Chapter 646

The closing wind veil of assimilation is why Giant Sun’s will presses Fang Yuan to surrender, or else fight him to the death. It hands Hei Lou Lan a strength path Immortal Gu, orders him to break his dark limit seal, and promises rescue even from a self-detonation, calling Great Strength True Martial Physique the world’s fastest at recovery, far beyond the other nine extreme physiques. Hei Lou Lan thanks him, thrilled to finally hold the Immortal Gu he wanted. It also hands Gu worms to the other Gu Masters, promising them fame for killing Fang Yuan and framing lost lifespan as better than certain death. It vows to deliver the finishing blow itself. Someone asks why Fang Yuan is not yet dead after so long under the light; Hei Lou Lan explains he has already become a zombie, one of the living dead, so lifespan no longer applies to him. Everyone accepts the fight is unavoidable. ^{ch. 646}

Wisdom Gu suddenly stops its light and hides among the Gu worm swarm, vanishing after holding a rank nine aura only moments before. Giant Sun’s will laughs that this newborn wild will is too immature to risk the coming battle. Everyone is relieved. Without wisdom Gu’s halo, Giant Sun’s will can now fight directly. Fang Yuan answers with booming laughter, reduced to one arm and a crooked frame yet imposing enough that everyone edges a step back. Hei Lou Lan and Giant Sun’s will each warn him he has no way out but death. Mo Yao’s will urges him to give up and use Spring Autumn Cicada before his mind is lost to the fight. ^{ch. 646}

Fang Yuan’s laughter fades, and he answers, in a coarse voice, that as long as he wants to walk, heaven will leave him a road to step on. Everyone recognizes the line, from The Legends of Ren Zu. It is chapter three, section three. ^{ch. 646}

In that legend, Ren Zu searches Luo Po Valley for the missing Northern Dark Ice Soul and gets lost himself for days. Exhausted, he collapses against the labyrinth wall in a loneliness he cannot shake, since he gave his original heart to hope and kept only a heart of loneliness. He grows used to it and even begins to savor it. A voice beside him names itself a Gu called self, found only by looking inward, and Ren Zu finds it inside his heart of loneliness, a figure like himself but no bigger than an ant. Self Gu says finding and understanding oneself matters most in life, and offers to lead him out. ^{ch. 646}

Ren Zu asks whether it can take him out of the valley and travel the Reverse Flow River, but Self Gu refuses. The Door of Life and Death’s entrance and exit are only traces fate Gu left on a visit to fairness Gu, so walking that road submits him to fate’s own arrangement. A new road exists for anyone willing to walk, it says, but first Ren Zu must learn to think about leaving. He strains to think. Cognition Gu, an old friend, leaps from his mind and lights him with a bright glow. Any being it enlightens gains wings, and the light leaves Ren Zu with delicate new wings at his heels, which cognition Gu names independence. It warns that only self Gu, and no other Gu, can be relied on, then vanishes. ^{ch. 646}

Self Gu tells him simply to walk and carve his own road of life, and Ren Zu takes his first step as his vision changes. Back in the present, everyone rages at the comparison and charges at him together. Hei Lou Lan suddenly shows pain and spits out blood. Calling it good timing, Fang Yuan smiles and punches with his one remaining hand, and the burst of fist qi condenses a strength path phantom in the air. ^{ch. 646}