Langya Blessed Land.
A large group of variant human Gu Immortals stood beside the teleportation immortal formation, craning their necks in anticipation.
Suddenly, the formation activated, radiating a brilliant, dazzling light.
Among the variant human Gu Immortals, Langya Black Hair, the Earth Spirit standing at the very front, burst into elation and shouted: "He's back! He's back!"
Behind him stood the Snow People, Stone People, and Ink People Gu Immortals, their expressions somewhat complicated.
Langya Blessed Land had just suffered an invasion from Heavenly Court. Bound by the covenant of the Four Clans Grand Alliance, these three major variant human races all bore the responsibility of supporting the Hairmen in defending Langya Blessed Land against Heavenly Court.
When the Langya Earth Spirit had requested their aid, all three variant races had been extremely reluctant, full of grievances and deeply regretting ever signing that covenant.
But what good was regret?
The covenant was right there on them — it could not be violated.
Even if they somehow managed to break the covenant by every means possible, what then?
The human race was now the ruler of the Five Regions, the undisputed overlord. The variant human races lived in very cramped spaces — only by banding together could they coexist for mutual benefit.
This strategy was absolutely not wrong.
It was just that the three variant races never could have imagined that the Langya Sect would attract the attention of Heavenly Court!
What manner of existence was Heavenly Court?
It was the number one force of the human race, a colossal behemoth that had stood unshaken for millions of years!
Compared to Heavenly Court, the Four Clans Grand Alliance was far too insignificant, its slender limbs utterly incapable of withstanding any real struggle.
So when the Langya Earth Spirit had sought their help, all three races had been very unwilling, making excuse after excuse.
Who would have thought that right at that moment, Fang Yuan had put up the three chest bones of the Thunder Ghost True Monarch for sale in the Treasure Yellow Heaven? That feat of battle swept through the ranks of the variant human Gu Immortals like a hurricane, bolstering both body and spirit.
They caught a glimpse of hope against Heavenly Court.
But more importantly, Langya Blessed Land now possessed Eighth Transformation-level combat power!
If they refused the Langya Earth Spirit's request, the three clans would not only face the covenant's severe punishment, but also have to contend with a Gu Immortal like Fang Yuan, who could rival an Eighth Transformation powerhouse.
The scales in their hearts tipped completely. First, the Snow People changed their stance and expressed full support for the Langya Sect. Then the Ink People and Stone People also reversed their positions, willing to truly contribute.
"I was absolutely right to recruit Fang Yuan as a guest Supreme Elder!" The Langya Earth Spirit had achieved his goal, his heart brimming with satisfaction.
Upon receiving news of Fang Yuan and learning he would return, the Earth Spirit had a flash of inspiration and led these variant human Gu Immortals to welcome him.
The light faded, and Fang Yuan's figure appeared before the crowd.
The variant human Gu Immortals wore various expressions. The Langya Earth Spirit was the first to greet Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan swept his gaze over them and secretly chuckled: "Just like the scene in my previous life. Come to think of it, the Langya Earth Spirit does possess a certain political acumen — he knows how to use me to suppress the other allies."
But Fang Yuan had no desire for pleasantries, pointless wastes of time. Just as in his previous life, he simply nodded to Xue'er and turned to leave.
This small gesture sent the Snow People variant human Gu Immortals into great excitement.
It also stirred jealousy in both the Stone People and Ink People factions.
Because of his battle against the Thunder Ghost True Monarch, Fang Yuan's standing among the immortals had risen dramatically. But at this moment, Fang Yuan's heart was as still as calm water.
Having returned through rebirth, his combat power was once again at the peak of the Seventh Transformation. Compared to Heavenly Court, it was utterly negligible.
In truth, even the peak Eighth Transformation combat power of his previous life — what had it amounted to?
Fang Yuan had a private exchange with the Langya Earth Spirit. The Earth Spirit returned to Fang Yuan the Dao Ke Dao Immortal Gu and informed him that Heavenly Court had indeed planted methods here — Langya Blessed Land was riddled with harmful Dao Marks.
The Langya Earth Spirit appeared deeply worried.
He had exhausted every effort, but none of those Dao Marks could be dealt with.
Fang Yuan understood perfectly. He knew these Dao Marks were part of Heavenly Court's famous Star Throw Killing Move, deliberately left behind by Feng Jiuge.
In his previous life, when Heavenly Court launched its second offensive, these Dao Marks had transformed into a vortex tunnel, directly teleporting four Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals inside.
In that battle, Fang Yuan had obtained the Ding Xian You Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu, but he had also exposed his Yan Di Killing Move, his identity as Suan Bu Jing, and forever lost the Langya Sect as an ally.
In the end, Fang Yuan was forced to retreat, and Heavenly Court had to withdraw as well. The Long Life Heaven had reaped the profits as the opportunistic fisherman.
Fang Yuan feigned ignorance and responded to the Langya Earth Spirit: "Supreme Grand Elder, please do not be too anxious. Allow me to first perform some divinations and make careful plans to see how we should handle the current situation."
The Langya Earth Spirit sighed: "Very well."
He found it somewhat strange that Fang Yuan had made no mention whatsoever of the Long Mao True Meaning. That was inconsistent with Fang Yuan's usual temperament.
But the Langya Earth Spirit did not want to remind Fang Yuan about it. After all, though he had agreed to compensate Fang Yuan with the Long Mao True Meaning, he was extremely reluctant to part with it.
At this moment, the Wisdom Gu was still within Langya Blessed Land.
Fang Yuan came before the Wisdom Gu and stayed there for three days and three nights, using his Time Dao Clone to continuously perform calculations.
This rebirth was somewhat special compared to previous ones.
The time span of the rebirth was relatively long — spanning several years.
But this was quite reasonable.
Because at that time, Fang Yuan's Time Dao Clone had already reached the Seventh Transformation level of cultivation, and the Spring Autumn Cicada had also been upgraded to the Seventh Transformation. Moreover, he had employed a Killing Move like Spring Autumn Certainty.