Chapter 6: Hei Lou Lan's Dismay

By the time Fang Yuan returned to Hu Immortal blessed land Hei Lou Lan was already waiting for him by the Dang Hun formation. She was wearing her usual getup, a tight tiger skin shirt that was ripped at the bottom and a long flowing skirt made from hightail grass, both traditional pieces of clothing worn by Northern Plains women.

"Hei Lou Lan, I thought you could hold on for much longer. Have you finally ran out of money?"

Hei Lou Lan's grimace grew wider. "I would still have money left if you didn't keep buying strength path materials at ridiculous prices."

Fang Yuan just smiled. "It's merely a coincidence Little Lan. You and I, we are one in the same. There are so few strength path materials on the market that I have to get everything I can. It's not my fault I'm a strength path Gu immortal."

Hei Lou Lan sighed. Fang Yuan had made the past month very hard for her. She couldn't purchase anything for her blessed land because Fang Yuan would offer a higher price. She couldn't get help from her aunt because Fairy Li Shan had her own problems to deal with. And the worst part was that she had to personally watch as Fang Yuan massively improved Hu Immortal blessed land.

Hei Lou Lan had never realized that there was such a huge gap between them until now. Fang Yuan just kept improving while she only got weaker. Without Self Strength Gu her combat strength was even weaker than Tai Bai Yun Sheng. She still had low level mortal killer moves while both Tai Bai Yun Sheng and Fang Yuan greatly improved in every aspect of cultivation.

Staying in Hu Immortal blessed land opened her eyes. Without Fang Yuan's financial support to aid her, Hei Lou Lan would be stuck in a pit that she couldn't recover from until her aunt could help her. And that could take entire outside world years. This wasn't just about competing with Fang Yuan anymore. This was about looking after her own interests and desires.

"I want to invest in the Guts Gu business. Tell me what improvements you want made and I'll help fund them on the condition that I get a higher share of the profits."

Hei Lou Lan's grimace turned into a scowl of outright hatred when she heard Fang Yuan laugh.

"You think you can get a higher share of the profits now? All you do for your 40% share is collect souls to fuel the Dang Hun formation. The only reason I gave you forty percent of the profit was because I assumed you and Fairy Li Shan were stronger than me and Tai Bai Yun Sheng. I was wrong."

Fang Yuan lifted the fox mask off his face and revealed his human appearance.

"You?" Hei Lou Lan pointed at Fang Yuan's old wrinkled face as she repeatedly activated his investigation killer move. "How did you come back to life? That's impossible, even Zombie Alliance hasn't figured out a method."

"Didn't I tell you? I am stronger than you. An ant obviously wouldn't understand the thoughts and actions of a human. Don't compare me to you Little Lan. My abilities are beyond your comprehension."

Hei Lou Lan stood still in silence. How could Fang Yuan possibly have come back to life? She had suspected that he had the rank 9 Wisdom Gu but could just that Gu help him achieve such a feat? Coming back to life meant defying the laws of heaven. Even becoming a Gu immortal was hundreds of times less difficult. Throughout all of history not one person was ever truly beyond the scope of death.

Did Fang Yuan really pass the limits of life and death?

Hei Lou Lan started to feel her head buzz with a strange static noise. The image of Fang Yuan in front turned distorted, becoming a twisted human zombie hybrid with ten arms and two mouths. Hei Lou Lan felt her own breath struggle to escape her throat. Her lungs started to rapidly expand and contract, forcing her to heave out large gasps of air. The oxygen going to her head decreased and she felt her consciousness start to fade along with her vision.

Fang Yuan walked up to her and lightly cupped the side of her face. He leaned into her ear with a cruel mocking smile and whispered, "If you can't even handle the revelation of your inferiority, how can you ever expect to take revenge on your father? Give up Hei Lou Lan. This is the last chance I will give you. Join me, and I will make your life long dream a reality. Choose carefully Little Lan."

Those were the last words Hei Lou Lan heard before her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her mouth opened wide and her body went limp, falling directly into Fang Yuan's arms.

"Ah Hei Lou Lan. I didn't think you were so weak willed. It's unfair that you have to go against me. You haven't developed and grown into a genuine Gu immortal. All this time you've been attached to your aunt has limited your growth. Unfortunate. Really unfortunate."

"Ahh, master?" The little fox fairy appeared next to Fang Yuan. She held out a crystal shaped in the image of a bird. "The letter you were expecting has arrived."

"Oh? Read it to me."

The crystal bird fell folded itself into a letter and the fox fairy read the message out loud, "To Fang Yuan. You're a coward for wanting to fight a mortal as an immortal. To make the competition between us fair we'll have a different type of duel. A refinement duel. If I win I want a discount for all purchases of Guts Gu made by my sect, Spirit Affinity House. If you win I'll give you a method for becoming a human again. From Feng Jin Huang."

Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Spirit Affinity House already knows of my zombie immortal status. Either Immortal Crane Sect leaked my information or Spirit Affinity House has moles in Immortal Crane."

The latter was fine, but the former was the worst case scenario. If Spirit Affinity House knew about this highly restricted information than every other sect in Central Continent also knew. This would make people highly more suspicious of Fang Yuan as the person who destroyed Eighty Eight True Yang Building. If anymore evidence came out than people would no doubt confirm their doubts and attack. The entirety of Central Continent might come after him.

"I need to delay the spread of information and protect myself from wisdom path methods. I need to kill Song Zi Xing and get Star Lord's immortal Gu. With his set I can set up a much stronger defense against wisdom path Gu immortals."