Generally, a Third Transformation Gu Master dealing with a beast swarm would resort to guerrilla tactics. Bai Ningbing had been fighting head-on like this all this time, which was already quite impressive.
If a Gu Master's True Essence ran dry, their combat power would plummet to rock bottom.
Bai Ningbing kept glancing back at the cliff behind her, checking whether there was any possibility of climbing to escape.
When she saw Fang Yuan looking relaxed, leaning casually against the cliff, she flew into a rage. "Fang Yuan! I'm out here fighting for my life, and you're just watching the show?!"
Fang Yuan snorted coldly. "The former Northern Abyss Ice Soul Body, the great Bai Ningbing — and now she can't even handle a Hundred Beast swarm?"
Bai Ningbing seethed. "If you've got the guts, you do it then!"
Fang Yuan scoffed. "If I had a Third Transformation cultivation, I would have wiped out this pack of Six-legged Crocodiles long ago. You wouldn't even get a chance."
Bai Ningbing gasped for breath, so furious smoke was about to pour from her seven orifices.
Fang Yuan said seriously, "Bai Ningbing, I think you've grown too accustomed to throwing your weight around. Before, you had the Northern Abyss Ice Soul Body, so your True Essence recovered rapidly. Now you're down to Grade A at ninety percent, but you're still using it the same way as before. Of course your True Essence isn't enough. An excellent Gu Master counts every drop of True Essence and never wastes it. From now on, follow my instructions when you fight. Your combat style is far too crude — it needs refinement."
"What?" Bai Ningbing's lip curled. "My combat style is crude? Do you know how many times I've been praised by the Patriarch and Elders to my face? I'm the number one in precise combat in the entire Bai Family Stronghold!"
"What's the point of comparing yourself to a bunch of mortals? Listen to me..."
Bai Ningbing laughed coldly three times, but Fang Yuan continued speaking regardless.
His voice inevitably drifted into Bai Ningbing's ears. At first she paid no mind, but gradually, her expression began to change.
From contempt and disdain, she slowly grew serious, until finally her face turned grave.
Fang Yuan's words were pearls of wisdom — every sentence incisive, penetrating to the core, exquisitely refined!
This was the summary of five hundred years of experience from his previous life, the essence accumulated over time. How could it not shock this brat — no, this yellow-haired girl — Bai Ningbing?
Fang Yuan had lived five hundred years in his previous life, becoming shrewd and cunning with age. This depth of experience was something even the Guye clan's first generation patriarch or the Heavenly Crane Superior could not match.
These two old monsters may have appeared to live nearly a thousand years, but the vast majority of that time had been spent in slumber, merely clinging to life. Their actual active time amounted to perhaps two or three hundred years at most.
Under normal circumstances, if Bai Ningbing heard Fang Yuan's guidance, she would have simply let it pass. She was proud and haughty — even if she was deeply shaken, she wouldn't have acted on it. But now, facing the pressure of the crocodile swarm, her body instinctively followed his instructions, and she immediately saw instant results.
Six-legged Crocodiles fell one after another, while her condition grew better and better.
Though her True Essence and stamina were nearly depleted, by conserving them — reducing unnecessary strikes and increasing the effectiveness of each attack — her True Essence and stamina actually began to slowly, bit by bit, accumulate again in the midst of battle.
After a quarter of an hour, the Six-legged Crocodile swarm had suffered over half their numbers, with more than two hundred corpses fallen. They finally halted their assault and began to slowly retreat.
Then, a massive figure slowly rose from the river's surface.
It bared its fangs, every tooth sharp as a blade. Its yellow vertical pupils reflected Bai Ningbing's silhouette, radiating a killing frost.
This was the king of the Six-legged Crocodile swarm.
A Hundred Beast King-level Crocodile King!
Different from the other Six-legged Crocodiles, this Crocodile King was far larger, its body as big as a yak. It did not walk on all six legs, but used only its two hind legs to stride forward.
It walked like a human, its shoulders and back thick as a bear's, and an armored crocodile tail dragged deep furrows through the sand.
Its other four limbs had all become razor-sharp claws — one could call them four arms. Its limbs were thick and muscular, hard as stone.
Bai Ningbing couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
If she were facing this Hundred Beast King alone at full strength, she would certainly have a chance of victory. But now, after the fierce battle she had just fought, the stamina and True Essence she had left were severely insufficient. It would be nearly impossible to deal with this Hundred Beast King at peak condition.
But just then, Fang Yuan's voice came from behind her. "Take this."
A beam of blue-white light shot into her Empty Orifice, taking the shape of a lotus and planting itself at the bottom of her Empty Orifice sea.
Immediately, the surface of her True Essence sea began to rise rapidly!
Bai Ningbing was both surprised and delighted. "What Gu is this?"
"The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus," Fang Yuan answered.
"So this is the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus! No wonder even the Guye clan's first generation patriarch wanted it." Bai Ningbing exclaimed in awe, then immediately cursed, "If you had this Gu, why didn't you lend it to me sooner?"
Fang Yuan chuckled and spoke as if she weren't there. "Thankfully this Crocodile King is only at the Hundred Beast level. Remember — its weak point is the patch of white skin on its chest."
With that, his entire body swayed, rippling like water light, and gradually his form faded away.
He had activated the Hidden Scale Gu.
"Cunning and treacherous!" Bai Ningbing silently cursed Fang Yuan, then immediately focused her gaze on the Crocodile King.
She could indeed see a patch of white skin on its chest, but it was only the size of a washbasin. And it was partially shielded by its four clawed limbs. Landing a hit there would be easier said than done.
ROAR!
The Crocodile King roared and charged at Bai Ningbing head-on.
Bai Ningbing had no choice but to rely on herself. She clumsily rolled to the side, dodged the blow, and flung her weapon in the same motion.
The Saw-toothed Golden Centipede smashed onto the Crocodile King's back.
Sparks flew everywhere. The Saw-toothed Golden Centipede bounced off violently, nearly pulling Bai Ningbing down with it.
A white mark was imprinted on the Crocodile King's armored back. Beyond that, it was completely unscathed.