This was a kind of helplessness, of fate playing tricks, of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, of sinking deeper the more one struggled!
Forced by circumstances, seeking benefit and avoiding disaster, it seemed that only by doing this could Fang Yuan maximize his gains.
The distance between the two sides was rapidly closing.
Save them, or not?
Mo Yao's voice screamed repeatedly in Fang Yuan's mind: "Save them! Act now!"
Reason also told Fang Yuan: if he saved Ma Hongyun, he would not have to stand against the heaven-equaling fortune, and could even use it to deal with Giant Sun's will.
But!
At this moment, in Fang Yuan's heart, there was another voice.
A voice that roared, that shouted, that howled!
"Save them? Why should I save them? Must I submit? Must I bow my head? One palm strike to kill him! What is there to fear? Am I afraid of these two insignificant wretches? Even the heaven-equaling fortune cannot stop me!!"
Fang Yuan's ears buzzed without cease, but this voice grew louder and louder, gradually drowning out all others.
His head throbbed with waves of searing pain.
Facing the choice, his mouth went dry.
The voice in his heart grew ever more resonant, enough to shake his very soul!
Every howl, every roar, every cry seemed to cast another bundle of dry kindling onto the fire in Fang Yuan's heart.
The flames burned fiercely.
It was ambition, fighting spirit, defiance, challenge, and stubbornness!
The flames burned Fang Yuan's eyes red. The boiling blood in his veins surged like a great river, rolling with massive waves!
"Come. Let me send you on your way!" Fang Yuan opened his mouth, his voice hoarse as grinding sand and iron.
He did something he would never normally do — something that went against his own style.
His face twisted with menace, his eyes shooting out lethal killing intent. He smashed through the giant tree-man before him, shredding countless tree vines that wound toward him like snakes.
He reached Ma Hongyun and Zhao Lianyun's side.
Then...
He raised his fist!
Before the attack was even launched, the terrifying force of his punch had already coalesced like a mountain.
The savage, terrifying killing intent nearly froze the air solid.
"Ah!" Ma Hongyun's jaw dropped. He hadn't expected Fang Yuan's killing intent to be so absolute. Panicked and flustered, his feet tangled together and he tumbled face-first to the ground.
"Ai!" Zhao Lianyun, whose hand was clasped in his, was dragged down along with him.
This sudden development gave Fang Yuan a moment's pause.
He had been made extremely wary by repeated surprises.
But he quickly realized this minor accident had only barely extended the time before their meeting.
At the same time, two more giant tree-men had already arrived beside Ma and Zhao.
Either one could crush them both to pulp with a single step. However, Giant Sun's will genuinely did not want to harm Ma Hongyun — it merely drove the tree vines toward the pair, intending to separate them and then kill Zhao Lianyun!
At the same moment, five tree-men burst from the ground directly in Fang Yuan's path.
This solid defensive line would cost Fang Yuan at least a dozen breaths to break through.
Giant Sun's will had been consistently executing its earlier strategy.
Right now, the blessed land's extremely weakened land spirit had already been removed from the chessboard.
The False Feelings Gu had been under Hei Loulan's protection this whole time, perfectly safe.
Although Ma and Zhao had become the blessed land's rulers, as long as Zhao Lianyun was killed, that bond would be severed.
At that point, using the False Feelings Gu to make Hei Loulan and Ma Hongyun into the Royal Court's masters — the grand scheme could still be salvaged!
So at this moment, Fang Yuan coming to kill Ma Hongyun was being blocked by Giant Sun's will.
"Damn it! This feeling again — always at the critical moment, in the critical place..." Fang Yuan gritted his teeth and pushed his combat power to the absolute limit to force his way through.
Boom, boom, boom...
Thunderous collisions erupted as Fang Yuan charged forward like a tiger descending the mountain, his momentum savage and overwhelming, smashing directly through the tree-men's defenses.
The entire process took fewer than ten breaths!
But Fang Yuan paid a terrible price at the same time.
Three massive wounds now marred his body — one spanning his chest and back, another cutting diagonally across his back, and a third punching clean through from front to back, leaving a bloody hole in his abdomen the size of a baby's fist.
His right forearm was fractured, his left leg grotesquely twisted outward by the tremendous force.
"Ha ha ha ha!" Fang Yuan erupted into wild laughter!
His limbs might be temporarily unusable, but he still had his Movement Gu — he could still fly!
He shot through the air toward Ma Hongyun and Zhao Lianyun at breakneck speed, the path ahead clear and unobstructed.
Ma Hongyun hunched over, clutching Zhao Lianyun tightly in his arms. Surrounding them were the tree vines, wound tight around them like serpents.
The vines were trying to separate the pair, but didn't want to harm Ma Hongyun.
The vines wrestled against Ma Hongyun's strength.
He was naturally outmatched. Watching himself and Zhao Lianyun being forcibly pulled apart, he bit through his lip and glared with fury, yet was utterly powerless!
"No!" he snarled through clenched teeth, his eyes bloodshot. Watching his beloved about to die before his very eyes, he was consumed with anguish and despair — like a beast driven to the edge of a cliff.