The bottom of the Eastern Sea.
"I'm truly ashamed, You Chan. You traveled such a long way to come here, and in the end I couldn't help you at all." Hua An smiled bitterly as he spoke to You Chan.
The two were about to part ways.
You Chan had come to seek Hua An's help, but because of the defensive Wisdom Path methods Fang Yuan had refined, not only had Hua An failed to calculate anything useful, he had inadvertently exposed You Chan's own situation first.
Hearing Hua An's words tinged with shame, You Chan shook her head. She looked at the white hair at his temples and said earnestly, "Hua An, don't say that. You went so far as to expend your own lifespan to perform divination for my sake. Your kindness and effort — I, You Chan, will always remember it. The fact that it didn't succeed is simply because the opponent is too powerful."
Hua An nodded. "Your opponent this time is no ordinary person. Regardless, I failed to help you this time. If you ever need anything in the future, don't hesitate to come find me. As long as you don't think my Wisdom Path attainments too meager."
"Heh heh, you..." You Chan smiled. Hua An's promise brightened her spirits considerably, and much of the gloom in her heart dissipated.
The two said their farewells.
You Chan flew swiftly through the high sky.
The wind rushing toward her made her sleeves flutter and billow.
Borrowing the chill of that wind, she cooled her mind to ice.
"My opponent may be strong, but I won't give up just like that!"
"Just because Hua An couldn't calculate anything doesn't mean I'm powerless. It's time to fight back with my own methods."
You Chan steeled her resolve, gazing at where sea and sky merged into one color, her face set with determination.
As soon as You Chan made her new move, Fang Yuan quickly received intelligence.
He had been monitoring her all along.
You Chan had introduced a new rule for her dragon fish sales. Any returning customer who purchased dragon fish from her would receive a discount — lasting ten years, and the more consecutive years they bought from her, the greater the discount became.
The moment this method was deployed, she immediately stabilized her situation. Many buyers who had been lured away by Fang Yuan returned to her.
You Chan's approach made full use of her own advantages — it was simply bullying Fang Yuan for being a complete newcomer in the dragon fish trade!
If Fang Yuan copied the exact same method, the results would be nowhere near as effective as when You Chan employed it.
You Chan didn't stop there. She also increased her stockpile of dragon fish, flooding even more of them into the Yellow Treasure Heaven market until they were practically piled into mountains — various wild dragon fish swarming in countless herds.
She was brazenly displaying the depth of her capital.
These two-pronged measures immediately produced excellent results.
The public sentiment in the Yellow Treasure Heaven shifted almost entirely in You Chan's favor.
"You Chan really is the number one magnate. Who knew she had such formidable strength in the dragon fish trade."
"That challenger is probably dumbfounded by now. No matter who he is, there's still a gap between him and You Chan."
"You Chan has been in this business for ages. Her throne at the top isn't so easily challenged."
"I'd wait and watch a bit longer. I have a feeling this mysterious challenger isn't as simple as he seems."
A minority of Gu Immortals still looked forward to Fang Yuan's response.
But in the days that followed, Fang Yuan made no move at all — as though he hadn't even received word of You Chan's counterattack.
Fang Yuan continued to sell dragon fish according to his original rules, though his business, which had just begun to gain momentum, suffered a devastating blow.
"You Chan's current strength far exceeds mine. My resources are thin right now — clashing with her head-on would not be the act of a wise man." Even Fang Yuan himself, after witnessing the scope of You Chan's maneuver, had to admit that his foundation in the dragon fish trade fell short of hers by more than a little.
Fang Yuan had only been raising dragon fish for a short time, while You Chan had been doing so for far longer. This was a gap in accumulated resources that he could not close in a short period.
Fang Yuan endured both You Chan's counterattack and her provocations.
This caused the Gu Immortals who had been on the fence to completely give up any lingering expectations of Fang Yuan.
Only You Chan herself harbored no sense of complacency.
Fang Yuan's silence took her by surprise — and filled her with a measure of unease.
An unsheathed sword is often the most terrifying. If Fang Yuan had reacted and made some move, You Chan could have studied his behavior and planned her countermeasures accordingly. But with Fang Yuan sitting perfectly still, she had no way of knowing what scheme he might be brewing. A sense of worry was only natural.
"Should I press the advantage and force him to react?" You Chan considered this, but ultimately chose the safer course of action.
"Never mind. The current situation is very much in my favor. At this rate, within a few months, this mysterious opponent's entire position will crumble and collapse, lost entirely."
"Why should I be anxious? It should be him who's anxious."
You Chan cultivated the Water Path and understood well the principle that the highest good is like water — that pushing too far can be worse than not pushing enough.
After observing for several more days, Fang Yuan quickly noticed that You Chan had also ceased her offensive.
He silently praised her in his mind, understanding even more clearly now: in this dragon fish trade, he had encountered a truly formidable opponent.
But Fang Yuan was in no hurry.
Regarding the dragon fish business, he had long since laid out a comprehensive plan.
"The longer time goes on, the greater my advantage becomes. For now, I simply need to endure."
His immortal aperture's development had stalled at the dragon fish trade, but this did not impede his other pursuits in cultivation. His soul foundation had been grinding its way upward, reaching the eighty-million human soul level. It should have reached the hundred-million mark long ago, but over this period, Fang Yuan had been constantly practicing the Immortal Path killer move Split Soul, which had left his soul frequently injured and his reserves depleted.