Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, several days had passed.
Within the Langya Blessed Land, in Cloud City.
Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in a secret chamber, quietly cultivating.
Using his Heaven-reaching Gu, his divine sense was communicating within the Treasure Yellow Heaven with a certain female Gu Immortal's will.
"The quality of your Danqing Incense is noticeably lower than what Gu Immortal Xizi sells. Lower the price a bit," Fang Yuan bargained.
But this female Gu Immortal had not projected her own divine sense to manage her business the way Fang Yuan did.
What she had placed in the Treasure Yellow Heaven, aside from the goods up for consignment, was simply a strand of her will.
Unfortunately, this strand of will happened to be a Stubborn Will — the most obstinate and unyielding kind.
Sure enough, the female immortal's Stubborn Will shook its head in refusal without a shred of hesitation: "This is the selling price. Buy it if you want, don't if you don't!"
Fang Yuan was unwilling to give up and pressed on: "Think it over? I'm looking to buy a very large quantity."
The Stubborn Will remained rigid, yielding nothing.
Fang Yuan felt somewhat stifled.
These days, managing his Supreme Immortal Aperture, he inevitably had to conduct transactions in the Treasure Yellow Heaven — not to mention selling his own produced resources, he was also purchasing all manner of other materials.
But ever since the third earthly calamity, he had clearly found that his affairs were going rather poorly.
The female immortal's Stubborn Will before him was just one such example.
This situation was actually considered mild.
Recently, Fang Yuan had frequently run into situations where other Gu Immortals butted in and maliciously drove up prices, or where he encountered goods in short supply after everything had been swept clean by Eighth Transformation powerhouses, and the like.
"Although I had fortune on my side, the third earthly calamity brought the Calamity Incinerator, which ruined much of my good luck."
Recalling the third earthly calamity he had only recently passed, Fang Yuan sighed.
"Had I not, during the third earthly calamity, deliberated for a long time and decided to join forces with Chu Du, the odds would have been grim. Even if I had survived, I would have been heavily injured and beset by misfortune. The current situation — just slightly unfavorable — actually poses no real hindrance to my cultivation."
Fang Yuan quickly composed his thoughts and continued his negotiations with the female immortal's Stubborn Will in the Treasure Yellow Heaven.
Since the female immortal refused to lower the price, Fang Yuan had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept.
"I'll take all of your Danqing Incense."
The female Gu Immortal's Stubborn Will was momentarily stunned.
Fang Yuan was indeed making a grand move.
This transaction would cost him nearly ten thousand Immortal Stones!
But Fang Yuan remained perfectly composed.
Through his recent accumulation, his financial resources were substantial. Even after passing the third earthly calamity and expending countless Green Grape Immortal Essence during the tribulation, he could still afford nearly ten thousand Immortal Stones.
After acquiring the Danqing Incense, Fang Yuan withdrew his divine sense, no longer paying attention to the Treasure Yellow Heaven.
After a careful inspection confirmed the Danqing Incense was genuine, he transferred all of it into his Supreme Immortal Aperture.
His consciousness entered his own immortal aperture.
The Supreme Immortal Aperture was divided into the Five Domains and Nine Heavens layout, and Fang Yuan had arranged Strength Path Immortal Zombies at every location.
Soon, under his control, a Strength Path Immortal Zombie flew over and used Gu Insects to receive the Danqing Incense.
There was no other way — the interior space of his Supreme Immortal Aperture was simply far too vast. He could only rely on these Strength Path Immortal Zombies to handle the labor.
At times like these, Fang Yuan couldn't help but miss the Fox Immortal's Earth Spirit, and the Star Phantom Earth Spirit. With an Earth Spirit around, this sort of work would be handled by them, sparing him the effort and trouble.
An Earth Spirit was essentially the grand steward of a blessed land.
Having an Earth Spirit was quite convenient.
But unfortunately, Fang Yuan had never heard of a case where a Gu Immortal's own immortal aperture produced an Earth Spirit before they had perished.
This Danqing Incense was like a jade-green mist, continuously swirling and drifting in ethereal clouds.
Fang Yuan placed all the Danqing Incense into the Little Blue Heaven, filling a large swath of the sky there with a dense, dusky haze.
Although the Strength Path Immortal Zombies could not smell any fragrance, the scent of Danqing Incense was actually quite wonderful — like the aroma of ink, or the freshness of grass, elegant and lingering.
After settling the Danqing Incense, Fang Yuan set up several Gu Formations.
These Gu Formations were composed entirely of mortal Gu, serving no other purpose than to confine the Danqing Incense within a certain area, preventing it from drifting away freely.
"With such a large stockpile at once, it's more than enough to feed the Change Soul Immortal Gu three times over," Fang Yuan thought with some satisfaction.
But this Danqing Incense — every bit used was a bit gone, unable to regenerate on its own.
Producing Danqing Incense himself would be far more complicated.
The conditions for producing Danqing Incense required groups of True Essence Red-Crowned Cranes, green pine forests, ink bamboo forests, and Cloud Fragrance Gu. These four components encompassed beasts, plants, and Gu alike — moreover, each one had strict quantity standards. Even a slight surplus in any one of them would prevent Danqing Incense from forming.
And these quantity standards were industry secrets.
The Gu Immortals who sold this Danqing Incense strictly guarded them, making it extremely difficult for the information to leak out.
For now, Fang Yuan could only stockpile what he had and use it for the time being.
Danqing Incense was the food for feeding the Change Soul Immortal Gu. Fortunately, this resource was sold by many in the Treasure Yellow Heaven. Fang Yuan had stockpiled another large batch this time, enough to last for a good while.
After another round of inspection, Fang Yuan made minor adjustments to the Gu Formations. He took one last look and saw that within the Little Blue Heaven, a small patch of dense green haze had appeared, looking somewhat different from before.
Despite Fang Yuan's vigorous efforts in managing and constructing his immortal aperture, the Supreme Immortal Aperture as a whole remained desolate and barren.
The key issue was that the space of the Supreme Immortal Aperture was simply far too vast!