Chapter 114: A Wounded Immortal
Fang Ming coughed blood.
It spilled between his fingers, dark and thick, carrying traces of immortal aura that had not yet fully settled. His body leaned against a broken stone pillar, his breath rough and uneven. Every inhale felt like molten iron scraping through his chest, and every exhale made the cracks across his flesh burn.
He had succeeded.
He had become a Gu Immortal.
But success did not mean safety.
His robes were half-burned, half-torn. Beneath them, his skin was covered in wounds that refused to close properly. Some were cuts from tribulation force, some were burns from the rain of fire, and some were deeper injuries caused by the violent transformation of his own body during ascension.
The Great Strength True Martial Physique had not given him a gentle path.
It had given him a road paved with blood.
Inside his body, the immortal aperture had already formed. Fang Ming could feel it breathing quietly within him, vast and powerful, like a new world that had just opened its eyes.
Eleven thousand square kilometers.
Thirty-eight times the flow of time.
One day outside meant thirty-eight days inside.
Even through the pain, Fang Ming felt a faint satisfaction.
This was an excellent immortal aperture.
A true foundation.
His ascension had not been shallow. It had not been rushed like a desperate escape. His preparation, his dao marks, his Steel Body inheritance, the Great Strength True Martial Physique, his observation of Tai Bai Yun Sheng, and the small thread of fortune he had borrowed from Ma Hong Yun — all of it had turned into this result.
But the price…
Fang Ming slowly lifted his head.
The world before him had become hell.
Eighty-Eight True Yang Building was no longer merely damaged. It was shattering.
The tower that had once seemed eternal now groaned under overlapping disasters. Formless hands drifted through the air, snatching Gu worms from unlucky Gu Masters. Fire rained from the sky like falling lava, burning through flesh, stone, and Gu formations alike. The ground split again and again, earthquakes tearing open great wounds across Imperial Court blessed land.
Far away, a desolate beast roared.
Then another answered.
Of the five desolate beasts drawn by his ascension, one had already been destroyed by Giant Sun's will after a bitter struggle. Four still remained, rampaging through the collapsing blessed land and attacking whatever carried the aura of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.
The calamities had stacked too heavily.
Fang Yuan's immortal ascension.
His own ten extreme physique ascension.
The refinement of Tyrannical Strength Immortal Gu.
The refinement of Unfathomable Will Immortal Gu.
The formless hands.
The rain of fire.
The earthquakes.
The desolate beasts.
Even Giant Sun's will had reached its limit. Fang Ming had sensed the moment that ancient will's defense cracked. It had endured too much, resisted too much, and carried too much of heaven and earth's rage.
Then it gave way.
The disasters fell directly onto Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.
Gu Masters died in waves.
Some were swallowed by cracks in the ground. Some were burned by falling fire. Some screamed as formless hands tore away their vital Gu. Others were crushed beneath collapsing sections of the building before they even understood what had happened.
Fang Ming watched a piece of Imperial Court blessed land split open in the distance.
For a moment, there was only darkness beyond it.
Then the winds of assimilation appeared.
Silent.
Gray.
Endless.
They devoured the broken fragment of the blessed land as if erasing it from existence.
Fang Ming's eyes narrowed.
Enough.
This had gone beyond the plan.
He had wanted Giant Sun to bear part of the calamity for him. He had wanted Eighty-Eight True Yang Building to serve as a shield. That had worked, but the result had become far more devastating than expected.
The blessed land itself was collapsing.
If he stayed, he might die here even after succeeding.
Right now, even a mortal could threaten him if the timing was right. Hei Lou Lan was still alive. Fang Yuan was somewhere in the chaos. Giant Sun's will had not vanished completely. Desolate beasts roamed freely. Formless hands could steal his Gu if he was careless.
Fang Ming was a Gu Immortal now.
But he was also heavily injured, newly ascended, and far from stable.
He pushed himself away from the stone pillar.
His legs nearly failed beneath him.
Fang Ming coughed again, then wiped the blood from his lips.
"It is time to leave."
The moment he prepared to activate Teleport Gu, a figure appeared ahead of him.
Hei Lou Lan.
Her clothes were damaged, and her aura was no longer fully suppressed. The pressure of the Great Strength True Martial Physique leaked from her body like heat from a furnace. Her eyes were fixed on Fang Ming, complicated and unreadable.
She had seen it.
She had seen his ascension.
She had seen what a ten extreme physique calamity looked like when it was forced into the world.
It was not something a mortal could survive alone.
Without the chaos of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, without Giant Sun's will bearing part of the burden, without the overlapping disasters splitting attention and force, Fang Ming might not have lived.
And Hei Lou Lan understood what that meant for herself.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Fire fell in the distance.
A desolate beast roared, shaking the air.
Fang Ming looked at her calmly, though his face was pale and blood still stained his chin.
Hei Lou Lan's gaze moved across his injuries, then returned to his eyes.
"You succeeded."
Fang Ming gave a faint laugh, but the movement made his chest ache.
"Barely."
Hei Lou Lan's expression shifted.
Barely.
That word carried more weight than any boast.
She was also Great Strength True Martial Physique. She also needed to ascend. She also knew the blade hanging above her head. But after witnessing Fang Ming's calamity, the road before her no longer looked like ambition.
It looked like death.
Her hands slowly clenched.
"Can I borrow your strength path Immortal Gu?"
The request was direct.
There was no time for politeness, and neither of them had the temperament for it.
Fang Ming looked at her.
Hei Lou Lan continued, "For my ascension."
The surrounding air seemed to still for a breath.
To borrow an Immortal Gu for immortal ascension was an enormous matter. If Hei Lou Lan failed, the Gu could be destroyed. Even if it survived, it might be lost in the calamity. In the Gu world, Immortal Gu were priceless. Most Gu Immortals would rather risk a relationship than lend one out casually.
Fang Ming's gaze lowered slightly.
He thought quickly.
Steel Body Strength Immortal Gu was valuable. Very valuable.
But was it irreplaceable?
Not to him.
Fang Ming's view of Gu had never been the same as ordinary Gu Masters. Before, his copies had been weaker, limited by his mortal foundation. Now he was a Gu Immortal. His Counterfeit Copy would no longer produce such fragile shadows. Every month, he could copy one Immortal Gu. The world was full of Gu, and Lang Ya blessed land alone held countless opportunities.
Gu were precious.
But opportunities were more precious.
Hei Lou Lan was not merely a person with Great Strength True Martial Physique.
She was a center of future storms.
Dozens of opportunities would gather around her. Enemies, inheritances, alliances, revenge, ambition — all of them would move because she existed. If she ascended successfully, her value as an ally would far exceed one strength path Immortal Gu.
Especially if her immortal aperture approached his own.
A Gu Immortal with Great Strength True Martial Physique and limitless future potential was worth investing in.
Fang Ming raised his hand.
A metallic aura appeared.
Steel Body Strength Immortal Gu emerged, giving off a dense, heavy pressure. Even damaged and exhausted as Fang Ming was, the aura of the Immortal Gu still made the air feel harder.
He threw it.
Hei Lou Lan caught the Gu instinctively.
Then she froze.
She had expected refusal.
Or conditions.
Or bargaining.
She had not expected Fang Ming to hand it over so easily.
Her eyes lowered to the Immortal Gu in her hand, then rose back to Fang Ming.
"You are not afraid I will fail?"
"If you fail, then my judgment was poor."
Hei Lou Lan's expression became even more complicated.
Fang Ming's face remained calm.
"But if you succeed, then this Gu was well spent."
Those words were plain, but Hei Lou Lan understood.
He was not being generous.
He was investing.
That made the act easier to accept.
After a few breaths, she asked, "Do you need help leaving?"
Fang Ming shook his head.
"I have my own way."
His injuries were worsening. The longer he remained here, the more dangerous the situation became. He could already feel formless hands drifting closer through the ruined space, and the fire rain was spreading toward this area.
Fang Ming gave her a treasure yellow heaven identity.
"Contact me after you ascend."
Hei Lou Lan memorized it silently.
Fang Ming added, "If you have a method to reach me before or during your ascension and need assistance, contact me as well."
Hei Lou Lan looked at him for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
No oath.
No gratitude.
No unnecessary words.
The Immortal Gu in her hand was already heavier than any promise.
Fang Ming activated Teleport Gu.
Space folded around him.
Hei Lou Lan watched his figure blur.
The next instant, Fang Ming disappeared from Imperial Court blessed land.
When Fang Ming appeared again, the air was different.
There was no burning rain.
No formless hands.
No collapsing golden sky.
No desolate beast roar.
Only the strange, stable atmosphere of Lang Ya blessed land.
Fang Ming landed heavily and nearly fell.
Blood spilled from his mouth again.
A voice rang out almost immediately.
"What happened to you? Why do you look like a corpse that crawled out of a calamity pit?"
Lang Ya land spirit appeared in front of him, eyes wide and beard shaking.
Then his expression changed.
He stared at Fang Ming more carefully.
The aura.
The immortal aperture.
The transformation of life essence.
Lang Ya land spirit blinked.
"Oh? You became a Gu Immortal."
Then he nodded as if everything suddenly made sense.
"No wonder, no wonder! Looking at you, the calamity was not small."
Fang Ming laughed weakly.
The laugh turned into another cough.
"If you have healing methods, I am willing to pay a premium."
Lang Ya land spirit's eyes brightened.
"Premium?"
Fang Ming leaned against a stone platform and looked at him.
"Name your price."
Lang Ya land spirit stroked his beard, his gaze moving across Fang Ming like a craftsman staring at rare material.
"I can heal you. But I want to study your Immortal Gu."
Fang Ming smiled.
Even injured, he had expected this.
Lang Ya land spirit's curiosity toward Gu was stronger than most people's greed toward wealth. A newly ascended Gu Immortal arriving half-dead with several unusual Immortal Gu was not something he could ignore.
"Fine," Fang Ming said.
Lang Ya land spirit's smile widened.
But Fang Ming continued, "In return, I also want to study some of your Gu."
The land spirit paused.
Then he laughed.
"You brat, you bargain even while bleeding!"
"I am bleeding. I am not dead."
Lang Ya land spirit laughed louder.
"Good! Good! This is fair. I study yours, you study mine. But no damaging anything!"
"Agreed."
Only then did Lang Ya land spirit wave his hand.
Healing methods activated around Fang Ming.
A gentle light surrounded him, sinking into his torn flesh and cracked bones. The pain did not vanish immediately, but the bleeding slowed. Some wounds began closing. His unstable aura calmed slightly.
Fang Ming let out a slow breath.
For the first time since his ascension, he allowed himself to sit down fully.
The danger had not vanished.
But he had escaped the battlefield.
Lang Ya blessed land was safe.
For now.
That thought made Fang Ming's eyes darken slightly.
For now.
Lang Ya land spirit would not attack him today. There was the covenant related to Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable. There was also their current agreement. Lang Ya land spirit still owed him Immortal Gu refinement.
Three Immortal Gu.
One had already been refined.
Two remained.
But after those obligations ended, what then?
If Fang Ming appeared here again in this condition, would Lang Ya land spirit still heal him? Would he still bargain fairly? Or would curiosity, greed, or caution push him to suppress a wounded Gu Immortal who carried valuable Gu and secrets?
Fang Ming did not blame him.
That was the Gu world.
A wounded beast without a den could only depend on the mercy of others.
And mercy was unreliable.
His immortal aperture pulsed quietly inside him.
Eleven thousand square kilometers.
Thirty-eight times time flow.
An excellent foundation.
But an immortal aperture was not only a result of ascension. It was a territory. A base. A world that needed management, resources, food chains, Gu feeding systems, mortals, beasts, and protection.
The food path inheritance suddenly felt heavier in his mind.
Before, it had been future value.
Now, it was immediate necessity.
He needed his own blessed land.
Not merely an aperture existing inside him, but a true base he could rely on. A place to recover after disasters. A place to store Gu, raise beasts, cultivate resources, and hide from enemies. A place where he was not a guest, not a borrower, not a wounded outsider relying on someone else's rules.
Lang Ya land spirit watched the healing light work and muttered to himself, already thinking about which Immortal Gu he wanted to inspect first.
Fang Ming closed his eyes.
He had become a Gu Immortal.
He had survived the Great Strength True Martial Physique ascension.
He had refined Tyrannical Strength Immortal Gu and Unfathomable Will Immortal Gu.
He had gained a powerful immortal aperture.
But he had also learned something else.
Power without a safe place to retreat was incomplete.
A Gu Immortal without a foundation was only a stronger wanderer.
And a wounded wanderer was still prey.