Chapter 697

At Fei He mountain, in Immortal Crane Sect’s hall of affairs, Gu Immortals sit in council under the rank eight first supreme elder. Shu Zhi Ge asks for three hundred and sixty immortal essence stones to treat the spirit rhino, an ancient desolate beast sick for half a year. Fan Xi Liu accuses him of delaying the cure to profit from it. Shu Zhi Ge retorts that Fan Xi Liu’s own group poisoned the beast during its capture, against his warning, and left him to clean up the mess. ^{ch. 697}

A bell calls for a vote. Fan Xi Liu objects first, citing his own past budget of only two hundred stones and asking whether a beast matters more than healing Gu Immortals. A second cites the more urgent northwest situation. Another asks after the secretive information path Gu worm the sect took the rhino’s blood to create, and Lady Sang Xin reports slow progress against that poisoned blood. He judges the venture has few prospects and objects. With five of eight against the full request, Shu Zhi Ge receives only two hundred immortal essence stones, and mutters his displeasure. ^{ch. 697}

The bell rings again for the reincarnation battlefield. Lei Tan, muscular with blue hair, says he has managed it for over thirty years, that the sect suffered a huge mid-year loss there, and asks for a rank six Gu Immortal’s strength or three desolate beasts, one a nine palace crane. He Feng Yang objects that the sect is already short on strength, with two Gu Immortals sidelined, and that sending more would only invite the other nine sects to match them. The vote grants Lei Tan two desolate beasts instead of his full request, and he glares at He Feng Yang in open hatred. ^{ch. 697}

Gui Li then raises Great Heavenly Sword Sect, the sect’s subsidiary for nearly a thousand years, which now has a third Gu Immortal and wants to break away. A successful split would badly weaken Immortal Crane Sect’s hold on the northwest. It would also damage its reputation. He suspects Myriad Dragon Dock is behind it, and warns that if the subsidiary detaches and joins that dock, whose territory borders Immortal Crane Sect’s own, the areas around it would pass into the dock’s sphere. Second supreme elder asks which Gu Immortal he means to recruit, how confident he is, and what price it will take. ^{ch. 697}

Gui Li answers that nothing good comes cheap: he has promised the Gu Immortal equal treatment, the standard for joining Immortal Crane Sect, plus about seventy five immortal essence stones of resources. He favors avoiding force, since the agreement’s term is ending and forcing it near the border could give Myriad Dragon Dock an excuse to intervene. He never names the Gu Immortal, and second supreme elder does not press him. The sect votes to approve Gui Li’s plan. ^{ch. 697}

The bell rings for the last matter, retaking Hu Immortal blessed land. He Feng Yang reports that the rank six blessed land holds Dang Hun Mountain, whose guts Gu can greatly raise a sect’s foundation. Lei Tan cuts him off, demanding why more than a year has passed with no progress while the other nine sects mock them. ^{ch. 697}

He Feng Yang says he has been occupied with the matter all year, and declared Fang Yuan a traitor only days earlier. His informants report no unusual reaction from the other nine sects, and the key operative is ready, needing only Old Lord Can Yang and Fairy Cang Yu to help retake the blessed land. Lei Tan mocks the request as three Gu Immortals against a lone mortal, an ox cleaver on a chicken, and asks if that is truly a year’s preparation. He Feng Yang explains he must be thorough this time. He used Fang Zheng to deceive the other nine sects into believing Immortal Crane Sect alone took the blessed land. But since they learned the truth they have obstructed Immortal Crane Sect in secret many times, and failure now would let them intervene openly. ^{ch. 697}

First supreme elder sighs that the other sects have obstructed them again. He calls it both bad news and good news, and passes over a letter sending green bird Gu. He Feng Yang reads it and pales: the letter requests Old Lord Can Yang for the northern plains expedition, the very battle strength he had counted on to hold the fort, lost before he can act. Second supreme elder says they cannot refuse, since the failed True Yang Building effort must be investigated and northern plains offers a chance to capture Immortal Gu. If the Gu Immortal they send lacks battle strength, the sect risks gaining nothing or being reduced to a shield for the others. ^{ch. 697}