271 RI

"It's Lord Duke Long!" Fang Zheng saw Duke Long and became surprised and joyful.

He knew Duke Long's identity, in fact, they had met before.

"If not for Lord Duke Long's appearance, I would have died already. With him around, I should be safe." Fang Zheng no longer felt fear, he was assured.

He knew what kind of person Duke Long was, this was Red Lotus Demon Venerable's master!

Fang Zheng took another look at the person who almost took his life — Qi Sea Ancestor.

This old man wore a white robe, his sleeves fluttered in the air, his long white beard drooped to his feet, he had a solemn expression and grand aura, the clouds floated quietly around him, giving him an immortal-like disposition.

Fang Zheng could not recognize this as Fang Yuan's disguise, he was curious about the old man's identity: "This old man has rank eight cultivation level, but he is not any of the known rank eight great experts of Eastern Sea. Who is he?"

Not just him, even Duke Long was curious. But Eastern Sea was vast and had the most resources among the five regions, it was normal to have a hidden rank eight cultivator.

Immediately, Duke Long smiled "Qi Sea Ancestor... as a rank eight, it is fine to call yourself an ancestor. But calling yourself Qi Sea in front of me, you are simply too arrogant."

Fang Zheng heard this and had a thought: "That's right, Lord Duke Long primarily cultivates qi path, followed by transformation path, he is a rare dual cultivator! This rank eight Eastern Sea old man also cultivates qi path, but he is going against Lord Duke Long. Hehe."

Fang Zheng felt a little sympathy for Qi Sea Ancestor.

At this time, he heard Duke Long's voice: "You have clear ill intentions, tell me, what is your motive for staying here and ambushing us? What is your relationship with Fang Yuan?"

Fang Yuan was slightly surprised, he thought: "How did he link my identity to Fang Yuan in this situation?"

On the surface, Fang Yuan smiled coldly: "I am a secluded cultivator of Eastern Sea, I do not bother people who do not offend me, but your Heavenly Court is too ambitious, you seek to take over all five regions and unify the world. In the future, you will look for trouble with me and attempt to kill me."

Duke Long frowned slightly, he retorted: "Qi Sea Ancestor, you must have been deceived by that demon Fang Yuan. We have no grudges with each other, this is our first encounter, why would we attack you?"

"That demon Fang Yuan is crafty and likes to sow discord, you must not trust him blindly."

Fang Yuan snorted coldly: "I did not believe him at first, but this Fang Yuan pointed out many of my secrets, he gave concrete evidence. He is someone from the future, should I believe him or you?"

Duke Long's frown became even deeper.

Fang Yuan's accusation was quite shameless.

If he targeted Heavenly Court's past or current actions, Duke Long could retort with evidence. But talking about Heavenly Court's future actions, Duke Long had nothing to say, even he was uncertain himself!

In fact, even Duke Long had his own interpretation: "How can a rank eight Gu Immortal be so easily deceived? Since Fang Yuan convinced this Qi Sea Ancestor to obstruct Heavenly Court, in the future, it is likely that we really went ahead to attack him. In that case, there is no point in talking."

Duke Long sighed as he thought about his mission to retrieve Dragon Palace, yet faced obstruction here. Qi Sea Ancestor was clearly here to stop him, with this deduction, Fang Yuan was likely going after Dragon Palace now.

"I need to settle this battle quickly!" Duke Long's eyes flashed with resolution!

Fang Yuan managed to deceive him after all.

This was not just because of Fang Yuan's modified familiar face killer move that was now compatible with his qi path methods. Most importantly, Qi Sea Ancestor was emitting a genuine rank eight aura now.

Duke Long thought that Fang Yuan was a rank seven Gu Immortal.

Not just Duke Long, the wisdom path great expert Fairy Zi Wei and the entire Heavenly Court, in fact, the entire world, had the same thought.

Different from the previous life, right now, the sovereign immortal aperture's secret was not exposed yet.

Fang Yuan had defended this secret very well.

Immortal killer move — Dragon Claw Strike!

Duke Long made up his mind, he wasted no time as he attacked with no hesitation.

This was a transformation path killer move, immediately, a claw mark appeared in the air.

Fang Zheng who was inside Pine Crane Pavilion gasped, to think that Duke Long was the first to attack, and he even launched a sneak attack!

Even though Qi Sea Ancestor got hit by the attack, he turned into cloud fog as he faded away.

Fang Yuan was guarded against Duke Long from the start, because this was his immortal battlefield, it was easy for him to dodge it.

Duke Long's expression did not change, the attack earlier was just a test.

Now that he probed it, this was truly a qi path battlefield, transformation path methods were greatly restricted here.

In that case, he would use different methods.

Duke Long did not turn around, he directly pointed behind him.

Air currents moved as a layer of bubbles quickly surrounded Pine Crane Pavilion, protecting it.

"Thank you, Lord Duke Long!" Fang Zheng did not dare to wait, he quickly thanked him.

Duke Long did not pay attention to him as he used another killer move, after a while, he pushed with his palms as multiple qi dragons emerged.

The half transparent qi dragon moved rapidly, once it finds Fang Yuan's location, it would attack on its own.

"Lord Duke Long is truly not an ordinary rank eight Gu Immortal!" Fang Zheng saw these qi dragons which were all over a hundred feet long, they were majestic and grand, he could not help but praise.

But at this moment, Duke Long raised his head, his eyes shining with a sharp light.

"What sound is that?" Fang Zheng also heard the loud sound as he raised his head to look.

At the next moment, his mouth opened wide as his pupils shrunk.

He saw that a grand blade qi that was a thousand feet long, thick and wide, resembling a deity's war blade, slammed down with a force that sought to cut this world into two!

The blade qi was vast and grand, it created gusts of wind and rumbling thunder, Fang Zheng was shell-shocked, he was like a tiny ant, those majestic qi dragons from earlier looked like earthworms or snakes now.

At the crucial moment, Duke Long shouted and used his killer move.

Qi wall!

Qi wall was the most common defensive killer move of qi path, but the method that Duke Long used now was not simple.

He used a consecutive move, using qi wall three times.

The qi wall first had one layer, before it expanded twice, it became thicker and tougher, it was the fusion of three qi walls.

Boom!

The blade qi landed on the qi wall, causing a thunderous sound that exploded intensely.

Even though he was inside Pine Crane Pavilion, Fang Zheng's vision still turned dark as he felt dizzy, his ears were bleeding as blood flowed out.

The qi wall collapsed while the blade qi dispersed to a large extent, the remaining portion was not able to do any threatening damage.

Pine Crane Pavilion was like a small raft, it shook intensely from the aftershock, constantly shaking.

Fang Zheng took a lot of effort to stabilize the Immortal Gu House as his face turned pale, he was breathing roughly in a pathetic state.

"How can this Eastern Sea Gu Immortal be so strong?!" Fang Zheng was still completely dumbfounded, his sense of safety from earlier had been completely erased.

Duke Long was unscathed but his expression was solemn, he no longer had a relaxed mood.

He raised his head to look at Fang Yuan who was high up in the sky, they were quite far apart.

The blade qi earlier had an obvious aura, Fang Yuan's location was naturally exposed now.

Duke Long rose in altitude as he said to Fang Yuan: "That is a powerful blade qi, even though it is not elaborate, it has a lot of raw power. But how many times can you use this move?"

Fang Yuan smiled, he was calm and composed.

The killer move earlier had too much power, Duke Long thought that Fang Yuan had activated it after a long period of preparation.

This was quite an obvious thought, but he had no idea that Fang Yuan was a special exception.

"Oh, you mean this? It was just a casual attack." Saying so, Fang Yuan pointed his index finger at Pine Crane Pavilion as he tapped.

Boom!

A grand blade qi gathered and shot out again with imposing might.

Fang Yuan tapped his finger again.

Boom!!

Another blade qi with vast power followed after the attack from earlier with might that could split heaven and earth.

Fang Yuan tapped his finger again.

Boom!!!

The third blade qi shot out with the same power, in fact, it was even larger than the ones before.

Fang Zheng's body froze on the spot, he was dumbfounded!

"This..." Duke Long was also deeply shocked, the enemy's blade qi killer move was very easily used, it was as simple as drinking water.

But how could this be possible?!

Of course it was possible.

Fang Yuan had a lot of qi path dao marks, it was more than a million! Adding in the qi path battlefield's amplification, it was reasonable that it reached this stage.

Duke Long also had qi path dao marks, but the numbers were only thirty percent of Fang Yuan's dao marks.

Thus, Fang Yuan's blade qi killer move needed three qi walls to block.

"He has such immense battle strength, to think that Eastern Sea contained such a character! Hehe, interesting." Duke Long's eyes shined with brilliance, his battle intent was completely drawn out.

He looked over, those three blade qi were approaching rapidly with an unstoppable might.

"It has been so long since I've last had a challenging battle." Duke Long breathed in deeply, before his overwhelming aura burst out in all directions.

Dragon roars were heard as he charged directly towards the blade qi!

While Fang Yuan and Duke Long engaged in fierce combat, the dream realm in the sea was quiet and tranquil.

"Junior sister, be careful, I've prepared this move for a long time." The dragonman clone smiled as he spoke.

The yellow eyebrows girl Tai Qin smiled delicately: "Brother Shuai, go ahead, I am ready."

"Good." Dragonman clone waved his hand as the ant army flew, creating a golden river that crashed towards Tai Qin.

Tai Qin also waved her hand, flying ants appeared from the ground and moved like a river as well, retaliating.

The two ant groups met in the sky but they did not fight, instead, they fused together with no casualties.

The ant groups merged completely in the sky, they were an entity now.

Under the golden light, Fang Yuan's dragonman clone looked at Tai Qin with a sincere gaze.

Tai Qin also looked at him bravely, her face was flushing but her eyes could not hide the affection that she had.

"Junior sister."

"Senior brother."

The two walked closer and felt deep love for each other, the ant army flew around them and danced in joy.

A moment later, it was time to separate.

"Junior sister, I need to go. Sigh, I want to be with you forever, but... I cannot defy my father, I have a family now. It has been hard on you these years." The dragonman clone kissed Tai Qin goodbye.

Tai Qin shook her head: "No, it has not been tough. Senior brother, you are forced to do this, while I had chosen this of my own accord. I will always be here, you can come anytime, I will be around."

When dragonman clone returned to Calligraphy Pavilion, it was already midnight.

The moon was bright in the sky.

He looked at the pavilion at the peak of the mountain as he felt a sense of sorrow in his heart.

At this time, from the shadows, a dragonman Gu Immortal secretly flew up and met with dragonman clone.

"Brother, when you were not around, sister-in-law went to meet with that Fan Ji again in secret." The dragonman Gu Immortal reported with displeasure on his face.

"Hmph, this slut." The dragonman clone had a grim expression, at this moment, an intense rage emerged in his heart.

-x-X-x-

"Wait! This is just the dream realm, I am not the real Wu Shuai, why is there a need to feel hatred?" The dragonman clone was stunned as he quickly regained clarity.

He blinked and subconsciously touched his forehead.

He did not feel any cold sweat, instead, he could feel a pair of warm coral-like dragon horns.

He felt a deep chill in his heart!

"Brother, what do we do now?" The dragonman Gu Immortal informant asked again.

Fang Yuan looked at him.

This dragonman Gu Immortal still had a trace of his appearance in his youthful days, it was Huang Wei. He had once competed with Wu Shuai to become the disciple of Green Ant Ascetic, but had failed.

But this person had enough talent and aptitude, due to the dragonman race's diligence, they were highly united compared to the humans, they rarely had internal strife, this allowed all of the dragonman young geniuses to grow properly, especially geniuses like Huang Wei, they were nurtured intensely.

Fang Yuan's character, Wu Shuai, knew of his talent and wanted to befriend him, due to a coincidence, Wu Shuai saved Huang Wei's life and they ended up becoming sworn brothers.

A few scenes of the dream realm made rapid progress in terms of time, Fang Yuan was already a Gu Immortal now.

Fang Yuan thought about it as he snorted coldly: "A little impatience will spoil great plans, we will continue to pretend we don't know this as always."

This Shu Jiu Ling had once been pregnant with Fan Ji's child, she got abandoned and in a fit of anger, chose to have a competition to find a husband.

Wu Shuai obeyed his father's orders and became the husband of Shu Jiu Ling as they wanted to create a relationship with Central Continent's rank eight lone immortal Calligraphy Pavilion Lady.

Honestly speaking, Calligraphy Pavilion Lady played a significant role in Wu Shuai's ascension to become a Gu Immortal, she provided lots of resources.

But Shu Jiu Ling still could not stop thinking of Fan Ji even after giving birth to her son.

After some time, Fan Ji was also reminiscing about Shu Jiu Ling, he decided to approach her again.

Shu Jiu Ling could not control herself, she kept in contact with Fan Ji, they met with each other countless times, it almost became an open secret.

Originally, Wu Shuai becoming her husband already made him the laughingstock of Central Continent's Gu Immortal world, now, it was only worse.

Ordinary Gu Immortals who had a weak nature would not care, but Wu Shuai was a heroic genius with great aptitude, it was not easy for someone like him to endure this.

"The higher my cultivation level, the more easily I will succumb to this dream realm."

"After staying in this dream realm for so long, I've almost thought that I was Wu Shuai myself."

"Or maybe... this is the true test of Dragon Palace?"

Fang Yuan's clone had a burst of inspiration, he realized the truth.

This dream realm was the test for Dragon Palace's inheritor, it did not just test their personality, because choices in the dream realm might not necessarily reflect one's true intentions.

The dream realm was not just testing him, it was also creating an inheritor.

Even if a person was unsuitable, as long as they passed the dream realm, after such a long period of brainwashing, the Gu Immortal would emerge as someone who hated Heavenly Court and loved dragonmen, they might even become like Wu Shuai, taking on the responsibility of the uprise of the dragonman race!

"It is possible that those four Eastern Sea rank eights tried to explore this dream realm but failed. In this process, their minds were warped and turned into dragon generals!"

"What do I do?"

"I have already started to succumb to it, it is not easy to stay awake."

"The more I explore this, the worse the situation becomes! If I fail, I will become a dragon general. If I win, I will be modified into the Dragon Palace Lord, my main body might not even be my priority anymore, I will solely want to revitalize the dragonman race!"

Fang Yuan's clone felt his heart turning cold as he realized this.

Regardless of success or failure, neither result was favorable to him!

And the scariest thing was, even if he wanted to leave now, it was impossible. The main body had no idea this was the situation, no information could be transmitted out of this dream realm.

"I had actually fallen into the trap of this Immortal Gu House Dragon Palace!" Noticing this, Fang Yuan's clone did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He suddenly thought of the previous life: "Wait, why was Bai Ning Bing able to control Dragon Palace and become the owner of Dragon Palace in my previous life?"

Fang Yuan had never been able to deduce the truth behind this.

"In the previous life, Duke Long had taken away Dragon Palace but he did not pass the dream realm test. Afterwards, it became Bai Ning Bing's possession for some reason. This means that Duke Long did not truly obtain Dragon Palace, he only suppressed it forcefully."

"But even if he only suppressed it, how could he not know it himself? If he knew, why would he place Dragon Palace in Hidden Dragon Cave instead of Heavenly Court which was a safer location?"

"Dragon Palace is an enslavement path Immortal Gu House, according to the battle in my previous life, Di Zang Sheng had also participated, it was likely enslaved by Dragon Palace. Thus, this means that Duke Long was trying to use Dragon Palace to subdue Di Zang Sheng?"

"In the end, Dragon Palace subdued Di Zang Sheng but turned against Heavenly Court..."

"Bai Ning Bing should have no time to explore the dream realms, even if she does, she has no ability to explore these dream realms."

"However, because the dream realms were taken away by Heavenly Court, Bai Ning Bing became a lucky winner?"

The dragonman clone shook his head, after considering all this, his brain started to hurt.

There was too little information, he could not figure out the truth of the matter.

"Currently, I need to stall for time until my main body notices this problem and saves me." The dragonman clone did not know the situation outside, Fang Yuan's main body was currently fighting intensely against Duke Long.

In this current situation, if he aggressively explores the dream realm, he would definitely be brainwashed, he would succumb to this dream and be unable to wake up.

If he fails, he will become a dragon general. If he succeeds, he will become the Dragon Palace Lord but would betray the main body, his personality, values, and life goals would all change.

Neither one was what he wanted.

Immemorial white heaven.

Qi path battlefield.

Boom!

An intense explosion whipped up a strong shockwave.

Air currents surged, blowing towards the entire world, Pine Crane Pavilion was like a paper boat that swayed helplessly in this tsunami, it would break apart at any moment.

Fang Zheng was completely dizzy inside, his face was pale without any trace of liveliness.

"I am a Gu Immortal but I am not even qualified to watch this battle! If not for Lord Duke Long's protection, I would have died without a proper corpse already."

Looking at Duke Long's figure, Fang Zheng felt admiration and gratitude.

After such a long battle, Duke Long was still energetic as he stood straight, his dragon scales shined brightly in the light, but his dragon eyes were blazing with anger: "Qi Sea Ancestor, you are such a powerful expert but you choose to attack the weak, you truly do not possess the disposition of a great expert."

Fang Yuan laughed: "Attacking the enemy's weakness is a righteous path tactic, that just happens to be my style of fighting. Furthermore, I am very curious, who is inside this Immortal Gu House, why are you, Duke Long, protecting them time and time again?"

Fang Zheng did not know that Qi Sea Ancestor was Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan was also unaware that his brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng was inside Pine Crane Pavilion.

Even though these brothers were meeting, they did not know each other's identity.

And similar to the battle in the previous life, Fang Yuan also sensed acutely that the person inside this Pine Crane Pavilion was harmful to him.

Fang Yuan attacked many times, Pine Crane Pavilion was within the range of his attacks.

And because this was Fang Yuan's domain, fog spread out and concealed his true self, allowing him to use killer moves with ease.

Duke Long was kept in a passive spot, he defended more than he attacked, Fang Yuan suppressed him for now.

But at this moment, waves of dragon roars resounded within the dense fog.

"What's going on?" Fang Yuan was bewildered.

Following the waves of dragon roars, clouds started to gather and turned into giant dragon qi currents.

Spiral currents continued to form and expand, they were like the undercurrents of the sea, splitting up the battlefield into multiple areas, a large amount of fog were drawn in by these currents and got devoured, as these currents expanded continuously.

"This is a split move, what an ingenious killer move." Without the fog to conceal him, Fang Yuan's true body was exposed, he sighed in admiration.

There were four main killer move manipulation techniques that existed, split move was one of them.

Back then in the battle of Snowy Mountain blessed land, when many parties went after Ma Hong Yun, Old Ancestor Xue Hu had displayed a split move technique, he displayed incredible battle strength.

Right now, Duke Long was also using this technique without causing a commotion prior.

When Fang Yuan was fighting with him, he thought that these were just minor moves, but to think that they were all part of the same qi path killer move. When Duke Long activated them fully, a terrifying power was unleashed.

"What is the name of this move?" Fang Yuan looked at these currents as he sighed, he knew that in the short term, he could not do anything to these currents.

Duke Long laughed heartily, the anger on his face was completely gone, he was just acting earlier to stall for time.

In a battle between experts, words and expressions were weapons.

Duke Long's battle experiences were richer than Fang Yuan, he could use these techniques casually in battle, even Fang Yuan was caught off guard.

"This move is called reverse worm dragon, I only succeeded after ten years of practicing it. It was correct that you did not attack them immediately, because any qi path methods you use will only help them to grow, from worm to dragon, their power will rise by a hundred times, you will not be able to guard against it." Duke Long explained plainly.

He was not explaining for fun, he wanted Fang Yuan to be less inclined to attack, at the same time, he was preparing a powerful killer move, his grand aura could barely be contained.

Fang Yuan's brain worked rapidly.

He did not see Duke Long use this reverse worm dragon move in the previous life.

In fact, when Duke Long rampaged in the previous life, he had not used his expression or words to deceive his enemies.

This meant that Duke Long was treating Qi Sea Ancestor as a powerful enemy, he was serious now!

Reverse worm dragon's profundity was not inferior to the killer move unlimited qi sea. Fang Yuan had also not forgotten about Duke Long's trump card qi path killer move — Triple Qi Retraction.

"This reverse worm dragon seems to have been created to counter battlefield killer moves, these worms are so troublesome to deal with, if they evolve into dragons, they would become even stronger."

"But so what?

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan smiled arrogantly, he attacked.

Blade qi gathered and slashed down again.

Duke Long was stunned: "He had clearly seen this move's profundity, he should avoid it. By attacking now, is he trying to stop me from using my killer move, to disrupt my tempo and continue suppressing me?"

Activating killer moves needed time. But Fang Yuan did not give Duke Long a chance. He did not feel disheartened, he stopped the killer move activation as he brought along Pine Crane Pavilion to dodge the attacks.

"You want to suppress me but you are actually helping to raise reverse worm dragon's strength, they will grow from worm to dragon, I will get a chance!" Duke Long was burning with battle intent, he wanted to fight with his full power.

As expected, the blade qi landed on the spiral currents and got absorbed by them to a large extent.

The currents grew rapidly, exploding on the spot as more than ten of them fused into one divine dragon, its body was long and majestic, it also filled this entire qi path battlefield.

Compared to it, Pine Crane Pavilion was like a tiny mosquito beside an elephant!

"Such a powerful killer move, Lord Duke Long is finally retaliating." Fang Zheng saw this and became overjoyed.

At the next moment, Fang Yuan spoke slowly in a calm tone: "So this is turning worm into dragon, it is powerful. But... it is not enough."

Saying so, he activated his killer move.

Qi path killer move — Yin-yang Great Killer Hands!

Rumble!

With a loud explosion, two huge hands, one black and one white, appeared out of nowhere.

The two hands were so large they could loom over heaven and earth, they had an intrinsic pattern, at this moment, they grabbed at the qi dragon's neck and tail.

The huge dragon growled and struggled intensely, but the giant hands were unmoving like they were made of metal.

Fang Yuan pulled with both hands from afar.

Boom—!

The huge dragon was directly snapped in two by him without putting up a resistance.

Fang Zheng opened his mouth wide, he was unable to close it.

Fang Yuan stretched his fingers as he looked at Duke Long, saying plainly: "Alright, I'm done warming up."

Duke Long had a serious expression, his dragon pupils shined with a domineering light, he stared fixedly at Fang Yuan.

He opened his mouth, revealing his sharp white teeth as he said: "Great, it seems... you are truly a worthy opponent."

-x-X-x-

Dream realm.

"This is Censure Peak?" The dragonman clone looked at the floating mountain in the sky as he showed some amazement: "This is not a real mountain, it is like a phantom image."

"Indeed brother, I was shocked when I first saw it too." Dragonman Gu Immortal Huang Wei was by his side.

Two scenes had passed in this dream realm.

They were currently inside Gu Immortal Wen Xiu's grotto-heaven, because the tribulation was too strong, loopholes formed and a connection to the outside world was created, it got discovered.

Wen Xiu was a legendary woman, an information path great expert that had died long ago. She was a lone cultivator and lacked resources, the reason she became a rank eight great expert was because she owned a special area — Censure Peak.

A Central Continent Gu Immortal observed for some time before gasping: "Wen Xiu was truly formidable, this Censure Peak is man-made and is full of information path dao marks, it is akin to half a secluded domain of heaven and earth!"

Along with Fang Yuan's clone were many Central Continent Gu Immortals.

All of the immortals were looking at Censure Peak, undeniably, it was the essence of this grotto-heaven as well as the most valuable resource here.

Everyone wanted it!

Huang Wei transmitted: "Brother, when we contest for it later, give it your best effort, I will help to defend you and stall for time."

"Okay." Fang Yuan's clone was answering when the surrounding Gu Immortals turned to attack him.

"Strike first!"

"Wu Shuai is the strongest person here, if we fight him alone, none of us are his match."

"How can we let the great Censure Peak end up in the hands of a dragonman."

It turned out that while Huang Wei and Fang Yuan's clone were conversing, the other human Gu Immortals had already made their agreement.

Instantly, Fang Yuan's clone and Huang Wei fell into an encirclement.

From all directions, killer moves approached.

"Such guts!" Fang Yuan's clone shouted angrily as his dragonman body charged to the sky with imposing might.

A vast amount of ants flew with him, forming a golden river current that protected Huang Wei and himself.

Boom boom boom!

The human Gu Immortals attacked fiercely, soon, Fang Yuan's carefully nurtured ant army suffered immense losses.

Fang Yuan retaliated immediately, his methods were profound and powerful, quickly salvaging the situation. After a few rounds, he broke out of the encirclement and went into a deadlock with the immortals.

After a dozen rounds, the Gu Immortals who encircled him became suppressed in the battle.

Enslavement path Gu Immortals were usually able to fight a group of enemies alone, this dragonman Gu Immortal Wu Shuai that Fang Yuan was portraying had immense talent, he eventually forced these Central Continent Gu Immortals to retreat.

Of course, Fang Yuan's clone paid a terrible price while Huang Wei also sustained heavy injuries.

"It was a difficult victory, but at least we obtained Censure Peak." Huang Wei smiled bitterly.

But when Fang Yuan's clone was about to obtain it, he met with an obstruction.

"What is going on?" They quickly found the reason, someone had secretly gone to take this Censure Peak as his own while they were fighting, stealing the fruits of the battle.

This was none other than Fan Ji, the person who was having an affair with Wu Shuai's wife, Shu Jiu Ling!

Fan Ji had fainted on the spot, his soul foundation was too weak to refine the entire Censure Peak.

"This fellow!" The dragonman clone gritted his teeth in anger, he was filled with rage, he almost attacked and killed him.

"You can't kill him!" The dragonman Gu Immortal Huang Wei who was beside him quickly shouted.

"Why not?" Fang Yuan's clone turned around with bloodshot eyes, he was filled with killing intent.

Huang Wei explained: "Oh brother, I know your pain, but we both know this person's identity. If you kill him, his grandfather will take action. He is now a member of Heavenly Court, but he does not move around normally. If his beloved grandson gets killed, he will investigate the truth and take revenge on you."

Fang Yuan's clone was stunned before his gaze turned dark, his face was distorted from anger.

After a long time, he sighed deeply: "Brother, you are right. I cannot kill him, otherwise, the best case scenario is that I get involved. But worse is that others might use this as a chance to deal with our dragonman race. How can I, Wu Shuai, implicate the entire dragonman race because of my personal emotions?"

At the same time, in immemorial white heaven.

"It should be here." Shen Cong Sheng frowned a little, after inspecting the empty sky for a long time, he stopped frowning as he spoke with certainty.

Standing beside him was Song Qi Yuan, he smiled: "Brother Shen's investigative methods are very effective, in that case, let's work together."

Shen Cong Sheng answered: "Of course, I want to know why Immortal Crane Sect's Pine Crane Pavilion came to Eastern Sea sneakily and vanished here."

These two were not ordinary Gu Immortals, one was Shen clan's first supreme elder and the other was Song clan's first supreme elder, they had rank eight cultivation level.

The two were originally on an important mission, but they found Pine Crane Pavilion by chance.

At that time, Fang Zheng was inside this Immortal Gu House, having entered Eastern Sea.

The two Gu Immortals were authority figures with deep knowledge, they recognized Pine Crane Pavilion as they wondered: "What is an Immortal Gu House of Central Continent's ten great ancient sects doing in Eastern Sea?"

Shen Cong Sheng also found that a Gu Immortal expert was hidden near Pine Crane Pavilion.

The two Gu Immortals thus followed from afar. Using Shen Cong Sheng's investigative method, they did not lose track of this Immortal Gu House.

And because they were afraid of alerting the enemy, they were too far away, when Fang Yuan ambushed Duke Long and Pine Crane Pavilion, they did not see anything.

By the time they arrived, Fang Yuan had already succeeded in trapping Duke Long and Pine Crane Pavilion in the qi path battlefield.

But Shen Cong Sheng's method was incredible, after some investigation, he found a lot of clues, he deduced that an immortal battlefield was hidden here.

The two Gu Immortals immediately attacked!

"What is going on? Shen Cong Sheng and Song Qi Yuan actually came here? Did they have any agreements with Heavenly Court?" Fang Yuan's heart sank.

The attack of the two Eastern Sea immortals made him immediately get into a situation of facing internal and external threat.

Against Duke Long, he had to give his full attention without distraction. But now, he had to deal with Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng. It was really troublesome now, Fang Yuan could not deal with so many aspects at once.

Rumble!

The qi path battlefield shook as Duke Long noticed it, he became joyful: "What is going on? Someone is attacking this qi path battlefield? This is a good chance!"

Duke Long roared as he attacked with even greater force.

Fang Yuan snorted coldly, he used the qi path battlefield to dodge attacks while aiming his moves at Pine Crane Pavilion.

Attacking the enemy's weakness was the best strategy, because Duke Long's weakness was grasped, he had to go on the defensive and continually take hits.

But good times did not last long, the qi path battlefield soon gave way as more loopholes formed.

Duke Long had been searching for a chance, he laughed loudly: "Qi Sea Ancestor, your luck is pretty bad, even though you set an ambush, external forces came to attack. You have been targeting my weakness all along, but now your qi path battlefield is your weakness, break!"

Saying so, Duke Long unleashed his killer move as the qi dragon soared to the sky, it could roam freely in heaven and earth, it could move unhindered over the universe.

Fang Yuan quickly tried to stop it but the qi dragon was very agile, it directly targeted the qi path battlefield's weakness.

Fang Yuan could not stop it, he sighed as a huge loophole formed in the qi path battlefield, it rapidly expanded until the battlefield broke apart.

Fang Yuan grunted as the backlash assaulted him.

Duke Long did not attack him immediately, instead, he pushed Pine Crane Pavilion: "Go."

A wave of dragon-shaped qi carried Pine Crane Pavilion and Fang Zheng as it rapidly retreated, attempting to escape the battlefield.

After the battlefield was broken, Duke Long returned to Eastern Sea, but he found that the ones who destroyed the battlefield were Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng.

These two were Eastern Sea rank eights, they were not allies, instead, Qi Sea Ancestor had genuine Eastern Sea aura.

Thus, Duke Long first made a move on Fang Zheng to send him away, so that he would have no reservations in the fight.

"What is going on?!" Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng saw this, they became stunned.

"Duke Long?!" They immediately recognized Duke Long's identity, their hearts shook.

Duke Long was extremely famous, he was the master of Red Lotus Demon Venerable, he had great seniority. Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng had not thought that they would see Duke Long in this situation.

And more unexpectedly, Duke Long seemed to be ambushed by a person who seemed to be an Eastern Sea rank eight Gu Immortal!

Heavens!

Since when did Eastern Sea have such an expert, he dared to ambush Duke Long!

Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng looked at each other in disbelief, they had a similar thought: "Crap, we seemed to have disrupted this Eastern Sea friend's plans, instead, we helped Central Continent's Heavenly Court."

"Friend, we..." Song Qi Yuan wanted to explain but Fang Yuan grunted as he flew like lightning towards Pine Crane Pavilion.

Duke Long saw this and became enraged: This person seemed like a gentleman and an old expert but he was still targeting Pine Crane Pavilion even now!

Thus, he gave chase.

Duke Long was very fast, he soon caught up to Fang Yuan.

The two began exchanging moves again.

Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng took a few glances, they burst out in cold sweat.

"These are both monsters!"

"Since when did Eastern Sea have such an expert, he is able to fight Duke Long evenly?"

"Forget this, he is obviously targeting Pine Crane Pavilion, what does this Pine Crane Pavilion contain?"

"Even if there is nothing, we foiled his plans, we can take down this Immortal Gu House to explain our stance."

Song and Shen quickly moved, getting away from the battlefield and grabbing Pine Crane Pavilion from the horizon.

"You cannot kill me, I am a prospective member of Heavenly Court, I am protected by Duke Long. I am Gu Yue Fang Zheng, I am also Fang Yuan's brother!" At the moment of life and death, Fang Zheng, who was well experienced now, felt no sense of shame as he shouted, he did everything to preserve his life.

Song and Shen stopped their actions indeed, they looked at this mere rank six Gu Immortal in surprise.

Fang Zheng barely calmed himself down as he gulped: "Heavenly Court wants to use me as a weapon against Fang Yuan, they place great importance on me. You can use me as the hostage to extort resources and even Immortal Gu from Heavenly Court, I believe that Heavenly Court will give you a satisfactory amount."

Shen Cong Sheng waved his hand as Fang Zheng immediately fainted, he looked towards Song Qi Yuan: "Brother Song, what do we do?"

Song Qi Yuan was frowning deeply: "It seems like we really cannot kill him. This situation is out of my expectations, let's go back and watch the battle."

"Alright."

The two went back to the battlefield, they saw from afar that Duke Long had the upper hand, he was attacking fiercely. That Eastern Sea rank eight Gu Immortal finally made a mistake when defending, he revealed a weakness.

Duke Long had gotten rid of the burden Fang Zheng, he immediately grasped this weakness, attacking fiercely.

Fang Yuan defended himself desperately.

"Oh no, the Eastern Sea Gu Immortal is in danger."

"What do we do? Do we reinforce him?"

Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng hesitated.

They had interfered in this matter coincidentally, they were still very suspicious now. Unlike the previous life, they had no idea what was going on!

But at this moment, the two gasped.

It turned out that Fang Yuan had changed his tactic, he moved rapidly and approached Duke Long.

"Duke Long, you fell for it, have a taste of this."

Immortal killer move — Steal Life!

Duke Long had a stunned expression as the killer move steal life landed on him directly.

It turned out that Fang Yuan had pretended to be heavily injured and exposed a weakness so that he could obtain this chance.

Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng looked at each other, feeling the immense shock in each other's emotions.

Because after Duke Long got hit by this move, his condition became quite weird, he floated in the air without moving at all.

"Steal Life... why is it in your hands?" Duke Long looked at Fang Yuan.

-x-X-x-

Duke Long was hit by the killer move steal life!

But Fang Yuan's expression sank a little, because nothing really happened to Duke Long.

Back then when Fang Yuan attacked Thunder Ghost True Monarch in Lang Ya blessed land, the effect of Steal Life was immediate. In the previous life, when Lang Ya land spirit used steal life Immortal Gu, he also heavily injured Fairy Zi Wei, Chen Yi, and Feng Jiu Ge, while Thunder Ghost True Monarch died.

But this time, against Duke Long, this steal life killer move had no effect. This was out of Fang Yuan's expectations.

But soon, he recovered as he said casually: "Fang Yuan gave it to me, but it seems to have no effect on you, why is that?"

Duke Long said plainly: "I had once used the killer move heavenly dragon's last stand, my lifespan will continue to dwindle as my strength rises proportionately. This is like Gu Immortals who overuse lifespan extension methods, lifespan Gu no longer work on them, my heavenly dragon's last stand also causes other lifespan extension methods to stop working on me."

"And Steal Life merely exerts influence on the dao marks corresponding to lifespan. This might be why it failed."

"So that's it." Fang Yuan nodded as he smiled: "Such tricks do not work on you, but it will still be quite effective against other Heavenly Court immortals, I will save it for the future."

Duke Long's expression turned dark, he was worried about this.

Even though the killer move steal life was ineffective on him, it was still very useful against most of the other Heavenly Court members.

In this current situation, Fang Yuan failed to defeat Duke Long because of Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng's interference. Duke Long was aware that this was likely the result of Qin Ding Ling's change luck, and also because of Fang Zheng's presence.

However, it would be extremely difficult if Duke Long tried to destroy steal life Immortal Gu.

Because he had fought Fang Yuan for a long time, he knew that this Qi Sea Ancestor was very strong, he was not like any other ordinary peak rank eight Gu Immortal. It was possible to defeat him, but trying to kill him would be very difficult.

Because he could not set up an immortal battlefield now, he could not trap Qi Sea Ancestor. At the same time, two Eastern Sea rank eights were watching near the periphery.

Thus, after getting hit by steal life, Duke Long did not make a move.

He spoke to Fang Yuan warmly: "Qi Sea Ancestor, as the saying goes, friends are often made after a fight. You cannot defeat me, but I cannot do anything to you either. The truth is, why do we even need to fight so intensely?"

Fang Yuan had a thought as he said: "Oh, Duke Long, you want a truce?"

He had deep wisdom path attainment, he could easily understand Duke Long's intentions, he felt a bit of admiration internally.

"Duke Long was ambushed by me and took a beating in the fight earlier. He has such a great status and seniority, his strength is also at the peak, but he has no arrogance at all, he remained calm and observed the situation with clarity. Once he understood that a truce was more advantageous, he immediately stopped the fight. This person truly has terrifying self-control."

Even though he was thinking about this, Fang Yuan spoke something different: "This is because Heavenly Court came to disturb and provoke me, I do not want to contest with anyone, I cultivate in seclusion, but your Heavenly Court is too greedy, you want to devour all five regions and unify the world. My existence itself was your biggest obstacle, therefore, you used a devious scheme to plot against me, and also gathered a large number of rank eights to encircle and attack me."

Duke Long heard this as he felt helpless.

He felt maligned, Heavenly Court had done no such thing as of this moment. In fact, this was the first time he had heard of Qi Sea Ancestor!

But he had no words to rebuke him.

Because it was likely that Heavenly Court would do this in the future.

"Let's not discuss the fact that this could be Fang Yuan's lie." Duke Long nodded: "Even if this is true, that happened in the previous life. Looking at the River of Time, it is a matter at the downstream, it has not happened yet. In that case, since we know about it, why don't we change it?"

Fang Yuan laughed mockingly: "Haha, did I hear wrongly? Isn't your Heavenly Court proclaiming to be the leader of the righteous path, you defend heaven's will and try all means to repair fate? You actually want to change the future, isn't that trying to change fate itself?"

Fang Yuan pretended to be unaware, this was a crafty accusation.

Duke Long smiled: "Heavenly Court does defend the Heavenly Dao, we want to repair fate Gu. But this Heavenly Dao is the Heavenly Dao that wants humanity to rule, this fate is the fate Gu that defends the human race. Qi Sea Ancestor, we do not have a huge grudge between us, we can coexist in peace. I will represent Heavenly Court here, we can make an alliance of mutual non-interference!"

Duke Long spoke solemnly and with great sincerity.

At the edge of the battlefield, the two Eastern Sea rank eight Gu Immortals heard this and their expressions changed.

Shen Cong Sheng gasped in dismay while Song Qi Yuan also had an ugly expression.

Originally, after seeing that Eastern Sea had someone like Qi Sea Ancestor who could fight Duke Long alone without being suppressed, they were very happy.

In the five regions, Eastern Sea had the most abundant resources but the Gu Immortals were not united, their battle strength varied greatly among each other.

With the currently moving earth veins, new Earth Trenches were forming all the time, the five regional walls were weakening and the five regions were merging into one, this was no secret to anyone now.

Once the five regions merge into one, the other four regions would face the intense threat of Central Continent.

Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng were both first supreme elders that were rank eight Gu Immortals, they had great authority and could clearly see the threats of the future.

In this situation, if Qi Sea Ancestor went against Heavenly Court, it would greatly benefit Eastern Sea's super forces.

Firstly, Qi Sea Ancestor had outstanding battle strength, he was on par with Duke Long, when Heavenly Court invades Eastern Sea, he would be a huge threat to them.

Secondly, Qi Sea Ancestor was a secluded cultivator, he had not shown up after so many years, it showed that he had no ambition, because he was alone, he could definitely coexist with all the super forces in Eastern Sea.

Finally, Qi Sea Ancestor clearly cultivated qi path, this path had been on the decline for many years, why would any super force in Eastern Sea cultivate qi path primarily? Thus, in terms of resources, there was no conflict.

"Alliance with Heavenly Court?" Fang Yuan pretended to be stunned, he stopped his actions as he suppressed his aura and did not make a move.

Duke Long said energetically: "Qi Sea, our conflict can definitely be resolved peacefully. Regarding your potential future losses, we, Heavenly Court can also compensate you."

Duke Long was an experienced person, he spoke frankly and had great magnanimity, his concern was regarding the big picture.

"You can't!" Shen Cong Sheng could not control himself as he shouted, flying over quickly.

Song Qi Yuan followed behind him, saying: "Heavenly Court has a deep foundation, their so-called compensation is nothing to them. Right now, they have grand ambitions, they just want to stabilize this situation now, senior, you must not trust them."

"That's right senior! We were rash earlier and ruined your plans, we regret it deeply now." Shen Cong Sheng said again.

"Furthermore, alliance agreements are bullshit, any agreement can be broken given enough time or if they pay a huge price. Senior cultivates qi path instead of information path, but Heavenly Court is different, they cannot be trusted." Song Qi Yuan added.

The two of them spoke like juniors because they saw Fang Yuan's incredible strength.

But why would Fang Yuan agree in the first place! He was merely stalling for time now, but it seemed that these two Eastern Sea immortals were more anxious than him.

Fang Yuan smiled internally, he knew what these two were thinking with just a thought.

Duke Long nodded: "Indeed, at our level, agreements cannot restrict us. However, friend Qi Sea has steal life, right? You must know its value, with this move, you have Heavenly Court's weakness in your grasp. This is the foundation of our alliance. With this restricting us, why would we break our agreement?"

Once he said that, Fang Yuan assessed Duke Long deeply. In the previous life, Fang Yuan saw Duke Long's immense battle strength, but to think that he was so eloquent as well, he was not inferior to a wisdom path Gu Immortal.

According to Duke Long's understanding, steal life Immortal Gu and the killer move were both given to Qi Sea Ancestor by Fang Yuan to deal with him. But these things were now used by Duke Long to push for an alliance with Qi Sea Ancestor instead.

Fang Yuan was silent.

He knew about Duke Long's plans, he must be thinking that Qi Sea Ancestor was not an otherworldly demon, as long as fate Gu was repaired, he would pose no threat to them. He could even be recruited to become Heavenly Court's battle strength. This was the power of a sect system, how could clan based forces even attempt this? Normally, super forces could not recruit Qi Sea Ancestor, at his level that was equal to Duke Long, only the number one force, Heavenly Court, had the foundation to recruit him.

The two Eastern Sea immortals were extremely anxious.

They immediately spoke and pointed out that if fate Gu was repaired, due to the influence of heaven's will, Heavenly Court would be unbeatable. Heavenly Court had a huge ambition, they wanted to take over the world, senior should not be blinded by them.

These two Eastern Sea rank eights were also not stupid.

Fang Yuan smiled to himself, with the two of them here, he did not have to waste his own effort, he looked at Duke Long without speaking.

Duke Long looked at these two Eastern Sea immortals coldly, exerting pressure.

But Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng looked at him fearlessly.

Even though they knew that they were not Duke Long's match, in the previous life, they dared to fight against him over Dragon Palace, in this life, they also dared to face him.

This was not about courage, it was about benefits.

Qi Sea Ancestor's stance was too important, they needed to speak up now, the two Eastern Sea immortals were not wimps.

Shen Cong Sheng smiled coldly: "Lord Duke Long, why are you not letting us speak? Did we hit a nerve?"

Song Qi Yuan added: "Look senior, this is Heavenly Court's attitude, they are truly overbearing."

Duke Long snorted and laughed: "If not for Heavenly Court, why would there be the human race of today? Even if heaven's will exerts influence, how much influence can there be? Can it kill you directly? If heaven's will had such power, we would have unified the five regions long ago, why would we wait until now?"

"At this point, I might as well increase the offer. Friend Qi Sea, why don't you just join our Heavenly Court! After cultivating alone for so many years, you gained such strength, this shows your immense talent. But you must know about the pains of a lone cultivator, let's just talk about tribulations. How many people in this world can actually help you with them? In Eastern Sea, is there anyone who can match you? You want to rely on these people for help? In fact, these two even ruined your qi path battlefield earlier."

"If you join Heavenly Court, I can help you with tribulations. Even without me, Heavenly Court's immortal graveyard has countless sleeping rank eight Gu Immortals. We also have the wisdom path great expert Fairy Zi Wei, who possesses Star Constellation Chessboard, she can help you with deductions. Qi path has already become a declining path, but Heavenly Court has Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's inheritance. If you make any outstanding contributions, you can even obtain Primordial Origin's true inheritance in the future!"

-x-X-x-

Duke Long made a huge offer!

But nobody felt anything strange about it.

Fang Yuan's strength was apparent to everyone, his attitude could affect Eastern Sea and even Central Continent to a large extent.

This was his value! In the Gu cultivation world, strength was supreme!

Song Qi Yuan became increasingly anxious as he laughed coldly: "Lord Duke Long, you are truly shameless, earlier you were fighting to the death with Senior Qi Sea, but now you want to recruit him, who can believe your words?"

Duke Long smiled calmly: "To trust or not to trust, that is up to the individual. You two do not trust me because you are afraid that Heavenly Court will go after your benefits, you both have your own clans and territories, you own many sea areas and you want to protect your forces. But Qi Sea is alone, he is not like you."

"Laughable! Senior Qi Sea is an Eastern Sea Gu Immortal, if he joins your Heavenly Court, he will definitely be isolated and pushed aside by you all!" Shen Cong Sheng shouted.

"Isolated and pushed aside?" Duke Long looked at Shen Cong Sheng in disdain: "With this kind of small-minded thinking, no wonder Shen clan has not done anything significant after you led it for so many years. The sect system is extremely accepting of outsiders, we only look at talent. And what is that talk about Eastern Sea and Central Continent? The five regions are merging into one, every Gu Immortal in this world will belong to the same region in the future."

Duke Long was eloquent, Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng were quickly rebuked until they were silent.

However, even if Duke Long made sense, would Fang Yuan possibly join Heavenly Court?

If Duke Long knew that he was talking to Fang Yuan himself, who knew what expression he would show.

Shen Cong Sheng wanted to speak again, he did not want to give up.

Duke Long snorted coldly, showing ruthlessness in his eyes: "Your tiny Shen clan wants a piece of this world? Ambition has to fit one's strength. Otherwise, you will only attract trouble in the future. In fact, I can act as that trouble now and give your Shen clan what it deserves."

Shen Cong Sheng was threatened by Duke Long, he was furious and shocked but kept his mouth shut. He was here to convince Qi Sea Ancestor, he did not want to implicate Shen clan in this, or become the eyesore of Heavenly Court. Otherwise, when the five regions chaotic war starts, Shen clan would become the cannon fodder, that was not what he wanted to see.

Song Qi Yuan knew that he could not show weakness at this moment, he clapped: "Such dominance, Duke Long, as a Central Continent Gu Immortal, you are threatening three rank eight Gu Immortals of Eastern Sea now, are you trying to take advantage of our good temperament?"

Fang Yuan also snorted coldly, he had an ugly expression: "I am familiar with this tone as well, in the future when your Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals attack me, you will use this tone as well, thinking that you are the supreme overlords of this world and that everyone should submit to you unconditionally."

Once he said that, Shen Cong Sheng and Song Qi Yuan felt revitalized as they straightened their backs.

They did not know that Fang Yuan was helping them out a little and supporting them because he saw that they were currently intimidated by Duke Long's overbearing aura.

This situation was quite peculiar now, earlier, Duke Long and Fang Yuan were fighting, but now, Eastern Sea's two immortals and Duke Long were fighting for Fang Yuan's support.

Fang Yuan was happy to see this situation, he stood in the middle and watched the two sides, he would step in to help whichever side was weaker when the chance occurred.

"This is a really rare opportunity. If I handle this well, maybe Shen clan and Song clan will become the eyesores of Heavenly Court after this."

Fang Yuan decided to sow discord, he was going to use this chance to intensify the conflict between the two sides, so as to influence the entire Eastern Sea Gu Immortal world!

Duke Long saw that Qi Sea Ancestor's expression turned dark, he felt a little annoyed.

He was not annoyed at Qi Sea Ancestor but Fang Yuan instead.

"This demon has ill intentions, he is most skilled at devious schemes, when he got Qi Sea Ancestor to help him, he must have aggravated the story!"

"Friend Qi Sea." Duke Long thought about it and spoke: " There is mutual benefit in us working together and mutual harm if we become enemies. Many of these devious people are trying to sow discord and use you as their cannon fodder."

He spoke with both a soft and hard stance, he was not promising rewards solely, he was also displaying Heavenly Court's deep strength.

On the other hand, seeing that Qi Sea Ancestor spoke up for them, the two Eastern Sea rank eights thanked him while speaking ill of Heavenly Court, they were even more daring than earlier.

Fang Yuan stayed at the center, sowing discord as he watched the two sides accuse and blame each other.

After a while, they became more heated, their words were also more offensive.

Fang Yuan observed his expression and saw that Duke Long was getting impatient, he knew that he could not overdo it, he smiled with deep meaning: "Why would I not know what that Fang Yuan is planning? But that junior is quite interesting, he promised me many things, he was even willing to offer venerable true inheritances. Even though I cultivate qi path, I also have descendants inside my immortal aperture. It is always good to make preparations for them in advance."

Fang Yuan was completely shameless, these true inheritances were his to begin with, he could say anything he wanted.

Duke Long heard this and realized, did Fang Yuan also try to recruit Qi Sea Ancestor?

But it was not surprising! This person was so powerful that in the absence of an Immortal Venerable, almost nobody could threaten him. Even Duke Long himself was only on par with him. Even though his killer moves were not very exquisite and he did not seem to have many qi path rank eight Immortal Gu, his dao marks were at an absurd number, it was truly a mystery how he managed to cultivate to this extent!

Duke Long did not know that Fang Yuan had deceived him again, he laughed: "Fang Yuan is merely someone who got lucky, he is a pawn of the venerables, they needed him in their arrangements so they gave him some benefits and made him slog for it. In terms of foundation, how can he compare to Heavenly Court?"

"Qi Sea, if you join Heavenly Court, you would not need to contribute your immortal aperture, you can keep it. Forget it, let's not talk about joining Heavenly Court now, I just want to express my sincerity. In the future, if you want to join us, I will definitely invite you with open arms."

"Let's talk about the compensation. Since you cultivate qi path, my Heavenly Court is willing to provide a batch of rank eight qi path resources that are extinct in the outside world, as well as qi path inheritances that are all exceptional for you to peruse."

Duke Long decided to take it slowly.

Fang Yuan's eyes shined with bright light when he heard about the qi path resources mentioned.

They were indeed extinct, only Heavenly Court could keep them until now from the Remote Antiquity Era.

Other forces could not compare with Heavenly Court in age, they would not have such treasures stored up.

Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng saw that Fang Yuan was moved, they quickly called out: "Senior Qi Sea, do you know that Duke Long came to Eastern Sea secretly because he wants to obtain Immortal Gu House Dragon Palace. We just captured Gu Yue Fang Zheng earlier, we soul searched him and obtained a lot of information."

"That's right, Duke Long only wants to stabilize senior now and retrieve the crucial Immortal Gu House first. Once he completes his task, who knows what attitude he will have later." Song Qi Yuan added fuel to the fire.

Fang Yuan was very happy internally: This Immortal Gu House, Dragon Palace, was rank eight, both Song Qi Yuan and Shen Cong Sheng were very moved by it. They were even more anxious than him in wanting to stop Duke Long.

But on the surface, Fang Yuan had a stern expression, he said solemnly: "I know some information about this Dragon Palace matter. I have also obtained a venerable true inheritance from Fang Yuan, we made an agreement. Duke Long, stop here. If you want to express your sincerity, this is the best action to take. I will not pursue what happened in the future of the previous life, in fact, we can indeed have a truce in the future. Otherwise, even if I cannot defeat you, I will go visit Central Continent first."

Duke Long snorted coldly, thinking in his heart: This Qi Sea Ancestor looks like he has a cool disposition and a sage-like demeanor, but he is actually so shameless in personality.

Fang Yuan said he wanted to visit Central Continent, but he was clearly not going to just 'visit' it. Duke Long did not question the possibility of this, because earlier, Fang Yuan focused all his attacks on Pine Crane Pavilion, it caused Duke Long to end up in a passive spot, he had to withstand the attacks.

Like how the two Eastern Sea immortals had their territories and were afraid of Heavenly Court's threat, Central Continent's Heavenly Court also had a great amount of territory, much more than Shen clan and Song clan, they were afraid of people like Qi Sea Ancestor who would be unrestrained and wreak havoc.

Qi Sea Ancestor was a lone cultivator, he was all alone without any territory holding him back, he could come and go as he pleased. And most importantly, he was very strong, Heavenly Court did not have any effective methods of dealing with him!

Other demonic path, lone immortals or even Fang Yuan (Heavenly Court thinks he has rank seven cultivation level) were not too threatening to Duke Long. Because they were not strong enough, even if they joined forces, they were not Duke Long's match.

But Qi Sea Ancestor was different, after their encounter this time, Duke Long became very wary of him.

He had his trump card triple qi retraction, but would Qi Sea Ancestor lack a trump card?

He definitely had one!

Honestly speaking, reaching Qi Sea Ancestor's level as a lone immortal was extremely rare. Such a person would have a huge influence on the forces around him, even if he cultivated in seclusion, he was still a huge obstacle to Heavenly Court's domination.

According to Duke Long's mentality, such a person needed to be eliminated! Because they were too threatening to the repair of fate Gu!

Thus, when Fang Yuan lied that they would attack him in the future, Duke Long believed it in his heart.

But now, due to Fang Yuan's interference, Qi Sea Ancestor was alerted.

And Duke Long did not want to give up on the Immortal Gu House Dragon Palace either.

What should he do?

Duke Long felt a headache.

He thought that if he fought against Qi Sea Ancestor, Fang Yuan would want to see that happen, or rather, that was Fang Yuan's scheme all along. But if he stops fighting against Qi Sea Ancestor now, should he really give up Dragon Palace?

Impossible!

"Qi Sea, those things earlier are just Heavenly Court's compensation." Duke Long said: "Next, we can talk about our transaction involving Dragon Palace. That demon Fang Yuan is too devious and scheming, he paid a huge price to get you to block us, it was a good move! But he is just a rank seven Gu Immortal, it is too laughable that he thinks he can toy with us rank eight Gu Immortals."

As he said this, Duke Long's tone turned solemn: "Whatever resources he gave you, our Heavenly Court can give you more! Furthermore, I do not need you to take action, I just want you to watch by the sidelines."

"Oh? Are you for real?" Fang Yuan showed a slightly stunned expression.

"Absolutely!" Duke Long said with certainty.

"Senior Qi Sea..." The two Eastern Sea immortals wanted to interject but Fang Yuan waved his hand, stopping them from speaking.

Fang Yuan looked at Duke Long as he smiled with a slightly mocking expression: "Duke Long, Fang Yuan gave me a venerable true inheritance."

-x-X-x-

"Venerable true inheritance?" Eastern Sea's two immortals stared with wide eyes.

Duke Long gritted his teeth: "May I ask which one?"

"Spectral Soul's true inheritance." Fang Yuan said immediately: "If you don't believe me, I can show you a portion of the content."

Duke Long pondered for a moment before nodding: "I believe you."

At the same time, he thought: This demon Fang Yuan is truly crafty! Spectral Soul was already captured by Heavenly Court, in the future, we will obtain his Spectral Soul true inheritance as well, it is not an issue. This true inheritance has very little value to Fang Yuan now, so he used it for a transaction. But Qi Sea Ancestor does not have Spectral Soul in his possession, it is normal that he took the offer.

Fang Yuan continued: "Duke Long, if you want me to step aside, are you going to offer a venerable true inheritance too?"

Duke Long gritted his teeth again: "Of course."

"Really?" Fang Yuan's eyes shined brightly: "Honestly speaking, Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable is the person I admire the most."

Duke Long could feel his lips twitching, he thought to himself: This old man is also really devious, if he really admires Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable so much, why would he fight so ruthlessly earlier, he even used Steal Life, he totally wanted to kill me! But he cultivates qi path, it is logical that he wants Primordial Origin's true inheritance, that can be my bargaining chip.

"Friend, you may not know, the bulk of Primordial Origin's true inheritance lies in creating Heavenly Court grotto-heaven, the rest of the content is quite little, due to many changing eras, they are no longer usable in the present world." Duke Long purposely said.

Fang Yuan frowned as he showed some disappointment: "That means you cannot give me Primordial Origin's true inheritance? Then what can Heavenly Court offer? Star Constellation's or Genesis Lotus' true inheritance?"

Regardless of which, they were useful to Fang Yuan.

Duke Long chuckled, he gave Fang Yuan some hope, replying ambiguously: "We can discuss this."

The two Eastern Sea immortals looked at each other, they felt troubled, Duke Long was very ambitious, in order to recruit Qi Sea Ancestor, he actually decided to offer a venerable true inheritance!

And the worst thing was that neither Shen clan nor Song clan could make such an offer.

Duke Long was the leader of Heavenly Court, he had abundant wealth, he could directly use resources or venerable true inheritances to 'flood' Qi Sea Ancestor, he wanted to 'overwhelm' him.

This was the foundation that Heavenly Court had accumulated over countless eras, Song clan and Shen clan were truly unable to match even a small fraction of it.

Fang Yuan suddenly felt that Duke Long was actually quite likable. His style of doing things made Fang Yuan want to give a thumbs up.

He was truly straightforward!

Immediately, Fang Yuan and Duke Long went into a deep discussion.

He wanted to stall time for the dragonman clone anyway.

The two Eastern Sea immortals could only watch, they felt anxiety but also helplessness.

Fang Yuan did not forget them of course, during the conversation, he continued to talk to them and allowed them to maintain hope.

After he did that for many times, Duke Long noticed the problem, his gaze turned deep and dark.

He knew that this Qi Sea Ancestor was using these two Eastern Sea rank eights to vie for more benefits! But it was not a problem, as long as Qi Sea Ancestor was willing to negotiate, it was a good sign.

"But Gu Yue Fang Zheng is in Shen Cong Sheng's hands, this is a small problem, I need to take him back." Duke Long conversed with Fang Yuan while thinking about this as well.

Fang Yuan was also thinking about Gu Yue Fang Zheng.

Earlier, Eastern Sea's two immortals had mentioned Gu Yue Fang Zheng, but Fang Yuan's acting was too good, he acted like did not mind it at all, he was a complete outsider that showed no flaws.

But Fang Yuan had his own thoughts: "This dear little brother of mine was not just saved by Heavenly Court, he was even nurtured into becoming a Gu Immortal? Very interesting!"

"There must be a reason why Heavenly Court is placing such importance on him. I do not know the exact reason but it is not a problem, I will take him away later and directly kill him."

Long ago, Fang Yuan had wanted to refine Fang Zheng into Blood Deity, but because of Heavenly Court's pressure and due to many reasons, Fang Zheng was left to live in Lang Ya blessed land for a long time.

In the end, an unexpected mishap occurred and Fang Zheng got saved by Feng Jiu Ge!

This was not really a mistake but since Fang Yuan found him now, he decided to settle it for good.

Fang Zheng was not very important to Fang Yuan, but since Heavenly Court thought highly of him, Fang Yuan would kill him. This was Fang Yuan's usual vigilance.

As for blood path, he had not many options back then, he needed to raise his battle strength. But times were different now, Fang Yuan's interest in developing blood path was very low.

As long as the Demon Judgment Board existed, if he cultivated blood path, he would be giving Heavenly Court information on where he was.

Sometimes, Fang Yuan guessed that in the previous life, he cultivated blood path likely because of the influence of heaven's will, it was a method to trap him.

Thankfully, he had always been cautious, he did not attempt to continue using his previous life's signature path for a shortcut.

The more Duke Long talked, the more energetic he got.

He could tell that Fang Yuan was very sincere, he really had a lot of interest in the venerable true inheritance.

"Indeed, this Qi Sea Ancestor has incredible strength, in this world, maybe only venerable true inheritances are of interest to him. Eastern Sea actually had such a person, I need to properly investigate his background after I return."

Qi Sea Ancestor was actually Fang Yuan, and not only did Fang Yuan want Heavenly Court's venerable true inheritances, he also wanted to kill Gu Yue Fang Zheng.

If Duke Long were to know of this, he might just cough out blood on the spot.

Dragon Palace dream realm.

The study room had a heavy atmosphere.

Fang Yuan's clone who was acting as Wu Shuai looked at his father with an ugly expression, he asked: "Are we really going to give ownership of Censure Peak to that Fan Ji? I clearly won the contest, he was the one who tried to steal it. If I did not hold back, he would have died already."

The dragonman Gu Immortal shook his head: "Censure Peak involves huge benefits and complex relationships, Black Heaven Temple is refusing to give in. And worse is that even though we contacted Calligraphy Pavilion Lady and Green Ant Ascetic, these two are not helping us to exert pressure on them."

"Damn it!" Wu Shuai clenched his fists: "I am the last disciple of Green Ant Ascetic, but now that I am facing this problem, this master is showing no care or concern."

"And that Calligraphy Pavilion Lady is even worse! I am her son-in-law while Fan Ji is the guy who harmed her daughter, yet she is not even saying a word."

The dragonman Gu Immortal sighed: "How can we influence rank eight Gu Immortals? This was all my fault, I had been too naive in the past. The truth is, did Green Ant Ascetic and Calligraphy Pavilion Lady really not know about our intentions? They were just playing dumb."

"That's why, father!" Wu Shuai stared at the dragonman Gu Immortal, his eyes shining with brilliance: "Only our race's own rank eight Gu Immortal is dependable. Our dragonman race has been relying on the humans and developing until today, wasn't it because of Ancestor Duke Long's influence?"

Wu Shuai's father nodded: "My son, you are right. But rank eight Gu Immortals are just too rare, even though our dragonman race is stronger than the humans, we lack their special spirit. Right now, we have many rank seven Gu Immortals, but we do not even have a single rank eight Gu Immortal other than our ancestor."

Wu Shuai had a bright gaze: "That is why we cannot wait any longer. External rank eight Gu Immortals are not dependable while we are also unable to produce any, we need to use an Immortal Gu House as a substitute."

The dragonman Gu Immortal sighed again, he shook his head: "Immortal Gu House? We have thought of that in the past, but to create a rank seven Immortal Gu House would require too many resources, we cannot afford it. And our dragonman race's current strength is already causing a lot of commotion, more and more human Gu Immortals are onto us. Conspiracy theories against dragonmen are also increasingly common, in this situation, if we still build an Immortal Gu House, wouldn't they lose their minds?"

"Father!" Wu Shuai stared with wide eyes as he said loudly: "Are we not going to build our Immortal Gu House just because of some resources and rumors behind our backs?"

"Isn't it enough? My son, our dragonman race relies on the humans, this relationship is our foundation, we cannot be rash. If we really build an Immortal Gu House and ruin the relationship, not to mention a rank seven Immortal Gu House, we would not even have hope of building a rank six Immortal Gu House. Sigh, all these years, I have been in this position and dealing with them. You will not understand the feeling of ostracism." The dragonman Gu Immortal sighed continuously.

Wu Shuai felt some disappointment, he argued: "Regardless of the difficulties, we need to do this. Ordinary rank seven Immortal Gu Houses are not enough, we need to create a rank eight Immortal Gu House. That is the only way to establish the foundation of our race!"

"Rank eight Immortal Gu House? Hahaha, my son, I am very happy to see that you have such drive. But some things cannot be rushed, progress takes time. Sigh, let's forget about Censure Peak." The dragonman Gu Immortal waved his hand.

Wu Shuai thought about it before nodding: "I guess we have no choice."

Scenes after scenes occurred, Fang Yuan's clone wanted to stall for time so that his main body could save him, but his main body was stalling for time so his clone could obtain Dragon Palace.

Dragon Palace was like quicksand, Fang Yuan's clone was helpless, he gradually sank and became unable to save himself.

It was almost as if he had become Wu Shuai, he was experiencing all of these scenes personally.

After the matter of Censure Peak, Wu Shuai finally realized the reality. His master Green Ant Ascetic was unreliable, his mother-in-law Calligraphy Pavilion Lady was also unreliable, even his own father, the dragonman Gu Immortal, was weak-willed, he was also unreliable.

He could only rely on himself!

Wu Shuai had this realization, he started to strive for strength and excellence.

He had great talent and incredible aptitude, with ample hard work and network resources, not only did his cultivation level soar, a portion of the dragonmen also became stronger, they became the most prominent branch of the dragonman race.

On the day Wu Shuai became rank seven, he also became a higher-up of the dragonman race, the youngest supreme elder with real authority!

-x-X-x-

Wu Shuai was smart and resolute, he had great foresight and a strong personality, he was not weak-willed like most of the dragonman Gu Immortals. Due to his leadership, the dragonman race became stronger and stronger.

Secretly, he gathered resources and did not forget about the plan to create a rank eight Immortal Gu House.

But good times did not last long, the strengthening of the dragonman race made the humans more antagonistic towards them, they started to use more underhanded methods. Many people were very jealous, in fact, even Wu Shuai himself admitted that much of the reason why the dragonman race was able to get stronger was because they occupied the human Gu Immortals' benefits.

But due to Duke Long, the human Gu Immortals would not find them for trouble over many things.

On Duke Long's birthday, there was a huge celebration.

The red 'longevity' character written in the hall was very conspicuous.

Duke Long sat at the main seat, surrounded by dragonmen.

One by one, dragonman Gu Immortals walked up and gifted the presents that they had prepared meticulously.

"Father, I wish you great blessings and longevity." A dragonman Gu Immortal gave a bundle of white python grass.

This grass was an immemorial desolate plant, it contained dragon essence and had the shape of a white python with exquisite scales and dragon horns.

"Father, I wish you eternal prosperity and a long life ahead." Another dragonman Gu Immortal offered a soft jade flower.

"Father, I wish you..." Wu Shuai's father also appeared.

Duke Long had a solemn expression as he nodded, his attendants beside him collected all of these gifts for him.

After his sons had finished, his grandchildren came up.

At this time, Duke Long's expression also became gentler, he smiled warmly.

"Grandfather, I am here to offer birthday wishes! I wish you blessings as deep as Eastern Sea, and longevity as tall as Southern Border mountains. This is a desolate beast that I hunted personally for you, I hope grandfather likes it." A dragonman youngster half-knelt on the ground as he held a plate in front of him, there was a tiny seahorse on the plate.

"This is the desolate beast happiness seahorse, it is very fast and hard to kill."

"Seventh young master only has rank six cultivation level, it is very hard for him to kill it, but to think he actually captured it alive!"

"I heard that in order to capture this happiness seahorse, seventh young master spent a month at the bottom of the sea without moving, his filial piety is truly touching."

The surrounding people discussed, many human Gu Immortals also participated in this joyous celebration.

Little Seventh was Duke Long's favorite grandson, he smiled kindly as he held the plate carrying the seahorse, he said: "Good, good, good, Little Seventh, I will happily accept this gift."

But when it was Wu Shuai's turn, Duke Long retracted his smile as he looked at Wu Shuai: "In the current situation, you are the most accomplished grandson I have, but remember that going too far could end up being detrimental."

"Yes, grandfather." Wu Shuai respectfully walked away.

That night of the celebration, Duke Long asked someone to secretly call Wu Shuai to his study room.

"Return that South Flower Island to them." Duke Long said openly.

Wu Shuai was slightly shocked, he forced a smile: "Grandfather, you may not know, I had won this South Flower Island fair and square, I plan to make this island a home for our dragonmen."

Duke Long had a solemn expression, a sharp light flashed in his eyes, it made Wu Shuai feel a little pain on his face: "Wu Shuai, don't think that nobody can see through your little tricks! South Flower Island belonged to Wind Cloud Manor but you snatched it through a scheme. What are you trying to do? Lead your dragonmen properly, isn't it good to stay in the sect? Why must you relocate and move all the way to South Flower Island? Tell me, what is it that you want?"

Wu Shuai held his breath, after a moment, he replied: "Grandfather, I do not have much ambition, I just want my people to have a better life."

"A better life? You mean a greater ambition!" Duke Long's voice resounded.

Wu Shuai shuddered as he confessed: "Grandfather, even if this is ambition, so what? Shouldn't we have ambition? Do we not have the right to strive for a better life?"

"Why must we stay here? Grandfather, do you not know of how those human Gu Immortals ostracize and take advantage of us?"

"What ostracism? How are they taking advantage of you? All these years, I have only heard about your actions. Do you know why I like Little Seventh the most? Because he sees the world's beauty, he is kind from the depths of his heart, he has never considered the difference between human and dragonman. But you? You use my name to act rashly in the outside world, you devour people's territory and take your sect's benefits for yourself, quickly stop all these actions!" Duke Long shouted coldly.

"Grandfather, if these human Gu Immortals did not treat us like this, why would we act like this?"

"What human, what dragonman, dragonman is human to begin with, what difference is there?!" Duke Long chided.

"If there is no racial difference, what are these dragon horns on my head? What is this dragon tail on my back?" Wu Shuai said angrily, he shouted: "Grandfather, you were a human who turned into a dragonman, most of your life was spent as a human, you have only been a dragonman for a short period of time."

"But us?"

"Grandfather, have you thought about it! We were born as dragonman, we were born with horns on our heads and a tail on our backs."

"I have been educated by my parents from a young age, they told us that we originated from humans, but when I was little, the kids around me mocked me for my appearance, they ostracized me, they pulled my tail and scales. All these tell me that I am not part of this human race!"

"After growing up, I realized that not just the kids, even those human adults treat us differently, they are just more subtle with it."

"If I fail, they will say that it is normal for dragonmen to lose to humans. If I succeed, they will say: A dragonman was able to reach this stage? Did he use any tricks or schemes?"

"Those humans always think they are the greatest beings, they look down on dragonman as an inferior race. How dare they?"

"Man is the spirit of all living beings, but us dragonmen are not inferior. We are born with enslavement path dao marks, our body physique far surpasses these humans, if human Gu Masters do not use Gu worms, their punches and kicks cannot even hurt the dragon scales on our bodies. And even more special is our long lifespan, all of these humans die so quickly compared to us."

"So many Gu Immortals become dragonmen because they want to extend their lifespan. They have clearly abandoned their human identity but they still look down on dragonmen, this is merely the fault of these decadent ideas of the past."

"Enough!" Duke Long slammed the table, interrupting Wu Shuai, his face was extremely dark.

"Not enough." Wu Shuai's tone became calm, he looked at Duke Long bravely, enduring those dragon eyes that were emitting great pressure: "Grandfather, you are the one who created the dragonman lifespan extension method, without you, the dragonmen will not exist, you are the ancestor of the dragonmen, why must you constantly side with those humans? We are your family! I will not return South Flower Island even if I die. Grandfather, if you insist on it, then you will have to end my life first."

After saying that, Wu Shuai did not look at Duke Long, he turned around and left, walking out of the room.

Duke Long did not stand up to stop him, he remained seated on his chair, having complex emotions.

"Sigh... my descendants are all growing up, they have their own ambitions now."

"But they have never placed the big picture of humanity in their hearts."

"Was I negligent in my education? Or have the dragonmen already formed into a flood, I was just the person who pushed open the floodgates?"

Wu Shuai schemed against Wind Cloud Manor, after realizing it, they went to Duke Long to settle this, wanting to take back South Flower Island, but Wu Shuai did not listen, he insisted on his actions.

Wind Cloud Manor did not give up, they used all sorts of methods to find trouble with Wu Shuai.

Wu Shuai dealt with whatever they threw at him, he maintained stability with much difficulty. Duke Long did not do anything to help his grandson, but the rest of the dragonman Gu Immortals did something to help be it secretly or openly.

Due to their help and Wind Cloud Manor being wary of Duke Long, they did not act too aggressively, Wu Shuai succeeded in relocating all of his people to South Flower Island to live.

But the matter regarding South Flower Island did not end here.

Even after a hundred years, Wind Cloud Manor did not give up on it, they continued to act and try to reclaim South Flower Island.

Wu Shuai dealt with all of these problems with impeccable methods, Wind Cloud Manor was unable to succeed.

"After a hundred years, my plan finally comes to fruition!" On this day, Wu Shuai looked at the Immortal Gu House in front of him as he shed tears of excitement and joy.

Back then, he snatched South Flower Island because he needed a secretive location to build the Immortal Gu House.

Wu Shuai's father stood beside him, having an incredulous expression: "You actually succeeded! My son, you are more capable than me."

"Even though the sects have been suppressing and isolating my South Flower Island these years, I have been gaining fortuitous encounters constantly, I had a stream of resources. At the same time, with the help and contribution of the dragonman Gu Immortals, after a hundred years, this rank seven Immortal Gu House has finally been created." Wu Shuai smiled: "Give me a few hundred more years, I might be able to make this a rank eight Immortal Gu House."

"This has not been named?" Wu Shuai's father asked.

"The Gu Immortals all have their own suggestions, but as the creator, I overruled all suggestions and gave this the name — Dragon Court!" Saying so, Wu Shuai's voice became louder as his eyes shined with bright light.

"Dragon Court?" Wu Shuai's father heard this and his expression changed: "Isn't this too... inappropriate?"

"Hahaha, why is it inappropriate? It complements Heavenly Court!" Wu Shuai laughed loudly.

"Son, you should reconsider it. In the eyes of these human Gu Immortals, Dragon Court is not a name that complements Heavenly Court, it is clearly a rebellious sign."

"Hehe." Wu Shuai laughed coldly: "They can think what they want."

"You can't say that, humans are still the overlords of the five regions."

"Father." Wu Shuai raised his hand: "Say no more, I have made up my mind, this will be called — Dragon Court!"

-x-X-x-