Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing flew away on the White Form Immortal Snake, back towards Shang Clan City.
"Did you manage to find anything about the Immortal Puppet Master's true inheritance?" Fang Yuan asked.
"No," Bai Ning Bing said.
Based on this fact, Fang Yuan believed that there were two possibilities.
One: the requirement for the true inheritance was not just to change one's gender physically from being a man to a woman; one needed to believe that they were a woman fully in their heart of hearts.
Or, even if it was not tied to belief, perhaps it was tied to action instead.
Perhaps Bai Ning Bing did not fulfill that second obligation, whatever it was?
The second possibility was that the inheritance required an Immortal to obtain. It would make sense, given the fact that the Immortal Public Master himself was quite strong. A mortal would likely not be able to handle the full power of the true inheritance even if it was handed to them on a silver platter.
If it was the first thing, he needed to find a man who truly thought they were a woman and transform them into a woman.
'That isn't impossible to find. But I would need someone who is also loyal to me,' Fang Yuan mused. 'Hmm... should I take Shang Xin Ci's soul and put it into Bai Ning Bing's body? It would require some finesse on my part but isn't impossible to accomplish...'
Fang Yuan glanced at Bai Ning Bing for only a second, but it was enough to make the latter shudder. 'Fang Yuan, you're planning something devious aren't you!' Bai Ning Bing thought to herself. That didn't narrow things down by much, since Fang Yuan was planning devious things nearly 24/7, but Bai Ning Bing had an ugly feeling that what he was thinking of involved her in some nefarious way.
'In case the soul also needs to be male, I could use Fang Zheng instead,' Fang Yuan thought to himself.
But that was all just hypothetical for now.
If it was the latter, however, he would soon rise to become an Immortal himself and would likely discover new clues regarding the Dollhouse only after that.
Regardless of what criteria the inheritance held, what could be set up by one person could be deconstructed by another.
Fang Yuan might only be Rank 5, soon to be Rank 6, but he did have an advantage over the Immortal Puppet Master - he was still alive!
No matter how ingenious the lock was when it was crafted, over time, new developments occurred. What had been set up to be difficult to fool by one person could without a doubt be broken by another person given enough time.
Take Poison Vow Gu for example - it was ultimately unraveled in the future, requiring the usage of Black and White Paper Gu instead. But this was also countered eventually.
Like this, between sides, struggles for innovation would always occur.
But the dead could not innovate! The living, however, could slowly inch out their advantage.
Fang Yuan was sure that in time, he could unravel the secret of the Dollhouse. Even if it took ten years to unravel, the inheritance of a Rank 8 Gu Master was more than worth it. The Dollhouse itself was valuable as it was even to a Rank 6 Gu Master, but if he could turn it into a Rank 6 Gu House using Beauty Gu or one of the other Human Path gu worms he had...
"Now, Fang Yuan, while we're flying," Bai Ning Bing said, turning to him. With her increased cultivation, it was possible for her to control the White Form Immortal Snake to a certain extent for a while.
Fang Yuan, however, with Rank 5 Upper Stage primeval essence could drive it far faster than he could before, sustaining the speed constantly for their journey.
Bai Ning Bing's increased growth did have its drawbacks as well. Her aptitude was now ninety-two percent. It was clear that the effects of the Yin Rotation Gu were wearing off, and that soon the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique would return in full force.
Fang Yuan could no longer use the Equality Gu in order to take some of the pressure off of her. As such, she felt that the time for him to return the Yang Rotation Gu should quickly be coming up.
"If you're wondering about the payment for your lost Frost Lance Gu," Fang Yuan said, "I can give you most of the materials I have on me, as well as Rank 4 gu worms."
The most valuable of them was Rank 4 Dragon Wings Gu, even to a Ice Path Gu Master like Bai Ning Bing such a gu worm could be quite valuable.
Fang Yuan, if he paid off Bai Ning Bing with all of this, would have little to nothing left for himself.
"Fang Yuan, even if you give me all of this, I can't get another Rank 5 Frost Lance Gu," Bai Ning Bing said.
"There are many things that one cannot obtain in this world, even if one has the required primeval stones," Fang Yuan said. "Like the Yang Rotation Gu for example..."
"Why you!"
"Relax, Bai Ning Bing," Fang Yuan said. "I already gave you a Rank 4 Frost Arrow Gu and also several sets of materials to try and refine Frost Lance Gu. I also assisted you in the refinement process at great risk to my own life. It was not my fault that Frost Arrow Gu died. Given that, and all that I'm offering you, you cannot say that I haven't paid you back in full."
Fang Yuan did not technically have to give her back the Rank 5 Frost Lance Gu itself, but something of equal value.
The issue was that the contract left what was 'equal value' up to discussion.
There was a back and forth for a while, though eventually, Bai Ning Bing relented. Not happy that she wouldn't be able to get another Rank 4 Frost Arrow Gu, but she would have to make do with some other gu worm.
"Fang Yuan, my aptitude is also increasing. You're going to need to return the Yang Gu to me sooner rather than later."
"Understood," Fang Yuan said simply, though he did not indicate anything further regarding when this would be.
Bai Ning Bing looked at what Fang Yuan had given to her. It was actually a fair trade - no, it was more than that.
It could be said that Fang Yuan was conceding to her, and that worried her.
Up until now, she had rarely if ever seen Fang Yuan take a loss on a trade or fight.
Even his "loss" to Liu Nan she felt was merely a stepping stone to a larger victory that had yet to crystallize.
So, if Fang Yuan was suddenly being generous with her, it put her greatly on edge. Was he going to betray her? Did he have some way of getting out of the Poison Vow Gu? She had already read over the agreement several times, and yes, although there was some strange wording in it, she could not find a loophole that he could exploit directly.
It wasn't just that. Fang Yuan had dealt with his village rather fairly.
She had to admit she had been expecting him to milk them dry once more, but instead, he behaved like a righteous cultivator for a change.
Once again, this put her greatly on edge. It felt as if Fang Yuan was scheming something -something far beyond which she could appreciate.