Fang Yuan had always been one to plan thoroughly before acting. This trip to Heavenly Court was indeed a gamble, but he had long since made ample preparations.
He had refined the Qi Energy Fruit into a qi-path clone, while his true body slipped into the Dragon Palace in the span of a lightning flash. There were numerous Gu Immortals on the battlefield, but none seemed to have discovered the truth.
Fang Yuan's qi-path clone opened its mouth and inhaled, drawing every last wisp of the vast white qi into its body.
Then his palms slowly pushed forward. With a tremendous boom, an enormous qi wall condensed and pressed down upon the Dragon Palace and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable like an avalanche.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's eyes flashed with cold light. Black smoke surged violently from his body, crashing into the qi wall with a sharp hissing sound.
The qi wall dissolved, but surrounding sections immediately closed in to fill the gap. Seizing this brief opening, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable transformed into a streak of black light and pierced through like lightning.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable kept a sliver of his attention on Qi Sea Ancestor, but the bulk of his focus remained fixed on the Dragon Palace.
The Dragon Palace was enormous—this qi wall clearly would not be easy to overcome. The moment the Dragon Palace showed any flaw in its defense against the qi wall, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable would strike immediately, borrowing Qi Sea Ancestor's killer move to deliver a devastating blow.
Just as the qi wall was about to collide with the Dragon Palace, its gates burst wide open. Fang Yuan stood tall as a spear, appearing before the eyes of every immortal present.
Immortal killer move—Boundless Qi Sea!
Fang Yuan had long been prepared. Now he extended his right hand, five fingers spread, and slowly closed them into a grasp toward the qi wall.
The massive qi wall shuddered violently, then collapsed entirely. It dissolved into countless streams of qi that were swept up by an invisible force and drawn wholly into Fang Yuan's immortal aperture.
"Fang Yuan!"
"So he really is here."
"That move again! In the Battle of Destiny, he used this very move to break through Primordial Origin's qi wall!"
The sight of Fang Yuan in the flesh sent shockwaves through every immortal's heart.
The Heavenly Court Gu Immortals all wore ashen expressions. Their crushing defeat in the Battle of Destiny had turned Fang Yuan into a dark shadow that loomed perpetually over their minds.
The immortals of the Two Heavens Alliance, on the other hand, felt a mix of shock and joy. After all, judging by Fang Yuan's actions, he seemed to be on their side.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's eyes narrowed slightly. Fang Yuan's performance gave him pause for suspicion. Before this, Fang Yuan had been branded by Heavenly Dao Dao Marks—how could he still possess such formidable combat strength?
The entire battlefield sank into an eerie silence.
Fang Yuan and Qi Sea Ancestor had appeared almost simultaneously, overturning the entire situation on the field.
Qi Sea Ancestor, whom Heavenly Court had guarded so meticulously; Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, standing alone; and Fang Yuan, positioned at the gates of the Dragon Palace—the three most powerful Gu Immortals had formed a standoff.
In the Gu World, the strong reigned supreme. The ensuing battle would undoubtedly hinge on the contest between these three.
"Never did I imagine that one day, our Heavenly Court would be unable to control the situation," Qin Ding Ling sighed inwardly, while simultaneously sending a voice transmission to Qi Sea Ancestor, inquiring about his condition.
Qi Sea Ancestor replied promptly: "The Qi Energy Fruit has been fully purged, but I have sustained non-trivial injuries. How to survive this crisis will require all our Heavenly Court immortals to work as one."
Qin Ding Ling added: "This time, we owe everything to the Ancestor's intervention in resolving the crisis of Heavenly Court's destruction. Once the enemy is repelled, Heavenly Court will surely offer the Ancestor a most satisfactory reward!"
Qin Ding Ling was doing everything in her power to win Qi Sea Ancestor's allegiance when, at that very moment, the Dragon Palace shot forward violently, soaring into the sky like an orange-gold meteor.
Heavenly Court had already been riddled with holes from the devastation. The Dragon Palace slipped through one of the breaches with ease, departing for the Ancient White Heaven.
The immortals were left staring up at the departing Dragon Palace, momentarily stunned senseless.
Fang Yuan had revealed himself and joined forces with Wu Shuai, but the two of them had actually fled!
Was this truly the number one demonic figure of the age?
"It seems Fang Yuan still hasn't recovered."
"That strike just now was fearsome—it broke through Qi Sea Ancestor's qi wall killer move—but it was likely his last gasp!"
"Should we give chase? That demon Fang Yuan is cunning beyond measure. I worry this is merely a trap to lure us in. He may well have set up an Immortal Gu Formation outside, just waiting for pursuers to walk right into it!"
The Heavenly Court Gu Immortals hesitated. The immortals of the Two Heavens Alliance, meanwhile, were already cursing inwardly.
Their pillar of morale, the powerful expert they had placed all their hopes in, had simply run off—faster than any of them!
And these Two Heavens Alliance immortals were now stranded in Heavenly Court—abandoned.
"Fang Yuan, where do you think you can flee? Since you've come, leave your life behind." Spectral Soul Demon Venerable sneered. Wielding Cold Ash Fairy's body, he likewise burst out of Heavenly Court and gave chase after the Dragon Palace.
ROAR—!
Green Hatred howled. The strength it had lost was gradually recovering. The aura of the Ninth Transformation Hatred Gu upon its body was not yet complete, but it was several times denser than before.