Great Wisdom Immortal Mother's cry of alarm left all the variant human Gu Immortals in the hall deeply shocked.
Quickly, they recovered their wits.
"We have to go rescue them. This is our headquarters!"
"Friend Great Wisdom, do you know who exactly invaded your blessed realm?"
"It's Heaven's Court!" Great Wisdom Immortal Mother's face was dark as she said through gritted teeth, seething with hatred. "The invading Gu Immortals are wielding the Demon Slaying List — it's an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House of Heaven's Court. There's no faking that."
"Hmph, so it's Heaven's Court!"
"Heaven's Court is truly despicable and shameless. To launch an attack without even a declaration of war."
"Heaven's Court itself was an organization founded by demons. The former Celestial Venerable Yuan Shi was the greatest demon lord under heaven back in the day, even worse than Fang Yuan. This is recorded plainly in the official history of our clan."
While the immortals were denouncing Heaven's Court, there was a sudden thud as Great Wisdom Immortal Mother knelt directly on the ground, kowtowing to Wu Shuai, crying out: "Alliance Leader, please deliver justice for us!"
Great Wisdom Immortal Mother knew perfectly well: she herself had no ability to mount a rescue. She couldn't even deal with that single Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House, the Demon Slaying List, let alone account for however many Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals of Heaven's Court might be hidden within it.
Wu Shuai gave a hum. "Friend Great Wisdom, there is no need for this. Stand up first!"
Outwardly his face was grim, but inwardly he was not the least surprised. Heaven's Court's actions had been well within his expectations. In Fang Yuan's previous life five hundred years ago, Heaven's Court had launched a similar large-scale assault.
Wu Shuai wore a solemn expression and declared resolutely: "Friend Great Wisdom is one of our own. Now that Great Wisdom's blessed realm has been attacked by Heaven's Court, we must absolutely mount a rescue. More than that — the losses Heaven's Court has inflicted upon Great Wisdom's blessed realm, we will repay a thousandfold. We will absolutely not let this go!"
"Thank you, Alliance Leader!" Hearing this, Great Wisdom Immortal Mother felt a measure of reassurance and struggled shakily to her feet. She was already an old woman in appearance, and at this moment she looked especially pitiful. She urged, "When do we depart?"
Wu Shuai pondered. "This is a matter of great importance. We need to plan carefully and must not lose our composure in a panic. Great Wisdom's blessed realm must be rescued, but these territories of the Xia family in the Eastern Sea also need to be held. Although this time I fought to a draw with Qi Sea Ancestor, the Righteous Path of the Eastern Sea will absolutely not rest content — they will surely counterattack us. We have worked so hard to carve out this domain, and this fruit of victory must be preserved. Fortunately, we haven't deployed any of the Merfolk. In the coming battle, the Merfolk Kingdom can serve as our inside support."
At that moment, Ice Crystal Immortal King stepped forward from the crowd. "Reporting to Alliance Leader — I am willing to hold the Xia family's headquarters. If the Righteous Path of the Eastern Sea comes to attack, this subordinate will exhaust every effort, stopping only at death!"
Ice Crystal Immortal King's words sounded noble and righteous, very fine-sounding. In truth, he did not wish to confront Heaven's Court directly. He was far from the only variant human Gu Immortal with such thoughts — many sighed at that moment, but moved too slowly, and Ice Crystal Immortal King had already beaten them to it.
Among them, several variant human Gu Immortals close to Ice Crystal Immortal King were secretly pleased. If Ice Crystal Ice King held this position, they would certainly stay behind as well. After all, Ice Crystal Immortal King alone could not possibly defend this place.
"Very good." Wu Shuai nodded, regarding Ice Crystal Immortal King with a look of approval. "Friend Ice Crystal, your strength is formidable and your temperament steady. You are a great general of our alliance. With you holding this place, I am quite at ease. Once I have recovered from my injuries, you will take over as the primary guardian of the Xia family's territory."
The more Great Wisdom Immortal Mother listened, the more anxious she grew. You keep discussing all this, but why does no one say when we depart?
She spoke up again, urging: "Alliance Leader, fellow allies — time waits for no one! My Great Wisdom's blessed realm is hanging by a thread. Rescuing the endangered is like fighting a fire!"
Wu Shuai sighed. "My battle with Qi Sea Ancestor this time left me with injuries that are not only severe but also extremely troublesome to treat. It will require a great quantity of immortal materials to repair my physical body. Allow me to make this clear — my dragonman body is different from Lord Dragon's. I developed it myself through innovation and improvement. When this body was first forged, it consumed an enormous amount of immortal materials at great cost. Healing it now will require no less. Regrettably, the shortage of immortal materials in my possession is considerable, and I will need to purchase more from the Precious Yellow Heaven."
Great Wisdom Immortal Mother had heard whispers about the method of making everyone like dragons, and harbored no doubts. She immediately asked: "May I ask, Alliance Leader — how many more immortal materials do you need for your recovery? We can provide them."
Wu Shuai produced a list.
The variant human Gu Immortals drew in sharp breaths when they heard it.
The cost was simply too steep!
Great Wisdom Immortal Mother clicked her tongue in shock. "I never imagined the Alliance Leader's body could be so immensely valuable!"
Wu Shuai smiled faintly but said nothing, merely directing his gaze toward the Ancient Clan Patriarch standing nearby.
The Ancient Clan Patriarch immediately spoke up: "I can attest to this. Many of our clan's disciples have also been transformed into dragonmen, so the immortal materials consumed were far greater than this!"
This was, of course, a lie. But the Ancient Clan Patriarch was closest to Wu Shuai, and as an Eighth Transformation cultivator of the Eastern Sea, his words carried considerable weight.
Great Wisdom Immortal Mother naturally suspected that Wu Shuai was taking the opportunity to demand an inflated price, but she did not dare question him, and the situation left her no choice.
After a moment of hesitation, she gritted her teeth and forced out the words: "Alliance Leader, I am willing to contribute funds and provide immortal materials to help you recover as quickly as possible."
The variant human Gu Immortals all reached into their stashes, pooling together the full quantity of immortal materials.
Wu Shuai accepted the materials but slowly shook his head. "Even with all the materials gathered, it will take at least three days and two nights."
Great Wisdom Immortal Mother nearly blacked out on the spot when she heard this.