Cast a Long Line for a Big Fish

After sending A Yin into the intensive care unit, Fang Yuan searched around the spot again and felt out a long, black object.

Brushing away the dust, he saw that it was actually a black box. It was about one and a half meters long and a foot wide.

When he lifted the lid open by a tiny crack, Fang Yuan could feel a surging vitality rushing toward him.

Opening the box completely, its contents were revealed before Fang Yuan.

A blue-gold leg bone lay squarely in the center of the box. As his angle of view shifted, faint golden specks seemed to flicker within the bone. It was dazzling, as though it possessed life.

"A hundred-thousand-year spirit bone."

Fang Yuan's heart stirred slightly.

Though he had known beforehand, the sight before him once again reminded Fang Yuan just how high-grade this leg bone was.

This was the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone produced after the Blue Silver Emperor, A Yin, sacrificed herself.

As he gazed at the spirit bone, Fang Yuan suddenly felt an urge to absorb it.

This urge was only natural. Every spirit master on the continent would have such a thought when faced with a hundred-thousand-year spirit bone.

After all, a hundred-thousand-year spirit bone represented far too much.

Yet after his eyes flickered for a moment, Fang Yuan slowly closed the box.

Then, with a turn of his hand, the black box was stored inside his Supreme Immortal Aperture.

Fang Yuan did not absorb the spirit bone.

This was undoubtedly somewhat contrary to human nature, but for Fang Yuan, absorbing this hundred-thousand-year spirit bone might not bring him the greatest benefit.

One crucial reason was that Tang San and his mother shared a subtle, mysterious connection.

If he absorbed the spirit bone produced by Tang San's mother, it was hard to say that Tang San would not discover it.

At that point, Tang San might indeed be persuaded by him and not mind it. But it was also possible that a trace of resentment would take root in his heart.

Tang San was tied to Fang Yuan's plan for immortality. If he could not become a god, then he would have to rely on Tang San to bring him to the Divine Realm.

And if he did attain godhood, then once he reached the Divine Realm, that cheat Tang San would also be a great help to him.

Compared to that, what a single spirit bone could offer him was undoubtedly far less.

The difference in importance was obvious at a glance.

Only by casting a long line could one catch a big fish. Though it was possible to understand this principle, not everyone could put it into practice.

With a hundred-thousand-year spirit bone placed before them, who could resist such temptation? Even knowing that not absorbing it would be more beneficial, most people would likely still be blinded by immediate gain.

Fortunately, Fang Yuan was not one of them.

I'll treat this spirit bone as a long-term investment. Once the time is right, I'll have Tang San absorb it.

I believe the returns my disciple can bring me will not be worth less than this spirit bone.

Fang Yuan made his decision inwardly.

He sent his consciousness into the Supreme Immortal Aperture once more, confirmed the spirit bone's location, then teased A Yin for a while. The Blue Silver Emperor swayed from side to side, and glistening droplets seeped from its blades before he finally withdrew his consciousness and returned to reality.

Leaving the cave, Fang Yuan stood by the waterfall and waited for quite some time.

However, Tang Hao never came.

As expected, there are no arrangements or contingencies here. I wonder whether that brute Tang Hao simply doesn't know such methods, or whether he never took this place seriously.

Fang Yuan mused inwardly.

By his estimation, the first possibility was more likely.

On this continent, even spirit masters who had cultivated to the rank of Titled Douluo used spirit power in a crude manner by Fang Yuan's standards.

Logically speaking, it should have been possible to use spirit power to set up barriers, imprints, and the like.

Yet despite the continent's long development, no similar techniques had ever appeared.

Fang Yuan did not care much about this, however.

Since Tang Hao would not return, Fang Yuan did not linger. He set off back to Notting City.

Five years later.

Though Fang Yuan also wished time would pass more slowly and stop making him grow old, that was clearly impossible.

He had to teach his two disciples, select people to build the Supreme Immortal Aperture, and personally lead the research into spirit tools.

Time was like sand slipping through his fingers. By the time Fang Yuan came to his senses and tried to grasp it, much of it had already drained away.

Without attaining immortality, everything in the world was ultimately an illusion.

Even if one's cultivation reached the heavens and one enjoyed every precious thing in the world, it would only last a few short centuries.

Compared to the ever-flowing river of time, what a brief number a hundred years was.

Fang Yuan was a greedy man. What he wanted was forever.

The Balak Kingdom lay south of the Heaven Dou Empire and was one of the four great kingdoms under its rule.

Within the kingdom were two important cities: Balak City, the capital where the king resided, and Soto City, famed as a granary.

Soto City lay in the east of the Balak Kingdom. Further east, beyond a mountain range, was the continent's most famous deadly region—the Star Dou Great Forest.

Outside Balak City, the blazing sun hung overhead. The lines at the city gates were orderly and clearly separated, while the guards meticulously checked the information of every passerby.

Two children barely in their teens stood amid the bustling crowds of Balak City, looking around for something.

"Senior Brother, which hotel should we choose? Teacher really is something. Wouldn't it have been better to act together? Why did he send us ahead to find a hotel?"

Of the two, the girl wore a long scorpion braid and held a hand over her head to shield herself from the sun. Dissatisfaction showed on her pretty face.

The girl was naturally Xiao Wu. Beside her, Tang San kept examining the signs along the street.

Hearing Xiao Wu's complaint, Tang San answered casually,

"Teacher went to buy supplies first. Splitting up is more efficient. After all, Teacher brought us to Balak City this time so we can obtain spirit rings in the Star Dou Great Forest. Naturally, we need to prepare thoroughly."

Five years had passed, and both Tang San and Xiao Wu had graduated from Notting Academy. They could now attend a higher-level academy.

However, Fang Yuan and Tang San had both reached the point where they needed to obtain spirit rings, so they first came to Balak City, which was closer to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Xiao Wu glanced at Tang San beside her and giggled.

"You need to work harder. Teacher is already level eighty, and I've become a three-ringed Spirit Elder. You're only level thirty, with just two spirit rings."

Tang San replied calmly, "That's because over the past few years, Teacher didn't let me focus my cultivation on raising my spirit power level. Instead, he had me use the medicinal power of the immortal herbs in my body to transform my physique. Otherwise, if I had focused solely on leveling up, I would have already been in my thirties."

Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue and pointed at a hotel. "Let's go to that one. The Rose Hotel—it sounds like it has a nice atmosphere."

Tang San glanced in the direction Xiao Wu pointed and nodded. "The decor looks good. Teacher should be satisfied. Let's choose this one."

Neither of them objected, so they headed toward the hotel.

The Rose Hotel stood three stories tall and did not look like a large business hotel. Its exterior was decorated in rose-red, giving it a sensual atmosphere.