Fang Yuan broke through the Raging Flame Regional Wall and finally entered the Western Desert and began heading towards his destination. The Tian Clan's territory was massive. They were a super clan of the Western Desert, able to rival the Shang or the Tie clans in the Southern Border. As such, it didn't take him too long to reach their borders.
He also, thankfully, didn't encounter anything along the way - whether that be rogue demonic cultivators, righteous factions which for some reason wanted to pick a bone with him, or wild beasts. Just like at the time he had entered Shang Clan City, he couldn't just walk inside their territory now that he was Rank Six. Instead, via Treasure Yellow Heaven, he had sent out a message towards the Tian Clan and was going to meet up with someone near a minor resource point of theirs.
It was a massive dune that grew Blue Beetle Sand. The sand got its vibrant, deep blue color from the large number of insects that lived within it and died, mainly Blue Beetles which were a Lightning Path Gu Worm. The pigments of these insects seeped into the sand and transformed it into a refinement resource. It was only a Rank 5 refinement material, but it could be produced in abundant quantities here, and when sold in large amounts, it could still provide a pretty penny. The sand shimmered and glistened in the bright sunlight, almost seeming like a pond in this vast desert.
Feng Yuan did not touch a single grain of the Blue Beetle Sand. Even though he saw no obvious signs that he was being monitored, it was too much to assume that they didn't have anyone watching this kind of resource point.
He had arrived at the appropriate spot and stayed there for about half an hour before he started to frown, wondering just what on earth was going on. It was one thing to leave a minor resource point unguarded; it was another thing entirely to be this late to a meeting with him. Had someone just forgotten the fact that he was showing up?
Much of the business and transactions that had to be done here could have been done over Treasure Yellow Heaven. The only real material benefit was that one could save on Yellow Treasure Heaven's transaction fees. As per what the Shang Clan wanted, the transaction fees on Treasure Yellow Heaven could also be neglected if one were to simply meet with someone in person. However, the transaction fees were barely a rounding error for most Gu Immortals and was still far cheaper than the cost of sending someone across the regions. Certainly, a super force like the Shang Clan would not worry about something as petty as that kind of cost.
However, super forces tended to send Gu Immortals anyway for several reasons.
It was easily understood by using an example: back on Earth, there was something called the Doorman's Fallacy. Namely, the idea that in a large, luxurious hotel, paying someone a fee in order to open and close the door was a waste of time when they could simply be removed and that money pocketed by the hotel instead. In modern times, one could even install automatic door openers based on machine sensors; there was no need to put a person out front. From that perspective, paying a doorman was indeed a 'waste.'
However, opening and closing the door was just a minor portion of what the said person did. That was where the 'fallacy' emerged. Although, yes, getting rid of the person would save the hotel the burden of trying to pay their salary, it would ultimately end up losing money.
First of all, the fact that the hotel could hire a person just to open and close a door was a sign of exuberance and class in and of itself. It gave an aura of reputation towards the hotel which it otherwise would not have. Secondly, having a doorman out front worked as a sort of security, as well as a guarantee that guests would not litter out front in the lobby. And third, there was the human touch that the doorman provided. The doorman oftentimes remembered important guests' names, greeted them with warm smiles, and was far more welcoming than the cold embrace of a machine. Humans were not just creatures of convenience, after all.
This third point was particularly important when it came to sending Gu Immortals across regions for missions like this. Many people on Earth, even though communication methods like the telephone and the like were available, still ended up doing business transactions in person simply because it was considered to be the way of doing things, or at least the proper way of doing things.
Much of the same principle applied when it came to exchanging goods between Gu Immortals. Sure, a large amount of the business could simply be done over Treasure Yellow Heaven, and certain anonymous deals had to be done over Treasure Yellow Heaven. But there were also times when people, particularly those of super forces like the Shang clan and the Tian clan, would send actual people to other regions.
And given the size of their operations, it was oftentimes easier to send lone cultivators like Fang Yuan, who lacked a tight backing, rather than their own clan members. Crossing through the regions, although it was far safer as long as there was an agreement between both parties, was still a somewhat dangerous endeavor. Even a small risk of an Immortal dying had to be taken into account given just how rare and valuable Immortals were to the clan - particularly in the regions other than the Central Continent, where blood ties were more important than merit. And so, they could simply offload this risk towards Fang Yuan; if he happened to succeed, it was all well and good. The Shang Clan could show the Tian Clan that they valued their relationship by sending a Rank 6 Gu Immortal in order to carry out this transaction in person. On the flip side, if Fang Yuan were to somehow perish, it was of no large loss to the Shang Clan.
Still, it wasn't like there weren't upsides to Fang Yuan when it came to taking the job. He could deepen ties with both the Shang and the Tian Clan, if he cared for it. Why he was really here was to gain an excuse to delve into Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable's inheritance.
Fang Yuan did not expect to be treated very highly, mainly because he was, after all, a guest, and that too not an extremely esteemed one. But it was still very odd to have him waiting for over half an hour. Or had he somehow misinterpreted where he was supposed to show up? Was this some kind of purposeful power play on the side of the other party in order to make him look bad? He doubted that the Tian Clan would do something like that. Were he a lone immortal, it might make sense to try and do so, but he was here as an emissary of the Shang Clan, and if they were to do something very awful, it would reflect badly upon the Shang Clan.
His worries were answered as he saw a figure approaching from a distance. As they approached closer, Feng Yuan found that it was actually two figures approaching closely side by side. Both of them were Rank 6 Gu Immortals with the Western Desert's aura, and they stopped some distance away from Fang Yuan before communicating with him via gu worms.
"Hello, are you perhaps the emissary from the Shang Clan?" one of them asked.
"Indeed, I am," Fang Yuan said. He did not give out his name as of yet, as he wasn't sure who these two people were. If he gave out his name, it would become obvious that he was simply an outsider to the Shang Clan. But so long as he only mentioned that he was an emissary of the Shang Clan, he would likely have a greater deal of protection.
"My apologies, brother," the gu Immortal in front said. "My name is Tian Wu. I'm sorry, I happened to get a bit caught up in practicing a killer move of mine, and I had completely forgotten the date and time of where we were supposed to meet up."