Fang Yuan extended his consciousness into his Empty Orifice.
After the White Bone Wheel entered the Empty Orifice, it floated upon the surface of the True Gold True Essence sea. Rising and falling with the waves, half-submerged, it looked utterly lifeless.
Gu Insects could, of course, be injured, damaged, and destroyed.
"This White Bone Wheel is on the verge of shattering and can't be used anymore. Unless I can find a Bone Bamboo Gu and combine it with a Ghost Fire Gu to repair and heal it," Fang Yuan mused inwardly.
There were many healing Gu that didn't target the human body.
Some Gu, like the Wolf Smoke Gu, were specifically used to treat injuries on jackals. Others, like the Raw Iron Gu, were designed to heal the Sawtooth Gold Centipede.
Only the Bone Bamboo Gu, combined with the Ghost Fire Gu, could repair the damage to the White Bone Wheel and restore its combat capability.
"Come to think of it, this White Bone Wheel Gu is quite famous. It came from the hands of Shen Jie'ao, an Eighth Transformation Demonic Path Gu Immortal. He was known as the Arrogant Bone Demon. He possessed extraordinary talent and dazzling brilliance. When he advanced to the Sixth Transformation, frustrated by not having any Immortal Gu in his possession, he devised a killer move called the White Bone Chariot. The White Bone Chariot was composed of many Fifth Transformation Gu including the White Bone Wheel. Its power was formidable enough to rival a Sixth Transformation Immortal Gu!"
"With this brilliant idea, Shen Jie'ao cultivated to the Eighth Transformation realm and further developed his killer move, the White Bone Battlefield, combining it with three Immortal Gu to form an even more powerful grand killer move. He used it to dominate the world, slaying countless Gu Immortals along the way. His fearsome reputation spread far and wide, leaving the Righteous Path at their wits' end for a time. Ah, when will I ever reach that level?"
In his previous life, Fang Yuan had been a Sixth Transformation cultivator for five hundred years, one crucial step away from the Seventh Transformation. Later, when he refined the Spring Autumn Cicada, he was besieged by Righteous Path Gu Immortals and forced to self-detonate.
Every time he thought of figures like Blood Sea Ancestor, Arrogant Bone Demon, and Spectral Soul Demon Venerable, Fang Yuan couldn't help but feel a surge of yearning.
"A man in this world should live as they do — unrestrained by worldly norms. Roaming freely, killing whoever displeases him. When his heart is dark, he slaughters all living things. When it turns compassionate, he bestows blessings upon the masses. The entire world moves according to his will. He commands everything, trampling every enemy who dares oppose him underfoot. That is the true life of great freedom and great exhilaration!"
Fang Yuan sighed deeply in his heart, then pulled the White Pearl Gu from his robes.
The White Pearl Gu had gathered dust, its radiance dimmed. Sealed within it was the Fixed Immortal Travel, and the aura emanating from the Immortal Gu had also weakened.
Fang Yuan took out the Dark Casting Gu.
This Gu was similar in shape to the Dust Gather Gu. It resembled a silkworm cocoon as well, except it was entirely a deep, abyssal black.
Fang Yuan circulated his True Essence, and the black cocoon began to squirm. Dozens of thread tips wriggled out, agile as snakes, and climbed onto the White Pearl Gu.
In the span of a few blinks, the White Pearl Gu was enveloped in a layer of black cocoon.
This was the "Casting Bright Pearls Into Darkness" technique — a method developed during the great Five Region battles, specifically designed to conceal the aura of Gu Insects.
With this, the aura of the Fixed Immortal Travel became even more faint.
"Warrior Chang Shanyin, are you trying to seal that beautiful jade butterfly?" Ge Yao stood nearby, gradually piecing together what was happening.
Fang Yuan gave her a mysterious smile, tucked the dark, unremarkable orb back into his robes, and continued searching the battlefield with his head down.
This battlefield had been left behind over twenty years ago, from the great battle between Chang Shanyin and Hatugu.
Chang Shanyin had been a peak Fourth Transformation Gu Master, while Hatugu was already an Initial Stage Fifth Transformation cultivator, commanding a large band of subordinates at the same time.
The two had once been childhood companions, but they fell in love with the same woman. She ultimately chose Chang Shanyin. From that point on, enmity was born, and through subsequent events, their hatred deepened until only each other's lives and blood could wash it away.
After Hatugu poisoned Chang Shanyin's mother, Chang Shanyin led his wolf pack deep into the Rotting Poison Grasslands in search of the Snow Wash Gu.
Then, Chang Shanyin set an ambush here. When Hatugu and his bandits charged straight in, massive packs of wolves surged from every direction.
This brutal life-and-death battle raged until the sky went dark and the earth shook.
In the end, the wolves were completely wiped out, and the bandits either died or fled. Chang Shanyin, at the end of his rope, and Hatugu, his True Essence depleted, clashed at close quarters in hand-to-hand combat.
Both had fought until their eyes turned red, using everything they could lay their hands on.
They grappled together, biting with their teeth, clawing with their hands, expending every last ounce of strength, before both collapsing to the ground, barely able to even breathe.
These two mortal enemies, once the closest of companions, lay only two or three steps apart, yet could do nothing but pant heavily, glaring at each other.
They were both powerful Gu Masters — one a radiant hero, the other a fearsome demon — but both had lost all their strength. In this moment, they were as fragile as children. Even a rabbit could have run over, blocked their nostrils and mouths, and suffocated them to death.
After a tense stalemate of several moments, Hatugu suddenly burst into loud laughter. After all, he was a Fifth Transformation Gu Master, and his True Essence recovered faster than Chang Shanyin's by a small margin.
His True Essence recovered first, just enough to activate the Deadly Poison Bone Spear one last time.
Watching the bone spear fly toward him, Chang Shanyin's eyes went wide. In this desperate extremity, he summoned a miraculous shred of strength.
Using that meager force, he barely managed to roll halfway over. But the deadly poison bone spear, originally aimed at his head, still pierced into his chest.
The searing pain made Chang Shanyin let out a furious roar. Drawing on the strength augmented by his Wolf Power Gu, he snapped the slender bone spear, gripped the broken shard in his hand, and then dragged himself toward Hatugu, one agonizing step at a time.
At last, Chang Shanyin drove the sickly-green spear tip into Hatugu's eye socket, ending the life of his lifelong nemesis.