Star Constellation Immortal Venerable saw the issue, the qi path immortal materials were insufficient, her expression turned dim.
Heavenly Court's foundation had finally hit rock-bottom!
In fact, when she set up the star array calculation formation and nurtured the immemorial star beasts, she had already expended all of Heavenly Court's star path resources.
Recently, Heavenly Court's members revived continuously, the remaining immortal graveyard was also consumed until only a small area was left, it could no longer allow any Gu Immortal to revive.
Heavenly Court had developed for three million years, it had incomparable foundation, but after several huge battles, the expenditure was severe. When Spectral Soul Demon Venerable escaped from Heavenly Court, he ransacked the immortal treasury. They had to use their secret storage and even subtly draw resources from the ten great ancient sects.
Until today, Heavenly Court was already showing signs of exhausting its foundation.
Of course, the main reason why they were out of qi path resources was because the immortal material expenditure was just too high.
In Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's original plan, the qi harvest fruit would primarily grow using the qi tides, the qi path methods he left behind would only be a failsafe in case any unexpected mishaps occurred.
The qi tides were crucial in growing the qi harvest fruit.
But now, the qi tides had ended and the qi paths methods were not completely intact, they had to expend qi path immortal materials instead.
It was obvious that the more qi path immortal materials they expended, the larger the qi harvest fruit would become, and the stronger Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable would be after reviving.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable made deductions again.
She used her full strength in doing this, countless thoughts collided in her mind until she felt a sharp headache, but she eventually deduced another killer move.
After testing it, she modified the killer move slightly.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's breathing was quite rough and her expression was pale, she opened the entrance of Heavenly Court at the next moment.
Before any other venerable reacted, she aimed her killer move at the entrance.
Heavenly Court's entrance was immediately covered by a layer of profound light as it rapidly drew in heaven and earth qi from the outside world.
The heaven and earth qi were vast and boundless, they entered through the entrance with unceasing momentum and flowed into the immortal formation.
The heaven and earth qi were not of high quality but could compensate with quantity, with this supplement, the growth of the qi harvest fruit was no longer an issue.
The Heavenly Court immortals were shocked, they quickly discussed.
"Why did Lady Star Constellation Immortal Venerable open the entrance of Heavenly Court?"
"This is a good thing, the stronger the qi harvest fruit, the more powerful Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's qi path foundation will be after revival!"
"What if Fang Yuan attacks using this chance?"
"Hahaha, didn't he try to attack earlier, losing to Lady Star Constellation's divine might. Will he dare to come again?"
Fang Yuan did not show up indeed.
Not only that, even Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was not paying attention to them.
He ravaged Central Continent and slaughtered countless beings, his injuries recovered by a large extent.
Soul fog surged, wherever it went, verdant mountains turned grey and flowers wilted, wild beast corpses were lying all over the place.
As his soul howl was used, huge waves appeared on the lakes. Afterwards, corpses of aquatic animals like fish or shrimps floated to the surface.
A vast number of souls were devoured by Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, he was like a huge black hole that devoured everything he slaughtered, his injuries were healed and his body expanded again.
During this process, a wild Immortal Gu was created in Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's body.
Rank eight Immortal Gu — Kill!
This caused a considerable commotion that drew the attention of Fang Yuan, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
At once, the three venerables had strange expressions.
They knew about a secret of the past.
Back then, Spectral Soul wanted to create killing path, but in the end, he failed after devouring black heaven's heavenly spirit, he was forced to create soul path instead.
But to think that he showed signs of creating killing path now while he was not sane.
Immortal Gu Kill was clearly the core Immortal Gu of killing path, it was not formed so easily.
This was a Gu refinement undergone by the Heavenly Dao!
Most importantly, it was refined in Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's body, this meant that although he was currently not sane, he was quite close to creating killing path.
"Killing path is already showing signs of emerging." Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had already returned to Northern Plains, he immediately ordered the Huang Jin tribe Gu Immortals who were headed to Central Continent to not get near Spectral Soul Demon Venerable! They should not be greedy with super resource points, also avoiding Heaven Refining Demon Venerable.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable did not personally plunder Central Continent's resource points but he did not give up, he sent his bloodline descendants.
This way, even if Heavenly Court pursued the matter, he had a degree of distance and could give excuses.
"Giant Sun, if you come and cooperate with me, I'll give you half of the Central Continent resource points that I plunder!" Fang Yuan transmitted again, he did not give up on convincing Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable rejected with an increasingly firm attitude.
On one hand, he felt that Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would not expose a weakness, this outcome was already decided, there was no point in joining hands with Fang Yuan.
On the other hand, he had his own reservations.
Firstly, his eldest son You Tian Guang was taken away by You Tian Guang in Longevity Heaven, he needed to look for his son.
Secondly, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had already used 'I reside in all living beings and heaven and earth' twice in a short period, this move had a huge drawback, it would leave him in a weakened state for some time. He had to conceal himself and secretly get through this weakened period. If he exposed this weakness, the killer move's value and usability would fall immensely in the future.
Heavenly Court.
The qi harvest fruit continued to grow larger.
The vast amount of heaven and earth qi, countless qi path immortal materials, as well as methods like the primordial qi wall, were all turned into qi path dao marks that were added into the qi harvest fruit.
At the core of the qi harvest fruit, a human shaped core was formed.
As time passed, the core's features became clearer, it was increasingly human-like.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable saw this and immediately comprehended that Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival method contained the profundity of human path.
"To think that master's human path attainment is even higher than I thought."
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable smiled faintly as memories surfaced in her mind.
In his bed, Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable suddenly coughed out blood.
"Master, how are you?" Star Constellation quickly came over and used her methods to heal him.
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable had just blocked a chaotic disaster and fixed the hole in the world, he was heavily injured and could barely get up.
Star Constellation did her best to stabilize his injuries.
She had a look of surprise, she found that Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable aggravated the injuries purely as a result of his own actions!
Star Constellation frowned deeply: "Master, you suffered such heavy injuries and can't even walk now, yet you still took a risk to create a killer move!"
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable had a look of joy: "These injuries are not an issue, my disciple, I succeeded. I grasped onto that inspiration and created a human path killer move."
"Using this move, we can use the immortal aperture to extend the lifespan of Gu Immortals. Among all the existing lifespan extension methods, my newly created method is the most effective!"
Star Constellation looked at the content and had a gaze of surprise, light flickered in her eyes as she understood the true value of this killer move.
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable laughed loudly: "With this method, we will not need to force human Gu Immortal experts to join our Heavenly Court. The temptation of lifespan extension is too great."
"From now on, as long as they contribute their immortal aperture to Heavenly Court, they will become members of Heavenly Court. They will get to use this human path killer move to extend their lifespan."
Star Constellation nodded, she was joyous as well: "Master, what is the name of this killer move?"
"Cough, cough." Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable coughed before saying nonchalantly: "The name is not important, you can decide it for me, just make one up."
Star Constellation quickly answered, she loved to name things, she added: "We need to give it an awesome name, it should draw people's attention! Hmm... let me think about it."
"My good disciple, go and think of the name! I am too old now, I don't have the creativity anymore. After you decide, let me know." Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable rested in bed and waved his hand to Star Constellation.
Star Constellation nodded and said solemnly: "Master, you must not take such risks again, your injuries are too severe this time!"
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable laughed to himself: "These injuries are nowhere near my limit. I've once suffered even greater injuries, you know it too, there has been at least five of such instances."
Star Constellation stared angrily: "You are already twenty-five thousand years old, you need to admit you are old. You've already done enough for humanity, since you are injured, you need to recuperate. I will lead Heavenly Court!"
"Hahaha, with you around, what worries do I have?" Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable laughed as his voice became softer, he showed an expression of dejectedness: "Maybe, I should really admit that I am too old..."
"You won't." Star Constellation shook her head, she showed an expression of knowing her master very well but being helpless against his antics.
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable laughed after seeing her expression, while she was taking her leave, he even winked at her playfully.
Star Constellation took care of Primordial Origin, who was recuperating while handling Heavenly Court's affairs, in her free time, she thought of the name of the human path killer move to relax her mind.
Star Constellation was busy for three days, after that, she finally had some insight about the name of the human path killer move.
But she did not know that she would not have a chance to tell Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable about this name anymore.
When she freed herself from her busy work and went to visit Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable, she saw that he was lying on the bed quietly, his eyes were shut and his expression was plain, there was only a faint smile at the corners of lips.
This legendary leader of humanity, the first generation Immortal King of Heavenly Court, the person who held up the banner of humanity's retaliation and forced all the variant human forces to hide themselves, had passed away.
He died calmly.
Peacefully.
Relieved.
His disciple was the reason why he was relieved.
The moment Star Constellation saw Primordial Origin again, she realized.
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's injuries were extremely severe, he had only purposely concealed the fact.
He was making considerations for the big picture.
After all, although the variant humans retreated from Central Continent, they were still rampant in the other four regions. Even in Central Continent, many variant human forces hid in their blessed lands and grotto-heavens, they could not be found.
He knew his injuries could not be healed, using the last of his strength, he painstakingly created a human path killer move to aid the future development of Heavenly Court.
Star Constellation stood in front of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's bed and kept silent for a long time.
Eventually, she spoke in a hoarse voice: "Master, I've already thought of the name for this human path killer move. It suits this scenario quite well, I'll name it — Lying in Bed."
Lying in bed was able to turn the immortal aperture that a Gu Immortal contributed to Heavenly Court into a bed that was free from calamities and tribulations, it could also extend their lifespan to a great extent. Back in that era, it was the number one lifespan extension method besides lifespan Gu!
Afterwards, Star Constellation created another human path killer move on the foundation of this move, naming it — Others Sleep Soundly.
Others sleep soundly allowed the Heavenly Court members to sleep on their respective beds and reduce their body activity and time flow to the lowest possible limit. At the same time, their will would be extracted and converted into human nature[1. Opposite of heaven nature Spectral Soul is filled by, see 2265] to help Star Constellation Immortal Venerable resist heaven's will after she assimilated with the Dao.
At the final moments of his life, Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable lay in bed and contributed his final moments to the future of Heavenly Court and all of humanity.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable did the same, in order to protect Heavenly Court, she sacrificed herself and became one with the Dao.
This pair of master and disciple were truly of the same lineage!
Lying in bed and others sleep soundly became the foundation of Heavenly Court's immortal graveyard.
Within the qi harvest fruit, the human shaped core had already grown to the size of a normal human adult.
There was a change in the qi harvest fruit's skin as well, countless primordial qi walls formed and wrapped around the core of the qi harvest fruit.
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival was already reaching the final steps.
The methods displayed during this process made Star Constellation Immortal Venerable quite surprised, she gasped and sighed at the intricacy of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's qi path methods.
As time passed, a wave of grand aura permeated the qi harvest fruit.
The qi path dao marks that were created from heaven and earth qi, along with the qi path immortal materials, were added to the qi harvest fruit continuously.
The human shaped qi harvest fruit was already showing Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's form.
Many Central Continent Gu Immortals were currently kneeling.
Heavenly Court's members had tears in their eyes, they were incredibly excited.
He was the first venerable of the world, among them, he was also the one with the longest lifespan.
Without him, humanity would not have its current prosperity, he was the person who led the rise of the human race!
He was the creator of qi path and had left behind countless methods to defend Heavenly Court, including primordial qi wall, lying in bed, and others.
He had defeated countless variant human experts, he had suffered countless injuries, who knows how much blood he lost in the process.
He created Emperor City, which was the incomplete form of Divine Emperor City.
He was the first to contribute his immortal aperture, he gave up on the clan system and recruited disciples, he was the role model of Central Continent's sect system.
He worked his hardest and gave his life to Heavenly Court and all of humanity.
Even the variant humans who hated him to the core had to admit that he was a grand existence.
He was Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable!
And today, he was going to return to this world.
The qi harvest fruit started to tremble as a grand aura leaked out, creating huge qi waves.
The entrance of Heavenly Court opened as this aura was exposed to the outside world.
At once, within spectral heaven, qi currents either fell, moved together like a storm, or even created all sorts of vortexes and whirlpools.
A peculiar phenomenon was formed as the five regions went into an uproar!
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival was almost completed.
Finally, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable let out a sigh of relief and knelt on one knee as she said: "This disciple pays respects to master."
Within Northern Plains, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable sighed, the outcome was decided.
Fang Yuan, however, stared at Heavenly Court. He frowned with a vague hint of anticipation and excitement in his eyes.
At the next moment.
Boom!!!!!!!
Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable — exploded!
In Northern Plains, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable stood on the spot, he looked in the direction of Heavenly Court with uncontrollable shock on his face.
Meanwhile, Fang Yuan had a faint smile.
-x-X-x-
This huge explosion was too sudden, it had occurred too fiercely!
At once, winds soared and clouds dispersed, heaven and earth changed colors.
Heavenly Court shattered!
A large number of grotto-heaven fragments flew everywhere like a volcanic explosion. Only half of the immortal aperture entrance remained, there were all sorts of holes and gaps everywhere, exposed in spectral heaven.
Dust and smoke rumbled, Heavenly Court could not be seen clearly now.
An unknown number of Gu Immortals had died.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that the mountain-like qi harvest fruit had dissipated entirely.
"I succeeded..." In Central Continent, Fang Yuan looked in the direction of Heavenly Court and let out a breath of air.
Long ago, he had already started to consider this issue.
At that time, he was in a predicament with danger all around him.
The sovereign immortal aperture's time flow was too fast, this forced Fang Yuan to undergo tribulations. Although he had used endless trouble multiple times to delay his tribulations, the chaotic disaster could not be skipped by this method.
Once Fang Yuan underwent tribulation, he would need to place his sovereign immortal aperture in spectral heaven and open his immortal aperture's entrance for some time.
This would expose a huge flaw and lure Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable to attack him, even Spectral Soul Demon Venerable might come!
Other than the danger of tribulation, Fang Yuan also felt hunger.
This was the sovereign immortal body's hunger.
The sovereign immortal body was created using sovereign immortal fetus Gu, the flaw was that it needed to consume an immortal aperture of the same rank as the Gu Immortal once in a while.
Now that Fang Yuan was a venerable, he would need to annex a rank nine immortal aperture!
These two crises made Fang Yuan extremely worried.
As the saying went: If one did not have big worries, they would worry about smaller things.
Fang Yuan had great foresight, he could also anticipate his future problems. Rather than leaving these issues to the future, he should start resolving them now!
Fang Yuan did not have a passive nature, he enjoyed taking the initiative to launch the first attack and control the situation!
Fang Yuan knew one of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival methods.
The reason was simple.
The killer move stealing heavenly secret.
Back then, Fang Yuan used the immortal ascension of his Gu Immortal seeds to experience natural inspiration and use stealing heavenly secret to inspect all the secrets within Heavenly Court!
He knew the profundities contained in the qi harvest fruit were meant to revive Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable.
Even Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was unclear of the exact details regarding the qi harvest fruit revival method.
But Fang Yuan had a clear understanding of Heavenly Court, along with his qi path great grandmaster attainment level, he made deductions and research with wisdom Gu's help.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable made arrangements within the star array calculation formation, her methods were precise and meticulous. The intention was to use both Embroidered Tower and Star Constellation Chessboard to capture a pseudo venerable.
This arrangement was done secretly, Fang Yuan did not know of it.
But he did not need to guess to know that Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would definitely try to revive Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable!
If he were in her shoes, it was certain that he would prioritize in reviving the other two Immortal Kings of Heavenly Court.
Things were difficult to do openly, but easy to do secretly. Once Star Constellation Immortal Venerable made a move, her every action would expose her intention.
Heavenly Court had deep foundations, it was under the rule of three Immortal Kings. This was Heavenly Court's greatest strength, but to Fang Yuan, it also was their greatest weakness.
Thus, Fang Yuan thought of sacrificing Qi Sea Ancestor to purposely lure Star Constellation Immortal Venerable into using the qi harvest fruit revival method.
Even if Qi Sea Ancestor was his clone, so what?
For the goal of eternal life, what could he not sacrifice?
For the sake of his grand ambition, would Fang Yuan be stingy on such a sacrifice?
The plan to give up Qi Sea Ancestor and use him as bait to revive Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable was quite likely to succeed.
But he needed a chance to send Qi Sea there.
He could not do it openly.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was the number one person in wisdom path, Fang Yuan had experienced her strength countless times, she often saw through his plans when they were still at their initial stage. There was a clear example previously with Fang clan.
If he did it in a way that was too obvious, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable would notice and use the plan against him, causing Fang Yuan huge losses.
Thus, he waited until the opportunity presented itself.
Undoubtedly, the heaven path dream realms appeared at the best timing!
For Fang Yuan's case, although the heaven path dream realms could raise his heaven path attainment level, he was not anxious to get them.
As long as nobody could make use of these heaven path dream realms, he could continue to refine rank nine Immortal Gu secretly, to raise his strength and pull apart his distance from the other venerables.
The longer this dragged on, the stronger Fang Yuan would become.
But the contest over the heaven path dream realms became the best red herring to conceal his scheme to give up Qi Sea Ancestor to the enemy!
Fang Yuan thought a lot about this, he made difficult choices.
He could not act too willing, everything had to be logical.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's intelligence was unfathomable, she was too smart. But her wisdom was something that Fang Yuan could make use of!
Thus, Fang Yuan sent Qi Sea Ancestor into the star array calculation formation and did not do anything excessive. Afterwards, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable personally 'helped' Fang Yuan and completed the arrangements for him, capturing Qi Sea Ancestor.
Throughout the process, Qi Sea Ancestor was kept in the dark by Fang Yuan, he was unaware.
Not just him, Wu Shuai and Zhan Bu Du did not know either.
It was like how Star Constellation Immortal Venerable deceived the five immortals from Heavenly Court regarding the plan to take Lin Jian Xing's otherworldly sword path dao marks.
But Fang Yuan was even more ruthless, he even deceived himself.
Giving up the Qi Sea clone was not enough, to assure Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, he even gave up the qi path Immortal Gu and Hu Land.
So what if he had to give up these qi path Immortal Gu?
As long as he could achieve his goal, Fang Yuan could even give up rank nine Immortal Gu!
Hu Land... wasn't it just a secluded domain of heaven and earth?
If it could deceive Star Constellation Immortal Venerable for some time, not to mention one secluded domain, he would even give up three if he had to.
In Fang Yuan's eyes, the so-called Immortal Gu and secluded domain of heaven and earth, no matter how precious, were just tools for him to go after eternal life.
Since they were tools, if there was value in sacrificing them, he would do it!
Fang Yuan had no hesitation regarding this.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable only had a vague understanding of the qi harvest fruit revival method, but Fang Yuan knew it clearly.
He was a refinement path venerable, he was also proficient at revival methods.
From the perspective of refinement path, the qi harvest fruit revival method was just using the qi harvest fruit as the main material, along with Primordial Origin's arrangements in Heavenly Court, to create a new body and soul.
Was it any different from Gu refinement in essence?
No!
In that case, Fang Yuan could make his arrangements.
He first treated Qi Sea Ancestor as a qi path immortal material and processed some steps in advance. Of course, the corresponding memories were already removed from Qi Sea Ancestor.
It was like how Star Constellation Immortal Venerable altered the memories of the Gu Immortals who entered the derivation formation.
Qi Sea Ancestor's entire body was tampered with, but this was related to the peak profundities of refinement path, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable could not detect anything even after checking many times.
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had refinement path attainment too, but Qi Sea Ancestor looked normal on the surface, there would only be issues after he was used as an immortal material for the qi harvest fruit revival method.
And during the process of revival, the problem would intensify.
But Star Constellation Immortal Venerable did not completely understand or control the qi harvest fruit revival process.
This gave Fang Yuan many chances to take advantage of the situation!
"My plan succeeded, as for the gains, it will depend on future developments." Fang Yuan did not rush to attack Heavenly Court.
He continued to plunder Central Continent while contacting Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
"Giant Sun, we are so lucky! A problem happened during Primordial Origin's revival, Heavenly Court blew up instead. This is our best opportunity to strike, if we miss this and Heavenly Court recovers, we will regret not taking action for life."
After seeing Heavenly Court's explosion, after a momentary shock, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable immediately thought of attacking Heavenly Court.
After getting Fang Yuan's transmission, he became even more tempted.
But he was hesitant now.
"Should I really attack Heavenly Court now?"
"Did they really make a mistake? Is Fang Yuan behind this?" Giant Sun Immortal Venerable thought of Fang Yuan's mysterious defensive method, he really could not see through this person. It was possible that Fang Yuan was behind this all along.
"Strange, why did I not sense this huge variable earlier when I used luck inspection on Heavenly Court?"
"Unless, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable used a method to conceal Heavenly Court and it stopped my luck inspection from working? That would really be ironic."
The last thing that made Giant Sun Immortal Venerable hesitate was Light Emperor.
His eldest son.
As well as the wild rank nine light Gu in his immortal aperture!
Light Emperor was kidnapped by the two legendary immemorial beasts, You Tian Guang and Zuo Ye Hui, if Giant Sun Immortal Venerable did not go to save him, he would be in danger.
Of course, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable thought of his own Blood Sea.
Since he could revive Light Emperor once, he could definitely do so again.
"Giant Sun is still hesitating, did he notice anything?" Fang Yuan saw that Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was not taking any action, he started to ponder.
Fang Yuan did not know about the secret behind Giant Sun and his son, he also did not know about the drawback of using the killer move, I reside in all living beings and heaven and earth.
But he soon thought of a reason.
"With the explosion, Heavenly Court's losses cannot be assessed now. Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's injuries are unclear as well. She has a huge territorial advantage inside Heavenly Court, she must not have gotten too injured, so she is still a threat."
"This may be Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's concern."
"In his opinion, my Qi Sea clone was captured and Heavenly Court suddenly exploded, which caused Primordial Origin's revival to fail, so I am the most suspicious one. At the same time, I should be the most nervous person."
"I do not have my own stronghold, if Heavenly Court's two venerables join hands, I will be in an even worse predicament."
"Giant Sun Immortal Venerable said the situation is unclear, he is hinting to me that I should make a move first!"
"If Heavenly Court is truly weakened, he will come and join in the fight to steal some benefits himself."
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable chose to wait and observe, this made Fang Yuan's plan fall short.
In fact, attacking Heavenly Court now was abrupt and contained risks.
Even Fang Yuan did not know what condition Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was currently in.
But since Fang Yuan had already planned this far, would he not have backup solution?
He casted his gaze at Spectral Soul Demon Venerable who was far away.
After this period of killing, his injuries had mostly recovered.
"He is the best vanguard that we can have." Fang Yuan smiled as he used his method.
Totem killer moves flew out and provoked the insane Spectral Soul Demon Venerable continuously, he was successfully lured into Heavenly Court!
-x-X-x-
With a soft grunt, Zhao Lian Yun woke up in an area of ruins and rubble.
All she saw were qi currents in front of her, the entire place was covered in white, in all directions.
Her ears were buzzing, she felt dizzy and lightheaded.
"What... what happened to me?"
Zhao Lian Yun breathed roughly as she inspected her body.
She was originally wearing a white dress, she had light skin and white teeth, as refreshing as lilies in the morning. But now, her face was blackened like soot, her white dress was torn and tattered. She was like a refugee living in a famine, having a wretched appearance.
After checking, she found that her body was intact but she had no strength at all, her limbs felt weak and powerless.
"What happened? Why am I like this?"
Primordial Origin's explosion occurred too suddenly and abruptly, Zhao Lian Yun suffered a huge impact and almost experienced amnesia!
But soon, her dizziness faded away and Zhao Lian Yun slowly regained her memories.
An unprecedented and terrifying explosion had occurred!!!!
Her pupils contracted, this scene was etched in her mind and would not be forgotten in her entire life.
It was too terrifying!
A moment ago, the many Gu Immortals around her were watching the mountain-like qi harvest fruit with immense anticipation for Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival.
But at the next moment, Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable exploded!
Among all of the Gu Immortals, Zhao Lian Yun was standing near the periphery, but she was still affected by the explosion.
This explosion was too intense, the whole of Heavenly Court was in ruins, Zhao Lian Yun naturally could not escape.
"Why did it explode all of a sudden?!" As her memories cleared up, Zhao Lian Yun's breathing became rougher.
"I can't believe it, I am practically unharmed. Did love Gu protect me?"
"Wait... I need to save the rest!"
Zhao Lian Yun's heart jumped, she realized what she should be doing.
She might have had love Gu's protection, but others did not have a rank nine Immortal Gu like her.
Zhao Lian Yun quickly set off as she went into the vast field of qi currents, searching for other surviving Gu Immortals.
Before the explosion occurred, the Gu Immortals of the ten great ancient sects were all at the periphery, they were far apart and watched the qi harvest fruit in small groups. The people who were closer to the center were the members of Heavenly Court.
White qi rumbled like a vast fog, Zhao Lian Yun tried many investigative methods but none worked.
These white qi were remnants of the qi harvest fruit, the aftermath of the explosion! With the area being filled with qi path dao marks, it was not strange that a mere rank six Gu Immortal like Zhao Lian Yun was unable to use investigative methods, unless she could use love Gu now.
But love Gu was not just a rank nine Immortal Gu, it was very special. Even a venerable could not refine it forcefully, even though it was wisdom path, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had not been able to use it. Thus, it continued to live in Zhao Lian Yun's body.
Zhao Lian Yun did not refine love Gu but received its acknowledgement instead. Thus, she could not activate it freely, sometimes, she wanted it to attack but it would escape with her. If she wanted it to defend, it might heal instead.
Furthermore, each time love Gu was used, it would take something away from Zhao Lian Yun, sometimes, it would even take lifespan!
Zhao Lian Yun flew into the white qi and looked around for people using her memories of the location.
After a while, she gasped as she found Bu Zhen Zi.
When the explosion occurred, he was standing beside her, they were talking.
But after the explosion, they were sent flying and left their original spot.
But he was still the first person she found.
Bu Zhen Zi's injuries were terrifying.
Half his body was blown away, only his fragile skeleton was left protecting his heart. He only had two internal organs left, the rest were blown to smithereens.
The remaining half of Bu Zhen Zi's body had turned into a phantom state, his limbs, chest, and internal organs were linked by a translucent thread, he seemed to be in a stable condition.
Zhao Lian Yun wanted to save him but found that she was helpless to do anything.
The injuries were just too severe!
The missing half of his body was not important, forget about Heavenly Court, even Spirit Affinity House had many ways to regrow his bones, organs, and flesh.
But the issue was the large number of qi path dao marks that were carved on his body.
The remaining half of his body emitted dense white smoke made of white qi, his remaining organs and bones were also slowly turning into qi.
What kept him alive was the phantom state that half of his body was currently in.
"When the explosion occurred, Bu Zhen Zi used a phantom path method, but even with this semi-invulnerable state, he could not avoid the injuries caused by this explosion."
Zhao Lian Yun deduced the situation that happened and sighed deeply, worry and frustration could be seen on her face.
Bu Zhen Zi was kept alive by his half phantom body, but this would not last long. The qi path dao marks were going to affect it soon, slowly turning everything into qi.
"Bu Zhen Zi can't last much longer..." Zhao Lian Yun was helpless, she felt increasingly anxious.
She tried to wake him up but Bu Zhen Zi remained unconscious.
Zhao Lian Yun did not even dare to move Bu Zhen Zi, she was afraid that he would die from the smallest impact.
She had to temporarily abandon him and remember this spot, before going back into the white qi fog to look for others.
"Is anyone here? Please help!"
Zhao Lian Yun moved around in the vast white qi fog.
She called out continuously, the feeling of loneliness and helplessness soon assaulted her in this situation.
She was still in disbelief.
When she came earlier, she looked at the layers of buildings and saw how grand and majestic Heavenly Court was, she felt surprise and admiration from the depths of her heart. Heavenly Court's immense foundation was accumulated through countless years of history, she felt tiny and insignificant, while also having a sense of security in this place.
When she witnessed the gradual revival of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable, she felt that Heavenly Court was regaining its former glory!
But then, Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable exploded.
It was too sudden and too abrupt!
"What happened? Did Fang Yuan or the other venerables attack?"
"What are Heavenly Court's losses?"
"Can anyone come to help me? At least respond with a word!"
Zhao Lian Yun suddenly stopped moving, there was an intense suction force coming from in front of her, the surrounding white qi currents were sucked in.
Zhao Lian Yun barely stabilized her footing as she slowly got close.
The suction force was becoming gradually weaker.
After Zhao Lian Yun reached the source, her pupils contracted as she saw an immortal aperture's entrance!
The entrance was open and drawing in white qi from outside, after stabilizing, a blessed land was formed.
Zhao Lian Yun stood before the immortal aperture's entrance in a daze, motionless.
She saw the scenery inside the entrance, there were rivers and flower trees. Under the waves of qi currents, petals fell from the trees and fell into the rivers, flowing downstream where the carps waited to eat the petals as food.
This was the scene of Fairy Liu Fang's immortal aperture, it was extremely beautiful and valuable, it was quite famous in Spirit Affinity House.
Fairy Liu Fang was in charge of the secret inheritance peak, she was a neutral faction supreme elder in Spirit Affinity House.
Zhao Lian Yun remembered that the first time she went to secret inheritance peak, Fairy Liu Fang did not attend to her personally which was the rule as she was the current generation fairy.
Afterwards, their relationship had always been plain.
However, no matter how distant they were, seeing this immortal aperture entrance, Zhao Lian Yun's eyes turned red, she felt an intense feeling of sorrow in her heart.
She was dead.
Fairy Liu Fang died during the explosion.
Although she had rank seven cultivation level, she did not have the defensive power of phantom path, she did not have love Gu either.
Not a single trace of her remained, her immortal aperture landed in Heavenly Court. Because Heavenly Court was filled with heaven's will and had no heavenly spirit, Liu Fang blessed land was formed by taking in heaven and earth qi from outside to stabilize itself.
Zhao Lian Yun barely managed to control her emotions, she continued to look around for help.
Along the way, she saw many immortal aperture entrances which were currently taking in heaven and earth qi.
There were too many deaths!
"Not mentioning the Heavenly Court members, Central Continent's ten great ancient sects sent more than ten Gu Immortals each. Not counting the captives in the star array calculation formation, there are over a hundred Gu Immortals from the ten sects in Heavenly Court now."
"This explosion killed eighty percent of the Gu Immortals!"
Zhao Lian Yun calculated, she felt her heart turning cold.
The ten great ancient sects of Central Continent had many Gu Immortals, before the five regions became one, Immortal Crane Sect alone had twelve Gu Immortals, and this was one of the weakest sects among the ten.
After the five regions became one, the earth veins moved while qi tides appeared, producing countless immortal materials. This caused many Gu Immortals within the sects to become stronger, the Gu Immortal seeds also had deeper foundations.
During the wave of immortal ascension, many Gu Immortal seeds in the ten great ancient sects succeeded in becoming Gu Immortals. Aside from them, there were also other Gu Immortals recruited from outside.
For example, supreme elder Wu Zhang from Heavenly Lotus Sect recruited the Wood Virtue Elder Mu Huai from the Five Virtues Sect. After the latter became an immortal, because he was a higher-up of the Five Virtues Sect that Wu Zhang created, he was qualified to enter Heavenly Lotus Sect.
This was the advantage of Central Continent's sect system.
Earlier, to ensure Primordial Origin's revival, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable gave up everything else in the process. To prevent Fang Yuan's retaliation, she brought all the elites of Central Continent's ten great ancient sects into Heavenly Court.
But to think that Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable would explode upon revival, like this, many of Central Continent's Gu Immortals died, the pillars of Central Continent's righteous path collapsed.
Such a terrifying loss made Zhao Lian Yun's arms and legs turn weak.
"Doomed, Central Continent is doomed."
"Maybe Heavenly Court can still revive them?" Zhao Lian Yun was hopeful.
But she was not stupid, the more she thought about it, the more she sensed that there was a huge scheme behind this explosion!
Central Continent was plotted against.
Heavenly Court fell into a trap!
Star Constellation Immortal Venerable also fell for a scheme!
Although Zhao Lian Yun had rank nine love Gu, she was only rank six, what could she do?
She could only get help, she shouted loudly.
Zhao Lian Yun started walking slower and slower.
At this moment, she felt that she was so weak!
"Don't be dejected, current generation fairy of Spirit Affinity House, Heavenly Court is still around, we are also still alive." Right at this moment, there was a lantern that brightened inside the vast white qi.
The lantern was not bright but it was stubborn, it forced its way out of the white qi and arrived before Zhao Lian Yun.
It was an elderly Gu Immortal, his body was bloodstained from head to toe.
One of his arms was gone from the explosion, his remaining arm was carrying a small fire in his palm.
Zhao Lian Yun recognized him, it was Immortal Crane Sect's Old Lord Can Yang.
-x-X-x-
Old Lord Can Yang was a famous expert in Central Continent, his reputation was long established.
Zhao Lian Yun looked at him, some information surfaced in her mind. After becoming the current generation fairy of Spirit Affinity House, because she could not undergo tribulations, her cultivation level could not rise. She could only spend her time on other things, thus, she had a clear understanding of most characters in Central Continent's Gu Immortal world.
Zhao Lian Yun knew that that Old Lord Can Yang had the Immortal Gu Flickering Flame, he created an amazing immortal killer move called life chasing fire, it was renowned in Central Continent.
Old Lord Can Yang rarely moved around these last years, he had been staying in seclusion.
The most significant thing he did recently was to investigate the truth behind the fall of Eighty-Eight True Yang Building in Northern Plains with Feng Jiu Ge, they fought against Shadow Sect there.
And recently, Old Lord Can Yang won the contest against Zhang Ji.
Zhang Ji was a Gu Immortal from Black Heaven Temple, although he was a relatively unknown expert, he had a unique method to counter flames. In the end, he still lost to the fire path cultivator Old Lord Can Yang.
Although the lantern in Old Lord Can Yang's hand was weak, it produced a warm feeling in Zhao Lian Yun's heart instantly.
Many people were like this, they were often fragile and weak when they were lonely.
But if a companion appeared, even if this person was useless, the company they provided would still create a sense of warmth and safety in their heart.
Zhao Lian Yun was such a person.
She was an otherworldly demon who was not originally from this world. Her nature was already like this before she came here, that was one of the reasons why she felt so attached to Ma Hong Yun after receiving his care and concern.
Zhao Lian Yun breathed in deeply, the look of dejectedness on her face quickly faded away as she asked Old Lord Can Yang for help, she explained Bu Zhen Zi's condition.
But Old Lord Can Yang shook his head slowly: "I cultivate fire path, my understanding of phantom path is very shallow, I am not skilled in healing methods. There is nothing I can do."
Once he said that, Old Lord Can Yang's body started to shiver at an observable level.
His face turned pale as paper.
At the same time, white qi appeared on his body, it was most dense around the wound on his arm that was cut off.
"Cough cough."
Old Lord Can Yang continued to cough, each time, blood was coughed out.
The blood fell to the ground and turned into white qi, quickly dissipating.
Old Lord Can Yang gritted his teeth and activated his method, this situation lasted for over ten breaths of time before he suppressed his wounds again, color returned to his face and his coughing stopped.
His methods were only usable on himself, or rather, only fire path Gu Immortals, they would not work on Bu Zhen Zi. In fact, they could make his condition worse.
Next, Old Lord Can Yang and Zhao Lian Yun moved together.
Along the way, they saw more immortal aperture entrances, which were open and absorbing white qi wildly.
They also saw some people who were alive.
There was a giant monkey lying on the ground, he was like a small mountain.
The monkey was originally covered in golden hair, like there was armor on the body. But now, half the body was blackened, he was like a fallen general who had lost his armor.
His muscles were originally strong and tough, he looked very powerful and brave, but now, his body was covered in mushy flesh and blood, bones could be seen on his deeper wounds, he sprawled on the ground and could not get up.
The monkey had a pair of golden eyes that were shining with pressuring brilliance, but now, his gaze was scattered and lost, he only regained some spirit after seeing Zhao Lian Yun and Old Lord Can Yang.
"What? He is Combat Immortal Sect's Immortal Monkey King Shi Lei. He cultivates earth path and transformation path, he is currently using his signature killer move — Rock Mountain Immortal Monkey King Transformation!" Zhao Lian Yun was stunned, having recognized the monkey's identity instantly.
Shi Lei was the publicly known number one rank seven Gu Immortal in Central Continent, his battle strength was even higher than Old Lord Can Yang!
But he was even closer to the explosion than Old Lord Can Yang, after it happened, he did not have time to activate his rock mountain immortal monkey king transformation.
This was a compound killer move of two paths, it expended a lot of thoughts.
Shi Lei did not have wisdom path foundation, he needed a lot of preparation to use this move.
He used other methods to survive the explosion, afterwards, because he could not heal himself, he had to use this move to turn himself into an ancient desolate beast. Using the physique of an ancient desolate beast, its self-recovery allowed him to endure these injuries and barely survive.
After seeing Old Lord Can Yang and Zhao Lian Yun, Shi Lei blinked at them with his golden eyes as a greeting.
He did not even dare to breathe heavily now, it would be a problem if his injuries were worsened.
Evidently, Shi Lei could only protect himself now, he could not help others.
"Cough, cough." Old Lord Can Yang coughed again, blood could be seen again. A moment later, he suppressed his injuries again.
Zhao Lian Yun and Old Lord Can Yang continued on their journey.
Not long after, they met Yang Feng.
He was a rank seven Gu Immortal of Ancient Soul Sect, he cultivated transformation path. Like Shi Lei, he had also turned himself into an ancient desolate beast.
The originally majestic giant wolf was lying on the ground like a beaten dog.
But his injuries were less severe than those of Shi Lei, he could still talk to Zhao Lian Yun.
He was not stronger than Shi Lei, but during the explosion, he subconsciously used the transformation killer move that he was most familiar with and turned into an ancient desolate beast.
He cultivated transformation path solely, he was most familiar with this giant wolf transformation, it was almost like his instinct. Thus, it could be used rapidly, almost activating in an instant.
"My greatest injury is my spine, if I exert it even a little, my spine will break."
After Yang Feng explained his situation, he joined Zhao Lian Yun and Old Lord Can Yang's group.
The three of them continued to search, soon, they found Vicious Lightning Fiend.
Vicious Lightning Fiend also had rank seven cultivation level, his body was covered in lightning as he floated in the air, three Lightning Deities surrounded his body and assisted in healing him.
While healing, lightning crackled around him as sparks were created, causing quite a commotion.
"I was fortunate."
"Right before the explosion occurred, I watched while having my Lightning Deities revolve around me to leave a good impression on Lord Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable."
After the explosion, although there were more than ten Lightning Deities earlier, only four remained. To save his life, Vicious Lightning Fiend sacrificed another Lightning Deity to heal himself. Now, only three were left.
This was a huge loss for him.
"The killer move Lightning Deity was created by Vicious Lightning Fiend using the incomplete Immortal Gu recipe of Blood Deity. When the qi tides swept the world and the five regions became one, immortal materials appeared, which allowed Vicious Lightning Fiend to receive a lot of funding from Myriad Dragon Dock, he quickly accumulated many Lightning Deities. With more than ten Lightning Deities which had rank seven Gu Immortal battle strength each, he was known as a top expert among rank seven Gu Immortals in Central Continent, only being inferior to Shi Lei."
Zhao Lian Yun recalled as she greeted Vicious Lightning Fiend.
Vicious Lightning Fiend's bad temper was famous, but now, he was very polite to Zhao Lian Yun.
Seeing that her injuries were the lightest, he acknowledged her strength.
This explosion killed most of Central Continent's Gu Immortals, the remaining ones were either lucky or sufficiently strong!
But there was an awkward thing.
Gu Immortals with greater battle strength often did not excel in healing. They were adept at healing themselves but not others.
Thus, even though Vicious Lightning Fiend joined this group, they still had no way to help Bu Zhen Zi or Shi Lei.
As time passed, the white qi fog that obscured everyone's vision became less dense.
These white qi were qi path immortal materials, but nobody had the mood to collect them.
The blessed lands or even grotto-heavens left behind by the Central Continent Gu Immortals who died were absorbing a large amount of white qi. At the same time, white qi also flowed out of Heavenly Court through the gaps that formed.
In any case, the vision of the immortals was returning.
"Wait." Yang Feng, who had turned into a giant wolf and needed to rest every few steps, suddenly spoke.
Everyone was used to it.
Along the way, he had been asking for them to stop once in a while to lie down and recover his strength.
His waist injury was too severe, the wound was huge as well, one could see his kidney from the exposed wound.
White qi was flowing out of his kidney.
"Yang Feng, is your waist hurting again?" Zhao Lian Yun cast a concerned gaze at him.
Yang Feng nodded: "Of course my waist hurts, but more importantly, there are people coming from behind us."
"Indeed, there are three of them." Old Lord Can Yang's gaze flickered as he noticed.
"Cough, cough." After saying that, he started coughing blood again.
"Our allies?" Vicious Lightning Fiend asked while mobilizing his thoughts, the three Lightning Deities quickly spread out towards the sky behind them.
Zhao Lian Yun and the rest stopped moving, they started at the stirring white qi.
The three Lightning Deities waited solemnly, but suddenly, one spun around on the spot, one flew up into the sky, while the final one twisted its body around like it was having a spasm from a lightning shock!