Cultivation Level Rises Again
Brother Leng cannot explain why the ancient sword dragon crosses the regional wall as if unaffected, though its immortal aperture marks it as a Gu Immortal’s transformation. Fighting as the lightning flash giant wolf, he takes a wound from dragon breath through the stomach. He falls, reverts to human form, and dies at the dragon’s hands. The dragon strips the battlefield, stuffs Uncle Zhang’s and Brother Leng’s corpses into its aperture, and flies east to Eastern Sea. ch. 1217
In a nameless sea area the dragon leaves Wu Yi Hai’s body. A blessed land forms there, an ocean of sea turtles, tortoises, corals, and seagulls. It holds three ancient desolate beast horned divine tortoises, a field of ancient desolate plant silent corals, and six desolate beast white letter blue feather seagulls. The land spirit, shaped as a sea turtle, sets a difficult acknowledgment requirement, so the dragon leaves and later turns back into a man: Fang Yuan. ch. 1217
Fang Yuan already knows Southern Border’s politics from Lady White Rabbit. He judges Wu Yi Hai’s face the ideal disguise. Wu Yi Hai was an illegitimate son with no life tablet Gu or soul lantern Gu, since either would have made him second young master, so his death is unlikely to reach Wu clan’s notice. He lived his whole life as a lone cultivator in Eastern Sea, a stranger to Wu clan’s Gu Immortals. Wearing his face with familiar face leaves Fang Yuan little chance of exposure. ch. 1217
Fang Yuan rests on a deserted island, nurses the blood asset Immortal Gu back to full health, and deduces a simplified blood light spirit suppression built around it. Using the upper extreme heavenly eagle, he enters the blessed land, suppresses the land spirit with the move, and annexes the land into his aperture. The sea turtle land spirit survives inside his aperture. It will not obey him, crying constantly. He keeps it once he sees it means the blessed land no harm, hoping to truly subdue it when he meets the ownership requirement. ch. 1217
Fang Yuan crosses back into Southern Border, deposits Brother Leng’s and Uncle Zhang’s immortal apertures, and annexes those blessed lands too. Between the three rank seven apertures his cultivation rises sharply, and he becomes a rank seven Gu Immortal who has passed one grand tribulation. Southern Border’s strongest rank seven, Old Treeman Ba De, is stuck at the final grand tribulation and dares not attempt it. Fang Yuan finds even his own pace of cultivation scary. Gasping at his luck, he wonders how dog shit luck Immortal Gu would compare to fortune rivalling heaven Immortal Gu once elevated to rank eight. ch. 1217
He does not know why. Ying Wu Xie’s killer move burning soul bursting luck did much of the work. The three Gu Immortals mistake him for a genuine wild ancient sword dragon, and attitude Gu helps him hold the disguise against mere rank sevens. Fang Yuan struck: dark assassination killed Uncle Zhang, and he eliminated Wu Yi Hai in the same instant, leaving only Brother Leng before the fight was decided. The battle nets him immense gains, reduced only by how badly the three transformation path apertures had shaken and lost resources. ch. 1217
Rather than approach Wu clan, Fang Yuan soul searches Wu Yi Hai to learn his whole life. He keeps gathering intelligence through Lady White Rabbit. Wu Yi Hai’s disappearance is known across Southern Border, and Wu clan stays silent. Many forces, mostly righteous path, acted in secret, but none admits it or knows by whose hand he died. ch. 1217
A rumor spreads instead that Wu clan’s rank eight Wu Yong murdered his own half brother to seize Wu Du Xiu’s inheritance. It deals Wu Yong’s reputation a severe blow among a righteous path that prizes it, though he stays silent rather than deny it. Fang Yuan senses many hidden forces exerting pressure in the dark. Wu Du Xiu nears death, and Wu Yong’s rank eight abilities remain widely doubted. Fang Yuan wonders what would happen if he appeared now; a sudden chill runs down his spine. ch. 1217
