In the outside world, An Rui watched Fang Yuan with apprehension.
While An Rui had been scared of Dai Ruo, in a strange way, she was more terrified of Fang Yuan. Dai Ruo was, without a doubt, quite scary. But she had some understanding and comprehension of what Dai Ruo could do.
Fang Yuan, however, was scary in a different way. He did not appear overly threatening, nor had he made any kind of advances upon her. However, he had managed to kill a Rank 6 Immortal with a single blow - and not a weak one at that!
Dai Ruo was known to be quite strong. He would not have survived in this world were it not for that given all that he had done, not to mention that he had been using a powerful Gu House. Yet, Fang Yuan had dismantled it as easily as a child might a castle made of sand!
His delusion at trying to convert Dai Ruo to the righteous path... was that true delusion, or was he just that strong that he knew that Dai Ruo could do nothing to him in the first place?
There was also the strange aspect regarding Fang Yuan's right eye. His right eye was an illusion, meaning he had sustained some kind of injury there that wasn't easy to heal. What could've possibly caused such a wound?
An Rui had been monitoring everything that happened and recording it with an information type gu worm. She was going to put it on Treasure Yellow Heaven anyway for her brother, in case anything happened to her and as evidence. Now, though, she could simply send him the information regarding what Fang Yuan had done and ask him what his opinion was on it.
"Hmm," An Zhou said. "It appears that Fang Yuan was able to strike several weaknesses within the Blood Chariot all at once, leading to Dai Ruo's death from the backlash. There is nothing too much to be concerned about regarding that."
"Is it really that easy to dismantle a Gu House?" she asked.
She was so new to Gu Immortal cultivation that she had not even passed her first Earthly Calamity. An Zhou, however, had passed through a total of 13 Earthly Calamities and even one Heavenly Tribulation, and had a far firmer grasp on the world of Gu Immortal cultivation than she did.
"When it comes to the Immortal Gu Houses, no, it is not easy at all," An Zhou replied. "Even Wisdom Path Gu Masters would have difficulty trying to unravel a killer move or a Gu House on the fly. Gu Houses are far harder to take apart given how they are designed to be durable. However, the designs for the Blood Chariot were kept public on Treasure Yellow Heaven, and they have been there for some time. Fang Yuan would not have deduced the solution immediately; but he could have already carried a solution with him. Come to think of it, actually, it is quite useful practically, given the fact that many people might have Blood Chariots, to carry a solution to deal with it with you. It's entirely possible that Fang Yuan could have gotten the solution to solving its weaknesses from some other Gu Master that he knows and had simply come prepared beforehand."
"Oh, in that case, using the Blood Chariot is a bit of a risk, isn't it?" she asked.
An Zhou replied, "It is without a doubt very powerful. But at the same time, since everyone knows about it, eventually, everyone will be able to counter it as well. But once everyone is able to counter it, there will be people who will come up with new designs based on it, which will fix these earlier flaws. And just like that, things would go back and forth, back and forth, etc."
"What about the place where he came from?" An Rui asked.
At first, she had felt like her prayers had been answered when Fang Yuan had stepped in, but thinking about it, she realized just how childish that thought was. Fang Yuan had apparently come in from somewhere and just happened to chance upon them while they were fighting. "Does it look like a blessed land?"
"It's unclear," An Zhou replied. "I reviewed the footage and found that it was difficult to analyze when Fang Yuan appeared. An Rui, your head was up and focused on Dai Ruo naturally, and so wherever he had appeared from did not seem to show up. It seems Fang Yuan had either spent time within a blessed land or a Grotto-Heaven." Unlike Dai Ru, he could not see that Fang Yuan had emerged from using some kind of Space Path killer move. "Regardless, let's thank the stranger in question and see what he wants."
"With that said," An Rui said, "One thing that we do need to be careful of is this Fang Yuan's ability to invade a blessed land. I have heard of techniques like that, but they are not very common. It appears that he is some kind of Space Path cultivator."
This entire conversation occurred within Treasure Yellow Heaven, without anyone else privy to even a fraction of it. Neither An Rui nor An Zhou let their facial expressions betray what they were thinking.
An Zhou cupped his fists. "Thank you, Brother Fang Yuan, for your help in saving my sister. Please take this - it is hardly enough to pay you, but for the time being, please take this as a token of my appreciation."
He handed Fang Yuan ten immortal essence stones. An Rui's eyes widened; that was a massive amount for them. She had difficulty trying to procure even three or four immortal essence stones when she became an immortal. Her brother, An Zhou, had basically bankrolled her entire training back when she was mortal, and she had never wanted for resources before. However, it became clear just how important resources were and how short she was in many regards after her Immortal Ascension. Ten immortal essence stones was by no means a small sum. At the same time, though, she couldn't exactly say that Fang Yuan had not earned it.
"No, no," Fang Yuan said, waving his hand. "There's no need to thank me. After all, it is everyone's duty to hunt down Blood Path cultivators. I absolutely despise Blood Path cultivators, you know? I don't know if you know this, but my clan was once attacked by a notorious Blood Path cultivator in the Southern Border. Seeing this man use disgusting Blood Path methods, I naturally had to put an end to him. If only he would have repented... yet he was not smart enough to do so, Brother An Zhou. Hmph! And to think that there is a fiend by the name of Blood Sea Ancestor Junior on Yellow Treasure Heaven freely distributing Blood Path methods - honestly, I have lost my faith in the Heavenly Court's righteousness. How could they have not caught this person yet? It is said that they can deal with Blood Path Cultivators... but to let someone like this Blood Sea Ancestor Junior rampage throughout the world unchecked?"
"Indeed, indeed," An Zhou said. He didn't have much of an opinion regarding the Heavenly Court, given he was from the Eastern Sea, but couldn't help but subconsciously agree with Fang Yuan's assessment. Clearly the Heavenly Court was not nearly as powerful as they pretended to be. "Still, I must insist that you take it, if only for doing a service to the world by getting rid of a demon like Dai Ruo."
"Well, if you insist," Fang Yuan said, taking the ten immortal essence stones now that he was force to.
"Of course, this is not the end of our hospitality," An Zhou said. He then sighed slightly. "Brother Fang Yuan, truth be told, I would like to invite you to our clan and host you as an honored guest, much like a hero deserves. However, my sister and I are currently dealing with an important problem, and we cannot be distracted from it. If it were not for that, the two of us would not have even separated, and she would not have been in this situation in the first place. With that said, I'm sure you can understand, and we can take some time to dine together later? How long do you intend to stay in the Eastern Sea for? Even if you have to leave, I swear upon the An Clan's honor that we will repay you fully one day."
"It is no problem whatsoever," Fang Yuan said, cupping his hands in response. "I too have to deal with an important problem currently and unfortunately would have had to decline your invitation anyway. I cannot afford to delay at all. I bid you two good day."
The two parties said farewell to each other and then headed off.