The Fortune and Timing Immortal Gu hovered silently above Fang Yuan's head, ceaselessly drifting about.
The Fortune and Timing Immortal Gu resembled a segment of a jade centipede, its entire body a pale green. It slowly wound and meandered through a small patch of space above Fang Yuan's head, radiating a watery luster.
Fang Yuan fed it Green Grape Immortal Essence while simultaneously inspecting the Inch of Time Gu within his aperture.
Previously, he had reached an agreement with the Langya Blessed Land, commissioning the hairy men within to refine a large batch of Inch of Time Gu. The flow of time in the Langya Blessed Land was faster than in the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, and the quality of its hairy men was arguably the finest under heaven.
Therefore, after Fang Yuan paid the immortal materials as compensation, a great number of Inch of Time Gu piled up within his aperture like a small mountain of gold.
An inch of time, an inch of gold.
The Inch of Time Gu was merely a mortal Gu, its form resembling a gold bar. The higher the refinement turn count, the thicker and larger the gold bar became.
However, at this moment, as Fang Yuan activated the Fortune and Timing Immortal Gu, the Inch of Time Gu were consumed at a staggering rate. The original mountain of gold vanished completely in the span of a few breaths, dissipating into nothing.
Without the support of the Inch of Time Gu, the Fortune and Timing Immortal Gu above his head abruptly halted.
Fang Yuan let out a regretful sigh. "It seems using the Inch of Time Gu to substitute for lifespan in driving the Fortune and Timing Immortal Gu is still too forced. After driving it for such a short time, the gains in fortune are practically nonexistent."
As the Fairy of Li Mountain had mentioned before, driving the Fortune and Timing Immortal Gu consumed both Immortal Essence and the Gu Immortal's own lifespan in exchange for a boost to one's fortune.
But at this moment, Fang Yuan's lifespan was dwindling. How could he afford to waste it so casually?
During the final stages of the great battle in the Royal Court Blessed Land, when he had been forced to transform into an Immortal Zombie body, he had already aged into a withered state. He had never used a Lifespan Gu on himself either. This meant that from an average lifespan of one hundred years, he now had only a decade or so left, possibly less.
Should the day come when he successfully shed the Immortal Zombie body and restored a healthy human form, his remaining lifespan would not change.
"In other words, the day I recover, my body will be old and weathered. That's quite a problem. Unless, before that day, I manage to find a Lifespan Gu and use it on myself."
At this thought, Fang Yuan's brows furrowed slightly.
Lifespan Gu were extremely difficult to find, and exceedingly rare.
Whenever a Gu Immortal obtained one, they never brought it to market for trade. Even at the Northern Plains Auction Assembly that had concluded not long ago, not a single Lifespan Gu had been put up for sale.
Lifespan Gu were merely Mortal Gu, but their production conditions were unpredictable. When Gu Immortal searched for Lifespan Gu, it was almost entirely a matter of luck. As a result, in many cases, Lifespan Gu ended up in the hands of mortal Gu Masters, beyond the control of Gu Immortals.
In his previous life, Fang Yuan had been able to find Lifespan Gu and add several hundred years to his lifespan — this was precisely one such case.
"So far, the best method I've seen for searching for Lifespan Gu is the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Unfortunately, within that Immortal Gu house, I only obtained a single Lifespan Gu, which I gave to Tai Bai Yun Sheng. Reproducing the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building is essentially impossible."
With a thought from Fang Yuan, the Time Luck Immortal Gu transformed into a streak of light and instantly drilled into his Immortal Aperture.
Although his Immortal Aperture had already become a dead land, with chunks crumbling away at regular intervals, it still appeared vast when measured against Gu Insects.
The Time Luck Immortal Gu eventually drifted to a gentle landing beside another "golden mountain."
These two "golden mountains" were, of course, piled up from Inch of Time Gu.
Fang Yuan had obtained a massive quantity of Inch of Time Gu from the Lang Ya Land Spirit, which he had piled into two small mountains. One of them had just been completely consumed.
Only one remained — this one.
Although the results of the experiment just now were far from ideal, it had still brought Fang Yuan a great deal of valuable and useful inspiration.
"Just now it was only the combination of Inch of Time and Time Luck Immortal Gu. If I were to add other Gu Insects as support, or even form an Immortal Level killing move, perhaps the drastic consumption of Inch of Time could be greatly reduced, making the results ideal. Unfortunately, although I can draw upon the Wisdom Halo for infinite inspiration, this type of deduction involves the Time Path realm, which is my blind spot."
Frustrated in this area, Fang Yuan could only temporarily set the matter aside.
The mortal-level dream path Gu Insects still had gaps, and Fang Yuan had no intention of relaxing or slacking off. After catching his breath, he remained seated cross-legged on the bed, slowly closed his eyes, and sank into the dream realm.
He passed through three dream realms in succession, successfully refining two mortal-level dream path Gu Insects, both stored within his mind.
This success rate was already a stark contrast to the beginning, representing a significant improvement. However, during the third refinement, Fang Yuan suffered a failure and sustained some damage to his soul.
The dream realm itself carried risks, let alone refining Gu Insects within a dream.
"One moment of carelessness, and I stepped right into a dream trap. Fortunately, I have the Courage Gu Insect to strengthen my soul." Fang Yuan felt relieved at this thought, opened his eyes, and exited the Dang Hun Palace.
On Dang Hun Mountain, Courage Gu Insects were scattered everywhere, easy to pick up.
Fang Yuan used a few of them and healed the damage to his soul.
Just as he was about to rush back and continue refining mortal-level dream path Gu Insects, his expression suddenly shifted. A letter, transmitted through the Exchange Cup Gu Insect, arrived in his Immortal aperture.
After browsing through it, a flash of joy crossed Fang Yuan's face.
He immediately dropped the plan to continue refining Gu Insects. On Danghun Mountain, he chose a spot with pleasant scenery, sat cross-legged on the spot, took out a section of elephant leg, and used the Fire Gu to roast it.
Moments later, a figure shot straight toward him from the southeast.
The newcomer was a female Immortal, with black hair and black eyes. Her beauty was breathtaking, radiating an imposing and domineering air. It was precisely Hei Lou Lan.