Fang Yuan frowned, his expression one of considerable difficulty.
Qin Baisheng, Jiang Yu, Hei Cheng, Xuesongzi, Helangzi, plus two mysterious Gu Immortals he couldn't identify. Among them, only Xuesongzi and Jiang Yu were Sixth Transformation Gu Immortals. The rest were all Seventh Transformation.
Those two mysterious Gu Immortals — Fang Yuan didn't know their backgrounds, so he set them aside.
The remaining three — Qin Baisheng, Helangzi, and Hei Cheng — were all veteran Seventh Transformation Gu Immortals.
Hei Cheng was a Gu Immortal from the superpower Hei Family. Though he suffered from a hidden ailment and seemed unable to unleash his Immortal Gu moves, his combat power had dropped significantly. He was far from his peak, but with the Immortal Gu Dark Arrow in his possession, he could not be underestimated.
Helangzi was a famous Transformation Path Demonic Immortal of the Northern Plains. His life experience was vastly different from the norm, he was innately ferocious, and he commanded three types of Immortal-level wild wolf transformations — his combat power was formidable. He had once been recruited by Ancestor Snow Beard, but had refused.
The most formidable of all was Qin Baisheng.
This man had roamed the Northern Plains for several hundred years. A rogue Gu Immortal, he had defeated Liu Hao, Chanyu Xiong, and Nu'er Du, killed White Silkworm Farmer, Azure Fire Farmer, and Mountain Lord Tianqing, fought Yuan Rangzun to a standstill, and escaped with his life from a Five Elements Grandmaster.
He was a Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal, and his status in the Northern Plains was equivalent to Shi Lei's in the Central Continent.
In the eyes of the world, he possessed the combat power of a peak Seventh Transformation cultivator — only Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals could suppress him. He was even a cut above the likes of the Canyang Patriarch.
What made him even more terrifying was that he was not only a martial powerhouse but also a capable strategist. He had organized the Northern Plains Auction Conference and was the one who profited the most from it.
Protecting Cloud Pavilion in front of such a person — Fang Yuan felt it was a difficult task, and his hesitation was only natural.
However, the Lang Ya Earth Spirit patted Fang Yuan on the shoulder and said, "I'm not asking you to hold the Cloud Pavilion. You just need to stall them as best you can. What I want is to buy time. Hmph, these people are insanely audacious — how dare they attack Lang Ya Blessed Land! Give me just one more incense stick's worth of time, and I'll make sure these bastards regret ever showing up!"
The Lang Ya Earth Spirit's voice brimmed with absolute confidence.
Just as Fang Yuan had speculated before, the Lang Ya Earth Spirit definitely held a trump card for victory.
The previous three waves of attacks had been devastating, and there was no way those results were achieved with just twelve wild beasts alone.
"Then what exactly is the Lang Ya Earth Spirit's hidden card?" A surge of intense curiosity arose in Fang Yuan's heart.
He made no effort to hide his thoughts and asked directly.
But the Lang Ya Earth Spirit refused to tell him, only offering a mysterious smile.
Afterward, the Earth Spirit gave Fang Yuan two more pieces of advice, handed him a message Gu, and then teleported away.
The message Gu contained instructions on how to operate the Cloud Pavilion.
This Cloud Pavilion had been loaned to Fang Yuan by the Lang Ya Earth Spirit, and he could control it freely.
Fang Yuan reviewed the contents two or three times, committing all the control methods to memory. Then he practiced briefly and quickly got the hang of it.
The Cloud Pavilion served as the core node of the Twelve Waves Cloud Maze Formation. Star thoughts surged through Fang Yuan's mind. Understanding the Cloud Pavilion gave him considerable insight into the entire formation as well.
Overall, it was a labyrinth-like fog formation.
Though it hadn't reached the level of a battlefield killer move, it was only a single step away from that standard.
It wasn't that the Lang Ya Earth Spirit lacked any battlefield killer moves. The problem was that establishing one required engraving Dao Marks.
The newly added Dao Marks could never perfectly harmonize with the existing Dao Marks of this heaven and earth — there would always be friction and conflict, which would damage the Lang Ya Blessed Land.
So the Earth Spirit chose not to use one.
For the sole purpose of stalling, the Twelve Waves Cloud Maze Formation had already reached the pinnacle of what a Gu Formation could achieve.
Gu Immortals trapped within the formation would have their five senses confused and disoriented. They wouldn't be able to tell directions, distinguish left from right, and would find themselves walking in circles. Only Immortal-level reconnaissance killer moves could reveal the correct path through the formation.
Only by destroying all twelve Cloud Pavilions could the formation be completely dismantled.
Without an Immortal-level reconnaissance killer move at hand, Gu Immortals could only stumble around blindly within the formation, hoping to stumble upon a Cloud Pavilion — pure luck.
Fortunately, once the formation was activated, the twelve Cloud Pavilions serving as its core nodes could no longer be moved. Otherwise, a Gu Immortal without an Immortal-level reconnaissance move wouldn't be relying on luck — they'd have zero chance.
Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the cloud bed and opened numerous bright mirrors to observe the surroundings of the Cloud Pavilion.
His authority extended only to this particular Cloud Pavilion, limiting his observation to a certain radius around it.
The mirrors showed nothing but a vast expanse of white fog — not a single Gu Immortal in sight.
Fang Yuan had never been short on patience. He waited quietly.
A short while later, a figure appeared in one of the mirrors.
She wore a long purple dress, had a high-bridged nose, deep and beautiful eyes, thick lashes, and slightly tanned skin. An aura of feminine charm radiated from her entire being.
It was the fairy Jiang Yu!
Fang Yuan's heart gave a slight jolt. The first thing that came to mind was her Dark Crossing Immortal Gu.
Black Loulan possessed the Great Strength True Martial Body, and before achieving immortality, she had used the Dark Crossing Immortal Gu to slip deep inside Black Loulan's body, travel around within, and conceal the aura of the Great Strength True Martial Body.
At the very beginning, Black Loulan's original plan had been to seize Jiang Yu's Dark Crossing Immortal Gu through a cunning scheme before her identity was exposed.
But unfortunately, Fairy Jiang Yu's movements were elusive, and the plan was shelved and ultimately failed before it could even be put into action.