The Refinement Path Gu Masters wore grave expressions as they swiftly formed a formation. Gray light gradually bloomed, linking together into a continuous expanse.
Under the watchful, expectant gaze of the crowd, Hei Lou Lan waved his hand and tossed the two-horn Section Owner Token into the air.
The Section Owner Token hovered in midair as the circular formation condensed a massive spike of gray light, thrusting toward the token.
The gray light blazed, too brilliant to look at directly.
"Ha ha, now is the time." Fang Yuan had been lingering at the periphery all along. With a mere thought—
The two-horn Section Owner Token vanished instantly. In the next moment, it appeared in his hand.
He controlled this floor. Teleporting a tiny token was as easy as breathing.
Without the Section Owner Token, the gray light instantly collapsed. The killer move Gray Meltdown was forcibly terminated. The Refinement Path Gu Masters who had formed the circular formation cried out in alarm, vomiting blood in unison—in an instant, seven or eight out of ten were dead.
Pfft.
Hei Lou Lan, positioned at the center of the circular formation, was no exception. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body shuddering as though struck by a tremendous blow, staggering back several large steps.
"My Section Owner Token!" he screamed, losing all composure. His face was filled with extreme shock, fury, and confusion.
The crowd was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Sun Shihan stared blankly, Tang Miaoming covered her mouth, and Pei Yanfei was similarly dazed.
Even Mo Yao's will cried out within Fang Yuan's mind: "Boy, what are you doing? His current Section Owner Token is only two-horned. Combined with your six horns, that's only eight horns total! What's the rush? Wouldn't it be better to wait until his Section Owner Token rises to four horns?!"
"What do you know?" Fang Yuan scoffed. Beneath the cover of his wide sleeves, he calmly pocketed the two-horn Section Owner Token without a trace.
The entire process happened right under everyone's noses, yet was executed so discreetly that no one noticed a thing.
"What—what on earth just happened?!" Yelu Sang rushed in, his expression frantic, and demanded of Hei Lou Lan, "Where's the Section Owner Token?"
"I—how should I know?!!" Hei Lou Lan's eyes practically shot fire. He was so furious that smoke seemed to rise from his head, his voice climbing to a shrill pitch as he swore, "What the hell is going on?!"
In all the records of past generations, a Section Owner Token had never simply vanished like this!
Gray Meltdown was a killer move that had been employed many times by the great factions and victors of past ages—so how was it that, in Hei Lou Lan's hands, it had actually disappeared?
"Damn it, without the Section Owner Token, what do we do?" Fang Yuan arrived on the scene as well, brow furrowed tightly. His concern seemed utterly genuine, his gloomy expression radiating anxiety over their dire situation—it was impossible not to feel empathy.
The killer move everyone had placed their hopes on had failed at the final hurdle. The two-horn Section Owner Token had been lost without explanation.
The green vine swarm's assault grew ever more ferocious, truly like a mountain flood or a tidal wave, granting not the slightest moment to catch one's breath.
Morale plummeted to rock bottom, and routs broke out in numerous places.
"It's over, it's over," Xi Xue murmured to herself.
"Could it be that this old man will perish here? Is this the final end?" Tai Bai Yun Sheng smiled bitterly. Over the past while, he had been tormented by his conscience, and the whole of him looked haggard beyond measure.
But suddenly, someone cried out in delighted surprise: "We can get out! Someone made it out! We can escape!!"
As it turned out, Fang Yuan had no intention of wiping these people out entirely. He had opened an escape route, allowing Gu Masters to freely enter and leave this floor once more.
If he exterminated the entire Hei family, it would inevitably provoke a full-scale retaliation from the Hei family's Gu Immortals.
Moreover, Fang Yuan still needed Tai Bai Yun Sheng to successfully refine the Landscape As Before Gu.
And so the desperate rout turned into a full-scale retreat.
"I'm actually still alive!"
"That was far too dangerous. I never want to go in there again."
"Waaah... Father, you died so horribly..."
The plaza surrounding the True Yang Building was a scene of bleak desolation.
Hei Lou Lan had mustered a great army, entering the building with momentum like a rainbow—yet after emerging, they had come to such an end. It was beyond what anyone could have anticipated.
Hei Lou Lan's face was ashen. He cast one glance at the plaza and departed without a word.
The Hei family clansmen followed close behind him, heads hanging low in dejection, silent and wordless.
Yelu Sang let out a long sigh, shook his head, and left as well.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng wore a complicated expression as he watched Hei Lou Lan's retreating figure. "After this battle, it will be difficult to assemble a decent force again anytime soon."
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was wrong.
The very next day, Hei Lou Lan once again mustered a force and launched a grand assault on the second trial.
So what if he had lost the Section Owner Token?
Even without Gray Meltdown, he would fight on with brute force!
Hei Lou Lan had deceived two great Gu Immortals. Sworn to vengeance, he long since had no path of retreat.
He had to grit his teeth and press forward!
However, on the very night of the defeat, Fang Yuan quietly entered the Eighty-Eight Horn True Yang Building.
"You were far too hasty. You only have eight horns in total now. Let's see what you do!" Within his mind, Mo Yao sneered repeatedly.
Fang Yuan walked through the Secret Treasure Pavilion, running his fingers along the crystal walls as he strolled at a leisurely pace, watching one treasure after another pass before his eyes.
A smile on his face, he addressed Mo Yao's will with calm composure: "You are a grand master of the Refinement Path, a fairy of the Spirit Affinity Hall. If you want to ask, just ask directly. Why bother with such shallow probing?"
Upon hearing this, Mo Yao instantly changed her expression and giggled charmingly: "Young man, it seems you've had a plan all along..."
"Naturally." As Fang Yuan spoke, his steps paused slightly. Both hands gently touched the crystal wall on his right side, and he drew forth a treasure from within.