Chapter 37 — The Ink and Snow Battlefield
Li Tianyu continued flying through the sky.
The scenery beneath him constantly changed.
Mountains.
Forests.
Rivers.
Occasionally, he passed through the territories of powerful beasts.
He didn't deliberately enter them.
There was no reason to provoke unnecessary trouble.
But as he flew over one particular mountain range...
A terrifying guttural roar suddenly erupted from below.
"ROOOAAAR!"
The sound shook the surrounding forest.
Li Tianyu's expression remained calm.
He glanced downward.
Deep within the forest...
A massive beast briefly revealed itself.
Its aura was oppressive.
A Myriad Beast King.
It stared toward the sky.
Li Tianyu had clearly entered its territory.
But the beast didn't attack.
It merely released another low roar.
A warning.
'Territorial.'
Li Tianyu understood immediately.
He didn't stop.
There was no reason to fight a Myriad Beast King merely because he had flown through its territory.
He continued onward.
The roar gradually disappeared behind him.
Several hours later...
Li Tianyu heard something else.
The sounds of battle.
Boom!
Ice exploded in the distance.
A storm of snow swept across the mountains.
Then...
A strange voice echoed through the battlefield.
"Snow covers the thousand mountains!"
The voice was followed by a burst of black light.
Another Inkman Gu Master shouted.
"Words become blades, ink becomes soldiers!"
Whoosh!
Dozens of black ink blades shot forward.
Li Tianyu's eyes flickered.
'Interesting.'
He accelerated toward the battlefield.
Soon...
He saw the scene.
Two groups of variant human Gu Masters were fighting.
Snowmen.
And Inkmen.
The Snowmen primarily used Ice Path and Snow Path Gu worms.
The battlefield was covered in frost.
Snowflakes danced through the air.
Ice pillars constantly erupted from the ground.
The Inkmen were completely different.
Their methods revolved around Information Path and Poetry Path Gu worms.
Many of them shouted poetry during battle.
Each line seemed to trigger a different Gu worm.
"White snow covers the earth!"
Boom!
A massive wave of snow surged forward.
"Ink flows like a river!"
Black ink rapidly spread across the ground.
"Words become blades!"
Hundreds of black blades emerged from the ink.
The battle was chaotic.
Yet the outcome was already becoming clear.
The numbers were heavily skewed.
The Snowmen had:
23 Rank Two Gu Masters.
98 Rank One Gu Masters.
The Inkmen had:
17 Rank Two Gu Masters.
73 Rank One Gu Masters.
There were no Rank Three Gu Masters present.
The Inkmen were clearly at a disadvantage.
They were being gradually pushed back.
Li Tianyu hovered above the battlefield.
His eyes slowly narrowed.
A familiar thought appeared in his mind.
'Another opportunity.'
He immediately activated his killer move.
"Fire Path Killer Move — Crimson Soul Snatch."
Boom!
Crimson flames erupted.
Fireballs descended toward the battlefield.
The targets...
Were the Inkmen.
And the Snowmen.
This time, he didn't choose only one side.
He intended to manipulate the balance.
Several Inkman Gu Masters were struck first.
Their apertures trembled.
Flame-colored spheres emerged from their bodies.
Each one contained a Gu worm.
Li Tianyu immediately moved toward them.
But before he could intercept the first one...
"Who is that?!"
"Someone is stealing our Gu!"
"Stop him!"
The Inkmen finally realized what was happening.
Then the Snowmen noticed as well.
"Human!"
"Kill him!"
"Don't let him take our Gu!"
Their battle instantly changed.
The two sides stopped attacking one another.
Every Gu Master turned toward the sky.
A torrent of attacks erupted.
Ice blades.
Snowstorms.
Black ink.
Poetry blades.
Information Path methods.
All of them converged toward Li Tianyu.
His expression became slightly solemn.
'This is troublesome.'
Although he possessed Rank Three combat strength, quantity could still become dangerous.
There were dozens upon dozens of Gu Masters attacking him simultaneously.
The situation was completely different from the previous battlefield.
Back then, the human Gu Masters had remained on his side.
As Li Tianyu gradually weakened the Hairymen and Rockmen by stealing their Gu worms, the humans continued fighting them.
That had indirectly reduced the pressure on him.
But this time...
Both the Snowmen and Inkmen had turned their attention toward him.
There was no one else to share the pressure.
He was facing the entire battlefield alone.
Li Tianyu immediately activated his flight-type killer move.
His body transformed into a crimson streak.
Whoosh!
An enormous ice blade passed behind him.
He twisted sideways.
A wave of black ink swept across his previous position.
He accelerated upward.
Then suddenly descended.
Another barrage passed above his head.
Li Tianyu continued moving.
At the same time...
"Fire Path Killer Move — Blazing Sanctuary!"
Crimson flames expanded around him.
The incoming attacks were burned apart.
Ice melted.
Snow evaporated.
Ink was incinerated.
But there were simply too many attacks.
Some still slipped through.
A sharp ice blade cut across his shoulder.
Blood appeared.
Li Tianyu immediately activated another killer move.
"Fire Path Killer Move — Phoenix Rebirth Flame."
Warm crimson flames enveloped his body.
The wound rapidly healed.
His expression remained calm.
He had no shortage of primeval essence.
His Primordial Flame Physique and Burning Lotus Gu continuously replenished his reserves.
Therefore...
He could afford to use his killer moves repeatedly.
Crimson Soul Snatch.
Blazing Sanctuary.
Phoenix Rebirth Flame.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The battlefield gradually turned into a chaotic pursuit.
Li Tianyu flew through the sky.
The Gu Masters below continuously attacked.
He dodged.
Blocked.
Healed.
Then stole.
Every time Crimson Soul Snatch successfully struck someone...
Another Gu worm was pulled from their aperture.
Li Tianyu immediately intercepted it.
Then moved on to the next target.
The Inkmen cursed furiously.
"You bastard!"
"Return our Gu!"
"Don't let him escape!"
The Snowmen were equally furious.
"Human thief!"
"Stop him!"
"Kill him!"
Li Tianyu ignored them.
He simply continued.
This battle was considerably more troublesome than the previous one.
The entire battlefield was focused on him.
Dozens of Gu Masters attacked simultaneously.
Li Tianyu had to remain constantly alert.
One mistake...
And the sheer number of attacks could overwhelm him.
But his patience was greater.
He didn't need to steal everything immediately.
He only needed to wait for opportunities.
One by one...
The Inkmen began losing Gu worms.
Then the Snowmen.
Li Tianyu carefully controlled the pace.
He didn't completely cripple either side.
If one side became too weak...
The other would simply crush them.
That would reduce his future opportunities.
So he adjusted his targets.
He stole roughly half of the Inkmen's Gu worms.
Then slightly more than half from the Snowmen.
The goal was simple.
Balance them.
Keep both sides alive.
Keep both sides capable of fighting.
And most importantly...
Keep both sides capable of producing more Gu worms for him to steal in the future.
Forty minutes later...
Li Tianyu finally decided that he had obtained enough.
He activated his flight killer move to its maximum.
Crimson flames erupted behind him.
Whoosh!
His body shot into the distance.
"Don't let him escape!"
"Chase him!"
"Human thief!"
Several Snowmen and Inkmen immediately pursued him.
But their movement speed was far inferior.
They couldn't fly.
Without a suitable flying Gu worm, they could only watch as Li Tianyu disappeared into the distance.
Their furious curses continued echoing behind him.
"Remember my face!"
"You bastard!"
"We'll kill you next time!"
Li Tianyu ignored them.
Soon...
The battlefield disappeared behind him.
The Snowmen and Inkmen looked at one another.
Neither side had any desire to continue fighting.
Their Gu worms had already been stolen in large numbers.
Their combat strength had suffered a severe blow.
Continuing the battle would only result in unnecessary casualties.
Eventually...
The two sides retreated separately.
Li Tianyu flew through the sky.
He checked his aperture.
His harvest this time was considerable.
136 Rank Two Gu worms.
576 Rank One Gu worms.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
He hadn't killed anyone.
He hadn't fought anyone directly.
Yet...
He had still walked away with hundreds of Gu worms.
Li Tianyu looked toward the distant horizon.
'This method is becoming increasingly efficient.'
He continued flying.
The vast Central Continent stretched endlessly before him.
And somewhere within this enormous continent...
There were countless more Gu Masters.
Countless more Gu worms.
And countless more opportunities.
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