"The ancient Demon Venerable sealed in the Five Elements Land made a move! Sure enough, no wonder that Supreme Emperor Heaven had misgivings, and the Taiyi Sect hasn't come to our door to threaten us for so long. But it is unknown whether this matter is a blessing or a curse." Another Longevity Realm giant smacked his lips, seemingly chewing over the ins and outs of this event: "The ancient Demon Venerable certainly has a plan, having imparted the Demon Fetus Parasitic Art to Meng Shaobai, and now using Fang Han as a chess piece; it is clearly to achieve a greater purpose."
During this meeting, besides Feng Baiyu, there was a total of three giants of ten thousand ages at the Longevity Realm. The Heavenly Punishment Elder, Jiang Rourou, and the man who just spoke.
This man wore a long gray robe, and held a black ruyi in his hand. His expression was somewhat cold. Bringing up Fang Han, he seemed expressing some dissatisfaction: "This Fang Han causes too much trouble, offending too many people. Moreover, who knows what secrets the ancient Demon Venerable has planted on him. I rather suggest that this child cannot be kept. In case a major disaster occurs in the future, our Yuhua Sect cannot bear the consequences."
"Ruyizi, how can you speak like this. Fang Han's cultivation is no trifling matter; after refining his Natal Talisman, it produced the anomalous phenomena of blowing great conches and striking great dharma drums. This is a profound foundation rarely seen in ten thousand years, even deeper and thicker than Hua Tiandu's foundation. To casually discard such a disciple, has your cultivation addled your brain?"
The Heavenly Punishment Elder looked coldly at this man and suddenly spoke out in reproach.
This man was called "Ruyizi," an elder who supported Hua Tiandu. A very, very long time ago, Hua Tiandu's pure Yang magical treasure, the "Heavenly Chicken Supreme Yang Rope," was exactly refined by him and then given to Hua Tiandu.
Therefore, seeing that Fang Han posed a threat to Hua Tiandu's future struggle for the Headmaster position this time, he immediately became highly vigilant. He wanted to do his utmost to expel Fang Han to prevent offending the Taiyi Sect.
"Heavenly Punishment, is it me who is confused or you? Do not forget, Hua Tiandu is currently cultivating within the Taiyi Sect, needing to borrow the Taiyi Sect's immortal artifact to cultivate to the Longevity Realm. Now that this incident has occurred, if we do not expel Fang Han, how will the Taiyi Sect treat Hua Tiandu?" Ruyizi said coldly. "Which is more important, a person at the sixth layer of the Divine Ability realm, the Unity realm, or a Longevity Realm giant of ten thousand ages! Moreover, Hua Tiandu's foundation is currently laid extremely thickly, having cultivated the Panwu Great Force Divine Ability to its limits. Once he breaks through to the Longevity Realm, he will probably directly comprehend the Undying Body; by then, he will be above both you and me. Which is lighter and which is heavier? Furthermore, although Fang Han's foundation is thick, whether he can cultivate to the Longevity Realm is very hard to say. At that realm, just how much hardship and pain there is, how many fortuitous encounters and fateful connections are required, you and I are not unaware. Not expelling Fang Han now is disadvantageous to Hua Tiandu; it is equivalent to not ringing the bell we already have and turning around to smelt copper instead. Is there such reasoning?"
"I do not agree with expelling Fang Han. Didn't the Taiyi Sect refrain from oppressing us just now? Furthermore, what reason do we have to expel him? In terms of reasoning, it simply won't hold up. However, Fang Han instantly moved to kill two major Golden Core junior giants. This matter is truly too shocking. I fear that the Taiyi Sect might not make things difficult now, but they won't let it rest in the future." The Legacy Transmission Elder's face showed great concern. To have him kill two major Golden Core disciples of the Taiyi Sect was an impossible thing as well. Not to mention him, even Demon Emperors and Demon Sovereigns wouldn't dare.
However, he also did not agree with the idea of expelling Fang Han to curry favor with the Taiyi Sect.
"I also disagree with expelling Fang Han. Firstly, there is no rationale. In a martial competition with the Taiyi Sect, the people of the Three Great Sword Sects all saw that the Taiyi Sect broke their promise and went back on their word, besieging him. Fang Han was then forced to enact a killing blow. If we were to expel Fang Han for this, then the Daoist sects under heaven, and even the demonic sects, would laugh at our Yuhua Sect for being weak and an incompetent. Secondly, if we expel Fang Han, he will surely be sought out by the demonic path, and the loss will outweigh the gain. Even the members of the Three Great Sword Sects would scoop him up. You must know, Fang Han possesses the Yellow Springs Diagram. Who under heaven isn't coveting the Yellow Springs Treasury?"
Jiang Rourou, this giant of ten thousand ages, tapped her fingertips on the tabletop.
"Then just make him leave behind the Yellow Springs Diagram and all the Dao artifacts on his body, and then expel him." Ruyizi said coldly, "Our Yuhua Sect has sheltered him for so long; it is entirely reasonable for him to leave some things behind. The trouble he caused this time, the benefits went entirely to him. Must our Yuhua Sect shoulder all the matters for him, destroying the unity of the Immortal Path and offending the Taiyi Sect? Besides, the measures the ancient Demon Venerable arranged upon his body, whether they pose a danger to our Yuhua Sect in the future is very hard to say."
"I do not agree with expelling Fang Han. Don't forget, he is a master of pill refinement. Having cultivated the Five Emperors Great Demon Divine Ability, the Green Emperor Wood Sovereign Art is able to directly cause spiritual medicines to become spirits. Furthermore, he can boundlessly refine Primal Infant Pills, producing a million pills at a whim. The Yuhua Sect monopolizing such resources, in eight or ten years, how many Divine Ability realm disciples will we produce? Thousands? Tens of thousands is perfectly possible. In three to five hundred years, it wouldn't be strange for our Yuhua Sect to develop to an immense scale like the Taiyi Sect. You don't manage the household, so you don't know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt."
The Medicine King Elder directly stood up and shook his head vigorously. Being in charge of the sect's pills and medicines, although he possessed a Dao artifact-grade pill furnace, he lacked many materials. He knew better than anyone how massive the effect of Fang Han's Green Emperor Wood Sovereign Art was on pill refinement, let alone that Fang Han could refine vast quantities of Primal Infant Pills of exceedingly high quality.
"He has a wondrous secret magical treasure that can draw Immortal Realm source energy for pill refinement just like Longevity Realm experts, and the amount he draws is much larger than ours. I wonder what treasure has such a function." Jiang Rourou said.
"Then just confiscate his Yellow Springs Diagram, along with that mysterious treasure, and then expel him. In short, I am unwilling to see our Yuhua Sect become enemies with the Taiyi Sect, leading to Hua Tiandu sustaining harm. You must realize that Hua Tiandu is genuinely the number one disciple of our sect. His level of importance is vastly greater than Fang Han's. To sacrifice Fang Han a bit for Hua Tiandu's growth is nothing." Ruyizi sneered even more: "What is the Headmaster's opinion?"
All the elders turned simultaneously to look at Feng Baiyu.
After all, Feng Baiyu was the Supreme Headmaster of the Yuhua Sect; not to mention holding ultimate authority, his cultivation was outstandingly unparalleled, and he commanded the Emperor Mirror, a supreme grade Dao artifact possessing immense power.
All matters depended entirely on his wishes.
Of course, behind him were still a few Supreme Elders, but the Supreme Elders generally would not interfere with the Headmaster's decisions.
"Fang Han cannot be expelled. I, Feng Baiyu, can handle protecting one person. Besides, he did an excellent job this time, obtaining the control talisman of the Five Elements Land. From now on, the Five Elements Land will be completely under the control of our Yuhua Sect. Moreover, he is extremely sharp, having pulled over the Three Great Sword Sects, actually not hesitating to spend three million Primal Infant Pills! This made the elders of the Three Great Sword Sects firmly stand by our side. Also, the headmasters of the Three Great Sword Sects sent a secret decree saying they would advance and retreat together with us. Additionally, I have another decree here, sent by the Sect Master and his wife of the Myriad Stars Sect. They stated that if necessary, they could acknowledge Fang Han as an adopted son. If the Yuhua Sect cannot protect him, the Myriad Stars Sect will fight to the death to protect Fang Han."
Feng Baiyu brought out a decree glittering with brilliant starlight and threw it directly to Ruyizi.
Ruyizi caught the talisman and glanced at it, a trace of shock subsequently showing on his face, but he soon followed up: "Then this child has a bone of rebellion on his head and will not be wholeheartedly loyal to our Yuhua Sect. Openly flirting with the Myriad Stars Sect now, where will this end in the future? Do not forget, the Myriad Stars Sect is competing with our Yuhua Sect over talented disciples from the mortal realms of the Great Li Dynasty and several other nations."
"This child has done a fine job making diplomatic alliances across the board. He seized the Golden Cores of Zhao Xuanyi and Song Weiyi, and is now cultivating on Samsara Peak with Baby Nebula, the young master of the Myriad Stars Sect, preparing to give one Golden Core for Baby Nebula to refine." The Heavenly Punishment Elder stared straight at Ruyizi, gritted his teeth, and sneered repeatedly: "Doing things this way, I'm afraid it isn't completely out of the question that he might control the Myriad Stars Sect in the future. The Star Master of the Myriad Stars Sect is also happy to see all of this happen, because it is inconvenient for them to blatantly give benefits to their own son. But receiving it from Fang Han makes things entirely different. A few centuries from now, when Baby Nebula becomes the Headmaster of the Myriad Stars Sect, having this layer of relationship will be exceptionally beneficial to our Yuhua Sect."
"So saying this, do you all wish to support Fang Han and oppose a colossal entity like the Taiyi Sect for him?" Ruyizi swept a glance over the seated elders: "If it is like this, what if Hua Tiandu breeds a rebellious psychology? I do have an idea, you may consider it carefully."
"What idea? Speak." Feng Baiyu said to Ruyizi.
"Name a price, name a price to the Taiyi Sect! The Taiyi Sect suffered a huge loss this time, and it is awkward for them to strike, but they certainly won't let it rest. In my view, why don't we present conditions to the Taiyi Sect? If the Taiyi Sect can give us enough benefits, it can offset the loss of expelling Fang Han. So why don't we do it? And we can let Hua Tiandu know that our Yuhua Sect absolutely favors no disciple. I see this matter, just let Hua Tiandu go negotiate with the Taiyi Sect."
Ruyizi said sinisterly.
"You mean we sell out an under-the-door disciple for profit?" The Heavenly Punishment Elder grew even more uncomfortable.
"I am looking out for the grand scheme of things. Do you really want Hua Tiandu to rebel against the sect and become a second Immortal Venerable Linglong? Let me tell you, Hua Tiandu could step into the Longevity Realm at any time. Once he steps into the Longevity Realm and becomes a giant of ten thousand ages, relying on the collection of Immortal Venerable Panwu in his hands, coupled with the cave dwelling, and further backed by the Taiyi Sect's support, he could perfectly establish his own sect and become the eleventh major sect of the Immortal Path." Ruyizi said.
"Junior Brother Ruyi, do not forget, if we expel Fang Han, Fang Qingxue will defect from the sect as well." Feng Baiyu said flatly. "This loss is a price we cannot afford either. She is the reincarnation of the Electric Mother, tied to a significant event from ancient times. She is the key to whether several of our Yuhua Sect's Supreme Elders can endure the Primordial Myriad Heavens Void Immortal Realm Divine Thunder to tear open the gates of the Immortal Realm in the future. If we lose her, the severity will be worse than losing Fang Han and Hua Tiandu combined. Additionally, with her cultivation speed, stepping into the Longevity Realm before Hua Tiandu is perfectly within the realm of possibility; she is the reincarnation of a natural divine spirit from antiquity."
"This…"
Ruyizi, however, had not considered that angle regarding Fang Qingxue.
"It will be thus. If the Taiyi Sect refuses to lend Hua Tiandu the immortal artifact for cultivation because of this incident, I can go discuss with several Supreme Elders and provide Hua Tiandu with some benefits. As for Fang Han, for the sake of our Yuhua Sect's reputation, we must do our utmost to protect him. Expelling him is utterly devoid of reason."
Feng Baiyu struck the final conclusion.