The Wan family's main base.
"Father—! You died so horribly!" Wailing echoes through the council hall, the sound so piercing that the eunl's eardrums buzzed.
A young man draped in mourning clothes wept uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down his face.
This was Wan Zhuiqing, a Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal, the biological son of Wan Lianghan.
Wan Zhuiqing knelt on the ground, howling in grief, and no one could calm him down.
In the hall, the Wan family Gu Immortals sat with furrowed brows and dark expressions, maintaining a heavy silence.
The Second Supreme Elder of the Wan family, known for his mild temperament, could not help but sigh. "How did things come to this! Our family sent out three Seventh Transformation powerhouses, and they all lost. It's truly hard to believe."
Every Wan family Gu Immortal shared this sentiment.
If Fang Yuan hadn't voluntarily exposed himself by broadcasting the entire battle through Treasure Yellow Heaven, these Wan family Gu Immortals would have needed considerable time to digest the news.
In truth, Wan Lianghan's operation had received the approval of the vast majority of the Wan family's Gu Immortals before it was launched.
Three Gu Immortals of the same transformation level, backed by an Immortal Battlefield — they had assumed victory was certain. Who could have imagined they'd run into such a tough opponent?
The long-silent First Supreme Elder finally spoke. "Suan Bu Jin killed our family's Gu Immortal. The Wan family will absolutely not let this go. Wan Zhuiqing, did your father leave behind any inheritance?"
Upon hearing the First Supreme Elder's question, Wan Zhuiqing immediately restrained himself, pulling back his tears. "I wouldn't dare conceal anything from the First Supreme Elder. My father left behind all the contents of his inheritance — I am familiar with every killer move and every Gu recipe. However... there isn't a single Immortal Gu among them!"
The First Supreme Elder's expression darkened another shade.
This was unusual. Suan Bu Jin was a Seventh Transformation cultivator, and so was Wan Lianghan, yet the former had killed the latter in an instant, leaving no room for resistance.
Generally speaking, when Gu Immortals of the same transformation level clashed, such a clean outcome was extremely rare. A life-and-death battle would typically devolve into a stalemate. At that point, if one side wished to flee and hadn't been trapped in an Immortal Battlefield, the other side would find it nearly impossible to hold them.
That was precisely where the value of an Immortal Battlefield lay — it prevented the enemy from escaping.
The three Wan family Gu Immortals had brought one specifically to prevent Fang Yuan from fleeing. But they never expected that Fang Yuan wouldn't even attempt to flee. He hadn't even used the Immortal Battlefield — he simply killed Wan Lianghan in an instant and scared the other two away.
For the Wan family, this result was nothing short of ironic.
The First Supreme Elder of the Wan family felt a pang of regret.
Had he known, he should have lent his Immortal Gu House to Wan Lianghan and the others.
But the First Supreme Elder had his own dilemma.
He was only a Seventh Transformation cultivator — not all Righteous Path leaders possessed Eighth Transformation cultivation. It was precisely for this reason that the family's Immortal Gu House was needed to guard the main base.
What he didn't realize was that his arrangement had actually been reasonable and correct. If Fang Yuan had seen this Immortal Gu House, he certainly would have found a way to plunder it. The First Supreme Elder's decision had, in fact, reduced the Wan family's losses.
The First Supreme Elder sighed inwardly and addressed Wan Zhuiqing. "Wan Lianghan's death was the result of our flawed decision-making. Wan Lianghan will receive a posthumous commendation from the family. Whatever materials his Immortal Gu require, the family treasury will provide them free of charge. All I can hope for now is that those Immortal Gu have already been destroyed."
"Thank you, First Supreme Elder! Thank you, all the Elders!!" Wan Zhuiqing hurriedly prostrated himself, kowtowing to the First Supreme Elder and all the other Wan family Gu Immortals.
This had been his primary purpose for coming to weep — and now it was achieved.
Being the youngest, no one would fault him for kowtowing like this.
The First Supreme Elder continued, his voice sinister, carrying a biting chill. "Suan Bu Jin belongs to the Fang family. We will pressure the Fang family into handing him over. After the previous battle, our Wan family can now confirm with certainty that Suan Bu Jin is the successor of Old Man Lieshen! He is a Demonic Path traitor! The blood debt that Old Man Lieshen owed must be collected from him."
Many of the Wan family Gu Immortals' eyes immediately gleamed with sharp light.
This was the only way forward!
The infamous Old Man Lieshen had long been a hidden wound for the Righteous Path forces of the Western Desert. Pinning this crime on Fang Yuan would give more Western Desert Righteous Path factions an excuse to move against the Fang family.
Before, this had merely been an excuse — the Wan family wanted to capture Suan Bu Jin and leave the Fang family unable to defend itself. That was no longer possible, but the First Supreme Elder was still determined to make the accusation stick.
Lacking evidence?
Then I'll forge irrefutable proof myself!
Though it was shameless, the major superpowers' desire to suppress the Fang family, and their fear of the Fang family's rise, could absolutely be exploited.
The success rate of this plan, however, was far lower than their original strategy.
A Wan family Gu Immortal had died in battle, and the entire world had been told about it. This humiliation absolutely could not be swallowed!
The Wan family would have to grit their teeth and see this performance through!
The Second Supreme Elder let out a deep sigh. "The situation may not be as dire as all that. Perhaps the Fang family is already planning to abandon Suan Bu Jin."
"Hmph. Even if they do, the Wan family's charge of harboring a Demonic Path Gu Immortal is one they can never escape."
However, the very next day, terrible news reached the Wan family.
The Fang family declared its position — they would stand firmly behind Fang Yuan, and they would prove his true origins, linking him to Zheng Jingshen.
The Wan family immediately denied this, producing all manner of "irrefutable evidence."
These so-called proofs — Fang Tichang didn't even bother to deduce the flaws within them. He simply counter-threw even more "irrefutable evidence"!
Ridiculous!
You fabricate evidence, and you think I can't fabricate my own?
And so, the two great powers of the Western Desert's Righteous Path found themselves locked in a fierce battle of words over whether Suan Bu Jin was the successor of Zheng Jingshen or the successor of Old Man Lieshen.