Shang Qing Qing, the Supreme Elder, stepped into view, her eyes narrowed like a predator watching its prey.
Fang Yuan's response was casual, too casual. "The moment you appeared, Elder. I knew."
The room froze.
Others stood up in the room and bowed to her.
The tension was unbearable.
But... the power in Fang Yuan's presence—his complete control over this situation—was like a dark storm sweeping through the room.
Shang Qing Qing's lips twisted in annoyance. "Do you truly have no fear, junior?" she asked, her voice icy.
Fang Yuan's smile was all teeth.
"I'm not afraid of you, Elder. But if you wish to test me…" He spread his arms wide.
"Go ahead."
"If you kill me, I'll make sure my family comes for your clan. And it won't be pretty."
His tone was playful, but his eyes were cold, calculating.
A threat wrapped in the sweetest of smiles.
She studied him, her lips thinning. "I'm not questioning your identity, but the Dragon's Blood…"
"Why don't you let Shang Yan Fei try it?" Fang Yuan said, cutting her off with a wicked smirk.
Shang Qing Qing nodded.
With a slow, deliberate motion, Shang Yan Fei took two drops and absorbed them in his aperture, and the change was instantaneous.
His aptitude, once 85%, surged to 87%.
He gasped.
"It's real," Shang Yan Fei whispered, his voice hoarse.
While, the other's eyes glinted with varied shades—greed, joy, fear, pity—all colliding in a single, hypnotic gaze.
Shang Qing Qing nodded—not out of awe, nor fear.
She had seen much of the world.
After her ascension, she came to understand that countless Gu worms and rare materials existed to improve aptitude. But to her, an immortal, such things held little value.
Aptitude no longer mattered.
So, she said calmly, "Junior, take this."
From her sleeve, she took out a glossy, translucent crystal that sparkled with a jade-like luster. It was perfectly round, like a pearl.
Fang Yuan glanced at the floating Immortal Essence Stone in front of him. Without hesitation, he slid the golden vial of blood toward Shang Yan Fei.
Then, with a flick of his sleeve, the crystal vanished—its presence, along with its aura, completely disappeared.
Shang Qing Qing raised an eyebrow at this, clearly intrigued, but chose not to comment.
Fang Yuan stood, cupped his hands respectfully toward her, and said, "The transaction is complete, Elder."
"I'll be taking my leave in a few days."
She nodded silently and tossed him a Purple Thorn Token. He caught it instantly and turned to leave the room.
Behind him, discussions resumed, but Fang Yuan paid no mind. He wasn't interested in what they were saying—he already had a clear idea of what was coming.
'The Shang Clan's young masters are likely planning to use that blood to improve their own aptitude—or to enhance their followers. But Shang Qing Qing will ensure the clan leader monopolizes it.'
'After all, it's not every day they get their hands on something that can increase aptitude.'
The vial Fang Yuan sold them was filled with the same blood he had collected after massacring everyone on Qing Mao Mountain.
And despite selling just one vial, the profit he'd gained already far outweighed the cost.
He had only changed its color and diluted its potency by mixing in some poisonous substances, but they didn't know that.
Afterall, If Fang Yuan had no backing—no power behind him—Shang Qing Qing likely would've killed him on the spot and taken the vial. But since he didn't, he had to bluff.
Bluffing was the only way to create fear—fear of the unknown. And in this world, the unknown was always more dangerous than the known.
That's why Shang Qing Qing hadn't bargained. That's why she'd given him an Immortal Essence Stone without argument.
Because Fang Yuan had mentioned a Rank 8 Draconic Beast.
In the mortal world, very few even knew dragons existed.
Immortal Draconic Beasts were said to be extinct—yet they were still feared, stronger than most other immortal beasts.
Shang Qing Qing had sensed no deceit in his words. More than that, she couldn't even understand how Fang Yuan had detected her presence at all. That unsettled her.
And when he made the Immortal Essence Stone vanish without a trace, she could only assume he possessed a powerful treasure granted by a Gu Immortal.
After all, no mortal Gu worm could store an Immortal Essence Stone.
As for Fang Yuan—he never actually saw her enter. He gambled that she would appear.
He had insulted their clan leader, threatened to make deals with the Wu Clan, and openly challenged the Shang Clan. If no Immortal emerged in response to all of that, it would only mean that the Shang Clan's Gu Immortals were absent from Shang Liang Mountain.
In that case, Fang Yuan would have slaughtered the entire Shang Clan, gathered more blood, and vanished without a trace.
Instead, he got what he wanted—an Immortal Essence Stone. Perhaps an excessive price for a single vial of blood, but they didn't know the full truth.
And Fang Yuan had no intention of enlightening them.
....
Fang Yuan had spent the entire day cultivating inside his inn room, sinking deeply into the silence.
As night deepened and the clock struck midnight, he slowly opened his eyes and murmured, "No one is probing me... atleast not like Shang Qing Qing did."
Then, with quiet resolve, he murmured, "It's time to make my move."
The stillness in the room rippled.
In a blink, he vanished—like a drifting cloud dispersing into the night—leaving the room silent and emptied of his presence.
....
"Wu Ran, if we ask you to sacrifice your future for the clan, are you willing to do it?"
"I am willing!"
"Wu Ran, if we ask you to sacrifice your reputation for the clan, are you willing to do it?"
"I am willing!"
"Wu Ran, if we ask you to sacrifice your life for the clan, are you willing to do it?"
"I am willing!"
"I was right about you, Wu Ran. From your grandfather, father, and then you, you were all loyal Wu clan subjects! Now, the clan has a mission for you, this mission would need you to sacrifice your future, your reputation, and maybe even your life."
"Lord clan leader, I am willing to do it for the clan!"
....
In the darkness, Wu Ran opened his eyes.
" Huff …" He breathed out slowly, sitting up from his bed, muttering: "I dreamed again."
This dream was not fake, but originated from the deepest part of his memory.
'Li Ran' is his fake name, his real name is 'Wu Ran'.
The surname Wu, bore great significance in southern border. It represented the number one overlord in the southern border, Wu clan!
Ten years ago, Wu clan leader Empress Wu Ji gave an audience to Wu Ran, and assigned him a secret mission —
Making his way into Shang clan's higher up level!
For this, he changed his name, and roamed the wilderness for three years before settling in Shang clan city.
He laid low for seven whole years.
"It has been seven years, an entire seven years. Wu clan's clansmen have mostly forgotten me by now huh? Wu Ran is dead, in this world, only Li Ran remains."
Li Ran sighed in his heart.
He had been lurking for too long. So long that he almost forgot his own name.
Here, he wore a mask, living for seven years, pretending to be a libertine, an ordinary Gu Master of the lowest social level. Even to his beloved wife, he did not say a thing.
During this period, he only left once every half a year to contact Wu clan. It had always been a one-sided contact, hiding all traces to the limit.
Li Ran willed, and a Gu appeared from his storage.
This fossil was cube shaped, like a brick shining with star light on its surface.
This was a stellar stone.
Li Ran gently caressed the fossil, a faint frown creasing his brow.
A whiff of damp earth filled the room. Startled, he turned—but his voice failed him, throat tightening as if strangled.
At the table, a young man wearing a bronze-copper mask methodically peeled an apple. Without a hint of urgency, he began speaking:
"Here's what would have happened."
Slowly, he started to peel the apple.
"Li Ran, a spy of the Wu Clan, would slip a stellar stone into the Gambling Den."
Li Ran's eyes widened in shock—but his voice remained trapped in his throat. When he seemed on the brink of suffocation, the pressure abruptly released—breath flooding back but words stubbornly silent.
"He'd open it and acquire the Gu Worm—the key to his ascent. Within a month, however, the spy alias Wu Ran would be exposed and eliminated, while the Gu Worm would vanish—seized by a mysterious youth."
The masked young man finished peeling the apple and glared at Li Ran.
"Now, here's what could happen."
The tone shifted, becoming colder:
"Li Ran—spy of the Wu Clan—stumbles on an immortal inheritance."
"He enters and completes it. Although he won't gather many Gu Worms, he obtains a Golden Liquid capable of raising aptitude by 95%."
"During the process, the dormant Gu Worm inside the stellar stone is destroyed by the Land Spirit—but Li Ran leaves the inheritance with a 95% improved aptitude and only part of the leftover liquid—perhaps enough to boost the other's aptitude by 90%."
"He returns to Wu Clan, where he's welcomed with rewards and reunites with his family. Ultimate happy ending."
Then with the final, most chilling tone, he continued,
"Now—here's what could also happen."
The young man rose and walked toward Li Ran, towering over him.
"Li Ran, spy of the Wu Clan, rejects the choices he was offered. He meets an untimely death in his bed. The stellar stone mysteriously vanished."
He moved to stand directly before Li Ran, looking down.
"Choose."
Air flooded back into Li Ran's lungs as the restraining pressure vanished. He gasped, yet words didn't come out of his mouth.
"You might think, 'this could happen,' or 'that might happen.' But do you know what's certain?"
A grim statement hanged in the silence"
"That I will get that Gu Worm."
The apple's flesh lain bare in the masked man's hand. An impossible ultimatum anchored in eerie calm.
"Now—choose."