Chapter 76: True Madman
The five hundred years lifespan Gu entered the cloud.
This time, Fang Yuan was ready.
The cloud surged violently. Its strength was no longer slippery like the blue-scaled snake from before, but overbearing and heavy, repeatedly crashing against Fang Yuan's control as it tried to break free from the refinement structure.
Fang Yuan's expression was calm.
He had already experienced this once.
His hands moved steadily, guiding the transformation with precise movements. Fang Ming sat nearby and stabilized the outer flow, while Counterfeit Copy Gu continued moving silently inside his aperture, following the rhythm of the refinement.
The blood field changed again.
The blue-green spring wheat gradually turned into golden autumn wheat.
Five hundred years as autumn.
Soon, the cloud condensed into a Gu shaped like a golden peanut shell. Scarlet blood markings covered its surface. It was no longer the unstable false Gu that could only survive for a few days.
This form could last for forty years.
But it was still false.
It was not real, and it was not immortal.
Before Fang Yuan could continue, the battle outside erupted.
Tie Bai Qi appeared with his white ape army, forcefully opening a road through the dog formation. Tie Ruo Nan advanced under the protection of Tie clan's four old-timers, heading straight toward the bronze hall.
Ba Gui personally controlled the dog army, but the battlefield was too large. The blessed land was weakening, while experts from outside were pressing in from all directions.
Not long after, Tie Ruo Nan entered the bronze hall.
Her eyes immediately locked onto Fang Yuan.
"Fang Yuan, today is the day I take your head."
Bai Ning Bing moved.
He blocked Tie Ruo Nan with ice methods, but Fang Yuan's gaze remained cold.
He was no longer deceived.
The fight only continued for a short while before Bai Ning Bing's body began turning crystalline. Ice spread across the hall, imitating the scene of the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique self-destruction.
Fang Yuan raised his hand.
Yang Gu flew out.
Bai Ning Bing's eyes flashed.
But halfway there, Yang Gu suddenly turned around and returned to Fang Yuan's palm.
The ice stopped spreading.
Bai Ning Bing's expression changed.
Fang Yuan held Yang Gu in one hand and the golden peanut-shell Gu in the other, looking at him calmly.
"Bai Ning Bing, have you acted enough?"
The hall became silent.
Bai Ning Bing stared at him.
Fang Yuan smiled coldly: "In Shang clan city, you purposely lost to Yan Tu so that you could meet Doctor Su Shou. You used death and revival to remove the poison vow, then secretly cooperated with Tie Ruo Nan and Tie clan's four old-timers."
Tie Ruo Nan's expression changed.
Fang Ming stood to the side, showing surprise at the right moment.
But inside, his thoughts were calm.
Fang Yuan had started cutting apart the trap.
Bai Ning Bing's eyes narrowed. "How did you know?"
Fang Yuan did not answer.
He only raised his left arm. "Fixed Star Gu is also here, right?"
Tie clan's four old-timers' faces sank.
Tie Ruo Nan clenched her fists.
Their trap had been exposed before it could close.
But Tie Ruo Nan quickly regained her composure. "So what if you know? Your Immortal Gu refinement is still unfinished. The outside experts will soon break in. You have no time left."
Ba Gui appeared beside Fang Yuan. Its old face was full of grief.
"She is right. The refinement cannot continue like this. There are too many enemies, and there are too many holes in the blessed land. If I use immortal essence to kill them, there will not be enough left to finish the Gu."
Its voice trembled as it continued, "Young man, this Immortal Gu refinement has failed."
Fang Yuan looked at the golden peanut-shell Gu.
Then he smiled.
"Failed for now."
Ba Gui froze.
Fang Yuan's gaze deepened. "Ba Gui, if you die, who else in this world knows the recipe?"
Ba Gui's eyes moved.
"Me," Fang Yuan said. "The half-finished Gu is also here. So if you still want the old master's wish to have another chance, then protect me."
Ba Gui's grief weakened slightly.
Fang Yuan continued: "But there is still one path."
"One path?" Ba Gui asked urgently.
Fang Yuan looked upward.
"Do you remember the third section of the second chapter of The Legends of Ren Zu?"
Ba Gui trembled. "You mean… no, impossible. That requires the light of glory from the immemorial era!"
Fang Ming's eyes sharpened.
He understood.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Fang Yuan," he said softly, "you are a true madman."
Fang Yuan glanced at him.
Fang Ming looked toward the broken sky above the hall.
"But I like where this is going."
At that moment, outside the bronze hall, Xiao Mang rose into the sky.
Sunlight gathered around him.
Gather Light Gu.
Extreme Light Gu.
River Under the Sun Gu.
Killer move — Torrential Light Stream!
A river of blazing light poured down from the hole in the blessed land's sky. The entire battlefield turned white, and many Gu Masters shut their eyes, unable to look directly at it.
The light river crashed toward the bronze hall.
"The light is here," Fang Yuan said.
Ba Gui was shaken.
Tie Ruo Nan's pupils shrank.
Bai Ning Bing's bad feeling became even stronger.
Fang Yuan activated Bone Wings Gu. Black wings spread from his back, while Liquid Metal Gu covered his body and turned him into a golden figure.
Then he moved.
He flew directly toward the descending river of light.
"You lunatic!" Tie Ruo Nan shouted.
Bai Ning Bing's expression finally changed.
Fang Ming moved at the same time.
Starlight Gu flashed beneath his feet. Tyrannical Dash Gu erupted, pushing his body upward in violent bursts. He was not flying as smoothly as Fang Yuan, but the repeated bursts of movement still carried him beside Fang Yuan like a dark arrow rushing upward.
He had to stay close.
Counterfeit Copy Gu was already following the transformation. If the distance became too far, the thread connecting his counterfeit embryo to the real refinement process might break.
Outwardly, Fang Ming looked like he was protecting Fang Yuan.
In truth, he was protecting and stealing at the same time.
Several attacks flew toward Fang Yuan.
Tie clan's golden needles.
Yan Jun's phantom path strike.
There were also scattered attacks from Gu Masters outside who saw Fang Yuan flying toward the light.
Fang Ming intercepted them.
Mountain Shell Gu covered his body as he took the first wave head-on. Eclipse Moonlight Gu flashed and cut apart two incoming attacks. A golden needle pierced his shoulder, but White Lotus Healing Gu immediately began closing the wound.
He did not use blood path.
Not here, and not now.
Fang Yuan continued flying upward.
The Torrential Light Stream smashed against him, pushing him downward, but he forced his way against it.
"Ba Gui!" Fang Yuan shouted.
Divine Travel Gu landed in his palm.
Jade Sky Gu emerged from his aperture and turned into a hollow jade-green bamboo.
At the same time, Tie clan's four old-timers reacted.
"Stop him!"
They knelt in four directions.
Infinite Search and Lock!
Four chains tore through space and rushed toward Fang Yuan.
On Fang Yuan's left forearm, Fixed Star Gu shone with eerie blue light.
The chains had found their target.
Fang Ming saw them approaching and moved to block them, but Fang Yuan was faster.
Divine Travel Gu suddenly flew into his left arm.
It devoured Fixed Star Gu.
The connection vanished.
The four chains instantly lost their target. They twisted wildly in the air before being smashed apart by the river of light.
Tie clan's four old-timers coughed blood.
Tie Ruo Nan's face turned pale.
Fixed Star Gu had been destroyed.
Their capture method was broken.
Divine Travel Gu entered Jade Sky Gu.
Inside the hollow jade-green bamboo, a cocoon rapidly formed.
The light of glory from the immemorial era poured around them, causing the cocoon to become brighter and brighter.
Fang Yuan was refining Gu.
But it was not Second Aperture Gu.
It was something else.
Something born from Divine Travel Gu, Jade Sky Gu, and the immemorial light.
Fang Ming stayed close beside him, blocking scattered attacks while maintaining the thread inside his aperture.
Counterfeit Copy Gu trembled violently.
The counterfeit embryo changed.
At first, it had followed the structure of Second Aperture Gu.
Then it had absorbed the lifespan transformations.
Now, as Divine Travel Gu devoured Fixed Star Gu and entered Jade Sky Gu under the immemorial light, the counterfeit embryo twisted toward a new direction.
Movement.
Location.
Space.
A fixed point.
A destination.
Fang Ming's breathing slowed.
This was it.
This was the true opportunity.
Not the golden peanut-shell Gu.
Not Second Aperture Gu either.
The path toward Fixed Immortal Travel had begun.
The river of light continued hammering down.
Fang Yuan flew upward against it.
Fang Ming flew beside him, blocking what he could, enduring what he could not block, and keeping Counterfeit Copy Gu alive through sheer focus.
The battlefield below had already fallen into chaos.
Tie Ruo Nan shouted loudly.
Bai Ning Bing stared upward.
Xiao Mang looked at the strange golden figure flying into his killer move with disbelief.
Mo Wu Tian's purple eyes shone as he understood that something extraordinary was happening.
But it was already too late to stop.
Inside the light, the cocoon formed completely.
Fang Yuan laughed.
Fang Ming's lips curved faintly.
The false Second Aperture path had ended.
A greater path had opened.