Fang Zheng stood at a distance, watching so intently he didn't dare to breathe.
This battle had reached its most critical moment. Who would win or lose depended entirely on this exchange.
"Lord Qingshu, you can do it!" Fang Zheng shouted, his whole body trembling with nerves. He knew that going over there would only be a burden, so all he could do was cheer loudly for Guye Qingshu.
As if he had heard Fang Zheng's voice, the ice blade storm grew smaller and smaller, being forcibly suppressed by Qingshu's relentless advance.
"Damn it… to think I'd actually run into a True Essence shortage…" Bai Ningbing gritted his teeth. He was spinning slower and slower, but his True Essence recovery could no longer keep pace with the drain. Gradually, he was running out of options.
The Northern Darkness Ice Body's True Essence recovery speed was fast, but at the Third Transformation level, the regeneration rate still fell slightly short of the Wood Charm Gu's ability to directly draw on natural Yuan energy. However, if Bai Ningbing cultivated to the Fourth Transformation, his recovery speed would far surpass that of the Wood Charm Gu.
But in a life-and-death struggle, there were no "what-ifs."
Whether he won or lost, he would have to accept the outcome.
In the end, the ice blade storm ground to a halt — but Guye Qingshu had paid a terrible price.
His hands were as large as carriages. Now only two fingers remained on his left hand, and three on his right. Both palms had been sliced away by the ice blades.
But as his two hands slowly came together, new tree trunks rapidly sprouted from his palms, intertwining with one another.
The two palms formed a wooden cage, trapping Bai Ningbing inside.
"Curse you!" Bai Ningbing gnashed his teeth. The True Essence in his body had dried up, and he could only watch as Qingshu made his move.
"We won!!" Seeing this from afar, Fang Zheng leaped up and cheered.
"Am I going to die…" Bai Ningbing screamed inwardly. He watched helplessly as the two palms drew closer and closer. The moment they fully closed together, he would be crushed into a bloody pulp by the tremendous force.
But the palms slowed, and gradually stopped midway.
Bai Ningbing froze for a moment, then immediately realized something had gone wrong with Guye Qingshu. Elation surged through him.
"Damn it, just one more step…" At that moment, Guye Qingshu's heart was filled with helplessness. His hands had already lost all sensation — they had completely transformed into wood.
At the same time, he was gradually losing the ability to feel his internal organs and lungs. The Wood Charm Gu's power had eroded his entire body. Death was closing in.
"No. It can't end like this! I still have the Green Vine Gu!" Guye Qingshu mustered his remaining will and activated the Green Vine Gu.
Thick green vines shot through the gaps in the cage, lashing toward Bai Ningbing.
Bai Ningbing dodged again and again. But after enduring multiple battles, his stamina had been depleted to an extreme degree. Coupled with the confined space inside the cage leaving him little room to maneuver, he was ultimately caught by a vine that wound around his right ankle, sending him crashing to the ground.
"It's over." A sigh of relief escaped Qingshu's mind. He hurriedly drove over a dozen more vines to follow up.
At this juncture of life and death, the True Essence within Bai Ningbing's Empty Orifice finally recovered to the minimum usable level.
Without a moment's hesitation, he burned it all dry, channeling every last drop into the Ice Blade Gu to form a new ice blade.
The ice blade was razor-sharp. It severed the vine coiled around his right ankle. Bai Ningbing rolled desperately, barely evading the dozen-plus vines that shot toward him.
The vines plunged into the ground, instantly piercing through the hard earth. As soil flew in all directions, the vines attacked once more.
Bai Ningbing gasped heavily, using the ice blade to fend them off with difficulty.
Vines came from every direction. Life and death hung in the brief gaps between attacks. The slightest error on Bai Ningbing's part would mean being ensnared and killed.
But he was, after all, a genius. Stimulated by the proximity of death, he wrung out every last shred of potential, and his defensive movements became stark and efficient.
Though he was still tripped by vines from time to time, barely clinging to life, he ultimately held on.
One by one, the vines were cut down by the ice blade. Their numbers dwindled steadily.
It wasn't that Guye Qingshu didn't want to activate the Green Vine Gu and grow more vines. The natural Yuan energy in the surrounding air had been almost entirely consumed.
Although Yuan energy from further out was drifting toward them, the meager concentration could not satisfy the Green Vine Gu's demands.
There was worse news still. The Wood Charm Gu's power had completely overrun Guye Qingshu's body and was now beginning to erode his consciousness.
Qingshu's awareness started to blur, flickering in and out.
The breath of death was already on his face.
"Is this the end? No…" He refused to accept it. Forcing himself to rally, he made one final effort to capture and kill Bai Ningbing.
He could no longer see — the Wood Charm Gu's power had long since consumed his eyes. He could no longer hear — his ears had become useless.
Only a sliver of touch remained.
Relying on the vibrations of Bai Ningbing's counterattacks, he judged his opponent's position and struck.
His efforts bore fruit. Bai Ningbing was finally exhausted and seized. A vine wound around his neck, hoisting his entire body into the air and slowly tightening its grip.
Bai Ningbing immediately found it hard to breathe, and no amount of gaping wide could help. Like Qingshu, he too was stepping into death.
……