Chapter 162: Empty Home
One month passed.
To the outside world, it was only a short pause after the Northern Plains auction. The storm created by the auction had not even fully settled. Gu Immortals were still digesting their gains, selling information, contacting allies, or hiding newly obtained Immortal Gu.
But inside Fang Ming's aperture, far more time had passed.
The villages continued to grow.
The factories continued refining one-time-use tattoo killer moves.
The eagle formations continued operating.
The relocated junglefowl blessed land was being reorganized under Ju Go, Fairy Huang Sha, and Bian Si Xuan's earlier arrangements. Mortals and Gu Masters were being selected, moved, and prepared to support the Eastern Sea island that would become the foundation of the future Free Market.
But Fang Ming had recalled his Gu Immortals.
For a special operation.
Fairy Huang Sha.
Fairy Qing Suo.
Fairy Fen Meng.
Fairy Bian Si Xuan.
Ju Go.
All of them had been brought back into his aperture at different times, received instructions, and were given preparations according to their roles.
Heavy Lifting Immortal Gu had been lent to Fairy Bian Si Xuan.
Inner Strength Qi Immortal Gu had been lent to Fairy Fen Meng.
Unfathomable Will Immortal Gu had been lent to Ju Go.
Fairy Huang Sha and Fairy Qing Suo did not receive Immortal Gu, but each received mortal killer move arrangements and several one-time-use immortal killer move tattoos.
All of them received Ironclad tattoos.
A single-use immortal defensive killer move could decide life and death at a critical moment. Fang Ming did not expect every one of them to fight rank seven experts head-on, but he would not let them enter a major operation without a layer of protection.
As for Phantom Gu, it had already been returned.
Fang Ming had copied it during this month.
The result was Golden Specters Gu.
This Gu was not simply a replacement. It was a necessary piece for his Myriad Clones system.
Myriad Clones could confuse enemies, divide attention, carry prepared killer moves, and act with coordination. But to become truly dangerous in close combat, they needed phantom-like strength support. Golden Specters Gu filled the gap left behind after he traded away his earlier specter-type Gu.
Fang Ming did not show this to Hei Lou Lan.
He only returned Phantom Gu.
When Hei Lou Lan received it, her expression was still cold. She checked it carefully and confirmed there was nothing wrong with it. Only then did she store it away.
Then she looked at Fang Ming.
"What about the strength path Immortal Gu you promised me?"
Fairy Li Shan stood nearby. Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng were also present, though Fang Yuan only watched silently.
Fang Ming answered calmly, "I have not made it yet."
The room fell quiet.
Hei Lou Lan's eyes changed.
She had expected many answers.
Not ready yet.
Still choosing.
The materials are lacking.
Wait a little longer.
But Fang Ming said he had not made it yet.
Because of their pledge, Fang Ming could not lie about this matter.
That meant his wording was not casual.
Hei Lou Lan stared at him. "Made?"
Fang Ming looked back at her without explanation.
Fairy Li Shan's eyes also moved slightly. Fang Yuan remained silent, but his gaze deepened.
Immortal Gu were unique.
Immortal Gu were difficult to refine.
Even refining an Immortal Gu with a recipe was already a terrifying matter that could ruin Gu Immortals. Yet Fang Ming spoke of making one as if he were discussing a product that had not yet been completed.
Hei Lou Lan suddenly felt that the loss of Attitude Gu might involve far more than she had originally imagined.
Fang Ming did not continue the topic.
He opened his aperture, and a young Gu Immortal walked out.
Ju Go.
His aura had stabilized compared to the day of his ascension. He still carried the freshness of a newly advanced Gu Immortal, but his eyes were steady. Behind that steadiness was respect toward Fang Ming that was almost instinctive.
Fang Yuan had seen him before.
Hei Lou Lan and Fairy Li Shan had not.
Fang Ming said, "This is Ju Go, my disciple."
Ju Go bowed toward Fang Yuan's group.
"I greet everyone."
Fairy Li Shan looked at him and nodded. "Newly advanced?"
"Yes."
Fang Ming added, "He will represent me during the early stages of the Dong Fang Chang Fan inheritance matter."
Hei Lou Lan frowned. "You are not going?"
"I have an urgent matter."
Fang Yuan's gaze moved. "Urgent enough to ignore Dong Fang Chang Fan's wisdom path inheritance?"
"I did not say I am ignoring it," Fang Ming said. "Ju Go will follow you first. If the situation requires it, I will join later."
Fairy Li Shan looked at Ju Go again.
A newly advanced Gu Immortal was usually weak. Their immortal aperture had just formed, their methods were incomplete, and many did not even own a proper Immortal Gu. But Ju Go was Fang Ming's disciple.
That changed things.
She sensed a faint Immortal Gu aura from Ju Go, hidden but real.
Most likely, Fang Ming had lent him one.
A newly advanced Gu Immortal with an Immortal Gu could not be treated as a simple burden.
Fang Ming said, "I do not need you to protect him like a mortal junior. But if demonic path Gu Immortals try to surround him because he looks easy to bully, help him once."
Fairy Li Shan nodded. "One more Gu Immortal on our side is not a bad thing."
Hei Lou Lan snorted softly. "Your disciples are not cheap to raise."
Fang Ming smiled. "Neither are allies."
Hei Lou Lan's expression darkened, but she did not continue.
Ju Go stood quietly. He understood his role. He was not there to seize the entire inheritance for Fang Ming by himself. He was there to observe, participate, report, and survive.
Fang Ming looked at him.
"Follow them. Watch carefully. Do not rush for the first benefit you see. The inheritance of a wisdom path Gu Immortal will not be obtained simply by flying faster."
"Yes, supreme leader."
A moment later, Fang Ming left.
He did not head toward Tai Qiu.
He did not join the Gu Immortals waiting around Dong Fang Yu Liang.
His destination was elsewhere.
Jade Pool blessed land.
The base of Dong Fang tribe.
To most Gu Immortals, Dong Fang Chang Fan's wisdom path inheritance was the true prize. They were not wrong. A complete wisdom path inheritance from Northern Plains' number one wisdom path Gu Immortal was enough to make even rank seven experts move.
But Fang Ming knew something else.
If events followed the original flow, Dong Fang Chang Fan would sacrifice the Dong Fang tribe elders.
Once that happened, Jade Pool blessed land would become vulnerable.
A super force's home was not a simple treasury. It contained resources, inheritance fragments, beast groups, Gu formations, materials, and years of accumulation. If its defenders were suddenly removed, the value inside would be beyond a single ordinary blessed land.
The others were chasing the inheritance.
Fang Ming was watching the empty home.
Northern Plains.
Tai Qiu.
Dong Fang Yu Liang, Tan Wu Feng, and Dong Po Kong were still struggling forward as mortals.
Tai Qiu was one of Northern Plains' ten great fierce areas. To mortals, every step was dangerous. Beast groups appeared repeatedly, forcing the three into desperate situations. Dong Fang Yu Liang's robe was stained with blood, his face pale, but his eyes remained clear.
A myriad beast goat group surrounded them.
Tan Wu Feng prepared to sacrifice himself.
Dong Po Kong hesitated, then prepared to carry Dong Fang Yu Liang away.
But Dong Fang Yu Liang forced out one final method. Starlight burst forth, star thoughts surged, and the goat king was killed. The beast group scattered.
The three survived.
Barely.
Far outside Tai Qiu, hidden Gu Immortals watched.
Demonic path Gu Immortals.
Dong Fang tribe Gu Immortals.
Famous experts.
Fang Yuan, Hei Lou Lan, Fairy Li Shan, and now Ju Go were also among them, concealed beneath disguises.
Ju Go remained quiet beside them.
He could feel the pressure.
This was not Eagle Sect's aperture, where Fang Ming's rules controlled everything. This was Northern Plains, and every hidden aura nearby belonged to an immortal who had survived countless dangers. Some were rank six, some rank seven, and some had reputations that made others hesitate just by appearing.
He remembered Fang Ming's words.
Do not rush.
Watch carefully.
A blinding light flashed within Tai Qiu.
Dong Fang Yu Liang, Tan Wu Feng, and Dong Po Kong vanished.
The hidden Gu Immortals reacted instantly.
"Teleportation Gu formation!"
"Tai Qiu is not the true inheritance ground!"
"Dong Fang Chang Fan used this place to delay us!"
One figure after another rushed toward the traces.
But they quickly slowed.
The auras of so many Gu Immortals invading Tai Qiu stirred the true owners of this fierce land. Desolate beasts roared. Ancient desolate beasts opened their eyes. The ground shook, the air trembled, and beast cries rose one after another.
To the beasts, Tai Qiu was not a dangerous wasteland.
It was their territory.
Mortal Gu Masters were like insects slipping through the grass. But Gu Immortals were intruders breaking into their homes.
The Gu Immortals could not fight freely either. If their attacks destroyed the traces of the teleportation formation, tracking Dong Fang Yu Liang would become much harder.
Thus, the chase became strange.
Everyone wanted to be first.
No one wanted to shatter the clues.
Everyone wanted others to fight the beasts.
No one trusted anyone.
Peacock Flying Immortal He Ruo transformed and rushed forward, only to be obstructed by Pi Shui Han's waves.
Divine Lord Tian Du flashed like lightning, but Unfettered Scholar appeared before him and forced him to slow.
Zhuo Zhan charged with a hammer.
The Traveling Three Elites joined forces and advanced rapidly, their combined method making others wary. For a moment, they seemed closest to the formation traces.
Then space twisted.
A ruin bat appeared.
The Traveling Three Elites vanished into its spatial interference, delayed at the critical moment.
Ju Go watched silently, his heart tightening.
Dong Fang Chang Fan's arrangements were layered. Even after death, he could still make so many Gu Immortals stumble.
"Follow," Fairy Li Shan said softly.
Their group moved.
Soon, they were also blocked.
A desolate beast stood in their way, while Gu Immortal Zhuo Zhan charged from another direction. At the same time, Divine Lord Tian Du's Thunder Shuttle Immortal Gu shot across the battlefield.
Hei Lou Lan and Fairy Li Shan were about to act, but Fang Yuan raised his hand.
"Let me."
A powerful aura surged.
Ju Go's pupils shrank.
A huge strength path hand appeared in the air.
It pushed aside the desolate beast.
It trapped Thunder Shuttle for a moment.
Then it punched toward Zhuo Zhan.
Zhuo Zhan's expression changed drastically as he retreated.
The surrounding Gu Immortals were shocked.
Such strength path battle power had already reached rank seven level.
Some immediately thought of Domination Immortal Chu Du. In Northern Plains, when one spoke of strength path experts with such force, Chu Du was the first name that came to mind.
But this black-robed figure was clearly not Chu Du.
Ju Go looked at Fang Yuan's hand.
After the move ended, Fang Yuan's arm drooped slightly beneath his robe. The movement was faint, and most people would miss it while still shocked by the giant hand. But Ju Go had been ordered to observe. He saw it.
Powerful.
But not without cost.
He silently remembered this.
Fang Yuan then moved behind Fairy Li Shan and Hei Lou Lan as if he had only done something minor. The effect was immediate. Many Gu Immortals became even more wary.
If the one walking behind already had such battle strength, then what about the two in front?
Ju Go understood at once.
This was not only strength.
This was pressure.
Fang Yuan had used one move to create fear, then used his position to enlarge that fear.
The group reached the teleportation Gu formation traces.
After inspecting them, Fairy Li Shan's voice became heavy. "What a formation."
Hei Lou Lan's tone was cold. "Dong Fang Chang Fan left it behind intentionally."
Fang Yuan looked over the traces and quickly understood. "True and false clues mixed together. He did not destroy the formation because destruction would leave traces too. Instead, he left too many traces."
The meaning was clear.
Some directions were true.
Some were false.
If all the Gu Immortals followed one path, Dong Fang Yu Liang would be overwhelmed. But if they were forced to split up, the pressure on the true inheritance ground would decrease.
Soon, Unfettered Scholar arrived and reached the same conclusion.
Then other Gu Immortals came one by one.
No one destroyed the formation.
No one wanted to do unrewarding work that only helped others.
The Gu Immortals began choosing directions.
Some chose based on their own investigation.
Some chose based on instinct.
Some deliberately followed others.
Dong Fang tribe Gu Immortals remained behind for a time, inspecting the traces with darker expressions.
Ju Go followed Fang Yuan's group.
He did not know which direction was correct. He did not need to know yet.
His mission was to watch.
To survive.
To report.
While Tai Qiu's chaos spread, Fang Ming moved elsewhere.
Inside his aperture, his recalled Gu Immortals were ready.
Fairy Bian Si Xuan carried Heavy Lifting Immortal Gu.
Fairy Fen Meng carried Inner Strength Qi Immortal Gu.
Fairy Huang Sha and Fairy Qing Suo had their prepared killer moves and tattoos.
Golden Specters Gu remained with Fang Ming.
His eyes were calm.
Dong Fang Chang Fan's wisdom path inheritance was important.
But a wisdom path Gu Immortal's plan had many layers.
When everyone chased the visible bait, the place left behind might become the easiest to rob.
Fang Ming looked toward the direction of Jade Pool blessed land.
He was waiting.
Waiting for Dong Fang tribe's protection to collapse.
Waiting for the elders to vanish from their own home.
Waiting for the moment when a super force's foundation would be left open.
The hunt had begun.
But Fang Ming was not chasing the same prey as everyone else.