Ten thousand I am across the heavens

Fang Yuan was initially acting in cooperation with Immortal Venerable Juyang, and his displayed strength never exceeded the peak of the fifth rank. He even had to cooperate with Taibai Yunsheng, who had just become an immortal, to barely restrain the recklessly unleashing Juyang Immortal Venerable's power.

His true strength had long surpassed that limit. It was precisely because he was so much stronger in this life than in his previous one that he was able to see how much the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable had held back for him last time. Undoubtedly, his previous success, even his ability to deceive the Wisdom Gu, was all part of the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's calculations; he was the chosen one to break free from destiny. But unfortunately, this time he seemed to be no longer favored by the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.

"The Wisdom Gu is still quite precious. Giving it to you, kid, would be a waste. I've suddenly changed my mind. You can leave your body and soul here." The will left behind by the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable no longer held back his full power. Although only a wisp of his will remained, if he were to unleash his full power, it would be something no ordinary immortal could withstand. Even Taibai Yunsheng, who had officially become an immortal, was instantly suppressed at the bottom of the Eighty-Eight Corners True Sun Tower. He had absolutely no power to resist, a far cry from the two who could barely restrain him before.

A massive amount of Bai Li Xian Yuan gathered and transformed into a golden dragon, which suppressed the nearly collapsed Eighty-Eight-Cornered True Yang Tower, stabilizing the previously crumbling structure.

Even the heavenly tribulation was calmed down during this process. The heavenly tribulation being experienced at this very moment is a projection left in this world by the ultimate move of the Heavenly Thief Demon Lord, a killing move called the Formless Hand.

It can acquire another's Gu worms in an instant, silently and without a trace. Even Immortal Gu worms can be snatched away in a single move. This technique is extremely effective against Gu Masters of all levels. Especially those killing moves that require a long preparation time; if the crucial Gu worm is stolen by the Formless Hand, the killing move will fail, resulting in a backlash. If the core Gu worm is stolen, the entire killing move will completely collapse and become unusable.

This silent, stealthy attack is almost impossible to defend against; it penetrates virtually all defenses, even stealing the Gu worms that construct the defenses, causing them to collapse in an instant.

But at this moment, the golden dragon swept across, actually blocking all those invisible hands. They couldn't break through the dragon even an inch. The killing move simulated by the energy of heaven and earth was ultimately different from the power unleashed by the true body. Even though the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable only left a wisp of his will here, there was a vast amount of White Lychee Immortal Essence at his disposal. The killing move he unleashed was more than enough to deal with natural disasters and calamities.

"This is troublesome. I was originally hoping that the calamities brought by my ascension to immortality would delay this guy, but now it seems the Giant Sun's Will is serious." The calamities outside the Eighty-Eight-Cornered True Sun Tower were, of course, Fang Yuan's doing. He chose to undergo his tribulation and ascend here, then had the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable help him resist the calamities, relying on the Eighty-Eight-Cornered True Sun Tower's inherent sturdiness. He could complete his ascension and become an immortal with almost no cost. Plus, he already possessed combat power far exceeding that of an immortal. After his ascension, his strength would increase even further, which should be enough to handle any unexpected situation.

But now, the sudden refusal of the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable to cooperate with him was indeed unexpected and exceeded his own limits. With his current strength, he could even defeat a powerful seventh-rank immortal, and even against a true eighth-rank immortal, he had a considerable chance of escaping unscathed—his accumulated strength over so many lifetimes was no joke. The problem was that the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's current strength was close to that of a ninth-rank immortal. Of course, because he only possessed a wisp of will, this discount might be significant; he might even be unable to defeat a sub-immortal, but it would still be enough to crush him. What was more troublesome was that this was a confined space, and the other party's home turf. If they were fighting in a more open area, he would have a way to escape during the battle. But now, even using the Immortal-Stabilizing Travel technique to escape was impossible.

"This is troublesome. It seems I really have to find a way to ascend to immortality to get out of this predicament. Well, it's good that you've been acting with me for so long. I'm only one step away from the tribulation, so I don't need to hide my strength anymore. If I go all out, I can at least buy myself some time."

When Fang Yuan closed his eyes and opened them again, a massive stream of data flickered within them. Simultaneously, nanometer-level intricate patterns appeared on his body like circuit boards. The number of Dao traces within his body surpassed that of many sixth-level immortals, and each Dao trace was meticulously arranged within his body. None of the Dao traces interfered with each other; their effects complemented each other. Every gesture allowed him to unleash powerful killing moves, representing almost the optimal solution for maximizing his strength at his current level.

He reached behind his neck and pulled out a greatsword formed from his spine, its crimson tip unleashing a boundless torrent of blood. Facing the oncoming golden dragon, he slashed upwards. The sword energy was incredibly sharp, crushing the eighty-eight-cornered True Yang Tower layer by layer into fragments. The golden dragon, which had been advancing unimpeded, was struck by this crimson sword energy. In an instant, blood spurted from its scales, a blow as if it were a living being. It was now severely wounded; had the dragon not been so resilient, it would have been cleaved in two.

The giant sun's will was also seriously injured. Caught off guard, the attack directly damaged its will itself. Compared to the immortal essence within its body, the strength of its will was indeed its weakness. After all, it was merely a wisp of consciousness separated from its main body, less than one ten-thousandth the strength of the main body. Now, injured, its control over its power had immediately decreased. Originally, going all out would have been enough to absolutely crush Fang Yuan, but now, injured, it could only suppress him, unable to defeat him in a short time.

Fang Yuan was panting heavily after unleashing his full power. The blue light patterns on his body had turned red due to overheating after that attack. He would find it difficult to use a move of the same level again in a short time, but he should have achieved his goal. The injured Giant Sun Immortal Venerable no longer had the ability to kill him instantly. As long as he could hold out until the tribulation was completed and his immortal aperture was fully formed, he would be confident of escaping.

The problem is, he still can't understand why the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, who had been willing to play along with him, suddenly stopped acting. This isn't his first rebirth. Before he was destroyed in his last rebirth, he also launched a sneak attack on the Eighty-Eight Corners True Sun Tower and successfully returned with the Wisdom Gu. Although he was later trapped in the Absolute Zero barrier because of his greed for the eldest son's power, and was captured by the enraged Qin Baisheng, suffering a pincer attack from both the eldest son and the underground base, ultimately dying in the barrier, the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable didn't even lift a finger that time, and his strategy was exactly the same as in history. But this time is different.

While he was still trying to figure it out, on the other side, the eldest son's humanoid clones had already abandoned any thought of destroying the underground base. Instead, upon sensing the extremely threatening aura approaching, they chose to scatter and retreat, hoping to escape as many as possible. Undoubtedly, the owner of that aura was someone they could never contend with. Even the strongest among them, the ultimate being who carried five or six Immortal Gu, couldn't withstand that aura's owner for even a second.

However, the owner of that aura arrived even faster than they had anticipated. In the blink of an eye, a massive golden disc appeared in the center of the battlefield, seemingly transported by teleportation. Its size was enormous, resembling a stadium floating in the sky, and it immediately displayed a power that seemed to suppress the entire arena. The Eighth-Rank Immortal Gu House could be considered one of the most powerful forces existing in the world. Even the strongest experts, those so-called Quasi-Immortal Venerables, had to take the power of the Immortal Gu House seriously.

At this very moment, seated like a colossal Buddha on a massive disc, was something far more terrifying than the disc itself. The true form of the Giant Sun Immortal Zombie had actually made its appearance, descending upon this battlefield.

"What is this thing? It's completely undetectable! The energy level is too high, exceeding the limits of our instruments!" The rear staff was in an uproar. After upgrading their reconnaissance equipment with their eldest son's body tissue, they could detect even a powerful expert at the eighth level, at least enough to tell which school of cultivation the other party was practicing. But now, the detection equipment seemed to be observing a blazing sun, too bright, with all the values ​​pushed to the maximum, making it impossible to detect anything.

"The frontline troops, prepare to retreat! Regardless of the outcome, our mission is complete. Evacuate as many as you can now; don't consider the possibility of reaping the benefits. The upcoming battles are beyond our control." He Cheng issued the order decisively. This battle had reached this point. He had moved the command post several times, nearly losing his life each time. He had exhausted all the resources of the underground base. Even if he remained here, he couldn't change the course of the battle. Moreover, the human side had arrived, with powerful figures capable of turning the tide of war.

Although the ending wasn't perfect, they at least managed to prevent one of the eldest son's clones from escaping before a powerful figure arrived who could change the course of the battle.

The warriors, having completed their mission, began their retreat. In this battle, they had obtained what they desired most: the survival of this world. From any perspective, they had prevented an apocalyptic catastrophe, even if future history might only record the stories of the ultimate, decisive figures. But regardless, the end of the world had been averted.

Even if the eldest son's clone escaped during the subsequent battles, it wouldn't be enough to cause a devastating impact on the world's格局 (geju, a concept encompassing overall structure, overall situation, and overall dynamics). The second most important gain was a sublimation of the entire civilization's will. Although millions were killed or wounded, their spirit was completely different from before. They truly stood on the world's pinnacle, even though they had exhausted all means and climbed up in a very disheveled manner. But ultimately, they gained a perspective overlooking the world, and mentally, they were qualified to stand on equal footing with the world's elite. If they hadn't even possessed this mindset, they would never have reached this point.

The underground base has now begun its second relocation. As the military withdraws, the civilians are also evacuating into the underground lava ships. Having learned from the first evacuation, this one is proceeding smoothly. This time, they aim to retreat even further, completely away from the center of the conflict. Besides the two most important gains mentioned above, they have also captured a large number of Firstborn, bodies that have undergone multiple mutations. This provides an inexhaustible supply of tissue samples from which they can extract Firstborn technology. A technological explosion after this battle is inevitable; they need 1-5 years to gradually assimilate this emerging technology before truly stepping onto the world stage, starting from this continent, to transform this already distorted world.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable paid no heed to the retreating mortals. Although he possessed the ability to annihilate them with a mere flick of his wrist, his body, having lived as a zombie for tens of thousands of years, was extremely fragile, limiting his opportunities to act. His intervention this time was only possible because the stakes were high enough to compel him to deviate from his original plan. Naturally, he didn't want any unnecessary complications; he would leave the mortals to the other immortals to deal with. A force that had never produced a Venerable was ultimately nothing special and not worth his attention.

Seeing him freeze everyone in place the moment he appeared, his overwhelming power enough to decide everything, he no longer concealed his purpose: "Now that you possess human bodies, I consider you part of humanity. Are you willing to surrender to me? I'm not afraid to tell you, destiny exists in this world, and some destinies, even I may not be able to change. And the root of all this requires someone who possesses both a body and a soul that do not belong to this world, only then can they possibly destroy it."

And you happen to be beings who meet this condition. Submitting to me and helping me destroy that Gu worm is your only choice if you want to live. As living beings, you surely don't need me to teach you how to choose.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable slightly relaxed his seal, awaiting the response from his clones. But at that moment, the strongest of all the clones, the ultimate being, suddenly turned golden, his eyes meeting the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's. Although the other's aura hadn't strengthened, and even seemed somewhat weaker, this instant made the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable sense a sense of unease. It seemed something was about to happen.

[To be continued]

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