North Plains.
Inside the Supreme Immortal Aperture, First Heaven.
Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing and vanishing in an instant.
"Several days of calculations, and I've settled on the original name — I'll still call it Blood Drift." With this thought, the Gu insects around Fang Yuan moved according to his will, scattering outward in every direction.
Hundreds of mortal Gu circled around him, flying and dancing like a massive ring.
The Blood Origin Immortal Gu was parasitized in his chest. The crimson mark began to radiate light, simultaneously releasing a surge of intense heat.
Suddenly, a dazzling blood-red light bloomed from Fang Yuan's chest.
The blood light shot skyward, and in the blink of an eye it transformed into a surging blood fountain.
The blood fountain carried Fang Yuan, erupting upward.
After blasting into the air, it stretched out with a loud rush, drawing a long crimson trail across the sky.
A river of blood light shot through the First Heaven.
Wherever it passed, a thick, metallic stench of blood diffused outward, enough to make anyone nauseous.
Inside the river of blood light, Fang Yuan was completely enveloped, his figure invisible. This was actually an advantage — it served as camouflage. Even if enemies attacked, they wouldn't know which part of the blood river to target.
After flying for a while, Fang Yuan brought it to a halt.
The river of blood light vanished abruptly, revealing Fang Yuan's solitary figure hovering in the air.
"The speed of this blood river can still be increased — as long as I add more mortal Gu." Fang Yuan carefully reflected, summarizing the gains and shortcomings.
"But even with more mortal Gu, the straight-line speed still can't match the Sword Escape Immortal Gu."
The Sword Escape Immortal Gu was a Seventh Transformation immortal Gu, while this Blood Drift immortal method used only a single Sixth Transformation immortal Gu — the Blood Origin Immortal Gu. It was only natural that it couldn't match the Sword Escape in speed.
Unless Fang Yuan elevated the Blood Origin Immortal Gu to the Seventh Transformation level, the Blood Drift would never surpass the Sword Escape in straight-line velocity.
But doing so would mean that as only a Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal, Fang Yuan would be wielding a Seventh Transformation immortal Gu — running into the same awkward situation as before, where the costs outweighed the benefits.
"Not matching the Sword Escape in straight-line speed was something I anticipated long ago — it doesn't matter! I developed this immortal method entirely to compensate for the Sword Escape's shortcomings in turning and maneuvering. I can alternate between Blood Drift and the Sword Escape Immortal Gu. That way, I'll have just enough to handle Chu Du." Fang Yuan had already worked this all out.
Blood Drift was a Blood Path method, while the Sword Escape Immortal Gu belonged to the Sword Path — there was absolutely no connection between the two. For any other Gu Immortal to try mastering both would mean failing at both.
But Fang Yuan was a special case!
This body of his was extraordinarily unique — it had been transformed from the Supreme Immortal Embryo Gu. The Dao Marks on his body were of every conceivable type, spanning multiple paths, and what's more, they didn't interfere with each other at all.
Fang Yuan could freely alternate between Blood Drift and the Sword Escape Immortal Gu without losing a shred of either technique's original power.
The Sword Escape Immortal Gu enabled straight-line flight. Though its speed was blistering, it could only fly in a straight line — far too simplistic. It was trivially easy to counter.
If he stopped to adjust his direction, that brief moment of vulnerability was something an Overlord-level expert could absolutely exploit.
But by alternating between the Sword Escape and Blood Drift, compensating for each other's weaknesses, he could roughly hold his own against an Overlord Immortal.
Chu Du was a Strength Path Gu Immortal. The Strength Path excelled in attack and recovery, giving it the greatest endurance in sustained combat, but its speed was typically lacking.
Of course, all of this was merely Fang Yuan's estimation.
Whether it would be effective still needed to be verified in practice.
After all, the last time Overlord Immortal Chu Du had made a major move was a full century ago.
Ever since his battle with the Liu Family's Supreme Grand Elder, he had rarely been seen, dedicating himself entirely to secluded cultivation.
These past few days, Fang Yuan had been doing more than just calculating the Blood Drift method — he had been exhaustively gathering intelligence on Chu Du.
But most of the information was around a hundred years old, long since obsolete.
At times like these, Fang Yuan found himself missing Fairy Li Shan. Hei Loulan's aunt possessed the Mountain Alliance Immortal Gu and commanded an incredibly wide network of contacts, maintaining extensive ties with Demonic Path cultivators, Righteous Path cultivators, and independent practitioners alike. If she were still alive, she would surely be able to gather much more up-to-date intelligence on Chu Du.
"The Langya Sect may be powerful, but they've been in seclusion for years and have only recently begun actively engaging with the outside world. Their intelligence capabilities are nowhere near Fairy Li Shan's. Information Path… that's one of my weaknesses. I'll have to remedy it going forward."
Fang Yuan's thoughts drifted slightly.
He recalled the great battle at Yi Tian Mountain.
Ah, that had been a trap!
Even now, just thinking about it made his heart race.
His survival had been entirely due to two giants fighting each other, allowing an ant like him to reap enormous benefits in the end. Narrowly escaping death had involved no small amount of luck.
Truth be told, it all came down to insufficient attainment in the Information Path and inadequate intelligence! If Fang Yuan had known about the inside situation beforehand, he would certainly have altered his plan.
"Though even with Fairy Li Shan's Information Path methods, I probably still wouldn't have uncovered the crucial intelligence. The waters of Yi Tian Mountain ran far too deep. Five hundred years ago in my previous life, nothing of this scale happened!"
Fang Yuan gathered his wandering thoughts back together.
He had to admit, now that he had regained a new body, his mind was sharper and more agile when thinking through problems. His previous form as an Immortal Zombie was simply incomparable.