Feng Jiuge wore a long robe of intermingled red and white, standing like a jade tree in the wind. At this moment, he gazed upon the Shadow Sect immortals with a warm smile, his elegant bearing all the more apparent.
He harbored no battle intent or killing aura whatsoever, yet every member of the Shadow Sect felt an immense pressure bearing down on them.
"Feng Jiuge..." Fang Yuan stepped forward from the crowd, murmuring the name.
His bearing was extraordinary—a white robe like snow, a face like jade, eyes dark as lacquer, unfathomably deep.
Seeing this scene, White Rabbit Girl's heart stirred violently, and she thought to herself, "Today, the two most outstanding figures below the Eighth Transformation will finally settle who's superior!"
Come to think of it, although Fang Yuan and Feng Jiuge hadn't interacted for long, the threads of fate between them had been woven for a very long time indeed.
Years ago, when Fang Yuan seized the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land and snatched Feng Jinhuang's fortune, he had catapulted himself into Feng Jiuge's field of vision in one leap.
But at that time, Feng Jiuge was a lofty Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal—long famous, a peak figure. Fang Yuan was merely a mortal, no different from an ant. Even if he showed some promise, that was all he was.
Who could have imagined that in just a few short years, Fang Yuan would not only have become a Gu Immortal, but the master of the Spring Autumn Cicada, the one who destroyed the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, a participant in the Battle of Yitian Mountain, the Battle of Reverse Flow River, and the Dream Battle? Now he was unmatched in fame, listed on Heavenly Court's wanted roster, and his renown had already risen to equal Feng Jiuge himself!
Fang Yuan had once saved Feng Jiuge, and Feng Jiuge had once saved Fang Yuan. All debts of gratitude and grudges had long been settled.
Now the two of them would engage in the purest clash of strength, representing their respective factions.
"Feng Jiuge, you traveled a thousand miles to hunt us down—did you never consider that in doing so, you were handing your own life into my hands?" Fang Yuan sneered, his body shooting forward like lightning as he lunged directly at Feng Jiuge.
As he spoke, an immortal robe and sash materialized around him, his black hair whipped wildly, his eyes crackled with electricity, and he struck with full force, drawing open the curtain on this fierce battle.
Immortal Path Killing Move—Reverse Flow Body Guard Seal!
Feng Jiuge's eyes narrowed.
He had already witnessed the might of this killing move that shook the world.
He had also guessed that the Reverse Flow Body Guard Seal was likely quite complex, difficult to activate, and required considerable preparation time. If he launched a sneak attack and denied Fang Yuan the chance to deploy this move, the battle would surely tip in his favor.
Unfortunately, Fang Yuan had never once given Feng Jiuge such an opportunity.
Moreover, the Shadow Sect immortals' scouting and detection killing moves were all exceptional, leaving Feng Jiuge no opening for a surprise assault.
Watching Fang Yuan charge at him, the smile at the corners of Feng Jiuge's mouth only widened.
He murmured to himself, "I was able to teleport directly here using my self-created Immortal Path Killing Move—Yang Guan Melody. What's more, I haven't finished playing it yet."
The moment these words left his lips, his entire body erupted in a brilliant golden light.
The golden light held no offensive power whatsoever, but it flashed and vanished in an instant.
And Feng Jiuge himself had completely disappeared from where he stood.
"What?!" Almost in the next instant, Fang Yuan heard a piercing, zither-like melody.
The melody suddenly swelled, then immediately diminished, as if the player had flown past his very ear.
Fang Yuan's mind reeled, and understanding struck him like lightning. This was Feng Jiuge's movement technique—the one that had dazzled during the Five Domain Chaotic War.
It allowed Feng Jiuge to transform into formless, intangible sound, propagate outward, and then reconstitute his physical form. The Sound Path was actually not a mainstream discipline, and this move in particular was obscure and wondrous. Conventional methods were essentially incapable of intercepting Feng Jiuge's displacement.
"Watch out!!" Hei Loulan shouted a warning.
They had all heard the zither's melody and instinctively retreated.
But their speed was no match for the Yang Guan Melody, and without knowing Feng Jiuge's precise location, they could only choose their retreat directions at random.
White Rabbit Girl suddenly heard the zither music explode right beside her ear, and in the next instant, Feng Jiuge's figure coalesced into existence—right beside her.
Clang!
Feng Jiuge regarded her with a curious gaze and pointed at White Rabbit Girl from a distance, producing a sharp, clashing sound like weapons striking each other.
White Rabbit Girl let out a piercing shriek. In that instant, she felt a powerful surge of death bearing down upon her.
She hastily retreated.
A piercing sound wave struck her square in the chest.
In the next moment, blood sprayed into the air, and a raging black mist erupted from White Rabbit Girl's entire body.
From within the mist, Black Rabbit appeared, standing atop a gecko, and shot into the sky.
With only a Sixth Transformation cultivation, White Rabbit Girl was no match for Feng Jiuge. But at the critical moment, her other identity—Black Rabbit—appeared to save her, pulling her back from death's door.
Even so, Black Rabbit was gravely wounded and quickly withdrew to tend to her injuries.
Feng Jiuge did not give chase.
He knew that this surprise attack had failed. He had lost the initiative, and now everyone was on high alert. There would be no replicating the effect of that first strike.
The key was...
Feng Jiuge slightly lowered his gaze to the vast expanse of gobi below his feet. "Where is this?"
"The Soundless Gobi—your burial ground!" With these words, Fang Yuan lunged at him once more.
"So that's it." Feng Jiuge's expression cleared with sudden understanding. In the next instant, he dissolved into sound waves as the Yang Guan Melody proved its worth once again, causing Fang Yuan's attack to strike empty air.
However, when Feng Jiuge reappeared a short distance away moments later, his expression was no longer as pleasant.
The smile at the corner of his mouth had diminished considerably, and a hint of gravity had entered his gaze.
The Soundless Gobi of the Western Desert was a place as infamous as the Silent Ridge of the Southern Border. Both were renowned throughout the world as death traps and forbidden zones for Sound Path Gu Immortals.
In these two places, Sound Path dao marks were suppressed severely, and the power of any Sound Path killing move was greatly diminished.
Earlier, Feng Jiuge had intended to teleport directly behind White Rabbit Girl and deliver a lethal strike.
Instead, he had been forced to reveal himself a full hundred paces away from her.
It was this that had allowed White Rabbit Girl to escape the killing blow.