"Surrender Immortal Gu for ransom? Not a chance!" Fang Yuan let out a cold laugh.
Immortal Gu were unique!
There was only one of each in the entire world. If Fang Yuan possessed one, that meant no one else did — making its value impossible to estimate.
True, Fang Yuan had sold Immortal Gu before, exchanging them for a massive quantity of Hawk Beasts. But that had been a life-or-death situation. He'd had no choice.
Fang Yuan possessed an enormous arsenal of killer moves and countless Immortal Gu recipes. He could put most Immortal Gu to use.
The only burden was feeding them.
But he had already largely solved that problem. Now, while he had acquired a huge batch of Immortal Gu, the resources needed to feed them were almost entirely in the hands of these Southern Border Gu Immortals.
These powerful Gu Immortals were the combat pillars and deep reserves of their respective families. How could they possibly fail to feed their own Gu? It was precisely because they could independently sustain their Immortal Gu that their combat power remained stable, allowing Gu Immortals to shine brilliantly and hold dominion over their territories.
Right now, Fang Yuan couldn't make much use of many Immortal Gu. But if not now, then what about the future?
The future was uncertain!
During the great battle at Yitian Mountain, Fang Yuan had managed to turn the tide. Besides the guidance of Star Path Heavenly Will, the most critical factor was that Fang Yuan possessed the Soul-Swapping Immortal Gu.
It could be said that without this tiny Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu, Fang Yuan would have perished long ago, and the Shadow Sect would have succeeded in defying heaven.
The difference between those two outcomes was as vast as heaven and earth — as stark as clouds and mud.
No one could say for certain that among these Immortal Gu, there might not exist one similar to the Soul-Swapping Immortal Gu, one capable of allowing Fang Yuan to reverse his fortune.
Even less could anyone guarantee that if Fang Yuan sold certain ones, whoever obtained them wouldn't pull off an inconceivable reversal of their own — just as he had at Yitian Mountain.
Without a moment's hesitation, Fang Yuan rejected the proposal to trade Immortal Gu.
The Shang clan Gu Immortal wasn't angered: "Then we can exchange Gu instead."
This entirely new proposal stirred something in Fang Yuan.
For the Righteous Path of the Southern Border, they naturally wanted to recover their losses as much as possible. Everyone knew Fang Yuan was savage and ruthless — highly likely to renege and execute the hostages. They had all braced for the worst.
The Immortal Gu on these Southern Border captives held tremendous value for each of their families. Many of the Gu had been withdrawn from family treasuries, and the families possessed complementary killer moves. Some killer moves were signature techniques, but without the corresponding Immortal Gu, they were nearly impossible to execute.
So for the Righteous Path of the Southern Border, it was better to sacrifice some Immortal Gu from their own treasuries — Gu that weren't particularly valuable to them — and use those to trade for the Immortal Gu in Fang Yuan's hands. It was a very fair deal.
Fang Yuan considered. This trade was essentially win-win — and quite advantageous for him as well.
Many of these Immortal Gu were useless to the various Southern Border clans and held little value for them. But for Fang Yuan, they happened to be exactly what he needed.
"This proposal interests me. But what Gu can your families actually offer?" Fang Yuan asked.
The Shang clan Gu Immortal had come prepared. He immediately transmitted a list through Treasure Yellow Heaven to Fang Yuan.
But after receiving the list, Fang Yuan said: "Let me think this one over first. I also have a list — for your various families."
"Fang Yuan, I've already told you — unless you show sincerity, the Righteous Path of the Southern Border will never accept your extortion again!" The Shang clan Gu Immortal's tone shifted sharply.
Fang Yuan smiled: "You Southern Border Righteous Path cultivators want to trade for Immortal Gu? Fine. But my condition is this — first, deliver all the immortal materials listed here to me. Only then will you earn the right to trade."
"Fang Yuan, don't push us too far. If you keep this up, there's no deal to be had."
"Heh heh heh." Fang Yuan laughed. "The Gu Immortal from your Shang clan who fell into my hands — that's Shang Huzhang, isn't it? Tell me, what would happen if I sold him to Fusheng Xian?"
The Shang clan Gu Immortal froze.
Fusheng Xian was a Seventh Transformation Demonic Path Gu Immortal of the Southern Border who bore a deep grudge against Shang Huzhang. He had declared more than once that if Shang Huzhang ever fell into his hands, he would skin him alive, pull out his tendons, grind his bones to dust, and scatter them to the winds.
"I believe that if I sold Shang Huzhang to Fusheng Xian, he'd be very interested indeed," Fang Yuan said languidly.
"You wouldn't dare, Fang Yuan!" The Shang clan Gu Immortal was furious.
"Ha! What wouldn't I dare?" Fang Yuan shot back. "I've even dared to offend the Heavenly Court — do you think I'm afraid of your measly Shang clan?"
"You — you — !" The Shang clan Gu Immortal was incandescent with rage, facing such a brazen bandit.
Fang Yuan continued: "Don't overestimate yourself. You're just the person they picked to negotiate with me. Did you really think you could speak for the entire Righteous Path of the Southern Border? Here's another example — Luo Fei of the Luo family is also in my custody. Tell me, what would happen if I stripped her naked and threw her into a cesspit? Or what if I tossed her into a pack of rutting Giant Apes, then used mortal Information Path Gu to record every ensuing moment and sold it all over Treasure Yellow Heaven?"
The Shang clan Gu Immortal gritted his teeth, a look of deep disgust flashing through his eyes: "Fang Yuan, you're supposed to be a great demon lord — Master of the Reverse Flow River, inheritor of the true legacies of Red Lotus, Spectral Soul, and others, famous throughout the world! How can you be so shameless and despicable?"
"No, no, no — you've got it wrong," Fang Yuan shook his head. "It's not that I'm being despicable. Your attitude is the problem. You tried to provoke me at every turn, sowing discord and slandering the other families — saying the Luo family cursed me, plotted against me, tried to assassinate me. I believed what you said, and that's why I'm taking such revenge on the Luo family."
The Shang clan Gu Immortal was struck speechless, his entire body trembling, his face deathly pale and his forehead drenched in cold sweat.