One hour later...
Two hours later...
Three hours later...
Fang Yuan and the An siblings both looked at each other. The two parties were thinking the same thing: it had been three hours, and yet they were all traveling in the same direction!
Could it be that they were all headed towards the same destination?
Fang Yuan had a sinking feeling that that might be the case, and the An siblings also felt that that might be what was going on. However, neither party spoke up for the simple reason that they did not want to reveal what was there in case the other party did not know.
"Wait, sister, let's hold off traveling for about half an hour and see if he's actually tailing us, or if he's actually going where I think he is," An Zhou said.
The two siblings stopped and watched as Fang Yuan flew off some distance away. Fifteen minutes later, An Zhou gritted his teeth. "It looks like he really is headed to the same place we are. Come on now, let's catch up with him. We don't want to miss out on this."
An Zhou and An Rui rushed out after Fang Yuan.
"So, it turns out that I am correct," Fang Yuan said, gnashing his teeth. Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable had given him some information regarding what was going on here, but it was clear that that such information was incomplete. Fang Yuan had been told to come here with a mortal who was component and whom he could trust and that there would be a key to parallel-refining the Spring Autumn Cicada here.
Fang Yuan stopped over an area of the sea that seemed to be as nondescript as all the others. The An siblings approached him, seemingly having realized where it was that Fang Yuan was going.
So, he was going to the same place as the An siblings.
Nothing happened initially, but as Fang Yuan drifted there for a while longer, a hole suddenly opened up in space. It was the entryway to a blessed land, and a voice called out to him.
"Aha! So, junior, you've managed to discover my blessed land. Very good. We finally have our eleventh candidate!"
"And I'm the twelfth candidate!" An Zhou yelled out from behind, traveling toward Fang Yuan.
"Ah, so good! Twelve Rank 6 Gu Immortals, just as I had wanted. Come in, come on in," the voice said, sighing.
Fang Yuan entered the blessed land quickly, followed by An Rui and An Zhou.
Old Eccentric Tian Nan was a Rank 8 Refinement Path Supreme Grand Master who had lived long ago in the Eastern Sea. In his latter days, he had become obsessed with the idea of refining the Heavenly dao marks of the world and turning the entire Five Regions and Two Heavens into his own external aperture.
Needless to say, this attempt of his failed, and he ended up perishing as a result, though an inheritance of his was still left behind in the Eastern Sea at the Ascending Heaven Plain.
While many people knew about him, what most people didn't know was the fact that he had a less illustrious, but still rather successful nephew by the name of Tian Ji.
Tian Ji was a Rank 7 Refinement Path Great Grand Master. He never managed to reach the success of his uncle; however, he was still said to be quite successful and influential as well, surviving for some time after his uncle's death. It was even said that some of his uncle's inheritances might have passed on to him. However, he had passed away without leaving behind a proper inheritance - or at least, a proper inheritance that anyone else knew of.
His blessed land had remained undiscovered... until now that is.
Fang Yuan had been told the details of this blessed land by Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable.
This blessed land would soon open up and allow people to compete for its inheritance. Fang Yuan had not heard of this inheritance in his past life, but once again, it could have been kept rather hush-hush, and if no one spoke about it, then he wouldn't have known about it regardless.
Tian Ji had ended up passing away during his Myriad Tribulation, being unable to get to Rank 8 now that he lacked his uncle's help. However, that meant that he was at the peak of Rank 7, simply a half-step away from becoming Rank 8. His blessed land in question was massive, with White Heaven shining brightly above a massive continent down below. It was a Refinement Path blessed land, and a large population of hairy men lived down below.
The land spirit greeted Fang Yuan, An Zhou, and An Rui as they entered, taking the form of a chimpanzee wearing a top hat. Additionally the chimpanzee had a large red coat on, appearing much like the leader of a circus troupe back on Earth. The land spirit in question clapped loudly upon seeing them.
"Alright, so we finally have all twelve of the Gu Immortals in question. I think we can begin!" it said.
"So, Brother Fang Yuan, you also happened to learn of Tian Ji's inheritance from somewhere?" An Zhou asked. He and An Rui had managed to find this blessed land's location through a clue left behind somewhere in the Eastern Sea.
Fang Yuan had been directed towards it by Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable.
"Indeed, I have. Who would have thought that we were headed towards the same place?" Fang Yuan said.
"All right then, let's begin," the land spirit said, clapping his hands loudly as he directed them to a place in White Heaven where there were other people waiting for them.
"When I had been alive," the land spirit explained, "I thought about my own life experiences. I was someone who was only going to end up living a normal life. Yet, thanks to my uncle, I was able to persevere to the point where I became a Refinement Path Great Grandmaster. There was one thing I wanted to do within life, though, and that was to pass on these opportunities to other people. I knew how difficult it is to be a Rank 6 Gu Master. I oftentimes had to struggle with resources, with my uncle sometimes coming through in the clutch from time to time. Not only that, it's also difficult to be a mortal as well, but I wanted to give a chance to other people in order to advance. I wanted to hold a massive tournament within the Eastern Sea! A grand tournament the likes of which had never been seen before! And to set up an inheritance and give out much of my wealth away to those who could benefit from it. Alas, I passed away before this dream could be completed. But here we are!"
Aside from Fang Yuan, An Zhou, and An Rui, there were nine other rank six Gu Immortals standing there near the clouds. In total, this added up to twelve Gu Immortals. Half of them were from the Eastern Sea. Fang Yuan was the only one from the Southern Border. The rest were either from the Central Continent, one from the Western Desert, and one from the Northern Plains.
Fang Yuan glanced around them. They were all new faces, people whom he didn't really know, save for one.
"You..." Fang Yuan said, his eyes widening as the other person also backed away slightly under his gaze.
This was none other than Liu Nan!
Liu Nan was a Rank 5 Gu Master who had accosted Fang Yuan back when he had been in Shang Clan City. Liu Nan had stood in the way of nearly every single plan that Fang Yuan had and had even fought with him during the arena. While he had been at Rank 5 Peak Stage then, he was now at Rank 6 much like Fang Yuan himself.
Liu Nan narrowed his eyes at Fang Yuan but did not seem to be surprised by the latter's appearance.
"Brother Liu Nan, how nice to see you here," Fang Yuan said, a cold smile forming on his lips. He doubted that this meeting was unintentional. If Liu Nan managed to become rank 6, there was clearly a strong backer behind him, not to mention Fang Yuan still didn't know why Liu Nan had left him that present before departing from Shang Clan City.
It was also rather curious that Liu Nan was giving off the aura of a Central Continent Gu Immortal rather than that of the Southern Border. Just who was this Liu Nan, Fang Yuan pondered to himself. And what was Liu Nan after?