Chapter 611 - 418: Stranger in the Red Dust

The Ghost Cultivator stared at the five massive, beautiful, yet fatally dangerous beasts before him. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly before he spoke nonchalantly:

"You can call me Gui You. As for my true name, I abandoned it long ago."

In the Cultivation Realm, true names are a sensitive matter. Some evil techniques can use a Cultivator’s true name to cast targeted curses. Therefore, Ghost Cultivators and Demon Cultivators like him generally discard their true names, using only the titles they’ve earned.

The name was just an alias now. Fang Qingyuan didn’t care where Gui You had picked it up. He was only concerned with his reward. Securing it was the only thing that mattered. Thus, he said:

"Fellow Daoist Gui You, then. Now that you’ve withdrawn from the Land of Heavy Earth, isn’t it time to fulfill your promise?"

Upon hearing Fang Qingyuan’s words, Gui You, who was already half a skeleton, stared at him with empty eye sockets. When he saw the five strange beasts press forward menacingly, he decisively took out the golden lotus, placed it on the ground, and cautiously backed away.

Looking at the golden lotus resting quietly on the ground, Fang Qingyuan didn’t rashly reach for it. Instead, he had the White Tiger True Spirit Dharma Aspect step forward and retrieve it in its mouth.

The White Tiger True Spirit Dharma Aspect specialized in ferocity and was the perfect counter to any tricks Gui You might try to pull. In the White Tiger’s mouth, even a thousand-year-old ghost couldn’t withstand its ferocious, baleful impact. Even if it didn’t kill it, any trickery would reveal a flaw.

However, nothing strange happened as the White Tiger turned around. Even so, Fang Qingyuan still felt uneasy. Without even touching it, he wrapped the golden lotus in his Divine Sense and sent it to an empty plot of land inside his Immortal Mansion.

Once the golden lotus entered the Immortal Mansion, it was infinitely far away. The two were separated by entire worlds, making it ten thousand times safer than any storage pouch. Even if Gui You’s methods were god-like, he couldn’t possibly affect anything inside the Immortal Mansion across two different worlds.

After doing all this, Fang Qingyuan felt a bit more at ease. The next step was to get this Gui You out of here.

Seeing Gui You’s cooperation, Fang Qingyuan reached out and took out an Octagonal Eight-sided Palace Lantern. He then said to Gui You:

"Fellow Daoist, as you know, this place isn’t completely connected to the outside world. To leave, we must pass through a dangerous spatial rift. To avoid any unnecessary accidents during the passage, I’d like to ask you to temporarily stay inside this Magical Artifact of mine for a short while."

Fang Qingyuan had his own concerns. The exit was within that spatial rift. When he, Jinbao, and Qiqi had come through, they had passed one after another and experienced some disorientation afterward. It was obviously not a good idea to let Gui You travel through alongside them.

Therefore, the best solution was to use a Spatial Magical Artifact to contain Gui You, releasing him only after they reached the outside world. This would avoid the risk of traversing the rift together.

Just as Gui You didn’t trust Fang Qingyuan, Fang Qingyuan trusted him even less. But right now, Fang Qingyuan held the upper hand. If Gui You knew what was good for him, he would do as he was told.

"What is this?"

A hoarse voice sounded out. A look of discomfort flashed in Gui You’s eyes as he looked at the Palace Lantern in Fang Qingyuan’s hand. He had been trapped for sixty years, so he was subconsciously very resistant to Spatial Magical Artifacts capable of containing Cultivators.

"This is the Red Dust Vision Lamp. Inside, the mortal world evolves, presenting quite a unique scenery. Fellow Daoist, you’ve been trapped for sixty years. Why not go inside and alleviate some of your suffering?"

Fang Qingyuan would naturally not reveal his Magical Artifact’s true name. He casually made up a similar-sounding name to put Gui You at ease. If he could get Gui You to enter voluntarily without a fight, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t be bothered to make a move.

’The circumstances are what they are,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. ’I hope Gui You can see that clearly.’

Right now, Fang Qingyuan’s apparent strength was equivalent to five Golden Core Perfection combatants, not even counting himself. His opponent was just a Ghost Cultivator who had been trapped for sixty years and was on his last legs. If the long imprisonment hadn’t addled his brain, he should know his place.

And that was indeed the case. Faced with the lineup Fang Qingyuan presented, Gui You forced a dry smile onto his face and said:

"Fellow Daoist Liu Yu is absolutely right. I am in need of a place to cultivate my mind and body. In that case, I will have to trouble you."

"Hehe, don’t mention it. Please, Fellow Daoist."

Fang Qingyuan smiled. The moment the words left his mouth, the side of the Eight Sceneries Red Dust Palace Lantern representing the Human Realm shot out a brilliant red light that shone upon Gui You.

"Don’t resist. I only acquired this Magical Artifact recently and I’m not yet very proficient with it. I’ll have to ask for your full cooperation."

Gui You was speechless but had no choice. He nodded, signaling for Fang Qingyuan to proceed.

Fang Qingyuan gently stroked the Eight Sceneries Red Dust Palace Lantern and poured his immense Magical Power into it. Instantly, a suction force erupted from the Human Realm face of the lantern, pulling Gui You’s body toward it.

This Eight Sceneries Red Dust Palace Lantern was something Fang Qingyuan had obtained from the Pill Alliance several years ago in exchange for resources. At the time, he had even braved the numerous measures put in place by Spirit Wood to deliver those resources into the Pill Alliance’s territory.

The Pill Alliance and Spirit Wood were still locked in a chaotic war, but Fang Qingyuan felt it was all so distant now. ’Lately, I’ve been constantly brushing up against the secrets of Divinity Transformation,’ he mused. ’As a result, I’m finding it hard to get interested in these squabbles between Golden Core Sects.’

After being pulled for several long breaths, Gui You’s body was finally dragged into the Eight Sceneries Red Dust Palace Lantern. Seeing his success, Fang Qingyuan secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Inside the Human Realm of the Eight Sceneries Red Dust Palace Lantern, Gui You’s body appeared before a village at the foot of a mountain. He looked at the seemingly real scene before him with an impassive face, then took a light step and walked forward.

Along both sides of the road, farmers tilled the fields. In the distant village, smoke curled up from chimneys, accompanied by the barking of dogs and the bleating of sheep. The air was thick with the scent of life.

As he walked into the village, children running back and forth stared at Gui You with curiosity, not at all frightened by his bizarre body.

Seeing this, Gui You curiously grabbed a child. Looking at the snotty-nosed kid, he cracked a smile he thought was kind but was actually quite terrifying, and asked:

"Little friend, what is this place?"

The child stared blankly at Gui You’s withered face, not a trace of fear in his eyes. He said woodenly:

"This is Taoyuan Village. My name is Er Niu, he’s Pillar, and this is Ah Hua..."

Watching the babbling Er Niu, a look of disappointment flashed across Gui You’s face.

’They don’t have their own consciousness? Where are their souls beneath these shells? Strange, it’s like they’re puppets. It seems this Magical Artifact isn’t so miraculous after all. Next, I’ll find out exactly how large this place is.’

...

Nothing that happened in the Human Realm within the Eight Sceneries Red Dust Palace Lantern could escape Fang Qingyuan’s Divine Sense. He let Gui You explore freely. The Human Realm seemed vast, but in reality, it was just the result of constantly moving and stitching space together.

The Array would only render the part that Gui You was focused on. Any area he wasn’t paying attention to would become a backdrop, thereby conserving the Magical Power required to run it.

This Human Realm could only trap Cultivators around the Early-stage Golden Core. It wasn’t very effective against a Ghost Cultivator who had reached Golden Core Perfection. The fact that it took several breaths to pull him in was enough for Fang Qingyuan to understand that the Human Realm was not suitable for direct combat.

Once Gui You was inside the Lamp Realm, Fang Qingyuan waved his hand and dismissed the four Star Realm True Spirit Dharma Aspects. Even with the Immortal Mansion replenishing his Magical Power, maintaining four Golden Core Perfection-level Dharma Aspects was an enormous drain. At full power, he could only sustain them for a little over an hour. If a battle wasn’t over by then, Fang Qingyuan’s body would no longer be able to withstand the influx of Spiritual Qi from the Immortal Mansion and would collapse.

Furthermore, the Immortal Mansion constantly channeling Spiritual Qi into Fang Qingyuan’s body was a drain on the mansion itself, affecting the quality of its internal Spiritual Qi. Therefore, when facing enemies, Fang Qingyuan would typically summon only one Star Realm True Spirit Dharma Aspect.

With only his own Magical Power, Fang Qingyuan could sustain one Dharma Aspect for an hour. With two, it was only fifteen minutes. If all four appeared without the support of the Immortal Mansion, he could only last for a mere two or three hundred breaths.

Once the four Dharma Aspects dissipated, the rapid drain on Fang Qingyuan’s Magical Power immediately stopped. Only a small portion continued to flow into the Eight Sceneries Red Dust Palace Lantern in his hand.

"Is it done?"

Qiqi popped out from behind Jinbao. Her little bear face showed an expression that was hard to read—not quite happy, not quite disappointed, just conflicted. On one hand, she wanted a big fight; on the other, she was genuinely relieved not to have to risk her life.

Fang Qingyuan nodded, then gently shook his head.

"The job is done, but we can’t leave yet."

"Why not?"

Fang Qingyuan didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze fell upon the clusters of Withered Bones in the black soil ahead. For ten thousand years, this black soil had devoured no small number of unfortunate demonic beasts.

And now, Fang Qingyuan could use the Array Patterns on the stone wall before him to freely collect this ten-thousand-year-old gift.

...

Outside the Abyss of Black Soil, the Confusion Insect was closely monitoring the spatial rift with its Divine Sense. When it perceived a signal from the other side, its small eyes narrowed. It quickly activated its Lifebound Talent to guide them through.

In just two short breaths, Jinbao’s figure came tumbling out, followed by Qiqi, and finally, Fang Qingyuan.

"So fast? You were gone for less than two days."

The Confusion Insect asked Qiqi, who was standing to the side. Qiqi didn’t reply, instead running up to grab Fang Qingyuan’s sleeve and plead:

"That skeleton from the black soil... can you give me a small piece? Just a tiny piece would be enough."

At this moment, Qiqi was like a little animal begging for food. It was no wonder she was trying so hard to please Fang Qingyuan. During the final collection of remains from the Abyss of Black Soil, Fang Qingyuan had made a huge haul. One of the skeletons clearly emanated the aura of a Nascent Soul’s corpse.

Demonic beasts could strengthen their own essence by devouring the flesh and blood of other demonic beasts. Even though the corpses in the Abyss of Black Soil were reduced to nothing but white bones, it was still enough for Qiqi to consume to make her path to Nascent Soul Formation smoother. How could she not be tempted?

In response to Qiqi’s pleading, Fang Qingyuan gave a light chuckle. He had gained so much on this trip; giving a little to Qiqi to maintain their relationship was perfectly acceptable.

’But I can’t agree so easily,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, it would seem like I obtained this skeleton too easily.’

Just as Fang Qingyuan was about to state a condition, his brow furrowed. He looked up toward the distance. There, a streak of blood-red light was rapidly approaching.