Chapter 1309 - 122 RI

Dream realms were dangerous.

In dream realms, every time one got injured, their soul would suffer great damage.

If their soul injuries were severe, they would feel sluggish, they would feel irritation within themselves, their emotions would be drawn out more easily, thus sinking deeper into the dream and be unable to free themselves.

Seeing that the Hei tribe Gu Master was attacking, Su tribe's two Gu Masters' hearts sank.

The Hei tribe Gu Master had strong fighting strength, even with them joining forces, they could only fight with him evenly. As the medicine hall elder, Fang Yuan's strength was not high. The two Su tribe Gu Masters could only hope that Fang Yuan could last long enough until they could reinforce him.

But the Hei tribe Gu Master had been plotting this for a while, even if he had to risk an injury, he wanted to kill the healing Gu Master, he certainly had a strong offensive method left.

"Quickly dodge it!"

"Persevere for a few breaths, we are coming!"

The Hei tribe Gu Master quickly shortened the distance between him and Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan remained unmoved, causing the two Su tribe Gu Masters to feel anxious.

Fang Yuan was not scared at all, he laughed coldly.

He dared to enter Hei Lou Lan's dream realm not because he was rash, but because he had prepared his trump card.

This trump card was the immortal killer move — Unravel Dream!

"Unravel." Fang Yuan stretched out his right hand, his palm facing the Hei tribe Gu Master.

At the same time, his eyes flashed with a green-purple light.

Hei tribe Gu Master's eyes shined with intense despair, amidst his anger and shock, his body faded and his speed became slower, when he was a few steps away from Fang Yuan, he vanished into thin air.

"What, what method is this?" The two Su tribe Gu Masters behind him were staring with shocked expressions.

"A killer move that I thought of, it is nothing important." Fang Yuan lowered his right arm, making a random excuse.

"Nothing important!" One of the two Gu Masters stared with wide opened eyes, Fang Yuan seemed like a desolate beast in his eyes.

"Killing him in one move, had we known this, why would we fight to the death?" Another Gu Master sighed, he had a complex tone, it was a joyful yet begrudged tone.

"Alright, let's move quickly, go and reinforce the others. The most important matter now is to kill Hei Cheng." Fang Yuan reminded.

Su tribe's two Gu Masters nodded, now was not the time to talk about Fang Yuan's killer move, the three quickly moved and went to the deeper parts of the grassland.

Fang Yuan followed the two Gu Masters of Su tribe, sprinting as the scene changed again.

The night was dark, the sky had no moon, only several stars were shining.

Fang Yuan and Su tribe leader, all four people, charged towards the direction of Hei Cheng.

"I see him, after flipping over that mountain, we can reach Hei Cheng." In their rush, an elder used his investigative Gu worm as he spoke.

"I said long ago, he was hit by my tracking Gu, no matter where he does, he will not be able to run away." Battle hall elder said proudly.

"Academy elder died in battle, we must take revenge for her."

"Since it is a battle, there will be wins, losses, life and death. Academy elder sacrificed herself for us, she will definitely be praised. On the other hand, Su Xian Er betrayed our tribe, helping that Hei Cheng lad escape, this is an unforgivable crime!"

Saying this, Su tribe leader's expression was dark: "Even though Su Xian Er is my goddaughter, in the name of justice, I cannot be selfish. When we capture her, we will punish her according to the tribe rules!"

Hearing this, the other elders let out a sigh of relief, they said: "Tribe leader is wise."

"Wise? Hehehe." A cold laugh came from the mound behind everyone.

"Who is it?" Everyone stopped in their tracks.

A figure slowly appeared on the mound.

Su tribe leader and the others' hearts sank, it was an enemy. With just this hiding ability, it was incredible, if they did not show up intentionally, with just their investigative methods, they would not discover them.

The question was, did they use a Gu worm or a killer move?

"To think that there was still an expert like you protecting Hei Cheng!" Su tribe leader tried to stall for time, as several elders moved out, ascending up the mound in an encircling formation.

The mysterious Gu Master looked around, but did not move, remaining at the same spot.

Suddenly, the battle on the mound erupted.

Two other mysterious Gu Masters ambushed Su tribe's Gu Masters, striking ruthlessly and viciously. In one move, they heavily injured one, while lightly injuring the other.

The Su tribe Gu Master who was heavily injured retreated quickly, while the lightly injured one was still fighting partway up the mound.

"There was a helper!" Su tribe leader's heart jumped when he saw this, having a bad feeling in his heart.

The three Gu Masters who suddenly appeared were experts, they had above average battle strength. They probably made many arrangements when they ambushed at this location, it would be difficult to break through their obstruction and catch up to Hei Cheng!

"Hei Lou Lan!" Fang Yuan, as the healing Gu Master, was behind Su tribe leader, his eyes shined when he saw the Gu Master partway up the mound.

The appearance of Hei Lou Lan's body was the one she had when she was Hei tribe leader, she had broad shoulders and a thick waist, she was rough and fierce.

At this moment, she was fighting with the lightly injured Su tribe leader, they were engaged in fierce battle, her great battle strength was beating the opponent back.

She was not like Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was an outsider in this dream realm. There was no identity allocated to him in the dream originally, thus, when he entered the dream, he needed to take the place of another character.

But Hei Lou Lan was the owner of the dream, as the dream owner, she was part of the dream realm's creation. As for her appearance, this was how Hei Lou Lan saw herself in the depths of her heart.

"Hei Lou Lan, it's me, Fang Yuan!" Fang Yuan did not hesitate, he shouted and went past Su tribe leader, running towards Hei Lou Lan.

"Medicine hall elder!" Su tribe leader shouted in shock.

Fang Yuan did not care about him, he rapidly ascended the mound.

"Scoundrel, so you are an imposter. No wonder you had such a strong killer move!" A Su tribe Gu Master who was in the second scene with Fang Yuan exposed his identity.

"Fang Yuan?" Hei Lou Lan heard this name and her expression was dazed, but ruthless light shined in her eyes soon afterwards: "All of you, scram!"

Saying this, she waved her hand and shot a dark vortex killer move at Fang Yuan.

At the same time, the other two mysterious Gu Masters also charged at Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan snorted coldly, saying: "Unravel dream!"

Green-purple light shined in his body, be it the dark vortex or the two Gu Masters, they vanished into thin air within a few breaths of time.

"What killer move is this?!" Seeing this, all of the remaining Gu Masters stared with wide opened eyes.

Hei Lou Lan's gaze shined, she was very wary of Fang Yuan.

She suddenly retreated, leaving this small mound.

"Hei Lou Lan!" Fang Yuan shouted helplessly, chasing after her.

Hei Lou Lan was the dream owner, since she was dreaming now, unravel dream could not affect her.

"Chase! We must kill Hei Cheng!!" Su tribe leader and the others gritted their teeth, they had no other way now, they had to follow.

Hei Cheng seemed to be injured, he was moving slowly not far away. Beside him, Su Xian Er was holding onto him, limping forward at a slow speed.

Fang Yuan saw this and his heart jumped — this seemed like a trap!

Hei Lou Lan quickly met up with Hei Cheng and Su Xian Er.

"Strong warrior, please leave with young master, I will hold them off." Su Xian Er did not recognize Hei Lou Lan, she shouted anxiously.

"You are a mere mortal woman, you have no Gu Master cultivation, how can you block these Gu Masters? Now that you have betrayed your tribe, you are dead meat!" Hei Lou Lan had a complex expression when she looked at Su Xian Er.

"It is too late, strong warrior, quickly leave!" As Fang Yuan got closer, Su Xian Er shouted as she turned back.

Hei Lou Lan sighed, she stretched out her palm and slammed at Hei Cheng's head.

With a loud smash, Hei Cheng's head broke apart like a watermelon, the brain matter flew everywhere.

Seeing this, everyone was shocked.

Hei Lou Lan raised her head, shouting: "Hei Cheng, I finally killed you with my own hands! Nobody can stop me from taking your life! Hahahaha!"

"Oh no!" Hearing Hei Lou Lan's shout, Fang Yuan's heart sank.

At once, the dream realm's scene changed.

In the hall, among the toasting of wine cups, Su tribe leader and Hei Cheng were drinking together, it was a lively atmosphere.

Su tribe leader raised his cup, laughing loudly: "Young master Hei Cheng, a toast to you."

Hei Cheng was sitting at the front of the left row, he raised his cup with both hands: "Thank you, Su tribe leader."

"This is a recurring dream, the three scenes are looping non-stop." Fang Yuan looked around, and inspected himself again.

He found that he was no longer that medicine hall elder, he was a rank two metal path Gu Master guard. He was standing at the door of the hall, guarding the door.

"As expected, from rank three to rank two peak stage, my strength fell." Fang Yuan's was bitter inside: "This is bad, Hei Lou Lan has sunk into the dream, she had no reaction even after hearing my name. The more dream realm cycles that occur, the deeper we will sink into the dream. This dream had already pulled out Hei Lou Lan's killing intent and hatred towards her father. The more Hei Lou Lan wants to take revenge, the deeper she will sink into the dream realm. How can I wake her up?"

For a while, even Fang Yuan had no idea.

Seven days and seven nights later, in Snowy Mountain blessed land time.

Hei Lou Lan, who was lying on the bed, opened her eyes with a shift in her aura. Her lost gaze became clearer, looking at the eight armed immortal beside her bed, she understood in her heart: "So it was a dream realm, I was saved by Fang Yuan."

Fang Yuan opened his eyes forcefully, his aura was weak and his soul had suffered a huge blow, his mind was extremely drained.

After dozens of rounds in Hei Lou Lan's dream realm, using the killer move unravel dream, he accumulated experience and failed repeatedly. After many attempts, Fang Yuan killed Hei Cheng before Hei Lou Lan could, ruining her goal.

But the dream realm did not dissipate, Hei Lou Lan's hatred was not resolved, the dream realm changed again.

Only until the seventeenth change, Fang Yuan roused Hei Lou Lan's consciousness, and she realized she was dreaming.

When Hei Lou Lan understood this, Fang Yuan gained the initiative.

After eight more rounds, the two finally overcame the difficulties, breaking the dream realm and escaping.

"I am going back now, as for the compensation, Fairy Li Shan will explain it to you." Fang Yuan's soul was heavily injured, he did not dare to stay for long, even when he used Fixed Immortal Travel, it was with much difficulty.

"Compensation?" Hei Lou Lan was about to thank him, but when she heard these words, an ominous feeling rose in her heart.

-x-X-x-

Western Desert.

"Guh—!" Gu Immortal Tang Miao's body shook, she opened her eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Another failure." Tang Miao's expression was pale as paper, compared to the injuries on her body, she felt even more despair towards the failure in exploring the dream realm.

Tang Miao's soul was heavily injured, her head was spinning as her body felt heavy, she sighed in her heart: "Brother, I was useless and could not save you! Even after exploring the dream realm deeply, I could not find you."

She shut her eyes, bitter tears flowed down her cheeks, forming two streams of tears.

A moment later, the anxious Tang clan Gu Immortals rushed over, coming to the secret room and standing in front of Tang Miao.

Tang clan's first supreme elder, Tang Yang, frowned, he looked at Tang Miao who was sitting on the bed as he said heavily: "I did not think that after spending so much effort to borrow the rank seven emotion Gu from Xiao tribe, the dream realm exploration still suffered a heavy loss."

"Sigh, dream realms in themselves are mystical and strange, moreover, this is Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's dream realm." Gu Immortal Tang Lan sighed.

The Prophecy of Three Venerables had spread throughout the world, the information regarding Great Dream Immortal Venerable was known to not just Central Continent, but the super forces of the other four regions as well, most of them were exploring dream realms, accumulating experience and developing new Gu worms.

As a super force of Western Desert, Tang clan had accidentally discovered Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's dream realm many years ago.

This discovery triggered the enthusiasm of Tang clan in researching dream path.

In order to explore this dream realm, Tang clan's number one genius Gu Immortal, Tang Fang Ming, had taken this important mission from the clan, but he suffered a great loss and was still lost in the dream realm now.

His sister, Tang Miao, in order to save her brother, had tried many times but failed repeatedly.

This loss was even more severe.

In order to explore the dream realm this time, Tang clan spent a huge sum to borrow the emotion path Immortal Gu and entrusted hope in her. The result was ice cold disappointment.

"Although the Immortal Gu was useful and could suppress my emotions, preventing the dream realm from drawing them out, this also made me an outsider. I was always in the outskirts of the dream's core, this time, I did not even manage to discover brother's identity." As she sat on the bed, Tang Miao tended to her injuries as she said solemnly.

"Sigh, it seems that dream path Gu worms are needed to explore dream realms. But our Tang clan has already explored the dream realm for sixty years, we have only created over a dozen dream realm mortal Gu, they are all rank three and below. More than half of them have extremely limited use. More specifically, only four or five are suited for dream realm exploration."

The hardest part was the start, especially at this initial stage, it was extremely difficult. The pioneers were moving forward without certainty, every small step was a huge success.

Regarding dream path, nobody had any experience, their knowledge was like sheets of blank paper. Once they passed this difficult initial step, and accumulated enough experience, their advantage would become larger, like a rolling snowball.

Towards the middle to late stage, their advantage would be clear, the difficulty of researching dream path would be greatly reduced. In Fang Yuan's memories, there was a time when a new dream path Gu worm was created every day, the varieties were as numerous as the stars in the sky. That was a time when dream path was flourishing like flowers in spring.

In human history, each of these grand eras would lead to the birth of a supreme expert.

According to the Prophecy of Three Venerables, this grand expert should be Great Dream Immortal Venerable. But Fang Yuan did not live until Great Dream Immortal Venerable appeared.

Speaking of which, at this initial stage, Tang clan was already at the lead of the era. Even when compared to the ten great ancient sects of Central Continent, their progress was among the highest.

But the limitations of this era greatly restricted them. It was like a blind man walking down a path, without any clues, they could only explore step by step, after endless effort was spent, they only had a small result — over a dozen dream path mortal Gu.

And among these results, the truly useful dream path mortal Gu were extremely few.

For example, on Earth, a newly created experimental product would be very far from military usage, and even further from civilian use.

Moreover, this innovation and exploration was not possible for every Gu Immortal — one needed talent and aptitude.

In this aspect, Gu Immortals who only followed certain rules were useless, without a creative mind, they were inferior to even mortal Gu Masters.

Tang clan had many Gu Immortals, but only Tang Fang Ming was suited for this. These dozen or so dream path mortal Gu were mostly his creation. One could say that he was the main force behind Tang clan's dream realm exploration.

The regretful thing was, Tang Fang Ming was trapped in the dream realm now. Because of this, Tang clan's progress had come to a halt.

Tang Fang Ming's body was intact, the clan's Gu Immortals were protecting it. But his soul that was in the dream realm had already left his body, it had vanished. Once one was trapped in the dream realm, their soul would weaken continuously, weakening until they died.

The Tang clan Gu Immortals, especially Tang Miao, were extremely anxious, but there was nothing they could do.

"How is my brother now?" After stabilizing her injuries, Tang Miao asked.

The supreme elders looked at each other, one of them spoke with much difficulty: "We can protect his body, but there are almost no guts Gu in the market. We... can't buy them any longer."

Tang Miao frowned, asking anxiously: "What is going on?"

The Gu Immortal from earlier replied: "You know that there is only one person selling guts Gu, it is a monopoly. But not long ago, this seller stopped releasing the product into the market for an unknown reason. Even though there are still guts Gu in the market, without the source supplier, it is drying out. Right now, the market cannot satisfy our demands."

Guts Gu was among the best methods to strengthen the soul, and had no drawbacks, and most importantly it took effectiveness quickly.

Spectral Soul Demon Venerable had once commented, this was the number one soul strengthening method in the world, he was absolutely right.

For Tang Fang Ming, guts Gu was the method to save his life.

"Without guts Gu, brother will..." Tang Miao was anxious, her tone was flustered as she said with a shred of hope, asking: "Why are they not selling it? Is there so little circulation in the market?"

This time, Tang clan first supreme elder spoke: "We had contacted the seller and promised huge profits, but there was no response. These last days, the guts Gu that are preserving Tang Fang Ming's life are the remaining guts Gu in the market that our tribe is purchasing with a huge sum. By now, the guts Gu supply has dried out, barely any is left."

Tang Miao heard this and her heart sank to rock bottom, her breathing became rough.

Tang clan had ordinary soul strengthening methods. Earlier, before guts Gu were sold in treasure yellow heaven, they used these methods to preserve Tang Fang Ming's life.

But now, Tang Fang Ming was too deep in the dream, his soul was weakening too quickly, these methods were becoming useless, the recovery could not keep up with his weakening.

Without guts Gu, Tang Fang Ming would die in his dream.

What could they do?

Tang Miao gritted her teeth, she frowned as she stared at these Gu Immortals deeply: "I don't care! If you guys didn't give brother that mission back then, he would not be like this. Now that he is this state, are you going to just watch?"

"You can't say that, what do you mean just watch? These years, we in Tang clan had spent so much effort and finances to preserve Tang Fang Ming's life, you are also one of us, you saw everything for yourself..." Third supreme elder retorted. He listed many examples, they were not false, he had the evidence and proof of their actions.

"I don't care!" Tang Miao's eyebrows were in a frown, her indigo color eyes were gathering rage, even though the surface was calm, it was deep like an abyss.

"Third supreme elder, say no more." First supreme elder stretched out his hand and stopped him.

Third supreme elder stopped speaking, as first supreme elder sighed deeply while gazing at Tang Miao, who was extremely furious and stubborn.

Tang Fang Ming and Tang Miao had a close sibling relationship, all of the Tang clan Gu Immortals knew this.

This pair of siblings were once stripped of their statuses and mercilessly abandoned when they were young. The siblings went through much hardship and survived, due to a fortuitous encounter, the brother, Tang Fang Ming, became a Gu Immortal, while his sister, Tang Miao, became a rank five peak stage Gu Master.

The two charged back to Tang clan to take revenge.

The Tang clan Gu Immortals appeared and mediated with Tang Fang Ming. Eventually, they sacrificed a band of mortal higher-ups and managed to obtain the return of Tang Fang Ming.

Compared to a Gu Immortal, even if the sacrifice was a huge number of mortals, what was that worth?

Tang Fang Ming understood the situation, he joined Tang clan and used the clan's help to make his sister, Tang Miao, a Gu Immortal.

But Tang Miao was not as big hearted as her brother, she still had negative preconceptions against Tang clan, she had hidden resentment and indignation.

Right now, when her brother's life was at stake, any sort of explanation was useless to her.

Thus, first supreme elder said to Tang Miao with a sorrowful expression: "I discussed this with the elders for three days and three nights, there are only three ways to help Fang Ming now."

"What three ways?" Tang Miao's expression softened, she immediately asked.

"The best method is to find an ancient soul beast and kill it. By fusing its soul into Fang Ming's body, we can use killer moves to nourish his soul with that soul, allowing Fang Ming to survive this ordeal."

"The second best method is to use the blood path Immortal Gu in the clan to use a method of sensing, forcibly retrieving Fang Ming's soul."

"As for the worst method, it is to find that lone cultivator, White Sea Shatuo, for help."

After first supreme elder finished his words, the bitter expression on his face intensified.

Tang Miao listened and fell into deep silence.

After a while, she laughed grimly, raising her head and sending them out: "I need to think about this, elders, please go back first."

As the Gu Immortals left one by one, only Tang Miao was left.

She laughed again, tears falling from her eyes, they were showing a cold, mocking expression.

"What best method? Once we use it, even if we succeed, the souls would fuse and you will be neither man nor beast. As for the second method, the chances of success are less than thirty percent, even if we do not fail, the soul called back would be greatly damaged, you might not even recognize me, your own sister. As for the last solution, there is some hope in that! Although that White Sea Shatuo is a lone cultivator, he has incredible dream path proficiency, even brother praised him many times in private. But to ask him for help, we will have to pay a huge price. These old fogies are saying that only because they are concerned about the Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable inheritance that us siblings have in our hands! Indeed, only this inheritance can move White Sea Shatuo."

Thinking of this, Tang Miao wiped the tears on her face.

"Brother, I will not give up, even if I have to sacrifice this inheritance, I will save you."

Tang Miao sat on her bed, even in the dim lighting, she still had the beauty of a flower.

-x-X-x-

Central Continent, Hu Immortal blessed land, Dang Hun palace.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes slowly, his red eyes shining with a ruthless light.

Inspecting his own body, Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction, he could not help but praise: "I've used it so many times already, these guts Gu are truly the best in strengthening the soul. In Hei Lou Lan's dream, I suffered such heavy soul injuries, yet I have already recovered in such a short time."

He breathed in deeply, his mind was refreshed, his head was no longer as dizzy as the time when he was heavily injured.

"Land spirit, where are you?" Fang Yuan called out.

"Master, master, have you recovered from your injuries already?" At the next moment, the lively Little Hu Immortal asked as she appeared before Fang Yuan, her crystal-like eyes were overflowing with intense concern.

"Mm." Fang Yuan, who had a green face and sharp fangs, nodded: "Tell me what happened when I was healing my injuries during this time period."

Little Hu Immortal shook her head: "There were many things that happened, but none were major matters."

A moment later, after Little Hu Immortal reported everything, Fang Yuan remained seated in his bed, not speaking.

His mind was working intensely as he tried to process the information.

In Central Continent, Immortal Crane Sect was busy trying to salvage the situation in the reincarnation battlefield, He Feng Yang was still busy trying to save his desolate beast flying crane, Little Nine, moving about all over the region.

The ten great ancient sects each had their restrictions, they mutually restrained and balanced each other.

The person currently in the limelight was Myriad Dragon Dock's Vicious Lightning Fiend. After coming out of his closed cultivation, he used the immortal killer move Lightning Deity and challenged a lot of people. Right now, he had battled more than twenty Gu Immortals, he only had one draw and one loss, with such amazing results, his reputation was soaring. Many meddlesome Gu Immortals were already comparing him with Immortal Monkey King Shi Lei.

These people did not have good intentions, because in accordance with Shi Lei's nature as a battle maniac, he would find Vicious Lightning Fiend and engage in a huge battle with him.

But Shi Lei gave no response.

The Central Continent Gu Immortals were troubled, why did Immortal Monkey King's behavior change? Even Combat Immortal Sect had become much quieter recently.

The other nine sects found something wrong, they tried to investigate secretly.

Fang Yuan knew long ago — Shi Lei discovered Starry Sky grotto-heaven, and inside the grotto-heaven, there was Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm. Right now, they must be attacking the grotto-heaven at full force.

Thinking of Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm, Fang Yuan was moved.

Earlier, he had no methods against it, he could only escape pitifully from Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm. But now that he had the immortal killer move unravel dream, this was the supreme weapon to deal with the dream realm!

"During this period of time, dream path exploration is still in its initial stages. Any super force is still stuck at the stage of starting up, every step is extremely difficult, it is a path filled with thorns. The best methods are naturally dream path Immortal Gu, but the number of these dream path Immortal Gu could probably be counted on one's hands. Meanwhile, I have a dream path immortal killer move, even without a dream path Immortal Gu, I am far ahead of these forces."

Fang Yuan was getting excited.

Unravel dream was effective in dealing with dream realms. Each time he used it, Fang Yuan gained a huge advantage.

For example, just earlier, Fang Yuan saved Hei Lou Lan, after unraveling her dream realm, he obtained a lot of Hei Lou Lan's understanding towards strength path. This added to his strength path foundation, causing it to become more abundant.

There is always something to learn from someone else, especially when Hei Lou Lan had the Great Strength True Martial Physique, she was a naturally formed strength path immortal seed, her natural talent in strength path was beyond Fang Yuan's reach.

A portion of her strength path understanding was fully assimilated by Fang Yuan, allowing him to have great gains.

"If I can unravel Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm, my wisdom path attainment will improve greatly. Even without a complete wisdom path inheritance, I might be able to create my own one." Fang Yuan thought.

Hei Lou Lan was only a newly advanced strength path Gu Immortal, but Fang Yuan had great gains after unraveling her dream.

If he could unravel Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm, Fang Yuan's wisdom path attainment would shoot up like a rocket!

"However, to snatch the Immortal Venerable's dream realm from Combat Immortal Sect is too dangerous, it is nearly impossible." Fang Yuan shook his head.

To unravel a dream, he had to be in Starry Sky grotto-heaven, and get close to that Star Constellation dream realm.

If he did that, he would certainly be discovered.

Based on his current battle strength, even if it increased, he would not be Shi Lei's match. Tai Bai Yun Sheng and Hei Lou Lan, compared to the rest of Combat Immortal Sect, were an even greater mismatch.

"Unless I have Tang clan of Western Desert's immortal killer move — Steal Dream. I would be able to steal the dream realm directly from the grotto-heaven, moving it elsewhere and slowly dealing with it, devouring it at my own pace."

In the five hundred years of Fang Yuan's previous life, Western Desert's Tang clan was the super force with the deepest foundation in dream path among the five regions. Originally, Tang clan was not outstanding among the dozen or so super forces in Western Desert, it was at a middle to lower tier.

But based on the rise of dream path, during the five regions chaotic war, Tang clan became Western Desert's strongest force, even among the five regions, it was a power that could stand tall, creating what Western Desert people called the 'Great Era of Tang'.

Central Continent's current situation, even though there was slight turbulence, was still peaceful.

Even though Fang Yuan really desired Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm, his battle strength was still much lower than Combat Immortal Sect, he could only watch covetously for now.

Fortunately, at the moment, dream path was still in its initial stages of exploration, even if Combat Immortal Sect captured Starry Sky grotto-heaven, they would not be able to do anything to Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm.

To make a comparison, this was like a juicy piece of meat, but it was submerged in boiling hot oil, even though Combat Immortal Sect knew that it was delicious, they could only watch for now, they could not eat it yet.

Compared to Central Continent, Fang Yuan was more concerned about Northern Plains' situation.

He had committed a huge crime, it was still being investigated. The other party had great strength and plenty of methods, soon after the auction ended, they discovered Fang Yuan's identity of Sha Huang, they were not simple, it was giving Fang Yuan huge mental pressure.

But when hearing Little Hu Immortal's report, he learned that Northern Plains' situation was much more calm than Central Continent.

Almost all of the Gu Immortals who attended the auction were trying to assimilate their gains from it, converting them into their own strength.

Old Ancestor Xue Hu mobilized the number one demonic force in Northern Plains, the full power of Snowy Mountain blessed land, to join in the plan to refine rank eight fortune rivalling heaven Immortal Gu, it was well known in Northern Plains' Gu Immortal world already.

As the number one righteous refinement path Gu Immortal in Northern Plains, Yao Huang had deepened his collaboration with Zombie Alliance. This collaboration caused Zombie Alliance's status in Northern Plains to rise up rapidly.

Qin Bai Sheng vanished without a trace, and Prince Feng Xian, who Fang Yuan was most concerned about, also made no movements.

This calm situation did not lower Fang Yuan's unease, he was getting increasingly worried.

The other party would certainly not let him go, once his identity was exposed, be it Central Continent or Northern Plains' Gu Immortal world, they would want to kill Fang Yuan, Hei Lou Lan and the others.

Since it involved the huge benefits of Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's inheritance, even if Fang Yuan escaped to Eastern Sea or Western Desert, they would definitely pursue him, he would have no peace.

"The other party is in the dark, I wonder if it is Central Continent or Northern Plains investigating me." Fang Yuan sighed mentally, in this period of time, he had no solutions, he could only deal with the situation by continuing with his former plans.

The only consolation was that he had made the right move by allying with Fairy Li Shan.

With Fairy Li Shan's information network, Fang Yuan could learn about any changes in Northern Plains' situation rapidly. With an advantage in information, he could deal with anything that happens.

"Ultimately, the issue is that I am too weak. If I was a rank eight Gu Immortal, I would be able to protect myself. Even if Giant Sun's true inheritance was exposed to the world, so what? Oh... that is not right."

Fang Yuan thought about the rank nine wisdom Gu and frowned.

If news that he had wisdom Gu leaked out, even if he was a rank eight, he might have rank eight Gu Immortals attacking him from all sides.

"No matter what, the urgent matter now is to absorb my gains from the auction, rapidly raising my strength, that is how I can deal with future situations."

A few days later, Fang Yuan left the secret room in an unkempt state, but he had a joyous expression.

He expanded his wings and flew into the sky.

The large bat wings on his back had reached three pairs. It gave him a strong flying ability, his speed rose rapidly.

During the auction, he obtained a bat desolate beast's corpse. Fang Yuan's killer move, true solid bat wings, had finally been completed.

Iron Crown Eagle Strength!

While flying, he suddenly unleashed the iron crown eagle strength.

Suddenly, Fang Yuan's speed rose drastically, earlier, he was like a stream of black smoke, but now he was like a flash of lightning. At once, Fang Yuan's vision became blurry, the intense winds blew at him, like they were sharp daggers.

The iron crown eagle strength lasted for a short time before his speed fell back to the original level.

Fang Yuan's vision cleared, looking back, he had moved three li from his original spot.

Flying three li in a flash!

Fang Yuan was pleased, but yet not pleased.

He was pleased because this speed was really fast, it was on par with some movement immortal killer moves. He was not pleased because the iron crown eagle strength was not controlled at will, he did not know when he could summon it.

"Unless my second core Gu — all-out effort Gu, is refined all the way up to Immortal Gu level, at that point, I will be able to unleash the iron crown eagle strength at will." Fang Yuan thought about this and sighed.

His all-out effort Gu was still at rank four. Fang Yuan had solid finances now, but he did not have the corresponding Gu recipe.

Not long ago, he had asked Lang Ya land spirit, the answer was partly good and partly worrisome.

Lang Ya land spirit indeed had all-out effort Gu's recipes, from rank one to five, he had them all. But Lang Ya land spirit refused to sell Gu recipes.

Even if Fang Yuan tried his best to convince him, there was no result.

Fang Yuan intended to use a dream path mortal Gu recipe to trade for it. But Lang Ya land spirit had become more astute, he did not want to trade it for any Gu recipe, he gave Fang Yuan a mission.

This mission required Fang Yuan to go into immemorial purple heaven, to search for a rank six immortal material, poisonous flowers, and collect their petals.

Fang Yuan was so busy currently, he had no time for that, with strong foes pressuring him, if he exposed his identity accidentally, he would become a fugitive, the entire world would hunt him down. Fang Yuan did not dare to relax, he was trying his best to raise his battle strength, how could he go search for poisonous flowers?

Furthermore, immemorial purple heaven was already destroyed. Even the fragment worlds was hard to find. Even if he found one, it was extremely dangerous, desolate beasts and desolate plants were very common. Fang Yuan's current battle strength was insufficient. If he forced himself into conducting an exploration, it would simply be a difficult and unrewarding task.

-x-X-x-

This matter gave Fang Yuan a reminder.

Even in regards to land spirits, they were not to be underestimated, they could grow with time, gaining wisdom or experience.

Ever since Lang Ya land spirit met Fang Yuan, he had suffered minor disadvantages many times, especially in this auction, the four to six profit ratio was a huge loss to Lang Ya land spirit.

As the saying goes, suffering a loss is a blessing, this was shown in Lang Ya land spirit, he had become more intelligent.

Lang Ya land spirit thought about it hard, analyzing his relationship with Fang Yuan, he finally recognized their individual strengths and weaknesses, by using Fang Yuan's weakness in Gu recipes, he could regain the upper hand when working together with Fang Yuan.

He was, after all, the obsession of Long Hair Ancestor after he died, this time, Fang Yuan's neck was grasped by Lang Ya land spirit, it was a terrible feeling.

But Fang Yuan could do nothing to Lang Ya blessed land.

Small advantages came at a price, Fang Yuan obtained such a profit from selling the Gu Immortal captives in the auction, the backlash was showing up now, his mouth was filled with a bitter taste.

Landing on the peak of Dang Hun mountain, Fang Yuan retracted his three pairs of bat wings as he stood on the spot, looking into the distance as he thought.

"All-out effort Gu is just a small setback, it is not an Immortal Gu recipe anyway, even if I cannot get it, with my strength path attainment and wisdom Gu's help, I will be able to deduce the mortal Gu recipe. The problem is that it would use a lot of time and energy, at this crucial time, I cannot deduce Gu recipes if I want to raise my battle strength."

Actually, even if Fang Yuan had a complete all-out effort Immortal Gu recipe, he had no time to refine it.

The real problem was regarding Hei Lou Lan.

The compensation that Fang Yuan asked for after saving her was self strength Immortal Gu.

After Hei Lou Lan heard about it from Fairy Li Shan, she was so angry she jumped up from her bed. Self strength Immortal Gu was her vital Immortal Gu, it was the most important core in her self strength phantom killer move!

Fang Yuan asking for this Gu was simply crippling her foundation. Without self strength Immortal Gu, Hei Lou Lan's battle strength would fall drastically. Not only this, self strength Immortal Gu was the memento that her mother, Su Xian Er, left behind for her, to Hei Lou Lan, it was also a sentimental item that she could not give up.

But she, Fang Yuan and Fairy Li Shan had the Snowy Mountain Alliance, in order to save Hei Lou Lan earlier, Fairy Li Shan had represented her and signed an agreement with Fang Yuan, she could not go back on it.

Unless Hei Lou Lan had a heart of stone and ignored Fairy Li Shan's life, forcefully keeping self strength Immortal Gu. In that situation, there was nothing Fang Yuan could do, after all, the agreement was not signed by Hei Lou Lan herself.

But how could Hei Lou Lan force herself to endanger Fairy Li Shan?

Fairy Li Shan was the blood related sister of her mother, Su Xian Er, when Hei Lou Lan was still a mortal, Fairy Li Shan took great care of her. After she became an immortal, Fairy Li Shan nurtured Hei Lou Lan without regard for the cost, treating her like her own child.

Hei Lou Lan was determined to exact revenge, but at the same time, she felt great gratitude, love, and admiration for this aunt.

Fang Yuan was using this key point when he formed the agreement with Fairy Li Shan, he was not afraid that she would go back on this.

Regarding her vital Immortal Gu, Hei Lou Lan did not give up easily.

Ever since she learned about it, she had tried negotiating with Fang Yuan over ten times, she threatened and screamed, begged and gave softly spoken requests, talked about the benefits and drawbacks, and tried coercing him with the bigger picture, all sorts of methods were used to try and keep her self strength Immortal Gu.

But would Fang Yuan give in?

Self strength Immortal Gu was Hei Lou Lan's most important core, but to Fang Yuan, it was a similar situation.

Fang Yuan's trump card was the immortal killer move, myriad self. Self strength Immortal Gu was extremely compatible with it, it was not like Pulling Mountain or Pulling Water, in which they needed him to deduce and modify the killer move.

Hei Lou Lan refined self strength Immortal Gu during her ascension, when Fang Yuan heard of this, he felt immense regret and pity.

Immortal Gu were unique, since Hei Lou Lan had this Gu, as her ally, there was no way Fang Yuan could obtain it.

But the tides of fortune were unpredictable, heaven worked in mysterious ways, Hei Lou Lan wanted to take revenge and did her best to raise her cultivation level, in the end, she fell into a dream realm and gave Fang Yuan a chance.

Fang Yuan was devious and heartless, he was like a shark that smelled blood, he bit down hard.

Even if they were allies, so what? His own strength was the most important matter. Others were unreliable, only one's own self was to be considered the most reliable.

Fang Yuan had a firm attitude, Hei Lou Lan made many attempts but failed in all of them. In her anger, she purposely stalled the handing over of self strength Immortal Gu and refused to use strength qi Immortal Gu to create the airsac Gu for Fang Yuan.

Hei Lou Lan's action was very ruthless, this act gave Fang Yuan huge pressure.

If Hei Lou Lan did not use strength qi Immortal Gu, Fang Yuan would have no airsac Gu. Without airsac Gu, he could not sell guts Gu.

Earlier, in order to heal himself, Fang Yuan stopped the guts Gu trade, using it for himself. Without this revenue, and with the two stone nests refining Gu continuously, his funds had dried up, he had less than a hundred immortal essence stones left.

To break through Hei Lou Lan's restrictions, Fang Yuan could use wisdom Gu to deduce a new airsac Gu recipe.

But this had problems too.

Fang Yuan had already sold delight in water and mountain Immortal Gu in the auction, he was using malicious thought Gu as a substitute, the quantity was still low. Even if he had an entire stone nest of hairy men, refining malicious thought Gu unendingly, under the light of wisdom, the expenditure of thoughts was too high.

Fang Yuan had some early expectations of this kind of situation, his original solution was to raise the scale of production.

But to raise the production and build the third or even fourth stone nest, he would need funds. Hairy men, especially those slaves skilled in refining Gu, were priced even higher.

Fang Yuan had insufficient funds, he could not raise his production. The problem went back all the way to the first issue, it seemed to be a deadlock.

Fang Yuan went to find Lang Ya land spirit and tried to use immortal materials to lure him into refining malicious thought Gu using the hairy men in his blessed land.

But Lang Ya land spirit rejected him.

His request remained the same, for Fang Yuan to go into immemorial purple heaven, to search for the rank six immortal material, poisonous flowers, and collect their petals.

It seemed that this immortal material was very important to Lang Ya land spirit.

Thus, Fang Yuan could not resolve the situation through this.

With airsac Gu restricted, there was no guts Gu trade. The sale of guts Gu was Fang Yuan's top source of revenue. Without funds, there was no malicious thought Gu, so Fang Yuan could not use the light of wisdom.

This greatly affected Fang Yuan in the assimilation of his loot, slowing the plan to raise his battle strength.

Fang Yuan was fully aware that Hei Lou Lan was attempting to compel him — forcing him into giving up self strength Immortal Gu and choosing strength qi Immortal Gu.

"Hmph, Hei Lou Lan... I'd like to see who can outlast the other?" Fang Yuan snickered, focusing his mind. He summoned Hu Immortal land spirit and went to Dang Hun palace again.

Sitting on the bed, he shut his eyes and went into the dream realm.

Earlier, to save Hei Lou Lan, Fang Yuan used the immortal killer move unravel dream, it expended a lot of dream path mortal Gu. In order to activate unravel dream killer move again, he had to go into a dream to refine dream path mortal Gu.

At the same time, at a secret hideout in Northern Plains.

The wisdom path Gu Immortal, Old Oracle from Ancient Soul Sect, one of the ten great ancient sects of Central Continent, walked out of the secret room slowly.

He looked exhausted, trying to deduce the culprit behind the collapse of True Yang Building had left him in deep fatigue. His sideburns had turned white, his young face had become much older and wrinkled.

"How was it?" Hong Chi Ming and the other immortals saw that he was outside and quickly approach him with concerned expressions.

Old Oracle knew that they were not concerned about him, but the results of his deduction.

There were many crucial pieces of evidence deduced this time, especially when Zhao Lian Yun's soul was searched and they witnessed the scenes that happened in Imperial Court blessed land, it was of great help for his deduction.

But Old Oracle shook his head, having a gloomy expression: "My attainment were insufficient, I have disappointed all of you."

"How could this be?"

"You could not deduce anything even at this stage, the culprit is not simple, they are hiding too deeply..."

"It seems we still need to collect information."

The immortals were all elites of their sects, after slight disappointment, they quickly accepted the results and started to discuss their future plans.

After some discussion, Feng Jiu Ge spoke: "Right now, we have no clear target, we should split up and do our own missions. It was not easy to come to Northern Plains from Central Continent. I am sure you all have private matters aside from investigating the truth. For the time being, while you settle your private affairs, try to collect more information."

Feng Jiu Ge's reputation was the highest, nobody dared to question him.

Right now, with no clear target, everyone had to settle their own matters, they quickly split up and left, in order to resolve the missions from their respective sects.

Old Oracle and Feng Jiu Ge stayed behind.

"Lord Jiu Ge." Old Oracle was hesitant.

In truth, he had made a huge breakthrough this time in his deduction, but after telling Feng Jiu Ge, the latter ordered that the information was to be concealed. That was why Old Oracle lied to everyone earlier, telling them that his deduction failed.

Feng Jiu Ge looked at him and smiled with deep meaning: "The culprit who caused the collapse of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building was already most likely to be from the ten great sects of Central Continent. Now that you obtained the deduction that 'the culprit is a member of the ten sects of Central Continent', I allowed the rest to act freely, in the case that a mistake is made in concealing it, we would be able to find the culprit."

"But the result of my deduction could be wrong from the start." Old Oracle lowered his head.

"Don't worry, if it is really a traitor in the ten sects, after causing such a huge incident, no matter how they try to conceal it, there are bound to be clues left behind." Feng Jiu Ge consoled him, while also seemingly giving a warning.

Old Oracle raised his head, his gaze was clear as he stared at Feng Jiu Ge: "Lord Jiu Ge is hiding this from the other Gu Immortals, do you not suspect my sect?"

Feng Jiu Ge laughed heartily, he frankly admitted: "Honestly speaking, I naturally was suspicious since long ago. You can go now, I am sure Ancient Soul Sect gave you secret missions as well."

Feng Jiu Ge's tone was that of one who had confidence in grasping the entire situation.

Old Oracle's heart shook, he lowered his head: "That is indeed the case, I will leave now."

Saying this, his body was like lightning as he vanished into the sky.

Only Feng Jiu Ge was left in his original spot, his gaze was dark and eerie, and his expression was calm, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

-x-X-x-

More than ten days later, in Hu Immortal blessed land.

Time luck Immortal Gu was silently floating above Fang Yuan's head, it was moving from side to side.

Time luck Immortal Gu was like a jade centipede, it was pale green and was swimming about in the area above Fang Yuan's head, coiling around and giving off a watery sheen.

Fang Yuan was injecting green grape immortal essence into it, while inspecting the inch of time Gu worms in his immortal aperture.

Earlier, he had made an agreement with Lang Ya land spirit, asking him to refine inch of time in bulk using the hairy men. The time flow in Lang Ya blessed land was faster than Hu Immortal blessed land, the quality of the hairy men was much higher, it could be considered of the highest grade.

Thus, after Fang Yuan paid with immortal materials, a large number of inch of time Gu, like a small golden mountain, accumulated in Fang Yuan's immortal aperture.

As the saying went, time was money, an inch of time was an inch of gold.

Although inch of time Gu was a mortal Gu, it had an appearance like that of a gold bar. The higher the rank of inch of time Gu, the longer and thicker the gold bar.

But at this moment, when Fang Yuan activated time luck Immortal Gu, inch of time Gu was used up rapidly. The gold mountain had vanished completely in just a few breaths of time.

Without inch of time's support, the time luck Immortal Gu above his head stopped activating.

Fang Yuan sighed in regret: "It seems that it is quite tough to use inch of time to activate time luck Immortal Gu in the place of lifespan. I only activated it for such a short period of time, I gained almost no additional luck."

Like what Fairy Li Shan said earlier, activating time luck Immortal Gu involved expending immortal essence and the Gu Immortal's lifespan to gain a boost in luck.

But Fang Yuan had barely any lifespan left, how could he waste it so easily?

During the final moments of Imperial Court blessed land's battle, when he was forced to become an immortal zombie, he was already extremely old. He had not used any lifespan Gu before, thus he only had a hundred years of lifespan. Right now, he had only around ten years or less remaining.

If one day, he could get rid of his immortal zombie body and become a living person again, his lifespan would not change.

"That is to say, even if I recover, my body would be extremely old, that is a problem. Before that, I need to find lifespan Gu and use it on myself."

Fang Yuan thought about this and couldn't help but frown.

Lifespan Gu were hard to find, they were extremely precious.

Ordinary Gu Immortals would not sell them when they were obtained. In the Northern Plains auction earlier, not a single lifespan Gu was sold.

Lifespan Gu were only mortal Gu, the conditions for their production were greatly variable, for Gu Immortals to find lifespan Gu almost meant relying on luck. In many situations, lifespan Gu were often obtained by mortal Gu Masters, Gu Immortals could not control where they appeared.

Fang Yuan being able to find lifespan Gu and extend his lifespan by several hundred years in his previous life was due to this.

"Up to this point, the best way to search for lifespan Gu would have been through using Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Unfortunately, I only obtained one lifespan Gu in this Immortal Gu House, and Tai Bai Yun Sheng already used it. It is basically impossible to rebuild Eighty-Eight True Yang Building now."

Fang Yuan's thoughts moved, time luck Immortal Gu turned into a flash of light, entering his immortal aperture.

Even though his immortal aperture had turned into a dead land, once in a while, a small amount would break off, but for Gu worms, there was still a lot of space.

Time luck Immortal Gu eventually floated onto another 'gold mountain'.

This second 'gold mountain' was naturally made up of inch of time Gu.

Fang Yuan had obtained a huge amount of inch of time Gu from Lang Ya land spirit, they had piled into two mountains. One had already been expended earlier.

The last remaining one was here.

Even though the test result previously was not satisfactory, it gave Fang Yuan a lot of precious and useful inspiration.

"Earlier, I was only using inch of time and time luck Immortal Gu alone, if I add in other Gu worms, or even turn it into an immortal killer move, the expenditure of inch of time Gu might be greatly reduced, allowing it to become more feasible and desirable. Unfortunately, even though the light of wisdom gives me unlimited inspiration, this deduction involves time path, I have no attainment in it."

With such a restriction, Fang Yuan could only keep his thoughts in mind for now rather than making an attempt.

He still lacked dream path mortal Gu, Fang Yuan was not going to waste any more time. After regulating his breathing for a few moments, he remained seated on his bed and closed his eyes, entering his dream realm.

After going through three dream realms, he refined two dream path mortal Gu, storing them in his mind.

Such a success rate was much higher compared to when he initially started. But during the third refinement, Fang Yuan failed and his soul was injured.

Dream realms themselves were risky, not to mention refining Gu in a dream.

"If I lose my focus, I will fall into the dream's trap. Thankfully, guts Gu can strengthen my soul." Fang Yuan felt relieved, he opened his eyes and walked out of Dang Hun palace.

On Dang Hun mountain, there were guts Gu everywhere.

Fang Yuan used a few and healed the injuries to his soul.

Just as he was about to return and continue refining dream path mortal Gu, his expression changed, as a letter was sent into his immortal aperture using moving perspective cup Gu.

Fang Yuan looked at it and his face flashed with joy.

He immediately stopped the plan of refining Gu, he chose a scenic location on Dang Hun mountain and sat down, taking out an elephant's leg and using fire Gu to roast it.

A moment later, a figure flew over from the southeast direction.

It was a female immortal, with black hair and black pupils, she had a divine beauty and a dominating aura, it was Hei Lou Lan.

Hei Lou Lan flew in the air, landing before Fang Yuan with a cold expression. She looked at the elephant leg on Fang Yuan's hand, recognizing that it was the flesh and bones of a desolate beast, drought elephant, she said sarcastically: "So the immortal materials in your hands can be wasted to this degree already?"

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, he looked at Hei Lou Lan before his gaze landed back onto the elephant leg.

After a short while, because of the high heat, the elephant leg was half cooked already, it was oozing with fragrance.

"It has been a while, Fairy Lou Lan, please take a seat." Fang Yuan said politely.

Hei Lou Lan snorted, remaining standing, unmoving as she emitted a faint anger.

Fang Yuan found it funny: Although she was a formidable character, she was still a young woman. But if he was in her place, if someone wanted his Spring Autumn Cicada, would he give it up? Perhaps he might have already fallen out with the person and fought already?

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan mentally alerted himself.

Hei Lou Lan's mistake was right in front of him, he could not ignore it.

Hei Lou Lan desperately wanted to take revenge, she took risks in undergoing tribulations, in the end, she was careless and almost died. Right now, she could not stall any longer, she had to hand self strength Immortal Gu over.

By this stage, one could not advance prematurely and underestimate risks. A Gu Immortal's calamities and tribulations, are they so easy to pass? Even if one was overflowing with talent, and had an arrogant nature, they had to admit the facts. Hei Lou Lan was a youngster who was not afraid of death, by charging forward blindly, she had suffered a loss, now she would start becoming careful.

"But it was thanks to her that I could obtain self strength Immortal Gu, right?" Fang Yuan thought about this and laughed in his heart, putting the elephant leg in front of his mouth as he bit off a huge chunk, eating it with pleasure.

Hei Lou Lan saw this and snickered: "You are already an immortal zombie, you have no sense of taste. Now that there is no hope of restoring your body again, you are doing this to reminisce your past?"

Fang Yuan said slowly and calmly: "Fairy Lou Lan, you did not come here to see me eat meat, right?"

Hei Lou Lan's expression was still as water, there was anger in her tone as she said with deep meaning: "You are so gluttonous, are you not afraid of bursting your stomach?"

"Don't worry, my appetite is good, dying of overeating is better than dying of starvation."

"Hmph!" Hei Lou Lan was gritting her teeth in rage, she suppressed her anger as she said with a calmer tone: "Actually, what's wrong with changing what you eat? That way, we can all have meat to eat. Fate is unpredictable, who would not have downturns in life?"

Fang Yuan understood her words.

Hei Lou Lan wanted to use strength qi Immortal Gu to replace Self Strength as the compensation to Fang Yuan. But Fang Yuan would not agree.

He swallowed the food in his mouth as he sighed deeply, exclaiming: "Precisely because fate is unpredictable, I try all sorts of ways to become stronger, so that I can deal with any desperate situation in the future. Hei Lou Lan, you understand me, once I make up my mind, I won't change it."

Hei Lou Lan's eyes squinted, Fang Yuan was such a person, she was of a similar kind. Just as she was about to speak, her pupils shrunk.

Only seeing that on Fang Yuan's body, a bright light had appeared in a flash.

This light was horizontal across his chest, it was a faint shadow at first, but it soon became brighter and more solid, carving itself onto Fang Yuan's body.

"A strength path dao mark?!" Hei Lou Lan's expression changed.

Just earlier, she witnessed with her own eyes that Fang Yuan gained a strength path dao mark.

She quickly calmed down, thinking of the answer, her eyes twitched as she said dryly: "So the eat strength Immortal Gu that appeared in Northern Plains' auction is in your hands. How do all the good things end up in your hands?"

Eat strength Immortal Gu had low value to other Gu Immortals, they even would not dare to use it much.

But to strength path Gu Immortals, it was undeniably a treasure.

Especially in Hei Lou Lan's case, her cultivation had met with an obstacle, she could not raise it by undergoing tribulation. At this time, eat strength Immortal Gu, which carried zero risks, became very important.

Fang Yuan did not speak, he bit down at the bones.

He had already eaten the meat on the elephant leg, but the bones also contained natural strength path dao marks. Even though the elephant leg bones were tough, his sharp teeth chewed them up and he swallowed.

Soon afterwards, Fang Yuan gained a new strength path dao mark.

He was not afraid of Hei Lou Lan going back on her words.

Because the agreement for saving her had already reached the time limit. Hei Lou Lan came at the last moment to give it one last try.

But in this matter, from start to finish, Fang Yuan had no way to lose.

Once they went back on the contract, Fairy Li Shan would die. How could Hei Lou Lan watch that happen?

"Come, sit, I'll treat you to some meat." Fang Yuan took out another strength path desolate beast's leg from his immortal aperture.

After cooking it, he gave the leg to Hei Lou Lan, at the same time, he willed and eat strength Immortal Gu flew into Hei Lou Lan's hands.

Hei Lou Lan received it without hesitation, after swallowing the flesh and bone, she activated eat strength Immortal Gu to digest them.

A moment later, a strength path dao mark appeared in her body.

Even though the gains were barely one-tenth of a percent compared to a tribulation, this method had no risks, it could be accumulated continually.

After eating half of it, Hei Lou Lan sighed deeply and gave self strength Immortal Gu to Fang Yuan.

The two traded on the spot, self strength Immortal Gu changed owners!

-x-X-x-

Fang Yuan put away self strength Immortal Gu, his expression did not change, he turned to Hei Lou Lan and said: "From now on, Fairy Lou Lan, if you want to borrow eat strength Immortal Gu for cultivation, you just need to pass me a certain sum of immortal materials as payment."

Hei Lou Lan nodded.

This was his response, Hei Lou Lan was a formidable person, the moment she saw Fang Yuan display his eat strength Immortal Gu purposely, she knew his intentions.

He did not want to sever their relationship, he chose to deepen their cooperation!

Fang Yuan forcefully asked for self strength Immortal Gu, it bit open a huge, bloody wound on their alliance, blood was oozing and the bones could be seen.

However, in contrast to the precious self strength Immortal Gu in sole possession, Fang Yuan was lending eat strength Immortal Gu, this was giving Hei Lou Lan a way out.

Hei Lou Lan ate the leg that she had, letting out a heavy sigh as she looked at Fang Yuan without a trace of anger on her face.

"Let's go to a stone nest." Hei Lou Lan set out, taking the initiative to help Fang Yuan refine the airsac Gu.

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, it seemed like Hei Lou Lan was having a hard time. Just now, she underwent tribulation and went into great danger, after being saved by Fang Yuan, her blessed land was sure to have suffered heavy damage.

Fairy Li Shan had always been helping Hei Lou Lan with her cultivation, regardless of costs. But now, she was in trouble too. She had to help Old Ancestor Xue Hu refine fortune rivalling heaven Gu, all of the demonic path Gu Immortals of Snowy Mountain were kept extremely busy in collecting immortal materials. This was an important and burdensome task, Fairy Li Shan had no choice but to spend all her efforts on it.

Fang Yuan wanted to continue selling guts Gu, didn't Hei Lou Lan have the same desire?

Fang Yuan's earlier action of splitting profits with Hei Lou Lan and Fairy Li Shan was an extremely wise decision. At this point, it had taken effect. Profits were a form of restraint, even if Hei Lou Lan was furious internally, because of the big picture and her own circumstances, she had to cooperate with Fang Yuan.

On this day, Hei Lou Lan summoned large amounts of strength qi, allowing the refinement of airsac Gu to restart.

Before leaving, she gave Fang Yuan another idea for cooperation.

Right now, Fang Yuan did not have the funds to increase his production, but Hei Lou Lan was willing to invest in this, building a third stone nest and obtaining ample hairy men. Her condition was that Fang Yuan must give her a higher profit ratio.

Fang Yuan agreed immediately.

The transaction of guts Gu had restarted, it was like a fresh current of water flowing into a drying river.

The management of the blessed land was almost stale, now it was operating again. Like a horse carriage, the huge wheels were rolling and moving it forward.

Several days later, the third stone nest was built in Fang Yuan's Hu Immortal blessed land.

Right now, Fang Yuan had several Gu worms to mass refine: airsac Gu, malicious thought Gu, memory thought Gu, and inch of time.

Three stone nests were insufficient to meet his needs.

This invited a key question, how could he most effectively make use of his limited resources.

Eventually, Fang Yuan ordered the first and third stone nest to refine airsac Gu. The second stone nest would refine malicious thought Gu.

He had a large number of deductions to do, thus, he had to refine either memory thought Gu or malicious thought Gu. Malicious thought Gu was good for plotting against others, while memory thought Gu was useful for extracting information from his memories. But in terms of deduction, the two had no clear difference.

As for why he was mainly refining airsac Gu, that was because Fang Yuan realized that he could sell a lot of guts Gu without any issues.

Times had changed.

The market for guts Gu had been steadily growing.

Especially when Fang Yuan had stopped the trade of guts Gu not long ago, he had used it solely for healing himself. This act had cut off the supply to the market, causing a shortage to occur, thus the price of guts Gu had been skyrocketing.

This phenomenon made Fang Yuan realize that the market for guts Gu had truly expanded, he could totally raise the prices.

He thought about this, thus he did it.

The guts Gu trade earlier was done monthly, his profit was forty-eight immortal essence stones.

After raising the price, and excluding the profits given to Hei Lou Lan and Fairy Li Shan, Fang Yuan earned a total of ninety-two immortal essence stones. This was almost double his previous earnings.

"A monopoly is truly useful for earning profits." Fang Yuan's circumstances became much easier because of this, he sighed to himself, also being deeply alerted.

Because the greater the profits of the guts Gu trade, the greater the prospects, the more Immortal Crane Sect and the other forces would inevitably become restless.

Maybe because Fang Yuan displayed a huge amount of strength earlier, and because Immortal Crane Sect was restricted in other aspects, they could not find the time or effort to deal with Fang Yuan.

Right now, the profits of guts Gu transactions were going up, one day, Immortal Crane Sect would make up their mind and put in more strength to try and 'regain' Hu Immortal blessed land.

A man's wealth is his own ruin by stirring another's greed.

Be it the righteous path or demonic path, they pursued profit. The difference was, the righteous path had nicer looking methods on the surface.

As for the cultivation of Gu Masters, or rather, the core of it — it was about a person's survival, it was always to defend one's own interests while devouring other's interests.

Fang Yuan knew this clearly, he did not deny that there was no difference between him, any other person, or any force. In the face of profits, they were all wolves.

"To deter Immortal Crane Sect, there is only one method. That is to increase my strength unceasingly, to cause their actions to fail, to make them feel threat."

With such urgency and drive, Fang Yuan successfully integrated self strength Immortal Gu into the immortal killer move, myriad self, a few days later.

Although self strength Immortal Gu was very compatible with myriad self, Fang Yuan still spent several days to adjust the complementary mortal Gu. After testing it, he received an almost perfect result.

"I cannot use Cleanse Soul, but I added in Self Strength, with this, my battle strength is back to first rate within rank six. In fact, the killer move myriad self is even stronger than before. Maybe it is time to explore that Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable inheritance."

Fang Yuan was thinking carefully.

He had assimilated much of the gains from the auction.

Myriad self returned to having an immortal killer move's strength, true solid bat wings paired with iron crown eagle strength Immortal Gu was on par with a movement immortal killer move. To deduce vaguely familiar face and the others, he needed a huge amount of malicious thought Gu. In Hu Immortal blessed land, there was only one stone nest fully refining it, it would still take a long time before the quantity was accumulated to a sufficient degree.

As for how to solve the immortal zombie problem, even though Tai Bai Yun Sheng was making some progress in Eastern Sea, Shark Demon's method was too costly and took too long.

In terms of Northern Plains Zombie Alliance, because Feng Jiu Ge forcefully asked them for information, his Sha Huang identity could not be used anymore, that plan was halted.

"Speaking of it, I have already obtained this Thieving Heaven inheritance for quite some time. If I can get Luo Po valley, together with Dang Hun mountain, my soul foundation would rapidly grow. That is a good method to raise my battle strength as well. In the future, I can even undergo the transaction of bewilderment fog and Luo Po wind, increasing my revenue."

At the same time, in Luo Po valley.

A negotiation had reached its most crucial moment.

Qin Bai Sheng had a light smile as he looked at Hui Feng Zi.

Hui Feng Zi was dressed in a green robe, he lowered his head and thought about it, suddenly laughing as he looked up: "Qin Bai Sheng, to think that I treated you as my best friend, you actually lured me into this trap to harm me. With your strength, you cannot take down Lang Ya blessed land, you want me to be cannon fodder?"

Qin Bai Sheng's gaze shined, he said lightly: "With your wind escape move, you can retreat as you wish, you are famous in Northern Plains, how could you end up as cannon fodder?"

"Even if wind escape is an immortal killer move, the best in movement within Northern Plains, it cannot penetrate blessed lands or grotto-heavens. Qin Bai Sheng, I cannot accept your invitation." Hui Feng Zi rejected as he shook his head.

He was a rank seven wind path Gu Immortal, he was a famous and established character. Even if he had a superb skill, he was still very vigilant. Perhaps that was the reason he could live up to this point and have such an achievement.

Qin Bai Sheng nodded, Hui Feng Zi's reply was not unexpected: "In that case, I will be forced to make you come."

"You want to stop me?" Hui Feng Zi's expression tensed, his eyes shined with a sharp light: "Very well, let us spar, it will dispel some unrealistic thoughts in your mind. I, Hui Feng Zi, am not someone who can be ordered around easily."

As he said that, he struck.

Boom!

Hui Feng Zi opened his mouth, he flicked with his tongue as a huge wind blade shot towards Qin Bai Sheng.

Immortal killer move — Death Wind Flying Blade!

"Good timing." Qin Bai Sheng did not move, he only laughed.

The wind blade hit Qin Bai Sheng who did not move at all, at once, golden light burst out.

As the golden light faded, Qin Bai Sheng remained unharmed.

"What defensive killer move is this?" Hui Feng Zi was shocked, he asked in astonishment: "My death wind flying blade did not even cut a single strand of your hair?"

Qin Bai Sheng smiled without speaking.

"How can I fight him like this?" Hui Feng Zi's eyes twitched, his battle intent fell, he wanted to retreat.

Immortal killer move — Wind Escape!

He used his signature method, famous within Northern Plains, at once, Hui Feng Zi turned into a gust of wind as he flew towards the sky of Luo Po valley.

This movement killer move had helped Hui Feng Zi escape danger countless times, it made his enemies sigh in helplessness. The most memorable occasion was when Hui Feng Zi used this move to escape from the rank eight Gu Immortal, Yao Huang, who was pursuing him.

But Qin Bai Sheng did not move as he looked at Hui Feng Zi escape, he was expressionless.

Rumble...

On top of Luo Po valley, thunder was booming as clouds rumbled.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

The intense wind blew, countless ghostly figures, at a quantity of millions, flew around below the clouds.

Hui Feng Zi spit out a mouthful of blood, it was like he rammed into an iron wall, he was forced out of his wind state.

"What Gu formation is this?" He was uncertain, his wind escape could not break out of this area.

Qin Bai Sheng smiled without answering Hui Feng Zi's question, he asked: "Does sir want to consider joining us and attacking Lang Ya blessed land?"

This time, Hui Feng Zi only thought about it for a few breaths before landing: "Qin Bai Sheng, you were superior after all. Never mind, I will join you in this."

Qin Bai Sheng laughed, he was not surprised.

Hui Feng Zi was famous for knowing his place, he was a wise man who submitted to circumstances.

Since he could not escape, Hui Feng Zi's greatest advantage was gone. Furthermore, Qin Bai Sheng's alliance conditions were not too harsh, even though he was slightly unhappy, he still joined in helplessly.

-x-X-x-

Central Continent, Heavenly Court!

The silver-white sky shined with a bright and pure luster.

Countless exquisite halls made of white jade could be seen everywhere, empty and tranquil.

Amongst the halls, there was an old white tower covered in blemishes, standing tall and conspicuous like a crane in a flock of chickens.

The tower's name was Heaven Overseeing, it originated from Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, as the name suggested, one could observe the whole world from this tower!

However, winds never stop blowing, the events of the world were turbulent and changeable. Even though Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's talent and wisdom could rival that of the heavens, she still could not escape the fate of dying from the end of her lifespan. Later, Heavenly Court experienced the attacks of three Demon Venerables, and when Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable ruled the world, they also had the intention of taking possession of Heavenly Court, but for some reason, they dispelled that thought.

Over three million years!

Countless marks of history had deeply been imprinted onto Heaven Overseeing Tower.

Splendid brilliance or deep gloominess, the vicissitudes of all kinds of experiences had merged into Heaven Overseeing Tower, turning it into an imposing structure, resembling an ancient tree that has lived since ancient times. Or like a bronze cauldron that had stood witness to the changes of the world, and still stood tall without collapsing.

Heaven Overseeing Tower Lord walked up the stairs holding a walking cane, his back was bent.

He was a rank eight Gu Immortal, but his majestic aura revealed an intense aura of old age.

His hair had turned white, wrinkles covered his body like an old tree's bark. His eyes were blurry and his gaze cloudy.

He slowly lifted his foot, or rather, dragged. He was like an old insect, tottering up the endless stairs with difficult steps.

He walked forward step by step.

Every step he walked, the white jade stairs under his feet would shine with a slight light and let out a beautiful sound, like that of a xylophone.

The next change was to the walls beside the old man.

Images changed constantly on the walls, sometimes there was a lump of vague, foggy figures, sometimes there were innumerable colorful lines, and rarely, there would appear clear pictures.

The old man paid close attention to the pictures on the walls.

Whenever he went up a step, a bead of the immortal essence inside him would be consumed, and changes would occur to the pictures on the walls.

The old man's movement paused.

A picture on a wall vividly portrayed a valley.

"Luo Po valley." The old man softly muttered, a flash of brilliance appeared and disappeared in his blurry eyes.

Two Gu Immortals were fighting at the center of the picture. A wind path Gu Immortal and a metal path Gu Immortal.

At the periphery of the picture, several Gu Immortals were standing, looking at the battle in the center.

The picture continue to change.

The battle of the two Gu Immortals was not intense, they stopped after exchanging one or two moves.

Finally, the picture froze at this scene — the wind path Gu Immortal slowly lowered his head at the metal path Gu Immortal.

The old man inwardly engraved this scene in his mind.

In the innumerable steps that led to the top of the tower, those that could show such clear pictures would only number a dozen or so.

Heaven Overseeing Tower Lord continued to move up the tower.

He saw a deep sea, in which a group of Gu Immortals, consisting mostly of immortal zombies, were attacking a blessed land.

A female immortal was kneeling on sandy ground, pleading for assistance from an elderly male Gu Immortal.

A young Gu Master was unconscious in a bed. A spirit incubating flea was lying on his forehead, slightly shaking.

He saw a Gu Immortal with white clothing and blue pupils, quietly moving through a forest in Southern Border.

He also saw an eerie dark swamp, huge rays of blood-colored light were enshrouding it, within which a blood path Gu Immortal was cultivating.

The more the old man saw, the more chilly his face became, and the more fury accumulated in his blurry eyes.

"These people, they have all escaped the judgment of fate!"

Finally, he walked to the top of the stairs and stepped onto the peak of the tower, where an Immortal Gu appeared in front of him.

Rank nine Immortal Gu — Fate!

It looked like a spider, colored in black and white. Its aura was weak, there was a scarlet wound on its body that almost cut it in two.

The old man gazed at this Gu for a long while before he heaved a sigh.

Heaven Overseeing Tower was a rank nine Immortal Gu House, unfortunately, its most important core, Fate, had suffered a fatal injury and was close to destruction.

"Red Lotus Demon Venerable!" The old man gritted his teeth, his gaze revealing deep enmity.

The person who inflicted such an injury onto Immortal Gu Fate was none other than a famed character in history, Red Lotus Demon Venerable.

Red Lotus Demon Venerable broke Fate, destroying the chains of fate and allowing all living beings in the world to grasp their own destiny. But Immortal Gu Fate was not completely destroyed.

However, despite the care and protection from all immortals in Heavenly Court, the injuries Fate had suffered had yet to recover even after a million years.

This situation was caused by the attack of Red Lotus Demon Venerable.

The injuries on fate Immortal Gu were not only represented in its physical wounds, it was also reflected on all the living beings who had escaped the judgment of fate.

The existence of these people in themselves signified the breaking of fate.

Thus, healing the Immortal Gu Fate had to be done in two aspects. One was to deal with the wound on the Gu. The other was to clear the obstacles for Immortal Gu Fate by eliminating all those who had escaped the judgment of fate.

No matter which aspect, both were troublesome issues.

Especially the second aspect, the five regions were extremely vast, every moment, there would be someone who escaped their fate. It was extremely difficult for Heavenly Court to eliminate these existences.

Even if Heavenly Court was the most powerful Gu Immortal organization, it only controlled Central Continent. The remaining four regions were linked to Central Continent through regional walls, the higher the cultivation of the expert, the more difficult it would be for them to pass the regional wall.

The regional walls of each of the regions were like protective layers that isolated the five regions from each other and made them independent territories.

In the beginning, when fate Immortal Gu had just been injured, Heavenly Court was still seeing some efficiency in eliminating escapees of fate. But merely some years later, there were countless escapees like waves formed in a sea, appearing repeatedly, to the extent that they could not be fully attended to.

More than ten years later, this situation spread like a wildfire throughout the five regions.

Dozens of years later, immortal zombies appeared, humans that were supposed to be dead but were still living, this was the classic example of escaping fate's judgment. Back then, this situation had shocked, angered and shaken the whole of Heavenly Court.

As such a practice grew more popular to this day, a branch of immortal zombies appeared even in Central Continent. Survival was a basic human instinct, even Heavenly Court could not resist such a trend.

The goal of restoring fate Gu seemed to be getting more distant day by day, and there seemed to be no hope.

However, Heavenly Court had never given up.

Because every generation of Heavenly Court Gu Immortals firmly remembered the dignity of Heavenly Court during the Olden Antiquity Era, and its glory during the Remote Antiquity Era.

And the greatest cornerstone in building this was fate Gu.

Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's arrangements used fate Gu as the core. Therefore, allowing resistance against three Demon Venerables and ensuring Heavenly Court did not fall.

Completely healing fate Gu was akin to grasping the paths in life for all living beings. This also meant that Heavenly Court would once again be paramount, becoming the supreme immortals among immortals, rulers among countless rulers!

All their efforts had provided some results.

Under generations after generations of efforts from Gu Immortals of Heavenly Court, and enormous prices paid over the course of history, fate Gu was recovering bit by bit until the current state, where although it was dying, it could be barely used.

It was because of this that pictures appeared on Heaven Overseeing Tower's walls.

Fate escapees and fate Gu were irreconcilably opposed. However, those that had escaped the judgment of fate were truly too many in numbers. The ones that appeared in Heaven Overseeing Tower were only the strongest ones, while also not being inside blessed lands or grotto-heavens, in addition to not using wisdom path methods to conceal themselves, therefore they were easy to deduce.

"Soon, soon. Using the latest Refinement Path Convention to heal fate Gu's injury will result in a qualitative breakthrough. All the investments we made will be worth it. Countless years of accumulation will be brought about to fruition from this. After the Refinement Path Convention, fate Gu should be able to display fifty percent of its might!"

Heaven Overseeing Tower Lord mumbled while caressing fate Gu.

His expression gradually eased up, the anger in his heart temporarily pacified.

"But before this, we still need to eliminate these main sinners who had escaped the judgment of fate! All lives have their trajectory and destiny predetermined since they are born. This is the law of heaven and earth, the rule of nature, how can we allow you to leisurely escape? This is life that does not belong to any of you."

While thinking of this, the old man recalled the clear pictures which he had engraved in his mind when he moved up the stairs.

"Before Fate recovers, I will act in the capacity of heaven and eliminate the tallest of these weeds!"

Central Continent, Hu Immortal blessed land.

The light of wisdom filled the underground cave.

Fang Yuan was inside the light with his eyes tightly closed. behind him was the biggest lingzhi in the cave, it was the king of the zhi forest and had already grown to the size of a fat, mature small tree with lush mushroom heads.

Bright colored lights shined on Fang Yuan's face.

His breathing was deep and slow, malicious thoughts rose up and down in his mind like waves, constantly crashing against each other.

After a while, Fang Yuan opened his eyes.

"I took such a long time in accumulating malicious thought Gu, but they were used up like this." He frowned, unsatisfied with this result.

He had first attempted to deduce how to add Pulling Mountain and Pulling Water into the killer move myriad self. The result was that he used up half of the stock of malicious thought Gu, but only made less than ten percent progress.

This progress was too slow, Fang Yuan then tried to deduce immortal killer move vaguely familiar face.

He used up all malicious thought Gu, but the progress was only a little over ten percent.

"In the end, it was because my transformation path attainment is too low." Fang Yuan sighed.

At this moment, he suddenly felt something, a moving perspective cup Gu came out of his immortal aperture.

The Gu brought a letter.

Fang Yuan opened it; there were only four words on it — the time has arrived.

Fang Yuan's gaze flashed as he stood up.

The sender was Fairy Li Shan.

Fang Yuan had originally intended to follow Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's inheritance clues to find Luo Po valley. But not long ago, Fairy Li Shan had suddenly sent news which caused Fang Yuan to dispel the plan of Luo Po valley.

This news was regarding Dong Fang Chang Fan's wisdom path inheritance.

After Dong Fang Chang Fan died, Dong Fang Yu Liang was his legacy successor. But the latter was only a mortal Gu Master, thus to stop the intention of other Gu Immortals, Dong Fang Chang Fan did not directly hand over the wisdom path inheritance to Dong Fang Yu Liang, instead arranged it at a hidden place.

Fairy Li Shan had vast connections and specialized in getting intel.

This time, the intel was that Dong Fang Yu Liang had secretly headed off to an unknown location, attempting to inherit the wisdom path inheritance!