Chapter 196

Trapped in an ice river, Fang Yuan tries the Chainsaw Golden Centipede and the Blood Moon Gu on the ice, but two layers grow back for every layer shaved off. Blood light rises from under the river. First gen Gu Yue breaks out of the ice, miserable but arrogant. He says the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique might kill him at rank four, but Bai Ning Bing is only rank three peak stage. Lord Sky Crane flies in on the ironbeak flying crane king, back from killing the blood river python. Only these two rank five Gu Masters and Fang Yuan remain on Qing Mao mountain, Bai Ning Bing having turned into the ice mountain. ^{ch. 196}

First gen Gu Yue wants Fang Yuan’s blood, and Lord Sky Crane, who wants to stop him, would strike first and kill Fang Yuan rather than protect him. Neither will tolerate a bystander. Fang Yuan knows he is finished; he has lost the Thunderwings Gu and the Thousand Li Earthwolf spider, and even with them he could not escape. He has one last move, the Spring Autumn Cicada, which lets him travel against the flow of time. ^{ch. 196}

It is extremely risky, because the river of time is forbidden, the cicada has not fully recovered, and he is only rank three peak stage. He must self-detonate, driving the cicada with all his cultivation, his flesh and blood, and his other Gu worms. The chance of success is under ten percent. He can only bet that the cicada is his vital Gu. He had preferred the Stone Aperture Gu earlier, but now he has no other way left. ^{ch. 196}

Both rank five Gu Masters attack at once, and Fang Yuan, with no way out, activates the cicada. The aura of a rank six Gu shocks them, then greed drives them to press in faster. Fang Yuan self-detonates, and before his death he hears their cries of shock. In the river of time a tiny Gu worm carrying his consciousness and memories struggles upstream. It moves up only a little before its protecting light disperses, then burrows into a ripple. Fang Yuan succeeds and is reborn once more, extremely happy. ^{ch. 196}

He finds himself coiled by white eyebrows, his primeval essence being expended. Tie Xue Leng’s backup plan has taken hold: the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu chains First gen Gu Yue, and the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu sits on his forehead as a yellow talisman. Lord Sky Crane stands in a white barrier, using the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu to exhaust First gen Gu Yue’s primeval essence. Fang Yuan waits for a chance. ^{ch. 196}

Lights leave First gen Gu Yue, and the Blood Skull Gu falls to the ground, to the extreme excitement of Lord Sky Crane. Next falls the Yin Yang Rotation Gu, and Lord Sky Crane truly thanks his senior brother for finding it and mocks his plan to turn back into a human. The third light is the Blood Curtain Skyflower, which First gen Gu Yue created and which turned the crisis around. He orders it destroyed, and several Gu Masters attack. It appears again as a blood shield that isolates two areas and breaks the white eyebrows completely, freeing Fang Yuan and the others. ^{ch. 196}

First gen Gu Yue explains that this rank five Gu is stronger than the rank four Water Curtain Skyflower and lets its owner leave. He says that once he recovers he will cut off Lord Sky Crane’s head. Lord Sky Crane attacks furiously and fails, then replenishes his primeval essence to wait out the shield. The overjoyed Gu Masters flatter First gen Gu Yue, but only Bai Ning Bing snorts. They give him more primeval stones, which he crushes in his mouth while chained. Lord Sky Crane warns that he will kill them all for their blood, but no one believes him and they give even more. ^{ch. 196}