Wu Family Headquarters.
In the study, the light was dim.
Wu Yong sat ramrod straight, his face ashen — like a stone statue.
The Communication Gu Insect in his hand still retained some residual warmth from its earlier activation.
Another high-level meeting among the Southern Border's Righteous Path factions had just wrapped up, chaotic as a marketplace. The Gu Immortals of the Xia and Ba families had practically been screaming and shouting, their voices clearly laced with panic and helplessness.
The vast majority had been arguing noisily, nearly coming to blows, as though venting their shock and terror.
"How is this possible?!"
"Fang Yuan ambushed us — he won a complete victory, and all our Gu Immortals have been captured!"
"What do we do now? There's no precedent for this in the entire history of the Southern Border!"
"If this gets out, the Southern Border's Righteous Path will become the laughingstock of all Five Regions!"
"Fame doesn't matter anymore — what matters is that our people are currently in his custody!!"
"The Communication Gu Insect Fang Yuan left before — didn't it say we should wait for his price?"
"Yeah, but he hasn't sent any new messages at all. So we just… sit here and wait in vain?"
…
Those people's voices still seemed to ring in Wu Yong's ears.
"Hmph. A bunch of incompetents. What good does just talking do now?"
Wu Yong let out a cold, displeased snort. His eyes narrowed, his already slender features becoming even more razor-thin.
Eerie, cold light flickered erratically in his gaze.
His fists clenched unconsciously.
"Now this is trouble."
"Fang Yuan holds all the initiative!"
"Even if our clan refuses his extortion, the Xia and Ba families certainly won't — they've lost their Supreme Grand Elders."
"The Heavenly Court's arrangements didn't amount to anything either. Hmph, and I even went out of my way to inform Ziwei."
"But this isn't because the Heavenly Court is weak — it's because Fang Yuan's performance in this battle was simply too terrifying!"
"Faced with such a devastating outcome, among all the Righteous Path factions in the Southern Border, only Chi Quyou showed any backbone, remaining composed under pressure."
Wu Yong clearly recalled that during the heated discussion, it was Chi Quyou who, wearing a calm expression, had been the first to propose a proactive strike — insisting they continue hunting Fang Yuan.
Though few had supported him, this was the true spirit of the Righteous Path!
What Wu Yong had absolutely no way of knowing was that Chi Quyou was merely putting on a brave face, his heart gripped by deep shock and terror.
He had only proposed the plan to continue pursuing Fang Yuan in order to conceal his own involvement.
"Fang Yuan actually won?!"
"Fang Yuan didn't just win — he captured two Eighth Transformation and several Seventh Transformation powerhouses!"
Was this some kind of joke?
Before this battle, Chi Quyou would have certainly treated it as one.
But now, he couldn't laugh at all.
Chi Quyou didn't dare believe it, but the evidence Lu Weiyin had presented was ironclad — there was no room for doubt.
This battle's outcome — Fang Yuan's overwhelming victory — had not only thrown the Southern Border's Righteous Path into chaos, but had also put Chi Quyou's darkest secret squarely in his grip!
Because Fang Yuan's winning trump card had been dreams.
And those dreams, of all things, had been traded to him by Chi Quyou himself!
In other words, Chi Quyou had been Fang Yuan's greatest enabler in this battle, and the Southern Border Righteous Path's biggest traitor!
Chi Quyou had, of course, previously considered the possibility that Fang Yuan might use those dreams against the Righteous Path.
But his thinking had been constrained.
For one thing, his dealings with Fang Yuan had brought enormous benefits to the Chi family. That massive profit had clouded his judgment.
For another, Fang Yuan had previously used Pure Dream Truth Body detonations to successfully escape. But throughout the entire process, Fang Yuan had been in a wretched state — unable to fully control the dreams after detonation. So Chi Quyou had judged the threat of Pure Dream Truth Body self-destruction to be relatively low.
"But never in a million years did I expect that Fang Yuan would actually set up a Time Path Supreme Immortal Formation!"
"Without that formation blocking the Gu Immortals' movement and teleportation, how could the dreams have made any impact?"
"A Time Path formation alone wouldn't even be that terrifying — what's truly terrifying is that this formation was so deeply hidden that without Fang Yuan activating it, it was completely undetectable."
Just thinking about it made Chi Quyou's temples throb.
He was a Grandmaster of Formation Path, and naturally had a solid understanding of the art.
Every school of Immortal Formation possessed its own strengths and weaknesses. The advantage of a Time Path formation lay in its ability to alter the flow of time within — and Fang Yuan had relied on precisely this to battle for days and nights inside the grand formation, wiping out his entire pursuer squad in one fell swoop, while only a few hours had passed in the outside world.
The strength of a Time Path formation was never concealment!
Formations that excelled at hiding belonged to the Dark, Void, and Transformation Paths.
Once a Time Path formation was deployed, it stood there in plain sight, crystal clear — it was actually quite difficult to hide!
So how had it become invisible in Fang Yuan's hands?
This question stumped Chi Quyou for the moment. Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Court, Fairy Ziwei had already found the answer.
She had just completed a divination, and traces of purple luminescence still lingered in the central hall.
Fairy Ziwei let out a deep sigh.
"It must be the Shadow Sect's legacy."