In a corner of the Yaksha Octopus’s underground nest, a brilliant emerald light abruptly flashed, and the surrounding darkness receded.
The green light vanished as quickly as it appeared. The next instant, where there had been nothing, a human figure stood.
It was Fang Yuan, who had just freed himself from the Gu formation space.
What he had utilized was the Fixed Immortal Travel Immortal Gu.
And this location was a setup he had deliberately prepared during his previous exploration of the Yaksha Octopus’s subterranean den.
Here, he had arranged numerous mortal Gu to form a crude Gu formation.
There was no other way; Fang Yuan’s attainment in the Dao of Formations was not high at all. He could only manage a Gu formation of this level.
The formation could only mask the majority of the commotion, but Fixed Immortal Travel was, after all, an Immortal Gu. As Fang Yuan descended, this mortal Gu formation immediately collapsed, and some aura leaked out regardless.
Fang Yuan quickly acted, trying to clear away these traces as much as possible.
But soon, a desolate beast’s roar echoed, and the sound of a Yaksha Octopus rushing over came from within the tunnel.
“The nearby Yaksha Octopus has already returned?”
A sharp glint flashed in Fang Yuan’s eyes.
He intensified his efforts, wiping away the Immortal Gu’s aura before the Yaksha Octopus arrived, and then swiftly withdrew.
The Yaksha Octopus had sensed the Immortal Gu’s aura and had become agitated, rushing over. But by the time it reached the spot, everything was clean. It searched the area twice, the hesitation on its face vanished completely, and it turned back.
If it had been a Gu Immortal, it wouldn’t have been so easily fooled.
Wild beasts lacked intelligence, which allowed Fang Yuan to handle them so easily.
Soon, he returned to the battlefield near the Earth Trench Worm. The place was now a scene of utter devastation.
Most of the Yaksha Octopuses had retreated, and the Northern Plains Immemorial Zombie Immortals were nowhere to be seen.
A massive trench, like a hideous gash carved into the trench wall, dominated Fang Yuan’s field of vision.
The corners of Fang Yuan’s mouth curved up slightly in a silent smile.
He knew this trench was carved by the Earth Trench Worm.
The Earth Trench Worm was a subterranean creature.
It spent most of its life buried in the earth. Only when hunting would it suddenly burst out. After swallowing its prey in an instant, it would retract back into the soil with lightning speed, lying motionless.
At the same time, its body would shrink to an astonishing degree, like a fat man of several hundred jin instantly becoming as thin as a bamboo pole.
At this moment, the thick flesh walls inside its body would press tightly together. The unique organs growing on the flesh walls – countless steel-bone sharp teeth – would spin continuously, grinding the prey into bloody slurry and bone fragments.
“This Earth Trench Worm swallowed me, but I immediately used Fixed Immortal Travel to escape from within its body. Its hunt failed, leaving its stomach empty. It would surely fly into a rage and engage the Northern Plains Zombie Immortals in a fierce battle. The Earth Trench Worm cannot be a match for the combined power of the Zombie Immortals. Lacking intelligence, it would inevitably be defeated. However, such wild beasts possess extremely strong survival instincts. Once its injuries reach a certain limit, it will burrow back into the earth and flee the battlefield quickly.”
A dark glint flickered through Fang Yuan’s eyes.
If not for this, he wouldn’t have chosen to use the Earth Trench Worm to escape the Zombie Immortals’ sight.
The intelligence he had gathered earlier in the Yin Flow Giant City also indicated that figures like Yaksha Dragon Commander lacked effective means to counter an Earth Trench Worm burrowing into the soil.
Their detection methods would also find it difficult to penetrate the abundant Earth Dao marks on the Earth Trench Worm’s body, which was why Fang Yuan had dared to use the Fixed Immortal Travel Immortal Gu while inside it.
Therefore, although the Northern Plains Zombie Immortals were numerous and powerful, they might not be able to do much to the Earth Trench Worm in the short term.
Especially since the Earth Trench Worm had no will to fight and only focused on burrowing to escape.
Combat power wasn’t everything.
Even someone like Snowy beard Ancestor, whose cultivation reached the Eighth Transformation and who could fight two opponents at once, defeating the Medicine Emperor and Hundred-legged Heavenly Lord who joined forces – his combat power could be considered extremely formidable. Yet, to lay down a Gu formation, he still had to invite Sun Ming Lu seven times.
Even at the Ninth Transformation Venerable level, it was the same.
In Gu Immortal history, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Stealing Heaven Demon Venerable had successively invited Old Ancestor Hairy Mao to refine Gu for them.
The flourishing and diverse cultivation paths meant specialization in specific areas. Even if one cultivated a single path to the Ninth Transformation level, other areas remained largely different, as if separated by mountains.
After all, one’s energy was limited.
Unless one possessed an immense amount of time or a commensurate level of miraculous fortune.
The Earth Trench Worm burrowed and fled underground, with the Northern Plains Zombie Immortals in relentless pursuit. Thus, the traces of the battlefield extended along the route.
Along this path, in many places, one could see: deep pits from violent explosions, bloodstains in the trenches – likely the Earth Trench Worm’s blood. Besides that, there were also crushed remains of many other trench creatures caught in the crossfire.
To survive, the Earth Trench Worm had fought with all its might, inadvertently doing Fang Yuan a great service by obscuring his tracks.
One side fled, the other pursued, forming this long battlefield.
Seeing the marks of the fierce battle stretch until they vanished at the edge of his vision, Fang Yuan chuckled softly.
“The Earth Trench Worm, fleeing for its life, would certainly panic and lead the Northern Plains Zombie Immortals into the territory of other fierce beasts. Very good. The more chaotic the situation, the better it is for me. This is precisely one of the scenarios I anticipated.”
Immediately after, Fang Yuan flew swiftly along the traces of the battle, his figure quickly vanishing into the darkness.
The Northern Plains Zombie Immortals flew slowly, their spirits flagging.
None of them were lightly injured. They were in disarray, their expressions grim and dejected.