Chapter 707

Three days after Fang Yuan extorts Vicious Lightning Fiend, Immortal Crane Sect announces to Central Continent that it recognizes him as owner of Hu Immortal blessed land, now a subsidiary free to leave at any time. The news sets every Gu Immortal talking. The sect had named him a traitor awaiting judgment, but such betrayals are common even among the ancient sects, so his defection as a mere rank five Gu Master was only mild news. When the sect actually gathered its forces to judge him, the result stunned every onlooker who had assumed he was courting death. ^{ch. 707}

More inside information followed: Dang Hun Mountain’s strength, the rise of a mysterious force behind Fang Yuan, and Vicious Lightning Fiend’s immortal killer move. The biggest highlight was that guts Gu could leave Dang Hun Mountain and be stored, so they could be traded. Gu Immortals realized that profit outweighed hollow reputation, and the other nine great ancient sects called Immortal Crane Sect shameless while trading with Hu Immortal blessed land themselves. Letter Gu poured in before trading even began. Fang Yuan answered every one, entering Central Continent’s limelight as an immortal zombie and blessed land owner. ^{ch. 707}

Hei Lou Lan brings the first batch of souls, hundreds of thousands of them, mostly from wild beasts. Fang Yuan places them into Dang Hun Mountain, where Hu Immortal land spirit vibrates them into fragments that gradually form into guts Gu. While the guts Gu grow, Fang Yuan sets his hairy men to producing foundational Gu worms and his rockmen to building a stone nest. Half a month later, the souls are gone, many guts Gu already formed. Hei Lou Lan brings a second batch, and Fang Yuan takes her to the stone nest, where she is left very shocked by the huge scale of his investment. ^{ch. 707}

The nest is a huge sinkhole ringing a central stone pillar that never touches it, honeycombed with rooms where elderly hairy men refine with basic materials. At the pillar’s top, Hei Lou Lan activates her strength qi Gu. The vast strength qi spreads into a fog that covers the nest as countless mortal Gu light up beneath it. Fang Yuan gives the order to begin, and the hairy men open their eyes to refine, drawing strength qi automatically. ^{ch. 707}

Hei Lou Lan praises the scene as grand and huge, a truly incredible idea for holding thousands of hairy men at once. In truth, the design comes from his previous life’s five regions chaotic war, when constant battles forced every force to replenish its Gu worms; Fang Yuan has simply taken credit. He names it the Fang Yuan stone nest, splitting the airsac Gu recipe into over a dozen steps so each floor finishes one before passing it on, which keeps the recipe from leaking and raises everyone’s success rate. Hei Lou Lan approves: since each airsac Gu holds only one guts Gu, the stone nest’s scale answers her worry about supply. His plan is set. He will sell most guts Gu to the ten great ancient sects through hole earth Gu and the rest through treasure yellow heaven. He sells to no other Central Continent sect, since his own side’s standing is sensitive and he will not test the ancient sects’ limits. ^{ch. 707}

The first three batches sell for forty-three, forty-six, and forty-seven immortal essence stones after costs and Hei Lou Lan and Fairy Li Shan’s forty percent cut. Demand from the ten great ancient sects keeps rising, and treasure yellow heaven sales usually sell out within a day or two. Guts Gu, recommended by Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, strengthens the soul at least ten times as efficiently as ordinary methods. Fang Yuan now controls the market completely. He can sell to whoever he wants, at whatever quantity, though he keeps prices modest since guts Gu is not the only way to strengthen a soul. ^{ch. 707}

After three batches sold, he buys hairy men in bulk to expand the stone nest, and more hairy men means higher profit per batch. After five months, his earnings stabilize at forty-eight immortal essence stones of profit per batch, a genuinely overwhelming profit. Guts Gu are consumable, gone after one use. Demand for them will never dwindle. Hei Lou Lan and Fairy Li Shan begin to feel like the bottleneck now, since the souls they can gather limit how much guts Gu he can sell. ^{ch. 707}