Stars sparkled like diamonds, adorning the night sky.
The river breeze blew gently, and the occasional beast roar or bird cry only made the surroundings feel even more serene.
Fang Yuan waited patiently, but that night, Ye Fan never appeared.
As time passed, the second day came and went, then the third, and still Ye Fan did not show up.
"Could the records in the Biography of Ye Fan be wrong?" Fang Yuan couldn't help but wonder, but he quickly dismissed the thought. "No, the Gu Master's legacy by the river is still there. Ye Fan hasn't taken it. I'll wait a while longer..."
What Fang Yuan didn't know was that a thousand miles away, Ye Fan had run into trouble.
Hah... hah... hah...
Ye Fan panted heavily, his heart pounding as he stared at the massive beast silhouette slumped at the cave entrance.
"Damn it, how could I be this unlucky? I just got expelled from the clan, hid in a cave to rest, and now I wake up to find the entrance blocked!" Ye Fan cursed inwardly, tense and helpless.
The cave had only one exit, and that single exit happened to be blocked by a ferocious beast.
Ye Fan had no means to dig through the earth or tunnel his way out. His strength was still feeble, and to make matters worse, the beast before him was enormous—it was actually a Beast Emperor!
"Why is this king of beasts all alone, without a herd to guard it? Could it be an old emperor, driven out by a new emperor within its herd?" Ye Fan analyzed rapidly in his mind even as he watched the beast with trepidation.
As he continued to observe, he quickly realized that this Beast Emperor was fierce in appearance but weak within.
The canine Beast Emperor was covered in wounds. It wasn't particularly large, lying on the ground with drooping eyelids, too weak to muster any energy.
Its snow-white fur was dotted with mottled patterns, like pink petals scattered across a field of snow.
"Whimper... whimper... whimper..." Ye Fan listened carefully and realized the canine emperor was letting out soft whimpers, its voice extraordinarily feeble.
Looking again at its emaciated belly, where ribs protruded through the skin, Ye Fan finally understood: "This may be a Beast Emperor, but it's starving to the point where it seems to have no fighting strength left at all."
Reaching this conclusion, Ye Fan let out a turbid breath. While he felt relieved, a sense of pity also stirred in his heart.
They were both wanderers cast out by the world—the Beast Emperor before him and he himself shared such a similar fate.
Ye Fan cautiously approached the canine Beast Emperor. The beast showed no reaction, allowing him to draw near.
Not daring to breathe too loudly, Ye Fan squatted beside the Beast Emperor and slowly reached out his hand, gently placing it on the beast's forehead.
The fluffy fur brought Ye Fan a sense of softness and comfort, along with dampness and scorching heat.
The Beast Emperor had a fever, sweating profusely, its fur soaked through, its bodily functions plummeted to rock bottom.
"Beast Emperor, oh Beast Emperor, you're about to die. Perhaps one day, I'll end up the same. But running into me is your luck. After all, who asked me to have once been the most famous beast doctor in the stockade?" Ye Fan murmured to himself, sympathy swelling in his heart, and began treating the canine Beast Emperor.
He activated his Gu Insects to treat the Beast Emperor's wounds and alleviate its condition. Then he divided his precious food and water, feeding it to the beast bit by bit, allowing it to slowly recover its strength.
Ye Fan no longer rushed to continue his journey. After staying in the cave for seven consecutive days, the canine Beast Emperor finally recovered.
Though it was still rather weak, with not a single wild Gu on its body—not even able to defeat a Thousand-Beast King—it had at least escaped danger. It no longer had a fever and could run freely, frolicking around Ye Fan's feet.
Ye Fan had saved its life, and so it came to regard him as its closest companion. Every time Ye Fan returned to the cave with food and water, it would eagerly rush over to greet him, circling his legs and wagging its tail with delight.
Once it had recovered some fighting ability, it began following Ye Fan on hunts of its own accord, helping him procure food.
Man and dog quickly forged a deep bond of friendship.
When Ye Fan decided to leave the cave and trek into the distance, the canine Beast Emperor chose to follow him.
"It's already the eighth day. Why hasn't Ye Fan appeared yet?" By the banks of the Azure Dragon River, Fang Yuan had grown anxious from waiting.
In five or six more days, it would be the time for Hei Loulan to undergo her tribulation.
When that time came, Fang Yuan would need to stand guard at her side, not only helping her share the burden of heavenly and earthly tribulations, but possibly also facing a joint assault from the Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal Hei Cheng and the Sixth Transformation Xue Song Zi.
To estimate a Gu Immortal's combat strength, there were many factors to consider, but only four truly mattered: Immortal Essence, Killing Moves, Immortal Gu, and the Gu Immortal's personal combat proficiency.
During the expedition to the Northern Plains, Tai Bai Yun Sheng, who had just advanced to Gu Immortal, ranked at the very bottom of the Sixth Transformation tier.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng had Immortal Essence and even a healing Immortal Gu, but no Killing Moves, and an insufficient number of Mortal Gu. Most critically, his personal combat proficiency was poor.
As a result, he had been completely suppressed by Hei Loulan's Great Strength True Martial Body.
Fang Yuan currently possessed scarce Immortal Essence. Though he had many Immortal Gu, nearly all of them awaited feeding and were useless in combat. However, he possessed the Killing Moves Ice Diamond Star Dust, Light Void Bat Wings, and Hair Armor. Under normal circumstances, his combat strength reached the upper tier of the Sixth Transformation. If he activated the Immortal-level Killing Move Myriad Self, his combat strength would immediately soar to the Peak of the Sixth Transformation.
The Western Desert Gu Immortal Fei Niangzi, whom Fang Yuan had defeated and driven away, also possessed upper-tier Sixth Transformation combat strength. She had three Mortal-level Killing Moves of considerable power, especially her movement Killing Move used during her final escape—even Fang Yuan couldn't catch up to her.
But Fang Yuan himself had an Immortal Zombie body, which synergized closely with the Light Void Bat Wings and Hair Armor Killing Moves. What mattered even more was Fang Yuan's rich and ruthless combat talent. All of this combined allowed him to crush Fei Niangzi's fighting spirit entirely, leaving her with no choice but to flee.