Chapter 1084

In the capital of Black Hair Kingdom, inside Lang Ya blessed land, a nationwide martial contest reaches its final match between Gu Yue Fang Zheng, a human Gu Master, and a rank five fire path hairy man Gu Master. Nearly every watching hairy man backs Fang Zheng’s opponent, and the Black Hair King himself frowns from a raised platform, fearing a human win would embarrass the kingdom. He has already planned ahead and tampered with the match. His plan activates now: Fang Zheng suddenly turns dizzy and, in fright, sends a surge of water at his opponent, forcing him to dodge into the air and lose his best chance to strike back. Fang Zheng, still badly dizzy but steadied by past setbacks, keeps his face calm. ^{ch. 1084}

Fang Yuan’s will, hidden inside Fang Zheng, reveals that someone has secretly planted a soul path Gu worm in Fang Zheng’s soul, one carrying a faint connection to the Black Hair King on the platform, who seems to be behind the scheme. The will tells him the contest was never meant to be fair. Fang Zheng wants victory even more for it, though the wiser course would be losing on purpose for second place. Fang Yuan’s will welcomes Fang Zheng’s stubbornness anyway, since only sustained pressure can make him work with it and be subtly reshaped. It warns him his injured soul now bars River Swallowing Toad, since commanding it drains enormous mental energy, but tells him he still has hope of winning if he follows its instructions, and Fang Zheng gives grudging consent. ^{ch. 1084}

Under the will’s guidance Fang Zheng wins first place, costing Black Hair Kingdom face. When Fang Yuan leaves Luo Po Valley, the will returns and reports everything it learned of Fang Zheng’s progress. Fang Yuan condenses a second will, several times larger, since reshaping Fang Zheng demands a will able to think and needs frequent renewal. Rank five Gu worms guard it down to Black Hair Continent, where it splits: one part toward Black Hair Kingdom’s capital, the other toward Steel Thread City. In Steel Thread City it seeps into the mind of the City Lord, a female hairy man who favors Fang Zheng. She notices nothing, not even that her lower abdomen has slightly swollen. ^{ch. 1084}

Fang Yuan calls the reeducation of Fang Zheng a slight success already, though Fang Yuan still cannot deduce blood deity Immortal Gu’s recipe while wisdom Gu withholds its acknowledgment. His soul path attainment falls far short of Shadow Sect’s, so he chooses a different fix: deepen his soul foundation toward Spectral Soul’s level, which would make any soul path trap in his zombie body useless. That level is still extremely distant, but his zombie body passed only through Ying Wu Xie, a split soul far weaker than Spectral Soul’s main body. He enters Luo Po Valley daily to temper his soul. Afterward he uses Guts Gu to heal and strengthen it. In under ten days his soul foundation grows quite deep, though he still lacks the confidence to test whatever trap may wait inside his zombie body. ^{ch. 1084}

An information path Gu worm summons Fang Yuan. Lang Ya land spirit wants to discuss his earlier suggestion. The land spirit calls it reasonable but rejects Earth Trench, since the site has grown far busier, drawing Northern Plains Gu Immortals of every path. He explains that after the battle of Yi Tian Mountain every region’s Zombie Alliance became an empty shell, and Northern Plains Zombie Alliance vanished with nearly all its members apparently dead. Probing Gu Immortals took its cultivation resources and pushed into Earth Trench, where rumor puts its sunken headquarters, Dark Flow Giant City. Fang Yuan agrees the site is now too dangerous, while privately concluding that Shadow Sect sacrificed the alliance on purpose and left some defensive measures behind, the sinking of Dark Flow Giant City among them. Knowing Shadow Sect’s methods, he judges the city probably very well hidden, and the Northern Plains Gu Immortals searching for it likely to waste their effort. ^{ch. 1084}

Lang Ya land spirit instead settles on a different site among the ten great fierce areas. Fang Yuan follows his hairy finger to a spot in the southeast corner of Northern Plains, southeast of the super force Guan tribe and northwest of another, Liu tribe. His expression stays even. Inwardly, though, he rejoices: this is the place he wanted all along. ^{ch. 1084}