"Eternal Life?" The gleam in Giant Sun Immortal Zombie's eyes flashed and vanished in an instant.
It wasn't that the Gu Immortal had not concealed or hidden anything — the immortals present were all among the top figures of the Five Regions, and every one of them had heard the words clearly.
In that moment, all the immortals' hearts raced with excitement, their spirits stirred.
Though Gu Immortals could often achieve longevity, they remained bound by constraints such as lifespan and destiny. Even now that destiny had been destroyed and the restrictions on lifespan greatly reduced, they could still be killed by powerful enemies.
The realm of eternal life was absolutely above mere longevity.
When speaking of longevity, a sea turtle that had lived for ten thousand years could be called long-lived, but it could never be called eternal.
Eternal life meant that nothing whatsoever could threaten one's existence.
This was complete invincibility.
Whether it was time, space, or life itself, none could threaten one who had attained eternal life.
The realm of eternal life transcended all things, rising above everything in the world.
Even an Immortal Venerable was merely long-lived, not eternal — especially now, when multiple Venerables coexisted in the same era, each threatening the others.
Before long, responding to the commotion outside, a figure emerged once more from the Fact Ice Floe at the center of the Mad Demon Grand Formation — the Secret Plotter.
The Secret Plotter specialized in the Wisdom Path, and upon assessing the situation within the formation, his heart trembled. He hastily reported, "The three of us must maintain the Practice Gu at all times. Someone must always be channeling it to sculpt this Fact Ice Floe."
"It is still too early."
"Much more remains to be done. The eighth-layer Great World has not yet been destroyed. So many lives are still living."
After speaking, the Secret Plotter continued persuading, "Immortal Friend Fang Yuan, I know your aspirations well. But at this moment, it would be best if you did not set foot here. The three of us have exhausted every method — once you step onto this Fact Ice Floe, you will be unable to leave. Unless the calculation is completed and the formation destroyed!"
"He speaks truly!" Giant Sun Immortal Zombie nodded.
From the moment he had arrived and stopped here, he had been secretly deploying his methods, continuously probing and calculating.
He had originally still been some way off, but after receiving the answer from the Secret Plotter's words and cross-verifying it himself, Giant Sun Immortal Zombie immediately understood that the Secret Plotter was not lying.
The Secret Plotter wore a grave expression, filled with anticipation and resolve, and continued, "The most important thing now is to protect this formation, to facilitate Limitless Demon Venerable's arrangement, and to allow this formation to ultimately complete its calculation. Immortal Friend Fang Yuan, you and I are fellow practitioners of the same path. I must ask you to guard the formation from outside, defending against all manner of petty threats. As for the three of us, we will stake our lives to maintain the power of the Practice Gu."
The three of them did not know Giant Sun Immortal Zombie's true identity. Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had also split into three aspects, and their intelligence appeared to still predate the War of Destiny.
A thousand thoughts whirled through Fang Yuan's mind. He first nodded toward the Secret Plotter, then turned to face the three aspects of Star Constellation behind him, his expression grave.
Giant Sun Immortal Zombie sighed and also turned to face Star Constellation's three aspects. "It seems we have all been played."
As soon as his words fell, Minghao, Yuxiu, and Fengya opened their eyes simultaneously.
Starlight surged as the three immortals once again converged.
In the next moment, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable revealed herself to the world.
"Rise," Star Constellation Immortal Venerable called softly.
The Mad Demon Grand Formation immediately underwent a dramatic transformation — the Fact Ice Floes began spinning significantly faster, subtly closing in to encircle both Fang Yuan and Giant Sun Immortal Zombie.
Star Constellation's will and Limitless's will had been playing chess beneath Heavenly Court all along, jointly calculating the fruits of the Heavenly Dao. Given how deeply Heavenly Court had penetrated the Mad Demon Grand Formation — deep enough to extract the core Book Mountain and the Origin Realm — how could they not know the formation's calculation progress?
But it was precisely this that Star Constellation Immortal Venerable exploited, taking advantage of Fang Yuan and Giant Sun Immortal Zombie's insufficient intelligence and their positions at the forefront, luring them deeper into the Mad Demon Grand Formation by appearing in person.
Whether it was the Origin Realm or the Mad Demon Grand Formation, neither Giant Sun Immortal Zombie nor Fang Yuan would stand idle while Star Constellation Immortal Venerable reaped massive gains.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable turned this very principle against them, trapping Fang Yuan and Giant Sun Immortal Zombie in a perilous position.
The Mad Demon Grand Formation shifted. Giant Sun Immortal Zombie and Fang Yuan immediately moved, attempting to traverse their way back.
However, the Mad Demon Grand Formation in this moment was far more dangerous than before. The Fact Ice Floes had even begun colliding with one another. A single moment of carelessness, a fall from an ice floe, and one would be ground to dust by the formation's terrifying power.
Even leaping between ice floes required constant calculation — one had to wait until the invisible forces between floes weakened considerably before risking the attempt.
After Fang Yuan leaped across several Fact Ice Floes in succession, he found himself in increasingly dire straits. He turned his head and called out loudly, "Secret Plotter, can the three of you control this formation?"
The Secret Plotter shook his head. "The three of us are only responsible for channeling the Practice Gu."