The Lang Ya Earth Spirit sighed and continued, "Every Venerable is an invincible existence. Their talent and gifts are so extraordinary they terrify ghosts and gods—they absolutely cannot be judged by any common standard. Underestimating them is foolishness on our part, and an insult to them!"
Fang Yuan nodded. He couldn't help but recall the great battle of his previous life.
Every time a Venerable made a move, they could almost effortlessly shift the entire situation, overturning all the prior efforts of every Gu Immortal.
Just think about how powerful Long Gong was—yet against a Venerable's methods, he had absolutely no power to resist!
"Speaking purely in terms of Dao Marks, the difference in scale between the Eighth Transformation and Ninth Transformation isn't all that enormous. But in reality, the gap between Eighth and Ninth Transformation Gu Immortals is so vast it's despair-inducing. This is entirely because people are different from one another."
"Gu are the true essence of Heaven and Earth; humans are the spirit of all creation. There are no invincible Gu insects or killer moves—only invincible individuals."
"Think of Limitless Demon Venerable. At the Sixth Transformation, his Dao Marks already rivaled those of the Eighth Transformation. So when he became a Ninth Transformation, how vast would his Dao Marks have been?"
Fang Yuan felt he couldn't even begin to estimate it.
Every convention of cultivation was inapplicable to Venerables.
Red Lotus Demon Venerable could be reborn infinitely. Limitless Demon Venerable possessed a horrifying number of Dao Marks. Star Constellation Immortal Venerable could scheme against Heaven and Earth, altering the course of history...
These Venerables were all unfathomable.
At least for the time being, that was how things stood as far as Fang Yuan was concerned.
In truth, during the Battle of Lang Ya, Fang Yuan had killed Thunder Ghost True Monarch and Chen Yi, and seized Feng Jiuge's Fixed Travel Immortal Gu. But what was the greatest achievement of all?
It was forcing the expenditure of one of Primordial Lotus Immortal Venerable's methods—the Cause and Effect killer move!
In his previous life, Chen Yi had relied on this very move to hold the Indestructible Blessed Land, buying crucial time. It was what forced Fang Yuan, Wu Yong, Bing Saichuan, and the others to come to a dead halt, missing the final chance to turn the tide.
"Now I've preemptively drained the Cause and Effect killer move, but who knows how many more Venerable methods still exist!"
"Perhaps because of the changes caused by my rebirth, even more Venerable methods will be triggered."
"Relying solely on the advantage of rebirth, I can gradually accumulate power and become stronger than in my previous life. But it's still far from safe—what if a Venerable's method suddenly appears at a critical moment?"
"To destroy Fate Gu, relying on myself alone isn't enough. I need to collect some of the Venerables' methods as well—only then will it be truly reliable."
Fang Yuan's mind churned ceaselessly with calculations and schemes.
Several days later.
Southern Border, the Shadow Plundering Gully.
This had once been the Shadow Sect's camp, which Fang Yuan had occupied. Later, the Southern Border Gu Immortals had united in pursuit, surrounding the area. Fang Yuan had self-detonated a massive number of Pure Dream Reality-Seeking Bodies, forming a dreamscape, successfully stalling for time before finally making his escape.
As a result, a large quantity of dream residue had been left behind, and the Southern Border Gu Immortals had set up a grand formation here to guard and study the dreams.
Fang Yuan arrived nearby in silence.
He activated a Refinement Path killer move, immediately conjuring a drizzling rain that fell upon the Southern Border Gu Immortals' grand formation.
The formation activated, fending off the rain.
"Who attacks us?"
"Hmph, our formation is solid as iron!"
"Indeed. Anyone who thinks they can break through here is dreaming."
The Southern Border Gu Immortals stationed here—primarily Yang Sanmu, Chi Qiu, and Xia Fan—were instantly on alert upon receiving the mysterious attack.
It didn't take them long to spot Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan had no intention of concealing his figure. After all, having just deployed an Immortal killer move, his aura was surging forth continuously, making concealment impossible even if he'd wanted it.
Of all the people Fang Yuan had encountered, only Wu Yong could perfectly mask a killer move's aura.
Even so, Fang Yuan deployed the Meeting Familiar killer move to alter his appearance.
If he showed his true face, wouldn't he terrify the Gu Immortals guarding this place?
"He's a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal! But I can't tell who he is—his aura belongs to the Southern Border. Must be some reclusive Gu Immortal." Inside the formation, Xia Fan couldn't make out Fang Yuan's true face and spoke in a speculative tone.
By now, the Lang Ya Origin had been completely unsealed and absorbed by Fang Yuan. He had become a true Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal.
But he deliberately disguised himself, still feigning a Seventh Transformation aura.
His Meeting Familiar killer move had been greatly improved during the final period of his previous life. The Southern Border Gu Immortals currently had no way of seeing through the disguise.
To prevent the butterfly effect from intensifying and preserve his rebirth advantage, Fang Yuan chose to follow the same course as his previous life—attacking the defensive Immortal formation here once more.
At the same time, concealing his Eighth Transformation cultivation served two purposes: first, to guard against Heaven's Court; second, to lure in the Southern Border Gu Immortals.
According to his memories of his previous life, events would unfold such that the Southern Border Gu Immortals would form a hunting party. If Fang Yuan revealed his Eighth Transformation cultivation, it wouldn't be just Xia Cha, a fellow Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal, who joined the pursuit.
Fang Yuan naturally had to show weakness to his enemies!
The drizzle drifted and soon intensified into a steady rain, seeping into the grand formation.
Inside the formation, Chi Qiu's expression shifted slightly. "What kind of Refinement Path killer move is this? It looks like it's actually refining our formation! If this keeps up, we're in real trouble."