266 RI
Sovereign immortal aperture, Mini Red Heaven.
A large formation was making loud noises, variant human Gu Immortals were fully prepared for combat with Bai Ning Bing at their lead.
Whoosh!
There was the sound of enormous tidal waves and an immemorial year beast rushed out of the formation that was shining in silver light.
"This is an immemorial year pig!" Lady White Rabbit shouted excitedly.
"Great, the year essence pool lacks this species of year beast." Fairy Miao Yin also added spiritedly.
There was nothing to say, the battle started immediately.
The immortals controlled Myriad Year Flying Warship and battled the immemorial year pig.
The immemorial year pig had a sturdy body, but Myriad Year Flying Warship was also incomparably firm, both sides were evenly matched.
The battle caused a storm just from its aftermath. If it were an ordinary immortal aperture, the Gu Immortal would definitely suffer heavy losses. But Fang Yuan's sovereign immortal aperture was too vast.
He had devoured the lifetime accumulations of many Gu Immortals, but even then, his sovereign immortal aperture was only seventeen to eighteen percent developed.
This Mini Red Heaven was specially left empty by Fang Yuan, reserved as a battlefield.
Currently, the mini five regions' development was flourishing, seven of the mini nine heavens also had some resources. Mini Red Heaven was completely empty, dream realms were stored in Mini Green Heaven, and Mini Yellow Heaven only had a small segment of a gold fragment current.
The mini five regions still had a lot of unoccupied land, it could be estimated that the mini nine heavens would remain barren for a long period of time.
Normally speaking, when a Gu Immortal advances to rank eight and gains a grotto-heaven, they would actively develop the sky because there would be no free space left on the land. But Fang Yuan was a special case and could not be assessed by common sense.
The battle of the rank eight Immortal Gu House and the immemorial desolate beast lasted for a few days before the latter lost and gave in.
Fang Yuan's main body was sweeping through green ghost desert, while inside his immortal aperture, his subordinates were using Myriad Year Flying Warship to subdue immemorial year beasts.
On one hand, Fang Yuan was intentionally making these rank seven Gu Immortals get familiar with Myriad Year Flying Warship so that they could participate in battles of rank eights in the future.
On the other hand, Fang Yuan was using the immemorial year beast fishing formation to attract immemorial year beasts in an attempt to complete his Twelve Zodiac battle formation.
Fang Yuan had started on the plan of Twelve Zodiac battle formation in his previous life.
This was an ancient battle formation.
Gathering twelve different species of immemorial year beasts and using them as cores for the formation.
Twelve Zodiac battle formation was specialized in offense, and it could move freely after the formation was complete. During inactive times, these immemorial year beasts could be sealed, becoming like statues, unmoving and not requiring food. But during battle, the seal would be released, they would make up the battle formation and attack the enemy.
There were many advantages of this formation, one was it saved a lot on food expenditure.
In his previous life, Fang Yuan saw this point and had intended to use this method to ease the pressure on his immortal aperture management.
But in this life, Fang Yuan was very affluent, saving the food expenditure became secondary and what Fang Yuan prioritized now was the strong offensive prowess of this formation.
Only immemorial year beasts were qualified to be the cores of the Twelve Zodiac battle formation. Fang Yuan would be unable to construct the Twelve Zodiac battle formation if he used ancient year beasts or desolate level year beasts.
This showed that the Twelve Zodiac battle formation could definitely suppress the methods of ordinary rank eight Gu Immortals.
However, it was not as easy as it seemed to gather twelve different species of immemorial year beast.
It depended not only on strength but also luck.
In his previous life, Fang Yuan did not have the time and energy to spare on this and his luck was also bad, so he was not able to gather the complete battle formation even by the time of the Central Continent Refinement Path Convention.
The River of Time had a lot of year beasts, but the species of these year beasts were not allocated evenly. Instead, a certain species of year beasts would have a huge increase in its population during a certain period of time.
Fang Yuan also was not completely sure if he could gather them all in this life.
But in this life, the manpower, resources, time, and energy put into this project along with the increase in his luck was much more than his previous life.
This was a fact.
Time continued to pass.
Southern Border's righteous path was being extorted by Fang Yuan, many secretly thought of ways to deal with Fang Yuan but were afraid of alerting him.
Western Desert's righteous path forces were confronting each other, Fang clan and Wan clan's argument was continuing without an end. The other righteous path forces were restraining themselves, but hidden undercurrents were surging.
In Northern Plains, Longevity Heaven was trying hard to unite the whole Northern Plains Gu Immortal world but there was little progress. In the previous life, Longevity Heaven took in Lang Ya blessed sect which made the Northern Plains Gu Immortals realize their sincerity, greatly reducing the hostile intentions. But in this life, Lang Ya blessed land was already completely taken by Fang Yuan.
In Eastern Sea, it was tranquil as always. There were some disturbances occasionally but they were nothing major. The most sensational issue would be the matter of Ascending Heaven Plain, but this matter was already settled.
In Central Continent, because of the defeat in Lang Ya blessed land, Heavenly Court was recuperating. Fairy Zi Wei wanted to find trouble with Fang Yuan, but she was helpless because Fang Yuan was wholeheartedly cultivating in seclusion, even if he took action, he would do it in disguise, making it hard for others to distinguish reality from rumors.
The Gu Immortal world of the five regions entered a temporary peaceful period.
Fang Yuan did not waste even a second of his time, he used this rare peaceful period to constantly process his gains and strengthen himself.
Time cutting edge was one step closer to perfection.
He could already use all five colored lights of five restriction profound light qi at the same time after this period of painstaking training, but he was still some distance left from becoming completely proficient.
The progress of his soul path cultivation was also highly satisfactory.
Fang Yuan's soul had already passed ten million man soul level, reaching one hundred million man soul!
This was the limit of a human.
Before Spectral Soul Demon Venerable appeared, in the long and endless history of humanity, even if there were shocking talents and geniuses, they could not progress beyond one hundred million man soul.
Man was the spirit of all living beings, humans had the strongest intelligence, but when their strength was compared, the sharpness of their nails, and the robustness of their souls, they were far inferior to other beings.
However, cultivation itself was a process of breaking one's limits.
Gu Master could possess strength to suppress fierce beasts by using Gu worms, grow nails sharper than those of fierce beasts, and naturally, have the foundation to possess even more robust souls.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was the first to innovate this method of breaking through the limits, Fang Yuan naturally had a grasp of this method after inheriting Shadow Sect's true inheritance.
Cultivating beyond the limit of a human soul was desolate soul!
Although one hundred million man soul was already condensed to the limit and could interfere with the real world, it was still fragile.
But when the soul reached desolate soul level, there would be an earth-shaking change in its battle strength, Fang Yuan would be able to match most desolate beasts with just his soul.
The one who had reached the peak in this was Spectral Soul. In the Battle of Yi Tian Mountain, he had used just his soul to fight against the heavenly and human calamities, his awe-inspiring demonic might had left an extremely deep impression on Fang Yuan, making him feel desire towards reaching this level.
"But I still have things to do before I breakthrough to desolate soul!"
Inside the sovereign immortal aperture, Fang Yuan's split soul was put inside the Long Hair refinement path formation.
The formation began to work, its light dyed all the surroundings bright red like blazing fire.
After the experience of failing several times before, Fang Yuan's movements were smooth.
"Concentrate, we are going to add the main immortal material next." Fang Yuan commanded, Lang Ya land spirit, who was helping as an assistant, nodded immediately, helping Fang Yuan control the formation.
The space inside the formation formed into partitioned secret rooms that were specially meant to store immortal materials.
At this moment, one secret room opened and the immortal material inside immediately entered the formation.
This immortal material was called prospering spring light, it was a rank eight immortal material. Although it was a light path immortal material, it was condensed in the form of a flower. The flower bloomed open, its pure white petals were adorned with bright red specks along with blotches of bright green. The flower was lifelike and delicate, and was bursting with vitality.
The moment the prospering spring light entered the fire, it melted into pure white light that poured over Fang Yuan's split soul.
The light fully covered the soul.
The fire continued to burn the soul.
Gu materials were thrown in one after the other, at the same time, several Immortal Gu outside the formation were ceaselessly activated.
Hairy man Gu Immortals were assisting with all their strength, some were dealing with the immortal materials, some were controlling the fire, and some were inspecting the wastage.
This was a group Gu refinement, the expenditure was much higher than refining Gu alone, but the difficulty of the Gu refinement was also lower.
In the previous life, Fang Yuan was alone and did not have this treatment. In this life, he annexed Lang Ya Sect, the refinement path capability he grasped had already surpassed Heavenly Court!
How many refinement path Gu Immortals could Heavenly Court awaken? Even if there were refinement path great experts hibernating in the immortal graveyard, there would be very few who might possess refinement path quasi-supreme grandmaster attainment level.
Naturally, Heavenly Court's treasuries were extremely rich, they far surpassed Fang Yuan in this aspect. Even though Fang Yuan had swallowed the lifetime accumulations of so many Gu Immortals, he could not hold a candle to Heavenly Court.
The refinement was going well, Fang Yuan's spirits rose as he shouted: "Next is false pearl!"
False pearl was not a pearl but a transformation path immortal material that could transform into any gem.
It was also a rank eight material like prospering spring light, and was this refinement's main material!
The false pearl quickly integrated into the fire.
Fang Yuan called out: "Bai Ning Bing!"
Bai Ning Bing nodded, she was already standing in a formation core, she lightly swung her arm, blood flew out of the injury on her hand.
The blood entered the raging fire, the crimson fire immediately turned into a bewitching blood red color.
Moreover, dense blood qi spread into the surroundings.
Sixth Hair immediately gathered this blood qi and constantly removed it.
If this was not done, this blood qi could heavily interfere with the next process of refinement.
The blood fire reduced in size the more it burned, and soon it shrunk to the size of a fist.
Fang Yuan took a deep breath, the other Gu Immortals also had solemn expressions.
Next was a crucial step.
"Release the raging wave rising dragon fire!" Fang Yuan sent the command.
The raging wave rising dragon fire could act on its own, the moment it was released, it sought to fly away from the formation, but how was it possible?
The Long Hair refinement path formation firmly blocked it and forced it to collide with the blood fire.
The two fires were quite distinct from each other, but they soon merged with each other, forming a large lump of colorful fire.
The mixed fire similarly reduced in size the more it burned while also emitting dense suffocating smoke.
The smoke settled down and covered the fire, forming a pitch-black sphere. From outside, one could vaguely see the bright fire in the center of the smoke sphere.
Boom!
The smoke sphere lasted for about an hour when it suddenly exploded, countless gusts of smoke flew around chaotically like dragons. Air waves surged and people could hear a sound like that of a dragon roar.
A dragonman Gu Master walked out of the smoke and revealed himself.
He was muscular and handsome, he had a tall nose bridge and firm lips. He looked like a peerless hero.
He had golden dragon scales on his body, he had a pair of dragon eyes like topaz, there was also a pair of golden coral-like dragon horns on his head.
Seeing him, Lang Ya land spirit laughing loudly: "Success, we succeeded!"
Indeed, this young rank one Gu Master was Fang Yuan's dragonman clone.
-x-X-x-
Inside the sovereign immortal aperture.
The soul path formation was already arranged properly.
This formation was floating in the air, with a radius of about three li.
The formation was letting out a dark and gloomy radiance. It looked like a huge pancake with thick sides and a thin center.
Eerie wind blew up everywhere in the formation, sharply lowering the temperature inside, but everything was normal outside the formation.
Fang Yuan inspected the formation several times with his divine sense before feeling satisfied: "This formation is modified from a soul path killer move, it is much more stable than the killer move and it can be controlled much more smoothly and exquisitely."
This was a unique soul cultivation technique recorded in Shadow Sect true inheritance, it allowed the human soul to break through the limit and reach the desolate soul level!
On the basis of this soul cultivation killer move and his formation path attainment, Fang Yuan improved and perfected it.
Everything was ready, Fang Yuan sent his hundred million man soul into the formation.
A desolate beast soul core was being grasped by Fang Yuan's soul, and when the soul reached the center of the formation, it crushed the soul core.
The soul core was already processed beforehand and was further weakened sharply by the formation.
The soul core shattered and turned into fog that floated out.
The formation operated rapidly, making the fog shroud Fang Yuan's hundred million man soul completely.
For the next several hours, this fog continued to thin before completely disappearing.
Fang Yuan's hundred million man soul was still in its original shape, the same as his sovereign immortal body's appearance, solid and lifelike.
The feelings Fang Yuan had inside it, however, was greatly different from before.
"So this is desolate soul?" Fang Yuan's soul looked at his hands.
He could clearly sense that although there was not much change in his shape, a vast strength was surging on the inside.
This strength could not even be imagined by his previous state.
Hundred million man soul could interfere with the real world but would be in danger even if it was attacked by ordinary wild beasts. But the desolate soul's strength was like heaven and earth compared to hundred million man soul.
"Let's test it in real battle." Fang Yuan's soul flew out of the formation excitedly.
Fang Yuan had already made preparations, a desolate beast was confined not far away.
The desolate beast had just obtained its freedom when it saw the bluish black soul that had the physique of an adult fly towards it.
It roared ferociously and opened its mouth as it charged at Fang Yuan's soul.
Fang Yuan's soul suddenly flew up at the last moment, avoiding the desolate beast's bite and flying to its head.
He then raised his right leg and swung it down like an axe.
Boom!
A loud sound resounded as the hill-sized desolate beast was knocked down, heavily injured.
"Again!" Fang Yuan's soul chased after it, punching and kicking.
The desolate beast lacked intelligence and adding on its large size, it could only take the beatings passively while Fang Yuan dodged its attacks.
The desolate soul's attacks hit all its targets, after taking the beating for a while, this desolate beast whimpered and fled, losing its will to fight.
Fang Yuan's soul did not give chase, he would arrange for people to catch it afterwards.
A light excitement lingered in the thoughts of Fang Yuan's soul.
"I really possess the strength of a desolate beast!"
"Adding on my combat techniques, ordinary desolate beasts are not my match in a one on one battle."
"However, my human soul could float, but after breaking through to desolate soul, I am unable to fly and have to rely on Gu worms."
Fang Yuan's soul could fly around in the battle because the soul contained various Immortal Gu as well as immortal essence.
Some soul beasts could fly but some could not.
In the records of Shadow Sect's true inheritance, when a human soul broke through to desolate soul, it could not fly. Because humans were innately unable to fly.
A featherman's soul was different, it could fly, but feathermen were not pure humans.
Even Spectral Soul who had reached the peak of soul cultivation could not fly and had to stand on the ground in the Battle of Yi Tian Mountain.
"The number of soul path dao marks on the soul has increased sharply, it actually broke through ten thousand dao marks!"
Previously, Fang Yuan's soul had few soul path dao marks even though it was cultivated to hundred million man soul.
This was because Fang Yuan had used the two sacred lands of soul cultivation, Dang Hun Mountain and Luo Po Valley. If he had used other soul cultivation methods, he would have to increase the dao marks on his soul to accumulate the same level of foundation.
The physical body was a carrier of dao marks, the soul was also the same.
It was not only soul path that could add dao marks on the soul, other paths could also do it.
Like time path.
Southern Border rank eight Gu Immortal Xia Cha had arranged a defensive method on her soul. Her soul was covered in a web formed from time path dao marks. This layer of defense had caused many difficulties for Fang Yuan when he soul searched her in the previous life.
Breaking through the limit and forming a desolate soul, Fang Yuan could now continue cultivating his soul.
The journey would be much longer and broader than human soul cultivation.
Ten desolate soul, hundred desolate soul, thousand desolate soul, ten thousand desolate soul...
Fang Yuan's desolate soul started cultivating, the time path clone was focused on deductions, while Fang Yuan's main body continued to research on the dragonman clone.
Despite this clone being created by himself, it still had research value.
The dragonman clone's soul originally had the appearance of Fang Yuan's sovereign immortal body, and had thirty million man soul foundation.
At present, however, its appearance had changed greatly. It looked the same as the dragonman's body, with dragon tail, horns, scales, and vertical dragon pupils.
Moreover, the soul path dao marks on the soul were already reduced to single digits and the soul foundation was only at a few dozen man soul.
This was the result of Fang Yuan's refinement and it was also what he wanted to achieve.
The split souls all possessed human souls. When entering a dragonman body, it could only be possessed by the human soul and the entity could not be considered a dragonman completely.
Fang Yuan created the dragonman clone to strive for the Immortal Gu House Dragon Palace. Be they transformation path killer moves or soul possession, they could not give such assurance like the clone.
After painstaking refinement, Fang Yuan refined the dragonman body with a matching dragonman soul.
Only like this could it be considered a complete dragonman.
Fang Yuan's pure dream clone was only a half-finished product.
The pure dream clone's physical body did not have any issues but its soul was Fang Yuan's human soul. Although the pure dream clone was a human, it did not match Fang Yuan's split soul.
A long period of adaptation was required and some soul path methods would have to be used before Fang Yuan's split soul could completely turn into the appearance of its physical body, only then could they truly match each other.
In fact, when Fang Yuan had just obtained the sovereign immortal body, it did not match his soul. After a long period of cultivation and using soul path methods to adjust his soul, he reached his current perfectly matching state.
Dragonmen were variant humans, there was naturally unique points about their physical bodies.
Rockmen had abundant earth path dao marks, snowmen were proficient in ice and snow path, hairy men possessed refinement path dao marks, mermen were water path, and dragonmen possessed enslavement path dao marks from birth.
Dragonmen had an incomparable talent in enslavement path, they were natural kings who could rule over other lifeforms much more easily than other races.
"The influence of the enslavement path dao marks brings an enormous benefit in not only the external matters but also to the internal structure of dragonmen."
According to Fang Yuan's deductions, with the enslavement path dao marks, the dragonman societal structure would be much tighter than other races.
This tightness was not because of external causes but was innate to dragonmen.
In Fang Yuan's point of view, the influence brought by enslavement path dao marks to the internal structure was much more significant to the dragonmen than its external influence!
The dragonmen would be united unlike other races, especially like the internal fighting and internal friction of humanity.
As for enslavement path, it was specialized in battles of attrition. The cost of cultivating enslavement path was high, but if it was accomplished to a certain level, one could fight many by themselves, winning against stronger enemies.
Some paths had high individual battle strength like blood path, metal path, sword path, and so on.
But only few paths possessed the special characteristics of fighting one as many, in order to win against stronger enemies. For instance, there was formation path.
When Fang Yuan was a mortal and fought in the Imperial Court contest, he used enslavement path methods. And he had used formation path methods to capture Southern Border immortals not long ago.
Fang Yuan suddenly realized one point: "No wonder, in the previous life, Dragon Palace could enslave Di Zang Sheng. This Immortal Gu House should be an enslavement path Immortal Gu House!"
Fang Yuan was not too clear about the inner details regarding Dragon Palace.
Even now, he did not understand how Bai Ning Bing suddenly became the owner of Dragon Palace.
But it did not matter.
"Even if the dragonman clone is of no use, I still have a living Bai Ning Bing."
The dragonman clone only had rank one Gu Master cultivation, the next step was to raise it to Gu Immortal level. Its path was most likely going to be enslavement path.
Fang Yuan had already sealed the pure dream clone's aperture, albeit with difficulty. The split soul was cultivating continuously, actively transforming to match the physical body.
These two split souls might have some soul path cultivation, but it would only be at superficial level and never be to the extent of the main body's soul.
Because the dao marks of different paths would conflict and interfere with each other.
"I will cultivate for a bit longer, then it will be time to attack." Fang Yuan's gaze shined like blazing fire.
In Heavenly Court, Fairy Zi Wei was still the one in charge.
In Central Great Hall.
A message came that slightly eased her furrowed brows.
"Good, Old Ancestor Xue Hu has accepted Prince Feng Xian's proposal and will receive our financial help!"
Longevity Heaven wanted to unite the whole Northern Plains Gu Immortal world and they showed great determination, thus they had big clashes with lone immortals and demonic path members.
Fairy Zi Wei thus made a plan and boldly sent back Prince Feng Xian to Northern Plains to persuade Old Ancestor Xue Hu.
Old Ancestor Xue Hu was not willing at first and had been firm in his stance, but under his wife's persuasion, he reluctantly agreed to collaborating with Heavenly Court.
"Although our current collaboration is limited, it won't be the same in the future." Fairy Zi Wei smiled confidently.
Looking at the entire world's situation.
There was important progress in Northern Plains while Heavenly Court was also stirring up trouble from behind the scenes to create conflict in Western Desert's righteous path.
Central Continent was free of any particular event. Eastern Sea's several large forces divided Ascending Heaven Plain between themselves. But in the dark, Heavenly Court was putting full efforts in searching for Immortal Gu House Dragon Palace.
"As for Southern Border..." Fairy Zi Wei's smile disappeared.
The situation was not optimistic in Southern Border.
Southern Border's righteous path was being extorted by Fang Yuan, Fairy Zi Wei was unable to stop it. At the same time, the Southern Alliance was formed, the alliance leader position was empty but Tie clan's Beacon Towers were already being constructed everywhere.
Both of these situations were bad news to Heavenly Court.
"There is also Fang Yuan, he captured so many Southern Border Gu Immortals and extorted countless immortal materials, he also has the whole of Lang Ya Sect's refinement path Gu Immortals under him..."
Fairy Zi Wei was paying close attention to any news regarding Fang Yuan.
But Fang Yuan had gone into hiding and was unable to be found.
Fairy Zi Wei felt a huge pressure, she would rather have Fang Yuan cause chaos everywhere and run amok.
Currently, she did not even hear a trace of any rumor regarding Fang Yuan's recent situation.
"What is Fang Yuan doing?"
"How much has his strength increased?"
"When and where will he appear again?"
The final question did not trouble Fairy Zi Wei for long.
Approximately half a month later, she obtained some battle information.
Fang Yuan had suddenly appeared in the River of Time and fought the Four Xunzi.
He was not alone, he brought a ship shaped rank eight Immortal Gu House!
-x-X-x-
Immortal Gu House Myriad Year Flying Warship was moving in the River of Time.
Fang Yuan was standing proudly on the bow of the ship with his hands behind his back. He wore a black robe, his hair was long and black, and he was gazing at the endless waves in the River of Time with his dark abyss-like eyes.
Bai Ning Bing and the rest were inside the Immortal Gu House, looking at Fang Yuan who was releasing rank seven aura. Some felt a chill in their hearts, while some realized: No wonder Fang Yuan could rampage till now. If I had rank eight cultivation, I would have already begun ruling an area and proclaimed it to the world, but he is a wolf in sheep's clothing, not letting go of any chance to deceive the enemy.
There were some who sighed: Both sides have yet to clash, but Fang Yuan has already started to mislead the enemy. This is a confrontation between information and tactics! This battle has already started since Myriad Year Flying Warship appeared in the River of Time.
Fang Yuan had his own plan.
If he could keep his rank eight cultivation a secret, he would not expose it.
Because once it was exposed, the secret of the sovereign immortal body would no longer be hidden.
In the previous life, this secret was exposed, but in this life, this secret seemed to still be undiscovered.
"As for the secret of my rebirth, it will probably be exposed after this battle." Fang Yuan estimated inwardly.
Let it be exposed then!
Fang Yuan felt it was time for it to be known.
The significance of this battle was extremely huge.
Although Fang Yuan was cautious and careful all along and paid close attention to the ink effect, he would not hesitate when it was time to make a move.
Advancing or retreating, attacking or defending, Fang Yuan was well-versed and experienced in this.
A pavilion was floating in the River of Time.
It was not covered on all four sides, it was very simplistic in appearance. The cover was made of yellow grass, the pillars were grey white rocks that were not polished. There was a folding screen in the pavilion consisting of multiple panels, it was the most elegant decoration in there.
It was the rank seven Immortal Gu House Present and Past Pavilion.
Four Central Continent time path Gu Immortals were standing inside the pavilion, they were the Four Xunzi.
They had detected Myriad Year Flying Warship the moment it appeared.
The Four Xunzi immediately reported this information to Fairy Zi Wei without daring to delay a second.
"Fang Yuan has finally appeared."
"Yes, we did not waste our time by waiting here for so long."
"He is still a rank seven, but has a rank eight Immortal Gu House!"
"What Immortal Gu House is this? I have never heard about it."
"From the looks of it, it should be a time path Immortal Gu House, right?"
The Four Xunzi did not attack immediately.
As far as they were concerned, Present and Past Pavilion was specialized in investigating within the River of Time, they were still very far away from Fang Yuan at this moment. They discovered Fang Yuan but Fang Yuan could not see them.
They were only at rank seven in the end, it was only because they cultivated time path that the supreme Heavenly Court noticed them and stationed them here.
Moreover, the Four Xunzi were not Heavenly Court Gu Immortals, their next course of action would depend on Fairy Zi Wei's arrangements and commands.
Myriad Year Flying Warship carried Fang Yuan while floating slowly. Fang Yuan was looking at all directions from the bow as if he was searching for something.
"Looks like Fang Yuan is searching for Red Lotus true inheritance."
"He did not discover us indeed."
"Lady Zi Wei has not sent a command yet?"
Inside Present and Past Pavilion, the Four Xunzi were tightly observing Fang Yuan.
Heavenly Court.
Fairy Zi Wei was first happy then puzzled.
She was happy that Fang Yuan had finally appeared!
It was less scary when he appeared, the worst was him hiding and doing things secretly.
In truth, every day that Fang Yuan did not appear would increase the mental pressure on Fairy Zi Wei, wondering what evil scheme Fang Yuan was plotting!
But now that Fang Yuan appeared, Fairy Zi Wei finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Good, come! Let me see how much you have grown, I will make good use of this chance to kill you." Killing intent spread inside Fairy Zi Wei: "As for that rank eight Immortal Gu House, is it your reliance and source of confidence, Fang Yuan?"
Fairy Zi Wei also was somewhat bewildered.
This rank eight Immortal Gu House had appeared with no prior signs!
According to common sense, even a super force would not be able to hide the construction of an Immortal Gu House and there would be many traces left behind. Because there were too many things to gather and prepare.
The construction process of an Immortal Gu House would make quite a bit of commotion and would be discovered by others.
Fang Yuan naturally was not exempted from this. But his accumulation process had happened in his previous life, so Fairy Zi Wei could not sense it.
"How could Fang Yuan suddenly have a time path Immortal Gu House, and it is a rank eight one?"
"What abilities and powers does this ship shaped Immortal Gu House have?"
Thoughts were constantly colliding in Fairy Zi Wei's mind, Central Great Hall was quickly pervaded with purple qi.
She rapidly deduced and soon came to a decision.
She estimated this Immortal Gu House had limited strength even though it was at rank eight level. Because it had appeared too suddenly and there was no records of such a ship in the history, it was likely a hasty and experimental work of Fang Yuan.
Moreover, whether it was strong or weak, Heavenly Court would still need to probe it and stop Fang Yuan from obtaining Red Lotus' true inheritances.
Fairy Zi Wei quickly commanded Qing Ye to hurry to the location of Present and Past Pavilion with Eternal Yacht.
An accurate and clear map of the surroundings appeared in her mind.
"When Eternal Yacht meets up with Present and Past Pavilion, they will pincer attack Fang Yuan from the front and back!" Fairy Zi Wei's gaze shone sharply.
Previously, Present and Past Pavilion was monitoring the River of Time while Eternal Yacht was moving everywhere in search of Red Lotus' true inheritance. Currently, Eternal Yacht was already rushing over under Fairy Zi Wei's command.
The Four Xunzi also quickly received Fairy Zi Wei's command.
"We need to move! Based on Fang Yuan's speed and direction, he will soon escape Present and Past Pavilion's detection range."
"We will attack first and delay Fang Yuan, luring him to this area. Then Eternal Yacht will sneak attack them from behind!"
"Move out!"
The Four Xunzi controlled Present and Past Pavilion to make the River of Time send out waves.
The water waves moved towards Myriad Year Flying Warship like countless soldiers.
"They finally made a move!" Inside Myriad Year Flying Warship, a variant human Gu Immortal said softly and excitedly.
Fang Yuan had intentionally appeared near Present and Past Pavilion to lure them into attacking.
"Lord sect leader is so naughty, he clearly discovered Present and Past Pavilion already but is acting like he did not. The enemy has taken the bait." Lady White Rabbit's long eyebrows fluttered, her eyes were glistening brightly like shiny crystals, having learned another sneaky move.
"Hmm?" Fang Yuan gasped lightly, his brows slightly furrowed as he sensed the anomaly in the river.
The slight changes in his expression were seen clearly by the Four Xunzi.
"Fang Yuan discovered something."
"He is controlling that rank eight Immortal Gu House to move towards us."
"Relax, we are very far away from him... ah, so fast!"
Myriad Year Flying Warship's speed greatly shocked the Four Xunzi.
They were still calm and leisurely at the previous moment, but right now, their expression changed, their minds and bodies shook.
Myriad Year Flying Warship was piercing through the waves like a swordfish, charging extremely quickly towards Present and Past Pavilion.
"Increase the intensity!" The eldest among the Four Xunzi, Shang Xunzi, shouted.
Present and Past Pavilion let out dazzling light, tall waves that were dozens of feet high submerged Myriad Year Flying Warship like a tsunami.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Myriad Year Flying Warship was covered in a silver white light, every time the waves collided with it, its speed increased even more, charging forward like an unmatched sword.
The Four Xunzi's expressions turned pale, their eyes showing horror.
Fang Yuan's charge was too quick and too fierce, they felt extremely uneasy now.
Zhong Xunzi shouted: "Quick, use that move."
The radiance around Present and Past Pavilion turned brighter, it was like a vast light pillar that shot towards the sky.
Under Present and Past Pavilion's influence, the water around Myriad Year Flying Warship experienced a strange change, turning into a giant whirlpool in the blink of an eye.
The whirlpool spun quickly and was barely able to immobilize Myriad Year Flying Warship.
The Four Xunzi finally let out a sigh of relief.
"We finally immobilized it."
"This Immortal Gu House is so fast, it crossed such a large distance in just a few breaths of time."
"But it is already trapped by us now."
"Let's probe what abilities it has."
The whirlpool rotated even faster, waves changed, turning into the shape of sawteeth.
Countless sawteeth moved around Myriad Year Flying Warship, biting and sawing at Myriad Year Flying Warship.
Myriad Year Flying Warship was trapped in the center of the whirlpool but Fang Yuan's expression was cold and uncaring.
Xun Guo Zi revealed a frightened expression: "Such a sturdy Immortal Gu House, the sawtooth whirlpool is actually unable to break its defensive light!"
Xia Xunzi patted Xun Guo Zi's shoulder and comforted: "Relax, it has not even been ten breaths of time, it will definitely crumble apart once it is bitten and sawed for a longer time!"
Although he said this, the Four Xunzi were inwardly astonished.
They were deeply aware of the power that this sawtooth whirlpool killer move had, this move was the strongest offensive method of Present and Past Pavilion, ordinary Gu Immortals would be cut into pieces in a blink of an eye, even the Four Xunzi could not last three breaths of time. Even Present and Past Pavilion would be unstable if it entered the whirlpool and a large amount of its Gu worms would immediately die. But Myriad Year Flying Warship was completely intact and even looked like it was doing quite well?
The Four Xunzi felt a chill rising up their backs.
"It is a rank eight Immortal Gu House after all!"
"Where has Eternal Yacht reached now?"
"No, the situation is bad!" Xun Guo Zi suddenly shouted.
The other three Xunzi quickly looked ahead, they saw the water surrounding Myriad Year Flying Warship change rapidly, the original sawtooth whirlpool transformed into rapids that shone in a silver-white color.
The rapids moved under Myriad Year Flying Warship and enlarged by over ten times within a few seconds.
"Present and Past Pavilion has methods to control the river water, how could our Myriad Year Flying Warship not have them!" The variant human Gu Immortals laughed loudly inside the ship.
"Kill." Fang Yuan gave an indifferent command.
Boom!
Like a torrential waterfall or a flash flood, the rapids around Myriad Year Flying Warship surged and expanded as it moved forward.
Myriad Year Flying Warship was pushed forward by the rapids, easily breaking past the ruined sawtooth whirlpool and charging towards the Four Xunzi with surging momentum.
The Four Xunzi took in breaths of cold air, the sawtooth whirlpool that they had put their hopes in had only held back Myriad Year Flying Warship for less than fifty breaths of time.
-x-X-x-
"It is coming!"
"Block it!!"
"Increase the power of Present and Past Pavilion to the maximum!"
With chaotic thoughts, Four Xunzi exerted Present and Past Pavilion to its limits, the screen in the pavilion emitted dense smoke and the light pillar that shot out was almost solid.
Myriad Year Flying Warship neared Present and Past Pavilion.
"Ram into it." Fang Yuan sneered, standing arrogantly on the bow of the boat.
But at the next moment, Present and Past Pavilion retaliated with all its strength, sharply slowing down Myriad Year Flying Warship's charging momentum.
"Killer move — Slowdown?" Fang Yuan was familiar with this move, under his command, the silver light around Myriad Year Flying Warship suddenly concentrated.
Swoosh!
With a light sound, Present and Past Pavilion's killer move was broken, Myriad Year Flying Warship's speed was restored and it collided with Present and Past Pavilion.
Present and Past Pavilion was not specialized in defense, Fang Yuan had destroyed it by himself back then, and now, it collided with the sturdier and faster Myriad Year Flying Warship, it shattered immediately.
The pavilion roof was sent flying, the pillars crumbled, the screens were shattered, the pavilion base was reduced to fragments.
The Four Xunzi coughed out a large amount of blood and fell down into the River of Time.
Without the protection of Present and Past Pavilion, the Four Xunzi lost the ability to retaliate against Fang Yuan. In just a short while, they were all killed by Fang Yuan.
They were at rank seven, and like Liu Hao, had not joined Heavenly Court, so they still had their own immortal apertures.
Their Immortal Gu, however, were all detonated.
Fang Yuan had just collected their corpses as well as the scattered Immortal Gu when Eternal Yacht arrived.
Rank eight Gu Immortal Qing Ye was standing on Eternal Yacht, his expression immediately changed when he saw the Four Xunzi's corpses on the deck of Myriad Year Flying Warship: "Fang Yuan, you demon, I will make you pay with your life!"
Fang Yuan turned around and smiled: "Here comes another one seeking death."
There was no exchange of words, the rapids under Myriad Year Flying Warship surged and rushed towards Eternal Yacht.
Its violent and sharp movement immediately caused a disturbance among the Gu Immortals in Eternal Yacht.
Bursting veins bulged on Qing Ye's forehead, he rubbed it but still sent out a wise command: "We will avoid it, don't fight head-on with this rank eight Immortal Gu House."
The Four Xunzi were dead but the battle details had already been sent, Fairy Zi Wei and Qing Ye knew much information about Myriad Year Flying Warship.
However, would be it easy for Eternal Yacht to escape?
Myriad Year Flying Warship's speed rose, breaking the limits it showed before.
Although this Immortal Gu House was called a warship, it had the shape of a boat, it moved like a silver comet now, rapidly surfing along the River of Time!
Eternal Yacht had the form of a multi-storied ship, it was much larger than Myriad Year Flying Warship, but it was not fast. How could it be able to dodge?
Boom!
With a huge sound, Eternal Yacht shook as a large hole was smashed in its front hull from which the inside could be seen clearly.
Fang Yuan's Myriad Year Flying Warship had directly pierced through Eternal Yacht!
"How is this possible?"
"We had already activated the strongest defensive method of Eternal Yacht, but it could not block even one attack!"
The fact was so horrifying that Qing Ye was staring with wide eyes.
"Lord, that damned Fang Yuan is charging over again." The Gu Immortals inside Eternal Yacht shouted in fright.
They had just spoken when Myriad Year Flying Warship smashed into Eternal Yacht again.
Eternal Yacht shook intensely, Qing Ye lost his balance and staggered. His battle intent was shaking, how could he beat this?
Eternal Yacht's Gu worms suffered enormous damage, the entire place would directly collapse after another few collisions.
Many Gu Immortals were pale with cold sweat all over their faces. Fortunately, they heard Qing Ye's command at this time: "Retreat!"
Eternal Yacht turned around and retreated decisively.
"Can you escape?" Fang Yuan smiled coldly.
Boom boom boom!
Myriad Year Flying Warship collided into Eternal Yacht time after time, Eternal Yacht used its killer moves to retaliate but Fang Yuan had already prepared restraining methods.
Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
As long as Heavenly Court did not have any huge change, Fang Yuan would definitely be the final winner!
The outcome of this battle had been decided from the start.
Therefore, when Eternal Yacht was destroyed and Qing Ye fell into the River of Time, Fang Yuan's side was not surprised.
"Kill him!" Without needing Fang Yuan's command, many Gu Immortals inside the warship shouted simultaneously.
Killing intent surged, Myriad Year Flying Warship submerged into the river and rammed at Qing Ye like a vicious shark.
Qing Ye put all his strength in activating defensive methods.
But as a dark path Gu Immortal, he was greatly suppressed in the River of Time.
Boom!
Myriad Year Flying Warship directly destroyed the dark shield and sent him flying.
Qing Ye coughed out a large amount of blood and tried to move to the surface while enduring the intense pain.
The river surface was right in his sight when he made a horrifying discovery, Myriad Year Flying Warship was already waiting for him.
Boom!
There was another huge sound, Myriad Year Flying Warship directly slammed down on Qing Ye's head with its base.
A large part of Qing Ye's skull caved in, the enormous force transmitted through his whole body, shattering his spine, rib bones and other parts.
Gurgle gurgle!
A large amount of water of the River of Time entered through his mouth.
The huge collision slammed him down to the depths of the river like a ball.
"Still not dead?" Bing Yuan was stunned at Qing Ye's stubborn vitality.
"Then, we just have to do it again!" The eyes of the rockman tribe first supreme elder were bloodshot with killing intent.
Taking advantage of the enemy when he was weakened, Myriad Year Flying Warship was like a killer launching a deadly pursuit.
Boom!
With the third collision, Qing Ye was heavily injured once again.
From his right shoulder to his chest, most of his body was smashed into pulp and his organs were completely destroyed.
Qing Ye stared rigidly at Myriad Year Flying Warship, he wanted to struggle but had no strength left.
Finally, he lost his life, becoming a floating corpse.
"He is dead, he really died!"
"This is a rank eight Gu Immortal."
"We really killed him?!"
The variant human Gu Immortals cheered in joy, even Bai Ning Bing, Hei Lou Lan and the rest were visibly moved, Fairy Miao Yin and Lady White Rabbit were also very excited.
A battle merit like killing a rank eight Gu Immortal was simply too rare. Despite using many external influences, this battle merit was enough for them to boast about it their whole lives.
Fang Yuan collected Qing Ye's corpse, it was a pity his soul had already dispersed.
"This Qing Ye is quite a fierce person, he actually destroyed his own soul at the end!"
"But this physical body is also an excellent immortal material and it will help me research phantom path."
Heavenly Court grasped the supreme profundities of phantom path.
Precisely so, after the Heavenly Court members contributed their immortal aperture, they could obtain a phantom aperture and leave Heavenly Court to fight outside.
Once a Heavenly Court Gu Immortal died, the phantom aperture would automatically dissipate along with the Gu worms, even the dao marks would disappear.
In short, even if one won against a Heavenly Court Gu Immortal, they would reap few benefits.
But after annexing Lang Ya blessed land, Lang Ya land spirit had informed Fang Yuan that the corpses of Heavenly Court Gu Immortals would retain the supreme profundity of phantom path. If Fang Yuan could comprehend some phantom path mysteries from these corpses, he might be able to decipher Heavenly Court's phantom path method and even have a hold on Heavenly Court.
Even if he could not do anything to Heavenly Court, Fang Yuan could use this phantom path method on himself.
With the phantom aperture method, Fang Yuan could control Ying Wu Xie and the rest even more strictly, this was the best weapon to ensure loyalty.
Myriad Year Flying Warship continued to sweep through the battlefield.
Fang Yuan's side was joyous, their long training was finally paying off. In this battle, they destroyed two Immortal Gu Houses and over ten Gu Immortals.
Present and Past Pavilion had the Four Xunzi while there were even more Gu Immortals in Eternal Yacht.
Immortal Gu Houses were developed from immortal formations, they needed to be jointly controlled by many Gu Immortals for them to be flexible and comprehensive. Some Immortal Gu Houses had extremely strict requirements on the amount of Gu Immortals, there could not be one more or one less.
Very few Immortal Gu Houses could be controlled by just one person.
None of these Gu Immortals managed to escape with their lives, they were all gathered, corpses put to one side and their souls suppressed.
The battle ended but Fang Yuan was not in a hurry to leave, instead, he patrolled around the river while waiting to see if there would be reinforcements from Heavenly Court.
Lady White Rabbit, Bing Yuan, Shi Zong, and other Gu Immortals discussed. They were still excited and their topic of discussion was mostly centered on the rank eight Gu Immortal Qing Ye.
Speaking of which, Qing Ye was quite unlucky.
Eternal Yacht was destroyed and he was highly restricted in the River of Time, it was quite amazing for him to be able to display twenty to thirty percent of his skills.
This was the area with the greatest amount of time path dao marks in the whole world.
Because of this, time path methods were extremely easy to use here and their might was also amplified. But other methods like great thief ghost hand, reverse flow protection seal and so on were greatly suppressed.
Heavenly Court.
Fairy Zi Wei's expression was pale and her gaze was somewhat dazed.
She obtained the latest battle information.
"Fang Yuan controlled the rank eight Immortal Gu House and destroyed both Present and Past Pavilion and Eternal Yacht, even Qing Ye was killed?"
Fairy Zi Wei felt a deep sense of disbelief.
She was still planning on giving commands, even if they could not kill Fang Yuan, they could drive him off.
But the two greatest sources of battle strength that she relied on were eliminated so soon.
"This battle was decided way too quickly!"
"This does not make any sense."
Present and Past Pavilion and Eternal Yacht might only be at rank seven, but they were both outstanding among their peers, their structure was highly ingenious and they possessed plenty of comprehensive methods.
If not for this, Fairy Zi Wei would not have mobilized the two Immortal Gu Houses to besiege Fang Yuan.
So what was the problem?
"Reviewing the battle information, Fang Yuan's mysterious Immortal Gu House might be at rank eight but has limited methods. Besides controlling the water of the River of Time to speed up itself, its strongest aspect was physical toughness."
Myriad Year Flying Warship's fighting method could be described in one word, collision.
If two words were used, hard collision.
If three words, sped up collision.
This battle tactic was clearly extremely straightforward and simple, but why did it succeed?
That was because during the fight, the methods of Present and Past Pavilion and Eternal Yacht, especially the defensive measures, were instantly destroyed by Fang Yuan!
Fairy Zi Wei stood up from her seat.
She was unable to keep sitting.
A thin layer of cold sweat had appeared on her forehead: "Looks like Fang Yuan has truly been reborn! He has an extremely deep understanding of Present and Past Pavilion and Eternal Yacht, he also prepared the most effective methods against their killer moves. Thus, they appeared fragile and looked like they did not even have strength to retaliate!"
Just like Fang Yuan expected, Fairy Zi Wei, who already had heavy doubts before, was now certain Fang Yuan had been reborn.
"What do we do?"
"Fang Yuan has a rank eight Immortal Gu House now and can move around the River of Time while my side's three Immortal Gu Houses are still in the construction process."
"Should I halt the construction? Since he has been reborn, he is probably familiar with these three Immortal Gu Houses."
"If I halt the construction and switch to other Immortal Gu Houses, would it be too late?"
"Fang Yuan definitely entered the River of Time to search for Red Lotus' true inheritances. If he succeeds, it will be extremely bad, the consequences will be much worse than the defeat in Lang Ya blessed land!"
At this instant, the ever so resourceful Fairy Zi Wei was at a loss for what to do.
-x-X-x-
Fang Yuan and the rest returned to Southern Border following a tributary of the River of Time.
Despite the immortals being in an excellent condition with high spirits, it was still necessary to rest and reorganize after the battle.
"The gains this time are quite good." Fang Yuan inspected the corpses.
Besides rank eight Gu Immortal Qing Ye, most of these Central Continent rank seven Gu Immortals were from Central Continent's ten great ancient sects, they did not have the qualifications to join Heavenly Court so they had not contributed their immortal apertures.
Most of the Gu worms were destroyed but these immortal apertures were still there.
There was also one or two Immortal Gu that were luckily preserved after the two Immortal Gu Houses were destroyed.
In the following period of time, Fang Yuan would need to inspect these immortal apertures and see if there were any issues, if there were no issues, he would annex them.
Naturally, there was a portion of immortal apertures that Fang Yuan could not annex because of inadequate attainment levels.
In fact, there was a portion of such people among the Southern Border immortal captives.
"These battle spoils are only a bonus, the true value of this battle is that I have shrugged off my passive situation, I am now taking the initiative to fight Heavenly Court."
Fang Yuan had grasped the timing of this battle well.
If he had battled earlier, he would not have the Immortal Gu House Myriad Year Flying Warship and would have to expose his rank eight cultivation.
This was undesirable. Because once his rank eight cultivation was exposed, Heavenly Court would notice Fang Yuan had not underwent the tribulation, and as such, the secret of the sovereign immortal aperture would also be exposed.
If he delayed this battle, Heavenly Court would not have just these two Immortal Gu Houses. In the previous life, Fang Yuan had encountered four time path Immortal Gu Houses.
By destroying Eternal Yacht and Present and Past Pavilion, Heavenly Court fell into a very passive state.
Heavenly Court was afraid Fang Yuan would obtain Red Lotus' true inheritances, so they would definitely send reinforcements to the River of Time to stop Fang Yuan.
After Lord Huang Shi passed, Heavenly Court lacked time path rank eight experts, so they were forced to substitute with Qing Ye and time path Immortal Gu Houses.
Like this, it would give Fang Yuan another chance to attack.
It would be just like how Fang Yuan destroyed Eternal Yacht and Present and Past Pavilion.
But even if Heavenly Court knew of this, they would do their best to stop Fang Yuan no matter how big of a price they had to pay.
"In the previous life, Heavenly Court guarded the River of Time like a fortress. But in this life... hehehe."
"The River of Time has already become a place Heavenly Court must salvage, it is also the best battlefield for me to weaken Heavenly Court and make them bleed."
Fang Yuan was almost sure of Heavenly Court's response.
Just like Heavenly Court had the strategical advantage of possessing fate Gu which forced the four regions' Gu Immortals to make a long campaign to attack Central Continent and Heavenly Court.
Fang Yuan relied on the smokescreen that was Red Lotus' true inheritance to force Heavenly Court to send reinforcements to the River of Time.
"It is just that my rebirth secret cannot be hidden any longer."
In the battle of Lang Ya, Fairy Zi Wei had already been suspicious. And in this period of time, Fang Yuan captured the Southern Border immortals and also started a slaughter in the River of Time.
If Fairy Zi Wei was still not sure that Fang Yuan had been reborn, she would not be Fairy Zi Wei!
Fang Yuan would never underestimate Fairy Zi Wei, he was very familiar with her.
Often, the one who understood you the most was not your friend but your enemy.
Sure enough, after a few days, Fairy Zi Wei publicized in treasure yellow heaven that Fang Yuan had reborn and possessed a rank eight time path Immortal Gu House.
The moment this was released, news spread everywhere. Fang Yuan's influence went up a level and the whole world was in an uproar!
"How long has it been? Fang Yuan has already grown to be a demonic path overlord, a person who is a giant pillar of the demonic path!"
"Fang Yuan already has that Reverse Flow River killer move and can reflect attacks of rank eight Gu Immortals, being in an impregnable position. Now, he has a rank eight Immortal Gu House?"
"Isn't this too fast? It is like this Immortal Gu House jumped out from the ground out of nowhere."
"Since he was reborn, the appearance of this Immortal Gu House cannot be considered sudden. Don't forget that he annexed Lang Ya blessed land which has a deep foundation."
The discussions naturally involved Heavenly Court.
"Heavenly Court seems to be quite weak, they don't have any effective methods against Fang Yuan."
"The mighty Heavenly Court was defeated again and again so they publicized Fang Yuan's details?"
"It is not that Heavenly Court is weak, but they have no way to deal with Fang Yuan."
"Normally speaking, even a rank eight demonic immortal would not be as high profile as Fang Yuan."
"That's right. Demonic path Gu Immortals have always been alone, if they offend or provoke the righteous path, many forces would collaborate, gather information using information path, deduce their position with wisdom path, and hunt them down. It is like how the Southern Border immortals chased after Fang Yuan."
"But Fang Yuan? He can actually guard against Heavenly Court's deductions. He also has Fixed Immortal Travel to move everywhere he wants and is hard to catch. His formation path attainment is also extremely high, he can see through the ambush of formations, he even used a time path formation to ambush and capture the pursuing team of Southern Border!"
"He also annexed Lang Ya blessed land, his refinement path attainment level is at least at great grandmaster level!"
The discussions became much more in-depth, and the Gu Immortals astonishingly discovered Fang Yuan was so versatile. He cultivated so many paths, such a horrifying talent shocked the world.
"I understand now, he is a monster!" Many people took sharp breaths. Most Gu Immortals, even rank eights, cultivated one path primarily. Who could cultivate so many paths like Fang Yuan?
Cultivating multiple paths would divide their time, energy, and resources, the Gu Immortals would often accomplish nothing in the end.
In fact, Fang Yuan had also thought of specializing in one path but he could do nothing about it! Before this, he battled alone and was always pressured by his enemies. Could he do without cultivating wisdom path? Could his battle strength increase if he did not cultivate soul path? Could he capture the Southern Border immortals without formation path?
"We can't say that. Even if Fang Yuan's aptitude was worse, as long as he continuously rebirths with Spring Autumn Cicada, he can use the time to accumulate different foundations."
"Right, with Spring Autumn Cicada, even if he fails, he has the opportunity to rebirth countless times! The experience of failures will still accumulate, even an idiot will succeed after failing so many times."
"Spring Autumn Cicada... it is indeed worthy of being Red Lotus Demon Venerable's vital Gu, it has such an amazing power."
"On the List of Mystical Gu, Spring Autumn Cicada's ranking should be raised even higher. The current ranking of such a mystical Gu is too low."
"Because of Fang Yuan, Spring Autumn Cicada's ranking should indeed be raised, but I feel we should not overestimate Spring Autumn Cicada. It is after all only a Gu worm, there are many methods to restrict it. To a great extent, the reason why Fang Yuan is so amazing is because he is an otherworldly demon!"
"Indeed. The combination of an otherworldly demon and Spring Autumn Cicada is truly too perfect! Besides an otherworldly demon, it will be very difficult for others to change their lives greatly by using Spring Autumn Cicada."
Fang Yuan observed the discussions and after careful consideration, he decisively spread the video of the battle in the River of Time in treasure yellow heaven.
He even posted a speech: "Heavenly Court, my counterattack has just begun! Wait until I get Red Lotus' true inheritance in the River of Time, I will completely destroy your fate Gu. In the previous life, you successfully restored fate Gu, that was because the depths of your foundation surpassed my expectation. There were too few people understanding the situation in the other four regions, many rank eight experts were even secretly restrained by you. There were also many Gu Immortals who were living naively, not knowing the fatal threat of fate Gu. All of you... just you wait!"
The moment this speech was posted, the Gu Immortal world of the five regions fell into temporary silence.
Shortly afterwards, the public sentiment erupted like a volcano and poured like a flood!
"Oh heavens, Fang Yuan is directly provoking Heavenly Court, how many years has it been since something like this happened?"
"Years? Even throughout history, such cases only appeared a few times!"
"Few people can do this, and even fewer people can pose a threat to Heavenly Court!"
"Although Fang Yuan only has rank seven cultivation, he can already match rank eight. He has annexed Lang Ya blessed land and has a large number of variant human Gu Immortal subordinates as well as a rank eight Immortal Gu House! The even more terrifying thing is he seems to possess precise information about Red Lotus' true inheritance, if he really obtains the Demon Venerable's true inheritance... Terrifying!"
"If this continues, Fang Yuan will become a new Demon Venerable!"
"Sigh, the common people are innocent, is there going to be a Demon Venerable wrecking havoc again?"
"We cannot lightly make an enemy out of Fang Yuan. Look at this video properly, all the killer moves of Heavenly Court's two Immortal Gu Houses were broken by Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan had clearly experienced them in the previous life and found the countermeasures in this life. The combination of Spring Autumn Cicada and an otherworldly demon is too unreasonable!"
The discussions gradually started to contain fear.
Fear towards Fang Yuan.
Previously, Gu Immortal mostly felt wariness, hatred, and envy towards Fang Yuan.
But now, fear began to gradually take over the other emotions.
The Gu Immortals already knew Fang Yuan could not be provoked easily, but now, Fang Yuan could not be provoked even more! Even a colossal super force like Heavenly Court, the strongest righteous path force in the five regions, was repeatedly wrecked by Fang Yuan and their prestige was ruthlessly stepped on! Even now, they had no way to deal with Fang Yuan!
Southern Border, Wu clan.
Wu Yong's gaze was gloomy: "Fang Yuan... Heavenly Court..."
Chi clan.
Chi Qu You's expression was ashen, he finally realized the possibility: "The traitor has not been found, maybe... this is the information revealed in the previous life. If I did transactions with Fang Yuan in the previous life as well, doesn't that mean — I am the traitor?"
Thinking of this, Chi Qu You felt stunned himself.
Western Desert, Tang clan.
The first supreme elder and second supreme elder were in a secret discussion.
"This demon Fang Yuan is becoming increasingly stronger. If his relationship with our clan is exposed, Heavenly Court will definitely eliminate us."
"We have already collaborated with Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan is so strong now that we cannot stop this connection, we will have to be even more careful. If he truly becomes a Demon Venerable in the future, it will also be an excellent opportunity for our Tang clan to grow."
Xi clan.
Xi clan's first supreme elder, who was cultivating in a secret room, laughed: "Interesting. Heavenly Court wants the whole world to go against Fang Yuan. Meanwhile, Fang Yuan also expressed the weakness of Heavenly Court and its hidden threat, hoping that Gu Immortals of the four regions would jointly attack Heavenly Court."
"Forget about him for now, I will continue my closed cultivation. After my cultivation progresses further, let's see how the heroes of the world will act in front of my sword."
-x-X-x-
Heavenly Court, immortal graveyard.
An inexplicable change was occurring.
A lump of fire appeared, it was very small at first but after a while, the fire expanded rapidly, dying the sky of the immortal graveyard red.
This fire illuminated the surroundings, attracting Fairy Zi Wei and other Heavenly Court members' attention.
Fairy Zi Wei immediately rushed to the entrance of the immortal graveyard and saw that the fire had grown even brighter, there were even specks of silver light in the fire, like countless diamonds adorning a red curtain.
The fire dissipated and an aged Gu Immortal wearing a large crimson robe walked out from the depths of the immortal graveyard.
The diamond-like lights gathered together and inside the gentle light was an old man who slowly moved forward in a wooden wheelchair.
Fairy Zi Wei's eyes shone happily, she recognized these two elderly Gu Immortals.
That crimson robed elderly man was Li Huang, a fire path great expert. And the elderly man on the wooden wheelchair was Gu Liu Ru, a time path great expert.
"Junior Zi Wei pays respects to both seniors." Fairy Zi Wei bowed as she greeted.
Gu Liu Ru nodded without speaking. He was sickly pale and thin as a skeleton. He had a rough life experience and the lower half of his body was paralyzed with no cure available, thus he had a cold and detached disposition.
Li Huang spoke: "We did not wake up for no reason. Heavenly Court must need our strength, how is the situation now?"
Fairy Zi Wei felt ashamed as she informed the two of them about the current situation.
"Fang Yuan? I did not think such a demon would appear in the world!"
"Hmph, throughout the ages, there has always been chaos and disorder during the coming of a great era. But this demon is too savage in his rampage. The fundamental cause is that he is the seed planted by Red Lotus Demon Venerable."
Li Huang snorted coldly, his expression was of anger and dissatisfaction.
Gu Liu Ru's expression was cold like ice as he said: "Fortunately, the overall situation is still in our control. When fate Gu is restored in a few years, Heavenly Court will be in an invincible position, by then, even if Fang Yuan is stronger, he won't be able to make a huge impact."
He then said to Fairy Zi Wei: "You are a wisdom path Gu Immortal, it is right for you to lead Heavenly Court. If you have any tasks for us old timers, there is no need to hold back."
Joy appeared on Fairy Zi Wei's face: "Seniors, you have just woken up, you should first rest and recover your battle strength by equipping yourselves with Immortal Gu."
"We have lost control over the River of Time and are currently constructing time path Immortal Gu Houses without regard for the costs. We also need to lay down the river suppression lotus sealing formation in the River of Time. Seniors, it would be great if you could guard the River of Time."
Gu Liu Ru and Li Huang glanced at each other, before the former nodded while the latter laughed: "So be it. Let us deal with this Little Demon Venerable!"
Based on just battle strength, Li Huang was stronger than Gu Liu Ru, but Fairy Zi Wei was more excited about Gu Liu Ru's appearance.
This time path great expert had woken up at just the right time, filling up the gap of Heavenly Court in the time path aspect and relieving Fairy Zi Wei's urgent issue!
"But Fang Yuan has been reborn, does he know about the awakening of these seniors?"
Fairy Zi Wei frowned again when she thought of Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan could rebirth, it was extremely troublesome to deal with such an enemy, it would always make others doubt their decisions.
Fairy Zi Wei did not know that in the previous life, only Li Huang had woken up. Gu Liu Ru had woken up in the final period when Longevity Heaven attacked Heavenly Court. At that time, Gu Liu Ru fought Hei Fan to a deadlock, he was finally killed by Liu Liu Liu's sneak attack.
Fang Yuan had made an early attack, destroying Eternal Yacht and Present and Past Pavilion, also killing Qing Ye, the ink effect caused Gu Liu Ru to awaken in advance.
This rank eight great expert would definitely be a huge obstruction to Fang Yuan in an environment like the River of Time.
Sovereign immortal aperture, Mini Central Continent.
Fang Yuan's divine sense covered this marsh.
There was highly fertile silt here. There was also a clear knee-deep river above the layer of silt.
This was the resource point Fang Yuan had just constructed.
The marsh was vast and boundless.
A bud of the desolate plant extreme marsh flower, as big as a house, could be seen every few kilometers.
When the extreme marsh flower bloomed, it looked like a trumpet with its petals connected. They were primarily white with a few parts bearing slight hints of pink.
Strands of white mist started rising slowly from the pistils of the extreme marsh flowers.
Extreme marsh flower mist was the food of regret Gu.
Feeding regret Gu was slightly troublesome as its food was hard to store. The extreme marsh flower mist needed to be fresh, so the best method was to construct a corresponding resource point in the immortal aperture.
In the previous life, Fang Yuan had constructed this marsh but that was after obtaining regret Gu.
In this life, he was extremely wealthy so he constructed it in advance. Although he had not obtained regret Gu yet, it was a preparation for the future; when he obtained regret Gu, there would be no need to worry about its food.
Fang Yuan solved the food issue of even regret Gu, which he had yet to obtain in advance. He was already able to self-sufficiently provide food for all his Immortal Gu.
Not long ago, Fang Yuan had even created a resource point for the rank eight Immortal Gu Addition that he plundered from Ba Shi Ba. He marked a special sea area in Mini Eastern Sea, in which he introduced another whole new group of water spiders to produce sufficient food for the rank eight Immortal Gu Addition.
Naturally, these water spiders were extorted from Southern Border's righteous path.
Fang Yuan had already annexed most of the immortal apertures of the Southern Border captives and had even searched their souls until there was nothing left, but Southern Border's righteous path did not know this and accepted Fang Yuan's extortion obediently.
It was like how Heavenly Court did not know the true inheritance left by Red Lotus Demon Venerable to Fang Yuan did not have the direct method to destroy fate Gu, but they still feared for the worst and used all their strength to redeem the situation in the River of Time.
There was a famous phrase on Earth about the art of war: the highest form of generalship is to cut down the enemy's plans, the next best is to cut them off from allies, the next in order is to cut down the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.
These were wise words!
When people were young, they only cared about fighting. But after growing up, they would gradually realize: fighting was only a third rate method to reach one's target and get benefits.
There was high risk in an intense battle and the benefits are also not fixed, often, there would be damage to both sides. This method could only be used when there was no other choice.
Fang Yuan leaned towards planning and plotting when he did things. He was not a brute, but when there was a necessity to fight, he would pick up his blade with no fear or cowardice.
Naturally, there was a fundamental difference between the Gu Master world and Earth — through cultivation, an individual's strength could surpass the collective force of a group or organization!
Therefore, a person like Spectral Soul Demon Venerable could exist.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable only used one method — Kill!
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!
Slaughter everything, destroy heaven, decimate earth.
Heads roll and blood flow.
He did not counter the enemy's plans nor did he cut them off from allies, but he still obtained supreme success.
Why?
Because he cultivated his own Dao!
This was his understanding of heaven and earth, it was his understanding towards himself.
Every person he killed would further increase his perseverance towards improving himself and deepen his understanding of heaven and earth, both of these fueled the growth of his soul path attainment level.
And the growth in his attainment level greatly increased his strength.
If this was Earth and someone did this, they would be seeking death.
In the five hundred years of Fang Yuan's previous life, he was already more than a hundred years old when he suddenly comprehended this principle.
From then on, he started to think: What was his Dao? Or rather, what kind of path could he create?
Even now, he did not have a perfect answer to this question.
Over four hundred years had passed since then, he had reborn several times and was still trying to find out the answer.
He only had a vague and blurry direction.
He moved and rolled about in the darkness.
And in this darkness, there were too many hardships, dangers and ferocious beasts that wanted to swallow him whole.
Fang Yuan was clear: Among these ferocious beasts, Heavenly Court was currently the biggest and the strongest one.
He needed to exert all his strength to have a chance of contending with this ferocious beast, escaping from its hunt, and to continue walking on his path.
Both Fang Yuan and Fairy Zi Wei had repeatedly exposed information about each other, hoping to borrow the strength of other Gu Immortals to deal with the other. There was no winner in this fight. It was like the fight between a lion and a tiger, the bloody smell attracting countless hyenas.
He seemed to have an impressive reputation but there were turbulent undercurrents surging in the dark, many people thinking of ways to deal with him and Spring Autumn Cicada.
No one liked the presence of such a threat!
Spring Autumn Cicada was not all-powerful, it was only a rank seven Gu and there were too many ways to restrain it.
Even Lang Ya blessed land had many methods to subdue Spring Autumn Cicada.
In truth, Fang Yuan was rather surprised at Heavenly Court not having any effective methods against Spring Autumn Cicada.
The Little Demon Venerable title seemed to show unlimited prospects, but it concealed deep killing intent. This was reminding the world that if Fang Yuan was not killed and he grew up to be a Demon Venerable, the future would be bleak for everyone!
Fang Yuan might have obtained victory in the River of Time and gotten hold of the initiative. But he was clear that this was only a small strategical victory and it could not put a dent on Heavenly Court's overall strategy.
Just like the game of chess, he only made a single good move and although he turned from passive to active which was worth celebrating, Heavenly Court still had the overall control of the game. And this Heavenly Court, that had countless years of accumulation, was the chess piece that was placed by Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable over three million years ago.
"With Heavenly Court's foundation, the ink effect should appear again and some powerful characters might awaken in the immortal graveyard."
"The most important thing is still to use every second and do everything I can to increase my strength."
Fang Yuan did not become prideful due to victory, his joy lasted a very short moment before he dived into cultivating once again.
It was not an exaggeration to say that he was making full use of every second!
Soul cultivation progressed smoothly. Fang Yuan's soul stably progressed from one desolate soul to three desolate soul, five desolate soul, eight desolate soul... and finally, broke through to ten desolate soul.
Five restriction profound light qi was already practised to the point of proficiency. Fang Yuan even modified it, although this modification was rather small, it allowed Fang Yuan to alter the method and suit his habits so that he would have ease when activating it.
Fang Yuan began to practise other killer moves, like Ba Shi Ba's consecutive hit method.
In this period of time, he went out frequently and used jade flow pearl to make early moves, obtaining many resources from newly formed Earth Trenches.
Among them, rank seven earth vein Immortal Gu was one significant harvest.