Although she had only just ascended to immortality, Bai Ningbing possessed advantages that even ordinary Immortal Gu Masters lacked.
First, she was a holder of one of the Ten Extreme Physiques, the Northern Ice Spirit Body, excelling in the ice and snow cultivation path. Similar to Hei Loulan’s Great Strength True Martial Physique, her body markings surpassed those of a peak Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu Master.
Second, she had become the master of the Bai Xiang Grotto-Heaven. She inherited the Bai Xiang True Inheritance, mastering all the Gu Insects left behind by Bai Xiang, among which were no small number of Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu!
However, there were no Eighth Transformation Immortal Gu.
Bai Xiang’s historical status was still a bit below Hei Fan’s. But the combined strength of the Five Phases surpassed Hei Fan by far.
Bai Ningbing’s weakness lay in her unfamiliarity with the Immortal Gu and Immortal Killing Moves she now possessed. Activating them often resulted in failures, leading to the danger of backlash and injury.
Raising, using, and refining—using Gu was one of the three key focuses of a Gu Master’s cultivation.
For Bai Ningbing to skillfully utilize these gains, she would need to spend a considerable amount of time in practice.
Therefore, she was still far from being ready for actual combat.
However...
At this very moment, this weakness of Bai Ningbing’s was effectively concealed.
By her side were her four Gu Immortal companions: Ying Wu Xie, Hei Loulan, Tai Bai Yun Sheng, and Shi Nu.
It was precisely because they covered each other that Bai Ningbing gained the leisure to prepare her Immortal Killing Move.
Fang Yuan had misjudged the intelligence on Bai Ningbing.
On one hand, he believed Bai Ningbing’s state was similar to Tai Bai Yun Sheng and Hei Loulan’s, her combat ability boosted thanks to the benefits from the Shadow Sect.
On the other hand, although Fang Yuan had used Qi Luck Resonance multiple times to detect Bai Ningbing, he could not thereby learn about matters like the Bai Xiang Grotto-Heaven.
Thus, Fang Yuan had greatly underestimated Bai Ningbing’s true combat power.
Had Fang Yuan known the truth, perhaps he would not have chosen Tai Bai Yun Sheng as his primary target, and would have aimed for Bai Ningbing first instead.
But Fang Yuan had always lacked methods in the Wisdom Path. How could he know about the Bai Xiang Grotto-Heaven?
Although Fang Yuan was a reborn individual, he was far from omniscient and omnipotent.
Bai Ningbing’s gaze could cause targets in her field of vision to continuously form ice and frost, slowing their movements. This was a technique from Bai Xiang’s era.
Upon recognizing the peculiarity, Fang Yuan immediately took measures, flying straight back to conceal his tracks.
Visibility within the Gan Cao Realm Wall was already poor. After Fang Yuan used his methods, he vanished instantly from Bai Ningbing’s sight.
Bai Ningbing gritted her teeth. Fang Yuan was old and cunning, instantly seeing the limitations of this technique.
“Even with such trump cards, he never acts rashly? It’s a pity we specifically formulated counter-tactics for this,” Bai Ningbing thought with great regret.
The move Fang Yuan used to destroy the Super Gu Formation in the Eastern Sea was so powerful that it made Ying Wu Xie, Bai Ningbing, and the others wary and even fearful.
Along the way, they had naturally discussed how to guard against this move of Fang Yuan’s.
Yet Fang Yuan never used that move, rendering most of Ying Wu Xie and the others’ pre-battle preparations useless.
“It’s hateful that I’ve only inherited the Bai Xiang True Inheritance for such a short time. Although this killing move has limitations, it has complementary moves that can compensate.”
Activating this move was already a strain for Bai Ningbing. To activate another Immortal Killing Move simultaneously on top of this would result in an extremely high probability of failure.
Bai Ningbing was not Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan could focus on multiple things at once, simultaneously activating several Immortal Killing Moves, but Bai Ningbing’s aptitude in this area was very low.
Although Fang Yuan had temporarily retreated and concealed himself, he still held the initiative and the upper hand.
Under such circumstances, Bai Ningbing could not afford to take risks.
If she risked it and failed, she would undoubtedly disrupt her own formation, creating a flaw where none existed for Fang Yuan to exploit.
Bai Ningbing knew Fang Yuan very well; if such a flaw existed, he absolutely would not let it pass. Fang Yuan’s grasp of battle opportunities was something even Bai Ningbing admired.
“If Fang Yuan is frozen by my gaze, once he recovers, his speed will be so fast even my gaze will have trouble keeping up!” Bai Ningbing deliberated.
When Fang Yuan transformed into the Ancient Sword Flood Dragon, the speed he burst forth with was already astonishing. Add to that his Sword Escape and his Sword Dao markings—even a Seventh Transformation powerhouse like Yelü Qunxing had died under that speed.
Bai Ningbing was well aware that her earlier move, the Gaze Freezing technique, had only caught Fang Yuan off guard.
Now that Fang Yuan was on guard, if he unleashed that terrifying speed again, the effectiveness of this Immortal Killing Move would drop to rock bottom.
“It seems I have no choice but to change moves!” Bai Ningbing immediately decided.
She had to change.
Earlier, Fang Yuan had unleashed his speed, nearly killing Tai Bai Yun Sheng in an instant.
If Bai Ningbing did not proactively seek change and continued using the Immortal Killing Move Gaze Freezing, the next person to die might very well be herself!
The situation was extremely critical. Bai Ningbing actively retreated behind Shi Nu while calling out in a low voice to Ying Wu Xie: “Protect me! I need to unleash that move!”
Bai Ningbing and Ying Wu Xie had formed a new alliance, and with a great enemy outside, both had revealed some of their trump cards to each other.
Therefore, Bai Ningbing did not spell it out, but Ying Wu Xie understood.
His face solemn, he nodded slowly: “Alright, use that move. Your safety is in our hands!”
Immediately after, Ying Wu Xie directly ordered Shi Nu: “Even if you have to sacrifice yourself, you must protect Bai Ningbing.”
Shi Nu was utterly loyal to Ying Wu Xie. Upon hearing these words, he nodded in agreement without the slightest resistance or hesitation.
“Rest assured. He has been hit by my Gaze Freezing technique. According to the flaws of the Supreme Immortal Physique you mentioned earlier, if he has no countermeasures, he will need over a dozen breaths of time to fully recover,” Bai Ningbing said confidently.