The Southern Border.
The Supreme Immortal Aperture had already descended. Now its gateway stood wide open, swallowing heaven and earth qi like a leviathan drinking the sea. Massive quantities of the two qi poured in.
Crash!
The frantic two qi of heaven and earth surged in a vast, boundless torrent. Anyone witnessing such a spectacle would have been stunned — no blessed land had ever been able to absorb such an enormous volume of the two qi at once.
Fang Yuan's Supreme Immortal Body hovered near the gateway, watching as the海量 of the two qi flooded in. The qi was so dense it had condensed into clouds and mist, carrying a damp weight.
"Drink. Drink your fill this time." Fang Yuan smiled, understanding the Supreme Immortal Aperture's "hunger."
The Market Realm, the Reverse Flow River, and the Desolate Soul Valley — the three great earthly secret realms were wonderful and unique in all the world, but the burden they placed on a blessed land was enormous. The two qi of heaven and earth were consumed at a furious rate. So periodically, Fang Yuan had to absorb massive quantities of the two qi from the outside world to replenish himself.
"This is still with Dang Hun Mountain not yet restored. If it were fully repaired, the Supreme Blessed Land's demand for the two qi would be even greater!"
From this perspective, the damage to Dang Hun Mountain still held a slight benefit for Fang Yuan.
Of course, the most critical factor was Fang Yuan's own Supreme Blessed Land itself. It was rich in resources, like a colossal cornerstone, capable of bearing all four great earthly secret realms simultaneously. An ordinary blessed land would likely struggle to sustain even two.
Descending the immortal aperture and opening its gateway brought quite a few drawbacks for Fang Yuan.
In this moment, because inner and outer worlds were connected and the two qi of the outside world were being absorbed, Fang Yuan's location would be exposed. Heavenly Will would detect him immediately.
If another Gu Immortal were divining him at this moment, Fang Yuan's difficulty in defending against the divination would increase dramatically.
That was why Fang Yuan had previously tried to purchase immortal materials and refine them into the two qi to replenish himself. But recently, with his focus directed toward restoring Dang Hun Mountain, his funds had dwindled and his finances grew tight. So he had taken the risk of descending his aperture to absorb the two qi from the outside world.
The Supreme Immortal Aperture was an absolute glutton. Its digestion of the two qi was tens, even hundreds of times that of an ordinary blessed land.
The Supreme Immortal Aperture had eaten its fill, yet the two qi still surged in without stopping, pouring in ceaselessly.
This anomaly didn't surprise Fang Yuan, because he knew this time was different. This was the appointed time for his tribulation.
As a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal, Fang Yuan faced an Earth Disaster every ten years, a Heavenly Tribulation every fifty years, and a Grand Calamity every hundred years.
Ever since Fang Yuan had employed his Time Path methods to accelerate the flow of time within the Supreme Immortal Aperture to the fastest possible rate, the tribulations he faced had become far more frequent!
This was an Earth Disaster.
Whether it was an Earth Disaster or a Heavenly Tribulation, neither posed any challenge for Fang Yuan. He had even mastered the Immortal Killer Move Stone Cave Heavenly Secret. This technique used the Heavenly Secret Immortal Gu as its core, supported by other Gu insects, and allowed Fang Yuan to directly calculate the contents of a tribulation some time in advance.
So before this Earth Disaster had even truly taken shape, Fang Yuan already knew everything about it.
Sure enough, the subsequent evolution of the tribulation unfolded exactly as he had calculated.
Earth qi spiraled endlessly beneath Fang Yuan's feet, forming a colossal yellowish-brown vortex. Overhead, heaven qi churned and rumbled, with azure lightning flashing nonstop.
Wooo wooo wooo —!
A series of piercing sounds drilled at the eardrums. From the center of the yellowish-brown earth qi vortex, enormous statues with horrifying features slowly rose, one after another.
These statues stood three zhang tall, their builds thick and powerful, with fangs jutting past their lips. Suddenly, their crimson eyes snapped open, and purple bat-like wings unfurled behind their backs. They soared into the air and charged straight at Fang Yuan.
"Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues." Fang Yuan hovered in midair, hands clasped behind his back, his expression mild as he gazed down upon the incoming statues.
He was perfectly at ease. Despite the enemy's fierce assault, at this critical moment he tilted his head to look up at the sky.
Above, azure lightning split through the heavy cloud layer, and from it, enormous statues very similar to the Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues made their imposing entrance.
The Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues bared their fangs and brandished their claws in wild disarray, but these new statues were arranged in perfect formation like an army, each bearing a solemn expression. They were equally imposing in build, with a pair of broad, powerful eagle wings behind their backs.
"Azure God Warrior Statues." A faint smile flickered in Fang Yuan's mind as he identified the second type of statue.
By now, the Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues had already reached Fang Yuan. Their massive claws swung, their gaping maws opened wide, and they bit and tore at him.
Fang Yuan remained motionless. A faint ripple appeared across the surface of his body.
It was none other than the Immortal Killer Move that had already shaken the world — the Reverse Flow Protective Seal, a technique Fang Yuan had created himself.
Whether it was the attacks of the Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues or the Azure God Warrior Statues, all were reflected back, wounding their own creators. Meanwhile, Fang Yuan stood unharmed, firmly invincible.
"Be gone, all of you." Fang Yuan waved his hand, and the Immortal Killer Move Ten Thousand Flood Dragons erupted. Silver scales spread like an ocean as ten thousand flood dragons soared, endless and infinite.
The Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues and Azure God Warrior Statues were numerous, continuing to spawn alongside the two qi of heaven and earth, but how could they compare to the sheer number of Fang Yuan's flood dragons?
At first, they put up some resistance. But soon they were overwhelmed by the army of flood dragons, suffering heavy casualties. Even the condensed clusters of the two qi that formed them were scattered by the flood dragons. Heavenly Will, unwilling to concede, tried to recondense them — but in the next instant, the ferocious dragon army tore them apart again.
After a short while, the tribulation was overcome. The immortal aperture gateway closed, and the Supreme Immortal Aperture returned to its peaceful calm.
Fang Yuan nodded inwardly, assessing his gains and losses. "This Earth Disaster was originally meant to be solely the Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues. But I hadn't overcome the previous Earth Disaster — I deliberately used the Immortal Killer Move Infinite Aftermath to delay it."
The Immortal Killer Move Infinite Aftermath came from the Hei Fan True Inheritance. It could shift one tribulation to the next, causing both to erupt simultaneously. The drawback was that this shortcut provoked Heaven's wrath, making the tribulation's power far greater than the simple sum of the two.
Heavenly Will harbored sinister intentions. To suppress Fang Yuan's cultivation progress, it deliberately minimized the power of each tribulation, ensuring that Fang Yuan gained very few Dao Marks each time he overcame one.
In this situation, the drawback of the Infinite Aftermath move actually became an advantage that benefited Fang Yuan!
So Fang Yuan exploited this technique, stacking two tribulations together and overcoming them both at once to increase his Dao Marks, leaving Heavenly Will powerless to stop him.
"The Yellow Springs Ghost Warrior Statues were an Earth Disaster, but the Azure God Warrior Statues had already reached the level of a Heavenly Tribulation. This time, my gains in Dao Marks are considerable!" Fang Yuan inspected himself. The key increases were in his Soul Path and Transformation Path Dao Marks.
All of it was useful to Fang Yuan.