Fang Yuan sighed. As he departed from the blessed land, Bai Ning Bing also exited with him, but an instant later, she vanished before Fang Yuan could go ahead and interrogate her. Some kind of method was activated - Liu Nan had used a technique to either whisk her away to a safe location or into his own immortal aperture.
'To think I was so close to tasting victory, only to have it spoiled in an instant,' Fang Yuan thought to himself.
Just calculating his losses on a superficial level - considering all of the compensatory prizes he had won that were being held in storage which he could no longer access, as well as the points which he had not cashed in at this point; he had lost roughly between 200 and 250 Immortal Essence Stones' worth of value! He had not used most of his contribution points as it would've been unnecessary if he had won ownership of the blessed land; not to mention what would be valuable to him would only be clear towards the end as things developed.
That was a massive fortune, disregarding the actual value of becoming the master of the blessed land itself in question!
Not to mention the fact that there were certain things within the Tian Ji blessed land which he simply could not get anywhere else and which could not be easily measured in terms of Immortal Essence Stones.
If it had been Fang Yuan from his previous life, this would have been the biggest potential windfall he'd ever encountered. Even now, when he had a stronger foundation, the loss still ached.
The gate to the Tian Ji blessed land had closed completely; Fang Yuan had no way of re-entering.
The biggest loss to him, however, was the Thieving Heaven Demonic Inheritance. He was supposed to get a clue to it after all of this was over, but he had evidently failed.
Just as he thought of this, however, a Will appeared within his aperture, inside the formation that stole otherworldly demons.
It was none other than Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable!
"There is no need to have such a forlorn expression upon your face," Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable said. "Didn't I tell you that the true treasure is friendship? Just wait and see what your friends will give you."
Shortly after, Fang Yuan was contacted by An Rui and An Zhou via Treasure Yellow Heaven. The other parties had seen what had happened to Fang Yuan, and were sympathetic toward his plight.
From what they had seen, Fang Yuan had done everything honorably and by the book; it was simply Bai Ning Bing acting out that had led to his defeat.
"I'm sorry that this happened to you," An Rui said.
"So am I," An Zhou added.
The two siblings had not just reached out to give Fang Yuan their condolences.
Fang Yuan's contribution points had been seized and no longer existed.
However, while neither An Zhou nor An Rui had won the tournament, and the blessed land would now belong to Liu Nan, there was still the matter that they could cash in their contribution points before the land spirit acknowledged Liu Nan as its master.
"We've decided, given how much you've helped us before," An Rui said, "that we'll each pledge half of our contribution points toward you. Of course, we can't do so directly, but you can reach out to us via Treasure Yellow Heaven, and whatever you happen to need, we will give you. Not only that, but half of the compensatory prizes that we've managed to obtain until now will also be handed over to you."
This was quite a large amount. Even though it could not equal what Fang Yuan's gains would have been since he had been in second place within the tournament, it was still worth well over 150 Immortal Essence Stones in total.
The An siblings were both essentially lone cultivators when it came to resources, and such a large amount was certainly a massive loss to them.
However, they were part of a righteous force, and Fang Yuan had saved An Rui earlier.
Not to mention, working with Fang Yuan for some time and seeing his performance in the tournament had given both of them a very favorable impression of him.
He indeed seemed to be quite an upstanding as well as very talented Gu Immortal! He was still shrouded in many layers of mystery, but they did not fear him as much as they had earlier.
This donation of theirs toward Fang Yuan was not just recompense for saving An Rui, but was also a way for them to maintain good ties with Fang Yuan in the future.
Both of them felt that Fang Yuan could become a worthwhile ally, especially if he intended to remain within the Eastern Sea in the future. What they were handing Fang Yuan was not just recompense or reward, but from their perspective, an investment as well.
"There are a few things that I want," Fang Yuan said, reaching out to them. Above all, now that he knew he was no longer going to become the master of the Tian Ji blessed land, he wanted the schematics for the Rank 5 Refinement Cauldron, as well as any materials that could help him construct the Gu House in question. There were several other gu worms and refinement materials that could also assist him in his future plans including several top-quality wines. He also requested a Beast Emperor - the Woodland Biao Emperor, though for now asked that they keep it safe with them as he didn't want to keep it in his aperture; stating that he requested them to keep it with them for now and transfer it over to him via Yellow Treasure Heaven later on.
"It will be done, Fang Yuan," An Zhou said. "Once again, the two of us thank you."
"And so long as both of us live, you will always have a place of refuge within the Eastern Sea," An Rui added.
"Now that... was truly beautiful," Thieving Heaven said, shaking his head while watching the conversation. "I almost shed a tear at that."
"Now that that farce is over," Fang Yuan said to him, "I have two questions for you. First of all, regarding reverse-refining the Spring Autumn Cicada - that is going to fail now. And secondly, where is this other true inheritance that you have?"
"Well, to answer your questions one at a time," Thieving Heaven answered, "regarding reverse-refining the Spring Autumn Cicada, it can no longer succeed at this point. However, it does not have to. All you have to do is unseal it and allow it to feed from the River of Time."
Fang Yuan frowned. "But Heaven's Will..."
"I didn't say that you had to do it right now, Fang Yuan," Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable said. "I can feel it - even though Heaven's Will tried to destroy your foundation, the Rank Nine Gu Worm within your right orbit is close to being finished, isn't it? The time will soon arrive when it will be used. Heaven's Will will not be able to do anything at that point. And when that happens, you may as well unseal the Spring Autumn Cicada. As for the second point, regarding the second half of my true inheritance - why, Fang Yuan, you already know where it is. As they say, a circle has no beginning."
Thieving Heaven's Will then vanished as Fang Yuan contemplated the sentence before realizing what Thieving Heaven was saying.
Fang Yuan moved back to where he had first emerged in the Eastern Sea - the place where Dai Ruo's blessed land was.
However, this time as Fang Yuan approached the area, he found a small hole opening up. It was barely the size of the head of a pin, but Fang Yuan's Space Path methods could detect it, and as he drew near, he suddenly found himself within a strange void.
"Congratulations, Fang Yuan," Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable said, appearing before him. "You've obtained the second part of my inheritance. Here you'll find the rest of my research into the Otherworldly Path as well as otherworldly dao marks. Furthermore, several killer moves..."
There were a number of killer moves, belonging to both Space and Theft Path that would help Fang Yuan in the future.
Shining like the sun in a sea of candles, however, was the greatest treasure in this inheritance:
A Rank 9 killer move!
With that, Fang Yuan had received the second part of Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable's inheritance and was transported out of the space.
He glanced down at the waves of the Eastern Sea, and contemplated what he had lost.
However, if there was one thing that Fang Yuan had learned within his 500 years of experience, it was the fact that the most important lesson one had to learn was that one has to let go.
Another person may have felt deep regret and sorrow at what they had lost - so much time and effort wasted. However, how could there possibly be progress without loss? The idea that one would only have profits without ever encountering losses was a pipe dream.
To sail upon the sea of life meant accepting that kind of turbulence!
Almost as if it were blown away by a gentle sea breeze, Fang Yuan carried no further negative emotions from what had happened here in the Eastern Sea.
Opening up the spaceless tunnel to return to the Southern Border, he head out.
It was time for the next phase of things to begin!