RI

by Call me Ryder-0001

this book does not belong to me. im only posting it on this app to utilize the text to speech function.

18. Chapter 18

Chapter 171: Inbred demonic nature

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"What, father, you want me to solve the case?" The girl pointed to herself, her face in utter shock.

"Why, are you unwilling?" Tie Xue Leng smiled gently.

"No, no, of course I'm willing!" Tie Ruo Nan finally reacted, jumping in joy.

Tie Xue Leng nodded, sighing in a complex tone, "You aspire to walk the same path as me. These few years where you were by my side, you have been greatly influenced by me and learnt much. An eagle can only learn to fly by itself, only then can it truly grow up. Your father is old already, my injuries cannot be cured. I cannot continue being with you as you live your life, and as the newer generations replace the old, what happens next is up to you."

"Father… don't give up yet, isn't there still hope for treatment?" The young girl's voice trembled as she choked back tears.

"You and I both know that the chances are infinitely slim. People have to learn to face facts, Ruo Nan," Tie Xue Leng laughed, then turned towards Gu Yue Bo, "Don't worry Gu Yue clan leader, this daughter of mine has learnt at least 80% of my abilities. With my guidance along the way, she will not let your clan suffer any injustice."

"Of course, of course." Gu Yue Bo quickly cupped his fist, "Young heroines are on par with males; such an elegant disposition and the child of a hero, there is no reason for me to worry. Please come to the village and let us feast upon your arrival."

…

The dishes filled the entire table, with the fragrance overwhelming the surroundings. Clear wine was poured out from the wine jar in a straight line into Tie Xue Leng's cup.

The wolf tide was just over, and Gu Yue village was in its toughest period. Large amounts of resources had been expended, causing a food shortage and lack of commodities. Many mortals would starve to death.

But even so, to welcome Tie Xue Leng, Gu Yue clan still assembled this banquet.

As the clan leader, Gu Yue Bo sat at the clan head's seat, while Tie Xue Leng and Tie Ruo Nan were beside him.

Other than that, Gu Yue Chi Zhong, Gu Yue Ge Yan, Gu Yue Mo Chen, Gu Yue Yao Ji, as well as Fang Yuan and the others, all being elders, were present.

Before the wolf tide, Gu Yue clan had over a dozen clan elders. But now, only one table remained, and there were less than ten elders.

Moreover, the clan elders present were all injured to varying degrees.

Especially in the case of Gu Yue Mo Chen — two weeks ago when he resisted the wolf tide, he was heavily injured and had been hiding in his private room to recuperate. He was resting in bed, but when he heard about the arrival of Tie Xue Leng, he forced his body up and attended this banquet.

But this also let him escape the crisis, while his old rival Gu Yue Chi Lian had followed the clan leader in assaulting the thunder crown wolf and was killed by the lightning lycan.

"If not for Brother Tie's help today, I might've become the lightning lycan's lunch already. For saving my life, I toast Brother Tie this cup!" Gu Yue Bo stood up, holding the cup with both hands and bending his back, sincerely offering his gratitude.

"I was only doing what I could." Tie Xue Leng raised his cup, drinking the wine in one go.

He had a vigilant and strict lifestyle, refusing to gamble or find prostitutes, standing by his morals and never went greedy on drinking. He had thus, never been drunk.

After drinking this cup, Gu Yue Bo looked at the people in the banquet, his eyes turning red, sighing and sitting down.

Tie Xue Leng had seen such situations many times, and he consoled, "Gu Yue clan leader, my condolences. As long as your clansmen still exist, the village will definitely thrive again one day. That lightning lycan was heavily injured as well, and the lightning wolves have greatly been damaged, they will not attack for the next few years. This wolf tide has been safely endured."

The wolf tide's harshest period is indeed over. For the next few months, although lightning wolves will still appear, their quantity will continue to decrease, and no large groups will be formed. The wolf packs no longer have the ability to directly charge at the village.

The lightning lycan will return to the wolf den and recuperate there, while slowly organising the remaining wolves. Many wolves will be recalled, and many lightning wolves would die, causing the wolf pack's need for food to decrease drastically.

The wolf packs would become self-sufficient, and in the next few years, they would gradually get stronger, during which new hundred beast kings – bold lightning wolves, thousand beast kings – frenzy lightning wolves, and myriad beast kings – thunder crown wolves would appear.

At its peak, it begins to weaken, and at its weakest, it begins to prosper.

Regardless of humans or wolves, they follow such a law.

But although Tie Xue Leng's words were right, humans are not grass or trees, they have feelings. The Gu Yue clan leader understood this fact much better than Tie Xue Leng, but the misery and pain in his heart was unavoidable.

The sacrifice was too big…

Just the higher-up clan elders were already gone by at least half. As for the Rank two and Rank one Gu Masters, they had an even larger amount of casualties. The entire Gu Yue village's strength had fallen to rock bottom, and could no longer endure any more disasters.

"Why is it that you guys do not counter attack, and go wreck their den?" On one side, Tie Ruo Nan could not understand and asked in confusion.

"That is because inside the wolf den, there are over dozens of groups of thunder gas worms, amounting to over a million of them in total. There are also large numbers of wild Gu mixed in. It is hard to cause any damage to them, unless all three clans work together," Gu Yue Yao Ji explained.

Saying so, she suddenly snorted, staring at Fang Yuan, "But this possibility is too small. Even within our clan, there are clan elders shrinking in fear, and during the wolf tide's attack, god knows where they were hiding!"

Saying so, all the other clan elders turned their vision towards Fang Yuan.

Previously, Fang Yuan was inside the rock crack secret cave exploring the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance, causing him to miss the huge battle in resisting the wolf tide. In everyone's eyes, this was being crafty and evasive, as well as being timid and fearing death.

Thus, the clan elders' expression towards Fang Yuan were all full of unhappiness, disdain, and some hidden anger.

Even Gu Yue Bo's expression was looking ugly.

As the clan leader, he was most revolted by people like Fang Yuan, doing things according to their own will, mysterious and having their own little schemes. He could not feel safe with such a person around.

The atmosphere at the banquet immediately transformed.

The Tie father and daughter also felt this change, following everyone's gaze and looking towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan's young appearance had attracted the attention of Tie Ruo Nan who was the same age as him.

Fang Yuan drank his wine calmly. Even though everyone's gaze was on him, he acted as if he felt nothing.

His expression was calm, as he already had anticipated such a situation of people finding problems with him.

"Things are getting troublesome," he sighed in his heart. Although worried, he was not frightened.

Tie Xue Leng's appearance had heavily destroyed his plans to leave. If he took the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and destroyed the foundation of the Gu Yue village, this would cause the Tie father and daughter to arrest him.

The name of divine investigator is not just a myth. With his abilities and strength, as long as Tie Xue Leng commences his chase, there is no possibility of failing.

Even if he does not take the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, his mysterious disappearance would cause the clan to investigate. As it involves Jia Jin Sheng's death, even the Tie father and daughter would get involved.

If he left without notice, in their eyes it would be a thief trying to escape, running from his crimes.

With no choice, Fang Yuan could only choose to stay and observe the situation.

Although everyone reprimanded him, the situation now was still not at its worst. If he left right now, that would be a panicky move, and it would cause the entire situation to worsen.

"Is the wine nice?" Gu Yue Yao Ji laughed sinisterly, staring at Fang Yuan, "Aren't you going to explain?"

Fang Yuan slowly put down his cup, raising his head and looking at Gu Yue Yao Ji's broken arm.

The old are the most cunning, this is extremely true.

To preserve her life, Gu Yue Yao Ji broke her own arm, and under the name of being injured, she avoided the clan mission of entering the battlefield.

This happened in Fang Yuan's previous life as well, but to think she did the same thing once again.

Her act of sacrificing one limb to save her life, was indeed effective. It prevented her from getting killed by the thunder crown wolf and not participating in the chase, thus keeping herself alive. However, right now she was finding problems with Fang Yuan — one aspect was due to old grudges, but mostly was because she wanted to bring the attention to Fang Yuan and reduce people's attention on herself.

"What do you want me to explain? Explain how you broke your own limb just to preserve your miserable life?" Fang Yuan sneered.

"WHAT?!" Gu Yue Yao Ji was shocked and enraged, standing up from her seat.

She stared with both eyes wide open, pointing at Fang Yuan's nose, shrilling, "You little rascal! How dare you accuse me like this, this is blatant defamation, slander! How can you be so shameless? How can our Gu Yue clan have such a joke like you?"

"Gu Yue Yao Ji!" Gu Yue Bo's expression changed, shouting, "Sit down at once, we have an important guest here, how can you scream and shout freely like this?"

Gu Yue Yao Ji wanted to continue scolding, but on seeing Gu Yue Bo's dim expression, she could only swallow the words she was about to spit out.

She stared angrily at Fang Yuan, sitting down reluctantly.

Gu Yue Bo settled Yao Ji's problem, then turned to look at Fang Yuan, "Elder Fang Yuan, I need an explanation. During the attack of the wolf tide, where were you?"

"Fang Yuan… he's Fang Yuan?" Tie Xue Leng's eyes shone with surprise. In Jia Jin Sheng's mysterious disappearance, Fang Yuan had played an important role. Before coming here, Tie Xue Leng had already gotten much intel from Jia Fu. But to think that this young elder was Fang Yuan himself. At once, Tie Xue Leng's heart became interested.

He had solved numerous cases and could see the peculiarity from all the traces of evidence, to guess the actual fact. From everyone's expression, he could tell the truth behind Fang Yuan's sudden evasion from battle.

But the truth that everyone knew was only scratching the surface, what is the utter reality?

Regardless of what the truth is, Fang Yuan's answer would reveal a fragment of his inner thought. That would be very helpful in solving the case later.

Sensing Tie Xue Leng's attention on him, Fang Yuan's heart tightened, but his expression remained the same.

He looked at everyone plainly, and a mocking smile appeared on his face, "There's not much to explain. Since clan elder asked, I'll just say it out. I was extremely frightened back then. The stressed accumulated during this extensive period, as well as my fear of death that had reached its limits. I could not endure it, I was cowardly and weak, I hid in a corner and no longer dared to enter the frontlines."

Once he said so, everyone was dumbfounded.

They had expected Fang Yuan to use all sorts of excuses and reasons, and were prepared to expose his lies and criticize Fang Yuan. But to think he admitted it directly!

"Any kind of lie, as long as it is not true, will have loopholes. Furthermore, Tie Xue Leng is here…" Fang Yuan's expression was calm, looking down and staring at the wine in his cup.

Tie Xue Leng's expression turned weird. He subconsciously frowned, and a sense of loathing and antipathy rose in his heart.

"This young man, he has an inbred demonic nature!"

Chapter 172: No one more suited than Fang Yuan!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

At the banquet, it was utter silence.

Everyone was stunned, staring at Fang Yuan blankly.

They had not expected him to reply like this, directly admitting it so honestly.

"He's too young after all, actually saying such words."

"Hmph, once he said that, it means his entire political career is ruined."

"From now on, this Fang Yuan is no threat anymore…"

The clan elders furiously assessed.

At this point into the wolf tide, the outcome had already been decided. In the next few months, there will only be small wolf packs moving about. As the lightning lycan continues to call them back, as well the the Gu Masters killing them, the lightning wolves would basically vanish completely by the end of the year.

But conflicts never end.

At places with people, there are interests. And where there are interests involved, there are conflicts.

During the wolf tide, it is the struggle between man and wolf. But now that the toughest part of the wolf tide is over, the clan's internal struggles surface above the water, turning into internal strifes.

The wolf tide assaulting the village caused many Gu Masters to die. Some factions were destroyed, and the interests they once held, naturally has to be distributed.

Among the Gu Yue clan higher-ups, there were originally many clan elders to divide the interest cake of the entire village. But now that only Fang Yuan and the other elders amounting to less than ten remained, that cake was still whole and intact.

To split this large cake among themselves, they would have to compete against one another. Political battles, although not as flashy or bloody as the wolf tide, was full of schemes, plotting and setting traps; it was difficult and harsh.

At first, Fang Yuan as the only newly advanced elder, had a strong momentum and attracted great attention. But now that he admitted his mistake, it completely ruined his political career; it was tantamount to giving up the chance to compete for this interest cake with the other clan elders.

At once, Fang Yuan's threat level towards the other clan elders became much lower.

Their gaze towards Fang Yuan showed that the pressure they felt towards him had reduced.

At this time, clan leader Gu Yue Bo sighed, "Since Fang Yuan himself admitted to it, as clan leader, I have to punish you for the act of running away from battle. According to the clan ancestor's rules, runaways will be stripped of their clan elder status, but the final result shall be decided by me and the other clan elders. We'll decide on your punishment after a discussion. But regardless of the result, I hope you can accept it."

The others showed a weird expression.

Fang Yuan nodded, not speaking, as if he had submitted to fate.

Gu Yue Yao Ji broke her own arm to save her life, this was decisive and ruthless. Fang Yuan was the same, except he lost even more, giving up his clan elder status.

His greatest problem now, is the sudden appearance of the Tie family father and daughter. If he got involved in the political turmoil now, facing suppression from other elders, his situation would get even more dangerous.

"Letting go, willingness to let go, among taking and letting go, that is life. The identity of clan elder was to cultivate better, that is its only purpose to me. To pursue eternal life I walked on the demonic path, I am willing to discard my own life. What else can I not discard? Clan elder status, hmph…"

Fang Yuan did not feel a shred of regret or annoyance.

This was the wisest decision.

Moreover, although there's a punishment, it would definitely be minimized.

After all, there were little clan elders left, and as a Rank three Gu Master, his strength was greatly valued. The clan leader has to punish him on one end, but also needs to borrow his strength to stabilize the entire village's circumstance, thus he also needed to give in to Fang Yuan.

As for the other clan elders, Fang Yuan had stepped out of this political contest and no longer held any threat. They would not offend Fang Yuan anymore. After all, if they force Fang Yuan to retaliate, isn't it finding trouble for themselves?

"Although there is the clan system, but what is a system? Hehe, a system is just a tool to maintain the interests of those in power. On one hand it governs and divides the interest of the lower levels, but it is also the rules that contain the higher-ups as they compete against each other." Fang Yuan laughed coldly. These matters, he was clear as day, the truth was transparent to him.

"The most crucial point now, is the Tie family father and daughter. Fuck, they came much earlier than I had anticipated, even before the wolf tide is completely gone. Hmph! But such a behavior perfectly fits Tie Xue Leng's hatred towards evil, and his selflessness in fighting crime."

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan felt a strong pressure.

Even though Tie Xue Leng is injured now, his battle strength was not something Fang Yuan could compete against. A starving dying camel is larger than a horse, it is this logic.

"I need to leave the village, but I also need to avoid the pursuit of the Tie father and daughter pair, how can I get out of this predicament?"

Fang Yuan was vexed.

This Tie family father and daughter was not as easy to confuse as Jia Fu. Moreover, Fang Yuan's cultivation was too low. Even if he had a thousand and one plans, what could he do without actual strength?

Rank three and five, it was a world of difference.

"Everyone, I have something to say." At this point, the silent Gu Yue Mo Chen suddenly expression was pale as he had dragged his injured body to the banquet, and he did not drink wine, only sipping tea.

But what he said next, shocked people to death, "There's something I have to be honest about. Elder Fang Yuan did not manage to enter the battlefield, and that was due to me."

"What?"

At once, the other clan elders were shocked.

"Oh, what do you mean?" Gu Yue Bo asked.

Fang Yuan sent a glance over, hiding his shock.

Why would this Gu Yue Mo Chen stand up for himself?

During this wolf tide, the Mo faction inheritor Gu Yue Mo Bei had already died unfortunately.

Even though the Mo faction had to the greatest of their ability, protected Mo Bei. On the battlefield, surprises were aplenty. Moreover, during the wolf tide, everyone was in danger, sometimes they can't even take care of themselves, what more towards others?

Gu Yue Mo Chen sighed, "To speak the truth, my granddaughter Gu Yue Mo Yan had fallen deep in love with elder Fang Yuan. Before this, she had come to beg me, kneeling on the ground and crying, not willing to see Fang Yuan die on the battlefield. I only have one granddaughter, thus out of selfishness, I kept Fang Yuan in my estate and knocked him out. It was only until we chased the lightning crown wolf that I let him out. Thus, everything was due to me, it is my fault. It has nothing to do with Fang Yuan."

"What?"

"Oh, is that really it?"

The clan elders were suspicious.

Gu Yue Mo Chen's words were quite a stretch; it was rather unbelievable.

"Love and relationship among youngsters is common," Gu Yue Bo nodded, staring at Fang Yuan with deep meaning, wanting to find out some clues from his expression.

But Fang Yuan looked down with a calm expression. There was nothing to see.

Clan leader was disappointed.

The other clan elders exchanged glances, not understanding why Gu Yue Mo Chen was so defensive of Fang Yuan.

Him saying this in order to aid Fang Yuan, it meant that he had sacrificed his own reputation and ruined his own political prospect!

Gu Yue Mo Chen continued, "In order to protect my reputation, elder fang Yuan willingly let himself suffer the injustice. But I have already erred once, how can I make a mistake once more? This is the truth. As for the punishment, I implore lord clan leader to consider. I admit my mistake and as with the rules, if my clan elder status is to be stripped, I have no objections."

Clan leader quickly waved his hand, saying, "Elder Mo Chen has worked hard all these years. What you did was understandable, humans are not grass or wood, how can we not have feelings? Now that our clan is greatly weakened, we need loyal and strong elders like you. But this is still your own selfishness, thus the punishment still needs to be decided. We have an important guest today, let's not talk about this now. Come, brother Tie, I and the clan elders shall offer you a toast!"

Saying so, Gu Yue Bo stood up.

The other clan elders stood up as well, raising their cups.

"Everyone is too kind. I still have to trouble you all later, I hope I can seek your understanding." Tie Xue Leng did not put on airs, standing up and drinking his wine.

…

In the courtyard of the Mo faction, flora and fauna were abundant. The artificial mountain had a spring flowing with crystal clear water.

In the night sky, the moon hung high in the sky like a plate.

The banquet had long ended.

Fang Yuan sat in the cooling pavilion as he listened to the sound of the flowing water, and he placed down his tea cup with a plain expression.

Sitting opposite him was Gu Yue Mo Chen. After the banquet was over, he had invited Fang Yuan over for a discussion.

"Come, have another cup of tea, this bamboo leaf clear water tea is good in eliminating hangovers." Gu Yue Mo Chen laughed, pouring personally into Fang Yuan's cup.

Fang Yuan's expression was calm, and on seeing the cup being filled again, he said, "Indeed a good cure for hangovers."

Saying so, he looked outside the pavilion, only to see that the pale white moon had radiated the grounds with its moonlight. Under the moon, the pavilion was quiet and graceful, but in the wind there were lurking shadows, showing how the Mo faction courtyard was turning from a prosperous state, to a declining one.

During the banquet, Fang Yuan had already understood Gu Yue Mo Chen's intention. Seeing this scene, he was even more sure of himself.

The Mo faction had no inheritor left!

Once Gu Yue Mo Bei died, the entire Mo faction would lose its inheritor.

Although Mo Bei still had his sister Mo Yan, the clan rules was that, since ancient times, it favored males over females, and the assets can only be inherited by a male and not female.

Even if Gu Yue Mo Yan gets to Rank three next time and advances to clan elder, her assets do not represent the Mo faction, but only her own. If she married anyone, this asset will be transferred to under her husband's name.

If they lost their inheritor, a clan's political influence would have no prospects, and no one would join them.

The Mo faction had already fallen into difficult circumstances, on the verge of breaking down.

But heaven always left a way, and the Mo faction was not truly at its wits end; there was still a sliver of hope.

This hope lies in Gu Yue Mo Yan's hands.

Although she is a female, she can marry someone.

If the son-in-law marries into the Mo faction, he would have an acceptable status, and can inherit the Mo faction!

Seeing that Fang Yuan had no inclination to mention it, Gu Yue Mo Chen scolded this crafty lad internally, but had to speak, "I wonder what elder Fang Yuan thinks of my Mo faction?"

He had an unspeakable grief.

Ever since his injury, his cultivation had fallen to Rank two, without any chance of ever regaining Rank three.

He could only rely on his Gu worm to conceal his true aura. But paper cannot cover fire; he would be exposed one day.

His only inheritor had died, while he himself was Rank two and would lose his clan elder identity. Gu Yue Mo Chen needed someone who could hold the fort to sustain their faction.

Back then, he had both authority and status, thus the Mo faction controlled a large amount of the interest cake. But now that the clan's factions were reorganising themselves, he did not want any more interests. As long as he can defend what he already has, that would be the biggest victory.

He pondered left and right, and the most suitable person was Fang Yuan without doubt!

Chapter 173: White form immortal snake

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Sunset clouds are blown away as cool wind fills the air, and the jade disc spins silently in the milky way.

Bai Ning Bing looked out from the window and gazed at the night sky.

A bright and sparkling moon was shining in the sky. Occasionally, wolf howls could be heard in the distance, adding some bleakness to the peaceful moonlight.

In the study room, the Bai clan leader was sitting at a side with a dazed expression.

Just a moment ago, Bai Ning Bing told him about the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique.

"Northern Dark Ice Soul….ten absolute aptitudes…." The Bai clan leader mumbled constantly.

"I have already sensed that my end is nearing, my aperture is gradually unable to endure the burden. These past few years, I've truly caused you much problems!" Bai Ning Bing softly sighed.

His expression was calm. No longer was there the abnormal reckless and crazed state as before. What replaced them was tranquility and peace.

This tranquility and peace came from his heart.

He had found his path and was no longer perplexed by life and death.

People mature over time, and the stimulation from life and death could further speed up this process.

Moonlight fell down like flowing water, illuminating Bai Ning Bing's fair skin. Under the flowing radiance, his two blue eyes shone with depth.

He was like a beautiful young man from a painting, with white hair and white clothes like the immortals in the clouds, causing people to look intently.

"How could this happen? You were clearly A grade with 99% primeval essence when your aptitude was tested. It absolutely wasn't the Northern Dark Ice Soul." The Bai clan leader was still refusing to accept it.

"It was indeed so. But one day when I was cultivating, my aptitude suddenly advanced. I checked the ancient scrolls and records in the clan and found some information on this; every 99% A grade aptitude has the possibility of advancing to ten absolute aptitudes while cultivating," Bai Ning Bing said.

"All ten defy the heavens, and the heavens can't tolerate them. Even Ren Zu's ten children didn't have a good end. Sigh, is there really no way to salvage it?" Bai clan leader felt pity and regret when he looked at the beautiful boy in front of him.

He was the clan's pride and their hope to rise up in power. However, his life was already nearing its end. Despite glowing brightly, he was like a firework which could only shine splendidly for one single moment.

"There are no ways to evade my impending doom, but there are some ways to delay it. However, all these methods need many years to prepare, which I don't have."

Bai Ning Bing said all this and gave a light laugh, as if the one being discussed about was not him, but some irrelevant outsider.

"Don't worry. Who doesn't die? True immortality doesn't exist! As long as we live our life interestingly, it is enough." He was instead consoling the clan leader.

"I cannot accept this! I absolutely cannot! Damn it, my Bai clan has been suppressed by the Gu Yue clan for centuries, we finally found hope but it ends up like this! No, there is still hope!"

Bai clan leader's voice got louder and louder till suddenly, his expression turned firm as if he had decided on something.

"Follow me, I will bring you to a place…." He stood up and said.

After a while.

The bright moonlight shone upon a deep pool.

"This is the spirit spring?" Bai Ning Bing asked. He had been led by the Bai clan leader as they went through a long secret pathway, and finally arrived here.

"Indeed. This is our clan's restricted area, the location of the spirit spring. You also know this — every clan's foundation is established upon a natural spirit spring, where the primeval stones produced by it will be used to provide for their cultivation. Our Bai clan can only be considered a small-medium scale clan, and only by annexing Gu Yue and Xiong clan as well as possessing at least three springs can we become a large scale clan," Bai clan leader sighed.

"Then clan leader, what did you bring me here for?"

Bai clan leader's face revealed a complex expression, and as he turned around to look at Bai Ning Bing, his expression contained some hesitation, "I had originally never thought of bringing you here. However, the affairs of the world are hard to anticipate. To think, you would end up possessing Northern Dark Ice Soul! Your only chance at living lies within this spring."

"What is in this spring?" Bai Ning Bing asked.

"A great Immortal!" Bai clan leader said with a deep voice.

"Great Immortal?" Bai Ning Bing was flabbergasted.

"Great Immortal is its title. It is a snake Gu left by our Bai clan's first generation ancestor. It likes cleanliness, and its food is the water of spirit spring. It has always been secretly living in the spirit spring," Bai clan leader introduced.

"Before the first generation ancestor passed away, he set up a secret inheritance and left behind this snake Gu as a clue. If you can get the approval of the Great Immortal, it will open the secret inheritance for you. But if you can't receive its approval…." The Bai clan leader stopped his sentence in the middle.

"What happens then?" Bai Ning Bing asked.

Bai clan leader's expression turned grave and he said, "It will kill you!"

At the same time, Gu Yue village.

Inside the room, Tie Ruo Nan kept her recon Gu and nodded with satisfaction, "The environment here is pretty good, it's rather clean."

The 'clean' she referred to wasn't talking about the cleanliness of the room, but was pointing at the lack of surveillance.

It was impossible to say that there absolutely wasn't any surveillance.

After all, Tie Xue Leng was rank five, so he possessed too great of a threat. Hence, there was a necessity for some precautions.

However, Gu Yue clan's defensive and surveillance measures were just at the right amount and the level was quite low too, not creating any feelings of provocation and aversion. It could even be taken as excessively earnest and passionate reception, which was why Tie Ruo Nan gave the assessment of 'rather clean'.

Tie Xue Leng slightly nodded, "Ruo Nan, you have followed me for so long and have learned many things. However, some things can only be learned by taking actions and not just by spectating from the sides. Hence, I handed this case to you."

"Father, I will definitely work hard and give my best!"

"Good. Then, let me ask you, what should your next step be?" Tie Xue Leng was deliberately testing her.

Tie Ruo Nan smiled. She turned around and gazed at the moon through the window, "The moon is beautiful tonight. Dad, can I have the pleasure to take you around this Gu Yue village?"

Upon hearing this, Tie Xue Leng revealed a gratifying smile.

When starting out on a case, it was not urgent to understand the details of the case. The first step to solve a case was to survey the surroundings.

The father and daughter pair slowly walked through the streets. After resisting the most terrifying attacks of the wolf tide, Gu Yue clan was now in a wretched state.

There were collapsed bamboo buildings and bloodstains all around. Junks were piled up all over the place and feeble moaning sounds of crippled people could be heard from time to time.

The Tie father and daughter pair walked around the village without saying any words.

"Fang Yuan, you bastard, fuck off!" Suddenly, a loud roar came from within a courtyard.

The Tie father and daughter stopped walking.

After a long while, the courtyard gate opened and Fang Yuan walked out while rubbing his nose with a vague smile on his face.

"Hello, little brother Fang Yuan." Tie Xue Leng took the initiative to send his greetings.

"Junior pays his respects to lord divine investigator." Fang Yuan constrained his smile and cupped his hands.

"Little brother, we are new here and don't know the place well. Is it possible for little brother to tell us a thing or two?" Tie Xue Leng suddenly asked.

Tie Ruo Nan glanced at her father, but she didn't make any comments.

Fang Yuan's gaze hardened, he was just about to go meet them but this opportunity was delivered right up to him.

"Both of you have travelled a great distance and suffered hardships to come and solve the case, the whole village ought to help you. Please follow me." Fang Yuan spoke directly without showing the slightest evil intention, and walked in front.

…

The spirit spring was raging like the boiling water.

All of a sudden, the springwater rose up like a tidal wave.

After it reached a certain height, the spirit spring scattered and splashed in all directions. A slender white snake, its whole body covered with snow white scales, tread on the waves and revealed its elegant appearance.

Its eyes were like jade, cold and indifferent. On the two sides of its head were a pair of long whiskers, floating like celestial ribbons.

Rank five white form immortal snake Gu!

"I pay respects to Great Immortal!" Bai clan leader emotionally kneeled on the ground, and at the same time anxiously urged, "Bai Ning Bing, why are you not kneeling down?"

"I will never kneel before a Gu!" Bai Ning Bing coldly snorted, his body standing upright and tall.

Although the white form immortal snake Gu released an ethereal cold grandeur with heavy killing intent concealed within, Bai Ning Bing was not the least bit afraid. His two blue pupils directly stared at its snake eyes.

Time seemed to have stopped at this moment.

The spirit spring and the Bai clan leader had become insignificant background objects.

Under the bright moonlight, the picturesque youngster with blue pupils and the silver whiskered white snake gazed at each other.

After a good while, the white snake suddenly gave a long cry and turned into a white rainbow, slamming into Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing's body jolted. The white light entered his aperture and turned into a white snake.

The white snake occupied the central area of his primeval essence, and with its tyrannical attitude, all the surrounding Gu were immediately forced to the side.

"This situation…" Bai clan leader stood up with a puzzled expression, "It doesn't match what the clan's secret records say."

According to the clan's secret records, once a Gu Master obtained approval, the white form immortal snake Gu would fly with the inheritor and open the inheritance in the sky.

However, the current situation was somewhat weird.

The white form immortal snake Gu took the initiative to enter Bai Ning Bing's aperture and didn't kill him, which should mean that it had approved of him. But why didn't it carry Bai Ning Bing and fly to the sky?

Could it be that the secret records were wrong?

Bai clan leader couldn't make sense of it.

…

Time quietly flew by.

"That more or less sums up everything about Gu Yue village. There is the underground cave, but that is a restricted area of the clan and outsiders aren't allowed entry." Fang Yuan said.

He looked at the bright moon in the sky and continued, "It is getting late, please go and rest, you need to have the energy to investigate tomorrow, right?"

"Hahaha, Elder Fang Yuan is correct. We are really thankful for Elder Fang Yuan's directions, please go and take a rest," Tie Xue Leng said.

"In that case, I will take my leave." Fang Yuan cupped his hands before directly leaving.

Tie Xue Leng looked at Fang Yuan's figure with interest, and only after Fang Yuan turned into a corner, did he take back his gaze.

"Ruo Nan, what do you think of this Fang Yuan?" He suddenly asked.

"I don't like him, my intuition tells me he is covered in shadows." The young girl frowned.

Tie Xue Leng nodded his head, "I know you have the Intuition Gu which strengthens your intuition, but we need definite evidence to solve a case. Just relying on intuition alone won't be convincing. Don't always depend on your intuition, I do not want you to use the intuition Gu to solve this case."

"Yes, father."

Chapter 174: Junior divine investigator

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Tie Xue Leng said again, "Now, analyze this person Fang Yuan."

"Father, you suspect it is Fang Yuan?" Tie Ruo Nan was stunned, but continued, "He is a very logical and intelligent person, and when he introduced the village to us, every word he said was appropriate and well organised. Gasp!…"

Tie Ruo Nan suddenly drew in a mouthful of cold air.

She frowned, "I didn't notice this earlier, but after you just reminded me, I realised it! This Fang Yuan is too good at speaking. Everything he said is objectively the truth, abandoning his personal feelings. Standing at a bystander's perspective, and describing calmly. Not allowing others to find flaws in his words, thus not able to get additional clues. His words were very…. very…. very clean."

The young girl hesitated, before using the word 'clean'.

Tie Xue Leng nodded, but then shook his head, "He did not abandon his feelings. Everyone has feelings, and even a cold blooded murderer has feelings. He only concealed his personal feelings very well, and was in full control of his emotions. This lad has a demonic nature."

"Demonic nature?""That's right, think about it. He spoke the truth during the banquet, saying he was frightened and did not dare to enter the battlefield. Tell me, if it was a normal person, would they do that?" Tie Xue Leng asked.

Tie Ruo Nan shook her head, "No, Gu Masters put the clan's honor and their own reputation higher than their own lives. But, that might not be certain, for in history there have also been many people who sacrificed their own reputation, right?"

"That's right, but who were those people?" Tie Xue Leng's gaze was deep.

Tie Ruo Nan considered, before her expression changed, "They were all outstanding individuals!"

"That's correct. Throughout history, those who sacrificed their own reputations only had two aims. One was that they had a greater aim in mind, and compared to their aim, reputation is worth nothing. The other is to preserve themselves, defaming themselves to prevent suspicion."

Tie Ruo Nan's eyes shone, "Father, you are saying?"

"You are thinking too much. I just feel that this young man is very interesting, but too bad he is only a C grade…" Tie Xue Leng said.

The moonlight was like water on this night.

Fang Yuan walked on the empty street, his footsteps slightly heavy but filled with determination.

After interacting with Tie Xue Leng earlier, he was indeed what the rumors said. This Tie Xue Leng had a gaze that could see through the world, and his intelligence and wits were deep like a chasm. He swept through the Southern Border for tens of years, establishing his famed name; he really was an outstanding talent.

Wanting to remove his suspicions in front of such a person was extremely difficult. As long as they had enough time, they would definitely discover the truth!

"Now is a race against time. But, Mo faction's recruitment, I can make good use of it."

Not long ago in the Mo faction pavilion, Fang Yuan had given absurd demands. In return for marrying Mo Yan, he wanted a hundred thousand primeval stones, ten rare Gu worms and each at least Rank three.

This made Gu Yue Mo Chen furious.

He was marrying away his precious granddaughter, but Fang Yuan still had more demands?!

Such a shameless way to ask for gifts, and so greedy, it was really the last straw!

Thus, the discussion faltered, and he chased Fang Yuan out.

Fang Yuan left immediately without any inclination to stay.

He knew Mo Chen's intention, thus he would definitely compromise. His absurd demands were just a way of bargaining, paying the lowest price when buying, and asking for the highest price when selling.

"But this matter has equal benefits and demerits. Although with more primeval stones I can feed the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, my original plan to get out of the political spiral would be ruined. In tonight's banquet, Gu Yue Mo Chen sacrificed himself to salvage my political career. From then on, he might face all sorts of elder's suppression."

Gu Yue village's political situation now was: Clan leader was healthy, while for the two important elders, Gu Yue Chi Lian was dead but the Chi faction was not finished yet, as inheritor Chi Cheng was still alive. At the same time there was still Gu Yue Chi Zhong, an elder from the same faction. But Mo faction lost its inheritor and Mo Chen was heavily injured, falling to Rank two, unable to even keep his clan elder status.

The two formerly large factions had already gone downhill. The medicine faction in contrast were mostly healing Gu Masters. As supports they had little sacrifice while still keeping most of their strength, and were on the verge of rising up.

Medicine faction was originally the clan leader's faction, but now it had the ability to be independent. Regardless of whether Gu Yue Yao Ji chooses to be independant or rely on the clan elder, in order to strengthen themselves, they would need to snatch and merge. And the weakened Chi and Mo faction were the best targets.

If they did not strike now, later on when the two factions stabilize internally it would be much more difficult.

"Being in the human world, many things are not up to me, why not just let down my hair and sail away to the seas? Sailing with the winds and breaking waves as I travel thirty thousand Li, that is the true demonic path I take!" Fang Yuan raised his head, looking at the moon as he sighed.

He wanted to get away from the political spiral, but Gu Yue Mo Chen dragged him back by force. He faced pressure from all the factions, and Tie Xue Leng was already starting to solve the case. On the other hand, Bai Ning Bing had already regained his new arm.

Like a boat travelling in the darkness with danger lurking everywhere, how was he to open up a path for himself?

…

The next day.

"What? You said that the person who murdered Jia Jin Sheng had already been found and was killed already?" Tie Ruo Nan felt extremely perturbed.

This morning, she had woken up early and officially started to solve the case.

But to think that the first information she got, was that the killer had already been sentenced.

"That's right, the killer is a demonic Gu Master. He once assassinated our clan's rising star and tried to kill the genius, thus he was killed on the spot." A clan elder provided the information.

"Is that really so? Did he admit personally that he was Jia Jing Sheng's killer?" Tie Ruo Nan frowned deeply. Beside her, Tie Xue Leng wore a copper mask as he stood like a statue.

"He didn't. But, if it's not him, who else could it be?" The clan elder shrugged.

Tie Ruo Nan thought internally, "This is all an assumption, there is no real proof. But whether it is the truth or not, this demonic Gu Master has to be investigated clearly. Most likely, this is a lead that will bring us to the truth!"

Thinking of this, Tie Ruo Nan raised her head abruptly, "Where is he buried? I want to inspect the corpse!"

In a simple and torn coffin, there was a corpse within.

The rotting smell assaulted noses, and clan servants and Gu Masters were so disgusted that they ran far away to hide.

Tie family father and daughter acted as if they were unaffected, and Tie Ruo Nan's eyes glowed brightly, excitedly stretching her hand and inspecting.

A person's corpse has lots of traces. At times, one or two small injuries would be the evidence needed to point out the murderer!

On this corpse, there were many injuries, but the person's appearance was still clear, and he was still wearing his original clothes.

Tie Ruo Nan checked for ages, and only then did she get up with a lingering interest.

"Anything?" Tie Xue Leng asked lightly, testing her secretly.

"Gu Yue clan thinks this person is Jia Jin Sheng's killer, thus they kept the corpse well. There's a huge problem in this corpse," Tie Ruo Nan answered.

"He's a middle-aged man, right arm thicker than the left; both his hands have a thick callus. Seeing how his callus is distributed, they are uneven. There are many injuries on his body, numerous fatal wounds, showing the intense battle he had before death. But on his body there are also a lot of hidden injuries, especially his left foot having three less toes, this is left behind from many years ago."

Saying so, she continued deducing, "He was most likely a hunter. There are many evidences – his disproportional left and right side and the callus on his hands shows that he's an experienced bowman. There are many injures made by wild beasts on his body, like claw marks and bites, showing he often fought against beasts. His clothes are not the traditional Gu Master clothes, and his shoes are even more interesting, weaved from bamboo hemp grass. This kind of grass only grows near Qing Mao bamboo, and Qing Mao mountain only produces Qing Mao bamboo; other than that, in the surrounding mountains, there is no bamboo hemp grass.

"So what are you getting at?" Tie Xue Leng pursued.

"Before this person became a demonic Gu Master, he was a hunter. From his clothes, he was most likely a resident hunter on Qing Mao mountain," Tie Ruo Nan's eyes shone brightly.

"Why do you think he is a resident here? If it is the grass shoes, he could've killed the villagers here and worn them," Tie Xue Leng rebuked.

"That's not it. The most special part of his clothes is the shoes, because if they were taken by force, most would not fit his size perfectly. But look at this, two disproportionate legs and yet the shoes fit nicely, this is made just for him. He has three less toes on his leg feet, thus the left grass shoe is shorter. His stump is very cleanly cut and sharp. I assume it is most likely due to stepping on a trap by mistake," Tie Ruo Nan said.

Tie Xue Leng did not deny it nor confirm it, and did not even give any criticism.

Like what he said earlier, he left it to Tie Ruo Nan to solve the case.

Tie Ruo Nan continued saying, "With this conjecture, we can go to the surrounding hamlets and investigate. We might find more clues… wait!"

Just when she was about to speak, the young girl's expression stiffened.

She suddenly remembered, this Qing Mao mountain had just undergone a wolf tide calamity. Even the villages were heavily damaged, not to mention those hamlets?

She knew that using this method to find out the person's identity and information bore little hope.

"But even if the chances are slim, as long as there is a possibility for success, I must try!" It was the young girl's first individual case, and she was full of drive.

But half a day passed, and she returned empty-handed. This wolf tide was the largest and most horrifying one yet. So many hamlets had zero survivors, and this brought great trouble to her investigations.

"This lead is gone. What are you going to do next?" Tie Xue Leng asked at an appropriate time.

The young girl gritted her teeth, and in her tone there was stubbornness and tenacity, "No, it is not over yet. Father you said it yourself, the true lead is often hidden more deeply, and as long as we continue to excavate, it will appear."

"This demonic Gu Master's death is strange. Firstly, why did he assault Fang Zheng? What did Fang Zheng do to offend him, causing him to assassinate him with his life, under the situation which was basically an assured death? Moreover, he is a local, but after his death, why did no one recognise him?"

Hearing her words, Tie Xue Leng was a little surprised.

"Child, you have truly grown up," the divine investigator sighed, and in his tone there was contentment and gratification.

Chapter 175: Increasing pressure

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"You're asking me why that Gu Master came to kill me? How would I know!" Facing Tie Ruo Nan's questioning, Fang Zheng blinked innocently.

"If you have done something, I hope you won't conceal the truth. Because your words, even though they might seem insignificant, can have great help towards solving the case," the young girl said sincerely.

Fang Zheng shook his head. "I'm very perplexed too. During that period, I was cultivating non-stop, so how could I attract any assassinations? But afterwards, the people around me realized that this demonic Gu Master could have been hired by the other two clans, to kill a rising star like myself. You also know the rivalry between us and the Bai clan and Xiong clan. Especially the Xiong clan, they are the greatest suspects as they had once recruited demonic Gu Masters into their clan."

"Xiong clan huh…" Tie Ruo Nan became a little discouraged after hearing this, since the Xiong clan had already been eliminated by the wolf tide. It seems that this lead is lost as well.

Suddenly, murmurs came from outside the room.

"Quick, look there, isn't that people from the Xiong clan?"

"I thought the Xiong clan was exterminated, how can there be any envoys coming here?!"

Xiong clan envoy's appearance caused a vivid discussion among the village, as people talked with one another.

Soon, news came from the clan leader pavilion.

"Xiong clan still has a large number of survivors."

"They retreated on their own, using a Gu that their ancestor left behind, concealing many people at the same time, cheating death!"

"These scumbags, retreating and avoiding battle, causing the wolf tide to come to us."

"Hmph, these Xiong clan people may look rough and large, but their hearts are devious on the inside. Wanting to borrow the power of the wolf tide to weaken us, they are too despicable!"

Gu Yue clansmen were furious.

The appearance of the Xiong clan envoy had caused the Qing Mao mountain's political distribution to undergo a complete shift.

What was thought to be a two-sided competition between Bai clan and Gu Yue clan in the end remained a three-way competition.

But one would understand once they thought about it. The Xiong clan had survived for hundreds of years without falling, they had their own foundations too. Which clan did not have an ancestor, and a trump card?

After the Xiong clan envoy left, Gu Yue Bo immediately called for a clan elder meeting.

"These Xiong clan bastards, they really are nothing good. To think they retreated immediately!"

"Can't look down on anyone indeed. Xiong clan had always ranked behind our clan and Bai clan, and was the weakest among the forces on Qing Mao mountain. But to think they had such a scheme, we have to be more careful from now on."

"They wanted to borrow the strength of the wolf tide to eliminate us. They nearly got us this time, if not for that lightning lycan, we might not have lost so many elders. These people deserve to die!"

"If it wasn't for the Tie divine investigator appearing, two clan leaders might've died. We cannot let them off simply."

"Asking for compensation is a must. It was us and Bai clan working together to settle the problem of the lightning lycan. But to ask for compensation, we need to first discuss and formulate a sum."

The clan elders spoke one after another, discussing until they had a conclusion.

Gu Yue clan would dispatch an envoy towards the Xiong clan. They have to observe Xiong clan's remaining strength.

If Xiong clan was strong, they would join forces with the Bai clan. If the Xiong clan was weak, they might send people to eliminate them and steal the spirit spring.

"So then, who would be suitable enough to be dispatched to Xiong clan?" Gu Yue Bo looked around, asking, "Which clan elder would shoulder this responsibility!"

The hall immediately became silent.

The clan elders look around at each other. No one was willing to go.

The internal conflict was at its peak now, and it was the most crucial moment for the factions to divide the interest cake. If they went to the Xiong clan, their faction would be without a leader and others would make use of the opportunity. When they return, all would've been decided, so by then who would they complain to?

"This old one feels that, to go to the Xiong clan, someone of seniority and experience must go, it has to be someone who can hold his own. Among all of us here, only elder Mo Chen can take on this role!" Gu Yue Yao Ji suddenly said.

Gu Yue Mo Chen snorted, rebuking, "Speaking of qualification, lord Yao Ji has much more experience than me. Especially in terms of fame, I cannot compete at all, I admit complete defeat. Going to the Xiong clan, it seems we will have to trouble lord Yao Ji after all."

"Elder Mo Chen is extremely right, I recommend lord Yao Ji." A clan elder stood up.

"I feel that lord Mo Chen is a more suitable candidate." Another elder immediately rebuked.

The scene was chaotic.

Gu Yue Bo stood at the leader's seat, staring coldly without making a sound.

The medicine faction already had intentions of detaching into its own force, no longer under his control. Thus he did not want to help either, and merely observed the scene.

This was the first contest between the medicine faction and the Mo faction.

The two had their respective political allies, but the current situation was that both leaders made much compromises as well as exchange of benefits. But on a whole, the medicine faction was stronger.

Gu Yue Yao Ji's reputation as well as the Chi faction's inclination, caused this situation.

Gu Yue Bo stared coldly, noting in his heart the factions that each individual belonged to.

As the clan leader, he did not want to see his authority being reduced, and these elders were his competitors. But now he had decided to merely observe, and not strike yet.

"Mo faction controls too much power and resources, and now that they have lost their inheritor, the medicine faction jumped out hurriedly and tried to attack them. Thus, the most crucial aspect of this contest is all on one person."

Gu Yue Bo thought silently, turning his gaze towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan had been sitting in his seat, not saying a word.

"It seems this Fang Yuan isn't very close with the Mo faction, and has not gotten a mutual agreement on interest distribution. Otherwise, he'd have helped out already. Is this my chance?" Gu Yue Bo thought.

But at this moment, Fang Yuan suddenly stood up from his seat.

This action, attracted everyone's attention.

What he said next was a shocker. "Going as an envoy, this is an important matter involving the survival of our clan. I am willing to step up, bearing the responsibility of an envoy, and investigate the Xiong clan's current state for our clan!"

"What?"

"Fang Yuan is asking to go?"

"What is the meaning of this? Is he really stupid or acting stupid? Isn't he afraid that when he comes back, all the interests would've been distributed away already!"

The clan elders all showed expressions of shock.

Fang Yuan had his own plans. If he went to the Xiong clan, he might be able to find a chance and instigate a conflict among the three clans. Even if he can't, this is a chance to leave.

"Wait! Anyone here can be the envoy but Fang Yuan alone!" The door suddenly opened and Tie Ruo Nan walked in, barging her way in.

Fang Yuan turned his body to look, and his irises shrunk a little. He saw the Tie family father and daughter walk in, as well as two other people behind them. One looked just like Fang Yuan — it is indeed his brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng, while the other was Gu Yue Jiang He.

"What does Tie divine investigator have to enlighten us on today?" Gu Yue Bo stood up to greet him, his tone slightly unhappy. This was a Gu Yue internal discussion, how could they just barge in like that?

"Gu Yue clan leader, as well as the other elders. My daughter has already investigated the identity of the demonic Gu Master that once assaulted Gu Yue Fang Zheng," Tie Xue Leng spoke.

"Oh? Is that so…"

"That demonic Gu Master, wasn't he instigated by the Xiong clan?"

"Is there a hidden story behind this?"

"Indeed, this demonic Gu Master's true identity is a hunter from a hamlet at the base of the mountain. Only by chance did he manage to become a demonic Gu Master, his name is Wang Er. The reason why he assaulted Gu Yue Fang Zheng, is because of his brother Fang Yuan!" Saying so, Tie Ruo Nan stared intently at Fang Yuan.

"Brother, to think you are such a person!" Fang Zheng standing at one side clenched his fist, showing rage in his eyes.

"What do you mean by this, young lady?" Gu Yue Mo Chen said in a solemn voice.

"Don't tell me, Fang Yuan is the one that hired this demonic Gu Master to assassinate his own brother Fang Zheng?" Gu Yue Yao Ji showed an excited expression.

Even Gu Yue Bo was taken aback, as he adjusted his posture on his seat.

"You're all mistaken." Tie Ruo Nan shook her head. "The truth is, Fang Yuan killed innocent people, murdering old man Wang's entire family, causing Wang Er to take revenge. But Wang Er did not know that Fang Yuan had a twin brother, thus he mistook Fang Zheng for Fang Yuan, and assaulted him for revenge."

"Young lady, everything needs proof," a clan elder spoke.

"Of course I have evidence. Gu Yue Jiang He, tell us everything that you know." Tie Ruo Nan was prepared for this, not panicking.

Gu Yue Jiang He sighed. He looked at the Tie family father and daughter in fear, slowly walking forward and kneeling on the ground, crying, "It is this subordinate's dereliction of duty, I seek clan leader's punishment!"

Gu Yue Bo's face was grim as water, "Say everything clearly first, do not hide anything from us!"

Back then, when Fang Yuan killed old man Wang's family, it was under Gu Yue Jiang He's area of jurisdiction, and only when he got to the spot did he discover it. Because of the clan evaluation, he suppressed this matter and did not report it. Never would he have thought that today, the matter would be exposed, dug up by Tie Ruo Nan.

"The truth is like this…" Jiang He stammered as he spoke, not adding any details into his descriptions, very simple and truthful.

At this time and place, he did not dare to lie. Fang Yuan was also a clan elder, so he did not dare to exaggerate facts.

"I never would've thought that the truth would be like this!"

"Fang Yuan killed Wang Er's father, and Wang Er came to take revenge, but found Fang Zheng instead. So that's it…."

"Fang Zheng was innocently involved, and blocked the crisis for Fang Yuan."

The clan elders whispered among themselves.

Fang Zheng's clenched fist was even tighter as rage grew in his heart. He could not help but growl at Fang Yuan, "Brother, how can you take people's lives away so easily. That old man and girl, they were innocent mortals. How could you cut them down?!"

Facing his brother's accusations, Fang Yuan was indiffierent, as if he did not hear it.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng was not the main point.

Fang Yuan looked at the Tie family father and daughter. Being able to discover the truth in such a short time, they were indeed divine investigators.

Regardless of what Gu worms they used, whatever method to make Jiang He submit and reveal his own secret, they had their ways.

This ability made Fang Yuan even more certain that the matter of him killing Jia Jin Sheng, would definitely be found out by the Tie father and daughter duo. It was only a matter of time. After all this is the Gu world, where Gu can be used to commit crime, and also used to solve crime.

Pressure was intensifying…

Chapter 176: The resolve to sacrifice

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"Elder Fang Yuan, is it true that you massacred the whole family of old Wang?" Gu Yue Bo asked with a heavy voice from the main seat.

All the gazes were on Fang Yuan; the young elder coldly smiled, "It is indeed true."

Gu Yue Fang Zheng closed his eyes in grief.

He may have killed many lightning wolves, but he had never taken any human lives. And now that he heard Fang Yuan admitting it himself, he suddenly felt that his own big brother had become so unfamiliar and estranged.

In this estrangement, he also felt fear towards his brother's cruel methods and anger at the loss of innocent lives.

"Fang Yuan, do you not feel any guilt at slaughtering innocents? If you have any difficulties, you can say them out," Tie Ruo Nan spoke as she frowned. She was someone with extremely righteous character, and hated people like Fang Yuan the most.

"So what if I killed them, I don't find it necessary to tell you my story. However, at that time, I didn't know that the missing Wang Er was a demonic Gu Master. It could be said that Fang Zheng was unexpectedly implicated," Fang Yuan spoke honestly.

"Big brother, aren't you going to say something to me?" Fang Zheng opened his eyes; the corners of his eyes had become red.

"What do you want me to say? Comfort you or to apologize? …..Hmph, little brother, you are too soft," Fang Yuan sneered.

"Damn it, big brother…don't think you are extraordinary just by becoming an elder. I will tell you that I already have the qualifications to breakthrough to Rank three…." Fang Zheng gritted his teeth, veins popping up in his clenched fists.

"Enough!" Gu Yue Bo couldn't continue looking at this anymore and shouted, "Fang Zheng, go back, what decorum are you showing by making a fuss here?"

His words had other meaning and expressed dissatisfaction. Tie Ruo Nan couldn't sense it, but Divine Investigator Tie Xue Leng reacted immediately; he stepped forward and cupped his hands. "Gu Yue clan leader and all elders, it is indeed improper for my daughter to charge in and rush into the lords' discussion hall. This one apologizes for offending everyone!"

The elders promptly stood up and kept on saying Tie Xue Leng was too kind.

Gu Yue Bo's expression also relaxed.

Tie Xue Leng continued, "Since little brother Fang Yuan is involved in Jia Jin Sheng's case and is also a suspect, I hope he remains at the village and will not leave to the other village."

Gu Yue Bo massaged his temples and sighed, "Our Gu Yue clan really hopes we can provide a suitable explanation to lord Jia Fu. Since Divine Investigator is also requesting, I will have to request Elder Fang Yuan to not leave before you are free of suspicions. I hope you can understand."

Gu Yue Bo looked at Fang Yuan, his expression sincere. But his gaze, however, held deep meanings.

Fang Yuan might have killed the whole of old Wang's family, but they were only mortals. How could it be a crime for a Gu Master to kill these mortals? Especially if this Gu Master was an elder of the clan. Thus, there was no punishment.

"Yes." Fang Yuan glanced at Gu Yue Bo and replied expressionlessly.

…

"Damn it, it's like this again!" Tie Ruo Nan punched a tree, causing the leaves to scatter.

She was very indignant as she said with clenched teeth, "It is clearly a murder, but they are turning a blind eye to it and not giving a damn. Father, are the mortals not humans? Why do Gu Masters feel that they have the rights to kill the mortals?"

Tie Xue Leng was silent like a sculpture.

The weather was somewhat gloomy, and the wind blew and tree leaves rustled.

Tie Ruo Nan suddenly lowered her head, her expression was down. "I am sorry, father."

She apologized, "I didn't listen to your advice, and used the Intuition Gu."

"Sigh….." Divine Investigator let out a long sigh and looked at his daughter with a profound gaze, "Child, you have such hatred for evil and is full of righteousness, just like me when I was young. I am happy but also worried."

"Why are you worried?"

"Your ideals are much bigger than mine was at that time. When I was young, my ambition was to capture all the criminals and cram up the Demon Suppression Tower. But as for you, you want to make everyone equal, treating both Gu Masters and the mortals equally, causing law and order to be established in the whole world. Such ambitions and ideals are too big and also very heavy," Tie Xue Leng's words were filled with experience.

"But father, this so-called law, fairness and justice. If we don't treat everyone equally, what meaning do they have? If the young don't have ambitious dreams, then how could they be considered young? I believe it's all a matter of our own efforts. As long as I give my best, it might not necessarily be impossible to achieve!" Tie Ruo Nan spoke excitedly, her two eyes filled with hopes for the future.

Tie Xue Leng was silent for a good while, "There will be a day when you will understand. But, this is good too, young people should walk their paths by themselves. Setbacks will make you mature. Father won't interfere anymore. I only hope you can live the life you want!"

He then took out a letter and gave it to Tie Ruo Nan.

"This is….?!" Tie Ruo Nan tore open the letter and was immediately overjoyed.

This letter was from Jia Fu and it recorded every information regarding Jia Jin Sheng's case, including how Fang Yuan obtained the Liquor worm by rock gambling, how the bamboo gentleman was used to interrogate Fang Yuan, and even Fang Yuan's bidding prices at the second caravan visit where he showed business talent and received Jia Fu's recruitment offer.

Tie Ruo Nan reread the contents of 'Fang Yuan's bidding prices' multiple times; her gaze turned brighter and brighter.

"This Fang Yuan is not only fierce in his methods, but also has cruel nature and is even able to scheme deeply. My intuition tells me he is very suspicious. If he is really the killer, then he should be somewhat afraid. But the bamboo gentleman showed no changes to his lies, how did he do it?" Tie Ruo Nan muttered to herself.

"What are you preparing to do next?" Tie Xue Leng asked.

"It has been a long time since Jia Jin Sheng's death. Everything is fishy and filled with mysteries. Till now, his corpse has not been found and even the place of his death hasn't been deduced. This case is too clean, giving me no clues, except that Fang Yuan is the biggest suspect. Although the clues from Wang Er has been broken, there are no evidences to prove he is the killer. However, because there are no other clues, I can only rely on my intuition to investigate this Fang Yuan!" Tie Ruo Nan enthusiastically replied.

"You feel that Fang Yuan is suspicious?" Tie Xue Leng asked.

"Extremely suspicious!" Tie Ruo Nan immediately said, "This Fang Yuan is clearly only a C grade aptitude, but why is his cultivation speed faster than Fang Zheng's? One could say he had the help from the Liquor worm and the Relic Gu, but this speed is still very fast. Gu Yue clan might not have sensed anything wrong, but this is a case of 'those closely involved can't see as clearly as those outside'. This is the first suspicious point."

"Besides this, there is another suspicious point; his luck. He rock gambled for the first time in his life and bought six purple gold stones, but was able to get two live Gu; a mudskin toad and a Liquor worm. Isn't this luck way too much?"

Tie Xue Leng nodded, "Yes, continue."

"This Fang Yuan looks ordinary, but if we look into him, we will find that the mysteries surrounding him are like the thick fog covering the mountain. Many things that were inadvertently revealed makes one ponder. For instance, his rock dissecting technique; he actually used the Moonlight Gu to dissect rocks and did it without damaging the core. Such delicate control is really unimaginable for a student….wait!"

Tie Ruo Nan paused. She had discovered something as her eyes let out bright and sharp light!

Her gaze landed on a line of words in the letter, and the more she looked at, the more her gaze brightened.

"I found it. This Fang Yuan has a huge problem!" After a long while, she suddenly raised her head and excitedly spoke.

…

The fragrance of the tea in the cup rose with the steam and spread in the study room.

Fang Yuan held the tea cup, then blew the floating tea leaves and drank the hot tea. After that, he leisurely let out some turbid air.

Upon seeing the leisurely attitude of Fang Yuan, Gu Yue Mo Chen did his best to endure and felt the veins in his forehead bulging.

Previously, Fang Yuan had asked for a huge price and he had angrily chased the latter out of his house.

But today, he had no choice but to re-invite Fang Yuan.

All this was simply because circumstances are more powerful than men. Yao faction had been pressuring him from everywhere and the matter regarding his drop to Rank two was going to be revealed sooner or later. Mo faction was in imminent danger; it urgently needed an elder to serve as son-in-law and stabilize the situation.

"This bastard is too vile, making such sky-high demands. Does he really think my Mo faction is bathing in gold?" Gu Yue Mo Chen cursed inwardly, while outwardly putting on a warm smile and speaking in a negotiating voice, "Elder Fang Yuan, your price is too much, it greatly exceeds what my Mo faction can support. Can you decrease it?"

Fang Yuan glanced at Gu Yue Mo Chen. This old man who knew when to give and take was worthy of respect.

In fact, his current situation was also becoming messed up.

The Tie father and daughter were forcing him into a corner. Once it was found out that he killed Jia Jin Sheng, Gu Yue Clan would definitely hand him over to appease the Jia family's anger and simultaneously be able to continue trading with the Jia family caravan every year.

It was almost the crucial moment now, so Fang Yuan softened his tone, "Then we will decrease it by thirty percent. But there is a condition, you need to show me your sincerity by paying forty thousand primeval stones in advance. Also you must hand over a Pig Iron Gu and an Afterlife Grass Gu."

Gu Yue Mo Chen couldn't help but massage his brows when he heard this. He replied in a sunken voice, "Pig Iron Gu will be handed to you, but my Mo faction's warehouse doesn't have any Afterlife Grass Gu. We can't also give the forty thousand primeval stones at once, they will be given to you in installments."

Fang Yuan knew this old fox wasn't speaking the truth, but he was very clear that being too overbearing could instead produce the opposite result.

"That's okay. I will wait for you to send them first, then we can talk about marriage. Before that, I can't guarantee my allegiance." Fang Yuan left these words before walking away.

The study room was silent once more.

A long while later, Gu Yue Mo Chen suddenly said, "You can come out."

A hidden door was pushed open and a young girl walked out. There were tear stains on her face and her eyes were red from the crying.

"Grandpa." She paid her respects; she was Gu Yue Mo Yan.

Gu Yue Mo Chen sighed, "You are also clear on the family's situation. Mo Yan, our family needs your sacrifice, can you understand?"

"Yes." The young girl sobbed and lowered her head.

No matter which world, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Even Fang Yuan contributed a lot of strength to the clan as a clan elder. The only difference is that the amount one pays or obtains, differs from person to person.

Even those kids with golden spoons also cannot freely enjoy the privileges. By receiving the family's nurturing, they needed to have the resolve to sacrifice.

And this resolve was already present in Gu Yue Mo Yan.

She didn't have the least bit of feelings for Fang Yuan, even feeling hatred and disgust towards the latter. But she knew, she had to marry him for the sake of her family, becoming his wife!

Chapter 177: Big brother, how can you do this to me?!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Living Steel Gu is a Rank two Gu, looking like a charcoal briquette, fist-sized and black all over. On the surface, there were numerous holes.

Fang Yuan injected his primeval essence and this Living Steel Gu started floating, rotating on its own, black smoke pouring out from the holes on it.

Chainsaw Golden Centipede coiled around Fang Yuan's leg, its dark-gold colored armor full of injuries, the two rows of razors on its sides tattered and damaged.

But when the steel smoke came over and covered these wounds, they gradually healed.

The black smokey steel essence continued to be used, as the two rows of razors on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede could be seen growing at an observable rate.

Healing Gu varied in a few types. There were some that healed Gu Masters, some that specialised in certain injuries, and those that healed Gu worms.

To the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, the Living Steel Gu is its healing Gu worm.

An hour later, the Living Steel Gu became smaller and smaller. It went from a fist-sized charcoal to a pearl size, eventually vanishing.

It was an expenditure-type Gu.

But its sacrifice brought about the recovery of the Chainsaw Golden Centipede.

At this point, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede was good as new. Its two rows of razors were shiny as new, glowing with a sharp and cold flash. On its dark gold exoskeleton, the injuries were mostly healed, and only five to six light scars remained.

But this was nothing to worry about. In about a few weeks, these scars would vanish through the natural recovery of the centipede.

However, if not for the Living Steel Gu and just relying solely on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, it would take at least half a year for the razors to fully grow back.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede was more strong than it was flexible. Although it used little primeval essence and had great attacking power, its weakness was a lack in the healing aspect.

All living beings are equal, in this world there is no all-rounded Gu, there has to be weakness and advantages. Even Rank six or seven Gu and above followed this natural law.

"This way, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede's battle strength is completely recovered…" Fang Yuan stretched out his hand, touching the cold exoskeleton of the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, his face slightly pale.

On his pale face, cold sweat was forming.

"Damn it, it had to come at this time…" Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, his left hand subconsciously pressing his stomach.

His mind entered his aperture, only to see that the white silver primeval sea was still, the entire aperture filled with an oppressed feeling.

All the other Gu had been suppressed to one side. Only above the sea, within the aperture, the Spring Autumn Cicada was glowing with a yellow and green lustre.

At this time, the Spring Autumn Cicada not only had both wings recovered, but its main body also recovered much of its energy.

Just like an object falling from the sky, the closer it gets to the ground the faster it falls, and the Spring Autumn Cicada's recovery rate was the same. After the initial difficult period, as time passed, its recovery speed accelerated.

Thus, the problem came.

The Spring Autumn Cicada was Rank six, while Fang Yuan was only a Rank three Gu Master. His aperture was gradually unable to hold the Spring Autumn Cicada.

Back then, when the Spring Autumn Cicada was weak, the burden on the aperture was not as huge. But now that the Spring Autumn Cicada gradually recovered, regaining its Rank six ability, it caused this tiny temple of Fang Yuan's to be unable to hold this high god.

"If this goes on, I might even die from the Spring Autumn Cicada before the Tie family father and daughter find out the truth! Truly, when your roof has a hole it just has to rain non-stop for days….."

The best solution was to raise his own cultivation level. When he gets to Rank six, the aperture will have the capacity to store the Spring Autumn Cicada again.

But this method takes too long. In his previous five hundred years of life, he also used more than four hundred years to attain Rank six.

He was now a C grade talent with Rank three cultivation. To cultivate to Rank six, he had a severe lack of time.

Other than that, there was another way to solve the problem.

It was to take the Spring Autumn Cicada out of his aperture and raise it outside his body.

But that act had great disadvantages.

Firstly, the Spring Autumn Cicada was not a battle-type Gu, so it could not protect itself. Keeping it in the aperture was safer. Secondly, when a Rank six Gu appears, it would interfere with natural laws and cause a mirage at the location it is at.

Fang Yuan was now at the village where there were many people, and the Tie family father and daughter was on to him as well. Once this Spring Autumn Cicada leaves his body, everyone would find out.

Therefore, he could only feel troubled."The Spring Autumn Cicada's recovery is getting faster. At this rate, I don't have much time. Once I get the forty thousand primeval stones from Gu Yue Mo Chen, I'll take the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and leave this place. As for the Tie family father and daughter, I can resolve it at a later time."

Fang Yuan sighed.

Tie family father and daughter's matter was something that he could only put off and delay. But now, the Spring Autumn Cicada was not giving him time to stall.

He was at his wits end. As time urged him, wasting every minute and second is reducing his lifespan.

A Gu Master being killed by their own Gu worm was not uncommon. Many Gu Masters who forcefully activate their Gu get a backlash from their Gu worm's power and lose their life. Such incidents were everywhere. Gu Yue Qing Shu was the prime example, buried not far away.

…

"Six purple gold stones, each fist-sized. With Fang Yuan's cultivation, he actually opened five on the spot. How could he have so much primeval essence at that time?" Tie Ruo Nan stared at the information on the letter, laughing smugly.

Tie Xue Leng nodded, "You finally found this suspicious point. Indeed, only when you are meticulous can you discover what normal people cannot see. But what can you derive from this suspicious point?"

Tie Ruo Nan closed her eyes, activating the Intuition Gu secretly.

In the darkness, she felt an enlightenment in her mind, and she opened her eyes abruptly. "Instinct tells me, Fang Yuan must have had the Liquor worm from long ago!"

"But instincts are sometimes wrong, they cannot represent truth," Tie Xue Leng reminded.

"Isn't it easy to get evidence? Hehe, as long as he has the Liquor worm, he has to feed it. If he feeds it, there has to be evidence." Tie Ruo Nan's mouth curled into an arc, "Let's go! We'll find Gu Yue Fang Zheng, Fang Yuan's brother once again. As the little brother, he has to be the most familiar with Fang Yuan."

…

"You're asking about big brother's actions back then?" Fang Zheng showed a complicated expression.

He sighed, recalling, "Back then, big brother was a very outstanding individual. Since young he constantly displayed his talent, making many poems, causing the entire village to put their attention on him. Back then, I admired him and held him in awe. In my heart, he was like a tall mountain that I couldn't climb. Maybe because he was at such a high point, when he tumbled down, the despair was greater. Afterwards during the awakening ceremony, he was tested to have only C grade talent, thus he became discouraged for a long time, sleeping in class and not returning to the hostel at night, buying wine and getting drunk all the time. From that moment on, I realized, big brother was also human…"

"Wait you said, buy wine?" Tie Ruo Nan heard this crucial phrase and caught on to it, squinting.

"Yes, for a period of time, he was dead drunk. Sigh, maybe reality was too harsh. He only had C grade talent, but his brother turned out to be A grade, and he could not accept the truth. Actually, if I was in his shoes, I would understand his feelings and emotions as well," Fang Zheng said.

"Wait let me ask you, from that moment on, Fang Yuan would buy wine to drink every few days?" Tie Ruo Nan asked again.

"Yes, from that moment on, brother fell in love with alcohol, spending a lot of money for wine. For a time, he was in love with the bamboo wine, which is our clan's speciality, a very expensive wine. He snatched primeval stones from his classmates in order to buy wine to drink. This is an overbearing act, thus not a single student liked him. Why, is there a problem?" Finally, Fang Zheng asked in confusion.

"There's a huge problem. I suspect that your brother's Liquor worm wasn't obtained from the gambling rocks, but he had it long ago. Your brother's drunkard act was merely a performance. His real motive was to conceal the fact that he had the Liquor worm, and was feeding it," Tie Ruo Nan replied solemnly.

"WHAT?!" Fang Zheng hearing so, jumped from his seat in shock.

This was shocking information!

"What you just said made me even more suspicious. Where did your brother buy wine normally? I need to investigate." Tie Ruo Nan stood up as well. she was racing against time, moving quickly to solve the case.

"In our entire village, there is only one place selling Bamboo wine, it is that sole inn."

"Then I'll take my leave." Tie Ruo Nan turned around and left.

"Wait, I… I'll go with your guys!" Fang Zheng hesitated, chasing after them.

An hour later.

Tie Ruo Nan walked on the stone pavement, concluding, "Earlier the innkeeper already told me everything, and the situation is clear as day. Fang Yuan buying so much wine, his true motive is to feed the Liquor worm. After that, he purposely went to gamble rocks, and that is to expose the Liquor worm logically in front of everyone. All this, is according to his plans."

On one side, Fang Zheng appeared a little distraught, his face looking a little lifeless.

He did not expect that the truth was really like this!

Long ago, he had once looked down on Fang Yuan, thinking he was a loser, giving up on himself. From that moment on, he felt that the tall mountain was no longer so hard to scale.

But the truth was, everything was Fang Yuan's disguise, his performance, his scheme!

The surrounding people were played by him like fools, believing his lies.

Even he Gu Yue Fang Zheng was no exception!

Looking at it now, his disdain and despise towards his big brother back then, was like a giant mockery of a joke.

"Big brother… in your heart, what place do I hold? In those eyes of yours that pretended to be drunk, was I a huge joke? Big brother! You are such a scheming fox, in your heart, was I childish enough for you to sneer at?!" Fang Zheng screamed in his heart.

He was humiliated, he was furious.

He felt that he was played by Fang Yuan. From the start, he was a clown putting on a childish and laughable act.

He felt the disdain Fang Yuan felt towards him.

"Big brother, how can you treat me like this?!"

"If not for lady Tie, I would still be in the dark. How long do you intend to lie to me, and to the clan? You killed the innocent, taking lives as you wish. Deception and lies, indifferent and inhumane, is that the real you?"

Chapter 178: Black White Grey

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Long ago, in Fang Zheng's heart, Fang Yuan was like a tall mountain, so tall he could never scale.

Long ago, Fang Zheng thought that the shadow of this tall mountain would enshroud him his entire life.

But life gave him an unexpected twist.

Fang Yuan being dispirited, let Fang Zheng see his weakness. The tall mountain that he resembled, instantly collapsed.

And yet—

This was actually all big brother's performance, an act?

The collapsed mountain in his heart became enshrouded in a layer of mystery.

"Big brother, exactly what kind of person are you?"

Fang Zheng realized at this moment that he knew nothing about this blood related brother of his.

Fang Yuan's heart was full of scheming, he had too deep of a shrewdness. With his acting skills and the indifference towards taking human lives, Fang Zheng felt infinitely distant towards him.

Along with this distant feeling, there was also a feeling of fear that Fang Zheng did not want to recognise.

This goddamn feeling was back, creeping into his heart.

He tried his best to shrug off this feeling of fear, causing him to subconsciously follow after Tie Ruo Nan's footsteps.

"Lady Tie, thanks for letting me find out the truth and seeing my brother's true side. Helping you is akin to helping myself, so just ask away, I will tell you everything I know," Fang Zheng said earnestly.

Tie Ruo Nan nodded, but then shook her head quickly, "What I need to know, I already understand now. The problem now is, where did Fang Yuan get that Liquor worm from?"

"You are right, this matter is suspicious. During big brother's situation back then, he had not inherited our parent's assets, and at the same time was only a C grade, beginning his cultivation. Where did he get the Liquor worm from?" Fang Zheng frowned.

"In this situation, there's only two causes. One is outside help, and the other is an inheritance legacy. But who would invest in a C grade talent? If it is an inheritance, which is it?" Thinking of this, Tie Ruo Nan stopped in her footsteps.

Inheritance legacy… inheritance legacy…

In her mind, this phrase kept appearing.

She fell into deep thought.

"If it was an inheritance legacy, everything would fall into place. Firstly, the Liquor worm's origin can be explained. Secondly, the reason for killing Jia Jin Sheng is also established!" Tie Ruo Nan thought excitedly.

What perplexed her the entire time, was the killer's motive.

There has to be a reason to kill.

Fang Yuan showed the Liquor worm, and Jia Jin Sheng wanted to buy it. But the value of the Liquor worm is too low to establish a motive to kill.

But what if, Jia Jin Sheng who refused to give up, adamantly wants to buy the Liquor worm from Fang Yuan, thus following him all the way and discovering an inheritance legacy ground…

What would Fang Yuan do?

"Hehehehehe." Tie Ruo Nan laughed.

Fang Zheng showed a perplexed gaze.

Tie Ruo Nan looked back, "I want to inspect the Gu Yue clan's history records!"

Fang Zheng shook his head, waving his hand, "The history is kept in the clan's forbidden grounds, how can an outsider inspect it?"

"Then can you get in?"

Fang Zheng shook his head, "Only clan elders."

"Is that so… then what can we do now?" Tie Ruo Nan frowned.

"Lady Tie, maybe I can help." From the shadows, a crippled old woman walked out.

It was none other than Gu Yue Yao Ji.

She was still the medicine faction family head, but when she stepped down from the medicine hall elder's position and was replaced by Gu Yue Chi Zhong, also losing an arm, her former authority had almost fully vanished.

But the pursuit of authority was already ingrained in her soul. She understood deeply that collaborating with Gu Yue Chi Zhong was only a temporary solution. The only way was to devour the Mo faction. Only then would she have the ability to take back her medicine hall elder's position.

To absorb the Mo faction, all she had to do was to eliminate their hope.

And this hope was naturally Fang Yuan.

"Divine investigator Tie, to speak the truth, I've been observing both of you for some time. Come with me, I'll bring you into the clan's forbidden area. Hehehe, normally that place would be heavily guarded. But coincidentally, right now I am in charge of protecting the forbidden grounds," Gu Yue Yao Ji laughed sinisterly.

She obviously hoped to harm Fang Yuan indirectly, but if he was innocent, she could definitely slander him using her wicked methods.

In the underground tunnel inside a hidden room, Tie Ruo Nan looked at the Gu Yue clan's historical records.

From the first generation onwards, after Gu Yue clan was built until its golden age, and then its decline, the records contained the information for the last few hundred years. All events, big and small, were recorded in detail.

"This first generation clan leader has a mysterious origin, creating the Gu Yue village singlehandedly. He's most likely a demonic cultivator!" Tie Ruo Nan flipped the first few pages, saying something shocking.

"That's nothing much. Many demonic cultivators, after getting sick of roaming, would choose to spread their bloodline, and establish a clan. A few hundred years later, they would be wiped off their demonic origins, and the descendants would become righteous cultivators. Such situations are actually very common, it is nothing strange." Beside her, Tie Xue Leng said.

"Then all his previous wrongdoings, will it all be spared like that?" Tie Ruo Nan had an indignant expression. "These demonic cultivators caused all those crimes, but when the time is ripe and they feel tired, they would settle down and enjoy their old age. Isn't this too good for them?"

Tie Xue Leng sighed deeply, "Ruo Nan. When I was young, I felt like you too, thinking that this world is in black and white. But after you see more of the world, you will find out that this world is actually grey. Many times can black turn to white, and white can turn to black. Some white can also be more devious than black, and even bear greater sins."

"And demonic cultivators also have their own grievances. Righteous Gu Masters control the cultivating resources, while demonic Gu Masters are all alone, only able to rely on their extreme methods. Those like the first generation clan leader who are able to change their ways, that is the best solution. At least he will no longer cause harm to others. Turning from black to white, he can contribute his strength towards the righteous path."

Tie Xue Leng explained and consoled, but the young girl Tie Ruo Nan did not seem to be convinced.

She shook her head, saying adamantly, "Father, it is not right for you to sympathize with demonic Gu Masters. White is white, black is black. They should be punished for making a mistake. Breaking the law, they should face judgement. If not, where would justice lie, where would fairness lie, where would the law stand?"

"This is not sympathy. Anywhere where there's people, there are interests involved. Places that involves interests will have crime. As long as people exist, crime would never end. My child, you will find out eventually, a person's strength is too insignificant." Tie Xue Leng's voice was experienced and wise, but also sorrowful, "Nevermind. To the current you, it is still too early to say such things, you should concentrate on solving the case."

"Yes, father," Tie Ruo Nan pouted, not agreeing with Tie Xue Leng's pessimistic outlook.

When people are young, they tend to think they can change the world. But after they grow up, they will eventually find out that a person being able to retain their sense of self, and not being changed by the world is already a great success.

As the girl continued to flip, her hand suddenly stopped.

"Fourth generation clan leader… Flower Wine Monk? Li… Liquor worm?" Her eyes shone!

…

Electric currents flowed as the sharp teeth edges cut like blades, shining with a cold light.

A frenzy lightning wolf pounced towards Bai Ning Bing, its wolf claw drawing a shadow in the air.

Bai Ning Bing did not have any movements. As the frenzy lightning wolf's claw became larger in his eyes, he did not have any inclination to dodge.

Suddenly, a white rainbow shot out from his aperture.

The light rainbow burst, and white light shot down like rain. In the light rain, the elegant white snake appeared, its long whiskers bringing about a fairy-like atmosphere.

Towards this Rank five snake Gu, the arrogant frenzy lightning wolf immediately withered, wanting to retreat.

But the white form immortal snake opened its mouth and shot out a cloud smoke.

The white smoke looked slow, but quickly enveloped the lightning wolf.

The frenzy lightning wolf's vision was obscured by the smoke, and it quickly moved back. But no matter how it moved, the white smoke followed it like a shadow, always engulfing its surroundings and not giving it any chance to escape.

White form immortal snake's ability was this lump of smoke. After being enshrouded, one cannot tell their directions, as their vision is dyed in a white smoke.

Wild beasts like lightning wolves relied on their strong vision and had weak hearing. The frenzy lightning wolf was the same, thus its most useful sensory organ being blinded caused it to howl in panic. In its struggle, it broke many trees and mountain rocks as it became more agitated.

HOWL!

It suddenly opened its mouth and shot out a blue thunderbolt.

The thunderbolt shot towards Bai Ning Bing, but he had no plans to dodge.

Crack!

The thunderbolt hit Bai Ning Bing on the chest, penetrating it.

Bai Ning Bing lowered his head and saw the huge hole that the thunderbolt had made, allowing him to see through to the back.

But quickly, the huge hole began to freeze. Layers of white ice covered the injury and the ice slowly melted, turning into flesh.

"This is the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique's true strength. I am ice, and ice is me. Fatal injuries to ordinary Gu Masters can be recovered in just a few seconds for me," Bai Ning Bing thought, as he slowly raised his right arm.

His right arm was ordinary broken, but relying on the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, it had already recovered fully.

"The white form immortal snake Gu also sensed the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, thus it entered my aperture. The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique can attract water-type Gu worms to join me! Such great strength, yet so brittle!"

Bai Ning Bing sighed at the heavens.

These days, he did not suppress his cultivation. The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique was getting stronger, but he felt that death was approaching him even faster.

"Great immortal hasn't done anything?" At this time, Bai clan leader came over, asking in concern.

Bai Ning Bing shook his head, "This snake Gu does not recognise me, it is merely attracted by my Northern Dark Ice Soul physique and moved from the clan's spirit spring into my aperture. Only when I am in mortal danger and in a death situation would it come out and protect me."

But the white form immortal snake was not refined by Bai Ning Bing, thus this protection also had its limits.

Like earlier, the frenzy lightning wolf's thunderbolt was too fast, and the white form immortal snake could not react in time, thus Bai Ning Bing was hit head on.

After all, the white form immortal snake was not a defensive Gu.

In Fang Yuan's previous life, Jiang Fan and the River Swallowing Toad was the same. Although Jiang Fan had its assistance, he was still assassinated by a Gu Master.

Bai clan leader sighed. He felt intense regret and pity towards this, yet there was nothing he could do. He had already done what he could.

"Right, the three clan's negotiation results is out. Xiong clan preserved more than half of their strength, we cannot underestimate them. Eventually the three clans came to a decision that there shall be a three-clan tournament. And the compensation will be decided by the results of the competition. Only Gu Masters aged thirty and below can enter the tournament."

"I understand." Bai Ning Bing nodded, "I can already sense it, my life is coming to an end. Having a competition at the end, I am really happy. Thank you, lord clan elder."

"No no, this is also for the sake of the clan." Bai clan leader's expression was embarrassed. It was his suggestion in the first place, and the biggest reason for it was to squeeze out the last remaining value that Bai Ning Bing possessed.

But Bai Ning Bing's gratitude, came from the bottom of his heart.

The white form immortal snake was unmoved, meaning that he was not fated to receive the first generation ancestor's inheritance. But life and death are bound to occur, what fear could he have?

Bai Ning Bing had already found his path, he no longer feared. There was only one lingering battle that he could not let go of.

"Fang Yuan, the three-clan tournament, will you attend it? Don't disappoint me, because right now, I am really really strong…"

Chapter 179: History is written by men

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"The Flower Wine Monk begged for mercy on his knees. The fourth clan head was merciful and kind, intending to spare his life. Yet the Flower Wink Monk suddenly launched a sneak attack, and the clan head flew into a rage, killing the Flower Wine Monk on the spot. However, due to the heavy injuries from the sneak attack, he passed away not long after. Alas, demonic path members were indeed treacherous and unworthy of kindness…."

However, as Tie Ruo Nan read through this content, her eyes gradually dimmed down.

"What a pity, this Flower Wine Monk died on the spot and couldn't leave behind an inheritance. If he could leave an inheritance, that would be perfect to explain everything," The young girl sighed inwardly.

Yet she didn't give up and continued to flip through the Gu Yue clan records, until the time was up and Gu Yue Yao Ji rushed them out.

Fang Zheng welcomed the Tie father and daughter outside of the clan pavillion, "Were there any discoveries?"

Tie Xue Leng was silent whereas Tie Ruo Nan gave a bitter smile and shook her head.

Fang Zheng continued, "I just thought of something which might be of help. Big brother and Chi faction worked quite closely, and the Chi faction's elder Gu Yue Chi Lian had once defended him in front of everyone. Lady Tie, do you think this Liquor worm could have been secretly handed over by elder Chi Lian to my big brother?"

"Chi faction?" Tie Ruo Nan frowned.

"Yes. Chi and Mo faction were the most influential factions of our Gu Yue clan before the wolf tide," Fang Zheng explained.

How was Fang Yuan involved with Chi faction? Tie Ruo Nan reflected on this.

She started feeling a headache; this was her first case and she had been full of confidence at first but when she actually started doing it, she felt that it was filled with difficulties.

When she had seen her father solving the cases, it was as if success was guaranteed; all the mysteries were solved with methodical and orderly arrangement. However, she realized how truly difficult it was to solve a case when it was her turn.

There seemed to be no trails sometimes whereas all kinds of weird clues seemed to emerge, causing Tie Ruo Nan to be at wit's end.

It was like she was covered in a dense fog and she didn't know how close or far she was from the truth.

Would this clue regarding Chi faction be of any use?

Tie Ruo Nan couldn't help but feel at a loss, and she subconsciously looked at her father.

"Father should have already discovered some clues, right?" At this moment, the admiration in the young girl towards her father deepened further.

"If it was my father, this case should have already been solved. I am still far away from father's level. But even if I fail, as long as father is here, the truth will come out and the killer will be punished." Tie Ruo Nan felt ashamed but also a sense of pride.

With Tie Xue Leng here, she had no worries that the criminal could get away.

But the young girl quickly shook her head, getting angry. The anger was towards herself.

"Ruo Nan, you are worthless. Didn't you think of surpassing father? How can you surpass him if you have the mentality of always relying on him!?"

"Ruo Nan, cheer up, you can do it!" The young girl pursed her lips, inwardly encouraging herself.

Her spirit boiled up again.

She decided to overthrow her previous conjectures and start over.

"If Fang Yuan didn't obtain the Liquor worm from an inheritance and got it from other people, then this Chi faction would be the biggest suspect. However, why would Chi faction take notice of a C grade aptitude ordinary student and secretly give him the Liquor worm?"

"What does Fang Yuan have that Chi faction felt it worthy to invest in him? Because he is Fang Zheng's brother? No, that is almost negligible. Wait a second, it might not be Chi faction taking the initiative to invest in him. There is another possibility, and that is because Fang Yuan blackmailed them!"

"If it is truly so, what did Fang Yuan have on them to make them hold their nose and obediently compromise with a student that had yet to be a Gu Master?"

Tie Ruo Nan racked her brains and an answer seemed to gradually emerge in her mind.

But this answer was blurry like the light behind a paper window. Tie Ruo Nan could feel its existence but she couldn't grasp and understand it.

"Father." The young girl suddenly raised her head and looked at Tie Xue Leng, "I would like to borrow the Cactus Pointer."

Tie Xue Leng replied in a relaxed voice, "The suggestion given by Cactus pointer is based upon the information the user has. It only speculates on behalf of you and might not be accurate. Are you sure you want to use it?"

The young girl nodded.

Cactus pointer was a seed.

Tie Ruo Nan buried it in the ground then used her palm to press on the soil, transferring her white silver primeval essence to it.

After several breaths, she withdrew her hand. Soon, they could see the soil loosening up, and a young sprout grew out of it.

The newborn sprout was a translucent green, and looked very fragile. It quickly grew, becoming bigger and bigger, and its color changed from fragile greenish yellow to verdant green, then finally to dark green.

Its appearance was similar to a cactus. It had thick flesh, the surface covered with sharp black thorns and was lush green all over.

Within moments, a flower bud appeared on its top part.

The white flower bud gradually grew, becoming charming and delicate. The main body of the cactus, however, was shrinking as if its moisture was being squeezed out.

Tie Ruo Nan stretched her fingers and gently plucked this flower bud. The moment the flower bud was taken out, the cactus started turning grey and completely died after a few seconds.

The cactus pointer was a Rank three consumable Gu.

Tie Ruo Nan carefully opened the flower bud.

The flower bud, however, was not wrapped up with layers of petals, instead appearing similar to a ball of paper.

When Tie Ruo Nan completely opened it, it formed into a neat and square white paper.

There were only one word written on the white paper —'Aptitude'.

This word would mean nothing to others and might even sound ridiculous. But to Tie Ruo Nan, it was a very important tip.

The cactus pointer was used just like this; it gave insights to the Gu Masters who had racked their brains but couldn't advance forward. It pierced the paper window and let the Gu Masters see the light.

"Right, it is aptitude!" Tie Ruo Nan shouted.

She immediately took out the letter which recorded all the intels collected by Jia Fu.

There was something written in this intel which described the details on when and at what price Gu Yue Chi Lian had bought the Cleansing Water Gu.

"It's this! I only briefed through this earlier and neglected it, not considering the underlying meaning. But the cactus pointer speculated on my behalf and gave me the answer. This Cleansing Water Gu only has one use and that is to cleanse the foreign primeval essence auras from the aperture."

"Why did Gu Yue Chi Lian need it? Hehe, this situation is too common and happens a lot in many clans. He should have bought this for Chi faction's inheritor. Chi faction's inheritor should have a bad aptitude, so Gu Yue Chi Lian poured his primeval essence to raise the former's cultivation. The Cleansing Water Gu is necessary to remove any after-effects from this action. By some chance, Fang Yuan found this secret and used it to blackmail Chi faction, thus forcing them to compromise and give him the Liquor worm."

Tie Ruo Nan kept on mumbling out her conjecture.

"Lady Tie, you are amazing. You could deduce so many things with just this word! But Gu Yue Chi Cheng clearly has B grade aptitude," Fang Zheng said.

"B grade aptitude? Hehe, does that mean it can't be fake? It is very simple to prove this. We only need to examine Chi Cheng's aperture and the truth will be out." Tie Ruo Nan's gaze was burning as her mouth slightly curved upwards.

"That's inappropriate." Tie Xue Leng, however, shook his head disapprovingly.

If this truth was found out, it would be a great blow to Chi faction, leading to turmoil among the Gu Yue village's higher-ups and causing political conflicts.

Tie Xue Leng said, "We came here to solve a case and not to wreck havoc. In the end, we are outsiders and unless it is absolutely necessary, we can't meddle in other clan's politics."

Tie Ruo Nan nodded, "Father is right. Besides this, there are also other ways to prove it. I remember that clans use a Photo-audio Gu to record every important sacrificial ritual. This is a traditional practice and I believe Gu Yue clan isn't an exception. I want to refer to the Awakening Ceremony's image!"

…

"Divine investigator Tie, you have constantly been on the move for so many days and have gone through a lot of trouble to solve the case, please come have tea. As for the image you want to look into, it is stored in the secret room inside the underground cave which is among the clan's restricted areas. It would be inconvenient to let you two enter, but I have already sent someone to get it. It will be here in a short while," Gu Yue Bo spoke with a smile.

"I have troubled the clan leader," Tie Xue Leng politely said.

Tie Ruo Nan and Gu Yue Fang Zheng were standing on the side.

"Divine investigator Tie, if I may be so bold to ask a favor…." Gu Yue Bo suddenly said.

Tie Xue Leng. "Oh? Please speak, clan leader."

"This is our Qing Mao Mountain's internal affair. My clan, Bai clan and Xiong clan have always been in a deadlock but that changed due to the wolf tide. Xiong village evaded the wolf tide with malicious intentions and tried to take advantage of the wolf tide to weaken the other two clans. The negotiation earlier for compensation with them ended up in nothing. Hence, our three clans decided to hold a three-clans tournament. Only Gu Masters at age thirty or below can participate in it, and it will decide the future strength of each clan."

Upon saying this, Gu Yue Bo sighed, "Actually I have already felt that something was strange with Fang Yuan long ago, but couldn't look into it properly because of the wolf tide. If he really is the killer, my clan absolutely won't shield him. But I hope Divine Investigator Tie can delay this for a few days, since the three-clans competition is hosted on the day after tomorrow."

Fang Yuan killed old Wang's whole family, but they were just mortals and it was not worth investigating. What if he killed them? It wasn't a big deal.

However, if he really killed Jia Jin Sheng, then that would change everything.

If Gu Yue clan still protected Fang Yuan, that would mean becoming enemies with Jia family and losing the chance to trade with Jia family caravan again; it would even result in Jia family's retaliation.

Organizations protected their inner members, but if benefits were endangered, the organization could easily give up one or two members for the greater good.

The organization's earliest form came from ancient times. Human clans assembled together for their survival, borrowing each other's strength to gather more food and dividing up their work to hunt more successfully.

Any organization's essence was obtaining maximum benefits.

If one or two members obstructed the organization's path to benefits, then sacrificing them was a natural thing.

Thus, even if there were very few elders in Gu Yue clan right now, if there came a time when they had to abandon Fang Yuan, the clan leader would have no hesitation.

However, the day after tomorrow was the three-clans competition. The results of this competition would decide their future for the next few years as well as the benefit allocation of Qing Mao mountain. As a Rank three Gu Master, Fang Yuan was a vital fighting force for the Gu Yue clan.

Just like Bai clan's clan leader, Gu Yue Bo also wanted to squeeze out Fang Yuan's maximum worth.

Chapter 180: Watching the Awakening Ceremony again

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"It's about time, I can't wait any longer."

As the night fell, Fang Yuan opened his eyes in a dark room.

He already took off his Gu Master uniform and was now wearing a black gown which covered his legs. Matched with his long black hair, he would appear like a specter as he moved in the dark.

He was already used to having long hair in his previous life. Some Gu worms needed long hair to show their abilities, like the Black Hair Gu, Steel Hair Gu and so on.

Having long hair was quite convenient as well. You could just cut it short if there came a time where you had to alter your appearance. But for short hair, to grow it in a short period, one needed to rely on specific Gu worms.

Not long ago, he had made an agreement with Gu Yue Mo Chen. Right now, he had already received the Pig Iron Gu and all forty thousand primeval stones. The only thing remaining was that healing grass Gu.

"I can only forget about the healing Gu now. How can everything go as one wishes, reality is full of helpless choices…."

Fang Yuan sighed, then stood up and lightly opened the door before using the Stealth Scales Gu and disappearing into the night.

He was forced by the circumstances to make this move.

Tie father and daughter were drawing in closer, and his plan to be an envoy to Xiong village had been stopped too.

Xiong village was able to preserve most of their strength; Bai clan and Gu Yue clan didn't dare to be overly forceful, thus the compensation talk ended in failure. The three sides then decided on holding a three-clan competition.

Mo faction might have intentionally recruited Fang Yuan, but this move caused Fang Yuan to be in the middle of the political struggle and draw every elder's hostility.

Also adding in Bai Ning Bing who was growing stronger as he approached his death, the whole situation was becoming more unfavorable to Fang Yuan, forcing him into an impasse.

Even if Fang Yuan was an old fox, he still needed strength to support his schemes. Facing such a situation, despite him already using up all his efforts and strength, making much faster progress than he did in his previous life, his Rank three initial stage cultivation was still not enough to overturn the situation.

"The situation is dire, I can only take a risk and bet on this method!" Fang Yuan thought hard, placing his hopes on the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

As long as he plucked the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, the spirit spring in the underground cave would be wasted. The clan was sure to madly investigate, but what else besides the investigation?

The spirit spring would already be disabled, and even if they got the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and destroyed it or put it back into the spirit spring again, the spirit spring would not recover.

What could the clan do to survive then?

There was only one thing: that was to seize a new spirit spring!

However, there were only three spirit springs in Qing Mao mountain and each were occupied by one of the three clans. If one was destroyed by Fang Yuan, then Gu Yue clan had only one choice – to make a choice between the two.

This choice was war, a war with either Bai village or Xiong village.

Only by seizing one of the spirit springs could Gu Yue clan have the foundation to continue its was no need to talk of Gu Masters being able to support their cultivation without the support of spirit spring.

This move was too dangerous, though. But Fang Yuan had no other choice as the Spring Autumn Cicada was recovering so fast that his aperture was already starting to feel a burden. He didn't have much time, so he could only fight back for a sliver of chance at survival and seek life in death.

…

The hall was bright with all the lights.

A Gu Master had already delivered the Photo-audio Gu, but this Gu was currently in Gu Yue Bo's hand."Divine Investigator Tie, what did you think about my request?" Gu Yue Bo asked smilingly.

Tie Ruo Nan lightly snorted.

Tie Xue Leng ruminated for a while before agreeing, "Alright, if Fang Yuan really turns out to be the killer, I will leave enough time for him to participate in the three-clans competition."

"Father…." Tie Ruo Nan's eyes flashed with a strange light; this was not her father's style.

"Hehe, Divine Investigator's words are worth a lot and he never breaks his promises. This humble one fully trusts you and also thanks you for understanding." Gu Yue Bo's smile became more gentle, however he coldly hummed inside.

Gu Yue Yao Ji had secretly brought the Tie father and daughter into the underground cave and let them look through the clan's official historical records. How could he as a clan leader not know of this?

But he had to restrain his anger because of the approaching tournament and also the complicated political struggles in the clan.

Tie Xue Leng might be a powerful Rank five expert, but he had no way to appease the dissatisfaction in Gu Yue Bo's heart.

"Fortunately, the genuine contents are all recorded in the clan's secret records and only the successive clan leaders can hold them. That official history is for the outsiders to look." Gu Yue Bo was secretly feeling smug.

Gu Yue clan's historical records were divided into official records and secret records.

Official records were hidden in the secret room in the underground cave and its contents were to brainwash the later generations and was a fake, in fact.

But the secret records recorded all the genuine details without any fake details. There were even records of some secrets that could never be divulged.

For instance, the ritual for summoning the Blood Guillotine Gu which could never be recorded in the official records, but was recorded in detail in the secret records.

"Gu Yue clan leader, my father has agreed to your request, now show us the image." Tie Ruo Nan's tone showed her bad mood.

"Even if Divine Investigator Tie hadn't agreed, I would have fully cooperated with your investigation," Gu Yue Bo gently clarified, then he lightly pinched his fingers, smashing the Photo-audio Gu.

Although the Gu broke into pieces, it instead formed into a ball of seven-colored smoke which contained all sorts of noise.

Gu Yue Bo lightly blew on it; this smoke floated into a wall, but didn't pass through.

Like an ink drop falling into water, a colorful imprint began to appear on the spotless wall.

The imprint grew larger until it formed into an image of the former Awakening Ceremony.

Within this image, Fang Zheng quickly found himself and also many other familiar faces.

All these faces held looks of excitement as they looked all around the cave, their faces full of the immaturity of young. They were like young chicks who had just learned to flap their wings and fly out of the nest.

"That is Fang Yuan….." Similarly, Tie Ruo Nan soon found Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was walking within the group, and although he was looking all around like the rest, his gaze was tranquil and detached. In the group of similar ages, he was like a crane within a group of chicken. If one didn't specifically pay attention to him, normal people wouldn't find any differences between him and the rest.

However, the group in the hall right now were all concentrating on him, exposing this peculiarity.

"Eh? This Fang Yuan is really strange." Right now, even Gu Yue Bo couldn't help but reveal a slightly surprised expression.

The scene on the wall changed to when the group of youths reached the sea of flowers.

The Awakening Ceremony began, and each of the youngsters stepped in the underground river and walked towards the sea of flowers on the opposite bank.

The light of the Hope Gu rose and fell.

There were also the elders' voices which could be clearly heard.

The scenes appeared with such clarity that it felt like one was really there.

First, it was Gu Yue Mo Bei who was found to have B grade aptitude, causing an uproar, then Gu Yue Chi Cheng was also tested to have B grade aptitude.

"It really is strange, this Gu Yue Chi Cheng looks too nervous. His body movements are stiff and his skin color is also not normal, it is just that the light in the underground is dim. But if one carefully looks into it, they will find that something has been applied on his body and that is what is attracting the Hope Gu. Hehe, this is clearly a cheat." Tie Ruo Nan was confident as she observed this.

But in the next moment, she immediately frowned.

It was Fang Yuan's turn. He stepped into the river and started moving towards the opposite bank.

The light from the Hope Gu wasn't vigorous. The higher the hope, the greater the disappointment, and the sighs from the youths and the elders could be heard by everyone in the group.

Everything seemed normal, but Tie Ruo Nan's frowns got even deeper. Because Fang Yuan's expression was calm all along the way.

At that time, his back was facing the elders and the youths; they couldn't see his expression. However, as Tie Ruo Nan observed as a spectator, she saw that Fang Yuan's expression didn't change at all, indifferent and cold.

It was as if, as if…..he already knew this would happen!

"This is impossible! If it was me in his place, a fifteen year old with everyone's expectations on me, but was tested to only have C grade aptitude, how could I not feel the least bit of frustration, disappointment and discouragement? How can this be, how can this be!?" Tie Ruo Nan's frowns were almost forming a knot.

Huge doubts and suspicions covered her mind, even stifling her breaths.

Her heart was beating loudly at this moment as all her thoughts flashed through her mind.

What is going on?

How could this be?

"Wait a moment, aptitude…. Could it be?!" Tie Ruo Nan suddenly raised her head. Her intuition had activated and an extremely bold and crazy conjecture formed in her mind.

Light and shadow reflected upon Fang Zheng's face.

The Awakening Ceremony had been the most important turning point in his life.

Before the Awakening Ceremony, he was living a low and insignificant life; a nobody. After the Awakening Ceremony, however, his life was completely changed. He was basked in the lights and his confidence also burst out.

In his memories, the Awakening Ceremony was a picture of blurriness; he had passed through it without even realizing it.

Right now, as he observed this as a spectator, complicated emotions rose up in his heart which he couldn't explain with words.

Fang Zheng looked at himself when it was his turn. He remembered how inferior and weak he had felt at that time.

Soon, he saw how he had tumbled down into the river and struggled to get up, and was pulled up by his big brother Fang Yuan, how he had cut out a sorry figure.

A smile appeared on his face — this was the former him, the one who was ridiculed by many!

Then he saw himself walking absent-mindedly towards the opposite bank, and saw his body being enveloped by the lights of the Hope Gu along with the shocks and admiration of many.

That time was a moment of glory, a moment of miracle!

An A grade aptitude, his life would no longer be the same from that moment!

"Fang Zheng, I have a question." Tie Ruo Nan suddenly spoke, breaking Fang Zheng's recollection.

"What is it? Please ask. I will definitely answer everything I know," Fang Zheng turned around with a smile.

"It's about your big brother. When your big brother pulled you up, I saw his mouth moving, but there was too much noise in the surroundings. What did he say to you, could you tell me the exact words he told?" Tie Ruo Nan asked with a bright gaze.

"His words….." Fang Zheng tried to recall, "He seemed to have said…road?"

"Right. It was road." Fang Zheng's eyes brightened, "I remember it. He said to me, 'The road to the future will be interesting'. Huh? Strange, I didn't think anything of it at that time, but now that I recall it, I think big brother's words contained profound meaning… as if, as if he already knew I had A grade aptitude!"

"No, he didn't mean the A grade aptitude, but something else." Tie Ruo Nan's body trembled, her expression complicated as she let out a breath of turbid air.

Chapter 181: By an odd twist (Long chapter)

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"Lady Tie, what do you mean?" Fang Zheng did not understand.

Tie Ruo Nan stretched out her finger, pointing at the wall, "Look at him, Gu Yue Fang Yuan! Don't you think he looks way too calm? When finding out that he has C grade talent, while his blood related brother has A grade talent, normal people would definitely have some reaction to it. But him? Not a trace of emotion! The surrounding praises and mockery cannot move his heart. Don't you find this strange? Throughout the process, he is too calm."

Tie Ruo Nan's words, attracted everyone's gaze.

As this scene replayed, all the gazes on the wall landed on Fang Yuan's silhouette.

Fang Yuan stood among the crowd, standing alone, upright. A dark shadow engulfed half his body.

And this scenario, was a huge contrast to the other side.

His own brother, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, was moving step by step, his body bathed in the Hope Gu's pure white light.

At this moment, the elder and younger brother had a swap of identities. The former fell from grace, falling to the lowest point in his life, engulfed by shadows. The latter being blessed by fate, shining in brilliance, climbing his way to the top.

"A fifteen year old youngster, going through such a catastrophic change in his life. But yet, on his body there is no trace of disappointment, perplexity or jealousy. Only calmness, he stood among the crowd, silently watching like he was an outsider, like he was watching a show," Tie Ruo Nan's voice came appropriately.

Yes.

Fang Yuan watched silently.

As the shadows engulfed half his body, his face was expressionless, except the pale colour of a youngster's skin.

Gu Yue Bo stared at the wall, solemn.

Fang Zheng felt a strong chill emerging from deep within his body.

Brother, what in the world are you…

"Even if he had a prediction towards the Awakening Ceremony's results, his heart would definitely feel a change in emotions, and he definitely won't be as calm as this. I used the Cactus Pointer earlier, and always thought that the word 'aptitude' was referring to Gu Yue Chi Cheng. But now that I think about it, it might not refer to Chi Cheng, but most likely Fang Yuan!" Tie Ruo Nan said.

"Lady Tie, what do you mean? I don't understand it at all?" Fang Zheng was more confused.

Tie Ruo Nan raised a finger. "Only one type of situation would cause Fang Yuan to be so calm. That is, he has a trump card that no one knows. Only one situation would cause him to not be jealous, and that is because he has something greater. If two people walked together and one person finds a primeval stone, only if the other finds ten or a hundred would they not be jealous, and have a calm emotion. Fang Yuan is like that."

"You are saying, Fang Yuan cheated and concealed his true aptitude? He is not a C grade talent?" Gu Yue Bo understood Tie Ruo Nan's words, "But if he is A or B grade, why would he not display it outright?"

"Fang Yuan had great wisdom since young!" Tie Ruo Nan's lips curled, her expression confident as she radiated utter confidence. "These few days, I've read some of his poems. With such visions and aspirations, even father was full of praise for him. Such a genius, he naturally has his own schemes."

Gu Yue Bo shook his head, "Just with this alone, it still doesn't confirm anything. Concealing aptitude and revealing his aptitude gives two completely different treatment. Even if Fang Yuan didn't know this, after a year in the academy, he should be clear of it."

"Of course he knew, that's why he did not dare to reveal it." Tie Ruo Nan did not beat about the bush, saying confidently.

"What do you mean?" Gu Yue Bo was also lost now.

"Gu Yue clan leader." Tie Ruo Nan turned around, looking at Gu Yue Bo solemnly. "Do you know about Ren Zu's ten children?"

Gu Yue Bo was first stunned, before he immediately reacted, understanding Tie Ruo Nan's true meaning.

HE WAS SHOCKED!

His iris expanded, his mouth agape, not having any of his clan leader disposition.

This was the first time Fang Zheng saw Gu Yue Bo in such a state.

Ren Zu's ten children, eldest son Verdant Great Sun, second daughter Desolate Ancient Moon… the ten children's aptitude defied heaven, thus heaven was wary and did not give them a long lifespan. In the Gu world, the ten children also represented the top ten most extreme aptitudes!

That is — the ten extreme physiques!

"Ren Zu's ten children died one by one, and Ren Zu was about to die of old age. But at the end, Ren Zu gathered the corpse of his ten children and sacrificed himself, all going into the stomach of the Derivation Gu. Derivation Gu's stomach burst, exploding and countless life spreading across the land, creating the first batch of mortals. These mortals did not have Ren Zu or the ten children's talent, but they could cultivate after awakening their aperture. Humanity thus grew and developed, forming today's size. Of course, that is all a mythological story."

"But according to the story, every one of us has Ren Zu and his ten children's bloodline in us!" Tie Ruo Nan continued, "The only thing is that most people have diluted bloodlines, or due to intermarriage, restricted each other and caused it to remain dormant. But some people when born have stronger bloodlines, and as they aged or cultivated, they would start going towards the extreme, with one bloodline dominating the rest. When it appears, that is the ten extreme physiques!"

"What is this ten extreme physique?" Fang Zheng asked.

"Don't tell me, Fang Yuan has one of the ten extreme aptitudes?!" Gu Yue Bo was stunned.

"Very likely so! Only the ten extreme physique would cause Fang Yuan to be so calm, and does not have much need for cultivation resources. And only the ten extreme physique that dominates the A grade talent can cause Fang Yuan to not have a hint of jealousy or envy, and only the ten extreme physique can cause Fang Yuan to not reveal his aptitude, as he fears being killed earlier, thus choosing to conceal the truth!" Tie Ruo Nan spoke quickly.

Even Tie Xue Leng would not think of rebirth. Not to mention the young girl. Under all sorts of coincidences, she managed to conjecture a conclusion that was completely the opposite of the truth.

Hearing so, everyone was dumbfounded.

Tie Ruo Nan's analysis had proof and evidence, causing others to believe it. If not for this reason, what other explanation is there?

"Yes, yes! The ten extreme physiques, ten extreme physiques… It has to be the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin physique!"

Gu Yue Bo's heart was in turmoil, so excited that his body shuddered.

Others might not know this, but he had the clan's secret history and knew many ancient secrets.

Hundreds of years ago, the first generation ancestor established the village at this spot and named it Gu Yue village. The truth is, the first Gen was not named Gu Yue at all!

Why did he pick the name 'Gu Yue'? It was a mystery.

But before Gen 1 died, he once sighed, "The bloodlines shall be passed down, there will be a great plan of centuries, Ancient Moon Desolate Yin, the world shall shudder!"

He left behind those parting words, and in his will, it predicted that the Gu Yue clan would one day in the future produce a Gu Master with one of the ten extreme aptitudes, the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin body! He would cause the world to tremble and bring the Gu Yue clan towards a new golden age! He also mentioned to his descendants that if one day such a physique appeared, they had to be brought into the blood pond graveyard.

As the clan leader, Gu Yue Bo knew the weakness of the ten extreme physiques, but he had studied this will deeply, and found that the first generation ancestor seemed to know a method to curb this weakness. And this method was kept in his coffin in the graveyard, in an eternal slumber with him.

If the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin physique really appeared, bring him to the coffin…

"To think that Gu Yue Fang Yuan is that prophesied genius — the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin physique!" Gu Yue Bo screamed in his heart.

"This cannot be. Under everyone's watchful eye, how can big brother cheat under everyone's gaze?" Fang Zheng was completely taken aback, shaking his head, unable to accept this theory.

Tie Ruo Nan looked at him in pity. "If even Chi Cheng could cheat, why couldn't Fang Yuan? The ten extreme physiques have endless potential, unlimited possibilities. Maybe Fang Yuan awakened early, and maybe he deceived the bamboo gentleman, due to the ten extreme physique. Or maybe Jia Jin Sheng was killed by Fang Yuan, because he found out this secret of Fang Yuan's."

"Tie family young lady, speak with caution." Gu Yue Bo's expression was unhappy, speaking in a low tone, "Words cannot be spoken mindlessly. Whether Jia Jin Sheng is killed by Fang Yuan, that is not confirmed yet. Fang Yuan is my clan's member, and even if he did commit the act, how we are going to answer to the Jia family is also our matter. You are only here to investigate the case."

Gu Yue clan leader's attitude had changed 180 degrees.

Before, he had thought Fang Yuan was a C grade talent with no possibility of investment. But now, Fang Yuan was the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin physique?!

Once it involved the first gen's prophecy and will, his value completely changed.

He had to be protected, and even if the Jia family was offended, there will be no regret!

"Oh crap. This Gu Yue clan leader just turned on his words. How shameless is he, changing his attitude so quickly! I should not have revealed the truth of the ten extreme physiques so soon. The ten extreme aptitudes rule over the A grade talent, so it seems the Gu Yue clan leader wants to protect Fang Yuan now. This will bring great obstruction to solving the case. What do I do now, father?"

Tie Ruo Nan's heart sank, and gritting her teeth, she subconsciously looked for her father's figure.

"Eh, where's father?" The young girl was stunned.

Divine investigator Tie was still around earlier, but in the blink of an eye he was gone.

This discovery caused Gu Yue Bo to tense up.

Where could Tie Xue Leng have gone at this time? Gu Yue clan leader naturally related it to Fang Yuan.

"Fang Zheng, I am going to look for your big brother. Go inform the other clan elders, and quickly assemble to look for me!" Leaving behind his instructions, Gu Yue Bo activated his Gu worm and flew out from the window.

Tie Ruo Nan snorted, running out of the room towards Fang Yuan's residence.

In the entire hall, only Fang Zheng was left.

"How… how can this be?!"

Fang Zheng's current state was not optimistic. His face was pale, his body on the verge of falling over, his spine devoid of all strength.

He felt that his world was covered in darkness.

He felt his world collapsing!

How could it become like this?

"Brother's aptitude is the ten extreme physique? My A grade talent is nothing compared to him, a complete failure compared to him!"

As he thought and thought, Fang Zheng's tears fell down.

At this moment, all of his spirit was dampened.

All this time, his greatest achievement was beating Fang Yuan in aptitude. All his confidence was built upon this. But right now, he was told this cruel fact — his aptitude was nothing compared to his brother!

His proudest and most confident area had been suppressed by Fang Yuan.

The confidence he had built up after so long, collapsed in an instant.

"BIG BROTHER!" He raised his head, allowing his tears to flow like a river.

He screamed in his heart, "From start to end, you've been watching a show all along! Seeing me jump up and down, looking at my clown-like performance?"

The corners of his eye looked at the wall again.

The images turned and moved, and people moved all over the place with countless voices praising Fang Zheng's performance. However, Fang Yuan alone stood among the people, his face calm as he watched.

Peacefully watching just like that…

Fang Zheng suddenly felt that in this image, he who was covered in this light of hope, was so childish, so eye-piercing. In his heart, Fang Yuan's calm dark irises showed a divine expression.

His image was gradually enlarged, getting taller and taller until he was unable to climb over, as high as a mountain reaching into the clouds.

Those calm eyes looked at him from that mountain high up in the sky, staring at Fang Zheng's pathetic appearance who was at the foot of the mountain.

Those eyes were like they were saying — Fang Zheng, my laughable little brother, you won't do, you won't do, won't do…

Like the echoes in a valley, reverbing in Fang Zheng's heart.

He felt a strong depression.

Unimaginable depression, suppressing him until he could not breathe properly.

He thought he had gotten rid of this feeling, but to think that that today this feeling assaulted his heart again.

In fact, it was more intense than before by a hundred times!

"AHHHHHH! I'm going to die, I'm going to die!" Fang Zheng's face twitched, veins popping on his forehead. He was drowning in his delusions, gripping his own throat tightly.

With a plop, he fell onto the ground kneeling.

Because he lacked oxygen, his face went red and his tongue stretched out, his eyes gradually popping out.

"No! I don't want to die, I really don't want to die!" His other hand grabbed the tile on the ground, but as he used too much strength, even his nails broke and blood bled. The intense pain increased Fang Zheng's desire to live!

His body had no injuries, but in his heart, he had received a fatal injury.

He could not get up, for the pride sustaining him had already shattered.

He felt that he did not have the face to see anyone; he was unable to face up to reality, to his older brother. He had become a huge joke, an ironic clown.

He was heart was like dying ash, but this ash still had small embers burning.

"So what if he is the ten extreme aptitude? Brother, you did something wrong. You killed someone, you should not have done so! Right, that's right! You have to pay for your sins of murdering, big brother, Jia Jin Sheng was killed by you right? You walked on the wrong path, you did something wrong, so what if your aptitude is better than me?!"

Ring…

Something seemed to have sounded off near his ear.

A lump of fire started to burn in Fang Zheng's heart.

The dying ember resurrected!

The hand gripping his throat, gradually let go.

Fang Zheng's body was covered in sweat as he kneeled on the ground, one hand sustaining himself as the hand was full of injuries from grabbing the tile.

Droplets of sweat flowed down his face and nose, and onto the file.

His distorted horrifying face had gradually calmed down.

A gust of wind blew along the door and windows, into this hall.

The cold wind of the night sky stimulated his body as he shuddered.

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHE…" Fang Zheng half laid on the ground as he laughed, his voice shrill and eerie.

The light of the fire danced around his face along with the wind. As it shone on the young man's face, it was not of warmth and brightness, but it resembled the devil's dance.

Chapter 182: Blood pond graveyard

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"There's no one here!" Turning the house upside down, Gu Yue Bo did not find Fang Yuan anywhere. A huge rock weighed on his heart. With Fang Yuan and Tie Xue Leng's sudden disappearance, it easily caused him to relate them together.

"Speak, where is Fang Yuan?" Gu Yue Bo's face was grim like water, as he screamed at Tie Ruo Nan who just arrived.

"How would I know where Fang Yuan is?" Tie Ruo Nan's attitude was tough. Even against a Rank four expert, she did not relent.

"Hmph, why did Tie Xue Leng go missing? Tie family's young lady, can you give me an explanation?" Gu Yue Bo said as he got closer to Tie Ruo Nan.

The young girl's expression was slightly stunned. The truth was, this matter had been very peculiar from the start.

The original plan was that her father and her would come here next year. Back then, Tie Xue Leng was solving another case when a white crane suddenly descended from the sky.

The white crane carried a letter, and passed it to Tie Xue Leng.

After seeing this letter, Tie Xue Leng changed his plans and put down the case at hand, heading immediately towards Qing Mao mountain.

If not for the letter, the Tie family father and daughter would not have gotten here so early.

As his daughter, Tie Ruo Nan knew her father well. Normally, only exceptional cases would cause Tie Xue Leng to make such a decision.

But, what caused her to not understand was that this Qing Mao mountain case was only about Jia Jin Sheng's death.

Although Jia Jin Sheng's death involved the asset struggle of the Jia family, its severity level was merely average, and was far below the point where the divine investigator has to put so much emphasis on.

Towards this, Tie Ruo Nan was always doubtful.

And now, Tie Xue Leng mysteriously disappeared, not even telling his own daughter.

Where did he go? What did he do?

"Father, you have an injury, please take care of your body." Tie Ruo Nan was worried.

This situation had happened several times before. Every time, it was when Tie Xue Leng was fighting against a strong foe and could not distract himself to protect Tie Ruo Nan, thus choosing to battle alone.

His injuries right now were caused by a strong foe under such circumstances previously.

"Although father is injured, he is after all a Rank five expert. Ordinary Rank four Gu Masters are not his match. Father, I believe in you, I will wait for you to return!" Tie Ruo Nan's eyes shone with light as she encouraged herself.

Gu Yue Bo got closer as the young girl raised her head, staring right at the Gu Yue clan leader. "Explanation? You want an explanation, but does it mean I need to give you one?"

Gu Yue Bo's face grew even grimmer as he said, "Little wretch, you sure talk tough, it seems I can only take you captive and use you to exchange for our clan's Fang Yuan!"

"Hehehe." Tie Ruo Nan laughed instead. "Gu Yue clan leader, would you really dare to do such a thing? My uncle is the current Tie clan leader, do you want to cross swords with my Tie family?"

Gu Yue Bo stopped in his tracks.

He was anxious and almost forgot.

Tie family!

It was but a super clan, having thousands of years of legacy, standing strong even today. Standing tall in the Tie clan mountain fort was the Demon Suppression Tower, imprisoning countless demonic Gu Masters, the symbol of the righteous faction.

Gu Yue clan was only a slightly average clan, and was smaller than Jia clan. But Jia clan was also merely a young clan, unable to compare with the Tie clan.

Even in the entire Southern border, the Tie clan is a first class powerhouse, a large clan with strong foundations!

Tie Ruo Nan's words softened. "Gu Yue clan leader, I am not here to be enemies with you. But please believe in my sincerity. I do not know where father went, but I will not leave or secretly run away. The Tie family only dies in battle, there are no cowards that run from battle. Not only will I stay here, I will also arrest the criminal that killed Jia Jin Sheng!"

"Fang Yuan might not be the murderer!" Gu Yue Bo frowned, showing a fierce expression.

"But he might be!" Tie Ruo Nan stared, her heroism overflowing; at this point she was refusing to relent.

Both sides stared for a long time.

Tie Ruo Nan continued, "Fang Yuan went missing, so it is very likely that he is escaping for his crimes, thus he has greater suspicion. But I will definitely not malign an innocent party!"

"Hmph, I hope so." Gu Yue Bo swung his sleeve and left.

Fifteen minutes later….

Gurgle gurgle.

The spirit spring's whirlpool moved violently as a lotus image flickered above the spring water like an image.

Pieces of primeval stones were thrown in by Fang Yuan, causing the appearance of the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus to become clearer.

"Earlier at the classmate gathering, they gave me around ten thousand primeval stones. Together with Gu Yue Mo Chen's forty thousand, I've already thrown them all in. Why is it that this Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus still hasn't shown its true body?"

Fang Yuan stared intently through the crystal walls, glaring at the center of the spirit spring, feeling uncertain.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was very precious. After continuous advancing and reaching Rank six, its value would be no less than the Spring Autumn Cicada.

Even in his previous life, Fang Yuan had only heard of it, and never interacted with it.

Thus right now, it was his first time seeing one, and so he was slightly unsure.

But he soon calmed himself, laughing, "Around fifty thousand primeval stones, it's more than enough. Why am I worrying over nothing here? So what if the refinement fails? Hehehe."

Thinking so, he no longer hesitated. Taking in a deep breath, he jumped up, knocking onto the crystal wall.

This wall was formed by the Moat Gu.

When Fang Yuan knocked onto it, it was like jumping into the water. There was a ripple in the walls as he was instantly swallowed up.

Water surrounded Fang Yuan from all directions.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes, but he could not see the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus could only be seen through the water crystal walls before extraction.

Fang Yuan knew this well, and was not surprised. He had already estimated the distance, and even accounted for the refraction of the light due to the water, and grabbed according to his memory.

This grab, was like grabbing out of thin air, conjuring a lotus.

The lotus was blue and white, its petals closed, looking like a lamp filled with a holy aura. But it had its own consciousness, and even though it was grabbed by Fang Yuan, it resisted.

But that was nothing!

Just by leaking a little of the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura, this Rank three flower Gu was instantly refined.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus obtained!

In the spring water, Fang Yuan's lips curled into a smile.

He willed, and the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus turned into a white blue light, shooting into his aperture.

Without the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, the numerous whirlpools in the spirit spring vanished. The spring water that was filled with vitality turned into a puddle of still water without any signs of life.

"The spirit spring is no more. This place is no longer safe, I have to leave as soon as possible." Fang Yuan's expression turned serious, and just as he was about to leave, something suddenly happened!

Deep in the spirit spring, a blinding blood colored light shot out.

A large suction force suddenly appeared. Caught off guard, Fang Yuan was sucked deep into the water.

The spring water turned red, becoming blood water, wrapping around Fang Yuan completely, dragging him down.

Sky Canopy Gu! Thunderwings Gu!

In the moment of crisis, Fang Yuan screamed in his heart and a white armor appeared on his body. At the same time, a pair of large lightning wings appeared behind his back.

Thunderwings spread, giving Fang Yuan an upward force. But the blood water came endlessly, and its suction force became greater and greater; there was no way to oppose it.

Puff…

Hearing the water all around him, Fang Yuan was dragged by the currents, along the tunnel, heading straight down.

Just when his breath was used up, the surrounding pressure vanished.

Fang Yuan took a deep breath. At least he did not die of suffocation, but he found that he was falling from a high spot.

He subconsciously activated his wings, but the Thunderwings Gu was in bad shape.

The originally strong wings, were tired and soft.

Fang Yuan's heart sank. He tried his best to maintain his balance in the air, slowing his descent.

This was an area underground. It was not dark, but filled with red light. Fang Yuan was falling from about fifteen metres, and below him, was a pond.

But this underground pond was not of the transparent colour; it was red, like blood water.

No, it IS blood water!

The piercing blood stench assaulted Fang Yuan as he continued to fall.

This situation was weird no matter how he looked at it, so for safety, Fang Yuan did not want to land in this bloody pond.

Chainsaw Golden Centipede!

He activated the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, his palm entering the centipede's mouth and swinging it like a whip.

The golden centipede's body stretched to the longest, and its tail stabbed into the mountain wall at the side.

Fang Yuan willed with his mind, and the golden centipede's body constricted. This way, it brought his body to the side of the mountain wall.

These walls were slippery and did not have a good landing spot. But as Fang Yuan relied on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, he managed to find an uneven area and placed his feet above.

"Where the fuck is this?" Stabilizing his body, Fang Yuan immediately observed the surroundings.

According to his estimations, this should be in a place deeper underground, even below the underground cave.

"How can there be such a place?" Fang Yuan was shocked. In his previous life, he was not strong enough to learn about the secrets of the higher-ups.

The truth is, this was the blood pond graveyard, the forbidden grounds that buried the first generation's coffin. Even among clan elders, only one or two knew this secret.

Fang Yuan looked down. This blood pond shone with a bloody radiance. Its circumference was even larger than the village, emitting an eerie and scary aura.

At the top of the cave, there was up to a hundred holes that had water gushing down, bringing the shells, turtles, snakes and fish from the river with it.

Swoosh swoosh…

Streams of water continued to pour down from the holes, entering into the blood pond.

The blood water was turbulent as numerous seafood moved around, entering the pond. However, in a few breaths, all the blood in their bodies were sucked out. They turned into dry corpses and floated on the surface of the water, appearing and disappearing as the waves moved them about.

The blood pond's redness only intensified.

As Fang Yuan looked on, his iris shrunk a little. If he had landed in this pond, even with the Sky Canopy Gu's protection, he would not be in good shape.

He continued to observe, and other than fresh dry corpses, there were also some bones in the water.

Some were fish bones, bear bones, and even human skeletons.

This was a giant burial ground; it was creepy, and bloody.

The ripples and waves in the blood pond raged on and swept into the surrounding walls, the bright red and glowing blood water entering the surrounding soil. This caused the soil to all turn into a bright red color, turning into red soil.

Chapter 183: Blood Sea Ancestor

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"Wait a second, red soil?"

Fang Yuan's mind jolted at the sight.

He stretched his hand out and grabbed the wall beside him, taking out a lump of red soil.

This red soil was very soft and emitted a faint red light. Fang Yuan merely pressed it lightly, but it crumbled down.

"So, it was like this." He seemed to have come to a realization.

The first time he had entered the secret cave inside the rock crack, he saw that the secret cave was full of this red soil which emitted faint glow; there was no need for any other lighting source.

He had felt it weird at the time because Qing Mao mountain's soil was blue-black in color. He had thought this was arranged by the Flower Wine Monk, but now it seemed that the source was this strange blood lake.

Fang Yuan felt even more wary; his five hundred years of experience had almost become an intuition.

"This place is not only strange, but also dangerous. I don't have the time to dilly-dally, I need to think of how to leave here." Fang Yuan raised his head and looked at the cave walls, where hundreds of holes were in the top part of the wall; which was the one connected to the spirit spring?

Fang Yuan hesitated for a moment.

Water could flow down here, but it didn't mean that the passages were wide enough for a human to pass through.

"And…." Fang Yuan looked grave as he tried shaking his two wings.

However, he couldn't control these thunderwings perfectly like before, and the originally clear blue thunder was now stained with some scarlet; it gave off a contradictory feeling of power and weakness existing at the same time.

The Thunderwings Gu had become unreliable, it was very possible for it to screw up and drop Fang Yuan in the middle of flight.

Swoosh….

An inexplicable undercurrent surged up from within the blood lake, giving off the enormous aura of Rank five gu.

"That is…." Fang Yuan's pupils shrunk; a long shadow gradually appeared in the blood lake.

Its length surpassed forty meters and its width over six meters.

This was an enormous python; it dwelled in the depths of the blood lake, but now that it had smelled out the scent of flesh on Fang Yuan, it came out to begin the hunt!

"Damn it….." Fang Yuan felt a pressing urge in his heart.

Right now, he was relying on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede to puncture the wall, barely managing to hang onto the soft red soil. And with his long hair and black gown, he looked like a black ant compared to the enormous blood lake.

Hundreds of black dots appeared in the blood lake and rose up, just like a travelling shoal of fish.

Whooshhh…..

They were much faster than the giant python and flew out of the blood lake within moments, revealing their appearance.

These were not fish, but bats.

These blood colored bats had two long pointed ears with two pairs of wings. The main pair of wings were rather big, whereas the secondary pair of wings was on the smaller side and was below the main wings.

They didn't have claws, but the edges of the two pairs of wings were as sharp as steel blades.

"Rank three — bladewing blood bat Gu?" A name immediately appeared in Fang Yuan's mind.

These bladewing blood bat groups were directing their intense murderous aura towards him, but the first thing that appeared in his mind was 'that' image.

In the image from the Photo-audio Gu, the Flower Wine Monk's whole body was covered with blood, with severe injuries to the point of being near death.

Moonshadow Gu was not able to cause such injuries, but these bladewing blood bats were a different matter.

"Could it be that the Flower Wine Monk had come to this place and was injured by these bladewing blood bats?" Fang Yuan's thoughts revolved rapidly.

Flower Wine Monk's death had been shrouded in riddles. Now, it appeared extremely likely that it was due to this place.

"Bladewing blood bat…." Fang Yuan murmured. In fact, this Gu wasn't a stranger to him.

Even though this Gu was a Rank three Gu, it was very easy to feed, its food being blood.

In his previous life, he had established the Bloodwing Devil Sect, and the symbol of the sect was precisely the bladewing blood bat. The resources from the devil sect were more than enough to support close to ten thousand bladewing blood bat Gu, allowing the sect to establish a terrifying might and spread terror.

More precisely, he owed his success to bladewing blood bats.

After over four hundred years in his previous life, he had accidently obtained an inheritance from the Blood Sea Ancestor. With the colonies of bladewing blood bats and his own Rank five cultivation, he became an overlord of a region.

This Blood Sea Ancestor was a Rank seven demonic path Gu Master who took lives as easily as cutting grass, and his evil reputation was such that it resounded throughout the world, having his name recorded in history.

At the beginning, he was just a mortal, but through luck and destiny, he became a Gu Master of demonic path. He started out from the lowest of levels and rose up in ranks, before becoming an authority of demonic path after eight hundred years.

He didn't have high aptitude, thus he had limited primeval essence in his aperture. Therefore, he had a crazed interest towards researching the fusion of Gu worms.

Wild Gu worms possessed their own will and could absorb the natural primeval essence in the air by themselves. However, after a Gu worm was refined by a Gu Master, its willpower would be dominated by the Gu Master, and it would lose the ability to absorb the surrounding primeval essence. It would be able to only absorb the primeval essence in the Gu Master's aperture.

Blood Sea Ancestor had invested a lot of efforts in researching Gu which could absorb natural primeval essence even after being refined by a Gu Master.

The righteous Gu Masters were very afraid of this. They were extremely worried that the Blood Sea Ancestor would succeed in his research. As a result, they organized countless traps before moving in for the kill.

In the end, Blood Sea Ancestor wasn't able to succeed, but it also wasn't a complete failure.

He succeeded in producing the fusion recipes of bladewing blood bat, blood guillotine and blood frenzy Gu.

Rank three bladewing blood bat Gu was his first accomplishment. It was very easy to feed, but it still needed the Gu Master to provide primeval essence. The colony of bladewing blood bats was very special; a Gu Master just needed to control a male bat, and they could indirectly command all the other female bats.

Blood frenzy Gu was his second accomplishment. This Gu was formless; as a ball of blood essence, it survived by attaching itself to other beings. It was a Rank four Gu and had a very unusual ability. Every Gu worm infected by its aura could absorb natural primeval essence every now and then. But it had a great disadvantage — the Gu worms affected by the Blood frenzy Gu would gradually leave the control of the Gu Master and would turn into a pool of blood after a period of time.

Blood guillotine was the Blood Sea Ancestor's last accomplishment. This Gu was a Rank five Gu and was no doubt more advanced than the previous two. Its usability and feeding were fused into one. Usings wars to sustain itself, it multiplied by swallowing Gu Master's blood. It didn't need the Gu Master to provide it with any primeval essence.

Unfortunately, after the Blood Sea Ancestor created the blood guillotine, due to the many battles and the entrapment by the righteous path, he was defeated.

He suffered from fatal wounds that could not be healed, and he carved out a bloody escape from the layers of entrapment.

The righteous path figures were worried about his final counterattack which could endanger themselves, so they didn't have any inclination to chase after him and looked on as he made his getaway. Since then, these righteous path figures would regret the moment every time they recalled it; they regretted that they let him get away.

The Blood Sea Ancestor knew his death was a sure thing, so he started setting up a large scale inheritance. In the limited time before his death, with the strength of his Rank seven cultivation, he unexpectedly set up hundreds of thousands of inheritance grounds; his inheritances extended everywhere from the Middle Continent to the Southern Border and other places.

Right before his death, he smiled devilishly, "The blood path is not alone, the legacy will continue for all eternity!"

This statement was not in the least false, for countless Gu Masters benefited from his inheritances, and thus the demonic path flourished greatly.

No matter the bladewing blood bat Gu, the blood frenzy Gu or the blood guillotine, they were all very easy to raise and multiply. Maybe in some unremarkable valleys, at poor villages, at no-man deserts, or beside some mountain paths, you might find two or three Gu left casually by the Blood Sea Ancestor.

These Gu were easy to raise and didn't have a high demand for primeval essence, thus they could easily be used by Gu Masters with ordinary aptitudes.

Survival was a difficult thing in this world, so which Gu Master wouldn't thirst for stronger powers? The Gu worms left by the Blood Sea Ancestor represented a whole new strength; this strength was a quick and easy way to rise in power, and it became more welcomed than other Gu worms.

Power itself had no sins; it became good in the hands of good, and evil in the hands of evil. But in the world, how many people could have a resolute mind after a sudden increase in strength?

A man who got money would often become fickle. A sudden rise in strength would certainly nourish ambitions that weren't there before.

As a result, many Gu Masters that obtained the Blood Sea Ancestor's legacy would become a devil that massacred everything. Even many righteous path figures had changed their sides.

The inheritances of blood Gu brought great turmoil and danger towards the whole world.

In each inheritance of the Blood Sea Ancestor, there were often only two to three Gu. However, these inheritances were like a spark of fire that could cause a prairie fire if left alone!

There would be demonic path Gu Masters who would come into possession of the blood Gu every so often and cause chaos. Some of them would fail; killed away in some villages. Some would succeed temporarily and become a huge figure, harming a whole region.

No matter if they succeeded temporarily, or failed, at the moment of their exhaustion, they would also leave behind new blood inheritances.

Thus, the blood calamity continued endlessly. Not only did it not end with the death of the Blood Sea Ancestor through the combined strength of the righteous path, it instead thrived even more greatly with the foundations left behind, unable to be eliminated as it continued for eternity.

It was to the extent that the righteous path figures would frequently curse, "These accursed Blood Gu Masters! We have already killed waves upon waves of them. But if we become even a bit careless, we will see a new one coming up from nowhere!"

By now, the Blood Sea Inheritances were already publicly recognized as the most popular in the whole world, with the greatest number of inheritances. There was no competition!

In the strictest sense, Fang Yuan had received a favor from the Blood Sea Ancestor.

"In my previous life, only after over four hundred years, I found a blood sea inheritance and was then able to begin my rule. Now, if I can subdue these blood bats, it will be like completing four hundred years of effort."

Blood bats charged at him but Fang Yuan was not afraid.

He had the Spring Autumn Cicada, so these bats would submit without question in front of the Rank six aura. The only problem was the Rank five Blood Python that was still concealed, hiding within the blood lake.

"But this situation is somewhat fishy. The Blood Sea Ancestor's inheritances normally only have two-three Gu worms. How come this place has hundreds of bladewing blood bats? Could it be… that rumor is true?"

The rumor said that the Blood Sea Ancestor's hundreds of thousands of inheritances were diversions, and the true inheritances were only a few.

In these few inheritances, the Blood Sea Ancestor was said to have concealed his best Gu worms, or research insights or fusion recipes.

"Could this place be a true inheritance ground of the Blood Sea Ancestor?" When Fang Yuan thought of this, his heart started to beat loudly.

His thoughts moved like lightning and although he thought of many things, only a little time had passed in reality.

Bladewing blood bats charged at him one after another; Fang Yuan was calm, his long hair and black gown fluttering in the air as he climbed up the wall and was going to summon Spring Autumn Cicada.

But right at this time, there was a sudden change!

"As expected, this place is hiding the blood calamity!" A deep and firm voice, loud like the clash between iron and stone, came from the top of the cave and echoed within the blood lake.

Divine Investigator Tie Xue Leng!

Chapter 184: Rank five intense battle

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"Tie Xue Leng, why is he suddenly here?" Fang Yuan recognised the voice, feeling shocked.

This loud voice echoed above the blood pond, causing intense waves to form.

"This is… Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu?" Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. As the loud voice hurt his eardrums, he felt his entire brain buzzing.

Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu, a Rank five Gu, was from a sound-type Gu. Once activated, it could form soundwave attacks that had a wide range, belonging to an extremely strong area-of-effect attacking-type Gu.

The voice that Fang Yuan was hearing now, is only Tie Xue Leng's probing; it was just him slightly shouting and not activating his Gu completely.

This intensity was like Fang Yuan using the Moonlight Gu to open the purple gold rock; it was a type of in-depth control of his Gu worm.

Of course, the Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu also had its weakness. If used for long, it would cause great strain to the Gu Master's throat and vocal cord. Once his limit is exceeded, the Gu Master would become completely mute, losing his ability to speak.

Bam!

A loud explosion occurred as blood and water flew everywhere.

The top half of the huge python's body appeared in Fang Yuan's vision.

Blood river python!

Fang Yuan's irises shrunk as he saw the python with its bright smooth blood red scales, and its head around the size of an elephant. Scarlet-gold coloured sharp bone spikes protruded out from above its eyes, showing its ferocious and frenzy aura completely.

"Blood river python… I remember that in the Gu Yue clan's history, after the first generation clan leader created the village, a blood river python appeared and was a huge threat to the village. Legend says the first gen killed it, but don't tell me…"

Fang Yuan's thoughts moved, thinking of something.

The blood river python was humongous, snake head high in the air, its purple irises staring right at Fang Yuan with two ruthless glances.

It had a ruthless nature, untamable and fed on blood. Even if the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura tried to suppress it, that would only cause it to become more frenzied. Among Rank five Gu worms, it was one of the hardest to refine.

But after the blood river python took a look at Fang Yuan up on the walls, it raised its head higher and turned towards the top of the cave.

At the top of the cave, there was another tiny shadow, floating down from one of the holes at the ceiling.

He wore a bronze mask, his hands behind his back, his gaze cool and calm. Although compared to the blood river python, he was small like an ant, but the imposing aura coming from his body caused a great pressure to emit from him at all directions, like a heavenly being descending down to Earth.

Righteous Gu!

A mind-type Gu that only someone who upheld justice could activate.

People who were villainous or had weak minds and aspirations, were often scared shitless under the influence of the Righteous Gu, afraid of everything as they had a guilty conscience, their battle spirit decreasing in battle and causing them to feel an inability to defeat Tie Xue Leng, thus collapsing without battle.

Screech screech….

Under the pressure of the righteousness, the bladewing blood bat Gu were frantic and could only scream shrilly as a strong pressure pushed down on their bodies. Their wings could only continue to flap as they struggled to stay in mid-air, floating up and down.

They could barely take care of themselves, much less bother about Fang Yuan.

Even the ferocious blood river python slightly lowered its head, feeling Tie Xue Leng's supreme presence.

"What a good Righteous Gu!" Fang Yuan climbed on the wall, smirking.

This suppression from the Righteous Gu had no effect on him. Only those with weak minds could be greatly weakened. He was a supreme demonic overlord, his mind strong as steel, how could this illusionary pressure scare him?

"Eh?" Fang Yuan's immunity caused Tie Xue Leng to call out in shock, feeling very surprised.

The Righteous Gu had been with him for many years, and he was very sure about the Gu's effect.

Righteous Gu's effect varied. It attacked the mind directly, sometimes having great effect while other times having no effect.

But the times where it did not work, were almost nonexistent. Even righteous people felt a strong suppression in their hearts. After all, their factions did not determine a person's kindness and evil; there are no perfect humans.

But Tie Xue Leng knew deeply about Fang Yuan's crimes. The first time they met, he already implanted a Gu on Fang Yuan, using it to track his whereabouts. After that, Tie Xue Leng could faintly discern the changes in the surroundings where Fang Yuan went.

Those who committed great sins, under the Righteous Gu, would definitely waver. But Tie Xue Leng also met a good number of demonic Gu Masters, that were unaffected by the righteous aura.

"There is only one type of person who would be unaffected by the Righteous Gu even after commiting sins. These are the people with real demonic nature, in the deepest parts of their hearts. They are crazy and adamant, not treating their sins as sins, but thinking of it as natural. To think that this Fang Yuan has such an intense demonic nature! Hmph, I'll get rid of this great demon here first. If Fang Yuan manages to survive, I will come and finish him later!"

Tie Xue Leng hated evil with a burning passion. With a cold snort, he turned towards the blood river python.

Once he appeared, he was locked on by this blood river python. As long as he was distracted in killing Fang Yuan, he would reveal a weakness.

Tie Xue Leng had such a severe injury on him, and at the same time there might be a powerful enemy hidden in the background and observing him. Thus, he did not dare to lose focus.

He stared at this blood river python for a moment, before looking further into the blood pond.

Not long ago, he received a mysterious letter. Inside there was concrete evidence that Gu Yue village held a bloody calamity.

This letter was held by a red-crowned crane coming from the sky, with a questionable source.

But Tie Xue Leng would rather believe it than miss it. After all, the blood calamity was not ordinary, he could not take it lightly. If he lost focus, it would expand and spread like a plague, harming the world.

The best method to deal with it was to eliminate the source before it forms into a strong force.

Coincidentally, he already had another request at hand — it was Jia Fu paying a high cost to ask him to investigate Jia Jin Sheng's death.

Tie Xue Leng thus brought his daughter and rushed to Qing Mao Mountain.

He ordered his daughter to investigate Jia Jin Sheng's case. It was to nurture and train Tie Ruo Nan, but also to act as a red herring, stalling for time and hiding in the background investigating this issue.

The first time when he met Fang Yuan, he implanted a Shared-sense Gu on him. Although it was merely at a whim, he did it due to his accumulated experience and instinct.

Shared-sense Gu was formless and colorless, like a signet. He had implanted over tens of them, but the only successful one was the first one he implanted.

"First gen Gu Yue, I know you are not dead. You hid for nearly a thousand years plotting this scheme, but unfortunately, it's all going down the drain." Tie Xue Leng opened his mouth, causing the air to tremble.

But there were no changes to the blood pond. Instead, the blood river python opened its mouth, screaming furiously.

It was born ferocious, unable to be suppressed. The Righteous Gu triggered its ferocity.

Bam.

It stretched its body abruptly, the huge snake body rising with the tides of blood, bringing a killing intent that tore through the skies, pouncing towards Tie Xue Leng who was in mid-air.

Tie Xue Leng was already wary against the blood river python, and he quickly moved, avoiding the blood river python's bite.

The python's body was too long, and its momentum was too strong. It ended up crashing all the way onto the ceiling of the cave.

A loud bang ensued as a portion of the ceiling collapsed, and large amounts of debris fell and caused much commotion in the blood lake waves.

"Hmph, First gen Gu Yue, you think you are safe with just a blood python protecting you? You might as well appear now," Tie Xue Leng snickered. He moved about in the air, and the blood river python's attacks were like a gentle rain pelting on him.

The blood river python attacked furiously, getting more worked up as it continued to miss.

It had unparalleled strength, able to display it all and cause great damage.

The entire space was shaking from its strength like an earthquake, and the blood lake began to raise strong ripples.

"Fuck!" Fang Yuan was caught by the crossfire, and as the red soil softened, his foothold had been ruined.

He could only use the Chainsaw Golden Centipede as well as the Thunderwings Gu to move along the walls. Meanwhile the rock debris was falling down like rain.

As he had expected, the Thunderwings Gu was really in bad shape. Fang Yuan's thunderwings were extremely weak and lethargic, unable to provide him much boost in speed.

But the strange thing was, the Thunderwings Gu was taking lesser and lesser primeval essence from Fang Yuan. During the period where Fang Yuan moved about, it started to absorb primeval essence from the surrounding air to replenish itself.

At first, this situation was uncommon and happened in short intervals.

As Fang Yuan continued to dodge, he did not notice initially. But eventually, the intervals got shorter and the duration lengthened.

At the same time, the Thunderwings Gu got weaker and weaker.

"I get it, its the Blood Frenzy Gu!" Fang Yuan's mind shone with inspiration.

Only when affected by the Blood Frenzy Gu will such a situation occur.

Plop!

Fang Yuan put in 100% effort, but eventually still fell into the blood lake.

The blood river python was rampaging everywhere, using its thick tail to sweep across the place, causing large debris to fall like rain.

Fang Yuan activated the Sky Canopy Gu, covering himself with a white armor. He was good at swimming. In his previous life he had lived in the Eastern Sea for a long time, thus he had sufficient training.

The falling rocks were as large as houses, and he tried his best to avoid them. Sometimes he swam underwater, sinking into the lake to use the water to reduce the impact of the rocks.

But for the smaller fragments, some were fist-sized while others were like grindstones, and he could not avoid them all.

The white light armor was firm like a monolith, but it could not handle the full impact of the rocks, causing him to feel pain when they hit his armor. At the same time, his primeval essence also decreased with each hit endured.

Thankfully, the Righteous Gu's power was surrounding the area, causing the group of bladewing blood bat Gu to fly around randomly, not finding trouble with Fang Yuan.

But Fang Yuan's expression was solemn.

The Thunderwings Gu was half crippled after being corrupted by the Blood Frenzy Gu, and without a special Gu to clean it, it would soon turn into a puddle of blood water, turning into a new pollution origin.

How did it get infected by the Blood Frenzy Gu?

Fang Yuan considered the previous events, and there was only one explanation — in this blood water, there was a Blood Frenzy Gu inside.

The Thunderwings Gu continued to weaken, and started to become uncontrollable.

Thankfully he activated the white light armor in time, otherwise if the Blood Frenzy Gu got into his body and entered his aperture, most of his Gu worms would get corrupted.

But if his primeval essence was expended, or if this armor was broken, the consequences would be severe!

"I have to leave this place as soon as possible!" Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, trying to find a way out from the surroundings as he swam around.

Large amounts of red soil on the mountain walls collapsed from the battle.

The cave ceiling was completely destroyed beyond recognition as well. Tie Xue Leng floated in mid-air, engaging the blood river python in combat.

Rank five battles were not something Fang Yuan could interfere in.

The more a Gu Master advanced, the larger the difference in battle strength among ranks.

Maybe with a sweep of the blood river python's tail, it could break the light armor and cause the Sky Canopy Gu to be gravely injured, breaking all of Fang Yuan's bones in the process. Perhaps with a simple wave of Tie Xue Leng's hands, it could send Fang Yuan falling into an impasse.

The situation right now was like two giant elephants fighting, while Fang Yuan was a domestic cat. Although he had tiny claws, there was nothing he could do.

"Wait, a cave entrance?"

Chapter 185: Gu Yue first gen, Five great flying zombies

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The tunnel entrance wasn't big and should have been buried by the red soil before. But now, as the blood lake surged up in a huge wave, the red soil in the surrounding walls were washed away, sinking down in the lake. As a result, the tunnel entrance cleared up again and became visible.

No matter what, this tunnel entrance was like a light of hope. Fang Yuan immediately turned around and started swimming towards it.

BOOM!

Another intense explosion occurred in the air. The enormous force of the explosion struck the surroundings and violently pushed Fang Yuan forward.

"Damn it!" He cursed.

Great amounts of red soil had fallen down and buried the tunnel entrance again.

Iron fist grappling Gu!

In the air, Tie Xue Leng took a deep breath and slowly extended his right hand when he felt the time was right.

There was a ripple in the air before him and a giant black iron hand appeared; it appeared slow but pressed down on the blood river python's tail within moments.

Blood river python struggled fiercely, and with its wet scales and slick body, the iron hand slipped off it and burst out with golden-red light.

Tie Xue Leng, however, had plenty of battle experiences and wasn't downcast. He slightly raised his head, puffed up his cheeks and blew strongly towards the Blood River Python.

Whoosh!Pitch black oil fell down like waterfall and formed into the shape of a dragon in the air, before plunging towards the Blood River Python.

Oil Dragon Gu!

The blood River Python was furious. It snarled and started tearing at the Oil Dragon Gu.

The black oil dragon was not in the least inferior to Blood River Python in terms of physique, but it was only a Rank four Gu and did not have a physical body; it was soon torn to shreds by Blood River Python.

Tie Xue Leng smiled, on the contrary.

Beasts were beasts, if a Gu Master had personally controlled it, they would have seen through this classic and ordinary battle tactic. The Blood River Python had been refined and although it had a Gu Master's imprint on it, it didn't have the wisdom of humans.

The oil dragon was exterminated, causing backlash to the Oil Dragon Gu in the aperture.

Tie Xue Leng didn't care; he stopped using the Oil Dragon Gu then began activating Fire Dragon Gu.

He gave a loud shout and his body shook, and then a Gu that looked like a flame shot out of his aperture. The flame quickly formed into a fire snake, winding around its own body.

As the fire snake flew, it grew bigger, then it immediately started growing scales, claws, horns and sharp teeth. Its face started becoming more like that of a horse; it had changed into an enormous fire dragon.

This Fire Dragon Gu was also a Rank four Gu, but it was able to cause a lot of pain to Blood River Python.

This was because of the oil dragon; when it was wiped out, great amounts of black oil stuck to Blood River Python's body, and now the fire dragon was causing the oil to catch fire and roast the Blood River Python.

Besides the snake, the black oil had also fallen on the lake surface. Right now, a raging inferno was burning on the bright red blood lake, causing the air temperature to increase rapidly.

The fire dragon was not the Blood River Python's match at all, it suffered heavy injuries and kept on shrinking. But every time this happened, it would drill into the raging inferno and recover some of its power.

With the raging inferno, the fire dragon had a homeground advantage.

Blood River Python was constantly being burned as it fought with the fire dragon, there was even a smell of scorched meat coming off it.

Blood River Python had a berserk nature and it would erupt with even stronger counterattack if it got suppressed. But right now, it was actually shrinking back, giving up on the fire dragon and diving deep into the blood lake.

Humans were the highest of all living beings and possessed the intelligence to develop new concepts. With Tie Xue Leng's tactics, two Rank four Gu were able to make the Rank five Blood River Python retreat.

But Gu were the essence of the world, containing the secrets of heaven and earth, a portion of the natural laws. And Blood River Python's ability was extreme self recovery.

As it sank to the bottom of the lake, the blood water continuously nourished it, rapidly healing the wounds on its body. The fire dragon had the field advantage; so did the blood python. As long as the blood lake existed, it was like a cockroach that couldn't be killed.

Fang Yuan's situation was even more perilous.

The inferno on the surface of the blood lake was constantly spreading, burning even hotter, and the flames were roasting him alive.

The pressure on the Sky Canopy Gu was getting bigger and bigger. But the most critical point was not this, but rather it was the increasing difficulty in breathing.

The flames used great amounts of air to maintain their combustion, and this place is underground and was originally a half-sealed area, which meant it took more time to replenish the used oxygen. Fang Yuan was gradually starting to feel suffocated.

"Although Oil Dragon Gu and Fire Dragon Gu sent Blood River Python retreating with their combined efforts, this is only temporary. As long as there are large amounts of blood water, Blood River Python will recover with a terrifying rate. Once it comes out, it will have recovered to its peak state and the Fire Dragon Gu would no longer be its match. But, this is basic knowledge, it is impossible for Tie Xue Leng to not know this. Then he…."

Fang Yuan bobbed up and down on the blazing lake; his thoughts were revolving rapidly. And his heart tensed when he thought of this.

If he wasn't wrong, Tie Xue Leng should have achieved his intention by making Blood River Python retreat.

Tie Xue Leng needed enough time and he needed the situation to be like this to prepare his following killing move.

Sure enough, in the next moment, while floating in the air Tie Xue Leng suddenly extended both his arms and a deep roar emerged from his mouth.

He withdrew the righteous aura that had been suppressing everything, and whole-heartedly poured his Rank five primeval essence into the copper mask.

The copper mask started to brighten up; it was only a glimmer at first but within few breaths of time, it burst out with an extremely dazzling green light, as bright as a fragment of the sun.

The green light shone upon everything like a monarch overlooking the heavens and earth. For a moment, the red soil, blood lake and raging inferno were covered with a layer of dark green light.

The green light contained a mystical power.

Under this power, the mountain rocks began to shake and crumble.

From above the cave, huge rocks came crumbling down, flying towards the copper mask. Great amounts of soil and rocks from the top to bottom of the red walls also slowly flew up.

Tie Xue Leng's face was already shrouded by the light from the copper mask. Great amounts of mountain rocks gathered around the copper mask and condensed together into a human shape.

Debris continuously converged from all around and the rock figure kept on getting bigger.

From one meter in the beginning, it rapidly grew to three meters… five meters…eight meters…and finally reached eighteen meters!

Giant Mountain Puppet Gu!

The giant figure with indomitable spirit descended towards the blood lake.

Its two feet touched the bottom of the blood lake, but the water only reached up to about its waist. Its body was very robust and grand; horse chariots could run on its two arms and it could hold an elephant on its fist.

Its face looked simple and unadorned; it was the enlarged version of the copper mask.

"Fire dragon, come." It spoke, and its voice seemed to shake the heavens and earth.

The fire dragon which was churning in the fire sea flew up and coiled around the giant puppet's right arm like a snake, and its head rested on the right shoulder of the giant puppet.

Next, the Oil Dragon Gu flew out and formed a pitch black oil dragon which coiled around the giant puppet's left arm and its head rested on the left shoulder of the giant puppet.

With dragons on his left and right, the giant figure appeared like a heavenly deity descending down!

Fang Yuan used all his strength to swim towards the tunnel entrance. When the debris had flown and formed the giant puppet, the red soil covering the tunnel entrance had also gone with it, once again revealing the opening.

This battlefield was becoming more dangerous, the tunnel entrance could be buried again at any time; Fang Yuan didn't dare to stay longer.

The fire sea gradually died out, and suddenly a huge red wave rose from the blood lake.

Blood River Python initiated its attack from the lake; it coiled around the giant puppet and moved upwards. The giant snake head smashed towards the giant puppet's face like a ram.

This attack was very powerful and if it really struck, more than half of the giant puppet's head would be destroyed.

"Iron fist grappling!" The giant puppet shouted; the air split open and an iron hand flew out, grabbing at the snake head.

With a loud boom, the iron hand shattered but Blood River Python's attack was also stopped.

Tie Xue Leng won a brief respite. The giant puppet's two hands grabbed towards Blood River Python in tandem.

Oil dragon and fire dragon seized the chance and climbed Blood River Python. The two snake combined and formed a blazing flame, roasting Blood River Python.

Blood River Python kept on hissing in pain and struggled furiously. But why would Tie Xue Leng let it escape so easily? The giant puppet's hands were like pincers as they firmly pressed on the Blood River Python.

The Blood River Python was not able to escape. Its body was scorched black, giving off the smell of burnt meat. This stimulated its vicious nature; since it couldn't escape, it coiled around the giant puppet and violently contracted, trying to kill it by constriction.

Although the giant puppet was made from condensed mountain rocks, its body had the softness of the red soil. With Blood River Python's constricting force, its waist quickly shrunk by a fold.

Cracking sounds emerged, and fragments of rocks flew in all directions.

Under the stimulation of death, Blood River Python burst forth with an even greater strength.

Fang Yuan finally climbed to the edge of the tunnel entrance, when suddenly the giant puppet gave out coughing sounds.

Tie Xue Leng's old illness had reappeared!

The giant puppet's hands loosened, and the Blood River Python hissed and its body suddenly jumped ahead.

However, the giant puppet's hands tightened again. The Blood River Python opened its mouth wide and revealed its sharp fangs, its head crazily swaying but it still fell short by a distance.

It was not able to retaliate and it was gradually losing its strength; it would burn to death soon.

But right at this moment, dense bloody fog rose up from the middle of the blood lake.

"Blood Frenzy Gu!" Fang Yuan's eyes showed a hint of dread; he immediately climbed the tunnel entrance and went inside it.

The bloody fog rapidly pervaded the air, and the raging inferno on the bloodlake had completely extinguished.

A whirlpool appeared in the middle of the blood lake.

The whirlpool had started from the middle of the lake and quickly spread from there, growing bigger until its edges were touching the surrounding walls.

"Humph, Gu Yue first head, you couldn't endure it anymore?…." The giant puppet coldly snorted.

A giant blood wave reaching as high as ten meters gushed out of the middle of the whirlpool.

And from within the blood wave, a vertical crimson coffin gradually rose up.

" Hehehehe …." A hoarse and strange voice was transmitted from inside the coffin, and anyone that heard this voice would feel cold to the bone.

"Young junior, thou dare spoil my plan, thou court death and I shall give it to thee!" Before the voice had died away, the coffin lid shot out like a catapult, revealing a shrivelled corpse.

He had a scarlet face and fangs, his hair red like blood, his eyes deep and contained a fire that seemed about to extinguish.

He had no skin, and thin strips of red muscles were clinging onto the white bones, giving him a shrivelled and fierce look.

"Junior, thou art wounded but yet dare to provoke me. Today, thou shalt die!" The corpse spoke, but there was no movement in its mouth, the voice had come from its abdomen.

He kept on saying ' I ', ' thou '— these were the speech habits of thousand years ago.

"Rank five Blood Wight Gu! Is he really the first head?" Fang Yuan was flabbergasted, but wasn't surprised.

In this magical world, there were plenty of Gu Masters who lived for centuries. Besides using the most orthodox way of increasing lifespan through the Lifespan Gu, there were also some demonic ways to make one live forever.

For instance, the Rank two Roaming Zombie Gu.

If this Gu was used for too long, the Gu Master would turn completely into a zombie and as long as they sucked blood at specific times, they could live freely forever.

The Gu Yue first head in front of him had used such a way.

Blood Wight Gu was a major Rank five advancement route of the Roaming Zombie Gu. Along with the Asura zombie, heavenly demon zombie, nightmare zombie and plague zombie, they were called five great flying zombies.

The Lifespan Gu was difficult to find. The first head had turned himself into a blood wight flying zombie and buried himself here!

Chapter 186: Spring and autumn does not appear

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the blood lake, two strong foes opposed each other.

"Even the Rank five Blood Wight is only a zombie at the end. First gen Gu Yue, you are no longer a living person, you are full of death essence. Your aperture is dead too, and even though you can store primeval essence, every bit you use cannot be replenished, you cannot recover on your own," the giant puppet said coldly.

"Hehehe… although I cannot recover primeval essence, so what? I can continue to use primeval stones to regain primeval essence. You have an injury on you, yet you dare disturb me… die!" First gen Gu Yue shouted.

At once, blood mist spewed out, and as blood waves raged on, a large group of insects flew out from the blood lake.

It was the Rank five Blood Guillotine!

At the same time, troops of bladewing blood bats flew out from the cave ceiling and emerged from the blood lake, joining together and attacking towards the giant puppet.

A large pack of bats, almost a thousand of them, formed into a huge army.

Although they were Rank three and were a close-combat type Gu, but numbers made up for quality, even the Rank five Tie Xue Leng felt a headache fighting against them.

But that was not the end, for after First gen Gu Yue's consciousness awakened, under his command, troops of blood bats continued to show up, gathering here.

He had operated there for almost a thousand years, and had a heaven shattering scheme. He had converted the place into his personal backyard, thus having a great location advantage.

Blood bat groups were organised, staying in formation in the air, continuing to move around like a strong army, surrounding the giant puppet.

The blood river python stopped struggling, instead coiling up its body. This caused Tie Xue Leng to feel a threat, and he concentrated his mind even further.

A Gu's power although strong, was unintelligent. A blood bat army with or without a Gu Master's control, had a hell of a difference.

"First gen Gu Yue only just appeared, and yet he has turned the tables, almost suppressing Tie Xue Leng. He has great location advantage, having his troops at his disposal, while Tie Xue Leng has an injury on him, the situation is not looking good."

Fang Yuan had hid into a cave in the walls, using the shadows to hide and observe the battle.

"But Tie Xue Leng has roamed the Southern Borders for many years. With an injury on him but still entering this trap, he has to have some trump card. No matter what, there's going to be an intense battle soon, this entire district might even collapse. Should I stay here and observe? Staying here is very dangerous, this is the deepest part of the underground cave, I might get buried alive. If I stay and watch the show, what are the chances of me benefiting from their conflict?"

Fang Yuan thought quickly, evaluating the gains and losses.

He was only Rank three initial stage now, and there was a high risk in staying. As long as he got hit indirectly by one of their attacks, he would get heavily injured.

But if he really gained something from this, surviving to the end, the benefits would be overwhelming. After all, what a Rank five Gu Master owns could help him save up to a hundred years of hard work!

"High risk high return…" Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh, and planned to retreat.

The situation was no longer under his control; there was too much risk in staying.

Birds die for food, people die for fortune, these situations, he had seen much of them in his previous five hundred years of living.

He was vigilant in nature. As long as he lived, there would always be more opportunities in the future. After all, he knew countless secrets and many unexposed inheritance grounds; they were all profitable and useful to him, he did not have to risk his life here.

Just when Fang Yuan was about to leave, a small amount of blood bats flew out from the army and towards him.

This blood bat group had around a hundred, causing Fang Yuan to quickly retreat.

"My clan junior, don't worry. There are traps set up in that cave, and even underground beasts reside there. These blood bats can ensure your safety," the first gen Gu Yue's voice resounded.

When Fang Yuan heard this, he ran even gen Gu Yue was slightly shocked, not expecting Fang Yuan to be so observant at such a young age, able to sense his evil intents. Immediately, he pushed his will and another group of hundreds of blood bats chased after Fang Yuan.

His distraction caused Tie Xue Leng to discover a weakness that wasn't really a flaw.

Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu!

Howl!The giant puppet opened its mouth, giving off a howl that shook the nine heavens. At once, the overwhelming soundwaves rushed towards all directions like the sound of thunder.

The bladewing blood bat Gu closeby were instantly murdered by this power, falling down one by one.

Blood bat groups further away were in disarray from the attack, flying randomly in the air.

The concentrated bat army earlier had in a split second, gone into chaos and could not have any utility in the next short period.

Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu was as high as Rank five, and it was an area-of-effect type that specialized in dealing with blood bat groups. When Tie Xue Leng first used it, the power was not strong, but that was due to him keeping it down forcefully. Now that he used the body of the giant puppet, he could display the true power of the Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu.

Even numerous Blood Guillotine all over the sky were killed. As the blood mist dispersed, clear vision returned.

The soundwaves bounced off the walls as the entire space within the mountain started trembling.

With the giant puppet as the focal point, the blood lake's water level was forced downwards, forming a bowl shape in the lake, and the blood water oozed out through the cave opening.

But before that, there were sound waves spreading.

Fang Yuan was caught in the crossfire, his white armor shimmering, almost breaking apart. To endure this soundwave attack, his aperture's primeval essence was used up by about 10%.

The soundwaves echoed in the narrow cave, and Fang Yuan's ears could not endure the buzzing and he almost tripped on the ground.

But this soundwave was at least helpful to him.

For the two groups of blood bats chasing him, the second was already decimated, and the first were in chaos from the attack, flying all over the place in the cave and not being able to chase Fang Yuan.

It was a rare chance, so Fang Yuan quickly sprinted, pulling some distance from the blood bats.

This group of bats were the furthest from the soundwaves, thus recovering quickly. They flapped their wings, continuing their assault.

There were about a hundred blood bats, all Rank three. Fang Yuan could not fight against them and could only run away.

Earlier, the cave was dark and he did not know the directions. But now, his eyes had adapted to the dark environment, and he could see a bit of the area.

This was all thanks to the red soil emitting light.

Although his thunderwings were already unreliable, it could at least help a little, thus Fang Yuan activated it with all his strength.

But even so, the two had a great difference in speed, and the distance was slowly shortened.

"The distance is almost there, it's time to use the Spring Autumn Cicada!" Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. As the blood bat group continued to get closer, he could only use this method!

Bladewing blood bat Gu was only Rank three, so the Rank six Gu aura completely dominated them. But Tie Xue Leng and First gen Gu Yue were nearby.

Once the Spring Autumn Cicada appears, it would cause a great mirage and the commotion would attract their attention.

But Fang Yuan had no choice. With the situation before him, he could only hope that they were concentrated in fighting, and could not split their attention towards him.

Screech screech…

The blood bat group continued to get closer, almost less than a hundred steps away.

Fang Yuan breathed out in anticipation, thinking in his heart, "Spring Autumn Cicada, come out!"

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Fang Yuan was stunned, standing on the spot; the Spring Autumn Cicada was in the center of his aperture, unmoving while emitting a brilliant yellow green light.

"How can this be?!" Fang Yuan was shocked.

…

Far away, the sky glowed amidst the mist.

It was dawn.

On the slope, Gu Yue Bo, Bai clan and Xiong clan leader stood side by side.

"Even though the real competition is tomorrow, we have to have a preliminary competition. The time is just right, shall we start?" Xiong clan leader smiled as he said.

Bai clan leader snorted, ignoring him.

"Then let's start." Gu Yue Bo answered while distracted. He moved his gaze to the Gu Masters gathered there, trying to search but could not find Fang Yuan among them.

His worry intensified.

These Gu Masters were all under thirty years old, and while standing together, they distinctly split into three groups.

Taking one glance, the three clan's strength was apparent.

Xiong clan had the most Gu Masters since they retreated at the start, and kept most of their battle strength. Gu Yue clan and Bai clan had less members, but Bai clan had Bai Ning Bing. He alone was enough to promote the Bai clan's overall strength to the top of the three clans.

Xiong clan leader shouted, "This competition will be held around the surrounding hundred li, all the way until night time, ending when the sun sets. Battles will not have life-and-death restrictions, but I hope you can control yourselves. You have a token in your hands, and the ones who collect thirty of them gets the qualification to enter the three-clans competition! Ready, and start!"

Life and death battles, only those who qualify can enter. There is no participation limit, and the surrounding hundred li is the stage. Even entering midway is permitted.

This is not a fair competition. But the three clan leaders did not have any opinions or grudges towards it.

In this world, survival is based on one's own strength, one's fist. The stronger you are, the more rights you have to gain more benefits. If you are weak, then you should begrudge your luck and lay low, accumulating strength and becoming strong.

…

In a few breath's time, Fang Yuan felt like two or three years had passed.

His forehead was full of cold sweat; the Spring Autumn Cicada was unable to come out, how could this happen?

Spring Autumn Cicada is his vital Gu, it was very important to him. A Rank six Gu, his final trump card, to think it could not be controlled! This was too severe, and Fang Yuan had to place all his attention on this problem.

In the dark cave, he squinted.

He only panicked for less than a second, before calming himself down.

His mind moved like lightning, his spirit entering his aperture; there was nothing wrong with the Spring Autumn Cicada, it was still recovering quickly.

But no matter how Fang Yuan willed it, it remained stagnant at the center, not moving even a single step.

"I get it!" Fang Yuan was enlightened, "This Spring Autumn Cicada, once it becomes a vital Gu, it stays in the aperture and can no longer be moved."

Gu was the essence of living beings, it had endless possibilities, and all sorts of forms and abilities.

For Gu worms — nurture, use, and refine, all three were deep and profound and often were there special cases in these aspects.

On 'nurturing', Gu worms only ate specific food. On 'refine', they had all sorts of requirements.

On 'use', the Bamboo Gentleman could only be used by a Gu Master that has never lied. And to use the Righteous Gu, it needed the Gu Master to have a heart of justice.

Or the Photo-audio Gu, dying after one use, while the visuals could stay on the rock walls for a period of time.

Once the Spring Autumn Cicada is refined, it stays in the aperture and can no longer be moved. This specialty, reminded Fang Yuan of another Gu — The Water Curtain Skyflower.

Chapter 187: There exists one river of time, and the Spring Autumn Cicada acts as the crossing boat

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The Water Curtain Skyflower Gu was a Rank four Gu. Once used, it would turn into a giant spherical water shield. The defensive strength of the shield was extremely good and it could even resist attacks from Rank five Gu. However, it had a big weakness; it couldn't be moved and couldn't be stopped. The water shield isolated the inside and outside world, so even the owner couldn't freely enter or exit. Thus, this was used by many forces to protect their territories.

Fang Yuan was not familiar with Spring Autumn Cicada.

In his previous life, he died by the besiegement of the righteous path after just having succeeded in refining the Spring Autumn Cicada; he simply didn't have the time to experiment with it. Also, Spring Autumn Cicada wasn't his vital Gu at the time and this characteristic hadn't revealed itself.

In this life, his cultivation was still low, so he didn't dare to randomly let out the Spring Autumn Cicada.

Spring Autumn Cicada was classified as one of the most unusual Gu and was extremely mysterious. The records of the insights and experiences of its users had never been spread.

Furthermore, once a Gu reaches Rank six and above, they become the only one of their type in the whole world. If someone wanted to refine them, they would only have a probability of success after the previous Gu died, otherwise it was a hundred percent failure.

Thus, this led to Fang Yuan knowing about this characteristic only now.

"Rebirth isn't an easy thing, the Spring and Autumn conceals disaster. Spring Autumn Cicada's recovery speed is increasing more and more, and even the cultivation speed of an A grade aptitude with a sea of resources might not be able to match its speed. Their aperture will sooner or later explode under the pressure of Spring Autumn Cicada!"

Fang Yuan clenched his teeth.

Rebirth was beautiful but possessing Spring Autumn Cicada was equivalent to having half a ten extreme aptitude. It was like being under the execution post where you could be executed at any moment!

"If I can't let Spring Autumn Cicada out, then does that mean I can only use it to rebirth again?" Fang Yuan's frowns deepened.

This appeared to be the only way. A rebirth would mean Spring Autumn Cicada would enter a weak state again, and at the same time, Fang Yuan could escape from this dangerous situation.

This situation seemed to be perfect, but it contained many problems and huge dangers.

First of all, there was no guarantee of the rebirth being successful.

Fang Yuan had gone through rebirth once and he was only able to bring back his valuable experience.

He came to an understanding by integrating the Earth's concept: The world is a three-dimensional space and time is an axis connecting the past and present. Without time, space would be stationary. The movements of every matter was a process, signifying the consumption of time.

There were no parallel dimensions in a world. Using the Spring Autumn Cicada to be reborn was to step across from the latter half of the time axis (future) to some point in the first half (past).

However, Fang Yuan's aged body in the 'future' didn't exist in the 'past'.

Due to the restrictions from the great dao of the world, his body couldn't be brought over to the past, and could only self-detonate. The energy from the self-detonation was a propulsion force and the fragment of the laws of time in Spring Autumn Cicada was like a lone boat which carried Fang Yuan's consciousness from 'future' to be reborn into the 'past'.

Consciousness wasn't a physical matter like a body. Strictly speaking, this 'future' consciousness too, didn't exist in the 'past'.

The ingenuity was contained therein!

'Future' consciousness led to the Gu Master changing himself, and thereby influencing his surroundings. This influence would gradually extend to the whole world; this was the butterfly effect.

When the butterfly effect took place, the world would no longer be the same, causing the existence of the 'future' consciousness to receive the approval of the great dao of the world.

Someone had said that history was like a long river, and a change in an event in the upstream would completely change the downstream.

This mystical world of Gu was like the water in the long river. Almost everyone could only flow along with the stream and go from upstream to downstream. Fang Yuan's consciousness, however, went against the stream, going from downstream to upstream by relying on Spring Autumn Cicada.

When he made changes in the upstream, there would also be changes in the downstream. But the river was still the same river; the world of Gu Masters was still the world of Gu Masters. It was just that history had turned into another corner, bringing another possibility to the equation.

This analogy could be easily understood.

However, Spring Autumn Cicada hadn't recovered completely. It was like a leaky, worn-out boat right now.

Fang Yuan's cultivation was also only Rank three initial stage. There would be an unimaginable difference between the propulsion force of his self-detonation now from the self-detonation of his Rank six cultivation in his previous life. With such a minute force, he simply wouldn't be able to push the Spring Autumn Cicada, let alone flow against the long river of time.

"I probably won't succeed by trying to rebirth through self-detonation. Who is to say that the broken boat won't be stranded in the long river? And if that happens, my consciousness and memories will be ruthlessly washed away by time. To raise the probability of success, it would be best to wait until the aperture is pushed to the limits, stall for time as much as possible and let Spring Autumn Cicada recover more, decreasing the holes in the worn-out boat. At the same time, increasing my cultivation will provide higher propulsive force to go against the stream, after self-detonation." Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh.

This change in the Spring Autumn Cicada was beyond his anticipation. But with his ever cautious nature, he had a plan ready.

The blood bat group was nearing. Fang Yuan, however, had his attention in his aperture.

Yellow-green rays of light flooded his aperture. His white silver primeval sea was as still as a mirror under the majestic aura of Spring Autumn Cicada, but there were dangerous cracks in the light membrane of his aperture.

All the other Gu had been suppressed down to the depths of the sea by Spring Autumn Cicada's aura.

Fang Yuan sent his will and a Gu slowly flew towards the surface of the sea, resisting the pressure.

This Gu appeared like a square dice; it was gray and very firm.

This was one of the Gu that Fang Yuan had plundered from Bai Ning Bing.

It was a one-time use Gu, and would disappear once used. But its effects were extraordinary, and once used it would completely extract all the strength and potential in a Gu Master's aperture and instantly raise a Gu Master's cultivation to the peak stage of the same rank.

"Stone Aperture Gu, explode."

Fang Yuan willed it; the Stone Aperture Gu immediately exploded, changing into grey powders just like the smoke from a cigarette, and pervaded the primeval sea.

The aperture's walls were originally a light membrane, but once this grey powder touched it, the light immediately dimmed down. The powder stuck to the light membrane and the light membrane gradually thickened, experiencing a qualitative change from light to stony.

After several seconds, Fang Yuan's aperture walls had thickened by several times and changed into a heavy, sturdy stone aperture.

The yellow-green radiance of Spring Autumn Cicada still fluctuated continuously, but the aperture could now support its pressure.

Fang Yuan was at Rank three initial stage with light silver primeval essence, and his primeval sea shone with light silver light. But right now, his cultivation experienced a sudden rise, leaping from Rank three initial stage to Rank three peak stage, possessing snow silver primeval essence!

"Using the Stone Aperture Gu means cutting off one's advancement route and using up all the potential within the aperture; it will be very difficult to step to Rank four. But, my cultivation has increased and the aperture has turned into stone walls, which is multiple times thicker and firmer than before, and will be able to support the pressure from Spring Autumn Cicada for the time being! Using the Stone Aperture Gu should have been Bai Ning Bing's response to the limits of Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique. Unfortunately, the Ten Extreme Aptitudes are much more troublesome than the Spring Autumn Cicada. Their potential is endless and even by turning one's aperture into stone, the aperture walls will quickly recover."

At this second, the bladewing blood bat group pounced in for the kill.

Fang Yuan gave a cold snort, then took out his Chainsaw Golden Centipede and killed as he retreated.

Fortunately, this tunnel was narrow, and with the Sky Canopy Gu's defense and the Chainsaw Golden Centipede's wide body, Fang Yuan was able to block the blood bat group and stop them from surrounding him.

This greatly reduced their threat.

For a moment, there were only continuous ringing sounds within the tunnel.

The sounds of Chainsaw Golden Centipede's attacks and the sound of bladewing blood bats smashing into the white armor, quickly echoed through the tunnel walls and formed into a medley.

The primeval essence in Fang Yuan's aperture continued to deplete rapidly.

There were close to a hundred blood bats, but without a Gu Master there to control them, there were a lot of internal frictions between the bats and they couldn't form a tacit cooperation. Thus, in reality, Fang Yuan only needed to deal with 30-40 blood bats at the same time.

But even this number wasn't something he could withstand, and he had to retreat while fighting back.

What was even more awkward was that even though he had leaped to Rank three peak stage, his aperture still contained the initial stage light silver primeval essence. Just by relying on his C grade aptitude, the self-production speed of snow silver primeval essence was way too slow. The current situation also didn't allow Fang Yuan to multitask and take out primeval stones to absorb natural primeval essence.

Consuming primeval stones could quickly recover primeval essence, but this method wasn't suitable in a real battle.

Distracting oneself in a life and death battle was asking for humiliation; it was an extremely stupid move and was akin to courting death. At the same time, the efficiency in absorbing natural primeval essence at such a situation was also very low.

This way could only be used during normal cultivation, or to exploit short gaps in battles to quickly recover primeval essence.

Luckily, Fang Yuan obtained a grass gu not long ago: Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus could produce primeval stones; it was very precious and rare. But in fact, this effect was only an expression of its innate ability.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was also called 'portable spirit spring' and its innate ability was to produce natural primeval essence. The primeval essence would then condense together to form primeval stones.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus that Fang Yuan possessed was lying deep in his primeval sea; it appeared like an extremely small spirit spring.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus's recipe was created by Immortal Venerable Genesis Lotus.

Only the Gu Masters who have reached Rank nine were respected as venerables. For righteous path, they were called Immortal Venerables; and for demonic path, they were called Demonic Venerables.

Immortal Venerable Genesis Lotus was also known as the the person with the fastest primeval essence recovery speed since the ancient times. In this aspect, he was above other immortal venerables and demonic venerables, and it was all because of the Essence Lotus!

Fang Yuan's Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was only a Rank three and he had just refined it, so it was at its poorest level. But it was already providing a continuous supply of natural primeval essence to Fang Yuan.

The moment this natural primeval essence appeared in Fang Yuan's aperture, it would be automatically refined and turned into snow silver primeval essence.

Supposedly if Fang Yuan absorbed primeval essence from primeval stones, he would still have to divide a part of his mind. But this Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was his Gu, so using it was as simple and easy as moving his fingers!

Fang Yuan retreated while fighting, and with the assistance of Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, his primeval essence recovery speed could already be comparable with B grade aptitude Gu Masters.

"Kill!"

He gave a fierce shout before abruptly changing his battle style and charging into the blood bat group.

Chainsaw Golden Centipede exploded forth, and its silver sawtooth crazily rotated around, producing screeching sounds as it cut down on a bladewing blood bat hiding in the rear.

This blood bat appeared rather similar to other blood bats, albeit looking a bit more dominant. This was the sole male bat in this blood bat group, and was refined by the first gen Gu Yue. By controlling it, one could indirectly gain control of the whole blood bat group.

Fang Yuan had been secretly planning this attack after careful observation, and made this attack appear unintentional. With the Gu Yue first head not present on the scene, this attack was very effective.

The male bat died on the spot, twisting into a bloody pulp.

The remaining female bats immediately scattered!

Chapter 188: Senior paves the way for juniors to run smoothly

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In a blood bat group, there was only one male bat, while the rest were all females under the command of the male bat.

Between the male and female bats, they looked the same and did not have difference in appearances. But Fang Yuan was beyond familiar with these bladewing blood bats in his previous life. As long as he had enough time, he could differentiate them.

Without the male bat, the entire group fell into chaos.

Fang Yuan took the chance and waved the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, killing his way through.

A moment later, over twenty bladewing blood bats were decimated, showing Fang Yuan's resolution of battle.

But the intense battle also caused Fang Yuan's primeval essence in his aperture to decrease tremendously.

"Time to go!" Fang Yuan decisively retreated, running away at full force.

When the blood bat group behind him reacted, Fang Yuan was already a hundred steps away. About twenty bladewing blood bats continued to chase after him while the others flew in all directions.

"Gasp gasp…" In the narrow tunnel, Fang Yuan breathed hard while sprinting, activating the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

After an intense battle, the snow silver primeval essence left in his aperture as well as the low primeval sea level gradually rose back up.

The longer time passed, the faster Fang Yuan's battle strength recovered.

Suddenly, Fang Yuan's thunderwings flapped, and the force dragged his entire body forward, almost letting him crash into the cave walls.

The Thunderwings Gu had been polluted by the Blood Frenzy Gu, and it had reached its limits, starting to show signs of being uncontrollable.

"Very soon, the Thunderwings Gu will turn into a pool of blood water and turn into a new pollution source." Thinking so, Fang Yuan stopped hesitating and activated it three times, finally causing the disobeying Thunderwings Gu to detach from his back.

"Go." Fang Yuan resolutely gave up the Thunderwings Gu, throwing it behind him.

The bladewing blood bat group behind him surrounded the Thunderwings Gu completely. They rushed up, tearing the Thunderwings Gu into bits.

This obstruction gave Fang Yuan a little bit of time to recover.

Until the bladewing blood bats caught up to Fang Yuan, the primeval essence in his aperture had already recovered over half of the total.

The snow silver primeval essence compared to the light silver primeval essence, had several times more sustainability, and Fang Yuan's current battle strength had greatly exceeded an initial stage.

He laughed heartily, waving the Chainsaw Golden Centipede to fight once again.

After killing around 8-9 of them, the rest all flew and escaped.

"Unfortunately I do not have a Gu like the iron hand grappling Gu. The bladewing blood bat Gu flies too fast, and its wings are sharp like blades, it is really hard to capture. If I can capture two or three, that would be nice."

Fang Yuan kept the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, and turned around towards the deeper part of the he snatched the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, he was engulfed by the blood water. That was definitely caused by the first gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue used the Blood Wight Gu, turning into a flying zombie. His aperture was long dead and could no longer recover primeval essence. Unless he used primeval stones, his primeval essence in the aperture would be limited by the amount left inside.

But if he had a Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, to a large extent, he could negate this weakness.

Thus, not long ago, he sent two groups of bladewing blood bats towards Fang Yuan, attempting to capture him. Thankfully, Fang Yuan saw something amiss and turned around in time. At the same time, Tie Xue Leng indirectly helped him with the soundwave.

"I wonder how's the battle between Tie Xue Leng and First gen Gu Yue." Fang Yuan gaze was concentrated.

No matter which side won, they would still target him.

Tie Xue Leng wants to bring him to justice, while First gen Gu Yue wants the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

Although the bladewing blood bats had dispersed, Fang Yuan's danger was still unresolved.

"I have to leave Qing Mao mountain immediately, as soon as possible!" Fang Yun gritted his teeth. He could no longer return, only able to walk along this mountain cave, trying to find a way out.

This cave was obviously man-made, but after a long time, many areas had collapsed.

Fang Yuan continued to advance, and when he met these dead ends he could only use the Chainsaw Golden Centipede.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede was originally an underground creature, adept at digging holes, so at this time it had a great use.

Fang Yuan also had the strength of two boars, and he dug through the soil and continued forward.

This greatly reduced his speed, and after three to four hours, he finally got to the end of the cave.

A large sturdy rock wall blocked his path completely.

Even the Chainsaw Golden Centipede couldn't drill its way through.

"Did the First gen Gu Yue seal this cave completely already?" Fang Yuan's heart sank.

Bam!

The two sides' palms met, and the Xiong clan Gu Master flew into the air like a rag, landing heavily on the ground.

Cough

The Xiong clan Gu Master coughed out a mouthful of blood, falling unconscious.

In the sky, the sun was shining brightly, sending down scorching rays of light. The sunlight shone over the wilderness, and the light reflected on Bai Zhong Shui's fat face.

This young Bai clan Gu Master laughed smugly, "Hmph, so what if you're the Xiong clan Gu Master? Daring to compete strength with me!"

She moved her fat 'slim body', trying to finish off her opponent and take the token, but suddenly a moonblade came attacking.

Bam!

Bai Zhong Shui's body turned, shooting a water ball from her mouth.

The water ball and moonblade collided, exploding together.

Three Gu Masters with Fang Zheng as the lead, jumped down from the branches.

"Gu Yue clan's people, this is my battle reward." Bai Zhong Shui squinted, her eyes showing a dangerous light.

Fang Zheng's strangely bloodshot eyes stared at Bai Zhong Shui intently as he said, "So what? Now YOU are our prey!"

At another side of the forest, more footsteps were heard.

A few people walked out from the shadows; it was Xiong clan's genius youngster Xiong Lin. his bald head reflected the sunlight, causing him to shine like a diamond.

"Hehehe, this has gotten interesting!" Bai Zhong Shui laughed loudly, but the next moment her laughter stopped.

The two sides attacked together, causing Bai Zhong Shui to be caught off guard, getting surrounded.

Bai Zhong Shui coughed out some blood, her expression turning ugly, "What? Gu Yue clan, you are cooperating with these despicable Xiong clan people?"

Fang Zheng was expressionless, his killing intent raging, not saying a word and getting closer to Bai Zhong Shui.

Xiong Lin laughed, "This battle concerns the three clans' demographics for the next hundred years, so let me tell you. Gu Yue clan has already established an alliance with our Xiong clan. Bai Zhong Shui, today is your death date."

"Spit!" Bai Zhong Shui coughed out a mouth of blood water as she stared at her surroundings in disdain, "So what if I die? Heh, ganging up… you are just afraid of our Bai Ning Bing. It's useless, this is only the initial battle, there will still be 1 versus 1 later. Is there anyone in your clans that can fight against Bai Ning Bing? We are destined to be number one!"

"Hehehe, thus we decided that in this first battle, we shall cooperate and finish off Bai Ning Bing!" Xiong Lin laughed loudhly.

buzzbuzzbuzz

Chainsaw Golden Centipede's razors grinded against the rock wall, causing a loud noise to echo in the cave.

This rock wall was sturdy and thick, being very weird. Fang Yuan's forehead was full of sweat, as he used the Chainsaw Golden Centipede and Blood Moon Gu to attack in turns, but even after many hours, he only progressed about 50cm.

"Is it really the end for me… eh?" Fang Yuan's heart moved, suddenly feeling that there was a lifeform in the rock wall.

He quickly used the Earth Communication Ear Grass Gu, listening to the rock wall. There was a mysterious lifeform on the other side of the rock wall, but its aura was very weak.

Half an hour later, Fang Yuan dug a hole, ad the mysterious life form showed itself.

Its entire body was pitch black, emitting a metallic glow like iron and steel. Both its chest and back armor were thick lines that showed a dominating aura. It had three pairs of legs, each having spiral shaped feelers at the tip. It caused Fang Yuan to think of the spiral tip of an electric drill.

"It's the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider!" Fang Yuan was enlightened, immediately thinking of the Flower Wine Monk.

The questions in Fang Yuan's heart were mostly answered at this point.

Back then the Flower Wine Monk, in order to nurture the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, came to the Gu Yue village. But at the last moment, he was stopped by First gen Gu Yue, thus he used his methods to throw it into the blood river graveyard.

The Flower Wine Monk was also a Rank five Gu Master, he had to have an intense battle with First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue had operated for hundreds of years, having terrain advantage, so the Flower Wine Monk could not compete against him, thus he could only escape.

He used the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider to dig out this path, and after leaving the battlefield he had already suffered an incurable injury. At the end of his life, he hurriedly left behind his inheritance as a last act of revenge. He attempted to let his descendants take the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and ruin the Gu Yue clan's foundation.

This explains why the Flower Wine Monk was bathed in blood, his body full of injuries.

But the reason for why the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider fall into slumber and seal itself here, that was still a mystery. Also the First gen Gu Yue, what in the world was he after?

"These suspicions are all minute details. What's important is leaving this place!" Fang Yuan stretched out his hand, sending out some primeval essence and refining the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider.

This sturdy rock wall was the cocoon created by the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider when it fell into hibernation. It was extremely weak, like the White Boar Gu that Fang Yuan took out from the Earth Treasury Flower Gu.

Thus, even though it was Rank five, Fang Yuan easily refined it.

Fang Yuan threw the Thunderwings Gu away earlier and was lacking a movement-type Gu, this being his weakness once again. But now he obtained the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider, so it was like a glimmer of hope in the darkest hour.

This Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was a large steed-type Gu. It ate soil as food, and was easy to raise.

Fang Yuan injected his snow silver primeval essence into it, and the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider gradually awakened, its aura becoming stronger.

It started to consume, eating large amounts of soil.

When it recovered to an extent, Fang Yuan who couldn't wait to leave quickly got onto its back, ordering it to move forward.

Although it had only recovered a little, the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was still a Rank five Gu. Its three pairs of legs moved quickly, dashing through.

After the cocoon broke, the cave behind was exposed too.

This path was the one the Flower Wine Monk created when he escaped. Seniors pave the way for juniors to run along, so this greatly helped Fang Yuan.

The only worry was, steed-type Gu worms took a lot of primeval essence to use.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was Rank five. Rank three primeval essence could not sustain its expenditure, so every now and then, Fang Yuan had to stop and sit on the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider's back, activating the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus while extracting natural essence from his primeval stones.

With two sources, as well as his C grade natural recovery, Fang Yuan's primeval essence recovery rate was fast, incomparable to before.

As he instructed the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider to move forward, he would also stop to recover his primeval essence. When they encountered a cave-in, they would drill their way through, and with such a repeated process, Fang Yuan gradually moved away from the blood lake graveyard, going towards the surface.

Chapter 189: Shocking change

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The sun lowers as night descends, and the setting sun was like a burning fire on the horizon.

Standing on a slope was Bai Ning Bing, clothed in white, his hair snowy white. The setting sun's last rays reflected in his eyes, hinting that his life was ending.

"Such a beautiful sunset, how many more times can I see it… this brilliance of nature, I have only seen a little of them all, what a waste. Especially when around me, these annoying fellows are still arguing."

Bai Ning Bing snorted in his heart, retracting his gaze and sweeping the environment.

Gu Yue and Xiong clan's alliance, the remaining hundred Gu Masters gathered together and surrounded Bai Ning Bing.

"Bai Ning Bing, if you back out of this competition now, we can spare your life!"

"Indeed, if you know your place, we might as well be kind and let you off."

"Your Bai clan Gu Masters are mostly finished. The remaining ones have all been stopped by us. Don't rest your hopes on reinforcements, they will not come!"

With Fang Zheng, Xiong Jiao Man, Xiong Lin and Chi Cheng as leaders, the young Gu Masters spoke in turns, trying to break Bai Ning Bing's spirits.

But these words, Bai Ning Bing did not put to heart.

"A bunch of rats coming to the elephant and screaming, how pathetically laughable," Bai Ning Bing laughed coldly, his gaze sweeping across the crowd, showing disdain. "Among you people, only Gu Yue Fang Yuan is slightly interesting. Too bad he isn't here. Hehe, come at me together."

Saying so, Bai Ning Bing created an iceblade, using his hand to wipe the sharp blade that emitted cold energy; he did not even look at the people around him.

"This person is too arrogant!"

"Hmph, not taking us seriously!"

"Brothers, let's attack together. Everyone send out one attack, even ten Bai Ning Bings will be turned into meat paste!"

The Gu Masters jeered, but no one dared to attack rashly.

Although Bai Ning Bing was alone, his aura was overwhelming, causing everyone to feel threatened.

"Everyone calm down, don't listen to Bai Ning Bing's taunts. We did not practice together before and do not have good cooperation. If we attack together, we will waste much of our efforts and he will take advantage of it." Xiong Lin shouted.

"Then who attacks first?" Chi Cheng asked.

Although they cooperated with Xiong clan and attacked the Bai clan, this alliance was not a close one. Whoever attacks first bears higher risks, and also risks the other party taking advantage of their combat.

"Nevermind, I'll engage Bai Ning Bing first. To be honest, I've wanted to fight you some long ago." Xiong Jian Man took a step forward.

She blew a whistle, and once she did, sounds of beasts stampeding could be heard from afar. Many blacks shadows overlapped in the forest, and what showed up was over two hundred black bears!

The black bear at the front of the horde was larger than the rest; it was a hundred beast king level black bear.

The wolf tide was dangerous, but it was also an opportunity. Xiong Jiao Man rose to Rank three because of it, and the Bear Enslavement Gu also rose to Rank three, finally being able to enslave bear-type hundred beast kings!

This was Xiong Jiao Man's trump card.

"Way to go, lady boss!"

"Oh my god~, so many bears."

"With all these bears and us being around a hundred people, Bai Ning Bing is dead meat!"

Xiong clan Gu Masters were stirred, getting excited. Gu Yue clan looked complicated; after Xiong Li died, this Xiong Jiao Man became the number one contender in the Xiong clan. Looking at Gu Yue clan, after Qing Shu died, Mo Bei followed as well. Although Fang Yuan rose to Rank three, his aptitude is only C grade, it was hard to count on him.

"Thankfully, we still have the A grade Gu Yue Fang Zheng!" Many Gu Masters looked at Fang Zheng, thinking so and feeling assured.

Especially during this three-clan competition, Fang Zheng seemed to have gotten more mature, attacking more ferociously, and many Bai clan Gu Masters were killed by him. Such a performance caused many clansmen to feel comforted.

This was the true disposition of a A grade genius!

"The results are pretty much assured. Even a Rank three peak stage with much talent cannot be the match for a hundred people. Lord Qing Shu, I will take revenge for you personally! After that, if big brother appears…" Fang Zheng stared intently at Bai Ning Bing, thinking rapidly in his mind.

"Merely a hundred beast king, what a boring trick."

His entire body was emitting cold air.

"Northern Dark Ice Soul physique… I'm at my limit already huh." Bai Ning Bing felt his life ending; his body had reached some sort of limit. Not soon after, he would die. Even now, he could feel his body starting to collapse, and much of his flesh and blood was turning into ice and snow.

But even so, Bai Ning Bing remained calm, his gaze concentrated. He took a final look at the sun's rays, before turning around and looking at the charging bear group.

"Since you are all looking for death, I shall act mercifully and grant you all your wishes. Maybe this way, it can bring some excitement to my life," he sighed softly.

Not far away, the three clan leaders and Gu Masters stood still, completely silent.

"The battle is finally starting! Killing Bai Ning Bing is the greatest victory!" Xiong clan leader was secretly excited.

"Hmph, we were tricked. They actually ganged up to deal with us. Hehehe, you have all underestimated Bai Ning Bing, get ready for a shock." Bai clan leader was calm as water, plotting in his mind.

Gu Yue Bo showed a worried expression.

Up until now, Fang Yuan and Tie Xue Leng did not show up at all.

Although the three-clan competition was important, his mind was elsewhere.

"Desolate Yin Ancient Moon physique… If Fang Yuan really has such an aptitude, we have to protect him at all costs and bring him into the blood lake graveyard!" Thinking so, Gu Yue Bo looked at Tie Ruo Nan without turning his body.

This Tie family young lady had a strong background, but she was already brought around by Gu Yue Bo, secretly a captive.

Tie Ruo Nan was not worried about her situation. She believed her father, and was also thinking about how to capture Fang Yuan.

Whatever aptitude Fang Yuan had, as long as one bothered to, they could assess it. If he really was a ten extreme talent, then his suspicion would be the greatest!

"Fuck!" Fang Yuan cursed, lying on the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider's back, sticking closely and preventing himself from falling off.

He wanted to use the Flower Wine Monk's opened path to advance easily.

But good times do not last, for not long after, the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider started to go crazy.

It started to absorb the natural essence in the air, using it. At the same time, its three pairs of legs started to dig out new paths, moving around randomly in the underground cave.

Fang Yuan understood finally.

This Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider, under the Flower Wine Monk's command, had engaged in battle with First gen Gu Yue previously.

In the battle, it was corrupted by the Blood Frenzy Gu.

The Flower Wine Monk relied on it to escape, then hurriedly created the secret cave, leaving behind his inheritance before dying.

Upon losing its master, the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider lost control and frantically went back to that path that it had dug when escaping.

Right before death, what was fortunate was that the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider sealed itself and fell into hibernation, preserving its last life force before dying.

Hundreds of years later, Fang Yuan returned to the place and dug out the cocoon, causing it to awaken again. But the Blood Frenzy Gu's problem was not solved, and thus after a while, it started to act up again.

Fang Yuan was deep in the cave, and just by relying on his own strength he could not escape to the surface. He needed the ability of the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider started to go crazy, getting more uncontrollable; Fang Yuan could only ride on its back, betting on his luck.

But at this point, the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider's frequency of going crazy was not so high, so Fang Yuan still had some control of it.

Although his control was slipping, overall, he still controlled the general direction. He let the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider dig its way to the surface, but where it would end up, Fang Yuan had no idea.

The last of the sun's rays were like blood, reflecting on the minced corpses and broken limbs everywhere on the battlefield.

Bai Ning Bing stood arrogantly on the battlefield, a thick layer of ice beneath his feet as the icy domain continued to spread outwards.

The remaining Gu Masters amounted to less than thirty, staying closely together trying to find a bit of assurance from each other's body warmth.

The bear group had long been exterminated. Even Xiong Jian Man had been beheaded by Bai Ning Bing's iceblade, and her head flew far away as blood poured like a fountain out of her neck.

Xiong Lin was penetrated by the icicles from Bai Ning Bing, and Gu Yue Chi Cheng was turned into a ice sculpture. In the ice coffin, he still retained the dodging action right before death, his face showing shock, fear, and utter shock, vivid and lifelike.

Fang Zheng's body was full of injuries, but there was no blood; his injuries were all frozen by the ice and snow.

He breathed roughly, looking at Bai Ning Bing in disbelief. What happened earlier was like a nightmare!

Bai Ning Bing was definitely a Rank three, but his battle strength was almost Rank four!

"Hmph, although lookalikes, but you are not him, how boring…." Bai Ning Bing looked at Fang Zheng, walking closer. Fang Zheng still being alive, was also intentional by Bai Ning Bing.

The Gu Masters all got into a commotion, their morale at its lowest. If not for the fact that their clan leaders were watching from afar, they would've broken down and escaped for their lives already.

"Damn it, damn it! Why is our battle strength so different, I am an A grade talent, am I going to die here?" Fang Zheng gritted his teeth, screaming in his heart.

"Die." Bai Ning Bing jumped, raising his iceblade high while in mid-air.

SLASH!

The iceblade expanded, almost five to six times of the original, sending an unblockable aura as it slashed towards everyone.

"I am going to die!"

"Ahhhhh…"

Facing this attack, many Gu Masters broke down and cried in despair.

"Fuck, why did it come to this!" Xiong clan leader's face was full of despair.

Gu Yue Bo was urging to move, but Bai clan leader snickered, stopping him, "Gu Yue clan leader, no one is to interfere, are you going to turn on your word and break the agreement?"

Gu Yue Bo squinted his eyes, "Bai Ning Bing is only Rank three, he cannot have such strength, you are cheating blatantly!"

"Cheating? Hehe, let me tell you the truth, our clan's Bai Ning Bing is the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique!" Bai clan leader shouted loudly.

"What? Ten extreme aptitude!" At once, Gu Yue Bo and Xiong clan leader were shocked.

"Reporting! Clan leader, there has been a strange earthquake, many of the clan's bamboo buildings have collapsed, and the ground is seeping with blood water. Not many people are injured but they are flustered," A Gu Yue clan Gu Master came running.

"To think that there is a thing!" Gu Yue Bo's expression changed.

Chapter 190: Third battle against Bai Ning Bing

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"Moon Raiment!" With the blade impending, Fang Zheng shouted, activating his Gu worm. A misty light that was blue like the moon gushed out from his body, extending and surrounding all the Gu Masters around him.

But even so, everyone was still in despair.

"Struggling is useless." Bai Ning Bing's blue eyes shone with cruelty and indifference.

But at this time!

Bam!

The ground under everyone's feet suddenly grew and turned into a lump before exploding, sending soil flying.

Gu Masters cried painfully as they rolled away from the impact.

In a cloud of smoke, a giant spider emerged from everyone's sights.

The aura of a Rank five Gu made everyone wary.

On the spider that looked like it was made of steel, a black clothed, black haired young man was standing upright.

"I finally reached the surface!" Fang Yuan clenched his fist, his eyes emitting a brilliant glow!

"Eh?" Soon after, he saw Bai Ning Bing who was hacking towards him in mid-air.

The giant iceblade cut through the winds as it slashed towards him.

"Fang Yuan, you are finally here!" Bai Ning Bing's calm face, after a slight stun, completely transformed into one of excitement and battle intent.

Fang Yuan snorted before the iceblade touched him. The icy winds caused him to feel a slight chill as his black hair flew behind him.

He raised his hand, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede!

Bam!

Iceblade collided with the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, and after a stalemate, the golden centipede's razors rotated furiously, large amounts of ice shards flying out.

[Friction noises]

Cracks quickly emerged from the surface of the iceblade, quickly covering its entire body.

"Break!" Fang Yuan shouted; he had the strength of two boars, his strength completely overwhelmed Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing could only let go as the iceblade broke into pieces, and ice shards fell.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider began to go berserk again, spreading its six legs and attacking towards Bai Ning Bing.

Gu worms had low intellect, but they were born sensitive, able to sense which target was more of a threat to them. Bai Ning Bing's aura caused the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider to treat him as an enemy, locking onto him.

Bai Ning Bing's arms waved, and icicles flew out in a row. The icicles hit the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider's body and shattered, while the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider went berserk and growled, pouncing while Fang Yuan was on it.

Swish swish swish!

Three black spiral legs shot out like an arrow towards Bai Ning Bing's fragile body.

Sensing danger, a snowy light shot out from Bai Ning Bing's aperture.

The light expanded, revealing the white form immortal snake Gu, floating in mid-air.

Bai Ning Bing laughed heartily, leaping and landing on the white form immortal snake's back, staring at Fang Yuan, "Interesting! Very interesting! Fang Yuan, you didn't let me down after all!"

"B-Big…brother…" Fang Zheng climbed up from the floor. His face had been cut by the iceblade, his face full of blood as he stared at Fang Yuan with a complex expression.

"The opponent has a Rank five Gu as well?" Bai clan leader's gaze tightened, becoming nervous.

"Fang Yuan, you finally appeared! Rank five Gu… isn't that the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider?" Gu Yue Bo's attention was attracted.

On the battlefield, two youngsters of different ages stood on opposing sides.

One wore white robes, had silver hair and blue eyes, riding on the white form immortal snake holding an iceblade in his hand, like a ice immortal descending to the mortal realm.

The other had black robes, black hair and black eyes, standing on the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider's back, having the Chainsaw Golden Centipede in his hand, buzzing as it rotated, like a demon god summoned into the world.

The two's opposing stances attracted many gazes.

Bai Ning Bing had an excited expression, raising the iceblade, shouting loudly, "This will be the most exciting battle in my life. Come, Fang Yuan, let us battle to the death!"

"Hmph." Fang Yuan stared at Bai Ning Bing, using his peripheral vision to observe the surroundings.

This was the three clans' competition.

To think that the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider brought him here…

He did not want to engage with Bai Ning Bing and waste his time here. Whether Tie Xue Leng or the First gen Gu Yue wins, they would definitely hunt him down. But if he does not defeat this Bai Ning Bing, how could he escape?

Thus battle it is!

BAM!

White form immortal snake and Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider collided. The white snake coiled as the black spider stabbed, fighting at close range.

On the two Gu's backs, two bodies moved about, the iceblade drawing different sparks in the sky while the Chainsaw Golden Centipede buzzed as it extended and contracted at will.

The mountain rocks broke, and thunderous explosions happened continuously.

Icicles hit Fang Yuan directly, but were blocked by the white armor of the Sky Canopy Gu. Blood moonblade hit Bai Ning Bing, causing a large injury that was instantly covered by a layer of frost, sealing the wound. The frost turned into blood and flesh, causing Bai Ning Bing to recover completely.

"It really is the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique!" Xiong clan leader saw this and stared with his eyes wide open.

Ten extreme physiques were legendary aptitudes, he did not think he would see one with his own eyes.

"Hehehe, Fang Yuan dares to attempt to fight Bai Ning Bing, he is assured to lose!" Bai clan leader laughed sinisterly.

"That might not be…" Tie Ruo Nan beside him pouted.

"Ten extreme physique, it has to be it. In such a battle, if he was a C grade, his primeval essence would've been long gone! Fang Yuan, you are indeed the Desolate Yin Ancient Moon physique!" Gu Yue Bo clenched his fist, his expression extremely agitated.

"This is big brother's true power? So big brother really is a ten extreme physique, he's been concealing himself this entire time!" Fang Zheng's mouth was slightly open, his face full of dejection.

The truth was in front of him, so what does his previous pride amount to now?

Everytime, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing's intense clashes would cause his heart to tremble once.

He felt himself getting smaller, and his older brother Fang Yuan's shadow started to enshroud him once again.

"What sort of battle is this! I cannot believe that this is two Rank three Gu Masters fighting!"

"Did I see wrongly? Fang Yuan is so ferocious? Fighting one on one against Bai Ning Bing and being equally matched!"

Some surviving young Gu Masters stared in disbelief.

The battle suddenly shifted once again.

White form immortal snake and the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider both took great damage, but it was not refined by Bai Ning Bing, merely attracted by the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique.

White form immortal snake spit out a lump of white fog, covering the entire battlefield. Then, its body trembled and it threw Bai Ning Bing off its body before leaving.

"This, immortal…" Seeing this, Bai clan leader was shocked. As he watched the escaping white snake, he did not know what to say.

This fog was like a maze, able to obscure vision and follow one like a shadow. Fang Yuan was covered by the white fog, and his eyes saw nothing but whiteness.

But he did not panic, as although his vision was affected, he still had his other four senses — taste, hearing, smell and touch.

Earth Communication Ear grass.

Roots grew out of Fang Yuan's ears, and very soon he heard a sound analyzing the situation within three hundred steps of his radius.

Lightning Eye Gu!

Bai Ning Bing's eyes shone with lightning. Although Lightning Eye Gu was Rank three and could break through illusions, this fog made by a Rank five immortal snake completely suppressed it.

"Fuck!" He cursed loudly.

Icicle Gu!

Dozens of icicles flew out in all directions.

Fang Yuan's ears twitched, hearing the sound of the icicles moving against the wind. Thus, he hurriedly flipped his body to the other side of the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider.

Bam bam bam.

The icicles struck the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider's body, causing it to go into a rage and rush towards the direction of the icicles.

"I'm not going to play with you." Fang Yuan got off the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider, abandoning it and relying on the Earth Communication Ear grass and attempting to leave the battlefield.

This Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider had already been corrupted by the Blood Frenzy Gu, about to turn into a pool of blood water soon, so he should abandon it as soon as possible.

That Bai Ning Bing was now a ticking time bomb, and killing him is akin to setting off a bomb, he cannot be touched.

The Gu Masters observing the battle only saw a lump of mist, before a small piece was divided out and floated towards the southeast direction of the battlefield.

Within this mist, it was naturally Fang Yuan.

The maze fog followed like a shadow, and unless dispelled, it would continue to obscure Fang Yuan's vision until the maze fog fades on its own.

Fang Yuan's eyes continued to see nothing but fog, but he had the Earth Communication Ear grass, thus he could determine his location through sound.

The moving wind and tree leaves, the mountain springs and its flowing water, the chirping of the birds, the breathing of the wild beasts, these were all sounds. Only the mountain rocks had no sound, thus, he sometimes knocked into them.

"Iceblade storm!" Behind him, Bai Ning Bing's voice came.

Huff huff huff…

The winds blew as cold air spread, the temperature in the air started to decrease, and the white colored iceblade storm was formed, even bigger than before.

Even the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was repelled by it.

"That lump of mist, it should be Fang Yuan! Quickly stop him!" Beside, Tie Ruo Nan shouted loudly.

"Fang Yuan, don't go, Gu Yue village is your home!" Gu Yue Bo was anxious, trying to chase after him but was stopped by the other two clan leaders.

"Why? Gu Yue clan leader, are you going to break the agreement and enter the battlefield?" Xiong clan leader crossed his arms and snickered.

"Hmph, our Gu Yue clan admits our loss for this battle. Now, whoever stops me, I will murder without hesitation!" Gu Yue Bo watched as Fang Yuan got even further, as his anxiety rose.

"Are you threatening me? I am not scared of you, Gu Yue Bo." Bai clan leader's expression was grim, at the same time signalling to his Gu Masters.

The Gu Master understood, and immediately dispatched his men to chase after Fang Yuan.

"We cannot let him escape, I'm going ahead." Tie Ruo Nan seeing this chance, immediately moved, a pair of black steel wings emerging from her back as she flew into mid-air, chasing after Fang Yuan.

But at this time, a green shadow shot over.

Rank five — Giant mountain puppet Gu!

This Gu looked like a bronze mask. Its appearance was simple, only showing both eyes and mouth. The bronze mask was covered in blood, flying towards the young girl's face disregarding her shock.

"Father!" Seeing the blood traces, Tie Ruo Nan screamed subconsciously.

At this time, a large steel hand flew over as well, grabbing Tie Ruo Nan and flying far away without a moment of pause.

This sudden change caused everyone to be taken aback.

"It seems Tie Xue Leng is most likely going to lose. Hehe, it has been almost a thousand years, senior brother. You have really brought me, your junior brother, some surprise." Over 300 metres above the ground, an elderly Gu Master stared at the scene, his expression calm and indifferent.

His hair was white, and so were his eyebrows. As he sat on a giant crane, his right palm opened with a Kinship Blood worm Gu.

This Gu was crystal clear, like a red agate. Its shape was like a cicada, emitting a glow at times, pointing towards the Gu Yue village.

"Senior brother, even if you hide here, I can still find you. You stole my opportunity back then, so I will return the favor to you a thousand fold this time!"

The white brow elderly gritted his teeth as he said so, and he showed an expression of utter hatred.

Chapter 191: Crane disaster

Translator:Skyfarrow

Editor:Skyfarrow

In the azure blue sky, numerous clouds were floating aimlessly.

The elderly Gu Master rode on top of the white crane. Under his white eyebrows that were sharp like daggers, his eyes revealed a deep killing intent.

"Hehehe, with this grudge of mine, I shall start taking revenge on your descendants," he laughed, staring down at the battlefield, stretching his thin and dry finger and pointing downwards.

The white crane below him raised its long and elegant neck, crying out in a bright and loud voice.

The voice spread through the skies, and from far away, there were many return calls.

"What sound is this?" Fang Yuan was activating the Earth Communication Ear grass at the time, thus he heard it first and was shocked in his heart.

The crane cries went on endlessly, all at different pitches, giving off an impressive magnitude. This was not over a hundred canes, nor a few thousand crying at once; it was the collective cries of over ten thousand flying cranes that could cause such an effect.

"Is there a migrating flock of cranes nearby?" Out of nowhere, Fang Yuan felt a strong sense of danger.

The crane cries attracted the attention of the Gu Masters in the arena, turning their heads to look at them.

"What's that in the sky?"

"From the sound, I'd say its a large herd of migrating birds. Tell all the Gu Masters not to attack recklessly and bring trouble upon themselves!" Bai clan leader was just saying, but suddenly he came to a halt.

His eyes dilated, seeing one, two, three... almost ten thousand cranes in the sky, clumped together and attacking towards the arena.

"How can this be?"

"Get your guard on, defend!"

"Let's escape, there are ten thousand cranes here, there has to be a myriad beast king."

"The wolf tide is just over, now we have a crane disaster? Oh Heavens, Qing Mao Mountain is truly a place of disasters."

Gu Masters started commenting, expressing the shock in their hearts as their spirits wavered.

After finally resisting the wolf tide, a crane disaster appears. The three clans on Qing Mao mountain have suffered great losses already, how could they have the excess energy to deal with such a large flock of cranes?

The flying cranes folded back their wings, shooting down like a rain of arrows.

Under the thunderous cries, screams of fear, pain and horror erupted at once, as all sorts of lights burst forth — moonblades, water balls and steel spikes were sent into the skies.

After a momentary resistance, more than half of the Gu Masters were killed.

These flying cranes were like pile drivers; each time their wings flapped, it had the strength of a boar, and their claws were sharp and could break rocks. Ordinary cranes were hard enough to deal with, not to mention the large amounts of hundred and thousand beast kings among them.

The clans had centuries of experience in dealing with the wolf tide, and also the sturdy villages that can defend against them. But here, it was the wilderness with no buildings in sight. Where could they find anything resembling a fort?

Thus, during the first attack, half the Gu Masters passed away.

The cranes' long beaks penetrated hearts, their claws grabbing onto skulls. With a flap of their wings, people would vomit blood and be sent flying, all their bones broken.

Fang Yuan was also attacked. his eyes could only see white fog as he relied on the Earth Communication Ear grass to avoid their attacks.

"Fang Yuan, hang in there!" This time, he heard Gu Yue Bo shouting behind him.

Fang Yuan felt puzzled.

What's up with this Gu Yue Bo, when he shouted Fang Yuan's name earlier, the tone was weird, like he had intentions to protect him. Now he even ran over to help.

Fang Yuan was a scheming old fox, but even he could not predict everything. In this short period, how could he conjecture that Tie Ruo Nan assumed he was a ten extreme physique?

Gu Yue Bo was a Rank four expert, thus since the cranes attacking Fang Yuan were ordinary beasts, they were easily killed or repelled by him.

"Fang Yuan, is that you?" Gu Yue Bo came to the maze fog.

Fang Yuan's thoughts whirled in his mind: Right now, his predicament was extremely dangerous, and being near Gu Yue Bo would greatly increase his chances of survival. Thus he answered: "It's me."

Gu Yue Bo hearing Fang Yuan's voice, finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Very good! Fang Yuan, let's not mention what happened in the past. No matter what, the clan will protect your safety. Let's return to the village, I'll protect you while retreating!"

What he did not know was that the village was the most dangerous location for Fang Yuan right now.

But the crane disaster was a much greater threat compared to the village. At least if he went back to the village, he would not die immediately compared to staying under the cranes' attacks.

Fang Yuan sighed without hesitating, "Please lead the way clan leader, I will try to keep up!"

But at this time, a giant crane descended from the sky. The white-brow old Gu Master sat on top of the crane, his tone cold, "No one can escape, all of you shall die here."

Fang Yuan could not see, but heard Gu Yue Bo beside him shout, "Rank five Gu Master!"

Evidently, the Gu Yue clan leader had investigative methods that was able to deduce the stranger's cultivation level.

Fang Yuan was stunned in his heart: Where is there another Rank five Gu Master here? This tiny Qing Mao mountain, it was neither a famous location nor full of resources, why are all the Rank five experts gathering here?

"Don't tell me, this has to do with First gen Gu Yue?" Fang Yuan hit an inspiration.

His heart jumped!

If it was an ordinary crane disaster, he would have no chances left. Wild flying beasts were hard to make use of, and although he was at Rank three peak stage, compared to a Rank five he was still weak and could not get out of the danger.

But now another Rank five Gu Master showed up. Not only is he another source of extreme danger, but also a chance to break out of his predicament.

This current Qing Mao mountain, the three Rank five experts were the crucial players, the rest were insignificant.

Only a Rank five can deal with Rank five.

Immediately, Fang Yuan decided in his heart.

It is time, he has to bet on this!

"Clan leader, the First gen ancestor has fully awakened, we will be safe if we return to the village!" Fang Yuan said.

"What?" Gu Yue Bo shouted in shock.

His shock gave Fang Yuan reassurance.

"I won't lie about such things. As long as we get back to the village, we can save our lives," Fang Yuan continued.

Gu Yue Bo was a resolute man, thus he brought Fang Yuan and sped towards the village.

But the flying cranes continued to approach, blocking the path. Hundred beast kings and thousand beast kings appeared non-stop.

Gu Yue Bo fought with his life, protecting Fang Yuan. Eventually he could no longer proceed, falling into the encirclement of the flying cranes. Fang Yuan was protected by Gu Yue Bo, thus he was safe for the time being.

Once time was up, the maze fog vanished.

Fang Yuan observed the battlefield, only to see corpses lying everywhere, showing that a terrifying battle had happened. The Gu Masters' sacrifice was huge, but the flock of cranes were also greatly damaged. Other than broken limbs of humans, there were also crane corpses everywhere.

"Isn't this the Iron Beak Flying Crane?" Fang Yuan felt puzzled.

Others might not recognise it, for after all, this flying beast was not from the Southern Border. But he knew that this Iron Beak Flying Crane originated from the Middle Kingdom.

"Eh? Myriad beast king, Rank five expert!" Next, Fang Yuan saw in mid-air, a giant crane was flapping its wings, floating. On its back, a white-brow white haired old man was sitting with a cold expression.

Fang Yuan looked away, back at Gu Yue Bo.

This Gu Yue clan leader was already full of injuries, his body full of blood, fighting with his life. Many times he could clearly have avoided, but to protect Fang Yuan, he would rather suffer the injury himself.

"Clan leader! The current situation is not looking good. Gu Masters are fighting bravely, but are all divided into different areas by the flying cranes, they will eventually get overwhelmed. We must gather their strength into one. Only then can we have a chance to break out of this and return to the village!" Fang Yuan said to Gu Yue Bo.

"You are right." Gu Yue Bo looked across the battlefield, shouting loudly, "Everyone, the enemy is before us, our Gu Yue village has a method to deal with the enemy, quickly assemble with me and kill our way out!"

The voice echoed in the battlefield, attracting numerous gazes.

"What? Gu Yue clan still has a trump card to deal with a Rank five?"

"Believing in it is better than nothing!"

"Brothers, let's go, gather with the Gu Yue clan leader!"

They were already despairing, but now that Gu Yue Bo said it, they saw some hope.

Under the pressure of death, these former enemies united and worked together, quickly gathering into one spot.

"Gu Yue clan… hehe, you are all senior brother's descendants." On the huge crane, the white brow elderly laughed coldly, about to command the cranes to intercept, but on second thoughts, he stopped that idea.

"Why not let these people escape back, so I can finish them off together. But these are all his descendants, so in the battle later, I can use them to threaten him. But these three Rank four Gu Masters have the ability to interfere with the battle, I cannot let them stay, I shall kill them first!"

Thinking so, the white brow elderly screeched strangely, flicking his finger and sending three balls of light flying.

"What Gu is this?" Xiong clan leader was first hit by the white ball, and after getting covered by it, his speed fell drastically, slower than a snail.

The other two clan leaders were the same.

"Fang Yuan, quickly go, Gu Yue clansmen listen up, you have to protect Fang Yuan at all costs, he's the only one that knows the method!" Gu Yue Bo tried all ways but could not get rid of this light ring, thus he screamed loudly and turned around to face the white brow elderly.

Fang Yuan turned around, looking at this Gu Yue clan leader deeply.

"Elder Fang Yuan, let us protect you!" A large number of Gu Yue clansmen gathered beside Fang Yuan, protecting him in all directions.

Healing light as well as speed buffs were all casted on Fang Yuan.

Collision sounds were heard from the back, and under the mystical and cruel fate, the three clan leaders who hated each other worked together tightly right now, battling against the mysterious elderly with their life on the line.

The results of this battle, was decided from the start.

The three clan leaders died one by one as the white brow elderly flicked his sleeves, sitting firmly on the huge crane. Flying cranes engulfed the skies as they gradually forced their way into Gu Yue village.

Gu Yue village was in chaos, and the sad cries of people were heard everywhere.

Large numbers of bamboo buildings fell, and the debris area was full of corpses with white cloths covering over them. Injured members cried in pain, lying on the ground as many healing Gu Masters worked to the bone.

The clan main pavilion was half devastated, and the village square was covered in a layer of blood water; this was extremely horrifying to the clansmen.

Because Tie Xue Leng and First gen Gu Yue engaged in fierce combat, it caused the mountains to shake. Thus, Gu Yue village which was right above was greatly affected.

Gu Yue Yao Ji who was staying in the village, did not manage to receive Gu Yue Bo, but instead saw the injured remnants of the three clans.

"What is going on?" She shouted loudly.

Fang Yuan didn't reply, because the flock of cranes behind her was the best explanation.

"This?!"

"Oh my god..."

"Is our Gu Yue clan going to perish today?"

Immediately, the village fell into chaos once again.

"Senior brother, your junior, I have come here all the way to see you. Why aren't you coming out to meet me?" White-brow elderly stood on the crane's back, his tone full of icy killing intent.

Before he was finished, on the village square, blood water gushed out like a ten metre fountain, and the bright red coffin appeared vertically.

As a blood wight, First gen Gu Yue stood inside the coffin, his blood red eyes staring closely at the white-brow elderly.

"To think that you didn't die... how did you find this place? As expected, that Gu Master earlier was instigated by you!" First gen Gu Yue said hatefully.

Chapter 192: Raising Eyebrows & Exhale

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"How did I find you? Hahaha!" The white-brow elderly laughed loudly, his voice sound extremely happy, while his gaze was ruthless. He opened his palm, revealing a Gu.

It was the Kinship Bloodworm.

Kinship Bloodworm was crystal clear, like a red agate. It was like a cicada, emitting light at times, pointing towards First gen Gu Yue.

"Although senior brother stole my opportunity and backstabbed me, taking away my Gu, I still managed to learn the secret arts. Thus I refined this Kinship Bloodworm. You know how I refined it? Hehehe, using the heart blood of your two blood-related sons. They were only five to six years old and were too young, so without sufficient heart blood, I could only turn them both into living sources, taking their blood every month. After spending tens of years, I finally accumulated enough heart blood and refined this Gu." The white-brow elderly said briskly, his tone extremely smug.

"Oh, right, both your sons died soon after. HAHAHA, after refining the Kinship Bloodworm, I used it to find you for many years. But this world is too big, and you were nowhere to be found. Even though the Kinship Bloodworm was Rank five, its range is still limited. Eventually, when I was almost dying, I could only use the life-retaining Jade Burial Gu, living through death and sealing myself. Not long before this, I had to come out of sealing and I tried one last time. To think I found you by coincidence! Senior brother, do you know how happy and excited I was at that time?!"

"As for that Tie Xue Leng, hehehe, I did send him a letter to attract him here. Seeing him, I thought of our former relationship. How nostalgic. Back then we were from the same sect, chasing after demonic cultivators. We were called the Righteous Twin Cranes, having unlimited glory and pride," The white-brow elderly saying so, showed a nostalgic expression.

His expression was calm and his tone was gentle, but the more he thought about it, the stronger the killing intent was in both of his cold eyes.

This white-brow elderly, came from the Middle Continent; he was known as Lord Sky Crane.

Back then, he used the Rank five Crane Enslavement Gu and ruled over a myriad beast king level crane king and rose to fame. Because he could enslave a myriad beast king, it meant he controlled a ten thousand beast army.

This strength allowed him to use his own power and eliminate a single village.

Lord Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue both came from the Middle Continent's Immortal Crane Sect. Hundreds of years ago, they were senior and junior brothers, closer than real brothers, killing many demonic Gu Masters and working together, having perfect synergy with each other.

In one of their attempts in chasing after demonic cultivators, they found an inheritance ground.

This inheritance was one of the many set up by the Blood Sea Ancestor. But if it was an ordinary inheritance, so be it, they would not have turned on each other.

However, this inheritance ground's treasure was beyond precious; it could allow one to rise to the heavens and become an immortal from a mortal! Thus, the two brothers were moved.

Legend says, Blood Sea Ancestor left behind over a hundred thousand inheritances, spread throughout the world. But his real motive was the few true treasures hidden in a few of these spots. They hid his personal Gu worms, his true methods.

The sect brothers encountered the Blood Sea Ancestor's true treasure inheritance.

Lord Sky Crane was quicker and obtained the inheritance. Corrupted by greed, First gen Gu Yue schemed against him and stole the Gu worm. Then he attempted to kill Lord Sky Crane, but did not succeed as the latter managed to escape.

Seeing that the matter was exposed, First gen Gu Yue could only hide his name and escape everywhere, preventing himself from getting found by his former sect. After tens of years, he could not find a Lifespan Gu, thus in his final days he stood at Qing Mao Mountain in the Southern Border, changing his appearance and calling himself Gu Yue, establishing the Gu Yue village.

Lord Sky Crane being unable to find him, was filled with hatred. Meanwhile the Immortal Crane Sect was very interested in the blood sea inheritance, thus with their help, Lord Sky Crane used the life-preserving Jade Burial Gu, falling into a deep sleep and preserving his last bit of life.

This life-preserving Jade Burial Gu's method was also a special method. Similar to First gen Gu Yue's transformation into a zombie, they were unorthodox methods and were just desperate measures.

Turning into a zombie, replacing life with death. Life-preserving life burial could enable one to hang onto life, but did not increase their lifespan.

There was only one way to increase one's lifespan in this world. Like what Fang Yuan did in his previous life, they would need to use the Lifespan Gu, increasing one's own lifespan from the roots; this was the proper way. Other methods had disadvantages and were not recognised by Heaven and Earth, belonging to helpless resorts.

"Senior brother! You shameless disciple, despicable scum! Back then when you backstabbed me, did you expect retribution today? Haha, the heavens did not let me down, for I finally found you. Today, not only will I exterminate your bloodline and destroy your thousand year plot, but I will also take back my opportunity! This day, I have waited far too long!"

Ending his reminisces, Lord Sky Crane sighed loudly, gathering his killing intent.

But before he struck, First gen Gu Yue acted even faster!

The blood water on the ground poured up like a fountain, giving off a terrifying aura.

The sharp smell of blood spread as within the thick concentrated blood water, tens of thousands of blood guillotines flew out, tightly packed together.

Whoooosh.

Sounds of wings flapping were heard as countless bladewing blood bat Gu flew into the air, engulfing the sky and killing towards the crane flock.

The crane flock fell into chaos.

Blood guillotines and bladewing blood bats were much smaller than the Iron Beak Flying Cranes, gaining movement advantage in battle.

Lord Sky Crane was furious, screaming loudly and ordering the flying crane king he was riding on, rushing towards First gen Gu Yue.

"Retreat!" A Gu Master shouted.

The winds howled as the myriad beast king's charge was too imposing, like a meteor hitting the ground, causing people to feel shocked and afraid.

But suddenly, a blood wave flew into the sky, and the hiding blood river python assaulted under the cover of the blood water. It opened its mouth, biting at the flying crane king's long neck. At the same time its body coiled, trying to drag the flying crane king into the blood pond on the ground.

Lord Sky Crane snorted; he knew about the blood river python. Blood water was like a supreme recovery medicine for the python, thus he needed to cut the contact between them.

With this he willed in his mind, and the flying crane king stretched out its steel claws, grabbing onto the blood river python. At the same time it flapped its wings, flying towards the sky. After battling with Tie Xue Leng, the blood river python still had many injuries on its body, and its strength was also greatly diminished. Thus it was carried by the flying crane king into the air, slowing leaving the village.

"Hand over your life!" Lord Sky Crane howled, turning into a white flash and pouncing on First gen Gu Yue was who in the red coffin.

First gen Gu Yue took a step out of the coffin, and with a stretch, wings grew out of his back. These pair of wings were large and strong, like jet-black coloured bat wings.

Zombie Gu are a classic series of Gu worms, widely spread in the world. Rank two Roaming Zombie Gu, Rank three Fur Zombie Gu, Rank four Jumping Zombie Gu, Rank five Flying Zombie Gu. The Blood Wight Gu was one of the flying zombies, of course it could fly!

First gen Gu Yue's eyes burnt with raging flames as he opened his arms and showed his devious demonic claws. He spread both wings, rushing towards the sky. With a boom, he collided with Lord Sky Crane who was in the air.

The two had almost equal strength, and after retreating for a distance, they stabilized themselves and attacked once again.

Boom boom boom….

The two engaged in aerial combat, their bodies colliding constantly. The power of Rank five was fully displayed, as the aftermath of their conflicts resulted in numerous bamboo buildings collapsing.

After a while, First gen Gu Yue shouted loudly, his body covered in blood shadows, as his attacks became several times more ruthless.

Lord Sky Crane's eyes glowed with light, attacking like the slashing of a flying blade, or the piercing of an immortal sword, breaking the shadows one by one.

First gen Gu Yue breathed out a bloody mist again, prompting Lord Sky Crane to activate his Gu worm which formed a light barrier, blocking the blood mist from invading.

After a while, Lord Sky Crane was after all a dying old man, his elderly body weak, and thus his strength fell, slowly getting overpowered by First gen Gu Yue, falling into a disadvantage.

"After hundreds of years, you did not improve one bit!" First gen Gu Yue laughed loudly and mocked.

"God damn scoundrel!" Lord Sky Crane scolded in rage; he did not expect First gen Gu Yue to be so strong, be it the blood guillotine or the bladewing blood bat Gu — they were supposed to be his.

Thinking so, he got even more furious.

"Hmph, it's time to use my trump card!" Lord Sky Crane snorted secretly, his white eyebrows raising lightly, transforming.

His eyebrows grew frantically, becoming two thick bushes over tens of metres, one left and one right like snakes coming out of their dens, moving quickly and coiling around First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue struggled to no avail, his claws unceasingly attacking. These eyebrows looked fragile but were stronger than steel, and also malleable. Once restrained, it was like the roots of an old tree.

"It is actually the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu!" First gen Gu Yue's tone changed for the first time, shocked and furious.

This Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu did not use ordinary qi, but primeval energy. Using the primeval essence in the Gu Master's aperture, and sending it out as primeval energy, this Gu was uncommon as it had a lose-lose type of usage.

By using this Gu now, not only was First gen Gu Yue's primeval essence rapidly expended, but so was Lord Sky Crane's.

Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu was like a bridge, connecting the two's aperture, causing primeval essence to be expended. It was often used by high ranking Gu Masters to bully the weak. Once used on someone stronger, it was akin to courting death.

But this situation was different.

Lord Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue were both Rank five peak stage, but First gen Gu Yue turned into a zombie and his aperture was dead, thus he was unable to recover natural primeval essence. Although Lord Sky Crane was dying of old age and barely had any lifespan, his aperture was full of life, and his primeval essence could still recover. This attacked First gen Gu Yue's greatest weakness.

Lord Sky Crane's primeval essence was still recovering, but in First gen Gu Yue's aperture, his primeval essence would only go down and not up.

First gen Gu Yue desperately retreated, but the white eyebrows extended with him as if they were endless, and at the same time Lord Sky Crane was moving closer as well.

First gen Gu Yue howled, willing in his mind and calling the blood guillotine and bladewing blood bat Gu in attempt to cut the white eyebrows, but it had no effect. The whitebrows were extremely strong, and even if a few were cut, they would reconnect themselves.

His primeval essence continued to decrease, and if this went on, First gen Gu Yue was definitely going to lose. He was after all an ambitious man, forced to his wits end. He gritted his teeth and changed tactics, sending the blood guillotine and bladewing blood bat Gu towards Lord Sky Crane.

Lord Sky Crane had to constantly sustain the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu, and by being attacked like this, he could only use the light barrier and defend himself passively.

The white barrier wavered and Lord Sky Crane's heart sank, the situation was not looking good for him.

Most likely, before he finishes expending First gen Gu Yue's primeval essence, his light barrier would be broken through and he would get killed by First gen Gu Yue!

Chapter 193: Divine investigator's last move

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The Sky Crane Lord's face turned malevolent and his two eyes glinted with ominous light as he suddenly threw down a rain of feather arrows.

This arrow rain was not targetted at the First gen Gu Yue; First gen Gu Yue had already turned into a blood wight zombie, a being that possessed astounding defence and would be difficult to breach.

The feather arrows rained down and instead pierced through countless of Gu Masters, instantly killing them!

Along with this, two white lights burst out from Sky Crane Lords's eyes. As two beams of light swept through the village, wherever they went the bamboo buildings would collapse and street pavements were disintegrated. Anyone that touched these beams of light would melt like the snow meeting the sunlight.

When a Rank five Gu Master acts, he could instantly create huge casualties with every move.

Miserable shouts, screams and cries of despair continuously rang in the battlefield like a medley.

A feather arrow flower towards Fang Yuan, but he casually grabbed someone beside him and threw the man into the arrow's path. The feather arrow pierced this person's head and stopped. Fang Yuan then rolled, dodging a claw attack of an Ironbeak Flying Crane.

There was very little that a Rank three could do against a Rank five. Even Bai Ning Bing was dodging nonstop at this moment. Every time he was injured, the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique would heal him, but this also brought him closer to death itself.

Rank five Gu Masters were already at the peak of the secular world.

"Stop!" The First gen Gu Yue shouted. As he watched the Gu Masters before him getting slaughtered, his heart felt like it was bleeding.

He had a great conspiracy for establishing the village and spreading his bloodline; it was not simply just to hide his identity. The clan members were the fruits of centuries of planning. But now, as they were slaughtered by the Sky Crane Lord, it was akin to using up the First gen Gu Yue's centuries' worth of heart blood.

Being left with no choice, First gen Gu Yue could only five up on Sky Crane Lord. He ordered the blade wing blood bat Gu and blood guillotine to fly towards the village, defending it against the Sky Crane Lord's attacks.

The Sky Crane Lord laughed loudly. The Blood Sea Inheritance was focused on attack and not defence — by doing this the First gen Gu Yue was giving up on his own advantage and using his weak point to battle.

The Sky Crane Lord understood the First gen Gu Yue very well and knew his scheme. Thus he intentionally let these Gu Yue clan members go first, and then attacked them at this moment. Sure enough, he was able to escape from the perilous situation he was under while the First gen Fu Yue was troubled by trying to take care of the entire situation.

"Not good!"

As the situation continued to be in a deadlock, the First gen Gu Yue suddenly shouted. Shadows of iron chains had suddenly appeared around his entire body.

These shadows immediately turned from virtual into reality, and formed into long iron chains. These chains were like snakes and pythons as they coiled around First gen Gu Yue, binding his hands and feet.

A talisman paper also gradually appeared and stuck right between the First gen Gu Yue's eyes.

Bang.

First gen Gu Yue was bound by the iron chains; he could no longer stretch his wings and thus he fell smashing down onto the ground.

Such an unexpected scene not only shocked the First gen Gu Yue, but it also caused Sky Crane Lord to be shocked for a while before the latter started to laugh madly. "So this is the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu and the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu. Hahaha, I guess that so-called Divine Investigator wasn't a good-for-nothing after all. My good senior brother, you are sure to die today!"

These two great Gu were both the main Gu worms of the Tie family.

The Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu could restrict a Gu Master's movement ability and thus let others trample upon them. The Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu was able to extract Gu worms from inside the Gu Master and seal them away.

Countless numbers of demonic path Gu Masters had been captured by Tie Xue Leng through these two Gu, and now he had used it on the First gen Gu Yue.

"When did this happen?!" The First gen Gu Yue was startled and also furious. He though back to the final scene when he had struck Tie Xue Leng dead.

The copper mask had flown away, revealing a square face.

Although his death was certain, there was no fear on his features. Two eyes shone with the vicissitudes of time and resoluteness as his bloodied palm struck lightly against First gen Gu Yue's chest.

However, the strength it contained was so minuscule that First gen Gu Yue had completely ignored it at the time.

"So it was then! Damn it, I would have already sensed it if I had a living body. But though my zombie body is strong in both offence and defence, it is not sensitive." The First gen Gu Yue's head was full of regrets.

There were many shortcomings when turning one's body into a blood wight. He should have already died according to his original lifespan, but he lived on by defying the heavens, so how could there not be any price to pay?

"Hahaha! The Sky Crane Lord's aura grew with his laughter, then he charged towards the First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue could only try to resist. Naturally, he fell into an absolute disadvantage.

The Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu not only bound his whole body, but the phantom image of the black iron chain also appeared within his aperture and sealed it.

The primeval sea surged like boiling water and many Gu worms flew around in the aperture, resisting the suppression of the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu.

With this, the First gen Gu Yue's primeval essence expenditure became extremely huge.

"Your defeat is certain, accept your death!" Sky Crane Lord's attacks came nonstop, like he had fallen into madness.

First gen Gu Yue's head was riddled with injuries, while his pale ribs were exposed and his two arms severed from the shoulders by the Sky Crane Lord.

When it seemed that Sky Crane Lord was going to really kill him, the First gen Gu Yue suddenly opened his mouth and gave an unearthly cry.

"Yannngggg—!"

Extremely ear-piercing sound waves concentrated and instantly struck the Sky Crane Lord.

When Sky Crane Lord heard this sound, he felt like he had just met with an enormous attack, and he was sent flying dozens of steps away, his white eyebrows even pulled tight and straight. After that, he rapidly fell down to the ground.

Blood started flowing out of his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The lingering sound was causing chaos inside his body, causing the blood to flow in reverse; he couldn't move at all for a moment.

Seeing this chance, many Gu Masters threw moon blades, water bullets and so on from a distance, but they were all blocked by the light halo on the Sky Crane Lord.

Dozens of flying cranes swarmed at the First gen Gu Yue, but their iron beaks felt like it was smashing against steel skin and iron bones as they attacked the blood wight zombie body, and broke off one after another.

A Rank five Gu's defense was no small thing. Even if Fang Yuan used the Chainsaw Golden Centipede to saw at the blood wight zombie body for some time, he might not be able to cut off even a piece of skin.

Right now, in this battle, only these two Rank five Gu Masters could threaten each other.

Although they were in a very bad state, as long as their primeval essence didn't end, others could only look on helplessly.

Sky Crane Lord saw that the flying cranes were unable to accomplish anything, while the flying crane king was fighting with the blood river python far away. As for himself, he was unable to move anything other than his eyes properly due to his qi and blood being in conflict. He concentrated his mind on the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu, greatly accelerating the primeval essence consumption.

First gen Gu Yue was on the verge of death!

The primeval essence in his primeval sea quickly decreased and once it was completely used up, his Gu worms would have no primeval essence to resist the suppression of the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu. Once this happened, Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu would start extracting the Gu worms and sealing them. That would truly be the end!

First gen Gu Yue shouted in panic, "Quick, lend me a hand! Grab the eyebrows and activate your primeval essence."

"Let's help!"

"Help the first ancestor!"

"Let's go."

A large group of Gu Masters went to help – not only from Gu Yue clan, but even Bai and Xiong clan.

Even First gen Gu Yue was not able to cut apart these white eyebrows, so there was no way these Gu Masters' methods would work. They could only do as First gen Gu Yue said, stretching their hands and grabbing the white eyebrows.

They had just touched the white eyebrows, when some of the eyebrows split up and coiled around their wrists, arms and then finally extended to their bodies.

"Ahh….." Miserable shrieks echoed in succession.

How could a rank two Gu Master's primeval essence fight against a Rank five primeval essence? In a short while, their primeval essence was consumed clean, their primeval sea was empty, their apertures completely dried up; their apertures started to crack, before finally crumbling and collapsing.

The aperture was the most vital part in a human body, even more important than heart. Once the aperture broke, many Gu Masters' eyes would roll and lose their lives on the spot.

"Fuck!" First gen Gu Yue cursed in anger. The Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu was tightening up, piercing into the skin and flesh; the bones were starting to make cackling sounds.

It was reasonable to say that with Tie Xue Leng's death, this Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu couldn't get primeval essence from its Gu Master and shouldn't have been able to activate. However, it had been infected by the berserk blood Gu, and thus it could absorb the primeval essence in the air. Also, Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu was Tie Xue Leng's Gu, so it contained Tie Xue Leng's will to subdue First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue's primeval essence was depleting quickly, and he would not be able to bear it much longer.

Many Gu Masters that were rushing to provide assistance, saw this and couldn't help but slow down.

"What are you afraid of? If the first ancestor loses, we will also die! Are you hoping that you will be spared?" Fang Yuan shouted; he hurried to the side of First gen Gu Yue and grabbed the white eyebrows.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf spider had already died, and the enemy had flying cranes that could fly around to pursue and attack. There was no hope for him if he tried to escape alone.

On the contrary, if he helped First gen Gu Yue and the two sides fought each other to death, he might be able to reap some benefits.

The white eyebrows firmly locked onto Fang Yuan's wrists, then it followed to his arms and creeped along like a vine towards his waist. The snow silver primeval essence in his aperture was being quickly consumed, but Fang Yuan clenched his teeth and persevered.

His actions served as an example. Other Gu Masters were spurred and rushed forth in succession.

"Let's do this together, we might have a chance at life!"

"That's right, there is strength in numbers!"

"Sigh, what else can we do, we can only stake our lives."

Countless hands touched the white eyebrows; Gu Masters kept on dying and many other Gu Masters kept on filling the gaps to add in to the consumption.

"Hahaha, fighting against a Rank five, how brilliant and interesting!" Bai Ning Bing also stepped forward.

"Life or death will be decided by this." Xiong Jiao Man similarly stood up.

Fang Zheng was nowhere to be seen; he was lost in the wild and hadn't escaped back to the village. Whether he lived or had died, no one could be sure, but everything bode ill for him.

Time seemed to be passing very slowly at this moment, becoming unendurable.

As time passed, many Gu Masters died. Some Gu Masters directly attacked Sky Crane Lord, but the white halo around him stood as steady as Mt. Tai.

Only Rank three Gu Masters could hold their grounds in this consumption face off.

Many Gu Masters' confidence started shaking and they were beginning to hesitate.

Both sides were locked up in deadlock. Sky Crane Lord smiled grimly and said, "My victory is certain, you will all die!"

There was too big a gap between Rank three and Rank five. Rank fours would have been able to affect the situation, but the three Rank four clan leaders were already killed by Sky Crane Lord.

First gen Gu Yue was bound by the iron chains while the white eyebrows had also coiled up around him and the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu on his forehead was swaying; there was already very few primeval essence left in his aperture.

Suddenly the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu let out a faint yellow light and slowly extracted a ball of yellow light from First gen Gu Yue's aperture.

This yellow light was bigger than a fist but smaller than a basin. It slowly floated down on the ground, and only a faint glimmer of the yellow light remained.

A Gu that looked like a crystal skull showed up. The Gu was like a skull of a child that could fit on a palm, and the skull was like a crystal filled with reddish bloodstripes.

"Blood Skull Gu! After hundreds of years, I finally get to see you again!" Sky Crane Lord looked on from a distance and wept tears of joy; he was extremely moved.

Chapter 194: Blood Curtain Skyflower

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

First gen Gu Yue clenched his bloody fangs so hard that it made cracking sounds, but he couldn't even budge, much less struggle.

Suddenly, another ball of light was captured by the yellow talisman and it fell to the ground, turning into an alternating black and white Taiji light sphere.

Two peculiar Gu worms were circling and chasing each other within this light sphere. As the Taiji light sphere continued to rotate, they seemed to carry traces of great dao, shocking many Gu Masters.

"What Gu is this?" Bai Ning Bing and many others were bewildered.

"It actually is a Rank four…." Fang Yuan's eyes focused in concentration.

"Yin Yang Rotation Gu!" Sky Crane Lord screamed, his face clearly revealing his shock. He remained stunned for a while, then he raised his head and laughed, "My good senior brother, I truly have to thank you for finding such a good Gu. Hahaha, you actually wanted to turn back into a human, but what a pity, for your plan has been destroyed by me!"

First gen Gu Yue anxiously moved his legs and snarled; he had completely lost his manners. Whether it was Blood Skull Gu or Yin Yang Rotation Gu, they were both crucial to his plan that stretched through a millennium. Now, they were both sealed and extracted; all his painstaking plotting had almost gone in up into smoke now.

Sky Crane Lord's smile turned even more jubilant, his desire for vengeance was fully satisfied by seeing this expression of First gen Gu Yue.

Another yellow light that was captured fell to the ground; it was a scarlet colored Gu and looked like a translucent water sphere.

On seeing this Gu, First gen Gu Yue suddenly stopped his struggle; he was exulted. He opened his bloody mouth, revealing his fangs as he shouted, "Quick, destroy this Gu worm!"

Several Gu Masters immediately moved forward upon hearing this and used their attacks.

This Gu had been sealed by Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu, stopping the First gen Gu Yue from activating it with his thoughts. There was a layer of yellow light on the surface carrying an imprint; it could only be unsealed by Tie Xue Leng or by using some special Gu worms.

However, this Gu was an expendable Gu and was special as it needed to be destroyed to be activated.

Several Gu Masters made their moves; the yellow light imprint was only a sealing Gu worm and didn't have any defensive powers. After several attacks, the yellow light imprint collapsed, destroying the sealed Gu worm along with it.

Buzz!

A soft cry resounded, and a blood light bloomed, suddenly expanding and turning into a spherical shield within moments.

First gen Gu Yue was within the shield, while Sky Crane Lord was outside.

The blood red shield's range was six mu, and Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan were both within the shield, whereas Xiong Jiao Man and some others were outside.

The most encouraging part was that the white eyebrows were instantly cut apart into two halves by this shield; with the disintegration of the white eyebrows, Fang Yuan and others recovered control of their bodies.

"The aura of this shield reaches Rank five, but why does it resemble the Water Curtain Skyflower Gu?" Fang Yuan was bewildered; he had never seen this Gu before.

Sky Crane Lord was separated by this shield, and he staggered up before laughing coldly, "Senior brother, such a good move, you are actually able to counterattack and break my Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu. It's a pity such a trifle defense won't work against me, you are just prolonging your imminent defeat by doing this!"

First gen Gu Yue instead laughed loudly, "Junior brother, how about testing it yourself?"

"That's my intention!" Killing intent flashed in Sky Crane Lord's eyes; countless flying cranes and feather arrows shot towards the shield, while his eyes also sent out the white beams at the same time.

However, the blood shield was still unshakeable and was as stable as before.

Sky Crane Lord's face turned extremely dark as he stopped his attacks, "What Gu is this?"

Gu Yue first threw his head back and laughed, "Let me teach you, this is my personally fused gu: Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu. The Water Curtain Skyflower Gu – a Rank four gu – can block Rank five Gu attacks. This Gu is at Rank five and has even more powerful defense. Water Curtain Skyflower Gu prevents its owner from going in and out; but this Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu lets me go out. Junior brother, don't be impatient, you can attack slowly, use all your strength. Just wait till I recover, then I'll come out and cut your dog head, ahhaha!"

"You thief, keep on boasting!" Sky Crane Lord was in turmoil; he had everything in his grasp before, but to think First gen Gu Yue was able to recover some ground and the situation turned into a deadlock again.

He attacked madly and extremely fiercely, killing all the Gu Masters outside the shield including Xiong Jiao Man.

However, inside the Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu, all was calm and quiet. The blood shield was as stable as Mt. Tai, and the group of Gu Masters inside the shield were relieved.

"First ancestor is indeed an unrivalled hero!"

"We are finally saved. The first ancestor will show his divine might and this person will definitely be defeated."

"Hu, this is the strength of Rank five Gu Master? I am actually still alive in front of such strength!"

The Gu Masters cheered and shouted.

On the contrary, Bai Ning Bing snorted; his death was certain due to the Ten extreme aptitude, but this deadlock decreased the splendor of it and he was not happy about it.

Sky Crane Lord kept on attacking for a long while with no results. At one moment, he suddenly stopped as if he had woken up.

First gen Gu Yue's words were meant to incite him into attacking the Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu and wasting his primeval essence. If he wasn't wrong, this Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu had the same effect as Water Curtain Skyflower Gu. Its fusion price was extremely high and belonged to one time use expendable category, but it had a high defense, albeit with a set duration. It would automatically dissipate after a certain amount of time.

At this thought, Sky Crane Lord sat cross-legged, then took out two primeval stones and pinched them, starting to recover his primeval essence.

"Lend me a hand, you will only have a chance at life by helping me. Primeval stones, I need a large number of them!" First gen Gu Yue shouted – the surrounding Gu Masters immediately took out primeval stones and piled them around him.

First gen Gu Yue opened his bloody mouth wide and breathed in deeply, sucking the primeval stones into his mouth.

Crack, he chewed the primeval stones; large amounts of natural primeval essence poured into his aperture.

On seeing this, the Sky Crane Lord became anxious and started shouting, "Don't give them to him, you morons! Once he recovers his movement, he will kill you all and use your blood to upgrade his aptitude. You are causing your own doom!"

"Hmph, using such a low level tactic to sow distrust, so ridiculous!"

"Quick, this old thief is telling us not to give it, so we need to give even more primeval stones."

"Everything depends on lord ancestor!"

Gu Masters provided the primeval stones generously and soon, great quantities of primeval stones entered First gen Gu Yue's mouth. Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing watched indifferently from the side.

A normal body wouldn't be able to endure such a large amount of primeval essence pouring into them, but First gen Gu Yue's blood wight zombie body was powerful and strong. The primeval essence in his primeval sea began to rise rapidly.

The Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu was becoming weaker, and after quite a while, it turned into a pool of blood; it had thoroughly died out.

With the bindings gone, First gen Gu Yue gave a long roar and activated his blood wight vital Gu. Great quantities of blood were absorbed into his body, and within moments, his powerful arms grew back again with claws as sharp as a knife.

He gave a hearty laugh then stood up.

At this exact moment, the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu on his forehead also turned into a pool of blood and completely dissipated.

"It seems the heavens do not want me dead!" First gen Gu Yue threw his head back and laughed.

"We ask first ancestor to behead this old thief!"

"Once the lord ancestor makes his move, he will definitely succeed."

The group of Gu Masters was elated.

First gen Gu Yue's laughter gradually stopped, and fire burned in his eyes as he spoke unhurriedly, "I will, of course, kill my enemy. But before killing him, I still have something I need to do."

"Not good." Fang Yuan's heart suddenly jumped when he heard the tone of the voice, and he discreetly moved towards the outer edge of the group.

The people beside him were puzzled by this but they were still filled with high fighting spirit, "We are not sure what first ancestor has to do, but we will serve the ancestor to the best of our abilities!"

First gen Gu Yue threw his head back and cackled with laughter, "Haha, the thing I need to do is to take your lives!"

"What?!" The crowd turned pale with shock.

First gen Gu Yue, however, didn't hesitate to make his move.

Squelch, his claw immediately pierced through a Rank three Gu Master near him. When he took back his palm, there was a pulsing heart on it.

This Gu Master was a Gu Yue clan member, and his expression was one of disbelief at this moment. He gave a loud scream, blood spurting out like a fountain as he fell down with his head facing up.

"Good blood, it can't be wasted," First gen Gu Yue exclaimed. With a shift of his mind, the Blood Skull Gu flew up and made one round around this Gu Master's body.

The Gu Master's corpse twitched, and all the blood in him was extracted by the Blood Skull Gu, entering into its two empty eye sockets.

After the Blood Skull Gu drank its fill, the blood stripes on its crystal skull turned even brighter.

"First ancestor, you?!" As the group retreated with all their might, someone cried out.

"Noisy!" First gen Gu Yue's figure flashed and appeared in front of this person, slashing his body into two with a knife. Blood spurted out and was absorbed by the Blood Skull Gu.

"First ancestor, you ungrateful beast, if not for our primeval stones, how could you have any fighting strength left?!"

"This first ancestor is no decent person, everyone lets attack together and kill him!"

"That's right, there is power in numbers….ahh!"

A bloody massacre unfolded. First gen Gu Yue was a peak Rank five and he had completely recovered his primeval essence. These Gu Masters were just Rank one, Rank two or at most Rank three, so how could they be his match?

And this Blood Curtain Skyflower separated inside from outside, forming a sealed space. Only its master, First gen Gu Yue could go out. But once he exited, he couldn't enter again; he would have to destroy the Blood Curtain Skyflower or wait for it to dissipate.

The group of Gu Masters weren't able to escape, they tried fighting but were utterly defeated and killed by First gen Gu Yue.

Except for Bai clan's and Xiong clan's Gu Masters, he killed every Gu Yue clansmen and used the Blood Skull Gu to absorb the blood. After killing several hundreds, the Rank four Blood Skull Gu was glistening red, as it had reached the limit of what it could absorb.

First gen Gu Yue laughed loudly and summoned the Blood Skull Gu; the Blood Skull Gu came towards him and floated above his head.

"This day, this moment, my centuries of arduous planning has finally come to fruition!" He let out a long exhalation of relief. At this moment, the Blood Skull Gu opened its tightly shut mouth and threw up a blood fountain.

The blood fountain didn't have the fishy odor of blood, but instead let out a sweet relaxing fragrance.

This blood fountain poured from above First gen Gu Yue and completely soaked him.

However, what was strange and mysterious was that not even a drop of the blood fountain sprayed on the ground. All of the blood stuck to First gen Gu Yue's body, then slowly seeped inside, finally reaching the aperture.

First gen Gu Yue stood on the spot; he was silent and his head was down as he appreciated this moment. Suddenly, he burst out with a crazed laughter as he spoke, "Kakakaka, my aptitude has advanced, my aptitude has really advanced!"

The rest of the Gu Masters tremored.

Outside the blood shield, Sky Crane Lord pointed at First gen Gu Yue and furiously shouted, "Return my Blood Skull Gu back to me!"

Chapter 195: Then let me become a demon

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

First gen Gu Yue laughed with even more joy; suddenly, he stopped laughing and turned towards Lord Sky Crane, speaking with a voice filled with hatred, "Junior brother, you never thought there would be a day like this, right?! We were both orphans raised by the master. But since young, master always pampered you more. Why? Isn't it because your aptitude is A grade and mine is only C grade?"

"Naturally, with your A grade aptitude, your cultivation progressed much faster. Did you know, with my C grade aptitude, how much sweat and effort I had to put in compared to you, just barely be able to match with your pace? Although we were called the Twin Cranes of Righteous Paths – you were always the main and I the second. You were like the brightest star, just because you were an A grade genius!"

"Even your luck was good and you obtained one of the true inheritances of Blood Sea ancestor. Blood Skull Gu could purify the blood of the relatives killed and pour them into the aperture, upgrading it. Did you know what my mood was like at the time? I thought day and night, thinking of countless schemes. I knew the Blood Skull Gu was my only hope; with it, I could change my life, change my fate!"

"But it is mine, MINE!" Lord Sky Crane was so angry that he stamped his feet repeatedly.

"Yes, it is yours." First gen Gu Yue nodded, "Your aptitude is great and your luck is also great. Clearly, we started out at the same time, killing enemies together, but the heavens only appreciated you, giving you the true inheritance. Did you know, when I looked at your proud expression and listened to you talking about your future plans, when I was forcing myself to smile, I suddenly realized."

"The heavens favored you, gave you A grade aptitude and the true blood sea inheritance. But what could I do about it? I was only an insignificant C grade talent, so how could I succeed just by relying on myself? I could only seize, rob! Change what wasn't mine to become mine! The fate that heaven had planned for me was to let me bow under someone, making me a shadow behind others! But I am indignant, for on what basis did he put me below and you above?" First gen Gu Yue actually seemed to be weeping and whimpering at the end.

Blood wight zombie's appearance was extremely terrifying, and adding on to this strange sound, anyone who heard it would feel coldness seep into their bones.

"Since the heavens don't favor me, master doesn't love me, other people don't value me – I can only love myself more, I can only value myself more, I can only rely on myself more. I can only put in more effort, I can only take more risks, I can only exert myself more! Only then can I succeed! But the righteous path talks of moral codes, ethics, comradeship, qualifications, hierarchy. I am only a lone person, a nobody with no background, no talent and no resources. So tell me, how could I succeed?"

"With the righteous path, I could only let myself be exploited and bullied, I could only look up to these young masters and geniuses. Even if I kept on increasing my qualifications until I got old, I would only achieve minute success. This is the righteous path… a bullshit path!"

"Only by becoming a demon, forsaking ethics, comradeship, the social rules and paying a huge price, I could take another path among the thorns and brambles, a path that belonged to myself! So, I schemed against you, seized your blood sea true inheritance and became a demon. Haha, and a demon I became!"

A demon I became…

A demon I became…

The voice reverberated within the blood shield.

Outside the shield, Lord Sky Crane was in a quiet and sombre mood.

First gen Gu Yue slowly stopped laughing then began killing again. Large numbers of Gu Masters were killed, their blood absorbed by the Blood Skull Gu and concentrated into the blood fountain, pouring into First gen Gu Yue's aperture and raising his aptitude.

The higher the aptitude, the more primeval essence could be stored in the aperture.

As First gen Gu Yue killed more and more Gu Yue clansmen, his aptitude kept on increasing. After chewing the primeval stones, his primeval essence increased and his fighting strength became more powerful.

Outside the blood shield, Lord Sky Crane was burning with anxiety, but the Blood Curtain Skyflower was like a deep chasm; he could do nothing but sigh. He had tried to prevent it, but he could only give up.

As time passed on, there were only a few numbers of people left inside the blood shield.

"Brat, you stole the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. I will give you a chance to atone for your crime, obediently hand it over and your life will be spared!" First gen Gu Yue walked closer step by step, his killing intent firmly locking Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan knew the chance of his survival was scarce, but his expression didn't change and instead sneered, "Only three year old children might be deceived by your bullshit. Hmph, I will destroy Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus if you come any closer. You should know that I have refined this Gu and can easily cause it to self-destruct with a thought. It's up to you."

First gen Gu Yue's steps slowed, then he resolutely and quickly pressed on towards Fang Yuan.

"Brat, you have guts and you are smart too. You are indeed my descendant, I will take your blood and use it to raise my aptitude. Of course, I won't let you go. Originally, I used a blood type Gu to purify my heir's blood lineage, to try and bring out a descendant with the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin physique. As long as I absorbed the blood of such a genius, I would be able to raise my aptitude sharply to 99% A grade aptitude!"

"If it had been so, I could have let you guys go, but unfortunately your luck doesn't seem to be good. Humph, the thing I hate the most in my life is being coerced. If Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus dies then so be it, but you are sure to die!"

His words hadn't even finished when the two wings on his back flapped, propelling him forward; in the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Fang Yuan.

First gen Gu Yue made a grabbing motion with his right hand; in that split second, Fang Yuan's pupils shrunk, and his hairs stood on the end as he retreated hastily.

However, how could it be easy to dodge a Rank five expert? The blood wight claws were almost upon him, but suddenly an ice hand pierced in from his side.

BANG.

There was the sound of a collision, and the ice hand shattered and cold aura flew all over the place; the First gen Gu Yue had to take a step back.

"Bai Ning Bing?!" Fang Yuan was shocked when he turned around to look at the person who had helped him.

Bai Ning Bing took back his broken arm, and cold air blew out from the wound and instantly condensed into a new ice hand just like before. It was just that there was no flesh in the hand – he was already reaching the lifespan limits of his ten extreme aptitude.

"To think that I can have a such a splendid death. It's a pity I won't be able to see the conclusion to this battle!" Bai Ning Bing heaved a deep sigh, then suddenly smiled and looked at Fang Yuan with his deep blue pupils, "Fang Yuan, you and I are the same kind of people. My death is certain, but it would be a real pity if you were to die too. So I will protect you, but I have a condition."

Bai Ning Bing may only be a Rank three Gu Master, but as his death closed upon him, his fighting strength continued to grow steeply like a water fountain. The final hope to win against First gen Gu Yue was him!

"What condition?" Fang Yuan's gaze flashed.

Bai Ning Bing stretched out his two arms like he was embracing the world. Clothed in a white gown, matching with his snowy white hair and sharp eyebrows, he said, "Live on for me and witness the myriad wonders of this world!"

In that moment, Fang Yuan was emotionally moved!

This man…

Fang Yuan looked at Bai Ning Bing and he felt like he was looking at his younger self in his previous life.

Bai Ning Bing's words might sound like nonsense, but they were genuine. Maybe, ordinary people would never believe it, but Fang Yuan understood the profound meaning contained within these words.

Bai Ning Bing was a top genius, his talent in defiance of the heavens and but his lifespan superficially short. He had already found his path, and found his faith. He wasn't afraid of death but he was reluctant to leave this world.

He had regrets, but under this situation where he had no other alternatives, he could only entrust them to Fang Yuan.

"Oh, it actually is Northern Dark Ice Soul physique! Tsk, such a pity that you are not a descendant of my lineage, otherwise they wouldn't have needed to die." First gen Gu Yue smiled malevolently. "But you want to block me by relying on this Northern Dark Ice Soul physique? So naive!"

His figure disappeared and appeared right in front of Bai Ning Bing.

BOOM!

There was a noise of explosion, and the two had traded off a blow.

First gen Gu Yue was forced back two steps whereas Bai Ning Bing's whole skull and most of his body was blown away.

But in the next instant, crackle, crack…

Cold air permeated the area, ice and frost condensed together to again grow out the body and the skull – Bai Ning Bing was resurrected!

"What!" First gen Gu Yue got the shock of his life. Ten extreme aptitudes were rarely seen and this was the first time he was facing one.

Two people traded off blows again. In the end, Bai Ning Bing's cultivation level was weak and was firmly pressed in a disadvantageous position, so the situation looked very bad. However, no matter how First gen Gu Yue killed him, he didn't die.

At this moment, Bai Ning Bing's Northern Dark Ice Soul body was close to an undying body; no matter how severe the wounds, they would be frozen back to the original state in a matter of seconds.

Gu Yue Bo was becoming more furious and also fearful, and he crazily increased his offensive attacks. Bai Ning Bing gradually lost all color of life, turning into a moving iceman. Even his white hair had turned into thin icicles.

The time had finally arrived…

Death was descending at this moment.

"Infinite brilliance in the mortal realm, to the ends of the world the skies and seas stretch beyond. As the winds blow my ashes back to the earth, it is incomparable to the shining moon in the reflection of the water!" Bai Ning Bing recited a poem with a faint smile.

Henceforth, his facial expression froze.

There was a burst of cold wind and the fog like frost suddenly rose up.

Crackle…..

Large amounts of ice started spreading from under his feet, then the glacier rose up like the birth of a mountain!

The surging majestic ice was like a landslide, like a tsunami, like a dragon rolling on the waves, as it crushed towards First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue let out a gasp and brought out all his strength to resist it. The red hairs on his head were all standing on end, mist of blood rising from all over his body, and large numbers of blood guillotine and bladewing blood bat Gu were sent to crash against the glacier in an attempt to slow it down even by a bit.

In the end, he was still suppressed by the glacier, confined and engulfed.

The enormous glacier filled the whole blood shield, but it didn't touch Fang Yuan as he was in a small space left intentionally by Bai Ning Bing.

Bang.

The Blood Curtain Skyflower burst with a soft sound. With no hindrances, the cold air crazily flew around, and ice immediately condensed into a glacier which continued to spread.

"It broke the shield of Blood Curtain Skyflower gu! Such power…" Lord Sky Crane didn't dare face the glacier as he promptly took to the air.

Under his astonished gaze, the glacier continued to spread and actually covered the whole Qing Mao mountain from the top of the mountain to the bottom. In this instance, the lush, thriving Qing Mao mountain turned into a sinister land of ice and snow.

The icy ground under Fang Yuan's feet continued to raise higher, he too was personally observing this scene.

This thousand li glacier was the evidence of the fall of a young genius, and contained within it was Bai Ning Bing's indignance and helpless sigh.

"Not good, I need leave this place soon! Bai Ning Bing's consciousness is weakening and gradually dying out, he is already losing the control of the glacier." Fang Yuan found that the space he was on was shrinking, ice continuously condensed and moved forward, compressing the space he was on.

Chapter 196: Rebirth once more

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Yuan immediately used the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, as well as the Blood Moon Gu, trying to break the ice.

But the ice layer was way too thick, and the coldness was oozing. Every layer of ice he shaved off, two layers would grow. Fang Yuan was trapped in a desperate situation, without any way to free himself.

At this same time, blood light emerged from under the icy river.

There was initially a hint of blood light, but it soon spread, becoming stronger and stronger, until a blood coloured aurora enveloped the area.

"Hahaha." With a long laugh, blood light rushed towards the sky as First gen Gu Yue broke the ice and escaped. Although he looked miserable, his tone was arrogant, "This Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, if he reached Rank four, he might be able to kill me. Sadly for him, he is only a Rank three peak stage…"

Saying so, he turned his gaze to Fang Yuan within the ice river.

"Northern Dark Ice Soul physique couldn't kill you, then let me do it." Far in the sky, Lord Sky Crane flew over casually. The Ironbeak flying crane king he was sitting on, had already returned after killing the blood river python when they flew away earlier.

At this point, in the entire Qing Mao mountain, only three people remained.

Bai Ning Bing had already turned into the ice mountain, his consciousness expended. Fang Yuan was like an insect inside an amber, trapped within the ice.

As for the two Rank five Gu Masters however, after First gen Gu Yue raised his aptitude, his aperture could store much more primeval essence. Lord Sky Crane had already recovered most of his strength after resting.

The two's gaze were focused on Fang Yuan.

First gen Gu Yue wanted to kill Fang Yuan, to take his blood. Lord Sky Crane wanted to stop First gen Gu Yue, and he would naturally not restrict himself by protecting Fang Yuan, thus he could only strike first and kill Fang Yuan.

With their natures, they would not tolerate a bystander. After all, what if both of them got injured, and a third person profited from it?

Fang Yuan sighed. Seeing their gazes, he knew he was finished.

He had lost the Thunderwings Gu and Thousand Li Earthwolf spider. Even if he had them, he could not escape from two Rank five Gu Masters.

He only had Rank three peak stage cultivation, incomparable with Rank five. In this situation, he was like fish meat, easily cut by knives. And these were two extremely sharp knives!

He could not beat them in combat, and couldn't escape from them either, but Fang Yuan had a final move!

That is — Spring Autumn Cicada!

Fang Yuan's mind went into his aperture. The light walls in his aperture had turned into a rough stone aperture.

His snow silver primeval essence was about half left. The stone aperture no longer had recovery abilities, but Fang Yuan's Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus maintained such a scene in his aperture.

These were not important; he placed all his concentration on the Gu in the middle.

His vital Gu, the Rank six Spring Autumn Cicada!

Only by using this Gu could he travel against the flow of time, creating a new miracle! Using an impossible method to change fate itself!

Even then—

Such a method, was extremely risky.

The river of time is a forbidden area in the great dao, mortals are not allowed to traverse in it. Once they enter, it is breaking the rules of heaven and earth, and they would face divine retribution.

Secondly, Spring Autumn Cicada had not fully recovered, so it was like a broken boat forcefully travelling in the river of time, he might capsize mid-way and sink.

Lastly, Fang Yuan was only at Rank three peak stage. Activating the Spring Autumn Cicada now was like a baby using a sword, and he might easily get hurt by the sword.

"Once I use the Spring Autumn Cicada, I will have to self detonate. Using all my cultivation and the flesh and blood of my body, as well as all my other Gu worms, as a driving force to move the Spring Autumn Cicada forward. Compared to my previous life,even if I self detonate, this force is too small, and there is a high chance it would kill me directly. But at this point, I have no other ways left, I am forced to use this Gu!"

Fang Yuan was helpless too.

Earlier, he would rather use the Stone Aperture Gu than the Spring Autumn Cicada, because of the great risk involved.

Given 100%, there was less than even 10% chance of succeeding.

Many times, when Gu Masters use high ranking Gu, they would face a strong backlash. Like Gu Yue Qing Shu, right now Fang Yuan could only bet on the fact that "Spring Autumn Cicada is his vital Gu".

"Little rascal, hand over your life and contribute your blood to your ancestor!'

"Lad, you are unlucky, you can only blame this despicable ancestor of yours. I will set you free from your misery!"

First gen Gu Yue and Lord Sky Crane both attacked at once.

Fang Yuan was forced to the cliff's end, he could only jump.

"Spring Autumn Cicada, do it!" His eyes glowed with wondrous light, as two green and yellow lights burst forth from his body.

"This aura?!"

"How can this be? A Rank six Gu!"

At once, the two Rank five Gu Masters were shocked, but soon, greed emerged on their faces.

"Kill him and take the Rank six Gu!"

"This is a an opportunity from heaven, good lad, hand it over and I may spare your life!"

Their speed was even faster than before.

But at this time, a loud boom occurred.

Fang Yuan self detonated!

"What?!" Before his death, he heard the two Rank five Gu Master's cries of shock.

Legend says, the world has one long river, known as time! Humans were like fish in the river, and under the currents, the fish could only flow downwards. Sometimes, one or two fish would jump above the surface of the river and see the events below — this was predicting the future.

Without the river of time, the world would be still, becoming a drawing. Only with this river can change occur, and the world can move, either prospering or withering.

The river of time, with roaring currents. Every ripple was a story, an event that occured in the past.

Under the turbulent river water, a tiny Gu worm was flowing upstream.

It spread its wings, moving with difficulty. With the waves crashing against it, every impact could nearly cause its demise.

It carried Fang Yuan's consciousness and memories, while a yellow green light was protecting its body. It moved up the river shakingly, like a candle blown by the wind.

Eventually, it could only move up a little, before the yellow green light dispersed. The Spring Autumn Cicada had reached its limit, and with a swoosh, it turned into a flash and burrowed into one of the ripples.

Fang Yuan's body shook, his eyes having a tint of yellow green light deep within.

This light flashed by quickly, and Fang Yuan shuddered.

Consciousness and memories assaulted his brain, merging instantly.

He succeeded!

He was extremely happy, he had rebirthed once more!

After sensing this, he immediately looked around, observing his surroundings.

He found that his primeval essence was being expended as his arms and body were coiled by white eyebrows.

Seeing once again, oh!

So it was this moment.

Tie Xue Leng's backup plan activated already. First gen Gu Yue was trapped by iron chains, not being able to move. His forehead also had a yellow talismen, the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu and the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu.

That Lord Sky Crane also landed on the ground, his body covered in a white barrier. He activated the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu, trying to exhaust all of First gen Gu Yue's primeval essence.

Fang Yuan squinted. He was coiled by the white eyebrows, not able to move, thus he could only use up primeval essence and wait for a good chance.

Under the effect of the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu, a yellow light flew out of First gen Gu Yue's body.

This yellow light was about fist-size, smaller than a person's face. It casually landed on the ground, showing the Blood Skull Gu inside.

"Blood Skull Gu! After hundreds of years, I finally see you again!" Lord Sky Crane on seeing this, was exhilarated and his expression extremely excited.

Gu Yue first head clenched his bloody fangs so hard that it made cracking sounds, but he couldn't even budge, much less struggle.

Suddenly, another ball of light was captured by the yellow talisman and fell to the ground, turning into the alternating black and white Taiji light sphere.

Two peculiar Gu worms were circling and chasing each other within this light sphere. It was the Yin Yang Rotation Gu.

According to Fang Yuan's memories, Lord Sky Crane shouted again, "Yin Yang Rotation Gu, my good senior brother, I truly have to thank you for finding such a good Gu. Hahaha, you actually wanted to turn back to a human, but what a pity your plan was destroyed by me!"

Fang Yuan looked at First gen Gu Yue.

Indeed, he was anxiously moved his legs and snarled, he had completely lost his manners.

"Wait a bit longer, my opportunity is coming." Fang Yuan's eyes shone with brilliance, choosing to wait a bit longer.

The third yellow light that was captured fell to the ground; it was a scarlet colored Gu and looked like a translucent water sphere.

Fang Yuan's heart jumped: "Blood Curtain Skyflower!"

It was this Gu that changed the situation and allowed First gen Gu Yue to overturn the crisis.

Blood Curtain Skyflower was created by First gen Gu Yue, Fang Yuan didn't know it earlier but now he was clear of its effects.

Indeed, afterwards, First gen Gu Yue shouted, "Quick someone, destroy this Gu worm!"

Several Gu Masters immediately moved forward upon hearing this and immediately used their attacks.

Swoosh!

A soft cry resounded, Blood Curtain Skyflower appeared again, the blood color sphere shield isolating the two areas. Some people were outside, while some were inside.

The blood shield broke the white eyebrows completely, and Fang Yuan and the others no longer had to compete with the Lord Sky Crane in primeval essence, thus regaining freedom.

Lord Sky Crane was blocked by this Gu, hurriedly getting up and snickering continuously.

After some conversation, he could not break the blood shield, and had to stop, asking, "What Gu is this?"

Gu Yue laughed smugly, "Let me teach you, this is my personally fused Gu — Blood Curtain Skyflower. Water Curtain Skyflower – a Rank four Gu – can block Rank five Gu attacks. This Gu is at Rank five and has even more powerful defense. Water Curtain Skyflower prevents even its owner from going in and out; but this Blood Curtain Skyflower can let me leave. Junior brother, don't be impatient, you can attack slowly, use all your strength. Just wait till I recover, I will then come out and cut away your dog head, ahahaha!"

Lord Sky Crane was furious, attacking again, but failed. After he calmed down, he chose to replenish his primeval essence, waiting for the blood shield to lose effect.

The Gu Masters seeing the blood shield being impenetrable, were overjoyed thinking their lives were saved, quickly flattering First gen Gu Yue, but only Bai Ning Bing snorted.

First gen Gu Yue thus asked for more primeval stones, and everyone quickly contributed what they had.

Although First gen Gu Yue was chained up, and could not move, his mouth continued to crush primeval stones as he recovered quickly.

Sky Crane Lord seeing this, started shouting, "You morons! Once he recovers his movement, he will kill you all and use your blood to upgrade his aptitude. You are causing your own doom!"

No one believed him.

"Hehe, using such a low level tactic to sow distrust, we'll laugh till our teeth drops!"

"Quick, this old thief is telling us not to give, so we need to give even more primeval stones."

"Everything is depending on lord ancestor!"

Chapter 197: Changing Fate!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Large numbers of primeval stones continued to be absorbed by First gen Gu Yue, as he chewed and crushed them.

Bai Ning Bing watched coldly.

But Fang Yuan moved; he did not observe but had a different choice than before.

"First gen Ancestor, the situation is dire, I have the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus to offer!" He was filled with sincerity as he walked up quickly, a look of helplessness but determination.

Gu Yue laughed heartily, "Very good, as expected of my descendant. Such filial piety, as your ancestor, I am very happy!"

He had long wanted the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, and once sent two bladewing blood bat groups to chase after Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan escaped quickly and didn't give him the chance.

However right now he had no suspicions.

Firstly, he did not fall out with Fang Yuan yet, and earlier he had lied that he was protecting Fang Yuan when he dispatched the bladewing blood bat group.

Secondly, Fang Yuan had taken the initiative to grab onto the white eyebrows and help the First gen Gu Yue in the primeval essence expenditure, causing the wavering people to make up their minds. Such a loyal performance, First gen Gu Yue still remembered it vividly.

Lastly, under such circumstances, Fang Yuan could only place his hopes on First gen Gu Yue. Only then could he defeat Lord Sky Crane and protect his life. First gen Gu Yue did not believe that Fang Yuan would ruin his own survival chances and attack him.

Thus, when Fang Yuan got closer, First gen Gu Yue laughed continuously, "With the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, my chances of victory is higher by 20%. All of you move away, and let him in."

"Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus?" Outside the blood barrier, Lord Sky Crane was stunned and quickly shouted, "You mustn't do it!"

Under everyone's gazes, Fang Yuan got to First gen Gu Yue's side.

"First gen ancestor. I have thought it through! It was you who created the village, it was because of you that all of us descendants exist. Back in the day, you made such a great contribution to the village. Today, you even led our clan towards brilliance. The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus should be used by you, great ancestor." He was full of admiration, his tone excited and nervous.

First gen Gu Yue nodded continuously, thinking: This lad is good with words. Too bad I still have to kill him later and retrieve his blood.

But at this time!

Fang Yuan lowered his back, striking.

He grabbed First gen Gu Yue, using the strength in his waist to turn his body and moved both arms.

He opened his mouth and growled, using the strength of two boars, expending all his energy to throw!

Swish!

First gen Gu Yue was thrown out of the blood barrier by him.

Dead silence!

At this time, it was as if time stopped.

The outside winds blew relentlessly. First gen Gu Yue was smashed onto the ground, his red hair flying around in the winds as he stared blankly, having unable to react to what had just happened.

In front of him, less than ten steps away was Lord Sky Crane.

This old man was still furious and anxious over Fang Yuan contributing the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. He did not expect in the least that in the very next moment, such a drastic change would occur.

He was stunned too, staring blankly at First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue was his mortal enemy, but at this point Lord Sky Crane was stunned, like he was still dreaming, not moving at all.

In the blood barrier, everyone stood like a statue, silent and unmoving.

Some people opened their mouths, so large that a fist could fit in it. Some stared with wide-opened eyes, almost bulging out.

Even Bai Ning Bing lost his composure, staring at Fang Yuan in astonishment.

Only when half a bamboo building collapsed within the blood barrier did everyone jolt awake all of a sudden.

"Wha… what… what the fuck!" Someone swore.

"Fang Yuan, what dumb shit did you do!" Someone pointed at Fang Yuan, his entire body shivering.

"First gen ancestor!" Someone attempted to pull First gen Gu Yue back, but was blocked by the Blood Curtain Skyflower.

"Despicable thief! Lying to your ancestor, I will tear you to shreds!" First gen Gu Yue finally reacted, lying on the ground screaming.

"Hahaha…" Amidst the frightened individuals, someone laughed.

It was none other than Bai Ning Bing.

He laughed till his tears came out, giving a thumbs up to Fang Yuan, "Interesting, interesting, truly spectacular."

"Fang Yuan, are you crazy?"

"Fang Yuan, you harmed the First gen ancestor, you plot even against the ancestor, are you still human?!"

"Waaaaaah, Fang Yuan must've been bought over by that white hair old man. You spy, you traitor!"

The surrounding people pointed at him in rage, but Fang Yuan lightly laughed, "I am a Rank three peak stage, who dares to kill me? Who can kill me?"

At this point, within the blood barrier, there were few Rank three Gu Masters. They had little primeval essence left due to the fight earlier, and they even gave up their primeval stones and could not get replenishments. As for the others, they were mortals or Rank one or two Gu Masters.

Without the First gen Gu Yue, within this blood barrier, Fang Yuan really was unstoppable.

"Hehehe." Fang Yuan laughed, bending down and picking up the two Gu worms.

His left hand carried the Blood Skull Gu, and his right hand carried the Yin Yang Rotation Gu. These two were owned by First gen Gu Yue, but right now they had a thin layer of yellow light, sealed by the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu, unable to sense First gen Gu Yue's desperate calls.

But this seal was an obstacle to Fang Yuan as well.

He wanted to break the seal and refine the two Gu worms. Forcefully breaking the seal however, will only cause these two Gu to be destroyed.

This was different from the Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu, as the Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu had to be destroyed to be used. By breaking the seal, it was the same as using it.

But Fang Yuan was not anxious.

He knew what would happen next. Both the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu and Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu would be corrupted by the Blood Frenzy Gu, turn into blood water and die.

"Hahaha, my good senior brother, to think you have this day! Hand over your life!" Lord Sky Crane howled, rushing into the sky and attacking towards First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue was suppressed by the demon suppressing chains and could not move, thus he was a target board and could only take the hits.

He scolded furiously, howling and struggling.

Suddenly the iron chains turned into a puddle of blood water, allowing him to regain his freedom and he hurriedly flew into the air, crashing against the blood barrier.

With a loud bang, unquestionably, he was blocked by the blood barrier.

This Blood Curtain Skyflower was refined by him, and it was his greatest invention. It had superb defense, but once used it cannot be moved nor turned off. For him, he could only exit and not enter.

"Little rascal, you will die a painful death!" First gen Gu Yue's grievance and rage towards Fang Yuan was greater than anything, rising like a tsunami.

Lord Sky Crane naturally chased him, laughing non-stop.

First gen Gu Yue could only give up on the blood barrier and resist the Lord Sky Crane. He had eaten large amounts of primeval essence earlier, thus he had ample primeval essence. Even though he had the lower hand, he could stabilise his situation.

"First gen ancestor, good luck!"

"Lord First gen, we are cheering for you!"

"Ancestor, you are our only hope…"

The battle between two Rank five attracted everyone's attention. Fang Yuan however, retracted his gaze and looked at Bai Ning Bing.

This situation was like two tigers competing, while he Fang Yuan was a rabbit. Both the Lord Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue were crafty old foxes. To wait for the two to injure each other and benefit Fang Yuan, such a chance was slim.

No one was stupid, they would not let the battle adrenaline get to their head.

Moreover, this blood barrier could only protect them for a while. Once the time is up, everyone inside including him would face the slaughter of Lord Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue.

He had already rebirthed once, thus the Spring Autumn Cicada had fallen into a weak state again, unable to be used.

Right now, he could only try to get as strong as possible, exerting the greatest effort to fight for a chance to survive.

Fang Yuan already had a plan. But in this plan, there was a person who played a crucial role. That person is Bai Ning Bing.

The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique's self detonation would greatly affect the battlefield. Especially when the two Rank fives were fighting outside of the barrier.

But how was he going to convince Bai Ning Bing?

Fang Yuan looked at Bai Ning Bing, and Bai Ning Bing sensed it, turning back to look at Fang Yuan.

Among the people, they stared at each other.

Fang Yuan in his black robe, with black hair and eyes, revealed a devilish smile as his lips curled.

"I have a way to resolve the ten extreme aptitudes, and allow you to return to life." He said.

Bai Ning Bing's body shuddered, he obviously wanted to live. "What method?"

However, Fang Yuan's words changed. "But this method does not have much chance of success, it is highly probable to fail."

Yet this made Bai Ning Bing even more convinced.

Next Fang Yuan said his third sentence, "But I think even if we fail, it will allow your final moments to be as spectacular as ever."

Bai Ning Bing's was moved.

Fang Yuan used three sentences and targeted his heart's innermost desires, convincing him!

He was also smart, and after thinking, he asked directly, "Then what do I need to do?"

Fang Yuan's smile disappeared. At the same time, the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu turned into a puddle of blood water.

Blood Skull Gu and Yin Yang Rotation Gu's seal vanished and were about to fly away, but Fang Yuan grabbed onto them.

He used the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura. These three Gu were merely Rank four, they were immediately tamed. Fang Yuan injected his primeval essence and refined them, turning them into his!

"What? Fuck!" Outside the blood barrier, First gen Gu Yue's head hurt as he lost the connection with the Blood Skull Gu and Yin Yang Rotation Gu.

He was beyond shocked, losing his bearing and rushing towards the blood barrier!

"How can this be? How could you refine my three Gu worms so quickly!" First gen Gu Yue cried out sadly, attacking the blood barrier like a crazed man.

Fang Yuan stole food from a tiger's mouth. By taking the Blood Skull Gu and Yin Yang Rotation Gu, it was a fatal blow to the First gen.

Everyone was shocked, taking a step back. First gen Gu yue was like a fierce beast trapped in despair, his eyes starting to burn with fire.

But quickly, Lord Sky Crane's attack came.

"I want you to die, I want you to die!" First gen Gu Yue went frantic, attacking without defending, exerting all his anger on Lord Sky Crane.

Lord Sky Crane was taken aback as he received some damaging blows.

The two fought it out again, as the battle slowly reached its climax.

Fang Yuan laughed loudly, saying to Bai Ning Bing: "Come, kill them all with me!"

Before he finished, he acted. As the razors on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede moved, he slashed a Gu Master nearby into half!

Blood Skull Gu!

Soon after, Fang Yuan activated the Blood Skull Gu, absorbing the blood.

Chapter 198: Ruthless in murdering people, cruelty exercised to profit from disaster

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

"Fang Yuan, what are you doing?"

"Quickly stop, the enemy is before us, how can we fight among ourselves?"

"Stop now, otherwise… urgh!"

Everyone was shocked. Fang Yuan was ruthless, killing another clansmen.

"I am only killing Gu Yue clan people, outsiders fuck off! Otherwise I'll kill you as well!" Fang Yuan screamed.

Everyone was stunned, retreating steps away, not expecting Fang Yuan to be so insane.

"Fang Yuan has lost it!"

"He's lost his logic, attack together!"

"Indeed, if this goes on, even before the first ancestor defeats the enemy, we'd have been slaughtered by Fang Yuan already…."

It was like Fang Yuan stabbed a beehive, causing everyone to stir, but no one dared to attack; most could only shout and encourage others to fight.

"Hahaha, interesting!" Bai Ning Bing laughed loudly, suddenly attacking and killing someone beside him.

"Lord Bai Ning Bing, you!" The dying person was a Bai clansmen.

"Oh no, Lord Bai Ning Bing lost it too!" Everyone shouted.

Fang Yuan's gaze concentrated, looking at Bai Ning Bing, not expecting him to change so drastically.

Bai Ning Bing laughed maniacally, "Since you can kill your own clansmen, I can't lose to you. Sigh, since too many deaths have occurred, Bai clan's future is ruined already, we can no longer be a village. The clan leader I'm indebted to is dead too, I might as well kill them now, and enjoy the fun."

"Hehehe, that's great," Fang Yuan laughed heartily, his body moving quickly, starting his slaughter.

Since these clansmen were going to die anyway, they might as well die at Fang Yuan's hands, contributing to his aptitude growth instead of First gen Gu Yue.

These people in the blood barrier, how could they be a match for Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing together? Especially when Bai Ning Bing who was nearing death, was much stronger and killed even more people than Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took the last hit and extracted their blood.

After killing a hundred people, the Blood Skull Gu reached its limit, and the crystal skull started to turn blood red.

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, activating the Blood Skull Gu, raising it over his head.

The teeth opened, shooting out a fragrant blood stream, drenching Fang Yuan from head to toe.

Fang Yuan enjoyed the discomfort and breathed in deeply, living in the moment.

His black robe and hair together with his bloodbathed body, made him look like a demon straight out of hell. The surrounding people upon seeing him, were all scared and cried out in fear.

"My aptitude really increased!" Fang Yuan's aptitude was only 44% C grade originally, but after the Man-beast Life Burial Gu, it dropped to 43%. Right now, standing under the blood stream as it gushed into his aperture, his aptitude rose by 10%, going to 53%.

"Indeed a great treasure, no wonder First gen Gu Yue treated it like his life!" Fang Yuan opened his eyes, nodding in satisfaction, starting another round of slaughter.

The two caused much bloodshed within the blood barrier.

This was a large slaughterhouse.

"Fang Yuan, you mad and crazy monster!" Gu Yue Mo Yan rushed up.

Fang Yuan dodged her attack and raised his Chainsaw Golden Centipede before throwing it down.

The young girl was split in half.

"Fang Yuan, let us go please, we're your uncle and aunt!" Gu Yue Dong Tu and his wife kneeled down and begged.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, his left hand waving, and a blood colored moonblade shot out, beheading the two.

Blood Skull Gu absorbed the Gu Yue clansmen' blood, turning into a thick blood stream, pouring into Fang Yuan.

"What a pleasure…" Fang Yuan closed his eyes, breathing in deeply, only to feel a warm feeling travelling through his body and causing his mind to become sharper, like he had been reborn.

Aptitude rose again, becoming 63%!

A Gu Master's aptitude, 40-59% was C grade, 60-79% was B grade, and 80% and above was A grade.

Fang Yuan had officially left C grade and become a B grade talent!

"But, my cultivation dropped…" Fang Yuan opened his eyes, staring intently.

Fang Yuan's aptitude rose to B grade, but his cultivation dropped from Rank three to Rank two.

Strange!

First gen Gu Yue evidently retained his cultivation level as his aptitude rose, so why was it that when it came to Fang Yuan, such a thing happened?

"This problem should be due to the Stone Aperture Gu!" Fang Yuan sighed in his heart.

Fang Yuan had used the Stone Aperture Gu to squeeze out all his potential, causing his cultivation to rise to Rank three peak stage. But this Blood Skull Gu injected the quality blood stream into him, raising the aperture's potential and raising his aptitude.

Undeniably, these two Gu clashed in nature.

But Blood Skull Gu was Rank four, while Stone Aperture Gu was Rank three. The Blood Skull Gu ruled over the Stone Aperture Gu, causing Fang Yuan's aperture to turn from stone back to light. However, the cultivation increase that the stone aperture brought was also disappearing, and even reducing his cultivation in the process.

This change was something Fang Yuan did not expect in such a short time.

But Bai Ning Bing was getting stronger, he killed everywhere he went. Thus, Fang Yuan was able to keep his strength and stop attacking, only collecting the bloodline.

First gen Gu Yue who was outside the blood barrier, saw the people getting slaughtered and flew into a rage, screaming but to no avail.

He spread his bloodline, waiting for hundreds of years. It was all for this moment, killing his descendants to raise his aptitude. After planning for so long, in the end, someone else benefited from it.

"This lad, so young yet so ruthless, even more demonic than his ancestor!" Lord Sky Crane seeing this, was slightly shocked too.

The slaughter continued, until six hours later.

Fang Yuan's cultivation dropped to Rank one initial stage, but his aperture returned to being a light wall, able to recover primeval essence on his own.

He was bathed in blood over ten times, and towards the last few times, the effect weakened. The first few raised his aptitude by 10%, but the percentage continued to drop with each try.

But his aptitude had increased from the C grade 43% to over 90%.

90%, A grade aptitude!

A grade aptitude!

"Five hundred years of my previous life, I only manage to raise my aptitude from C to B about 200 years later through pure luck. To think that this time, I can benefit from a disaster and rise to A grade." Fang Yuan clenched his fist, secretly excited.

Bai Ning Bing stopped his killing, walking over, "Next, what do we do?"

In the blood barrier, only the two of them were left. The others, whether it was Gu Master or mortal, were all killed.

Outside the blood barrier, no one was spared from the aftermath of the two Rank five experts' battle.

In the entire area, there was only the two inside the barrier, and the two outside.

Fang Yuan looked outside, saying casually, "Next, we wait for First gen Gu Yue to run into defeat, and the Blood Curtain Skyflower to vanish."

"And then?" Bai Ning Bing pursued.

"Then?" Fang Yuan turned around and looked at Bai Ning Bing, then he smiled, "Then you can go and die."

Bai Ning Bing was stunned.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Immediately, his eyes squinted into a line as his blue irises had a dangerous killing intent.

"The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique's self detonation is extremely strong. Even though your cultivation is weak, and the chances are not high, it should be able to hurt Rank five experts. After detonating, are you able to control the direction of the snow and frost?" Fang Yuan laughed.

"How would I know?" Bai Ning Bing's lips twitched. "I've never self detonated before!"

"I know you can!" Fang Yuan laughed heartily, patting his chest. Unknowingly, the image of Bai Ning Bing self-detonating previously appeared in his mind.

And that line—"Live for me, and witness the brilliance of this world!"

"I will stay by your side. After you detonate, and when the time is ripe, I will save your life and cause you to resurrect," Fang Yuan continued.

"What if you can't?"

"Hehehe." Fang Yuan laughed plainly, "Then you need to bet. When you detonate, I will be by your side. If you suspect my sincerity, you can send the ice storm to kill me. You must've noticed already. That's right, my cultivation is already Rank one initial stage. By then, I will have no way to survive."

"But if you believe me, then I could be lying too. Eventually I will not resurrect you, because I have no way to do so. Thus, you need to gamble — whatever choice you make, not just what you are thinking, but also what you are considering in the moment before you die."

Bai Ning Bing was solemn.

Fang Yuan's words was telling him to gamble away. But actually, wasn't Fang Yuan betting too? He was using his own life as the wager, fully dependant on Bai Ning Bing's thoughts.

"Hehe. So exciting. So very exciting! Then I shall bet on it, haha!" A moment later, Bai Ning Bing raised his head, laughing loudly.

Fang Yuan did not care about him, but concentrated on the battle outside the blood barrier.

As expected, First gen Gu Yue had the lower hand, suppressed by Lord Sky Crane.

Although he replenished his primeval essence, he could not replenish it, so under a sustained battle, how could he compete with Lord Sky Crane?

Moreover, Lord Sky Crane was clear of his methods, and he would not allow First gen Gu Yue to take back any advantage.

"I AM SO FUCKING FURIOUS!" A moment later, First gen Gu Yue cried out, "Little thief, you destroyed my thousand year plan, I will spare you today. Someday, I will kill the hell out of you to appease my anger!"

Throwing this angry statement, First gen Gu Yue flapped his wings and escaped the battlefield, flying towards the skies.

"Don't think of leaving!" Lord Sky Crane quickly turned into a flash of light, chasing relentlessly.

Without their intense battle, this battlefield became quiet instantly.

This was originally the best time to leave, but the blood veil aurora became a huge obstacle.

Four hours later, the blood barrier was thinning, and was about to vanish.

But at this time, a white light flew over, turning into the Lord Sky Crane.

His body was full of injuries. A wound stretched from his left shoulder to his waist, so deep that his bones could be seen, overflowing with purple poisonous red blood. But his face was extremely uplifted, showing the happiness of getting his long awaited revenge.

His right hand held a skull, a blood covered face, it was First gen Gu Yue!

"He actually managed to kill First gen Gu Yue?" Bai Ning Bing showed astonishment.

Fang Yuan laughed instead, "It seems this old fellow hates First gen Gu Yue to the core. Hehe, to kill the First gen, he definitely paid a huge price.

While they were speaking, the blood barrier vanished, and there were no longer any obstacles between the two.

"Little thief, quickly hand over the two Gu worms. I am still in a good mood now, I might spare your lives. Otherwise, when the blood barrier vanishes, you will all die without a resting place!" Lord Sky Crane flew into the sky, looking down and laughing loudly.

Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing looked at each other before laughing lightly, not speaking.

"Lord Sky Crane flew into a rage. "Good lad, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit, you deserve to get killed!"

Before he finished his words, he turned into a white light and assaulted.

Bai Ning Bing laughed grandly, taking a huge step in front, "I was waiting for you!"

Saying so, his body lost all color, turning into an ice statue.

Cold winds blew, and as winds turned into a hurricane, frost and ice covered the sky and the infinite ice river appeared.

"This is!" Lord Sky Crane did not expect it in the least that such a development would occur, causing him to be unprepared against Bai Ning Bing's attack, and was sealed into the ice.

Chapter 199: Walking towards their own destiny

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

BOOM! BOOM!

The ice glacier shook intensely as Lord Sky Crane carried out his attacks; he was about to break out of the ice layer in just a few seconds.

"We can't let this old geezer break free!" Fang Yuan shouted.

Bai Ning Bing couldn't speak anymore; after Fang Yuan's shout, he resolutely self-exploded one of his arm, turning it into vast amounts of frost wind. The wind swept through everything, the glacier spread and the ice layer rapidly thickened by a hundred feet.

Lord Sky Crane roared within the ice and started attacking in a frenzy.

Bai Ning Bing exploded his other arm. More ice condensed and the glacier repeatedly pressed down on Lord Sky Crane, suppressing him every time he tried to breakthrough.

Under Bai Ning Bing's meticulous control, the ice moved like an army, firmly entrapping Lord Sky Crane. Lord Sky Crane may be a Rank five Gu Master, but after killing Gu Yue first head, he was thoroughly spent. He attacked again and again, but couldn't break out in the end.

"It is actually Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique! But if you want to kill me with just this, you can keep on dreaming!" He suddenly realized and immediately activated Life-retaining Jade Burial Gu.

Green jade light came into being and covered his body. Then the rays of light turned from virtual to material, changing into a transparent jade coffin with Lord Sky Crane inside it.

This jade coffin was abnormally hard; even after trying multiple times, Bai Ning Bing was not able to put even a scratch on it. In the end, he could only add more ice layers around the jade coffin, forming an ice peak that was hundreds of feets high.

Fang Yuan had watched all this from the sidelines.

"Worthy of being a ten extreme physique!" He was impressed even though this was his second time seeing it.

Fang Yuan was standing right beside Bai Ning Bing. Right now, Bai Ning Bing had destroyed his two arms and was turning into an ice sculpture. Even his appearance was becoming indistinct as the ice slowly covered him.

Both his appearance and his consciousness were slowly dissipating. Once his consciousness fades, he would be completely dead.

As the ice layer started to spread towards himself, Fang Yuan was clear on what he had to do: It is impossible to escape by myself; I will be sealed and frozen to death by the glacier sooner or later!

"It's time." Immediately, he took out a pair of Gu worms from his aperture.

One black Gu and one white Gu were revolving around each other in an orbit, forming a light sphere of Taiji diagram.

This was the Yin Yang Rotation Gu.

"Go." Fang Yuan willed it; the black Gu immediately flew out and merged into Bai Ning Bing's ice sculpture.

Fang Yuan may just be a Rank one right now, but his aperture still contained large amounts of Rank three snow silver primeval essence which he almost used up in activating this Gu.

In the instance when the black Gu went into the ice sculpture, black light burst out everywhere; yin qi gathered from all around and formed into an energy vortex in the air. A completely new life force came into being within the ice sculpture, and started growing vigorously.

The dazzling black light dissipated; the ice sculpture cracked and broke into pieces, which then flew scattered to the surroundings.

A white gown, silver hair, intact arms, picturesque appearance with lovely blush on the cheeks; Bai Ning Bing broke free of the ice and came out!

The blizzard came to a sudden stop and the cold air also completely dispersed. The ice layer stopped a few inches from Fang Yuan, he had lived through this near death experience!

"I am really alive!" Bai Ning Bing was shocked. He looked at his pretty jade-like hands and then felt his whole body; his disbelief changed to ecstasy.

"Hahaha." Fang Yuan laughed brightly, "I used the Yin Gu of Yin Yang Rotation Gu on you, this Gu can change yang to yin and give you a complete transformation. It is a Rank four healing Gu and has the effect of bringing the dead to life. It has a weak point though, and that is — the Gu Master's aptitude will be lowered by 10% once it is used."

Bai Ning Bing possessed the ten extreme physique which was a 100% aptitude. Now, his aptitude was lowered by 10%, and was equal to Fang Yuan's 90% aptitude.

This news, to others, might have been grievious, but to Bai Ning Bing, it was joyous news.

"This feels great. My aptitude has been lowered, I no longer have the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique. Haha, what does it matter if I only have 90%?" Bai Ning Bing started laughing loudly.

Fang Yuan, however, shook his head. "It is very difficult to change the ten extreme physiques. Although this method lowered your aptitude, as you cultivate in the future, your aptitude will also recover until the day it turns into Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique again. When that day comes, you will need to use this Yang Gu – it will turn you around again and lower your aptitude by 10%."

Upon saying this, Fang Yuan put back the Yang Gu into his aperture in front of Bai Ning Bing's dead-straight gaze.

"Yin Yang Rotation Gu all come in pairs; you have already used that Yin Gu, so only the Yang Gu on me will have any effect on you. Don't even think of stealing it, I have already refined this Yang Gu; I can easily order it to self-destroy with just a thought," Fang Yuan explained.

He only had Rank one cultivation now, but Bai Ning Bing was still a Rank three Gu Master; naturally he needed some ways to stop Bai Ning Bing from taking actions against him.

"I see, Fang Yuan, you really planned it all!" Bai Ning Bing heaved a long sigh, "What do you want from me for that Yang Gu?"

"Hahaha…" Fang Yuan laughed for a good while then turned serious, "Qing Mao Mountain has already turned into a desolate ice mountain. The three great clans along with countless living beings have all been frozen and will die within three to five days. Such a scene will definitely attract the attention and investigation of many forces. Moreover, that old man isn't dead and has sealed himself within the jade coffin, waiting to breakout. We can't stay in Qing Mao Mountain anymore, we need to leave."

"But look at me, I only have Rank one cultivation now; I can't even take out my Gu worms, much less leave by myself. Hence, I need to rely on your strength. This world is so big, so wondrous, and Qing Mao Mountain is only a very small part of it. Follow me as I roam this land, and witness the wonders of the world!"

"It was like this! You really planned out everything. Humph!" Bai Ning Bing grinded his teeth. He was really happy but there was also some resignation now. However, as it turns out, Fang Yuan's proposal moved him. "I can agree to you but I need to make one thing clear."

"What?" Fang Yuan asked.

"It is not me who is following you, but you who is following me as I roam the lands!" Bai Ning Bing's red lips slightly raised with an arrogant smile.

"Hahahaha." Fang Yuan laughed heartily.

"Then, where are we going next? What do you have in mind?" Bai Ning Bing asked.

"Bai Gu mountain." Fang Yuan answered in between his laughters.

"What's so funny?" Bai Ning Bing was truly puzzled.

Fang Yuan laughed until his tears flowed, "You still haven't discovered anything wrong?"

"What is there that's wrong?" Bai Ning Bing raised his dark eyebrows; suddenly, his face turned extremely wonderful.

Surprise, fear, puzzled, panic, shock, anger… all these expressions intertwined in her face.

She looked at her round and full chest, and cried out with a loud voice, "I, how did I become a woman?!"

The voice resounded throughout the Qing Mao mountain, shaking the snow.

"Of course it would be like that! Yin Yang Rotation Gu – Yin Gu is used in male body, to turn yang into yin, and become a woman; likewise, Yang Gu is used in female body, to turn yin to yang, and become a man. Yin Yang Rotation, rotating yin and yang… what do you think it means?" Fang Yuan spoke like it was what it should be.

"I, I… what the fuck!" Bai Ning Bing looked at Fang Yuan with a furious gaze and cursed. With this, she must now get hold of that sole Yang Gu.

"Brother Bai, calm yourself, being able to live is the greatest fortune," Fang Yuan consoled her.

"Fortune my ass, how about you try being a woman?!" Bai Ning Bing's furious growl resounded within the snow covered mountain and glaciers.

Two days later.

The sun hung high in the sky; the ice was melting down and a stream of clear water flowed through the ice mountain.

Crackle….

The silence of the surroundings was broken by the cracking of ice; a jade light burst out from within the ice and hovered in the air, turning into a jade coffin.

The jade coffin exploded, and Lord Sky Crane gave a long cry upon regaining his freedom and seeing the daylight again.

This Life-retaining Jade Burial Gu was a Rank five Gu and was very mysterious. As long as the Gu Master had one breath of life in him, it could suspend his life and delay the injuries. Not only this, but the jade coffin it formed was extremely strong and could even be considered a defensive weapon.

"Goddamn thief!" He cursed with a pained voice. Right now, he was both furious and impatient.

Even after killing his lifetime enemy, the First gen Gu Yue, he couldn't get the true blood sea inheritance; how was he going to answer his teacher when he returned?

According to his memories, the ice layer where Fang Yuan was supposed to be was already cut open.

"If only he didn't get far!" He patrolled the surroundings hoping for a lucky break.

He used his recon Gu and discovered many life forces hanging on to their lives in the depths of the ice layers.

Living beings were tenacious and this tenacity could often bring about miracles. It had only been two days since this glacier covered these life forms, which was not enough to lead to their complete deaths.

"Found him! To think he was actually hiding here, hmph, the most dangerous area is the safest place, right? This guy is really crafty!" Lord Sky Crane's whole body jolted and became indescribably happy upon this discovery.

He rushed into the ice layer and soon fished out an ice chunk.

Within the ice chunk, Fang Zheng's whole body was covered with a layer of moonlight from the Moon Raiment Gu. He was already at the edge of death's door.

Lord Sky Crane could swear he would never forget Fang Yuan's appearance in this life.

However, he was a Rank five expert and after closely looking at Fang Zheng, he was immediately disappointed. "This person isn't him, only their appearances are similar. Sigh…"

He heaved a deep sigh before suddenly becoming stupefied.

"Wait a second, their appearances are so similar which means they are extremely likely to be twins! If so, then he is closely related to that little thief!" Lord Sky Crane's dim old eyes suddenly burst out with a sharp gaze.

With a close relative on him, he could refine the Kinship Blood worm!

It was because of this Rank five Kinship Blood worm that he was able to locate the First gen Gu Yue among this vast world and its diverse life forms.

"I haven't completely failed teacher's assignment. There is still some hope. This kid is my only hope. I must save him!"

Fang Zheng slowly opened his exhausted and heavy eyes.

"Where is this?" His eyes were still hazy and he could only see a blurry figure before him. At the same time, his whole body felt weak, along with an intense headache.

The last thing he recalled was the three clans competition, where Ironbeak flying cranes covered the sky and everyone around him had fled.

He had activated the Moon Raiment Gu and resisted against the flying cranes' attacks. As the battle continued, a flying crane broke through his barrier and pecked fiercely at his forehead.

He had immediately lost consciousness, tumbling down the cliff.

"You are the elder standing on the crane?!" As he became clear on the identity of the person before him, Fang Zheng struggled to get up in shock, but fell down again before he could completely stand up.

"Kid, you are still thinking of escaping in front of me, Lord Sky Crane?" Lord Sky Crane sneered.

He sized up Fang Zheng once and said, "You could say that I am even your lifesaver. If not for me, you would have already frozen to death. I advise you to not move around randomly, don't blame me if you fall down."

Fang Zheng looked beside him and immediately got a great shock.

There were clouds moving all around him, and he was standing on the back of an enormous crane as it flew in the sky.

"You, who the hell are you? Where are you taking me to?" Fang Zheng cried out in alarm.

"I am Lord Sky Crane, and we are heading to the Middle Continent."

"Middle Continent?!" Fang Zheng shouted in shock.

Chapter 200: The raft overturns along the Yellow Dragon River

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Book 2: The Demon Leaves the Mountain

The Yellow Dragon river is the third river in the Southern Border – it is over eight thousand kilometers. It starts from Mount Huang Guo, and passes through mountains and hills like Mount Xuan Ming, Mount Gui Bei, Mount Qing Mao, Mount Bai Gu and Mount Lei Ci before finally flowing into the ocean.

If the whole Southern Border was seen through a bird's eye view, one could see the Yellow Dragon river forming a zigzag shape as it ran through over half of the Southern Border.

Several waves roared as they turned over, the violent waves rolling in an imposing manner along the river. It bore through the crack between the shores, and fog was raise up into the blue sky.

The Yellow Dragon river flowed rapidly and unceasingly. Many creatures lived in the river – fishes, turtles, snakes, clams and other life forms. At this moment, there was a bamboo raft bobbing up and down with the waves.

This green raft looked quite battered and seemed to be in need of repair. There was a simple and crude mast in the middle with a shabby white sail hanging on it. A pile of goods were put around the mast to stabilize the center of the raft. The bamboo were tied with hemp ropes and there were many loops around some areas; they were clearly hurriedly done as the raft sailed through the river.

The bamboo raft flowed with the currents of the river, and every time the waves crashed onto it, the raft gave out a creaking noise which was far from reassuring.

This bamboo raft which looked like it could break apart at any moment was carrying two youngsters – one had an ordinary face with black pupils and black hair, wearing a black gown; another was a woman with the looks of an immortal fairy, blue pupils and silver hair, wearing a white gown.

They were Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.

After the battle at Qing Mao mountain – Bai Ning Bing self exploding his Northern Dark Ice Soul physique and sealed Lord Sky Crane for the moment – they used all their strength to break out of the ice, then cut off some Qing Mao bamboos to make this raft before immediately hitting the road to flee.

Fang Yuan's thousand li earth wolf spider was already dead; and ever since Bai Ning Bing's white form immortal snake had flown out on its own, there had been no news from it.

With no transportation gu worms, the two would definitely be caught by Lord Sky Crane if they were to move on land as their speed would be too slow. Thus, Fang Yuan could only think of this method.

Many tributaries of Yellow Dragon river flowed through Qing Mao mountain. Previously, the Rank five River Swallowing Toad had flowed with the main course of Yellow Dragon river and accidentally flowed to the foot of the Qing Mao mountain.

The bamboo raft flowed through one of the tributaries to the main river course, and as it flowed with the river, its speed was naturally extremely fast.

"It has been five days, it doesn't look like that old guy will come," Fang Yuan mumbled as he stood on the bamboo raft and took a glance behind him.

The bamboo raft's speed could definitely not match the Ironbeak flying crane king. But the Ironbeak flying crane king would definitely need to rest and couldn't compare with the bamboo raft which continuously flowed with the river. And as more time went by, Fang Yuan became more assured.

Moreover, Fang Yuan recalled that Lord Sky Crane had returned alone after killing the Gu Yue first head. The Ironbeak flying crane king was likely to be already dead.

The raging waves of the river bombarded their ears. Bai Ning Bing took a glance at Fang Yuan; she might not have understood the details in his words, but knew what he meant.

She laughed loudly, "What are you so worried for! If that old geezer chases us, we will just fight to death. Fighting on this Yellow Dragon river will be extremely spectacular. Well, the thing is that if we die here, we will end up in the stomachs of some fishes. Haha, that sounds interesting too."

Fang Yuan ignored her, instead gazing towards the distance.

With five days of sailing, they were almost at the Bai Gu Mountain.

According to his memories, there was a secret inheritance hidden in Bai Gu Mountain. The inheritance was arranged by a Rank four Gu Master of the righteous path, for someone fated to it.

"I haven't personally seen this inheritance in the Bai Gu Mountain, and have only heard about it. But it was rumored that this inheritance had some obstacles which required two people to coordinate to pass through."

When Fang Yuan thought of this, he gave a casual glance towards Bai Ning Bing.

Although they were travelling together, it was only due to the situation and the pressure of a powerful enemy. He himself was only at Rank one initial stage and absolutely needed help to roam outside. But with Bai Ning Bing turning into a woman, he had the greatest hold on her in the Yang Gu, giving her no choice but to compromise.

After entering the Bai Gu Mountain, could they really coordinate with one mind? It was a big question mark.

Snap.

Suddenly, a muffled sound was heard.

"Not good, the rope has come off." This sound was very familiar to Bai Ning Bing as she immediately shouted.

The force of the river flow was fierce, and in these five days, who knows how many times the hemp rope binding the raft had rotted out due to it. Fortunately, Fang Yuan had made enough preparations before they had set out.

"Quick get the hemp rope, I will hold it till then." Fang Yuan immediately crouched down and used his hands to hold the areas where the rope had come loose, preventing the situation from getting messed up.

The river flowed fast and violently, it would take a lot of strength to hold the bamboo raft; Bai Ning Bing wasn't qualified for this, only Fang Yuan who had the strength of two boars was.

Luckily, this situation had occurred multiple times before and Bai Ning Bing had become more experienced in dealing with this; she quickly went to get the hemp rope tied around the simple and crude mast in the center of the boat.

"Here, take it!" She rushed over and handed the hemp rope.

Fang Yuan agilely took it and rapidly coiled it around the loose areas with sweat starting to drip off his head as he concentrated on the task. After coiling the hemp rope around the loose area several times, the raft finally stabilized.

"This raft has already suffered a lot of damage, from the looks of it, it can only continue on for a day. We need to reach the shore in this duration." Fang Yuan heaved a sigh.

Yellow Dragon river was not safe at all, who knew how many dangers were hidden within this raging river. If the bamboo raft fell apart in the middle of the river, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing would have no choice but to go with the river, with no way of telling if they would survive.

Ta.

There was a soft muffled sound.

"What was that sound?" Fang Yuan immediately furrowed his brows.

Bai Ning Bing listened closely with a doubtful expression: "What sound? I didn't hear anything."

Roots grew out from Fang Yuan's ears, and almost immediately he heard the continuous tatata sounds. Along with the sounds, the bamboo raft also started shaking.

"What is that thing attacking the bamboo raft from the river!" Bai Ning Bing cried out in surprise.

A black ray flew out from beside the bamboo raft and brushed past Bai Ning Bing.

This black shadow was too fast and couldn't be seen clearly. Bai Ning Bing only felt her ear go cold, with some liquid flowing down her cheeks. She subconsciously wiped it; it was blood!

"What the hell is this thing!" She cursed as she looked up, only seeing a spindle-shaped black fish falling into the river from mid-air.

"It is the Shuttle Swordfish, damn it, we need to pull towards the shore immediately!" Fang Yuan shouted before pulling the sail.

The Shuttle Swordfish had a sharp head and tail, whereas its stomach was big, just like a textile shuttle. They only appeared in big rivers or oceans, roaming and hunting in groups of hundreds or thousands. They were carnivorous and would often hunt prey ten times or even hundreds of times their size.

Whooshh!

The Shuttle Swordfishes shot out of the river like black arrows.

The bamboo raft shook violently as many of the Shuttle Swordfishes struck it. Fortunately, Qing Mao bamboo was a top grade bamboo; it was very strong and durable. But as the Shuttle Swordfishes kept on piercing the bamboo raft from below, the raft looked like it would fall apart at any moment.

The sail was adjusted to borrow the force of the wind, thus the raft leaned to a side and sailed quickly towards a riverbank.

However, the group of Shuttle Swordfishes had no intention to give up. They scuttled beneath the river and attacked the raft violently.

Crack.

A Qing Mao bamboo was split open and a Shuttle Swordfish smashed upon the bamboo raft; its momentum was already exhausted as it landed beside Bai Ning Bing.

Its head was like an auger and scales tightly covered its whole body, shining with grim light. Bai Ning Bing watched it struggling helplessly; after she had self-exploded, all the Gu worms she possessed had been frozen to death, while the Yin Yang Rotation Gu saved her but it didn't have the ability to resurrect her Gu worms.

Crack, crack, crack.

Following closely, other bamboos on the raft started snapping apart.

It was outstanding enough that the bamboo raft could even endure the first wave of attacks. But it couldn't endure the second wave.

The bamboo raft was damaged and was starting to sink under the river.

"Quick, quick, quick!" Fang Yuan cursed as he protected the sail. If the sail was lost, the raft would lose the propulsive force; Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing would fall into the river, their deaths being a sure thing!

The Shuttle Swordfishes prepared to charge in for a third wave of attacks. Large numbers of the Shuttle Swordfishes shot out like arrows, breaking the bamboos and snapping the hemp ropes; the bamboo raft was breaking apart.

Sky Canopy Gu!

Fang Yuan forcefully activated the Rank three Gu, immediately causing the primeval essence in his aperture to decrease in a terrifying rate.

This was still under the conditions of him having 90% A grade aptitude along with Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

A Rank one initial stage's green bronze primeval essence could hardly meet the requirements for the Sky Canopy Gu.

Even if a white light armor took shape, it looked extremely weak and didn't exude the aura of a Rank three Gu.

Bang, bang, bang.

A series of dull thuds issued as the Shuttle Swordfishes struck against the white armor; they were unable to harm Fang Yuan. Bai Ning Bing, however, was already injured, and was frantically avoiding the Shuttle Swordfishes that shot towards the bamboo raft. At the same time, she stood behind Fang Yuan, relying on him to block off majority of the attacks.

The situation was very critical; the sail was already covered with holes and the speed of the bamboo raft continued to decrease. There was less than one-third of the bamboo raft left, and it was already sinking down with the water surface reaching the ankles of Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.

"Damn it, a Rank five Gu Master couldn't kill me, but I am going to die by this group of measly Shuttle Swordfishes instead?" Bai Ning Bing let out a deep sigh.

With another wave of attacks, the bamboo raft would definitely sink, and they would surely die after falling into the river.

However….

The Shuttle Swordfishes were delaying their attacks, causing Bai Ning Bing to hold her breath and watch tightly, seemingly on edge.

"We have reached the shore, the Shuttle Swordfishes won't swim in shallow water. Huff! We are safe for the time being." Fang Yuan let out a breath of turbid air. His whole body ached and was on the verge of giving out.

He had almost no rest in the past few days, what with needing to control the sail and adjusting the direction of the raft from time to time. It had already taxed his body to the limits.

Bai Ning Bing also gasped in the cold air, her white gown dyed with blood. There were many injuries on her body, but fortunately she had combat talent, and with full efforts on dodging along with the bamboo raft lowering the charging momentum of the Shuttle Swordfishes, she suffered only light injuries.

Fang Yuan glanced at Bai Ning Bing, and shortly after, intense pain travelled through his body.

He was also injured, with the bleeding continuing even now.

The primeval essence in his aperture had completely dried out within few minutes of using the Sky Canopy Gu. Without its protection, his flesh body naturally couldn't resist the Shuttle Swordfishes.

His original plan had been to sail for a day more.

However, unexpected events can happen at any moment. Planning could never overtake the changes, and there was still some distance from Bai Gu Mountain, but Fang Yuan knew they had to pull toward the shore now.

The sail was already useless. Fang Yuan had given all his efforts to steer the raft clear from the reefs, stranding towards a beach.

The two splashed their way through the water and stepped on the soft beach; they had reached the shore.

Bai Ning Bing covered her wounds and sat down on her butt. Her face was pale, "If this continues, I might die from excessive blood loss! Quick, bring out your healing Gu."

Fang Yuan gave a bitter smile, how could he pull a healing Gu out of thin air?