"Land spirit, follow my instructions while I'm gone," Fang Yuan commanded, his voice steady.
Little Treasure's eyes glistened with unshed tears, his voice wavering as he spoke reluctantly: "Master, I'll wait for you here... Please, return quickly."
Fang Yuan didn't answer, his expression cold and impassive. Without another word, he drew the white litchi immortal essence from his aperture and injected it into the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu.
A burst of blinding white light enveloped him, and in the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan vanished from sight.
...
Northern Plains
The Poison Grassland was a forbidden zone for all living creatures.
The deeper one ventured into it, the more powerful and dangerous the wild beasts became. Countless experts had entered to explore, but none ever returned. Among the fallen were even peak stage rank four and early stage rank five cultivators.
At the heart of this deadly place, human and wolf skeletons lay scattered across the rotting grass.
The ground was scarred with trenches and pits—clear evidence of a brutal battle that had taken place long ago.
Suddenly, a flash of bright white light lit up the area.
As the light faded, a middle-aged man in black robes appeared—barefoot on the grass, scanning his surroundings quickly.
"It should be somewhere around here," Fang Yuan muttered.
A strange sound then reached his ears—like old wheels dragging across the ground.
He turned toward the noise and saw a massive bone wheel emerge through the purple fog.
Towering as high as two men and around 1.5 meters wide, the wheel was constructed entirely from white bones. Sharp spikes jutted from its surface, and a large skull sat at its center, its empty eye sockets glowing with eerie, blood-red flames.
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes and calmly raised a hand to stop the oncoming bone wheel. With sheer strength, he halted it and flung it to the ground.
Crack.
Instantly cracks spread across the wheel's surface from the sheer force.
Then, lifting it with one arm, he activated his Rank 8 aura from his second aperture, quickly refining the wheel and transferring it into his first aperture.
Fang Yuan turned to observe the battlefield.
This was where a fierce clash had taken place twenty years ago—between Chang Shan Yin, a peak rank four Gu Master, and Ha Tu Gu, an early rank five Gu Master who led a powerful group of subordinates.
Taking a step forward, Fang Yuan spotted a large wolf tail hidden in the poisonous grass.
Covered in mud and nearly camouflaged by the weeds, it would've been hard to notice without the memories from his past life.
But unlike before, he didn't grab and pull the tail out by force.
Instead, he paused, looked around cautiously, then used Immortal Fire Gu from his second aperture, reducing the entire wolf corpse to ashes.
He scanned his surroundings from side to side and looked up at the sky,
His expression tightened.
Instantly, Fang Yuan activated the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu and vanished.
...
"This..."
"How can this be..." An old man with violet hair and deep purple eyes gasped, clutching his chest as he breathed heavily.
In the past, alongside the other first-generation split souls, he had discovered that their greatest enemy was Heaven's Will. Together, they had searched for ways to oppose it.
But even when they were close to success, Heaven's Will had manipulated them—treating them all as mere pawns in its vast game.
However, today was different. He didn't just observe Heaven's Will... he felt its fury.
Usually, his unique method of resisting Heaven's Will would cause him to lose his sanity for a time, overwhelmed by its presence and counterforce. But this time, something changed.
Through his connection, he sensed a focused, unmistakable killing intent coming directly from Heaven's Will—targeted not at their Shadow Sect, but at an individual.
Not even the Shadow Sect had ever been subjected to such intense hostility from Heaven's Will. But now, someone was being directly and openly marked.
"Who... who could it possibly be?"
"Who could have provoked Heaven's Will to such an extent that it's now ignoring all our sect's plots and schemes?"
He closed his eyes, focusing deeply, then muttered a name:"Gu Yue Fang Yuan..."
"If I could draw him to our side... he might be a powerful asset."
But just as that thought crossed his mind, his body trembled uncontrollably. He looked up at the sky, eyes wide, and hissed:
"Heaven's Will is openly expressing its hostility."
"Does this mean... anyone who tries to aid him will be marked for death?"
"And anyone who kills him... will be rewarded?"
As this revelation poured into his mind, his expression turned grave. He understood the intent of Heaven's Will clearly—and drew in a sharp breath.
"Gu Yue Fang Yuan... just what kind of person are you?"
That very day, he alerted the Shadow Sect about this unpredictable variable—Gu Yue Fang Yuan. Then, once more, he began the process of partially merging with Heaven's Will to uncover the full scope of what was unfolding.
....
"What do you mean by that, Tang Jian?" Feng Jiu Ge's voice roared through the room as he shouted at a middle-aged man seated calmly atop a lotus.
Tang Jian furrowed his brows, slowly opening his eyes. "Feng Jiu Ge, keep your voice down," he said calmly. "I'm focusing."
He closed his eyes again. His brows tensed, then relaxed, then furrowed once more, going through several cycles of expression. Finally, after about five minutes, he opened his eyes and spoke.
"My friend, Feng Jiu... I think I've found that fellow named Fang Yuan."