Chapter 137: Shadow of death
Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow
Seeing that Xiong Li’s fist was about to hit Bai Ning Bing, Xiong Lin and Xiong Jiang both showed a joyful expression.
Only Fang Yuan stood far away, his eyes shining with solemnness.
With his understanding of Bai Ning Bing, how could he commit such a beginner’s mistake?
As expected, at this moment!
Bai Ning Bing suddenly struck; his right hand and forearm’s flesh all turned into a transparent blue frosty ice, from outside his finger bones could be seen.
His fingers gathered straight, forming a palm blade and striking like lightning, puncturing Xiong Li’s heart!
"Urgh!" Xiong Li’s descending body came to a halt.
He stared with wide-opened eyes, lowering his head and staring at his chest in disbelief.
"How can this be?"
"Lord Xiong Li!"
With the sudden twist of events, Xiong Jiang and Xiong Lin could not believe it.
"You think my right arm was really broken by your punch? Naive! I already used the Rank three ice muscle Gu, and trained a body of ice muscles, this is the ultimate defense! The reason I pretended earlier was to give a certain someone a surprise." Bai Ning Bing slowly got up, showing disdain in his eyes, and at the end of his speech, he looked towards Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan’s expression was calm, staring at him too.
Plop.
"Bai… Ning Bing...." Xiong Li opened his mouth, saying his last words with difficulty. Bai Ning Bing’s ice hand spread out some cold air and froze his heart, cutting off his life force!
"Scheming scumbag, I will fight it out with you!" Xiong Lin saw Xiong Li’s death firsthand, and under the extreme pain and anger, he ignored his own danger and charged towards Bai Ning Bing.
"Xiong Lin, calm down!’ Xiong Jiang acted in time, restraining Xiong Lin.
"Group leader is dead, we are no longer his match, quickly leave, I’ll block him!" Xiong Jiang controlled his sadness and said.
"Brother Xiong Jiang..." Xiong Lin was dumbfounded, his eyes turning red.
Xiong Jiang shrugged his hand backwards and took a step forwards, blocking Bai Ning Bing.
Shadow Bond Gu!
The shadow below his feet suddenly came alive, distorting creepily, connecting itself to Bai Ning Bing’s shadow.
"I have the Shadow Bond Gu! Once I get hurt, Bai Ning Bing takes the same damage. He won’t kill me so easily. Xiong Lin, you are still young and have better talent than me or group leader, go away quickly!" Xiong Jiang’s gaze was locked onto Bai Ning Bing as he shouted.
"Brother Xiong Jiang!" Xiong Lin’s eyes were teary, he knew the weakness of the Shadow Bond Gu.
In the previous battle, Xiong Jiang had used the Gu worm too, but once Bai Ning Bing pulled sufficient distance, the shadow would split. Xiong Jiang saying this was just to console him.
Especially now, Xiong Jiang did not have enough primeval essence; he had already used up too much, and even the Roaming Zombie Gu had stopped working.
Xiong Lin’s feet seems to have taken roots, as he refused to move a step. He turned around, staring at Fang Yuan, "Fang Yuan, why are the reinforcements not here yet?!"
Fang Yuan did not speak, only staring firmly at Bai Ning Bing.
Bai Ning Bing moved his right arm, and after a while, his right arm regained its fleshy state. He used a mocking tone, "Reinforcements? Hehehe, they would’ve come long ago if it was the case, but this is all a lie. Tsk tsk tsk, you are even more naive than the other one. You really think such a cheap method like Shadow Bond Gu can restrain me?"
He stared at the shadow in disdain, not giving a fuck.
"Fang Yuan, is this true?" Xiong Lin clenched his fist, eyes speaking fire as he asked furiously.
Fang Yuan did not care about him, but stared at Bai Ning Bing, his mouth curling into a smile, "That move earlier, it expended your primeval essence right? By now, how much primeval essence do you still have in your aperture?"
Xiong Li used a defensive Gu worm but it was weaker than Fang Yuan’s White Jade Gu. The result was that his defense was penetrated, but such an attack is clearly not owned by a Rank two Gu Master.
According to the earlier situation, Fang Yuan guessed that Bai Ning Bing used the Rank three Frost Demon Gu.
This Gu’s ability was strong, renowned among the Rank three Gu, but overuse harmed the user. Joint problems were just a light symptom, but if serious, one's muscles could be frozen and damaged, thus it needed to be used with other Gu worms.
Bai Ning Bing had said earlier that his muscles had become ice muscles, and could take the cold of the frost. Thus, when used together with the Frost Demon Gu, they complemented each other.
This was still Bai Ning Bing using Rank two primeval essence to forcefully activate a Rank three Gu worm, so it had to have high consumption, but he needed to use such a method to break the stalemate.
Bai Ning Bing’s expression changed; the move earlier had caused a great consumption of his primeval essence, and Fang Yuan saw through it.
Thus, after killing Xiong Li, he did not strike again, but used the talking time to recover.
He laughed heartily, nodding, and confessed, "Not bad, my primeval essence is running dry, I left my right limb unused to lure you to attack. But you didn’t fall for it. Hehehe, the real battle is just starting, isn’t it?"
Fang Yuan squinted.
If Bai Ning Bing denied it, he would attack without doubt. But Bai Ning Bing confessed, showing a look of fearlessness...
Either that Bai Ning Bing knew he was going to die, showing no fear towards death, or he probably had other strong trump cards and had great confidence in surviving.
Ordinary Gu Masters only had three to five Gu worms, even Qing Shu and Chi Shan, were as such.
But there are exceptions.
For example Fang Yuan, with the Moonglow Gu, White Jade Gu, Stealth Scales Gu, Four Flavour Liquor worm, Spring Autumn Cicada, Earth Communication Ear Grass and Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, he had seven Gu worms in his possession.
Bai Ning Bing was the Bai clan’s hope and had the Northern Dark Ice Soul body, an absolute genius. From the start of his cultivating journey, he had received the full support of his clan, his wealth definitely greater than Fang Yuan.
Up till now, he had displayed over six Gu worms. Fang Yuan was sure that he had others.
And these Gu worms allowed him to be calm despite being in this position of having little primeval essence.
Actually, the most troublesome kind of opponent is like him.
Not only having talent, but not fearing death, and having large amount of Gu worms in hand.
With these three, it greatly affected a Gu Master’s battle in terms of victory or loss. Especially Gu worms, with a strong or special one, it can allow a Gu Master to overturn the situation.
Bai Ning Bing’s Frost Demon Gu was a Rank three Gu worm, so even with Fang Yuan’s White Jade Gu defending, he could be penetrated. This is also why Fang Yuan had not engaged Bai Ning Bing personally.
Fang Yuan had used Gu Yue Man Shi, Xiong Li and others to fish out Bai Ning Bing’s secrets. After all, only knowing one’s enemy can one be assured of victory.
In comparing talent, Fang Yuan was only a C grade. Compared to Bai Ning Bing, it was a world of difference. Bai Ning Bing started cultivating earlier and had the clan’s assistance, and he had more outstanding Gu worms in his possession than Fang Yuan.
In terms of temperament, his fearlessness towards death made him almost invulnerable.
The difference between the two was that Bai Ning Bing was strong, and Fang Yuan was weak. This is the truth, he had to accept it and understand it.
But battles are interesting because the strong might not necessarily win, and the weak might not always fall.
Fang Yuan wanting to win against the odds, it was not impossible, but he had to use all of the methods he had, and make use of all the strength he could gather.
"Gu Yue Man Shi was just the beginning, and Xiong Li group is not the end." Thinking so, Fang Yuan struck.
With a moonblade, a head flew away, and blood spewed!
This moment, Bai Ning Bing’s iris shrunk to pin-size, his face changing colour.
Fang Yuan’s moonblade did not attack him, but was aimed at Xiong Jiang’s head.
Xiong Jiang did not expect Fang Yuan’s betrayal; Bai Ning Bing’s pressure was too great, and all his attention was gathered on the latter.
He did not have much primeval essence left, so to conserve them, he did not maintain the Roaming Zombie Gu, thus getting one-shotted.
Bam!
Bai Ning Bing’s face was pale as he vomited a mouthful of blood, and at the same time, his ears, nose and eyes had blood traces.
Ever since the battle started, this was the most severe injury he had sustained.
Shadow Bond Gu!
With the shared damage effect, when the Shadow Bond Gu Master sustains an injury, the chain-linked Gu Master takes 10% of the damage. Now that Xiong Jiang is dead, his injuries were connected through the shadow and transmitted to Bai Ning Bing.
This injury with a direct effect, even if Bai Ning Bing had the Water Shield Gu, it cannot block against it.
"Fang Yuan, what have you done?!" A second later, Xiong Lin came back from shock and shouted in a furious voice, heartbroken.
Fang Yuan ignored him, his body glowing with white jade light as he charged towards Bai Ning Bing.
Bai Ning Bing getting such an injury, his body was wavering, and his head was dizzy, his battle strength dropped drastically. Seeing Fang Yuan attacking, he retreated immediately.
"Bai Ning Bing, didn’t you want a life and death battle?" Fang Yuan chased relentlessly.
Bai Ning Bing gritted his teeth, escaping silently. His footsteps were messy, but he forced himself to focus, ignoring Fang Yuan’s taunting.
Although he knew he was a dying man and did not fear death, he was not stupid, and with such a dangerous situation, his heart grew calmer.
Xiong Lin stood on the spot, not choosing to help Fang Yuan chase Bai Ning Bing.
His heart was filled with pain and anger. He hated Bai Ning Bing, and also detested Fang Yuan.
Bai and Fang moved closely, traversing the valley.
As time passed, Bai Ning Bing’s injuries slowly recovered, and his nose and eyes stopped bleeding. Slowly his footsteps became more composed.
He did not simply run away, but during this time, used his Gu worm to heal his body’s injuries.
Fang Yuan’s pursued and his heart was secretly shocked.
"Previously Bai Ning Bing’s primeval essence was almost fully expended, but during this time, the amount he recovered was enough to heal his own injuries. Northern Dark Ice Soul body, Ten Extreme talents, what sort of primeval essence recovery speed is this!"
The more he knew, the more determined he was to kill Bai Ning Bing.
Moonglow Gu!
Fang Yuan sent a moonblade around the size of a face flying; it flew across the sky, emitting a buzzing sound.
Bai Ning Bing heard this sound and tried to dodge, but his arm still got sliced away.
An injury appeared and blood poured out, but the injury was quickly covered by a layer of frost, stopping the blood.
Bai Ning Bing had obtained the ice muscles, and once this is achieved, it was like the Black and White Boar Gu’s strength increase — it required no primeval essence to sustain.
But Bai Ning Bing’s heart continued to sink. Before his old injuries healed, new injuries would come; evidently, Fang Yuan wanted to slowly grind him to death!