Throwing caution to the wind

The winds of assimilation were growing steadily, taking up an increasingly larger portion of the Treasure Blue Beaver blessed land, making maneuvering perilous.

Between Yuhun Kuang and Kong Guying the confrontation was about to reach its peak.

Yuhun Kuang wanted to kill, while Kong Guying wanted to flee, neither yielding.

Kong Guying launched another barrage of counter-attacks, trying to force his way out of the collapsing blessed land.

Immortal killer move — Shrink Space Arrow!

Three arrows shot forward. In their wake the space warped and contracted, drawing some of the winds of assimilation with it.

Under normal circumstances, Yuhun Kuang could confidently defend himself against these Shrink Space Arrows, but now he had no choice but to give way to the approaching winds of assimilation behind them.

Kong Guying rushed to slip through the unguarded gate, but Yuhun Kuang activated his signature technique.

Immortal killer move — Soul Chasing Hook!

The Soul Chasing Hook looked like a shadow in the shape of a fishhook. It moved very fast, reaching Kong Guying's location almost instantly.

Kong Guying could only retreat, frantically changing directions to evade with short range teleportation.

He had to recall one of the Shrink Space Arrows and make use of the winds of assimilation to shield himself.

The Soul Chasing Hook struck the winds of assimilation and vanished without a trace.

But with the third Shrink Space Arrow missing, Yuhun Kuang broke their encirclement, blocking the gate once again.

"If the situation continues like this, we are both going to die here. A lose-lose situation benefits nobody." Kong Guying gritted his teeth in anger.

"Release me, or I'll make sure neither of us leaves this place alive!" He shouted threateningly.

Yuhun Kuang did not reply, but continued to eye his prey intently.

"The situation is indeed getting more tense. I need to kill Kong Guying quickly. If he manages to enter the Earth Cave, I will have a hard time finding him."

Yuhun Kuang was clear of the geographical advantage of Earth Cave. Just like how he previously hid from his pursuers, why couldn't Kong Guying do the same?

Of course Yuhun Kuang had investigative methods to search the caves, but using them carelessly would be like lighting a bright torch, he would announce his presence to beasts he couldn't afford to provoke.

"You leave me no choice..." Kong Guying resolved himself.

Life and death were intertwined, sometimes survival was but a narrow path in the face of death.

Kong Guying used his technique again.

Immortal killer move — Shrink Space Arrow!

But this time the three arrows did not charge at Yuhun Kuang.

One arrow shot out in front, pulling Kong Guying with it. Behind him two arrows circled around and followed him with winds of assimilation after them.

The arrows were not fast, but with the space contracting they moved great distances rapidly.

The combined effect of the three arrows moved the winds of assimilation at greater speeds, but the space between the first and last two arrows were also shrinking accordingly, leaving dangerously little room for Kong Guying in the middle.

If Yuhun Kuang tried to block the way, Kong Guying would engulf both himself and gate in the winds of assimilation!

Kong Guying, once cowering and desperate, has shed the skin of prey and embraced the deepest instincts born of desperate survival.

In those eyes that once begged for mercy, there was now only the cold and unrelenting fury.

Yuhun Kuang was caught unprepared at such resolve, but his demonic nature was stimulated.

He lunged in for the kill, disregarding the first Shrink Space Arrow hitting him.

The two exchanged blows as they neared.

A fourth arrow appeared from the first's blind spot!

The gate collapsed as soon as it came in contact with the winds of assimilation.

Kong Guying, deeply injured, couldn't break through in the end.

"Ahh!" Yuhun Kuang also got implicated, his chest was covered with winds of assimilation, rapidly disintegrating his body.

He tried various methods, but all became but food for the merciless phenomena eating away at his body.

In his final moment, he had no more options left but one.

He 'placed down' his rank seven immortal aperture inside the Treasure Blue Beaver Blessed Land.

Normally, one could only place down their immortal aperture in the outside world, in the five regions and two heavens. If attempted inside another immortal aperture, blessed land or grotto heaven there could be two outcomes, both undesirable.

If the outer world had a stronger foundation, like placing a rank seven immortal aperture in a rank eight grotto heaven, the former would collapse and the inner aperture would be broken down into dao marks, becoming part of the grotto's foundation.

But if the inner world was of higher rank, then the outer world would burst, causing the destruction of both worlds.

BOOM!

The Treasure Blue Beaver Blessed Land, already severely weakened after Hao Meng's tribulation and Bao Zhi's qi absorption, shattered into multiple pieces, small and large, all with winds of assimilation rampaging everywhere.

The added destruction of the rank seven aperture was like pouring oil onto a raging fire, scattering the fragment's of both blessed lands.

Bao Zhi was the first to act, noticing in time the imminent chaos before Kong Guying began his reckless charge.

The concealed Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda nimbly maneuvered its way forward, heading towards the largest loophole.

The anguished cries of the two immortals and the echoes of the explosion still rang in the air when the immortal gu house arrived in the Earth Cave's darkness.

There was a moment of silence as the winds of assimilation continued to quietly dissolve the remains.

A short moment later, shrieks and howls disturbed the eerie quiet as desolate beast were woken from their slumber in the nearby tunnels.

"We made it!" Qinyang released her held breath with relief.

"We are sill far from the surface. We need to be careful of meeting ancient desolate beasts." Bao Zhi reminded.

There was no time to idle, without lingering any longer, the immortal gu house moved through the maze of underground tunnels.

Bao Zhi was clear of their location and the path to the surface.

He was the one, after all, who came and chose this location to place down his grotto heaven.

But he couldn't know what creatures in which caves had made their lairs while he was secluded from the outside world.

In the middle of the night a small tremor shook the sand dunes on the surface.

At the next moment, like a geyser, the Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda rushed out of the sand.

Qinyang took a deep breath, savoring the feeling of relief after their harrowing escape. She glanced at Bao Zhi, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"We've made it." She said, her voice steady but weary. "Now, as we agreed, we part ways."

Bao Zhi didn't respond immediately. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Finally, he turned to her, his gaze sharp and calculating.

"Qinyang." He began, his voice soft but carrying an edge that made her pause. "It is still too early for that."

Qinyang frowned, unease creeping up her spine.

"Why? What is it?" She asked, her tone guarded.

Bao Zhi, who had the Perception Warp immortal gu sitting on his shoulders and the Hole Earth immortal gu floating at his side, looked up with an almost imperceptible smile.

"This." He said, motioning at the two immortal gu. "Is merely part of the inheritance."

Qinyang's eyes narrowed as she studied the two immortal gu.

Other gu immortals would kill for less and endure many hardships to obtain a single immortal gu. Yet there he was with two immortal gu obtained in a fell swoop.

"Part of it?" She echoed, suspicion lacing her words. "What do you mean, is this not enough?"

Bao Zhi's lips curled into a slight smile, one that didn't reach his eyes.

"The true inheritance." He said slowly. "Is much more than just two rank six immortal gu. What I've taken is only a fraction."

Her heart skipped a beat as realization dawned.

"You tricked me!" She accused, her voice low and dangerous. "You never intended to uphold our agreement."

"I've upheld it." Bao Zhi replied calmly spreading his arms pointing at the outside world. "I helped you escape the danger, and in return, you helped me obtain this… portion. But the agreement was not limited to just this. The full inheritance is still out there, and until it's in my hands, our deal stands."

"So what is this whole true inheritance?"

"The full inheritance is the grotto heaven itself."

"..."

Qinyang's dry laughter cut through the stillness of the desert like a sharp blade, a sound filled with both anger and disbelief.

She shook her head, her eyes stern as she looked at Bao Zhi.

"The whole grotto heaven?" She repeated, her voice rising with incredulity. "You wanted to take THAT? Are you out of your mind? Admit it, you just want to use this gu house for yourself!"

Bao Zhi remained composed, his expression inscrutable as he met her gaze silently.

"As if!" She rebuked, her eyes glancing at Jue Shi to gauge his reaction.

Bao Zhi's smile widened, and he took a step closer, his eyes gleaming with something Qinyang couldn't quite place—triumph, perhaps.

"You misunderstand." Bao Zhi said, his tone almost condescending. "What I've taken is not the full inheritance. But this doesn't mean I won't take it eventually. Our agreement simply had no stipulation regarding time."

Qinyang felt a cold wave of realization wash over her. She wanted to part ways, to leave this shadowy alliance behind. The less variables the better! But Bao Zhi's actions had astound her once more, with the information path agreement now indefinitely binding her actions.

"This wasn't part of the deal." Qinyang hissed, her voice low and dangerous.

Bao Zhi raised an eyebrow, unperturbed. "On the contrary, it's exactly what we agreed upon. You help me obtain the inheritance, and in return, I help you survive. We're not done yet, Qinyang."

It was as he stated. Jue Shi stood witness to their agreement, there was nothing wrong with the agreement itself.

For a moment, silence hung between them, tense and heavy. Qinyang's mind raced, weighing her options.

"I need to remove this agreement as soon as I can or get rid of him."

Could she kill Bao Zhi here and now, then sever the information path agreement that bound them? But then... What other unexpected trump cards could Bao Zhi hold? Could she even rely one the similarly mysterious Jue Shi?

Qinyang simply couldn't assess Bao Zhi's depths.

She kept thinking, searching for a way out of this unexpected twist, but she found none. The pact they had made was clear, and Bao Zhi had expertly maneuvered her into a corner.

She clenched her fists, anger simmering beneath the surface, but she knew she had little choice.

She exhaled with a resigned expression on her face.

"Fine." She spat, eyes flashing with defiance. "But know this, Bao Zhi, when this is over, our deal ends for good. Don't think you can manipulate me any further."

"Understood." Bao Zhi said, bowing his head slightly. "Then let us proceed."

"Where are we going then?"

"I have various materials to sell, and gu to acquire. We're visiting one of the trading hubs of Western Desert."

"Why don't you just use Treasure Yellow Heaven?" Qinyang rolled her eyes.

"And how would I do that?" Bao Zhi raised an eyebrow.

"All you need is Divine Sense gu and Connecting Heaven gu, then you can access Treasure Yellow Heaven." Qinyang explained.

"Mmm." Bao Zhi stopped using his human qi methods and contemplated the information he got.

"How could a rank three gu master know about Treasure Yellow Heaven? This information was erased from both clans to avoid outside interference." Bao Zhi noticed this anomaly right away.

"This isn't all. It is very suspicious that two immortals entered the Treasure Blue Beaver blessed land as soon as loopholes formed..."

"It seems, Wen clan's arrangement run deeper than I thought and a third party is helping them from the outside." He guessed.

This scenario worried Bao Zhi, as it would mean he didn't have as much time as he thought.

* * * * *

Earth Cave

Kong Guying lay on the cold stone floor. His legs were gone and he was slowly oozing blood from all over his body. His head was dizzy from the injury to his soul.

It was a miracle he survived.

"Look at this! This is what your scheming has led to!" A remnant soul circled angrily around him.

This soul was all that remained from Yuhun Kuang's self destruction.

Kong Guying tried to ignore him, he had to focus all his concentration to maintain his concealment killer move.

Cough!

"I wasn't scheming!" He forced out the words and wiped away the blood he just coughed up.

"Drop dead!" The soul sneered. "I wonder if I could then posses your body."

Yuhun Kuang was a soul path cultivator, normally his soul was strong enough to display rank six strength, but now he was also severely weakened.

"Do it, and we both truly die." Kong Guying provoked.

Many desolate beasts, looking for the source of the commotion, had passed by them in this short while. Yuhun Kuang knew his limits even if he could kill Kong Guying now, as a lone soul without gu even, what would he do after that? He had no option but to rely on Kong Guying.

"Would you believe it if I told you-" Cough! "I found the clues leading to another blessed land."

"Stop your pretense, I won't believe a single word of yours, you cheat!"

A grim smile appeared on Kong Guying's face.

* * * * *