The northern battlefield of Gu Yue Village was already a scene of complete devastation. Corpses lay scattered across the ground, the earth and rocks were shattered and upturned, and the stench of blood surged through the wind.
Yuan Fang flapped the massive Blood Wings on his back, his icy gaze meeting the vertical pupils of the Thunder Crown Head Wolf, which were crackling with electricity.
"blood moon gu."
With a low shout, Yuan Fang dove straight toward the mountain-like Thunder Crown Head Wolf. A bloody light surged in his left palm as he unleashed five consecutive blood-colored moon blades, yet they were all blocked by the wolf's thick, tough hide, failing to leave even a shallow mark.
"Quickly, assist Fang Yuan!"
Clan Leader Gu Yue Bo flew to the front of the Thunder Crown Head Wolf, the spatial power in his palm suddenly compressing—this was the power of the Rank Four Shock Gu. With a single strike, the Thunder Crown Head Wolf was stunned on the spot.
"A good opportunity! Quickly, assist the Clan Leader and Lord Fang Yuan!" Gu Yue Chi Lian shouted loudly.
More than thirty Gu Yue Elders joined the fray simultaneously. Cold moon blades and sharp blade shadows, along with various other offensive methods, fell upon the Thunder Crown Head Wolf like a torrential rain.
"Quickly, use the iron chain gu! It's about to wake up!"
Gu Yue Yao Ji activated a Gu to heal everyone while throwing out a heavy iron chain. The chain coiled through the air like a giant python, tightly binding one of the Thunder Crown Head Wolf's front claws.
Seeing this, five or six Elders also released their iron chain gu, attempting to bind the Thunder Crown Head Wolf.
But they were a step too late—the Thunder Crown Head Wolf snapped awake, its sharp teeth clamping onto one of the chains and pulling back with sudden force.
The Elder at the other end of the chain was caught off guard and dragged directly in front of the wolf's maw. Before he could even scream, he was swallowed whole, dying in an instant.
"Avenge our clansmen!"
The offensive from the thirty-plus Elders became increasingly fierce. The iron chain gu wrapped the Thunder Crown Head Wolf so tightly that it seemed unable to break free.
Just as everyone thought the plan was about to succeed, several bolts of lightning as thick as a man's arm suddenly struck down from the sky! The Elders scattered in all directions, but thirteen of them were still hit by the lightning and killed instantly.
Yuan Fang was also clipped by a lightning arc and fell from the sky, nearly losing his life on the spot.
"Lord Fang Yuan, let this old woman heal your wounds!"
Gu Yue Yao Ji hastily activated her healing Gu.
However, Yuan Fang had fallen from a height of fifty meters, breaking several bones. Even with the Medicinal Consort's full efforts, the severity of his injuries was hard to mask.
Even as his silver primeval essence dissipated like flowing water, Yuan Fang continued to activate his Flesh White Gu to repair his body while firing off blood-colored moon blades one after another.
Before long, he slowly stood up, his joints moving as they had before, as if the heavy injuries from a moment ago had never happened.
"The Rank Four Sky Thunder Gu is indeed overbearing. Unfortunately, I've lost a good Gu."
When the sky thunder struck earlier, the defense of Yuan Fang's Heavenly Canopy Gu was torn apart instantly. Coupled with the fact that he had activated this Rank Three defense Gu many times before, it was already overburdened and disintegrated during the Lightning Tribulation.
"The Heavenly Canopy Gu is destroyed; I must leave!"
Yuan Fang thought to himself as he protected the others in front of him. He was just about to activate his trump card, the Bone Wing Gu, to escape when he was stopped by Fang Yuan.
"Don't go! We have the Bone Wing Gu; even if the Thunder Crown Head Wolf focuses its fire on us, we might not be unable to dodge. As long as we slay this wolf, we can even seize its defense Gu!"
Hearing this, Yuan Fang remained unmoved.
He knew clearly that behind this Thunder Crown Head Wolf, there was still a Cunning Lightning Wolf overseeing the situation. If they couldn't even defeat the Thunder Crown Head Wolf, facing the Cunning Lightning Wolf would surely mean death.
In this life, he only sought to survive at all costs; he would not gamble his life on the hope that Cold Iron Blood would come to Qing Mao Mountain to provide support.
"Regardless of whether Cold Iron Blood comes or not, I must escape first."
Sensing the situation was unfavorable, Yuan Fang turned to flee. He knew that Gu Yue Village might not necessarily be destroyed by this Thunder Crown Head Wolf.
However, without Cold Iron Blood, and if the Gu Yue First Generation did not personally take action, the subsequent Cunning Lightning Wolf would surely lead the wolf pack to level the village.
"I've collected enough blood path gu material. During this Wolf Tide, I've assassinated nine Elders from the Bai Family Village and Xiong Family Village. Combined with three Furious Electric Wolves, it's enough to refine high stage Blood Path Gu insects."
Yuan Fang sped to the East Gate, swept up the corpses of the three Furious Electric Wolves, and flew straight to the origin spring within the Flower Wine Vault to immediately begin Gu Refining.
"Blood Light Gu."
With a thought, the Blood Light Gu flew into the corpse of a Furious Electric Wolf, rippling with layers of bloody light within its body.
"Fuel Gu, Blood Refining Great Law!"
Yuan Fang then sacrificed the Fuel Gu, and raging flames instantly engulfed the wolf corpse. The Blood Light Gu rampaged inside the body, trying to break through the net of fire to escape, but how could Yuan Fang give it the chance?
The Rank Four Elder Gu suddenly appeared, and countless primeval stones flew out. The fire surged violently, instantly incinerating the Blood Light Gu.
The flesh of the Furious Electric Wolf peeled away in the intense fire, and gurgling Blood Water flowed out from the remains, eventually converging into a sphere suspended in mid-air.
"Go!"
With a flick of Yuan Fang's finger, the head of a Xiong family Elder flew through the air and crashed heavily into the sphere of Blood Water.
The bloody light suddenly flared, and a Rank Three Blood Spring Gu took shape under Yuan Fang's refinement. But this was not enough; he consumed countless more primeval stones and blood path gu material as the flames rose again, and four Rank Three Blood Path Gu were formed one after another.
"Very good."
Yuan Fang walked to the origin spring, scooped up a large vat of its water, and threw the four Rank Three Blood Path Gu, the Blood Spring Gu, and the blood wing gu into the vat together.
The clear water of the origin spring was instantly dyed crimson, and a pungent, rotting smell permeated the area.
"Rank Four Blood Wash Gu, it's done!"
As he spoke, a mass of blood water flew through the air into Yuan Fang's palm; it was the newly refined Blood Wash Gu.
But Yuan Fang did not stop. He actually severed both of his own arms, then activated the Flesh White Gu to heal himself while refining all the remaining blood path gu material into two Rank Three Gu—one was the Blood Water Gu, and the other was the Blood镇 Gu.
With everything finished, Yuan Fang raised his hand and struck with a Five-Clawed Bone Dragon Seal. With a loud boom, a massive spider was revealed to be hidden within the stone wall, its legs like spears and its appearance hideous and terrifying.
"You've been slumbering for a thousand years, Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider; it's time to wake up."
Yuan Fang released the immortal gu aura of the spring autumn cicada, and the Rank Five Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider was instantly refined by this aura and taken into his aperture.
"Rank Four Blood Wash Gu, Rank Three Blood Water Gu, Rank Three Blood镇 Gu—Blood Path Killer Move, Blood Wash Frenzy!"
Yuan Fang shouted low, and a clear stream of spring water gushed from his palm, washing the contamination off the Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider completely.
This Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider was a Rank Five mount Gu capable of traveling a thousand miles in a day. It possessed Rank Five combat power and specialized in burrowing through the earth, feeding on soil.
Hundreds of years ago, the Flower Wine Walker had used it to roam the world, and even Righteous Path Gu Masters found it difficult to catch him.
Just as Yuan Fang was rejoicing, a wave of intense dizziness suddenly hit him. Inside his Rank Four aperture, the spring autumn cicada was slowly waking up. Its wings vibrated slightly, and its blood-red eyes fixed a death stare on the other Gu insects in the aperture, as if it were about to burst out.
"Not good! The spring autumn cicada is waking up! My aperture is only Rank Four and cannot possibly contain an immortal gu. If I don't save myself now, the aperture will definitely be burst open by it!"
In an instant, a countermeasure formed in Yuan Fang's mind.
On the other side, outside the North Gate of Gu Yue Village, Clan Chief Gu Yue Bo and a dozen Elders ran into the city gate in a wretched state, heading straight for the Clan Leader Pavilion.
Outside the Clan Leader Pavilion, hundreds of wounded Gu Masters had already gathered, their faces filled with a resolve to face death.
Inside the Clan Leader Pavilion, the ancestral tablets stood solemnly. Clan Chief Gu Yue Bo led the Elders in kneeling and kowtowing together:
"May the ancestors protect us and help our Gu Yue Clan survive this tribulation!"
After a short while, everyone stood and walked out of the pavilion. A cloud of blood suddenly fell from the sky; it was tens of thousands of Rank Five Blood Path Gu insects—Blood Droplets.
The Blood Droplets pounced on the heavily wounded Gu Masters like a swarm of locusts, burrowing into their bodies. In just a breath's time, they had drained the blood of these Gu Masters dry.
These Rank Five Blood Droplets were created by the Blood Sea Ancestor and fed on the vital essence blood of Gu Masters. After consuming essence blood, the Blood Droplets would multiply manifold; if they went without food for long, they would devour each other to reduce their own consumption.
In his previous life, Yuan Fang had originally intended to refine the rank six blood god child but ended up with the spring autumn cicada instead. The predecessor to the rank six immortal gu, the blood god child, was none other than these Rank Five Blood Droplets.
When the Blood Droplets numbered in the hundreds or thousands, they were like a locust plague; if they reached a scale of millions, their power could even rival a rank six immortal gu.
In just a few moments, the hundreds of wounded Gu Masters had been turned into hideous, desiccated corpses.
The blood cloud billowed and expanded in mid-air, and then the Blood Droplets emitted a mosquito-like buzzing as they flew toward the North Gate. (Those without mosquito nets would be scared to tears.)
The Gu Yue Elders were instantly overjoyed and, led by Gu Yue Bo, ran wildly toward the North Gate.
The blood cloud drifted unsteadily over the North Gate tower, and the Gu Masters on the tower erupted in earth-shattering cheers. This was the heritage of the Gu Yue Clan, the trump card left behind by their ancestors!
Every single one of the Blood Droplets in this blood cloud was a Rank Five Gu.
They were blood-red all over and shaped like mosquitoes, with immeasurable combat power—in terms of defense, the Blood Droplets had almost no resistance; in terms of offense, the power of a single one was not top-tier, but they excelled at burrowing into bodies to drain blood.
Once they burrowed into a body, one's essence blood would be drained in an instant; even a Gu Master with powerful defense would find it hard to escape this fate.
More importantly, Blood Droplets did not require primeval essence to be consumed, nor did they need to be controlled by a master; they simply acted according to the master's will and could sustain themselves through battle, growing stronger as they fought.
However, this advantage only worked against Gu Masters. At the moment, they were facing a wolf pack. The wolves did not have the essence blood of Gu Masters, so the Blood Droplets could not devour and grow, and their combat power was significantly reduced as a result.
Even so, wherever the army of Blood Droplets passed, not a blade of grass was left standing. The ground was soon piled high with the remains of Electric Wolves and humans, and the blood stained the entire earth.
Even wolf kings of the Hundred Beast King or Thousand Beast King level could not last more than three breaths before the army of Blood Droplets, being gnawed into bleached bones in an instant.
The blood cloud, spanning a hundred meters like a Great Desolate Sky-Imprisoning Palm that blotted out the sun, slammed down onto the Thunder Crown Head Wolf.
The Thunder Crown Head Wolf felt as if its entire body was being gnawed by billions of sharp teeth. For a moment, it fell into a daze, doubting its wolf life, and let out several shrill howls.
It wanted to resist, but it couldn't even touch a single Blood Droplet. It could only activate lightning to strike itself, attempting to burn the Blood Droplets burrowing in its fur to death.
After a short while, the Thunder Crown Head Wolf was tortured to the point of exhaustion and fled with its tail between its legs.
Gu Yue Bo immediately ordered a pursuit to follow up on the victory. Eight Rank Three Elders, whose primeval essence and injuries had mostly recovered, led hundreds of Rank Two Gu Masters to charge out like a tide.
Meanwhile, the forces of the Bai Family Village, just as in the original work, also charged toward the Thunder Crown Head Wolf, clearly intending to snatch the Gu insects from its body.
The Gu Yue Clan had lost countless Gu Masters to defeat the Thunder Crown Head Wolf; how could they hand over the fruits of this victory, obtained through such bloodshed, to others?
Fury erupted within the hearts of the Gu Yue Clan Members.
Without a word, Gu Yue Bo led his clansmen into a slaughter against the Bai Family Village. Both sides saw red, their Moves becoming increasingly ruthless, and the battlefield was instantly shrouded in blood.
Yet all this chaos seemed to have nothing to do with the Bai Family Village's Young Clan Chief, Bai Ning Bing.
Bai Ning Bing sat quietly on the branch of a giant tree, her white robe whiter than snow. With blue eyes and silver hair, her skin was as translucent white as frost, and she was surrounded by an aloof and ethereal aura. She was known as the number one handsome man of Qing Mao Mountain—though later, she also became its number one beauty.
"Wail, you ants! Haha, these people were meant to die anyway. In the future, anyone I find an eyesore, I'll kill them all!"
Bai Ning Bing let out a cold laugh, her voice icy.
"Among all of you, only Fang Yuan is somewhat interesting. It's a pity he's not here. Such a setting sun, such a battlefield—if I could have a hearty life-and-death battle with him here, it would be absolutely magnificent."
Before her voice had even faded, the ground suddenly shook violently. Everyone was knocked to the ground, and Bai Ning Bing was forced to leap down from the tree.
The ground split open with a roar, and a massive ravine began to spread. Seeing this, she instead curled her lips into a smile:
"It's getting more and more exciting, Hahaha..."