Chapter 1040

Fang Yuan had already dropped his disguise familiar face, so he shows only rank six aura when Qi Zai hails him, and Qi Zai feels only mild doubt. Fang Yuan greets him with cupped fists, and Qi He, already over fifty years old herself, is struck by Fang Yuan’s refined and graceful bearing. Qi Zai says he only wants to verify some things, then shakes a mud ball from his sleeve that grows and reshapes into Ni Jian. Ni Jian’s puzzled look turns to intense hatred. Instinct tells Ni Jian this is the culprit despite the changed appearance, and he charges, accusing Fang Yuan of forcing his grandfather to death and slaughtering the whole clan. ^{ch. 1040}

Qi Zai’s gaze turns cold, and Fang Yuan, feeling it pierce him, retreats behind a cover of clouds and mist, taking this rank seven Gu Immortal for a strong enemy above his own rank. Qi Zai shouts for him to stop and sweeps the sky clear with an eagle claw hand, then inhales, pulling at Fang Yuan’s whole body and slowing him. Ni Jian was once only a rank two Gu Master, killed by the beast group, but Qi Zai has revived him from a mud monster corpse into a mudman with desolate beast strength, matching an ordinary rank six Gu Immortal. He closes in with a punch. Fang Yuan’s body scatters into mist to dodge, but Qi Zai’s mortal killer move divine flick fires a qi pellet too fast to avoid; the lion fur armor covering him blocks all harm, and the flick only exposes his real body. ^{ch. 1040}

Qi Zai speeds Ni Jian with a current of qi, and the mudman charges again, but Fang Yuan meets him with cold, frost covered palms, a move taken from Xue Song Zi’s soul before Fang Yuan’s rebirth. Ni Jian, lacking battle experience, cannot even touch Fang Yuan’s clothes; the frost soon covers him, sharply cuts his speed, and dissipates Qi Zai’s qi current at his waist. Because Fang Yuan’s Immortal Gu are all rank seven and cannot be used lightly, he fights with mortal killer moves instead: lion fur armor, the surging clouds from Tai Bai Yun Sheng, and the frost hands from Xue Song Zi. Fang Yuan realizes his opponent is a rare qi path Gu Immortal. Qi path is older and more declined even than strength path. He is puzzled why these two care about Ni clan’s massacre, since his previous life’s memories hold no Gu Immortal ancestor of that clan. ^{ch. 1040}

Seeing Ni Jian toyed with, Qi Zai fires divine flick again, countless pellets of qi that Fang Yuan can dodge only a few of before blocking the rest head on with lion fur armor. The armor’s defense is extremely strong, somewhat beyond what Qi Zai expected. He switches to blades of qi instead, and after two slashes Fang Yuan coats the armor in a black, oil like liquid taken from Hei Cheng’s soul, which cuts the blades’ sharpness and reduces their effect on the armor by sixty percent. Qi Zai then snorts fire qi that becomes an inferno rushing at Fang Yuan, who answers with Tai Bai Yun Sheng’s nine cloud ring, nine rings of cloud that completely block and absorb it, four of them turning from white to red. ^{ch. 1040}

Fang Yuan counters with dark vortex, dark spheres flung at Qi Zai, while Qi He, sensing the danger in them, cries out in alarm. Qi Zai answers with his own blades, pellets and fire qi, and neither side yields, leaving Qi He dazzled by an aerial battle unlike any mortal fight. Fang Yuan reads the fight as he goes. He is almost certain by now that Qi Zai genuinely cultivates qi path. Qi Zai holds the advantage, and the dark vortexes that slip past his flurry of attacks and strike his body are blocked easily by his condensed qi, yet he is far from at ease. Fang Yuan’s mortal killer moves all show signs of dao mark amplification, yet they cover wind path, cloud path, dark path, strength path and more. Qi Zai cannot say what path this man cultivates, and has never met such a situation before. ^{ch. 1040}