Chapter 778

More than ten days on, in Hu Immortal blessed land, Fang Yuan tests time luck Immortal Gu against his hoard of inch of time Gu, refined in bulk by Lang Ya land spirit’s highest grade hairy men. The Gu burns through the inch of time within a few breaths, then stops for want of it. It gains him almost no added luck. Activating it also costs lifespan, and he has barely any left. ^{ch. 778}

The Imperial Court battle left him an immortal zombie, already extremely old. Having never used lifespan Gu, he started with only a hundred years, now down to around ten or less, and even a living body one day would not reset that lifespan. Lifespan Gu are hard to find and extremely precious: ordinary Gu Immortals will not sell one, not even at the Northern Plains auction, and their greatly variable mortal Gu conditions make finding one close to pure luck, usually through mortal Gu Masters instead. In his previous life such luck won him several hundred more years. His best route would have been Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, which yielded only one, already used by Tai Bai Yun Sheng, and rebuilding it is basically impossible. ^{ch. 778}

Still short of dream path mortal Gu, he enters the dream realm at once. He passes through three dreams and refines two dream path mortal Gu, a much higher rate than when he started, though the third refinement fails and injures his soul. ^{ch. 778}

He heals himself with guts Gu scattered on Dang Hun mountain. A letter through moving perspective cup Gu brings a flash of joy. He stops refining, picks a scenic spot, and roasts an elephant’s leg with fire Gu. ^{ch. 778}

Hei Lou Lan flies in and lands before him coldly. She recognizes the leg as flesh from the desolate beast drought elephant and asks sarcastically whether his immortal materials can be wasted so. Fang Yuan laughs and greets her politely, inviting her to sit, but she only snorts and stays standing, faintly angry. ^{ch. 778}

He reminds himself not to ignore her mistake, now laid bare. Her desperate pursuit of revenge led her carelessly into a tribulation that nearly killed her, so she can stall no longer and must hand over self strength Immortal Gu, growing more careful after this loss. ^{ch. 778}

Fang Yuan bites into the leg with pleasure. Her mistake, he reflects, won him the Gu. Hei Lou Lan needles him that an immortal zombie has no taste and no hope of restoring his body, then suggests, more calmly, that he change what he eats instead, since fate is unpredictable and anyone can meet a downturn. ^{ch. 778}

She wants strength qi Immortal Gu in place of self strength. He refuses: precisely because fate is unpredictable he tries every way to grow stronger, and once he decides something he never changes his mind. As Hei Lou Lan starts to answer, thinking him much like herself, a bright light flashes across his chest, faint then solid: a new strength path dao mark. ^{ch. 778}

She calms herself. She guesses dryly that the eat strength Immortal Gu from the auction is in his hands, worth little to most Gu Immortals but a genuine treasure to a strength path cultivator. To Hei Lou Lan especially, its zero risk makes it precious. ^{ch. 778}

Fang Yuan says nothing and bites down on the bones, which carry dao marks of their own. Tough as they are, he chews and swallows them, gaining a new mark. He is not afraid she will renege, since the agreement for saving her has already reached its time limit and she came only for one last try. If the contract broke, Fairy Li Shan would die, which Hei Lou Lan could not let happen. ^{ch. 778}

He takes out another strength path desolate beast leg, cooks it and hands it over, willing eat strength Immortal Gu into her hands. She accepts without hesitation, swallows the flesh and bone, and activates the Gu, gaining a strength path dao mark of her own; the gain is barely a tenth of a percent of what a tribulation grants, but the method is risk-free and repeatable. After eating half the leg, Hei Lou Lan sighs deeply. She hands self strength Immortal Gu to Fang Yuan: they trade on the spot, self strength Immortal Gu changes owners. ^{ch. 778}