Chapter 188: Delaying the Pawn
Heaven Overseeing Tower erupted with dazzling light.
The ghostly hands wrapped around it trembled as beams of white radiance pierced through their fingers. The rank nine Immortal Gu House shook violently, and for a brief moment, it forced itself free from Spectral Soul's grip. Even before the soul body of a Demon Venerable, Heaven Overseeing Tower still carried Heavenly Court's foundation. Its surface was cracked, its aura was unstable, and the Gu Immortals inside were exhausted, but it had not yet fallen.
Inside the tower, Heaven Overseeing Tower Lord steadied his breathing. The dream path attack had dragged him into illusion and delayed Heavenly Court's decisive strike, but his eyes were clear again. Around him, the other Heavenly Court Gu Immortals forced down the fear in their hearts. Spectral Soul's aura pressed on them like the sky collapsing, yet they still told themselves the same truth again and again: Spectral Soul was dead. What remained was only his soul. His era had already ended.
Their morale rose for a moment, but Spectral Soul did not give them time to recover. Countless ghostly hands stretched out again, overlapping layer after layer around Heaven Overseeing Tower. The white tower struggled within the dark cage, light shooting out from the gaps like blades, but Spectral Soul's thousand arms moved with terrifying calm. He could suppress Heaven Overseeing Tower while still facing heaven's will above him.
The sky changed.
After the zither mind tribulation and star flow tribulation had been crushed, heaven's will did not stop. Dark clouds gathered again, thicker and deeper than before, and the pressure descending from above changed in nature. This was no longer a grand tribulation. Lightning rolled inside the clouds, and countless tornadoes formed in the air, twisting together like dragons and pythons descending toward Spectral Soul.
Wind Lightning Prison had arrived.
The myriad tribulation fell quickly. Lightning bolts rained down in endless numbers, and tornadoes coiled around Spectral Soul's giant soul body. Any ordinary rank eight Gu Immortal would have treated this as a life-and-death disaster, but Spectral Soul roared toward the sky. His thousand arms moved together, tearing the tornadoes apart and smashing the lightning with mountain-like fists. The wind shattered, the lightning scattered, and the clouds shook from the force of his retaliation.
Below, the ten extreme immortal zombie lifeless formation was still churning. The dark clouds only reached Spectral Soul's waist, but within them, the refinement was still far from complete. Shadow Sect's Gu Immortals quickly reported that the formation had only reached around sixty percent refinement. After Zombie Alliance, Sacred Feather City, multiple grand tribulations, and endless sacrifices, Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu still had not truly formed.
The remaining Shadow Sect Gu Immortals no longer hesitated. Seven Star Child, Song Zi Xing, and the others threw themselves into the formation one after another, using their own bodies and dao marks to push the refinement forward. Their sacrifice was clean and direct, without any pleading or regret. Soon, only two figures remained active outside the formation: Ying Wu Xie and immortal zombie Bo Qing.
Ying Wu Xie carried the Pure Dream Reality Seeker Physique and was Shadow Sect's dream path trump card. Bo Qing's immortal zombie body stood with hands behind his back, his sword path aura sharp enough to make the battlefield seem colder. One controlled dreams, the other represented overwhelming killing power. After the others sacrificed themselves, these two became Shadow Sect's active blades.
On the ruined ground below, Fang Ming's expression was dark. Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage was gone, and the battlefield was no longer a place where his scattered Gu Immortals could survive as separate pieces. With a thought, he recalled Fairy Huang Sha, Fairy Qing Suo, Fairy Fen Meng, Bian Si Xuan, and Ju Go, gathering them to his side along with Fang Yuan. They were all pale. None of them were cowards, but courage had little value before Spectral Soul, Heavenly Court, myriad tribulations, and Shadow Sect's final defenses.
Bo Qing and Ying Wu Xie turned toward them.
Fang Ming immediately understood their intent. Fang Yuan was an otherworldly demon, a key piece Shadow Sect wanted to capture. Fang Ming was also an otherworldly demon, and he had interfered far too much to be ignored. As for the Eagle Sect Gu Immortals beside him, they were not worth capturing. If they blocked the way, they would simply be killed.
Fang Ming did not wait for Bo Qing to strike first. A heavy ancient aura rose around him as Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation unfolded. The five Eagle Sect Gu Immortals, Fang Yuan, and Fang Ming were pulled into the formation structure, immortal essence linking together as a huge barbarian-shaped formation body rose from the ground. It was not comparable to Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage. It had no rank eight Immortal Gu House shell, no time path suppression, and no vast internal structure. But it had one advantage: Fang Ming had made it himself, modified it himself, and filled it with defensive measures aimed at dream path.
Dream path mortal Gu lit up inside the formation core. Dream Garment's protection around Fang Yuan strengthened, while Dream Feather's aura joined the formation's defensive layer. Fang Ming had long prepared for Ying Wu Xie. The two dream path Immortal Gu, defensive dream mortal Gu, and Fang Ming's formation path methods fused together, creating a barrier that was crude compared to a true dream path inheritance, but extremely targeted.
Bo Qing's sword light arrived.
The attack struck Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation and forced the giant formation body to stagger. Cracks spread across the outer layer instantly. Fang Ming's chest tightened as he endured the pressure through the formation connection. Bo Qing was a rank eight sword path monster. Even if the soul inside was Mo Yao's remnant soul, the body and sword path foundation remained terrifying. One casual attack from him made Fang Ming understand that Tyrannical Barbarian could not last long under a full barrage.
Ying Wu Xie glanced toward Heaven Overseeing Tower. At this moment, Heaven Overseeing Tower was struggling again, and Bo Qing's voice came coldly, telling him to deal with Heavenly Court first. But Ying Wu Xie did not leave immediately. Fang Yuan and Fang Ming were both before him. One was a long-deduced otherworldly demon, while the other was an unexpected variable who had repeatedly ruined Shadow Sect's timing. If he turned away now, these two might create another accident.
Ying Wu Xie raised his hand and activated rank eight lead soul into dream.
The invisible dream path force rushed toward Fang Yuan. In the past, Dream Garment had been able to resist rank seven lead soul into dream for a time, but this was different. Ying Wu Xie's cultivation had already reached rank eight, and the killer move pressed down with a terrifying depth. The air around Fang Yuan seemed to soften, as if the world itself was trying to turn into a dream and swallow his soul.
Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation trembled violently. The dream path mortal Gu inside the core burst one after another, scattering pale light through the formation body. Fang Ming clenched his teeth and poured more strength into the core. Dream Garment, Dream Feather, and the defensive dream path Gu struggled together, blocking the invisible current before it could drag Fang Yuan into Star Constellation's dream.
For a moment, Fang Ming's preparation worked.
Ying Wu Xie's eyes narrowed. The dream path attack had not failed, but it had been delayed. Tyrannical Barbarian was not a true Immortal Gu House, and its dream path defense was not a complete system, but Fang Ming had prepared specifically against this move. The formation could not resist forever, yet it bought time.
Bo Qing attacked again.
Sword light rained down, each slash cutting into the formation's outer structure. Fang Ming had to divide his attention between maintaining the dream path defense and keeping Tyrannical Barbarian from being torn apart by Bo Qing. The Eagle Sect Gu Immortals poured immortal essence into the formation, but their faces were pale. Fang Yuan's eyes were cold, yet even he could feel the restriction around him. The formation protected him, but it also placed him inside Fang Ming's structure.
Fang Ming's thoughts moved quickly. If Ying Wu Xie's attack broke through and reached Fang Yuan, he would seal Fang Yuan and throw him into his immortal aperture immediately. The alliance pledge backlash would injure him badly, and heaven's will might turn even more pressure onto him, but if Fang Yuan entered Star Constellation's dream now, everything Fang Ming had done to control information would collapse.
Before the dream path defense could break, the ground erupted.
A huge suction force rose from below without warning. The earth seemed to become a hungry mouth, dragging down Bo Qing and Ying Wu Xie at the same time. Their legs sank into the ground, and an invisible power locked onto their bodies, thoughts, wills, and emotions. Bo Qing's sword intent was interrupted. Ying Wu Xie's dream path pressure loosened. The hidden grand tribulation Earth Collapse had activated at the most critical moment.
Fang Ming's group was affected far less. Tyrannical Barbarian staggered, but the formation body did not sink deeply into the earth. Fang Yuan's side had been given a narrow opening. Fang Ming understood the reason instantly. Heaven's will was still using Fang Yuan. It wanted Fang Yuan to destroy Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu, so when Bo Qing and Ying Wu Xie pressed too hard, Earth Collapse restricted Shadow Sect's active defenders while leaving Fang Yuan's side a chance to move.
This confirmed Fang Ming's worry. If he openly sealed Fang Yuan or blocked him too directly, heaven's will might stop treating him as someone merely moving beside Fang Yuan and begin treating him as another target that had to be crushed.
Fang Ming did not hesitate.
His immortal aperture opened, and hundreds of eagles surged out in a chaotic flock. At the same time, dozens of single-use killer move totems were thrown across the ground. The eagles scattered in all directions, their wings stirring up dust and shadow, while the totems activated one after another, releasing bursts of light, beast-shaped projections, defensive screens, and chaotic aura. The battlefield became filled with decoys in an instant.
Inside Tyrannical Barbarian, a teleport formation lit up.
Teleport Gu served as the core. Fang Ming had already arranged the formation structure earlier, and now he used the brief gap created by Earth Collapse to activate it. Space twisted around the giant barbarian formation body. Before Fang Yuan could react, the entire group vanished from the immediate battlefield.
They reappeared far from the center of Yi Tian Mountain, but not truly far away.
The terrifying rank nine aura still pressed down from the distance. Spectral Soul's giant body could still be seen, towering over the formation clouds like a demon god from ancient legends. The battlefield had not vanished from sight. Fang Ming had only moved them out of the place where Bo Qing and Ying Wu Xie could immediately finish them.
Fang Yuan's expression changed. He had not expected Fang Ming to teleport him away as well. The others might fear death, but Fang Yuan did not want to leave now. He still had Spring Autumn Cicada. More importantly, he had not seen the end of the battle. Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu was about to be refined, Heavenly Court was still fighting, Spectral Soul was personally suppressing the battlefield, and heaven's will was moving through the tribulations. Leaving before the final result was unacceptable.
He immediately tried to break away from Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation and return.
But he could not.
The formation connection held him firmly. Tyrannical Barbarian relied on shared immortal essence and internal hierarchy, and only the leader of the formation could deactivate the connection freely. The current leader was Fang Ming. Fang Yuan's eyes turned toward him, cold light flashing.
At that exact moment, Fang Ming's body shook.
His eyes lost focus, and he collapsed inside the formation as if Ying Wu Xie's dream path attack had finally taken effect after a delay.
The Eagle Sect Gu Immortals cried out in alarm. Fang Yuan's expression darkened. Fang Ming's collapse meant the formation leader could no longer release the connection, and everyone remained trapped inside Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation. They could move the giant barbarian body together, but they could not leave the formation freely.
Fang Yuan looked at the Eagle Sect Gu Immortals. "Return."
No one moved.
Fairy Huang Sha's lips were pale. Fairy Qing Suo gripped her sleeves tightly. Fairy Fen Meng's breathing was uneven. Bian Si Xuan's eyes remained fixed on the distant Spectral Soul, while Ju Go lowered his head, unable to meet Fang Yuan's gaze. They were Gu Immortals, but the scene they had just witnessed had crushed their confidence. Returning meant facing Spectral Soul, Heavenly Court, Shadow Sect, Bo Qing, Ying Wu Xie, and heaven's will. Fang Ming had pulled them out, and none of them wanted to walk back into that storm.
Fang Yuan's voice became colder. "You think hiding here will save you?"
Still, the formation did not move back.
After Fang Ming, the second control priority belonged to the Eagle Sect Gu Immortals as a group. Fang Yuan was connected to the formation, but he was not trusted with internal authority. He could attack outward through the formation body, but he could not freely use Gu inside it. This was one of Fang Ming's anti-betrayal measures. A temporary ally could contribute strength, but could not seize control or strike the formation members from within.
Because of this, Fang Yuan could not even use his Gu directly on Fang Ming to wake him.
He stared at Fang Ming's unconscious body, killing intent flickering deep in his eyes before being suppressed. Fang Ming had trapped him cleanly. The formation protected him, but it also locked him away from the battlefield at the very moment he wanted to watch it most.
There was one Gu Fang Yuan could still use.
Spring Autumn Cicada did not require immortal essence. If he chose to activate it now, Tyrannical Barbarian's restrictions could not stop him. But Fang Yuan did not move. This was not the moment. He had not seen how the battle ended. He did not know whether Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu would succeed, whether Heavenly Court still had another method, or how Spectral Soul's final arrangement would unfold. If he used Spring Autumn Cicada too early, he might rebirth into an even worse situation without knowing the final result.
So Fang Yuan waited, his expression cold and silent, while the Eagle Sect Gu Immortals remained frozen between fear and obedience.
Inside the dream, Fang Ming opened his eyes.
He had not been pulled in by Ying Wu Xie.
Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation had blocked lead soul into dream before it reached Fang Yuan. The delay had worked, and Earth Collapse had interrupted the pressure at the perfect moment. Fang Ming's collapse was not Ying Wu Xie's victory. It was his own choice.
He had used Dream Feather on himself.
A faint dream realm spread before him, soft and unstable compared to the terrifying dream path attack outside. Fang Ming knew exactly why he had done this. He had just managed to pull Fang Yuan away from the battlefield. If Fang Yuan returned immediately and Ying Wu Xie struck him with rank eight lead soul into dream, Fang Yuan could enter Star Constellation's dream and learn what Fang Ming had been blocking all along. Fang Ming needed a legitimate reason to delay him, and nothing worked better than appearing to be trapped by the very attack he had been resisting.
Outside, everyone would think Ying Wu Xie's dream path attack had affected him slightly late.
In truth, Fang Ming had afflicted himself with Dream Feather to buy time.
The distant battlefield still shook the world. Spectral Soul, Heavenly Court, Shadow Sect, and heaven's will were still fighting for the final result. Fang Ming stood in the dream with calm eyes, listening to the muffled thunder of the real world beyond the illusion.
He did not need to defeat anyone now.
He only needed Fang Yuan to stay away a little longer.