The deafening sounds of explosions echoed without end.
Across the sky, the figures of Gu Immortals battling were everywhere.
Having found the true inheritance site, the Demonic Path Gu Immortals were characteristically practical and decisive. After little hesitation, some took flight and descended.
Since Dongfang Changfan had chosen the remains of the Primordial Void Bat as the site for his Wisdom Path inheritance, he naturally had his reasons.
The vast, endless army of Void Beasts was stirred into action, rising like a massive black cloud from beneath the feet of the Demonic Path Gu Immortals.
These Void Beasts, each with strange and grotesque forms, feared no death. They were particularly adept at evasion, and several among them were at the Desolate Beast level, successfully blocking the Demonic Path Gu Immortals one after another.
"Void Beasts are usually rare, only appearing where the Dao marks of Space are dense. How come there are so many here?" Hei Loulan cursed as she fought.
Having lost her Li Force Immortal Gu, her combat power had plummeted. Though she could substitute with her Strength Force Immortal Gu and still unleash the Killer Move 'Force Giant', she couldn't afford to show her face prominently at this moment. Thus, she found her responses quite constrained.
"Stay calm," Fairy Li Shan comforted her. "Void Beasts can naturally become intangible, evading all attacks. The Void Path among Gu Master lineages drew its inspiration from Void Beasts by the Gu Immortal Xuan Wuxie. As long as no Primordial Desolate Beast-level Void Beasts appear, we will eventually break into the Primordial Void Bat's remains."
As she spoke, a large flock of Void Beasts surged toward them in a chaotic swarm.
Fang Yuan snorted coldly, stepping in front of the two women. He activated the Grand Hand Seal of 'Myriad of Me'.
A colossal force hand manifested with a rumble, its five fingers spreading wide as it grasped forward.
The force hand was heavy and powerful. Yet when it closed, the results were meager. Out of this flock of over a thousand Void Beasts, only a few dozen were lost.
The vast majority of the Void Beasts became blurry, leaving only near-transparent traces hovering in place.
When Fang Yuan slowly withdrew the force hand, the Void Beasts regained their solidity, materializing once more to charge at the trio.
Fang Yuan snorted again. Fairy Li Shan beside him swiftly raised her hand, unleashing a vast sea of fire.
Flames ignited out of thin air, blanketing an area of several miles, hovering in the sky to form a barrier.
The Void Beasts charged into the sea of fire. They employed the same tactic again, becoming intangible to avoid the flames, never breaking their charge.
But just as they burst from the fire's edge, Fang Yuan, who had been waiting, seized the moment. He thrust the force hand forward and clenched his fist.
Squelch!
This time, Fang Yuan caught them solidly.
Hundreds of Void Beasts were crushed into bloody pulp, perishing instantly.
The giant hand slowly opened, raining down blood and bone fragments. Blood seeped between the five fingers. This flock had numbered over a thousand, but with Fang Yuan's grasp, most died on the spot. The few surviving nearby lost all will to fight before such a majestic and terrifying figure and scattered in retreat.
With a casual flip of his hand, Fang Yuan crushed this flock of Void Beasts, yet he showed no triumph. Instead, his expression grew subtly grim. "These common Void Beasts aren't too bad; their intangibility lasts only a short while. With the right coordination, they can be eliminated. The truly troublesome ones are the Desolate Beast-level Void Beasts."
Fairy Li Shan and Hei Loulan both nodded slowly.
While keeping watch on their surroundings, they also observed the distant battles.
Zizai Shusheng and Pi Shuihan, both Seventh Transformation Gu Immortals, were each battling a Desolate Beast-level Void Beast. The Desolate Beasts were indeed formidable, with extremely long durations of intangibility. Therefore, despite only possessing Sixth Transformation combat power, they were exceptionally difficult to handle, and Zizai Shusheng and Pi Shuihan couldn't quickly subdue them despite their urgency.
However, both were experienced. After a few exchanges, they recognized the situation, dispelled their impatience, and began to deal with the beasts calmly.
In contrast, a dangerous situation arose near Lu Qingming.
A Desolate Beast-level Void Beast suddenly became intangible, its speed skyrocketing as it dashed toward the Gu Immortal Han Dong beside Lu Qingming.
Han Dong was caught off guard and enveloped by the intangible Void Beast.
While intangible, Han Dong couldn't touch the Void Beast, and the beast couldn't hurt Han Dong.
But in the very next instant, the Void Beast solidified.
Han Dong was now inside the Void Beast's body.
The beast let out a triumphant roar and soared away, carrying Han Dong swiftly away from Lu Qingming and Su Guang.
Lu Qingming, Han Dong, and Su Guang, known as the 'Three Heroes of Roaming Earth', could rival a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal when fighting together. But this was a joint effort, far from the free synergy of a true solo fighter.
With Han Dong gone, the combat power of the remaining two plummeted. Their earlier courage was gone.
The two grew frantic and immediately gave chase, attempting to rescue Han Dong.
The Void Beast that swallowed Han Dong dove rapidly, persistently enduring the attacks from Lu Qingming and Su Guang without reverting to its intangible state.
Han Dong attacked fiercely from within its belly. Attacked from both inside and out, the beast grew visibly weary mid-flight, spewing large mouthfuls of blood.
"Why is this Void Beast so stubborn? Just moments ago, it was slippery as anything, turning intangible to dodge attacks at the slightest sign of danger. Turn intangible, damn it!" Su Guang roared anxiously.
Lu Qingming's face was grave as water. "Can't you see? There must be a mastermind controlling it. Dongfang Changfan... I underestimated you again..."
In the ruined hall, the star essence left behind by Dongfang Changfan stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the sky.
His entire body shimmered with dazzling starlight, and his originally solid, condensed form was visibly shrinking and becoming translucent.
This was the bearing of the contemporary Northern Plains' foremost Wisdom Path Immortal.