Heavenly Court.
The wounds inflicted by the Great Battle of Fate were gradually healing. The losses had been tallied, and the figures were devastating.
The Grand Discussion Hall.
Qin Dingling sat at the head, surveying the surrounding Gu Immortals and the numerous wills.
The vast majority of Heavenly Court's members had re-entered the Immortal Graves to enter slumber. The graves had been destroyed by Fang Yuan, but Heavenly Court's numbers were small enough that what remained sufficed.
These members had little lifespan left. Rather than wither and die, it was better for them to enter the graves and slumber, extracting the most value from what time they had.
What worried Qin Dingling, however, was that even after these Gu Immortals fell dormant once more, she had not received any manifestation from Star Sovereign's Heavenly Will.
It seemed that the Great Battle of Fate had dealt a severe blow to Star Sovereign's will.
This had become a persistent ache in Qin Dingling's heart. Star Sovereign's will was capable of interfering with the operation of Heavenly Will — and likewise, Heavenly Will could assimilate Star Sovereign's will. If Star Sovereign's will lacked reinforcements and was absorbed by Heavenly Will, it would be catastrophic news for all of humanity, and for Heavenly Court.
But this time, what Qin Dingling had gathered the immortals to discuss was not the matter of Star Sovereign's will.
"The qi tide runs rampant, and the Two Continents are in turmoil. Wu Shuai leads a joint army of Two Continents Gu Immortals and has already conquered the Xia family of the Eastern Sea. Now the Xia family has sought aid from Ancestor Qi Hai, and the two sides stand opposed. What does everyone think — in a critical juncture like this, what should our Heavenly Court do?"
Qin Dingling posed the question.
She was a fortune path Gu Immortal, not a wisdom path cultivator like Fairy Zi Wei. As such, she found it genuinely difficult to make decisions on matters of this magnitude. She had to convene the immortals for deliberation.
"Without question, the Two Continents army is mostly composed of non-humans — they are the enemies of our Heavenly Court and must be eradicated!"
"On that front, Ancestor Qi Hai has shown commendable resolve."
"The current standoff between Wu Shuai and Ancestor Qi Hai is essentially a standoff between non-humans and humanity. But in truth, the real crux isn't the outcome between them — it's an outsider: Fang Yuan!"
"Exactly. Both Wu Shuai and Ancestor Qi Hai have connections to Fang Yuan. Wu Shuai claims he merely cooperates with Fang Yuan, asserting that he is the original Wu Shuai reborn, dedicated to strengthening the dragonman race. As for Ancestor Qi Hai, he once had an agreement with Fang Yuan and caused trouble for our Heavenly Court, but later changed his attitude when Lord Dragon Lord deployed the half-complete qi path true inheritance. During the Great Battle of Fate, Ancestor Qi Hai never appeared — which only proves that Lord Dragon Lord's measures were wise and correct."
"I hold a different view! Ancestor Qi Hai could very well be a disguise assumed by Fang Yuan. Previously, we never considered this possibility because we believed Fang Yuan was only at the Seventh Transformation. Now that we know the secret of the Supreme Immortal Body, it's entirely possible that Fang Yuan already possessed Eighth Transformation cultivation back then and merely disguised himself as Ancestor Qi Hai. Don't forget — when Fang Yuan shattered the qi wall during the Great Battle of Fate, he used qi path methods."
"His qi path method was Boundless Qi Sea — the signature killer move of the qi aspect from Southern Border's Patrol Heavens Five Aspects. But the qi path methods that Ancestor Qi Hai displayed in his battle against Lord Dragon Lord were quite different from Boundless Qi Sea. It's unlikely that the two are the same person."
"But you can't completely rule out the possibility, can you?"
"If anything, Wu Shuai is far more suspicious than Ancestor Qi Hai. He may not be a disguise of Fang Yuan's, but he could be one of Fang Yuan's clones. After all, once Fang Yuan became the Sect Master of Shadow Sect, he surely inherited a portion of Spectral Soul's foundations. One of Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's signature techniques was splitting off a fragment of his soul to create a clone. That was exactly how he built his Shadow Sect."
The assembled immortals buzzed with discussion.
Qin Dingling's expression was conflicted, her head aching.
Each Gu Immortal held their own position, and no one could convince anyone else. In the end, the decision could only fall to Qin Dingling.