A gentle mountain breeze drifted by.
On the slopes of Triple Mountain, within an unremarkable bamboo grove, space suddenly shattered and light burst forth.
The flash of light vanished in an instant, revealing a figure amid the empty grass.
This youth had black hair and black eyes, his expression placid. Clutched in his hand was a token. It was Fang Yuan.
"So the Dog King's inheritance is behind me…" Fang Yuan blinked, and in the next moment he found himself in an unfamiliar location.
His gaze swept outward, confirming no dangers lay nearby. He was standing on a mountainside somewhere on Triple Mountain. By his preliminary estimation, he was currently on the north face of the mountain, while the cave he had once shared with Bai Ningbing lay to the southeast.
He tilted his head upward, gazing at the peaks.
Triple Mountain's three distinctive summits stood proudly above the clouds, like three spear tips shoulder to shoulder.
The beams of light atop the peaks had already begun to dwindle.
The yellow beam represented the Dog King's inheritance gate. The blue beam was the Letter King's, and the red beam led to the Explosion King's inheritance.
The beams had already shrunk to roughly half their original size compared to when Fang Yuan had first entered.
As time passed and more Gu Masters entered the inheritances, the beams would continue to shrink. Once they vanished entirely, the gates to all three inheritances would close. After another stretch of time, the beams would reignite, triggering yet another round of bloodshed.
Fang Yuan lowered his gaze and examined the token in his hand.
Several deep new cracks marred the ugly surface of the Dog King's token.
This didn't surprise him.
The Dog King's passage token could only be used three times at most. After the third use, it would crumble into fragments, utterly useless.
But three chances to withdraw were already exceedingly precious. Not only did they offer a lifeline, but more importantly, they gave a Gu Master the psychological advantage to make freer choices.
Fang Yuan stowed the passage token securely and set off toward the cave he had been staying in not long ago.
"Oh, it's Fang Zheng!"
"The Little Beast King has finally shown up…"
Along the way, Fang Yuan encountered a great number of Gu Masters. Whether they walked the Righteous Path or the Demonic Path, every one of them stared at him with strange, bewildered looks.
"What happened?" Fang Yuan furrowed his brow, instantly sensing that something significant had taken place.
Halfway through his journey, he casually seized someone for interrogation.
It turned out that Bai Ningbing had killed an Iron Clan Gu Master inside the Dog King's inheritance. Once she emerged, the Iron Clan had immediately discovered what she'd done.
Iron Clan Gu Masters had surrounded the cave and laid siege to Bai Ningbing.
Four peak Third Transformation Gu Masters had acted in concert, deploying the Iron Cabinet Gu to seal off the surrounding area.
Bai Ningbing had failed to break through the encirclement and was now being worn down by the Iron Clan Gu Masters in rotating attacks.
"My Lord Little Beast King, this matter has blown up huge recently — the entire Triple Mountain is talking about it. It's no longer a personal grudge. It symbolizes the struggle between the Righteous Path and us Demonic Path! Everyone has been waiting for you, my Lord. The moment you step in, those Iron Clan Gu Masters won't stand a chance. You are the genius of our Demonic Path, our banner! My Lord, I've told you everything I know. May I go now?" The unlucky fellow Fang Yuan had grabbed blubbered through his tears.
"Something on this scale actually happened…" Fang Yuan held the man by his collar, his brow slightly furrowed.
Though the news was startling at first glance, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
Storming the Three Kings' inheritances was bound to produce conflicts.
These were Demonic Path inheritances, and the competition among them was fiercely ruthless. Sometimes, even when one wished to back down, it simply wasn't possible.
"The Iron Clan has the Rust Gu, a Gu that embeds itself within the souls of Iron Clan Gu Masters. Whoever kills an Iron Clan member becomes tainted by that invisible scent. It's no surprise Bai Ningbing was found out." Fang Yuan nodded, murmuring to himself.
"My Lord, you truly are well-informed — every word is exactly right! You have no idea, these past days with you absent, the whole of Triple Mountain has been buzzing with talk. They say you're a coward, that you tucked your tail and ran when you heard it was the super-clan Iron Clan involved. But what kind of person are you? I know better than that! I've admired you above all others ever since you arrived at Triple Mountain — you slew Tyrant King, cut down Fei Li, and dealt with Flying Tiger! Your name is known far and wide! There must have been some reason you didn't see fit to tell outsiders. Now that you've shown up, won't those Iron Clan dogs be groveling on the ground, begging you to let them off?"
Fang Yuan's grip was iron-tight on the unlucky Gu Master's collar, making it hard for him to breathe. His face had turned the color of dark soy sauce.
But this Gu Master, fighting for his life, rattled on without pause, heaping flattery upon flattery, drawing on vast reserves of survival instinct.
Fang Yuan listened to his words and fell into thought. After a long pause, he finally said slowly: "You're not wrong."
His grip loosened.
Joy surged across the Third Transformation Gu Master's face: "What kind of person you are — anyone with eyes can see it clearly! You're a great hero, a mighty figure! Those who slander you are absolute bastards, blind as dogs! My Lord, I've been supporting you all along — I even got into arguments with others about it…"
"Heh."
But at that moment, Fang Yuan let out a cold laugh.
His hand shot out like lightning, striking with the force of an eagle's talon. In one swift motion, he clamped down on the Second Transformation Gu Master's neck.
Snap.
The Gu Master's eyes flew wide open. The vertebrae in his neck were crushed completely by Fang Yuan's grip, and he perished on the spot.