Tie Mu Bai died instantly, without even having the chance to utter a single word. However, Fang Yuan seized his soul and suppressed it immediately.
He then turned toward Tie Mu Bai's aperture, which had flown away alongside a chunk of flesh after his death. Fang Yuan pulled the aperture toward himself and sent his consciousness inside.
Tie Mu Bai was a peak rank five Gu Master, so the walls of his aperture were crystal walls, while his primeval essence was purple crystal essence. Furthermore, his aperture was filled to ninety-eight percent capacity — a top-tier aptitude surpassed only by the Ten Extreme Physiques.
Fang Yuan paid little attention to that. Instead, he focused on the Gu worms flying above Tie Mu Bai's primeval sea and unleashed an attractive force that pulled them all toward him.
Fang Yuan obtained many metal path Gu worms from Tie Mu Bai's aperture, such as Golden Light Gu, Gold Transformation Gu, and rank five Liquid Metal Gu.
There was also Licentious Gaze Gu from soul path, a rank five Gu worm. Alongside it were other metal path Gu worms like Golden Eyes Gu, Golden Dragon Gu, Golden Coat Gu, Golden Dawn Gu, and Golden Breeze Gu.
There were naturally many other Gu worms as well, though their value was far inferior to the previous ones.
After finishing his plunder of Tie Mu Bai's aperture, Fang Yuan took out Beast Placenta Gu and allowed it to absorb the aperture.
A suction force erupted from Beast Placenta Gu, pulling Tie Mu Bai's aperture inward until it was completely devoured.
The capacity of the second aperture's sea rose by forty percent, but Fang Yuan merely smiled before activating the formation once again to teleport elsewhere.
This time, Fang Yuan appeared before the demonic Gu Master Ku Mo.
Ku Mo was a rank five demonic Gu Master on the same level as Tie Mu Bai.
"Eh?! You—"
Fang Yuan did not speak. Instead, he activated Golden Breeze Gu.
Ku Mo froze in place before dying on the spot.
Fang Yuan obtained rank five Soft Bones Gu. Soft Bones Gu could transform the target's bones into soft mush, making it an extremely lethal ability in the middle of battle.
After plundering Ku Mo's Gu worms, Fang Yuan moved on toward another Gu Master.
Wu Gui was currently dealing with Akita Chrysanthemum Dogs while fighting against a massive pack of Lightning Dogs. Akita Chrysanthemum Dogs were a type of united beast — the greater their numbers, the stronger they became. Unfortunately for Wu Gui, his luck was terrible. He currently controlled over forty Akita Chrysanthemum Dogs.
Wu Gui focused all his attention on controlling the dogs, causing him to completely neglect his surroundings.
Suddenly, Fang Yuan appeared behind him and activated Golden Breeze Gu once again.
Wu Gui's body froze before gradually turning golden. Even the Akita Chrysanthemum Dogs and Lightning Dogs behind him collapsed dead onto the ground.
Fang Yuan repeated what he had done to Tie Mu Bai and Ku Mo, plundering Wu Gui and obtaining eight Gu worms. Among them, the most valuable was rank five Black Arena Gu, which belonged to dark path.
Fang Yuan found this Gu rather interesting, as it could seal Gu worms below rank six to varying degrees.
Numerous ideas for killer moves involving Black Arena Gu instantly surfaced within Fang Yuan's mind, but he shook his head.
At present, he was merely a middle-stage rank four Gu Master. Using a rank five killer move would consume an enormous amount of primeval essence, perhaps enough for only a single attack.
Fang Yuan cultivated strength path, so he required less primeval essence than ordinary Gu Masters, but he still needed it. A rank five killer move would completely drain his reserves.
Fang Yuan decisively abandoned the thought and teleported once more through the formation.
This time, he appeared before Bai Ning Bing.
"Fang Yuan, how did you suddenly appear here?!" Bai Ning Bing asked in obvious shock.
Fang Yuan did not bother explaining anything to Bai Ning Bing. He understood the latter's shock, but he had no time to waste chatting.
Thus, he spoke directly.
"Bai Ning Bing, do you still want Yang Gu?"
Bai Ning Bing snorted coldly.
"Fang Yuan, speak directly. Don't threaten me."
"In Shang Clan City, we used Poison Vow Gu to swear that if one of us faced mortal danger, the other would provide assistance. I won't lie to you — I'm about to be besieged by all the Gu Masters pursuing the Three Kings Inheritance, and at that moment I'll be refining Gu. Therefore, I need you to guard my back."
"A siege by Gu Masters? All of them? Hahaha! I know many people want to kill you, but why all of them? Also, what Gu are you refining, and why refine Gu now?"
Fang Yuan did not hesitate and told Bai Ning Bing most of the story, though he concealed many crucial details.
Naturally, there was a risk in allowing Bai Ning Bing to know this much, but Fang Yuan did not care.
When he stood in a position of strength while Bai Ning Bing stood in weakness, he could hide whatever he wished. Besides, he was not in a desperate position to begin with — everything was proceeding according to his plans.
"What?! The blessed land's land spirit is still alive? And you're saying you want to refine an Immortal Gu?! You truly have guts!.. Ah, Tie Mu Bai, Ku Mo, and Wu Gui all died by your hand?!"
Bai Ning Bing opened and closed his mouth several times, utterly unable to respond.
The amount of information Fang Yuan had revealed was simply too shocking.
Bai Ning Bing was still reeling in shock, but Fang Yuan immediately continued speaking without giving him time to ask questions.
"I'll send you to King Quan's inheritance. You must clear the stages and obtain all the dogs there. The more, the better. Also, gather as many enslavement path Gu worms as possible. In the past, King Quan possessed two dog beast emperors. They're located in the final stages — bring them with you as well."
"Hmph, I never said I'd help you!"
Fang Yuan's gaze deepened as he stared at Bai Ning Bing, causing the latter to feel an inexplicable unease.
But before Bai Ning Bing could think further, Fang Yuan spoke again.
"Working with me has its benefits. If I succeed in refining the Gu, you'll gain tremendous advantages as well. Yang Gu, for example."
Bai Ning Bing could not help but reveal a disdainful smile, yet still followed Fang Yuan's instructions.
Fang Yuan teleported once more and killed Wu Lan Shan.
However, this time differed from his previous life.
A mysterious light exploded from Wu Lan Shan's body, wrapping around the rank five Gu worms in an attempt to carry them away.
But Fang Yuan merely snorted in disdain and activated the Immortal Gu formation.
The mysterious light tried to resist the formation's force, yet Fang Yuan reinforced the formation and destroyed the strange light completely.
Six rank five Gu worms fell onto Wu Lan Shan's corpse. Fang Yuan stored them away before turning toward Wu Lan Shan's aperture.
"Wu Clan possesses the immortal Loss Gu, allowing them to retrieve the Gu worms of their clan members upon death. But with the power of this immortal formation, I suppressed the Immortal Gu's influence and obtained Wu Lan Shan's Gu worms."
Everything had already been within Fang Yuan's calculations when he created the Immortal Gu formation.
Although he could have settled for merely a few mortal Gu, he instead used over a hundred Gu worms — far beyond the minimum requirement.
This was specifically to add additional functions to the formation, such as transportation, suppression, offense, assistance in refinement, healing, and recovery of primeval essence.
Still, if Fang Yuan were to face the direct power of a true Immortal Gu head-on, he was certain he would fail to stop it.
However, Wu Lan Shan only possessed a trace of Immortal Gu power attached to his Gu worms, making matters far easier.
Fang Yuan took out Beast Placenta Gu once more and had it devour Wu Lan Shan's aperture before teleporting away toward his next target.