Having consumed this Heavenly Dao Immortal Material, Fang Yuan's Supreme Sacred Earth immediately gained nine Heavenly Dao Dao Marks.
A calamity so devastating that even Shi Zong had fallen into despair — when fully converted back into Heavenly Dao Dao Marks, it amounted to a mere nine. And this calamity's power had far exceeded the average; under normal circumstances, the converted Heavenly Dao Dao Marks would number fewer than nine.
"Probably around seven," Fang Yuan estimated.
This was incomparable to the harvest from devouring two Heaven and Earth Grotto-Heavens.
Every time he swallowed a Heaven and Earth Grotto-Heaven, Fang Yuan gained several thousand Heavenly Dao Dao Marks. Having devoured grotto-heavens one after another, his Supreme Sacred Earth had already reached its limit, with a development rate of eighty percent.
The Heavenly Dao Dao Marks on him had already surpassed two hundred thousand!
Because of Fang Yuan's grand plan to achieve Dao Sovereignty through the Refinement Path, he had prioritized devouring Refinement Path grotto-heavens, resulting in the greatest number of Refinement Path Dao Marks — over six million!
"For now, the Supreme Sacred Earth can't swallow any more grotto-heavens. So I can only use this method to increase my Heavenly Dao Dao Marks."
"Each increase may be small, but Gu Immortals undergoing tribulation are an inexhaustible supply. With this approach, I can absolutely accumulate small gains into great ones — drop by drop into an ocean."
In the long run, this path of helping Gu Immortals through tribulation was actually more promising.
The two Heaven and Earth Grotto-Heavens had accumulated their foundations over hundreds of thousands of years. But for every grotto-heaven Fang Yuan devoured, one was gone forever.
Whereas Gu Immortals were a ceaseless stream.
Shi Zong succeeded in his tribulation, advancing from the Seventh Transformation to the Eighth Transformation.
He returned to the Supreme Sacred Earth and was immediately greeted by a crowd offering congratulations, all eager to learn the specifics.
Shi Zong had come prepared — on the day of his tribulation, he had used a Communication Path Gu Insect to record the entire process.
As the recordings spread, they sent a massive tremor through the Gu Immortal community of the Supreme Sacred Earth!
"Master is actually that powerful!"
"In an instant, he unleashed more than twenty Eighth Transformation killing moves — is he even human?"
"So this is the Totem Killing Move? It seems incredibly convenient!"
The Gu Immortals were first captivated by the Totem Killing Move, then gasped in unison when the Bandit's Nest appeared.
In the end, when the Encompassing Yellow Dust Cloud was completely neutralized by Fang Yuan, every Gu Immortal was overcome with emotion.
"Master's methods are beyond comprehension. He can truly extinguish calamities ahead of time."
"Throughout history, these calamities have always had to run their course before they could be settled. But Lord Fang Yuan is truly unfathomable — he can eliminate a calamity completely before it even begins."
"Calculating it this way, this mission is a huge win. Not only can you improve your cultivation, but there's a rather generous contribution reward to claim as well."
"Hold on — didn't you hear what Shi Zong said? Even though he succeeded in his tribulation and became an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal, he didn't gain a single new Dao Mark."
"What? There's such a thing? No wonder this mission comes with compensation in the form of contributions."
Shi Zong hadn't concealed the results. He had initially been somewhat hesitant, but after the tribulation, Fang Yuan had personally ordered him to publicize the true outcome.
No increase in Dao Marks — this news was like a bucket of ice water poured over the heads of the excited and elated Gu Immortals.
The Gu Immortals gradually calmed down.
This result would need to be carefully considered.
Without any increase in Dao Marks, the loss for a Gu Immortal was substantial. After all, tribulation was the primary source of Dao Mark growth.
For the next several days, nothing happened. But once Shi Zong used his contributions to exchange for two Seventh Transformation Earth Path Immortal Gu and three Earth Path killing moves, a second person began accepting the tribulation mission.
Then, more and more Gu Immortals followed suit, and soon a trend swept through the Gu Immortal community of the Supreme Sacred Earth.
These Gu Immortals were, of course, shrewd. Their calculations were meticulous.
Though they lost a chunk of Dao Marks, the value of the contributions far exceeded the loss.
A Gu Immortal's combat strength and their sacred earth's environment would indeed weaken from the loss of those Dao Marks, but Dao Marks were only one factor among many.
Numerous factors determined a Gu Immortal's combat power. Immortal Gu, for instance, were a primary factor, and Immortal Path killing moves were far more important than several thousand Dao Marks.
The sacred earth's environment would be affected, but a Gu Immortal could exchange contributions for all manner of immortal materials and cultivate additional resource points to make up the difference.
What truly drove Gu Immortals down this path was that the exchange list contained a special option: Gu Immortals could provide their own immortal materials, spend a certain amount of contributions, and have one of Fang Yuan's clones deploy a Food Path killing move to add corresponding Dao Marks to their own bodies!
For all these reasons, the Gu Immortals coming to undergo tribulation were an endless stream.
And Fang Yuan's Heavenly Dao Dao Marks continued to grow accordingly.
Southern Border.
Ke Xinhong streaked through the clouds.
He was communicating with a close friend.
"You have no idea — all the Gu Immortals around here have been picking up this tribulation mission. Some Gu Immortals whose tribulations are still far off have already started exchanging for items on the list, having Lord's Time Path clone accelerate the flow of time within their own sacred earth! They're doing everything they can to take on this mission."
When Ke Xinhong read this, he responded with his Communication Path Immortal Gu: "Because the contribution reward for this mission is extremely generous, and whoever claims those contributions first gains an early advantage — a head start that kicks off a virtuous cycle. Look at Shi Zong; he must be doing splendidly lately. His strength has surged, allowing him to take on harder missions, complete more tasks, and earn even more contributions even faster."
"Unfortunately, I've received a mandatory mission this time — I must go as an envoy to the Wu family. Otherwise, I'd have been the first to sign up for the tribulation mission."
His friend replied quickly: "Be extremely careful this time. You're going to the Wu family's stronghold to demand Hudi — and that's a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm! Wu Yong is also the Southern Alliance Leader!"
But Ke Xinhong was confident: "This trip holds great promise for me. Even if I fail, Wu Yong certainly won't do anything to me. You haven't witnessed it firsthand — you don't truly grasp Lord's overwhelming presence. Alright, I've arrived. We'll talk later."
Ke Xinhong slowly descended.
Below him lay Wu Yi Mountain.
The Wu family's stronghold stood right here.