Hei Loulan was inwardly groaning without end.
His combat strength was outstanding, possessing an extremely powerful long-range strength path killer move. However, this very strength masked his weakness in mobility.
To be precise, Hei Loulan primarily cultivated the Strength Path with supplementary cultivation in the Dark Path. His mobility was far from lacking.
But under the current circumstances, only Flight Grandmasters could barely survive. Hei Loulan's weakness was completely exposed under the relentless pursuit of the Formless Hands.
The Formless Hands ran wild, snatching the Gu Insects from Hei Loulan one after another.
Although he had destroyed quite a few Formless Hands and managed to retrieve many, new ones appeared simultaneously to steal even more Gu Insects from him.
At this moment, Hei Loulan was hurtling forward at great speed, like a wild bear slamming through the air, his face contorted with ferocity and rage.
Even though he knew that under these circumstances, Fang Yuan held an overwhelming advantage, he simply could not let go.
Because the Gu Insect that Fang Yuan had happened to capture was none other than Hei Loulan's Life Gu!
The Life Gu was intimately bound to the Gu Master—cultivated together in life and death. If it were destroyed, the Gu Master would immediately suffer catastrophic backlash. For Fang Yuan to hold this Gu in his grasp was equivalent to clutching a devastating pressure point over Hei Loulan.
Speaking of which, this particular Life Gu of Hei Loulan's had endured a turbulent fate—it had been snatched away by the Formless Hands multiple times before, only to be wrested back with great difficulty.
If one counted carefully, this was already the sixth time the Life Gu had been taken.
But this time, something unexpected had occurred—it had actually fallen into Fang Yuan's hands.
Hei Loulan seethed with both fury and anxiety.
Having his Life Gu fall into the hands of a great enemy—this situation was far too dire. He had to get it back!
A cold glint flashed through Fang Yuan's eyes and vanished.
He did not know that the Fifth Transformation Gu Insect in his hand was Hei Loulan's Life Gu. But judging by Hei Loulan's reaction, it was clearly an extremely important, critical Gu.
"Hmph! Trying to reclaim your Gu Insect? Don't even dream." Fang Yuan beat the six wings behind him, his figure shooting upward. He veered away to a distance.
Hei Loulan had hunted Fang Yuan down repeatedly before, and the enmity between them had long since run deep.
But now was not the opportune moment to kill Hei Loulan.
The Formless Hands were growing ever more numerous, and dodging them himself was already becoming increasingly difficult. To try to slay a powerful enemy under such conditions—even if he succeeded, the cost paid would be devastating.
Moreover, Hei Loulan possessed the Great Strength True Martial Body. If he were driven to desperation and impulsively self-detonated, Fang Yuan would absolutely not get away unscathed.
"Let him chase from behind. Let's see how long he can keep it up!" Fang Yuan sneered inwardly, forcibly suppressing the restive Gu Insect in his hand.
Soon, he left Hei Loulan behind.
Fang Yuan flew onward, dodging the Formless Hands along the way, while simultaneously directing part of his consciousness into his own Immortal Aperture.
The Immortal Aperture had been growing continuously.
After exiting Tai Bai Yun Sheng's Immortal Aperture, Fang Yuan's own had been ceaselessly devouring heavenly and earthly energy. It now encompassed over four million mu of territory. The sky of his Immortal Aperture was a hazy orange-yellow, and the terrain was far from flat—peaks of white stone rose and fell abruptly, as if carved by knife and hacked by axe, standing starkly in jagged contrast.
The landscape of an Immortal Aperture was related to the Gu Master's path, accumulation, temperament, and comprehension.
This was the first time Fang Yuan had become a strength path Immortal Gu Master, and he could only scan it roughly for now, grasping only the general picture. A deeper understanding would have to wait until later.
"The flow of time... has also reached a ratio of one to twelve. One day outside equals twelve days inside the aperture. The growth rate has slowed as well..." Fang Yuan mused.
At this moment, the heavenly and earthly energy within the True Inheritance Secret Realm had been nearly completely absorbed by him.
He was now waiting for his Immortal Aperture to fully stabilize—that was his primary objective.
Once he possessed Immortal Gu Master combat strength, everything would change.
"My Gu Insects will just have to stay with you for now—but I will not give up!" Hei Loulan could only roar helplessly as he watched Fang Yuan fly ever further away.
During the pursuit, he had been hampered by the Formless Hands, losing a massive number of Gu Insects in the process. He already had considerable difficulty dodging the Formless Hands himself, and pursuing Fang Yuan on top of that naturally brought such consequences.
Hei Loulan had no choice but to give up.
Under these circumstances, if he insisted on chasing further, it would inevitably arouse Fang Yuan's suspicion. If Fang Yuan guessed that this was his Life Gu, things would be even worse.
"I can only rely on the connection to my Gu Insect, slowly closing the distance while dodging the Formless Hands, then launch a sudden ambush... Despicable thief!"
Hei Loulan ground his steel teeth until they crackled, his mind ceaselessly scheming.
The Formless Hands could snatch Gu Insects, but they did not possess the ability to refine them. Once the Formless Fist was destroyed, the Gu Insect would be freed, and the Gu Master would immediately sense its location—and could then recall it with a mere thought.
Fang Yuan had forcibly suppressed Hei Loulan's Life Gu, but he had neither the time nor the energy to refine it.
Therefore, the connection between Hei Loulan and his Gu Insect still remained, leaving him a glimmer of hope for a comeback.
Time passed. Within the True Inheritance Secret Realm, the Formless Hands had completely seized dominance.
They were everywhere—vast pale blue hands, swarming and whirling like enormous colonies of bees.
Whether Gu Masters or True Inheritance light orbs, all anyone could do was flee in every direction.
"The Spring Autumn Cicada..." Fang Yuan's mouth was dry, weighed down by tremendous pressure.
As the Immortal Aperture grew, the Spring Autumn Cicada drew water from the River of Time, and the mounting pressure on his first Empty Orifice grew ever greater. Cracks had already appeared on the walls of that Orifice.
In order to alleviate the pressure on his first Empty Orifice as much as possible, Fang Yuan had preemptively drained it of all True Essence.
His flying speed was extremely fast, employing dozens of movement Gu Insects, which consumed True Essence at a prodigious rate.
"Fortunately, before this trip, I planned well and prepared thoroughly, purchasing large quantities of Beggar Moths. But even so, I have to watch my True Essence carefully. Once it's completely depleted, the consequences would be unthinkable!"
These Beggar Moths were Gu Insects used for storing True Essence.