Chapter 555

The site for the spirit spring is already chosen, and Shi Wu brings the spring egg Gu there with Man Duo, sending primeval essence through lasting Gu and continuing Gu into it once his preparations are done. The spring egg Gu floats in the air, absorbing primeval essence as it drifts slowly up and down. Shi Wu sleeps only three hours a night for eighteen days. He barely pauses to eat, rushing every meal just to keep injecting essence. The spring egg Gu begins shining with a brilliant light, and mild cracks appear on its surface, which Man Duo says means it is close to breaking open and succeeding. Forcing a rank five Gu with his cultivation leaves Shi Wu mentally worn and thinner in body, but he judges success would be a huge service to the tribe. ^{ch. 555}

Man Duo tells him that at the elder meeting the tribe leader singled out his effort and offered to grant him any request he named. Shi Wu says Hong Yan valley keeps getting colder. Its vegetation and beasts have been freezing to death. Man Duo’s expression sours: Hong Yan valley’s underground magma has been dropping for reasons nobody understands, unlike anything in its historical record. Tribe leader Man Tu had already raged over the problem at an earlier meeting, pressing for a solution while the tribe hides it to protect morale. Judging that the news would unsettle Shi Wu at this crucial moment in his refining, Man Duo lies to him and offers reassurance instead. ^{ch. 555}

Shi Wu suddenly shouts a warning: flying hand snow is descending, palm sized snowflakes carrying a rank five Gu’s aura inside fierce, cutting winds. Man Duo calls the nearby Gu Masters to protect the spring egg Gu, but the blizzard soon overwhelms their defense. The storm gathers into a six meter snow monster. In the sky, the flying hand snow piles into a huge palm that seizes the spring egg Gu and crushes it, then falls apart. The spring egg Gu has vanished. ^{ch. 555}

In Imperial Court blessed land, the azure wolf group sprints across the ground, dashes through the air and lashes out with their claws, still hungry for freedom even though the sacred palace already feeds them. They want to be beasts roaming the sky, not canaries kept in a cage. Fang Yuan lets them run free while he flies above on eagle wings, watching the ground below at Di Qiu. He turns over a verse about light rising from the soil a hundred thousand feet, something swimming a hundred li across the sky, and plum fragrant snow, unable to work out what it means. He has been visiting the inheritance grounds every few days, certain by instinct that Di Qiu inheritance is not simple. Each time, he uses the excuse of walking and training his wolves to practice his manipulation skills while he searches. ^{ch. 555}

Fang Yuan now ranks second in status only to Hei Lou Lan, so every move he makes draws notice, and he can no longer search unseen. This time he finds nothing, and to avoid suspicion he leaves. Though his status would let him claim the whole area, Fang Yuan holds back: a valuable inheritance would draw rivals the moment he moved on it. Lacking Huang Jin bloodline, he still needs Hei Lou Lan’s guest token to enter Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. He has instead been sending Gu Masters to scout ahead of every hunt, choosing whichever of five or six routes turns up the most prey, and each one passes close to Di Qiu inheritance. ^{ch. 555}

Imperial Court blessed land holds many beasts and resources, especially near the small towers where wild Gu swarm. Only a few Gu Masters ever enter Eighty-Eight True Yang Building; most roam the blessed land instead, subduing wild Gu or hunting inheritances, and Fang Yuan passes many of them on his route, including near Di Qiu. He is not afraid to let someone else find Di Qiu mountain first. If it is triggered, he expects to hear of it and move in on the news, the way he once seized an inheritance at Xing Jiu Peak by force. ^{ch. 555}

Riding the azure myriad wolf king, Fang Yuan watches a small tower sink slowly into the ground with a rumble, something he already expects since the towers of Imperial Court blessed land sink as Eighty-Eight True Yang Building gradually takes shape. Each tower is a nest holding ten years of grown wild Gu, and many guess, without confirmation, that this wild Gu is the energy source forming the building, making the towers a portion of it. The Gu Immortals who could confirm it cannot enter Imperial Court blessed land, and the mortals who can enter are too weak next to Giant Sun Immortal Venerable to work it out. Fang Yuan is the exception. His edge is information: Lang Ya Land Spirit, in its past life the rank eight Gu Immortal Long Hair Ancestor who built Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, gave him the most complete picture of it that any Gu Immortal holds. ^{ch. 555}

A flash of insight strikes him: no small tower stands near Di Qiu. Recalling his recent hunts near Di Qiu, both in the sky and on the ground, he realizes the site should hold one, since a tower stands at every eight li across Northern Plains and each one matches a region there. He judges this a real breakthrough that could unravel the mystery of Di Qiu inheritance. He curbs his excitement rather than rushing back, since that would draw suspicion, and continues his planned route until the wolves return to the sacred palace. ^{ch. 555}

The sacred palace rises like a mountain peak, and the still forming Eighty-Eight True Yang Building at its summit wraps the whole palace in a mysterious aurora. Fang Yuan hunts with the wolves every six or seven days. Three days later, sooner than planned, the aurora gathers to a point and the first layer of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building forms, throwing the sacred palace into excited commotion. Most Gu Masters can only watch. ^{ch. 555}

Hei Lou Lan enters the building at once, and hours later returns in a pathetic state, wounds covering his body, the shock in his eyes impossible to hide. For the second expedition he brings many Hei tribe Gu Masters, who carry Giant Sun Immortal Venerable’s bloodline and so can move through the building freely. Tribesmen, in his view, are the reliable choice. There is no need, he judges, to share the find with outsiders. He comes back extremely tired, and only sixty percent of the Gu Masters who went in with him return. Rumors of the building spread afterward: some call it a work of heaven, some call it perilous with every step, and some are drawn by tales of what it rewards, moving everyone in the sacred palace. ^{ch. 555}