Chapter 909

Fang Yuan lands in a broad blue lake on entering the Starry Sky grotto-heaven fragment world, standing on its surface as easily as ground. Before pressing deeper, he looks back and sees the lake crack like a mirror, showing the valley and the watching Gu Immortals outside. He sneers inwardly and flies on. None of them know this is not his first time inside Starry Sky grotto-heaven. ^{ch. 909}

Starry Sky grotto-heaven is unusual. It holds seven isolated areas and many very special space path dao marks. Fighting, Combat Immortal Sect’s looting, and the shattering must have left very few desolate beasts behind. He Feng Yang’s briefing names only two desolate beasts and a desolate plant in this fragment world: a dragonfish, a hidden essence turtle, and nether grass. ^{ch. 909}

Dragonfish serve as common Immortal Gu food. Only desolate-beast-level meat truly helps an Immortal Gu, and dragonfish has the weakest battle strength of any desolate beast. The hidden essence turtle is a rare wisdom path desolate beast that hides its aura and settles in one place once mature, and capturing it alive would serve Fang Yuan better than killing it. Nether grass is rooted and poses little threat at a distance, but a single stalk is very useful to a soul path Gu Immortal. Its own soul path dao marks slowly turn a wide surrounding range into a breeding ground for soul path Gu worms, and it can reshape a blessed land or grotto-heaven. ^{ch. 909}

Combat Immortal Sect left the turtle and the grass in place, never expecting Seven Star Child to detonate the grotto-heaven rather than surrender it. Representing Immortal Crane Sect, He Feng Yang gave Fang Yuan missions for the three, ideally taken alive. The agreement gives Fang Yuan a third of the value he obtains. He Feng Yang knows this is no true subordinate, and can only drive him through benefit. ^{ch. 909}

Despite being only a rank six bottom tier immortal zombie, Fang Yuan holds a huge advantage over all three, carrying both his own Immortal Gu and ones Immortal Crane Sect lent him. None of the three has an Immortal Gu of its own, or stronger Gu Immortals would already have struck. Normally no wild Immortal Gu survives inside a grotto-heaven, since a Gu Immortal claims one the moment it forms, and leaving it weakens control and risks the beast rampaging. Seven Star Child, awake as owner, would already know of any that remained. ^{ch. 909}

Per the map, the dragonfish lairs near the lake’s central island, and draws Fang Yuan’s greatest interest of the three. He resolves to claim it. On that island, five Gu Masters from Heaven’s Envy Manor watch the water with annoyance, four at rank five and the fifth, Wei Wu Shang, at rank four peak. He leads its elite disciples. He was infatuated with Fairy Bi Xia and once fought Fang Zheng and lost, but Fang Zheng called it a draw, leaving him feeling he owes a favor. Heaven’s Envy Manor raised him to that stage for this contest, both to train new disciples and for lack of hands. ^{ch. 909}

Seven Star Child controlled his own detonation carefully. Almost no Gu Immortal could enter these fragments, only disciples. Fang Yuan can, since his bottom tier cultivation leaves him very few strength path dao marks, and vaguely familiar face drains more through eat strength Immortal Gu working in reverse. Heavy recent disguising keeps him at the fragment world’s own upper limit for entry, a floor very few Gu Immortals share. His nominal tie to Immortal Crane Sect is what lets the sect use him at all, since an outright outsider could not enter here. This is the righteous path, which holds closely to rules, unlike the demonic path, whose only rule is that it has none. ^{ch. 909}