"Ah—! Qijue!" Phantom Soul roared, turning his head to glare furiously at Demon Immortal Qijue.
Demon Immortal Qijue calmly withdrew Xi Di and immediately retreated at top speed, guarding against a counterattack.
"You fool!" Phantom Soul's massive foot stomped the ground with a thunderous boom, finally stabilizing his enormous body.
Even after living for so long, he was seething with rage. Fang Yuan had been on the verge of death at his hands, only to be interrupted by his own ally.
Demon Immortal Qijue hovered high in the air, his gaze locked firmly on Phantom Soul, utterly vigilant.
He furrowed his brow first, recalling the subtle changes in Fang Yuan's earlier expressions. It was obvious — Fang Yuan had deliberately engineered the situation to create an opening in Phantom Soul's defenses.
"Was Fang Yuan truly at his limit in that moment? No — this was more likely Phantom Soul's deception, meant to distract me. In truth, even if I was deceived, since I've already come this far, I have no choice but to keep targeting Phantom Soul!" Demon Immortal Qijue quickly steeled his resolve.
With the Heart-Eating killer move broken, Phantom Soul had clearly suffered a severe backlash. Fang Yuan seized this opportunity to urgently repair the Steadfast Mountain Fortress. Setting everything else aside, at least the hole had rapidly vanished.
While reorganizing his formations, Fang Yuan didn't forget to verbally press his advantage: "Phantom Soul, there's no need to be so furious. In fact, long before you contacted Qijue, I had already reached an agreement with him."
"You formed an alliance? Impossible — I probed you secretly, and there wasn't a trace of any pact on you!" Phantom Soul sneered in rebuttal.
"I was recently reborn and would never trust any Information Path methods. Phantom Soul, you tempted me with generous rewards to take action, but in truth, Fang Yuan had already done the same. And… he was far more generous than you!" Before Demon Immortal Qijue had even finished speaking, he lunged forward again.
Qi Path killer moves fired in rapid succession, the offensive sweeping over Phantom Soul's giant form like a violent tempest.
Lu Weiyin and the others exchanged glances, all overjoyed.
Wu Shuai and Qi Sea Old Ancestor had been kept in the dark. Seeing Demon Immortal Qijue suddenly turn on Phantom Soul, they were greatly heartened. The situation had already been deadlocked on a razor's edge — with Demon Immortal Qijue betraying Phantom Soul, the balance of power shifted immediately, turning the tide of battle!
Lu Weiyin's mind raced, and then it clicked: "After the Battle of Destiny, I used Le Tu's methods to confirm that Phantom Soul had not only regained his freedom but was growing ever stronger. Soon after, the secret of the Supreme Immortal Aperture spread through Treasure Yellow Heaven. I secretly contacted Fang Yuan and shared my intelligence, hoping to join forces against Phantom Soul and the Shadow Sect. But initially, Fang Yuan was only half-believing.
However, not long afterward, Fang Yuan took the initiative to contact me and accepted the alliance. Now it seems he had secretly reached out to Demon Immortal Qijue and used him to verify my intelligence."
Lu Weiyin was Le Tu's successor, and Le Tu had spent his entire life setting things right — he and Phantom Soul were irreconcilable.
One of Lu Weiyin's goals in joining the Battle of Destiny had been to completely eradicate Phantom Soul's remnant soul.
But after the battle ended, Lu Weiyin had never managed to find it.
He certainly didn't give up. At tremendous cost, he employed Le Tu's methods to deduce Phantom Soul's current condition, though he couldn't pinpoint his exact location.
Then Lu Weiyin thought of Fang Yuan.
If Phantom Soul wished to rise again, he would inevitably need to eliminate Fang Yuan. Kill him, and Phantom Soul could not only obtain the Supreme Immortal Embryo Gu but also reclaim his former realm.
Lu Weiyin used Le Tu's methods and finally managed to contact Fang Yuan. But Fang Yuan was extremely wary of him.
Fang Yuan had been reborn — he vaguely knew that Lu Weiyin was not what he appeared to be on the surface, ostensibly giving his all to support Heavenly Court. Lu Weiyin had his own agenda.
Moreover, during the Battle of Destiny, when Fang Yuan had stormed Heavenly Court, he had never encountered Phantom Soul's remnant soul. So regarding Lu Weiyin's intelligence, Fang Yuan had already believed about thirty percent.
Then, when the secret of Fang Yuan's Supreme Immortal Body leaked into Treasure Yellow Heaven, he believed another thirty percent.
After Demon Immortal Qijue was reborn, Fang Yuan had secretly attempted to contact him but failed every time.
As it happened, shortly afterward, Demon Immortal Qijue came looking for trouble with Qi Sea Old Ancestor. With Qin Dingling's support, Fang Yuan ostensibly repelled him, but in reality the two had secretly established communication.
To earn Demon Immortal Qijue's trust, Fang Yuan directly revealed that Qi Sea Old Ancestor was his disguise.
Obtaining such critical leverage over Fang Yuan, Demon Immortal Qijue immediately understood the sincerity behind his desire to cooperate.
What Demon Immortal Qijue lacked most at the time was an understanding of the current Immortal Gu world. Fang Yuan played to this need, offering his various true inheritances as bargaining chips to trade with him.
Demon Immortal Qijue was greatly tempted but remained heavily guarded, refusing to the very end to formalize a pact with Fang Yuan — he feared Fang Yuan would use Information Path methods unknown to him to pull a fast one.
Fang Yuan didn't force the issue. In the end, they reached an extremely loose, nearly unenforceable underground alliance.
Fang Yuan provided Demon Immortal Qijue with true inheritances from various Paths, while Demon Immortal Qijue handed over the secrets of Qi Path rebirth. Furthermore, he had to follow Fang Yuan's arrangement and begin openly selling Qi Path immortal materials in Treasure Yellow Heaven, purchasing inheritances from various other Paths.
With the secrets of Qijue Rebirth, Fang Yuan made tremendous breakthroughs regarding Qi Gong Fruit. As a result, Qi Sea Old Ancestor was able to resolve his Qi Gong Fruit issue. After that, leveraging Heavenly Court's Qi Gong Fruit, Fang Yuan successfully forged the Qi Sea Clone!
In truth, had it relied solely on Fang Yuan's current attainment in the Qi Path, he would not have been able to resolve the Qi Gong Fruit so quickly.
And shortly afterward, Demon Immortal Qijue actually received an unsolicited contact from Phantom Soul through Treasure Yellow Heaven.
Demon Immortal Qijue was greatly shaken. Upon learning the purpose of Phantom Soul's outreach, he immediately grasped Fang Yuan's true intentions.
The alliance between Demon Immortal Qijue and Fang Yuan was extremely loose — betrayal would be effortless. Naturally, Demon Immortal Qijue had no obligation to consider Fang Yuan's interests. Instead, he withheld the information and opened negotiations with Phantom Soul.