Time trickled away, day by day. Around the Three Kings' Inheritance, the area surrounding Trifork Mountain seethed with activity, churning with turmoil.
Countless figures from the Demonic Path and Righteous Path, along with all manner of other cultivators, surged toward the location.
At first, the Merchant Family had held the situation under control, continuously sending reinforcements to block the inheritance entrance, displaying a resolute determination to seize it.
Then the Martial Family mobilized, breaking the Merchant Family's blockade.
Later still, news spread: the Three Kings' Inheritance was, in fact, the blessed land of a Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal from the past. The world was thrown into an uproar, and countless people swarmed toward Trifork Mountain. Several other supreme families were also alerted, each dispatching formidable teams of Gu Masters.
At this point, even the Merchant and Martial Families could not stem this overwhelming tide.
The situation on Trifork Mountain descended into utter chaos.
People died every day. In the scramble for the chance to enter the inheritance, Righteous and Demonic cultivators fought fiercely among themselves. Demonic fought Demonic, Righteous fought Righteous – the battles were exceptionally violent.
Every shift in the situation at Trifork Mountain tugged at the hearts of many.
Fang Yuan had also been closely monitoring events.
It had been over half a month since the inheritance opened. Some had already reaped benefits within, which only fueled everyone's enthusiasm to explore it further.
But these initial gains meant nothing to Fang Yuan. With the memories of his past life, he knew the true essence of the Three Kings' Inheritance lay in its deepest recesses. Reaching there would require clearing at least a hundred stages, demanding immense time and effort. Sometimes one would get lost, trapped in mist with no exit in sight. Other times, one would encounter hordes of dogs, and many Gu Masters had perished惨死 in their snapping jaws.
The Three Kings were of the Demonic Path; this was a Demonic inheritance.
Demonic inheritances were, as always, fraught with peril. One often had to risk life and limb to explore them.
"Going to Trifork Mountain now is still too early; the timing isn't ripe. Better to sit back, reap the rewards of others, and conserve my strength. Once they've cleared the stages and swept aside the obstacles, I can go and seize the fruits of their labor. For now, it's time to refine some Gu." Fang Yuan had his own calculations.
The Gu he intended to refine this time was none other than the Wine Worm!
A First Transformation Wine Worm could purify Bronze True Essence by one minor stage. A Second Transformation Four Flavor Wine Worm could purify Red Iron True Essence by one minor stage. A Third Transformation Seven Fragrance Wine Worm could purify Silver True Essence by one minor stage. And a Fourth Transformation Nine Eye Wine Worm could purify Gold True Essence by one minor stage.
Beyond the Nine Eye Wine Worm, there was no Fifth Transformation variant. The secret recipe master who originally developed the Wine Worm recipe was prodigiously talented and very young, but was killed prematurely by a rival, his brilliance cut short.
Genius only represented a possibility.
There were many cases where geniuses were slain before they could grow to maturity.
But by now, both Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing could be considered to have grown. Eliminating them would not be easy.
After refining the Wine Worm into a Four Flavor Wine Worm, Fang Yuan had simply kept it raised without further use.
The reason was that he had the Bone Flesh Reunion Gu. With Bai Ningbing's help, the Four Flavor Wine Worm had lost its value. But now things were different.
Bai Ningbing had advanced to Fourth Transformation, while Fang Yuan was at the peak of Third Transformation. Before long, he too would advance to the Initial Stage of the Fourth Transformation. At that point, their cultivation levels would truly be equal.
The assistance the Bone Flesh Reunion Gu provided to Fang Yuan would diminish considerably. At that time, having a Fourth Transformation Nine Eye Wine Worm would be extremely convenient for cultivation.
Refine the Nine Eye Wine Worm!
While Shang Cinci was beginning to recruit Zhou Quan, Fang Yuan chose to enter secluded cultivation to refine Gu.
Bai Ningbing didn't know what he was refining, but she also chose secluded cultivation.
To refine a Four Flavor Wine Worm, one needed two First Transformation Wine Worms, along with four types of fine wine representing sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy. To refine a Seven Fragrance Wine Worm, two Four Flavor Wine Worms were required, plus seven types of fragrances.
To reach the Nine Eye Wine Worm, two Seven Fragrance Wine Worms were needed, along with the eyeballs of nine different King-level beasts.
Fang Yuan was currently in Merchant City, in an exceptionally advantageous geographical location. Anywhere else, gathering the materials to refine the Wine Worm would require significant effort to search for. But in Merchant City, as long as one had money, anything could be bought.
Fang Yuan already had one Four Flavor Wine Worm in his possession. He purchased two Wine Worms and first refined them into a second Four Flavor Wine Worm.
Then, using the two Four Flavor Wine Worms, he refined the first Seven Fragrance Wine Worm.
This step proceeded smoothly for him. However, during the process of refining the second Seven Fragrance Wine Worm, he encountered difficulties.
He failed once each while refining the third Four Flavor Wine Worm and the first Seven Fragrance Wine Worm. The Yuan Stones consumed were wasted, the auxiliary materials had to be repurchased, and he had to start over.
Fortunately, in the end, when refining the two Seven Fragrance Wine Worms together, the result was successful. Three days later, Fang Yuan obtained the Nine Eye Wine Worm.
The Nine Eye Wine Worm resembled a silkworm baby, its entire body white and smooth, like a pearl. Its head no longer had conventional eyes; instead, nine differently colored eyes adorned it – red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, violet – like agates or gemstones set in place.
The Nine Eye Wine Worm could elevate Gold True Essence by one minor stage!
For it, Fang Yuan had spent a great deal, nearly two hundred thousand Yuan Stones.
Failure during Gu refinement was something no Gu Master could entirely avoid. Although Fang Yuan had failed several times, his overall luck was decent.
His failures were concentrated in the first half of the process: refining the Four Flavor Wine Worms and the Seven Fragrance Wine Worms. At the final, crucial stage, he succeeded on the first attempt.
The greatest fear in Gu refinement was failing at a late stage. Such losses would be devastatingly heavy.