Jun Shen led Fang Yuan towards the Rockmen area of the Pradise.
The Rockmen within the Mushroomman Paradise lived beneath the surface within a vast cave system.
Rockmen were variant humans. Their bodies were made entirely of rocks and other minerals, and they could live for up to a thousand years, having lifespans which greatly exceeded those of ordinary humans.
However, Heaven was fair and balanced.
Although they had longer lifespans, they spent most of this time sleeping; they could sometimes sleep for up to a decade uninterrupted.
Another peculiarity of Rockmen was that all of them were male. Female Rockmen did not exist; they bred in a form of asexual reproduction. As Rockmen grew older, the foundation of their souls became stronger and other Rockmen would emerge from them like how some plants like potatoes could grow via budding.
Despite the fact that all Rockmen were male, they were known to fall deeply and madly in love with women, much like the Rockman within TheLegends of Ren Zu who had fallen for Ancient Desolate Moon.
Fang Yuan, however, was not interested in speaking with Jun Shen because of all of this.
His intentions essentially boiled down to two things: first, to see whether the Rockmen themselves had some method of strengthening the soul. Among all of the various variant humans it made the most sense for them to have something, even if they were hiding it from others.
Secondly, because Jun Shen in particular held two gu worms which could be quite useful to him in the future: Mountain Into Molehill Gu and Molehill Into Mountain Gu.
With that said, Fang Yuan did not actually know whether Jun Shen had already refined either of these two Gu worms, or if that would occur in the future. He could not directly ask about this either without it coming off as rather crass; he would have to try and figure it out in a roundabout manner.
For his part, Jun Shen's mind was also deep in thought. Why exactly had Fang Yuan decided to accompany him as opposed to the other humans and Mushroommen who had invited him? Was this simply on a whim? No, he felt Fang Yuan did not seem to be such a straightforward character.
In the Great Paradise, there were those who had rather soft upbringings and were easily trusting of others - people who had never been outside the Paradise in question. Then there were those who interacted with the outside world and were more crafty.
Humans by their simple nature were quite crafty, and Jun Shen did not trust them very much based on that. As for Jun Shen being a Rockman, he naturally had to look out for his own species' interests and had grown to be a bit wary because of that. 'So he is not here simply to talk to me,' he thought to himself. 'Why would he be here then?'
"And this is where we happen to live," Jun Shen said, showing Fang Yuan where some of the mortal Rockmen were. Most Gu Immortals tended to keep Rockmen in order to excavate the soil and other minerals. They would sometimes grow gu worms on their bodies, the Stone Aperture Gu, for example, was something that could be obtained from Rockmen.
Fang Yuan nodded. These Rockmen naturally were not slaves and instead were working in the Paradise in harmony with other creatures. They seemed to be quite at ease, with one of them waving at Jun Shen and, with a bit of hesitation, at Fang Yuan as they flew past.
Jun Shen was purposefully taking Fang Yuan on a rather roundabout route towards where he usually stayed. He had two sons Jun Chi who was Rank 5 and had not ascended, and Jun Lin who was a newly ascended Rank 6 Gu Immortal.
Jun Lin was already waiting for them, as Jun Shen had already reached out to him via Treasure Yellow Heaven and explained that they were going to be having a guest.
Jun Shen lived within a cave. By this point, they were miles beneath the surface of the Mushroomman Paradise. It was, however, well-lit with gu worms emanating a soft light.
"Junior brother Fang Yuan," Jun Lin said, inclining his head slightly. He looked at Fang Yuan with a bit more open curiosity than his father, as Jun Shen had the wherewithal and tact to not stare at Fang Yuan for too long.
He found this new human Gu Immortal interesting, particularly since, for whatever reason, he had taken an interest in the Rockmen here.
"Fang Yuan, this is some of our finest wine. Please try some," Jun Shen said.
This was a common greeting method among the Rockmen. The guest would be offered wine, and if they truly trusted their host, they would drink it all in a single gulp. To drink slowly or to refuse was considered to be slighting the host.
Fang Yuan took the wine and drank it in one go. His mind began to feel cloudy from this, but he activated several Gu worms within his own aperture and his thoughts cleared away almost immediately.
"This is without a doubt first-class wine, thank you Senior Jun Shen."
Jun Lin smiled at Fang Yuan and clapped him on the shoulder. "Well met, Brother Fang Yuan! How lucky we are to have you with us here today."
Jun Shen wondered if Fang Yuan knew about Rockmen customs and was doing this to gain their favor, or if Fang Yuan was simply that trusting that he had taken the wine in a single gulp without even examining it.
"I am glad to have met you as well," Fang Yuan said.
They spoke about matters regarding the Paradise, though nothing too in-depth. During all of this time, Fang Yuan always seemed to have something on his mind which he wasn't speaking about.
Jun Shen had expected it, but Fang Yuan did not let it out. He reached out to his son and asked him to ask Fang Yuan directly. "Brother Fang Yuan, is there something on your mind that I can help you with?"
"There's nothing in particular that I need your help with, but thank you for offering," Fang Yuan said, waving his hand. "I was simply wondering... I'm a newcomer to this Mushroomman Paradise. I expected mushroommen and humans to be living here in harmony, but seeing that there was also a solitary Rockman tribe, I simply wanted to see how you all were living and were being treated within this Paradise."
"Oh, I see," Jun Shen said. He thought Fang Yuan, being an outsider, wanted to see how things were going on within the Paradise and whether the Rockmen had any kind of hidden grievances against the others. "I will say that there's no room for complaint, Fang Yuan. In case you're wondering, neither the Mushroommen nor the humans suppress us. Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable was indeed true to his word in treating all life equally. I know that outside this Paradise, several Rockmen are sold off as slaves. However, we do not need to fear anything of the sort happening. Paradise Earth has actually been quite good to us. I cannot give any sort of complaint for my Rockmen brothers inside this place. Outside however..." He shook his head. "I know that you wanted a method in order to strengthen your soul, but Fang Yuan, while I do have such a method, unfortunately, it is only useful for the Rockmen themselves."
"I understand," Fang Yuan said, cupping his hands. "Thank you for offering."
"It's difficult being a new Immortal, isn't it?" Jun Lin asked.
"Indeed," Fang Yuan said. "Particularly if the landscape in your aperture gets damaged. I managed to avoid much of that for now, but the landscape is rather important and I have some valuable there. I wanted to develop my aperture using the Immortal Essence Stones I was given, but I'm afraid that they will be damaged during the upcoming calamities..."
"No need to worry about that," Jun Shen said. "Having more resources will make the calamities and tribulations stronger, but that is no reason to not develop your aperture. And there are also ways around it you know - your aperture must be small and cannot hold many resources right now. If there is something you truly don't want to lose, you can place it outside in this Paradise so as to not lose them."