The battle in the Heavenly Dao Dream Realm was initiated by Fang Yuan.
During this battle, Fang Yuan successively revealed new killer moves—Past Years Dream Drifting Soul Sound, Oncoming Dragon Snake Dust Mist Soul Bursting Wind, Heavenly Ghost Concealment, and others. Existing killer moves like Seven Kill Rainbow Light and Tongue Sword Dragon Soul received significant improvements, while he covertly maintained two killer moves: Heaven's Secrets Confusion and Heaven's Net Sweeps Wide.
In the early stages of combat, Fang Yuan held the upper hand, forcing Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable to join forces against him.
However, because Fang Yuan needed to protect Meng Qiuzhen, and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable—who possessed the Scattered Intent Dream killer move—gradually seized the initiative.
At the same time, Fang Yuan's dominance also aroused Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's wariness. No matter how Fang Yuan tried to persuade him, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was resolute and unshakable in his determination to prevent Fang Yuan from obtaining the Heavenly Dao Dream Realm.
Fang Yuan then directed his subordinates to attack key locations throughout the Central Continent, putting pressure on Star Constellation Immortal Venerable.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable saw through Fang Yuan's scheme and refused to pull back to defend the Central Continent.
In order to continue concealing his true strength and maintain the facade of depleted Immortal Essence, Fang Yuan deliberately provoked Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, drawing him into the battle. Using the Heavenly Ghost Concealment killer move, he then positioned himself as Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's half-ally.
Fang Yuan's scheme succeeded.
Because of Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's interference, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable were never able to exert sufficient pressure on Fang Yuan. On the contrary, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was constantly disrupted by Fang Yuan's attacks and never again had the chance to threaten Meng Qiuzhen. Even if she deployed two great Humanity Path killer moves again, it would be difficult to shift the balance of battle.
In the mid-stage, the battle fell into a stalemate. As time gradually slipped away and the Heavenly Dao Dream Realms merged with one another, Fang Yuan absorbed the vast majority of them.
Fang Yuan's gains from this battle far exceeded those of both Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable.
In contrast, one of the two Venerables had lost his eldest son and a Ninth Transformation Light Gu, while the other's painstakingly constructed Starlit Calculation Formation was nearly destroyed. Over a dozen Central Continent Gu Immortals had been slaughtered, and the Heavenly Court members were in dire straits.
This situation made Star Constellation Immortal Venerable fully realize: Fang Yuan had won a complete victory in this battle. No matter how bedraggled he appeared, he was the one who benefited the most!
"Whether Fang Yuan still has hidden cards, whether his Immortal Essence is truly depleted—at its root, the most critical factor in this battle was Spectral Soul Demon Venerable!"
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable looked at the heavily wounded Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, her heart filled with unwillingness, fury, and helplessness.
She had long wanted to eliminate Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, but had never succeeded.
The last time there had been a favorable opportunity, but Fang Yuan had unfortunately shielded him. Spectral Soul Demon Venerable owed his survival to none other than Fang Yuan.
This time around, Fang Yuan had leveraged Spectral Soul Demon Venerable to reap enormous gains, once again proving his foresight.
Eighty percent of Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's injuries had been sustained on Fang Yuan's behalf. Now, fewer than a thousand arms remained on him, his once-massive body had shrunk by sixty percent, and even his howls and roars had turned hoarse and weak.
"Perhaps this is the chance to eliminate Spectral Soul Demon Venerable!" Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's thoughts churned.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was a tremendous obstacle.
Although Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had once controlled Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, she understood better than anyone that the current Spectral Soul Demon Venerable—saturated with Heavenly Will—could never be controlled by her again.
Sometimes, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable even found herself admiring Fang Yuan's cunning and craftiness. The latter had successfully transformed Spectral Soul Demon Venerable into a half-ally.
Though Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was bereft of reason, under the effect of Fang Yuan's Heavenly Ghost Concealment killer move, he was in fact more dependable than a normal ally—and far easier to exploit.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable couldn't help but glance at Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
Although the two Venerables had joined forces, an enormous wariness still lingered between Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and herself.
Looking back on this battle, even with Giant Sun Immortal Venerable giving his all, his impact on Fang Yuan had been minimal—and he had even dragged the Central Continent down with him.
Everything looked worse by comparison.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would rather have the deranged Spectral Soul Demon Venerable as her ally than the clear-minded Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
But to eliminate Spectral Soul Demon Venerable now, she still needed Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's strength.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable immediately sent a voice transmission: "Friend Giant Sun, there is no need to concern ourselves with Fang Yuan any longer. You and I must join forces to destroy Spectral Soul Demon Venerable! The results of today's battle are plain before us—we can never allow this Venerable to continue existing."
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable wholeheartedly agreed!
He felt: the reason they couldn't handle Fang Yuan was primarily because the latter had leveraged Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's power. These two conspiring together had given him nothing but headaches.
Of course, Fang Yuan's ability to "ally" with Spectral Soul Demon Venerable hinged on the Heavenly Ghost Concealment killer move. Neutralize that move, and the alliance between Fang Yuan and Spectral Soul would be severed.
But Giant Sun Immortal Venerable also knew full well: if he cracked this move once, Fang Yuan would simply improve it the next time.
Originally, given that Fang Yuan was a Refinement Dao Venerable, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable hadn't thought much of his refinement expertise. But after this battle—having been thoroughly baptized by killer moves like Past Years Dream Drifting Soul Sound and Oncoming Dragon Snake Dust Mist Soul Bursting Wind—Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's view had completely changed.
Now, in his eyes: Fang Yuan's attainment in the Wisdom Path already surpassed his own. Looking across all the Venerables throughout history, only Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Limitless Demon Venerable ranked above Fang Yuan!
Therefore, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had no desire to engage in the tedious game of cracking a move, only for Fang Yuan to improve it, then cracking it again, only for another improvement, and yet again, and yet another improvement, and still again, and still another.
"Eliminating Spectral Soul Demon Venerable is indeed a good idea! That way, it would be settled once and for all—Fang Yuan would have no more allies." Giant Sun Immortal Venerable transmitted to Star Constellation.
"Furthermore, Fang Yuan's Immortal Essence is depleted at this moment, while ours is not. If he tries to protect Spectral Soul, it will be far more difficult for him than last time. If he pushes himself too hard to protect Spectral Soul, one misstep and he'll find himself in mortal danger. At that point, we can turn our spears on him—and perhaps even create an opportunity to slay this Refining Heaven Demon Venerable!"
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was not as optimistic as Giant Sun Immortal Venerable. She replied: "Fang Yuan will absolutely not put himself in mortal danger for the sake of protecting Spectral Soul."
The two Venerables reached a consensus, concentrating their entire offensive on Spectral Soul Demon Venerable.
"So that's how they've chosen to act." Fang Yuan's face immediately showed a look of difficulty, but inwardly his spirits soared even higher.
With Spectral Soul Demon Venerable fighting both Venerables head-on, and with Fang Yuan assisting from the sidelines, the result would inevitably be mutual destruction.
But ultimately, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was most likely the one who would perish.
After all, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was saturated with Heavenly Will, completely devoid of reason, and couldn't even use his Immortal Path killer moves correctly. The disadvantage was simply too great.