"Not selling Courage Stones, selling Stone People?" He Fengyang stared at the letter in his hand, his face dark.
In the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, the Courage Gu on Soul-Stirring Mountain was the thing the Immortal Crane Sect needed most. Once they had the Courage Gu to rapidly bolster their disciples' soul foundations, the overall strength of every Immortal Crane Sect disciple would increase by at least thirty percent.
Moreover, Courage Stones could not leave the body of Soul-Stirring Mountain and could only be mined on-site. This way, using that as a pretext, Immortal Crane Sect disciples would be able to enter and exit the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land. Back and forth, once Fang Yuan's vigilance gradually lowered, it would be far more convenient for the Immortal Crane Sect to make their move in the shadows.
But Fang Yuan flatly refused to sell the Courage Stones, and He Fengyang was miserable over it. "When has it come to this — a great Gu Immortal like me being harassed and thwarted by a mere mortal thief!?"
He thought through gritted teeth, his handsome young face appearing twisted and fierce in that moment.
He had strength in abundance but no way to use it. Fang Yuan had retreated into the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land like a turtle retreating into its shell, and with the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu, he could slip away at any moment. He Fengyang, and indeed the entire Immortal Crane Sect, were held back by this — not daring to touch him for the time being.
"So it seems the stone people the Fox Immortal moved in all those years ago are still alive. But this little thief Fang Yuan, trading away so many stone people at once — how many Courage Gu must he have used to cultivate them!"
Thinking of this, He Fengyang felt his heart bleed.
Several months had passed since the last trade. With time flowing five times slower inside the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, that amounted to roughly a year.
If Fang Yuan had given all those Courage Gu he spent cultivating these young, strong stone people to the Immortal Crane Sect instead, to be used for training disciples, how wonderful that would have been.
But this thief Fang Yuan would rather cultivate stone people than let the Immortal Crane Sect have them. His intentions were damnable, absolutely damnable!
What angered He Fengyang wasn't just this. More crucially, he was also angry at himself — Fang Yuan was selling so many stone people that even he, a Gu Immortal, couldn't help but be tempted.
With an abundance of stone people inside a Blessed Land, a Gu Immortal could develop the underground and mine vast quantities of subterranean resources.
All manner of metals, gems, ores, Gu Insects, and underground creatures, flowing in an endless stream.
Beyond that, if there were enough stone people, underground cities could be built, which would effectively expand the usable space of the Blessed Land.
Without such strength within a Blessed Land, a Gu Immortal's extracted resources came mostly from the surface — just a single plane. But with stone people, even the underground could be exploited, and profits would multiply manifold.
On the market, stone people slaves were in high demand but short supply.
Stone people spent most of their lives asleep. An ordinary stone person would die at a thousand years old, and over its entire lifetime could only produce four descendants.
Using Soul Path Gu Insects to enhance the souls of stone people wasn't impossible — many Gu Immortals had tried it, but none had ever succeeded in rolling it out on a large scale.
The reason was simple, just one: the cost.
The value of Soul Path Gu Insects far exceeded that of individual stone people.
Unless a particular Gu Immortal had special needs for stone people, it simply wasn't worth the expense.
In this world, only Fang Yuan, who controlled Soul-Stirring Mountain, could cultivate stone people on such a massive scale.
Moreover, the prices Fang Yuan had quoted in his letter for this trade were quite tempting to He Fengyang. Even if the Immortal Crane Sect didn't use them all, reselling them would yield a handsome profit.
But even though the deal was advantageous, He Fengyang still felt discontented.
He knew this was bait Fang Yuan had thrown out.
Unafraid that you wouldn't be tempted, unafraid that you wouldn't take the bait!
And just as Fang Yuan had anticipated, He Fengyang was tempted. The Immortal Crane Sect would be tempted too, and other Gu Immortals would certainly be tempted as well. The stone people slave trade would be a hot commodity for at least a hundred years!
"This detestable little thief Fang Yuan, truly cunning. But with this batch of stone people, at least the Supreme Grand Elder, Second Elder, and Third Elder can see results. It'll also shut Lei Tan's foul mouth. And I can finally catch my breath." He Fengyang panted heavily several times, calming his mind.
His eyes narrowed, and a cold smile gradually crept across the corners of his mouth. "But don't get too pleased with yourself, Fang Yuan. You started this, so I'll finish it. You won't sell Courage Gu? Then I won't sell She Li Gu either. You want Golden She Li Gu? Amethyst She Li Gu? Not a chance!"
……
Fang Yuan lay in his reclining chair, reading the Immortal Crane Sect's reply.
Because Mei Lan Dianying was still guarding the Heavenly Ladder Mountain, the little fox immortal dared not open the Blessed Land's gateway carelessly, so the Immortal Crane Sect had used a Flying Sword Letter Gu this time.
Fang Yuan swept his eyes over it, taking in all the contents at a glance.
In the letter, besides agreeing to the trade, He Fengyang had also made a clear proposal this time: he wanted to trade for Courage Gu. For the sake of Courage Gu, he was willing to sell She Li Gu. He was even willing to personally help Fang Yuan survive his seventh Earth Calamity.
Fang Yuan sneered repeatedly.
Letting He Fengyang into the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land — that danger was far greater than any Earth Calamity. Absolutely impossible.
As for holding back She Li Gu to strangle Fang Yuan's lifeline? What a laughable plan.
"I will never trade away the Courage Gu, but stone people can be sold, and I'm not worried about the Immortal Crane Sect not being tempted. It's just that going forward, I can't keep trading with only the Immortal Crane Sect — I'll need to expand outward." Fang Yuan pondered.