While Fang Zheng was dealing with Century Boy, meanwhile, violent fiery explosions echoed near the base of San Cha Mountain.
A massive swarm of golden butterflies was darting frantically through this battlefield, pursued by a towering pillar of flame.
"Curse your nine generations of ancestors!" roared Yi Huo. He was a renowned Rank 4 Peak Stage Gu Master from the Shang Clan. Nicknamed the Burning Inferno, Yi Huo was a premier Fire Path expert sent to oversee Shang Clan's interests at the Three Kings Inheritance.
The golden butterflies he was chasing were the transformed state of Kong Ri Tian, a notorious demonic path Gu Master known as the Pink Butterfly Gentleman. Despite his delicate moniker, Kong Ri Tian was a serial flower thief who especially liked targeting young virgin woman. He had been in the process of kidnapping two young girls when the Three Kings Inheritance had opened, being one of the first to stumble upon the inheritance grounds.
Yi Huo had been pursuing him because Kong Ri Tian had recently kidnapped one of Yi Huo's personal maidservants and had made her his plaything. While Yi Huo cared little for the servant girl herself, letting a demonic predator escape after preying on his camp was an intolerable insult to his reputation as a Shang Clan representative.
Not to mention his goal was to become a true Shang Clan elder, if he did well here, he could gain that privilege!
However, there were a few obstacles in his way. The first and largest being the Tie clan; in front of Rank 5 Tie Xue Leng, he could do nothing but bow his head.
Then there were the demonic path Gu Masters like Kong Ri Tian who accosted him at every opportunity. Yi Huo wanted to finish the man off once and for all.
However, Kong Ri Tian refused to engage in a head-on fight. Using his signature movement technique - relying upon the Phoenix Winged Golden Butterfly Gu - he transformed his body into thousands of razor-sharp golden butterflies, flying effortlessly across the base of the mountain and then escaping into the vast expanse of forests surrounding San Cha Mountain.
Yi Huo frowned. He had now lost sight of Kong Ri Tian.
Realizing that burning down the entire forest would incinerate neighboring righteous path camps and drain his primeval essence before the next inheritance round, Yi Huo gritted his teeth and came to a halt.
"Hmph... useless coward," Yi Huo spat, extinguishing his flames and turning back toward the main encampment.
Deep within the dark woods, the swarm of golden butterflies gathered upon a high branch, coalescing back into Kong Ri Tian's human form. He adjusted his silk robes and smirked.
"Ah... he finally realized the futility of chasing me," Kong Ri Tian chuckled to himself. "Now then, what should my next target be? I doubt that he will pursue this matter further. Or should I wait for the next round to open up?"
"You should be worried about me instead," a cold voice whispered right behind his ear.
A violent chill ran down Kong Ri Tian's spine. He spun around to see Gu Yue Qing Shu standing casually on the branch behind him. Qing Shu had concealed his presence so masterfully that Kong Ri Tian hadn't detected a single trace of the man's aura.
It was definitely some kind of concealment-type gu worm; but still, to sneak up so close to him without him realizing?
"Who are you?!" Kong Ri Tian demanded, dropping into a defensive stance.
"Since when do dying men need to know names? You are a fiend, and I am here to end you. It is as simple as that," Qing Shu replied.
Kong Ri Tian laughed. "Oh, are you perhaps the relatives of one of the woman I had fun with? Did I maybe deflower your sister, or cousin, or perhaps I even ended up cuckolding you by taking your first love's first time?" He had violated so many woman that he couldn't even remember all of their names; it must have numbered over a hundred. It was only natural that their relatives would come seeking revenge. But what did that matter? So long as he had strength, what could they do? Didn't Giant Sun go around wantonly kidnapping woman with no repercussions once he was a Venerable? "You want to kill me? Even if you cut me into a thousand pieces, even if you kill me and don't leave an intact corpse, that still won't restore whichever girl you're thinking about's chastity! And you will go to your grave knowing that I had fun while making her my plaything! Nothing that you do will ever erase that fact!" Kong Ri Tian taunted.
Qing Shu's eyes narrowed as raw killing intent erupted from his body.
Before Kong Ri Tian could transform back into butterflies, the massive ancient tree he was standing on suddenly came alive! Thick, wooden branches whipped out like gigantic python coils, snapping around his waist and pinning him against the trunk.
"What?!" Kong Ri Tian gasped. He detonated a pulse of golden energy to shatter the branches, but as he flew backward into the air, Qing Shu lashed out with a glowing green whip, missing his throat by a mere inch and slicing the air behind him.
Kong Ri Tian panicked before quickly steadying himself. He was a Rank 4 Peak Stage cultivator, whereas Qing Shu was only at Rank 4 Middle Stage. He should have the definitive advantage here. A single minor realm at Rank 4 and above was an immense barrier and represented a large difference in strength.
Yet, no matter how hard Kong Ri Tian tried to counterattack, it was futile.
The entire forest seemed to be rising up against him.
Whenever he activated his Phoenix Winged Golden Butterfly Gu to escape, dense foliage automatically shifted to block his flight paths, while Qing Shu seamlessly melted into the wood to dodge every incoming strike.
Within minutes, every tree, bush, and blade of grass within a radius of four li was moving in unison under Qing Shu's direct command! All the while, Qing Shu was hidden - Kong Ri Tian couldn't even see his target!
Trapped inside a living, moving wooden fortress, Kong Ri Tian felt absolute horror slowly grip his heart as a legendary tale originating from the Central Continent, yet famous throughout the Five Regions, flashed through his mind.
***
Long ago, during the youth of Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable, a slippery demonic Wisdom Path Gu Master evaded justice for decades using his deductive methods.
One day, the demonic cultivator performed a deduction to see if he would be safe entering a certain village where a resource he needed was kept. The deduction yielded a cryptic prophecy: "You shall never be vanquished, until the forest itself moves upon the village."
The demonic cultivator scoffed. How could the forest move? Trees were by their nature, stationary!
Believing himself invincible and that success was guaranteed, the demonic cultivator walked into the area slaughtering the mortals there like flies. Only for thousands of ancient trees to suddenly spring to life, marching like an army to surround and crush him. Stepping out from the canopy of the animated forest was Genesis Lotus himself, wielding his newly created Wood Path gu worm.
The forest had indeed moved upon the village, and that notorious demonic Gu Master was finally defeated.
***
Now, looking at the thousands of animated trees wrapping around him, Kong Ri Tian's voice trembled with the kind of terror that the demonic Gu Master so long ago must've felt.
"Don't tell me... is that... the Plant Legion General Gu?!" he exclaimed. "Impossible! That gu worm is native to the Central Continent! Only the members of the Heavenly Lotus Sect can obtain its recipe... unless... don't tell me? The Three Kings Inheritance? It had a treasure like this within it?!"
Qing Shu's Plant Legion General Gu had been refined in the Southern Border, because of this, it suffered no suppression from the Heaven and Earth Qi of the Southern Border.
That wasn't the only thing that Qing Shu had up his sleeve. He wielded a set of first-class Wood Path gu worms, modeled after those originally created and used by Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable back in his mortal days. Being a complete synergistic set from the premier Wood Path expert of all time, the repertoire of gu worms allowed Qing Shu to comfortably dominate his opponent.
There was Plant Legion General Gu itself, which allowed plants to ambulate to an extent, turning them into the Gu Master's own legion of soldiers.
Then there was Grass Tree Army Gu, which could turn each of them into an offensive powerhouse. It was Rank 4 yet valuable enough to be priced the same as a Rank 5 gu worm.
Wood Camouflage Gu, which would allow him to blend in perfectly with the trees, even concealing his Gu Master aura.
Miracle Fertilizer Gu, which allowed the plants under his control to rapidly reproduce and regenerate.
Forest's Curse Gu, which turned every single plant into a source of mysterious spores that would gradually weaken and impair an enemy when they were inhaled. The more plants surrounding the user, the more spores generated, and the greater the effect.
Pine Shield Gu, which was an excellent defensive gu worm.
Forest Essence Recovery Gu, which boosted one's rate of primeval essence recovery so long as they were surrounded by plants. The more plants around them, the faster the rate of regeneration.
Vine Fruit Eyes Gu, which sprouted mysterious eyeball-shaped fruits among the trees of the entire forest. Qing Shu could see out of each of these fruits, monitoring the entire area all at once.
Qing Shu had been entirely confident in his victory from the start for several key reasons.
First, Kong Ri Tian had been injured and exhausted after his recent clash with Yi Huo and had not had sufficient time to recover. Qing Shu's ambush was timed with absolute precision - Fang Yuan had deduced Kong Ri Tian's exact retreat path using the Wisdom Path and transmitted the coordinates directly to Qing Shu via the letter he had sent earlier.
Second, Kong Ri Tian had lost one of his core supplementary gu worms during his battle against Yi Huo, heavily impacting his overall battle strength. As it was, being from the demonic path, it was already hard for him to raise a complete set of gu worms and he had to compromise with certain selections. On the other hand, Qing Shu had a set of Rank 4 gu worms that even many Rank 5 Wood Path Gu Masters would gladly exchange their front teeth to have. In the arboreal environment of the Southern Border; Qing Shu's set of gu worms would easily make him one of the premier Rank 4 Gu Masters in the region despite being only Rank 4 Middle Stage.
Third, in his desperation to escape Yi Huo's fiery rage, Kong Ri Tian had fled into the dense forest instead of staying on the rocky mountain terrain where he would have otherwise been an easy target for Yi Huo. Unfortunately for Kong Ri Tian, running into a deep forest meant stepping directly into Qing Shu's domain, where Qing Shu was like an alligator that had latched onto an elephant wandering into a deep and treacherous river. No matter how much the elephant struggled, the alligator would refuse to let go! The dense canopy of leaves and shifting branches physically blocked his golden butterfly swarm from dispersing, preventing any chance of escape.
Fourth, Qing Shu possessed another exceptional gu worm residing within his aperture that made fighting Kong Ri Tian possible. It was a pearly-white worm studded with nine colorful, gem-like eyes: a Nine-Eyes Liquor Worm.
This precious worm could convert his Rank 4 Middle Stage primeval essence into Rank 4 Upper Stage primeval essence, bridging the gap between his cultivation base and Kong Ri Tian's to just one minor realm.
Coupled with his heightened primeval essence and absolute territorial control, Qing Shu easily wore down the already-exhausted predator.
"Hold on..." Kong Ri Tian said. "My ancestor is Kong Sheng Tian, a Gu Immortal. If you spare my life, we can talk things through, there are hints to his surviving inheritance..."
"Your ancestor was a Gu Immortal. My clan head is one," Qing Shu said flatly. "And he has decreed that you will die today."
"Heh... to think that my downfall had to be plotted by a Gu Immortal? That is a point of pride for myself regardless. But why such rage against me? Ah, I see. Hehe... to think that I made a Gu Immortal a cuckold, ahahaha!" Kong Ri Tian yelled. "Perhaps that is the crowning achievement of my life!"
Kong Ri Tian fought with the desperate ferocity expected of a veteran demonic expert, but Qing Shu held an overwhelming, systematic advantage. He hid in the trees, practically invisible, as a moving mass of wood struck at Kong Ri Tian from all directions.
"Whatever you do," Kong Ri Tian said spitefully as his primeval essence wore out, sealing his fate. "...it won't... un-defile her..."
Eventually, the forest closed in, victorious. A pair of massive wooden trunks slammed together around Kong Ri Tian, followed by a thick root whipping around his neck with a sharp, satisfying SNAP!
The Pink Butterfly Gentleman's lifeless corpse fell to the forest floor.
But he still had one trick up his sleeve.
Qing Shu went to examine his body when he was hit with a massive amount of pink mist. It was a method that Kong Ri Tian used to hypnotize and weaken woman to kidnap, but strengthened as part of his death throes to strike at Qing Shu.
Qing Shu felt ill merely taking a whiff of the strange mist, but he hastily stepped back and took out a small red pill from his aperture. Rank 3 Cleanse Poison Pill Gu - it could remove most toxins from a Gu Master. Being consumable and only one-time use, it could heal most Rank 4 poisons.
Qing Shu ingested it before using Wood Path methods to remove the poison from the area completely.
He then stepped forward and immediately stowed Kong Ri Tian's corpse into a gu worm which he then placed in his aperture. Since the man was dead, his body was categorized as non-living matter, allowing it to bypass most storage restrictions. He had self-detonated all of his gu worms, but that was to be expected.
Any observers attempting to spy on the duel had been instantly thrown off by the moving forest canopy, leaving no witnesses as to the exact details of what he had done.
Returning swiftly to his cave, Qing Shu placed the gu worm storing the corpse into the Moving Perspective Cup Gu, sending it directly to Fang Yuan.
Shortly after, Fang Zheng returned to the cave, proceeding to clean the blood of Century Boy from his robes.
"Everything is going exactly according to plan," Qing Shu said with a calm nod.
Fang Zheng smiled, thoroughly satisfied. "Excellent. Let's prepare for the next phase."