Old Ancestor Xue Hu fought two rank eights alone.
Yao Huang was a righteous path pillar of Northern Plains, a man whose name carried enough weight to make countless Gu Immortals lower their heads. Heavenly Lord Bai Zu was also a rank eight expert, a lone cultivator with the ambition and foundation to establish his own force. Either of them was enough to shake a region when they moved.
But when the two of them came together to pressure Snowy Mountain blessed land, Old Ancestor Xue Hu still walked out.
The battle took place far away in white heaven. To ordinary eyes, it was only a distant storm of light and clouds, but to Gu Immortals, the auras were as clear as blazing suns. The sky trembled again and again. Waves of rank eight power spread outward, making even the concealed Central Continent immortals feel a faint pressure in their chests.
They had come from the ten great ancient sects. They were rank seven experts with deep inheritances, excellent methods, and great confidence. Before entering Northern Plains, they had not underestimated Old Ancestor Xue Hu. The intelligence from Central Continent had already marked him as one of the most dangerous people in this region.
But reading intelligence and watching a battle were two different things.
Yao Huang and Heavenly Lord Bai Zu joined hands.
Old Ancestor Xue Hu suppressed them.
The result was simple, and because it was simple, it weighed even heavier.
When the rank eight auras finally faded, the Central Continent Gu Immortals remained hidden in silence. No one spoke for a long while. Old Man Tian Long's expression was stiff, Chen Zhen Chi's wings were folded tightly behind him, and even Old Oracle did not immediately begin a deduction. The battle had not only shown Old Ancestor Xue Hu's strength; it had corrected their understanding of Northern Plains.
Northern Plains had fewer Gu Immortals than Central Continent. This was common knowledge. Its land was harsh, its resources were scattered, and its righteous path Huang Jin tribes suppressed demonic and lone cultivators for generations. But because this place was harsh, the Gu Immortals who survived here were rarely simple.
Central Continent was strong because of its sects, numbers, organization, and endless accumulation. The ten great ancient sects had systems that had been refined for countless years. They could mobilize people, resources, inheritances, and information with terrifying efficiency. When Central Continent moved as a whole, no region could treat it lightly.
Northern Plains was different.
Its Gu Immortals fought more often. Their conflicts were rougher, their alliances looser, their methods more direct, and their survival experience much deeper. In terms of large-scale organization, they could not compare to Central Continent. But in direct battle, especially in one-on-one fighting, Northern Plains experts were frightening.
Old Ancestor Xue Hu had shown this at rank eight.
Not long ago, another person had shown something similar at rank six.
The unknown strength path Gu Immortal who controlled eagles and clones. The one who had killed Old Lord Can Yang in Jade Pool blessed land.
Fang Ming.
The Central Continent immortals did not yet know his name clearly, but the shadow he left behind had already entered their minds. Old Lord Can Yang was not an ordinary rank seven. His life chasing fire was famous even in Central Continent, and among the rank sevens present, only a few could confidently say they could fight him without suffering a heavy price.
Yet Can Yang had died.
Not escaped with injuries, not been forced to retreat, but died completely. Even his immortal aperture had been sealed and taken away before it could fall and form a blessed land.
After seeing Old Ancestor Xue Hu suppress two rank eights, the Central Continent immortals thought again of that mysterious rank six. One was a mountain standing openly under the sky. The other was a blade hidden under snow. Both belonged to Northern Plains, and both made them feel the same thing.
This region could not be judged carelessly.
Chen Zhen Chi broke the silence first. "If it were a direct fight, I might not lose to that rank six."
His tone was calm, but there was no arrogance in it.
No one mocked him. The word "might" already showed enough.
Fairy Ao Xue said coldly, "A direct fight is one matter. Killing him is another."
Bu Fei Yan, who rarely spoke, added softly, "Capturing him would be even harder."
The others understood. Fang Ming had eagle mobility, clone splitting, and unknown escape methods. His real body was difficult to identify once clones filled the battlefield. Worse still, he had already shown that he could hide lethal methods inside an ordinary-looking beast group and turn a battlefield into a trap.
If one fought him, one first had to ask whether the body in front of them was real. If clones surrounded the battlefield, one had to ask whether they were only bodies or whether they carried killer moves. If eagle groups flew nearby, one had to ask whether another ambush was hidden inside their feathers. And if he began retreating, one had to ask whether he was fleeing or leading the pursuer toward another prepared killing ground.
Among the present Central Continent immortals, only Feng Jiu Ge could remain fully calm.
If he fought Fang Ming, he had confidence.
But even Feng Jiu Ge did not say he could certainly kill or capture him. Defeating a person, killing a person, and capturing a person were three different levels of difficulty. Against a Gu Immortal who could split into clones, flee with flying beasts, and spend terrifying resources on prepared traps, even Feng Jiu Ge would not make careless claims.
Feng Jiu Ge looked toward the distant Snowy Mountain and said, "Northern Plains cannot be judged by common standards."
No one objected.
Soon, news of the rank eight battle spread through Northern Plains. Old Ancestor Xue Hu had suppressed Yao Huang and Heavenly Lord Bai Zu. Snowy Mountain's prestige rose sharply, and the demonic path became restless. The righteous path did not collapse, but for the moment, they had to lower their heads.
The collapse of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building had already broken a structure that had existed for countless years. Imperial Court blessed land was destroyed, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's arrangements were torn apart, and the pressure that once suppressed demonic and lone cultivators had weakened. Now, with Old Ancestor Xue Hu's victory, the storm hidden beneath Northern Plains' surface began to gather more quickly.
A few days later, in Hu Immortal blessed land, Fairy Li Shan and Hei Lou Lan arrived together.
Fang Yuan received them in Dang Hun palace. Fairy Li Shan's face was still pale, and her aura had not fully stabilized. Miniscule Mountain had been obtained, but the process had not been easy, and the trouble it brought was even less simple. Hei Lou Lan stood beside her with an indifferent expression, her black eyes calmly observing the surroundings.
Fairy Li Shan handed Fang Yuan an information path mortal Gu. Inside it was the record of Old Ancestor Xue Hu's battle against Yao Huang and Heavenly Lord Bai Zu. Fang Yuan inspected it quietly. Even though the record came from a distant perspective and could not show the full depth of the battle, the power of rank eight experts could still be felt clearly.
He watched it once, then a second time, and only after the third time did he return the Gu worm.
Old Ancestor Xue Hu's strength did not surprise him too much. Fang Yuan knew more than others, and in his previous life, Old Ancestor Xue Hu had also been an existence who caused Central Continent to suffer. But knowing something and seeing it with his own eyes were different. The current Northern Plains was becoming more unstable, and this battle would push the entire region further into chaos.
The righteous path had lost some of its pressure after the destruction of Imperial Court blessed land. The demonic path had gained room to breathe. Lone cultivators who had once remained cautious would become more active. Old Ancestor Xue Hu's victory was not merely one battle; it was a signal. For a period of time, the demonic path would become bolder, while the righteous path would have to endure and wait.
Fang Yuan understood this quickly, but he did not speak much about it. Regional trends were important, but what stood before him now was a transaction.
Fairy Li Shan took out white lotus giant silkworm Gu and a large number of star thought Gu. These were part of the agreement connected to Dong Fang Chang Fan's hidden blessed land. Fang Yuan accepted them calmly, though the faint joy in his eyes could not be fully hidden.
These things had arrived at the right time.
Fairy Li Shan saw his expression and felt a bitter feeling rise in her heart. She had obtained Miniscule Mountain, but her situation had worsened instead of improving. Old Ancestor Xue Hu had only borrowed Miniscule Mountain to inspect it; he had not taken it from her. On the surface, this seemed generous. But soon after, he gave her more missions to collect immortal materials.
The reason was simple. He had protected Snowy Mountain's face and forced back Yao Huang's demand. Fairy Li Shan had benefited from this, so she naturally had to contribute more to his refinement of Fortune Rivalling Heaven Gu.
She could not refuse.
Fairy Li Shan needed immortal materials, and she had two possible sellers.
Fang Ming had robbed Jade Pool blessed land before anyone else entered. His group had taken many high-value resource zones, formation cores, beast resources, and storage goods. If Fairy Li Shan wanted immortal materials, Fang Ming certainly had them.
Fang Yuan also had materials. He had gained much from the auction and from dealings related to Lang Ya land spirit's captives. His stock was not small either.
In terms of supply, Fang Ming might even have been the better choice.
But Fairy Li Shan still came to Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was ruthless in trade. He was expensive, sharp, and never missed a chance to bite into weakness. Fairy Li Shan knew this very well. But compared to Fang Ming, Fang Yuan was still the option she could accept.
After Jade Pool, Fang Ming was no longer merely a dangerous junior ally. He had killed Old Lord Can Yang. He had shown a clone method capable of suppressing a famous rank seven. He had revealed wealth great enough to burn hundreds of immortal essence stones in one attack.
In an alliance, there was always a hidden hierarchy. Before this, Fairy Li Shan had still been the senior figure. She had reputation, information path methods, Snowy Mountain backing, and a wide network. Hei Lou Lan relied on her. Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng traded with her. Even Fang Ming, though troublesome and increasingly dangerous, had still seemed like someone rising beneath her level.
But after Jade Pool, that balance had changed.
If she bought immortal materials from Fang Ming now, she would be giving him more profit and helping him grow even faster. Fairy Li Shan could accept being extorted by Fang Yuan. She could not accept feeding Fang Ming's rise with her own hands when his strength had already surpassed hers.
Thus, she chose the bad option over the worse one.
Fang Yuan smiled when she asked about immortal materials. He saw through part of her thoughts, but he did not expose them. Fairy Li Shan had come to him, and that was enough. Since she had come, he would naturally take what he could.
The bargaining was not pleasant.
Fairy Li Shan wanted materials. Fang Yuan wanted payment. Immortal essence stones alone were not enough to satisfy him, especially when he knew she still needed Tai Bai Yun Sheng's Landscape as Before to help with Miniscule Mountain's problem.
So he asked for an immortal killer move.
Time Assist Luck.
Fairy Li Shan's face became even paler.
Fang Yuan remained calm, his smile faint and patient. He did not need to force her loudly. Her situation had already done that for him. She was injured, lacking funds, under pressure from Old Ancestor Xue Hu, and burdened by Miniscule Mountain's agreement backlash. If she wanted Fang Yuan's help, she had to pay.
In the end, Fairy Li Shan agreed.
Fang Yuan obtained Time Assist Luck.
Hei Lou Lan watched from the side without interrupting. She did not feel sympathy for Fairy Li Shan's loss. This was how demonic path transactions worked. When one party revealed weakness, the other party took a bite. Fang Yuan was not doing anything unusual.
After the transaction, the matter of Hu Immortal blessed land's earthly calamity was also settled. Hei Lou Lan would stay temporarily. She was not truly a member of Snowy Mountain blessed land, and with Old Ancestor Xue Hu currently pressuring everyone there, remaining in Snowy Mountain was not convenient. Hu Immortal blessed land could provide shelter, and in return, she would help Fang Yuan during the earthly calamity.
It was a practical arrangement. No one dressed it up as friendship.
Later, Fang Yuan brought Hei Lou Lan to the stone nests.
From above, the three huge stone structures looked like dark beehives embedded in the earth. Inside them were countless sealed rooms, each containing hairy men refining Gu. The process had been divided into many steps. Each hairy man repeated only one portion of the recipe, allowing familiarity to increase while also preventing the full recipe from being exposed.
Hei Lou Lan only observed for a short while before understanding the system's value.
It was efficient.
It was secretive.
It was also cruel.
A small explosion suddenly erupted in one of the rooms. Fire flashed, and a hairy man screamed as his body was thrown against the wall. The room's Gu worms activated quickly, suppressing the flames and treating what injuries could be treated. Not long afterward, in another room, a different hairy man suffered refinement backlash. His body stiffened, twitched twice, and stopped moving.
The nearby rooms remained unaffected.
They could not hear him.
The stone nests were designed so that failure in one room would not disturb the rest. Screams, fire, panic, and death were all sealed inside their own little spaces. Production continued.
Hei Lou Lan's expression did not change. She was not moved by the death of a hairy man. What she noticed was the cost.
"Your losses are not small," she said.
Fang Yuan did not deny it. "As production expands, the problem becomes more obvious."
Hairy men were expensive. They were suited to Gu refinement, and compared to human Gu Masters, they were easier to control under this kind of forced production. But they were still costly slaves. A dead hairy man had to be replaced. A crippled one was often not worth saving. Every refinement failure could waste both materials and labor.
Fang Yuan knew there were solutions. He could modify Gu recipes to reduce risk, or he could raise his own hairy man tribe. But both paths required time, knowledge, and heavy investment. Modifying recipes required endless trials. Raising a tribe required environment, experience, and long-term stability. Fang Yuan lacked none of ambition, but he lacked the leisure to build everything slowly.
His enemies were too many. His secrets were too dangerous. His cultivation needed resources immediately.
He needed profit now.
Hei Lou Lan looked at the stone nests for a long time. The longer she watched, the more clearly she understood Fang Yuan's way of doing things. The hairy men here were not subordinates. They were not disciples. They were not people being raised for the future.
They were tools.
Useful tools, expensive tools, but tools all the same.
For some reason, she thought of Fang Ming's immortal aperture.
She had seen it once when he transferred the food beast formation to her. Fang Ming had not allowed her to inspect freely, so what she saw was limited. But even a limited glance had revealed enough.
There had been mortal villages around protected Gu formations. Eagle Sect Gu Masters patrolled on eagle backs, moving between settlements and resource zones with clear order. Gu Masters guarded formations, managed people, and followed commands. Above them were disciples and subordinate Gu Immortals. The four fairies and Ju Go had appeared briefly, though Hei Lou Lan did not know all of them deeply.
That place did not look like Fang Yuan's stone nests.
It looked like the beginning of a force.
Fang Ming was not kind. Hei Lou Lan would never make that mistake. He had taken Attitude Gu from her side during the dream calamity, using timing, weakness, and pressure with a polite face. His words could be smooth, but his hands were no softer than Fang Yuan's when benefit was involved.
But his management style was different.
Fang Yuan used people like resources to strengthen himself as quickly as possible. Fang Ming invested in people so that they would become greater resources later. One squeezed immediate value from workers; the other raised subordinates, disciples, and future Gu Immortal seeds.
This was not a difference in morality.
It was a difference in cost, time, and ambition.
Fang Yuan's guts Gu business was a monopoly. Because of that, his profit potential was terrifying. He could set high prices and others still had to come to him. His stone nests were efficient, secretive, and suitable for his current situation. But this model consumed hairy men. When they died, he had to buy more. If production expanded, the losses would expand with it.
Fang Ming's food beast business was different. Food beasts were essential, but not a monopoly like guts Gu. He had to follow the market. He could not simply set any price he wanted. His model consumed more materials, took more time, and required greater protection. Human Gu Masters were harder to control than hairy men, and raising them into useful subordinates required patience and rewards.
But Fang Ming had something Fang Yuan did not.
Time.
His immortal aperture flowed at thirty-eight days inside for one day outside. Hei Lou Lan understood this deeply because her own aperture also had such potential. For ordinary Gu Immortals, raising human Gu Masters into loyal generations of subordinates might take far too long. For Fang Ming, centuries could pass inside while only a few years went by outside.
Villages could grow. Gu Masters could mature. Loyalty could be cultivated. Disciples could be selected. A sect structure could slowly become real.
The value of time was terrifying.
But time alone was not enough. Fang Ming also had wealth, industries, formations, eagle groups, and Gu Immortal subordinates. Without those, long-term management would only become a bottomless pit.
Hei Lou Lan knew she could not copy him yet.
Her aperture had the time flow, but she lacked the foundation. She did not have Fang Ming's wealth. She did not have his industries. She did not have his manpower, eagle network, formations, or subordinate Gu Immortals. If she tried to imitate him now, she would only exhaust herself before seeing results.
For now, she could only walk a shorter path.
Closer to Fang Yuan's.
Hei Lou Lan looked down again at the stone nests. Hairy men refined Gu until they collapsed. Fang Yuan stood beside her, expression indifferent, already calculating how to squeeze more value from the system.
In the end, the difference between Fang Yuan and Fang Ming was clear.
Fang Yuan built for immediate self-strengthening.
Fang Ming built like a future super force.
Hei Lou Lan had the time flow suited for the second path, but for now, she only had the resources to approach the first.
Far away from Hu Immortal blessed land, in a hidden place layered with formations, Fang Ming sat alone.
The surroundings were completely sealed. No mortal aura leaked out. No immortal aura spread beyond the formation walls. Several different sealing methods overlapped with each other, making the space quiet, heavy, and isolated.
In front of Fang Ming floated a sealed mass of light.
Old Lord Can Yang's immortal aperture.
It had not fallen to the ground. It had not formed a blessed land. At the moment of Can Yang's death, Fang Ming had taken the risk to seize it before heaven and earth fully pulled it away. That alone made the Jade Pool operation worth remembering.
But the aperture was not the only thing before him.
Beside it, another seal held a dim and damaged soul.
Old Lord Can Yang's soul was weak, but not destroyed. It floated silently inside layers of restrictions, like a dying ember trapped under ice.
Fang Ming looked at it without relaxing.
A famous rank seven from Immortal Crane Sect could not be treated casually, even in this state. His soul might contain sect restrictions, information path traps, fire path countermeasures, or suicide methods designed to destroy important memories. Central Continent's ten great ancient sects had deep inheritances. Their experts would not be defenseless after death.
Fang Ming first inspected the outer layer of the soul. He checked the sealing marks, the fire path traces, and the remaining dao mark fluctuations. Only after confirming that there was no immediate backlash did he begin a shallow search.
The soul trembled.
Fragments surfaced.
Jade Pool blessed land. Dong Fang Chang Fan. Immortal Crane Sect's mission. The investigation into Eighty-Eight True Yang Building's collapse. Sha Huang. Fairy Li Shan. Water Pavilion. Central Continent's suspicions.
Fang Ming's gaze sharpened slightly.
Old Lord Can Yang had known quite a lot. Not everything, but enough to reveal the direction of Central Continent's investigation. They had been searching for the immortal zombie. They had followed clues connected to Water Pavilion. They had already noticed Fairy Li Shan's importance.
But Can Yang had not known Fang Ming's true identity.
That was good.
Fang Ming continued carefully. He did not forcefully tear through the soul. A dead rank seven was still valuable only if handled properly. Destroying too many memories in one careless search would be wasteful.
More fragments emerged.
Fire path cultivation experience. Combat habits. Immortal essence circulation. Defensive methods. How Can Yang protected his aperture during battle. How he adjusted his fire against different enemies.
Then, when Fang Ming's search brushed against a deeper memory cluster, a red spark suddenly appeared inside the soul.
It burned silently.
The flame did not spread outward. Instead, it began burning inward, trying to destroy the surrounding memory fragments before Fang Ming could touch them.
Fang Ming stopped immediately.
His prepared Gu worms activated, and cold sealing light pressed down layer by layer. The red spark struggled faintly, but under the suppression of multiple methods, it gradually dimmed.
Fang Ming watched it for a long while.
"As expected," he murmured.
Life Chasing Fire was not something that would be handed over just because Can Yang had died. A famous immortal killer move naturally had protections. Some might have been arranged by Can Yang himself. Some might have come from Immortal Crane Sect. Others might be the natural result of fire path dao marks and damaged memory fragments interacting after death.
Fang Ming had expected difficulty.
If Life Chasing Fire could be obtained so easily, it would not be worthy of its reputation.
He changed his method. Instead of digging directly at the core of the killer move, he circled around it. He searched through Can Yang's battle habits, the moments before activation, the changes in immortal essence rhythm, and the memories of using the fire against different opponents. The fragments were incomplete, but they were enough to outline a direction.
Fang Ming had personally suffered Life Chasing Fire during the battle in Jade Pool. Some areas inside his aperture still bore the damage. A patch of grassland had withered, several mortal beast groups had died, and even a newly stolen resource zone had lost vitality around its edges.
Those losses had been painful.
Now they became evidence.
By combining his own injuries with Can Yang's soul fragments and the fire path traces in the sealed aperture, Fang Ming could begin studying the killer move from several angles. He could not recreate it immediately, and he did not expect to. But he had already touched the edge of its principle.
That was enough for now.
His gaze shifted to the sealed immortal aperture.
Old Lord Can Yang's aperture was damaged, but it still contained resources, dao marks, Gu traces, and remnants of cultivation arrangements. In quantity, it could not compare to everything Fang Ming had taken from Jade Pool. But in quality, it was different.
Jade Pool blessed land was profit.
Old Lord Can Yang was inheritance.
Not a complete inheritance offered respectfully by a land spirit or written cleanly in a manual, but a broken inheritance that had to be cut open, suppressed, cleaned, and digested.
Fang Ming did not mind.
He had killed Can Yang for this.
The one-time-use immortal tattoo barrage had cost a terrifying amount. The clone army had consumed resources. The eagle ambush required careful preparation. Life Chasing Fire had damaged his aperture. But looking at the sealed soul and aperture before him, Fang Ming felt calm.
It was worth it.
He resumed the search, this time focusing on Immortal Crane Sect. Names, mission habits, communication methods, and fragments of Central Continent's attitude toward Northern Plains appeared one after another. Many memories were sealed or damaged. Some shattered when touched, while others turned into meaningless firelight.
Fang Ming was patient.
He did not need everything.
A name could be useful. A route could be useful. A restriction, a suspicion, a habit of communication — any one of them might become a tool later. Information did not need to be complete to have value. Sometimes, a broken clue was enough to mislead an enemy or avoid a trap.
After some time, Old Lord Can Yang's soul weakened again.
Fang Ming stopped.
He did not destroy it. A soul like this could still be searched again after recovery and suppression. Squeezing too hard in one attempt would only reduce future gains.
He strengthened the seal, then separated the dim red spark into another restriction.
The spark was small, almost pitiful. But when Fang Ming looked at it, he still felt the strange threat within.
It did not burn like ordinary fire.
It chased life.
That was the terrifying part.
Fang Ming smiled faintly.
"Life Chasing Fire."
The owner of this fire was dead.
But the fire itself had not lost value.
Outside, Northern Plains was shaken by Old Ancestor Xue Hu's rank-eight battle. Central Continent was changing its view of this region. Fang Yuan was squeezing Fairy Li Shan. Hei Lou Lan was observing production methods. Fairy Li Shan was struggling under pressure from every side.
Everyone was moving.
Everyone was calculating.
Fang Ming sat alone inside the sealed formation, facing the remains of a famous rank seven.
Old Lord Can Yang's fire had been extinguished in Jade Pool blessed land.
But in Fang Ming's hands, even its ashes still had value.