"Where the hell did that guy escape to?"
"If we return without finding him, how do we face the young master?"
Before the others could answer, a guard suddenly shouted, his voice cracking with panic. "S-Sir! Look ahead!"
The commander turned, irritated by the interruption. His eyes followed the direction the guard pointed—toward the remnants of the Fei tribe. Dry winds howled over the scorched earth.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" he snapped. "I ordered you to search for the fugitive, not admire a dead tribe."
But the guard didn't back down. He swallowed hard and stammered, "Commander... the blood... look at the blood..."
The commander finally looked—truly looked—and his brow furrowed. Crimson stains soaked the earth, thick, recent.
Then the guard added, voice trembling now, "Commander, the corpses... they're gone."
A sudden chill gripped the air. Even the commander's stern expression faltered. The blood was fresh, yet not a single body remained.
Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.
"...We're leaving," the commander said after a pause, his voice low and hoarse. "We'll report back to the young master."
But none of them noticed it.
Deep within the ruins of the Fei tribe, in the darkest corner of a collapsed hut, a shadow stirred.
A mouth, unnatural and glistening, peeled open from within the writhing dark—and slowly, deliberately, licked the bloodstains off the dirt.
...
Fang Yuan reappeared inside the Yellow Treasure Heaven, which was now in utter chaos.
Immortal stones from the day's transaction fees were scattered everywhere, while the Yellow Treasure Spirit frantically poured in immortal essence, clearly overwhelmed.
"Master… Master, you've returned!" the spirit cried out, its voice trembling as if on the verge of tears.
Fang Yuan, now appearing as an old man, calmly surveyed the disorderly grotto-heaven. His gaze paused on the barely conscious Ma Hong Yun. "What happened here?" he asked.
The Treasure Spirit quickly responded, panic in its voice: "Master, ever since this child began to regain consciousness, strange things have been happening!"
"First, an Immortal Gu I had placed as decoration suddenly fell. When I tried to fix it, it activated on its own, stirring up winds. One after another, the Immortal Gus started falling and activating uncontrollably. A Rank Seven Immortal Gu even flew into the Yellow Treasure Heaven and exploded, causing massive damage!"
"Now, several Gu Immortals inside the heaven are trying to probe this place using their Gu worms. Some have even activated their Immortal Gus, and I'm barely holding them off!"
"I can't even keep this child asleep—I'm too overwhelmed to focus! Please help me, Master," the spirit pleaded, nearly in tears.
Fang Yuan rushed toward Ma Hong Yun, but suddenly, a pool of water formed beneath his feet, causing him to stumble.
"This damn brat!" Fang Yuan growled, his aged voice filled with frustration. He immediately retrieved a Rank 9 Yellow Apricot Immortal Essence from his aperture and used it to envelop himself.
The strange phenomena surrounding him began to subside. Without hesitation, Fang Yuan reached Ma Hong Yun and delivered a swift kick to his neck, knocking him unconscious once more.
After nearly an hour of hard work and effort, Fang Yuan and the Yellow Treasure Spirit finally managed to resolve the chaos. Ma Hong Yun was then sealed inside a Light Prison, surrounded by four Rank 9 Gu worms. Only then did the bizarre disturbances completely cease.
Fang Yuan looked over at the child, Fei Cai—the one destined to become the future Ma Hong Yun—and smiled.
"It's finally time," he said.
Fang Yuan took out over fifty corpses from his modified aperture and laid them on the ground. His voice was calm but commanding as he said, "Begin extracting blood from these bodies."
Without wasting a moment, he turned away and began arranging immortal materials in the distance. Soon after, he summoned a massive cauldron and placed it before him.
Preparations for a new refinement had begun.
...
On a slope, Ma tribe's higher-ups were observing the ruined Fei tribe camp from their war horses.
These people were circling around a young man, like the stars surrounding the moon.
Seeing batch after batch of goods being stored in the carts and groups of captives being escorted away, Ma tribe's higher ups had a joyous expression.
One rank three Gu Master elder cupped his fists towards the young man in the center: "Congratulations to young master! It was all because of young master's plan to drive a discord and create internal disorder in Fei tribe that we could so easily capture warm pond valley, swallow Fei tribe and establish great merits for the tribe!"
This young man was Ma tribe's young tribe leader Ma Ying Jie.
He had a wide back with thin waist, sharp brows and bright eyes, a heroic spirit and a cultivation of rank four middle stage. He was an enslavement path Gu Master with some fame, also called Little Ma Zun!
They won but Ma Ying Jie did not show any arrogance, instead he said: "Warm pond valley is easy to defend and hard to attack, possessing large areas of warm pools. The great blizzard is about to come and this place is a naturally protected place. By obtaining it, my tribe has a base of operations. We can advance while attacking or defend if we retreat!"
"But the thing I am even more happy about is obtaining over two hundred thousand terror claw horses. With these horses, uncle can greatly raise his horse group's scale and increase my Ma tribe's supreme might in the coming heroes assembly!"