The Eastern Sea.
Hidden within the clouds, Fang Yuan's main body suddenly shifted expression. "Hmm? The clone's fortune has changed again!"
Fang Yuan cast his gaze outward and saw a massive cluster of dense dark fortune clouds beside the Fortune Cauldron.
Within the dark fortune clouds were four distinct manifestations, each representing an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal standing guard over this mass of fortune.
The small purple dragon fortune representing Fang Yuan's clone was surrounded on all sides by the dark fortune clouds, coiled within them, emitting low growls.
The small dragon's spirit was even more vigorous than before. Wisps of blue-purple fortune were constantly being converted from the dark fortune clouds, flowing into the small purple dragon's body.
Nourished in this way, the purple dragon seemed to have swelled slightly in size, and its claws and fangs appeared sharper as well.
The most obvious change was that this small dragon, which had previously just been coiled in place, now stretched out its body and took the initiative—beginning to circle outward and probe into the surrounding dark fortune clouds.
"From stillness to motion, morale running high. It seems the clone has achieved a breakthrough in the dream, grasped the underlying pattern, and become so proactive. This is good!"
"A pity that I can no longer use Luck Path methods to help the clone."
If the dragon-person clone had entered with only its soul, leaving its physical body outside, Fang Yuan's main body could have barely managed to channel fortune into it.
But now, both the dragon-person clone's soul and body had entered the dream, completely enveloped by it. All Luck Path methods were sealed off.
Fang Yuan's main body was powerless to help—unless he removed a portion of the dream to expose the dragon-person clone.
Or waited until the distant future, when research into Dream Path had yielded results, and Fang Yuan could blend Dream Path achievements into his Luck Path methods, thereby countering the dream's concealment.
The dream continued.
The dragon-person clone deliberated carefully, analyzed cautiously, and grasped the underlying pattern. Through a conversation, he revealed his "sincerity," earned his father's approval, and passed the test of the dream's second scene.
However, he still needed to gather more intelligence.
In the study, Fang Yuan immediately spoke again: "Father, since we are of one mind, then what should we do to bring prosperity to our dragon-person clan? Surely Father already has a plan—please instruct your son."
The dragon-person Gu Immortal smiled. "Indeed, I have long had a grand design. To tell you the truth, it is not just you and I—there are many visionaries among our dragon-person clan. However, their identities are not something you should learn yet. This is both for their protection and for yours."
"When undertaking great matters, the foremost requirement is secrecy. Covert actions are easy to carry out, but open endeavors are difficult to bring to fruition. This, your son understands." Fang Yuan nodded. "But surely any grand plan must have some sort of framework?"
"That framework is this." The dragon-person Gu Immortal laughed aloud, picked up a brush, and wrote the final character on the large sheet of paper on his desk—"under"!
Combined with the three characters written before, it formed: "Dragons Roam the World."
A sharp gleam flashed through Fang Yuan's eyes.
The dragon-person Gu Immortal suddenly blew a breath—this breath was sharp as a blade, cleanly slicing the large sheet of paper.
He picked up a small portion of the paper and handed it to Fang Yuan. On it was a single character—"under."
And the remaining majority—"Dragons Roam the Heavens"—the dragon-person Gu Immortal waved his sleeve. The paper spontaneously combusted, quickly burning to ash.
The dragon-person Gu Immortal gazed at the ashes on his desk and sighed. "One day, our entire dragon-person clan will soar through the heavens, with all realms beneath our feet. But for now, the human race is at the height of its power—truly the undisputed sovereigns. Surveying the grand picture, our dragon-person clan is few and weak. Outside, we have no reliable non-human faction to ally with. Within, we ourselves remain dependent on the human race."
"To soar through the heavens requires a process of rising from below. For now, we must bow beneath others, silently accumulate, and build up our foundation. Our dragon-person clan has only recently taken shape, and our foundation is far too thin. Fortunately, we were born from within the human race and share the closest ties with them. Especially in the Central Continent—we have fellow clansmen among all Ten Great Ancient Sects. What we need is to constantly learn, constantly accumulate, and catch up to the human race."
Fang Yuan pressed further: "Then what should your son do?"
The dragon-person Gu Immortal smiled. "You've already begun. When you were still a child, I discovered your aptitude and deliberately cultivated you as a Slave Path Gu Master. Now your mastery of the Slave Path has already entered the inner chambers. Next, I have made arrangements for you—to attend the Green Ant Recluse's disciple acceptance ceremony."
"The Green Ant Recluse?" Fang Yuan feigned ignorance, but in his heart he immediately connected it to a certain title—the Ju Yi Immortal Couple.
These two were husband and wife, famous and powerful independent Gu Immortals in the history of the Central Continent. The man went by the title Green Ant Recluse; the woman called herself Yi Wine Immortal Maiden. They had been childhood sweethearts, innocent and inseparable.
Originally ordinary mortals, each had their own immortal fate. Due to a disaster, the boy and girl were forced apart in their youth, each longing for the other, each believing the other had perished.
After both achieved immortality as Gu Masters, the man never married and the woman never wed. Heaven smiled upon them, allowing the two to coincidentally meet again—incredulous and overjoyed, as if they had fallen into a beautiful dream.
After pouring out their hearts to each other, the woman laughed at the man: "I still remember when you were a child—you loved playing in the mud and fighting ants."
The man laughed in return: "When we were young, your family ran a tavern and was better off than mine. In your youth, you carried poles through the streets and alleys selling wine. I followed you the whole time. I truly wished I could have stayed with you like that until we grew old."
And so, the man took the title Green Ant Recluse, and the woman also changed her name, becoming the Yi Wine Immortal Maiden.