Chapter 1197

Chu Du values Fang Yuan more than recruiting Xue Wu Hen. He still needs Reckless Savage’s true meaning from Fang Yuan to raise his strength path attainment. He voice-transmits Xue Wu Hen to partner with Elder Liu Guan Yi over Liu Hui’s aperture instead. Liu Guan Yi’s upper extreme heavenly eagle can enter the aperture, so Xue Wu Hen should take its resources and hand the emptied aperture to Liu Guan Yi for further resources as payment. Xue Wu Hen agrees. The scheme is Fang Yuan’s own plan. ^{ch. 1197}

Before the deal closes, a Liu tribe Gu Immortal, Liu Zhuan Shen, steps out of Golden Dawn Hall and offers Granny Yin’s corpse for Liu Hui’s corpse and soul. Liu Hui’s soul survives, though his corpse sits in enemy hands. Liu Zhuan Shen had given up many benefits to buy Granny Yin’s corpse, its aperture unharmed, from Nian Er tribe, after Nian Er Ping Zhi’s immortal killer move one sword life completely destroyed her soul in a tough victory. Granny Yin was rank seven and Liu Hui only rank six, so the trade looks likely to succeed. ^{ch. 1197}

Chu Du admires the move: Liu Zhuan Shen has cornered him. His own Gu Immortals want the exchange honored, since any of them could lose body and soul later with no ally able to retrieve a captured soul otherwise. Chu Du hesitates, apologizes inwardly to Liu Guan Yi, and agrees. ^{ch. 1197}

Xue Wu Hen gives up a rank six earth path aperture and Gu Immortal soul but gains a rank seven soul path aperture, plus snow path killer moves secretly from Chu Du. He is satisfied regardless. Gong Wan Ting then negotiates with Chu Du, adding a standing rule for exchanging corpses and soul captives. After a half-day pause, battles resume: Chu Du sends a Bai Zu tribe Gu Immortal, the former Hei tribe supreme elder, per Heavenly Lord Bai Zu’s order to protect the true Bai Zu bloodline. ^{ch. 1197}

The setback ruins Fang Yuan’s plan; Chu Du later sends an apologetic letter explaining why. Fang Yuan understands. Alone in his refinement room, he resolves to seize the aperture himself and advance to rank seven. He needs new offensive methods beyond his weak flying bear transformation. ^{ch. 1197}

Before him lies a desolate beast corpse: a silver dragon twenty feet long, its horn spear sharp, scales metallic, radiating a cold sharpness. It was a sword path desolate beast, a sword dragon, already dead, its dao marks dissipating into the surroundings. This is the transformation Fang Yuan has prepared: sword dragon transformation. The move normally needs dragon scale, horn, claw and eye Gu, becoming immortal if any one is Immortal Gu, but Fang Yuan uses his change form Immortal Gu as the core and refines only mortal versions of the rest. ^{ch. 1197}

Transformation path killer moves are simple to deduce. Fang Yuan, already a wisdom path grandmaster, completes and improves sword dragon transformation, making it faster and nimbler. Han Dong, though dead and his soul dissipated, still helps: he had cultivated spirit snake transformation, a similar beast, and the land spirit he left behind still holds his cultivation insights for Fang Yuan to draw on. ^{ch. 1197}

Fang Yuan easily refines the sword dragon corpse into supporting mortal Gu. Some days later, silver radiance flashes over Fang Yuan’s body, and when it fades a silver sword dragon stands in his place, its white eyes still flashing with intelligence. Sword dragon transformation is refined. He spends time thoroughly familiarizing himself with the new body, drawing on his experience with change form Immortal Gu, including his weaker flying bear transformation. ^{ch. 1197}

Testing begins with immortal essence: expenditure to maintain the transformation is very low, since only a rank six change form Immortal Gu is involved. Testing battle strength comes next. Fang Yuan’s claws slice through hundred years profound ice like tofu, and against subterranean adamantite, among the hardest rank six materials, leave a clear mark inches deep. Aware of his claws’ limit, he does not test them against the rank seven material beside it. ^{ch. 1197}