Fang Yuan intended to bring all thirteen Sleeping Cloud Coffins back to the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land in one trip.
Because of the Mountain Pact they had signed, the Lang Ya Earth Spirit not only did not obstruct him, but even proactively gave Fang Yuan eight additional Mortal Path Killing Moves as a gift.
"These Killing Moves are the 'keys' to unlocking the Immortal Path Killing Move — the Sleeping Cloud Coffins. Remember to cast them in the exact order I have given you. Only then can the coffins be successfully unlocked. Otherwise, the Gu Immortal captives inside will be destroyed along with them," the Lang Ya Earth Spirit instructed before Fang Yuan departed.
Fang Yuan nodded and committed these Mortal Path Killing Moves to memory. These moves didn't even have names — their sole purpose was to serve as keys to open the Sleeping Cloud Coffins.
However, for a Cloud Path Gu Immortal, they might hold some reference value.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng cultivated the Cloud Path among others, so Fang Yuan immediately planned to show these Mortal Path Killing Moves to him for inspection.
Fang Yuan brought the thirteen Gu Immortal captives and returned to the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land without incident.
He first summoned the Fox Immortal's Earth Spirit and inquired about the latest intelligence.
Everything in the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land was in order. As Fang Yuan had previously instructed, the Fox Immortal's Earth Spirit had been operating steadily — gradually selling off the Stone People within the Blessed Land while also introducing some fox packs.
The original Fox Immortal had been a Servitude Path Gu Immortal who commanded fox packs in battle. Her immortal aperture, the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, was the most suitable place for raising fox packs. Following this approach, cultivating fox packs up to the Desolate Beast level would yield enormous profits — far more than what Fang Yuan earned from selling two or three batches of Courage Gu.
However, this method was slow to show results and required long-term persistence.
The Fox Immortal had been an independent cultivator in a dire situation. After several Earth Calamities, her economy collapsed and her losses could not be replenished. Her combat strength declined accordingly, and she perished at the hands of the Earth Calamity.
The tribulations that struck an immortal's aperture at regular intervals were like a series of checkpoints, strictly limiting the number of Gu Immortals across the Five Regions of the world.
Another massive shackle was the restriction on lifespan.
At the time, the Fox Immortal had the Soul Swinging Mountain in her possession. Naturally, she wanted to leverage this unique resource for profit and management.
Her decision was a wise one. Although raising fox packs was the proper path of management for the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, it was far too slow. The longer it took, the more accidents could occur. Moreover, the Fox Immortal's situation was deteriorating by the day — she simply could not afford to develop slowly.
However, she did not possess the Zhi Hui Gu. She could not conceive of a method similar to the Air Sac Gu. She could only use Courage Gu to indirectly increase the scale of her Stone People, then sell them off.
Fang Yuan had used this method before as well, but the returns were meager and the process troublesome. The Stone People market was already saturated — it was nothing compared to the ease and explosive demand of selling Courage Gu directly.
In the end, the Fox Immortal failed and died to the Earth Calamity. The wealth she left behind fell into Fang Yuan's hands, providing him with irreplaceable and tremendous help at a critical moment.
The Fox Immortal's Blessed Land could be called the very bedrock of Fang Yuan's rise — the place where his fortune began. In his previous life, Fang Yuan had destroyed the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land after assassinating Feng Jin Huang. In this life, he had become its master. The contrast between the two was truly wondrous.
Now that Fang Yuan could sell Courage Gu directly and had surplus funds with no financial constraints, he naturally intended to make use of the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land once more — embarking on the "proper path" that even the original owner, the Fox Immortal, had never had time to walk: gradually accumulating fox packs with the hope of cultivating Desolate Beast-level foxes.
This venture was a long-term plan. Fang Yuan was not in a hurry, nor did he harbor excessive expectations of the profits involved.
After attending to the affairs of the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, Fang Yuan turned his attention to the latest developments of the Immortal Crane Sect and the Battle Immortal Sect.
The Fox Immortal's Blessed Land was nominally a vassal force of the Immortal Crane Sect, so it was necessary to keep a closer eye on them.
As for his own younger brother, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, who was in the Immortal Crane Sect — Fang Yuan had long since cast him from his mind.
Just a mere mortal Gu Master — even at the Fifth Transformation, what could he amount to? It was like back on Qing Mao Mountain: as long as he didn't block my path, he wasn't even worth stepping on.
No time to spare.
Mortals were like ants — there was no need to expend effort and time crushing them.
"My dear younger brother has probably already died," such a thought flickered through Fang Yuan's mind.
Previously, Fang Zheng had used the Sympathy Immortal Gu to establish communication with Fang Yuan, allowing him to unilaterally gain more information about Fang Zheng's situation — to "see" the wretched sight of Fang Zheng submerged in a blood pool, his entire body covered in demonic flowers.
Recently, the Immortal Crane Sect's situation had been passable. They had successfully resolved the matter with the Jun Tian Sword Sect.
The Jun Tian Sword Sect had produced a third Gu Immortal and was preparing to shed its vassal status under the Immortal Crane Sect. The Immortal Crane Sect was a prestigious Righteous Path sect — despite vastly surpassing the Jun Tian Sword Sect in strength, the rules of the Righteous Path bound them, preventing any forceful action. They had no choice but to recruit the Jun Tian Sword Sect's Gu Immortal instead.
In the end, they successfully recruited the Jun Tian Sword Sect's Gu Immortal — the newly ascended third one.
The resources controlled by the Jun Tian Sword Sect were limited. Supporting two Gu Immortals was already a strain, and adding a third made things even more untenable.
The newly ascended Gu Immortal was enticed by the conditions offered by the Immortal Crane Sect and joined them.
With its key figure gone, the Jun Tian Sword Sect's strength declined. It no longer had the confidence to break free from the Immortal Crane Sect and had no choice but to renew its vassal contract.
However, although the Immortal Crane Sect had stabilized the situation in the northwest, it suffered another blow on the Samsara Battlefield. The Gu Immortal Lei Tan, who had been stationed there, was gravely wounded and forced to return to the sect to recuperate.
The Samsara Battlefield was the world's most renowned battlefield Killing Move, personally laid down by the Immortal Venerable Le Tu. The Ten Great Ancient Sects had been fiercely competing for control of this place for countless years.