315 RI

Shang Xin Ci had a benevolent nature but she showed an extremely strong stance now, suppressing the entire situation at the moment.

This was the Gu cultivation world — experts reigned supreme.

Even though Shang Xin Ci trapped everyone, she did not punish them, instead, she upheld her promise of paying them twice the amount back.

Even though she understood that people were intentionally causing this problem, she did not do anything to these people, she let them off.

"Shang Xin Ci actually released them!"

"Hmph, the excessive benevolence of a woman."

"To think that she did not make a move, if it were me, I would rather kill them all than let any possible culprit escape."

Shang Ya Zi and the rest discussed in secret, they expressed their disdain to conceal the unease in their hearts.

Shang Qiu Niu had a complex expression: "Maybe this is the difference between Shang Xin Ci and us. This might be the reason why father favors her to become clan leader."

"Shang Qiu Niu, what are you saying?" Someone immediately rebuked.

Shang Qiu Niu said plainly: "You saw it yourselves, Shang Xin Ci had strength that surpasses all of us. When she took the role of clan leader, she also stabilized Shang clan's position, all of our businesses made great profits. Even though she stopped the slave trade, our profits only fell for some time before rising again, far higher than before."

"We need to admit that Shang Xin Ci's capability surpasses us, right now, her reputation of benevolence had already spread widely. Father noticed this and gave the position of clan leader to her, he is not being biased or showing favoritism."

Shang Qiu Niu revived from death, the experience was his precious wealth, allowing him to think more rationally and calmly when situations occurred.

But immediately after, Shang Yi Fan smiled coldly: "Brother Qiu Niu, even if that is true, so what? Whoever becomes clan leader will be nurtured by the clan into an immortal. This is an immortal opportunity! So what if Shang Xin Ci surpasses us in ability and character, so what? Are you not going to vie for this opportunity?"

Shang Qiu Niu was silent for a while before nodding as he said solemnly: "I have to try!"

After Shang Xin Ci released the troublemakers, she went to pacify the shop owners.

An elderly man walked to Shang Xin Ci shakily as he expressed his gratitude: "If not for clan leader's appearance, I would have gotten into trouble. Sigh, it was because my vision was blurred and I lost my cool to greed, I believed in rumors and bought some cheap goods. To think that they were all fake."

Xiao Die pouted: "You're an old man, you've been in Shang Liang Mountain for so many years, this shop has been managed by you for so long, how can you be so shortsighted?"

The old man looked ashamed.

"Xiao Die." Shang Xin Ci expressed her understanding: "The Gu cultivators living here are also not having it easy. If it were me, I would want to earn more for my business, this is a logical thing."

Xiao Die snorted as she looked at the old man: "Old fellow, you were lucky to have met my young miss. Make sure you use your vision in the future, don't go after cheap gains, do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, I understand." The old man quickly replied.

"Young miss, let's go, seeing these people makes me angry. If they were not after cheap gains, why would the market be flooded with fake goods?" Xiao Die turned around and looked at Shang Xin Ci.

But the elderly man spoke: "Clan leader, please wait."

Shang Xin Ci asked: "Is there anything else?"

The old man spoke in trepidation: "I'm ashamed, I'm truly ashamed! I bought such a large batch of fake goods, they cannot be sold anymore. But if I destroy them, it would be a huge loss! Clan leader, didn't you say you will compensate us?"

"What?!" Xiao Die heard these words and exploded, she pointed at the old man's nose and shouted: "Old fellow, do you know no shame? You made a mistake while our clan leader defended you, yet you know no gratitude and even want to extort us?"

Xiao Lan was also disgusted by such behavior, she added: "You are already so old but your actions are truly despicable. Must all your losses be shouldered by our Shang clan? Even throughout this entire world, is there such a logic?"

But Shang Xin Ci stopped her two servants, she looked at the old man and the sellers behind him.

Shang Xin Ci's tone was still calm as before: "Old sir, thanks for reminding me. As the Shang clan leader, I will not go back on my promise. Since I agreed to double the compensation, I will do my best to follow it. You can get twice the compensation for the fake goods you imported."

"Thank you, clan leader!"

"Clan leader, you are the kindest clan leader I've ever seen!"

"Clan elder, you saved my entire family, without this compensation, we would be forced out of our homes."

All of the Gu Masters spoke, some teared up, some knelt on the ground, kowtowing to Shang Xin Ci.

"Let's go." Shang Xin Ci brought her two servants away, arriving at the entrance of the street.

The two servants were very indignant.

Xiao Die grumbled: "Young miss, you are just too kind. Not only did you release those troublemakers, you even compensated them twice the amount."

Xiao Lan also said: "Young miss, I know you are kind hearted and pity those people. But be it buyers or sellers, there are bad people among them. By compensating them all together, we have fallen into the culprit's schemes, they want to expend our primeval stone reserves."

Shang Xin Ci nodded: "Those are just primeval stones, we can still earn them back in the future even if we lose them now. But if Shang clan's reputation is ruined, then we will need to spend a lot of effort and time to rebuild it."

"If I mind these primeval stones instead, I would fall into the culprit's trap. The loss of primeval stones is not important, Shang clan's reputation is a bigger problem, I will not be a proper clan leader after all. They can use this excuse to take me down from the position of clan leader."

Shang Xin Ci spoke warmly and calmly, she showed no anxiety, giving people a feeling of peace.

The two servants understood after this.

Xiao Lan said in admiration: "So that is it. Young miss, you are really amazing, you see things so clearly!"

Xiao Die pouted: "Young miss is right, but this matter is too infuriating. That old man might not be a bad person but he is taking advantage of us to earn a profit now! Why are they not going after the culprit who caused them a loss, instead trying to bully us good people. If Lord Fang Yuan were here, he would beat these people till they pissed themselves, they would not dare to get up from the ground, who would dare to bully us!"

Xiao Lan stared at Xiao Die, stomping on Xiao Die's foot.

Xiao Die jumped from the pain, sticking out her tongue and apologizing to Shang Xin Ci: "Sorry young miss, I spoke out of line."

Ever since Fang Yuan's and Lu Wei Yin's battle when he was hit by the killer move, three lifetime dreams reform a chosen one, after Shang Xin Ci returned to Shang Liang Mountain, each time she heard of Fang Yuan's name, she would fall into agony and sadness uncontrollably.

Thus, the name Fang Yuan started to become taboo around Shang Xin Ci.

On the way back, the three of them were silent.

After reaching the end of the street, Xiao Lan said: "Young miss, Lord Zhou Quan and Wei De Xin have been sick for a long time, let's go visit them and see how they are feeling."

Xiao Die gave Xiao Lan a thumbs up secretly.

They tried to divert Shang Xin Ci's attention to other matters instead.

Shang Xin Ci nodded: "You are right, let's go visit them."

The three of them arrived at Wei De Xin's accommodation.

"Stop right there, who are you, why are you acting so suspiciously!" Xiao Die found someone suspicious at the entrance.

The suspicious Gu cultivator looked at Shang Xin Ci and his expression turned grim, but he was relaxed internally, knowing that Shang Xin Ci was a benevolent person, he answered: "I am Wu clan's Gu Master, I am here to send a letter to Lady Wei De Xin."

Xiao Die's expression changed as she looked at Shang Xin Ci: "Young miss, oh no. Lady Wei De Xin must have gone to Wu clan after seeing this terrible situation."

Shang Xin Ci knocked on Xiao Die's head: "Don't spout nonsense, Sister Wei is not such a person. She is the sister of Wei Shen Jing, it is not strange that they exchange letters. Come inside with me."

Shang Xin Ci let that Wu clan Gu Master leave, she entered the house, seeing Wei De Xin who was bedridden.

Wei De Xin had obviously found out about the conflict that occurred earlier, she handed an information path Gu worm to Shang Xin Ci the moment they entered, but Shang Xin Ci smiled and did not receive it.

Wei De Xin explained: "Those people have outstanding methods, they schemed against Zhou Quan and I, causing us to be bedridden. But I will not falter so easily, I sent a letter to my brother and asked for his help."

Xiao Lan was overjoyed: "That's great. Lord Wei Shen Jing is known as the Counterfeit Master, his ability at creating counterfeit goods is well known in Southern Border. If he can help us, we will definitely be able to solve this predicament of the fake goods!"

Shang Xin Ci smiled: "Not long ago, in Sun Moon Sinkhole, I met with Wei Shen Jing and we chased after the demon Kong Ri Tian."

Wei De Xin sighed: "Back then, Wei clan was plotted against by Shang clan, who was the mastermind. My brother was forced to roam outside, he had to join Wu clan to preserve his life. He bore hatred towards Shang clan and did not understand why I chose to join you. But he sent this letter to praise your character and morals, he sighed in admiration and said he understood my action."

"It is a pity he is busy now. Wu clan's clan leader Wu Ji has succeeded in her immortal ascension, she nominated my brother recently. Wu clan is focusing on promoting external elders, they want to make outsiders their Wu clan external Gu Immortals. My brother is facing a test now, he can only explain the situation to us but he cannot come personally."

"Ah!" Xiao Lan and Xiao Die looked at each other in deep disappointment.

Shang Xin Ci continued to smile: "It is truly a great fortuitous encounter for Brother Wei, if he loses this chance, he will regret it for life. Even though I am facing a problem, I cannot hold back Brother Wei from his great opportunity, after all, any competition to become immortal is filled with danger and difficulty. If Brother Wei needs help, we must lend him a hand."

"Clan leader, you are truly a great person, it is a pity I cannot help you." Wei De Xin sighed.

"Sister Wei, I still need to thank you. But you are currently injured, don't trouble yourself with this. Go ahead and recuperate, I have already gotten a solution for this problem." Shang Xin Ci's smile expanded.

Wei De Xin looked at her while sighing internally in her heart.

She had a deep understanding of Shang Xin Ci, she knew that this expression meant that Shang Xin Ci had no countermeasure or solution currently.

This situation was quite problematic, Shang Qiu Niu and the rest had cooperated. If this problem was not properly resolved, it might really affect Shang Xin Ci's position as clan leader.

Shang Yan Fei passed the clan leader position to Shang Xin Ci but there were rules in the righteous path. If Shang Xin Ci was chased out of this position, Shang Yan Fei, who had already exercised the role transfer, could not intervene to defend her anymore.

"Shang Xin Ci cannot save herself now, but she does not want to trouble me, so she said those words." Wei De Xin understood this, she smiled: "Since clan leader has a solution, I will rest at ease, I am going to recuperate now."

"You should." Shang Xin Ci smiled and said.

"Leave now, don't disturb my recuperation." Wei De Xin waved her hand, she knew that Shang Xin Ci's time was pressing, she did not want to waste her time.

The trio was 'chased' out just like that.

After leaving Wei De Xin's place, they went to visit Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan said: "I've already learned of the matter that happened. Clan leader, you did the right thing!"

"In the past, I would not be able to see it clearly. But after these years, I've learned much from Steward Zhou and Sister Wei." Shang Xin Ci said humbly.

Zhou Quan looked at Shang Xin Ci, initially, he was forced by Fang Yuan to become Shang Xin Ci's subordinate and help her.

But gradually, he noticed Shang Xin Ci's nature and was shocked that there was such a person in the world.

If Shang Xin Ci was mindlessly benevolent, Zhou Quan would look down on her and leave.

But Shang Xin Ci had a perceptive nature despite her poor cultivation talent, she grew rapidly under Zhou Quan's and Wei De Xin's guidance, rising to the next level. Now, not only did she have strength, she could even manage the entirety of Shang clan.

Zhou Quan was pleased at her growth while also feeling admiration.

Because Shang Xin Ci had a consistent demeanor, she had her own bottom line. Her kindness and benevolence had never wavered because of the darkness and cruelty of the world. In contrast, from the cruelty and sadness she had seen, she noticed the pity and agony behind them, affirming her heart of kindness.

This was something that was very rare!

Before leaving, Zhou Quan reminded them: "Even if you pay them double, you can only lessen the problem, you cannot solve its root cause. The problem is the fake goods after all, you need to find the source and put a stop to it. You also need to find out the rest of the fake goods in the market and remove them. After these two problems are resolved, you will be able to truly get past the problem."

At night.

In the other room, Xiao Lan and Xiao Die had fallen asleep.

But Shang Xin Ci looked at the fake Gu on the table as she showed an expression of worry.

She smiled to herself soundlessly.

To prevent the rest from worrying and because of her clan leader responsibilities, Shang Xin Ci had always acted confidently. Only when she was alone would she show her true emotions.

At this moment, she was like a delicate flower facing an impending storm, it was truly heart aching to see her expression.

She was helpless against the fake Gu in front of her. The truth was, she had already done her best to get this far!

In the silent night, she let out a deep and helpless sigh.

"Clan leader, why are you sighing?" From within the fake Gu, light shined and gathered into the image of an old man.

Shang Xin Ci had a surprised expression, because this old man was the shop owner who asked her for compensation earlier!

-x-X-x-

Seeing the old man's appearance, Shang Xin Ci thought of many things at this instant.

The mysterious old man was so strong, Shang Xin Ci did not even detect his method to lurk within the Gu worm.

He came with unknown intentions, he could either be having kind or malicious intentions. He might even be the culprit behind this fake Gu incident, this might even be one of Shang Ya Zi's plans.

But Shang Xin Ci was more willing to believe that the mysterious old man came with kind intentions.

Shang Xin Ci said solemnly: "I sighed earlier because Shang Ya Zi and the rest chose to pull me down from the clan leader position in order to fight for that immortal opportunity. But they did not care that these schemes would bring great misery and losses to others. In fact, they completely disregarded Shang clan's reputation, they only cared about themselves."

"But I can understand their choice. Who does not want to become a Gu Immortal and transcend the mortal realm, gaining great abilities? But does becoming a Gu Immortal mean one must treat the people as insects? Isn't there another way, a kinder and less damaging way for the weak?"

The old man heard this and sighed deeply: "Shang Xin Ci, oh Shang Xin Ci, I've stayed in Shang Liang Mountain for years, I believe that you mean this from the bottom of your heart, thus, I decided to help you!"

Shang Xin Ci bowed deeply but her expression was still calm and tranquil: "May I ask for senior's name?"

The old man smiled bitterly: "I am merely a pitiful person who is at his wits' end, I do not dare to expose myself. I know you are suspicious towards me, but I come with goodwill. You are someone worthy of my help, after becoming the clan leader for so many years, you know that to trust a person, what they say is not important, only their actions speak louder than words."

Shang Xin Ci nodded: "Please teach me senior, I am willing to listen."

The old man said: "I know the person who created the fake Gu as well as his residence. His name is Feng Tian Yu, your brother Shang Ya Zi befriended him and asked him to do this by offering huge benefits."

"Feng Tian Yu?" Shang Xin Ci's gaze flickered: "I know of this person, he is in the righteous path, once the young clan leader of a village. He has incredible refinement path attainment, he is a refinement path master, having rank four cultivation level. When he was rank three, he refined a rank five Gu worm. Although the rank five Gu died after half a day, he achieved instant reputation from that. Regrettably, his clan lost in a conflict and faced extermination, he was no longer the young clan leader that had limitless prospects, becoming a lone cultivator instead."

Shang Xin Ci was the leader of Shang clan, she knew the information of Southern Border's expert Gu Masters very clearly.

The old man nodded: "Feng Tian Yu has already reached rank five, but he keeps it a secret and only shows rank four cultivation level. I have a method for you to convince him and turn him over to your side, becoming your loyal subordinate."

Shang Xin Ci was very curious.

Feng Tian Yu had rank five cultivation level now, like Shang Xin Ci, he was also a refinement path master, extremely popular in Southern Border. Such a person would receive royal treatment anywhere he went, if he wanted to rebuild his clan and create Feng clan again, he would become the clan leader, a righteous path leader in the Gu Master world.

How could such a person submit easily?

The old man did not conceal anything, he told the method to Shang Xin Ci immediately.

Shang Xin Ci's expression changed: "Senior wants me to lie to Feng Tian Yu?"

The old man smiled: "That is not lying, it is true that you are acquainted with Fang Yuan. Of course, strictly speaking, it is still a lie. But Shang Xin Ci, if one lie can save countless people, will you do it? You have no other choice now, Feng Tian Yu is the culprit behind the fake Gu after all."

The old man's smile became wider: "In this world, being a bad person is not easy, but being a good person is even tougher. Because a good person has to defeat the bad person while defending their own morals and beliefs. Oh Shang Xin Ci, I am only giving you a method, as for what you are going to do with it, that is entirely up to you."

Shang Xin Ci did not hesitate: "Thank you senior, the method is very good, I am going to give it a try."

"Very good." The old man laughed: "This is why I like you. You have benevolence but you are not blinded by it, you know how to use various methods to deal with evil. In this world, pure kindness is akin to suicide, it can even harm your friends and family. But you are not like that, you are realistic in your goals, you are a truly practical good person."

At the end, the old man added: "This Gu worm contains a Gu Immortal true inheritance, I think this is the cultivation path most suited for you. Take a look, whether you cultivate it or not is entirely up to you."

Saying so, the old man's image vanished.

At the same time, a Gu worm flew up from the table, floating in the air, away from the pile.

Shang Xin Ci held it and inspected the details.

A moment later, joy flashed on her face as she muttered to herself: "Good deeds Gu?"

Shang Liang Mountain had an outer city as well as the inner city. The inner city was split into first, second, third, fourth, and fifth inner city.

The first inner city was called the central inner city, the political heart of Shang clan, and also their military base. Shang Xin Ci stayed here.

The second inner city was also known as the clan city, only Shang clansmen could stay here. Tokens were needed to enter.

Feng Tian Yu stayed in the third inner city.

The entire third inner city was extremely expensive and valuable, it used star stones everywhere. Not only buildings, but even the walking paths were made of star stones. At one glance, starlight could be seen in one's entire vision.

The streets had few people, quiet and serene, like a star palace.

There was no inn, there were only gardens.

Small gardens were rented at thirty primeval stones per day, while large gardens were a hundred primeval stones!

Feng Tian Yu was staying in a large garden.

He drank high quality tea and sat in a half inclined chair, his door was open as a breeze blew into the garden, he looked at the beautiful view of the bamboo forest.

"Brother Feng, you are truly enjoying yourself." Shang Xin Ci's voice resounded all of a sudden.

Feng Tian Yu shook intensely, he was so shocked he almost fell from his chair.

But at the next moment, he reacted and the Gu worms in his aperture got ready to strike. He turned around and looked at Shang Xin Ci, calming himself forcefully: "So Shang clan's leader has visited me, I am truly honored beyond words. Clan leader, your method is really amazing, I set up three Gu formations here after all, you actually managed to enter so stealthily, is there anywhere in the world that can keep you out?"

Feng Tian Yu mocked Shang Xin Ci's action of being like a thief, but she was not upset, she retorted: "How can my methods compare to you, Brother Feng? You caused a huge commotion in the market, the fake Gu flooded the market and resulted in conflict, as the clan leader, I almost lost all my reputation."

Feng Tian Yu was shook internally, he did not expect Shang Xin Ci to find him so quickly.

"How can this be? I am sure that my fake Gu have no clues leading to me, is there a problem over on Shang Ya Zi's end?"

Feng Tian Yu thought while sitting up, denying it entirely: "Clan leader, don't try to scare me, the blame of selling fake Gu is not something a small fry like me can shoulder."

Shang Xin Ci chuckled as she took a few steps, arriving at the door and looking outside, speaking with her back facing Feng Tian Yu: "Brother Feng, do you still not understand? Whatever I claim as the truth, even without evidence whatsoever, is the truth."

Feng Tian Yu could not help but feel shocked: "This Shang Xin Ci has a reputation for benevolence, everyone knows that, but after seeing her today, to think that she is such a domineering person!"

He felt immense pressure.

Shang Xin Ci's sudden appearance threw Feng Tian Yu into an extremely passive spot.

He was originally lying on the chair, he had a poor posture, he had to try to modify his posture while exchanging words with Shang Xin Ci, sitting upright gradually.

But Shang Xin Ci seemingly did not notice, she went past him and walked to the door, facing the outside with her back facing Feng Tian Yu, not concerned with his petty actions, she even gave him a chance to sneak attack her.

But Feng Tian Yu did not dare to move at all!

The more confident Shang Xin Ci was, the more wary and nervous Feng Tian Yu felt. Even though they had the same cultivation level, he had already unconsciously placed himself at the lower position.

Shang Xin Ci turned around, smiling: "Brother Feng, come work for me."

"What?" Feng Tian Yu stared with wide eyes, he was stunned, but soon, he laughed: "Shang clan leader, do you know the price that Shang Ya Zi paid to hire my service?"

Shang Xin Ci chuckled: "No matter what price he offered, you will definitely not be able to reject my offer."

Feng Tian Yu let out a breath of air, his eyes shined with brilliance as he stood up.

The moment Shang Xin Ci tried to recruit him, he understood that she was not able to resolve the fake Gu incident, otherwise, she could create a commotion and lead Shang clan's troops to kill him.

"So she still needs my help." Feng Tian Yu gained the psychological upper hand again.

He assessed Shang Xin Ci while smiling: "Then I will listen, I am sure that the great Shang clan leader will give me an offer befitting your status."

Shang Xin Ci raised her right index finger: "Firstly, your life."

Feng Tian Yu's expression changed, his voice turned more grave as he spoke coldly: "Clan leader, do you think I am helpless against you?"

Shang Xin Ci smiled confidently: "Don't worry, Brother Feng, you have rank five cultivation level, no need to be nervous."

Feng Tian Yu was internally shaken, she knew his actual cultivation level, she came prepared, this situation was perilous!

Shang Xin Ci added: "Other than that, if you perform well, you might be able to receive Lord Fang Yuan's audience."

"What?!" Feng Tian Yu's expression changed again.

Shang Xin Ci spoke without stopping: "Don't be so shocked, Brother Feng. I know far more things than you can ever imagine."

"I'll tell you the truth, I'm sure you know about my relationship with Lord Fang Yuan. I was able to discern your identity because I got help from Lord Fang Yuan's hairy man Gu Immortal subordinates."

"I handed up a fake Gu and that hairy man Gu Immortal actually praised it. He said that you are a genius, if you are able to progress further, you might gain Lord Fang Yuan's recognition and become his subordinate.

"Seriously? Is this true?" Feng Tian Yu was extremely excited, his face was flushed red.

Shang Xin Ci smiled: "Why would I lie to you? Since I can find you, I can easily take you down, what's the point of wasting my breath here?"

"I am sure you know my situation. The reason I became clan leader was because of Lord Fang Yuan. To tell you the truth, Shang clan has already cooperated with Lord Fang Yuan in secret."

Feng Tian Yu chuckled: "Shang clan? Lord Fang Yuan is the number one demon in the world! If Lord Fang Yuan wants to take something from Shang clan, will you dare to say no?"

"But I admire Lord Fang Yuan's refinement path talent the most!"

"Back then on Three Kings Mountain, I was blessed to have watched the scene of Lord Fang Yuan refining Fixed Immortal Travel personally. That was truly the greatest fortune of my life."

"I had once used rank three cultivation level to refine a rank five Gu worm that lived for half a day. But Lord Fang Yuan actually refined an Immortal Gu as a mortal! And he did it in that dangerous situation."

"His talent, his aptitude, his strength, and his wisdom is number one in the world! Since then, I believed wholeheartedly that Lord Fang Yuan would become renowned in the entire five regions and two heavens!"

"As expected!"

"Lord Fang Yuan defeated Heavenly Court in front of everyone in the world, he destroyed fate Gu!"

"And the greatest thing was that he used a refinement path method to destroy fate Gu. From then on, fate Gu can no longer exist in this world."

"From then on, all of us broke free of the restraints of fate!"

"He is a warrior, a hero, a savior. He has made the greatest contribution for the whole of humanity in history!"

"But no one understands him, they think he is in the demonic path, they are just too shallow, they are too ignorant! Lord Fang Yuan is an unprecedented existence, he is a great hero that only appears once in a billion years!"

"But I understand those so-called righteous path people. They are petty figures who feel fear, these weaklings and cowards are shamelessly trying to slander Lord Fang Yuan after realizing they can no longer harm him! They are obstructing the rise of humanity, they are sinners that obstruct the development of the world!!"

"Lord Fang Yuan is too outstanding, he is too amazing, he is too noble!"

"If I can follow him, if I can follow in the footsteps of such a noble figure, I... I do not know what else I can say."

"Huff, huff!"

"Amazing, this is too unbelievable."

"Today is simply the happiest day of my life!"

"Unbelievable, Lord Fang Yuan is actually taking me in as his subordinate. This is unbelievable, oh heaven!"

Feng Tian Yu got more and more excited as he spoke, his entire body was shuddering, he was almost about to burst out into spontaneous spasm.

His eyes shined with such a bright light as they turned red and tears gathered in his eyes, even Shang Xin Ci was feeling a chill as she looked at him.

That mysterious old man was not wrong at all.

Feng Tian Yu was a most fanatical admirer of Fang Yuan.

In fact, Fang Yuan's rise, his stories, the scene where he destroyed fate, all of them were widely spread.

Most demonic cultivators saw Fang Yuan as their idol, they looked at him as their goal and inspiration.

Even in the righteous path, there were many who admired him secretly, looking up to his courage in challenging the experts of Heavenly Court, he had incredible wits and was able to scheme despite danger.

Feng Tian Yu was not special, he was just one of them.

But because he had once interacted with Fang Yuan, and because of their similarities in refinement path, he who had once been a blessed young master experienced his entire family being slaughtered, the terrible ordeal in his life made his personality even more twisted and extreme.

Thus, because of his life experiences, he treated the strongest refinement path expert in the current world, the grand and legendary figure who he cannot surpass in this life, Fang Yuan, as his target for fanatical idolism.

Even though Shang Xin Ci did not produce any solid evidence, as long as there was hope, as long as there was a chance for him to get close to his idol, the divine existence in his heart, it was enough for him to feel extreme excitement, he could not control himself.

-x-X-x-

Several days later.

Second inner city of Shang Liang Mountain.

Shang Ya Zi and the rest had gathered together for a discussion, but they were soon enraged to find out that they were encircled.

"Zhou Quan, Wei De Xin! You are too daring, you dare to gather a bunch of Gu cultivators in the second inner city!"

"What are you trying to do? We are Shang Yan Fei's children, the blood siblings of your master Shang Xin Ci!"

"You outsiders dare to interfere and take action against Shang clan members on this Shang Liang Mountain?"

Shang Ya Zi and the rest were furious, they screamed loudly, getting their voices to spread out around the entire second inner city.

The second inner city was the residence of Shang clan's members, the commotion attracted the attention of countless clansmen.

Soon, hundreds of clansmen gathered here as they encircled Wei De Xin and Zhou Quan's group instead.

"What is going on?"

"Commander Wei De Xin and Steward Zhou Quan, they are Shang Xin Ci's most loyal subordinates."

"They are encircling Shang Qiu Niu, Shang Ya Zi, and the rest!"

"These two are simply too daring, they are trying to take action against our Shang clan's members openly!"

"Don't be rash, without Shang Xin Ci's instructions, why would these two dare to make a move?"

"A good show is going to start! This is clearly a fight over authority."

Shang clan's members discussed, the matter was getting heated, more clansmen were arriving.

Wei De Xin smiled coldly.

Zhou Quan announced loudly: "Recently, fake Gu have been rampantly spread in Shang Liang Mountain, we have already investigated the truth. You are all the culprits behind this, quickly surrender. Our leader is kind and merciful, she might let you off with a light sentence."

Shang Ya Zi and the rest shook internally.

Shang Yi Fan stepped out: "Bullshit! You dare to accuse us without evidence. Shang Xin Ci was clearly the one without ability or morals, she could not handle this problem, so she wants to put the blame on us? She is simply too wicked!"

"Don't worry, there is no need to deny it now." Wei De Xin interrupted: "Since we are publicly arresting you, we have concrete evidence."

"What evidence?"

"Where is Shang Xin Ci?" Ask her to come out and speak."

"That's right, why is she letting you two handle this, you are merely Shang Xin Ci's two dogs!"

Shang Ya Zi and the rest screamed.

Zhou Quan smiled coldly: "Everyone, are you afraid now?"

"We are descendants of Shang clan, we fear nothing! But often, forceful courage is stupidity. If we leave with you, in your territory, we will be forced to submit, even if we are innocent, we will be tortured and forced to accept this blame, we will become the culprits in the end!"

"Since you have evidence, then tell us right here, right now, in front of everyone in the city!!"

Shang Qiu Niu and Shang Chi Wen spoke.

Shang Ya Zi and Shang Yi Fan frowned.

"That's right, that's right, speak clearly in front of everyone here!"

"That's right! You are encircling the young clan leaders of our Shang clan!"

"Even if they are no longer the young clan leaders, they are not people that you outsiders can bully."

The Shang clan members at the periphery shouted.

Zhou Quan laughed: "Everything is within clan leader's expectations, alright, since you want evidence, I will leave you speechless. This is the evidence!"

Zhou Quan waved his hand as a large pile of Gu worms appeared on the ground.

Wei De Xin added: "Right now, all of Shang Liang Mountain's fake Gu are gathered here."

Shang Yi Fan laughed: "That's it? Taking a bunch of Gu and framing it on us?"

Zhou Quan laughed: "Of course not. We have solid facts that Feng Tian Yu is the person who refined these fake Gu. Furthermore, he is among you right now, he is naturally instructed by you."

Instantly, countless gazes gathered on Feng Tian Yu.

Shang Ya Zi and the rest were scheming, as a crucial person, Feng Tian Yu was naturally involved.

"It is Feng Tian Yu indeed!"

"Why is this refinement path master here?"

"I only recognized him just now."

"It really is Master Feng."

The surrounding talks became louder and rowdier.

Shang Ya Zi could not endure it anymore, he stepped forward and shielded Feng Tian Yu as he shouted: "Zhou Quan! You are framing us, this is a slander against a good friend of mine. We will not let this go! This matter is far more severe than you accusing us of this issue!! If you do not have solid evidence that Brother Feng is the person who made these fake Gu, I will seek an audience with father, I will ask him to uphold justice!"

Zhou Quan laughed: "Of course I have evidence. Tell me, Feng Tian Yu, are you the one who refined these fake Gu?"

Shang Ya Zi and the rest were dazed.

Next, the group heard Feng Tian Yu speak in a natural tone as he admitted: "Steward Zhou is right, I was instructed by Shang Ya Zi's group to refine the fake Gu and create problems in the market, they want to harm the current Shang clan leader."

"What?"

"What?!"

"Brother... Brother Feng, you?!!"

At this moment, the scene went silent.

Shang Yi Fan and the rest stared at Feng Tian Yu, their expressions were of disbelief and shock.

Shang Ya Zi turned around abruptly, rage and shock prominently displayed on his face.

Feng Tian Yu had actually betrayed them so suddenly?

What was he after?

How can this be!

Did Shang Xin Ci offer him an even greater price?

Impossible!

In order to hire Feng Tian Yu, Shang Ya Zi and the rest had expended their own wealth. How could Shang Xin Ci gather so much resources in such a short period of time?!

But this actually happened to them.

It was a fatal blow to Shang Ya Zi and the rest!

"No, you are not Brother Feng!" Shang Ya Zi's expression was twisted, he struggled: "You must be an impostor, no, even if you are real, I am sure that vicious woman Shang Xin Ci has you under her control!"

Shang Ya Zi's screams were so pale and weak at this moment.

Zhou Quan spoke: "Don't worry, Master Feng Tian Yu is not the only person I have as witness. The rest of you, what do you have to say?"

At the next moment, Shang Qiu Niu sighed deeply: "I admit, we committed this mistake."

"Shang Qiu Niu!!"

"Eldest brother, you?"

"Are you insane?'

However, Shang Qiu Niu was not the only lunatic, there was also Shang Chi Wen.

She also stood up and agreed with Zhou Quan's accusations.

Shang Ya Zi almost coughed out a mouthful of blood, Shang Yi Fan shook in anger: "You two, you are going to be the death of us!"

Shang Chi Wen smiled: "Not just us."

She had once managed the battle stage, she had a good relationship with Shang Xin Ci. Back then, Shang Xin Ci's information business also helped her.

Shang Qiu Niu waved his hands: "Not long ago, Feng Tian Yu and Shang Xin Ci approached me, since Master Feng Tian Yu has already joined her, what can we do? There is no chance of winning. Shang Xin Ci has amazing methods, we cannot upset her position as clan leader. We have lost, admit it."

The crucial point was still Feng Tian Yu!

Shang Ya Zi realized this, he stared at Feng Tian Yu with a gaze that could devour him whole: "Feng Tian Yu, answer me! I know you are not someone who goes after beauties. You are such an aloof person, having only interest in refinement path. I do not believe that Shang Xin Ci has such charisma to win you over entirely. Tell me, why is this happening?"

"Hmph." Feng Tian Yu snickered coldly: "How can mortals understand my pursuit? Quickly surrender!"

"You guys can all die!" Shang Ya Zi exploded entirely, he attacked.

Shang Yi Fan and the rest followed after.

Shang Qiu Niu, Feng Tian Yu, Zhou Quan, and Wei De Xin were also prepared for this, both sides burst into a chaotic battle.

Shang clan's members continued to watch, they did not interfere.

"The situation is quite clear now."

"To think that Clan Leader Shang Xin Ci is so amazing!"

"This is a miracle, someone was actually able to win over Master Feng Tian Yu."

"Empress Wu Ji had also tried to recruit him with a high price in the past, she was very sincere but Master Feng paid her no heed!"

Shang Yi Fan's and Shang Ya Zi's group soon fell into a disadvantage.

Zhou Quan and the rest came prepared, Shang Qiu Niu and Shang Chi Wen even betrayed them. This happened too suddenly and peculiarly, Shang Ya Zi was caught unguarded.

"No! I cannot lose, I still have a trump card. You guys forced me to do this, you guys forced me!!" Seeing that he was about to be captured, Shang Yi Fan shouted as he threw out a mortal Gu House.

The mortal Gu House was like a cage, it exploded, a mud monster was released.

At first glance, this mud monster was obviously extraordinary.

It had a vague human figure, mud moved along its body as countless faces surfaced.

These human faces had twisted expressions, they were filled with extreme hatred, everyone felt a chill upon seeing them.

"You bastard[1]!" The mud monster suddenly shouted as it attacked Zhou Quan and the rest.

Zhou Quan and the rest fought against it, they were heavily suppressed.

The flow of the battle was instantly overturned.

"Let's go!" Shang Yi Fan shouted loudly.

The mud monster did not differentiate enemy and ally, it had great strength, rushing into the crowd and slaughtering innocent mortals, creating chaos.

During the chaos, Shang Ya Zi and the rest escaped narrowly.

They could no longer stay on Shang Liang Mountain, they escaped and became demonic path Gu Masters.

The mud monster caused huge destruction and losses to second inner city.

Not only did it have terrifying battle strength, it was even nearly unkillable, its regenerative ability was outstanding too.

Eventually, Zhou Quan and Wei De Xin exerted all their effort, with the help of Shang Xin Ci, more than ten Gu cultivators were sacrificed before this mud monster was sealed again.

The fake Gu crisis was alleviated, not only did Shang Xin Ci keep her clan leader position, she even took Feng Tian Yu in as a subordinate, her reputation soared.

But Shang Yi Fan's final struggle also left a huge problem for Shang Xin Ci to settle.

After receiving the report, Shang Yan Fei smiled.

Shang Xin Ci's performance did not disappoint him, in fact, he was even pleasantly surprised.

He did not think that Shang Xin Ci would be able to achieve this.

The thing that satisfied him the most was that Shang Xin Ci did not really target Shang Ya Zi and the rest, she only dealt with the troublesome mud monster.

As for Shang Yi Fan's and Shang Ya Zi's group, since they had failed entirely, it was a better end for them to become demonic path Gu Masters.

"They all have my hidden blood path methods, they can be protected during critical danger. The qi tides are rampant, immortal opportunities are hidden everywhere. If they want to become immortal, they will need to work hard and find their own opportunities."

Shang Yan Fei had never overly doted on his children, he had forced his brother and sister to commit suicide when he first became clan leader.

He had once ignored all objections and expended much resources to murder every single person in a village. He murdered all those who surrendered, and their skulls piled into a hill, in front of those elders who first objected to his decision to retaliate.

He appointed people based on merits, even for his own children. There were fifteen Shang clan young master positions originally, but after his rule, he reduced it to ten.

"This matter has been settled, I need to set off and find the other Blood Sea true inheritances now. Blood Sea Ancestor... the more I investigate it, the more mysterious I find this person." Shang Yan Fei was finally at ease, his children had all grown up, they went on their own journeys now, they had their own destinies to follow. As for himself, he was going to find his own opportunities for development.

[1] It's the same one from Ni Xiang's arc.

-x-X-x-

In Shang Liang Mountain's first inner city, Shang Xin Ci was handling the clan affairs.

"Second inner city's reparations are finished, the fake Gu incident has also been settled." Shang Xin Ci inspected an information path mortal Gu in her hand with a slight smile on her face.

She then used her primeval essence to add new content into this information path Gu worm.

She made a decision that all the items in Shang clan's managed stores would be sold at a discount with the reason being 'the losses to the Gu Masters because of the fake Gu incident'.

"Like this, we can greatly increase Shang clan's reputation as well as earn primeval stones and make up for the losses caused by the double compensation."

Shang Xin Ci's delicate fingers loosened, and this information path mortal Gu let out a light as it flew out of the study room.

Shang Xin Ci picked up another information path mortal Gu on the desk.

The mortal Gu's information came from Shang Chi Wen.

Ever since Shang Bu Li resigned, Shang Xin Ci handed the task of managing Shang Liang Mountain's market to Shang Chi Wen.

The information in the mortal Gu said that there were a group of merchants who were hoarding goods to push up the prices. Shang Chi Wen's suggestion was to kill them all.

"Sigh, for their own self-interests, these people have harmed countless ordinary people!" Shang Xin Ci sighed in her head, she pondered and wrote a new message in the information path mortal Gu: Only kill the main culprit, let go of the others.

After this information path Gu worm also flew out, she looked at the third information path Gu worm that contained a request for help.

In the periphery of Shang clan's territory, a village encountered a beast tide and was in danger of being exterminated.

This village was a Shang clan vassal, but they only had several rank three Gu Masters and had little to no presence.

"Saving people is like quelling a fire, such distress calls should have been delivered urgently, why did it come through the regular affairs channel?" Shang Xin Ci frowned.

She understood the reason.

Her subordinates knew that, with her nature, she would definitely spare no effort to rescue them.

But the current situation was the opening stage of the great era, all kinds of inheritances were being fought over. Both mortals and immortals of Shang clan were extremely busy. Taking out some of their manpower to do this arduous and fruitless rescue task was a huge loss of human resources, as well as a loss of future profits.

"Considering the time, it might be too late already. Sigh, the hearts of the people..." Oftentimes, Shang Xin Ci felt her own insignificance. Like now, she could only sense her subordinates' thoughts but was unable to change them.

The longer she held this Shang clan leader position, the more she felt her powerlessness. Compared to Shang clan or even the entire world, she was really nothing important.

"Maybe this is the reason why almost all Gu cultivators stake their lives on chasing strength."

Shang Xin Ci pondered for a while, but still decided to assign a group of Gu Masters to commence on the rescue.

Even though it was very likely for that village to have already been destroyed by the beast tide by the time the rescue team set off.

The fourth information path mortal Gu mentioned good news.

A new qi path resource point was discovered in the surroundings of Shang Liang Mountain, and required Shang Liang Mountain to station some force there or support the nearby village.

Shang Xin Ci let go of the information path mortal Gu one by one, occasionally, Gu worms would fly into the study room.

Unknowingly, night passed and dawn arrived.

A dazzling information path mortal Gu flew in front of Shang Xin Ci.

Shang Xin Ci's mind jolted: "A task from the higher-ups."

Shang Xin Ci quickly took the Gu and looked into it. This information path mortal Gu's content was indeed about a huge matter.

The matter concerned the contest for Fur blessed land.

This Fur blessed land was located at the central region of Southern Border and contained Fur true inheritance, it was exposed because of the qi tide. Because of its remote location, it did not belong to any one of Southern Border's super forces, so it was fought over by all the super clans.

Righteous path Gu Immortals discussed and decided to send out Gu Masters to determine the winner, Gu Immortals were not to interfere.

The information path mortal Gu also had some secret information regarding the owner of the blessed land, Fur Immortal.

This immortal was a dual cultivator in wood path and transformation path. But she did not have an excellent method and was only carelessly dual cultivating. It led to conflict between wood path and transformation path dao marks, her battle strength was low her whole life and she was the target of bullying in the Gu Immortal world.

"None of the super forces have an interest in such a true inheritance, except, the blessed land's location holds true value!"

"It is not within our borders, in the event that our Shang clan wins in this contest and obtains this blessed land, it is only an exclave which will be difficult to manage."

"But, this territory can be transacted. I believe those super forces near the blessed land will definitely be willing to purchase it."

The curtain to the great era was pulled upon, there would definitely be huge commotion and unrest in the future.

At that time, this kind of blessed land would be a bridgehead for the super forces to expand their territories, or be an important front-line defense area, its value was high.

After all, these Southern Border super forces might not have any methods to relocate immortal apertures.

Shang Xin Ci evaluated inwardly.

Benefiting from the change in eras, she was exposed to even more information on Gu Immortals than Shang Yan Fei when he had been a clan leader.

Thus, even though Shang Xin Ci was only a rank five Gu Master, she had a deep understanding of the Gu Immortal world's situation.

"This is the most important priority for Shang clan, time is pressing, it must be dealt with immediately!" Shang Xin Ci felt troubled.

Despite having recruited Shang Qiu Niu, Shang Chi Wen and the rest, at the crucial moment, she had too few subordinates.

"Feng Tian Yu is not only a refinement path master but has rank five cultivation as well. I can let him take on the role of the head this time." Shang Xin Ci summoned Feng Tian Yu as she thought this.

Soon, Feng Tian Yu received the message and went up to the study room.

"Enter." Shang Xin Ci willed and the study room's door opened slowly.

Her study room was a mortal Gu House.

Feng Tian Yu had an excited expression: "Clan leader, I have good news to tell you!"

"Oh, what news?" Shang Xin Ci asked with a smile.

Feng Tian Yu: "I have been researching that strange mudman over these days, and I have discovered a shocking secret!"

"This mudman might be crazy and disorientated in thoughts, but he responds properly as long as we ask one question at a time."

"I asked him question after question like this and learned of his origin."

"His name is Ni Jian, he had been a young clan leader of a village. One day, a demonic path expert appeared and slaughtered everyone in the village, including him."

"But after he died, he was revived by a qi path Gu Immortal. This qi path Gu Immortal inquired about the culprit and after getting the answer, he was disregarded and left alone."

"This mudman Ni Jian was extremely strong, having near immortal level strength, but after such a long time, he has weakened to this state."

"I did not expect this mudman to have such an amazing history!" Shang Xin Ci sighed,"But how did such an ordinary village get connected to a Gu Immortal?"

Feng Tian Yu said with even more excitement: "This is the point that I pursued, I found that Ni clan's people have a huge secret! Once in a while, a Gu Master in Ni clan will awaken their bloodline. If they survive, an Immortal Gu will grow inside their body!"

"Immortal Gu?" Shang Xin Ci's brows rose subconsciously.

"This Immortal Gu was the reason for the Gu Immortal's attention." Feng Tian Yu's eyes shone, "This is too strange. A mortal Gu Master's body can actually give birth to an Immortal Gu! More importantly, the slaughtered Ni clan village was only a separated branch. There are many other clan branches that are blood-related to him in several areas of Southern Border."

Shang Xin Ci asked: "So, you are thinking of?"

Feng Tian Yu nodded: "Right, I want to request clan leader to allow me to investigate this huge secret! If we can grasp this kind of refinement path method, we can refine Immortal Gu while only being mortals."

Shang Xin Ci pondered before saying: "Then, go ahead with it, I will send some people to help you."

"No need, no need." Feng Tian Yu shook his hand, "I am a rank five Gu Master, even if rank four Gu Masters accompany me, they will only slow me down. Moreover, if such a contribution can be made, it will definitely be huge. I need to accumulate contribution points to have hope of seeing Lord Fang Yuan in the future!"

Shang Xin Ci nodded, seeing that Feng Tian Yu's attitude was so resolute, she could only let him go.

Inside the sovereign immortal aperture.

Mini Yellow Heaven.

A group of Gu Masters with the same surname arrived beside the gold fragment current.

An old clan leader whose hair had gone white and had rank five cultivation, stood with his back facing the gold fragment current as he called out towards the group of people.

"It has been about a dozen years since we mysteriously arrived at this place from Southern Border."

"Although I don't know what the reason is, it is definitely the doing of a Gu Immortal level existence!"

"Our Ni clan bloodline is all gathered in this place."

"Over this dozen years, our Ni clan has been developing and growing, the number of our Gu Masters has increased by ten times! However, recently, the weather of this mysterious place has become uncertain with dangers emerging constantly. Right now, in front of us, we have a life and death crisis."

"The gold fragment current is continuing to rise in water level, we must create more channels for the current! Otherwise, when the water overflows and turns into a flood, the surrounding thousand li will be completely submerged, we will lose our home and will no longer be able to live here."

-x-X-x-

Inside the sovereign immortal aperture.

Mini Western Desert.

An enormous pitch-black city occupied the desert.

This was a large city with rigid structure. The entire city was a hexagon and its walls had gone through the weathering of time. The city walls were more than two hundred li long, they were a hundred feet tall and tens of feet thick.

If a person stood on the grassland, they would see what looked like a huge black beast sprawling. If they got closer, they would need to raise their heads to look up at the huge city gate and walls.

Every edge of the city had defensive towers that were filled with countless holes that could shoot out arrows.

Every few li apart, there would be a wide path for horse carriages to move on.

There were even very secretive armories within the city walls.

Passing the city walls, one would arrive at the vibrant world within.

The city had many streets and shops, there were great numbers of houses and palaces. People and carriages were bustling, there was an endless flow of activity. Loud noises could be heard constantly, this was truly a lively city.

This was Inkman City!

It was created by the legendary inkman Immortal Yi Yan, and was a smaller version of Emperor City. Later, it was captured by Fang Yuan and moved to Mini Western Desert.

At this time, two inkman Gu Immortals, Mo Tan Sang and Mo Qi Yi, were floating in the air and looking at the surroundings with grave expressions.

"These toxic vines and windmill trees have spread over ten li in just three days, they are only around twenty li from Inkman City." Mo Tan Sang said.

Mo Qi Yi frowned: "We have already cleared them up over ten times, but every time we exterminate them, they grow back rapidly. Are we going to have to relocate again?"

Right now, the surroundings of Inkman City were covered in vegetation.

These vegetation were formed from purple-black toxic vines and huge azure-gold windmill trees. It was like a terrifying tsunami of plants engulfing everything in its path.

Mo Qi Yi sighed: "These vegetation have already started producing desolate plants, it is even more difficult for us to clear them up now. If we are not able to get rid of the source, even if we clear them up for thousands of times, we won't be able to solve the root issue. I thought we had moved to a good place, but I did not expect the environment here to be dozens and even a hundred times worse than Northern Plains!"

Mo Tan Sang patted Mo Qi Yi's shoulder: "Master has already sent people to help us, it is better if you speak less of such complaints."

Mo Qi Yi immediately kept quiet.

His master was the number one demon in the present world, a ruthless and vicious existence.

"Look, our reinforcements have arrived!" Mo Tan Sang suddenly pointed towards the faraway horizon with joy.

Mo Qi Yi looked towards the direction and saw four Gu Immortals flying over.

There were two snowman Gu Immortals, one hairy man Gu Immortal, and one mushroomman Gu Immortal. Among them, one snowman female immortal was tall and vibrant, she had blue eyes and hair, and looked pure and noble, she was Xue Er.

Mo Tan Sang and Mo Qi Yi quickly went forward to greet them.

Xue Er's identity was special.

Back then, because of what happened with Fang Yuan and her, on the surface, Xue Er's identity was Fang Yuan's fiancée!

Naturally, Fang Yuan had never acknowledged it, but he had not denied it either.

The snowman tribe, especially the snowman Gu Immortal behind Xue Er, Bing Yuan, was always trumpeting about this relationship, which led to every Gu Immortal in the sovereign immortal aperture knowing of it.

"I did not expect Lady Xue Er to come personally."

"With your help, my Inkman City's crisis can be considered to be resolved!"

Mo Tan Sang and Mo Qi Yi flattered.

Xue Er: "Inkmen and snowmen might be of different races, but both sides have already cooperated back when we were in Northern Plains. I came this time to help you two as well as to request for you to come back to help my snowman tribe once this matter is resolved."

The snowman tribe was living in Mini Northern Plains and had also encountered trouble.

The two inkman immortals quickly expressed they would give full support.

Bing Yuan: "We have already investigated the situation on our way. I and Xue Er will activate ice and snow killer moves, to freeze and slow down the growth of the vegetation to buy time for you."

The hairy man Gu Immortal: "I brought a large number of hairy man Gu Masters with me, we will modify Inkman City into one entity, forming a large Gu House. It will be extremely convenient for you to relocate in the future."

The mushroomman Gu Immortal: "I can solve the issue of the toxic vines, these toxic vines are a disaster to you, but they are superior cultivation resources for my mushroomman tribe. Moreover, I have already found the source of the toxic vines. By fighting poison with poison, I can make use of the toxic vines to fix this area of vegetation and stabilize it for some time."

The two inkman Gu Immortals showed both joy and new worries.

Mo Tan Sang asked the hairy man Gu Immortal: "Back in Northern Plains, Inkman City had a population of over eight hundred thousand, it has already crossed one million and two hundred thousand now. Modifying Inkman City will probably have some effect on the residents. Master had instructed me to preserve the lives of the residents and help them progress with all my strength..."

The hairy man Gu Immortal raised his hand and interrupted Mo Tan Sang: "You don't need to be too worried. Our Lang Ya Sect has already received master's command to modify all the cities in the sovereign immortal aperture. Every city has a specific blueprint, most of them will become mortal Gu Houses, while several large cities will be raised to become Immortal Gu Houses! I need to congratulate you two, Inkman City is one of the cities chosen to become an Immortal Gu House!"

Mo Tan Sang and Mo Qi Yi looked at each other, seeing the excitement on each other's faces.

Mo Tan Sang was speechless and could not help asking: "Isn't this too big of an investment? Master is actually so resolute! I naturally hope for such things to happen more often, but if this delays master's cultivation and uses up a lot of master's Immortal Gu, then wouldn't it be our fault?"

The hairy man Gu Immortal laughed loudly: "You are underestimating master! How can you estimate master's might and plans? Master's refinement path attainment has already surpassed the predecessors, reaching a level that you and I are unable to speculate. This evaluation was not made by me, Lang Ya land spirit personally said it."

"Currently, it is extremely easy for master to refine Immortal Gu. You have not seen those blueprints, they are all different and ingenious. Just choose one of them, it will take those ordinary Gu Immortals several years or even a dozen years to design them. But master casually drew them within a few minutes."

"Master's attainment and wealth rivals the scale of mountains and seas. This investment you see is just an insignificant amount to master."

This hairy man Gu Immortal's face was filled with fanatical reverence when he talked of Fang Yuan.

"I was wrong, I should be punished!" Mo Tan Sang quickly apologized.

That mushroomman Gu Immortal added: "Although us mushroommen have moved to this world just recently, we were immediately certain of the boundless potential of this world. To create the sovereign immortal aperture, Shadow Sect used up all of their accumulations. The important thing is it is able to show infinite grandeur in the hands of a divine hero like master."

"Every time master annexes a grotto-heaven or blessed land, there will be a huge surge of dao marks in the sovereign grotto-heaven and a large number of territories will be added out of nowhere. Just take these toxic vines, this species has never appeared in the five regions, and their toxicity is extremely strong."

The mushroomman Gu Immortal addressed Fang Yuan as master, it was natural and without any hesitation.

Although they had joined only recently, they were extremely optimistic and excited about their future.

Mini Southern Border.

At the base of Fire Bird Mountain, Shi Shi Cheng, Shi Zong, and other rockman Gu Immortals were controlling an immortal Gu formation.

As the immortal Gu formation started activating, the shaking Fire Bird Mountain reluctantly calmed down.

"Success." Shi Shi Cheng let out a breath of air and relaxed his mind.

Shi Zong said: "Master annexed Fire Plain grotto-heaven as well as immortal apertures of its immortals and Fire Plain Grotto Lord, causing a huge increase in fire path dao marks in the sovereign immortal aperture. This Fire Bird Mountain is a volcano and almost erupted because of this, fortunately, we discovered it in time and set up an immortal formation to suppress it. But from now on, someone needs to stay and preside over the immortal formation."

Shi Shi Cheng nodded: "We need to do that, but the number of Gu Immortals we can mobilize are already few, and now we are going to have one fewer."

Shi Zong heaved a sigh: "Yes. We are already hard-pressed to control these territories, it can be imagined how troublesome it is for master to look after the whole sovereign immortal aperture."

Shi Shi Cheng: "Didn't master take in many members of the variant human alliance and station them everywhere in the sovereign immortal aperture to salvage the situation? There is no choice, master annexed too frequently in this period of time. There is a huge increase in dao marks, and countless resources of every path."

Shi Zong shook his head: "What kind of person is master? He should have already known of these demerits beforehand. We don't need to be concerned for master, it is better if we look after our territories properly. Like this Fire Bird Mountain, it is not feasible to suppress it with just the immortal formation. We must modify this Fire Bird Mountain and make it adapt to the changed environment."

Shi Shi Cheng agreed: "Yes, the resources in the past all developed naturally bit by bit over a long period of time. But here, there are huge increases in dao marks, even this volcano was at the point of erupting. We must modify and quicken the volcano's adaptation process artificially. It is just that fire path is not the specialty of us rockmen, we need to send a request to Star Collection City."

Mini Blue Heaven, Star Collection City.

This was managed by the previous generation's Combat Beast King.

In the pursuit battle against Fang Yuan, this rank eight Gu Immortal had made a great contribution by resisting the tribulation formed from three thousand heaven path dao marks.

After that, Fang Yuan personally healed him.

Fang Yuan had annexed too many apertures, causing instability in the sovereign immortal aperture. Fang Yuan then arranged Star Collection City as the main city and ordered the Combat Beast King to oversee the overall internal affairs of the sovereign immortal aperture.

"The issue of Inkman City at Mini Western Desert has been resolved."

"Mini Southern Border's Fire Bird Mountain was suppressed by using the formation. But they want fire path Gu Immortals to go modify the volcano? This needs to be coordinated."

At this time, an information path Gu worm flew over while making loud sounds.

Combat Beast King's expression changed: "Where did the rank eight disaster appear again?"

He quickly inspected the Gu worm and found that the source of the disaster was a huge fire rain formed in Mini Red Heaven.

Fire rain often appeared in Mini Red Heaven, and after the increase in fire path dao marks, its emergence had become much more frequent.

But this wave of fire rain was different, it kept on growing and shot through a charcoal lake, forming rank six level killer move meteor rain.

As the meteor rain entered mini orange heaven, its strength increased to rank seven level.

As it entered Mini Yellow Heaven, it resonated with metal path dao marks and its might increased to rank eight.

"Damn it! Only I can deal with this disaster. But it is already too late to go and resolve it now!" Combat Beast King's face was slightly pale.

He came from Beast Calamity grotto-heaven, the Gu Immortals there felt that it was their responsibility and glory to protect mortals.

Combat Beast King's heart was in deep pain: "I cannot salvage this. This disaster covers a thousand li. Dozens of resource points as well as the human Ni clan and rockman metal water branch tribe will be annihilated."

-x-X-x-

Ni clan's Gu Masters were using all their strength to deal with the gold fragment current.

They first used mortal Gu to make a grand embankment, then they dug a canal to draw away a portion of the river, the rising gold fragment current was gradually receding.

However, a large number of lifeforms lived in the gold fragment current.

Ni clan's army had invaded the territory of the river fish, frightening these fish monsters.

All kinds of river monsters swam to the surface and attacked, some even charged to the shore and attacked Ni clan's Gu Masters while letting out strange sounds.

Ni clan specialized in earth path, their basic Gu worm was rank one mud Gu. Earth path specialized in defense, Ni clan Gu Masters had constructed lines of defense and were prepared for the fight.

But the number of river monsters was high and they even had stronger myriad beast kings.

Under the frantic offensive waves of the river monsters, the defensive lines of Ni clan's Gu Masters broke one by one.

"Persevere!"

"Kill!"

"Avenge our clansmen!"

"Hold on and carve the future of our clan!"

Mud and blood splattered everywhere, groups of Gu Masters rotated as they resisted the attacks of the river monsters.

The Ni clansmen were brought into the sovereign immortal aperture and had been secretly nurtured by Fang Yuan, the number of their Gu Masters had increased by a lot. Adding on the strong survival pressure in Mini Yellow Heaven, these Ni clansmen had to unite and foster a harmonious environment.

In this defensive battle, Ni clan's army showed astonishing battle strength and resolute fighting spirit!

Finally, there were fewer river monsters and Ni clan's army was able to hold on.

They then began their counterattack.

The river monsters did not have much internal organization from the start, and under this sudden change of situation, they began to collapse rapidly.

The Ni clan Gu Masters carved a path of blood, leaving behind countless river monster corpses in their way.

These corpses were Gu materials, they were rich battle spoils.

Ni clan Gu Masters killed their way to the gold fragment current, various kinds of Gu worms were activated, their attacks landed on the river, raising countless dazzling golden waves.

"We won!"

"Quick, set up the Gu formation, it is not the time to rejoice yet."

"Yes, we must quickly set up the Gu formation, otherwise new waves of river monsters will come out."

Ni clan Gu Masters were setting up the formation with all their efforts.

They had meticulously prepared for over half a year for this, making proper plans and arrangements.

However, just as the Gu formation was about to finish setting up, the whole gold fragment current and the cloud soil they were on began to vibrate.

"What's going on? The river monsters are attacking again?"

"Something is wrong! Something is wrong!"

"Look up, oh heavens!"

Gu Masters exclaimed in shock, when they looked towards the sky, they all stiffened like rocks.

Because they saw the meteor rain falling from the sky.

Some of these meteors were only the size of a small field, while some were as large as a mountain.

And there were tens of thousands of them!

The large number of meteors whistled through the air, leaving behind blazing trails in their path as they pressed through the atmosphere and rained down with an irresistible momentum.

"We're doomed!" The faces of Ni clan's Gu Masters were deathly pale.

"Does heaven want to exterminate my Ni clan?" In the deathly silent battlefield, an elderly Ni clan Gu Master howled with grief and fury.

"I am not ready to die like this!" The current generation Ni clan leader, who was also the current generation Ni Xiang, clenched his fists, "We were close to success, my clan sacrificed so much to curb the flood, the beautiful future was already in sight. But now, we are going to die."

Everyone was hopeless.

Nature's might was so horrifying that these Ni clan Gu Masters did not even have the thought of resisting, they all felt their insignificance, this was the sorrow and helplessness of the weak.

But right at this time, the sky that was lit by the meteor rain dimmed suddenly.

Howl howl howl...

Ni clan Gu Masters heard waves of cries which seemed to have come from the nine layers of hell.

Temperature began to fall down rapidly, and the countless Gu Masters felt their hearts shaking!

"What... what is that?"

"Oh lords in heaven!"

"A black giant?!"

The Ni clan Gu Masters were horrified and in despair as they watched the scene before them with wide eyes.

They saw a giant appearing slowly, it was pitch-black like the abyss. Its body was so large that when it bent its leg, a huge shadow was cast on the ground.

As the giant stood up, its height was even more horrifying, directly reaching the sky with clouds floating beside its shoulders.

The black giant had two heads, its terrifying four eyes let out a dark, malevolent light that seemed to shoot through the sky!

Its hundreds of hands were raised high with their claws opened, forming a scene like that of an extremely ferocious and strange forest.

One of the pitch-black giant's head opened and breathed out a dark soul river.

The soul river was tumultuous, whipping up astonishing waves that drowned a large number of meteors.

The giant's other head opened and sucked in. Many small meteors were directly absorbed into its stomach.

Bam bam bam...

Its ghostly claws and giant arms moved through the air, catching the hill sized meteors!

Waves surged up and down in the Ni clansmen's hearts.

"It is truly capable of holding up heaven and earth, picking moon and stars at will!"

"This world was actually concealing such a terrifying monster!"

"Compared to this giant, our Ni clan cannot even be considered as ants."

Almost the entire meteor rain was stopped by the giant, only some fragments fell to the ground.

Some of these fragments fell on the gold fragment current and some fell on the cloud soil, they would definitely bring unknown influences to the original ecology.

The meteor rain died down and the giant also left, the enormous body slowly disappearing from the Ni clansmen's sight.

After a long while, the surviving Ni clan Gu Masters erupted with cheers.

And the greatest contributor to this, the black giant, turned into a ray of soul light that entered Fang Yuan's sovereign immortal body.

Indeed.

This black soul giant was the soul of Fang Yuan's main body!

After Fang Yuan inherited Shadow Sect's true inheritance, he had gained the supreme cultivation method of soul path.

This method divided soul cultivation to two layers: First layer was human soul, the cultivation starting from single man soul to hundred man soul, thousand man soul... until the highest hundred million man soul. Hundred million man soul was the limit of human soul, where it turned from phantom to solid and could interfere with the material world.

The second layer was desolate soul. Because fate Gu was damaged by Red Lotus Demon Venerable, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable found a way to break through the limit of human soul. Once the soul broke through to desolate soul, the soul's essence would transform, the soul alone possessing desolate beast level battle strength.

Fang Yuan's soul had already reached desolate soul level, his soul cultivation had never stopped and now had already reached sixty million desolate soul!

Ten desolate soul, hundred desolate soul, thousand desolate soul, ten thousand desolate soul, hundred thousand desolate soul, million desolate soul, ten million desolate soul, and hundred million desolate soul!

Reaching hundred million desolate soul meant the Three Headed Thousand Arms Demon Soul which possessed quasi-rank nine battle strength, the soul could directly resist calamities and tribulations, defying the heavens and stamping the earth, slaughtering deities and ghosts, shocking the world with unmatched might!

This was the peak level of soul foundation, and also the limit that the world could contain.

Hundred million desolate soul had three heads and thousand arms, Fang Yuan had not reached that level yet.

Fang Yuan's soul cultivation was similar to the previous Spectral Soul's, they both had two heads and over six hundred arms.

"Soul cultivation is really amazing."

"Just the soul itself has pseudo venerable battle strength. If it uses immortal essence, it can even activate killer moves."

"More importantly, such killer moves aren't used through Gu worms, but through the arrangements of dao marks like a natural ability."

Fang Yuan ruminated.

His soul manifestation had breathed out a tumultuous soul river, which was referenced from Spectral Soul's ability during the pursuit against Fang Yuan.

According to Spectral Soul's techniques, Fang Yuan transformed the referenced soul path killer move into soul path dao marks and engraved them on his soul.

Thereupon, this soul river killer move became an innate ability of Fang Yuan's soul.

As long as the related arrangement of dao marks was not destroyed, Fang Yuan could quickly activate this killer move without a need for Gu worms. This was an extremely simple, convenient, and quick method!

"Soul cultivation innate abilities, totem killer moves, as well as formation path great grandmaster that can use natural dao marks to set up the formation... they are all the same in the end."

"With the supply from Fang clan, I don't lack soul cores, and it is not difficult to cultivate to the peak hundred million desolate soul."

"This method can be one of my trump cards, it cannot be revealed casually."

The five regions and two heavens were monitored by heaven's will at all times, if Fang Yuan used this method in the outside world, it would be known by heaven's will. There was no such threat inside the sovereign immortal aperture.

"Let's look at the situation now." Fang Yuan activated Cooking Luck Pot and observed his luck.

"Hmm?" Fang Yuan frowned.

His luck did not look good.

At this time, his silver light pillar had become increasingly loose and was actually showing a sign of collapse!

Those three clouds above the silver light pillar had also changed.

The starlight cloud occupied the highest position, this signified Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was the greatest threat.

Below this was Spectral Soul's pitch-black luck cloud. Although it was suppressed by the starlight cloud, it had spread some darkness that penetrated into Fang Yuan's silver light pillar like roots, showing signs of taking root and sprouting!

And the golden cloud that represented Giant Sun had become much thicker, although it was below the other two clouds, it showed signs of accumulating energy and biding its time.

And besides the previous clouds, an anomaly had also appeared around the silver light pillar.

The indistinct shadow of a raised hill was projected on the surface of the silver light pillar...

Southern Border.

The travel-worn Feng Tian Yu stopped his footsteps.

He was gasping for air: "I have finally arrived."

Feng Tian Yu's journey was arduous. He wanted to find other branch villages of Ni clan, but found nothing.

That went without saying. Fang Yuan had already moved all the Ni clansmen into his aperture long ago.

Feng Tian Yu was not able to make any contribution and was extremely disappointed. But on his way, he found that this mud monster Ni Jian could devour mud Gu materials to increase its strength!

"All the Ni clansmen have disappeared mysteriously. If I return in disgrace like this, I won't be able to give any explanation, and it is also not my style. I might as well raise this mud monster's battle strength, and when Shang Xin Ci questions me after I return, I can give a proper reply."

Therefore, Feng Tian Yu moved around until he arrived at... Rotten Mud Mountain.

Rotten Mud Mountain might not be too famous, but it was still considered a famous mountain. Although there were poison path dao marks, it mostly contained earth path dao marks. These mud Gu materials were everywhere on the mountain and were suitable for feeding Ni Jian.

"It seems like a beast tide occurred here, the Gu Master village down the mountain is also destroyed. Alright, let me explore it alone."

Feng Tian Yu had rank five cultivation and also had Ni Jian with him. He moved up the mountain and gave the suitable mud Gu materials to Ni Jian to devour.

After several days and nights in the mountain, Feng Tian Yu arrived in an area.

Suddenly, Ni Jian spat out the mud Gu materials.

"What's going on? The mud here actually contains qi path dao marks?" Feng Tian Yu was astonished after investigating the reason.

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