Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's expression darkened slightly as she detected a shortage of Qi Path immortal materials.
Even Heavenly Court's reserves had their limits!
In truth, she had already nearly exhausted Heavenly Court's true Qi Path inheritance by deploying the Starlight Precision Calculation Formation and cultivating Primordial Star Beasts.
The frequent resurrections of Heavenly Court members in recent times had also drained the Immortal Tombs down to just one or two acres of ground—no longer enough to sustain the resurrection of any more Gu Immortals.
Heightly Court had been established for over three million years, and its original reserves had been extraordinarily vast. But repeated great battles had inflicted catastrophic losses. When Spectral Soul Demon Venerable fled Heavenly Court, he had cleaned out the Immortal Treasury down to the last item. Afterward, Heavenly Court had been forced to open its Secret Vault while covertly siphoning resources from the Ten Great Ancient Sects.
Carrying on to this day, the signs of Heavenly Court's depleted reserves were becoming increasingly stark.
Of course, the primary reason for the Qi Path reserves running dry this time was the sheer speed at which immortal materials were being consumed.
In Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's original plan, the Qi Path Fruit would mainly absorb the Qi Tide. The Qi Path methods he had laid down were merely a backup—a safeguard against contingencies, to ensure perfection.
The Qi Tide's contribution to the Qi Path Fruit's growth was supposed to be the lion's share.
But now the Qi Tide was gone, the Qi Path methods were damaged beyond recognition, and the consumption of Qi Path immortal materials had become the primary source.
Obviously, the more Qi Path immortal materials were consumed, the larger the Qi Path Fruit would grow, and the more powerful Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable would be upon his resurrection.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable resumed her calculations once more.
She once again devoted her full effort—thoughts colliding countless times within her mind, pushing until her head ached unbearably—until she once again refined a killing move.
After a trial run, the killing move received minor improvements.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's aura destabilized, her complexion growing even paler. The next moment, she flung open the gates of her immortal aperture.
Before any of the other Venerables could react, she aimed the killing move directly at the gates.
Heavenly Court's gates instantly shrouded in a mysterious glow, beginning to madly siphon the Heaven and Earth Qi from the outside world.
The Heaven and Earth Qi was vast beyond measure, surging in torrential floods. Through the gates' mysterious glow, it poured into the formation that had been set up earlier.
The Heaven and Earth Qi made up for the shortfall through sheer volume. With such an abundant boost, the Qi Path Fruit no longer faced any danger of inadequacy.
The immortals of Heavenly Court were startled, and discussion broke out everywhere.
"Why has Star Constellation Immortal Venerable suddenly opened Heavenly Court's gates again?"
"This is good news! The stronger the Qi Path Fruit grows, the more powerful Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable will be when he revives!"
"But what if Fang Yuan seizes this chance to attack?"
"Hahaha, he tried to fight us before and was no match for Lady Star Constellation's divine might. Would he dare come again now?"
Fang Yuan did not come.
More than that, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was not drawn over either.
He was wreaking havoc across Central Continent, slaughtering billions of living beings, and his injuries were recovering rapidly.
Soul mist surged forth wherever he went. Green mountains turned to barren stone. Grass and trees withered and died. Wild beasts lay dead in heaps across the land.
Soul howls rose into the sky, churning massive waves across river surfaces. After the waves subsided, the water was littered with dense carpets of fish, shrimp, turtles, snakes, and all manner of creatures—dead.
Vast quantities of souls were inhaled by Spectral Soul Demon Venerable. He was like a colossal black hole, slaughtering ceaselessly, his wounds mending at a furious pace, his stature surging once more.
During this process, a wild Immortal Gu manifested on Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's body.
An Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu—Kill!
This commotion was considerable, immediately drawing the attention of Fang Yuan, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
In that moment, the three Venerables wore entirely different expressions.
All three knew of an old secret.
The original Spectral Soul had initially sought to create the Path of Slaughter. After devouring Black Heaven's Celestial Spirit, he had still failed, and instead went on to create the Path of Souls.
Who would have thought that now, in his mindless state, he would show signs of creating the Path of Slaughter?
The Immortal Gu Kill was clearly the core Immortal Gu of the Path of Slaughter. This was no simple coincidence—this was not something that just came together on its own.
This was the Heavenly Dao refining a Gu!
The critical point was that it had manifested specifically on Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's body, which proved that despite his insanity, Spectral Soul was drawing ever closer to creating the Path of Slaughter.
"The Path of Slaughter is showing signs of creation." Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had already returned to Northern Plains. He immediately issued orders to the Gu Immortals of the Golden Tribe heading to Central Continent: they were absolutely not to go anywhere near Spectral Soul Demon Venerable! Nor were they to covet the super resource points—they were to avoid encountering Refinement Heaven Demon Venerable at all costs.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had not personally gone to seize Central Continent's resource points, but neither had he given up. He had dispatched his bloodline descendants instead.
That way, even if Heavenly Court held him accountable in the future, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable would still have room to maneuver.
"Friend Giant Sun, if you came to join forces with me, I would gladly split all the Central Continent resource points I seize with you equally!" Fang Yuan continued his voice transmission, not giving up on persuading Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's tone of refusal grew ever firmer.
On one hand, he believed Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would not leave an opening. The outcome of this battle was already decided, and allying with Fang Yuan was not worth it.
On the other hand, he had his own difficulties that only he understood.
First, his eldest son, Radiant Emperor Monarch, had been captured and taken away by Blessed Light within Longevity Heaven. He needed to find his eldest son.
Second, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had twice activated his Destiny Path killing move, The Masses, The World, I Stand at Its Center. This move carried a major drawback—it would leave Giant Sun Immortal Venerable weakened for a period. He needed to go into hiding and secretly weather this vulnerable phase. If this weakness were exposed, the practical value of The Masses, The World, I Stand at Its Center would plummet in the future.
Heavenly Court.
The Qi Path Fruit continued to swell.
Enormous volumes of Heaven and Earth Qi, countless Qi Path immortal materials, and methods such as the Primordial Qi Wall—all were being converted into Qi Path Dao Marks, adding themselves to the Qi Path Fruit.
At the core of the Qi Path Fruit, a humanoid seed had begun to form.
As time passed, the seed's appearance grew increasingly distinct, looking more and more like a human figure.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable saw this and immediately realized that Primordial Origin's resurrection method contained profound mysteries of the Human Path.
"Master's attainment in the Human Path is far deeper than I ever imagined," she murmured with a faint smile, as a scene from her memory surfaced unbidden.
A sickbed. Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable suddenly coughed up blood.
"Master, what's wrong?" Star Constellation rushed over, employing her methods to treat his injuries.
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable had just withstood a Chaos calamity and patched a rift between Heaven and Earth. He was severely wounded and could barely rise.
Star Constellation gave her all, and only then managed to stabilize his condition together with Primordial Origin.
Her expression turned to astonishment—she discovered that Primordial Origin's injuries this time were entirely self-inflicted!
Star Constellation's brows knit tightly. "Master, you're so badly hurt that you can't even walk, lying in bed—how could you possibly be risking the creation of a new killing move?!"
But Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's face was lit with delight. "A few injuries are nothing to worry about. I've succeeded, disciple. I seized that flash of inspiration and created a Human Path killing move."
"With this move, one can use immortal apertures to extend the lifespans of Gu Immortals. Among all existing methods of life extension, mine is the most effective!"
Star Constellation contemplated the contents of the killing move, and her expression immediately shifted to one of surprise. Her luminous eyes flashed as she recognized the true value of this technique.
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable laughed heartily. "With this method, we no longer need to forcibly compel the powerful Gu Immortals of the human race to join our Heavenly Court. The temptation of life extension is simply too great to resist."