There was only half a month left before Hei Lou Lan's immortal ascension due to the unexpected developments in Northern Plains, as Fairy Li Shan's letter had stated. However, inside Hu Immortal Blessed Land, Fang Yuan had more than two months to prepare.
Fang Yuan spent this period deducing a method to transform Reckless Savage's true meaning, making considerable progress and achieving results that were fairly satisfying.
However, he had no opportunity to test the fruits of his research. Instead, he had to rely on his intuition and the boundless inspiration brought by Wisdom Gu to refine his deductions further and further.
At this moment, Fang Yuan sat inside Dang Hun Palace with a large quantity of immortal materials spread before him. Most of these immortal materials were only rank six, with very few at rank seven, and not a single rank eight immortal material among them.
These immortal materials belonged to both Strength Path and Time Path. Although using immortal materials to increase his dao marks was astonishingly expensive, the rate at which his dao marks increased was equally astonishing.
Fang Yuan picked up one of the Time Path immortal materials before activating a Time Path immortal killer move that imitated Food Path. His mouth expanded to a horrifying size, and an immense suction force erupted, swallowing the Time Path immortal material whole.
This single immortal material alone added twelve Time Path dao marks.
Fang Yuan continued consuming the Time Path immortal materials until none remained. Afterwards, he consumed all of the Strength Path immortal materials as well.
"Using Food Path to increase my dao marks once every ten days is the ideal pace… I've already used Eat Dao around eight times. Each session grants me roughly two to three hundred dao marks in both Strength Path and Time Path, bringing each path to nearly two thousand dao marks. This will greatly reduce the conflict between my dao marks, allowing me to display greater battle strength… At my current level, I estimate my battle strength has reached the middle tier of rank seven."
Fang Yuan marveled at the wonders of Food Path. This was far from the first time he had done so.
The cost of purchasing Strength Path and Time Path immortal materials was absurdly high, with every small batch costing hundreds of immortal essence stones. Compared to the number of dao marks they provided, the expense was simply disproportionate.
Even so, if a Gu Immortal continued accumulating dao marks in this manner, there would eventually be a qualitative leap in battle strength once their dao marks reached the level of a rank seven Gu Immortal.
After all, the gap in battle strength between rank six and rank seven Gu Immortals was not especially large, one of the reasons being that the difference in dao marks between the two realms was not particularly great.
A rank six Gu Immortal possessed anywhere from several dozen to nine thousand dao marks, while a rank seven Gu Immortal generally possessed between ten thousand and thirty thousand dao marks.
With sufficient effort and capital, Fang Yuan could accumulate dao marks comparable to those of a peak rank seven Gu Immortal without undergoing a single earthly calamity or heavenly tribulation.
Combined with his profound foundation and immortal killer moves, even people like Qin Bai Sheng, Feng Jiu Ge, Domination Immortal Chu Du, and Shi Lei would find it far from easy to deal with him.
After finishing this cultivation session, Fang Yuan used a large quantity of Guts Gu, raising the foundation of his soul to a three million man soul. After tempering it through the Soul Cleansing Formation, his soul foundation settled at a one million three hundred thousand man soul.
Fang Yuan continued cultivating while traveling between Lang Ya Blessed Land and Hu Immortal Blessed Land. He also devoted a great deal of time to managing both of his immortal apertures.
About a week later in the outside world, a change occurred within Hu Immortal Blessed Land.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng returned to Hu Immortal Blessed Land through Star Gate.
Fang Yuan appeared before Tai Bai Yun Sheng in his immortal zombie form. Speaking in his coarse, icy voice, he asked in an intimidating tone, "Old Bai, it's good to see you. How was Eastern Sea?"
Tai Bai Yun Sheng looked around Hu Immortal Blessed Land with a relaxed expression.
"I did exactly as you suggested, brother. Once I displayed Landscape as Before Immortal Gu, I was warmly welcomed by many Gu Immortals, who took the initiative to invite me to their own sea regions… Some of the Gu Immortals from Hai Shi Blessed Land even invited me to join Hai Shi Blessed Land, but such a decision requires the approval of at least half the elders."
Fang Yuan nodded outwardly, though inwardly he cared very little. Hai Shi Blessed Land might be the foremost super force of lone cultivators in Eastern Sea and was considered the second-largest open marketplace after Treasure Yellow Heaven, but for now it lay completely outside Fang Yuan's plans.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng continued chatting about everything that had happened in Eastern Sea and the things he had witnessed there.
"In truth, the landmass of Eastern Sea occupies only a tiny portion of the region. The seas stretch endlessly beyond the horizon… Such scenery truly broadens one's horizons regarding just how different the Five Regions are."
"You've only seen Northern Plains and Eastern Sea, Old Bai. You should witness the mountains of Southern Border or the endless sands of Western Desert. Only then will your horizons truly broaden."
Tai Bai Yun Sheng sighed after hearing Fang Yuan's words.
"Little brother possesses Fixed Immortal Travel, allowing him to witness all the landscapes of the Five Regions. But at a time like this, who has the leisure to admire nature?… Danger lurks everywhere, whether in Eastern Sea or Northern Plains. Ever since Imperial Court Blessed Land and Eighty-Eight True Yang Building were destroyed, we have become fugitives hunted by every force and every Gu Immortal."
Fang Yuan nodded in agreement.
"It's good that you think this way. We are in danger at every moment, and hiding benefits no one. If we wish to overcome this terrible situation, we must take the initiative ourselves through offense and by misleading our enemies…"
Fang Yuan spoke confidently, his voice filled with conviction.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was inspired by Fang Yuan's fearless tone.
"Brother, your spirit is admirable, but the strength of you and me alone is nowhere near enough to mislead our enemies. Even with Fairy Li Shan, we can barely create any significant changes in Northern Plains… Three Gu Immortals are simply too few in the grand scheme of things."
Fang Yuan laughed as he raised four fingers.
"Old Bai, you're truly getting old… Once Hei Lou Lan completes her immortal ascension, our Snowy Mountain alliance will have four Gu Immortals—one rank seven and three rank six. That is certainly enough to launch attacks and mislead our enemies!"
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's eyes lit up.
"That's right! Hei Lou Lan possesses one of the Ten Extreme Physiques. She already displayed terrifying battle strength as merely a mortal Gu Master. Just how powerful will she become after ascending to a Gu Immortal?"
It was obvious that Hei Lou Lan's performance inside the Assimilation Wind Veil had left a profound impression on Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
Fang Yuan nodded.
"Hei Lou Lan may indeed be powerful and capable of fighting weaker rank six Gu Immortals head-on, but after becoming a Gu Immortal, the difference won't actually be that great… Without Immortal Gu and immortal killer moves, she will at most stand among the upper tier of rank six. Therefore, it is better for us to strengthen ourselves rather than rely on Fairy Li Shan and Hei Lou Lan."
Fang Yuan's words made perfect sense to Tai Bai Yun Sheng, yet he still felt puzzled about how he could rapidly increase his own battle strength.
"Old Bai, let me speak frankly… Your combat attainment is dreadful, and your battle strength is weak. This cannot be solved within a short period of time. However, Master ordered me to give this to you."
Fang Yuan spoke solemnly as he cast a meaningful glance toward Tai Bai Yun Sheng before handing him a mortal Information Path Gu.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's hands trembled as he stared at the mortal Information Path Gu resting in his palm. He could not help but look at it for nearly ten minutes before refining it and sending his consciousness inside.
When Fang Yuan saw that Tai Bai Yun Sheng had finished examining its contents, he spoke.
"This contains a complete set of mortal killer moves from Cloud Path and Time Path. Every one of them was personally selected by the Master, and together they form a perfectly complementary system of killer moves… You should purchase the necessary Gu worms and practice these killer moves yourself. We still have about one month inside Hu Immortal Blessed Land before Hei Lou Lan undergoes immortal ascension."