Blood qi was extremely easy to obtain! Slay a group of mortal beasts, use Blood Path methods to extract it, and you could harvest a massive amount. Raising desolate beasts within an Immortal Aperture provided an endless supply of Immortal-material blood qi.
Precisely because Blood Path resources were so easy to acquire, the Blood Path was considered terrifying, and was ultimately banned jointly by the Righteous Paths of the Five Regions.
For other types of Immortal materials, Fang Zheng might have sought help from the sect, but blood qi was a different matter — and his own needs were quite small.
For Fang Zheng, obtaining the blood qi he required was simply a matter of a slightly more troublesome process and a bit of wasted time.
Having thought this through, Fang Zheng informed Fan Xiliu of his plan. His identity was special, and he could not leave Flying Crane Mountain freely.
Upon learning of it, Fan Xiliu assigned Fang Zheng a task: "Perfect timing! To the northwest, a Gold Mountain Ox has been causing trouble. Go deal with it. Slay it or capture it — if you can take it alive, the sect contribution will be doubled."
Fang Zheng's heart tightened. The Gold Mountain Ox was a desolate beast, and he had never fought one before.
Once he recovered from his initial reaction, a thrill of excitement rose within him, and he agreed on the spot.
Fang Zheng was no longer a greenhorn. Having endured much trial and tribulation in the Langya Blessed Land, he thought it over and had a rough plan in mind.
He did not rush to seek out the Gold Mountain Ox. Instead, he first made his way to the Message Tower within the Immortal Crane Sect.
The White Crane Message Tower was an Immortal Gu House, nine stories tall, situated on a remote slope of Flying Crane Mountain.
There, clouds and mist wreathed the lush, verdant trees.
Fang Zheng rode a crane to get there.
Although he cultivated the Blood Path, he had once studied at the Immortal Crane Sect in his early years and had been a disciple of Superior Crane, so he was quite skilled at riding flying cranes.
During his time in the Langya Blessed Land, he had participated in the Three Continents War and had no opportunity to tame a flying crane, but he had always harbored a lingering fondness for them.
Fate had shifted — he was rescued by Feng Jiuge and returned to the Immortal Crane Sect, where he gained the attention of Heavenly Court and was even elevated to Immortality.
With Immortal cultivation and a position as a Supreme Elder of the Immortal Crane Sect, Fang Zheng easily summoned a flying crane to serve as his mount.
Before the main entrance of the White Crane Message Tower, no guards stood, but two desolate-beast flying cranes roosted nearby. Should any trouble arise, these two desolate-beast cranes would appear immediately, serving as proper sentinels.
Fang Zheng rode his crane, and the moment he drew near the White Crane Message Tower, the crane beneath his feet began to tremble violently, its soft cries turning into wails of distress.
Fang Zheng could not help but sigh internally: "This flying crane of mine is a Fifth Transformation exotic beast. When I first arrived at the Immortal Crane Sect, I thought it was magnificent and powerful, but now it's nothing special."
"The gulf between Immortal and mortal is truly the difference between clouds and mud."
Fang Zheng alighted on the ground before the White Crane Message Tower's entrance. His crane nearly buckled and collapsed beneath him.
Sighing, Fang Zheng stored it within his Immortal Aperture.
As a Supreme Elder, the doors of the White Crane Message Tower opened of their own accord, and Fang Zheng entered.
Each floor of the Tower was lined with a vast quantity of Information Path mortal Gu.
To extract intelligence from them, Fang Zheng had to exchange his own sect contributions.
The Tower itself could store information, but the Immortal Crane Sect did not use it for that purpose. Because once the Tower was destroyed, all the intelligence would be lost as well. The Tower was a one-sided Immortal Gu House — like those in Heavenly Court, it possessed only the power of the Information Path.
If it were a complete Immortal Gu House that also incorporated defensive capabilities, there would naturally be no need for two desolate-beast white cranes to guard it.
Fang Zheng's knowledge of the Information Path was utterly barren, so he could not perceive any of the Tower's mysteries. However, he could easily deduce that the Tower had arrangements to preserve, transmit, and even destroy these Gu.
The White Crane Message Tower could gather intelligence and correct existing information — the vast majority of intelligence could be looked up here.
Of course, the truly sensitive secrets were only revealed to those at the upper echelons.
Although Fang Zheng was a Supreme Elder, becoming a genuine member of the Immortal Crane Sect's leadership was out of the question. His identity was special, and he was perpetually kept on the outside.
In the past, Fang Zheng had been inexperienced and naive, but now, having endured much hardship, he saw things clearly.
This clarity did not fill him with smugness — if anything, it brought more of a bitter smile.
He now understood even more clearly the situation Fang Yuan had once faced at Qing Mao Mountain. Given Fang Yuan's circumstances at the time, excluded by the higher-ups, the only path to progress was through trickery, deception, and seizure by force.
"In truth, isn't the founding of the Immortal Crane Sect and its current conduct just the same? They seized resources by force. Many resource points were once controlled by rogue Immortal Gu Masters or Demonic Path Gu Immortals."
"And Heavenly Court — heralded as justice — is no different. Tracing back through history, their territory was stolen from the non-humans."
"Heavenly Court is merely the justice of the human race," Fang Zheng thought.
Any other Central Continent Righteous Path Gu Immortal would not typically think this way — such thoughts bordered on heresy.
But Fang Zheng had lived among the fur-hair people. Though he had been excluded, he had genuinely experienced their customs and culture, and understood them far better.
How could any other Gu Immortal have survived and grown up surrounded by non-human races?
His unique experiences had given Fang Zheng a unique perspective. And the hardships he once endured had all been converted into his wealth. His vision might not be lofty or broad, but it was sharp and incisive in its own way.
"Though I suppose it's the seat that determines the mind — and I do rather like this version of Heavenly Court's justice," Fang Zheng muttered with a bitter smile, then began searching the records.
"A desolate beast, the Gold Mountain Ox — yes, this is it." After ascending several floors, he located the relevant Information Path mortal Gu.
He sent his divine sense probing in, and waves of information flowed into his mind.
The Gold Mountain Ox was massive as a mountain, existed only as females, and loved to devour gold essence. After consuming several hundred jin of gold essence, it would burrow into a mountain cave and fall into deep slumber.
"Eat, sleep, eat, sleep? Quite the life," Fang Zheng chuckled.