Supreme Immortal Aperture, Small Southern Border.
In a valley, Shi Shicheng bent down to examine the stone mushrooms growing within.
If these stone mushrooms developed properly, each would stand half a zhang tall, resembling small trees with umbrella-shaped caps. However, the stone mushrooms before him were stunted and short, looking like tree stumps left behind after logging. Moreover, instead of their healthy grey-stone coloration, they had taken on a twisted, garish multicolor — anyone could tell something was terribly wrong.
"This entire patch of stone mushrooms is ruined!" After completing his inspection, Shi Shicheng confirmed this and his expression turned grim.
Though his cultivation was only at the Sixth Transformation, he had been valued by Fang Yuan and placed in charge of the Stone People clan in Small Southern Border. Shi Shicheng deeply revered Fang Yuan and devoted himself wholeheartedly to developing the Stone People clan, determined not to disappoint his lord's expectations.
This stone mushroom patch was a mid-grade resource point he had personally designed and built for the benefit of the Stone People clan. To construct it, Shi Shicheng had specifically requested a great deal of immortal materials from Fang Yuan's Time Path clone as initial investment. At the time, he had even sworn with great confidence that there would be ideal returns!
Reality, however, was like a slap — a resounding blow across Shi Shicheng's face.
"How could this happen?"
"I followed the clan's records precisely when cultivating these stone mushrooms. There wasn't a single error."
Shi Shicheng was deeply puzzled. Just a few days ago, these stone mushrooms had been growing beautifully, everything perfectly normal. Yet after only a few days, they had turned into this.
"How am I supposed to explain this to Lord Fang Yuan?!" Shi Shicheng furrowed his brow and sighed heavily.
Just then, a flash of light flickered, and a projection of Fang Yuan's will materialized in midair.
The will was condensed into a near-physical form, vivid and lifelike.
Shi Shicheng gasped and immediately bowed. "This subordinate greets the master."
"Good." Fang Yuan's will waved a hand. "I am already aware of your situation. The stone mushrooms being destroyed is not your fault — it was a natural disaster. Go back for now. In a while, another batch of immortal materials will be delivered, and you can build a second stone mushroom valley."
Shi Shicheng was overjoyed and hurried to bow in thanks. He then hesitated, wanting to say something more.
Fang Yuan's will displayed a knowing smile. "You want to ask what exactly caused these stone mushrooms to be destroyed?"
Shi Shicheng nodded. "The master sees through all things. This subordinate also wishes to ask: can these stone mushrooms still be put to some use? It would be a shame to simply discard them outright."
The initial investment in building the stone mushroom valley had been enormous. In Fang Yuan's eyes, of course, it amounted to nothing, but to Shi Shicheng, it was an astronomical sum. On top of all the effort and time he had poured into this place, he was unwilling to watch everything he had worked for dissolve into nothing.
But Fang Yuan shook his head. "You needn't concern yourself with the details. If I can resolve it, you have nothing to worry about. If I cannot resolve it, knowing would be of no use to you either. As for these stone mushrooms, not a single one can be used — even as materials for refining Gu, they would only cause greater losses. You may go."
"Yes, master!" Shi Shicheng withdrew respectfully, though worry gnawed at him. "How is the trouble this serious this time? From the master's tone, it doesn't sound as though even he can necessarily resolve it?"
Once Shi Shicheng left, only Fang Yuan's will remained in the valley.
The will's expression was solemn.
He first scanned the entire valley. The countless stone mushrooms throughout had all become twisted things, their once-smooth surfaces now covered with innumerable fine wrinkles. Their vivid, garish colors resembled a gathering of poisons, giving off a sense of dread.
This was, of course, only the surface.
Through Fang Yuan's eyes, one could see that the original Earth Path Dao marks within these stone mushrooms had all been disrupted and scattered, mixed in with foreign Dao marks of various other paths — Wind Path, Lightning Path, Poison Path, Dark Path, Fire Path, and more, too many to list.
This was precisely why these stone mushrooms could only be discarded as waste. At the very least, Fang Yuan currently had no means to make use of them.
"Heavenly Will!" Fang Yuan's will suddenly let out a cold laugh as it detected the Heavenly Will lurking within the valley.
With a boom, it erupted into a vast expanse of mist, blanketing the entire valley as it hunted and cornered the Heavenly Will.
A clash between wills quickly reached its conclusion. Fang Yuan achieved a complete victory, successfully purging all the Heavenly Will hidden in this location — though the cost had not been small.
After this wisp of will reconsolidated, it was no longer lifelike as before. Instead, it had become translucent and shadow-like, giving the feeling of drifting away with the wind.
Fang Yuan's will sighed.
This victory was merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause. A new trouble had emerged!
The stone mushroom valley was not an isolated case. Recently, hidden Heavenly Will had appeared all across the Supreme Immortal Aperture, and many resource points had been damaged.
Fang Yuan's true body, while overseeing the refinement of Gu and destroying Fate Gu, had obtained over three thousand Heavenly Dao marks.
These Dao marks did not belong to him — they had been forcibly imposed upon him. The Heavenly Dao marks evolved on their own, causing environmental changes throughout the Supreme Immortal Aperture, making it increasingly balanced and stable.
If viewed in the long term, these changes naturally brought more benefit than harm, greatly enhancing the Supreme Immortal Aperture's developmental potential. But from a short-term perspective, they would cause Fang Yuan severe losses.
Fang Yuan was not a supreme force — his entire fortune was contained within the Supreme Immortal Aperture. If this foundation suffered catastrophic losses, it would inevitably affect his combat power. Fang Yuan was unwilling to fall into Red Lotus Demon Venerable's scheme, and he had been working tirelessly, commanding the humans and non-humans within the blessed land to continuously resist the natural disasters. At the same time, he had successively acquired the Thousand Wish Tree and the prototype of the Human Sea, employing Human Path to counteract the Heavenly Path's changes.