The development of Hu Immortal Blessed Land was progressing extremely quickly, and Fang Yuan was earning profits almost immediately. However, it was still only in the initial stages of development.
The development of an immortal aperture was divided into seven levels.
The first level was establishing mortal resource points, bringing in beast groups, and creating locations that produced wild Gu worms, until they could naturally reproduce inside the blessed land.
The second level was naturally producing food for the Immortal Gu of the Gu Immortal within the blessed land, achieving self-sufficiency.
The third level was raising desolate beasts and desolate plants, creating immortal resource points, and completing the ecosystem of the blessed land.
The fourth level was using desolate beasts, desolate plants, and immortal materials to generate profits for the blessed land.
The fifth level was naturally producing Immortal Gu within the Gu Immortal's immortal aperture.
The sixth level was raising humans and variant humans inside the blessed land and producing Gu Immortals.
The seventh level was producing lifespan Gu within the blessed land or grotto-heaven.
Forget about the last three levels. Fang Yuan currently could only develop the blessed land up to the fourth level, and that would only happen after he became a Gu Immortal. Right now, he had merely taken half a step into the first level and still needed to accelerate the development greatly before advancing into the second level.
The second level was somewhat vague. Fang Yuan only possessed three Immortal Gu: Spring Autumn Cicada, Fixed Immortal Travel, and Divine Travel. The food of Spring Autumn Cicada was the waters of the River of Time, something Fang Yuan did not need to worry about. As for Fixed Immortal Travel, its food was immortal essence. Meanwhile, Divine Travel fed on massive amounts of high-quality wine.
The food for Spring Autumn Cicada and Fixed Immortal Travel was not a problem. Even Divine Travel, though troublesome due to Fang Yuan needing to brew the wine personally, was still manageable.
"But the problem is when I enter Imperial Court Blessed Land. There are many Immortal Gu I intend to obtain, such as Calamity Beckoning Gu, Calamity Transformation Gu, Flying Bear Phantom Gu, Flying Bear Strength Gu, Soul Cleansing Gu, and others. It would be much easier if I possessed Snack Immortal Gu. Then I could simply create a super food path formation and place the Immortal Gu inside. I would not need to worry about feeding them unless I used them."
Food path might be a perfect solution, but it solved the symptoms rather than the root of the problem. If Fang Yuan wanted to continue developing naturally, he would spend months and years solving the feeding issue from its roots. Furthermore, Hu Immortal Blessed Land was merely a small enslavement path blessed land, not the massive Sovereign Immortal Aperture.
Fang Yuan decided to leave the issue for later due to his lack of time.
He spent the remainder of his time dealing with the emerging problems inside Hu Immortal Blessed Land. Then he managed and adjusted the resource points, setting up more mortal formations to maintain the smaller resource points and the environment.
He also needed to modify the star path formation within the cloud star fragment field. After solving all these issues, he brought along more Star Gate Gu and Starlight Firefly Gu.
By the time he returned to Northern Plains, dawn had already arrived, and activity was beginning to spread throughout Ge Tribe's camp. Without a doubt, Ge Tribe would send someone to invite him to a banquet soon, but Fang Yuan needed to make his move before that.
"Now that Ge Yao did not die, Man Tribe's leader no longer has a reason to send his son, Man Duo, to pressure Ge Tribe."
That was not something Fang Yuan wanted.
Without external pressure, Ge Tribe would never submit to him, especially while the old Ge Tribe leader was still alive. Thus, he took out a piece of purple light that transformed into a special will.
This special will looked exactly like him, except its body was illusory, constantly shifting between reality and illusion. Fang Yuan did not mind. Instead, he used wisdom path methods to send the will flying away from his lizard house Gu.
The will traveled far outside Ge Tribe's camp before entering the mind of a Gu Master secretly observing the camp from afar. Suddenly, a terrifying thought emerged within that Gu Master's mind, causing him to immediately decide to return and report to Man Tribe's leader.
"This is enough. In another day or two, the conflict between Man Tribe and Ge Tribe will intensify, and they will most likely reach a dead end. At that point, Chang Shan Yin will become the key to breaking the stalemate."
Wisdom path Gu Masters planned ten steps ahead, while great masters planned a hundred steps ahead. But Fang Yuan could see a thousand steps ahead.
Taking into account external factors such as the pressure from Man Tribe, the approaching snowstorm, and the Imperial Court contest that was about to begin, alongside internal factors like Ge Guang and Ge Yao's feelings toward Chang Shan Yin—
Fang Yuan could make Ge Tribe dance in the palm of his hand. But he needed time to change the thinking of these Northern Plains people.
And time was the one thing he did not possess.
Several hours later, Ge Tribe's leader sent his daughter, Ge Yao, to invite Fang Yuan to the banquet.
And Fang Yuan agreed.
Ge Yao tried to grow closer to him during their walk. She wore a revealing skirt that exposed her neck and part of her chest, and she had applied a perfume with an extremely pleasant fragrance. Yet Fang Yuan merely revealed a tired expression and did not give her a single glance, leaving her deeply disappointed.
The second day of the banquet continued until noon. During it, Fang Yuan addressed every elder by name, making them feel much closer to Chang Shan Yin.
Ge Tribe's leader approached Fang Yuan and handed him a gift.
"Brother Chang Shan Yin, a tribal market will be held in a few days. Several nearby tribes will gather there to bring out part of their reserves and place them on the market. It will be a good opportunity for you to reconnect with the outside world. Take these one million and five hundred thousand primeval stones. Consider them an expression of my personal gratitude."
"Brother Ge, there is no need for this. But since you insist, I shall accept them."
Fang Yuan accepted the primeval stones, though it was not as if he truly needed them.
Still, he accepted them anyway.
Over the following days, the series of banquets and celebrations continued. Every elder of Ge Tribe grew closer to Chang Shan Yin, experiencing firsthand the demeanor of a righteous path hero and sympathizing with him.