Chapter 859

At sunset in Central Continent’s True Yang mountain range, a hairy man climbs a peak, shouting for his master to wait. Unlike most hairy men, he has unusual intelligence and speaks like an ordinary human. He is Ben Duo Yi, chasing Yu Mu Chun since the Convention ended. He still cannot catch up, the distance he had shrunk stretching out again, leaving him baffled about his master’s Gu. ^{ch. 859}

Losing his footing, Ben Duo Yi rolls down the mountainside, left bleeding and fractured. He cries out, begging his master to return. Yu Mu Chun turns back and stands over him, and Ben Duo Yi kneels at once. ^{ch. 859}

Yu Mu Chun tells him that years ago his pointers were only casual, and that they are not fated to be master and disciple. Ben Duo Yi insists those pointers changed his fate and that Yu Mu Chun will forever be his master. Yu Mu Chun explains he helped only because Ben Duo Yi showed unusual intelligence, but, to protect him, refuses to take him as a disciple, since association with an escaped-fate person brings harm. He warns that revealing the pointers means a terrible death. Ben Duo Yi agrees, begs to be taken in as a follower or slave instead. Yu Mu Chun softens, moved he crossed thirty mountains to find him, names his intelligence his greatest merit, warns against over-relying, and tells him to rise. ^{ch. 859}

Ben Duo Yi will not rise unless accepted as a follower. A formless force repels his grip, and Yu Mu Chun floats into the sky. He declares their chance-formed relationship ends today, and offers Ben Duo Yi a final lesson. ^{ch. 859}

At night in Star Form blessed land, inside Earth Abyss, Fang Yuan looks over a huge turtle shell filled with poisonous blood from Hu Immortal blessed land’s earthly calamity, now usable to refine change form Immortal Gu. The plan is secret, kept from Tai Bai Yun Sheng, Hei Lou Lan, and Fairy Li Shan. Star Form blessed land, closed long ago, is safe: nobody comes now. ^{ch. 859}

Refining Immortal Gu is difficult and easily disturbed, and a single mistake would waste Fang Yuan’s materials and effort, so he needs a quiet, safe environment. Even with the success dao mark reducing the natural failure rate to zero, a technical error would be his fault. He spends half a day conditioning mind and body first. Once his soul is at its peak, he begins: his eyes shine, ghost fires burn beneath the turtle shell, and the temperature falls rapidly, though the blood shows no reaction yet. ^{ch. 859}

Ben Duo Yi expects a lesson in refinement technique or a killer move. Yu Mu Chun scatters dazzling light and announces he will refine an Immortal Gu now. Ben Duo Yi is stunned, since he knows a refiner should first condition mind and body, which Yu Mu Chun has skipped. He worries True Yang mountain range could draw desolate beasts, or ancient ones. He also worries that Gu Immortals searching for Song Zi Xing pose a greater threat, hoping to strike him down while weak and to complete their sects’ secret missions for great rewards. Yu Mu Chun ignores his worry and moves his hands as light shoots up hundreds of meters. ^{ch. 859}

An hour passes in Star Form blessed land. The poisonous blood boils, and poisonous gas thickens into a black fog. As Fang Yuan raises the heat, the fog spreads and kills the surrounding plants, though Gu formations keep it contained. He calls for a thousand year bitter shell, and Star Form land spirit appears at once with it, serving as Fang Yuan’s assistant. ^{ch. 859}