Supreme Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
Several large alien men stood in a circle, attending to an important task.
"Slow down, slow down."
"Take it easy on your end — don't rush."
"Hurry up, I can't hold on much longer!"
Boom.
A thunderous crash.
A vast mountain range settled onto the ground.
The range was not particularly tall, nor was it especially picturesque. Its rocks were mostly dust-stone, iron-cloud rock, and the like, which gave the entire massif a drab, greyish appearance.
What was peculiar about this mountain was that everything on it was utterly silent.
Though many living creatures inhabited it, even a Gu Immortal speaking here would find that his voice barely carried — unless he employed a special method.
This was Silent Ridge.
It was famous throughout the world, ranking alongside the Sound-Severing Wastes of Western Desert. Any sound-path killer move deployed here would have its power greatly suppressed.
Silent Ridge was one of Southern Border's renowned mountains, but because it produced few resources, it had always been something of a white elephant.
This time, Fang Yuan had dispatched emissaries in all directions to negotiate trades.
Silent Ridge was sold to Fang Yuan just like that, and these large alien Gu Immortal men were one crew assigned to relocate the mountain to a designated position within the Supreme Immortal Grotto-Heaven.
But relocation was only the preliminary step — next came cultivating its mountain root.
The one in charge of this task was a Stone Man Gu Immortal.
He activated his methods, and Silent Ridge's mountain root rapidly grew, rooting itself into the surrounding environment.
"Deeper — deeper still!" The foreman kept urging, then suddenly sighed. "Ai, why did you stop? Can't hold out again?"
The Stone Man Gu Immortal said impatiently, "Hey, foreman, can you stop talking? I want to go deeper too, but I only have Seventh Transformation cultivation! This is a renowned mountain — to manipulate the mountain root of such a range, you have no idea how exhausting it is!"
The foreman replied, "That's exactly why you need to push harder! Your cultivation is too low — when are you going to advance to the Eighth Transformation?"
The Stone Man Gu Immortal rolled his eyes. "Boss, not long ago I was only at the Sixth Transformation. Thanks to the Master, I was able to survive the tribulation and advance to the Seventh. You're telling me to hit the Eighth — I want to hit the Eighth too, but it's way too hard!"
The other Gu Immortals chimed in.
"The foreman's right. Our team is the only one that can handle mountain roots — make them thick and long. If you were stronger, we'd complete the task even better and earn more contributions."
"You're the one in charge of mountain roots. Your contributions have always been the highest. Come on, get moving!"
"I heard you've been sleeping recently?"
"I haven't closed my eyes in two months — I've been taking on relocation tasks nonstop."
"The Master's vision is as vast as the heavens and sea — boundless and magnificent. He's rolling out the grand plan for artificial earth veins. But this plan will eventually reach completion. If we don't seize this rare opportunity now, how can we measure up? Look at the other teams — the more they complete, the less there is left for us."
Several Gu Immortals stared at the Stone Man Gu Immortal with expressions of frustrated impatience.
The Stone Man Gu Immortal was helpless. "Don't you know? We Stone Men have needed sleep since we were born. Our bodies are far too heavy — they place an enormous burden on the soul. We must sleep in order to recuperate our souls."
"Then use the Liver-Life Grand Formation!"
"I already did."
"The Master's contribution board has soul-path methods too, doesn't it? Methods that could bolster your soul foundation."
"But my main path is earth. Soul-path methods have diminished effect on me. If I spent contributions on those, it would be better spent on advancing my earth-path attainment instead."
The foreman gritted his teeth. "Enough arguing — let's put our heads together and give our little Stone Man brother a hand. Everyone pitch in some contributions, let's boost his soul foundation."
The other Gu Immortals all nodded in agreement.
Right now, the Stone Man Gu Immortal was their team's weak link. If his strength increased, the entire team would benefit greatly.
Fang Yuan had issued all manner of tasks, each one calculated through wisdom-path. The requirements were simple, but the intent behind them ran deep.
Whether it was the difficulty of the tasks or the nature of the work itself, they frequently required Gu Immortals to cooperate with others — completing them alone was far more difficult.
This forced Gu Immortals of various races into close collaboration with one another.
After working together for a long time, bonds of camaraderie naturally formed.
And so, throughout the entire Supreme Immortal Grotto-Heaven, the various great clans were quietly merging, becoming one.
Humans, Stone Men, Feathered Folk, Ink Folk, Snow Folk, and more — all working in concert, spilling their sweat and blood to build a beautiful homeland, bustling with energy.
"Good. Silent Ridge has also been set down. The renowned mountains distributed across the Minor Five Regions have now reached the minimum required count. Construction of the earth veins can begin."
Fang Yuan had been monitoring the relocation of the renowned mountains the entire time.
Upon discovering that Silent Ridge's situation was settled, he set to work personally.
To forge the earth veins, he had long since laid down Immortal Gu formations at key locations throughout the Minor Five Regions.
Now, with a single thought from Fang Yuan, immortal essence was consumed in great quantities, and the immortal formations hummed to life.
The ground across the entire Minor Five Regions began to tremble, and the vibrations grew ever stronger.
The alien inhabitants living in various locations reacted in different ways — some panicked, while others broke into expressions of elation.