The sky over Qing Mao Mountain was gloomy as ink, with dark clouds piled layer upon layer. The mountain wind, heavy with moisture, whipped against their faces, inexplicably creating a suffocating pressure, like the foreboding stillness before a storm.
Inside a bamboo house in Gu Yue Village, Fang Yuan was hunched over, deftly processing the flesh and blood of a Thousand Beast King with his fingertips, transforming the remains into blood path gu materials.
After personally slaying the Wild Boar King earlier, Fang Yuan had accepted the Family Property Mission.
Upon learning of this, his Uncle, Gu Yue Dongtu, reacted with near-hysterical intensity. He was jumping up and down, sending Fang Zheng to try and persuade him with soft words, while also running around trying to pull strings with the Internal Affairs Hall.
Yet none of this swayed Fang Yuan. In the end, he successfully completed the Family Property Mission and inherited the entire vast estate left behind by his parents.
This inheritance was richer than he could have imagined—two bamboo houses, a tavern, eight servants, and vast stretches of farmland. In the land-scarce Gu Yue Village, the tavern alone held a prime location:
Situated within the village walls and adjacent to the eastern main gate, it saw a constant flow of people daily, generating a substantial income of primeval stones each month.
But these weren't the core. What truly stirred Fang Yuan's heart was a Second Rank healing Gu insect among the inheritance—the nine leaf vitality grass.
This gu insect could be called a walking cash machine. Just by infusing it with true essence, it could produce nine Vitality Leaves.
Vitality Leaves are First Rank healing Gu. On a normal day, a single leaf could sell for fifty-five primeval stones.
If it were during the season when Wolf Tides run rampant, the market price of a single vitality leaf could even skyrocket to sixty or seventy primeval stones, nearly doubling in value.
As for the eight servants, they were the tavern's helpers and the shopkeeper behind the counter, saving him the trouble of hiring others.
In the previous chapter, Fang Yuan also sold that Rank Three Pig Skin Gu, exchanging it for two thousand five hundred primeval stones. With the stones obtained, he invested them into refining gu.
And what he intended to refine was the blood wing gu.
"You truly intend to refine the blood wing gu?" Yuan Fang looked at him, his tone filled with confusion:
"Fang Yuan, you are only at the Second Rank Mid Stage now. Even with A-grade aptitude, you may not necessarily be able to activate a Rank Three blood wing gu."
Fang Yuan seemed not to hear this admonition, merely lowering his gaze to stare at a gu insect in his palm, his eyes dark and inscrutable, his true thoughts hidden from all.
"Could it be that you have deduced the Second Rank recipe for the blood wing gu?" Yuan Fang exclaimed in shock.
Fang Yuan, however, did not elaborate. In his previous life, he had ascended to immortality via the Blood Path, possessing an extremely high Blood Path Realm, progressing from ordinary to Great Master, and then all the way to the pinnacle of Blood Path Grandmaster.
What is the concept of a Grandmaster? The Supreme Grand Elder of the Eastern Tribe of the Northern Plains' Golden Clans, the Rank Seven Gu Immortal, Dong Fang Chang Fan, was a Wisdom Path Grandmaster.
Dong Fang Chang Fan schemed against the heroes of the Northern Plains while alive, and continued scheming against immortals after death, ultimately achieving Rebirth through Possession. Of course, what happened after the Possession... well, that wasn't a pretty sight.
In terms of Refinement Path, Fang Yuan's attainments were also unparalleled. In the original work, Fang Yuan precisely became the supreme authority through the Refinement Path, achieving the Refinement Path Supreme Great Grandmaster, refining gu, refining people, and even refining heaven.
And the gu refinement method Fang Yuan was most proficient in during his previous life was the Blood Refining Method. With this, he stood proudly among Rank Six Gu Immortals.
Suddenly, a flash of blood light appeared. The Second Rank blood wing gu was refined at this moment. Fang Yuan raised his hand, grabbed the blood wing gu, and stored it in his aperture.
"You refined the blood wing gu, but what does that have to do with you going to White Bone Mountain?" Yuan Fang pressed.
Fang Yuan did not answer. The moment he activated the blood wing gu, a large amount of blood surged from his back. A pair of enormous wings unfurled and spread from behind him.
These wings were taller than him, about two meters. Their surface appeared to be flowing with blood, yet not a single drop fell to the ground, like a crimson waterfall suspended in mid-air.
Fang Yuan infused true essence into them. The Blood Wings stirred abruptly, carrying him directly out of the bamboo house and soaring into the sky.
The people outside the bamboo house heard only the sharp sound of the Blood Wings cutting through the air. They looked up and saw Fang Yuan, wings spread, soaring through the dark clouds like a storm petrel, charging straight into the heavens.
"It's... it's Fang Yuan! Boss, look, it's Fang Yuan!"
Gu Yue Yao Hong pointed at the figure in the distance, her voice trembling with uncontrollable panic. The "boss" she referred to was Gu Yue Qing Shu.
Beside Gu Yue Yao Hong, Ancient Moon Fangzheng's face darkened instantly upon hearing this. His eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief as he stared at the sky:
"Brother..."
Even Gu Yue Bo looked startled, a shadow churning in his eyes. He had been handling clan affairs just moments before. Upon hearing Fang Yuan had flown away, he could no longer restrain himself and immediately dispatched three Elders to pursue Fang Yuan.
At the same time, a stream of paper crane gu flew out from the Clan Leader Pavilion, sending messages to the three Second Rank teams in Gu Yue Village. They chased after Fang Yuan, only to see him stop, hovering in mid-air, and proclaim:
"Farewell, Gu Yue Bo."
"Farewell, Fang Zheng."
"Farewell, Qing Mao Mountain."
"For great ambitions thrive amidst hardship, lest the Mortal World sway a steadfast heart."
"Once I bowed low beneath the grass, today I sing wildly as I tread upon mountains and rivers."
"Hahahahaha, hahahahahaha..."
His wild laughter pierced the clouds, startling flocks of birds into chaotic flight. Inside the Clan Leader Pavilion, Gu Yue Bo's face turned livid with rage as he roared:
"Damn it, is this laughter that of a demon? This Fang Yuan is far too arrogant! He actually dares to view my Gu Yue Clan as mere grass!"
Gu Yue Bo had never imagined that Fang Yuan would leave without his permission.
In truth, Gu Yue Bo had considered the possibility of Fang Yuan leaving, but he didn't believe Fang Yuan could actually get away.
Because even with movement gu insects like the Dragon Pill Cricket Gu, Jumping Grass Gu, and Three-Step Fragrant Grass Gu, Fang Yuan would find it extremely difficult to escape Qing Mao Mountain.
Gu Yue Bo was very confident about this.
But Gu Yue Bo never expected that Fang Yuan would also have a flying gu! Even more critical, Fang Yuan, a mere teenager in his teens, actually knew how to fly.
This reminded Gu Yue Bo of Ren Zu's eldest son, Tai Ri Yang Mang, a legendary figure in *the legends of ren zu*.
Legend has it that to wear the attitude gu, Ren Zu gazed at the stars at night and obtained the Lonely Heart.
But Ren Zu could not endure the torment of loneliness. As the sun rose the next day, in fear, he dug out his own eyes, which transformed into his eldest son, Tai Ri Yang Mang, and his second daughter, Gu Yue Yin Huang.
To help Ren Zu resist loneliness and keep him company.
As Tai Ri Yang Mang grew up, he fell in love with his sister Gu Yue Yin Huang, but Gu Yue Yin Huang paid him no heed.
Tai Ri Yang Mang, filled with sorrow, sought out the wisdom gu.
Thus, the wisdom gu taught Tai Ri Yang Mang to drown his sorrows in wine. Tai Ri Yang Mang became addicted to the cup, drinking all four famous wines under heaven, and within his body, the roaming immortal gu was thus conceived.
This roaming immortal gu, once its possessor gets drunk, will randomly transport them to an unknown place—sometimes to the furnaces of the Hairy Folk, sometimes to the Ordinary Abyss, difficult to control.
Tai Ri Yang Mang was helpless against this and simply decided to refine the roaming immortal gu into the fixed immortal travel.
From the mother of the wisdom gu, the "Thought Gu," he begged for a pair of wings named "Self." With these wings, Tai Ri Yang Mang was finally able to spread his wings and fly.
He soared into the heavens on the wings of Self, charging into the Primordial Nine Heavens, facing the Primordial Glory Light, and refined the fixed immortal travel. Yet still he did not stop, determined to see what lay beyond the Nine Heavens.
The wings of Self grew larger and larger, and Tai Ri Yang Mang flew faster and faster. Just as he was about to break through the Primordial Nine Heavens, he plummeted like a falling meteor, crashing to the ground.
The Primordial Glory Light illuminated him as he fell through layers of clouds, smashing heavily onto the earth, his soul finally returning to the Door of Life and Death.
(Eternal remembrance of the legendary pilot)
"Even Tai Ri Yang Mang fell to his death due to losing control while flying, yet Fang Yuan possesses such refined flying skill—this is already the level of a Flying Master!"
Gu Yue Bo was utterly shocked. In the entire Qing Mao Mountain, perhaps only Gu Yue First Generation truly understood the art of flying.
There were no other flying Gu Masters within Gu Yue Village. Everyone could only run on the ground, watching helplessly as Fang Yuan's figure disappeared at the edge of their vision.
The Southern Border was a land of crisscrossing mountains and valleys. The Yellow Dragon River surged through the Southern Border, its mighty currents flowing between the peaks.
He had been drifting on the Yellow Dragon River for a full day and night. Fortunately, he had stored dried meat rations in his Great Belly Frog, so he didn't go hungry. However, the hastily built bamboo raft was already on the verge of falling apart, and something in the water seemed to be quietly approaching.
Fang Yuan knew these were Serrated Gold Centipedes, but since Yuan Fang was currently in control of the body, he could only remind him urgently:
"Serrated Gold Centipedes in the water! Protect the raft, get to shore!"
"What... what centipedes?"
Before Yuan Fang could finish, the water's surface exploded. A long, slender shadow shot out. Yuan Fang dodged hastily, but a sharp pain still bloomed on his cheek.
"Damn it! What is this thing?!"
Yuan Fang cursed, his mind moving. A layer of white jade-like light instantly covered his body—the defense of the white jade gu.
The centipedes in the water, finding their attacks ineffective against the raft, simply gave up and swam away. Yuan Fang could only grit his teeth and paddle the shaky raft to the riverbank.
Stepping onto the soft, sandy shore, he had just gathered his belongings when Fang Yuan's urgent voice rang out:
"Yuan Fang, look!"
Following the sound, Yuan Fang saw countless logs floating on the Yellow Dragon River, rapidly approaching the shore.
"Holy shit! Six-legged Crocodiles! Just dealt with the centipedes, now this!"
Yuan Fang was shocked. Before he could finish, those