The Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus was a Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu. It was not a natural Gu born of heaven and earth, but rather refined by Immortal Venerable Yuan Lian.
The Third Transformation Heavenly Origin Lotus, the Fourth Transformation Heavenly Origin Lord Lotus, and the Fifth Transformation Heavenly Origin King Lotus could produce True Essence, providing tremendous assistance for a Gu Master's True Essence recovery.
The Sixth Transformation and above Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus, however, could produce Immortal Essence — an invaluable resource.
With this Gu, Immortal Venerable Yuan Lian had become the most abundant in Immortal Essence among all the Ninth Transformation Immortal Masters in history.
After Immortal Venerable Yuan Lian's death, his Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus was placed under heavy protection and became one of the most famous treasures in the world. But after being preserved for over a hundred thousand years, it was stolen by a daring Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal.
This Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal was none other than the Robbery Demon Venerable, who would later achieve the title of "Heavenly Thief" following in Immortal Venerable Yuan Lian's wake.
After the Robbery Demon Venerable's death, the Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus was also destroyed.
Ancestor Long Mao had once communicated with the Robbery Demon Venerable. Several hundred years after the Demon Venerable vanished, Ancestor Long Mao attempted to refine a Gu. In the end, he successfully refined a new Sixth Transformation Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus.
Later, he further enhanced it according to his own preferences, elevating it to the Eighth Transformation stage.
An Immortal Gu was unique — its name remained uniform regardless of transformation level. When advancing from the Sixth Transformation upward, the name did not change.
For example — the Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus and the Spring Autumn Cicada, if upgraded from Sixth Transformation to Seventh Transformation, would still be called the Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus and the Spring Autumn Cicada.
After Ancestor Long Mao's death, his lingering obsession merged with the power of heaven and earth, transforming into a terrain spirit. The Eighth Transformation Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus remained within the Langya Blessed Land all along.
"Later, the Langya Blessed Land was accidentally discovered by a Soul Path Gu Immortal known as the Ghost King, triggering the first wave of attacks. In the end, all were captured by the terrain spirit. However, news of the Langya Blessed Land leaked because of the Ghost King, attracting more Gu Immortals. After that came the second wave, the third wave, and so on. By the seventh wave, the Heavenly Court specifically dispatched several Seventh Transformation Gu Immortals, each carrying Immortal Gu."
"After a brutal battle, the Langya Blessed Land finally collapsed, and the Gu Immortals suffered devastating casualties. Feng Jiuge died here. The vast quantities of secret recipes within the Langya Blessed Land were all seized by the Heavenly Court. The Central Continent's power surged as a result, and with the strength of an entire continent, it struck back against the four great domains."
With memories from his previous life, Fang Yuan knew full well how events would unfold from here.
Now, when Fang Yuan suddenly proposed exchanging an Immortal Gu secret recipe for the Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus, the terrain spirit rejected it without hesitation: "Absolutely not! The Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus can produce Immortal Essence — that is precisely the capital I have to withstand the repeated tribulations. Furthermore, I can use that Immortal Essence to refine Gu. The Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus is not for trade."
"I see." Fang Yuan nodded. Though he had expected as much, a trace of disappointment still lingered in his heart.
But the terrain spirit's next words reignited his hope.
"However, I do have other Immortal Gu here. It depends on what secret recipes you have. A Seventh Transformation recipe can only be exchanged for a Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu. An Eighth Transformation recipe can be exchanged for a Seventh Transformation or Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu."
A sharp gleam immediately flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes.
He knew that within the Langya Blessed Land, there was also a Seventh Transformation Beast Controlling Gu.
This Immortal Gu could command any wild beast, variant beast, ten-thousand-beast emperor, and even desolate beasts or ancient desolate beasts under heaven!
Ancestor Long Mao had used this very Gu back in the day to subdue numerous desolate beasts, even several ancient desolate beasts, burying them beneath the foundations of the Twelve Cloud Towers.
With these desolate beasts standing guard, the entire Langya Blessed Land had been as solid as iron, withstanding six waves of Gu Immortal assaults before finally faltering at the seventh.
"This Beast Controlling Gu is of critical importance — the terrain spirit certainly won't trade it either. But Ancestor Long Mao refined many Immortal Gu back in the day; the Beast Controlling Gu and the Heavenly Origin Imperial Lotus can't be the only two."
Fang Yuan's heart stirred with excitement. After a moment's thought, he bent his head and began writing secret recipes.
The elderly terrain spirit stood beside him, hands clasped behind his back, watching intently. After observing for a while, he chuckled: "That's the Second Orifice Gu, isn't it?"
"Oh? You have this recipe too?" Fang Yuan paused his brush.
"Of course. My Langya Blessed Land houses countless secret recipes — thousands of Immortal Gu recipes alone." The terrain spirit spoke with considerable pride.
"Wealth like that — no wonder it drew even the Heavenly Court to attack." Fang Yuan's eyes flickered as he sighed inwardly.
"In that case..." He pondered for a moment, then switched to a fresh sheet of paper and continued writing.
This time, he wrote the Sixth Transformation recipe for the Blood God Child.
The terrain spirit glanced at the opening lines and his eyes blazed with strange light. But gradually, the glow dimmed.
After Fang Yuan had written three lines, he spoke: "Your Blood Path recipe, while remarkable, is incomplete. Though some gaps have been filled, its fundamental principles conflict with one another. The chances of successful refinement are extremely slim. With this recipe alone, you cannot exchange for an Immortal Gu."
Fang Yuan sighed.
The Blood God Child recipe he had obtained in his previous life had also been an incomplete fragment. It was only through his own painstaking research and the help of other Gu Immortals in collaboratively repairing it that he had arrived at this version.
He knew the recipe wasn't entirely accurate. In his previous life, one of the main reasons he had not chosen to cultivate the Blood God Child was precisely this.