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Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: The Final Gambit

Time slipped by like grains of sand through an hourglass.

Inside the bronze hall, Fang Yuan's fingers moved methodically, a calm storm brewing behind his cold eyes. Each motion was deliberate and measured as he refined multiple storage Gu—artifacts that would play key roles in his grand design.

"Second Aperture Gu," he murmured.

But this was not a true refinement. It was a deception. The land spirit, Ba Gui, watched intently. Its wooden eyes flickered with anticipation and anxiety. To maintain the illusion of progress, Fang Yuan was refine the Gu with his usual expertise, but his real motive was unknown, even to a land spirit.

Meanwhile, fang yuan had tasked Chou Jiu to gather four top quality wine, After going out he had completed it quickly because His fame ensured that when he demanded the four finest wines of the blessed land, no beast dared refuse him. With a bow and a whisper to the wind, he sent the wines to Fang Yuan secretly through the Land spirit.

Outside, pressure mounted.

Xiao Mang stood atop San Cha Mountain, his expression aloof and disdainful. His white robes fluttered in the wind, but the light in his eyes was colder than any mountain gale.

"Extreme Light Gu! Heaven's Will Gu! Empty Fist Gu!

Killer Move — Immemorial Light Fist!"

The heavens dimmed. A thunderous crack split the sky. Radiant energy condensed above him, forming a vast golden fist—brighter than a sun, heavier than mountains. It crashed into the protective barrier of the blessed land, fracturing it like glass.

The path was opened.

Gu Masters poured in like locusts.

"Go, go, go!"

"Fortune favors the bold!"

"King Xin's inheritance will be mine!"

Greed, desperation, and ambition clouded their judgment. The blessed land's spiritual energy, once harmonious and thick like warm spring water, now rippled violently under the intrusions.

Xiao Mang smiled faintly and stepped through the breach as if entering his own courtyard.

Inside the bronze hall, tremors shook the cauldron slightly. Fang Yuan didn't flinch. Ba Gui's face twisted in realization.

"A real refinement would have failed under such conditions. You were waiting for this moment."

"You are indeed a reborn Gu Immortal!"

Fang Yuan handed over a bundle of storage Gu.

"Ba Gui, store these materials properly."

There were multiple Gu in their as Fang Yuan with the help of the system successfully refined in first time, saving multiple Gu, including multiple relic Gu and many extinct Gu.

The land spirit hesitated.

"I am not only a Gu Immortal, but also your future master. Ba Gui, you need to know I am the best candidate to refine the Immortal Gu. The more you cooperate with me, the higher our chance of refining the Immortal Gu. Now"

Fang Yuan's eyes gleamed like two black suns.

The land spirit no longer resisted. He obeyed.

"Prepare yourself. The next tremor may not be so forgiving."

"Let it come," Fang Yuan replied coldly. "I've made the arrangements."

Far away, Mo Wu Tian stood at the edge of the blessed land's fog banks. His long black hair danced in the breeze. The blood of a king flowed through him, and even the mist seemed to yield before him.

"So many beast dogs... They must be guarding something important."

He activated a movement Gu and reached Hu Mei Er.

Feeling aura of Rank 5 Gu master, Hu Mei Er was stunned, but quickly composed herself

"Congratulations, Mo Wu Tian—you've reached Rank 5."

"Enough flattery. Use your connections. Unite the demonic cultivators for an assault."

"Too late," she replied. "Someone already did. They call him Killer Ghost Doctor—Chou Jiu."

"Then let's see if this 'doctor' survives what's coming."

Chou Jiu addressed the demonic cultivators, a wine flask in hand.

"Let the righteous path exhaust themselves. When they bleed, we reap."

"Hahaha! That's our divine doctor!"

Behind the grin, Chou Jiu's expression turned grim. He glanced at the crimson Gu beneath his sleeve—half his vitality spent delivering the four wines to Fang Yuan.

"If your plan fails, Master, we're both dead men. But if it works… you'll shake the heavens."

With Xiao Mang's second attack, the battlefield truly revealed itself—an ocean of vicious dog beasts.

"A hundred thousand war beasts…"

"Even Rank 5s might fall."

Xiao Mang's voice thundered.

"Cowards! Man is the spirit of all living beings! These are but beasts—fight with pride or die in shame!"

The righteous faction surged forward.

Behind them, Mo Wu Tian's brows furrowed.

"Xiao Mang commands like a general. Hmph."

"Too slow, and the demonic faction will lose its edge."

Turning to dissatisfied demonic elites, he ordered:

"Form the second vanguard. With me."

As they charged in, Chou Jiu smirked from the rear.

"Let the young bleed. The wise reap."

Inside the hall, Fang Yuan added red wheat to the cauldron. His essence blood joined the brew. The smoke transformed—golden, vast, swaying like a field under a non-existent sun.

"Now the 300-year Lifespan Gu…"

The Gu entered and settled into the formation. The concoction roared. Ba Gui panicked.

"The cultivators approach. They've breached the final beast line!"

"Let them come," Fang Yuan whispered. "That too has been arranged."

The 500-year Lifespan Gu joined. The cloud erupted into golden wheat fields.

Yi Chong crashed through enemy lines, fists smashing beasts.

Yi Huo became a living fire.

Yan Jun blinked between shadows.

"It's time. "Tie Ruo Nan, who was drenched in blood, stopped and looked at the bronze hall with a grim look in her eyes.

Tie Bai Qi approached her, "I will open a path for you guys. Remember to bring fang yuan to punish him for his crime. "

Tie Bai Qi opened his third eye—white apes of will formed and swept the battlefield.

Tie Ruo Nan charged with four clan elders.

"Fang Yuan! You will not escape!"

Fang Yuan remained calm.

"Ba Gui, maintain the formations.

Bai Ning Bing… your turn."

She descended like a falling star. Her icy killing intent froze the air. Blue flames devoured space itself. She moved like a goddess of war—beautiful, ruthless, precise.

"You dare face me alone, demoness?" Tie Ruo Nan shouted.

"I don't need help to kill the weak."

The bronze hall became a battlefield. As Gu clashed and killers danced, the cauldron behind Fang Yuan glowed with growing brilliance.

Bai Ning Bing could not rival them, as she fell into a disadvantage, shouting: "Fang Zheng, I can't hold them back anymore, how long more do you need!"

The cloud smoke had finally absorbed the lifespan Gu, turning into the blood fields, golden wheat, filled with crops. It was the 'five hundred years as autumn' scene. Fang Yuan's voice was nervous: "Hang in there, I need a lot of time!"

"If I die, you will not live too..." Bai Ning Bing cursed continuously. Several moves later, Bai Ning Bing gasped roughly: "I can't continue! Fang Yuan, I am going to self-destruct!"

"Your aptitude has already returned to a hundred percent?" Fang Yuan was startled.

"What do you think!" Bai Ning Bing cursed.

The cloud smoke was slowly maturing, dissipating. From a water tank's size, it shrunk to a basin's size. "Try to hold on, unless you can't control it anymore, don't..." Fang Yuan shouted.

"It is too late." Bai Ning Bing sighed deeply. Crack crack... Frost quickly gathered, as the cold aura spread everywhere in the main hall and the temperature decrease rapidly.

"What Gu is this?" Tie Ruo Nan's cry of surprise also reached Fang Yuan's ears. Fang Yuan turned his head with difficulty to look and saw the main hall already becoming a world of ice and snow. Bai Ning Bing was floating high up in the air, her whole body turning into ice crystal, similar to the situation when she had self-destructed back at Qing Mao mountain. The cold wind blustered and glacier rose, crushing towards Tie Ruo Nan with vast and majestic force.

"Is this the legendary Northern Dark Ice Soul physique?" Tie Ruo Nan cried out in surprise. But it was already too late, she was sealed within the ice like an insect in an amber. The ice continued spreading towards Fang Yuan. "Bai Ning Bing? Bai Ning Bing!" Fang Yuan worriedly shouted, but there was no response from Bai Ning Bing. Her body had almost become one with ice and her whole face had started turning indistinct. Her crystal like eyes no longer shone and had thoroughly dimmed.

"Damn it!" Fang Yuan cursed, standing up and sending the Yang Gu towards Bai Ning Bing. But halfway, the Yang Gu made a u-turn, and returned to Fang Yuan's right hand.

At the same time, the cloud smoke turned into a Gu worm, landing on Fang Yuan's left hand. This Gu was like a peanut shell, golden and dazzling, the markings on the surface resembles bright red blood traces. Earlier, the fake second aperture Gu could only live for a week, and was not stable. But this new Gu could survive for 1 years! as saving multiple Gu material compared to Fang yuan who made it like it could survive for 40 years.

"Hehehe." Fang Yuan raised his head and laughed, using liquid metal Gu and blocking the frost. Then he said to Bai Ning Bing: "Bai Ning Bing, have you acted enough?"

The frost came to a stop. Fang Yuan laughed again, saying:"Did you have a good time cooperating with Tie clan?" This time, Bai Ning Bing could not longer act, she turned back into flesh body and stared at Fang Yuan with a shocked and solemn suspicion: "How did you!"

"In Shang clan city, you purposely lost to Yan Tu, getting Doctor Su Shou's help to remove the poison vow, and then secretly contacted Tie Ruo Nan. On San Cha mountain, you plotted together with the four old-timers... all these, did you think I was ignorant?" Fang Yuan played with the two Gu in his hands as he said.

Bai Ning Bing landed on the ground with a dazed expression, stunned beyond words. "How did Fang Yuan find out all these? I was extremely secretive. This means, he was always watching coldly at my performance! Wait, I succeeded in planting the fixed star Gu though..."

"Fang Yuan, you demon, so what if you found out! You can't escape today, there is nowhere to run!" Tie Ruo Nan saw that the matter was exposed and quickly broke out of the ice, as the four old-timers joined her.

Fang Yuan chuckled, raising his left arm: "You mean the fixed star Gu? What if I chop off my arm?"

The Tie clan's four old-timers frowned deeply. Once Fang Yuan chopped off his arm, even if they used their killer move, they would only get his arm. According to their understanding of Fang Yuan, sacrificing his left forearm was nothing to this cruel and wicked person.

"Hahaha!" Tie Ruo Nan suddenly laughed. She pointed at Fang Yuan, shouting: "Fang Yuan, stop trying to deceive us! So what if you saw through our scheme? The dog group outside the hall cannot block the two factions. Soon, Xiao Mang, Chou Jiu, Mo Wu Tian, Yi Huo, Yi Chong and the others would charge in,can you defend the Immortal Gu?"

"You are a frenzied lunatic, killing so many Gu Masters and plundering their apertures to refine Gu. These crimes are unforgivable, Bai Ning Bing is the best witness! As long as we announce it to the world, you will be a wanted criminal everywhere.

More importantly, your Immortal Gu is not done refining yet!" "Do you still have a chance of succeeding? Impossible! You have no time left, not long later, this hall will be overrun by people, where can you run to? Try flying out? Hehe, you only way out now is to surrender to our Tie clan, and contribute that half-done Immortal Gu to us, as well as surrender the old clan leader's Gu worms, and enter the Demon Suppression Tower for reform, that's the only way you can keep your life."

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