Chapter 1004

Fang Yuan turns Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage back toward Yi Tian Mountain, already a ruin, its demonic path Gu Masters heavily injured or dead. Still unwilling to abandon his failed suppression, Fang Yuan presses on. A second Immortal Gu House, entirely black and steel-fortress-like, blocks his path. He charges again, racing against time. ^{ch. 1004}

The two Houses collide with a huge, eardrum-bursting sound, and Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage’s charge is barely held off as Fang Yuan’s own momentum starts to fail. He judges Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage rank seven and this one likely rank seven too, specialized in defense, and the delay costs him the immortal zombie, which breaks free and recovers. He retreats instead, flying southeast. A third and fourth House appear, and the four together trap Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage inside the formation. ^{ch. 1004}

Fang Yuan wonders what Shadow Sect wants with four rare Houses. He stays calm, since Heavenly Court has not yet joined the fight. He weakens Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage on purpose, hoping to draw Heavenly Court into attacking. The situation changes at once: all four Houses now suppress him together. ^{ch. 1004}

Inside Heaven Overseeing Tower, Tower Lord declares that the person inside Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage is the otherworldly demon Gu Yue Fang Yuan, who destroyed Imperial Court blessed land and collapsed Eighty-Eight True Yang Building. Tower Lord adds that this person seems to have some relationship with Red Lotus Demon Venerable and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, and warns that he is only acting suppressed. Since Fang Yuan wants to lure Heavenly Court into attacking, they will attack: the formation is part of the enemy’s plan, and Tower Lord has deduced the enemy holds the final key immortal zombie. He calls everyone to activate Heaven Overseeing Tower and destroy the formation. ^{ch. 1004}

The Heavenly Court Gu Immortals attack together, striking the formation with a beam of light. Seven Star Child admits his bait scheme has failed, and orders Shadow Sect’s own attack. Fang Yuan watches three more Houses, a pavilion, a manor and an altar, emerge to resist Heaven Overseeing Tower. Tower Lord names the seven Houses that Shadow Sect was forced to field: Sacred Feather City, Unbreakable Iron Fortress, Blood River Chariot, Nightmare Castle, Green Wave Pavilion, Weaving Cocoon Manor, and Golden Altar. Fang Yuan’s unease grows. ^{ch. 1004}

Heaven Overseeing Tower, rank nine, activates fully without warning: the sky turns entirely white, and even Fang Yuan inside Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage can see only light. When it fades, debris falls as dead Gu worms, unwounded yet lifeless. The three Houses closest to it, Green Wave Pavilion, Weaving Cocoon Manor and Golden Altar, have broken apart, and the rest are heavily damaged. Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage alone suffers the least damage. The move has activated fate Immortal Gu, an unavoidable strike that could have destroyed the formation had the three Houses not sacrificed themselves to endure it. ^{ch. 1004}

From the formation, Ying Wu Xie flies out, his place taken by the now-freed rank eight Great Strength True Martial immortal zombie, which taunts Heavenly Court to celebrate its resurrection. The formation, now complete, activates. Dark clouds spread rapidly, hiding all ten extreme immortal zombies, while immortal apertures left by the dead Southern Border Gu Immortals gather with countless Gu worms. Fang Yuan finally understands: the formation is a refinement path Gu formation, using the dead Southern Border Gu Immortals’ apertures as material. ^{ch. 1004}

Such a method is unheard of: the high and mighty Gu Immortals are reduced to ants, casually killed and used to refine Gu. Even with five hundred years of experience, Fang Yuan has never seen its like. Shadow Sect, a mysterious force hidden in the depths of history, is finally about to reveal the true motive behind a plan that has run for countless years. ^{ch. 1004}