Fang Yuan appeared outside the bronze hall and spat out blood.
Warp Gu had torn through space and carried him out, but the backlash was severe. His organs twisted, his blood flowed in disorder, and dizziness almost dragged him to the ground.
But he did not fall.
The battlefield around him was still burning with chaos.
Dogs howled. Gu Masters shouted. Righteous and demonic cultivators fought over every step toward the bronze hall. The air was filled with the smell of blood, burnt fur, and broken stone.
The moment Fang Yuan appeared, several gazes locked onto him.
"Little beast king!"
"He came out from the bronze hall!"
"He must have obtained part of the treasure!"
The surrounding Gu Masters reacted quickly. Greed was faster than reason. Before anyone could confirm the truth, attacks were already flying toward him.
A group of heavy tai dogs also rushed over under Tie Bai Qi's command.
Fang Yuan cursed inwardly and waved his hand.
Golden dragon Gu.
A golden dragon roared into existence, tearing through the heavy tai dogs and opening a path through the battlefield.
Fang Yuan moved immediately.
He could not stay here.
Second Aperture Gu was in Tie Ruo Nan's hands, but he was the one who had refined it. As long as he willed it, the Immortal Gu could self-detonate.
That was his last bargaining chip.
But if he was surrounded, even that chip would become useless.
"Little beast king, where do you think you are going?"
Yi Chong charged toward him, waves surging around his body.
Fang Yuan activated Bone Wings Gu and flew upward, avoiding the crashing water.
Before he could gain distance, fire birds shot toward him.
Yi Huo had also moved.
Golden Aurora Gu.
Fang Yuan's body flashed with golden light, his speed increasing as he dodged the fire birds and retreated.
The battlefield was too chaotic. Every person wanted the treasure, and every person thought Fang Yuan might have it.
This was both danger and opportunity.
Fang Yuan suddenly shouted, his voice carrying across the battlefield.
"Tie Ruo Nan has the Immortal Gu! She is refining it now!"
The effect was immediate.
Countless gazes shifted.
Tie clan.
Immortal Gu.
Refining.
These words were sharper than blades.
The Gu Masters did not know the truth, but they did not need to. Greed filled the gaps in their understanding.
Fang Ming, who stood not far from the shattered defensive line, heard it clearly.
His gaze flickered.
Fang Yuan was using the crowd as a weapon.
He could not defeat everyone, so he threw a greater temptation toward Tie Ruo Nan and let greed bite in his place.
Fang Ming did not rush to help him.
Helping Fang Yuan too openly now would only draw suspicion. He had already fought outside long enough to appear loyal. More than that would be excessive.
He stayed near the edge of the battlefield, using White Lotus Healing Gu to close a wound on his shoulder.
His posture remained defensive.
His hidden blood-path Gu remained silent.
Fang Yuan turned sharply in the air, trying to use the sudden shift in attention to escape.
But at this moment, a soft sound reached his ear.
It was gentle, almost intimate.
Like a lover whispering beside him.
Like an old friend calling from memory.
For a brief instant, Fang Yuan's thoughts slowed.
Mo Wu Tian's Gentle Feelings Gu.
Fang Yuan broke free almost immediately, but that instant was enough.
A giant hand of light descended from the sky.
Xiao Mang had acted.
Fang Yuan could no longer dodge fully. He used offense as defense, scattering the light hand with a violent explosion, but his body was struck by the aftermath and thrown downward like a kite with its string cut.
He fell, then forced himself awake through pain.
Dark clouds surged around him.
Wu Gui's movement Gu.
He hid himself in the clouds and tried to withdraw.
But before he could disappear completely, four black steel chains pierced through the void.
Swish swish swish swish!
The chains wrapped around his limbs.
Fang Yuan's expression changed.
Infinite Search and Lock.
The chains tightened and dragged him backward through space.
The next moment, Fang Yuan reappeared inside the bronze hall.
Tie clan's four old-timers knelt in four directions, each extending a black chain from their palms.
Bai Ning Bing stood nearby, male body restored, white robes unstained by the surrounding blood.
Tie Ruo Nan held Second Aperture Gu.
Fang Yuan lowered his head.
On his left arm, a crystal-like Gu emitted faint starlight.
Fixed Star Gu.
Bai Ning Bing smiled faintly. "I planted it when you used your primeval essence to nurture my aperture."
Fang Yuan's expression darkened.
So that was it.
No matter how far he fled, Infinite Search and Lock could pull him back as long as Fixed Star Gu marked him.
His Gu worms were sealed.
His primeval essence was restricted.
His movement was locked.
Tie Ruo Nan looked at him coldly. "Fang Yuan, it is over. I will not kill you. You will enter Tie clan's Demon Suppression Tower and repay your sins for the rest of your life."
Fang Yuan said nothing.
His head was lowered.
His breathing became slow.
Outside the hall, Fang Ming saw the chains vanish into the void and knew Fang Yuan had been captured again.
Tie clan's preparation was deeper than he had expected.
Bai Ning Bing's betrayal.
Tie Ruo Nan's timing.
Fixed Star Gu.
Infinite Search and Lock.
Tie Bai Qi controlling the dog army.
Every layer had been prepared for Fang Yuan.
Fang Ming's eyes narrowed.
He still did not move recklessly.
Blood Handprint Gu could not be exposed.
Blood Robe Gu could not be exposed.
Rank five Slavery Gu could not be exposed.
Even if he attacked now, could he break the Tie clan formation before Fang Yuan was fully sealed?
Uncertain.
And uncertain actions were often foolish actions.
Inside the bronze hall, Fang Yuan suddenly raised his head and looked toward the broken sky above the hall.
Through the huge hole in the blessed land, the sun of Southern Border could be seen.
It was near dusk.
His expression became strangely calm.
Bai Ning Bing and Tie Ruo Nan both felt unease.
He should have been furious.
He should have been desperate.
He should have been bargaining, threatening, or struggling.
But instead, Fang Yuan looked calm.
Too calm.
Fang Yuan's thoughts moved.
Infinite Search and Lock could seal Rank five Gu.
It could not seal a Rank six Immortal Gu.
Spring Autumn Cicada.
There was no other path.
If he succeeded, everything would restart.
If he failed, there was nothing to discuss.
Fang Yuan's body suddenly swelled with destructive force.
Bai Ning Bing's pupils shrank.
Tie Ruo Nan's expression changed.
Boom!
Fang Yuan self-detonated.
Flesh, blood, primeval essence, Gu worms, and soul all exploded together.
At that instant, Spring Autumn Cicada emerged in green and orange light.
A profound aura spread through the hall.
The Immortal Gu carried Fang Yuan's remaining will and tore into the river of time.
Outside, Fang Ming froze.
Deep inside his aperture, Spring Autumn Tag-Along Gu moved.
For the first time since its creation, the counterfeit time-path Gu awakened.
It did not ask for Fang Ming's permission.
It did not consume immortal essence.
It did not open the river by itself.
It merely caught the tail of Spring Autumn Cicada's activation.
Fang Ming felt the world collapse.
The battlefield disappeared.
The dog howls vanished.
The bronze hall, the shattered barrier, Tie Bai Qi, Bai Ning Bing, Tie Ruo Nan, Mo Wu Tian, Xiao Mang — all of it dissolved into countless fragments.
A terrible pulling force seized him.
His mind was dragged into a vast current.
For a moment, Fang Ming saw light.
Not ordinary light.
Countless pale droplets crashed and flowed, each containing shadows of moments, lives, deaths, choices, and reversals.
The river of time.
Fang Ming could not move.
He could not choose.
He was not the driver.
He was only a passenger clinging to the carriage.
Spring Autumn Cicada moved against the current.
Spring Autumn Tag-Along Gu followed like a hook tied behind it.
The pressure was terrifying.
Fang Ming felt his consciousness being stretched thin. His memories shook violently, as if they could scatter into the river at any moment.
Then, suddenly, the current spat him out.
The world returned.
Fang Ming opened his eyes.
The bronze hall stood before him again, but it was not the ruined hall from moments ago.
The relief sculptures had returned.
The air still carried the aura of unfinished refinement.
Ba Gui was alive.
The dog army outside had not yet reached the final collapse.
The failed future had vanished.
Fang Ming's heart beat once.
Then again.
His face did not change.
Spring Autumn Tag-Along Gu had worked.
It had truly worked.
He had followed Fang Yuan back.
He had kept his memories.
This gain was greater than any Rank five Gu he had taken.
Fang Ming lowered his gaze and controlled his breathing.
He could not reveal anything.
Not surprise.
Not joy.
Not relief.
If Fang Yuan knew that Fang Ming had also returned, the secret of Spring Autumn Tag-Along Gu would be exposed. Fang Yuan would immediately understand that his greatest trump card had been copied in some form.
That would be disastrous.
Near him, Ba Gui's old eyes looked toward the map.
On the map, Fang Yuan stood in another inheritance space, one foot pressing down on Wang Xiao.
Wang Xiao was begging for his life.
"Hold on, hold on, everything can be discussed. I can tell you the true path, but you must ensure my safety…"
The scene was familiar from the failed timeline.
Fang Yuan paused.
Then he suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha!"
His laughter echoed through the image.
Ba Gui was puzzled.
Wang Xiao was terrified.
Fang Ming watched silently from the bronze hall.
Fang Yuan had returned too.
There was no doubt now.
Fang Yuan's laughter carried the joy of escaping a dead end, the relief of winning a desperate gamble, and the cold excitement of starting again with knowledge of failure.
Fang Ming lowered his eyelids.
He had to act as if he did not understand.
In the failed timeline, Fang Yuan had learned too much.
Bai Ning Bing's betrayal.
Tie Ruo Nan's trap.
Fixed Star Gu.
Tie clan's four old-timers.
Tie Bai Qi.
Mo Wu Tian's unexpected arrival.
All of these would now affect Fang Yuan's actions.
But Fang Ming had learned them too.
That was the dangerous part.
Knowledge could save him.
Knowledge could also expose him.
If he changed too much, Fang Yuan would notice.
If he interfered with Bai Ning Bing too early, Fang Yuan would understand that Fang Ming knew about the betrayal.
If he targeted Fixed Star Gu too obviously, Fang Yuan would wonder how he knew.
If he prepared too perfectly against Tie Bai Qi, Fang Yuan might suspect he had seen the failed timeline.
So Fang Ming made a decision.
He would not touch Bai Ning Bing's role.
Let Fang Yuan deal with Bai Ning Bing.
Let Fang Yuan rewrite that trap himself.
Fang Ming's own changes had to be quieter.
Self-protection.
Positioning.
Avoiding traps.
Preserving the future chain toward Fixed Immortal Travel.
Nothing more obvious than necessary.
Ba Gui turned its head slightly. "You are quiet."
Fang Ming looked at the map and replied calmly: "Fang Yuan seems pleased."
Ba Gui did not understand the hidden meaning.
Fang Ming's tone was ordinary.
His heartbeat had already steadied.
On the map, Fang Yuan's laughter finally stopped.
He looked down at Wang Xiao.
His expression became calm again, but his eyes were colder than before.
Fang Ming knew that look.
Fang Yuan had died once.
Now he was calculating again.
The failed timeline was gone from the world.
But two people remembered it.
One was the driver.
The other was the passenger.
Fang Ming stood in the bronze hall, hands behind his back, expression unchanged.
Spring Autumn Tag-Along Gu slept again in his aperture.
Its purpose had been proven.
From now on, Fang Yuan's rebirth was no longer his alone.