Several days later, on an unnamed island somewhere in the Eastern Sea.
Eight Gu Immortals had finally gathered.
Miao Mingshen was at the forefront, flanked by Master Ghost Seven, Immortal Hua Die, and General Feng. The remaining members were Ceng Luozi, Tu Tuotuo, Tong Hua, and Fang Yuan.
"I've been reborn, but it seems I haven't had much of an impact on Miao Mingshen's side." Naturally, Fang Yuan had disguised himself as Chu Ying, calmly observing everything.
Just as in his previous life, the people Miao Mingshen had selected were exactly the same—no changes whatsoever.
But Fang Yuan himself was completely different from his past life.
His current situation was far better than at the same point in his previous life.
At this stage in his last life, he had been unable to swallow the Qi Sea Blessed Land outright. He had only absorbed the resources of the Qi Sea Blessed Land and the Five Phase Public Blessed Land, performing a preliminary digestion. The Ninth Transformation Immortal Path killer move Tianxiang still resisted Fang Yuan's refinement and remained unfinished.
The greatest regret was that his scheme to take the Blue Ghost Desert had fallen through completely. His soul cultivation was severely hampered, nearly grinding to a standstill. On top of that, the production of Courage Gu had stagnated and couldn't be increased at all.
In this life, from his rebirth until now, Fang Yuan had long since fully absorbed the Qi Sea Blessed Land, reaching Eighth Transformation cultivation. He had even transformed into Elder Qi Sea, reaping enormous political benefits. The Tianxiang killer move had already been refined by him—he simply hadn't found more Blessed Lands yet.
The Blue Ghost Desert had been under continuous development. His soul cultivation was advancing rapidly. As for Courage Gu production, needless to say, it surpassed all previous records by an immeasurable margin.
In his previous life, Heavenly Court had dominated the River of Time. Fang Yuan had fought desperately just to escape with his life.
In this life, it was Fang Yuan who held dominion over the River of Time. Heavenly Court had suffered devastating losses, its prestige taking a severe blow. Yet they could only grit their teeth and continue constructing Immortal Gu Houses, reinforcing their position in the River of Time—absolutely unable to sit by and let Fang Yuan monopolize it, nor allow him to claim a second copy of the Red Lotus True Inheritance.
It wasn't just the River of Time where the offense and defense had been reversed. Fang Yuan had also laid plans in the Western Desert, Eastern Sea, as well as the Huawen Blessed Land and the Beast Calamity Blessed Land, achieving considerable progress in all of them.
Since his rebirth, Fang Yuan had devoted himself exhaustively, treating the Five Regions and Two Heavens as his chessboard—deploying pieces in all directions, sowing seeds on every front. The massive returns this brought were not limited to the present; they would continue to snowball well into the future.
A similar situation, however, was this—Fang Yuan's business dealings in the Treasure Yellow Heaven had come under joint suppression and boycott by Central Continent and the Southern Alliance.
For this predicament, Fang Yuan had no particularly good solution at the moment.
First, his influence over the Southern Alliance was indeed declining steadily. After all, the leverage he could use to extort them was dwindling. Now, only the Second Orifice Gu in his possession held strong appeal for several Southern Border Gu Immortals.
Second, whether it was Heavenly Court or the Southern Alliance, both were vast enterprises with deep reserves. Competing with them in the Treasure Yellow Heaven—matching prices, matching resources—was something Fang Yuan could never win.
Fang Yuan's reserves were concentrated primarily in Immortal Gu, Immortal Gu Houses, and Secret Realms of Heaven and Earth. His cultivation resources were being actively converted into personal strength. Take Courage Gu, for instance—if Fang Yuan were to put it on the market in the Treasure Yellow Heaven, such a monopolized product would undoubtedly be enormously popular. Neither Heavenly Court nor the Southern Alliance could suppress it effectively.
But Fang Yuan had chosen not to do so.
He had opted to channel the vast majority of his Courage Gu into his own soul cultivation.
He was still doing everything possible to enhance his fighting power!
This choice, however, had placed him at an even greater disadvantage in his clashes within the Treasure Yellow Heaven.
"In terms of immortal material surplus, my situation this life is actually even worse than in my previous life. After all, the large-scale immortal Gu refinement campaigns earlier consumed far too much. And I have more subordinates now—Bai Tu Girl, Mao Liu, and Fairy Miaoyin had all died early in my last life. This time, they're not only alive, but I've also annexed four great exotic tribes. Within the Supreme True Monarch Blessed Land, I've expanded operations significantly, beginning large-scale cultivation of Snow People, Stone People, Fang Yuan People, and others, all with the ambition of branching into Human Dao."
The immortal materials Fang Yuan had obtained were far more than in his previous life. To say nothing of everything else, the annexation of the Langya Blessed Land alone represented an enormous gain.
But his expenditures this life were likewise far greater. The large-scale refinement of Fortune Path Immortal Gu and Wood Path Immortal Gu, the cultivation of exotic tribes, the collection of twelve species of Primordial Era Year Beasts, the nurturing of various clones, and several intense battles that consumed vast quantities of Immortal Essence and cost countless Gu insects…
All things considered, Fang Yuan's situation—both externally and internally—was considerably better than in his previous life.
The only area where he might be at a disadvantage was in his stockpile of immortal materials. Certain types were running dangerously low.
Under these circumstances, Fang Yuan had no intention of going head-to-head with Heavenly Court in the Treasure Yellow Heaven.
Heavenly Court's purchasing of Time Path immortal materials was clearly aimed at blocking Fang Yuan, and their posture was even more aggressive than in his previous life. Fang Yuan chose to yield.
In this arena, he could never outmatch Heavenly Court—let alone with the Southern Alliance at their side.
Fang Yuan's next plan was to obtain the Regret Gu, then massively upgrade his existing Immortal Gu. This was the same as in his previous life.
He currently had a large stockpile of Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu accumulated. Once he upgraded these Sixth Transformation Gu to Seventh Transformation, his combat power would receive another comprehensive, dramatic surge!
Just the Fortune Cooking Pot alone was well worth looking forward to.
"In my previous life, I lacked time and hadn't obtained the Red Lotus True Inheritance, so I passed through the Azure Dragon Whale's Blessed Land in a hurry, never truly having the peace of mind to conquer it properly."
"This time, I will not only scheme to obtain the Regret Gu—I will also give it my full effort and see whether I can claim that Merit Stele, perhaps even bring the entire Le Tu True Inheritance and the Azure Dragon Whale under my control!"
Fang Yuan had calculated his timing with precision.
The time remaining until Central Continent hosted the Great Gu Refinement Conference—the event that would fully repair the Fate Gu—was not far off.
But it didn't matter.
Fang Yuan had stationed Zhan Budu in the Beast Calamity Blessed Land. This clone had not disappointed—his progress was steady and swift. Fang Yuan was confident that by the time he emerged, Zhan Budu would be able to coordinate from within, working together with him to successfully devour the Beast Calamity Blessed Land.