"The Ninth Transformation Ascension refinement Gu..." Fang Yuan examined it carefully, discovering that the Immortal Gu's appearance differed little from the previous Eighth Transformation version.
However, in reality, it had already undergone a qualitative transformation!
This was Fang Yuan's second Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu, and the assistance it would bring would be substantial.
The Four Element Fang Hui Blood Refinement Pool would consequently be upgraded to a Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu house.
A Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu house!
In the history of humanity, such Immortal Gu houses could be counted on one hand.
Heavenly Court's Celestial Revelation Tower was the most famous among them — but unfortunately, following the destruction of the Ninth Transformation Destiny Gu, it could no longer claim that title.
"Once I complete the modification, the Ninth Transformation Ascension Gu can be reinstalled into the Four Element Fang Hui Blood Refinement Pool, thereby causing this Immortal Gu house to undergo its own qualitative transformation. If there were an Immortal Gu house ranking, it would undoubtedly take first place."
Fang Yuan calculated inwardly.
Previously, the Four Element Fang Hui Blood Refinement Pool might have been comparable to Divine Emperor City — but once it truly became Ninth Transformation, it would certainly surpass Divine Emperor City by a wide margin.
After all, Divine Emperor City did not possess any Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu.
Of course, Fang Yuan needed to modify the existing Four Element Fang Hui Blood Refinement Pool so that it could match the Ninth Transformation Ascension refinement Gu.
Fang Yuan was a Venerable of the Refinement Path, a Supreme Grandmaster of the Refinement Path — modifying it to this degree posed no significant difficulty.
Fang Yuan temporarily set aside the Ascension Gu and inspected himself.
Just as he had expected — with the possession of his second Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu, the Heaven's Mystery Confusion killer move's layers of net-like Heavenly Dao Marks left on his body were being consumed nearly twice as fast as before!
This demonstrated just how enormous an advantage the Ninth Transformation Ascension Gu would bring Fang Yuan.
Its significance was immense — it would influence many things going forward.
From now on, Fang Yuan's refinement of other Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu would be far easier and more efficient.
"Fortunately, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable are currently expending considerable Immortal Essence, running tight on reserves, needing it all to refine natural Dao Marks. They won't be conducting investigations as frequently as before, which greatly alleviates the pressure on the Heaven's Mystery Confusion killer move."
Fang Yuan was well aware that at this level, he had already reached the limits of the Heaven's Mystery Confusion killer move.
If he were to refine a third Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu now, the killer move might help him conceal the early stages — but by the middle and late phases, it would inevitably fail to hide anything, and the killer move's power would be completely depleted.
"So then, do I refine it or not? If I'm going to begin refining a third Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu, which one should it be?"
Fang Yuan calmed his mind and analyzed the current situation.
He was beset by both internal and external troubles!
The first internal trouble was the instability of his Supreme Immortal Aperture.
Because the Dao Marks were non-exclusive, abnormal occurrences were happening frequently, and the entire aperture's ecosystem was extremely unstable.
Due to heavy losses in the Battle of the Crazed Demon Cave, the number of Gu Immortals within the Supreme Immortal Aperture was severely insufficient — they could currently barely maintain stability.
The second was the tribulation.
Even Venerables had to face tribulations.
Among the three Venerables, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, due to Dao Mark exclusivity, found it extremely difficult to alter their apertures' flow of time using Time Path methods.
But Fang Yuan had accelerated time twice during the refinement of the Heavenly Origin Treasure Emperor Lotus Gu.
As a result, He Chunqiu — this Time Path clone's Time Path foundation — had been almost entirely ruined.
For a period of time, Fang Yuan could not alter the Supreme Immortal Aperture's flow of time. If he tried again, it would trigger chain reactions, causing a massive eruption of abnormal phenomena and unleashing catastrophic tribulations that would sweep across the entire Supreme Immortal Aperture.
This was because any Time Path killer move powerful enough to affect the entire Supreme Immortal Aperture would necessarily be of extremely high transformation. To be effective, it would need to inscribe or alter a great many Time Path Dao Marks.
Such a sudden mutation in Time Path Dao Marks would cause a chain reaction within the Supreme Immortal Aperture, leading to cataclysmic changes that even Fang Yuan could not fully predict, ultimately resulting in devastating losses.
If losses occurred, they would be enormous.
The recovery method Fang Yuan had previously used — Landscape As Before combined with the Pool of Years — was also currently unusable.
This was because the Time Flow river water in the Pool of Years had only been rapidly filled in during this recent period. The essence of that method was still rooted in Time Path Dao Marks.
With the massive eruption of abnormalities caused by Time Path Dao Mark disorder, employing any Time Path killer move would be adding fuel to the fire.
"To alleviate this concern, I would need to establish at least the first circle of Time Path veins!"
The third internal trouble was food for the Supreme Immortal Body.
Fang Yuan's Supreme Immortal Body was transformed from the Supreme Immortal Fetus Gu, requiring periodic consumption of apertures of corresponding levels to sustain it.
Now that Fang Yuan's cultivation had risen to the Ninth Transformation, he needed to consume Ninth Transformation apertures!
From this perspective, both Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable were Fang Yuan's food.
But the difficulty involved was tremendous.
That said, Fang Yuan was not without preparation.
He had secretly schemed against the resurrected Le Tu in the Crazed Demon Cave. Before Le Tu's death, he had been merely a hair's breadth from the Ninth Transformation — his corpse still retained an Eighth Transformation aperture.
This Eighth Transformation aperture could be considered a quasi-Ninth Transformation. And because Le Tu had exclusively cultivated the Heaven Path, this aperture displayed a special quality — it could function as an independent whole, remarkably stable.
Ordinarily, when a Gu Immortal perished, their aperture would become unstable, falling into the world and opening its gates to absorb vast quantities of Heaven and Earth Qi, forming either a Blessed Land or a Grotto-Heaven.
But Le Tu's quasi-Ninth Transformation Heaven Path aperture was exceptionally special — it was remarkably stable.
"If it truly comes to that in the future, I can split off a soul and use Le Tu's body to create a Heavenly Venerable clone. Then have this clone undergo tribulation, become a Heaven Path Venerable, and absorb its Ninth Transformation aperture!"
Le Tu's corpse was Fang Yuan's reserve provisions.