Extorting Regretful Spiders
Fang Yuan places the subdued shark fin wolf in his aperture. Its will is broken, and it no longer commands its wolves, so he lets them scatter. A desolate beast taken alive is already a rich harvest. He searches more pools but finds only common resources in bulk, nothing noteworthy. Dong Fang tribe’s main camp surely holds better things, but with countless pools, his limited range, and rival demonic path Gu Immortals, what he gains is mostly luck. ch. 798
Luck turns when he finds a fire-filled pool packed with ordinary eerie fire dragon pythons, a species that matures near a hundred meters. Every part has value to him, the gallbladder especially, with a ready market in treasure yellow heaven. He guesses Dong Fang tribe used some breeding method to raise so many together. He recalls the eerie fire dragon python eggs he took earlier at Imperial Court blessed land have since hatched, though he has neglected the young pythons in Hu Immortal blessed land, their numbers being too few to matter. Taking this group there would add a small, steady gallbladder income alongside his guts Gu business. ch. 798
He grabs at them with his giant hands, crushing many in his grip. He gathers roughly ten thousand and stops, limited on time, before leaving the pool. ch. 798
He keeps plundering as he travels, passing mortal Gu Masters fleeing or hiding. Pi Shui Han’s attack had already panicked Dong Fang tribe’s people here. They flee rather than resist, sending word to Dong Fang tribe’s Gu Immortals instead, a wise choice. Fang Yuan and the demonic path Gu Immortals here weigh profit above bloodshed and leave them be. ch. 798
Growing urgent, he starts skipping cheap, easy resources. He stays wary all the same, since a schemer as careful as Dong Fang Chang Fan would surely have set some arrangement in Jade Pool blessed land. ch. 798
He finds a cluster of fifty or sixty dried-up pools and, investigating, two demonic path Gu Immortals arguing over the regretful spiders bred across them. They fall silent and unite the moment they see him, one claiming discovery rights, the other angling to redirect him elsewhere. Fang Yuan sends out two giant hands to show he means trouble. Both, having watched even Pi Shui Han fail to best him, know a clash would go badly for bottom tier rank six Gu Immortals like themselves. Yet the resources are too rich to give up, and one argues they were present when the rules were set with Pi Shui Han himself. ch. 798
Fang Yuan scoffs that the demonic path answers to no rules. He says only Pi Shui Han has standing to discuss rules with him. Neither dares speak further, but neither leaves either. The second offers a trade instead: information of equal worth for the spiders. Told it concerns Miniscule Mountain, Fang Yuan laughs, agrees, and warns he expects it to be true. The Gu Immortal transmits precise details, claiming he scouted the place himself but had to retreat, and that it would suit Fang Yuan well. ch. 798
Fang Yuan takes it in. He says he will keep the information in mind but still needs it checked. He demands the spiders already gathered as a guarantee, taking only that portion and leaving the rest. The angered Gu Immortal protests it is a fifth of the total spiders but does not dare fight. The other, untouched since his own spiders are unaffected, is secretly pleased: spiders already stored in an aperture are like harvested crops, the gatherer’s own. ch. 798
The extorted Gu Immortal’s heart sinks seeing his companion make no move to help. Fang Yuan impatiently presses him to hurry, citing his own limited time, and when asked what happens if he reneges, feigns offense at being called a cheat of juniors before sending out two more giant hands. ch. 798
