Although Fang Yuan could only curse his luck at the fact that Qing Shu had died, this did have an upside for him.
He no longer needed to fight with a hand tied behind his back!
He had already made use of the Training Weights Gu to bring up his aptitude to 78% and it was unlikely that he would be able to use it further.
Now, Rank 4 yellow primeval essence began to fill his aperture. But, it was not enough.
He began withdrawing primeval stones to replenish his Rank 4 essence.
Bai Ning Bing had already turned tail and fled the battlefield.
"Bai Ning Bing! Didn't you want the two of us to have a grand fight to the death? Where did your bravado suddenly go?" Fang Yuan demanded.
Bai Ning Bing did not bother looking back. He wanted to fight, yes, but he was not stupid. Who knew what other cards Fang Yuan was hiding up his sleeve? As it was, the chance that he could fight against a Rank 4 Gu Master in his current state even with the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique were slim.
'Your death anniversary will be a year from now on,' Fang Yuan thought as he had finally replenished his primeval essence to an acceptable amount.
Among the thoughts racing through his brain was wondering what gu worm he should use his cultivation blessing on- he had not activated it yet, but he could not think of an appropriate candidate.
He could try advancing Three Steps Fragrant Grass Gu, but that would make it only Rank Three still and would not be able to bridge the distance between them fast enough.
He could use it on the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider, but that would make it Rank 5 and would not mix well with his Rank 4 primeval essence.
Either of the Moon Gus could be advanced, but so could the Moonlight Chainmail Gu. Offense or defense- which one should he focus on?
He really didn't see how this helped him in the slightest- why had the system handed him this power?
He took out the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider and this closed the distance between the two of them, while Fang Yuan took the opportunity of riding a mount to replenish his primeval essence even further.
Bai Ning Bing's battle instinct kicked in even as he fled, using the Blue Bird Ice Coffin Gu and directing it at Fang Yuan's mount.
Fang Yuan dismounted and kept the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider back in his aperture. It was excellent for moving around but not very durable, and with Bai Ning Bing's power would likely die in a single hit. The use of the spider was mainly to run away from enemies, after all, rather than towards them.
Still, he had managed to cover quite the distance between the two of them, but now had to deal with the Blue Bird Ice Coffin Gu instead. As its original target had vanished, it now locked onto Fang Yuan instead.
Fang Yuan used his cultivation blessing on the Rank 3 Moonlight Chainmail Gu- advancing it to Rank 4 Moonlight Plate Armor Gu!
Fang Yuan was encased in a silvery set of armor, making him look similar to European knights back on Earth, though his armor had a mystical tinge to it.
Using this, he endured the Blue Bird Ice Coffin Gu head on, with it delaying him by only a few breaths.
Three Steps Fragrant Grass Gu!
Even if he pushed Rank 4 primeval essence into it, it was still only a Rank 2 gu worm and could not fully cover the distance between them.
Golden Moonblade!
He shot one out, though Bai Ning Bing deflected it with his own ice blade.
In a fit of desperation, Bai Ning Bing threw a gu worm out from his aperture.
Even back on Earth, this tactic was sometimes used by scouts. If they were found out, they would drop behind coins or other precious items to buy time for them to save their lives. Or, how some women would 'accidentally' drop their purses if they thought they were being followed.
It was a Rank 3 Aperture Gu, quite useful to Bai Ning Bing, but he didn't value it more than his own life, naturally.
'If only I still had the Spring Autumn Cicada, I could've refined this gu worm instantly and taken it, but as it most likely has his will imbued within it, I won't be able to refine it that easily,' Fang Yuan thought, squishing the gu worm under his foot like a cockroach. It was worth several thousand primeval stones, but he put a greater value on Bai Ning Bing's head right now.
As Bai Ning Bing saw that his strategy had failed and thought that he was done for, he heard something.
There were voices ahead!
If there was a group of Gu Masters, there was a one in three chance it belonged to any of the three clans.
If they were Bai Clan Gu Masters, he might have a shot at saving himself.
If they were from the Gu Yue clan, he was done for. If they were from the Xiong Clan, they would likely not interfere, meaning he would still be dead.
In other words, he only had a one in three chance of survival, but that was better than nothing.
Fang Yuan knew this, so he didn't let up in his pursuit.
As Bai Ning Bing burst through a line of trees and saw the people in front of him, a smile of relief blossomed on his face.
'What kind of dogshit luck is this?' Fang Yuan thought, noting the Bai clansmen that had appeared in front of him, trailing only a few moments behind Bai Ning Bing. 'No... if there is no one strong among them... I can still kill them and...'
"Ah! Help me! Fang Yuan is trying to kill me!" Bai Ning Bing cried out.
Among the Bai clansmen there was a Rank 3 elder. Fang Yuan, in his current situation, would not be able to kill all of them before word got out back to the Bai clan or reinforcements would arrive.
That would not matter in ordinary circumstances, but Fang Yuan was going to be tied to the mountain for the foreseeable future.
He had lost quite a bit in his pursuit of Bai Ning Bing, but he also knew when to cut his losses. Fighting would no longer yield him with any further benefits.
"What? Fang Yuan?"
"He masquerades as a righteous path cultivator, but he's trying to kill an elder of our clan!"
"Hmph- all Gu Yue villagers are just a bunch of hypocrites!"
"Ahaha- let's get him!"
"Wait, is that Rank 4 aura I sense from him?"
The Bai clansmen froze. To go up against a Rank 3 Gu Master was one thing, but to go up against one at Rank 4 was something else entirely.
"He's... almost out of primeval essence," Bai Ning Bing choked out. "We can still take him!" He had figured how it was that Fang Yuan could use his abilities so freely earlier on in the fight, and noticed that he was not so carefree with it any longer. He was able to put two and two together like that.
"That's right! We just need to buy time for Elder Bai Ning Bing and he'll turn the tide around like he always does!"
"Correct, how could anyone stand up to the genius that is our clan's Bai Ning Bing?"
"Bai Ning Bing could fight even Rank 3 Gu Masters when he was only Rank 2, no doubt he can succeed here with all of our help!"
"That's right, he's still Rank 4 Initial Stage, and probably doesn't have full Rank 4 strength yet!"
Fang Yuan turned around, withdrawing the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider and mounting it before going on his way back to Qing Shu's and the other corpses, and then to Gu Yue village.