Chapter 190: Return From Failure
Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation rumbled violently.
The giant barbarian body was still running away from Yi Tian Mountain, but the formation's inner structure had already turned against everyone inside. Immortal essence surged through its channels like floodwater breaking through a dam. Formation marks lit up one after another, not to defend, not to attack outward, but to gather all their power toward the center.
Fang Yuan's expression was icy.
The Eagle Sect Gu Immortals had collapsed into despair after seeing the reserve core. More than two hundred thousand immortal essence stones were stacked inside it. Even if they attacked outward with immortal killer moves nonstop, they could not drain such a terrifying reserve in a few breaths. Fang Ming had not left them a path to survive. From the moment they entered Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation to resist Bo Qing, they had already been locked inside his palm.
The self-destruction reached its final moment.
A peak rank seven all-out attack was about to erupt inward. Fang Yuan could not use his Immortal Gu freely inside the formation. He could not rely on the Eagle Sect Gu Immortals. He could not return to Yi Tian Mountain. He could not stop Fang Ming. All paths had been sealed.
Only one path remained.
Spring Autumn Cicada.
Fang Yuan activated it without hesitation.
In the next instant, his will entered the River of Time.
The river was vast and ancient, flowing from the unknowable past toward the unknowable future. Waves of time surged endlessly. Countless traces of history appeared and vanished within the water, too blurry to grasp, too majestic to resist. Spring Autumn Cicada carried Fang Yuan's will like a small boat trying to travel against the current.
Then the boat shattered.
Spring Autumn Cicada failed.
The rank six Immortal Gu broke apart in the River of Time, turning into countless fragments that scattered like dust. Fang Yuan's will lost its carrier and was thrown directly into the surging current. Without Spring Autumn Cicada, his will was nothing more than a drowning insect in an endless river. The River of Time began washing him away, dissolving him piece by piece.
In the final moment, Fang Yuan became strangely calm.
There was no panic, no begging, no regret. He had done everything he could. He had schemed, fought, endured, betrayed, and gambled. He had walked his path until the final step, and if death came here, it was merely one of the outcomes he had accepted long ago.
If he had another chance, he would still choose the same path.
Even if his corpse was destroyed, even if his soul vanished, even if no inheritance or biography remained, Fang Yuan would not regret living this way. A person who walked toward his goal and died on the road had no need to complain at the end.
His will continued dissolving.
But hidden behind this failure was heaven's will.
In the previous timeline, heaven's will had already judged itself victorious. Spectral Soul had failed to obtain Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu. Fang Ming had stolen it, but he had not used it. Instead, he had fallen into Star Constellation's dream realm, and from heaven's will's view, Fang Ming was likely doomed to die there. Spectral Soul's plan had failed, Fang Ming's theft had also failed, and the rank nine Gu had been removed from the hands of both threats.
Thus, heaven's will no longer helped Fang Yuan return.
Heaven's will blocked the return because it thought it had won.
Yet another will moved in the River of Time.
A ghost face emerged from the depths, dark and strange, its expression ghastly and mocking. It looked at Fang Yuan's dissolving will as if laughing silently at him. Then its cheeks swelled, and from its mouth came a wet flower bud. The bud opened in the River of Time, blooming into a red lotus.
Red light spread.
The broken fragments of Spring Autumn Cicada began moving backward. The pieces reversed, gathered, and reformed. Fang Yuan's dissolving will was pulled back from destruction, restored under the red lotus light. Time around him seemed to reverse for a brief instant, defying the river's natural flow.
This was not Red Lotus Demon Venerable personally intervening.
This was Shadow Sect using the Red Lotus inheritance it had obtained. Spectral Soul's will had acted through that inheritance, forcing the return because Shadow Sect had also lost the previous timeline. Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu had been stolen by Fang Ming, and Fang Ming had fallen into dream. Shadow Sect did not help Fang Yuan out of kindness. Fang Yuan was not their ally. But he was a half otherworldly demon, and sending him back would create more variables. More importantly, Fang Yuan would definitely interfere with Fang Ming's plan to steal Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu again.
That gave Shadow Sect another chance.
Heaven's will blocked the return because it thought it had won; Shadow Sect forced the return because it knew it had lost.
Spring Autumn Cicada was restored.
It carried Fang Yuan's will and began flying upstream again, returning to the past.
Star Form blessed land.
Poisonous fog spread across the surroundings, and poisonous blood boiled inside a giant turtle shell. Three layers of Gu formations had already been destroyed by corrosion. The nearby ground had turned into a thin layer of poisonous swamp, and the air was filled with a sharp, bloody smell.
Fang Yuan's immortal zombie body was inside the turtle shell, soaked in poisonous blood. Wounds covered his chest, back, and arms, allowing the poisonous blood to circulate in and out of his body. Earthly limit astral qi had been swallowed into his stomach and was being processed through his flesh body blood refinement method. The refinement of Change Form Immortal Gu had reached a difficult stage.
Then Fang Yuan's eyes suddenly lost focus.
His concentration broke.
The refinement immediately suffered backlash. Fang Yuan spat out a large mouthful of poisonous blood and fell heavily into the blood pool, raising a wave that splashed out of the turtle shell. The poisonous blood landed on the grassland and corroded the healthy green grass into dark red smoke.
"Master!" Star Form land spirit cried out in alarm.
Fang Yuan sank for a moment before his head emerged from the blood. His breathing was heavy, and his body was covered in wounds, but the confusion in his eyes quickly vanished. He looked at his hands, then at the turtle shell, the poisonous blood, the surrounding Gu formations, and finally at Star Form land spirit.
"What time is it now?" Fang Yuan asked.
Star Form land spirit froze slightly, then answered with unease.
Fang Yuan listened, and his heart shook.
He had returned.
The previous timeline had ended in failure, yet he had returned to the past. Spring Autumn Cicada had failed, and he should have died in the River of Time, but the ghost face and red lotus had forced the reversal. Fang Yuan immediately thought of Red Lotus Demon Venerable, then of that strange red skull-like ghost face.
Why would Red Lotus help him?
What exactly was that ghost face?
Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed in thought, but only for a short moment. He had too little information. Continuing to think about it would not produce an answer. He quickly pushed the mystery aside. What mattered was not why he returned, but that he had returned.
A fierce excitement rose in his heart.
This was a new chance.
In this timeline, countless opportunities were waiting for him. He knew the direction of major events. He knew many hidden arrangements. He knew secrets that others had not yet revealed. If handled properly, his fighting strength, foundation, and future could rise rapidly.
But among all opportunities, one towered above the rest.
The rank nine Immortal Gu that Spectral Soul had refined.
Fang Yuan did not know its name or exact ability, but he could deduce its level with certainty. Southern Border Gu Immortals had been used as refinement materials. Nine Immortal Gu Houses had been sacrificed. The entire Zombie Alliance had been thrown into the refinement. Later, even Shadow Sect's executives, who were Spectral Soul's split souls, had sacrificed themselves to push the refinement forward.
Only a rank nine Immortal Gu could be worth such a price.
No matter how terrifying the risk, Fang Yuan would seize it.
Then he thought of Fang Ming.
Killing intent surged in Fang Yuan's heart.
It was not hatred. It was not resentment. Fang Yuan did not blame others for scheming against him. He had schemed against countless people himself. What appeared on his face was deep wariness.
Fang Ming's planning had been too deep.
From the beginning, he had known that Yi Tian Mountain was not simple. He had dragged Fang Yuan into the scheme and used him as labor. During the battle, there had been several chances where they could have destroyed the refining formation or escaped with Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage, but Fang Ming refused each time. He gave reasons that sounded logical in the moment, yet now that Fang Yuan looked back, every refusal had served the same purpose.
Fang Ming did not want to leave.
He did not want to destroy the formation.
His fingers tapped lightly against the edge of the turtle shell as his thoughts moved faster. Graceful Chaotic Duel Stage had several chances to escape, but every time, Fang Ming drove it in a direction that kept them involved in the chaos. He had known that Shadow Sect was refining something. He had known Spectral Soul was involved. He had known the refinement would continue beyond what Fang Yuan understood. He might even have known that Spectral Soul would personally appear.
Yet Fang Ming still charged toward it.
That meant Fang Ming knew what was being refined.
He likely knew what rank nine Immortal Gu Spectral Soul was trying to create. At the final moment, Fang Ming must have succeeded in stealing it. Then, to remove witnesses and prevent Central Continent from deducing him or his location, he acted ruthlessly. He trapped Fang Yuan and even his own Eagle Sect Gu Immortals inside Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation and triggered an inward self-destruction.
Fang Yuan's killing intent slowly settled, turning into cold admiration.
Fearless toward risk. Deep schemes. Excellent concealment. Deceptive methods. Ruthless execution. Multiple backup plans.
Sacrificing five subordinate Gu Immortals was ruthless, but many demonic path experts could do such a thing. Sacrificing a battlefield Immortal Gu formation was far more decisive. And the reserve core with more than two hundred thousand immortal essence stones was what made Fang Yuan truly admire him.
Even if Fang Yuan had persuaded the Eagle Sect Gu Immortals to exhaust the formation's reserves, it would have taken months of nonstop killer moves to consume that reserve. Fang Ming had not given them a chance. The moment they entered Tyrannical Barbarian Ancient Formation to defend against Bo Qing, they were already at his mercy.
Fang Yuan had interacted with Fang Ming for a long time. He had always believed Fang Ming was formidable, even more formidable than Hei Lou Lan.
But he had still underestimated him.
This was a hero among heroes.
Fang Yuan accepted his loss.
In the previous timeline, Fang Ming had played deeper, hidden better, struck harder, and gambled with greater ruthlessness. He had defeated Fang Yuan in that round.
But things were different now.
Fang Yuan's eyes became cold and bright.
This time, he would not lose again.
This time, he would win even more spectacularly.
And that rank nine Immortal Gu would be his.