Fierce and Ambitious
Fang Yuan’s punch smashes Giant Sun’s will into fragments, but it reforms with a fifth of its volume gone. Still it means to counterattack, only to find Fang Yuan already retreated behind his phantoms. Furious, it bellows at Hei Lou Lan for still hesitating. Confused that the phantoms carry Fang Yuan’s own face, Hei Lou Lan comes back to his senses at the shout. With the move already suppressing everyone, he recognizes this as the moment his Great Strength True Martial Physique must decide the fight. ch. 648
One punch from Hei Lou Lan tears through the phantoms and smashes many apart. He then tears off the Immortal Gu Dark Limit’s last black membrane, and the aura of one of the ten extreme physiques bursts outward. The crowd sees that Lord Hei Lou Lan has become a woman. Onlookers link the reveal to the old rumor of Su Xian’s Night Elopement and a daughter born to Hei Cheng. Giant Sun’s will had already known her true gender. ch. 648
Ignoring the shock around her, Hei Lou Lan fixes her killing intent on Fang Yuan. He answers that an extreme physique’s self-detonation can slaughter immortals, and so can his own move. Elsewhere, Ye Lui Sang and the others cry for help as the phantom army breaks their final defense. Hei Lou Lan wants to help them but the phantoms hold her back. Growing numbers of phantoms only grow more dangerous together. She cannot reinforce Ye Lui Sang and the others in time, and the phantoms kill them one after another. ch. 648
Giant Sun’s will abandons its own bloodline descendants and rushes to kill Fang Yuan in the chaos, briefly clashing with his guards. The fight is short but fierce, and it withdraws after failing, its dwindling thought unable to bear more. Mo Yao’s will keeps distracting Fang Yuan, but her influence fades with time. His phantom army swells past ten thousand while Giant Sun’s will’s sneak attacks keep failing, its remaining volume shrinking to less than an adult’s size. Only Hei Lou Lan, tireless under her physique, keeps fighting, held back only by the sheer number of phantoms. ch. 648
Years before, on her deathbed, Hei Lou Lan’s mother Su Xian had warned her weakly that this strength path move draws its phantom from her own subconscious image. It showed a longing to escape a woman’s status for a man’s tyrannical strength, and she cautioned Hei Lou Lan to use it sparingly, lest it turn her as savage as the phantom. Hei Lou Lan promised to be careful. Su Xian added that she would rest easy only once Hei Lou Lan could form phantoms in her own likeness. With her last words, Su Xian told her to find her own self and be wary of her father, then died. ch. 648
Giant Sun’s will’s furious shout breaks Hei Lou Lan from this memory. She stares at Fang Yuan with complicated feelings, since he has clearly already found his own self. With the wind veil closing in, Giant Sun’s will orders her to self-detonate, swearing on its honor to save her. Sure his phantoms could buy time for a stargate yet unwilling to take the risk, Fang Yuan probes instead. He tells her Giant Sun’s will has no way to save her, since he controls its immortal essence, and offers her a way out if she surrenders to him. Her battle intent visibly slows. ch. 648
Giant Sun’s will accuses Fang Yuan of lying, reminding her the Immortal Gu it lent her still carries its will and can self-detonate on command. Her battle intent flares back, and she charges at Fang Yuan in close combat. His zombie strength alone cannot match an extreme physique, but his ferocity and his phantoms pressure her into repeated injury as her own recovery lets her fight on. Giant Sun’s will spots a flaw and strikes; Fang Yuan counters, and their fierce clash opens a wider flaw, at which it bellows for Hei Lou Lan. She charges in with unprecedented power, but a dozen phantoms intercept, and her blow lands on Giant Sun’s will instead. It crumbles, revealing three Immortal Gu, which she swallows whole. The phantoms that had rushed to protect Fang Yuan then surround Giant Sun’s will and self-detonate, leaving only four or five traces of its golden thought alive. ch. 648
