The scene shifted to when he was became a Rank 8 Gu Immortal. "Excellent work! You have even managed to advance Xiao Shi from being an Abyssal Earth Dragon to a proper Abyssal Earth Dragon Emperor, in addition to your own battle strength."
"I was saddened to hear about Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable's passing... these are dark times for the Heavenly Court..."
"None of us can escape death, not even a Venerable," came the answer. "However, it is during these times when the Heavenly Court must stick together and support each other. That is why I'm inviting you to join the Heavenly Court as one of our full members."
"Join the Heavenly Court?" The man said, "Isn't that the highest of honors?"
"Indeed, it is. However, your deeds over time have shown that you are quite capable. Of course, as a part of joining, you will have to donate your aperture to the Heavenly Court."
Fang Yuan was actually quite interested to see the process of such a thing. Heavenly Court Immortals did not carry an aperture; rather, they donated their apertures to the collective of the Heavenly Court and had a Phantom Aperture.
He had never truly understood how that worked, but there were certain benefits of doing so. Namely, that one would no longer have to fear tribulations. And in case he ever became enemies with the Heavenly Court in the future, it would be a useful bit of knowledge to have. However, the scene simply shifted towards the man standing above what looked like a pile of multiple coffins.
"My life sspan is nearly at an end," Tu Xian said. "Xiao Shi has already gone into hibernation. I will be joining my brethren in the Heavenly Court and sleeping until such a time as my awakening is necessary."
The scene then shifted yet again. The man was suddenly awakened from his slumber. "Someone has emerged from the Immortal Graveyard! Senior, please clome out quickly! They must be here to help us."
"Lord, the Gu Immortals require your help with Di Zang Sheng!" with a wave of his hand, Tu Xian summoned the slumbering Xiao Shi, who was hibernating under the earth.
There was no need for any lifespan extension method for it; Immortal Beasts could often times live for hundreds of thousands of years without needing Lifespan Gu.
"The evil dragon has emerged!"
A massive dragon appeared in Tu Xian's vision as he rushed towards the battlefield. Di Zang Sheng was a massive dragon born from the hatred and resentment of the various people within the Central Continent. A massive battle ensued, and at the forefront of it was a mysterious figure with draconic horns - a dragonman.
Xiao Shi fought bravely, countering several of Di Zang Sheng's moves and making an opening for the lead Gu Immortal to land a blow that suppressed the evil dragon once and for all.
"Oh no - I got careless!"
However, just as a strike was about to end Tu Xian's life, Xiao Shi came in and interrupted the blow. "My friend, even after all this time..."
Xiao Shi gave him a look through his eyes which conveyed that he would have done it a thousand times over, the same look that it had given him when it had blocked his tribulation for him long ago, getting poisoned in the process. Tears welled up in its eyes, but there was no sadness other than the thought of being severed from his companion. "Where shall I store these, who are worth more than the stars themselves?" the man wondered, collecting the tears as a final memento of his dragon.
With that, the battle was soon over. The Heavenly Court had won.
Although he wanted to simply walk away and return to the Immortal Graveyard, he heard some talk from the others which did not sit right with him. "It's a tragedy that the dragon is dead, but think about it! Its materials are worth quite a lot. There's someone in the Heavenly Court who requires some of those materials for a Rank 8 Earth Path gu worm."
The scene changed...
The man found himself in front of the same figure who had been leading the charge on Di Zang Sheng. It was clear at this distance that he really was a dragonman. "I'm sorry for asking you for this, but the needs of the Heavenly Court must be put over the needs of anyone else. Your Earth Dragon is needed for a special gu in order to help suppress this dragon. Please understand."
"But Duke Long... my dear Xiao Shi has already given up everything for the Heavenly Court... can it not rest in its grave in peace?"
"Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable once showed you kindness, did he not? He saved your dragon - because he knew that the time would come when it would be needed to save the world in the future. That time has come..."
"I understand," the man said.
However, the next scene was of a man sitting in this cave next to a crystallized corpse of the dragon.
"Old friend, you saved me countless times, and the least that I could do was to prevent anyone from disturbing your final resting place..." On a monument, he wrote down some final words before dying there and choosing to be buried. His true aperture was still with the Heavenly Court, and his body sank into the ground, passing away and becoming one with the earth.
Fang Yuan now saw the perspective of someone who was visiting this obelisk and hovering over it. "You need the Dragon Tears..." came a voice from somewhere in this person's head.
"But after reading the story, there's no way that I could possibly take it. It would not be right," the man replied, speaking of what was written on the obelisk.
"And do you not need it? Do you not want to go back home to see your family and your fiancé again? Do you think this grave will remain untouched forever? The time will come, sooner or later, when someone takes this, and it might as well be you..." the voice in his head replied.
Fang Yuan checked this person's aperture and noted that they had Rank 8 Gu Master cultivation. While examining his aperture further, he saw that one of their gu worms was the Rank 8 Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus Gu.
"All right, but I'll definitely give the equivalent back. These tears were a final memento of what Xiao Shi had for his master. I will definitely return this back one day." The person in question repeated, indicating that he was none other than Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable.
And with that, Fang Yuan emerged from the dream realm.
His attainment in the Earth Path was now Grandmaster level!
His attainment in the Enslavement Path was now Grandmaster level!
His attainment in the Theft Path was now Master level!
"Oh, good, you managed to finally come out," Bai Ning Bing said, watching him come out of the dream realm.
"How long was I out for?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Fourteen hours by now," Bai Ning Bing said. "I wasn't sure what was going on with you, but the House Spirit said it was quite dangerous, and that if I touched into the stuff around you, I'd fall into the dream realm too."
"The House Spirit was right," Fang Yuan said.
"At the same time, I couldn't just leave you behind," Bai Ning Bing said.
"Of course not," Fang Yuan smiled. "Not when I have Yang Rotation Gu with me..."
Having emerged from the dream realm, Fang Yuan recognized what it was that he needed to do.
"Take us closer to where that monument is," Fang Yuan said. When he had been trapped in the dream realm, they had flown away from the area to see if that would break whatever had happened to him, but obviously it hadn't. Not that they could do much else, Fang Yuan noted, when the dream realm had been that deep. He had just been lucky that it hadn't been malevolent and was rather easy to get through without requiring any real input from him.