Heavenly Court.
Silver-white firmament, immortal palaces standing in profusion.
In the council hall, over ten Gu Immortals had already gathered together.
At the highest seat sat Dragon Lord, followed by Fairy Ziwei and Qin Dingling. After them, Bai Cangshui, Yan Cong, Che Wei, Yuan Qiongdu, Zhou Xiongxin, and others attended in person.
Besides these, there were the will projections of Gu Liuru, Wan Zihong, Crown Prince Fengxian, Xing Yewang, Jun Shenguang, and others. These individuals were on missions and could not come in person to participate in this Heavenly Court council.
Every so often, the various members of Heavenly Court would hold a council, discussing matters together, expressing their opinions, and reaching certain consensus.
During ordinary times, Heavenly Court was generally managed by Wisdom Path Gu Immortals who oversaw its affairs. The current Heavenly Court had Dragon Lord as a spiritual figurehead, while the one wielding actual power was Fairy Ziwei. Her predecessor in this role had been the Heaven Monitoring Tower Lord.
"Yuan Qiongdu, how is the research on the Second Empty Orifice Gu progressing?" Dragon Lord asked.
Yuan Qiongdu replied: "With Fairy Ziwei's assistance, I have already unraveled some of its secrets. We can now refine Second Empty Orifice Mortal Gu from First to Fifth Transformation."
Strictly speaking, Heavenly Court's refinement foundation was even deeper than that of the Langya Sect.
Of the three greatest supreme refinement grandmasters in history, Ancestor Longmao was only one of them. The legacies of the other two had been almost entirely collected by Heavenly Court.
And Yuan Qiongdu was the current head of Heavenly Court's refinement efforts, possessing exceptional talent and insight. In his previous life, it was thanks to him that Fate Gu had been successfully restored.
Adding to that Fairy Ziwei's deduction abilities, with these three aspects combined, cracking Fang Yuan's Second Empty Orifice Mortal Gu was not difficult.
Hearing this news, many of the immortals present showed expressions of joy and began discussing among themselves.
"I've already heard of this Second Empty Orifice Gu. Quite a good thing, isn't it?"
"Indeed. With a second empty orifice, a Gu Master's combat power multiplies."
"If an Immortal Gu recipe can be developed, it would be of great significance for Gu Immortors!"
"On this point, we should all be thanking Fang Yuan. Hahaha."
Fairy Ziwei spoke in a flat tone, interjecting: "Do you suppose Fang Yuan is a fool? When he threw the Second Empty Orifice Gu to the Southern Border Righteous Path, he must have anticipated that the recipe would be cracked. The Second Empty Orifice is indeed of extraordinary significance, but if a Gu Master possesses a second empty orifice, the time and energy required for cultivation also doubles. The demand for cultivation resources would swell accordingly."
"So that's how it is." The Gu Immortors present were all Eighth Transformation elites. With just a gentle nudge from Fairy Ziwei, they immediately grasped it.
"Fang Yuan did this deliberately."
"He threw out the Second Empty Orifice Gu — partly to blackmail the Southern Border Righteous Path, and partly to fuel the coming war across the Five Regions."
"Exactly. The Boundary Wall is gone, the Five Regions are unified, and the number of Gu Masters and Gu Immortors hasn't changed for now. But the Second Empty Orifice Gu will surely spread rapidly. When that happens, the demand for resources will skyrocket by double. How will this gap be filled? Only by conquering the surrounding territories and seizing resources through war."
"This demonic fiend's intentions are truly vicious and sinister. Yet this bait, we have no choice but to swallow."
They had no choice but to swallow it.
Heavenly Court had obtained the Second Empty Orifice Gu from the Southern Border Righteous Path. The Southern Border Righteous Path itself would study it, and the other three regions certainly wouldn't sit idle either.
Once something like the Second Empty Orifice Gu spread, it would surely take the world by storm.
Just like when Ancestor Blood Sea established the Blood Path — even though the entire Five Regions Righteous Path tried to ban its practice, Blood Path Gu Masters and Gu Immortors still emerged endlessly.
"Is it currently impossible to refine an Immortal Gu version?" Dragon Lord, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
His words were few, but they often hit the mark, and this time was no exception.
Yuan Qiongdu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "We're still some distance from cracking the Immortal Gu recipe. If I could have a few fellow immortals at the same refinement level to assist, perhaps I could crack it sooner. But right now, my energy is truly limited, and I can't be everywhere at once."
Yuan Qiongdu was working himself to the bone.
Earlier, when Fang Yuan had devoured the Langya Sect, he had to reconfigure the grand formation for restoring Fate Gu. The original formation, which had been modeled on the Refinement Furnace, couldn't be used for safety's sake.
After that, when Fang Yuan had captured the Southern Border Righteous Path, Yuan Qiongdu was responsible for urgently refining Space-Stabilizing Gu.
Then, when Fang Yuan achieved a sweeping victory over Heavenly Court in the River of Time and the Time Path Immortal Gu House was destroyed, Yuan Qiongdu had to frantically refine Gu, rushing to produce replacements among the Time Path Immortal Gu.
Most recently, when Qin Dingling awakened and handed Fairy Ziwei a stack of Luck Path Immortal Gu recipes, it was again Yuan Qiongdu who was put in charge of refinement.
Gu refinement was inherently a dangerous and difficult task, and with Fang Yuan repeatedly seizing the initiative, most of Yuan Qiongdu's attempts ended in miserable failure.
Over these past days, the number of times he had been injured from refining Gu was too many to count. If not for Heavenly Court's excellent healing methods, he would have long since perished.
"Next, Fellow Immortal Yuan Qiongdu must also prepare for the restoration of Fate Gu. I'm afraid that before Fate Gu is fully restored, the Second Empty Orifice Immortal Gu recipe cannot be cracked." Fairy Ziwei announced with regret.
Dragon Lord nodded and said nothing more.
Qin Dingling sighed: "Without the Second Empty Orifice Immortal Gu recipe, we cannot completely free the Southern Border Righteous Path from Fang Yuan's threats and extortion."
"Hmph, these Southern Border Gu Immortors are truly a disgrace to the Righteous Path — being bled dry by Fang Yuan like this!" Xing Yewang spoke with displeasure from within the hall.
"In fact, the Southern Border Righteous Path has seen some improvement. The Beacon Towers they have been deploying on a large scale are an Immortal Gu House that warrants our serious attention."
"The Southern Border Righteous Path is working to break free from Fang Yuan. As things stand, only the Ba Clan and Xia Clan, among a few others, remain under his control due to their desire for the Second Empty Orifice Immortal Gu. But clans like the Wu Clan and Chai Clan are actively resisting. They are cooperating with our Heavenly Court, and in Treasure Yellow Heaven, they have already imposed large-scale restrictions on Fang Yuan's various businesses."
"I must remind everyone that there is a noteworthy potential force in the Southern Border Gu Immortal world — the Moral Paradise. This is a true legacy left by Paradise Supreme Immortal Venerable. It contains numerous Gu Immortors, including Mushroom People Gu Immortors, and the strongest among them is Lu Weiyin."
"Although Paradise Supreme Immortal Venerable never joined Heavenly Court, relations between us have always been amicable. However, we still need to test where the Moral Paradise truly stands on this matter."
"I have already taken that into consideration," Fairy Ziwei spoke. "In a while, I will personally take action and visit the Moral Paradise to borrow an Immortal Gu."
Heavenly Court indeed needed this Immortal Gu, and it would also serve as a probe of the Moral Paradise.
If Lu Weiyin's side showed a favorable attitude, Heavenly Court would move to further draw the Moral Paradise to its cause.
After settling the Southern Border matters, the Heavenly Court immortals began discussing the Western Desert.
Because of Fang Yuan's machinations, the political landscape of the Western Desert had undergone great upheaval. The Fang Clan had successfully seized control of the Bean God Palace and "defeated" Heavenly Court's forces, dealing a blow to the strategy Heavenly Court had long employed to keep the Western Desert in balance.