RI : Path To Eternity

Although the Love Gu was immensely powerful and had countless effects, Zhao Lian Yun was unable to display even a fraction of its power.

In fact, with her cultivation level, the feat of stopping an attack from a Venerable and weakening the Seven-Colored Pillar was already a masterpiece worthy of praise.

Though the Seven-Colored Light Pillar had lost 90% of its power, it was still plummeting with great momentum, and the first obstacle in its path was the Demon Judgment Board.

Fang Zheng, as the lord of the Demon Judgment Board, let out a sigh but before he could even activate the Gu House, someone acted before him.

The Crimson Heart Traveler!

At the critical moment, the Crimson Heart Traveler stepped out from the Demon Judgment Board and activated his killer move alone in the sky.

Immortal killer Move — Blossoming Blood Flame!

In an instant, the Crimson Heart Traveler's blood flow reversed, his heart pounding intensely, and at the same time, blood-red veins like venomous snakes appeared beneath his skin.

The Crimson Heart Traveler's eyes turned blood-red, and at that moment, he cast a glance at the stunned Fang Zheng—likely his final glance.

Booom!

The Crimson Heart Traveler's body swelled to its utmost limit and ultimately exploded into a crimson mist.

In the sky and earth, a red blossom appeared, enveloping the Seven-Colored Light Pillar.

At the critical moment, the Crimson Heart Traveler used his life to block an attack from a Rank 9 Venerable.

The explosive blood of a Rank 8 Immortal Gu, though powerful, could not fully withstand the Seven-Colored Light Pillar.

With its remaining power, the Seven-Colored Light Pillar struck the Demon Judgment Board, causing it to hurtle through the air at tremendous speed.

Inside the Demon Judgment Board, Fang Zheng used all his strength to activate the Gu House, with the Ten Human Children and others assisting. Though the Demon Judgment Board was heavily damaged and they sustained considerable injuries, they survived in the end.

Just a fraction of a Venerable's power was enough to send a Rank 8 Gu House flying, and if Fang Yuan's full-powered attack had landed, none of the, Gu Immortal present would have survived.

Seeing that he hadn't achieved his desired outcome, Fang Yuan frowned and prepared to attack again.

No miracle would occur a second time, and this time, no one could save the Heavenly Court's Gu Immortal from the hands of a Venerable.

As Fang Yuan thought this, he readied his killer move for the second time.

Immortal killer Move — Seven killer Colored !

The Seven-Colored Light Pillar was unleashed from Fang Yuan's hands once more, and this time, no one was there to stop it.

Or so Fang Yuan thought, because in the next moment, something unexpected happened.

Divine Emperor City!

At the critical moment, the Will of Genesis Lotus took control of this quasi-Rank 9 Gu House to save the, Heavenly Court's Gu Immortal.

Seeing his attack disrupted again, Fang Yuan frowned.

Under normal circumstances, he could easily overpower the Will of Genesis Lotus and Divine Emperor City, taking at most a few minutes. But at this critical moment, he had no time to waste.

Fortunately, Fang Yuan had a trump card prepared against Genesis Lotus and Divine Emperor City.

It was time to use his clone, Fang Di Chang.

...

Seeing Fang Yuan halted by Divine Emperor City, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable let out a sigh of relief.

Now, aside from protecting the qi harvest fruit core, she had no other concerns and could fully focus on her battle.

While Fang Yuan was held back by the Genesis Lotus's will , Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was not faring well.

In the Heavenly Court, the enhancement Star Constellation Immortal Venerable received was overwhelming, and even though they were two against one, they held little advantage.

In fact, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was suppressing both Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable.

This was especially true since Spectral Soul Demon Venerable had lost his sanity and was driven purely by instinct.

An instinct to destroy the qi harvest fruit core !

Most likely, even Heaven's Will found the revival of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable undesirable, and Spectral Soul, heavily corrupted by Heaven's Will, was entirely focused on destroying the qi harvest fruit core .

Unfortunately, this alone could not stop Star Constellation Immortal Venerable.

Thousands of Spectral Soul's arms, resembling a primeval forest, swung through the air, each with the power to hold the sun and moon.

Sharp claws like the maws of malevolent dragons—thousands of such demonic dragons existed.

While Spectral Soul Demon Venerable aimed to destroy the qi harvest fruit core , a dense starry mist appeared in his path, blocking the thousands of massive arms.

Spectral Soul Demon Venerable let out a deafening screech and repeatedly attacked the starry barrier with his thousands of massive arms, but the starry barrier stood like an immovable mountain. Spectral Soul Demon Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable could only inflict minor damage to the starry barrier.

Though Spectral Soul Demon Venerable had lost his sanity, he did not stop in the face of the barrier and relentlessly attacked with his massive body and thousands of arms. Under his ferocious assault, the starry barrier showed signs of crumbling.

However, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable did not escape unscathed. At the same time, the dense starry mist clung to his ink-black body, constantly eroding it.

These were a combination of Star Path and Wisdom Path dao marks left by Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's attacks, steadily increasing over time. As these dao marks accumulated, Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's injuries grew more severe.

If these dao marks reached a critical threshold and covered his entire body, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable could even activate a killer move to directly kill Spectral Soul Demon Venerable or inflict grievous wounds.

In intense battles, Wisdom Path, Gu Immortal could control and manipulate every detail of the fight to their advantage, and as the creator of the Wisdom Path, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was even more exceptional in this regard.

Star Constellation Immortal Venerable knew well that the situation was not in her favor. With the qi harvest fruit core and the Heavenly Court's Gu immortal , she had many reasons for concern and distraction, preventing her from using her full power.

Heaven Refining Demon Venerable attacked the Heavenly Court's Gu Immortal to distract her, but was repeatedly stopped by the love gu, and Divine Emperor City.

If Star Constellation Immortal Venerable could seize this brief opportunity to kill or severely wound one of her two opponents, she could completely turn the tables, transforming the three-versus-one battle into a two-versus-two.

This was the Heavenly Court, where Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had already refined all the Wisdom Path dao marks, giving her a significant chance to succeed.

Naturally, between Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, the latter was her target.

Spectral Soul Demon Venerable had completely lost his sanity and was only capable of savage attacks, unlikely to retreat even if severely wounded.

In contrast, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was fully rational and would immediately retreat if he sensed danger.

Killing Spectral Soul Demon Venerable had another advantage: Heaven Refining Demon Venerable and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable were using him as a vanguard and cannon fodder in their assault on the Heavenly Court, avoiding direct danger themselves.

Killing Spectral Soul Demon Venerable would make the two remaining Venerables hesitant to attack with full force.

If Spectral Soul Demon Venerable died, but they suffered losses, consumed their immortal essence, or were severely injured in the process of stopping Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival, what then?

Wouldn't the two remaining Venerables then turn on each other?

Star Constellation Immortal Venerable understood human nature well. As long as she could kill Spectral Soul Demon Venerable here, the alliance between Fang Yuan and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable would immediately fracture, and the attack on the Heavenly Court would halt.

Though the situation seemed hopeless, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, with her wisdom, found a glimmer of hope.

While protecting the qi harvest fruit core, from all attacks, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable focused all her strength on wounding and injuring Spectral Soul Demon Venerable.

A meteor shower of stars rained down on Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's massive body, embedding a vast number of Star Path and Wisdom Path dao marks onto his mountain-like form.

At this point, much of Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's ink-black body was contaminated with Star Path and Wisdom Path dao marks, glowing with fluorescent blue light like the stars in the sky.

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable watched this scene with a frown, immediately understanding Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's intentions.

Though they currently held an advantage in attacking the Heavenly Court, with Star Constellation Immortal Venerable constantly forced to protect the qi harvest fruit core, this advantage was not permanent. If Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was killed, they would immediately fall into a dire situation.

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable even thought a step further.

If Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was killed and Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable was revived, the battle, originally three against one, would instantly become two against two.

Though this appeared balanced, in reality, he and Fang Yuan had no chance of winning.

Star Constellation Immortal Venerable and Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable shared a master-disciple relationship, with a high degree of mutual trust, shared goals, and aspirations.

In a life-or-death battle, they could rely on each other without hesitation and support one another.

On the other hand, he and Heaven Refining Demon Venerable had no mutual trust.

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable would never trust a ruthless demon like Fang Yuan, nor was he foolish enough to entrust his safety to Fang Yuan.

In fact, he was certain that if he did something so foolish, Fang Yuan would not hesitate to stab him in the back for his own benefit, just as he had done to Earth Paradise Immortal Venerable in the Crazy Demon Cave battle.

With this thought, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable sighed and glanced at Fang Yuan, who was far away, attacking Divine Emperor City.

Divine Emperor City was now riddled with cracks and likely wouldn't last much longer before being completely destroyed, but Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was not pleased at all.

While Fang Yuan was busy dealing with the Genesis Lotus's will, and the Heavenly Court's Gu immortal , he and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable were locked in a bitter battle against Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, and there was even a chance that Spectral Soul Demon Venerable would soon die.

Seeing this, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable paused for a moment and sent a message to Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.

"Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, Heaven Refining Demon Venerable is merely using you. While you're forced to fight me and consume vast amounts of immortal essence, he's using the excuse of distracting me to slaughter the Heavenly Court's people and preserve his own immortal essence.

"There's no need for enmity between you and the Heavenly Court. Once I kill Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, we can join forces. With my advantage in the Heavenly Court, we can kill Heaven Refining Demon Venerable.

"Don't forget, he has the least immortal essence among us and is at a disadvantage in a prolonged battle. The battle over the Heaven Dream Realm likely already consumed much of Heaven Refining Demon Venerable's immortal essence reserves. Otherwise, he wouldn't waste time killing the Heavenly Court's Immortal Gu."

Hearing this, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable paused for a moment and secretly sent a response to Star Constellation Immortal Venerable.

"Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, don't try to deceive me. If Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable is revived and both Spectral Soul Demon Venerable and Heaven Refining Demon Venerable are killed, won't I be the Heavenly Court's next target?"

Though Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's words were logical, he wasn't foolish enough to immediately betray Fang Yuan and side with the Heavenly Court.

His primary reason for attacking the Heavenly Court was to prevent Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival, which could potentially disrupt the balance of power among the three Venerables.

The death of Spectral Soul Demon Venerable and Heaven Refining Demon Venerable alongside the revival of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable would be the worst outcome for him.

Hearing Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's response, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's eyes gleamed.

While activating a killer move to defend against Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, she sent another message to Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.

"Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, there's no need for unnecessary worry. Compared to unforgivable demons like Heaven Refining Demon Venerable and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, don't forget that you, too, are an Immortal Venerable, a symbol of the righteous path and the glory of humanity.

"The Heavenly Court represents the righteous path and humanity. Though you and I follow different ideologies, we belong to the same side. We both have people we care for and protect, while Heaven Refining Demon Venerable has no attachments.

"Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, don't forget that you once had the chance to join the Heavenly Court, and that offer still stands from me. As long as you stop attacking the Heavenly Court and join me in killing Spectral Soul Demon Venerable and Heaven Refining Demon Venerable, you can officially join the Heavenly Court and become the fourth Immortal King."

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's eyes shone like golden suns upon hearing Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's response.

This was the difference between a Demon Venerable and an Immortal Venerable.

A ruthless and solitary demon like Fang Yuan cared only for himself in this world and had no attachments. Naturally, the Heavenly Court would never invite him to join and considered him their number one enemy.

On the other hand, despite ideological differences between Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and the Heavenly Court, they both belonged to the righteous path. He had children and descendants to care for and could not recklessly slaughter the Heavenly Court's people like Fang Yuan. He even had the chance to become one of the Immortal Kings.

However, Giant Sun Immortal Venerable did not immediately accept this offer.

Compared to the revival of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable, which would shift the balance of power and force him to join the Heavenly Court, he still preferred the status quo.

Naturally, if the revival of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable failed, that would be ideal. But even if it didn't, he wasn't as anxious as Fang Yuan, the sworn enemy of the Heavenly Court, and had options for retreat.

He responded to Star Constellation Immortal Venerable:

"Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, it's too early to decide the outcome. You'd better deal with the current situation first."

Hearing Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's response, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable felt a slight relief.

He didn't outright reject her offer, meaning there was still a chance for cooperation.

As long as Spectral Soul Demon Venerable was killed first...

On the other side, Fang Yuan's eyes gleamed as he noticed the reduced intensity of Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's attacks.

Though the conversations between the two were conducted secretly and Fang Yuan was unaware of them, this didn't stop him from speculating.

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable must be displeased that I'm entangled with the Heavenly Court's members and preserving my immortal essence while he's been in talks with Star Constellation Immortal Venerable.

Fang Yuan frowned as he intensified his attacks on Divine Emperor City, assuming the worst-case scenario.

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Star Constellation Immortal Venerable had secretly allied and were now pretending to lower his guard.

Though this was unlikely, Fang Yuan still considered the possibility.

Even if such a thing happened, with his abundant immortal essence and Four - Rank 9 Immortal Gu, Fang Yuan had no worries about escaping the Heavenly Court.

This was merely the worst-case scenario, and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable likely wasn't foolish enough to turn against him before Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's revival.

But Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's condition was dire, with the starry mist already covering half his body.

Though Fang Yuan didn't know the exact method Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was using, he knew the starry mist clinging to Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's body was far from good and would likely explode at a critical point, causing significant damage.

If Spectral Soul Demon Venerable died here, the Alliance between him and Giant Sun Immortal Venerable would immediately collapse, and the revival of Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable would not be far off.

There was no time to waste. Fang Yuan had initially planned to distract Star Constellation Immortal Venerable by slaughtering the Central Continent's Immortal Gu, but his attacks were repeatedly thwarted by the Love Gu and Divine Emperor City.

Fang Yuan was forced to deal with Divine Emperor City first before rejoining Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, as a quasi-Rank 9 Immortal Gu House could potentially interfere in a battle between Venerables.

"Fang Yuan, what exactly are you doing?! If you're really planning to use me and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable as meat shields while preserving your immortal essence, don't blame me for immediately abandoning the attack on the Heavenly Court!"

Giant Sun Immortal Venerable shouted loudly this time.

Though his attacks on the qi harvest fruit core, were weaker than before, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable never lowered her guard to prevent any deception, and she was under significant pressure with high immortal essence consumption.

Hearing this, Fang Yuan knew Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's patience was running out. If he delayed further, Giant Sun would likely abandon the attack on the Heavenly Court.

"Dealing with Divine Emperor City is no easy task, and I have few methods to counter the Painting Path. But no need to worry—it'll be over soon!"

With these words, Fang Yuan activated the killing move he had been preparing for a long time.

Immortal killer Move — Comprehensive Refinement!!

This was a composite killing move with the core being the Rank 9 Immortal Gu—Advanced Refinement.

In the next moment, countless bubbles surged from Fang Yuan's hands toward Divine Emperor City.

The bubbles varied in size—some as small as a fist, others as large as a mountain—and each had different colors: red, pink, green, yellow, blue, and more.

As these bubbles struck Divine Emperor City, the areas they hit turned the same color and were forcibly refined by Fang Yuan.

At the same time, by gaining control over parts of Divine Emperor City, Fang Yuan communicated with his clone, Fang Di Chang, in the Painting World, launching an attack from both within and without.

"This is bad!!"

Seeing the effects of the killing move, the Genesis Lotus's will, realized the severity of the situation.

In just a few seconds, he lost control of 20% of Divine Emperor City, and the loss was increasing every moment.

At this rate, Divine Emperor City would be completely refined by Fang Yuan in less than a minute and would belong to him.