Fang Yuan's achievements were the result of his own efforts, supplemented by the support of many who came before him.
The same was true of the Heavenly Court and the Central Continent. It was no surprise they could withstand the attacks of Fang Yuan and the Western Desert immortals. This was strength and foundation — the accumulated effort of countless generations across the Central Continent and the Heavenly Court.
Such effort, whether in the present or the past, was undeniable.
"There's nothing more to be done. I'll have to retreat," Fang Yuan thought.
Li Huang and Qing Ye had been trying to keep Fang Yuan pinned down, but given his abilities, he was confident he could still break through the encirclement.
As for the Emperor City, Fang Yuan no longer harbored thoughts of destroying it.
First, destroying it would serve no purpose in the grand scheme of things. Second, with the layered protection of the Central Continent's Gu Immortals, striking the Emperor City again would be fraught with difficulty.
But just at that moment, a deafening rumble suddenly erupted.
The earth split open — a colossal trench tore from south to north, swallowing mountains and devouring forests at terrifying speed!
By the worst possible coincidence, the Emperor City lay directly in the trench's path.
"Damn it!"
"Protect the Emperor City!"
This scene caught everyone completely off guard.
The Central Continent immortals scrambled in a panic, all of them launching their attacks to shield the Emperor City.
But the might of heaven was unpredictable. The trench's formation was no ordinary phenomenon — its root cause was the merger of the Five Regions and the unification of the earth's ley lines. Such was the immense power of heaven and earth — how could a handful of Gu Immortals possibly contend with it on such short notice?
And so, the Gu Immortals of the Central Continent could only watch helplessly as the trench devoured the Emperor City in a single bite!
The Emperor City could not fly, and it was enormously massive. Once its foundations were destroyed, it plunged deep into the trench, crumbling apart as it fell.
This peerless fortress city had housed nearly a million people. Countless Gu Masters — all elites gathered from every corner. Especially for this particular assembly, the Heavenly Court had deliberately gathered many individuals possessing powerful fortune to counter Fang Yuan's luck.
Ye Fan and Hong Yi were among them, along with many others of similar caliber.
"Save them! Now!" Li Huang roared.
"Ha ha ha, keep dreaming!" Fang Yuan struck with full force.
In his current Yan Emperor state, executing Soul Path killer moves came naturally to him.
Fang Yuan had already spotted Hong Yi and Ye Fan among the million people falling into the trench. These two were linked in fortune — no wonder his own luck had been suppressed all this time.
Immortal killer move — Lost Soul Seal!
Immortal killer move — Spring Shears!
Immortal killer move — Summer Fan!
Fang Yuan first unleashed the Lost Soul Seal, then transformed into the Primordial Year Monkey, and followed up with the two great Time Path killer moves.
"No!" Li Huang, caught off guard, was utterly unable to block Fang Yuan's sinister assault. He howled in fury, yet could only watch helplessly as countless lives perished at Fang Yuan's hands.
Among them were that small cluster of elites who had participated in the final Refinement Path competition.
Ye Fan and Hong Yi, naturally, were not spared.
"Fang Yuan! You're an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal, yet you slaughter mortals! You're the most vile and evil creature — you deserve to die, you deserve to die!" Qing Ye's eyes were bloodshot, red with fury, as he charged at Fang Yuan in an explosion of wrath.
This strike of Fang Yuan's inflicted devastating losses on the Central Continent!
Qing Ye knew all too well — the Emperor City was a vital hub of the Central Continent, established through Human Path methods to attract and cultivate an endless stream of Human Path elites. Accumulated over generations, with extraordinary popular vitality, it was nothing less than the greatest cradle of Gu Immortals.
One had to understand — the Central Continent operated on the sect system, fundamentally different from the other four regions. The Emperor City was a prolific producer of talent, especially those rich in Human Path fortune. Given sufficient resources and smooth development, these individuals had an extremely high probability of becoming Gu Immortals!
In the future wars across the Five Regions, Gu Immortals would inevitably fall in great numbers — and these people were the Central Continent's reserves, the seeds of future Gu Immortals.
Fang Yuan's strike had killed nearly everyone in the city — wiping out nearly half of the Central Continent's talent reserves and drastically diminishing the continent's war potential.
Such catastrophic losses — how could they not leave Li Huang, Qing Ye, and the others seething with fury, wishing they could tear Fang Yuan apart piece by piece?!
With the deaths of Hong Yi and Ye Fan and the mass slaughter of talent, Fang Yuan suddenly felt a sensation of lightness washing over his entire being.
He knew his Luck Path had begun to gain the upper hand.
Casting one last look at the still-falling ruins of the Emperor City and the nearly hundred corpses his own hands had wrought, Fang Yuan retreated at great speed.
Li Huang, Qing Ye, and the numerous Gu Houses launched a vicious pursuit against him.
"Demon! Demon!"
"He killed almost everyone in the city — and among them... my family!"
"Kill him! Kill him for the sake of the people!"
Every last Central Continent Gu Immortal was ablaze with righteous indignation and brimming with killing intent.
Fang Yuan laughed wildly: "Can any of you stop me?!"
Indeed, they could not.
While Fang Yuan could not do much against these Central Continent cultivators for the moment, even with all these Gu Houses and Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals, they could surround the Western Desert Gu Houses but could never contain a combatant of Fang Yuan's caliber.
Unless they had an Immortal Gu Formation, or an Immortal Battlefield technique.
But in such haste, how could they possibly set one up?
Even if they did manage to deploy an Immortal Gu Formation or battlefield, unless they could quickly eliminate Fang Yuan, his profound Wisdom Path attainments and formidable abilities would allow him to break free regardless.
The previous death of Zhou Xiongxin was the best proof of that.
Not only could they not stop him — Fang Yuan still had the power to counterattack.
Boom!