Chapter 35: 35 The Plan Becomes Difficult, Time Is Tight, and the Inheritance Faces a Test
First, the five-turn "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu was successfully refined. This Gu originated from the Heavenly Demon Lord and utilizes the all-pervasive void to transport materials without regard for distance. After more than four hundred years, the secret recipe for the "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu was unearthed and widely spread.
By that time, Qi Tian had long passed away, with his will lying dormant within Fang Yuan's body. Moreover, Qi Tian's wisdom was limited, as he had not yet reached the level of a quasi-master. His ability to remain hidden successfully was due to the Qi family's inheritance and its methods of hiding, combined with Fang Yuan's own lack of wisdom at that time.
Even though his will was dormant within Fang Yuan, it lacked the powerful wisdom techniques of Mo Yao's will and was thus restricted.
Qi Tian could easily learn about the events Fang Yuan directly experienced. However, much of the information was directly imprinted into Fang Yuan's mind by the Gu worms, requiring frequent probing of Fang Yuan's thoughts to acquire. Therefore, Qi Tian was unaware of these details.
As for the Gu recipes, Qi Tian could not know them unless Fang Yuan had personally refined them, such as with the Star Gate Gu. Fang Yuan was aware of the recipe but had never refined it himself since it was not needed in his previous life.
Fortunately, the "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu was a practical Gu that Fang Yuan had refined in his past life. Therefore, Qi Tian knew the recipe, although he only had a flawed version from his observation, about ninety percent complete.
Over the past few months, Qi Tian had completed several sect tasks, gaining contributions. Since he already had a relatively complete set of Gu worms, he did not need to contribute more in this regard. Instead, he exchanged his contributions for various Gu worms and materials necessary for refining the "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu.
The earlier attempts at refining the three-turn Gold Cup Gu and Silver Cup Gu were relatively smooth. However, when trying to refine the four-turn Gold Cup and Silver Cup Gu, he failed many times, only managing to create a single Gold Cup and Silver Cup Gu.
As for the five-turn "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu, Qi Tian had not attempted to refine it yet. This was due to both his cultivation level and the incomplete recipe, causing him to reach an impasse.
But the "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu was extremely important to Qi Tian. If successful, he could send one into the Night Soul Blessed Land, allowing him to contact it at any time. This would not only help Qi Tian obtain resources from the Blessed Land but also enable him to monitor the operations of the Earth Spirit within it.
The next goal was to obtain the Tongtian Gu and the Divine Mind Gu. With these two Gu, the Night Soul Blessed Land would break through its current bottleneck.
However, both of these five-turn Gu were precious, and almost all were in the hands of Gu Immortals. Refining them by oneself would be even harder than refining the "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu.
Additionally, because the recipes for these two Gu were relatively common among Gu Immortals, acquiring the materials would be risky. The demand for these two Gu was either from newly promoted Gu Immortals or mortals who controlled Blessed Lands.
Thus, Qi Tian could only wait until he obtained the Fox Immortal Blessed Land to consider it further.
Lastly, there were four types of top-tier fine wines. Qi Tian, familiar with the original work, knew that the Three Kings Blessed Land possessed the Immortal Gu "Divine Journey," which would be refined into "Fixed Immortal Journey" by Fang Yuan.
The Immortal Gu was unique, meaning that only one could exist at any given time. As the Divine Journey Gu transformed into the Fixed Immortal Journey Gu, it would cease to exist, allowing the appearance of a new Divine Journey Gu.
Additionally, the Divine Journey Gu had a remarkable property: it was easy to acquire, unlike other Immortal Gu that were extremely hard to capture.
According to "The Human Ancestor's Legacy," if one drank the four top-tier fine wines in the world, the Divine Journey Gu would condense within their body.
Excluding those made by wild beasts or naturally born, the production of fine wines had increased due to the progress of human brewing techniques. The quantity of top-tier fine wines now far exceeded that of ancient times.
Finding these four types of fine wines would be troublesome but still possible.
However, therein lay the key problem.
Because the Divine Journey Gu was so easily obtained, it could be taken by others. Once someone else acquired it, no matter how many top-tier fine wines Qi Tian drank, he would never be able to get the Divine Journey Gu.
"The Fei family in the Southern Wilderness possesses the top-tier wine 'Zhuang Si Fei.' The Seven-Turn Gu Immortal 'Drunken Immortal Old Man' from the Eastern Sea creates a wine sea and hides countless wines, holding annual wine banquets. In the Northern Yuan Royal Court, there is a type of wine for longevity. And the Xian He Sect, where Qi Tian is located, also has a top-tier wine called 'Yu Hua Wine,' brewed by the Sect's Elder. These great powers or Gu Immortals each possess one or two types of top-tier fine wines, making the chances of obtaining the Divine Journey Gu much greater than mine."
"But I know when the Divine Journey Gu will disappear, deliberately or accidentally. If I can act quickly after it disappears, the chances of obtaining it are much higher. In the original work, the Divine Journey Gu was obtained by the Shadow Sect to plot against the Earth Spirit of Langya. Moreover, with Fang Yuan making such a stir in the Southern Wilderness, many Gu Immortals in the region will likely take action once they hear about it."
"Whether the Shadow Sect obtained the Gu for themselves or purchased it from another Gu Immortal is irrelevant. The key is whether I can form the Divine Journey Gu before anyone else."
This was a shortcut to obtaining an Immortal Gu. Even if it couldn't be used, it could be exchanged for huge benefits.
However, top-tier fine wines were rare, and Qi Tian didn't have the assets to trade for them in the short term. If he waited too long, he might miss out on this opportunity.
Thus, Qi Tian had to refine the "Push Cup and Change Cup" Gu to communicate with the Night Soul Blessed Land, plan to obtain the Tongtian Gu and Divine Mind Gu, and gather the four top-tier fine wines. There was a lot to do.
And this did not even include the future plans to compete for ownership when the Fox Immortal Blessed Land opened, which would be in two years.
"Forget about it for now. I've reached the fourth-turn stage, and with a hundred souls, I can consider capturing a Beast King to increase the number of Iron Feather Flying Cranes to a thousand."
"Then I will participate in the Flying Crane Commander's assessment. A B-class rating requires the realm of a Slave Master with a quasi-master's cultivation. The reward for the assessment is a five-turn Five-Hole Jade Flute Gu. I am ninety percent sure I can succeed."
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The mists in the maze were deep, the white fog swirling.
Several months had passed since the siblings, the Shangguan family, defeated the flock of cranes blocking their way.
The two walked through the fog, arriving at the outer edge of the maze. Along the way, aside from encountering flocks of cranes, they did not face much danger.
"If the inheritance clues are correct, the destination should be ahead," Shangguan Baihong said, stopping, excitement still on her face.
"Thanks to the guidance of the inheritance route, otherwise, with our strength, we would have been unable to venture deep into this fog," Shangguan Shenhou said calmly.
He then speculated, "If I'm not wrong, the flocks of cranes we encountered were left by a Slave Master who entered the valley. His identity is likely that of an elder from the Xian He Sect, and his cultivation probably surpassed ours when he was alive."
"Hiss... A five-turn Gu Master of the righteous path left an inheritance! Maybe even a five-turn Gu," the young woman said, immediately growing excited.
In this world, the higher the turn number of a Gu, the stronger and rarer it became. Four-turn Gu were already hard to find, and five-turn Gu rarely circulated in the market.
Once Gu worms reached the five-turn level, they became exceedingly rare. Many five-turn Gu Masters had only one or two five-turn Gu in their possession over the years.
Only those with great backgrounds and powerful foundations could accumulate three or four five-turn Gu.
Magic path and rogue Gu Masters, however, lacked resources and mostly relied on luck or opportunities. Without a fortuitous encounter, even five-turn Gu Masters might not have a single five-turn Gu. Or, they would have to make do with lower-value five-turn Gu temporarily.
If Shangguan Shenhou, at the peak of the fourth-turn stage, were to obtain a powerful five-turn Gu, his battle strength would greatly increase, and he could even survive encounters with five-turn Gu Masters.
Then, Shangguan Baihong sighed. "Unfortunately, our scouting methods are limited. If something unexpected happens, we might encounter some danger."
When they first entered the foggy valley, they had encountered many troubles due to her failure to follow the intended route.
"Enough! Don't be so disappointed. As long as we follow the clues and find the inheritance, it will definitely be at least as good as a five-turn Gu Master's inheritance, and it might even be left by a Gu Immortal. After all, only someone extraordinary could leave an inheritance in this valley," Shangguan Shenhou comforted.
Shangguan Shenhou himself was no ordinary person. He had once been favored by the Gu Immortal Monkey Fist Master, Wen Biao, who had guided him in his fist technique for three days, greatly enhancing his martial arts.
Once, while gambling on stones with his sister, Shangguan Shenhou had uncovered a bookworm. It wasn't just any bookworm, though; within it was a clue to an inheritance.
The two of them had followed the instructions within the bookworm and arrived at the foggy valley to explore.
At first, they thought the inheritance might only be of a three-turn or four-turn level, with a maximum of five turns. They had only approached it with a testing attitude. But after realizing how dangerous the foggy valley was, they no longer believed that an ordinary five-turn Gu Master could have left an inheritance in its depths.
"If it's really a Gu Immortal's inheritance, the difference between Immortals and mortals is immense. It would be a step towards Immortality, and we might one day become Gu Immortals," Shangguan Baihong said, her eyes shimmering with longing.
"Even if we can't ascend to Immortality, a Gu Immortal's inheritance would be enough for us to cultivate to the peak of the fifth turn and dominate the mortal world," Shangguan Shenhou, the elder sibling, said. He had encountered Gu Immortals in his youth and knew the difficulty of ascension.
But the thought of a Gu Immortal's treasure made even the usually calm Shangguan Shenhou's gaze burn with intensity.
A fifth-turn peak Gu Master was an emperor-like figure in the mortal world. With powerful five-turn Gu, their combat strength could shatter mountains and rivers, their power immense.
However, there was a massive qualitative difference between the fifth and sixth turns, as huge as the gap between heaven and earth.
The inheritance of a six-turn Gu Immortal would be invaluable, so much so that even a secluded six-turn Gu Immortal would be tempted.
For a mortal Gu Master who had yet to ascend, the allure of such an inheritance was even greater. Becoming a Gu Immortal might be hard, but becoming a top-tier fifth-turn Gu Master with deep foundations was far more attainable.
The two did not rush to explore but instead found a relatively safe place to rest for the night, adjusting their states to their best conditions to face the inheritance test.
The next day, they entered the designated area for the inheritance and disappeared into the mist.