The latest intelligence reached Chi Quyou just as he stood by the window, gazing at the distant green mountains.
"Oh? They've already cornered Fang Yuan so quickly? It seems he'll be hard-pressed to escape this time." A subtle shift passed through Chi Quyou's eyes.
"This Fang Yuan actually triggered a tribulation in the Southern Border, leaving behind traces. Sigh, even if he was dead set on breaking through to the Eighth Transformation, he shouldn't have been so reckless."
"Still... he had repelled the Heavenly Court's invasion before, and then secretly conducted a trade with me — everything went too smoothly for him. It's only natural his ego inflated, looking down on our Southern Border's Righteous Path."
Chi Quyou believed that Fang Yuan had remained at large precisely because he was too cunning and devious, always engaging in guerrilla tactics, never truly clashing head-on with a superpower. Whenever the situation turned unfavorable, he would flee without hesitation.
This time, the Southern Border's Righteous Path had conspired in absolute secrecy. On the surface, every major clan in the Southern Border appeared calm and tranquil, giving no cause for suspicion. Moreover, a wisdom-path Gu Immortal was shielding their operations, warding off any attempts at deduction.
"And then there's Lu Weiyin. If not for this person's last-minute joining, our Southern Border Righteous Path likely wouldn't have caught up to Fang Yuan so quickly. He truly lives up to his reputation as the current inheritor of Blessed Land — to be able to trace Fang Yuan's location through the earthly qi triggered by the tribulation. Truly impressive."
Chi Quyou sighed inwardly.
Lu Weiyin's involvement had made the current situation among the Southern Border's Righteous Path even more complex.
This time, counting Lu Weiyin, the Southern Border Righteous Path was pursuing Fang Yuan with a total of three Eighth Transformation experts. The chances of success were extremely high.
If they succeeded, Lu Weiyin's reputation and prestige would skyrocket. He would undoubtedly become an entity that demanded far greater attention.
In truth, Lu Weiyin had been in some degree of contact with the major righteous factions of the Southern Border for quite some time.
His Southern Blessed Land was essentially a sanctuary for non-humans in the region, absorbing a great many non-humans who had suffered destruction at the hands of humanity.
These non-humans lived quite well within the Blessed Land. According to reliable intelligence, many of them had been cultivated into Gu Immortal.
This caused great resentment and worry among the Southern Border's human race. But Lu Weiyin was, after all, the inheritor of the Blessed Land, upholding the ideals of the original Blessed Land Immortal Venerable. This made it difficult for the Southern Border's Righteous Path to act against him rashly.
For a long time, Lu Weiyin had been excluded from the inner circle of the Southern Border's Righteous Path — this was an unspoken consensus among all parties.
But recently, Lu Weiyin had been very active. This time, he had even joined the operation in a high-profile manner, proactively participating in the hunt for Fang Yuan. If they succeeded, his contributions would be undeniable, and he would hold a certain degree of authority within the Southern Border Righteous Path.
In his heart, Chi Quyou held no hope for Fang Yuan whatsoever.
Although Fang Yuan had managed to withstand the Heavenly Court's invasion of the Langya Blessed Land, the prevailing view was that the Heavenly Court had simply underestimated the Langya Blessed Land's reserves.
The most crucial point was that the Heavenly Court had never disclosed the deaths of Lei Gui Zhenjun and Chen Yi.
This allowed the Southern Border Righteous Path Gu Immortals to be suffused with a general sense of confidence.
Their confidence was not without basis.
After all, they had once chased Fang Yuan down, driving him out of the Southern Border like a stray dog. If Feng Jiuge hadn't intervened midway, Fang Yuan would have already been beaten into a dying cur.
Chi Quyou was more wary of Lu Weiyin. In his mind, he had already begun to contemplate how to face this increasingly authoritative current inheritor of the Blessed Land in the future.
As for Fang Yuan?
Chi Quyou felt a twinge of regret.
Whether alive or dead, as long as Fang Yuan fell into the hands of the Southern Border Righteous Path, then the deal between Fang Yuan and Chi Quyou would be completely finished.
This would be detrimental to the Chi Family's interests!
So, Chi Quyou was regretful.
Although Fang Yuan had once attacked the Chi Family's resource points, causing damage to the family's interests, Chi Quyou bore him no hatred.
In his view, the dream-path achievements he had obtained through the trade more than compensated for those losses.
Chi Quyou was also not afraid that Fang Yuan, if captured alive, would expose their dealings.
Just as he had analyzed before, even if Fang Yuan produced ironclad evidence that was beyond denial, it would still only be a trade between Chi Quyou and Fang Yuan.
Given the Chi Family's size and reserves, there would indeed be some losses, but it would not shake the family's foundations.
However, if Chi Quyou were to tip off Fang Yuan at this point, warning him of the Southern Border Righteous Path's pursuit — that would be an entirely different matter.
That would be treason and betraying one's allies!
If it were exposed, even with Chi Quyou's Eighth Transformation cultivation, the Chi Family would face a joint siege by the Southern Border Righteous Path, and it was entirely possible the entire clan would be exterminated.
As a leader of the Righteous Path, Chi Quyou had long since mastered this boundary with extreme precision.
He would not make that mistake.
If he voluntarily tipped off Fang Yuan, then regardless of whether Fang Yuan later became a prisoner, Chi Quyou would effectively be placing evidence of treason into the hands of this demon.
Moreover, the relationship between him and Fang Yuan had always been one of mutual exploitation and mutual wariness. They were nowhere close to the point where Chi Quyou would risk himself and his clan to commit treason for Fang Yuan's sake.
Chi Quyou simply felt a measure of worry and pity.
"If Fang Yuan is captured, I hope he won't easily reveal the results of his dream-path research, giving my Chi Family ample time to develop."
"Speaking of which, Fang Yuan is truly a remarkable individual. To meet such an end is rather unfortunate... If he could rise to power, the entire Five Regions would be far more exciting in the future."
Those who held high positions inevitably possessed extraordinary magnanimity.
Chi Quyou did genuinely feel some regret over the tragic end that awaited Fang Yuan's capture.
At the same moment, in another part of the Southern Border...