Chapter 1218

Fang Yuan is not ready to reveal himself as Wu Yi Hai. His soul search of Wu Yi Hai is incomplete. Wu Du Xiu is still alive to test whether her son is genuine, so an early appearance risks exposure. Fang Yuan’s true goal is only the identity itself; greed for more would cost him the whole disguise. Wu Yong has motive to move against Wu Yi Hai, and appearing too soon could get Fang Yuan secretly killed by Wu clan. Trusting his past life’s memory to read the situation, he keeps cultivating, soul searching Wu Yi Hai, and gathering intelligence. ^{ch. 1218}

Wu Du Xiu’s condition worsens by the day, and Southern Border falls into commotion. In Northern Plains, Chu Du’s side is completely suppressed without Liu Guan Yi, until Heavenly Lord Bai Zu’s lone immortals force a deadlock. Liu Chang and forces like Ye Lui tribe hunt Liu Guan Yi, who has vanished from Northern Plains without a trace. In Central Continent, Heavenly Court and the ten great ancient sects completely wipe out Defy, Shadow Sect’s underground organization, then capture, kill, or enslave many on the Demon Judgment Board. ^{ch. 1218}

Half a month later, Wu Du Xiu summons Wu Yong and several elders to her deathbed. With unprecedented clarity, she names three regrets. She failed to exterminate the Seven Fierce Gorge Ghosts, destroying only their den. She never gathered enough dry clear qi to finish refining eight-faced prestige wind Gu. Her third regret is never seeing her son Yi Hai; she hated and killed his father, then wrongly turned that hatred on an innocent child. She tells Wu Yong he has done well and hands Wu clan to him, transferring her Immortal Gu into him since he too cultivates wind path, though he weeps in true grief that he wants her alive, not her Gu. She tells him nobody escapes death, not even the mightiest Immortal Venerables and Demon Venerables. ^{ch. 1218}

Her body then shines white and dissolves into countless specks of light, leaving no body or soul behind. Wu Du Xiu, a rank eight Gu Immortal who held influence over Southern Border for thousands of years, is gone from the world. The elders cry out in sorrow. Wu Yong kneels motionless, then rises firm as steel and tells them Wu clan must go on carrying her glory. They answer him as first supreme elder, and news of her death spreads across Southern Border at lightning speed. ^{ch. 1218}

Many feel relief at her death. They question whether Wu clan, left with only one rank eight among its supreme elders, can keep its place as the leading righteous force under a widely doubted successor. The rumor that Wu Yong killed his own half brother Wu Yi Hai spreads just as fiercely. ^{ch. 1218}

At Qiao clan’s headquarters on Qing Yang Mountain, its first supreme elder tells Qiao Si Liu that the death and the rumor are their opportunity, since Qiao clan’s long marriage alliance gives it better standing to act than any rival. She judges Wu Yong ordinary yet not simple, still a rank eight Gu Immortal. Calling her Liu Er, the elder tells her she will continue the marriage alliance with Wu clan. She is Qiao clan’s pride and one of Southern Border’s three great fairies, and she agrees to contribute, though she worries that marrying Wu Yong, who holds authority over all of Wu clan, would leave her unable to control him. He tells her the match is not Wu Yong but Wu Yi Hai, who approached Qiao clan a few days earlier. ^{ch. 1218}

Seven days later, Wu clan holds a grand funeral on Divine Wind Mountain, attended by righteous path forces, lone immortals, and some demonic path Gu Immortals. Before them all, Wu Yong denounces Xu Tuo as a traitor and has him seized. He accuses Xu Tuo of leaking his brother Wu Yi Hai’s travel route to the fiends who killed him. Xu Tuo protests his loyalty but cannot answer the evidence laid against him. He realizes Wu Yong had known all along and let him act until now. Wu Yong had used him to remove Wu Yi Hai and secure the inheritance, becoming first supreme elder and clearing the rumors against himself in the same stroke. Xu Tuo was the pawn he meant to discard; satisfied, Wu Yong orders him dragged away while the crowd looks on uneasy and shocked. ^{ch. 1218}

Before Wu Yong can speak again, Qiao clan’s first supreme elder rises to announce that Wu Yong’s brother Wu Yi Hai did not die, and has arrived with Qiao clan’s help. Wu Yong can only ask what he means. ^{ch. 1218}