"So it's Lord Long Gong!" When Fang Zheng saw Long Gong, he was both shocked and overjoyed.
He knew of Long Gong's identity. In fact, he had crossed paths with Long Gong before.
"If Lord Long Gong hadn't appeared, I would already be dead. With Lord Long Gong here, I should be safe." Fang Zheng's trembling terror finally subsided, replaced by waves of relief.
He knew exactly what kind of figure Long Gong was — this was the teacher of Red Lotus Demon Venerable!
Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes for a closer look at the person who had nearly taken his life — Qi Hai Ancestor.
He saw an old man dressed in white robes, his wide sleeves billowing, a long white beard hanging all the way down to his feet. His expression was solemn, his bearing majestic, and clouds of mist drifted around him, adding a touch of immortal elegance.
Fang Zheng naturally couldn't recognize that this was Fang Yuan in disguise. Curiously, he wondered about the old man's identity: "This old man also has Eighth Transformation cultivation, but he doesn't match any of the known Eighth Transformation powerhouses among the Eastern Sea's Gu Immortals. Who exactly is he?"
He wasn't the only one curious. Long Gong was curious as well. However, the Eastern Sea was vast and its resources ranked first among the Five Regions — it was entirely normal for an Eighth Transformation figure to be hiding there.
Long Gong immediately spoke with a smile: "Qi Hai Ancestor... As an Eighth Transformation cultivator, calling yourself a patriarch or ancestor is fair enough. But standing before me, calling yourself 'Qi Hai' — that's quite the bold tone."
Hearing this, Fang Zheng's mind stirred: "Right! Lord Long Gong first cultivated the Qi Path, then the Transformation Path — a rare dual supreme master. This old Eighth Transformation man from the Eastern Sea also practices the Qi Path, and now he's run afoul of Lord Long Gong. Tsk, tsk."
Fang Zheng couldn't help but feel a moment of silent sympathy for Qi Hai Ancestor.
Just then, he heard Long Gong's voice drop as he demanded: "Speak. You were specifically lying in wait here, ambushing us with malicious intent. What is your purpose? What is your connection to that Fang Yuan?"
Fang Yuan felt a flicker of surprise, pondering silently: "How did he connect this identity directly to my real one?"
Outwardly, however, Fang Yuan sneered: "I am a reclusive cultivator of the Eastern Sea. I don't trouble others unless they trouble me. Unfortunately, your Heavenly Court harbors enormous ambition — you wish to swallow the Five Regions and unite the world. In the future, you would come for my head as well, eager to eliminate me."
Long Gong's brows furrowed immediately. He countered: "Qi Hai Ancestor, you have clearly been instigated by that demon Fang Yuan. There is no enmity between us — this is even our first meeting. Why would I trouble you?"
"That demon Fang Yuan is cunning by nature, skilled at sowing discord. You must not be careless."
Fang Yuan snorted coldly: "I didn't believe him at first either. But Fang Yuan revealed many of my secrets and provided irrefutable evidence. He was reborn from the future — should I believe him, or should I believe you?"
Long Gong's frown deepened.
Fang Yuan's accusation was rather shameless.
If it were about Heavenly Court's past or present actions, Long Gong could produce counter-evidence. But accusing Heavenly Court of something it would do in the future — Long Gong had no way to refute that. He himself wasn't even certain!
Even Long Gong's own mind harbored some doubts: "Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals aren't so easily deceived. If Fang Yuan managed to convince this Qi Hai Ancestor to oppose Heavenly Court, perhaps at some point in the future, Heavenly Court truly did move against him. If that's the case, then no amount of verbal persuasion would help."
Long Gong sighed inwardly, then recalled that his purpose in coming here had been to retrieve the dragon palace — only to be blocked at this juncture. Qi Hai Ancestor was clearly here to intercept him. Putting two and two together, Fang Yuan was likely making a move against the dragon palace.
"Looks like I need to end this battle quickly!" A flash of resolve crossed Long Gong's eyes.
In the end, he had been deceived by Fang Yuan.
This was not only because Fang Yuan had improved the Meeting Familiar Face killer move, pairing it with Qi Path techniques. More importantly, what Qi Hai Ancestor displayed at this moment was genuine Eighth Transformation cultivation.
Long Gong had always believed Fang Yuan was a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal.
Not just Long Gong — the Wisdom Path powerhouse Fairy Zi Wei, the entirety of Heavenly Court, and indeed the whole world all thought so.
Unlike in his previous life, in this life the secret of the Supreme Immortal Gu House had never been exposed.
Fang Yuan had handled this aspect perfectly.
Immortal Move — Dragon Claw Strike!
With his resolve settled, Long Gong attacked without a moment's hesitation, striking with full force.
It was a Transformation Path move, and a claw mark immediately imprinted itself upon midair.
In the Pine Crane Pavilion, Fang Zheng cried out — he hadn't expected Long Gong to strike first, and to do so by ambush at that!
But Qi Hai Ancestor's body, though hit, dissolved into a wisp of mist and scattered on the spot.
Fang Yuan had long been on guard against Long Gong. Moreover, this was within his own Immortal Gu battlefield, so his evasion was particularly composed.
Long Gong's expression didn't change — this strike had merely been a probe.
Now he had confirmed it: this was indeed a Qi Path battlefield, and the power of Transformation Path moves was severely suppressed here.
Very well, then he would simply switch tactics.
Without turning around, Long Gong extended a finger and pointed behind him.
A surge of air erupted, quickly forming a bubble of air over the Pine Crane Pavilion, encasing it within.
"Thank you, Lord Long Gong!" Fang Zheng didn't dare delay, hurriedly calling out his gratitude.
Long Gong ignored him and activated another killer move. After a brief preparation, he thrust both palms forward, launching several qi dragons.
The semi-transparent qi dragons swept swiftly through the area. Once they located Fang Yuan's traces, they would attack on their own.
"Lord Long Gong is truly no ordinary Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal!" Seeing these qi dragons — each over ten zhang long, magnificent, powerful, yet agile and spirited — Fang Zheng couldn't help but silently marvel.
But just then, Long Gong abruptly raised his head, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"What was that sound?" Fang Zheng had also heard a tremendous rumbling and quickly looked up.
The next moment, his mouth fell open and his pupils contracted sharply.
He saw a colossal wave of blade qi, a hundred zhang long, wide and thick, descending like a divine war-blade, poised to cleave the very heavens and earth in two!
The blade qi surged with overwhelming force, whipping up countless gales and thunderbolts. Fang Zheng shuddered — beneath this enormous blade qi, he was as small as an ant. Those imposing qi dragons from moments ago had been instantly reduced to the likeness of earthworms and tiny snakes.
In this critical moment, Long Gong roared and forcefully activated his killer move.
Qi Wall!
The Qi Wall was the most common defensive move of the Qi Path, but the method Long Gong employed at this moment was far from ordinary.
He used a combo, activating the Qi Wall three times in succession.
First came a single layer, then it expanded twice in rapid succession, growing thicker and tougher — equivalent to three layers of Qi Walls fused and stacked together.
Boom!