Southern Border.
Wu Mountain.
The Wu Clan's blessed land headquarters.
The Wu Clan's Gu Immortals were gathered in full force, with Wu Yong seated in the position of honor. Most of those in attendance were the immortals themselves, though a few who could not make it were participating through their wills.
"Take a look at these — they're all letters that have arrived in recent days from the Ba family, the Tie family, the Luo family, the Hou family, and others. Read through them in turn." Wu Yong waved his hand, and over a dozen message-path Gu Insects flew out.
The Wu Clan immortals took turns reading them, and one by one, their expressions turned grim.
The contents of these message-path Gu Insects were, frankly, rather unremarkable — all roughly the same. They all adopted the tone of the Righteous Path to condemn and question Wu Yong, asking why he would dare to trade with a demonic fiend like Fang Yuan! Some even threatened to withdraw from the Southern Alliance, arguing that Wu Yong was unfit to lead it and demanding a replacement — a new, worthy leader to be chosen.
"These people…"
"Hmph, what shameless bluster!"
"I can hardly stand it! Many of the super forces in these letters secretly colluded with Lu Weiyin back in the day, didn't they? When Fang Yuan and Lu Weiyin teamed up to ambush and kill the Demon Venerable You Hun and escape Heavenly Court's pursuit, they were perfectly happy to look the other way. And now they have the nerve to lecture us?"
"Replace the Alliance Leader? Heh — looking across all of Southern Border's Gu Immortal community, who could be more suited than Lord Wu Yong?!"
The Wu Clan immortals began discussing among themselves, voices brimming with indignation.
Wu Yong said nothing. He sipped his tea with an expression of perfect calm, listening quietly as the immortals talked.
Their voices grew ever more heated. Some spoke with barely contained fury, even suggesting that the Wu Clan ought to openly retaliate against those families.
Wu Yong set down his cup and raised his hand slightly.
The moment the immortals saw this, they fell silent at once. Those who had been so overcome with anger that they had risen to their feet hastily sat back down.
Wu Yong's eyes swept across the hall. Not a sound remained within its walls.
*This is my Wu Clan,* he thought, his expression unchanged while inwardly feeling deeply satisfied.
Ever since he had taken command of the Wu Clan, he had led them through crisis after crisis, fought in several major battles, and had even pursued Fang Yuan himself. More crucially, his extraordinary political acumen had won the hearts of every member of the clan.
This included not only the original Wu Clan Gu Immortals, but also the guest elders and rogue immortals he had recruited, as well as the newly promoted generation of Sixth Transformation Gu Immortals.
Throughout the entire discussion, not a single one of them had raised any objection or offered any advice against Wu Yong's decisions and conduct.
This spoke volumes about the height of his prestige at this moment!
"Grand Elder Wu Bachong, please explain the full details to everyone." Wu Yong spoke in a calm, measured tone.
"Yes." Wu Bachong, the Wu Clan's Second Grand Elder, immediately rose to his feet and addressed the assembled immortals. "Several days ago, the Refining Heaven Demon Venerable — no, the Great Love Immortal Venerable personally sent a message, contacting the Grand Elder and making a forceful demand that the Grand Elder engage in the first open Immortal Gu trade with him. Considering that the Wu Clan could not withstand Fang Yuan's pressure, the Grand Elder had no choice but to swallow his pride and agree to Fang Yuan's demand."
The Wu Clan immortals exchanged glances.
Some changed color, some clenched their fists, some gritted their teeth — all of them sensing the immense pressure coming from Fang Yuan through those words.
Fang Yuan acted without the slightest restraint. Under such circumstances, Wu Yong had been forced into this trade — it was entirely understandable.
But in the next moment, Wu Yong actually laughed. "Bachong, there's no need to put it that way. Everyone here is one of us, so I'll speak plainly."
The immortals' expressions perked up in unison.
A sharp gleam flashed through Wu Yong's eyes. "Trading with Fang Yuan isn't something that just started this time. Previously, I conducted several secret trades with him as well, and the evidence Fang Yuan provided was genuinely authentic."
He paused deliberately at this point.
Seeing that the hall remained perfectly silent, every Gu Immortal still staring at him with burning intensity, Wu Yong nodded with satisfaction and continued. "The reason for doing so is quite simple. First, whether it was the old Fang Yuan or Fang Yuan as a Venerable, he is someone our Wu Clan cannot afford to provoke. Second, trading with Fang Yuan is enormously beneficial to our clan!"
"The several new Immortal Gu our clan recently acquired were all refined by Fang Yuan. If our Wu Clan had attempted it ourselves, we would have likely spent several times the immortal materials without a single success."
The Wu Clan immortals fell silent.
Wu Yong's gaze swept past Wu Bachong and settled on Wu Qiao.
Wu Qiao shuddered and immediately stepped forward, asking in a trembling voice, "But… but what about the condemnation from all these super forces? How should we respond?"
Wu Yong smiled faintly and gave Wu Qiao a nod. "Good question."
As he spoke, he raised his hand with a casual gesture. Every mortal message-path Gu in the hall flew up and hovered above his palm.
Wu Yong blew on them gently, and a light breeze spiraled outward, shredding all of the message-path Gu into dust.
"This so-called condemnation is utterly useless." Wu Yong sneered. "Do they actually dare to attack our clan?"
The immortals were slightly stunned.
Wu Yong leaned back in his chair, looking down from on high with a sweeping, lordly gaze. "Don't you see it yet, everyone? The era — has already changed!"
"The Destiny Battle, the Fang Yuan Pursuit, the battle for the Crazed Demon Cave — Heavenly Court's reserves are all but exhausted. Although Star Constellation Immortal Venerable has been revived, she was forced to simultaneously declare the Demonic Path status of the other two Venerables!"
"And both Giant Sun and Fang Yuan, for their part, have declared themselves to be Immortal Venerables — not Demon Venerables."
"What is an Immortal? What is a Demon?"