The great hall at the bottom of the Qi Sea.
Representatives from every faction within the Righteous Qi Alliance, along with numerous wills, had gathered together to discuss how to resolve the Legacy Poison Ant Calamity.
The ant plague had only just been discovered, and none of the major families had any good solution to offer.
Gradually, all eyes turned toward Old Ancestor Qi Hai.
The Cave Lords whose great bases were located within the Two Heavens clenched their teeth and implored Old Ancestor Qi Hai to make decisions on their behalf.
The ant plague had ravaged nearly every Cave Lord of the Two Heavens, and these people were essentially Old Ancestor Qi Hai's direct lineage within the Righteous Qi Alliance. As for the local forces of the Eastern Sea, only the Song family, Ruolai, and the Cai family had truly suffered.
Thus, the Eastern Sea Gu Immortals deduced: "Could this method have originated within the Two Heavens? The Song family, Ruolai, and the Cai family only fell victim because they relied on the Ascension Field."
Not a single person suspected Old Ancestor Qi Hai.
After all, those who had truly suffered were Old Ancestor Qi Hai's closest subordinates, the faction most closely aligned with him in the entire Righteous Qi Alliance.
Old Ancestor Qi Hai was silent for a moment before speaking: "The ant plague must be resolved. In this old man's estimation, the danger posed by this ant plague is even more severe than the Qi Power Fruit from before. So long as the Qi Power Fruit doesn't detonate, the blessed lands suffer no loss. But this ant plague erodes every Gu Immortal and every family's accumulated foundation, moment by moment."
"Among those present, some fellow immortals have not yet been affected. But if we fail to find a solution in time, eventually no one will be spared!"
Every immortal in the hall wore a grim expression.
Gu Immortals were all people of discernment. Every word Old Ancestor Qi Hai had spoken, they agreed with. If not for that, they wouldn't have come so eagerly to deliberate on this matter.
The ant plague was like a great fire. Though it only burned a portion of them for now, if the fire wasn't extinguished in time, the flames would inevitably spread to everyone.
Old Ancestor Qi Hai continued: "Resolving this ant plague is nothing like the Qi Power Fruit calamity. With the Qi Power Fruit, I myself could still lend some effort. But this ant plague falls outside the scope of the Qi Path. Therefore, we can only rely on everyone here — on ourselves — working together to overcome this calamity."
"We must summon the Wisdom Path Gu Immortals from every family to join forces in deduction. Throughout the entire process, whatever Immortal Gu, Killer Moves, or even powerful Gu Immortals from particular paths are needed — even a certain True Inheritance to assist — every family must provide their full support. None may cling to old ways."
Old Ancestor Qi Hai's expression grew ever more grave: "If we cannot resolve it entirely, then in the short term we must at least suppress and delay the ant plague. And if even suppression fails, then we shall have no choice but to go to war once again with the Grand Alliance of Foreign Races!"
His tone was resolute, his expression unwavering.
The atmosphere in the great hall grew heavy and oppressive.
None of the Gu Immortals spoke.
Old Ancestor Qi Hai's proposal was entirely reasonable.
The true terror of the ant plague lay in the corrosive effect it had on the Gu Immortals' accumulated foundations.
If they could not delay and suppress it, the longer time dragged on, the stronger the ant plague would grow, and the more devastatingly the Righteous Qi Alliance's strength would be whittled away.
In time, a power gap would form between the Righteous Qi Alliance and the Grand Alliance of Foreign Races. If they didn't attack early, use killing to stop killing, and drag the Grand Alliance of Foreign Races down into the fray, the Righteous Qi Alliance would eventually lack the strength for any direct confrontation!
The Legacy Poison Ant Calamity Killer Move encompassed multiple paths and also consumed the Freedom Heavenly Mark. This Killer Move was of strategic caliber — its power was truly terrifying.
"Go to war with the Grand Alliance of Foreign Races? That means going to war with Gu Yue Fang Yuan, with Wu Shuai, and the rest!"
"How could we possibly be Fang Yuan's match? Even Demon Venerable You Hun fell at his hands!"
"But if we don't fight, are we just going to wait for death?"
"This is no longer something we get to choose. That fiend Fang Yuan has pushed us too far!"
"No — even the Heavenly Court couldn't do anything about Fang Yuan. Our Righteous Qi Alliance, though we have great numbers..."
"Isn't Fang Yuan still recuperating?"
"Perhaps we could request the Heavenly Court's aid?"
"Hmph. The Heavenly Court is hardly worthy of its position as leader of the Righteous Path. The Alliance Master contacted them long ago, proposing to join forces against the Grand Alliance of Foreign Races, and they've been stalling this whole time."
"In my view, the best outcome is for all our families to work together and resolve this ant plague!"
"Fang Yuan may be behind this, but he hasn't acted personally. This is merely a probe. We must resolve the ant plague swiftly and flawlessly, and show Fang Yuan our strength!"
The immortals in the great hall discussed animatedly, gradually reaching a consensus.
A fight to the death with the Grand Alliance of Foreign Races — not one of them wanted that.
The Gu Immortals of the Eastern Sea were of a different temperament from those of the Northern Plains.
Moreover, every family was currently scrambling to seize and compete for the True Inheritance fragments that had been exposed. They were all busy beyond measure — why not strengthen themselves? Why throw their lives away?
When it came to ordinary combat, there had to be a chance of winning, a glimmer of hope, before one would risk the fight.
But fighting Fang Yuan to the death?
That wasn't the other party dying — that was courting your own death!
Though none of the Gu Immortals from the various families stated it outright, their underlying views were essentially unanimous.
The Heavenly Court's humiliation and the death of Demon Venerable You Hun had thoroughly proven just how terrifying, vicious, and cunning Fang Yuan truly was.
The Eastern Sea Gu Immortals did not know that Demon Venerable You Hun's true body still survived. They believed that Fang Yuan had managed to kill even a former Venerable — his power was simply too great, a demonic might that towered to the heavens.
Truly, unless there was absolutely no other choice, they did not want to provoke such an existence!