A vast expanse of darkness — Fang Yuan's soul suffered torment within it.
This darkness possessed an extraordinary corrosive power against his soul. This was something Fang Yuan had never encountered during any of his previous dream explorations.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan's soul foundation at this point had already exceeded the ordinary — possessing the magnitude of tens of millions of human souls, he could completely endure the dream's corrosive effect.
Time within the dream was difficult to measure.
Fang Yuan felt as though he had waited an impossibly long time before a white speck of light finally appeared in the boundless darkness.
The speck immediately stretched into a white line of light, which then pulled apart to both sides, radiating brightness until it flooded Fang Yuan's entire field of vision.
Young Dao Tian gradually began to wake.
The white light, it turned out, was nothing other than scorching sunlight.
Young Dao Tian quickly raised his palm to shield his eyes.
"Why am I here?" He quickly found himself lying in the desert. Night had passed, and it was now midday under the blazing sun.
Young Dao Tian's confusion did not last long, for immediately afterward, a stream of information flooded into his mind.
This information had been left by the clan's Gu Masters.
The gist was this: Young Dao Tian had violated clan rules during the Sacred Festival and been sentenced to exile. However, considering his youth and ignorance, as long as he could survive three days and three nights alone in this desert, and then return to the clan's dwelling place on his own, he would be readmitted to the clan and allowed to continue living among them.
"Damn it!" Upon understanding the situation, Young Dao Tian erupted into a string of curses, spittle flying in all directions. "All I did was complain a little, and you lot threw me out? This is child abuse — you're playing with people's lives!"
"You bunch of bastards! I curse you all…"
Young Dao Tian raised his middle finger, but realized he didn't know which direction to point it.
He had no idea of the cardinal directions, nor could he determine which way lay the clan's dwelling place.
This discovery instantly deflated Young Dao Tian's spirit.
He slumped down onto the sand. "What am I supposed to do? I may have just become a Gu Master, but I don't have a single Gu Insect. I don't have a water skin or food either. Once night falls, without warm clothing or a tent to block the wind, I'll freeze to death!"
"No. I have to survive."
"Survive in this wretched world, and then find a way home!"
Young Dao Tian clenched his teeth, and twin flames of wild fire seemed to burn in his eyes.
At the same moment, Fang Yuan felt his entire body loosen, as if an invisible shackle that had been binding him had suddenly vanished.
He moved his hands and feet, and Young Dao Tian's body followed suit.
"Oh? I can control him now?"
"It seems the dream wants me to take over as Young Dao Tian and survive this desert successfully."
Fang Yuan immediately grasped the situation.
Fang Yuan was no stranger to struggling for survival in desperate circumstances, but even he found himself at a loss.
There was only one reason: even the cleverest cook cannot make a meal without ingredients!
Young Dao Tian had nothing to his name — only twenty to thirty percent of his capacity for Bronze True Essence, and not a single mortal Gu Insect. Surviving the desert with this was harder than ascending to heaven.
The clan's exile was essentially a death sentence. No — more accurately, they simply did not consider this Gu Master worth their attention.
Generally speaking, every Gu Master was someone worth cherishing. But when Fang Yuan carefully recalled the scenes he had witnessed before, he found the reason.
"The clan where Dao Tian spent his childhood was not powerful, and they possessed very few resources. So even when there were Gu Master seeds, they had to select only the best to cultivate."
Fang Yuan smiled bitterly, realizing this knowledge was of absolutely no help whatsoever for the difficulties that lay ahead.
He looked around. In every direction stretched an endless desert, without so much as a trace of green.
Immortal Path Killing Move — Dream Unraveling.
Fang Yuan employed the technique, but after waiting a long time, saw no effect whatsoever.
This trump card, which had aided Fang Yuan many times before and proven virtually unstoppable, was thoroughly restrained within Dao Tian's dream.
Fang Yuan let out a heavy sigh. "Looks like my only option is to gamble on my luck."
He chose a direction at random and began to trek.
A day and a half into the dream, Fang Yuan encountered nothing and died of thirst along the way.
In that instant, Fang Yuan's soul took a severe hit.
He was forced to withdraw from the dream.
Dream exploration failed. Soul gravely injured. He returned to his Supreme Immortal Body.
Darkness swam before Fang Yuan's eyes as he hastily deployed his Courage Gu to heal the damage to his soul.
"Courage Gu!" Tang Fangming, watching from the side, immediately let a look of envy cross his gaze.
He watched longingly as Fang Yuan used Courage Gu after Courage Gu, rapidly restoring his soul.
Courage Gu were indeed excellent auxiliary Gu for dream exploration.
Fang Yuan rallied his forces and once again sent his soul forth, entering Dao Tian's dream.
He arrived once more in the dream desert.
Fang Yuan sighed, chose the opposite direction from before, and attempted to press forward.
After walking for an entire day, there was still nothing along the way. Fang Yuan was exhausted and parched, teetering on the verge of his body's limits.
"If, historically, Dao Tian had faced the same situation as I am now, there was absolutely no way he could have survived on his own. He could only have relied on external aid — in other words, fortune."