Southern Border.
Yanshou Mountain.
The Xia family headquarters — Jianwen Blessed Land.
Inside the blessed land, mortal Gu buildings spread in vast numbers, forming a continuous expanse of palace complexes, resplendent and grand.
In the centralmost great hall of this palace cluster, Xia Feikuai strode across the ground, his steps hurried.
He was a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal who specialized in the Light Path, his combat strength slightly below that of the Wu family's Wu Yubo — still quite remarkable. However, because he had cultivated a certain Immortal Path killer move, his temperament had become impatient and volatile.
Fang Yuan, disguised as Wu Yihai, had once fought him and established a five-year agreement. Now that Fang Yuan's identity had been exposed and he possessed Eighth Transformation combat strength, Xia Feikuai had naturally cast that five-year agreement straight out of his mind.
"Where did this news come from?" Xia Feikuai asked as he strode rapidly forward.
Beside him was a Winged maiden servant, a Fifth Transformation Gu Master.
The Xia family kept a large population of Winged slaves, and within this Jianwen Blessed Land headquarters, the Winged were the most numerous.
This Winged maid held an unusual position — she was one of the managers of this palace complex and knew a considerable amount of information.
Though Xia Feikuai knew perfectly well that entering the central hall would reveal everything, he could not wait and questioned the Winged maid first.
The Winged maid hurriedly replied: "It came from Treasure Yellow Heaven half a day ago. That great demon Fang Yuan took the initiative and came to us. At our Purple Spirit Light stall in Treasure Yellow Heaven, he delivered an Information Path Gu Insect. Inside the Gu Insect was the extortion letter."
Purple Spirit Light was a Seventh Transformation Immortal-grade material, not harvested from the heavens above, but rather extracted from deep underground mineral veins.
This was the Xia family's primary economic pillar. The Xia family controlled the largest Purple Spirit Stone vein across the Five Regions, and thus firmly held the leading position in this trade.
Although anyone trading in Treasure Yellow Heaven could freely change their identity without fear of discovery, a situation like the Xia family's naturally called for maintaining their identity, building reputation, and establishing a brand — that was what proved most profitable.
Therefore, this stall of the Xia family had a clearly established identity. When Fang Yuan came looking, he found it with ease.
"Hmph! He's utterly brazen — to actually dare extort the great Xia family!" Xia Feikuai was furious.
The Winged maid did not dare say anything, merely nodding meekly as she accompanied him to the palace entrance, where she stopped. She did not have the qualifications to enter.
The palace doors were already wide open. The seat of honor was empty — in normal times, Xia Cha would naturally be seated there, or else her will would be present.
In the first seat on the left sat the Xia family's Second Supreme Elder, Xia Zhao.
He had a sturdy build and a steady temperament, specializing in the Earth Path. He was currently the Xia family's mainstay.
Across from Xia Zhao, in the first seat on the right, sat the Xia family's Third Supreme Elder, Xia Chenyuan. He too was an Earth Path Gu Immortal.
Beyond them, on the other seats, Xia Liupei, Xia Qingcang, Xia Zhuomo, and Xia Fan — either present in body or represented by their will — had all arrived. Only Xia Feikuai himself was missing.
"Skip the formalities. Go take your seat," Xia Zhao said in a low voice.
Xia Feikuai suppressed his temper, nodded, and silently took his place.
A mortal Information Path Gu was passed over from the left side and placed into Xia Feikuai's hands.
Xia Zhao swept his gaze around the room. "Since everyone is here, let's discuss the matter."
Xia Feikuai split off a sliver of spiritual sense and sank it into the Gu Insect to examine its contents. This mortal Information Path Gu was precisely the extortion letter left by Fang Yuan.
The letter's contents consisted of only a few brief sentences — concise and to the point.
However, beyond the text, there was also a recording of a scene showing Xia Cha trapped within the Supreme Immortal Aperture.
After reviewing everything, the fury in Xia Feikuai's heart ignited, and he was so enraged he nearly crushed the Information Path Gu Insect with his bare hand.
"Fang Yuan, you villain — your crimes are monstrous! You deserve death! You deserve to die!" Xia Feikuai growled through clenched teeth, his face twisted with rage.
The other Xia family Gu Immortals did not echo his sentiments. Their faces were ashen, expressions wretched, all maintaining a heavy silence.
The atmosphere in the great hall was oppressive and suffocating.
Beyond their fury, these people also felt a dazed, almost dreamlike sense of disbelief.
The great Xia family — a superpower of the Southern Border — had actually been reduced to this: extorted by a single Demonic Path Gu Immortal!