Fang Yuan carefully examined the Disaster-Attracting Immortal Gu in his hand.
This Gu had reached the Seventh Transformation. After being nourished inside the crimson giant bowl, it had now fully formed.
It was about the size of a little finger, entirely ashen-white, exquisitely miniature — resembling a silkworm cocoon.
As Fang Yuan turned it over in his fingers, the Disaster-Attracting Gu continuously absorbed his aura. He could clearly feel that the connection between himself and the Disaster-Attracting Gu, buried in the deepest recesses of his heart, had grown deeper and more enduring.
Ripples spread across the lake of his heart.
It would be a lie to say he felt no emotion.
In his previous life, he had endured untold hardships and slaughtered countless lives before finally refining a Sixth Transformation Spring Autumn Cicada. Now, leveraging the advantages of rebirth, before even reaching a hundred years of age, he had obtained the Disaster-Attracting Gu — one full Transformation higher than the Spring Autumn Cicada.
Though the Disaster-Attracting Gu's function was exceedingly peculiar — sacrificing oneself to summon natural disasters and heavenly tribulations upon one's own body — Fang Yuan firmly believed that how a Gu Master wielded Gu was ultimately a matter of the heart.
Even the Serrated Golden Centipede had been put to creative new uses by a later Fourth Transformation mortal Gu Master known as the "Chainsaw Maniac." So why couldn't Fang Yuan himself discover new and wondrous applications?
"Setting everything else aside, the mere existence of this Disaster-Attracting Gu proves that the legendary Fortune Path school truly exists."
Ju Yang Immortal Venerable had been impossibly fortunate his entire life. Rumor had it that this was thanks to his self-created Fortune Path Gu.
Yet this rumor had never been conclusively verified.
But now, the Disaster-Attracting Gu in Fang Yuan's hand belonged to the Fortune Path. It was an Immortal Gu that the Refinement Path Grandmaster Mo Yao had refined by sensing the Difficulty-Dispersing Gu within the Eighty-Eight Angle True Yang Tower.
The Difficulty-Dispersing Gu and the Disaster-Attracting Gu — these were the Gu of the Fortune Path school.
The ink inscriptions on the bowl wall provided even more powerful evidence.
Mo Yao had even stated directly in her writings that Ju Yang Immortal Venerable's Fortune Path Gu could seize the good fortune of others and impose it upon himself. At the same time, he could transfer his own bad fortune outward, diverting calamity to others.
As a complete school, the Fortune Path was also well-structured, encompassing aspects of attack, defense, transfer, healing, and more. Its only difference was that it targeted something invisible and intangible that everyone possessed — fortune.
After Ju Yang Immortal Venerable founded the Fortune Path, he had kept it a closely guarded secret, quietly amassing wealth.
"Ju Yang Immortal Venerable is the great bandit of fortune. With Ju Yang's death, the fortune bandit vanished." Mo Yao had written this with feeling in her inscriptions. This extraordinary woman had a personality all her own — she dared to pass such judgment even on an Immortal Venerable.
She had also speculated in her writings that within the Secret Vault of the Eighty-Eight Angle True Yang Tower, there very likely existed Ju Yang Immortal Venerable's Fortune Path inheritance!
"If I could inherit this legacy, could I replicate Ju Yang Immortal Venerable's path to success?" Fang Yuan's heart stirred with excitement.
He pondered for a moment, then placed the Disaster-Attracting Gu back into the crimson giant bowl.
Though the Disaster-Attracting Gu had fully formed, Fang Yuan could not yet refine it.
The bond in his heart, though thick to the extreme, still fell short by a qualitative gap from truly becoming the Disaster-Attracting Gu's master.
Fang Yuan was still a mortal, without any Immortal Essence to refine it.
This situation was different from when he had previously refined the Divine Travel Gu.
In the Three Kings Blessed Land, he had refined the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu with the assistance of the Earth Spirit. He had been the leading figure, so the moment the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu was born, it became his Gu. However, he still couldn't use it. Without the Earth Spirit's help, Fang Yuan wouldn't have been able to teleport to the Fox Immortal Blessed Land.
In refining the Disaster-Attracting Gu, the entire process had relied on the counter-flow of the Eighty-Eight Angle True Yang Tower's immense power. Fang Yuan had been, at best, an assistant. With no Earth Spirit at his side, in all honesty, achieving this degree of success was already quite impressive.
"I can only truly refine it after becoming a Gu Immortal. Until then, I have no choice but to leave the Disaster-Attracting Gu here."
Without ascending to immortality, he had no Immortal Orifice to contain the Disaster-Attracting Gu. If he took it out openly, the Immortal Gu's aura would permeate the surroundings and inevitably attract countless covetous eyes.
Fang Yuan wasn't worried about the likes of Hei Loulan and Tai Bai Yunsheng. He now had numerous wolf packs, and his own Strength Path cultivation was sufficient.
His main concern was the will of Ju Yang Immortal Venerable lurking within the Eighty-Eight Angle True Yang Tower.
Before, the Immortal Gu had been merely a nascent form with a faint aura. Now that it had fully formed, if he took it out, would it trigger Ju Yang Immortal Venerable's will and cause it to awaken?
Fang Yuan didn't want to take that risk, especially since his main plan was not yet complete — he needed to remain hidden and bide his time.
"Who would guess that a Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu is hidden in this nameless valley? Still, before that, I should first refine a portion of this Near Water Tower before leaving." Fang Yuan mulled over in his mind.
The Near Water Tower was a famous Immortal Gu House. For a mortal like Fang Yuan to contemplate refining it seemed wildly fantastical, yet there was actually a considerable chance of success.
Even a powerhouse like the Eighty-Eight Angle True Yang Tower had loopholes and gaps for Fang Yuan to exploit. The Near Water Tower was now an unclaimed artifact, and naturally, it too presented opportunities.
This brought up the fundamental nature of Gu Houses.
What exactly was a Gu House?
Leaving aside his previous life, since his rebirth alone, Fang Yuan had encountered quite a few Gu Houses.
Among them was the most common Gu House, the Three Star Cave. When retrieved, it would condense into a seed. Once planted, it would grow into a towering tree with a hollow interior divided into three levels.
There was also the Lizard House Gu, shaped like a lizard and coming in various colors. Its eye sockets served as windows, its mouth had a door, and it could walk on its own.
There was also the Mushroom Forest Gu House, created by planting a large number of Mushroom Room Gu, which together formed a courtyard of mushroom dwellings.
The above were all Mortal Gu Houses. Then there were Immortal Gu Houses like the Eighty-Eight Angle True Yang Tower and the Near Water Tower.
Gu Houses had developed to the point where they were now immensely complex and too numerous to count. But tracing their origins, the acknowledged founders were the Green Turtle Seven.
These seven were Demonic Path Gu Masters from the ancient era — septuplets born of the same mother who, from birth to death, were always of one mind, advancing and retreating together.
They excelled at defense. Each was a Fifth Transformation Peak Stage Gu Master, and they possessed a collaborative defensive killing move called "Turtle House." With this technique, they withstood three attacks from a Gu Immortal, creating the legendary "Pact of Three Strikes" that would echo through the annals of history.