Fang Zheng stood far away, not even daring to take a deep breath as he watched.
The battle had reached the climax, the winner and loser will be decided in this showdown.
"Lord Qing Shu, hang in there!" Fang Zheng was so nervous his body was shaking, he knew that going over would only cause trouble, thus he could only cheer for Gu Yue Qing Shu loudly.
As if he heard Fang Zheng's voice, the ice blade storm got smaller, forcefully suppressed by Qing Shu.
"Damn it, I can actually get into a situation where my primeval essence is insufficient…" Bai Ning Bing gritted his teeth, rotating slower as his primeval essence recovery could not keep up with his expenditure, getting into a helpless situation.
The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique had rapid primeval essence recovery, but at Rank three, it still couldn't match the tree spirit's ability to absorb natural essence.
If Bai Ning Bing reached Rank four, his recovery would far outpace the Wood Charm Gu.
But in life-or-death battles, there's no room for 'what if'.
Win or lose—it must be faced.
Eventually, the ice blade storm faded, but Qing Shu paid dearly.
His arms, thick as carriage wheels, were mangled—just two fingers left on the left, three on the right, both palms half-sliced.
Yet, as he pressed them together, new branches quickly sprouted, weaving into each other.
The forming hands became a wooden cage, trapping Bai Ning Bing inside.
"Damn it!" Bai Ning Bing gritted his teeth. His primeval essence was running dry, he could only be at Qing Shu's mercy.
"We won!!" Far away, Fang Zheng jumped at this sight.
"Am I going to die…?" Bai Ning Bing shouted in his heart, his eyes widening as he saw the two palms approaching. When both palms clasp together, he would be smashed into a bloody meat pie.
But the palm's speed became slower, and slowly stood in mid-air.
Bai Ning Bing was stunned momentarily, before realizing that Gu Yue Qing Shu's body had developed problems, instantly being overjoyed.
"Damn, I was so close…" At this moment, Gu Yue Qing Shu's heart was filled with helplessness. His hands had lost all senses, completely turning into wood.
At the same time, he gradually lost the connection to his intestines and lungs. The Wood Charm Gu's ability had corroded his entire body, bringing him to the brink of death.
"No, it cannot end like this! I can still use the Green Vine Gu!" Gu Yue Qing Shu forced himself to focus and activated the Green Vine Gu.
Thick vines surged through the gaps in the wooden cage, striking at Bai Ning Bing.
He dodged swiftly, but after so many battles, his stamina was nearly drained.
With limited space to move, he couldn't evade for long.
Eventually, a vine wrapped around his right leg and dragged him down.
"It's over." Qing Shu sighed in relief, as he quickly moved tens of green vines to follow up.
At the brink of death, Bai Ning Bing's aperture finally held enough primeval essence.
Without hesitation, he poured it all into the Ice Blade Gu, forming a fresh blade.
With one swift strike, he cut the vine off his leg and rolled away, narrowly dodging the incoming vines.
They slammed into the ground, sending dirt flying before lunging again.
Panting, Bai Ning Bing used his blade to fend them off, surrounded and pressed on all sides.
One wrong move and he'd be killed instantly.
But his talent shone under pressure—death awakened his full potential, and his movements grew sharper, faster.
Though tripped a few times, he managed to survive.
As more vines were cut down, their numbers dropped.
It wasn't that Qing Shu held back—it was because he'd drained nearly all the nearby natural essence.
Though faint energy still lingered, it wasn't enough to sustain the Green Vine Gu.
Worse yet, the Wood Charm Gu had completely invaded Qing Shu's body and was now seizing his mind.
His thoughts blurred, and moments of blackouts began to strike.
The scent of death loomed ever closer.
"Is it going to end? No…" He was indignant, forcing his mind to focus and put in the last ditch effort in killing Bai Ning Bing.
He could no longer see—his eyes taken over by the Wood Charm Gu.
His hearing was gone too, his ears now useless.
Only a faint sense of touch remained.
He relied on the feeling of Bai Ning Bing's attacks to judge distance and strike back.
His gamble paid off—a vine coiled around Bai Ning Bing's neck, lifted him, and slowly tightened.
Bai Ning Bing gasped for air, but even with his mouth open, no breath came.
Both he and Qing Shu were nearing death.
Fang Yuan exhaled heavily—the brutal battle had come to an end.
Scattered on the ground were five Bai clan Gu Masters, eyes wide open in death.
Relying on the Stealth Scales Gu for a sneak attack, and combining the Moonglow Gu with his physical strength, he demonstrated remarkable skill.
He collected the Gu worms from Man Shi and his groupmates' corpses, as well as those from Xiong Li and his team.
"Luckily, this time I killed Xiong Lin. Otherwise, he would've already taken the corpses and left," Fang Yuan smiled.
As Fang Yuan collected the Gu worms, he also took body parts from each of the corpses. The reason—to refine another Gu.
At times also, Gu Masters were attracted by the sounds of the intense battle, so Fang Yuan lured some wolf packs over and restrained them.
Those that he cannot stop, Fang Yuan would strike with his own hands.
"The mountain path battlefield's noise has come to a halt, it seems they are deciding the victor already." His right ear had roots growing out, digging into the mountain walls, allowing Fang Yuan to hear some things from the battlefield.
Fang Yuan's expression quickly shifted.
He heard heavy footsteps approaching from both sides—one from Gu Yue Village, the other from the Bai clan.
Each group had over twenty people.
Not even a bold lightning wolf pack could hold them off, and Fang Yuan had no way to lure two packs at once.
"It seems the news about this battle has been found out by someone, so these are the reinforcements sent by the two clans, I have to enter the mountain path immediately." Fang Yuan's distance was shorter, thus being the first to enter the mountain path.
The battlefield's scenario was not out of his expectations.
From the cage's opening, he could see Bai Ning Bing hanging by the vines on his last breath, but was still barely alive.
"At last, time to use the Plunder Gu." Without hesitation, Fang Yuan formed a claw shape with his right hand, aiming at Bai Ning Bing.
Plunder Gu!
He activated it silently and felt something respond.
With a quick motion, he pulled back, and a Gu worm flew out of Bai Ning Bing's body.
It was a red steel Relic Gu!
Fang Yuan laughed coldly he used the Spring Autumn Cicada to instantly refine it and kept it in his clothes.
At this moment, Bai clan Gu Masters appeared from the mountain path.
Seeing such an intense battlefield, their faces showed a shocked expression.
"The lad over there, don't make any unnecessary movements!" A Rank three Gu Master shouted towards Fang Yuan, his tone full of warning and threat.
But Fang Yuan ignored him, he grabbed once again; this time a grey coloured beetle flew out.
"Stone Aperture Gu…" Fang Yuan recognised this Gu immediately. As his eyes shone, he refined it once again and kept it in his arms.
"Scumbag, if you don't want to die, stop right now!"
"Stealing our Bai clan Gu worm right in front of us!!"
"Save Bai Ning Bing, kill these guys!"
The Bai clan Gu Masters growled, running furiously from the mountain path.
Bai Ning Bing had the full support of his clan, so every Gu worm in his possession was outstanding. Now that they were snatched away by Fang Yuan in public, they all could feel their hearts bleeding.
This felt worse than killing them.
Whoosh whoosh!
Pin needles rained like cats and dogs.
"Damn it…" Bai clan Gu Masters started scolding, as they were blocked by Gu Yue Qing Shu.
"Another opportunity." Fang Yuan activated the Plunder Gu once again.
Eventually, Fang Yuan caught Bai Ning Bing's Water Shield Gu.
"Damn it, yet another Gu worm!"
"Bastard, stop now if you value your life!"
"Stop him, stop him, he dares to do so openly, he does not hold any regard for our Bai clan."
"Gu Yue Qing Shu is about to die at any moment. I only have time to use the Plunder Gu one last time—what will it be this time?" Fang Yuan was filled with anticipation; after all, this would be his fourth successful use of it, unlike in his previous life, where he had only managed to obtain three Gu.
Every time the Plunder Gu was used, it expended a large amount of primeval essence. It depended on how strong the target Gu worm was. The harder the process, the more primeval essence is expended. If the plunder fails, the Gu Master would even face a backlash.
Thus, the Plunder Gu was a rather unreliable Gu, with little usage.
But at this moment, Bai Ning Bing was almost dead, his consciousness was hazy and he was almost at his limits. Plundering his Gu worm was not hard at all.
If not for Fang Yuan having Rank two upper stage cultivation, supported by the Four Flavours Liquor Worm that pushed his primeval essence to peak stage, he wouldn't have been able to use it four times in a row.
"Oh, Iceblade Gu, not bad." Fang Yuan recognized the Gu and immediately used the Spring Autumn Cicada to refine it.
The tree spirit that Gu Yue Qing Shu turned into was eventually felled by the Bai clan Gu Masters.
They split open the wooden cage and saved the Bai Ning Bing who had fainted after losing his right arm.
Just as they were about to slaughter Fang Yuan, the Gu Yue clan reinforcements arrived.