Chapter 1332

Chi Shang drinks a great deal at the banquet and grows talkative, convinced that beating Fang Yuan in their contest has won him Qiao Si Liu’s favor. Fang Yuan concedes with a sigh, calling Chi Shang too strong a competitor. Chi Shang laughs, patting his shoulder to console him. Inwardly Fang Yuan is amused: the matter was decided long ago, since if he agrees Qiao Si Liu will be his, and her recent letter is itself a sign of that, though her pride keeps her from saying so outright. He reads her as very happy to see the two men competing, using the fact of it to show her purity to her suitors while raising her own value; her pursuit of him, he judges, serves Qiao clan’s political interest more than her own wish. ^{ch. 1332}

Fang Yuan cannot accept this love, since taking it would make him a pawn Qiao clan has planted in Wu clan, drawing Wu Yong’s suspicion and close watch, leaving the dream realms no longer easy to enter and risking exposure. Exposure would bring both clans down on him harder than any rival. He decides instead to use it. Courting Qiao Si Liu’s interest will make Wu Yong wary enough to send him back to the super Gu formation, exactly his goal, though Wu Yong’s alertness and Qiao Si Liu’s other suitors remain problems still unsolved. ^{ch. 1332}

Back at the super Gu formation, Fang Yuan turns to managing the fallout. Unresolved suitors would be a huge interference to his exploration of the dream realm, and his identity as Wu Yi Hai greatly restricts how he can deal with them, since he cannot expose himself in the process. His solution is to create a target that draws their attention instead, and Chi Shang’s arrival, paired with his political naivety, gives him one. Fang Yuan resolves to lose to him on purpose, turning him into a bigger threat than himself, a shield to absorb the other suitors’ anger. He challenges Chi Shang specifically on formation path, the one subject Chi Shang takes pride in, so that a transformation path cultivator issuing the challenge is already a huge slap to his face, one he cannot walk away from. ^{ch. 1332}

Chi Shang falls for it, toasting Fang Yuan as a very sincere man and calling them true friends made through the contest. Fang Yuan loses the challenge as planned and spreads news of his own defeat. He stays unmoved beneath his laughter, aware that the righteous path’s banquets hide schemes behind their good cheer. Both men end the night very happy, host and guest alike. ^{ch. 1332}