The sky was overcast and grim, shrouded by masses of dark clouds as countless thunderclaps rumbled across the heavens.
Scarlet lightning flashed again and again within the churning black smoke-clouds. The dark clouds whirled into a vortex, and from its center, sphere after sphere of lightning descended.
These lightning spheres had a peculiar shape—they looked like ceramic vessels, each as large as a water vat, glowing with a baleful red light.
Calamity—the Red Porcelain Lightning Sphere Calamity!
The lightning spheres plummeted down, bursting with crisp, shattering detonations.
On the ground, an Immortal Gu House silently bore the damage from the exploding spheres. Large swaths of debris flew about, scattering into the air before resolving into the lifeless corpses of countless Gu Insects.
Inside the Immortal Gu House, Wu Shuai endured the thunder roaring at his ears and first examined himself.
He found that he had become an Eighth Transformation Earth Path Gu Immortal. His fingers were broad, his frame imposing, and his battle robe was already riddled with countless wounds.
Not far from him, a female immortal lay collapsed on the ground, her face deathly pale. Her aura was not only feeble, but also strangely distorted.
She was currently activating a Light Path healing killer move, so her entire body was enveloped in a layer of holy white radiance. Yet on her face, her exposed arms, and her bare legs, dark lines had appeared—Dao Marks of the Darkness Path, stark as streaks of ink.
These Darkness Path Dao Marks were so dense they had reached the level of a Ninth Transformation immortal material, forming a visible Dao Mark halo that the Gu Immortals could perceive with the naked eye.
Her cultivation was clearly at the Eighth Transformation as well.
An Eighth Transformation Light Path Gu Immortal harboring such a massive accumulation of Darkness Path Dao Marks—it baffled Wu Shuai.
What was even more eerie was that the Darkness Path Dao Marks on the female immortal were still shifting. Not only was their number rapidly increasing, but their positions and arrangements were changing at breakneck speed.
The female immortal grunted softly. Clearly, her killer move had run its course. The halo around her body abruptly stabilized, and the violent transformation of the Darkness Path Dao Marks was temporarily suppressed.
Drenched in sweat, the female immortal opened her weak eyes and looked at Wu Shuai, forcing a bitter smile. "I'm beyond saving. That was my strongest healing method, and even it can only temporarily suppress the injuries. Once the killer move's duration expires, the wounds will erupt with terrifying power."
"Zheng Yang, my beloved, I can no longer stay by your side. You must live on, and live well." As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks.
"No! There must be some way—there has to be! Don't you dare give up hope! This An Tu Chong Shan Fortress of mine was built using every last immortal Gu I had in my possession. Its defensive power is unrivaled throughout all of history. We still have time! You have to keep fighting, and I will stay by your side the whole way!" Wu Shuai roared through tears.
This was, of course, the dream realm's natural progression, completely beyond his control.
However, after this exchange of dialogue, Wu Shuai finally gained the ability to exert real control.
"An Tu Chong Shan Fortress? I've never heard of it…" His eyes blazed with sharp light as he continued to analyze and search for clues from that brief conversation.
He then inspected his own immortal aperture.
Within it, he found a fair amount of White Lychee Immortal Essence and a large quantity of mortal Gu, but no immortal Gu.
Just as Zheng Yang had said earlier, he had used every immortal Gu he possessed to construct this Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House, the An Tu Chong Shan Fortress.
"So that means my primary asset is this damaged Immortal Gu House?" Wu Shuai immediately came to a realization.
He began attempting to manipulate the Immortal Gu House.
The structure of the An Tu Chong Shan Fortress was exceedingly complex, consuming over a hundred million Gu Insects, of which the immortal Gu alone numbered more than twenty.
When Wu Shuai first tried to probe it, he found himself unable to identify which one served as the core immortal Gu! The immortal Gu were positioned with ingenious precision, their relationships mysterious. The entire Immortal Gu House's design was vast and profound, like a towering mountain range stretching for ten thousand li, connecting heaven and earth. Within the range, layer upon layer of mineral veins of all kinds intertwined with one another.
Wu Shuai was like a mortal Gu Master trying to mine within this mountain range, digging out the minerals he wanted layer by layer, attempting to understand the connections between all these veins.
"Just understanding this Immortal Gu House is overwhelmingly difficult! And I have to rely on it to withstand the Red Porcelain Lightning Sphere Calamity!"
Wu Shuai's heart sank heavily. He knew he was doomed to fail.
Sure enough, the dream's progression unfolded exactly as he had anticipated.
The Red Porcelain Lightning Spheres continued to bombard without pause. Wu Shuai tried activating the Immortal Gu House and carrying out repairs.
But it was all futile.
His understanding of the Immortal Gu House was far too shallow. Even if he wanted to repair it, he had no idea where to begin.
In the end, the Red Porcelain Lightning Spheres shattered the Immortal Gu House entirely, and both Wu Shuai and the female immortal perished as casualties beneath the lightning tribulation.
Exiting the dream realm, Wu Shuai immediately set about healing himself.
This time, Fang Yuan's original body had made thorough preparations and arrangements before departing to explore the Dragon Whale's Blessed Land. He had not only entrusted Wu Shuai with the Dream Path Gu Insects, but also a massive supply of Courage Gu.
With the Courage Gu, Wu Shuai's injuries were no longer a problem.
This kind of dream exploration was fundamentally different from the earlier exploration of the Dragon Palace's dream realm—Wu Shuai had many opportunities to try again.
Second failure, third failure, fourth, fifth…
After eight attempts, Wu Shuai finally developed a reasonably clear understanding of the An Tu Chong Shan Fortress.
Though he had not fully repaired the Immortal Gu House, his efficiency had caught up with the rate of bombardment from the Red Porcelain Lightning Spheres.
In the sky, the black clouds churned and roiled. The Red Porcelain Lightning Spheres grew increasingly sparse until they ceased entirely.
But within the dark clouds, a second calamity was already brewing.
The female immortal sighed. "Ah… It's all because I didn't heed your warning. I went searching for the burial site of the Prodigious Savage Demon Venerable, and in doing so, I've brought down this curse, bringing one calamity after another upon us."
"It's what I deserve. Zheng Yang, please go. I refuse to drag you down with me!"
The halo around the female immortal had visibly dimmed. The Darkness Path Dao Marks had now packed tightly together, resembling dark threads stitching a wound shut, covering her skin and face.
Compared to before, her aura had weakened by another significant margin, and it had grown even stranger. It was no longer merely an entanglement of Light and Darkness Paths—at her throat, an Adam's apple had actually sprouted!
Before Wu Shuai could carefully assess the female immortal's condition, a light drizzle began falling from the sky.
The rain was fine, yet bone-freezingly cold, carrying a chill that could freeze the soul itself.
The violent heat and frenzy from the earlier lightning bombardment vanished without a trace.
Wooooo…
The mournful howling of ghosts swelled from a whisper to a deafening roar, rapidly piercing through the heavens.
Strand after strand of gray silk descended from the black clouds above, extending rapidly toward Wu Shuai.
Wu Shuai's heart sank as he identified this calamity. "This is the Calamity—the Ghost Spirit Ice Silkworm Calamity! One calamity follows straight on the heels of the next—it looks like they'll keep coming without end."
Wu Shuai had no choice but to grit his teeth and brace himself against the incoming silk threads.
The Red Porcelain Lightning Spheres had been explosive and violent, but the Ghost Spirit Silkworm Threads were insidious and cunning.