Wu Zhibai's heart lurched. "This is bad! Run!"
Her true qi surged at once, wrapping around her entire body. The necklace at her chest blazed with purple light, and without even turning, she shot toward the edge of the mountain hollow.
But when she reached the barrier she had dismissed as a "crude spell," a powerful force blocked her path and held her fast.
Bzzzz!
Dense swarms of gu insects rose around her, seeming both solid and insubstantial. They darted along her sides, then tangled around her until she could scarcely move an inch.
"What kind of gu insects are these?" The sight filled Wu Zhibai with dread.
Then footsteps sounded beside her.
Her face went ashen.
"Fellow Daoist Wu, why such a hurry?"
Fang Shu strolled over, releasing the full pressure of a True Immortal Dancheng. It bore down on her so heavily that she could barely breathe.
"I've formed my Golden Core," he said in surprise. "Why are you so shocked? When you came after me, did the possibility never cross your mind?"
Wu Zhibai wanted to bring out another of the treasures she kept in reserve, but every time the thought arose, terror gripped her. She felt that the more treasures she used, the faster she would die.
With no other choice, she dared not even touch her Storage Bag. She stood obediently before Fang Shu and said, "Senior, the speed of your cultivation truly astonished me.
"It has only been a few years since we left the Crimson Jade Secret Realm, and you have spent some of that time traveling through our Witch-Ghost Dao.
"I assumed you were roaming the world in search of an opportunity to form your Golden Core, and that your cultivation was, at most, at the False Core stage."
The more Wu