Thunder Forest Cave Heaven.
"Cave Lord of Thunder Forest, you betrayed the Two Heavens Alliance and sided with Old Ancestor Qi Sea. Your crime is unforgivable — today is the day you lose your head." Xiao Hejian hovered high in the sky, gazing down below.
Behind him stood a large contingent of Gu Immortals from the Two Heavens Alliance, all silent and expressionless, presenting an imposing show of force.
The Cave Lord of Thunder Forest, by contrast, stood alone — facing the enemy army by himself, vastly outnumbered.
The Cave Lord gave a bitter laugh. "Since you've found me out, I won't deny anything. But tell me — do you think I *wanted* to ally with the enemy? The Alliance decided to use the Qi Technique Fruit of my Thunder Forest Cave Heaven as a test subject. Before this, the Alliance made multiple attempts and never succeeded. Every Cave Heaven used for the experiments was destroyed and collapsed. I joined the Two Heavens Alliance purely to protect myself. But now you're willing to sacrifice my home. If that's the case, I might as well turn to the enemy. Perhaps there's a sliver of hope there."
Xiao Hejian frowned and gave a dissatisfied cold snort. "You have far too little faith in our Two Heavens Grand Alliance — and in Alliance Leader Wu Shuai. Perhaps this time you'll succeed."
The Cave Lord chuckled. "If Alliance Leader Wu Shuai treated people fairly, I'd have nothing to say. But he's clearly protecting the non-humans while sacrificing the human race. Every Cave Heaven brought forward for experimentation has been a human Cave Heaven. Wu Shuai is a dragon person, after all. I've seen through this Alliance! Fellow human Gu Immortals present here — take a good look! What happens to me today will be your fate as well. After me, it'll be your turn."
Hearing these words, the human Gu Immortals present did indeed change their expressions slightly. The Cave Lord of Thunder Forest had undoubtedly struck a nerve with their deepest worries.
Wu Shuai and Old Ancestor Qi Sea were originally one and the same, so their coordination was naturally extraordinary. On the surface they opposed each other, but in reality they had peacefully divided the Two Heavens territories between them. By now, no neutral Cave Heavens remained within the Two Heavens. Every Cave Heaven had either been destroyed or pledged allegiance to Wu Shuai or Old Ancestor Qi Sea.
After the two great powers had divided the Two Heavens between them, both sides ceased hostilities and had been groping for a solution to the Qi Technique Fruit crisis.
Compared to Old Ancestor Qi Sea, who secluded himself to research in solitude, Wu Shuai's attainment in the Qi Path was significantly weaker. As a result, Wu Shuai's Two Heavens Alliance had no choice but to continuously conduct experiments, and in pursuit of efficiency, their methods were extremely crude. The experiments to eliminate the Qi Technique Fruit failed multiple times, blowing up several Cave Heavens in the process.
When it came to Thunder Forest Cave Heaven's turn, the Cave Lord refused to let his home become a sacrificial gambit. Desperate to survive, he secretly contacted Old Ancestor Qi Sea.
He truly was an unlucky soul — he had no idea that Old Ancestor Qi Sea and Wu Shuai were one and the same.
Old Ancestor Qi Sea was none other than Fang Yuan's true body, who immediately informed Wu Shuai.
Wu Shuai then issued orders, commanding Xiao Hejian to assemble a group of Gu Immortals and march out to suppress the traitor — to punish the one who had betrayed the alliance with severity.
Looking at the Cave Lord of Thunder Forest, Xiao Hejian smiled coldly in silence, then said impatiently, "Who will bring me this criminal?"
Cold Ash Fairy immediately stepped forward. "Allow me." She took on the posture of an eager vanguard.
Xiao Hejian nodded. "Good."
Seeing Cold Ash Fairy charge directly at the Cave Lord of Thunder Forest, Xiao Hejian was secretly pleased. *This Cold Ash truly has good instincts and considerable ability. My efforts to win her over haven't been wasted.* Cold Ash Fairy and the Cave Lord of Thunder Forest clashed. Both were Eighth Transformation cultivators, and for a time they traded blow for blow in a fierce exchange that defied resolution.
The remaining Gu Immortals of the Two Heavens Alliance stood on the clouds, watching the battle. In battles between Gu Immortals, group attacks required extremely precise coordination. Dao Marks of different paths repelled each other, and without exquisite cooperation, the result was massive internal losses — far more harm than benefit.
Of course, this didn't stop the observing Gu Immortals from quietly building up their power, ready to seize any opening for a sneak attack.
But the Gu Immortals of the Two Heavens Alliance never found their opportunity to strike.
Cold Ash Fairy gradually gained the upper hand, seizing control of the battle. The Cave Lord of Thunder Forest, sensing the dire situation, immediately fled deep underground.
Cold Ash Fairy was, after all, the Demonic Sovereign You Hun in disguise — how could the Cave Lord possibly have resisted her? The earlier evenly-matched battle had been nothing but an illusion, merely a performance by the Demonic Sovereign You Hun.
Seeing the Cave Lord flee, Xiao Hejian laughed aloud and waved his hand. "After him!"
The assembled immortals surged forward.
They ignored the vast Thunder Forest Cave Heaven itself, focusing solely on the Cave Lord of Thunder Forest. As long as this lone Eighth Transformation cultivator was eliminated, the rest of the resistance would pose no problem.
They would even proactively ensure the safety of Thunder Forest Cave Heaven — after all, it was still slated for use as an experimental site, and any resources within it would be divided among them.
The Cave Lord of Thunder Forest drilled straight down into the deep underground.
Cold Ash Fairy did not pursue, staying by Xiao Hejian's side.
Soon, the first wave of Gu Immortals who had chased deepest underground returned, all of them disheveled and filthy.
After hearing their reports, Xiao Hejian was also slightly taken aback. "Such a thing exists? There's a thunder forest deep underground?"
The returning Gu Immortals had, of course, brought back evidence.
Through tools like Image Recording Gu, the immortals of the Two Heavens Alliance all beheld a vast thunder forest.
In the pitch-black depths of the underground, lightning flashed and thunder roared with every passing moment.
Flash after flash of lightning formed towering silver-white giant trees. Each tree existed for only an instant, yet its Great Thunder Sound leaves and multi-forked silver lightning branches were all as solid as substance, tempting every immortal present.
"My word — these are all Eighth Transformation lightning-path immortal materials worth a fortune!"
"And this is merely the surface wealth of the thunder forest. According to the *Records of the Human Ancestor*, the source of a thunder forest is a Lightning Gu. A thunder forest of this scale is proof enough that there's an Eighth Transformation Lightning Gu here!"
"Is the Cave Lord of Thunder Forest trying to use the Lightning Gu to put up a desperate last stand?"
"Hmph — that's wishful thinking. A single Eighth Transformation immortal Gu — how could it possibly stand against our Two Heavens Grand Alliance?"