Ever since Fang Yuan had rashly ascended into the Nether Sky, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had been watching the situation there with close attention.
When Fang Yuan and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable first clashed, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was pleased. After all, two Venerables wearing each other down was the most advantageous outcome for him.
But then, he grew vaguely worried that Fang Yuan might not be able to withstand Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's attacks and would be defeated too early.
"If Fang Yuan can't hold on, I'll lend him a hand." At that time, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had already been secretly preparing to step in and help Fang Yuan.
His intentions were, of course, far from benevolent.
Firstly, if Fang Yuan was too weak, it wouldn't benefit Giant Sun Immortal Venerable at all. In his view, Heavenly Court remained the most formidable enemy.
Secondly, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable wanted Fang Yuan and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable to continue grinding each other down, which was precisely why he planned to help Fang Yuan — to maintain the stalemate between the two Venerables, keeping the situation most favorable for himself.
"After all, I've obtained the Primal Chaos One Breath Child, and my immortal essence reserves have been greatly replenished. Spending some of it in a battle between Venerables would be even more detrimental to them!"
That was Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's thinking at the time.
This reasoning wasn't wrong.
It was quite prudent, in fact.
He simply didn't know the truth.
He only had the information available from his vantage point.
But what he hadn't expected was that after Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Fang Yuan clashed, it was actually Fang Yuan who gained the upper hand!
This caught him completely off guard.
After all, in his impression, Fang Yuan ranked dead last in refining Dao Marks, and though he had great potential, his immortal essence reserves were also the lowest among the Venerables.
How had he ended up with the advantage?
He had even forced Star Constellation Immortal Venerable to proactively seek Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's help!
However, having witnessed the entire battle between the two Venerables, after the initial surprise, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was no longer surprised.
The "Wandering Soul Sound" killing move from "Surprising Years, Wandering Dreams" had left a very deep impression on him.
Fang Yuan had used the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm Wandering Soul Mountain as its core and developed such a powerful killing move that it swept away Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's nascent combat system.
It was only reasonable that Fang Yuan could win.
When the "Wandering Soul Sound" killing move was proving its might, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had actually not been overly worried. In fact, he had somewhat let go of his concerns and his desire to probe into Fang Yuan's hidden cards.
Why?
Fang Yuan was short on immortal essence, ranked last in refining natural Dao Marks — so what had he been doing with all his free time?
Now Giant Sun Immortal Venerable saw the answer.
"So that's it — he was using it to calculate and develop killing moves."
In Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's view, this was also a fairly correct choice.
Especially the use of a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm as the core, which put him even more at ease.
"So Fang Yuan ultimately doesn't have any Ninth Transformation Immortal Gu. That's why he had to rely on a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm to construct a pseudo-Ninth Transformation killing move."
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable couldn't help but feel a pang of envy.
Fang Yuan had the most Heaven and Earth Secret Realms, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had quite a few as well, and he, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, had the fewest — only one, and it was merely the embryonic form of the Blood Sea.
He too wished he could possess a complete Heaven and Earth Secret Realm!
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable watched from the sidelines, and his heart settled when he saw Fang Yuan deploy the "Wandering Soul Sound" killing move to gain the upper hand. However, when he then saw Fang Yuan actually withstand Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's State of Mind killing move, he could no longer sit still.
That Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would use a Wisdom Path killing move centered on State of Mind was something Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had long anticipated.
But he had never expected that Fang Yuan actually possessed additional defensive means capable of withstanding this State of Mind killing move from Star Constellation Immortal Venerable!
Fang Yuan's existing Reverse Flow Protective Seal had already given Giant Sun Immortal Venerable a tremendous headache, and he had painstakingly calculated in secret to develop his Fortune Path countermeasure against it. Who would have thought that Fang Yuan still had another defensive method hidden away, one that surpassed even the Reverse Flow Protective Seal?
Fang Yuan's performance once again exceeded Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's expectations.
This time, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable grew wary.
There was nothing he could do about it — Star Constellation Immortal Venerable couldn't see through Fang Yuan's defensive methods, and neither could Giant Sun Immortal Venerable!
"I never imagined that Fellow Daoist Fang Yuan possessed such profound attainment in the Wisdom Path as well. In such a short span of time, he was able to create, calculate, and refine so many killing moves." Giant Sun Immortal Venerable entered the fray, his gaze fixed on Fang Yuan, offering praise that came from the depths of his heart.
This was actually nothing remarkable.
Fang Yuan possessed Steal Heavenly Secrets, along with Zhi Hui Gu, and with the advantage of his Supreme Immortal Zombie Body, composite killing moves were inherently easier for him to create. Each of these advantages on its own was already exceptional enough to make even Venerables jealous. Now, with all of these advantages stacked together, even Fang Yuan himself found it terrifying!
The "Wandering Soul Sound" killing move, the "Heaven's Net Is Wide" killing move — these were only a part of Fang Yuan's recent achievements.
The reason he had chosen them was because Fang Yuan felt they were suited to the current situation.
As for killing moves of equal caliber, Fang Yuan still had at least ten more hidden in reserve.
This showed just how powerful Steal Heavenly Secrets was. Of course, the Eighth Transformation Zhi Hui Gu had also provided considerable assistance.
It was primarily due to these two that Fang Yuan had surged from behind to take the lead in refining killing moves, possessing many cards to play. And when playing them, he could pick and choose, deliberating carefully.
On the surface, of course, none of this was apparent.
Facing Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, Fang Yuan furrowed his brow and gave a cold snort: "The Heavenly Dao Dream is something I must obtain. Does Fellow Daoist Giant Sun also wish to stop me? Between Heavenly Court and myself, which is stronger and which is weaker — doesn't Giant Sun Immortal Venerable know that in his heart?"
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable looked at Fang Yuan's sharp gaze, then softened, his expression growing somewhat complex.
In his mind, compared to Star Constellation Immortal Venerable of Heavenly Court, Fang Yuan was still the weaker one.
Why?
Because Fang Yuan lacked immortal essence!
He had achieved Venerable status for the shortest time and didn't even have a proper base of operations. How many natural Heaven and Earth Refinement Path Dao Marks had he managed to refine during this period?
It was perfectly obvious.
So despite Fang Yuan's current ferocity — even suppressing Star Constellation Immortal Venerable — in reality, he was relying entirely on the novelty and overwhelming power of his killing moves.