Chapter 584

Everyone reacts to Hao Ji Liu and the flying bear phantom vanishing together, trading guesses about a hidden trick in this round. Hei Lou Lan frowns in confusion. Sun Shi Han hesitates, then wonders aloud whether it is battle space Gu, and every gaze turns to him. Hei Lou Lan confirms it is a space path Gu, and warns that if it truly is battle space Gu, elder Hao Ji Liu is in trouble. Tai Bai Yun Sheng sighs that battle space Gu vanished from sight for years before resurfacing here, speaking from the deep knowledge of an Immortal inheritance he once obtained from the old beggar. The whole group grows anxious for Hao Ji Liu’s safety. ^{ch. 584}

Ye Lui Sang, forced to bow to Hei tribe after his own super tribe’s defeat, is the current leader of Ye Lui tribe and owns a mysterious fire path Immortal Gu. He explains: battle space Gu is a rank five space path Gu that pulls both user and target into a private space to fight to the death, opening again only when one side wins or time runs out. Hei Lou Lan sighs at the bear’s hidden Gu. Narration predicts the likely result: the flying bear wins and Hao Ji Liu loses, since even the whole group’s combined strength could not kill it. Hao Ji Liu has water image Gu, a first-rate escape method, but Ye Lui Sang’s own rule holds the space shut until the fight is decided by life and death, so escape alone cannot save him. Only an opposing space path Gu could counter it, and neither Hao Ji Liu, a water path Gu Master, nor anyone else present commands one. ^{ch. 584}

Tang Miao Ming asks whether the earlier time limit still offers hope. Ye Lui Sang answers that the limit applies to a Gu Master maintaining the Gu, whose primeval essence would run out. Because battle space Gu is a wild Gu drawing endlessly resupplied primeval energy from the air, no such limit binds it, and hope fades. Bian Si Xuan proposes absorbing all the primeval energy in the air instead, briefly lifting spirits, but the idea fails. ^{ch. 584}

Handling formless primeval energy needs qi path methods, and qi path is an ancient path, once flourishing, long since eclipsed first by the rising strength path and then, as strength path itself declined, by near extinction. Qi path Gu Masters are now extremely rare. Even Tai Bai Yun Sheng, after years roaming Northern Plains, has met only three qi path cultivators, the strongest being Liu Wen Wu’s sworn brother, the variant human Mo Shi Kuang. Mo Shi Kuang has long followed Liu Wen Wu of Liu tribe, though, and would not serve Hei Lou Lan. As an attack type Gu Master he might lack the skill regardless, and no one can enter Imperial Court blessed land any longer to seek other help. ^{ch. 584}

Tai Bai Yun Sheng reframes the problem: qi path is not essential, breaking the primeval energy’s connection to the wild Gu is. That break is restriction path’s own signature skill. Restriction path is rare too, and no one present commands it. Lu Shuang regrets that a high grade evaluation once let him into Eighty-Eight True Yang Building’s treasure room, where he found a restriction path primeval break Gu that could have solved this, but he traded it away for something else instead. Fang Yuan stands apart with his arms folded, saying nothing. ^{ch. 584}

The space shakes, and the flying bear phantom reappears alone, roaring, showing its frenzied nature. Everyone searches anxiously for Hao Ji Liu, hoping to find him alive or at least find his body, but no trace turns up. Sun Shi Han, an investigative Gu Master, spots the first clue. Blood and scraps of cloth are caught in the bear’s teeth, and the group recognizes the cloth as Hao Ji Liu’s clothing. They understand at once that Hao Ji Liu was eaten by the flying bear. ^{ch. 584}

Narration names Hao Ji Liu a great demonic path expert called the “Water Demon,” who had shown great brilliance in the Imperial Court contest before dying at this spot. Tai Bai Yun Sheng cannot save him even with man as before Gu, since the technique needs a target and Hao Ji Liu’s corpse has already been chewed and swallowed. Morale among the Gu Masters collapses. Voices call the flying bear too ferocious to fight alone, since inside the cramped battle space it still holds five element bear skin Gu, wind tiger cloud dragon Gu, star river Gu and grand chaotic dance Gu. Narration notes this hundredth, final round is the hardest in Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, and this group is the first to reach it while most others remain stuck near the ninetieth round. ^{ch. 584}

Narration states that losing an expert while gaining nothing was a huge blow to Hei Lou Lan’s reputation and prestige. Hei Lou Lan despairs of returning empty handed, since clearing this floor is what upgrades his owner token to one-edge and lets him target a strength path Immortal Gu. Failing leaves him only an ordinary edgeless token, and switching floors would cost time he does not have. Into the sinking mood, Fang Yuan calmly asks what difficulty there is in killing the flying bear. Dozens of eyes turn to him, then look away. ^{ch. 584}

Narration recaps why: Wolf King Chang Shan Yin was once a heroic figure in Northern Plains who wiped out Ha Tu Gu’s band of bandits. The current Wolf King is instead a flying and enslavement master, publicly named the strongest fierce general of this Imperial Court contest after taking down an enemy commander alone from inside the army. He has grown more arrogant, aloof, even cruel, striking as a warning, as Hei Xiu Yi’s recent beating and Sun Shi Han’s earlier public humiliation both show. Only Hei Lou Lan, the Black Tyrant, shows him no fear. Cupping his fists, Hei Lou Lan asks to hear Fang Yuan’s plan. ^{ch. 584}

Fang Yuan calls it no grand plan: battle space Gu is special but only rank five, so it must carry a limited range, and fighting from beyond that range should keep everyone safe. Relief spreads, since every Gu worm has a range. The group reasons the battle space Gu’s range cannot be wide, since it waited for Hao Ji Liu to close in before firing, though as a wild Gu its true range still needs care. Fang Yuan orders the wolf group to encircle the flying bear while the rest attack from afar, and Hei Lou Lan agrees at once. ^{ch. 584}

The wolves trap the bear as Gu Masters strike from outside; the bear answers with star river Gu, wind tiger cloud dragon Gu, grand chaotic dance Gu and more, costing the wolf group heavily while the Gu Masters stay safe. Fang Yuan holds firm despite the mounting wolf losses, disregarding the corpses, and Hei Lou Lan credits it to the fifty percent reward share he promised earlier. His real motive lies elsewhere. Fang Yuan wants Hei Lou Lan’s own owner token to reach four-edge so he can seize it, fuse it into a ten-edge owner token, and claim a Giant Sun true inheritance. With Fang Yuan committed, the fight tips toward the Gu Masters, and the bear’s wounds deepen as blood runs down the mound like a waterfall. ^{ch. 584}

The bear roars again and fires another invisible bubble, this time catching a blood forest wolf instead of a person, and both vanish. Onlookers laugh that the same trick is useless now. Hei Lou Lan screams at them to be quiet, visibly annoyed, while Fang Yuan, Tai Bai Yun Sheng and the others turn grim as well. ^{ch. 584}