"Young lad, please have some tea. This is excellent Cloud Mist tea — do try it." The Langya Earth Spirit moved to the cloud bed and personally brewed a cup of tea for Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan sat in the seat the Earth Spirit had previously occupied, gazing speechlessly at the living treasure before him.
After exchanging a few more words with the Earth Spirit, Fang Yuan had figured it out — this Earth Spirit was obsessed with collecting secret recipes and would go to any lengths to get his hands on any ingenious formula he came across.
For anyone else, the Earth Spirit would have resorted to extortion long ago. But with Fang Yuan, a successor of a Demonic Venerable, he couldn't intimidate him and had no choice but to beg nicely.
"You handsome young lad, how's the tea? Are you happy? Seeing as you've accepted this cup of tea, how about you just trade me that Human Skin Gu secret recipe?" The Langya Earth Spirit flashed an ingratiating smile, winking and making faces at Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan drank his tea in silence.
The image he had once held of the Langya Earth Spirit — ethereal as an immortal, mysterious and powerful — was rapidly crumbling before his eyes.
"Young lad, please, have a heart! Show some pity for this old man! Living here all alone, how miserable, how lonely, how parched I am. I can only read these secret recipes every day to relieve my boredom. Can you really bear to cruelly refuse this poor old man?" The Earth Spirit cut the figure of a white-bearded, white-haired, white-browed grandfather, gazing at Fang Yuan with pitiful, eager eyes.
"Hey, have some self-awareness, will you? You're an Earth Spirit, not a human," Fang Yuan said, the corner of his eye twitching.
"Young lad, whatever you say goes! As long as you give me the secret recipe, I'll do anything you want!" The old man blew Fang Yuan a flirtatious wink.
Fang Yuan suppressed the urge to kick this fellow off the cloud bed with all his might and roared, "Not trading. It's not happening."
The Langya Earth Spirit froze for a moment, then burst into wailing tears and started rolling around on the floor. "No! I want it! I want the secret recipe! Young lad, you're too cruel, too vicious, too heartless! Won't even trade — what would it kill you to trade? Just trade it already!"
"Truly, truly... believing the rumors is nothing compared to seeing it for yourself..." Fang Yuan's face was covered in metaphorical black lines. The image of the mysterious and formidable Langya Earth Spirit that he had fabricated in his mind had long since shattered into pieces — and then been ruthlessly ground into dust underfoot.
Still, this did reveal the Earth Spirit's innocent, guileless heart.
The old grandfather rolled around on the ground for several more rounds and wailed for a long while, but still saw no sign of Fang Yuan relenting.
He had no choice but to stand up, his face plastered with tears and snot, which even clung to his white hair, white beard, and white eyebrows.
"Young lad. Your conscience is deeply wicked. Too cruel, truly worthy of being a Venerable Demon Lord's successor..." The old man regarded Fang Yuan with an expression full of grievance, looking for all the world like a spurned woman abandoned after being led on.
Fang Yuan finally couldn't endure that gaze any longer. He shuddered, then sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll trade you the Human Skin Gu secret recipe. But it won't be until the time is ripe."
"Young lad, you're too kind. You're truly a great soul! So when will the time be ripe?" The Earth Spirit leapt three feet into the air, overjoyed.
"Heh heh heh. Five hundred years."
The Earth Spirit's perked-up brows immediately drooped. "That long...?"
"Hmph. This is my maximum concession. What — you don't want to trade?"
"Trade, of course I want to trade. Five hundred years — I can wait. Young lad, I'll be waiting for you always. This is a promise between us for life," the old man declared with deep feeling.
Fang Yuan covered his face and let out a heavy sigh. "I have other secret recipes here. I'd like to trade for a Heaven-Connecting Gu."
The moment Fang Yuan made a request of him, the Langya Earth Spirit's expression changed instantly. He straightened his body, tilted his head back slightly, and wore a look of pride. "Oh, so you want a Heaven-Connecting Gu..."
His voice was slow and measured as he continued. "To tell you the truth, young lad, I have a vast collection of secret recipes here. If the recipe you offer is already in my possession, I won't trade."
Fang Yuan smiled confidently. "Old man, you're out of date. Bring me paper and pen — I'll write one down for you first."
He had only written half of it when Fang Yuan stopped.
"Keep writing, keep writing! What else?" The Earth Spirit stood beside him, scratching his ears and cheeks in agitation, his eyes gleaming with light. He had already determined this was a completely new recipe — one he had never seen before.
"This is a Fifth Transformation secret recipe. Where's your Heaven-Connecting Gu?"
"Here, here." The Earth Spirit waved his hand casually, teleporting a Heaven-Connecting Gu onto the desk.
Fang Yuan finished writing the recipe, refined the Heaven-Connecting Gu, and stored it in his Empty Orifice.
To the side, the Earth Spirit gazed at the secret recipe with delight.
The Gu insects listed on this recipe were ones developed by Gu Masters in the great era five hundred years later. In that age of warfare across the Five Regions, when flames of conflict engulfed the entire world, all manner of new Gu emerged one after another.
In every such turbulent era, Ninth Transformation Gu Immortals would often appear.
Fang Yuan possessed memories from his previous life. Although he had forgotten many things, there were still a vast number of secret recipes etched in his mind.
These recipes — to put it extravagantly — were an entire era ahead! The Earth Spirit had certainly never seen them before.
"Do you have Divine Mind Gu here?" After storing the Heaven-Connecting Gu, Fang Yuan asked.
"I do."
"Want to trade?"
"Don't tell me you have even more Gu secret recipes?" The Earth Spirit grandfather was both shocked and delighted.
Fang Yuan smiled and nodded, spread out paper and pen, and bent his head to write.
But this time, he had only written halfway when the Earth Spirit let out a laugh. "Young lad, I already have this Gu recipe too."
"Oh?" Fang Yuan stopped his brush, his expression somewhat startled.
He didn't believe the Earth Spirit was lying. The Earth Spirit was simple and straightforward — if he said he had it, he had it. If not, then not.
"If you don't believe me, take a look at this." The Langya Earth Spirit reached out and made a grasping motion in the air. A bullhide secret recipe was teleported over and placed on the desk.
Fang Yuan picked it up for a look — and sure enough, it was exactly the same.
"So the Gu insects in my memories, even though they only emerged five hundred years later, aren't necessarily entirely new."