Northern Plains.
Eternal Life.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable held an information-path mortal Gu in his hand, his expression calm, though inwardly he sighed softly: "To think that I, a Venerable, would find myself paying attention to a mere Sixth Transformation independent cultivator from the Northern Plains—and that I can't do anything about him for the time time being."
By Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's temperament and disposition, any Gu Immortal who openly traded with Fang Yuan was practically daring him to a duel!
In the past, this Gu Immortal would have been dead beyond dead long ago.
A Venerable's dignity permitted no insult whatsoever.
But now…
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable summoned an Eight Extremes child. "Go. Secretly relay my orders to all Supreme Golden Clans: make every effort to approach and recruit this individual. Whoever succeeds will receive a special reward from me."
"Yes." The Eight Extremes child immediately accepted the command and withdrew respectfully.
At a time like this, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable could not make any public statement—it would benefit neither himself nor Eternal Life.
But he could have the Supreme Golden Clans do it on his behalf.
This was the seasoned political craft of the Righteous Path.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable understood clearly: Fang Yuan's Great Love Gu-refinement scheme could not be stopped. It was a brazen, open stratagem—the hearts of those hungry for Immortal Gu were impossible to sway.
If Giant Sun Immortal Venerable tried to stop it, or ordered the execution of this Northern Plains independent cultivator, then Eternal Life would lose the hearts of the people entirely.
In the short term, perhaps the situation could be suppressed—but the more it was suppressed, the deeper that resentment would accumulate, and the moment it finally erupted, it would bring even greater trouble to Eternal Life.
In the end, it would produce this outcome— The vast majority of independent cultivators and demonic cultivators in the Northern Plains would seek open trades with Fang Yuan. After completing their trades, these Gu Immortals would immediately withdraw from the Northern Plains and head to the four other regions. Most likely, they would go to the Eastern Sea, which Fang Yuan controlled.
This was tantamount to Fang Yuan using Immortal Gu as bait—fishing the Northern Plains' independent cultivators and demonic cultivators one by one into the Eastern Sea, bolstering the scale of the Great Love Alliance of Heaven and Earth.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable would naturally never fall for such a trap so easily.
"This brat Fang Yuan is truly arrogant—insufficient Immortal Essence, yet he still picks fights. Hmph. He must be given a taste of his own medicine!"
If the battle for the Crazed Demon Cave had shown Giant Sun Immortal Venerable the extent of Fang Yuan's combat prowess, then now he felt the full sting of Fang Yuan's ruthless and sharp political acumen.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable thought for a moment, then sent an information-path Immortal Gu flying from his own immortal aperture.
The Immortal Gu shot away at top speed, heading straight for Central Continent.
Central Continent. Heavenly Court.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was also dealing with Fang Yuan's gambit.
She summoned He Fengyang and personally offered him a few words of encouragement, directly assigning him his mission.
When He Fengyang left the Heavenly Court, he was still in a daze.
The task Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had given him was to openly trade with Fang Yuan and refine new Immortal Gu!
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's response was even more decisive than Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's.
Since Fang Yuan had declared that he would show Great Love to the world—refining Gu for anyone, friend or foe alike—then the Heavenly Court might as well go with the flow. This open stratagem was something the Heavenly Court could not stop for the time being, so seizing the opportunity to profit was the wise choice.
Of course, neither the Heavenly Court nor Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would publicly trade with Fang Yuan. Some face had to be maintained, after all—they had only just declared Fang Yuan a Demonic Venerable.
He Fengyang would trade with Fang Yuan, and whether the deal succeeded or failed, the Heavenly Court would simply turn a blind eye, cultivating an ambiguous political stance that appeared unconcerned with the actions of members of the Ten Great Ancient Sects.
This way, the Ten Great Ancient Sects could participate and obtain multiple Immortal Gu, which would be a great boon to Central Continent's strength.
If Fang Yuan refused, or set unreasonably exorbitant terms, that would clearly contradict his earlier declarations, thoroughly undermining Fang Yuan's credibility.
Weakening Fang Yuan's appeal—naturally, that was a victory for the Heavenly Court.
"Greetings, Immortal Venerable." Qin Dingling appeared, bringing with her two information-path Immortal Gu.
"Oh?" After reading them, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable fell into thought.
The first one came from the Wu Clan of the Southern Border.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable read it and understood: it was the Supreme Grand Elder of the Wu Clan, the current Southern Alliance leader Wu Yong, proposing an open trade with the Heavenly Court.
Wu Yong seemed to have forgotten that he had once led the Southern Alliance into battle against the Heavenly Court during the War of Destiny!
A faint glimmer of appreciation passed through Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's eyes.
"This Wu Yong is indeed a remarkable individual."
"First he openly trades with Fang Yuan, and then turns around to trade with our Heavenly Court."
"Ambitious indeed…"
"But very well—agreeing to this also benefits the Heavenly Court."
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable immediately decided to trade with Wu Yong.
On one hand, it demonstrated her attitude: she and the Heavenly Court were tolerant of any Gu Immortal who traded with Fang Yuan.
On the other hand, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was also winning Wu Yong over. Wu Yong was growing close to Fang Yuan—if she refused, the Wu Clan would likely be easily lured into Fang Yuan's camp.
That was not something Star Constellation Immortal Venerable wished to see.
As for the second information-path Immortal Gu, it came from Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
The message was simple: Giant Sun Immortal Venerable wished to join forces with Star Constellation Immortal Venerable to deal with Fang Yuan together.
Of course, this was not a random, causeless proposal for alliance.
After all, during the battle for the Crazed Demon Cave, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had already been fighting in concert against Fang Yuan after his ascension to Venerable status.