This trade had come at the most crucial of moments, and the profits it yielded would help Fang Yuan break through the predicament he currently faced.
Although Fang Yuan's past-life memories contained quite a few methods of obtaining Immortal Yuan Stones, nearly all of them required time to plan or carried considerable risk.
Trading with the Lang Ya land spirit was the only option that combined low risk with high returns.
After a moment's thought, Fang Yuan left the Cloud Path Immortal Gu Ping Bu Qing Yun in the Lang Ya Blessed Land as collateral for the deal.
Ping Bu Qing Yun was a movement Gu. Fang Yuan was not lacking in movement Immortal Gu — he already possessed Lang Ji Tian Ya. The latter was suited for Water Path Gu Immortals and proved more effective when activated in river, lake, and sea environments. Ping Bu Qing Yun, on the other hand, excelled at ascending and descending, though in terms of normal horizontal traversal its speed was slightly inferior to Lang Ji Tian Ya.
Fang Yuan was a pragmatist, and to him, Lang Ji Tian Ya was the far more practical choice.
That night in the Northern Plains, Fang Yuan returned alone to the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, while Tai Bai Yun Sheng remained behind in the Lang Ya Blessed Land.
Fang Yuan was thoroughly satisfied with how this outing had turned out.
It had cost him one green grape Immortal Essence, but given the circumstances — with no knowledge of the Lang Ya Blessed Land's true condition — swiftly defeating the Mud Swamp Crab and seizing control of the situation had been the priority.
Immortal Essence was indeed precious, but it had to be used when necessary. Unused Immortal Essence held no value at all!
It wasn't just a matter of one green grape Immortal Essence — even if it were eight or ten, Fang Yuan would not hesitate to use them when the time came.
He took stock of the situation: the expenditure this time had been minimal, but the returns were substantial.
First, he had retrieved the Immortal Travel Gu.
Losing and then recovering the Immortal Travel Gu was a genuine pleasant surprise. With it in hand, Fang Yuan could now cross the barriers between regions. His reach extended across all five domains. He could fully leverage the advantages of rebirth, setting up arrangements everywhere to reap the greatest benefits.
At the very least, even if the Xian He Sect managed to breach the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, Fang Yuan and Tai Bai Yun Sheng could still retreat with Dang Hun Mountain and the Zhi Hui Gu.
Offensively, he could press forward. Defensively, he could fall back.
Though the Immortal Travel Gu was only a Sixth Transformation movement-type immortal gu, it granted Fang Yuan an enormous strategic advantage.
This was something that neither the Ping Bu Qing Yun Gu nor the Lang Ji Tian Ya Gu could achieve, even combined.
Fang Yuan felt his burden lighten considerably.
Secondly, he forged the Snow Mountain Alliance with Hei Loulan and Li Shan Fairy.
Hei Loulan possessed the Supreme Martial Body of Great Strength, one of the Ten Extremes. She held tremendous potential, and once she ascended to immortality, her combat power would be formidable.
Li Shan Fairy was a prominent figure in the Northern Plains. On one hand, she was the Third Brain of the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land. On the other hand, she had an extensive network and maintained many dealings with Righteous Path Gu Immortals from the Northern Plains.
Even within the Righteous Path, there were scoundrels and eccentrics, and the Demonic Path was filled with all manner of characters. All conflicts stemmed from profit. The Righteous and Demonic Paths did not always engage in open battle; there were transactions between them, and even secret cooperation.
Li Shan Fairy possessed the Mountain Alliance Immortal Gu, and this gu was the key reason for her wide popularity.
When Dongfang Changfan discussed forming an alliance with the major Righteous Path forces, he needed the Mountain Alliance Gu. Gu Immortals of the Demonic Path were inherently more suspicious and distrustful of one another. To establish a vast organization like the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land, they needed the Mountain Alliance Gu even more.
The Mountain Alliance Gu established an unbreakable pact of mutual watchfulness. This was the main cornerstone of trust among Demonic Path Gu Immortals.
By forming an alliance with the two of them, Fang Yuan would both gain powerful support and resolve his greatest weakness: the lack of real-time intelligence.
With Li Shan Fairy's such extensive network, gathering intelligence would be far easier for her than for Fang Yuan.
Thirdly, Fang Yuan obtained specific intelligence on four Immortal Gu.
The ones he snatched after breaking through the Formless Fist technique were Soul Purifier, Ascension, Woman's Heart, and Connected Fortune.
Sorted from lowest to highest value, Ascension came first. For Fang Yuan, this Gu had the least practical utility, so pawning it off to the Langya Earth Spirit was putting it to full use.
The Poison Path Immortal Gu Woman's Heart was a single-use consumable Gu, integrated in refining and nurturing, and its practical value was slightly higher. Generally speaking, such single-use consumable Gu wielded tremendous power — the Immortal Gu Mud Mixing was one such example.
Above Woman's Heart was the Immortal Gu Soul Purifier. Soul Purifier could refine the soul, far surpassing the Wolf Soul Gu Fang Yuan had used before. With his Courage Gu, strengthening his soul was trivial. Before entering the Valley of Degeneration, the Immortal Gu Soul Purifier was the best substitute available.
Besides that, Soul Purifier was also the core Gu of the killer move Myriad Self. That made its value even greater.
Fang Yuan compared the two — without deploying the killer move Myriad Self, his combat strength fell short of an ordinary Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal. But once he used it, his power surged to terrifying levels, reaching the top tier among Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal.
Of course, it was still a notch below the Blood Path combat strength of his previous life five hundred years ago.
In his previous life five hundred years ago, Fang Yuan had been a Demonic Path Colossus at the Peak Stage of the Sixth Transformation, just one step away from the Seventh Transformation. His combat strength was nothing short of horrifying, firmly occupying the upper echelon of the Sixth Transformation — he had two shocking victories in battle against ordinary Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal.
Finally, there was the Fortune Path Immortal Gu Connected Fortune.
This Fortune Path Immortal Gu was the greatest surprise of them all! Its value even edged slightly above Soul Purifier.