A full hour and a half later.
Fang Yuan, holding Ge Yao, landed safely on the ground.
Ge Yao's legs went weak, her face pale. She panted on solid ground for a moment before gradually recovering.
During the flight just now, she had killed over a hundred Shadow Crows, and on several occasions felt herself struggling on the knife's edge between life and death.
The entire flight had been fraught with danger. Not only had they encountered several waves of Shadow Crow pursuit, but they had also triggered attacks from Ground Spike Rats.
At the most perilous moments, the sky was dense with Shadow Crows while the ground below shot up countless spikes.
Under this siege, Fang Yuan spread his bone wings and flew on, constantly turning, banking, diving, and climbing. He searched for the possible within the impossible, cutting a narrow path to survival through the rain-like barrage of attacks.
"I actually survived a siege like that?" That was the first thought that surfaced in Ge Yao's heart when her feet touched solid ground.
After the relief of surviving catastrophe, the incredulous joy, and the lingering fear all faded, Ge Yao looked at Fang Yuan with complicated emotions. He was tending to the wounds on his body.
Even a girl with no particular experience would come to recognize Fang Yuan's skill in flight after such a battle.
Moreover, Ge Yao was no ordinary grassland girl. Her father was the patriarch of a clan. Growing up, she had absorbed knowledge through osmosis, broadened her horizons, and knew far more than others her age.
"This man before me — his flying technique is so refined, so powerful. Is it the soul of a soaring eagle hidden within that imposing body? This level of flying is fully comparable to 'Flying Lightning' Dong Pokong, 'Water Fairy' Song Qingyin, and 'Green Bat' Wu Ye! This is first-rate flying technique in the Northern Plains! Chang Shanyin, Chang Shanyin — just what kind of person are you..."
Fang Yuan quickly tended to his injuries.
In the midst of the downpour-like assault, no matter how superb his flying technique, taking hits had been unavoidable.
The core issue was that his Fourth Transformation Bone Wing Gu only functioned at the level of a Third Transformation Gu in the Northern Plains. On top of that, he was carrying another person — greatly increased weight and reduced agility.
"However, with Ge Yao's help, the benefits still outweigh the drawbacks. If not for her Water Arrows and Water Dragons killing the crows, if not for her Water Armor helping with defense, my True Essence alone would not have been enough." Fang Yuan mused.
"As a Southern Border Gu Master, my cultivation is suppressed upon arriving in the Northern Plains. But fortunately, the longer I stay and the more I gradually integrate into the Northern Plains, the less this suppression becomes."
Humans are the spirit of all things — they can adapt to any environment and integrate into it.
Of course, when Fang Yuan fully integrated into the Northern Plains and his cultivation fully recovered, returning to the Southern Border would bring suppression once more, requiring adaptation and integration all over again.
"Humans can gradually integrate into their environment, but Gu Insects cannot. Southern Border Gu will always be weakened here. The Gu I carry consume the same amount of True Essence to activate as before, but their effectiveness is greatly diminished. A Fourth Transformation Gu from the Southern Border is actually inferior to a Third Transformation Gu from the Northern Plains."
But killing Ge Yao — the Gu she carried had only a very slim chance of ending up in Fang Yuan's possession.
Only by utilizing Ge Yao in this way could he extract the maximum value from this Third Transformation Middle Stage Gu Master.
"If not for Ge Yao, I could never have traveled this quickly. Her Gu are fine, but I can't obtain them. These Southern Border Gu must be replaced. Beyond combat considerations, they are a massive flaw in concealing my identity. I still need to reach that battlefield."
Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, then took out the Luminous Pearl Gu.
Sealed within the Luminous Pearl Gu was Fixed Immortal Travel, resembling a piece of white amber.
Right in front of Ge Yao, he unhesitatingly produced the Dust Veiling Gu.
The Dust Veiling Gu was shaped like a silkworm cocoon, dark gray throughout, feeling like fine sand to the touch. Fang Yuan channeled True Essence into it, and the Dust Veiling Gu gave a soft burst, dissolving into a puff of fine gray smoke.
The hazy gray dust possessed a sentience of its own and settled entirely onto the Luminous Pearl Gu.
The Luminous Pearl Gu, which had been radiating bright white light, was blanketed by the dust, and its glow immediately dimmed. The aura of the Immortal Gu Fixed Immortal Travel weakened another notch.
This was the Dust Veils the Pearl technique.
In his previous life five hundred years ago, when he went to war in the Central Continent and ignited the Five Regions Chaos War, some Gu Masters had infiltrated other regions to fight. To hide their identities and mask their auras, this method had been developed.
"What are you doing?" Ge Yao asked curiously from the side.
Fang Yuan did not answer her. He simply tucked the dimmed pearl into his chest and pressed onward.
The two traveled on. The poisonous mist in the air grew heavier and heavier, the dense purple beginning to impair their vision.
They had to stop more frequently to use their Gu and clear the accumulated toxins from their bodies.
Crack.
A crisp sound came from underfoot, as if stepping on a dry branch.
Ge Yao looked down in confusion, then screamed and leaped backward like a rabbit.
"Th-why are there human skulls here?!" Her voice trembled.
"Because this place was originally a battlefield." Fang Yuan walked ahead of her without turning back, instead quickening his pace.
"A battlefield? Hey, wait for me! Don't walk so fast!" Ge Yao hurried to catch up.
The deeper she walked, the more alarmed she became.
At first, the thick purple poisonous fog had obscured her view. Now, as she drew closer, she saw that the slightly decaying grassland was littered with white bones — human and wolf alike.
The ground was pocked with deep pits and trenches, clearly the aftermath of a fierce battle.
"So many people died here. Who could have been fighting a life-and-death battle in this place? But the pits and trenches have already grown over with poisonous grass. Combined with other traces, this battlefield must be at least twenty years old."
Ge Yao trailed behind Fang Yuan, watching him search ceaselessly as though hunting for something, and a realization dawned on her.
"So Chang Shanyin's purpose in venturing deep into the Corrupted Poison Grassland was this battlefield. What exactly is he looking for? Wait — twenty years ago, there really was a great battle in the Corrupted Poison Grassland. Father once talked about it with someone, and I was right there beside them..."