Once they shattered the battlefield killer move of the Eight Gate Maze, the view before the group suddenly opened up, revealing the true spectacle of the Jade Dew Blessed Land.
Streams of flowing light filled the air, some like bolts of silk drifting lazily, others like trickling streams, some flowing at a gentle pace while others shimmered with brilliant ripples.
Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple... every stream of light blazed with its own vivid color. The dazzling radiance washed over the faces of everyone present.
Fang Yuan, Shark Demon, and the rest of the group stood in silence. The wondrous sight before them drew out varying degrees of excitement and astonishment from each.
This Jade Dew Blessed Land was nothing like a normal blessed land!
Ordinary blessed lands possessed sky and earth, vegetation, mountains and water, flowers, birds, insects, and fish.
But here, there was nothing at all.
The Jade Dew Blessed Land was uniquely special — merely a vast expanse of space, with no concept of heaven or ground, no living creatures, and none of the conventional resources that Gu Immortals cultivated.
"Perhaps it is precisely because this blessed land is so unusual that battlefield killer moves from different schools can be deployed here," Fang Yuan mused with a flash of understanding.
Generally speaking, battlefield killer moves and blessed lands or grotto-heavens were deeply conflicting. Very few Gu Immortals would set up battlefield killer moves inside their grotto-heavens or blessed lands.
A battlefield killer move used Gu worms to form dao marks, constructing a temporary combat environment.
But the very foundation of a grotto-heaven or blessed land also lay in its dao marks.
Different dao marks clashed with one another. When Lang Ya Blessed Land was attacked by Qin Bai Sheng and the others, the Lang Ya Earth Spirit had not deployed a battlefield killer move to fight back. That was because building a battlefield killer move inside a blessed land or grotto-heaven was, in itself, an act of self-destructive internal waste.
Yet the Jade Dew Blessed Land defied this common wisdom of cultivation.
As far as Fang Yuan was concerned, during his campaign to conquer the Jade Dew Blessed Land, he had already passed through three major battlefield killer moves: Frozen Rain Tundra, War Soul Sand Field, and the Eight Gate Maze.
These three were clearly immortal-level killer moves from different schools. Under normal circumstances, no Gu Immortal would use any of them inside their own blessed land.
But here in the Jade Dew Blessed Land, all three had been deployed — and not only did they coexist with the blessed land without any conflict, but the three seemed to complement one another in some way.
"The Jade Dew Fairy was a disciple of the Leisure Land Reverend. That her blessed land contains such anomalies is hardly surprising," Su Bai Man said, gazing ahead. After a moment, she let out a soft sigh.
"Although many resources are lacking, if we can decipher the Jade Dew Fairy's methods — allowing us to also deploy battlefield killer moves within our own blessed lands — that alone would be an enormous gain!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng's eyes flashed with a brief gleam.
Just then, a fellow traveling Gu Immortal suddenly pointed in a direction and exclaimed, "Look quickly — an Immortal Gu!"
Everyone turned to look where the Gu Master was pointing.
Sure enough, there was a Gu worm with a distinctive shape. Its entire body was long and slender, like a branch. Countless golden, paper-thin wings adorned it, fluttering ceaselessly.
The whole Gu worm looked like nothing so much as a long, elegant golden willow branch.
It quickly darted into the nearby streams of flowing light and vanished from sight.
But in that fleeting glimpse, the aura of an Immortal Gu was unmistakable.
The group's eyes burned with intensity, and their breathing quickened. Still, none of them were particularly surprised.
Of course there would be Immortal Gu left behind in the Jade Dew Blessed Land.
Without Immortal Gu, how else could those battlefield killer moves have been constructed?
Although the Jade Dew Blessed Land contained no accumulated resources, the sheer number of battlefield killer moves meant there had to be a considerable number of Immortal Gu present.
Shark Demon suddenly threw his head back and burst into hearty laughter, shattering the silence.
He was elated.
Although the main haul would need to be reported to the Zombie Alliance headquarters, as the one leading the campaign he was entitled to the largest share — he could claim one or two Immortal Gu for himself.
Beyond that, successfully conquering the Jade Dew Blessed Land would earn him a massive contribution merit score from the headquarters.
If he spotted an Immortal Gu suited to him, Shark Demon would certainly pocket it ahead of time.
Such were the perks of being first on the scene.
And if some wondrous Immortal Gu turned up that could help Shark Demon and Su Bai Man shed their Zombie Immortal identities and become living humans once more — well, that would be the best outcome of all.
Escaping the fate of a Zombie Immortal and reclaiming a new life was a hope shared not only by Fang Yuan, but by Shark Demon and Su Bai Man as well. Both were striving toward it.
Seeing Shark Demon's laughter, the others around him offered their congratulations one after another.
Su Bai Man wore a smile at the corner of her lips, more reserved in her response.
After Shark Demon and Su Bai Man accepted the mission to conquer the Jade Dew Blessed Land, the investment had been staggering — they had practically emptied their reserves.
Though it did not show on the surface, both Shark Demon and Su Bai Man had been under enormous pressure.
Now, at last, that massive investment was finally bearing fruit.
If they obtained a single Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu, the cost would be essentially recovered.
Shark Demon and Su Bai Man were buoyant with joy, the heavy stone in their hearts finally set down.
"With the Jade Dew Blessed Land conquered, every person present will be rewarded. No one will be overlooked, and distribution will be fair according to contribution," Shark Demon declared with solemn gravity once his laughter subsided.
The group nodded, stepping back to avoid any suspicion, and gestured for Shark Demon and Su Bai Man to make their move.
With such great profit at stake, it was hard to guarantee that some Gu Immortal might not do something rash. Shark Demon's words served as both reassurance and warning.
Though indirect, everyone understood him perfectly.
"Very well, then — please watch," Shark Demon said, stepping forward without hesitation to take action.
With a flicker of thought, his body suddenly transformed into a torrent of rushing current. The torrent pierced through the air with a sharp hiss and shot forward, heading straight toward the golden willow-branch-like Immortal Gu that had just appeared.
Everyone watched as Shark Demon closed in on the Immortal Gu at high speed, but suddenly the space rippled and shimmered — and Shark Demon vanished.
The next instant, he reappeared beside the group, his face a picture of utter bewilderment.