The dragonman clone's harvesting of dream contents attracted the attention of the Four Great Dragon Generals.
Had it been a human Gu Immortal, the four generals would have attacked without hesitation. But Fang Yuan's dragonman clone was a genuine dragonman — both body and soul were the real deal, without the slightest flaw.
The Four Great Dragon Generals therefore revealed their identities, a secret that secretly stunned Fang Yuan.
In his previous life, he had only caught a glimpse of Bai Ningbing piloting the Dragon Palace and Di Cangsheng participating in the final battle at the very last moment. He had never seen the Four Great Dragon Generals.
"So Rong Po and the other three Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals were actually servants of the Dragon Palace, subdued by it and made into Dragon Generals!"
"The waters here really do run deep."
"Should I intervene personally?"
Thoughts tumbled through Fang Yuan's mind as he rapidly calculated.
Based on his current strength, his odds of handling all four of these Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals at once were quite good.
Fang Yuan's strongest methods were now Qi Path. Setting everything else aside, the sheer scale of his Qi Path Dao Marks alone left these four Eastern Sea Eighth Transformation cultivators far behind.
"But they are still Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals after all. I can win, perhaps even kill them, but the commotion would be enormous and victory wouldn't come quickly."
"Judging from the battle between the Dragon Duke and these four in my previous life, the Immortal Gu House Dragon Palace itself possesses sentience and can fly away on its own."
"If I force a confrontation, things could turn ugly, and I'd end up in the same situation the Dragon Duke did in my previous life."
Fang Yuan immediately calculated the most likely outcome.
He had come here precisely to secretly claim the Dragon Palace. If he caused such a massive disturbance, exposing his Eighth Transformation cultivation and his Qi Path strength, it would go entirely against his original plan.
Having thought this through, Fang Yuan looked up at the Fortune Cooking Cauldron above him.
The purple dragon energy beside the Fortune Cooking Cauldron had been completely covered and swallowed by dark clouds, yet its expression was one of excited baring of fangs, restless and eager.
Particularly within those dark clouds, there were wisps of blue-purple energy, flickering in and out of sight.
"These thin threads of blue-purple fortune are inestimably precious, refined to the utmost perfection. They represent the possibility of the dragonman clone becoming the master of the Dragon Palace."
"The dragonman clone only has Seventh Transformation cultivation. All four Dragon Generals are at the Eighth Transformation, and they haven't detected me, so the chances of deception are very slim."
"If the dragonman clone follows the proper rules, explores the dream, and passes the trial — not only will he obtain the Dragon Duke, but also the combat power of these four Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals!"
"This Dragon Palace must truly be a Slave Path Immortal Gu House. To be able to simultaneously enslave four Eighth Transformation fighters — that's truly formidable!"
"According to intelligence from my previous life, I still have plenty of time."
With this thought, Fang Yuan decided to keep his main body hidden and let the clone attempt to explore the dream and participate in the trial.
This was undoubtedly the scheme that maximized his gains.
The dragonman clone secretly received instructions from the main body, then immediately returned the dream realm.
This action softened the expressions of all four Dragon Generals considerably.
Rong Po spoke again: "To participate in the Dragon Palace's trial, both body and soul must enter the dream. Only with the courage to stake everything does one have the qualification to become the master of the Dragon Palace."
The dragonman clone's expression shifted slightly, but considering that his main body was hovering directly overhead, monitoring everything, he nodded in agreement and threw himself into the dream.
The moment he entered the dream, he was plunged into a thick, all-encompassing darkness.
"Wu Shuai, wake up, wake up." Someone beside him was shaking the dragonman clone.
The dragonman clone opened his eyes to find a dragonman girl — innocent and cute, wearing a helpless expression — saying, "How did you fall asleep again? Everyone's waiting for you. Don't forget, today is the day we have a bet-battle scheduled with Chen Fu, Zhang Shuang, and the others!"
"So my name is Wu Shuai. Hmm... I have Third Transformation Gu Master cultivation." The dragonman clone immediately inspected his own condition.
"Come on, come on!" The dragonman girl was too impatient to wait. Seeing Fang Yuan open his eyes, she grabbed him and took off at a run.
The two of them dashed all the way to a training ground.
Two groups of people were already assembled in the training ground, positioned in the east and west, facing each other in clear opposition.
The group on the west were all human youths, male and female, with the two leaders both carrying the arrogance of youth.
The group on the east consisted of dragonman youths, fewer in number and without a leader, being crowded out by the humans and clearly at a disadvantage.
When they saw Fang Yuan appear, the dragonman youths perked up immediately — some cheered while others complained about his tardiness.
"Wu Shuai, you finally dare to show your face! I thought you were too scared to come to the bet-battle," called out one of the two leading youths on the human side.
The dragonman girl who had been dragging Fang Yuan along immediately shot back in a spirited retort: "Chen Fu, don't you get cocky! Now that Wu Shuai's here, he's sure to beat you all into the dirt!"
"Enough talk. Wu Shuai, make your move! This time, I, Zhang Shuang, will absolutely wash away the shame of my last defeat at your hands!" Another young Gu Master stepped forward — clearly an impatient type who couldn't wait to challenge.
"Hold on." Fang Yuan raised his hand, deliberately stalling for time. "If this is a bet-battle, then where are the stakes?"
As he spoke, he took in the training ground.
The training ground was impressively arranged — it was nothing less than an Immortal Path Gu Formation!
This meant the place he was in was no ordinary location. With an Immortal Formation present, it had to be within the territory of a superpower. Moreover, the spot Fang Yuan currently occupied was a key location of this superpower. To set up an Immortal Formation just for a training ground showed an extraordinary level of investment.
Looking at the attire of both groups, they were nearly identical — clearly members of the same sect.
"This bet-battle appears to be a spat between youths."
"The youths here are at least at the Second Transformation. Judging by their appearance, they probably haven't been cultivating for long — the quality is truly remarkable."
"The highest cultivation level is mine, along with the human youth leaders on the other side, Chen Fu and Zhang Shuang, all at the Third Transformation — genuine young geniuses. Below them is the dragonman girl who dragged me here, at the peak of the Second Transformation."
"Wu Shuai, don't you dare look down on me! I brought the stakes long ago. Look!" Chen Fu spoke, solemnly producing a Gu insect from inside his robes.