Even Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had to concede to Fang Yuan's shamelessness.
She had to admit: Fang Yuan's latest proclamation, and the measures he'd adopted, were truly a brilliant move.
Fang Yuan had lowered the threshold for joining and leaving the Heaven and Earth as One Great Love Alliance to the bare minimum. Without any consideration whatsoever for the loyalty of his members, he had instantly opened up an entirely new situation!
Relying purely on profit as bait, he had fully leveraged his advantages in Refinement Path — something that left both Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable unable to match, unable to stop.
Star Constellation could be certain: every Gu Immortal under heaven was now restlessly stirring at the prospect. Even the Gu Immortals of the Ten Great Ancient Sects of Central Continent were deliberating whether to join the Heaven and Earth as One Great Love Alliance!
Even if Star Constellation Immortal Venerable could order these Gu Immortals not to join some so-called Great Love Alliance, she could not change their minds.
The human heart was fickle!
And what had Fang Yuan lost in all of this?
Almost nothing.
The subordinates he had recruited in the Eastern Sea and in the Two Heavens had never had much loyalty to begin with. They had only joined his banner because circumstances forced their hand.
Hoping that they would voluntarily go on the offensive against Central Continent and other territories was entirely unrealistic. Qin Dingling's success in turning a massive number of Cave Heaven forces proved just how little loyalty these people held toward Fang Yuan.
If Fang Yuan were the only Venerable in the world today, then everyone would have been thoroughly devoted. But with four Venerables coexisting and three locked in confrontation, these Gu Immortals now had options.
Star Constellation gave a cold snort inwardly.
She knew that Fang Yuan had deliberately reached out to her — it was certainly not mere posturing.
His proposal that she join the Heaven and Earth as One Great Love Alliance was nothing but a joke. He knew perfectly well that Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would never join his Alliance and lend it legitimacy.
Fang Yuan's true purpose was to threaten Star Constellation Immortal Venerable.
Right now, Central Continent was in the midst of an unprecedented formation deployment.
At this critical juncture, any move by Great Love Immortal Venerable or Giant Sun Immortal Venerable could easily cause the entire formation effort to collapse.
"Fang Yuan is short on Immortal Essence. He doesn't want to come and destroy the Star-Studded Precise Calculation Formation, but neither does he want our side to complete the formation easily. That's why he reached out proactively."
Fang Yuan had always maintained the appearance of madness — willing to trade Immortal Gu for major resource points, seemingly trying to bolster his Immortal Aperture's foundation to increase his Immortal Essence reserves.
Star Constellation had probed him repeatedly, but just like Giant Sun, she had never detected anything unusual about Fang Yuan.
In her mind, he had always been starved of Immortal Essence.
This impression ran deep.
She was not surprised that Fang Yuan had contacted her.
She had agreed to trade with him — the Heavenly Court would provide resource points, Yuan Realm, and Immortal materials in exchange for Fang Yuan refining Immortal Gu for them.
The scale of the trade was enormous, and Star Constellation had insisted that the transactions be conducted in batches, spread out over a long stretch of time.
Fang Yuan understood immediately — this was Star Constellation's way of safeguarding her grand formation.
This had also been within his expectations.
Judging from the formation's current prototype, the grand array Star Constellation was deploying was not unreasonable. It fell within what Fang Yuan could tolerate.
By giving up the opportunity to attack and sabotage it, and instead securing a more favorable peace trade, he stood to profit without loss.
Especially now, when he was in the process of refining the Heavenly Secret Gu!
At this crucial moment, Fang Yuan simply could not resort to force.
Star Constellation, however, was unaware of these circumstances.
Her offering the Yuan Realm as a trading chip was, in fact, a small pleasant surprise.
For a long time, Fang Yuan had been negotiating with the Heavenly Court over the Yuan Realm.
Its value to him was far greater than to either Giant Sun or Star Constellation.
Star Constellation had never budged on this point until now — she had finally relented and offered a small portion of the Yuan Realm to entice Fang Yuan into accepting the deal.
"Perhaps in Star Constellation's view, I still haven't recovered the Yuan Realm from the Precious Yellow Heaven, because I lack the means to do so. So, trading me a portion in the short term won't allow me to quickly gain an advantage."
"I never expected Star Constellation to be the first to offer me the Yuan Realm. I had assumed I would achieve that breakthrough through a Blood Path deal with Giant Sun!"
Having thought this through, Fang Yuan split his attention and proactively contacted Giant Sun Immortal Venerable: "Fellow Daoist Giant Sun, Star Constellation is making such a massive move — the grand formation she intends to deploy must be extraordinary. She is the most formidable Wisdom Path Gu Cultivator of all time. If she gains the support of a grand array in the future, we may find ourselves outmaneuvered without even realizing it."
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable chuckled and responded promptly: "What do you propose?"
Fang Yuan stated directly: "I am willing to join forces with you, Fellow Daoist Giant Sun, to deal with Star Constellation and sabotage her formation! Wisdom Path is no trivial matter — the struggle at the Mad Demon Cavern made that abundantly clear. We truly cannot allow her to deploy an Immortal formation without a hitch."
Giant Sun gave an ambiguous response: "An excellent suggestion. In that case, Fellow Daoist Great Love, have you considered the Hundred-Footed Celestial Lord's earlier proposal?"
Fang Yuan laughed: "Everything is negotiable. I have no shortage of Blood Path achievements and Blood Path Immortal Gu in my possession."
Giant Sun had been seeking Blood Path resources all along. With Fang Yuan now making concessions, Giant Sun smiled faintly — and immediately contacted Star Constellation.
"Demon Venerable Refinement Heaven just reached out to me, proposing that we join forces to attack your formation, Fellow Daoist Star Constellation. I wonder what your thoughts are?" Giant Sun sold Fang Yuan out without hesitation.
Star Constellation gave another cold snort inwardly, then deployed the same method — turning to negotiate with Giant Sun as well.
The three Venerables continued their endless bargaining, scheming against one another.
As a Wisdom Path Gu Cultivator, Star Constellation naturally held the edge, maintaining a subtle initiative throughout.
In the end, she relinquished a portion of her interests and temporarily pacified both Fang Yuan and Giant Sun.