"This is the Dream Decree Immortal Gu." Fang Yuan inspected the Dragon Palace.
The Dream Decree was shaped like a dragonfly — a round head, a long body, a pair of compound eyes like pink gemstones, and four pairs of transparent wings. Looking closely at the delicate wings, one could even discern a faint, iridescent halo upon them.
A surge of joy rose within Fang Yuan.
For a long time, he had placed his hopes on Dream Path Immortal Gu. Though he possessed quite a few Dream Path killer moves, his collection of Dream Path Immortal Gu had always been zero.
Take the Dream Breaking killer move for example. The Immortal Gu component was merely a Wisdom Path puzzle-breaking Gu. Fang Yuan had been forced to substitute it with a great number of Dream Path mortal Gu, replicating the function that Dream Path Immortal Gu should have fulfilled. This meant that every time the Dream Breaking killer move was activated, it consumed an enormous quantity of Dream Path mortal Gu.
In the early stages of obtaining the Dream Breaking killer move, Fang Yuan had to painstakingly refine Dream Path mortal Gu one by one each time.
If he'd had a Dream Path Immortal Gu as a substitute, he wouldn't have had to endure such trouble.
Fang Yuan had never possessed even a single Dream Path Immortal Gu — and now, at last, he had obtained one, and it was the Eighth Transformation Dream Decree!
"Looking back on this dream exploration, it was truly perilous. I nearly lost myself." The Dragonman clone beside him sighed, still shaken. "If I hadn't sensed the danger in advance and secretly arranged the Dream Breaking killer move with a delayed activation, I probably would have defected already."
Fang Yuan had always used the Dream Breaking killer move to explore dreams — but this time, it had been aimed at himself.
However, the Dragon Palace's ability to enslave Eighth Transformation cultivators and forge new masters ultimately came down to the power of dreams. So the clone deploying the Dream Breaking move on himself was fighting fire with fire — the perfect countermeasure.
Killer moves were dead things; people were alive.
The wondrous application of Gu lay entirely in the mind.
Of course, the layers of the Dream Breaking killer move alone were insufficient to contend with an Eighth Transformation Dream Decree. For that, Fang Yuan had to thank Rong Po, Zhang Yin, and the other Eastern Sea Gu Immortals.
Fang Yuan's main body nodded slightly. "This was indeed the most exhausting and difficult dream exploration I've ever conducted. However, before this, I observed fortune — that wisp of blue-purple qi was no deception. It indicated the possibility that you could become the master of the Dragon Palace without losing yourself."
It was precisely because he had observed the possibility of success in the fortune that Fang Yuan had ordered his clone to enter the dream for the trial.
If there had been no wisp of blue-purple qi, only the prospect of failure, Fang Yuan would have intervened with his main body long ago.
By now, Fang Yuan's main body and clone had fully communicated, each learning of the other's prior experiences.
Fang Yuan's main body commented, "The Dragon Palace dream was indeed deep and complex. With both body and soul cast into the dream this time, having one's emotions stirred was unavoidable. And then there was the dream within a dream — which makes it all too easy to become lost, unable to extricate oneself."
"And beyond that, there was Heavenly Court causing trouble on the outside. The slightest lapse in attention could have sparked a massive battle, sending the entire situation spiraling out of control."
Don't let the harmless-looking appearance of the two Eastern Sea Immortals fool you — they were no good people. In the previous life, they had fought Dragon Lord over the Dragon Palace. After Dragon Lord's victory, during the Central Continent Gu Refining Grand Assembly, they had even joined forces with other Eighth Transformation cultivators to raid the Dragon Cavern. They had never given up their pursuit of the Dragon Palace.
In truth, the reason Dragon Lord had chosen to negotiate was partly because of Sea Qi Ancestor's — Fang Yuan's persona — extraordinary strength, and partly because of this very consideration.
From the overall picture, Fang Yuan's move this time had been exceedingly dangerous — like walking a tightrope at the edge of a cliff, where the slightest misstep would bring everything crashing down.
That it ended without incident, with the situation remaining under control, owed itself to Fang Yuan's strategic brilliance.
First, his experience in dream exploration was unrivaled in the world. Though it was the clone who acted this time, Fang Yuan had equipped him with the Pure Dream True Seeking Variation and the Dream Breaking methods.
Second, Fang Yuan had assembled the Luck Cooking Pot, which allowed him to observe fortune. He had indeed observed the blue-purple qi and knew there was a chance of success, so he had made the attempt.
Third, in the River of Time, Fang Yuan had deployed Bai Ningbing and others. The Ten Thousand Year Fighting Flying Car tangled with Heavenly Court's five Time Path Immortal Gu Houses, tying down their attention. Relying on his earlier stratagems, Fang Yuan had successfully deceived Dragon Lord, deftly maneuvering between Heavenly Court and the Eastern Sea's local superpowers — borrowing strength from both sides.
Finally, in the absolute worst case, even if he failed, Fang Yuan would only lose a clone. His main body would remain safe, and his foundation intact. If the Dragonman clone defected, Fang Yuan could rely on the connection between main body and clone to hunt him down. Setting everything else aside, even just the fortune-related traces were something the Dragon Palace could not sever.
Because the Dragon Palace was a product of the Red Lotus era, while the Luck Path had been created later by Great Sun Immortal Venerable.
It was precisely because of all these factors that Fang Yuan — facing Heavenly Court, the Eastern Sea Gu Immortals, and the four Dragon Generals — could exert effort on all fronts, place every piece strategically, support each move in coordination, and form an advantage that allowed both offense and defense, maintaining control of the overall situation throughout.
Of course, there had been risks.
If the Dragonman clone was lost, nearly all of Fang Yuan's current Dream Path capabilities would be gone.
After all, the Dream Breaking killer move and the Pure Dream True Seeking Variation were both in the clone's hands.
This was a risk that had to be taken.