In the end, the Falling Blossom Hall could not match the Bean God Palace. The collision immediately tore open a massive hole in the western wall.
Qing Chou dove downward, hatred driving his charge, and the Bean God Palace struck again.
At the same time, the flying spider finally bored through the Falling Blossom Hall's surface, and the Fang family's situation turned dire.
In this critical moment, Fang Anlei let out a piercing cry and unleashed her strongest technique.
Immortal Killing Move — Secluded Orchid in the Empty Valley!
The entire Immortal Gu House began to shrink violently. In the span of a few blinks, it had contracted to a miniature size, resembling nothing more than a toy.
The crater it had left upon impact with the desert now dwarfed the shrunken Falling Blossom Hall, like a pond compared to a small fish.
Simultaneously, countless slender petals erupted across the Falling Blossom Hall's surface, forming clusters of secluded orchids. Their fragrance drifted outward in ethereal wisps.
The Bean God Palace charged toward it — the Falling Blossom Hall was plainly right there, yet its approach now required traversing a vast distance.
The Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House was affected in this way, and so too were Ying Ji and the Twin-Winged Black Serpent ancient soul beast.
Space had been stretched and expanded countless times over.
Fang Anlei's eyes were tightly shut. Sweat rolled down her pale face in streams as she strained to maintain the killing move.
"Magnificent! I'll deal with that flying spider," Fang Yuan praised. He slipped out through the hole in the wall, circled around, and appeared directly before the flying spider.
Under the effect of the Secluded Orchid in the Empty Valley, Fang Yuan was temporarily safe — his Reverse Flow Guardian Seal remained hidden.
An Immortal Gu House was unlike an ancient battle formation. While inside the Gu House, Fang Yuan could not deploy his techniques and could only watch. Only once outside could he act.
"Let me see whether the Eighth Transformation soul beast command is more formidable, or whether my One Hundred and Eighty Slaves proves superior!"
Immortal Killing Move — One Hundred and Eighty Slaves!
This technique of Fang Yuan's was a slave-path specialty that allowed the weak to overpower the strong. With an enormous soul beast army in his possession, he was well equipped to enslave ancient soul beasts.
However, the flying spider before him was under the control of the Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu — the Soul Beast Command.
To enslave the flying spider meant pitting the One Hundred and Eighty Slaves killing move directly against the Soul Beast Command.
The moment the technique was deployed, the flying spider's entire body shuddered violently, and its burrowing into the Immortal Gu House slowed to a crawl.
"Remarkable!" Fang Yun exclaimed in delight.
Fang Leng's spirits lifted as well.
Immortal qi erupted wildly around Fang Yuan's body as he pushed the One Hundred and Eighty Slaves killing move to its maximum power, hammering it into the flying spider.
The flying spider struggled ceaselessly, caught between Fang Yuan's and the Defeated Armies Ghost's competing claims, unable to act of its own volition.
The One Hundred and Eighty Slaves killing move was only Seventh Transformation in rank, inferior to the Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu Soul Beast Command. But the move's power did not derive solely from Gu Worms alone — it also depended on the number of soul beasts commanded.
The soul beast army within Fang Yuan's immortal aperture was enormous in scale. This caused the power of the One Hundred and Eighty Slaves killing move to surge dramatically, reaching Eighth Transformation levels — just barely on par with the Soul Beast Command.
The two forces reached a stalemate!
The Falling Blossom Hall sat in a deep crater in the desert. Overhead, the Bean God Palace, the ancient soul beasts, and Ying Ji plunged downward in attack. In the distance upon the ground, a vast soul beast army was arrayed, with the Defeated Armies Ghost hidden behind two ancient soul beasts.
Inside the Falling Blossom Hall, Fang Anlei's eyes remained shut. Her brows were furrowed into deep creases, and her entire body trembled violently, swaying as though she might collapse at any moment.
Maintaining the Secluded Orchid in the Empty Valley against an Eighth Transformation foe was already pushing her to her absolute limit. The Falling Blossom Hall emitted creaking groans, overwhelmed by fighting so many enemies at once.
"The situation is still extremely unfavorable for our side," Fang Yuan thought, sharp light flickering in his eyes.
He had barely deployed any of his real combat strength, keeping the bulk of his techniques in reserve. Were he to unleash everything at his disposal, the tide of battle would shift dramatically.
However, a single misstep that exposed the Reverse Flow Guardian Seal would reveal his identity — something entirely incompatible with his greater plans.
"I need to disguise my identity while simultaneously turning the battle around. How should I — hm?" Fang Yuan's expression shifted suddenly.
The flying spider had abruptly stopped trembling and begun submitting to the subjugation of the One Hundred and Eighty Slaves killing move. Meanwhile, the Soul Beast Command's power, which had been opposing Fang Yuan, was rapidly fading.
"What happened?" Fang Yuan immediately turned his gaze in that direction, his vision piercing through nearly ten li of distance, and caught sight of the Defeated Armies Ghost vomiting blood and collapsing unconscious.
It turned out the Defeated Armies Ghost had long since reached his limit, held on through sheer willpower — but he was an arrow at the end of its flight.
At only Seventh Transformation cultivation, commanding four ancient soul beasts — even with the aid of an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu — was an astonishingly impressive feat. But he could hold on no longer.
The Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu Soul Beast Command could have fought the One Hundred and Eighty Slaves to a draw, but with the Defeated Armies Ghost no longer able to sustain it, the collapse came swiftly.