After beheading Zhang Bai, his life force quickly faded. The four-armed, headless giant's body twitched and shrank, returning to the size of an ordinary person, soaked in blood.
Lin Yan activated his Fire Eyes and Golden Gaze, sweeping the surroundings carefully. The battlefield was silent, and no other beasts or Gu Masters had been drawn here by the earlier clash.
He forced himself to stay alert, suppressing the weakness rising in his body. Without wasting time, he stored Zhang Bai's corpse into his Earth Kiln Gu and immediately retreated from the area.
A short while later, he burrowed into a hidden cave within a sand dune. Only after confirming safety did he finally relax. His body trembled, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His face turned pale, and both his mind and energy were nearly exhausted.
This battle had truly drained Lin Yan. In the middle of life-and-death pressure, he had forced multiple breakthroughs, using every trump card he had just to defeat his opponent. His soul felt dim and weakened, his primeval essence was nearly exhausted, and his body was covered in injuries.
But the gains were just as great. In that battle, he had created two killer moves on the spot—Divine Fire Yama and Hand of Destruction.
Among them, the second one was the most valuable. Lin Yan had long wanted to use Fusion Fire Gu to merge different types of fire into a single explosive move, something similar to a fire lotus. However, he had never dared to try, fearing it would backfire on him.
This time, under pressure, he found a solution. By using Fire Claw Gu instead of his own hands, he avoided direct contact. Combined with the natural fire affinity of his Flame Path Gu, he successfully formed the fire lotus and dealt heavy damage to Zhang Bai.
After that, Lin Yan used the Dream Imprisonment killer move he had developed earlier to secure the final victory.
The principle of this move was similar to lucid dreaming, but instead of affecting himself, it targeted the enemy. It guided the opponent's will into a constructed dream and trapped it there, cutting off their control over the body.
The dream created by Dream Derivation Gu could be split, allowing different wills to be sealed separately. Inside the dream, time flowed much faster, roughly twenty times that of the outside world.
Even if only a moment passed outside, the trapped mind would experience a much longer period within the dream. With further refinement, this could be used to wear down the enemy's spirit, making resistance almost impossible.
Of course, Lin Yan knew the limits. A Rank 5 expert had a strong soul. If he had used the move at full strength from the beginning, it might not have worked. That was why he chose to fight first and weaken Zhang Bai step by step.
"It's a pity… Zhang Bai was too overconfident. If he had used his Rank 5 Gu from the start, I might not have had a chance."
Lin Yan let out a slow breath, then shook his head slightly. That thought was not entirely correct. Battles between Rank 5 Gu Masters usually started with Rank 4 Gu, while Rank 5 Gu were only used when the situation turned into a true life-and-death struggle.
After all, Rank 5 Gu were rare. Even Gu Immortal seeds from major forces usually had only two or three, and a Peak Rank 5 loose cultivator would already be fortunate to possess even one.
Once Rank 5 Gu were used too often, their abilities would be exposed. Others could study them, find weaknesses, and prepare counters. At that point, the advantage would quickly turn into a liability.
Thinking of this, Lin Yan's eyes steadied. "It seems I've only just stepped into the level of Rank 5 combat strength. Once I complete my Rank 4 Gu setup, I should be able to face a Rank 5 expert head-on, even without relying on Dream Imprisonment."
He recalled the strength of Peak Rank 5 experts from the original novel. Compared to them, the gap was no longer unreachable.
Inside the hidden sand cave, Lin Yan rested for three full days and nights. He focused on healing his injuries, stabilizing his soul, and restoring his primeval essence. Only after returning to his peak condition did he begin to deal with Zhang Bai's corpse.
This time, his luck was clearly on his side. Zhang Bai's will had been trapped inside the Dream Realm, and his death had come too suddenly. He had no chance to self-detonate his Gu, so most of them were preserved intact.
Lin Yan searched the body carefully and quickly found the most valuable item—a Rank 5 Transformation Path Gu, the Six-Armed Heavenly God Gu. It was nearly half the size of a human body, its shell hard and silver, with six thick limbs attached beneath it, giving off a heavy and oppressive aura.
After that, he collected six to seven Rank 4 Transformation Path Gu, all part of Zhang Bai's two main killer moves.
From the Cloud Bird transformation, he obtained Cloud Bird Wing Gu, Cloud Bird Eye Gu, and Cloud Bird Claw Gu. From the Giant God Transformation, he found Giant God Arm Gu, Giant God Skin Gu, and Giant God Healing Gu.
Each of these Gu held considerable value, enough to significantly strengthen his future development.
The latter set was incomplete, missing at least two Gu, and several were heavily damaged, most likely destroyed in the explosion from Hand of Destruction.
Even so, these Gu alone were worth millions of primeval stones.