Ge Yao looked back and let out a long breath of foul air, finally able to relax.
“I can’t believe it was so simple to cross the Ghost Face Sunflower Sea.”
Calming herself, the girl couldn’t help but glance at the straw puppet Gu around her.
Only a few dozen of these puppets remained, surrounding them in a thin defensive circle.
Ge Yao had never seen such Gu in her life—this was truly an eye-opener.
“These Gu may not be powerful in combat, but they make the best cannon fodder. Changshanyin really came prepared.” Thinking this, she turned her bright eyes to examine the person beside her.
The more time she spent with Fang Yuan, the more curious she became, and the stronger her desire to understand him.
“What kind of person is he? Why is he going deep into the Poison Rot Grasslands? Changshanyin, Changshanyin… I’ve definitely heard that name before. Ah!”
The girl suddenly blushed deeply.
When they were crossing the sunflower sea, Fang Yuan had been holding her hand. The ghostly screams and floating faces scared her, and she unconsciously leaned closer to Fang Yuan, gradually hugging his arm without even realizing it.
Ge Yao quickly let go of his arm and pulled her hand away.
Putting some distance between them, Fang Yuan slowly stopped and turned to look at the sunflowers behind him.
“These Ghost Howl Gu and Ghost Face Gu are actually quite good Gu, but I don’t have the special methods to capture them.”
Capturing wild Gu also requires specific techniques. Both these types belong to the Soul Path, and the Gu used to capture them are especially unique.
“It’s time.” Fang Yuan’s gaze sharpened. Pushing aside his regret, he looked at the Immortal Gu Fixed Immortal Travel on his shoulder.
Immortal Gu have a powerful aura and cannot be stored in a mortal aperture. Spring Autumn Cicada could barely fit due to its weakened state.
Although Fang Yuan had kept Fixed Immortal Travel on his shoulder, ordering it not to move, the Immortal Gu’s aura was still dissipating. If a Gu Immortal sensed it, they would bring fatal disaster.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan had prepared for this.
He took out the Bright Pearl Gu.
“Go.” He infused it with true essence, and the Bright Pearl Gu turned into a soft white light that flew to Fixed Immortal Travel and enveloped it.
The Bright Pearl Gu is a rank four storage Gu used to seal Gu worms, putting them into hibernation for preservation.
Fang Yuan almost exhausted all his true essence to successfully seal the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu.
Fixed Immortal Travel Gu looked like a jade butterfly, sealed inside a transparent pearl the size of a fist. But as an Immortal Gu, its aura still seeped through this pearl, escaping.
However, it was now many times weaker than before.
Fang Yuan wasn’t surprised; this was just the first step.
The journey after that was much smoother.
Perhaps because of the sunflower sea blocking them, the Poison Whisker Wolves didn’t appear again.
The two continued deeper, and the poison mist in the grasslands grew denser, with purple mist clearly drifting in the air.
When they started coughing, they stopped and took out their Gu to cleanse the accumulated poison from their bodies.
The deeper they trudged into the grasslands, the denser the poison mist became. Their stops became more frequent.
Ge Yao, being lively by nature, also fell silent to avoid breathing in too much poison mist while talking.
Gradually, the purple mist began to obscure their vision.
“How much deeper do we need to go?” Ge Yao finally couldn’t help asking.
The depths of the Poison Rot Grasslands were a forbidden zone. The deeper one went, the stronger the beasts. Many experts who ventured there died without returning, including rank three peak and even rank four cultivators.
“Almost there.” Fang Yuan answered faintly, slowing his steps until he stopped.
“Have we arrived? Is this the place?” Ge Yao asked happily.
Fang Yuan didn’t reply, crouching cautiously to push aside the twisted, strange poisonous grass, revealing a hole hidden beneath.
The hole was as big as a bowl, its edges smooth. The interior was deep and pitch black.
Seeing this, Ge Yao’s gaze sharpened and her breath quickened: “This, this is a burrow dug by Spike Rats! Spike Rats gather in thousands, hiding under the grass. At the slightest vibration on the ground, they attack from below. Their heads are like steel drills—once they shoot out, they can pierce through a person’s foot. Even Iron Hoof Horses’ hooves can easily be punctured.”
“We absolutely cannot go further. Once surrounded, we have no chance of survival; we’ll just be overwhelmed by countless Spike Rats. Also, the fact that we haven’t encountered any Poison Whisker Wolves along the way means the Spike Rats here are already the overlords. Maybe the Spike Rat King underground is a Ten Thousand Beast King!”
The girl had grown up on the grasslands and was very clear about the power of Spike Rats.
“No, my destination is still ahead.” Fang Yuan stood up.
“Changshanyin! Excessive bravery is suicide. You can’t get through; even a few steps in, you’ll be attacked by a swarm of rat herds.” Ge Yao hastily warned.