Southern Border.
Mountains stood tall, their dark blue-green silhouettes stretching endlessly into the distance. Mountain winds howled without cease.
Over a dozen Gu Immortals, separated by thousands of miles, had formed a massive circle.
High above its center, an elderly Gu Immortal was continuously channeling immortal essence, fully focused on setting up a formation.
A grand formation was already taking shape, covering an enormous area of over a hundred thousand miles. At its heart, it enclosed a magnificent and dreamlike orb of light.
This colossal orb shimmered with every color under the sun, dazzling and kaleidoscopic—it was none other than the Super Dream Realm.
Since the great battle, Yitian Mountain had been reduced to ruins. Demonic Venerable Soul had been schemed against by Heavenly Will, and Fang Yuan had seized the fruits of victory. His true body, however, remained trapped within the dream realm, continuously drained by its power.
Though the Southern Border Gu Immortals didn't know the details of the Yitian Mountain battle, they understood the immense value this Super Dream Realm represented.
Every Gu Immortal present hailed from one of the major Righteous Path superpowers of the Southern Border.
After arduous negotiations, they had reached an agreement to jointly control this Super Dream Realm.
This dream realm was far too important for any single superpower to claim alone. Fearing that the Demonic Path or rogue immortals might swoop in to reap the benefits, the Righteous Path Gu Immortals had preemptively banded together, seized the territory, and begun constructing a super Gu formation here—so that they could gradually divide the dream realm's treasures at their leisure.
"Rise!" bellowed the elderly Gu Immortal at the highest point of the sky, his entire body erupting with boundless radiant light.
Following his lead, the Southern Border Righteous Path Gu Immortals activated their powers in succession. Immortal essence was expended in vast quantities, countless mortal Gu swarmed through the air, and Immortal Gu flew from each Gu Immortal's hands to settle into their designated positions.
Many of the Gu Immortals were drenched in sweat, their expressions tense. Some had all ten fingers trembling slightly.
They had been working on this Gu formation for nine days and nine nights straight.
Clearly, they had now reached the critical moment of setting up this super Gu formation.
"They're about to succeed!"
"Shouldn't we make our move? If we don't act soon..."
"There's no chance. They've got Gu Immortal powerhouses lying in wait all around, and I suspect they even have Immortal Gu Houses stationed here!"
"If that's the case..."
A silent exchange took place among the onlookers.
The Demonic Path and rogue immortals understood the value of this Super Dream Realm. Even setting aside the dream realm itself, a mysterious great battle had taken place here. Who knew what Gu Immortal remains or inheritances might have been left behind—all of them were treasures!
But the Righteous Path Gu Immortals had acted with extreme caution throughout, never giving the Demonic Path or rogue immortals any opening.
Left with no choice, these immortals wisely chose to withdraw.
Boom—!
A thunderous explosion shook the heavens as a colossal pillar of light shot straight up through the nine skies.
The pillar appeared swiftly and vanished just as quickly.
A magnificent super Gu formation gradually faded from visibility, disappearing from the sight of all the immortals.
"After all these days of hard work, it's finally done!" The elderly Gu Immortal overseeing the formation slowly descended.
The Righteous Path Gu Immortals gathered together, convening as one.
"The Wu family contributed five Immortal Gu to this formation. That means this dream realm should be thirty percent ours."
"Heh, that's a fair point. However… the Luo family's Immortal Gu contribution was no less than the Wu family's."
"What are you even saying? Without everyone pooling their strength and spending immortal essence, could this super Gu formation have been set up at all?"
"In my opinion, when it comes to contribution, my family's Grand Elder Chi Quyou personally led the formation's construction. He is the undisputed number one!"
Though the super Gu formation had been completed, the Righteous Path Gu Immortals had yet to reach any final decision on how to divide the dream realm.
Before long, the volume of their debate grew louder, escalating toward outright argument.
Of course, mere arguing produced no results.
The Righteous Path Gu Immortals dispersed in discord, each setting about scheming and maneuvering to secure their own interests.
Several days later.
Shangliang Mountain.
"Xinci pays her respects to Lady Qingqing." Shang Xinci bowed respectfully.
Shang Qingqing regarded Shang Xinci before her and nodded with satisfaction. "I didn't misjudge you. These past days, as acting patriarch, you've done well. The Shang family members are gradually rallying to your side."
"Everything Xinci has today is thanks to Lady Qingqing's guidance and support." Shang Xinci expressed her gratitude sincerely.
Shang Qingqing got straight to the point. "The reason I summoned you is that I have some matters to ask you about. The first thing you did after becoming patriarch was clear the wanted notices for the Black and White Fiends. Did you know that your Black Fiend brother isn't Fang Zheng, but Fang Yuan?"
"Fang Yuan?" Shang Xinci looked utterly confused.
She had never expected that Lady Qingqing had specifically summoned her to discuss her Black Fiend brother.