Chapter 25 – Devouring Apertures
The scene shifted.
Several dozen li away...
A fierce battle was taking place within a secluded valley.
Two figures clashed violently.
One of them was Fang Yuan.
His opponent was a middle-aged man wearing a dark robe.
The man's aura was powerful.
Rank Three.
Moreover...
He was a demonic path Gu Master.
The demonic Gu Master roared and activated several Gu worms in succession.
A giant claw formed from black qi tore through the air.
Fang Yuan calmly sidestepped it.
At the same time...
"Blood Path Killer Move—Blood Blade!"
A crimson blade condensed from blood and shot forward.
The demonic Gu Master's expression changed.
He hurriedly activated his defensive Gu.
Boom!
The blood blade slammed into his defense.
The protective light trembled violently.
Fang Yuan didn't give him any chance to recover.
Another compound killer move was activated.
Blood Path.
Fire Path.
Wind Path.
Several completely different powers intertwined perfectly.
The resulting attack exploded before the demonic Gu Master.
Boom!
The man was sent flying.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His expression became ugly.
"How can a Rank One..."
Before he could finish speaking...
Fang Yuan had already appeared before him.
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Another compound killer move descended.
The demonic Gu Master desperately activated his Gu worms.
But his reactions were simply too slow.
Unlike Fang Yuan...
He possessed no killer moves.
Most ordinary Gu Masters didn't possess such techniques.
They simply relied on individual Gu worms.
One Gu for offense.
Another for defense.
Another for movement.
Perhaps several more for investigation or healing.
They activated them individually according to the situation.
Such methods could still produce considerable combat strength.
But against Fang Yuan...
They were far too crude.
Boom!
The demonic Gu Master's defensive Gu was shattered.
His body was blasted into the ground.
Fang Yuan descended beside him.
The demonic Gu Master attempted to struggle.
Fang Yuan calmly activated a binding killer move.
Crimson chains condensed from blood qi and wrapped around the man's limbs.
His primeval essence surged.
But the chains only tightened.
He couldn't move.
Fang Yuan's expression remained indifferent.
"First..."
"Your Gu."
A strange compound thief path killer move activated.
The demonic Gu Master's aperture trembled violently.
One Gu worm after another was forcibly extracted.
Rank Three.
Rank Two.
Rank Two.
Several Gu worms flew directly into Fang Yuan's aperture.
The demonic Gu Master's expression changed drastically.
"Stop!"
Fang Yuan ignored him.
Another killer move activated.
The demonic Gu Master's cultivation began to fall.
His Rank Three cultivation...
Dropped to Rank Two.
Then...
His primeval sea rapidly shrank.
Rank Two Upper Stage.
Rank Two Middle Stage.
Rank Two Initial Stage.
Finally...
Rank One Peak Stage.
Only then did Fang Yuan stop.
The demonic Gu Master stared at him in horror.
"What... what are you..."
Fang Yuan didn't answer.
A strange light suddenly emerged from his body.
It enveloped the demonic Gu Master.
The man's expression changed.
His body began trembling violently.
"No!"
"What are you doing?!"
A powerful suction force erupted.
The demonic Gu Master's aperture began to separate from his body.
His scream echoed throughout the valley.
Fang Yuan's Rank One Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu began devouring the aperture itself.
The process was extremely painful.
The demonic Gu Master screamed in agony.
His aperture was gradually torn away.
The light surrounding Fang Yuan grew increasingly intense.
Eventually...
The entire aperture disappeared into Fang Yuan's body.
The demonic Gu Master's scream abruptly stopped.
His body collapsed.
Fang Yuan calmly walked forward.
A flash of cold light passed through the air.
His head fell.
The battle was over.
Fang Yuan then began collecting the remaining resources.
He activated several Gu worms.
Blood was gathered.
Bones were collected.
Teeths.
Fingers.
Skin.
Hair.
Every useful material was carefully stored.
Nothing was wasted.
...
Unlike Li Tianyu's Primordial Flame Physique...
Fang Yuan's physique was not self-sufficient.
Fang Yuan's Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu still required food.
At Rank One...
It needed to feed once every six days.
And the food...
Was apertures.
The next feeding period was approaching.
Fang Yuan therefore began searching for a suitable target.
Using his Wisdom Path methods, he tracked down a lone demonic Gu Master.
The man was a Rank Three Gu Master traveling alone through the wilderness.
Fang Yuan carefully observed the surroundings.
He checked for high-rank wild beasts.
He searched for other Gu Masters.
He made sure there were no unexpected threats nearby.
After confirming that the area was safe...
Fang Yuan didn't hesitate.
He attacked the demonic Gu Master directly.
And thus...
The current battle began.
...
After everything was finished...
Fang Yuan returned to where Li Tianyu was waiting.
His expression remained completely calm.
After traveling for a while...
Fang Yuan suddenly asked,
"What do you feed your physique?"
Li Tianyu glanced at him.
He wasn't particularly surprised by the question.
"Gu worms."
Fang Yuan's eyes flickered.
"How often?"
"Every seven days."
Li Tianyu answered casually.
"My physique feeds on Gu worms of the same rank."
Fang Yuan nodded.
That answer didn't surprise him.
When he had first considered recruiting Li Tianyu, Fang Yuan had already thought about the reason behind his seemingly endless need for Gu worms.
He had considered several possibilities.
Perhaps...
Li Tianyu's peculiar physique itself required them as nourishment.
It wasn't simply because Li Tianyu was using the Gu worms to accumulate Immortal Dao marks.
His strange habit of constantly acquiring Gu worms clearly had another reason.
Now...
His guess had been confirmed.
Fang Yuan's gaze became slightly deeper.
"Interesting."
As he spoke, a faint fluctuation passed through Fang Yuan's body.
His Truth Detection Gu had already activated.
The result...
Li Tianyu's words were false.
Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.
So...
He was lying.
Li Tianyu's physique didn't feed on Gu worms every seven days.
That answer was merely meant to divert the topic.
Fang Yuan didn't expose him.
Instead, he continued walking as though nothing had happened.
After all...
Why would Li Tianyu tell him the truth?
Fang Yuan had asked about the greatest secret of his peculiar physique.
Naturally, Li Tianyu would conceal it.
As for what the actual source of nourishment was...
Fang Yuan couldn't determine it yet.
He only knew one thing.
Whatever sustained Li Tianyu's physique...
It clearly wasn't Gu worms.
Li Tianyu, meanwhile, remained completely calm.
He had no intention of telling Fang Yuan that his Primordial Flame Physique was self-sufficient, absorbing the primeval essence of Heaven and Earth to sustain itself.
That was far
too important a secret.
There was no reason to reveal it.
Not to Fang Yuan.
Not to anyone.
The two continued walking.
One possessed a self-sufficient physique.
The other possessed the Sovereign Immortal Body...
And required an aperture every six days.
Both possessed strange methods of sustaining themselves.
And both...
Were far from ordinary Rank One Gu Masters.