Chapter 958

Bai Ning Bing stays very vigilant toward Old Man Yan Shi. Since advancing to Gu Immortal and shedding the female body that had long troubled him, he has thoroughly realized how unfathomable Yan Shi is. Bai Ning Bing no longer minds Fang Yuan much, and even his talk of revenge only probes Yan Shi. Shadow Sect stays deeply concealed despite his own secret investigation, and he resents being controlled; he has thought of walking away, but Shadow Sect has spent so much effort on him that it certainly would not let him leave easily. He values excitement over his own life and has never once retreated from danger. ^{ch. 958}

Yan Shi calmly takes out an Immortal Gu and promises Fang Yuan’s return if Bai Ning Bing only does as told. Bai Ning Bing notes coldly that Yan Shi now claims to know Fang Yuan’s whereabouts, though he said he did not know when asked before. Yan Shi only chuckles. He describes instead a nameless mountain near rock dragon cave, with a river running past it. He tells him to climb it, activate the Gu, then leave quickly, since the mountain will afterward become a forbidden zone that meets any Gu Immortal who enters with fatal killing intent. ^{ch. 958}

Bai Ning Bing refuses the Gu, pressing that Yan Shi still has not answered. Yan Shi says he need not answer, and reminds him that their agreement frees Bai Ning Bing only once Fang Yuan is dead. Bai Ning Bing takes the Gu in silence and flies off. ^{ch. 958}

Two days later he finds the mountain, puzzlingly ordinary. He judges a trap unlikely, since Yan Shi paid a huge price to raise him to Gu Immortal, though he still wonders why Yan Shi chose him. ^{ch. 958}

He finds no trace of any Gu formations. So he decides to delay and probe Yan Shi rather than act at once, reasoning that urgency would show if this truly mattered. ^{ch. 958}

After nearly half a month without word, a black robed Gu Immortal grows anxious. He asks Yan Shi whether Bai Ning Bing has fled or run into trouble. Yan Shi, watching the astrolabe chessboard’s disordered lines thin by a little less than half since the task began, says the hesitation is natural. The immortal warns they cannot delay: Central Continent’s sects and now lone and demonic cultivators are exploring Falling Heavenly River, and Vice Envoy Blue and the others can hold on three days at most before Heavenly Court sees the arrangement. He proposes forcing Bai Ning Bing’s hand, stripping his Gu Immortal strength and returning him to mortal and female if he will not submit. ^{ch. 958}

Yan Shi instead asks why the immortal thinks he is using Bai Ning Bing, and flicks a star mark from the chessboard with an ease that would shock even Fang Yuan, marking Yan Shi’s wisdom path attainment as definitely great grandmaster. Bai Ning Bing was not chosen for his Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, Yan Shi reveals, but because he too is a fate escapee, whom heaven’s will cannot completely control. Their true plan, devised across a hundred thousand years, targets heaven itself rather than Heavenly Court, and Bai Ning Bing is its spearhead while Shadow Sect gathers its own strength. Yan Shi has deliberately left him uncontacted, confident his nature will not let him wait long. The satisfied immortal takes his leave. ^{ch. 958}

Bai Ning Bing waits two more days. He reads Yan Shi’s silence as a sign nothing is urgent. Somewhat dejected, he counts his probe a failure after repeated searches turn up nothing. If the Gu truly means him harm, he decides, he can only blame his own inadequate ability. ^{ch. 958}

He activates the mysterious Immortal Gu, slightly surprised at how much immortal essence it demands before its light finally brightens and its body slightly trembles. After hundreds of beads spent, his puzzlement grows very great until it suddenly buzzes, shoots skyward, and crashes back onto the mountain in incomparably dazzling radiance. He flies five li away to check whether it truly succeeded. ^{ch. 958}

What he finds is an unbelievable, marvelous scene: the peak stands undamaged, but phantom images of a mystical river rise over its woods. Wondering if this is the river of time, his eyes widen in extreme surprise. The image dims. Two human figures leap from it, sharpening into a pair locked in a fight. One is enormous and muscular, rampaging with extremely fierce momentum as a rank eight Gu Immortal. The other is rank seven, disguised in fog with only a red lotus mark visible on his forehead. ^{ch. 958}