In this pitch-black space, there flowed a vast, boundless river.
It surged and rolled, rushing ceaselessly onward, with no visible origin and no visible end.
The Heaven and Earth Secret Realm — the River of Time!
The river's water was pale and colorless, but every spray of droplets that burst forth when they collided blazed with vivid, dazzling colors.
Each droplet of spray was a story, a scene that had once occurred.
Trillions upon trillions of droplets endlessly bloomed and crashed into one another, and the entire River of Time flowed like a cascade of fireworks — multicolored, brilliantly vivid, impossibly dreamlike in its beauty.
A tiny Gu Insect, its whole body enshrouded in a sphere of emerald-green light, suddenly appeared and plunged headlong into the waters of the River of Time.
The Gu Insect's head and abdomen were brownish-yellow, its surface marked with patterns like tree rings — bearing witness to the passage of years, emanating a sense of ancient vicissitude and ponderous weight.
Its wings on its back were broad and expansive, semi-transparent, as though two tender green leaves were overlapping each other.
The tiny Gu Insect was utterly inconspicuous in the vast River of Time, so minuscule it could not even compare to an ant.
After plunging into the river, the Gu Insect radiated an air of resolute determination as it fought its way upstream, tracing back through the past.
……
Bao Huang Heaven.
A wave of fervent discussion had erupted as Gu Immortals exchanged views and debated amongst themselves.
What had sparked this frenzy was nothing more than three sternum bones, accompanied by a segment of battle footage.
"Hard to imagine that Fang Yuan, this demon, already possesses such combat strength!"
"Alas, how rapidly he has grown — he is already a Colossus of the Demonic Path in this era."
"Fang Yuan is a demon from beyond the heavens, and he possesses the Spring Autumn Cicada. Having been reborn, he naturally holds tremendous advantages in his cultivation."
"I recognize her — that's the Heavenly Court's Gu Immortal, True Lord Thunder Ghost! I never expected her to be beaten down by Fang Yuan!"
"True Lord Thunder Ghost, Jing Lan — she's an elder of the old guard! She's actually still alive?"
"The Heavenly Court of the Central Continent is nothing special after all, despite being called the number-one power of humanity. They've had a warrant out for Fang Yuan this whole time, and they sent an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal who ended up being thrashed by him."
Within the Heavenly Court, Chen Yi wore a grim expression, and Fairy Zi Wei trembled slightly with fury.
"This Fang Yuan is truly insidious and cunning!" Fairy Zi Wei gritted her teeth, because the battle footage Fang Yuan had posted in Bao Huang Heaven only showed the segment where he had successfully counterattacked and pummeled Jing Lan.
Chen Yi, frowning deeply beside her, asked, "Lady Zi Wei, should we inform True Lord Thunder Ghost of this?"
True Lord Thunder Ghost, Jing Lan, was a Gu Immortal powerhouse who had only recently awakened within the Heavenly Court.
Jing Lan had been hunting down Fang Yuan when, in a moment of carelessness, she was caught by his counterattack.
Fang Yuan had used Ten Thousand Flood Dragons and the Chaotic Orientation Mist to delay her while he himself plunged deep into the boundary walls of the Five Domains.
By the time Jing Lan set off in pursuit once more, the gap between her and Fang Yuan had already widened enormously.
After Fairy Zi Wei was unable to calculate Fang Yuan's exact location, Jing Lan lost her way in the boundary walls.
"Zi Wei! Where exactly is that demon Fang Yuan?!" Jing Lan's voice transmission cut through, frantic and furious, her tone sharp and aggressive.
She had originally thought capturing him would be effortless, yet she ended up gravely wounded and in utter disarray. How could the proud and arrogant Jing Lan possibly accept such a reality?
She clenched her teeth until they ground audibly, desperate to seize and kill Fang Yuan to wash away her humiliation!
Fairy Zi Wei was silent for a moment before slowly relaying the situation to Jing Lan.
"What?! Even with your involvement, he managed to slip away?!" Jing Lan exploded with rage, seething with dissatisfaction.
"Fang Yuan's mastery of the Wisdom Path is beyond what it once was. However, he will inevitably head for the Langya Blessed Land. We have already made arrangements there. Though this battle failed to capture the villain, we gained a great deal — not only did we deplete a massive quantity of his Immortal Essence, but we also forced him to reveal countless hidden cards. A Gu Immortal like him is not someone who can be defeated in a single battle." Fairy Zi Wei's tone grew conciliatory as she counseled Jing Lan.
Jing Lan fell silent, standing rooted in place without moving.
After a long while, she finally released a deep, heavy sigh, the anger on her face having completely dissipated.
"I underestimated him. This man is truly extraordinary — worthy of being chosen by the Heavenly Will, and the successor the Shadow Sect had no choice but to select. In our next battle, I will absolutely not repeat the mistake of underestimating my opponent."
"Compared to Fang Yuan, there is currently an even more troublesome matter..." Fairy Zi Wei delicately informed Jing Lan about Fang Yuan selling the sternum bones in Bao Huang Heaven.
Jing Lan's newly calmed heart instantly erupted with fresh waves of fury: "What?! That bastard actually put my sternum bones up for sale?! Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"
Jing Lan immediately connected to Bao Huang Heaven and, sure enough, caught sight of her own sternum bones. Her rage was so intense that her hair bristled and her eyes blazed crimson.