Small clouds drifted everywhere around Fang Tian's body, then quickly gathered toward his back and began to cluster together, forming the shape of a pair of wings.
These wings were formed from white clouds that solidified after gathering behind his back, becoming harder than iron yet as light as a feather. Each wing extended two meters in every direction, casting large shadows upon the ground.
Fang Tian lightly flapped the wings, sending powerful winds crashing into the ground as his body began to rise slightly off the earth. He increased the power of the wings and rose higher, but when he swung one wing with greater force than the other, the balance of the wings was disrupted. His body swayed, and in a flash he slammed into the garden wall. The wall shook violently, the spot he collided with shattered, and Fang Tian lay in a miserable state within the pile of rubble.
"I'm still terrible at using wings. How the hell do those people use them?.. I can rise slightly off the ground, but if my focus on balancing the power of the wings is disrupted, I'll fly sideways and crash into a wall or smash into the ground."
He had obtained this Gu worm as a gift from the Yin clan and had never used it before; he only knew its function. When he tried to practice flying, the result was disappointing. He did not possess some heaven-defying talent that allowed him to master flight overnight. Rather, he would need about two years just to learn how to lift off the ground without crashing into a wall.
"But practice is good. I can train flying a little every day until I gain enough skill to move around. As for flying during battle, I should forget about that for now."
Fang Tian climbed out from the rubble and continued practicing flying for two hours until he was utterly exhausted. Dust covered his body, his robe was stained with mud, and several holes appeared in different parts of it.
"This is exhausting, but at least I can float four feet above the ground… though I'll fall shortly after that. Forget it, I'll go back and use the rank four Tree Man Soul Gu to transform my soul into a tree man soul."
The soul path involved three aspects: strengthening the soul, refining the soul, and pacifying the soul. Strengthening the soul was a quantitative change in soul strength, such as one-man soul, ten-man soul, hundred-man soul, and so on, with the human soul's limit being one hundred million-man soul. As for refining the soul, it was a qualitative change that elevated the quality of the soul to a higher level; the best method of refining the soul was the winds of Luo Po Valley.
But Luo Po Valley was a secluded domain of heaven and earth—how could Fang Tian, a mere mortal, even dream of it? Thus, only ordinary and conventional methods of refining the soul and improving its quality remained, such as Wolf Man Soul Gu, Tree Man Soul Gu, and Ghost Fire Gu. As for the best method of pacifying the soul, it was to drink Soul Pacifying Soup from the Bewitching Lake in the domain of Obsession with Death.
However, Fang Tian had no intention of delving into the deeper aspects of the soul path. All he wanted was to raise the quality of his one-man soul, because he could not strengthen his soul without suffering side effects from any method he used.
Inside one of the rooms in his white-brick pavilion, Fang Tian observed his soul using Soul Inspection Gu. His soul looked exactly like him, except that it was illusory, appearing as if it were merely particles of light gathered together to form a perfectly matching phantom copy of himself.
Fang Tian poured half of his primeval essence into Tree Man Soul Gu. The Gu shattered inside his aperture, and a visible change began to occur to his soul. The "skin" of his soul darkened and began to wrinkle, becoming like tree bark, while the "hair" of his soul transformed into a cascade of leaves. From the top of his head, two small branches slowly grew until they reached a few inches in length.
After several minutes, he stopped using Soul Inspection Gu to examine his soul and instead opened his eyes, sensing a noticeable change. He felt vigorous instead of the expected fatigue, and also sensed power flowing through his body. Other than that, however, there was no major change. Although refining the soul could raise the quality of the soul, a quantitative change was still required to achieve a qualitative transformation.
"Lord Fang Tian, may I enter?.."
A maid knocked on the door, which startled Fang Tian, but after a moment, he detected a trace of panic and fear in her voice.
"Lord Fang Tian?!"
"Oh, yes, come in."
Fang Tian called to the maid while adjusting his posture and entering a state of alertness. When the door opened, the maid entered first, trembling in fear, and behind her entered a woman.
No—she did not look like a woman, but rather like a young girl? The little girl was wearing an oversized yellow dress, dragging it along the ground with her pale and weak hands. Aside from that, she had a slightly plump face like a not-yet-fully-mature adolescent, still carrying a hint of childishness in her small, round face.
The woman looked at Fang Tian and giggled with delight, as if she were seeing something amusing.
"It's just as you said, little Ji. You look very vigorous, yet gloomy at the same time… oh, what a pity I'm too old. Otherwise, I would have taken you as a companion."
Fang Tian remained standing, still on high alert. Now that the woman had spoken so brazenly, he nearly broke out in goosebumps.
"She's rank four, middle stage… Perhaps if I restore my primeval essence to peak stage, I could fight her evenly… wait, why am I thinking about fighting? I should listen to what she has to say first."
"Esteemed senior, you mentioned Wu Ji earlier and addressed her as 'little one.' May I know what your relationship with her is?"
Fang Tian clasped his fists respectfully toward the girl and asked humbly.
"Oh? It seems little Ji didn't tell you or educate you a little about me… well, that's expected from that wild girl. I am Wu Chen Yu, Wu Ji's elder, the clan elder of the Wu clan, and also your patron within the Wu clan."
Fang Tian immediately bowed when he heard the woman's name, then raised his head to look at Elder Chen Yu—or as she called herself, a "patron within the Wu clan."
"Elder Chen Yu, forgive this junior for not recognizing you earlier… but may I ask why Elder has gone to such lengths to come to my small garden?"
"A straightforward junior, I like that! Since you're so direct, let's get straight to the point… take this Gu worm and have a look."
Elder Chen Yu handed Fang Tian an information path Gu worm to examine its contents. He did not immediately send his consciousness into it, but first inspected it through various means. Only after finding no issues did he send his consciousness in.
Fang Tian's expression changed as he read the information recorded within the information path Gu worm. His face twisted with shock, then relaxation, then alertness, and finally disbelief.
This Gu worm contained information on two inheritances of rank five Gu Masters. One inheritance belonged to the rule path, while the other belonged to the wood path.
Without a doubt, even the initial fragments of both inheritances were astonishing. Each inheritance contained Gu recipes, cultivation insights, killer moves, methods for refining Gu worms, and ways to manage cultivation resources.
Fang Tian felt such temptation that he barely restrained himself and managed to think rationally.
"The rule path inheritance is impressive. It contains many brilliant ideas from cultivation insights, dozens of Gu worm recipes, more than six usable killer moves, and many excellent points—so good that I can't even fully comprehend the inheritance… but it won't benefit me much. After all, I cultivate the wood path, not the rule path…"
Elder Chen Yu's laughter interrupted Fang Tian's intense thoughts, as she seemed to find his state amusing.
"Oh, little one, this is merely a gift to you. There's no need to think so much. After all, you've already fulfilled the condition I set to obtain my support. Why are you still concealing your peak stage aura?"
Fang Tian smiled awkwardly, scratching his head foolishly as he stammered.
"Elder is kind and generous!.. but this… this junior couldn't inform Elder earlier because I was focused on my cultivation. I hope Elder will forgive me."
Elder Chen Yu's smile faded slightly, clearly displeased by Fang Tian's words. Fang Tian caught her expression and quickly came to a realization.
"This junior will never forget Elder's kindness. If Elder ever needs anything from this junior, Elder need only give the order!"
Chen Yu's smile returned, her gloomy expression replaced by gentle ones. She slowly approached Fang Tian and patted his shoulder with her soft hand while smiling.
Fang Tian moved away from her hand, clasped his fists toward her, and spoke in a reproachful tone.
"Elder Chen Yu, this junior requests that Elder give him time to return to his cultivation!"
Chen Yu waved her hands and turned to leave, but before departing, she glanced at the maid who had witnessed everything. With a wave of her hand, the maid fell to the ground, dead.
"Little Fang, cultivation resources will arrive at your door tomorrow. Cultivate diligently. In two months, there will be a major event affecting the entirety of the Southern Border, and you will be my representative. Don't forget."
Fang Tian's brows twitched slightly as he watched Chen Yu depart.
After Chen Yu left his garden, Fang Tian released a breath of relief, exhausted from conversing with that viper. At the very least, however, he had obtained great benefits from her.
"Even so, I don't feel happy. It's as if I'm dancing to her tune. How is this viper that walks on two legs an elder of a righteous path clan?.. Damn it, she's more like a demonic cultivator than I am!"
Fang Tian stared at the information path Gu worm in his hand, and his smile gradually reappeared.