Second, after claiming the grotto-heaven, Fang Yuan spent two years purifying it—along with the land spirit—by bathing everything in immortal essence to erase Heaven's Will, an act the spirit found deeply strange.
Third, Fang Yuan seemed to have a vast supply of immortal essence but remained mortal, lacking heavenly qi—even in his aperture.
The spirit concluded Fang Yuan was a "fake" Gu Immortal.
"Now, add the giant's heart," Fang Yuan's voice snapped the land spirit out of its thoughts, prompting it to quickly toss the large, rock-like heart into the mixture.
Focused on the refinement process, Fang Yuan paid no mind to the land spirit's musings.
Even if he had heard them, he would have simply replied—I already knew all of this when I first refined the modified aperture.
Boom!
Thunder roared as a strange transformation began within the concoction.
Yet Fang Yuan showed no joy or regret. Instead, his brows furrowed in thought.
"Protect me," he ordered calmly.
Obeying instantly, the land spirit teleported both of them far from the mixture. Just two breaths later—
Boom!
The entire batch of refinement materials exploded.
Part of the blessed land was damaged, but a yellow shield had silently formed, preventing the blast from spreading any further.
Fang Yuan muttered, "Why?"
No matter how many times he went over it in his mind, he couldn't understand.
In the future, this modified second aperture, if successfully created, would allow anyone to possess Yellow Apricot Immortal Essence—so long as they refined their vital Gu to rank 9. That didn't automatically make them a Venerable, but any Gu Immortal using it could reach Venerable-level combat strength.
However, if the user wasn't a Gu Immortal, the aperture would only give them the strength of a standard Rank 6 Gu Immortal—regardless of the type of immortal essence.
Unless their body carried dao marks, this second aperture would be useless.
Most talentless Gu Masters—those with no hope of ever becoming Gu Immortals—would buy this aperture to live the rest of their lives as 'False' Gu Immortals.
They could even upgrade their Rank 6 Green Grape immortal essence to Rank 9 Yellow Apricot, despite being only Rank 4 or 5 Gu Masters, as long as they upgrade the vital Gu of the modified aperture. Still, their strength wouldn't match that of a Venerable, only that of a Gu Immortal who relied purely on Immortal Gu for offense and defense.
"Why can't I upgrade it to Rank 9?" Fang Yuan murmured, frowning.
This failure had never occurred in his previous life.
"How many times have I tried refining this?" he asked himself.
But the young land spirit answered before he could count, "Master, this was the 105th refinement attempt for the Rank 9 Fixed Immortal Travel Gu."
Fang Yuan nodded. "It's fine. Bring me the top wines."
He glanced at his second aperture and noticed that his White Litchi Immortal Essence was vanishing into thin air.
A known side effect of the modified second aperture: if its vital Gu was destroyed, all the immortal essence within it would dissipate and become unusable—unless the same vital Gu was refined again and inserted into the aperture.
He retrieved the Divine Travel Gu and began the refinement process. In less than half an hour, he successfully refined the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu.
Opening the vats of top wines, he drank and drank, and soon after, he refined another Divine Travel Gu, handing it to the land spirit for safekeeping.
As Fang Yuan placed the Rank 6 Fixed Immortal Travel Gu into his aperture, the White Litchi Immortal Essence transformed instantly into Green Grape Immortal Essence.
This was both a drawback and a benefit of the modified aperture.
If one inserted a Rank 7 Immortal Gu, the Green Grape Essence would evolve into Red Date Immortal Essence—and so on.
Fang Yuan, then traveled to Dang Hun Mountain to harvest Guts Gu, recovering his soul, and gave instructions to the land spirit to begin preparations to refine the Rank 7 Fixed Immortal Travel Gu, aiming next for Rank 8.
...
Now, the elite disciples of the Immortal Crane Sect stood at the base of Tian Ti Mountain, still in shock after witnessing the unimaginable.
After the Hu Immortal Blessed Land was seized and destroyed, the ten great ancient sects jointly organized a new competition to lift their disciples' morale. The event had been ongoing for nearly a month.
Below the arena, a buzz of murmurs swept through the crowd:
"An Immortal Gu!"
"Feng Jing Huang's Vital Gu is actually an Immortal Gu!"
"Bai Ning Bing is going to lose."
"He's the future of our Immortal Crane Sect!"
"He has the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique!"
"So what if Bai Ning Bing doesn't have an Immortal Gu? With that physique, he's still bound to win!"
On the stage, Bai Ning Bing—who had previously been using the Crane Emperor to battle Feng Jin Huang—suddenly let the majestic beast soar into the distance. His own body began to radiate intense cold, and within moments, frost spread across the entire arena.
Up in the sky, Feng Jin Huang, still bleeding from the mouth and suspended mid-air thanks to her Immortal Gu, noticed the sudden change. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Oh my God!"
"He's broken through—Rank 5, Middle Stage!"
"Bai Ning Bing just advanced during battle!"
"Heavens! One of the ten extreme physiques really is terrifying!"
Bai Ning Bing stood firm as a surge of icy mist erupted beneath him. In the next instant, an ice pillar burst forth from the ground, spiraling upward like a frozen serpent. It coiled beneath his feet, lifting him effortlessly into the sky.
The pillar responded to his will, slithering through the air as if alive, carrying him straight toward Feng Jin Huang.
She barely had time to react.
Boom!
The first strike came like a blizzard-laced hammer. Though she managed to block it, the sheer force flung her backward, blood trailing from her lips.
But Bai Ning Bing didn't relent.
With a flick of his wrist, the ice serpent twisted again, propelling him forward at blinding speed. He moved as if skating on clouds of frost, each movement sharp and fluid, his breath visible in the cold mist that now engulfed the arena.
Bang!Bang!Bang!
Three bone-shattering punches landed—each one colder than the last. Feng Jin Huang's arms froze solid under the relentless assault. Then came a brutal uppercut to her face, sending her crashing down like a falling star, blood streaking from her nose as she hit the ground hard.
With a calm, predatory grace, Bai Ning Bing descended. The ice serpent unraveled beneath him, fading into snowflakes as he landed softly on the arena floor.
From his palm, a sword of pure ice formed—sharp, gleaming, deadly. He pointed it directly at Feng Jin Huang's throat.
"Admit defeat," he said coldly.
Feng Jin Huang gritted her teeth, defiance flaring in her eyes. She was about to trigger her ultimate move—her last resort—when she heard him murmur quietly:
"I don't think I could ever lose… to someone like you."
She froze.
In his eyes, she saw something that made her tremble—not hatred, but disgust. Disgust aimed at her—her body, her very being.
For the first time, she hesitated.
Then rage overtook her. She screamed, "You bastard!" and prepared to unleash her final move.
But it was too late.
Shhk!
The ice blade plunged into her stomach before the energy could form.
"I'm not a bastard," Bai Ning Bing whispered, voice like winter wind.
"You are...."
"A bitch… a used-up bitch."