Fang Yuan's attainment and current gu worms were not enough to be able to use Shang Xin Ci's blood for this purpose as they were not blood-related.
However, he had devised a method that did not need to use Shang Xin Ci at all.
Rather than steal one person's virtue, why not do take it from multiple people?
First, Fang Yuan extracted his own blood as the basis for a Blood Path technique and then combined it with several Blood Path gu worms.
Next, he used Integration Gu, which took small parts of the Will of each clansmen. Now though, he was modifying it with Steal Virtue Gu to instead take parts of their virtue.
He then mixed the two together. His primeval essence depleted rapidly.
The combination was far from perfect - his Theft Path Attainment was only at Master level and as such a large amount of the collected virtue was lost.
But because he could do so from a very large amount of people, even removing a tiny fraction was significant.
He now had more virtue in Steal Virtue Gu than he did before.
"Time to try once again," Fang Yuan said to himself, activating Charity Gu upon himself.
Much like before, he felt his body growing hot and uncomfortable, like he was suffering from an intense fever, shaking as the dao marks upon him worked their magic and attempted to reshaped themselves to form the Righteous Virtue Physique. He had Bai Ning Bing's help using Equality Gu with the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique's Dao marks aiding him.
Unlike before, there was no bang, no intense feeling of pain, and Fang Yuan slowly felt the heat from his body dissipate.
He was sweating all over, to the point where he almost slid across the floor as he lay down. He was so slippery that he hesitated to stand up for fear of slipping.
He felt exhausted as if, in addition to whatever he had done that day, he had also taken a hike up Bei Gu Mountain entirely on foot as a mortal. His body felt extraordinarily weak.
Doctor Gu went to check up on him.
"Young Master, you managed to finally succeed," Doctor Gu said. "The way that you combined those gu worms was incredible - it was like you were some kind of... some kind of... Gu Daoist Master!"
Fang Yuan still felt tired even after he had been healed up by Doctor Gu. His soul had likely also taken quite a hit, but as he examined his aperture, he noted that Charity Gu was extraordinarily weak but still present.
His aptitude had now reached 99%. He directed some of the primeval essence at the walls of his aperture, only for it to almost immediately refill.
It could not be compared to that of an Extreme Physique, but it was still superior to taking only half of Bai Ning Bing's Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique's dao marks. Also, it was not as destructive as an Extreme Physique either. Fang Yuan felt no pressure upon his aperture like Bai Ning Bing felt - no sense of impending doom.
"With this, at long last, I've succeeded," Fang Yuan said, sighing. Getting the Righteous Virtue Physique had been a massive uphill battle.
The system notified him of how many Human Path dao marks he had now.
He had lost 100 dao marks in the refinement. No, he realized, it was more accurate to say that they had transformed themselves into the dao marks of the Righteous Virtue Physique via this refinement technique.
He then rested before going into closed-door cultivation for three days, emerging at Rank 5 Upper Stage without even having to use a Purple Crystal Relic Gu.
The benefits of having the Righteous Virtue Physique could not be understated when it came to cultivation. Unlike someone like Bai Ning Bing, he did not need to limit how fast he advanced and could race ahead with impunity.
Paradise Earth had not been overselling its benefits, Fang Yuan noted.
A new mission had popped up from the Goody-Two Shoes System.
New Main Mission Unlocked!
Immortal Ascension
Description: Reach Rank 6.
Reward: Ô̶̧͈̻̝̗͉̗̳̱̘͚̥̺͊͆̔̓̀́͒̚͜ͅn̴̲̏̈̔̊́͗́̈͛̓̓͗̕͘e̸̖̬͚̟̤̰͔̅̉̄̀̃ ̴͍̐́̐R̵̢̟̬̂̒̅͑̉ȃ̵͕͑̊̚̕n̷̡͈̞̺̤̘̩͇͠͠k̵͉̖̳͖̬͇̃̏̒͑̈̀́̓̑̉̽̀͊ ̴̡̧͎͍̥̬̰̖͓̫͚͓̥͔̠̌̚9̷͇̣̩̠̆̈̏͋̾̕͝ ̴̛͖̃̐̑̈͗̒́̓͋̾̃͘G̴̞̺̎̃͊̊̏͝ų̶̻̜̰̦͚̖̞͉̱͎̯̒́̈́̀͘ ̷̡̼̝̈́̐̑͆W̶̱̻̦̯̗͙͇͈̦͇͈̬̳͂̀̔o̴̮̻̍r̴̙̖̣͎̜̳̪̰̽͂̈͋̈́́̀̀͂̌͊̀͋m̷̨̡̱̫̞͔͗͗̔̔̂̒̒̾̕͜
Fang Yuan frowned.
If he was reading this correctly - the system was promising him a Rank 9 gu for reaching Rank 6?
Rank 9 gu were massive fragments of the Great Dao. They were not easy to obtain - it was said that Star Constellation took 100 years to refine Rank 9 Wisdom Gu. Fang Yuan wasn't even sure if the Venerables themselves had Rank 9 gu worms. Their power could not be underestimated.
The only thing beyond them was Rank 10, but only two Rank 10 gu were known of - Destiny Gu and Eternity Gu, both described in The Legends of Ren Zu.
Fang Yuan had trouble rationalizing the fact that it could actually give him something like that. He wasn't even sure it was really generating Immortal Gu for him as he had not tested out any of them yet by removing them from his inventory.
As was sometimes said, "if something appears too good to be true, it just might be!"
It made him incredibly suspicious regarding the system.
On top of which the text regarding the reward however, was oddly glitched. As if there was something off about it.
Details on what the Rank 9 gu worm in question and its refinement are can only be given to the host once he ascends to Rank 6.
Additionally, once the host ascends the Goody Two-Shoes System will be able to fully manifest.
Fang Yuan was even more perplexed. 'Are you saying that I won't get the Rank 9 gu worm in question immediately? And that it has to be refined.'
The refinement of the gu worm is certain. There is no need for the host to be anxious. He will be rewarded with it in time.
Up until now he had gotten whatever he had been rewarded instantly without any kind of delay.
There was something deeper to this aspect of the Goody Two-Shoes System.
'What do you mean, "fully manifest?"' Fang Yuan asked.
The full power of the system will be displayed during the host's ascension.
Fang Yuan received no further answers regarding this no matter how he questioned the system.
With that said he had been planning to ascend to Rank 6 sooner or later anyway. The problem was ensuring the right environment for the same.
As he thought this, something within his aperture moved. It was one of the paintings left behind by Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable, which ejected itself out into the world. The picture it depicted morphed into a portrait of Genesis Lotus which began moving and spoke to Fang Yuan.
"Fang Yuan," Genesis Lotus said. "If you intend to undergo an Immortal Ascension, you must fill in my paintings first. They will provide you with the right environment to ascend as a Human Path Immortal. Furthermore, you will not be able to survive your tribulation without our help - as in myself and that half-breed."
"I survived an Immortal Ascension on my own in the future, what makes you think I can't again?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Fang Yuan, Heaven cannot permit the proper development of the Human Path as of yet. You will encounter massive difficulties if you were try to do so on your own," Genesis Lotus said. "However, as long as you can fill in all of my paintings, I can assist you in surviving your tribulation. I only want you to know so that you don't rush into this despite what the system says."
The painting then turned blank like many others, leaving Fang Yuan to contemplate his next move.