Chapter 678

Xue Song Zi burns with envy at the sight of a second Immortal Gu. Fang Yuan tells the pair to enjoy what little life remains to them, then escapes by Fixed Immortal Travel, leaving only a fading trace of light for the dark arrows to strike. Xue Song Zi is furious they escaped, but Hei Cheng answers that only an Immortal Gu sealing the area could have stopped them, and that his tracking method on Hei Lou Lan will mark her again once she returns to northern plains. The two conclude Hei Lou Lan has backing beyond the zombie, and that Fixed Immortal Travel and Worldly Wave Trace point toward central continent, a clue Hei Cheng means to chase. Hei Cheng had held off striking Hei Lou Lan, wary of a self-detonation and hoping to draw out her backer. ^{ch. 678}

Fixed Immortal Travel brings the pair to Fairy Li Shan’s residence, where she checks Hei Lou Lan’s bloodied state with alarm. Hei Lou Lan waves it off: her father only put on a show and never attacked her seriously. Fairy Li Shan confirms the guess that Hei Cheng planted a tracking method on her too well hidden to find. Fang Yuan, his gaze cold, asks whether she was found on purpose. She explains that Fairy Li Shan had learned Ma Hong Yun was taken to crimson reed marsh by Qin Bai Sheng, a northern plains Gu Immortal. She went to verify it herself, and Hei Cheng, who happened to be nearby, detected her the moment she entered. Fang Yuan believes her, not from trust but because the Snowy Mountain Alliance’s oath lets allies keep secrets but never lie, on pain of death. ^{ch. 678}

Reasoning that Ma Hong Yun’s fortune would connect far more effectively than Hong Yi’s or Han Li’s, Fang Yuan asks how reliable the report is. Fairy Li Shan puts it at seventy percent likely, since an insider leaked it this time, naming Qin Bai Sheng, a famous rank seven lone cultivator of the metal path. The matter ties to Giant Sun Immortal Venerable’s luck path true inheritance, which draws jealous attention since Qin Bai Sheng lacks the Huang Jin bloodline. If true, Fang Yuan concludes, Gu Immortals will soon attack the marsh. Hei Lou Lan plans to use the coming conflict either to seize the inheritance herself, if a chance appears, or to let Hei Cheng’s distraction buy time for her ascension. ^{ch. 678}

Fang Yuan asks what happens if Hei Cheng refuses to join the marsh conflict, since to Hei Cheng the inheritance matters less than his own lifespan and he would likely stay uninvolved, focused on Hei Lou Lan instead. Hei Lou Lan answers that she has little time left and will ascend in half a month regardless, and if Hei Cheng interferes then, it will be the perfect time to finish him. Fang Yuan asks if that means fighting Hei Cheng head on. Fairy Li Shan answers that an ascension floods the surroundings with heaven and earth qi, heavily suppressing Hei Cheng, and that she and Tai Bai Yun Sheng will be there, three Gu Immortals strong. Hei Lou Lan tallies the rescue’s cost, three uses of Fixed Immortal Travel and one of Worldly Wave Trace, and offers double compensation, eight immortal essence stones. ^{ch. 678}

Fairy Li Shan pays the stones at once, then brings out two killer moves and a Gu recipe she says he may want. One is poison breath, a poison path killer move that turns a Gu Immortal’s breath into a slow poison gas, weak in strength but able to taint an area over time. Its flaw threatens the user’s nostrils, throat and lungs, a weakness Fang Yuan’s zombie body does not share. The other is Kong Sheng Tian, named for the Gu Immortal who created it. That Gu Immortal once controlled qi escape Gu, fourth on the Top Ten Mystical Gu list against Spring Autumn Cicada’s seventh, reverse refined from reputation Gu and unmatched for straight line flying speed. Kong Sheng Tian opens the small pores across a Gu Immortal’s body to blast out air and drive fast, agile flight, and it suits Fang Yuan, whose zombie pores are tough and heal fast. The Gu recipe is an ancient strength path recipe for the rank five group strength Gu; Fairy Li Shan gathered all three specially for Fang Yuan. ^{ch. 678}