The Star Cast killer move was tremendously powerful — a technique that could shift the strategic balance of the Five Regions. But as long as it was a technique, it had to have flaws and weaknesses.
Fang Yuan didn't know much about the Star Cast killer move, but there was one critical point he understood.
The Star Cast required a catalyst.
This catalyst was a portion of the unfavorable Dao marks left behind after Feng Jiuge's previous invasion of the Langya Blessed Land.
In his previous life, this portion of unfavorable Dao marks had suddenly formed a dark vortex, transporting Chen Yi, Lei Gui True Monarch, Feng Jiuge, and Fairy Ziwei inside.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan and the Langya Earth Spirit had reacted swiftly, striking down the dark vortex before more Heavenly Court Gu Immortals could pour in.
Having been reborn in this life, Fang Yuan naturally knew the exact location where the dark vortex would form.
After actively upgrading the Langya Blessed Land's guardian formation, he used Formation Path space to shroud it.
Lei Gui True Monarch led the vanguard — the moment she entered, she was killed on the spot by Fang Yuan's group, who had been lying in ambush all along.
Chen Yi burst out of the dark vortex second. Fang Yuan didn't have sufficient time to prepare the Lost Soul Imprint, so a temporary stalemate ensued.
The third to emerge was Feng Jiuge.
He was Fang Yuan's primary target!
Because the Seventh Transformation Fixed Fairy Travel Gu was in his possession!
As for the fourth, it was almost certainly Fairy Ziwei.
Fairy Ziwei was a Wisdom Path Gu Immortal who commanded the Star Constellation Chessboard. If Dragon Lord was Heavenly Court's spiritual leader, the guarantor of morale, then Fairy Ziwei was its brain — the one making decisions.
She was certainly important, but even if Fang Yuan killed her, the effect would be minimal.
Why?
Because too many Wisdom Path Gu Immortals slumbered in Heavenly Court's Immortal Tomb. With Fairy Ziwei dead, a second one would awaken to take her place. Why had Fairy Ziwei awakened in the first place? Was it not because the Wisdom Path Gu Immortal, the Tower Lord of Heaven Monitoring, had died? Only then had Fairy Ziwei awakened to assume his position.
If Fairy Ziwei carried the Star Constellation Chessboard, then Fang Yuan might have had an interest in assassinating her.
But unfortunately, the Star Constellation Chessboard had to remain with Heavenly Court to sustain the Star Cast killer move — it couldn't be brought along.
With his combat experience from his previous life, Fang Yuan had long since deduced this secret.
Putting himself in their shoes, it was actually better for Fang Yuan to keep Fairy Ziwei alive. Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Fang Yuan was relatively familiar with Fairy Ziwei, and that worked to his advantage. If he killed her, only to be replaced by an unfamiliar Wisdom Path Gu Immortal from Heavenly Court, that would diminish his rebirth advantage.
Of course, there was also the most critical reason — Fairy Ziwei's combat strength was formidable. Although during the Central Continent Gu Refinement Assembly in his previous life, Fang Yuan's power had surpassed hers, right now he had not yet reached Eighth Transformation cultivation. His combat strength was vastly different from the final period of his previous life.
If Fairy Ziwei were let through, Heavenly Court would possess three Eighth Transformation fighters. Fang Yuan's side had Tian Po Suo Luo, the super formation, the Primordial Stone Dragon, and himself — the ensuing battle would be extraordinarily fierce, and the situation could easily spiral out of control.
And above all — on Chen Yi's body, there was a trump card left behind by Immortal Venerable Yuan Lian!
The Immortal killer move Cause and Effect had played a crucial role in his previous life. Fang Yuan had a deep impression of it and would absolutely not overlook it.
Moreover, Fang Yuan had already suppressed the Langya Earth Spirit, making the entire Langya Blessed Land his private property. He would naturally minimize losses as much as possible.
Therefore, he had destroyed the dark vortex even earlier than in his previous life.
The Heavenly Court Gu Immortals were dumbfounded. Meanwhile, inside the Langya Blessed Land, Feng Jiuge and Chen Yi stared at each other, completely stunned!
"This is nothing like the plan!"
"The Star Cast failed. Now it's just us fighting alone."
"Langya Blessed Land was already prepared. Their reaction was far too timely."
"All we can do now is defend and stall until the Star Cast killer move is activated again!"
Chen Yi and Feng Jiuge exchanged rapid words.
The two hovered within the formation space, back to back, relying on each other for support.
Feng Jiuge added, "By the way — where is Senior Lei Gui True Monarch?"
Chen Yi's Adam's apple bobbed. He hesitated, then chose not to tell Feng Jiuge what he had witnessed earlier, saying instead, "I'm not sure. She was nowhere to be seen when I arrived."
Feng Jiuge nodded. "Perhaps Senior Lei Gui was too eager to claim credit and charged too far ahead, getting cut off from us. If we could regroup with her, that would be ideal."
A veil of foreboding had hung over Chen Yi's heart since their arrival, but voicing it now would only damage morale. He had no choice but to say, "I doubt it. Fang Yuan is such a cunning and treacherous fellow — how would he let us regroup so easily? Lei Gui True Monarch is probably already entangled by other forces."
Feng Jiuge was more optimistic than Chen Yi. He smiled. "Lord Chen Yi, our combat strength is already quite impressive. I can resist an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal — that barely counts as Eighth Transformation combat power. Add to that yourself and Senior Lei Gui True Monarch, and we have three Eighth Transformation fighters. Surely it would be very difficult for Langya Blessed Land to withstand our assault? Perhaps we alone could conquer it."
Chen Yi laughed heartily, forcing himself to rally. "Young Brother Feng is right. But if the situation becomes desperate and exceeds expectations, you should find an opportunity to use the Fixed Fairy Travel Gu and retreat first."
Feng Jiuge looked deeply at Chen Yi, mulling over how the man's demeanor seemed to have shifted.
Feng Jiuge had personally watched Chen Yi burst in with burning enthusiasm, practically bursting to earn merit and prove himself. How was it that after merely encountering a few setbacks here, his entire spirit had deflated?
"Chen Yi may once have been the Supreme Elder of the Yuan Lian Sect, but it seems his days of high status have stripped him of his courage and decisiveness. No wonder he failed his mission in the Western Desert and caused Heavenly Court to lose the Bean God Palace."
In his heart, Feng Jiuge felt a measure of contempt for Chen Yi. What he didn't know was that in Fang Yuan's previous life, he and Chen Yi had actually gotten along quite well — especially after he had used Half of the Song of Destiny to save Chen Yi's life.
The two exchanged rapid words, all within the span of a lightning flash.
Fang Yuan had already made his move.
But this time, he was in no rush to act personally. Instead, he concealed his figure.
In his place stood the Primordial Stone Dragon, along with the Langya Earth Spirit and the ancient battle formation Tian Po Suo Luo assembled from hairy folk Gu Immortals!
Feng Jiuge and Chen Yi joined forces against the enemy.
After several exchanges, neither side could gain the upper hand.
But Chen Yi and Feng Jiuge kept their brows tightly furrowed.
"The Primordial Stone Dragon is the toughest of the lot, but ironically the least dangerous. The Gu Immortals inside Tian Po Suo Luo don't seem to have especially strong combat awareness either."
"Right. The real concern is Fang Yuan. He hasn't shown himself at all — is he out there fighting Lei Gui True Monarch, or lying in wait to deal with us?"
"And then there's this formation!"
"We need to break this formation first. Being trapped in its space indefinitely is untenable."
Chen Yi and Feng Jiuge conferred, and their formation immediately shifted.
Feng Jiuge began preparing his killer move while Chen Yi guarded the front.
Chen Yi single-handedly held off the Primordial Stone Dragon and Tian Po Suo Luo's assaults. Feng Jiuge successfully accumulated his killer move and unleashed the Parting Song.
But in his previous life, the Parting Song had been ineffective. In this life, its performance was even worse.
How could Fang Yuan have possibly overlooked the Parting Song killer move?
The offensive of Feng Jiuge and Chen Yi failed. Worse, it gave Fang Yuan an opening — he suddenly struck, separating Chen Yi and Feng Jiuge from each other.
Immediately after, the super formation surged to life, carving out two separate spaces and completely isolating Chen Yi from Feng Jiuge.
Heavenly Court.
Stardust was reassembling across the sky.
Fairy Ziwei was now drenched in sweat, pouring her full effort into rebuilding momentum and recharging the Star Cast killer move.
However, the Star Cast was not so easy to re-deploy.
Its power was immense — capable of teleporting Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals. It was unquestionably a strategic-level means. Precisely because of this, the cost of activation was enormous: not only a massive expenditure of Eighth Transformation Immortal Essence, but also extensive preparation time and complex, variable steps. Without deep Wisdom Path mastery, it was impossible to use at all.
"If our mission had succeeded completely and we had recovered Hope Gu, activating the Star Cast would have been trivial — nothing like the ordeal we face now!" Fairy Ziwei sighed.
The Gu Immortal beside her smiled. "Lady Ziwei, even without us, the three who went already possess the strength to conquer Langya Blessed Land."
The Heavenly Court Gu Immortals relaxed their expressions, and the atmosphere lightened.