When the young man spoke of the Second Aperture Gu, the land spirit was taken aback."You know a great deal," it murmured.
Though puzzled, the spirit chose not to question further.
For this person wielded immense power—far beyond that of the others roaming the realms of the Three Kings' inheritance. More importantly, he truly fit the role the spirit had been waiting for.
Fang Yuan, directly said, "Second aperture Gu is a rank six Gu."
"Rank five is mortal, rank six is immortal! To refine an Immortal Gu, the most basic condition is immortal essence! In the blessed land, how much immortal essence is left?"
The tortoise turned its body, gazing deep within the hall.
The flooring cracked open, as a hole appeared, and a bronze cauldron rose slowly. Eventually, the flooring closed up, leaving the cauldron alone in the hall.
This cauldron had three legs and two handles, it was filled with immortal essence inside.
The immortal essence was a greenish water, crystal clear and giving off a rusty smell.
There was very little immortal essence, only a thin layer left in the cauldron, and as time flowed, it slowly decreased drop by drop.
This is because, after the blessed land opened, countless Gu Masters explored, and entered and left multiple times, expending immortal essence.
"Just a bit more from my previous life." Fang Yuan looked at this layer of immortal essence, thinking deeply.
Fang Yuan's eyes gleamed with sharp intensity. After a moment of contemplation, he addressed the land spirit.
"Land spirit, are you considering this recipe for the Second Aperture Gu?"
He recited the intricate recipe with clarity:
"Rotten soil blood powder, treasure flower in the earth. Jade bone turned into petals, ice muscles into stalks and golden relic into the heart of the flower. A bright stellar fire, gather ice and snow into plains. Yang cloud burns with elixir fire below and yin clouds scatter sand like gold above, add beast phantoms in the middle until lightning crackles, creating beast strength placenta, and start collecting apertures… Wild grass grow wildly, the qi of blood like the sea. Three hundred years as spring, five hundred years as autumn. With unlimited divine opportunity, swim and roam in the wilds, adding in third watch, and another third watch, obtaining nine. Nine as extreme, the refinement is complete!"
The recipe content was huge and had close to ten thousand words.
Ba Gui, the land spirit, stood stunned, absorbing the profound depth of the recitation.
Fang Yuan's eyes gleamed with sharp intensity as he addressed the land spirit. "With this recipe, your chances of success are only about 10 to 20 percent."
He paused, letting the gravity of his words settle before continuing. "If I am to refine the Gu, I will need your unconditional support. Can you provide that?"
Ba Gui's expression turned grave. The first shock was how Fang Yuan knew the recipe; the second was the realization that the success rate was so low. But despite the uncertainties, Ba Gui responded resolutely, "I will give you my entire support!"
With those words, the main hall was bathed in a dark blue light. The relief sculptures on the walls shifted, revealing hidden compartments filled with materials and Gu worms essential for refining the Second Aperture Gu.
Fang Yuan surveyed the preparations, his brow furrowing.
"There should still be one extremely crucial Gu worm," he muttered.
Ba Gui nodded, using all his strength to control this main hall.
The blue radiance increased sharply and reached and unbearable intensity.
The immortal essence in the bronze cauldron began deplete bit by bit.
Fang Yuan's eyes shined, and within this blue light, he saw a confined Immortal Gu.
It was like a round gem, the gem's whole body was yellow and was hollow inside with a ball of purple smoke in it.
This smoke transformed constantly; suddenly turning into a pegasus or an immortal crane the next moment, or changing into a moving cloud or pure thunderbolt.
Following its appearance, a strong wine fragrance spread through the whole main hall.
Fang Yuan took a few breaths and immediately felt drunk; his eyes turned hazy and his mind became dizzy, but suddenly, he controlled himself.
"This is the rank six Immortal Gu — Divine Travel." The land spirit introduced.
Divine travel Gu!
Fang Yuan looked over the materials and shook his head. "These are all outdated," he said, then pulled out a Gu Worm that resembled a spider. "Refine this one first."
Land spirit Ba Gui examined the Gu Worm—a Rank 5—but had no idea what type it was. Without hesitation, Ba Gui took it and began refining immediately.
What Ba Gui didn't realize was the faint smirk on Fang Yuan's lips as the refinement started.
Ba Gui then looked at Fang Yuan, silently urging him to speak. Fang Yuan just smiled and said, "It's a shame, Ba Gui. You're too narrow-minded."
Suddenly, Ba Gui found it couldn't move or speak. Its thoughts were severed, disconnected from the Blessed Land. It couldn't even close the materials or seal the Divine Travel Gu.
Frozen in shock with wide eyes, Ba Gui wanted to shout or attack but was completely powerless.
Fang Yuan glanced at the trapped Ba Gui and said, "You must be wondering how I managed to imprison you in your own Blessed Land."
"Still no idea?"
At that moment, Ba Gui noticed thick spider webs spreading across its body, binding it tightly. The webs even blocked its thoughts from reaching the Blessed Land or the Divine Travel Immortal Gu—they simply vanished.
Fang Yuan revealed, "This is an Arachne Gu."
"It's only one step away from becoming an Immortal Gu, and if fully matured, it would easily rank among the top 100 Immortal Gu in the world."
"Such a rare Gu Worm, and it's wasted on you."
"You should consider yourself lucky—to witness my rise."
With those words, Ba Gui slowly turned to stone, unable to grasp what was happening.
After a few minutes, the entire Land Spirit had petrified. From its body emerged a cracked, spider-like Gu Worm, barely alive.
"You are the first Pseudo Immortal Gu to appear in this world."
"When I ascend to become a Gu Immortal, your time will come."
Fang Yuan then stored the Arachne Gu within his aperture.