Star Constellation Blessed Land.
Demonic mist coiled and miasma seeped as the three layers of Gu formation had already been corroded and shattered. The surrounding ground had been transformed into a shallow stretch of poisonous mud and fetid marsh.
Fang Yuan's face was filled with solemn concentration.
"Next is the most difficult immortal material to handle — Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang."
He retrieved a portion of the immortal material and held it in his hand.
This Gu refinement material was extremely peculiar. It was composed of mud and qi, the two bound together of their own accord into a single mass.
The upper portion was pale cyan yang qi — the astral winds beyond the Nine Heavens. Beyond the Nine Heavens of the Primordial Era, there existed a thick wall of astral qi. When Gu Immortals wished to venture into the Nine Heavens to explore, they typically had to break through this astral qi wall.
The lower portion was black mud — the concentrated essence of terrestrial qi drawn from deep beneath the Tenth Earth.
Heavenly qi and earthly qi were inherently incompatible, yet within this Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang, the two had achieved a harmonious unity. Not only did they coexist peacefully, but they continuously transformed into one another. Black mud was constantly becoming astral qi, while astral qi was constantly becoming black mud.
Fang Yuan gave the mass a slight shake, and the Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang rapidly became turbid, the black mud and astral qi blending together into a swirling cloud of gray mist.
But if left still, after a dozen or so breaths, the black mud would settle downward while the astral qi rose to the top. Once again, black and white stood in stark contrast, engaged in a subtle cycle of mutual transformation.
"Handling this kind of immortal material is the most troublesome thing imaginable. Ordinary refinement-path killer moves cannot process it perfectly. Only the four universally acknowledged greatest immortal-level refinement-path killer moves — Silent Sleep Electric Python, Reflecting Snow, Muffled Thunder Stone Drum, and Wind Mill — can accomplish it in one stroke. Unfortunately, I possess none of these four moves. To process the Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang, I'll have to rely on brute effort and sheer toil."
The thought flashed through Fang Yuan's mind. He kicked off from the ground, his powerful body vaulting into the air. With a light leap, he jumped straight into the tortoise shell, plunging into the poisonous blood within.
Shing!
Fang Yuan extended his sharp nails and carved wounds into each of his six monstrous arms. He then stabbed open wounds across his chest, back, and other parts of his body.
Blood refinement killer move — Blood Silk Drift.
Thread after thread of blood seeped out from these wounds.
The blood threads quickly merged with the deep purple poisonous blood, and then the poisonous blood within the tortoise shell began, as if drawn by an invisible force, to burrow into Fang Yuan's wounds.
Agony lanced through him, and Fang Yuan let out a muffled grunt.
Immortal Zombies were supposed to be devoid of sensation, but Fang Yuan was able to feel pain because he had employed a Gu worm's ability. He needed to perceive the pain so he could gauge just how far along the processing of the immortal material had progressed.
Fang Yuan's blood and the poisonous blood in the tortoise shell continuously merged and separated, forming a circulating loop that flowed in and out of his body without cease.
Once the process had stabilized, Fang Yuan took the Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang he had set aside earlier and swallowed it whole.
Gulp. The Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang slid down into his stomach.
This was his own unique creation from his previous life — a bizarre method of Gu refinement through the Blood Path. He had named it the Physical Body Blood Refinement Method.
The Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang entered his body and was continuously flushed by his blood, gradually dissolving into it.
This blood then flowed out through every wound across Fang Yuan's body, pouring into the tortoise shell and sinking to the bottom.
Simultaneously, the other poisonous blood inside the shell flowed through his wounds and into his body, where it scoured the Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang once more.
Through this cycle, the Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang dissolved and diminished at an extraordinarily slow rate.
---
Atop a hill within the True Yang Mountain Range, fierce winds howled and gusted wildly.
The hairy man Gu Immortal Yu Muchun suddenly pointed a finger forward.
In the direction he indicated, five or six tornadoes began slowly drawing closer together. Once they neared enough proximity, they abruptly merged into one, forming an enormous tornado that howled as it spun.
Yu Muchun flipped his palm and produced a piece of immortal material that resembled a small stone bead. He flicked his finger and sent the stone bead hurtling into the colossal tornado.
The stone bead, though tiny and unassuming, emitted a deafening, grating clamor the instant it entered the tornado. The tornado's howling weakened noticeably, and its rotation slowed — as though a strongman had eaten far too much.
But as time passed, the tornado spun faster and faster, rapidly "digesting" the bead.
Half a stick of incense later, the tornado had completely dissolved the bead. The entire column of wind was dyed in alternating black and white, flickering between the two colors.
"An Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang Pearl?" Ben Duoyi's eyes lit up with sudden realization as he blurted out the words.
Yu Muchun looked somewhat surprised but offered praise without restraint: "Hm, not bad — you've got quite the eye. Processing an Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang Pearl requires more than those small tornadoes we just used. Only a grand tornado has the power to do it."
Ben Duoyi struggled to suppress the shock welling up inside him.
The Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang was already an exceedingly difficult immortal material to handle. He knew full well that even if he gave it his absolute all, it would take him several years to slowly corrode and break down a single portion of Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang for use in Gu refinement.
He was a mortal-path Gu Master. Processing immortal materials typically required a timescale measured in years.
And an Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang Pearl?
That was a massive quantity of Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang, compressed and condensed under mutual pressure into a concentrated bead. A single pearl was equivalent to at least a hundred portions of Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang.
Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang Pearls were the hardest of all and the most difficult to process. Even Gu Immortals typically needed months to a year or two to wear down a single pearl.
Yet Grandmaster Yu Muchun had handled an Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang Pearl in such a short span of time?
Something suddenly struck Ben Duoyi, and his voice trembled: "Could it be — could it be that the refinement-path killer move you're using, Grandmaster Yu, is the legendary Wind Mill? It must be! Only the four legendary immortal-grade refinement-path killer moves could process immortal materials to this degree!"
"Indeed. It is the Wind Mill," Yu Muchun replied.
Ben Duoyi's eyes burned with fervent longing. This was one of the finest methods for processing immortal materials, and even though he was no Gu Immortal and could never hope to wield an immortal-level killer move, his heart was filled with envy at that moment. He fantasized about the day he might one day use the Wind Mill to perfectly process immortal materials — how wonderful that would be!
With the Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang Pearl processed, Yu Muchun began tossing immortal Yuan stones into the countless tornadoes before him.
Immortal Yuan stone after immortal Yuan stone was hurled into the tornado columns. These stones lacked the hardness of the Earthly Extreme Heavenly Yang Pearl and were swiftly sliced apart and ground into powder by the wind blades, each one bursting forth with brilliant flashes of cyan radiance.
At this moment, heaven and earth resonated in sympathy. The surrounding mountains began trembling faintly, dark clouds rapidly blanketed the sky, and rumbling peals of muffled thunder sounded overhead.
"What's going on?!" Ben Duoyi cried out in alarm, craning his neck to look around. He discovered that the hilltop where he stood was surrounded by streams of luminous lines manifesting in the air.
These lines, naturally, were Dao Marks.
Some were red Fire Path Dao Marks, others were blue Water Path Dao Marks — most of these were incomplete. More numerous were Earth Path and Wood Path Dao Marks, which were relatively intact. But the most abundant of all were Dao Marks that shimmered with silver light.
These were Rule Path Dao Marks!
The Dao Marks were densely packed but unevenly distributed. Some intertwined and overlapped, forming relatively dense clusters. Others were sparse and scattered, spread thin across the void.