It rained throughout the night, and only when dawn broke did the downpour finally cease.
Fang Yuan stepped out of the inn. Along the streets, those passing by all wore heavy, mournful expressions.
The clan had paid a heavy price during the night.
In truth, none of the three clans on Qing Mao Mountain had been spared — all had suffered tremendous casualties.
Fang Yuan could easily tell by just looking at the merit board.
After a single night, twenty-five small groups were erased from the board, all wiped out in the wolf tide. Even in groups where a few survived, the members were either gravely injured or crippled. Gu Yue Peng's group was one of them.
In the days that followed, the situation steadily worsened.
First came the appearance of the hundred beast king, the bold lightning wolf. Not long after, intelligence reported sightings of the thousand beast king — the frenzy lightning wolf.
Such news sent waves of dread through the Rank two Gu Masters.
To take on a frenzy lightning wolf, at least three small groups would need to join forces. And that wasn't even considering the usual lightning wolves accompanying it.
The situation forced the clans to dispatch their Rank three elders to the battlefield.
Under such conditions, each day became dangerous and exhausting for the Gu Masters.
Even Fang Yuan, with his Stealth Scales Gu, had to tread cautiously, always alert. After all, encountering a beast king-level wolf with a Lightning Eye Gu could still spell disaster.
Fortunately, he had the Earth Communication Ear Grass. This investigative Gu had a broad detection radius, allowing him to preemptively avoid large wolf packs.
As July drew to a close, the weather began to warm. Though the circumstances remained grim, the joint efforts of the three clans brought some stability.
Somewhere along the mountainside, three Gu Masters, already worn from a fierce battle, now faced a newly arrived bold lightning wolf.
The air was thick with the scent of death.
"Damn it, insufficient primeval essence, if I had 60%, no just 30%, we would not have to be chased like this!" Group leader Xiong Zhan stared at the slowly approaching bold lightning wolf, like a cat chasing a mouse, he vomited a mouthful of bloody water.
"The mountain cliff is ahead, there is no path left, what do we do?" A group member asked with a pale expression.
"What can we do? We can only put our hopes on the reinforcements. I heard lord Bai Ning Bing from my clan has come out of his closed door cultivation and is rushing into battle."
The two original groups, from both the Xiong clan and Bai clan, faced the wolf tide together and cooperated, but now only three people were left.
"Rather than relying on the Bai Ning Bing who is nowhere to be found, I'd rather fight for a chance to survive!" Xiong Zhan gritted his teeth, "The reason why a beast king is so dangerous, is because of the Gu on its body. I have a Plunder Gu, it can forcefully steal a Gu worm from my enemy. But it needs to be sustained when activated and I cannot move. During this period, you have to protect me."
"Okay!" The other two looked at each other and stood in front of Xiong Zhan, helping him block the bold lightning wolf.
Even though they knew that there was little hope, no one was willing to resign themselves to death.
"If the plunder is successful, we have a chance to live! Heaven bless us!" Xiong Zhan's face was determined as he raised his right arm.
Life and death depends on this!
The three humans and one wolf did not know that, high up on the cliff, a white haired young man wearing a white shirt was staring at this scene.
"Life is so boring…" He sat on the ground, one hand propping himself up, while the other was pouring liquid from his wine bottle.
What he poured out was not wine, but sweet mountain spring water.
He did not drink wine, but only liked water.
As this young man drank, he stared at the show before him.
"Fight, and die. Such a mundane life is too boring. Only with an intense battle like this, can your lives have a hint of excitement and colour. This way, your lives has some meaning."
He chuckled inwardly, showing no intention of lending a hand.
Even if he had the power to intervene, even if it was someone from the Bai clan.
What of it?
To him, loneliness was the truest abyss, and the warmth of family bonds was nothing more than an illusion.
He, Bai Ning Bing, would never waste time doing something as dull as saving another!
Perched atop the cliff, Bai Ning Bing observed the unfolding scene with amusement.
Seated casually, he had a clear view of the life-and-death struggle below.
The bold lightning wolf made its move, advancing slowly but surely.
Two Gu Masters stood firmly in its path, their expressions tense and grave.
Behind them, Xiong Zhan knelt on one knee, clutching his right wrist with his left hand. His right arm was shaped like a claw, aiming directly at the approaching beast.
"Plunder Gu!" he shouted suddenly, pouring all of his primeval essence into the Gu.
In that moment, an unseen force burst forth.
As he reached into the air, Xiong Zhan felt as if his hand had latched onto something—an elusive Gu worm fiercely resisting.
The opposing force was immense; though he had lowered his center of gravity, it still pulled him forward with startling strength.
"Plunder Gu's success rate is very low, but I have to succeed this time, otherwise we're doomed!" He gritted his teeth, veins popping up on his forehead as his expression turned ferocious, contesting with all his ability.
Xiong Zhan had no other choice.
If he failed, it meant certain death.
Driven by the desperation of survival, he poured every bit of primeval essence he had into the Plunder Gu. As the essence surged, the Plunder Gu embedded in his palm grew stronger, intensifying its pull.
Sensing the shift, the bold lightning wolf let out a sharp howl and launched into a frenzied assault.
The two Gu Masters holding the line struggled to hold their ground.
Just as Xiong Zhan thought he was about to succeed, his expression suddenly shifted.
"Damn it, not enough primeval essence!" He suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood, his state of health being at the worst. Once a plunder fails, he would face some backlash. This was a flaw of the Plunder Gu.
Howl!
Freed from the Plunder Gu's restraint, the bold lightning wolf raised its head and let out a piercing howl.
The Gu worm inside its body activated, causing its teeth to flicker with eerie blue lightning.
Crackling energy surged, gathering in its jaws before it fired a bolt of lightning straight ahead.
The lightning streaked between the two Gu Masters, striking the kneeling Xiong Zhan directly.
He didn't even have time to scream before his body was engulfed, instantly turning into a charred husk.
"Retreat!" one of the remaining Gu Masters shouted, both of them fleeing in separate directions.
The bold lightning wolf lunged after one, pinning him down and tearing open his throat with a savage bite.
The last Bai clan Gu Master found his path cut off, forced to back away slowly as the wolf drove him toward the cliff's edge.
"Ahhhhh. I'm going to die!" With his back against the cliff, he roared in despair, venting out the fear in his heart.
But suddenly his voice came to a stop — He saw Bai Ning Bing on top of the cliff.
"Lord Bai Ning Bing! Lord Bai Ning Bing, is that really you?" He was stunned but then started shouting, overjoyed.
"Oops, you found me," Bai Ning Bing laughed, and raised his right hand.
His right index finger pointed downwards and an icicle instantly formed, shooting downwards.
The icicle hit the Gu Master crying for help, penetrating his skull, all the way to his chin.
"Ah!" His face was still fixed with intense joy after finding hope, but then fell to the ground with a plop.
The bold lightning wolf was shocked by the event.
It stared at Bai Ning Bing, its mouth opening. Within, lightning coiled around its teeth.
"Ignorant beast." Bai Ning Bing stared plainly, jumping down lightly from the five meter cliff.
In midair, he brought his palms together with a sharp clap, instantly forming a mist of frost.
As he parted his hands, a blade of ice materialized between them.
The blade, about 1.7 meters long, resembled a katana from Earth. Its body was clear and frosty, the hilt tightly gripped in Bai Ning Bing's hand.
The bold lightning wolf responded by firing a streak of lightning from below. Bai Ning Bing simply laughed, two streams of white mist puffing from his nose.
The vapor curled around his body, forming a swirling protective layer of water.
The lightning struck this spinning water shield and was quickly neutralized.
The water barrier burst apart, revealing the young man in white.
"Die." His irises turned a crystalline blue, cold and emotionless like frozen gems.
The ice blade flashed.
Bai Ning Bing landed lightly on the ground, a single drop of blood sliding down his semi-transparent blade.
The bold lightning wolf remained frozen in place like a statue.
A moment later, a gush of blood spilled from its neck as its head dropped to the ground and rolled away. Its body collapsed soon after.
The Lightning Current Gu within it shot out like a bolt toward Bai Ning Bing.
With a flick of his wrist, a streak of light burst from the blade.
The Gu was struck midair and exploded in a flash of eerie blue lightning, completely destroyed.
Bai Ning Bing began walking slowly toward Xiong Zhan's corpse.
"The other Gu worms, they are all ordinary. But this Plunder Gu is slightly interesting." From Xiong Zhan's corpse, he extracted the Plunder Gu and held it near his chest.
Even though the three clans have an agreement — after a Gu Master dies, if anyone after that obtains a Gu worm that has lost its Gu Master, they need to hand it over.
But Bai Ning Bing did not care about this rule.
Even if they found out, so what?
"Only… this wolf tide is really boring." He used his hand to caress his ice blade, feeling the intense freezing sensation.
"Come to think about it, it is more fun competing with someone." He yawned, suddenly smiling, "I wonder how Qing Shu, Xiong Li and the others are doing, how much have they grown? After cultivating behind closed doors for so long, maybe they can give me a surprise, maybe."