Shen Congsheng stared intently at the surface of the Merit Stele.
Though he showed no outward sign, a faint trace of anxiety had begun to stir within him.
As the Grand Supreme Elder of the Shen Clan, he held a position of immense authority and power. As an Eighth Transformation powerhouse, he stood at the very peak of Gu cultivation. But when measured against the Legacy of Le Tu, all of that capital was surpassed without any suspense whatsoever.
Fang Yuan could take on medium-tier tasks, giving him an overwhelming advantage in the competition for the Legacy of Le Tu. Shen Congsheng had been cornered into finding every possible means to keep pace with Fang Yuan.
Though he had come here for an entirely different purpose, the Legacy of Le Tu was right before his eyes. If he didn't throw everything he had into the fight, he would never be able to accept it.
Therefore, even though Shen Congsheng knew full well that Fang Yuan was attempting to sow discord, he still forced the other Gu Immortals to try redeeming various rewards.
To ease their resentment as much as possible, Shen Congsheng even took out various immortal materials from his own immortal aperture to serve as compensation.
But how those immortal materials weighed against the Legacy of Le Tu — that was plain for anyone to see.
The immortals, bound by Shen Congsheng's prestige, had no choice but to comply. The bitterness in their hearts naturally deepened.
Shen Congsheng had lost the goodwill of the crowd. Worse still, none of the rewards that the immortals had redeemed allowed them to take on medium-tier tasks.
"This list has too many rewards. Excluding the ones already redeemed, there are three that look most promising," Shen Congsheng muttered, his head throbbing.
"Take a gamble," he told himself. He knew time could not be wasted. After deliberating for a moment, he spent his own merit points to redeem one of the options.
The next instant, Shen Congsheng's face turned ashen.
"Not this one!" He clenched his teeth, his heart sinking with disappointment.
He had lost the gamble.
His luck was truly terrible.
This meant they had burned through nearly all of their accumulated merit, and the rewards they had received — while not entirely useless — offered only a modest benefit at best.
"Could it be this 'Good Person' title?" Shen Congsheng gazed at the ranking board and let out a long sigh.
There was no point in saying anything now.
What he needed to do was rush to accumulate another wave of merit, then continue redeeming.
"Before that, though, I need to soothe the Gu Immortals' morale," Shen Congsheng turned to face the assembled immortals.
Their expressions were no better than his.
Shen Congsheng was still something of an eloquent speaker. After delivering a speech, he produced yet another batch of immortal materials and distributed them among the group.
Though the immortals accepted the materials, their faces merely eased by a fraction.
Within this Dragon Whale Paradise, Shen Congsheng's Eighth Transformation combat strength was hollow — he could do nothing to them. This crucial fact was the most important foundation upon which his continued decline in influence rested.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
The tides rose and fell, and the damp, briny sea wind brushed against his face. Fang Yuan stood upon a cloud, gazing down from the heavens at the sea market below.
A sea market was a hub for the distribution and exchange of cultivation resources, typically situated in a fixed location. Not long ago, when Fang Yuan had impersonated Ancestor Qi Sea to host the Eastern Sea Grand Banquet, that event had essentially functioned as a colossal sea market, encompassing nearly the entire Eastern Sea Gu Immortal community.
Within the Dragon Whale Paradise, sea markets existed as well, and in considerable numbers.
The sea market Fang Yuan was observing was centered on a small island, surrounded by countless fishing-boat-type Gu Houses.
For a little over a third of each year, the island would be submerged beneath the waves, so this sea market did not operate year-round.
However, due to its prime location, the island sea market had become an indispensable trading venue. Even though it was closed for over half the year, the moment it opened, every nearby Gu Master and faction would flood in.
Fang Yuan was quite familiar with this island — it was a place he had visited repeatedly in his previous life.
In his previous life, Xia Lin had been framed by some dishonest merchant on this very island, and the task Fang Yuan had taken on at the time was to punish that merchant. He had rescued Xia Lin almost as an afterthought.
In this life, Fang Yuan had also taken on a task and come here, but it was a medium-tier task — entirely different from his previous mission.
The sea market was bustling with activity.
Crowds surged through the lanes — humans and merfolk alike.
"Come one, come all! This is the finest crystal coral you'll find anywhere!"
"Only three River Carriage Gu Houses left — buy now before they're gone!"
"Daming Mud, purchasing as much as you can bring!"
Xia Lin appeared.
She walked along the deck, examining the goods displayed at the stalls as she made her way toward the central island.
Unlike before, she was brimming with vitality, her eyes sharp with a keen gleam. After undergoing the trials of life and death, combined with Fang Yuan's rigorous training, she had undergone a transformation so thorough it was nothing short of revolutionary — inside and out.
Fang Yuan activated his detection methods, blanketing an area of a hundred li while continuously probing deeper.
The moment Xia Lin set foot in the market, he had already detected her.
Fang Yuan did not move to approach Xia Lin. Instead, he continued his reconnaissance of the island's interior and the depths of the sea floor.
An Immortal-level formation gradually materialized within his perception.
Upon examining it, Fang Yuan couldn't help but offer quiet praise.
The structure of this Immortal formation was remarkably elegant — a grand formation primarily composed of Earth Path and Water Path, designed to sustain the island, manage the surrounding ocean currents, and improve the environment of the entire sea region.
But at present, the formation was damaged. The Earth Path component had been corroded, while the Water Path component had remained largely unchanged.
Originally, Earth and Water had been in perfect balance. But now that the Earth Path had weakened, the Water Path had grown dominant. The island sea market had previously been open year-round, but the formation's damage had caused the island to be submerged for over half the year.