141 RI
"Endure, endure it!"
"Success depends on this, we will win if we endure for just a bit more!"
In the incomplete Profound Ice House, everyone was screaming loudly, they lost their composure.
Outside the incomplete Profound Ice House, there were an uncountable number of soul beasts, they were like swamps of ants encircling Profound Ice House in the middle.
"How many hidden spots left?" Shark Demon shouted.
"A hundred and seventy-eight!" Bo Dan immediately reported. Even though he could not destroy the mortal Gu efficiently, at this point, fighting soul battlefield was close to collapsing, soul beasts were no longer being produced, Bo Dan's investigative methods could cover the entire battlefield.
"A hundred and seventy-eight..." Su Bai Man muttered, her expression was ugly, but the light of hope in her eyes shined brightly.
This number of hidden locations seemed easy to deal with.
But in fact, it was very difficult.
Firstly, the core Immortal Gu left were the hardest to deduce and take down.
Secondly, the immortals were now inside Profound Ice House, their methods were restricted, they could not use their methods as freely as before.
The Immortal Gu House had both offense and defense, as well as movement, it was a war fortress with capabilities in all areas, without any apparent weaknesses. The more Gu Immortals inside the Immortal Gu House, and the higher their cultivation levels, the more immortal essence they could provide to the Immortal Gu House, and the more power the Immortal Gu House could unleash!
But there was a flaw in this.
That was that the Gu Immortals could only provide fuel for the Immortal Gu House. The Immortal Gu House's offense, defense, movement, healing, investigation, and others, were decided based on the Immortal Gu House's own Immortal Gu and mortal Gu.
Thus, Fang Yuan, Xie Shu Fang, and the others' methods were obstructed by the Immortal Gu House, they could not be used.
From this perspective, ancient battle formations were much better than Immortal Gu Houses. Even though ancient battle formations had been deemed outdated in history after the emergence of countless Immortal Gu Houses, facts showed that ancient battle formations still had many advantages.
For example, the fighting methods of ancient battle formations were much more flexible than Immortal Gu Houses.
An Immortal Gu House's offense, defense, movement, healing, and investigation abilities were all decided by the Immortal Gu, they could not be changed, their power only depended on how much immortal essence was used, they were inflexible.
But ancient battle formations were different, even though ancient battle formations were also made of Gu formations, the core was the Gu Immortals inside.
The Gu Immortals could use their personal immortal killer moves inside the ancient battle formation.
Just like during the defensive battle of Lang Ya blessed land when Fang Yuan and the hairy man Gu Immortals used the second best ancient battle formation, Heavenly Giant Solor. This silver giant would change its form depending on what killer moves the Gu Immortal used, and the killer move's power would be amplified greatly as well.
In all, if it was an ancient battle formation, the immortals might have already destroyed all of the hidden Gu worms and obtained victory. But because this was an Immortal Gu House, they were restricted.
It was like climbing a mountain, they only had a small flight of stairs in front before they could reach the mountain peak. But just this small distance was an incredible obstacle to them.
In the immortals' perception, time seemed to have slowed down, every second felt like years.
"Are we going to fail again?" Su Bai Man muttered in disappointment, she showed a dark and defeated expression.
But at this time, Xie Shu Fang stood up, she said heavily to Shark Demon: "I can settle all of the remaining hidden Gu worms, but I would need to pay a huge price for my method. If you can give the Immortal Gu inside to me as compensation, I will help."
Shark Demon's expression was ugly, he snorted coldly. Su Bai Man also showed a ruthless and unfriendly gaze.
Xie Shu Fang's actions were likely to be extortion, but at this moment, they had no other ways left, to complete this difficult task, they could only rely on Xie Shu Fang.
But Xie Shu Fang asked for an Immortal Gu as compensation, Immortal Gu were extremely valuable, she was really asking for an exorbitant price.
But after Shark Demon thought about it for a while, he agreed without waiting for too long: "You can only take one Immortal Gu, that is my limit!"
He had undergone an intense competition in Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance to seize the mission for attacking Yu Lu blessed land.
Other than a portion of the benefits that had to be given to Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance, the rest would go to Shark Demon and Su Bai Man.
This immortal zombie couple had already invested a huge sum, their foundations were shaken. The Immortal Gu inside Yu Lu blessed land were their property, right now, Xie Shu Fang's request was simply digging away at their fortune!
But one had to say, Shark Demon really had a grand disposition, he knew how to assess the situation and give up some benefits when necessary.
He could actually hold in his anger and agree to Xie Shu Fang's request.
This made Fang Yuan praise him secretly.
Xie Shu Fang saw Shark Demon giving in and did not hesitate, she nodded, smiling: "Sir Shark Demon, I am not a greedy person. But one of the Immortal Gu in the battlefield killer move suits me a lot. I will not dare to ask for more Immortal Gu, I owe you a favor this time."
"Go ahead, Master Xie Shu Fang." Su Bai Man crossed her arms, saying in a cold tone.
This Immortal Gu was not easy to obtain.
Everyone watched with anticipation as Xie Shu Fang's expression turned serious, her aura was growing. At the same time, black and white lights appeared on her body.
The black and white light swirled around, forming into a big ball.
The ball was made of black, white, and grey, it resembled a map and was showing a life-like scene of the battlefield.
In the map, the incomplete Profound Ice House was a white dot in the center, surrounded by darkness, they were all soul beasts. The hidden Gu worms were around the countless soul beasts, they were shining like stars, having very clear locations.
Wisdom path immortal killer move — Distinct Map!
Xie Shu Fang breathed in deeply, she stretched out her finger and pointed at the map.
She used her index finger and thumb to grab onto a hidden spot, by exerting some strength, she squeezed.
The immortals only heard a soft cracking sound, like something had shattered.
Immediately after, Xie Shu Fang's fingers grinded, when she took out her hand, the Gu worms at the hidden spot were destroyed.
At once, the immortals gasped.
Xie Shu Fang's wisdom path killer move could bypass Profound Ice House and attack the outside world, with such precision. The soul beasts outside could do nothing to stop it, it was incredible!
Even Fang Yuan found it eye-opening.
This female immortal, Xie Shu Fang, might have a terrible attitude towards Fang Yuan, but she was called Master Xie by Shark Demon, she truly had some abilities.
Even though Fang Yuan had the advantage in terms of a good wisdom path inheritance and could surpass Bo Dan, Lu Tan Xin and Ninth Ghost Finger, against a wisdom path Gu Immortal like Xie Shu Fang, he was lacking by a lot.
Eventually, Xie Shu Fang used this distinct map killer move and destroyed most of the hidden Gu worms, capturing an Immortal Gu in the process.
When she took out this Immortal Gu from distinct map, the other Gu Immortals were all shocked.
After losing one Immortal Gu, fighting soul battlefield broke down rapidly, the remaining Immortal Gu and mortal Gu disappeared quickly, retreating on their own.
Countless soul beasts growled, as they growled, they attacked relentlessly for the final time.
Profound Ice House was after all an Immortal Gu House, it resisted the soul beasts' frenzied attacks until the end.
Eventually, the soul beast army disintegrated along with the battlefield killer move, Shark Demon and the others finally obtained victory.
But soon, they fell into another battlefield killer move.
"Heavens, how many battlefield killer moves are there in this Yu Lu blessed land?" Bo Dan held his head in desperation.
After the fighting soul battlefield, the immortals went into another new battlefield killer move — Eight Doors Labyrinth.
In this battlefield killer move, the sky and ground were all orange, other than eight huge doors around them, there was nothing else.
But even the best wisdom path Gu Immortal, Xie Shu Fang, showed a difficult expression, she reminded them: "Be careful. This eight doors labyrinth is used specially to trap enemies, even though it does not have the killing nature of fighting soul battlefield, it is harder to deal with."
Nobody had any rebuttal.
Eight doors labyrinth was very famous in history, when Gu Immortals were trapped inside, they would lose their sense of direction to a huge extent.
Furthermore, each of these eight doors would only allow one life form inside.
After entering, the door would disappear.
That was to say, the eight doors before Shark Demon and gang meant that they only had eight chances to explore it.
After entering the door, the Gu Immortals would need to fight alone with any help, there were no other Gu Immortals to help them.
"Rumors says that after entering the door, Gu Immortals will end up in a second area, and make another choice out of eight doors. In the eight doors labyrinth, there are eight areas, each area has eight doors. There is only one correct path however, choosing the wrong path would just be going in circles. This is a classic labyrinth battlefield, it is very powerful at trapping people. Without a wisdom path Gu Immortal skilled at deductions, there is no way to unravel it. Gu Immortals skilled at fighting cannot progress through this, they might even be trapped inside until they die." Xie Shu Fang sighed.
Even though she was a wisdom path Gu Immortal, she was not skilled in deductions.
The immortal killer move distinct map earlier had already exposed her foundation, she was a wisdom path Gu Immortal skilled at investigation and long ranged attacks, she was more of a battle type.
Fang Yuan's wisdom path inheritance was good at deductions, but he did not even have the most basic star thought Immortal Gu. One couldn't cook a meal without the ingredients, this was a very awkward state.
"This is only the first area, we can still retreat." Xie Shu Fang reminded.
In the earlier battlefield killer move, they could probe it. But against eight doors labyrinth, Gu Immortals would be risking their lives to investigate it, they could not even probe it from outside.
"Yu Lu blessed land's battlefield killer moves are getting harder to deal with. We should be close to completely taking it down?" Shark Demon sighed, he wisely chose to retreat.
Using Profound Ice House, the immortals charged out and left Yu Lu blessed land.
This time, even though Shark Demon and the others unraveled fighting soul battlefield, they paid a huge price, it was a pitiful victory.
The one that benefited the most was Xie Shu Fang.
She obtained an Immortal Gu as compensation, she was overjoyed.
-x-X-x-
They had unraveled fighting soul battlefield, but because of the battlefield killer move eight doors labyrinth, Shark Demon and the group had no choice but to temporarily retreat from Yu Lu blessed land.
After parting with the other wisdom path Gu Immortals, Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng followed Shark Demon and Su Bai Man to shark sea where they were hosted to a banquet.
"Brother Xing Xiang, I wonder how much assurance you have in deciphering eight doors labyrinth?" In the banquet, Shark Demon asked.
Fang Yuan's expression slightly changed as he heavily shook his head: "I am ashamed, I don't have the least bit of assurance."
"Even you don't have any assurance?" Su Bai Man said with disappointment.
Fang Yuan mumbled: "If I could refine a certain wisdom path Immortal Gu, I would have thirty percent assurance. Unfortunately, although I have been trying with all my efforts to gather the immortal materials, I am still far away from the standard to refine Immortal Gu. Refining Immortal Gu is... really hard!"
Shark Demon's eyes slightly brightened at Fang Yuan's words, but soon dimmed.
He had cooperated with Xing Xiang Zi not only once, and knew ins and outs of Fang Yuan; Fang Yuan indeed lacked wisdom path immortal killer moves.
While unraveling the battlefield killer move this time, Shark Demon also learned several things.
Big Bag Lu Tan Xin and the demonic path Gu Immortal Ninth Ghost Finger could not match Fang Yuan in wisdom path methods. There was no need to even mention Bo Dan. Xie Shu Fang, on the contrary, was truly skilled, far surpassing Fang Yuan, but she was a righteous path Gu Immortal and not to mention that she could not fit in with Shark Demon's group, her appetite was too big.
In this trip, Shark Demon and the group did not even get anything, but Xie Shu Fang obtained an Immortal Gu, gaining the biggest profit.
No matter how open-minded Shark Demon was, he felt extreme loss from losing an Immortal Gu.
Although they unraveled fighting soul battlefield, they held a poor impression of Xie Shu Fang, it was only that they suppressed it and did not mention it. With Shark Demon's personality, he would get back at her for this, sooner or later.
Fang Yuan was observing Shark Demon's expression, seeing the latter's eyes brighten before dimming, he sighed and said gently: "I won't hide it from the two of you, my wisdom path inheritance is complete, if I have that wisdom path Immortal Gu, I can use several powerful immortal killer moves and my strength will definitely rise greatly. Even if I can't match Xie Shu Fang, the gap won't be too big."
Shark Demon nodded and talked about other things, not continuing this topic.
Fang Yuan had not fully expressed himself before he was interrupted, but how could Shark Demon not understand Fang Yuan's meaning?
'The hidden implication of Xing Xiang Zi's words is to make me sponsor him in refining that wisdom path Immortal Gu. But I will suffer greatly in this transaction, it is okay if the refinement succeeds, but if it fails, all the investment would be gone to waste, that will just be adding to my misfortunes.'
Shark Demon pondered, and denied the thought of helping Fang Yuan refine Immortal Gu.
In fact, the pressure on him recently was huge.
To invade Yu Lu blessed land, he and Su Bai Man had invested large amounts of energy and wealth, but up to this point, there were few results. On this attempt too, they had paid quite a lot to invite three wisdom path assistants.
Even if Shark Demon and Su Bai Man were veteran experts with deep foundations, their accumulation was showing signs of being exhausted right now.
Refining Immortal Gu might just be sending themselves into a bottomless pit. Unless it was the only choice left, Shark Demon absolutely would not choose this option.
Fang Yuan felt slight regret about Shark Demon's stance, but he had already predicted it and did not feel any disappointment.
He had used up most of his immortal essence stones to relocate the blessed land. With his current financial ability, he required a long time before he could gather enough immortal materials for refining star thought Immortal Gu.
"It doesn't matter that Shark Demon did not take the bait, the main thing is still to join Zombie Alliance." Fang Yuan did not forget his current main goal.
Shark Demon also wanted Fang Yuan to join Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance.
The reason?
Because once Fang Yuan joined Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance, he would be on Shark Demon and Su Bai Man's side. Like this, with Zombie Alliance's alliance restrictions, Shark Demon could more conveniently and more assuredly use Fang Yuan the next time they attacked Yu Lu blessed land.
This would be of great help to Shark Demon's present development plan.
Helping Xing Xiang Zi was helping himself, so after the shark fishing banquet, Shark Demon brought Fang Yuan to Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance's headquarters.
Two days later.
Shark Demon and Fang Yuan were flying quickly.
"This is yellow spring sea area." Shark Demon pointed at the sea below, and introduced.
In fact, there was no need for his indication, as Fang Yuan was already looking at the special sea below him.
The seawater of the yellow spring sea area was yellow in color, like the sea was mixed with dirt and sand. Waves billowed, moving up and down the sea.
But in fact, there was no sand floating on the yellow spring sea area, the seawater by itself had a light yellow color.
"Yellow spring sea area is an extremely special sea area. As you get closer to the center of the sea area, you will find there are no living creatures, this is the largest zombie farming area in the five regions." Shark Demon introduced.
Fang Yuan nodded and used investigative methods, his vision increased sharply, penetrating the sea surface towards the depths.
He saw countless skeletons floating inside the sea, large numbers of zombie fish groups, zombie cuttlefish, jellyfish, sea turtles, and so on, moving in the sea, and constantly fighting each other.
In the seabed lived grayish white decomposed corals which gave off intense stenches that pervaded the surrounding seawater. Strands of seaweed, drifting with the water flow, were deathly pale, like nooses used to hang people.
"Over these two days, we used four undercurrents, and flew for a day and half, going past ten sea areas before we reached this yellow spring sea area where Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance's headquarters lies. Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance is indeed the main headquarters of the zombie alliances over the five regions, to be able to grasp such a large territory in Eastern Sea." Fang Yuan sincerely exclaimed.
Shark Demon laughed heartily: "The Zombie Alliance branches in the other four regions are weaker, but this here in Eastern Sea is the headquarters of Zombie Alliance, it is powerful and prosperous, and can surpass other super forces. Brother Xing Xiang, joining this powerful force is a sensible decision!"
Different from Northern Plains Zombie Alliance's Dark Flow Giant City, Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance possessed a public blessed land which they used as their headquarters.
This public blessed land, located in the center of the yellow spring sea area, was known as the 'Undying Kingdom' in the world of Eastern Sea Gu Immortals.
Under Shark Demon's guidance, Fang Yuan smoothly entered Undying Kingdom blessed land.
Unlike Fang Yuan's estimation, Undying Kingdom blessed land was a scene full of life, filled with the twittering of birds and fragrance of flowers.
This formed a stark contrast with the death energy and putrefaction of immortal zombies.
"Since immortal zombies are already among the living dead, their immortal apertures turns into dead lands, how could you raise such a large public blessed land? Could it be from the blessed lands of living Gu Immortals members of Zombie Alliance?" Fang Yuan was puzzled.
Shark Demon laughed: "Xing Xiang Zi, you can be at ease. Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance has never forcibly demanded any living Gu Immortal, that wants to join Zombie Alliance, to offer a part of their immortal aperture. Naturally, Zombie Alliance encourages you to offer part of your blessed land by providing large amounts of rewards. You will see this once you look at the assignments in the inner hall."
"Most of the Undying Kingdom blessed land still came from immortal zombies. Or to put it more accurately, it came from those old Gu Immortals whose lifespan is ending and are planning to turn into immortal zombies to prolong their lives, or for various other reasons. Do you know why this blessed land is called Undying Kingdom? It is because Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance has unique methods to merge pieces of blessed lands to preserve and maintain their vitality."
Fang Yuan's eyes brightened, showing an extremely interested expression.
Shark Demon was observing his expression, and laughed: "Xing Xiang Zi, are you also interested in this method? Hehehe, that's right. Our Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance has already gained some success from countless predecessors' studies and accumulations — on how to maintain the vitality of the immortal aperture while not causing any change to the immortal zombie body."
Fang Yuan's heart thumped loudly, he had always been thinking of how to revive and get rid of his immortal zombie body.
Why?
It was because an immortal zombie's immortal aperture was a dead land and had no potential to progress in cultivation.
However, now, as Fang Yuan heard Shark Demon's words, his thoughts towards reviving had another change.
'The reason I am trying to be free of an immortal zombie body and revive is for my immortal aperture to be full of life and to progress in cultivation. But if I could truly maintain the vitality of the immortal aperture as an immortal zombie, and have the possibility to improve, then wouldn't it be making the best of both worlds?'
To be an immortal zombie was to be among the living dead with no limit to lifespan, and could be considered as another form of longevity.
Fang Yuan was using this advantage to continuously step into the wisdom light halo, greatly improving his capabilities.
But if Fang Yuan revived into a living person, his lifespan would sharply reduce under the light of wisdom and he would only be able to use wisdom Gu for a number of times.
The immortal zombie body had advantages and disadvantages.
But even if Fang Yuan had wisdom Gu, the disadvantages still outweighed the advantages.
Thus, Fang Yuan had been looking for a way to revive all along.
'If I can truly maintain my immortal zombie body and still revive my immortal aperture to advance my cultivation, this would be the best option for me. But right now, it seems that although Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance has made remarkable achievements in this aspect, they are still a great distance from perfecting it. If they truly had this method, Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance would already have been dominating Eastern Sea. The five regions would also not have the current structure.'
After Fang Yuan calmed down, he speculated the truths of Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance.
"All humans are mortal, they will have a day where their lifespan ends. Brother Xing Xiang, after you join Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance, you can contribute to the alliance and use these contributions to exchange for this research result." Shark Demon smiled as he patted Fang Yuan's shoulder.
Fang Yuan nodded with a fervent expression on his face, but his mind was calm and knew Shark Demon was simply trying to entice him.
Fang Yuan had joined Northern Plains Zombie Alliance and already understood that to exchange for such a level of research results, the contribution to the alliance must be extremely big.
Shark Demon brought Fang Yuan to the center of the Undying Kingdom.
Over there existed a mountain range carved from skeletons, and on the tens of mountains lay tens of palaces or halls.
Shark Demon led Fang Yuan to a hall.
After a long while, Fang Yuan and Shark Demon walked out of the hall. Fang Yuan now had an identity token and also information path mortal Gu used to transmit all sorts of information to and from Zombie Alliance.
With Shark Demon's guidance, Fang Yuan smoothly became a member of Zombie Alliance.
-x-X-x-
Compared to the first time when Fang Yuan joined Northern Plains Zombie Alliance, it was much easier this time to join Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance.
Originally, Fang Yuan was afraid that his identity would get exposed, after all, there were several rank eight immortal zombies guarding Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance.
Because of this, Fang Yuan had used the light of wisdom in Hu Immortal blessed land and expended a large number of star thoughts to fuse star mark Immortal Gu into the killer move vaguely familiar face.
With Eat Strength, Change Form, and Star Mark, three Immortal Gu as the cores, it was much more realistic when Fang Yuan transformed into a star path Gu Immortal or a star path desolate beast.
But this time, when he joined Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance, Fang Yuan did not see a single rank eight Gu Immortal, even the inspection towards his Xing Xiang Zi identity was only a formality.
"The reason for this, other than the busy schedule of rank eight Gu Immortals, should be that Shark Demon has a high status in Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance. Living Gu Immortals cannot become higher-ups of Zombie Alliance, the reason should be because Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance has a huge force, it has enough confidence and foundation." Fang Yuan analyzed secretly.
Seven days later.
Bee sea.
Countless bee groups emerged from the water, landing on the boat flowers floating on the sea.
During May in Eastern Sea, the surface of bee sea would have ripples that carried countless boat flowers that floated over.
These flowers were in vibrant colors, they were as large as small boats, they were like scrolls that spread out in the sea of flowers.
Bee sea was a sea area that was connected to flower sea.
There were large numbers of water bees living in bee sea, this special type of bee could only fly temporarily, they were more skilled at swimming in the sea freely.
During May each year, countless boat flowers would flow along with the waves, arriving at bee sea area, it was the only opportunity for the water bees to collect nectar.
In the air of this sea, Fang Yuan, Shark Demon and the others got into a formation, as they underwent an intense negotiation with Song clan's Gu Immortals.
Eventually, after thirty minutes, the two sides came to an agreement after coming to terms.
Song Yi Shi and the others no longer pursued Xing Xiang Zi's wrongdoings. Even though Xing Xiang Zi did not do it on purpose, it was still a mistake, not only did he have to apologize, he even had to compensate Song Yi Shi six hundred immortal essence stones. Xing Xiang Zi could not pay everything in one go, so he could have six installments for it. He could pay a hundred immortal essence stones first, followed by a hundred and twenty on the second installment, and a hundred and forty immortal essence stones on the third...
According to the agreement, if he were to pay in batches, Fang Yuan would definitely make greater losses.
Thus, after they came to an agreement, Fang Yuan borrowed a sum of immortal essence stones from Tai Bai Yun Sheng and Shark Demon, getting a total of six hundred and passing it to Song Yi Shi.
Song Yi Shi's expression was dark, she received these immortal essence stones as she stared at Fang Yuan angrily, she said coldly: "Apologize!"
Fang Yuan was a person who could give in if needed to, he smiled bitterly and apologized earnestly: "I did not intend to offend Fairy Yi Shi, to have angered a beauty, I truly deserve death, please forgive me!"
"Then why don't you go and die?" Song Yi Shi interjected.
Fang Yuan smiled bitterly: "If I had seen Fairy Yi Shi's body fully, I would deserve to die a thousand deaths. But fairy should know, the mist in the hot spring is thick, you also used an isolation immortal killer move, how could I see anything?"
Song Yi Shi snorted, she was extremely clear of the situation then, she had no defenses set up at the bottom of the volcano, how could she have any immortal killer move. Even if there was mist, Song Yi Shi had gotten rid of them in advance, she did not like to have her vision obstructed.
But Song Yi Shi did not argue against Fang Yuan's bullshit.
Even if this 'lecherous and shameless' old man had seen her entire body, Song Yi Shi had to deny it and refuse to acknowledge it.
The two Gu Immortals from Song clan had a dazed expression, they even secretly pitied this Xing Xiang Zi. Fang Yuan had explained it clearly, the truth was, after this matter was exposed, Song clan had inspected Li clan village thoroughly.
This undercurrent had only been formed in the last few years. And because Song Yi Shi did not inspect the bottom of her volcano clearly, such a loophole was formed.
Xing Xiang Zi only took a look, and because of the thick mist, he could not see anything, but he had to compensate six hundred immortal essence stones, this was simply too much of a price to pay.
In the end, it was all because Song clan was a super force with a large foundation. If Xing Xiang Zi offended anyone else, it would have been fine, but he actually looked at Song Yi Shi, even though she herself was not an issue, she was backed by the first supreme elder of Song clan, Song Qi Yuan!
If not for Shark Demon negotiating in this matter on behalf of Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance, if not for Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance being stronger than Song clan, Fang Yuan would not have been able to pay merely six hundred immortal essence stones to settle this matter.
"Xing Xiang Zi, even though this matter is over, I don't want to see you appear in front of me ever again!" Song Yi Shi said harshly before flying away.
The other two Gu Immortals from Song clan had a milder attitude, they cupped their fists politely: "Lord Shark Demon, Lady Su Bai Man, farewell."
"Take care." Shark Demon replied.
At this point, the incident was resolved.
Shark Demon invited Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng to Shark Sea again as guests.
But Fang Yuan rejected him, he told Shark Demon that he wanted to see if there were any lucrative missions in Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance that could make use of his expertise, in order to earn immortal essence stones and settle his debt.
Shark Demon sensed Fang Yuan's 'dejection' and consoled him, saying that Zombie Alliance had a loose structure and would not restrict his freedom.
Fang Yuan's acting was on point, he made Shark Demon believe that he was really a lone cultivator that was very bent on having freedom.
Since Fang Yuan rejected them, Shark Demon and Su Bai Man did not force him. This couple also needed time to prepare for the next invasion of Yu Lu blessed land.
After parting with Shark Demon, Fang Yuan actually took some deduction missions from Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance. He was a vigilant person, he had to finish the act, he would not leave flaws in such details.
Fang Yuan had a mission token, and an information path mortal Gu for communication, it was easy to accept missions, he did not need to head to Undying Kingdom blessed land personally.
In fact, Fang Yuan did not intend to enter Undying Kingdom blessed land personally ever again. After all, there were rank eight immortal zombies staying on guard there, against such great experts, even though Fang Yuan had the killer move vaguely familiar face, he was not confident in it.
"Even though I spent six hundred immortal essence stones, as long as I can get into Northern Plains Zombie Alliance successfully, it will be worth it. Now, I have to wait for Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance to release some missions regarding Northern Plains. For example, information collecting in Northern Plains, or a mission to inspect the Northern Plains branch of Zombie Alliance." Fang Yuan planned.
Fang Yuan's plan was going very smoothly, at this point, he just needed to wait.
Next, Fang Yuan used Fixed Immortal Travel and returned to Hu Immortal blessed land. He and Tai Bai Yun Sheng parted ways, he used Landscape as Before to pave the way and make friends in Eastern Sea's Gu Immortal world.
Using the light of wisdom, Fang Yuan spent a short amount of time to finish all of the deduction missions that he had taken from Eastern Sea Zombie Alliance.
If it was in the past, these deduction missions would have taken him much of the month, but now Fang Yuan only used several days.
Fang Yuan was gradually feeling his wisdom path attainment increasing.
In the five hundred years of his previous life, he had undergone turmoil, torture, glory, falling from grace, all of these had turned him into a strategist, he was adept at plotting against people, this made Fang Yuan very compatible with the cultivation of wisdom path.
Furthermore, with a high quality wisdom path inheritance, and the rank nine wisdom Gu, could Fang Yuan's wisdom path not improve drastically?
After completing these missions, Fang Yuan did not turn them in. This speed was too shocking, it was not on the level of attainment that he had revealed to them.
As for the immortal essence stones that Fang Yuan owed Tai Bai Yun Sheng and Shark Demon, he was not worried.
Fang Yuan could choose not to pay back the debt to Tai Bai Yun Sheng, as for Shark Demon, he could return it in a few days time.
Guts Gu had greater demand than supply, it was still selling like hot cakes, his other businesses were also progressing smoothly.
Even though he had caused the four sources of revenue in Star Form blessed land to be damaged when he relocated it, Fang Yuan's monthly profits still reached a thousand immortal essence stones!
But in spite of this, Fang Yuan still lacked money.
Be it the reform in Star Form blessed land, or the refinement of star thought Immortal Gu, they needed funds, huge amounts of funds!
Other than that, there was also the feeding of Immortal Gu, Fang Yuan needed to feed the large number of Immortal Gu that he had. If they died from hunger, his loss would be too great.
Finding lifespan Gu, reeducating Fang Zheng, interrogating the captives, building the fourth Fang Yuan stone nest, improving his immortal killer moves, learning new wisdom path techniques for the next invasion of Yu Lu blessed land, buying Gu worms, buying strength path desolate beasts and desolate plants, buying the experience and knowledge of nurturing hairy men, investigating the spring dream fruit tree... all of these matters were complicated, Fang Yuan needed to settle them.
Even though the immortal zombie body did not require the rest ordinary humans needed, Fang Yuan still felt that he had insufficient time.
Fang Yuan understood his own predicament clearly. One day, the fact that he was the culprit behind the collapse of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building would be exposed.
He had to use this period of time to grow as much as he could, to get rid of the weaknesses that he had.
Fang Yuan would love to split up his time, or even split himself into two and work. While he was busy with his tasks, Fang Yuan also observed the situation in the outside world.
He put less focus on Western Desert and Southern Border.
Central Continent was still being affected by the Refinement Path Convention's lingering effect.
As for Northern Plains, after Old Ancestor Xue Hu defeated Yao Huang and Heavenly Lord Bai Zu, there appeared to be peace and quiet. But Fang Yuan had joined the battle to defend Lang Ya, he knew that Old Lord Can Yang and the other Central Continent investigators were here, thus, even though Northern Plains seemed calm, Fang Yuan could feel the intense undercurrents stirring in the dark.
As for Eastern Sea, the current most popular news was about Song clan and other super forces fighting for the control of Ascending Heaven Plain.
A few days later.
Western Desert.
Fang Yuan changed his appearance and did a transaction with Xiao clan's Gu Immortal.
"These are the goods this time, check them." Fang Yuan took out the regretful spiders.
This time, the Xiao clan Gu Immortal was Xiao Shi Rang, he had a stable personality and was quite wise, he was known as Xiao clan's brains and brawn duo along with Xiao Hu Chi.
Xiao Shi Rang inspected it and nodded in satisfaction: "There are no issues, take this!"
He tossed a sum of immortal essence stones towards Fang Yuan.
But now was different, other than immortal essence stones, there was also a token, and an information path mortal Gu!
This was Xiao clan's transaction token!
-x-X-x-
"It has been a very good experience doing business with you. Our Xiao clan hopes to continue the transactions of regretful spiders for as long as possible. The token in your hand is Xiao clan's transaction token. Sir, with this token, you are now Xiao clan's trading partner and can enjoy a lot of preferential policies. The details are recorded in the information path mortal Gu. Naturally, you can refuse this token as well." Xiao Shi Rang said.
Fang Yuan accepted this token rather happily.
In fact, he was trading with Xiao clan not only to earn immortal essence stones from selling regretful spiders to Xiao clan, but also for this transaction token.
Among the five regions, Western Desert was the most developed in commerce.
Every super force would issue their respective transaction token. But Xiao clan's transaction token was the one with the most value.
The reason was Xiao clan and Tian clan engaged in business the most among all the super forces in Western Desert, with the highest numbers of trading partners. Fang Yuan wanted to enter Western Desert's market, and it could be easily done with Xiao clan's transaction token, and he could also get along well with other trading partners of Xiao clan.
Naturally, this had its demerits as well.
Xiao clan and Tian clan were the biggest competitors, accepting Xiao clan's transaction token meant being close to Xiao clan, as such, it would be difficult for Fang Yuan to do business with Tian clan and Gu Immortals who possessed Tian clan's transaction token.
"With this transaction token, I can officially engage in the trade of dragonfish and eerie fire dragon pythons. My profit every month will pass one thousand immortal essence stones. When I restore other resources, my earnings every month will be close to two thousand!"
Fang Yuan did not conceal his joy, accepting this token with a smile.
Xiao Shi Rang also smiled.
As far as Xiao Shi Rang was concerned, Fang Yuan was extremely mysterious, ever since Fang Yuan appeared, Xiao clan had repeatedly undertaken investigations, but could not find out Fang Yuan's identity. However, Fang Yuan did not hesitate at all when accepting Xiao clan's transaction token, this action meant being closer to Xiao clan, and Xiao Shi Rang naturally expressed more goodwill.
With the transaction token, Fang Yuan started roaming around Western Desert's Gu Immortal world for the next few days.
The path was clear with the help of transaction token, even if it was the first meeting, Fang Yuan was able to smoothly make several deals involving dragonfish and eerie fire dragon pythons. Most of these deals were short term transactions, and only one or two were long term deals.
But Fang Yuan believed that as time went on and the number of transactions increased, these long term deals would keep on increasing in number and become more stable.
With a joyous mood, Fang Yuan left Western Desert. But when he stepped into Hu Immortal blessed land, he received shocking information.
"What? Song Yi Shi actually flattened that island where Li clan village lived, in a fit of anger?!"
Originally, the competition for Ascending Heaven Plain had gotten more intense, at first, it was only three clans fighting for dominance, but when the situation turned into a stalemate, many other forces and Gu Immortals joined in, looking to get some benefits.
During this course of events, Song Yi Shi ran into a female demonic path Gu Immortal, Seven Seas Snake Woman, who ridiculed and slandered her, saying how her body was only worth six hundred immortal essence stones.
Song Yi Shi's mood sank to the depths, and after returning, in a fit of anger, she went to that nameless island and massacred all the mortals and beasts on the island. She then caused a tsunami and submerged the whole island repeatedly five or six times. Naturally, no one on this nameless island survived.
To others, this was not a matter worth mentioning, thus Fang Yuan's shock would be strange from most people's perspective.
"Now what happens to Li Xiao Yao? Originally, Song Yi Shi and Li Xiao Yao were a famous couple, but now because of me, Song Yi Shi massacred all of Li Xiao Yao's ancestors, isn't that like killing Li Xiao Yao?"
The prominent and powerful Li Xiao Yao from his previous life had no chance to take the limelight in history now.
"Such a pity, I had intended to connect luck with Li Xiao Yao in the future. He was also a rather lucky person." Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, Eastern Sea's future structure had changed considerably because of him.
And how far this change would spread to affect other matters, Fang Yuan also did not know.
Several days later, an event occurred that shocked Fang Yuan even more!
"What, Starry Sky grotto-heaven shattered and countless grotto-heaven fragments are falling down like meteors, causing forces of all sizes and countless Gu Immortals to fight for them?!"
Fang Yuan was speechless.
According to his previous life's memories, the event of Starry Sky grotto-heaven shattering and falling down was supposed to happen hundreds of years later!
How could it have happened so early in this life?
"Is it because of me? I picked up benefits from Star Lord Wan Xiang and Immortal Monkey King Shi Lei, and led to immortal zombie Seven Star Child to awaken from the dream realm, causing Shi Lei to be trapped in the grotto-heaven and having no choice but to request support from Combat Immortal Sect. Seven Star Child had to fight against Combat Immortal Sect, but despite having the territorial advantage, Combat Immortal Sect is a colossal force which made Seven Star Child feel the situation was far from good, deciding to detonate Starry Sky grotto-heaven and drag them down with him?"
Fang Yuan's speculation was completely right.
In fact, it had happened like that.
In Fang Yuan's previous life, Seven Star Child was trapped in Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm for a long time without waking up. Although Star Lord Wan Xiang died, Shi Lei inherited this fortune, he did not report to the sect and secretly sneaked in every time the crack opened, and plundered the resources wantonly.
However, in this life, after Fang Yuan awakened Seven Star Child, Shi Lei was faced with disaster, having to run around miserably from Seven Star Child, he had no choice but to give up on maintaining his face, seeking help from Combat Immortal Sect.
In the end, Combat Immortal Sect could not forcibly suppress Seven Star Child.
"Since I cannot have it, you can forget about obtaining it!" With this thought in mind, Seven Star Child detonated Starry Sky grotto-heaven and decisively stopped contesting with Combat Immortal Sect's immortals.
Thus, the grotto-heaven's fragments fell down early to Central Continent's land by two to three hundred years.
Fang Yuan was left lost for words after he heard this news.
"Northern Plains has already been turned into a mess by me, with the collapse of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building and the destruction of Imperial Court blessed land. Eastern Sea has also changed, Li Xiao Yao is no more. Now, Central Continent is also experiencing a drastic change, Starry Sky grotto-heaven has collapsed before its time. According to this trend, Central Continent and Eastern Sea are going to change beyond all recognition!"
Right now, the whole of Central Continent was shaken because of this event.
Countless Gu Immortals, Gu Masters, super forces and other forces of all sizes were flocking towards the grotto-heaven's fragment worlds.
What Central Continent Refinement Path Convention? It was all thrown to the back of their minds.
Fang Yuan could not help but smile bitterly at this.
Starry Sky grotto-heaven had broken up at a very bad time, if it had collapsed two or three hundred years later, Fang Yuan could have gained considerable benefits.
Because that time was when the five regions chaotic war began and dream realms manifested externally. Champions and warriors emerged endlessly, the old super forces would be busy with their own affairs, it was most beneficial to lone cultivators like Fang Yuan.
However, at present, the five regions chaotic war was yet to start. Central Continent was dominated by Heavenly Court, and the ten great ancient sects firmly controlled the whole of Central Continent.
Fang Yuan could foresee that this initial chaos would only last for a short period of time before the ten great ancient sects took control of the whole situation. The true beneficiaries would no doubt be them and Heavenly Court behind them.
The development of the events went according to Fang Yuan's prediction.
The change in the situation was even quicker than Fang Yuan's estimation! Central Continent's ten great ancient sects stabilized the situation, quickly making an internal agreement and expelling all the other forces and Gu Immortals, Fang Yuan got a deep impression of the colossal forces that were the ten great ancient sects.
"It is quite the pity regarding Starry Sky grotto-heaven, Seven Star Child, and that dream realm." Fang Yuan sighed with regret.
Starry Sky grotto-heaven was one of his long term plans, but now with this unforeseen event, this enormous benefit was missed by him.
However, the next change in events was beyond Fang Yuan's expectations.
A letter from He Feng Yang came to Fang Yuan through hole earth Gu.
In the letter, He Feng Yang, on behalf of Immortal Crane Sect, invited Fang Yuan to explore a fragment world of Starry Sky grotto-heaven!
"Could it be?!" Fang Yuan's gaze brightened sharply, the thought in his mind made him stand up in excitement, and laugh loudly.
After laughing, Fang Yuan mumbled to himself: "I cannot be careless, although the likelihood of it being a trap is rather small, it is better to first investigate before replying..."
Two days later, Fang Yuan came to a mountain valley in Central Continent.
This nameless valley was extremely lacking in supplies and in no way was remarkable, but because a large fragment of Starry Sky grotto-heaven had fallen here, this valley was already surrounded by the allied forces of the ten great ancient sects, making a thousand li around it a forbidden zone.
If other Gu Immortals stepped within this range, they would be killed without mercy!
Fang Yuan also did not dare to move around recklessly. He Feng Yang personally came out to welcome him and led him inside the valley.
There were over ten Gu Immortals, from the ten great ancient sects, guarding inside the valley.
"Kid, don't do anything stupid inside."
"Think about long term consequences, young man."
Seeing He Feng Yang lead Fang Yuan in, other Gu Immortals did not have nice expressions, they either threatened or advised.
"Sir is Fang Yuan?" A white clothed female immortal came out of the group of immortals.
"You are Fairy Bai Qing." Fang Yuan's focused his gaze slightly, as he bowed without changing his expression.
Fairy Bai Qing nodded at Fang Yuan, speaking in a warm tone: "You are the person who my daughter often mentioned. In this contest now over the ownership of the grotto-heaven fragment, I hope you can be merciful, we will definitely repay you in the future."
Fang Yuan had traded guts Gu with Spirit Affinity House many times, but had not seen Fairy Bai Qing once.
But now, as it concerned the safety of her daughter, Feng Jin Huang, Fairy Bai Qing had no choice but to appear personally and request Fang Yuan to give her some face.
Fang Yuan had his own plan, and accepted without any hesitation: "Collaborating with your side has been a pleasant experience, Lady Bai Qing can be at ease."
Fairy Bai Qing nodded in satisfaction.
Many other Gu Immortals snorted coldly.
A cold gaze flashed past He Feng Yang's eyes.
"Go in. The others have already entered, your cultivation is the highest so you are the last one." He Feng Yang said heavily.
Fang Yuan nodded and moved forward.
The scenery inside the valley was peculiar like a mirage, what looked like bushes were waves blue like the sea. The scene did not have boundaries in common with each other, resembling a broken picture that was abruptly put together.
This was naturally not a mirage, but a grotto-heaven fragment world, the entrance was open, allowing it to be explored.
Looking at Fang Yuan moving step by step inside, He Feng Yang could not put his heart at ease and reminded again: "Don't forget that place I told you about, you must occupy it!"
"No worries." Fang Yuan waved his hand without turning back. Under everyone's gazes, his body completely entered the grotto-heaven fragment.
-x-X-x-
Fang Yuan looked over, seeing that the lake was shining in reflected light, the lake had a wide surface and was colored in many shades of blue.
Once he entered Starry Sky grotto-heaven fragment world, he had landed in this blue lake.
The lake had a huge surface area, there were several small islands near the center of the lake, growing with vegetation.
Looking even further, beyond the blue lake, there were layers of mountain ridges, they were colored in indigo, gently mixing with the sky.
Fang Yuan stood on the surface of the water like he was standing on the ground.
From the perspective of a mortal Gu Master, this ability to stand on water was very impressive. But it was already as simple as breathing to Fang Yuan now.
Before entering deep into the grotto-heaven fragment, Fang Yuan gave a final look below him.
Only to see that below him, the blue lake cracked suddenly, like a cracked mirror, the surface of this lake was completely broken.
Fang Yuan could see the outside world through this mirror, he saw that nameless valley in Central Continent, as well as the Gu Immortals' figures, they were looking at Fang Yuan with complex gazes.
Fang Yuan sneered internally, he turned around and leaped away from the lake, flying away.
The Gu Immortals from the ten great ancient sects of Central Continent did not know that this was not the first time Fang Yuan had been inside Starry Sky grotto-heaven.
Starry Sky grotto-heaven was very unique, it had seven areas that were isolated, it was not like a normal grotto-heaven.
Evidently, Starry Sky grotto-heaven had many space path dao marks, and they were all very special as well.
There were many desolate beasts in Starry Sky grotto-heaven, there were even ancient desolate beasts, the zombie dragon guarding the eighth star hall, the walking meat tree, they left a deep impression on Fang Yuan.
"But after such intense combat, coupled with Combat Immortal Sect's looting, and Starry Sky grotto-heaven's shattering, there must be very few desolate beasts and ancient desolate beasts left in the fragment worlds. Right now, there are two desolate beasts and one desolate plant in this grotto-heaven fragment world."
Fang Yuan flew through the sky as he recalled the information that He Feng Yang had told him.
These two desolate beasts and one desolate plant were a desolate beast dragonfish, hidden essence turtle and nether grass respectively.
As long as one was a Gu Immortal, they knew of dragonfish, they were very commonly used as food for Immortal Gu. The overwhelming majority of mortal Gu could be fed with dragonfish meat if their specific food was of insufficient quantity, and a portion of the food for an Immortal Gu could be substituted with it. Of course, Immortal Gu were unique, their feeding requirements could be very bizarre, the effect of dragonfish was much lower. Furthermore, only desolate beast level dragonfish meat could be used for their food.
"Among desolate beasts, the one with the lowest battle strength has to be the desolate beast dragonfish. According to rumors, dragonfish is not a species that originated normally from the world, it was a species artificially created via food path."
The hidden essence turtle was a rare wisdom path desolate beast. It had weird habits, when it matures, it would stay at one place and stop moving. As time passes, after countless years, moss would grow on its body, it would turn to stone and become a giant false hill. Because it could conceal its aura and could hide itself well, it was hard to find.
Only when it senses a huge danger would it relocate, it would not stop until it finds a resting place in which it is satisfied. After that, it would stop and hide in its shell, enduring the weather, be it wind, rain, snow or so on, once again.
If he could capture this desolate beast, it was much better than killing it.
Hidden essence turtle was a wisdom path desolate beast, it had an inborn connection to wisdom path, it was a spirit beast of wisdom path. It had the natural ability to find a safe place to live in.
Many wisdom path Gu Immortals would use the hidden essence turtle to help them when they encounter difficulties in deductions.
Fang Yuan inherited Dong Fang Chang Fan's wisdom path inheritance, there was also a way to use a freshly killed hidden essence turtle shell to help in deductions.
Evidently, capturing this hidden essence turtle was useful for Gu Immortals. Since it did not move and had strong defenses, Combat Immortal Sect did not attack it hastily.
The nether grass was similar, it was rooted to the ground and could not move, it had little threat as long as one did not get close to it.
A stalk of nether grass was very useful to a soul path Gu Immortal. And because nether grass contained large numbers of soul path dao marks, as time passed, it would influence the surroundings, a wide range surrounding the nether grass would become a breeding ground for soul path Gu worms.
Nether grass had an immense effect to modify the environment of a blessed land or grotto-heaven.
So for the same reason, Combat Immortal Sect did not take this nether grass, keeping it until now. But they did not expect Seven Star Child to be so resolute, he would rather drag everyone down with him, causing Starry Sky grotto-heaven to shatter and fall.
This situation was already out of Combat Immortal Sect's control, the fragment worlds of this Starry Sky grotto-heaven became the point of negotiation for the ten great ancient sects of Central Continent, they decided on certain timings and entered to harvest the resources within.
He Feng Yang represented Immortal Crane Sect and before entering the grotto-heaven fragment world, he gave Fang Yuan several missions.
Three of them were regarding the dragonfish, nether grass, and hidden essence turtle.
"If you can capture all three of them alive, that would be best. According to the agreement, you can get one-third of the value of what you obtain." He Feng Yang told Fang Yuan.
Even though Fang Yuan was a subordinate of Immortal Crane Sect on paper, this was not the case, as a person directly involved, He Feng Yang was very aware of this.
Thus, he knew that in order to get him to work hard, he could only arouse Fang Yuan's interest through benefits.
Even though Fang Yuan was only a rank six bottom tier immortal zombie, he had a huge advantage against these three desolate beasts or plants.
Because Fang Yuan not only had his own Immortal Gu, he also had the Immortal Gu that Immortal Crane Sect had specially lent to him.
Having Immortal Gu was a completely different level of battle strength compared to not having Immortal Gu.
Even though the dragonfish, hidden essence turtle, and nether grass were very strong beings, they did not have Immortal Gu.
If they did, they would be walking treasure troves, Gu Immortals would have attacked already, be it Seven Star Child immortal zombie, or Combat Immortal Sect, how could they not strike?
Normally speaking, inside grotto-heavens and blessed lands, there were no wild Immortal Gu.
Because once a wild Immortal Gu was formed, the Gu Immortal would take them away for their own use.
After all, leaving a wild Immortal Gu behind had no benefits to the blessed land, it would instead cause the Gu Immortal's control of the blessed land or grotto-heaven to fall. If the desolate beast rampages, that would be problematic.
Furthermore, Starry Sky grotto-heaven's owner, Seven Star Child, had awoken long ago, as the owner, how could he not know if there were wild Immortal Gu?
Even if Seven Star Child was kept busy and had no time, Starry Sky grotto-heaven was attacked by Combat Immortal Sect, they had searched thoroughly. Unless it was a very special Immortal Gu and could conceal itself well, it would not be there up until this point.
"According to the map, the dragonfish is here in this blue lake, near the small island at the center of the lake."
Fang Yuan flew in the sky, his gaze shined, his greatest interest among the three was in the desolate beast dragonfish.
Of course, dragonfish lived together in large numbers.
Around the desolate beast dragonfish, there were many mortal dragonfish.
These were all an enticing fortune to Fang Yuan.
"To think that I would have my second desolate beast dragonfish so quickly. Hmm, since I can take one third of the gains, I will choose the dragonfish." Fang Yuan thought of this and felt a bit of joy internally.
Meanwhile, on a small island on the blue lake, a group of Gu Masters from Heaven's Envy Manor were looking at the lake in front of them with much annoyance.
There were five people in this group, almost all of them had rank five cultivation, except one young Gu Master who was at rank four peak stage.
This youngster was called Wei Wu Shang, he was the head of the elite disciples that represented Heaven's Envy Manor.
He was infatuated with Fairy Bi Xia and had once fought with Fang Zheng, but lost. Fang Zheng gave him some face and admitted it was a draw. Since he kept his reputation, he had a sense of gratitude towards Fang Zheng, feeling like he owed the latter a favor.
He was originally rank four middle stage, but in this contest for resources, Heaven's Envy Manor took action to specially raise his cultivation level to rank four peak stage.
On one hand, they were training the next generation of disciples, they were the hopes of the future, on the other hand, they were lacking in manpower.
Just now, to explore all the fragments of Starry Sky grotto-heaven, the ten great ancient sects of Central Continent had engaged in fierce competition.
Seven Star Child was very ruthless, he self-detonated Starry Sky grotto-heaven, but he controlled the explosion very well. Almost no Gu Immortals could enter the fragment worlds, only their disciples could enter and explore it.
As has been mentioned before, these grotto-heaven fragment worlds had sparse dao marks, they were torn and broken, like houses that were going to collapse, they could only exist for a period of time.
Meanwhile, Gu Immortals had dao marks, they were like giants. Forcefully entering the fragment worlds was like giants entering a small house, the only result would be the house breaking and all the resources inside being destroyed.
In his past life, Fang Yuan became a blood path Gu Immortal and created the Blood Wing Demon Sect. When Starry Sky grotto-heaven was destroyed, he also directed mortal Gu Masters in the demonic sect to enter the fragment worlds in place of him and search for resources.
But now, why could Fang Yuan enter it?
Speaking of this, he somewhat did not know whether to laugh or cry at the reason.
It was because Fang Yuan had bottom tier cultivation level among Gu Immortals, he had few strength path dao marks in his body, and because of vaguely familiar face, he continued to lose strength path dao marks.
One of the core Immortal Gu of vaguely familiar face was eat strength Immortal Gu. Changing the Gu Immortal's regional aura involved using eat strength in reverse, to expend strength path dao marks.
Even though he had the giant horned sheep and other strength path desolate beasts to increase his number of strength path dao marks, he had been disguising himself a lot recently, after summing up his gains and losses, there was a limit to how many strength path dao marks he could gain.
Thus, Fang Yuan could enter while other Gu Immortals could not.
He had just reached the upper limits of what the fragment world could stand, there were very few people who could be so pitiful in their cultivation level after becoming a Gu Immortal.
Most importantly, because of his identity, Immortal Crane Sect could make use of him.
This was a competition among the ten great ancient sects, if Fang Yuan was not a subsidiary force of Immortal Crane Sect, he would be an outsider Gu Immortal, he would not be allowed to enter by the other sects.
This was the righteous path.
They paid close attention to rules.
They were not like the demonic path, who looked at who had the bigger fist, by competing with force against force, or seeing who was more ruthless and despicable.
The first rule of the demonic path was the absence of rules.
-x-X-x-
"Damn this Ancient Soul Sect, they actually caused a commotion with the desolate beast dragonfish to obstruct us!"
At this moment, on the small island at the center of the lake, the group from Heaven's Envy Manor's was trapped, they could not advance.
In front of them, waves were rumbling, tides were rising, the water was grand and treacherous.
The five Gu Masters from Heaven's Envy Manor frowned tightly, looking at the lake, they felt anger and helplessness.
Through the lake water, they could see vaguely that there was a huge monster swimming around in the depths of the lake.
Each time the tail moved, currents would be created as huge tides surfaced.
In fact, sometimes, its tough fish head would ram into the bottom of the small island.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each time the dragonfish attacked, there would be a loud sound, followed by tremors below everyone's feet.
The people from Heaven's Envy Manor were trapped on this small island, looking at the waves in front of them, their faces were pale, they were helpless, there was nothing they could do.
Desolate beast dragonfish were usually peaceful and rarely went into a frenzy.
But earlier, the Gu Masters from Ancient Soul Sect had used some method to make this desolate beast dragonfish go into madness, it was in a berserk and rampaging state, it had lost its mind and natural disposition.
The Gu Masters from Heaven's Envy Manor had the ability to climb mountains and move across bodies of water, but they were only mortals with limited primeval essence. Under the current situation, they could not move at all, it was too dangerous.
"Ancient Soul Sect could actually influence the desolate beast dragonfish, they must have used an immortal technique from the sect! We of Heaven's Envy Manor are also from one of the ten great ancient sects, we cannot lose to Ancient Soul Sect. Elder Zhu Ning, let's use our immortal method as well!"
While they were helpless, a Gu Master from Heaven's Envy Manor couldn't help but suggest this.
Hearing that there was an immortal method, the other Gu Masters showed inspired expressions, light shining in their eyes.
Elder Zhu Ning, who had the method frowned, he sighed bitterly: "If I could use it, I would have done so already, why would I wait until now?"
He told everyone his difficulties.
As it turned out, before this trip, Zhu Ning was called by a supreme elder and was entrusted with an Immortal Gu and some immortal essence.
But this Immortal Gu was used for defense, it would not help in this situation to get rid of the dragonfish.
"The sect gave you an Immortal Gu?"
"What does the Immortal Gu look like, I have never seen one before!"
"Quick, let us see it and broaden our visions."
Zhu Ning's frank admission made everyone intensely curious. At once, they forget about the problem in front of them, they wanted to see the brilliance of the Immortal Gu.
Zhu Ning smiled bitterly again: "I will speak honestly, I only took a hurried glance at this Immortal Gu before lord supreme elder placed it in my body. Right now, I don't even know where the Immortal Gu is in my body, not to mention attempting to retrieve it."
Everyone was very disappointed, they sighed in unison.
Only Wei Wu Shang's eyes shined brightly, he said in admiration: "It would be great if I could obtain an Immortal Gu that belongs to me one day!"
The other four old Gu Masters looked at Wei Wu Shang and either smiled bitterly or shook their heads.
Wei Wu Shang was too young.
Young people liked to dream, this was natural.
But only after many experiences would they understand that dreams and reality were different, like these four old Gu Masters.
Who would not want to have their own Immortal Gu, who would not want to become a high and mighty immortal?
But immortal and mortal were worlds apart. Reality was cruel, countless people lost their youthfulness, countless people's dreams were broken.
How many people could really become immortals?
The leader, Zhu Ning, sighed: "For now, we have no better way, we can only wait. When the dragonfish calms down, we will set off."
"But this way, the other nine sects will get all the good stuff. We will only have leftovers!" A Gu Master asked worriedly.
"What else can we do?" Zhu Ning sighed, but he did not forget to raise the morale: "This is not entirely a bad thing. Let them go and compete first, we can take the chance for now to gather our strength. Even though Immortal Gu are incredibly powerful, they need corresponding immortal essence to activate. Their immortal essence will be limited, let them exhaust their resources in competing with each other, during the later stages, we will have more strength than them."
Once he said that, everyone's expressions changed, their dejected moods recovered slightly.
"However, I have something very important to remind you of." Zhu Ning's had a serious expression: "No matter how much strength we preserve, there are two people we cannot offend. One is Spirit Affinity House's Feng Jin Huang, the other is Immortal Crane Sect's Fang Yuan."
"Why? Feng Jin Huang and Fang Yuan are two geniuses of my generation, but each of them are only single individuals. Right now, us ten sects all have five members each, we all have mysterious immortal methods, why should we be afraid of those two?" Wei Wu Shang was unclear of the truth, he asked somewhat skeptically.
"That is because you do not know the hidden details." Zhu Ning's gaze was heavy, he looked at the surrounding Gu Masters and said: "I learned about this shocking news from the sect before we came. Feng Jin Huang has a noble upbringing, her parents are both Gu Immortals, moreover, they are immensely powerful beings even among Gu Immortals. What shocking immortal methods do you think that such a person would have?"
"So that's it!" Wei Wu Shang was startled.
The others also showed shocked expressions.
Zhu Ning continued: "But compared to Feng Jin Huang, that Fang Yuan is even scarier!"
"Don't tell me his background is even greater than that of Feng Jin Huang?" Someone asked in suspicion.
Zhu Ning frowned: "I am also not sure of the specific details, but the sect had specially told this to me, that Fang Yuan is far scarier than Feng Jin Huang, we should avoid him at all costs, we should not contest with him."
"Even though Fang Yuan is the number one genius of my generation, he's not that scary, right?" Wei Wu Shang was suspicious.
"Don't tell me the immortal method that Immortal Crane Sect gave to him is the strongest among the ten sects?" The other Gu Masters tried to analyze.
Zhu Ning shook his head: "I only know that Immortal Crane Sect sent Fang Yuan here alone, think about it, what does this mean?"
"It seems that Immortal Crane Sect is very confident in Fang Yuan, they believe that with his strength alone, he can deal with all of us!"
"Arrogant! They are looking down on us..."
"Immortal Crane Sect are not fools, the sect also told us to avoid Fang Yuan, there seems to be reasons behind this. We should act according to the sect's warnings."
"That is not necessarily the case, as the saying goes, two fists cannot rival four palms, even if Fang Yuan is the strongest, he would inevitably cause the other sects to collaborate in resistance. The result is still unknown."
The Gu Masters discussed.
They talked one after another.
Some were stable and conservative, some were indignant, some wanted to collaborate with other sects.
Right at this moment, a shrill sound came from the sky.
Everyone frowned, Wei Wu Shang even covered his ears.
The five Gu Masters looked over and saw that in the sky, there was a figure tearing across space.
This person was extremely fast, sonic booms could be heard as they traveled.
In just a breath's time, he flew over from a distance away.
When he was above the small island, he stopped. He went from quick movement to extreme stillness, the five Gu Masters from Heaven's Envy Manor felt this was very abrupt and sudden.
"Who is it? He can fly at such a high altitude!"
"So fast, is this a human or a monster?"
"Looking at the person, it seems to be... Fang Yuan?"
Everyone was shocked and subconsciously had their mouths open.
The gusts of wind blew and entered their mouths, even forcing them to shut their eyes.
This wind was created when Fang Yuan flew over, it was very strong.
Fang Yuan stood in the air as he looked around.
Huge waves, a small island, dragonfish, Gu Masters, he understood everything that was happening in an instant.
He placed his attention on the dragonfish.
There were five Gu Masters on the small island, they were not worth his attention at all.
The wind was only a gust, it came and left swiftly.
The five Gu Masters quickly opened their eyes, looking at Fang Yuan who was in the air, they were very nervous.
"It seems that this dragonfish is rampaging due to the effects of a certain soul path or wisdom path technique." Fang Yuan guessed as he stretched out his hand and made a grabbing motion in front of him.
Boom!
Under everyone's shocked gazes, a strength path giant hand flew out and entered the water grandly.
But the thing was, when the strength path giant hand entered the water, there were no waves that were created.
Instead, the water split apart when the giant hand descended, it was as if the water in the lake was cooperating with Fang Yuan.
This was the strength path Immortal Gu Pulling Water, it had taken effect after being fused into strength path giant hand.
The water in the lake did not obstruct Fang Yuan in capturing the dragonfish, it became an aid instead.
With the dragonfish rampaging and losing its senses, it did not try to escape, it made Fang Yuan's attempting at capturing it easier.
Roar!
The dragonfish opened its mouth, emitting a dragon's roar.
On the two sides of the fish's mouth, there were two long dragon whiskers, they were lashing around like whips.
The entire fish body struggled intensely, but the strength path giant hand was stable like Mount Tai, it did not budge at all, like an iron structure.
Under Fang Yuan's control, the strength path giant hand grabbed and captured the dragonfish, pulling it out of the water.
The five Gu Masters from Heaven's Envy Manor were all dumbfounded, they were shocked and in despair at seeing the process of Fang Yuan capturing the dragonfish and putting it into his own immortal aperture.
After capturing this desolate beast dragonfish, Fang Yuan was not satisfied, he turned towards the ordinary dragonfish.
Dragonfish lived in groups, there were dragonfish all over this lake.
This time, Fang Yuan activated pulling water Immortal Gu, lumps of water was pulled up, countless dragonfish that were inside the water were thrown into his immortal aperture.
The group from Heaven's Envy Manor were staring, still as statues.
They would surely never forget this scene in their lives.
Only until Fang Yuan finished his collection and flew away did these Gu Masters jolt to awareness.
They were all covered in sweat, Wei Wu Shang was sprawled on the ground, sitting with his body limp and in shock.
They had finally understood what their sect meant, and the helplessness they were feeling.
"Dealing with such a person is beyond our abilities."
"Oh heavens, I was trying to collaborate with others to deal with Fang Yuan earlier?!"
"Such overwhelming might, did he become an immortal already?!"
Everyone was scared to pieces.
The dragonfish was gone, they could continue on their journey now.
But the scene earlier was simply too shocking for them, even though they did not move at all and were only looking, the Gu Masters from Heaven's Envy Manor were breathing roughly, they felt extremely fatigued in both body and mind.
-x-X-x-
"About six hundred thousand ordinary dragonfish, and a desolate beast dragonfish."
Fang Yuan flew rapidly while calculating the profits in his immortal aperture.
The first move he made after coming in this Starry Sky grotto-heaven fragment world gave him a huge harvest.
The only blemish was a lot of ordinary dragonfish had died. Because of the desolate beast dragonfish's rampage, many ordinary dragonfish that normally surrounded the desolate beast dragonfish died miserably.
Otherwise, Fang Yuan's gains would be even greater.
Regardless, Fang Yuan was satisfied.
Back then at Dong Fang tribe's headquarters, he only gained around nine hundred thousand ordinary dragonfish and a desolate beast dragonfish. His current gains already were over half of this. If these were to be added to Hu Immortal blessed land's dragon scale lake, its size would not be enough to contain these dragonfish.
"When the truth of the collapse of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building comes to light, I must abandon Hu Immortal blessed land, so there is no need to expand the dragon scale lake. It seems when I return after this, I must remodel Star Form blessed land to raise these dragonfish."
Fang Yuan was looking around his surroundings as he pondered.
He had unlimited primeval essence and also had countless investigative mortal killer moves, there was even a recently obtained investigative immortal killer move — Star Premonition.
Thus, he was not worried that he would miss any good things on his way.
However, Fang Yuan did not find many opportunities to take action.
When Starry Sky grotto-heaven was intact, it was already looted repeatedly by Combat Immortal Sect. Now, among the remaining resources, those that could interest Fang Yuan were already very few. Moreover, he had to hand over two-thirds of all the gains he made in this trip to Immortal Crane Sect, while he himself could only obtain one-third. This greatly impacted Fang Yuan's enthusiasm.
"The ten ancient sects sent the disciples to compete for various resources inside within a limited time – seven days and seven nights. After this time passes, the resources occupied inside will be divided up, next would be time for the ten ancient sects to plunder and develop the resources by themselves. This has nothing to do with me. So now, I only need to get the desolate beast dragonfish, hidden essence turtle and that nether grass. Most of my energy and time should be used to search for that dream realm in the central region!"
When he thought of the dream realm, Fang Yuan's gaze shined and a fire burned inside him.
Before leaving, He Feng Yang had reminded Fang Yuan to occupy the central region as early as possible.
In the center of this fragment world was an external manifestation of a dream realm.
As it involved the prophecy of Great Dream Immortal Venerable, the ten great ancient sects had already begun researching. Moreover, Feng Jin Huang possessed dream wings Immortal Gu, which allowed Spirit Affinity House to firmly occupy the leading position.
More importantly, this dream realm had a huge origin.
It was Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm!
Immortal Crane Sect's research of dream realms might be completely behind Spirit Affinity House, but as long as they were able to seize this dream realm, they could contain Spirit Affinity House's momentum, and could rely on this dream realm to make terms and exchange benefits with Spirit Affinity House.
In the entire fragment world, the most precious resource was not desolate beasts or desolate plants, instead it was this small external manifestation of a dream realm!
Thus, before they parted, He Feng Yang specially reminded Fang Yuan of this matter.
But how could he know the excitement inside Fang Yuan?
Fang Yuan might not be like Feng Jin Huang with dream path Immortal Gu, but he had a wisdom path Immortal Gu, Unravel Mystery, and the dream path killer move formed with it as the basis — Unravel Dream!
He Feng Yang inviting Fang Yuan to represent Immortal Crane Sect was simply like opening the door to a thief or bringing a weasel to a chicken coop.
"Immortal Crane Sect does not have enough strength, they had decided to send me now, but this was met with strong resistance from the other nine sects. In the end, although Immortal Crane Sect got what they wished, my entry time was far later than the other nine sects. I must hurry and occupy the central region, after all, undue delay may bring trouble."
Capturing the dragonfish was only done casually on his way, the most important matter was still the external manifestation of the dream realm in the central region.
However, when Fang Yuan reached his destination, someone was already there.
"Fang Yuan, I have been waiting for quite a while." Feng Jin Huang led four other Gu Masters of Spirit Affinity House to protect the magnificent dream realm behind them.
She looked at this trip's strongest competitor. Her skin was snow white, her appearance as pretty as a painting, her smile was beautiful and she looked extremely confident.
Fang Yuan was not anxious, as he replied with a smile as well: "According to the rules set by the ten great sects, for your Spirit Affinity House to completely occupy this area, you need to face the challenges from other sects. Only after winning two out of three challenges can you strip away the opponent's right to occupy this area."
The ten great ancient sects were famous righteous sects of Central Continent, but they also had the same origin — Heavenly Court.
Thus, although they were competing, it was not a cruel slaughter like that of the demonic path, and was much gentler.
Feng Jin Huang shook her head: "Although I have Immortal Gu and immortal essence that mother placed on me, I cannot defeat you. I waited for you to do a transaction."
"Oh?" Fang Yuan's brows raised as he said, coldly, "You want to do a transaction with me again? Last time, you scammed me quite heavily at the Refinement Path Convention. The method you gave me for getting rid of the immortal zombie status was actually an ascension of the ten extreme physiques! You still want to do another transaction?"
Feng Jin Huang quickly replied: "This transaction will be mutually beneficial, Fang Yuan, you have also taken quite a lot of benefits from my Spirit Affinity House. You can rest assured that I won't let you suffer losses in this transaction."
"Alright, then speak." Fang Yuan nodded.
Feng Jin Huang immediately gave a suggestion of what to trade, it was actually another method to get rid of the immortal zombie status!
She had completely seen through Fang Yuan's weak point, and did not let go of it.
After confirming that Feng Jin Huang's method was not what he already had, Fang Yuan agreed to this transaction.
Like Feng Jin Huang said, this transaction was mutually beneficial, having benefits to both sides. And if there were benefits, Fang Yuan would naturally take it.
Shortly afterwards, Fang Yuan obtained a completely new method of getting rid of the immortal zombie state and reviving.
This was a transformation path method.
According to Feng Jin Huang's words, Fang Yuan would have to cultivate transformation path and use a transformation path killer move to transform himself into a normal Gu Immortal. Then, he could use everlasting Immortal Gu to make this transformation fixed and unchangeable.
Like this, he could get rid of the immortal zombie status.
This was indeed a practical thought.
Because a lot of Gu Masters or Gu Immortals in their cultivation journeys would face an awkward and tragic situation of not being able to go back to their original shape after transforming too many times.
And this method was the exact opposite, it thoroughly finalized the transformation.
As for this dream realm, it would be occupied by Fang Yuan.
But Feng Jin Huang had three days to explore this external manifestation of a dream realm. Three days later, she had to leave this area.
"This is a dream realm's external manifestation?" Fang Yuan mumbled as he looked ahead of him, as if this was the first time he had seen it, his expression was serious, curious and his gaze revealing some greed and fervent passion.
Every external manifestation of dream realm had a wonderfully beautiful appearance.
This dream realm that was displayed in front of them was like a condensed star cloud, with dark purple light shining in the periphery and countless stars inside.
The whole dream realm gave off a profound, mysterious aura, and also gave indications of danger.
Feng Jin Huang looked on at Fang Yuan's eager expression, coldly snorting inwardly with satisfaction.
She had seen this kind of expression many times.
"Dream realms are good, but it is a pity you don't have dream wings Immortal Gu. This enormous benefit is placed right beside your mouth, but you can't eat it. Maybe in your whole life, you won't understand that feeling of exploring a dream realm. Ah, there is also the huge advancement after a smooth exploration."
Feng Jin Huang did not remind Fang Yuan, if Fang Yuan died in Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm, it would be much more beneficial for her.
However, she knew that it was not likely to happen.
Since Immortal Crane Sect sent Fang Yuan, they would have reminded him of the dangers of the dream realm.
Sure enough, Feng Jin Huang waited for a while but only saw Fang Yuan standing on the spot without moving forward, although he had a longing look on his face, he did not take a step beyond the limit.
Feng Jin Huang snorted inwardly before turning towards the other four Gu Masters: "Three days is a limited span of time, I need to explore this dream realm immediately. All of you, protect my physical body, don't make any mistakes."
The Gu Masters quickly replied: "We will use up all our strength and even if we die, we will protect you to the end!"
"Lady Feng Jin Huang, you can enter at ease, if the situation is urgent, we will immediately awaken you."
Feng Jin Huang nodded, and stepped towards the dream realm.
When she was still twenty or so steps away from the dream realm, she had reached her limit. With her current ability, she still could not completely throw herself into the dream realm.
She gave a last look at the distant Fang Yuan, before slowly sitting down cross-legged on the ground, she closed her eyes and activated dream wings Immortal Gu, falling into a deep sleep.
As far as Feng Jin Huang was concerned, the greatest threat to her was the immortal zombie Fang Yuan.
Were Fang Yuan to act against her, those rank five Gu Masters of Spirit Affinity House would simply be incapable of resisting him.
Thus, Feng Jin Huang did not completely rely on these four Gu Masters, what she placed confidence in was the Immortal Gu and abundant immortal essence her mother, Fairy Bai Qing, had placed with her.
"Dream wings Immortal Gu...." Fang Yuan looked at Feng Jin Huang with envy.
Dream wings Immortal Gu could let the user fall into a deep sleep at any time, and attach dream wings to their soul, letting them roam freely in dream realms, allowing them to advance or retreat freely, guaranteeing their safety.
Compared to dream travel Immortal Gu, dream wings Immortal Gu had an advantage, it did not require immortal essence to be activated, thus it was the most suitable for cultivators like Feng Jin Huang who had yet to become Gu Immortals.
Fang Yuan already had thoughts of taking action.
But killing Feng Jin Huang and seizing dream wings Immortal Gu was not a practical idea.
Seizing Immortal Gu by itself was an extremely difficult matter. And killing Feng Jin Huang was also not easy, even an idiot would know Feng Jin Huang certainly had large numbers of life protection methods on her.
Most importantly, the current situation had yet to turn to a critical state, there was still space to scheme. Fang Yuan was not a retard, he would not make such a huge mistake.
"This Feng Jin Huang is maturing rapidly. First was the transaction, she handed over all the control of this dream realm to me of her own accord, turning me into a shield, to block other competitors in her place, while she uses dream wings Immortal Gu to wantonly explore the dream realm and plunder benefits. Next, when she saw me have a desire to explore, she did not give me any reminders, waiting to see me make a fool of myself. However, regardless of how talented you are, you would not think that I possess the killer move unravel dream."
Fang Yuan sneered as he let out the desolate beast shark fin wolf from his immortal aperture.
This desolate beast wolf had been violently subdued by him through flicking its penis.
For this exploration of the fragment world, Fang Yuan had already taken it out from Hu Immortal blessed land and brought it with him.
The moment they saw the desolate beast, Spirit Affinity House's four Gu Masters were tongue-tied with shock, they were even about to awaken Feng Jin Huang.
It was Fang Yuan who reminded them: "No need to be anxious, this desolate beast will look after this place. Three days later, if all of you have not left, it will eat you alive."
With this warning, Fang Yuan flew to the sky, quickly leaving the vision of the Gu Masters of Spirit Affinity House.