Chapter 191: The Gu That Should Not Exist
Old Lord Can Yang's blessed land was quiet.
Inside a stone pavilion built beside a warm crimson spring, Fang Ming sat at a long table, his sleeves rolled back as several sheets of paper lay spread before him. Formation lines covered the pages in dense layers, some shaped like eagle nests, some like spiraling incubation chambers, and some like twisting root veins. Beside the paper were small piles of mortal Gu, jade slips, and fragments of old formation blueprints that he had taken apart and rewritten many times.
He was not working on battle methods.
At least, not directly.
His current thought was how to merge several systems into one. The first was his eagle formation system, which supported the control, breeding, and use of eagle groups. The second was the Eagle Nest inheritance gained from Heavenly Lord Bai Zu, a foundation suited for raising eagles on a larger scale. The third was the mutation formation direction he had created after studying Immortal Crane Sect's methods, especially the way they had developed crane groups through controlled mutation, selection, and long-term breeding.
Fang Ming tapped the paper lightly with his finger.
Eagles were not cranes, and Eagle Nest inheritance was not Immortal Crane Sect's system. If he forced them together crudely, the result would only waste materials and produce unstable beasts. But if the incubation effect of Eagle Nest inheritance could be combined with the nourishment and growth stimulation of Rising Jungle Flow, then the eagle groups inside his aperture could be developed in a much more systematic way.
The idea had potential.
It also had many problems.
Rising Jungle Flow was more suited for plant growth and vitality stimulation, while eagle incubation involved bloodline, beast instincts, body strengthening, and egg stability. If the vitality became too strong, it could produce deformed chicks. If the mutation force became too chaotic, even a strong eagle bloodline could collapse before hatching. Fang Ming needed more than inspiration; he needed proof that the direction could work.
After a moment, he closed his eyes and entered his virtual refinement space.
The next instant, Fang Ming froze.
In the empty space before him, a Gu floated silently.
It was enormous, almost as large as his body. Its aura was vast and mysterious, far beyond any Immortal Gu he had ever owned, borrowed, copied, or studied. Fang Ming's first reaction was disbelief. His virtual refinement space was useful, yes, but when had it become so heaven-defying that a rank nine Immortal Gu could appear inside it without warning?
The eagle formation blueprint, Rising Jungle Flow, incubation chambers, and mutation experiments vanished from his mind.
Fang Ming stepped forward slowly, his gaze fixed on the Gu. The closer he moved, the more clearly he felt its terrifying depth. This was not a counterfeit, not a virtual model, and not some incomplete inspiration created by the system. It was real. It existed inside his virtual refinement space with quiet stability, as if it had always been there.
Information surfaced in his mind.
Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu.
Rank nine.
Creates the sovereign immortal aperture.
Fang Ming stared at those words for several breaths.
Then his eyes widened.
Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu.
Spectral Soul's true goal.
The rank nine Immortal Gu refined through Shadow Sect's countless years of preparation, the ten extreme immortal zombie lifeless formation, Southern Border Gu Immortals, Zombie Alliance, Immortal Gu Houses, and all kinds of hidden sacrifices. This Gu should still be something in the future. It should not exist at this time. It should not be floating inside his virtual refinement space.
Fang Ming's first thought was to test it.
Could he take it out?
The answer came immediately.
Yes.
His heart shook.
Then he tried another test. Could he virtual refine it? Could he modify it? Could he analyze its structure deeply?
The answer was denial.
His cultivation was too low. To affect a rank nine Immortal Gu at that level, he would need to be rank nine himself. Fang Ming was rejected cleanly, without even a trace of room for negotiation.
But he was not disappointed.
Not at all.
He could take it into the real world. That one fact was already greater than anything else. He had obtained Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu. Whether or not he could modify it did not matter right now. A man who had suddenly found a mountain of immortal essence stones would not complain that he could not carve the mountain into a statue.
Fang Ming forced himself to calm down.
He did not take the Gu out.
His excitement was real, but his caution was stronger. Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu was too important. If it appeared in the outside world, no one knew what kind of reaction might be triggered. Heaven's will, Shadow Sect, deduction methods, hidden arrangements, Red Lotus, Star Constellation, Spectral Soul; anything connected to rank nine was never simple.
He turned his gaze away with difficulty and looked toward another corner of the virtual refinement space.
Spring Autumn Tag Along Gu was still there, flying casually as if nothing unusual had happened.
Fang Ming's eyes narrowed.
"So that is how it is…"
He did not have the memories of the previous timeline, but the situation was already clear. He must have obtained Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu in a timeline that had now been reversed. Fang Yuan had returned with Spring Autumn Cicada, but Fang Ming had not returned with memories. His Spring Autumn Tag Along Gu remained here, yet it had not carried back what he had experienced.
There were several possibilities.
Maybe Fang Ming had been in mortal danger and could not use Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu, so he stored it in the virtual refinement space as a final gamble. Maybe he had already known that he was going to die and placed the Gu here, hoping it would remain with him if Fang Yuan rebirthed. Maybe he died, and Spring Autumn Tag Along Gu was destroyed before it could follow Fang Yuan's return. Or maybe Fang Yuan's Spring Autumn Cicada failed, was destroyed, and then restored by some outside force, while Fang Ming's tag-along arrangement was left behind in the previous timeline.
Fang Ming did not know which answer was correct.
But he did not need to know.
The result was right in front of him.
His gamble had succeeded.
A laugh escaped his mouth. At first it was soft, then it grew louder, carrying disbelief, joy, and relief. Fang Ming looked at Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu again, unable to hide the satisfaction in his eyes. He had not yet decided how far he should gamble around this Gu. He did not have a complete plan. He did not even know exactly what happened in the previous timeline.
But he had won something unimaginable.
After a long while, Fang Ming's laughter faded.
The first question was simple.
Should he use it now?
The temptation was immense. Once he used Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu, he would obtain the sovereign immortal aperture. His growth would enter a completely different level. He could annex blessed lands and rapidly raise cultivation. His attainments in many paths had already risen through constant dream exploration, and he possessed many rank six blessed lands. If he lacked more, he could hunt suitable Gu Immortals and take what he needed. Reaching rank seven would not be difficult.
On paper, it was a direct road to explosive growth.
But Fang Ming rejected it almost immediately.
Using the Gu now was suicide.
Shadow Sect was still intact. Spectral Soul's soul had not been damaged by Heavenly Court, myriad tribulations, or Star Constellation's dream. Old Man Yan Shi was still alive, and with his wisdom path attainment and Heavenly Secret Gu, there was a real chance he could deduce that the sovereign immortal aperture had already appeared in the world. Once Shadow Sect found even a trace, Fang Ming would not be facing one or two rank sevens. He would face Shadow Sect's rank eights, hidden Gu Houses, Zombie Alliance's foundation, Old Man Yan Shi's deductions, and Spectral Soul's arrangements.
And that was only Shadow Sect.
Heavenly Court still existed. Heaven Overseeing Tower still existed. Fate Gu still existed. If Heavenly Court also learned that a complete otherworldly demon body had appeared, Fang Ming would be squeezed between two monstrous forces before he had time to grow.
Rank seven?
Rank seven was nothing before that.
Fang Ming let out a slow breath.
"No. Not now."
The best advantage he had was secrecy. No one knew he had Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu. Even heaven's will should not know that his virtual refinement space could preserve a Gu from another timeline. As long as he did not expose it, Shadow Sect would continue preparing for Yi Tian Mountain. Heavenly Court would continue preparing to stop Shadow Sect. The two superpowers would still crash into each other.
When Shadow Sect reached the final step and tried to refine Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu, Fang Ming only needed to take out the real Gu.
Two identical real Immortal Gu could not exist at the same time.
Shadow Sect's refinement would fail.
This time, he did not need to repeat the desperate theft. He already had the result. His job was to preserve the result until the right moment.
After deciding this, Fang Ming's excitement cooled into thought.
The next problem was Fang Yuan.
Fang Ming had no memories of the previous timeline, but Fang Yuan should have them. That meant Fang Ming had to assume the worst. He might have schemed against Fang Yuan. He might have fought him over Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu. He might have exposed trump cards that he currently considered hidden. He might have used methods that were still only half-developed now.
If Fang Yuan had seen them, then those methods were no longer reliable.
Fang Ming's eyes became calm.
Right now, Fang Yuan was in the dark, while Fang Ming was in the open. Fang Yuan had memories, and Fang Ming had only a result without details. That sounded disadvantageous, but Fang Ming was not panicked. He only needed the next window of time to pass quietly. Fang Yuan was a cautious person. A rebirth advantage was only useful if the timeline did not collapse too early. Unless forced, Fang Yuan would likely avoid changing major events too much before he understood the new situation.
As long as that happened, Shadow Sect and Heavenly Court would still fight.
And when both sides weakened, Fang Ming could move.
His current methods had to be updated. Any killer move he might have exposed needed adjustment. Any battle formation Fang Yuan might have seen needed revision. Any teleportation arrangement, dream path defense, eagle method, or aperture method that might have been used in the previous timeline had to be treated as known by Fang Yuan.
Fang Ming exited the virtual refinement space.
The blueprints were still on the table. The unfinished eagle formation lines remained where he had left them, but his mind had completely moved elsewhere. The eagle system was important, but compared to Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu and Fang Yuan's rebirth, it could wait.
Several days passed.
During those days, Fang Ming did not act rashly. He stayed inside Old Lord Can Yang's blessed land, reviewed his forces, reorganized his current assets, and rewrote several plans. He did not have the previous timeline's memories, but he could still prepare around the worst case. By the end of the third day, a simple outline lay before him.
The first point was to create a fake weakness.
Heavenly Court was terrifying not merely because of strength, but because of deduction, patience, and long-term pursuit. If Fang Ming had no visible weakness, they would keep digging toward his real secrets. That was unacceptable. He needed something believable for them to target.
The foundation already existed.
The female Gu Immortals in Eagle Sect.
Fang Ming planned to recruit and invest in more female Gu Immortals, slowly shaping an outside image that he was a womanizer or, at minimum, someone who cared too much about women around him. This kind of weakness was simple, vulgar, and easy to believe. If Heavenly Court accepted it and spent years targeting these women, chasing them, threatening them, or using them as deduction anchors, Fang Ming would truly laugh in his dreams.
Of course, bait that died too quickly had no value.
He would strengthen them. Blessed land raids, selected inheritances, defensive killer moves, equipment, and immortal essence support could all be given in controlled amounts. They had to look valuable. They had to survive pressure. They had to appear connected to him, while never truly touching his core secrets.
The second point was to create a cover for his future Immortal Gu.
His copy system was his true foundation, but he could not keep revealing Immortal Gu without explanation. So far, most of his borrowed Gu had come from Hei Lou Lan's circle and Lang Ya blessed land. This was still manageable, but his habit of borrowing Gu was already suspicious. If he displayed more and more Immortal Gu later, others would start searching for the source.
He needed a false source.
Zombie Alliance was suitable.
When Shadow Sect sacrificed the zombies in the future, Fang Ming would attack Zombie Alliance. Whether he truly gained many Immortal Gu was not the key. The key was that the attack would give him a public explanation. For at least the next year, many Immortal Gu he revealed could be attributed to hidden gains from Zombie Alliance. After that, he could raid another grotto-heaven, hidden inheritance, or fallen super force to refresh the cover.
One lie was fragile.
A chain of believable incidents was much harder to break.
The third point was Southern Border.
After Ying Wu Xie's explosion in the future, Southern Border's giant dream realm would be sealed by righteous path forces. Fang Ming could not ignore that place. Dream realms were too valuable to him. His future annexation of blessed lands and grotto-heavens depended heavily on attainment, and dream realms were the fastest path to increasing attainment in many paths.
He needed a pawn inside a Southern Border righteous-path super force.
Not a famous pawn. Not a high-profile pawn. A useful identity hidden within a super force's system, someone who could approach the dream realm, gather information, and slowly open a path for Fang Ming. This matter would take time, so it had to begin early.
The fourth point was information.
Fairy Li Shan's information had brought Fang Ming tremendous benefits. Qin Bai Sheng's auction, Jade Pool blessed land, Hei tribe's crisis; all of these had become useful because he knew about them at the right time. Similar opportunities happened across all five regions. Inheritances opened. Super forces clashed. Lone immortals died. Blessed lands were exposed. Auctions, disasters, betrayals, and political cracks appeared constantly.
But Fang Ming missed most of them because he lacked intelligence.
That had to change.
He had business connections. He could offer discounts. He had Human as Before Gu, a recovery method that could build reputation almost anywhere. If suitable agents held access to such methods, they could quickly enter useful social circles. He also had Life Pledge Gu, which could imitate part of Fairy Li Shan's style of trust and agreement. With these tools, he could begin building cross-region information chains.
He wrote two Gu names at the bottom of the page.
Man as Before.
Landscape as Before.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's Gu were too useful to ignore. Healing people, restoring landscapes, repairing damage, building reputation, trading favors, gathering intelligence; these methods had value far beyond direct combat. Fang Ming placed them on the agenda.
When the outline was complete, Fang Ming leaned back slightly.
The plan was not complicated. It was only a framework. Many details still needed to be filled in, and Fang Yuan's future actions could change the situation at any time. But Fang Ming did not need a perfect plan before moving. A cultivator who waited for certainty would always arrive late.
He looked once more toward the virtual refinement space in his mind.
Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu floated there silently.
Fang Ming's lips curved faintly.
He had lost the memories of the previous timeline, but he had brought back the result.
That was already priceless.
Now, time could not be wasted.
Fang Ming stood, gathered the papers on the table, and began to act.