Wu Yong forcibly steadied himself and exchanged several rounds of voice transmission with the mushroom person Gu Immortal, Kexin Hong.
"So Fang Yuan only wants the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission in my hands — he hasn't discovered Hu Di!" After probing, the heavy burden in Wu Yong's heart finally lifted.
In truth, as long as Kong Ritian didn't leap out and voluntarily expose the secret, the chances of anyone outside the Wu family discovering Hu Di were minuscule.
No Gu Immortal had witnessed the scene where Kong Ritian and his group used Hu Di to escape.
"After Kong Ritian and his lot fled, there's been no news of them since. So Fang Yuan and the other outsiders would assume that Kong Ritian has already fallen into my hands. That's why he's come to me to claim the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission."
Wu Yong mulled this over. "I didn't do enough beforehand. I should have announced that Kong Ritian has been captured by the Wu family!"
Though that wasn't the truth, if the Wu family put out that claim, Kong Ritian wouldn't exactly leap forward to deny it.
If Kong Ritian were exposed once more, every Gu Immortal who coveted the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission would descend like hyenas, tearing at his fragile little body until nothing remained.
"If Kong Ritian hears the news our Wu family announces, he'll surely understand our intentions. He's keeping Hu Di a secret for his own safety too. He shouldn't refuse."
Wu Yong came up with an elegant plan — one that patched the gaps left by his earlier actions.
Hu Di was a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm of immense value. If the Wu family wanted to keep it, they had to make a fortune in silence!
"The Ascension Heavenly True Transmission can be taken away by you." Wu Yong quickly transmitted his response to Kexin Hong.
Giving up one Ascending Heavenly True Transmission in exchange for Hu Di — that was the wise choice.
Besides, this particular True Transmission had only just been seized by the Wu family. It contained the knowledge, but not the Immortal Gu. The Immortal Gu and Immortal Essence Yuan were still in Kong Ritian's possession.
Kexin Hong froze for a moment.
Wu Yong's decisiveness was somewhat beyond his expectations.
He was a powerful Gu Immortal from the Mushroom Person Le Tu. When Lu Weiyin brought Le Tu over to pledge allegiance to Fang Yuan, Kexin Hong had become one of Fang Yuan's subordinates.
This was the first mission Fang Yuan had assigned him.
When Kexin Hong first received this task, the pressure had been immense. Wu Yong's reputation preceded him — on the journey here, Kexin Hong had wracked his brain imagining what to do if Wu Yong deflected or refused.
He hadn't expected that upon actually meeting face to face, Wu Yong would agree so readily and with such ease.
"I'm beginning to understand my lord's prestige," Kexin Hong sighed inwardly, filled with emotion.
Kexin Hong then continued, "Lord Wu Yong, my master is willing to pay for the complete Ascension Heavenly True Transmission."
Now it was Wu Yong's turn to be stunned.
Judging from Kexin Hong's words, it seemed Fang Yuan genuinely wanted a fair trade? He wasn't planning to simply demand it by force?
Wu Yong quickly recovered and proposed a trade condition.
Kexin Hong's brow furrowed slightly, because what Wu Yong wanted was a Ninth Transformation Wind Path Immortal material — something exceedingly rare on the market.
This was beyond Kexin Hong's authority, so he hurriedly contacted Fang Yuan.
After receiving an affirmative reply, a smile surfaced once more on Kexin Hong's face as he turned back to Wu Yong.
With the help of the Precious Yellow Heaven, the transaction was swiftly completed.
Fang Yuan obtained the full contents of the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission, while Wu Yong acquired a Ninth Transformation Wind Path Immortal material.
"Fang Yuan has an enormous number of Two Heavens Grotto-Heavens — it's not strange for him to possess rare Immortal materials. But to think he actually traded with me?!"
Unexpectedly acquiring a Ninth Transformation Wind Path Immortal material, Wu Yong's preparations for refining the Eight-Sided Prestige Wind Immortal Gu had also made significant headway.
But Wu Yong couldn't bring himself to feel happy!
Fang Yuan clearly had the combat power to simply seize the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission by force. But he hadn't done so.
He had merely dispatched a single mushroom person Gu Immortal, expressed his sincerity for a fair trade, and then actually honored the agreed-upon terms by paying the Ninth Transformation Wind Path Immortal material.
"What a Fang Yuan!" Wu Yong sighed endlessly.
As the saying goes — the best swimmer drowns, and the greatest warrior falls in battle. Blindly relying on one's own strengths was actually a rather dangerous thing.
Because once dependence set in, over time a person would walk into a comfort zone and develop rigid thinking. When facing problems, they would resort almost exclusively to that one strength, and gradually all other methods and perspectives would wither away. Eventually they would walk into a dead end, or even utter ruin.
Fang Yuan had not done this.
He did possess tremendous combat power and could have seized the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission directly. But doing so would have consumed enormous amounts of time and energy, and he might not even have succeeded in the end.
After all, such information could be completely wiped clean.
But by trading in this manner, Fang Yuan had effortlessly acquired the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission.
Wu Yong analyzed: "This at least tells me two things."
"First, Fang Yuan possesses a wealth of Immortal materials — a single Ninth Transformation Wind Path Immortal material is not that important in his eyes!"
"Second, although he is the foremost man of this era, he remains composed, calculating to the deepest degree, and never acts recklessly. Ah, if only I had killed him back then. The fact that Fang Yuan has grown to this point, with such a temperament, is truly terrifying."
At the very moment the Ascension Heavenly True Transmission trade was completed, Fang Yuan's true body had already traveled far away to the Western Desert.
The Western Desert — the Fang family's main base.