"How could this be? How could this be..." The battle reports from Southern Border had already arrived. Zi Wei Fairy murmured to herself, her eyes filled with bewilderment.
The once grand and expansive hall now seemed permeated with confusion.
Not only had Fang Yuan not undergone tribulation, but he had already reached the Eighth Transformation! Furthermore, he had used this opportunity to set up an ambush at the Five Regions Mountain Range and capture Jun Shenguang, the Heavenly Court Gu Immortal!
Zi Wei Fairy had long known about the Southern Border Gu Immortals being captured by Fang Yuan. She never expected that the same fate would so quickly befall her own Heavenly Court side.
Heavenly Court Gu Immortals — captured alive!
When was the last time something like this had happened?
The instant she received this news, Zi Wei Fairy involuntarily recalled the legendary exploits of several Demonic Venerables throughout history.
Her brows were drawn even tighter with sorrow than before, and there was an additional trace of panic beyond her usual composure.
Despite having always overestimated Fang Yuan, she had not expected that even now, his growth would still far exceed her projections.
"Ever since Fang Yuan obtained the Reverse Flow Protective Seal, he's been an enormous problem. Now that he's achieved the Eighth Transformation and mastered Xia Cha's various methods — even though he leveraged the terrain of the Five Regions Mountain Range to greatly weaken his opponents — he can genuinely pose a threat to Heavenly Court Gu Immortals!"
Zi Wei Fairy let out a long, weary sigh.
She had already anticipated that such a day would come. That was why she had exhausted every possible means to try to strangle this danger in its cradle. Yet she had never imagined that Fang Yuan's progress would be this swift and explosive!
"Fang Yuan's rate of growth is accelerating — it seems like a quantitative change has triggered a qualitative leap. But how exactly did he quietly achieve the Eighth Transformation without anyone noticing?"
Zi Wei Fairy was utterly perplexed.
Previously, she had always assumed that Fang Yuan's remarkably rapid cultivation progress must be the result of using Time Path methods to accelerate the flow of time within his own immortal aperture.
But now, a sudden realization struck her — Fang Yuan must possess an entirely different and brilliant method, one that could defy all convention and allow him to elevate his cultivation base!
"So... what is this method?"
Zi Wei Fairy did not continue her deductions. Instead, she left the hall and made her way to the place where Demon Venerable Soul Immortal was imprisoned.
The grand formation rumbled to life. After a long while, Zi Wei Fairy returned to the hall, her face etched with shock.
"The Supreme True Immortal Gu! The Supreme True Immortal Aperture... so that's how it is!" Zi Wei Fairy muttered, her expression one of someone whose very soul had been shaken loose.
The ambition of Demon Venerable Soul Immortal had truly stunned her.
What alarmed her even more was that the Supreme True Immortal Gu had already been refined — and it had fallen into Fang Yuan's hands!
A deep, bitter taste surged through her heart.
Demon Venerable Soul Immortal had hidden it so well!
Had it not been for Fang Yuan exposing certain clues this time, which aroused Zi Wei Fairy's suspicion and prompted her to perform a targeted soul search, she would have remained completely in the dark.
"No wonder Fang Yuan's cultivation has surged so dramatically. This time, his achievement of the Eighth Transformation must be because he devoured the immortal apertures of numerous Southern Border Gu Immortals, allowing him to bypass the tribulation."
"That he could activate the Xia Fan killer move and directly contend against other Eighth Transformation experts' attacks proves he devoured Xia Cha's immortal aperture as well. Only with that many Time Path dao marks could he amplify the Xia Fan killer move sufficiently."
"Immortal apertures can only be devoured from large to small, but the Supreme True Immortal Aperture is a special case. However, devouring Xia Cha's Eighth Transformation Heavenly Abode required the Grandmaster realm in the Time Path — how could Fang Yuan possibly have that?"
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Zi Wei Fairy's face turned deathly pale.
Every thread of evidence in her mind converged and connected, and the fog that had clouded her thoughts entirely dissipated.
"Fang Yuan has a method that allows him to elevate his realm from dreams!"
"No wonder he's been scavenging dreams throughout Southern Border. His Grandmaster-level attainment in the Time Path must have been gained from dreams."
"Hiss..."
Even someone as powerful and experienced as Zi Wei Fairy could not help but draw in a sharp breath at this realization.
Fang Yuan possessed the Supreme True Immortal Aperture — he could devour apertures at will and bypass tribulations entirely.
And the greatest obstacle in devouring apertures was one's attainment level in a given path.
Advancing one's realm was extraordinarily difficult, often requiring hundreds of years of effort. But Fang Yuan could leverage dreams to rapidly elevate his attainment level.