48 RI
"Yin cloud Gu."
In the secret room, Fang Yuan sat on the cushion, muttering as he pointed his finger forward.
Suddenly, a Gu came out of his aperture like a flash of light.
The moment it appeared, it lightly exploded, turning into a dark black cloud.
This cloud sank quickly, as it circulated within itself, in the blink of an eye, it landed on the ground, and placed Fang Yuan above the cloud layer.
Fang Yuan sat on the black cloud, it was softer than the cushion, but slightly colder.
He was not surprised, stretching out his index finger and pointing to the air.
"Yang cloud Gu."
A white light tore through the air as it exploded into pure white mist.
Once the white cloud appeared, it wanted to rise, but sensed the black cloud below Fang Yuan.
The two cloud layers had a formless attraction to each other, as the black and white clouds continued to roll internally, looking after one another.
One was below Fang Yuan, while the other was above his head.
The gloomy cloud was like ink, while the bright cloud was like foam, as the two converged, lightning appeared.
Traces of blue lightning quickly flashed between these two clouds.
Initially, there was one or two traces, but they soon multiplied, growing in numbers, in a few breath's time, they formed into a field of lightning.
Fang Yuan had already activated the canopy Gu, his body covered in a white armor.
At the same time, he activated the all-out effort Gu as he casually stretched out his arm, and a wild boar phantom appeared behind him, becoming a giant boar image in the air.
Crack crack.
Once the boar phantom appeared, the lightning bolts acted like sharks attracted to blood , shooting towards it.
In an instant, the boar phantom was forcefully suppressed, shrinking to the size of a stone mill. Lightning circulated in its body, like deep blue chains that trapped it.
The rest of the lightning hit Fang Yuan's body, but was blocked by the white armor.
Fang Yuan recalled the all-out effort Gu, but this boar phantom did not vanish, like a caged bird, trapped firmly.
Under the constant attack of the lightning cage, the boar phantom started to show signs of disappearing.
Lightning, combining destruction and purification into one. After a thunderstorm, new life grows. The power of lightning specialized in destruction, and contained the destruction law fragment.
At this point, Fang Yuan was using the Yin Yang dual cloud Gu to gather lightning and remove one of his wild boar strength.
It had been three days since that auction.
Although the Yin Yang dual cloud Gu was rank three, it was an ordinary Gu bought in the shop. Other than this, he also bought some material, and after failing once, he refined the eating one's words Gu and removed the poison vow Gu on him.
Fang Yuan had once used the black and white boar Gu on Qing Mao mountain, to gain the strength of two boars.
The rank three all-out effort Gu can only summon one beast phantom at a time. After it reaches rank four, there are stronger beast phantoms available. Thus, the strength of two boars would be redundant and repetitive.
Now that Fang Yuan had excess money, he decided to optimize his body.
To get rid of this boar phantom, it would take some time, at least nineteen days. The cooperation of the Yin Yang dual cloud Gu to summon lightning was the most common and cheap method.
Beast phantoms are the law fragments lurking in a person's body. To get rid of them, it would take some effort.
Fang Yuan carefully used the Yin cloud Gu and Yang cloud Gu, as both clouds moved rapidly, like two thick carpets filling the entire secret room.
One white cloud covered the ceiling. One black cloud covered the floor.
In the middle, lightning struck, bolts of blue lightning connected the two clouds and trapped the boar phantom as it slowly disintegrated.
A soft 'crack crack' sound, different from loud thunder, could be heard continuously.
To get rid of this boar phantom, it would take a while, but now Fang Yuan called out another Gu.
This Gu was like a dragonfly, three pairs of wings, palm size. It had four colors that shone brilliantly: jade green, sapphire blue, gold and bright red.
This was the instant success Gu, its body containing the Dao mark of time. As the name suggests, it can speed up the flow of time, it was a rank four consumable Gu.
Fang Yuan split his mind into three, controlling the Yin Yang dual cloud Gu, activating his primeval essence, and injecting them into the instant success Gu.
His primeval sea level fell drastically, eighty, seventy, sixty percent...
Instant success Gu was a rank four Gu, with his rank three initial stage cultivation, it was tough for Fang Yuan to activate it.
When his light silver primeval essence fell to thirty percent, Fang Yuan halted his primeval essence usage, and the heavenly essence treasure lotus slowly opened up, as natural essence gushed out from it, instantly infected by Fang Yuan's aura and becoming his light silver primeval essence.
His primeval sea level started to rise, forty, fifty, sixty percent...
Rinse and repeat, after his primeval sea level fell and rose several times, the instant success Gu was finally full, and once activated, it gave off a dazzling light show.
This colorful display of lights shone on the Yin Yang dual cloud Gu and the beast phantom, dying the secret room with a rainbow color.
The boar phantom's disintegration accelerated.
Originally, the speed of disintegration was almost unnoticeable by the naked eye. But now, like a snowball rolling down a mountain, the speed increased drastically.
After more than ten breaths' time, the wild boar phantom was completely destroyed.
After confirming it, Fang Yuan quickly stopped using the instant success Gu, and kept his Yin Yang dual cloud Gu.
He could return the Yin Yang dual cloud Gu back to the shop, with the purple thorn token, as long as it is within three days, Fang Yuan can return the Gu and get back the same amount he paid. It was safer than borrowing a Gu from people, and he would not make any loss.
If he borrowed a Gu, the initiative is in their hands, with just a thought, they can take back the Gu in an instant, there would be nothing Fang Yuan could do.
As for the instant success Gu.
After the lights were dimmed as much as possible, its three pair of wings only had two left, and its entire body was slowly vanishing.
Once this Gu was used, it could not be stopped, the lights will continue to shine and accelerate time accordingly. Fang Yuan reducing the light intensity would only prolong its remaining time.
"Again."
Fang Yuan made use of his remaining time, next, he activated the galloping horse strength Gu.
This Gu was rank three, able to modify a Gu Master's body and form a horse strength phantom for him.
Under the influence of the galloping horse strength Gu, Fang Yuan's body felt numb as the fragment of the strength law started to reside in his body.
This process would last two to three months normally, it was time consuming.
But now, Fang Yuan still had the instant success Gu.
He breathed in deeply, releasing the restraints on the instant success Gu, and a dazzling light shone on him immediately.
The numb feeling intensified at once, the two to three months of torture assaulted him, turning into a painful numb feeling.
Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, after five minutes, his body was drenched in sweat.
But the horse strength phantom had successfully taken root in his body. After removing the strength of a boar, he added the strength of a horse!
The instant success Gu's light dimmed again, it had lost another wing in this process, it only had one pair of wings plus another half a piece.
But Fang Yuan paid a much greater price.
Instant success Gu had a great drawback, that is, in this short period, he lost three months of lifespan!
"Again!"
Fang Yuan wiped away his sweat, ignoring the intense pain in his body and used the Gu again. @@novelbin@@
He had to make the best of his time, while the instant success Gu was still around, he had to make the best out of it.
Green bull labor Gu!
The dazzling light shone on his body again.
Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, his eyebrows squeezing tightly, as his pain was even greater than earlier, like giant waves crashing on the shore.
It was five minutes again, but this time, it was much harder to endure.
Finally, through Fang Yuan's determination, he endured through this period. His body gained the strength of a bull!
The instant success Gu now, had two wings left, both tattered and torn. Its entire dragonfly body was turning translucent, like a hologram floating in the air.
Fang Yuan felt an intense headache, his ears were buzzing and his heart was beating quickly.
"Barely any time left..."
He breathed in deeply, forcing himself to focus, as he activated the stone turtle strength Gu.
But this time, the process only lasted half the time before the lights dimmed, and vanished, as the instant success Gu's time was used up.
The secret room fell into complete darkness after the lights vanished.
The primeval sea was left with less than thirty percent of primeval essence, but under the help of the heavenly essence treasure lotus, it started to rise slowly.
Heavenly essence treasure lotus was a rank three Gu, it was a very strong assistance to the recovering of Fang Yuan's primeval essence.
Fang Yuan breathed out deeply, feeling fatigue assault him, almost draining his entire body.
Although he was seated on the cushion, his body was swaying, and he had difficulties sitting.
Activating this instant success took half a year's lifespan from him. It was a heavy price, but he managed to remove the boar phantom, and gain the strength of a bull, horse, and half a turtle!
Thankfully, he was still young, he had enough lifespan to spare.
Fang Yuan's battle strength rose sharply!
A day later, on the battle stage, Fang Yuan had his thirtieth match.
Ding.
The bell announced the start of the battle.
"I admit defeat!"
His opponent shouted, ending the battle.
Thus, Fang Yuan obtained his thirtieth victory. In fifth inner city, he had thirty consecutive battles, thirty net wins, and rose to fourth inner city!
No one was surprised by this result.
The Gu Masters in fifth inner city battle stage saw him leave and sighed in relief.
...
"I will return this sum of money to you!" Tie Dao Ku said with a serious expression, his attitude extremely firm.
"Just a small matter, don't mind it. Brother Tie, what plans do you have now?" His friend smiled.
Tie Dao Ku showed a determined expression: "Gu Yue Fang Zheng is my target, I will not stop until I arrest him. I am going to participate in the Shang clan battle stage!"
After saying bye to his friend, Tie Dao Ku came to the battle zone alone, but heard a nightmare.
"What, Fang Zheng went to fourth inner city? Damn it!"
Tie Dao Ku clenched his fist, indignant: "Fang Zheng, do you think you can escape? Hmph, if you went to fourth inner city, so will I. Not mentioning third inner city, but do you think fifth inner city can stop me? I have to hurry, I shall have my first match today!"
"I refined the ice crystal Gu as my vital Gu. Coupled with the vitality Gu to prevent the backlash from the energy of the ice crystal, this way, my core is completed. For close range, I have ice edge Gu, and for long range, should I use snowball Gu or icicle Gu?" Bai Ning Bing thought along the way as she walked to the battle stage.
"Eh? It's you!" Tie Dao Ku saw Bai Ning Bing walk onto the stage, and was stunned before cheering: "Great! Heaven has eyes, for me to encounter you on the first match!"
Bai Ning Bing heard this, and raised her beautiful jewel-like blue eyes, and spoke in her usual cold tone: "Who are you?"
-x-X-x-
Honestly speaking, Bai Ning Bing did not know who Tie Dao Ku was.
When Fang and Bai left Qing Mao mountain, Tie Dao Ku and gang were constantly lagging behind them. Even during Bai Gu mountain inheritance, the eventual battle did not involve Tie Dao Ku, nor did Fang and Bai meet him.
Only until a while ago, when Tie Dao Ku and Bai clan came to Shang clan city, did he see Fang Yuan in person for the first time.
But after that, Fang Yuan lured them to Shi Zi restaurant, and after a conversation, Bai clan took out all they had and ran away after giving him five hundred thousand, leaving Tie Dao Ku behind, arrested by Shi Zi restaurant and forced to be a guard outside the door.
Bai Ning Bing did not know of his existence.
But Tie Dao Ku recognised Bai Ning Bing.
From the Bai clan arrest warrant, he had already engraved their appearances deep into his heart.
Now that he saw Bai Ning Bing, he was exhilarated.
Heaven is kind to me, heaven has eyes, giving me a chance to take revenge so quickly!
But after his exhilaration, came intense rage.
Bai Ning Bing's 'who are you' triggered the rage, hatred, humiliation, grievance in Tie Dao Ku, pouring out of a volcano like molten lava!
You murderer, killing my young master, causing me to nearly die, and caused me to be forced into being a guard for a brothel, causing me to be seen by a friend, and losing my reputation.
These were all caused by you, you culprit, And you, you don't know who I am!
"Ahhhh!" Tie Dao Ku screamed in fury, his neck turning red from shouting, as intense killing intent burst out of his body.
Ding!
The battle started, and Tie Dao Ku did not hesitate, charging towards Bai Ning Bing.
Feeling her enemy's intense killing intent, Bai Ning Bing squinted as she snorted coldly, rushing towards him as well.
The two got closer rapidly, almost instantly appearing before each other.
Iron hand Gu! Hand blade Gu!
At once, Tie Dao Ku's hands became iron, and the edges of his palms became sharp blades.
Ice edge Gu!
Bai Ning Bing placed her palms together, and split them apart, instantly forming a blade of pure ice.
Clang!
A crisp sound, and the iron hand blade collided with the frosty iceblade.
The two crossed swords, and as they travelled five to six steps, Bai Ning Bing twisted her waist and flicked her wrist; three icicles flew towards Tie Dao Ku's back.
Tie Dao Ku growled, forcefully turning around his body and swinging his palms around, smashing the icicles into bits, then ferociously charging towards Bai Ning Bing again.
Bai Ning Bing's gaze became serious.
After that short exchange, she had understood that this was a fierce opponent.
"Very good, I can use him to assess the quality of my Gu set." Bai Ning Bing's battle intent rose.
She was not a monster like Fang Yuan, without such a massive pool of experience, she could only trial and error on her own. Entering the battle stage, one was to earn primeval stones, and two was to develop her own unique set of Gu worms.
Swift shadow Gu!
At this time, Tie Dao Ku's speed increased, leaving a trace of shadows behind him like a tail.
His acceleration allowed him to reach Bai Ning Bing in a moment.
"So fast!" Bai Ning Bing's pupils shrunk.
Tie Dao Ku had already stretched out both arms, raising them high above his head, then splitting down, like an axe, chopping towards Bai Ning Bing.
Even before he hit his target, the wind already blew Bai Ning Bing's silver hair into the air, as her face felt a chill.
The arms were like two sharp blades expanding in Bai Ning Bing's vision.
Tie Dao Ku first used iron hand Gu, then used the hand blade Gu to cause the edges of his palm to become sharp as a blade.
Not only this, the two sides of his forearm also became dull blades.
Tie Dao Ku's attack was strong and heavy, with unparalleled sharpness, even a huge rock could be broken, not to mention a fragile human body.
Even with her ice muscles jade bones, Bai Ning Bing did not dare to take it head on, forced to dodge.
Bai Ning Bing retreated as she guarded with her iceblade.
Tie Dao Ku rotated his arms, like a moving windmill, sending his hand blades slashing towards her.
Clang clang clang...
Iceblade and hand blade collided and continuously gave off a loud noise.
Bai Ning Bing created another iceblade, dual wielding, as she retreated and blocked Tie Dao Ku's furious assault.
Ice edge Gu was the advancement of the rank two iceblade Gu, it had a tougher body and sharper edge.
But Tie Dao Ku also used rank three Gu, using the combination of iron hand Gu and hand blade Gu, with the hand blade Gu was the core of his entire Gu set.
At once, ice shards flew into the air, as the iceblade was filled with cracks.
Tie Dao Ku whipped up a steel blade tornado, he was older and more experienced than Bai Ning Bing, with his anger unleashed, he attacked without rest, forcing Bai Ning Bing to retreat over a hundred steps.
Tie Dao Ku was picked by the Tie clan young master and acted as his right hand man, he had to have some outstanding ability.
If that Tie clan young master became the clan leader in the future, Tie Dao Ku would be like Wei Yang, promoted to an elder in the clan!
Bai Ning Bing was fiercely suppressed, she was bound to lose if this continued. There were numerous cuts on her body as blood poured out.
"This cannot go on... frost breath Gu!" Bai Ning Bing activated her primeval essence, injecting them into her tongue.
There was a six sided ice flower symbol on her tongue, it was the insignia of the frost breath Gu.
Her cheeks puffed up as she exhaled a breath of icy wind.
The light blue icy wind engulfed Tie Dao Ku, causing his arms and half his chest to have a layer of frost.
Coldness assaulted him, as Tie Dao Ku shivered, like he was doused with a bucket of icy water in the hot summer weather, causing his attacks to slow down.
Bai Ning Bing quickly jumped back, pulling distance from Tie Dao Ku.
Tie Dao Ku still wanted to get closer to her, but why would Bai Ning Bing give him the opportunity?
Icicle Gu!
Snowball Gu!
Many icicles and snowballs formed, shooting towards Tie Dao Ku, attacking him like a torrent, as Tie Dao Ku's assault was forcefully terminated.
Bai Ning Bing breathed out in relief, Tie Dao Ku's momentum was broken, as she finally caught her breath.
"This person is obviously bad at long range and specializes in close range. But how could I lose in sword technique? Ice crystal Gu!"
Bai Ning Bing was arrogant and proud, her silver hair fluttered as a fierce light shot out of her jewel-like blue eyes.
The cuts earlier had already stopped bleeding, this was the effect of the ice muscles to stop bleeding.
Ice crystal Gu was Bai Ning Bing's vital Gu, once activated, the sound of water freezing could be heard all over Bai Ning Bing's body.
Her flesh and blood vanished, converted into a diamond-like crystal form.
At a glance, she was like an ice sculpture, her expression disappeared, her cold appearance became even more emotionless. Her eyes stopped blinking and on the surface of her eyes, there was a thick layer of transparent frost.
Her body grew slightly, her height increasing by two to three inches, and her entire aura had a dominating coldness.
Tie Dao Ku's ferocious attacks earlier gave her no time to activate the ice crystal Gu, but now she finally could.
When Gu Masters use Gu, they would have to multitask.
Be it battles or refinement, this was so. Even the strong Fang Yuan could only do three things at once with no error, he could not split his mind into four for a long time, otherwise mistakes would occur.
Earlier, Bai Ning Bing had placed all her attention on Tie Dao Ku's attacks, she concentrated extensively and could not think of anything else. If she activated her ice crystal Gu during that period, she would definitely be distracted and expose a weakness. If Tie Dao Ku made use of it, the consequences would be severe.
Making any changes would require attention, in contrast, doing the same thing only needed one thought.
"It is my turn now."
She lightly shouted, taking huge steps and carried a cool killing intent, charging at Tie Dao Ku.
Clang clang clang...
The two collided and unleashed their attacks.
Fighting offense with offense!
Bai Ning Bing held her iceblades and waved them around, as Tie Dao Ku used his arms as blades, more agile and flexible.
In a few breath's time, they had unleashed over a hundred attacks, the white iceblade and the black steel hand blade, struck lightning fast, almost turning into a blur black and white silhouette.
The surrounding spectators were not many, seeing this, they breathed in deeply and were shocked.
Evenly matched!
Bai Ning Bing had turned into ice crystal, her body was made of hard ice, when Tie Dao Ku hit her, he could only make a small scar on the ice.
In contrast, Tie Dao Ku had a very outstanding defensive Gu, causing him to turn into a black iron man, when the iceblades hit him, they create slashing marks. @@novelbin@@
But gradually, Tie Dao Ku felt increasing pressure.
Bai Ning Bing had stop defending, and concentrated on attacking, thus, her attacks became increasingly sharper.
"This person is improving so much amidst battle. She had such outstanding battle talent, she is using me as a practice dummy to refine her sword technique!" Tie Dao Ku was stunned in his heart, he could feel Bai Ning Bing's attacks, becoming more refined and precise under pressure, as their force increased.
His inner thoughts caused his movements to slow, and finally, Bai Ning Bing found her chance to strike.
"A chance!" Bai Ning Bing's eyes shone brilliantly, as her right hand slashed towards Tie Dao Ku's brain.
Tie Dao Ku could not dodge in time, thus had to defend against it. He was very confident of his defense, every close range Gu Master would not have weak defenses, as long as his eyes stayed intact, there was no issue.
But at this time, Bai Ning Bing activated a Gu in her aperture.
Ice explosion Gu!
Bam!
The iceblade in Bai Ning Bing's right hand exploded intensely.
This change caught Tie Dao Ku off guard, as the force of the explosion tore through his defenses.
He subconsciously closed his eyes, as an intense pain assaulted him.
"Oh no, it's a trap!" Tie Dao Ku's heart sank, he had a rich battle experience, meticulous and courageous, encountering this, he did not fluster but quickly used the swift shadow Gu to move backwards.
Bai Ning Bing did not let go of such an opportunity, also activating her movement Gu and chased after him, hacking and slashing.
Tie Dao Ku could hear her movements, with his experience and keen senses, he blocked most of Bai Ning Bing's attacks.
But Bai Ning Bing held the upper hand, at this moment, there was little hope of Tie Dao Ku turning this around.
As he retreated, he barely opened his eyes, finding his left eye blind and his right heavily injured, as his vision was dyed red.
"I admit defeat!" He screamed his throat out.
"The battle has been decided, both sides stop now!" The hosting Gu Master quickly announced.
Bai Ning Bing laughed coldly, attacking more urgently.
But suddenly, a huge invisible force pulled her and Tie Dao Ku apart. In Shang clan city battle stage, there were obviously defensive measures.
As long as the hosting Gu Master reacted in time and acts, there will hardly be any killings on purpose.
"Hmph!" Bai Ning Bing showed displeasure, she felt this force holding onto her, not allowing her to move.
She had to stop.
Tie Dao Ku breathed roughly, removing his defense and quickly healing himself.
He also had a healing Gu, but it could not heal his left eye, he could only stabilize his right eye's condition and try to preserve it.
"This scoundrel is truly shameless, I got tricked by her and almost died. Damn it! Too hateful!" Tie Dao Ku still had some afterfear mixed with rage and hatred.
-x-X-x-
"This match is over. I have consumed seventy percent of my primeval essence, only twenty percent is left..." After obtaining victory, Bai Ning Bing left the battle stage.
She summarized her battle learnings while walking.
She would summarize every match she fought. The battle with Tie Dao Ku today, although she felt a pity that she was not able to kill him, her gains were quite great.
"The battle just now was intense but it lasted only a brief period. However, it expended a lot of my primeval essence, come to think about it I have A grade aptitude primeval essence recovery speed. During an intense battle, my set of Gu worms clearly has high primeval essence consumption issues."
Many Gu Masters faced difficulties in this aspect when they organized their Gu worms.
Who did not like powerful Gu worms? But often, those Gu worms with higher efficacy had higher consumption rates of primeval essence.
Of course there were Gu worms who were powerful and consumed less primeval essence. But they were all rare Gu worms and were very expensive.
Bai Ning Bing had extra money on hand, but it was not a lot. She was smart and after quickly realizing her situation, she started saving money.
Before, she would spend money like water and had no clear concept of the value of primeval stones. That was because the clan spent all their efforts in cultivating her.
Now, she was in charge of her own money during in this period of time, her awareness had a significant transformation.
While Fang Yuan was growing, Bai Ning Bing too was improving rapidly in all aspects.
"It would be good if I had Fang Yuan's heavenly essence treasure lotus. At least in rank three stage, there would be no need to worry about primeval essence expenditure." Bai Ning Bing thought of this, inevitably having a feeling of jealousy.
Fang Yuan walked the strength path. Strength path Gu consumed the least primeval essence and with his ninety percent A grade aptitude, he had an abundant source of primeval essence. Heavenly essence treasure lotus could not display its true value in his hands, it was simply casting pearls before a swine!
"What if I buy heavenly essence treasure lotus from Fang Yuan?"
Bai Ning Bing shook her head, quickly throwing away this impractical thought from her mind.
She understood too well what kind of person Fang Yuan was.
She had never seen him suffer a loss, if someday she was able to take heavenly essence treasure lotus from his hands, then it would definitely be after she pays a heavy price.
"Without the help of the heavenly essence treasure lotus, I can only reduce the Gu worms on me."
After carefully thinking it, Bai Ning Bing decided to give up on snowball Gu.
Snowball Gu was a high tier Gu in rank three and she had planned to use it as a long range attacking method.
However, this Gu expended quite a bit of primeval essence.
It was still okay if she only used it one time. But how could she only send out one snowball in the midst of intense battle?
Five to six snowballs after, her primeval essence consumption would amount to a lot.
"I will give up snowball Gu and keep icicle Gu. Icicle Gu might only be rank two, but it can also restrict the opponent. It would be a threat if I use it with ice explosion Gu."
Ice explosion Gu was a rank three Gu which could detonate ice and form an instantaneous destructive power.
The larger, older, and colder the ice, the greater the power of the explosion.
She was able to establish her dominance in the battle against Tie Dao Ku because of this ice explosion Gu.
Of course, if the ice explosion spread towards Bai Ning Bing, she would also receive injuries. But if she turned her body into ice crystal, the severeness of injuries would fall to a low level.
Thinking of the splendid battle just before, Bai Ning Bing licked her lips in excitement.
A normal ice path Gu Master pursued defensive or trapping abilities. Only those like fire path Gu Masters or thunder path Gu Masters focused on explosive strength.
However, Bai Ning Bing did the very opposite. The inspiration for it was the ice explosion Gu and she had not expected the results to be so good, beyond her original estimation.
"Ice explosion Gu is brilliant and very effective in battle, I will continue to make full use of it later." Bai Ning Bing inwardly planned.
She used to advocate a direct and straightforward fighting style; fierce and swift, slashing everything with her ice wind. However, she was influenced after being in contact with Fang Yuan all the time, and now was interested in making treacherous moves.
She was interested in everything splendid in this world.
"Ice crystal Gu, Ice edge Gu, Icicle Gu, Ice explosion Gu...can this set defeat Fang Yuan?"
Bai Ning Bing considered this, considering Fang Yuan as her number one imaginary enemy.
"Fang Yuan walks the strength path, he has all-out effort Gu and is much more domineering in close combat than that guy just before. With my current methods, it won't be easy to win against him. Unless I can regain my killer move."
Bai Ning Bing's killer move was her self created ice blade storm. She had created this using revolving Gu paired with whirlwind Gu and ice blade Gu, forming the icy tornado.
But now Bai Ning Bing's vision had widened, this move was already old fashioned. Ice blade storm could bully rank two, but would be substandard in rank three realm.
These days, she had been thinking of ways to improve and polish her killer move, but was not able to get any ideas.
She suddenly thought of something and her pace quickened: "Oh right, today is Fang Yuan's first battle after advancing to fourth inner city. It shouldn't be too late if I go see now!"
...
"Kill, kill him!"
"Zhu Ba, finish this kid quick!"
"The way I see it, Zhu Ba doesn't even need to make a move and this Fang Zheng kid won't be able to bear it."
"Hehe, this kid is in trouble. He ran into Zhu Ba who happens to subdue his strength path on his first match!"
The battle stage was lively and full of people.
"Fang Yuan's match has attracted many spectators. Well, the battle zone doesn't have any restriction regarding the spectator's cultivation. As long as the Gu Master has money, he can come watch." Bai Ning Bing arrived to the battle stage and looked around her before concentrating towards the stage.
This was a mid-scale battle stage and the terrain was ordinary stone tiled floor.
Fang Yuan and a heavily built Gu Master were fighting fiercely. According to the spectators' comments, Fang Yuan's opponent should be that Zhu Ba.
Zhu Ba was huge, almost three meters tall. His whole body was full of fats, making his head and limbs look smaller. He was like a enlarged version of the Earth's sumo wrestlers.
In this world, whether it was a Gu Master or a mortal, their height normally did not cross two meters. Zhu Ba's height was clearly the result of using some Gu worm.
This was quite normal in fact.
Many flying type Gu Masters would make their bones hollow to reduce the weight. Some earth burrowing Gu Masters would use bone shrinking Gu to turn into a dwarf; like this, their energy consumption would be much lower when drilling a tunnel.
Bai Ning Bing did not have much knowledge about Zhu Ba, but from the continuous comments of the spectators around her, he understood Zhu Ba's methods.
Zhu Ba was a defensive Gu Master.
The fats in his body provided him with a strong defense.
Fang Yuan moved around Zhu Ba, punching and kicking him. When Zhu Ba received the strikes, the fat on his body shook like water ripples and dispersed the force of the attacks onto all parts of his body. Then with the use of a Gu, this force was gathered together and through a counter-shock method, it was returned back to Fang Yuan.
According to sources, Zhu Ba received his Gu from a demonic inheritance. It was uncertain because he had never exposed the amount of Gu he had and their names.
However, his method of fighting made people helpless, particularly effective against strength path Gu Masters.
"Fang Zheng, take a rest, it is no use. I can send eighty percent of the force of your attacks back at you through counter-shock. Punches and kicks do nothing to me, instead you will be injured. Have you still not realized it?" Zhu Ba spoke in a low muffled voice.
He directly sat on the battle stage, letting Fang Yuan attack him, giving an immovable presence.
Boar phantom, brown bear phantom and crocodile phantom constantly flashed above Fang Yuan. It was the reappearance of the scene when he viciously beat the mountain back toad, but Zhu Ba was indifferent.
No matter how much strength you used, the other did not even glance at you, who would not be discouraged by such a situation?
However, Fang Yuan persevered and continued to move and attack Zhu Ba without saying a word.
It had been like this since the match started and by now, fifteen minutes had passed.
"Puff!" Fang Yuan let out a breath of turbid air and suddenly took back a step, stopping his attacks. @@novelbin@@
Blood seeped out from the corners of his lips; the counter-shock force from Zhu Ba jolted his organs, inflicting internal injuries on him.
He had iron bones, steel tendons, canopy Gu and there was also golden shield Gu, but this shock passed through all his defense and attacked his internal organs.
His internal organs were not strengthened at all, even though he was healing them with self-reliance Gu, the injuries were getting heavier.
Fang Yuan stopped his offensive, the counter shock force also dissipated. Several breaths later, his internal organs were completely healed.
The offensive resumed!
He took a strong step and began his attacks; his fists smashed like a meteor, bringing with it the sound of the wind. The fats in Zhu Ba shook once again, creating ripples and sending it back.
"Fang Zheng, you have a healing Gu, but so do I. You are suffering eighty percent of the attack, while I only receive twenty percent of the damage. Your consumption is more than mine, it is better to just admit defeat." Zhu Ba continued to persuade.
Fang Yuan only attacked, without replying.
When blood started seeping out again, he stopped the offensive and used self-reliance Gu to recover.
Although he eliminated the strength of a boar, he added in bull strength, horse strength and half a turtle strength; self-reliance Gu's effect had surpassed flesh-bone.
This state continued to persist and the spectators were starting to get bored, some even yawned.
"Too boring..."
"I really wonder why Fang Zheng is putting in so much effort."
"Today, Zhu Ba also looks somewhat abnormal, why hasn't he attacked?"
"Hasn't this been his style all along? First defend and waste his opponent's primeval essence and fighting spirit, then make his move, beating down his opponent."
"The problem lies here, Fang Zheng has too much energy, he has been attacking for so long with no results but he doesn't look the least bit discouraged. He is a strength cultivator, so his primeval essence consumption is also small. When will this stalemate end?"
"You guys can't see what is going on? Zhu Ba is playing with the newbie."
These words immediately caused the surrounding people to laugh.
To these Gu Masters who hung out in the battle zone all year round, Fang Yuan was indeed a very inexperienced newbie.
"Fang Zheng, there is no meaning in continuing this. I have no interest in your all-out effort Gu, I don't want to bully a newbie as a senior. It will be better for you to retreat, I promise I won't choose your Gu worms." Zhu Ba chuckled.
He had received Fang Yuan's attacks which contained the boar's collision force, the crocodile's biting force and the brown bear's smacking force, but he was still able to laugh.
"What kind of strength is this!"
"Indeed worthy of being rank eight in fourth inner city."
"His strength is the real deal."
The audiences were truly moved.
"Shut up, you fat pig!" Fang Yuan suddenly shouted.
The battle stage went silent.
-x-X-x-
"He... he actually dared to scold senior Zhu Ba?"
"This newbie is too arrogant."
"Lord Zhu Ba, teach him a lesson, let him know the depths of heaven and earth!"
After the short silence, the audience flared up.
"Young man, you should learn humility. I tried to persuade you with good intentions; nevermind if you don't listen to it, but you still cursed me. How can a person behave like this? In the end, you will run into walls everywhere and no one will help you." Zhu Ba sighed.
Fang Yuan laughed loudly: "Are you concerned about me, or are you just afraid to attack? More likely, you can only passively defend my attacks. Your ability to send counter-shock force to injure me while defending is really amazing but how many Gu are you controlling to maintain such a defense? At least three? Can't concentrate enough to attack while defending? I have already seen through your tricks, do you think I am like those idiot spectators?!"
As he spoke, the spectators got furious and started shouting.
"What nonsense is this!"
"He dares to call us idiots, my insight is much wiser than yours."
"This kid is overflowing with arrogance. Senior Zhu Ba, he is treating your kindness as dirt, please quickly teach him a lesson."
Zhu Ba's expression changed and said in a grave tone: "Young man, since you are so ignorant, I will teach you a lesson to teach you reality. This is a good thing for you."
He then moved.
This movement was not a small action!
His whole body curled into an enormous meatball and rolled towards Fang Yuan.
At the same time a pale black blade aura wrapped around the enormous ball.
As the enormous ball rolled, stone slabs split open and stone fragments flew. The crushing attack fused with the sharp blade aura, further increased in might making people feel the urge to dodge.
"It appeared, Lord Zhu Ba's killing move — rolling blade meat!" The Gu Master spectators shouted with excitement.
Bai Ning Bing's gaze concentrated: "A movement type rolling meat Gu with blade aura Gu? A normal person would not be able to unleash such power but Zhu Ba's enormous body can amplify his attacking strength!"
"Couldn't endure it anymore?" Facing Zhu Bai's violent offense, Fang Yuan was not afraid but pleased instead, his lips outlining a trace of madness.
Vertical crash Gu!
Boar phantom!
Abruptly, he charged straight towards the giant ball!
"Has this kid gone mad?"
"Facing this attack head-on, does he not want his life?!"
"Someone is going to die!"
The audience were stunned.
The two sides collided; meat ball's charge immediately slowed down while Fang Yuan was sent flying before falling heavily on the ground.
"Look, this is what happens when you overestimate yourself."
"Eh? This kid didn't die!"
Fang Yuan wiped off the bloodstains on the corner of his lips and jumped up.
The giant ball charged towards Fang Yuan again. Fang Yuan gave a loud laugh before charging again.
Thump.
A dull thud and Fang Yuan was sent flying again.
Thud! @@novelbin@@
Sent flying once more.
Thud!!
Sent flying yet again!!
"This match is already set. Fang Zheng might have all-out effort Gu, but he unfortunately met an opponent who counters him." Someone commented, gloating in Fang Yuan's misfortune.
"It is difficult to overcome Zhu Ba's killer move. As his rolling speed increased, his striking force also became stronger. Actually, Fang Zheng's method was correct, to stop Zhu Ba's momentum immediately. But the way he chose to do it was too forceful." Another spectator sighed and shook their head.
"I have never seen such a stupid guy. Choosing to ram into Zhu Ba like this, most of the strength is returned back to him as counter-shock." Another spectator scoffed.
"This kid shouldn't be able to get up anymore. Eh? He actually got up!"
Fang Yuan was sent flying again and again, but also stood up each time.
His injuries were not light, but self-reliance Gu gave him potent sustainability.
"Still so stubborn, then die!" Zhu Ba let out an angry roar and fiercely rammed at Fang Yuan.
Vertical crash Gu!
Fang Yuan did not change his battle tactic. Boar phantom flashed above his head.
The two sides collided like meteors.
However, this time, Fang Yuan was not sent flying, instead his fist wedged deeply into the meatball. Rather it was the meatball that shook violently, as blade aura moved rampantly and slashed Fang Yuan like a dark waterfall.
Fang Yuan was ruthlessly sent flying, as the blade aura was completely expended.
Canopy Gu suffered heavy damage, the white light armor flickered weakly before dissipating completely.
Fang Yuan's whole body was bathed in blood, deep and long injuries on all parts of his body as if he had been hacked by countless sharp knives. He was not like Bai Ning Bing with the defense of her ice muscles, but still the tendons in his body were mostly intact and there was also no damage to his bones.
Self-reliance Gu!
Fang Yuan activated it and his blood loss immediately came to a stop, new flesh grew and the wounds began healing. However, the recovery of his tendons were slightly slower.
Bai Ning Bing's eyes flashed as she analyzed inwardly: "Without the canopy Gu, it would be difficult for Fang Yuan to win this battle by just relying on self-reliance Gu's recovery... eh?"
Right at this time, golden rays of light flashed around Fang Yuan.
The light condensed and formed into a light armor: Golden Shield Gu!
"This kid has quite a few defensive Gu!"
"First it was canopy Gu and now it is golden shield Gu; both are great defensive rank three Gu. This kid is rich!"
Golden shield Gu could not be used at the same time as canopy Gu; it was always stored inside Fang Yuan and now it showed itself for the first time.
Bai Ning Bing was slightly dazed before coming back to her senses. She had gotten many new Gu worms, Fang Yuan certainly would also do the same. To Fang Yuan, golden shield Gu was slightly better than canopy Gu since it was more suitable for his strength path methods.
"Even if you have golden shield Gu, the result remains the same." Zhu Ba's deep voice came from within the meatball.
The meatball charged towards Fang Yuan, sending him flying again.
"How many times do I have to say it till you understand? You can't defeat me, you will only bring disgrace upon yourself if you continue." Zhu Ba sighed.
"Enough, how long are you going to keep acting?" Fang Yuan stood up and wiped the bloodstains on his lips. Others felt no hope for him, but he saw victory waving at him!
It was time.
Fang Yuan lowered his eyes, covering his pupils which were flashing with a sharp light.
Charge!
He again charged head-on.
"Ungrateful kid, then I shall show it to you the true difference between us." Zhu Ba rolled towards him.
Horizontal charge Gu.
Fang Yuan suddenly charged horizontally and evaded.
Vertical crash Gu.
After charging fifty steps, he quickly turned his direction and charged.
Howl!
In the moments before collision, he activated all-out effort Gu; a brown bear phantom flashed.
Under this attack, the meatball's skin and flesh folded over and over like the waves in river and sent the counter-shock back towards Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was sent back several steps before he charged forward again.
He unleashed violent attacks while constantly moving around the meatball, all his punches and kicks were targeted at different areas. This greatly raised the difficulty for Zhu Ba to defend.
Right now, Fang Yuan's attacks were fiercer than ever before!
Zhu Ba controlled his Gu worms frantically till he was no longer able to cope with it. The meatball trembled crazily but this time, it was not able to return even a bit of the force as counter-shock.
Howl!
Zhu Ba was extremely furious, he cancelled his meatball form and turned back to his human form. Blade aura formed again and flew towards Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was overjoyed at this; the more Gu Zhu Ba used, more difficult it would be for him to control all of them.
Zhu Ba's mind was already in a mess!
The opponents he faced before would admit defeat after being struck several times. Even those persevering ones lost their fighting spirit after experiencing Zhu Ba's rolling attack.
But unfortunately, he met Fang Yuan.
There were many types of men in this world. Some loved their family and some had high ambitions.
Among them, there was a type of man: After he has a clear goal and ambition, he cannot be stopped even if the whole world turned against him!
Fang Yuan was such a man!
No one could stop him, not to mention just merely this Zhu Ba.
Horse phantom!
Vertical crash Gu!
His speed increased suddenly, rapidly charging fifty steps. Horse strength increased his speed by thirty percent more than boar strength.
Horse hooves hit the floor and sped forward!
Zhu Ba did not expect Fang Yuan to still have this trump card and due to being caught unprepared, his blade aura hit the air behind Fang Yuan.
As for Fang Yuan, he was already right before Zhu Ba.
There were no words. Just...
One punch!
This punch was incomparably powerful, exploding even the air around it, the heavy recoil from the punch destroyed the stone tiles under Fang Yuan's feet into countless shards and even shook the whole stage.
Zhu Ba's fats trembled violently to disperse the force of the punch around his body before attempting to return eighty percent of the force back to Fang Yuan.
However, Fang Yuan immediately followed with another punch.
Zhu Ba's physique was huge and was poor at agility. The punch ruthless hit his body.
"I... I... counter-shock!" Zhu Ba opened his eyes wide as he did his best to manipulate several Gu in his body.
However, he had just used all his concentration to manipulate blade aura Gu, and now he was activating other Gu at the same time; it might be okay if he was at peak condition, but right now his mind was in disarray and his mental state had already weakened due to manipulating all the Gu for such a long time.
A flaw appeared.
The fats on Zhu Ba's body that was shaking like water ripples stopped.
His defense crumbled!
He was still dispersing the force of Fang Yuan's previous force and so had to stiffly endure this punch.
An intense pain assaulted him, causing his head to spin. The dispersing process of the force of Fang Yuan's punch was broken. Eighty percent of the force exploded in all parts of his body.
Backlash!
In that instant, Zhu Ba's heart suddenly stopped due to the intense pain!
Fang Yuan's fierce gaze flashed, he had been waiting for this moment for so long and he finally created it forcefully.
Grabbing the opportunity, and strike!
Punches were thrown out like the wind. Bear phantom, boar phantom, crocodile phantom and horse phantom flashed in turns in mid-air.
Wind whistled, beast phantoms roared, golden armor covered Fang Yuan's whole body as his punches exploded out with unrivalled fierceness.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, the 'giant' Zhu Ba was beaten into retreating and howling in pain by the 'dwarf' Fang Yuan.
However, Zhu Ba's extremely obese body forced him to become a punching bag.
Fang Yuan's vigor rose continually, his unyielding ferocity birthed a feeling in all the spectators that this person could not be stopped.
The intense pain surged like a tsunami and struck Zhu Ba head-on, almost drowning his consciousness.
His thoughts were in a mess and he found it even more difficult to activate his Gu to increase his defense.
Fang Yuan firmly held the upper hand and Zhu Ba was already starting to show the white part of his eyes.
"How can this be? Just now, it was clearly..."
"Was Fang Zheng right about him?"
The audience were in an uproar, the shocking swap of their predicament stupefied them.
-x-X-x-
Looking at the number eight expert in fourth inner city senior Zhu Ba, beaten till he vomited blood by a newcomer, this scene overturned many people's expectations!
But Zhu Ba was still an experienced veteran, he suddenly shouted, stretching out both arms and tightly hugged Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan felt that he was wrapped by cotton, the fat meat squeezed at him from all directions, causing him to be unable to move.
He punched and kicked, hitting flesh with every hit. Zhu Ba's bones were broken, and his flesh was beaten to pulp, mashed under his skin.
But Zhu Ba gritted his teeth, forcefully trapping Fang Yuan. He was almost beaten senseless by Fang Yuan, but the only clear thought on his mind reminded him, if he let this monster out, he would be in deep trouble.
As the space around him was squeezed, Fang Yuan snorted, showing no fear as he activated the all-out effort Gu.
A green bull phantom appeared in mid air.
"A new beast phantom!" Bai Ning Bing saw this and her pupils shrunk.
"Secretly, Fang Yuan had already grown this powerful. If I go against him, with just my Gu worms, I'm afraid..." Bai Ning Bing's heart sank.
The bull strength was strong and lasting, Fang Yuan stretched out his arms and pulled Zhu Ba's fat arms that were tightly coiled around him.
Comparing strength, how could Zhu Ba be his match.
Zhu Ba tried his best, his arms were shivering, and sweat poured down like rain, but he could not stop Fang Yuan.
"Damn, damn it, if he gets loose, I am done for!" Zhu Ba felt an intense feeling of unease, the intense premonition of death was causing him to feel extremely scared.
"I... I admit defeat!" He screamed.
Compared to his life, what was fame?
The hosting Gu Master immediately used the battle stage to forcefully separate the two.
"The battle has been decided, Fang Zheng wins, Zhu Ba loses!" The hosting Gu Master announced.
The crowd gasped. @@novelbin@@
"He actually won!"
"Zhu Ba is just a paper tiger, pretending to be strong on the outside, I was almost fooled by him."
"Zhu Ba can't even beat a newcomer, how can he be the number eight expert, this is truly shameful for our fourth inner city battle stage..."
Zhu Ba's pathetic state now, destroyed the image he had painstakingly built up over the years.
Bai Ning Bing heard the chattering, and shook her head internally: "Zhu Ba has been an expert for many years, he is definitely strong, unfortunately he met Fang Yuan. Zhu Ba's fighting style was countering his opponent's attacks. First using defense to waste his opponents' primeval essence and stamina, then counterattacking to win. But he fought against Fang Yuan, this monster, as a strength cultivator, coupled with the heavenly essence treasure lotus, he has endless primeval essence. Stamina is also his forte as a strength cultivator... the two countered each other in different aspects, but the tougher one won!"
Speaking of which, it was rather ironic.
Bai Ning Bing changed her style, becoming more scheming and devious. Fang Yuan was also changing, from his former scheming style, he started fighting with raw power, a forthright style that goes all in.
The two seemed to have swapped styles.
Zhu Ba fell and admitted defeat, losing to Fang Yuan, his reputation was completely tarnished.
"Good job." Below the stage, Wei Yang laughed as he said to Fang Yuan.
This was Fang Yuan's first battle in fourth inner city, thus Wei Yang came to watch.
Fang Yuan's performance was out of Wei Yang's expectations.
Wei Yang was very concerned about Fang Yuan, one because of the clan leader's orders and mission, but also because of their friendship.
"Maybe you were born for the strength path." At the banquet, Wei Yang exclaimed.
He patted Fang Yuan's shoulders: "I walked on the strength path in the past, but failed. Now, I see hope in you, do you know, many eyes are watching you now. Continue walking on this path without doubt!"
Fang Yuan nodded.
He knew his circumstance.
He had just risen to fourth inner city, and met Zhu Ba, defeating him. Getting famous overnight, many were taken aback.
This battle had just ended, but he had received many people's forceful challenge.
These people were mostly strength path Gu Masters, coming after his all-out effort Gu.
The better he performs, the greater the value of the all-out effort Gu, and the more greed it attracts. Right now, those that were coming for him were all experts in fourth inner city.
Henceforth, his predicament would only get tougher.
But the tougher it got, the more his battle intent surged, as Fang Yuan felt his blood burning.
Just this level of risk and difficulty, what are they? How can they stop me, Fang Yuan's advancement!
"In this world, nobody is capable of ending my ambitions!"
Eight days later, he fought Jin Bian Yuan, after fighting evenly for a while, he unleashed his beast phantoms, destroying Jin Bian Yuan's core defensive Gu worm, killing him on the spot.
Ten days later, Liao Hua Dong who is famed for aggressive attacks, fought against Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan fought attack with more attacks, taking him down head-on. If not for the hosting Gu Master, Liao Hua Dong would have been dead.
Seventeen days later, Zhong De who has the strength of five tigers fought an exciting match against Fang Yuan, but was beaten like a dead dog, lying on the ground, motionlessly.
...
Time continued to pass by, as Fang Yuan won again and again.
There were many experts in fourth inner city, but Fang Yuan's growth was insane.
Be it cultivation, addition of new Gu worms, or other these aspects.
The more he won, the more primeval stones he received.
He fought his way through, advancing bravely, every match was a treat to watch for the spectators.
But on the other hand, he was very vigilant. He had never looked down on any opponent, getting all the information he needed beforehand. With Wei Yang and Li Ran, one having authority while the other one has an underground network, Fang Yuan could gather all the information necessary before a battle.
He was not a brainless brute, he only accepted four matches a month. Although forceful challenge was a rule, to prevent intentional targeting, the challenged Gu Master can have eight days of rest time after every match.
Fang Yuan used this time to prepare himself adequately, ignoring the taunting from others. He focused on cultivating, the battle stage's purpose was to assess and train himself, as well as a source of revenue.
He had become famous.
His victories caused his name to spread wide.
The strongest newcomer in history!
The star of hope in reviving strength path!
The ferocious and ruthless beast!
...
Many titles were bestowed onto him, depicting his traits: Newcomer but has an amazing win record, owns the all-out effort Gu, ruthless and cruel, never letting go of an enemy he can kill, and others.
Three months passed like this.
This day, in the secret room.
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing sat opposite each other.
Bai Ning Bing placed both palms on Fang Yuan's back, injecting her snow silver primeval essence into him.
The primeval essence were converted over by the flesh bone unity Gu, after some losses, they were injected into Fang Yuan's aperture.
In the aperture, primeval essence ebbed and flowed, as waves crashed and assaulted the aperture walls.
Swish swish swish...
The tides rose and fell, never ending.
The white light walls were assaulted and started to change.
A moment later, the light walls were replaced by water walls, as the white light flowed like water, causing the aperture walls to become thicker and stronger.
From rank three initial stage, he advanced to middle stage!
Fang Yuan only used a few months.
This was all due to the flesh bone unity Gu and Bai Ning Bing. The higher the Gu Master's rank, the larger the difference between their cultivation across small realms. Bai Ning Bing was rank three peak stage, it was very helpful to Fang Yuan.
This speed, if exposed, would cause a great commotion. Even Fang Yuan who was knowledgeable felt secretly shocked.
But Bai Ning Bing, who was a former ten extreme physique and had a monsterous cultivation speed, did not feel any shock towards Fang Yuan's advancement.
If Bai Ning Bing was rank four, using the light gold primeval essence, Fang Yuan's cultivation speed would be increased further.
Feeling the change in Fang Yuan's aura, Bai Ning Bing knew he had succeeded and retracted her palm.
"So how, in a few days, you will reach fourth inner city battle stage. Are you interested in raising your cultivation to rank four?" Fang Yuan turned around and asked.
The higher Bai Ning Bing's cultivation was, the faster he could cultivate himself.
"No need, if you can stand firm with rank three cultivation and fight your way through, so can I." Bai Ning Bing snorted coldly, not showing any nice expressions Fang Yuan.
But at the end, she added: "My aptitude rose again, reaching ninety-two percent. At this rate, when are you going to give me the Yang Gu?"
"Oh. That's fast..." Fang Yuan was shocked, he knew a lot about the ten extreme aptitude, but the details were not in-depth.
Even though poison vow was removed, Bai Ning Bing still served a huge purpose.
"You don't have to worry, with me around, I can protect your life. We used the poison vow Gu before, even if you don't trust me, surely you trust the Gu's power?"
"Hmph." Bai Ning Bing did not rebuke him, these last few months she spent with Fang Yuan were the most peaceful period of her life. As the two worked hard together, and with the poison vow Gu allowing them to form an alliance. But it seems..."
"This guy, he's growing faster and gaining more rewards." Regarding this, Bai Ning Bing had a clear understanding of their differences.
Her improvement was large, but his was larger.
These few months, Fang Yuan not only gained the strength of a turtle, but also used the rank three bronze skin Gu, giving his skin another layer of defense.
Rank two bronze skin Gu can only give the Gu Master's skin increased defense for a limited period of time.
The rank three bronze skin Gu, used one's own body and grants this defense to their body permanently.
Now, Fang Yuan's skin is bronze color, like he had undergone a sun tan.
Iron bones, steel tendon, bronze skin, with golden shield Gu, Fang Yuan's defense was at initial success stage, even among third inner city battle stage, it is sufficient to deal with any strong foe.
As for the canopy Gu, Fang Yuan had already sold it. It overlapped with the golden shield Gu, and did not suit Fang Yuan's fighting style.
Just as Fang Yuan advanced to middle stage, a group of people arrived outside Shang clan city.
"Shang clan city... Gu Yue Fang Zheng is inside huh." Tie Ruo Nan thought as she walked ahead of everyone.
"Tie Dao Ku greets young master." Tie Dao Ku rapidly paid his respects.
-x-X-x-
"Tie Dao Ku, what happened to your eyes?" Tie Ruo Nan saw Tie Dao Ku wearing a black eyepatch and asked in surprise.
Tie Dao Ku showed an embarrassed expression, speaking the truth: "My eyes were injured by Bai Ning Bing."
A few months ago, he had a battle with Bai Ning Bing, and suffered a great setback.
Losing his left eye, his battle strength fell drastically, and with the hand blade Gu mercilessly taken by Bai Ning Bing, he was no longer her match.
But Tie Dao Ku did not give up.
He had a determined heart, gritting his teeth and relied on the battle stage, along with taking some jobs of escorting and investigating, to survive in Shang clan city.
He was like a lone wolf licking his wounds, as he observed Fang and Bai secretly, slowly gaining back his strength as well as reporting to the clan.
Precisely because of his letter, Tie Ruo Nan brought a team here personally.
"Bai Ning Bing... actually injured you. Tie Dao Ku, your intel had some errors, why did you not mention this in your letter?" Tie Ruo Nan frowned, slightly unhappy.
How could I have the face to say it...
Tie Dao Ku laughed bitterly, he was a rank three Gu Master, he had his pride and dignity.
But towards Tie Ruo Nan's accusation, he lowered his head, answering: "It was my mistake."
He was a proud man, but he was very respectful to Tie Ruo Nan.
It has been two years.
Two years ago, Tie Xue Leng's death was reported to the clan, causing them to fall into deep sorrow.
A rank five Gu Master was a great strength, standing at the peak of the mortal realm, even a huge clan like Tie clan would feel pain in losing one.
Moreover, this was the divine investigator Tie Xue Leng.
His name spread throughout the southern border, he was a symbol and a flag for Tie clan.
Tie Xue Leng's death was a loss to Tie clan, but also a loss to the entire righteous faction.
Just as the clan grieved, Tie Ruo Nan, as Tie Xue Leng's daughter, stood up.
She had been following her father, roaming the southern border. After returning to the clan, she challenged the Tie clan thirteen halls, defeating her foes in the arena battles and becoming one of the eight young masters in Tie clan. After taking over Tie clan's internal affairs, she cracked many cases, corruption and greed could not hide from her, as she brought the criminals to justice.
TIe Xue Leng fell, but Tie Ruo Nan rose, taking over her father's duty, and became the new rising star for the last two years in Tie clan.
Tie Ruo Nan's name started to travel wide, and even Tie Dao Ku, someone who was far away in Shang clan city, heard about her stories.
Tie clan and Shang clan had different policies, even if Tie Ruo Nan fails to attain the position of Tie clan leader, she will still be an important member, a great general protecting the mountain.
She was young, but already rank three upper stage. Her title of genius was true to its name.
Be it Tie Ruo Nan's current or future achievements, it was worth Tie Dao Ku's respect.
"Tie Mu, go see to his injuries." Tie Ruo Nan waved her hand, saying.
Tie Mu had a delicate face, he was the healing Gu Master in the team. He quickly went forward and checked Tie Dao Ku's eyes in front of everyone.
In just a few breath's, Tie Mu reported: "His eye is crippled, there is nothing I can do. To heal it, a rank five Gu Master is needed."
He was being humble, merely twenty-eight years old but already rank three peak stage, he was a clan elite from Tie clan's side branch.
Many people tried to recruit him, but he decided to serve Tie Ruo Nan instead.
These few years, Tie Ruo Nan had taken the role of young master, and her forces expanded, recruiting many talented elites into her faction, TIe Mu was only one of them.
"In Shang clan city, there is a rank five expert named Doctor Su Shou. Tie Dao Ku, take this money and go heal your eyes." Tie Ruo Nan took out a primeval elder Gu, and threw it to Tie Dao Ku.
"Thank you young master." Tie Dao Ku took the Gu and showed a grateful expression.
Doctor Su Shou's treatment fee was extremely expensive, he had scrimped and saved these few years, to save up enough money to heal his eyes.
But a hundred thousand primeval stones was not a small sum. Commodity prices in Shang clan city is high, and Tie Dao Ku had to buy a hand blade Gu, he had no opportunity to save enough money.
He straightened his back: "I have already reserved a garden estate for young master to stay in, please follow me."
But Tie Ruo Nan waved her hand: "No rush, bring me to Nan Qiu garden, in your report, you mentioned that Fang and Bai stayed at Nan Qiu garden right?"
"Erm... yes, that is so." Tie Dao Ku was stunned, not expecting Tie Ruo Nan to be so direct.
"Lead the way." Tie Ruo Nan instructed.
"Yes."
Tie Ruo Nan had a swift and decisive nature, but a moment later, she was denied entry.
"Sorry, my two masters are cultivating in their secret rooms." Nan Qiu garden's doorboy respectfully said. @@novelbin@@
"What, scared? Trying to hide inside!" Tie Dao Ku snorted in disdain.
The doorboy had been specially trained by Shang clan, he had great qualities, after giving Tie Dao Ku a look, he remaining guarding the door firmly, not letting them through.
Tie Ruo Nan was one of the young masters of the great Tie clan, she would not make a fuss towards a child.
She smiled, taking out an invitation, passing it to the doorboy: "No worry, pass them my invitation letter. I have some relationship with your masters, we will come again at night."
"I will definitely convey Lord's message, but they are in closed cultivation, I cannot guarantee when they will come out. They might not come out by dinner time." The doorboy reminded before they left.
Until dinner time, when Tie clan came again, they were rejected once more.
"I think this Fang and Bai are afraid of young master's grandeur, hiding inside afraid to show up."
"Maybe they are trying to display their authority, specially targeting us."
Tie clan gang guessed, speaking in indignance.
They had visited twice, but were treated like this. Did they really think so highly of themselves? Even Shang clan young master would need to leave his work and come to attend to the group.
"Do not be anxious, we will come again tomorrow morning." Tie Ruo Nan calmed the gang, handing out another invitation as she showed an expression deep in thought.
On the second morning, Nan Qiu garden closed shut again.
Tie clan gang's emotions were surging, almost breaking through by force, but were halted by Tie Ruo Nan, who handed out another invitation.
The group had just left, and Fang Yuan came out of his secret room.
"Tie Ruo Nan?" Hearing the servant's report, Fang Yuan gave a weird look.
He knew that this woman was Tie Xue Leng's daughter, didn't she die on Qing Mao mountain?
Tie Xue Leng flew out of the bronze mask of the mountain giant puppet Gu, using the steel hand Gu to save Tie Ruo Nan. Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing were engaging in a fierce fight at that moment, his vision obstructed by the white form immortal snake, thus he did not see it.
After the fog dispersed, he was attacked by the crane group, the scene was a mess and he did not have a second to rest. Even until Bai Ning Bing self-detonated, Fang Yuan did not see Tie Ruo Nan.
Thus, in Fang Yuan's impression, he had always thought that the Tie clan father and daughter had died on Qing Mao mountain.
"To think this Tie Ruo Nan is still alive, not only that, she even became Tie clan young master." Fang Yuan held the three invitations, taking a look and frowning deeply.
Seeing this name, he felt a strong killing intent oozing out of his heart.
This person is too much of an eyesore!
A survivor of Qing Mao mountain, had interacted with himself and Gu Yue Fang Zheng, a huge threat to himself.
If his true identity was exposed, it would affect his current peaceful lifestyle, and the haven he had painstakingly crafted in Shang clan city would be lost.
But this Tie Ruo Nan, Fang Yuan could not do anything to her.
Tie clan young master, in Shang clan city, he was not permitted to kill her.
"I am still too weak, if I was rank six like back then, I could kill this small-fry with one finger." Fang Yuan sighed in his heart.
Although his battle strength surged, and his growth was astounding, killing Tie Ruo Nan had consequences the current him could not bear.
In fact, he could not even use his own name at this point.
There is always a mountain higher than a mountain, an expert stronger than another expert. Rank five was only the mortal realm peak, yet he was merely rank three.
Fang Yuan quickly sorted his thoughts, eliminating her was the most direct method, but it could not be used, thus he had to think of a way to deal with this unwanted guest.
"The matter on Qing Mao mountain was not exposed, seeing Tie Ruo Nan's action, she must not know anything. Otherwise, she would not come with just this group to arrest me."
"She sent out three invitations and purposely displayed her determination of wanting to meet me. It seems she wants to learn what happened back then from me. After all, her father died on Qing Mao mountain."
"Then the matter now is, I am using Gu Yue Fang Zheng's name now, will she suspect my true identity?"
"If she has suspicions, how do I get rid of her doubts?"
"Or even worse, if my identity is exposed, how do I salvage it? From Shang Yan Fei's findings, I have an ordinary aptitude, only my brother is A grade aptitude, how do I explain the change in my talent..."
Fang Yuan's brain rapidly worked.
He was a sly schemer, having a vigilant nature, he always considered the worst outcome, and this huge crisis was no different.
He quickly thought of a countermeasure.
"If I really get to that stage, I will sell the blood skull Gu to Shang Yan Fei. He had been collecting the blood sea true inheritance, if I sell the blood skull Gu to him, he would be able to raise Shang Xin Ci's aptitude. He dotes on her so much, using the man triumphing heaven Gu for her to change her fate. He will not reject this deal."
Handing over the blood skull Gu, would allow Fang Yuan to explain the reason why he concealed his identity.
But unless the matter had progressed to the worst stage, Fang Yuan would definitely not sell the blood skull Gu.
"The blood skull Gu is a divine Gu to raise geniuses for a clan. If I sell it to Shang clan, Shang clan's forces would expand rapidly. Although the blood skull Gu has no value to me anymore, it is another story for others."
Fang Yuan did not know Fang Zheng was still alive now, and was experiencing a rapid growth in strength.