Tai Bai Yun Sheng leaned back in his chair, stunned for a moment, then laughed and cursed: — Junior brother, are you messing with me? I've heard this so many times that I've grown calluses on my ears! It's been echoing in them ever since I started cultivating as a Gu Master. Even mortals are familiar with it.
Fang Yuan nodded, a hint of pride in his voice, and spoke again: — The origin of these words is Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable, the first rank nine Gu Immortal in human history. It was he who founded the hegemony of Central Continent's Heavenly Court, which has stood tall to this day, unyielding through the vicissitudes of ten thousand years. These words are extremely profound, the golden rule of a Gu Master's cultivation. They are so widely spread that they have even surpassed the "Legend of Ren Zu" in popularity. However, in my opinion, these words still aren't entirely precise. I have summarized them into a single character — the Dao.
Hearing this, Tai Bai Yun Sheng involuntarily sat up straight, looking intently at Fang Yuan, and said: — I would like to hear the details.
Fang Yuan then began to speak confidently: — Man is the spirit of all things. Among all the entities of nature, man possesses the most spirit and comprehension, able to perceive heaven and earth and comprehend the great Dao. Gu are the true essence of heaven and earth. Among the myriad things, Gu are unique. The bodies of Mortal Gu contain minute fragments of principles, while the bodies of Immortal Gu bear the fragmented pieces of the great Dao. Hence, they can be called the quintessence of heaven and earth.
— What is the Dao? Water flows to low places; people starve without food; green trees thrive because of rain and fertile soil. These are the Dao. Gu Masters use Gu worms to create fire from nothing, reverse the flow of rivers, unleash lightning, and heal wounds — these are also the Dao.
— Humans raising Gu, using Gu, and refining Gu are ways of using Gu worms to harness a part of heaven and earth's power for survival and reproduction, ultimately realizing the principles and laws of heaven and earth. After becoming a Gu Immortal, the Empty Aperture transforms into an Immortal Aperture, and Dao Marks are carved upon the body. It can be said that a Gu Master raising Gu is raising the 'Dao', a Gu Master using Gu is using the 'Dao', and a Gu Master refining Gu is refining the 'Dao'. The myriad schools of Gu Masters — Strength Path, Fire Path, Time Path, Poison Path — are all cultivation paths blazed by our predecessors who charged forward relentlessly in the vast ignorance.
Having said this, Fang Yuan paused before continuing: — Therefore, in a nutshell, the cultivation of a Gu Master is the cultivation of the Dao.
— The cultivation of a Gu Master is the cultivation of the Dao... — Tai Bai Yun Sheng sat on the chair, frowning, chewing on Fang Yuan's words.
The more he chewed on them, the more he felt Fang Yuan's summary was incredibly profound.
It went straight to the essence! To him, it felt like the clouds had parted, revealing the bright blue sky!
Just then, Fang Yuan spoke again: — Going back to the foundation of a Gu Immortal's cultivation — the Immortal Aperture. The Immortal Aperture is a Blessed Land, a Grotto-Heaven, a small world in itself. It also contains the Dao. Of course, this Dao cannot be compared to the Dao of the Five Regions; at best, it merely possesses Dao Marks.
— Take my Fox Immortal Blessed Land, for example. It has basic Time Path Dao Marks, which allowed me to divert a tributary of the River of Time into it. It has the concept of time, and time flows within it. It also has a fair number of Space Path Dao Marks, which is why its territory is relatively vast. Even after losing that large chunk in the north, it can still sustain many resources. The Land Spirit, Little Fox Immortal, can teleport at will. Blessed Lands with sparse Space Path Dao Marks are usually smaller, and their Land Spirits cannot teleport. It possesses the most Slaving Path Dao Marks. It is because of these Dao Marks that raising foxes within the Fox Immortal Blessed Land is much easier, and controlling similar beast hordes, even desolate beasts, is more effective.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng nodded repeatedly and agreed: — Yes, that's the logic! In my Tai Bai Blessed Land, Time Path Dao Marks are the most numerous, hence time-based resources are the most abundant. One day in the outside world is thirty-three days in my Blessed Land. Earth Path Dao Marks are the fewest, so there are no mountains in my Blessed Land, and the soil isn't fertile. Space Path Dao Marks are average; combined with this, the region isn't vast, but the sky is very high and wide.
As he spoke, a glint of realization flashed in his eyes.
— So I say, for a Blessed Land's offense and defense, there is only one criterion: the quantity and purity of the Dao Marks it contains, — Fang Yuan continued. — A Blessed Land forms its own realm. Why can it suppress external enemies and imprison Gu worms? The reason is that the Blessed Land contains a massive number of Dao Marks, like a pond. A Mortal Gu contains shreds of principles, like a drop of water or a spark of fire. A drop of water invading a pond is assimilated instead. A spark of fire invading a pond is immediately extinguished. Therefore, once the Dao Marks within a Blessed Land are mobilized to form the Mighty Force of Heaven and Earth, Mortal Gu become essentially useless.
— Why can Immortal Gu escape the confinement of a Blessed Land? Because an Immortal Gu is a fragment of the laws, already a distinct entity, like a rock. When hurled into a pond, although the water ripples, it cannot stop the rock from traversing through it. However, while it cannot be confined, it can still be suppressed. When an Immortal Gu fights within a Blessed Land, its power and effects are amplified or weakened by the Blessed Land's Dao Marks.
— Discussing Gu Immortals. When a Gu Immortal invades a Blessed Land, they too are subject to the counter-force of the Dao Marks. However, a Gu Immortal possesses an Immortal Body, which is fundamentally different from that of a mortal. What is an Immortal Body? To put it plainly, it is simply a body inscribed with Dao Marks! The more Dao Marks a Blessed Land has, the greater the suppression on the invading Gu Immortal. Conversely, the more Dao Marks the Gu Immortal possesses, the weaker the suppression of the Blessed Land.
In his past life, Fang Yuan became a Blood Path Gu Immortal. Many of the fragmented worlds of the Ancient Nine Heavens were inaccessible to him. Because these fragmented worlds had sparse Dao Marks, far fewer than what he had on his body. When Fang Yuan entered them, it was like a fierce tiger squeezing into a rabbit hutch; the only outcome was that he would burst the fragmented world, causing its Dao Marks to be destroyed, and the Great Unity Wind would rise, blowing away and assimilating all the resources within.
Another example is the great battle between the demonic path masters and Dong Fang Chang Fan at the Jade Pool Blessed Land.
Dong Fang Chang Fan utilized the geographical advantage, making the demonic masters' Mortal Gu useless, but he couldn't seal off their Immortal Killer Moves.
This was all because the Jade Pool Blessed Land was a public Blessed Land. Although it had many Dao Marks, they were quite miscellaneous. Dong Fang Chang Fan couldn't mobilize all the Dao Marks; he could only activate the portion of the Blessed Land under his control, thus his power was limited. He couldn't even cause the flying Gu Immortals to fall to the ground.
Not all Gu Immortals rely on Immortal Killer Moves to fly.
However, the Gu Immortals themselves also had Dao Marks, which resisted the suppression of the Blessed Land's Dao Marks. The demonic Gu Immortals' Mortal Killer Moves aimed at Dong Fang Chang Fan were rendered ineffective, but their own Mortal–level amplifications were still effective.
— Profound, truly profound! — Tai Bai Yun Sheng realized with a sigh. — I understand. Why are public Blessed Lands usually weak in defense? The reason lies in their formation. Countless Gu Immortals carve off small portions of their private Blessed Lands and piece them together. The Dao Marks in such a Blessed Land are miscellaneous, hindering each other, and often cannot unify all their power. It's like the five fingers of a hand; they can only act independently, unable to form a fist.
— In a Blessed Land with a unified origin, the Dao Marks form a single whole. If there is a Land Spirit, it can consume Immortal Essence to mobilize the Dao Marks and form the Mighty Force of Heaven and Earth. Immortal Gu are fragments of the Dao. Desolate Beasts have Dao Marks on their bodies. Gu Immortals go without saying. An Immortal Gu House is a combination of several Immortal Gu. Immortal Killer Moves bring several types of Dao Marks together to produce multiple effects, or amplify a certain power.
— Therefore, whether it's a Blessed Land or a Grotto-Heaven, the more and purer the Dao Marks, the harder it is to conquer. The Land Spirit and Immortal Essence are merely aids that allow the Dao Marks to function. Think about the Royal Court Blessed Land. If the Land Spirit hadn't been fighting its internal battle against the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, it would have been truly impregnable; how could it have possibly been destroyed?