In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan was completely hemmed in by countless blade phantoms. Not only that, but the entire sky was saturated with billions of blade lights, blanketing every direction and isolating inside from out.
"No matter who you are, this defensive killer move of yours is truly impressive!" Meng Tu was wrapped in layers upon layers of blade phantoms. He stared at Fang Yuan with a dark expression, a faint smile on his face, while rubbing his hands together to work out the numbness from his earlier strike.
"But!" Meng Tu tilted his head slightly, gazing up at the towering Yan Emperor with a look of pity in his eyes. "You shouldn't have come to Autumn Blade Plain to cause me trouble."
"Hehe, actually, coming here to cause me trouble isn't impossible. You just picked the worst possible timing. If you had shown up when I first arrived here, you might have had a fighting chance. But now? Heh heh heh..."
Meng Tu laughed, clasped his hands behind his back, and shook his head.
In the next moment, Fang Yuan picked up right where he'd left off: "But now, this place is already covered with your footprints. For years, you've been comprehending the Blade Dao here, attempting to break through your bottleneck and become a grandmaster of the Blade Dao. That's allowed you to exert enormous influence over the Dao marks here, creating an environment nearly equivalent to an immortal battlefield killer move — which is exactly what I see before me."
"You..." Meng Tu's expression changed instantly. He had been absolutely certain his trump card was unknown to anyone, yet Fang Yuan not only showed not a trace of astonishment — he calmly laid out every detail as though reciting his own family treasures.
Fang Yuan's voice dropped low: "Do you know why I came to cause you trouble? Precisely because you have this ability — the ability to construct such a combat environment. Right now this place is nearly an immortal battlefield, but not truly one in the real sense. There's one fundamental difference: your influence has already been pushed to its absolute limit and can't be controlled at will. So on one hand, this place has trapped me — but on the other hand, hasn't it also trapped you here?"
Meng Tu's pupils contracted sharply. His earlier smugness had vanished without a trace.
"Who exactly are you?" he asked Fang Yuan, his expression tense.
Fang Yuan laughed heartily, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings. "These blade phantoms of yours — though numerous, the quality simply isn't there. As it happens, my killer move has a rather similar trick. Let's have a contest first, shall we?"
With that, countless roars erupted from the yellow-brown imperial robe draped around Fang Yuan. The ghostly figures painted on its surface sprang to life, beginning to move. One by one they leaped, growing from small to large, jumping right out of Fang Yuan's Yan Emperor robe!
These ghosts were all roughly humanoid, but hideous and terrifying — green faces with fangs, blade-like hands, their eyes brimming with blood. A horrifying sight.
"Kill!" Meng Tu narrowed his eyes and directed the blade phantoms to attack.
These blade phantoms all resembled his own form, but with blurred features. In terms of stature, compared to the towering ghosts, they were like mice beside cart wheels.
The ghosts howled, extending their massive arms and sweeping in every direction like the trunks of titanic trees.
Bang, bang, bang — all the blade phantoms in their path shattered.
The ghosts charged in all directions with frenzied roars, unstoppable wherever they went. The blade phantoms were smashed and trampled to nothing, none able to withstand even a single exchange.
"These ghosts are incredibly powerful — each one has Seventh Transformation combat strength!" Meng Tu was a veteran of countless battles. After observing for only a few moments, his heart sank like a stone and his eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably.
"But it doesn't matter. These blade phantoms of mine are drawn from the natural Dao marks of Autumn Blade Plain — they're virtually inexhaustible. The quality may be lacking, but I can overwhelm with sheer numbers!"
Meng Tu quickly steadied himself.
"Hmm, these Yan Luozi are quite decent." Fang Yuan observed for a while, evaluating mentally, and found himself rather satisfied.
These ghosts were none other than the ancient soul beasts Fang Yuan had collected from the Green Ghost Desert.
After activating his Yan Emperor killer move, Fang Yuan could modify these ancient soul beasts, reshaping their forms and unifying them into a humanoid shape — transforming them into Yan Luozi.
This capability came from the Blood God's immortal Gu recipe.
Fang Yuan's Blood Path had reached the Grandmaster realm, and with the assistance of the Wisdom Radiance, he had long since fully deduced the Blood God's immortal Gu recipe.
The current Fang Yuan was a near-supreme in the Refinement Path. Any immortal Gu recipe, once processed through his deductions, could be transformed into an immortal killer move.
Thus, Fang Yuan had already mastered the Blood God's immortal killer move.
The Yan Luozi had been designed with reference to the Blood God killer move, but they went beyond it — they also incorporated and fused refined elements from the Spectral Soul's true inheritances.
Take soul beast modification, for example.
Demon Venerable Spectral Soul had modified the soul beasts within the Gate of Life and Death, making them fanatically loyal to him — loyal enough to fight to the death even against Lord Dragon.
There was also an immortal-level Soul Path killer move: Return of Life and Death.
This immortal killer move had been comprehended by Demon Venerable Spectral Soul during his lifetime, through his study of the heavenly secret realm known as the Gate of Life and Death.
What kind of place was the Gate of Life and Death?
When any living being died, their soul would return to the Gate of Life and Death. However, after Red Lotus Demon Venerable destroyed the Fate Gu, the Gate's power had diminished greatly, allowing countless souls to linger in the mortal world and gradually coalesce into soul beasts.
The Return of Life and Death killer move granted a Gu Immortal the Gate's ability to reclaim souls.
Fang Yuan had seamlessly integrated this technique into his Yan Emperor killer move, granting every Yan Luozi the ability to return instantly.
Before long, one of the Yan Luozi let out a miserable shriek — its thigh shattered, and it crashed to the ground with a boom. Immediately, countless blade phantoms swarmed over, engulfing it.
But Fang Yuan willed it: "Return."
In the next instant, the Yan Luozi dissolved into a wisp of mist, shooting back to Fang Yuan's imperial robe with a whoosh. It reverted to a ghostly painting — motionless, riddled with wounds, its thigh broken.