Around the Book Mountain, which loomed in contrasting shades of black and white, Gu Immortals clashed fiercely. Their figures could be seen in the sky and upon the ground alike.
Immortal Path Killing Move — One Breath Group Cloud Explosion!
Breath Extinction Demon Immortal extended his fingers, tapping them forward in rapid succession.
In an instant, the air before him surged and transformed, quickly condensing into clusters. Hundreds of pure white qi orbs shot out together like meteors chasing the moon, neutralizing the offensive pouring down from the Book Mountain.
Fairy Minghao had been drawing upon the Book Mountain all along, driving the Modest and Courteous killing move. It was precisely this terrifying method that suppressed the ferocious assaults from both Fang Yuan and Eternal Life Heaven.
These killing moves all originated from the Book Mountain's records, spanning a wide variety. In essence, they were Human Path killing moves, yet they simulated the power and effects of every conceivable style.
Breath Extinction Demon Immortal met offense with offense, destroying the incoming barrage before letting out a sigh and forced to retreat.
After being freed by Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, he had not spent much time engaging with either Eternal Life Heaven or Fang Yuan's side. Instead, he had been acting independently, gathering intelligence on the full picture of what had transpired.
Heavenly Court's desire to obtain the Origin Realm was something Breath Extinction Demon Immortal did not want to see come to pass.
Naturally, he himself wished to enter the Origin Realm and elevate his Qi Path realm to the level of Supreme Grandmaster. How could he permit others to get there first?
Breath Extinction Demon Immortal was alone and could not single-handedly shake Heavenly Court's momentum. But with both Fang Yuan and Eternal Life Heaven pressing the attack so fiercely now, if he did not seize the opportunity to exploit this external force, then he would not be Breath Extinction Demon Immortal.
"Who would have thought that assaulting the Book Mountain would be this perilous. We can't even fight our way to the mountainside," Breath Extinction Demon Immortal muttered, furrowing his brow.
During the time he had been suppressed inside God Emperor City, he had lost a great many of his Qi Path Dao Marks. On top of that, the Heavenly Secret Realm Xi Realm, which he had long relied upon, had been reduced to only thirty percent of its former power during Fang Yuan's pursuit.
Whoosh...
Like a tidal wave, another enormous wave of offensive cascaded down from the mountain's summit, crashing like a waterfall.
Breath Extinction Demon Immortal could only retreat, then retreat again.
"Charge! Push upward!" An Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House sped past, paying him no heed whatsoever.
It was the Golden Steel Fortress — an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House under Fang Yuan's command.
The Gu Immortals inside the iron fortress had spotted Breath Extinction Demon Immortal, but they paid him no mind. When Breath Extinction Demon Immortal had first appeared, he had indeed drawn attention, but once they saw he was also attacking the Book Mountain, all of Fang Yuan's Gu Immortals understood where his allegiance lay.
Breath Extinction Demon Immortal, for his part, watched the Golden Steel Fortress barrel and smash its way upward, physically withstanding the ocean-tide-like onslaught of killing moves, and could not help but let a glint of envy show in his eyes.
Under the current state of the battle, the importance of Immortal Gu Houses was starkly apparent.
Immortal Gu Houses provided the Gu Immortals with substantial cover and protection. Without them, relying solely on a Gu Immortal's own body, how could anyone hope to advance through the sky-blackening torrent of calamities and killing moves?
The Golden Steel Fortress charged all the way to the mountainside when, amid the smokescreen of killing moves that filled their vision, a streak of crimson shadow suddenly materialized.
The next instant, a colossal blood shadow came sweeping in, revealing its true form.
It was a massive crimson-blood tombstone, with all manner of text writhing across its surface, its aura of the Blood Path so dense it was suffocating — none other than the Demon Execution Ranking!
"You shall not take another step forward!" From within the Demon Execution Ranking, it was Gu Yue Fang Zheng who was operating it.
Boom.
A thunderous collision as the two Immortal Gu Houses met head-on.
The Golden Steel Fortress's charge ground to an abrupt halt.
The Demon Execution Ranking immediately blazed with blood light, which shot forth like pillars, striking against the Golden Steel Fortress.
The Golden Steel Fortress activated its defensive measures. Though it withstood the blood light, it was still shoved backward and sent tumbling down from the mountainside by an irresistible surge of force.
Though the Golden Steel Fortress was an Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu House, it still could not compare to the Demon Execution Ranking, which stood at the Peak stage. The gap was real.
Gu Yue Fang Zheng gasped for breath.
Heavenly Court possessed few Immortal Gu Houses.
Counting the Demon Execution Ranking, the Heaven Monitoring Tower, and God Emperor City, there were only six in total.
All six were currently deployed on the defensive, assigned specifically to repel the attacking Immortal Gu Houses.
On Eternal Life Heaven's side, the Fortune Stabilizing Heavenly Palace had not been committed lightly, but together with the Calamity Fortune Altar and the Five Rear Palaces, that made six — already matching Heavenly Court's count.
Fang Yuan's side had suddenly produced seven Immortal Gu Houses!
This had caught Heavenly Court completely off guard.
They had originally thought Fang Yuan would likely rebuild the Dragon Palace or the Ten Thousand Year Flying Chariot, but they had never expected him to start entirely from scratch and produce seven Immortal Gu Houses of the same type as the Golden Steel Fortress.
Producing them was one thing, but the critical issue was that every single one was at the Eighth Transformation level.
Seven Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu Houses in one fell swoop dealt immense defensive pressure upon Heavenly Court.
Heavenly Court's own Immortal Gu Houses numbered less than half of the enemy's total. Moreover, Eternal Life Heaven's Fortune Stabilizing Heavenly Palace and Fang Yuan's Peaceful Earth Mountain Fortress had yet to even enter the fight — this fact weighed even more heavily upon the hearts of Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals.
Under Fang Zheng's command, the Demon Execution Ranking darted about the battlefield, repeatedly beating back the attacking Immortal Gu Houses and holding its own position.
"The enemy's strength is overwhelming. Right now, the only things keeping our line from collapsing are God Emperor City, the Heaven Monitoring Tower, and me holding things together as pillars. But if this continues, I'm afraid we won't last much longer."
Gu Yue Fang Zheng's face had gone slightly pale. He understood the situation all too clearly.
He could already feel himself approaching his limit.
The intensity of the battle was far too high.
The Demon Execution Ranking not only had to range across the battlefield to fend off numerous Immortal Gu Houses, but it also had to constantly endure the bombardment of killing moves and calamities.
The rate at which Immortal Essence was being consumed was staggering, enough to alarm even Fang Zheng himself.
The damage to the Demon Execution Ranking was growing ever more severe. It had been severely wounded by Fang Yuan in the past within the True Inheritance Space of Dao Tian, and had since been restored. But these new wounds were freshly sustained.
Had Fang Zheng been operating it alone, he would long since have been stretched beyond his limits, unable to cover every threat. Fortunately, the wills of past Demon Execution Ranking masters still lingered within, and those wills helped Fang Zheng actively repair the Immortal Gu House's damage.
"Since when did our Heavenly Court's reserves fall behind those of others?" At the summit of the Book Mountain, Fairy Minghao continued to sustain the Modest and Courteous killing move while letting out a sigh.
For Heavenly Court, the state of the battlefield was far from favorable. Despite the Gu Immortals fighting with everything they had, the defensive line was already teetering on the brink. At any moment, an Immortal Gu House might smash through and charge all the way to the top.
At the summit of the Book Mountain, Fairy Fengya was still pouring her full power into driving her killing moves, focused on the Origin Realm, brooking no interference.