Fang Yuan vs Ju Kai Bei (3)
Ju Kai Bei judges that Fang Yuan’s bitter strength Gu cannot lift his strength past eight beast phantoms. He recalls the Shang clan leader’s order not to take all-out effort Gu, so he can only choose bitter strength Gu. He steadies himself, reminded of his rank four initial stage, superior primeval essence and killer move. The battle turns desperate, with Ju Kai Bei’s ivory armor breaking and repairing continuously while he spurts blood. Fang Yuan restrains self-reliance Gu, so injuries pile up and bitter strength Gu lifts him to five beast phantoms. Ju Kai Bei is nearly suppressed, unable even to lift his head. He has never been pressed so hard on the battle stage, where even Yan Tu was only his equal. ch. 319
Furious, Ju Kai Bei summons three dragon-elephant phantoms, which suppress five beast phantoms and send Fang Yuan flying with both arms completely fractured. Fang Yuan activates self-reliance Gu, twists his left arm, folded at a right angle, back into place, and the bones, flesh and skin regrow. While healing he keeps evading with horizontal charge Gu and vertical crash Gu, calm like a slippery loach. The black stone forest terrain keeps Ju Kai Bei’s dragon travel tiger steps Gu, though faster, from catching him. After healing he attacks again, and his phantoms rise from five to eight. ch. 319
Fang Yuan suppresses Ju Kai Bei most of the time, but his opponent’s healing Gu is outstanding too. Ju Kai Bei’s dragon guts Gu, dragon travel tiger steps Gu and dragon-elephant Gu resonate, greatly raising the chance of his dragon-elephant phantom appearing. Fang Yuan is tiring, his muscles aching and numb under eight phantoms, which also signify extremely severe injuries, so one blow from three dragon-elephant phantoms might kill him. Over two hours in, both reach their limits and their attacks slow. ch. 319
Ju Kai Bei loses patience, because his dragon-elephant phantoms depend on luck. He has little primeval essence left, yet Fang Yuan, only rank three, seems to have plenty. Recalling Shang Yan Fei’s secret letter, he suspects a heavenly essence treasure lotus, and his fighting spirit dampens. Fang Yuan does have it, along with blood skull Gu and four flavor liquor worm. Ju Kai Bei decides on his killer move and suddenly retreats with dragon travel tiger steps Gu, which Fang Yuan cannot catch. Wei Yang cries out that the killer move has a flaw: if Fang Yuan grasps it he could win, and if not Wei Yang fears Ju Kai Bei will be the winner. ch. 319
Ju Kai Bei activates djinn heart Gu, djinn body Gu and djinn mind Gu, three rank four Gu, and body, heart and mind combine into djinn transformation. His body enlarges threefold with a white aura, and his strength and mental energy triple, turning three dragon-elephant strength into nine. Nine phantoms would crush the eight beast phantoms, and Fang Yuan would certainly lose. But Ju Kai Bei’s ivory armor cannot stretch with his size and breaks. Wei Yang mutters that Ju Kai Bei’s strongest moment is also his weakest. Fang Yuan takes an attacking posture but stops, and the armor regrows tightly around Ju Kai Bei. Wei Yang sighs that Fang Zheng has lost his only chance. ch. 319
In truth Ju Kai Bei had activated hard qi Gu, a ball of formless air over his whole body, so he looks defenseless while his defense is extremely tight and solid. Had Fang Yuan attacked, he would likely have lost to Ju Kai Bei’s frontal assault. Ju Kai Bei had even slowed the armor’s regrowth as bait. Surprised that Fang Yuan holds back, he rules out detection, since the formless Gu is new to him and never used. Djinn transformation also triples consumption, so it cannot be maintained long. Ju Kai Bei charges with dragon travel tiger steps Gu, and Fang Yuan retreats with horizontal charge and vertical crash and avoids the attack. Ju Kai Bei, bewildered, thinks the retreat pointless, since his body is three times larger and almost all the black stone pillars are destroyed. ch. 319
