On the cliff, Bai Ningbing watched with great interest.
Below the ledge where he sat, a life-and-death battle was unfolding.
The Alpha Lightning Wolf paced forward, closing in slowly.
Two Gu Masters stood before it, faces grim.
Behind them, Xiong Zhan crouched low, his left hand gripping his right wrist. His right hand was shaped into a claw, aimed squarely at the Alpha Lightning Wolf from a distance.
"Forcible Seizure Gu!" he suddenly roared. All the True Essence in his body surged toward the Forcible Seizure Gu.
An invisible pulling force erupted forth.
Xiong Zhan's right hand clawed at the air, and an illusion made him feel as though he had seized hold of a Gu Insect.
But that Gu Insect was struggling continuously, locked in a contest of strength with him.
The force was tremendous. He had already lowered his center of gravity as far as it would go, yet he still felt as though he were being dragged forward.
The Forcible Seizure Gu had a very low success rate, but this time he had to succeed — otherwise, he was doomed!
He ground his steel-like teeth until they crackled, veins bulging across his forehead, his face twisted into a mask of ferocity. He fought with everything he had.
Xiong Zhan had no path of retreat.
If he failed, he would die!
Stimulated by the specter of death, he poured every last drop of True Essence into the Forcible Seizure Gu.
As the True Essence flooded in, the Forcible Seizure Gu dwelling in the palm of his right hand erupted with an even stronger suction force. The Alpha Lightning Wolf sensed something was wrong and howled, then launched into a frenzied assault.
The two Gu Masters barely held their ground.
Just as Xiong Zhan felt the Forcible Seizure Gu about to succeed, his expression changed abruptly.
"Damn it. Not enough True Essence!" He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his face instantly withering with exhaustion. If the Forcible Seizure Gu failed, it would suffer a backlash. This was one of the Gu's fatal flaws.
Awoooo!
Freed from the Forcible Seizure Gu's restraint, the Alpha Lightning Wolf threw open its maw and let out a piercing howl.
Its symbiotic Gu Insect erupted with power, and arcs of lightning crackled between its fangs.
The azure-blue currents gathered together, then suddenly blasted outward.
The electricity surged between the two Gu Masters and struck Xiong Zhan dead-on as he crouched there.
Xiong Zhan didn't even have time to scream. The current seared him into a piece of charred, cooked flesh, killing him instantly.
"Run!" The remaining two Gu Masters lost all will to fight and fled in opposite directions.
The Alpha Lightning Wolf caught up to one, pounced, and crushed its throat.
Only the Gu Master from the Bai Family Stronghold remained. The Alpha Lightning Wolf had cut off his escape, forcing him to retreat step by step until his back was against the cliff.
"Aaaah! I'm going to die!" He pressed his back against the cliff face and threw his head back, howling in despair, venting every ounce of terror in his heart.
But suddenly his voice cut short — he had spotted Bai Ningbing on the cliff face above.
"Lord Bai Ningbing! Lord Bai Ningbing, is that really you?" After a moment of shock, he screamed out, tears of joy streaming down his face.
"Oh my, I've been spotted," Bai Ningbing chuckled lightly, slowly raising his right hand.
He pointed his right index finger downward, and an ice spike materialized instantly, shooting down toward the ground below.
The ice spike struck the screaming Gu Master, piercing clean through his skull — in from the top of his head and out through his jaw.
"Ugh!" His face still wore the manic joy of a man who thought he had survived. Then he toppled face-first onto the ground with a thud.
The Alpha Lightning Wolf was startled by the sudden commotion.
It looked up at Bai Ningbing on the cliff above, its lips splitting open to reveal teeth wreathed in crackling electricity.
"Ignorant beast," Bai Ningbing murmured with cold indifference. He lightly leaped, dropping from the five-meter-tall cliff face.
In midair, he slammed both palms together, and frost immediately billowed outward.
Then he pulled his hands apart to either side, and an ice blade formed in an instant.
The blade measured one-point-seven meters long, resembling a Japanese katana from Earth, its entire body forged from transparent, solid ice. The hilt was gripped in Bai Ningbing's pale hand.
A bolt of lightning shot upward from below. Bai Ningbing let out a contemptuous snort, and two streams of pristine white vapor erupted from his nostrils.
The vapor swooped around his body with a whoosh, forming a spherical water shield.
The water sphere churned and rotated. The Alpha Lightning Wolf's lightning struck the shield and shattered it.
The sphere burst apart, revealing the white-robed youth within.
"Die." The youth's black eyes abruptly turned a pure, crystalline blue — like two shards of sapphire, radiating utter ruthlessness and coldness.
A flash of blade-light.
Bai Ningbing landed lightly on the ground. On the translucent white ice blade in his hand, a single drop of blood slid down.
The Alpha Lightning Wolf stood frozen like a sculpture.
One breath later, blood erupted from its neck in a gushing spray. Its massive wolf head tumbled to the ground, rolling several times before coming to rest. Its body collapsed behind it.
The Electric Current Gu that had been dwelling within the wolf shot out in a streak of light, hurtling straight at Bai Ningbing.
Bai Ningbing flipped his wrist with a gentle motion, and a flash of blade-light flickered through the air.