The battle between both sides hadn't lasted long, but Feng Jun had already lost his will to fight.
Fang Yuan had first assassinated the strongest target — the Seventh Transformation Blood Path Gu Immortal Zheng Tuo — then launched two more charges, employing the most flawless tactics possible, immediately establishing an absolute advantage!
Feng Jun was no fool. Even with his limited combat experience, he could tell that his life was in imminent danger.
Retreating was undoubtedly the wise move.
Battles between Gu Immortals were contests of both power and wits!
"My Third Sister has already lost control of her emotions, and Hei Cheng is a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal. Even if the two of us at the Sixth Transformation join hands, we're no match. Let's regroup with the other Gu Immortals first and surround and kill him under Immortal Chen Chi's leadership!"
With that thought, Feng Jun immediately began his retreat.
He activated an Immortal-level killing move, and auspicious clouds rose around him, carrying him and Zhou Min as they fled rapidly toward the rear left.
"What are you doing? Second Brother, let me kill him, let me kill him!" Zhou Min screamed repeatedly, struggling frantically in Feng Jun's embrace.
Feng Jun couldn't help but smile bitterly. He tightened his hold on Zhou Min involuntarily and stammered, "Don't move around — I'm increasing the distance to create an opening for your Far-Sight Weapon Light!"
Hearing this, Zhou Min's whole body trembled with excitement as she blurted out, "Great idea!"
She focused her concentration, locking her gaze firmly on Fang Yuan.
As the distance grew, the power of the Far-Sight Weapon Light intensified, and the pressure on Fang Yuan's defenses shot up dramatically.
Fang Yuan glanced at the auspicious clouds beneath the two immortals' feet and smiled nonchalantly.
He didn't rush to give chase. Instead, he suddenly swooped downward, landing on the ground to pick up Zheng Tuo's bisected corpse and store it within his Supreme Immortal Aperture.
"You villain! Put down my big brother's remains!" Zhou Min howled in fury, so enraged she could barely breathe.
Fang Yuan's actions were truly contemptible. Not only had he killed Zheng Tuo, but he wouldn't even leave his corpse alone.
How could he let it go?
This Seventh Transformation Blood Path Gu Immortal's entire collection of Dao Marks would be an enormous boost to Fang Yuan's foundation!
Let's count. Including Zheng Tuo, Fang Yuan had now killed four Gu Immortals in succession. Merging their Immortal Apertures was troublesome and came with strict conditions, but the harvest of Dao Marks was immensely rewarding.
"Ordinary Gu Immortals face mutual interference between their Dao Marks. Only by slaying cultivators of the same path can they absorb their Dao Marks. Otherwise, the cost usually outweighs the benefit. But this Supreme Immortal Body is different — the Dao Marks don't affect each other at all. How wonderful! No matter which Gu Immortal I kill, I can absorb their Dao Marks and bolster my own foundation. In that light, this is clearly an excellent method of power growth!"
In that moment, Fang Yuan gained yet another new realization.
This Supreme Immortal Body had been transformed from the Supreme Immortal Embryo Gu. The Demon Venerable You Hun had intended to use it for resurrection.
If he had truly succeeded and the original body was reborn, the consequences would be absolutely unimaginable!
First, the Demon Venerable You Hun had devoured untold numbers of souls within the Gate of Life and Death, possessing an immeasurable wealth of cultivation experience. Second, his attainment across various paths was essentially at the Grandmaster level! Third, he still had the remnants of the Shadow Sect to back him up.
Once he had this new starting point, he would likely follow the same path as in his past life, slaughtering in every direction. He could kill Gu Immortals, merge their Immortal Apertures, and absorb their Dao Marks. His growth speed would be absolutely fantastical — far beyond imagination!
Unlike Fang Yuan, who had only attained Grandmaster level in four paths, making Immortal Aperture merging difficult, so the most practical method was absorbing Dao Marks.
As Fang Yuan stuffed Zheng Tuo's corpse into his Immortal Aperture, the sight nearly split Zhou Min's eyes with rage.
Feng Jun said nothing. He felt grief and indignation too, but mostly he felt a measure of relief.
"So it seems Hei Cheng doesn't have a reliable movement method. Perhaps what he uses to get around is the Supreme Heaven Eagle. But that Ancient Desolate Beast hasn't matured yet — only Sixth Transformation combat power. He hasn't released it because he's worried the Supreme Heaven Eagle would be destroyed by the Far-Sight Weapon Light?"
Feng Jun's heart eased slightly.
But in the very next instant, his mouth subconsciously fell open, and a look of shock surfaced on his face.
Fang Yuan had activated his Sword Escape. His body shot skyward like a blade.
The speed was so terrifying that Feng Jun and Zhou Min were struck speechless!
"How can he be this fast?!" Zhou Min cried out in mingled shock and fury.
"So this is his true speed!" Feng Jun's heart nearly leaped into his throat — his own movement method was utterly worthless by comparison!
In just a few breaths, Fang Yuan closed in once again!
The killing intent was so cold it nearly froze Feng Jun's soul solid.
Immortal-level killing move — Past Reaches Out!
In this desperate moment, he had no choice but to deploy his life-saving technique for a third time.
A tremendous force slammed into Fang Yuan, reenacting the scene from before as he was once again pushed back.
"Third time, heh." Fang Yuan noted silently. Three failed lunges — yet he felt not the slightest frustration.
Zhou Min came to her senses.
She had been spooked by Fang Yuan's speed, cold sweat beading her forehead. The anger receded, replaced by fear.
"Let's go! This man is too strong — we'll regroup with the others first!" Zhou Min urged in a low voice.
Feng Jun felt greatly relieved upon hearing this.
With Zhou Min lending her strength, the pair's speed increased even further as they fled at top speed.
Fang Yuan pursued from behind, lunging time and again.
But each time, Feng Jun's Past Reaches Out move thwarted him.
After a short chase, two Gu Immortal silhouettes appeared up ahead.
They were the two independent Gu Immortal cultivators who typically lived in seclusion — one named Jiang Ji, the other Gao Mi.
"Hold on! We're coming!"
The two immortals were also rushing forward, quickly converging with Zhou Min and Feng Jun.
Fang Yuan observed their expressions and noticed not a trace of surprise, realizing that Feng Jun and Zhou Min had already used some kind of Communication Path technique during their flight to alert these two Gu Immortals.
"Hei Cheng, how dare you be so brazen, attempting to murder us inside Hei Fan's cave heaven!"
"You will die today!"
Feng Jun and Zhou Min stopped fleeing and turned to face Fang Yuan in combat.
"Young Master Hei Cheng — was it you who killed Sister Wanyun?! And did you poison our Old Ancestor as well?!" A shrill voice suddenly rang out.
It was Chen Le.
After activating the Brilliant Light Warning technique, Chen Le had gone looking for Fang Yuan, but he had already left ahead of her to intercept Zheng Tuo and the other two immortals.
When Chen Le couldn't find Fang Yuan, she was completely at a loss, not knowing what to do.
She didn't dare cancel the Immortal-level killing move and hid in the palace for a while before receiving Feng Jun's message.
The message explained how Fang Yuan had disguised himself as Chen Le and used a Sword Path killing move to murder Gu Immortal Zheng Tuo. Even someone as slow on the uptake as Chen Le understood what had happened by now.
She rushed to Chen Chi's residence, but how could she find her Old Ancestor there?
Though Feng Jun had been fleeing the whole time, he had actually already contacted the other Gu Immortals, and Chen Le had resolved to answer the call.
That was why she now appeared on the battlefield.
"So it's you." Fang Yuan saw Chen Le and smiled cruelly. "You've finally gotten a little smarter. That's right — whether it was Chen Chi, Chen Lizhi, Chen Wanyun, or Zheng Tuo, they all died at my hands. Of your people here, only two are at the Seventh Transformation, and even they are dead. The rest of you might as well surrender. As the saying goes, those who recognize the times are true heroes."
Chen Le's face went deathly pale, her entire body trembling violently.
Fang Yuan's own admission dealt her a devastating psychological blow.
"Why?! Why would you do this?!" Chen Le shrieked, tears streaming down her face in great rivulets. "How did we ever wrong you?! Why would you resort to such cruelty?!"
"Don't let him get to you, Chen Le — form the formation!" Zhou Min, who had recovered her composure, called out in a loud warning.
With Fang Yuan at the center, a colossal emerald light sphere suddenly enveloped the area within a hundred li.
This was none other than an enormous battle formation.
An ancient battle formation with Feng Jun, Zhou Min, Chen Le, and two others as its core nodes!
"Hei Cheng, even if you are a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal, today you shall die with regret!"
"That's right — ever since we completed our training with this battle formation, it has already slain over a dozen Desolate Beasts and eight Ancient Desolate Beasts."
"You won't escape! I'll skin you alive and flay your tendons to pay tribute to the souls of the immortals you've murdered!"
The Gu Immortals of Hei Fan's cave heaven rallied with their war cries, their morale surging in an instant.
Fang Yuan wore a faint smile, his composed demeanor utterly unchanged.
He spoke in a leisurely tone: "The Qingcheng Battle Formation, is it? Heh heh — merely a component of the ancient Qingcheng Longitudinal and Horizontal Formation. Did you think I wouldn't know?"
The expressions of the gathered immortals shifted subtly, and a sense of foreboding rose in every heart.
Chen Le's face turned a shade whiter still. In that moment, the regret and hatred flooding her heart were beyond measure!
Because this Qingcheng Battle Formation was something she had told Fang Yuan about.