Boom!
Fang Yuan swept his sleeve, and black mist billowed outward in all directions — the Soul Explosion killer move.
This was a peak Seventh Transformation technique. It immediately struck the very core of the Immortal Formation that the Chi family had erected across the Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range, shattering it with overwhelming force.
Boom, boom, boom!
Another series of thunderous detonations. The formation's core disintegrated, and the surrounding segments of the Immortal Formation collapsed in rapid succession, one after another.
At that point, the entire Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range formation was thoroughly destroyed.
"As expected, they've left." Fang Yuan gazed at the now-empty core region, his eyes deep and unfathomable, yet betraying not a trace of surprise.
During his initial assault on the formation, the defenders had responded fiercely and with sound judgment. But in the later stages of the battle, Fang Yuan had clearly sensed that the Immortal Formation was losing its composure — many of its responses were delayed, becoming stiff and mechanical.
Whether an Immortal Formation or an Immortal Gu house, both required human operators to hold them. Even a lingering will or a formation spirit could not substitute for the role of a Gu Immortal.
"Hm? It seems a Immortal Gu was destroyed here?" Fang Yuan quickly detected an anomalous aura. Within moments, he confirmed that an unfinished wood-path Immortal Gu had been ruthlessly obliterated by the Chi family Gu Immortals upon their retreat.
Fang Yuan felt a quiet twinge of regret, but he also admired the decisiveness. In their place, he would absolutely have done the same.
Nothing of value remained at the core, so Fang Yuan ascended into the sky and turned his attention to the entirety of the Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range.
Within the range lived a vast number of cloud-path creatures.
Cloud cats, for instance.
Fang Yuan activated his enslavement-path techniques, instantly unleashing an orange-gold radiance from his body that blanketed an area of a hundred mu.
Within that glow, the cloud cats and other creatures began thrashing violently, their faces twisted in agony, letting out piercing shrieks. But the resistance quickly waned, and before long they lay motionless where they stood, every last one of them subdued into Fang Yuan's servitude.
Fang Yuan opened the gates of his Immortal aperture, and these creatures began streaming toward him of their own accord, pouring into his Supreme Immortal aperture like a river.
Fang Yuan continued his plunder, sweeping countless creatures into his aperture.
Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out. Two desolate-beast-level cloud cats burst from the undergrowth, bolting in panic toward the outskirts of the mountain.
"Get back here, all of you!" Fang Yuan laughed aloud, flying after them at great speed. A single application of his enslavement-path killer move left the two desolate-beast cloud cats prostrate on the ground, acknowledging him as their master.
The Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range was vast in territory and served as a major resource point, saturated with dense Dao marks. It was perfectly normal for it to nurture desolate-beast flora and fauna — ancient desolate beasts were even possible. Immortal Gu were rarer still, but there had indeed been one here, though it had been destroyed before it could take shape.
After completing his preliminary sweep, Fang Yuan's total harvest stood at seven desolate-beast cloud cats, three types of desolate-plant totaling eleven specimens — Cloud Breath Root, White Hair Ginseng, and Spear-tip Bamboo. What delighted him most was a single block of Seventh Transformation Immortal material: Cloud Clay, of truly enormous volume.
However, he saw no ancient desolate beasts or ancient desolate plants anywhere.
"The Gu Immortals stationed here probably took them. Or perhaps they were never here in the first place."
According to natural laws, this region certainly had the potential to produce ancient flora and fauna. But this territory had been under Chi family dominion for countless ages. The Chi family excelled in the formation path, yet their mastery of the enslavement path was weak. Naturally, they would never allow an ancient desolate beast capable of matching a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal to remain uncontrolled within their own holdings.
Fang Yuan gave it no further thought. He continued his plundering, this time extending his predatory reach toward the Spear-tip Bamboo that blanketed the mountainsides.
These were ordinary Gu refinement materials — the desolate-plant variant of Spear-tip Bamboo had already been claimed by Fang Yuan during his first wave of harvesting.
At this stage, however, things became somewhat troublesome.
Fang Yuan's arsenal of enslavement-path techniques was extensive, but his wood-path capabilities were lacking. His collection of wood-path Immortal Gu was simply too thin.
"Transplanting this Spear-tip Bamboo requires precise wood-path techniques," Fang Yuan sighed.
To uproot and relocate the Spear-tip Bamboo, he needed delicate wood-path manipulation. Techniques from other paths would imprint foreign Dao marks onto the bamboo — even temporarily etched marks would damage the bamboo's existing Dao structure, diminishing its quality.
The Ghostly Soul's true transmissions did in fact contain numerous wood-path methods, but in terms of wood-path Immortal Gu, Fang Yuan was at a clear disadvantage.
Thus, for the moment he could only rely on mortal-level techniques to collect the Spear-tip Bamboo.
This dramatically reduced his efficiency, far inferior to what an Immortal-level killer move could achieve. And the Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range was staggeringly vast — the Spear-tip Bamboo Fang Yuan had collected thus far was barely a drop in the ocean.
"If only my Mountain-Removing Immortal Gu could do the job. It can lift mountains, but it's only Sixth Transformation — it cannot move an entire mountain range."
In the past, Fang Yuan had been able to uproot the Soul-Dispelling Mountain and the Falling Spirit Valley because those two Heavenly Secret Realms had once been operated by the Ghostly Soul Demon Lord, who had used the Orderly killer move upon them.
The Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range had received no such treatment.
Of course, Fang Yuan could simply shatter the range, but the results of such destruction would be beyond his control.
Every tree has its roots; every mountain has its foundations. Unless he possessed the corresponding earth-path techniques to sever the mountain's root system—
"What?! That Fang villain has already breached the Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range?!" Chi Quyou's brow knotted into a tight frown, his expression dark as storm clouds.
As the Chi family's Supreme Grand Elder, a report of this magnitude had reached his hands immediately.
The earlier loss of the Heart-Absorbing River Beach had been a medium-tier resource — significant, but not critical. Now the Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range was lost as well. This was a major resource point!
"Back when our clan developed the Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range, we spent a fortune inviting a great earth-path expert to locate the ley lines and raise the mountains. We then cultivated it carefully for over a hundred years before it took shape. To think that today, the Cloud Bamboo Mountain Range has been pillaged."