Chapter 681

Fang Yuan waits by the river through the night and two more days, but Ye Fan never comes. He wonders if Biography of Ye Fan was wrong, then rejects the thought. The riverside inheritance sits unclaimed, so he decides to keep waiting. ^{ch. 681}

A thousand li away, Ye Fan wakes in a cave to find the only exit sealed by a huge, sprawling beast. He cannot dig through stone, and his own strength is weak. Looking closer, he sees a wounded, dog-shaped beast emperor, starving and feverish, with almost no battle strength left. Ye Fan pities it: their situations are alike. He heals its wounds and fever with his Gu and feeds it for seven days until it recovers, though it still cannot beat even a thousand beast king. Grateful, the beast follows him when he leaves the cave. ^{ch. 681}

On the eighth day Fang Yuan grows anxious, since Hei Lou Lan’s tribulation is five or six days off. He must help her survive it and fight off Hei Cheng, rank seven, and Xue Song Zi, rank six, at once. He weighs the four measures of Gu Immortal strength: immortal essence, killer moves, Immortal Gu, and personal fighting skill. Tai Bai Yun Sheng, newly a Gu Immortal, ranked lowest of all rank six Gu Immortals in the northern plains trip, lacking killer moves and fighting skill despite his essence and healing Gu. Hei Lou Lan’s physique still suppressed him badly. ^{ch. 681}

Fang Yuan himself has little immortal essence on hand, and every one of his many Immortal Gu still needs feeding. His three killer moves hold him at upper rank six normally, or peak rank six with myriad self. He once broke the will of Plump Lady, also upper rank six, chiefly through his ruthlessness, though her escape move outran him. Xue Song Zi matches that same tier, keeps thick funds despite past losses, and carries many old killer moves; a fight against him without myriad self is unclear. Hei Cheng outranks both at middle rank seven, backed by a richer blessed land, the long-held Dark Arrow, and an undisclosed Immortal Gu won months ago. He has killed several demonic path Gu Immortals and needs only one or two more Immortal Gu to reach upper rank seven. Fang Yuan fought him once, briefly, only to retreat with Hei Lou Lan. ^{ch. 681}

His Immortal Gu suit neither attack nor defense. Dark Arrows can only be dodged, never met head-on. Cleanse soul Immortal Gu, the core of myriad self, is what gives him standing to fight Hei Cheng one on one. Worn down by the wait, he considers abandoning Ye Fan and returning to Hu Immortal blessed land to train instead. His last two luck connections both met accidents, and he guesses correctly that this time the accident struck Ye Fan rather than him. ^{ch. 681}

Luck rises and falls like tides. Fang Yuan’s own luck had already improved after surviving the wind veil of assimilation and connecting to Han Li and Hong Yi, both chosen for luck second only to Ma Hong Yun’s. This time the contest steers Ye Fan’s luck away from him instead, letting Ye Fan dodge the crisis that follows. Fang Yuan recognizes the beast at Ye Fan’s side as Ying Ming, once of Three Kings blessed land, a survival that Biography of Ye Fan never records. ^{ch. 681}

The connection to Ye Fan succeeds without incident, his lateness having been the only accident. Far weaker than Fang Yuan, Ye Fan never once senses the scheme against him. His luck carries a bronze coffin guarded by nine dragons of luck, unlike Fang Yuan’s black one. After the link the coffin halves in size and its dragons shrink to four, leaving Ye Fan a large share still intact. ^{ch. 681}

With Hong Yi, Han Li, and Ye Fan all linked to him, the connected luck splits into four equal portions, and Fang Yuan counts the second weakness of Spring Autumn Cicada settled. His once-terrible luck is gone, replaced by luck stronger than an ordinary person’s. Candidates this suitable are rare, and he judges only these three exist for now. He watches Ye Fan near the river inheritance, smiles, and vanishes in a flash of jade light. ^{ch. 681}