The wind began softly.
At first, it was only a faint current passing through Sacred Palace, brushing past roof tiles and banners.
Then the clouds gathered.
The sky darkened.
The earth trembled.
One courtyard after another fell into silence as Gu Masters raised their heads. Some were confused, some uneasy, and some already showed fear.
This was not one of the ordinary tremors caused by Frost Jade Peacock.
This was different.
Heaven and earth were moving.
At the center of the change was Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
The old man stood alone, white beard fluttering in the rising wind. The warmth and kindness he usually carried had vanished. His expression was twisted, almost crazed, but beneath that madness was relief.
He had chosen.
No lifespan Gu.
No retreat.
Only ascension.
Hei Lou Lan received the news quickly.
When he heard that Tai Bai Yun Sheng was attempting to advance to Gu Immortal, his expression froze for several breaths.
Then he roared.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat from Sacred Palace!"
No one dared hesitate.
Gu Masters fled in waves, rushing away from the center of the disturbance.
Immortal ascension was not something mortals could watch from close range without danger. Heaven qi and earth qi could trigger reactions in Gu worms. A careless activation nearby might cause backlash, injury, or even death.
The crowd withdrew in panic.
Some ran blindly.
Some flew into the sky.
Some climbed distant hills and activated investigative Gu from afar.
Fang Ming also moved.
But he did not retreat as far as the others.
He chose a place close enough to observe, but far enough to avoid being swallowed by the direct pressure of heaven and earth qi.
He stood on a high structure at the edge of Sacred Palace, robes moving in the wind, eyes fixed on Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
This was a rare lesson.
A mortal advancing to Gu Immortal.
Fang Ming would not waste it.
His own path was no longer ordinary. He carried the Great Strength True Martial Physique, and his deadline was drawing closer day by day. If he failed to ascend within four months, his body would destroy itself.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's ascension would not solve Fang Ming's problem.
But it could show him the process.
The real process.
Not words in an inheritance.
Not cold records.
A living example.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's body slowly rose into the air.
The wind roared.
Above him, dark clouds gathered into a giant vortex.
Below him, yellow-brown dust churned, forming another vortex on the earth.
The two vortexes faced each other like millstones.
Heaven above.
Earth below.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng between them.
Fang Ming narrowed his eyes.
The first step had already happened.
Breaking the aperture.
Once a Gu Master shattered their aperture, there was no road back. Either the mortal body transformed and an immortal aperture formed, or everything ended in death.
This step required courage.
But courage alone was worthless.
The true difficulty came after.
Heaven qi descended.
Clear, bright, and free.
Earth qi rose.
Heavy, dense, and profound.
From Tai Bai Yun Sheng's body, white human qi surged outward.
His human qi was extremely thick.
It formed around him like a cocoon, dense and majestic. This was the accumulation of a lifetime: experience, emotions, regrets, achievements, failures, and the foundation built across countless years.
Fang Ming watched without blinking.
He paid special attention to the human qi.
Counterfeit Human Qi Gu appeared in his thoughts.
That counterfeit Gu could only add human qi.
It could not remove it.
The scene before him made its danger clearer.
Human qi was not something to pour in blindly.
Too little, and the three qi would not balance.
Too much, and the ascender would self-detonate.
Timing mattered.
Control mattered.
Restraint mattered even more.
Fang Ming silently engraved the scene into his memory.
Heaven qi fell like rain.
Earth qi rose like mist.
Human qi wrapped Tai Bai Yun Sheng from within.
The three qi began to merge.
The pressure spread outward.
Some Gu Masters watching from too close screamed and retreated again. Their Gu worms trembled inside their apertures, disturbed by the qi movement.
Fang Ming remained still.
He did not activate any Gu.
He only watched.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng laughed madly in the air.
"Come!"
The heaven and earth vortexes turned.
Lightning flashed in the dark clouds.
Purple smoke rose from the earth.
The three qi blended around the old man, and for a moment, Tai Bai Yun Sheng's figure seemed to blur into the world itself.
Fang Ming understood.
This was the moment where danger became temptation.
During immortal ascension, heaven and earth opened themselves to the mortal. The Great Dao appeared closer than ever before. Inspiration, understanding, and countless truths could surge into the mind.
A weaker person would lose themselves in that feeling.
A greedy person would draw in too much heaven qi and earth qi.
A careless person would fail to balance the three qi.
Any mistake meant death.
Fang Ming's eyes became deep.
His own ascension would be worse.
The Great Strength True Martial Physique would draw more power, create greater danger, and produce a stronger calamity. His body was already full to the limit. When he broke his aperture, the reaction would not be gentle.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's ascension was a reference.
Not a guarantee.
In the distance, Hei Lou Lan watched with a complex expression.
He was also studying.
He also needed to ascend one day.
But Fang Ming knew Hei Lou Lan's situation was different. Hei Lou Lan still searched for a strength path Immortal Gu. He was not ready.
Fang Ming already had Steel Body Gu.
He had Counterfeit Human Qi Gu.
He had the Steel Body inheritance.
He had the physique.
What he lacked was experience and timing.
Now, the first part of that experience was being placed before him.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng stabilized the three qi.
The merging continued.
Several knowledgeable Gu Masters gasped in shock.
"He actually stabilized it!"
"Tai Bai Yun Sheng's accumulation is truly deep."
"He might really succeed…"
Fang Ming remained silent.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's control was steady.
Not perfect, but steady.
The old man had walked through life long enough to gather a vast human qi. His despair had pushed him to risk everything, but his foundation had not vanished.
This was why he could endure.
But this was still far from success.
Breaking the aperture was only the beginning.
Taking in qi was only the next gate.
There were still calamities.
There was still the transformation of dao marks.
There was still the formation of the immortal aperture.
There was still the final refinement of his core Gu.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng had only started becoming a Gu Immortal.
He had not crossed the finish line.
Then the ground shook again.
This tremor was different.
It did not come from Tai Bai Yun Sheng alone.
It came from Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.
Fang Ming's gaze shifted.
The giant structure trembled violently. Sacred Palace shook with it. Dust fell, courtyards cracked, and distant buildings collapsed.
The crowd panicked again.
"What is happening now?"
"Eighty-Eight True Yang Building!"
"Is this because of the ascension?"
Fang Ming's expression grew serious.
He understood.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was ascending inside Imperial Court blessed land.
This was not the outside world.
He was drawing heaven qi and earth qi from this small world itself. That weakened Imperial Court blessed land, and the one most affected was the land spirit.
Frost Jade Peacock.
The land spirit had already been partially awakened by Fang Yuan.
It had been waiting for the seal to weaken further.
But Tai Bai Yun Sheng's ascension forced the issue.
If Giant Sun's will woke before Frost Jade Peacock acted, its chance would vanish.
So it resisted.
Inside the deeper layers of the blessed land, the land spirit struggled against the old chains.
The tremor intensified.
Fang Ming's hand moved lightly toward his sleeve.
His strengthened copied owner token was hidden there.
At first, it was still.
Then it heated.
Only slightly.
But Fang Ming felt it immediately.
A vast pressure stirred inside Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.
Ancient.
Majestic.
Terrifying.
Like a sun opening its eye inside darkness.
Giant Sun's will.
Awake.
Fang Ming's expression did not change.
The copied owner token had already served its purpose.
It had brought him into the treasure room.
It had helped him obtain the Steel Body inheritance.
It had allowed him to harvest authority before Giant Sun's will awakened.
But now, it had become a thread leading back to him.
And Fang Ming would not keep a thread that an Immortal Venerable's will could pull.
His fingers loosened.
The copied token silently slipped from his sleeve and fell into the chaotic dust below.
"Time to discard it."
No reluctance appeared in Fang Ming's eyes.
A useful tool was worth keeping.
A dangerous tool was worth abandoning.
The moment Giant Sun's will awakened, the token changed from key to liability.
Fang Ming withdrew his hand calmly.
No aura leaked.
No abnormality appeared.
To everyone else, he was still only watching Tai Bai Yun Sheng's ascension.
But in that brief moment, Fang Ming had cut away one of his greatest risks.
His gaze remained fixed ahead, like every other observer watching Tai Bai Yun Sheng's ascension.
But inwardly, Fang Ming's heart became cold.
The situation had changed.
Before this, he had been exploiting a sleeping structure.
Hidden owner token.
Copied authority.
Treasure room access.
True inheritance secluded domain.
All of those had been possible because Giant Sun's will remained asleep.
Now, that era was ending.
From this point forward, using the copied token carelessly could attract attention.
Every movement connected to Eighty-Eight True Yang Building's authority would become dangerous.
Fang Ming looked back at Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
The old man was still suspended between heaven and earth.
The three qi continued merging.
His immortal ascension had only just begun.
But for Fang Ming, the opening lesson had already become valuable.
He had seen the aperture-breaking aftermath.
He had seen heaven qi descend.
He had seen earth qi rise.
He had seen human qi surge.
He had seen how the three qi began to balance.
He had seen how easily a Gu Master could be swallowed by the Great Dao's closeness.
And he had confirmed the greatest danger of his Counterfeit Human Qi Gu.
Human qi could save him.
Or kill him.
Fang Ming exhaled slowly.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was gambling with old age.
Hei Lou Lan was gambling with a strength path Immortal Gu.
Fang Yuan was gambling with Frost Jade Peacock and Giant Sun's arrangements.
And Fang Ming was gambling with time.
Four months.
No.
Less now.
He looked toward Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, feeling the awakened will stirring within its depths.
The easy harvesting phase was over.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's ascension had not ended.
The real danger was still to come.
And from now on, every step Fang Ming took would be under the shadow of Giant Sun's will.