Chapter 5013 — The Triumphant Return

"Indeed. The Formless Divine Art I have cultivated is one of the five legendary divine arts..." Nantian Jiguang, rarely finding such an opening, prepared to show himself off properly before Aotian Zhou.

But Wei Zhao cut him off offhandedly: "In that case, thank you."

"Huh?" Nantian Jiguang had not yet caught up when Aotian Zhou had already given his orders: "Someone, see Vice Dean Nantian out for me."

"Er... I shall take my leave..." Nantian Jiguang's old face flushed crimson, and it was a long while before he squeezed the words out from between his teeth and slunk away in chagrin.

"Island Master Aotian, we have learned all there is to learn. Let us begin," Wei Zhao said, barely able to contain his impatience.

"Good." Aotian Zhou nodded, and nodded to Steward Sun beside him.

Wei Zhao walked slowly to the center of the Spirit Convergence Formation. Everything was in readiness, and only then did Steward Sun finally activate the formation.

In an instant, Wei Zhao felt his primordial spirit wrenched bodily from its frame and swiftly compressed into a single point. The sensation was like being flattened and squeezed until he burst, and it could hardly be called pleasant; fortunately, the process was not long, and within a brief moment the ultimate focus was achieved.

From the perspective of Aotian Zhou and the others nearby, Wei Zhao's brow seemed on the verge of opening a heaven-eye, condensing a searing, blinding radiance that suddenly surged skyward, then vanished in an instant, returning all to calm.

"Island Master, it succeeded." Steward Sun breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.

He was plainly only an early Xuan Ascension expert, yet Wei Zhao's primordial spirit was far stronger than he had imagined. Just now the Spirit Convergence Formation had even shown signs of instability, presumably having reached the limit it could bear. Fortunately, Wei Zhao's primordial spirit was not so absurdly powerful beyond that; otherwise all would have been lost at the final step.

"Good. Then does his physical body need to remain within the formation?" Aotian Zhou asked.

"That will not be necessary. The Spirit Convergence Formation is only used to break the boundary and project. Now that it has succeeded, a natural spirit-link exists between his spirit-body and his physical body, so it makes no difference where the body is kept, so long as it is not a place that severs spiritual sense," Steward Sun said with a shake of his head.

"Island Master Aotian, since that is so, allow me to carry the leading physical body back to the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion, which will make it easier for us to tend to it," Wei Shenjin said.

"Very well. If anything should arise, you may come find me at the Island Master's Pavilion. Young Hero Lin is a friend of my Aotian clan, and I will not stand idly by where his affairs are concerned," Aotian Zhou instructed.

"Thank you, Island Master Aotian!" Wei Shenjin nodded again and again.

While Wei Zhao succeeded in his boundary-breaking projection on one side, Nantian Jiguang on the other had not left the Island Master's Pavilion after all, but had gone to Wu Miao's Second Hall, and afterward the two of them went together to the Famous Medicine Sect.

Soon Wu Miao, Zheng Dongjue, Nantian Jiguang, Tong Yangxi, and the rest had gathered once more, and among them was Zheng Dongsheng as well!

Though Zheng Dongsheng had long since declared his intent to return to the Eastern Continent, it was a pity he had missed the battleship of Aotian Ba, and the treasure ship that regularly plied between the Eastern Continent and the Central Island had departed only a few days ago; who knew how long it would be before the next one.

Even as a seventh-rank alchemist of lofty standing, such matters were not his to decide at will. There were only two ways from the Central Island to the Eastern Continent: the treasure ship, or a flying spirit-beast.

The treasure ship was for now beyond his hopes, but the flying spirit-beast would not do either. The Eastern Continent lay far too distant from the other Cloud-Tier Islands; unless it were a ferocious bird of the overwhelming might of the Ghost-Eye Golden Eagle, ordinary spirit-birds and the like could scarcely cross between the two islands.

Of course, the world was not without certain heretical secret arts that could, by the cruel means of burning away a flying spirit-beast's life force, achieve passage between the Eastern Continent and the other Cloud-Tier Islands. It was a pity Zheng Dongsheng was no master of the dark arts like the Western Mountain Great Ability; he was merely an alchemist, so how would he know such heretical secret arts?

Helpless, Zheng Dongsheng could only remain at the Famous Medicine Sect to wait, but instead of the treasure ship bound for the Eastern Continent, what he awaited was news that Wei Zhao's primordial spirit had been projected into the mortal world.

"So you mean Wei Zhao cannot possibly return anytime soon?" Zheng Dongsheng confirmed.

"Indeed. That boy is only at the early Xuan Ascension stage, but his strength is by no means ordinary. By my estimate, given the strength of his primordial spirit, he can linger in the mortal world for at least four months, perhaps even half a year, and since he comes from the mortal world, barring mishap he should not return early. So for this period he need not be a concern," Nantian Jiguang said with a nod.

"Worth celebrating! This is a rare piece of good news!" Wu Miao said with delight.

Because of the earlier affair, his standing in the Island Master's Pavilion was now somewhat awkward. Though the managing vice island master was the second figure in command, if Aotian Zhou did not favor him, his power would inevitably shrink drastically.

And now that Wei Zhao had gone, Wu Miao had the chance to try to mend his relations with Aotian Zhou. After all, there had been no direct conflict between the two; it was only because of Wei Zhao that things had turned so unpleasant. They were all players in the game of power, and he believed that Aotian Zhou, if only for the sake of the larger picture, would not truly break with his own second-in-command.

Nantian Jiguang was likewise overjoyed beyond expectation. Truly, just when the willows seemed to end came a village of blossoms—his prospects had seemed utterly dark, but now that Wei Zhao was gone, once Wu Miao consolidated his position and voice in the Island Master's Pavilion, the post of acting vice island master would again be within sight. That was truly a boundless future!

"Indeed. With this, the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion is without a head, and dealing with them will be much easier hereafter," Zheng Dongsheng said with a cold laugh.

"Oh? From Master Zheng's words, do you mean to change your mind and not return to the Eastern Continent?" Wu Miao asked.

"My old nest has been raided. What good would it do me to go back now? I would be ruined there anyway. Better to simply garrison the Famous Medicine Sect here on the Central Island and first think of how to root out the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion, that thorn in my eye and splinter in my flesh," Zheng Dongsheng said venomously. After these several days of waiting, he had calmed down, and his hatred had shifted entirely onto Wei Zhao and the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion. Since he could not deal with Wei Zhao for the moment, he would first settle accounts with the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion to ease the hate in his heart!

"Cousin is right. The Famous Medicine Sect is one of the most important holdings of our Zheng clan, and we must seize this chance to pull out the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion. Otherwise, once it grows and we can no longer shake it off, it will be trouble indeed," Zheng Dongjue agreed.