Hei Cheng was a seasoned Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal whose combat strength exceeded Fang Yuan's. Xue Songzi, who possessed the seventh peak of the Great Snowy Mountain, was no pushover either.
Even without the interference of Hei Cheng and Xue Songzi, the calamity brought about by the Great Strength True Martial Body's tribulation would be far heavier than that faced by ordinary people.
After returning to Fox Immortal Blessed Land, Fang Yuan immediately began preparations for war, doing everything in his power.
To boost his combat strength as much as possible within a short period, he needed to work on four aspects: Immortal Essence, Killing Moves, Immortal Gu, and personal combat expertise.
Fang Yuan's personal combat expertise was already very strong, making it difficult to improve further in a short time.
To increase his combat strength, he could only focus on the other three areas.
Fang Yuan first took stock of the resources at his disposal.
Due to linking fortune with Ye Fan, Fang Yuan had traveled to the Southern Border, and that round trip had consumed two Green Grape Immortal Essences, leaving him with seventeen.
Clearly, this number was far from enough for a major battle. According to Fang Yuan's past life memories, consuming several dozen Immortal Essences in a great battle was commonplace, sometimes even exceeding a hundred.
Fang Yuan had a large number of Immortal Gu on hand, so he was in urgent need of replenishing his Green Grape Immortal Essences.
And to replenish Green Grape Immortal Essences, there was only one method available to Fang Yuan — refining Immortal Stone.
The Immortal Stones he had left in his possession numbered only eleven and a half.
Fang Yuan descended into the underground cave and once again laid eyes on Zhi Hui Gu.
"Zhi Hui Gu, I've brought you something fun this time." He greeted it with those words.
Although in the Legends of the Human Ancestor, Zhi Hui Gu was depicted as being able to communicate normally with Human Ancestor, legends and stories were not without their fair share of embellished rhetoric.
Fang Yuan could not be certain either.
Regardless, Zhi Hui Gu maintained its silence. However, the Wisdom Halo flickered several times.
Fang Yuan smiled faintly.
Based on his previous experience dealing with Zhi Hui Gu, seeing the Wisdom Halo flicker told him that Zhi Hui Gu had accepted.
So, he planted the Spirit Mushroom King's Heart that he had casually taken along, right then and there.
In just a few breaths' time, the ground broke open. Small mushroom-shaped spirit mushrooms sprouted and grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, rapidly expanding and swelling until they reached the height of stools and chairs.
There was nothing he could do. The soil in the Fox Immortal's blessed land was different from the soil in the valley of All Beings Academy, and was not suitable for the growth of mushroom forests.
This was already the limit of the mushroom forest's growth.
Fang Yuan did not lament it. It had been a casual act to begin with. He casually sat down on top of one of the spirit mushrooms.
The spirit mushroom trembled violently several times, yet it was actually able to bear the enormous weight of Fang Yuan's Immortal Zombie body.
This cavern had originally been empty, but now it was no longer monotonous. Zhi Hui Gu was like a curious infant, circling and flitting about among the short mushroom forest. At first it was cautious, but before long, the trajectory of its flight revealed a cheerful mood, as if a child had discovered a new toy.
"Zhi Hui Gu, it's time to get down to business." Fang Yuan watched for a while before speaking.
Zhi Hui Gu then settled atop one of the spirit mushrooms and once again spread out its Wisdom Halo, enveloping Fang Yuan within it.
Fang Yuan silently activated the Le Shan Le Shui Gu and began calculating the remnants of the Immortal Gu recipe.
Seven days later, he achieved complete success once more, further perfecting three Immortal Gu recipe remnants. Using the Star Gate, he and the Langya Earth Spirit completed the exchange, obtaining forty Immortal Stones.
According to their previous pricing, perfecting a 90% complete Immortal Gu recipe earned ten Immortal Stones. Perfecting an 80% complete recipe earned twenty Immortal Stones.
Of the Immortal Gu recipe remnants Fang Yuan had completed this time, two were 90% complete, and one was 89% complete.
Not all the Immortal Gu recipe remnants held by the Langya Earth Spirit were 90% complete; many had relatively lower completion rates.
Although Fang Yuan received more Immortal Stones each time, calculating and perfecting recipes with lower completion rates consumed more green grape Immortal Essence. Overall, each transaction with the Langya Earth Spirit yielded a net profit of around twenty-six Immortal Stones.
Upon returning to the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, the Little Fox Earth Spirit delivered good news: it seemed an Immortal Gu Master in Bao Huang Tian had unexpectedly discovered the remains of a six-headed giant serpent. They had already been tidied up and categorized, now put up for sale in Bao Huang Tian.
Hearing this, Fang Yuan immediately channeled his Divine Thought Gu to connect with Bao Huang Tian, making contact with the selling Immortal Gu Master under his Eight-Arms Immortal identity.
His Disaster Bringer Immortal Gu needed the black blood of the wild beast, the six-headed giant serpent, for nourishment.
However, after looking over the goods, Fang Yuan discovered that while the stall had skin, meat, bones, eyeballs, and serpent sinew for sale, it did not have any black blood from the six-headed giant serpent.
"When I first accidentally discovered this wild beast's carcass, nearly a hundred years had already passed since the giant serpent's death. Therefore, all its black blood had long since drained away. My apologies," the Immortal Gu Master selling the goods replied.
Fang Yuan examined the bones of the six-headed giant serpent and found the Immortal Gu Master's words to be true, just as he had described them.
However, Fang Yuan was not discouraged, and he still decided to purchase the skeletal remains of this six-headed giant serpent.
The six-headed giant serpent was a wild beast, its combat strength comparable to that of a Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu Master, and every part of it was valuable, all of which could be used to refine Gu.