The Venerable Showdown

Seven figures floated effortlessly in the darkened sky. They each possessed different characteristics, but what they all shared was having their gaze directed upon another separated entirely from the group.

The lone figure who drew all the attention over to him had a delicate figure. Otherworldly was the closest thing to describe the beauty of their face. Long, dark hair flowed from his scalp as it swayed in the wind in front of dark, abyssal pupils. He donned an extravagant white robe which contrasted his appearance.

The other figures were motionless as they studied him. Caution emitted from their action. Deep fear obstructed them from making any movements.

The lone man then smiled warmly, but a cold glint betrayed his expression: "Great Venerables, there is no need to be so cautious." He stretched his arms out in a open manner: "We have no need to fight here."

"Fang Yuan, to think, even as all of us here were wary of you, your plan still managed to come to fruition." A wry smile covered the woman's face as she spoke. Stars covered her dark hair, resembling a clear view of the night sky. Eyes shined like stars when her pupils moved, as long and thick eyelashes were above her beautiful eyes.

"Even with us controlling certainty, and uncertainty, he still managed to slip through!" A golden clad man gritted his teeth in frustration. His long blond golden hair was stained blood red, with some clean patches here and there. The yellow robe had also become stained with blood, making him seem to be severely injured.

While the rest of the Venerables stared at Fang Yuan with great hatred in their eyes, one instead was filled with hope. Regardless of which Venerable won, either it be him or any other, the title of Greatest Venerable never interested him in the slightest.

Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable stared at Fang Yuan with mixed feelings. On one hand, he was akin to himself, an Otherworldly Demon, he knows of the insane struggles they both had faced, but on the other hand, this man held no bottom line, or could even be considered human at all.

How could Thieving Heaven ever say that Fang Yuan would uphold a request of his? He could very easily send him to burn in the Chaos-filled outerworld at the thought of betraying him. A plan was desperately developed by him to realize a way for him to come out as an assurance for him to succeed.

Fang Yuan raised one hand as a great shine engulfed the visions of all. Even the mortals and immortals at the opposite end of the Gu world became entranced by this intense light.

As the blinding light subsided, a Gu worm that seemed to be the root cause floated on Fang Yuan's open palm. It held no features, yet it could not even be described. The majesty of this Gu worm was so... majestic. The terrifying rank 10 Gu stupefied the audience.

"Rank... 10!" The opened jaws of all Venerables were wide enough to almost be considered inhuman. Their eyes bulged out of their sockets as shock filled them completely.

"I-It's Destiny Gu! It's the Rank 10 Destiny Gu!" A purple haired man among them shouted out. An aura of murder and evilness flowed out from his body that flickered, caused specifically by Fang Yuan's move. Spectral Soul Demon Venerable stared in disbelief.

Even the most indifferent Immortal Venerable, Genesis Lotus, had his eyes extremely widened. His normally calm demeanor was not even present, not even a trace of it.

How could they not be in disbelief? Aside from the up-and-coming Great Dream Immortal Venerable, he was the youngest of all Venerables, he hasn't even reach a thousand years old yet!

These old monsters could be considered even more monstrous than Fang Yuan, yet the cub was even more terrifying than the tigers!

Now these tigers stared at him with fear, respect and even admiration. Of course, hatred was present in most of them, but how could not they be in admiration at the most inexperienced of them all surpassing his seniors?

To say the least, Fang Yuan was giddy. Like a child in a candystore, but he in fact, stole all the candy in the shop! Excitement filled Fang Yuan inwardly to the point that it even leaked to his external self.

Another light began shining from the Gu worm, signifying its activation as the Venerables stared in a daze. But just the light reached its peak, an ethereal hand reached out to the Immortal Gu.

Fang Yuan did not move, he already had preparations in place against Theft path moves.

As the hand tried to grab the Gu worm, it immediately disintegrated into nothingness. The killer move used by Fang Yuan had one of his own creations as the core Gu. It was Rank 9 Steel Pocket Immortal Gu! This was an Immortal Gu designed specifically to counter Theft path. He avoided using it in the case of Star Constellation deducing it, and as luck did have it, he needn't have to use it until now.

Seeing the attack, the Venerables joined in. They could not allow something as terrifying as a rank 10 Gu in the hands of another. The power balance would be completely shattered if so! Attacks rained on Fang Yuan, but he merely swept them away. Barrage after barrage continued with Fang Yuan effortlessly defending against them.

Thieving Heaven's eyes narrowed as Fang Yuan's stare moved towards him. A smile was on his lips, but the former knew this was a threat. He could not know the depths of Fang Yuan's foundation.

Seeing the rapidly worsening situation, desperation clouded Thieving Heaven's judgement. Among all Venerables, Heaven Refining was the one he could trust the most, but at the same time, the least.

What benefit would he have to fulfill Thieving Heaven's wishes? Nothing. He could not give Fang Yuan anything he would want in exchange for him to be transported into his old world.

A killer move he developed was the last resort for him. Even destroying the world was a good choice in exchange for him to return him. He sighed inwardly, thinking: 'How could I have changed so much?' Back then, he was an honorable man, now he would even kill insurmountable amounts of innocents just for his selfish dream.

But he had already made up his mind. With a quick activation, Great Thief Ghost Hands flew out, numerous amounts of them. But they did not approach Fang Yuan, they instead gathered above them.

Fang Yuan eyed it with caution. He could not risk anything, and so he unleashed killer moves after killer moves to deter the hands.

Yet, it all seemed endless, the Great Thief Ghost Hands kept forming from Thieving Heaven's body. Until they eventually reached a certain point.

The Great Thief Ghost Hands began taking... something. They grabbed something from the location and returned back to Thieving Heaven's body.

Fang Yuan's eyes widened, just as the other Venerables noticed this peculiarity. The former began desperately firing off Immortal killer moves one after another regardless of the Yellow Apricot Essence expenditure.

The other Venerables also realized this action as they helped out Fang Yuan. They too, realized what he was doing.

"Thieving Heaven, halt! Are you trying to destroy the world? This is the lamest thing you can do right now!" A large muscled tattooed man in a red cape gritted his teeth as he transformed into an Immemorial beast ape. He punched, grabbed, crushed and bit down on the Great Thief Ghost Hands with the occasional firing of killer moves that incinerated an innumerable amounts of them.

But Thieving Heaven did not care to hear him. He continued his action, even as he felt his own body breaking down from the sheer backlash of this Immortal killer move. He persevered even with the pain.

Destiny Gu, for why he had initiated its activation in front of Venerables, was because it required the presence of all present Dao Lords. Through the territory of which they had refined natural Dao marks, Destiny Gu can absorb the power through proximity of Dao Lords alone.

'Destiny Gu takes too long to activate, it can't continue like this!' Fang Yuan finally decided to reveal his hidden cards. He reached out with his hands as three objects in their miniature form were released.

Dang Hun Mountain, Luo Po Valley and the Door of Life and Death floated from his hands. An insane amount of Immortal Essence was expended as he activated the Immortal killer move.

"Dang Hun, Luo Po and Soul Seal!" The three secluded domains of heaven and earth flew out to Thieving Heaven. It approached the latter in a blink of an eye. He almost had no time to even react to this terrifying move.

The Demon Venerable clenched his teeth as he shouted out: "Omnipresent Space Door!" Emptiness suddenly covered the space in front of him. An object vaguely resembling a door halted the three secluded domains of heaven and earth.

The Venerables were shocked, to think he would have Space Door! They themselves thought it to be omnipresent, but to think Thieving Heaven managed to condense it into one location!

Seeing Thieving Heaven's defense, they instead focused their attention unto the Great Thief Ghost Hands. Some were managing to reach their intended location, and stealing something unknown.

The action of these Venerables continued as Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable kept producing more and more Great Thief Ghost Hands albeit with great pain accompanying it as exchange for the nonstop production. While the joint forces of the Venerables destroyed countless of Thieving Heaven's works.

Thieving Heaven grew more and more desperate as pain kept assaulting him, but so too were the Venerables getting desperate against him as they continued destroying the insane amount of Great Thief Ghost Hands.

A Great Thief Ghost Hand on its lonesome waa left unattended by the Venerables as they kept sweeping the large amounts of its kind instead.

It reached its destination, and grabbed something, but a colourful attack destroyed it before going away.

Fang Yuan's Seven Kill Rainbow managed to hit it, but something unexpected occured. A loud boom resounded in the skies.

The very fabrics of reality was being torn apart as a black flame emerged from the beyond. The Venerables grew pale at the sight. Their attention was no longer on the Great Thief Ghost Hands but instead on the rapidly growing hole in space.

Suddenly, a large mass of darkness emerged. A three headed, thousands armed humanoid creature stood in front of the Venerables.

It moved quickly to block the hole with its enormous mountainous body. The rest of the Venerables realized this and began aiding Spectral Soul Demon Venerable in his attempt to save the world.

Wood emerged from Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable and tried to seal the large hole, but was burned away by the black flame. Another massive creature appeared from Reckless Savage Demon Venerable as he moved out to block the hole with Spectral Soul. Hundreds of millions of thoughts were expended by Star Constellation Immortal Venerable in an effort to deduce a way to solve this crisis. Blood flowed from Giant Sun Immortal Venerable as he slew the stragglers of the Great Thief Ghost Hands. Heaven path killer moves were unleashed by Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable upon the black flame to avoid it from spreading.

Fang Yuan himself tried refining the dao marks made by the black flame, but its speed was far too slow in comparison to its rate of growth.

On the other side, Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable stared regretfully. The once noble Venerable would now be the cause of the world's end. A small smile was donned on his lips: "I am coming back, finally." His body then slacked, as it slowly disintegrated in the skies like ash.

Fang Yuan gritted his teeth at their combined efforts being insufficient. To think he would be so close to his goal, only to have it stripped away from him at the last lap. He knew it himself, all their actions are in vain, only delaying the inevitable. The hole in space was far too large to repair. In comparison to the Crazed Demon Cave's hole, this one was in the surface. Many things in this location can be used as fuel by the black flame.

But still, he would not give up just yet! He will continue persevering, until his own being is destroyed. This has always been his shining characteristic in his 500 years of living in his previous life. There is nothing different from then to now.

The cycle of reincarnation was true, otherwise how could he stand here now? Through decades of research, he deduced a way to stabilize his memories even when going through the cycle of reincarnation. However, he had no idea of what the side-effects are. He had no idea, as he had never thought to use this method until now.

He began his activation of the Immortal killer move. This process takes a very long time, that Fang Yuan might not even have. However, he still has to try.

The Venerables saw him preparing for something, and thinking that he had something that he can use against Chaos, they decided to buy enough time for him.

Fang Yuan smiled at this sight, seeing his simple scheme working. He then focused his attention again on the activation.

An hour later, the Venerables are barely holding on. The growth rate of Chaos is getting even faster as time went on. Spectral Soul suffered insane injuries as only one of his heads were remaining with his body missing a chunk of its lower part. His right side filled with thousands of arms was completely crippled, regenerating at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Reckless Savage Demon Venerable himself suffered burns. He already lost his left arm alongside a leg. The rest of the Venerables on the other hand felt cold sweat from the massive expenditure of Immortal Essence. They felt exhausted from the constant activation of killer moves and maintaining them.

Fang Yuan suddenly took out his Immortal Aperture and placed it in the outside world. The Venerables looked on in confusion but did not question it. Right now, they can only place their hopes in Fang Yuan. Besides that, what use would he have in destroying the world? Which is why the thought of him harming them never appeared.

The Sovereign Immortal Aperture was placed without commotion. The Heaven and Earth Qi was very much sufficient inside the Immortal Aperture with the Heaven path dao marks and Earth path dao marks after all.

He immediately entered the Immortal Aperture and closed the entrance, preventing the other Venerables from entering so easily.

The other Venerables saw this and they felt rage. To think, a great Venerable such as himself would run away in desperation? They hated his shamelessness but they had no time to direct their thoughts on Fang Yuan's cowardice.

Inside the Sovereign Immortal Aperture, Fang Yuan, alongside his clones made preparations. To protect himself and his clones, he devised a plan of defense from Chaos.

Another hour passed. The Venerables are barely holding on. Chaos grew even faster, and the time to deduce a way to prevent it from spreading was too little.

The entrance to the Sovereign Immortal Aperture opened up again as Fang Yuan exited it. The Venerables felt slight hope, thinking he had found a way to repair the situation when suddenly...

"Gah!" Reckless Savage Demon Venerable felt something push him. The hole in space was large enough to fit him, so he was sent flying into the fiery depths of Chaos.

Shocked looks erupted from the other Venerables. Then, hatred at Fang Yuan. But he didn't care.

Another killer move was unleashed by Fang Yuan at Spectral Soul this time. He was prepared, but he still suffered heavy injuries.

Another activation, he moved and took the activating Destiny Gu which was at the back of everyone's mind and returned back to his Immortal Aperture.

However Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, who is closest to him at this time wouldn't allow it so easily.

Stars suddenly flew out to Fang Yuan in desperation. Even if he could simply refine this attack, it would take too long. So with nimble movements, he dodged every star.

However, an injury appeared from his leg. He moved his eyes and saw Genesis Lotus holding a frame of Fang Yuan and a paintbrush. Fang Yuan clicked his tongue as he kept moving, undeterred by the injuries he's suffering from Genesis Lotus' painting path.

Earth suddenly appeared and trapped Fang Yuan. But with a killer move, he pierced through the hard rock. Paradise Earth also focused on him now.

With a wave of Giant Sun's hand, blood flowed to obstruct Fang Yuan, but he once again cleared any obstacle in his path.

This continued on, as Fang Yuan's injuries accumulated to a terrifying degree. But his compound killer moves healed kept healing him. However, the injuries he is receiving are being created faster than he can heal them all.

He saw the entrance to his Immortal Aperture getting closer. But suddenly, something blocked his path. Spectral Soul's massive body blocked his way, preventing him from entering. He maneuvered around Spectral Soul's attacks. Thankfully, he was severely weakened otherwise Fang Yuan would be pressured by 5 Venerables.

With all their attention focused on Fang Yuan, the hole grew even bigger.

Genesis Lotus continued making strokes on Fang Yuan's portrait, when suddenly he was swallowed up by Chaos. He didn't even manage to make a sound before he died.

Noticing this, the other Venerables' eyes narrowed. With their guard down, Fang Yuan swiftly moved and arrived to the entrance of his Immortal Aperture. The other Venerables seeing this could not help but be filled with rage.

However, the rapidly increasing hole intimidated them, and so instead of attacking Fang Yuan, they quickly retreated.

Fang Yuan closed the entrance to the Sovereign Immortal Aperture and waited.

When he looked again, he saw the land engulfed in black flames. Fang Yuan could not help but worry should this method fail, but he had no other choice.

He waited, until his own vision was engulfed in black flames alongside intense pain.

He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming at the sheer pain. For what felt like an eternity, this persisted.

And then, he lost his vision.