Chapter 169

Fang Yuan finds Bai Ning Bing bloodied and ragged inside the smoke. Bai Ning Bing first taunts him toward a shared death. Fang Yuan matches his madness rather than backing down, then speaks of living without fear of death because he already walks his own chosen path. The words strike Bai Ning Bing hard: he has never made peace with death the way he claims to, and Fang Yuan’s talk of a path gives him something he did not have. Fang Yuan does not resolve Bai Ning Bing’s confusion for him; he only hands him the idea and lets him run with it. ^{ch. 169}

Bai Ning Bing proposes a truce: escape the smoke together, then resume their rivalry another day. Fang Yuan agrees on guarded terms, each warning the other to expect a possible sneak attack. Bai Ning Bing’s Lightning Eye Gu sees a short distance ahead through the murk. Fang Yuan’s Earth Communication Ear Grass hears far but vaguely. Combining the two lets them read the ground the smoke has hidden and pick a route around the densest wolf packs. Fighting side by side, they break out of the smoke into daylight. ^{ch. 169}

The instant they are clear, both attack. Bai Ning Bing’s iceblade cuts the Chainsaw Golden Centipede and shatters against it, and the two step back with the truce over. Fang Yuan turns his mind to the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. He judges Bai Ning Bing a dying man not worth further attention now that the village itself is at risk. Bai Ning Bing, repeating Fang Yuan’s words back to himself, declares that he has found his own path: to witness the world’s brilliance. He leaves vowing a future battle, walking away no longer lost. ^{ch. 169}