Fang Yuan observed everything from high above.
Wang Tian's decision to establish a city was, in his view, a sound one. For the first time, the Fang Yuan Continent might develop a true commercial hub - one that did not inherently suppress Gu Master cultivation. If things continued this way, Gu Masters might finally flourish here and Fang Yuan could have a future fighting force as well as resource haven.
And yet many of Wang Tian's personal ambitions seemed to be unrealistic. Putting a settlement with so many clashing ideologies, assuming that none of the surrounding human groups might feel threatened by him, etc.
It looked like a powder keg that was going to blow up rather soon.
Fang Yuan would've preferrered that Wang Tian take the route of first gen Gu Yue; that is to take a hundred wives and concubines and have multitudes of children. His own Verdant Sun Great Yang Physique would ensure many of his children would become talented, and this new settlement could quickly get powerful enough to conquer the entire Fang Yuan Continent. However, it seemed Wang Tian had no intention of spreading his ideology to other parts of the Fang Yuan Continent.
But, if this was what Wang Tian had decided, there was little that Fang Yuan could do to directly change it. Wang Tian had reached this point without external support from Fang Yuan. That alone earned a measure of acknowledgment from Fang Yuan so he would continue watching from a distance for now.
For the next few days, Fang Yuan continued to work on his aperture. Now that he had some breathing room until his next Earthly Calamity, he wanted to experiment with the Rank 0 gu worms that were being generated by AE-3048-195.
As for the Fang Yuan Continent's diminished population, it would take many years for that to be built up once again.
The time for returning to the tournament was soon upon him.
Fang Yuan then lifted up his aperture from the Southern Border.
He then returned to the Eastern Sea and Tian Ji's blessed land, where the will he had left behind greeted him and transferred its memories to him.
Nothing of note had occurred in the time interval he was gone.
The next major stage of the tournament was about to begin.
***
Soon, a decree echoed across Tian Ji blessed land on the continent that lay beneath the expanse of White Heaven.
"Citizens of the land! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Something that appears only once in many generations!" the land spirit called out to all the inhabitants. "There are several Immortals who are visiting our world. And all of you have the chance to ask a wish from one of them! Everyone, from the poorest beggar to the highest of kings, has a chance to do so! There are restrictions, of course, on what you may ask... but if you're lucky, you too can get a wish granted!"
The citizens quickly wrote their wishes down on pieces of paper and fed them into gu worms, which carried the requests to the land spirit. These were then distributed among the twelve competing teams.
This stage was simple: grant the people's wishes!
The more difficult the wish, the higher the points. And also, the more wishes granted, the higher the points as well.
Unlike with other rounds, the contestants were free to use their gu worms for this.
"Let's start with this one," Fang Yuan said.
They arrived at a modest home and knocked on the door. A boy of around twelve gently opened the door.
"Hello, child. We are immortals," Fang Yuan said calmly. "We are here to grant your wish!"
The boy's eyes lit up. "Really? Then come in!"
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing walked in. The house was simple in the interior. His parents were absent, likely gone for work for the day.
Fang Yuan glanced at the slip of paper he had and frowned. Bai Ning Bing glanced at it and coldly snorted. "Is this really... what your demand is?"
The boy looked down, embarrassed. "There's… a girl. At the end of the street. She's really nice, and she has the softest hair and cutest voice… I want to tell her I like her. But I don't know how. Please tell me how to do so!"
Fang Yuan: "..."
Bai Ning Bing: "..."
Out of all the things he could have asked given the opportunity to wish for something from an Immortal?
Bai Ning Bing's face scrunched up like she wanted to punch the boy right in the face.
Fang Yuan, however, merely smiled.
He recited a few simple romantic poems from Earth and gave the boy basic guidance on speaking with confidence.
The boy thanked them profusely.
***
"Oh, won't somebody come and help? Immortals! My cat's been stuck in this tree for six hours!" an old lady said.
Fang Yuan retrieved the cat without a word.
***
"I wish to be less thirsty," said a man lounging lazily.
Fang Yuan turned to Bai Ning Bing, who created a small stream of water and handed it to the man.
"Go ahead and enjoy your drink," Fang Yuan said.
"Thanks, that was refreshing," the man said, completing this 'wish.'
***
"Gu Immortals," another said nervously, "my friend's birthday is coming up. I want to refine a Friendship Gu as a gift… but I don't know the recipe."
At least this one had some substance. It was only a Rank 2 gu worm, but it was still something pertinent.
Fang Yuan provided the recipe and the method.
Sadly, most of the requests had been for trivial matters like this which made Bai Ning Bing want to pull her hair out.
As the day wore on, the majority of the requests remained trivial. It was not surprising from a certain point of view.
The mortals within blessed lands lived sheltered lives. Their survival was ensured by the very immortals who governed them. They rarely faced true hardship because the entire point that they were being raised was to raise the immortal's foundation, or in this case, the land spirit's. Since these tiny pockets were isolated from the greater world, many of the problems like inter-species hatred that plagued the wider world were simply not known here. Fang Yuan's aperture was an extreme example of what could happen in those kinds of circumstances.
Of course, it wasn't like life here was perfect. At the very least, living somewhere like Qing Mao Mountain meant that your life was in your own hands and planning for the most part.
But on the flip side, a Heavenly Tribulation could slaughter your entire city without you being able to lift a finger to deal with it.
Variant humans might also be sold as slaves. The Tian Ji land spirit didn't seem to have such inclinations as he was wealthy enough, but there were Immortals who wouldn't have a problem selling even ordinary humans on Yellow Treasure Heaven.
Moreover, problems still plagued the world at large even here. There may not be the threat of a wolf tide, but poverty, disease, inequality - no land spirit or Immortal could have the time to deal with all of them.
In a way, this task was a way for the land spirit to lessen the woes of the inhabitants of his blessed land without dealing with all the hassles himself. It was another way that it wanted 'everyone to win something' in addition to their participation prizes.
As it was Fang Yuan didn't care; although the easy wishes didn't give as many points it still let them compensate by doing a large number of them.
By evening, they arrived at what seemed to be a normal enough request, if yet another waste of their time:
"Please read me a bedtime story."
When they arrived though, both Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan were baffled by the one who had made the request.
Bai Ning Bing's expression twitched.
When the door opened, a middle-aged man stood before them.
Bai Ning Bing's patience snapped by this point. "You! This kind of request would seem cute coming from a small child! But you! You're a forty-year-old man! And this is your wish!?"
The man frowned. "What? Is a grown man not allowed to want a bedtime story?"
Bai Ning Bing stepped forward, but Fang Yuan raised a hand, stopping her.
"Enough."
He walked inside.
"Very well," Fang Yuan said, taking a seat while the man lay down and tucked himself in. "We will grant your wish of reciting a bedtime story for you."