Chapter 519

In Ni Yu blessed land, the rank six Gu Immortal Hei Bai visits the aged rank seven Dong Fang Chang Fan. Dong Fang Chang Fan recalls that seventy years ago Hei Bai was still Hei tribe’s leader, a step from the Imperial Court. Hei Bai admits that he lost by one move and Liu tribe won instead. Dong Fang Chang Fan confirms it, naming the victorious Liu tribe leader Liu Yi Feng and calling him a genius barely seen in a hundred years. Dong Fang Chang Fan notes that Liu Yi Feng nonetheless failed when he charged toward the Gu Immortal realm. He calls Hei Bai the one who remained standing among his generation, the man known as Hei tribe rockman. ^{ch. 519}

Dong Fang Chang Fan tells him that becoming a Gu Immortal is as hard as ascending to heaven. Out of ten thousand rank five Gu Masters, not even one might succeed. He adds that after years observing many juniors, his hopes now rest on this child. ^{ch. 519}

Dong Fang Chang Fan raises rainbow smoke from a stone bench to show the live battle at Cao Fu. The two watch Pan Ping flash his scimitar and behead Tang tribe leader. Hei Bai names the weapon on sight: sole blade Gu. It can ignore all defenses of the same rank once activated, feeds on the blade that carries it until the blade crumbles to dust, and was created by the Gu Immortal Blade Demon. Dong Fang Chang Fan adds that sole blade Gu can reach rank six at most. Blade Demon once wielded a rank six copy that made him untouchable, until he lost to Butterfly Sword Immortal and died, his blessed land absorbed by the victor. The recipe itself was never passed down, though many lesser sole blade Gu still circulate in the mortal realm from when Blade Demon traveled in disguise and gave them away; Pan Ping, he supposes, seems to have received one of those gifts. ^{ch. 519}

Dong Fang Chang Fan is a famous wisdom path Gu Immortal of northern plains, with glorious battle results across his whole life, and numerous Gu Immortals have suffered from his schemes. When he was born, Dong Fang tribe was already declining, and on becoming a Gu Immortal he single-handedly held the tribe up through his schemes against its enemies, eventually causing Dong Fang tribe to rise again. Dong Fang Chang Fan’s own life is closing. He means to hand down his inheritance before it does, having judged Dong Fang Yu Liang the best of many candidates even though the younger man falls short of his full expectations. ^{ch. 519}

Lifespan Gu remain hard to find even for a tribe as large as his own. Part of the reason is that the righteous path has quietly agreed among themselves to restrict what reaches him, and the demonic Gu Immortals he schemed against over his long life hate him bitterly. His enemies ganged up on him collectively as his life neared its end, and even the righteous path did not want to see him live longer. Hei Bai senses this may be their last meeting. ^{ch. 519}

The smoke goes on to show Dong Fang Yu Liang entering the fight himself against Hei Lou Lan, drawing only a stalemate. Hei Lou Lan then orders a night assault. Night raises the wolves’ battle strength, and under Fang Yuan’s control they break the final defense line in seven minutes, forcing Dong Fang Yu Liang to surrender. Dong Fang Chang Fan smiles lightly and remarks that Dong Fang Yu Liang’s one real flaw was holding back troops to guard his sister, a choice that widened the gap between the two armies. Hei Bai sees it differently: Dong Fang Yu Liang still preserved his tribe better than most would have, and his devotion to his sister is precious rather than a fault. ^{ch. 519}

Dong Fang Chang Fan agrees. He reflects ruefully that Ancestor Giant Sun founded the Imperial Court contest to weaken rival tribes while preserving his own bloodline, yet even Giant Sun Immortal Venerable died once his lifespan ran out, leaving nothing in this world truly indestructible. Dong Fang tribe lost the Imperial Court contest and became Hei tribe’s captive, redeemable under Giant Sun Immortal Venerable’s rule that let a defeated tribe buy back its freedom with resources. Hei Bai then hands over a list detailing the resources Hei tribe demands as reparations, including specialty Gu worms and recipes unique to Dong Fang tribe. Giant Sun Immortal Venerable is one of the ten supreme invincible beings. Dong Fang Chang Fan accepts the terms without complaint, citing the loser’s-price rule Giant Sun Immortal Venerable set down, which no tribe now dares defy for fear of being ostracized by the whole of northern plains’ righteous path. Historically, tribes that refused to pay this price were wiped out. ^{ch. 519}

A giant light door opens over the battlefield at Cao Fu, and a young female envoy steps through carrying a token to formally bring Dong Fang tribe home. The door measures about sixty meters across. Hei Lou Lan and the envoy settle the reparations on the spot. Hei Lou Lan is delighted: his army’s strength is set to rise by at least fifty percent once the surrendered tribes and their goods are absorbed. Dong Fang Yu Liang bids Hei Lou Lan a calm farewell and leads his people through the door. ^{ch. 519}

Between his own troops and the tribes his side pulled in along the way, Dong Fang tribe’s overall size grows by thirty percent despite the loss. Onlookers on both sides discuss the outcome. Some envy that a super tribe can still shelter from the blizzard inside its blessed land even after losing; others reason that a few more wins would recover Hei tribe’s own losses, and that reaching the Imperial Court blessed land’s inheritances could make anyone rich. Fang Yuan watches all of it without a word, reflecting that this decade long blizzard across northern plains is a single vast game among its strongest, one that some chase for fame and others suffer through. He means to watch coldly and make his own plans within it. ^{ch. 519}