Fang Yuan knew that Suan Bu Jin's identity was merely a disguise. To join the Fang family, the biggest obstacle was Fang Tichang.
Because Fang Tichang was a grandmaster of the Wisdom Path.
Those who had reached the grandmaster level were typically powerhouses among Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals — formidable individuals who were not to be trifled with.
But having Fang Yuan use Wisdom Path methods to counter Fang Tichang's calculations would be too conspicuous. After all, his Wisdom Path realm was only at the master level, and what he excelled at in the Wisdom Path was calculating and refining killer moves.
With the Wisdom Halo, in the sole matter of calculating killer moves, he could be considered the foremost person in the world.
But when it came to dealing with other Gu Immortals and suppressing the calculations of other Wisdom Path Gu Immortals, that was not where Fang Yuan's strengths lay.
Once Fang Yuan joined the Fang family, it was highly likely that Fang Tichang would develop negative emotions.
Wisdom Path Gu Immortals were usually very calm. If the lake of their heart was disturbed and some kind of emotion was stirred up, it would carry great significance.
Therefore, Fang Yuan had arranged for Ying Wuxie to disguise himself as a Western Desert Gu Immortal and attack the Fang family's Heavenly Dew Oasis.
Sure enough, Fang Tichang fell for the trap and did not suspect Fang Yuan in the slightest.
Arranging for Ying Wuxie to invade the Heavenly Dew Oasis served yet another purpose.
It was to help Fang Yuan "integrate" into the Fang family more quickly.
Suan Bu Jin had cooperated with the Fang family and participated in the battle for the Bean God Palace, but he had only just joined. The Righteous Path of the Western Desert did not know much about him, and the Fang family still harbored doubts about Suan Bu Jin's loyalty.
At such a time, Fang Yuan directly arranged this confrontation, demonstrating his combat ability and, to a certain extent, pledging his loyalty to the Fang family.
"However… Fang Tichang's Wisdom Path realm is far above mine. The longer I stay in contact with him, the greater the chances of him detecting something amiss." Fang Yuan silently warned himself.
Having a Wisdom Path grandmaster as an opponent was nothing but trouble!
Even with the "We've Met Before" killer move in his possession, there was still the risk of being exposed.
Besides that, there was another risk — Ying Wuxie.
Ying Wuxie's disguise techniques were not particularly remarkable — the Soul Path was, after all, not adept at such things. Furthermore, the legendary ancient soul beast — Qing Chou — was likely lurking somewhere in the Blue Ghost Desert.
All of these were potential crises and risks.
However, compared to these dangers, Fang Yuan needed a massive number of soul beasts far more to bolster his own Soul Path cultivation.
He would rather take these risks!
"Although I've now joined the Fang family, and they've agreed to develop the Blue Ghost Desert, providing me with batches of soul beasts or soul cores from time to time — they themselves are barely managing, and they have existing stockpiles of soul cores. In the early stages of cooperation, they'll probably just hand over some stored soul cores to keep me satisfied."
Fang Yuan had already calculated this well in advance. For the development of the Blue Ghost Desert, the main effort would still have to come from himself.
Fang Yuan had never truly intended to rely on the Fang family's power to help him hunt soul beasts. Under the Fang family's circumstances, they would never put in their full effort.
In fact, Fang Yuan didn't want the Fang family entering the Blue Ghost Desert too deeply either.
Cooperating with the Fang family was mainly to prevent them from causing him trouble. After all, around the Blue Ghost Desert, the Fang family was the only superpower.
Fang Yuan couldn't very well station himself in the Blue Ghost Desert, arranging chess pieces like Ying Wuxie. If the Fang family turned against him, dealing with Fang Yuan might be somewhat difficult, but dealing with Ying Wuxie would be easy enough.
Fang Yuan had already thought this through extensively.
On this matter, he had no choice but to cooperate with the Fang family first.
Although the Fang family lacked efficient means of utilizing soul beasts, they still hunted a great many each year and gathered soul cores — partly to increase their stockpile, and partly to sell on the market.
Even under the identity of Suan Bu Jin, if Fang Yuan tried to develop the Blue Ghost Desert alone, the Fang family would view him as a thorn in their side.
As a superpower situated right next to the Blue Ghost Desert, the Fang family had long considered it a dish on their own plate.
Eliminating this potential enemy preemptively was not feasible, so the only option was to cooperate with them. Turning an enemy into a friend — that, too, was a way of destroying an enemy.
For Fang Yuan, killing was merely one method.
Besides this method, there were countless others.
As long as he could achieve his goals, he would naturally prefer to employ more appropriate, more efficient methods — regardless of what those methods actually were.
In this, he was different from Demon Venerable You Hun.
Demon Venerable You Hun's approach to handling matters and conflicts was essentially just one method.
That was — kill!
You refuse to submit? Kill!
You're an eyesore? Kill!
In a bad mood? Kill!
Feeling bored? Kill!
Fang Yuan began inspecting the Heavenly Dew Oasis.
He had already seen the acupuncture trees earlier — they lined the outer perimeter, clearly visible at a glance. But the lakes within the formation had to be examined up close.
The water resources in the Heavenly Dew Oasis were not only abundant in volume but also remarkably varied in type.
Common ones included Linglong Spring, Jade Toad Saliva, Bitter Fragrance Water, and others, while rare ones included Divine Strength Water, Black White Water, and more.
The quantity of mortal Gu materials was large, and the varieties of immortal materials were many.
Take Divine Strength Water for example — although it was water, it contained Strength Path dao marks, making it a Sixth Transformation Strength Path immortal material on the current market.
In stories told among mortals, Divine Strength Water went by many names. Plots frequently featured a mortal protagonist drinking a mouthful of Divine Strength Water, gaining tremendous physical strength, and using it to strike down evil Gu Masters.
And because Divine Strength Water was an immortal material, simply drinking it without the proper Food Path methods to accompany it — the Strength Path dao marks within the water could kill a Gu Immortal!
So the mortal protagonists in these stories would typically die themselves after having their revenge.
The most important of all, though, was Black White Water.
Black White Water was a Seventh Transformation immortal material, located in the very core of the entire Heavenly Dew Oasis.
During the day, Black White Water appeared white, and at night, it appeared black.
If Black White Water was left exposed to the sky for a period of time, with the ceaseless cycle of white days and black nights, drops of Heavenly Dew would gradually condense within it.
The Heavenly Dew was transparent, shaped like tiny water droplets — narrow at the top and round at the bottom. A single drop of Heavenly Dew was about the size of an infant's little finger.
The drops of Heavenly Dew did not merge with each other. Even when there were many drops, they would simply sit next to one another without combining.