The First Venerable of All Paths

"Ahem!"

Fang Xuan coughed up a mouthful of blood, his breath weakened rapidly, and his face turned pale.

"How is it?"

Li Guanlan gently patted his back, using her spiritual power to help him heal his injuries.

"He won't die for now, but the backlash will be quite severe."

Fang Xuan wiped away the blood and popped a pill into his mouth to quickly suppress the injuries caused by the backlash.

In this encounter with Gu Tang, Fang Xuan can be said to have been completely outmatched.

But that's normal.

Gu Tang is a fifth-level Divine Intent Realm expert. As the eldest elder of the Gu family, his strength is naturally not to be underestimated.

In addition, he had no intention of delaying, and his first move was an extremely powerful killing move.

If Fang Xuan hadn't suddenly unleashed the power of the Phoenix Cry Sword and unleashed the Phoenix Soaring Technique to break Gu Tang's final attack, Fang Xuan would have suffered far more than just spitting out blood.

However, the Phoenix Cry Sword's strike, which exhausted its potential, was too powerful. Fang Xuan's current cultivation level was not yet sufficient to perfectly control it, so he suffered some backlash.

Fortunately, possessing the Chaos Holy Body, he could quickly repair the injuries caused by the backlash.

Seeing that Fang Xuan could still joke, Li Guanlan was no longer worried.

"Let's get going, those guys won't give up so easily."

Li Guanlan said, "Moreover, we are already deep in the Valley of the Dead, with danger lurking at every turn. It would be best to find a place to settle down first, since it will be dark soon."

Compared to Gu Tang and his group's pursuit, Li Guanlan was more worried about the darkness of the Valley of the Dead.

Fang Xuan looked up at the sky and found that it was gradually darkening.

This is a sign that it is getting dark.

Fang Xuan nodded, agreeing with Li Guanlan's suggestion.

Soon, the two found a relatively secluded spot on a mountain wall. Fang Xuan used his sword to carve out a simple cave, then crawled inside and waited for nightfall.

Of course, on the way here, Fang Xuan deliberately left behind a few fake cave dwellings in an attempt to delay Gu Tang and the others.

"You should rest first."

Fang Xuan said to Li Guanlan, "I'll set up a few formations first."

Are you in good enough condition?

Li Guanlan frowned.

When Fang Xuan was carving out the cave, Li Guanlan noticed that Fang Xuan's hands were trembling.

This is a sign of depleted strength.

"It's just setting up a magic array, it'll be quick."

Fang Xuan gave Li Guanlan a reassuring smile, then took out a bunch of array-setting equipment and began to set up the array.

After glancing at the surrounding terrain, Fang Xuan's lips curled into a cold smile.

This place is high on all sides and low in the middle.

The cave was carved into a mountain wall, at a location that is neither too high nor too low.

With some time left before nightfall, Fang Xuan planned to set up several killing formations around the area.

In less than half an hour, Fang Xuan had set up three formations.

Especially in the low-lying central area, he dug out a cave and threw his blood-stained clothes into it, deliberately leaving his scent inside.

Looking at his masterpiece, Fang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

He looked back in the direction he had come from, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Taking the beating passively is not in Fang Xuan's nature.

Since Gu Tang and his gang wanted to hunt him down, he had to teach them a lesson.

These three formations are the strongest formations he can currently set up.

The three magic arrays reinforce each other, creating an endless cycle of life.

At that time, he will sit in the center of the formation, personally presiding over the formation, and prepare a great gift for Gu Tang and the others.

Having done all that, Fang Xuan had reached his limit.

He quickly returned to the cave, plopped down on the ground, and gasped for breath.

Outside the cave, it was dark.

That night, a rain fell throughout the Valley of the Dead.

A rain of blood buries the dead!

Blood rain fell from the sky, and each drop of rain corroded a large pit in the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Valley of the Dead was riddled with holes and left in a mess.

Compared to daytime, it's a completely different extreme.

Fortunately, Fang Xuan had considered the strange power of the Burial Valley before setting up the formation. Not only did the blood rain not affect the formation, but he also collected the rainwater.

This was the first surprise he had prepared for Gu Tang and the others.

Inside the cave, Fang Xuan slowly awoke.

The injuries from the backlash have mostly healed, but his strength has only recovered to about 60%.

But it's enough to support the magic array.

"woke up?"

Li Guanlan's voice came from beside him. Fang Xuan shook his head and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Based on the outside time, it should be two days."

Li Guanlan said, "It's almost dawn."

The nights in Burial Valley are long, twice as long as outside.

"That means those guys are coming too."

Fang Xuan practiced the Primordial Long Fist once to warm up his body and said, "I hope they won't disappoint me."

"What exactly did you do?"

Li Guanlan was a little curious; she always felt that Fang Xuan was hiding something from her.

You'll find out then.

Fang Xuan tossed a jade token to Li Guanlan, saying, "Take good care of this. I'm afraid I won't be able to look after you later."

"Whatever you want."

Li Guanlan didn't ask any more questions, put away the jade tablet, and continued to meditate with his eyes closed.

Fang Xuan sat cross-legged in a corner, communicating with the fragments of the Three Thousand Array Diagrams through his mind.

He sensed that the three formations were still functioning normally.

The blood rain collected by the formation is hidden in the outermost formation.

Fang Xuan only needed to control the formation with his mind to spray out all the blood rain.

Gu Tang and his group arrived even faster than Fang Xuan had expected.

Not long after dawn, the group of four had already approached within a hundred meters of the cave.

Clearly, the two disguised cave dwellings that Fang Xuan left behind on the road did not delay him for much time.

"Are you sure they're hiding down there?"

Gu Can looked down at the mountain valley, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"If you have a better way, you can try it."

The man in purple robes responded calmly, his tone devoid of much emotion.

"you......"

Gu Can snorted coldly and said, "This is already deep in the Valley of the Dead, fraught with danger. Last night's blood rain almost cost us our lives. I don't want to stay here for another day."

"Young master, you should say less."

Gu Tang frowned and said, "Since Young Master Lu said they are here, then there is absolutely no mistake."

The method of "twisting sand and leaving a trace" can track Fang Xuan's whereabouts, and Gu Tang would not doubt its authenticity.

"I hope so."

Gu Can moved swiftly, about to drag Fang Xuan, who was hiding in the ravine, out.

That bastard lured his fiancée here.

A man and a woman alone together, who knows what might happen?

Gu Can couldn't wait any longer and wanted to tear Fang Xuan to pieces!

"etc!"

But Gu Tang grabbed Gu Can's shoulder and said, "Something's not right here."

"What could be wrong?"

Gu Can said somewhat irritably, "Does the Grand Elder think there's a trap here?"

"It's always better to be careful."

Gu Tang wasn't angry. He flicked his finger, and a burst of spiritual energy shot out and crashed into the mountain hollow.

"Boom!"

The spiritual energy pierced through a mountain wall, but found nothing.

Gu Tang raised an eyebrow and launched two more bursts of spiritual energy, piercing through the other two mountain walls.

Again, nothing was gained.

"Elder Gu, try the middle one."

A voice rang out from the figure in purple robes.

"it is good."

Gu Tang grabbed a huge rock with his five fingers and angrily smashed it into the center of the mountain valley.

"Buzz!"

Before the boulder could land, it was intercepted by a light barrier with array patterns and blasted into dust.

"A formation?"

Gu Can was taken aback at first, then sneered, "So it was here after all!"

"But how can this mere formation possibly stop me!"

Gu Can flipped his hands, gripping the Dragon Fang Dagger in each hand. With a flick of his wrist, the flying weapon behind him appeared above the formation and slashed down fiercely.

This Dragon Fang Dagger is a fourth-grade weapon and is extremely sharp.

The daggers clashed, and two sharp beams of light slashed directly at the formation.

"Clang! Clang!"

The array patterns swirled, blocking Gu Can's attack.

"Hey, this is interesting."

Gu Can grinned and channeled his spiritual energy into the Dragon Fang Dagger.

"Open it!"

Two long dragons roared out from the daggers and viciously pounced on the formation.

To Gu Can's surprise, this attack, which was powerful enough to break the formation, missed its target.

The formation will dissolve itself.

Before Gu Can could react, a torrential downpour of blood-red rain poured down on him.

"Blood...blood rain?!"

Gu Can's face turned pale.

He had witnessed this bloody rain with his own eyes last night.

A tiny drop can corrode and pierce through a boulder.

The sheer power of that attack still sends shivers down Gu Can's spine when he thinks about it.

With so much blood raining down on him, Gu Can would be badly injured even if he didn't die.

"Walk!"

Without a second thought, Gu Can turned and left.

However, at that moment, two blood-red chains formed from array patterns emerged from the void and firmly bound Gu Can's feet.

"This is......"

Gu Can's pupils contracted, only to find that he couldn't break free.

"Elder, save me!"

In desperation, Gu Can had no choice but to ask Gu Tang for help.

"not good!"

Seeing that Gu Can was bound by the formation and the blood rain was getting closer and closer to him, Gu Tang's expression also changed.

Although he harbored resentment towards Gu Can, he couldn't just watch him die here; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to explain it to his clan when he returned.

Gu Tang used his movement technique and rushed towards Gu Can with lightning speed.

With two fingers joined together, he used his spiritual power to sever the array chains, grabbed Gu Can, and retreated frantically.

"Aaaaaah!"

But Gu Tang was too late; a lot of blood still stained the wings on Gu Can's back.

Gu Can's prized flying weapon melted away quickly in the face of the blood rain, like a cicada's wing scorched by flames.

The flying weapon was connected to his mind, and the intense pain from being corroded by the blood rain caused Gu Can to let out a shrill scream.

When Gu Can landed him in a safe area, the flying weapon on his back was already broken and completely destroyed.

"My flying weapon!"

Gu Can, his eyes bloodshot and face contorted with rage, roared, "Fang Xuan, I will kill you, I will!"

Although he advanced to the Divine Realm and gained the ability to fly.

However, with the combination of these two factors, Gu Can can unleash extreme speed in an instant.

This trump card, which he had hailed as his life-saving trump card, was now destroyed, filling Gu Can with boundless hatred.

"Kill me?"

Fang Xuan's mocking laughter came from below the mountain valley.

"Then you give it a try!"

The sound came from the sound transmission stone left by Fang Xuan; he would not reveal his true location.

"Fang Xuan!"

Gu Can trembled with rage, roaring, "Once I break through your formation, I will tear you to pieces and grind your bones to dust!"

"Elder, please lend me a hand!"

Gu Can gritted his teeth and said, "If you can kill that little bastard, I'll give you the Heavenly Spirit Stone I've treasured for so many years!"

"Then thank you very much, young master."

Upon hearing this, Gu Tang's eyes lit up. He took out the bone club he had obtained from the skeletal giant and smashed it down hard.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Before the bone club could fall, dozens or even hundreds of blood-red chains shot out from below like venomous snakes, hurtling towards Gu Tang and Gu Can.

The formation locks up the mountains and rivers, blood shatters in all directions!