"Very well Young Man. From today onward, we are allies."
Lin Yan was slightly surprised by Sun Cu's decisiveness, but inwardly he was delighted. He finally had some confidence in dealing with Immortal Ascension tribulations.
Another reason Lin Yan approached Sun Cu was because of the knowledge he possessed from the original novel. After becoming a Gu Immortal, Sun Cu had always been regarded as part of the Righteous Path. He often built cities for mortals and cared deeply for his granddaughter.
Naturally, Lin Yan understood that Sun Cu was far from simple. His actions today alone were enough to prove that. Even so, he still leaned toward the Righteous Path.
At the very least, that made him far more trustworthy than Fang Yuan. Around Fang Yuan, a single careless mistake could easily cost a person their life.
Lin Yan then said, "Let's establish an alliance agreement. I'll prepare the Vow Gu myself."
He deliberately took the initiative in this matter. If Sun Cu were the one arranging the agreement, there was always a chance he could break it after reaching Immortal Ascension.
Sun Cu nodded and gave him an address. "It's inconvenient for me to enter the city. Come find me here once you've prepared everything."
"Oh, right."
Sun Cu suddenly took out a few Gu worms from his sleeve and casually tossed them toward Lin Yan. "Since you're providing the alliance Gu worms, I naturally can't be stingy. Consider this a gesture of sincerity."
The moment Lin Yan received them, surprise flashed across his face. These were the Gu worms left behind by the Rank 5 Flame Path Gu Master who had died earlier.
One was the Rank 4 Flame Path Gu, Increasingly Fierce Gu. The other was the Rank 4 Flame and Wisdom Path Gu, Fire Thought Gu.
Lin Yan was immediately pleased. Both Gu worms were extremely valuable. Even ordinary Rank 4 Gu worms were highly sought after, let alone these two.
He carefully stored them away, planning to refine them later. With that, both sides prepared to depart.
After all, too many experts had died here today. Once news of the battle spread, the surrounding region would soon descend into chaos. Remaining any longer would only invite trouble.
After Lin Yan disappeared into the desert, Sun Yue continued looking toward the horizon in silence, her beautiful eyes filled with mixed emotions. "Grandpa… are we really going to work with him?" she asked softly.
Sun Cu let out a deep sigh. "If I truly wanted to kill him, I would have to pay a heavy price as well. I might even damage my foundation and ruin my future prospects. My Immortal Ascension is already close at hand—I cannot afford serious injuries."
"On the contrary, with his help, my chances of reaching Rank 6 will improve somewhat."
After a few seconds, his expression became even more complicated.
"Moreover, that young man is simply too monstrous. I was fortunate enough to obtain a Lifespan Gu and lived for one hundred and eight years before accumulating enough foundation to attempt Immortal Ascension."
"Yet he already reached this level before even turning twenty."
Meanwhile, Lin Yan quietly returned to the merchant city through another entrance of the Ten Thousand Li Silk Corridor.
Naturally, he had concealed certain things from Sun Cu. For example, he planned to undergo Immortal Ascension only after obtaining one of the Ten Extreme Physiques.
Revealing that matter too early would only make future negotiations more troublesome. Lin Yan planned to wait until after the agreement was formed before informing Sun Cu.
Thinking of this, Lin Yan smiled faintly to himself. Once Sun Cu agreed to the alliance, refusing later would be impossible.
After returning to the market city, Lin Yan waited for more than ten days before finally obtaining what he wanted at a large auction.
It was a Rank 5 Gu worm specifically used for agreements—the Metal Oath Gu.
He deliberately avoided ordinary vow Gu because their level was too low. Once Immortal Ascension began, there was a high possibility that the restrictions placed by the Mortal Gu Worm would be washed away during the process.
Metal Oath Gu was different. Its effects were extremely stable. To forcibly break an agreement formed through it, one would need exceptionally high attainment in both Earth Path and Gold Path to even have a chance.
More importantly, Metal Oath Gu established agreements through Earth and Gold Path methods. For Sun Cu, who cultivated Earth Path and was preparing for Immortal Ascension, Earth Path Dao Marks would not be rejected during the ascension and naturally would not be cleansed away.
Because of this, most ordinary Rank 6 Gu Immortals used Metal Oath Gu when making agreements, unless they possessed rare Rank 6 Information Path Immortal Gu such as Sea Oath Gu or Mountain Pledge Gu.
This Rank 5 Gu alone cost Lin Yan a full three hundred thousand primeval stones, an astonishing price even for Rank 5 Gu Masters.
But in Lin Yan's eyes, it was completely worth it. After all, Sun Cu would achieve Immortal Ascension first. Once he successfully refined the Transformation Stone Immortal Gu, recovering this loss later would not be difficult at all.