The Emerald Pool Blessed Land was the headquarters of the Dongfang Clan—Dongfang Changfan's lair. Its history was quite venerable, having been cultivated for several thousand years.
This type of Blessed Land differed from ordinary ones in many ways.
An ordinary Blessed Land was the immortal aperture of a Gu Immortal, belonging to a single person. When a Gu Immortal's cultivation rose to the Eighth Transformation, their immortal aperture Blessed Land would advance into a Cave Heaven.
But a Blessed Land like the Emerald Pool was not the exclusive possession of any single Gu Immortal. It was formed by numerous Gu Immortals each sacrificing a portion of their own Blessed Lands, then piecing them together.
Blessed Lands could devour one another. When Fang Yuan had been undergoing tribulation on Heavenly Ladder Mountain and faced the desolate beast Mud Swamp Crab, he had been forced to sacrifice a portion of his Blessed Land. That portion was immediately seized by the Demonic Path Gu Immortals on the mountain and absorbed into their own Blessed Lands.
Devouring a Blessed Land required meeting exceedingly harsh conditions. But piecing together a Blessed Land had relatively low standards.
Most of the supreme powers across the Five Regions were headquarters formed by multiple Gu Immortals contributing and piecing together their portions.
The Dongfang Clan's Emerald Pool Blessed Land, the Murong Family's Yin-Yang Blessed Land, the Guan Family's Ten Desolations Blessed Land, and the Tie Family's Iron Eagle Blessed Land were all like this.
Even the Northern Plains' foremost Demonic Path force, the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land, was no different.
The Demonic Path Gu Immortals each contributed a portion of their Blessed Lands, eventually assembling the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land. After moving in, the snow mountain peak each one occupied was the territory they had contributed.
Old Ancestor Xuehu, as master of the first peak, possessed his own Eighth Transformation immortal aperture Cave Heaven. Fairy Lüshan, master of the third peak, also had her own immortal aperture Blessed Land.
A Gu Immortal's private immortal aperture was a heavily fortified place, storing and accumulating countless resources. It was deeply private. In the vast majority of cases, outsiders were not permitted entry. Once it suffered damage, the losses would be devastating.
There were also some special cases among them. The Zombie Alliance, for instance. Its members were all Immortal Zombies.
An Immortal Zombie's immortal aperture was already dead, collapsing bit by bit at regular intervals, making it impossible to piece them together. Therefore, across the Five Regions, the Zombie Alliance's headquarters were never immortal aperture Blessed Lands. For example, the Northern Plains Zombie Alliance Branch had its headquarters at Yin Flow Giant City.
Such a headquarters was far more fragile than a Blessed Land stronghold. This was one of the factors that made the Zombie Alliance branches weaker than the supreme powers.
Therefore, for Fang Yuan's group, the Emerald Pool Blessed Land was not difficult to find.
A Blessed Land assembled in this manner was typically planted into the earth, drawing on terrestrial qi to stabilize its internal space. At the same time, it greatly delayed time, postponing the arrival of each Heavenly Tribulation and Earth Calamity.
"I know the exact location of the Emerald Pool Blessed Land. If it hasn't been relocated, it should be to the southeast. At our current speed, it will only take half a shichen to get there." Fairy Lüshan flew at the forefront.
"It should still be in its original location. A supreme power's headquarters carries tremendous weight—it's the central marker by which supreme powers delineate their spheres of influence. They're not relocated lightly." Hei Loulan looked energized. "This time Dongfang Changfan miscalculated. He actually dared to destroy his own ramparts, sacrificing the Dongfang Clan's Gu Immortals for his own sake!"
Fang Yuan followed behind the two women in silence.
As they hurtled through the air at great speed, fierce headwinds roared past their ears.
Meanwhile, Fang Yuan's mind was dredging up memories from his previous life.
From the perspective of his previous life, he knew very little about the Dongfang Changfan affair. Whether Dongfang Changfan had actually possessed Dongfang Yuliang's body in his previous life remained an unknown.
But at the very least, Dongfang Yuliang had remained a mere Fifth Transformation Gu Master for a very long time. Back then, the Royal Court Blessed Land had not yet been destroyed. Hei Loulan had emerged victorious, but after she came out, she reversed the established order, tampered with the system, and ultimately died a violent death.
This allowed Ma Hongyun to step onto the stage of history. After that, Ma Hongyun led his armies and became Lord of the Royal Court in succession. During the third Royal Court contest, suppressed by the Three Hearts Unite Soul, he was captured alive by the Dongfang Clan. But Ma Hongyun's fortune proved truly immense—he actually turned Dongfang Yuliang's own sister, Dongfang Qingyu, to his side. Not only did she secretly release him, but she also revealed the secret of the Three Hearts Unite Soul killer move, leading to Ma Hongyun's victory once more and the Dongfang Clan's defeat.
At this thought, something stirred in Fang Yuan's heart, giving rise to a perspective different from before: "If Dongfang Changfan had possessed Dongfang Yuliang in my previous life... then Dongfang Qingyu's actions may not have been for Ma Hongyun's sake. Perhaps she had sensed something and wanted to avenge her brother."
After all, Dongfang Qingyu and Dongfang Yuliang were blood siblings who had supported each other, stumbling forward together along the way. No matter how well Dongfang Changfan put on his act, given enough time, he would inevitably show cracks before those closest to him.
"Then again, perhaps Dongfang Changfan failed to possess Dongfang Yuliang in my previous life. Or perhaps he succeeded, but with poor results, and Dongfang Yuliang remained an ordinary mortal Gu Master." Fang Yuan speculated.
Ever since he had destroyed the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building and the Royal Court Blessed Land had collapsed along with it, the great momentum of the Northern Plains had undergone earth-shaking upheaval.
In his previous life, at the very least, the Dongfang Clan's Gu Immortals such as Dongfang Wanxiu and Dongfang Yikong had still been alive. Now they had all been sacrificed.
This shift in great momentum had in turn caused the momentum of Central Continent to change as well.
Central Continent was the heart of the Five Regions. It could be predicted that in the developments to come, the other three regions would also experience changes to varying degrees.
"The advantage of rebirth grows smaller with each passing day," Fang Yuan sighed inwardly.
The stronger he grew, the greater the impact he caused. They spoke of the butterfly effect, but Fang Yuan was long past being a butterfly—he was now a great eagle.
After roughly half a shichen, they finally arrived at the Emerald Pool Blessed Land.
What they saw was somewhat beyond the three of them's expectations.
The Emerald Pool Blessed Land was an independent small world. When its gates were closed, it was embedded in the earth, undetectable to the naked eye.
But now, a massive breach had opened up, through which they could glimpse the conditions inside the Blessed Land.
At the same time, rumbling explosions and the sounds of fierce combat rang out without end.