Chapter 504: Assassination (Long Chapter)
Translator: ChibiGeneral Editor: ChibiGeneral
The weights-like strength of ten jun Gu was quietly hovering above Fang Yuan's head.
Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, his body shrouded by the light from strength of ten jun Gu.
A long time passed.
Fang Yuan opened his eyes, the light slowly dispersed and the strength of ten jun Gu only was half of its original size.
"I can still use it twice." Fang Yuan silently evaluated.
Strength of ten jun Gu was an expendable Gu; after completely using this one, Fang Yuan would possess seventy jun of strength. This strength could only be said to be just passable even among rank four initial stage strength path Gu Masters.
All-out effort Gu was suppressed to rank two and if it was not resolved, there would be no possibility for a qualitative change in Fang Yuan's strength path cultivation. That is to say, his strength path battle strength was not useful in this short period of time.
He checked his first aperture and second aperture again.
The vital Gu of the first aperture was Spring Autumn Cicada which was still in a concealed state and was recuperating.
The ninety percent purple crystal primeval sea was gleaming with light, dying the rank five peak stage crystal walls with purple color.
Above the sea was wolf smoke Gu which looked a lump of dark clouds in the shape of a wolf.
The completely repaired battle bone wheel was afloat on the surface along with the spotless white willow leaf-like snow wash Gu.
Rank five hints and clues Gu was diving like a cuttlefish, playing occasionally with the wolf swallow Gu.
At the bottom was large numbers of wolf enslavement Gu, many strength of ten jun Gu and some wolf soul Gu.
At the same, the most important Gu to Fang Yuan currently - stargate Gu, moving perspective cup Gu, east window Gu, soul burial Gu and instant success Gu - were lurking around.
As for wolf howl Gu, wolf care Gu, eagle rise Gu, wolf sprint Gu and breath concealment Gu, they were residing in different places on his body.
As the time Fang Yuan spent in northern plains increased, his body was also gradually adapting to the northern plains' environment. His first aperture's cultivation had already recovered to rank five middle stage but Fang Yuan had all along been using breath concealment Gu to suppress his aura to rank four peak stage.
It was a different scene in the second aperture.
The crystal membrane of the second aperture shone brightly.
Ninety percent true gold primeval sea rippled and gleamed.
After these days of cultivating, Fang Yuan's second aperture had grown to rank four peak stage from rank three peak stage.
At the center of the aperture was the rank three all-out effort Gu.
Besides this, there were rank three strength qi Gu which could condense beast phantoms into solid form, rank four bitter strength Gu which could increase strength the more one got injured.
Rank four charging crash Gu, rank three tusita flower, primeval elder Gu, rank four expend strength Gu and the healing Gu rank three self-reliance Gu.
As for vajra stare Gu, turn gold Gu, pitch black Gu, blood skull Gu, bone flesh unity Gu, yin yang rotation Gu and others, they could not be used at the moment and were thus left behind in Hu Immortal blessed land.
Because Fang Yuan appeared in northern plains first from Lang Ya blessed land, his second aperture was approved by northern plains and its rank four peak stage cultivation did not receive any suppression.
Second aperture's cultivation could increase so rapidly because of those relic Gu Fang Yuan bought before.
But due to the limited immortal essence stones he had, he was unable to buy purple crystal relic Gu, so now the second aperture's cultivation would depend on Fang Yuan's own effort.
"Rank four to rank five is a process of qualitative change, there is a huge gap between them. I might as well raise my second aperture's cultivation to rank five initial stage tonight!" Seeing there was enough time, Fang Yuan continued to sit cross-legged, deciding to breakthrough to rank five realm.
Second aperture's cultivation was already at rank four peak stage and already had sufficient foundation, its aptitude could not be higher than the first aperture but with Lang Ya land spirit personally refining it, its aptitude also reached ninety percent.
For normal Gu Masters who fulfilled these two conditions, they had enough capital to breakthrough to rank five realm.
Normally, they would gain enough experience after some failures and then successfully advance.
But experience had always been a strong point of Fang Yuan and this obstacle did not exist for him.
More importantly, first aperture and second aperture's primeval essence could be mutually used!
There were no two leaves that were completely the same in this world; similarly primeval essence was unique to each Gu Master. If Gu Masters transferred primeval essence to each other without the use of Gu like bone flesh unity Gu, the foreign primeval essence would mix together and the aperture would explode eventually.
However, whether it was the first or second aperture, they both belonged to Fang Yuan; their essence was the same so the primeval essence could be mutually transferred.
"Rise."
Fang Yuan silently willed and the purple crystal primeval essence in his first aperture charged towards the second aperture in the center of his chest.
A rank five peak stage primeval essence charging at rank four crystal membrane was bound to cause an intense reaction.
At the crack of dawn, Fang Yuan had successfully broken through to rank five initial stage.
The breakthrough to rank five this time was the easiest one in all the attempts he had ever tried.
"But because I used first aperture's primeval essence, the second aperture has also received the region's suppression now." Fang Yuan could perceive that the second aperture right now had light purple primeval essence but activating it would only give the effect of the previous true gold primeval essence.
"In just over half a month, the suppression on the second aperture will fade while the first aperture will completely blend into northern plains' environment in three months and will no longer receive suppression! It will also be the time when the struggle for the Imperial Court reaches the climax…."
Fang Yuan let out a breath of turbid air and stood up to stretch his body.
A night of cultivation without rest gave him a slight feeling of tiredness.
He pushed open the secret room's door. The two rank three Gu Masters guarding in front of the door immediately greeted him.
One of the Gu Masters gave good news to Fang Yuan: "Lord Wolf King, our Gu Masters were fortunate enough to capture a shark fin wolf in the wild. We have locked it within a cage, tribe leader has told me to inform lord, when you finish your cultivation, to go to the supply camp to subdue it.
This news was an unexpected surprise to Fang Yuan.
Shark fin wolf was a mutated beast with the battle strength of a rank four Gu Master. Although Fang Yuan had purchased a batch of mutated wolves in treasure yellow heaven, he did not bring them out due to the lack of a clear explanation.
If there was a shark fin wolf by his side guarding him, Fang Yuan would no doubt be much safer while battling.
After a while, Fang Yuan entered the supply camp.
"Tu Bo greets Lord Wolf King." A rank three Gu Master hurried over to welcome Fang Yuan.
He was short and fat, his chubby face shining with a glossy light. He spoke with a flattering voice: "Lord Wolf King, I have already been waiting for a long time to receive you."
At Tu Bo's lead, Fang Yuan and others soon saw that shark fin wolf in a wooden cage.
The shark fin wolf was as huge as an elephant and was lying in the cage at this moment. Its whole body was covered with firm carapace like a crocodile's. On its back, a row of shark fins extended from its head to tail.
The light of dawn shone on its body. This shark fin wolf was closing its eyes, its consciousness lost under the effect of slumber Gu.
"Congratulations to lord. Shark fin wolf is the mutated wolf with the strongest defense. With this wolf's protection, lord will be like a tiger that has grown wings."
"What's rarer is that shark fin wolf can not only fight on land, but has even more battle strength underwater!"
The two rank three Gu Master guards looked at this divine steed shark fin wolf and commented while congratulating Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan smiled and looked at this shark fin wolf, his eyes slightly narrowed as he absent-mindedly asked: "How many people were sacrificed to capture this mutated wolf?"
Tu Bo knew Fang Yuan was asking him, immediately replying: "We had to sacrifice four rank three Gu Masters and at least over two hundred rank two Gu Masters. If not for Wang tribe leader and Fang tribe leader's timely reinforcement, this shark fin wolf would have escaped."
Fang Yuan nodded, his eyes squinting to a slit: "This shark fin wolf is riddled with injuries but it looks like it had old injuries?"
"Yes. If not for its old injuries, the investigative Gu Master might not have been able to escape alive and hurry back to report. I can see that Lord Wolf King has obtained the blessing of Longevity Heaven, sending you an injured shark fin wolf before the great battle." Tu Bo flattered.
"Fortunate..." Fang Yuan muttered, a feeling of uneasiness becoming ever stronger in his heart.
He was not clear on how this feeling arose, but it gave him an indescribable sense of danger.
He asked several questions but did not find anything wrong.
Shark fin wolf was a mutated beast, having battle strength of a rank four Gu Master. Because it had old injuries, it could be held back and captured alive.
Everything was reasonable.
The only unreasonable thing was the uneasy feeling in Fang Yuan's heart.
But Fang Yuan placed utmost importance on this instinct.
He did not have this feeling when he had just crossed over in his previous life. It was an intuition that was born from the accumulation of his plentiful experience after enduring hundreds of years of trials and countless deadly situations.
People became astute as they aged. No matter how stupid someone was, after experiencing many losses and trials, and seeing many things, they would naturally gain some wisdom.
In truth, not only humans, even ordinary beasts would have a type of intuition and sensitivity towards danger.
Under the surrounding Gu Masters' anticipating looks, Fang Yuan took out a rank four wolf enslavement Gu.
"Here take it, subdue this mutated wolf." What was unexpected was Fang Yuan did not personally make a move, instead gave the wolf enslavement Gu to Tu Bo.
"Lord wants me to use it?" Tu Bo was astonished, "But I am only at rank three…"
"Speak less nonsense and use it quickly." Fang Yuan impatiently shouted, forcibly handing the wolf enslavement Gu to Tu Bo.
Tu Bo was helpless, he did not know what eccentric temperament a lord like Wolf King had, but due to Fang Yuan's prestige, he could only start pouring primeval essence into the wolf enslavement Gu.
He poured his primeval essence for a long time and only when he was starting to sweat profusely from the exhaustion, did the rank four wolf enslavement Gu slowly activate.
Wolf enslavement Gu turned into a mystical light and descended on the shark fin wolf's body while flickering.
"Sigh…" A regretful sigh of a female suddenly resounded in everyone's ears.
At that instant, the warning sign in Fang Yuan's heart suddenly soared and he immediately retreated without thinking!
A trembling feeling instantly engulfed the souls of everyone present.
Almost at the same moment, Tu Bo suddenly opened his mouth and let out a miserable cry before dying on the spot!
The two rank three Gu Master guards were overwhelmed with shock, they simply did not know how Tu Bo lost his life. Subconsciously, they followed Fang Yuan and quickly flew back.
But soon, one of them suddenly shuddered, losing all life while still in mid-air.
"Soul explosion…" A light flashed past Fang Yuan's mind as he blurted out.
"Lord Wolf King sure enough has extraordinary insights." A woman's soft sound echoed beside his ear followed by surging shadows.
The shadows were like swords, overlapping over one another and suddenly opened up like a peacock fanning its feathers before binding Fang Yuan's body incisively.
Rank four — multiple sword shadow Gu!
Cling Clang!
Immediately, concentrated sounds echoed, blending into one.
Multiple sword shadows struck Fang Yuan's body, producing dazzling sparks like gold colliding with iron.
Fang Yuan's skin turned dark-green and if one carefully observed it, they would see patterns over his body like that on a turtle shell.
Rank five — turtle jade wolf skin Gu!
"Female scoundrel!" The remaining rank three Gu Master roared when he saw Fang Yuan being attacked, and changed his direction to help out.
The female Gu Master who was mounting a sneak attack on Fang Yuan snorted, ignoring him as she made the multiple sword shadows go more berserk.
At the same time, she spat out a thin snake.
The snake was like a black thread that passed by the sword shadows and directly moved towards Fang Yuan's ear.
Fang Yuan was expressionless, his gaze as cold as an icy mountain. He suddenly moved his right hand and grabbed the rank three Gu Master guard who came to assist him.
"Lord Wolf King!" The rank three Gu Master was startled, he had come to protect Fang Yuan and had never imagined Fang Yuan would actually grab him.
While he was astonished and dazed, Fang Yuan pulled him towards his right side, right in between Fang Yuan and shark fin wolf.
Almost at the same time, the rank three Gu Master gave a short pained groan, his whole body twitched, his eyes rolled and he foamed from his mouth!
The thread-like snake took this chance to slitter into Fang Yuan's ear.
Fang Yuan gave a stuffed snort, he then let go of the rank three Gu Master and started to pound the sword shadows.
The female Gu Master could perceive the enormous strength contained within these punches. She softly chuckled and did not receive the punches forcibly, instead called back the multiple sword shadow Gu, her body then turned into a black shadow as she swiftly retreated twenty steps away.
The black shadow landed on the shadow of a tent and turned back into a woman.
This woman looked exquisite, she wore black clothing and her face was covered with a black gauze, only revealing a pair of narrow red phoenix eyes.
From top to bottom, her body let out a gloomy and solitary aura, adding a demonic charm to her beauty; one look at her and it would be hard to forget.
"Junior Shadowless Sword Bian Si Xuan greets Lord Wolf King." The woman slightly bowed towards Fang Yuan. She was in the enemy camp with enemies surrounding her, but she looked calm and at ease.
Fang Yuan snorted and questioned: "What Gu did you assault me with?"
Bian Si Xuan smiled: "When junior went on an expedition once, in a certain ruins, I unexpectedly discovered a strange Gu worm. When activated, it would pierce into the ear and enter the brain. As long as the person thinks faster for even a bit, this Gu will rapidly expand till the brain bursts. Thus junior has named it brain explosion Gu."
Fang Yuan's expression sank.
Bian Si Xuan bowed once more, her tone full of sincere admiration: "Senior could actually perceive Lord Dong Fang's meticulously planned fatal trap and even avoid most of the force of soul explosion, junior is truly in admiration. Taking senior's life will be junior's greatest honor, farewell."
Immediately afterwards, she turned into a black shadow and ran through the shadows of the buildings.
"She's shadow sword expert!"
"Damn it, block her."
Many Gu Masters who had hurried because of the noise, shouted furiously and attacked at the shadows, but Bian Si Xuan's black shadow had already disappeared.
She left, or was she still here? For a moment, no one dared to be certain.
"We came late, we ask for Lord Wolf King's forgiveness!"
"Lord Wolf King, are you alright?"
The worried crowd quickly surrounded Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan's body did not suffer heavy injuries but his skin and hair were slashed by the sword shadows, making him look quite miserable.
"What could happen to me? A group of incompetent trash, no one realized that the other party had infiltrated the camp! All of you get lost!" Fang Yuan shouted in anger, but he was secretly joyful.
He had not thought that in this assasination attempt, a clue to one of Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's inheritances would become his!
Brain explosion Gu?
Did you really think I could not have blocked it?
Hmph, inexperienced junior...
In Fang Yuan's past life's memories, this shadow sword expert Bian Si Xuan was an important character.
She was one of Ma Hong Yun's wives and would become rank six Gu Immortal in the future. It was because of her 'brain explosion Gu', that Ma Hong Yun could obtain one of Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's inheritances.
It was only that Ma Hong Yun had always avoided mentioning what this inheritance was or the concrete details of it, so Fang Yuan was also not clear.
He only knew how to properly activate this 'brain explosion Gu'.
"Ma Hong Yun always avoided talking about it, one could see how big of a harvest he had gained from this inheritance and was afraid of others coveting it if he told the truth." Fang Yuan looked extremely furious on the surface, but his heart was calmly analyzing the event.