The Supreme Immortal Gu.
Little Western Desert.
A massive, pitch-black city dominated the desert.
It was a formidable stronghold — grand in layout, rigorous in structure. The entire wall formed a perfect hexagon, weathered by wind and rain over countless years. The perimeter exceeded two hundred li, the walls stood nearly ten zhang tall, and they were several zhang thick.
An ordinary person standing on the desert could see the black city from far away, like a colossal dark beast crouching upon the yellowish-brown earth. And when one drew close, one had to crane one's neck just to glimpse the full height of the towering walls and the enormous gate.
At every corner of the walls stood watchtowers, riddled with arrow slits.
Every few li, a broad horse ramp led up to the battlements.
Hidden within the walls were concealed troop chambers, perfectly secret.
Beyond the walls lay a bustling world.
Streets ran crisscross inside, shops stood in rows, palaces rose one after another, and houses lined every block. Carriages and horses filled the roads in a ceaseless stream. Voices roared in a cacophony — prosperity beyond measure.
This was the Inkman City!
Founded long ago by the legendary Inkman Gu Immortal Yiyi Xian, it was roughly half the size of Emperor City. Later, Fang Yuan had scooped it up wholesale and relocated it here into the Little Western Desert.
At this moment, two Inkman Gu Immortals — Mo Tansang and Mo Qiyi — hovered in midair, their expressions grave as they surveyed their surroundings.
"Over the past three days, these poison vines and pinwheel trees have spread another ten li. They're now only twenty-odd li from Inkman City itself," Mo Tansang said.
Mo Qiyi's brow was tightly furrowed. "We've intervened more than ten times to clear them, but each time we finish exterminating them, they spring back up almost immediately. Are we really going to be forced to relocate again?"
All around Inkman City, the vegetation had spread to a staggering degree.
The plants consisted of dark purple poison vines and enormous blue-gold pinwheel trees, forming a terrifying tsunami of flora that threatened to swallow everything in its vicinity.
Mo Qiyi let out a long sigh. "Wasteland plants have already begun to appear within this vegetation. Dealing with it will only get harder. If we can't address the root cause, we could clear it ten thousand times over and it would be treating the symptoms, not the disease. We thought we'd moved to a good place — who could have guessed the living conditions here would be dozens or even a hundred times worse than the Northern Plains!"
Mo Tansang patted Mo Qiyi on the shoulder. "The Lord has already sent people to assist us. You'd best keep such complaints to a minimum."
Mo Qiyi immediately fell silent.
His Lord was the foremost demon in the world today — cold, ruthless, and terrifyingly capable.
"Look, our reinforcements have arrived!" Mo Tansang's face suddenly lit up with joy as he pointed toward the distant horizon.
Mo Qiyi looked up and indeed saw four Gu Immortals flying toward them.
Two Snowmen Gu Immortals, one Furman Gu Immortal, and one Mushroom Person Gu Immortal. Among them, one Snowman female immortal stood tall and graceful, young and radiant, with blue eyes and blue hair, skin like ice and bones like jade — it was Xue'er.
Mo Tansang and Mo Qiyi hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.
Xue'er's identity was quite special.
In the past, Fang Yuan had crossed paths with her. On the surface, Xue'er was known as Fang Yuan's fiancée!
Of course, Fang Yuan had never acknowledged this, nor had he denied it.
The Snowmen clan — and especially Bingyuan, who now stood behind Xue'er — had been publicly promoting this connection for some time, to the point where every Gu Immortal in the Supreme Immortal Gu knew about it.
"We never expected Lady Xue'er to come in person."
"With all of you here to help, it seems the crisis facing Inkman City can be resolved!"
Mo Tansang and Mo Qiyi offered their flatteries in succession.
Xue'er spoke: "Inkmen and Snowmen may be different races, but our two sides began cooperating back in the Northern Plains. I've come here for two reasons — first, to assist the two of you, and second, to ask that once this matter is settled, you lend your support in return and help my Snowmen clan."
The Snowmen clan was now residing in the Little Northern Plains and had encountered their own troubles.
The two Inkman Gu Immortals hastily pledged their full assistance.
Bingyuan said: "On the way here, we conducted a survey. Xue'er and I will go all out, activating our ice-and-snow killer move to freeze and slow the vegetation's spread and buy you time."
The Furman Gu Immortal said: "I've brought along a large number of Furman Gu Masters. They will work at full capacity to transform Inkman City into an integrated whole — a single massive Gu House. In the future, relocating it will be effortless."
The Mushroom Person Gu Immortal added: "I can solve the poison vine problem. These vines are a catastrophe for you, but for my Mushroom Person race, they're excellent cultivation resources. Besides, I've already identified the source of the poison vines. I can use the vines against themselves — fighting poison with poison — and stabilize this vegetation for the time being."
Hearing this, the two Inkman Gu Immortals felt both elation and a fresh wave of concern.
Mo Tansang asked the Furman Gu Immortal: "During the Northern Plains era, Inkman City already had a population of over eight hundred thousand. Now it has grown to over 1.2 million. Transforming Inkman City will inevitably affect the citizens' livelihoods. The Lord has always instructed me to ensure the lives of every citizen and to help them develop to the fullest..."