Next to Qing Chou, in terms of impressiveness, was the southern border Wu clan leader; Wu Yong!
He had played his part very well during the Fate wars, and thanks to receiving massive upgrades in his Key Gus, from deals with Fang Yuan, adding everything together made him reach the level of a Pseudo-Venerable.
He was now the unofficial overlord of the Southern Border, but his ambition couldn't be stifled at just that.
"A chance to be a Venerable there's no way I can pass that up to one of these hidden old farts!" Wu Yong snorted.
Wu Yong easily swept past over 10 people at once, without even using Clear Jade Dripping Wind Tiny Bamboo House or the famous Killer Move, Farewell Friend Wind.
"Hmm," Earth stared at Wu Yong for a shorter amount of time, "Unfortunately, he's too ambitious and crafty, a mini Fang Yuan if you would, the moment benefits swing in the opposite's favour, he won't hesitate to switch."
"And binding him to us is something he would refuse to accept, and if we use force his effectiveness would drop." Earth sighed.
"Why is it so hard to find anyone useful!?" Earth was growing increasingly frustrated, "Peng Da is out, he's chasing after Thieving Heaven's inheritances right?"
Star Constellation nodded, "Yes Red Lotus had him chasing those down."
"Then that leaves Lin Jian Xing, Xiao Xuan and Yu Shen." (1)
"Lin Jian Xing might not be keen to work with us," Star Constellation recounted the time Heavenly Court baited him out to take some of his Otherworldly Sword Path Dao Marks
Earth nodded, "I know, but from that chance encounter he has discovered the existence of Otherworldly Dao Marks and has found a way to use them."
No one else in the world knew Lin Jian Xing was an Otherworldly Demon, and Lin Jian Xing was sure that absolutely no one had known that he had found a way to incorporate Otherworldly Dao Marks into his killer Moves.
"I need to save these," Lin Jian Xing knew that the Otherworldly Dao Marks were not reproducible, once used up they would be gone for good.
This was Lin Jian Xing's confidence for coming, he thought that if push came to shove, he would be able to escape from a venerable, by using all of his remaining Otherworldly Dao Marks.
"Tch," Lin Jian Xing snorted, "If Heavenly Court hadn't taken so many Dao Marks I would be able to use my trump card twice!"
Lin Jian Xing felt cheated, but he chose to see the positive, which was that he would have never found out about Otherworldly Dao Marks without them.
Of course, he wasn't sure about participating in this tournament, but how could anyone resist the temptation of Venerablehood?
Especially in this chaotic era, they were in, past Venerables reviving, the 5 Regions merging, and the ongoing battles between the Venerables.
To survive and thrive in this era one needed absolute strength.
And the strongest appearing faction was Heavenly Court, with 3 Venerables behind them they managed to imprison the greatest demon the world had ever seen.
Heavenly Refining Demon Venerable Fang Yuan!
Though no one knew that it was merely a facade to accomplish their goals.
"That only leaves Xiao Xuan and Yu Shen," Earth sighed, "Both of them are too mediocre."
To be fair to Xiao Xuan and Yu Shen, they were already considered the greatest prodigies of their time.
They were each a master at Dark Path and Water Path respectively.
Xiao Xuan had a secret identity.
He was the progenitor of Dark Path; Xua Xiang!
The original Xiao Xuan had long been replaced!
Although Dark Path didn't necessarily mean that one would turn toward the unrighteous path, Dark Path's progenitor Xua Xiang was certainly a demon.
He relished in the fear and despair he brought upon people.
Xiao Xuan was originally just a normal cultivator in the Hei Sect of the Central Continent, a Sect that focused on the promotion of Dark Path.
He was lucky, or unlucky, to have stumbled onto the inheritance of Xua Xiang.
Although it was quite outdated it was still a complete Immortal Inheritance, complete with a full system, Immortal Gu and Immortal Gu recipe.
Xua Xiang quickly climbed the ranks of the Hei Sect, achieving the Sect Master position once he reached Rank 8.
But the greatest thing, Xua Xiang thought, was the accumulation of Dream Realms that Xiao Xuan had 'left' behind for his inheritor.
Except, they weren't just for his inheritor, they were created at the peak of Xiao Xuan's attainments of Dark Path.
The Rank 8 Killer Move ------ Nightmare Invasion
As the name implies, this Killer Move allows the created Dream Realms to slowly infect and take over the users.
Anyone who cultivated Dark Path would have heard of the insidious Dark Path Demon, Xiao Xuan, so he had to disguise the inheritance.
He made it nameless, and kept out any of his signature Killer Moves and Gu, except for his Vital Gu, Night Gu!
The Night was when Dark Path cultivators were at their peak!
Even if their own Dark Path Dao Marks were low, they would be boosted by the abundance of natural Dao Marks, and what made Xiao Xuan infamous was his reliance on Night.
He had built up such a reputation for being someone who only attacks at night, caravans and sects began to avoid traversing the night and openly traverse as far as they could during the day.
But this was all part of Xiao Xuan's plan!
Caravans and Gu Immortals became extremely guarded at Night and would become relaxed during the day, and that was when he would strike!
His infamous Killer Move
Rank 8 Killer Move ------------- Night Befall!
This Killer Move was quick, hard to detect and had an area of effect akin to a battlefield Killer Move, but with none of the downsides of slow use time or pre-setup!
Immediately, caravans, wandering Gu Master and even targets for assassination were being wiped out during the day!
This earned Xiao Xuan the nickname, The Dawnbreaker!
Star Constellation and Earth knew of Xiao Xuan replacing Xua Xiong, but they were lacking in candidates.
Yu Shen was barely considered, he came from the line of successors to the original Water Path founder, Yu Hong.
But their clan had never been able to rise beyond the mid-tier, as their clan size was small, though every generation of their clan was backed by a pseudo-venerable.
But Yu Hong was a pacifist by nature, like water he would not react and would sway along with the currents of the world.
For millennia the Yu Clan had kept out of the world, but the Demon Fang Yuan had stirred even them.
Their clan had at most 100 members, but they were all Gu Immortals!
"That demon does not deserve to hold Water Gu!" Yu Shen thought to himself, "Those who embark on the path of Water must be controlled and disciplined, strong yet gentle, balanced."
"It would appear that Yu Shen is our best option,"
Earth did not sound satisfied, "The quality gap is too huge!"
"There is another way…" Star Constellation chimed amid Earth's anguish.
"What is it?" Earth was both intrigued and on guard, "Surely, with Star Constellation's great Wisdom she would have presented this information sooner, but she deliberately held back." Earth thought to herself.
"It's simple, Feng Jiu Ge is a genius rarely seen in history, and Ma Hong Yun possesses the second greatest artificial Gu body in the 5 regions, isn't it wise to combine both their strengths?"
!!!
"Spill it, what's the catch?"
"Beg your pardon?"
"Don't play dumb, we both know you're too smart for that, who's going to die? What do we have to give up?"
Earth knew that Star Constellation had already planned out this entire thing, the whole feeling of dread and annoyance at not being able to find a host that was at least as capable as Heaven irked her to no end.
And this was all premeditated by Star Constellation!
This whole tournament and top 10 rankings, were all to make Earth realize that there was no better choice than this!
Star Constellation knew that Earth was too soft when it came to the natural-born life forms of the Gu World, sacrificing them was her ultimate pet peeve.
So she hoped that by showing her the stakes she would side with reason and yet…
After explaining that they would have to 'recycle' the Undying Love Body, by refining Ma Hong Yun and Zhao Lian Yun Earth's answer was still:
"No. I will not have lives be meaninglessly sacrificed, they must be willing participants."
(1) I roughly remember Lin Jian Xing, so forgive me if I completely butcher him for my purposes, cos I can't remember what happened to him after he had some of his Otherworldly Sword Path Dao Marks taken