Chapter 1381

The broken formation gave Fang Yuan’s group warning, and the Southern Border Gu Immortals are still some distance away. Fang Yuan could flee at once on the eagle, but chooses to practise Omni-directional Travel, since his methods cannot break the investigative killer move and his location stays exposed. The eagle is not a unified Immortal Gu House, leaving its riders vulnerable to ambush. Omni-directional Travel instead teleports a group instantly across a great distance, the method that let Ying Wu Xie’s group evade even Heavenly Court. Fang Yuan now leads Shadow Sect, so his enemy’s advantage has become his own. He teaches the formation to everyone; only Bai Ning Bing, Hei Lou Lan and Ying Wu Xie already know it, while Fang Yuan, Fairy Miao Yin and Black Tigress are learning it for the first time. With Ying Wu Xie’s mind too unstable to rely on, the group must train together rather than alone. ^{ch. 1381}

Meanwhile Wu Yong marches with the Southern Border righteous immortals, and Chi Qu You asks him for orders as they near the Earth Trench. Tie Mian Shen’s account of Wu Yong’s strength and Wu clan’s hidden fourth Immortal Gu House leaves the other immortals apprehensive of him, some of them afraid. Some righteous path forces had openly invaded Wu clan’s resource points before this, and now they expect Wu Yong to settle that score once Shadow Sect’s remnant forces have been exterminated. They see little threat from Fang Yuan’s side, since Purple Mountain True Monarch is already dead and Spectral Soul’s main body is captured by Heavenly Court. Only the upper extreme heavenly eagle draws any caution. They have brought six Immortal Gu Houses against it. ^{ch. 1381}

Back at the trench, repeated attempts at Omni-directional Travel keep failing, with Bai Ning Bing taking the worst backlash on the first, Fairy Miao Yin the heaviest injury on the next, and Hei Lou Lan hurt on the one after. Fang Yuan heals everyone with Man as Before, and his sovereign immortal body’s non-conflicting dao marks, which slightly weaken his defense, give him a great boost in healing so it works far better on him. Hei Lou Lan feels the healing again and reflects that Man as Before is still alive and she is once more in Fang Yuan’s camp, the one pity being Tai Bai Yun Sheng, whom Fang Yuan killed himself. The group’s coordination gradually improves despite the failures. A Pure Dream Reality Seeker body reports that several Immortal Gu Houses have gathered above the trench. Unworried, Fang Yuan says this is within his expectations. He orders everyone to continue the plan, since time is now short. ^{ch. 1381}

Observing from Clear Jade Dripping Wind Tiny Bamboo Building, Wu Yong notes the trench’s Gu formation is built cleverly from natural dao marks using only mortal Gu. Qiao Zhi Cai exclaims at the shadow monsters gathered and Chi Qu You offers to deduce the formation’s weakness, but Wu Yong refuses, saying their Immortal Gu Houses could break through several times as many, and orders the attack. Clear Jade Dripping Wind Tiny Bamboo Building leads the charge, slaughtering shadow monsters and impressing the Southern Border immortals. The formation cannot hold against several Immortal Gu Houses and will collapse before long, while its shadow monsters, none above rank seven, are already killed or scattered as the immortals advance into the cave. Several Pure Dream Reality Seeker bodies then self-detonate, raising dream realms that wall off Fang Yuan’s group; Yi clan’s immortals, recognizing the move, retreat at once with Bay Pavilion. Wu Yong and the rest are stunned, unable to breach the defense. He settles into a stalemate, confident of outlasting them, until a letter Gu reaches him from Heavenly Court. ^{ch. 1381}