Western Desert, the Fang Family's main base — a blessed land.
Every Fang Family Gu Immortal had gathered, their faces like iron.
The atmosphere in the council hall was so heavy it was suffocating.
"Based on intelligence we just received, the Wan Family and their allies have visited the Qin Family, and the Qin Family has already dispatched Qin Lang to participate."
Qin Lang was a renowned powerhouse in the Western Desert Gu Immortal world. A Seventh Transformation cultivator who specialized in the Path of Space, his signature technique was Whirlpool Cleansing Void — a single use could clear heaven and earth of all obscurity for ten thousand miles.
"In that case, the coalition the Wan Family has rallied against our Fang Family now includes the Xiao, Qin, Sun, Shi, Gong, and Tang Families."
"The Sun Family representative is Sun Wang. Although his combat ability is lacking, he is extremely skilled at reconnaissance killing moves."
"The Gong Family has sent Gu Immortal Gong Jiao Che. Everyone here should be familiar with his famous battle record."
"The Shi Family Gu Immortal, Shi Kang, is a powerhouse who has risen to prominence recently. His defense is formidable."
"The Tang Family Gu Immortal, Tang Lanke, is a Path of Time Gu Immortal who has long been entrusted with guarding the Tang Family's branch of the River of Time. Although he is not widely known, being entrusted with such a重任 by the Tang Family means his strength is certainly no ordinary matter."
"The biggest supporter is still the Xiao Family. The Xiao Family has dispatched Xiao Yehu!"
"That's right. In his youth, this man had a fortuitous encounter and obtained a Gu Immortal's true transmission, along with a damaged Immortal Gu House. Xiao Yehu used this to cultivate into a Gu Immortal, then repaired the Immortal Gu House with the Xiao Family's resources, and renamed himself after it."
"According to rumors, the dark-path Immortal Gu House in his possession, the Night Urn, is extremely peculiar and vicious! Though miniature in size, it can forcibly absorb Gu Immortals inside. If a Gu Immortal cannot break free, they will be trapped in the urn for one night and reduced to nothing but a puddle of excrement and urine."
The Fang Family Gu Immortals exchanged words continuously, the pressure in their hearts immense.
The Western Desert's great powers numbered fourteen families: the Xi, Xiao, Tian, Fang, Dong, Wan, Sun, Mo, Tang, Qin, Shi, Gong, Zuoqiu, and Tuoba Families.
If one counted the mysterious reclusive Yi Family, that made fifteen.
The Fang Family was merely one of them.
There was no precise ranking of strength among the great families.
The Western Desert was not like the Southern Border, where the Wu Family's supremacy had been proven over an exceedingly long period and was universally acknowledged by Gu Immortals.
A great power's strength encompassed many aspects — Gu Immortals, resources, Immortal Gu Houses, and so on.
Each of these aspects had its strengths and weaknesses.
In practice, the great powers competed and clashed through alliances and enmities, involving far too many factors, making it difficult to directly compare their standings.
Still, there was a rough consensus.
For example, in the Western Desert Gu Immortal world, the Xiao and Tian Families' strength was generally favored by Gu Immortals, because in past eras of peace, these two families had the largest businesses, the most Gu Immortals, and each had an Eighth Transformation expert in residence.
The Fang Family's strength was actually quite respectable.
The Fang Family had Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal Fang Gong, controlled three Immortal Gu Houses, and had now acquired an additional Path of Earth Immortal Gu House.
If they could seize the Bean God Palace, the Fang Family could instantly become the dominant force in the Western Desert Gu Immortal world.
Unfortunately, they had failed.
Now, the Fang Family faced a coalition of every other great power!
Each great family needed to send only one or two Gu Immortals, and that would be enough to make things extremely difficult for the Fang Family.
If they also deployed Immortal Gu Houses, not every great power would even need to do so — one-third would be enough to surpass the Fang Family's Immortal Gu House count.
The Wan Family had only managed to contact a portion of the great powers so far.
The Fang Family Gu Immortals already felt a boulder pressing down on their hearts, as if sitting on needles.
As everyone discussed back and forth, Fang Leng spoke up as well: "Everyone, don't forget — we also have to face the most terrifying enemy of all: Heaven's Court! Although intelligence confirms that the Heaven's Court Gu Immortals have explicitly stated they will not interfere in the Western Desert's internal affairs, it is precisely their guarantee that prevents us from leveraging Great Love Immortal Venerable's reputation to put the Western Desert's great families completely at ease."
"What worries me most is that Heaven's Court has dispatched two Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals. One of them, Wan Zihong, is a fearsome Demonic Path powerhouse in Western Desert history — someone of great renown."
At the mention of Wan Zihong, several Fang Family Gu Immortals immediately grasped Fang Leng's implication: "Could it be that this Wan Zihong is somehow connected to the Wan Family?"
"Wan Zihong is a Demonic Path Gu Immortal. There is no evidence whatsoever showing she shares any blood relation with the Wan Family. But when evidence doesn't exist, evidence can be fabricated. If they truly declare that Wan Zihong belongs to the Western Desert's Wan Family, then Heaven's Court will have a legitimate excuse to interfere in the Western Desert's internal affairs. Although this possibility is slim, we cannot afford not to guard against it."
Fang Leng's words drew nods from many present.
Fang Gong felt a quiet sense of approval.
He had been cultivating Fang Leng as his successor, watching him mature day by day. Especially during this recent period, his growth had been remarkably evident.
At this point, Fang Yun spoke: "In my view, our family must seek Great Love Immortal Venerable's help. As long as that lord is willing to act, it won't matter how many great families the Western Desert sends — none of them would pose a threat. Only Great Love Immortal Venerable can stand against Heaven's Court's Star Constellation Immortal Venerable."
Fang Yun was the successor of the Fang Dizhang branch. Unlike Fang Leng, who had simply laid out the problem, he went straight to his conclusion.
During the period when Fang Dizhang had been captured, Fang Yun had been the one in charge of the Fang Family's Path of Wisdom faction.
This experience had given him not only much tempering but also significantly elevated his standing and voice within the Fang Family.
As for why he had overlooked Great Sun Immortal Venerable, it was because the Fang Family had no connection to Great Sun Immortal Venerable's line whatsoever.
In truth, even if they had established one, Great Sun Immortal Venerable would likely grow suspicious. After all, the Fang Family's entanglement with Fang Yuan ran far too deep.