"My Chi family has been facing difficulties lately, yet the Ba family has offered not a shred of support. Worse, at the very moment I was poised to rise to power, they were working from the shadows to interfere, propping up Chi Xuzhi instead. Despicable man—that Chi Xuzhi has grown bolder by the day ever since he married that female immortal from the Ba family." Chi Bang recalled this, his voice laced with hatred.
With that, he slammed his palm on the table. "My mind is made up. I'll accept the Wu family's alliance. As for the Ba family... I'll write them a letter of explanation and hope they can understand."
Word of Chi Bang's agreement to the alliance reached Wu Yong.
Wu Yong laughed heartily. "That little brat Chi Bang is no cause for concern!"
Clearly, his plans were proceeding with remarkable smoothness.
Chi Quyou had fallen in battle, leaving the Chi family hollow from within. Meanwhile, the Ba family had undergone a change in leadership. The former Supreme Elder, Ba Shiba, had been captured by Fang Yuan and had his immortal aperture stripped away, forcing him to abdicate and begin re-cultivating from scratch. Ba De had taken over, plunging the Ba family into turmoil.
Wu Yong had keenly perceived the vulnerabilities in both families. The matter of the Chizha Inheritance was a gift delivered to his doorstep by heaven itself—how could Wu Yong possibly let such an opportunity slip?
"Great news, great news!" At that moment, Wu Bachong suddenly appeared at the door, requesting an audience.
"Come in," said Wu Yong. "What's the good news?"
He seldom saw the composed Wu Bachong wearing such an expression of elation.
Wu Bachong reported, "While exploring the Wukong Sky Pit, Wu Bei stumbled upon a massive deposit of Qianqing Pure Qi!"
Wu Yong blinked in surprise, then promptly broke into a grin. "Now that is indeed excellent news."
Before his death, Wu Duxiu had carried three great regrets.
The first was the Seven Ghosts of the Fierce Canyon—now all of them had been dealt with by Wu Yong. The second was his failure to refine the Eight Sides Majesty Immortal Gu.
The Wu family had spent many years gathering the immortal materials for the Eight Sides Majesty Immortal Gu. Only one key ingredient had been missing: Qianqing Pure Qi.
The Qianqing Pure Qi Wu Bei had stumbled upon this time was more than enough for the Wu family to begin refining the Eight Sides Majesty Gu.
"Wu Bei is truly our family's lucky champion. He deserves a reward!" Wu Yong quickly mulled this over, then spoke.
"The Eight Sides Majesty Gu is an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu. Refining one is a monumental undertaking that demands great seriousness and careful planning on every front. The entire Wu family must give their all." Wu Yong paused here and let out a sigh. "Refining an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu—difficult, difficult, difficult! Even Fang Yuan, with the support of the Langya Blessed Land, struggled to refine Eighth Transformation Gu. This matter is of the utmost gravity. Even though we have assembled every last material, we must still deliberate carefully."
The excitement in Wu Bachong's heart gradually subsided.
"My lord speaks truly. This subordinate was rash."
Wu Yong maintained his composure and rationality at all times, which only deepened Wu Bachong's admiration.
Finally, Wu Yong addressed Wu Bachong. "Put the matter of refining the Eight Sides Majesty Gu aside for now. Chi Bang has already agreed to ally with our family. What I need to do now is apply pressure on the Ba family—keep them too preoccupied with their own problems to interfere in this matter."
Wu Yong planned ahead and thought thoroughly, already working to eliminate obstacles before they arose.
A fresh round of plans and arrangements followed.
Wu Bachong withdrew from the study, secretly marveling in his heart: With a leader of such strategic brilliance and vision as Lord Wu Yong, how could the Wu family possibly fail?
Several days later. The Supreme Immortal Aperture.
Fang Yuan's Time Path clone presided over the Four Element Fang Regret Blood Refinement Pool.
"Rise!" the Time Path clone suddenly roared, pouring Eighth Transformation immortal essence into the formation at a frenzied rate.
A thunderous boom shook the air.
In the square pool, blood-red water suddenly surged skyward in reverse, like an inverted waterfall.
The entire Four Element Fang Regret Blood Refinement Pool hummed and vibrated, driven to its absolute limit.
The blood waterfall shot up to midair, forming a vortex at its very peak.
The vortex spun violently on its axis, radiating brilliant, dazzling light.
After drawing in a vast quantity of blood water, the vortex gradually calmed.
At last, a single Gu slowly emerged from within it.
The vortex dissipated. The reversed blood waterfall crashed back down into the pool, leaving only a thin layer of blood water at the bottom.
The blood-colored glow receded, returning like a weary bird to its forest—drifting back to the small pavilion in the center of the pool. That was where the Blood Capital Immortal Gu rested.
Fang Yuan's Time Path clone regulated his breathing for a moment, then, with a flicker of thought, the Gu hovering in midair descended and flew into his palm.
The Gu resembled a dung beetle—the common shit-roller.
Its entire body was gilded in gold, divided into three segments: head, thorax, and abdomen, and tail. The head was shaped like a crescent shovel, flanked by paddle-like antennae. The thorax and abdomen bore horizontal ridges, while the tail section was oval-shaped.
It had two pairs of legs on its thorax and one pair on its tail. Every limb was thick and sturdy, the tips bristling with hard black barbs.
This was the Dog Shit Luck Immortal Gu. After Fang Yuan's round of refinement, it had ascended to the Eighth Transformation level.
The Dog Shit Luck Immortal Gu was the core Gu of the Boiling Fortune Cauldron.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had founded Fortune Path and left behind three great true inheritances: Self Fortune, All Living Beings' Fortune, and Heaven and Earth Fortune. The Boiling Fortune Cauldron was the pinnacle creation born from the essence of the Self Fortune true inheritance.
Before the Battle of Destiny, Fang Yuan had invested nearly all of his Fortune Path Immortal Gu into the Boiling Fortune Cauldron immortal house.
This time, he had dismantled the cauldron entirely, refining and upgrading the Fortune Path Immortal Gu within it.
The Dog Shit Luck Immortal Gu had been his first priority, and on his very first attempt at upgrading it, he had succeeded.
The Four Element Fang Regret Blood Refinement Pool boasted a success rate of fifty to sixty percent even when refining Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu—a probability that was nothing short of terrifying. If word were to spread, it would shake the entire world of Gu Immortals, and might even provoke furious assaults from Eternal Life and Heavenly Court.
With an Eighth Transformation Dog Shit Luck Gu, the Boiling Fortune Cauldron's tier had been raised to the Eighth Transformation level.