"But there is no need for everyone to worry too much. Those people at the Center won't dare move openly for the time being—at most they'll keep quietly trying to turn Taigu Alliance disciples against us. So as long as we're careful, nothing should come of it. Still, to be safe, everyone should raise their cultivation as quickly as possible; that way, even if something unexpected happens, we'll at least have the strength to protect ourselves instead of being caught helpless." Wei Zhao said.

"Understood, Boss. We'll go into seclusion right away—we won't let you down!" The others nodded firmly, then scattered to find places for their secluded cultivation. Wei Zhao watched and nodded to himself in approval. Though this matter was no small pressure on them, it seemed pressure could become motivation—who knew, there might even be unexpected gains.

Watching the others' departing backs, Lin Dongfang glanced at Wei Zhao and said, "Are you confident about this?"

"Yes. At least here in the archipelago there shouldn't be any problem. But once the training in the mundane world is over, it's hard to say." Wei Zhao frowned slightly.

After all, so many experts of the Taigu Alliance were not there for show—and once matters blew up, they would inevitably draw the Taigu Alliance's attention. With the strength the Center's headquarters in the mundane world currently possessed, they probably wouldn't dare act rashly for the moment. But once the training ended and all those Taigu Alliance experts withdrew, the people at the Center would be able to act without restraint, and the safety of this place would be greatly diminished.

"So what do you plan to do?" Lin Dongfang asked.

"We'll see how things go. If circumstances are still manageable, we'll keep using this place as our headquarters—after all, you won't find another place in the mundane world with such excellent spiritual energy. If it truly becomes impossible, then we'll have no choice but to have everyone abandon it." Wei Zhao said with some regret.

"Don't worry about it. I'll come by and keep an eye on things. As long as the other side's strength isn't too outrageous, you needn't trouble your young head over it." Lin Dongfang said mildly.

"Wonderful—I was waiting for you to say that!" Wei Zhao clapped his hands excitedly.

"So you set a trap for me to walk into, did you?" Lin Dongfang's mouth twitched, his expression turning unfriendly.

"Not at all, not at all—it's purely to find you a place to spend your retirement. This is my filial devotion, I assure you." Wei Zhao chuckled.

"After these few years on Cloud Terrace Island, your hide has grown thick to a remarkable degree." Lin Dongfang was caught between laughter and tears, then asked, "By the way, what do you plan to do about Leng Leng? Are you just going to leave her in the mundane world? That girl has risked everything for you. If she goes back to the Taigu minor Jianghu alone, things will likely go badly for her—strictly speaking, what she's done is no different from betraying her sect."

"I'll let her decide for herself. I'd prefer she stay here. But I imagine she still has ties to the Taigu minor Jianghu. To be honest, I'm not worried about anyone else—only Leng Leng. If she chooses to return to the Taigu minor Jianghu, Bing Wushuang and Xue Jianming won't let her off." Wei Zhao pinched his chin and frowned.

"You plan to force her to stay? That's not impossible, you know. The girl is utterly devoted to you—if you really said so, I think she'd agree." Lin Dongfang had always been a keen judge of character. Though he hadn't had much contact with Leng Leng lately, he had seen her temperament clearly enough.

"No. I won't do something that forces her against her will. Leng Leng once told me that after the mundane-world training ends comes the Taigu Trial she has always yearned for. I plan to accompany her when she takes part, just in case something goes wrong." Wei Zhao decided.

"Oh? Didn't you say there's a time limit on projecting your primal spirit? Are you sure you can stay here until then?" Lin Dongfang asked doubtfully.

"I'm not sure. But recently I've discovered that although the spiritual energy here is somewhat thinner than on Cloud Terrace Island, for some reason it's very beneficial for nourishing the primal spirit." This was a new discovery since he had taken primal spirit form here—in that form, his perception of the surrounding environment was noticeably sharper. The nourishment worked silently and invisibly, like rain moistening things unseen; otherwise Wei Zhao might never have noticed it at all.

"So you're in pretty good shape right now?" Lin Dongfang looked him up and down.

"Mm, and more than that—I earlier got a piece of charcoal-like treasure from Leng Leng. It contains immense spiritual-consciousness energy that can be drawn on at any time. I think it should let me hold out longer." Wei Zhao nodded. He had used the Star-Ink Charcoal a great deal for cultivation lately, and felt that his primal spirit had not weakened at all—rather, it seemed even more solid than before. At this rate, lasting several more months should be no problem at all; if things went smoothly, holding out until the Taigu Trial was not impossible.

"That's fine, then. You can look after that girl Leng Leng yourself, and I'll trouble myself to keep watch over the mundane world for you." Lin Dongfang pursed his lips, then went out for a stroll with Aunt Qing.

Wei Zhao smiled faintly at their departing figures. Having Old Man Wei here really did set his mind at ease a great deal—at least there was nothing to worry about on the mundane-world side. But having been back so long, he was beginning to miss his days on Cloud Terrace Island. He wondered how Tianchan and the others were doing lately.

Cloud Terrace Island, the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion on the central island.

A full four months had passed since Wei Zhao's primal spirit projection. The Heavenly Elixir Pavilion had been fairly peaceful lately—no one had dared come knocking to make trouble—but business had not been good of late. Meanwhile the rival Famous Medicine Sect, because it had Zheng Dongyang, a seventh-grade alchemist, personally presiding over it, had opened advance bookings for elixir refinement to the public and snatched away no small amount of business.

If Wei Zhao were here, he could easily seize back the limelight by casually producing a few high-grade elixirs. Unfortunately, he had been gone too long; the few elixirs he had left behind before departing could not possibly sustain them this long, and Tianchan's alchemy skills were clearly no match for Zheng Dongyang's—hence the steady decline.

"Sigh, today's revenue is down again from yesterday. At this rate things look bad." Xueli looked at the account book and sighed. Ever since Wei Zhao had released those seventh-grade elixirs and created a peak in sales, the past few months had essentially maintained that trend—the daily decline wasn't large, but month after month of it, the accumulated drop was quite startling.

As one of the proprietresses of the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion in charge of marketing, Xueli took revenue more seriously than anyone. This feeling of decades of hard work undone overnight was truly disheartening and powerless—and there was no countermeasure to be found. (To be continued.)