Guo Lian was sweating bullets like he was having a heart attack. "Wait, what do you mean I have to work hard just like everybody else in this world? I'm from another world! Aren't I supposed to get like super powers or cheat skills or something? Where's my instant Nascent Soul cultivation base? Where's my heavenly treasure that can instantly kill enemies three major realms above me? Where's my golden finger which rewards me by 100,000% for whatever I happen to do compared to other people? Where's my Primordial Chaos Dragon bloodline? Where's my pocket realm filled with tomboy Jade Beauties where I'm the only male there, and for every child I have, my power increases by 10^n where n is the number of children I have? How am I supposed to survive in this world if it's just me without any cheats? My clan's been telling me I have trash talent anyway - and you're telling me I won't get any kind of powerup eventually?" By this point, he was yelling and screaming, almost rolling on the ground like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "This isn't fair! It's not fair! Not fair! Not fair!"

Fang Yuan had no idea what he was looking at, but even he started to feel like he was taking mental damage listening to this person. He also started feeling secondhand, thirdhand, and even fourthhand embarrassment for Thieving Heaven.

"Well, what can I say? You just have to work hard. Wait - what are you doing-" Thieving Heaven asked as Guo Lian got up and took out a Rope Gu from his aperture, tying it into a knot using his primeval essence.

"Trust me, I'm not living here any longer if that's how things are supposed to be," Guo Lian said.

"Wait, wait, wait," Thieving Heaven said. "You don't have to do that, you know. I mean, as long as you're alive, there's still hope, isn't there?"

Guo Lian considered things and put the Rope Gu back into his aperture. "Maybe, you know... so, what you're telling me is, though, that if I work as hard as you do, then I can also become Rank 9 and become invincible in this world?"

"That's not exactly it... but um... you can certainly get ahead..." Thieving Heaven said, still seemingly unsure of what to say. On the one hand, he didn't want to tell Guo Lian the truth. Otherwise, he might very well try to give up on this path and finish rage quitting. On the other hand, he couldn't lie either and give him false hope. It just rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps if this person was a normal Gu Master, it'd be different, but he was also an Otherworldly Demon like him, someone who was also lost in this strange foreign world.

"Well, that's great then," Guo Lian said. "You know what? You may start calling me the Rizz Taoist Master! No wait, once I become a venerable, I'll call myself the Great Rizz Venerable! I'll become unparalleled in this world! I'll go around slapping young masters, and I'll collect a massive harem of jade beauties. Yes, that's what I'll do!"

"Sure, you can go around doing that," Thieving Heaven said. "But about this new invention that you had managed to make... I was just curious about it."

"Oh, sure, that's fine. I have no problem with you seeing that," Guo Lian said. "But I am going to have to ask for something in return: 80,000 primeval stones."

Thieving Heaven had a wry grin on his face. "Are you seriously trying to ask the Thieving Heaven Demonic Venerable for paym-wait... did you just say 80,000 primeval stones?"

"Yes," Guo Lian said, not understanding what the issue was. Fang Yuan, meanwhile, was shaking his head. It was clear that whoever this Guo Lian was, they knew nothing about being an immortal. Forget 80,000 - even 80 million primeval stones would have been chump change for Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable. Granted, he also could have just stolen it, but with a price that low, there was clearly no need for it.

"I wanted to save 80,000 primeval stones for my retirement during this life," Guo Lian said. "But with what you said just inspired me, and I think I'm going to use it to improve my cultivation instead."

"Rather than giving you the stones," Thieving Heaven said, "I do have a talent-raising Gu worm, and perhaps you would prefer that instead?"

"Oh, stuff like that actually exists?! Yeah, sure," Guo Lian said.

"Right, so just show me what it is. However, before we start, there's someone else who will be joining us."

Up until this point, Fang Yuan had noted that things within the painting were becoming more realistic with time.

Although initially it looked like he was part of the painting, it now looked like he had actual skin, fingers, and nails. Granted, he still had a bit of a drawn or cartoonish quality to him, but it looked far more realistic than it had before. The same went for the people beneath him. They had initially appeared as slightly blurry images made in watercolor, but now they had solidified into looking like they were almost real people. As Thieving Heaven said that there would be someone else joining them, he looked up at Fang Yuan, and Fang Yuan suddenly felt himself descend.

The ground was rushing up at him, but he wanted to activate his wings - but found that he couldn't. As he was about to crash, his velocity suddenly decreased to the point where he landed on his feet without any issue.

"Oh, so there's someone else here. Hello," Guo Lian said.

"Hello," Fang Yuan said. He wasn't sure how they were all interacting. These people had died a long time ago. It looked like either their memories or parts of their personalities had been preserved within this painting by Genesis Lotus. And yet he was able to interact with them. It was almost like being in a dream realm, but with the people within the dream recognizing they were in a dream and also being able to recognize that the person there was from outside.

"This is Gu Yue Fang Yuan," Thieving Heaven said, introducing Fang Yuan for him. "He is also an Otherworldly Demon like the two of us." Fang Yuan would've liked to keep that information hidden, but Thieving Heaven already let the cat out of the bag.

"Ayo fam," Guo Lian said, pointing at Thieving Heaven using his thumb. "This unc is kinda sus, fr, fr."

"I don't understand your strange wordplay either," Fang Yuan said. He looked at Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable. "So you partnered up with Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable, I presume?" There was no other way that this sort of interaction could have happened without that being the case.

"Indeed, we did. I think that you would want to learn what this secret is as well." Thieving Heaven turned towards Guo Lian. "Look, kid. You've been annoying me for quite a bit. However, I don't want to harm you or do anything, given the fact that you're an Otherworldly Demon too, out of professional courtesy. However, if you continue wasting my time, I am going to use more drastic measures. You know what, here are your 80,000 primeval stones." He said, tossing a storage gu worm to Guo Lian. Thieving Heaven's expression had changed quite a bit now, appearing far more serious than before. "Tell you what - you can have the aptitude-raising gu as well after you show us what you've managed to discover."