Heavenly Court.
The central hall.
Purple mist spread outward, surging and roiling. Suddenly, the radiant glow stalled, as if a rushing river had been halted by a dam.
Fairy Ziwei let out a soft murmur and opened her eyes.
Her divination had been making progress — advancing steadily, success within reach — but then resistance had spiked dramatically.
This unusual shift was like earlier, when she had been pushing against a wooden door.
The wooden door had already been rocking, nearly ready to swing open. Once it did, Fairy Ziwei would be able to pinpoint the exact location of Langya Blessed Land.
But now that wooden door had suddenly transformed into a heavy iron gate.
"What's going on?"
"Before, Fang Yuan was clearly blocking me, but his Wisdom Path methods were too low-level to truly contend."
"Now they've suddenly become effective. This kind of method... Wait, I understand. He's merged Langya Blessed Land into himself."
Fairy Ziwei's eyes flashed with sharp light as the answer clicked into place.
Earlier, divining Fang Yuan's position had been extraordinarily difficult. Once he obtained the Yan Emperor killer move, it had become utterly hopeless.
If Fang Yuan merged Langya Blessed Land into himself, then Langya Blessed Land became part of the Supreme True Monarch's aperture.
And wasn't divining Langya Blessed Land's location effectively the same as divining Fang Yuan?
That was why all of Fairy Ziwei's various divination attempts had been blocked by Fang Yuan's Yan Emperor killer move.
Fang Yuan's Yan Emperor killer move drew upon the legacy of the Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable — specifically the power of the Ninth Transformation killer move "Ghost Unaware." The resistance Fairy Ziwei felt was immense.
Her thoughts raced while her hands moved ceaselessly, cycling through several different Wisdom Path methods in rapid succession.
After a probing volley, Fairy Ziwei immediately confirmed: "These responses are identical to what I got when divining Fang Yuan before. So it's true — he's swallowed Langya Blessed Land whole!"
"To absorb a Seventh Transformation blessed land, one needs at least a Grandmaster-level attainment. Does Fang Yuan's refinement path also have Grandmaster attainment?"
Fairy Ziwei realized once again that she had underestimated Fang Yuan.
Her expression darkened like murky water.
"A true aperture can only consume a smaller one. What exactly is Fang Yuan's true aperture? That it could directly absorb something as massive as Langya Blessed Land?"
Fairy Ziwei still didn't know the secret of the Supreme True Monarch's aperture. She was secretly stunned. The depths Fang Yuan had revealed were becoming truly unfathomable.
"Despicable! Fang Yuan has obtained Langya Blessed Land, and his foundation has exploded. What were those non-human Gu Immortals doing? They just watched him devour their home like that? What a pack of idiots!"
Fairy Ziwei gritted her teeth in fury. The hairy man and other non-human Gu Immortals had disappointed her terribly.
"Wait — this was probably part of Fang Yuan's scheme all along!"
"On one hand, he used those non-human Gu Immortals to fight against our Heavenly Court. On the other hand, he used Heavenly Court to help him whittle them down."
"After the great battle, those non-human Gu Immortals must have suffered heavy casualties, which allowed Fang Yuan to forcibly swallow them up."
"Perhaps he even leveraged the crisis of my forced divination to trick those non-human Gu Immortals into agreeing!"
In that instant, Fairy Ziwei's mind leaped through countless possibilities.
The impression Fang Yuan had left her — one of utter despicability and cunning — was far too deeply etched. There was no such thing as thinking too ill of him.
Fairy Ziwei was overcome with frustration!
She had a sinking feeling that this attack on Langya Blessed Land had likely only served to benefit Fang Yuan!
"Fang Yuan, I won't let you get away with this. Crown Prince Feng Xian..." Fury blazed in Fairy Ziwei's eyes as she immediately contacted Crown Prince Feng Xian, who was far away in the Northern Plains.
Crown Prince Feng Xian had long since received his orders and was lying in ambush in the Pine Tail Ridge. The original plan was to seize the opportunity to cooperate with the Heavenly Court Gu Immortals in conquering Langya Blessed Land together. Alternatively, if the Northern Plains Gu Immortal community caught wind of things, he would reveal himself in time to block them and buy time.
"Crown Prince Feng Xian, Fang Yuan is likely to show himself. Search for him immediately. Once you locate the target, do everything you can to pin him down!" Fairy Ziwei ordered.
"Understood." Crown Prince Feng Xian's tone suddenly shifted. "Wait — I've spotted him already!"
"Be extremely careful on your own!" Fairy Ziwei urged hastily. "Fang Yuan is cunning and treacherous. His Immortal Gu-stealing methods may originate from the Langya sect, or they may be entirely his own. I've already dispatched a Gu Immortal who has infiltrated the Northern Plains to rendezvous with you. But for the time being, you'll have no backup."
Crown Prince Feng Xian's face was grim. "Understood."
He was an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal. And he needed to exercise extreme caution against a Seventh Transformation?
Yet not a trace of wrongness or absurdity stirred in his heart. On the contrary, it felt entirely natural.
It wasn't just Crown Prince Feng Xian. Fairy Ziwei and the other Heavenly Court Gu Immortals felt the same way.
Past dismissiveness had only revealed their own stupidity.
Lei Gui Zhenjun and Chen Yi's deaths further proved that this demonic monster was far from ordinary. He simply could not be measured by conventional standards.
Others might be taken lightly, but underestimating Fang Yuan was asking for trouble!
"Sure enough, he's here." Fang Yuan hurtled through the air, glancing over his shoulder. Crown Prince Feng Xian was rapidly closing the distance.
Having merged with Langya Blessed Land, the commotion had been far from subtle. Fang Yuan's main body was exposed.
Crown Prince Feng Xian had been lurking nearby the whole time. He sensed it immediately and gave chase.
Fang Yuan flew forward, fleeing.
He had no desire to fight Crown Prince Feng Xian.
After the recent battle, his condition was far from peak. His immortal essence expenditure had been enormous.
At the same time, he had to guard against Fairy Ziwei's divination. The Yan Emperor killer move clung to his soul, shielding his trail — but it also consumed his soul foundation.
"Where do you think you're going, Fang Yuan?"
"If you're a real man, come back and fight me for three hundred rounds!"