With all of these problems settled, Fang Yuan left his aperture and set out for the Mushroomman Blessed Land.
Little had developed here other than a handful of new Pill Path recipes mainly for Rank 2 and Rank 3 pills which Fang Yuan accepted before leaving. He hadn't expected much else to come from them.
He then set out for Shang Clan City.
None of the usual Shang Clan Supreme Elders who would have met him were there, but that was to be expected; they were probably busy with their own Immortal duties. Shang Qing Qing was not there either. Fang Yuan had already sent her a message through Treasure Yellow Heaven letting her know that he had been successful, and he had gotten a positive response. In turn, she had also asked him whether he needed help with his next Earthly Calamity, but he simply told her that he had passed through the first one without too many issues, and that he would consider asking for help with later ones if needed.
As it was, most Gu Immortals had apertures whose time flow was only about five or six times that of the outside world. Fang Yuan's rate of twenty-to-one was certainly an anomaly, so he could skate by for now and no one would be any wiser.
With this matter settled, Fang Yuan was able to descend and enter Shang Clan City once more, disguising himself as a Rank 5 Peak Stage Gu Master.
***
In a certain corner of the city, guards stood around, barring the entrance to a room of importance.
The room in question was covered in thin silks and had a large, soft bed. There was a gentle fragrance wafting in the air. The soft groans of two female voices could be heard, making one wonder what kind of steamy scenario might be going on behind the silk curtains.
Within this room, Bai Ning Bing and Shang Xin Ci were present, dual cultivating with each other.
Bai Ning Bing's hands rested on Shang Xin Ci's as Bai Ning Bing activated Equality Gu, trying to suppress the effect of her Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique by giving up some of her abilities to Shang Xin Ci.
The grunting was from exhaustion as a side effect of using Equality Gu.
The entire process took about four hours, by the end of which Bai Ning Bing was utterly exhausted. "Thank you, Sister Ling Ding Ching," Shang Xin Ci said
This process was quite helpful to her, given the fact that she was essentially possessing half of an extreme physique and was very close to breaking through to rank 4 already. If she was able to break through to Rank 4 "on her own merit", so to speak, she might be able to become a Shang Clan Elder proper without having to rely upon the Young Master competition at all.
"Speak nothing of it," Bai Ning Bing said, gritting her teeth. She knew that Shang Xin Ci was getting far more out of the deal than she was, but what choice did she have other than to use Equality Gu to try and suppress her extreme physique from manifesting?
Equality Gu certainly solved the problem of her extreme physique temporarily, but it still was not an ideal solution, despite having very little conflict due to the extreme physique being a Human Path problem at heart.
The best analogy would be dialysis for people who had kidney disease back on Earth. Dialysis could certainly work and prolong one's lifespan, but it still was not addressing the core issue, namely the kidney disease itself.
One would definitely live longer on dialysis than one would otherwise, but it still did not solve all of the issues that one would encounter with kidney disease like anemia and hypertension. Not to mention, the process was extremely time-consuming and exhausting. Sooner or later - though Bai Ning Bing did not know exactly when - the side effects of the extreme physique would catch up to her.
Bai Ning Bing departed for her hotel room, resolving to rest for the remainder of the day, when she suddenly heard a knocking at the door.
"Lady Ling Ding Ching, there is a visitor for you," a servant called.
"Tell them to go away!" Bai Ning Bing replied.
"I don't think that is what you want," another voice said from the other side.
Bai Ning Bing nearly jolted up in bed. That voice...
She hoped that the voice she was hearing was some kind of sleep-deprived hallucination, or at least the result of exhaustion, but she had a sinking feeling that this was the actual person she was thinking of in question.
She looked up as Fang Yuan walked into the room, not even bothering to ask permission to enter.
"So, you've returned," Bai Ning Bing said. There was quite a lot she wanted to say, but after that session of intense dual cultivation, she didn't have the energy within her to remark further.
"Indeed. I've returned from my trip to the Western Desert," Fang Yuan said.
"And did you find anything you were looking for?" Bai Ning Bing asked.
"Well, a number of things," Fang Yuan said. "However, I should tell you something that I think will be very good news to you. I have an alternative solution for how you can survive your Immortal Ascension."
Bai Ning Bing forgot her exhaustion momentarily as she glanced at Fang Yuan. "An alternative?" she asked.
From what she had learned from the Bai Clan founder's inheritance, the only way for her to survive her Immortal Ascension, given that she had the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique, was the presence of a corresponding path Immortal Gu during her ascension.
In other words, this had to be either a Snow, Ice, Water, or Dark Path Immortal Gu.
That in itself would preclude her from trying to ascend unless she could find one of those. This also meant that nearly any mortal with one of the ten extreme physiques was doomed to die unless they had a Gu Immortal's backing. And even if they did have an Immortal's backing, the Gu Immortal in question might not have an Immortal Gu of that specific path.
It was quite a predicament!
Yet, Fang Yuan was now saying that he had an alternative solution. She was highly suspicious of him, but then again, he was the one who had shown her the method of using Equality Gu in order to suppress her physique, and even if that was not a perfect solution, it still could prolong her lifespan by ten or twenty years.
That was certainly something.
"Well, Fang Yuan, don't keep me waiting. What exactly is this solution?" she asked.
Fang Yuan's eyes flashed dangerously. Now that he had the benefit of Bonds Equal to Blood Ties, he could easily refine Blood Skull Gu and try to take her Northern Ice Dark Soul Physique for himself. The two of them had referred to each other as 'brother' and 'sister' multiple times during their travels.
But... in the current situation there was little meaning in doing so. He could not overwrite the Righteous Virtue Physique.
"Well, it turns out that if you use a rank 6 Immortal Human Path Gu worm, you can also pass through your heavenly tribulation as well," Fang Yuan answered.
Bai Ning Bing stared at him.
BNB: "..."
FY: "..."
"What kind of answer is that?!" she said angrily, flailing her arms.
Fang Yuan had realized this now that his Human Path attainment, as well as his research, had increased.
The ten extreme physiques normally required a corresponding path's Immortal Gu to help under their Immortal Ascension.
However, at their core, they were Human Path manifestations coming from the first human, Ren Zu.
The Verdant Sun Great Yang Physique, for example, would normally require either a Light or a Fire Path Immortal gu worm in order for one to safely ascend. There were no such gu worms within Fang Yuan's aperture, so Wang Tian would normally be out of luck.
It was requiring a corresponding Immortal Gu which made it very difficult to deal with such people. Immortal Gu were unique in the first place and so could not even be easily traded if the other person had no use for the kinds of gu worms you were offering - and if they did have an Immortal Gu it was more likely than not of their own path and not something they would easily part with.
However, regardless of what the extreme physique in question was, they could all survive if they used a Human Path Immortal Gu! If Fang Yuan wished to nurture someone with an extreme physique, this gave him a massive leg up in the matter!