With his mind racing quickly, Fang Yuan considered the situation.
How on earth had Bai Ning Bing found the time to arrange such a betrayal? And why?
Come to think of it, the person who had ended up burning the skin of the six-legged mountain goat - making the refinement impossible in the first place and :guaranteeing: their loss - had been Bai Ning Bing!
She could not have known that Fang Yuan would end up refining Wealth Gu on the fly. From the way Liu Nan had reacted, giving her the impetus for attacking in the first place, Fang Yuan could piece together that the two of them were working together.
But when and how?
Of course - it had to have happened when he had left to deal with his Second Earthly Calamity and had left his Will within the Tian Ji blessed land.
His Will could not monitor everything all the time, and it was not attached to Bai Ning Bing. Not to mention, there was one specific task for which the Will would have to leave Bai Ning Bing to her own devices - one in which she could freely communicate with others. It was during the use of Equality Gu to stabilize her Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique!
***
Several weeks earlier, within the Tian Ji blessed land, Bai Ning Bing was using Equality Gu in order to stabilize her Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique. One of the people she was working with just happened to be the mortal whom Liu Nan had brought with him.
Bai Ning Bing was a bit surprised to see Liu Nan as a Rank 6 Gu Immortal, naturally. Though he had been at the Rank 5 Peak Stage and had seemed to be somewhat on Fang Yuan's level - so if Fang Yuan could ascend, the idea that Liu Nan could as well did not shock her.
What did shock her a bit was the fact that Liu Nan spoke directly to her through this Rank 5 mortal using gu worms.
'I can only communicate in this way and not through verbal responses in case Fang Yuan's Will is watching,' Liu Nan said to her telepathically. 'However, Bai Ning Bing, I want to make you an offer.'
Bai Ning Bing's eyes fluttered slightly, but she did not change her expression. She too was quite wary of Fang Yuan, and although his Will was nowhere around to be seen, it didn't mean that he couldn't be listening in through the use of some kind of gu worm.
For the time being, gu worms were allowed to be used within the blessed land as long as they weren't attacking each other. Otherwise, how could Bai Ning Bing use Equality Gu to try to stabilize her extreme physique? Fang Yuan could easily have some kind of investigative method to peer at what she was doing.
'I already know the situation that you're in,' Liu Nan said. 'Fang Yuan has the Yang Rotation Gu with him, and it is forcing you to do his bidding. Not to mention you're worried about your Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique. Even if you happen to wrest the Yang Rotation Gu from his grasp, you're worried about it causing your detonation unless you can ascend with a proper Rank 6 gu worm. I have an offer for you, though. I happen to have a Rank 6 Water Path gu worm, using which you can ascend to Immortality safely.'
'And what do you want in return?' Bai Ning Bing thought.
'Isn't it obvious?' Lu Nan asked. 'My goal is still the same as it always was: to impede Fang Yuan in whatever kind of shenanigans he is up to. I want to defeat him in this contest, but he is quite crafty, as you may have already realized. The easiest way, of course, is to simply get you to throw the contest for him in a way that is believable.'
Bai Ning Bing furrowed her eyebrows. 'And what exactly is there for me in return for all of this? And why should I believe anything you say?'
'As they say, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend,"' Liu Nan said. 'And my enemy right now is Fang Yuan. You must have certainly realized that despite his friendly exterior, he is just as much your enemy as well. Trying to deal with him is like trying to deal with a snake. Or like in the tale of the scorpion and the frog, he will stab you in the back the moment he gets a chance for that is simply his nature.'
Bai Ning Bing had to note that all of those facts were true when it came to describing Fang Yuan. However, simply saying that the enemy of your enemy is your friend was also childish naivety. 'That still doesn't explain why exactly I should put any stock into what you say?' Bai Ning Bing asked.
'Because,' Liu Nan answered, 'unlike Fang Yuan, I can bind the two of us together through a proper Information Path agreement. I can see that you have alliance vows from the Poison Vow Gu from before. Those are suppressed here in the Tian Ji blessed land for the most part, but I can remove them entirely. Instead, we can forge a new agreement between the two of us. I happen to have access to Sea Oath Gu. Rank 6 Sea Oath Gu is derived from Rank 7 Mountain Pledge and Sea Oath Gu. It is the legendary gu from which Poison Vow Gu was later derived as a mortal form equivalent. It is an Immortal Gu that can bind even me, a Rank 6 Gu Immortal. We can create an agreement to help each other and to ensure our mutual cooperation. With that said, however, I should note in the spirit of fairness that there is a risk toward you - a risk that you may not end up getting back the Yang Rotation Gu. However, that is not necessarily the end of all things.'
Bai Ning Bing raised an eyebrow, trying to conceal her excitement. 'Is there another way that I can get my male body back?'
'Permanently? No, I as of yet do not know of such a method,' Liu Nan admitted. 'However, whether you are a man or a woman, I think you can agree that there is no point in continuing to live like this under Fang Yuan's boot. Without a doubt, I'm sure you've been wondering if there was a way to scheme against him and to stab him in the back, but it is clear as day by this point that you have no chance of striking against him - at least, you certainly cannot do so as a mortal. If you agree to help me and become an immortal, then you may still have a chance to strike back at him later. Fang Yuan is an extremely shameless person that has no bottom line, but at the same time, that also means that he will not hold grudges either. And since you have something that he wants - namely the secret to the Immortal Puppet Master's Inheritance - he will not throw away a trump card such as the Yang Rotation Gu. A wise person knows when to submit to circumstances. For now, you should forget about the Yang Rotation Gu and instead focus on becoming an immortal.'
Bai Ning Bing frowned. 'How do you know all of this?'
While Fang Yuan certainly held quite the impressive figure within her mind, Lu Nan was a close second. He seemed to know details about people that he simply shouldn't have, including this detail regarding the Immortal Puppet Master.
'Haha. Well then, Bai Ning Bing, I suppose there's no problem in letting you know,' Liu Nan answered. 'Surely you've been wondering how it is that Fang Yuan seems to know so much about the world despite being so young. He seems to be able to predict so many things with certainity. Well then, allow me to shed light upon that information. The reason why Fang Yuan knows so much is because his Vital Gu is none other than the Spring Autumn Cicada!'
Bai Ning Bing's pupils dilated. She was trying to remain calm, but in the face of such information, even a mind like hers - that of a true demon's - was shaken to its core!
The Spring Autumn Cicada, one of the Ten Mystical Gu, was rumored to be able to send the user's consciousness back through the River of Time. But information regarding it was so limited that this was nothing more than a simple rumor.
But that would mean...