Nan Qiu Garden, secret chamber.
Darkness surrounded the chamber, with only a thin layer of starlight flowing like water across the center.
At the center, Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing sat cross-legged on meditation cushions. Bai Ningbing pressed both palms against Fang Yuan's back, channeling her Third Transformation peak Snow Silver True Essence into him.
The chamber was perfectly still.
But inside Fang Yuan's mind, the sound of crashing waves surged ceaselessly.
Boom!
A waterfall of Snow Silver True Essence, frigid and torrential, poured down from above his Empty Orifice and crashed into his True Essence sea.
This was the Third Transformation peak Snow Silver True Essence, converted through the Bone and Flesh Reunion Gu.
Third Transformation Gu Masters had silver-colored True Essence. At the Initial Stage, the silver glow was merely a faint layer, so it was called Pale Silver True Essence. At the Middle Stage, the silver was mottled—more in some places, less in others—hence it was called Patterned Silver True Essence.
At the High Stage, the silver glow was uniform and bright throughout. Thus it was called Bright Silver True Essence.
At the Peak Stage, the silver was white as snow, magnificently beautiful, known as Snow Silver True Essence.
Right now, Fang Yuan was using Snow Silver True Essence as the main force and Patterned Silver True Essence as support. Under the drive of his will, they formed surging waves that continuously scoured the four walls of his Empty Orifice.
The Empty Orifice had originally been a Water Film, its light flowing like water, shimmering and swaying. After being scoured for some time, the accumulated quantitative change finally reached a tipping point. The Water Film's glow blazed suddenly, as if water had frozen into ice—it stopped flowing, became still, and settled into a Stone Film.
The Stone Film gleamed brilliantly, thicker and more stable than the Water Film.
Having achieved the Stone Film, Fang Yuan advanced from the Third Transformation Middle Stage to the Third Transformation High Stage.
Steady progress, natural results.
With the task complete, Bai Ningbing slowly withdrew her hands. A flicker of emotion passed through her ice-blue eyes.
With her help, Fang Yuan's cultivation had progressed rapidly, finally catching up step by step.
She knew that Fang Yuan still had a Silver She Li Gu in his possession. He had been saving it all along, waiting precisely for this moment.
In other words, after tonight, Fang Yuan's cultivation would break through to the Third Transformation Peak Stage, equaling her own.
"Fang Yuan is old and cunning, insidious and crafty. Just because I found no loopholes in the Poison Oath doesn't mean the oath itself has no flaws." Bai Ningbing said nothing, but her mind was racing with thoughts.
Shang Yazhi's fate had been a warning to her.
The psychological pressure Fang Yuan placed on her was growing ever greater, making suspicion well up inside her.
"Rest assured. My cooperation with you is sincere. There's nothing wrong with the Poison Oath at all." As if reading Bai Ningbing's thoughts, Fang Yuan suddenly spoke.
"Hmph." Having her inner thoughts laid bare, a trace of coldness leaked from Bai Ningbing's eyes, and her tone carried a note of cutting sarcasm. "Let's hope so."
Fang Yuan sighed. When he had devised his plan against Shang Yazhi, he had already anticipated Bai Ningbing's reaction.
Everything gained came at a cost.
Now Shang Yazhi had been stripped of his position, leaving the Young Master title vacant. Shang Xinci now had room to advance. But a crack had appeared in the cooperative relationship between Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing.
At the same time, it had provoked Shang Yanfei's hand.
Just yesterday, Ju Kaibei and Yan Tu had both launched forceful challenges against Fang Yuan and Bai Ningbing.
Once the news broke, it immediately caused a sensation in the Arena, drawing countless onlookers.
Ju Kaibei and Yan Tu were both Fourth Transformation Initial Stage Gu Masters, each known as "half the sky of the Arena." Put two "halves of the sky" together, and you had the whole sky.
That title spoke volumes about their status and dominance.
Fang and Bai were the two brightest new stars currently rising in the Arena. Both had fought their way through a continuous streak of victories without a single loss. Such dominance was rare in the Arena's history.
As for Ju Kaibei and Yan Tu, they were the twin colossuses of the Arena, standing atop the summit. Over the years, countless Demonic Path Gu Masters had sought to make a name for themselves and become external family elders of Shang City, only to be blocked and their hopes of advancement snuffed out by these two.
Now, with these two joining forces to challenge Fang and Bai, it naturally sparked enormous curiosity and confusion.
Some said that Fang and Bai's rising star had grown too bright, unsettling the senior figures Ju Kaibei and Yan Tu, who wanted to eliminate the threat early. Others said that Ju and Yan had struck a bet, intending to use Fang and Bai as pawns to settle a personal wager.
Almost no one believed that Fang and Bai stood any chance of defeating them.
The strength of Ju Kaibei and Yan Tu was deeply ingrained in people's minds. More critically, one side was Fourth Transformation while the other was only Third Transformation—the gap in cultivation realms was enormous.
In Gu Master cultivation, the higher the transformation level, the greater the gap between cultivators, and the lower the possibility of defeating a superior.
Behind him, Bai Ningbing rose to her feet.
"Tomorrow is your battle with Yan Tu. How is it—do you need my Tianyuan Treasure Lotus? According to our oath, I'll help you as much as I can." From the darkness, Fang Yuan spoke slowly.
"I don't need it." Bai Ningbing replied coldly.
Still sitting cross-legged and not turning around, Fang Yuan gave a soft chuckle. "You're quite confident."
"So what if it's the Fourth Transformation? These past two years, you haven't been the only one making progress." Bai Ningbing turned and walked away.
The Tianyuan Treasure Lotus belonged to Fang Yuan. Borrowing it would mean her true strength wouldn't be on display.
She intended to use Yan Tu as a measure of her own growth.
The chamber door opened, then closed again.
Bai Ningbing had left. In the secret chamber, the corner of Fang Yuan's mouth curved slightly upward into a faint smile.
"Refusing the Tianyuan Treasure Lotus... It seems a seed of self-doubt has already sprouted in Bai Ningbing's heart. The lack of confidence is subtle—perhaps she hasn't even noticed it herself. Bai Ningbing, you're still too green after all..."
Fang Yuan pondered for a moment, then gathered up his scattered emotions.
He took out the Silver She Li Gu.
The Gu was shaped like a round bead, entirely silver in color, no larger than a fingertip.
Since his rebirth, Fang Yuan had once seen one on Qing Mao Mountain. Back then, the Jia Family merchant caravan had been selling a Silver She Li Gu for fifty thousand Yuan Stones—a price that was far beyond his reach at the time.