289 RI
Immortal killer move — Five Rotational Destruction!
Five Elements Grandmaster shouted in fury, he faced the sky with his palms and pushed, a five colored ring appeared.
The ring flew to the sky and let out a powerful attraction force, absorbing all kinds of killer moves and even desolate beasts.
Heavenly Court's defensive line fell into chaos.
"Charge!" Southern Border's Gu Immortals grasped this chance and activated rank eight Immortal Gu House Great Space Temple to charge in through the gap.
Heavenly Court's Yu Zhu Zi gritted his teeth as he pointed at Great Space Temple and shouted: "Go!"
Most of the jade pearls floating around him flew out and struck Great Space Temple before detonating.
Bam bam bam...
The detonation of jade pearls resounded like thunder, jade fragments scattered everywhere and attached themselves onto Great Space Temple, actually slowing this rank eight Immortal Gu House by several times.
With this chance, Heavenly Court's members quickly reinforced and used all their strength to force Great Space Temple out.
But, although Great Space Temple was forced out, Wu Yong made his move on the other side.
Immortal killer move — Finger Wind Dragon!
Immortal killer move — Chaotic Shooting Blades!
Wu Yong flicked his fingers repeatedly, throwing out several dark jade worms.
The small worms grew larger as they flew in the sky, expanding to ten feet, fifty feet, a hundred and fifty feet!
In just a few breaths of time, they turned into vicious wind dragons that was two hundred and twenty feet long, baring their fangs as they attacked Heavenly Court's defensive line.
Wu Yong's eyes flashed with a green light, the wind dragons roared and turned into countless jade wind blades, shooting everywhere.
The wind blades were sharp, cutting everything in their path, Heavenly Court's main force could only grit their teeth and face the killer moves forcibly.
Using this chance when they were too occupied, Wu Yong turned around and infiltrated the defense line.
"Don't even think about it!" A delicate voice sounded, flower petals flew in the sky; Wan Zi Hong blocked Wu Yong.
She had been paying heavy attention towards Wu Yong without daring to be careless. The moment Wu Yong made the move, she went to fill the gap.
Wu Yong sighed and could only drop the plan.
The Southern Border Gu Immortals inside Clear Jade Dripping Wind Tiny Bamboo Building were shouting towards the Eastern Sea Gu Immortal Hua Cai Yun: "Go in quickly!"
Previously, Wan Zi Hong had been fighting with Hua Cai Yun and Qing Yue An. Right now, Wan Zi Hong went to fill the defensive gap which left behind a hole, letting Hua Cai Yun and Qing Yue An infiltrate the defensive line.
Hua Cai Yun and Qing Yue An glanced at each other and sensed the other had no intention to charge in, so they both chose to battle in the same place without having any intention to invade.
The human wills influenced the Eastern Sea immortals' resoluteness, but the influence was limited. Right now, Hua Cai Yun and Qing Yue An were already feeling regret, how could they have joined the decisive battle in Heavenly Court because of a moment of hotheadedness?
Wasn't it quite good and satisfying to plunder immortal materials in Central Continent?
Why did they have to fight to the death here!
They were not fools, the first ones to invade the defensive line would definitely be met with fierce counterattacks from Heavenly Court's forces, they might even die if they were just a little bit careless.
Because she had seen through this, Wan Zi Hong boldly went to fill the defensive gap and block Wu Yong.
"The nature of Eastern Sea Gu Immortals is like this." Wan Zi Hong's eyes shone sharply, she had a deep understanding regarding Eastern Sea.
But at the next moment, Shi Miao suddenly charged into Heavenly Court's defensive line.
He was also an Eastern Sea Gu Immortal, Heavenly Court's main force were barely able to maintain the defensive line and when they were forced, they would let the defensive gap appear in front of the Eastern Sea Gu Immortals. But Heavenly Court's main force would have never imagined that Shi Miao was already controlled by Dragon Palace and had become a dragon general, unafraid of death in battles.
Heavenly Court's main force was dazed and allowed Shi Miao to smoothly charge into the defensive line and near Heaven Overseeing Tower. Just as he was about to charge inside, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Shi Miao.
"In your dream!" Duke Long's voice resounded in Shi Miao's ears.
Shi Miao had already put up his defenses, his skin was like a layer of rocks, extremely firm. But his tough skin was immediately pierced by Duke Long's right hand and his neck was grabbed firmly.
Shi Miao immediately felt suffocation, an intense force spread from Duke Long's right hand and cracked the rock skin on his neck.
"What kind of strength is this!" Shi Miao was horrified, he struggled with all his might but it was fruitless.
Just as his neck was about to snap, a sword light arrived.
Duke Long dodged immediately, but this was predicted, the sword light struck his waist, then passed through behind like a ray of light.
Duke Long's body was almost cut apart by this sword light, an enormous wound appeared on his stomach from where blood flowed out without stopping.
The sword light continued with its momentum and struck Heaven Overseeing Tower. Fortunately, defensive measures were already activated around Heaven Overseeing Tower, it was not unprepared like when Bo Qing's sword light cut it, a white barrier flickered around the tower before finally stopping the sword light.
"Fang Yuan!" Duke Long turned his head towards where the attack came from, at that direction was Fang Yuan who had once again transformed into an immemorial sword dragon.
The sword dragon's claws were clenched into a fist, the attack just now was five finger fist heart sword!
This killer move had terrifying might, Duke Long absolutely could not sit idly and watch Fang Yuan use it casually. He immediately gave up on Shi Miao and used dragon gate to approach Fang Yuan.
But at this time, Shi Miao suddenly revealed a strange smile, his whole body melted and rapidly covered Duke Long's body.
This change caught Duke Long off guard, and Fang Yuan was able to activate five finger fist heart sword again!
Second sword, third sword, fourth sword!
Every sword light struck Duke Long and passed through his body, the remaining force struck Heaven Overseeing Tower till it shook.
"Lord Duke Long!!!" This unexpected situation caused Heavenly Court's immortals to pale in fright.
Even Duke Long had never expected Shi Miao to willingly give up his life to pin him down! Fang Yuan's five finger fist heart sword struck him but Shi Miao was also struck.
There were three terrifyingly large sword wounds on Duke Long's body, he was dripping with blood but he still had a breath of life left in him.
Shi Miao, however, could not be anymore dead. His form was a severed corpse, he died with a smile on his face.
"Duke Long, your life shall end here." Fang Yuan said softly before pointing the fifth sword of five finger fist heart sword!
The sword light seemed to pierce through time and space, no one could block its speed.
Heavenly Court's immortals watched the sword light strike Duke Long with a horrified gaze.
At the moment of death, Duke Long's eyes lost their light as he fell into a whirlpool of memories.
Childhood...
Duke Long was lying on the bed and crying: "Father, mother, don't die, don't leave me behind!"
"Child." Duke Long's father rubbed his head and showed a carefree smile even when death was impending: "Don't cry and don't grieve. We suffered these fatal wounds to stop Di Zang Sheng's rampage, this is our responsibility as members of Heavenly Court, and it is also something we are willing to do."
"Death is the final destination of life,the crucial thing is whether we died a worthy death."
"You will understand this when you grow up, my child." Duke Long's mother spoke: "You will understand what our sacrifices signify. Although this leads to separation, it is also our honor and duty to protect humanity. The stronger one is, the greater their responsibilities. Protecting our people is the noble task that has been inherited by us and countless seniors. When you grow up, you will also continue to walk our path. We will be looking forward to your growth in the other world. You need to work hard and persevere."
Adolescence...
Young Duke Long was breathing heavily, he was knocked down by a puppet and was lying down on the ground.
A Gu Master laughed loudly from the side and clapped: "Little Long, your performance is already great. Get up, rest for a while."
"No, I can still continue to fight!" Young Duke Long used all his strength and stood up unsteadily: "I will double my efforts, work hard in cultivation and keep on growing stronger. This puppet in front of me is nothing. There will be a day when I will become an expert like my parents, I will become a Gu Immortal of Heavenly Court and follow their path!"
"Hahaha, such aspirations, I am really looking forward to your future." The Gu Master praised sincerely.
Adulthood...
"This is how it feels to be a Gu Immortal?" Duke Long passed the ascension tribulation and became a rank six Gu Immortal.
"Amazing, kid. You have become an immortal at such a young age. Thinking back to when I was your age, I was still competing with my rival in love, hahaha." A Heavenly Court Gu Immortal laughed.
"Thank you for guarding me during this period." The adult Duke Long bowed towards the Gu Immortal and said with great sincerity.
The Heavenly Court Gu Immortal waved his hand: "You should have realized it by now, your identity is special. You are the Dao Guardian of the future Immortal Venerable, so your cultivation path will always be smooth, even if there are setbacks, it will only signify that you are going to reap even greater harvests later."
"Heavenly Court needs you, the future Immortal Venerable needs you, humanity needs you. Kid, becoming an immortal is not your end point, it is just your starting point. You can't get complacent, you can't stop moving forward. We all need you."
"Yes, I will persevere till I die. I will contribute every bit of my strength and every drop of my blood and sweat for Heavenly Court, for humanity, and for the future!" Duke Long swore.
Middle age...
"Rank eight cultivation, unimaginable... you actually accomplished this at your age!" Duke Tong said with a moved voice.
"Perhaps we should say, worthy of a Dao Guardian? Hahaha, with you, Heavenly Court can be even more prosperous." Duke Mei laughed brightly.
"I am flattered, seniors." The middle-aged Duke Long spoke modestly.
Duke Mei and Duke Tong glanced at each other, the former said: "So, have you considered our suggestion? Become one of us, lead Heavenly Court and guide the future Immortal Venerable seed."
Duke Long nodded with no hesitation: "Yes, I have already prepared myself!"
"Hahaha, then from today onwards, you are Duke Long."
"One of the three dukes of Heavenly Court, and also the most important one. Heavenly Court's heavy responsibility will mainly rest on your shoulders."
Duke Long nodded his head slowly and said with a solemn expression: "This is the path I have been pursuing. This is the expectation that my parents and the countless seniors I have met in life hold, it is the result that Heavenly Court and humanity needs! This responsibility... I, Duke Long, will undertake it with no hesitation!"
Old age...
"Come back, Hong Ting, you can still turn around!" Duke Long called.
"Master, I failed to live up to your teachings and expectations, I am sorry, but I must revive them!" Red Lotus did not turn around, disappearing into the night.
Duke Long closed his eyes in pain, his body on the verge of collapsing. The disciple he had taught with all his heart for so many years chose to walk on such a path.
"I guided an Immortal Venerable to become a Demon Venerable, I have sinned!" Duke Long knelt before Duke Tong and Duke Mei.
"Get up, get up quickly." Duke Tong and Duke Mei held Duke Long's arms and consoled him.
"You need to have faith, Duke Long, we still have hope."
"It is not your fault, Duke Long, we have all seen the efforts you have put in. It is Hong Ting who has disappointed us, not you."
"No." Duke Long shook off the two's hands and said with an extremely solemn expression: "He is my disciple, if he is walking on the wrong path now, it is my mistake! It is my sin! I must pay for this, I will stake all my strength to make up for this mistake!! For Heavenly Court and for humanity, even if I have to give up everything, I will pull Red Lotus back to the righteous path!!!"
And finally, in his twilight years...
Duke Long was sitting cross-legged in the hall, his head lowered and his hair was disheveled.
Two trails of tears quietly trickled down his face.
In front of him on the cold floor were the corpses of people he was familiar with, these were dragonman corpses.
The pain in his heart submerged everything and roared like a tsunami, threatening to drown Duke Long.
He was originally blessed with the joys of familial bonds, but who could have thought he would have to suffer such an impact in his twilight years. What was even more sad was that the killer of his children and grandchildren was he himself!
This was the tragedy that he singlehandedly created.
"It is my fault, back then I should not have..." Duke Long's voice was choked with emotions. He slowly raised his head, his gaze seemed to be under extreme weight as he slowly looked at each corpse. Joyful conversations and laughter along with blissful scenes of him with his grandchildren surfaced in his mind.
"It is not your fault, my children! Everything is my fault!" Duke Long's back bent down, he used his powerless fist to pound his chest, light thumping sounds echoed in the hall.
"I was negligent in my care towards you, I did not guide you well, you ended up walking on the wrong path. I was wrong, I am not a good master, I am also not a good ancestor. But for the prosperity of humanity, for Heavenly Court, I had to sacrifice you."
"Believe me, I never wanted this outcome. But I have no choice, I might be a dragonman but my heart has always stood with humanity. I cannot let you disrupt the rule of humanity, that is the result gained after countless generations sacrificed themselves. And most importantly, your roots also lie in humanity!"
"If you want to blame someone, then blame me, I cannot beg for your forgiveness neither do I dare to do that. Let me bear all the sins, let me pay for them!"
"My children... I cannot bring myself to separate with you. You will merge with me, we will never be apart! As your ancestor, I have failed you and did not give you a beautiful life and stable environment to live in. But this is all I can do."
"I, Duke Long, am just a dying old man."
Present...
The fifth sword flew towards Duke Long so fast that it was already in front of Duke Long!
Whoosh.
There was a soft sound, time seemed to have been slowed down by countless times.
Duke Long's head lightly separated from his neck.
Blood flowed out slowly and spurted out just as slowly.
He was beheaded by Fang Yuan with one slice!
-x-X-x-
"Lord Duke Long!!!" The Heavenly Court immortals' horrified cries resounded, but to Duke Long, these voices became increasingly weaker, at the start, they were like roaring waves, but almost at the next moment, they became light echoes from the horizon.
Is this the feeling of death?
I, Duke Long, am finally going to die?
Die here?
Thoughts were still flashing past Duke Long's mind.
Die here?
He asked himself again.
Tired, I am really tired!
He had walked till now while bearing heavy duty and expectations, he withstood the burden of endless sins.
There were times when he really wanted to die!
When he first stepped into the immortal graveyard and hibernated, he had let his imagination run wild: If I died like this, it feels like it might be a pretty good thing.
But could he?
Could he?
He asked himself.
No....
He could not!
He, Duke Long, lived all his life while carrying a heavy burden: He shouldered the expectations of his parents, master, and companions, he shouldered the responsibility of Heavenly Court and humanity, he took on the blame for his disciple's betrayal and the calamity he caused, he took on the sin of exterminating his offspring by his own hands.
He got injured, he got old.
His back slowly bent down, his gaze slowly dimmed.
He slumbered in the immortal graveyard, but when the time came, he crawled up and continued to bear his responsibility and mission!
"That's right, I cannot die, I cannot!"
"I still need to deal with the enemies, I still haven't cleared my sins, I still haven't corrected my mistakes!"
"The immortal graveyard is already destroyed, if I fall now, Feng Jiu Ge will not be able to salvage the situation alone. Heavenly Court will be destroyed by the enemies."
"How can I fall now?"
"I cannot fall!"
"My companions need me, Heavenly Court needs me, humanity needs me!"
"They need me, Duke Long!!"
"So...."
"No matter how tired I am, even if I am extremely exhausted, even if I hibernate in the graveyard, even if I die, even if I have been beheaded!"
"I, Duke Long... cannot afford to fall!"
"I need to stand up, I need to..."
"Continue fighting!!"
Instantly, as if the entire universe was responding to his unyielding will!
A miracle happened!
Duke Long's dimmed pupils suddenly burst out with shocking light that rushed towards the sky. The blood that spurted out of his neck returned rapidly, the countless qi in the surrounding condensed and brought his head back to his neck.
An extremely profound aura carried a true inheritance and entered his body, the wounds on his body started healing rapidly, he completely healed within a few breaths.
"It is Lord Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's method! And this qi path true inheritance... so triple qi retraction can actually be used in this manner!" Duke Long immediately comprehended, great joy surfacing on his face.
"Lord Duke Long, he has revived!" The miracle happened right in front of them, Heavenly Court's morale bounced back.
Fang Yuan's expression was still tranquil: "It is Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's method. There was a backup after all!"
"This is Heavenly Court's foundation?" Wu Yong mumbled, his expression was dark, he felt powerlessness.
Duke Long raised his head and floated in the air, he spread out his arms and legs as he said: "I, Duke Long, will not fall right now. Oh Fang Yuan, let me show you the genuine... Triple Qi Retraction!"
"Triple qi retraction?!" This move's reputation was too huge, the moment Duke Long said this, the three regions' immortals slowed down their offenses in fright and uncertainty.
Fang Yuan's expression was also solemn, he had personally witnessed the terrifying might of triple qi retraction.
Back then, Duke Long had used this move to determine his victory, directly defeating Purple Mountain True Monarch.
"Triple qi retraction has a total of three styles: First style, human qi retraction; second style, earth qi retraction; and third style, heaven qi retraction. Human qi retraction greatly reduces a Gu Immortal's human qi and their condition will fall sharply. Earth qi retraction will extract earth qi and cause heavy damage to the immortal aperture. Heaven qi retraction will extract heaven qi and combined with the damage from the previous two styles, the immortal aperture will shatter directly. If one is hit by the first style, the second style and third style cannot be blocked. So, the key is in the first style!"
All kinds of information flashed through Fang Yuan's mind.
He moved his dragon body and retreated cautiously. Although he had transformed into an immemorial sword dragon and seemed to have gotten rid of his human status, he was not certain if human qi retraction could extract his human qi or not.
Since this move was created by Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable, even if there was no transformation path back then, Duke Long would have definitely made relevant modifications to fill this gap.
Whoosh!
At the next moment, vast qi surged from all directions and winds moved like waves, gathering around Duke Long's body.
Endless amounts of human qi, earth qi, and heaven qi gathered in Duke Long's body, turning into countless qi path dao marks while also drastically raising his power in every aspect!
Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed: "What is this? Triple qi retraction's three styles are being activated at the same time, plundering a vast amount of qi to empower Duke Long. Is this a condition triggered by Primordial Origin's method?"
Triple qi retraction's effect had already deviated from its usual ability.
Power, power, an unprecedented power!
The feeling of power filled Duke Long's body and mind. He stepped lightly, boom!
The air below him directly exploded as his body flew like a purple meteor and appeared in front of Fang Yuan in an instance.
Fast, extremely fast!
But Fang Yuan had no fear since reverse flow protection seal was still activated.
Boom!
Duke Long's fist struck his head.
Fang Yuan was knocked down like a cannonball, he smashed into the ground, creating a deep pit.
Reverse flow protection seal immediately appeared shallow and illusory from this attack.
Fang Yuan shook his giant dragon head, shaking off the dizziness, when Duke Long appeared in front of his eyes again. Both sides were within one hundred steps.
Duke Long charged over, his whole body emitted blazing qi that raised his mighty disposition to the extreme.
Fang Yuan's eyes were cold as he snorted inwardly.
Whoosh—!
Myriad Year Flying Warship had already been lying in ambush, and when Duke Long charged forward at this moment, it immediately pierced through the air, like a giant blade that cut towards Duke Long with a heavy shadow of death.
Struck!
Myriad Year Flying Warship was like a giant broadsword that cut Duke Long.
Boom!
Dust and soil flew before they were dispelled by the violent qi around Duke Long.
Duke Long was struck by Myriad Year Flying Warship, he was half-crouching on the ground, one hand holding the ground while the other hand released a powerful strength as it grabbed the front bottom part of Myriad Year Flying Warship — he actually held off the whole of Myriad Year Flying Warship's weight with a single hand!
Crack, crack...
A series of sharp sounds could be heard, the muscles on Duke Long's hands bulged as he slowly pushed back Myriad Year Flying Warship inch by inch.
Fang Yuan's pupils shrank slightly, the Myriad Year Flying Warship of this moment was not the same as before, it was merged with Twelve Zodiac battle formation and was enough to rank among the top five Immortal Gu Houses in the world!
Duke Long actually resisted its full-powered collision with one hand.
The strength amplification Duke Long received from triple qi retraction had far surpassed Fang Yuan's estimation.
Hah!
Duke Long breathed out as he exerted strength and stood up, he brought his other hand together and actually threw Myriad Year Flying Warship far away.
Fang Yuan observed the whole process with indifference, his dragon pupils reflecting Duke Long's clear face. Fang Yuan swung his dragon tail and retreated quickly, leaving the Heaven Overseeing Tower battlefield.
Duke Long's speed already surpassed Fang Yuan's but he could only watch as Fang Yuan left. Because at this moment, Dragon Palace and three Immortal Gu Houses were attacking Feng Jiu Ge. Feng Jiu Ge had to split his attention to resist them, so destiny song unavoidably weakened. Di Zang Sheng was free and charged towards Heaven Overseeing Tower once again!
"Evil Dragon! Stop!" Almost in an instant, Duke Long appeared on Di Zang Sheng's head.
Immortal killer move — Qi Breath Mountain!
An enormous translucent qi mountain took shape in a blink of an eye and pressed down fiercely.
Boom, heaven and earth shook, Di Zang Sheng's head was pressed down to the ground by qi breath mountain.
Triple qi retraction increased the might of Duke Long's qi path methods to a horrifying level.
However, after using this move, the qi around Duke Long fell sharply by thirty percent.
"A chance!" Seeing this, Five Elements Grandmaster, Wu Yong, and Zhang Yin attacked at almost the same time. Three long range killer moves attacked Duke Long.
Duke Long did not dodged and also did not use self-moving dragon qi wall, he actually let the killer moves engulf his body.
Smoke and fire rose, thunder rumbled.
The dazzling scene dissipated, Duke Long was still standing in the sky, standing tall and upright.
"Did you want to scratch my itch with these three small tricks?" Duke Long ridiculed loudly. The faces of Wu Yong, Five Elements Grandmaster, and Zhang Yin reddened with anger and shock.
"Triple qi retraction!" Duke Long shouted once again.
In an instant, vast qi surged and appeared from all corners of Heavenly Court before gathering inside Duke Long's body within a few seconds.
Rumble!
Duke Long's aura expanded once again, not only did he return to his earlier state, he even gained an extra layer. From the original ten feet, it broke through to twenty feet. The aura covered his whole body and the translucent fire burned high.
Duke Long's purple hair waved wildly and his scales shone brightly.
Because of heavenly dragon's last stand as well, Duke Long's body right now had already far surpassed the size of an ordinary human, his body expanded several times and gave an extremely oppressive feeling.
Di Zang Sheng roared, unreconciled as it lifted its giant dragon head out from the pit.
Duke Long suddenly appeared to the side of Di Zang Sheng's head and gave a straight punch. The huge force twisted Di Zang Sheng's head and even its enormous body rolled away, destroying countless buildings of Heavenly Court in its way.
But Duke Long no longer cared about these, everything had to prioritize Heaven Overseeing Tower.
In the previous life, Di Zang Sheng's battle strength could match Duke Long's, but in this life, it was directly suppressed!
If it was said that Feng Jiu Ge used the profundity of destiny song to defeat Di Zang Sheng, then Duke Long suppressed Di Zang Sheng by relying on his own strength.
"I understand now. Although I destroyed the immortal graveyard, Heavenly Court still exists. When a Gu Immortal joins Heavenly Court, they will contribute their immortal aperture; countless grotto-heaven worlds merged together to form the current Heavenly Court. Every immortal aperture is a balance of three qi and contains heaven qi, earth qi, and human qi. Currently, Duke Long is using triple qi retraction not against us but on Heavenly Court." Fang Yuan's thoughts moved lightning fast as he deduced the general details.
Heavenly Court's three qi were naturally exploited by Duke Long and it could even be said to be an infinite supply. With such a powerful supplement, Duke Long's battle strength exploded and suppressed Di Zang Sheng with just his body.
But out of Heavenly Court, the killer move triple qi retraction would lose such might. No such vigorous triple qi were around in the outside world and they could not be used by Duke Long freely.
That meant, Duke Long's strength had limitations, he must stay inside Heavenly Court.
However, even though Fang Yuan saw through this weakness, it was useless.
Heaven Overseeing Tower was also inside Heavenly Court, Fang Yuan had to strive to destroy fate Gu, so he could not bypass Heavenly Court or the current Duke Long!
-x-X-x-
"No matter how strong Duke Long is, he is only one person. Charge! We will attack together, Heavenly Court's defensive line is so wide, let's see how he will defend it." Wu Yong shouted, his sharp gaze containing a trace of restlessness. Duke Long's astonishing performance had already triggered subtle changes in people's hearts, he could not let him act so unbridled!
Wu Yong controlled Clear Jade Dripping Wind Tiny Bamboo Building and took the lead, this move immediately made the Immortal Gu Houses around him start attacking once again.
Duke Long snorted, he suddenly disappeared and appeared to block Wu Yong's path. His expression was grim and was about to attack Clear Jade Dripping Wind Tiny Bamboo Building when Dragon Palace also attacked him.
Immortal killer move — Dreamy Light Smoke!
Duke Long stared with wide eyes as he had no choice but to dodge.
One skill to dominate the world!
Facing the dream path killer move, no matter how strong he was, Duke Long did not dare to test it.
His evasion immediately made Wu Shuai, Wu Yong and others let out a sigh of relief.
Duke Long's mighty image that gave a feeling of being invincible was broken by this action.
The three regions' immortals' falling spirits became concentrated again.
"Fortunately, he dodged it." Thin beads of sweat covered Wu Shuai's head.
Dreamy light smoke might be a dream path killer move but it had a limited strength. Facing such a powerful Duke Long, it was like using a small fish net to capture a giant shark.
Duke Long could not resist dream path killer moves, the giant shark could definitely be trapped, but what about after that? The shark would struggle to break free and could tear the small fish net.
Back to the present, even if Wu Shuai captured Duke Long, it was far beyond Dragon Palace's ability to force such a powerful expert inside the palace, let alone suppress him.
The final conclusion might very well be Dragon Palace crumbling apart while Duke Long would be temporarily trapped inside a dream realm. But there was Feng Jin Huang who could deal with dream realms and quickly rescue Duke Long.
So, Wu Shuai's move was only a bluff. Duke Long took the bait because he was not aware of this dream path killer move's details.
This was also why Gu Immortals kept their killer moves hidden and would not display them easily. And when they showed their killer moves several times, they would actively modify them.
Duke Long retreated, the three regions' immortals led a massive attack once again under Wu Yong's lead, using this opportunity to gather and attack.
"Hmph, besides Lord Duke Long, Heavenly Court also has us!"
"You will definitely pay for underestimating us."
"With us around, don't even think of succeeding."
At the crucial moment, Zhu Que Er, Bai Cang Shui, Zhao Shan He and others of Heavenly Court's main force stepped forward, welcoming the violent attacks without fearing death.
"A bunch of old geezers. How much time do you even have left?" Hua Cai Yun sneered, countless thunder clouds shot out from beside her.
Boom boom boom!
The thunder clouds detonated ahead of time, they were all accurately intercepted by Yu Zhu Zi.
"How much time? We never cared! As long as we have a breath of life in us, we will crawl out from our graves!" Yu Zhu Zi shouted and pushed forward the back of his hand, a large patch of jade powder flew forward like fog.
"Retreat!" Facing the unknown killer move, Hua Cai Yun did not dare to test it and immediately retreated to be on the safe side.
"We will never lose this battle! Do you know why?" Zhou Xiong Xin wore a white robe and had thick eyebrows and a square face. He used information path methods, shooting out countless white arrows.
"Because since three million years ago, we have always been the pioneers of the eras, the backbone of humanity, the heroes of Central Continent. We will never forget the disgrace of becoming slaves to variant humans, we will never forget that peace is something we have fought for using our lives, and we will never forget that the happiness of the people needs to be guarded by each generation."
"As for you, you are petty people who don't care about endangering humanity for your selfish interests. Short-sighted fools who cannot even see the future! Come, no matter what methods you have, no matter how many times you attack, you will only receive defeat!"
Zhou Xiong Xin shouted loudly, his endless arrows became stronger with his words; using attack as defense, the arrows forced back Five Elements Grandmaster, Yi Hao Fang, and other rank eights. They could only prioritize defense, the offense they had just started as well as their morale shrank rapidly."
"Look, this is our Heavenly Court's perseverance!" Zhu Que Er and Prince Feng Xian combined their skills, flames surged and formed a completely new defensive line, firmly blocking the charge of several rank seven Immortal Gu Houses.
"Hmph, a bunch of babbling geezers. The immortal graveyard is already destroyed now, after killing you, let me see who else will stand up in Heavenly Court?" A famous expert in Northern Plains' history, Liu Hui had just finished speaking when he felt his vision darken.
Duke Long suddenly appeared right before him!
Boom!
Immortal killer move — Dragon Claw Strike!
Liu Hui's whole body let out a bright green light, his defensive killer move was activated with full power. But it only lasted for a second before it shattered, his whole body was slashed into pieces.
Liu Hui died immediately from Duke Long's one attack.
Five Elements Grandmaster and others quickly retreated in fright, entering their respective side's Immortal Gu Houses.
Duke Long swept his gaze around the battlefield and shouted: "You colluded with the otherworldly demon and attempted to overthrow Heavenly Court, you are all traitors to humanity. You don't understand, even if we battle to the death, our three qi will still remain. This is the grand qi of humanity, it will last forever with mountains and the land itself. Triple qi retraction!"
Boom!!
A huge explosion sounded, the whole sky turned dark. Three qi flocked and gathered into Duke Long's body from all areas of Heavenly Court.
Duke Long's translucent blazing qi expanded wildly, giving a heart-shaking feeling to everyone.
Immortal killer move — Great Qi Hand Explosion!
Duke Long stretched his left arm and spread his five fingers, his palm pointed towards a rank seven Immortal Gu House.
At the next moment, he clenched his left hand.
Bam.
Great qi exploded, the rank seven Immortal Gu House split into pieces, exploding into countless fragments. Immortal Gu were all destroyed, the Gu Immortals inside also met with calamity, none survived and only bones, blood, and meat pulp were left behind.
The three regions' Gu Immortals were horrified and stupefied.
Heavenly Court's side cheered loudly.
"This is Heavenly Court's power!" Inside Demon Judgment Board, Qin Ding Ling's eyes shined brightly. Fang Zheng, however, was silent as he was shaken mentally.
The shock was not only to Duke Long's strength, there was also a kind of turbulence going on in his mind.
At this moment, Fang Zheng began to understand the spirit of Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals!
"Yes." Fang Zheng thought inwardly: "If there were no Heavenly Court in history, could there be the current human race? Generations of Heavenly Court Gu Immortals cleared away obstacles with their blood, making countless sacrifices to bring about the rule of humanity. Comparatively, Fang Yuan and these people disregard the big picture, destroying fate Gu is giving the variant humans a chance to rise up. They are indeed traitors to humanity."
Swish!
Right at this time, a sword light pierced through the battlefield, bringing forth a soft sound and a bloody figure.
Zhu Que Er slowly fell to the ground like a sparrow whose wings were cut, her body was directly slashed into two halves.
Immortal killer move — Five Finger Fist Heart Sword!
It was Fang Yuan! He was sinisterly roaming at the edge of the battlefield in his immemorial sword dragon form.
"Fang Yuan!" Heavenly Court's immortals were furious.
Fang Yuan sneered: "I am here for my own interests! I don't give a damn about what you are, you can be noble or insignificant for all I care. Today, I will destroy fate Gu, I will kill whoever dares to stop me, if an immortal blocks me, I will slay the immortal, if a demon comes, I will slaughter the demon in my way! Heavenly Court? Since you obstruct my path, you will meet with the same outcome!"
"Hmph, demon! You need to be executed!"
"Kill him!"
"Murderer, I will crush you to pieces!!"
Heavenly Court's immortals cursed.
Roar—!
Di Zang Sheng recovered and collided into the defensive line again.
Dragon Palace cooperated and used dreamy light smoke.
Wherever the dream path killer move went, Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals evaded. Feng Jiu Ge gave a light sigh, activating a killer move and turning it into a song warrior.
The song warrior threw itself into the dreamy light smoke. Dreamy light smoke thus had no more offensive ability and returned like a python that had eaten its fill.
Feng Jiu Ge could not directly break the dream path killer move, but he was able to block it by using this method.
Destiny song resounded once again, Di Zang Sheng roared discontentedly but was without options, and was once again suppressed by Feng Jiu Ge.
Far away, Spectral Soul and his servants had already arrived in front of a treasury.
Looking back at the battlefield, Fairy Zi Wei sighed: "I did not think triple qi retraction still had this use. Duke Long's battle strength has risen to an astonishing level. Adding on Feng Jiu Ge's assistance, Heavenly Court's defensive line looks to be on the verge of collapse but is actually able to keep on lasting."
According to overall strength, Heavenly Court was naturally stronger.
But they had to defend Heaven Overseeing Tower and were thus extremely passive, even Duke Long was shackled by this.
Duke Long could easily kill rank eight Gu Immortals or rank seven Immortal Gu Houses, and Fang Yuan could similarly kill Heavenly Court members easily by using five finger fist heart sword. Duke Long had to leave the defensive line and choose to fight Fang Yuan far away.
If these two were allowed to attack the other side's Gu Immortals, Fang Yuan would not feel even a little heartache, but Heavenly Court needed enough manpower to defend the place. Duke Long would never let Fang Yuan continue his slaughter.
On the contrary, if Fang Yuan endured Duke Long's attacks, wholeheartedly attacking Heavenly Court's main force was also an option. But if he chose to do this, he would have to bear Duke Long's heavy attacks. Fang Yuan was not willing to do this, after all, he and the other three regions' Gu Immortals allied only because of the situation. Sacrificing himself for them was too stupid and too risky.
Thus, Fang Yuan and Duke Long pinned down each other.
Feng Jiu Ge instead became the core of the battle, he took charge of Heaven Overseeing Tower's defense while blocking Dragon Palace and Di Zang Sheng. His battle strength surpassed both enemies and allies' expectations time and again.
Old Man Zheng Yuan narrowed his eyes: "Now, we just have to see who can break the stalemate. The crucial point is fate Gu. Heavenly Court has already harvested the success dao marks, but the refinement path Gu formation is destroyed, can Yuan Qiong Du alone be able to restore fate Gu in time? Master, if we interfere now, can't we seize fate Gu?"
Spectral Soul laughed: "What will we gain by snatching it? Don't think that they are fighting with all they have got, they are still holding back. There is more to this situation than meets the eye! The past venerables have gotten involved in this battle. We will talk after plundering this treasury and getting back the Door of Life and Death."
"Yes, master!"
-x-X-x-
On the side of a sect's mountain, the landscape was green, clear water flowed by it and birds' chirping could be heard.
"Little Du, what are you lying on the ground for?" A gentle and soft voice could be heard.
"Senior sister." The young Yuan Qiong Du opened his eyes and saw a girl bending over to look at him with her bright and smiling eyes.
The girl's gaze moved to Little Du's hand and let out a gasp: "Wha, Little Du, you refined a rank three Gu again. You are really amazing."
"But I am not happy, you know I don't like cultivating refinement path." Yuan Qiong Du stood up while mumbling.
"Don't be so dispirited, your talent is envied by so many people." The girl patted his shoulder and consoled.
But Yuan Qiong Du was still dispirited and his head slumped forward.
"Haha, how about this, I will share a secret with you. Few days ago, I found clues to a Gu Master inheritance in my father's study room, it is hidden at some corner of the mountain. What do you think, do you want to search for it?" Senior sister's beautiful gaze turned towards Yuan Qiong Du.
As expected, teenage Yuan Qiong Du could not endure boredom, his eyes brightened when he heard what was said: "There is such a fun thing? Wonderful, our sect's mountain has inheritances left behind by predecessors after all. Gu Immortal inheritances are extremely rare but Gu Master inheritances are plentiful. Tell me the clues quickly, senior sister."
"Okay. The clue is a line of a poem, I have been pondering about it these few days, I will read it to you." Senior sister did not conceal it, and this was only a Gu Master inheritance. Her father was also Yuan Qiong Du's master, a Gu Immortal existence.
Yuan Qiong Du clapped his hands after hearing it just once: "I understand. The clue is solved like this, match the first and last characters, then match second and the second last characters; it gives us a location."
Senior sister pondered for a bit and jumped with joy: "So it is there! Little Du, you are really smart, you guessed it immediately."
"Let's go find it quickly." Yuan Qiong Du moved ahead.
"Wait for me." Senior sister quickly followed.
"Don't worry, senior sister, I will give this inheritance to you, I won't snatch it from you, haha." Yuan Qiong Du's figure disappeared into the depths of the mountain forest.
Finally, the two found the inheritance inside a mountain cave.
"This is a fire path inheritance." Yuan Qiong Du and his senior sister inspected the inheritance carefully: "Will flame? A fire that uses will as the fuel. This method is quite original and stunning. How did the Gu Master who created it think of this? Interesting. Eh, this name, how could it be master?"
Yuan Qiong Du was extremely surprised.
Senior sister also felt surprised, saying uncertainly: "They might just have the same name?"
Yuan Qiong Du, however, pondered and his eyes shone: "Maybe not! Senior sister, I remember you saying that you found this clue in master's study room."
"Yes, I was tidying up father's bamboo scrolls, you know my father's hobby is to collect these antiques. And by chance, a bamboo stick slipped from an aged scroll, and on it was the inheritance clue." Senior sister recalled her memory.
"This inheritance was set up by me when I was young." Right at this time, Yuan Qiong Du's master slowly walked into the cave and appeared before Yuan Qiong Du.
Walking alongside him was Yuan Qiong Du's sect uncle, who was short in stature, had a round face, and looked amiable.
Yuan Qiong Du and his senior sister quickly bowed and greeted at the same time: "We pay respects to master (father) and sect uncle."
Yuan Qiong Du curled up his lips: "Master, are you making fun of your disciples?"
"Of course not." His master shook his head, looking at the inheritance in Yuan Qiong Du's hand with a trace of reminiscence.
"Hahaha, you clever brat." The fat sect uncle pointed at Yuan Qiong Du: "Your master and I just returned from Spirit Resonance Peak, we were just chatting along the way when we discovered your traces. I can guarantee that this inheritance was indeed left by your master during his youth. He wholeheartedly liked fire path back then and used five years to painstakingly gather primeval stones and purchase a rank three fire path Gu."
"But master clearly cultivates water path." Yuan Qiong Du's eyes were wide open, having not expected his master also liked fire path, like him, when he was young.
"There was no other choice." The fat sect uncle sighed: "Our sect's water path inheritance required an inheritor. How could an individual's preference compare to the sect's situation? Every Gu Immortal inheritance needs to be inherited from generation to generation. Every inheritor will improve the inheritance on the foundation of their predecessor, making the inheritance keep up with the times and not be eliminated. This is our responsibility. When your master gave up fire path, he personally arranged this inheritance. I was there at that time and saw him crying his eyes out."
"Cough cough." Yuan Qiong Du's master interrupted: "Since you two discovered this inheritance, then it shall belong to you. Let's go."
The two seniors left, leaving behind Yuan Qiong Du and his senior sister in the cave.
"Junior brother, I cultivate wood path, I don't need this, so I will give it to you." Senior sister also said goodbye to Yuan Qiong Du.
Yuan Qiong Du gazed at the inheritance in his hand, slight waves undulated in his heart as he mumbled: "Master..."
He opened his eyes again.
Yuan Qiong Du saw that he was still inside Heaven Overseeing Tower.
"Damn it! I suffered a backlash during the refinement and fainted!" Yuan Qiong Du's heart pounded madly as he recalled the scene.
The biggest taboo in Gu refinement was to be disturbed. It did not matter how heavy his injuries were, the main thing was whether fate Gu was alright or not. This was related to the plan that Heavenly Court had been executing for millions of years!
Yuan Qiong Du was almost already without hope.
As the only Gu Immortal to refine Gu, he had actually fainted. Could fate Gu, that was the target of the refinement, be unharmed?
Fate Gu would not be destroyed because of this, but it was very likely that most of the previous restoration results would disappear, it might even return to the original damaged state.
Right now, Yuan Qiong Du could only hope fate Gu's situation was slightly better, his and Heavenly Court's countless years of efforts must not go to waste.
But when Yuan Qiong Du raised his head to look at fate Gu, he was stunned.
"What?!"
A lump of fire had taken his place in the Gu refinement, fate Gu was quietly lying in the fire and was just half a step away from complete recovery.
After the shock, warmth surged in Yuan Qiong Du's heart.
This was his will flame!
A fire which used will as fuel, he had obtained it from his master's inheritance when he was young. Later on, he cultivated refinement path but did not forget fire path as well, he continued to improve the will flame and developed it to immortal level.
"Will flame has already become my most familiar and most skilled Gu refinement method. I probably activated will flame unconsciously when I fainted!" Yuan Qiong Du guessed.
This was not the first time this happened. In fact, throughout his life, in his countless Gu refinement experiences, there were many times when will flame took his place in emergencies. Every time he was unable to hold on, he would activate will flame to temporarily replace him and stabilize the situation.
After countless times, using will flame at the crucial times had already become his subconscious habit.
Yuan Qiong Du let out a breath of air.
He looked at the burning will flame quietly while thinking: "Rather than calling it a habit, more accurately, this is a type of responsibility."
He thought of his master and smiled: "Responsibility... Master, looks like I haven't disappointed you."
Yuan Qiong Du knew his condition, his injuries were too heavy and he was not able to continue the Gu refinement. But hope was in front of him, he used his last bit of life and willpower to reinforce this lump of will flame.
"Burn, burn more." Yuan Qiong Du mumbled, he used his own life to light the will flame!
The will flame burned quietly, the fire brightened and became extremely stable.
Inside the fire, fate Gu finally moved past the final step, it achieved complete recovery!
While Yuan Qiong Du was already lifeless.
Like his master, like his senior sister, and like the countless Heavenly Court's seniors, they had given their blood and sweat for the cause of Heavenly Court, using their own lives to build the foundation of Heavenly Court!
He was a true hero even in death!
Heavenly Court's foundation, the large Central Continent was paved with blood and sacrifices.
The will flame dissipated.
"Hehehe." Cong Yan's weak laughter resounded in the quiet top floor of Heaven Overseeing Tower: "Yuan Qiong Du has already accomplished his task, it is our turn now."
"But with our state, even transmitting our voices is troublesome, let alone activating Heaven Overseeing Tower." Che Wei said, his tone was quiet and deep.
Cong Yan replied back almost as if he was not worried: "There is still a way. The immortal essence remaining in my aperture is enough for me to activate my trump card, isn't it so coincidental?"
Che Wei and Cong Yan were close friends, Che Wei immediately realized Cong Yan's meaning: "Don't do this, if you absorb my injuries, you will die immediately."
"What is there to fear about death? Right now, our companions are fighting outside, the defensive line is on the verge of collapsing, they probably don't have the chance to send anyone else. Brother Che Wei, we have known each other for many years, your abilities are stronger than mine. But your journey has not been completed yet, you will soon create your own path, I really look forward to it... but it is such a pity that I won't be able to witness it."
As Cong Yan spoke lightly, a light blue radiance spread from his body and covered Che Wei.
The two Gu Immortals had wounds everywhere, even their bones and flesh were smashed in. But following the blue light's effect, Che Wei's body began to recover while Cong Yan's became more severe.
"My friend..." Che Wei closed his eyes before opening them, two trails of tears flowed down quietly.
Cong Yan was dead, Che Wei's injuries were still severe but he used all his strength to barely crawl towards fate Gu.
"Activate, activate... I beg of you." Che Wei's vision turned dark, he poured in all his immortal essence and could only pray quietly at this point.
-x-X-x-
A long time seemed to have passed, but it was only an instant.
The grand Heaven Overseeing Tower began to slowly let out a pure-white light, the light gradually grew brighter and began to rise.
Several breaths later, the light shot to the sky and illuminated the whole battlefield like an emperor had descended!
The chaotic and violent battlefield paused immediately.
Almost all Gu Immortals raised their heads and looked towards Heaven Overseeing Tower.
The three regions' Gu Immortals were pale and ashen, while tears and snot flowed down the faces of Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals.
"Rank nine fate Gu has been restored!"
"Yuan Qiong Du did not fail us! He did it! This is too amazing."
"Heaven Overseeing Tower has returned to its peak state, we have won!"
Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals cheered, their morale rose to the peak at once.
"Retreat, retreat!" Be it Wu Yong, Yao Huang, or Shen Cong Sheng and others, they all shouted to retreat with no intent to battle.
Bing Sai Chuan was still controlling Calamity Luck Altar, he transmitted his voice to Fang Yuan with an unresigned expression: "Do something quickly!"
Fang Yuan's immemorial sword dragon transformation, however, began to retreat rapidly.
Duke Long gave up on Fang Yuan and used dragon gate to rapidly travel to Heaven Overseeing Tower.
"Fate Gu, fate Gu..." When he saw the completely intact fate Gu, he could not restrain his intense emotions anymore, tears flowed down as if he was released from a heavy burden.
The one who had injured fate Gu back then was his disciple Red Lotus, to make up for this mistake, Duke Long resolved himself and took on the heavy responsibility of restoring fate Gu.
"Hong Ting, master has atoned for your mistake. I did not let down Heavenly Court, I did not let down humanity!" Duke Long took deep breaths before he regained his cool. He looked outside the tower with a sharp gaze.
"Now, it is time for you all to die!" Duke Long shouted and activated Heaven Overseeing Tower's strongest offensive method.
Immortal killer move — Fate Vanquish!
Light, light that filled heaven and earth, it was omnipresent, illuminating the universe and people's hearts.
In just an instance, all the rank seven Immortal Gu Houses in the battlefield crumbled, the Gu Immortals inside fortunately survived.
Even Calamity Luck Altar and Dragon Palace were in miserable states. Bing Sai Chuan, Wu Shuai, Zhan Bu Du and others immediately used all their efforts in repairing the Immortal Gu Houses.
The surviving historical rank eight experts of Northern Plains dissipated after the light shone on them.
Countless year beasts and swordsmen of Fang Yuan that caused disaster to Heavenly Court were mostly destroyed, blood flowed like a river.
Mao Li Qiu's perfect pair killer move was forcefully broken, Di Zang Sheng was suppressed to the ground and was actually unable to get up immediately!
Only Fang Yuan's immemorial sword dragon form was completely safe.
He was a complete otherworldly demon who could not be targeted by the killer move fate vanquish and had a natural immunity towards it!
"Only you remain now, Fang Yuan!" Duke Long stared at the immemorial sword dragon with an intense killing intent and hatred.
It was this otherworldly demon that destroyed the immortal graveyard, destroying the largest portion of the millions of years of foundation of Heavenly Court!
This sin could not be forgiven, he must suffer a cruel death!
Boom—!
Duke Long flew out of Heaven Overseeing Tower and pierced through the sky towards Fang Yuan.
"Block him, stop Fang Yuan!" Duke Long roared, his voice resonated throughout the whole Heavenly Court.
Destiny song started in time as Fang Yuan's retreating speed fell sharply.
Immortal killer move — Qi Current Scissors!
Duke Long neared and opened his palm; countless sharp qi currents formed extremely sharp qi blades that shrouded Fang Yuan like a storm.
Fang Yuan canceled reverse flow protection seal and charged through the qi blades' encirclement, leaving behind a bloody trail in the sky.
Myriad Year Flying Warship quickly flew over and reunited with Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan stepped on the deck and transformed into the immemorial year monkey, he then turned around and waved his arm. Immortal killer move — Summer Fan!
Wild winds surged, scattering all of the qi current scissors.
Fang Yuan stomped on the deck, Myriad Year Flying Warship gave off a buzzing sound and let out dazzling radiance as it activated a time path killer move — Myriad Year Hunting.
Splash splash splash.
The River of Time phantom under Myriad Year Flying Warship continued to bubble, countless year beasts were summoned once again and participated in the battle, spreading out everywhere.
At this time, Feng Jiu Ge moved ahead of Duke Long.
Immortal killer move — Submission Song!
Immortal killer move — Song Warrior!
Submission song's power condensed into human form as it ran amok through the army of countless year beasts. Wherever it went, the year beasts, regardless of strong or weak, betrayed Fang Yuan and submitted to Feng Jiu Ge.
"Great job!" Even Duke Long felt surprised and joyous at this sight.
Previously, Feng Jiu Ge had been using destiny song mainly to maintain the battlefield and was unable to use other methods. Now that there was a chance, he immediately showed his abundant methods.
Duke Long once again neared Myriad Year Flying Warship and used killer moves like world shaking dragon hammer alternately, destroying daybreak swords. Cracks spread in Myriad Year Flying Warship and large numbers of Gu worms died instantly.
Fang Yuan was forced to retreat again and again, he had to use all his strength to repair Myriad Year Flying Warship while also blocking Duke Long and Feng Jiu Ge's joint attacks.
"It is our turn to counterattack!" Prince Feng Xian led the wave of counterattack.
A sharp phoenix cry resounded, his whole body transformed into a phoenix. He spread his wings and flew, fire burned everywhere he went and turned into a sea of fire.
Bai Cang Shui attacked almost at the same time from the other end of the defensive line, pale towering waves shot out.
Jun Shen Guang was like a meteor as he moved across the battlefield.
Zhou Xiong Xin was accompanied by fierce information path tigers. Vortex Space Boy and Ye Qiao Zi attacked together. Zhao Shan He and Yu Zhu Zi once again used sitting and eating the mountain empty against the enemy Immortal Gu Houses.
Previously, because of Duke Long's might, the three regions' Gu Immortals were all withdrawn inside the Immortal Gu Houses.
Facing Heavenly Court's wave of counterattacks, Calamity Luck Altar, Dragon Palace, Clear Jade Dripping Wind Tiny Bamboo Building, and other Immortal Gu Houses were unable to resist and retreated while fighting.
Heavenly Court's side continued to push with Heaven Overseeing Tower and Demon Judgment Board as the cores, continuously reducing the movement area of the three regions' Gu Immortals.
Qin Ding Ling also flew out of Demon Judgment Board and used all kinds of luck path methods to amplify her side's offenses to the maximum degree. After all, the enemy Gu Immortals were hiding inside Immortal Gu Houses, they could not attack casually and had to use the Immortal Gu Houses' methods.
The three regions' Gu Immortals were forced to retreat again and again, their conditions were already bad because of fate vanquish. Most of the Gu Immortals had to concentrate on repairing the Immortal Gu Houses, they could only endure the beating passively.
With no alternatives, Mao Li Qiu, Wu Yong, and some others took the risk to fly out of the Immortal Gu Houses and fought Heavenly Court's side to strive for precious time for the repair of the Immortal Gu Houses.
"Hold on! If we can't hold on now, leaving Heavenly Court will only be wishful thinking."
"Be careful of Heaven Overseeing Tower, especially fate vanquish!"
"How is Fang Yuan's situation? Only he can resist fate vanquish."
Like in the previous life, the immortals entrusted their hopes to Fang Yuan once again.
Despite many of the Gu Immortals hating Fang Yuan, the current situation forced them to rely on him.
But what disappointed the immortals was that Fang Yuan's situation was also similarly bad.
He was being pincer-attacked by Feng Jiu Ge and Duke Long, he was barely resisting the attacks with the help of Myriad Year Flying Warship.
The killer move fate vanquish with fate Gu as the core had no effect on Fang Yuan. But Feng Jiu Ge's destiny song that was only rank eight was of an even higher plane, it not only included fate but also contained luck.
Luck was naturally effective against Fang Yuan. Before this, Fang Yuan had used luck path methods many times to help in his cultivation.
Destiny song was effective against Fang Yuan, greatly weakening him, almost offsetting the amplification from heroes among people.
On the contrary, Duke Long could not enjoy heroes among people but he was empowered by heavenly dragon's last stand, triple qi retraction, and destiny song, increasing his battle strength to an unimaginably shocking level.
With Duke Long attacking and Feng Jiu Ge supporting him, Fang Yuan was unable to take them head-on and had to retreat again and again.
"Heavenly Court cannot be defeated!" Duke Long's punches and kicks exploded the air as they landed on Myriad Year Flying Warship.
Myriad Year Flying Warship was like a small raft in a storm, it was sent flying and crashed on the ground.
"Fang Yuan, here's another move for you." Duke Long charged down like a meteor, wanting to collide directly.
Fang Yuan looked at the sky and snorted, golden lights shone around Myriad Year Flying Warship as the Twelve Zodiac battle formation separated and transformed into a grey stone giant.
The giant stood on Heavenly Court's ground and waved its hands, attacking Duke Long head-on.
Boom!
An explosion rang, Duke Long collided with the giant. Killer moves clashed, creating a powerful explosion.
The terrifying heat wave inflated like a giant balloon before bursting on the spot.
Tornadoes and shock waves engulfed everything, Fang Yuan and the almost crumbling Myriad Year Flying Warship retreated smoothly using this propulsion force.
Whoosh.
Wind roared as Duke Long's monstrously tall figure suddenly appeared behind Fang Yuan.
Immortal killer move — World Shaking Dragon Hammer!
Fang Yuan's pupils shrunk rapidly, he did not have the time to even turn around as he activated reverse flow protection seal.
Rumble!
Reverse flow protection seal finally reached its limits and broke apart.
Fang Yuan suffered Duke Long's attack, although he had transformed into the immemorial year monkey, his back was almost pierced.
The enormous force sent Fang Yuan flying. After he fell to the ground, his body was dragged along the ground, leaving behind a long trail of blood and only stopping after crashing through three Immortal Gu Houses.
Duke Long gave a muffled groan, his body was shaking. Reverse flow protection seal reflected external attacks, the strength he struck Fang Yuan was also reflected to him in full, he had to suffer an even more serious impact than Fang Yuan. After all, Fang Yuan had reverse flow protection seal to weaken the strength of the attack as well as the powerful body of the immemorial year monkey.
Duke Long panted heavily, he was not able to move immediately and concentrated on healing his wounds quickly.
At the edge of the battlefield, the immortal treasury was already looted clean by Spectral Soul and his servants, but they had yet to find the Door of Life and Death.
"Strange, the Door of Life and Death was clearly placed here." Fairy Zi Wei frowned.
"Looks like Duke Long has hidden many things from you." Spectral Soul said coldly. The Door of Life and Death was a secluded domain of heaven and earth and contained countless souls. Its importance to Spectral Soul was huge, but unfortunately, they could not find it.
"Master, Fang Yuan is not able to hold on, do we give him a hand to maintain the stalemate and get more time for ourselves?" Old Man Zheng Yuan asked.
Spectral Soul gazed at the battlefield and when he saw Fang Yuan's position, he suddenly smiled: "There is no hurry, there is still a venerable who has not made a move yet."
Fang Yuan was collapsed in his own pool of blood in front of Embroidered Tower.
Three blood skins of Reckless Savage Demon Venerable were sewn in the air. Blown by the violent winds of the battlefield, these three blood skins actually loosened and waved around like banners.
In an instant, Fang Yuan sniffed a dense, fishy stench of blood!
-x-X-x-
Fang Yuan's whole body was bathed in blood and filled with injuries. He snorted coldly and stood up, looking at Embroidered Tower in front of him.
Embroidered Tower was originally a mortal object that was left by Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable to his disciple Star Constellation as her dowry. But according to the customs back then, its symbolic meaning was much greater. Later, when Star Constellation became Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, she turned Embroidered Tower into an Immortal Gu House that had extremely mystical powers.
Over a million years ago, Reckless Savage Demon Venerable invaded Heavenly Court. He stormed through Heavenly Court, passing Immortal Emperor Court, Hidden Space Pavilion, Sumeru Lake, Eternal Sand Cave, Million Heavenly King Gallery, Embroidered Tower, Central Great Hall, and finally stopping at Heaven Overseeing Tower.
Reckless Savage Demon Venerable suffered some loss when he reached Embroidered Tower, Embroidered Tower used its trump card method — Dao Embroidery. Seven embroidery needles flew out elegantly. Reckless Savage Demon Venerable was forced to discard three pieces of his skin before he was able to go past it.
These three bloody skins were sewn into the air by countless dao mark threads.
After that, Embroidered Tower's damage could not be repaired. And later, it was used to attack Spectral Soul in Yi Tian Mountain, the new damage added to the previous ones. This damage ruined Embroidered Tower and it could not be of any use right now.
Not only Fang Yuan, even Duke Long and other Gu Immortals saw the movement of the three bloody skins in the air above Embroidered Tower!
They looked like three bloody banners, fluttering savagely in the wind.
The left banner had a bird drawn on it, the bird had six legs but no wings.
The middle bloody banner had a drawing of a beast which was getting increasingly clearer. It opened its mouth but had no teeth.
The right bloody skin had a fish, it grew increasingly vivid and lifelike but it was clear that it had no gills.
Blood skins made wild sounds like an ancient gale that crossed a million years and roared in people's ears. Or like a grand army that went to battle, clashes and collisions of steel and horses resounded!
The blood banners' fluttering continued to amplify in commotion, they were like volcanoes that had been suppressed for countless years or like wild beasts that had accumulated their energy and was about to strike their prey!
Roar—!
The wild beasts roared.
They violently broke the dao mark threads that bound them, and turned into three blood red lights that landed around Fang Yuan.
Three beastly bizarre and resounding roars sounded and the blood red light dissipated, revealing three enormous beasts.
A glowing monstrous yellow bird that was like a small mountain, its six legs were thick and rough, its beak was hard and long, but it had no wings.
An azure-blue leopard with a big belly was sprawled on the ground, it kept on yawning and one could see it did not have even a single tooth.
And a fish with dark green scales was floating in the air, its head was raised high and its mouth was closed tightly. There was no trace of gills next to its eyes. The huge fish was motionless like a jade statue.
The immortals were shaken, even Duke Long's expression turned solemn as he halted his attacks.
"There is an abnormality in the three bloody skins left by Reckless Savage Demon Venerable!"
"These three monsters have such shocking auras."
"Did Fang Yuan trigger a venerable's method?"
"Wait a second, these three monsters, why do they resemble those three recorded in \u003c\u003cThe Legends of Ren Zu\u003e\u003e?"
\u003c\u003cThe Legends of Ren Zu\u003e\u003e, chapter four states —
Ren Zu wandered alone on the vast land, his hair was disheveled and he seemed to have lost his mind: at times, he wailed, at times, he sat down in a daze, and at times, he laughed like a fool.
Fate Gu's manipulation had separated him from his children, he also lost wealth Gu, Ren Zu was forced into a state of madness.
"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?" Ren Zu was at a loss and went crazy again.
One morning, a group of birds ran past Ren Zu.
These birds did not have wings, their six legs moved alternately as they ran on the ground, raising clouds of dust in their path.
Ren Zu jumped with joy when he saw these birds.
"So I am a bird!" He also spread his legs and ran wildly, joining the bird group.
The birds growled strangely towards Ren Zu: "You are a human, you use two legs to walk, you are not a bird. Leave, don't disturb us, we are pursuing freedom Gu, we want to retrieve our freedom."
Ren Zu asked: "Why are you all searching for freedom Gu?"
The birds said with a heavy tone: "We once possessed freedom Gu, but we did not realize that. Only after losing it, we found that we no longer had wings and could not fly anymore. When we regain freedom, we will be able to spread our wings and soar to the sky again."
Ren Zu realized: "I understand, humans also need freedom. If humans don't have freedom, they will be like birds who have lost their wings."
"Right! I remember now!" Ren Zu clapped and laughed madly: "I also need to search for freedom to get rid of fate's shackles. After that, I can go wherever I want to go, and be with whomever I want to be forever."
The birds casted a strange look at Ren Zu: "Oh human, how can you have such preposterous thoughts?"
"Look at us, how can birds not have wings? So, chasing after freedom is part of our duty."
"But you humans are destined to be alone, all gatherings will end up in separation. Oh human, you want to pursue freedom but you also need to abide by your nature, you should not indulge in wild fantasies."
Ren Zu scratched his head, puzzled: "Is that how it works?"
The birds left behind their last words: "Oh human, let us give you some sincere advice. If you obtain freedom in the future, you must cherish it, don't be like us and let go. Don't let freedom Gu fly away, otherwise you will regret it."
After Ren Zu parted ways with the birds, he slowly forgot his identity and goals once again.
One afternoon, a leap of blue leopards passed by him.
The insane Ren Zu saw the group of leopards and shouted in joy: "So I am a leopard."
Ren Zu rushed into the group.
But the leopards pushed him away and shouted: "You are a human, not a leopard. You use two legs to walk, while we have four legs. Leave, don't disturb us. We are pursuing freedom Gu, we want to retrieve our freedom."
Ren Zu asked: "Why are you searching for freedom Gu?"
The blue leopards looked depressed: "Sigh, we once possessed freedom Gu, but we did not realize it. Only after losing it, we found that we no longer had teeth and could not bite and tear apart our prey. When we regain freedom, we will be able to eat happily again."
Ren Zu realized: "I understand, humans also need freedom. If humans don't have freedom, they will be like beasts with no teeth."
"Right!" Ren Zu clapped and laughed madly: "I need to search for freedom to get rid of fate's shackles. I will possess countless delicacies and wines, endless wealth, and all kinds of comfortable and beautiful clothes."
The blue leopards were stunned before laughing loudly as they mocked Ren Zu: "Oh human, how can you have such preposterous thoughts?"
"Look at us, how can beasts not have fangs or claws? So, chasing after freedom is part of our duty."
"But you humans were born with empty hands and will pass away with nothing. Oh human, you want to pursue freedom but you also need to abide by your nature, you should not indulge in wild fantasies."
Ren Zu scratched his head, unsatisfied: "Is that how it works?"
The leopards left behind their final words: "Oh human, let us give you some sincere advice. If you obtain freedom in the future, you must cherish it, don't be like us and let go. Don't let freedom Gu fly away, otherwise you will regret it."
After Ren Zu parted ways with the leopards, he slowly forgot his identity and goals once again.
One evening, a school of fish swam past him.
Ren Zu saw the fish and shouted in joy: "So I am a fish."
Ren Zu joined the fish group and tried to swim like them.
There was a commotion in the fish group as they pushed Ren Zu away and shouted: "You are a human, not a fish. You use two legs to walk, while we have no legs. Leave, don't disturb us. We are pursuing freedom Gu, we want to retrieve our freedom."
Ren Zu asked: "Why are you searching for freedom Gu?"
The fish sighed: "We once possessed freedom Gu, but we did not realize that. Only after losing it, we found that we no longer had gills and could not breathe in the water again. When we regain freedom, we will be able to swim in the water again."
Ren Zu realized: "I understand, humans also need freedom. If humans don't have freedom, they will be like fish with no gills and cannot breathe."
"Right!" Ren Zu clapped and laughed madly: "I need to search for freedom to get rid of fate's shackles. I will breathe freely and live on forever, I want eternal life!"
The fish sneered: "Oh human, how can you have such preposterous thoughts?"
"Look at us, a fish must have gills, so chasing after freedom is part of our duty."
"But you humans are destined to have no relation with eternal life, you will die of old age and illnesses. Oh human, you want to pursue freedom but you also need to abide by your nature, you should not indulge in wild fantasies."
Ren Zu frowned, feeling irritated: "Is that how it works?"
The fishes left behind their final words: "Oh human, let us give you some sincere advice. If you obtain freedom in the future, you must cherish it, don't be like us and let go. Don't let freedom Gu fly away, otherwise you will regret it."
After Ren Zu parted ways with the fishes, he slowly forgot the advice of the birds, leopards, and the fish.
"I am a human, I need to pursue freedom!"
"I need to get rid of the shackles of fate, I want to live forever with my loved ones, I want to enjoy life with enough wealth, I want to live on forever."
Many beings that walked past Ren Zu heard him, they shook their heads and stayed away from him.
"Let's quickly leave, he is Ren Zu and he is talking nonsense again."
"He has already gone mad completely."
"How could he dare to have such thoughts?"
One day, freedom Gu flew towards Ren Zu on its own accord.
Ren Zu was joyous as he grabbed it.
"Oh freedom, I finally obtained freedom." Ren Zu was extremely happy but also felt puzzled as he asked freedom Gu: "This is really strange, the wingless birds are pursuing you, the toothless beasts are pursuing you, the gill-less fish are pursuing you, but you flew to me, what is going on here?"
Freedom Gu replied: "I didn't fly to you, human, you once used attitude Gu to bully me, used love to bind me, and used wealth to bribe me. I loathe and hate you! I flew over because I was attracted by the cognition Gu on you."
Cognition Gu floated out of Ren Zu's body and explained with a smile: "Ren Zu, because you have gone mad, you are thinking deliriously all the time. A human that desires companionship forever, a human who has an extravagant hope of living a life with no worries, a human who pursues eternal life; what else can this be other than a lunatic?"
Freedom Gu sighed: "Freedom of cognition is the greatest freedom. These delirious thoughts can strengthen me. Ren Zu, although you captured me, I will never work for you. Release me now!"
Ren Zu shook his head and grasped even tighter: "Freedom Gu, I will not let you go."
Freedom Gu sneered: "Then prepare yourself, don't collapse from the pressure."
The moment it finished speaking, responsibility Gu flew over, pressing on Ren Zu's shoulder.
"Heavy, so heavy!" Ren Zu almost bent over from the pressure.
Cognition Gu sighed: "Freedom and responsibility coexist, oh Ren Zu, you want to obtain freedom so you need to shoulder the responsibility. At least, you need to be responsible for yourself."
Ren Zu clenched his teeth and persevered, sweat flowed down his body like a river, soon, he knelt down on the ground.
He saw spider webs again.
Fate Gu's spider silk wrapped around his whole body. Ren Zu was barely shouldering the heavy responsibility and had no strength to break free from the spider silk's bindings.
Fate Gu's spider silk constricted tightly, forming blood wounds everywhere on Ren Zu's body.
Ren Zu shouted: "What is going on?"
Cognition Gu explained: "Oh human, the more freedom you experience, the more you will feel the restriction around you."
Freedom Gu laughed: "Just let me go, the longer you hold on to me, the more spider silk will bind you, the binding will become tighter and will even constrict you to death!"
Ren Zu shook his head: "No, I won't let go, oh freedom Gu, I must have you!"
Countless spider silk pierced into Ren Zu's flesh, Ren Zu howled in pain and rolled on the ground but did not let go.
"Hahaha!" Ren Zu began laughing foolishly again: "I can sense a Gu far away. Just this feeling alone makes me happy and satisfied."
Cognition Gu admitted frankly: "That is natural. Whoever obtains freedom Gu will also be able to sense the location of happiness Gu."
Ren Zu continued to persevere, he cried in pain at times and laughed happily at other times. The spider silk constricted tightly, tearing into his bones and leaving deep marks on them, but Ren Zu still did not loosen his hands.
In the end, he fainted from the pain.
After a long time, he slowly woke up.
Fate Gu's spider silk was no longer constricting him, responsibility Gu also did not exert heavy pressure, while cognition Gu had disappeared.
"Wait, what about freedom Gu?" Ren Zu did not sense freedom Gu's existence, and in his moment of panic, he opened his hands.
The moment a gap appeared, freedom Gu flew away and left Ren Zu behind.
Humans often did not understand freedom when they possessed it, only after losing it, they would come to a sudden realization.
Ren Zu was stunned when he saw freedom Gu flying away, he remembered the advice of the birds, leopards, and fish, he felt extremely regretful.
He tore out his hair painfully and rolled on the ground.
"I am better off dead." Ren Zu was overwhelmed with grief: "I would rather lose love, I would rather lose my life, I don't want to lose freedom!"
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