BOOM—!
A deafening explosion rocked the Dragon Palace as it took a massive blow. Countless roof tiles cracked and tumbled into the air, but before they even reached the ground, they transformed into various Gu Insect fragments and shredded stone, swiftly scattered by the ferocious winds howling at high altitude.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable had caught up!
His speed was terrifyingly fast. Even when Wu Shuai pushed the Dragon Palace to its maximum velocity, it still couldn't match Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's pace.
A layer of pitch-black, dense mist shrouded Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's entire body. Every strike he delivered dealt a devastating blow to the Dragon Palace.
Wu Shuai had no choice but to devote all his effort to repairs. Fortunately, he had amassed a considerable stockpile of Gu Insects and was well-prepared.
Fang Yuan's brows knitted together, his expression turning grave.
He had come to Heavenly Court under the guise of the Sea of Qi Ancestor for one purpose — to resolve the Heavenly Dao marks on his body. The moment he achieved his goal, he had immediately chosen to flee. He never cared about maintaining the fearsome reputation of the First Demon, not one bit.
But while Fang Yuan had accomplished his objective, he now needed time. Time was precisely what he lacked.
"Spectral Soul Demon Venerable is in hot pursuit. Heavenly Court will almost certainly follow — those people will never sit idly by and let me escape unopposed. Breaking free this time will be extraordinarily difficult!"
Fang Yuan's escape methods had been continually improving over the years. In his earliest days, his strongest means of flight was transforming into an Ancient Sword Flood Dragon and employing the Sword Escape killer move. After that came the Four Directions Eight Paths killer move, followed by Fixed Immortal Travel, and then killer moves centered around Fixed Immortal Travel.
But among all these methods, even Four Directions Eight Paths couldn't match Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's speed. The Fixed Immortal Travel killer move might offer a slim hope of escape, but Fang Yuan's current strength was pitifully weak, and he was under constant, severe interference from the Heavenly Dao marks.
To shake off this interference and completely refine away the Heavenly Dao marks, Fang Yuan still needed a considerable stretch of time.
Putting himself in his enemies' shoes — whether Spectral Soul Demon Venerable or Heavenly Court, both were eager to see Fang Yuan dead. The former had exhausted nearly his entire fortune to refine the Supreme Immortal Fetus Gu, only for Fang Yuan to seize it right from under his nose. The latter had seen its stronghold ravaged by Fang Yuan, and Fate Gu — its spiritual pillar — destroyed by him. Heavenly Court was the leader of the Righteous Path, the faction most concerned with face, and yet in the Battle of Fate, Fang Yuan had slapped that face until it swelled beyond recognition.
Heavenly Court couldn't deal with Fang Yuan before only because it couldn't find him. In the future, it likely wouldn't be able to deal with him either — once Fang Yuan recovered his strength, Heavenly Court would be in a very difficult position.
Now that Heavenly Court had found Fang Yuan, of course it was going to kill him with everything it had!
Miss this opportunity and there would never be another. Fortune favors the bold, and chance lost is lost forever.
Fang Yuan understood his situation with perfect clarity. Thoughts collided ceaselessly in his mind as he actively searched for a way out.
But then, his expression shifted slightly.
The Heavenly Dao marks on his body had undergone another change, stirring up fresh trouble. The degree of interference they exerted on Fang Yuan had suddenly surged severalfold.
When Fang Yuan had faced the Sea of Qi Wall earlier, his display had been impressive in scale, but that was largely because the Sea of Qi Ancestor had been secretly cooperating from within. His true combat strength at the moment was nothing to speak of.
Even so, achieving that level had required Fang Yuan to secretly employ Human Dao methods, exerting every ounce of his strength to resist the Heavenly Dao marks' interference — and that had been his absolute limit.
Outside, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was attacking the Dragon Palace with savage fury. Cracks spiderwebbed across the palace's outer walls, tiles flying in all directions. Inside, the Heavenly Dao marks held him back, leaving him bound and restricted on all sides.
The situation was dire — arguably even more perilous than the Battle of Fate itself. After all, during the Battle of Fate, Fang Yuan had still been able to invoke the Spring Autumn Cicada. But now, his greatest trump card had already been rendered useless.
There would be no more chances for a do-over. The slightest misstep, and he would meet a miserable end — body destroyed, Dao extinguished.
The bone-chilling killing intent radiating from Spectral Soul Demon Venerable pierced through the Dragon Palace and sent every hair on Fang Yuan's body standing on end.
The corner of Fang Yuan's mouth curved upward. He had made his decision —
He would head for the Madness Den!
The Heavenly Dao marks constantly interfered with Fang Yuan, making it nearly impossible for him to employ any of his killer moves. Even if he managed to activate them, the results would be pitiful at best.
Fang Yuan could only rely on external forces to escape his current crisis.
Other perilous locations offered little help. After all, the Dragon Palace was the one fleeing, leading the charge at the very front. If it blindly barged into a dangerous zone, the Dragon Palace would bear the brunt of the backlash first, putting it at a disadvantage and giving Spectral Soul Demon Venerable the upper hand.
But the Madness Den was different. On a certain level deep within the Madness Den, Fang Yuan could use his Supreme Immortal Body to smoothly descend to the next layer, while all other pursuing Gu Immortals would be blocked.
As for whether Spectral Soul Demon Venerable might also make it through — Fang Yuan didn't know. But it was worth gambling on. After all, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was not in his complete, living state. More importantly, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable did not possess a Supreme Immortal Body!
"Even if Spectral Soul Demon Venerable forces his way through with brute power, it would certainly cost him some of his strength. Besides, the next layer is vast beyond measure, filled with profound mysteries. I can easily continue to maneuver and spar with him in there."
Once his decision was made, Fang Yuan immediately commanded the Dragon Palace to change course, turning northward at full speed.
Wu Shuai, meanwhile, devoted himself entirely to repairing the Dragon Palace.
When Spectral Soul Demon Venerable saw the Dragon Palace attempt to flee, he took a deep breath and closed the distance in an instant.
He extended his hand and delivered a devastating strike to the Dragon Palace. In the next moment, countless phantom projections of Ancient Soul Beasts flickered into existence, each flash causing another section of the Dragon Palace's outer wall to crumble.
After the Soul Beast phantoms had cycled through an entire rotation, several of the load-bearing pillars inside the Dragon Palace had developed visible cracks.
Wu Shuai's expression was deeply solemn. "This is bad — this killer move is terrifying. It's striking at both the interior and exterior of the Immortal Gu House simultaneously! Several of the Dragon Palace's core Gu Insects have sustained damage!"
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes from within. The Dragon Palace gates were sealed shut, but his vision remained unimpaired as he continuously observed the situation outside.
Fang Yuan spoke in a deep, measured voice: "This Soul Path killer move — Spectral Soul Demon Venerable has used it before, but this time its effectiveness is clearly far greater. He must have made on-the-fly improvements to it!"
This was truly terrifying.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's strength was immense. Though he was no longer a Ninth Transformation cultivator, his combat power was absolutely on par with that of a Dragon Lord.
His realm had been stripped of most of its former glory, but his mastery of the Soul Path did not appear to have declined nearly as much.
Although Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's engagement with the Dragon Palace had been brief, he had already discerned many of its weaknesses. As a result, his improved Soul Path killer move grew more threatening with every passing moment.