Deciding Victory and Defeat, Life and Death

Chen Yuan had decided to turn the tables and ambush Xue Ju.

His opponent had specifically chosen Heavenfall Gorge to ambush him. Perhaps he also intended it to signify "Chen Jiutian falling here."

Chen Yuan did not enter Heavenfall Gorge. Instead, he led his men into hiding along the route anyone traveling from the gorge to the other two Gu-rearing grounds would have to take.

Xue Ju must have already laid an inescapable net inside Heavenfall Gorge. When Chen Yuan failed to appear, the only explanation his opponent could think of would be that he had gone to the other two Gu-rearing grounds.

What followed would therefore be a contest of patience: would Xue Ju lose his nerve and abandon the inescapable net within Heavenfall Gorge to reinforce the other two locations?

Chen Yuan, for his part, could absolutely keep his composure. He did not care how the fighting at the other two Gu-rearing grounds turned out. Even heavy losses on the Myriad Gu Alliance's side would mean nothing to him. He was only helping the alliance so Granny Dragon Ghost would refine the Blood Spirit Heaven-Rending Gu for him, so all he needed was to maintain good relations with the Dragon Family Village faction.

Whether the likes of Ran Agong lived or died was unimportant to Chen Yuan. To Zhao Jingyuan, however, the Gu God Sect's survival mattered somewhat.

Inside Heavenfall Gorge, Zhao Jingyuan and Xue Ju were waiting anxiously with more than a dozen experts from the Imperial Guard.

Of course, only Zhao Jingyuan was anxious. Xue Ju remained perfectly composed.

To keep up appearances, more than a dozen Gu masters had remained inside Heavenfall Gorge.

Moreover, to ensure Chen Yuan's death, Ma Lude had done more than merely put on an act when he brought his men