Within this Gu Insect, Fang Yuan spoke frankly, recording the entire account of his previous experience collecting black oil on the small island, as well as his verification of the Merit Ranking Board. Should any Gu Immortal return in the future, they would certainly receive this intelligence.
There was no need to keep this intelligence hidden.
For one thing, these people already had their suspicions. For another, such suspicions were easily verified.
Rather than let them confirm it on their own, it was better for Fang Yuan to reveal it before they did.
"Or, to put it more clearly — this secret was never really a secret at all. When Paradise Earth Venerable established this True Inheritance, it was almost certainly intentional. He wanted to guide people toward goodness."
That was Paradise Earth Venerable's way of doing things.
At this point, Fang Yuan had not a shred of doubt left about the authenticity of the Paradise Earth True Inheritance.
Gu Masters and Gu Immortals leaving behind their inheritances was one of the greatest cultural features of this world.
Every inheritance was saturated with its creator's personal imprint, preserving their individual style, or carrying a powerful last wish.
Take Hua Jiu Xing Zhe's hidden treasury, for example. He wanted to take revenge on the Guye Stockade. Even after his death, he would have his vengeance. So he left behind light-and-shadow projections that recreated the Guye Patriarch's defeat, dug underground passages, and ultimately lured Fang Yuan into destroying the Guye Stockade's Yuan Spring.
Then there was the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. This was the Luck True Inheritance left behind by Giant Sun Venerable. Its primary purpose was to sustain the Golden Bloodline of the entire Northern Plains and maintain their rule — Giant Sun Venerable seeking benefits for his descendants.
There was also the Black Fang True Inheritance. Black Fang had originally intended to pass on his legacy to his granddaughter, but fate had other plans, and things didn't go as he wished.
And the Shadow Sect True Inheritance. Had Demon Venerable You Hun not failed, had he not been captured by the Heavenly Court, this inheritance would never have existed. But things didn't go his way. He was taken captive, Fang Yuan took over, and in order to bolster his strength and claw out the faintest glimmer of hope from a desperate situation, the Shadow Sect True Inheritance came into being.
Every inheritance was different. The Paradise Earth True Inheritance was also wholly unlike the others, suffused with a sense of peace, goodwill, light, and warmth.
"If one day I fail and die, having exhausted every effort with no hope remaining... then perhaps I too will leave behind an inheritance." Fang Yuan's thoughts wandered. Though he was an Otherworldly Demon, he had lived, struggled, and fought in this world for so long that he had long since become a part of it.
If he were to create a Fang Yuan True Inheritance, it would certainly be to encourage those who came after to continue pursuing eternal life.
Time passed swiftly. Seventy or eighty days flew by in a flash.
During this period, Fang Yuan completed many more tasks, and his name consistently ranked near the top of the Merit Ranking Board.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The tides rose and fell, and the briny, humid sea breeze blew against his face. This time, Fang Yuan had arrived at the Sea Market.
The task he had received was to punish a corrupt merchant at this Sea Market.
Sea Markets were extremely common across the Eastern Sea. By scale, they were divided into four categories: small, medium, large, and super. By duration, there were temporary Sea Markets and permanent ones.
Sea Market were distribution and exchange centers for cultivation resources, and in this Paradise, they existed as well.
This was a permanent Sea Market. Though it wasn't open year-round, its doors remained open for the greater part of each year.
At the very heart of the Sea Market was a small island. For nearly half the year, this island would be submerged beneath the waves — that was when the Sea Market closed. Once the island emerged above the waterline, the Sea Market was considered open.
Beyond the island, numerous Gu Houses lined the waters, most of them shaped like ships. They were linked to one another by wooden planking, iron chains, and similar connections, forming the outer ring of the Sea Market.
Walking along the plank decks, Fang Yuan was surrounded by streams of people.
There were human Gu Masters, and there were Jiaoren.
The Jiaoren were plentiful — nearly half the crowd. This was an extremely rare sight across the Five Regions. After all, humanity currently reigned supreme, and all other non-human races had been squeezed out and oppressed, left with almost no room to survive, forced to keep their heads down.
"Come one, come all! Finest crystal coral on display here!"
"Only three Gu Houses left — the River Chariot model! Buy now before they're gone!"
"Buying Great Ming Mud — as much as you've got, I'll take it all!"
The cries of hawkers, the buzz of buying and selling, the noise of haggling — all of it packed densely into Fang Yuan's ears, creating its own particular clamor and bustle.
Virtually every Gu Master on the planking had set up a stall, large or small. It was rare to find any mortals hawking goods.
Fang Yuan passed Gu House after Gu House, making his way toward the central island at the Sea Market's core.
He had already looked into it — this task called for the punishment of a corrupt merchant, and that merchant was located on the central island.
Of course, completing the task was only Fang Yuan's secondary objective. His primary purpose was to gather intelligence.
This Sea Market was the closest point to the Demon-Suppressing Regret Crying Sea, and it concentrated a large number of Gu Masters and factions. Fang Yuan's chances of uncovering information about the Regret Gu here were very high.
Even though he had arrived some time ago, Fang Yuan had not once entered the Demon-Suppressing Regret Crying Sea.
Within this Paradise, Gu Immortals did not enjoy much freedom of movement.
Just as with his first task, Fang Yuan had been restricted to circling the small island within a fixed distance limit. Every task location came with such constraints.
As for returning to the Merit Stele, that was simple — all a Gu Immortal had to do was silently repeat the word "return" three times in their heart.
From this, Fang Yuan fully appreciated Paradise Earth Venerable's methods. Despite his deep reserves and his Eighth Transformation cultivation level, he had never been able to crack Paradise Earth Venerable's arrangements, though he had never stopped studying the Merit Stele and this Paradise.