After processing, the Starry Night Viscous Saliva had to be collected within a very short window of time.
The difficulty involved was enormous, and the danger was extreme.
The Earth Crust Snail had a gentle temperament. Approaching it was not difficult — one could even stand on its back or deal it minor attacks without provoking the beast into a rage.
The real danger lay in the fact that the earth trench was home to far more than just the Earth Crust Snail.
The deeper one ventured into the trench, the more numerous the various fierce beasts, bizarre plants, and wild Gu Insects became.
The trench was unfathomably deep. The section where Earth Crust Snails lived was at least ten thousand li from the surface. Surrounding the snails were countless powerful beasts, packs of wild beasts, and even primordial beasts were not uncommon.
These beasts and plants were the primary threat.
"I'm going down into that trench no matter what. Since the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven has ordered you two to guard me, this time you'd better deliver. Even if you die, I have to survive. Is that clear?" Fang Yuan commanded in a tone that brooked no argument.
The Tower Lord of Thunder Rain and the Mystic Yin Physician ground their teeth in fury, but could do nothing about Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan invoked the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven, and these two Immortal Zombies truly had no recourse.
After a brief discussion, the Mystic Yin Physician spoke to Fang Yuan with a grim expression: "This matter is of great import. We must first report to the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven. We cannot make this call ourselves!"
In the end, they could not circumvent the obstacle of the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven.
However, this was well within Fang Yuan's expectations.
So he flicked his sleeve and called out: "Then go report quickly!"
He had no fear of any investigation by the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven.
In truth, Starry Night Viscous Saliva was entirely real.
It was one of the fruits of Fang Yuan's recent improvements to the Star Thought Immortal Gu recipe.
Starry Night Viscous Saliva was Fang Yuan's own invention. It had wide-ranging applications and immense potential. It could be used not only in refining the Star Thought Immortal Gu, but also in the refinement of other Star Path Immortal Gu. It was a Sixth Transformation immortal material that was relatively easy to obtain yet highly valuable.
"If I had an environment suitable for Earth Crust Snail habitation, I could do business in this area, continuously producing Starry Night Viscous Saliva. This kind of immortal material sold on the yellow treasure sky — as an exclusive product — would surely fetch a superb price. The short-term returns would rival those of the Courage Gu."
Fang Yuan calculated inwardly.
But in the long run, the processing technique for Starry Night Viscous Saliva would eventually be figured out, perhaps even replicated.
After all, this kind of processed immortal material was no Courage Gu. In the hands of refinement-path or wisdom-path Gu Immortals, it would be cracked with ease. An exclusive monopoly business could not last.
The Mystic Yin Physician remained behind, still staying at Fang Yuan's side. The Tower Lord of Thunder Rain, that unlucky soul, departed with a heavy and uneasy heart toward a Gu formation somewhere in the Yin Flow Giant City, where he used a communication-path Gu formation to relay a message to the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven.
Fang Yuan was not worried that the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven would obstruct him.
In fact, Fang Yuan was fairly confident. He believed the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven would agree.
After all, once the Star Thought Immortal Gu was refined, it would be of great help to the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven. Fang Yuan still owed the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven a debt. If she did not want Fang Yuan to perish, she might even send additional Immortal Zombies to guard him.
Naturally, the Immortal Zombies assigned to guard Fang Yuan would not be many.
After all, the current focus of the Northern Plains Zombie Alliance branch was still on how to intercept the Demonic Path Gu Immortals venturing out from the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land, disrupting their collection of refining materials, and giving Old Ancestor Snow Beard a headache.
"If the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven does that, it suits me even better. Descending into the earth trench — more guards means less trouble and greater safety. Once we're near the inheritance site, I'll shake them off. With fewer guards, shaking them off will be easier too."
Sure enough, just as Fang Yuan had predicted, the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven ultimately approved his plan and assigned five Immortal Zombies to escort him.
Two of them were at the Seventh Transformation, three at the Sixth Transformation — a formidable lineup that even slightly exceeded Fang Yuan's estimates, demonstrating the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven's sincerity.
Three days later, the five Immortal Zombies assembled.
After waiting two more days, the Immortal Zombies borrowed several immortal Gu specifically to handle this mission.
As the local powers, no one was more familiar with this earth trench than they were.
After thorough preparations were complete, the party finally set out.
It is worth mentioning here that earth trenches were not unique to the Northern Plains. In fact, they existed across all five domains.
The earth would crack open into chasms. Some trenches stretched for tens of millions of li, some plunged down millions of zhang — bottomless, forming one of the most magnificent natural wonders in the world of Gu Masters.
This particular trench under the Zombie Alliance had always been under their strict control. When the Immortal Lady Burning Heaven was away from the Northern Plains, at least one of the three Seventh Transformation Immortal Zombies — Yin Liu Gong, Night Fork Dragon Commander, or Old Man Yellow Spring — would be stationed to guard the trench entrance.
The earth trench was rich in resources and teeming with wild beasts. The Yin Flow Giant City had originally been constructed in this location precisely to seize control of the trench's abundant resources.
It was well known that the Northern Plains was poor in cultivation resources compared to the other four domains. But the earth trench plunged deep underground into vast spaces, rich with resources. The only drawback was that the wild beasts and plants within were ferocious and savage beyond measure, and their numbers seemed endless.
Generally, only superpowers could seize control of an earth trench as a resource point.
This was true of the Northern Plains Zombie Alliance branch, and likewise true in the Central Continent — the Evil Exorcism Sect was a superpower, overseen by three Gu Immortals at the top, and the earth trench they controlled, known as the Ancestor Earth Trench, was renowned throughout the Central Continent.
At dusk, Fang Yuan and his party passed through the entrance and descended deep into the earth trench.
Fang Yuan had planned for this long in advance and had no intention of sneaking in covertly. Surrounded by five Immortal Zombies, he strode forward in grand, unapologetic openness.