It was a morning like any other over Shang Clan City.
A large line was formed before the gates as people were slowly trickling in, trying to fish out the fee required to enter for some of them. Others were chatting with each other, or sweating under the sun that was rising in White Heaven and beating down upon them like a hammer.
"Oi you - watch it what do you think you're-" someone began to say to a person who had cut them in line (a massive social faux pas, especially given this person was a Rank 3 Gu Master) before this person realized who it was and shut up.
The line parted before the shadow of this person, whispers dying out as people tried to make themselves scarce before him.
The guards noted what was going on as the man showed no signs of stopping even before the gates of the city.
"Halt - what makes you think you can simply walk into-" one guard began to say, before cutting himself off as well.
He had mustered the courage to say something. After all, it was one thing to bully others and cut front in line, but to act that way to the guards?
But before Rank 5 Peak Stage aura, what could he do? No actually, being guards and this being Shang Clan City and their territory, they could still disregard this gap in power and stand up to someone who just wanted to waltz into the city.
Both of them, however, recognized the man who walked in. It was Gu Yue Fang Yuan!
Fang Yuan did not spare them the slightest glance, only taking out his Purple Thorn Token and flashing it before their eyes for an instant before walking in.
The two guards gulped.
"You know, maybe you shouldn't have said anything. What were we going to do if he decided to challenge us?"
"D-Don't be ridiculous! So what if that was Gu Yue Fang Yuan? We are still the Shang Clan's proud guards. He wouldn't dare do anything to us..."
The guard in question didn't sound all that confident.
Fang Yuan had sealed his cultivation to Rank 5 Peak Stage in order to blend in among the common people of Shang Clan City.
Things were vastly different for him now compared to how they had been when he had first visited the place alongside Bai Ning Bing.
Now that he was an Immortal, he could not walk into the city like he could as a mortal. Shang Clan City was a hub of both the righteous and demonic alike; but there was a limit to things. Mortal Gu Masters were of no real threat.
For Fang Yuan in his current state, as Rank 6, if he had stumbled into the city it would be seen as an invasion by the Shang Clan Supreme Elders. They would have seen through the methods he used to seal his cultivation and descended upon him once he was withing the city limits. The distinction was simple. A single soldier walking into past a territory's boundaries could be excused; to march into one with an entire army without permission was equivalent to a declaration of war.
That was why he had to ask Shang Qing Qing for permission first and enter the city in this way.
It had changed little in the time that Fang Yuan had been away. The streets were as crowded as always, though they parted like water around a stone wherever Fang Yuan went. If not his cultivation aura; his face was recognizable enough to warrant this.
Fang Yuan quickly found someone who he was looking for - a disheveled man with a bowl standing near a fruit stand. Fang Yuan approached moving as if going to hand the man a fraction of a primeval stone.
The man, however, clearly recognized Fang Yuan as Fang Yuan leaned forward to drop the fraction of the stone into the man's bowl. "Supreme Elder- I mean, Insane Reverend..." the beggar said in a low voice.
Fang Yuan whispered a few words into the man's ear, setting things in motion.
Before his Immortal Ascension, he had been looking into the matter of the All-Out Effort Gu and had been unable to reach a conclusion. Now though, as an Immortal with an improved attainment in the Wisdom Path he was easily able to piece the clues together and realize what the answer was.
It was now a simple matter of putting the pieces together to make it look like someone else had solved it while reaping the rewards indirectly.
'Ah, poor Li Ran,' Fang Yuan thought to himself. 'Your scheme was good. Very good. You would have been able to fool nearly everyone with how careful you were. Sadly, this wasn't a very fair matchup.'
***
Within Fang Yuan's aperture, on Fang Yuan Continent, Wang Tian's body continued to burn even as the horses finally led him to their home.
"Alright kid, can you get up?" came a voice from somewhere. Wang Tian lacked the strength to even turn his head to look at where it came from as a shadow obstructed his vision of the White Heaven above.
Wang Tian couldn't even answer, his throat was burning.
"Alright, take him away."
"Don't even know why we bothered with him, boy doesn't look like he'll last more than a few hours."
The people who had 'rescued' Wang Tian were currently camped near the foot of a hill made of red sand. The red sand was a Rank 2 Earth Path refinement material. Low level refinement materials of various paths developed within Fang Yuan's aperture given its sheer size and breadth even if it wasn't of the Human Path. Once apertures developed to a point this would begin happening more and more often, but Fang Yuan had leapfrogged to this point directly during his ascension.
While such a site would've been exploited to its fullest extent by Gu Masters in the outside world, it was simply a novelty for these people. The bright red earth made it easy to stand out and also made it an easy landmark for them to move around. It was also useful for making clay ornaments like pots, though they had no inclination for doing the same.
A soft voice reached Wang Tian's ears. The same voice of the man who had deemed it worthy to pick him up in the first place. "Ah... are you thirsty lad?"
Wang Tian nodded, every shake of the head causing his head to throb as if being struck with a hammer.
A few drops of cold liquid were poured down his throat. He almost choked on them, but appreciated the gesture as the man placed a cold rag against his hot forehead. "Hopefully, you'll survive. If not well, at least the soil here's easy to dig up for a burial."
Wang Tian was lifted while still being in the makeshift hammock and placed in the shade, something cold being draped around him. He felt the sensation of something bitter being thrust into his mouth, and instinctively tried to resist.
"It's medicine. Don't fight taking it. Maybe this will help you survive."
It was pushed down his throat with far greater force then, and Wang Tian could only let the sour taste spread over his throat and mouth.
"Do you really think he's going to live? I've seen corpses that looked healthier."
"Well, it's all in Heaven's hands now."
The snorting and neighing of horses was all that remained as the men left to set up camp, leaving Wang Tian to his fate.
There was nothing further that they could do for him now.
'Even if I die though, maybe I'll finally be able to end up with the rest of my clan. And then I can tell them... how sorry I am...' was his last thought as Wang Tian drifted away into the darkness.