Fang Yuan's words were well-reasoned and backed by solid arguments. The Langya Earth Spirit nodded along as he listened, thoroughly impressed.
"Making sense, making sense!" he praised repeatedly.
"I wouldn't dare claim so. This is merely my humble, superficial opinion," Fang Yuan replied modestly.
The Earth Spirit was simple-minded and didn't understand Fang Yuan's feigned humility. He shook his head in rebuttal: "No, this is no superficial opinion — this is genuine insight. Your words have greatly inspired me, and they represent an enormous contribution to the Langya Sect."
"Normally, under our sect's rules, this accomplishment alone would be enough to raise your rank by one level. For instance, Mao Liu could be promoted to Mao Wu. But since you're not yet a proper Hairy Man Gu Immortal, the best I can offer is two hundred sect contribution points."
As he finished, the Langya Earth Spirit gazed at Fang Yuan and let out a sigh of regret.
A look of deep disappointment immediately crossed Fang Yuan's face as well.
Right now he was merely a guest elder. He didn't need to take on any missions and received ten sect contribution points every month. But the other Hairy Man Gu Immortals were proper members of the clan — their monthly earnings from contributions were far greater. And the higher a Hairy Man Gu Immortal's rank, the more sect contribution points they collected each month.
"I truly wish I could become a real Hairy Man!" Fang Yuan exclaimed, his face brimming with such sincerity that he seemed to genuinely mean it.
The Langya Earth Spirit said, "What a pity that Treasure Yellow Heaven is currently closed. The moment it reopens, I'll launch a large-scale purchase of wild beasts from the market."
"Regarding this, I have a humble suggestion as well," Fang Yuan said quickly. "There are so many Hairy Man Gu Immortals. To nurture them all, even our sect, vast as its resources are, can't sustain that kind of expenditure. And it's not a proper way to manage things, either. I suggest we create our own source of income."
"Oh? How would we do that?" the Langya Earth Spirit asked.
Fang Yuan replied, "It's simple. Just like the other top-tier powers — we occupy resources from the outside world of the Five Regions."
The Langya Earth Spirit's face clouded over with difficulty.
This idea was nothing new to him. He had already considered it carefully, weighing the pros and cons, and concluded it was unwise.
The reason was obvious: the Hairy Men were an alien race, and in the current political climate, they couldn't operate openly.
True, in the Northern Plains, non-human powers did exist. The most prominent example was Ink Man City. But Ink Man City, on the surface, had only a single Ink Man Gu Immortal. Moreover, historically, the city's ancestor — the One-Word Immortal — had paid a tremendous price to reach an agreement with Giant Sun Immortal Venerable. Only through this combination of factors had Ink Man City managed to survive with great difficulty in the cracks between countless powerful human factions.
If the Hairy Men established such a force — with so many Hairy Man Gu Immortals appearing — it would severely test the nerves of today's human Gu Immortals and trample all over their bottom line.
Whether Righteous Path, Demonic Path, or rogue immortal forces, none would tolerate a foreign race wielding such power.
The Langya Earth Spirit, though simple, was not foolish. While he was wholeheartedly devoted to making the Hairy Men dominate the world, he still had a clear picture of the current situation.
But Fang Yuan had long anticipated this reaction. He continued, "Supreme Grand Elder, I'm not suggesting that the Langya Sect openly compete with other human factions for outside resources. What I propose is that we specifically target the resources they haven't claimed — continuing to develop in secret."
The Langya Earth Spirit's eyes lit up. "You mean those dangerous forbidden zones?"
The Northern Plains were vast, but the major top-tier powers had already divided most of the cultivation resources among themselves. What remained were mainly the Ten Great Forbidden Zones.
"Supreme Grand Elder is truly wise!" Fang Yuan immediately gave a thumbs up, his face full of admiration. "Although the Ten Great Forbidden Zones are dangerous, they simultaneously hold abundant opportunities. In my opinion, the Earth Trench would be perfect. We could set up Teleportation Gu Formations inside, allowing the Hairy Man Gu Immortals to travel freely between the Blessed Land and the Earth Trench. The Earth Trench holds countless wild beasts and ancient wild beasts — ideal for Hairy Man Gu Immortals to train in combat. Furthermore, by slaying these wild beasts, we can use the local materials to refine Transformation Path Immortal Gu. And by capturing them, we could use Beast-Manipulating Immortal Gu to enslave them — putting them to our use and bolstering the Blessed Land's defenses."
The crux of the plan was the Teleportation Gu Formation.
Specifically, one capable of teleporting Gu Immortals.
The Langya Sect undoubtedly possessed such capability.
After all, when Fang Yuan had traveled from the Southern Border, it was by means of a Teleportation Gu Formation beneath Fengbo Cliff that he had escaped those troublesome Cloud Beasts and reached the Langya Blessed Land.
That Teleportation Gu Formation had left a deep impression on him.
The Langya Earth Spirit sank into deep thought. "This is a matter of great significance. Let me consider it further."
"I was merely voicing a thought. Major decisions for the sect are, of course, yours to make, Supreme Grand Elder. If my suggestion is flawed, I hope you'll forgive my presumption."
Fang Yuan understood well the principle of too much being as bad as too little. He then changed the subject, steering the conversation toward the Flowing Light Fruit he had come to trade for.
A short while later, he departed with a large quantity of Flowing Light Fruit from the Langya Earth Spirit.
After bidding farewell to the Earth Spirit, he headed straight to his Cloud City. The first order of business was dealing with these Flowing Light Fruit.
Flowing Light Fruit were no ordinary fruit.
They were composed entirely of clusters of light. If an ordinary person tried to pick them up with bare hands, their fingers would simply pass through. Special methods were required to handle and store them.
These fruits didn't grow on plants like ordinary fruit. Instead, they were formed entirely from concentrated aurora light.
The aurora blazed in a kaleidoscope of colors, and so the Flowing Light Fruit came in every imaginable shade — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and everything in between.
Flowing Light Fruit served as feed for the Attitude Gu.
This was the sole reason Fang Yuan had sought them out.
Since the trade, the number of Immortal Gu in Fang Yuan's possession had surged to a staggering level.
Let's take stock:
Ninth Transformation — Immortal Gu: Zhi Hui Gu.
Eighth Transformation — Immortal Gu: Attitude Gu, Wisdom Sword Gu.
Seventh Transformation — Immortal Gu: Soul Exchange Gu, Sword Brow Gu, Wave Sword Gu, Sword Escape Gu, Calamity Attraction Gu.