Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had once told Bing Saichuan plainly: if the plan to attack Heavenly Court failed and Heaven's Will had no hope of seizing Fate Gu, then they should seek help from the key figure.
"So who is the key figure?" Bing Saichuan had asked on the spot.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable answered him: "Whoever destroyed the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building — that person is the key figure. When the time comes, you will know for certain."
Heaven's Will's original plan had been to refine Destiny Gu, which required seizing Fate Gu.
But unlike his previous life, in this life Bing Saichuan had encountered severe setbacks. With no other choice, he could only turn to Fang Yuan for aid.
Having received Bing Saichuan's plea for help, Fang Yuan was already in the Central Continent, hiding within the grand formation of the Nian Organization.
This grand formation had been laid down by the Shadow Sect and left behind for the Nian Organization to use as their headquarters. But after the heretical Gu refinement at Yi Tian Mountain, the Shadow Sect had vanished without a trace, and the Nian Organization had been uprooted by Fairy Zi Wei. That left this grand formation abandoned.
In his previous life, Fang Yuan had used this grand formation to successfully frame Zhou Xiongxin. But circumstances had changed in this life — Fang Yuan had retreated early. To guard against the Thousand Fingers Pointing killing move, he hadn't engaged Zhou Xiongxin too deeply. As a result, Zhou Xiongxin survived and became one of the elite generals in Heavenly Court's main force, while the Nian Organization's grand formation also remained intact.
"I didn't expect Heaven's Will to run into such trouble." Fang Yuan's eyes flickered as he thought rapidly.
He had been uninformed about the battle situation at Heavenly Court, but Bing Saichuan's plea for help had described their perilous predicament in detail.
Comparing this to his previous life, Fang Yuan quickly discovered the key reason for Heaven's Will's setback: the moment they charged in, they were immediately shifted into the wall of Qi.
"That must be because of Qin Dingling. In this life, with her — a Fortune Path Gu Immortal — Heavenly Court saw through Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's arrangement ahead of time and turned his own plan against him, setting an ambush for Heaven's Will." Understanding dawned on Fang Yuan.
"This is yet another new change."
"And the 'Predecessors' killing move... So once the Calamity Luck Altar is activated, it can immediately transport its users. In his previous life, Bing Saichuan actually used this very fact to trap Duke Long."
Before obtaining this intelligence, Fang Yuan had been studying Heavenly Court's large-scale Star Drop method, trying to find a way to counter it.
However much importance Fairy Zi Wei placed on it, however desperately she tried to preserve this method — that was exactly how much Fang Yuan wanted to destroy it!
By now, Fang Yuan had deduced that the formation was located within Heavenly Court itself. Its core was the Star Constellation Chessboard, and during the day countless stars were scattered across the sky. The formation's power was projected onto these stars, using them as relay points, ultimately forming the large-scale Star Drop tactic.
Fang Yuan had not deduced the existence of Qin Song as a key figure.
In his previous life, Qin Song had appeared only briefly — he died right after escorting Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals to Dragon Hidden Cave.
Later, the Eastern Sea Gu Immortals had never relayed this piece of intelligence to Fang Yuan.
Lacking this crucial clue, Fang Yuan's deductions had hit a bottleneck.
But now he was beginning to realize something.
"According to the intelligence Bing Saichuan relayed, although Fairy Zi Wei did not participate in the siege, she still appeared outside the Qi wall to observe the battle. That is somewhat strange — a large-scale Star Drop should have consumed all her attention, yet she still seemed perfectly at ease."
"Someone is helping her!"
"Who could it be? Some other Wisdom Path master? Or someone else's coordination that ultimately made the large-scale Star Drop tactic succeed."
Fang Yuan quickly cut off this line of thought.
Now was not the time to dwell on this question — he had to make a decision quickly!
As a Wisdom Path Gu Immortal, Fang Yuan was like a chess player right now, locked in a game against Fairy Zi Wei.
Each side had their pieces.
Fairy Zi Wei clearly held several moves' advantage. Whether it was her own Wisdom Path attainment, the united front of all of Heavenly Court, or the current strategic situation — she occupied a clear superiority.
The forces Fang Yuan could mobilize appeared vast on the surface, but in reality each group fought independently. Against the troops of the four regions, he could only exert influence and nudge events along.
Although he had many subordinates now, far more than in his previous life, those truly capable of operating on this stage were exceedingly few.
Fang Yuan once again reviewed the entire Central Continent theater of war.
At the Undefeated Blessed Land battlefield, Southern Border Gu Immortals had entered the formation and fought fiercely, breaking through formation after formation. But the Nine-Nine Chain Unending Formation's greatest strength was precisely this — its sub-formations were practically infinite.
At the Dragon Hidden Cave battlefield, Eastern Sea Gu Immortals were trapped inside a grand formation, fighting with all their might to break free. However, Elder Biefeng could clearly hold out for a while longer still.
As for the Emperor City battlefield, Western Desert Gu Immortals were still en route, their morale having plummeted.
And at the Heavenly Court battlefield, Heaven's Will was completely at a disadvantage. Ever since they had fallen into Heavenly Court's trap, they had entirely lost the initiative.
"Among the four battlefields, the most critical one is still Heavenly Court. Fate Gu is located at Heavenly Court. To win this war, Fate Gu must be destroyed," Fang Yuan told himself. This was the same conclusion Fairy Zi Wei had reached — both sides knew where the most important battlefield was.
"If that is the case, then the Heavenly Court battlefield cannot be allowed to fail! Heaven's Will's performance has been far too disappointing. I had been counting on them to absorb some of the firepower and trigger Primordial Lotus Immortal Venerable's Painting Path measures for me."
Fang Yuan knew he must support Bing Saichuan. Even though Bing Saichuan had his own agenda and had deceived him — abandoning him to the side in the previous life, and doing the same in this life — for the sake of the greater picture, Fang Yuan had to provide support.
The Heavenly Court battlefield.
Immortal Level Killing Move — Chaotic Dragon Fist!
One steel-hard punch after another struck the Calamity Luck Altar, sending violent tremors through it. The force of each blow rippled outward, annihilating tens of thousands of Gu insects in an instant.
Inside the Calamity Luck Altar, Mao Li Qiu screamed: "Let me out! Let me hold him off!"