Chapter 127: Hu Immortal Blessed Land (2)
Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
Pink silk curtains. Chimes ringing. The whole vibe was giving "aesthetic cottagecore dream".
He was lying on a bed so massive it could fit forty to fifty people. Hu Immortal literally could host sleepovers for entire villages.
The room had golden brick walls, silver brick floors, and more pearls and diamonds than a rapper's music video.
This was Hu Immortal's Dang Hun Palace.
Fang Yuan's only comment was, "Hehehehe I'm rich."
He tried to stand up and immediately wobbled like a newborn deer.
His brain was buzzing like a broken Bluetooth speaker.
The past few days had been absolute chaos. Bai Ning Bing's betrayal. Two factions breathing down his neck. Scheming against the land spirit. Refining second aperture Gu. Then refining fixed immortal travel Gu inside a killer move.
His body and mind were both running on negative battery.
He had snatched Hu Immortal Inheritance right in front of ten sects' Gu Immortals. That's like trying to steal a cop's donut in front of the whole precinct.
The aura gained was worth it though.
After becoming the blessed land's owner, he had given the land spirit a few instructions and then passed out with style.
Now he was awake, but his soul felt like it had been thrown into a washing machine.
His ears were ringing. His thoughts were slower than dial-up internet.
"Oh no, I injured my soul," he realized.
Which made sense. He had used a mortal body to refine an Immortal Gu.
Many Gu Immortals died from less.
The only reason Fang Yuan survived was because the recipe came from Ren Zu's cookbook and he was basically just upgrading divine travel Gu instead of building from scratch.
Still, his soul was NOT built for this.
"Thankfully, this is Dang Hun Mountain," he muttered, then called out, "Yo, land spirit. wya?"
A little girl appeared in a flash.
Six or seven years old. Cute as a -
Six or seven years old.
Hold on.
Six or seven years old?
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Anyways.
Cute as a button. Wearing a colorful dress with a snow-white fox tail wagging behind her.
Her face was bright red and she was staring at her feet like she'd just been caught stealing cookies.
"Master, you're finally awake," she squeaked. "I healed your left arm while you were sleeping. I wanted to get you clothes, but... we only have dresses here."
Fang Yuan frowned. "Clothes don't matter. How long was I out? Did anyone attack?"
The land spirit blinked her giant shiny eyes. "Seven days, master. Nobody attacked."
Fang Yuan's eyes lit up.
He didn't know that Immortal Crane Sect's He Feng Yang had defended him against the other nine sects. But he understood why no Gu Immortals had tried to force their way in.
Hu Immortal blessed land was young. It had a land spirit. It had tons of immortal essence. And most importantly, it had Dang Hun Mountain as its core defense.
And for those who don't know, Dang Hun Mountain is legendary.
This place was literally in the history books.
The GOAT himself, Ren Zu, had to climb this mountain back in the day.
Basically, Ren Zu's son, Verdant Great Sun, flew too close to the sun and get cooked.
Ren Zu was devastated. He went to wisdom Gu like, "Bro, what do I do?"
Wisdom Gu said, "Go to the door of life and death. Bring your son back. Easy."
"Wait, ain't that place a death trap?"
But Wisdom Gu was chilling, "Nah you'll be fine. Just bring courage Gu. And when you get to Dang Hun Mountain, smash some gutstones and eat the guts Gu inside. It'll strengthen your soul."
So Ren Zu went.
He found his son. Verdant Great Sun was just chilling by a lake, drinking wine, absolutely vibing.
"Father, this isn't bewitching soup. It's soul calming wine. Best quality in the world."
"Get the fuck out of there."
Ren Zu tried to pull him up, but he wouldn't budge.
Turns out, when you have reputation Gu in life, you get HEAVY when you die.
Verdant Great Sun was heavier than a mountain. He wasn't going anywhere.
Ren Zu had to leave without him. Big sad.
Then he had to climb Dang Hun Mountain himself. Smashed things called gutstones. Ate guts Gu inside them, strengthening his soul.
Then he went through Luo Po valley with faith Gu guiding him.
Afterwards, he got to the reverse flow river. The final obstacle.
He was so close. One more step.
He stopped for just a moment to catch his breath.
The river washed him away instantly.
Life lesson: never stop moving forward. Not even for a second.
Ren Zu got trapped in Luo Po valley forever.
And that's why Dang Hun Mountain is legendary.
Now Fang Yuan had it all to himself.
Other than just the legend, Fang Yuan knew this better than anyone. In his past life, he had teamed up with nearly ten demonic Gu Immortals to invade this place. Only he and one other guy walked out alive.
Song Zhong was the son of Song Zi Xing. A rising star who hadn't even been born yet.
"Back then, I was used as a stepping stone for that junior," Fang Yuan snickered. "Everything's changed now. I'll find a chance to kill Song Zi Xing and take his ancient desolate beast, the violent blood dragon bat. Manipulating blood bats was one of my greatest skills."
Twitch Chat:
Chatter1: "Bro ain't even born yet and his fate is sealed 💀"
Chatter2: "Song Zi Xing doesn't even know he's got a bounty on his head"
But first, he had a more immediate problem.
"Land spirit, how long until the next earthly calamity?"
The little girl's face filled with anxiety. "One year and three months, master."
Fang Yuan literally jumped out of bed. "WHAT?!"
Everything exists in balance. Heaven is impartial.
Blessed lands face an earthly calamity every ten years. Each one stronger than the last.
Hu Immortal had died during the fifth. Fang Yuan had to face the SIXTH. Even stronger. With only a year and three months to prepare.
In Feng Jin Huang's biography, this wasn't even mentioned as a problem. Because she had Gu Immortal parents and a whole sect to help her.
Fang Yuan was a lone wolf with a fox girl and a dream.
"The ten sects are waiting for the earthly calamity to create a loophole," he realized. "Once it descends, the land spirit will be busy defending, and I'll be an easy target."
"If I fail, I'll self-destruct the blessed land and escape with fixed immortal travel Gu."
Sigma mentality. The blessed land was good, but his life was better.
The land spirit hesitantly added, "Master, do you not like clothes? Actually, wearing nice clothing would make you feel more energized and happier."
Fang Yuan just stared at her.
Twitch Chat:
LandSpiritSimp: "She's just trying to help 😭"
Chatter2: "Fang Yuan said 'clothes are temporary, sigma is forever'"
He had spare clothes stored in his tusita flower. So he finally changed into a black robe before following the land spirit up Dang Hun Mountain.
The mountain winds were fierce. But the land spirit waved her hand and turned them into a soothing breeze.
She projected an image of the blessed land. 4,000 square kilometers of grassland. Blue degree grass. Water chestnut grass. Six divine grass. Seven treasure flowers. Milk tea flowers.
A lot btw.
"How many Gu are in the blessed land?" Fang Yuan asked.
The land spirit raised her head proudly. "Over eight hundred and sixty thousand rank one Gu. Fifty-two types. Over a hundred and thirty thousand rank two Gu. Forty-eight types. Five thousand rank three Gu. Twelve types. Over sixty rank four Gu. Eight types. And one rank five Gu—fox skin Gu."
Nearly a million Gu worms.
Fang Yuan remembered his days in Qing Mao Mountain. Fighting tooth and nail for two or three rank one Gu.
Now he had a million. The glow-up was insane.
A blessed land was the foundation of a Gu Immortal's wealth. Hu Immortal Blessed Land alone could supply an entire super clan. You could fit five or six small clans like Gu Yue village in here with no problem.
The time flow was five times faster inside the blessed land. One day outside meant five days here.
Fang Yuan could cultivate for a year and three months while only three months passed outside.
The downside? He would also age five times faster.
Problem for future Fang Yuan.
Twitch Chat:
TimeSkip: "Bro just unlocked 5x speed"
Chatter2: "Fang Yuan said 'I don't have time to wait'"
Chatter3: "The aging is crazy though 💀"
The land spirit continued. "There are about a thousand fox groups. Red fox. Golden fox. Cloud fox. Wind fox. Autumn fox. Flowing light fox. The three largest groups each have about eight hundred thousand foxes. Altogether, about four million seven hundred thousand foxes."
Four million seven hundred thousand foxes. With three myriad beast kings. No beast emperors yet.
Fang Yuan nodded. The foxes were all common breeds. Not mutated beasts like thunder boars or kunlun bulls.
Raising a nine-tailed fox was a dream. Raising ordinary desolate beasts like hurricane foxes might be possible with enough luck.
Then the land spirit showed him the damage from previous earthly calamities.
The eastern area was a ruin of meteoric craters and black flames that still burned without sound. The dark flame meteor calamity.
The northern area was a flooded wasteland with dark clouds and endless rain. Fox corpses floating in the water. The clouded white sea calamity.
Together, these calamities had destroyed over 1,300 square kilometers of the blessed land.
And then she showed him the worst problem.
A human figure formed entirely from blue lightning sat cross-legged on a scorched black prairie. It was small and almost beautiful. But the aura it radiated was absolutely terrifying.
"OUUUUU SHIIIIII!!! NOT THE BLUE CHARM LIGHTNING SHADOW!!!" Fang Yuan breathed. "This is the earth calamity that killed Hu Immortal. It can match a rank six Gu Immortal!"
The land spirit's voice shook. "It wanders randomly around the blessed land, master. Only Dang Hun Mountain, it dares not approach."
Fang Yuan's mind raced. The lightning shadow was a living thing. All living things have souls. Dang Hun Mountain shook souls apart.
If he could lure the lightning shadow to the mountain...
His head started buzzing again. He put that thought aside for now.
"Any other bad news? Tell me all of it at once," he said with a bitter smile.
The land spirit shook her head. The worst was already reported.
The remaining news was good. First, in the southern area of the blessed land lived a tribe of rockmen. Variant humans who lived underground and ate ore as food. Unexpected surprise.
Second, there was abundant immortal essence in the blessed land.
The land spirit led Fang Yuan to the deepest part of Dang Hun Palace. An enormous golden bowl sat filled with green immortal essence.
Most of it had congealed into grape-sized pearls. Fang Yuan counted seventy-eight full pieces plus a half piece of liquid essence at the bottom.
A hundred times more than the three kings blessed land. This was the kind of wealth that made Gu Immortals jealous.
"With this immortal essence, there is still quite a bit of hope!" Fang Yuan finally breathed in relief.
Twitch Chat:
ImmortalEssence: "78 GRAPES OF IMMORTALITY"
Chatter2: "The three kings blessed land could NEVER"
Chatter3: "Fang Yuan officially rich rich"
Fang Yuan counted the golden bowl again. Just to be sure.
Seventy-eight pieces of green grape immortal essence. Plus a half piece of blue-green liquid at the bottom. Seventy-eight and a half total.
A hundred times more than the three kings blessed land had. Bro was officially rich.
He took out one bead of green grape immortal essence, holding it like a precious gem. He summoned fixed immortal travel Gu.
The jade butterfly flew over smoothly. Brilliant and elegant. But Fang Yuan's face went pale.
His body shook. Cold sweat poured out. His vision turned dark.
If he hadn't been holding onto the golden railing, he would have face-planted right there.
"Master, be careful!" Little Hu Immortal shouted. "Your soul injury is severe! Don't summon an Immortal Gu so carelessly, or you'll fall into another coma!"
"Shut yo little ass up. No worry. I know." Fang Yuan gritted his teeth.
Fixed immortal travel Gu sensed the immortal essence aura and landed in his palm.
It laid down on the green grape and slowly consumed it. A moment later, one entire piece of immortal essence was gone.
This was his first feeding session. He had slept for seven days, and the butterfly had been starving. Its wings were dimmed and sad-looking.
After it had its fill, fixed immortal travel Gu spread its wings and flew around.
Bright green light scattered like dust particles in the air. Every time it flapped, it left a beautiful light show.
The unique aura of an Immortal Gu radiated from it like a flex.
"Immortal Gu are expensive to feed," Fang Yuan noted. "Fixed immortal travel Gu consumes an entire piece of immortal essence every time. But after this, I won't need to feed it for six years."
Twitch Chat:
ImmortalFlex: "Bro just fed a Gu a whole grape of immortality"
Chatter2: "Six years of no feeding? That's better than a cactus"
FangYuanGlazer: "The butterfly is living better than me"
He left fixed immortal travel Gu to roam Dang Hun Palace. As long as it didn't leave the mountain and get zapped by that lightning shadow.
His aperture was still rank four upper stage. It couldn't contain a perfectly healthy Immortal Gu.
The only reason he could keep Spring Autumn Cicada was because it was too weak. Also because it was his vital Gu.
Now, with the trivial matters settled, he had to fix his soul injury.
"Let's go, little Hu Immortal. Find the gutstones with me."
"Yes! Master, you should've done this long ago. Come with me."
The land spirit brought Fang Yuan across Dang Hun Mountain.
The terrain was uneven. The rocks were jagged. Fang Yuan's body was swaying like a drunk penguin.
"Master, shall I teleport you over?" the land spirit asked worriedly.
"Teleport for what? We have to save immortal essence!" Fang Yuan stared with wide eyes.
Little Hu Immortal stuck out her tongue. This master was so domineering. Even injured, he was still scary.
"Master, there's a gutstone here." She pointed at a rock below her feet.
The stone looked like a person's gallstone. It grew right out of the mountain rock. Mixed colors blending in like camouflage.
If you weren't looking properly, you'd think it was just an ordinary rock.
Fang Yuan smashed it open with his hand.
A Gu flew out as grey eerie light and entered his body.
His brain cleared. The buzzing in his ears lessened.
He felt like a thirsty traveler in the desert finally getting a mouthful of cold water.
Twitch Chat:
GutsGu: "Bro just ate a soul vitamin"
Chatter2: "The brain buzz is finally gone"
HealingArc: "Soul injury? Never heard of her"
Dang Hun Mountain could shake souls apart. It was only because of the land spirit's suppression that Fang Yuan could move around at all.
But the mountain wasn't just a death ground.
The souls of living beings broke into pieces on the mountain. They scattered and fused with the rocks. Over time, gutstones formed.
And in some gutstones, guts Gu were found, which could strengthen a person's soul.
Where there was death, there was also a chance of survival.
The guts Gu could only exist for an instant. After that, it would either disperse or be broken down by Dang Hun Mountain again.
The gutstones couldn't be moved. They had to be used on the spot.
So Fang Yuan had to walk the mountain himself. Smashing rocks like a caveman with a PhD in demonic cultivation.
They found another dozen gutstones. Smashed them open one by one.
Fang Yuan gained eight guts Gu to replenish his soul.
Not only did his injuries heal completely, his soul even improved compared to before.
By the time they were done, his soul was five times stronger than when he woke up.
"Hahaha! With Dang Hun Mountain, I have a mountain of gutstones. As long as I continue to consume guts Gu, one day, the foundation of my soul will reach a stage where no one has ever gotten to!"
Standing at the mountain waist, Fang Yuan became spirited as he laughed loudly.
The sigma energy was radiating off him in waves.
Twitch Chat:
SoulKing: "Five times stronger? Bro's soul went to the gym"
Chatter2: "He's laughing like a villain and I love it"
DangHunMountain: "Best real estate in the blessed land"
Hu Immortal had been a lucky person.
Through an opportunity, she obtained Dang Hun Mountain like she won the lottery. Then she moved it into her blessed land.
But she was also extremely unlucky. She died during the fifth earthly calamity.
If not for the blue charm lightning shadow, she would have become the strongest enslavement path expert.
Unfortunately, she never managed to use Dang Hun Mountain for herself.
But now, it was Fang Yuan's.
Of course, the soul couldn't be strengthened endlessly with guts Gu.
Once the soul wasn't concentrated enough, over-inflation would trigger certain death.
But Fang Yuan had five hundred years of experience. All his ups and downs after rebirth. Constantly struggling at death's door.
His soul was already tempered like steel.
Keeping calm at the face of death. A heart of ice at impending doom.
A few hundred guts Gu was no problem at all.
A strong soul foundation had many benefits.
Refining Gu became easier. Enslaving beasts became easier.
And he wouldn't have to worry about killer moves like Mo Wu Tian's purple eyes.
"Unfortunately, there are only over a hundred gutstones on Dang Hun Mountain. And not all of them contained guts Gu," Fang Yuan sighed.
When Hu Immortal obtained Dang Hun Mountain, it had already changed hands several times. It was completely looted.
She moved it to the blessed land and managed it for decades.
Almost every year, she would send large numbers of foxes to their deaths at Dang Hun Mountain. Using their souls to irrigate the mountain and create new gutstones.
But those gutstones were almost all used by Hu Immortal herself.
After she died, the remaining hundred or so gutstones had slowly grown over eight years. And now Fang Yuan had used them all.
According to the land spirit, close to ten thousand foxes needed to be sacrificed to grow a single gutstone.
The stronger the beast kings that died, the more gutstones would be produced.
But Fang Yuan couldn't adopt this method right now.
The blessed land was too weak. The fox groups had already decreased by a large amount.
Killing more foxes wasn't sensible for long-term prospects.
With his soul healed and strengthened, Fang Yuan sat quietly. Thinking about his future plans.
Obtaining Hu Immortal blessed land was a huge help. But it also greatly changed things.
"Now, with Dang Hun Mountain in my possession, my soul's foundation can continue to strengthen. And from my previous life, I have experience and insight in controlling blood bats. Walking the enslavement path is an obvious choice now."
"But the weakness of enslavement path is that the Gu Master can be easily beheaded in battle. So I cannot relax in my strength path cultivation either."
He would walk both paths simultaneously. Organizing and feeding two complete sets of Gu worms.
Before, this would have been nearly impossible. Now, with Hu Immortal blessed land, it was no problem.
"The perfect outcome is to refine second aperture Gu," he said.
He took out the half-finished Gu from his aperture.
It looked like a peanut shell. Shining with golden light. The patterns on its surface like scarlet veins of blood.
This was the embryo form of second aperture Gu. Formed from combining false Gu and lifespan Gu. It could survive for forty more years.
With second aperture, he could divide strength path and enslavement path into different apertures. No interfering with each other.
There would be enough primeval essence to control both sets of Gu worms.
At that time, with a wave of his hand, a huge army of beasts and insects would cover the sky and earth. Creating a river of blood in the blink of an eye.
And if any foolish person tried the beheading tactic, Fang Yuan's strength path cultivation would make them realize why flowers are red.
Twitch Chat:
TwoPaths: "Strength + Enslavement? Bro is building a one-man army"
Chatter2: "They try to behead him and he just punches them into next week"
FlowersAreRed: "That line goes hard ngl"
"There's enough immortal essence to truly refine second aperture Gu," Fang Yuan pondered. "Two third watch Gu can also be easily obtained. But I still require divine travel Gu."
Immortal Gu were unique. Only one of each type could exist in the world.
Divine travel Gu had already been transformed into fixed immortal travel Gu. It no longer existed.
This allowed a new divine travel Gu to appear in the world.
And here was the extraordinary advantage. Divine travel Gu could be easily obtained. It wasn't like other Immortal Gu that were nearly impossible to capture.
According to Ren Zu's legends, as long as one drank the four top-quality wines of the world, divine travel Gu would condense into being in their body.
The main problem was that because divine travel Gu was easy to obtain, others could also take advantage of it.
If someone else obtained divine travel Gu first, no matter how much wine Fang Yuan drank, he wouldn't get it.
"Southern Border's Fei clan possess a top-quality wine called Zhuang Si Fei. Eastern Sea's rank seven Gu Immortal Zui Xian Weng has created a sea of wine and holds a wine reception every year. The Northern Plains' Imperial Court has long life wine. These great forces, or other Gu Immortals, could already be in possession of one or two top-quality wines. Their chances of obtaining divine travel Gu are much greater than mine."
With this calculation, Fang Yuan not only had to resist the earthly calamity and manage the blessed land. He also had to quickly gather the four top-quality wines and refine second aperture Gu.
"And that's not all. The crucial point lies in Spring Autumn Cicada. Time flows five times faster here, so Spring Autumn Cicada's recovery speed will also be extremely quick. Being able to rebirth three times is already extremely good luck. I cannot gamble on luck a fourth time. Before Spring Autumn Cicada recovers, I need to obtain success at first attempt Gu, immediate success Gu, smooth success Gu, or any of the others."
Before, Fang Yuan didn't have enough strength.
Now, with the blessed land and abundant resources, he could finally try.