Fang Yuan was immediately pulled into the dream realm without any chance to defend himself. The dollhouse had its own defense mechanisms, of course, but the Dream Path was still in its nascent stage and could not be countered easily.
He found himself in the body of a Rank Two Gu Master. He turned his attention to his aperture and found nothing more than ordinary Rank One gu worms within. From the surrounding greenery and lush hills, he could guess that this was more likely than not the Southern Border.
Fang Yuan was not able to do anything, however. This dream realm was running entirely on its own without giving him any input whatsoever.
The man in question did not have very many good offensive gu worms, but his tracking skills were extremely on point, as well as his investigative gu worms. He had one that enhanced his sense of smell, and another which enhanced his hearing, much like the Earth Communication Ear Grass. The man seemed to be hunting. It was a testament to how bad his offensive gu worms were, that Fang Yuan could feel the quiver of arrows on his back and a bow in the other hand.
The man at long last found a herd of deer, and at once sent an arrow flying, aiming for one's neck. It looked like his arrow was about to hit its mark, just as he was releasing it. However, there was a massive explosion, sending dirt and dust everywhere. The deer bolted and his arrow missed its mark.
Something seemed to have fallen out of the sky, something so big that it nearly made a massive crater on the ground. The Gu Master in question was buried in soil and had to crawl his way out, thankfully managing to make it before he suffocated. The Gu Master then went to see what the source of the explosion was. Even as he did so, Fang Yuan was yelling at him in his mind. "What are you doing, you idiot? If something like that happens, you should run away! You don't know what's there!"
However, no matter how much he screamed, the person in question did not back away.
Lying in a crater was an Abyssal Earth Dragon. It was massive. However, both of its wings had been broken, and its rib cage was cracked. It was a beast equivalent to a Rank 7 Gu Master in power, so Fang Yuan, with his knowledge and expertise, knew that if there was something around that could kill it, the person in question should hightail it right out of there.
However, it appeared that this Gu Master lacked basic survival instincts, and instead went closer. He looked up into the sky, likely wondering what it was that had caused that dragon to be injured like this, but there was nothing for the next five minutes.
Fang Yuan considered this. Had there been a Gu Immortal who had perhaps run into this dragon and decided to kill it? Yet, why would they not take the remains for themselves? Or had this dragon been injured some great distance away from here, barely managed to escape but ultimately succumbed to its injuries while flying?
As the Gu Master in question approached the corpse of the beast, it suddenly turned its head, looking directly at him. Fang Yuan was almost sure that the Gu Master in question was dead. However, it then slumped over, breathing its last. Even from within the dream, Fang Yuan's greed was ignited. These materials could be sold for a massive amount even if the person in question did not know it or have the means to do so.
The dragon had, however, left something else behind that the Gu Master was curious about. In one of its hands, there was a dark, round object that the Gu Master took. From the way the dragon was holding it, it looked like it was quite precious to it. Fang Yuan recognized it as a dragon's egg.
He watched as the Gu Master in question took the dragon's egg back to his village. "Did you manage to get something?" someone who looked like this person's elder brother asked.
"No, but I managed to find this in the woods," he said, holding up the dragon egg in question.
"I haven't seen anything like that," the other person answered. "Let me try and examine it."
He took it, and then he took out his sword, knocking the flat of the blade against the object.
"Hey, you're going to break it!"
"Relax, I won't break it," he answered. Fang Yuan, of course, knew that, given the fact that this was an Immortal egg, it would not break so easily by a mortal blade. The Gu Master decided to keep the egg, despite the fact that Fang Yuan knowing that this was a terrible idea.
It hatched six months later, long after he had assumed that it was just some shiny, round object that he had left near the hearth. He was, without a doubt, both surprised and pleased to see it. The small dragon, currently just the size of a cat, stared at him with expectant eyes. As he put his hand forward to try and pet it, it nearly took his fingers off.
"All right, you need me, don't you?" the Gu Master answered, going out to hunt some more. Whatever he fed the dragon, though, it seemed to never be able to eat its fill. He kept feeding it meat up to the point where it nearly exhausted his entire reserve of primeval stones, but it still was not satisfied. Along with this, it started growing. The scene shifted and within a week, it was about the size of an adult dog. A week later, it was nearly the size of a cow, and a week after that, it reached the size of a horse.
Fang Yuan wanted to scream at this person once again. This person needed to leave and get as far away from it as possible.
The scenery shifted. There was fire coming from several tents around the village. It looked like they were under enemy attack.
Just then though, the silhouette of a creature emerged from a tent, downing the enemy Gu Masters left and right.
"Retreat!"
"What is that beast?"
"We need to get away from it!"
"Looks like you saved the day, lil' fella," the Gu Master said to the dragon. To call it 'little' was a great misnomer given the fact that it now was the size of an elephant. His fellow clansmen were happy they were saved, but also looked a bit warily at his pet.
As the dragon grew older, ordinary meat would no longer satisfy it and it would instead start ingesting large amounts of soil. It was a creature that craved a large volume of Earth Path Dao Marks in its food, so anything that was rich in it would be perfect for it. Unfortunately, things like that were hard to find in the mortal realm.
The scene shifted and someone was yelling about an important Gu Master who had come to their village to visit. He was said to be Rank Five, and approached the Gu Master in question about his dragon.
"Where did you get this?"
"I managed to find it after its mother died."
"And you've been taken care of it? It didn't eat you?"
"Not yet, it hasn't... though ahaha... I'm a bit scared that one day it might..."
The Abyssal Earth Dragon licked the Gu Master in response as if it was signifying that it was joking.
"This will not do, however," the visitor remarked. "You may not know this - but this is no ordinary dragon. It is an Immortal Creature."
"Immortal?"
"Yes, indeed," the visitor said. "The fact that this beast has found you however... it looks like there is a karmic connection between you and it..."
The visitor scratched his chin, as if contemplating what to do further.