Chapter 19 – A Meeting with Fang Yuan
Li Tianyu suddenly stopped.
His footsteps came to a halt beneath the towering trees.
For a moment...
The forest was completely silent.
His gaze slowly shifted toward the trees behind him.
Inside his aperture...
Stable Fortune Gu trembled faintly.
A subtle fluctuation of luck spread through his body.
Someone was following him.
More importantly...
There was something else.
A mark.
It was extremely well hidden.
Even Li Tianyu's own senses had difficulty detecting it.
The battlefield's kill-point mark had already been destroyed.
This was something completely different.
Someone had secretly placed another mark upon him.
Li Tianyu had sensed it several days ago.
The method used to conceal it was extremely profound.
Far beyond what an ordinary Gu Master should have been capable of.
He had attempted to investigate it before.
But he couldn't remove it.
Fortunately...
Stable Fortune Gu hadn't issued any warning.
Instead...
It had merely emitted a faint aura of luck.
As though...
A great fortune awaited him.
There was no killing intent.
No immediate danger.
Li Tianyu's eyes narrowed.
He already had a guess.
He turned around.
"You don't need to hide."
"You can come out."
Silence.
Then...
Footsteps echoed from the forest.
A young man slowly walked out from between the trees.
Black hair.
Calm eyes.
An expression almost devoid of emotion.
Li Tianyu's gaze sharpened.
So it really was him.
Fang Yuan.
At this moment...
Fang Yuan was seventeen years old.
A Rank One Peak Stage Gu Master.
Yet the feeling he gave Li Tianyu was completely different from that of an ordinary Rank One Gu Master.
There was a profound calmness hidden beneath his youthful appearance.
The calmness of someone who had experienced countless hardships.
Countless battles.
Countless deaths.
Li Tianyu immediately became vigilant.
Fang Yuan didn't waste any words.
The instant he emerged...
He attacked.
Several Gu worms activated simultaneously.
Within a single breath...
Multiple compound killer moves formed.
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"Burning Wind Blades!"
Whoosh!
Several crimson-black blades of wind tore through the forest.
At almost the same time...
"Cold Fireballs!"
Clusters of strange blue flames shot forward.
Then...
"Burning Stone Spears!"
Several enormous stone spears erupted from the ground.
Fire.
Wind.
Earth.
Multiple paths intertwined.
The attacks came from completely different directions.
Li Tianyu's expression became serious.
He immediately activated his own killer moves.
"Fire Path Killer Move..."
"Blazing Sanctuary!"
A field of crimson flames instantly spread around him.
At the same time...
"Flame Shadow Steps!"
Flames erupted beneath his feet.
His body transformed into a crimson blur.
Boom!
The burning wind blades struck the flaming field.
The cold fireballs exploded.
Stone spears smashed into the ground.
Li Tianyu weaved between the attacks.
Some passed only inches from his body.
Others were completely incinerated by Blazing Sanctuary.
His gaze remained fixed on Fang Yuan.
'He's testing me.'
There was no doubt.
Fang Yuan's attacks were powerful.
But they lacked the killing intent of someone fighting for his life.
He wasn't trying to kill Li Tianyu.
He was measuring him.
Li Tianyu immediately counterattacked.
"Crimson Soul Snatch!"
Several crimson fireballs erupted from his palms.
They streaked across the forest.
Fang Yuan's expression remained unchanged.
He activated his own compound defensive killer move.
A strange defensive layer formed around his body.
Boom!
The crimson flames exploded.
Fang Yuan's defensive killer move trembled.
But it held.
He immediately followed with a movement killer move.
His body shifted sideways.
Another fireball passed by his shoulder.
Fang Yuan counterattacked.
The two figures rapidly exchanged positions throughout the forest.
Flames.
Wind blades.
Stone spears.
Cold fire.
The surrounding trees were destroyed one after another.
Neither side gained a decisive advantage.
Li Tianyu's Crimson Soul Snatch repeatedly attempted to steal Fang Yuan's Gu.
But every attempt failed.
His expression gradually became solemn.
'His luck is extraordinary.'
'No...'
'It's more than that.'
An invisible force seemed to interfere with his theft attempts every time.
Inside his aperture...
Stable Fortune Gu trembled violently.
It was resisting.
Li Tianyu immediately understood.
Fang Yuan possessed an extremely powerful luck-related foundation.
At the same time...
Fang Yuan suddenly used a Thief Path compound killer move.
A strange shadow silently approached Li Tianyu.
It attempted to penetrate his aperture.
Stable Fortune Gu immediately reacted.
The invisible force of luck surged violently.
The thief path killer move trembled.
Then...
It collapsed.
Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So that's how it is."
Li Tianyu didn't answer.
He simply launched another attack.
"Crimson Soul Snatch!"
Several crimson fireballs flew toward Fang Yuan.
Boom!
One struck his body directly.
Flames exploded.
Li Tianyu's Primordial Flame Physique immediately sensed something unusual.
The flames attempted to damage Fang Yuan's soul.
But the effect was far weaker than expected.
Even the physical damage was strangely low.
Li Tianyu's eyes narrowed.
'So that's the reason.'
From the numerous compound killer moves Fang Yuan had casually used...
And from the strange characteristics of his body...
Li Tianyu could make a reasonable guess.
Fang Yuan had already refined a Rank One version of the Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu.
More precisely...
He had modified it.
It possessed both conflicting and non-conflicting dao marks.
That explained why Fang Yuan could use compound killer moves involving different paths without suffering the normal suppression caused by conflicting dao marks.
And because of those conflicting dao marks...
Li Tianyu's attacks couldn't inflict the additional damage that would normally occur against a body possessing only non-conflicting dao marks.
Li Tianyu secretly became more vigilant.
As expected of Fang Yuan...
Even after returning to Rank One...
Fang Yuan still possessed an astonishing number of methods.
His cultivation realm had fallen.
But his experience, attainments, knowledge, and accumulated techniques had not.
That was only natural.
In his previous life, Fang Yuan had reached Supreme Grandmaster attainment in Refinement Path.
He had personally studied the Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu extensively and possessed an understanding of it that few others could match.
Returning to the beginning had stripped him of his cultivation...
But it had not erased his memories.
Nor had it erased the knowledge he had accumulated over his previous life.
With such a foundation...
Even as a Rank One Gu Master, Fang Yuan was still an existence that ordinary Gu Masters could never hope to compare with.
...
Fang Yuan activated another compound defensive and healing killer move.
The flames surrounding his body gradually disappeared.
His injuries rapidly stabilized.
Li Tianyu also activated his healing killer move.
"Fire Path Killer Move..."
"Phoenix Rebirth Flame."
A crimson flame wrapped around his body.
His wounds rapidly closed.
Broken flesh regenerated.
Even his damaged soul gradually recovered.
The two once again faced each other.
Neither spoke.
But both had already learned something.
...
Fang Yuan's gaze became increasingly profound.
Originally...
He had believed Li Tianyu was Spectral Soul's reincarnation.
The reason was simple.
Several months ago, while Li Tianyu was still on the battlefield...
Fang Yuan had noticed something unusual.
Li Tianyu continuously used compound killer moves.
Other Gu Masters might not have noticed the significance.
But how could Fang Yuan fail to recognize it?
That should have been impossible for an ordinary Gu Master.
Different paths possessed different dao marks.
Normally...
Using Gu worms from conflicting paths would cause their effects to interfere with one another.
Yet Li Tianyu's compound killer moves didn't suffer from that problem.
There was only one obvious explanation.
A body possessing non-conflicting dao marks.
And among everything Fang Yuan knew...
The Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu fit that description perfectly.
Fang Yuan himself possessed the same foundation.
Thus...
He naturally became suspicious.
Spectral Soul.
One of his greatest enemies from his previous life.
If Spectral Soul had somehow been reborn...
And had refined another mortal version of the Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu...
Then Li Tianyu's existence would make sense.
Fang Yuan had therefore decided to eliminate him.
At the immortal level...
There could only be one Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu.
If Li Tianyu truly possessed the same foundation...
He would eventually become a massive threat.
That was why Fang Yuan had secretly marked him.
That was why he had followed him here.
And that was why...
He had attacked without warning.
But now...
Fang Yuan was no longer certain.
His eyes quietly examined Li Tianyu.
'His physique...'
'It isn't the same as mine.'
As a former refinement path supreme grandmaster...
And someone who had personally cultivated the Sovereign Immortal Body...
Fang Yuan's understanding of that physique was extremely deep.
He could clearly sense the difference.
Li Tianyu's dao marks were indeed non-conflicting.
But the structure of his body was completely different from Fang Yuan's Sovereign Immortal Body.
Furthermore...
His flame path foundation was extraordinarily strong.
There was also an extremely peculiar vitality contained within his body.
'This isn't the Sovereign Immortal Body.'
Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed.
'Then what is it?'
He didn't know.
And that made Li Tianyu even more interesting.
...
The battle continued.
Li Tianyu once again attacked.
"Crimson Soul Snatch!"
Fang Yuan dodged.
At the same time...
A Thief Path killer move silently approached Li Tianyu.
Stable Fortune Gu immediately reacted.
The killer move collapsed before it could steal anything.
Fang Yuan's eyes flashed.
'His luck path Gu is resisting my theft.'
'Interesting.'
He had already confirmed several things.
Li Tianyu possessed a peculiar physique.
He possessed powerful luck protection.
His killer moves were extremely well developed.
And his theft ability was extraordinary.
Yet...
His fighting style was completely different from Spectral Soul's.
Completely.
Fang Yuan remembered Spectral Soul from his previous life.
The methods.
The ruthlessness.
The overwhelming killing intent.
The countless soul path techniques.
The terrifying battlefield control.
Even when Spectral Soul was weaker...
His fighting style always carried the characteristics of a supreme expert who had lived for countless years.
Li Tianyu had none of that.
His movements were efficient.
But simple.
His attacks were powerful.
But straightforward.
His main strategy was...
Steal Gu.
He didn't attempt to overwhelm his opponent through some profound battle formation.
He didn't display the terrifying adaptability of Spectral Soul.
He simply relied on his peculiar physique...
And his strange theft and flame path abilities.
Fang Yuan's suspicion gradually weakened.
'He isn't Spectral Soul.'
At least...
Not the Spectral Soul he remembered.
Fang Yuan's gaze became cold.
'Then what exactly is he?'
He had originally intended to kill Li Tianyu.
But now...
He had changed his mind.
There was no need to reveal everything immediately.
He could investigate.
Observe.
And determine the truth later.
Besides...
Li Tianyu was clearly holding back as well.
The same applied to Fang Yuan.
Neither had truly gone all out.
The exchange had been nothing more than a probe.
...
Li Tianyu suddenly retreated several steps.
His gaze remained fixed on Fang Yuan.
'As expected.'
'He could have ended this fight much earlier.
'
A previous-life Venerable...
Could not possibly be limited to this.
Even though Fang Yuan was currently only Rank One...
His experience.
His attainments.
His knowledge.
His accumulated methods.
All of them were far beyond what an ordinary Rank One Gu Master could possess.
Li Tianyu's expression became solemn.
'He was only testing me.'
'And now...'
'He seems to have confirmed something.'
The two stood several dozen meters apart.
The forest around them had been reduced to ruins.
Broken trees covered the ground.
Crimson flames still burned in several places.
For a long moment...
Neither spoke.