Silver celestial light shone as though eternal and undying. Layer upon layer of palaces spread across the ground below, yet all was silent—devoid of any human presence.
Among the palace complex, an ancient tower stood in solemn solitude.
This tower was covered in scars from its body and had a history stretching back over three million years.
It was renowned far and wide—the Watchtower of Heaven, an Immortal Gu house personally created by Immortal Venerable Star Constellation!
Surrounding the Watchtower of Heaven was a colossal Refinement Path Gu formation.
Within the formation, at the four cardinal nodes, stood four Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals—three men and one woman, one old and three young.
At this moment, watching the enormous Gu formation gradually wind down, all four Heavenly Court Gu Immortals couldn't help but exhale a turbid breath, their tightly strained minds slowly easing.
The moment they relaxed, Lian Jiusheng's body swayed, his legs gave out, and he plopped straight onto the ground.
The others fared no better.
Bai Cangshui's forehead glistened with cold sweat, and Bi Chentian's face was deathly pale. The ancient face of the Watchtower of Heaven's master had grown even more deeply lined with wrinkles.
Any single one of these four would be a figure of renown across Central Continent—or even a powerhouse celebrated across the Five Regions.
But at this moment, all of them were exhausted to the point of near-collapse, as if they had fought a fearsome enemy for three hundred days straight without sleep or rest, in the depths of starvation.
Repairing the Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu, Fate—could that ever be easy?
Recalling the peril of activating the Gu formation, Bai Cangshui and the others felt a secret wave of relief wash through them.
During the process of repairing Fate, one crucial step had been to channel down the Heavenly Will.
Heavenly Will was vast and boundless. A human's will, compared to it, was as minuscule as a grain of millet. The four Gu Immortals had endured in agony, barely maintaining their lucidity amid the aftershocks of the Heavenly Will. Counting each second as though it were an entire year, they had forced themselves to endure for hundreds of days. At last, they had succeeded.
"Good! This restoration of the Fate Immortal Gu is a resounding success. You have all worked hard." The Watchtower of Heaven's master rose to his feet, leaning on his cane with trembling hands. He gazed with deep satisfaction at the Fate Immortal Gu, hovering suspended in the center of the Gu formation.
The Fate Immortal Gu resembled a black-and-white spider. Across its body ran a crimson wound—which had now shrunk by thirty percent.
"Finally, we've succeeded," Bi Chentian sighed.
"With this successful restoration, the Fate Gu can now exert fifty percent of its power. Even without being placed inside the Watchtower of Heaven, it has already begun to take effect!" Lian Jiusheng said excitedly.
"Oh? What effect is that?" Bai Cangshui asked, puzzled.
The Watchtower of Heaven's master was utterly exhausted, but he managed a gratified smile: "The function of the Fate Immortal Gu is Fate itself. You must understand: all things in this world have their own predetermined life trajectories. They are not meant to be altered. After the Demonic Venerable Red Lotus shattered the Fate Immortal Gu, the world fell into chaos! Now that the Fate Immortal Gu has recovered fifty percent of its power, its very existence is already setting the world back to rights. From this point forward, every life that had strayed off course—even if it had already wandered down a long and winding path—will begin to gravitate back toward its original trajectory of fate, and ultimately return to the path it was meant to walk!"
Meanwhile, at that very moment, in the Northern Plains.
Burning Heaven Demoness had laid down her true demands.
After weighing everything, Fang Yuan gave his response to the Burning Heaven Demoness.
Regarding the sixth demand, he did not outright refuse it with a firm hand. Instead, he claimed that it was not his decision to make. He would do his utmost to notify his master, Sovereign of the Purple Mountain. As for whether a deeper discussion would take place, that would depend on the will of his esteemed master.
Burning Heaven Demoness expressed her understanding.
Once both sides reached a preliminary consensus, the tense atmosphere eased considerably.
After patient negotiations, the two parties finalized a new covenant on the spot.
This covenant was difficult to breach. Drawing upon his experience from his previous life, Fang Yuan had done everything in his power to eliminate loopholes in the agreement, greatly increasing the difficulty of violation.
Fang Yuan estimated that even if Fairy Li Shan possessed the Grandmaster realm in Wisdom Path, she would need at least two to three years of preparation before she could possibly break the covenant.
And as it stood, Fairy Li Shan was not yet a Wisdom Path Grandmaster.
After the covenant was signed, Fang Yuan's safety received powerful assurance. He then honored the agreement, and in front of both aunts, returned the My Strength Immortal Gu to Hei Loulan.
Though he had lost the My Strength Immortal Gu, Fang Yuan was still satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations.
Frankly speaking, the negotiations led by the Burning Heaven Demoness had not been overly harsh.
That Fang Yuan had been unwilling to hand over the My Strength Immortal Gu was a separate matter entirely, one not worth dwelling on for now.
His gains from this encounter had been considerable.
All in all, this could be considered a relatively fair exchange of interests.
The Burning Heaven Demoness had not laid a finger on Fang Yuan's Fox Fairy Blessed Land, his Star Constellation Blessed Land, nor on Danghun Mountain or Ding Xian You. She hadn't even mentioned the Time Luck Immortal Gu he had obtained from Fairy Li Shan.
This showed that she genuinely wanted to cooperate with Fang Yuan.
Whether it was his attainment in Wisdom Path or his access to Ding Xian You and other assets, Fang Yuan's utility was immense.
If they could cooperate and achieve mutual gain, the Burning Heaven Demoness would have no reason to resort to force.
After all, in her mind, standing behind Fang Yuan was still a Sovereign of the Purple Mountain.
Hei Loulan took the My Strength Immortal Gu, and with Fang Yuan voluntarily withdrawing his consciousness from it, she quickly and smoothly refined it as her own.