That night in the Southern Border, the starlit sky was dim and dark. A yin wind howled as if a torrential downpour was about to break.
Two Gu Immortal silhouettes flew swiftly along, concealing their presence. The thick clouds blanketing the night sky provided them with an additional layer of protection.
"This is the spot." Mid-flight, one of the Gu Immortal figures suddenly spoke.
The other Gu Immortal immediately halted.
Then, in the center of the overcast sky, an Immortal Path Battlefield slowly unfurled. After drawing the two mysterious Gu Immortals inside, it sealed shut and vanished.
Once the two Gu Immortals entered the Immortal Path Battlefield, they shed their disguises and reverted to their true appearances.
The Gu Immortal with the lower cultivation had an ordinary countenance, but the other boasted cultivation as high as the Eighth Transformation. He held a lofty position, great authority, and immense prestige among the Righteous Path of the Southern Border—he was none other than the Chi Family's Grand Supreme Elder, Chi Quyou!
If any other Righteous Path Gu Immortals had witnessed this scene, they would surely have gaped and cried out in alarm.
For the dignified Chi Quyou to be acting so furtively—who could he possibly be meeting in the dead of night?
"Senior Chi Quyou, we meet again." The Gu Immortal who had been waiting within the Immortal Path Battlefield also carried the aura of the Dream Path, and his appearance was so plain that he would be impossible to pick out in a crowd.
Chi Quyou stared at him for a moment, then said with some displeasure, "Fang Yuan, I thought you would come in your true body. Heh-heh... aren't you being just a bit too careful?"
The one waiting for Chi Quyou was indeed Fang Yuan, and the Immortal Path Battlefield here was none other than the Yama Battlefield.
However, Fang Yuan had not come in his true body. Instead, he had condensed yet another Pure Dream True Body.
Fang Yuan's clone smiled. "I'm a cautious man who fears death. Please bear with me, Senior Chi Quyou."
"Cautious? Fear of death?" Chi Quyou raised an eyebrow. In that instant, he thought of the three ribcages of Lei Gui True Monarch still hanging in Treasure Yellow Heaven, recalled how Fang Yuan had once disguised himself as Wu Yihai, and remembered the various losses his family had recently suffered at Fang Yuan's hands.
He scoffed. "Fang Yuan, you're far too modest. I've brought what you asked for. Let's complete the exchange quickly before anything goes wrong."
They were near Yi Tian Mountain—a sensitive location. Even Chi Quyou did not dare let his guard down.
"Of course." Fang Yuan's clone nodded.
The two immediately completed their exchange.
Chi Quyou received a mortal Gu of the Information Path, and the Gu Immortal beside him flew over to Fang Yuan's clone.
The Gu Immortal who had accompanied Chi Quyou was also one of Fang Yuan's Dream Path clones.
After reaching an agreement with Chi Quyou, Fang Yuan had struck at several locations across the Southern Border in succession, gathering the scattered remnants of dreams he had obtained, then used Pure Dream True Transformation to convert them into Pure Dream True Bodies.
He then used these Pure Dream True Body clones to contact and meet with Chi Quyou.
Chi Quyou had brought one along with him, then followed a hidden passage into a concealed space within Yi Tian Mountain's grand formation.
There, Fang Yuan's Pure Dream True Body clone had employed its abilities to transform dreams into more Pure Dream True Bodies, stuffing them into its own Immortal Orifice before carrying them out.
The original Pure Dream True Body had come from a member of the Shadow Sect—Elder Yanshi, a Wisdom Path expert. The Pure Dream True Transformation killer move was his lifelong achievement in studying the Dream Path, his crowning accomplishment.
In his hands, it was the original version of Pure Dream True Transformation, capable of forging the most extreme Pure Dream True Bodies. They had only a lifespan of nine hours. With each passing hour, the Pure Dream True Body's cultivation rose by one Transformation, and upon reaching the final moment, it would instantaneously possess Ninth Transformation cultivation.
However, after the First Battle of Yi Tian Mountain, the Supreme Immortal Fetus Gu that the Shadow Sect had spent countless years refining fell into Fang Yuan's hands, and Demon Venerable Phantom Soul was trapped within the dream realm.
During the Second Battle of Yi Tian Mountain, Zi Shan True Monarch led the remnants of the Shadow Sect to attack, attempting to rescue Demon Venerable Phantom Soul's main body. Zi Shan True Monarch had also employed Pure Dream True Transformation during the battle, but by then the killer move was already an incomplete version, and the Pure Dream True Bodies were similarly incomplete, lacking the height of the original.
The version Fang Yuan had inherited was also this incomplete killer move. Of course, he had later obtained the original version from Phantom Soul's True Inheritance.
In Fang Yuan's previous life, this Pure Dream True Transformation killer move had also been seized by the Heavenly Court.
Zi Wei Fairy had continuously extracted soul memories from Demon Venerable Phantom Soul until she finally uncovered it.
Not long after, Feng Jinhuang displayed the talent of a future Immortal Venerable and performed a perfect improvement upon the deeply flawed original version of Pure Dream True Transformation.
After that, the Heavenly Court possessed Perfected Pure Dream True Bodies—the true eleventh absolute body!
And in the final battle of the Central Continent, as Fang Yuan assaulted the Ninety-Nine Interlinked Chain Formation, he captured a Perfected Pure Dream True Body from Feng Jinhuang on the battlefield, comprehended the principles within, and likewise mastered the perfected version of Pure Dream True Transformation.
Now, in his transaction with Chi Quyou, Fang Yuan did not use the Perfected Pure Dream True Body. Instead, he opted for the incomplete version inherited from Zi Shan True Monarch.
Because this incomplete Pure Dream True Body also carried a lifespan limitation—it would self-destruct upon reaching its limit.
Fang Yuan had cleverly exploited this flaw. Even if Chi Quyou set a trap to harm him, he would never obtain a Pure Dream True Body.
Before the transaction, Fang Yuan had already informed Chi Quyou of this flaw.
Upon learning that the Pure Dream True Body beside him would self-destruct, Chi Quyou's face immediately darkened. But for the sake of the Dream Path research results—critical to his future—he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept.
Seeing the Pure Dream True Body return to Fang Yuan's side, he felt a measure of relief.
After all, if this thing were to self-destruct beside him, none of Chi Quyou's Formation Path techniques would be of any use!
Both sides had taken enormous risks in this transaction, but the spoils were simply too tempting. Both were gambling with fire.
This was their first transaction, and both parties were satisfied with the outcome. This gave them both the confidence to continue.
Before parting, they arranged a time for the second transaction and established several secret and secure methods of contact.