Chapter 554

A tower of shifting colors appears, the initial form of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Its layers stabilize, and can be entered, only once the blizzard covers northern plains and every small tower in Imperial Court blessed land has sunk into the ground. Fang Yuan lacks the bloodline of Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, so even when the building takes form completely he will need Hei Lou Lan to get him a guest token. He sees no hurry, since Hei Lou Lan will need outside help like him sooner or later. ^{ch. 554}

In a secret room, Fang Yuan reckons both his apertures are at rank five peak stage. With azure wolf group, four arm wind king and his battle experience he stands at the peak among mortals, level with Shang Yan Fei and Empress Wu Ji in Southern Border. His best hope is that Tai Bai Yun Sheng already holds the recipe for Immortal Gu Landscape As Before. Inside the building he could then plunder the recipe and the river as before and mountain as before Gu, kill Tai Bai Yun Sheng before he becomes immortal, and have Lang Ya land spirit refine the Immortal Gu. But the chance that a mortal holds that recipe is next to nothing. Vague rumors from his previous life say the two rank five Gu merged on their own into rank six Immortal Gu Landscape As Before once Tai Bai Yun Sheng became a Gu Immortal. ^{ch. 554}

Being prudent, Fang Yuan will not stake everything on that. If it goes wrong, he must face Gu Immortal Tai Bai Yun Sheng, and his strength would not suffice even against a newly advanced Gu Immortal. He sees three ways forward: hunt the building for its strongest Gu worms or unique methods, lay secret preparations against Tai Bai Yun Sheng, and solve his enslavement and strength dual cultivation problem to lift his battle strength. Four arm wind king has used up almost all his previous life’s foundation, and plots against Gu Immortals are too inferior to rely on. The building is his only true hope. ^{ch. 554}

Outside in northern plains, snow has fallen for over a month, trees are frozen into ice and beast groups have died in large numbers. Remnant tribes survive in warm places. One is Man tribe, which under Man Tu has swallowed many small tribes and, holding Hong Yan valley, counts as a ruler of a region. ^{ch. 554}

In the hall of affairs, rank three external elder Shi Wu kneels before Man Tu and begs forgiveness, because spirit spring D in his charge froze, dried up and is ruined. Man Tu, who already knew, tells him to rise. The ten year disaster can freeze any spring. Shi Wu, though married into Man tribe, is half an outsider by surname. Man Duo, Man Tu’s third son, reports that seven springs remain, marked A, B, C, E, F, G and H, and that G and H will last less than a month. ^{ch. 554}

Man Tu asks the elders what to do, and they propose cutting the Gu Masters’ primeval stones or waiting out the disaster. He answers that springs are very important to Gu Masters, that snow monsters will soon roam and that Gu Masters must defend the valley. He orders a spring egg Gu planted as a new spring, D. An elder objects that it is a rank five Gu, but Man Tu replies that the springs keep the Gu Masters strong until the tribe can realize its ambitions after the blizzard. The elders pledge their lives, and Man Tu puts Shi Wu in charge of spring D. ^{ch. 554}

After the meeting Shi Wu follows Man Duo to the tribe warehouse and takes the spring egg Gu. Man Duo tells him it is a rank five Gu with extremely high demand on primeval essence, and even a rank five middle stage Gu Master cannot activate it in one try. With his rank three cultivation Shi Wu must use lasting Gu and continuing Gu, and planting the spring will take close to a month at the quickest. Man Duo promises to help. ^{ch. 554}