The immortal zombie Bao Zhi saw a flashing sword light in the sky. He knew it was the signal for him to act.
He sprung forth from his hidden location and soared high.
The effects of the rank six killer move Concealed Human Qi with Perception Warp immortal gu as the core could not suppress his aura anymore.
The oppressive rank eight aura shocked the two gu immortals who were in the immortal zombie's sight.
It was Wen Jie who reacted first, just in time, true to a wisdom path cultivator's thinking speed. She narrowly avoided Bao Zhi's immortal zombie body and gained distance.
Bao Chi Ping wasn't as quick witted but still responded. He instinctively activated his strongest defensive move.
But Bao Chi Ping's habit betrayed him this time. How could he have any experience of the strength of rank eight?
Immortal zombies had very tough bodies, they contained many dao marks.
The immortal zombie struck Bao Chi Ping with full force.
The fist shredded through Bao Chi Ping's defenses as if they were made of paper.
Realization dawned suddenly on Bao Chi Ping's face. He wanted to escape, but it was already too late.
The immortal zombie's knuckles tore into his chest and sent him flying like a cannonball.
A thunderous blast echoed in the region.
The inhabitants looked up at the blue sky with questioning gazes.
Bao Chi Ping's body soared across the landscape like a green shooting star. When it finally plummeted with an astounding momentum, colliding with the ground in a disastrous crash.
The ground shook violently, and a massive crater formed upon impact. The force of the landing gouged out a deep valley, the edges jagged and torn, stretching for ten li as a proof to the raw power.
Dust and debris settled slowly, revealing the new scar carved into the terrain.
Bao Chi Ping's motionless body lay at the center, a gaping fist-sized hole in his torso.
The once sharp glint in his eyes was now absent, replaced by a vacant stare that offered no clue to his consciousness. His life and death was uncertain.
"That was just a casual punch?!" - Wen Jie's pupils shrunk to pin size at this sight.
If it wasn't for the rank eight aura, one would surely conclude such feat could only be done by a strength path gu immortal.
"I should have known! These deviations could only be explained by an unknown force... But who would have thought it was a rank eight expert!"
Wen Jie, knowing she couldn't afford to idle, quickly escaped with her heart pounding in her throat.
The immortal zombie Bao Zhi did not give chase. He had no immortal gu on him.
Giving chase with mortal methods would give away this crucial weakness, he had to be careful.
Wen Jie frantically tried to contact Wen Jiao Feng and Old Refinement, but neither sent a response.
"What is going on?"
She realized, her meticulously crafted plan to take over Bao clan crumbled to pieces in a matter of moments.
"I need to resolve this by adapting one of the backup plans." - Her responsibility weighed heavily on her as the leader of Wen clan and the mastermind of this operation.
Her eyes darted around wildly, seemingly searching for a way.
As if a ray of hope shone down on her, she noticed the Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda arriving in the distance.
"Old Refinement, he came just in the nick of time!" - She rejoiced in her mind.
Gu houses were like a flying war fortress, the peak creations of formation path, combining formidable offense and defense.
A rank seven gu house could stand up to rank eight gu immortals. Even though the Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda was incomplete, it could help a great deal.
Wen Jie quickly calculated in her mind and decided.
"Join forces then turtle up inside the gu house."
This was her best course of action.
"Halt!" - A deep and hoarse voice resounded.
Wen Jie noticed the quickly approaching immortal gu house suddenly stopping in midair.
It started shaking and loose tiles fell of as if a giant formless hand was holding it in place.
She gasped in her shock, when she turned to look at Bao Zhi's immortal zombie body calmly floating in the air.
In one arm he held the first supreme elder of Bao clan, Bao Lang Chao.
He was still unconscious, under the effect of the killer move Willing Heart, Faltering Strength.
His other arm outstretched before him, it pointed directly at the gu house.
"How annoying!" - He snorted with displeasure and just as if the gu house was a fly in his vision, he swatted it into the distance.
Whoosh!
The Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda disappeared from sight quicker than a snowflake in a bonfire.
"..." - Wen Jie's last hopes of recovery were mercilessly crushed before her eyes.
Any thought of resistance was purged in her mind.
"This is an absolute disaster!"
She needed to leave this place as soon as possible!
The more she thought about the events, the more bitter and frightened she felt.
The rank six ice path cultivator, Wen Hao Jiong's life was lost at the annual competition. This was a great, but acceptable loss in the grand picture.
The rank seven formation path cultivator, Wen Bo sacrificed his life to disable Bao clan's rank eight defensive formation. This was a dire but necessary sacrifice. Wen clan lost their greatest formation expert.
Their mole, the rank seven Bao Chi Ping was as good as dead in her mind. He was one of Wen clans strongest fighters with much insider knowledge.
She feared for the worst when even their trump card, Wen Jiao Feng was unreachable.
"This grotto heaven is a death trap!" - She regretted every moment spent plotting this day.
* * * * *
Meanwhile a short while ago inside the Wondrous Inspiration Pagoda.
Wen Qinyang intently observed the clash of Bao Zhi and Wen Jiao Feng through the gu house's investigative methods.
"What is Bao Zhi doing? Will he not fight? I will need to interfere if this goes on like this..." - She was puzzled at the scene before her.
Jue Shi tilted his head to the side, also clueless but had some lingering resentment towards Bao Zhi for trying to refine the gu house.
"Let's wait and see. Didn't he say he needed no help?"
That was the plan after all, so Qinyang continued to observe patiently.
Bao Zhi's opponent continued to miss him with his sword attacks.
"Ahh. He is just attacking randomly. What is this, a fight between a pacifist and bald blind man?"
But at the next moment her eyes widened in surprise.
"What? Now his opponent attacked himself?"
Jue Shi opened his mouth to try and explain, but no words came out.
They observed as Wen Jiao Feng started to activate his strongest move.
The sword light gathered around him and shot out wildly.
Immortal Killer Move — Double Edged Devastation!
Qinyang shifted in her seat in excitement.
Finally something flashy occurred in this strange fight.
But the sword light didn't even come close to Bao Zhi.
"Ehh? He missed again? He just shot at the empty sky now. This is lame." - Her enthusiasm deflated.
But what happened after this startled the both of them. They glued their gazes back on the relayed scene.
"YOUUU!!!" - Wen Jiao Feng grabbed his head in shock.
If he had any hair he would have been tearing it out in rage right then.
"YOU! YOU TRICKED ME AGAIN!"
His face turned an alarming shade of red, veins bulging on his forehead as he clenched his fists tightly. His eyes blazed with such intense fury that it seemed as though he might explode at any moment.
His bloodshot eyes rolled back in their sockets and his knees buckled.
He fainted on the spot.
"..."
Qinyang looked at Jue Shi for answers, but he just shrugged and threw his hands in the air helplessly.
After a moment of silence, she exclaimed.
"He defeated him without laying a finger on him?"
The results spoke for themselves, the rank seven expert has fallen, while the not even rank six Bao Zhi was standing.
But there was a method to this madness!
Bao Zhi's moves were meticulous and calculated throughout the fight from the beginning.
First he announced his arrival by asking to wait for him. This was necessary to grab Wen Jiao Feng's attention. He had no methods to chase him down after all.
Then he assumed a haphazard and clumsy character. This lowered Wen Jiao Feng's wariness and made him underestimate Bao Zhi.
Bao Zhi attempted to close the distance under this pretense but Wen Jiao Feng attacked sooner.
This was a calculated risk, he had to dodge it!
But Bao Zhi was clear of the specifics of the double edged sword path inheritance. As long as Wen Jiao Feng used his basic attack, he had confidence.
So what if Bao Zhi couldn't approach? He would make Wen Jiao Feng approach him instead!
This was when he tumbled to the ground. Sowing further confusion but curiosity as well into his opponent's mind.
The closer he got, the better he could feel Wen Jiao Feng's human qi fluctuate. He had a good understanding of human nature and now his opponent's intentions too.
The moment Wen Jiao Feng followed Bao Zhi to the ground was the moment he fell in his trap.
Bao Zhi activated his newly acquired rank six gu, Perception Warp!
He gradually altered Wen Jiao Feng's perception!
This meant Wen Jiao Feng's own six senses would betray him!
This was really a sinister gu worm.
It wasn't without shortcomings though. It was still just a single gu worm and all gu had just a single effect after all.
Bao Zhi had some experience with manipulating human qi, so he knew the distance would be a limitation.
Perception Warp could not work at great distances, and it could not trick investigative techniques.
This was why Bao Zhi had to lower his opponent's guard as much as possible. He always appeared in line of sight and talked to give his location away.
At least seemingly.
When Wen Jiao Feng struck for the second time, he thought Bao Zhi used a space path effect to deflect the sword light.
But there was no Empty Void Timber or Ten Thousand Li Willow at all!
It was a common piece of wood warped into those precious immortal materials in Wen Jiao Feng's eyes.
His sword lights flew straight as he intended, but Bao Zhi was simply not where he perceived.
By making him think that his sword lights were deflected, he counteracted, this made the sword lights truly deviate from their intended path.
As the attacks continued, Bao Zhi grasped this indirect control more and more and Wen Jiao Feng was also getting used to the compensation.
The time was ripe!
Bao Zhi manipulated the effect just right as Wen Jiao Feng shot out the seven sword lights, they curved backwards and hit him square.
This was a crucial point for what was coming.
On the surface this was a great slap to Wen Jiao Feng's face, greatly angering him.
But most importantly, it planted the idea in him that his own attacks were really hitting himself and causing real injuries, no trickery.
This could not be faked. It would be exposed as soon as he tried to use a healing method.
So blinded by rage, Wen Jiao Feng used his strongest move.
From his view, Bao Zhi was in front of him, trying to fly away.
He saw the sword light soar into the sky after Bao Zhi.
Then he saw it unexpectedly make a perfect U-turn before reversing direction and hurtling back instantly.
The last thing Wen Jiao Feng saw was his own headless body from an outside perspective, spinning along with the whole world.
His vision blurred to darkness.
"Death! I am dead!" - The thought engulfed his mind uncontrollably.
Wen Jiao Feng acted like many gu immortal's instincts would tell them in their dying moment. Denying any spoils possible from getting in the hands of the victor.
Thus, he self-destructed his gu worms.
In the end, Wen Jiao Feng could only dance in the palm of Bao Zhi's hand. Without real world experience, nurtured in the comfort of their grotto heavens, these immortals were like children in front of Bao Zhi.
* * * * *