"Hahaha! So it's the Footless Bird Gu!" Fang Yuan stared at the Rank Three Gu worm in Yuan Fang's hand, unable to hide the joy in his eyes.
This Footless Bird Gu is a Rank Three Bone Path Gu worm. Although it's a single-use consumable, its wondrous effects are extraordinary and should not be underestimated.
Once activated, it condenses a giant footless bone bird. As the name suggests, this bird has no feet but possesses wings, capable of traveling ten thousand li in a single day.
However, this footless bone bird is ultimately a rootless wood; the moment it returns to the ground is its demise.
After taking the Footless Bird Gu, Yuan Fang successively activated the gears of several Flesh Laugh Gu, obtaining a Rank Three Iron Bone Gu, a Rank Three Jade Bone Gu, and a massive amount of Bone Path Gu recipes.
Iron Bone Gu can make a Gu Master's bones as hard as steel. Similar to white boar gu and Green Ox Labor Gu, it can permanently strengthen the Gu Master's Physical Body.
If paired with Steel Tendon Gu, it can achieve the miraculous effect of "Steel Tendons and Iron Bones."
The effect of Jade Bone Gu is similar to Iron Bone Gu. When paired with Ice Skin Gu, it can achieve the miraculous effect of "Ice Skin and Jade Bones."
In the original work, Fang Yuan obtained this Rank Three Jade Bone Gu from this Flesh Laugh Gu, which made Bai Ning Bing extremely envious. Bai Ning Bing had used Ice Skin Gu when she was still in Qing Mao Mountain.
And that Rank Three Flesh White Gu was the real highlight.
This is an extremely powerful Bone Path healing Gu worm, on par with the Rank Four healing Gu, "Revive the Dead."
With this Flesh White Gu, Fang Yuan would have no worries about healing before breaking through to Rank Four. With this Gu alone, even Gu Yue Village's Medicine Hall Elder and the person in charge of the Medicine Vein, Gu Yue Yao Ji, would have to concede defeat.
After activating dozens of Flesh Laugh Gu, Yuan Fang finally touched the most crucial Flesh Laugh Gu.
Just then, a "click-clack" sound of mechanisms suddenly rang out. As the gears turned, a stone cave split open on the adjacent flesh wall, starkly out of place with the surrounding crimson flesh wall.
"This is getting more and more interesting."
Yuan Fang mused inwardly, disregarding the other Flesh Laugh Gu. Fearing that the stone cave might disappear in an instant, he quickly scurried inside.
Upon entering the stone cave, below was a hidden secret room. In the center of the secret room stood a Dragon-Head Refining Furnace, about ten feet high, its body carved with intricate dragon patterns. Neatly arranged beside the furnace were various processed Bone Path Gu materials.
And to one side of these Gu materials, a gray bone scroll lay quietly.
Fang Yuan unrolled the scroll, and the words within revealed the past of the Talented Scholar of Gray Bone:
This person had mediocre talent, trapped at Rank Four his entire life. His lifelong obsession was to refine a Gu worm that could assist Gu Masters in their cultivation. The Gu recipe for this Rank Three bone flesh reunion gu was the result of his exhaustive efforts.
Unfortunately, heaven did not grant his wish. The Talented Scholar of Gray Bone ultimately died with regret, unable to personally refine this Gu before his Lifespan ran out.
He set up this Rank Four power Legacy, hoping that a fated person with a pure Heart-Nature could refine the bone flesh reunion gu, allowing this Gu recipe to see the light of day again, thus making up for his life's regret.
"bone flesh reunion gu... it hasn't been refined yet?"
A trace of surprise flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes, but Yuan Fang's expression was calm—in his memory, this Gu recipe still lacked two living Gu materials.
In the original work, to refine this Gu, Fang Yuan temporarily altered the Gu recipe and kicked the innocent Hundred Families Siblings into the refining furnace.
The siblings desperately tried to climb out, but Fang Yuan was "stomping his feet in a hurry" by the furnace. Whenever the siblings poked their heads out, he would kick them back into the fire.
This repeated until the siblings, whose bond was deep, were burned alive.
But in this life, there were no Hundred Families Siblings available.
"This Gu actually requires two people to refine it... Alas, it seems this Legacy cannot be monopolized by one person after all."
Fang Yuan sighed lightly. He was not like Fang Zheng, bound by foolish Family honor. This was his Opportunity, why should he share it with others?
In his view, so-called backgrounds, backing, and Family were merely excuses for the weak to hide their incompetence. One must ultimately rely on oneself.
"Then why don't you temporarily alter the Gu recipe?" Yuan Fang asked.
"Temporarily altering the Gu recipe is too risky. If I fail, all previous efforts will be in vain. Why would I do such a foolish thing?"
Fang Yuan never thought of sharing this Legacy; it was merely forced by circumstance. The value of this bone flesh reunion gu far outweighed the entire Legacy!
The bitter smile on Fang Yuan's face flashed and disappeared, leaving only a chilling gaze.
In the original work, he dared to temporarily alter the Gu recipe because he was pushed to a desperate situation. The Hundred Families pursuers were closing in. If he refined it according to the original Gu recipe, it would take too long, only bringing fatal disaster upon Bai Ning Bing and himself.
But now it's different. He has all the time in the world to explore this Legacy. Even if he rests here for a night, stretches, and yawns the next day before continuing, there is no risk at all.
Precisely because of this, he lacked the desperate decisiveness he had in the original work.
Fang Yuan was never a blade of grass to be manipulated, but a ruthless character who could overturn the eighty-eight true yang building, suppress the Lang Ya Earth Spirit, and destroy Fate Gu.
Five hundred years of time had smoothed out his already minimal impetuosity. In times of crisis, he could always weigh things calmly and pursue the maximization of benefits.
Clearly, rashly altering the Gu recipe would do more harm than good.
Since he couldn't refine the Gu for a while, Fang Yuan told Yuan Fang to explore other areas, which was exactly what Yuan Fang intended.
In the original work, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing were in such a hurry that they didn't even get to explore the first stone door outside the main hall where the remains were placed. Yuan Fang wanted to personally investigate.
Stepping into that stone door, Yuan Fang immediately saw a jar about ten feet wide. The bottom of the jar was connected to the underground Milk Spring, and inside the jar were hundreds of bone spike Gu and Spiral Bone Spear Gu.
Yuan Fang did not immediately take the Gu, but waited for a moment, and another stone door appeared.
Inside the stone door, he found an origin spring. This origin spring had existed for over a hundred years, producing hundreds of thousands of origin stones.
Beside the origin spring sat a skeleton; this was the true corpse of the Talented Scholar of Gray Bone.
Yuan Fang imitated Fang Yuan, silently kowtowing three times to the skeleton.
A moment later, another stone door indeed appeared on the stone wall. But after waiting for a long time, no new stone doors appeared. Yuan Fang stopped pretending. With a thought, a sharp bone spear, a Rank Two Spiral Bone Spear Gu, condensed out of thin air in his left hand.
Yuan Fang thrust his Spiral Bone Spear, fiercely poking the Talented Scholar of Gray Bone's skeleton thirty-eight times, still not appeased.
He then condensed a moon blade in his backhand. A cold light flashed, directly severing the skeleton's Skull. He then kicked it hard, and under the impact, the Skull bounced off the cold stone wall like a ball, instantly shattering into dust.
Within this dust was the Talented Scholar of Gray Bone's true vital Gu, a Rank Four bone dragon gu.
This bone dragon gu is similar to Tie Family's Tie Mu Bai's Rank Four Golden Dragon Gu, Northern Plains Ge Family's Ge Yao's Rank Three Water Dragon Gu, and Southern Border's "Divine Investigator" Cold Iron Blood's Rank Five Oil Dragon Gu and Rank Five Fire Dragon Gu. However, their paths are different; bone dragon gu is a Bone Path Gu worm.
As a top-tier Rank Four attack Gu, bone dragon gu's destructive power is terrifying:
Once activated, a bone dragon dozens of meters long will condense in the palm, crashing into the enemy with earth-shattering power.
But its drawbacks are equally fatal—the primeval essence consumption is an astronomical figure. With Fang Yuan's current red iron primeval essence foundation, even if it were ten times greater, it would be impossible to activate.
Passing through this stone door, behind it was a secret room specifically for storing Gu, where four rare Gu worms lay quietly.
The first was a Rank Four Bone Wing Gu. Its effect was similar to Blood Wings, but several times faster than Fang Yuan's current Rank Two Blood Wings. However, due to its Rank Four grade, Fang Yuan was equally powerless to activate it.
The second was a Rank Two bookworm Gu. This is an extremely rare storage-type Gu worm. Feed it Gu recipes, maps, books, and other information carriers. As long as the bookworm lives, this information will forever be remembered in the mind, not a single detail forgotten.
Yuan Fang was overjoyed upon seeing it and immediately fed all the Gu recipes and the gray bone scroll he had just obtained to the bookworm.
The third was a Rank Three Milk Spring Gu. Activating this Gu would continuously produce milk, which undoubtedly solved Fang Yuan's urgent problem, perfect for feeding the bone spike Gu.
Fang Yuan had never had any Gu worms that could produce food, like the Milk Spring Gu. In his memory, similar Gu worms included the Wine Sack Rice Bag Gu, which could produce wine and water, and the Rice Bag Grass Gu, which could produce rice.
These Gu worms belong to an extremely rare Path—Food Path.
Food Path Gu worms are already rare; in his previous life, Fang Yuan had never even seen a Food Path Gu Immortal. What's even less known is that the Food Path was not created by the Human Race, but by beastmen.
Among all Food Path Gu worms, the one that left the deepest impression on Fang Yuan was the Rank Five Brocade Food Box Gu in Shang Yan Fei's hand.
In Fang Yuan's memory, during the future Righteous and Demonic Path war at Yi Tian Mountain, the Righteous Path was pushed back step by step by the Demonic Path, and morale was at an all-time low.
Shang Yan Fei, as the leader of the Righteous Path, activated this Brocade Food Box Gu. In an instant, countless delicacies descended from the sky to reward the three armies.
The Righteous Path's morale greatly boosted, and they immediately counterattacked, reversing the tide of the battle in one fell swoop.
The fourth Gu in the secret room was a Rank Three Skull Gu.
This Gu, shaped like a shriveled Skull, belongs to the storage-type Gu worms, and its storage capacity is only average.
Compared to the Rank Three doushuai flower Gu, its storage space was far inferior, but compared to Fang Yuan's current Rank Two Big Belly Frog in his aperture, it was several times stronger.
Yuan Fang no longer hesitated. He grabbed the four Gu—Bone Wing Gu, bookworm Gu, Milk Spring Gu, and Skull Gu—and with primeval essence surging in his fingertips, he completed the refinement in an instant.
After obtaining these four Gu, Yuan Fang turned back to the origin spring.
Looking at the mountain of primeval stones piled around the origin spring, he found himself in a difficult situation: without powerful storage-type Gu worms, relying solely on Skull Gu and Big Belly Frog Gu, he could at most take away ten thousand primeval stones, which was merely a drop in the bucket.
Just then, Yuan Fang's gaze suddenly fixed on an object in the origin spring—it was a strange-looking Gu worm, shaped like a cloud, with eyes, eyebrows, a mouth, and a long, snow-white beard, looking exactly like an old man. However, at this moment, this "old man" had a face full of sorrow, as if burdened by countless worries.
"This... hahaha! It's actually a Rank Four Elder Gu!" Fang Yuan's voice suddenly rang out, filled with wild joy.
The Elder Gu is a Rank Four Cloud Path Gu worm, its only function being to store primeval stones, and its capacity is terrifying—it can store up to a million!
Even more interestingly, the Elder Gu's expression changes with the number of primeval stones stored: the fewer primeval stones stored, the more sullen it becomes; the more primeval stones stored, the wider its smile.
At this moment, this Elder Gu's brows were tightly furrowed, and its face was bitter, clearly empty inside, without even a single primeval stone.
Yuan Fang immediately reached out and grabbed the Elder Gu, refining it in an instant. He then poured all the primeval stones from beside the origin spring and all the primeval stones he carried into the Elder Gu.
This Gu worm immediately performed a "Sichuan Opera face-change." A moment ago, it was gloomy and sad, but now, upon seeing the primeval stones, it instantly broke into a beaming smile, even its snow-white beard curling up, looking exactly like someone whose eyes light up at the sight of money.
"Fang Yuan, how many primeval stones do you think are in this Elder Gu?"
Yuan Fang knew that a Gu Master could judge the number of stored primeval stones by the extent of the Elder Gu's smile, but he hadn't mastered this technique yet, so he had to ask Fang Yuan for advice.
Fang Yuan glanced at the Elder Gu, seeing its mouth wide open, even its snow-white beard curved in a smile, and immediately said to Yuan Fang:
"There are probably six hundred and twenty thousand primeval stones in here."
"How can you tell? Quickly teach me!"
Yuan Fang stared at the Elder Gu for a long time, but couldn't make heads or tails of it, so he hurriedly pressed for an answer.
Fang Yuan didn't hide anything and meticulously explained the trick of judging the number of primeval stones by the Elder Gu's expression and mouth shape.
At first, Yuan Fang was confused, but after Fang Yuan's guidance, he completely understood in just a moment.
By now, the Legacy of Gray Bone had been thoroughly explored by Yuan Fang. He exhaled a turbid breath towards the sky, walked out of the cave over the scattered white bones, and looked up at the dome.
The morning sky was a clear, brilliant blue, with a few wisps of smoke-like clouds drifting on the horizon.
"Fang Yuan, I'm tired, it's your turn to take over."
It was already the next morning, and Yuan Fang had stayed up all night. As he spoke, he handed over control of his body.
With a thought, a pair of huge Blood Wings suddenly unfurled behind Fang Yuan, their membranes stretching like crimson silk.
With a powerful flap of his wings, he soared into the sky like an arrow, hovering above White Bone Mountain. His cold eyes swept downwards, overlooking the entire back mountain of White Bone.
"Look! It's Fang Yuan!"
On the white mountainside, the Gu Yue Clan Members immediately stirred.
Gu Yue Mo Yan, a Second Rank High Stage Gu Master with the strongest scouting ability in the team, had been continuously activating her scouting Gu to probe around. She was the first to discover Fang Yuan in the air, her voice filled with surprise.
Rank Three Clan Elder Gu Yue Chi Zhong, Gu Yue Ye, and Gu Yue Yao Kun looked up at the sound, and upon seeing the familiar crimson Blood Wings, their faces instantly flushed with excitement.
"Fang Yuan! Over here!"
"Brother!"
Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs, their voices echoing through White Bone Mountain.
Fang Yuan activated the Earth Listening Flesh Eating Grass. Although this Gu's power was greatly reduced in the air, he could still clearly hear the calls from the ground.
On this stark white White Bone Mountain, the dozen or so people in blue martial uniforms were particularly eye-catching, like a clear spring in the desert.
Fang Yuan hovered in mid-air, slowly retracting his wings and descending.
After repeated confirmation, the young man before them was indeed Fang Yuan, whom they had been searching for an entire month. Their eyes instantly reddened with emotion, some covered their mouths, tears streaming down uncontrollably. The joy of regaining what was lost needed no further words.
After a long while, Fang Yuan spoke faintly, his tone devoid of much emotion:
"Do you still have moon orchid petals? My moonlight gu and small light gu are hungry again."
This time, the crowd didn't rush to hand over the moon orchid petals as they did last time.
Gu Yue Qing Shu even tightly clutched Fang Yuan's wrist, his knuckles slightly white, as if afraid he would vanish into thin air again in a blink of an eye.
"I'll give you two moon orchid petals first, lest you leave again."
Gu Yue Chi Shan handed over the petals, his gaze fixed intently on Fang Yuan, his eyes full of earnestness.
Fang Zheng, standing nearby, pursed his lips and lowered his head, remaining silent. The low pressure around him almost solidified.
"Little brother, I'll give you two Gu. These two Gu will definitely be of great help to your future cultivation."
Fang Yuan suddenly shed his coldness, a benevolent smile spreading across his face, looking exactly like an Elder doting on a junior.
With a thought, a Gu worm appeared in his left palm, its Rank Two aura lingering—it was the Spiral Bone Spear Gu; immediately, another Gu appeared in his right palm, its Rank Three pressure assaulting them—it was the bone spike Gu.
"Brother!" Fang Zheng suddenly looked up, his voice filled with unbelievable excitement.
When he cultivated to Rank One, he only had moonlight gu, copper skin gu, and jade skin gu by his side; after stepping into Rank Two, he refined the moonlight gu and jade skin gu together into Rank Two moon shawl.
But both moon shawl and copper skin gu were defensive Gu, and he couldn't help much along the way, only watching the Elders and other team members exert themselves.
Now, he had suddenly obtained two Gu, both offensive Gu, and among them was a coveted Rank Three Gu!
Along the way, Fang Zheng had personally witnessed the three Elders activating Rank Three Gu multiple times. The magnificent and domineering attack effects had long been deeply imprinted in the young man's heart.
"I... I finally have a Rank Three Gu too..." Fang Zheng's voice trembled, his emotions surging like a tide.
He remembered when they were in the academy, this brother would even steal his primeval stones and dared to openly contradict teachers; at home, his brother would make Shen Cui, whom he liked, cry... But fragments of memories surged back:
When he was bullied as a child, it was his brother who stood up for him; during Chinese New Year, Uncle and Aunt only bought one new outfit, and his brother gave it to him without a word; he loved honeyed porridge, and his brother would always specifically ask the kitchen to make an extra portion... The past was vivid in his mind.
And now, this 'hateful' brother had 'generously' given him two Gu, one of which was a Rank Three Gu he had never even touched.
Since when did brother change?
This question, like a stone thrown into Fang Zheng's heart lake, created ripples, becoming his greatest confusion at this moment.
"I see... Ever since the Aperture Opening Ceremony, I recognized Uncle and Aunt as my parents. From then on, brother rarely spoke to me, spending his days in the inn, addicted to alcohol."
Fang Zheng's mind gradually cleared: "I suppose brother was angry with me for recognizing others as parents."
"But even so... even if I recognized others, brother still gave me his most precious things..."
Thinking of this, Fang Zheng's eyes burned red, half with emotion, half with guilt.
Even if he had hurt his brother's heart, he was still the brother who protected him and doted on him!
"An Elder brother is like a father... This is my brother!"
Fang Yuan stood quietly to the side, taking in Fang Zheng's emotions. A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, his heart full of gratitude and guilt almost overflowing. How could such small thoughts escape the eyes of an 'old man' who had lived for five hundred years?
Fang Yuan's lips curved slightly, but there was no warmth in his eyes—he wasn't truly doting on Fang Zheng; everything he did was merely for that bone flesh reunion gu.
This bone flesh reunion gu is a very special Gu, shaped like two interlocking bracelets. When worn on two people's hands, it can connect their minds. When one party needs primeval essence for cultivation, the other can draw primeval essence from their own aperture and inject it into the former's body, without leaving any trace of foreign aura throughout the process.
In the original work, after Fang Yuan refined this Gu, he would 'Dual Cultivate' with Rank Three Peak Bai Ning Bing every night. Supported by the Snow Silver Primeval Essence in Bai Ning Bing's aperture, he broke through from Rank One to Rank Three in just a few months, several years faster than his original cultivation speed.
"According to the original Gu recipe, the closer the relationship between the two Gu refiners, the higher the success rate of refining the Gu and the better the quality of the resulting Gu. With my previous relationship with Fang Zheng, it would at most be of 'Bone Connected' quality after refining. I wonder what quality this Gu will be after this incident..."
Fang Yuan pondered to himself, while Yuan Fang couldn't help but sneer:
"What a foolish child, so easily coaxed. He'll probably be sold off and still help count the money."
"I just wonder, what will Fang Zheng's state of mind be when he learns the truth of all this?"