Chapter 424

Fang Yuan and Little Hu Immortal pick a site on the blessed land’s western grassland and trigger a hole earth Gu, which splits the ground into a lipped, fanged crack two hundred and seventy feet across. Fang Yuan feeds it two hundred thousand primeval stones until it settles, waiting only on He Feng Yang’s paired sub Gu to complete the link. Little Hu Immortal stations fox groups to guard the opening. ^{ch. 424}

She then turns those same foxes on the stonemen tribes, letting them menace the settlements until the three tribes muster twenty thousand warriors apiece and march west as one allied army against what they believe is a hostile immortal’s nest. Five or six small clashes follow, the fox groups giving ground bit by bit each time, until the stonemen reach the crack in the ground and Little Hu Immortal, voice disguised, answers them as Mother Earth herself, begging them to charge inside and free her from the immortal lodged in her heart. The stonemen storm in believing themselves blessed, only to be shot out the far end of the tunnel and restrained on the spot by waiting Immortal Crane Sect disciples. He Feng Yang, still smarting from the last transaction, plants the sub Gu on Fei He mountain rather than smash it out of spite. ^{ch. 424}

The narration is blunt about the trick: variant humans such as stonemen are naive and barbaric, easily fooled by a deception a clever child could manage, and remain unaware of what has happened even after they are sold. Using the stonemen’s faith and their own tribal leadership against them, Fang Yuan entices sixty thousand young stonemen into Fei He mountain and sells them. ^{ch. 424}

The deal earns him over one million six hundred thousand primeval stones. Against that, he pays for refinement materials, common goods, and sixty-five thousand primeval stones to operate the hole earth Gu, and He Feng Yang raises his price by ten percent and trims many requested goods out of spite. Fang Yuan does not mind; he already has what he wanted. Yan Yong and the other stonemen elders return through the hole earth Gu to Hu Immortal blessed land, where Fang Yuan already has a cover story ready to keep them from rebelling, and he is willing to kill and replace any who try, since Dang Hun Mountain still has gutstones to spare. ^{ch. 424}

Cultivation resumes. At rank four peak stage the nine eyes liquor worm, with him since Qing Mao mountain, finally loses its use, and Fang Yuan seals it in retirement. Relying on true gold primeval essence alone slows his advance, though the blessed land still runs at least five times faster than cultivation outside it. By his own estimate he will reach at least rank five middle stage, perhaps close to upper stage, by the time the seventh earthly calamity strikes, a pace countless times better than his previous life, when at the same age he was still stuck at rank two. He judges he must leave the blessed land within three years at the latest to hunt down a smooth success Gu or immediate success Gu against Spring Autumn Cicada’s risk, and envies Feng Jiu Ge’s freedom to simply cultivate in seclusion until reaching Gu Immortal realm. ^{ch. 424}

A month later, an unforeseen crisis strikes that forces him to leave the blessed land earlier than planned. ^{ch. 424}