Chapter 552

Fang Yuan looks down and sees a mound rising from the ground, unbroken by ridges except for an opening that shows a tunnel-like hole. A huge swamp with sparse trees surrounds it, and on its southwest side runs a long river whose start and end lie beyond his sight. A verse comes to his mind describing light within the soil rising a hundred thousand feet and something crossing the sky for a hundred li above fragrant plum snow. He has a flash of recognition: this must be Di Qiu inheritance ground. ^{ch. 552}

He had earlier obtained information on Di Qiu inheritance from a fake grey-white stone slab, whose painting idea Gu etched this map into his brain so clearly he could not forget it. Flying around the mound, he confirms the terrain matches his memory exactly. He reflects that a terrain-based clue seemed unreliable outside, where the land could easily be changed or destroyed, but that Imperial Court blessed land is different. The blessed land opens once every ten years, and the victors of the Imperial Court contest who enter it may alter the terrain through battle, but once it closes, the terrain slowly recovers and stands restored by the time it reopens. He reasons that whoever set the inheritance here, using a fake stone slab as its clue, invested great effort and time, so the inheritance itself should be worthwhile. ^{ch. 552}

Fang Yuan flies to the mound, observes its entrance, and sends several azure wolves into the dark hole. Fifteen minutes later they return unscathed. The hole looks pitch black from outside, but inside it is lit by glowing moss and holds nothing but moist air, rock and moss. Fang Yuan enters personally to check, but likewise finds nothing. ^{ch. 552}

He reasons that an easy inheritance would already have been taken, and though he cannot rule out someone beating him to it, he judges the odds very low. Reaching this spot requires both deciphering the grey-white stone slab’s clue, which needs a Gu Master skilled at appraisal, and surviving the Imperial Court contest to enter as one of the victors. He concludes the inheritance is not simple and the cipher must be solved. He ponders the verse again but reaches no answer, and decides to set it aside for now since there is still time left in the blessed land. ^{ch. 552}

Fang Yuan flies toward the blessed land’s central sacred palace, the goal his whole disguise was built to reach. Obtaining landscape as before Gu is his top priority there, alongside Giant Sun Immortal Venerable’s inheritance inside Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Most strong Gu Masters likewise head for the sacred palace. It is the central area, the essence of the blessed land. ^{ch. 552}

The sacred palace is his most important resting chamber. His other three sit in Eastern Sea, Western Desert and Southern Border, with a larger one in the sky within Longevity Heaven in Central Continent. History names ten rank nine Gu Masters, called Immortal Venerable or Demon Venerable, spanning the immemorial, remote, olden, medieval and late antiquity eras. Each was the strongest Gu Master of their own era, with a distinct speciality; among them are Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, Red Lotus Demon Venerable, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable. ^{ch. 552}

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was a demonic path Gu Master born in Northern Plains, fortunate throughout his life and able to turn dangers into blessings. After becoming a demonic path Gu Immortal, he was an unrestrained womanizer, and even the number one fairy of Spirit Affinity House, one of the top ten sects in Central Continent, became his wife. That marriage made him an external supreme elder of Spirit Affinity House and converted him to the righteous path. After becoming an Immortal Venerable and ascending to the Immortal Court, he became the fourth generation Immortal King, built five great resting chambers, and took in over several tens of millions of concubines. He stayed energetic even at a thousand years old. He kept taking young girls from across the world into his harem. ^{ch. 552}

He fathered more offspring than any other venerable. He could not even remember most of their names. His children spread across the five regions, and those now concentrated in Northern Plains who carry his bloodline are collectively known as the Huang Jin family, which controls nearly the entire region. ^{ch. 552}

In the sacred palace’s central control hall at night, silvery light falls on Hei Lou Lan’s face as he looks up at a huge plaque, his giant bear-like body standing upright beneath it. As alliance leader carrying the Huang Jin bloodline, he arrives in the sacred palace automatically upon entering Imperial Court blessed land. The plaque is sixty meters long and twenty-five meters wide, its two golden, dazzling words reading Hereditary Monarchy, and the hall itself is huge and grand, with even his bulk looking small beneath the plaque. He studies it with a complicated expression. Pain, hatred, admiration, anger and aloofness all cross his face. ^{ch. 552}

Cunning Gentleman Sun Shi Han approaches, and Hei Lou Lan’s expression seals away, returning to his usual arrogant, boorish and irritable manner. Sun Shi Han presents Pan Ping’s letter, which reports that Chang Shan Yin devoured an inheritance alone, extorted him publicly and acted vilely, and asks Hei Lou Lan to seek him justice. Sun Shi Han adds his own complaint, that Chang Shan Yin grows more overbearing, that he bullied an alliance mate who had kindly meant to share the inheritance, and that great merit does not excuse acting as he pleases. Hei Lou Lan takes the letter, then demands Zhu Zai’s letter too, reasoning that Pan Ping’s account alone is one sided. Sun Shi Han flatters his wisdom before handing it over. ^{ch. 552}

Zhu Zai’s letter turns out to be only a bid for credit, and together the two letters let Hei Lou Lan piece together what happened; he then corrodes both letters into nothing with a dark light. He orders compensation for Pan Ping and the others at the supply camp. When Sun Shi Han asks in confusion whether Chang Shan Yin will be punished, Hei Lou Lan laughs the idea off, saying he would have done the same in his place, only less crudely. ^{ch. 552}

Sun Shi Han objects that Chang Shan Yin is becoming untamable, that without Hei tribe’s funding he would lack such a wolf group, and that his growing reputation as a Northern Plains hero could let him overshadow or overthrow Hei Lou Lan if left unpunished. Hei Lou Lan laughs this off. He argues the incident itself, bullying the weak and greedily seizing the inheritance, will ruin Chang Shan Yin’s own reputation. He adds that lacking the Huang Jin bloodline, Chang Shan Yin has no guest token and cannot enter True Yang Building. ^{ch. 552}

Hei Lou Lan reasons this episode shows Chang Shan Yin is only mortal, with desires and greed that make him easy to manage. He notes he now holds Chang tribe and Ge tribe in hand, and that a genius like Chang Shan Yin, already rank five peak stage, will want to progress further. He says he will only reveal the method to reach the Gu Immortal realm once Chang Shan Yin joins Hei tribe. He tells Sun Shi Han he still needs Chang Shan Yin later to challenge True Yang Building, and not to bother him again over such small matters. Sun Shi Han acknowledges, his voice trembling with disappointment, and leaves the hall. ^{ch. 552}