201 RI

Fang Yuan roughly skimmed through the accounts, increasing his understanding of the forces around him. He then asked Wu An and Lady White Rabbit to leave.

"Lord, there is a matter, I don't know if I should speak of it or not." Before leaving, Wu An spoke with some hesitation.

"Speak." Fang Yuan was straightforward.

Wu An reported to Fang Yuan that there were some rumors recently saying that Chi clan Gu Immortal Chi Shang was coming over to inspect the super Gu formation.

Fang Yuan immediately understood Wu An's meaning, and waved for him to leave.

"Qiao Si Liu has many pursuers, this Chi Shang is the most important one among them."

"He has never taken the initiative to do an inspection, this time, he is most likely coming over to find trouble with me."

However, righteous path Gu Immortals could not disregard all considerations and engage in life and death battle. At most, there would be a drop in reputation.

"At worst, I will give up my reputation and avoid fighting." Fang Yuan rubbed his chin: "But I also need to prevent my secrets from being exposed. After all, this super Gu formation was built under the leadership of Chi clan. Among Southern Border's super forces, Chi clan is absolutely the number one force in formation path."

Fang Yuan already understood those mortal formation path contents clearly, and there were only a few things which he could not understand completely.

However, when he looked at this super Gu formation he was in, there was still no change, he was still dazzled like an ant facing a vast river of stars.

Chi clan's first supreme elder had personally set up this super Gu formation, he was a great grandmaster in formation path!

Chi Shang's arrival was quicker than everyone's expectations.

A banquet to welcome him was essential.

Because Chi Shang represented Chi clan in this trip, what's more, he was responsible for inspecting around the super Gu formation to see if there were any defensive flaws and so on.

During the banquet, everyone interacted with each other, portraying a cohesive gathering on the outside, but secretly, there were undercurrents brewing.

The perceptive people knew this was not originally Chi Shang's task, but he had taken the initiative for this duty. Everyone in Southern Border knew Chi Shang was pursuing Qiao Si Liu, but in these recent times, there were rumors of Wu Yi Hai being very close with Qiao Si Liu.

Chi Shang's objective in this trip was self-evident.

But unfortunately, Fang Yuan did not partake in this banquet, instead holed up in the Gu formation, continuing to explore the dream realm.

Many people interested in this could not help but be disappointed at not being able to see a good show.

Ba De slowly put down his cup: "Nephew Chi Shang, I have already introduced all the Gu Immortals here to you, they are all elites. Unfortunately, there is still one person who has not appeared today, this person is even more outstanding. He came from Eastern Sea, and later on, became a part of our Southern Border. Recently, he has defeated Xia Fei Kuai and Mountain Moving Old Monster, and is the head of Wu clan here."

All the Gu Immortals in the banquet felt a jolt in their minds, they all knew precisely whom Ba De was talking about.

Chi Shang wore a white robe, he had a handsome face, deep eyes and an aquiline nose, giving him a dark and devious aura. He was a hundred and sixty years old by now.

Old Treeman Ba De was much older than him. Chi clan and Ba clan were also united by marriage, thus Ba De was not randomly addressing Chi Shang by calling him nephew.

Chi Shang smiled: "I have also heard of the great name of Wu Yi Hai. It is truly regretful that I could not meet him today. But I will be here for some time, and I will also be inspecting all around the Gu formation. At that time, I will definitely meet Wu Yi Hai."

Chi Shang showcased initiative, immediately making everyone think over this: Fang Yuan, who was hiding away, looked quite weak-willed, compared to Chi Shang.

The banquet ended, Wu An and Wu Liao were aggrieved, and both requested to have an audience with Fang Yuan.

They had a very uncomfortable time in this banquet. They were cast aside by the others and even taunted, the only thing missing was nobody asking them for a spar.

"Oh? Since that is the case, then I shall hold a banquet tomorrow, send an invitation to Chi Shang." Fang Yuan thought for a bit, before speaking.

Wu An and Wu Liao glanced at each other, they felt excited as they retreated with Fang Yuan's order.

Only Fang Yuan, alone, remained in the large hall.

He walked to the depths of the hall and looked at the dream realm.

He had already explored more than half of this formation path dream realm.

After using unravel dream, Fang Yuan had passed through the third, fourth and fifth stages.

The main contents of the dream realm were Tu Shi Cheng teaching his son about formation path. His education style was brutal and harsh, using survival to forcefully stimulate his son's potential, Fang Yuan had suffered so much from this that he no longer had the energy to curse.

Unravel dream had outstanding effects indeed, these stages were no obstacle to Fang Yuan, letting Fang Yuan's current formation path attainment soar once again. He had not only stepped into master level, he even went one step further, becoming a quasi-grandmaster.

"But I still am a long way from truly reaching formation path grandmaster level." Fang Yuan had an extremely clear sensation of this.

Towards the later stages, attainment levels became increasingly difficult to raise.

"This dream realm is still not over, according to its size, there are at least two stages left!"

"This Tu Shi Cheng's son was truly amazing, his formation path attainment was definitely above grandmaster level."

"But recently, Chi Shang has been inspecting the various places of the Gu formation, I should restrain myself a bit and stop exploring the dream realm."

After all, this super Gu formation was constructed mainly by Chi clan, Fang Yuan was still not able to thoroughly understand this super Gu formation, so it was better for him to be careful.

Fang Yuan knew that once the secret of him being able to effectively explore dream realms was exposed, it would create an extremely huge impact.

At that time, not only Southern Border, the other four regions would also be shaken and would mobilize their forces to find him.

"Wu Yi Hai is inviting me to a banquet tomorrow?" Looking at Wu An, Chi Shang smiled.

"I appreciate Wu Yi Hai's good intention, but... forgive me, I am on official business and have to prioritize it, wait for me to finish inspecting the Gu formation, after that, I can visit to thank him for his hospitality." Chi Shang refused Fang Yuan's invitation with a slight smile on his face.

Wu An felt helpless, as he left with a face filled with anger and embarrassment, he reported this to Fang Yuan.

Chi Shang's action was slightly overboard and had slapped Wu clan's face. This made both Wu Liao and Wu An indignant.

The other clans' Gu Immortals, however, were secretly laughing at this, anticipating a good show.

Regardless, Fang Yuan was calm the whole time.

He indifferently looked at Wu An and Wu Liao: "Since that is the case, then we shall wait."

He did not look the least bit angry.

"But..." Wu An and Wu Liao were inwardly anxious, feeling like their face had been torn by Chi Shang, but since Fang Yuan did not look anxious at all, they could only take their leave.

Although Fang Yuan could not continue exploring the dream realm, he still had a lot of other things to do.

For instance, constructing coiling thread caves to expand the scale of regretful spiders.

This was to be the sovereign immortal aperture's second large scale resource expansion.

Fang Yuan had been preparing for it these last days.

It was all to construct an environment that was suitable for ordinary spiders to qualitatively transform into regretful spiders.

According to Dong Fang tribe's method, constructing coiling thread caves required setting up a Gu formation, and it also required a rank six immortal material, dark soft silk, and a rank seven immortal material, regret water rock.

Fang Yuan had already gathered dark soft silk and regret water rocks, he had paid a large amount of immortal essence stones as well as some other immortal materials for them.

Next was setting up the Gu formation.

This was clearly a Gu formation that concerned immortal materials.

Normally speaking, this kind of Gu formation which relied upon immortal materials could only be deduced and created by a grandmaster level formation path Gu Immortal. And a great grandmaster formation path Gu Immortal could construct a Gu formation using the natural dao marks in the world as the foundation.

Prior to exploring the formation path dream realm, Fang Yuan felt like he was looking at an illegible book when he considered this Gu formation. But now, he understood it clearly, after all, he had quasi-grandmaster attainment.

Moreover, Fang Yuan still had some inspiration.

"Maybe I can improve this Gu formation and add in perseverance Immortal Gu! According to the principle of this Gu formation, if I add in perseverance Immortal Gu, the production of regretful spiders will at least multiply by eight."

Fang Yuan's heart thumped with excitement at such a concept.

If he could achieve this target, then the regretful spider business would surpass the dragonfish. The profits it could bring Fang Yuan could surpass even the guts Gu business.

This seemed to be exaggerated, but if looked at carefully, it was true!

Guts Gu's production was restricted by the quality and the quantity of souls. Currently, Lang Ya Sect was killing desolate beasts in Tai Qiu and using their souls as the resources to produce guts Gu. They were also bringing in some souls from treasure yellow heaven as well as the northern icy plain as replenishment.

The key point was there was Western Desert's Xiao clan, which could take in all the regretful spiders even if its supply was much higher.

There was no need to worry about the sales of regretful spiders, furthermore, Fang Yuan had a collaborative relationship with Xiao clan.

Fang Yuan started deducing.

But soon, he ran into a problem.

He was unable to arrange a part of the Gu formation, this already surpassed his limits regardless of how many wisdom path methods he used.

"I am only a quasi-grandmaster, if I were a grandmaster, I would have the foundation to modify this Gu formation." Fang Yuan realized.

"But although I am not a formation path grandmaster, there is someone nearby who has this attainment level."

This person was none other than Chi Shang!

After Chi Shang refused Fang Yuan's invitation, he started patrolling all the places around the super Gu formation.

Every stationed Gu Immortal welcomed Chi Shang warmly.

Chi Shang was intentionally delaying his inspection. Everyone knew that the longer he delayed, the more Wu clan's face would be lost.

Naturally, it was Wu Yi Hai that Chi Shang held hostility towards, not Wu clan.

A love rival!

"Wu Yi Hai, you think of yourself as so high and mighty, you look down on me. By inviting me, do you think I will scuttle towards you? Hmph! I want you to come look for me personally!" Chi Shang had such an intention in his mind.

But soon, this plan of his was destroyed.

Because Fang Yuan's letter of challenge was in his hands.

In the letter, Fang Yuan wrote: I once toured scenic spots with Fairy Si Liu, and in that time, your name was mentioned. Fairy Si Liu praised you as a genius in formation path, but I, Wu Yi Hai, don't accept that. I have created a formation path problem, let's see if you can answer it. If you can, then it is your win. If you can't, it is your loss, I will be informing Fairy Si Liu of this result when I return.

Chi Shang completely lost it!

"Wu Yi Hai, as expected, you could not take it any more."

"But you actually want to use formation path to trouble me?"

"You, a transformation path Gu Immortal, want to use formation path to embarrass me? What gave you the guts?!"

"You are asking for your own humiliation! I will definitely tell Fairy Si Liu of your loss and prove my, Chi Shang's, strength!!"

-x-X-x-

Chi Shang felt he was humiliated.

Yes, humiliated!

At present, in the entire Southern Border Gu Immortal world, who did not know of Wu Yi Hai's identity? Who was not aware he cultivated transformation path? But now, Fang Yuan did not use his primary cultivation to trouble Chi Shang, but instead picked Chi Shang's most proficient domain.

This was like saying: I don't need to use transformation path to trouble you, because you simply can't compare to me!

The disdain overflowed in this challenge.

He could not take it!

This could not be endured!

Chi Shang's eyes were wide open as he pinched Fang Yuan's information path Gu worm and mumbled: "Let me see what problem you brought out."

"Eh? This is quite something..."

Soon, a trace of solemness appeared on Chi Shang's face.

As far as he was concerned, Fang Yuan's question was quite challenging.

But soon, Chi Shang settled himself: "No wonder he is confident of using formation path to harass me. This problem is slightly difficult."

"He made this problem? That should not be possible! His main cultivation is transformation path, it should be a Wu clan formation path Gu Immortal behind him who created this problem. Hmph, with his identity as Wu Yong's brother, how could Wu clan's Gu Immortals not help him?"

Although Wu clan was not specialized in formation path, as long as it was a super force, they would have some involvement in formation path.

Because super forces needed to guard their resource points, and had a large scale demand for Gu formations.

"But even if a Wu clan Gu Immortal helped you, so what? In terms of the clan's strength, my Chi clan is indeed slightly inferior. But if just comparing formation path attainment, my Chi clan is undoubtedly in first place in Southern Border!"

Chi Shang felt intense pride towards his clan.

He gathered all his senses and dived into Fang Yuan's problem.

The more he pondered, the more he lost himself.

With his analysis, he had divided the problem into dozens of segments.

"Normal methods cannot be used to solve the issue of water and fire opposing each other."

"The whole Gu formation demands a circular formation, a square formation can be discarded..."

"How to solve this difficulty?"

"Hiss... this is slightly difficult."

"But this can't defeat me!"

Chi Shang's fighting spirit soared high like he had been injected with adrenaline, he inwardly told himself that he had to teach Fang Yuan a fierce lesson!

Let him know that he, Chi Shang, could not be humiliated!

"Lord, the evening banquet that Luo clan's Gu Immortals invited you to is going to start soon. We should be on our way." At this time, a rank six Gu Immortal of Chi clan, Chi Liu, reminded Chi Shang from outside the door.

"Not going, not going!" Chi Shang did not even raise his head, he refused while continuing to deduce the problems in his mind.

"But, we already agreed..." Chi Liu hesitated.

"I said I am not going. Leave." Chi Shang impatiently replied.

Chi Liu could only helplessly leave.

Chi Shang took in a deep breath, looking at the formation path problem Fang Yuan sent him, his eyes brightened as he mumbled: "What good is there in a banquet? The important thing is to defeat him! The faster I can solve this problem, the better it is. You, you dare to humiliate me!"

The night passed like this.

Chi Shang had not slept the whole time, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair was in a mess and he was extremely tired.

With a Gu Immortal's physique, it did not matter if they stayed up all night. But Chi Shang was rather exhausted, he had not rested even a moment during this night, and had put in all his effort to deduce and plan, taxing both his mind and energy.

"This problem is indeed slightly difficult. But... I have already solved it. Hahaha, you dare to mess with me! I will let you taste my awesomeness!"

Despite being exhausted, Chi Shang was extremely excited and laughed heartily.

He could not wait to see how Fang Yuan would respond.

"I will go right now and enjoy your expression!"

Chi Shang walked to the entrance when he suddenly stopped.

"Hmm? No! I am standing against Wu Yi Hai right now, we are like generals, how could I take the initiative to visit him? My reputation will be lost! I need to send a subordinate..."

Soon after, Chi clan rank six Gu Immortal Chi Liu arrived in Chi Shang's study.

"Little Liu, send this to Wu Yi Hai. Haha, I want to teach him a lesson!" Chi Shang instructed.

Chi Liu quickly agreed.

His cultivation level was lower than Chi Shang, and he knew Chi Shang was the hope of Chi clan in formation path. Chi clan's first supreme elder, Chi Qu You, had said a few times in the past that Chi Shang would inherit his legacy.

The significance of these words was huge.

Chi Qu You was a formation path great grandmaster, him acknowledging Chi Shang meant Chi Shang was very likely to become a formation path great grandmaster as well.

Chi Shang also did not let down the clan.

He had displayed his talents and aptitude in formation path since a young age, and with the clan's resources being poured into him, he cultivated hard all year round and did not slack. After receiving Chi clan's nurturing, his current formation path attainment was not to be underestimated.

"Hmm... relaxing." Fang Yuan slowly woke up and stretched out his arms.

Although his soul had the protection of guts Gu, it would become agitated when used too much.

Guts Gu was not able to resolve this, but sleep could restore the soul's calmness.

After Fang Yuan had a night's sleep, his exhausted state was swept away, and his mind was vigorous again.

Chi Shang's information path mortal Gu had already been delivered while he was asleep.

When Fang Yuan glanced at it, a look of pleasant surprise flashed past his eyes: "Oh? He indeed solved it!"

"This speed is quite fast."

Fang Yuan sighed as he then immersed himself into the information and started studying it.

His eyes shined repeatedly as he gained great enlightenment from Chi Shang's solution.

"So it was like this!" Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, this was a completely new thought process and it opened a new window to him.

"According to this thought process, this answer is still not suitable for my entire Gu formation, I need to make slight adjustments in some areas."

Fang Yuan inwardly pondered.

He did not give the whole Gu formation to Chi Shang, and only took out parts of it for Chi Shang to solve.

Chi Shang's answers had no errors, but there would still be deviations when the entire Gu formation was arranged.

However, Fang Yuan's formation path attainment level was already at quasi-grandmaster, and using the foundation of these answers, he fully could make some adjustments.

Chi Shang was a grandmaster, and Fang Yuan a quasi-grandmaster, there was not a huge difference between the two. If the difference was too high, it would be impossible to modify the formation.

It was just like how Fang Yuan currently saw this super Gu formation that covered the dream realm, it was still a mystery to him, he could not understand a thing.

Fang Yuan made huge gains by receiving the answer to the issue that was troubling him.

"Indeed worthy of being Southern Border's Chi clan." He mumbled, praising Chi Shang's formation path attainment.

With this problem solved, Fang Yuan could continue his plan to modify the Gu formation.

His mind was calm and serene, as he began deducing once again.

A few days passed like this.

Chi Shang was very anxious.

After he sent the answer, he had been waiting for Fang Yuan's reply. But, even after some days, he had not received a response, he did not even feel he could taste his food and drinks properly.

"What is Wu Yi Hai playing at?" Chi Shang mumbled.

"Chi Shang, what did you say?" In the banquet, a Luo clan Gu Immortal asked in confusion.

Chi Shang slowly came to his senses, only then realizing he was still in the banquet.

He had refused a banquet invitation from Luo clan before, but after solving Fang Yuan's problem, he came to attend one.

He had to attend it, otherwise, was it not the same as not giving face to Luo clan?

Gu Immortal Chi Gui, who was sitting at the side, quickly mediated: "Forgive us, Chi Shang has always been like this. His mind often wanders, sometimes he even forgets to eat when he is thinking of a formation path problem. He would stand still all of a sudden, and it can happen even while he is walking."

Chi Gui had rank seven cultivation, and was the leader of the Chi clansmen stationed here.

The Luo clan Gu Immortal laughed loudly: "I have heard about Chi Shang's behavior. He is indeed a formation path genius. Sigh, if my Luo clan could produce one or two geniuses with just twenty or thirty percent of Chi Shang's talents, I would be content."

Meanwhile, Fang Yuan's brows were tightly furrowed.

He ran into another problem.

"It seems modifying this Gu formation is already beyond my limits."

Fang Yuan had encountered a new problem, and this one was much more difficult than the previous one.

He could still make an attempt for the previous one, but this time, he did not even think to attempt it as his ideas were too unreliable.

"Since that is the case, let's hand it to Chi Shang." Fang Yuan smiled.

"It's here, it's here." When Chi Shang returned to Chi clan's station, he soon got Fang Yuan's information path mortal Gu.

His eyes brightened in excitement.

"Do you think it was easy for me!"

"Even I was getting impatient from waiting."

Chi Shang sneered while feeling proud. Right now, he was like a winner picking up his battle spoils.

However, after his consciousness entered and he learned of the contents in the information path mortal Gu, his eyes opened wide in anger.

"What is Wu Yi Hai saying!"

"He is actually acting so shamelessly?!"

Chi Shang immediately cursed.

In the letter, Fang Yuan did not mention a single word about the previous challenge letter, instead, he casually admitted Chi Shang had some ability. Naturally, it could also be Chi Shang getting lucky.

"If you can solve this problem, I will admit you have the qualifications to pursue Fairy Si Liu." This was what was written in the letter.

At the mention of Qiao Si Liu, Chi Shang was even more unable to endure it.

"Are my qualifications up to you to decide?"

"Wu Yi Hai, I misjudged you. You shameless guy!"

Chi Shang felt like Fang Yuan was standing in front of him, sneering in disdain and looking down on him.

He suddenly had a strong impulse to rip apart Fang Yuan!

"Still mentioning going on a sightseeing tour with Si Liu. Even I have only traveled once with Si Liu. Damn this guy..."

Chi Shang paced around the study, gritting his teeth in resentment.

He almost crushed the information path mortal Gu in his hand.

But he thought for a moment and withstood this impulse.

"If I crush this Gu, wouldn't it be satisfying Wu Yi Hai's wish?"

"Hmph, he was not able to create difficulties for me, he is definitely afraid of me now, so he is intentionally saying this."

"Right! Me giving up is probably what he wants to see."

"I can't let that happen, I will continue to win and make him completely admit his defeat. Make him fully realize my strength!"

"Of course, to prevent him from acting shamelessly again, I must make this matter public, the more people that know of it, the better."

Chi Shang learned from his mistake.

The origin of this matter was a dispute about a girl, Chi Shang had also found it slightly embarrassing, but now, he was willing to throw caution to the wind against Fang Yuan!

-x-X-x-

Chi clan's area, in the study room.

Chi Liu had been summoned, and after hearing Chi Shang's intention, he said with an awkward expression: "Lord, is that good? Our Chi clan and Wu clan's relation... is still quite good. At least, even with Wu clan's current situation, our Chi clan has been maintaining neutrality."

"So what? Other clans can make a move, but our Chi clan can't?" Chi Shang was getting angry.

Chi Liu thought to himself: "Lord Chi Shang is truly like what the rumors said. What should I do now?"

While thinking, Chi Liu said: "I understand lord's mood, but over here, hehe, we have some business where we have been closely collaborating with Wu clan. If we just suddenly fall out..."

Chi Shang immediately came to a realization.

"Oh."

"You are talking about the dream realm business?"

Chi Liu nodded: "Lord is wise."

Wu clan wanted to do dream realm business for some income under the table, but how could their actions be unnoticed by Chi clan?

The Immortal Gu used in this super Gu formation belonged to Southern Border's super clans, but the Gu formation itself was personally set up by Chi clan's first supreme elder.

Although Chi clan contributed few Immortal Gu, as far as this super Gu formation was concerned, they had an enormous influence.

Thus, Wu clan had to bring in Chi clan if they wanted to do this dream realm business. Chi clan's Gu Immortals had much more understanding of the Gu formation, if they were not brought in, this business could not be done.

Chi Shang sighed inwardly: "No wonder first supreme elder had once said that it is hard to fathom the minds of people. Sigh, Chi Liu is a fellow Chi clan Gu Immortal, but for personal gains, he is actually not standing on my side."

His expression was gloomy, it was hard to resolve the matter now.

He wanted to publicly fall out with Fang Yuan, but he encountered an obstacle in the first step. What should he do now?

For a moment, Chi Shang was quite helpless.

Because he had taken a position here all of a sudden and had always taken cultivation as his main goal. He had very little contact with other Chi clan Gu Immortals and was always focused on researching formation path, his influence in Chi clan was quite small and could even be said to be the smallest influence among rank seven Gu Immortals.

It was also the first time he had come to this super Gu formation, now, with his lack of connections, as a grand rank seven Gu Immortal, he was actually unable to mobilize Chi Liu.

Chi Liu's mood was quite bad, disobeying a rank seven Gu Immortal, especially when the latter was an important future hope of the clan, he naturally did not feel good.

However, people in low positions naturally had their own survival methods.

Chi Liu thought for a bit and said: "Lord, it is not that I don't want to do this matter on your behalf. It is just that your status is high, once this matter is proclaimed, it will have a great impact. How about this, please let me inform Lord Chi Gui about this matter. He is the leader here, we will listen to his decision, what do you think?"

Chi Liu's tone was humble and polite, and was even subtly flattering Chi Shang.

Chi Shang felt extremely comforted upon hearing this, and nodded: "Alright, then let's see what Lord Chi Gui says."

Chi Gui's brows furrowed when he heard Chi Liu's report.

A fight over a woman, nobody would feel good about involving themselves in a dispute merely over this.

Chi Gui felt quite troubled.

On one hand, his clansman was Chi Shang, he had to show respect because Chi clan's first supreme elder was behind Chi Shang.

On the other hand, if they really escalated this matter, it would no longer be a personal matter, but a political one which could affect the diplomatic relations between Wu clan and Chi clan.

This was a world where the strong were respected and where one individual's strength could surpass a group's.

Thus, politics was also determined by individuals.

Chi Shang and Wu Yi Hai had very high status, a conflict between them was a conflict between Wu clan and Chi clan.

This was not exaggerated at all.

"Especially Wu clan, it is in a difficult situation, being harassed from all sides. If, at this time, my Chi clan joins in, it will damage the neutrality of Chi clan, and not to mention that we will gain poor reputation for kicking someone when they are down, it will also worsen our relation with Wu clan, harming my clan's interests."

"But I also have to appease Chi Shang..."

Chi Gui racked his brains for a while before he actually thought of an idea.

He then secretly gave his idea to Chi Shang: "We cannot make this a big issue, otherwise, the impact will be very bad. Even if we win, we will be making a joke of ourselves. This is, after all, a personal matter, we should deal with this privately. You can tell Fairy Si Liu about the situation. Wu Yi Hai also has affection towards Qiao Si Liu, if you can ask her to be the witness, Wu Yi Hai would absolutely not dare to act shamelessly."

Chi Shang slapped his thigh and shouted: "Great idea!"

Chi Gui smiled, slightly pleased with himself.

From what Chi Gui saw, this method had even more allure to Chi Shang — who did not want to ruthlessly crush their love rival in front of the girl they loved, and gain her attention.

Soon, Chi Shang informed Qiao Si Liu of the matter through an information path Gu worm.

Regardless of what was going on with Fang Yuan, Chi Shang immediately felt enormous pressure.

"Now, Fairy Si Liu knows of this. This is a duel between gentlemen and it was he, Wu Yi Hai, who sent the challenge, she should not feel disgusted, right?"

"I need to quickly complete Wu Yi Hai's challenge!"

"This is my specialty, I absolutely cannot lose."

The enormous pressure became a huge motivation for Chi Shang.

He started concentrating on the problem.

"Is this another part?"

"It has a slight relation to the previous part of that Gu formation."

"It is likely the whole Gu formation was divided into two parts. Damn it, if I knew the whole Gu formation, it would have been much easier. Now, I can only deduce according to this part."

He was getting a headache!

Chi Shang began to use his methods.

He was a formation path Gu Immortal who knew a mystical Gu formation taught to him personally by first supreme elder.

This Gu formation used wisdom path Gu worms as the core, while the supplementary Gu worm was an Immortal Gu.

Normally speaking, be it an immortal killer move or an immortal Gu formation, both used Immortal Gu as the core and mortal Gu as supplementary. However, this Gu formation actually did the opposite.

The supplementary Immortal Gu used was a water path Immortal Gu named Sweat.

The Gu formation's name was wisdom sweat formation. It slowly activated as Chi Shang poured in his immortal essence.

There were no gorgeous lights or sparkles, instead, an intriguing smell that seemed somewhere between fragrant and foul was formed.

The smell grew more intense, shrouding Chi Shang. Gradually, the smell condensed into a fog which covered Chi Shang's face, making him unable to see anything.

For three days and nights, Chi Shang did not sleep or rest, continuing to deduce.

Finally, the fog dissipated and the Gu formation stopped, some mortal Gu were expended and dead, only about ten percent of them remained, which Chi Shang stored back into his immortal aperture, among them was sweat Immortal Gu.

Chi Shang's whole body was soaked with sweat, as if he had been drenched in a rainstorm, his face also looked pale.

But his eyes were shining brightly.

All of a sudden, he raised his head and laughed loudly: "Hahaha. I finally solved it, I will see how you can get out of this, Wu Yi Hai!"

After a while, Fang Yuan received the letter.

"Oh, he got smarter, using Qiao Si Liu to create difficulties for me?"

"Unfortunately, my goal is not her, this little threat is useless."

Fang Yuan soon praised once again.

"Interesting, interesting, this solution is indeed a good method!"

"But why could I not think of it?"

Although Fang Yuan obtained the answer, he did not focus on it, instead he started to evaluate himself.

There were many areas in Chi Shang's solution that Fang Yuan had not been able to grasp. Formation path was extremely vast, the inheritances Fang Yuan obtained were only of mortal level, it was natural for him to not be able to grasp them.

As for Chi clan, they would not lack immortal level formation path inheritances. Moreover, with generations of development, and innovating new things based on the original foundation, they were Southern Border's number one force in formation path.

"But even if I don't have immortal inheritances, if my attainment level can reach grandmaster, I should also be able to solve this problem."

Attainment level was one's understanding of the essence of the Great Dao.

A simple analogy would be the solving of a mathematical problem.

Fang Yuan wanted to modify the Gu formation and achieve his goal, it was like he wanted to reach a number, for example 5.

Despite having the Gu worms, he did not know how to obtain 5. At this time, Chi Shang's answer was 2+3=5.

Fang Yuan came to a realization that he could achieve his target like this.

If his attainment level was enough, even if he did not know, he could rely on his instincts to understand the question from parts, to extrapolate information and obtain the answer of 2+3=5, or 10/2=5.

Naturally, Gu formations were not as simple as this, especially when there were many Gu worms involved, it became harder to arrange them successfully.

The contents of Gu formations were complicated and varied. There were simple Gu formations, compound Gu formations as well as formations within formations, depending on the form, there were square formations, circular formations and so on, depending on the activation style, there were instant activation formations and delayed activation formations. Then, they were divided further according to paths, fire formations, water formations and so on. Some Gu formations were like towers, with layers upon layers of designs. Some Gu formations were easy to modify and were like a set of clothes, modifying them were like sewing a patch. Some Gu formations could not be modified, they were like building blocks and changing one of them could cause the whole Gu formation to collapse. If one sub-divided the Gu formations, the Gu worms involved would become even more complicated. For example, some Gu worms needed to be used together, while some had to be dispersed to influence their respective targets.

By the night of the second day, the eagerly waiting Chi Shang received Fang Yuan's reply.

"This time, with Fairy Si Liu as the witness, I want to see how you will act shamelessly!" Chi Shang impatiently sent his consciousness into the information path mortal Gu.

His face soon brightened up.

Because Fang Yuan had admitted his capabilities in the letter and that he was indeed worthy of Fairy Si Liu's admiration. But, Fang Yuan had also written that Wu clan had people that could do this, and it was not anything strange.

Chi Shang frowned when he saw this, but he was unable to retort since Wu clan indeed had people who could solve the problem.

At this moment, he saw the last paragraph of the letter.

Fang Yuan had put forward a problem again. Moreover, he promised that if Chi Shang could solve this, he would admit Chi Shang was superior to him, even in front of Fairy Si Liu, he would admit he was inferior.

Chi Shang started to breathe in deeply.

He imagined the situation, when he and Wu Yi Hai appeared in front of Qiao Si Liu at the same time, with Wu Yi Hai cupping his fists and saying: I am inferior to you.

A love rival admitting he was inferior.

The more Chi Shang thought of this, the more moved he became.

"Wu Yi Hai has a high status, he is my biggest rival."

"I can win this and defeat him."

"More importantly, Fairy Si Liu is the witness, I don't have to be afraid of Wu Yi Hai reneging on his promise!"

-x-X-x-

Wisdom sweat formation.

Chi Shang set up this Gu formation again, doing his utmost to deduce the formation.

But this time, he met with an unforeseen challenge!

Difficult, it was really difficult, even the first two rounds added together and multiplied by ten could not match this.

Chi Shang felt like he was a baby trying to ascend a tall mountain.

"This difficulty... no wonder Wu Yi Hai is so confident!"

"It is related to the contents of the first two Gu formations."

"No, I must use this chance to humiliate Wu Yi Hai. I will make him admit that he is inferior to me in front of Fairy Si Liu!"

After a day and a night, Chi Shang's eyes were filled with blood vessels, he was doing his best to try and tackle this problem.

At the same time, Fang Yuan was thinking.

"This difficulty, it has likely surpassed the limits of grandmaster attainment level?"

Not long ago, Fang Yuan received Chi Shang's help, he was able to modify the Gu formation of the coiling thread caves, he took a huge step forward, there was an immense breakthrough.

However, right before succeeding, Fang Yuan was met with an unprecedented obstacle.

If the first problem was a pit, the second was a mound, and this final obstacle was a mountain.

Only by climbing to the top and removing the obstacle could he complete the modification of this Gu formation.

This obstacle greatly surpassed Fang Yuan's expectations.

"Hmm... my initial estimation was that if the Gu formation could be deduced, the regretful spider production would be doubled three times."

That was not the same as three times as much. It would increase by seven times, becoming eight times the production of the initial size.

This growth was terrifying. When the Gu formation was created, he would have seven extra coiling thread caves out of nowhere.

Fang Yuan's plan was wonderful, but the realization of it was met with great difficulty.

The first two steps, he managed to complete, but now, he had no clue.

He was just a step from success, how could Fang Yuan give up now? Thus, he placed his attention on Chi Shang.

Many days later, the wisdom sweat formation stopped.

Chi Shang's expression was pale.

His gaze was drifting, there was no light in his eyes.

"Damn it!!" His hair was messy, like growing weed, his expression was of frustration, he gritted his teeth.

Even though he gave it his all, he did not succeed.

This way, he could not beat Fang Yuan, and worse, Qiao Si Liu knew of this third challenge, Chi Shang had already bragged that he would resolve this problem.

If he failed, forget about Wu Yi Hai, but how would he face Qiao Si Liu from now on?

Chi Shang felt an unforeseen pressure weighing on him.

He quickly ate and rested before going back to his deductions again.

Chi clan.

It was to the west of Southern Border, or rather, it was towards the west of all the super forces currently in Southern Border.

Yang clan was the neighbor of Chi clan.

This clan was a neighbor of Wu clan, and was finding trouble with Wu clan recently, conflict arose due to a wild Immortal Gu.

Chi clan, Yang clan, Wu clan.

Following the basic rule of making friends with those far away and making enemies with those close by, Chi clan and Wu clan had always had a good relationship.

The newest information was sent to Chi clan's first supreme elder, Chi Qu You.

Chi Qu You took a look and frowned.

This intel was talking about none other than the challenge from Fang Yuan to Chi Shang in the super Gu formation.

Inside the super Gu formation, Chi clan's leader, Chi Gui, was afraid that conflict between Fang Yuan and Chi Shang would escalate, he had wisely reported this incident to Chi Qu You.

This way, even if the situation worsens, Chi Gui's responsibility would be lowered, after all, he had informed them.

Chi Qu You would divert a portion of his attention to this conflict while he was dealing with complex political matters.

After all, both sides had extraordinary statuses, if this was handled improperly, it would escalate further.

"Chi Shang is troubled, this Gu formation problem is... beyond the abilities of a grandmaster."

The information had recorded Fang Yuan's third formation path issue.

Chi Qu You was a great grandmaster, he only needed a look to spot the difficulty of this problem.

"Together with the first two problems, Wu Yi Hai is trying to create a Gu formation to farm resources. But this person who made the Gu formation is too greedy, they have insufficient attainment level and cannot notice it."

"If I do not say anything to him... with Chi Shang's obsessive nature, he would continue to research it, if he gets injured from this, he might even die."

"Is this Wu clan's scheme?"

"They can see Chi Shang's potential, so they are trying to eliminate our future hope?"

"Mm... with Wu clan's current situation, it is unlikely. But I cannot be careless."

Chi Qu You thought of this, a sharp light shined in his eyes, he muttered: "It seems I have to do something."

A moment later, Chi Gui visited Chi Shang, bringing with him an information path Immortal Gu from Chi Qu You.

"This is first supreme elder's instruction, I have to pass this Immortal Gu to you." Chi Gui said.

Chi Shang blankly received the Immortal Gu, after looking into it, he saw the details and his expression changed, he cried out in surprise: "This is the immortal inheritance left by secluded cultivator Tu Yuan. His earth water wind fire four elements formation is unique to him alone. But it had little reputation, because he kept a low profile, few people knew of it. First supreme elder actually gave this immortal inheritance to me! I asked for it so many times but I did not succeed in the past."

Chi Shang was so excited, he looked into the immortal true inheritance without caring about the outside world.

When he snapped back to awareness, a long time had passed, it was night time already.

"Time passed really quickly, hmm? When did supreme elder Chi Gui leave, hmm, forget it." Chi Shang's eyes shined brightly, unable to be looked at directly.

Chi clan first supreme elder's true inheritance came at a timely moment, it was what Chi Shang needed most right now.

Chi Shang was filled with admiration and gratitude towards Chi Qu You.

"So first supreme elder has been taking notice of me all along."

"He saw that I was in trouble, so he helped me."

"Is this cheating?"

"Probably not. First supreme elder did not help me directly, he only gave me a true inheritance. The inspiration to solve the problem was thought of by me."

"Mm, that's it! I have wasted enough time, I need to quickly resolve this problem and show Wu Yi Hai what I'm capable of!"

Chi Shang was excited and driven, he used the wisdom sweat formation again.

Two days passed, the Gu formation stopped working as Chi Shang walked out angrily.

"So this Gu formation problem cannot be solved!"

"Wu Yi Hai, you dare to scam me!"

"Too devious, too scheming!!"

"Thankfully, with first supreme elder's guidance, I exposed this truth."

Thinking of this, Chi Shang gritted his teeth, he had suffered a lot these last days, he barely slept at all, he was invested in the problem.

But then, he realized this was unsolvable.

Chi Shang felt that Wu Yi Hai had toyed with him, he was very angry.

But soon, he laughed: "That's right, this problem cannot be solved, as long as I expose this fact, I win. In fact, I can tell Fairy Si Liu about this, and embarrass this devious Wu Yi Hai."

Chi Shang immediately acted upon it, sending out two information path mortal Gu.

Fang Yuan received two information path mortal Gu immediately.

The first one was from Qiao Si Liu.

It was not unexpected that Qiao Si Liu sent a letter, after looking at it, he was a bit puzzled.

But then, he thought of something and looked at Chi Shang's letter.

Fang Yuan realized at once.

"This Chi Shang has improved, he actually went to complain about me, telling Qiao Si Liu about the result of this challenge, before sending me this letter. This way, he can prevent me from retaliating? He really has improved."

Fang Yuan's smile faded.

The result was unexpected.

His Gu formation had no solution!

This was a common situation.

Before a deduction succeeds, any new Gu recipe, killer move, Gu formation, they could be unsolvable, they could be impossible to complete. They were merely illusions, there was no possible way of success.

Some problems were easy to tell, but others were not so obvious.

Especially formation path, it used too many Gu worms and paths, it was too complex. Some ideas could not be exposed as unsolvable until the very end.

"Multiplying my production eight times, this idea is hoping for too much, it is not possible."

"Since it is unsolvable, I can only abandon it and find a new modification."

"But forget about it now."

"Since I lost the challenge, I should invite Chi Shang over. This person is quite interesting."

Chi Shang did not even think about it, he agreed to go over for the banquet.

His attitude was different from before.

Initially, he thought that Fang Yuan was too arrogant, he refused to go. But now, he was the winner, he felt that this was an apology banquet, he had to go with the attitude of a winner, to savor the feelings of the loser.

Thus, when he saw Fang Yuan, his first words were: "Wu Yi Hai, will you relent now?"

Fang Yuan rubbed his nose, smiling: "Of course, of course, you are a genius, why would I not relent?"

Chi Shang was shocked, he did not expect Fang Yuan to act like this, he admitted his defeat.

He did not know what to do now. Before this, he had thought of many possible outcomes, and how to deal with Fang Yuan's excuses.

But now, Fang Yuan admitted his defeat, he relented.

Chi Shang felt like he had nothing to say now.

-x-X-x-

The banquet started.

In this small hall, there was only Fang Yuan, Wu An, and Chi Shang, three Gu Immortals. Wu An naturally did not play a key role, the only important thing was that Fang Yuan and Chi Shang were interacting.

Fang Yuan toasted Chi Shang, speaking politely with a smile, he expressed a lot of admiration and praise towards Chi Shang's formation path attainment.

After smiling and admitting defeat, could Chi Shang bear to give him a hard time?

Chi Shang was straightforward and unguarded, unschooled in interacting with others, he drank a lot of wine.

He assessed Fang Yuan, looking at him in a different perspective.

"This Wu Yi Hai is quite a friendly guy. What happened earlier? Was he trying to purposely anger me? Or does he have a request of me?" Chi Shang thought to himself.

"I will not hide it, Chi Shang, talented people like you are the people I admire the most!" Fang Yuan laughed, toasting.

Chi Shang raised his cup and drank before Fang Yuan even drank.

The toasting from earlier had already made Chi Shang used to this subconsciously.

But Fang Yuan's words were nice to hear. Especially when they were love rivals, such praise made Chi Shang feel deep accomplishment.

"No."

"I must be alert!"

"This Wu Yi Hai might be acting, he is very scheming."

Chi Shang did not let down his guard, but no matter how he looked at it, Fang Yuan's smile was full of sincerity.

Hehe, forget about Fang Yuan's acting skills, but don't forget attitude Gu.

"Chi Shang, take a look." Fang Yuan stretched out his arm, handing over an information path mortal Gu to Chi Shang.

"What is this?" Chi Shang muttered, he looked into it and his expression changed.

As it turned out, this was an information path mortal Gu that Fang Yuan was going to send to Qiao Si Liu. He praised Chi Shang in the letter, his admiration was overwhelming, he admitted his own insufficiencies, using formation path questions to challenge Chi Shang was just him overestimating himself, he was truly ignorant and could not see Mount Tai, Chi Shang was a true Southern Border hero.

There was no such thing as 'Mount Tai' in this world, but the meaning was the same.

After Chi Shang saw this letter, he felt embarrassed.

Fang Yuan's praise was too exaggerated.

"Am I really so good?"

"Southern Border hero, why have I never thought of that."

"What would Fairy Si Liu think after she sees this?"

All sorts of thoughts appeared, Chi Shang could not contain his emotions.

When he looked at Fang Yuan again, his gaze transformed.

Fang Yuan directly sat beside him, Chi Shang did not feel any dislike towards this closeness.

"Chi Shang, throughout the Southern Border Gu Immortal world, only you are talented enough for Fairy Si Liu, I am truly in admiration!" Fang Yuan laughed loudly.

"Oh?" Chi Shang did not know what to say, he had joy on his face but also suspicions.

Fang Yuan said again: "But I will not give up, all gentlemen may pursue beautiful and clever women, even though I am less talented than you, I will work harder. You won this time, but we will compete fairly again in the future! What do you think?"

Hearing this, Chi Shang's suspicions faded, he raised his cup for the first time and tasted Fang Yuan: "Yes, fair competition! A contest between gentlemen should be fair and square."

Saying this, he treated Fang Yuan as a gentleman.

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, patting his shoulders: "To speak the truth, I hate the other competitors, but you are different. You are so talented and upright, I admire you. If you can get Fairy Si Liu's love, I will bless you two, because I know that I did not lose unfairly! As for the others, they are just clowns."

Chi Shang was embarrassed from being praised, he rubbed his nose, saying: "Actually, some of them are quite strong."

"Friends are often made after a fight, come, drink!" Fang Yuan raised his cup.

Chi Shang acted even more openly: "Drink!"

He raised his head and gulped, drinking all of the wine in one mouthful.

Next, he burped, his face turned red.

"Awesome!" Fang Yuan gave a thumbs up, pouring wine for Chi Shang again.

He smiled sincerely and enthusiastically, he was very friendly.

But the truth was, he was calm in his mind, he thought about Chi Shang's information.

Wu clan's intelligence was very reliable.

Fang Yuan knew long ago: This Chi Shang had been noticed by Chi Qu You when he was young, he saw the talent that Chi Shang had in formation path, thus he nurtured him deeply.

Chi Shang was known as the 'formation devotee'.

He was chosen when he was a youth, he was sent into a cave in Myriad Snake Mountain to study. He stayed there for thirty years.

When he was forty, he came out and had rank three cultivation level, but he surpassed rank four and five Gu Masters in creating formations, his formation path attainment shocked the entire Chi clan.

Next, his clansmen realized that Chi Shang had actually come out of seclusion because he lost his way and accidentally left the mountain.

His performance resulted in great fame, fortune and women came to him, but he rejected them all, his only request was to return to the cave and continue his formation path research.

This alerted the supreme elders.

Chi Qu You permitted Chi Shang's request, creating a cave solely for him, with attendants and servants to cater to him.

Chi Shang continued his research, he was so engrossed in it, it was shocking, as if formation path was the only joy in his life.

He was invested in it, regardless of what happened outside, he only stayed in his cave, engrossed in his formation path cultivation without seeing daylight.

When his hair turned white and his lifespan was ending, Chi Qu You came to see him and asked: "In this life, did you regret anything? Do you have any requests before dying?

Chi Shang cried loudly, saying: "Life is too short, a hundred years passes by too quickly, my formation path research still has many things left to do, how can I rest in peace? This is my biggest regret."

Chi Qu You sighed in admiration, granting him a lifespan Gu.

Chi Shang obtained it, regaining his youth and lifespan.

Chi Qu You talked to him about formation path, guiding him for three days and three nights before confirming that Chi Shang was the clan's future hope, his formation path attainment could reach great grandmaster in the future!

Chi Qu You did not just say it, he acted on it, nurturing Chi Shang with a lot of resources from the clan.

With the clan's help, Chi Shang's cultivation level rose rapidly, he became an immortal. In a few decades, he became a rank seven Gu Immortal.

Even though he became an immortal, his living habits did not change at all.

He was still invested in formation path, he continued to research it endlessly, his closed cultivations lasted from years to over a decade.

The only shocking thing was that he pursued Qiao Si Liu with a firm attitude.

When news got out, Chi clan was taken aback, to think that other than formation path, Chi Shang actually liked women!

After getting Wu clan's intelligence, Fang Yuan thought that Chi Shang was an interesting person.

With this knowledge, he used a special method to deal with Chi Shang instead.

He did not meet with Chi Shang earlier, it was part of Fang Yuan's scheme. He purposely used the formation path problem to challenge him, that was the second step, and this third step was the banquet.

Chi Shang's performance was not out of Fang Yuan's expectations.

Everything progressed according to plan.

Not long ago, Qiao Si Liu had sent a letter according to Fang Yuan's expectations. As the person involved, Qiao Si Liu had to express her attitude clearly.

Even though she did not state it, in the letter, she talked about her first encounter with Chi Shang.

According to Qiao Si Liu, back then, she visited Chi clan with Qiao clan's orders, she was attended to by Chi clan first supreme elder's son, Gu Immortal Chi Bang.

But to think that this Chi Bang was hitting on Qiao Si Liu by using the beautiful scenery and some poems.

If this were normal times, Qiao Si Liu might not get mad, but now, she was the envoy from Qiao clan, Chi Bang's actions were disrespectful to Qiao clan, Qiao Si Liu felt resentment towards him.

To deal with him, Qiao Si Liu purposely got closer to Chi Shang.

Chi Bang was Chi Qu You's son, the supposed next first supreme elder of Chi clan, he had the second highest authority in the clan, nobody dared to trifle with him except the formation devotee Chi Shang.

Chi Shang did not know about the issue, he had no interest in Qiao Si Liu initially, but she purposely talked to him about formation path, and even explained some of Qiao clan's formation path knowledge.

Chi Shang was deeply attracted, he gained a lot of interest.

Qiao Si Liu used Chi Shang to deal with Chi Bang, Chi Bang could not do anything, he could only apologize to Qiao Si Liu secretly.

Qiao Si Liu completed the clan's mission and returned in success, also gaining a suitor in Chi Shang.

Qiao Si Liu's letter gave Fang Yuan important information, he gained a clearer understanding of Chi clan's internal affairs.

"Chi clan's first supreme elder has limited lifespan, he can no longer use lifespan Gu, but his son, Chi Bang, became an immortal due to his protection, he has limited capability."

"Chi Qu You knows about his son's abilities, but he wants him to become Chi clan's future first supreme elder, thus, after noticing Chi Shang's personality and talent, he decided to invest in him and nurture this formation devotee."

"As long as the formation devotee protects him, Chi Bang will have a good chance of staying first supreme elder. And the formation devotee's admiration and gratitude towards Chi Qu You will make him unable to escape the control of Chi Bang."

"Kinship... hehe."

Qiao Si Liu's letter showed Chi clan's internal political conflicts to Fang Yuan.

And because of this problem, a genius like Chi Shang emerged. At the same time, some questions that Fang Yuan had was answered.

"Come! Wu Yi Hai, let me toast you." At this time, Chi Shang toasted Fang Yuan for the first time, breaking his train of thought.

Chi Shang continued: "You are a very sincere person, when Fairy Si Liu and I get together, you do not need to be too upset. You are very talented, there are lots of women in the world, but few are well learned about formation path!"

-x-X-x-

Chi Shang drank a lot, his face was red, he spoke a lot.

It seemed that after defeating Fang Yuan in this contest, his confidence had risen sharply, he felt that he could obtain the love of his life.

Gu Immortals had all sorts of methods to prevent getting drunk. But that way, the joy of drinking would be gone, and it was very rude to their drinking buddies.

Fang Yuan quickly raised his cup, drinking the wine as he smiled: "If that is the case, I will admit I am unlucky, it was too bad that I had a competitor like you! Sigh..."

Fang Yuan sighed to himself, as if lamenting that the heavens saw fit to put someone so gifted in his way, he expressed that sentiment fully in his act.

Chi Shang laughed loudly, stretching out his arm and patting Fang Yuan's shoulder, consoling him.

Fang Yuan laughed internally.

This Chi Shang was so innocent and pure.

This matter was decided long ago.

As long as Fang Yuan agreed, Qiao Si Liu would enter his embrace, this was a certain thing.

But Qiao Si Liu did not express her intention clearly, because this fairy had her schemes and pride, she wanted to play hard to get, so as to raise her own value.

Actually, Fang Yuan could tell very clearly.

Like this time, Qiao Si Liu's letter was the expression of her attitude.

"Qiao Si Liu is seeing that Chi Shang and I are competing, she is very happy about it. Earlier, she had been watching on the fence, this suited her intentions."

"When I lost, she then took the initiative to tell me about the situation between her and Chi Shang. She wants to console me and let me know that she has no feelings for Chi Shang. It was his one sided affection."

"But this clever woman did not state her attitude clearly, she just talked about a fact to show her purity, while showing that she had a lot of value to her suitors."

It was natural instinct for men to pursue women. How many men pursued her, and the type of men that went after her, these somewhat determined the perceived value of a woman.

"Qiao Si Liu is seeking to be with me, this is not her personal wish, but the political desire of Qiao clan."

"And with just this, I am already ahead of all her suitors."

"No matter how many times I fail, no matter how many women I go after, no matter how weak I am, even if I make a scene like during the moon festival, so what?"

"I am already victorious!"

"In fact, even if I go after another woman instead of Qiao Si Liu, she will turn around and pursue me instead."

"Of course, this is not love, this is... politics!"

Fang Yuan sneered in his mind, he had seen through everything.

But he could not accept this 'love' from Qiao Si Liu.

Once he accepted it, he would be dragged into this vicious political spiral, he would no longer be simply Wu Yi Hai, he would be the key pawn that Qiao clan had inserted into Wu clan to fight for their own benefits.

Wu Yong would no longer give him such a relaxed environment like now, he would keep Fang Yuan under close observation, suppressing him and maintaining alertness against this brother.

If that happened, would Fang Yuan be able to enter the dream realms easily?

Evidently, he could not, he might even get exposed.

And that would lead to greater problems.

Once Fang Yuan's identity was exposed, he would face the attacks of Qiao clan, because they were a righteous path force, they had to keep a clear distance from Fang Yuan, and Wu clan and Qiao clan would try to defend their own reputation by going after Fang Yuan with all their effort, far more than the other clans.

"However, even though I cannot accept it, and won't accept it, I can make use of this 'love'."

Using Qiao Si Liu, Fang Yuan would make Wu Yong more alert, he would arrange for Fang Yuan to be sent back to the super Gu formation, Fang Yuan's goal would be achieved.

Of course, there was nothing perfect in this world, even though this method was brilliant, it had its drawbacks.

Wu Yong's alertness, Luo Mu Zi, Lun Fei, and Chi Shang, as well as Qiao Si Liu's other suitors were all lingering problems.

There was pure love in this world, but it was indeed rare.

When people lived in this world, they had to consider many things.

Qiao Si Liu's beauty, background, cultivation level and others, these were alluring temptations.

Among her suitors, Chi Shang was the purest, but he still considered the element of formation path, not to mention the others.

As for Fang Yuan, he was the most special one.

Chi Shang's arrival was not out of Fang Yuan's expectations.

In fact, he was mentally prepared.

Even without Chi Shang, others were going to come and find problems. Even if they did not come now, they would in the future.

Because Fang Yuan was approaching Qiao Si Liu, and the benefits associated with her, he angered many people. Among these people, there were suitors, and there were forces behind them after the benefits.

As the saying goes, beautiful women are trouble.

A beauty was not easy to pursue.

Only a naive person would think of using love and emotions to conquer a beauty.

Actually, there was far more.

A woman's beauty was her natural dowry.

This dowry was extremely valuable, it was a huge amount of wealth.

Who would not want such wealth?

But not everyone could protect this wealth.

If a beauty was willing to give this wealth to her partner out of pure love, then this lucky person should treat her well.

But the truth was, such situations were too few.

If it happened, treasure it, if it didn't, don't bank on it.

This was not 'unseemly'.

This was — reality.

When Fang Yuan returned to the super Gu formation, he started to think of how to settle the aftermath of this.

A true chessmaster would consider many steps ahead before even moving.

In fact, when Fang Yuan decided to use Qiao Si Liu's 'love' to achieve his goals, he had already started to think of how to resolve the fallout of this issue.

If he handled it badly, Chi Shang would be only the first one here. The second, third, and so on, these people would be unending.

This would be huge interference for Fang Yuan's exploration of the dream realm.

At the same time, Wu Yi Hai's identity restricted Fang Yuan greatly in dealing with these challenges, he could not expose himself during the process.

Fang Yuan needed to resolve this problem carefully and accurately.

How?

It was difficult, and yet easy.

He would create a target, someone who would attract the attention of those suitors.

Fang Yuan had been expecting people to find trouble with him.

Chi Shang came here at such an opportune time, Fang Yuan was secretly happy about it.

When he looked through Chi Shang's information, his joy increased by several times!

His opponent's stupidity was his own fortune.

Of course, there was a point: Such stupidity had nothing to do with IQ or EQ.

There was a clear example from Earth, it was Yue Fei 1 .

Yue Fei went on a campaign, and when he was about to succeed, the emperor he served used twelve golden plaques to recall him back to the capital, and executed him on false charges.

The reason?

Was the emperor being stupid?

He was!

But were the emperor and officials idiots?

They were not!

If Yue Fei succeeded in his campaign, the reputation of his personal army would rise greatly, the emperor's authority would be lower than this general, the threat was too big. And most importantly, if Yue Fei won, he would bring back the former emperor. Then what would the current emperor do?

And now, Chi clan's first supreme elder, Chi Qu You, intentionally nurtured a Gu Immortal like Chi Shang, was he senile, did he not know that a person like Chi Shang, who was focused on researching formation path and had no capabilities in political conflicts, would eventually become a tool that was used?

He was not senile of course, he nurtured Chi Shang extensively precisely because he knew this.

Because his son needed to be the first supreme elder, he needed a 'tool' to assist his son, Chi Shang was the chosen one.

Many people thought that Chi Shang was Fang Yuan's problem.

But that was not the case from Fang Yuan's perspective, he felt like this was an opportunity.

If he handled this well, he would resolve all the future problems ahead, he would be able to peacefully explore the dream realm and raise his foundation for the following period of time.

Thus, Fang Yuan had to lose.

If he did not lose, how would he create the bigger threat than himself, Chi Shang?

Without this meat shield, how would he divert all of the attention away?

Chi Shang was the easiest to plot against.

From his information, Fang Yuan knew that Chi Shang loved to research formation path, he was most skilled in answering problems, and creating the necessary Gu formations.

Fang Yuan thus challenged him using this.

As a researcher, Chi Shang had his unique pride in this domain he was specialized in.

He could ignore everything else, he did not pay attention to his appearance, nor did he have any interest in fortune, but he cared about this. Because this was the meaning of his life!

Fang Yuan, a transformation path Gu Immortal, was using this to challenge him, this was a huge slap on Chi Shang's face to begin with.

How could Chi Shang endure this?

He could not.

Thus, he fell into the trap that Fang Yuan had set, he could not climb out.

Not only was he stuck in the trap, he even toasted Fang Yuan, feeling that Fang Yuan was a very sincere person!

"You are a competitor, but, but what can I say? We are truly friends made after a fight, haha..." Chi Shang laughed, placing his arm around Fang Yuan's shoulder.

"Enough talking, let's drink!" Fang Yuan gulped.

Chi Shang stared at Fang Yuan with wide eyes, he gave a thumbs up and said: "Brother, you are so cool! Let's drink!"

Both sides continued to empty their cups.

"Good wine." Chi Shang sighed: "Sigh, to speak the truth, this is the first time I am drinking so much..."

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, but he was unmoved inside.

The wine of the righteous path was not so easy to drink.

The demonic path fought and killed, they were direct in their actions. The banquets of the righteous path was shrouded in rumors and suspicions, they were filled with schemes and plots, all sorts of devious thoughts were like undercurrents, waiting to sweep unknowing prey into the abyss.

Fang Yuan lost the challenge to Chi Shang, but he was very happy, he spread news about this.

So what if he lost?

Sometimes, losing was a way to achieve one's goals.

Chi Shang was also very happy, he felt that this was the happiest he had ever been in a banquet.

At once, both the host and guest were happy.

-x-X-x-

A joyous banquet was not the end, it was the beginning.

Fang Yuan and Chi Shang became good friends.

For the next few days, Fang Yuan frequently invited Chi Shang, and Chi Shang often came to Wu clan's territory to visit Fang Yuan.

It was both easy and difficult to get close to someone and create a good relationship.

The key was simply lowering the status of oneself and accommodating to the other party's wishes.

Fang Yuan was an old schemer, with attitude Gu in his possession, how could Chi Shang be his match?

Chi Shang was the 'formation devotee', he was not interested in ordinary Gu Immortals. But Fang Yuan was a formation path quasi-grandmaster, he had a connection to this formation path grandmaster.

Both parties conversed on the topic of formation path.

Chi Shang was soon amazed with Fang Yuan's formation path attainment, he expressed his doubt at this. Because Fang Yuan was a transformation path cultivator.

But Fang Yuan told him: "I had always been interested in formation path, when I was a mortal, I researched formation path and primarily cultivated it due to some fortuitous encounters. But circumstances in life force twists and turns, later, I had to become a transformation path Gu Immortal. But I am already very lucky, after all, how many lone cultivators can become immortal?"

This helplessness made Chi Shang sigh deeply, he felt a deep sense of compassion towards Fang Yuan.

"If you want to cultivate formation path, I can help you. Chi clan has a few formation path Gu Immortals, I can intervene and transact formation path Immortal Gu for you." Chi Shang stated.

It was not easy for him to offer this. This proved that Fang Yuan's hard work had paid off.

It was possible to change paths, but the vital Gu had to be changed too.

Fang Yuan looked very moved: "If I want to change paths in the future, I will find you for help."

Chi Shang nodded: "By then, just tell me!"

He knew that it was not easy for a Gu Immortal to change paths, it could not be done quickly, this was a huge matter and needed a lot of aspects to be considered. There were also negative repercussions on the immortal aperture as well.

While interacting with Chi Shang, Fang Yuan gained a lot of benefits.

Even though his attainment level did not increase, Fang Yuan's knowledge did, his basic understanding of formation path had been supplemented, it was of huge help to him.

Fang Yuan gained a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of formation path.

What was the difference between Gu formations and killer moves?

Chi Shang told Fang Yuan: "Gu formations are a type of killer move. Killer moves use multiple Gu worms at the same time, Gu formations are the same. Gu formations are the killer moves of formation path, each Gu formation is a different killer move. Thus, formation path is the path with the most killer moves among all paths. Of course, Gu formations and killer moves have slight differences in details. For example, Gu formations last a longer time. And after a Gu formation is set up, the amount of mental energy the Gu Master uses up also decreases..."

"What is the essence of formation path?" Fang Yuan asked Chi Shang.

Chi Shang shook his head: "Even though I am a formation path grandmaster, I have insufficient attainment level to talk about the essence of formation path. But my clan's Lord Chi Qu You had once told me, the essence of formation path is to create environments."

Fang Yuan heard this and felt deeply enlightened.

The Gu formation of the coiling thread caves was precisely to nurture more regretful spiders by creating a new habitat and environment for them, right?

"It seems that formation path great grandmasters can use the natural dao marks of the surroundings to use fewer Gu worms in setting up their Gu formations. In some places with abundant natural dao marks, just using mortal Gu can form an immortal Gu formation. Is that true?" Fang Yuan asked Chi Shang again.

Chi Shang nodded, explaining patiently: "That is true. But actually, at our level, we can only use dao marks. Some Gu formations are not just built on the foundation of Gu worms but also Gu materials. But we can only use the dao marks inside the immortal materials to set up the Gu formation. After a long time passes, these immortal materials will be destroyed. Formation path great grandmasters are one step ahead, not only can they use immortal and mortal materials, they can also use the dao marks of the surroundings according to the environment."

...

This conversation was a huge inspiration to Fang Yuan.

Thereafter, he attended to Chi Shang even more enthusiastically.

Fang Yuan soon realized that banquets were not very effective at improving their relationship, he might as well converse with him about formation path.

Sometimes, an intense discussion would incite the passion in Chi Shang's heart, and make him feel closer to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan also had another trump card, he wrote letters to Qiao Si Liu.

Every time he wrote a letter, he would praise Chi Shang and exclaim about his shocking formation path talent, and his incredible ingenuity.

Chi Shang was getting embarrassed from being praised, he looked at Fang Yuan in a different light, he thought that this person was truly a gentleman, conducting himself uprightly and with an open mind.

Returning the favor, he also wrote letters to Qiao Si Liu, praising Fang Yuan deeply, saying that he cultivated transformation path and even formation path alongside it, his attainment was so deep that he felt great admiration and surprise at it.

Qiao Si Liu: "..."

She looked at the letters she received, she felt that these two suitors were praising each other so much that they had forgotten about her!

She did not expect to see this situation, while she rolled her eyes to herself, she also wrote back letters of praise, especially towards their open-mindedness.

Undeniably, Fang Yuan and Chi Shang turned from enemies to friends, this transformation made everyone watching from the side feel deeply shocked.

Southern Border, Plunder Shadow Earth Trench.

This was a famous Earth Trench in Southern Border, because it had countless fierce dark path beasts, as well as shadow monsters that were renowned in Southern Border.

At the same time, this was also one of the most dangerous places in Southern Border.

Right now, deep within this Plunder Shadow Earth Trench, inside a certain cave.

"Ahhhhh..." A crazed old man with purple hair and messy clothes was running around barefoot in the cave, while screaming and making a din.

Plop.

Suddenly, he fell to the ground, and his body started to twist as he started to crawl like an earthworm.

After moving for a while, he suddenly stood up, laughing sheepishly.

But a moment later, his laughter stopped, his cloudy eyes regained clarity.

"Lord Purple, you are awake." Ying Wu Xie suddenly appeared in the cave, he sighed with a complex expression.

This crazed old man was Purple.

Shadow Sect's party of four had vanished after the battle of Reverse Flow River, they had returned to Southern Border at some point in time. They had even entered deep into Plunder Shadow Earth Trench.

Purple sighed deeply, he patted the soil on his body, his body shrunk to his miniman form with miniature wings.

"Call me Purple Mountain True Monarch, this will help our future actions." Purple Mountain True Monarch said: "What information do you have now?"

Ying Wu Xie said: "Southern Border's political situation is progressing according to our plan. But it is a pity, Chi Shang and Wu Yi Hai did not have an intense conflict, they even became good friends."

"Oh?" Purple Mountain True Monarch was slightly surprised.

After looking at the information, he nodded: "This Wu Yi Hai is quite interesting, he primarily cultivates transformation path but also has enough formation path attainment to gain Chi Shang's approval."

"This would help him, but he could not defy Wu Yong, he was sent to the super Gu formation again."

Ying Wu Xie nodded: "Wu Yong is a rank eight Gu Immortal with great authority now, Wu Yi Hai had just returned not long ago, he did not even join with Qiao clan, and cannot get their full support."

"But this proves further that even though Wu Yi Hai is a lone cultivator, he has great ambitions. Because he got close to Qiao Si Liu, yet he did not get together with her, it shows that he has not agreed on the profit distribution with Qiao clan yet. Is his ambition something we can make use of?"

"Hmm..." Purple Mountain True Monarch thought about it: "We might be able to make use of this, but we know too little about this person. Right now, our plans on Wu clan should focus on Wu Yong. Wu clan is the number one force in Southern Border, they are the pillar of the righteous path, if they fall, Southern Border would have huge political turmoil. By then, we will take advantage of it and destroy the super Gu formation, we will be able to save our main body."

It turned out that Wu clan's political problems were not simple, Shadow Sect was behind them, causing many of the situations!

"Hmph! So what if Southern Border's politics get into chaos?" Bai Ning Bing appeared outside the cave, having a cold expression: "With just the four of us, even if the super Gu formation only has four Gu Immortals defending it, it will be difficult. Furthermore, our main fighting strength is so unstable."

Bai Ning Bing spoke without any politeness.

Even against the rank eight Purple Mountain True Monarch.

She was fearless, because when Fang Yuan chased after them, she had already set a new alliance agreement with Ying Wu Xie and the others, they were of equal status.

And Purple Mountain True Monarch's constant insanity made the respect in her heart dwindle.

Purple Mountain True Monarch was unmoved, smiling: "Political unrest is not enough, of course, these righteous path forces are not stupid. But this is just to weaken the strength of the righteous path in the super Gu formation. The four of us are not enough, we are too short on manpower, so now, we will recruit people."

"Recruit people?" Ying Wu Xie was surprised: "There are still hidden cards in Southern Border that I do not know about?"

Because he knew that Southern Border's Shadow Sect forces were heavily crippled. If they wanted to attack the super Gu formation, these new members needed to have high power level, ordinary rank six Gu Immortals were simply useless.

But such people would definitely have been recruited when Ying Wu Xie was facing Fang Yuan's pursuit earlier.

Or even further back, if such people existed, when Spectral Soul defied heaven to refine sovereign immortal fetus Gu, they would have been used already, to deal with Central Continent's Gu Immortals."

Purple Mountain True Monarch nodded, before shaking his head: "Do you two know why I fall into insanity sometimes?"