Chapter 2217: Delicious Wine Becomes Flavorless The great Shen clan first supreme elder was crying with a tearful expression now. Part of it was definitely Shen Cong Sheng’s inner fear towards Fang Yuan, but he had deeper goals as well. With the combined announcement of Heavenly Court and Longevity Heaven, such news could not be fake. Fang Yuan became Heaven Refining Demon Venerable, while news like Qi Sea Ancestor being Fang Yuan’s clone became known throughout the world. Before this, Eastern Sea’s righteous path had been defending Qi Sea Ancestor as they made the Righteous Qi Alliance, to contest against the variant human alliance under Fang Yuan’s control. It turned out that both leaders were Fang Yuan after all, it could be said that the entirety of Eastern Sea’s righteous path clans were toyed around in the hands of Fang Yuan. After Shen Cong Sheng found out about the truth, he felt anger and humiliation, but soon, fear and unrest followed. Shen clan was an Eastern Sea super force, it had huge businesses and seven seas under its control, but how could they face Fang Yuan? Back when Fang Yuan was still a pseudo venerable, Eastern Sea’s super forces had joined together unprecedentedly and nominated Qi Sea Ancestor to lead them. This caused their situation to stabilize. Now that Fang Yuan was a venerable, Shen clan and the other super forces could not escape his wrath. Because they were located in Eastern Sea, they could not move elsewhere. Even if they wanted to move, where could they go? Southern Border and Western Desert were impossible, since the absence of a venerable meant that Fang Yuan could chase after them if he was unhappy, and they would be doomed. Other than those regions, Central Continent and Northern Plains each had their own venerable who could resist Fang Yuan. But they already had their own super forces, how could Shen clan and the rest develop there? If they stayed in Eastern Sea, Fang Yuan would bully them, but if they went to Central Continent or Northern Plains, would Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable not suppress them? The five regions chaotic war was bound to happen, if Shen clan joined either venerable, when war broke out, they would be used as cannon fodder. Thus, Shen Cong Sheng gathered the elite Gu Immortals and discussed for a while, he decided that joining Fang Yuan was the best choice for them. Even though it was quite embarrassing, Fang Yuan was now a Demon Venerable, everyone would understand their actions. After Shen Cong Sheng made up his mind to join Fang Yuan, he thought about it more deeply: Since he was going to join Fang Yuan, Shen clan had to be the first clan to do so, it would give them more advantages. If Shen clan took the lead and worked with a pseudo venerable like Lu Wei Yin, stirring other Eastern Sea righteous path forces to join Fang Yuan, they would leave a good impression on Fang Yuan. Shen Cong Sheng secretly told this plan to Shen Shang, after he thought about it for a while, he decided that it was possible. Thus, they had to convince Lu Wei Yin first. Shen Shang felt that they had a good chance of convincing Lu Wei Yin. Even though he had only met Lu Wei Yin shortly, they had a deep connection. Shen Shang had once received Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable’s guidance while Lu Wei Yin was his Southern Border inheritor. If they looked at this from the Central Continent sect system, they were disciple brothers. Furthermore, during the battle of Crazed Demon Cave, Lu Wei Yin and Shen Shang had worked together without any internal conflict. After returning, Shen Shang used his human path methods to heal Lu Wei Yin. If he were to use only his own earth path methods, it would take a long time to recover! At once, Shen Cong Sheng cried while Shen Shang drank tea by the side, they were both waiting for Lu Wei Yin’s response. Lu Wei Yin sighed internally. He had already understood that Shen Shang had an unclear relationship with Fang Yuan, they had worked together during the fate war to fight Heavenly Court. In Crazed Demon Cave, after Shen Shang left Divine Emperor City, he immediately cooperated and fought against Heavenly Court as a result of Fang Yuan’s words. Then what about Lu Wei Yin? Where should he go? Lu Wei Yin had been considering this question for a long time. After the battle in Crazed Demon Cave, the situation of the world changed drastically. Three venerables were in a standoff, but there was still the possibility of other venerables reviving. Everything needed to be reconsidered. Lu Wei Yin, who had pseudo venerable battle strength, was clear of his own situation. Fighting against a venerable was courting death. But in certain situations, pseudo venerables were still capable of influencing the victory and defeat of venerables. The battle in Crazed Demon Cave was proof of this. When Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable got into a deadlock, they first invited Fang Yuan before asking the other pseudo venerables to join their side. These people were the crucial pieces needed to tilt victory in their favor. In Crazed Demon Cave, even after the three venerables stopped fighting, Fang Yuan and the other venerables did not deal with Lu Wei Yin and the rest. Other than the fact that they were in poor condition and were wary of each other’s actions, thus being unable to take risks, if they tried to kill the pseudo venerables and failed, they would be forcing them to join the other sides. Thus, Lu Wei Yin and the rest returned safely. Lu Wei Yin pondered for a while before saying: “If Lord Paradise Earth were still around, I would definitely follow him. The reason why I helped Fang Yuan to ambush Spectral Soul during the pursuit battle was to use his strength to help Lord Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable revive. But now, he has been killed by Fang Yuan...” Lu Wei Yin gritted his teeth, showing anger on his face. If Paradise Earth were to be killed by either Giant Sun Immortal Venerable or Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, Lu Wei Yin might still feel better. But it was Fang Yuan who killed Paradise Earth. While Fang Yuan managed to escape from Spectral Soul Demon Venerable because of Lu Wei Yin’s desperate attempt to ambush him. Shen Shang observed his expression and knew that Lu Wei Yin’s emotions were surging, he understood why Lu Wei Yin felt so conflicted as well. Shen Shang did not speak. He had received Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable’s help in the past, it was not appropriate to speak now. Shen Cong Sheng had no such issue, immediately urging: “In my opinion, Lord Lu Wei Yin, you do not need to be too conflicted. Back then, you helped Fang Yuan mostly because of Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable’s will.” After pausing for a while, he added: “Furthermore, even though Fang Yuan took Lord Paradise Earth’s life, that was merely the final hit. The most important culprits were Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.” Lu Wei Yin sighed as he looked up, he had no choice but to nod as he said: “You are right.” He smiled bitterly: “The situation has changed, the world is no longer like before. Without Lord Paradise Earth, I, Lu Wei Yin, am merely a wandering vagrant. Even though Mushroomman Paradise is still around, the mushroommen have all entered the sovereign immortal aperture already, they are Fang Yuan’s hostages. I am troubled by both choices, I cannot calm down. Shen Shang, we have a deep friendship forged from battles, I wonder what your opinion on this matter is? I would like to hear your view.” Shen Shang coughed before saying: “I will not lie to you, friend, I want to join Lord Heaven Refining Demon Venerable. The truth is, back in the blue dragon whale, we had already worked with Lord Fang Yuan. Afterwards, we collaborated in both the fate war and the battle in Crazed Demon Cave. Through our multiple cooperations, Lord Fang Yuan had not let us down once. Of course, can we say that Fang Yuan is dependable? That is complete nonsense, he is still a Demon Venerable after all. But Shen clan’s foundation is here, if we try to move, it will be too risky. After considering the pros and cons, this is the only thing we can do.” Gu Immortals could not cultivate without resources. Shen clan was huge and had many Gu Immortals, they needed even more resources to maintain the cultivation of all their members, while promoting new Gu Immortal seeds as well. Of course, each Gu Immortal had their own immortal aperture. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂 But just the resources inside one’s immortal aperture were not enough to be self-sufficient. Otherwise, treasure yellow heaven would not be this popular with everyone. The sovereign immortal aperture was able to be self-sufficient, but it was unique. Even though it could be refined again, the amount of immortal materials needed, including the ten extreme physiques, and also the tribulation during the Gu refinement, made the risks and investments too great to bear. Hearing Shen Shang’s words, Lu Wei Yin’s expression turned grim as he nodded: “Brother Shen has helped me a lot, since that is your decision, then I will follow you this time.” Shen Cong Sheng and Shen Shang glanced at each other while muttering internally: Sly old fox. With these words, Lu Wei Yin wanted to use this decision to repay the favor of having Shen Shang heal his injuries. As expected, a pseudo venerable like Lu Wei Yin was a genius among geniuses, he could not be deceived under most situations. Shen Shang coughed and said: “It is for the best that you have decided to do this. We can help each other out in the future as well.” Shen Cong Sheng quickly made use of this conversation, suggesting that Shen Shang and Lu Wei Yin should take the lead to get all the other Eastern Sea super forces to join Fang Yuan as well. Lu Wei Yin predicted that this would happen, he nodded and agreed on the spot. Shen Cong Sheng brewed his six sound tea again. After enjoying the tea, Shen Shang brought the satisfied Lu Wei Yin into their secret room again for treatment. Shen Shang’s and Lu Wei Yin’s injuries were very severe. Just one round of treatment was not enough. Even if Shen Shang was using human path methods, to get rid of these venerable dao marks on their wounds, time was needed. On the morning of the second day, Shen Cong Sheng set off and visited the other super clans. His plan to rope them in was quite successful. These super forces were all based in Eastern Sea, they soon heard from Shen Cong Sheng that Shen Shang and Lu Wei Yin were going to join Fang Yuan. With the death of Demon Immortal Qi Jue in Crazed Demon Cave, there were only three pseudo venerable battle strength experts left in the world. Among the three of them, Shen Shang and Lu Wei Yin wanted to join Fang Yuan, while Qi Sea Ancestor, the leader of the Righteous Qi Alliance, was Fang Yuan’s qi path clone! This trend was simply too overpowering, the other Eastern Sea super clans soon joined in. Of course, not everyone wanted to join Fang Yuan. Xia Xuan, Xia Jia, and the other Gu Immortals had already decided to leave Eastern Sea and betray the Righteous Qi Alliance the moment they heard Longevity Heaven’s and Heavenly Court’s announcements. These Xia clan Gu Immortals were truly pitiful. First, their foundation was devoured by the variant human alliance, they then joined Qi Sea Ancestor to try and reclaim their territory. But the result was that Qi Sea Ancestor and Fang Yuan had played them entirely, killing the important Gu Immortals of Xia clan like Xia Rui Zhi. “This demon Fang Yuan killed our clansmen and devoured our foundation, this enmity is greater than heaven!” “Eastern Sea, we will be back one day!” “Let’s go, Zui Xian Weng is going to arrive here soon on patrol.” “Hehe, don’t worry, in order to escape today, I specially found some rare wine for Zui Xian Weng. With his nature, he is going to be completely drunk today.” Xia clan’s Gu Immortals conversed while secretly flying from Eastern Sea to Central Continent along the surface of the sea. Zui Xian Weng watched as they left, until they vanished into the horizon. This elderly Gu Immortal sighed deeply, he had a worried expression. He had already regretted his promise to Qin Ding Ling. He was now Heavenly Court’s spy that had infiltrated the Righteous Qi Alliance. Heavenly Court had instructed him a day ago to purposely let these Xia clan Gu Immortals go. “I succeeded this time because it was an easy mission, but next time?” Zui Xian Weng thought about Fang Yuan, who had venerable cultivation level, all the wine that he had become flavorless. “How did he suddenly become a venerable out of nowhere?!”