Fang Yuan hovered in the air, standing motionless for the time it took a stick of incense to burn amid a raging blizzard, a layer of white snow piled on his body.
From a distance, he looked as though he were draped in a thick fox-fur coat.
This was the improved Time Path killer move—Winter Fur!
Fang Yuan had no shortage of defensive killer moves. The strongest was, without question, the Reverse Flow Protective Inscription. But with the Reverse Flow River nearly depleted, that move had become all but unusable.
Beyond that, Fang Yuan had mastered several other defensive methods—Yan Emperor, Winter Fur, Blood-Stained War Robe, Purple Thought Light Shield, Hair Armor, Lion Fur Armor, Divination Turtle Transformation, and Ghost Official Garment.
Hair Armor and Lion Fur Armor were merely mortal killer moves. Though Fang Yuan had used them for a time and found them practical enough, they had long since been phased out.
Purple Thought Light Shield was a technique belonging to True Monarch Purple Mountain. In a great battle, it had once withstood the fist of Dragon Lord—its power was not to be underestimated. However, Fang Yuan had only memorized the killer move without actually cultivating it, lacking the key Immortal Gu.
Blood-Stained War Robe was Fang Yuan's own creation, used as a stopgap. Though its core Immortal Gu had already reached the Seventh Transformation, a killer move at that tier simply couldn't hold its own in the upper echelons.
Divination Turtle Transformation could also count as a form of defense, but for the same reason—an ancient desolate beast like the Divination Turtle couldn't hope to intervene in battles between Eighth Transformation powerhouses.
Ghost Official Garment, on the other hand, had quite the pedigree. It had been designed by Demonic Venerable Ghost Doctor specifically to guard against Wisdom Path deductions.
Combined with Ghost Official Garment, the Soul Beast Command, and Ghost Undetectable, the Yan Emperor killer move offered astonishing defense—enough to go toe-to-toe with Eighth Transformation experts.
But in terms of pure defensive might, it still fell short of Winter Fur.
Yan Emperor was, at its core, a comprehensive and all-encompassing technique—offense and defense merged into one. Paired with the Yama Children, its power in group battles was formidable.
Winter Fur, by contrast, was dedicated entirely to defense. Moreover, Fang Yuan had devoured Xia Cha's Immortal Aperture, causing his Time Path Dao Marks to surge dramatically—they now outnumbered all his other Dao Marks, greatly amplifying Winter Fur's power.
Most crucially, after a period of recent refinement, Winter Fur's defensive capability had improved significantly beyond its previous form!
With the Reverse Flow Protective Inscription off the table, Winter Fur had become Fang Yuan's go-to substitute.
Boom, boom, boom...
The three Central Continent Eighth Transformation cultivators took turns hammering Fang Yuan with devastating attacks. He neither dodged nor retreated, relying on Winter Fur to deflect every single strike.
"What kind of killer move is that?"
"It looks like Xia Cha's Winter Fur..."
"How is that possible? Xia Cha's Winter Fur was nothing like this!"
The three Eighth Transformation cultivators exchanged startled glances, communicating privately through their minds, shocked by Winter Fur's defensive power.
Then, all three shifted their gaze toward Zhou Xiongxin.
These three hailed from Central Continent's ten great ancient clans, but Zhou Xiongxin was different—he was a member of Heavenly Court, recently awakened.
Zhou Xiongxin had already activated the Immortal Battlefield—Rumor Cage. In this combat arena, every other Path was suppressed while only the Information Path received a boost!
Fang Yuan's Winter Fur was suppressed. The three Eighth Transformation cultivators' offensive moves were simultaneously suppressed as well.
While the three looked at Zhou Xiongxin, Fang Yuan studied the Immortal Battlefield of Rumor Cage.
Rumor Cage was composed of countless silver-white characters. Some were as large as chariots, while others were as tiny as ants, all interwoven to form an enormous sphere that enclosed Fang Yuan and the other four Eighth Transformation cultivators.
Because gaps existed between the characters, the sphere still seemed connected to the outside—it wasn't fully sealed.
A flicker of gravity crossed Fang Yuan's eyes.
Within his Supreme Immortal Aperture, his Time Path clone was bathed in the Wisdom Halo, furiously deducing the mysteries of this Immortal Battlefield.
But when it came to the Information Path, Fang Yuan was entirely out of his depth.
Had this been a Time Path or Refinement Path Immortal Battlefield, he could have cracked it in minutes, leveraging his near-supreme mastery in both. But the Information Path left him at a loss—he had no choice but to rely on the Wisdom Halo and brute-force his way through the deductions.
It had to be said: Heavenly Court sending Information Path Gu Master Zhou Xiongxin to deal with Fang Yuan had been a shrewd move.
Against any other powerful Gu Master Fang Yuan had encountered before, he'd had countermeasures at the ready. But Zhou Xiongxin was someone he was seeing for the very first time.
Zhou Xiongxin wore a white robe, had a square face, an aura of righteous integrity, and a sturdy build.
Those who became members of Heavenly Court were all elites among the Eighth Transformation—true powerhouses. Setting everything else aside, just that Rumor Cage had been remarkable—its speed was extraordinary, making it the swiftest Immortal Battlefield killer move Fang Yuan had ever encountered!
"Fang Yuan, now that you're trapped by me, don't even think about getting out alive. You've committed so much slaughter—countless innocent lives have perished at your hands! Now you shall taste the bitter fruit of your own evil deeds!" Zhou Xiongxin declared with righteous indignation, his aura erupting as he unleashed two Immortal Killer Moves in rapid succession.
Immortal Killer Move—Fearsome Human Words!
Immortal Killer Move—Three Men Make a Tiger!
Instantly, every silver-white character within the Rumor Cage began radiating brilliant light.
The dense radiance transformed into flowing streams, drifting and circulating through the air before converging.
Then, from within the silver currents of light, silver-white tigers began leaping out, one after another.
As the tiger pack surged forward, Fang Yuan's figure shot out like lightning, charging straight to meet them.