After Black Loulan ascended to immortality, she had been personally tutored by Fairy Li Shan, receiving hands-on guidance across every aspect — one could say she had been taught without reservation.
As a result, Black Loulan's methods in reconnaissance were already far beyond those of an ordinary Gu Immortal.
"But Fang Yuan's foundations run so deep, he has clearly surged far ahead of the vast majority of today's Gu Immortals. I may possess several Immortal Gu, but can I do what Fang Yuan does — refine new Gu, create and improve killing moves from scratch?"
Black Loulan silently shook her head in her thoughts.
Her strength-path killing move had been given to her by her mother.
As for refining new Gu, that required developing entirely new Gu recipes. The process demanded not only resources and sufficient foundational cultivation, but also inspiration and luck!
Black Loulan was a Gu Immortal, yes, but she was still too young. She was no refinement-path grandmaster, nor was she particularly skilled in the refinement path. These matters of foundation and expertise required the slow accumulation of long periods of time and hands-on practice.
Just then, Fang Yuan strode over with large steps. He murmured, "After piecing together all the clues, I'm fairly certain I know who they are."
"Oh?"
"One is a star-path Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal who has never made a move — rather mysterious. The other practices both earth-path and transformation-path, with a brash aura. I reconstructed a fragment of his voice through a Gu Insect — there's a seventy percent chance he's Shi Lei of the Central Continent's War Immortal Sect," Fang Yuan said.
"The Monkey King?" Black Loulan and Fang Yuan had already shared most of their intelligence, so she naturally knew what sort of figure Shi Lei was.
She furrowed her brows slightly, feeling that this was somewhat troublesome.
Shi Lei was a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal whose combat prowess was extraordinary. Even though Black Loulan possessed several strength-path Immortal Gu, Shi Lei had his own earth-path Immortal Gu. He had possessed them for a long time and had even created his own unique Immortal-level killing moves. Moreover, he dual-cultivated the transformation path as well. His combat talent could truly be called one in ten thousand.
Black Loulan owned the Immortal Gu "My Strength," which she used to power her previous mortal-level killing move, forming a strength-path phantom giant. That barely qualified as an Immortal-level killing move.
All this time, Black Loulan had been trying to improve and refine it, but progress had remained painfully slow.
"If you, Fang Yuan, deployed the 'Ten Thousand Selves' killing move and joined forces with me, we might be able to hold off the Monkey King. But that mysterious star-path Gu Immortal — no one would be left to deal with him," Black Loulan pondered.
Fang Yuan gave a bitter smile. "I haven't told you yet — because the core Immortal Gu Hunger is involved, the 'Ten Thousand Selves' killing move can no longer be used. All I have at my disposal are mortal-level killing moves."
Black Loulan studied Fang Yuan with a long, deep look, then narrowed her eyes. "In that case, we should avoid a direct confrontation with them as much as possible."
Roar — ROAR —!
From high above, wave after wave of savage howls echoed through the air.
Fang Yuan glanced upward. "When two powerhouses clash, casualties are inevitable. We just need to play it by ear. Our combat strength may be lower than theirs, but if an opportunity arises, there's no reason we can't seize the chance to kill them both. And even if things go wrong, I still have Fixed Immortal Travel in my possession — blocking a few of their attacks to buy enough time for it to activate is certainly feasible."
Black Loulan immediately nodded in agreement. Fang Yuan's words suited her taste perfectly.
The two decided to first devour the spoils lying right in front of them.
The Shadow End Leopard's corpse was a considerable fortune. Although the surrounding area was swarming with reconnaissance Gu Insects, they were no match for an old devil like Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan possessed small tricks that were half an era ahead of the times. He set to work one after another — sealing some, deceiving others. In a short while, without alerting Star Lord Wan Xiang, he had gotten his hands on the Shadow End Leopard's corpse.
"This Shadow End Leopard's fur can be used to refine multiple defensive Gu, its bones can be crafted into Shadow-Attached Gu, Shadow Trail Gu, and others, while its eyeballs are excellent materials for Dark-Vision Gu, Black Mist Gu, and the like. What a pity its blood has drained away entirely — otherwise it would be worth even more." Black Loulan stuffed the Shadow End Leopard's corpse into her own immortal aperture, her eyes gleaming with delight.
"It seems they deliberately drained its blood. That star palace high above really must be an important location — important enough for both of them to set aside wild beast corpses entirely," Fang Yuan said, a contemplative light flickering in his eyes.
His immortal aperture was filled with death energy, which was unfavorable for preserving a corpse, so he simply handed the Shadow End Leopard's corpse over to Black Loulan.
Both of them were audacious, lawless individuals.
Even in the face of powerful opponents, they dared to keep scheming.
Next, the two followed their original plan, sneaking forward while still trying to get as close as possible to the Eighth Star Palace high above.
But along the way, they soon made another discovery.
"The reconnaissance Gu Insects ahead have increased noticeably again — could it be that..." Expectation flickered in Black Loulan's gaze.
Before long, the two bypassed all the reconnaissance Gu Insects, passed through a mountain pass, and arrived at a valley.
Lying in the valley was a wild beast corpse the size of a small hill.
It was shaped like a foal but enormous in size, with four thick hooves, dark as iron. Its entire body was a blazing crimson, its muscles taut and its frame powerful and robust.
The mane on its neck and its tail were both luxuriant, gleaming with a brilliant golden hue.
Streams of blood flowed from round, hole-like wounds scattered across its body. The blood was scalding hot, and its searing heat had scorched the nearby grass and trees into a withered yellow.
As Fang Yuan and Black Loulan drew closer, they felt the heat intensify — like the blazing warmth of midsummer.