The cranes assaulted the Gu Masters down below, herding them towards the peak of the mountain where Gu Yue village stood.
The Gu Masters of Gu Yue village quickly encountered the cranes as well, dying in large numbers, being scattered like leaves before the wind.
At least, that was what Lord Sky Crane imagined in his head would happen.
While that was how the battle started out, there was a shift sometime later.
For some reason, his cranes were unable to damage the Gu Masters down below. He didn't know what the cause was, but even the Rank 1 Gu Masters seemed to have some kind of defense that made them immune even to the strikes of Thousand Beast Kings.
"What kind of defensive gu worm is this...?" Lord Sky Crane muttered. Contrary to his expectations, he found that the villagers were actually turning the tide, slaughtering many of his cranes. He would need to dedicate more of his forces to this assault if he wanted it to succeed. "Is this some kind of Blood Path defensive method?"
That was not an issue, but he still had to keep in mind that he would have to deal with first gen Gu Yue afterwards. If he was weakened before that fight even started... that very well might have been that traitor's plan in the first place!
He sent a Myriad Beast King to descend and deal with the annoying villagers. As it was, it seemed that at this level, the villagers were susceptible to its attacks.
His pupils dilated, however, when he saw that the crane was intercepted mid-flight by a Gu Master with wings. This Gu Master demonstrated an excellent proficiency while flying, first breaking the crane's wings so that its mobility was limited, and then striking it down after it fell to the ground.
"What kind of flying proficiency is this...?" he muttered. Even among the Ten Great Sects, there were only four mortal Gu Masters who could fly like that. No wonder his Myriad Beast King had been defeated, this Gu Master could maneuver better than an animal that was naturally trained its entire life to fly.
Fang Yuan glanced up at the Iron Beak Flying Crane King. He recognized it as a beast from the Central Continent.
'As a matter of fact, the Gu Master controlling these cranes most likely belongs to the Immortal Crane Sect. But why come here? This never happened in my previous life, unless it had been covered up somehow,' Fang Yuan thought. How strange for a Rank 5 Gu Master to come out of his way to try to destroy Gu Yue village, especially given that this Gu Master was supposedly from the Central Continent. Had he gotten a whiff of the Immortal Inheritance located at the foot of the mountain? That was the only reasonable explanation he could think of, but that would not explain how this person had found out about it. The person had also not made any demands and only started slaughtering villagers ruthlessly left and right.
Activating Charity Gu was taking a major toll even with his now Rank 4 Middle Stage primeval essence. He could try decreasing the amount he poured into the gu worm but.... that would also decrease its effectiveness.
'System, those Human Path dao marks I have saved up, give them to me now,' Fang Yuan thought.
262 Human Path dao marks are now inscribed upon the host's body.
That was how much he had accumulated after all of this time, roughly equivalent to what one would gain after undergoing an earthly calamity. This would boost the power of his Human Path gu worms by around 26%, and its effect was seen immediately in the increased power of Charity Gu's range and decreased need for primeval essence.
'Strange... the other gu worms don't seem to be affected...' Fang Yuan mused, killing a Thousand Beast King with a single golden moonblade. 'So Genesis Lotus was not lying about that... these dao marks do not interfere with other path's gu worms...'
Secret mission complete!
Favored Child of Humanity I
Description: Get 100 Human Path dao marks.
Reward: A set of dream realms.
Would the host like to explore this dream realm right now?
'In the middle of battle? Of course not!' Fang Yuan said. So there was a reward for getting more Human Path dao marks... was this why he had gotten Guts Gu so often from his daily rewards.
Secret mission complete!
Favored Child of Humanity II
Description: Get 200 Human Path dao marks.
Reward: Rank 5 Integration Gu (x 1)
He didn't have time to try out what Integration Gu did given the current situation.
Another Myriad Beast King descended upon him. This was not good... the village had barely been able to take down two equivalents of the same, and this one was controlled by a Gu Master.
His primeval essence was on the decline, and his ability to fly masterfully was useless without primeval essence.
However, he did not need to do anything for the moment as a massive ice fist collided into Myriad Beast King. It did not kill it, but did disrupt its movement and broke one of its wings, exposing a vulnerable neck for a moonblade to dig into.
While the cranes did have the advantage of flight when it came to combat, they also had the weakness of their wings- they would plummet down and their movement greatly hampered if their wings were injured.
Who had the strength other than Fang Yuan to seriously damage a Myriad Beast King? He turned his head to see a figure nearly encased in a thick layer of icy mist.
"Fang Yuan, what a wonderful day to die, isn't it?" Bai Ning Bing mused. The fighting had caused his aperture to deteriorate with even greater vigor. He was on his last legs, and Fang Yuan knew this, having no wish to be within a hundred li of Bai Ning Bing when that happened. However, knowing the latter's nature, he did not express such.
"That's right, Bai Ning Bing," Fang Yuan said, grinning. "Today is a wonderful day to die. How about we fight to the death, here and now?" If he had openly asked Bai Ning Bing for cooperation, there was no way that they could reach an agreement. It was only this way that there was a hope of success.
"I would love for nothing else!" Bai Ning Bing said. "However... I think that these pesky birds need to be dealt with first!" He leapt out of the way of another Myriad Beast King, nearly cutting its head off before Fang Yuan finished it.
"I don't have time for this," Lord Sky Crane muttered, gritting his teeth. He amplified his voice over the battlefield. "Senior brother, junior brother is finally here to meet with you! Won't you come out and greet your junior, ehehe..."