The Time Luck Immortal Gu hovered silently above Fang Yuan's head, drifting about ceaselessly.
The Time Luck Immortal Gu resembled a segment of jade centipede, its entire body a pale green hue. At this moment it meandered slowly through the small pocket of space above Fang Yuan's head, radiating a lustrous, water-like sheen.
Fang Yuan fed it Green Grape Immortal Essence while inspecting the Inch of Time Gu nestled within his own immortal aperture.
Previously, he had struck a deal with the Langya Blessed Land, commissioning the hair-raised men inside to refine large batches of Inch of Time Gu. The flow of time in Langya Blessed Land was faster than in the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, and the quality of its hair-raised men was arguably the finest under heaven.
Thus, after Fang Yuan paid the immortal material compensation, a massive quantity of Inch of Time Gu insects piled up inside his immortal aperture like a small golden mountain.
An inch of time, an inch of gold.
Inch of Time Gu were only mortal Gu, shaped like gold bars. The higher their transformation level, the thicker and larger the bars.
However, at this moment, as Fang Yuan activated the Time Luck Immortal Gu, the Inch of Time Gu were consumed at a staggering rate. The golden mountain that had been there before was entirely depleted in a few breaths, dissolving into nothing.
Without the support of the Inch of Time Gu, the Time Luck Immortal Gu above his head abruptly halted.
Fang Yuan sighed in regret: "It seems using Inch of Time Gu to replace lifespan in order to activate the Time Luck Immortal Gu is still far too forced. With such a short activation, the gains in luck are virtually nonexistent."
Just as Immortal Fairy Li Shan had said before, activating the Time Luck Immortal Gu consumed both immortal essence and the Gu Immortal's own lifespan in exchange for a boost in luck.
But Fang Yuan's lifespan was already pitifully short. How could he afford to waste it?
In the final stages of the grand battle in the Royal Court Blessed Land, when he had been forced to transform into an Immortal Zombie's body, he had already aged terribly. He had never used a Lifespan Gu on himself. That meant his average hundred-year lifespan now剩ed only a little over ten years, or perhaps fewer.
If the day came when he successfully shed the Immortal Zombie's body and restored a healthy human form, the remaining lifespan would not change.
"In other words, the day I recover, my body will become aged and weathered. That will be quite the problem. Unless, before that day, I track down Lifespan Gu and use them on myself."
Fang Yuan's brow furrowed slightly at the thought.
Lifespan Gu were extraordinarily difficult to find, and exceedingly rare.
Typically, when a Gu Immortal obtained one, they never put it up for trade. Even at the recently concluded Northern Plains Auction Grand Assembly, not a single Lifespan Gu had been offered for sale.
Lifespan Gu were only mortal Gu, but their conditions of production were unpredictable. Gu Immorts searching for Lifespan Gu were essentially relying on luck. As a result, Lifespan Gu often ended up in the hands of mortal Gu Masters, beyond the control of Gu Immortals.
In his previous life, Fang Yuan had been able to find Lifespan Gu and add several hundred years to his life through just such a scenario.
"So far, the best method I've seen for searching out Lifespan Gu is the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Unfortunately, in that entire Immortal Gu house, I only obtained a single Lifespan Gu, which I gave to Tai Bai Yun Sheng. Recreating the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building is essentially impossible."
With a thought, the Time Luck Immortal Gu transformed into a streak of light and instantly burrowed into his immortal aperture.
Although his immortal aperture had already become a dead zone, crumbling away piece by piece at intervals, it still offered vast space from a Gu insect's perspective.
The Time Luck Immortal Gu eventually came to rest gently beside the other "golden mountain."
These two "golden mountains," of course, were also formed from piles of Inch of Time Gu.
Fang Yuan had received a massive quantity of Inch of Time Gu from the Langya Earth Spirit, forming two small mountains. One of them had just been completely consumed.
The other remained — this one.
Although the results of the recent trial were far from satisfactory, they still provided Fang Yuan with much valuable inspiration.
"Just now I only paired the Inch of Time Gu with the Time Luck Immortal Gu. If I added other Gu insects as support, or even formed an Immortal-level killing move, perhaps I could drastically reduce the staggering consumption of the Inch of Time Gu and achieve more satisfactory results. Unfortunately, although I can借助 the Wisdom Halo to generate infinite inspiration, this kind of deduction involves the Dao of Time realm, which is a blank gap in my knowledge."
Stymied in this area, Fang Yuan had no choice but to set the matter aside for now.
He still lacked enough Dream Path mortal Gu, and he had no intention of slacking off. After catching his breath, he remained seated on his bed, slowly closed his eyes, and sank into the dream realm.
He passed through three dreams in succession, successfully refining two Dream Path mortal Gu, both stored within his mind.
This success rate was a stark contrast to the beginning, marking a significant improvement. However, during the third attempt at refining Gu, Fang Yuan suffered a failure and sustained some damage to his soul.
The dream realm carried risks on its own — refining Gu within it only compounded the danger.
"One moment of inattention and I stumbled into a dream trap. Fortunately, I have the Courage Gu to fortify my soul," Fang Yuan thought with relief. He opened his eyes and stepped out of the Soul-Swaying Traveling Palace.
On Dang Hun Mountain, Courage Gu were scattered everywhere, practically begging to be picked up.
Fang Yuan used a few, and the damage to his soul was healed.
Just as he was about to head back and continue refining Dream Path mortal Gu, his expression shifted. A letter had been transmitted through the Push Cup Exchange Gu into his immortal aperture.
After reading it, a flash of delight crossed his face.
He immediately abandoned his plan to continue refining Gu and selected a scenic spot on Dang Hun Mountain, sitting down on the spot. He produced a section of elephant leg and activated his Fire Gu to roast it.
Moments later, a figure shot toward him from the southeast.
The visitor was a female Immortal, with black hair and black eyes, stunningly beautiful, radiating an imperious and dominating aura. It was none other than Hei Lou Lan.