Blue Lead stared at Crimson Soul, but beyond anything, he was puzzled.
"All the preparations you made? The Soul Foundation you exhausted was for this? Just to refine a Rank 7 Gu?" He asked, genuinely confused.
"Heh." Crimson Soul summoned King Crimson once more.
And as he did, the twenty immortals covered him from every angle.
The aura of King Crimson began to surge.
Blue Lead snorted coldly, and he summoned twenty daggers towards those immortals.
The defenses of 6 of them faltered, and immediately their hearts were pierced through.
Whilst another one was hit very close to his lungs, another two had their defenses cracking and felt a mild backlash.
And yet.
Amidst those tragedies, Crimson Soul merely chuckled.
He raised his arm softly, and a green aura surged through.
[Man as Before]
The pupils of Blue Lead widened.
"That damned Gu can affect others as well?"
He gritted his teeth.
That damned Red Lotus method was truly tricky.
"But aren't you worried about running out of essence by pulling such a stunt so many times?"
"Perhaps…But as I said, it hardly matters. This is the turning point already."
He closed his eyes and replied.
"As for why I went to such lengths to refine a mere Rank 7 Gu, well…You already know about the Rank 8 Gu I truly wanted to refine the most.
Infamy Gu was just the unfortunate step I needed before gaining enough confidence and strength to complete that step."
Blue Lead Immortal snorted coldly.
"So, your true goal was to refine that Rank 8 Gu, and Black Soul is just one of the materials…? But do you truly think refining a Rank 8 Immortal Gu is child's play? Do you truly believe we will give you the chance?"
"You still don't get it…Who said I am trying to refine that Gu right now?" He stretched his hands into the air.
"An Immortal Killer Move can be refined onto a Gu, and similarly an Immortal Gu can be recreated in the shape of an Immortal Killer Move."
At that moment, Blue Lead Immortal's pupils widened.
He finally understood what his aim was.
But it was too late.
Crimson Soul and Black Soul merged, flowing like Yin and Yang.
The two forces spiraled down together.
And in that moment.
From the bodies of the myriad of Blood Phantoms, a red steam began to condense.
All the sources of power converged towards the one unifying source.
An almost completely black core stood at the center of King Crimson's chest, with a smaller red orb spinning around.
Every Immortal at the scene.
Felt their hearts tighten.
Their souls felt a profound stir within.
The strange orb began to pull their souls towards the source.
Blue Lead Immortal felt a sharp pain in his chest.
At the moment when his shock was at its greatest, and when he was the most distracted.
King Crimson, whose body was now covered in a black cloak, pointed its hand at him.
A dark ray was shot towards him.
He gritted his teeth.
[Lead Mountain] As this move activated a mountain manifested out of thin air.
The mountain looked gorgeous, of a lustrous grey, with billions of small fragments of a white material which looked like salt, or like white crystals.
But from afar, it gave the appearance of snow.
It also held several blue stripes.
The mountain itself looked as if it had been an exaggerated painting of a real mountain, truly a sight to behold.
(If one disregarded the immediate poisoning one would suffer upon contact or inhalation of the surrounding air.)
The mountain collided against the beam and surprisingly held on.
Unfortunately, whilst all his attention turned towards King Crimson, Crimson Soul appeared from the side.
Spring Autumn Cicada's aura shone.
The pupils of Blue Lead Immortal widened.
He gritted his teeth.
Just before impact.
A thin layer of white energy appeared in his body.
The ray reached towards his body.
And his body was tossed away.
He coughed heavily as his body flew towards the heavens.
But his defenses surprisingly held on.
…
Crimson Soul's eyes shone slightly at that sight.
"Fate Armor…" But he was not too bothered; the defenses of Fate Armor were only as significant and mighty as those of Fate, and how well-protected by Fate they were.
Perhaps once upon a time, the protection of Fate would have been absolute, as he had been the Dao Guardian of the past Venerable.
But such an era was long gone.
The favor and protection he received from fate were, at best, somewhat superior to those of an ordinary Rank 8 Immortal Gu.
But nothing more.
There was nothing to fear.
King Crimson teleported a few kilometers ahead.
It opened its mouth, and as he did.
The soul-magnetic effect multiplied by a hundredfold.
Countless of Blood Phantoms were pulled towards his direction, whereas Blue Lead Immortal felt the pressure rising.
He frowned.
Fate Armor Gu was activated again, this time, protecting his soul from impact.
The battle intensified.
As they realized Crimson Soul had taken advantage for the very first time in the fight.
The people of Heavenly Court had no other choice but to strike.
Several Rank 8 attacks were shot, aiming at the inflated King Crimson, whose body was increasing in size every second.
At the same time.
The scenes of devastation, the destruction, and havoc left in the Sky Lord's Grotto Heaven were sent towards the Five Regions.
Many Immortals began to witness the scene.
As well as the scene of the strongest Rank 8 Immortal in the current world, facing an ancient Immortal from times forgotten.
They also witnessed his absurd superiority.
And how the people of Heavenly Court reinforced Blue Lead Immortal to allow him to barely keep up.
Crimson Soul smirked.
Infamy Gu manifested out of thin air.
A massive pulse was shot towards Blue Lead Immortal, shining through with divine force.
Infamy Gu was of Rank 7, yet it held one of the most powerful offensive powers in comparison to other Gu's of its rank.
But every move depleted its foundation.
It was like a bucket of water which could only be filled by performing atrocious acts, or if an already proclaimed demon performed a great feat.
The higher the Rank of the Gu, the bigger the bucket became and the more output it could sustain without breaking down.
But its properties remained the same.
Moreover, apart from consuming this 'water', in actual consumption, it required very little Immortal Essence.
Crimson Soul had used a Killer Move to be able to extract more water, almost half of the 'water' one would normally extract with its Rank 8 variant.
The only weakness regarding this method was that the bucket was relatively small, but that issue was almost non-existent to him at this point.
He arranged the scenery perfectly; just when he finally seized the initiative, he began to record everything that had happened thus far.
Gaining a tremendous trump card in the process, of course, there was a flaw.
The bucket would only get filled whilst he had the initiative; if people doubted his strength it would begin to decline.
In other words, to sustain his offensive, he could not afford a single second of weakness.
The ending was drawing nearer.
And all the immortals there understood this.
Thunder Ghost True Monarch put her gaze away from the three immortals.
Focusing intently on the battle ahead.
"Sigh…It does seem that Star Constellation's words will come true. He is not going to survive this." She closed her eyes, feeling melancholy.
But also, she felt deep admiration towards Blue Lead Immortal.
"And he knows this too…But despite everything, he has not shown a single trace of fear on his face.
Nor has he revealed a single flaw that could expose the plan.
He truly is an exceptional man…" Of course, those words were merely thought of, whilst infinitely unlikely, she was aware of the possibility of somebody hearing her words.
And she could not take the chance.
But whilst her focus was away.
"Huh? You are back…" The real Kao Dao Ji raised his eyebrows in bewilderment; the one who had stolen his body had reappeared out of nowhere.
"But you truly think you are still under control? Now that I have taken the lead, you can forget about ever gaining charge."
"Okay, okay…But our situation is not good right now. And I know a thing which can save us."
"Are you trying to trick me? Please. Just like you have my memories, I have yours too. And I can say with absolute certainty that you did not know such a method before.
So what, am I supposed to believe that you invented it during the hour you were gone?"
Kao Dao Ji smiled weakly.
"Of course I could not do that, hah…"
"But what about Spectral Soul?"
"Spectral Soul? You meet him. Wait, when you ended up in that state, did you actually die? Were you brought back to life by him?"
"Yeah, yeah…I know it sounds hard to believe, but it truly happened." He shrugged.
"Or did you think my side of the attainment disappeared without a good reason?"
"Anyway, he drafted into me the muscle memory to perform several Killer Moves before bringing me here.
And honestly, I do not really understand why or how those steps work exactly, so I cannot exactly teach them to you…So…Could you let me borrow this body so we can escape from here?"
The real Kao Dao Ji crossed his arms and snorted coldly.
"Never. You are never going back there. I would rather die a freeman than to end up as your meat suit for the rest of my existence."
"…"
The two were at a standstill.
In reality, he did not know what to say to get out of this situation.
There was a conflict of interest; neither of the two wanted to become a subservient being to the other.
And they knew that whoever was in the reins of the body held a tremendous upper hand; this much was proven by the fact that the only way for either side to regain control was basically to wait until the other died.
Only in those two instances had control swapped hands.
But whilst the two voices kept discussing with each other.
Thunder Ghost True Monarch turned her gaze towards the duo.
Of course, she could not discern the inner turmoil within his soul. Even now, the Rank 9 Killer Move remained active, and she could only discern the most basic of soul fluctuations.
"We have our differences, and I also know you despise us. However, we now have a common enemy.
If there is a weakness we are not aware of, or if you have clues regarding the identity of the Will inside the Cicada, please feel free to share them.
We will reward you greatly for your service." She spoke in a polite tone, completely different from her previous personality.
Kao Dao Ji's two personalities turned their gaze towards the battle and knew the reason: Blue Lead Immortal was losing badly.
Even so.
The original consciousness simply snorted coldly.
"Common enemy? Please don't make me laugh. You and your people are the true enemy of our race! Across how many eons have you pursued us? How many of us have you hunted down?
Do you truly believe I am stupid enough to try and help you, for what?
Are you truly saying that you will spare me if I help you? Don't make me laugh.
Also, go fuck yourself."
The expression of Thunder Ghost True Monarch trembled ever so slightly.
She wanted to vent her rage but kept her polite smile.
"Is that so…Then why don't you take a good look at this?"
A screen appeared ahead of Kao Dao Ji's vision; initially, his expression remained firm.
He would not be dissuaded from his path with just a few pretty words.
But at the next moment, his expression turned one of terror and anxiety.
Fear.
Nausea.
Rage.
Despair.
Those and other emotions appeared in the face of Kao Dao Ji as he saw in full view the destruction of his Clan before his bare eyes.
At that moment, Thunder Ghost True Monarch smiled at him again.
"So…Do you see now? Do you see how closely our interests align?"
Her smile, whilst polite, seemed utterly mocking, clearly part of the reason why he had shown him those videos was to see his expression twist in despair.
"And…Is there anything you would like to share?" Despite her words, she did not feel greatly reassured in the Featherman's ability to help her.
But it was worth a shot, because everything regarding that Featherman was a huge mystery that even Star Constellation could not resolve easily.
Especially regarding his strange knowledge and abilities.
Of course, the original Kao Dao Ji could not perceive this.
His mind was still in shock at the scenes he had just witnessed.
"Is there anything, no matter how minute, that you could share with us?"
Despite her polite tone, Kao Dao Ji could perceive the intensity of her gaze; clearly, she was trying to figure out his actual thoughts from his facial expression.
As for reading his thoughts? It was beyond her.
The Rank 9 Killer Move protecting his soul was far too thorough, and even she could not pierce through its defenses, which left her in this awkward state.