Chapter 1131

Fang Yuan owns many more Immortal Gu than Hei Fan did. Yet he cannot use them to this extent. Hei Fan kept his burden light with a few Immortal Gu and many methods for them, and his accumulated resources, sold off, built a huge stockpile of immortal essence stones. ^{ch. 1131}

Hei Fan also had a tribe, the Huang Jin bloodline. He liked nurturing descendants, giving less essential Immortal Gu to Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals or the treasury. Hei Fan never thought of leaving Hei tribe, held by an upbringing of relationships, friendships and kinship, and at his level he gave the tribe benefits rather than drawing on them. Lacking one of the ten extreme physiques, his aperture’s potential was limited, so raising few Gu and researching many moves was wiser. ^{ch. 1131}

Fang Yuan’s own situation differs in three ways. First, his sovereign immortal aperture holds immense potential, so feeding Immortal Gu, though a burden, he can easily afford. Second, he is alone, so a tribe’s shared resources mean little to him. Third, he needs many Immortal Gu to survive, using Flying Sword to attack and Sword Escape to retreat. ^{ch. 1131}

His sword marks targeting death uses Flying Sword as its core, with a few supplementary mortal Gu. Sword Escape could technically replace it, since both are sword path. But Sword Escape is a movement Immortal Gu, so the move would need different mortal Gu in far greater numbers and would become less workable. Hei Fan’s method suits most Gu Immortals but not him; his own way of raising Gu would be fatal for anyone else to copy. ^{ch. 1131}

He reads on into the mortal killer moves next. They are mostly time path, of little use beside his own blood and strength path moves. The incomplete killer moves after them, some guesses Hei Fan never finished before he died, catch no interest, since Fang Yuan’s time path attainment is too low and he cannot use wisdom Gu. ^{ch. 1131}

His browsing of killer moves ends there. Fang Yuan resolves to practice them once he returns. A failed killer move brings a backlash, and at a critical moment can decide life or death. Practicing costs funds too, since mortal Gu must be bought and every activation burns immortal essence. ^{ch. 1131}

Fang Yuan turns to Hei Fan’s Gu recipes: five methods for parallel refining year Gu. The fifth needed the fewest ingredients and held the highest success rate, mostly adding mortal year Gu into the immortal one. Hei Fan relied on it almost exclusively. Years Flow Like Water’s endless mortal year Gu pairs with this recipe. He skips the recipe for after Immortal Gu, since he already has it. ^{ch. 1131}

The inheritance holds close to a hundred completed recipes. Hei Fan placed the greatest emphasis on the recipe for Years Flow Like Water, his own creation, inspired by years of parallel refining year Gu. ^{ch. 1131}

He recorded the refinement: emptying the Hei tribe treasury, calling in favors, and paying a huge price for two refinement experts’ help, ending deep in debt. He suffered failure after failure and nearly gave up more than once, succeeding only after nine failures. He set his own doubts down without shame. He did not recoup his losses for years. He warns his inheritor to be extremely careful refining a rank eight Immortal Gu. ^{ch. 1131}

The account brings Old Ancestor Xue Hu to mind, presently refining his own rank eight Immortal Gu, the extremely precious fortune rivalling heaven Gu. Lang Ya land spirit says Giant Sun Immortal Venerable made it from luck path essence. Refining a rank eight Immortal Gu is a huge gamble. Xue Hu has Ma Hong Yun as his main ingredient to save cost, yet stole corpses from Zombie Alliance, looted Hei tribe’s treasury, and left Snowy Mountain in chaos. Yao Huang attempts the same with resurrection from the dead, which Northern Plains rumor also calls rank eight. ^{ch. 1131}

Having a rank eight Immortal Gu or not, Fang Yuan understands, means two different states. Rank eight Gu Immortals face tribulations too, and their usually low lifespan often leaves no choice but the gamble. Xue Hu gambles for tribulation, Yao Huang to prolong his life. Hei Fan was never stopped by calamity or tribulation, only by the limited lifespan that finally killed him. Fang Yuan reflects that tribulations and lifespan are the two problems between him and eternal life. ^{ch. 1131}