Fighting Star Desolate Hound
Fang Yuan and Hei Lou Lan arrive inside Starry Sky grotto-heaven partway up a mountain, thick ancient forest around them and fog at the foot below. Fang Yuan, already sheltered behind lion fur armor, finds trees so tall that his own six-meter immortal zombie body cannot reach a third of the way up them. Through the canopy the sky shows a tranquil green, marked by six giant star-shadows like colored moons. The star demon bat should be nearby. The two pick a direction and move. ch. 714
They scan constantly with investigative Gu worms and spread divine sense, since neither owns an investigative killer move. The forest seems to have no end, and every direction looks the same. Suspecting a problem, they try flying for a clearer view, but height in the completely empty green sky would make them very conspicuous. The higher they climb the thicker the fog grows, until it swallows their own fingers and greatly restricts their investigative methods. The two retreat and stay grounded. ch. 714
Hei Lou Lan wonders whether the Starry Sky heavenly spirit is already targeting them. Fang Yuan judges it more likely a law native to the place, or an illusion scrambling their sense of direction, and regrets owning no investigative killer move himself. Hei Lou Lan has none either, only an offensive one. She calls up Self Strength, her fists surging into a giant strength path phantom, the same killer move that once destroyed a flying bear phantom in Northern Plains. Blow after blow smashes ancient trees and shakes the ground, scattering fog and stone alike. ch. 714
Flying up for a clear view, Fang Yuan sees the forest covers barely a hundred li, and that the two had simply been walking in a circle; beyond its edge lies ordinary abundant life. Hei Lou Lan’s phantom judges the forest itself an extinct tree species, and calls his information source somewhat dubious, since their entry was inside this forest all along. Fang Yuan does not recognize the tree either. He laughs it off and suggests taking some to plant in their own blessed lands for profit. Nothing is wrong with the source, since Fang Yuan supplied the information himself. In his previous life, once the grotto-heaven had fallen, this same forest was damaged and showed none of its present effect, a reminder that early arrival means old memories cannot be trusted here. ch. 714
As they take a few trees, a huge dog-shaped desolate beast charges down the mountain, its azure fur marked with faintly glowing blue star stripes. Fang Yuan recognizes it as a star desolate hound, likely the mountain’s overlord. He tells Hei Lou Lan to test its strength: if it proves weak he wants it captured alive, since he has other uses for it. She frowns, since killing a desolate beast comes easily to her while taking one alive does not, and he promises immortal essence stones if they manage it. She agrees, and her giant phantom charges the hound. The two huge figures collide and roll down the mountainside together, flattening trees, cracking boulders and crushing whatever cannot flee in time. ch. 714
At the mountain’s foot the hound pounces to bite, but Fang Yuan slams all eight lumps of starlight into it at once, cutting the attack short. Hei Lou Lan drives her phantom’s knee into a vital spot between its legs, and Fang Yuan follows with more starlight onto its eyes and mouth, killing its wild defensive Gu and leaving it whining in extreme pain. Even this, the pinnacle of a strength path move that has never failed her, cannot outmatch the hound’s raw strength, Hei Lou Lan notes, and she moves to bring out self strength Immortal Gu instead. Before she can, two more, female, star desolate hounds come charging from nearby peaks. Both send the other the same single thought: run. ch. 714
