He Fengyang carefully examined the letter, its surface crackling with electric light, its contents densely packed.
Fang Yuan's demands boiled down to three things: first, Yuan Stones; second, Gu Insects; third, materials.
"Demanding five million Yuan Stones? Fine! Forget five million — ten million, fifty million, I'd pay it without blinking." He Fengyang sneered.
At the level of Gu Immortals, what mattered was Immortal Essence. Yuan Stones were available in limitless quantities — they weren't worth caring about.
"Hm? He also wants five Spring Egg Gu?" He Fengyang paused briefly.
Spring Egg Gu were Fifth Transformation Gu, shaped like white goose eggs, obtained by slaying a specific type of egg person.
Planting a Spring Egg Gu deep underground would form a Yuan Water Spring Eye. This meant it could produce a Yuan Spring.
Each Spring Egg Gu represented one small Yuan Spring.
Each small Yuan Spring, from formation to disappearance, could produce at least one hundred million Yuan Stones!
But the value of Spring Egg Gu far exceeded one hundred million Yuan Stones. Gu Immortals frequently sought to purchase them, planting them in their own Blessed Lands to form Yuan Springs that nourished all things.
With abundant Yuan Springs, the Yuan energy within a Blessed Land could become richer and denser, making it more conducive to the nurturing and strengthening of Gu Insects.
Conversely, without Yuan Springs, the Yuan energy in a Blessed Land was produced solely by diluting Immortal Essence.
In a sense, Yuan Springs could conserve Immortal Essence.
"I didn't expect this Fang Yuan, a mere mortal, to know the importance of Spring Egg Gu. But this type of Gu is in short supply even among Gu Immortals — how could anyone give you five at once? Three is more like it. The Fox Immortal Blessed Land you're managing will belong to our Immortal Crane Sect sooner or later anyway."
He Fengyang shifted his gaze further down the letter.
Below, Fang Yuan had listed many Gu Insects.
"What does he need so many low-transformation Gu Insects for?" He Fengyang wondered.
If Fang Yuan had been demanding those premium Fifth Transformation Gu — rare and powerful — it would have been understandable. But instead, he was requesting Second and Third Transformation Gu Insects. There were a few Fourth Transformation ones as well, but only in small numbers.
"Hmph, I understand now. This kid's wariness is truly formidable! He's afraid that if he directly requests Fifth Transformation Gu, we might tamper with them. So he plans to refine his own Gu. The refinement process demands precision and delicacy — if the base Gu have been tampered with, the entire refinement would be ruined. Conversely, Gu that he successfully refines himself would be safe and clean."
He Fengyang found this somewhat troublesome.
He had indeed harbored precisely such an intention. Now, seeing this, he understood that the scheme had been dashed before it was ever implemented.
"This kid won't be easy to deal with... But how does he know so many secret Gu refinement recipes? His background is definitely not simple!" He Fengyang thought to himself with a chill.
But on second thought, he laughed again.
"This Fang Yuan — he doesn't know his own limits! Is Gu refinement something that easy? Every refinement is a massive investment. The higher the transformation of the Gu being refined, the greater the chance of failure, and the bigger the loss. How old is this kid, anyway? Gu refinement isn't something you can succeed at through talent alone — experience is far more important."
He Fengyang had no idea of Fang Yuan's true background, and even less did he know that the Fixed Travel Immortal Gu had been directly refined by Fang Yuan himself. If he had known, he would not have been laughing.
He Fengyang continued reading.
"Oh? Among these, he also wants She Li Gu. One Gold She Li Gu, three Amethyst She Li Gu?" He Fengyang's gaze lingered, immediately grasping Fang Yuan's calculation.
Fang Yuan's cultivation at High Stage Fourth Transformation had long been observed by the Gu Immortals of the Ten Sects — it was no secret.
Fang Yuan would use one Gold She Li Gu to reach Peak Stage Fourth Transformation. After advancing to Initial Stage Fifth Transformation, he could then use three Amethyst She Li Gu in succession to leap straight to Peak Stage Fifth Transformation.
The Immortal Crane Sect was one of the Ten Great Sects of the Central Continent, with vast resources and deep reserves. These She Li Gu they naturally had in abundance. Every year, disciples and elders would donate She Li Gu they had obtained by chance in exchange for contribution points. The sect would also distribute Bronze through Amethyst She Li Gu as rewards for sect missions.
He Fengyang could easily produce these She Li Gu, but allowing Fang Yuan to advance to Fifth Transformation so quickly was decidedly not in the Immortal Crane Sect's interest!
"Hehehe... This time I'll send over just one Amethyst She Li Gu to keep Fang Yuan salivating. These She Li Gu are what he wants most — I need to hold him at bay and force him to trade over the Courage Gu!"
He Fengyang continued reading. Beyond the Gu Insects, the next section listed various materials.
Most of these materials were quite ordinary. There were some rare Gu refinement materials, but only in small quantities.
"So this kid has made up his mind to refine Gu. Hmph, go ahead and refine then. But why does he want Star Heron Bile, Toad Stone, Feather Ascension Wine, and other such extremely obscure materials?"
Very few refinement recipes could utilize these materials, and some were comparable in value to parts of Desolate Beasts. Even for He Fengyang, acquiring them would require considerable effort.
"Whether this kid is deliberately feigning mystery, trying to divert my attention, or genuinely wants to refine some rare Gu — I can't give him all these materials at once. Let him sweat a little; it'll help probe his true intentions. Hmm, this time I'll give him one jar of Feather Ascension Wine."
Feather Ascension Wine was a supreme-grade fine brew, crafted by the Immortal Crane Sect's Third Supreme Elder. Over a century ago, when He Fengyang had formally pledged himself to the Third Supreme Elder, the elder had been in high spirits at a banquet and rewarded him with three jars of Feather Ascension Wine.
The Third Supreme Elder enjoyed drinking — it was one of his life's pleasures. But He Fengyang did not. Feather Ascension Wine was, to him, the most worthless of items.
At the end of the letter's contents, He Fengyang saw a list of every body part of the Desolate Beast Mud Swamp Crab.
He licked his lips.
This was a Desolate Beast — an existence comparable to a Gu Immortal!
"Such a complete Desolate Beast corpse. It seems this Earth Tribulation was a Desolate Beast Tribulation. This kid Fang Yuan is truly lucky — he used the Soul Slaying Mountain to crush the Mud Swamp Crab's soul and obtained such an intact corpse in one stroke."
In but a single instant, He Fengyang had deduced the situation of the Earth Tribulation with near-perfect accuracy.