The Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda flew high in the sky of the Ancestral Grotto.
Bao Zhi was controlling it, but his thoughts were wandering elsewhere.
He was reflecting on the events leading up to this moment.
How he accidentally entered Xu Lian's immortal aperture, was forced to reveal himself and face a deathly tribulation.
How he escaped Xu Lian blessed land by tricking Xu Lian, taking his aperture's origin core, only to land straight into hot water once again.
The two clan's schemes unfolded in full force, helplessly sweeping Bao Zhi's plans with them.
Like a fallen leaf in an autumn gale, his journey was full of unexpected twists and turns.
Nonetheless, Bao Zhi felt satisfied at the results of his efforts, even though he once again fell short of his set out goal to reclaim his rank eight inheritance.
But the situation wasn't all lost either, he still had cards yet to play, and benefits to reap as well.
The Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda neared the limits of the grotto heaven.
Bao Zhi approached the closed gate that connected to Wen clan's grotto in times of peace.
He willed, and an immortal gu rose from the formation and entered the gu house.
Rank six Hole Earth Immortal gu!
The gu, still having Bao Zhi's will inside from the time he set up this formation, didn't need refinement.
The gu landed on his palm like an old friend returning from distant lands.
The Hole Earth immortal gu was as large as a watermelon and resembled an oversized walnut, its surface was irregular and uneven, with grooves and ridges running across its entirety like aged wood.
Its color varied from dark brown to a lighter, earthy tone, akin to the shades of soil and tree bark.
Despite its coarse and walnut-like exterior, it emitted an aura of space path.
The formation the Hole Earth immortal gu was lifted from, having its only core gu removed, quietly collapsed on itself.
"This path is closed, there is only one more left to consider."
Bao Zhi started to activate a multitude of mortal gu worms in his aperture.
It took the time it takes someone to drink a cup of tea and a circular opening appeared in midair, still too small for the immortal gu house to fit through.
Qinyang breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized this gate.
This was the gate that connected to the Treasure Blue Beaver Blessed Land from which they previously arrived into the Ancestral Grotto.
"Finally, we are leaving this place. These stupid immortals can fight to their hearts' content for all I care, I have nothing to do with it!"
Bao Zhi stopped the gu house before the gate, waiting for it to fully open.
While gate was still growing, he disappeared from the control room.
Looking at the displays, Qinyang soon noticed Bao Zhi being on the lower floors.
He appeared beside the refinement formation that played the key role in Wen clan's scheme to remove their immortal oath.
Xu Lian lost a portion of his dao marks in that process. He was still there in the formation, suspended in midair, unconscious.
"You will have to stay here." Bao Zhi murmured.
He activated the formation and opened up Xu Lian's immortal aperture, reversing the power that was suppressing it so far.
Next he turned to the lowest floor.
The top contestants of the two clan's yearly competition were deep in meditation, digesting their gains, oblivious to the outside's upheaval.
"All these gu masters are unknown liabilities."
Many of them had connections some even were descendants of immortals with tracking or life saving gu worms on them.
Not wanting to expose himself or leave clues behind, Bao Zhi transported the mass of gu masters into Xu Lian's blessed land, sealing them away.
Qinyang spotted Wen Tu among these people, but she didn't halt Bao Zhi's actions.
She only left a parting message for Wen Tu.
"My dear 'little brother', you once saved my life, letting me to live in this world. In the competition grounds, I was able to return the favor by saving yours. Now, our debts are settled. Don't look for me. Farewell."
Wen Tu heard in his mind as the words were transmitted to him, but when he opened his eyes in the next moment the scenery was already an unrecognizably different sight.
When no more of the gu masters were left in the the gu house, Bao Zhi turned his attention to the unconscious Hao Meng who was next to Xu Lian.
"He is with me and stays in the gu house." Qinyang firmly shut down Bao Zhi's idea before he even began.
Bao Zhi released Xu Lian from the confinement of the refinement formation carried him on his shoulder.
He kicked the age old doors of the gu house open and tossed Xu Lian into the forest of the Ancestral Grotto without any further ado.
"Now that's settled, it's time to shut this cage closed."
The gu house passed through the gate that's grown to its final size.
Just as it arrived into the Treasure Blue Beaver Blessed Land, the gate flickered out of existence behind it.
The place showed signs of damage from Hao Meng's tribulation and Wen clan's pursuit. But most of the damage was hidden beneath the lake, deep in the foundation of the blessed land.
However this damage was to advantage of Bao Zhi's next move.
Removing the Hole Earth immortal gu was only one of the ways the immortals could travel between the two grotto heavens.
Bao Zhi had to remove this second path to isolate the Ancestral Grotto and prevent Wen clan from getting reinforcements!
Not wanting to harm the gu house, he stepped out and flew to the center of the Treasure Blue Beaver Blessed Land.
For a short moment he floated in place with his arms behind his back. He mentally prepared himself for his final stroke of turning the tables on Wen clan's plan.
"The principle is clear. I have experienced the effects during the previous uses. I'm certain this will work." He reaffirmed in his mind.
This was the third time already, he had accrued some important experience.
The inspiration came to him from the time he had to defeat Xu Lian's tribulation.
What did Bao Zhi do to achieve that?
He absorbed the earth qi of the heaven and earth qi that the tribulation was made of.
Why couldn't he absorb the earth qi of a blessed land?
Beating in Bao Zhi's chest, the immortal gu activated.
Rank six immortal gu - Verdant Heart Seed!
For a short moment nothing seemed to happen, nevertheless Bao Zhi continued to activate the gu.
Soon, there was a strong reaction!
Yellow streams of earth qi started to emerge from below.
Through the water, it bubbled up carrying water vapor into the air as well, it seemed as if the world was boiling away beneath him.
From the Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda it looked as if Bao Zhi brewed a yellow dust storm.
The earth qi continued to rise separating from the water vapor fully, it reached Bao Zhi in a swirling vortex of turbulent currents.
He was engulfed in a sense of wonder as the earth qi formed a cocoon around him.
The earth qi was continuously converted to human path dao marks on his body now!
He felt his vitality inceasing. His muscles bulged and skin tightened.
Bao Zhi noticed his body getting a bit taller even.
The blessed land started to quake due the further loss of earth qi. Heaven qi became abundant and earth qi became scarce.
This tipped over the edge the blessed land's already compromised integrity.
"Creation and destruction, all in a single breath."
Bao Zhi gathered even more earth qi, seeing the results of his actions.
Jue Shi and Qinyang observed from the safety of the of the immortal gu house with eyes wide open at this spectacle.
"It seems he is trying to undergo immortal ascension? Not good, not good! This place was already damaged. Hao Meng absorbed a large portion just a short while ago. This place can't bear that burden again, it won't remain stable after such a loss."
"But wasn't he already an immortal? No, something is off, there is an imbalance of heaven qi! This isn't an immortal ascension."
Uneasiness rose in his heart even further.
"I think, I know what he is doing." Qinyang chimed in.
But before she could postulate anything, Bao Zhi's instructions reached them.
Bao Zhi: "I am destroying this world. Be ready to break through the winds of assimilation."
Jue Shi: "You lunatic!"
Qinyang: "So he wanted to escape like that..."
It was already too late to stop Bao Zhi, the absorbed earth qi couldn't be put back.
They were already past the point of no return.
Jue Shi could only go along with Bao Zhi's plan.
Bao Zhi deliberately didn't tell them in advance.
Soon loopholes started to appear at the world boundary of the Treasure Blue Beaver Blessed Land.
Initially they were small and vague, but soon they grew to the size of an adult man.
The loopholes connected to the outside world, but their edges were lined with the winds of assimilation.
What were the winds of assimilation?
It was the most fearsome wind the gu immortal world has known. It could assimilate any matter and create even more winds of assimilation.
This was the ultimate method of nature to break down and reclaim a blessed land.
Anything caught in the winds of assimilation, including gu immortals, would also be assimilated!
Qinyang knew of the phenomena, but this was her first time witnessing it.
"It seems oddly non-violent. Are these really the winds of assimilation?" She mused at the sight of the slowly disintegrating world.
Jue Shi was livid, frantically trying to figure out a solution.
"The winds are only going to spread further and further, when they reach here I won't be able to resist them! I need a way to create a path. But how do I restrain the winds of assimilation? Maybe if the gu house was fully intact I could use that move..."
"Calm down. We aren't going to die." Qinyang said plainly, surprising even herself by her calmness.
"Am I this calm because I can't even comprehend how dangerous this is?" She couldn't help but laugh at herself in self reflection. "No. For once, I just know what to do in this situation."
"Finally a moment where my otherworldly knowledge can be used!" A smug reassurance filled her heart at this thought.
"Listen, we need to wait for now. The loopholes are too small fit through. If we try to escape too soon the winds will latch onto the gu house and disintegrate it."
"But if we wait too long, the winds will have spread to the insides of the blessed land too, by that time it will be too late to find an escape path."
"We need to wait until the loopholes become just big enough."
Jue Shi looked at her in incredulity. "Was the solution so simple? How was it so simple? How did she figure it out so easily?"
"What a great insight!" Jue Shi clapped his small hands. A huge burden lifted and clouds have parted.
The two of them resigned themself to wait for the opportune moment in silent perception as the beams of green and yellow light radiated from Bao Zhi's torrent of earth qi.
"This Bao Zhi is truly formidable. But his behavior is not just unpredictable but very reckless too!" Jue Shi had admired and criticized in his mind.
Qinyang had similar thoughts in her head.
"He has the power to destroy a blessed land, yet he chose to defeat a rank seven gu immortal by resorting to cheap tricks. He clearly wanted to hide his strength as much as he could."
"This person is very cunning and dangerous. What else is he hiding?"
"You can tell this person is bad news from a mile away! I should really double check our agreement's details..."
Qinyang felt simultaneously glad she's made an alliance agreement with Bao Zhi and apprehensive towards him.
She wouldn't want to end up on the wrong side of someone like him.
Outside, Bao Zhi absorbed more and more earth qi, accumulating human path dao marks.
But he noticed an unexpected bottleneck, his body was close to reaching its limits.
The surge of vitality continued to rise, turning from a pleasant sensation to a suffocating internal pressure.
"I overestimated my ability."
Bao Zhi's heart was beating at a fast pace. Streaks of sweat drenched his temples.
But he knew stopping now was not possible.
If he stopped at this moment, the blessed land's controlled destruction would devolve into an unpredictable chaotic collapse.
Bao Zhi endured the rising pain in his chest with gritted teeth.
The overflowing vitality couldn't be contained in his body anymore. Root-like tendril started to slowly grow on his skin, like sprouting buds of spring.
Suddenly, like the walls of dam bursting at its weakest point, the human path dao marks couldn't be held back anymore and erupted from Bao Zhi's chest!
He felt an ecstatic relief as the pressure all but disappeared, overshadowing the past moment's struggles ten fold.
But what Bao Zhi saw next, made him greatly shocked.
Right before him, the human path dao marks coalesced into another person.
* * * * *