who had resisted the worldly temptation to serve as a rich man's guard and instead persevered in bitter cultivation was truly rare.

So when Feng Shipian extended his olive branch, he had attached himself at once. A Heaven Rank expert—even if only early Heaven Rank—was enough for him to look up to! Though the man looked young, he was in fact over forty; that he called Feng Shipian "brother" was out of respect alone.

"I do not know, but it is nothing unusual. Many disciples of ancient sects are still very proud and will not band together. After all, some ancient sects have feuds among themselves, and their disciples could never sit down together in peace," Feng Shipian explained.

At that same moment, the ancient Feng family was in an uproar. Feng Tianlin sat ashen-faced in the family council chamber below the old master Feng, glaring at Feng Tianhu. "Feng Tianhu, what is your game? You went behind my back and secretly sent Shipian to the Xuandan Sect's trial? Do you not know how dangerous that trial is? In past years, few cultivators have come back alive!"

"Second Brother, you are mistaken there. My son Nitian could go to the Ice Palace trial, so why can your son Shipian not go to the Xuandan Sect trial? What sort of reasoning is that?" Feng Tianhu said mildly. "Besides, Feng Shipian is an early Heaven Rank expert—in past years he would not have been eligible for the Xuandan Sect trial, but this year the qualifications have been relaxed. Let Shipian go and reap some benefit—why not?"

"Hmph. Do not think I do not know. You sent Shipian to the Xuandan Sect trial simply to obtain a third-grade Great Return Pill for Nitian," Feng Tianlin said furiously.

"I said no such thing. I merely laid out the advantages and disadvantages to Shipian, and Shipian volunteered to go to the Xuandan Sect trial and seek the medicine for his younger brother Nitian," Feng Tianhu said, unruffled.

"You... you knew perfectly well what Shipian's nature is! Say such things to him and of course he could not refuse!" Feng Tianlin gave a cold snort. His son Feng Shipian had not a wicked bone in his body—a thorough good soul. If Feng Tianhu told him that going to the Xuandan Sect trial could win a third-grade Great Return Pill to save his younger brother Feng Nitian, then go he certainly would.

"Enough, enough—what is all this quarreling? Stop bickering!" Old Master Feng finally spoke. "Is it not merely a trial? Shipian is an early Heaven Rank expert now, and some tempering would do him good. Besides, if Nitian recovers, that is a great blessing for our Feng family. Why not?"

"But..." Feng Tianlin wanted to say more, but Old Master Feng cut him off.

"Tianlin, Tianhu no doubt had his little schemes—he feared that if he told you, you would stop Shipian from going. But if the decision were mine to make, I would still let Shipian go," Old Master Feng said. "First, if Feng Nitian recovers, it is a great boon to our ancient Feng family. Second, Feng Shipian is a Heaven Rank expert now; going to the trial should pose him no danger—he will have it in hand."

"This..." Feng Tianlin, of course, had his own private motives.

For the fastest updates, ad-free reading, please visit.