After a brief exchange of blows, Fang Yuan and Liu Nan circled each other like sharks, waiting for the right opening to strike.
Fang Yuan considered what he had just learned of Liu Nan. Up until now, he did not possess the strength to break through his defensive gu worms. Even if he had been a dedicated Strength Path cultivator he wouldn't have been able to find the resources to compete with someone at Rank 5. He had not found the Rank 3 All-Out Effort Gu yet, and advancing it to Rank 5 would've been beyond his current capabilities.
Liu Nan was not just Rank 5 for show; he clearly had several Rank five Gu, which signified that even among Rank five Gu Masters, he was among the elite.
'Which makes it all the stranger that I haven't heard of him,' Fang Yuan thought to himself. It would be extremely odd for a lone cultivator to have those kind of resources. A demonic cultivator would have needed to steal resources to feed their gu worms and would have several arrest warrants at that level. On the other hand, if he were a righteous path cultivator, Fang Yuan would have heard of there being some kind of Nan Clan if it harbored a Gu Master of his caliber. Instead, it looked like Liu Nan had sprouted from nowhere.
Realizing that his fists were not going to work, Fang Yuan pivoted to another strategy, sending out a large scythe that chilled both the air and the ground around it as it made its way towards Liu Nan. Liu Nan primeval essence into his Poison Dart Armor Gu and withstood the blow. Although ice crystallized around his body, he simply shook it off.
"What kind of gu worm is that?" someone in the crowd wondered.
"I don't know, I haven't seen anything like it before."
"It has a Rank 4 aura, though."
It was one thing to not recognize a Rank 5 gu, as they were rare enough in the mortal realm, but Rank 4 gu worms were more common and ubiquitous.
For no one in the crowd to recognize it was strange. The gu in question was Rank 4 Frost Moonglow Gu, the upgraded version of Rank 3 Frost Moon Gu.
Fang Yuan had discovered that it reacted to the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique's dao marks and could have its force amplified. Thanks to that, this Rank 4 Gu worm now possessed pseudo-Rank 5 strength, especially given the fact that Fang Yuan was using his Rank 5 essence to drive it.
Fang Yuan was unrelenting in his assault, dancing rapidly around Liu Nan, sending multiple blades his way. Liu Nan did not avoid them, instead choosing to take them all head-on. After twelve blows like this, Liu Nan, although he had avoided the direct damage from the Frost Moon Gu, was coated from head to toe in ice.
"It looks like Fang Yuan has Liu Nan at a disadvantage!"
"Indeed, the tables have been turned quite swiftly."
"How? I don't understand, though. How did a Rank 4 gu change the tides when something Rank 5 couldn't?"
While this confused many Gu Masters, Shang Yan Fei began understanding what was happening. 'Fang Yuan's Ice Path gu worm is now possessing power almost rivaling that of a Rank 5 gu. Either he has a very powerful support-type Ice Gu, or...' The puzzle pieces began falling into place in his mind as he connected the dots. Fang Yuan had reached Rank 5 at a very young age. 'Could it be that he possesses the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique?'
It would explain his cultivation level as well as the power he was displaying today. What it wouldn't explain, though, was how Fang Yuan had survived up until now without some kind of external help.
Because Fang Yuan was using a Rank 4 gu worm with the amplification of the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique, his primeval essence expenditure was lower than Liu Nan's, who had to defend using a Rank 5 gu. It looked like Fang Yuan was attempting to defeat Liu Nan in a battle of attrition.
Shang Yan Fei figured this was the case, but he did not know what grade either of their apertures were. Liu Nan was more likely than not at the upper end of A-grade talent for him to have reached this point. If Fang Yuan had indeed possessed the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique, then his own primeval essence storage could not actually be compared to someone else's, but that also put him at risk of self-detonating if something happened.
Shang Qing Qing, who was observing the match from above, noted that if Fang Yuan came close to self-detonation, she would have to step in to prevent damage to the city. "However, it looks like Fang Yuan has managed to keep it under wraps for now. Something that is not impossible, but if such is the case, I may have misjudged him," Shang Qing mused.
Those with extreme physiques were difficult to nurture into Immortals, but with greater risk came greater rewards - they would gain access to extraordinarily bountiful blessed lands. If Fang Yuan had been a Shang Clan member, they would have, without a doubt, taken him under their guidance and helped him during his Immortal Ascension. To help an external person like this, though, was a different calculation entirely. It would require a Rank 6 Immortal gu worm first of all, something that even she did not possess.
Fang Yuan kept up his assault. The frostiness from the Frost Moonglow Gu was such that a large portion of the floor had been encased in ice, though it did not hamper his own movement whatsoever. Liu Nan, however, continued to remain as immobilized as a rock. No matter how much Fang Yuan piled ice upon him, he shook it off. Liu Nan still had the advantage here, even if Fang Yuan had the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique.
There was a difference of two minor realms between the two of them. It was rather obvious that Fang Yuan would run out of primeval essence before Liu Nan, especially if he had found some way to seal the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique.
"Is that all, Fang Yuan?" Liu Nan asked. He sounded almost bored. Even though Fang Yuan was just using a Rank 4 Gu, he was consuming primeval essence as well exhausting himself. Lu Nan, however, seemed to be completely unbothered by the attacks as he shook off the ice around him. "Now, allow me to retaliate."
Lu Nan's stomach suddenly bulged up, expanding to nearly three times its size before he vomited a massive stream of green gastric fluid at Fang Yuan, who swiftly moved aside.
"That's Rank 4 Gastro Acid Gu!" someone said, excited that they had finally seen a gu they recognized. Although Fang Yuan avoided the liquid itself, it quickly melted the arena floor, digging through the stones and into the earth itself. If Fang Yuan had been hit by that without a defensive type gu, it would have dissolved his flesh and bones entirely.
Liu Nan focused his gaze upon Fang Yuan, who found a noxious, purplish mist forming around himself.
'This is poisonous,' Fang Yuan thought, leaping away, but finding that it clung to him and seemed to follow him.
"The fog seems to be based on eyesight," someone in the crowd noted.
"Indeed. However, Fang Yuan's gu worms seem to be more than enough to counteract it."
Indeed, despite taking a few whiffs of it, Fang Yuan was as health as ever.
Liu Nan frowned.