"Third Brother? You mean to say..." Wei Zhao could not help but be taken aback. He had only guessed that Oda Ba and Oda Zhou came from the same clan, but he had never imagined the two were so closely related.

"That is right. Oda Ba and I are half-brothers. I am the second son, he the third—only he has some quarrel with the family, and so never speaks of it to anyone." Oda Zhou nodded, then cupped his hands in thanks. "Speaking of which, I owe Young Hero Lin a proper thank-you. Had you not reminded me, I would never have known he had come to the Central Island. It has been some years since we brothers last met."

"I see. With a man of your caliber in the family, and a figure like the Fleet Captain who ranges the seas at will, your clan must be no small matter indeed," Wei Zhao said in admiration.

"Nothing so grand. We are merely one member of a rank-family," Oda Zhou said with a smile.

"A rank-family?" Wei Zhao was startled. It was the first time he had ever heard the term. It seemed the powers of the Heaven-Rank Central Island were indeed not so simple and straightforward as they appeared on the surface.

On this Cloud Step Island, one could not generally learn of these powers lurking beneath the water unless one had reached a sufficient level of strength. Wei Zhao, however, was now a fine hand of the early Mystic Ascension stage, his true strength comparable to a titan of the Mountain-Opening stage. He had reached the point where he must understand such things; otherwise, knowing nothing at all, he might well stir up disaster beyond measure.

Oda Zhou was minded to cultivate good relations with Wei Zhao. Since the topic had come up in passing, he meant to explain it properly—a favor neither too great nor too small, for which Wei Zhao would surely be grateful.

Yet before he could open his mouth, a flurry of footsteps sounded from outside, and a guard hurried in to report: "Vice Island Lord Wu has come with men and requests an audience!"

"Vice Island Lord Wu? What does he want?" Oda Zhou was somewhat surprised. Hearing the clamor outside, he knew the guards alone likely could not hold them back, and waved his hand. "Let them in."

A moment later, Wu Miao and his party strode in. Wei Zhao was taken aback at the sight, for quite a number had come with him, and all were familiar old faces. Zheng Dongsheng, Nan Tian Jiguang, and Tong Yangxi had all come.

The only one absent was Zheng Dongjue. After all, his ties to the Famous Pill Sect could not be lightly exposed—it would undermine his standing in the Pill Hall.

Wei Zhao was rather startled to see these people, and they were equally startled to find him present. For a good long while they simply stared at one another, wide-eyed. At last Oda Zhou broke the deadlock and asked, "Vice Island Lord Wu, what brings you to my Number One Island Lord's Hall?"

"Island Lord Oda, I have just learned that a reply has arrived from the Eastern Continent, so I notified Master Zheng to come and examine the Eastern Continent's response," Wu Miao said with surface deference.

"Is that so? And how did the Eastern Continent reply?" Oda Zhou glanced at the several of them with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"None of us have looked yet. It will carry more weight to open the reply in Island Lord Oda's presence, lest anyone think Master Zheng forged the letter." Zheng Dongsheng's tone was neither yin nor yang as he turned to look at Wei Zhao. "As it happens, this letter bears directly on the fate of the Tian Dan Pavilion. That you get to hear it on the spot may be counted your good fortune—at least you will not die without knowing why."

"Oh? Then I shall truly listen with both ears." Wei Zhao exchanged a glance with Oda Zhou. Though he did not know the full story, those two sentences alone were enough for him to guess the gist. Seeing that Oda Zhou would not help them move against him, these people had set their sights on the Eastern Continent instead—truly, a thief's heart that would not die.

Zheng Dongsheng and the others sneered in unison. Here he stood at death's very door, yet still he put on airs—the boy truly did not know death when he saw it. Even Zheng Dongsheng himself did not believe the Eastern Continent would actually sanction the Central Island over this and leave Oda Zhou, the acting island lord, in an awkward spot. But no matter—Wei Zhao and the Tian Dan Pavilion were doomed beyond any doubt. Of that there was not the slightest question.

"Since the talk has come this far, let us not dawdle. Open it and let us see," Oda Zhou said offhandedly, still drinking with Wei Zhao as though he could not care less.

"Very well!" Zheng Dongsheng cast the two of them a triumphant glance and took the Eastern Continent's reply from Wu Miao's hands. Within were two letters—one from Zhuang Yifan, chairman of the Yellow-Rank Academy Alliance, and the other from Ling Yuanqing, headmaster of the Morning Star Academy.

"I shall first read Chairman Zhuang's reply to everyone," Zheng Dongsheng said, immensely pleased with himself. That Zhuang Yifan should reply to him in person left him somewhat overwhelmed—the man was a true personage of standing. What did a Central Island lord amount to before Zhuang Yifan? Never mind that Oda Zhou was, in name at least, merely an acting island lord.

He opened the letter under everyone's watchful eyes, and upon it were only a few short words. Zheng Dongsheng thought to himself that this was only fitting for a great man—his answer to such a matter would be terse and to the point. No doubt he had never given the Central Island a thought at all.

He deliberately cleared his throat, and only then began to read aloud Zhuang Yifan's reply: "Chairman Zhuang says in his letter: 'Go screw your mother...'"

Reading to this point, Zheng Dongsheng himself was the first to be struck dumb. His erstwhile triumphant expression flushed a deep red on the spot. What in the world was this?!

Wu Miao and the others gaped at one another, while Wei Zhao very nearly burst out laughing on the spot. Zhuang Yifan's reply was quite a character, to be sure.

"'Go screw your mother'? Might Master Zheng explain for us what Chairman Zhuang means by these words?" Oda Zhou looked at Zheng Dongsheng with open mockery.

"This..." Zheng Dongsheng's face could no longer hold its composure. He did not know why Zhuang Yifan should curse him, and after choking for a long while could only force a self-justifying explanation: "By my reckoning, the Trial of the Titans' Road must have just concluded, and Chairman Zhuang is surely busy with the rankings of the various academies. To trouble him with such a trifle at so busy a time—of course he would be displeased. And the chairman has always been fond of jesting, and speaks rather freely..."

"So that is what you call jesting. This is the first I have heard of it—I have truly broadened my horizons today," Wei Zhao said with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Chairman Zhuang jests with great individuality. It seems Master Zheng's relations with him are indeed good—otherwise he would never have chosen such phrasing," Oda Zhou said with perfect solemnity.

Hearing the two of them mock him, Wu Miao and the others all wore strange expressions, glancing at one another and at a loss for words. A sense of foreboding rose in every heart—the way things stood, something was not quite right!

Zheng Dongsheng choked for a long while.

His face shifting from green to white and back again, he nonetheless forced an expression of being wholly in control, and with a cold snort said: "Though Chairman Zhuang did not say so plainly, his meaning has certainly been conveyed to Headmaster Ling. How the matter is to be handled will be plain enough at a glance." (To be continued.)