"Why are you here again? Do you have a new secret recipe?" The Earth Spirit of Langya observed the newly arrived Qi Tian.
Having interacted a few times, the Earth Spirit of Langya was very interested in the new secret recipes that Qi Tian brought each time.
Whenever Qi Tian visited, he would bring new secret recipes to trade, so the Earth Spirit would secretly enjoy Qi Tian's visits.
However, the last time Qi Tian came to request the Earth Spirit to refine a Gu worm, it had tricked the Earth Spirit in a way, causing mixed feelings of love and hate.
"Earth Spirit, your predecessor, the Long Mao Ancestor, was incredibly talented, a genius. Even the two great venerables, Dao Tian and Ju Yang, bowed to his skills in refining Gu worms and requested him to refine their own Gu. You must have quite a few killing moves in your collection!" Qi Tian smiled.
"Of course! Though my predecessor loved refining Gu worms, he also created many killing moves in his spare time, even receiving rewards from Dao Tian and Ju Yang for the killing moves gained from refining their Gu worms..." The Earth Spirit spoke proudly about its predecessor, its eyes sparkling with pride.
"Oh!" However, it quickly realized and, with a quick glance, said to Qi Tian: "You're not thinking of trading a secret recipe for a killing move, are you?"
"No!" Qi Tian asked cautiously, "How about trading a killing move for a killing move? Would you do it?"
The Earth Spirit shook its head with a grin: "I've been living in the Blessed Land, refining Gu worms all day. The killing moves I have are enough for me. Unless... you can offer me a killing move that's useful to me, then I might consider it."
The Earth Spirit was obsessed with secret recipes for Gu worms, but just any killing move wouldn't be enough to pique its interest.
There were countless killing moves in the Blessed Land, and far more in the Mortal Dao.
Since the Earth Spirit spent most of its time in the Blessed Land refining Gu worms, many of the mortal Dao's killing moves held little appeal.
"Do you have any killing moves for disguising one's identity?" Qi Tian asked, pretending to be casual.
The Earth Spirit grinned: "I do have a marvelous transformation-based killing move. It's from the time of the Dao Tian Demon Venerable. When the Dao Tian Demon Venerable was young, he used this set of Gu worms to disguise his true appearance and avoid being hunted down. It worked incredibly well. But what do you have to offer in exchange? If not, you can offer a secret recipe for Gu worms."
"Could it be the rumored 'Once We Meet, We Know Each Other'?" Qi Tian asked.
The Earth Spirit glared at Fang Yuan, shaking its head repeatedly: "Once we meet, we know each other? You really dare to think of that! That's an immortal Dao killing move. The core of it is the attitude Gu. Even if I gave it to you, you wouldn't be able to use it."
"Once we meet, we know each other?" Qi Tian rolled his eyes.
"It's once we meet, we don't recognize each other." Seeing that Qi Tian wasn't impressed, the Earth Spirit quickly explained, "'Once we meet, we don't recognize each other' is the predecessor of the immortal Dao killing moves 'Once We Meet, We Know Each Other' and 'Once We Meet, We Seem Familiar.' It's a mortal Dao killing move, but it's just enough for you to use."
The Earth Spirit boasted: "With this killing move, you can change your appearance, alter your aura, and disguise your identity. Even if a Gu Immortal figures out your identity, you can deny it in person. If their calculations are wrong, you can slip away! So, how about it? Do you want to exchange?"
"It's passable, I guess." Qi Tian replied dismissively: "Immortal Gu are unique, and anything related to them is far more valuable than a mortal Dao killing move."
Qi Tian thought for a moment. It wouldn't be easy to find a mortal Dao killing move comparable to 'Once We Meet, We Don't Recognize Each Other.'
Though Qi Tian had several level-ranked mortal Dao killing moves, he didn't want to reveal them easily as they were his trump cards, and the Earth Spirit might not even need them.
Finally, Qi Tian decided to write down a part of the Blood God Child's secret recipe.
When the Earth Spirit saw the beginning of the secret recipe, its eyes immediately lit up.
"Write it, quickly! Write it!" The Earth Spirit urged when it saw Qi Tian pause.
"Earth Spirit, this is an immortal Gu secret recipe. It concerns Immortal Gu, and its value is not something a mere mortal Dao killing move can compare to. This one part of the secret recipe is worth no less than 'Once We Meet, We Don't Recognize Each Other.' Will you exchange?"
"Of course, I will!" The Earth Spirit knew the value of immortal Gu secret recipes and had collected many fragments of them.
After obtaining the detailed content of 'Once We Meet, We Don't Recognize Each Other,' Qi Tian relaxed and began to examine the killing move.
"As expected from Dao Tian Demon Venerable, such ingenious creativity!" Qi Tian admired.
"Friend, could you not write it all out? I can trade an equivalent Immortal Gu secret recipe in exchange." The Earth Spirit rubbed its hands, winking at Qi Tian.
In the end, after much pleading, Qi Tian agreed: "Fine, fine, I'll give you the complete secret recipe, but only when the time is right."
Actually, Qi Tian didn't have the complete Blood God Child's secret recipe himself. He only had a 30% fragment from his previous life, and the fragment from Fang Yuan was also incomplete.
If he could obtain the 70% fragment from the Fierce Thunder Evil Man, he might be able to complete the recipe, but that could wait.
---
Boom!
Above the clouds and earth, thunder rumbled, and lightning struck repeatedly. Even forming an electric-water thunder paste, it fell like a torrential downpour.
The Earth Disaster in Langya Blessed Land had arrived.
While Qi Tian was making his trade with the Earth Spirit, the Earth Disaster was also happening.
As the Earth Spirit dealt with the Earth Disaster, it left Qi Tian in the house to enjoy tea.
Dealing with the Earth Disaster was a secret among Gu Immortals, involving the resources and means in the Blessed Land, so outsiders were not allowed to witness it.
Given the relationship between Qi Tian and the Earth Spirit, Qi Tian was still considered an "outsider," so he naturally couldn't observe the Earth Spirit's actions, but the fact that the Earth Spirit didn't chase him away was already quite favorable.
Although Qi Tian couldn't see the scene, the sounds outside made him understand the terrifying power of the Earth Disaster.
Before long, the Earth Spirit returned.
"What? The Earth Disaster hasn't ended yet?" Qi Tian asked while sipping his tea.
"A mere 'Ten Thousand Thunderstorm' is nothing. I've already made the necessary arrangements, it's not worth worrying about." The Earth Spirit said proudly.
"Oh, didn't expect a few mice outside would want to try their luck against me," the Earth Spirit sneered, its eyes flashing with anger. "Since you want to play, I'll play along."
Outside the Blessed Land, the Ghost King, Red Jade Scatterer, and the Three Flowers Immortals, five people in total, took turns pouring immortal essence through the cracks into the Blessed Land.
Immortal essence consumption was a common method to invade a Blessed Land. Although extravagant, it was quite useful for Gu Immortals without Immortal Gu.
Once the Blessed Land ran out of immortal essence, other Gu Immortals could enter and plunder its treasures.
However, would Langya Blessed Land, with its Eight Turn Heavenly Yuan Lotus, be lacking in immortal essence?
"So soon, you can't hold up any longer? I'll give you a glimmer of hope."
The five immortals had just poured 100 rounds of 500 green grape immortal essence when they paused, which slightly disappointed the Earth Spirit.
After another 250 immortal essences, the Earth Spirit deliberately weakened its resistance, showing signs of exhaustion.
After another 150 immortal essences, the Earth Spirit released its resistance.
Though Qi Tian sat in the Cloud Pavilion, he could imagine the scene of the five greedy Gu Immortals foolishly rushing into the Blessed Land.
Soon, the five Gu Immortals were teleported into the Blessed Land.
These five were an ugly one, a ruddy one, one in blue, one in yellow, and one in pink—the Ghost King and his group.
Upon entering the Blessed Land, they rushed to the Cloud Pavilion but were immediately imprisoned by their five-turn Gu.
When they realized something was wrong, they hastily used all their immortal essence but were easily drained by the Earth Spirit.
The five immortals had poured a total of 900 green grape immortal essence into the Blessed Land, with about a thousand more in their immortal apertures.
However, a single white lychee immortal essence was worth more than 100 green grape immortal essence, and the Earth Spirit easily captured them after consuming just over ten white lychee immortal essences, a mere trifle to it.
These five immortals were foolish, blinded by greed.
Seeing that the ground outside the Blessed Land showed no signs of damage from the Earth Disaster, the Cloud Pavilion stood resplendent and intact, without a single broken wall or pit. It was clear that the Earth Disaster had not affected the Blessed Land.
The foolish immortals rushed in, only now realizing their mistake as they knelt and begged for mercy, becoming mere cannon fodder.
Qi Tian wasn't too interested in these people, and since the Earth Spirit planned to interrogate and search their souls, Qi Tian didn't linger. After a brief exchange with the Earth Spirit, he decided to leave.
The Earth Spirit had no intention of stopping him, but reminded Qi Tian not to reveal the location of the Blessed Land.
Just as Qi Tian left, he heard an exclamation:
"Qi Tian!?"