"Well done, well done," the land spirit said, reviewing the final tallies.
In total, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing had managed to amass 35 primeval stones. It was a paltry sum compared to what they were used to as Gu Masters, but under these strict restrictions, it was still an impressive feat.
"Congratulations! The two of you have managed to secure second place!" the land spirit announced.
"Second place?" Fang Yuan inquired. Someone had still done better than the two of them?
"Indeed. Another team managed to score higher than you; you'll see it on the scoreboard soon enough," the land spirit answered.
Fang Yuan checked the board. It was Liu Nan's group that had taken first place. Fang Yuan had heard rumors in the city of a brilliant new apothecary somewhere in a different corner of the city, and it turned out to be Liu Nan, beating them by just a few primeval stones.
"With that said though, I am quite thankful for what you did," the land spirit said. "Helping out those people in that village there... why, it nearly moved me to tears!" The land spirit took out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes. "I heard from An Rui and An Zhou, by the way, that you claimed to be someone who walks in Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable's footsteps! That seems to really, truly, be the case indeed! I was greatly moved by your kindness!"
The land spirit calmed down and said. "Alright then, in view of that act of kindness... though I won't change the results of the tournament, allow me to give you an extra compensatory prize! That's right! Any Rank 6 Immortal Gu recipe you want that I have - feel free to take it!"
Bai Ning Bing's and Fang Yuan's eyes both flashed. But the land spirit was only giving out one recipe - they would have to choose a single one. And that was where there was going to be a problem...
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing sat at 2nd place overall in the grand tournament. They tended to fluctuate between third and fourth place for the most part. Although they were good at certain sections, there were also those in which they were deficient. Like the eating contest - one was not allowed to use gu worms and neither of them had a very large countenance and they had bottom-of-the-barrel results there.
They had stacked up a large number of points regardless - about two hundred or so by this point. They hadn't spent any of it in the prize shop, but that was because what either one truly wanted wasn't there.
An immortal gu cost four hundred points but no one had reached that level as of yet. As for the parallel refinement formation, Fang Yuan had no luck in finding it and the land spirit remained passive when asked about it - saying neither 'yes' nor 'no' simply stating that wasn't something that it was going to divulge.
"Now, now," the land spirit said, clapping his hands. "Many of you have expressed that you need a break after such a long ordeal, which I completely understand. You will need to leave the aperture to manage your affairs and manage your heaven and earth qi, for those from outside the Eastern Sea. We will meet again in one month's time as time moves in the outside world."
It then vanished, leaving Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan to discuss about what they should do regarding the recipe. The reward was substantial, but it quickly presented a practical dilemma. Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing had an agreement to split their winnings evenly.
And both of them wanted different things.
Bai Ning Bing - an Ice or Snow Path Immortal Gu recipe. Fang Yuan was a bit more split on what he wanted - preferably a Wisdom Path Immortal Gu recipe but he was also interested in things like the Food and Pill Path if they were there. As for a Luck Path Immortal Gu recipe, Tian Ji simply did not have one.
"I suppose we'll just have to iron out the details of our split later," Fang Yuan said. "Will you be coming outside with me?"
Bai Ning Bing glared at him. If she went outside into the broader world with him, who knew what kind of traps or deceptions Fang Yuan would spring on her? At least inside this blessed land, she was safe from his sudden schemes.
"No, I'll be staying right here," Bai Ning Bing stated firmly.
"All right then. Feel free to use the time to cultivate and manage your Northern Dark Ice Soul physique," Fang Yuan said smoothly while handing her Equality Gu. "Be a good girl, okay?"
He let out a short laugh before turning on his heel, leaving the blessed land and returning to the outside world.
Fang Yuan had to go and stabilize the heaven and earth qi of his Immortal Aperture by returning to the Southern Border.
He used a different route this time, not wanting for something strange to happen again like with Dai Ruo and he was suspicious about the An siblings in case they had a trap laid out for him there.
The path he took was a bit strange - going from the Eastern Sea first to the Northern Plains, then Central Continent, Northern Plains again, and then finally the Southern Border.
It was a strange path, but the thing was that this was the shortest overall path given the distances involved and the transport through the spaceless tunnels.
Fang Yuan then laid his aperture on the ground, allowing his aperture to balance itself as he prepared for his upcoming second earthly calamity.
***
Meanwhile, on the Fang Yuan Continent:
Wang Tian glanced around him.
Their little settlement around the primeval spring could not longer said to be 'little.' It now boasted over three thousand people. Many people were attracted there as they were driven out of their homes.
And the main culprit behind it was clear. A name on all of their lips - the Shen tribe!
Many of them carried a deep hatred towards the Shen tribe and the atrocities that they committed. It had gotten to the point that Shen He had hidden her surname from most of them as she feared some of them attacking her.
Shen He had cultivated quickly, getting to Rank 1 Peak Stage already. This was all thanks to her Ancient Moon Desolate Yin Physique.
Things were happy. For a time that is.
Eventually, just like she had predicted, the Shen tribe had set its sights on Wang Tian's area. The Shen tribe functioned as a massive juggernaut of a war machine; and naturally being reliant upon conventional weapons felt threatened by what they perceived as a budding community of Gu Masters.
Not that many people within the community cultivated, and those that did were generally weak. Wang Tian was getting close to Rank 3 Peak Stage, but didn't have many functional gu until recently. He had snuck out on a small expedition alongside Bai Xiao and Huang Fei towards the areas where the Golden Shower had landed and found many Metal Path gu worms which were far more suited to combat. Also, by observing the behaviors of these wild gu, Wang Tian had some idea as to what they did.
"The people here don't want to flee," Shen He said. "They seem to want to fight the Shen tribe."
"Can you blame them? This has become a second home for them," Wang Tian said. He also didn't want to leave either.
"But... I don't think that we can fight them..." Shen He said. No one knew the power of the Shen tribe better than her.
"We'll find a more defensible place," Wang Tian said. "There is a valley a distance away from here where a small group of a thousand can hold off a bigger force. We will face them there."
Shen He sighed. Natural instinct told her that she should run. But she couldn't. As it was, she was the only one who had insider knowledge about the machinations of how the Shen tribe worked. Without her, they really would have no chance. "You've changed quite a lot since we first met... you've become like the man I always knew you could be..."
She rested her head upon his shoulders. Wang Tian glanced down at her exquisite face. He sighed inwardly - truth be told he was greatly nervous as well. But he had learned that no matter how frightened he was, he couldn't show it. Even if he thought that their total and complete destruction was imminent, he could not act like so otherwise morale would completely collapse. 'Being a leader isn't nearly as easy as it sounds,' he thought.
For the sake of everyone here, he had to put on a brave face!