The grand Supreme Elder of the Shen family was, at this moment, genuinely streaming with tears.
Of course, a portion of Shen Congsheng's tears stemmed from the fear he harbored toward Fang Yuan in his heart, but the greater part was calculation.
Both the Heavenly Court and Eternal Life Heaven had publicly declared the same thing — the news could not possibly be fabricated.
Fang Yuan had become the Heaven Refining Demon Venerable, and Venerable Qi Sea was in truth a clone of Fang Yuan — such revelations were now known to all under heaven.
One had to understand: previously, the Eastern Sea's Righteous Path had been wholeheartedly backing Venerable Qi Sea, forming the Righteous Qi Alliance to counterbalance the Great Non-Human Alliance under Fang Yuan's command.
As it turned out, both leaders were Fang Yuan. It was no exaggeration to say that every major superfamily in the Eastern Sea's Righteous Path had been toyed with between Fang Yuan's palms.
Upon learning this truth, Shen Congsheng naturally felt shame and fury, but before long those gave way to dread and unease.
The Shen family was a superpower of the Eastern Sea — a vast clan with deep roots, commanding the Seven Seas. How were they to face Fang Yuan?
Previously, when Fang Yuan was still only a Quasi-Immortal Venerable, the Eastern Sea's superpowers had set aside grudges and united together, even elevating Venerable Qi Sea, just barely stabilizing the situation.
Now that Fang Yuan had become a full Immortal Venerable, the Shen family and those other superpowers could not flee even if they wished to.
Their foundations were planted in the Eastern Sea. Relocation was all but impossible.
And even if they did relocate — where would they go?
First, the Southern Border and the Western Desert were out of the question, for neither region had an Immortal Venerable to shield them. Should Fang Yuan take issue and pursue them, they would be utterly destroyed.
Then, the Central Continent and the Northern Plains did possess Immortal Venerable leaders capable of standing against Fang Yuan. But those regions were already packed with established superpowers — where would there be room for outsiders like the Shen family? If they were oppressed by Fang Yuan in the Eastern Sea, what guarantee was there that Immortal Venerable Star Constellation and Immortal Venerable Giant Sun would not exploit them just the same in the Central Continent or the Northern Plains? The Five Regions were sliding toward total war — it was the trend of the times. Should the Shen family pledge themselves to another Immortal Venerable, they would most likely be used as cannon fodder when the conflict erupted.
Therefore, Shen Congsheng had gathered the clan's elite Gu Immortals for a lengthy discussion, and all of them concluded that the best course of action was to surrender directly to Fang Yuan where they stood.
It was somewhat humiliating, but after all, Fang Yuan had become a Demon Venerable — anyone would understand.
Having made up his mind to defect to Fang Yuan, Shen Congsheng went a step further in his thinking: if they were going to defect, the Shen family should be the first to do so, for that would bring the greatest benefit. If the Shen family took the initiative, rallying Quasi-Immortal Venerables like Lu Weiyin and urging the rest of the Eastern Sea's Righteous Path to surrender to Fang Yuan, it would surely leave a favorable impression.
Shen Congsheng secretly reported this plan to Shen Shang. Shen Shang deliberated for a long time and deemed it feasible. He further suggested that the first step should be to convince Lu Weiyin.
Shen Shang felt that the chances of persuading Lu Weiyin were quite high.
Although he and Lu Weiyin had met only a handful of times, their connection ran deep. Shen Shang had once received guidance from Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable, and Lu Weiyin was the legitimate disciple that Paradise Earth had left behind in the Southern Border.
By the conventions of Central Continent's sects, the two of them could be considered martial brothers.
Moreover, during the battle at the Bewitching Devil Grotto, Lu Weiyin and Shen Shang had fought side by side throughout, without any friction arising between them. Upon this return, Shen Shang had also taken the initiative to employ Human Path techniques to help Lu Weiyin recover from his injuries. Had Lu Weiyin relied solely on his own Earth Path methods, the recovery would have taken far longer!
For the moment, Shen Congsheng wept while Shen Shang sat beside him sipping tea, waiting for Lu Weiyin's response.
Lu Weiyin sighed inwardly.
He had long since come to understand: Shen Shang's relationship with Fang Yuan was murky and unclear. Even during the Battle of Destiny, the two had joined forces against the Heavenly Court. During the conflict at the Bewitching Devil Grotto, when Shen Shang departed from the God Emperor City, he had immediately turned to fight the Heavenly Court on Fang Yuan's mere word.
And what about himself, Lu Weiyin?
What path should he take?
This was a question Lu Weiyin had actually been pondering for a very long time.
After the Bewitching Devil Grotto conflict, the world's power structure had been turned upside down once more.
Three Immortal Venerables stood in opposition, and that was without ruling out the possibility of other Venerables being resurrected.
Everything needed to be reassessed from scratch.
As a Quasi-Immortal Venerable combatant, Lu Weiyin understood his position all too well. Clashing directly with an Immortal Venerable was simply seeking death. But under certain circumstances, Quasi-Immortal Venerables could still tip the balance between Venerables.
One need only look back at the Bewitching Devil Grotto conflict to see this.
When Immortal Venerable Star Constellation and Immortal Venerable Giant Sun found themselves locked in a stalemate, they had each successively recruited Fang Yuan and the other Quasi-Immortal Venerables. These individuals were all prime bargaining chips — the kind who could tilt the scales of victory.
Within the Bewitching Devil Grotto, right up until the three Immortal Venerables finally called a truce, neither side had moved against Lu Weiyin and his companions.
Apart from the fact that all three Venerables were in poor condition and wary of each other, it was also because they did not dare take the risk.
If they failed to kill these Quasi-Immortal Venerables, they would only be driving them into the arms of the opposing Venerable.
And so, Lu Weiyin and the others had all returned safely.
Lu Weiyin spoke slowly, his voice heavy: "Had Lord Paradise Earth still been alive, I would undoubtedly have followed the Immortal Venerable Paradise Earth. The reason I helped Fang Yuan lay an ambush against the Demon Venerable Spectral Soul during the pursuit was precisely because I wished to use Fang Yuan's strength to ultimately aid in the resurrection of Lord Paradise Earth. But now... Lord Paradise Earth has been killed by Fang Yuan himself..."
Lu Weiyin gritted his teeth, his expression one of barely contained indignation.
Had Paradise Earth been slain by either Immortal Venerable Giant Sun or Immortal Venerable Star Constellation, Lu Weiyin might have found it easier to bear in his heart.
Yet the truth was that Fang Yuan himself had murdered Paradise Earth.
And what was more galling still — Fang Yuan had been able to escape from the Demon Venerable Spectral Soul's clutches largely thanks to Lu Weiyin's own desperate ambush.
Shen Shang observed his expression carefully. He knew Lu Weiyin's emotions were far from settled, and he could well understand the tangled feelings within him.
Shen Shang said nothing. He too had once received favors from Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable. Now was not the time for him to speak.