"Xiang Xie?" Bai Ning Bing coldly snorted. While searching for Fang Yuan, she had had to delve into multiple information networks, even though she ordinarily didn't pay that much attention to outside events. She had learned quite a lot during her search regarding Shang Clan City and its surrounding villages. This also involved learning about famous personalities near the area. "The same Xiang Xie, the mercenary who is said would willingly sell his grandmother if it fetched him a primeval stone without hesitation? What is a mercenary doing here?" Bai Ning Bing's eyes narrowed.
"Well, it appears that my reputation precedes me. As for selling out my grandmother for a primeval stone, it was my grandmother who had me banished from my clan in the first place. So no, I don't think I would hesitate to do so," Xiang Xie answered coldly.
Bai Ning Bing frowned. 'You're a lone cultivator. What are you doing hanging out with these two righteous path mooks?'
The two clan heads scowled in response to this. Xiang Xie simply said, "From your manner of speaking, it doesn't seem that you are a righteous path cultivator either. Then could you be a lone cultivator or even a demonic one?"
Bai Ning Bing gave him a frosty glare. "I am a righteous path cultivator," she said, the word sounding very wrong in her mouth, making her wonder how it was that Fang Yuan happened to lie so easily. "I am part of the Bai Clan on Bei Gu Mountain. Perhaps you have heard of it.
"Bei Gu Mountain... the large white mountain made of bones. That Bei Gu Mountain?" one of the clan heads asked.
"Indeed. That very one," Bai Ning Bing said. "And for that matter, if you intend to detain me here, I'll just have you know that I have the backing of Gu Yue Fang Yuan behind me, a Rank 5 Gu Master. He'll not be happy to see that you have come in and detained me. You wouldn't want to meet him when he's angry."
The clan heads were both taken aback.
Fang Yuan's reputation had spread far and wide, and they were close enough to Shang Clan City that they would have been able to recognize the name Gu Yue Fang Yuan even if half-asleep.
"The rising star of the righteous path, the one who killed the famous Blood Tiger? The Rank 5 Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
"I heard he fought another Rank 5 Gu Master within Shang Clan City. They say he's a kind-hearted individual who cannot bear the stench of a demonic cultivator. It's likely the Shang Clan might even recruit him in the future."
The two clan heads looked at Xiang Xie.
"If this Fang Yuan is truly behind this woman, then we can't risk offending him."
Xiang Xie's eyes narrowed at the two of them. "What are you two barking on about? She says that she knows Fang Yuan, but tell me, Fairy, do you have any proof?"
"If you've heard enough about Fang Yuan," Bai Ning Bing said, "then you must have also heard that he travels around with a..." her mouth hesitated to form the next few words. "...a very beautiful woman with pale skin."
"Yes, I heard that he travels around with the Shang Clan's head's daughter, Shang Xin Ci," Xiang Xie said.
"That's supposed to be referring to me!" Bai Ning Bing said, glaring daggers at the mercenary.
"Oh, so this Fang Yuan seems to be quite the lady's man," Xiang Xie said glancing up at the sky. "If you truly are this close to Fang Yuan, why was he not the one using the Rank 5 Gu worm that you just used to land? If I'm not wrong, that was the White Form Immortal Snake, was it not?"
Bai Ning Bing frowned.
"White Form Immortal Snake?"
"You mean a mount-type Gu worm?"
Immediately, their resolve to fight was bolstered. The White Form Immortal Snake was a mount-type Gu; it did not have as strong offensive capabilities. While Rank 4 gu could not rival it when it came to movement speed, that was all that it could really do.
With the three of them there, and with Bai Ning Bing only able to use Rank 4 primeval essence, their odds of victory had greatly increased.
They seemed ready to fight.
All this seemed quite strange to Bai Ning Bing. Several things were off about the situation.
For one, the two clan heads were working in tandem very closely. She had only seen one village while landing down using the White Form Immortal Snake, but that was likely because the other village was on the other side of the mountain.
If these two villages were truly in such close proximity, then it would only be natural to think that they were enemies. This was the common way of doing things, after all: one would antagonize those villages close to them and would be friendly with villages far away.
Yet they were cooperating together and also taking the help of a lone cultivator. What could motivate them to do such?
And Bai Ning Bing's presence couldn't have been the only thing. As a matter of fact, she was sure that had it not been for the fact that they were already in this area in the first place, they wouldn't have even noticed the fact that she had landed for several hours before she had taken off again.
Why be so adamant on keeping her here? They didn't even seem to want to fight, only to ensure that she didn't leave.
Putting the pieces together, there was only one conclusion that she could reach.
"You've happened upon an inheritance, haven't you?" Bai Ning Bing said coldly.
The three of them were taken slightly aback, indicating that Bai Ning Bing had hit the mark.
"And not only an inheritance, though," Bai Ning Bing continued. "In order for the three of you to oppose me so strongly even in the face of everything else, this must be at least a Rank 5 inheritance."
Inheritances were common. There were even Rank 1 Gu Master inheritances in this world, naturally, though very few people paid any attention to them. A Rank 5 inheritance, though, could move the hearts of any common village.
A click of the tongue told Bai Ning Bing that she was on the right path.
"Now, which Rank 5 Gu Masters were known to be in this region..." Bai Ning Bing continued, going through the information that she had come upon recently. "There was the Twin Tails Enslavement Lord, the Water Wings Fairy... but both of their inheritances have already been found."
Rank 5 Gu Masters were uncommon, so much so that they tended to define the era they lived in. Biographies and histories were written about them even if they hadn't accomplished anything too remarkable - but in many cases, they had. Granted, Immortals were naturally even more famous, but to mortals, their names were sometimes obscure unless they were really famous.
Bai Ning Bing quickly went through a list of Rank 5 Gu Masters in her mind who had lived nearby, wondering who it could be.
It would not be someone from a major clan like the Shang, Wu, or Tie Clans - they would've left their inheritances to someone specifically from their own clans and not this random area.
That left very few options. It wouldn't be one of the villages on the mountain else that village would've fought to the death to protect their own heritage.
"That would only leave one person - The Thought-Ruler Demon Lord," she realized.
Xiang Xie said through gritted teeth, "This fairy is no ordinary woman."
"A beauty with brains," the one who had a beard said, stroking it. "If only we could have met during some different circumstances, perhaps I could even have taken you as my bride... though I am a bit too old. My grandson, perhaps?"
Bai Ning Bing shuddered before glaring daggers at the person who had said this.
"So it is indeed a Rank 5 inheritance... hehe... no wonder your hearts have been moved so," Bai Ning Bing Said. With such a juicy steak dangling in front of these people, they would without a doubt try to snatch it even from a tiger's maw! She would've done the same in their position.