Inside the Supreme Immortal Aperture, the Mini Eastern Sea was calm and rippleless.
Above the sea surface, the Blood Sea Sacrifice Refinement Formation sat quietly, its dense blood qi intertwining with the rays of light emitted by the formation, revealing a majestic yet restrained power.
Suddenly, a piercing golden light erupted from the core of the formation. The golden light was dazzling and brilliant, shooting straight into the sky and reflecting a golden hue over the surface of the Mini Eastern Sea.
Amidst the flowing light, a small Rank Six Thievery Path immortal gu slowly appeared.
It looked like a baby, surrounded by a faint blue spectral light. It flew out of the formation in a subtle arc and landed steadily on Yuan Fang's open palm.
This immortal gu was exactly the Rank Six Sneak Attack Immortal Gu that Yuan Fang had spent a great deal of effort to refine personally.
In the Gu World, Gu worms are divided into Mortal Gu and immortal gu; only those with Rank Six cultivation or higher can be called immortal gu.
Below Rank Six, no matter how powerful, they are merely Mortal Gu. This Sneak Attack Gu was just an ordinary Mortal Gu at Rank Two.
Only after advancing to Rank Six did it truly join the ranks of immortal gu.
Yuan Fang was not at all unfamiliar with this Sneak Attack Immortal Gu.
Long ago, within the Heaven Refining Dream Realm, Fang Yuan had coincidentally refined a Rank Two Sneak Attack Mortal Gu by chance.
Since leaving the Heaven Refining Dream Realm, Yuan Fang used Fang Yuan's refinement results as a Foundation. Relying on the supreme deduction power of the Rank Nine wisdom gu and his own profound attainment as a Thievery Path quasi-supreme Great Grandmaster, he first deduced the complete refinement recipes for Sneak Attack Gu from Rank One to Rank Five, and then repeatedly deduced and completed it further.
Finally, he finalized the complete Gu recipe for the Rank Six Sneak Attack Immortal Gu.
Immediately upon obtaining this Rank Six Sneak Attack Immortal Gu recipe, Yuan Fang did not hesitate to activate the Blood Sea Sacrifice Refinement Formation in Fang Yuan's Supreme Immortal Aperture to begin refining this Rank Six Thievery Path immortal gu.
Recently, Yuan Fang had completed many tasks assigned by the Return Home Sect. The contribution points he accumulated were massive, enough to exchange for a vast amount of Thievery Path immortal materials within the Return Home Sect.
Furthermore, following the battle of the White Bone Blessed Land, the original situation in Southern Border was in chaos, with undercurrents surging among various forces.
Yuan Fang seized this Opportunity, using the rare resources he had hoarded to reach several secret deals with Southern Border's Righteous Path super forces such as the Wu Family, Shang Family, Xia Family, and Ba Family, exchanging for a large batch of scarce Thievery Path refinement immortal materials.
With sufficient Thievery Path immortal materials as backing, Yuan Fang simply went for it, operating the formation and successfully refining the Rank Six Sneak Attack Immortal Gu.
After refining the Sneak Attack Immortal Gu, he did not stop. He already had a plan in mind to refine another Rank Six Thievery Path immortal gu—the Bandit Immortal Gu.
To ensure nothing went wrong and to avoid wasting immortal materials from refinement failure, Yuan Fang prepared three complete sets of gu materials in advance, leaving plenty of room for error.
Although the Gu recipe stated that the success rate for refining this Bandit Immortal Gu was only ten percent, Yuan Fang was a Refinement Path quasi-Great Grandmaster, so his success rate would be higher.
By now, the Blood Sea Sacrifice Refinement Formation in Yuan Fang's hands was no longer what it used to be; its power far exceeded the past.
He meticulously improved the formation, integrating the Rank Seven Differentiation Immortal Gu and the Rank Six trouble-eliminating immortal gu into it.
He also successfully advanced the original Blood Refinement Immortal Gu in the formation to Rank Seven. After several optimizations, the power of this Gu refinement formation soared several times over. At the same time, it advanced from Rank Six to Rank Seven.
With the current Blood Sea Sacrifice Refinement Formation, even when using the Mao Tribe Natural Refining Method, there was no longer any need to worry about the tribulations triggered by Gu refinement being difficult to resist—
Any tribulation produced by Gu refinement could be forcibly moved and expelled by activating the Rank Six trouble-eliminating immortal gu, completely eliminating the risk of failing the tribulation.
As for where these expelled tribulations went, Yuan Fang already had a plan.
He activated the immortal formation to roam the void, locking onto the Central Continent region and dumping all the tribulations drawn by Gu refinement into Central Continent territory, intentionally letting those famous sects in Central Continent suffer this undeserved calamity for nothing.
(Children of Central Continent, feel the passionate love from your ancestor Giant Sun.)
The Ten Great Ancient Sects of Central Continent suddenly encountered these tribulations that appeared out of thin air from unknown origins. They were all suspicious and uncertain. Their Gu Immortals investigated with all their might, searching through all the classics and secret records in their sect legacies, but they could not find the source or cause of the tribulations.
In the eyes of these top forces, these tribulations were limited in power and did not harm their Foundations. At most, they were just some geological or meteorological disasters, not much of a threat.
Therefore, they only casually dispatched a few Rank Six Gu Immortals to deal with them, neither reporting to Heavenly Court nor disturbing the Rank Seven or Rank Eight high-rank Gu Immortals stationed in the sects.
The reason was that the situation in Central Continent had always been more stable and harmonious than in Northern Plains. Most Mortal Gu Masters lived in large cities like Emperor City, protected by the Gu Immortals of various sects, and major unrest rarely occurred.
The destructive power of these sudden tribulations was only equivalent to natural disasters in the Mortal world like typhoons, earthquakes, and floods. Thus, the Ten Great Ancient Sects directly classified them as ordinary celestial phenomena.
Only those Mortal Gu Masters affected by the tribulations suffered greatly and complained incessantly.
With the trouble-eliminating immortal gu as a safety net, the hidden danger of tribulations in Gu refinement was completely eliminated. Combined with the Mao Tribe Natural Refining Method, Yuan Fang's Gu refinement efficiency was twice the result with half the effort.
Using the improved Blood Sea Sacrifice Refinement Formation, he successfully refined the Rank Six Bandit Immortal Gu in just one attempt.
With that, the Bandit Immortal Gu was in hand. Combined with the Pickpocket Immortal Gu he had already subdued and a large number of Thievery Path Mortal Gu he had in stock, Yuan Fang finally gathered the core Gu worms to construct a low-end version of the Rank Six Handless Killer Move.
After constructing Handless, he applied the same principles to create the matching "Persistent Bandit Heart" Killer Move with the Rank Six Black Heart Immortal Gu as the core, making his Thievery Path methods even more complete.
This Rank Six Black Heart Immortal Gu was a one-time consumable immortal gu. Once activated, it could forcibly transform a Gu Immortal's heart into a black heart.
The Persistent Bandit Heart Killer Move relied on this immortal gu to allow a Gu Immortal's black heart to be simultaneously attached with Dark Path and Thievery Path dao marks.
It not only made a Gu Immortal's Heart-Nature more treacherous and ruthless but also significantly boosted abilities related to stealing, concealment, and stealth, complementing Thievery Path Killer Moves perfectly.
Speaking of the origin of this Black Heart Immortal Gu, it wasn't very honorable.
It was one of the many spoils of war and immortal gu obtained after the Hundred Days War when Yuan Fang and Fang Yuan teamed up to kidnap Central Continent Gu Immortals and extorted them. Now, it happened to come in handy.
Yuan Fang activated the Persistent Bandit Heart Killer Move to completely transform his heart, then operated the low-end version of the Rank Six Handless Killer Move, and the power of the Killer Move instantly increased greatly.
Now, Handless could not only easily steal rank six immortal gu but even had the possibility of directly stealing Rank Seven immortal gu.
Even so, Yuan Fang was still not satisfied.
He knew in his heart that the current Handless still didn't have a high success rate for stealing Rank Seven immortal gu and carried significant risks.
If he could integrate another Rank Seven Thievery Path immortal gu, this Handless Killer Move would surely undergo a complete transformation, becoming even more powerful and much easier to use.
Thinking of Rank Seven Thievery Path immortal gu, two targets instantly flashed through Yuan Fang's mind: one was the advancement recipe for the Pickpocket Immortal Gu, and the other was the Rank Seven Great Thief Immortal Gu guarded by the Fang Family of Western Desert.
After a bit of thought, he locked his gaze onto the Fang Family's Great Thief Immortal Gu.
The Fang Family of Western Desert was a top-tier super force in the Western Desert region, with deep Foundations and formidable strength. They were also the force with the best hope of integrating all the super families in Western Desert.
The Fang Family's supreme first Elder, Fang Gong, was a Rank Eight Strength Path Gu Immortal, extremely rare in this era with Heaven-Defying battle power; he was the spear and armor of the Fang Family.
The Fang Family's supreme second Elder, Fang Di Chang, although only having Rank Seven cultivation, was a genuine Wisdom Path Great Grandmaster. With profound wisdom and extremely strong coordination skills, he was the brain of the Fang Family.
Besides that, the Fang Family also controlled several immortal gu houses.
Among them, the most representative was the Rank Seven Servitude Path immortal gu house, Chicken Cage Doghouse.
The Fang Family was also the super force in the entire Western Desert that possessed the most immortal gu houses and was most skilled at constructing them.
If the Fang Family could obtain or refine another rank eight immortal gu house, or give birth to another Rank Eight Gu Immortal, their status in Western Desert would be like that of the Wu Family in Southern Border—deeply rooted and unshakable.
However, even without such an Opportunity, the Fang Family's current strength was far beyond what ordinary forces could compare to, and certainly not something the current small Gu Yue Clan could contend with.
Moreover, the current Fang Family was even stronger than recorded in the original work—
While exploring the Green Ghost Desert, they successfully used a meticulous layout to capture a Primeval Desolate Beast, the Green Claw Ghost Winged Lion, and completely enslaved it.
This was equivalent to the Fang Family gaining a low-end version of a rank seven immortal gu house out of thin air, adding another large chunk to their strength.
Yuan Fang was well aware of the Western Desert Fang Family's formidable strength.
On the other hand, the current Gu Yue Clan possessed:
feather saint city, mortal grass hut, immortal gu house, Rain Listening Blood Tower, Sun Palace, human sovereign banner, Black Prison, Saint Ruler City, Boundless City, and Cooking Luck Pot—these ten immortal gu houses.
But those that could be openly revealed and put into actual combat were only eight: feather saint city, mortal grass hut, Sun Palace, human sovereign banner, Black Prison, Saint Ruler City, Boundless City, and Cooking Luck Pot.
Among these eight immortal gu houses, the Sun Palace and Cooking Luck Pot were not for combat purposes.
Black Prison was only of Rank Six grade.
The human sovereign banner, Saint Ruler City, and Boundless City needed to be combined into one to unleash Rank Eight battle power.
The mortal grass hut itself was not suitable for frontal combat.
Only feather saint city was a main combat immortal gu house that the Gu Yue Clan could truly show off.
Overall, the immortal gu house battle power of the Gu Yue Clan was only equivalent to three or four rank seven immortal gu houses.
To make matters worse, Fang Gong also mastered the overbearing Killer Move "Removing Roof Tiles," which could shatter a rank seven immortal gu house with a single punch. If they fought head-on, the Gu Yue Clan would surely be completely suppressed by the Fang Family with no chance of winning.
But from the beginning, Yuan Fang had no intention of using force to attack the Fang Family to seize the Great Thief Immortal Gu.
He had his own plans; there was no need for violence, as he could completely make the Fang Family take the initiative to hand over this immortal gu through an exchange of benefits.
With his mind made up, Yuan Fang immediately communicated with Treasure Yellow Heaven. Using the channels of Treasure Yellow Heaven, he directly contacted the Western Desert Fang Family and straightforwardly proposed to exchange for their Rank Seven Great Thief Immortal Gu.
The Western Desert Fang Family did not hesitate and directly refused on the spot. The Great Thief Immortal Gu was a Thievery Path immortal gu involving the Heaven Refining Legacy; although the Fang Family couldn't use it yet, how could they easily trade it away?
Facing the Fang Family's refusal, Yuan Fang was not anxious. He calmly threw out a bargaining chip that the Fang Family could not refuse.
This chip was longevity gu!
Yuan Fang directly offered his terms: he was willing to use one Rank Seven immortal gu plus one hundred year longevity gu to exchange for the Fang Family's Rank Seven Great Thief Immortal Gu.
One must know that longevity gu are extremely scarce treasures in the Gu World; a single hundred year longevity gu could directly add a hundred years of Lifespan to a Gu Immortal.
In many cases, the value of a single hundred year longevity gu was comparable to a rank six immortal gu and could even be exchanged for an ordinary Rank Seven immortal gu.
And as it happened, the Fang Family's supreme first Elder, Fang Gong, had just experienced the desperate situation of his Lifespan nearly running out. Fortunately, he had found longevity gu in time to extend his life and overcome the crisis.
Right now, although Fang Gong still had a hundred years of Lifespan, which seemed sufficient.
But the path of a Gu Immortal's cultivation is long, and one can never have too much Lifespan. Because he had just experienced hardship, Fang Gong's desire for longevity gu far exceeded that of ordinary people, fearing he might encounter an accident and fall into a situation of Lifespan shortage again.
Upon learning that Yuan Fang was willing to offer a hundred year longevity gu for the trade, Fang Gong no longer hesitated and readily agreed to the deal.
Once the deal was finalized, Yuan Fang remained extremely cautious. He immediately sent Gu Yue Qing Shu to use Fixed Immortal Travel to teleport to the Western Desert Fang Family to handle the handover of the immortal gu first.
After Gu Yue Qing Shu completed the handover and safely returned to the White Bone Blessed Land via Fixed Immortal Travel, Yuan Fang then officially transferred the hundred year longevity gu to the Western Desert Fang Family through Treasure Yellow Heaven.
The reason for such elaborate efforts and step-by-step caution was entirely to guard against the Fang Family acting ungratefully, directly detaining Gu Yue Qing Shu and turning hostile.
Had he not experienced those unforgettable past events, Yuan Fang would not have been so wary of the wickedness in people's hearts.
Before transmigrating to the Gu World, when Yuan Fang was still Han Li, he had once used a Feather Ascension Token to enter Yellow Maple Valley.
According to the rules, he was supposed to receive a Foundation Establishment Pill, but it was forcibly taken by an ill-intentioned Junior Martial Uncle in exchange for some spirit plants.
What was even more detestable was that after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, that Junior Martial Uncle kept delaying giving the spirit plants, only reluctantly returning them after Han Li successfully established his Foundation and gained some strength.
It was this experience that allowed Yuan Fang to see through the unpredictability of human hearts, making his actions increasingly cautious and careful.
Precisely because of this caution, this cross-regional transaction went exceptionally smoothly without any accidents.
Yuan Fang gave up a Rank Seven immortal gu that was useless to him and a precious hundred year longevity gu, but in exchange, he got the Rank Seven Great Thief Immortal Gu he urgently needed. This deal was truly worth more than its cost.
After obtaining the Rank Seven Great Thief Immortal Gu, Yuan Fang did not delay at all. He immediately activated the Rank Nine wisdom gu and used all his strength to deduce and calculate, optimizing the structure of the Handless Killer Move.
After spending several days, he finally successfully integrated the Rank Seven Great Thief Immortal Gu into the Handless Killer Move, completing the final transformation of the Killer Move.
With this, Yuan Fang's Handless Killer Move formally advanced to a Rank Seven Thievery Path Killer Move. Stealing Rank Seven immortal gu was now easy and natural, with a very high success rate.
However, when facing Rank Eight immortal gu, limited by the number of his own dao marks and the upper limit of the Killer Move, there was still considerable difficulty, and he could not easily succeed for the time being.
After mastering the Rank Seven Handless, the Flower Transfer and Wood Grafting Killer Move he had previously mastered was not discarded either.
The threshold for this Killer Move was not high, and it could be taught to his trusted Gu Immortals, such as the original owner of the Flower Transfer and Wood Grafting Killer Move, Gu Yue Qingzhuo.
Having a perfected Rank Seven Handless, Yuan Fang immediately decided to enter secluded cultivation.
His own Great Tribulation was already approaching, and his cultivation pace could not afford the slightest slack.
And just then, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind, giving birth to a brand-new idea—
If he could grasp this inspiration and deduce it deeply, perhaps he could create a brand-new immortal gu house.
This immortal gu house would have infinite potential. Once built, it would surely become the Gu Yue Clan's strongest immortal gu house, supporting the tribe's Foundation.
But Yuan Fang also knew that calculating this immortal gu house would inevitably consume a long time; he might not even be able to fully deduce and perfect it by the time he underwent his Great Tribulation.
Because this immortal gu house was a Sword Path immortal gu house, and even more so, a Rank Eight Sword Path immortal gu house constructed with two Rank Eight immortal gu, Wisdom Sword Immortal Gu and Sword Light Immortal Gu, as the core.
The entire immortal gu house would use the Five Fingers Fist Heart Sword Killer Move as its core structure. It could maximize the power of this Killer Move while perfectly making up for the Killer Move's original flaws, complementing each other with Heaven-Defying battle power.
Yuan Fang had initially thought of naming it "Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword," but after careful deduction, he found that the function and structure of this immortal gu house were far from the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword.
So he temporarily set aside the naming, and for convenience, tentatively called it the "Immortal Gu House Prototype."
While Yuan Fang was focused on his secluded cultivation and deducing the immortal gu house, the hope of Shadow Sect, Shadowless Evil, was not nearly as smooth, and his situation became increasingly difficult.
Although he was backed by the Five Regions Zombie Alliance and had several Rank Eight Immortal Zombies stationed under him, along with countless Rank Six and Rank Seven Immortal Zombies and Gu Immortals at his command, his forces were scattered everywhere and suppressed heavily by the Heavenly Court at every turn, making every step difficult.
Just then, a catastrophe sufficient to subvert the Foundation of Shadow Sect quietly descended, becoming the greatest difficulty Shadowless Evil had ever encountered in his life...