Spectral Soul was truly a Demonic Venerable who had fought his way to the top!
Anyone else would have immediately gone on guard and looked for a chance to break free. But his combat experience was far too vast—upon falling into the trap, he actually seized the moment and used the opportunity to his advantage!
It had to be said, his timing was perfect.
Fang Yuan had been hunted by three parties all this time, under tremendous pressure. Only here had he finally found safety—it was only human to let his guard down.
Spectral Soul used words to confuse, while secretly preparing his killing move. This strike was utterly silent; in the current Five Regions, perhaps only Wu Yong of the Southern Border could rival it when it came to concealing one's aura. The moment it activated, Spectral Soul immediately turned the tables, clamping his grip tightly around Fang Yuan's neck.
And this technique of Spectral Soul's was extraordinary—it was called the Soul-Shattering Hand. This move could only be deployed at close range, in direct physical combat.
One had to understand that Gu Immortal battles rarely involved hand-to-hand fighting. The vast majority were fought at range, with only a select few paths—the Transformation Path and the Strength Path among them—relying primarily on close combat. The Soul-Shattering Hand had an extremely short activation range, a severe drawback, yet Spectral Soul still kept it in his arsenal, unwilling to part with it—because once it landed, its power was extraordinary. The target could not break free, granting it a decisive, one-blow finish.
The next moment, the Soul-Shattering Hand launched with devastating force!
A smile surfaced once more on Fang Yuan's face, while Spectral Soul's expression darkened abruptly.
The "Fang Yuan" in his grip rapidly turned to sand, drifting away and vanishing—it was a sand puppet all along!
Golden sand filled the air, and from within came Fang Yuan's voice of admiration: "Brilliant indeed, Fellow Immortal Lu! Your effort and time spent setting up this Phantom Sand Shifting Shadow battlefield were not wasted."
Fang Yuan made no effort to conceal his words. Demonic Venerable Spectral Soul let out a cold snort, immediately homing in on the voice's direction, piercing through the swirling sand to kill his way toward Fang Yuan.
Spectral Soul struck again, but Fang Yuan neither dodged nor retreated.
The next instant, Fang Yuan collapsed once more, dissolving into countless grains of sand that scattered away.
Demonic Venerable Spectral Soul furrowed his brow—a rare sight.
Lu Weiyin's voice came next: "Fellow Immortal Fang Yuan flatters me. The truth is, Fellow Immortal Spectral Soul is simply too powerful. I had no choice but to unleash my most formidable battlefield killing move. I won't hide it from you—this battlefield originates from the Legacy of Blessed Land, but it has been refined and innovated upon by several generations, with quite a few variations. The layer you just encountered is the Sand Puppet Substitute—it can confuse the enemy's senses and draw their fire."
"Lu Weiyin, have you forgotten about your Mushroom Man Blessed Land in the Southern Border? Back then, my Shadow Sect specifically let you off the hook," Demonic Venerable Spectral Soul shot back coldly, his eyes locked on Lu Weiyin's sand puppet nearby. He knew Fang Yuan and Lu Weiyin were deliberately speaking aloud to erode his morale, applying constant psychological pressure.
When masters clashed, every word was an exchange of blows. Especially in the hands of a Wisdom Path Gu Immortal, their words became razor-sharp—every syllable a blade or spear, and the opponent could not afford the slightest lapse in attention.
Fang Yuan, however, ignored Demonic Venerable Spectral Soul and continued addressing Lu Weiyin: "A battlefield killing move of such power—it truly wasn't in vain that I sacrificed two Immortal Gu Houses as bait to lower this old fossil's guard. The rest is up to you, Fellow Immortal Lu."
Lu Weiyin was well aware of Fang Yuan's tribulation situation. In fact, even the Heavenly Mark of Freedom killing move in Fang Yuan's possession was a gift from Lu Weiyin!
In truth, Fang Yuan did not trust Lu Weiyin. His primary escape destination had never been the Earth Abyss—it was the Crazed Demon Hollow. Fang Yuan knew little of Lu Weiyin's true nature, and the memories from five hundred years ago contained scant information about him.
Right now, not only was Demonic Venerable Spectral Soul trapped within the Phantom Sand Shifting Shadow battlefield—Fang Yuan was too.
Moreover, both of his Immortal Gu Houses, the Dragon Palace and the Ten-Thousand-Year Flying Fort, had been destroyed. He had lost a great many Gu Insects, and the core Immortal Gu he had recovered were few and all damaged.
Spectral Soul grinned savagely: "Fang Yuan, you'd better stay hidden. Perhaps Lu Weiyin can let you out? Heh heh. But it doesn't matter. Blessed Land is gone—no earth-path battlefield, no matter how formidable, can hold me for long. Once I grasp the secrets of this place, that will be the day you die!"
Lu Weiyin did not respond. Instead, he activated the battlefield.
The yellow sand around Demonic Venerable Spectral Soul surged violently, and a figure burst forth from the swirling grains—it was Fang Yuan's Qi Sea Clone.
The Qi Sea Ancestor caught sight of Spectral Soul and froze for a moment, as if he had just charged through the sandstorm without expecting the Demonic Venerable to be there.
But in the next instant, the Qi Sea Ancestor launched his attack, deploying Qi Path techniques to strike at Spectral Soul.
Spectral Soul snorted coldly and blocked the assault. Just as he was about to counterattack, he watched the Qi Sea Ancestor get swallowed once more by the swirling sand, vanishing without a trace.
Spectral Soul immediately gave chase in that direction, plunging into the yellow sand—but he could not find the Qi Sea Ancestor anywhere.
Another figure struck—it was Qi Zhi, the Demonic Immortal.
Spectral Soul was about to call out, but he noticed something off about Qi Zhi's expression and instantly grew wary.
Sure enough, the next moment, Qi Zhi attacked him as well.
Spectral Soul blocked the strike and roared: "Qi Zhi, what's wrong with you?"
But Qi Zhi, the Demonic Immortal, merely sneered: "Qi Sea Ancestor! Since you provoked me of your own accord, then let me show you what true Qi Path power looks like!"
Upon hearing this, Spectral Soul was momentarily stunned. A thought flashed through his mind: "Could it be that this is another layer of the earth-path battlefield's power—that it can blur the line between friend and foe?"
If the battlefield had been able to disguise the sand puppet as Fang Yuan and Spectral Soul failed to detect it, then it was hardly surprising that it could disguise him as the Qi Sea Ancestor, fooling Qi Zhi in the process.
Spectral Soul and Qi Zhi, the Demonic Immortal, exchanged blows. After a dozen or so rounds, Qi Zhi was wounded and once again swallowed by the yellow sand.
The next figure to appear was Cyan Vengeance.
"Spectral Soul! I want you dead! I want you dead!" Cyan Vengeance remained as frenzied as ever. The aura of her Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu blazed so intensely that even Spectral Soul's heart skipped a beat.
And so it went—sometimes the Qi Sea Ancestor, sometimes Qi Zhi the Demonic Immortal, and sometimes the primordial legendary wild beast Cyan Vengeance.
They appeared and vanished within the endless sandstorm, launching a wheel assault against Demonic Venerable Spectral Soul!
Spectral Soul's combat prowess was superb, far surpassing any one of them. But every time he began to gain an edge, Lu Weiyin behind the scenes would immediately rotate the fighters, leaving the Demonic Venerable powerless to do anything about it.
Spectral Soul was attacked in succession and further blinded by the yellow sand. For a time, he could not break free and was forced into a purely defensive position.
At the rear of the battlefield, Fang Yuan was going all out to weather his tribulation. Wu Shuai stood guard at his side, his face taut with vigilance. Around them, countless Army Ants converged into a hollow sphere, encasing both him and Fang Yuan within its protective shell.
Inside the Supreme Immortal Aperture, the myriad tribulations had already transformed into a raging deluge!
The flood cascaded down, drowning everything for ten thousand miles.