It was a rumor concerning Yi Shi Fairy, one of the six great beauties of the Eastern Sea. The gossip claimed that during her bath, she had her purity defiled by an old degenerate who had schemed deeply for this very opportunity.
Song Yi Shi was the jewel in the palm of Song Qi Yuan's hand. Her fame was at its peak, and she had countless suitors. Since the matter also involved the honor of the Song clan, as soon as the news got out, it immediately drew the attention of numerous Gu Immortals.
Soon enough, the identity of the Northern Plains Gu Immortal Xing Xiang Zi was uncovered by the crowd.
Before the Song clan could even make an official statement, Song Yi Shi's suitors, driven by fury, had already launched a large-scale manhunt for Fang Yuan.
In a poverty-stricken, nameless, and ownerless stretch of sea, deep at the bottom, the waves were murky and fish were scarce.
An entrance to a blessed land that looked just like a brushwood gate suddenly appeared, and with a loud creak, it swung open.
A figure stepped out from within.
It was Fang Yuan, in the disguise of Xing Xiang Zi.
Fang Yuan had slain Yao Ge Bi in the midst of battle. Afterwards, he took Yao Ge Bi's corpse and fled into the distance.
There were two uses for a Gu Immortal's corpse. One was to let it fall and give rise to a blessed land. The other was to place it inside one's own immortal aperture to absorb the Gu Immortal's dao marks.
Fang Yuan did not give it much thought and directly chose the former.
His immortal aperture was dead. If he placed the corpse into his dead aperture, not only would he be unable to acquire the dao marks, but it would also cause his dead aperture to collapse, exploding his entire body.
Immortal zombies had experimented with this matter long ago, but unfortunately, none had succeeded.
Fang Yuan first used wisdom path methods to temporarily suppress his immortal aperture, buying himself some time. After completely shaking off the pursuers, he used a star door to first return to Tai Bai Yun Sheng's immortal aperture. Afterwards, he used Fixed Immortal Travel to teleport himself to the most remote northeastern region of the Eastern Sea.
Finally, he went deep into the seabed. Without anyone noticing, he planted Yao Ge Bi's immortal aperture deep in the ocean floor.
When the immortal aperture was forming into a blessed land, it naturally caused fluctuations in the earthly and heavenly qi.
It attracted two whale desolate beasts, but Fang Yuan sent them both packing.
Fang Yuan first transformed into another appearance, entered Yao Ge Bi's blessed land, and met the land spirit.
Yao Ge Bi was a wood path Gu Immortal, so his land spirit was quite peculiar. It took the form of a giant tree, planted in the center of the blessed land, completely immobile.
The giant tree land spirit told Fang Yuan the conditions for it to acknowledge a master: one hundred thousand immortal essence stones, a vast quantity of rare immortal materials—countless ones of the seventh and eighth rank—and it even demanded the blood of Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable!
These requirements were too high and too difficult. Fang Yuan naturally couldn't meet them, so he could only withdraw from this blessed land regretfully.
"Yao Ge Bi was a lone cultivator. Among the pursuers, he had the least background and the weakest origins, which is why I killed him. It was a classic case of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. It sure did intimidate Song Yi Shi and her group, allowing me to escape easily."
"Yao Ge Bi's immortal aperture formed a blessed land, but the master acknowledgment conditions of its land spirit have nothing to do with me, the killer. It demands a massive amount of cultivation resources. It seems that in Yao Ge Bi's heart, the strongest obsession was his desire for wealth. But this desire of his is a bit too insatiable."
As soon as Fang Yuan stepped out, the entrance to the blessed land snapped shut.
He turned around to look. After seeing the entrance completely close, he couldn't help but furrow his brows slightly.
"If Yao Ge Bi's obsession was related to me, with my rich blood path methods, I would have an easy way to deal with it. Unfortunately, with these master acknowledgment conditions, meeting the standards is harder than reaching the heavens."
Not to mention the one hundred thousand immortal essence stones, the rare immortal materials alone are exceedingly difficult to gather. Unless Fang Yuan robbed the Ten Great Ancient Sects of Central Continent, or took a huge haul from the Heavenly Court's treasury, relying on himself in his current state, even if he put in his full effort and was lucky, two to three hundred years was the most optimistic estimate.
Not to mention the last requirement of the giant tree land spirit—the blood of Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable!
Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable is the Wood Path Rank Nine Gu Refining Venerable, and since Yao Ge Bi was also a wood path Gu Immortal, it wasn't strange that he coveted Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable's blood.
But just who is Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable? Even if some of his blood was preserved in the Genesis Lotus Sect, it would be genuine Rank Nine immortal material!
This kind of ultimate treasure, capable of refining a Rank Nine Immortal Gu, would certainly be heavily guarded and watched. How could Fang Yuan possibly get his hands on it?
"This Yao Ge Bi must have been driven mad by poverty in his life. His obsession with wealth is so strong. It seems that to get this blessed land, the normal path of master recognition is a dead end. The only path left is direct assault!"
A cold light flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes.
If the land spirit wouldn't acknowledge him, then he would destroy the land spirit and forcefully occupy this blessed land!
Not all blessed lands have a land spirit. When some Gu Immortals are killed so thoroughly that not a single obsession is left, the blessed land formed after their death has no land spirit.
Yao Ge Bi's blessed land had a land spirit, but the master acknowledgment conditions were too harsh. Fang Yuan could only harbor malicious intentions and plan a forceful assault. It was just like how Shamo and the others attacked the Jade Dew Blessed Land.
"If I can conquer this blessed land, I'll have a foothold in the Eastern Sea. But now isn't the time to deal with it. I should go meet up with Shamo and the others first."
Fang Yuan sent out a swarm of mortal Gu, which formed a Gu formation around him.
Then, he activated Fixed Immortal Travel to leave this place and head toward Tai Bai Yun Sheng's immortal aperture.
Back on the seabed, the aura left behind by Fixed Immortal Travel was completely ground away by the Gu formation Fang Yuan had set up.
After this finishing work was completed, the mortal Gu formation collapsed on its own.
Unless someone used an extremely powerful tracking and detection method, no one could discover this hidden blessed land in this ordinary patch of seabed.
Fang Yuan came out from Tai Bai Yun Sheng's immortal aperture. The latter had already set off and was currently flying over the vast ocean.
The two "fellow disciples" exchanged information as they traveled, and half an incense stick of time later, they arrived above the Jade Dew Blessed Land.