Chapter: Toward Sacred Palace
Within two days, Fang Ming's eagles had spread across almost all of Imperial Court blessed land.
The blessed land was vast, but the sky belonged to wings.
During the day, his eagle network expanded quickly. Lower-rank eagles swept across plains and hills, rank four wind chaser eagles crossed great distances, and rank five flying beasts moved even faster, piercing through the golden sky like dark arrows.
But night slowed everything.
Imperial Court blessed land had day and night. When the golden sky turned silver, vision decreased sharply. During the day, Fang Ming's eagles could observe far and wide from above, but at night, their clear scouting range dropped to only one to three kilometers. Worse, many beasts became active after dark.
Blissful snow bats.
Night-hunting birds.
Strange flying insects.
Predators that hid in cliffs and clouds during the day began moving once silver light filled the sky.
Fang Ming did not force his eagles to fight at a disadvantage. He slowed the scouting during the night, gathered the weaker eagles closer, and only let the high-rank eagles patrol limited routes.
Speed mattered.
But preservation mattered more.
Even so, his gains were substantial.
In two days, he found and subdued three hawk groups and two eagle groups. Each group had a rank five myriad beast king. By the end of the hunt, Fang Ming's rank five flying beasts had increased to eight.
Three rank five crown eagles.
One mutated bronze-feather hawk.
Two storm chaser hawks.
Two thunder eagles.
Their groups were also absorbed into his force. Adult hawks, young eagles, injured flyers, and several nests' worth of eggs were gathered and carefully stored inside Eagle Totem Storage Gu and his other storage Gu.
Fang Ming was satisfied.
There were still more eagle and hawk groups in Imperial Court blessed land. His scouting had already found several of them. But some were too far away, and others were too large to subdue without heavy losses.
He did not chase them.
His goal was not to exhaust himself before reaching Sacred Palace.
After replenishing his aerial force, Fang Ming shifted his focus.
Inheritances.
Imperial Court blessed land was filled with them.
Some were hidden in valleys, some were sealed under stones, some were guarded by beast groups, and some were no more than dying remnants left behind by mortal Gu Masters who had once entered Imperial Court blessed land and failed to return.
There were thousands of them.
Most were useless to Fang Ming.
A water path inheritance did not move him.
A fire path inheritance was marked and abandoned.
A small earth path inheritance was ignored after a single glance.
He had no interest in collecting scraps just because they were available.
But one inheritance caught his attention.
A strength path inheritance.
More accurately, it was a totem strength inheritance.
Fang Ming stood on a cliff and looked down at the valley where the inheritance was hidden.
Below him were gorillas.
They were huge black-haired gorillas with arms like stone pillars and eyes filled with violent intelligence. Four rank five myriad beast kings guarded the valley, each leading its own group.
Under normal circumstances, Fang Ming would ignore this place.
Gorillas were ground beasts, but they were powerful. Fighting them in narrow terrain would reduce the advantage of flight. If he sent the eagles down recklessly, the casualties would be severe.
But the inheritance itself was too tempting.
Fang Ming's eyes narrowed.
This was not an ordinary strength path inheritance.
It was an imitation of Reckless Savage Demon Venerable's style, but only at the mortal level.
The creator had not obtained any true Reckless Savage inheritance. Instead, he had studied scattered rumors, beast transformation concepts, and strength path body-tempering methods, then created his own tattoo-based system.
The result was crude compared to a real venerable inheritance.
But for mortal Gu Masters, it was still extremely valuable.
The inheritance described a method of using Gu materials to engrave permanent totems onto the body. These tattoos formed fixed killer-move patterns that could be activated rapidly during battle.
They were not immortal killer moves.
They were only equivalent to powerful rank five killer moves.
But in raw effect, they were stronger than ordinary rank five peak killer moves.
Their greatest advantage was speed.
Because the killer-move structure was already engraved onto the body, the user did not need to spend many thoughts coordinating Gu worms every time. With one activation, the tattoo could unleash its prepared power.
Even a rank five early stage Gu Master could use it.
That made it a true trump card.
But the drawbacks were also heavy.
Each activation consumed lifespan.
The totem was permanent.
A person could only carry one type of totem on their body.
The effect was fixed, and it was not flexible like ordinary killer moves.
If an enemy understood its nature, it could be countered.
This was not something to use every day.
It was something to use when life and death were separated by one breath.
Fang Ming gave the order.
The battle was brutal.
His eagles controlled the sky, but the gorillas controlled the valley. Rocks were thrown into the air like meteors. Several lower-rank eagles were smashed instantly. Rank four eagles and hawks dove again and again, tearing open gaps, only to be forced back by the roaring gorilla kings.
One storm chaser hawk was caught by a rank five gorilla and ripped apart.
Another rank five flying beast died while restraining the second gorilla king long enough for a crown eagle to strike.
Dozens of rank four hawks and eagles were lost.
The valley was covered in feathers and blood.
But Fang Ming did not retreat.
Strength path Gu activated when needed, but he still kept the battle centered around enslavement command. He used his eagles to divide the gorilla groups, lure the kings apart, and exhaust their throwing range.
Only after a long struggle did the valley fall silent.
Fang Ming entered the inheritance site alone.
Inside was a stone chamber covered in old murals.
The murals showed human bodies marked by beast tattoos.
Tiger.
Bear.
Ox.
Ape.
Eagle.
Each tattoo represented a different type of rank five trump-card killer move.
The tiger totem focused on explosive attack.
The bear totem focused on defense and endurance.
The ox totem focused on strength and collision.
The ape totem focused on grappling and close combat.
The eagle totem focused on burst movement and aerial pursuit.
Fang Ming read slowly.
The inheritance was not complete. It was also not flexible enough to replace a proper Gu set, and once it was exposed, others could prepare methods to counter it.
And every activation consumed lifespan.
Still, Fang Ming's eyes brightened.
The concept was genius.
A permanent externalized killer move.
A body carrying prepared power.
A trump card that could be released instantly without arranging thoughts in battle.
Crude.
Dangerous.
Costly.
But useful.
Especially for someone like Fang Ming.
He already had strength path methods. He already had flying beasts. He also had hidden blood path methods. A tattoo killer move could become one more hidden card, something that could erupt suddenly when the enemy thought they had already measured his limits.
Fang Ming stored the inheritance carefully.
The losses were heavy.
Two rank five flying beasts and many rank four eagles had died.
But it was worth it.
Not because this inheritance was a supreme treasure.
Not because it could compare to true immortal methods.
But because the idea itself opened doors.
A mortal rank five killer move permanently engraved onto the body.
A trump card stronger than ordinary rank five peak killer moves.
A method usable by lower-stage rank five Gu Masters, paid for with lifespan.
After resting briefly, Fang Ming continued searching.
More reports flowed back from his scouting eagles.
There were still inheritances.
Many of them.
A possible wind path inheritance in the west.
A beast transformation inheritance hidden in a ravine.
A suspicious sealed area near a lake.
A strength path cave guarded by stone bulls.
A group of high-rank cranes near a cloud ridge.
Fang Ming looked at the reports in silence.
He wanted them.
Of course he wanted them.
He wanted to become an enslavement path Gu Immortal, yet right now, he only had mortal-level foundations. Every inheritance could contain something useful, even if it was only a small idea.
But greed had to obey timing.
Sacred Palace was about to open.
If he continued chasing scattered inheritances, he would lose the main road.
Imperial Court blessed land was full of opportunities, but Eighty-Eight True Yang Building was the true core.
Fang Ming stood on the back of a crown eagle as night silver spread across the sky.
Below him, the captured hawk and eagle groups settled around temporary nests. Injured birds were treated. Eggs were sealed. The totem strength inheritance was stored separately.
His losses were heavy, but his gains were also good.
A mutated bronze-feather hawk.
Several hawk and eagle groups.
A large number of eggs.
A mortal-level totem strength inheritance imitating the direction of Reckless Savage Demon Venerable.
Two rank five flying beasts had died, but six remained.
Three crown eagles.
One mutated bronze-feather hawk.
Two thunder eagles.
Fang Ming exhaled slowly.
He raised his hand.
The eagles gathered.
The crown eagles spread their wings, and the remaining flock followed.
Fang Ming looked toward the direction of Sacred Palace.
Imperial Court blessed land still hid many scattered opportunities.
But scattered opportunities were not the core.
The true inheritance road was ahead.
Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.