Following a tributary of the River of Time, Fang Yuan and the others returned to the Southern Border.
Although the group of immortals were in excellent condition and their spirits were high, rest and reorganization after the battle were still necessary.
"The gains from this battle were actually pretty good." Fang Yuan inspected the corpses that had been salvaged.
Apart from the Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal Qing Ye, most of these Seventh Transformation Gu Immortals from the Central Continent had come from the ten great ancient sects. They themselves hadn't yet qualified to join the Heavenly Court, so their Immortal Caves had not been contributed upward.
The vast majority of the Gu Insects had been destroyed, but these Immortal Caves were real and substantial.
There were even one or two Immortal Gu that had been lucky enough to survive after two Immortal Gu Houses were destroyed.
In the coming period, Fang Yuan planned to carefully examine these Immortal Caves to see if there were any problems. If there weren't, he would swallow them.
Of course, there were some Gu Immortals whose caves Fang Yuan couldn't yet swallow due to his insufficient attainment in certain paths.
In fact, among the Southern Border captives, there were also such figures.
"The spoils are just a bonus. The true significance of this battle is that I've finally broken free from the passive position. For the first time in my confrontation with the Heavenly Court, I've seized the initiative."
Fang Yuan's timing in this battle had been perfect.
Had he fought earlier, he wouldn't have had the Ten Thousand Year Battling Flying Ship as his Immortal Gu House, and would have been forced to expose his Eighth Transformation cultivation.
This was unacceptable. Once his Eighth Transformation cultivation was revealed, the Heavenly Court would realize that he hadn't undergone tribulation, and the secret of his Supreme Immortal Orifice would be exposed along with it.
Had he fought later, the Heavenly Court would have deployed far more than just these two Immortal Gu Houses. In his previous life, what Fang Yuan had encountered were four Time Path Immortal Gu Houses.
By destroying the Eternal Vessel and the Present-Ancient Pavilion, he had forced the Heavenly Court into an extremely passive position.
The Heavenly Court, fearing that Fang Yuan would obtain the Red Lotus True Inheritance, would absolutely reinforce the River of Time to stop him.
However, after Master Huang Shi, the Heavenly Court lacked Eighth Transformation Time Path experts, and could only use Qing Ye and Time Path Immortal Gu Houses as substitutes.
This, in turn, gave Fang Yuan another opportunity to strike.
Just as he had destroyed the Eternal Vessel and the Present-Ancient Pavilion this time.
However, even knowing this, the Heavenly Court still needed to investigate quickly and do everything in their power to stop him, no matter the cost.
"In my previous life, the Heavenly Court had defended the River of Time like an impregnable fortress. But in this life... heh."
"The River of Time has become a place the Heavenly Court must defend at all costs, and it's also an excellent battlefield for me—somewhere to weaken them and make them continuously bleed."
Fang Yuan was virtually certain about the Heavenly Court's response.
Just as the Heavenly Court had leveraged the Fate Gu as a strategic advantage, forcing the Gu Immortals of the Four Regions to launch a distant expedition against the Central Continent and the Heavenly Court.
Fang Yuan, relying on the pretext of the Red Lotus True Inheritance, had also forced the Heavenly Court to reinforce the River of Time.
"But this means the secret of my rebirth probably won't be kept."
During the last battle at Langya, Fairy Ziwu had already grown deeply suspicious. During this period, Fang Yuan had captured the Southern Border pursuers and slaughtered his way through the River of Time.
If Fairy Ziwu still couldn't confirm that Fang Yuan had been reborn, then she wouldn't be Fairy Ziwu!
Fang Yuan would never underestimate Fairy Ziwu, and he understood her particularly well.
Often, it's not your friends who know you best, but your enemies.
Sure enough, several days later, Fairy Ziwu publicly announced in the Treasure Yellow Heaven that Fang Yuan had returned through rebirth and had already obtained an Eighth Transformation Time Path Immortal Gu House.
Once the news broke, it spread rapidly in all directions. Fang Yuan's influence soared to even greater heights, and the world was thrown into uproar!
"How long has it been? Fang Yuan has already grown into a Demonic Path Colossus, a towering figure who holds up the sky!"
"Before, Fang Yuan had that attack using the Reverse Flow River that could deflect the strikes of Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals, keeping him in an invincible position. Now he's obtained an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House as well?"
"Isn't this too fast? These Immortal Gu Houses just seem to be popping up out of the ground."
"Since he came back through rebirth, an Immortal Gu House isn't that surprising. Don't forget, he devoured the Langya Blessed Land—its reserves run deep."
The public opinion naturally spilled over to the Heavenly Court.
"The Heavenly Court seems quite weak. They've never had any effective measures against Fang Yuan."
"The great Heavenly Court only suffers defeat after defeat, and then publishes information about Fang Yuan after the fact?"
"It's not that the Heavenly Court is weak—it's that they have no way to deal with Fang Yuan."
"Normally, even if a demonic Gu Immortal's cultivation reached the Eighth Transformation, they wouldn't be as high-profile as Fang Yuan."