Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
Before him was a blurry expanse of pink. As his vision gradually cleared, it resolved into the gossamer curtains of a bed canopy.
A gentle breeze drifted in, and wind chimes tinkled softly. The pink curtains swayed in a languid dance, dreamlike and ethereal.
Fang Yuan sat up in bed.
The bed was round and enormously wide — forty or fifty people could lie on it without issue.
Red silk bedding with gold trim was spread across it, warm and fitting against the body.
Fang Yuan looked around and found himself in a spacious bedroom.
Beside the bed stood a burning tripod cauldron, incense wafting from it. A faint, alluring fragrance hung in the air.
The bedroom was built with gold bricks for walls and silver bricks for flooring. The bedside, corners, desks, chairs, and vanity table were all inlaid with copious pearls, agates, crystals, and gemstones of every color.
Splendid and opulent, luxurious yet elegant, the room emanated the gilded aura of its former owner — the Fox Immortal.
This was the Fox Immortal's Dang Hun Palace.
"A veritable tender land," Fang Yuan remarked flatly, stepping down from the bed.
His body swayed involuntarily, and a lingering dizziness remained in his head.
Fang Yuan was not alarmed — he understood perfectly well. This was the result of pushing himself too hard at Three Fork Mountain.
Bai Ningbing's betrayal, the pressure from countless powerful figures, the schemes against the earth spirit — first refining the Second Empty Orifice Gu, then crafting the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu in the Light Waterfall Heavenly River. Throughout it all, he had endured the psychological strain of gambling with his life. For Fang Yuan, both body and spirit had been pushed to their absolute limits.
When he used the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu to arrive at the summit of Dang Hun Mountain, Feng Jinhuang and Fang Zheng were already spent — but wasn't he, Fang Yuan, in just as dire a state?
Compared to them, Fang Yuan had borne even greater psychological pressure. The Spring Autumn Cicada could not be used a second time in succession, and seizing the Fox Immortal's inheritance right under the noses of the ten sects' Gu Immortals was like plucking a tiger's whisker. Pulling chestnuts from the fire — the risk had been extreme!
Fang Yuan had been the first to reach the mountaintop, and the earth spirit had driven off all other competitors. Once Fang Yuan formally became master of the blessed land, he immediately ordered the earth spirit to seal the entire place.
After giving the earth spirit several critical instructions and ensuring the environment was stable, Fang Yuan finally allowed himself to relax — and promptly fell into a deep sleep.
"I wonder how long I've been out..." Fang Yuan shook his head. He still felt thoroughly exhausted. A deep sense of weakness radiated from the very depths of his soul.
At the same time, his ears buzzed incessantly, and there was an unmistakable sluggishness to his thoughts. Thinking through problems was far more difficult than usual.
"This isn't good — I've damaged my soul." Fang Yuan's heart sank as he recognized his poor condition.
The main cause was the refinement of the Immortal Gu.
Refining Immortal Gu was no trivial matter. Many Gu Immortals who refined carelessly suffered backlash — lightly injured, or in the worst case, killed.
That Fang Yuan had managed to refine an Immortal Gu with a mortal's body came down to two factors. First, the method was excellent — sourced from the Record of the Human Ancestor. Second, the materials were superb. Most crucially, the Divine Travel Gu had been used as a core component. In a sense, the Divine Travel Gu had been transformed into the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu, which greatly reduced the difficulty.
This was nothing like his previous life five hundred years ago, when he had combined a massive number of mortal Gu to refine the Immortal Gu — the Spring Autumn Cicada. Achieving the immortal from the mortal — that difficulty was a hundred times greater.
"Even so, my soul foundation was too shallow, and I ended up hurting myself. Fortunately, this is Dang Hun Mountain..." At this thought, Fang Yuan's expression turned serious. He called out softly, "Where is the earth spirit?"
With a whoosh, the Fox Immortal earth spirit materialized before him.
"Master, you're finally awake." The Fox Immortal hung her head, cheeks flushed red, staring at her own toes, her voice soft and sweet.
She appeared as a girl of five or six, pink-cheeked and adorable, petite and delicate, dressed in colorful robes. Behind her, a fluffy snow-white fox tail swayed back and forth, betraying her anxious state of mind.
"Master, after you fell asleep, I took the liberty of healing the wound on your left arm. I wanted to change you into a proper dress, but none of the gowns in the palace fit Master's frame," the Fox Immortal earth spirit reported.
The gowns she spoke of were the Fox Immortal's own garments — designed for a slender woman's figure. It would have been a miracle if any of them fit Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan frowned. "Clothing is a trivial matter. Tell me — how long was I asleep? Were there any strong enemies attacking during that time?"
The Fox Immortal blinked her bright, sparkling eyes repeatedly. "Master, you slept for seven days and seven nights. During that time, no one attacked."
"Oh?" Fang Yuan's eyes sharpened instantly.
He could never have imagined that He Fengyang of the Immortal Crane Sect would shelter him, fending off the provocations from the other nine great sects.
But he could at least partly understand why the Gu Immortals had not rashly assaulted the Fox Immortal's blessed land.
The Fox Immortal's blessed land was not the Three Kings' blessed land atop Three Fork Mountain.
This blessed land was still young, possessing an earth spirit, abundant reserves of Immortal Yuan, and the protection of Dang Hun Mountain guarding the blessed land's core.
These three factors turned the Fox Immortal's blessed land into a formidable fortress — enough to make most Gu Immortals hesitate at the threshold.
Just how difficult this blessed land was to attack, Fang Yuan had experienced firsthand.