The trio stared at the sun; its pull was overwhelming.
Their very beings were entirely focused on it.
Leaving no room for other thoughts in their heads, but as they remained distracted.
From behind the group.
Several beams were shot.
"Behind you!" Da Ji Rou warned.
The group reacted, unfortunately they had no chance to avoid it.
Instead, they hardened their defenses to the very limit, hoping that whatever attack may be, could be withstood by them.
Yet.
Their expressions completely changed, as they felt their defenses 'hardening.'
Their pupils shrank, and their bodies could no longer move properly.
A confrontation seemed inevitable!
Not even their minds remained intact; Sunny Thoughts collided inside their brains, producing heavy hemorrhages.
Da Ji Rou pondered over the scene.
"This Land Spirit…He is too absurd. Not only does he have a method to force a sure-hit technique, but he can also forcefully keep us entrapped.
Not only that, but he's also attacking their brains and has methods to freeze them in place.
How am I supposed to salvage this?" He frowned. If his main body were there, he could effortlessly solve everything.
Unfortunately, he was only given a singular Immortal Gu, plus a few thousand Mortal Gu, as well as some Rank 7 Essence.
Truth be told,his presence was just supposed to be a safe-sail in case there was an ambush.
With Da Di Gen Xi's space-traversing techniques, they believed that he would not easily be trapped. At worst, Da Ji Rou would merely need to expend his strength to give him a few breaths to cast his move.
Never they imagined that they would face an opponent so bizarre.
Da Ji Rou's eyes gleamed. He began to recall everything from the very beginning, and his eyes suddenly shone.
"There is still hope!" He exclaimed.
The Will resonated once more, a powerful layer covered their bodies protecting them from the 'sun', whereas the aura surrounding their bodies was swiped away.
Da Di Gen Xi stretched his claws into the air, and once more.
He triggered his technique.
But instead of trying to escape from the aperture like before, the tunnel was created across his aperture.
They traveled 12 kilometers before finally stopping.
At that, Kao Dao Ji smiled bitterly.
"The weakness of my Killer Move has been uncovered."
His Domain Expansion Killer Move consisted of manipulating the space within a certain subsegment within his aperture and stretching it endlessly like a tentacle towards the target, then they would be absorbed and would appear in the exact spot where they were absorbed.
But from within?
Creating those tentacles was a physical impossibility; it was like a snake trying to eat its own tail.
Whilst he could employ other tricks, they were nowhere near as exaggerated as this.
"Still, against most opponents this would have been enough." He narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Da Ji Rou's figure and smirked.
The Will now looked like the flame of a candle, so frail that even the smallest wind would extinguish it.
He doubted that it could do much, at most there would be an small trick or two. Nothing he could not handle.
Kao Dao Ji shrugged.
"You know…"
"I always wondered why people never use their strongest attack first." He said in a candid tone.
The eyelids of the three Immortals twitched.
Their relief at having survived the crisis, as well as lingering fear and rage mixed together, they stared at him hatefully.
But did not dare to approach, after all, who knew how many dirty tactics he would employ next.
Da Zhen Qi snorted, and from his nostrils, hot steam came out.
"You used fire against us, the Eggman. So, I will be using Cloud Path to crush you!" He snorted coldly, tides upon tides of scorching steam were released from his palms.
Whereas Kao Dao Ji merely squinted his eyes.
With a palm, he retaliated.
Another tide of boiling steam was unleashed.
"Fire? I think you have a little misunderstanding!" The two forces collided and rose in intensity, whilst Kao Dao Ji's own tide was overwhelmed at first.
It rapidly was set alight by golden streaks of lighting.
The temperature skyrocketed, like a wildfire. Kao Dao Ji's steam rapidly burned the one of his opponent into even more fuel, enlarging that scorching sight visibly.
The other two Immortals, who had been preparing a pair of offensive Killer Moves, stopped in their tracks.
The terror of that sun remained fresh in their minds, and so, they retracted their Killer Moves and instead.
The three Immortals retreated together hundreds of meters away.
Whereas Kao Dao Ji put his hands behind his back and smiled mysteriously.
"Heh-Heh."
Noticing the air of an expert that the supposed Land Spirit released, they could not help but doubt their senses. Was this great figure truly a Land Spirit?
"I have an offer for you, one that is bound to benefit both sides." Kao Dao Ji spoke calmly but firmly.
The three Immortals paused in their tracks. They stared at Kao Dao Ji, wondering what his next words would be.
"Once I defeat you, could you kindly not destroy your Immortal Gu?"
The expression of the three Immortals changed, rage appeared in their faces as they felt they were duped by him.
And just as those words were spoken.
A pair of figures appeared behind the trio.
Uru Hong Jing, whose eyes were bleeding profusely, using [Glimpse Ahead] in his new eyes, as well as teleporting somebody alongside him, burdened his vision greatly.
But he smiled faintly; his purpose had been fulfilled.
Da Di Gen Xi's eyes widened as he saw Le Tu charging towards him at divine speed; several rocks appeared covering his body.
Unfortunately they were smashed away with a casual gesture by Le Tu who then procedeed to touch his big head, and his body rapidly hardened.
Moreover, countless Clouded Thoughts Gu were rapidly injected into his brain.
Despite this, he managed to find the strength within him to say.
"L-Le Tu? And…Uru Hong Jing? What are you doing here?" He exclaimed.
At the same time.
The other two Immortals tried to save their captured friend, however.
[Morning Cloud Field!] Kao Dao Ji unleashed his move, stopping their attacks and forcing them to retreat.
[Myriad Jade Daggers]
[Superhot steam]
The two forces collided against Kao Dao Ji's own; they held their ground easily, even gaining the upper hand.
However.
Le Tu, who had just finished trapping his opponent, joined the combat.
He tried to flank the duo, but they were not fools.
Instead, they retreated farther and farther away.
Trying to reposition themselves.
Unfortunately, the situation was already unwinnable.
Le Tu and Kao Dao Ji acted together, leaving very few chances for the duo to survive.
However, the situation grew more and more desperate.
Until finally.
Four minutes later.
Le Tu grabbed their two heads at once.
The expression of the duo changed; resolve appeared in their expression as they gritted their teeth.
Ready to give one final instruction to their Gu.
Kao Dao Ji urged.
"Do you remember my previous words?" He suddenly said.
"Whilst I admit I acted a bit pretentious to gain some time whilst my friends secretly approached.
I was not lying.
The most optimal choice you can do is admit defeat and don't destroy your Gu."
Da Zhen Qi snorted coldly.
"What are you implying? Are you saying that if we give you all our Immortal Gu, you will spare us?
But how can I trust those words? Besides, without our Immortal Gu, how are we supposed to survive our Tribulations?
We may as well die today!" He spoke threateningly, of course, he did not truly mean it.
Who would want to die if there was still hope? Still. He knew well that the world of an Immortal, especially an enemy, was almost worthless.
He needed proof, sincerity.
However, Kao Dao Ji shook his head.
"That is not what I meant."
He smiled lightly.
"I am sure that when you decided to come here, you never intended to kill me. Nor to destroy my aperture, rather you were trying to capture me and use me as a hostage.
Similarly, I do not gain anything from killing you, nor do I believe you will be stupid enough to give me all your Immortal Gu without assurance.
Even then, if I take all your Immortal Gu and spare you. I doubt the Clan behind you will be satisfied.
Instead of creating a pointless enmity, I very much prefer to negotiate with your Clan.
If we do that, not only can you keep your Immortal Gu, but I will also benefit greatly.
Is a Win-Win deal!" The two Immortals stared at him with a deadpan expression.
He had a twisted view of a fair exchange.
"However," Kao Dao Ji suddenly added, his expression hardened.
"I am not entirely sure if you are willing to abide by that. Even though we have captured you, you may still be able to escape using your Immortal's Gu prowess.
So, why don't we make a compromise?
You give me all your Immortal Gu, but I will not be able to use, refine, or sell them.
If a certain duration goes by, if you die or are harmed in any way, or if you simply will it.
The Gu will automatically explode."
Da Jia Jia spoke. "You...Your words sound convincing, but how do we know you are not saying this, just so we willingly give away our Gu before you steal them from us somehow?"
At that, Kao Dao Ji rolled his eyes.
"As if stealing Immortal Gu were that easy."
Immortal Gu held the Will of the Immortal; to refine the Will within them had to be destroyed, otherwise the Gu could explode at any given point.
Even for an ordinary Rank 7, stealing a Rank 6 Immortal Gu was not easy, let alone for most Rank 6 Immortals.
Of course, they were worried that Kao Dao Ji would be reinforced by his Clan, and together they would find a way, however.
"Just surrender…" Da Ji Rou suddenly spoke.
His voice sounded tired and defeated. He stared at Kao Dao Ji.
"What a shame that you blocked all communications, even now, my main body remains unaware that a threat like you exists."
His expression hardened.
"But while I may not gain any intel, you can forget about doing the same with me!"
With no hesitation, the Will killed itself.
Kao Dao Ji remained indifferent; he had foreseen that outcome, and instead glanced at the duo before smiling again.
"So, what will you choose?"
The duo sighed.
Without any other choice, they gave away their Immortal Gu to Kao Dao Ji, who grinned.
"You have made a great decision!" He nodded several times.
Then.
He narrowed his eyes.
"But please take a break, my friends."
An absurd amount of Clouded Thoughts Gu rapidly surged towards the brains of the two.
And the two fell unconscious.
Kao Dao Ji stared at Le Tu and asked.
"Did the other give away his Immortal Gu too?"
Le Tu nodded calmly.
"Great. With this, we will be able to negotiate with the Da Clan properly!" He smirked.
Then, he stared at the unconscious bodies as he added.
"Of course, there's still some work to do. I cannot have them knowing that you two are here, so we will need to erase a couple of their memories and also..."
He smirked.
From his aperture, he summoned another Gu.
"There are so many things we can learn from them…"
[Soul Search Gu.]