Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes, his crimson pupils flickering with a fierce, ruthless light.
After checking himself over, he nodded with satisfaction, unable to hold back a soft murmur of praise: "I've used it who knows how many times now. This Courage Gu truly is a supreme treasure for strengthening the soul. The soul damage I suffered in Hei Lou Lan's dream realm was so severe, yet in such a short time I've already fully recovered."
He took a deep breath, feeling thoroughly refreshed and invigorated, the lethargy and mental fog from his earlier soul injuries swept clean away.
"Where is the Earth Spirit?" Fang Yuan suddenly called out.
"Master, Master, are your injuries completely healed?" In the next instant, the lively and spirited little fox fairy appeared before Fang Yuan with a whoosh, her gem-like eyes brimming with innocent concern.
"Mm." Fang Yuan, with his fanged, green-skinned visage, nodded slowly. "Tell me what happened during the time I was in seclusion healing."
The little fox fairy immediately began recounting eagerly: "Quite a few things happened, though none of them were all that significant."
After a while, the little fox fairy finished her report. Fang Yuan remained seated cross-legged on the bed, lost in contemplation, saying nothing.
Thoughts churned through his mind as he carefully digested all the information.
Over in the Central Continent, the Immortal Crane Sect was busy trying to reverse their losses in the Reincarnation Battlefield. He Fengyang was still running about everywhere trying to rescue his companion, the desolate beast flying crane Xiao Jiu.
The Ten Great Ancient Sects were all entangled with one another, locked in mutual restraint.
The most conspicuous figure was none other than the Fierce Thunder Villain of Myriad Dragon Dock. After emerging from seclusion, he relied on his Immortal-level killer move, the Thunder God Child, to challenge all comers. He had already fought over twenty Gu Immortals, with only one draw and one defeat to his name. His record was impressive, and his reputation soared with each passing day. Many gossip-hungry Gu Immortals had already begun comparing him to the Monkey King Shi Lei.
These people certainly had no good intentions. Given Shi Lei's personality as a battle-crazed martial fanatic, he would inevitably seek out the Fierce Thunder Villain of his own accord for a grand battle.
Yet Shi Lei had not responded to any of it.
The Central Continent Gu Immortals were puzzled — how had the Monkey King seemingly changed his temperament? Even the Battle Immortal Sect had appeared far more low-key lately.
The remaining nine sects caught wind of something unusual and had begun quietly investigating.
Fang Yuan, for his part, already knew the full picture — Shi Lei had discovered the Myriad Star grotto-heaven, and moreover, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm had appeared within it. Presumably, he was at this very moment rallying his entire sect's strength to conquer the grotto-heaven.
The mention of Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm stirred something in Fang Yuan's heart.
Previously, he had lacked any means of approach and could only flee in disarray before Star Constellation's dreams. But now, he possessed the Immortal-level killer move, Dream Dissolution — the supreme tool for dealing with Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm!
"In this era, the exploration of Dream Path is still in its infancy. Every major power, regardless of affiliation, is still mired in the struggle of starting from scratch, and every step forward is agonizingly difficult. While blazing through the thorns, their strongest tools are naturally occurring Dream Path Immortal Gu. And these Dream Path Immortal Gu could probably be counted on a single hand. Yet I command an Immortal-level Dream Path killer move. Without Dream Path Immortal Gu, I still stand far ahead of all these factions."
Fang Yuan's heart burned with heat.
Dream Dissolution could effectively counter dream realms. Each time he deployed this killer move, it brought him tremendous benefit.
Take this instance, for example. By awakening Hei Lou Lan and dissolving her dream realm, he had obtained a wealth of insights into the Strength Path from her. His own depth of Strength Path understanding had been substantially enriched and thickened.
When three walk together, one must be my teacher. And Hei Lou Lan was particularly gifted — born with the Great Strength True Martial Body, she was a natural prodigy of the Strength Path, someone whose talent in this regard Fang Yuan could never hope to match.
After digesting her insights into the Strength Path, he had reaped rich rewards.
"If I could dissolve Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm, my Wisdom Path attainment would surely skyrocket. Even without a complete Wisdom Path inheritance, I might very well be able to create an entirely new path on my own." Fang Yuan mused.
Hei Lou Lan was merely a newly ascended Strength Path Gu Immortal, yet dissolving just one of her dream realms had yielded such bountiful harvests.
If he could dissolve even one of Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realms, his Wisdom Path attainment would soar like a rocket!
"However, wresting an Immortal Venerable's dream realm from the jaws of the Battle Immortal Sect — that would be far too perilous. It's practically impossible." Fang Yuan shook his head.
To dissolve the dream, he would need to enter the Myriad Star grotto-heaven in person and approach the site of Star Constellation's dream.
Doing so would inevitably lead to his discovery.
With his current combat strength, even though it had risen somewhat, he was still no match for Shi Lei at all. And those around him — Tai Bai Yun Sheng, Hei Lou Lan, and the others — couldn't compare to the Battle Immortal Sect as a whole, not even close.
"Unless I had the Western Desert Tang Family's Immortal-level killer move — Dream Stealing. That could directly steal the dream realm away and transfer it elsewhere, where I could slowly work on it at my leisure, devouring it piece by piece in peace."
Five hundred years ago in his previous life, the Tang Family of the Western Desert had been one of the five regions' foremost powers in Dream Path. Originally, the Tang Family had been unremarkable among the dozen or so superpowers of the Western Desert itself, ranking in the lower-middle tier.
But riding the tide of Dream Path's emergence, during the great war of the five regions, the Tang Family had surged to become the single strongest power in the Western Desert, standing proudly above all others even across the entirety of the five regions, inaugurating what the people of the Western Desert universally called the "Great Tang Golden Age."
The situation in the Central Continent, though ruffled by minor ripples, could still be considered fundamentally calm.
Though Fang Yuan harbored a deep covetousness for Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm, the gap in strength between his faction and the Battle Immortal Sect was simply too vast. For now, he could only drool with envy, with no way to act.
Fortunately, Dream Path exploration remained in its early stages across the world. Even if the Battle Immortal Sect conquered the Myriad Star grotto-heaven, they would be unable to make any progress on Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream realm for the time being.