Layers upon layers of palaces, brilliant light radiating for ten thousand zhang.
The Sky Monitoring Tower stood tall among them. Four great Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals — the Sky Monitoring Tower Lord, Bai Cangshui, Lian Jiusheng, and Bi Chentian — positioned themselves at the four cardinal directions.
A massive Gu formation painted magnificent projections of light and shadow across midair.
Countless rare immortal materials were tossed skyward as casually as the cheapest cabbages at a market.
Within the light and shadow conjured by the Refinement Path Gu formation, these materials were processed at tremendous speed in the blink of an eye.
By this point, half of the successful Dao marks seized from the Undefeatable Legacy had already been consumed.
The female Gu Immortal Bai Cangshui watched the Refinement Path Gu formation hovering in the air with bright, focused eyes. This was her first time participating in the repair of Destiny Gu, and also her first encounter with this astonishingly effective Refinement Path Gu formation.
The Sky Monitoring Tower Lord leaned on his cane, having long since taken note of Bai Cangshui's expression. He now spoke: "Fairy Cangshui, if you want this Refinement Path Gu formation, you need only contribute thirty thousand merit points and it will be yours."
Bai Cangshui's expression shifted slightly. She understood that the Sky Monitoring Tower Lord's words carried a hidden meaning — he was reminding her that this was a critical moment in repairing Destiny Gu, and she should not lose focus by staring at the Refinement Path Gu formation.
"You have my shame." Bai Cangshui gave the Sky Monitoring Tower Lord a slight bow and sighed, "This Refinement Path Gu formation is unfathomably mysterious, with extraordinary power. Even though I'm not a Refinement Path Gu Immortal, I can tell that this formation seems to have reached the fundamental profound truth of the Refinement Path. But just like a poem sung only halfway, this Gu formation gives me a lingering sense of incompleteness. It feels as though it could take one more step and become an Immortal Gu House!"
"Hehehe. Fairy Cangshui's eyes are sharp as torches. However, it is impossible to elevate this Gu formation into an Immortal Gu House." Lian Jiusheng, who had the appearance of a white-robed youth, responded with a smile.
"Oh? Why is that?" Bai Cangshui's eyes flashed, curiosity surfacing on her face.
"The most critical reason is the absence of the most essential core Immortal Gu. What you may not know, Fairy Cangshui, is that this Refinement Path Gu formation was merely imitated by Heavenly Court's predecessors — using texts as reference — from Hairy Blade Ancestor's Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House, the Refinement Furnace." Lian Jiusheng spoke at leisure, revealing a secret of the past. "And that Refinement Furnace is still preserved within Langya Blessed Land to this day, with all of its core Immortal Gu intact."
"I see." Bai Cangshui's expression darkened.
Immortal Gu were one of a kind, and the Refinement Furnace still existed. This Gu formation of Heavenly Court's could indeed not be easily upgraded.
"Of course, it is possible to start from scratch — redesign and alter this Gu formation entirely, using other Immortal Gu as the core to achieve similar power. However, the difficulty is immense. In the past, Hairy Blade Ancestor was able to complete the Eighty-Eight Stories True Sun Tower and the Immortal Gu House Refinement Furnace not only because he was a grandmaster of the Refinement Path — but also because he had a close friend who was a grandmaster of the Wisdom Path: One Word Immortal." Lian Jiusheng sighed.
One Word Immortal was the founder of the Three Honored Sages' theory — a genuine grandmaster of the Wisdom Path whose prophecies were extraordinarily accurate.
"One Word Immortal, Hairy Blade Ancestor..." Bai Cangshui murmured, then suddenly recalled something. "By the way — why didn't Heavenly Court take in Hairy Blade Ancestor back then? He was a grandmaster of the Refinement Path. He only had Eighth Transformation cultivation, not the world-unrivaled status of a Ninth Transformation Gu Immortal. Even if he was a Northern Plains Gu Immortal, our Heavenly Court certainly had the means to alter his Northern Plains aura into a Central Continent one."
"Indeed, there have only been three figures of Hairy Blade Ancestor's caliber in all of history. Why didn't Heavenly Court recruit him back then?" Lian Jiusheng also found it puzzling.
Bi Chentian remained silent.
The Sky Monitoring Tower Lord chuckled, his words laced with pride: "That's because Hairy Blade Ancestor wasn't a pure-blooded human at all — he was a completely and utterly Hairy Man! No matter how powerful he was, no matter how high his achievements in the Refinement Path, he could never enter Heavenly Court. Heavenly Court is the sacred ground of us pure-blooded humans. How could we let such lowly variant humans sneak in?"
"Oh? Such a thing actually happened... Hairy Blade Ancestor was a Hairy Man?" The other three Gu Immortals exchanged stunned glances. This was the first time any of them had heard such a secret.
***
Northern Plains. Langya Blessed Land.
Of the original five Cloud Pavilions, three had been breached. Only two remained.
On Qin Baisheng's side, Xuesongzi had fallen in battle.
On the Langya Earth Spirit's side, an Inkman Gu Immortal had also perished.
Qin Baisheng erupted with terrifying combat power, unstoppable as he charged straight toward the Cloud Pavilion where the Langya Earth Spirit, Fang Yuan, and Mo Tansang were stationed, sending the Langya Earth Spirit into a frantic panic.
"What do we do? What do we do?!"
"The enemy is too strong — we can't hold on!"
"Even though there are still two Cloud Pavilions left, the outcome of losing is already sealed..."
"How detestable! How infuriating!"
"Should I release him?"
"No — if I release him, I'll be locked in his place. There's no telling when I'd come out again."
"The Langya Blessed Land I worked so hard to build might just be elevated to a Heaven by that madman again..."
"That madman's ambition is too great — he'll definitely bring destruction upon Langya Blessed Land!"
The Langya Earth Spirit puffed his beard and glared, muttering to himself to the point of near incoherence. His panic only deepened the sense of anxiety in Fang Yuan and Mo Tansang.
Fang Yuan was coping somewhat better — after all, he still had Fixed Travel in his possession.
Mo Tansang, however, was truly on edge.
That Inkman Gu Immortal had already fallen. If he were to sacrifice himself next, the fate of the hundreds of thousands of Inkmen in Inkman City would be deeply uncertain.
Without the protection of a Gu Immortal, so many Inkmen in Inkman City would become a massive piece of meat, drawing countless wolves and tigers to fight ruthlessly over them.
The Inkman people would surely meet a tragic end — becoming slaves, living in depths of fire and suffering.