Neither Will Yield

Within the third ring of Penglai Immortal Island, in the vast expanse beyond the second ring, lay the Eastern King Sect's base in the Celestial Origin Realm. It had originally encompassed only ten million li of territory—not much at all; a Golden Core Cultivator could make a round trip in a single day. But after Tianyuan's revival, Heaven and Earth became ever loftier and richer, and Penglai Immortal Island changed along with them. Its rings interlocked one within another. The first ring alone would eventually become as vast as a world among the heavens. Immortal spiritual qi descended there from the high heavens, forests of immortal trees stretched endlessly, Jade Flower and Auspicious Grass dotted the land, and immortal birds and exotic beasts raced about in abundance. Such a prosperous scene was gradually restoring the splendor of Tianyuan's foremost immortal island in ancient times.

At this time, the Eastern King Sect, which had privately struck a deal with Liu Gandang and acquired Penglai Immortal Island's second ring at an absurdly cheap price, had truly made a killing.

One had to know that every inch of the Celestial Origin Realm was now worth its weight in gold. A few years ago, when the Ten Thousand Monster Country auctioned off three demon mountains in the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range—places choked with miasma and exceedingly difficult to develop—tens of thousands of sects from the heavens had competed for them. In the end, the Hongquan Sect of the Feihong Realm bought them for the staggering price of 3.6 billion Spirit Stones.

When Liu Gandang learned of this news, he was so furious that he fainted at home. Those few trash mountains in the Ten Thousand Monster Country, barren and vile as they were, could sell for such a sky-high price. If he were to