Practicing killer moves was no easy task. The slightest carelessness could lead to a failed activation, and the Gu Immortal would suffer backlash, sustaining injuries as a result.
The more powerful the killer move, the higher the risk. But skipping practice was not an option — one couldn't just recklessly activate them in the heat of battle. The battlefield environment was even worse, often provoking fierce counterattacks from the opponent.
Throughout history, there had been many Gu Immortals who, after failing to activate their killer moves and suffering backlash, died from the severity of their injuries.
Among them, quite a few had perished while practicing their killer moves.
Unfortunately, the Five Prohibition Profound Light that Fang Yuan commanded was one of those enormously powerful killer moves, which meant he had to be extremely focused and cautious whenever he practiced it.
As for the Five Prohibition Profound Light and the Five Realms Great Limit Formation — these two options, Fang Yuan had not yet decided between them.
They could not be used simultaneously. Forming a formation on the fly during battle was far too difficult, and once the Five Realms Great Limit Formation was assembled, it was not so easily dismantled either. In battle, possessing the Five Realms Great Limit Formation meant forfeiting the Five Prohibition Profound Light.
In terms of flexibility, the Five Prohibition Profound Light killer move naturally held the edge.
But the Formation Path had its own advantages.
Once the Five Realms Great Limit Formation was set up, it was equivalent to a super-grade Immortal Path killer move, always prepared and ready to deploy — this often allowed Fang Yuan to seize an enormous initiative advantage.
A concrete example could be seen in the Nianliu Ambush Battle not long ago.
Whether in his previous life or this one, this battle had been Fang Yuan's proudest victory.
Not only because of the bountiful results — more importantly, the entire battle had remained under Fang Yuan's control from start to finish. He had guided it the whole way, successfully steering the battle along his predetermined course to its conclusion. This was no easy feat.
Any plan was at its most flawless when it had yet to be implemented. Once it was put into action, even the Heavenly Court and Eternal Life would often find themselves losing control.
The most important factor in Fang Yuan's successful ambush had been that Time Path Immortal Formation.
As long as a grand formation was set up, a Formation Path Gu Immortal could often triumph over a far stronger opponent!
But the downside of the Formation Path was its lack of flexibility — it had many rigid aspects.
The vast majority of Immortal Formations, once constructed, could not be moved. A powerful Formation Path Gu Immortal might build a grand formation, only for the enemy to discover it and simply go around it. Such awkward situations were well-documented in historical records.
That was why Chi Quyou and Fairy Ziwei had marveled at the fact that Fang Yuan's Time Path grand formation could be so well-concealed, catching all the Gu Immortals of the Southern Border off guard.
There was also the matter that laying down an Immortal Formation was never easy and consumed a great deal of time. Five or six days was considered quick; two or three months was commonplace, and some even took a year or two.
In his previous life, for example, the Heavenly Court had begun constructing the Nine-Nine Inexhaustible Chain Formation roughly a year in advance. However, once this formation was completed, building sub-formations inside it became astonishingly fast — so fast it was almost unbelievable. This was a measure left behind by Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, and it was not to be underestimated.
Even so, deploying sub-formations still required time. In the great battle of his previous life, Chen Yi and the others had been forced to leave the formation to hold off Wu Yong and his group, buying time for the rear to set up sub-formations.
Moreover, not just any Gu Immortal could casually deploy the more powerful Immortal Formations.
In the great battle of his previous life, Wu Yong and the others had served as assistants, with Chi Quyou, Fang Yuan, and Xuan Jizi handling the main formation work.
The Long Hair Refinement Path Great Formation in the Langya Blessed Land had not been built by Long Hair Old Ancestor himself — he had enlisted the aid of the Formation Path powerhouse Jiu Hua Immortal Queen.
Fang Yuan estimated that if he chose the Five Realms Great Limit Formation, he would need at least half a year's preparation.
Fortunately, he could leverage the difference in time flow between his Immortal Aperture and the outside world to greatly mitigate this drawback.
In his plan, the new Five Realms Great Limit Formation would need to incorporate Earth Veins, Formation Flags, and Formation Spirits. With these three components, Fang Yuan could first set up the formation inside his Supreme Cave Heaven, and when the time came, simply take it out and use it — extremely convenient.
However, Fang Yuan had not yet begun calculating the contents of this upgraded Five Realms Great Limit Formation.
During this period, Fang Yuan's Time Path clone had been focused on calculating the Immortal Gu House.
An Immortal Gu House was itself a Gu Formation, one that had developed from the Formation Path. The original reason was simple: many Formation Path Gu Immortals found laying formations far too inconvenient, entirely lacking in flexibility. When battles erupted suddenly, there was often no time to set up a formation at all.
Historical records contained many such examples. Some Formation Path Gu Immortals — even powerhouses — had been caught in sudden battles, unable to deploy even a fraction of their abilities. Mere defeat was considered fortunate; worse still, many had perished in combat, their hearts filled with nothing but bitter frustration.
The original concept behind the Immortal Gu House was to create a mobile Immortal-grade Gu Formation.
Meanwhile, Fang Yuan's Time Path clone had recently been managing the Immortal Aperture during brief moments of downtime, and afterward had remained constantly enveloped in the Wisdom Halo — there were simply too many things to calculate and improve.
As for Fang Yuan's main body, he had been painstakingly practicing his killer moves. The bulk of his remaining energy went into soul cultivation, with whatever free time he could spare devoted to managing his Immortal Apertures.
His killer moves continued to grow in number, his soul foundation surged with every session of cultivation, and the management of his Immortal Apertures proceeded without a hitch. This was largely thanks to the elite Gu Immortals under his command, who helped him shoulder the work.
The Time Pool was extremely important — with it, the Year Beasts had a dedicated place to dwell.
Its advantages were numerous: it saved space, provided a habitat for Year Beasts, produced Time Path Gu insects on its own, and could even regulate the flow of time within the Immortal Aperture. It was essentially a miniature River of Time!
In his previous life, Fang Yuan had worked painstakingly to build a Time Pool, only to discover when he annexed Xia Cha's Immortal Aperture that she had one too!