"Cough, cough, cough..." Shang Xunzi lay sprawled on the deck of Heng Zhou, coughing ceaselessly, having swallowed far too much water, his entire body drenched.
Beside him, Xia Xunzi had already lost consciousness, gravely wounded, her condition dire beyond measure.
Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal Qing Ye walked over, expression calm: "The other two fellow immortals were swept away by the River of Time. We couldn't recover them."
Shang Xunzi gasped several ragged breaths and barely stood. He glanced at Xia Xunzi, face deathly pale, and said: "Those two have fallen in battle. That demon Fang Yuan is truly formidable! What about the remnants of Jingu Pavilion—any progress on recovery?"
The four Xunzi were biological siblings with deep bonds of affection, yet here Shang Xunzi was more concerned about Jingu Pavilion than the dying Xia Xunzi—showing neither grief nor anger.
Qing Ye smiled faintly: "The core Immortal Gu were undamaged. We've recovered all of them."
"That's good!" Shang Xunzi exhaled a turbid breath, his expression easing considerably.
Qing Ye nodded: "I've prepared a quiet chamber for you."
Shang Xunzi: "Much appreciated. I'll go below and perform the ritual to revive my brother and sister."
As it turned out, the four Xunzi were biological siblings—the closest of blood—who had cultivated a wondrous killer move. No matter how many perished, as long as any one of them survived, they could activate the move to swiftly revive the other three.
This was precisely why Shang Xunzi felt not the slightest trace of sorrow.
Moments later, all four Xunzi were fully healed. They climbed onto the deck, refreshed and renewed, and joined the battle.
The second wave of Ancient Era Beasts that Fang Yuan had left behind swarmed around Heng Zhou, attacking from every direction, desperately entangling them...
River waters surged and roared, the crash of waves flooding Fang Yuan's ears.
At this moment, he had restored his original appearance and entered the Immortal Gu House prototype to recover.
With this prototype, Fang Yuan essentially had a base of operations—extremely convenient.
"That Heng Zhou hasn't pursued us..." Some time had passed since they left the battlefield, and Fang Yuan relaxed slightly.
The Immortal Gu House prototype's speed was certainly no match for Heng Zhou. What it excelled at was concealing its trail.
With Jingu Pavilion present, the prototype's tracks could be exposed. But with only Heng Zhou, it likely couldn't detect the prototype at all. Otherwise, given so much time and Heng Zhou's speed advantage, why hadn't it caught up?
"We're safe for now." Ying Wuxie exhaled deeply, still shaken. "That was truly nerve-wracking."
"Indeed. If the Sect Leader hadn't destroyed Jingu Pavilion in time, we'd have been dragged into a quagmire of battle with no escape." Fairy Miao Yin said with a smile.
Bai Ningbing sat in silence to the side.
Hei Loulan likewise gazed quietly through the prototype at the vast, majestic River of Time beyond.
Fang Yuan's Time Path clone kept its eyes shut, brow furrowed. He was straining his senses to the limit, but the Life Gu in his Immortal Aperture—the Spring Autumn Cicada—barely responded.
In truth, according to Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's deductions, the higher the Spring Autumn Cicada's Transformation level, the wider its detection range, making it far easier to search for the Red Lotus True Inheritance.
Fang Yuan's Spring Autumn Cicada was only at the Sixth Transformation. Although he possessed a great many relevant Immortal Gu recipes and had attempted refinement several times, every attempt ended in failure.
Truly regrettable, but Fang Yuan had done everything in his power.
For months, he had pushed himself to the absolute limit—Soul Path cultivation, dream exploration, improving killer moves, extorting the Southern Border's Righteous Path, grand strategic planning, defending against deduction, devouring major Immortal Apertures, and more. It had drained every ounce of his energy and time.
To have squeezed out any time at all for refining the Spring Autumn Cicada was something of a minor miracle. But the true miracle never came—all of Fang Yuan's attempts failed.
"Though the Spring Autumn Cicada is only Sixth Transformation, I've already compensated in other ways." A confident gleam flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes.
This venture into the River of Time had been planned long in advance. Fang Yuan had employed the Fortune Path's Burning Soul, Explosive Fortune, and similar methods, pushing them to their absolute limits before finally being satisfied.
Searching for one or two Red Lotus Stone Islands in the vast expanse of the River of Time—of course that depended on luck.
ROAR!
The river waters suddenly grew turbulent. The roar of beasts reached everyone's ears.
"Two Ancient Era Beasts are fighting up ahead!" Ying Wuxie exclaimed in surprise after scouting.
Upon closer look, the two Ancient Era Beasts had been fighting for quite some time—both were spent, running on fumes.
Fang Yuan laughed heartily. Wasn't this just the fortune he needed?
He flew out of the Immortal Gu House prototype, cast "Familiar Face," and transformed into a stretch of river water, blending into the River of Time.
Then, he opened his Immortal Aperture's gate a sliver and activated the Ancient Beast Luring Formation!
The two Ancient Era Beasts sensed the intense aura of delicious prey. They froze simultaneously, then scrambled over each other, racing toward Fang Yuan.