"Bai Zu Tian Jun possesses the means to invade a blessed land, but his true body seemingly cannot — he can only dispatch clones."
"The Black Fan Blessed Land is vast in space, and the Yellow Bell earth spirit was destroyed by Liu Guan Yi. I cannot survey the entire situation, so there's no way of knowing how many of Bai Zu Tian Jun's clones have actually arrived!"
"Every time I'm about to kill one, new combat power appears. This can only mean one thing — the opponent's clones are far more than these three in front of me. There must be others that have already formed but are deliberately staying out of the fight. Only when I've figured out the enemy's methods and gained the upper hand, about to deliver a killing blow, do they show up to save the situation. Such behavior is clearly meant to stall for time!"
Lightning flashed through Chu Du's mind, and his sense of foreboding grew ever stronger.
Bai Zu Tian Jun was deliberately stalling for time — he must have some ulterior motive!
Though Chu Du could not yet see through his true intentions, one thing was beyond doubt: he could no longer fight according to the opponent's rhythm.
With this thought, Chu Du erupted. His body swelled violently, transforming into a ten-foot-tall small giant.
Immortal Gu move — Combat Power Steaming!
His entire body flushed red. Fifty-eight thousand pores across his skin opened wide, and countless drops of sweat rose as steam, enveloping him completely.
Then he raised his right hand toward heaven and let his left hand hang low toward earth, chanting in a low voice: "Taste this move of mine — Heaven and Earth Unite."
Bai Zu Tian Jun's three clones were instantly frozen in place. They felt an incomparably terrifying force emanating from heaven above and earth below, locking them firmly in position, then slowly grinding toward them.
Chu Du was not faring well either.
Muscles bulged across his entire body as he poured every ounce of his strength into the move. Amid the clouds of steam from his sweat, his face was flushed crimson with exertion, his eyes shot through with blood vessels. His arms especially — veins bulged across their surface like writhing earthworms. Grotesque and terrifying.
His right hand pressed downward, his left hand pressed upward, as if carrying two small mountains, slowly, laboriously driving them toward each other.
Inside his immortal aperture, red date immortal essence was being consumed at a furious rate.
Along with Chu Du's movement, Bai Zu Tian Jun's three clones suffered even more. They felt the force surrounding their bodies increase violently, crushing them until they were nearly shattered apart.
Just as these three clones were about to be crushed and detonate, at the critical moment the fourth, fifth, and sixth Tian Jun clones all arrived simultaneously to save the situation.
Boom. Boom.
Two muffled explosions. The first and second Tian Jun clones were crushed on the spot by Chu Du, their entire bodies reduced to powder — but their Immortal Gu and immortal essence vanished without a trace, having not been destroyed.
"What a formidable move — offense and defense integrated as one, with powerful control capabilities. It's practically the prototype of a battlefield-type Gu move!" The third Tian Jun clone, having been rescued, still felt shaken.
"No matter how many clones you send, it's useless! The next move I have is something I prepared specifically for Eighth Transformation existences. Bai Zu Tian Jun, if your true body doesn't appear soon, none of these clones will be saved." Chu Du let out a long cry and assumed his stance.
His entire body spread into a wide X, arms and legs fully extended, palms facing the sky. The auras of various Immortal Gu and mortal Gu on his body surged forth endlessly, shifting ceaselessly. His momentum alone was even more overwhelming than the Heaven and Earth Unite move — awe-inspiring and soul-shaking.
Bai Zu Tian Jun's remaining clones all retreated slightly, activating defensive Gu moves and standing fully on guard.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The next instant, the Tian Jun clones detonated themselves, completely without warning.
"What kind of move is that?" Outside the Black Fan Blessed Land, Bai Zu Tian Jun's true body furrowed his brow.
Although all his clones had perished, their combat memories had been transmitted back, allowing Bai Zu Tian Jun to glimpse part of the mystery behind Chu Du's Gu move.
"This move is formless and colorless, covering an enormous area. Once trapped within, a tremendous internal force erupts from inside, causing self-detonation. Hmm? The coverage area is expanding at such an alarming rate!"
Bai Zu Tian Jun's brows knotted into a tight furrow.
Inside the Black Fan Blessed Land, Chu Du had spread his mysterious Strength Path move to cover the entire blessed land.
This caused every last one of Bai Zu Tian Jun's clones to detonate and perish.
Bai Zu Tian Jun chuckled: "Interesting. It seems I cannot deal with Chu Du without sending in my true body."
The moment his words fell, he activated an Immortal Gu move.
A dark-white, centipede-like beam of light shot forth from his body, piercing through space, instantly forming a vast region of distorted light and shadow within the Black Fan Blessed Land.
Then Bai Zu Tian Jun strode forward, stepping into the light and shadow.
"You want to come in?" Chu Du laughed loudly, raising his foot and delivering a savage kick.
A massive Strength Path foot materialized and flew outward, striking the distorted light and shadow and blasting Bai Zu Tian Jun back out.
Bai Zu Tian Jun was stunned, then a look of mingled anger and helplessness crossed his face: "This Black Fan Blessed Land is easy to defend and hard to attack. For me to bore my way in would take at least twenty breaths. In that time, Chu Du would have more than enough opportunity to sever my spell. Sending in Tian Jun clones would only result in instant self-detonation, to no avail…"
Chu Du was defending with all his might, hunkered down inside the Black Fan Blessed Land. Facing him was like facing a turtle retreated into its shell — Bai Zu Tian Jun found himself at a complete loss for how to proceed.
"Bai Zu Tian Jun is attacking the Black Fan Blessed Land?" In his hand, Fang Yuan held Chu Du's letter of appeal, and let out a long, turbid breath.
His worry immediately eased.
Though Chu Du was his ally, the fact that he was now defending the Black Fan Blessed Land with stubborn tenacity from within, holding his own against Bai Zu Tian Jun — this was actually beneficial for Fang Yuan.
The Lang Ya earth spirit wanted to turn Chu Du to their side, but the difficulty of doing so was immense. If successful, Chu Du joining the Lang Ya Sect would greatly affect Fang Yuan's current position. If it failed, the intelligence about Fang Yuan collaborating with non-human races would be exposed, and the consequences would be unpredictable.