Time rewound to not long ago.
Fang Yuan had pursued Ying Wu Xie to no avail and now hovered in midair, his spirits low.
Night blanketed the earth, growing ever thicker.
It was a cold night.
The wind blew mournfully, and a chill seeped into Fang Yuan's very bones.
Originally, his plan had been excellent.
He had set up arrangements within his own body, deliberately, intentionally, purposefully lending out the Fixed Travel Immortal Gu. According to Fang Yuan's calculations, the plan should have had a high chance of success.
But the truth was, he had failed.
Fang Yuan did not know that he had once succeeded, only to have it all come to nothing because of Heaven's Will and the Spring Autumn Cicada.
Since he had failed, Fang Yuan decided to face it head-on, without the slightest attempt to escape or cling to wishful thinking.
In truth, he had long been mentally prepared. This was a quality honed over hundreds of years in this world.
Any plan, no matter how meticulous, still carried the possibility of failure. Even the tens-of-thousands-of-years grand scheme of the Shadow Sect and Ghostly Demon Venerable, considered with such thoroughness—had it not ultimately failed?
Even a former Demon Venerable could fail, so what hope did Fang Yuan have?
In this world, no one was immune to failure.
Fang Yuan speculated about Ying Wu Xie's situation.
As things stood, it seemed most likely that the Southern Border Gu Immortals' interference had left Ying Wu Xie no time to rush to Yi Tian Mountain. That was the most probable explanation.
If that was the case, Fang Yuan's arrangements were still effective, Ying Wu Xie hadn't discovered them, and the situation wasn't entirely catastrophic.
Perhaps if Fang Yuan continued his pursuit, there was still a chance of recovering all his Gu Insects on the spot, restoring his combat strength to its former peak in an instant.
But that was only one possibility.
Fang Yuan was cautious by nature—always considering failure before success. For everything, he liked to plan for the worst and prepare the most thoroughly.
"So what is the worst-case scenario?" Fang Yuan hovered in the night sky, asking himself.
The worst-case scenario was that Ying Wu Xie had discovered his arrangements. Then, turning the tables, he would deceive Tai Bai Yun Sheng and Hei Lou Lan into heading for the Fox Immortal Blessed Land or the Constellation Blessed Land, stripping Fang Yuan's coffers bare!
This scenario was also quite probable.
In Fang Yuan's view: Ying Wu Xie was a soul fragment of Ghostly Demon Venerable, deeply experienced and resourceful. Seeing through his arrangements would not be difficult. Moreover, what was more critical was that a tremendously vast dream realm had manifested at Yi Tian Mountain!
The dream realm had become the greatest obstacle—Ying Wu Xie would not be able to return to Yi Tian Mountain.
Ghostly Demon Venerable's main body was already deeply trapped within the dream realm, and Ying Wu Xie surely wanted to rescue it.
But he had very few Dream Path Gu Insects on him.
His original body had indeed carried many Dream Path Immortal Gu and mortal Gu, but after the body self-destructed, whether these Gu Insects still survived was a massive question mark.
Gu Insects were inherently fragile—even Immortal Gu could be crushed by a child's bare hands.
Even if these Dream Path Gu Insects had survived, the dream realm was simply far too vast. Given Ying Wu Xie's current condition, it would be impossible for him to enter the dream realm and recover them.
Fang Yuan harbored no wishful thinking. He immediately, decisively ceased his pursuit and descended to a hilltop below.
The Southern Border was mountainous, and the mountains were thick with forests.
Fang Yuan leaned against the trunk of a towering pine, sitting cross-legged upon a thick branch. He steadied his mind and activated the Heaven Communication Gu.
He had borrowed four Fifth Transformation mortal Gu from Huo Kong Tong.
One was the Flying Smoke Gu, another was the Fire Cloak Gu. The other two were the Heaven Communication Gu and the Divine Thought Gu.
The latter two were standard equipment for Gu Immortals. With them, one could access Bao Huang Tian—the foremost Gu Immortal trading market across the Five Regions.
It was not unusual for Fang Yuan to request these Gu from Huo Kong Tong.
With these mortal Gu, he would surely be able to purchase suitable ones from Bao Huang Tian, rather than running around empty-handed.
But borrowing any more would not work. Even with the Attitude Gu ensuring Huo Kong Tong wouldn't suspect his identity, the latter would feel that Fang Yuan was taking advantage of him.
Naturally, Fang Yuan carefully inspected all four Gu before using them.
The Heaven Communication Gu was in perfect order, but just as Fang Yuan was about to activate it, his body suddenly trembled, his face flooding with shock.
With his depth of composure, he had long since mastered the art of concealing his emotions.
But at this moment, his shock was unprecedented since his rebirth!
Not even learning that the Shadow Sect's mastermind was Ghostly Demon Venerable had shaken Fang Yuan this deeply.
Body and mind shook as one!
The tremor in his heart was beyond control—his eyes widened as he stared at the vast night sky and the dense canopy of leaves, so stunned he seemed frozen in place.
"Calm down." Fang Yuan blinked rapidly, urging himself, but his breathing had already quickened and his heart was racing.
He refocused his attention on his own Immortal Orifice.
A second look.
Fang Yuan examined his brand-new Immortal Orifice for the second time.
His entire body trembled again.
He furrowed his brow, his muscles tensing unconsciously. An unimaginable vision of the Immortal Orifice unfurled in his mind!
What a wondrous Immortal Orifice this was!