Chapter 1959

Heavenly Court’s Gu Immortals move to reinforce Duke Long, since his defeat would again make the situation precarious. Fang Yuan kicks Duke Long’s hand aside, grabs his purple hair and punches his face and chest again and again. Duke Long cries out triple qi retraction, and his condition strengthens threefold. Fang Yuan keeps punching. ^{ch. 1959}

Over a million years ago, Genesis Lotus wandered the world disguised as a mortal. At a poor oasis village in Western Desert, a child who revered him begged him to resurrect his mother, who had died days earlier of exhaustion and illness. Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable could have done it, but as Heavenly Court’s Immortal Venerable he refused. Furious, the child asked whether Genesis Lotus would refuse if it were his own mother, and Genesis Lotus answered with extreme sincerity that he still would, because everyone must accept death as fate’s arrangement. ^{ch. 1959}

Watching the villagers hold the child back, he suddenly understood his vague unease: human hearts had changed and their greed was insatiable. The humans of the present age were like the child, struggling under fate’s shackles for a wish that was possible but not allowed. He felt helplessness. He could stop people in this life but not after his death, and he could not stop the desires that emerged in their hearts. ^{ch. 1959}

Duke Long is beaten to a pulp, his chest caved in and his aura sharply fallen. Each time he shouts triple qi retraction, his injuries recover, and each time Fang Yuan wrecks him again. Reckless Savage’s will cheers Fang Yuan on to squeeze Duke Long dry. Fang Yuan calmly calculates that the three monsters’ combination is weakening, since after many battles little strength remains and defense, movement and healing are expended intensely. In accumulation, the combination is no match for Heavenly Court. ^{ch. 1959}

Fang Yuan strikes with all his strength, and his right fist lodges in Duke Long’s face. Duke Long loses consciousness at once and crashes into Heavenly Court’s ground, forming an unprecedentedly deep crater. Lying motionless, he still draws endless qi, because triple qi retraction is a method left by Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable and needs no activation by him. Incomplete freedom transformation has little strength left. If it stops midway, Fang Yuan cannot use Reckless Savage Demon Venerable’s strength to activate it again and must rely on his own. ^{ch. 1959}

With Duke Long stopped for the moment, Fang Yuan charges at Heaven Overseeing Tower again. The tower keeps moving, but interference from the three regions’ Gu Immortals keeps it from going far. Heavenly Court’s Gu Immortals throw themselves at Fang Yuan. Ye Qiao Zi blocks his path and is killed by a punch through his wooden armor. Zhao Shan He pounces and a kick bursts his body, and Fang Yuan crushes Vortex Space Boy’s head to mush. Duke Long flies up again, and Dragon Palace appears above him. ^{ch. 1959}

Wu Shuai, the former Lord of Dragon Palace, once had to settle the threat of dragonman extermination. Dream revelations came again and again, and to settle it he had to use the rank eight Dragon Palace to experiment on dragonman bodies. The experiments needed a vast number of dragonmen and would kill almost all of them. He gathered almost all the dragonman Gu Immortals and told them the truth. He begged for their help. ^{ch. 1959}

His cousin, the seventh young master whom Duke Long doted on most, objected and called him insane. He accused Wu Shuai of killing his own most loyal sworn brother to gain Heavenly Court’s trust and of killing his own father by his own hand. He added that Wu Shuai had used his own most beloved wife as Gu material to refine dream token Immortal Gu. He said Wu Shuai had given Huang Wei hope of a bright future and then killed him. He blamed Wu Shuai’s ambition for the conflict that made the ancestor intend to wipe out the dragonmen. He called Wu Shuai’s life a tragedy that brought destruction. ^{ch. 1959}

The hall fell silent, and Wu Shuai sat expressionless. One dragonman Gu Immortal after another, starting with the seventh young master’s third uncle, stepped in front of Wu Shuai to support him, until the seventh young master stood alone. They said that if this was insanity they were all lunatics, ready to be lunatics like Ren Zu, since lives and deaths must not rest in others’ hands, even their ancestor’s. Wu Shuai rose in tears and swore to stand with the dragonman race regardless of survival or extermination. He vowed to fight to the final moment and never stop resisting even if only his name was left. ^{ch. 1959}