Fang Yuan focused his gaze and found that the surroundings had undergone a dramatic shift — the Gate Tower had teleported him into a small world.
Bai Ningbing was right beside him, maintaining the same distance as before their transmission.
Suddenly, a change flickered across Bai Ningbing's expression as a stream of mysterious information was delivered to the depths of her heart. She glanced at Fang Yuan, saw his expression unchanged, hesitated inwardly for a moment, but ultimately spoke: "This is a Public Grotto-Heaven. It was formed when the Five Patrol Phases each donated a portion of their immortal orifices, which then merged together. The entire grotto-heaven is divided into five domains, and travel between them is restricted — only the mountain range at the center is shared. The wagered treasure lies at the heart of the grotto-heaven. Any Gu Immortal who has earned the Gate Tower's acknowledgment and been teleported here has the right to compete for it. Moreover, along the way there are resources that the Five Patrol Phases placed here in the past. If your strength is sufficient, you may claim them — but I would suggest not uprooting everything and draining the pond to catch all the fish."
Bai Ningbing had received this mysterious information, but Fang Yuan had not.
"So despite using the Wisdom Halo to calculate a killer move and disguise my identity to sneak in, my approach was still too crude."
Fang Yuan gazed into the distance: "In that case, the Qi Clan Gu Immortals are far from us, and movement between the separate domains is restricted. Since I've disguised myself as a descendant of the White Phase, I can only operate within the White Phase's domain?"
Fang Yuan wanted to test out Fixed Immortal Travel, but he didn't know what the Qi Phase's territory looked like.
He had once slain a Qi Clan Gu Immortal named Qi Zai, but this person had only ascended to Gu Immortal status within the past thousand years and had never been here, so there were no relevant memories to draw upon.
"Based on my experience breaking the seals on the Gate Tower, there should be extremely powerful and tight defenses here, designed to prevent shortcut methods involving the Dao of Space and similar arts. Even if I were to use Fixed Immortal Travel, the chances of teleporting out would be extremely slim."
Fang Yuan assessed the situation before him and quickly made his decision.
"Advance toward the center!"
All five domains of the Public Grotto-Heaven ultimately converged on the central mountain range, where the wagered treasure was hidden. Since that was the case, Fang Yuan would strike straight for the heart — there was no need to go hunting for the Qi Clan Gu Immortals. It would waste time and effort, and he might not even find them.
Once he reached the mountain range, the Qi Clan Gu Immortals would surely be there.
Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing flew rapidly together, crossing mountains and ridges along the way.
The White Phase had practiced the Ice and Snow Dao, and this domain had been carved from the White Phase's grotto-heaven. Though the landscape was mountainous, everything was blanketed in thick white snow — a world draped in silver.
"Look over there!" Bai Ningbing suddenly called out.
Her gaze was fixed on a mountain peak. It was an extremely steep summit, and at its very top grew over a hundred Ice Mirror Snow Lotuses.
These were Sixth Transformation immortal materials, containing the dao marks of the Ice Dao and the Wood Dao.
Nearby the snow lotuses, numerous snow monsters roamed as well — several Wasteland-level ones among them. Should anyone trespass here with designs on the Ice Mirror Snow Lotuses, these snow monsters would move to intercept.
In truth, Fang Yuan had spotted them long ago. He merely glanced at them with indifference before flying past with Bai Ningbing.
Though these Wasteland-level snow monsters would be no match for a single exchange with Fang Yuan, he had no intention of wasting time here. He was heading straight for the heart of the Public Grotto-Heaven!
Ice Mirror Snow Lotuses, Century-Old Dark Ice, Millennium Dark Ice, Broad Cold Water, Heavenly Craft Divine Jade... Along the way, Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing passed numerous resource sites. Though they were small and medium-sized, the reserves were all quite abundant.
The deeper they ventured, the richer the resources in the grotto-heaven became, and the greater their value. Naturally, the guardian beasts and spirit trees protecting the resource sites also grew increasingly powerful. This was clearly intentional on the part of the Five Phases — a test for those who came after.
Though Fang Yuan's strength could sweep aside everything in his path, he completely ignored these immediate gains, focusing entirely on charging toward the central mountain range.
*ROAR!*
A pack of beasts roared ceaselessly as they suddenly burst from a valley, charging straight at Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing.
These were Jade Frost Antelopes.
The large ones were the size of palaces, while the smaller ones ranged from two to three houses in scale. The antelopes' eyes were entirely jade-green, with no pupils. Their horns curved upward, segmented joint by joint. Though the antelopes had no wings, they could leap and bound through midair. With each jump, a wisp of white frost mist bloomed beneath their hooves, producing a crisp tinkling sound like wind chimes clashing.
This herd of Jade Frost Antelopes had appeared under suspicious circumstances, immediately drawing a subtle shift in expression from both Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing.
Fang Yuan gave a cold snort and extended his hand. A fan materialized from thin air and he seized it.
Immortal Path Killer Move — Summer Fan.
*WHOOSH!*
The Summer Fan unleashed a raging tempest. The hurricane was merely the outer shell; the true power lay in the Dao of Time.
The menacing herd of antelopes was instantly swallowed by the gale and wiped out in the blink of an eye. Bodies plummeted from the sky like dumplings, crashing into the snow with thud after thud.
In the span of a single heartbeat, the entire herd of Jade Frost Antelopes had been massacred. Not only that, but the snow peak beneath them had been blasted apart by Fang Yuan's fan, forming a massive rubble field nearly a hundred li across.
But Fang Yuan immediately shot downward like a bolt of lightning, landing with a boom that sent rocks scattering in all directions.
He stared at a colossal stone wall, sensing the aura upon it, his expression colder than ice.
This was a Gu formation that Fang Yuan had already destroyed, bearing the unmistakable style of the Dao of Qi.
"So the rule restricting travel between the five domains doesn't truly bind that group of Qi Clan Gu Immortals," Fang Yuan said to Bai Ningbing as she flew down.