The river of time flowed gently onward, radiating a kaleidoscope of shimmering light.
Compared to the great River of Time, this stretch of water was narrow — merely a tributary.
This was the time tributary of the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven. It was precisely because of this tributary that time turned within the grotto-heaven, rather than it being a world frozen in stillness.
A figure appeared silently.
He had a pale, jade-like complexion, a breathtaking countenance, a high-bridged nose, deep black eyes, and long black hair cascading to his waist like a dark, lustrous waterfall.
It was none other than Fang Yuan's true body, arriving in person.
"Here will do." Fang Yuan regarded the time tributary and waved his hand casually.
Instantly, twelve balls of light shot forth.
They fell into the tributary and transformed into twelve Primordial Year Beasts.
These twelve Primordial Year Beasts were of different species: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Among them, the Primordial Year Rat, Primordial Year Ox, and Primordial Year Dog were the most magnificent and possessed the greatest strength.
Back when Fang Yuan had clashed with the Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals within the River of Time, he had deployed the Ten Thousand Year Flying Warship and achieved a resounding victory over the Heavenly Court. But in the final stages of the battle, these three Primordial Year Beasts had come after Fang Yuan. The Primordial Year Ox had shattered the warship's hull, the Primordial Year Dog had torn through its gunwales, and the Primordial Year Rat had burrowed straight inside, snatching away the Flowing Water Like Years Immortal Gu!
Fortunately, Fang Yuan had prepared in advance. He had long since crafted a fake Flowing Water Like Years Immortal Gu as bait, and the Primordial Year Rat was deceived, carrying off the decoy instead. This diversion drew the brunt of the attacks, helping the Ten Thousand Year Flying Warship escape with ease.
Afterward, once he had recovered, Fang Yuan piloted the warship back to the River of Time to settle things with those Primordial Year Beasts. After considerable effort, he subdued them one by one.
In this manner, Fang Yuan finally gathered all twelve species of Primordial Year Beasts.
During his cultivation, he had built upon this foundation and successfully constructed the Twelve Zodiac Battle Formation.
"Right now, the Twelve Zodiac Battle Formation is still not refined enough to take on the Heavenly Court. But for dealing with the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven, it is more than sufficient." Fang Yuan had long since formulated his plan.
The Twelve Zodiac Battle Formation was an ancient battle formation, fundamentally different from the modern Gu formations of the current era.
Moreover, since Fang Yuan's true body was not personally participating in the formation, operating this ancient battle formation required considerable effort.
Against an enemy like the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven it was manageable, but using it against Heavenly Court powerhouses would be stretching it — riddled with openings.
The Primordial Year Beasts roared. The Twelve Zodiac Battle Formation activated, and the twelve balls of light erupted with blinding radiance, forming twelve golden pillars of light that plunged from the riverbed to the sky above.
The pillars were intimately connected. Then the golden light scattered, and the twelve colossal pillars vanished, leaving behind only a dense golden mist that shrouded the surface of the time tributary, so thick one could not see one's own hand before one's face.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The golden light mist affected the time tributary, causing its flow to accelerate rapidly, growing faster and faster.
The Twelve Zodiac Battle Formation excelled at combat and killing, but Fang Yuan was a Quasi-Supreme Grandmaster of Time Path. When he drove it now, its power actually transcended the formation's original limitations, producing a profound transformation that imposed alterations on the time flow within the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven.
Naturally, the impact was immense.
"At this moment, the Qilin Spirit must have already noticed." Fang Yuan smiled faintly and waved his sleeve again, cracking open the aperture of his immortal aperture just a sliver to release a flood of Year Beasts.
These Year Beasts included both Desolate Beasts and Ancient Desolate Beasts.
The Year Beasts howled in succession, surging out of the golden light mist and charging into the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven.
As a Time Path Gu Immortal, when attacking a Blessed Land or Grotto-Heaven, there existed a route that no other Path could control — the time tributary.
As a Quasi-Supreme Grandmaster of Time Path, this mode of attack was naturally within Fang Yuan's grasp.
Fang Yuan was the paramount demon of the current age. The moment he acted, the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven was thrown into upheaval.
The Beast Calamity Spirit, shaped like a Qilin, was jolted awake: "Disaster! The time tributary has undergone an anomaly — some great Time Path powerhouse is forcibly altering the grotto-heaven's time flow! I must stop him!"
The Gu Cultivators within the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven had all gone down a deviated path. They knew nothing of the true outside world, believing the grotto-heaven to be the entirety of existence. They could not even connect to Treasure Yellow Heaven.
But the Qilin Spirit was born from the obsession of the Beast Calamity's deceased Gu Immortal, and thus stood outside those limitations.
The Qilin Spirit was knowledgeable and experienced. The moment Fang Yuan made his move, it immediately understood that the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven had fallen into an extremely perilous situation.
The time flow within the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven had been accelerated many times over by Fang Yuan. This meant that calamities would descend with far greater frequency. Even though the grotto-heaven possessed the All Things Great Transformation killer move as its guardian, it could not withstand calamity after calamity raining down in such rapid succession.
The Qilin Spirit did not sacrifice itself willingly, but as the controller of the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven, it naturally possessed numerous methods of alerting the Gu Cultivators within. And this was precisely what Fang Yuan wanted — he wanted them to notice. The vast number of Year Beasts he had released had already left the time tributary and manifested throughout the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven.
A sweeping calamity took shape in an instant, catching the Gu Immortals of the Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven completely off guard.
Due to the rampaging Year Beasts, devastation was dealt across the land. Living beings suffered terribly, and the entire Beast Calamity Grotto-Heaven was plunged into a state of chaos and turmoil.
Cliff City was naturally caught up in the destruction. The City Lord of Cliff City, a Gu Immortal-level combatant, was mobilized.