Fang Yuan shifted through his memories. This was how it was said that the fighting had begun last time.
A Thousand Beast King had been spotted, and then a second one as well. When the elders went to go deal with it and were nearly about to kill it - that is when the Lightning Lycan King had revealed itself. Fang Yuan told them that this would likely be its plan. He only hoped that they would cooperate with each other and that his regression hadn't changed things to the point where something different would happen.
New main mission unlocked!
Five tigers one lamassu, three hounds one molossus, ten wolves one lycan!
Kill the Lightning Lycan King.
Reward: Yellow Golden Relic Gu (x1)
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes. Last time, it had been a Rank 4 Stone Aperture Gu which he had gotten, and the system had also kept this reward hidden until he had completed it.
The system did not seem to think that the Rank 4 Stone Aperture Gu was necessary this time around.
If everything worked out like last time, he would be able to save Qing Shu and Yao Le as well, meaning that he could boost himself to Rank 4 peak stage.
Even the clan head was Rank 4 middle stage, having not been able to progress much since becoming Clan Head. That was the issue. When one became the leader of an organization, one which Fang Yuan knew all too well, he was sure that the clan head could have been Rank 4 Upper Stage at least by this point, if he had only focused on his cultivation rather than on clan affairs.
At Rank 4 Peak Stage, he would've had to seriously worry about the clan heads of all three clans moving against him... were it not for the prophecy of the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin Physique.
Now, with that foreknowledge, he could move freely.
"I'll go deal with one of them," Fang Yuan said. He motioned to Qing Shu, who nodded to lead the team against the other one.
The Frenzy Lightning Wolves were nearly as large as elephants, though it was still difficult to maneuver close to them with so many of their lackeys guarding them. The Bold Lightning Wolves could be dealt with by someone like Fang Yuan in a single blow, but the Frenzy Lightning Wolves usually needed two or three elders to deal with them safely.
There were exceptions to this of course- fighters like Fang Yuan (with his true Rank 4 essence and battle experience) and Qing Shu could deal with them confidently on their own.
That wasn't to say that the other elders did nothing.
"Don't let them escape!" Mo Chen said, when he noticed several lightning wolves trying to regroup and ambush another team from behind.
"I will take care of it," Chi Lian communicated to him.
They might have been rivals, but out here, on the battlefield, they moved in near-perfect synchrony. Each of them knew each other's moves quite well, which is how such synergy could be achieved.
Fang Yuan approached one of the Frenzy Lightning Wolves. It snarled at him, unleashing a bolt of lightning as a tiny speck leaped out from its back. Fang Yuan deftly avoided it before unleashing the power of the Rank 4 Vermillion Blood Moon Gu.
At this distance, the Rank 4 aura could not leak too far, though its effect was immediate upon the Frenzy Lightning Wolf which began hemorrhaging profusely. It soon realized that its days were numbered if it continued to fight.
It called for the lower-ranking members of it species to hold the line while it attempted to retreat. A tidal waves of wolves appeared at the beckoning of its call, though it was of little use as the Frenzy Lightning Wolf found its pathway blocked.
"This is...!" someone shouted out.
Not just any group of deer, there was one at its forefront which radiated a dense Rank 3 aura, rivaling that of the Frenzy Lightning Wolf.
Karmic flag has been triggered!
The Crimsonhoof Deer has answered your call!
Fang Yuan only needed it to buy some time as he unleashed moonblade after moonblade upon the wolves. Where the moonblades were unnecessary, his fists easily crushed their skulls and made indentations in their chests- throwing them around as if they weighed nothing more than pillows before his increased strength.
Fang Yuan had exchanged the Rank 3 Stone Aperture Gu that he had obtained from Bai Ning Bing for a Rank 3 Beast Mutation Gu from the Bai clan. He had wanted to obtain this during his past life but lacked the necessary resources to trade for such at the time and felt that he had other priorities- but in this timeline, he knew its value.
Rank 3 Beast Mutation Gu, much like its name stated, could drastically increase the growth rate of a beast, whether deer, wolf, bear, tiger, or anything else. It had a drawback- namely that if used, the beast in question would be weaker than it ordinarily would have been.
But that was fine with Fang Yuan- he only needed it to stall the Frenzy Lightning Wolf for a while.
On the other side of the battlefield, Qing Shu had bound the wolf he was fighting in vines, making escape impossible as the elders bombarded it with Rank 3 gu worms.
Gu Yue Han Lin was surprisingly useful here, despite his age he weaved and slashed without restraint, taking the lives of countless wolves and ultimately dealing the fatal blow against the Frenzy Lightning Wolf.
As for Fang Yuan, he quickly caught up to the one he was chasing. Seeing that it had only two ways of escaped, it chose to turn around and lash out at Fang Yuan, sending crimson droplets pouring all around itself as if it were raining blood upon the battlefield.
It shot out another bolt of lightning- though Fang Yuan simply took this head on with the help of Moonlight Plate Armor Gu before decapitating the Frenzy Lightning Wolf and going to examine the Crimsonhoof Deer.
It had been lightly wounded, though that was nothing that Fang Yuan couldn't fix. Even as he healed its injuries, he was actually using this opportunity to surreptitiously check on what gu worms it had.
'No Rank 3 gu even now,' he noticed bitterly. Ah well, it was thanks to the Beast Mutation Gu that it had even managed to reach the equivalent of Rank 3 in such a period of time. It would still take time before Rank 3 and then later on Rank 4 Blood Path gu worms would be attracted to it for Fang Yuan to harvest.
Fang Yuan had a plan that involved getting as many high-ranking Blood Path gu worms as possible- he was not sure how many the clan had, and so he had been hoping for something to come out of this, but not everything could go the way you wanted in this life. That was something he had learned long ago.
While it looked like the battle was over with the Gu Yue clansmen now easily chasing and hunting the lightning wolves with ease, Fang Yuan immediately noticed the anomaly on the battlefield. A place where the wolves were gathering en masse even though it was not the ideal place ot gather to either fight or flee.
And as expected, one of those wolves suddenly burst forward with a Rank 4 aura, standing upon its hind legs and waddling around like a kangaroo, eyes radiating murderous intent as it glared at Fang Yuan.
The Lightning Lycan King had made its appearance!