Chapter 1232

Fang Yuan reflects that unravel dream is very effective but costs a huge amount of dream path mortal Gu, so he can cast it fewer than ten times. He refuses to give the recipes to Lang Ya Sect, since exposure would erase his edge as the five regions’ foremost dream realm explorer, and keeps refining them himself at a lower rate, rating them higher than Immortal Gu for now. To raise his refinement efficiency he recalls a Central Continent spring dream fruit tree whose fruit once helped him greatly, but he cannot transplant it without destroying it, since it grows together with a thousand year fire date tree. He also cannot travel to Central Continent himself, since familiar face cannot fool wisdom path Gu Immortals’ deductions and dark limit Immortal Gu is only rank six. With no second such tree available, he gives up on the idea. ^{ch. 1232}

He turns instead to deducing the dream realm’s eighth scene, using a wisdom path grandmaster’s foresight. Unravel Mystery is still his only wisdom path Immortal Gu, unpaired with any killer move, so it sees little use. He judges Ba clan his greatest enemy, now watching passively after its earlier schemes against him failed, which makes him wary. He calls his Wu Yi Hai identity useful now that his arrangement turned the immortal opportunity business’s old weakness into a scheme that might trap careless Gu Immortals. Wu An and Wu Liao handle Southern Border matters without him. When Wu Liao reported earlier, Fang Yuan told him not to be bothered except for major matters, and Wu Liao grew extremely disappointed, thinking Fang Yuan no different from the previous rank seven, and turned cold toward him. ^{ch. 1232}

The giant dream realm keeps expanding regardless of his own explorations, which shrink only a small portion of it and stay easily concealed. Demonic path cultivators and lone immortals exploring it give him his greatest cover. Most explore it through the immortal opportunity business and fail, though a few return with dream path materials they treasure and rarely sell, and righteous clans including Wu clan buy some. Wu clan has gathered only about ten, but watches them closely, so Fang Yuan dares not touch them and enters his own dream instead. His own dream realm is in fact the safest source of dream path Gu materials, which those Gu Immortals do not know. ^{ch. 1232}

At Bai Xiang grotto-heaven in Southern Border, Bai Ning Bing sits inside a huge Gu formation, still carrying the raging wave rising dragon fire in his own body, a reckless gamble with his life on the line. Bai Xiang heavenly spirit warns that the next step targets the fire directly, forty-nine days without rest, and that losing focus even at the end will kill him. Dizzy and barely able to sit, Bai Ning Bing smiles and tells him to begin. By his own reckoning he could not last half a day, yet the impossible task interests him as a test of his limits. Bai Xiang heavenly spirit activates the formation. A huge flame bursts from Bai Ning Bing’s eyes, nose, mouth and ears as the humans alike dragons method melts and separates his body, soul and dao marks together with the dragon fire, an agony too immense to describe. He nears unconsciousness as Bai Xiang heavenly spirit cries for him to hold on, since fainting now would let the fire burn him to a crisp. ^{ch. 1232}

At Snowy Mountain’s first peak in Northern Plains, Ma Hong Yun screams through a lightning refinement until it fades, leaving him breathless and spent. Lady Wan Shou, slightly angry, asks whether he has failed again. He has endured countless refinements without losing a limb, and his cultivation has now climbed to rank five peak stage, which leaves her speechless. ^{ch. 1232}