White-clad with one arm, snow-white hair and blue eyes.
If not Bai Ningbing, then who else?
Before the ice blade could reach his body, Fang Yuan felt a bone-piercing chill rush toward him, like a frozen star hurtling to earth — killing intent, cold and merciless.
Fang Yuan's dark eyes showed no panic. He leaped backward even as he channeled True Essence into the Celestial Canopy Gu, conjuring a shimmering white-light illusory armor to shield himself.
Boom — a muffled impact. The ice blade slammed into the ground, and in that instant erupted into a cluster of white ice spikes that jutted violently upward from the earth.
Crack-crack-crack!
The razor-sharp ice spikes surged forward in a straight line toward where Fang Yuan had retreated, forming an icy path.
Fang Yuan twisted slightly to the side, dodging cleanly.
The mountain path was narrow, and he used his momentum to slide down into the valley.
"Heh heh heh… Fang Yuan, oh Fang Yuan — why is it that every time I see you, I just can't help wanting to kill you? Hmm, tell me!" Bai Ningbing trembled with excitement, laughing like a madman.
The laughter drew the attention of the other Gu Masters in the valley.
When they caught sight of Bai Ningbing and Fang Yuan, their expressions varied.
"Lord Bai Ningbing, I'll assist you!" A Bai Family Gu Master who had been standing off to the side as support roared and lunged toward Fang Yuan.
"Patriarch — it's our clan's Fang Yuan!" A Gu Master from the Guye Clan shouted.
"I know." Guye Clan Patriarch Gu Yue Bo's expression shifted between dark and light. He dodged a strike from the Bai Family Patriarch, steeled his resolve, and barked in a low voice, "Deal with what's in front of us first!"
Before the wolf tide arrived, Fang Yuan had mysteriously vanished, which had made the Guye upper echelons deeply suspicious of him. On top of that, the tremendous pressure from the Bai Family Gu Masters meant no one went to support him.
Bai Ningbing watched the helper arrive — and flew into a rage. He roared at the newcomer: "Get lost! This is my fight — don't interfere!"
"Lord Bai Ningbing, you've lost an arm — that compromises your combat ability. You are our Bai Family's hope and must not be put at risk. Let me clear the path for you!"
The Bai Family Gu Master roared as he bounded forward, charging right up to Fang Yuan.
He activated his Gu Insect, and both palms erupted with a ball of orange-yellow light.
Boom.
He lightly tapped the ground. The yellow light sank into the earth, and a mound immediately swelled upward.
The mound rushed toward Fang Yuan at great speed, growing larger as it came.
Suddenly it burst open, revealing a massive hand made of yellow clay.
The hand was enormous — as tall as a full-grown adult — and reached out to seize Fang Yuan from a distance. The sheer pressure was suffocating.
Fang Yuan merely snorted with disdain.
The giant hand was about to close around him and crush him, when suddenly a stream of dark-gold light surged from his Empty Orifice, forming a brilliant ribbon of radiance that coiled around his body.
The hand made contact, but the dark-gold ribbon twisted several times — and shattered it to pieces.
"Hm? What Gu Insect is that?" A look of surprise crossed Bai Ningbing's face.
The dark-gold glow faded, revealing the Gu's true form.
It was over a meter long and as wide as two fists. Its dark-gold carapace radiated dominance, and rows of razor-sharp silver teeth lined both sides of its body, glinting with cold light.
Serrated Gold Centipede!
"Come." Fang Yuan's voice was low and steady as he extended his right arm, hand open in a blade.
The Serrated Gold Centipede's countless legs crawled nimbly over his body. Its serpentine form twisted and coiled around his right arm.
Its mandibles gaped wide, swallowing Fang Yuan's entire right hand and continuing up to the midpoint of his forearm.
Fang Yuan whipped his arm, and the meter-long gold centipede swung its tail through the air in a sweeping arc with a sharp snap.
In that instant, the centipede contracted its body to the extreme. Its original length of nearly two meters shrank down to one and a half. At the same time, all of its legs on both sides retracted into its carapace, leaving only two rows of silver-edged serrated teeth.
At first glance, Fang Yuan now appeared to be wielding a massive dark-gold-and-silver blade — a pointlessly broad sword without a tip!
The Bai Family Gu Master who had come as reinforcement looked visibly shaken. He had never imagined the Serrated Gold Centipede could be used in such a way.
Gu Masters raised Gu, refined Gu, and wielded Gu — all of which were profound and vast disciplines. Fang Yuan's method of use was nothing short of audacious, pushing the limits of imagination.
In truth, this technique had not been invented by Fang Yuan.
Three hundred years into his previous life, a new star had emerged on the Demonic Path, known as the "Chainsaw Fiend." The Fourth Transformation Electric-Tooth Killing Centipede he wielded was one of the advanced evolutions of the Third Transformation Serrated Gold Centipede.
However, for Fang Yuan to employ it now in this life — that was truly unprecedented.
"Then let me give you all a proper demonstration." A cold smile curled at the corner of Fang Yuan's lips. He rallied the True Essence in his Empty Orifice and poured it into the Serrated Gold Centipede.
Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!
The two rows of silver-edged serrated teeth on the Serrated Gold Centipede began to spin at a frenzied pace, emitting a wildly violent sound that made one's heart tremble just hearing it.
Thunder Wing Gu!
Fangs Yuan's eyes blazed with fierce light. A pair of spectral-blue thunder wings snapped into existence behind him with a pop.
Whoosh!
The thunder wings beat once, propelling him forward like a bolt of lightning.
Fast! Fast! Fast!
The speed was so terrifying that the Bai Family Gu Master's pupils contracted sharply, a flash of icy dread shooting through him.
The breath of death bore down on his face. He cried out and activated his strongest Gu Insect, a thick layer of yellow light erupting across his body.
The yellow light formed an armor-like shell, but before it could fully materialize, Fang Yuan was already upon him.
His black hair whipped wildly, his eyes crackled like lightning — he was like a demon god charging out of a nightmare and into the mortal realm!
His movements were savage and explosive, fully extended, muscles straining, the power of twin boars bursting to its absolute limit.