"You want to go back?" the House Spirit asked, worried. "But Senior Brother, what if that happens again?"
"I know what we need to do," Fang Yuan said.
The Dollhouse returned to the area, and this time there was no similar blob of pinkish-purplish dream realm out to get him. As Fang Yuan placed the painting near the obelisk, on it were inscribed the same words that he had seen in his dream before it had ended:
To my beloved Xiao Shi.
You saved my life more times than I could count, and now I wish to repay it by sparing you the last shred of dignity that you have.
May you rest here eternally in peace.
May your tears remain as a memorial to your breathing, and your body remain as a reminder of your hardships.
And here lies Tu Xian, a traitor to the Heavenly Court, one who betrayed his friends - all for the love of dragon.
Reader, if you wish to curse me or even dance on my grave for what I did I do not mind - but I ask only that you respect the sanctity of my friend's corpse.
While Thieving Heaven had stolenl many things in his life, it was clear that the theft from this memorial had weighed on his mind quite a bit. As the painting dissolved and the bottle of Dragon Tears seeped into a place deep in the soil; Fang Yuan had guessed that it would be futile but he still tried to grab it, only to find that there was some force preventing him. More likely than not, only someone at Thieving Heaven's level would be able to break it out of that seal.
A voice, however, answered Fang Yuan directly in his mind, "Well done, Fang Yuan. I knew that you had it in you to do something nice, even if you were completely forced to do so."
Thieving Heaven's voice continued: "With that said, I will give you a little tale when it comes to the Theft Path. A small story to broaden your horizons, if you will. There was a man who owned an apple tree. One day, a thief stole an apple from it and was mercilessly beaten by the owner for his crime. Shortly afterward, a strong wind blew and an apple was detached from the tree and shattered on the ground, making it worthless. Some time later, a bird flew near the tree and took an apple in its mouth before flitting away. To this, the thief replied, 'You lost two apples - why are you not angry at the bird or the wind? Where is the fairness in this?' The owner then laughed and said, 'Who can possibly challenge the actions of nature and wild beasts?'"
"Remember, Fang Yuan, that the greatest thief is Heaven itself. Heaven takes wealth away, it takes away the fruits of one's labor. And above all, it is the greatest thief of lifespan as well; controlling the distribution of Lifespan Gu."
"That's not the only thing that I'll leave you with here. You must have realized that your attempts to refine the Righteous Virtue Physique failed, didn't they? There's a reason that they failed. Although Paradise Earth predicted correctly that there was a way to gain it without actually accumulating virtue, he had overlooked one thing: that a person had to at least have some virtue within themselves." At this point, although his voice was the same, his tone shifted. "You, however, my friend Fang Yuan, are completely without virtue, without any bottom line or shame. None of your deeds was done with the slightest intention of genuinely helping others. You are the antithesis of what virtue is, and as such, even if you try to refine the Righteous Virtue Physique a million times you will still fail. Paradise Earth was a bit too optimistic when designing the method, thinking that you would have a shred of something resembling goodness within yourself. Ahahah! How very wrong he was!"
Fang Yuan considered the information - that meant that the right task was to go for the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin Physique.
Thieving Heaven though, continued. "That's not to say, however, that there isn't a solution." Fang Yuan found two Gu worms deposited into his aperture. "I will not let you disturb this Immortal's grave or that of the dragon. However, if you go to a town nearby, you'll find a fortuitous encounter waiting for you two days from now."
Fang Yuan and the Dollhouse then found themselves transported outside of the cavern, back on the mountain surface. When they tried to go back using the tunnel they had gone through, they found that it had completely caved in with no methods to advance further. They could only give up for now without any specialized methods.
"Well, that was a massive waste of time," Bai Ning Bing said. When she had heard the words 'Immortal', she had considered whether she might have actually found someone who could help her refine a Rank 6 gu of a path that would help her ascend. However, as far as she could tell, they had gained nothing - not even gu worms to her knowledge.
"Not entirely," Fang Yuan said. He turned to the Dollhouse. "Dollhouse, you can return back home the same way we came in. Bai Ning Bing, lend me the White Form Immortal Snake. I felt like going on a tiny stroll..."
Biding Wings snorted. "As if! I'm coming with you!" Bai Ning Bing would not let Fang Yuan take the White Form Immortal Snake out of her sight. She was afraid that he had some method to subdue it if she wasn't around - and it was vitally necessary to her. It was part of the partial refinement recipe that she had discovered.
Fang Yuan shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself. I don't know what we'll find there."
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing flew over to a certain mortal hamlet, whose location Thieving Heaven had implanted in Fang Yuan's mind.
Thieving Heaven had put two gu worms in Fang Yuan's aperture. One was a Rank 1 Accumulate Virtue Gu, which would allow one to accumulate virtue over time. The other was Rank 5 Steal Virtue Gu which would allow one to steal virtue from another person.
What Thieving Heaven was saying was rather obvious: if Fang Yuan wanted to refine the Righteous Virtue Physique, he simply needed to give the Accumulate Virtue Gu to someone who was genuinely virtuous and then steal their virtue using the Steal Virtue Gu. With those ingredients in mind, he would finally be able to refine the Righteous Virtue Physique for himself.
"What is here?" Bai Ning Bing wondered as they walked towards the mortal village. Their identities as Gu Masters was instantly apparent, and the mortal guards almost began stuttering when noticing the '5' on Fang Yuan's belt.
"G-Greetings Lord Gu Masters how c-can we help you?"
"We were simply in the area and were visiting," Fang Yuan said. "We were wondering if there was an inn that we could stay in for a few days."
"There is only one inn inside the village, Lord Gu Master o-over there!"
Fang Yuan thanked the guard as he and Bai Ning Bing walked in.
The inn was nothing special and was rundown, but was the best that they would find in this village.
Naturally, there presence was reported to the village head - who was a Gu Master himself, though only Rank One.
At first, the village head thought about approaching them, but upon hearing that Fang Yuan was Rank 5, his face blanched. Rank 5 was the peak of the mortal realm; Gu Masters who could reach that point were extremely uncommon. If they showed no signs of being demonic Gu Masters - no, even then, it was best not to provoke them.
As much as he hated to admit it, their best chance of dealing with this was to ignore it and hope that those two walked away.
Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan reached an agreement - they would alternate using Equality Gu and Bone-Flesh Unity Gu. Bai Ning Bing was able to use this and the time they were there to finally crack the crystal walls of her aperture, as golden yellow essence replaced it.