Over the past few days, the atmosphere among the Western Desert's Righteous Path had grown extremely delicate.
On the surface, an endless stream of slanderous rumors against the Fang Family continued to spread.
But in reality, the pressure being exerted on the Fang Family had become all thunder and no rain.
After all, the killer move Survival was right there for all to see — not even an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal could prevent the Fang Family's powerful counterattack.
"Our previous raid on Baoyue Oasis has already produced remarkable results," the Fang Family's Gu Immortals rejoiced.
But Fang Tichang's expression remained sour: "What a pity. If not for the Liaoying Gobi incident, things would have been nearly perfect. Who the real culprit is — we still haven't been able to find out. Infuriating!"
Although the Dong Family was the most suspicious, both Fang Tichang and Fang Gong were prudent enough not to act rashly.
Besides lacking evidence and a legitimate pretext, they also feared walking into a trap.
The Fang Family took no action, but the Dong Family was far from idle. Over these past days, Dong Luchen had been redeploying troops and strengthening defenses in the direction of the Fang Family.
Dong Luchen was not having a good time. He was living in constant dread — if word of a Fang Family attack arrived the very next moment, he wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
"Hurry up with the investigation! Find the real culprit and clear my Dong Family's name!" In secret, Dong Luchen was the most eager for the Fang Family's investigation results. But outwardly, he maintained a tough stance, demanding compensation from the Fang Family over the Baoyue Oasis incident.
Not retaliating with force but merely seeking compensation — such an attitude spoke volumes.
The other Western Desert Righteous Path forces were also speculating about which family the real culprit might be.
They directed the vast majority of their attention toward each other. Because clearly, if the scheme of sowing discord succeeded, it would undoubtedly benefit the other Righteous Path forces the most.
Among them, the ones under the heaviest suspicion were the few superpowers neighboring the Dong and Fang Families.
Naturally, the psychological pressure on these superpowers also mounted, as they waited for the Fang Family to uncover the true culprit.
The Fang Family was indeed investigating.
But in reality, their efforts were halfhearted — bordering on perfunctory!
The Fang Family's true crisis was not the Liaoying Gobi murderer, but the ostracism and hostility of the entire Western Desert Righteous Path.
The Fang Family was in an awkward position.
If they actually identified the culprit and it pointed to some Righteous Path force — would they seek vengeance or not?
Refusing to seek vengeance would be impossible to justify!
It would be a devastating blow to the Fang Family's reputation, and it would be impossible to justify to the Family's Sixth and Seventh Transformation Gu Immortals.
Gu Immortals were the upper echelons of a superpower. If the upper echelons were sacrificed and the organization neither protected them nor sought vengeance — what was the point of joining such an organization? Was it really worth risking one's life for such a force?
And if they did seek vengeance?
Would they really fight to the death against some superpower?
The Fang Family had the killer move Survival, but other superpowers might well possess similar trump cards!
The critical point was that if two colossal forces clashed to the bitter end, the beneficiaries would certainly not be either of them, but the other colossal forces.
Over the past days, Fang Tichang had calmed down. He privately shared his views with Fang Gong: go easy on the investigation. What mattered most right now was to buy time — to repair the three Immortal Gu Houses and complete the refinement of the Bean God Palace!
Once they caught their breath and the Fang Family's strength surged, they could then investigate the real culprit. If it turned out to be some superpower, the Fang Family would hold the moral high ground. They could then press the matter not only with legitimate justification and full confidence, but also to extract far greater benefits.
Fang Gong listened to this analysis and was thoroughly convinced. He immediately praised Fang Tichang again, calling him a seasoned strategist.
Before long, Fang Gong publicly announced that the Fang Family would actively investigate the truth, and that considerable progress had already been made in identifying the real culprit. The Fang Family would never let a single villain go free, nor would they wrong an innocent person.
On the day of the announcement, the Fang Family's Gu Immortals delivered a large quantity of Soul Cores to Fang Yuan — among them was a single Antiquity Soul Core of the Eighth Transformation!
In the previous life, when Fang Yuan had extorted the Fang Family, he had only received Sixth and Seventh Transformation Soul Cores — not a single Antiquity Soul Core.
"Obviously, this is the Fang Family's gesture of goodwill to settle my mind," Fang Yuan thought with a faint smile.
Earlier, Fang Tichang had given a subtle warning that forced Fang Yuan to cough up twenty drops of Heavenly Dew. If not for the Liaoying Gobi incident, the matter would have ended there.
But once the Liaoying Gobi murder case erupted, the Fang Family's previous deterrence was greatly diminished. Undercurrents surged among the Western Desert Righteous Path forces, the situation growing ever more treacherous. As people speculated about who had struck from the shadows, their hearts were also stirred into restless agitation.
Therefore, the Fang Family still needed to keep Fang Yuan content — a powerful Seventh Transformation combat force.
But returning those twenty drops of Heavenly Dew was clearly impossible. Fang Tichang couldn't slap his own face.
So instead, they used an Antiquity Soul Core as compensation and consolation.
And this was precisely the result Fang Yuan had been trying to engineer by daring to slaughter his way through Liaoying Gobi.
Fang Yuan did not want to see the Fang Family at peace.
If the Fang Family stabilized, they would need him less, rely on him less, and the excavation of the Blue Ghost Desert would be endlessly delayed and its scale greatly reduced.
And now look — the Fang Family was proactively delivering an Antiquity Soul Core to Fang Yuan.
On the other hand, Fang Yuan needed these Western Desert Righteous Path forces to keep Fang Tichang and the others preoccupied. If the Fang Family stabilized, Fang Tichang would devote more attention to Fang Yuan, and who knew when he might notice something amiss.
Come to think of it, the Fang Family really was unfortunate.
In the previous life where Fang Yuan had not been involved, the Fang Family had weathered the crisis, intimidated the Western Desert Righteous Path into backing down, and ultimately reached a compromise — arriving at some kind of agreement.