Ying Wu Xie and the others instantly adopted grave expressions, sharp light gleaming in their eyes.
Some of the variant-race Gu Immortals hesitated, thinking to themselves: Using our strongest move already? Isn't that rather premature?
But Fang Yuan possessed memories from his previous life. He knew that Xia Cha had actually been secretly probing many of the great formation's mysteries all along—she had simply been holding back. In his previous life, she had suddenly erupted, and the result was the White Rabbit Girl's death and a miserable rout for Fang Yuan's side.
In this life, Fang Yuan naturally would not repeat the same mistake.
"Then who do we strike first? Lu Weiyin or Xia Cha?" Bai Ningbing asked.
The improved Year Flow Execution Formation possessed one supreme move—a pillar of silver-white light that could lock onto only a single target at a time. Any Gu Immortal enveloped by it would experience time slowing down countless fold, catching them utterly off guard.
Lu Weiyin was the current successor of Le Tu, possessed of extraordinary methods and unfathomable depths.
Xia Cha, meanwhile, was a mighty figure of the Time Dao, capable of penetrating the great formation—a severe threat to the entire Year Flow Execution Formation.
This was not an easy choice.
Because once this move was deployed and revealed, the remaining Gu Immortals would be on guard, and the chances of landing it again would plummet.
Fang Yuan's answer was blunt and decisive: "Neither Lu Weiyin nor Xia Cha—that 'Seventh Transformation' Gu Immortal!"
Ba Shiba was still hidden within the crowd.
Another Antiquity Era Year Beast charged through the vortex gate into the battlefield.
Ba Shiba's eye twitched. He forcibly suppressed the urge to truly act.
"The formation is still holding firm. I must bide my time a while longer!"
"When the moment comes for me to truly strike, it will be at the most critical juncture. I will catch Fang Yuan completely off guard, force him to reveal an opening, and seal the victory for this battle!"
But just as this thought crossed his mind, an Antiquity Era Year Beast near him suddenly froze. The Pure Dream Truth-Seeker inside detonated itself, and dream realm energy surged outward in a flood.
Alarm screamed through Ba Shiba's mind: "What?!"
In that same instant, a pillar of silver-white light burst forth, falling upon his body.
"What—?!" Ba Shiba's eyes slowly, slowly widened—his time had been slowed countless fold.
And in his vision, everything outside suddenly surged into a wild fast-forward. The dream realm, which had been still at a distance, rushed past in this burst of accelerated time and engulfed his entire body.
"I—" Ba Shiba wanted to curse, but he didn't even have time for that!
He was swallowed by the dream realm and sank into the dream.
"What's happening?!"
"Ah—it's the dream realm!"
"Lord Ba Shiba?!"
"Damn it—Fang Yuan saw through his identity!!"
The Southern Border immortals were shaken. Many cried out in alarm. This strike had come far too quickly, far too suddenly—it had rattled them to their core.
"A third Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal?!" the Gu Immortals under Fang Yuan's command cried out in shock.
In his final moment of entrapment, Ba Shiba leaked his true Eighth Transformation aura. But it was all too late—everything was lost.
Seeing this, Xia Cha was so furious she could have coughed up blood.
Their hidden trump card—already seen through by Fang Yuan! Ba Shiba had been coasting along without ever contributing his real strength, and Fang Yuan had already dealt with him ahead of schedule!
Xia Cha was enraged!
She let out a piercing scream, and a violent storm erupted around her body.
Crackling—lightning flashed and thunder roared.
These illusions condensed sharply, coalescing into a fan that she gripped in her hand.
Immortal Path Killer Move—Xia's Fan!
In his previous life, it was this very move with which Xia Cha had battered Fang Yuan's side into a wretched state, nearly crumbling the Year Flow Execution Formation, leaving Fang Yuan and several others gravely wounded, and killing the White Rabbit Girl.
What about this life?
"Fan!" Xia Cha snarled and swung with all her might.
A great wind burst forth, howling into the sky.
"Good—we've been waiting for you!" Fang Yuan barked coldly, twin beams of light blazing from his eyes like lightning.
He mobilized the great formation. It emitted a deep hum and released dazzling silver radiance across the sky, absorbing and dissolving every trace of the fan's wind.
"What?!" Xia Cha's eyes went wide in utter disbelief.
Her trump-card attack—the one she had placed all her hopes on—was actually, actually ineffective?!
"Again!" She swung the fan a second time with savage force.
The great wind howled with overwhelming momentum, pulverizing every Year Beast in its path. Even the Ancient Era Year Beasts could not hold their ground, swept away by the tempest.
But in the very next instant, silver light reappeared and deflected it all.
Xia Cha: "..."
Her face turned ashen, her mind filling with a dreadfully ominous suspicion. She swung the fan over and over in a frenzy.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The wind roared with unprecedented fury, unleashing a terrifying onslaught.
And then, under the silver light, the wind fell silent in a single instant. The heaven-and-earth-shattering momentum of the moment before—it was as though it had all been an illusion!
Xia Cha's mouth hung open. She stared blankly for a full breath before finally shrieking: "This is impossible!"
Yes—impossible.
This was clearly a targeted counter. And not only that—her Xia's Fan had been completely and utterly nullified!
Heavens have mercy!
Xia Cha cried out in her heart: She had rarely ever used Xia's Fan—how could Fang Yuan have seen through it and completely countered it?!
This had to be a dream!
There was absolutely no logic to this whatsoever!