Inside the Ninth Transformation killer move, Celestial Appearance.
Fang Yuan's will soared like a dragon, spiraling through the air before plunging downward with savage force.
BOOM!
Fang Yuan's will crashed like a falling meteor into the ocean of will below, and in an instant, a tremendous amount of will was shattered and destroyed.
However, this ocean of will was far too vast and profound. What Fang Yuan had destroyed with that strike was merely a drop in the bucket.
"Although I successfully seized control and claimed the killer move's core, this place is brimming with the will of the Five Appearances and their descendants. Only once I've eradicated every trace of this will can I truly activate this Ninth Transformation killer move."
The sheer scale of this ocean of will was staggering. What made things worse was that, under the influence of the Ninth Transformation killer move, this will had been hardened to the toughness of stone. Many clever methods Fang Yuan might have employed became useless. Under the killer move's suppression, the tools at his disposal were pitifully few.
Suddenly, a new thought flashed through Fang Yuan's mind, and a completely different wave of will surged inward.
Swish, swish, swish!
The will condensed into swords—tens of thousands of will-blades rained down like a torrential storm, piercing into the ocean of will and blasting out countless craters.
Before long, the ocean of will had been worn down by a full layer.
Compared to the results of his earlier dragon-shaped will assault, this rain of will-swords was astonishingly more effective.
Seeing this, Fang Yuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "As expected of the Wisdom Sword Immortal Gu—truly worthy of its Eighth Transformation rank."
He was now at the Eighth Transformation, which allowed him to wield this Gu. Though it was a Sword Path Immortal Gu, its connection to the Wisdom Path was extremely close.
Using it as a core, Fang Yuan had deduced a rather simple immortal-level technique capable of unleashing vast quantities of sword intent.
The effect of using this sword intent to scour the ocean of will was the best he had achieved across all his attempts.
The only drawback was that his consumption skyrocketed by several orders of magnitude. After all, the Wisdom Sword Immortal Gu was an Eighth Transformation Gu, and activating it required White Lychee Immortal Essence. The Immortal Path killer move compounded the drain even further.
But after running the numbers, Fang Yuan determined this level of consumption was still acceptable.
His logistical support was formidable, after all. His Immortal Orifice was thriving.
During the battle to break out of the River of Time, Fang Yuan had escaped with his life and foiled the Heavenly Court's extermination plan—but the losses had been enormous. The destruction of his Immortal Gu House prototype, in particular, still made his heart ache to this day.
That Immortal Gu House prototype had been painstakingly assembled after Fang Yuan captured numerous Southern Border Gu Immortals and obtained their Immortal Gu, then conducted countless negotiations, trades, and extortion deals with the Southern Border Righteous Path to acquire the remaining pieces.
It had represented an immense investment of Fang Yuan's effort and energy, but now it had all turned to nothing.
"Hopefully, this Celestial Appearance killer move will prove useful to me."
Fang Yuan had placed tremendous expectations on the Celestial Appearance killer move.
With an ordinary killer move, he might have been able to inspect its internals and deduce its specific power. But this killer move reached the Ninth Transformation—its level far too high for him to comprehend.
This was the work of Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable. He had excelled in the Path of Space and the Path of Theft. Even if this move wasn't designed for offensive purposes, its effects would undoubtedly be extraordinary.
Though Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable had never explicitly revealed what this move's power truly was, Fang Yuan could deduce it from other clues.
For instance, the Shadow Sect's attitude.
The Shadow Sect's Inkstone Elder had specifically aided Bai Ningbing, supporting her, with the primary aim of seizing the Celestial Appearance.
"Inkstone Elder is a Wisdom Path powerhouse as well. He must have deduced something—this Celestial Appearance killer move is certainly of great help to the Shadow Sect."
Fang Yuan was the current master of the Shadow Sect, so this killer move would naturally be of tremendous benefit to him as well.
Beyond eradicating the ocean of will inside the killer move, Fang Yuan was simultaneously working to break the Five Appearances' seal, bringing the Immortal Gu House at the mountain's summit and the Five Appearances' shared blessed land under his control.
This blessed land opened only once every thousand years, its resources exceedingly abundant. The Qi family Gu Immortal had been too busy fleeing to bother plundering it—everything would now become Fang Yuan's cultivation resources.
BOOM—!
A massive explosion tore Bai Ningbing to pieces.
But in the very next instant, the White Appearance she had transformed into reassembled once more and charged at the Qi family Gu Immortal.
The Qi family Gu Immortal's expression was utterly grim—he had experienced firsthand the terror of the White Appearance killer move!
With this move at her disposal, Bai Ningbing was practically immortal. Of course, she was fighting one against many, and it wasn't her strength alone—Ying Wuxie and Hei Loulan were backing her from behind the scenes.
Though Fang Yuan had ordered Bai Ningbing to hunt down the Qi family Gu Immortal, he was well aware of her limitations. Setting everything else aside, the most critical thing she lacked was an Immortal Path battlefield killer move.
Fang Yuan had long since set up Immortal Formations in ambush. Ever since his successful capture of the Southern Border Righteous Path, he had grown quite fond of this tactic.
The moment the Qi family Gu Immortal entered, he was immediately bound by the Immortal Formation, temporarily unable to leave, and forced into a protracted battle with Bai Ningbing.
"Ah—!" A scream rang out. The most recently ascended Gu Immortal among the Qi family had suffered a fatal blow from Bai Ningbing and died on the spot.
"My turn." Ying Wuxie had been prepared. He struck without hesitation, capturing the fallen Gu Immortal's soul and drawing it into the formation.