The General of Thousand Roads regarded Between the Weft and Warp as his greatest masterpiece, once declaring that if anyone could break this formation, he would greet them as a master, follow their command, and treat them with the utmost respect.
Over a month ago, Gu Fangchen had already broken through Between the Weft and Warp once, using the formation to reverse-anchor himself and complete a teleportation.
At that time, to be cautious, he had assumed the identity of Lord Decay while communicating with the General of Thousand Roads.
But even then, that shameless old man dared to play tricks before Lord Decay himself, proposing yet another wager.
Now, after a month's effort, the General of Thousand Roads had further encrypted Between the Weft and Warp.
A few days prior, Gu Fangchen and the General had redefined their wager, the bet this time was whether Gu Fangchen could escape from the Tower of Civil and Martial Trials.
And this time, Gu Fangchen appeared as the Lord of the Dao of Sentiment, revealing that the one who had cooperated with Lord Decay before had been himself.
That was how he officially solidified one of the false identities he had crafted for himself.
Within the Tower of Civil and Martial Trials, there had been not only the suppression of the Demon-Suppressing Grand Formation, but also the lockdown of Between the Weft and Warp.
Unfortunately for the General of Thousand Roads, Teleportation Array 1.14514 had evolved to the ultimate version, an iteration beyond further iteration.
With his deep experience from previous matches against the General of Thousand Roads, no matter how the latter upgraded or adjusted the formation, he could never touch the true core of this version.
Their levels of mastery were simply not on the same plane.
And so, inevitably, Gu Fangchen won once again.
Although the General of Thousand Roads clearly wanted to renege again, this time Gu Fangchen no longer had any scruples about his identity and resorted directly to threats.
Few had ever seen the old man's true form, he rarely manifested his physical body. But Gu Fangchen, being his "closest friend," knew things others did not.
Such as the fact that the great General of Thousand Roads was bald.
Not only did he know, he had even helped the man search for hair-regrowth elixirs.
It seemed that even cultivators could not escape the fate of baldness…
After reluctantly handing over the access privileges, the General of Thousand Roads allowed Gu Fangchen to locate the coordinates he needed:
Northern Territories. Xiajing Route. The Desert Sea.
That was where Gu Yuanye's true body resided.
However, Between the Weft and Warp could only transport one to pre-marked coordinates. Those markers were limited and regularly purged by the "Path of Measurement" cultivators who maintained the network, removing unnecessary ones.
The Desert Sea had once belonged to the southern tribes before being conquered by Great Wei.
Now, it was crawling with all manner of rogues, wanderers, and exiled demonic cultivators, a lawless, ungoverned wasteland.
The Demon Sect's own forces there were already abundant, so there had been no need to waste effort setting a teleportation anchor.
As a result, the coordinate Gu Fangchen found was still some distance away from his true target, deep in the desert's heart.
But for him, isolation was a blessing.
He looked at the white cross-shaped scar in his hand, then turned to Ning Caiyong, his expression solemn. "Mother, I have something I must tell you."
Ning Caiyong's face tightened in worry. Seeing his pale, ghastly complexion, she thought he was about to say something grave and quickly said, "Chen'er, whatever it is, it can wait. Your wounds-"
Gu Fangchen shook his head.
"I'm fine, Mother. Don't worry. I have to go to the Desert Sea next. You and Master can come find me there later."
"But this thing, I must tell you now."
He stepped forward, took her hand, and blinked meaningfully.
"From the top of the Tower of Civil and Martial Trials, you can't see anything at all."
Ning Caiyong froze.
Before setting out, Gu Fangchen had asked her how Gu Yuanye had supposedly fallen for her at first sight all those years ago.
She had sensed even then that he meant to verify it.
And now, the result was as expected.
"So, don't grieve. That man wasn't worth even a single strand of your hair."
Gu Fangchen released her hand and spoke softly, his gaze briefly falling upon the uneven lock missing from her temple before he turned away.
In the distance, the woman in the azure dress had finally broken through the blockade of the Lord of the Four-Phase Calamity, her killing intent surging as she descended with cold, cutting eyes.
Gu Fangchen clenched the cross-shaped mark, activated its teleportation function, and together with Xuexiang, stepped into Between the Weft and Warp.
....
"Puh!"
Gu Yuanye's eyes snapped open as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He immediately wiped the remaining traces away with a forceful swipe.
He stared silently at the blood on the ground, his breath growing heavier and harsher with every moment.
"Huff… Huff…"
Finally, he clenched his fists and smashed them into the ground.
"Boom, crack!"
The ground split open with a deafening crack, sending fractures racing across the stone walls all around.
All three of his avatars had been destroyed, and the karma once distributed among them had now exceeded what his "War Puppet" could bear, rebounding upon his true body.
But worse still…
Gu Yuanye's face darkened. He raised his hand and saw a faint black miasma coiling around him.
Gu Fangchen's last words had not been mere bluff, they were real.
He had truly located Gu Yuanye's real body through the formation hidden within the false dragon vein.
"Damn it! That little bastard thinks that finding my true body means he can kill me?"
"A mere Fourth Rank… he's not even qualified to die with me!"
Gu Yuanye's eyes were bloodshot, his expression twisted with fury.
He slowly rose to his feet. All around him, embedded within the shattered stone walls, stood rows upon rows of massive bronze statues.
Each statue was that of a soldier clad in armor, kneeling upon one knee before him, heads bowed as if in eternal reverence.
Nine ever-burning lamps flickered along the stone walls, their flames illuminating the massive chains that stretched into the darkness in all directions.
Beneath his feet, where he had been meditating, lay an enormous bronze coffin.
Its lid had been slightly displaced, revealing a black, bottomless void within, though it was still bound tight by chains, unable to move another inch.
The coffin was engraved with ancient inscriptions, sigils designed to suppress baleful energy, and covered in talismans drawn in blood. Age had blurred many of them beyond recognition.
Some had even been soaked through by the moisture of the underground, turning the runes into streaks of blood that trickled down the coffin's surface in eerie rivulets.
If a talisman master were here to witness this scene, they would be horrified beyond words.
Every single one of those talismans was of at least Third Rank Daoist craftsmanship, seals capable of binding abominations. Whatever was sealed here was anything but ordinary. It was something terrifying beyond comprehension.
And indeed, it was.
Previously, it had been mentioned that Gu Yuanye's three avatars were forged from the terracotta warriors sealed for a thousand years within the Martial Tomb of the Soldier Immortal.
And this place, was that very Martial Tomb of the Soldier Immortal.