In truth, Fang Yuan had been forced to use the Future Troubles Unlimited killer move out of necessity.
If he wanted to undergo his tribulation, he would need to place his Supreme Immortal Aperture within the Five Regions and draw in both Heavenly and Earthly Qi. At that point, Heavenly Will would manipulate the process, forming calamities.
The calamities themselves were not frightening—Fang Yuan was fully confident in his ability to handle them.
But because of the tribulation, what would inevitably follow was suppression and probing from the other Venerables.
At that time, since his Supreme Immortal Aperture could not be relocated and was also deeply entangled with Heavenly Will, if the other Venerables launched attacks that were too ferocious, the Heavenly Secrets Concealment killer move might not be enough to hide Fang Yuan.
And he would be exposed.
"Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable have surely also used methods to delay their calamities," Fang Yuan was almost certain.
Three Venerables in a standoff, none wanting to be the first to undergo tribulation. Whoever went first would reveal an opening and be the first to face suppression.
If one were suppressed too severely, it would become nearly impossible to catch up with the other Venerables.
One might even perish because of it.
The Great Tribulation and the Myriad Tribulation were like this, and the Chaotic Calamity was an even greater vulnerability for a Venerable!
"This time, after using the Future Troubles Unlimited killer move, the distance to the Chaotic Calamity draws even closer," Fang Yuan thought.
Venerables still faced calamities—a Great Tribulation every ten years, a Myriad Tribulation every fifty years, and a Chaotic Calamity every hundred years.
In other words, after weathering eight Great Tribulations and one Myriad Tribulation, the Chaotic Calamity would arrive.
Fang Yuan's Future Troubles Unlimited killer move had already been activated multiple times. After two more Great Tribulations, the Chaotic Calamity would be upon him.
In this regard, Fang Yuan was likely the most vulnerable among the three Venerables.
"Hmm?" When the Future Troubles Unlimited killer move slowly came to a halt this time, a strange expression crossed Fang Yuan's face.
Although the killer move had succeeded just as it had many times before, this time there was a difference.
Fang Yuan actually felt a faint sensation of hunger.
Transforming into the Supreme Immortal Body naturally required eating—otherwise, one would feel hungry. But this hunger was clearly different from ordinary hunger—it originated from his very essence!
The strange expression on Fang Yuan's face gradually turned solemn.
He understood the reason.
The Supreme Immortal Aperture wanted to devour a Venerable's Immortal Aperture.
The Supreme Immortal Body inherently carried this flaw—or rather, drawback—but Fang Yuan had originally estimated that this deadline would be further away after he became a Venerable.
What he hadn't expected was that he would already feel this faint hunger now, with no way to dispel it.
This was much sooner than he had anticipated.
"Is it because the Supreme Immortal Aperture has grown too large? It previously absorbed too many Cavern Heavens, and now it has been continuously absorbing resource points?"
Fang Yuan vaguely sensed he had hit upon the truth.
He had developed the Supreme Immortal Aperture too well.
The Supreme Immortal Aperture's greatest drawback was also its greatest advantage—its Dao Marks did not repel each other.
But Fang Yuan had developed the Supreme Immortal Aperture too thoroughly. With the Dao Marks within it perpetually non-repelling, it had instead undermined the stability of the Supreme Immortal Aperture's foundation.
"However, before this, even at the Eighth Transformation level, I never once felt this hunger."
"Now that I've reached the Venerable level, this hunger has emerged. What is the reason for that?"
"Regardless, among the four great paths—Refinement, Food, Heavenly, and Human—each holds the potential to solve the Supreme Immortal Body's eating drawback."
Fang Yuan's mind raced.
The Refinement Path was the path he was most proficient in—this went without saying. Elevating the Supreme Immortal Body to the Tenth Transformation would solve the problem.
The Food Path compensated for consumption and promoted growth. A child needed to eat constantly to replenish nutrition and grow. The same principle applied to the Supreme Immortal Body.
As for the Heavenly Path and the Human Path…
The Supreme Immortal Aperture Gu itself used the Ten Absolutes Body as its Gu material—it was a pure Human Path Gu Insect. But in its final transformation into the Supreme Immortal Body, it came to possess the Supreme Immortal Aperture. From this perspective, it also contained Heavenly Dao mysteries.
And from the standpoint of different types of Dao Marks not repelling each other, it clearly fell within the Heavenly Dao's domain.
The problem now was that all four paths held the potential to completely solve the Supreme Immortal Body's eating drawback. They were like four roads, but Fang Yuan did not know whether any of them were currently passable.
He knew the Refinement Path best—it required improvement and innovation before there was any possibility of solving the Supreme Immortal Body's issues.
The Food Path and Human Path had yet to be fully developed.
The Heavenly Path was also uncertain—it might hold a solution, but it would very likely require further innovation from Fang Yuan. After all, the Ninth Transformation Supreme Immortal Aperture Gu had already disrupted the balance of the Heavenly Dao. It was a true stroke of ingenuity by Spectral Soul Demon Venerable.
The difficulty of fundamentally solving the Supreme Immortal Body's eating drawback was considerable, even for Fang Yuan.
Even now, having attained the status of Venerable, he had little confidence in resolving it. It would require investing material resources and mental effort into extensive calculations. After all, the Ninth Transformation Supreme Immortal Aperture Gu was already something unprecedented in heaven and earth.
Beyond the root cure, there were also palliative measures.
That was to satisfy the eating requirement—by devouring a Venerable's Immortal Aperture!
That difficulty was equally formidable.
It meant Fang Yuan would need to defeat a Venerable.
If it were a single Venerable, it would be somewhat more manageable for Fang Yuan. The crux of the problem was that multiple Venerables coexisted, and if one side grew too dominant, it would trigger a chain reaction. At his current stage, Fang Yuan did not possess the overwhelming power to crush all the Venerables. Once exposed, the situation would be highly disadvantageous to him.
"However, if I could truly devour a Venerable's Immortal Aperture, there would be one benefit—I could skip the calamities."
"That would mean, if handled properly, I wouldn't need to risk passing through the Chaotic Calamity at all. I could leap directly over that tremendous vulnerability!"