Chapter 556

Hei Lou Lan kicks his tribesman Hei Qi Sheng to the ground, cursing him as useless, his face twisting into a ruthless, savage look while the hall stays silent and no Hei tribe Gu Master dares to speak. The text names him “Black Tyrant” for his cruelty. Especially since the 54th round has stopped him six times, his temper has caught fire. Hei Qi Sheng sprawls on the ground, begging forgiveness and saying he deserves death for his failure. Hei Lou Lan calls him an idiot and kicks him several more times, only easing off once Hei Qi Sheng starts coughing blood. No elder dares speak: the last ones who pleaded for Hei Qi Sheng were beaten to heavy injury and are still bedridden. Hei Lou Lan’s temper had been curbed during the Imperial Court contest, but back in the blessed land it returns at full force. ^{ch. 556}

He screams at the gathered elders, calling them useless, threatening to dock their pay, and reminding them of the primeval stones and status he has given them, demanding a way through the 54th round. First elder Hei Pei steps forward and explains that the 54th round tests the enslavement path and cannot be passed without master level attainment. Hei Qi Sheng, though the tribe’s own trained enslavement path Gu Master, is not yet a master. Hei Pei says they need Lord Wolf King’s strength. Hei Lou Lan bristles at the suggestion, accusing Hei Pei of asking him to beg outside help and make Hei tribe look weak. Hei Pei answers that Wolf King Chang Shan Yin fights as part of the alliance army under Hei Lou Lan, so this is no outside help, and calls it Chang Shan Yin’s greatest honor to be let into True Yang Building as an outsider. Hei Lou Lan’s anger softens on hearing this. ^{ch. 556}

Hei Lou Lan already holds two guest tokens, earned by clearing the building’s 12th and 46th rounds. Inviting Wolf King means the reward for the 54th round would go to Chang Shan Yin rather than to him, since only a tribesman’s reward can be claimed by the tribe leader. The building’s rewards, Gu recipes, Gu worms and more, are extraordinary enough to move even Hei Lou Lan, letting an ordinary Gu Master rise far above his background. Still, forcing Hei Qi Sheng further is pointless. Hei tribe has nurtured three enslavement path Gu Masters; one died during the Imperial Court contest, and Hei Qi Sheng, the stronger of the two left, still lacks a master’s talent no amount of resources can supply. Hei Lou Lan orders his attendant Hei Shu to summon Wolf King. ^{ch. 556}

Hei Shu returns without Wolf King, reporting that he is out feeding his wolves rather than in the sacred palace. Hei Lou Lan’s anger flares again, and Hei Pei scolds Hei Shu for coming back empty handed instead of sending word. Hei Shu protests that he already sent a letter and Wolf King already replied. Wolf King says hunting with his wolves is a habit he does not want to break, and the group should wait, or else send for Tang Miao Ming and the others instead. Everyone is stunned, and Hei Pei cannot believe anyone would answer so indifferently. Hei Shu holds up proof: the star letter Gu that carried Wolf King’s reply, a rank four Gu fast enough to answer at once but too conspicuous to send safely outside Imperial Court blessed land. ^{ch. 556}

Reading the message, Hei Lou Lan snickers that Wolf King has good temperament, well able to control his own desires. Hei Pei calls Wolf King an arrogant loner. He judges Wolf King is secretly laughing while only pretending indifference. Hei Lou Lan retorts that Wolf King has every right to be haughty as both an enslavement master and a flying master, and that the elders would not need an outsider at all if they held such mastery themselves. ^{ch. 556}

Fang Yuan is not really paying attention to True Yang Building at all. He stares down at Di Qiu, his heart pounding: by the terrain there should be a small tower directly above it, but there is only a pitch black hole. Every eight li across Imperial Court blessed land holds a small tower, and all of them are part of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, an Immortal Gu house rank eight that Long Hair Ancestor once refined. After Giant Sun Immortal Venerable’s own preparations turned the blessed land into a mirror of Northern Plains, each tower came to hold thousands of wild Gu that nobody dares disturb. Fang Yuan reasons that whoever built Di Qiu inheritance moved that tower away and raised the inheritance on the very spot, and judges such method and courage mean this Gu Master is no ordinary person. ^{ch. 556}

Reasoning that only a Gu Immortal could still alter Giant Sun Immortal Venerable’s old arrangement, even weakened by time, Fang Yuan concludes he has stumbled into a Gu Immortal’s inheritance, not merely a Gu Master’s. He wonders whether an Immortal Gu waits inside, since even the final round of each floor in True Yang Building might not reward one. Fang Yuan predicts that even without an Immortal Gu, an inheritance built with this much effort should hold at least a complete Immortal Gu recipe. Treasure yellow heaven rarely sells complete recipes. Gu Immortals mostly sell broken remnants, and even a complete recipe usually has deliberate mistakes worked in before sale, so a whole, correct one changes hands only by direct exchange, and rarely in history. ^{ch. 556}

Piecing his clues together, Fang Yuan judges Di Qiu inheritance was made very long ago, at least as far back as Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable’s time. The more he thinks, the more questions pile up. He is left wondering who this Gu Immortal is, why they set up an inheritance here, how they even entered Imperial Court blessed land, and how they learned the true principle behind Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. He wonders whether, like Tai Bai Yun Sheng, this Gu Immortal advanced to that realm while already inside the blessed land, which would explain things differently, before a headache stops the thought. ^{ch. 556}

A star letter Gu reaches him: Hei Lou Lan is urging him back. Fang Yuan decides to investigate True Yang Building first, reasoning that entering it may turn up clues to how the Gu Immortal he now calls Di Qiu exploited a flaw in Giant Sun Immortal Venerable’s original design. Since Hei Lou Lan wrote to him personally, Fang Yuan drops his usual delay and heads back at once. Hei Lou Lan greets him with a laugh, saying he will need Wolf King’s strength this time, anxious that the blessed land will close once the ten year blizzard outside subsides. ^{ch. 556}

Before then he still has his tribe’s mission to finish and a strength path Immortal Gu of his own to find. At the building, Hei Lou Lan hands him an ancient guest token, explaining that Wolf King, lacking Huang Jin bloodline, counts as an outsider who needs a token to enter each time. Fang Yuan takes the token, saying he cannot wait to see the building’s splendor. Rather than push the door open, Hei Lou Lan crashes into it, and Fang Yuan, guest token shining in hand, imitates him and enters Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. ^{ch. 556}