Boom!
A massive impact struck the Dragon Palace, shaking it violently. Tiles shattered across the roof and tumbled down. Before they even reached mid-air, those tiles transformed into a swarm of Gu Insects and rock fragments, scattered instantly by the fierce winds at high altitude.
Demon Venerable Soul had caught up!
His speed was terrifyingly fast. Even with Wu Shuai pushing the Dragon Palace to its utmost limits, they could not match Demon Venerable Soul's velocity.
Demon Venerable Soul was shrouded in a layer of pitch-black, dense fog. Each strike he landed hammered the Dragon Palace with devastating force.
Wu Shuai had no choice but to pour everything into repairs. Fortunately, his reserves of Gu Insects were substantial, and his preparations had been thorough.
Fang Yuan's brows were tightly knit, his expression darkening.
He had come to Heavenly Court under the identity of Patriarch Sea Qi for one purpose only — to eliminate the Heavenly Dao marks on his body. The moment he achieved that, he had immediately chosen to flee. He couldn't care less about the reputation of the number one demon. Fang Yuan had never given a damn about such things.
But now, while his objective had been achieved, he needed time. Time was precisely what he lacked.
"Next, Demon Venerable Soul will be in relentless pursuit. Heavenly Court will likely do the same — those people won't just stand by and let me escape easily. Getting away this time will be incredibly difficult!"
Fang Yuan's escape methods had been steadily improving over the years. In the past, his strongest means of movement had been transforming into an ancient sword dragon and deploying the Sword Escape killer move. After that came the Everywhere Accessible killer move, followed by Fixed Immortal Travel, and then various killer moves built around Fixed Immortal Travel.
But among all these methods, even Everywhere Accessible could not compare to Demon Venerable Soul's speed. The Fixed Immortal Travel killer move might offer a sliver of hope for escape, but Fang Yuan's current strength was severely weakened, and he was under constant, severe interference from the Heavenly Dao marks.
To shake off this interference and fully refine these Heavenly Dao marks, Fang Yuan still needed a considerable amount of time.
Putting himself in their shoes, Fang Yuan understood clearly — whether it was Demon Venerable Soul or Heavenly Court, both desperately wanted him dead. The former had spent nearly his entire fortune refining the Supreme Immortal Zombie Gu, only for Fang Yuan to swoop in and steal it. The latter had suffered Fang Yuan's rampage through their headquarters, and the Destiny Gu — their spiritual pillar — had been destroyed by his hand. Heavenly Court was the foremost power of the Righteous Path, obsessed with saving face, and yet in the great battle over Destiny, Fang Yuan had slapped that face until it swelled beyond recognition.
The reason Heavenly Court couldn't deal with Fang Yuan before was that they couldn't find him. In the future, they likely wouldn't be able to handle him either — once Fang Yuan recovered his strength, Heavenly Court would be in real trouble.
Now that they had finally found him, of course they were going to crush him to death!
You miss this chance, and it may never come again.
Fang Yuan was perfectly clear on his situation. His mind raced ceaselessly, thoughts colliding as he actively searched for a way out.
But then, his expression shifted subtly.
The Heavenly Dao marks on his body had undergone another change, stirring up fresh turmoil. The degree of interference they inflicted on Fang Yuan had suddenly spiked several times over.
When Fang Yuan had previously clashed with the Sea Qi barrier, the spectacle had indeed been impressive — but to a large extent, Patriarch Sea Qi had been secretly cooperating with him from behind the scenes. His actual combat strength had been utterly insufficient for a direct confrontation.
Even so, that display had only been possible because Fang Yuan had covertly employed Human Dao means behind the scenes, pushing himself to the absolute limit to resist the interference of the Heavenly Dao marks.
Outside, Demon Venerable Soul assaulted the Dragon Palace with frenzied fury. Cracks webbed across the palace walls, tiles flying in every direction. Inside, the Heavenly Dao marks tugged at his steps, leaving Fang Yuan hamstrung and restricted.
The situation was extremely perilous — even worse than the great battle over Destiny. After all, during the Destiny battle, Fang Yuan could still deploy the Spring Autumn Cicada. But now, his greatest trump card had already failed him.
Fang Yuan had no chance to start over. A single misstep, and he would face the wretched end of death and the dissolution of his Dao.
The bone-piercing killing intent radiating from Demon Venerable Soul penetrated the Dragon Palace and made every hair on Fang Yuan's body stand on end.
The corner of Fang Yuan's mouth curled upward — he had already made his decision.
Head for the Insanity Hive!
The Heavenly Dao marks interfered with Fang Yuan at every moment, making it nearly impossible to activate any of his killer moves. Even if he managed to unleash one, the results would be abysmal.
Only by leveraging external forces could Fang Yuan extricate himself from this dire predicament.
Other dangerous locations offered little help. After all, the Dragon Palace was the party on the run, leading the charge. If they recklessly barged into some hazardous zone, the palace would bear the brunt of any backlash, putting it at a disadvantage and giving Demon Venerable Soul the upper hand.
But the Insanity Hive was different. On a certain level deep beneath the Insanity Hive, Fang Yuan could use his Supreme Immortal Body to smoothly descend to the next layer, while all pursuing Gu Immortals would be blocked.
As for whether Demon Venerable Soul could also pass through — Fang Yuan didn't know. But it was worth the gamble. After all, Demon Venerable Soul was not in his complete, pre-death state. More importantly, Demon Venerable Soul did not possess a Supreme Immortal Body!
"Even if Demon Venerable Soul brute-forces his way through, he'll inevitably suffer a loss of power. Besides, the next layer below is vast beyond measure and filled with profound mysteries. I can easily keep maneuvering against him in there."
Decision made, Fang Yuan immediately drove the Dragon Palace to change course, hurtling northward.
Wu Shuai devoted himself entirely to repairing the palace.
When Demon Venerable Soul saw the Dragon Palace flee, he took a deep breath and closed the distance in an instant.
He reached out and slammed into the Dragon Palace. In the next moment, countless phantoms of primordial soul beasts flickered into existence. Each time a phantom appeared, another section of the Dragon Palace's outer wall crumbled.
After the soul beast phantoms completed a full cycle, several of the main support pillars inside the Dragon Palace had developed visible cracks.
Wu Shuai's face was grave. "This is bad — this killer move is terrifying. It strikes both the inside and outside of the Immortal Gu House. Several core Gu Insects of the Dragon Palace have sustained damage!"
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes. The Dragon Palace's gates were sealed shut, but his vision remained unobstructed as he continuously observed the situation outside.
Fang Yuan said in a low voice, "This Soul Dao killer move — Demon Venerable Soul has used it before. But this time, it's clearly far more effective. He must have made impromptu improvements to it!"
That was truly terrifying.
Demon Venerable Soul's strength was immense. Though no longer at the Ninth Transformation, his combat power was absolutely on par with the level of Dragon Lord.
Most of his realm had been stripped away, but his Soul Dao mastery appeared to have declined very little.
Although Demon Venerable Soul had not been fighting the Dragon Palace for long, he had already discerned numerous weaknesses. The improved Soul Dao killer move grew ever more threatening with each blow.