At that exact moment, as Feng Jin Huang was about to reach the top, a flash of brilliant green light blinded the mountain peak.
When the light faded, a man stood before her.
He had long black hair, abyss-like eyes, and wore simple clothing that billowed in the wind. But what froze Feng Jin Huang in terror was that his face suddenly changed.
Because right then, seconds after he had arrived, the Rank 9 gu worm embedded in Fang Yuan's right eye socket completed its refinement! The illusion that ordinarily hid his right eye was broken.
His left eye was normal - a dark, fathomless abyss that sent chills through most people who glanced at it. But his right eye socket had transformed into an even more nightmarish feature.
A grotesque, oversized eye which was three times larger than his left bulged out of his right socket. Its sclera was a sickly, luminous green and it had a vertical slit as a pupil, it pulsated with an aura that was utterly repulsive and unnatural.
'That gu worm... I've never seen it before, but why does it feel so familiar?!' Feng Jin Huang thought, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Looking at that hideous, bulging eye, a realization soon struck her like a thunderbolt.
She had heard of this gu worm's description before!
It was none other than Envy Gu from The Legends of Ren Zu. The same Envy Gu which had given Profound Earth Origin, Carefree Wisdom Heart, and Great Strength True Martial so much trouble, caused the mushroommen to fight amongst themselves, and had led to the destruction of Green Heaven!
Its Immortal aura began to radiate from Fang Yuan's face.
Rank 9 aura!
This was Rank 9 Envy Gu!
Fang Yuan smiled upon seeing her terrified, confused expression.
Claiming Hu Immortal Blessed Land, getting Dang Hun Mountain, getting the Second Aperture Gu - all of it was merely a secondary prize compared to his true objective today. This opportunity was the true prize.
The Rank 9 Envy Gu was the ultimate product of humanity's collective subconscious over millions of years, finally weaponized in his hands!
What was one of humanity's most primal, baseline emotions?
Envy.
Wherever the population of humans was more than one, one invariably envied the other. Why are they smarter, taller, wealthier, or luckier than me? Why are they fated to get something and I am not?
One only had to look at Feng Jin Huang to understand it. Why was she born with boundless blessings, the daughter of two Gu Immortals? Why was she fated to become the supreme Great Dream Immortal Venerable? Why should she inherit Hu Immortal Blessed Land and obtain Dang Hun Mountain on a silver platter? Why was it that, despite being a mortal, she had been blessed with an Immortal Gu when even most Immortals did not have a single one? Where was the fairness in this?
For that matter, take a look at Fang Zheng. Even after all that Fang Yuan had helped him with in this timeline, he still had envied Fang Yuan obtaining Second Aperture Gu and had considered taking it for himself if only for a brief moment. Fang Yuan had done his best to brainwash Fang Zheng, but man was the spirit of all things, this aspect of Fang Zheng had leaked out if only for a brief moment.
Naturally, these feelings had crystallized over billions of years of collective human experience. The envious feelings of countless human wills coalescing, finally taking form with the help of the Integration Formation.
Feng Jin Huang was destined to be the Great Dream Immortal Venerable.
But today, Fang Yuan intended to rewrite that destiny.
He activated the Rank 9 killer move bestowed upon him by Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable.
Ordinary Theft Path moves could steal wealth or gu worms. More powerful ones could steal abstract concepts like lifespan or even luck.
This move went a step forward, it could be said to be Thieving Heaven's magnum opus. The crowning achievement of the Theft Path.
This killer move was designed to steal a person's Fate itself!
Every human, from even before they were born, had their life path set in stone by Fate Gu and could not deviate from it. Otherworldly demons could to a small extent. But Fang Yuan did not want to just defy Fate to a small extent. He needed to become a Venerable. But without Fate's explicit blessing, it was not possible to become a Venerable.
But there was no strongest gu worm, only the strongest Gu Master!
Fate Gu was no exception.
To subvert the absolute authority of Rank Nine Heaven Path Fate Gu, one needed either another Rank Nine Heaven Path Gu or a Rank Nine Human Path Gu. Rank Nine Envy Gu - a Human Path Gu worm - served as the core of this killer move, while the gu worms left behind from Thieving Heaven's formation for abducting otherworldly demons functioned as its supplementary components.
But that was not enough.
Envy Gu as well as the other gu worms being used were still a product of Fate itself and so were still subject to Fate's whims.
How to solve that problem?
The answer lay in Rank 0 gu worms! They were made of otherworldly dao marks, and not subject to Fate Gu's influence.
That was why Thieving Heaven had stressed the importance of Rank 0 gu worms for so long. Fang Yuan had already seen how powerful they were when combined with Rank 6 Human Path methods from his third Earthly Calamity, now he simply had to apply that principal to a Rank 9 gu.
That was why AE-3048-195, Sun Lei, and Ruo Dei had been painstakingly forced to refine as many as possible for him.
'Feng Jin Huang, you were fated to be the Great Dream Immortal Venerable, and yet you died only at Rank 6 to me, a Rank 6 Gu Immortal who didn't have a proper backing. Clearly you were unworthy of the burden of the great destiny that was placed upon you. It even led to your destruction. Allow this generous Fang Yuan to relieve you of this great burden,' Fang Yuan thought.
The killer move activated - Stealing Fate!
The operational price was staggering.
First, to use Envy Gu he had to sacrifice Rank 6 Beauty Gu. Just as The Legends of Ren Zu described, it was transformed into Rank 6 Ugly Gu because of this usage. Just like Profound Earth Origin, Fang Yuan instantly became hideous as a result of this.
But that was not enough.
Secondly, 50,000 beads of Grape Green Immortal Essence were instantly consumed - that had been the entire reserve granted to him by the Great Paradise Earth Alliance upon his ascension.
Third, 10,000 Human Path dao marks and thirty years of his remaining lifespan were sacrificed.
Fourth, every single Rank 0 gu worm made up until now was consumed by the killer move.
Finally, Rank 9 Envy Gu disintegrated completely, sacrificing its very existence to power the move. Fang Yuan had only had the Rank 9 gu worm for a few breaths of time, and now it was gone. He was subsequently left with a permanently damaged right eye socket. It was essentially a wound made by a Rank 9 gu worm and would not be easy to heal even with Human Path methods.
In exchange for all of this, the killer move slammed directly into Feng Jin Huang, inscribing itself into her body and soul. The move was incredibly powerful in terms of what it did, yet she only felt a passing breeze and a light touch.
All of this took some time to describe, but actually happened in the space of only a few breaths.
"You've served your purpose," Fang Yuan said, coldly glaring down at the stunned girl who was still trying to process things like who it was that Fang Yuan even was, forget about thinking where it was that Fang Yuan's right eye had suddenly disappeared to. "Now scram."
He raised his foot, planted it squarely onto Feng Jin Huang's jade-like face, and kicked her callously off the peak of Dang Hun Mountain.
Gu Yue Fang Yuan was now fated to become the Great Dream Immortal Venerable!
He had built up quite a foundation in the Dream Path while reaching up to this point. His knowledge from the future, obtainment of Rank 6 Dreams of Love and Happiness Gu, working on Unravel Dream (though this remained a work in progress), developing Dream Realm Emotional Compass and Familial Emotion as killer moves - and now, he had Dang Hun Mountain to build and repair his soul's foundation as well as a Second Aperture Gu which he would dedicate to the Dream Path!
Fang Yuan laughed while reciting:
"Above the purple mountain tall, stand peaks above peaks,
Souls rest at the base after completing life,
Yet their Wills still long after purpose seek,
Humanity comes together despite its strife!
Life is fleeting as the morning dew, eternity is but a dream,
Yet that dream has been grasped by my own hand,
Going against the River of Time's stream,
I shall achieve glory that shall echo throughout the land!"
"Land spirit, I am your master now," Fang Yuan said once he was finished.
"Um... right..." Little Hu Immortal answered.
"Project this speech of mine through to the outside," Fang Yuan said.
Fang Yuan projected his voice through the boundary of Hu Immortal Blessed Land, echoing directly into the ears of the Central Continent Gu Immortals whom he knew were observing from the outside world and would probably be desperately trying to break into the blessed land once they collected their wits if he didn't say something to stop them:
"My name is Gu Yue Fang Yuan! I am a Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Lotus Sect!" Fang Yuan then retrieved a green coin bearing the numeral '4' - a token given to him by Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable - and ordered the Hu Immortal Land Spirit to eject it outside the blessed land as proof of his claim. "From this moment forward, this Blessed Land belongs officially to the Heavenly Lotus Sect! Land spirit, seal off this Blessed Land!"
With a wave of her hand, the Land Spirit expelled all remaining trial competitors and sealed the Hu Immortal Blessed Land tight.