Eastern Sea, deep night.
Stars blanketed the sky. On the previously calm surface of the sea, monstrous waves suddenly erupted.
An Immortal Gu House—the Dragon Palace—pierced through the sea and rocketed upward into the firmament.
High above, an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal was already standing ready. He was none other than Qing Yue An, the Supreme Grand Elder of the Qing Yue clan.
"Hah!" He let out a sharp cry and swept both arms downward.
Immediately, phantom images of verdant mountains descended from the heavens—ten thousand layered peaks stretching endlessly, completely encircling the Dragon Palace.
Immortal Killer Move—Ten Thousand Layered Mountains!
The Dragon Palace's momentum was halted. Crashing into the phantom mountains was like colliding with real, towering peaks.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal burst out from behind the Dragon Palace. He was Shi Miao, an independent Eighth Transformation Immortal.
Shi Miao spat out a mouthful of acid. The liquid looked unremarkable, but it swelled upon contact with the wind. After traveling five or six zhang, it expanded into a vast, sweeping wave.
The acidic wave crashed into the phantom mountains with extraordinary effect. Wherever it touched, the phantom peaks melted away like snow in a blaze.
The acid carved a path for the Dragon Palace. It was on the verge of breaking free when Song Qi Yuan arrived.
His aura erupted in full force. Blinding radiance blazed outward in all directions—where it struck the wave, the wave collapsed; where it struck the Dragon Palace, the palace shuddered; where it struck Shi Miao, Shi Miao was jolted as though struck by lightning.
Having completed this, Song Qi Yuan did not stop. He raised his head and pointed a finger.
A razor-sharp beam of strange light shot forth and vanished in an instant.
Far away, Fang Yuan had been using his Star Eye Immortal Gu to observe the battlefield when his field of vision suddenly went black. He could no longer perceive anything.
Fang Yuan's expression darkened slightly. He understood—the star he had successfully refined for his Star Eye Immortal Gu had been destroyed by Song Qi Yuan.
"The Seventh Transformation Star Eye Immortal Gu is exquisite, but against Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals, it simply doesn't measure up. Not only can it be detected, it can also be directly countered."
"Song Qi Yuan's Immortal Killer Move is even more ingenious. It seems to follow the starlight upstream, trace it back to its source star, and destroy it."
"Still, while the star was destroyed, my Star Eye Immortal Gu itself suffered no damage. Given time, I'll be able to use it again."
The Gu Immortals of the Eastern Sea couldn't match Dragon Gong, but they were still Eighth Transformation cultivators with a rich arsenal of techniques—they could not be underestimated.
Zhang Yin's Desperate Yin Thunder, Hua Cai Yun's Blame-Shifting Cloud, Yang Jun's discovery of Fang Yuan in his Familiar Stranger state, and now Song Qi Yuan directly dismantling Fang Yuan's Star Eye surveillance—all of it proved this point.
Even so, Fang Yuan refused to give up.
"The Dragon Palace is critically important—more important than I originally estimated!"
"It is an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House, and it contains Dream Path Immortal Gu as well. Over these days of pursuit, its offensive and defensive capabilities have been nothing short of extraordinary. If I claim it, I'll possess combat power at the peak of Eighth Transformation!"
While Fang Yuan's true body tracked the chase, his other half—the Heavenly Aspect Killer Move—remained in the Primordial White Heaven, dealing with the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven and searching for an alternative location to store the Immortal Gu collection.
The Heavenly Aspect Killer Move was at the Ninth Transformation level, extraordinarily nimble. Even within the Primordial White Heaven, very few existences could threaten it.
Due to the tremors in the earth veins, the entire Gu Immortal world of the Five Regions had been thrown into chaos.
The Eastern Sea in particular, with the appearance of the Dragon Palace, had ignited an Eighth Transformation battle that captured the world's attention.
On this day, Longevity Heaven in the Northern Plains suddenly began trembling violently as well.
Bzzzzzz…
Orange-yellow halos pulsed outward in waves, flashing continuously, enveloping the entire firmament of Longevity Heaven.
Then a presence—previously faint and barely clinging to life—rapidly swelled in power, growing until it filled heaven and earth, shaking all who sensed it.
This shocking development had long since drawn the attention of the Five Elements Grand Mage, Ox Demon, and Flower Child.
The Five Elements Grand Mage had originally been an independent Eighth Transformation cultivator of the Northern Plains. After invading Longevity Heaven and becoming trapped, he had struggled before losing hope and surrendering. He now resided permanently within Longevity Heaven.
The pair known as Ox Demon and Flower Child served as the Northern Wasteland Immortal.
Ox Demon was a burly, bearded brute with a thunderous voice. He stood eight chi tall, broad-shouldered and thick-limbed, radiating a fierce presence. Flower Child was a young girl with an enormous pink flower on her head, perched on the brute's shoulder and giggling sweetly—rosy-cheeked and tender, innocent and carefree, with bright, sparkling eyes.
"What's going on?" The Five Elements Grand Mage's face was drawn with alarm and confusion.
But Ox Demon and Flower Child exchanged a glance, and the latter giggled: "Western Wasteland Immortal Bing Sai Chuan has awakened!"
Longevity Heaven differed somewhat from the Heavenly Court. It maintained twelve high-ranking positions—the Four Wasteland Immortals and the Eight Poles Scions. The Four Wasteland Immortals had to be Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals, while the Eight Poles Scions required at least a Seventh Transformation cultivation and had to be among the elite of that level.
"Bing Sai Chuan?" The Five Elements Grand Mage's brow twitched. The name felt somewhat familiar, but no matter how he searched his memory, he couldn't immediately recall more details.