Iron Ruonan truly left.
As she said, she took Iron Dao Ku with her.
Fang Yuan knew exactly what kind of person Iron Dao Ku was.
He had fought Bai Ningbing to a standstill for a long time — clearly a formidable fighter whose combat strength could not be underestimated. Now he had been recruited under Iron Ruonan's banner.
"I must eliminate this Iron Ruonan. Leaving her alive is an absolute disaster waiting to happen." Fang Yuan had a strong premonition, all because Iron Ruonan shared something in common with himself and Bai Ningbing — They had all found their own path in life.
People like that possessed tremendous willpower and extraordinary courage. As long as they weren't cut down prematurely, they would surely achieve greatness.
Iron Ruonan also had Grade A aptitude, and what's more, she had the backing of the Iron Family.
She was one of the Iron Family's Eight Young Masters. Measured against that, even though Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing each held a Redbud Token, it was nothing worth bragging about.
"If we just develop at a normal pace, both Bai Ningbing and I will gradually fall behind her. The only way to close the gap is through the Three Kings' Inheritance." Fang Yuan had it all figured out.
At the conventional rate of progress, neither he nor Bai Ningbing would be a match for Iron Ruonan. She was one of the Iron Family's young masters, with vast resources at her disposal — something they simply could not compete with.
Only by taking the unconventional path, gambling on shortcuts and detours, could there be any hope of narrowing the distance.
And the Three Kings' Inheritance, along with the great battle between the Righteous and Demonic Paths at Yitian Mountain, were precisely those "shortcuts" and "detours."
Spring came and spring went; autumn left and autumn returned.
The River of Time flowed ceaselessly onward, and another year and a half passed.
Nanqiu Garden. The secret chamber.
Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, sweat continuously beading on his forehead, his jaw clenched tight as he endured and persevered.
He was refining a Gu.
He had reached the critical stage.
A sphere of light, glowing in red, orange, and green, hovered in midair, about the size of a large basket. It cast a kaleidoscope of colors across his face.
Focusing with four threads of will simultaneously!
"Stone Turtle Strength-bearing Gu. Go."
At Fang Yuan's mental command, a pale ink-colored streak of light shot out from his Empty Orifice and plunged straight into the three-colored sphere of light.
The addition of the Stone Turtle Strength-bearing Gu immediately triggered a violent reaction in the sphere.
Where before there had been only red, orange, and green, a fourth color — black ink — now joined the fray.
The four colors clashed and wrestled against each other, none able to overpower the rest, plunging into a chaotic maelstrom.
In an instant, the four-colored ring of light spun wildly, as though water had suddenly begun to boil, or as if a giant hand were violently stirring the mixture from within!
Boom.
Without warning, a faint detonation sounded.
The sphere burst apart, scattering a rain of four-colored light. The light came fast and vanished even faster — in the blink of an eye, the secret chamber was plunged into total darkness.
Everything dissipated into nothing.
"Another failure…" In the darkness, Fang Yuan let out a quiet sigh.
Two thin trails of blood trickled slowly from his nostrils. At the same time, his soul had suffered backlash from the failed refinement, leaving Fang Yuan feeling wave after wave of dizziness and vertigo.
Counting it up, this was already the fourth failure.
"Over this past year and a half, I've fought my way from the fourth inner city to the third inner city. But I still can't buy a Labor Gu anywhere."
Fang Yuan knew the reasons behind it.
First, Labor Gu were genuinely exceedingly rare. And expensive at that — even in Merchant City, they seldom appeared.
Second, it was because Shang Yazi, who controlled the shop district, had been secretly sabotaging Fang Yuan behind the scenes.
Shang Yazi was one of the Merchant Clan's young patriarchs. He held dominion over Merchant City's commercial shops. Whenever Fang Yuan tried to purchase a Labor Gu, Shang Yazi would pull strings behind the scenes, doing everything in his power to block the transaction.
Two years ago, when Fang Yuan had first come to Merchant City, he had extorted Shang Yazi. That was how the grudge between them began. After relying on the White Bone Inheritance to pass his clan's assessment and retain his position as young patriarch, Shang Yazi was bound by the Poison Oath Gu from launching any lethal attacks against Fang Yuan — but petty revenge like this was still fair game.
At the end of the day, Shang Yazi was Shang Yanfei's son. Having learned his lesson the hard way, he had risen from his setbacks with renewed determination — sobering up from his indulgences in wine and women, growing ever shrewder.
He used the clan's own rules and systems against Fang Yuan, wielding invisible knives. Even with a Redbud Token, Fang Yuan could do nothing about it.
Holding a Redbud Token made one a distinguished guest of the Merchant Clan. But in the end, Fang Yuan was still an outsider — nothing compared to Shang Yazi's status as a young patriarch of the clan.
Unable to buy a Labor Gu, Fang Yuan had no choice but to refine one himself.
But the success rate of synthesizing a Labor Gu was pitifully low.
Including today's attempt, Fang Yuan had now tried refining it a total of four times. He had lost the Brown Bear Strength-bearing Gu, the Steed Swiftness Gu, the Green Ox Labor Gu, and the Stone Turtle Strength-bearing Gu one after another.
On top of that, there were the precious auxiliary materials and a massive quantity of Yuan Stones.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan's unbroken streak of victories in the martial arena had allowed him to accumulate enough capital to absorb the losses from these failed refinements.
"Sigh. This failure means I'll have to wait until I've recovered from my injuries before trying again." Fang Yuan sighed.
Gu refinement demanded caution.
A failed refinement inflicted backlash damage on both the Gu Master's body and soul. Physical damage was easy enough to treat. But the soul damage caused by multi-threaded willpower concentration was an extremely troublesome matter.
The higher a Gu Insect's transformation stage and the rarer it was, the more severe the consequences of failure.
For this reason, even master refiners were frequently left bedridden with serious injuries from failed attempts — and some even died from the backlash.