This area now enveloped several thousand li around Yitian Mountain. Any Gu Immortal who entered would face immense suppression, and venturing too deep meant mortal peril.
Before the bet was established, the Gu Immortals of the Southern Border had certainly probed it.
But even an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal returned defeated.
Coupled with the external pressure from having too many competitors, this ultimately led to the establishment of this world-shaking bet.
But Fang Yuan had keenly perceived that this Forbidden Immortal Realm also had a loophole.
This loophole was Immortal Gu.
Immortal Gu could be used within the Forbidden Immortal Realm, though their power was drastically reduced. The Xiao Family's Supreme Elder had even parasitized one upon Xiao Shan's body, secretly leaving behind Immortal Essence to protect his life to a certain extent.
After all, Xiao Shan was still the Supreme Elder's blood descendant.
"If Immortal Gu can be used in the Forbidden Immortal Realm, but Gu Immortals cannot enter, does that mean the Realm only targets Gu Immortals themselves?"
This suspicion had long lingered in Fang Yuan's mind.
So, what was the primary difference between an Immortal Gu and a Gu Immortal?
Obviously, Dao Marks weren't the key. Immortal Gu were carriers of Dao Marks, and Gu Immortals also contained Dao Marks within them.
Fang Yuan naturally thought of the Immortal Aperture!
Perhaps the Immortal Aperture was this most critical difference.
Immortal Gu wouldn't possess an Immortal Aperture, but a Gu Immortal certainly would. If the Forbidden Immortal Realm targeted the Immortal Aperture, then maybe Fang Yuan could exploit this loophole and personally participate in the Yitian Mountain battle!
"I am different from others. I have two apertures. The first, the Mortal Aperture, contains the sealed Spring Autumn Cicada. The second, the Immortal Aperture, is dead and stores the majority of my Gu worms."
"If I can seal and seal off my Immortal Aperture, reverting to a mortal Fifth Transformation Gu Master, would I be able to personally enter the Forbidden Immortal Realm?"
The more Fang Yuan thought about it, the more hopeful he became.
Although he lacked a method to seal the Immortal Aperture, he had the Wisdom Gu to assist him and the realm of a Wisdom Dao Grandmaster. He could absolutely deduce it himself!
"Furthermore, I possess the method for relocating an Immortal Aperture Blessed Land and have successfully moved the Starlight Blessed Land. This experience will be of great value for my calculations."
"Ah, and there's also the Burning Heaven Demoness's Flame Dao Aperture Retrieval method. Perhaps I can gain more inspiration from it. No, I don't necessarily need to fixate solely on her method. She created that Flame Dao technique thanks to benefiting from Kong Jue Old Immortal's legacy. I might be able to indirectly obtain some of Kong Jue Old Immortal's research through her."
Fang Yuan's mind grew increasingly active.
Kong Jue Old Immortal was universally acknowledged as the supreme Grandmaster of Refinement Dao, renowned alongside Ancestor Long Hair and Old Freak Tian Nan. He had researched the Immortal Aperture and Empty Aperture more deeply than anyone, and to this day, no one had surpassed him.
If he could obtain some of his legacy, it would surely play a pivotal role in Fang Yuan's deduction of a method to seal the Immortal Aperture.
The stake Fang Yuan had initially placed wasn't large.
According to the bet's standards, he could only choose one Third Transformation High Stage Gu Master, and this Gu Master couldn't take the Yitian Mountain stage until three months later.
He possessed abundant Immortal materials and substantial capital; he could certainly increase his stake. However, as a newcomer, acting rashly might attract the greed or attention of other Gu Immortals, or even provoke an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal to act against him, which would be dangerous.
Fortunately, during the bet, one could freely increase one's stake.
The Eighth Transformation Great Force True Martial Immortal Zombie was an essential target in Fang Yuan's plan. Besides that, the Jinghong Chaos Battle Platform also tempted him greatly.
After all, it was an Immortal Gu House!
Moreover, within this Immortal Gu House lay the secrets of Food Dao. So many years had passed, yet not a single Gu worm inside had starved to death.
If he could obtain the secrets of Food Dao, it might also greatly help solve the problem of feeding his own Immortal Gu.
Fang Yuan quietly left the vicinity of Yitian Mountain and used the Fixed Immortal Travel to secretly return to the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land.
In the time that followed, while keeping a close watch on the Yitian Mountain battle, he actively deduced the method to seal the Immortal Aperture.
The deduction progressed remarkably quickly. The Wisdom Gu lived up to its name as a Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu; even just borrowing its Wisdom Halo provided immense assistance to Fang Yuan.
Over a month later.
The Righteous and Demonic battle at Yitian Mountain had already swept through the mortal realm of the Southern Border with tremendous momentum. Essentially all major factions and powerhouses in the Southern Border had been drawn to the attention of this great battle.
Following the establishment of Yitian Stronghold by Xiao Shan, it had attracted the first wave of Righteous Path assault. The attacking force came from the closest superpower to Yitian Mountain—the Wu Family.
Wu Shentong.
An Elder of the Wu Family, Peak Fourth Transformation, Beast Taming Dao Gu Master.
Beast Taming Dao practitioners excelled at fighting alone against many but were most vulnerable to decapitation tactics. Therefore, by Wu Shentong's side were three other Fourth Transformation Gu Masters protecting his life.
Two of these three were clan patriarchs of strongholds affiliated with the Wu Family. The third was a Wu Family Elder serving as Wu Shentong's personal guard.
A tide of beasts surged up Yitian Mountain.
The newly established Yitian Stronghold on the Demonic Path side was submerged by the beast swarm.
Many Demonic Path Gu Masters perished miserably. However, through the fierce counterattack of the three Fifth Transformation powerhouses—Xiao Shan, Sun Panghu, and Zhou Xingxing—Wu Shentong was severely wounded and forced to retreat. Two Righteous Path Fourth Transformation Gu Masters lost their lives.