Fang Yuan had always been adept at learning from his mistakes. On his journey to the Northern Plains, he had suffered repeated setbacks against the mud monsters and cloud beasts. Now that he was facing a tribulation, how could he fail to address this shortcoming?
Speaking of the Sword Mark Life-Seeking, this Immortal-level killer move, there was quite a story behind it.
After Fang Yuan entered the Lang Ya Blessed Land, he simultaneously healed his injuries and sought help from the Lang Ya Earth Spirit, requesting that he perform reverse refinement on the Flying Sword Gu and the other Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu.
He was currently a Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal. Using Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu was far too taxing for him.
The Lang Ya Earth Spirit was simple in nature. Thinking that Fang Yuan had joined the Lang Ya School and become a guest Supreme Elder — making him one of their own — he offered a piece of earnest advice.
"Reverse refining Immortal Gu? Of course I can do that for you. And reversing from the Seventh Transformation back to the Sixth is far easier than advancing from the Sixth to the Seventh. But don't you think that's a waste? More importantly, reverse refinement is by no means something accomplished in a single step. There isn't much time left before the tribulation. If you start reverse refining now, there's no way you'll finish in time. You'd be better off using this killer move instead."
With that, the Lang Ya Earth Spirit handed the Sword Mark Life-Seeking killer move to Fang Yuan.
"You're really in luck. This killer move was purchased by my predecessor several hundred years ago. It's compatible with many Sword Path Immortal Gu."
Fang Yuan found it strange at the time. Ancestor Long Mao had been nothing more than a pure Refinement Path Gu Immortal in life. Why would the Lang Ya Earth Spirit have purchased a Sword Path killer move that served no purpose for him?
As it turned out, after a brief review, his confusion melted away.
It turned out that the Sword Mark Life-Seeking killer move permanently consumed the Dao Marks within a Sword Path Immortal Gu, etching them onto the target. After the Sword Path Immortal Gu flew away, the etched Dao Marks would seek out the target's weak points on their own and launch attacks.
Just now, Fang Yuan had used the Flying Sword Immortal Gu as the core to activate Sword Mark Life-Seeking. It pierced through the wild beast snow monster. The strike itself was not lethal — the wound carved by the Immortal Gu healed almost immediately. But the Sword Path Dao Marks it had etched inside the snow monster's body roamed through its interior, strangling the deeply hidden snow core within. Once the snow core shattered, the snow monster suffered a fatal blow and instantly collapsed into pieces.
With this approach, the Flying Sword Immortal Gu could efficiently eliminate targets like snow monsters, never again yielding meager results for far too much effort.
However, this killer move had one major drawback.
It permanently consumed the Dao Marks on the Immortal Gu.
An Immortal Gu could be thought of as a shard of the Great Dao — an aggregate of countless Dao Marks. The higher the transformation level of the Immortal Gu, the larger the Great Dao shard and the greater the number of Dao Marks.
The more times the Sword Mark Life-Seeking killer move was used, the more Dao Marks the Sword Path Immortal Gu would lose. There was no way to restore them. Over time, the Sword Path Immortal Gu would grow weaker and weaker. Once a certain threshold was crossed, a qualitative change would occur — a Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu could fall to the Fifth Transformation mortal level, or a Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu could drop to the Sixth Transformation.
This drawback was quite serious, rendering the Sword Mark Life-Seeking killer move of limited value and far from popular.
The previous Lang Ya Earth Spirit had purchased it at a low price. What he valued was the killer move itself.
In truth, each time the Sword Path killer move Sword Mark Life-Seeking was used, it was equivalent to a single reverse refinement process for an Immortal Gu. The effect of this reverse refinement was just minuscule — it would take hundreds or even thousands of uses before any visible result appeared.
Once Fang Yuan understood this, he grasped why the previous Lang Ya Earth Spirit had purchased this killer move.
After all, the previous Lang Ya Earth Spirit's greatest passion in life had been refining Gu.
Fang Yuan pondered for a moment, then immediately accepted this Sword Path killer move.
There was no denying it — this killer move was perfectly suited to who he was right now.
The Great Wind Howled and Billowed, Snowflakes Dancing Wildly
A streak of sword light pierced into the blizzard. The sky was filled with wind and snow, yet the dazzling sword light was not obscured in the least — it easily cut straight through.
The sword light traced a graceful arc through the air, striking the ancient snow monster dead center in the chest, then piercing out through its back. It circled around once and returned to Fang Yuan's side.
The wound healed in the blink of an eye. The ancient snow monster howled triumphantly, just about to step forward, when its entire body suddenly collapsed and crumbled into a pile of ice and snow.
A single breath later, several dozen small snow monsters crawled out from the pile.
But these small snow monsters stood only one or two zhang tall — not worth worrying about.
Another Strike of Sword Trace!
The effect was devastating. An ancient-grade snow monster could be obliterated with a single blow.
Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
Only now had he truly witnessed the advantages of the Sword Path style.
"A Gu Master's cultivation — nurturing, using, and refining — all three aspects are profound and boundless. It's still the same Flying Sword Immortal Gu, yet by merely changing my method of application, I've achieved world-shaking results. Again!"
Fang Yuan executed Strike of Sword Trace once more.
In the blizzard, ancient snow monsters formed one after another, only to be swiftly and cleanly cut down by Fang Yuan.
A snow monster's strength and its size were directly correlated.
Those one or two zhang tall could be handled by First or Second Transformation Gu Masters. Those six zhang tall were ancient beasts, their combat power on par with Sixth Transformation Gu Immortals. Those seven zhang tall could rival Seventh Transformation Gu Immortals.
These six-zhang ancient snow monsters were being picked off one by one by Fang Yuan as if they were nothing more than a free meal.
Fang Yuan's combat power had undergone a tremendous upgrade. He recalled the desperate struggle against the ancient Muddy Swamp Crab back in Fox Immortal's Blessed Land. Now, facing an endless tide of ancient snow monsters, he was as calm as a still breeze, firmly controlling the entire situation.
Yet in his heart, Fang Yuan felt not the slightest relaxation, maintaining constant vigilance.
"The reason I'm so at ease is first that the Seventh Transformation Flying Sword Gu is highly effective against ancient beasts, and second that Strike of Sword Trace is inherently a powerful killer move that consumes Dao Marks. Besides, back then the Muddy Swamp Crab carried an Immortal Gu and thick sludge, but these snow monsters have none. Hm?"
Fang Yuan's expression suddenly turned sharp.
He observed carefully and noticed that the small snow monsters spawned from the fallen ancient snow monsters were gradually swelling and growing in size.
One zhang tall becoming two zhang, two zhang rising to three zhang...
Their combat power was rapidly increasing!
"If left unchecked, could they grow into six-zhang ancient snow monsters?" Fang Yuan dared not take chances. He paused the Flying Sword Immortal Gu, waved his great hand, and countless dark vortexes shot outward.