Central Continent, somewhere deep in a ravine.
Fairy Ziwei was presiding over a Wisdom Path grand formation. Purple radiance enveloped the formation, not leaking outside.
Within the formation's eye, besides Bai Ningbing, Hei Loulan, and Ying Wuxie, there were also Fairy Miaoyin, the White Rabbit Maiden, and several other Gu Immortals.
These Gu Immortals had all been left behind by Fang Yuan after the Battle of Destiny.
Fairy Ziwei and her allies had cooperated with Bing Saichuan's faction to capture them one by one.
The purple light faded, and the grand formation gradually came to a halt. Fairy Miaoyin's expression flickered uncertainly, while the White Rabbit Maiden's face was full of fury. Both were immobilized.
"You two still refuse to surrender?" Ying Wuxie sneered.
"Bah, you traitor!" the White Rabbit Maiden cursed.
Bai Ningbing also arrived, her eyes filled with ruthlessness and indifference. "I'd advise you to think it over carefully. After all, your greatest value has already been lost."
Fairy Miaoyin's face grew even more hesitant upon hearing this.
Fairy Ziwei retracted the formation and stood up. Her aura was weak — this full-powered deduction had cost her greatly. But a clear look of joy appeared on her face.
"It seems it succeeded." Bing Saichuan had been waiting outside the formation and smiled faintly.
Hei Loulan walked past Fairy Ziwei and stopped behind Bing Saichuan.
Fairy Ziwei nodded with a smile. "The clues were sufficient — the great work is finally done! I've deduced Fang Yuan's current location. Take a guess: where is this cunning demon hiding?"
Bing Saichuan raised an eyebrow slightly. "The way you ask that is itself quite an obvious hint. What — could it be that Fang Yuan has been hiding in the Heavenly Court this whole time?"
Fairy Ziwei nodded. "Based on my deduction, he is indeed within the Heavenly Court!"
The gathered immortals all showed expressions of surprise upon hearing this answer.
Ying Wuxie clenched his teeth. "Truly cunning. His earlier escape from the Heavenly Court was just a disguise. I'm afraid he never left."
Old Man Zhengyuan sighed. "No wonder we could never find his true body!"
Bai Ningbing laughed heartily and praised, "Brilliant! That's exactly Fang Yuan's style."
Bing Saichuan frowned. "But what ability does he have to remain hidden until now without being detected by the Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals?"
Fairy Ziwei's eyes flashed with sharp light. "I only deduced that Fang Yuan is currently in the Heavenly Court — I cannot confirm he's been hiding there the entire time. However, when it comes to abilities, Fang Yuan the demon is the hardest to gauge. His growth rate is too fast. Every time he faces an enemy, he undergoes an astonishing transformation."
Bing Saichuan sighed. "Now that Fang Yuan is hiding in the Heavenly Court, what do we do? Do we attack the Heavenly Court again? If we simply report this intelligence to the Heavenly Court and they eliminate Fang Yuan, wouldn't they obtain all of his inheritances?"
Bing Saichuan represented Immortal Venerable Juyang and the interests of Longevity Sky in the Northern Plains. He naturally did not wish to see the Heavenly Court grow stronger again. Moreover, the intelligence about Fang Yuan's location had been deduced through painstaking effort — handing it over to the Heavenly Court so easily would be far too generous.
Old Man Zhengyuan reminded them, "Regardless, this precious intelligence must be reported to our master first!"
Fairy Ziwei replied, "I already reported to our master when retracting the formation."
The Heavenly Court.
A fierce battle had already erupted.
Boom!
Fairy Han Hui's figure flashed rapidly, narrowly evading a lethal strike.
In truth, she was the Demon Venerable Phantom Soul in disguise. Demon Venerable Phantom Soul had just received Fairy Ziwei's intelligence, but his mood was not good.
"Fang Yuan is currently in the Heavenly Court? Of course — I already knew that!"
A flash of memory passed through Demon Venerable Phantom Soul's mind — a scene from several days ago.
The Gu Immortals had been reassembled in the Dragon Palace. Wu Shuai's stated purpose was to discuss the specifics of launching an attack on Qi Sea Old Ancestor's faction.
But midway through the discussion, Wu Shuai suddenly made his move.
The Dragon Palace rumbled. The Night Sky Wolf Monarch, caught off guard, was struck by the Dream Light Smoke killer move and, utterly powerless to resist, was swiftly captured.
"Fellow immortals, do not panic. This man is a spy within our alliance — a hidden hand of the Heavenly Court." Wu Shuai calmed the assembled immortals while presenting evidence.
Before irrefutable proof, the immortals were both shocked and furious, denouncing him one after another and demanding that the Night Wolf Cave Heaven faction pay the price.
Wu Shuai shook his head. "Punishing the Night Sky Wolf Monarch is inevitable, but that is not the priority right now. The most critical matter is the overall situation!"
The Gu Clan Patriarch furrowed his brow. "Alliance Leader, because of the Night Sky Wolf Monarch's betrayal, our ambush plan has been exposed. If we proceed with it, I'm afraid we won't achieve the element of surprise."
Wu Shuai sneered. "There is another important piece of intelligence I have not yet had the chance to share with you all. Qi Sea Old Ancestor is no longer in the Eastern Sea. He departed many days ago, heading deep into the Central Continent toward the Heavenly Court."
"That's good news!" Many Gu Immortals' faces brightened upon hearing this.
But the Ice Crystal Immortal King's expression turned grave. "What's good about it? The primary purpose of our ambush on Qi Sea Old Ancestor's faction was to target Qi Sea Old Ancestor himself, to prevent him from resolving the Qi Merit Fruit crisis in the other cave heavens. Now that Qi Sea Old Ancestor is gone, what use is continuing the ambush?"
The immortals who had just cheered fell silent. After realizing the implications, the atmosphere in the Dragon Palace grew even heavier.