Lu Weiyin immediately responded to Fang Yuan: "Immortal Friend Fang Yuan, please follow me!"
But Fang Yuan replied: "No rush."
In the next moment, he let out a cold laugh, clasped his hands behind his back, and faced the three factions of Gu Immortals and their numerous Immortal Gu Houses with an air of effortless calm. "Excellent. Who among you will be the first to die?"
The words had barely left his mouth when his aura erupted, his Eighth Transformation aura flowing smooth and complete, without a single trace of fatigue.
The immortals all stared wide-eyed.
"Could it be he's not at the end of his rope?"
The fierce momentum that had been surging forward instantly faltered.
The immortals hesitated.
Taking advantage of this opening, Fang Yuan laughed heartily, activated an Immortal Dao killing move, and with Lu Weiyin and the others in tow, transformed into a streak of sword light and fled into the distance.
Unlike before, Fang Yuan had already refined a considerable number of Heavenly Dao marks. Having broken free from the tight constraints of those marks, he had carved out precious gaps of opportunity.
He could now activate Immortal Dao killing moves several times more easily than before. Though he still needed to use methods like the Humanity Dao grand formation to batter through the Heavenly Dao marks before he could find an opening to strike.
"Fang Yuan's escaping! Chase him!"
"He's toying with us!"
The immortals snapped out of their stupor and gave chase frantically.
Various killing moves rained down, bombarding Fang Yuan and his companions relentlessly.
The scene seemed to have reverted to what it was before — except that Demon Venerable Spectral Soul, Qi Sea Ancestor, and Qing Chou were gone, and in their place stood Lu Weiyin.
However...
"We must exercise extreme caution! A dying counterattack from a demonic monster like Fang Yuan must never be underestimated."
"Let the other two factions take the lead. We should conserve our strength."
"Fang Yuan is cunning. In my opinion, there could very well be a second battlefield killing move or an Immortal Dao formation up ahead."
"Indeed! In the battle at the Southern Border, Fang Yuan trapped the Righteous Path Alliance's main forces with a Time Dao grand formation. Lu Weiyin is also a scheming wretch — this time he set up an Earth Dao battlefield to ambush Spectral Soul, using methods identical to Fang Yuan's. I was completely fooled by him!"
"The grand successor of the Blessed Land in the Southern Border, colluding with Fang Yuan!"
The immortals were brimming with righteous indignation, secretly exchanging messages and coordinating their strategy.
They pursued with great fanfare, yet inwardly, they were all somewhat uneasy!
Though the situation appeared similar to before, it had actually undergone an earth-shaking transformation.
Fang Yuan, riding on the momentum of ambushing and killing Spectral Soul, had made all three factions hold back for fear of collateral damage.
And Fang Yuan had always been insidious — despicable, cunning, ruthless, and merciless. His many battle records were deeply ingrained in everyone's minds, making the Gu Immortals of all three factions profoundly wary.
On one hand, even if Fang Yuan truly was at the end of his rope, his dying counterattack would bleed any single faction dry and shatter their position. On the other hand, each faction's enemy wasn't just Fang Yuan — they had two other factions to worry about as well.
Before, Spectral Soul and Qi Jue had borne the brunt of the fighting, so the three factions were happy to follow behind and seize whatever advantage they could. But now that Spectral Soul was gone, and Qi Jue Demon Immortal appeared to be pressing aggressively yet was secretly extorting Fang Yuan for benefits — how could he possibly strike in earnest?
Come to think of it, if the three factions feared Fang Yuan, wasn't Qi Jue Demon Immortal just as afraid of him?
"That kid Fang Yuan barely lifted a finger during the ambush. Just how much has he recovered? Now watching him activate killing moves, they're clearly more numerous and more frequent. How much of his true strength is he still hiding? Does he have a fourth Immortal Gu House?" Qi Jue Demon Immortal mused to himself.
Fang Yuan had just destroyed the Dragon Palace and the Ten Thousand Year Fighting Chariot in succession, then immediately produced the Steadfast Mountain Fortress. All three were Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu Houses — peak masterpieces of Slave Dao, Time Dao, and Earth Dao respectively.
Fang Yuan's sheer abundance of resources had truly stunned Qi Jue Demon Immortal. Even if Fang Yuan produced a fifth Immortal Gu House, he wouldn't be surprised at all.
"Just how deep are Fang Yuan's reserves?! The investments the Venerables of past generations made in him were far too extravagant!" Qi Jue clicked his teeth.
As Fang Yuan retreated, he conducted True Inheritance trades, his attitude alternately forceful and unyielding, keeping Qi Jue perpetually indecisive.
"Should I make my move right now?"
"How much strength does Fang Yuan still have left? If I eliminate him, would the reward be even greater?"
"But the way things are now — chasing while receiving True Inheritances... this doesn't seem too bad either..."
Among everyone present, it was Qi Jue Demon Immortal who enjoyed the pursuit the most.
"We're here! The next layer is just below this position," Lu Weiyin suddenly transmitted.
Fang Yuan manipulated the sword beam, making a sharp turn, and instantly broke through the thick layers of earth and rock, arriving at the next layer.
Rumble...
Fang Yuan and his companions' ears were immediately filled with thunderous roaring.
Boundless earth qi surged like raging rivers and crashing ocean tides. The three immortals found themselves amid it all like ants in a river — infinitesimally small.
"This is... the Earth Veins manifested?!" Fang Yuan was momentarily stunned, then quickly recognized what he was seeing.
Lu Weiyin nodded with a smile. "Indeed. With the Five Regions unified, the Earth Veins unified along with them. As the Earth Veins merged and migrated, their true form was revealed. Quick, land on that small island over there."
Fang Yuan struggled to activate his killing move, and the sword beam shot straight downward.
The sword beam was barely maintained — in midair, it finally gave out and dissipated entirely.
The three immortals crashed onto a brownish-yellow small island simultaneously, their landing undignified.