Finally, the moment that people had been waiting for arrived. Fang Yuan entered the arena from the west side. With his head held high and long black hair waving in the wind, he looked the very picture of a righteous hero. He waved to the crowd, smiling, as if he had just come here not for life-and-death combat but simply for an early morning stroll.
From the other side came Liu Nan. He was stern and carried himself with more purpose than Fang Yuan.
The two of them met near the middle of the arena.
Fang Yuan expected Liu Nan, given his prior behavior, to start spazzing out or insulting him. Instead, Liu Nan simply said, "All right, then let's fight."
"Remember the rules," the referee said. "Both combatants will be limiting their cultivation to Rank 5 Initial Stage using special gu worms, and they will avoid killing blows."
"Agreed," Fang Yuan said.
"Agreed," Liu Nan said.
Start!
The fight began without any further introductions, shocking many people who expected more of an exchange of words before the fighting began.
But neither Liu Nan nor Fang Yuan were in the mood for exchanging words - only blows!
Fang Yuan was the one who initiated combat as the referee hastily got off the arena as fast as he could to get out of the way.
Massive icicles, thicker than a bodybuilder's arm, erupted from Fang Yuan and flew towards Liu Nan with lethal speed.
Rank 5 Frost Lance Gu!
The Frost Lance Gu was an upgraded form of the Rank 4 Frost Arrow Gu. It was a very powerful offensive-type Ice Path Gu worm, and its primeval essence expenditure was on the lower side, so someone like Bai Ning Bing, who was at Rank 4, could also use it to some extent.
As a matter of fact, Fang Yuan had managed to refine it only with Bai Ning Bing's help, who had agreed to assist him because Fang Yuan was going to give her the Rank 5 gu worm in question once he was done.
Liu Nan responded by taking the attack head on. His body suddenly turned very hard, warty, and lumpy, like the skin of a toad, and the icicles clashed against this tough skin, shattering into a thousand pieces, but they did not break his skin.
"Eww! He looks disgusting!" several woman in the crowd exclaimed on seeing Liu Nan's appearance after using this gu worm. He looked like an oversized toad with humanesque features.
One of the Shang Clan elders, Shang Bu Li, turned toward Shang Yan Fei. "Clan Head, do you happen to recognize that gu worm?"
Shang Yan Fei shook his head. His knowledge of gu worms was naturally vast through training and being the Shang Clan Head, but he had never seen a defensive-type gu worm like that. It appeared to be a Rank 5 gu worm; otherwise, it could not have withstood a Rank Five Frost Lance Gu's strike. However, beyond this, he could tell nothing further.
Fang Yuan did not let up on his assault. The icicles continued to crash against Liu Nan.
"His attacks are far stronger than I thought," Liu Nan thought to himself.
The gu worm he was using was the Rank 5 Poison Dart Armor - making his skin not only tough, but also imbuing it with poison. The slightest touch would be fatal to most Gu Masters. Its defensive properties were somewhat low as a tradeoff though, and he could feel the strain upon this gu worm. It would not last long against Fang Yuan's assault.
'He's limited his cultivation to Rank 5 Initial Stage, so how do his attacks still carry this kind of power?' Liu Nan wondered. 'Even if he's boosting its power using another gu worm, it shouldn't carry this kind of strength. It's almost as if... wait, could this be one of the Extreme Physiques? The Norther Dark Ice Soul Physique? Since when did Fang Yuan possess it?'
He was not wrong. Fang Yuan had used Equality Gu late last night, and carried a remnant of the Norther Dark Ice Soul Physique from Bai Ning Bing. He was using its assistive powers when it came to Ice Path gu worms here - even with his cultivation limited, it boosted the power of his gu worms beyond what they could normally handle.
Unfortunately, he could only use a portion of this ability given the fact that those Dao Marks were slowly dissipating, otherwise he could've completely torn through this defensive gu worm.
Liu Nan took the offensive now, launching himself at Fang Yuan.
"Is Liu Nan going for close combat?"
"How strange..."
Fang Yuan activated his own defensive gu - Rank 5 Moon Raiment!
"What kind of defensive gu worm is that?"
"His body is cloaked in a starlike light... it is giving off a Rank 5 aura, but I do not recognize it!"
How could they? Rank 5 Moon Raiment was a Gu Yue clan specialty. Fang Yuan had squeezed out every last drop of resources from his village to make this.
The two of them clashed like two meteors, their defensive gu working overtime.
Fang Yuan noted as his fists made contact with Liu Nan's palms, that wherever he struck Liu Nan's skin, his own flesh began burning.
"Poison Path methods?" Fang Yuan asked as he felt the poison slowly spreading across his skin, bouncing away from Liu Nan.
"Indeed, it is," Liu Nan said. "Even if you have a defensive-type gu, I can still bypass it using my poison path techniques, Fang Yuan. It is best that you simply give up now and I'll heal you. Otherwise, if the poison advances too far, then it will be too late for you, even if you happen to surrender."
There was a massive commotion going on in the stands. A Poison Path Gu worm that can bypass even a Rank 5 defense?
"Is the match already over?"
"It does not look good for Fang Yuan."
"Heh - to think that he was defeated in just a few blows."
Shang Yan Fei stroked his chin. Part of the reason he was here was to gain more information on two potential enemies. If he were struck by that kind of attack, how would he block it? It was hard to tell without knowing more about the gu worm in question, but if were to ever go against Liu Nan, he would need to avoid that toxic skin.
"Fang Yuan! Don't delay," Liu Nan said. "The poison works extraordinarily rapidly. I really do not intend to kill you." His master had forbidden it. "Give up now and I can still fix yo-"
Lu Nan's eyes widened. Fang Yuan had activated Doctor Gu within his aperture, using it to heal the damage which had been done via the poison.
There is no strongest gu, only the strongest Gu Master!
Liu Nan might have had a way to pierce his defenses, but in front of Fang Yuan's healing prowess amplified by his Human Path Dao marks, could he not counter the poison?
Liu Nan frowned, looking quite odd with his strange appearance. It seemed the fight was not over yet.
Fang Yuan's skin returned to normal.
"Ah, I spoke too soon."
"Fang Yuan had a way to counter it."
Shang Yan Fei noted this. Fang Yuan already had a way to counter this kind of attack? He unfortunately could not figure out what that was either though.
The two of them exchanged blows once more. Although Fang Yuan had a slight advantage in that he had increased his own strength, against Liu Nan's defensive gu worm it could do little. Liu Nan tried poisoning Fang Yuan once more, using all kinds of venom only for Fang Yuan to counteract them all.
'I didn't know that healers this strong even existed,' Liu Nan thought to himself.
"Fang Yuan really is good at counteracting poison."
"He might even be better than the Four Great Doctors in that regard."
It was clear that hand-to-hand combat was not getting either of them anywhere.