The Six-Fingered Formless Hand appeared far too suddenly. Fang Yuan barely had time to look up.
A pale blue radiance illuminated his face.
His entire field of vision was consumed by the colossal pale blue hand.
The Formless Hand descended without pause, clutching downward, squeezing into a fist, completely engulfing Fang Yuan's figure.
"Junior Brother!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng cried out in alarm.
But in the next instant, the Six-Fingered Formless Fist unclenched again, spreading back into an open palm.
Fang Yuan's figure reappeared five hundred paces away.
The Six-Fingered Formless Hand had grasped at empty air.
It was the Flash Movement Gu!
This Gu was a movement-type Gu of the Space Dao. Though only at the Fifth Transformation, it was exceedingly rare. Fang Yuan had expended considerable effort to finally purchase it through Treasure Yellow Heaven.
"Phew…" Seeing this, Tai Bai Yun Sheng let out a breath of turbid air, the boulder that had been crushing his heart finally dropping away.
He knew that Fang Yuan had only just emerged and had been caught off guard. In truth, with his mastery of flight, dodging these Formless Hands should have been well within his capabilities.
"That was close!" Fang Yuan genuinely broke into a cold sweat.
Compared to the others, he understood the Formless Hand far better, which made him all the more aware of just how dangerous that moment had been!
"The Formless Hand is Demon Venerable Thief Heaven's signature killer move. From one finger to nine, it can seize Gu Insects ranging from First Transformation to Ninth Transformation! Life Gu or not, it takes them all without exception. If that Six-Fingered Formless Hand had actually caught me, either the Spring Autumn Cicada or the Fixed Immortal Travel on my person would have been lost… My fortune is truly terrible — for such a tribulation of heaven and earth to appear!"
Fang Yuan flew at full speed, dodging the Formless Hand's pursuit while observing his surroundings.
The True Inheritance Secret Realm had already descended into complete chaos.
True Inheritance meteors and Formless Hands filled the eye, while Gu Masters flew in every direction. Some were dodging the Formless Hands, some wailed and screamed as their Gu Insects were snatched away, and others desperately attacked the Formless Fists.
"So they've figured it out! Once the Formless Hand captures a Gu Insect, it clenches into a fist. In that moment, it can be shattered. But while it remains in open-palm form, it's practically immune to all attacks — you can only dodge."
Information about the Formless Hand surfaced in Fang Yuan's mind.
He was quite familiar with it.
Five hundred years ago in his previous life, Ma Hongyun had successively obtained partial inheritances from Immortal Venerable Giant Sun and Demon Venerable Thief Heaven, acquiring means of capturing Gu Insects as well. He had used it repeatedly during the war across the Five Regions, causing many powerful enemies to fall and retreat in defeat.
Fang Yuan had studied it extensively because of this.
Fang Yuan dodged continuously, deploying the Flash Movement Gu, Wind Gu, Eagle Soar Gu, and others in succession, gradually widening the distance until the Six-Fingered Formless Hand behind him shifted targets.
He immediately split off a portion of his consciousness, directing it inward toward his Immortal Orifice.
Inside the True Inheritance Secret Realm, residual Heaven and Earth energy lingered.
Ever since Fang Yuan had emerged, his Immortal Orifice had been frantically absorbing this energy, growing at a rapid pace.
Soon, the Immortal Orifice space had expanded to over three million mu, and it was still growing.
At the same time, the time flow within the Immortal Orifice had diverged from the outside Northern Plains, climbing from the original one-to-one ratio up to one-to-six.
"Not good." After inspecting the situation, Fang Yuan suddenly frowned, his expression shifting slightly.
The changes to the Immortal Orifice were perfectly normal. The problem lay with the First Empty Orifice — more precisely, with the Spring Autumn Cicada.
The Spring Autumn Cicada was recovering at a frightening rate. An immense pressure radiated outward, and the First Empty Orifice could barely contain it!
"This is bad! When an Immortal Orifice forms, it's not just spatial expansion — the time flow changes as well. The root cause is that the Immortal Orifice has become a small world, drawing in a tributary of the River of Time! The Spring Autumn Cicada feeds on the water of the River of Time, and now, being so close to the source, it has absorbed a great deal, accelerating its recovery!"
Fang Yuan instantly understood the cause.
Ever since its last use — a desperate gamble that had somehow succeeded — the Spring Autumn Cicada had been slowly recovering.
His journey through the Northern Plains had taken considerable time, and the Spring Autumn Cicada had gradually healed, the pressure it exerted on the First Empty Orifice growing day by day.
Originally, the First Empty Orifice was already at the peak of the Fifth Transformation. By Fang Yuan's estimation, it could still hold for a while longer. But this development had advanced the deadline enormously!
Since his rebirth, the Spring Autumn Cicada had always been Fang Yuan's hidden liability. Now, upon ascending to immortal status, that liability had immediately expanded into a serious internal crisis, thrust directly before his eyes.
"Damn it." Fang Yuan gritted his teeth tightly, his body plummeting downward. A Formless Hand grazed the tips of his hair and seized nothing.
In the current situation, there was little Fang Yuan could do for the moment.
The Immortal Orifice had to complete its formation. To halt now would mean all his efforts were wasted. Without the power of an Immortal Gu Master, he would have no way to continue contending.
But he absolutely could not ignore the Spring Autumn Cicada either.
Crack, crack, crack…
A tremendous sound echoed through the True Inheritance Secret Realm, as though something vital had shattered. The noise made one's heart tremble.
Everyone's advance faltered for a moment. In the midst of the chaos, they looked up.
The True Inheritance Secret Realm resembled an eggshell that had been struck, countless cracks spreading across its surface. The cracks widened rapidly, and light from the outside world poured through them.
At the same time, a great many Formless Hands were squeezing in through the cracks. Seven-fingered ones appeared.
Seeing so many pale blue giant hands, numerous Gu Masters cried out in alarm.
"There are so many giant hands! How can there be so many?"
"Look quickly — a seven-fingered hand has squeezed its way in!"
Pale blue giant hands continued flying into the True Inheritance Secret Realm one after another, and everyone's situation grew ever more perilous.
Hei Loulan's face was dark as still water. Even Tai Bai Yun Sheng felt a wave of intense oppression weighing on his heart.
Mastery of flight was not omnipotent.
So many Formless Hands dramatically increased the difficulty of dodging through flight.
Moreover, prolonged defense inevitably led to mistakes. Remaining in a state of extreme tension for so long — who could avoid an error forever?
"Not good!" Tai Bai Yun Sheng's heart sank. The very thing he feared had come. At this critical moment, he made a mistake.
Losing his final opportunity, six Formless Hands sealed off his last remaining escape route.
In this dire moment, Tai Bai Yun Sheng gritted his teeth hard and charged straight toward a Three-Fingered Formless Hand.