Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – The heart of a demon never has regret even in death

“Fang Yuan, quietly hand over the Spring Autumn Cicada and I’ll give you
a quick death!”

“Old bastard Fang, stop attempting to resist anymore, today all of the major
factions of justice have combined together just to destroy your devil lair.
This place is already covered in inescapable nets, this time you will
definitely be decapitated!”

“Fang Yuan you damn demon, just because you wanted to cultivate the
Spring Autumn Cicada, you’ve gone and killed thousands of people. You’ve
committed too many unforgivable, heinous sins!“

“Demon, 300 years ago you insulted me, took away my body’s purity, killed
my entire family and executed my nine generations. From that moment
onwards, I hated you with a burning passion! Today, I want you to die!”

……

Fang Yuan was in deep green robes that had been torn to shreds. His hair
was disheveled and his entire body was covered in blood. He looked
around.

The bloody robes waved lightly in the mountain breeze like a war flag.

Fresh blood flowed from the numerous wounds on the body. Just by
standing there for a short while, Fang Yuan had already accumulated a large
pool of blood beneath his feet.

Enemies surrounded him all around; there was already no way out.
It was a forgone conclusion that he would die here.

Fang Yuan understood his situation clearly, but even in the face of death his
expression did not change, it was calm.

His gaze was quiet, his eyes like deep pools of water in a well, so deep that
there seemed to be no end.

The major factions of justice that had surrounded him were not just the
experienced elders, but also young and talented heroes. Around the heavily
surrounded Fang Yuan, some were roaring, some were sneering; there were
eyes that were gleaming with light, some holding onto their wounds while
looking on fearfully.

They did not move; everyone was wary of Fang Yuan’s final attack.

For 6 hours this tense moment went on until the evening came, the sun
casting its rays upon the side of the mountain. In that moment, it was as if
the place was on fire.

Fang Yuan, who had been silent as a sculpture the entire time, slowly turned
his body.

The group of warriors was suddenly alerted and they all took a big step
backwards.

By now the gray mountain rock beneath Fang Yuan’s feet had long been
stained a deep red. Due to losing too much blood, his face had become
deathly pale; in the afterglow of the sunset, it suddenly had a brilliant luster
upon it.

Looking at the setting sun, Fang Yuan lightly laughed. “The sun sets above
the blue mountain, the autumn moon with the wind of spring. The morning
is fine like hair and night is like snow, whether you succeed or fail when
you look back there’s nothing left.”

As he said this, memories of his previous life on Earth emerged before his
eyes.
He was originally a Chinese scholar on Earth who chanced upon this world.
He endured a hard life for 300 years and went through another 200 years;
about over 500 years of his life flew by in the blink of an eye.

So many memories that were buried deep inside the heart begun to relive
themselves, sprouting into life before his eyes.

“I failed in the end.” Fang Yuan sighed in his heart emotionally, yet there
were no regrets.

This end result was something he had foreseen. When he made his decision
in the beginning, he had prepared himself for this.

To be a demon is to be merciless and cruel, a murderer and destroyer. There

is no place in heaven or earth for such a thing – turning into an enemy to the
world, still having to face the consequences.

“If the Spring Autumn Cicada that I have just cultivated is effective, I shall
still be a demon in my next life!” With this thought, Fang Yuan couldn’t
help but let out a big laugh.

“Wicked demon, what are you laughing about?”

“Be careful everyone, the demon is going to attack before his final
moments!”

“Hurry up and surrender the Spring Autumn Cicada!!”

The group of warlords surged forward; at this moment, with a loud bang,
Fang Yuan was engulfed in a blinding surge of energy.

……

The spring rain quietly rained down on Qing Mao Mountain.

It was already late in the night, a slight breeze blowing with the light rain.

Yet Qing Mao Mountain was not covered in darkness; from the side down
to the foot of the mountain, dozens of tiny lights shone like a bright band.
These lights shone from tall buildings, even though it could not be said to
match up to ten thousand lights, yet it was still a few thousand in number.

Situated on the mountain was Gu Yue(1) Village, giving the vast lonely
mountain a rich touch of human civilization.

In the middle of the Gu Yue Village was a magnificent pavilion. A grand

ceremony was being held at this moment, and the lights were even brighter
than ever, radiating with glory.

“Ancestors, please bless us! We pray that this ceremony will bring many
young men of outstanding talent and intelligence, bringing their families
new blood and hopes!” The head of the Gu Yue clan had a middle-aged
appearance, his sideburns were graying and he was clothed in ceremonial
white robes, kneeling on the brownish yellow floor. His body was straight
with his hands held together, eyes tightly shut as he prayed sincerely.

He was facing a tall black case; there were three layers on the case, all
housing memorial tablets of ancestors. On both sides of the tablets was
copper incense, the smoke rising.

Behind him were over 10 people kneeling in a similar fashion as him. They
wore loose white ceremonial garments, and were all the clan’s elders,
important members, and those who had much authority.

After finishing prayers, the Gu Yue clan head bent his waist with his two
hands pressing against the floor and kowtowed. As the forehead knocked
against the brownish yellow floor, light thuds could be heard.

Behind him, the elders and important clan members solemnly and quietly
followed suit.

With this, the hall was filled with light thuds as the heads knocked against
the floor.

When the ceremony was over, the crowd of people slowly got up from the
ground and silently walked out of the sacred temple.
In the hallway, sighs of reliefs were heard from the crowd of elders and the
atmosphere loosened up. The noise of discussion slowly rose.

“Time flies too quickly, in the blink of an eye, a year has gone by.”

“The previous ceremony feels like it just happened yesterday, I can still
recall it vividly.”

“Tomorrow is the opening of the annual grand ceremony, I wonder what

new clan blood will show up this year?”

“Ah, I hope that some highly talented youths will appear. The Gu Yue clan
hasn’t seen a genius emerge for three years now.”

“Agreed. The Bai Village, Xiong Village these few years all had some
talented geniuses appear. Especially that Bai Ning Bing from the Bai clan,
his natural talent is quite terrifying.”

It was unclear who had brought up the name Bai Ning Bing, but the faces of
the elders started to show worry.

The boy’s qualifications were splendid; in just a short period of two years
worth of training, he had already reached the level of a level three Gu
Master.
In the younger generation, he could be said as the most outstanding one. It
was to the point that even the older generation could feel pressured from the
promising youth.

In time, he would inevitably become the pillar of the Bai clan. At the very
least he would also be an independently strong warrior. No one ever
doubted this fact.

“But for this year’s youths that will be participating in the ceremony, not all
hope is lost.”

“You’re right, Fang Zhi’s side has appeared a young genius. Able to start
talking after three months, able to walk after four. At five years of age he
was able to recite poetry, seems exceptionally intelligent, especially
talented. What a pity that his parents died early, now he is being raised by
his uncle and aunt.”

“Yes, this one has wisdom at a young age, also harboring big ambitions. In
the recent years I have heard his creations ‘Jiang Jing Jiu’, ‘Yong Mei’ and
‘Jiang Cheng Zi’, what a genius!”

The Gu Yue clan head was the last to walk out of the ancestral temple. After
slowly closing the door, he heard the discussions that were going on in the
corridor among the clan elders.

He knew at once that the elders were discussing about the youth known as
Gu Yue Fang Yuan at that moment.
As the head of the clan, it is natural to pay attention to the outstanding and
prominent young ones. And it so happens that Gu Yue Fang Yuan was the
most eye-catching one amongst the juniors.

Experience has shown that those who have photographic memory at a

young age, or those who possess strength that could rival an adult, or had
other great inborn talents, all had outstanding cultivation qualifications.

“If this child shows A grade potential, with great care he could even
compete against Bai Ning Bing. Even if it is B grade, in future he could also
become a banner of the Gu Yue Clan. But with this sort of early
intelligence, the percentage of B grade is not that big, but highly possible to
be an A grade.” With this thought, the Gu Yue clan head curled up his lips
slowly into a smile.

At once, with a cough he faced the clan elders and said, “Everyone, the
hour is late, for tomorrow’s opening ceremony you should all rest well
tonight and take care of your energy levels.”

At his words, the elders looked startled. They looked at each other with a
hint of caution in their eyes.

The clan head’s words meant well, but everyone knew what he was aiming
to convey.
Every year to compete for these young geniuses, the elders would fight
among themselves to the point of reddened ears and bleeding heads.

They should stay well rested and replenish themselves until tomorrow
comes where the competition begins.

Especially with that Gu Yue Fang Yuan, whose A grade potential was
extremely huge. Not counting the fact that both his parents were deceased,
and also that he was one of the two only descendants of Fang Zhi’s
bloodline left. If one was able to get their hands on and bring him into their
own family line, with great care and training, one could secure himself a
hundred years of prosperity!

“However, I’m going to go ahead and say what needs to be said first. When
you compete, do it fair and square; no tricks and conspiracies are allowed,
or damage to the clan’s unity. Please keep this in mind, all of you!” The
clan head strictly instructed.

“We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare.”

“We’ll keep it in mind.”

“Then this is good night, please take care.”

The clan elders slowly dispersed with deep thoughts.

Not long after that, the long corridor became quiet. The wind from the
spring rain breezed through the window, and the clan head lightly walked
towards the window.

Immediately, he breathed in the fresh moist air of the mountain, how

refreshing it felt.

This was the third floor of the garret; the clan head looked out of the
window. He could see half of the entire Gu Yue Village.

Even if it was late in the night, most of the homes in the village still had
lights on, which was unusual.
Tomorrow is the opening ceremony, and it affects everyone’s best interests.
A kind of excited yet tense atmosphere had enveloped the hearts of the
people of the clan, and thus naturally many people could not sleep well.

“This is the hopes for the clan’s future.” With the many lights dancing in his
eyes, the clan head sighed.

At the very same moment, a pair of clear eyes quietly looked at the same
lights sparkling in the night, full of complex feelings inside.

“Gu Yue Village, this is 500 years ago?! Looks like the Spring Autumn
Cicada really worked…” Fang Yuan quietly gazed, standing by the window,
letting the rain from the wind hit his body.

The use of the Spring Autumn Cicada is to reverse time. In the Ten Big
Mystical Gu rankings, the Spring Autumn Cicada managed to be ranked
seven, naturally it was no mere creature.

In short, it is the ability to be reborn.

“With the use of the Spring Autumn Cicada I have been reborn, going back
to the time of 500 years ago!” Fang Yuan stretched out his hand, his sight
fixated on his own young and soft, pale palms, then slowly clenched them,
embracing the truth of this reality with all his might.

The sound of the drizzling rain hitting softly against the window sill filling
his ears, he slowly closed his eyes, opening them after a long while. He
sighed, “500 years of experience, it really feels like a dream.”

But he knew it clearly: This was definitely not a dream.

TL Note:

This novel has another name, Daoist Gu.

The Chinese name is 《蛊真人》pronounced as Gu Zhen Ren, Gu is the

name of the mystical bugs that are used in this novel. I used the name
Reverend Insanity because I felt that it fit more than Daoist Gu; the main
character is by no means a saint or a good person. In fact as a warning, you
can say that the MC is a pretty ruthless villain, so do expect a roller coaster
coming your way.

(1) Gu Yue: It means Ancient Moon in direct translation. The clan kinda has
an affinity with moon things. The ‘Gu’ used in here is a different chinese
character from the mystical Gu insects.
 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Going back in time with 500 years of knowledge

It is said in legend that a river of time exists in this world. It supports the
world’s time flow and circulation. And by using the Spring Autumn
Cicada’s power, one can travel back upstream and return to the past.

There is much conflicting opinion on this mythical tale. Many do not

believe in it, and some are skeptical to the truth.

Few people actually dare to believe it.

Because every time one uses the Spring Autumn Cicada one must pay with
his life, letting his entire body and cultivation be the driving force to use its
power.

Such a price is just too expensive, and the thing that people just cannot
accept is the fact that after paying with your life, you don’t even know what
the outcome is.

So even if someone has the Spring Autumn Cicada, they would not dare use
it so indiscriminately. What if the rumors were fake, and it was just a scam?

If Fang Yuan were not cornered into such a state, he would also not use it so
hurriedly. But now, Fang Yuan is thoroughly convinced. Because the reality
of the truth has been laid before his eyes and there was no denying it. He
has really been reborn!

“It’s just a pity… From the start I had wasted an absurd amount of effort,
killing hundreds of thousands of people, making even the heavens furious
and inciting people’s vengeance, went through suffering and multiple
hardships to finally attain and refine this good Gu…” Fang Yuan thought
with a sigh. Even though he had been reborn, the Spring Autumn Cicada did
not come with him.

Humans are the greatest among thousands of creatures, Gu are the essence
of heaven and earth.

Gu comes in thousands of shapes and sizes of strange and mysterious

variety – there are too many to count. Some Gu after being used once or
even twice or thrice will completely dissipate. And some Gu can be reused
again and again as long as it is not used over its limits.

That said, it is probable that the Spring Autumn Cicada is one of those types
that can only be used once before disappearing for good.

“But even if its gone, I can still refine another. I have done it in my previous
life, why can’t I do it in this life?” After the thoughts of pity were put aside,
Fang Yuan’s heart burst forth ambitious and determined feelings.

To be able to be reborn, this fact made the loss of the Spring Autumn
Cicada entirely acceptable.

Not to mention he had something precious with him, so its not like he lost
everything.

This precious treasure was his 500 years worth of memories and
experience.

In his memories are a multitude of all kinds of treasures and precious items
that no one has opened yet in this time. All the big events and incidents he
can easily grasp by the veins of history. There are a countless number of
figures: some are predecessors of hidden levels; some are geniuses, some
people not even born yet. Also in these 500 years of life are memories of
painstaking cultivation and rich combat experience.

With all these memories and experiences, he had undeniably grasped the
overall situation and upcoming opportunities. With good planning and
execution, he could empower the situation with great fierceness and
elegance. It was not a problem now that he could take a step ahead of
others, breaking the higher boundaries!

“So how do I go about this hmmm…” Fang Yuan was incredibly sensible.
He collected himself together and faced the night rain outside the window,
pondering. With this thought, things started to feel complicated. After
thinking for a moment, his brows wrinkled deeper.

500 years of time was a rather long period. Don’t mention those long
muddled memories that cannot be recalled, even remembering the hidden
locations of treasures or special encounters of people were a lot, but the
main issue was that the locations were separated among a long distance and
had to be accessed or visited at certain periods of time.

“The most important thing is cultivation. The me right now has not even
opened my Primeval Sea, hasn’t stepped on the path to be a Gu Master. I’m
just a mortal! I have to hurry and cultivate, catching up to history and seize
the opportunities with the best advantage.”

Not to forget, many of these hidden locations of treasures were useless

without proper foundation. Instead it would just be walking into a wolf’s
den, looking for death.

The problem in front of Fang Yuan right now was cultivation.

He had to increase the level of his foundation as fast as possible. If he were

slow like his previous life, he would just be too late.

“To cultivate as fast as possible, I would have to borrow the resources from
the clan. With the state I am right now, I have no power or ability to travel
back and forth across the dangerous mountains. Even an ordinary mountain
boar can take my life. If I can reach the cultivation of a Third level Gu
Master, I’d have the means to protect myself and leave the mountain.”

Through the eyes of a 500 year old person who has cultivated in the
Demonic Way, Qing Mao Mountain was just way too small, Gu Yue Village
even feels like a cage.
But while the cage restricted freedom, the sturdy bars of the cage also
brought about a certain kind of safety.

“Hmm, in this short period of time I’ll just stay in this cage. As long as I
can reach Third level Gu Master, I can leave this poor mountain. Luckily
tomorrow is the Awakening Ceremony, I’ll be able to start training as a Gu
Master soon after.”

When he thought about the Awakening Ceremony, old memories that had
long been buried away in his heart resurfaced themselves.

“Talent huh…” He sneered, his gaze focused out the window.

At this moment, the door to his room was lightly pushed open and a young
teenager walked in.

“Big brother, why are you standing in the rain by the window side ?”

The youth was thin, slightly shorter than Fang Yuan. His face resembled
Fang Yuan’s features greatly. As Fang Yuan turned his head to look at this
young man, a complicated look flickered across his face.

“It’s you huh, my twin little brother.” He raised his eyebrows, his
expression returning to that of cold indifference. Fang Zheng lowered his
head and looked at his own toes; this is his signature stance.

“I saw that big brother’s window was not shut closed, so I thought I’d come
in here and close it. Tomorrow is the Awakening Ceremony, it’s so late and
you haven’t gone to bed yet big brother. If Uncle and Aunty knew, they
would probably be worried.”

Fang Zheng was not surprised at Fang Yuan’s coldness. Ever since he was a
small child, his older brother had always been like that. Sometimes he
would wonder, maybe a genius is just like this, being rather different from
ordinary people. Even though he had the same look as his older brother, he
felt that he was ordinary like an ant.
They were born from the same womb at the same time, and yet why are the
heavens so unfair? His older brother had been endowed with gleaming
talent, while he himself was as ordinary as a stone.

Everyone around him would say, “This is Fang Yuan’s little brother-” when
they mentioned him. His aunt and uncle would constantly tell him to learn
from his older brother. Even when he looked into the mirror sometimes, he
would feel disgusted as he saw his own face!

These thoughts had been ongoing for many years, accumulating day and
night deeply into his heart. Like a giant stone pressing against his heart,
these few years Fang Zheng’s head lowered more and more, and he also
grew quieter.

“Worried…” At the thought of his aunt and uncle, Fang Yuan laughed
silently. He could still remember clearly how the parents of this world had
both lost their lives in one of the clan missions. When he was only 3 years
old, he and his little brother became orphans.

In the name of upbringing, his aunt and uncle grabbed hold of the
inheritance left behind by his parents while inflicting harsh treatment
against his younger brother and himself.

He originally planned to just be a normal person, even planning to conceal

his abilities and bide his time. However his life was difficult, making Fang
Yuan have no choice but to choose to expose some of his talents.

The so-called talent is merely but a mature and intellect soul that carried a
few of Earth’s popular ancient poems.

With this he managed to startle people and capture attention. Because of

pressure from the outside world, the young Fang Yuan made a decision to
keep a cold indifferent expression to protect himself, reducing the
possibility of revealing any secrets. Over time the coldness would become a
habit that he was accustomed to expressing.

Thus his aunt and uncle were no longer harsh on him and his younger
brother. As the years passed and they got older, the future became more
optimistic and better treatment increased. This was not lover, but a type of
investment.

It’s hilarious how his little brother never saw this truth,; not only was he
deceived by their aunt and uncle, he also started burying resentments inside.
Although he looked like a good-natured and honest boy now, in Fang
Yuan’s memories when his brother was found out to be an A grade talent the
clan spent much effort in raising him with all they had. After that all the
buried resentment and jealous and hate inside was released, and many a
time Fang Zheng would target, suppress and make life difficult for his own
older brother.

As for his own grade, it was only C grade talent.

Fate loved to play a joke.

A pair of twins – The older one only had C grade talent, but had been
known as a genius for a dozen years. The younger one who was always
overlooked was the one with A grade talent instead.

The results of the Awakening Ceremony had left the clan shocked. The
treatment of the two brothers had suddenly reversed after that.

The younger brother was like a dragon rising up to the heavens; the older
brother was like a phoenix that fell down to the earth.

After that came the many hardships and troubles from his own younger
brother, the cold eyes of his aunt and uncle, the contempt of the clans
people.

Did he hate it?

Fang Yuan in his previous life hated it. He hated his own lack of talent, he
hated how heartless the clan was, hated how fate was so unfair. But now,
with his 500 years of life experiences, using this to rethink this course his
heart was actually calm, not a shred of hatred.

What was there to be gain from resentment?

Thinking about if from another point of view, he could understand his
younger brother, aunt and uncle, even those enemies from 500 years later
who attacked him.

The strong eat the weak, survival of the fittest; these have always been the
rules of this world. Everyone has self-ambitions, always struggling to grasp
the opportunities. Among all the war and killing what is there not to be
understood?

500 years of life experience have long allowed him to understand all of this,
with the heart that wants to gain immortality.

If someone tries to prevent this pursuit of his, no matter who it is he will kill
and live through it. The aspirations in his heart were too big, stepping onto
this road was to be making the world your enemy, and it was destined to be
alone, destined to kill.

This was the conclusion of 500 years of life.

“Revenge is not my intention, the Demonic path does not compromise.”

With that he couldn’t help but laugh and gave his younger brother a faint
glance. “You can leave.”

Fang Zheng’s heart shook as he felt like his brother’s eyes were sharp like
an ice blade, seemingly penetrating the deepest parts of his heart.

Under such a gaze, he felt like he was naked in the snow, unable to hold any
secrets.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, big brother.” Not daring to say anymore, Fang
Zheng slowly closed the door and left.
 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 : Please go aside and scram

Bang, Bang, Bang.

The patrolling night watchman banged his wooden clappers in a rhythm.

The sounds spread into the high pillar houses; Fang Yuan opened his dry
eyelids while his heart silently thought, “Its already the hour before dawn.”

He had been lying in bed thinking for a long time last night. He thought up
a lot of plans. He probably only slept for a little over two hours. This body
has not started cultivating, his energy is not so vigorous and thus his body
and mind were still shrouded in exhaustion.

However with 500 years of experience Fang Yuan had long build up deep
steel-like determination. This sort of sleep-deprived exhaustion is nothing to
him.

Immediately he shoved away the thin silk blanket and got up neatly. He
opened the window and found that the spring rain had stopped.

The mix of fragrance of the earth, trees and wild flowers greeted him. Fang
Yuan felt his head clear, the sleepiness washing away cleanly. Right now
the sun had yet risen, the sky still a deep dark blue, not dark yet not bright.

Looking around, the tall houses made of green bamboo and wood
contrasting with the mountain, was a sea of pale green colour.

The tall houses had at least two floors; it was the mountain folk’s unique
structure of a house. Due to the mountain’s uneven terrain, the first floor is
massive wooden stakes; the second floor is where the people reside. Fang
Yuan and his brother Fang Zhen stayed at the second floor.

“Young master Fang Yuan, you’re awake. I will go upstairs and wait for you
to wash up.” At this moment, a maiden’s voice floated up from downstairs.

Looking down, Fang Yuan saw his own personal servant – Shen Cui.

Her looks were only slightly above average, but she dressed up well. Shen
Cui wore a green robe with long sleeves and trousers, had embroidered
shoes on her feet and her black hair had a pearl hairpin. Her body from head
to toe radiated youthful vitality.

She looked happily at Fang Yuan while carrying a basin of water, and
walked upstairs. The water was at the right warm temperature and was used
to wash the face. After rinsing his mouth, he used a willow twig with snow
salt to clean his teeth.

Shen Cui waited gently, her face wearing a smile and her eyes lively as
spring. After he was done she helped Fang Yuan dress, her plump breasts
rubbing against his elbow or his back a few times during the process.

Fang Yuan’s face showed no expression; his heart was calm as water.

This servant girl was nothing but his aunt and uncle’s watcheye and was a
vain heartless girl. In his previous life she enraptured him, but after the
Awakening Ceremony when his status plummeted she quickly turned away
her head and gave him countless disdainful looks.

When Fang Zheng came over he was in time to see Shen Cui smoothing the
creases on the clothing of Fang Yuan’s chest. His eyes had a flicker of
jealousy.

These years living together with his older brother, under the care of Fang
Yuan he also had a servant waiting on him. However his servant was not a
youthful girl like Shen Cui but a fat and wide old woman.
“I wonder which day can Shen Cui wait on me like this, wonder what it
feels like?” Fang Zheng thought inside his heart, yet he did not dare to.

His aunt and uncle’s biased love to Fang Yuan was no secret to everyone.
Originally he did not even have a servant to wait on him. It was Fang Yuan
who decided to take the initiative and ask for one for Fang Zheng.

Although there was the status difference of master and servant, but usually
Fang Zheng did not dare underestimate Shen Cui. That was because her
mother was the Mother Shen(1) who stood beside his aunt and uncle.
Mother Shen was the caretaker of the entire household – having full trust of
his aunt and uncle, her authority was not small.

“Alright, no need to tidy up.” Fang Yuan impatiently brushed away Shen
Cui’s soft small hands. His clothing had long been tidy; she was just trying
to seduce him.

To Shen Cui and the brightness of her future, Fang Yuan’s possibility of
having an A grade talent was huge. If she could be his concubine she would
be able to elevate from servant status into master – it was quite a big step.

In his previous life Fang Yuan was deceived by her and had feelings for
Shen Cui. After his rebirth he was clear as a blazing fire, his heart as cold as
ice.

“You can leave.” Fang Yuan did not even look at Shen Cui as he tidied up
his own sleeve cuffs. Shen Cui pouted slightly, feeling that today Fang
Yuan’s puzzling behavior was rather odd and upsetting. She wanted to reply
in a spoiled way but being scared by his cold and confusing nature, her
mouth opened and closed a few times before she ended up saying ‘yes’ and
retreating obediently.

“Are you ready?” Fang Yuan asked Fang Zheng.

His younger brother stood at the doorway, his head bowed down to look at
his toes. He muttered a light ‘yes’. Fang Zheng had actually been awake
since the fourth watch, too nervous to fall back asleep. He quietly got out of
bed and got ready a long time ago, his eyes having black circles.
Fang Yuan nodded. In his previous life he was not clear about his younger
brother’s thoughts, but in this life how could he not understand? But right
now it was meaningless to him, and he lightly said, “Then let’s go.”

So the two brothers left the house. On the way they bumped into many
youths of similar age, all in groups of twos and threes, quite clearly heading
to the same destination.

“Look guys, those are the Fang brothers.” Their ears could pick up the
small cautious talk. “The one walking in front is Fang Yuan, he’s the Fang
Yuan who created the poems,” some of them emphasized.

“So that’s him. His face is expressionless as if he had no regard for others,
just like the rumors say.” Someone said in a sour tone filled with jealousy
and envy.

“Hmph, if you were like him then you can also act like that!” Someone
coldly replied against the person, hiding a sort of dissatisfaction.

Fang Zheng listened expressionlessly. He had long been accustomed to this

kind of discussion. His head low, he followed quietly behind his older
brother.

By now the light of dawn had peeked over the horizon, casting Fang Yuan’s
shadow over his face. The sun rose gradually, but Fang Yuan suddenly felt
like he was walking into darkness.

This darkness was coming from his older brother. Maybe in this life, he
would never be able to escape from the imprisoning huge shadow of his
brother.

He felt a burst of pressure on his chest making his breathing difficult. This
damned feeling was even making him think of the word ‘suffocate’!

“Hmph, this talk is a good example of the saying: ‘those who of outstanding
talent easily bring about jealous from others’,” Fang Yuan thought with a
sneer as he listened to the gossip around.
No wonder when it was announced that he had C grade talent, he would be
surrounded by enemies and suffer harsh, disdainful coldness for a long
time.

Behind him, Fang Zheng’s breathing got dreary and tried to stop listening.

What Fang Yuan did not manage to realize in his previous life, he could
perceive with the finest detail in this life. This was the ability of keen
insight that he had gained from 500 years worth of life experiences.

He suddenly thought of his aunt and uncle and how scheming they were.
Giving him Shen Cui to monitor him and passing his younger brother an old
wet nurse, not including other things in life that were different among them.
All these actions had intentions – They wanted to cause unhappiness in his
younger brother’s heart and instigate a rift among the brothers.

People are not worried about whether they receive less; people worry about
whether whatever they received is undistributed well.

In his previous life his experiences were too little, while his younger brother
was too foolish and too naïve, thus his aunt and uncle successfully
instigated a riff among them.

After being reborn with the Awakening Ceremony before him, it seemed
like the situation was difficult to change. But with Fang Yuan’s evil way of
means and wisdom, it’s not like the situation cannot be changed.

His younger brother can be suppressed entirely, that young Shen Cui he
could turn into a concubine early on. Not forgetting his aunt and uncle and
the clan elders – he had at least several hundred ways of beating them.

“But, I don’t feel like doing that…” Fang Yuan sighed carefreely.

So what if it was his own younger brother? Without the blood relation his
younger brother was just an outsider, he could easily give him up anytime.

So what if Shen Cui grew any prettier? Without love and loyalty she was
just a heap of flesh of a body. Keep her as a concubine? She’s not worthy.
So what if it was his aunt and uncle, or the clan elders? They’re just
passers-by in life, why waste effort and energy to beat these people?

Hehe.

As long as you don’t get in my way, then you can go aside and scram, I
don’t need to care about you.

(1) Mother Shen is like a title or way to call a woman of her position.
 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Gu Yue Fang Yuan

The sun rises in the sky, the sun ray brilliant. The mountain fog is not very
thick; the sharp rays easily pass through.

Over a hundred 15 year-old youths gathered in front of the clan pavilion.

The clan pavilion was in the middle of the village, reaching 5 storeys and
having sharp tilted roofs; it was heavily guarded. Before the pavilion was
the square, and in the pavilion was the shrine of the Gu Yue ancestor
memorial tablets. Every generation of clan head had lived in the pavilion.
With every major ceremony or big incident, the clan elders would gather
and discuss meetings here as well. This was the entire village’s authority
central.

“Good, all of you are punctual. Today is the Awakening Ceremony; it is

your life’s great turning point. I won’t say much, just come with me.” The
one responsible at the moment was the elder of the academy. His beard and
hair were white and he was in high spirits as he led the young teenagers into
the pavilion. However they did not go up, but were led downstairs after
going through the entrance of a great hall. Following down a constructed
stone ladder, they went into an underground cave.

The group of youths made surprised and amazed noises. The underground
cave was beautiful, stalactites sparkling with the colors of the rainbow. This
light shone on the youth’s faces, the neon hues gorgeous.

Fang Yuan was mixed into the crowd, quietly observing everything that was
happening. In his heart, he thought: Hundreds of years ago, the Gu Yue clan
came to Qing Mao Mountain and settled down after migrating from the
central lands to the South Border. It was when they found a spirit spring in
this underground cave. This spirit spring produces a large number of
primeval stones – It could be said that this was the foundation of the Gu
Yue village.

They walked several hundred steps. It got darker and the sounds of water
were faintly heard. After turning around a corner, a 3 zhang – wide(1)
underground river greeted them. By now the colorful lights of the stalactites
had disappeared completely, yet in the darkness the river emitted faint blue
light. It was like a star river of the night sky.

The river flowed from the dark depths of the cave. Inside the crystal clear
waters, one could see fish, aquatic plants and even the sand beneath the
river. Opposite the river was a sea of flowers.

This was the Gu Yue Clan’s closely cultivated moon orchids. The beautiful
blue and pink colored petals were like shaped like a crescent moon; the
flower stems were like jade, the center of the flower shining like the sort of
warm brilliance that radiates from pearls under the light. At first glance, in
the dark background the flower sea looks like a huge piece of land covered
in bluish green carpet dotted with countless pearls.

The moon orchid is food for a lot of Gu. This flower sea could be said as the
clan’s biggest cultivation medium, Fang Yuan thought knowingly to himself.

“Wow, so pretty!”

“It really is beautiful!”

The new sight opened the young teenagers’ eyes. Each one of them had a
light radiating from their gaze with excited and anxious feelings.

“Alright, listen as I call your names. Those who are called must walk
through this river to the opposite bank. Walk as far as you can, of course the
further you go the better it is. Are you all clear?” The elder said.

“All clear,” the youths replied. Actually before they came here, they had all
heard their family members or seniors talk about it. It is known that the
further you can walk, the better your talent is. Your future will also become
brighter.

“Gu Yue Chen Bo.” The elder held the name list and called out the first
person.

The river was wide but not deep – it covered up to a youth’s kneecaps.
Chen Bo’s face was full of seriousness as he stepped into the flower sea
ashore. As he did so, he could feel an invisible pressure as if there was a
wall in front of him that he could not see, blocking him from walking
forward. During this moment, the flowers at his feet suddenly gave off a
weak white light. The light gathered around Chen Bo and entered his body.
For a moment Chen Bo felt the pressure drop; the invisible wall blocking
him suddenly felt softer. With this, Chen Bo gritted his teeth and mustered
his strength, walking forward. He tried to force his way in stiffly, yet after
three steps the wall in front of him hardened again back to the state before.
Thus he could not walk any further.

As he watched this the elder sighed. While recording what happened, he

said, “Gu Yue Chen Bo, 3 steps, no talent to become a Gu Master. Next, Gu
Yue Zao Xie!”

Chen Bo was deathly pale as he walked pass the river back to the youths,
clenching his teeth. Without the endowed talent he could live as a normal
human, holding the lowest position in the clan.

His stature was shaky; it was a huge blow to him, as if reality had killed all
his hopes. Many people threw him pitiful gazes, while even more had
fixated stares at the second person crossing the river.

It was a pity that this youth could only walk four steps forward – he did not
have talent either.

Not everyone has the natural talent to be a Gu Master. Generally speaking,

it is not bad if five out of ten people have talent. In the Gu Clan, this ratio is
higher, reaching six people. This is because the Gu Yue clan’s ancestor –
The first generation clan leader was a famous, legendary and powerful man.
Due to cultivation reasons his bloodline carried powerful genes, thus the
average quality of talent in the Gu Yue clan was generally higher as they
carried his blood in their veins.

With two consecutive failures, the other elders observing the scene in the
dark started making ugly expressions. Even the clan head was frowning
slightly. The next moment, the academy elder called out the third name: Gu
Yue Mo Bei.

“Here!” A horse-faced youth dressed in linen robes lightly called as he

came forth. He was tall in build, looking much sturdier than his peers. There
was a brave aura about him. He crossed the river in a few steps and reached
the opposite bank. 10 steps, 20 steps, 30 steps; one after another small lights
entered his body. He walked until he reached 36 steps before he could
finally go no further.

The youths at the riverbank watched with wide opened eyes, shocked. The
academy elder happily exclaimed, “Good, Gu Yue Mo Bei, B grade talent!
Come here, let me see your Primeval sea.”

Gu Yue Mo Bei walked back to the academy elder’s side. The latter
stretched out his hand and put it on the juvenile’s shoulder, closing his eyes
as he checked with focus. Then he retracted his hand and nodded, recording
down on the paper: Gu Yue Mo Bei, primeval sea measuring six by six, can
be vigorously trained.

This special talent can be measured by four grades – A grade to D grade. A

D grade talent youth who is raised for 3 years would be able to become a
rank one senior Gu Master, become the foundation of the family. A C grade
talent youth after two years of cultivation will usually be able to become a
rank two senior Gu Master, becoming the clan’s backbone. A B grade talent
must be cared for. Often becoming a future clan elder, with 6-7 years of
training they will become rank three Gu Masters.

And when it comes to A grade, even if it was just one, would bring great
luck to the entire clan. Great care must be given; with this talent in about 10
years they can become a rank four Gu Master. At that moment they would
be able to compete for the position of the head of the clan!

In other words, as long as this Gu Yue Mo Bei grows up, eventually he will
become one of the elders of the Gu Yue clan. That is why the academy elder
laughed happily; the elders watching in the darkness also sighed in relief,
then they all turned to look at one of the elders amongst them with jealousy.

This elder was also horse-faced, known as Gu Yue Mo Bei’s grandfather,

Gu Yue Mo Chen. His face was already smiling. He provokingly looked at
his old nemesis and said, “What do you think? My grandson isn’t bad huh,
Gu Yue Chi Lian.”

Gu Yue Chi Lian had a head full of red hair. He made an annoyed ‘hmph’,
not replying to other. It was apparent that his face expression was really
dark.

One hour later, half of the youths had already walked through the flower
sea. There were quite a number of C and D grade talents among them, while
half of those youths had no talent at all.

“Sigh, the bloodline is getting thinner. These few years the clan hasn’t had
any rank four masters to strengthen the bloodline. The fourth generation
clan head was the only rank five master, but in the end he perished together
with the Flower Wine monk and did not leave behind any descendants. The
Gu Yue clan’s later generation talents are getting weaker and weaker,” the
clan head said with a deep sigh.

At this moment, the academy elder shouted, “Gu Yue Chi Chen!”

On hearing this name all the elders looked at Gu Yue Chi Lian; this was Gu
Yue Chi Lian’s grandson.

Gu Yue Chi Lian had a small and short build with a face full of pockmarks.
He was clenching his fist, his entire face sweating. It was evident that he
was incredibly nervous.
As he walked onto the opposite bank, the little lights entered his body; after
walking straight for 36 steps he stopped.

“Another B grade!” The academy elder yelled.

The youths started a commotion, sending Gu Yue Chi Chen envious stares.

“Hahaha, 36 steps, 36 steps!” Gu Yue Chi Lian shouted, proudly staring at

Gu Yue Mo Bei. This time it was Gu Yue Mo Chen’s turn to have a sour
face.

“Gu Yue Chi Chen, huh…” In the midst of the crowd, Fang Yuan stroked
his chin thoughtfully. In his memories, the clan heavily punished Gu Yue
Chi Chen because he cheated during the Awakening Ceremony. In reality
Chi Chen only had a C grade talent, but because his grandfather Gu Yue Chi
Lian helped him fake the results, that’s why he appeared to have B grade
talent.

To be honest if he wanted to cheat, Fang Yuan had a countless number of

ways to do so, some ways even more perfect than Gu Yue Chi Chen’s
method. If a B grade or A grade talent appeared, they would receive the
clan’s huge care.

But firstly, Fang Yuan had only just been reborn. It was hard to prepare the
cheating method by this condition. Secondly, even if he managed to cheat,
he would not be able to fake his cultivation speed. He would be exposed by
then. However Gu Yue Chi Chen was different; his grandfather was Gu Yue
Chi Lian – One of the two elders with the most authority within the clan.
With this Chi Lian would be able to cover up for his grandson.

“Gu Yue Chi Lian was always hostile towards Gu Yue Mo Chen, these two
elders are the clan’s two biggest influential authorities. To suppress his
opponent he would need his own grandson to have an outstanding talent. It
is also because he was helping from behind, Gu Yue Chi Chen was able to
conceal the truth for a time. In my memories, if it were not for that incident,
the truth would never have been exposed.”
Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with light, his mind thinking up ways to use this
knowledge to his advantage.

If he exposed the matter on the spot, he would receive a bit of reward from
the clan, but then he would offend the highly powerful Gu Yue Chi Lian.
This was not advisable.

Within such a short time he also could not blackmail them. Due to having
low status, it would just backfire on him.

As he pondered, he suddenly heard the academy elder call out his own
name: “Gu Yue Fang Yuan!”
 Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – The First Human and 3 Gu, Hopes Awakening

In that moment his surroundings went quiet. Countless numbers of eyes

were on him.

It’s getting more and more exciting, Fang Yuan thought to himself with a
laugh. Under the gazes of the masses, he walked across the river and
reached the opposite bank.

He could feel a layer of pressure on him. This pressure came from the spirit
spring deep in the flower sea. The spirit spring produced primeval qi –
because the qi was too rich in here, it caused the pressure.

But very quickly from the flowers below Fang Yuan’s feet, little lights made
their way up. These dots of light enveloped his entire body before finally
entering him.

These are the Hope Gu, mused Fang Yuan. The person in charge did not tell
them, but he knew it very clearly. Every spot of light is a Gu, known as the
Hope Gu.

One of the oldest legends talk about the Hope Gu. In the legend, when the
world was just formed it was a land of savage wilderness. Among the wild
beasts that walked the earth, the first man appeared. He was known as Ren
Zu (1), eating raw meat and drinking blood, living a difficult life.

In particular was a group of wild beasts called Predicament. These wild

beasts loved the taste of Ren Zu and longed to eat him.

Ren Zu did not have a body as strong as mountain rock, nor did he have the
sharp teeth and claws of a wild beast. How could he fight with the
Predicaments? His source of food was unstable and he had to hide all day.
He was at the bottom of nature’s food chain, and could barely survive.

At this moment, there were 3 Gu that came up to him and said, “As long as
you use your life to provide us, we will help you through this difficulty.”
Ren Zu had nowhere to go, so he could only agree to these 3 Gu.

He first gave his youth away to the biggest Gu among the three.
That Gu then granted him strength.

With strength, Ren Zu’s life began to change. He started to have a stable
source of food and was able to protect himself. He fought bravely and
ruthlessly, defeating many Predicaments. But soon he suffered and finally
realized that strength was not everything. It needed to heal and be
cultivated, not spent freely at his will. Not to mention when facing the
entire group of Predicaments, his strength alone was too small.

Ren Zu reflected over this lesson bitterly and decided to give his prime
middle years to the most beautiful Guamong the three. And thus, the
second Gu gave him wisdom.

With wisdom, Ren Zu was able to learn how to think and reflect. He began
to accumulate experience and found out that many times when he used
wisdom, it was more effective than using strength. By relying on wisdom
and strength was he able to conquer all the goals that he formerly could not,
and killed many Predicaments. He ate the meat of Predicaments and drank
the blood of Predicaments, surviving with tenacity.

But good things do not last and Ren Zu was old, and would only grow older
and older. This is because he gave away his youth and middle years to keep
the strength and wisdom Gu. When a man is old, his muscles deteriorate
and his brain slows down.

“Human, what else can you give us? You don’t have anything else left to
provide to us,” the strength and wisdom Gu said as they realized this. They
left him.
Without wisdom and strength, Ren Zu was once surrounded by
Predicaments. He was old and could not run, his teeth had fallen out and
could not even chew wild fruits and plants.

As he fell weakly onto the ground surrounded by Predicaments, his heart

was filled with desperation. It was at this time the third Gu said to him,
“Human, take me up. I will help you escape Predicament.”

Ren Zu tearfully replied, “Gu, I don’t have anything else left. See, the
strength and wisdom Gu have abandoned me. I only have my old age left!
While it is not as worth my youth and middle age, but if I give you my old
age, my life would immediately end. Even though I am surrounded by
Predicaments right now, but I will not die immediately. I wish to live a little
longer, even if just a second more. So you should leave, I have nothing else
to provide to you.”

But the Gu said, “Among the three I have the smallest needs. Human, if you
just give me your heart, it will be enough.”

“Then I will give you my heart,” Ren Zu said. “But Gu, what can you give
me in return? In this situation, even if the strength and wisdom Gu returned
to my side, it would change nothing.”

When compared to the strength Gu, this Gu looked frail and was just a tiny
ball of light. When compared to the wisdom Gu, this one was only able to
give out a dim white light, not beautiful in any way.

But when Ren Zu gave it his heart, this Gu suddenly gave out endless light.
In this light, the Predicaments screamed in horror: “This is the Hope Gu,
withdraw! We Predicaments are most afraid of hope!”

The Predicaments retreated suddenly. Ren Zu was speechless, and from that
day onwards whenever he faced predicament, he would give his heart to
hope.

At this moment, the Hope Gu converged into a stream of light and had
already entered Fang Yuan’s body. Due to the outside pressure they quickly
gathered into his abdomen and collected into a group spontaneously, 3
inches under his navel.

Fang Yuan suddenly felt the pressure lessen. He began to walk forward.
With every step he took, one after another the Hope Gu would fly out from
the sea of flowers and enter his body, joining the ball of light. The ball of
light grew brighter and brighter, but the person in charge opposite the
riverbank frowned.

“This number of Hope Gu is lesser than expected.” Many elders watching

Fang Yuan in the dark thought this as they saw the sight. The clan head
frowned as well. This was definitely not the sign of an A grade talent!

Fang Yuan withstood the pressure, continuing to walk forward. “Below 10

steps it means that there is no cultivation talent. 10-20 steps means D grade
talent. 20-30 steps would be C grade talent, 30-40 steps is a B grade talent.
And 40-50 steps would mean A grade talent. Up till now, I have walked 23
steps.”

24, 25, 26… 27.

Fang Yuan counted in his heart; when he walked the 27th step he could hear
a bang and in between his two kidneys the ball of light reached its limit and
suddenly exploded.

This burst of energy only happened inside his body; outsiders cannot see it.
Only Fang Yuan alone could feel at that moment, an earthshaking reaction.
Instantly the fine hairs on his body stood up, his pores shut tight, his mind
stretched to a tense limit.

Soon after, his mind went blank, his entire body becoming soft as if he fell
into some clouds. His heart relaxed, his fine hairs flattening and his pores
re-opened again.

In a short while his entire body was perspiring.

This entire process felt long, but it actually happened in a short time. The
feeling went away as fast as it came.
Fang Yuan was blanked out for a short moment before he returned to his
senses. He secretly focused his attention into his body and found that below
his navel and in between his two kidneys, an aperture had formed out of
thin air.

The Awakening Ceremony was a success!

This was the hope to immortality!

 Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – The road to the future will be interesting

The aperture was mysterious and unusual. Although it was located inside
Fang Yuan’s body, it was at the same time, not sharing the same space with
his internal organs. You could say that it was endlessly huge, yet at the same
time infinitely small.

Some call it the Purple Prefecture; some call it the Chinese Pool. However
many know it as the Primeval Sea Aperture. The entire body is spherical
and the surface of it is covered in flowing white light, like a thin layer of
light coating. It was the layer of light from the Hope Gu that previously
exploded.

This thin membrane of light supported the aperture so it would not collapse,
and inside the aperture was naturally, the Primeval Sea. The seawaters were
smooth like a mirror, showing a greenish blue color, yet the water was
dense and brought about a copper luster. Only Rank one Gu Masters can
form this green coppery primeval essence, known as the green copper sea.

The height of the sea surface was not up to half of the aperture – it was only
up to 44%. This was also the limitation of a C grade talent. Every drop of
seawater was pure primeval essence, representing the condensation of Fang
Yuan’s essence, vitality and soul. It was also the accumulation of his life
potential over the past 15 years.

This primeval essence is used by Gu Masters to raise Gu. This also means
that from now onwards, Fang Yuan has formally entered the route of a Rank
one Gu Master. Since the aperture had opened, no more Hope Guentered
Fang Yuan’s body.
Fang Yuan gathered himself and felt that the pressure before him was as
thick as a wall; he could no longer walk another step forward. “Just like my
previous life,” he smiled indifferently at this result.

“You can’t go any further?” The academy elder shouted across the river,
holding onto a small thread of hope. Fang Yuan turned around and walked
back, answering with his actions.

At this moment even the young teenagers started reacting. The crowd
suddenly buzzed with chatter.

“What? Fang Yuan walked 27 steps?”

“So he was just a C grade talent?!”
“Unbelievable, only a C grade for such a genius like him?”

A great disturbance erupted from the crowd.

“Big brother…” Among them, Gu Yue Fang Zheng looked up, watching
with shock as Fang Yuan returned across the river. He could not dare to
believe it, his own brother was only a C grade?

He had always thought that his older brother would be an A grade talent.
No, not just him, even his aunt and uncle and so many people among the
clan thought the same too.

But now, the result was unexpectedly the opposite!

“Damn, he was only a C grade!” The Gu Yue clan head clenched both his
fists, drawing a deep breath, disappointment in his voice.

The elders watching from the darkness had mixed reactions. Some were
frowning, some lowering their head in discussion, some looking up with a
sigh.

“Could the results be wrong?”

“How can that be? This method is accurate beyond reasoning, not to add
that we were watching the entire time, even cheating is hard.”
“But all his actions and intelligence previously, how do you explain those?”
“Youths with higher quality of primeval sea would indeed display
characteristics that surpass the ordinary man. Such as intelligence,
perception, memory, strength, agility and so on. On the other hand, these
characteristics do not mean that the primeval talent is definitely high.
Everything will still be determined by the results.”

“Sigh, the bigger your hopes the bigger the disappointment. The Gu Yue
clan’s generation now is no longer like the first generation.”

His socks were soaked with the icy cold waters from the river, the coldness
piercing into his bones.

Fang Yuan walked with the same emotionless face, his distance getting
closer and closer towards the crowd. He could clearly see the academy
elder’s heavy expression, and was aware of the stares thrown at him from
over a hundred youths.

These glares were mixed with amazement, shock, sneering, and some
taking pleasure at this unfortunate event, some indifferent.

It was the same situation, making Fang Yuan unwillingly remember his
previous life.

During that time he felt as if the sky had fallen. When he crossed the cold
river he lost his footing and fell, soaking his entire body in the water,
feeling so lost. No one came forward to help him up.

Those disappointed, cold expressions and gazes were like sharp knives,
piercing into his very own heart. His mind was in chaos, his chest searing
with pain. It was as if he had fallen from the clouds, down to the ground.
The higher you stand, the harder you fall.

But in this life, as the same scene replayed itself, Fang Yuan’s heart was
calm. He thought of the legend: When Predicaments come, give your heart
to Hope.
And today that hope is inside of him. Even though it was not big, but it was
better than those people who had totally no primeval talent.

If others feel disappointed, then let them be disappointed. What else can
they do?

What does other people’s disappointments have to do with me? The most
important thing is to carry hope inside my heart!

500 years of living had led him to understand that the interesting things that
happen in a person’s life, happens during the process when one chases after
his own dreams. There is no need to ask others around you to not be
disappointed or make them like it.

Walk on your own path, let others be disappointed and unhappy however
they please!

“Sigh…” The academy elder let out a deep breath and shouted, “Next, Gu
Yue Fang Zheng!”

But no answer came.

“Gu Yue Fang Zheng!” The elder yelled again, the sound of his voice
reverberating inside the cave.

“Ah? I’m here, I’m here!” Fang Zheng snapped out of his shock and ran out
hurriedly. Unfortunately he tripped over his own foot and fell, hitting his
head with a groan and tumbled into the river.

Instantly the entire cave was filled with huge laughter.

“The Fang brothers, nothing special.” The Gu Yue clan head scoffed,
feeling a sort of annoyed boredom towards Fang Zheng.

“This is such a huge embarrassment!” Fang Zheng struggled and splashed

in the water. The bottom of the river was just too slippery; he couldn’t get
up properly. Trying his best only made him look more stupid and clumsy.
His heart increasingly flustered as the sounds of laughter filled his ears.
But right at this moment, he suddenly felt a strong pull lifting him up. His
head finally left the water surface and his body found balance again.

He wiped his face in a panic and focused his sight. It was actually his older
brother Fang Yuan who had grasped his collar and pulled him up.

“Big brother…” He opened his mouth to say. But instead he started choking
on water, ending up triggering a violent cough.

“Haha, the difficult older and younger brother of the Fang family!”
Someone laughed at the riverbank. The laugher grew louder, yet the
academy elder did not come out and stop it. He was deeply frowning,
disappointment filling his heart.

Fang Zheng was completely at a loss on what to do, and then he heard his
brother say to him, “Go on. The road to the future will be interesting.”

Fang Zheng could not help but open his mouth in surprise. Fang Yuan’s
back was facing the crowd so they could not see properly, but Fang Zheng
could clearly feel the calmness radiating from Fang Yuan. As his older
brother spoke the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, revealing a
deep and thoughtful smile.

It was obviously only a C grade talent, yet how can big brother be so
calm? Fang Zhen could not help but wonder, his heart full of doubt. Yet
Fang Yuan did not say any more. He patted Fang Zheng on the back, and
turned and walked away.

Fang Zheng wore a stupefied expression as he walked towards the flower

sea. “I never thought big brother would actually be so calm. If it was me,
I’d…”

He lowered his head, walking forward absent-mindedly. Yet he did not

know that he was playing out a miraculous scene. When he finally snapped
out of his reverie, he was already deep in the sea of flowers, standing in a
distance that no one else had reached before him.

43 steps!
“Oh my god, A grade talent!” The academy elder screamed, seeming to
have lost his mind.
“A grade, really an A grade!?”
“It’s been 3 years, an A grade talented genius has finally appeared in the Gu
Yue clan!”

The clan elders that were watching in the darkness were also screaming out
at the same time, losing their composures.

“Well, the Fang bloodline originated from us Chi bloodline. So we Chi

family will adopt in this Gue Yue Fang Zheng,” Gue Yue Chi Lian
immediately announced.

“How is that possible? You old bag Chi Lian, your morals and abilities are
out of order, but you’re definitely good at misleading young boys. It’s better
to pass this kid to I, Gu Yue Mo Chen to raise!” Gu Yue Mo Chen roared
back instantly.

“Stop arguing. No one is more qualified to raise this child than the current
clan leader. Whoever has any objections is to go against me, Gu Yue Bo!”
The Gu Yue clan head had gone crazy and swept his fiery red gaze over the
disappointed and discouraged looks.

Translator Note: Finally, chapter 6 is over! I hope you guys are looking
forward to the next chapter :>

Also if you haven’t noticed by now, and since the author mentions this in
his note in chapter 1, the main character is a villain. He’s definitely cruel
and very, very evil. If this is not your cup of tea, feel free to drop it…
Otherwise, prepare yourselves for what’s to come in future!
 Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – A Gu Master has 9 ranks, Flower Wine leaves behind

treasure

Soon a week passed.

“Humans are above all creatures, Gu are the essence of heaven and earth. In
this world there are thousands of species, countless number of Gu. They
live everywhere around us – In the soil, in the bushes, even on the bodies of
wild beasts.”

“As humans continue to propagate and grow, the scholars of the past
gradually uncovered the mysteries of the Gu. Those who have opened the
aperture, using their own primeval essence to feed, refine and manipulate
these Gu – people who have achieved these various purposes are what we
call Gu Masters.”

“And all of you have successfully opened your aperture in the Awakening
Ceremony 7 days ago. With the coagulation of the primeval sea, right now
you are all Rank one Gu Masters.”

In the village academy, the academy elder talked with confidence and
composure. In front of him were 57 students, seated and listening
attentively.

The mystery and strength of a Gu Master had been deeply rooted in the
hearts of the youths a long time ago. Thus everything that the elder taught
and said, the students were very interested in.

At this moment a young teen raised his hand. With the elder’s permission he
stood up and asked, “Elder sir, I’ve known this since I was small. There are
Rank one Gu Masters, Rank two and so on, can you explain in more detail
to us?”

The Gu Yue teacher nodded and waved his hand to ask the young man to sit
down. “Gu Masters have 9 ranks, from bottom to the top – Rank one, Rank
two, Rank three all the way up to Rank nine. Every rank is considered a big
realm, and it is divided into 4 small realms – initial stage, middle stage,
upper stage and peak stage. You have all just become Gu Masters, so all of
you are Rank one initial stage.”

“If you all work hard in your cultivation, your cultivation base will
naturally advance to rank two, even rank three. Of course, the higher your
talent the bigger your chance of promoting.”

“For D grade talent, the primeval sea takes up about 2-3 layers of the
aperture, the highest promotion reachable is Rank one to Rank two. For C
grade talent, the primeval sea is 4-5 layers of the aperture. Usually the
progress stops at Rank two, but with luck a small percentage of people can
advance to Rank 3 initial stage. B grade talents have a primeval sea that
takes up 6-7 layers of the aperture, they are able to cultivate to Rank 3, even
as far as Rank 4. As for A grade talent, the primeval sea is plenty; it takes up
8-9 layers of the aperture. This kind of talent in a person is naturally the
most gifted and the most suitable for a Gu Master’s cultivation, being able
to reach Rank 5.”

“As for Gu Masters who are Rank 6 and above, they are all legends. I am
not clear about the specifics either. In the Gu Yue clan, there has never been
the appearance of a Rank 6 Gu Master, but Rank 4 and Rank 5 Gu Masters
we have had before.”

The teenagers’ ears all pricked up, their eyes shining brightly as they
listened.

Many of them couldn’t help but look at Gu Yue Fang Zheng who was
sitting rigidly at the first row. He was an A grade talent after all. Their eyes
were filled with feelings of envy and jealousy. At the same time there were
some who stared at the corner at the last row of the classroom.
Leaning against the window at the corner was Gu Yue Fang Yuan, who was
bent over the desk sleeping soundly.

“Look, he’s still sleeping,” someone whispered.

“He’s been sleeping continuously for a week, yet he’s still not awake?”
Someone cut in.
“There’s more. I heard that he was up all night, wandering about at the edge
of the village.”
“There’s been people who’ve seen it more than once, apparently he holds a
wine-jar at night, dead drunk outside. Luckily these few years the village
surroundings have been cleared clean, so it’s safer.” The fellow schoolmates
whisper here and there, letting all kinds of small gossip spreading around
quickly.

“Ah well, the blow was just too big. Someone hailed as a genius for so
many years unexpectedly ending up to be a C-grade talent in the end, hehe.”

“If only it was just the case. Of all the people his own little brother was
pronounced an A grade, right now being the center of attention, enjoying
the best treatment. The younger brother soars up to the sky, while the older
brother falls to the ground, tut tut…”

As the discussion amongst the students got louder and louder, the academy
elder’s brow deepened into a frown. In the whole classroom all the
teenagers were sitting respectfully, showing liveliness. This made Fang
Yuan who was sleeping on his table stand out so much that it hurt the eyes.

“It’s already been a week, yet he’s still so dispirited. Hmph, initially I must
have been mistaken by him, how could someone like this be a genius!” The
elder thought disgruntledly. He had spoken many times to Fang Yuan
regarding this matter, but to no effect – Fang Yuan still did whatever he
liked. He would sleep through every class, making the elder in charge of
teaching have a very frustrated headache.

“Forget it, he’s just a C grade. If he can’t even withstand this sort of blow,
fostering him with that kind of temperament will just end up wasting the
clan’s resources, nothing good will come out of it.” The elder’s heart was
filled with disappointment towards Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was just a C grade, compared to his younger brother Fang Zheng
who was an A grade talent, now this was someone worth the clan spending
an amount of effort on raising!

While the academy elder thought about all this, he was also replying to the
latest question. “In the clan history, there has been many strong masters. For
Rank five masters there were two. One of them is the first generation clan
head, our ancestor. He was the one who established Gu Yue Village.
Another one was the fourth clan head. He had remarkable talent, and
managed to cultivate all the way to the realm of a Rank five Gu Master. If it
wasn’t for that despicable shameless demon Flower Wine Monk’s sneak
attack, he might have been able to achieve Rank six, but who knows…”

As he said this he heaved a deep sigh. Below the platform, the youths
starting shouting in a rage.

“It’s all because of that Flower Wine Monk, he was too sinister and
cunning!”
“What a pity that our fourth clan leader was softhearted and benevolent, and
died at a young age.”
“If only I was born a few hundred years earlier! If I saw that demon I would
have torn off his ugly face.”

The fourth clan head and the Flower Wine Monk’s story is something that
the entire Gu Yue clan knows.

The Flower Wine Monk was also a Rank five Gu Master, famous among the
Demon faction in his time for his many years as a big flower thief. A few
hundred years ago he travelled to Qing Mao Mountain. He attempted to
commit crimes in Gu Yue Village, but was found out by the fourth
generation clan leader in the end. After a earthshakingly huge battle, the
Flower Wine monk was beaten to the point he had to beg for mercy on his
knees. The fourth clan head was merciful and kind, intending to spare his
life. Yet the Flower Wink Monk suddenly launched a sneak attack,
successfully inflicting heavy wounds on the fourth clan head. The clan head
flew into a rage, killing the Flower Wine Monk on the spot. However his
heavy injuries were not curable and thus, he died.
Therefore in the hearts of the Gu Yue clansmen, the fourth generation clan
head was a great hero who sacrificed his life for the village.

“Flower Wine Monk huh…” Awoken by the classroom’s noisy chatter, Fang
Yuan opened his sleepy eyes.

He stretched his body and thought with resentment in his heart, this Flower
Wine Monk, where did he die? Why is it that I still can’t find his legacy after
searching around the entire village?

In his memories, there was a Gu Master from the clan who was
brokenhearted and started drinking a lot. About two months later from now,
the man was heavily drunk as he lay down outside the village. His heavy
wine aroma unknowingly attracted a Liquor worm.

The Gu Master was ecstatic, fully intent on catching it. The Liquor worm
hurriedly fled, and as the Gu Master was in hot pursuit after it, he followed
the Liquor worm’s trail and discovered an underground hole entrance and
went in.

The Liquor worm was a very precious and expensive type of Gu. The half
drunk Gu Master decided to risk it and enter the hole, finding himself in a
secret underground cave. After that he discovered the bones of the Flower
Wine Monk and the inheritance he left behind.

When the Gu Master returned to the village, he reported his discoveries and
immediately caused a big stir among the entire clan. Later on
that Gu Master benefitted much from it, his cultivation base suddenly
becoming outstanding. His lover who had once abandoned him before was
attracted to him again, and he became the talk of the clan for a while.

“Sadly I only heard bits and pieces about this piece of news, so I don’t
know where the accurate location is. It wasn’t like I knew I would be reborn
again to this day. Flower Wine Monk, where in the world did you die off
to?”
These few days he had been buying a lot of wine, wandering around the
village as soon as night arrived. He wanted to use the aroma of liquor to
attract the Liquor worm. Unfortunately he never saw the Liquor worm
appear, making him feel very disappointed.

“If I could find that Liquor worm and refine it into my vital Gu, that would
be so much better than the clan’s Moonlight Gu. In the blink of an eye its
already April, there’s not much time left.” Fang Yuan heaved a sigh and
gazed out of the window.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, verdant mountains stretched into the
distance. In the vicinity was a bamboo grove. This was Qing Mao
Mountain’s unique spear bamboo, each bamboo stick as straight as a line,
the ends of the bamboo exceptionally sharp like the tip of a spear.

Not too far away, the woods were already turning green. The tender shoots
sprouted in a sea of yellow green color. Every now and then, beautiful and
colorful sparrows would perch on the branches. The wind of spring blew,
wrapping up the freshness of the mountains and rivers, and dispersing it
into the world.

Without knowing it, the class was almost over. The academy elder finally
informed, “This week I have taught you all how to contemplate and check
your own aperture’s primeval sea, and how to meditate and shift around the
primeval essence inside your body. Now is the time for you all to refine
your vital Gu. After this class ends, you will all go to the
academy’s Gu room and pick a Gu worm. After choosing your Gu, please
go home and focus on refining it. When you have finally refined your Gu,
then you can come back to the academy and continue attending class. At the
same time, this is your first assessment. Whoever can finish this assessment
first will be rewarded a generous sum of 20 primeval stones.”

T/L Note: Sorry for the delay, I’ve been busy. Here’s the long awaited
Chapter 7!!
 Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Things will always be things, but humans will change

Beside the academy was a Gu room. The Gu room was not big; it was only
60 meters² in size.

In a Gu Master’s road to cultivation, a Gu is the key to strength.

At the end of class, the excited teenagers rushed towards the Gu room.

“Form a line, enter one by one,” some voices suddenly yelled; it was natural
that there were guards outside the Gu room. The youths went in one at a
time and came out. Finally it was Fang Yuan’s turn to enter the Gu room.

This room was a mysterious room. The four walls all had holes; in each one
of these embedded square holes were another square hole. Each of the holes
differed in size, some big and some small. The bigger ones were no bigger
than a an earthenware cooking pot, the smaller holes no smaller than a fist.

In the many square holes were all kinds of containers – there were grey
stone basins, verdant jade dishes, exquisite grass cages, earthen stoves etc.
These containers kept in all kinds of variety of Gu.

Some Gu were silent, while some Gu made a lot of noises, creating

chirping, clucking, rustling sounds and so on. All these noises combined
together to create a sort of life symphony.

“Gu are also divided into 9 big levels, following the same concept of the 9
rank realms of Gu Masters. All the Guin this room are Rank one Gu.” Fang
Yuan glanced around, immediately aware of this.
Generally speaking, Rank one Gu Masters can only use Rank one Gu. If
they used higher level Gu, these masters would need to pay an extremely
heavy price. In addition, Gu need to be fed. The high cost of feeding higher
level Gu was often not something lower ranked Gu Masters could afford.
Thus to Gu Masters who were newcomers, they would always pick a Rank
one Gu worm as their first refined Gu unless under a special situation.

There is great significance to the first Gu that a Gu Master refines – It will

become their vital Gu, interconnecting their lives together. If it dies,
the Gu master will suffer a huge blow.

“Alas, my original wish was to get my hands on the Flower Wine Monk’s
Liquor worm and refine it as my vital Gu. But right now there are still no
leads on my search for the Flower Wine Monk’s skeleton. I don’t even
know when will I be able to find it, or when someone else does. Just to be
safe I’ll pick a Moonlight Gu first.” Fang Yuan sighed inwardly as he
walked straight along the wall on his left.

One of the top layers of the holes in this wall had a row of silver plates. In
every plate was a Gu.

These Gu were crystalline and shaped like a crescent; it was like a piece of
blue quartz. Against the backdrop of the silver dish, the Gu gave off a quiet
and beautiful feeling.

Known as the Moonlight Gu, this variety of Gu was the local Gu of the Gu
Yue clan and many of the clansmen would choose the Moonlight Gu as
their vital Gu. The Moonlight Gu was not a Gu of nature; it was a breed that
was cultivated with a secret method by the Gu Yue clan. The
Moonlight Gu could not be found anywhere else; it could be said that
this Gu was a symbol of the Gu Yue clan.

Since it was all Rank one Moonlight Gu, there was very little difference
among one another. Fang Yuan casually chose one and took it. The
Moonlight Gu was very light, comparable to the weight of a piece of paper.
The insect occupied a small area of his palm; it was roughly the size of a
common jade pendant. As Fang Yuan put it on his hand, he could see
through it and gaze at the lines on his palm.
With one last look and finding nothing wrong with it, Fang Yuan put the
Moonlight Gu into his pocket and walked out of the Gu room. Outside
the Gu room, the queue was still quite long. As soon as the next person in
line saw Fang Yuan leave, he went into the room hurriedly with excitement.

If it were others, when they got their Gu the first thing they would do,
would be to take it home and quickly refine it. But Fang Yuan was not in a
hurry to do so, for his mind was still thinking about the Liquor worm.

The Liquor Worm was more precious compared to the Moonlight Gu,
although the Moonlight Gu was a specialty of the Gu Yue village, it did not
help a Gu Master as much as a Liquor Worm.

After he left the Gu room, Fang Yuan headed straight for the tavern.

“Shopkeeper, two jars of aged wine!” Fang Yuan fished around his pockets
and drew out the remaining primeval stone pieces, putting them onto the
counter.

These few days he would come here and buy wine, then go around the
village border and scout, intending to attract the Liquor worm so it would
appear. The shopkeeper was a short and fat middle-aged man, his face oily.
After these few days he had already remembered Fang Yuan.

“Sir, you’ve come.” While he greeted Fang Yuan, he stretched out a thick
and short chubby hand and skillfully swiped away the primeval stone
pieces. As he put them onto his palm he shifted his hand up and down and
felt that the weight was correct. With this the shopkeeper’s smile deepened.

Primeval stones were the currency used in this world, used to measure the
value of all commodities. At the same time it was also a condensed matter
of the world’s essence, usable on oneself, and is important in helping
a Gu Master in his cultivation.

As it has monetary attributes as well as usable properties, it was similar to

the gold on Earth. Earth has a gold currency standard system, and in this
world it was replaced with primeval stones. Compared to gold, the
purchasing power of primeval stones is even more astonishing. However
with Fang Yuan’s continued spending like this, no matter how many
primeval stones he had it would not be enough.

“Two jars of wine everyday, and it has been 7 full days already. The initial
savings I had are already almost all spent,” Fang Yuan frowned slightly as
he walked out of the tavern with two jars of wine.

Once someone becomes a Gu Master, he would be able to extract primeval

essence straight from a primeval stone to replenish the primeval sea in his
aperture. Thus to Gu Masters, primeval stones were not just a form of
currency, but also a supplement in their cultivation. With sufficient primeval
stones, the rate of cultivation will increase greatly; this can make up for the
disadvantages of those with lower talent grade.

“I won’t have primeval stones to buy wine anymore tomorrow, yet the
Liquor worm just doesn’t want to appear. Do I really have to take the
Moonlight Gu and refine it as my vital Gu?” Fang Yuan felt rather
unsatisfied.

As he walked with the two jars of wine in his hand, he started to wonder.
“Academy elder said, the first person who manages to refine his
vital Gu will get a reward of 20 primeval stones. Right now I guess a lot of
them are at home trying their best to refine their Gu and compete for the
first position. A pity, refining the vital Gu is more of a test of one’s talent.
Those with better primeval talent will have better advantage. With my C
grade talent, without any special means I have totally no chance of
winning.”

It was at this moment, the voice of Gu Yue Fang Zheng called out to him
from behind. “Big brother, you really did go to the tavern and buy alcohol!
Follow me, aunt and uncle want to see you.”

Fang Yuan stopped in his tracks and turned around. He found his younger
brother was no longer like before, always lowering his head as he spoke.
Right now the two brothers gazed at each other face to face.

A gust of wind blew, lifting up the older brother’s messy short hair, the
lower hem of the younger brother’s robes swishing around.
Just a short period of one month has gone by, yet humans change.

A week after the Awakening Ceremony, a huge change came upon the older
brother and the younger brother. The older brother Fang Yuan fell from the
clouds, the title of genius mercilessly destroyed. And the younger brother
began to bloom with radiance, slowly rising up like a new star.

To the younger brother Fang Zheng, this sort of change was earthshaking to
his world. He finally tasted the feelings that his older brother used to have –
the feelings of people pinning their hopes on him, the feelings when people
use envious and jealous looks to gaze at him. He felt like he was suddenly
dragged out from a dark corner and placed into a heaven filled with light.
Everyday when he woke up, he felt like he was having a very sweet dream.
The difference of how he was being treated from before and now was like
day and night, making him somewhat unable to believe his reality even
until now, but at the same time also strongly unaccustomed to it.

It was hard to adapt.

In a short while from being unknown to someone who was closely watched,
people pointing at him all the time. Sometimes when Fang Zheng walked
on the road, he would hear people around him talking about himself, voices
praising him. His face would heat up and he would feel completely at a loss
of what to do, his eyes trying to avoid gazes, he even almost forgot how to
walk properly!

The first ten days or so, Gu Yue Fang Zheng became thinner yet his energy
became more vigorous. From the inner depths of his heart, something called
‘self-confidence’ began to manifest.

“This is what big brother had always been feeling before, how beautiful and
painful at the same time!”

He could not stop thinking about his older brother Gu Yue Fang Yuan;
facing such attention and discussion, how did his older brother deal with it?

He subconsciously started to imitate Fang Yuan, pretending to look

expressionless all the time, but quickly found that he was not fit for this
kind of style. Sometimes during class, a girl’s shout could easily send him
red-faced. On the roads, all the flirting from older women even caused him
to flee in a hurry many times.

He was like a toddler learning how to walk, stumbling and falling as he

tried to get used to his new life. During this entire process, he was unable to
avoid hearing about his older brother – falling into depression, becoming a
drunkard, not going home at night, sleeping soundly in class.

He felt very shocked at this. His own older brother, once a strong entity and
hailed as a being of great genius, suddenly becoming like this?!

But slowly he started to sort of understand. His big brother was also a
normal man after all. Encountering this kind of setback and huge blow
would send anyone into depression. Along with this understanding, Fang
Zheng secretly felt an indescribable happiness inside. This feeling was
something he was terribly unwilling to admit, but yet it definitely existed.

His older brother who was hailed as a genius and always covering him in
shadow, acting so depressed and dispirited right now. From a reverse angle,
it was a testimony to his own growth, wasn’t it?

He was the outstanding one, this was the real truth!

Hence when he saw Fang Yuan holding the wine jars, his hair messy and
clothes untidy, Gu Yue Fang Zheng felt relieved, his breathing also
becoming a lot easier. But yet he said, “Big brother, you have to stop
drinking, you cannot go on like this! You have no idea how worried the
people who care about you are, you need to wake up!”

Fang Yuan was emotionless; he did not say anything. The two brothers
gazed at each other.

Younger brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng’s eyes were shining, giving off a sharp
and keen feel. And the older brother Gu Yue Fang Yuan’s two orbs were a
deep black, faintly resembling a deep ancient pool. These eyes could not
help but make Fang Zheng feel a strange oppression. Not long after he
subconsciously turned away his gaze and looked somewhere else.
But when he realized it, he felt a sudden rise of anger. It was an anger that
was directed at himself.

What’s wrong with you? Can’t even muster the courage to look directly at
your big brother?

I’ve changed, I’ve completely changed!

With these thoughts his eyes shifted back their sharpness and he shot his
gaze at his brother again. But Fang Yuan was already not looking at him.
Holding a jar of wine in each hand, he walked past Fang Zheng and said in
a dull voice, “What else are you gawking at? Let’s go.”

Fang Zheng’s breathing became disoriented, the strength that had

accumulated inside his heart no longer able to be released. This made him
experience a depression that was hard to describe.

Seeing that his older brother had walked far ahead, he could only quicken
his pace to catch up. But this time his head was no longer lowered, but rose
to meet the sun. His gaze was fixed on his own feet that was stepping on his
older brother Fang Yuan’s shadow.
 Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Two people who start on the same road, gradually

becoming distant

The sunset was a red hue setting over the east.

The sky was still bright, but everything seemed to be covered by a shade of
gray. Overlooking the window, the mountains in the distance were gradually
drawing towards a heavy black color.

The light in the living room was dim. Aunt and Uncle sat high in their
chairs, their faces enveloped in shadow, their expressions hard to discern.

As he saw Fang Yuan carrying the two jars of wine, his Uncle Gu Yue Dong
Tu’s eyebrows twisted into a knot. He opened his mouth and spoke, “In the
blink of an eye, you are both 15 years old now. Since you both have the
talents of a Gu Master, especially Fang Zheng, your aunt and I are proud of
the both of you. I will give you both 6 pieces of primeval stones, take it.
Refining your Gu consumes a lot of primeval essence, so you’ll need these
primeval stones.”

As he said this, some servants came over and passed Fang Yuan and Fang
Zheng each a small bag.

Fang Yuan took his bag silently.

Fang Zheng immediately opened his bag and looked inside to see 6 pieces
of oval shaped, greyish white primeval stones. His face lit up with gratitude
at once and he stood up from his seat, facing his aunt and uncle. “Thank
you Aunt and Uncle, your nephew does need primeval stones to replenish
my primeval essence! You have both raised me until today, this gratitude is
engraved into my heart, I shall not forget it forever!”
Uncle smiled and nodded. Aunt hurriedly waved her hands and said
warmly, “Sit down, sit down! Although you both are not our children
directly, we have always raised you as our own. You both are able to gain a
future, and we are proud of that. Alas we do not have children of our own,
and sometimes we thought that if you both could really become our
children it would be the best.”

Her words brought deep meaning. Fang Zheng did not understand it, but
Fang Yuan frowned a little.

Uncle cut in and said, “I have discussed this with your aunt. We thought of
adopting you both and become a genuine, real family. Fang Zheng, I
wonder if you are willing?”

Fang Zheng was stunned for a second, but the look on his face quickly
emerged a joyful smile and he said, “To be honest, every since both my
parents died I have longed very much for a family of my own. To be able to
become a family with Aunt and Uncle, this is too good to be true!”

Aunt’s expression loosened and she laughed, “Then you are our good son,
shouldn’t you stop calling us Aunt and Uncle?”

“Father, mother.” Fang Zheng in a state of realization changed his

statement.

Aunt and Uncle laughed heartily. “What a good son, not a waste of us
husband and wife to raise you since you were five years old. And we have
raised you for ten whole years,” Aunt wiped her tears.

Uncle looked at the silent Fang Yuan and said gently, “Fang Yuan, how
about you?”

Fang Yuan shook his head without saying a word.

“Big brother.” Gu Yue Fang Zheng was about to advise him, but Uncle,
whose tone was unchanged, stopped him. “If that’s the case, Fang Yuan my
nephew, we won’t force you. Since you are already 15 years old, you need
to start being independent, this way you will also easily carry on your Fang
bloodline. Uncle here has prepared 200 primeval stones for you as financial
support.”

“200 primeval stones!” Fang Zheng’s eyes opened wide; he had never seen
so many primeval stones in his life. He couldn’t help but reveal a jealous
expression.

But Fang Yuan still shook his head.

Fang Zheng was puzzled, while Uncle’s expression changed slightly. Aunt’s
face had also turned cloudy.

“Aunt and Uncle. If there is nothing else, then your nephew will take his
leave,” Fang Yuan did not give them any chance to speak again. After he
finished his sentence he took his wine jars and left the hall immediately.

Fang Zheng rose from his seat and said, “Father, Mother. Big brother is not
thinking straight, how about you let me advise him?”

Uncle waved his hand and deliberately sighed, “Alas this matter cannot be
forced. Since you have the heart, as your father I am already very content.
Servants, take care of young master Fang Zheng treat him well. “

“Then your son will take his leave,” Fang Zheng retreated, and the living
room fell into silence.

The sun set below the mountain, and the living room became darker. In a
while from the darkness Uncle’s cold voice emerged. “Looks like this brat
Fang Yuan has seen through our plot.”

Among the regulations of the Gu Yue clan it was clearly stipulated that the
eldest son at 16 years of age would have the qualifications to inherit the
family property. Fang Yuan’s parents had passed away, leaving behind a
fortune. It was being ‘taken care’ of by Aunt and Uncle. This inheritance
was not something a measly sum of 200 essence stones could compare to. If
Fang Yuan had also agreed to be adopted by Aunt and Uncle, then he would
lose the right to inherit this fortune. If Fang Yuan at this year’s age of 15
decided to be independent, he would also not conform to the clan’s
regulations.

“Luckily we managed to win over Fang Zheng, and Fang Yuan only has C
grade talent,” Uncle heaved a sigh, feeling joyful.

“Then husband, if Fang Yuan decides to go independent at 16 years of age,

what do we do?” Aunt’s tone was hysterical as she thought about the
inheritance.

“Hmph, since he is acting undisciplined, then he can’t blame us. As long as

we catch him committing a huge mistake before he leaves us and expel him
from our family, it will be counted as snatching away his right to inherit the
legacy,” Uncle explained coldly.

“But the brat is very clever, how would he make a mistake?” Aunt asked,
puzzled.

Uncle rolled his eyes immediately and whispered angrily, “You are really
stupid! If he won’t make a mistake, can’t we frame him instead? Just let
Shen Cui seduce Fang Yuan and scream assault, we catch him on the spot,
fabricate a story about him acting wild while he was drunk. Surely we can
expel Fang Yuan?”

“Husband you really have a way, what an ingenious plan!” Aunt was
overjoyed at that moment.

The thick colors of the night covered the sky, and the stars that blanketed
the sky were mostly covered away by floating dark clouds. Each of the
households in the village gradually lit up with lights.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng was ushered into a room.

“Young master Fang Zheng, the old master personally had me tidy up this
room specially for you,” Mother Shen said with a hospitable tone. She
bowed her waist, her face having a flattering smile.
Fang Zheng looked around with a glance, his eyes shining. This room was
at least bigger by two times compared to his previous room. The middle of
the room was a spacious bed; beside the window was a rosewood desk with
a delicate set of ink and paper. The walls were decorated with exquisite
ornaments, and beneath his feet was not an ordinary floor, but covered in a
layer of soft handmade carpet.

From his childhood until now, Fang Zheng had never stayed in such a room.
He immediately nodded his head continuously and said, “This is very good,
it really isn’t bad, thank you Mother Shen.”

Mother Shen was Aunt and Uncle’s most highly valued person; she was in
charge of all the slaves in the house and was a housekeeper who lived up to
her reputation. The girl Shen Cui who served Fang Yuan was her daughter.

Mother Shen laughed, “I am not deserving of young master’s gratitude, it is

my duty, my duty! Young master, do not hesitate to eat well and sleep well.
Whatever you want, just shake the bell beside your bed, somebody will
attend to you immediately. Old master has already instructed us, so in these
few days please do put all your attention on cultivating, young master. Just
leave all the other chores to us.”

Fang Zheng felt a gush of gratitude in his heart. He did not say anything,
but deep down inside he decided, this time I must get number one and not
let Aunt and Uncle down!

The dark clouds in the sky were getting heavier, and the night was getting
darker. In the night sky most of the stars were covered away by the clouds,
leaving a few shining with faint light, blinking away in the sky.

“Aunt and Uncle must be plotting on how to expel me from the house right
now. In my previous life they secretly instigated the servants to provoke
me, and then framed me. Then they expelled me from the family; I wonder
if there will be any changes in this life.” Fang Yuan sneered in his heart as
he walked along the streets.
He had long seen clearly the true colors of his Aunt and Uncle. But he could
also understand it.

Men would throw away their lives in pursuit for wealth. No matter whether
on Earth or in this world, there would always be many people who would
be willing to trample over kinship, friendly and love for their own self-
interests and benefits.

In fact kinship did not exist. In the beginning when Aunt and Uncle took in
Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng, their only purpose was to seek the heritage. It
was just so that the two brothers were repeatedly unexpected.

“All things are difficult before they are easy. To me this is more so of the
case. Firstly I do not have outstanding talent; secondly I do not have the
care of a teacher. It is equivalent to raising a family from nothing, but with
my parent’s legacy it can be said to be a huge advantage for me. In my
previous life Aunt and Uncle stole away the heritage, and because of that I
had to waste two full years to be able to cultivate to Rank One peak stage.
In this life I cannot afford to make the same mistake.”

Fang Yuan pondered in his mind as he walked.

Instead of staying home, he held the two jars of wine and walked towards
the outskirts of the village.

The night deepened and the dark clouds obscured the star light, the
mountain breeze blew, growing stronger gradually.

The mountain rain was coming. But he still had to search; to get ahold of
his parent’s inheritance, he would need to wait until he was sixteen. And the
Flower Wine Monk’s treasure was the only thing that he could get his hands
on in the short run.

There were not many people on the streets. The houses along the road
showed a dim light. Some small rubbish and leaves were blown away by
the wind, drifting about.
Fang Yuan’s thin clothing could not stop the mountain wind, and he could
not help but feel a cold chill. He simply opened the wine jar, drinking a
small mouthful of wine. Although it was turbid wine, but after swallowing
it he felt a warm feeling rising up.

This was the first time that he actually drank wine in these few days.

The further he walked out of the village, the lesser the houses beside the
road, and the dimmer the lights became. In front of him it was even darker.
The wind blew heavily against the mountain forest, the branches swaying in
the night, making a whistling noise that sounded like a herd of beasts
roaring.

Fang Yuan’s pace did not slow down. He walked out of the huge entrance of
the village and out into the darkness, going further as he walked. And
behind him were the bright and brilliant lights of tens of thousands of
houses. In these lights there was a warm corner.

The younger brother Fang Zheng was seated at his desk, reviewing the
notes that he had taken down during class. The lights in the house were
shining brightly, the and solid wall blocked away the cold winds. Beside his
hand was a cup of warm ginseng tea, the steam rising up from the cup.

“Young master Fang Zheng, the hot bathing water has been prepared for
you.”

Outside the door, Shen Cui’s voice softly floated through.

Fang Zheng’s heart jolted. “Then bring it in please.”

Shen Cui walked into the room with her waist bowed, her expression
pleased.

“Your servant greets young master.” Her eyes sent amorous glances at Fang
Zheng. Fang Yuan was only a C grade talent, but Fang Zheng was an A
grade talent! To be able to get ahold of him, is truly the biggest fortune!
 Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – A storm may arise from a clear sky, refining Gu is full of

hardships

Pitter patter…

Big, heavy raindrops fell to the earth, battering the roof of the verdant
bamboo house, making brittle sounds.

The surface of the pond in front of the building was full of ripples as the
rain fell, the fish in the water swimming lively around, the aquatic plants
swaying about at the bottom of the pond. The sky was overcast; a thick rain
curtain obscured the field of vision as far as the eye could see.

In the somewhat dim room the window was open, and Fang Yuan quietly
watched the heavy rainfall, sighing.

“It has already been 3 days and 3 nights.”

On the night 3 days ago he had walked out of the village with two jars of
wine, searching around the surroundings. But when it was late into the night
it started pouring rain. Put aside him being drenched to the bones, the main
point was that in the situation he could not go about searching anymore.

The rainwater would quickly wash away the wine fragrance. At the same
time if he forced himself to search under such conditions, it might arouse
suspicions. Although previously he pretended to become a depressed
drunken person to cover up his real motives, but he knew never to
underestimate the intelligence of others around him. Only a fool would
think others were stupid.

Thus under this helplessness, Fang Yuan could only stop his search.
Not too mention that the moment it started raining, the rain had went on
continuously. Sometimes it became heavier and sometimes lighter, but it
never stopped.

“I guess in this way, I won’t be able to find the Liquor worm for a short
period of time. To be safe I can only choose to start refining the
Moonlight Gu. While I refine it, if I can find the Liquor worm during the
process it would be the best, but if I can’t then this would have to do. But
this matter is very common; a storm may arise from a clear sky, something
unexpected may happen anytime. In this world who can do everything
without obstacles in his way, having a perfect journey?”

Fang Yuan’s thoughts were very calm; his 500 years of experience had long
washed away the impulsiveness that he rarely had in the first place.

He closed the door and window and sat cross-legged on his bed. He closed
his eyes slowly and after breathing a few times, he calmed his state of mind.

In the next moment the vision of his primeval aperture appeared in his
mind. The aperture may be positioned inside his body but it was
mysteriously unusual, limitlessly big and yet infinitely small. The outer
layer of the aperture was a layer of light. The white light gave a thin
impression, but it still supported the aperture well.

In the aperture was a sea of primeval essence. The seawater was a green
copper color, the surface of the sea clear and calm as a mirror. The water
level was about half the height of the aperture. The entire volume of the sea
occupied 44% of the aperture.

This was the green copper primeval sea of a Rank one Gu Master, and every
drop of seawater was primeval essence. It was Fang Yuan’s life elementary
force and the condensation of his essence, vitality and soul.

Every drop of primeval essence was precious, because it was the root of
a Gu Master, and was the source of power. Gu Masters need to rely on
primeval essence to refine and use Gu.
As he retreated his mind from the primeval sea, Fang Yuan opened his eyes
retrieved the Moonlight Gu. The Moonlight Gu quietly sat in the middle of
his palm, resembling a curved blue moon, small and crystalline.

With a simple thought, the primeval sea in his aperture tumbled and a jet of
primeval essence broke from the sea surface and transferred out of the body,
finally rushing into the Moonlight Gu. The Moonlight Gu suddenly radiated
fiercely in blue light, slightly trembling in Fang Yuan’s palm, resisting the
influx of primeval essence.

Gu are the essence of heaven and earth, carrying the secrets of the world,
the bearers of the law of nature. They are living creatures that live freely
under the sky, each born with a will of its own. Right now with Fang Yuan
trying to refine it, it would mean wiping out its will. Feeling the danger
looming, the Moonlight Gu naturally resisted.

The process of refining is a very difficult one.

The Moonlight Gu was like a curved crescent moon. As the green copper
primeval essence poured into the crescent, the two pointed ends of the
crescent turned green. Slowly this green copper essence began to spread to
the middle of the crescent moon.

In less than three minutes, Fang Yuan’s face had become pale. A huge
volume of primeval essence continuously poured into the Moonlight Gu,
making him feel a weakness that rapidly attacked his heart.

1%, 2%, 3%… 8%, 9%, 10%.

Ten minutes later, Fang Yuan’s primeval sea had used away 10% of
primeval essence. Yet on the blue crystalline Moonlight Gu’s surface, the
points of green copper essence on the two tips of the crescent only
expanded a tiny little area towards the center.

The resistance of the Moonlight Gu was immensely strong. Fortunately

Fang Yuan had anticipated this earlier and did not feel surprised. He
persisted and poured in more essence into the Moonlight Gu.
1%, 2%, 3%…

After another twenty minutes, the primeval sea in Fang Yuan’s body was
only left with 14%. The green copper essence on the Moonlight Gu had
expanded slightly, the two tips of green essence adding up together
covering the surface of the Moonlight Gu by about 1/12. The rest of the
Moonlight Gu’s surface was still the original color of light blue.

“Refining a Gu is so hard,” Fang Yuan sighed as he looked at it. He broke

the influx of primeval essence, stopping the refining process.

Up until now, he had been refining for half an hour, the primeval sea in his
aperture consumed over more than half, with only 14% of primeval essence
left. And the Moonlight Gu was only refined by 1/12 of it.

To make matters worse the Moonlight Gu was still emitting its faint blue
halo. Even though Fang Yuan had stopped refining, the Moonlight Gu did
not stop resisting; it was still driving out Fang Yuan’s green coppery
primeval essence.

Fang Yuan could clearly feel that the primeval essence that he poured into
the Moonlight Gu was being pushed out, bit by bit by the Moonlight Gu out
of its body. On its surface, the green copper essence at the two tips of the
moon crescent was slowly shrinking.

Based on this speed of reduction, in about six hours later the

Moonlight Gu would be able to completely expel all of Fang Yuan’s
primeval essence. At that time when he needed to refine this Gu it would
make no difference from starting over again.

“Every time when refining Gu, it is just like a fight between two armies, a
battle of positional warfare, or war of attrition. Even though I refined 1/12
of the Gu, I wasted three quarters of my primeval essence. When
refining Gu, a Gu Master has to replenish his primeval sea while
continuously engaging the refinement process, consolidating his victory.
The refinement of a Gu is a test of one’s skill in shifting his primeval
essence and the patience of an enduring battle.”
Fang Yuan took out a piece of primeval stone from his moneybag as he
pondered.

A Gu Master had two ways to replenish the consumed primeval essence.

The first way was natural recovery. After a period of time the primeval sea
would naturally replenish the primeval essence. In the case of a C grade
talent like Fang Yuan, it would take about one hour to replenish 4% of
primeval essence. In six hours it could recover 24% points of the total
quantity primeval essence.

The second way was to absorb the natural essence directly from a primeval
stone.

The primeval stone is a treasure from nature itself. As condensed natural

primeval essence, while absorbing it the water level of the primeval sea was
rising with a continuous speed that could be seen with the naked eye.

After about half an hour the primeval sea had been replenished back to its
original volume of 44%. At this level the rising water level of the sea
stopped abruptly. Even though there was still space inside the aperture,
Fang Yuan could not store any more primeval essence. This was the limit of
his C grade talent.

Thus from here one can see the significance of the grade of one’s
cultivation talent. The higher the talent, the more primeval essence the
aperture can hold, and the faster the natural recovery of the primeval
essence will be.

In Fang Yuan’s case to refine a Gu and solidify his results, he would have to
absorb primeval stones because his primeval essence natural recovery rate
cannot defeat the rate of the Moonlight Gu expelling it out.

However in the case of the A grade talent Fang Zheng, he could replenish
8% of primeval essence every hour. In six hours he would recover 48% of
primeval essence, and in the same time frame the Moonlight Gu could only
expel away 3% points of primeval essence. Fang Zheng did not require the
external help of a primeval stone. He could go on refining with a few rests
in the process and successfully refine the Moonlight Gu in a few days.
That was why Fang Yuan knew from the beginning that in this test, to refine
the Moonlight Gu he never had the chance to obtain the first position. It had
nothing to do with a person’s actual strength, as the first factor was the
grade of talent.

The second factor would be primeval stones. If there was an abundance of

primeval stones, without hesitation to consume, a B grade talent could also
surpass an A grade talent and obtain the first position.

“In my hands are six pieces of primeval stones. I cannot compare to Gu Yue
Mo Bei or Gu Yue Chi Chen, these kinds of people who have their elder
family members supporting them from behind. My talent is on C grade, and
cannot be compared to Fang Zheng who has an A grade talent. I never had a
chance of winning in this test. Why not divert my energy and go look for
the Liquor worm? If I can make the Liquor Worm into my vital Gu it would
be so much better than the Moonlight Gu. Hmm? The sound of rain outside
the window has gotten lighter, there seems to be a sign of ceasing. The rain
has been ongoing for three days and three nights, it should be time it
stopped.”

Fang Yuan kept the Moonlight Gu and got down from his bed. As he was
about to open the window, there was a knock on the door.

Outside the door came his servant Shen Cui’s voice, “Young master Fang
Yuan, its me. It has been raining straight for three days, so I brought you
some food and wine. Young master can eat and drink and ease some
depressed feelings.”
 Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – It’s just power play

Fang Yuan frowned slightly. Based on intuition and 500 years’ worth of life
experience, he could smell a conspiracy.

His eyes flashed and he relaxed his brows. “I’m a little hungry right now,
you came at the right time. Come in,” He said.

Outside the door, while carrying the food box Shen Cui smiled coldly as she
heard his reply. But when she pushed open the door, her face was left with a
gentle and meek expression.

“Young master Fang Yuan, the food and wine smells really good. I can
smell it as I hold the box.” Her voice was sweet and had a hint of longing
and flattery. She put the food box on a small table and took out the dishes,
arranging them nicely. The food was indeed very fragrant and tasty. After
that she took out two wine cups and poured the wine.

“Come, young master. Sit down. Your servant mustered her courage today
and wants to accompany young master for a drink.” She smiled like a
flower, walking to Fang Yuan’s side. Boldly she took him by the hand and
pulled him over to sit at the chair by the table.

Then she sat on his thigh and leaned her gentle body against Fang Yuan’s
chest, acting like a timid and lovable woman, whispering in his ear. “Young
master Fang Yuan, your servant has always liked you. It doesn’t matter
what grade you are, I will always wish to be beside you, rely on you, and
comfort you. Tonight your servant would like to give her body to you.”

She really dressed up today.

She put on blusher, her lips like cherry powder. When she whispered in his
ear, a delicate and youthful breath teased at Fang Yuan’s earlobe. Because
she was sitting on his lap, Fang Yuan could feel her well-shaped figure
easily. Her elastic thighs, her slender little waist and her soft chest.

“Young master, let me feed you wine myself.” Shen Cui picked up the wine
cup, raising her head and taking a sip. Then her eyes fixated on Fang Yuan,
her small cherry lips a little opened, slowly leaning over to his mouth.

Fang Yuan’s expression was indifferent, as if what was on his lap was not a
young maiden, but a block of sculpture.

When she saw Fang Yuan’s expression, Shen Cui felt a little uneasy at first.
But when her lips were just an inch away from his, she was assured,
sneering in her heart. You’re still pretending, she mused.

Just at this moment Fang Yuan scoffed, his tone disdainful. “So it’s just
a power play (1).”

Shen Cui’s face became stiff and she swallowed the wine in her mouth,
trying to pull false flattery. “Young master Fang Yuan, what are you
saying…”

Fang Yuan’s eyes were emitting cold light. He stared into Shen Cui’s eyes,
placing his right hand on her snowy white neck at the same time, slowly
pressing it with force. Shen Cui’s pupils shrank and her voice was full of
panic. “Young master, you’re hurting me.”

Fang Yuan did not answer, but his hold on her neck grew stronger.

“Young master Fang Yuan, your servant is a little scared!” Shen Cui already
had difficulty breathing; she was looking flustered. A soft pair of hands
subconsciously grasped at Fang Yuan’s hand, trying to pry his hand away.
But Fang Yuan’s hand was strong like iron, unable to be pulled away.

“Looks like Uncle and Aunt let you come over to seduce me and frame me?
This must mean that there are already people arranged downstairs, huh.”
Fang Yuan laughed coldly, adding, “But who do you think you are, coming
to use tactics on me, with the two piles of garbage of rotten flesh on your
chest?”

As he said this, his left hand climbed up her chest and ruthlessly grabbed
her soft breasts, making it incredibly deformed all of a sudden.

Intense pain flared from her chest; Shen Cui’s eyes were round and wide-
opened.

The pain was so great that her eyes were full of tears. She wanted to
scream, but Fang Yuan gripped her throat so strongly that in the end she
could only sob for a few times. Then she started resisting strongly, for she
really was going to suffocate!

But at this moment, Fang Yuan slowly relaxed his grip.

Shen Cui immediately opened her mouth and gulped in air greedily. Her
breathing was too eager – resulting in a series of violent coughs. Fang Yuan
laughed lightly, stretching out his palm. He gently stroked her cheek, his
tone carefree as he spoke, “Shen Cui, do you think I can kill you, or not?”

If Fang Yuan roared at her with an evil and loud voice, Shen Cui might
actually fiercely retaliate. But when Fang Yuan smiled and spoke in a
shallow manner, his soft voice asking if he could kill her or not, Shen Cui
felt a deep fear from the bottom of her heart.

She was scared!

She looked at Fang Yuan with terror on her face, seeing this young man
smiling all over his face as he gazed at her.

At this instance, Shen Cui vowed to herself that she would never forget his
eyes for the rest of her life. This pair of eyes were not mixed with the
slightest emotion, dark and profound, resembling a deep ancient pool that
was hiding a horrifying beast.

Under the gaze of these eyes, Shen Cui felt like she was naked in the midst
of ice and snow!
The person before me, definitely dares to kill me, is able to kill me…
Oh heavens! Why did I come and provoke this kind of devil?!

Shen Cui’s heart was full of remorse. At this moment she longed to turn and
flee. But right now she was still on his lap; she did not dare to run away, not
even able to pluck the courage to do any action.

The muscles on her entire body were tense, her gentle stature trembling.
Her face was as pale as white paper and she could not utter a single word.

“Since you as a personal servant girl, have been serving me for so many
years, I won’t kill you this time. Since you want to escape from slavery, go
and find my little brother, he’s stupid and naïve.” Fang Yuan retracted his
smile and patted her cheek, his tone plain like water.

With a sigh, he finally said —-

“You can leave.”

Shen Cui was as dumb as a piece of wood as she walked out obediently.
She was afraid out of her wits, and did not know how she managed to leave
the side of the devil called Fang Yuan.

The men hidden in the shadows looked confused when they saw Shen Cui
come out looking so shaken.

“They actually arranged such a beautiful trap, its even more innovative than
my previous life. Hehe, Aunt and Uncle, this kindness of yours I will
remember deeply!”

Not long after Shen Cui left, Fang Yuan stood up and left as well. No matter
what, he could not stay at this residence anymore. A wise man sees and
mitigates foreseen risks, what more to say for a devil? When there is
insufficient strength, only a fool would put himself in danger.

“Innkeeper, do you have any rooms available?” Fang Yuan came to the only
inn in the village and asked for the price.
“Yes, yes. There is room on the second floor and third floor. Not only is it
cheap, the rooms are also tidy and clean. The first floor is the cafeteria;
guests of the inn can come here and eat. There is also service for asking the
inn workers to bring up food to your room.” The innkeeper was full of
hospitality as he entertained Fang Yuan.

This inn was the only one in the village, but the business was not very good.
In fact it was somewhat deserted. Only when the annual merchant caravan
came by to trade on Qing Mao Mountain, the inn would be full of people.

Fang Yuan was a little hungry, so he passed 2 full round pieces of primeval
stones to the innkeeper. “Give me a good room for me to stay in, and
prepare 2 jars of wine, 3-4 different dishes, return me any excess balance.”

“Done.” The innkeeper took the 2 pieces of primeval stone and asked,
“Would you like to eat in your room, or dine in the hall?”

Fang Yuan looked at the sky. The rain had stopped and it was nearing
evening. He could simply eat in the lobby and set out straight for the
outskirts of the village when he was done, continuing his search for the
treasure of the Flower Wine Monk. Thus he replied, “I’ll eat in the hall.”

The inn had a dining hall; there were a dozen square tables, four long
benches surrounded each table. In between the tables were huge and thick
pillars that were supporting the inn. The floor was covered with big tiles of
marble, but it was wet; it was hard to conceal the moisture of the mountain.

There were 3 tables seated with people. Seated by the window, an old man
was drinking wine, gazing outside at the sunset, being all alone. In the
middle of the cafeteria was a table seated with 5-6 hunters. They were
discussing about their hunting experiences in loud voices, and at their feet
were a pile of different kinds of mountain prey, like pheasants and hares.

In another corner was a table with 2 young people, seemingly discussing in

secret. Their figures were hidden in the darkness, it was hard to see them,
and harder to know their gender.
Fang Yuan decided to sit by the table nearest to the door. Soon after, the
dishes were served on the table.

“With my C grade talent, to refine the Moonlight Gu I would need to

borrow primeval stones. If my luck is good and this Moonlight Gu does not
have a strong will, I would only need 5 pieces. But if it is stubborn that I’d
be in trouble, probably need around at least 8 pieces.”

Gu are living creatures, so it is natural for them to have the will to survive.

Some have a strong will and would always resist the refinement process;
some Gu have weak will, all throughout refining they helplessly surrender;
once there was no resisting, the refining process would become relaxing.

“Right now I only have 6 primeval stones on me, but I gave 2 to the
innkeeper so I’m left with 4 pieces. There’s not enough.”

In this world primeval stones are the local currency, and the buying power
is very strong. A normal family of three would spend at most 1 piece of
essence stone in a month. But when it came to a Gu Master, the
consumption of primeval stones was greater. Take Fang Yuan for example;
just by refining Gu alone he would need an average of 7 primeval stones or
so. And this is just on a Moonlight Gu, if he really did find the Liquor
worm, just to refine it with Fang Yuan’s grade talent, he would need at least
a dozen more!

“In other words, right now my situation is – Even if I find the Liquor worm,
I don’t necessarily have the primeval stones to refine it. However I still
need to search around, because there is a huge possibility that the Flower
Wine Monk’s treasure has a huge abundance of primeval stones.”

This was not a difficult deduction. The Flower Wine Monk was a Rank
five Gu Master after all. For such a famous strong warrior of the Demonic
Faction, how could he not have primeval stones, which are the must-have
item in a Gu Master’s cultivation?
(1) Power play – tactics exhibiting or intended to increase a person’s power
or influence.

T/N Note: Was this chapter too dark?

 Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Green Bamboo Wine is fragrant, Gu Master flaunts

power

“Right now everything comes down to the Flower Wine Monk’s treasure. If
I can find it, all my problems will be solved. If I don’t find it, all these
issues will greatly slow down my speed of cultivation. If that happens I’ll
lose out to people at my age in cultivating. I don’t understand! I’ve spent
more than a week trying to attract the Liquor worm to appear, why do I still
not see it?”

Fang Yuan frowned and racked his brains. It was like putting food into his
mouth, but still not knowing how it tasted (1).

Suddenly there was a loud noise, interrupting his thoughts. Fang Yuan
looked at the direction of the sound, realizing that the 6 hunters seated
around the table at the middle of the hall were heavily drunk. The
atmosphere around them was fiery and their faces were all red.

“Brother Zhang, come, drink another cup!”

“Old brother Feng, we brothers admire your abilities! You took down a
black skinned wild boar alone, what a man! This cup of wine you must
drink, or else you’ll be disrespecting us!”

“Thank you brothers for your sincerity, but I really can’t drink anymore.”

“Brother Feng can’t drink anymore, perhaps you dislike this wine because
it’s not good enough? Waiter, come over! Give me some good wine!”

The noise was becoming louder; it was obvious that the group had drunk a
lot. The waiter hurriedly went over and said, “Well good sirs, we do have
good wine, but it is quite expensive.”

“What, you’re afraid we won’t pay up?!” When the hunters heard the
waiter, quite a few of them stood up and stared at the waiter. They were
either big and tall or thick and burly in stature, capable and vigorous in a
threatening manner, each having the courage that mountain men possessed.

The waiter quickly said, “I would not dare to look down on you brave men,
it’s just that these wine is really expensive, one jar costs 2 pieces of
primeval stones!”

The hunters were stunned. 2 primeval stones was definitely not cheap – It
was the sum of 2 months of the normal average household monthly
expenses. Even though hunters earn more from hunting when compared to
ordinary mortals, like how some times a black skinned wild pig could be
worth half a primeval stone. However hunting was risky and a mistake
could turn the hunter into prey.

To the hunters, using 2 primeval stones just to drink a jar of wine was just
not worth it.

“Is there really such an expensive wine?”

“Boy, you aren’t trying to lie to us right?”

The hunters were shouting about, but their voices felt a little timid, unable
to back out of the situation with grace. The waiter kept telling them he
wouldn’t dare.

The hunter called brother Feng saw that the scene was not right, and he
hurriedly said, “My brothers, let’s not spend anymore. I can’t drink
anymore, let us drink this wine another day.”

“What, you can’t say that brother!”

“This is…”

The rest of the hunters were still shouting, but their voices started to fade
away. One by one they sat back in their seats. The waiter was also a shrewd
person. When he saw this, he knew that he was not able to sell the wine any
more. However this situation hardly surprised him. As he was about to
retreat, a young man’s voice came from the table at the dark corner. “Hehe,
hilarious. Each one of them blindly shouting for nothing. If you can’t afford
to buy wine, you should just obediently keep your mouths shut and go to
the side!”

When the hunters heard this, one of them immediately retorted in anger,
“Who said we can’t afford it? Waiter, bring over that jar of wine, I’ll give
you the stones, two pieces of it!”

“Oh, give me a moment sir, I’ll get it!” The waiter did not expect such a
turn of events. He hurriedly replied and turned to grab a wine jar and
brought it over. This wine jar was as big as the common jar of wine, but the
moment it was uncorked, in that very instant a refreshing and mellow
fragrance filled the entire cafeteria. Even the old man sitting alone at the
window could not help but turn his head over when he smelled the wine
aroma, and he gazed at the jar of wine.

It was definitely good wine.

“Dear guests, its not bragging. This is the green bamboo wine; the entire
village only has one inn, which is us. Smell the fragrance!” The waiter
inhaled deeply as he said this, his facial expression full of satisfaction and
enjoyment.

Fang Yuan was moved. This inn waiter was really not boasting.

In the Gu Yue Village there were 3 taverns. The wine sold there were the
common rice wine, muddy wine and other similar common wine. In order
for Fang Yuan to attract the Liquor worm, he continuously bought wine for
7 days; it was naturally that he was aware of the prices.

Several of the hunters looked at the wine jar before them. They were
consumed by alcohol addiction. Each of them twitched their noses and
swallowed. As for the hunter who bought the wine in a moment of anger,
his expression was even more interesting; a layer of remorse and anger
appeared on his face.
After all this jar of wine was the value of two primeval stones!

“I was too rash and bought the wine by impulse. This waiter is not too
typical. He immediately brought the wine, now the cork is unsealed. Even if
I want to return the goods it is too late.”

The more the hunter pondered, the more distressed he felt. He wanted to
return it back, yet he was unable to do so in fear of being humiliated. At last
he could only bang on the table and said with a strong smile, “Damn, this
wine is good! Brothers please, drink all you want. Today this wine is on
me!”

At this moment the young man at the table in the corner hissed, “How is
this small jar of wine enough for six? If you have the guts then go buy a few
more jars.”

The hunter was furious when he heard this and stood up in a rage, his eyes
fixed on the young man who spoke. “Brat, you sure have a lot of words.
Come, stand up and fight me!”

“Oh? Then I will stand up.” The young man got up from his seat as he
heard the hunter’s remark, grinning as he walked out from the shadows. His
body figure was tall and thin, his skin pale. He was dressed in navy battle
robes, and looked clean and neat. His head wore a blue headband; his upper
body had a jacket that showed his thin and weak shoulders. The lower body
had long pants, the feet were covered in bamboo sandals and the calves
were tied.

The most important thing about him was the green belt on his waist. The
middle of the belt was a shiny piece of copper; on the copper plate was a
black “One” word.

“It’s a Rank One Gu Master?!” The hunter clearly understood what this
manner of clothing represented. He drew in a deep breath, the anger on his
face dissipating, replaced by alarm.

He had never imagined that he actually provoked a Gu Master!

“Didn’t you want to fight me? Come on then, hit me.” The
young Gu Master walked slowly towards the man, a playful smile on his
face. But the hunter who had challenged him earlier had become frozen like
a sculpture, unable to move from his spot.

“Maybe you guys can all come at me together, that works too.” The
young Gu Master slowly walked to the hunter’s table, casually speaking.

The expressions on their faces had changed. Some of the hunters who had
drunken red faces had gone pale suddenly. Each of their foreheads was
drenched in cold sweat, and they felt restless, too afraid to even breathe
heavily.

The young Gu Master stretched out a hand, picking up the green bamboo
wine jar. He put it under his nose and sniffed, smiling. He said, “It sure
smells good…”

“If my lord likes it, then please feel free to take and drink it. It is an apology
from me for offending my lord,” the hunter who provoked him earlier
hurriedly replied and cupped his hands together before his chest, pushing a
smile to his face.

Unexpectedly the young man’s facial expression changed fiercely; with a

loud crack the jar fell into pieces on the ground. The Gu Master looked cold
as ice, his gaze sharp like a sword. He hissed angrily, “You think you have
the right to apologize to me? You bunch of hunters must be really rich, even
richer than me, since you guys spent 2 primeval stones to drink wine?! Do
you have any idea, how upset I am over primeval stones right now! You
actually dare to show off your wealth in front of me at this time! You
mortals can even compare to me?!”

“We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare!”

“To offend my lord, it is a heinous crime!”
“We mortals did not mean to offend you, these are our primeval stones,
please accept lord Gu Master.”

The hunters quickly got on their feet and took out the primeval stones they
had. But how could these mortals have money, all they pulled out was just
bits and fragments of primeval stones, the biggest fragment piece was no
bigger than a quarter of a primeval stone.

The Gu Master did not accept these primeval stones, but he did not stop
sneering. He used his hawk-like gaze and swept past the entire cafeteria.
The hunters that he scanned over lowered their heads. The old man who sat
at the window watching the scene also quickly turned his head to avoid
the Gu Master’s gaze.

Only Fang Yuan watched quietly, void of hesitation.

The clothing that this young Gu Master was wearing was the uniform that
only formal Gu Masters could wear, so Fang Yuan was not qualified to wear
it. Fang Yuan would only receive it from the clan after he graduated from
the academy.

The word ‘One’ on the copper piece on the belt of the young Gu Master
was to indicate his position as a Rank one Gu Master. However he was
already around 20 years or so, and the aura of primeval essence that his
body emitted seemed to indicate that he was Rank one upper stage.

Starting cultivation at 15 years of age and only reaching Rank one upper
stage at around 20 years of age, this showed that the young Gu Master was
only of D grade talent, which was a grade worse than Fang Yuan. There was
a high possibility that this man was only a logistics Gu Master, not even
counted as a battle Gu Master.

However even if that was the case, when facing these six brawny hunters it
was more than sufficient.

This was the gap of power between a Gu Master and a mortal human.

“With power, one can be at the top. This is the nature of this world. No,
actually any world is also the same, the big fish eats the small fish and the
small fish eats the shrimp. It’s just that this world shows it even more
openly,” Fang Yuan mused secretly.
“Alright Jiang Ya, you already taught them a lesson. Let’s not further
embarrass these mortals. If it gets out, even if you are not embarrassed, I
would be,” the other young person sitting in the corner voiced out.

When everyone heard the voice speak, they realized that this young person
was a woman.

The young Gu Master called Jiang Ya stopped sneering as his female

companion chided him. He did not even bother looking at the fragments of
primeval stones that the hunters had taken out; these stones were not even
the sum of two primeval stones, he was definitely not interested in it.

He flicked his sleeve and walked back to his original table. As he strode
back he said maliciously, “If you think you have the guts to continue
drinking, then go and drink green bamboo wine. I want to see, who still
dares to drink this wine?”

The hunters all lowered their heads, acting like six obedient sons after being
scolded.

The strong aroma of wine filled the entire cafeteria. The hunter who bought
the wine felt his heart aching as he smelled the fragrance. After all he had
spent 2 primeval stones on this wine, yet he never got to drink even one
mouthful!

Fang Yuan put down his chopsticks; he had eaten enough. As he sniffed in
the wine aroma his eyes flashed for a moment, then he took out 2 primeval
stones and put them on the table. “Waiter, give me a jar of green bamboo
wine,” he said indifferently.

The whole scene froze.

The young Gu Master called Jiang Ya instantly stopped in his footsteps. The
corners of his mouth twitched and he exhaled. He had just finished his
warning, yet right after he was done Fang Yuan wanted the wine. This was
like specially stepping over him and slapping him in the face.
He turned around and narrowed his eyes, shooting a cold glare at Fang
Yuan.

Fang Yuan calmly stared back, his face indifferent and void of fear.

Jiang Ya’s eyes flashed and the coldness in his gaze slowly disappeared; he
felt the aura of primeval essence on Fang Yuan’s body. After realizing Fang
Yuan’s identity, he lit up with a smile and said warmly, “Ah, it’s a junior
brother.”

Everyone else came to the realization and the looks they shot at Fang Yuan
changed.

No wonder this young teenager was not one bit afraid of a Gu Master, it
was because he was also one. Even though he was still attending the
academy, his position was already different.

“Lord Gu Master, your wine!” The waiter scurried over, smiling all over his
face. Fang Yuan nodded at the young Gu Master and took and jar of wine
and walked out of the inn.

(1) I believe it means that he is putting in effort, yet he cannot see the
results.

TN Note: It’s 7am now, I’m going to sleep and translate another chapter
later if I’m not called to go to work.
 Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – The bamboo forest under the moon, a bead of snow

Around 300 years ago, an incredible genius appeared in the Gu Yue Clan.
He was very talented and had already cultivated to the point of a Rank
five Gu Master at a young age, and even had the possibility of going
further. He was famous throughout Qing Mao Mountain, had a bright future
and was the pinnacle of hope and responsibility in the clan’s eyes.

In the history of the Gu Yue clan, everyone spoke of him the most – the
fourth clan head.

Unfortunately he sacrificed himself to protect his people and fought the

equally powerful Rank five Gu Master, the demonic Flower Wine Monk.
Even though he defeated the Flower Wine Monk after a fierce battle, he let
the devil get on his knees and beg for mercy.

In the end he was careless and got caught by the Flower Wine Monk’s
sneak attack. The fourth head angrily executed the Flower Wine Monk, but
due to his own heavy injuries he died an untimely death.

This tragic incident had long since circulated until today, becoming a
popular story among the Gu Yue clan. However Fang Yuan knew that this
story was not to be believed, because it had a very large loophole.

In his previous life, a month later from now, a drunken Gu Master who had
been rejected by his lover lay down outside the village, so drunk he was like
a fish. In the end because of the overflowing smell of wine, it ended up
attracting a Liquor worm.

The Gu Master chased after the Liquor worm and found the remains of the
Flower Wine Monk in a secret underground cave, also finding the Flower
Wine Monk’s inheritance. This Gu Master quickly hurried back to the clan
and told them of the matter, causing a huge stir.

As the storm gradually subsided he also gained benefit from it – He

obtained the Liquor worm, his cultivation increased, the girl friend who
once abandoned him went back to his side and he became the talk of the
village for a while.

When stories are passed down generation by generation, it is normal to

change along the way. But in Fang Yuan’s memories, the story of
the Gu Master discovering the treasure seemed quite authentic, yet he had a
feeling that the story was hiding other truths.

“I was not aware of it at first, but in these few days while I searched and
analyzed on the side, I feel that something feels out of place.” The night
grew dark, and as Fang Yuan walked in the bamboo forest that grew around
the village, he reviewed through the clues he had so far in his head.

“If I put myself in his shoes and think about it, when I discover the Flower
Wine Monk’s treasure why would I not take it all for myself, but go and
notify the clan instead? Don’t even mention sense of clan honor, everyone
has greed in their hearts. What is it that would make that Gu Master betray
the greediness in his heart, even going as far as to be willing to abandon all
interest and profit, and report this finding to the clan’s top brass?”

The truth is always hidden inside the fog of history. Fang Yuan racked his
brains but he could not get the result. After all the clues he had were too
few. The only two clues he had could easily be true or false, so it could not
be fully relied upon.

Fang Yuan could not help but think of himself. “No matter what, after
buying this jar of green bamboo wine I only have 2 primeval stones left on
me. If I can’t find the treasure then I’ll be in grave trouble. Today shall be
considered the final gamble, it’s all or nothing!”

However he didn’t have enough primeval stones to refine a Gu worm in the

first place. So why not invest it in this wine and increase the chances of
success?
If it were in the case of other people, most of them would probably play it
safe and save up the primeval stones. But in the case of Fang Yuan, the
efficiency of doing so was too low. He would rather take the risk and
gamble.

You see, the people of the Demonic Faction love to take risks.

Right now, the night grew thicker, the spring moon shaped like a bow.
Clouds obscured the moonlight, as if coating the crescent moon with a thin
sheet of gossamer.

Because it just finished raining continuously for three days and three nights,
the turbid energy between the mountains had been washed away clean,
leaving behind the purest of freshness. This fresh air was pure like a piece
of white paper, and was more effective in spreading the wine aroma around.
That was the first reason why Fang Yuan was full of confidence tonight.

The previous seven days of searching was not without gain. At least it
proved that the Flower Wine Monk did not die in those places. This was the
second reason for Fang Yuan’s confidence.

In the bamboo forest the grass was luxuriant, the white flowers endless and
the green spear bamboo straight like a pencil, the forest resembling a clump
of jade rods.

Fang Yuan opened the jar seal, releasing a thick wine aroma instantly.
Green bamboo wine could be said as the Gu Yue Village’s number one
wine. This was the third reason for Fang Yuan’s confidence tonight.

“With these three big reasons gathering together, if I want to succeed it has
to be tonight!” Fang Yuan cheered in his heart as he slowly tilted the wine
jar, pouring a small stream of wine, dripping it onto a stone. If those bunch
of hunters saw this sight, they would have probably become insanely
distressed. This wine is worth 2 whole primeval stones after all…

But Fang Yuan was indifferent.

The fragrant aroma quickly spread out into the night. The breeze was
gentle, the faint aroma floating about and contaminating the bamboo forest.
Fang Yuan stood at his spot, smelling the aroma. He waited for a while, yet
he did not see any movement.

All he heard was a nightingale crying in the near distance, its sound like a
string of bells. His gaze was silent. He did not feel surprised, and he moved
away, walking to a spot a few hundred meters away.

In this place he did the same, pouring out a few drips of wine and waiting at
the spot.

He did the same thing over and over again, moving away to a few other
different locations, dripping wine a few times. After all that the green
bamboo wine in the jar was only left with a bit.

“This is the last time,” Fang Yuan sighed. He tipped the wine jar over, the
bottom facing the sky. All the remaining wine left in the jar flowed out. The
wine sprinkled over the grass, letting the green grass sway about. The wild
flowers were stained with wine, slightly lowering their heads.

Fang Yuan stood with the last shred of hope in his bosom, and gazed
around.

Right now the night was already very deep. A thick cloud had obscured the
moonlight. The dark shadows were like a curtain, covering the bamboo
grove. It was deadly silent all around, each strand of green spear bamboo
standing alone, leaving a trail of lines that were straight up and down in
Fang Yuan’s pupils.

He quietly stood at the spot, listening to his own clear breathing. Then he
felt the small hope that he carried in his chest, slowly dissipating away,
becoming nothing.

“It failed after all.” His heart muttered, “Today I had three great advantages
gathered together, yet I still failed, not even seeing the shadow of the Liquor
worm. This means that in future the rate of success will be lower. Right now
I only have two primeval stones left, and I still need to refine the
Moonlight Gu. I can’t risk it anymore.”

The end result of taking a risk was often unsatisfactory. But when the result
was ideal, the profit would be impressive. Fang Yuan liked taking risks, but
he was not a gambling addict, and he was not someone who was bent on
gambling back what he lost. He had his own limit, he was clear about his
own capabilities.

Right now, the five hundred years of life experience was telling him, it was
time to stop.

Sometimes life was like this. Often it was that there was that one goal that
seemed so perfect, filled with temptation. It seemed so near yet with so
many twists and turns, the goal was constantly unfulfilled. It made people
restless, thinking about it night and day.

“This is the helplessness of life, but it’s also the charm of living,” Fang
Yuan laughed bitterly, turning to walk away.

It was at this moment.

A gust of wind blew, like a gentle arm, lightly brushing away the clouds in
the night sky. The clouds floated away to reveal the hidden moon. The
crescent shaped moon hanging in the sky was like a white jade lamp,
pouring moonlight that was clear as water down onto the earth. The
moonlight spilled over the bamboo forest, spilled onto the mountain rock,
bathing onto the rivers and streams in the mountain, shedding onto Fang
Yuan’s body.

Fang Yuan was dressed in plain clothing; under the gentle touch of the
moonlight, his young face became fairer. The darkness seemed to fade away
in a flash, and taking its place was a field of snowy frost flowers. As if it
was infected by the moonlight, the nightingale began to sing once more, but
this time it was not just one, but many. Scattered among the bamboo grove,
they all tweeted in response.
At the same time, a type of insect that inhabited huge mountains, the
Dragonpill crickets that were active under moonlight started singing a
rustling song of life. They were critters that only came out in the night.
Their bodies emitted faint red light; at this moment they jumped out in
droves, each of their bodies flashing with the brilliance of a red agate.

At first glance, Fang Yuan thought that these Dragonpill crickets were like
jets of crimson water bouncing about, landing on the green grass and wild
flowers, prancing under the moonlight in the bamboo grove.

The bamboo forest was like a conscious pond, under the moonlight the
green jade colors of the spear bamboo flashed in the brilliance of light and
smooth jade. The enchanting sight of the dense trees and bright flowers in
spring, Mother Nature was showing Fang Yuan her immense beauty at this
moment.

Fang Yuan unconsciously stopped in his footsteps, feeling as if he was in a

heavenly land. He was already about to depart, but at this moment he
subconsciously looked around.

The clump of wild flowers and grass that he had poured the last dredges of
wine over trembled gently in the wind, remaining empty. Fang Yuan
laughed at himself and took back his line of sight.

However.

Unexpectedly in the process of turning away, he saw a dot of white snow.

This bead of snow was glued to a spear bamboo pole not far away. Under
the moonlight it was like a suspended round pearl.

Fang Yuan’s two pupils expanded fiercely, his body trembling slightly. His
heart dropped and started pumping faster each second.

It was the Liquor worm!

T/N Note: I promised 2 chapters on Friday but I ended up having to go to
work on both weekends, so sorry for the delay. I pumped this one out as
soon as I could!
 Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – In the mountain crevice hides a profound theory

The Liquor worm was shaped like a silkworm, its entire body giving out
pearl white light. It was a little chubby and had a cute appearance.

The Liquor worm fed on wine and could fly. When it flew around, it would
curl up into a ball, and its speed was very fast. Even though it was only a
Rank one Gu, but it was worth even more than a few Rank two Gu.

To make it into one’s vital Gu was way more beneficial than the
Moonlight Gu.

Right now the Liquor worm was glued to a bamboo pole merely 50-60 steps
away from Fang Yuan. He held his breath, not closing in rashly, but slowly
walking backwards.

He knew his distance was very near, but to really catch a Liquor worm
directly it was an incredibly difficult task for a Gu Master who just opened
the primeval aperture like him. You could say, there was totally no hope of
success.

Fang Yuan’s was unable to see the Liquor worm clearly, but in the darkness
he could feel the Liquor worm directing its vigilance at him. He slowly
backed away gently, trying his best not to disturb the Liquor worm.

He knew that if the Liquor worm was to fly away, he could never catch up
with his own speed. He needed to wait until the Liquor worm drank until it
was drunk, and then with its flying speed slowed down he would have a
chance to catch it.
Seeing Fang Yuan retreated further away, the Liquor worm crawling on the
bamboo pole stirred. The strong aroma of wine before it was so tempting,
so attracting, making the worm lost in a reverie. If it had saliva, it would
have long been drooling a pool of saliva around it.

But the Liquor worm was incredibly wary and vigilant. Only after Fang
Yuan retreated 200 steps back did it shrink a little and bounced into the air.
When it fluttered high in the air, its body curled up into a ball, looking like
a small and white rice dumpling. The little dumpling swept across the air in
a round arc, floating down onto the grass that was sprinkled with green
bamboo wine earlier.

With delicious food right before its eyes, the Liquor worm dropped its
guard. It impatiently climbed onto a flower bud filled with some wine and
popped its little head in, only leaving a chubby tail on the outside.

The Liquor worm was ravenous, and the green bamboo wine was so
delicious. It opened its mouth wide and inhaled, very quickly lost in the
deliciousness of its food, totally forgetting about Fang Yuan.

At this moment, Fang Yuan started to approach cautiously. He could see the
tail of the Liquor worm outside the flower bud. This tail was just like a
silkworm’s tail, chubby and rounded. The light it emitted made people think
of a pearl.

At first the Liquor worm’s tail was hanging outside, unmoving. Then after a
while this tail started to curl upwards, showing that it was drinking really
happily. At the end when Fang Yuan was only ten steps away, its tail started
wagging and swinging with a cheerful rhythm.

It was totally drunk!

Seeing this made Fang Yuan nearly laugh out. He did not continue walking
forward, but patiently waited. If he rushed over right now he would
definitely have a huge chance on catching the Liquor worm, but Fang
Yuan’s intention was to have this Liquor worm guide him to the Flower
Wine Monk’s remains.
In a moment the Liquor worm withdrew from the flower bud. Its body was
fatter and its head swayed about, resembling a drunken man. Unexpectedly
it did not realize Fang Yuan’s presence. It climbed up onto another bright
yellow flower and perched on the stamen, feeding heartily on the wine
droplets there.

This time after it had finished drinking, it finally felt full. Its body slowly
shrank into a round ball and slowly flew up. When it was 1.5 meters above
the ground, it leisurely flew in the direction of the deeper part of the
bamboo forest.

Fang Yuan quickly followed after its trail.

The Liquor worm was already heavily drunk, making it fly slower by half
of its usual speed. Even though this was the case, Fang Yuan still had to run
with all his might to follow after its shadow.

The night was washing past his vision as the young teenager ran in the
bamboo forest, chasing after a small bead of snow not far ahead.

The moonlight was gentle, the breeze slow and steady. In the bamboo forest
that was like a clear pond, the stalks of green spear bamboo flashed past
before his eyes, quickly falling behind him. The ground was a green carpet
of grass, riddled with blossoming wild flowers. There were small stones
with moss growing, and the yellow shoots of bamboo.

Fang Yuan’s faint shadow was also speeding ahead on the ground, passing
through the shadows that each stalk of bamboo cast on the earth like a black
line. He tightly kept his sight on the bead of snow, gulping in huge amounts
of fresh mountain air, ordering his legs to catch up in the midst of faint wine
aroma in the air.

Because of his speed, the moonlight looked like water to his eyes. Light and
shadow moved frequently, like he was galloping in water filled with
seaweed.

The Liquor worm flew out of the bamboo forest, and so did Fang Yuan. A
sea of white flowers with a yellow spot in the middle borrowed the wind
from his feet, scattering their petals. A group of Dragonpill crickets
resembling a flowing poem just so happened to move to the front; as Fang
Yuan dashed through there was a swoosh and a red cloud bloomed before
him, dispersing about a sea of red star fireflies that emerged from the cloud.

A quiet mountain stream paved with pebbles, the gurgling water surface
reflecting the spring moon in the night sky; with a few splashes Fang Yuan
waded across, creating thousands of silver coloured ripples.

It was a pity that this stream, after so many ages, had its beautiful and
precious stones trampled upon and broken.

Fang Yuan was in hot pursuit, firmly following behind the Liquor worm.
Going upward the mountain stream, he could already hear the sound of a
waterfall. After he turned around a sparse forest, he saw the Liquor worm
fly into a crevice in the middle of a boulder.

Fang Yuan’s eyes lit up and he stopped in his tracks.

“So it’s here.” He panted heavily, his heart beating against his chest like
mad. With this one stop he could feel his entire body covered in sweat, hot
air surging throughout his body accompanying his accelerating blood flow.

Looking around, he found that this place was a shallow benchland (1).

Pebbles of various sizes covered the ground, the river surface barely
covering over the small stones. There were also blocks of gray boulders
scattered freely in the area.

Behind Qing Mao Mountain was a huge waterfall. The flow of the waterfall
varied with the weather; it plummeted down to the earth, pounding out a
deep pool. Beside the deep pool was the Bai Clan Village, a clan with
powerful influence that was comparable to the Gu Yue village.

The waterfall branched out to many smaller branches, and it was apparent
that Fang Yuan was facing one of the many branches of a branch. On
normal occasions this benchland was dry, but due to the recent heavy
rainfall that went on for three days and three nights, a shallow stream
formed here.

The source of the flowing stream was from the huge boulder that the Liquor
worm had entered into earlier.

The boulder leaned against a vertical mountain wall. Small waterfalls that
branched away from the main waterfall were like silver pythons that flowed
down the mountain wall, hitting onto the boulder. After a considerably long
time the middle of this huge boulder had eroded away and formed a crevice.

At this time as the waterfall washed down, the water current gently roared.
It was like a white curtain, completely obstructing the gap in the boulder.

After observing his surroundings, Fang Yuan’s breathing was no longer

anxious. His eyes flashed with a hint of resolve; he walked to the boulder
and took in a deep breath, and then he rushed in headfirst.

The boulder gap was rather large, and two adult humans could walk side by
side in it with no problems. What more to say with Fang Yuan, who was
merely a 15-year-old teenage boy?

Once he rushed in, the rapid currents pressured down on Fang Yuan’s body.
At the same time the cold water quickly drenched him from head to toe.
Fang Yuan battled against the water pressure, moving in quick steps
forward. As he walked a few dozen steps, the water pressure started to
lessen.

But the space in the fissure also began to shrink, and Fang Yuan could only
walk sideways. His ears were filled with the roaring of the water, the top of
his head was a sheet of white, and deeper into the boulder was a black
darkness.

What was hiding in the darkness?

It could be a poisonous serpent, but it could also be a poisonous gecko.

Perhaps it was a trap set by the Flower Wine Monk, or perhaps it was
empty.
Fang Yuan could only continue forward by walking sideways, slowly
edging into the darkness. The water no longer washed over his head; the
stone walls were covered in moss, grazing against his skin, feeling slippery.
Soon he was swallowed by the darkness, and the stone crevice became
narrower, squeezing around him. Gradually even his skull could not rotate
freely. Still Fang Yuan gritted his teeth and continued forward.

After walking another twenty more steps, he realized that there was a red
shade of light in the darkness. At first, he thought it was an illusion. But
when he blinked and focused, he began to confirm that this was indeed
light!

This realization made him renew his spirit.

He continued walking for another fifty to sixty steps, the red light growing
brighter. In his eyes the light slowly expanded into a long, vertical and fine
seam.

He stretched out his left arm, suddenly feeling that the wall in front had
bent away. Instantly he rejoiced, knowing that there was an enclosed space
inside the huge boulder. With another few steps he finally rushed into this
light seam.

His eyes were greeted with the sight of an approximately 80meters² wide
enclosure.

“I have been walking for so long. With this distance I’d have long passed
the boulder, so I should be in the heart of the mountain cliff right now.” As
he sized up this hidden space, he moved his hands and legs about, stretching
his limbs.

The entire room was filled with dim red light, but he could not tell where
the light was coming from. The stone walls were damp and covered in
moss, but the air here was very dry. On the walls there was also a few
withering vines. The vines intertwined with each other, weaving across half
of the wall surface. There were even a few withering flowers growing on
the vines.
Fang Yuan looked at the remnants of these flowers and leaves, feeling
somewhat familiar.

“These are Wine Sack Flower Gu, and Rice Pouch Grass Gu.” Suddenly a
thought had crossed his mind and he was able to recognize these withering
stems and vines.

Gu came in many shapes and forms. Some were like mineral rocks such as
the blue crystal form of the Moonlight Gu. Some came in the forms of
worms, such as the silkworm-like Liquor worm. There were also flowery
grassy types, just like the Wine Sack Flower Gu and the Rice Pouch
Grass Gu before Fang Yuan.

These two types of Gu were Rank one natural Gu. Just with pouring in
primeval essence would they be able to grow. After growing up the middle
of the flower would secrete flower nectar wine, and the grass pouch would
grow out fragrant rice.

Fang Yuan moved his line of sight along the vines, and sure enough he
discovered a heap of withered roots gathered into a ball-shaped clump at a
corner. The Liquor worm was resting on the clump of dead roots, sleeping
soundly. It was already within easy reach.

Fang Yuan walked over and took the Liquor worm into his arms. Then he
got onto his knees and pulled the dead vines apart, discovering a pile of
skeleton bones bundled inside.

“I’ve finally found you, Flower Wine Monk.” There was a smile on his lips
as he saw this.

Just as he was about to reach his hand out and strip away the remaining
vines, suddenly-

“Try touching it?” A voice full of murderous intent suddenly sounded

behind Fang Yuan.
 Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – History is written by the victorious

In this secret cave, someone’s voice loomed behind all of a sudden.

Even when it came to Fang Yuan he could feel the hairs on the back of his
neck standing, his scalp numb.

He had been followed!

Could it be that him repeatedly going out these few days had aroused the
suspicion and attention of people?

Or was it someone sent by his uncle?

In his mind he even thought of the Rank one Gu Master that he encountered
in the inn, the young man called Jiang Ya.

In that short moment his mind flashed countless ideas and guesses, in
addition to thinking of a solution.

Fang Yuan could feel that in the short sentence, it was full of deep
murderous intent. This made him secretly groan – He was only a Rank one
initial stage right now, and he did not even have a vital Gu. To a Gu Master
this was the equivalent of having zero fighting ability, how was he supposed
to fight?

“Too weak, too weak!” He roared in his head.

“You have already been poisoned by my Single Gate Poison Gu. Without
my other Gu that acts as the counterpart to it, after seven days you will turn
into pus and blood and die,” the voice said behind him.
Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, his expression cold. He said in a low tone, “You
want the Liquor worm? I can give it to you.”

He slowly stood up, his actions careful. But at this moment, another voice
appeared. This voice was full of fear, and said in a tremble, “ I’ll give it, I
can give you anything, please just spare my life, O Flower Wine Monk!”

“Wait a minute, this is…” Fang Yuan frowned and suddenly turned around
in realization. He was met with the sight of light and shadow changing and
fluctuating on the wall in front of him, a picture emerging.

A lean and threatening Gu Master was standing at the top of a mountain;

there was another Gu Master prostrating before him. Around the
two Gu Masters was a collapsed pit, fragments and chunks of stone littering
the area, showing the obvious scene of a fierce battle that just ended.

Not far away from them was a group of old onlookers, their faces filled
with anger and fear.

In the middle of the scene, the victorious Gu Master lifted his head upwards
and laughed loudly. “Ha ha ha, Gu Yue’s hero, cultivating to Rank five at
such a young age. I thought you were quite something at first, but I didn’t
expect you to be so unbearable. Hmph!”

The laughing Gu Master had long and thin eyes. He was dressed in long
pink robes, his huge and wide sleeves swaying with the wind. The area
where his robes intersected around his neck was loose and wide open,
revealing his strong and pale chest muscles. The most eye-catching part of
him was his bald head, shining without a single strand of hair.

“The Flower Wine Monk!” Fang Yuan immediately recognized the identity
of this Gu Master.

“To compare myself to Sir Flower Wine, I’m just a fart! I must have been
unwell in the head, to actually not recognize such a great person and
offended Sir Flower Wine. Sir Flower Wine, please remember my clan’s
generous hospitality earlier and spare my life!” The Gu Master prostrating
on the ground was shaking, cold sweat all over, tears and mucus mixing as
he begged for mercy.

Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes and carefully distinguished the two, realizing
that the other Gu Master was wearing the Gu Yue clan head uniform.
Looking at the appearance, it was clear that this person was the fourth
generation clan leader!

As for those aged onlookers, they were probably the clan elders of that
generation.

“Hehe, generous hospitality? You sure have the guts to say it! I was actually
sincere in coming to trade with you, using primeval stones to buy your
clan’s moon orchids with a fair price. It was you who was harboring evil
intentions, pretending to greet and take me in, telling me to take a seat at
your banquet, intending to lace my liquor with a poisonous Gu. You all
have been looking down on me way too much, I have made a living under
the sky with the name of Flower Wine, how could I possibly be poisoned
this way?”

The Flower Wine Monk pointed at the kneeling fourth generation clan
leader, sneering, “If you cooperated fairly none of this would have
happened. In the end you just wanted to use my head to raise your
reputation and fame, you only have yourself to blame for dying!”

“Sir, please spare my worthless life!” The fourth generation clan head
shouted in dismay, his knees scraping against the ground, he quickly
crawled over to the Flower Wine Monk’s feet and hugged against his thigh.

“Sir, my clan has a spirit spring which produces primeval stones, we also
planted huge numbers of moon orchids in an underground cave. I am
willing to take in your Enslavement Gu and become your servant, my life
and death are at a whim, I am willing to devote a lifelong servitude to you
sir!”

Fang Yuan watched speechlessly, while the few elders in the picture looked
even more uncertain.
The Flower Wine Monk narrowed his eyes, his anger had already calmed
down. His eyes flashed and he said, “Hmph, the Enslavement Gu is
precious beyond reasoning, it is a Rank five Gu, do you really think I would
have one? However you have been infected by my Single Gate Poison Gu,
only I can cure the poison so I’m not afraid of you disobeying. Since that is
the case, your clan has to give me 3,000 stalks of moon orchids every week,
also 3,000 primeval stones. I will come around every now and then to pick
up the goods and temporarily cure your poison, sparing your useless life.”

“Thank you so much for your mercy, sir! Thank you so much for your
mercy, sir!” The fourth generation clan head cried repeatedly, kowtowing
non-stop. His head bled continuously as it bumped against the mountain
rock.

“Hmph, stop kowtowing, I despise groveling people like you the most!
What so called Gu Yue genius, strong Rank five fighter, how unworthy of
your name. You better serve me properly. This is also regarding your life…
Urgh!” The Flower Wine Monk suddenly cried out, his face making a
horrified expression.

He kicked away the fourth generation clan head with his leg, his body
swaying. He frantically backtracked a few big steps, yelling at the fourth
generation clan head, “How do you still have Gu?”

The fourth generation clan head was kicked at the pit of his stomach and he
spat out a mouthful of blood. He got up with a painstaking effort, his face
revealing a scheming smile. “Heh heh heh, anybody has the right to punish
people of the Demonic Faction! This Gu is called Moonshadow, it is the
best at hiding. Even though it is only Rank four, but it has the ability to
restrict the usage of the primeval sea and primeval essence. Demon, you
and I have been fighting fiercely, you don’t have many Gu on you anymore,
how could you possibly restrain the Moonshadow Gu? Just obediently
surrender and become my servant, as long as you serve me until I am
happy, you will still have a chance to live!”

The Flower Wine Monk flew into a rage and roared, “To hell with you!!”
His voice had barely faltered away when his body surged forward like a
bolt of electricity, a punch landing onto the fourth generation clan head’s
heart.

The fourth generation clan leader did not expect the Flower Wine Monk to
be so radical; even if his primeval sea was threatened, the Flower Wine
Monk was unwilling to compromise. A huge force came and he flew into
the air, his body falling onto the ground like a broken sack.

Thump.

He spouted out a huge mouthful of fresh blood, the red liquid mingled with
countless bits of internal organs.

“Have you gone mad, we could have totally settled this over a
discussion…” He stared daggers at the Flower Wine Monk, his lips moving
with great effort. His sentence went unfinished, for his legs gave way and
his head crooked to the side. He died.

“Clan head!”
“Men of the Demonic path are all insane.”
“Kill him, kill this demon. Avenge the clan leader!”

“He has been inflicted by the Moonshadow Gu, he can’t just simply use his
primeval essence anymore, over a time even his primeval essence will be
threatened.”

The elders who were watching at the sidelines all roared in fury and
swarmed the area.

“Ha ha ha, all those who are looking for death, come!” The Flower Wine
Monk cried into the air. Facing the elders charging at him, he rushed at
them headfirst.

A fierce battle ensued and the Flower Wine Monk quickly had the upper
hand. Very soon all the elders had collapsed onto the ground, some of them
injured and the rest dead. Just as the Flower Wine Monk was about to finish
off the surviving elders, his facial expression suddenly changed and he
covered a hand over his abdomen. “Damn!”

“I’ll come back in future to deal with you lot,” said the Flower Wine Monk.
He stared daggers at a few of the elders and his body moved like electricity
as he fled into the mountain woods, disappearing without a trace in the
blink of an eye.
 Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Taking as much as possible that one can take

“Try touching it?”

“You have already been poisoned by my Single Gate Poison Gu. Without my
other Gu that acts as the counterpart to it, after seven days you will turn
into pus and blood and die.”

“To compare myself to Sir Flower Wine, I’m just a fart! I must have been
unwell in the head, to actually not recognize such a great person and
offended Sir Flower Wine. Sir Flower Wine, please remember my clan’s
generous hospitality earlier and spare my life!”

The scene replayed itself over for the second time on the wall. Fang Yuan
remained silent; when the motion picture started to repeat itself for the third
time he finally sighed faintly and said, “I see.”

This method of leaving a moving picture with sound on the wall was
probably the Flower Wine Monk’s doing with the help of a Photo-audio Gu.
This Gu was able to record down imagery and project it out later.

The Photo-audio Gu fed on light and sound to survive. For some unknown
reason this secret cave emitted red light, while at the same time the stone
crevice was connected to the outside world, so it would not completely
isolate the sounds outside. Right now Fang Yuan could still hear the roaring
of the smaller waterfalls. Thus the Photo-audio Gu was able to live on in
this secret cave.

A moment ago when Fang Yuan ripped away the withered vines, he had
probably alarmed the Photo-audio Guhiding in the stone wall. As long as
one is not stupid, with mere guesswork one could tell that this moving
image was authentic.

Back then, the fourth generation clan head tried to plot against the Flower
Wine Monk but he failed. After he lost in the battle he tried a sneak attack;
even though it repelled away the latter, he eventually died because of it.
This part of history was considered disgraceful, and the remaining surviving
clan elders decided to tamper with the truth.

They reversed the roles of the fourth generation clan head and the Flower
Wine Monk.

The Flower Wine Monk became the one who was defeated in battle and
tried a sneak attack, and later died on the spot. On the other hand, the fourth
generation leader was turned into the justified and perfect hero.

But this story itself had a big loophole – The Flower Wine Monk had
clearly died on the spot, so his corpse should be in the hands of the Gu Yue
clan, but why was another pile of remains found?

In his previous life, the Gu Master who found it had probably been terrified
after seeing the moving image. Those surviving elders had long been dead,
but to prevent the truth of the Flower Wine Monk from returning, this truth
was probably kept secret by the top brass of the clan.

That Gu Master realized that if he single handedly took the treasure it

would be a huge risk. If people investigated and found that he was involved
with the Flower Wine Monk in future, the top brass would naturally execute
him. Thus after making his choice, he did not dare to hide away this
treasure, but instead make a decision to notify the top brass.

By doing so it would prove his loyalty to the clan. His subsequent

circumstances would also show that he made a wise choice.

However even if he did that, it didn’t mean that Fang Yuan would do the
same.
“I went through a pretty rough time searching for this treasure, so I should
take everything for myself. Why should I share it with others? So what if
I’ve been found out? Without braving the risks, where would you get profit?
That Gu master is really cowardly,” Fang Yuan smiled coldly, no longer
caring about the moving image that kept repeating on the stone wall. He
turned around and stretched his hand, using his strength to pull apart the
dead vines and roots.

The Flower Wine Monk’s remains were also affected. It was originally
intact, but right now it was being broken into several pieces. Fang Yuan
could hardly care; he kicked away a piece of leg bone that was in the way
and squatted again, searching through the remains.

Firstly he found a bag of primeval stones. When he opened them he only

found fifteen pieces.

“Old miser,” Fang Yuan spat. The Flower Wine Monk’s outer appearance
looked flashy, but unexpectedly he only had so little money put aside.

However he quickly thought of the reason – The Flower Wine Monk went
through a fierce battle, add on to the fact that he got tainted by the
Moonshadow Gu, so he would definitely have used primeval stones to heal
his injuries. To be able to leave behind fifteen pieces was actually not bad
already.

After that he found a few dead Gu remains. Most of them were flower and
grass variety, and had all completely withered away. Gu are also living
creatures, so they also need food to survive, and most of them are picky.
Though the grass Gu and flower Gu need less food, but in this secret cave
there was not even a single ray of sunshine.

And after that…

After that, there was nothing.

The Flower Wine Monk was on the same level as the fourth generation clan
leader. After fighting a fierce battle, he fought with around ten elders right
after. His own Gu were mostly consumed, and up to this stage as he wanted
to heal his injuries, he grew the Wine Sack Flower Gu and the Rice Pouch
Grass Gu here. Yet in the end because of the Moonshadow Gu he was
dragged to death.

After three hundred year, the Gu in his possession also died away. The only
ones left were the Photo-audio Guon the wall and the Liquor worm.

This Liquor worm was probably reliant on the Wine Sack Flower Gu and
barely lived through until today. But as the Wine Sack Flower Gu withered
away one by one, it also lost its food supply.

This prompted the Liquor worm to go outside and look for wild Wine Sack
Flowers. Then in this night, it was attracted by the aroma of the green
bamboo wine and came before Fang Yuan.

“The Photo-audio Gu can only record once, since it’s a one-time use Gu.
Looks like the Liquor worm is my greatest gain here, no wonder
that Gu Master decided to report to the clan. Looks like it was because the
profit was too small, and not worth such a huge risk.” A sort of
understanding rose into Fang Yuan’s heart.

In his memories, that Gu Master was already Rank three, while the Liquor
worm was just a Rank one Gu. To Fang Yuan it was more precious, but to
that Gu Master it was pretty much nothing.

However it was clear that due to his report, the clan gave him a big reward.

“Should I also tell the clan?” Fang Yuan thought for a moment, then he
pushed away this idea.

The Flower Wine Monk’s treasure seemed to be just the Liquor worm and
the primeval stones, but that was not the case. The most valuable thing was
actually the wall that hid the Photo-audio Gu. In other words, it was the
moving image that did not stop repeating on the wall.

This image could entirely be sold to other villages. Trust in the fact that the
top brass of the two other villages on Qing Mao Mountain must be very
interested in this sort of evidence that could strike hard onto the conviction
of a clan.

What?
You said something about a sense of loyalty and honour to the clan?
I’m so sorry, Fang Yuan does not have one bit of that.

Moreover this moving image isn’t even some kind of strong force that can
destroy the entire clan; it won’t do much substantial damage. The
indifferent nature of the clan will also not look at Fang Yuan with
importance. He needed to rely on his own hard work and find cultivation
resources, in the early stage of cultivation he needed to borrow the powers
around him more.

“Count on the clan? Heh heh.” Fang Yuan sneered in his heart, “How can I
be so naïve like my past life.”

Do not depend on anyone; you must rely on yourself on everything in this

world.

After making sure that he had ransacked every corner of the cave, Fang
Yuan began his way back following the original road home.

Holding against the water pressure and squeezing past the boulder, he
returned outside the mountain. Looking back at this huge boulder, Fang
Yuan suddenly thought of his past life. It was said that the remains were
found in an underground secret cave. But how was this place underground?
It was clearly in the inside of the mountain wall.

No wonder he couldn’t find it for seven days straight even though he

wasted so much effort. Looks like in his past life after the clan found out
about this place, the first thing they did was to destroy the wall with the
image, and then go about spreading a truth riddled with lies to mislead the
clanspeople.

To be able to find this place tonight was partly due to luck, partly due to
hard work, and the biggest reason would be the green bamboo wine.
This green bamboo wine was really rich, it could be said to be the best in
Qing Mao Mountain. Perhaps in his past life, after that Gu Master lost his
lover, the wine that he had been drinking was this wine.

But all of this was no longer important. The Flower Wine Monk’s treasure
had been unearthed and ransacked by Fang Yuan; although in the end it was
rather disappointing, it was also reasonable. The most important was that
Fang Yuan’s original goal (Liquor worm) was in his hands, and the item he
needed the most (primeval stones) was also gotten.

“Next up, I will need to set my heart on holing myself in the inn refining
this Gu. As long as I have a vital Gu I can return to the academy and be
qualified to stay in the academy dormitories. I’ll also be able to borrow the
clan resources to cultivate. I can only stay in this inn for one or two times; if
I stay too long the cost is too much.” Fang Yuan pondered, his footsteps
never ceasing as he hurried back to the village.

He was originally left with two primeval stones, but now he gained fifteen
pieces, so the total is seventeen pieces. But to a Gu Master, this small
amount of primeval stones mean nothing.
 Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Starting to refine the Liquor worm

“With my C grade talent, the amount of my primeval sea in the aperture is

only 44%. The speed of Gu using up primeval essence is way faster than
my own recovery rate. If I want to refine a Gu I would need to borrow
external help, which means I need to waste primeval stones.”

“The weaker the Gu’s will, the smaller the resistance, the easier it becomes
for me to refine it. However any living creature will always have the will to
live. To refine the Moonlight Gu I would at least require five primeval
stones, at the most I’d need eight pieces.”

“Right now to refine the Liquor worm, I would need at least eleven pieces,
at the most I would need sixteen pieces.” Although the Liquor worm was
also a Rank one Gu like the Moonlight Gu, but it was definitely rarer. Thus
the difficulty of the refinement process also increased.

In other words, even though right now Fang Yuan had seventeen primeval
stones, but just to refine the Liquor worm he would at most be left with six
pieces, or at least one primeval stone.

In the night, the bright crescent gave off clear and pure moonlight. The
moonlight was like the lady saint’s gentle hand, lightly stroking over the Gu
Yue Village. Along the way the bamboo houses were like jade, standing in
great numbers. The night breeze blew slowly.

Under this moonlight, Fang Yuan found his way back to the inn. The inn
door had already closed. Fang Yuan banged on the door.

“I hear you! I hear you! Who is it, knocking on the door at this late time…”
The inn worker grumbled as he opened the door, his eyes puffy from sleep.
But when he saw Fang Yuan standing at the door, all the displeasure and
sleepiness from his expression changed, and he bent his waist and said with
a flattering smile,” “Ah, it’s his young lordship. This little one is very lucky
to be able to open the door for his lordship.”

Fang Yuan nodded his head, his expression cold with indifference, and
walked into the inn.

His expression made the worker laugh in a more humble manner, and he
took the initiative to ask, “My lord, are you hungry? Would you like me to
notify the kitchens and make some small dishes for you as supper?”

“No need,” Fang Yuan shook his head and only ordered, “ Go and prepare
some hot water for me, I would like to wash myself.”

“Yes!” The worker immediately nodded, “My lord, go on to your room first.
I guarantee you, the hot water will be sent over immediately.”

Fang Yuan let out a noise of approval and went up the stairs, heading
towards the second floor. The worker watched Fang Yuan’s back, his two
eyes glittering in the light, revealing an expression of jealousy.

“This is a Gu Master, oh if only I had the talent to cultivate, how good that
would be!” He shook his fists, sighing deeply. These words floated into
Fang Yuan’s ears and he smiled bitterly in his heart.

A Gu Master had the power to transcend mortals, becoming a man above

men, but in this process the price that was to be paid was also very high.

The first difficult problem was financial resources. A Gu Master needed

primeval stones to cultivate, battles also required primeval stones,
refining Gu also needed primeval stones, trading was also not an exception.

Without primeval stones, how could cultivation be possible?

This point was a difficult position that, being an ordinary mortal who
watched from the sidelines, the inn worker would not understand.
Just like earlier in the evening, the young Gu Master Jiang Ya vented his
anger and displeasure on the hunters when he dropped their wine jars. His
meaning was – He himself could not bear to spend primeval stones to drink
this green bamboo wine, yet these hunters who were just ordinary men
actually had such money to spare!

To take a glimpse at the whole picture, just that meaning alone could tell a
lot about the cultivation situation of a Gu Master. The strength of
a Gu Master was great, they achieved more than a common mortal, but the
price was also great. Many a time using every single piece of primeval
stone needed great consideration, especially when it came to lower
ranked Gu Masters. Do not be fooled by the glorious surface; in reality the
life of a GuMaster is constantly strained by money.

“Not to mention, as the realm of a Gu Master increases, the resources they

require also increase. Without proper backing it is very difficult for
a Gu Master’s road to cultivation.” Fang Yuan thought of his previous life
and had deep understanding of this reality.

He returned to his room. Just after he lit the lamp, the inn worker came up
with a basin of hot water. Of course, there were cloth towels and other
toiletries.

Fang Yuan let the worker leave and closed the room door. He put down the
door latch, washed himself and got up to his bed.

Although his body was feeling a little tired, his heart still flared with a surge
of excitement. “I finally got my hands on the Liquor worm. The Liquor
worm is rarer than the Moonlight Gu, because in a sense it is a Gu that
increase a Gu Master’s latent talent!”

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the Liquor worm. The
Liquor worm was still sleeping soundly. Its body size was slightly bigger
than the Moonlight Gu, soft and white like a silkworm.

Under the light its body was shrouded in a layer of faint wavering light, just
like a pearl’s mellow luster. Two little eyes resembling two black sesame
seeds were mounted on its chubby white head, making it appear charmingly
naïve.

Placed in his hand, it was not heavy. Its weight was about half a chicken
egg. When smelling it carefully, its body exuded a whiff of wine aroma.
This fragrance was not the aroma of green bamboo wine but the Liquor
worm’s own fragrance. The smell was faint and misty, as if it was not there.
Fang Yuan’s nose twitched as he inhaled the fragrance of the Liquor worm.

The wine fragrance moved straight downwards into the aperture, entering
into the green copper primeval sea. The primeval sea surged and rippled for
a moment, quickly absorbing in the wine. A gleam of pure and refined
primeval essence was produced.

The other primeval essence had an emerald green color, shining with a
metallic copper luster. However this primeval essence was a pale green, and
it was more condensed than the original primeval essence. This was the
primeval essence that a Rank one middle stage Gu Master could produce.

Aware of this gleam of pale green primeval essence in his green copper sea,
Fang Yuan revealed a satisfied smile. “Right now my cultivation base is just
that of a Rank one initial stage. But with the Liquor worm’s condensing,
after the primeval essence is refined I will be able to have Rank one middle
realm primeval essence. The beauty of this benefit is something that cannot
be said in one or two sentences.”

But very soon, he took back his smile. “However right now I have yet to
fully master the Liquor worm. It is only when I refine the Liquor worm and
turn it into my vital Gu, then I will be able to freely use it and later on with
maximum efficiency, refine my primeval essence.”

Thinking up to this point, he no longer hesitated and began to draw out a jet
of green copper primeval essence from his primeval sea. The primeval
essence tightly wrapped around the Liquor worm, bringing it into the air
before Fang Yuan, and started to invade its body.

The Liquor worm felt its life at danger and woke up immediately. It began
to struggle violently, using its own power to drive out Fang Yuan’s primeval
essence.

“This Liquor worm has a really strong resistance.” Fang Yuan’s complexion
turned grave as he felt the consumption rate of his primeval essence go
beyond more than double of what the Moonlight Gu had consumed.

“No matter what, I have to refine the Liquor worm.” His two eyes flashed
with a firm light as he continued pouring primeval essence into the Liquor
worm.

In the room, the candles on the table quietly burned, shining a bright light in
the middle of the room while the far corners of the walls were dark. The
candlelight radiated on Fang Yuan’s face but he had already closed his eyes,
gathering all his focus onto the Liquor worm.

A continuous jet of green-copper coloured primeval essence that resembled

a jet of mist emitted out from Fang Yuan’s whole body, then it gathered
together and firmly wrapped around the Liquor worm. The Liquor worm
hovered in the air, its distance less than a feet away from Fang Yuan’s face.
It struggled with all its might in the midst of the green copper primeval
essence.

Time slipped away quietly.

As the candles burned they became smaller and the light grew dimmer. The
crescent outside the window had slowly gone down, and then a new day
arrived.

The morning light squeezed through the narrow crack in the window and
shone into the room. It was like the window had a light edge.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes and looked at the Liquor worm in front of him.
The Liquor worm’s white body had a shade of green colour. This was the
result of Fang Yuan’s effort after half a night. However it was clear that this
volume of green colour was not even 1% of the Liquor worm’s body.

Fang Yuan’s face looked grave. This Liquor worm’s will was way too
tenacious and its resistance was incredibly strong; simply put this was
beyond a Rank one Gu’s boundary.

“This Gu was most probably the Flower Wine Monk’s vital Gu. The Flower
Wine Monk was a Rank five master, so this Liquor worm was originally
Rank five, but because it went through all those years without enough food,
pretty much full in one moment and starving in the next, so its grade also
fell. Right now it is left at the level of Rank one, yet its will is still as tough
as a rock!”

Fang Yuan had guessed the truth.

This Liquor worm was originally the Flower Wine Monk’s vital Gu. Its
original will had been wiped clean and refined to the end; it had
accompanied the Flower Wine Monk throughout all his battles, passing
through the underground world.

After the Flower Wine Monk died, his strong will continued existing in the
Liquor worm. Right now with Fang Yuan trying to refine the Liquor worm,
it actually meant fighting against the Flower Wine Monk’s will.

This was way more difficult than trying to refine a natural Gu.

A human’s will is generally stronger than a natural Gu. When facing death
humans were able to produce strength that even they themselves could not
imagine. Not to mention that the Flower Wine Monk was a master of the
Demonic faction. He came and went by himself, going up and down the
underground world. His will was more tenacious than the masters of his
level from the Righteous faction.

“To refine this Liquor worm in a month is impossible, unless there is a

strong master who can use a Rank two or Rank three Gu’s breath to
pressure this Liquor worm and suppress the will inside the worm’s body to
the lowest limit. Under this kind of help then will I be able to do twice as
much with half the effort.” As he pondered, Fang Yuan could not help but
sigh.

His parents had died while his aunt and uncle were plotting against him. He
himself did not have any backing, so where could he possibly find external
aid?

If he had A grade talent there might still be a chance, but he was only a C
grade talent. Everyone in the clan were not optimistic about him, so who
would be willing to expend such energy to come and help him?

More crucially, he could not expose the existence of the Liquor worm.

There was no Liquor worm in the Gu Yue Village, and Fang Yuan was not
able to explain about the origins of this Liquor worm. If it was exposed,
there was a huge possibility that the top brass would find out and link it to
the case of the Flower Wine Monk. It was too easy to think of a relationship
between the two.

“Based on this fact, seventeen primeval stones will not be enough. I’d need
at least thirty primeval stones! How troublesome, but no matter how hard it
is I will still want to refine this Liquor worm.” Fang Yuan’s own will was
like metal, and he was already determined to refine the Liquor worm.

The importance of the vital Gu was huge. It would greatly influence the
future of a Gu Master’s cultivation direction. Although the Liquor worm
was not the world’s best choice for a vital Gu, it was still much better than
the Moonlight Gu. It was also the best option in Fang Yuan’s present
situation.

Growl…

At this moment Fang Yuan’s stomach came up with a cry of protest.

After a whole night without sleep and putting full effort into refining the
Liquor worm, Fang Yuan was naturally hungry.

“I guess I’ll go and fill my stomach first and think of a way to accumulate
primeval stones.” Fang Yuan rubbed his belly and went downstairs. He
went to the cafeteria and picked a seat at the corner, ordering a few kinds of
breakfast dishes.
Just as he was beginning to eat, his younger brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng
appeared.

“Big brother, why are you staying at the inn, why didn’t you go back home
and sleep last night?” His brother was very straightforward, his tone
carrying the implication that it was demanding for an explanation.

T/N: I am reworking the measurements a little, it used to be 4 by 4, but I’m

starting to realize its something like 4 x 4. The measurements in this novel
regarding the sea volume and aperture are just pretty confusing to me, even
the people I asked were a little unsure. But I’m slowly getting an idea of it.

Apologies for the confusion!

Edit 2: All measurements regarding aperture and sea are changed to %, 4 by

4 / 4 x 4 is now 44%. Confirmed.
 Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Let the past disperse away like smoke

Faced with his brother’s question, Fang Yuan did not speak; he continued
eating his breakfast. He knew his younger brother’s character – Fang Zheng
was not someone who could keep in his composure.

Sure enough Fang Zheng saw that his older brother did not even bat an eye
at him, as if Fang Yuan pretended he was air. In the next moment he called
out in a tone full of unhappiness, “Big brother, what did you do to Shen
Cui? Ever since she came out from your room yesterday, she cried all over
the place. When I comforted her, she cried even more.”

Fang Yuan looked up at his younger brother, his face expressionless. Fang
Zheng frowned, staring firmly at his older brother, waiting for his reply.

The atmosphere was growing tense.

But Fang Yuan just looked at him for a second before he lowered his head
and continued eating.

The younger brother Fang Zheng was immediately flustered. Fang Yuan’s
attitude was clearly an undisguised contempt towards him. Under shame
and frustration he banged his hand on the table, roaring loudly, “Gu Yue
Fang Yuan, how can you act like this! Shen Cui as a servant girl has served
you for so many years; I have seen her gentleness and care towards you.
Yes, I know you feel lost, and I can understand your dejected feelings. Yeah
you’re just a C grade talent, but it doesn’t mean you can vent your anger on
others just because of your own misfortune. This isn’t fair to her!”

He had barely finished when Fang Yuan stood up, raising his hand in a
flash.
Slap!

With a loud snap he gave Fang Zheng a solid smack.

Fang Zheng covered his right cheek, stumbling two steps backwards, his
face full of shock.

“Useless bastard, what kind of tone are you using to talk to your own older
brother?! That Shen Cui is just a servant girl! Just because of a lowly girl
like her you would forget that I am your older brother?” Fang Yuan
reprimanded in a low voice.

Fang Zheng finally reacted, his stinging pain on his face surging through his
nervous system in waves. He stared wide-eyed, his breathing rough as he
said in disbelief, “Big brother, you hit me? From the time I was still young
until I grew up, you have never hit me before! Yes, I was found out to be an
A grade talent, you were just C grade. But you also cannot blame me for it,
this is all the arrangement of heaven…”

Slap!

Fang Zheng had not finished speaking, yet Fang Yuan used the back of his
hand and smacked him again.

Fang Zheng covered both his cheeks with his two hands. He was stunned.

“Naïve fool, do you still remember! From young till now, how did I take
care of you? When our parents died, our life was hard. During New Year,
aunt and uncle only gave us both one new robe, did I wear it? Who did I
give it to wear? When you were small you loved to eat sweet porridge, I
would tell the kitchens to make another bowl for you everyday. When you
were bullied by others, who brought you back? Not to mention a ton of
other things, I don’t feel like it is worth talking about. Well, right now
because of a maid, you would talk to me like this, coming to question me?”

Fang Zheng’s face was red. His lips trembled, ashamed and annoyed, as
well as surprised and angry. Yet he was unable to say a single word of
rebuttal.
Because everything Fang Yuan said was the truth!

“Whatever.” Fang Yuan sneered, “Since you even gave up your own
biological parents and admitted someone else, what am I worth to you, as
merely your big brother?”

“Big brother, how can you say that. You also know that I have always
longed for the warmth of a family since I was young, I…” Fang Zheng
immediately explained.

Fang Yuan waved his hand, stopping his brother from continuing. “From
today onwards, you are not my little brother, and I am no longer your older
brother.”

“Big brother!” Fang Zheng was surprised, opening his mouth to say more.

At this moment Fang Yuan spoke, “Don’t you like Shen Cui? Don’t worry; I
didn’t do anything to her. She’s still a virgin, untouched and pure. Pass me
six primeval stones and I’ll pass her to you, from today onwards she can be
your personal maid.”

“Big brother, why are you…” To have his inner thoughts revealed out loud
so suddenly, Fang Zheng felt a surge of panic, feeling rather unprepared.

But at the same time his heart was assured. The one thing he was worried
about the most did not come true.

Not long ago in the night, Shen Cui personally served and washed him.

Even though nothing important happened, Fang Zheng could not ever forget
the gentleness of that night. Every time when he thought of Shen Cui, he
would remember her skillful hands and her soft red lips, and his heart
would throb.

The sincere feelings of youthfulness had long planted itself in the young
man’s chest, starting to grow.

Thus when he learned about Shen Cui’s unusual state last evening, a bout of
anger immediately burst from his heart. He instantly gave up refining his
Moonlight Gu and turned the village inside out trying to find Fang Yuan,
wanting to make a statement.

Seeing Fang Zheng not replying, Fang Yuan frowned and said, “Love is
very normal, be more honest. There’s no use hiding away. Of course, if you
don’t want to exchange, then that’s fine.”

Fang Zheng was anxious on the spot. “I’ll exchange! Why would I not
exchange. But the primeval stones on me are not enough for six anymore.”

As he said this, he took out his money pouch, his face red all over.

Fang Yuan took the pouch and found six pieces in it, but one of the stones
among them was smaller than a normal primeval stone by half size. He
immediately knew that Fang Zheng had absorbed the primeval essence
from this stone to speed up the process of refining his Moonlight Gu. After
all the more natural essence gets absorbed from the primeval stone, the
smaller the stone becomes, and its weight will also become lighter.

Even though it was just five pieces and a half, Fang Yuan knew: These were
all the primeval stones that Fang Zheng had in his possession right now.
Fang Zheng had no savings on his own, and these six primeval stones were
what Aunt and Uncle had given to him not long ago.

“I’ll keep these, you can go now.” Fang Yuan’s expression was cold as he
tucked the bag away.

“Big brother…” Fang Zheng wanted to say more.

Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly, speaking in a slow and leisure
manner, “Before I change my mind, you better disappear from my eyes.”

Fang Zheng felt his heart tighten. He gritted his teeth, and finally turned and
left. When he stepped through the doorway of the inn, he subconsciously
covered his chest with his hand, feeling a wave of uneasiness. There was a
feeling that was telling him that he had just lost something very important.
But very quickly he felt hot as he thought of Shen Cui, and that dreamy
night. “I can finally have you rightfully as mine, Cui Cui (1).” He did not
look back, and walked out of Fang Yuan’s sight.

Fang Yuan stood expressionless; he stood for a long time, then he finally
slowly sat down.

The bright sunlight passed through the window, shining onto his indifferent
face, making those who saw this feel somewhat cold inside. The business in
the cafeteria was rather poor, and the streets grew busier with people. The
noise and excitement from the bustling crowd travelled over, making the
place feel quieter. The dishes grew cold. A worker came up attentively,
asking if Fang Yuan would like to reheat his breakfast.

Fang Yuan did not hear it. His gaze kept shifting like a cloud, as if he was
reminiscing some old memories. The worker waited for a while. But as he
saw Fang Yuan in a trance, never saying a single word, he could only rub
his nose and walk away bitterly.

After a long time, Fang Yuan’s eyes became focused again. The past
memories in his heart were like smoke; they had already dispersed away.

He returned to reality once more. The sunlight that flowed in shone over
half the table. The hot air that wafted out of the dishes had already
disappeared, and the bustling noise of the crowd on the streets travelled into
his ears.

He reached into his robes and patted the five-and-a-half primeval stones at
his bosom, his mouth curling into a bitter and mocking smile. But the smile
was quickly cast away.

“Waiter, go and reheat these dishes for me.” Fang Yuan took a look at his
dishes and faintly opened his mouth, shouting away. At this moment his
eyes looked so chilly.

“What! Your older brother really said that?” In the hall, Uncle frowned, his
voice cold. Aunt sat aside, looking speechlessly at the fresh red handprint
on Fang Zheng’s cheeks.

“Yes, when I met big brother, he was at the inn eating breakfast. The entire
thing went like this,” Fang Zheng replied politely.

Uncle’s frown deepened, all condensed into 3 black lines(2).

After a few breaths he sighed and said in a solemn tone, “Fang Zheng my
child, you must remember this. The maidservant Shen Cui is not Fang
Yuan’s personal property; we assigned her to him. How can he use her as a
trading item? If you wished for it, you should have told us earlier on. We
would just assign her to you.”

“Ah?” Fang Zheng was stunned as he listened to this.

Uncle waved his hand. “You can take your leave. You gave all your
primeval stones to Fang Yuan, so I’ll just give you another six. Remember,
use them properly on refining your Gu and seize number one. We will be
very proud of you when you do.”

“Father, your child is ashamed…” Fang Zheng was suddenly moved to

tears. Uncle sighed and replied, “Just go, hurry back to your room and
refine your Gu. You don’t have much time left.”

When Fang Zheng took his leave, Uncle’s face revealed a ferocious and
angry expression.

Bang!

He hit the table with his palm using great force, hissing, “Hmph, this damn
bastard. He actually took our workers to do an exchange, he’s really
cunning!”

Aunt advised, “Husband, calm your anger. It’s just six primeval stones.”

“What do you understand, woman! This Fang Yuan is only a C grade talent,
if he wants to refine the MoonlightGu he would need primeval stones. With
his weak experience of a first timer, six primeval stones won’t be enough to
refine it. But now that he has twelve pieces, it will be more than sufficient.”
Uncle was so furious he gritted his teeth.

He added, “A Gu Master’s cultivation will very swift as long as there are

enough resources and no obstacles. In two or three years, the clan will be
able to produce a Rank two Gu Master. The lower Fang Yuan’s cultivation
rank, the smaller his hopes of trying to seize the family inheritance one year
later. Right now he is still young, just starting to cultivate. We shall hinder
him and let his starting process fall behind those at his age. The academy
resources are always awarded to excellent students. With his latent talent,
once he falls back he won’t be able to get any resources. Without the help of
resources his cultivation will fall even further. With this vicious cycle, I
would like to see if he has the ability to inherit the family inheritance a year
later!”

Aunt did not understand. “Even if we do not stop him, he would at most be
at Rank one Middle stage a year later. Husband, your cultivation is at Rank
two, why are you still afraid of him?”

Uncle was so angry he stomped and said, “Woman, you really are a case of
‘long hair but short insight’! With just my identity as the senior, should I
really beat down the younger generation? If he wants to get back the
inheritance, it is reasonable and cannot be stopped directly; I can only fight
back using the clan rules. It is stated in the clan rules: To be head of the
house at sixteen years old, the person must have at least Rank one middle
stage cultivation. Otherwise it means that Fang Yuan will have no right to
waste the clan resources. After I have said this, do you understand now?”

Aunt was enlightened.

Uncle narrowed his eyes, a glint in his gaze. He shook his head a little,
sighing as he said, “Fang Yuan is just too smart, too cunning. He could even
see through a power play. What kind of intellect is this? Scheming and
calculating at such a young age, how terrorizing! Initially I was going to
continue plotting against him, yet he moved out straight away. I wanted to
further rely on Shen Cui to monitor and trouble him, but in the end he went
away and even earned six primeval stones.”
“Alas, if he could be as stupid as Fang Zheng, that would’ve been great. Oh
right, from today onwards you must treat Fang Zheng better. He is an A
grade talent after all. Not to mention I can see that he has feelings of
dissatisfaction and unhappiness towards Fang Yuan. These emotions are a
good thing; they must be guided properly. I have a sort of feeling that he
will become the best tool to deal with Fang Yuan in future!”

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

In the room at the inn, there were no lights. The moonlight poured in,
casting a color of frost. On the bed Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, his eyes
closed. He moved his green copper primeval essence, concentrating his
mind on refining the Liquor worm. On its body, a small cut had already
been dyed the green color of green copper, but the Liquor worm’s will was
still as tenacious as ever. It constantly struggled in the midst of the ethereal
primeval essence.

Fang Yuan’s refining process was not going smoothly. It was very difficult.

“I spent two days and two nights, only resting two hours each day, and I
spent twelve pieces of primeval stone but only managed to refine around
1/15 of progress. Calculating according to the time, I guess someone will
succeed in refining their Gu in these few days.”

Fang Yuan could see the situation clearly. However his talent was a poor
grade anyway, add on the Liquor worm that he was trying to refine having
an incredibly tenacious will to live; it was even stronger than a normal
Moonlight Gu. The resulting situation of falling behind was normal.

“A moment of falling behind is nothing, as long as I have the Liquor

worm…” Fang Yuan’s heart was clear like a mirror, not a single trace of
anxiety and discouragement in him. Suddenly, the Liquor worm curled up
into a ball.

“Oh no, the Liquor worm is counterattacking!” Fang Yuan instantly opened
his eyes, a hint of astonishment in his gaze. Before him, the Liquor worm
had curled into a round little dumpling, fiercely giving out a blinding white
light.

It was risking everything in this one last stand!

At once Fang Yuan felt a strong will coming out from the Liquor worm’s
body, flowing directly through the primeval essence and descending into the
primeval sea in his aperture.

The situation where a Gu counterattacked was incredibly rare.

Only Gu with extremely strong will would give their all, it was either
success or death. In the face of such a scenario, the usual teenager would be
panicking right now.

Though he was surprised, Fang Yuan did not panic; in fact he was
somewhat delighted. “Staking everything in one last attempt, this is also a
good thing. As long as I can handle this counterattack, the Liquor worm’s
will shall greatly weaken. However I need to put full focus into fighting
back against this will, I cannot receive even the slightest outside
interference. Or else that would be bad, sigh… But I hope no one will come
and disturb me during this period.”

His thoughts finalized, he was ready to gather the primeval essence in his
aperture, ready to accept the Liquor worm’s will. He would be entangled
with it and fight it 300 rounds.

But at this moment, a miraculous event happened!

In the middle of his aperture, just above the sea high in the air,
a Gu appeared.

Boom!

A mighty strong breath erupted from this Gu.

This breath was like the Milky Way pouring out, and floodwater rushing
down from the mountains. Yet, it was also like a dreadful beast whose
dignity was offended that opened its scarlet red eyes and looked around to
see who would dare to violate its territory!

“This is the Spring Autumn Cicada?!” Seeing this Gu, Fang Yuan was
completely shocked!!

(1) Cui Cui is just an affectionate way to call Shen Cui.

(2) The novel says [都凝成了一个川字], which means condensed into a 川

word (Chinese words are used to describe things sometimes)

Author’s Note: (He thanks a bunch of people)

I will keep on going forward, 3 years, 6 years, 9 years… in this period of

time, some of you may leave temporarily and some will always stay. In the
busy process of human life, we constantly mark our constant existence, and
we all prove to each other that we have lived before.

I had imagined this sort of scenario: When we are old, you all will look at
‘Gu Zhen Ren’ this ID, and will laugh in your hearts: “Oh, its him, when I
was young I have read his book before. I even gave him a recommendation
vote.” Maybe I will open my previous layout and see all these familiar IDs,
those that have rewarded, voted and commented before. I will reminisce the
times when I was writing alone, these names were the company of my long
and difficult journey, giving me warm little lights.

Right here in the book is a small little twist. Fang Yuan will begin to truly
show his unique style. Those who were able to read up till here are
predestined. I guarantee you right here, this book will become more and
more exciting.

T/N: Thank you everyone for reading up till here, and sorry for the long
wait! This was such a long chapter to translate, but it is also one of my all
time favorite chapters. The sadness and meaning of this chapter has always
stayed with me. As the author said, this is the ‘turning point’ and beginning
of the real story… I hope you will give lots of support to the author and I
hope to translate even more~
 Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – Rank six vital Gu, The Spring Autumn Cicada!

During the process of refining, the Gu counterattacked!

At this time, the Liquor worm that had inherited the Flower Wine Monk’s
extremely strong will invaded his aperture, brazenly counterattacking at
Fang Yuan.

This strong willpower descended from above, surging down towards the
bottom of the aperture where the green copper primeval sea was. The waves
in the sea tumbled, setting off bursts of high tide. Under Fang Yuan’s will,
large amounts of primeval essence rose upwards to the sky and gathered
together, forming a towering monster wave, brazenly accepting the
incoming Liquor worm’s will.

Just as both sides were about to collide viciously in the middle of the
aperture, a faint image of a Gu worm emerged in a blank area between the
two energies.

This was a cicada. The cicada’s body was not large; if the
Moonlight Gu was described as a blue crystal shaped like a curved moon,
then this cicada would be a delicate craftwork that was made from palm
wood and tree leaves by a master craftsman.

The Gu sported a brownish yellow head and abdomen. Its surface had the
texture of a tree’s growth rings, as if it had witnessed countless years. On its
back were two very wide and translucent wings, like two tree leaves
overlapping. The wings had similar structure; this structure was like a
typical net-vein leaf. The center had a coarse stem, and from this stem
sprouted out a network vein of leaf lines on both sides.
The Spring Autumn Cicada!

It had been startled. It was just like a giant beast, usually hiding in its cave
in a deep sleep. But suddenly it was awakened, furthermore learning that its
territory had been violated.

Who dares to come into my turf and act wildly!

As if its dignity was offended, the Spring Autumn Cicada was angry and let
out a whiff of aura; the aura was weak yet powerful. It was like the surging
Milky Way, rolling forth with vast and mighty waves; it would sweep across
mountains for ten thousands of miles, or submerge a broad desert!

To be compared to this aura, the Liquor worm’s will was like the case of an
ant meeting an elephant!

The aura swept around and expanded, just like a raised invisible tsunami.
The invading will of the Liquor worm did not even have the ability to
withstand it; it was immediately swallowed whole by this aura.

Fang Yuan felt depressed. The green copper primeval essence that he had
thrust forward with his might collided with this aura like it was a wave
crashing onto a great mountain. In a moment the condensed primeval
essence disintegrated and dispersed into rain, scattering down to the
primeval sea.

The waves on the primeval sea rose one after another; it was like a
rainstorm had just swept across, increasing its turbulence.

But after a few seconds, the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura spread down,
pressing onto the primeval sea.

Boom!

Fang Yuan felt like he heard a buzz. In an instant, the rolling waves on the
sea calmed down. The Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura firmly repressed the
entire primeval sea, just like an invisible mountain pressing down. The
surface of the sea was calm like a mirror, not a single wave rolling about. It
was like an originally crumpled piece of paper; a boundless giant hand
covering over it suddenly, flattening it.

This was easily an incomparable power!

Fang Yuan felt a pressure weighing like an enormous invisible mountain

pressing down on his heart. He compared it to Sun Wukong being pressed
down by the Five Elements Mountain; Fang Yuan could not even mobilize a
single pint of primeval essence.

However although he was shocked, he was not afraid. In fact his heart felt
great joy.

“I didn’t think the Spring Autumn Cicada would actually follow me and be
reborn together! So it’s actually not a one-time use Gu worm, but one that
can be used again repeatedly.”

The Spring Autumn Cicada was a Rank six grade, and it was the first Rank
six Gu in Fang Yuan’s previous life, as well as his last. Just to make it, Fang
Yuan had used all means and resources, wasting an incredible amount of
strength, using thirty years of fermenting to finally succeed.

But not long after he succeeded, when the Spring Autumn Cicada was still
fresh from the oven, warriors of the Righteous faction felt Fang Yuan’s
threat and gathered together to attack and kill him.

After being reborn, Fang Yuan did not find the Spring Autumn Cicada, so
he thought it had died. But in reality it had fallen into a deep sleep, resting
inside Fang Yuan’s body.

To travel back five hundred years in an instant was a huge blow to its
vitality. It was too weak, so weak that even Fang Yuan as its master could
not feel it. Right now even though the Spring Autumn Cicada had appeared,
its situation was still bad.

After being reborn it had always been resting in a deep sleep. To appear
right now was because it had felt the danger that the aperture was facing; it
could be said that the Liquor worm’s will had awakened it.
It was weak, very weak, extremely weak.

In Fang Yuan’s memories, the original Spring Autumn Cicada was full of
vitality. Its body was like a precious floorboard, giving out a warm and
glossy varnish. Its two wings were verdant green, like two soft tree leaves
that had just freshly sprouted.

But right now, there was a strong and deathly chill emanating from the body
of the cicada. There was no shine or gloss from its body, making it feel
rough and dim like dead wood. Its wings were not the colour of soft and
green leaves; they were fully yellow, just like the withering leaves of
autumn. The tips of its wings were slightly rolled up, a little incomplete,
just like the corner of fallen leaves.

Seeing this, Fang Yuan felt both distressed and lucky. He was distressed
because the Spring Autumn Cicada suffered such a heavy blow; it was
barely a step away from death, just a foot away from the edge of a cliff.

The fortunate thing was, thank heavens the Spring Autumn Cicada was
weak to this point, or else he would be in great trouble!

One must know, between a Gu Master and a Gu, both must complement
each other, the best would be both having the same rank.

A Rank one Gu Master should use a Rank one Gu – this was the most
appropriate. If the Gu’s grade was lower than the Gu Master, when
the Gu Master uses it, it would be the equivalent of a strong man carrying a
small stick, the strength output would be small. If the Gu’s grade was higher
than the Gu Master, when the Gu Master uses it, it would be the example of
a small child carrying a heavy axe, unable to wield it properly.

The Spring Autumn Cicada was a Rank six Gu, and Fang Yuan was just a
Rank one initial stage Gu Master. To use an image as example, the Spring
Autumn Cicada would be a mountain, and Fang Yuan would be a squirrel.
If the squirrel wanted to use the mountain to beat its enemy, the squirrel
would just be squashed flat by the mountain at the first second.
If the Spring Autumn Cicada was at its peak state, Fang Yuan’s weak Rank
one aperture could not even tolerate it; the majestic aura of the cicada
would just make the aperture burst to death.

Fortunately it was at its weakest state, so Fang Yuan’s aperture could

accommodate it right now.

“I gave up the Moonlight Gu, going through all the lengths to find the
Liquor worm just to refine it into my vitalGu. But in reality I already had a
vital Gu from the start, the Spring Autumn Cicada is my vital Gu!” Fang
Yuan’s heart was filled with emotion as he felt the close connection
between him and the Spring Autumn Cicada.

The vital Gu is the first Gu that a Gu Master refines. It is terribly important,

and would affect the future development of a Gu Master by a large extent.

If a vital Gu is well picked, the Gu Master’s development will become

smoother. When the vital Gu is of a poor grade, to a Gu Master it would just
drag down his cultivation and let peers surpass him. The more important
thing is that it would affect the matter of life and death in a battle.

Fang Yuan was clear on this point, so he was not satisfied after choosing the
Gu Yue village’s signature Moonlight Gu. He just had to go all the way to
find the Liquor worm.

In his memory to a Rank one Gu Master, the Liquor worm was already
considered a high quality pick. The Moonlight Gu was just a choice that
was slightly above average.

But life is fascinating, because no one will ever know what is waiting for
him or her at the next moment.

Fang Yuan had refined the Spring Autumn Cicada in his previous life. After
his rebirth the Spring Autumn Cicada fell into a deep sleep, but the
connection between them still existed. In fact Fang Yuan found that, as if
going through the refinement of the River of Time, his connection with the
Spring Autumn Cicada had grown even closer and mysterious than his
previous life. It was just because the Spring Autumn Cicada was too weak,
so Fang Yuan was not aware of it.

Therefore in the real sense, the Spring Autumn Cicada is the first Gu that he
had refined. The only thing was that the Spring Autumn Cicada was not
refined in his current life, but the result of hard work in his previous life of
500 years.

The Spring Autumn Cicada was Fang Yuan’s vital Gu.

A Rank one Gu Master, having a Rank six vital Gu!

If this sort of thing was said out loud, it is expected that no one would
believe such a thing! This has already broken the limits of human cognition!

But yet, that is exactly what happened. The truth is beyond doubt.

“The Liquor worm as a vital Gu is already one of the best choices, but when
you compare it to the Spring Autumn Cicada, it is just like scum on the
ground! My vital Gu in this life is actually the Spring Autumn Cicada, ha
ha ha….”
 Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – The academy elder is speechless

The immense joy he felt did not overcome his mind; he quickly calmed
down and started to consider the consequences that the Spring Autumn
Cicada would bring to him:

“The Spring Autumn Cicada’s ability is rebirth. But right now it is at its
weakest state, at the instant I use it, it’ll die. However it is still a Rank
six Gu, so I can totally use its aura. This won’t do any damage to its body.”

“Hee hee hee.” After he finished pondering, he closed his thoughts and
opened his eyes. The Liquor worm was hovering before him, shivering in
the midst of the smoke-like green copper primeval essence that had
surrounded it.

Earlier because it wanted a chance to survive, desperation drove the Liquor

worm risk everything on a single throw. Yet in the end its will was easily
defeated by the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura. Due to this it suffered a
heavy blow, its current strength not even 1% of the original will it had.

“Spring Autumn Cicada.” With a simple thought, Fang Yuan released a

small trace of the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura. This aura pressured onto
the Liquor worm’s body; the Liquor worm immediately stood still,
motionless like a dead creature. Its scattered will felt the Spring Autumn
Cicada’s aura; like a mouse that had run into a cat, it was frightened. It
shrank into a ball and was too afraid to move even a slight bit.

Fang Yuan laughed and took the opportunity to mobilize his primeval
essence. In the beginning when he tried using his green copper primeval
essence to refine it, the Liquor worm’s will resisted fiercely, so it could only
expand arduously bit by bit. But right now Fang Yuan’s green copper
primeval essence drove straight in, flowing vigorously without resistance.
There was no obstruction at all.

The green copper colour on the surface of the Liquor worm rapidly
expanded. In a few winks, the once pearl-white Liquor worm was fully
dyed green.

The general situation had passed; the last remains of the Liquor worm’s will
was finally washed away easily by Fang Yuan’s will, dissolving into
nothingness.

With that, the Liquor worm was fully refined!

Compared to the beginning where Fang Yuan had to endure hardship akin to
trampling mountains and crossing ravines, the refining process right now
was as easy as swallowing saliva.

A kind of mysterious and cordial feeling connected the Liquor worm and
Fang Yuan together. The refined Liquor worm was like a part of Fang Yuan
– If Fang Yuan told it to huddle up, it would curl; if he told it to curl into a
ball it would curl into a round little dumpling. The feeling was like moving
his own finger.

Fang Yuan took back his primeval essence, and the Liquor worm returned
to its fat and white state. Then with a leap, it went through thin air and
plunged into the middle of Fang Yuan’s aperture. When it was inside, the
Liquor worm flew a distance away around the hovering Spring Autumn
Cicada and entered the green copper primeval sea. On the sea surface the
Liquor worm stretched its body arbitrarily; occasionally it would twist
around its chubby waist, appearing comfortable as if it were bathing in a hot
shower.

“With the Spring Autumn Cicada, my plans will have to change.” Fang
Yuan gathered his mind away from the aperture and took out the
Moonlight Gu. He repeated what he did earlier: Letting out a hint of the
Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura, pressing it down on the Moonlight Gu.
As it felt the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura, the Moonlight Gu’s will
immediately surrendered, its fear so great its will could only turtle up in the
furthest corner of its own body.

Fang Yuan’s primeval essence poured in. In the blink of an eye, the
Moonlight Gu was dyed a jade green colour. Finally with just a simple
thought, the Moonlight Gu’s will was easily strangled.

After he was done he took back his primeval essence and the
Moonlight Gu returned to its original, semi-transparent, blue crystal form.
He put away the Moonlight Gu; it did not enter his aperture, but instead
directly dropped onto his forehead, forming a pale blue crescent mark in the
middle of his brow.

The entire refining process of the Moonlight Gu from beginning to end did
not take more than five minutes. Comparing the start of his difficult refining
process to the situation right now, the speed was rapid and created a sharp
contrast.

Not only was it very fast, the consumption of primeval essence was also
very little.

For the past few days, Fang Yuan had consumed six pieces of primeval
stones just to refine the Liquor worm. But tonight, while Fang Yuan could
see the bottom of the primeval sea in his aperture, he did not use a single
stone.

“Ha ha, with the Spring Autumn Cicada at hand, it is as easy as having a
god’s help! After today all I just need to do is use its aura to pressure down,
any Rank one Gu will be easily refined. Even though I only have C grade
talent, I don’t need to borrow the help of primeval stones. The difference of
before and now is like heaven and earth.”

Fang Yuan’s mood was joyous. Right now his situation was like pushing
away the mist and cloud to see the blue skies.

Although the Spring Autumn Cicada was at its weakest point, it was still a
Rank six Gu. A fallen tiger still leaves behind threat; a festered ship still has
three pounds of nails (1). Just relying on its aura, Fang Yuan’s cultivation
from today onwards would receive a huge driving force.

At this moment, the moon outside the window was bright and the stars were
few. The moonlight flowed through the window, shining on Fang Yuan’s
face.

“Initially I thought I wouldn’t be able to get number one, but the road
twisted and turned unexpectedly. Time waits for no one! I must go to the
academy now and receive the top prize!” Fang Yuan’s eyes glistened.

With a thought the Spring Autumn Cicada faded away from view and
disappeared once more, returning to its deep slumber. Then he called out the
Liquor worm and hid it away at a corner of his bed. This was to prevent the
academy’s unnecessary examination.

Fifteen minutes later, in the clan academy.

The academy elder had long gone to bed, but in his dreams he could
vaguely hear the sound of somebody knocking on the door. He was awoken
by the noise and he opened his eyes, rather displeased. “Who is it outside
there in the middle of the night?”

Instantly a voice replied in a respectful tone, “Reporting to sir elder! It is a

student from this year’s batch; he has already finished refining the
Moonlight Gu. You have instructed your subordinates earlier to report to
you the very instant the first name appears, no matter what time it is.”

“Well… Its true that happened.” The academy elder frowned, and then he
got off his bed. As he put on his robes he asked, “Which student is it that
got number one this year? Is it Gu Yue Fang Zheng?”

The subordinate outside the door replied, “It seems so. The moment I heard
the news I hurried over here to tell you about it, sir. It seems to be someone
from the Fang family branch.”

“Hehe, counting the time, it is probably him.” The academy elder laughed
lightly, confidently saying, “Who else could it be besides the A grade talent
genius? All those B grade talent students would still be worse even with the
help of primeval stones. Or else why would the grade of cultivation talent
be so important?”

As he said this he pushed the door open and came out. Outside the door, his
subordinate respectfully bowed, moving two steps backwards. “Sir is right,”
he echoed.

In the hall, ten candles or so burned together, brightening up the hall. The
man who had received Fang Yuan had already cleared up all doubts by now.
Under the bright light of the candle fire, his face showed a stunned
expression. “Wait, what did you just say? You are called Gu Yue Fang Yuan,
not Gu Yue Fang Zheng?”

Fang Yuan nodded. At this moment the elder walked in from the entrance.
Fang Yuan and the man stood up and turned around to greet.

When the academy elder saw Fang Yuan, his face was full of smiles. He
strode over and stood in front of Fang Yuan, patting his shoulder in a
friendly manner. “You did well, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, you did not disappoint
me. You are indeed an A grade talent – genius! All those B grade, C grade
peers of yours will never compare to you no matter how hard they try. Ha
ha ha.”

Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng were twin brothers; their outer appearance was
similar to a fault. Even the academy elder was mistaken.

Fang Yuan was neither haughty nor humble. He took a little step back,
letting his shoulder free from the academy elder’s hand. He stared at the
academy elder, his hands folded behind his back. Then he said with a faint
smile, “Sir elder, you have been mistaken. I am Gu Yue Fang Yuan, Gu Yue
Fang Zheng is my younger brother.”

“Huh?” The academy elder opened his mouth slightly, his expression
startled. He glared at Fang Yuan doubtfully, his brow turning into a frown.
After a few breaths, he finally spoke. “You are Gu Yue Fang Yuan?”

“Correct sir,” Fang Yuan replied.

“You have refined the Moonlight Gu?” The academy elder was extremely
surprised. His two eyes glared firmly at Fang Yuan’s crescent mark on his
forehead. His eyes were shining; he was asking the obvious.

“Indeed, that is the case,” Fang Yuan said.

“Then, you are first of your batch?” The academy elder was asking stupid
questions, but he was not entirely at fault. After all, this situation was
entirely out of everyone’s expectations.

One must know that he had been in charge of the academy for decades and
is extremely experienced. He had seen C grade talent students contending
for number one before this, but it was never this early. Not to mention that
in this batch there were peers with A and B grade talent.

“If there is no one earlier than me…” Fang Yuan pretended to be in deep
thought, then he rubbed his nose and continued, “Then it seems like it.”

The academy elder: “……..”

(1) It means that while spoiled/damaged, it can still be put to use.

 Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – How can it be that big brother got number one?

The sky was not yet bright, and the sun had yet to rise. The east sky just
began to turn bright, the dark colours in the sky slowly fading away, the
smell of the night still remaining in the air.

The streets were empty, then came the sounds of quick footsteps. The early
dawn mountain air was moist, yet Gu Yue Fang Zheng did not feel the
slightest cold rush; his heart was full of surging enthusiasm. His face
blushed red, and now he was walking swiftly toward the academy.

“I have been cultivating hard these few days, spending two primeval stones.
I did not sleep at all last night, and I’ve finally successfully refined the
Moonlight Gu. I am an A grade talent and I was so hardworking. No one
can be faster than me, no one! Father and mother, I told you I won’t let you
feel disappointed.”

When he thought of the moment where he told his aunt and uncle about the
good news earlier, they expressed happiness and relief, making Fang Zheng
feel a surge of joy and pride.

“Just wait, all you clanspeople who looked down on me, and big brother.
From today onwards, I shall make you all look up to me, Gu Yue Fang
Zheng!”

The more he thought the more Fang Zheng felt excited. He could not help
but clench his fists, and his pace quickened a little more.

He came to the academy entrance.

The academy’s two guards looked at him strangely. They asked him,
“Umm, Gu Yue Fang Yuan, why are you back?”

“What, big brother was here just now?” When Fang Zheng heard them, his
face showed a hint of surprise and puzzlement.

“Ah, whatever!” He would never have guessed that Fang Yuan would
snatch away number one. He shook his head and cupped his hands together,
his tone carrying a trace of arrogance, “Two elder brothers, I am not Gu Yue
Fang Yuan, but I’m Gu Yue Fang Zheng. I have already successfully refined
my vital Gu, and I am here to come and take the top prize.”

“You are Gu Yue Fang Zheng? You brothers are just too alike, no wonder
the academy elder was mistaken,” the guard on the left side shouted, his
eyes widening. The guard on the right shook his head and said, “You came
one step too late. Just last night in the late hour, your older brother Gu Yue
Fang Yuan came and met with sir elder and took the top prize.”

“My older brother!” Fang Zheng suddenly opened his eyes wide, crying
out, “Wait, you said he’d gotten number one?”

How can this be! Isn’t his big brother a C grade talent?
Getting number one, this has to be a joke right?!

“It’s true. How could we possibly joke around with this matter?” Seeing
Fang Zheng in disbelief, the guard seemed somewhat unhappy.

“This matter has been confirmed by the academy elder. In due course the
name list will be released and announced. What’s wrong, your older brother
did not tell you about it?” The other guard added.

Fang Zheng just stood silly at the door.

The truth was so much different from his imagination; right now he just
could not understand what had just happened. In Fang Zheng’s heart, there
were several illusions of his adversaries. Among them, the ones that brought
the most threat were two – Gue Yue Mo Bei, and Gu Yue Chi Lian.
These two were of B rank talent. Behind them were the clan’s two largest
family branches, and each of them had a grandfather that carried huge
authority as elders, as well as sufficient financial power.

If any of these two people won first place over him, Fang Zheng’s heart and
mind was still prepared. Even though he would feel a sense of loss, it was
still acceptable.

But right now, the one who took away number one was not Gu Yue Mo Bei
or Gu Yue Chi Lian; it was not even any of the opponents in his heart.

But it was Gu Yue Fang Yuan, his older brother!

That person with a C grade talent!
That person who fell downhill and turned dejected after the Awakening
Ceremony!
That person who slept soundly in class all day!
That person who was always heavily drunk and never turned home at night!
That person who bullied Shen Cui, slapped him twice, and took all his
primeval stones away!
That person who always held him down, just like a shadow entrenched in
his heart!

“How can it be like this? It can’t be possible!” In a short while, Fang Zheng
roared in his heart, “I was so hardworking, but he just drank everyday until
he became drunk, and yet in the end he was the one who got number one, is
this even fair? Why? Why?!”

The sun rose from the east, the birds chirped around, and the overflowing
air of spring took over Qing Mao Mountain.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng bathed in the warm sunlight. He slowly lowered his
head, gritting his teeth, looking at his own lonely shadow. The excitement
in his heart had turned into a balloon that leaked air, long dissipating.
Instead what took its place was the emotions of confusion, resentment,
unwillingness, puzzlement, fear and other complicated feelings.

As time went by, the sun climbed higher.

The academy bulletin wall had posted a new name list, and on the list were
just two names – firstly Fang Yuan, and then Fang Zheng. Following the
appearance of this list, the news gradually spread out.

After hearing the news, all those young students who had been bent on
refining their Gu at home after receiving one were in an uproar.

“How can it be like this!”

“If it was Fang Zheng who got number one I would still have believed it,
but it’s Fang Yuan, isn’t he a C grade talent?”

“Could there have been a mistake, the A grade talent Fang Zheng actually
lost to the C grade talent Fang Yuan, is this Tales from the Thousand and
One Nights(1)?”

The Mo branch family home.

The greenery in the courtyard was overflowing, the fragrance of tea dancing
about.

One of the clan elders of the Gu Yue clan, Gu Yue Mo Bei was sitting in
front of his desk, looking at the spring scenery outside his window. He
leisurely drank his tea and said, “Mo Bei hasn’t continued refining his Gu?”

The housekeeper standing at a side hurriedly replied, “After he heard about

news concerning Fang Yuan in the afternoon, young master Mo Bei seemed
to be deeply affected and has no mood to continue refining the
Moonlight Gu. It is a pity, young master Mo Bei was just so close to
succeeding. Actually, if Fang Zheng got number one it could still be
ignored, but it just has to be that C grade talent Fang Yuan. So young
master Mo Bei lost his interest, it can’t be helped.”

“Hmph! Do not excuse him.” Gu Yue Mo Chen snorted coldly, his face
stern and his tone hard, “A Gu Master’s cultivation process is full of
hardship each step, what is a small setback like this? That Fang Yuan is just
a C grade, so to be able to get number one it is presumably because of luck.
The Moonlight Gu that he chose must have had a weak will, so that is how
he could snatch the top. If Mo Bei can’t see through this and let such a
small setback get to him, then how is he supposed to be in charge of our Mo
family branch in future, how can he compete with the Chi family branch?
No one is allowed to advise him, let him think about it by himself!”

“Yes, master.” The housekeeper did not dare refute.

Almost at the same time, in the home of the Chi family branch.

“Sigh, Gu Yue Fang Yuan…” The clan elder Gu Yue Chi Lian gave a long
sigh, his brows held down in a frown as he thought, waving his hand
around. “Someone, call young master Chi Chen over please.”

In a moment, Gu Yue Chi Chen walked into the room with a lost
expression, kneeling down with respect, “Your grandson greets his
grandpa.”

“Seems like you already know about the news,” Gu Yue Chi Lian stared at
his only direct grandson, his tone gentle. He slowly said, “I called you over
to prevent you from getting influenced by this matter. You see, when
refining the vital Gu, firstly one looks at the talent, secondly at
the Gu worm.”

“Fang Yuan’s talent is just C grade, yet he was able to gain number one this
time. This means that the Gu he chose -compared to all the
Moonlight Gu your peers have – has a will that is much weaker. This is
entirely due to luck. So my grandson, do not be discouraged, this is nothing
really. He is just a C grade talent, though he is the same as you, but his
supply of resources is not as well as yours. His road to advancement will
also be harder than yours, believe your grandpa, you will soon surpass
him.”

“Hence you should put away this trivial matter. Fang Yuan will not be your
opponent, and is not worthy to be your adversary. Your real enemies are the
A grade talent Fang Zheng and the Mo family’s Mo Bei. Do you
understand?”
“Yes, thank you for your advice, grandpa. I understand. I will go now and
continue refining my Gu!” Gu Yue Chi Chen had lost the sad expression on
his face, replacing it with a high-spirited will to fight.

“Mmm.” Elder Gu Yue Chi Lian nodded his head, satisfied. A kindly smile
emerged from his face and he said, “Good grandson. While your talent is
only C grade, but you can be rest assured that grandpa will fully support
you. Later on, I will come out and use the aura of a Rank three Gu worm to
suppress your Moonlight Gu’s will and help you refine this Gu!”

(1)天方夜谭 – I am not entirely sure what it means here, but I only got
Arabian nights from looking up the word, Baidu tells me it is the title of
Tales from the Thousand and One Nights.
 Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – Dancing Moonblade

The sky was blue and clear, looking pure as if it had been washed clean.
The sun was shining golden.

Puffs of white clouds floated away, and a group of colourful peacock

parrots chirped as they flew beneath the blue sky, forming an arrow
formation under the clouds as they soared.

This variant of colourful parrots would only appear in large groups during
springtime. Their bodies were littered with feathers the colour of the
rainbow, their bodies the size of an eagle. The birds had parrot beaks, while
their tails were that of a peacock’s flowing long tail.

It had been ten days since the day Fang Yuan managed to acquire number
one in the test to refine the vital Gu. The spring breeze blew over the whole
mountain’s green grass, while the wild flowers bloomed eagerly, and the
bees and butterflies danced around together. Life was surging all around; it
was the wonderful beauty of spring.

The breath of spring was so strong that the tall bamboo walls surrounding
the training grounds could not hold it back.

This training field occupied 3 Mu(1). The ground was flat, paved with a
layer of thick and wide grey graphite. Its four sides were planted with green
spear bamboo; these green poles were placed closely together side by side,
straight and tall, forming a circle of green high walls.

While below the wall corners were stone as well, clumps of green grass
emerged from many areas. In between the bamboo were also some wild
roses, poking in from the outside, a few even climbing the wall.
Fifty-seven young teens at the age of fifteen were standing in the midst of
the training field right now, formed in a semi-circle around the academy
elder who was in the center, putting their focus on him.

This was a lesson to teach the students on how to use the Moonlight Gu.

“The Moonlight Gu is our Gu Yue clan’s symbolic Gu, just like the
Xiong(2) House’s Bear Strength Gu, and the Bai(3) House’s Stream Gu.
The majority of you on the field have chosen the Moonlight Gu as your
vital Gu, so you must all watch properly. Soon I will demonstrate
personally how to use the Moonlight Gu to attack. Students whose
vital Gu is not the Moonlight Gu must also concentrate on me, as this
classical long-distance attacking method can also be used on other Gu; the
spectrum of methods one can use is very wide.”

As he spoke, the academy elder stretched out his right hand, his five fingers
opening wide. He lowered his palm so that the young teens could see the
center of it.

“Firstly, you use your mind to mobilize the Moonlight Gu, moving it to the
center of your palm.” Following his voice, the crescent mark that
represented the Moonlight Gu moved down the elder’s arm and into his
palm.

“Then, you mobilize the primeval essence in your aperture, pouring it into
the Moonlight Gu.” A thread of white silver coloured primeval essence
gushed out from the elder’s body, so fine it was almost impossible to see. It
entered the Moonlight Gu in his palm.

The academy elder was of a Rank three realm, and only Rank
three Gu Masters could produce white silver coloured primeval essence.
Rank one Gu Master’s primeval essence was commonly known as green
copper primeval essence, while Rank two Gu Masters had theirs called red
iron primeval essence. When they reached Rank three, it becomes white
silver primeval essence.

Once it absorbed the thread of white silver primeval essence, the crescent-
shaped mark in the elder’s hand instantly glowed brighter and brighter.
Although it was daytime, it still issued a brilliant pale-blue light.

“That’s awesome!”
“How beautiful.” The youngsters could not help but let out praises of
surprise and amazement when they saw it.

The pale blue light was clear like water. It flickered faintly in the elder’s
palm. At first glance it would seem as if the academy elder’s hand was
scooping a handful of moonlight. The academy elder smiled a little. “Now
watch carefully, the last step is just like how I will do it, launching it out.”

As he said this, his widely opened five fingers slowly closed together, then
he lifted his arm up and slowly moved it forward, his arm straight. Finally
he waved his palm lightly in a cutting motion.

The entire movement was steady and powerful.

Swoosh.

The young students could hear a light brushing sound beside their ear.

Following the academy elder’s movement, the condensed water-like pale

blue light in his palm was thrown out like that.

The light transformed into a small moonblade in the air, the faint blue
moonblade only the size of a wide-open hand, the shape just like the
crescent moon in the night sky. It drew a straight line in the air before it hit
a grass puppet ten meters away.

A tearing sound was heard, and the grass puppet’s neck that was about
thirty centimeters thick was cut clean by the moonblade. The puppet’s body
swayed about, the huge head suddenly falling onto the floor.

After cutting the grass puppet into half, the moonblade immediately
appeared dimmer. However it continued flying about another six meters in
the air before the crescent began to gradually fade away, finally dissipating
in the air.
Looking at the grass puppet’s neck again, one could see that the cut area
was extremely flat, as if it was cut away by the sharpest sickle.

The youngsters were all shocked as they saw this, their eyes wide-open. A
few of them even touched their own necks involuntarily, astonished by the
attacking power of the moonblade.

After a short silence, the sounds of exclamation began. The teenagers had
shining eyes as they stared at the grass puppet, some of them staring at the
elder’s palm. A few of them were looking at their peers, talking and
whispering excitedly.

Only Fang Yuan stood hidden in the crowd with a cold expression, his
stature calm.

In his previous life, Fang Yuan had cultivated to Rank six, and he had
created the Blood Wing Demon Sect in the Middle Kingdom. He taught
tens of thousands of people, and was reputed as a giant figurehead of the
Demonic faction, his fame illustrious.

The academy elder was just a Rank three Gu Master. This small trick was
just child’s play to him; it would not cause any ripple of emotion in Fang
Yuan’s heart.

“All those of you who have refined the Moonlight Gu, step out. Each one of
you shall take a grass puppet and follow the way I just did it, throwing out
the moonblade, practice attacking.”

Once the academy elder was finished, around thirty students stepped out.

In this batch the entire clan had a hundred young teens joining the
Awakening Ceremony. Those who had cultivating talent were around fifty-
seven. Among these students, those who had chosen the
Moonlight Gunumbered around thirty-five. After going through these few
days of hard work, they had all refined the Moonlight Gu. Those that were
left were all D grade talents. It was not because they did not desire to refine
the Moonlight Gu, but it was due to the inability of their talent, so they
could only withdraw after learning of the difficulty.
To the youngsters of the Gu Yue clan, the Moonlight Gu was not a
simple Gu worm, but the symbol of the clan’s glory.

Very quickly thirty-five of them stood in a row. Each of them faced

forward, standing ten meters away from a grass puppet on the opposite.

Fang Yuan stood in the middle of the row, but he did not garner any
attention. The practice began.

The students all stretched out their right hands, letting the
Moonlight Gu move to the heart of their palm. One by one the blue crescent
mark started to give out water blue light as green copper primeval essence
was poured in.

But when they drew a vertical cut with their palm, only seven or eight
crescents flew out. Among these crescents, some of them only appeared for
a short moment before dissipating away. Some flew out for two to three
meters before disintegrating into blue light with a bang. Some flew further,
but the direction was severely off-course, flying straight up to the sky.

The young teens all frowned. When they saw the elder’s demonstration
earlier it seemed quite easy. But when they started practicing themselves,
they realised the skill required in this action. To throw out a moonblade and
to have it hit on the grass puppet, it really was not that simple.

The elder had a faint smile as he watched. He saw this scene every year, and
was not surprised. The remaining twenty-two students could only stand
outside the field, watching jealously.

After practicing for five minutes, the youngsters were gradually able to
produce moonblades. For a time in the training ground, pale-blue coloured
moonblades flew about everywhere.

A few moonblades would fade halfway, a few unluckily crashing into

another. Some flew out of the training field, twisting around. Those that
were able to hit on the grass puppets were just a small few. Of course these
were all due to sheer luck.
The academy elder started to tutor and guide each one personally.

He focused greatly on Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng and those others
with good latent talent. He patiently corrected their postures, teaching them
his experience. Towards those C grade talent students like Fang Yuan, he
only mentioned two sentences.

Fang Yuan kept condensing the blue light in his hand. He waved his palm a
few times cutting the air, but he did not release the light, pretending and
acting. With the field a mess at the moment and no one focusing on himself,
he moved his thoughts and released his hold on the Moonlight Gu, his palm
tilting a little, making a cutting action.

In order not to raise attention, he did not focus on his own grass puppet
opposite him, but aimed at the one on his left.

With a whoosh, a moonblade flew out quickly, passing through the center of
chaos, drawing a straight line in the air and cutting accurately into the neck
area of a grass puppet.

The grass puppet wavered for a moment, the neck area cut deeply by the
moonblade. But very quickly, the green grassy area that was cut began to
regrow, tangling together and healing away the wound.

Of course, this grass puppet was not a normal scarecrow. It was a Rank one
Scarecrow Gu, having the nature-type ability of self-recovery.

Unless the puppet was cut into half at once, it would just recover back to
normal in a short while.

“Wow, look at that crescent!”

“How cool, who threw it?”

Moonblades that were able to hit grass puppets right now were rare. Fang
Yuan just casually hit one, yet it caused the most significant result so far.
Thus in an instant the students outside the field gave out cries of surprise.
Even the academy elder’s attention was caught, and he asked, “That
moonblade just now was not bad. Was it yours?”
He looked at a C grade talent student with an enquiring eye, since that grass
puppet was just opposite him.

This male student blinked his eyes, feeling somewhat bewildered as he

faced everyone’s sudden gazes at him. To be honest the field was just in a
chaos earlier with moonblades flying about, so even he did not know if it
was he himself who threw it.

However looking at it, it probably is me? Thought the young boy. Then he
nodded his head subconsciously.

The youngsters around him immediately looked at him with admiration.

“Who is he, what is his name?” Some of the girl students asked around.

“Even he can throw out a moonblade, I must not lose!” Gu Yue Mo Bei’s
eyes flashed with a hint of determination.

“So it’s not big brother who threw it,” Gu Yue Fang Zheng inexplicably
sighed with relief. After Uncle and Aunt consoled him, he was able to
recover from the previous blow.

“Big brother, you won first place last time because your luck was good,
picking a weak-willed Moonlight Gu. A Gu Master’s cultivation cannot
always rely on luck, I will win you.” Fang Zheng was cheering for himself
in his heart.

“You did well. Continue trying hard, seize the feeling you had earlier.” The
academy elder patted the student’s shoulder, smiling as he encouraged him.

The young boy quickly showed excitement and he nodded continuously, his
eyes appearing with a different luster.

The elder took the opportunity and announced, “Listen up everyone, this
will be your homework. Practice well after class, in three days I will check
the results. Whoever performs the best will receive ten pieces of primeval
stones as the prize. Understand?”
“Yes!” The young students all shouted loudly. They could not help but be
more excited when they heard about the primeval stone reward.

However only three minutes later, the moonblades that flew about in the air
started to thin gradually.

“Damn, every single moonblade takes up 10% of primeval essence.”

“The consumption of the moonblade is just too much, I am just a C grade
talent, my aperture can only hold 38% of green copper primeval essence. I
can only throw out three moonblades.”

Those that stopped all sighed.

The academy elder was calm as he witnessed everything, but his heart
sighed, “This is the benefit of those with high cultivating talent. To use the
moonblade, it is simply just three words – Practice makes perfect. Those
with higher grade talent are able to hold more primeval essence in their
apertures, and the rate of recovery is faster, so they have more chances to
practice. Those with poorer talent can also use primeval stones to make up
for it, strengthening the number of practices. But those with low grade
talent and have no primeval stones, though they have the mind to practice
they will still be powerless. Sigh, the Gu Master’s cultivation process is just
so cruel. I had just better take care of those high grade talent students.”

(1) 亩 – Mu, an ancient Chinese measurement. 1 Mu is 666 ⅔ meters²

(2) 熊家 – Xiong House, Xiong is the word for Bear

(3) 白家 – Bai House, Bai is the word for ‘white’ as in white colour

T/N: Well as per mentioned, Gu Yue clan’s Gu Yue means Ancient Moon. I
will keep people and clan names in their original Chinese term but if there
is any significant meaning or anything important and relevant to the story I
will explain it, of course.
I’ll probably make a page in future, detailing and listing down all these
names and stuff so you can refer to it anytime.
 Chapter 23

Chapter 23 – Raising a Gu is like raising a mistress

The sun had already set.

The sunset glow was still burning in the sky. The mountains far away in the
distance were covered in a thick layer of grey ash, gradually turning to
black.

In the academy, a day’s class was over. The students walked out from the
academy in groups of twos and threes.

“I’m really happy today, I learnt quite a few things. Especially how I got to
learn how to use the Moonlight Gu.”

“The way the moonblade flies in the air looks so cool. It’s too bad that my
talent isn’t enough, so in the future I can only be a logistics Gu Master, I
won’t be able to go onto the battlefield.” The young teenagers happily
chatted away.

A few of them called their friends over.

“Let’s go and eat, we can drink some rice wine while we’re at it, what do
you think?”
“Sure, that’s not a bad suggestion.”
“You guys go on first, I need to go to the store beside the
academy’s Gu room and buy a grass puppet. It will be easy to practice at
home with it.”

Fang Yuan went to the Gu room alone.

The academy’s Gu room kept quite a few Rank one Gu worms. There were
many types and variations, and Fang Yuan’s Moonlight Gu was taken freely
from inside.

Once in a while the students would have a free chance to pick a Gu worm.
If one wanted to get extra Gu, they would need to pay up.

In this short time Fang Yuan had no wish to refine any other Gu. He walked
to the building beside the Gu room – it was a small store.

In the store there were seven students, each of them negotiating over the
counter with the store owner for buying grass puppets.

“It’s you, junior.” The Rank one Gu Master responsible for the store was in
his twenties. When he saw Fang Yuan, he automatically greeted him while
bargaining with his customers.

Fang Yuan was taken by surprise, finding out that this Gu Master was Jiang
Ya. It was the young Gu Master that had taught the hunters a lesson in the
inn.

“Ah, it’s you senior.” Fang Yuan nodded his head, his face expressionless.

Jiang Ya took out a grass puppet from the counter behind him, passing it to
the student who purchased it. At the same time he threw Fang Yuan a
friendly smile and asked, “Did junior brother come here to buy a grass
puppet as well? If you want me to leave one for you, you just need three
pieces of primeval stones. These things sell like hotcakes, right now there’s
only seven left, if you wait any longer there won’t be any stock left.”

Jiang Ya’s attitude towards mortals was arrogant, but towards people like
Fang Yuan, he was very kind and sincere.

Fang Yuan shook his head, laughing secretly as he thought, this Jiang Ya
really did know how to do business. The grass puppets were made with the
Scarecrow Gu. Even after including the primeval essence that was put in,
the final cost should not be more than one and a half primeval stones.
“Senior, this isn’t fair. It should be first come first serve, why leave any for
him?”
“Yeah, we all came early. If you want to do business you should know the
rules.”
“Three pieces will be three pieces, here’s the primeval stones, give me a
grass puppet.”

The youngsters in the store were all worried when they heard that the store
only had seven puppets left. They stopped trying to negotiate, and took out
their stones to buy it.

Very quickly, seven satisfied teenagers walked out.

“Does my junior want to buy a grass puppet?” Jiang Ya laughed as he

asked, “It seems like they were sold out, but actually there’s still the eighth
puppet stowed away below the chest. If junior doesn’t buy it now, you will
miss the opportunity.”

Fang Yuan had no interest towards the grass puppet. He shook his head and
pulled out a piece of primeval stone, putting it on the counter. “I want to
buy ten moon orchid petals.”

Jiang Ya was stunned. He looked Fang Yuan deep in the eye, taking away
the primeval stone and pulling open the counter drawer. Then he took out a
paper bag, saying, “Ten pieces of moon orchid flower petals, not one less.
Please make sure.”

Fang Yuan checked the goods on the spot and found no mistake with it.
Finally he left the small shop.

Gu have to be fed.

A Gu Master refines Gu, uses Gu, and at the same time needs to raise Gu.

Refining a Gu is difficult; there is the risk of counterattack. Using a Gu is

not easy; one needs a lot of practice. The knowledge of raising a Gu is even
more extensive and profound, because there are all kinds of Gu worms and
their food are exceedingly strange. Some need to swallow soil, some need
starlight, some require tears and some feed on the clouds and air from the
nine skies.

Just by taking Fang Yuan’s current three Gu for example, the

Moonlight Gu requires moon orchid petals, two meals a day. In the morning
and night one meal, every meal two pieces of flower petals. Meanwhile for
the Liquor worm, it needs to drink wine. A jar of green bamboo wine could
support it for four days. As for the Spring Autumn Cicada, it is even more
peculiar as it drinks straight from the River of Time, maintaining its vitality.

The River of Time supports the flow of this world. It is not far away in the
sky but very near at hand, flowing by every person’s side. Every move
made by every living creature requires the push of time.

Time is like flowing water, hurriedly gliding forward. The River of Time is
invisible and colourless, while in reality all living creatures are actually
surviving and living in the waters of the River of Time.

After buying the bag of moon orchid petals, Fang Yuan went to the inn to
buy green bamboo wine. The Liquor worm could also drink some turbid
wine or rice wine to live. However with this kind of second-rate wine the
amount it needed to drink would increase, and it would need many jars
everyday. After calculating, Fang Yuan decided it would be better to buy
green bamboo wine straight away. Not only would it be more worth than
buying second-grade wine, it would also not arouse suspicion.

“Young sir, you’ve come.” The workers in the inn had already known Fang
Yuan. Fang Yuan passed him three pieces of primeval stones directly, saying
with a familiar ease, “Give me a jar of green bamboo wine and make me a
few good dishes. You don’t need to give me the change, just put it here first.
At the end of the month when it amounts up to one stone, you can subtract
from my bill with it.”

Even though Fang Yuan no longer stayed at the inn right now ever since he
moved to the academy dormitories, he would always have a meal here when
he bought wine.
“Alright. Young sir please take a seat, the dishes will be sent over
immediately.” The worker echoed, leading Fang Yuan to his seat. He took
the cloth on top of his shoulder and gently wiped the table before leaving.
Indeed as the worker said, the dishes were very quickly served.

Fang Yuan ate and calculated at the same time in his mind, “A piece of
primeval stone can buy me ten pieces of flower petals. The
Moonlight Gu consumed four pieces everyday. A jar of green bamboo wine
costs two pieces of stones, and it can support the Liquor worm for four
days. In other words just to raise and feed the two of these Gu, I would need
to spend nearly one stone everyday.”

It does not seem like much, but in reality this was very costly. The monthly
living expenses for a mortal family of three only used up one piece of
primeval stone. From the starting of refining the Gu until today, sixteen
days had already passed. Just to raise the Gu alone Fang Yuan had already
spent fourteen and a half primeval stones.

“I have acquired the Flower Wine treasure, taken away Fang Zheng’s bag of
primeval stones and also got the first place reward. My primeval stone
assets once reached up to forty-four pieces and a half. However in the early
days of refining the Gu I wasted six pieces and a half, then I used fourteen
pieces and a half on feeding these Gu. My living expenses cost half a piece,
and today I am probably left with twenty pieces.”

Fang Yuan took out his money pouch. He opened it and looked inside. The
bag contained pieces of primeval stones inside. Each of these stones were
greyish white in colour, their shapes ellipsoid and the volumes equal, the
size similar to a duck egg.

After counting he found that he really only had twenty pieces left. In other
words if this continued on then Fang Yuan would only be able to go on for
half a month with the remaining stones he had left. He was not like his
peers – they had relatives and friends to help them out, especially with the
case of students like Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng who were
loaded with primeval stones.

Fang Yuan could only think of a way himself.

“Uncle and Aunt have already cut off my living expenses, but every
weekend the clan academy would give out three pieces of primeval stones
as subsidy to every student. Looks like I would need to show off in the
moonblade assessment in three days and take that ten primeval stone prize.”
Fang Yuan chewed the food in his mouth while he pondered.

His current age was just at the age where the body was growing. Without
realizing it all the rice and dishes had entered his stomach.

Taking up the sealed green bamboo wine jar, Fang Yuan lifted his feet and
started walking, leaving the inn.

“Young sir, young sir.” The inn worker chased after him from behind and
said, “Just to tell young sir something, but in less than a month the trading
company will arrive to the village. By convention they would always buy
the green bamboo wine in our shop. Young sir loves our green bamboo wine
and always buys a few jars every week, so the innkeeper ordered me to tell
young sir about this matter. The green bamboo wine in our store has limited
supply, so after we sell it to the trading company I’m afraid we would be
left with very little.”

“Is that the case?” When Fang Yuan heard the news, he frowned slightly. To
know someone and tell apart the conversation, Fang Yuan had five hundred
years of experience. The shop worker and the young Gu Master Jiang Ya
spoke with similar meaning, however Fang Yuan could naturally tell the
difference with Jiang Ya’s tricky words and the shop worker’s truthful
words.

This matter was a little troublesome. Fang Yuan needed to feed the Liquor
worm and he needed a huge amount of green bamboo wine in the long run.
If this inn ran out of stock then he would have to use huge amounts of
second-rate wine to feed the Liquor worm.

It was not possible for him to drink several jars a day. After a while people
would be suspicious. After thinking about it, Fang Yuan took out ten pieces
of primeval stones and said, “Then I’ll buy another five jars. I will need you
to carry them for me and follow me to put them in the academy dormitory.”
“Alright, young sir.” The worker immediately accepted the primeval stones.

The moon orchid flower petals could only last for five days without any
special storage means, so Fang Yuan would only buy a bag every time.
However the green bamboo wine could be kept for a very long time, thus
there was no problem with this.

A few workers followed Fang Yuan into the academy dorms and placed the
wine jars under his bed, and then they bid their leave. As he saw the money
pouch that had suddenly flattened down in his hands, Fang Yuan heaved a
sigh.

Refining a Gu is hard, but raising a Gu is also not easy.

This is also considering the fact that he had his five hundred years of
previous life experience, so he did not need to practice using his Gu,
meaning that the consumption rate of primeval essence would be lessened
and thus saving him a huge sum of expenses.

For those at his age around him, they would need to practice using the
Moonlight Gu and would need to waste primeval essence. To increase
proficiency, one would need to practice many times. When too much
primeval essence is consumed, primeval stones would have to be used as a
supplement since the recovery rate is too slow. To buy a grass puppet it
costs three primeval stones as well. All this is money.

“Fortunately my Spring Autumn Cicada feeds on time and not anything

else. Otherwise I would have long gone bankrupt, I would never be able to
support it.” Fang Yuan suddenly felt very lucky.

The more high-end the Gu is, the greater the food consumption needed or
the more precious and rare the food required would be, thus the more
difficult it would be to keep. A normal level Rank two Gu worm would cost
up to around one to two pieces of primeval stones a day.

It is good enough if the food is purchasable. There were some Gu that

required food that was relatively difficult to find, some of it did not even
circulate in the market.
Just like the Spring Autumn Cicada’s food being time itself, this was
actually more precious. After all there was a saying, an inch of gold cannot
buy an inch of time.

No matter how much money you have, can you buy time?

You can’t!

In theory a Gu Master can refine an unlimited amount of Gu. As long as

you can refine it, whether ten, a hundred or a thousand worms is possible.
You can refine as many Gu as you wish to.

But in reality a Gu Master normally only had 4-5 Gu.

Why?

The biggest reason is because it is hard to afford.

The higher the grade of the worm, the more expensive it would cost to feed
and raise. It often gave a Gu Master too many difficulties to cope with,
making them have unceasing headaches over it.

Another reason was – unable to use.

To use the Moonlight Gu to throw out a single moonblade attack, one

would need to use up 10% of primeval essence. A C grade talent Gu Master
could run out of primeval essence in their apertures after launching three to
four attacks.

To raise so many Gu, wouldn’t it be a waste if one couldn’t use them

anyway?

Thus in the Gu Master’s cultivation there was a saying going around:

Raising a Gu is like raising a mistress.

To keep a mistress you would need to buy food, clothes, a house etc. It is
very expensive and the more you have the more costly it is; a normal man
cannot afford it.
Even if you keep so many, a man’s energy is limited; he cannot use them
all. Would you raise them just to look at them?

When the rank of the Gu Master increases, so does the food standard of
the Gu worm. Thus please refrain from seeing how a Gu Master has no
limit to the number of refining Gu; in general a Gu Master only keeps
around 4-5 Gu of his level.

If the number of Gu was raised higher, the Gu Master would go bankrupt!

 Chapter 24

Chapter 24 – Close Combat Gu Master

Three days later.

“Lowering your body to dodge, that is the usual technique of restraining

against a flying fist. When your enemy comes and attacks you, quickly
squat down and at the same time do a counterattack, striking his crotch and
abdomen. Do not be afraid of a swinging fist. Usually those who come up
and start swinging their fists at the first moment are people who have no
brains and are impulsive and rash.”

On the martial arts field, the academy’s martial arts(1) instructor spoke
while he performed actions to demonstrate. A wooden puppet’s right first
swept over, and the martial arts instructor quickly squatted down, dodging
the incoming attack. Then he threw a punch at the puppet’s abdomen,
knocking it down with a few punches.

The students were looking at the demonstration in a circle, but most of them
were lacking in spirit, showing very little interest.

The academy taught a variety of courses and this lesson was the one that
taught foundation of martial arts. Using fists and legs to exert oneself was
too inferior to the handsome and cool attack style of the moonblade, making
almost all the students absent-minded.

“The next class will be the Moonlight Gu’s usage assessment. How have
you been practicing so far lately?”

“I’m still doing good. I can do three moonblades, but only a few of them
actually hit. Usually I get two blades on the grass puppet.”
“Mmm, that’s the same like me. I specially bought a grass puppet just to
practice for this in these few days.”

…..

The young teens whispered to one another, their minds long gone from the
lesson. They were all worried about the assessment in the next class. Just
for this assessment, they had practiced hard for a long time after class, and
now they were flexing their hands and feet, looking forward to the
assessment.

The sounds of the students’ discussion had reached the instructor’s ear, and
the martial arts coach jerked his gaze back at them, shouting, “No talking
allowed in class, all of you keep your mouths shut and watch closely!”

He was a Rank two Gu master, his body rather muscular. His upper body
was naked and robust, the bronzed skin littered with countless scars on it.
With a loud shout he showed a threatening manner, pressing down on all the
students in the field.

Silence fell in the martial arts field.

“The foundation of martial arts is the most important among important

things. Especially in the early stages of a Gu Master’s cultivation, it is more
important than anything else. All of you better focus your attention on me!”

After he finished scolding, the martial arts instructor called out another
wooden puppet. This light yellow wooden puppet was two meters tall, its
huge wooden feet making sharp sounds as it stepped on the bluestone floor
tiles. The wooden puppet stretched open its arms and rushed clumsily
towards the coach.

The instructor dodge its attack, then fiercely hugged its waist and used his
strength to push it forward down, causing the huge and tall wooden puppet
to fall to the ground. Then the instructor rode on the puppet’s waist and
swung his fist quickly at the puppet’s head.
The wooden puppet resisted for a moment, then its head was smashed
broken by the instructor’s raining blows. It was paralyzed on the ground,
lying motionless.

The martial arts instructor stood up, his breathing calm and long as always.
He explained to the students, “When facing a huge and tall enemy in close
combat, do not be afraid. Ruining the opponent’s center of gravity is a type
of sensible tactic to pin down your enemy. Just like how I did it earlier, you
must hug the opponent’s waist, control his hips and then push forward with
your strength. After that you take the opportunity and get on his body and
fiercely punch at your enemy. Those with no defensive capabilities will
instantly collapse.”

The students nodded repeatedly, but most of their eyes showed disapproval.
The coach saw all of this and laughed bitterly in his heart.

Every batch was like this. The attitudes of these youngsters were naturally
easily attracted by gorgeous things. Without personal understanding and
experience, it was hard for them to understand the importance of having a
martial arts foundation. In truth especially for a Gu Master in his early
stage, while the basic martial arts did not look promising, it was actually
more important than the blade attack.

“….Remember, in close combat, your sight must not always stare at the
enemy’s eye. It should focus on the enemy’s shoulder. No matter punching
or kicking, the enemy’s shoulder will always move first….”

“…In close combat your speed is very important, the speed I am talking
about in this context is not the speed of your fists, but the speed of the
movement of your legs….”

“….Distance is the best defense…”

“…Keep your legs elastic, then you will be able to easily burst out your
strength…”

“When striking with your fists, maintain a triangle support. Otherwise you
will lose your footing. The enemy has not fallen, yet instead you fell
first…”

The instructor patiently explained while he demonstrated. These were all

his valuable experiences that he got from sacrificing blood and tears,
experience accumulated from long battles.

Unfortunately the students were unaware of this. They gradually started to

whisper again, the focus of the discussion still on the next lesson’s
moonblade assessment.

“This martial arts instructor is very pragmatic, but his teaching style is
wrong.” Fang Yuan watched quietly among the crowd, nodding and shaking
his head at times. The instructor had no discipline in his teaching; he taught
completely by interest, and just taught whatever he thought of. Therefore
the things he taught came out in a mess and there was a lot of complicated
info. In the beginning many students listened seriously, but gradually they
lost interest and diverted their attention to other aspects.

Only Fang Yuan listened meticulously all the way; while others were
learning, he was revising. His combat experience was richer than the
instructor, but listening to others narrating was also a way of verification in
cultivation.

A Gu Master’s method of fighting is usually divided between melee and

ranged. The moonblade attack is a type of ranged attack, but when strictly
speaking, it is considered medium range due to its effective distance only
being ten meters.

When it came to close combat Gu Masters, the martial arts instructor was
the best example. Melee battle GuMasters would usually choose Gu that
amplified their own body strengths and cultivate. These Gu would give
them superhuman strength, agility, responsiveness, endurance etc.

Just like this martial arts instructor, his whole body was covered in bronze
skin. This was of course not his own skin colour, but it was a type of copper
skin Gu’s effect. The copper skin Gu would increase the Gu Master’s skin
toughness and defence by a lot, letting the Gu Master be able to endure
more damage.
“A single moonblade would consume 10% of primeval essence. How many
times can a Gu Master throw a moonblade during battle? The number is
few, especially for beginners who have difficulty forming effective blows. It
can only be used as a type of trump card, the terrorizing factor is greater
than its lethality. To a Rank one Gu Master, the truly useful skill would be
martial arts kung fu. This is because the martial art offence is more durable
and reliable. It’s a pity that this fact is something that they will not
understand unless they face it with their own experience.”

Fang Yuan lightly glanced around at his peers, a faint sneer somehow
forming on his lips.

The basic martial arts class was finally over. After a short rest, the student’s
eyes were filled with anticipation; the academy elder was late. He waved
his big hand, pointing at the row of grass puppets in front of the bamboo
wall. He went straight to the subject and said, “Alright, today is the day to
check the results. I want five people in a group coming up in proper
sequence, using the moonblade to attack three times.”

Swoosh.

The first group of students went up, and the moonblade danced in the air.
After three rounds, only nine moonblades hit on the grass puppets.

The academy elder shook his head a little, feeling slightly displeased. This
hit rate was too low, the key being that among these five only two managed
to successfully throw out two moonblades.

“You all better practice properly after this, especially you, and you.” The
elder reprimanded in a short sentence, then he waved his big hand and said,
“Next group.”

The two that were reprimanded dropped their heads and left the field in
dismay. One of them was a girl, her eyes a little red and her heart grieving.
She was only a C grade talent, yet she could not bear to use primeval stones
to quickly recover her primeval essence. Thus in these three days she
practiced very little, resulting in her unskilled throwing of the moonblade.
A Gu Master needed money to refine Gu, raise Gu; even practicing to
use Gu needed cash. But where was she able to get so much money? Even
though her two parents were supporting her from behind, but every family
had their own problems. To be short of funds was often the dilemma that
a Gu Master faced.

“Anyway I don’t have the slightest chance of getting number one. I might
as well give up and save on primeval stones, that is better for me.” As she
thought of this, her heart became calm once more.

There were actually quite a number of people who thought the same way as
this young girl. Because of the lack of practice, many of the students
performed poorly. The academy elder’s brow deepened more and more.

Fang Yuan watched, secretly shaking his head. “These people are really
pitiful and sad. Just for a small amount of primeval stones, they gave up
their own chance to make progress. Primeval stones are meant to be used; if
you want to become a miser and accumulate primeval stones, then what did
you become a Gu Master for?”

In other words, those who are shortsighted would often haggle over every
penny and chase after less important things. As for those with lofty
aspirations, they usually showed a tolerant and generous attitude, and had
the strength to give up and let go of things.

“It’s finally my turn.” At this moment, Gu Yue Mo Bei’s horse face lit up in
a confident smile all over, and he walked up to the field. His stature was
stout and gave out a fierce and strong aura. After standing still he raised his
hand and threw three moonblades – all three of them hit. Among the blades,
two of them hit on the puppet’s chest, while the other blade hit the puppet’s
left arm, shaving away a few green grass.

This result naturally caused the young teens to burst with admiration.

“Well done.” The elder’s brow slightly smoothed out.

The next group came up, Gu Yue Chi Cheng standing among them. He had
a small and short body, his face full of pockmarks, his expression bringing a
slight nervousness.

He sent out three moonblades continuously and all three hit on the puppet’s
chest, cutting out three intertwined scars. The scars went from deep to
shallow and restored back to its original appearance after a few breaths, due
to the puppet’s self-healing ability.

However this outcome was already tied to Gu Yue Mo Bei’s result, and also
received the elder’s praise. Chi Cheng held his head high as he walked out
of the field, looking at Mo Bei defiantly in the eye on the way.

“Hmph!” Below the field, Gu Yue Mo Bei gave a cold snort, but he did not
return Chi Cheng’s glare. Instead, he continued looking at Gu Yue Fang
Zheng who had not gone up yet.

His heart clearly knew that the real threats were only Gu Yue Chi Cheng
and Gu Yue Fang Zheng. The previous was the same like him – a B grade
talent while also having the constant supply of primeval stones. The latter
was an A grade talent; while Fang Zheng did not have as many primeval
stones as them, but just by relying on his own natural recovery speed thanks
to his grade talent, he would also be able to practice a lot in a short amount
of time.

Right now Gu Yue Chi Cheng’s results have appeared, showing a tie to Mo
Bei, and only Gu Yue Fang Zheng was left.

In the last few groups, Gu Yue Fang Zheng finally came up to the stage.

(1) 拳脚 – Chinese boxing but I translate it as martial arts, because firstly

I’m not sure Chinese is the proper word here. This land isn’t really China
and their language isn’t really Chinese, also writing Chinese boxing feels
out of place here.
 Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – The light of spring is enchanting

“Is he Fang Yuan or Fang Zheng?” Some of the students were muttering;
there were still people who could not differentiate between Fang Yuan and
Fang Zheng, the two twin brothers.

“It’s Fang Zheng. Fang Yuan is always wearing a cold expression, he would
never appear tense,” someone answered.

“Oh, then there will be a spectacle. Fang Zheng is the only A grade talent
from our village in three years, after all.” The crowd casted their eyes over
to the field.

Fang Zheng could feel the pressure among the gazes shot at him, and this
made him feel even more nervous. Standing on the stage, his fingers were
trembling slightly.

He threw out his first moonblade, originally intending to aim at the grass
puppet’s chest. But because he was tense, he missed – in the end the
moonblade imprinted onto the grass puppet’s neck area.

The young teens instantly let out a sound of slight surprise.

They thought that Fang Zheng deliberately did it. Instead of aiming for the
easiest spot which was the chest of the puppet, he went for the neck instead
– this was a showcase of huge self-confidence towards his own attacking
skill.

They could not help but look forward to Fang Zheng’s next move. Gu Yue
Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng however had their complexions cast down.
Only those among the field who could see Fang Zheng’s error were the
academy elder and Fang Yuan.

“How dangerous!” Looking at the moonblade, Fang Zheng exclaimed in his

heart while secretly feeling lucky. He took in a few deep breaths, trying his
best to calm down. Then he threw out two blades. This time he did not
make any mistakes, and the two blades hit accurately on the grass puppet’s
chest.

This result made the academy elder nod his head, and Mo Bei and Chi
Cheng calmed down as well. Fang Zheng’s result was different from theirs,
so it would all come down to how the academy elder decided to grade them.

The other students let out sounds of sighing. Fang Zheng’s later
performance was not interesting, making them feel slightly disappointed.

The next few groups were not interesting either. No one was able to
perform better than Mo Bei, Chi Cheng and Fang Zheng. The youngsters
started to whisper around.

“At this rate, the top scorer in today’s assessment should be among the three
of them.”
“All three of them managed to hit the grass puppet, I wonder who the
academy elder will deem better.”
“Hold on, it’s the last group. Fang Yuan’s going up.”
“Oh, that C grade talent ‘cold genius’? Heh heh.”

Right when it was the last group, Fang Yuan finally went up stage.

“It’s that Fang Yuan….” Gu Yue Mo Bei lifted his head and looked at Fang
Yuan for a moment, then he lowered his eyes uncaringly.

“Last time you got really lucky, choosing a weak-willed Moonlight Gu by

accident and getting number one. Let’s see how you perform this time!” Gu
Yue Chi Cheng hugged his arms, waiting to see Fang Yuan make a fool of
himself.
“Big brother… This time will not be like the last. I have practiced so hard
for so long, I can definitely surpass you.” Among the crowd, Gu Yue Fang
Zheng pursed his lips, subconsciously clenching his fists tightly.

Previously in the assessment to refine the vital Gu, he as someone with an A

grade talent actually got second position. Naturally he was not happy with
this. Especially after he understood that Fang Yuan was able to win and get
number one because of sheer luck, this made him even more unsatisfied. To
Gu Yue Fang Zheng, being victorious over his own older brother Fang Yuan
had a special and great significance.

Many gazes were gathered on Fang Yuan, and the academy elder’s sight
was fixed on him as well. Fang Yuan made no emotion; his expression was
cold and detached.

He stood still, primeval essence pouring into the Moonlight Gu in the heart
of his palm. With a cut in the air, he struck out the first moonblade.

This moonblade flew very high. It not only went over the grass puppet’s
head, but flew over the bamboo wall as well. It went on for almost fifteen
meters before the light turned dim and vanished into thin air.

“Pfffft…” Someone couldn’t help but laugh out.

“This is way too outrageous, isn’t it.” Someone sneered.
“He’s indeed a genius. No wonder he managed to get number one in
refining the Gu.” Another spoke sarcastically.

In the earlier years when Fang Yuan created poetry and showed early
wisdom, it had already caused discontented emotions among these people.
Later on when he relied on ‘luck’ and got number one in refining his
vital Gu, this made them feel a layer of jealousy among their dissatisfaction.

Many of them were waiting to see a ‘good show’. They waited to see the
‘genius’ Fang Yuan reveal an embarrassing action, and this moonblade of
his did not let them down.

Waves of laughter swept across the crowd.

The academy elder shook his head slightly, secretly laughing at himself.
Why did he have to be so concerned with Fang Yuan for no reason? He was
just a C grade and merely a boy who got number one in refining Gu because
of sheer luck.

In his heart he had already made up his mind. Although Mo Bei, Chi Cheng
and Fang Zheng’s results were the same, he would still pick Fang Zheng as
number one.

The war between Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng was the epitome
of the political struggle between the two most powerful elders in the clan.
The academy elder had always remained in the center and had no intention
to enter the middle of the political vortex.

The academy elder was more inclined towards the clan head Gu Yue Bo,
and Fang Zheng was a set with the clan leader. Add in the fact that he had A
grade talent, choosing him as number one would mean showing biased care
for him, and it was something the clan’s upper authorities could accept.

A warm spring breeze blew over, the smell of flowers drifting into the
training grounds. The sunlight shone down on Fang Yuan’s body, sending a
lonely black shadow onto the ground.

His expression was still cold as he quietly gazed at the grass puppet ten
meters away. The moonblade in his palm was giving out a faint blue light.

Of course, he had deliberately thrown the first moonblade off course. Right
now he only had two chances left to act. Taking into account the academy
elder’s position, to acquire number one he would have to create an outcome
that exceeded everyone’s expectations in the next two attacks.

“With only two chances left to attack, it’s impossible. Big brother, I have
finally won over you.” Gu Yue Fang Zheng’s eyes did not flicker as he
stared at Fang Yuan. From young till old, the life shadow that his older
brother had brought onto him finally faded away slowly at this moment.

Fang Zheng could feel victory so nearby. His two fists were subconsciously
clenched tight, his entire body so full of excitement that he trembled
slightly.

“Big brother, my victory this time is just a beginning. Next, I will keep on
winning over you again and again until I banish away all the shadows in my
heart. I will prove to the clan, the excellence of an A grade talent genius!”
Fang Zheng told himself in his heart.

But just at this moment, Fang Yuan acted. His right palm was like a knife,
splitting the void.

With a sharp tearing sound, the watery blue light shrouded in his palm was
thrown out. It flew in the air, turning into a curved blue moonblade,
shooting towards the grass puppet.

In just the next second Fang Yuan’s right palm lit up again in a coat of blue
light. He turned his palm and shot out the third moonblade. These two
attacks connected smoothly like flowing water; it was a seamless
combination.

The two moonblades flew out in quick succession, the distance between the
two blades less than half a meter apart in the air. Under the stunned gazes of
the crowd, the two moonblades accurately hit onto the grass puppet’s neck.

“This…” Fang Zheng’s pupils shrank, a bad feeling emerging from his
heart. In the next moment, the students slowly opened their mouths wide as
they wore astonished expressions.

They saw that the grass puppet’s head slowly tilted to one side, then it fell
off the neck and dropped onto the ground. With a bounce, it rolled two to
three meters away.

Fang Yuan had beheaded the puppet!

This outcome had gone beyond the expectations of everyone on field.

“Is this luck or skill?” The academy elder frowned. This doubt hovered in
the hearts of the rest of the students. For a time, the entire training ground
lapsed into silence.
“How could this be…” Fang Zheng murmured. He stared at Fang Yuan
blankly, the surged emotions in his heart dropping instantly, falling deep
into the lowest point.

Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, acting as if he was oblivious to the gazes that
fell onto him from the crowd.

Cluck, cluck…

Under the blue skies and white clouds, a group of peacock parrots suddenly
flapped their wings and flew in mid-air. They dragged their magnificent,
long and slender peacock tails, clucking in the air as they flew about
playfully.

Fang Yuan stood in the center of the training field, looking up. Under the
bright sunlight, the multi-coloured feathers of the birds dazzled even greater
and gorgeous. His expression was indifferent, as if the person who just cut
off the grass puppet’s head was not him.

“Ah, the light of spring is really enchanting..” He sighed in his heart.

 Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – The nature of all organizations

As it neared nightfall, the sun on the edge of the horizon looked like blood.
The afterglow rays poured into the school where around fifty students sat
upright. On the stage above, the academy elder was reading out names one
by one, distributing allowance to them.

This was the academy’s weekly subsidy where every seven days allowance
would be distributed. One could say it was financial aid for these young
teens. After all with their capabilities, to feed and raise their own Gu was a
lot of financial pressure.

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan.” The elder read aloud.

Fang Yuan got up from the seat by the window at the last row. He walked
up the stage, receiving two moneybags. In one bag was three primeval
stones – the clan’s allowance. The other bag held the reward of ten primeval
stones.

“Work hard,” the elder said. He gave Fang Yuan a deep look. Fang Yuan
had continuously achieved number one, and this had let those elders who
were originally disappointed in him start paying slight attention.

Fang Yuan nodded his head and took the purse into his arms, returning to
his seat.

“Damn it, he actually got number one again…” Gu Yue Mo Bei fixed his
gaze onto Fang Yuan firmly, his heart rather furious.

“Those two moonblades consecutively hit the neck of the puppet. Is this
because of sheer luck or real skill?” Gu Yue Chi Cheng narrowed his eyes.
Since the end of the assessment until now, this question had been hovering
in his mind.

It was not just him – many students unconsciously drifted their sights
towards Fang Yuan. This question haunted them. Although they had lost,
their hearts were unsatisfied and they wanted to question what actually had
happened.

When the day was about to end, the academy elder announced a matter.
“You all have been in the academy for an amount of time now, and you are
familiar with how to use your vital Gu as well. In the next few days I will
teach you all how to warm and nourish your aperture, advancing
a Gu Master’s cultivation realm. The higher the realm of a Gu Master, the
more concise your primeval essence becomes. A Rank one Gu Master has
green copper primeval essence; a Rank two Gu Master has red iron
primeval essence and a Rank three Gu Master possesses white silver
primeval essence. A portion of red iron primeval essence is comparable to
ten portions of green copper primeval essence. Similarly a portion of white
silver primeval essence equals ten portions of red iron primeval essence!”

“You must all remember, the Gu are just tools that we use. Cultivation is the
foundation of us Gu Masters. The higher your rank, the stronger the Gu you
are able to use. In the next three months, whoever can take the lead and
promote to Rank one middle stage will receive a reward of thirty primeval
stones. At the same time he will be able to choose the second Gu first. After
three months, we will elect a class monitor and two vice-class monitors
based on the results. The class monitor will enjoy a subsidy of ten primeval
stones while the vice-class monitor will have an allowance of five pieces!
Alright, that’s all for today. You can all leave.”

The elder’s words made the academy burst with noise.

“Time to elect the class monitor and vice-class monitor!” Someone

clenched his fist in excitement.

“The class monitor receives ten primeval stones every seven days, and the
vice-class monitor gets five pieces? If I am able to be the first to reach Rank
one middle stage, I will definitely be able to become the class monitor.”
Another had lights in his eyes.

“The primeval stones are not the important focus. What matters here is the
position of class monitor and vice-class monitor – it represents glory and
places one’s identity over others. When normal students sees the class
monitor they must all bow and greet him.” Gu Yue Mo Bei and Chi Cheng
did not lack primeval stones, but they deemed the glory of the position very
important.

“To become the class monitor, without mistake it is the first person who
promotes to Rank one middle stage first! That means when big brother see
me in future, he would have to bow and automatically greet me. Hold up,
where is big brother?” Gu Yue Fang Zheng subconsciously looked back, but
Fang Yuan’s seat was empty.

The students walked out of the academy.

“Where’s Gu Yue Fang Yuan?” Gu Yue Mo Bei wanted to look for Fang
Yuan and ask him face to face. However Fang Yuan was one step ahead and
had long left.

“Hmph, he sure ran away fast. Is he afraid? Looks like he got lucky again in
today’s test.” Gu Yue Chi Cheng sneered.

“Whatever, it’s just ten primeval stones. I don’t need to care about this
small matter, right now what’s important is to advance to middle stage and
get that class monitor position.” Gu Yue Mo Bei narrowed his eyes, looking
at his side where Gu Yue Chi Cheng and Gu Yue Fang Zheng were.

These two figures were his real enemy, while Fang Yuan was just a small C
grade talent; he was not on par.

“In the first two times, Fang Yuan got lucky and got number one. However
this time it is a cultivation test, and the focus is on the talent of cultivation.
When the talent is higher by a grade, the advantage becomes much greater,”
Gu Yue Chi Cheng thought, depressed in his heart. His real grade talent was
only a C grade; it was only because of cheating that let him gain the illusion
of having B grade.

“Just a mere class monitor and two vice-class monitor positions got them
itching their fists. How hot-blooded and naïve they are at this age,” Fang
Yuan sneered as he leaned against the gateway of the academy.

The so-called glory was just a valuable tool the upper levels used to
motivate those below them. In the end, it was just a layer of illusionary
glory, it was useless!

His five hundred years of experience had long allowed Fang Yuan to
understand some of the secrets of life.

“Whether it comes to a clan, sect or demonic group, whether it is this world

or earth, all organizations are like this. The high and low positions are
established, making the law of promotion clear, letting those in the
organization climb up non-stop from the bottom. Because chasing after
profit is the nature of humans, and positions of authority often make people
have superiority, creating the illusion that oneself is living a more valuable
life than others.”

“Power is like the carrot dangling in front of a donkey. The desires of

humans are stimulated by it, and each of them secure their personal gains
with someone with authority for it. After climbing up one level, there will
be a higher level. While they are busy currying favour for personal gain,
their hard work is squeezed out from them and their value is exploited by
the upper position.”

“In every organization, as long as there is a chain of command, it is to give

serve to those at the upper ranks. The so-called class monitor and vice-class
monitor position is like the smallest carrot, luring everyone else into the
structure of the clan. And to stop those below from realizing the truth, those
at the higher positions integrate shared values, clear-cutting the idea of
glory, meritorious deeds etc. The establishment of high and low positions
are made along with unequal benefits. Sometimes the use of religion is done
to dominate people’s hearts.”
“This is the real truth, yet it is a pity that too many people in the world do
not understand; they foolishly work hard for others. And for every
organization in the world, the most fundamental of its essence is just one
thing, and that is – The redistribution of resources, where the higher the
position the more resources they can enjoy.”

In his previous life Fang Yuan had founded the Bloodwing Demon Sect in
the Middle Kingdom, where he taught up to tens of thousands of people. He
erected the positions of demon soldiers, demon generals, demon sages etc.
Each position gave their corresponding benefits, letting countless people
flock over like ducks, letting Fang Yuan order them around. This kind of
experience allowed Fang Yuan to understand clearly the way of thinking in
this principle.

“Thus any organization is just a representation, while the real basis is just
one word – resources. Without food resources, one will die of starvation.
Without water resources, one will die of thirst. Without cultivation
resources, one will become weak and sooner or later, be bullied to death.”

“And for a Gu Master, primeval stones are the most important resource!”
Fang Yuan’s two orbs were deep like an ancient pond, and as his mind
reached this point the corners of his lips curled up slightly, creating the
outline of a sneer.

He had long left the academy, and right now he stood at the gate entrance of
the school. He saw the first batch of students coming out, gradually walking
closer towards him.

“It’s Fang Yuan.”

“What’s he doing at the middle of the gate entrance?”
“Hmph, every time I see his dead dysfunctional state, I feel so pissed off.”
“Don’t worry about him, he’s probably waiting for someone.”

The young teens paid no attention to him. Just as they were about to walk
over, Fang Yuan strode across and blocked them. “I’m plundering.
Everyone must surrender a piece of primeval stone before they can leave.”
T/N: Robbing time. What a pain this chapter was to translate >_>
 Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Outright extortion

The young teens were instantly shocked and angry.

“What, I didn’t hear wrongly, did I?”

“Fang Yuan, your head must have overheated and gone confused. You
would actually stand at the gates of the academy and blackmail us?!”

“Have you gone mad? Who gave you the guts to put your ideas on us?”
“Scram, you’re just a petty C grade, how dare you block my way. If you
don’t scram, I will send you flying with my…Urghh!”

Fang Yuan suddenly lashed out.

His right palm furiously cut forward. His movement was quick and precise,
his slice of his palm hitting the left side of someone’s neck.

This unlucky teenager was totally not expecting Fang Yuan to suddenly
attack him. While he was still cursing at Fang Yuan, he suddenly suffered a
heavy blow. His two eyes instantly rolled up and he fainted on the spot.

“Fuck! You actually dared to strike?!” The crowd jumped, and the young
teens subconsciously retreated backwards.

“Gu Yue Bei Ju fainted, what do we do?” Some of them were terrified and
scared, shouting around in horror.

“What else can be done?! There’s so many of us, and Fang Yuan is alone.
We should all rush at him together and beat him up.” Some people were
shouting, their rage erupting.
“That’s right, he sure doesn’t know his place! How he dares to provoke us
by himself. He’s definitely digging his own grave with his over-
ambitiousness! Everyone get on him together!!”

Yet before they could do anything, Fang Yuan had already struck. He strode
a few steps forward, rushing into the group of teenagers.

He slashed his palm and the edge of his hand cut onto a youth’s neck. The
young man rolled his eyes upward and fell.

“Ahh —!” Another teen yelled loudly, swinging his fist at Fang Yuan,
sweeping through the air. Fang Yuan lowered his body and dodged, then he
lifted his leg and kicked the boy’s crotch area.

AHH OWWwwww—!

The youngster’s loud roar was originally sonorous and indignant, but after
he took the blow his voice instantly rose higher and became sharp and
shrill, filled with a kind of misery and pain.

Thump.

He covered his crotch with his two hands, his knees giving way as he
dropped to the ground. He rolled around on the floor screaming loudly, the
pain so great his entire body was covered in cold sweat.

Fang Yuan swung his two fists around like a tiger that had entered a flock of
sheep!

He had five hundred years of battle experience, and these youngsters were
just a bunch of soft green kids; they had only just started cultivating not
long ago, how could they possibly be his opponents?

In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan put down the entire group of young
students. If they had not fainted, then they would be lying on the ground,
the pain making them drained and their bodies hurting all over.

“What’s going on here?!” Gu Yue Mo Bei arrived and exclaimed. He saw

that Fang Yuan stood at the entrance of the academy gates, and there were
five to six students on the floor around him.

“This Fang Yuan, h-he wants to extort our primeval stones!” One of them
lying on the floor shouted angrily while clutching his belly.

“Wow, still full of energy huh.” Fang Yuan’s expression was flat as he
kicked fiercely at the abdomen of the boy who just yelled.

Oww!

The youngster immediately cried out in pain, his body curling up like a
shrimp. Fear emerged from his face, his tears streaming down as he dared
not to speak again.

As they saw this scene, the students that came over all felt Fang Yuan’s
fierce savageness and cruelty, their hearts throbbing.

“Alright, all of you be good and hand out a piece of primeval stone. Then
I’ll let you go, or else, these people on the ground here will be your fate.”
Fang Yuan made a big step forward, his tone callous.

“In your mother’s face! You petty little C grade would even dare to win me,
a B grade?” Gu Yue Mo Bei flew into a rage, swinging his fists as he rushed
toward Fang Yuan before they knew it.

With a slight turn of his ankle, Fang Yuan swerved gently sideways and let
Mo Bei’s fist fly past. Then he stretched out his left hand, lifting the index
and middle finger toward the center of Mo Bei’s clavicle, accurately
jabbing at the area below the throat.

Mo Bei immediately blacked out, falling onto the ground with a thump,
fainting on the spot.

Hiss…

As they saw what just happened, the young students that planned to rush
forward quickly stopped, each of them releasing a mouthful of cold air.
In the eyes of these youngsters, Fang Yuan’s attacks were suddenly too
profound to be understood. They did not pay attention to basic martial arts,
but in reality it was vaguely mentioned during class. The human body had
many vulnerable parts, and several parts that Fang Yuan had struck were
one of those vulnerable places. When these parts were struck, it would
easily make a person faint on the spot, and a heavy blow would induce a
life-threatening crisis.

However Fang Yuan had proper restraint when he attacked.

Those that he had tackled down were either knocked out or suffering in
immense pain, losing the ability for combat in a short amount of time.
There was no one who was really seriously injured.

This was the terror of five hundred years’ worth of combat experience!

“Are you going to give me your stones or not?” Fang Yuan did a step
forward, forcing the other youths. They looked at each other for a moment,
then half of them gritted their teeth while the other half roared angrily, all of
them swarming towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan dodged about while striking at the same time. His cultivation
base was lowly, but his realm was still there; his heart was cool as ice, his
movements quick and precise.

Thump, thump…

After a few breaths, bodies fell down onto the ground again.

“It’s too vicious! Too terrible!”

“They’re not going to die, are they?”

There were still a few young girls left behind; they did not rush forward.
Their eyes were open wide, and after seeing what had happened so far their
bodies trembled more and more.

Fang Yuan swept his gaze to them, and their faces turned pale as they
quickly waved their hands and retreated. “No, don’t come over. We’ll
surrender, we’ll surrender the stones!”

After Fang Yuan received a few pieces of primeval stones, he let them go.
They stumbled out of the academy gateway, while in succession several
students came over.

To leave the academy, this gateway was the only route. With Fang Yuan
blocking this path, he would be able to block out all the students.

“Damn, what’s going on?!” The new wave of students stared in amazement.
“Isn’t that Gu Yue Mo Bei?” Gu Yue Chi Cheng stared at the unconscious
Mo Bei on the floor, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

When Fang Yuan opened his mouth and spoke, the youngsters were
instantly angered and they attacked him, then they fell.

“Sir elder, we’re just going to keep watching all of this and not stop them?
What if someone loses their life, how are we going to salvage the matter?”
The guards were worried.

Some of the guards were indignant, saying, “This Fang Yuan has too much
guts. He would actually dare to extort his classmates at the academy school
gates under our eyelids. This is acting with utter disregard of the law and
discipline! As long as sir gives the command, we subordinates will take
away this kid.”

The violent matter of Fang Yuan blocking the gateway and openly extorting
his classmates had long attracted attention since the beginning. But mortal
guards had no right to punish the students, so they could only go first to the
academy elder and report.

When the academy elder heard the news, he did not immediately command
for them to stop it. Instead he went up the pavilion and observed from afar.

“Looks like this child has fighting talent.” The longer the academy elder
watched the more interested he felt.
Fang Yuan’s use of the moonblade today had already caused some
uncertainty in the elder. Right now he watched as Fang Yuan with his
strength alone, making an enemy out of the entire batch of students, bearing
a sort of unstoppable fighting style of graceful demeanor. With this the
doubts in his heart were cleared.

In this world, there were those who were particularly keen and sharp
towards battles; these were hidden gifts. They were good at fighting, and
they loved battles. In the battles they were often inspired, and always
created surprising and even unbelievable accomplishments.

“Ah, he’s a natural battle Gu Master. Pity, his talent is only C grade; in the
end he just lacks one step of a grade.” The academy elder heaved a sigh.

“Sir, are you not going to stop this farce? Letting him go on with this
nonsense, I’m afraid the consequences wouldn’t be too good.” The guards
beside him had worried expressions on their faces.

T/N: They really do curse and swear in this novel, by the way. Hope you
guys don’t mind the vulgarities, though that’s probably the least of your
worries in future.
 Chapter 28

Chapter 28 – Capital free business

“Why stop it?” The academy elder lifted his eyebrows and laughed. He
lifted a finger and pointed it at Fang Yuan who was far away and said, “This
young man has taken control of the entire situation, and his attacks are fully
restrained. Look at the way he cuts at the neck, he only acts on the left or
right side, but never cutting at the nape. This is because he knows that
striking the neck sides can make a person faint on the spot. Meanwhile
attacking the area at the back of the head and neck could cause death, so he
automatically abandoned that way of attacking.”

“Look at all those youths on the ground, which one of them is actually
heavily injured? None! Even if they were badly hurt, so what? Are you
saying that our academy’s treatment Gu Masters won’t be able to cure this
sort of traumatic wound?”

“But sir elder, that child is just too arrogant. He blocked the entrance; this is
obviously not acknowledging our existence as guards! Being ignored isn’t
the main problem though, the important matter is how the clan will think of
our academy. To actually allow a small petty C grade student make a fuss in
the academy and not stop it. If word goes out, we’re afraid this might affect
your reputation, sir elder.” The guard squinted as he said this.

“Hmph, in reality is that because you all were disregarded by the boy, so
your own dignity feels challenged?” The academy elder was not too happy.
He sneered and shot a gaze as sharp as a sword edge at the guards. They all
lowered their heads, all of them disagreeing.

“What’s wrong with fighting? As long as lives are not lost, it will stir up the
competitive side of the students and temper their will to fight. To stop this
kind of fight is to stifle the student’s fighting passion! Was there no fighting
in the past batches? Every batch had their own battles, and it happened very
often. The only difference was that it usually happened in the latter half of
the year when the students had already mastered some means of fighting.
With strength they itched to fight, and at the same time it is an aggressive
age. Why didn’t you stop those people back then?” The academy elder
questioned in a cold voice.

“Maybe it was because the fights in the previous years were all single
battles, there were rarely huge scale fighting like this one. But this Fang
Yuan is really good at creating a disturbance!” The chief of the guards
replied.

“No, no, no.” The academy elder shook his head, “That was because you all
did not dare to stop it. Because after half a year, a Gu Master will have the
ability to fight beyond a mortal’s strength, and with your petty mortal
bodies, how are you supposed to stop it? Right now you all want to stop
Fang Yuan, perhaps it is because he just started cultivating, so he doesn’t
have enough power. It’s also because you feel that he ignored your
existence and offended your dignity. But you must all remember, these
students all bear the surname of Gu Yue! They are my Gu Yue clan’s clan
members, your masters! Even if they are still of young age, no matter how
weak, they are still your masters!”

The elder’s tone had turned sharply.

“Your surnames are not Gu Yue, what is your worth? Because of your
loyalty, you were all given the position of guards, rewarding you with some
sweet benefits. But in reality, you are still slaves. Just slaves! A slave dare
give preposterous opinions of their masters, caring about the matters of
their masters?” The elder’s face was dark like water.

“This was not your subordinates idea, not my meaning!”

“I wouldn’t dare! I wouldn’t dare!”

The guards were ashen-faced as they kneeled down to the ground, spouting
nonstop. The academy elder gave a cold snort and pointed at the chief guard
who had just called Fang Yuan a person good at creating disturbances. “You
gave an outrageous comment on your master. You are relieved of your
position.”

After a while, the elder said to the others, “After half a month, there will be
a re-examination to determine the new chief.”

The other guards immediately had eyes that shone, their hearts pumping
with enthusiasm.

“The position of chief of the guard! Every month I’ll be able to receive half
a primeval stone more!”
“To be able to become the chief is to become a man above men. Aside from
the masters, I dare to see who else would show displeasure at me?”
“If I became the chief, how cool that would be…”

“Alright, what are you all pestling here for? Get downstairs and wait for the
battle to end, then sweep the field!” The elder roared.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

“Your subordinate takes his leave!”

The guards left in reverence and awe as they went down. One of the guards
on the stairs lost his footing and fell down. Immediately there was a series
of sounds implicating a chain of people falling and knocking down.

However under the academy elder’s power and influence, the guards
reddened their faces and endured in suffering, not letting out a single noise.

“Hmph! Those minions are just like dogs. Every once in a while they’d get
this itch to misbehave; you’d have to smack them so that they know fear
and respect. Then just throw some small victories and bones to them, letting
them fight amongst themselves like dogs, letting them compete amongst
themselves to serve my clan with their life. To hold a stick in one hand and
a carrot in another – This is the unique way of the upper echelons.” As the
academy elder heard the quiet movements below, he sneered in his heart
and turned his head, looking through the window and at the school gates.
A fresh group of ten or so students were on the ground at the entrance. Fang
Yuan stood proudly, and there were three young girls back-to-back,
huddling at a side opposite him.

“You, you-you better not come over!”

“If you come over, we’ll shoot you with the moonblade!!”

In their hands were a layer of blue radiance. It seemed like they were
compelled to the point they would actually mobilize their primeval essence
and use the Moonlight Gu.

Fang Yuan’s body was still that of a normal fifteen-year-old boy, and if they
attacked him with the moonblade it would not do him any good. Yet he was
not afraid – instead he sneered at them and walked step by step towards the
girls. “You girls have pretty big guts huh, have you forgotten the rules of
the school? Inside the academy fighting using Gu is forbidden, or else the
penalty will be expulsion. If you girls want to be expelled, then just do it.”

“This…”The young girls hesitated.

“Indeed there is such a rule.” The blue light in their hands faded away.

Fang Yuan’s eyes flashed as he caught this opening and dashed forward, his
palms waving in the air, cutting down two of them without a shadow of
doubt.

Being the last one, her morale dropped and her knees turned weak. She
collapsed to the ground crying heavily, begging fang Yuan, “Don’t you
come over Fang Yuan, please let me go.”

Fang Yuan stared down at the young girl with a condescending look, his
cold voice sounding in her ears. “A piece of primeval stone.”

The girl’s body fluttered and she quickly opened her money pouch,
realization taking hold of her. She took out three to four pieces of primeval
stones and held them in her palm, stretching out her hand to Fang Yuan,
“Don’t hit me, I’ll give them all to you, I’ll give all my stones to you!”
Fang Yuan was expressionless as he slowly reached out with his right hand.
He lifted his forefinger and thumb, gently pinching at a piece of primeval
stone from the girl’s hand.

The young maiden could not stop trembling. Fang Yuan’s hand had a
youth’s pale and slender form, but in her eyes his hand was horrifying like a
ferocious claw of terror.

“I’ve said it earlier, I will only take one piece of primeval stone.” Fang
Yuan paused for a moment, then he said plainly, “You may leave.”

The girl stared at Fang Yuan for a good while, then she finally got up. But
her limbs were still weak and she could not properly stand. Her heart was
already full of fear towards Fang Yuan, and she was afraid to the point that
she could not muster a single breath of energy.

When the academy elder saw this, he could not help but shake his head.
One of his reasons to remain an observer was to borrow the chance to see
each of the student’s respective fighting talents.

This girl who collapsed on the ground was only a C grade talent, but with
this kind of mentality she could only become a logistics Gu Master. She
would be able to be productive in the clan, but there was no expectation for
her to be on the battlefield.

“As for this Fang Yuan…” The academy elder rubbed his chin, his eyes
squinting with a flash of light. He felt that Fang Yuan was very interesting.
Not only did Fang Yuan possess fighting talent, he even had a sense of
propriety. To just extort for a piece of primeval stone was not beyond the
bounds in the elder’s heart. But if fang Yuan wanted to blackmail for two
pieces, that would be too much and he would need to intervene.

The academy’s allowance was originally three pieces. To have a piece taken
away would still be considered harmless. But if he extorted away two
stones, then what is the point of giving out subsidy? He might as well just
give everything to Fang Yuan.
Very quickly the last group of students arrived. There were only five people,
and among them was Fang Yuan’s twin younger brother.

“Big brother, how could you be like this?! You are too bold, to actually beat
up your classmates at the gates and take away their primeval stones!” Gu
Yue Fang Zheng was wide-eyed as he looked at the scene. He could not
believe what he was seeing before him, “I advice you to quickly go to the
academy elder and take the initiative to admit your mistake, or else with
you making such a huge matter, it’s not a joke, you might actually get
expelled!”

Fang Yuan laughed and said, “You’re right.”

Fang Zheng heaved a relieved sigh. Seeing that his older brother hadn’t
gone insane and could still be persuaded, that was good.

But very quickly he heard Fang Yuan say again, “Every one of you, a piece
of primeval stone.”

“What?” Fang Zheng opened his mouth wide with surprise, “Even I need to
pay up?”

“My dearest little brother, of course you can choose not to.” Fang Yuan’s
tone was very gentle. “But you will end up just like them,” he said and
pointed at those fallen on the ground. Some of them had fainted, and some
of them were moaning in pain.

“Even his own younger brother isn’t spared!”

“This Fang Yuan is crazy, he’s too vicious…”
“We cannot defeat him, a wise man does not fight when the odds are against
him. We better hand it over and overcome the trouble.”
“That’s right, we’ll just pass up the primeval stone first. It’s just one piece
anyway, when we go back and report to the teachers, he’ll be getting it!”

With the lesson drawn from their classmate’s mistakes, the remaining
youngsters obediently accepted Fang Yuan’s blackmail with gazes of
defiance.
“Hold up.” Just as they were about to leave, Fang Yuan shouted at them to
halt.

“Fang Yuan, are you actually going to go back on your word?” The youths
started to become nervous.

Fang Yuan faced the teenagers on the ground, gently sighing. “Do you
guys really think that I would squat down and search through their bodies
one by one?”

The youths stared blankly, then they were hit by realization one by one.
Each of them turned red in the face and stood at the spot hesitatingly.

Fang Yuan stared at them, narrowing his eyes. There was a flash of cold
light in his gaze; immediately the five youngsters felt their heart beating
fast, their scalps going numb at the same time.

“Alright, Fang Yuan. We understand your meaning.”

“We’ll just help you this once.”

Under Fang Yuan’s despotic aura, they could only lower their heads and
search through each of the young teen’s money pouches on the ground,
taking out a piece of primeval stone from each bag. Then they brought it
together and passed it to Fang Yuan.

The entire class had a total of fifty-seven people. By extorting a piece of

primeval stone from every single one of them, Fang Yuan held fifty-six
pieces.

He originally had twenty pieces, but he spent ten to buy a few jars of green
bamboo wine. Adding the number of primeval stones from his own
allowance and reward, the total number of primeval stones he had in his
possession amounted up to seventy-nine pieces.

“This sort of capital free business that consists of extortion and plundering
is really the most profitable business.” Fang Yuan pocketed his money
pouch that had suddenly expanded greatly into his bosom and strutted away,
leaving behind a floor full of teenagers, lying like corpses on the ground.
And a few teenagers, Fang Zheng among them, blankly stared after Fang
Yuan’s gradually disappearing shadow.

“Get out there fast.”

“All of you, faster! Arrange the little masters properly.”
“The treatment Gu Master, where is he, ask him to come over fast!”

The guards were yelling as they all rushed forward, falling over each other
in their eagerness to present themselves. They willingly gave their all for
the small position of being the chief guard.

Author’s Note: There were some problems with the layout yesterday, but
they’ve been corrected now. Really sorry about it, I gave you all obstacles
to your reading. Hmm, with my new book on the list of new books, I’m
really happy; this is all due to all my new friend’s support! I’ve seen the
power of you all, the popularity is also rising. Due to the uniqueness of the
book’s style, I hope those of the same type will support it. This book will be
written all the way, and will have stable updates. All my books have always
been finished, the aspect of integrity in this matter is full drop!

T/N: Translating author notes to.. let you understand him more? And like he
said, he claims to have finished all his books. At the time of this chapter I’m
translating now, Reverend Insanity hasn’t ended yet. But the author has said
he plans to end it this year, after 4-5 years of writing this novel! And sorry
for the delay, while I do plan to push out a chapter every 2-3 days, I try not
to release on the third day… Haha.
 Chapter 29

Chapter 29 – Unscrupulous (1)

“Put all the wine jars under the bed.” Fang Yuan pointed and directed four
workers from the inn. In each man’s hands were jars of green bamboo wine.
Right after Fang Yuan successfully extorted his peers, he went to the inn
and bought twenty jars in one go.

Each jar cost two pieces of primeval stones, and Fang Yuan pumped in forty
primeval stones for the sake of the Liquor worm.

The money pouch that had bulged out not long ago inflated by half in an
instant, leaving thirty-nine pieces of primeval stones behind. However it
was worth the money – these wine would be able to support the Liquor
worm for a long time.

“Alright,” the workers immediately replied. They would not dare to show
any hint of disrespect to a Gu Master. Add on to the fact that Fang Yuan had
bought so much wine, he could be said as the inn’s big customer. With just a
casual word before the innkeeper, the workers were able to easily put down
their current activities and workload.

After the inn servants left, Fang Yuan closed the dormitory door and sat
cross-legged on his bed.

It was already nighttime. The stars and moon in the sky were bright, and the
night breeze flowed with a hint of scented fragrance.

There was no light in the room. Fang Yuan calmed his state of mind, letting
his focus slip into the primeval sea.
The waves of the primeval sea rose and fell, the seawater giving out green
copper coloured light. Every drop of seawater was the green copper
primeval essence that a Rank one Gu Master specially had. The primeval
sea took up 44%(2) of the entire aperture; this was Fang Yuan’s C grade
talent’s limitation.

The four walls of the aperture were a thin layer of white light, supporting
and encasing the aperture. In the sky above the primeval sea there was
nothing. The Spring Autumn Cicada had already hidden itself away under
Fang Yuan’s command, restoring itself under a deep sleep.

Floating on the primeval sea was a cute and chubby white Liquor worm. It
frisked about with its heart’s content on the seawater, sometimes diving into
the sea, other times shaking its head and tail, splashing and splattering
water droplets around.

Fang Yuan sent a thought through his mind, and the Liquor worm
immediately responded. It stopped playing and curled up into the shape of a
rice dumpling, leisurely floating into the air. It rose up to the middle of the
aperture and out of the green copper sea.

“Go.” Fang Yuan mobilized a tenth of his primeval essence, transforming it

into a narrow flow, thrusting it all into the Liquor worm. The Liquor worm
had already been refined by him, so this time it did not resist. It took in the
entire jet of primeval essence and absorbed everything into its body.

Immediately the sea surface dropped by a small cut. The curled up Liquor
worm turned the primeval essence into a driving force and began to radiate
out white light. Inside the soft light, an enshrouding mist of wine fumes
were gradually produced, finally converging into a pale white wine mist.

The wine mist was marvelous. It did not drift apart, instead enveloping
around the Liquor worm.

“Rise.” Fang Yuan gave a thought, transferring another 10% of his primeval
essence. The green copper seawater dived into the wine mist; as the wine
mist melted into the seawater, it gradually lessened, and eventually there
was no trace of it left. As for that 10% of green copper primeval essence, it
also lost its general volume and was left with 5%.

However this 5% of primeval essence was even more condensed than

before. The original primeval essence was a jade green, giving out a copper
luster. Right now although this new primeval essence had the same copper
luster, the green was a darker shade – it was pale green.

Pale green coloured primeval essence was the primeval essence that only a
Rank one middle stage Gu Master would have. The Liquor worm’s use was
to condense the primeval essence and increase it by a small realm rank!

A Gu Master had 9 great realms, from the bottom – Rank one, Rank two, all
the way to Rank nine. Every great realm was split into four smaller realms,
which were initial stage, middle stage, upper stage and peak stage.

Fang Yuan was only a Rank one initial stage Gu Master right now, but with
the Liquor worm’s help he had 5% of a Rank one middle stage Gu Master’s
primeval essence!

“If I want to condense out 5% of middle stage primeval essence I would

need to use 20% of initial stage primeval essence. I want to convert all the
44% of my primeval sea into middle stage primeval essence, so I’d need to
use around 180% of initial stage primeval essence. To reach this target as
soon as possible, I’d need to borrow the help of primeval stones.”

As he thought of this, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and took out a complete
primeval stone the size of a duck egg from his bag. The primeval stone was
a sort of ellipsoidal shaped, translucent grey stone. As the natural essence
inside it is consumed, its size would continue shrinking.

His right hand slowly closed, the primeval stone tightly clenched in his
palm. He absorbed the natural primeval essence inside the stone,
continuously replenishing his own aperture. The level of the sea surface that
had fallen in his aperture slowly began to rise.

The primeval stone was meant to be used. Fang Yuan was not stingy by one
bit, and he would not save it up.
“I do not have someone to back me up, and I do not have support from
friends and family, thus I can only rely on extortion and plundering. Today
was just the first time, but after this, every seven days when the academy
gives out the school allowance, I will continue blocking the academy
gates.”

How could robbing and blackmailing once satisfy Fang Yuan’s appetite? In
a Gu Master’s cultivation, the primeval stone was the most scarce thing. As
for the consequences of his plundering actions, Fang Yuan was not the least
worried.

This world was not the same as Earth.

On Earth, schools would always prohibit fights to mainly stabilize harmony.

But in this world, fighting was the main theme.

No matter a Gu Master or common mortal, they would fight for survival.

Sometimes it would be a fight with a scary wild beast. Sometimes it would
be a battle against the raging weather, and other times if could be a fight
against other Gu Masters over resources.

As a result, moderate fighting was instead encouraged and advocated by

people.

From young to old, from simple brawls to battles determining life and
death, this was the portrayal of most of the human lives here.

This surface of this world was boundless. Just the Southern Border alone
that Fang Yuan stayed in now, it was bigger than seven to eight times the
entire surface of Earth itself. The living environment here was hostile and
cruel, so humans would often construct mountain villages in the form of
clans, holing up together.

Every now and then there would be waves of beasts, or perhaps extremely
bad weather assaulting a village. The Gu Master would become the core
force of a village’s protection, and every year the situation of attrition
would become more serious.
Surviving requires men with strong fighting will. A clan needs
battle Gu Masters, there is never too much. Moreover, Fang Yuan’s attacks
were within the proper limit.

He never attacked the lower jaw, as this would easily cause the skull to
fracture and cause the loss of a human life. He also never struck the back of
the head. When fighting he did not use his fists or elbow, or even jabbing
with his fingers, but he used his palm. The number of kicks he used could
also be numbered.

The students that fell were not heavily injured; at most they were lightly
wounded.

Fang Yuan was not bloodthirsty, he just treated killing as a type of means.

Every time he acted, he would have a clear goal. Whatever the type of
method, whichever would let him reach his goal the fastest, he would use it.
In other words, he was unscrupulous in doing things.

……

The clouds floated over, covering the moonlight. A shadow enveloped over
the Gu Yue village.

The watchman banged on his clappers, prompting people to know that it

was already deep in the night – Be careful of fires, be on guard of beast
assaults, as well as the possibility of foreign Gu Masters sneaking into the
village.

There were still a lot of lights in the village.

In the Chi family branch home, Gu Yue Chi Lian stayed in his study, the
lights radiantly bright. This high authority old man spoke with a gentle tone,
expressing sympathy as he asked his own grandson Gu Yue Chi Cheng, “I
heard you were beaten up by that Fang Yuan today?”

Gu Yue Chi Cheng had a black right eye, and he angrily said, “Yes,
grandpa. That Fang Yuan was just a petty C grade, yet he dared to act so
arrogant. He blocked us all at the entrance, not caring about the friendly
sentiments of his classmates, and he robbed us of our primeval stones.
What’s more, the academy just opened one eye and closed one eye over the
incident. It was only when Fang Yuan strode away that the guards hurried
over. Grandpa, this time you have to help me expel this angry resentment of
mine!”

Instead Gu Yue Chi Lian shook his head. “This is between you and your
juniors. You were blackmailed to lose a piece of primeval stone, and you
did not suffer heavy injuries – Grandpa cannot act without any justifiable
excuse. Even if you were heavily wounded, I will not stand up for you, do
you understand why?”

Gu Yue Chi Cheng was stunned. He struggled to think, and after a long
while he hesitatingly said, “Grandpa, I think I understand your meaning.
You are hoping that I will rely on my own strength to find my way, right?”

“You only understood one aspect.” Gu Yue Chi Lian nodded his head and
added, “You must remember, you are not just an individual representative,
but you are the image on behalf of our Chi family branch. For many years
we have confronted the Mo family branch, and your every move will
represent the hope of the future of the Chi family branch. Grandpa may help
you in the shadows, but you must stand up and erect a self-reliant and
strong image. Otherwise the elders who are supporting our family will not
see the hope for our future, and they will abandon the Chi family.”

As he said this, Gu Yue Chi Lian heaved a sigh. “This is also why grandpa
helped you to cheat and let you impersonate a B grade talent. Our Chi
family needs a strong successor to hold on to those who are supporting us.”

Gu Yue Chi Cheng was then enlightened. “Grandpa, I understand now.”

Gu Yue Chi Lian shook his head. “Just understanding won’t do any good.
You must work hard. Fang Yuan is just small trouble; next up you must
study hard and train diligently on your basic martial arts and get your
dignity back. At the same time do not forget to work hard on cultivating,
promoting to middle stage as soon as possible. The best you can do is to
win the position of class monitor, this will be great honor and a kind of help
to our Chi family.”

“Alright, grandpa!” Gu Yue Chi Cheng replied loudly.

“Heh heh heh, this spirit is how the heir to our Chi branch should be like.
Grandson, you must work hard, I will do my best to help you.”

(1) Unscrupulous – Having or showing no moral principles; not honest or

fair. Unethical, immoral, shameless… Will go through any means necessary
to achieve or do something.

(2) 44% – Formerly known as 4 by 4 or 4 x 4.

T/N: That’s final, if anything I am clear about the measurements of the

aperture sizes now. It’s all %… This was confirmed by Chinese readers. So
if you remember all that ‘4 by 4’, ‘5 by 6’, ‘9 by 8’ or 4 x 4 / 5 x 6 / 9 x 8…
It’s 44%, 56%, 98%.

Really sorry for any confusion regarding these measurements and aperture
primeval sea sizes!
 Chapter 30

Chapter 30 – Fang Yuan, you’re robbing again?

Almost at the same moment, in another place.

“Honorary father and mother, that was pretty much how things went.” Fang
Zheng stood straight, his tone respectful and cautious.

In the hall, Fang Yuan’s uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu as well as his aunt sat in
their wide-back huge chairs frowning. Aunt gnawed her teeth. While feeling
injustice for Fang Zheng and at the same time gloating over the matter, she
said, “Fang Yuan that bastard son, him extorting others is one thing, but to
think he would not even spare his own younger brother. How heartless and
unfeeling! However this time with such a huge crime, I expect he will be
expelled from the academy soon after this.”

“That’s enough, you should talk less.” Uncle heaved in a deep sigh and told
Fang Zheng, “You only lost a piece of primeval stone, don’t worry. Go to
the treasury and pick up a stone, there is no business for you here now. You
must go and work hard in cultivating. With your A grade talent, becoming
the first Middle stage Gu Master is a huge possibility. Do not waste the
talent that heaven blessed you with, for your mother and I look forward to
seeing you become number one.”

“Yes, father and mother. Your son takes his leave.” Fang Zheng left with a
heart full of trepidation.

He secretly thought, “Big brother robbed all the students when he blocked
the academy gates today. He created such a terrible aftermath, I’m afraid he
might really be expelled. If that happens, should I plead on his case for
him?”
Two voices appeared in his head.

A voice said, “No need to plead for him, he even robbed your primeval
stone away although you were his own young brother. Even if he was
expelled, that was his own fault. If Heaven commits a sin, it can be
forgiven, but if one commits a sin himself, he deserves to die!”

Another voice said, “But he is your very own older brother, he shares a
similar face, his blood thicker than water. Alright, even if you do not
acknowledge him, you still must plead his case. If you do not do so, how
will the outsiders look at you? I’m afraid they might think of you as a
heartless and ungrateful person.”

Seeing Fang Zheng leave the hall, Aunt could not help but exclaim happily,
“Husband, we cut off Fang Yuan’s living expenses. This little bastard finally
couldn’t stand it and went off committing a huge error! To actually dare to
block the academy gates and fight in public, not to mention extortion, this is
the equivalent of provoking the academy elder. I daresay the time for him
getting expelled is very near.”

However Uncle shook his head. “You think too simply of things. Fang Yuan
will not be expelled, in fact there may not be any punishment.”

“Why?” Aunt was puzzled.

Uncle snorted. “Brawls and fights are encouraged as long as there are no
heavy consequences. Did any students die in this fight? No.”

Aunt refused to comply. “Husband, how would you know there

weren’t any casualties? There are always accidents happening from
fighting.”

Uncle closed his eyes, leaning against the back of his chair. “Woman, you
are really naïve. Do you really think the academy elder is just for show?
When did the guards start acting? They came out at the last moment, this
means that the entire scene was under control. If someone was heavily
injured, they would have rushed over a long time ago, not at the last
moments.”
“You are not a Gu Master, so you won’t understand. The academy does not
forbid brawls among the students, but in fact they maintain an encouraging
attitude towards it. The more brawls there are, the more helpful it would be
for battles. Some students can even create strong bonds through fighting.
The elders will not pursue this. It is already a routine. If anyone wants to
take action on behalf of their offspring, it would break the rules.”

Aunt was dumbfounded as she heard this, and she replied in an unsatisfied
manner, “Then nothing’s going to happen to Fang Yuan who robbed away
such a huge amount of primeval stones? He’s just going to be let go like
that? With such a big number of primeval stones, it will bring a lot of help
to his cultivation.”

Uncle opened his eyes, his face cloudy. “What else can we do? Are you
expecting me to go over by myself and snatch away all his primeval stones?
However this matter is not something that we cannot exploit. For Fang
Yuan to rob and extort even his own brother Fang Zheng, this is the key to
his fall. Fang Zheng is an A grade talent, he will definitely be stronger than
Fang Yuan one day. We will use this matter to divide and sow discord in
Fang Zheng. We’ll lead Fang Zheng away from Fang Yuan for our own
use!”

And with that, three days passed.

The disturbance that Fang Yuan caused from his robbery and extortion did
not spread nor grow bigger, but instead it gradually died down.

No elders broke the rules and came to find trouble for Fang Yuan, and the
academy elder naturally closed one eye and opened one eye, acting like
nothing happened. Although in this period of time, there were two to three
youngsters who refused to accept the truth of having their primeval stones
taken, and they challenged Fang Yuan. But after Fang Yuan knocked them
down easily, everyone became aware that if they did not train hard in
martial arts, they would never beat Fang Yuan.

Among these teenagers, a burst of mass fervor towards training hard in

martial arts erupted.
The martial arts instructor was overjoyed, he had never seen a batch of
students so enthusiastic and dedicated towards martial arts. Before this
when he was teaching, the students were all lacking in interest, yawning all
day. But right now they would constantly seek advice with eyes brimming
with radiating vigour.

The academy elder specially came over to inquire about his situation.

The martial arts instructor had an excited tone as he reported, “The students
have been showing unexpected enthusiasm, and this change is too great.
Only one student among them called Fang Yuan remains as lazy as ever.”

The academy elder laughed and patted his shoulders. He said, “This student
that you speak of is the cause of the other student’s transformation.”

The martial arts instructor was puzzled. But of course the changes were
more than this.

After the incident, Fang Yuan had undoubtedly become the public enemy of
the entire student batch. Everyone was hostile towards him and he was
isolated. No longer did anyone speak to him, and no one greeted him.

The youths exerted full force, training their basic techniques privately. With
their parents’ and elders’ encouragement and inspirations, they had decided
that they must reclaim their honor by their own hands.

Under the calm surface, the undercurrent was surging.

Another four days passed.

The academy elder passed out the primeval stone allowance once more, and
the time for Fang Yuan to act came again.

“Fang Yuan, once wasn’t enough for you, you still want to rob away our
primeval stones again?!” The students were shocked and angry as Fang
Yuan blocked them at the gates once more.

Fang Yuan stood in the middle of the entrance, his hands behind his back,
his expression cold and tone flat. “A piece of primeval stone per person and
you’ll be spared of physical pain.”

“Fang Yuan, your bullying is excessive. I want to challenge you!” Gu Yue

Mo Bei roared angrily, coming out first.

“Oh?” Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly.

Mo Bei raised his fists and rushed forward. After a few rounds, he fainted
onto the ground.

“Mo Bei, you’re too useless! Watch me!” Gu Yue Chi Cheng yelled loudly
and dashed towards Fang Yuan. After a transition of attack and defence, he
joined after Mo Bei’s footsteps.

Fang Yuan’s battle experience was ten thousand times more than theirs;
although he only started cultivating, every force inflicted was used properly.
Meanwhile, this bunch of students had only started their journey. If they
came at him together, they might still be able to bring him a little trouble.
But with them coming up to challenge him one by one, it was more relaxing
than the first time of extortion.

After fifteen minutes, Fang Yuan leisurely walked away with a bulging
money bag, leaving behind a floor full of youths. Some of them were lying
motionless, and some were holding their bellies or clutching their crotch as
they moaned and howled.

“Brothers, time to come up and sweep the field fast!” The guards shouted
and all rushed over.

T/N: Just a notice – All measurements regarding aperture sizes in all the
previous chapters and especially the rate of recovery in Chapter 10 have
been changed to % as how it should have been.
 Chapter 31

Chapter 31- Fang Yuan! You’re in huge trouble!

“I’ve trained hard in basic martial arts for seven consecutive days, but to
think I only managed to endure 2 strikes from Fang Yuan and lost
consciousness afterwards. Shame, unforgivable shame!” Gu Yue Mo Bei
exclaimed, full of anguish and regret.

In the family garden, he faced the wooden puppet, unleashing punches and
kicks that were resulting in resounding echoes.

Suddenly, he heard a laughing voice. “Little brother, do you have deep

hatred for the puppet? Why the great resentment?”

Upon hearing this familiar voice, Gu Yue Mo Bei relaxed and stopped his
attacks. He turned his head. “Sister, you’re back!”

“Uh-huh, the family council sent me out for an investigation mission which
lasted more than ten days…” Gu Yue Mo Yan laughingly replied. She was
Mo Bei’s blood-related sister, a Rank two middle stage Gu Master.

But soon, her face turned grim, her eyes sharply gazing at Mo Bei.
“Brother, what’s the matter with those bruises on your face? Who bullied
you?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. I accidentally tripped and fell.” A hint of panic flashed
across Mo Bei’s face as he came up with an excuse. He did not wish for his
sister to know of such an embarrassing event. The truth of the Mo family’s
future heir and the family head, Gu Yue Mo Chen’s beloved grandson,
consecutively knocked out twice in combat. But the fortunate thing was that
he wasn’t the only unlucky one. The others had suffered as well.
“Oh, you have to be more careful in that case. As for your combat training,
this won’t do. You do not have a Guthat enhances your defense right now,
so use thick towels to cover yourself. This will protect your limbs from
getting hurt.” Gu Yue Mo Yan instructed before leaving.

“Hello, young Miss!”

“Good morning, young Miss!”
“Young Miss is back! Your servant greets you, Miss!”

Gu Yue Mo Yan hastily walked with a cold demeanor, and the servants she
met on the way bowed and paid respects to her without fail.

She walked to the study room. Without any warning, Mo Yan pushed the
door and entered through. Inside the room, Gu Yue Mo Chen was practicing
his calligraphy art with his back facing her.

“You’re back?” Gu Yue Mo Chen asked directly without turning his body.
“After investigating for half a month, what is the situation with the wolves’
den?”

“How did you know it’s me, grandfather?” Mo Yan gasped, slightly taken
aback.

“Hmph, in the entire family, you’re the only person that dares to enter my
room without even knocking the door once. Who else can it be besides you,
my beloved granddaughter,” Gu Yue Mo Chen reprimanded, although his
face showed traces of concern and warmth, and he looked at Mo Yan with a
smile.

Mo Yan pouted. “When it comes to doting, you actually adore little brother
more. However since he’s the future family head, you are more strict on
him so others cannot sense your concern for him.”

After a while, she asked: “Grandfather, little brother was beaten up! I asked
him and he lied about the situation, so I had no choice but to ask you.”

Gu Yue Mo Chen’s face turned serious. “You have not answered my

question.” He put down his brush and sat down.
Mo Yan reluctantly reported, “The wolves’ den is almost full, so according
to the current rate of breeding speed, although there won’t be an outbreak
this year, there will definitely be a wolf tide next year at our mountain
village.”

Gu Yue Mo Chen enquired again, “Generally there’s an outbreak every 3

years, so this is no surprise. However, within that hoard, how many
Thunder Crown Wolves are there?”

“Around three.”

Gu Yue Mo Chen nodded, feeling assured. The Thunder Crown Wolves

were the head of the pack, and were the most troublesome to deal with
during an outbreak.

Three wasn’t a large number since Qing Mao Mountain had three clan
villages. Each village could handle one wolf, and the pressure of the
outbreak would be greatly reduced.

“Grandfather, you have not told me about my little brother’s matter yet!”
Mo Yan pursued again.

“I suppose there’s no matter telling you, but he was beaten up. The first
time was seven days ago, and the second time happened today. It happened
in front of the school gates, and he was beaten until he sprawled on the
ground and fainted on both occasions.” Gu Yue Mo Chen laughingly
replied.

“Who has the guts to knock out my little brother?” Mo Yan stared, wide-
eyed.

“He’s a classmate of Mo Bei called Fang Yuan. He fights really well…” Gu

Yue Mo Chen sniggered.

Gu Yue Mo Yan’s eyes grew larger, and she was perplexed as she replied,
“Grandfather, what are you saying? He is your own blood-related
grandson!”
Gu Yue Mo Chen stared deeply at his granddaughter and spoke
meaningfully, “Mo Yan my dear, you are a girl so you may not understand.
Defeat and humiliation only serve as fuel for improvement. Without failure
one can never develop and grow into a true, mature man.”

“Mo Bei was defeated, and that is his own failure. Once he wakes up, he
will ask fighting techniques from the teachers. This is a sort of
improvement, and this improvement comes from Fang Yuan, who beat him
into realization. As his sister, if you really care and want to protect your
brother, you should not interfere with his growth. Fang Yuan is just a boy
with C grade talent while Mo Bei has B grade talent. With us supporting
him, he will step over Fang Yuan and drive him into the ground eventually.”

“Leave this opponent to Mo Bei. In a woman’s life, she needs a family and
a lover. But for a man, a family is not a necessity, yet what he cannot lack is
a rival. Do not find trouble with Fang Yuan, do you hear me? This is a
matter between the youths. If you get involved, this will be perceived as
bullying. Breaking the rules like that will cause our Mo family to be looked
down upon.”

Mo Yan gasped wordlessly, but under Gu Yue Mo Chen’s gaze, she finally
lowered her head. “Yes grandfather, your granddaughter understands.”

She staggered out of the study room, but even Gu Yue Mo Chen did not
notice – her eyes shined ominously.

“Grandfather, this is your way of loving your grandson. And I, Mo Yan,

have my own methods.” Mo Yan’s heart already had different plans.

……

In the inn’s dining room, several tables were occupied and people were
having dinner, thus the environment was rather lively. One or two waiters
served dishes rapidly, traversing between tables.

Fang Yuan sat at the table near the windows. He ordered a few dishes and
ate while gazing out of the window.
Looking out, the sunset looked like fire, slowly burning away.

Half of the sun had already set; it longingly gazed at the lands, its afterglow
being the sun’s reluctance.

Far up the mountains, it was already veiled by the seeping nightfall. The
streets nearby were gathered full of people who were going home. Some of
them were barefooted, some muddy farmers, some of them herb pickers,
some hunters holding mountain pheasants, wild boars and other animals,
and some were Gu masters. They wore a blue uniform, looking clean and
spirited, a headband and a waist belt completing their appearance.

The belt had a specific function, for Rank one Gu Masters it was a blue belt.
There was a bronze plate at the front, and the number “1” could be seen.
For Rank two Gu Masters, their belt was red, and the steel plate in the
middle showed the number “2”.

Sitting at the side of the window, Fang Yuan observed that there were six to
seven Rank one Gu Masters, and they were mostly young men. There was
also a Rank two Gu Master, a middle aged man.

As for Rank three Gu Masters, they were the family elders. And fourth rank
would be the clan head, the lord of a village.

Rank five Gu Masters were hardly seen, and in the entire history of the Gu
Yue clan, there were only the first generation clan head and the fourth
generation clan head who had reached this level.

“Actually, finding out a clan’s strength is very simple. Just find a spot in the
village, settle down and observe the people for a few hours, see how many
Rank one and Rank two Gu Masters there are and you’ll be able to see the
clan’s strength and wealth.” Fang Yuan came to a conclusion with his
accumulated knowledge of 500 years.

Using the Gu Yue village as an example, there were around twenty people
walking on the streets, and six were Gu Masters. In these six, there was a
50% chance of having one Rank two Gu Master.
With this strength and capital, the Gu Yue Clan managed to monopolize one
of the best resource locations in Qing Mao Mountain. But the mountain was
just a small corner in the entire area of the Southern Border. The Gu Yue
clan could only be considered as a middle-low tier clan.

“I have only started my cultivation, and with Rank one initial stage, I do not
even have the qualification to roam the Southern Border. I need at least
Rank three cultivation to be able to further roam the world,” Fang Yuan
sighed as he consumed his dinner.

Qing Mao Mountain was too small; it could not contain his ambitions, and
he was determined to leave.

“Haha, Gu Yue Fang Yuan, I have finally found you!” At this moment, a
middle-aged man laughed deviously as he approached.

“Hmm?” Fang Yuan turned slightly to see a man with a yellowish skin tone
and hanging brows, but he had a huge body size and developed muscles. He
strode several steps to Fang Yuan with his arms folded and proudly stared at
the youth who was still consuming his dinner, with a hint of hostility.

“Fang Yuan, you’ve gotten yourself into huge trouble, do you know
that? Heh heh heh, you have dared to hit our young master of the Mo
family, and now our young Miss is here to settle the score with you.” The
middle-aged man snickered continuously. He constantly stared and sized up
Fang Yuan, faintly emitting a threatening aura.

*This chapter was brought to you by Chibigen and Skyfarrow. Credits to

Chibigen for helping with the translations.
 Chapter 32

Chapter 32 – Making Fun

If a normal person was stared at by this middle-aged man, they would have
probably developed fear in their hearts already.

However, Fang Yuan lost interest after looking at him for a second and
continued focusing on his meal, treating this man as if he were invisible.

“Who’s that guy? He wears the clothing of a family servant, and he is not
a Gu Master. Why would he dare to question young master Fang Yuan?” An
employee wondered as he hid at the corner of the inn, sensing that the
situation may turn ugly.

“Hmph, he’s like a fox assuming a tiger’s ferocity! By using the Mo family
as his backing, this servant man dares to clamor at a Gu Master. If it were
any other mortal man, they wouldn’t have the guts to do this,” someone
beside the employee replied in disdain.

“Even so, as a mere mortal he has the guts to cause a ruckus towards
a Gu Master. Tsk tsk, this kind of experience must feel really great.”

“Tch, you shouldn’t think that a Gu Master is always high and mighty.
Young Master Fang Yuan is merely a Rank one initial stage Gu Master, and
he has just managed to refine his vital Gu. If they were to fight now, he may
not be the opponent of this muscular and strong mortal.”

“Sigh, let’s just hope that when they fight later, they will spare our inn and
the furniture.”

The employees chattered back and forth, but none dared to take a step
forward, only staring from a distance.
“Eh, you still have the mood to continue eating?” Seeing as how he did not
manage to intimidate or scare Fang Yuan, the muscular middle-aged man
had a hint of doubt in his eyes. “Do you think I’m lying to you? There are
already people reporting to young Miss and she will be here shortly. Do not
attempt to run away young lad, because you won’t be able to get away. My
job here is to make sure you stay put. There will be much suffering for you
later.”

Fang Yuan paid no heed to the man and continued eating his meal.

The middle-aged servant frowned as he did not see a hint of panic or shock
from Fang Yuan. This made him feel ignored and his pride was severely
offended.

He had been a servant in the Mo family for over a decade, and he had
acquired the trust of his master. Over a long period, he would naturally
come to learn about the details of Gu Masters.

Rank one Gu Masters mostly relied on their physical combat skills. In

battle, a Gu worm’s worth was attributed more to its deterrence factor than
as a fighting force.

He knew especially that for a young Gu Master like Fang Yuan who had
just started cultivating, his physical strength was far inferior when
compared to a grown man. If it came down to close combat, he who had
trained for many years would gain the upper advantage.

At the same time, Fang Yuan had supposedly only refined the
Moonlight Gu, so at the max, he would only be able to shoot out several
moonblades.

The middle-aged man was used as a sparring partner from a long time ago,
so he knew deeply that if a Rank one initial stage Gu Master were to use his
primeval essence to unleash the moonblade, the most it could do was cut
several palm-sized wounds and cause limited damage if it managed to hit
the human body.
Additionally, the man had the backing of the Mo family, so when he
confronted Fang Yuan he had no fear, and was wholeheartedly trying to
show off his worth to his masters so that he could be rewarded and deemed
more useful to the family.

“Young lad, you sure are courageous huh?” The middle-aged man’s tone
was turning unfriendly as he folded up his sleeves, revealing his well-toned
and muscular forearms. His two arms were large and full of scars. The
forearms had thick protruding veins and were even thicker than Fang
Yuan’s legs.

The inn employees watched in fear and several customers were already
getting up, paying the bills and leaving this land of conflict.

“Fang Yuan has been found?” Suddenly, the door emitted a proud, loud
female voice.

Mo Yan strode forward in big steps and entered the inn. Behind her were
numerous family servants.

Her body figure was decent, slightly tall and had the proper curves. But a
long face like a horse’s, an inherited gene from the Mo bloodline, caused
her looks to be greatly affected, and thus she was only a middle-upper tier
beauty.

However, she wore a dark blue uniform, and a red belt, affixed with a
square steel plate, tied around her waistline. The steel plate was engraved
with a “2”.

Additionally, she had just returned from after a clan mission, so there was
still lingering traces of the hardship that she had just gone through.

These added up to create a field of pressure and threat that was emitted to
her surroundings. Thus, once she stepped into the inn, the entire place went
silent under her aura.

“Your servant greets you, young Miss!” The middle-aged man changed his
attitude completely upon seeing Mo Yan. He tried to smile charmingly and
he bent his body as he walked a few steps and knelt on the floor, greeting
Mo Yan.

Upon seeing this change in behavior, the workers in the inn could only stare
in shock with their mouths wide-open.

The tall and muscular figure, as opposed to his humble groveling attitude,
was a great mismatch, and was seemingly amusing. But the employees of
the inn did not laugh as his behaviour only greatly showed off Mo Yan’s
imposing pressure and status.

Some of the inn workers could not help but worry for Fang Yuan as he was
their major customer. If something were to happen to him and made him
unable to patronize the inn any further, it would be a huge loss.

More of them were secretly praying for Fang Yuan to surrender. If a fight
really broke out and destroyed the inn’s property, that would be worse.

Mo Yan did not even take a look at the groveling Gao Wan; her eyes were
fixed on Fang Yuan. She took a few steps forward and demanded in a fierce
tone, “So you are Fang Yuan? You seem to be having a good meal. Hehehe,
have you ever had a knuckle sandwich? I’ll give you a taste of it, it might
be even more delicious.”

Even though she said that, Mo Yan did not make a move.

Fang Yuan’s actions were too calm. It was strange. Did he have any secret
backers that were protecting him?

“But it shouldn’t be so, I’ve checked before coming. This Fang Yuan only
has an uncle and aunt that dislike him, while both his parents are deceased,
and he even got chased out of the house by his uncle and aunt. In addition,
he only has C ranked talent, so how could such a weak young man have any
sort of background?” Mo Yan thought in her mind.

Regardless of this, the situation was still too peculiar. She had to test and
probe further. Fang Yuan laughed and squinted at Mo Yan, saying, “Who
told you I was Gu Yue Fang Yuan?”
Mo Yan was momentarily stunned, then she took a look at Gao Wan.

He had just stood up, but upon seeing this he immediately knelt back down
with sweat pouring out of his forehead. He stammered and could not give a
coherent reply, “Master, your servant, your servant….”

They had a drawing of Fang Yuan, but they did not know that Fang Yuan
and Fang Zheng were twins that looked almost identical.

“No wonder this young man looked like he had no fear. He is actually Fang
Zheng and not Fang Yuan.” Mo Yan’s servants guessed in their minds.

“Fang Yuan cannot be compared to Fang Zheng. The former is merely a C

ranked loner with no background. The latter however has A ranked talent
and was pulled into the clan head’s faction at the Awakening Ceremony, and
as long as he grows smoothly, he has a bright future ahead!” Mo Yan did
not get proper a reply from Gao Wan, causing her to be even more hesitant.

At this point, the only ones who knew Fang Yuan’s identity were the inn
employees. However, they could not afford to offend either parties so they
only kept their mouths shut.

Fang Yuan was satiated from his meal. He stood up and glanced lightly at
Mo Yan, “You want to find Fang Yuan? Come with me, I’ll bring you to the
school hostel to look for him.”

“If the person in front of me is Fang Zheng, I would not want to offend him.
However, even if he is really Fang Yuan, I will follow him closely on this
trip so I have no fear of him impersonating Fang Zheng.” In an instant, Mo
Yan made up her mind.

“Alright, I will go together with you to the school hostel. After you!” Mo
Yan turned her body to make space for Fang Yuan, stretching out her arm
and indicating for Fang Yuan to take the lead.

Fang Yuan laughed nonchalantly and strode forth. Mo Yan followed closely
behind with her servants trailing at the back.
“So close!”
“They’re finally gone!”
“Even if they start fighting, it is none of our inn’s business anymore.”

The employees that were left behind all sighed in relief as they patted their
chests.

A group of people approached the school hostel.

“Halt!”

“Stop right there, the school hostel only allows our clan’s Gu Masters to
enter and leave.” The two guards at the door stopped Fang Yuan, Mo Yan
and her gang.

“Insolent! Do you not recognize who I am? How dare you stop me!” Mo
Yan stared at the two and screamed.

“We dare not,” the two guards hurriedly gestured.

“Young Miss Mo Yan, this guard holds you in high regards. However the
clan rules are absolute, so how about this. You can bring one servant in.
This is the most we can do for you.” An elderly guard politely responded.

Mo Yan clicked her tongue. Her heart was full of dissatisfaction, yet in the
presence of the clan rules, she did not dare to break them.

The Mo family was prosperous, and thus they had many enemies. Do not
forget that aside from the Mo family branch, there was also the Chi family
to contend with. Apart from the Chi family, the clan head’s faction also
wanted to get a hold on the Mo family.

“All of you stay behind. Gao Wan will follow me.” Thinking about it, Mo
Yan gave her orders.

Gao Wan immediately held his chest up high with a look of joy on his face:
“Thank you, young Miss for the opportunity!”
“Let’s go, junior.” Mo Yan smiled at Fang Yuan with a questioning look.

Fang Yuan remained unfazed as he led them in. He reached the dormitory
door, opened the lock and pushed the door open.

He then took a step into the room and stopped.

Within the room, there was nothing extra. It was all simple furniture, and
there was no one else.

Mo Yan stood at the doorstep, took a look inside and her face turned grim.
“Junior, you better explain yourself well, there is no one in the room!”

Fang Yuan smiled faintly: “Aren’t I someone?”

Mo Yan stared at Fang Yuan, a glint flashing in her eyes as she suddenly
seemed to have understood. “I am looking for Gu – Yue – Fang – Yuan!”

Fang Yuan snickered, “You know, I never said that I wasn’t Gu Yue Fang
Yuan.”

T/N: Here’s a special double chapter release for your pleasure ? Happy
weekend! The next chapter will come in two days as per normal.

*This chapter was brought to you by Chibigen and Skyfarrow. Credits to

Chibigen for helping with the translations.

Donations will be opened up in the next chapter, and I wish you all well.
Thanks for all the support so far!!
 Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – Go ahead and scold away

“Hmm?” Mo Yan frowned, then her rage burst forth almost instantly as she
suddenly understood that she had been fooled by Fang Yuan.

“You are tremendously brave to even consider lying to me!” While

speaking, she stretched out her right hand to grab hold of Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan stood firmly on the spot. He raised his head and laughed, “Mo
Yan, you better think this through!”

Mo Yan stopped her actions. While she still stood right outside the door, her
outstretched hand paused in midair and her face showed a sign of hesitation
and resentment.

Within the family, there were relevant rules. Students in the dormitories
were protected, and any other person would not be allowed to intrude upon
the hostel to capture the students. Mo Yan only wished to teach Fang Yuan a
lesson and let him bear a taste of suffering. She definitely did not want to
risk getting punished for breaking the rules.

“If it’s only me who broke the rules, that would still be fine. However, if
this would affect the family and even grandfather’s honour…” Thinking of
this, Mo Yan reluctantly withdrew her arm. She looked at Fang Yuan who
was inside the house with her bloodshot eyes. If her death-stare could be
converted into fire, it would burn Fang Yuan to ashes in a second.

“I never lied to you. I said I would bring you to Fang Yuan, and now you
have already found him here. It seems you have something to say to me.”
Fang Yuan smiled faintly with his arms behind his back, ignoring the
pressure of a Rank two Gu Master, fearlessly making eye contact with Mo
Yan’s furious gaze.

He was just a step apart from Mo Yan. One stood within the house, and one
stayed outside. But this same distance had also become as far as the east
was from the west.

“Hehehe, oh Fang Yuan, you sure have studied the clan rules well and
thoroughly.” Mo Yan, suppressing her anger, said with a sinister smile. She
added, “Unfortunately for you, even while relying on the rules, all it will do
for you is to stall for time. There is no way you are staying in the
dormitories forever. I’ll see how long you can stand hiding in there.”

Fang Yuan laughed refreshingly and looked at Mo Yan with disdain. “Then
all the more I want to see how long you can disturb me. Ah, it is already
late. I have a bed to sleep in, but what about you? If I do not show up for
class tomorrow and the elders come to investigate, what do you think I will
say?”

“You!” Mo Yan flew into a rage, her fingers pointing at Fang Yuan, barely
restraining herself, “Do you really think I wouldn’t dare come in and take
you down?”

Squeak.

Fang Yuan opened the doors of the hostel wide open, his lips breaking into
a grin, his eyes dark like the abyss and his tone full of confidence as if the
situation was within his grasp. He challenged Mo Yan, ”Then show me.”

“Hehehe…” Mo Yan calmed down instead upon seeing this. Her eyes
squinted as she looked at Fang Yuan and she said, “Do you think I’d fall for
your goading?”

Fang Yuan shrugged. He had already seen through Mo Yan’s personality.

If he had closed the door, or even half shut it, Mo Yan had at least a 50%
probability of breaking into the house. But when he purposely opened it
fully, it had instead made her more wary and calm as a result. Thus there
was barely any chance of her forcing her way in anymore.

Five hundred years of experience had already made him fully aware of the
human nature and their weaknesses.

He grandly turned around, exposing his back fully to Mo Yan. If Mo Yan

struck now, she would definitely be able to capture him in one swift action.
However, Mo Yan stayed still outside the door as if there was an invisible
mountain blocking her way.

Even after Fang Yuan sat in his bed, Mo Yan only stared at him in anger,
gritting her teeth. But regardless of this, she did not make a move.

“This is the pathetic side of humans.” Fang Yuan sat up and stared at Mo
Yan who was outside looking like a fool, thinking to himself, ”At times, the
things preventing people from taking action is not physical difficulty, but
instead it is the restrictions they have placed on themselves
subconsciously.”

When comparing cultivation levels, Fang Yuan was definitely not her match
at this point in time. But even with her Rank two cultivation level, she
could only stare at Fang Yuan and had no courage to make a move. Her
distance from him was only a few steps away, and the door was wide open
with no hindrance. The only thing that was truly restricting her was none
other than herself.

“Humanity sought for knowledge relentlessly to understand the world and

to comprehend the rules, and ultimately to use them. If one is constantly
bound by the rules, thus being restricted by the very knowledge they
sought, that is the ultimate tragedy.” Fang Yuan took a final look at Mo Yan
before closing his eyes and letting his consciousness sink into the primeval
sea.

“This Fang Yuan dares to cultivate right in front of me! He is simply doing
so as he pleases!” Looking at this sight, Mo Yan felt a sense of frustration
erupting from her chest, making her almost wanting to vomit blood.
She badly wanted to go ahead and give him a few punches!

But she knew she couldn’t.

Mo Yan suddenly felt a hint of regret. Standing outside the door, she felt the
awkwardness of not being able to back down.

She was indignant to give up now, but she would be devastatingly

humiliated. She mobilised her servants with the intention to come and teach
Fang Yuan a lesson, yet in the end she was the one who ended up becoming
the laughing stock.

Especially when there was a servant looking at her now.

“Damn it! Fang Yuan is way too uncooperative! He’s too sly!” Mo Yan
furiously thought and started to provoke him with all sorts of insults, hoping
to force him out of the room.

“Fang Yuan you brat, come out if you’re a man!”

“Fang Yuan, as a man you must own up to your own doings. Now you’re
being a coward hiding in that room, do you not feel ashamed of yourself?”

“Stop pretending to ignore me, get out if you know what’s good for you!”

“You cowardly, spineless trash!”

Fang Yuan shut his ears and did not give a single response.

After scolding for a while, instead of venting all her anger, she felt even
more irritated. She was starting to feel like a clown or a shrew; blocking the
door was just way too embarrassing.

“AHHHHH, this is getting to the death of me!” Mo Yan was about to go

crazy, and she finally gave up on provoking Fang Yuan.

“Fang Yuan, you can hide now, but you can’t hide from me forever!” She
furiously stomped the ground and left indignantly. Before leaving she gave
a final order, “Gao Wan, stand there and watch him! I do not believe he will
not leave the house.”

“Yes, Master!” The muscular servant, Gao Wan rapidly replied and sent Mo
Yan off. Within his heart he was feeling bitter – the mountain was chilly and
breezy at night. He would have to stand guard the entire time, catching a
cold easily like this. It was not an easy task.

Swish swoosh……

Within the primeval sea, ebb and flow of the tides raged on.

The green copper primeval essence gathered like water, forcing a tidal wave
rolling about. Under Fang Yuan’s mental guidance, the waves endlessly
crashed towards the surrounding aperture walls.

A Rank one initial stage Gu Master’s aperture walls resembled a white

barrier. At this time, with the green copper primeval essence crashing
towards them, it produced shadows of light, creating an indescribable
feeling.

Time passed gradually and the level of the green copper primeval sea
slowly declined.

From the original 44%, it dropped to 12%.

“If a Gu Master wants to raise their cultivation level, they would have to
expend their primeval essence to nurture the aperture. Initial
stage Gu Masters have light barriers as their aperture walls, while middle
stage GuMasters have water barriers as their aperture walls and for upper
stage, they have stone barriers. For me to cultivate from initial stage to
middle stage, I will have to nurture the light barrier into water barrier
aperture walls.”

From his five hundred years of memories, Fang Yuan had complete
familiarity with the current stages of cultivation, and the methods were as
clear as day to him.
He slowly opened his eyes, only to see that it was already late into the
night.

The crescent moon hung high in the night sky, the moonlight shining pure
as water.

The door was wide open and the moonlight shone in, letting Fang Yuan
think of a famous poem from Earth – On a quiet night I saw the moonlight
before my couch, and wondered if it were not the frost on the ground(1).

The night winds blew with a hint of chilliness.

Fang Yuan did not have any warmth-type Gu, and with just the body of a
fifteen year old, he could not help but shiver slightly.

The night in the mountain was very cold.

“Scoundrel, you finally opened your eyes. How long are you planning to be
cultivating there?! Get out, you’ll be punished regardless. You beat up our
young master Mo Bei, so it was only a matter of time before young Miss
teaches you a lesson.” Seeing that Fang Yuan had woken up, Gao Wan who
was standing at the door got his spirits up.

Fang Yuan squinted; it seemed that the Rank two female Gu Master had
left?

“Scoundrel, did you hear me? Hurry and come out here! You have a room
to stay in and a bed to sleep, but I had to stand here all night. If you don’t
come out any time soon, don’t you believe I might just barge in?!” Seeing
no reaction from Fang Yuan, Gao Wan threatened.

Fang Yuan remained unfazed.

“Scumbag, come out and surrender yourself. You’ve offended the Mo

family, you will not have any good days from now on. Hurry and apologise
to young Miss and maybe she might just forgive you.” Gao Wan continued
to chide.
Fang Yuan did not listen to a single word. He took out a primeval stone
from his storage bag and held it in his hands, finally closing his eyes again.

Seeing that he was going to continue cultivating, Gao Wan was anxious and
broke into a fit. “You mere C ranked talent, the most you can achieve in life
is a Rank two Gu Master! What is there to cultivate? You are no match for
the entire Mo family by yourself! Kid, are you deaf? Did you listen to a
single word I said?!”

(1) A famous poem from Li Bai, a Chinese poet.

*This chapter was brought to you by Chibigen and Skyfarrow. Credits to

Chibigen for helping with the translations.
 Chapter 34

Chapter 34 – Suppressive Beating!

Fang Yuan paid no heed to the man and started to multitask. He

simultaneously absorbed the natural essence from the primeval stone and
observed his aperture.

The primeval sea level which had originally fell drastically within the
aperture, with help from the constant stream of natural essence, began to
slowly rise up again. This form of recovery speed was inevitably slow, but
Fang Yuan was in no hurry.

Cultivation was meant to be accumulative; it could not be rushed.

The urgent matter at hand was in fact the middle-aged servant outside the
house.

After half an hour, Fang Yuan’s green copper primeval sea reached 44%, the
maximum capacity it could hold. But this was not the end.

At this point the primeval sea showed a jade-green colour, this was only a
Rank one initial stage green copper primeval essence. The primeval essence
that Fang Yuan had previously used to nurture the aperture wall was no
longer initial stage primeval essence. It had been turned into middle stage
primeval essence, refined by the Liquor worm.

“Liquor worm.” With a thought from Fang Yuan, the Liquor worm within
the primeval sea instantly flew out and hovered in mid-air, its body curling
into a ball form, resembling a white rice ball.

Swoosh.
10% of his initial stage primeval essence was deployed and sent into the
Liquor Worm’s body, and soon the essence was fully absorbed by it. Soon
after, a surge of liquor mist emerged from the Liquor worm’s body and
congregated into a lump.

Once more, Fang Yuan deployed 10% of his primeval essence and invested
it into this liquor mist. Once the mist had been fully expended, the original
10% of initial stage primeval essence shrunk by half physically, and at the
same time the colour changed from jade-green to pale-green.

This is middle-stage primeval essence.

“In order to advance in their cultivation, ordinary students all use initial
stage primeval essence. However, I’ll be using middle stage primeval
essence, and the efficiency is at least twice of theirs. Similarly, when using
middle stage primeval essence to activate the Moonlight Gu and throw a
moonblade, it will be far stronger than activating it using initial stage
primeval essence.”

Only when all the primeval essence in the primeval sea had been converted
to middle stage primeval essence did Fang Yuan open his eyes.

Time passes in the blink of an eye when cultivating, and at this point it was
already midnight. The sky was no longer a pure black, but it had turned a
deep dark-blue colour. The moon was no longer visible, and only a few
lingering stars remained.

The door was open almost throughout the entire night, and a corner of the
wooden door was already wet, showing a dark colour as the water tainted it.

The school hostel had this disadvantage, it was not as comfortable as an

ordinary wooden lodge that was built above the ground (1), but it was
directly built on the ground and thus it had high humidity.

Coming back to reality, Fang Yuan felt a chill down his spine. After sitting
cross-legged for such a long time, both his legs felt numb. He opened his
clenched right fist and scattered a handful of white stone powder.
This was the primeval stone after its essence had been fully absorbed, and
what remained was only the leftover powder.

“After a night of cultivation, I had expended three primeval stones.” Fang

Yuan calculated in his mind.

He had C ranked talent, but in order to pursue faster cultivation speed, he

used primeval stones to replenish his primeval essence. What was more
crucial was the Liquor worm, as it had been used to refine his middle stage
primeval essence.

This had greatly increased the expenditure of his primeval stones.

“Although I plundered another sum of primeval stones yesterday, a night of

cultivation cost me three stones. In this case, although it might seem that I
have a lot of resources, it is unable to sustain me for a long time with my
current cultivation speed, but this is the price I have to pay for pursuing
cultivation speed and efficiency.”

Fang Yuan looked outside the room again, only to see Gao Wan, the
muscular servant, squatting at a corner with his body curled up, seemingly
fallen asleep.

“Looks like that Rank two female Gu Master had left long ago, leaving this
Gao Wan here to keep a watch on me. Hehe.” Fang Yuan revealed a cold
smile as he got off the bed and began to exercise his limbs.

Once his body had warmed up, he left the hostel.

“Lad, you finally decided to come out. So how about it? Obediently
surrender and leave with me to kowtow and apologise to our young Miss.”
Gao Wan’s ears caught Fang Yuan’s footsteps and he stood up immediately.

His muscular body was almost twice the size of Fang Yuan. The muscles in
his body tightened and his brows knitted together, a pair of cruel eyes
shining with evil light, resembling a starving hyena.

Fang Yuan expressionlessly walked towards him.

“Lad, you should have came out earlier. By coming out now, do you know
how much The Great Me had to suffer by watching over you?” He
snickered while approaching Fang Yuan, evidently planning something
sinister.

At this moment, Fang Yuan lightly cried out, and with a ferocious leap he
aimed both fists towards Gao Wan.

“Bastard, you’re courting death!!” Gao Wan’s face distorted with rising
anger within him, raised his brick-sized fist and he punched towards Fang
Yuan.

The fist was extremely powerful, slicing through air and the swooshing
sound of the wind could be heard.

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone clear as crystal. Seeing that the fist was
approaching close, he side-stepped and turned towards Gao Wan’s rear.
Stretching out a finger, he struck towards Gao Wan’s waist.

Gao Wan blocked with his retracted arm – Fang Yuan did not get a clear hit,
and ended up hitting onto Gao Wan’s left forearm.

Fang Yuan’s finger felt like it had hit a steel plate, painful and numb.

“This Gao Wan has already approached the limits of a mortal’s physical
prowess. Right now I can only use the Moonlight Gu to fight, and without
any other Gu worms to assist me, I am not his match at basic close
combat!” Fang Yuan’s eyes shone and he decided quickly to give up on
attacking. Instead, he retracted a few steps and pulled some distance away
from Gao Wan.

In the Gu Yue village, only the Gu Yue clansmen had the rights to cultivate
as a Gu Master. The outsiders, regardless of whether they had cultivation
talent or not, had no rights to attend the Awakening Ceremony.

But these mortals could train in physical combat.

Just like the Gao Wan here, although he was not a Gu Master, he had
trained vigorously in his punches and kicks and his basic skill was steadfast.
Additionally he was a middle-aged man, and this meant being at the
physical prime in a mortal’s lifetime.

Fang Yuan, other than having the Moonlight Gu to fight, had only the body
of a 15 year old teenager. Be it strength, agility or endurance, he was not
Gao Wan’s match.

Martial artists like Gao Wan were sufficient enough to kill a Rank one
initial stage Gu Master. Even towards a Rank one middle stage Gu Master,
they still posed a certain threat.

“This lad is too sneaky!” Seeing that Fang Yuan had drawn some distance
between them, Gao Wan felt anxiety within his heart.

The waist was a vital point of the body, and if it was damaged by someone
through brute force, the harm was not negligible. If the force was exerted
beyond a point, it could also be deadly.

Gao Wan had waited outside the hostel for the entire night, and thus his
body was enshrouded by the moist atmosphere, causing his reaction speed
to be slightly slower. Hence the strike earlier had almost succeeded.
Fortunately, although he was a bootlicker, he had trained hard in his
physical ability. So at the crucial moment his body’s reflex instinctively
reacted and allowed him to narrowly block Fang Yuan’s attack.

“I can’t be careless anymore! This lad behaves like a wolf, striking harsh
and deviously, getting his way whenever I am even but a little careless. No
wonder young master was knocked out by him twice.” Gao Wan wiped the
sweat off his forehead and swept away all hints of contempt. He started to
take his opponent seriously.

“If I can capture this lad, it’d be a great accomplishment. Young Miss is
sure to reward me! A Rank one initial stage’s moonblade is at max only like
a small dagger, so as long as it does not hit my vital points it’ll merely be a
light external injury.”
Thinking of this, Gao Wan’s heart started to beat faster. Stretching out his
shovel-like hands, he grabbed at Fang Yuan.

Boom boom boom!

Fang Yuan showed no fear and approached Gao Wan to engage in close
combat. Exchanging punches and kicks, taking turns attacking and
defending, loud impact sounds echoed through the area.

When plundering the students, he had only used his palm with his objective
being to control the crowd. But now when engaging with Gao Wan, Fang
Yuan had gone all out.

At times he used his fingers to jab at the eyes, sometimes strangling the
throat, hitting the jaw with the base of his palm, chopping at the back of his
opponent’s head, using the knee to strike the pelvic area, or using his hands
to grab at the waist.

Gao Wan’s sweat poured out like a river.

Fang Yuan’s moves were all aiming at the vital points, each strike devious
and deadly as if he wanted to end Gao Wan’s life right there!

Gao Wan was a mere mortal, and unlike the Gu Masters, although he
trained well in his physical combat, his vital points remained vital. Mortals
were unable to train their eyelids to become steel-like. This was the limits
of the mortal martial arts.

In addition, Gao Wan did not dare to unleash any deadly moves on Fang
Yuan.

Fang Yuan was a Gu Yue clansman, so killing him would incur public rage
and he would be immediately executed. In fact, the Mo family will be the
first to carry out his punishment. Thus his only thought was to capture Fang
Yuan alive, and it would be good if he could make Fang Yuan suffer in the
process of capture.
One side has apprehension while the other side had killing intent. The
situation thus became Fang Yuan suppressing Gao Wan in the fight!

(1) 吊脚竹楼 – ordinary wooden lodge that was built above the ground (see
image).

*This chapter was brought to you by Chibigen and Skyfarrow. Credits to

Chibigen for helping with the translations.
 Chapter 35

Chapter 35 – Go Ahead and Scream!

Fang Yuan had the upper hand for now, but it could not sustain him for
much longer.

Exchanging blows back and forth, he was already panting in exhaustion. In

contrast, Gao Wan’s breathing was still smooth and in-sync, reflecting the
huge difference in stamina between the two. At the same time, as Gao Wan
exercised his limbs, his body gradually heated up while his punching speed
became faster and faster. The effect of the cold that caused him to be slow
and numb had worn off, displaying the true skills honed by his training for
decades.

“Lad, you are unable to beat me! There are clan rules stating that within the
school hostel, you are forbidden from using the Moonlight Gu. You are
dead meat, doomed to be my captive!” Gao Wan laughed maniacally; his
fighting experience was rich, so he attempted to use words to cause Fang
Yuan’s fighting spirit to waver.

“In the end, I’m only just a teenager and my body that hasn’t fully
developed cannot be compared to this servant.” Fang Yuan’s state of mind
was calm as ice. Having sharpened his will for five hundred years, there
was no way his fighting spirit would waver.

“Moonlight Gu!” He called out in his mind, activating his primeval essence
and at the same time leaping backwards to pull away from Gao Wan.

Gao Wan wanted to chase after him, but he suddenly saw a watery-blue
light emitting from Fang Yuan’s palm. His face darkened and he shouted,
“Lad, you are using the Gu worm to fight in the school hostel, this is against
the clan rules!”

“So what if I break the rules?” Fang Yuan sneered. He learnt the clan rules
and memorised it to heart, but it was not for the sake of obeying it.
Immediately, his palm slashed an arc towards Gao Wan. With a ‘ching’
sound, the blue moonblade flew towards Gao Wan’s face.

Gao Wan gritted his teeth as he raised both arms to cover his face, forming
a protective shield. At the same time, he rushed towards Fang Yuan without
pause, planning to endure the attack while ending the battle as quickly as he
could.

The moonblade struck his arm. With a popping sound, his flesh and blood
poured out under the moonlight, a wave of extreme pain hitting Gao Wan’s
nerves. The unguarded man nearly fainted from the pain.

“How can this be?!” His rush towards Fang Yuan stopped, and he
frightfully found out that both his limbs had been cut open with a deep
wound. Fresh blood oozed out from the wound and from the side, while
bloody muscles could be observed hanging around his flesh. Even the
broken white bones of the forearm could be seen.

Gao Wan was shocked beyond words. “This is impossible! A Rank one
initial stage moonblade, the most it could do is to lightly injure my flesh.
How could it cut through my bones? Only a Rank one middle stage can do
this!!”

He had no idea. While Fang Yuan was a Rank one initial stage Gu Master,
due to the Liquor worm’s refining, he possessed Rank one middle stage
primeval essence.

The Moonlight Gu, activated using middle stage primeval essence, emitted
a moonblade far superior to the initial stage that he originally predicted.

“This is bad, this boy is weird!!” Gao Wan who was caught off-guard had
already suffered a grave injury. His fighting spirit was gone and he
decisively decided to retreat.
“Are you able to escape?” Fang Yuan smiled coldly as he started to give
chase, the moonblades in his hands shooting out consecutively.

“Save me!!!” Gao Wan shouted out in horror as he fled, his voice travelling
far out beyond the school hostel.

“What is going on? Someone is asking for help!” The voice alerted the
school hostel guards who were nearby.

“It’s the Mo Family’s young Miss, Mo Yan’s servant.” The guards who
arrived stopped in their tracks upon seeing the chasing scene.

“This is only a servant, there is no need for us to risk protecting him!”

“Letting him stay here was already a favour towards the Mo Family.”

“We still have to be careful, just in case he hurts Fang Yuan in desperation.”

The anxious guards all gathered around, but no one lent a hand to Gao Wan;
they only observed from the sidelines.

This servant Gao Wan, even if he died, it had nothing to do with them.
However if Fang Yuan died or got hurt, it would be their responsibility.

Seeing such a sight, Gao Wan despaired, he tragically screamed, ”We are all
outsiders! You cannot leave me to die!”

His blood loss was getting more severe, and his speed decreased.

Fang Yuan caught up to him, his voice cold as ice, announcing Gao Wan’s
death sentence, ”Go ahead and scream! It doesn’t matter how loud you do
so.”

While saying that, the blade in his arm rotated, and he fired two
moonblades towards Gao Wan.

Swoosh, swoosh!
The moon blades flew towards Gao Wan’s neck. The servant lost all hope,
seemingly one step away into the abyss.

The next moment, he felt that his world was spinning; he actually saw his
own feet, chest, back… and that severed neck.

Afterwards, total darkness awaited him.

Gao Wan had died.

Beheaded by two moonblades, his head flew away from the impact, his
body pushed back 10 meters before falling. The neck area spewed out a
fountain of fresh blood, dyeing the surrounding grass a blood red.

“Murder!!!”

“Fang Yuan killed someone!”

The guards could not help but scream out. They had witnessed the entire
process, and they felt a sense of extreme trepidation and terror rushing all
over their body.

Fang Yuan was just a weak 15 year old teenager, but he expressionlessly
murdered a strong adult. This was the power of a Gu Master!

The victory had been set. Fang Yuan slowed in his footsteps and gradually
moved towards the corpse.

His face was calm, as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary. This
expression further sent a shiver down the guards’ spines.

Gao Wan’s head lay on the ground, both his eyes wide open, turning in his
grave.

Fang Yuan stared coldly. He raised his leg and sent the head flying.

The guards’ eyelids twitched.

Fang Yuan approached the corpse and found that it was still vibrating. The
blood spread through the ground, forming a small bloody puddle. He looked
at Gao Wan’s injuries with a grim expression. These injuries were deep
enough to expose the secret to the fact that he had middle stage primeval
essence.

Once this was exposed, it’ll be quickly deduced that he had a Liquor worm,
and with that the family would naturally think of the Flower Wine Monk.

Thus, Fang Yuan had to keep this secret hidden.

“But there are too many onlookers.” Fang Yuan’s gaze swept through the
nearby guards; there was more than ten of them. He had less than 10%
primeval essence left, so there was no way to kill them all.

After pondering for a while, Fang Yuan bent down and raised Gao Wan’s
ankle, dragging the corpse away.

“Young master Fang Yuan, you can leave this to us.” The guards controlled
their fear and approached Fang Yuan, politely speaking.

The respect and politeness held a tint of obvious fear.

Fang Yuan silently looked at the guards, and they all held their breaths,
looking down.

“Give me the sabre,” he stretched out his hand and lightly said.

With authority in his speech, he emitted undeniable pressure.

The guard closest to him uncontrollably handed him the sabre on his waist.

Fang Yuan took the sabre over and continued walking, leaving behind a
dozen stunned guards staring after his back.

The sun rose from the east, and the first ray of light shone over the
mountain peak, lighting up the school hostel.
15 year old Fang Yuan, with the scrawny body of a teenager, a pale look
upon his skin.

Under the sunrise, he casually walked.

In his left hand was a shiny sabre.

In his right hand, a headless corpse.

His path left behind a trail of bright red blood traces dragged out on the
road.

The guards were flabbergasted, their bodies stiff due to the frightening
scene.

Even as the sunlight shone on them, they could not feel a sense of warmth
and light.

Gulp.

Someone among them swallowed their saliva loudly.

Author’s note: (He’s just asking for readers to recommend his book to
others. Second half is just trying to motivate the readers.)

For a book that is just written, there will be people who like it and people
who don’t. For those who don’t like it, there is no need to struggle/force
yourselves, you can just go and read another book. For those who like it,
please do your best to support the book! On the first day of the new year, I
ask for recommendations, please bookmark this book! After the apocalypse,
I implore everyone of the same Dao to display their strengths, gather our
powers and rise up as the demonic flames, and let the people of the world
see the power of us demon cultivators! In the new year, those that defend
the last remaining territory of the demonic ways, let the demonic way rise
up again, and become legendary!!
*This chapter was brought to you by Chibigen and Skyfarrow. Credits to
Chibigen for helping with the translations.

*Donations are finally open for Reverend Insanity!! (+_+)/

 Chapter 36

Chapter 36 – Gifting a disseminated corpse!

“Did you guys hear? Fang Yuan killed someone!” A student whispered to
his classmate beside him.

“I heard it too, he really killed somebody.” The classmate clenched his chest
with a pale face.

“There were many guards who saw him do it. Fang Yuan was chasing after
that man. That guy tried to beg for mercy but Fang Yuan paid him no heed
and decapitated him immediately!”

“That’s not all. After killing him, Fang Yuan didn’t even spare his headless
corpse. He dragged it back to the hostel and chopped it into a meat paste.”

“Are you for real?”

“I’m serious beyond belief. I came early this morning and I could still see
the bloodstains left between the cracks of the green rock.”

“Oh man, why would I lie to you? Earlier, the Academy Elder called Fang
Yuan over for this matter.”

The youths in the Academy did not pay attention to class as they held their
little conversations.

To this group of 15 year olds, the concept of killing was too foreign and too
scary.

They had been under the protection of the clan since a young age and had at
most experienced organized sparring or simply killing chickens and dogs.
As for killing a person, it was still beyond them.

“Who did Fang Yuan kill?”

“I heard it was a family servant of the Mo branch family.”

“Yup, I’m the clearest about this matter. Yesterday, I personally saw the Mo
Family’s Mo Yan bring a bunch of family servants to find trouble with Fang
Yuan.”

“The Mo family, that’s not good. Mo Bei is in trouble now.”

A number of the youths turned to look at Gu Yue Mo Bei.

Mo Bei sat on his seat with a pale face – he had only heard about the news
of Fang Yuan killing someone this morning. Additionally, it was the Gao
Wan that Mo Bei was familiar with. As one of the more energetic family
servants, Gao Wan was good at boot licking and had also put effort into his
fighting skills. He was an able lackey.

A long while ago, Gao Wan had even sparred with Mo Bei for a bit. To
think that he was simply killed by Fang Yuan!

It was precisely because of this that Mo Bei felt astonished. He was full of
disbelief and felt twice the shock compared to the others. However,
compared to his shock, he felt a greater sense of worry and fear.

Facing a murderer like Fang Yuan, it would be a lie if Mo Bei said that he
was not afraid. Actually, it was not just him – the other youngsters were
afraid too. When Fang Yuan had robbed them twice previously, all of them
had gotten physical with him.

“I actually fought with such a ruthless murderer? To think that I’m actually
still alive.” Many of them patted their chest, feeling a lingering fear.

Fang Yuan killing someone was still somewhat acceptable but the crux was
that he even dissected the corpse and chopped the body into meat paste.

That was way too cruel!

The truth of such a horrifying crime had a strong impact on all of the
youths’ pure and innocent minds.

Within the room, there was only the Academy Elder and Fang Yuan.

The Academy Elder sat while Fang Yuan stood. Neither of them spoke a
word, causing the atmosphere to be extremely tense.

The Academy Elder silently looked at Fang Yuan and a hint of complication
flashed in his eyes.

In the morning, the guards had reported to him about Fang Yuan’s murder
incident. This news had made him feel both shocked and suspicious.

He was a Rank three Gu Master and was in charge of the Academy. He

obviously knew the fighting strength of a Rank one initial stage Gu Master.

Fang Yuan being able to kill Gao Wan was like the weak defeating the
strong.

In truth, some guards had already reported to him that Mo Yan had trapped
Fang Yuan within the Academy by barging in the previous night.

Back then, he had not paid attention to the matter and had not stopped them.

He was the Academy Elder – his objective was to nurture

future Gu Masters, not to protect them. As long as there were no deaths
among the students, he encouraged hidden conflicts.

Mo Yan coming to find trouble with Fang Yuan was something that he was
happy to see. For one, he knew that regardless of whether the fight was won
or lost, it would be beneficial to Fang Yuan’s growth. Secondly, he wanted
to suppress Fang Yuan’s influence.

Fang Yuan had consecutively blocked the Academy’s gates and robbed the
other students. His influence was too great; it had to be suppressed.
However, he hadn’t expected that Mo Yan would return fruitlessly and that
the family servant that she had left behind would be unable to beat Fang
Yuan. Gao Wan even got killed by him!

In this world, strength was above all else. Killing someone was not
something peculiar. Especially to a GuMaster, it was something very
common.

But it was not so simple when it was a 15 year old’s first kill.

The Academy Elder vividly remembered his first killing scene. Back then,
he was already a Rank two Gu Master. At the age of 19, he had killed
a Gu Master from the Bai clan’s village in a conflict.

After killing the person, he vomited profusely and panicked in his heart. For
a few days, he had no mood to eat and had no appetite. He could not even
find peace in his sleep. The moment he shut his eyes, he would see the dead
person staring angrily at him.

But looking at Fang Yuan now, his face was calm as ice. Where was the
fluster? Not to mention that he had no uneasy feelings. It was almost like he
had slept perfectly well last night, as if the person who killed a man was not
him at all!

Especially when the Academy Elder heard more about the matter. After
Fang Yuan had killed the servant, he did not spare the corpse and had even
dragged it back to the dormitory to chop it into meat paste in his rage. Such
vicious methods, even hearing about it was a kind of terror!

Thus, at this point, the Academy Elder looked at Fang Yuan with
complicated emotions.

On one hand, he was amazed at Fang Yuan’s indifference towards life, his
attitude was as steady and as cold as ice. On the other hand, he was
appreciative of the fact that Fang Yuan was a born battle-freak. After
familiarizing himself with the Moonlight Gu for a few days, he had
managed to kill someone with it. An ordinary teenager—even those A grade
talents—may not be able to achieve this. This was a talent for battle! If he
was well-nurtured and fought for the clan, it would be all of their enemies’
nightmare.

Lastly, he felt worry and distressed.

Worry because after this incident, Fang Yuan’s reputation was sure to rise
and it would be impossible to suppress him. Fang Yuan was way too daring;
not only did he disobey the clan rules by using his Gu in the Academy, he
even killed someone with it. There was a need to suppress his influence.
Otherwise, how would the Elder be able to manage this Academy anymore?

Distress was because he did not know how to perfectly resolve this issue.
After all, it involved the Mo family’s side.

“Fang Yuan, do you know why I called you here to meet me?” The
Academy Elder used a solemn and deep voice to break the silence in the
room.

“I know.” Fang Yuan nodded and replied, “I used the Moonlight Gu in the
Academy, breaking the clan rules. According to the rules, as it is my first
offense, I should compensate thirty pieces of primeval stones as
punishment.”

He evaded the crucial point and did not mention Gao Wan’s death.

The Academy Elder was stunned for a second, he had not expected that
Fang Yuan would answer like this.

His expression darkened as he coldly snapped, “Don’t try to blur things in

front of me! I’ll ask you, what was the matter with Gao Wan’s death?”

Fang Yuan squinted his eyes and said, “Hmph, this Gao Wan went against
his superiors, his intentions were vicious. Last night, not only did he block
my room door, he even tried to kill me. In self-defense, I was forced to use
the Moonlight Gu. Fortunately, I managed to kill this traitor. I suspect that
there is a high possibility of him being a spy of the other mountain villages,
I implore the elders to investigate this thoroughly!”
Upon hearing this, the Academy Elder frowned and became at a lost for
words.

Now that Gao Wan was dead, Fang Yuan could say whatever he wanted.
After all, Gao Wan was just an outsider, not a member of the clan. Even if
he was dead, it would not matter to the Academy Elder. However, he was
worried about the Mo family’s reaction. Gao Wan was their servant and he
had died within the academy. The Academy Elder was in charge of the
academy and had to give the Mo family an explanation.

Thinking for a bit, the Academy Elder stared at Fang Yuan and questioned,
“Then let me ask you. Gao Wan’s corpse, how did you deal with it?”

Fang Yuan’s lips curled, revealing a cruel smile. “I diced Gao Wan’s corpse
and put it inside a wooden box. When morning came, I put it at the Mo
family’s back door.”

“What?!” The Academy Elder was stunned beyond words as he almost

jumped from his seat.

Not only did Fang Yuan kill their family servant, he had even chopped up
the corpse and placed it at the Mo family’s back door. This was blatant
provocation!

To the Academy Elder who was trying to resolve this peacefully, it was a
true nightmare.

Fang Yuan was just a small Rank one Gu Master, how would the large Mo
family react?

Thinking of this, the Academy Elder felt a headache as the matter had
already developed out of his control. This Fang Yuan was a true
troublemaker.

“Sigh, since it has already happened, there’s no point in saying anymore.

Leave first, the punishment will come within these few days, you should get
mentally prepared.” The Academy Elder was terribly upset. He waved his
hand and signaled for Fang Yuan to leave; he needed to think through this
calmly to come up with a solution.

TL Note: So my person-in-charge said I can post on my site with a time

delay while Qidian site has to be the first, so I’m just going to post here too
anyway if that’s the case o/
– Skyfarrow
 Chapter 37

Chapter 37 – Both a compromise and a threat

Meanwhile, at the Mo family.

“What were my instructions to you? See what you did!” In the study room,
Gu Yue Mo Chen slammed the table, exploding with a rage.

Mo Yan stood opposite this old man, her head lowered. Her eyes were full
of shock and rage. She had also just gotten the news that Gao Wan had been
killed by Fang Yuan!

That 15 year old teenager, to think he had such methods and determination.
Gao Wan was the proud servant of her Mo family and Fang Yuan’s act of
killing him was a blatant showing of disrespect towards them!

“Grandpa, you don’t have to be so angry. This Gao Wan was only a servant,
his death is of no concern. He isn’t a Gu Yue clan member anyways. But
that Fang Yuan, he is too daring, you have to ‘look at the owner before you
beat the dog’. Not only did he beat our dog but he even beat it to death!”
Mo Yan said indignantly.

Gu Yue Mo Chen furiously scowled, “You still have the cheeks to say that!
Have your wings grown so tough now that you don’t even put my words to
heart, hmm? What I told you before, you have forgotten all about it!”

“Your granddaughter dares not!” Mo Yan jumped in shock. She knew now
that her grandfather was really angry and quickly kneeled down.

Gu Yue Mo Chen pointed his finger out the window and scolded, “Hmph,
so what if that servant died. But now you are still showing hostility towards
Fang Yuan, this is really a matter of you being short sighted and unclear of
the implications! Do you know the significance of your actions? The fight
among juniors is their own business. As elders, we should not interfere.
These are the rules! Now that you went to find trouble with Fang Yuan, it
means you are breaking the rules. I can’t tell how many people are out there
now, looking at this disgrace of our Mo family!”

“Grandpa, please calm down, anger will harm your body. It’s Mo Yan fault,
I burdened the Mo family. Whatever Grandpa tells Mo Yan to do, Mo Yan
will do it! But your granddaughter really cannot take this lying down, that
Fang Yuan is too despicable, too shameless. First, he lied to me and entered
the academy. Next, he hid in the dormitory and no matter how much I
scolded him, he would not come out. Once I left, he went ahead and killed
Gao Wan. He is extremely sinister and despicable!” Mo Yan reported.

“Oh, is that so?” Gu Yue Mo Chen frowned. This was the first time he had
heard this information and a bright light shone across his eyes.

He took in a deep breath, suppressing his rage and he stroked his beard
while saying, “I’ve heard stories about this Fang Yuan. In his early years, he
was able to make poems and songs, showing early intelligence. But to think
that he only had C grade talent. It was difficult for him to have a good
future and thus I gave up on recruiting him. But now it seems that it’s
slightly interesting.”

Pausing for a second, Gu Yue Mo Chen knocked on the table and ordered,
“Someone, bring that box over here.”

The servant outside the door quickly obeyed. Soon, he brought in a box.
The box was neither too big nor too small but it was slightly heavy. The
servant used both hands to carry it and stood beside the study table.

“Grandpa, what is this?” Mo Yan stared at the wooden box and asked
doubtfully.

“Why don’t you open it and take a look?” Gu Yue Mo Chen squinted his
eyes and said in a complicated tone.

Mo Yan stood up, flipped over the wooden lid and looked inside.
Immediately, her facial expression changed and her pupils shrunk to a
needle-like size. She could not help but take a step back and let loose an
unsuppressed scream. The wooden lid in her hand also fell to the ground.

Without the wooden lid, the thing kept within the wooden box was shown
to everyone present.

It was actually a pile of flesh and blood!

The bloody flesh was obviously sliced off piece by piece and placed into
the box. Bright scarlet blood had accumulated inside. There was some pale
skin and flesh, while some were long strands of intestines, mixed in with a
few pieces of bones, either leg bones or the ribs. In the pool of blood at a
corner, there were also two fingers and half a toe floating in it.

Blech…

Mo Yan beautiful face changed color as she took another step backwards,
her stomach turning as she almost vomited on the spot.

She was Rank two Gu Master and had gone out to gain experience before.
Despite that, this was the first time that she had seen such a disgusting and
twisted scene even though she had killed people before.

The flesh and blood in this box were obviously the corpse of a person after
being minced into pieces and stuffed in.

The scent of blood burst into the air and rapidly permeated the air
immediately, filling the entire study room.

Both of the family servant’s hands shook as he carried the box, his
complexion pale. Although he had seen the box earlier and vomited before,
he could still feel waves of palpitation and disgust as he held it now.

Among the three people in the study room, only the family elder Gu Yue
Mo Chen was unfazed. He lightly looked at the contents of the box for a
moment and said to Mo Yan slowly: “This box was what Fang Yuan had
placed at our family’s back door this morning.”
“What, it’s really him?!” Mo Yan was extremely shocked as images of Fang
Yuan showed up in her mind.

The first time she saw Fang Yuan, it was at the inn.

At that time, Fang Yuan sat near the window, quietly eating his meal. His
facial features were bland and both of his eyes were dark and gloomy. His
body was thin and his skin had the special paleness of a teenager.

He looked like such a normal and quiet youth. To think that he had done
such a twisted and insane act!

After her initial shock came a furious rage. Mo Yan yelled, “This Fang Yuan
is too outrageous, who gave him the guts to do so! To dare to do such a
thing, this is a provocation towards our Mo family! I will go ahead now and
bring him here to question him for his crimes!” After she said this, she
headed towards the exit.

“You scoundrel, stop right there!” Gu Yue Mo Chen was angrier than she
was as he grabbed an ink slab on his study desk and threw it over.

The hard and heavy ink slab hit Mo Yan’s shoulder and with a ‘bang‘ it fell
to the ground.

“Grandpa!” Mo Yan held her shoulder as she called out in alarm.

Gu Yue Mo Chen stood up, his finger pointing at his granddaughter as he

spoke with an extremely agitated tone, “It seems like all these years of
training were in vain. You have disappointed me greatly! Against a small
Rank one initial stage Gu Master, not to mention you involving so many
people, but even getting led by the nose by the other party. Now that you’ve
let your rage get the better of you, at this point, do you still not understand
the meaning behind Fang Yuan’s actions?”

“What meaning?” Mo Yan was puzzled.

Gu Yue Mo Chen snorted, “If Fang Yuan wanted to provoke us, he would
have blown up this matter, so why did he place this box at the secluded
back door instead of placing it at the front door where there are many
people walking around?”

“Maybe he wants to reconcile with us? No, if he wanted to reconcile,

wouldn’t it be better to apologise face to face? Why must he send us this
box of minced corpse, this is definitely a provocation!” Mo Yan said.

Gu Yue Mo Chen shook his head, then nodded. “He wants to reconcile, but
at the same time, he is also provoking us. Placing the wooden box at the
back door is his intention to reconcile. Placing the corpse inside the box,
that is a provocation.”

“You see,” The old man pointed at the box, and spoke, “This wooden box is
not big, and it cannot hold a complete corpse. Therefore there can only be a
portion of the corpse inside. He is trying to tell us that he does not wish to
blow up this matter and wants to settle this amicably. But if our Mo Family
wants to pursue this matter, he will place the remainder of the corpse at our
main entrance, thoroughly blowing up the issue. By that time, it would be a
losing situation for both sides. The entire clan knows that our Mo family
broke the rules first, and to our Mo Family’s future head, this would be seen
as him being so weak since he actually required his elder’s doting and
protection.”

Upon hearing these words, Mo Yan was momentarily dumbfounded. She

had never expected that Fang Yuan’s actions would have such profound
meaning.

“His method is really wise,” Gu Yue Mo Chen said with admiration, “With
just one action, he exercised both toughness and softness, capable of
advancing and retreating safely. This is just a simple wooden box but it not
only expresses Fang Yuan’s intention to compromise but also his ability to
pose a threat to our Mo family. And it so happens that he does hold onto the
weakness of our Mo family. If the Mo family’s reputation is tarnished, what
follows after will be the Chi family’s attack as well as the assault from the
clan leader’s side.”

Mo Yan found it unbelievable. “Grandpa, aren’t you thinking too highly of

him? Are you sure that he’s capable of this? He is only 15 years old.”
“Too highly?” Mo Chen looked at his granddaughter unhappily. “Looks like
you’ve had too smooth a life in these past few years. Fostering your
arrogant attitude, you are unable to clearly see the reality. This Fang Yuan
was unfazed towards danger and deceived you to enter the school. Next, he
used his wisdom in the face of danger and hid within the dormitory to avoid
trouble. No matter what insult you threw at him he did not respond, this is
his ability to calmly endure. After you left, he killed Gao Wan immediately,
this is his bravery and courage. Now he sent this box, clearly showing his
wisdom and planning ability. Can you still say that I thought of him too
highly?”

Mo Yan listened with wide eyes as she had not expected her grandfather to
praise Fang Yuan so highly. Immediately she said indignantly, “Grandpa, he
only has a C grade talent.”

Gu Yue Mo Chen sighed deeply, “Yes, he is only a C grade. Having such

wisdom and yet only C grade talent, it really is a pity. As long as his talent
was higher, even if it was just a B grade, he would certainly become an
influential member of our Gu Yue clan. What a pity, he is only a C grade.”

The old man’s sigh was full of emotion. His sigh held both regret and at the
same time rejoice.

Mo Yan was silent and in her mind, Fang Yuan’s image appeared once
again. Under her psychological influence, Fang Yuan’s frail expression was
shrouded by a layer of mysterious and vicious shadow.

“This problem was created by you single-handedly. How are you going to
settle it?” Gu Yue Mo Chen broke the silence as he started to test Mo Yan.

Mo Yan pondered for a while before she replied in a cold and aloof tone,
“Gao Wan was just a servant, so there are no implications even if he dies.
Fang Yuan is just a C grade, so he is also a small matter. What’s important
is maintaining my Mo family’s reputation. To appease this matter, we might
as well kill Gao Wan’s entire family to show the entire clan our attitude to
protect the rules and regulations.”
“Mmm, you’re able to think of the big picture. Setting aside your personal
emotions to defend the interests of family, this is very good. However, your
method is still flawed.” Gu Yue Mo Chen analyzed her response.

“Please enlighten me, Grandpa,” Mo Yan implored.

Gu Yue Mo Chen said solemnly, “This matter was instigated by you, so I

shall punish you with seven days of confinement. From now on, do not find
trouble with Fang Yuan again. Gao Wan defied his superiors – a servant
who dares to offend his master deserves death, so he should have been
executed for his crimes! Because he is a servant of the Mo family, we are
responsible for our inability to educate our subordinate and thus we shall
compensate that Fang Yuan with thirty primeval stones. As for Gao Wan’s
family members, give them fifty primeval stones as compensation and expel
them from the clan.”

After a short pause, he continued, “For the next seven days, rest well at
home, do not go out. At the same time, think about the profound meaning of
why Grandpa chose to handle the matter this way.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”
 Chapter 38

Chapter 38 – Demon walking in the light

From the layers of dark clouds in the sky, the spring rain fell.

The raindrops were thin like hair. As they fell, they enveloped Qing Mao
Mountain in a layer of fine mist.

The dining hall on the first floor of the inn was rather empty. There were
only four tables of guests.

Fang Yuan sat at a seat by the window. A gust of wind blew, bringing with it
a poetic atmosphere and the scent of flowers.

“The light rain from the sky is sleek and crisp, the color of grass is seen
from afar but disappears when close.” Fang Yuan looked outside through a
window and quoted a poem lightly before he turned his sights back to the
inn.

Before him was a table filled with good wine and dishes. The color, smell
and taste were all top notch. Especially the green bamboo wine which
oozed with the fragrance of alcohol along with a hint of freshness. The dark
green colored liquor sat quietly in the bamboo cup. From his angle, it shone
with an amber-like luster.

A grandfather and his grandson were sitting at the table nearest to him.
Being mortal humans, they wore modest clothes.

The grandfather sipped his rice wine while looking enviously at Fang Yuan.
He was evidently attracted to the green bamboo wine but could not afford it.
The grandson ate his braised beans, a crunching sound emitting from his
mouth as he chewed. At the same time, he pestered his grandfather, shaking
his arm. “Grandpa, grandpa, tell me about the story of Ren Zu. If you don’t
tell me, I’ll report to grandma that you secretly came out to drink!”

“Sigh, I can’t even drink in peace.” The grandfather sighed but his face
showed a doting expression towards the child. With his twig-like arm, he
patted the boy’s head, “Then let me tell you the story of Ren Zu who gave
his heart to the Hope Gu, escaping his predicament of being captured…”

Ren Zu’s story was the most popular and widespread tale in this world, as
well as the most ancient legend.

The old man’s story was something like this.

The story mentioned that Ren Zu was able to escape his predicament
because of hope. But eventually he grew old and without Strength and
Wisdom, he could no longer continue to hunt. Even his teeth fell off,
making him unable to chew many wild fruits and vegetables.

Ren Zu felt death slowly approaching.

At this time, the Hope Gu said to him, “Human, you must not die. If you
die, your heart will be lost and I will lose my only place of residence.”

Ren Zu was helpless. “Who wishes to die? But if the heavens and earth
want me dead, I have no choice.”

The Hope Gu said, “There’s always hope in everything. As long as you can
catch a Longevity Gu, you will be able to increase your lifespan.”

Ren Zu had heard of the existence of the Longevity Gu long ago but he
waved his hand helplessly. “When the Longevity Gu stays still, nobody can
detect it and when it flies, it is faster than light. How can I possibly catch it?
It’s too hard!”

The Hope Gu then told Ren Zu a secret, “Human, don’t give up hope no
matter what. Let me tell you, on the northwest corner of this continent,
there is a huge mountain. On the mountain, there is a cave and in that cave,
there is a pair of round and square Gu worms. As long as you can subdue
them, there is no Gu in this world that you cannot catch, including the
Longevity Gu!”

Ren Zu had no choice, this was his last remaining hope.

He braved all difficulties and finally found the mountain. He then risked his
life and ventured through countless dangers to ascend the mountain. On the
mountain top, near the cave entrance, he used his last remaining strength to
slowly make his way in.

The inside of the cave was completely dark and one would not be able to
even see their own fingers. Ren Zu walked in the darkness. Sometimes, he
would bump into things not knowing what they were. This caused himself
to get injured and wounded all over. At times, he felt that this dark cave was
huge beyond words as if this was a world of its own. He felt as if he was the
only person in the area.

He spent a lot of time but he could not walk out of the darkness. Not to
mention subduing the two Gu worms.

Just when he was at a loss about what to do, two voices spoke to him from
the darkness.

One voice said, “Human, you’re here to catch us? Go back, for even if you
had the Strength Gu, it would be impossible.”

The other said, “Human, go back, we will not take your life. Even if you
had the Wisdom Gu to help you, you may not be able to find us.

Ren Zu laid exhausted on the ground, panting. “The Strength and

Wisdom Gu had left me long ago and I do not have much lifespan left so
I’m at my wits end. But as long as there’s hope in my heart, I will not give
up!”

Hearing Ren Zu’s words, the two voices went silent.

After a while, one of the Gu said, “I understand, human, you have already
given your heart to the Hope Gu. You will not give up no matter what.”

The other continued, “In that case, we shall give you a chance. As long as
you can say our name, we will allow you to use us.”

Ren Zu was stunned. To find their names among all the words in the world,
it was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Furthermore, he did not even know how many words were in their names.

Ren Zu quickly asked the Hope Gu, but it did not know either.

Ren Zu had no alternatives and had no choice but to randomly guess their
names. He said many many names and wasted a lot of time but the darkness
did not respond to him so evidently he was wrong.

Eventually, Ren Zu’s breath got weaker as he turned from an old man into a
dying man. It was like the scene of the evening’s setting sun. The sun that
would slowly descending had already been lowered halfway across the
horizon, becoming a sunset.

The food he had brought was gradually reduced, his brain becoming slower
and he barely had any energy to speak anymore.

The voice in the darkness urged, “Human, you are almost dead, so we will
let you go. Using your remaining time, you can climb out of the cave and
take a final look at the world. But you have offended us, and as punishment,
the Hope Gu shall stay here as our companion.”

Ren Zu clenched his heart and rejected, “Even if I die, I will not give up
hope!”

The Hope Gu was very touched and answered Ren Zu’s call
enthusiastically, emitting a bright light. At Ren Zu’s chest area, a light
began to shine. But this light was too weak, it could not illuminate the
darkness. In fact, it could not even cover Ren Zu’s entire body, but only
engulfed his chest area.
Yet Ren Zu could feel a renewed surge of energy gushing into his body
from the Hope Gu.

He continued to speak, shouting out names. But he was already muddled. A

lot of names had already been said but he could not remember that and
repeated them, wasting a lot of effort in the process.

As time continued to flow, Ren Zu’s lifespan was almost over.

Finally, when he was on his final day, he said out the word ‘Regulation’.

A sigh came from the darkness as a voice spoke, “Human, I admire your
perseverance. You have said my name, so from today onwards, I will obey
your commands. But only with my brother can I aid you in capturing all
the Gu in the world. Otherwise, with my ability alone, it is impossible.
Thus, you should give up. You’re almost dead, you might as well use this
chance to take a final look at the world.”

Ren Zu was determined and shook his head, he made use of all his time to
continue saying out names as he tried to guess the other Gu worm’s name.

Seconds and minutes went by and soon he only had one hour left.

But at this time, he unknowingly said the word ‘Rule’.

Immediately, the darkness dissipated.

The two Gus appeared before him. As the Hope Gu had said, one was cubic,
called ‘Regulations’. The other was spherical, called ‘Rules’. Together, they
made up ‘Rules and Regulations’.

The two Gu said together, “No matter who it is, as long as they know our
names, we will listen to them. Human, since you know our names already,
we will be at your service. But you must remember, it is important to not let
others know of our names. The more people that know our names, the more
people we have to obey them. Now that you are the first to subdue us, tell
us your request.”
Ren Zu was overjoyed. “Then I order you both, go and catch me a
Longevity Gu.”

The Rules and Regulations Gu worked together and captured an eighty-year

Longevity Gu.

Ren Zu was already a hundred years old but after consuming this Gu, the
wrinkles on his face vanished and his frail limbs became muscular again. A
vibrant aura of youth oozed from him.

With a belly flop, he jumped up onto his feet.

He ecstatically looked at his body, knowing that he had regained the body
of a twenty year old!

“That’s all for today, let’s go home, grandson.” The old man, having
completed the story, finished his wine as well.

“Grandpa, continue telling me, what happens to Ren Zu after?” The

grandson was unyielding as he shook his grandfather’s arm.

“Let’s go, I’ll tell you when there’s another chance.” The old man wore his
straw hat and jacket, then gave his grandson another set that was a smaller
size.

The two walked out of the inn, stepping into the rain and slowly vanishing
from sight.

“Rules and Regulations…” Fang Yuan’s gaze was dark as he twirled his
wine cup, looking at the liquor in his cup. His heart was touched.

Ren Zu’s legend was widespread throughout this world and there were
almost no people who did not know of him. Fang Yuan had naturally heard
of him too.

But no matter if it was a legend or a story, it was dependant on the

knowledge of the reader. The grandfather and grandson earlier merely
treated it as a story, but Fang Yuan could understand the deeper meaning.

Just like that Ren Zu.

When he did not know the rules and regulations, he explored in the dark.
Sometimes he bumped into things, knocking into others, causing himself to
get injured and look like a mess. And at times within a wider area, he got
lost and confused, moving without a sense of direction or purpose.

This darkness was not purely black or the absence of light. Strength,
wisdom and hope could not oppose it.

Only when Ren Zu knew of the rules and regulations and said their names
did the darkness dissipate and invite light into Ren Zu’s life.

The darkness was the darkness of the rules and regulations and the light was
also the light of the rules and regulations.

Fang Yuan switched his gaze from his cup and looked outside through the
window.

He saw that outside the window, the sky was still dark, the greenery
abundant and the pelting rain flying by like mist. Close by, the bamboo tall-
houses were lined up in a row, extending far out. On the road, several
people walked, their feet stained with the mud from the rain. Some of them
wore grayish green straw coats, while others carried yellow oiled cloth
umbrellas.

Fang Yuan concluded, “This world’s heaven and earth is like a huge chess
board. All lifeforms are chess pieces, acting in accordance with their rules
and regulations. The four seasons have their own rules and regulations,
rotating between spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The flow of water
has its own rules and regulations, flowing from high ground to low ground.
Hot air has its own rules and regulations, floating upwards. Humans
naturally also have their own rules and regulations.”

“Everybody has their own standpoints, desires, and principles. For example,
in the Gu Yu village, the servants lives are cheap while their master’s lives
are noble. This is a part of rules and regulations. Because of this, Shen Cui
who wants to get close to the rich and affluent is doing her best to try and
escape her servant status. Gao Wan tried all means and methods to please
his master, using their authorities for himself.”

“As for Uncle and Aunt, they gave in to greed, wanting to hoard my
parent’s inheritance. The Academy Elder wants to nurture Gu masters to
maintain his position in the Academy.”

“Everyone has their own rules and regulations, every profession has its own
rules and regulations, and every society and group also have their own rules
and regulations. Only by understanding the rules and regulations can we see
the situation clearly from the side. Gone with the darkness and embrace the
light, moving around the rules with much to spare.”

Fang Yuan thought about his own situation, his heart already clear. “To the
Mo family’s head Gu Yue Mo Chen, it is to protect his family branch’s
prosperity and benefits. Mo Yan found trouble with me and that would be
considered spoiling the rules, so for the sake of his family honor, he will not
do anything to me. In fact, he might even compensate me.”

“Actually the Mo family has great influence, so if they risk their reputation
and are bent on punishing me, there is nothing I can do to resist them.
However, Gu Yue Mo Chen is afraid. He is not afraid of himself breaking
the rules, but he is afraid that others will follow in his footsteps. In a
junior’s scuffle, if the elders interfere, it would aggravate the situation. If it
involved the higher ups, it’d pose a threat to the entire mountain village. Gu
Yue Mo Chen’s fear lied here. What if in future conflicts, others laid their
hands on his grandson Gu Yue Mo Bei? In his entire family line there’s only
one male, so what would happen if he died? This kind of fear, maybe he
doesn’t realize it himself. He is only subconsciously protecting the rules.”

Fang Yuan’s eyes were clear as he had the perfect grasp and understanding
of the matter from start till the end.

Gao Wan’s surname was not Gu Yue. Instead, he was an outsider, a servant.
The master executing a servant was nothing to be alarmed about. In this
world, it was normal.

In the case of Fang Yuan killing Gao Wan, Gao Wan’s death was not crucial.
The crucial part was his master, the Mo family behind him.

“However Gu Yue Mo Chen should be able to understand my intention of

compromise and threat from the time I sent a box of a minced corpse to
them. This is also what I want him to think. If I’m not wrong, the Mo
family will not pursue Gao Wan’s death. Of course, if I had better talent and
was at least a B grade, the Mo family would feel threatened. Even with the
loss of their reputation, they would want to suppress a future threat such as
myself,” Fang Yuan snickered in his heart.

Strength can be relied on but weakness can also be used as an advantage.

Although Fang Yuan was in the game of chess as a pawn, he was clear of
the rules and regulations, thus he already had the mentality of a player.

An ordinary character would at most be like Gu Yue Mo Chen or the

Academy Elder, also knowing their own rules and regulations but unsure of
their non-expertise. Being like Fang Yuan, who had a clear view of the big
picture and was clear of rules and regulations was extremely difficult!

To understand rules and regulations, one has to be like Ren Zu, stumbling
around in the dark and wandering about aimlessly.

At this point, strength, wisdom, and hope would be useless. One must spend
a lot of time going through it themselves and gaining the experience.

For Ren Zu to be able to say out the names of the Rules and
Regulations Gu, this was after spending time. Under the threat of death, he
had tried countless of times.

Fang Yuan was an expert in rules and regulations due to his five hundred
years of experience in from past life.
After his rebirth, he believed that he could create a brilliant future. Not
because of the Spring and Autumn Cicada, not because he knew many
secret troves and treasures, not because he knew what the future held.

But because of the five hundred years of experience that he had gained as a
person.

Just like how Ren Zu controlled the Rules and Regulations Gu and was able
to easily capture all the Gu in the world!

And Fang Yuan was so familiar with rules and regulations, thus he was able
to look down upon the world and see through its truths and lies. Being
meticulous and precise, or getting right to the heart of the matter. I proudly
laugh as I stand on top of the world, coldly looking at the people in the
world who behaved like pawns, obeying their respective rules and
regulations, living their lives in a straightforward manner.

The rules and regulations of the darkness is darkness, and the rules and
regulations of the light is light.

But the reborn demon had stepped foot under the path of light.
 Chapter 39

Chapter 39 – Toad Caravan Merchant

The month of May was a transition between spring and summer.

The fragrance of flowers filled the air, the huge mountains evergreen and
the sunlight began to gradually release its ardent side.

Under the clear azure skies, the white clouds drifted like cotton.

On Qing Mao Mountain, the bamboo forest was straight like spears as
always, pointing towards the blue sky. Weeds grew wildly everywhere, and
unknown varieties of wild flowers dotted the grass thicket. As the light
breeze blew, the wild grass moved to and fro, the heavy fragrance of flower
pollen and the smell of green grass assailing visitors.

Halfway up the mountain was a huge number of terraced fields. Layer by

layer, step by step, the soft green wheat sprouts were planted down. From
afar, it looked like a verdant green sea.

On the terraced fields were numerous farmers busily working away. There
were some farmers cleaning the canal for the channeling of water to irrigate
the fields, while some farmers were rolling up their trousers, standing in the
fields and planting sprouts.

These people were naturally all mortal outsiders as the Gu Yue clansmen
would never have do these lowly jobs.

Ring, ring…

The sound of camel bells could be faintly heard in the spring breeze.
The farmers straightened their bodies as they headed down the mountain,
only to see a caravan moving like a colorful worm from the mountain side,
slowly showing its head.

“It’s the merchant caravan!”

“Yes, it’s already May, it is about time for the caravan to come.”

The adults caught on the situation at once, and the children stopped playing
with the water and clay in their hands. Together, they energetically
approached the caravan.

The Southern Borders had a hundred thousand mountains – Qing Mao

Mountain was just one of them. On every mountain, there were villages
after villages, which were maintained by everyone through their blood
relationships and kinships.

In between the mountains, the forests were deep and ominous, the cliffs
steep and full of the dangerous falling rocks. Additionally, in the complex
surroundings of the forest dwelled a large number of ferocious beasts and
peculiar Gu worms.

Mortals could not pass through at all. It was difficult to get past these
obstacles alone, one had to at least be a Rank three Gu Master.

Because of the poor economy, trading was difficult. Thus, the most
important form of trading was through the caravan merchants. Only by
organizing a merchant group in such a large scale could Gu Masters come
together with the power to help each other, conquering the difficulties in the
traveling routes and traversing from one mountain to another.

The merchant caravan’s arrival was like a bowl of boiling water that poured
into the peaceful and serene Qing Mao Mountain.

“All these past years they would come in April, but this year they only
arrived in May. At least they’re here now.” The owner of the inn let out a
deep breath upon hearing the news. The inn’s business was poor in the other
months, so only when the caravan came could he earn enough profit to last
the year.

At the same time, there was some green bamboo wine within his storage
that he could sell to the caravan merchants.

Besides the inn, the business at the tavern would also boom as a result.

The caravan merchants entered the Gu Yue mountain village one by one,
lead by a Treasure Brass Toad. This toad was two and a half meters tall, its
entire body orange-yellow in color. The back of the toad was thick and full
of warts and knots. It was like the lumps of bronze nails on ancient city
gates.

On the Treasure Brass Toad’s back, thick ropes were tied around plenty of
goods. At a glance, it seemed like the toad was carrying a giant backpack.

A middle-aged man with a circular face full of pockmarks sat cross-legged

atop the toad. He was fat and had a large belly. Both of his eyes formed into
slits when smiling. He cupped his fists as he greeted the surrounding Gu
Yue villagers.

This man’s name was Fu of the Jia clan. His cultivation was at Rank four
and he was the leader of the merchant caravan this time.

The treasure toad hopped slightly as it moved forward but Jia Fu who was
sitting on its head was stable and steady. When the toad hopped, his height
would level with the windows on the second floor of a building. Even when
he was back on the ground, he was at a height greater than the first level of
the bamboo buildings.

The originally spacious streets were suddenly rather packed and narrow.
The Treasure Brass Toad was like a beast that intruded into the midst of a
great number of bamboo houses.

After the treasure toad was a huge fat worm. It had two eyes that were
similar to multi-colored glass windows, the colors bright and gorgeous. The
worm was fifteen meters long, its body shape resembling a silkworm.
However, the surface of the worm was covered in a thick layer of black
porcelain-like leather armor. On the armor was another abundant pile of
goods and merchandise, a hemp rope tied around it. In between the gaps
and intervals of the goods, Gu Masters sat one by one, some old and some
young.

There were also mortals who were robust and sturdy martial warriors,
slowly moving forward on the ground following after a fat black beetle.

After the fat beetle, there were ostriches with brightly colored feathers,
hairy mountain spiders, winged snakes with two pairs of feathered wings
and so on. However, these were in small numbers, most of the creatures
were toads.

These toads were all similar to the Treasure Brass Toad, but they were
smaller in size and had the build of cows and horses. The toads were
carrying merchandise and people, their bellies bulging as they hopped
forward.

The merchant caravan wound deep into the village.

Children on the road would look on curiously with wide eyes, calling out in
joy or exclaiming in surprise.

The windows on the second stories opened one after another, the mountain
villagers observing the merchants from a short distance. Some had eyes that
flashed with fear and some others waved their hands to express a warm
welcome.

“Old brother Jia, you came a little late this year, you must have had a hard
journey.” Approaching with the identity of a clan head, Gu Yue Bo came out
himself to greet the leader of this year’s merchant caravan.

As Jia Fu had the status of a Rank four Gu Master, if a Rank three elder
were to be in charge of receiving him, it would be undoubtedly be seen as a
kind of negligence and scorn.
Jia Fu cupped his fists and sighed, “This year’s road was rather unfavorable.
On the way we bumped into a group of Secluded Blood Bats and we lost
quite a few good men. Then on Jue Bi Mountain we ran into a mountain
fog, and we didn’t dare to continue traveling at all. So we were delayed for
quite a lot of time, and caused Brother Gu Yue to wait for quite awhile.”

As they spoke, their tones were very polite.

The Gu Yue village needed the merchant caravans every year to come and
trade, and the merchant caravan also needed business to make money.

“Heh heh heh, it’s good enough that you are able to come. Please, the clan
has prepared food and wine, let me host a welcoming dinner for you, old
brother,” Gu Yue Bo stretched out his hand and said invitingly.

“Clan head is polite, too polite.” Jia Fu was flattered.

The merchant caravan arrived at the boundaries of the Qing Mao Mountain
in the early morning, and by afternoon they were stationed in the Gu Yue
Village. When it was dusk, the surroundings of the village had formed into
a widespread area of temporary shops and stores. All kinds of red, blue,
yellow and green lofty tents were built and every inch between the tents
was squeezed with numerous little street stalls.

The night was descending, yet it was still brightly lit in the area.

An endless stream of pedestrians spilled into the area from the village.
There were mortals as well as GuMasters. The little children hopped around
in high spirits, and the adults showed an expression of joy akin to
celebrating a festival.

Fang Yuan moved along with the crowd, walking alone.

The crowd was bustling with activity, groups of people either surrounding
the stalls or endlessly pouring in and out of the entrance of the tents.

The surroundings were filled with the shouts of merchants hawking their
wares.
“Come, come, take a look. Top notch Blue Sea Cloud tea brick, drinking
this tea makes one as cheerful as a fairy! Even if it’s not a person drinking,
it can be used for feeding and raising tea Gu, it is a cheaply priced item for
its value. One piece only costs five primeval stones!”

“Brute Force Longhorn Beetle Gu, a Gu Master who uses this Gu will be
able to burst out with the strength of a cow. You can walk away, but don’t
regret it!”

“Intimate Grass, high quality Intimate Grass. Everyone look at this quality,
it’s as fresh as if a newly picked one. One catty for two pieces of primeval
stones, very cheap price…”

As Fang Yuan heard this, his footsteps paused slightly, then he followed the
sound and walked over.

He saw an ostrich pulling a handcart with two wheels. On the handcart was
a heap of pastel green herbs. Every blade of grass was a meter in length,
slender and long. Their average width was around that of a fingernail. On
some of the pointed tips of the grass grew red heart-shaped flower buds.

The Intimate Grass was one of a Gu worm’s supplementary food type, its
worth was stemmed from the fact that it could be used to pair up with a few
other foods to feed a Gu worm.

For example, Fang Yuan needed to give two pieces of flower petals every
meal to the Moonlight Gu when feeding it. If he mixed in a blade of
Intimate Grass, the Moonlight Gu would be full just from eating one petal.

The Intimate Grass only costs two pieces of primeval stones per catty, while
the moon orchid petal cost a primeval stone for every ten pieces. With a
simple calculation, one would know that mixing the Intimate Grass in to
feed the Gu would be more cost-effective.

“Half a month ago, because I used the Moonlight Gu in the academy to kill
Gao Wan, I was fined thirty primeval stones. However the Mo family paid
me thirty primeval stones later as compensation, so I didn’t really take any
losses. In recent days I have robbed twice, my total number of stones
amounts to 118. However, recently I continuously spent essence to refine
middle stage primeval essence and nurture the four walls of my aperture,
and I would use up three pieces of stones every day. Adding on the costs of
feeding Gu, my own daily expenses and successively buying green bamboo
wine, I have ninety-eight pieces at hand right now.”

Ever since Fang Yuan killed a person, the cruel and callous image had
deeply rooted itself into the hearts of the students and for a time no one
dared to challenge him. This led to his plundering becoming much easier, as
every time only a very small number would dare to resist.

Fang Yuan calculated in his heart, then he moved his line of sight and
continued walking deeper into the heart of the setup of temporary stores.

The Intimate Grass stall was surrounded by a group of people. They were
all either Gu Masters or students, holding primeval stones in their hands as
they shouted and rushed to buy it.

It was not that Fang Yuan lacked the money to buy Intimate Grass, but he
had no time.

“If memory serves, that Mudskin Toad should be in that store. In my

previous life there was a Gu Master who got it from gambling on the first
night, hence he earned big time. I must hurry, I cannot lose a great deal
through trying to save a little.”
 Chapter 40

Chapter 40 – Toad Gu Slumbering Within the Purple Gold Rock

The further one walked, the more flourishing and prosperous it was. Small
street vendors lessened while large tents increased in number.

There were all sorts of large tents to be seen – red, blue, green, yellow, in
different shapes and sizes, several being a cylindrical shape. Some erected
two door pillars at the entrance of their tents, while others hung large red
lanterns instead. Inside, some tents had vibrants lights, whereas others were
dim and dark.

Fang Yuan observed his surroundings as he walked, finally stopping near a

grey-coloured tent.

“It’s here,” he evaluated while looking at the tent; it had two pillars at the
entrance, and there were carvings on the pillars, two lines of antithetical
couplet(1).

The left side wrote, “Small display of courage, obtain good fortune during
the four seasons.”

The right side wrote, “ Large display of skills, obtain good prosperity in all
four directions.”

In the middle there was still another line: “Luck changes with time.”

That’s right, this is a gambling den.

This gambling den took around one mu(2) of land; it was considered a
large-sized tent.
Fang Yuan walked inside. Inside of the tent, there was three rows of
counters on a side. On the counter were pieces of amber or fossils. Some
were as big as a palm, others were as big as a face. There were also others
which were even bigger; those were as tall as a person. It obviously could
not fit on the counter, thus it was directly placed on the ground.

Different from the other tent shops, it was silent in here.

Several Gu masters stood before the counters, some meticulously observing

rocks on the display counter while others took the fossils and rubbed it in
their hand to get a feel of it. There were some that were discussing quietly
with their companions, and some were discussing the price with their shop
clerks.

But no matter what they discussed, they spoke softly, doing their best not to
disturb others.

This was a rock gambling den.

In the Gu world, there were all types of Gu, coming with different shapes
and sizes and all sorts of effects. Guworms have their respective food to
consume. Without food, they can only last a short amount of time before
dying.

But nature, towards lifeforms, was both uncaring and benevolent.

If they lacked food, the Gu worms still have a chance of survival. That was
to hibernate, undergoing self-sealing.

For example, if the Moonlight Gu did not have Moon Orchid petals to
consume, it may undergo self-sealing. It will try to maximise the
conservation of its strength, like winter hibernation, falling into a deep
slumber. At this time, not only would the blue glow on its body dissipate, it
would also turn from a transparent crystal state into a grey rock, covered in
a layer of rock shell. Eventually, the rock crust will get thicker and turn into
a boulder.
Or for example the Liquor Worm, if it underwent self-sealing, it would form
a white cocoon around it, curling its body and falling into a deep sleep
within the cocoon.

Of course this situation of sealing and hibernating may not happen to

every Gu worm. It has a small chance of occurrence, and in most cases,
the Gu worm will not fall into hibernation but instead starve to death. Only
a small number of Gu worms may, under specific situations, undergo self-
sealing.

A few Gu Masters who accidentally obtain these sealed Gu worms’ rocks or

cocoons would awaken the Guworms that were slumbering within. Thus
they would have a stroke of fortune. Some of the Gu masters became
successful due to this, it being a turning point in their lives. These situations
happen frequently in the GuMaster world, often being fake or real rumors,
giving people hopes and dreams.

The source of the idea behind this rock gambling den originated from these
rumours. Of course, these rocks all looked alike on the outside. Only after
opening them can one determine if there really is a Gu worm hidden inside.

“In a small-sized rock gambling den like this, nine out of ten rocks are solid
core, having no Gu worms inside. Even if there are Gu worms inside the
rock, they may not be living worms, most of them are dead Gu. But once
someone hits the jackpot of a live Gu, under most situations, one would be
able to earn a huge fortune. If the Guworm is a rare species, they either
become a successful person in life or get murdered and robbed of their
fortune.”

Fang Yuan was clear about this in his heart, being very familiar with the
situation beyond these doors.

In his past life, he had participated in a merchant caravan before, being a

clerk in the rock gambling den. Some time later, he even operated his own
rock gambling den, even larger than this one; it was a medium-sized rock
gambling den. He managed to con some gamblers, and also misjudged at
times, allowing other gamblers to win a precious Gu worm.
Fang Yuan stood at the door for a while, taking a glance around him before
slowly walking to the counter on the left side.

Behind the counter, there was a shop assistant every few metres, both males
and females. On their waist hung a green coloured belt, showing that they
were not ordinary people but Rank one Gu masters. Most were initial
stages, while a selected few were middle stages.

Seeing Fang Yuan before a counter, a female Gu Master who was nearest by
walked towards him and smiled, softly saying, “Young master,
what Gu worm do you need? Every rock on this counter is sold at ten
primeval stones each. If this is your first try, just for the sake of it, why
don’t you go to the right counter, the rocks there are sold at only five
primeval stones. If you are seeking thrills, you can go to the high-end
counter at the middle, the rocks sold there are at twenty primeval stones
each.”

This was an experienced female Gu Master, having worked at the rock

gambling den for quite some time already.

She looked at Fang Yuan who entered, and determined that he was a student
from his appearance, age and height etc.

Those that came to gamble were all Gu Masters. Students were only
considered second-rate Gu Masters, just starting their cultivation. Because
they’re often tight on finance due to feeding their Gu worms, where would
they find the money to come and gamble rocks?

Students like this, normally they just came to take a look and to get an eye-
opening experience, satisfying their curiosity. Most were only window
shoppers, though if some had well to do families, they might attempt to buy
one to try. But most only bought the cheapest fossil.

Thus, the female Gu Master had no expectations towards how many rocks
Fang Yuan could buy.

“Let me look around first.” Fang Yuan nodded at her expressionlessly, then
started to look seriously into the pile.
In his memory, it should be at this counter in this particular rock gambling
den.

But it had been 500 years, it’s been too long. Many things were vague to
him already, especially when 500 years of memory was a huge capacity, so
to be honest Fang Yuan could not remember distinctly.

He could only vaguely recall, that during this year on the first night the
caravan arrived, a lucky bird spent ten primeval stones to buy a fossil with
purple gold lustre.

After he opened it on the spot, he obtained a Mudskin Toad. Afterwards this

toad Gu was bought by another person, thus causing him to earn a small
fortune of primeval stones.

Fang Yuan frowned after observing for a while.

On this counter, fossils with a purple gold glow numbered up to twenty. In

which rock was there a hidden Mudskin Toad?

Every rock here was sold at ten primeval stones each. Right now Fang Yuan
had ninety-eight primeval stones with him, and he could buy up to a
maximum of nine pieces.

But realistically, he could not count like this.

In any sort of risk and gamble, one had to consider the consequences.

Fang Yuan was no longer a greenhorn, like those gamblers who thought
they were blessed by heaven. Those who thought they were blessed by fate
were usually those who fell under the mischief of fate itself.

“I am alone, with no relatives or friends that can help me. I have to save
some primeval stones to survive, as well as to buy food for my Gu worms.”
He counted and under the most basic reservation, he could buy at most
seven pieces of fossils.

“This rock, the purple gold is dotted like the stars, but it’s flat as a pancake,
there’s definitely no mudskin toad inside.”
“This piece has striking purple gold colour, but it is only fist sized. if there
really is a mudskin toad inside, the rock should be at least 30% larger.”

“This purple gold fossil, well it’s big, but the surface is extremely smooth,
while the mudskin toad’s skin is supposed to be rough and uneven, this is
evidently not the one……”

Fang Yuan continued to observe and evaluate, using the method of

cancellation.

When Gu worms hibernate after self sealing, they would form into a natural
fossil, being undetectable from most of the world’s detection methods. The
remaining detecting methods were too rough, and once used, it would
instantly kill the Gu worm within that is barely alive.

Thus, when Gu Masters choose rocks, they could only rely on their
guessing, experience and luck, sometimes relying on a little bit of instinct.

Otherwise, this would not be called gambling.

Of course, in this wide wide world, there are countless wonders, and one
cannot exclude the fact that a detection method which is extremely gentle
exists, allowing a Gu Master to know if the rock contains a Guworm.

Fang Yuan had heard of such rumors in his past life, but after
experimenting, found that it was all lies.

Fang Yuan assumed privately, “If such a method really exists, it has to be a
hidden legacy, controlled in the hands of a small number of mysterious
people, having no impact on the gambling business.”

It was still tame around the Qing Mao mountain region, but the more one
moves east, the more prosperous gambling dens become. At the Bai Tou(3)
mountain region, every family village had its own gambling den. In some
large-sized forts, there were even large-sized gambling dens built. The three
villages that were famous for their rock gambling were Pan Shi (4) Village,
Gu Mu (5) Village and Cang Jing (6) Village, where there were even mega-
sized gambling dens.
These three mega-sized gambling dens each had a thousand years of
history. Currently, their business was still blooming, with an endless
number of gamblers. There had never been a situation of clean sweep by
anyone.

Currently, the tent that Fang Yuan was in can only be barely qualified as a
small-sized gambling den.

If it was any other 15 year old who came, they would definitely be confused
by all the different fossils, and even if they chose it, it would be by random
guessing.

But Fang Yuan was different.

Firstly, he already knew a portion of the answer from the start, thus his
search range shrunk to less than thirty pieces.

Of course, to find that one rock out of these twenty odd pieces was
extremely difficult as well. But using his five hundred years of experience
as backing, with such a rich pool of information he picked out six pieces of
purple gold fossils that best fit the criteria after observing for a while.

He had an 80% chance of confidence that the mudskin toad was hibernating
within one of these six fossils!

(1) Antithetical couplet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antithetical_couplet

(2) Mu (亩): 1 Mu is 666 ⅔ meters²

(3) Bai Tou directly means White Head,(4)Pan Shi is Monolith, (5)Gu Mu
means Ancient Grave and (6)Cang Jing is Pale Whale. To be honest most of
these mountains will never appear again, so you don’t have to remember
them.
Chapter 41
 Chapter 41: Dissecting Rocks

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“I want to purchase some rocks.” Having picked his targets, Fang Yuan said
to the female Gu Master.

“Newbie!” The female Gu Master immediately thought.

Even the shittiest gamblers would pay very close observation when they
wanted to buy the rocks. First they would look carefully, then place the
stones in their palms and rub to feel the surface and its weight. Even after
such actions, if they find that the feeling is off, they would give up. No one
would say ‘purchase’ at the start.

And for such a type like Fang Yuan, who said ‘purchase’ upfront, he is
undeniably a newbie who is having his first rock gambling experience.

Although the female Gu Master thought this, she did not show any
difference in her expression, but continued to smile like a flower, saying
softly to Fang Yuan, “Then which piece are you choosing?”

Fang Yuan pointed and said, “This piece.”

She immediately retrieved it.

Fang Yuan pointed again and said, “This piece.”

She felt perplexed, not expecting this youngster to buy two pieces.

“It seems like this youngster is the type to gamble heavily,” she evaluated
mentally.
But next, Fang Yuan pointed yet again, “And this piece, that piece, I’m
buying them all.”

The female Gu Master was stunned, feeling extremely surprised, she could
not help but assess Fang Yuan again.

“It seems like this ordinary looking youngster has a really good family
background. Otherwise, how would any ordinary Gu Master have the spare
cash to spend like this?” Thinking of it, the female Gu Master’s smile
became more gentle and friendly. To think that the youngster in front of her
was a real customer.

This was an unexpected joy!

However, Fang Yuan surprised her once again as he pointed to the furthest
purple gold rock, “Oh yeah, and those two pieces as well.”

The female Gu Master could not help but feel shocked internally, “Which
young master is this from the Gu Yue Village? It looks like he’s the main
family branch’s inheritor. If I can hook up with him, I may not need to stay
here and slog as a shop clerk anymore.”

With this thought, the female Gu Master’s smile became even more gentle
and she even looked towards Fang Yuan seductively.

Six rocks were placed in front of Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took out sixty primeval stones and passed it to the female Gu
Master.

His act of payment attracted the attention of all the other Gu Masters in the
tent.

“Oh? Someone is going to rock gamble.”

“We’ve been watching for over an hour, but we haven’t acted yet. Now that
someone is giving it a try, we might as well watch.”
“It’s a student, he actually took out sixty primeval rocks at once, his family
must be affluent. He looks like a greenhorn, hmph, gambling rocks isn’t so
easy. He’s gonna get hurt real bad.”

The Gu Masters stood on the spot, discussing softly, all directing their gaze
towards Fang Yuan.

“Young master, do you want to open the rocks on the spot? Our gambling
den provides free service to open the rocks.” The female Gu Master gently
advised, sending seductive glances with her eyes.

Fang Yuan used the corner of his eye to take a look at the crowd, his lips
curling into a mysterious smile. He waved his hand, rejecting the female Gu
Master. “Purple gold is my lucky color, and this is my first time betting, it is
very meaningful. I’ll open the rocks myself!”

The female Gu Master’s eyes shone brighter, thinking, this heroic

demeanour, as expected of a rich young master.

Never in her dreams would she be able to imagine that Fang Yuan could be
said to be kinless in Gu Yue village, a drifter with no backing, having to
rely on himself for everything.

“Tsk, so what if you have money.”

“I wonder which rich kid this is, coming here to waste his parent’s hard
earned money!”

“Ignorant young lad, how can one choose the rocks based on lucky color,
sigh, this act is simply akin to throw primeval stones into the water, and
waiting to see the ripples for fun.”

The Gu Masters in the tent lost their excitement at once. After thinking that
Fang Yuan was a prodigal son, their already low expectations vanished into
thin air.

Some Gu Masters even retracted their gaze and turn around to continue
inspecting the fossils on the counter.
The changes to his surroundings did not affect Fang Yuan’s state of mind at
all. He expressionlessly activated the primeval essence within his primeval
sea, pouring it into the Moonlight Gu.

The next moment, the crescent mark on his right palm emitted a faint water-
like blue light.

Fang Yuan used this right hand to grab a purple gold rock, holding it in his
palm. Next he closed his fingers and slowly rubbed against the surface of
the fossil.

The blue light continued to shine, the waves of light rippling like water as
the purple gold rock shrunk in size, large amounts of powder from rock
shavings falling out from the gaps of Fang Yuan’s fingers, landing on the
carpet of the tent.

“Young master has good handiwork!” The female Gu Master took the
chance and immediately praised.

“This youngster, he isn’t a good-for-nothing. What great skills.” Seeing this

sight, the Gu Masters’ eyes shone across with a complicated glint. They had
started to see Fang Yuan in a new light.

Fang Yuan used the blue light to rub against the surface of the rock; this
was a form of meticulous usage of the Moonlight Gu. Normally, one would
have to use the Moonlight Gu for two to three years to be able to reach this
level.

With Fang Yuan’s age and student identity, being able to do this is really
remarkable.

“See, he’s using our Gu Yue clan’s specialty, the Moonlight Gu.” Some of
the Gu Masters found this and instantly felt proud, gaining affection for
Fang Yuan.

“But opening the rocks with this method, it’s still too rough.” Some of the
older and more experienced Gu Masters shook their heads.
The purple gold rock got smaller and smaller, from being slightly larger
than a palm into the size of a fist, being gripped tightly by Fang Yuan’s
fingers.

The blue light intensified as the fossil became pearl-sized. Until finally,
what was left was a pile of rock powder, falling on the carpet to form a
small hill.

This was a solid rock, there was no Gu worm inside.

“As expected, he’s unreliable.” The Gu Masters shook their heads.

“Young master, there’s still five pieces left,” the female Gu Master
encouraged.

Fang Yuan’s expression was calm, being completely unaffected. He grabbed

the second piece of purple gold rock and continued to grind. But the result
of this piece was still a solid rock; there was no Gu worm inside.

The third piece was still the same.

The Gu Masters grew impatient. “Stop looking. By relying on color to pick

the rocks, there’s no point in this gamble.”

“If he can get a good Gu from this, I’ll eat the pile of rock powder on the
floor!” Someone laughed insultingly.

“Don’t lose heart young master, isn’t there 3 pieces left, you’re only
halfway through,” the female Gu Master continued to edge Fang Yuan on.

Fang Yuan grabbed the fourth piece, and when he got it to palm size, he
suddenly stopped all action.

“Oh? There’s something!”

“The rock composition changed, it’s not purple gold sediments, but a kind
of ink-black colour.”

“Don’t tell me he really got super lucky from blinding guessing?”

The surrounding Gu Masters exclaimed lightly.

“Young master, you have to be careful from here onwards. Don’t make
sudden movements, hibernating Gu worms are very fragile. If you use too
much strength, you’ll kill the Gu worm inside.” The female Gu Master did
not expect such a situation to occur. After getting stunned for a moment, she
immediately advised carefully.

Fang Yuan’s movements slowed, his fingers slowly rubbing as small

powder slowly fell. Continuously repeating the action with many intervals,
he was no longer as fluid as earlier.

The black coloured rock powder slowly fell off, and as the rock got smaller,
Fang Yuan’s movements became slower and gentler.

On the carpet, the rock powder continued to gather as Fang Yuan’s black
colored rock was finally scrapped clean.

“Sigh, what a pity, it’s a rock in a rock.”

“What a waste of my emotions, I really thought there was a Gu worm

inside.”

“You are all too easy to fool, is rock betting so easy? Nine out of ten are all
empty, how else is the shop going to make money?”

“Young master, your luck is already not bad. Getting a rock in rock the first
time, normal people cannot do it.” The female Gu Master tried another way
to console Fang Yuan, similarly it was to pave way for the result that
awaited him.

Getting nothing out of gambling rocks was very common, a nine out of ten
occurrence. In her opinion, Fang Yuan was choosing at random, the chance
of getting a Gu fossil was close to zero.

Fang Yuan smiled but did not reply, and he continued to take out the fifth
rock.
He carefully grinded, and in ten breath’s time, the surface of purple gold
coloured rock were all rubbed away, revealing a rough-surfaced yellow mud
ball.
Chapter 42
 Chapter 42: It really is a Gu?!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Eh?”

“Don’t tell me it’s another rock in the rock.”

“By the looks of it, probably. But it’s a little strange, this mudball is
enclosed by a purple gold rock surface. The mudball surface should be
compressed smoothly, so why is the surface still uneven?” The surrounding
Gu Masters were perplexed.

Looking at the mudball in his hands, Fang Yuan’s expression did not
change, but in his heart he was slightly moved.

He continued to grind. Under the blue watery light, the powdery sand fell
off. Among the powder, there were some soil crumbs mixed in it, falling
onto the pile of rock powder beside his leg.

“Don’t tell me there’s really something?!” Upon seeing this, some of the Gu
Masters stared with their eyes wide-opened.

“It’s hard to say,” someone spoke with an uncertain tone.

“I feel like there is, there’s really something.” Another spoke softly.

The yellow mudball gradually decreased in size due to the friction, and
when it was palm-sized, someone barged into the tent. “Young lad, hold up.
I, Jia Jin Sheng, will be buying it!”

Fang Yuan’s movement came to a halt, at once , the Gu Masters in the tent
all focused their attention on this person.
He looked young on the outside, his appearance around twenty to twenty-
five years old. He wore a golden-coloured robe with a lace belt on his waist,
and on the belt there was a square shaped jade piece. There was a word
across the piece of jade, showing the letter “One”.

Evidently, this was a Rank one Gu Master.

To still be a Rank one Gu Master at twenty years old, it seems that his talent
isn’t good.

But the status of this person was rather unique. Seeing him, the Gu Masters
in the tent all bowed and greeted him, saying together, “Your subordinate
greets you, second young master.”

“Second young master?”

“He called himself Jia Jin Sheng earlier, is he the half-brother of the
Merchant Caravan Leader, Jia Fu……”

“This means to say, this rock gambling den is opened by him. But now that
he appeared to interfere, it seems that he’s breaking the gambling den’s
rules,” the Gu Masters softly conversed.

“That’s right, I am this shop’s shopkeeper. Little brother(1), coming out to

gamble at such a young age, aren’t you afraid of your family’s scolding? I
will offer forty primeval stones now to buy that mudball in your hand. What
do you think? Forty primeval stones is a lot already and there may not be a
Gu inside, but today I am in a good mood. Thus seeing that this is your first
time gambling, I don’t want you to lose everything, so I’ll give you a
portion of your capital back.” Jia Jin Sheng quickly walked in front of Fang
Yuan and said.

“Forty primeval stones?” Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly and took a
look at Jia Jin Sheng with the corner of his eye, coldly laughing, “It seems
you want to forcefully buy the mudball fossil in my possession? Forceful
purchase is spoiling the gambling den’s rules. Furthermore you’re now on
Qing Mao Mountain, you want to bully a Gu Yue clansman like me in front
of everyone? “
“Oh?” On hearing Fang Yuan’s last sentence, all the other Gu Masters could
not take it and animosity grew uncontrollably in them as they looked
towards Fang Yuan’s direction. Their expression towards Jia Jin Sheng also
became unfriendly.

Jia Jin Sheng had thought a fifteen year old like Fang Yuan would be easy
to deal with, easily persuaded with a few words. But to think this Fang Yuan
had such capabilities, and with a single sentence, he caused Jia Jin Sheng to
be in such a predicament.

Seeing the Gu Masters getting ready to interfere, Jia Jin Sheng’s expression
changed immediately as he changed his tone, quickly waving his hands,
“Little brother, you’re mistaken! I am the shopkeeper of this gambling den,
how could I ruin my own reputation by breaking my own rules? How would
I be able to conduct business in the future? Hehehe. I just found your
mudball a little interesting, thus I wanted to buy it. If you do not wish to sell
it, that’s fine. But if there’s nothing inside later, don’t blame me for not
reminding you.”

Fang Yuan paid no more attention to him. He turned around and continued
to focus on grinding the mudball in his hands.

His movements were very slow and very meticulous. Often, there was only
a hint of dry soil powder falling off after a moment or so. Following his
movement, a hibernating Gu worm

gradually appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.

“My god, there really is a Gu worm!”

“He really opened a Gu!”

“What the hell, this sort of method of gambling can also work?”

“This young man’s luck is off the charts, he actually managed to forcefully
luck out on getting a Gu.”

Immediately, the Gu Masters’ exasperation filled the tent.

The female Gu Master subconsciously covered her mouth, being unable to
believe the scene before her.

As shop clerk, along the way she had been to many mountain villages, seen
all sorts of people and all kinds of customers, but she had never seen such a
comedic scene.

“There is really a Gu!” Cold light flashed across Jia Jin Sheng’s eyes as he
hated and regretted in his heart. The thing he hated most, was to be taken
advantage of.

This gambling den that he opened, he had placed many surveillance

methods. Once a customer was about to open a Gu, he’d receive the news
and would normally forcefully buy it.

But now Fang Yuan was inside his gambling den, getting a Gu under his
very eyes. Jia Jin Sheng could feel his heart bleeding.

What he obtained, was a toad Gu.

Its entire body was yellow from head to foot. The belly was light yellow,
and its back was brownish yellow, covered with many pimply boils, full of
nodules and warts which were a distinctive characteristic of the toad
species. At one glance, it looked slightly horrifying.

It was not big, being only palm-sized. Holding it in the palm was akin to
holding two to three eggs.

Fang Yuan’s expression was calm under all sorts of admiration, envy and
exasperation, carefully deploying his primeval essence and injecting it into
the toad’s body.

At this moment, the Gu was being refined by Fang Yuan.

Gu worms obtained from within fossils are normally extremely weak. Not
only do they have little to no strength left, their consciousness is also lazy,
leaving them defenseless and unable to resist. Thus, they can be easily
refined by the Gu masters.
Upon being awakened by Fang Yuan, the toad Gu opened its eyes slowly,
and its belly slightly vibrated, softly calling out.

Croak.

Its voice was soft but it made everyone’s expression very interesting.

The difference in value between a Gu that was alive against one that was
dead was huge.

“It’s a live Gu, he really opened a live Gu!!” Someone rubbed his eyes,
unable to believe this.

“This is the Mudskin Toad, damn it, it really is the Mudskin Toad!”
Someone recognised the toad Gu’s identity and screamed agitatedly.

“This young man really has got luck, why don’t I have such luck on my
side!” Someone sighed, filled with complicated emotions such as envy,
jealousy and hatred.

“Young master, congratulations! This, this, this is to date, my first time

seeing such a precious Gu worm!” The female Gu Master was shocked
beyond words, her eyes glistening with life.

“It’s actually the Mudskin Toad! This is a rare Rank two Gu worm, its value
worth five hundred primeval stones. Damn it, damn. Someone actually
managed to open such a Gu worm in my shop. I’ve lost big time, big time!”
Jia Jin Sheng’s face was pale as he stared daggers at the toad, his heart
having a strong urge to just snatch the Gu away.

But he knew he couldn’t, for if he really did that, it would be asking for
trouble.

This was not his family’s village, but the Gu Yue clan’s territory.

“Maybe I should’ve paid a bit more primeval stones, maybe he might have
given it to me. That’s right, he’s just a student. If I offered a hundred
primeval stones, there’s no way he’d not be moved. Why didn’t I do that?”
Jia Jin Sheng was full of regret.
“No, maybe this young lad does not know his stuff. Even though he opened
a Mudskin Toad, I should be able to suppress the price and buy it!” Jia Jin
Sheng’s heart had renewed hope.

But at the next moment, this hint of hope was mercilessly smashed by Fang
Yuan’s words.

Fang Yuan plainly looked at the Mudskin Toad in his hands, ignoring the
surrounding people’s praises and shock.

He used an extremely calm tone and said to Jia Jin Sheng, “Mudskin Toad,
Rank two Gu worm, requires five hundred grams of yellow soil every meal,
the more fertile the soil the better. Its species is few in number and it is the
necessary main Gu in refining the Treasure Brass Toad. The market price is
five hundred primeval stones. Jia Jin Sheng, do you want to buy this?”

“You, actually know so clearly……” Jia Jin Sheng mumbled. After such a
shock, he could not say a word.

Fang Yuan laughed lightly and continued, “If you’re unwilling, that’s fine.
I’ll sell it to someone else, I’m sure someone will be interested.”

“Hold it, wait, I’ll buy it, I’ll buy it. But can’t this price be cheaper?” Jia Jin
Sheng’s smile turned bitter.

Fang Yuan turned around and walked away.

Jia Jin Sheng hurriedly chased after him. “Don’t! Don’t go! I’ll buy, I’ll buy
it!”

Fang Yuan had no plans to nurture this Mudskin Toad.

It was a Rank two Gu, but Fang Yuan was still a Rank one initial stage.
Although it ate yellow soil, Qing Mao Mountain was full of green soil,
hence finding food for it would be troublesome.

Moreover, if he does not sell this Gu worm, Fang Yuan would have to feed
three Gu worms himself. Putting aside the increased primeval stone
expenditure, even the current amount of primeval stones in his possession
would not be enough to feed them.

Thus, Fang Yuan’s plan was to immediately sell away the Mudskin Toad,
get the five hundred primeval stones and earn a fortune.

To a Rank one initial stage like Fang Yuan, five hundred primeval stones
was considered a large amount already.

The transaction was quickly completed and Fang Yuan transferred the
Mudskin Toad to Jia Jin Sheng in front of the crowd, at the same time
accepting five heavy money bags. Each bag had a hundred primeval stones.

Fang Yuan originally had ninety-eight primeval stones, and after spending
sixty on gambling rocks, he had thirty-eight left. Now, his fortune
multiplied many times, and he owned five hundred and thirty-eight
primeval stones.

Upon seeing this, many Gu masters turned green with envy.

Fang Yuan put the five bags in his bosom before taking the last piece of
purple gold fossil and walked out of the tent.

“Young master, you’re not opening that fossil?” The female Gu Master
blinked rapidly and stared at Fang Yuan’s back, loudly reminding him.

Fang Yuan paid no heed and left the gambling den without turning back.

He left behind a gang of stunned Gu Masters, staring at each other silently.

Jin Jia Sheng calling Fang Yuan little brother is a way of greeting; they are
not related in any way.
Chapter 43
 Chapter 43: The final sixth purple gold rock

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The green copper primeval sea had tides rising and falling, ebbing and
flowing.

Above the sea level, the Liquor worm curled into a ball, emitting the wine
vapour that gradually developed into white mist.

A surge of primeval essence with a “swoosh”, rushed up against the tide and
into the wine mist. When the tide receded, there was already half left, and
the colour was even darker. From initial stage jade green(1), it had
converted into middle stage pale green.

Middle stage primeval essence fell into the sea, but it did not mix with the
initial stage primeval essence. As if it was denser, it sank to the bottom.

Thus, the situation became that the upper layer of the primeval sea was
filled with initial stage primeval essence, while the lower half was middle
stage primeval essence.

As time flowed, the wine mist circulated within the aperture. Under the
refinement of the Liquor worm, eventually, the initial stage primeval
essence continued to decrease, while the middle stage primeval essence
gradually increased.

It could be seen with the naked eye where the lower layer middle stage
primeval essence gradually rose, while the upper layer initial stage primeval
essence continued to decrease, but also rose in sea level.

As Fang Yuan refined his primeval essence, he extracted the natural essence
from the primeval stones at the same time, quickly replenishing the
dwindling primeval essence in his aperture.

Finally, the 45% primeval sea in his aperture was fully refined into middle
stage primeval essence.

“Much thanks to the middle stage primeval essence, or else I would not
have been able to open the rocks five times in the gambling den.” Sitting in
a lotus position on his bed, Fang Yuan gradually opened his eyes.

It was currently late at night.

After he walked out of the gambling den, he did not tour around any of the
other shops, but instead headed back to the academy.

Although it was at the fringe of the Gu Yue Mountain Village, as a Rank

one initial stage Gu master, owning five hundred and thirty eight primeval
stones is still too much.

This is not only because the primeval stones were heavy and a hassle to
bring around. It also attracts other people’s coveting; in another sense, it
would endanger his life.

If there was a Rank one upper stage, or even a Rank two who coveted his
assets, with Fang Yuan’s current ability he would not be able to contend.

“Wealth comes and goes, but humans die because of wealth, it’s pathetic.
What’s laughable is that many people in this world cannot comprehend that.
The boat of benefits carries many people, but has also sunk many others.”
Fang Yuan’s lips curled into a cold smirk as he looked at the grey white
primeval stones in his hands.

A complete primeval stone was around the size of a duck egg. But the stone
in his hand, as it had been extracted of half of its essence, was an entire
circle smaller.

Fang Yuan did not regret it.

Everything has its gains and losses. Fang Yuan was only a C grade talent,
yet he was using the Liquor Gu to refine his primeval essence, and his
primeval stones expenditure was multiple times of the people of his age. Yet
it was because of this that he was able to overcome the lack of his talent. If
the real cultivation pace could be counted, he would be able to rank first
three.

Fang Yuan put the primeval stones back into his money bag and took out
that final purple gold fossil.

He bought a total of six fossils at the gambling den and opened five on the
spot, bringing the last one back with him.

His eyes shone as he activated the Moonlight Gu, grinding with five
fingers, slowly dissecting the rock.

The purple gold fossil gradually shrunk under the blue ripples, and finally
was grinded to nothingness, leaving behind a pile of powder on the ground.

Fang Yuan was not surprised, because in rock gambling, you lose nine out
of ten times.

Even with his five hundred years of experience, he could only manage eight
losses out of ten times. And in the remaining two times, it depended on
whether it was a live Gu or a dead Gu.

Dead Gu had basically no value. As for live Gu, they might not be a rare
type of Gu worm, and even if it was a tremendously precious Gu, one might
attract a life-threatening crisis because of it.

Fang Yuan’s current cultivation level was still very low, it was at the bottom
tier of the Gu Masters. The Mudskin Toad that he obtained earlier, if it
weren’t for the fact that this was the Gu Yue Mountain Village, it might
have been forcefully snatched away by that Jia Jin Sheng.

Gambling was never the way for developing family wealth, and in fact it
was a bigger cause of bankruptcy and debt. This was not the development
path that Fang Yuan wanted to take.
Although the final purple gold fossil did not have a Gu worm, Fang Yuan
was not disappointed. In fact he looked at the pile of rock powder and
gradually broke into a smile.

Indeed, his ultimate motive in entering the gambling den was all for this
pile of rock powder. That Mudskin Toad was only something he had gotten
out of convenience.

He privately opened the fossil, and other than him, nobody knew the truth
of this result.

From that day forth, he could claim that the Liquor worm was awakened
and subdued from the purple gold fossil.

This idea was fabulous.

Firstly, nobody could confirm what Gu worm really exists in the fossils.
Who would dare say that the Liquor worm could not hibernate within the
purple gold fossil? That’s completely possible!

Secondly, he had several eyewitnesses. He opened the Mudskin Toad,

which would’ve left a strong impression on the Gu Masters in the gambling
den.

Thirdly, even if someone relentlessly questioned him, he could push

everything onto his luck. Luck was something unfathomable. Even if
someone suspected that this was the Flower Wine Monk’s Liquor worm,
against an excuse like ‘luck’ they’d have no idea how to argue against Fang
Yuan.

Within the dark room, Fang Yuan’s expression was ominous.

One-sided covering up was akin to covering fire with paper. There would be
a day where he would be exposed.

To get rid of a hidden threat like the Liquor worm, he’d have to strike first.
This is Fang Yuan’s style.
Moreover, he had thought about it carefully, and in the cultivation process
that was to follow, he would need to expose the Liquor worm.

“For a Rank one Gu like the Liquor worm, it is extremely precious to Rank
one Gu Masters. But for Rank two Gu Masters, it is no longer compatible
for them. Thus even if this was exposed, all I would get is some attention,
but it would not affect the overall situation, thus becoming nothing to be
concerned over. It is not like the Spring and Autumn Cicada. If the Spring
and Autumn Cicada is exposed, I might die a horrible death at the very next
moment.”

Five hundred years of experience in handling problems had already made

Fang Yuan extremely familiar with human mentality, with their every
thought clear as day to him.

“The Flower Wine Traveler’s legacy and the Mudskin Toad, among my
memories these are the only two treasures here, and now that they have
been obtained by me, what I can do next is only gradual and steadfast
cultivation.”

Fang Yuan sighed a deep breath and relaxed his body, feeling a strong sense
of fatigue engulfing him.

A Gu Master’s primeval sea cultivation could not replace sleep.

Fang Yuan pulled his blanket and lay down on his bed, his eyes still half
open.

Although there were five hundred primeval stones hidden under the bed, as
well as many pots of Green Bamboo Wine, he still felt a sense of urgency
and danger.

These five hundred over primeval stones were already a form of limit. From
flourish to decline, Fang Yuan was clear that henceforth his primeval stone
expenditure would only get bigger.

But his income was mostly from extorting his classmates.

He had been increasingly feeling the growth and improvement of his
classmates. Especially in the recent few extortions, Gu Yue Mo Chen, Chi
Chen, and his brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng, had greatly improved in their
kicks and punches. Previously he only needed one or two strikes to take
them down, but now he needed five or six.

“Another three to four plunders, and their punches and kicks would’ve been
polished fully. If they challenge me one by one, with my current stamina, I
cannot endure that kind of round robin battle. Five hundred primeval stones
might seem a lot, but with my current expenditure of four stones a day, it is
actually not that much.”

“Qing Mao Mountain already has no treasures left, but nearby on the Bai
Gu(2) Mountain, there is a secretly built strength inheritance of a Rank four
Gu Master of the righteous path.

“Sigh, it still boils down to the Flower Wine Monk’s treasure being too
little, only giving me a Liquor worm. Hmm… there is still that film image
wall, maybe I can sell it to a certain merchant in the caravan…”

Fang Yuan thought as his eyelids grew heavier until he finally fell asleep.
Chapter 44
 Chapter 44: Monkey Wine, not yielding the
opportunity of the Liquor worm

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

On the second day in the afternoon during lunch break, Fang Yuan went to
the shopping district outside the mountain village again.

As many of them had to work in the day, there was not many villagers at the
tentage area.

Fang Yuan walked to the area where the vendor was selling Intimate Grass
last night, according to his memory. He reached only to see an empty cart,
still on the spot. An ostrich was dragging the cart along.

It stood on the spot proudly, its body size as large as an ostrich while having
the appearance of a chicken, the back of the creature bulged into a curved
angle. A pair of wide wings were collected on the side of its body, the
feathers splendidly bright in seven colours. The chicken head was raised
tall, its huge red cockscomb like an agate crown, flashing with the luster of
a gem under the sunlight.

“It seems I was still too late, the Intimate Grass was sold out. What a pity, if
I were able to buy a few catty of Intimate Grass, I’d be able to save quite a
bit of primeval stones.” Fang Yuan’s footsteps came to a halt as he walked
away and continued to venture deeper into the area.

“Come, have a taste of the delicious wine from all the different villages.
There are more than a hundred types of wine here, like the Lantern Grass
Wine, the Nine Tune Wine with a strong aftertaste, the light and elegant
Ancient Dragon Well, the sweet and sour Flower Rock Tune, the mouth-
watering Hundred Spring Old Cellar, the rich and heavy fragrant
Intoxication of Three Autumns……” In front of a blue round bucket before
the tent, a shop assistant was hawking with gusto.

A light flashed through Fang Yuan’s gaze as he immediately grew

interested. With a turn, he entered the wine shop.

The decor in the wine shop was very unique.

At the most inner part of the tent, there was a long counter. A Gu Master
was stationed there, with tens of crystal ladybugs around the size of wicker-
baskets behind him, sticking onto the tent’s cloth walls.

On the floor there was no carpet, but rather the uncovered mountain rocks
and soil. Among the soil, vibrant coloured mushrooms grew.

These mushrooms had all sorts of colours, looking round and slightly cute.
Some were as large as tables, while others were short like benches. They
were often distributed where a large table mushroom was surrounded by a
few shorter bench mushrooms.

“This is the Innocent Mushroom, purposely grown by a Gu Master. It has

the ability to absorb dust and particles in the air to purify it, and it’s a type
of grass Gu.” Fang Yuan could recognise the mushroom’s origins
immediately upon seeing them.

He chose one of the short mushrooms and sat down. The mushroom’s
surface immediately sank down a little, making Fang Yuan feel like he was
sitting on a sofa like those on Earth.

“Young master, this is the wine catalogue, would you like to take a look?” A
shop assistant walked over.

Fang Yuan glanced at the wine catalogue and realised that the wine here
was more expensive than the green bamboo wine.

“I’ll have a cup of monkey wine.” Fang Yuan put down the catalogue.

“A cup of monkey wine!” The shop assistant turned around and shouted.
At the counter, the Rank one Gu Master heard and immediately bent down
to take out a bamboo wine cup.

Next he took the wine cup and turned around, facing the tentage. On the
blue tent walls were the tens of crystal ladybugs, head facing downwards
and tail facing upwards, quietly latched onto the walls as if they were
merely decorations for the tent.

These crystal ladybugs were also a type of Gu. Its stomach was empty, as
they were often used by Gu Masters to carry precious liquids.

Their bodies were transparent, as if they were made of crystals. From the
outside, one could see that within the ladybug’s stomach, different kinds of
liquor could be found.

The Gu Master quickly found the crystal ladybug that contained the
monkey wine among them.

He placed the bamboo wine cup at the mouthpiece of the ladybug, and
gently stroked the exoskeleton of the ladybug with his other hand.

A small amount of primeval essence entered the crystal ladybug’s body, and
afterwards it opened its mouth and a gush of liquor flowed into the bamboo
wine cup.

The liquor splattered around in the cup until it was full.

The Gu Master placed the bamboo wine cup which was filled with monkey
wine on the counter. The shop assistant who had already been waiting for a
while quickly held up the cup meticulously and walked a few steps to
deliver it to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan only took a tiny sip, the monkey wine was indeed a fruit liquor,
being sweet and refreshing and delicate on the palate.

He stopped drinking, but instead with a thought, Fang Yuan summoned the
Liquor worm.
The white and fat liquor worm turned into a flash of white light and curved
an arc in the air. With a ‘plop’, it landed in the wine cup.

The wine splattered everywhere, sprinkling onto the mushroom table.

The Liquor worm joyfully beat about in the wine cup, and the monkey wine
could be seen decreasing with the naked eye. In a few breaths time, the cup
had dried out, with not a single drop left.

“It’s the Liquor worm!” The Gu Master at the counter shouted, his eyes
sparkling. He was a Rank one Gu Master with Grade D talent, only able to
follow the merchant caravan and work in this wine shop. His objective was
to sightsee while finding his chances.

The Liquor worm can refine primeval essence and raise it by an entire
realm. To a Rank one Gu Master, it can be said to be an extremely precious
Gu worm. Isn’t this the chance he’s been painstakingly searching for?

“This young master, do you have any plans to sell this Liquor worm?” He
excitedly approached, a look of sincerity in his eyes.

Fang Yuan shook his head, rejecting him with a determined attitude, getting
up to leave after that.

His motive this time was to reveal the Liquor worm in his possession; he
had never thought of selling it.

“Young master, young master, please hold on. I am really sincere about this,
maybe we can sit down and have a discussion.” The Gu master reluctantly
followed Fang Yuan to the tentage entrance but Fang Yuan did not show any
response to him.

In the end he could only stand on the spot, his expression extremely
regretful as he watched Fang Yuan’s rear view turn around a corner and
disappear into the midst of the horizon.

……

Unconsciously, the sun gradually set as the crescent moon took its place.
In the night, the moonlight shone brightly but was overpowered by the
numerous street lights in the merchant shops.

The merchant shop tonight was swarming with business. Fang Yuan was
squeezed left and right as he entered, hearing all sorts of conversations
inadvertently.

“The stores normally open for three days and three nights. Tonight is
already the second night, by the morning of the day after, the merchant
caravan would have left on their journey already. Thus, we have to hurry if
we want to buy anything.”

“I saw a Golden Bell Gu yesterday, sigh, too bad it was too expensive. After
haggling with the shopkeeper for a long time, it did not get any cheaper. I’ll
go and take a look tonight.”

“Did you guys hear? Last night, a young man opened a Mudskin Toad and
earned a profit of five hundred primeval stones!”

……

Fang Yuan listened attentively, feeling disappointment in his heart as he did

not hear anything about the Liquor worm.

“The Liquor worm is only a Rank one Gu worm but it is extremely

meaningful to a rank 1 Gu Master, yet it’s useless to a Rank two or Rank
three Gu Master as they are unable to refine their primeval essence any
further with it. Thus it is normal that no one paid attention to this. However
taking the initiative to expose the matter of the Liquor worm cannot be
rushed for a period of time. If I overdo it, it might end up letting the cat out
of the bag.” As Fang Yuan walked, he pondered silently in his heart.

At this point, there was a hustle in front of him.

Next, Fang Yuan heard someone shout, “Quickly come and see, there’s a
dishonest merchant here selling fake Gu to our clansmen!”

Anger stirred among the crowd.

“Oh? There’s something like that happening.”

“Go and see quickly, which shop dares to cheat our clansmen!”

Fang Yuan followed the crowd and moved towards the commotion as well.

What met his eyes were a group of people surrounding the mouth of a large
red tent, the massive crowd swarming it. Some were curiously watching
while others stared coldly, but most of the people were enshrouded with a
sense of anger.

Outside the tent stood two people.

One of them was a young Rank two Gu Master, whose attire showed that he
was obviously from the Gu Yue clan.

The other person had a familiar face – it was the owner of the gambling
den, Jia Jin Sheng.

The young Gu Master held a black Gu worm in his hands, raising it up and
shouting to the crowd, “My clansmen, this person in front of me sold me a
fake Gu yesterday. Lying to me that it was a Black Boar Gu, and sold it to
me for two hundred and fifty primeval stones. To think that when I got
home to refine it, I realized that it was not a Black Boar Gu but simply an
ordinary stinky fat worm!”

Jia Jin Sheng laughed coldly, “Don’t accuse me falsely. Since when did I
tell you it was a Black Boar Gu? What proof do you have?”

The young Gu Master on seeing Jia Jin Sheng’s denial, fell into a rage and
grabbed Jia Jin Sheng’s wrist, “You cunning merchant, you dare to deny it!
You actually dare to lie to me of the Gu Yue clan on Qing Mao Mountain
itself, are you trying to look for death?!”

“Let go of me!” Jia Jin Sheng was also furious as he flicked his wrist,
slapping away the young Gu Master’s hand, “If you want to find trouble
and extort money, you should find a better target. I am not afraid of you!
My brother is Jia Fu, a Rank four Gu Master, what can you do to me?”
“You!” The young Gu Master stared with his eyes wide, but did not dare to
take action. The name of a Rank four Gu Master was enough to intimidate
him.

“Bah!” Jia Jin Sheng spat on the ground, raising his head and looked at the
young Gu Master, laughing in disdain, “It was you who wanted to take
advantage of the cheap Gu. Didn’t you use your brain to think, why a Black
Boar Gu which can raise a Gu master’s strength, being such a rare Gu
worm, was sold even more cheaply than a Liquor worm? It is normally sold
at six hundred primeval stones. Did you think that you could buy one for
just two hundred and fifty primeval stones? Dream on!”

“Bastard……” The young Gu Master gritted his teeth, his face flushing red
as he trembled out of anger, his chest burning with the rage of humiliation.

There were chatters among the people as they got restless, discussing
furiously. But no one dared to step up, for the Rank four Gu Master status
of Jia Fu was like a giant hill in front of them, stabilizing the crowd.

“This lad is too vicious, what a cunning merchant!”

“No wonder he dared to be so arrogant on Qing Mao Mountain, he is

actually Jia Fu’s little brother.”

“I heard that they are just half-brothers, but even with that Rank one
cultivation, he is able to use this relationship to act unrestrained in the
caravan.”

“What happened here exactly?” At this moment, a loud voice spoke out.

“Jia Fu is here!”

“The leader is here to settle the dispute, everyone give way.”

The discussion came to a halt as everyone separated and formed a narrow

path between them.

A middle-aged Gu Master having a muscular short body coupled with a

giant belly, walked in. He wore a long-sleeved yellow robe, being the leader
of the merchant caravan, Jia Fu.

“Sir Jia Fu, my regards.” The young Gu Master was furious but did not dare
to say anything. He forced himself to endure the anger and paid respects to
Jia Fu.

Jia Jin Sheng was frozen on the spot, not expecting his brother to arrive, his
face suddenly pale as anger flashed across his eyes.

This peculiar expression was captured by Fang Yuan who was observing
from afar as he pondered about the situation.
Chapter 45
 Chapter 45: Clear of the schemes, unknowingly
trapped in the urn

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Hello, young Gu Master, what is the problem here?” Jia Fu walked to the
middle of the crowd and asked amicably.

The young Gu Master was flattered and he cupped his fists again. Looking
at the surrounding clansmen, he bucked up his courage and explained the
entire situation.

“So that’s what happened!” Jia Fu nodded while listening. Next, he asked
Jia Jin Sheng, “Little brother, is this true?”

Jia Jin Sheng turned his head away and snorted coldly, not looking at his
brother.

Jia Fu pondered solemnly.

The surrounding people were silent, not daring to interrupt his thoughts. All
awaited in anticipation of his verdict.

This matter was in fact, due to Jia Jin Sheng’s scam, but the young Gu
Master was also at fault for being greedy and not being vigilant himself,
otherwise he would not have gotten cheated.

If Jia Fu wanted to defend his brother, with his Rank four cultivation, even
the Gu Yue clan leader could not do anything.

Jia Fu thought for a while before finally speaking. “I’ve understood the
situation, my brother is at fault for this matter, causing this young man to
suffer a loss and buy fake products, I am really sorry!” Saying so, he
cupped his fists towards the young Gu Master.

“Sir Jia Fu!” The young Gu Master was largely surprised, and quickly said
modestly, “You are a Rank four Gu Master, I am merely a Rank two, this is
too much for me, too much!”

Jia Fu waved his hand: “Hehe, this has nothing to do with cultivation levels,
I act impartially regardless of ability. A wrong is a wrong, I apologise to
you on behalf of the merchant caravan. As for compensation, how about
this, you lost two hundred and fifty primeval stones, so I will compensate
double that amount to you on behalf of the Jia family.”

He executed his promise immediately, as a follower took out five money

bags and handed it to the young Gu Master in public.

Every money bag was filled to the brim, each containing a hundred
primeval stones.

The young Gu Master took over the money bag, so overwhelmed that he
could not say anything.

“However, I have a word of advice to you.” Jia Fu continued and reminded,

“A Black Boar Gu is very rare, for it is able to raise a Gu Master’s strength
permanently. Although it is only Rank one, it is very hard to find on the
market. Every time one appears in the market, it would be bought
immediately. The pricing is around six hundred primeval stones. Trying to
get one with two hundred and fifty primeval stones is impractical.”

“Junior has learnt his lesson!” The young Gu Master bowed deeply to Jia
Fu in gratitude.

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

“Sir Jia Fu is brilliant!”

“Magnificent, as expected of Sir Jia Fu!”

“As a Rank four Gu Master, he did not make use of his status to bully the
weaker party, Sir Jia Fu really is the role model of the righteous path.”

“No, no.” Jia Fu smiled, cupping his fists towards the crowd, modestly
saying, “Our Jia family business bases our principles on trust and honesty.
Everyone, my brother is young and foolish, liking to play pranks on others.
He is actually very kind, I hope everyone can be more bearing of him, don’t
take it to heart.”

The crowd’s cheers became even louder.

“Hmph!” Jia Jin Sheng’s expression was ugly as he stomped on the ground
and walked into the tent. Next he walked out from the back of the tent.

Fang Yuan looked at this silently, thinking in his heart, “It seems that the
image wall at the Flower Wine Monk’s place can be sold.”

The Flower Wine Monk had used a Photo-audio Gu to record the ugly acts
of the 4th generation Gu Yue clan leader. Before he died, with indignance in
his heart, used the Photo-audio Gu and slapped it on the wall, creating an
image wall. The image wall’s images continued to loop, showing the truth
to the people.

With the intention of maximizing his profits, Fang Yuan had wanted to sell
this image wall long ago. He believed that the other two clan families on
Qing Mao Mountain, the Bai family and Xiong family would be very
interested in this image wall.

But to sell this personally would be very inappropriate. His cultivation was
too weak and if he brought this image wall to the other villages, he could
easily be silenced.

Even if the transaction was successful and he managed to return safely,

there was no secret that would stay a secret forever, and once it was
revealed to the Gu Yue’s higher-ups, he would be kicked out of the clan
family at best.
In accordance to Fang Yuan’s plans, he still needed to make use of the Gu
Yue clan. Thus, the safest way was to sell it to a certain merchant in the
caravan. All of them were outsiders, and were not involved in the disputes
among the villages, thus it was the best choice for him.

In just one day, this caravan would leave the Gu Yue mountain village and
lead towards either the Xiong family or the Bai family.

Fang Yuan could reduce his risks to the minimum by selling to them; it was
the safest method.

……

“One more cup!”

“Wine, where’s the wine?”

“Quickly get me the wine, are you afraid that I’m unable to pay?”

Jia Jin Sheng slammed the mushroom table as he howled.

“Young master Jia, here’s your wine!” The clerk quickly brought him his
wine.

Jia Jin Sheng grabbed the bamboo cup and tilted his head and gulped the
liquor.

“Good wine!” He laughed loudly, sounding coarse and bleak.

With a bang, he placed the cup on the table and howled again. “Get me
another glass, I want as many as you can supply!”

The clerks did not dare to offend him and could only do as he said.

Luckily, this wine house was already full of people. Not only were the
mushroom tables packed with people, even the surrounding streets were
packed with people. Jia Jin Sheng’s drunkard temperament was not very
peculiar in this bustling street.
Jia Jin Sheng drank cup by cup, wanting to drown his sorrows. With his
back facing the crowd, no one observed that as he drank, two clear lines of
tears flowed down his cheeks.

Who would know of his pain, his sorrow?

A hateful person has to have his pitiful side, conversely. Everybody had
their own stories.

Amongst his brothers, he was the youngest, being the most handsome and
resembling his father the most, thus being the most doted by his father. But
heaven made fun of him by giving him only D grade talent.

As he grew up, he lived under the pressure of his brothers. He was

indignant and wanted to resist, but with that talent, there was nothing he
could do.

His father felt death approaching and wanted to split his assets. Two people
were to lead a merchant caravan. They pledged to break up the family
property in accordance to the results.

Jia Jin Sheng wanted to rely on his own method to acquire the family assets
and the recognition of his clan. But to think that he became his brother’s
stepping stone once again.

When Jia Fu appeared, he knew he fell into a trap. This was a scheme right
from the beginning. But what could he do? Once he entered this caravan, he
was doomed to be Jia Fu’s fodder. Rank four and Rank one was such a huge
gap that he was powerless to fight again.

“Jia Fu!” He forced this name out of his mouth, his eyes burning with the
flames of hatred, he was unable to take it lying down!

“Do you wish to deal with your brother? I can help you.” At this time, he
heard a voice.

Jia Jin Sheng was stunned but when he turned around, he saw that for quite
a while, there was someone sitting beside him.
He shook his head and blinked a few times, finally seeing who it was.

Who else if not for Fang Yuan?

“It’s you!” He stared at Fang Yuan, slightly angry, “I remember you! Lucky
lad, getting a Mudskin Toad from my gambling den! You’re here to mock
me?”

Fang Yuan looked at Jia Jin Sheng, his eyes cold as water. “I have a huge
business, so if you wish to acquire better results and get more assets, why
not listen to me?”

Jia Jin Sheng was suspicious. His back straightened and he sat up, “How do
you know about the matter of the assets?”

This secret was not easily known to outsiders, but Fang Yuan was easily
able to guess it.

“The Jia family’s business is not top secret, how can it evade people who
wish to know?” Fang Yuan laughed coldly and thought of a memory from
his previous life.

The Jia family head was a legendary figure who started from scratch. He
made his fortune through the merchant caravans and revived the Jia
family’s village. He gradually got old, and when he could feel that his time
was up, he got his children to form a caravan in twos and according to their
results, split the assets. The better they did, the more family assets they get.

But his eldest son Jia Fu and second son Jia Gui were extremely talented.
After competing for six to seven years, they still could not come to a
conclusion, and even after the family head died, there was no clear victor.

After the Jia family head died, there was an enormous amount of assets.
While competing for the assets, the two brothers’ conflict escalated and
both called in external help, causing a large scale Gu competition. Finally,
the both of them died. The Jia family that had prospered quickly also failed
quickly, causing people to talk about it in amazement.
Jia Jin Sheng squinted his eyes, for Fang Yuan’s explanation was
irrefutable. He thought, from the time his father declared the asset
distribution, it had already been two years. There are no impenetrable walls
in the world, so even if someone found out about it, it’s nothing strange.

His real worry was whether this was another trap by Jia Fu. But no matter
what, there was no harm listening.

Fang Yuan did not speak immediately. He surveyed the surroundings. This
was the same wine cellar he came into in the afternoon. The shopkeeper
operated independently, and at night, the shop was bustling with business.

Discussing here was a far safer place than a quiet environment, as it could
avoid the eavesdropping of certain Gu worms.

He hooked his fingers at Jia Jin Sheng. “Lend me your ear.”

Jia Jin Sheng unhappily snorted, but still slanted his head forward.

After hearing Fang Yuan’s description, he frowned and looked at Fang Yuan
coldly. “This business involves the three families on Qing Mao Mountain,
and we merchants detest getting involved in other people’s disputes. Hmph,
you were sent here by Jia Fu to harm me right?”

Fang Yuan had long expected for him to be suspicious. He did not bother to
explain, but got up and left. “Hehe, in that case, I’ll go talk to your brother.”

Jia Jin Sheng squinted his eyes, staring at Fang Yuan. Only until Fang Yuan
had left the wine shop did he lose his patience. He chased out of the tent
and caught up to Fang Yuan, “Don’t go, we can have a talk.”

Fang Yuan placed both hands behind his back, staring at him from the side,
coldly saying, “I know you are suspicious of me, but now that your brother
has you firmly caught, you’re almost close to finished. If you choose to
believe in me, there’s still hope, if not you’re doomed. Are you daring
enough to take this bet?”
Jia Jin Sheng’s expression changed as he corrected and said, “Jia Fu is but
only a little older, I have never acknowledged him as my brother! But
you’re right, I’m taking this bet.”

Fang Yuan said solemnly, “Two thousand primeval stones, no haggling.”

Jia Jin Sheng laughed bitterly, “Too expensive, this trade involves high
risk.”

“The greater the risk, the greater the rewards.” Fang Yuan shook his head,
his attitude firm, “If you sell it to those two families, you will only earn
much more.”

Jia Jin Sheng nodded, showing a hint of seriousness, “This I believe, for
these years the Bai family has been growing fast, and an A grade talent
called Bai Ning Bing has appeared recently, he has a great future ahead.
Qing Mao Mountain’s situation is gradually changing. Your Gu Yue
family’s dominance is wavering, and if I sell this to the Bai family, I can at
least earn twice as much!”

Hearing Jia Jin Sheng’s understanding of the Qing Mao Mountain’s

situation, Fang Yuan could not help but evaluate him again, thinking: ‘This
Jia Jin Sheng, he is still a merchant family member after all, not those
useless second generations.”

Jia Jin Sheng sighed, “Regardless of whether this is a trap, I’m jumping in. I
promise you, two thousand primeval stones it is! However, I want to see the
merchandise first.”

“Of course, come with me.” Fang Yuan laughed as he led the way. Jia Jin
Sheng was already trapped in the urn, and the situation was fully in Fang
Yuan’s grasp.
Chapter 46
 Chapter 46: Don’t think too much when killing
people

Translator: Sigma Editor: Sigma

Following his memories, Fang Yuan brought Jia Jin Sheng to the cavern in
the mountain.

The two entered the crack in the stone, and the path became more narrow as
their vision was dyed in darkness. Jia Jin Sheng grew more vigilant as he
was in an unfamiliar environment.

Finally, he could not hold it in any further, “I have a question, Jia Fu always
treats people with honesty and is amicable with a good reputation. On the
other hand, I lied and cheated, forcing transactions through coercion. Why
did you choose to deal with me and not him?”

Fang Yuan’s voice travelled through the stone crack. “Because his
cultivation is too high, so if he sees the image wall, he can choose to deal
with me, or abandon the deal and just give the image wall to the Gu Yue
clan head. I do not like giving the decision-making to others, furthermore I
do not believe in integrity. The so-called prestigious reputation is just
because the profits are small and are unable to incur his greed.”

More importantly, it was because Jia Jin Sheng’s position was special, for
his cultivation was weak and he was easy to manipulate. Fang Yuan was
naturally not going to mention this, of course.

“Hehe.” Jia Jin Sheng laughed dryly, his suspicions mostly gone
immediately. “That last sentence really resonated within me.”

The two finally got into the secret cave.

Jia Jin Sheng saw the image wall at once, and could not help but laugh
loudly, “Haha, I guessed right, you didn’t lie to me!”

Fang Yuan stood behind him, laughing lightly, not saying anything.

Jia Jin Sheng looked at the wall, seeing the changing images and the
animosity between the Flower Wine Monk and the 4th generation clan
leader.

He looked at it once and retracted his gaze, looking at Fang Yuan, mocking,
“Your 4th generation ancestor doesn’t look that strong huh.”

Fang Yuan replied, “This is nothing. The Gu Yue clan needed a hero, thus
the 4th generation became a hero. Not long after, the Bai family needs a
despicable scum, so the 4th generation will become a degenerate. Hero,
scum, all these are just people’s opinions.”

“Well said!” Jia Jin Sheng laughed as he surveyed the cave.

His sight was set on the corpse of the Flower Wine Monk, and he stopped
for a while before saying, “What a pity, a Rank five powerhouse. You’ve
gotten much benefits from him huh?”

A Rank five Gu Master’s inheritance was significant. Jia Jin Sheng’s heart
beat faster upon thinking of this, and he could not help but ask.

Fang Yuan shook his head. “It’s been so long, most of the Gu are dead, I
only got a Liquor worm.”

Jia Jin Sheng did not believe him. “Don’t lie to me brother, as long as this
deal goes through, we are accomplices, I won’t reveal any information. Tell
me honestly, what did you gain from this?”

Fang Yuan laughed coldly and did not bother replying him.

Jia Jin Sheng’s response was anticipated, and this was also why Fang Yuan
chose him over Jia Fu.
Jia Jin Sheng continued to say: “At the very least, I know the Flower Wine
Monk has a Thousand Li Earthwolf spider(1). That is a Rank five steed-
type Gu, with a large body and is proficient in burrowing underground. The
Flower Wine Monk was a demonic cultivator, and his ability to get about
freely was mostly due to this Thousand Li Earthwolf spider, allowing him
to escape from the righteous cultivators.”

“Oh, there’s something like that?” Fang Yuan frowned. Regarding the
Flower Wine Monk, he did not have much information.

Jia Jin Sheng smugly said, “I came to your village last year and heard this
legend, and I found it interesting so I went home and researched about it.
The Thousand Li Earthwolf spider and Flower Wine Monk were
inseparable, and in my opinion, this cave should have been dug out by the
spider. Otherwise, with the Qing Mao Mountain’s rich and heavy soil, how
can a cave like this form? Brother, you don’t have to conceal it anymore.
The Flower Wine Monk died here so there’s definitely his Thousand Li
Earthwolf spider here!”

Fang Yuan frowned even more deeply, feeling a sense of discomfort, his
gaze grim, “Yes, there are no other exits here. The Thousand Li Earthwolf
spider is massive, he would not have been able to squeeze out from the
crack we just walked through. However, there is a possibility that the
Thousand Li Earthwolf was plotted against and killed by the 4th generation.
Seeing that image wall, even when the Flower Wine Monk was fighting he
did not summon the Thousand Li Earthwolf spider.”

“That makes the situation even more peculiar. This cave is not formed
naturally, thus it has to be created by the Flower Wine Monk. Without the
Thousand Li Earthwolf spider, could there be any other methods?” Jia Jin
Sheng looked at Fang Yuan suspiciously.

Fang Yuan’s frown swelled into a knot as he felt more and more uncertain.
From Jia Jin Sheng’s information, he found out something: it appears as if
there was a crucial point that he had missed out.

He could not help but fall into deep thoughts.

Jia Jin Sheng was thinking too, the image wall was no longer enough for
him. Once he confirmed that the situation was real, he wanted to dig out the
Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance from Fang Yuan.

But at this time, something unexpected to the two of them happened!

The image wall which was playing endlessly, suddenly changed its image.

A gravely injured, pale bald Gu Master replaced the original video and
appeared on the wall.

He weakly sprawled on the ground, his back facing the wall. His chest and
limbs were deeply cut, but the strange thing was that his wounds did not
bleed, as if his entire body’s blood had been drained out.

“I am the Flower Wine Monk.” The bald Gu Master laughed, his expression
distorted with madness, “Future person, no matter who you are, to endure
this video and let it play for nearly one hundred days, it proves that you
have no good will towards the Gu Yue family. Very well, you shall be my
successor! My entire inheritance is yours, but I have a condition. You must
exterminate the Gu Yue clan for me. Murder the entire clan and leave no
one alive!”

Jia Jin Sheng was stunned on the spot, his face frozen with shock.

“A Rank five powerhouse, the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance!”

He was stunned, and for a moment his brains were churning and thinking.

“My god! A Rank five powerhouse, what does that mean? Rank three is a
family elder, Rank four is a village lord, and a Rank five is a mountain lord,
able to rule over a mountain and do as he pleases! To think that in this tiny
place, there is a Rank five Gu Master’s power inheritance.”

“Wait, Flower Wine Monk is a demonic cultivator, so if I inherit his powers,

is it inappropriate? No, strength has nothing to do with good or evil. The
Flower Wine Monk wants his successor to destroy the Gu Yue clan, but do I
really have to? He’s already dead, I just have to take his inheritance and
ignore those issues.”

“This is a godsend opportunity. Even with my D grade talent, if I inherit the

Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance, I might be able to improve my talent.
Those rare talent-raising Gu worms, they might be part of the inheritance. If
I inherit this fortune and become a Rank four or five Gu Master, I’d be able
to contest with Jia Fu!”

“Wait! I almost forgot, there’s an outsider, what should I do?”

“Should I split the inheritance with him? No, kill him! Only by killing him
can I protect this secret. Yes, I should calm him down first, and lie that
we’re going to split the treasure. Getting rid of his guard, then assaulting
him and killing him here. This place is so hidden, it’s great. Even if I kill
him, nobody would know.”

Although he thought of all these, it was merely a moment in real life.

Having a plan, he squinted and revealed a fake smile.

He slowly turned around and faced Fang Yuan but just as he was about to
speak, he saw two blue moonblades flying towards him.

His pupils dilated into the size of a pin; the distance was too small, he could
not respond in time!

“You……” His voice came to a halt.

The moonblade aimed accurately for his neck, and in an instant, his skull
flew into the air, fresh blood pouring out like a fountain.

After two seconds, his corpse plopped on the ground.

The scalding blood poured on the mountain walls, dyeing the withering
vines red.

“Don’t think so much when killing people.” Fang Yuan looked at the corpse
plainly and then shifted his gaze towards the image wall.
“To think there was such a twist here. How interesting,” He muttered as his
eyes emitted an eerie glow.
Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Jia Jin Sheng, I actually did not want
to kill you

Translator: Sigma Editor: Sigma

The rain crashed down heavily.

Grey clouds covered the sky, and the continuous mountains far away
blended into a mass of black ink.

The rain curtain interwove the heavens and earth together.

Crack!

The sky flashed bright abruptly, and a bolt of lightning cut across the sky
like a silver snake, then in an instant it was gone.

Summer was approaching, and the end of spring’s heavy rain seemed to
bring about a trace of the warmth of summer.

On Qing Mao Mountain, huge expanses of jade green spear bamboo stood
tall and straight, resisting the winds and rain, the bodies of the bamboo
straight like a spear as ever, the tips of the bamboo pointing towards the
blue sky dome.

In the Gu Yue village, row upon row of innumerable tall-pillared houses

endured against the great rain’s washing. Outside the village, the caravan
had already set out on their journey once again.

“The rain is heavy, take note of the pavement.”

“Don’t fall behind, Gu Masters better pull your Gu properly, especially the
fat beetle, don’t block the mountain road anymore!”
“You bunch of mortal martial fighters, better open your eyes wide and pay
careful attention. Lose a single thing and you’ll be paying for that!”

There was an endless stream of shouts rising and falling in succession from
the merchant caravans.

After stopping over at the Gu Yue village for three days, it was time for this
merchant caravan to leave the place and follow the mountain path through
Qing Mao Mountain and head for their next destination.

The heavy rain cleansed the heaven and earth, and the roads surrounding
the village were paved with cobblestone, this was still alright. However
after around five hundred meters the roads would turn into a muddy and
narrow mountain path.

The head of the proud ostrich chicken was drooping, its colourful rainbow
feathers soaking wet under the rain, sticking into clumps, becoming the
example of a drenched and bedraggled chicken.

The fat beetle worm moved its fat huge body, walking extremely slow
forward. The rainwater beat upon its black armor, forming streams of water
flow, sliding down both sides of its body onto the earth.

The shaggy mountain spider was also drenched, and its green-black
coloured fur were adhered together.

On the contrary, the toad Gu were happily calling out, carrying out the load
and Gu Masters, hopping forward on the mountain. And the winged snake
had already put away its wings, the thick snake’s body cheerfully travelling
on the muddy water.

To protect the goods and prevent them from getting drenched wet by the
rainwater, the Gu Masters were showing their magical abilities at the
moment.

On a few enormous fat beetles stood Gu Masters in the middle. Their two
hands were raised high, each of them having a One-stretch Golden Light
Worm floating in midair one inch away from their palms.
The green copper primeval essence was like stream evaporating as it
concentrated into the One-stretch Golden Light Worm’s bodies. The entire
Gu flashed like a golden bean, acting as the heart, supporting a tremendous
faint gold coloured bubble dome.

The hemisphere-shaped bubble dome had a rather huge scope. It was able to
completely cover one fat beetle worm and still have some leftover space.

As the rain smashed upon the bubble dome, it would bounce away, just like
hitting on an umbrella. However this sort of One-stretch Golden Light
Worm continuously consumed primeval essence, and in the long run the
Rank one Gu Masters would not be able to take it anymore.

As expected, after a while, a Gu Master shouted: “No more, my primeval

essence is almost exhausted, who can take over?”

“I can!” Almost simultaneously, a Gu Master rushed forward and replaced

his position.

A few Gu Masters pulling the carriages or riding the mountain spiders

activated the Green Silk Gu in their bodies.

Under its influence, their hair started to grow furiously.

A normal person’s hair had at least one hundred thousand strands. A

hundred thousand strands of hair, each being five to six metres, intertwining
and covering the Gu Master’s body along with the steed, formed an
impenetrable hair raincoat.

The Green Silk Gu was a Rank one Gu worm, often used for defense. It
uses 30% of green copper primeval essence to activate, and was not a
continuous expenditure type like the One-stretch Golden Light Worm.

This Green Silk Gu can be combined with the Rank one Black Boar Gu to
become the Rank two Black Mane Gu.

The Black Mane Gu when activated would not only involve hair on the
head, but also hair on all the pores. Within a few seconds, the Gu Master’s
body would gain a black mane protective armor.

The Black Mane Gu’s advancement path was the Rank three famous Gu,
Steel Mane Gu.

Other than the One-stretch Golden Light Worm and Green Silk Gu, many of
the caravan Gu Masters also chose the Water Spider Gu. It can be seen that
there was a thin layer of blue raincoat on their bodies.

On the raincoat’s surface, the water circulated randomly. As the raindrops

hit onto the raincoat, it would immediately become part of the raincoat.

Since the Gu Masters were continuously soaking under the rain, the
raincoat on their bodies would grow thicker. Every now and then the Gu
Masters would have to urge the Water Spider Gu and discharge away the
excess water. At this moment the thick raincoats would be reduced to the
original thin layer.

As for those mortal warriors, they were constantly on the move, watching
over the goods on the muddy road. Most of them wore raincoats made of
straw, but in their rush and confusion the straw raincoats had limited effect
from avoiding the rain, so they were already drenched wet by the rainwater.

“This accursed weather!” The warriors cursed in their hearts.

In the rainy weather, the mountain trail becomes even harder to walk on.

Under this weather, martial artists might be strong physically but they are
still mortals. Once their bodies are drenched by rain and coupled with
intensive labour, they would easily catch a cold. Getting a serious illness
was the lightest consequence, perhaps they might catch repercussions, and
if they catch a certain tough disease, it might cause them to get gravely ill
and abandoned on the trip itself.

If they encounter slippery roads on the mountain trails, or encounter wild

beasts and Gu worms’ attacks, they might lose their lives.
The caravan may be big, and have many Gu Masters. But every time they
went on a journey, there would always be a great decrease in numbers.
Mortal martial artists die the most, while Gu Masters also have injuries and
casualties.

If the caravan was unlucky enough to encounter large-scale migrating

beasts, they might even get wiped out completely.

Other than natural disasters, there were also human-caused problems.

Among the villages, there might be those who do not welcome the caravan.
Some villages like to rob the outsiders.

“We’re leaving, see you next year!” Some of the Gu Masters sat on the Gu
worms and turned their bodies to bid farewell.

At the entrance of the village, many people gathered as they sent the
caravan off with their gazes.

“You must come again next year!” Reluctant to see them depart, the
children shouted loudly.

The adults had more complicated expressions.

“The road ahead is unforeseen. In these hard times, for those who are able
to come to the village next year, how many would still be familiar faces?”

“Be it at the merchant caravan or in the village, it is not easy to earn a

living.”

As the caravan left further and further, as the crowd dispersed.

The cheerful and lighthearted market atmosphere had also subsequently

disappeared. The original spot that had erected tents and shops was left now
with a huge mess. The grass turf had been walked upon continuously by the
crowd, grassroots and mud soil trampled out. The rainwater hit on its
surface, immediately forming mud and numerous little pot-holes that
collected muddy water. In addition to that, there was a lot of garbage left
over.
Fang Yuan stood on a secluded hillside, watching the merchant caravan
from far away alone. The merchant caravan was like a fat and colourful
flower python, snaking through the narrow mountain road under the grey
heavy rain, slowly entering the dense mountain forest.

“Ah, the heavens are sending their blessings…” Fang Yuan sighed lightly.

He held a butter yellow paper umbrella, quietly standing in the rain.

Fang Yuan wore the most plain flax cloth garment, his body slim, his skin
bringing about the pale whiteness of a fifteen year old teenager, a settled
clump of clean and short black hair atop his head. The ends of his hair
trembled slightly in the wind under his umbrella.

While others curse the weather, he was lamenting the timely appearance of
the rain.

He killed Jia Jin Sheng last night and cleaned up the scene, but because it
happened so unexpectedly, there was bound to be areas of neglect.
Especially with the bloody smell, because the cave is not ventilated, the
smell could not disperse easily.

With this rain, it cleaned up the air and environment, greatly reducing the
chances of getting exposed by smell tracking methods. The crack was
bound to have a small cascade of water flowing down, and once the fresh
water vapour diluted the air, he would not be exposed for the short time
being.

Of course, once time passes, the chance of getting exposed increases.

In this world there were all sorts of Gu worms, and investigative methods
were abundant, even Fang Yuan only knew a portion of them.

The rain produced pitter patter sounds as it hit on the yellow umbrella. Then
following the shape of the umbrella, streams of water flowed down onto the
limestones beneath Fang Yuan’s feet, hitting and creating splashes.
Seeing the caravan curve into a corner, completely disappearing into the
forests, Fang Yuan did not show a sign of relief, but instead looked grim.

“Although Jia Jin Sheng’s cultivation was weak and had little talent, he had
a special status. The caravan’s people are all busy with business, thus no
one found out that he’s missing. But once some time passes, it’d definitely
be found out. By then, Jia Fu would return to investigate, and the real
challenge would be then.”

“The Jia family head intentionally arranged Jia Jin Sheng and Jia Fu to be
on the same caravan, he had deep intentions. In terms of cultivation, they
are worlds apart. In terms of cunningness, they’re also incomparable. Such
an arrangement is to inflict a blow to Jia Jin Sheng and let him be clear of
reality, and live life peacefully. At the same time he is testing Jia Fu’s
nature, for if he is too overbearing on Jia Jin Sheng, how can he hand the
position of clan head to him?”

“Jia Jin Sheng never truly understood his father’s intentions. Although he
had some intelligence, he only managed to scratch the surface of a
merchant’s wits, what a pity. A pity of such a good pawn piece.”

Fang Yuan felt regrettable in his heart. With five hundred years of
experience, he could easily see past the surface and understand the true
nature of the situation.

When he saw the dispute between the two that night, he could tell the
complicated relationship between Jia Jin Sheng and Jia Fu, and thus he had
a vague plan formed in his heart from then on.

In his plan, Jia Jin Sheng was a very suitable pawn. His cultivation was
weak but he held a high position in the caravan, and although he had some
wits, he had little experience, thus Fang Yuan could easily manipulate him.

Once controlled, this pawn would be extremely useful.

For one, he could build a strong network of smuggling through his

relationship, preparing up for usurping treasures from future killings.
Secondly, Fang Yuan could hide in the background and use the image wall
to stir up conflict among the Qing Mao mountain’s three families, causing a
civil war and enabling him to be able to reap the rewards.

Thirdly, Fang Yuan could rely on him to make his way into the Jia family
interior. The future Jia family dispute caused a large scale Gu fighting
competition, it will be a huge affair with lots of benefits to gain. Fang Yuan
could make use of this to acquire the greatest reward for himself.

“My cultivation is still too low, restraining me greatly in doing things. If

there was a pawn for me to use, I can do some things that I cannot attempt
myself, it is not only convenient but also lowers the risk of doing so. If I get
exposed, I can simply discard the pawn and stay safe myself.”

“The surrounding people know the situation well and are loyal to the
family, thus they aren’t good to manipulate. Only an outsider like Jia Jin
Sheng can be used more efficiently to execute my plans. Unfortunately, I
did not expect the Flower Wine Monk to leave behind his power
inheritance.”

The Flower Wine Monk is a Rank five Gu Master, his inheritance is

definitely more valuable than this pawn.

Of course, it’d be good if he could get the best of both worlds, but in face of
such treasure, Jia Jin Sheng could not longer be controlled, thus he had to
be discarded.

“Nothing will go smoothly forever in this world.” Fang Yuan sighed and
shook his head.

The Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance appeared and disrupted Fang Yuan’s
original plans. In addition, after the changes to the image wall, the videos
and images were all gone, only showing a line written in blood, telling Fang
Yuan to destroy the image wall and reveal a cavern entrance. Following the
trail, he would be able to get the inheritance.

The blood writing only appeared for a few breaths before vanishing, and the
image wall also turned back into the most ordinary mountain wall.
Fang Yuan spent the entire night cleaning up the murder scene, and had no
time to break the wall.

“Killing Jia Jin Sheng in a hurry, this would leave many problems for me in
the future, and I am but only temporarily safe. Although I succeeded in
getting rid of the evidence, there is bound to be trouble coming for me in
the future. In this case, I would have to change my way of exposing the
Liquor worm. I cannot go to the secret cave behind the wall crack either. I
have to stay in the mountain village for some time to anticipate
investigation in the near future.”

Fang Yuan turned around and held his umbrella, walking in the rain towards
the village.

“But this is fine too. I can spend a large amount of primeval stones during
this period to refine to middle stage primeval essence. Using it, I can
nurture my aperture and break through into the middle stage. Once I
reached the middle stage, my power will double, allowing me to get the
inheritance more easily and with greater confidence.”

A demonic cultivator’s inheritance was not as mild and gentle as a righteous

cultivator’s, for there was often dangerous tests and tasks, and if one cannot
get through, they’d have to pay the price with their life.

“The world is hard to predict, but it is precisely this that makes it

interesting.” Fang Yuan smiled coldly.

The green mountain beneath the heavy rain extended continuously and
unending, its green mixed with grey, appearing stifling and heavy.

A gust of wind blew, and the raindrops inclined a little, hitting onto Fang
Yuan’s shoulder and attacking him with a burst of chilliness.

He thought about Jia Jin Sheng again.

Sighing in his heart, he thought, “Jia Jin Sheng, actually I… did not want to
kill you.”
What a waste of a good pawn.
Chapter 48
 Chapter 48: A little cute

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

It rained for four days before stopping.

The sun rose high into the sky, tearing away the rain curtain, seemingly like
it was unveiling summer itself.

The breath of summer had faintly started to come around.

The weather became increasingly sunny and cloudless, sweeping away the
sentimental breath of spring, and the temperatures slowly rose.

In the night of spring, the lively Dragonpill crickets had retreated, cowering
away into the deep ground to lay eggs. The green spear bamboo specially
found on Qing Mao Mountain had started to grow wildly, and nearly
everyday it would show an obvious increase in height.

The grass and the trees began to change from emerald green into a dark
green colour. The neverending green mountains started to look even more
verdant and lush.

The weather was clear for thousands of miles, blue like a crystal.

Bang, bang, bang.

At the training grounds in the academy, sounds of punches and kicks could
be heard.

After exchanging over ten blows, Gu Yue Mo Bei was kicked in the
abdomen by Fang Yuan, taking five to six steps backwards, leaving the
designated circle drawn in the arena.
The martial arts instructor stood before the stage and evaluated the
situation. Seeing this, he immediately declared, “Gu Yue Mo Bei has exited
the stage, Gu Yue Fang Yuan wins for the 33rd consecutive time!”

“Hmph, I lost to you again.” Gu Yue Mo Bei gritted his teeth, his eyes
staring right at Fang Yuan, “But don’t be arrogant. One day, I will defeat
you. I can already feel it, that day is nearing!”

Fang Yuan looked at him expressionlessly, and then his eyelids drooped
downwards. “That kick earlier caused you to have internal bleeding. I’d
advise you to treat that injury first.”

“This small injury is nothing!” Gu Yue Mo Bei was retorting halfway, when
suddenly his expression changed and his throat gulped, vomiting a mouthful
of blood.

His face was pale, this was the first time he suffered this level of injury! His
eyes could not help but show signs of fear.

The martial arts instructor hurried over and pacified him. “Don’t worry
about this level of injury, you just need to rest for a few days. Just stop
practising your punches and do not do vigorous exercises during this
period.”

The moment he finished saying so, two healing Gu Masters who were
waiting outside rushed over and meticulously helped Gu Yue Mo Bei out.

Gu Yue Mo Bei did not dare to say anything else, but he looked at Fang
Yuan deeply in his eyes, filled with anger, hatred, regret and indignance.

“Mo Bei has good martial techniques, but he couldn’t beat Fang Yuan.”

“Fang Yuan is too good, basically no one can beat him!”

“Mo Bei actually vomited blood, how scary. I don’t want to fight a guy like
this.”

“Sigh, but the instructor said today is practice combat, up on the arena!
Each of us needs to go up and fight once.”
The students stood outside the arena, some looking towards Fang Yuan in
fear, some sighing non-stop, some were pale while others felt trepidation.

Among them, some were injured. A few held their bruised faces, some held
their limbs, gasping for breath. Others laid on the ground, rubbing their
thigh.

“Next!” Seeing that there were no challengers coming up, the instructor
yelled.

However, no one answered. Usually those who were courageous to

challenge Fang Yuan were only Gu Yue Mo Bei, Gu Yue Chi Chen and Gu
Yue Fang Zheng. But these three were already beaten.

Silence swept across the students as others even retracted their steps
slightly. The instructor frowned on seeing their fearful expression.

He could not help but think of the academy elder’s words: “These days,
Fang Yuan has gotten too dominant, we have to suppress him. The other
students cannot even raise their heads under his pressure, and if this goes
on, the courage in their hearts will be simmered. Our academy nurtures
courageous tigers and wolves to fight enemies, not fearful sheeps and
lambs.”

“What’s wrong with all of you? No matter how strong he is, Fang Yuan is
only fifteen years old, he’s one of your peers! He has the same age as you,
eats the same food as you and drinks the same water. He does not have
three heads or six arms, he’s not a monster! Pluck up your courage and
show me the pride of the Gu Yue clan within you!” The instructor yelled,
trying his best to motivate the students.

“But he is too strong, we cannot beat him.”

“The classmates who fought him are in such a pitiful state. Mo Bei got
beaten until he vomited blood.”

“Fang Yuan is getting more ruthless with his strikes, instructor, we do not
dare to fight him.”
The students spoke softly, weakly retorting.

The instructor was stomping with anger. These ignorant youngsters!

He was clear as a bystander. Fang Yuan had gone through thirty-three

consecutive fights without any rest in the middle. Although he was
constantly adjusting his breathing, his stamina had already depleted.

Fang Yuan’s attacks getting merciless proves this fact even further: He
could no longer take it easy like before, he is losing control of his strength
and the situation.

If someone tries harder, his fatigue will be revealed. With just a few more
people, he could be defeated on the stage!

Once Fang Yuan is beaten, his dominating presence will be reduced sharply,
the students courage ignited and the motive to suppress Fang Yuan
achieved.

But now, the students were deterred by Fang Yuan’s tough front.

At times, what defeats a person is not a strong enemy but one’s own heart.

The instructor was anxious in his thoughts, and continued to motivate them.

But he was not good with his words. In the beginning he said these same
words to ignite the hot-bloodedness in the youngsters and stirred up some
challengers. But now that he had said this so many times, the youngsters are
all numb already.

Fang Yuan folded his arms and stared at this coldly. Although he was
standing in the center of the stage, he was acting like a complete bystander.

The instructor encouraged for ages but the students were still looking at
each others, not one had moved.

The martial instructor could not help but be angry and helpless. He turned
to Fang Yuan, unhappily chiding, “Fang Yuan, you’re also at fault. Your
blows are getting more vicious among classmates, you should be more
gentle and friendly, how can you deal such vicious blows? Be careful from
now on and attack carefully. If you cause another classmate to vomit blood,
I will declare your loss and evict you from the stage!”

“Instructor, you are wrong.”

Fang Yuan snorted, his gaze not showing any weakness, looking right at the
instructor, “Practising and fighting, we naturally have to give it our all,
otherwise how can it achieve the aim of training? Don’t tell me that when
we are in battle, we also have to request our enemies to be more gentle and
friendly?”

The instructor flew into a rage, “Hmph, your attacks are vicious, you are
harming your classmates and you dare to use twisted logic!”

“Instructor, you’re wrong again.”

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, “You arranged this practice match and raised the
winning prize to twenty primeval stones. Without your encouragement,
would these people have gotten hurt?”

“Bastard!” The martial arts instructor was not good with words, and he
pointed at Fang Yuan and scowled, “Do you still want the prize or not? If
you argue any further, even if you get first place, I will declare you a loser!
You are so uncooperative and antisocial, and you dare to argue with your
teachers, you have no rights to claim the twenty primeval stones as
reward!”

Fang Yuan laughed heartily. “It is but a competition that merely gives
twenty primeval stones, do you think I give a damn?”

Saying so, he turned around and left. Under the class’ distraught gaze, he
walked out of the center of arena.

Although he did not manage to sell the image wall, Fang Yuan still had
several hundreds of primeval stones in his possession. Furthermore, his aim
this time was not primeval stones.
“You!” Seeing Fang Yuan really walking down the stage, the instructor was
stunned without words, showing an expression of shock and confusion.

A fifteen year old teenager, shouldn’t he be competitive and full of vigor?

Fang Yuan having such fighting talents, shouldn’t his character be even
more so? How could he just back out of the competition like this?

Furthermore, Fang Yuan has no background, he should be tight on primeval

stones. Why was the twenty primeval stones unable to attract him?

At this point, the martial arts instructor stood on the spot, unsure of what to
do.

Fang Yuan did not step into the trap, but left the stage immediately.

The instructor suddenly realized: There was nothing he could do to Fang

Yuan. With his status, he could not find problems with Fang Yuan directly,
and force him onto the stage right?

The surrounding students retreated, maintaining a distance away from Fang

Yuan. Fang Yuan stood on the grounds, with no one around him. With him
as the center, the radius of five steps around him became a vacuum.

What a pity.

If they were beside Fang Yuan, they would hear Fang Yuan’s panting sound.

“My stamina is depleted,” Fang Yuan sighed. Although he showed an

energetic outward appearance, under his clothes, his body was slightly
shivering.

After all, he was only fifteen years old and had no relevant Gu worm as
support. After thirty-three matches, he was close to his limits.

Although he had his rich fighting experience from his past life, during this
time, the other youngsters’ combat abilities had improved significantly.
From them, Fang Yuan could already feel a strengthening sense of pressure.
This kind of pressure reflected in Fang Yuan’s attacks. His attacks got
tougher as he gradually lost control of his strength. Compared to the past,
when they were still too weak and he could defeat them easily, the
youngsters would only end up in minor injuries. But now, his control over
the arena was getting weaker, thus he had to strike harder to maintain his
image.

“Experience is, after all, not omnipotent. Any thoughts or technique require
a body with sufficient foundation before the value can be apparent.” Fang
Yuan narrowed his eyes. In actuality he had long seen through the martial
instructor’s thoughts.

Fang Yuan was not surprised, as if he had expected this from the start, the
academy elder’s pressure on him.

After he killed Gao Wan, the people who dared to challenge him
diminished. When he extorted them, even more people oppressed by Fang
Yuan’s dominance did not dare resist, and they obediently handed over their
primeval stones.

After a long period, Fang Yuan’s unbeatable image would be formed. This
would leave some psychological trauma in the youngsters and make them
unconfident in their martial arts techniques. This was what the academy
elder did not want to see. He needed Fang Yuan to motivate and force the
students to improve, not to completely extinguish their passion for battle.

He wanted to see Fang Yuan’s defeat.

Once Fang Yuan was defeated, the image of invincibility that he had erected
would be instantly destroyed.

At the same time, it would awaken the students’ fighting spirit. After some
setbacks, it would mould their wills to be indomitable.

But to Fang Yuan, he needed this form of pressure so that he could extort
primeval stones with greater ease.
If he was defeated, the youngsters would realize his weakness and attack
together at once. Although Fang Yuan had ample of primeval stones in his
hands, extortion was his main source of income. Without this source, he
would be digging into his reserves.

Thus, Fang Yuan’s appearance in the arena and thirty-three consecutive

victories was merely to maintain his deterrence towards the students, and
not for the twenty primeval stones reward.

If he avoided combat from the start, it would show his weakness, and if it
raged on, he would expose his weakness.

“What are you all waiting for, why is nobody getting up on the stage, go on!
The first prize is twenty primeval stones, you all don’t want it anymore?”
The instructor yelled after snapping out of his thoughts.

The rest of the students began to get motivated.

Fang Yuan had already left the stage, and to them, it was a huge rock off
their minds.

“I’ll go!”

“I’ll come!”

Two youngsters squeezed their way up the stage and began to spar.

“Sigh, if I had known this, I would have waited and not rushed up the stage.
Then I would not have been throw off the stage by Fang Yuan.”

“What a pity, to think Fang Yuan left.”

“He’s really daring, see even the instructor is at a lost for what to do with
him.”

Hearing their whispers, the instructor felt his reputation crumbling. He was
extremely agitated in his heart and wanted to punish Fang Yuan thoroughly.
However, Fang Yuan had done nothing wrong, and leaving the stage on his
own accord was allowed.
The instructor was both helpless and moody. Finally he looked at Fang
Yuan and stared angrily at the latter.

Fang Yuan’s lips slightly curled up into an angle as he thought, “Such

boorish methods, this instructor is a little cute.”
Chapter 49
Chapter 49: Not afraid of Fang Yuan breaking out
of their grasp

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

A pair of solemn eyes were staring at the faraway training grounds.

The academy elder stood at the window of the third storey, looking at
everything that had transpired at the arena.

He frowned deeply.

The instant Fang Yuan left the stage, he felt a sense of peculiarity in his
heart, not expecting Fang Yuan to do this.

“This lad, he is rather hard to catch. He is proficient in the academy’s rules,

and normally will not commit any wrongdoings. Although he sleeps in
class, once he is asked a question he can answer properly, leaving others
with no flaws to pick on. Trying to get ahold of a weakness of his to
suppress his dominance is going to be difficult.”

The academy elder could not help but develop a faint sense of loathing
towards Fang Yuan.

As a teacher, he naturally liked obedient and smart students, and hated those
naughty students who did not obey the rules.

But being the academy elder for so many years, his experience was
extremely rich, he had seen many different types of students. Among them
he had seen extremely obedient ones who followed orders without question.
There were also those who caused problems day and night, constantly
breaking the rules.
His heart had already become still as water, impartial to all. At the same
time, he carved the phrase “as a teacher, one must treat all students fairly”
onto the right corner of his desk, treating it as his motto.

He had never felt such disgust for a student.

Feeling that sense of detest in his heart, the academy elder was also slightly
shocked.

In previous years, even towards the most naughty students, he was able to
handle it with a big heart, tolerating their actions. But when it came to Fang
Yuan, why did he lose this sense of impartialness?

He thought about it again and again, and finally realized the reason.

This lad called Fang Yuan, he had a form of arrogance in his blood!

It seemed from the fundamentals that Fang Yuan did not respect his teachers
for their status. Towards the martial arts instructor earlier, he not only
disobeyed him, but even rebuked him in public.

Actually, such cases of retorting against teachers were commonly seen in

previous years. However, those kids always had an agitated state of mind.
They were either rebellious, furious or stubborn, etc.

The academy elder was clear that the more agitated the youngsters were, the
more it implied that they were fearful in their hearts.

But Fang Yuan was not.

He had no fear in his heart at all, as if he had seen through the tricks of the
academy.

His expression was aloof, and even after he left the stage, his expression
showed no signs of changing, as if he had done something insignificant.

Yes, he treated the matter of disobeying his teachers as a trivial matter that
was insignificant!
In simple terms ——-

He was not afraid.

It was just this point that caused the academy elder to already feel unhappy,
developing a sense of disgust for him.

The academy elder could endure a student more rebellious than Fang Yuan,
or a teenager ten times naughtier than him. That was because these students
knew fear and were moving based on their agitated emotions.

As long as they were fearful, as long as they were impulsive, they would be
easily manipulated and will not go out of control.

But Fang Yuan was not.

He was calm and uncaring, not treating his teachers with reverence.

He was not respectful!

Someone who has no reverence for the clan, even if they are nurtured, how
can they be useful for the clan?

“Once they appear, this sort of person, they have to be suppressed, they
must be suppressed! Otherwise, his existence will create a sense of
irresistibility in the students. In the long run, it will affect the others,
causing them to lose their reverence for their teachers, and as the academy,
how else are we going to manage the students?”

The academy elder squinted his eyes, making up the decision in his mind.

But then, his face showed a troubled expression very quickly.

How was he going to suppress Fang Yuan?

Fang Yuan had done nothing wrong, there was no weakness that he could
exploit.
Fang Yuan’s cunning demeanour gave him a sense of helplessness. He had
never met a student like this, one who was so familiar with the academy’s
rules and regulations.

As the academy elder, he was always impartial to all students. He could not
be like a slum gangster and purposely find trouble with a youngster like
Fang Yuan.

He had placed his hopes on the martial arts instructor, but now he was
deeply disappointed.

“It seems that to suppress Fang Yuan’s domination, we can only wait until
all the other students advance to Rank one middle stage.”

A Gu Master’s advancement is mostly influenced by their talents.

With his rich experience as the academy elder, he had calculated before in
his heart: the ones who had the greatest chance to advance first are Gu Yue
Fang Zheng, Chi Chen and Mo Bei.

They were an A rank and two B grades respectively, and with their elders’
help behind them, they had no lack of primeval stones. No matter which
one of the three, they were mostly likely to be the first to advance to Rank
one middle stage cultivation.

“Gu Yue Fang Zheng, Chi Chen and Mo Bei, these three are our hopeful
seeds this season.” The academy elder looked at the arena and sighed.

With his experienced gaze, he could tell: in the arena, although the students
seem to be standing casually, they had subtly already split into three
factions.

In one circle was Gu Yue Chi Chen and a bunch of similarly-aged

clansmen, all crowding around him.

The second circle’s core was Gu Yue Fang Zheng, and the clan leader’s
faction’s younger generation were subtly supporting this A grade talent
genius.
The third circle was led by Gu Yue Mo Bei. He had already been treated of
his internal injury and stood on the arena with a pale face. The classmates
beside him were asking him about his condition.

“This is the meaning of letting them compete with each other.” Seeing the
three factions, the academy elder was overjoyed and laughed.

Allowing the students free reign to compete, this was not just to nurture
their battle senses, but also to prematurely choose the leader-type
characters.

In past seasons, they had to wait until the end of the year to have the
capacity to develop their own circles. But in this year, because of Fang
Yuan’s appearance, his extortion had brought forth the divergence much
faster.

Against Fang Yuan, the only ones who dared to compete against him were
Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Chen.

After a long time under imperceptible influence, the other youngsters would
automatically regard these three as the leaders.

As long as there were no mishaps, these three social circles would be the
layout of the future family’s higher-ups.

“But these factions are still not stable. Within them, there are still students
moving around. Once the three take the lead and advance to the middle
stage first, I will give them the positions of class chairman and vice
chairman. With that differentiation, they would gain authority, and this will
strengthen their social circles,” the academy elder thought.

Of course, there was someone not within either factions.

Just one person, and that was Fang Yuan.

Getting close to stronger people is human nature. In fact, although Fang

Yuan extorted the students and acted against the students, there were a
number of youngsters who wanted to attach themselves to him.
However, they were rejected by Fang Yuan. To him, only those who were
useful were pawns, and these youngsters had too little value.

This was also another reason the academy elder hated Fang Yuan. He was
too antisocial, not willing to integrate into the team. To such people like
him, the clan’s control over them was not as much as the other youngsters.

The academy elder’s gaze once again shot towards Fang Yuan in the arena.

Fang Yuan stood alone at one corner with his hands behind his back, his
eyelids slightly closed, allowing the students to fight for their prize. Even
with the heated competition, his expression did not change the slightest.

His surrounding was vacant, no youngster was willing to stand with him.

Very evidently, he also did not wish for these people to be near him.

Fang Yuan stood there alone, enshrouded in loneliness.

He floated outside the factions.

“But I don’t have to be too worried. This Fang Yuan is still young and can
be changed slowly.” The academy elder’s gaze shone and he thought
deeply.

“Next up will be the establishment of the class chairman and vice chairman.
A year later, we will split into groups, creating team leaders and assistant
leaders. Every academic year also has all sorts of honor and rewards, like
the Small Redflower Award, Blue Neckcloth Prize and Five Outstanding
Student Prize. He wants to cultivate so he needs resources, thus he has to
compete for these positions and prizes. As time passes, with interaction
among the students, he is bound to have kinship, friendship and love as his
restraints. I don’t have to worry about him going beyond the clan’s control.”

These years, the academy elder had gradually understood something.

When a new clan member is born, they would be brainwashed by the clan.
First, they would be taught the clan’s utmost value system. Next they would
go into moral education and learn about the beauty and importance of
kinship, friendship, love.

After that, they would be taught honor, and in the process of growing up,
many resources such as prizes would be used to attract them. Using the
family’s assigned roles, they would choose and recruit the most loyal
clansmen into their factions.

Do not look down on the small roles like chairman or vice chairman, for
once they become one of these roles, they would be part of the clan’s
administration.

Under such a system with constant influence, on one hand it brings about
the benefits of having authority and the sweetness of power, while on the
other hand, it brings the problem of detaching from the system. A carrot in
hand and a stick in the other, who can break away from this system?

Even the wildest of people or the most lonesome ones would gradually
become a part of the family. One without loyalty would also be nurtured
into one with loyalty. Without kinship, friendship or love, they would still
be developed.

This is the power of the system.

This is the power of rules.

This is the clan’s way of survival!

Chapter 50
 Chapter 50: Middle Stage!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Nightfall arrived. The moon was like a silver plate, appearing among the
clouds. The thinly spread stars decorated the surroundings.

Gu Yue Mo Bei stood in the courtyard, raising his head up, his eyes
glistening under the reflection of the moon.

“Little brother, I heard you got injured today.” Behind him, his sister Gu
Yue Mo Yan’s voice resounded.

“Sister, you are worried that after being beaten till I vomited blood today, I
would have long lasting trauma?” Mo bei turned around and curled his lips.

Seeing her brother laughing, Mo Yan’s heart felt at ease. Although she had
truly worried, she said instead, “No way, big sis here understands you best.
Good brother, you have an indomitable will, the future head of our Mo
family. How can you be frightened off by such a small injury?”

“Hehehe, I knew sister doted on me the most,” Mo Bei scratched the back
of his head as he laughed sheepishly.

“You know what, sister?” Under the glow of the moonlight, this fifteen year
old teenager’s eyes radiated brightly. “Although I failed this time, I heard
Fang Yuan panting during the match. Back then he easily beaten me in two
or three strikes with an calm and composed manner. But his gasping already
revealed his weakness. He is definitely not as strong as everyone else
thinks. One day, I will defeat him fair and square.”

“Good, as expected of a good man from my Mo bloodline!” Mo Yan

laughed, patting her brother’s head, showing concern on her face,
“However, you suffered internal injuries, so please don’t practise your
martial arts these few days.”

“Don’t touch my head sister, I am already old enough.” Mo Bei shrugged

his head, using an unhappy tone, “I understand what you are saying, I have
a plan. These few days, I’m going to nurture my aperture walls. To
completely breakthrough from initial stage to middle stage and obtain the
position of class chairman, and suppress Fang Yuan’s dominance. I’ll let
him know that, what truly matters to a Gu Master’s cultivation is still
talent!”

“I’m glad you can think this way. I was only a vice chairman last time. If
you manage to become chairman, it will fulfill my regrets too.”

“Don’t worry sister. The position of chairman, I certainly must obtain it!”

At the same time, in the Chi family.

Inside the secret room, there was only one torch, attached to an opening in
the limestone walls.

The flame burned on, illuminating this small room.

One of the two elders in power, Gu Yue Chi Lian, was sitting facing his
grandson, Gu Yue Chi Cheng. The two sat on a praying mat with their
shadows projected on the ground, wavering with the flickering of the flame.

Gu Yue Chi Lian stretched out his hand, using his palm to touch Chi
Cheng’s abdomen area.

Gu Yue Chi Chen’s face was full of anxiety, his mind entering his aperture,
suppressing the ripples in his primeval sea with all his concentration.

In this world, there are no two identical tree leaves. Similarly to Gu

Masters, there is no identical primeval essence as well.

Once primeval essence from an external source enters the aperture, it will
result in the natural resistance of the original primeval essence in the
aperture.
If Gu Yue Chi Cheng does not suppress it, and instead allows the his
primeval essence to resist, it will result in a clash between the essences.
Such intensive reaction can cause great damage to the aperture.

The aperture’s primeval sea is the foundation and roots of a Gu Master’s

cultivation, and is of utmost importance.

Once the aperture is damaged, at the very least one’s cultivation may lower,
but if it is severe, their latent talent may be lowered as well. Once the
aperture is completely shattered, the Gu Master would die immediately.

After a while, Gu Yue Chi Lian gradually stopped transmitting his primeval
essence, slowly taking back his hand.

Gu Yue Chi Cheng took a deep breath of relief, his tense body relaxing.
“Thank you Grandfather, for nurturing my aperture and transfusing
primeval essence to me every three days. It has been hard on you!”

Gu Yue Chi Lian’s forehead was full of sweat, and he sighed and said, “This
is inevitable. Your talent is only C grade, so if we rely on your ability alone
to rise to middle stage, it’ll take a long time. The time will usually be twice
of a B grade, and four times of an A grade. In such a situation, your talent
will be exposed. Thus, even if this method is dangerous, we have to use it.”

“Grandson understands grandfather’s intentions.”

“As long as you understand.” The old man sighed, “This method also has
another sequela. After your aperture has been nurtured by my silver
primeval essence, although the silver primeval essence has a greater effect,
it is still an external source of primeval essence to you. Henceforth, even if
your aperture walls change from a light wall to a water wall, it would still
be mixed with my energy. The more external energy there is, the more
impure your aperture will be, and this will stifle your talent, limiting your
development in the future.”

Gu Yue Chi Cheng bit his lips, “Grandfather, for the future of the Chi
family, I am willing to sacrifice my future prospects!”
Gu Yue Chi Lian was pleased, stroking his beard. “It is good that you have
such thoughts. But the heavens always leave a glimmer of hope for you, for
you are not hopeless yet. If we can find the Cleansing Water Gu, it will be
able to cleanse your aperture walls and flush out all the external energies in
your aperture sea, removing this sequela.”

“In addition, I have also used my relationships to search for a Liquor worm
for you. This worm is able to help a Rank one Gu Master refine their
primeval essence and raise it by one small realm. In this way the primeval
essence that is refined will be your body’s own primeval essence and not an
external one. Using this way to nurture your aperture leaves no
repercussions and risks, it is a much better nurturing effect!”

Gu Yue Chi Lian was overjoyed. “Thank you grandfather!”

“However, the Liquor worm is hard to find. Among the Rank one Gu
worms, the Liquor worm, boar Gu, and Bookworm etc, are all extremely
rare Gu. Once they appear in the market they would be snatched up
immediately. Of course, there are also some Gu in this world that are
rumored to change a Gu Master’s talent. But at this age, grandfather has
never seen one, only hearing occasional rumors about them.” The old man
explained.

The night winds blew in gently from the windows and into the room.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng sat on his bed with his eyes shut, holding a primeval
stone in both hands.

The green copper primeval sea was raging without any winds, the waves
crashing towards the white aperture walls.

He has A grade rank talent, and his primeval essence occupied 80% of the
aperture. His natural rate of recovery was twice of Fang Yuan!

With such godblessed advantage, he is already close to Rank one middle

stage.

Phew.
A while later, Gu Yue Fang Zheng puffed out a breath of air and opened his
eyes.

The moon was bright and stars sparse outside the window, the bluish green
bamboo houses arranged in a line.

A scene of peace and harmony.

“Time always flies when cultivating. In the blink of an eye, it is already late
into the night,” Fang Zheng muttered softly. He slowly opened his hands,
and two piles of rock powder fell onto the floor in front of his bed.

After a primeval stone’s essence had been fully retrieved, it would turn into
a pile of powder.

Looking at the powder pile, Fang Zheng frowned.

He took out his money bag; it was already close to empty.

Opening it, he saw three primeval stones left inside.

Fang Zheng would retrieve three pieces every seven days from the academy
as resources, but since Fang Yuan would snatch a piece from him, he only
had two left every week.

Uncle and Aunt would also give him living expenses, but it was also three
stones every seven days.

Just with these primeval stones, how is it enough?

Fang Zheng was determined to surpass his brother Fang Yuan, thus he took
the initiative to approach his uncle and aunt multiple times to beg for some
primeval stones.

After many times, his aunt would look for him to have a heart-to-heart chat,
telling him about how poor the family was, and how they had cash flow
difficulties, having no spare money left. Since then, Fang Zheng did not
have the desire to continue asking.
“Father and mother are already doing all they can to support my cultivation.
I cannot make things difficult for them and ask for more primeval stones. I
only have three left. I can only be more thrifty. If I use one piece a day, I’ll
have enough for three days.”

“I have a feeling that in three or four days, I will definitely advance to

middle stage! The only thing is, what is big brother’s progress now?”
Thinking so, Fang Zheng subconsciously looked towards to academy living
quarters.

“I have A grade talent, while big brother only has C grade talent. His speed
is definitely slower than me. Big brother is not my match this time! Big
brother, I will let you know the true power of an A grade talent!”

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng clenched his fists.

……

Academy dormitory.

Fang Yuan’s door was shut tight.

In the darkness, he was not asleep, but sitting on his bed.

A Gu Master’s cultivation cannot replace sleep. Normally at this time, Fang

Yuan would already have fallen asleep.

But in cultivating earlier today, he already felt that he was just one step
away from middle stage.

“I might as well not sleep tonight, I’ll rush straight for middle stage!” His
eyes shone with determination.

Soon after, he shut his eyes and his mind went into the aperture.

44% of green copper primeval sea. Just a moment ago, they were all refined
into pale green coloured middle stage primeval essence by the liquor worm.
“Rise.” With a thought, the peaceful green copper primeval sea began to
stir.

The commotion got larger and larger, until waves were formed.

Splash, splash, splash…

The tides raced against each other, rushing towards the surrounding aperture
walls.

Like crashing on a reef, most of the primeval essence would break into
emerald ripples and fuse back into the sea.

A small amount of primeval essence was expended, turning into a small hint
of invisible energy, penetrating into the white coloured light aperture wall.

“Rise again,” Fang Yuan thought as the emerald ripples became larger in
scale. The waves earlier were like rabbits and dogs, but now they were like
troops of horses, marching towards the aperture walls.

A horse-like dragon, the waves like the heavens!

The primeval essence was expended quickly, and the water level fell
sharply.

Splash, splash, splash…

The waves struck relentlessly, finally resulting in a change. The white

coloured wall shook suddenly, the originally mild white colour radiating an
eye-piercing brilliance.

Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan was overjoyed as he knew that the crucial part
had arrived, and he quickly activated all of his primeval essence to rush at
the walls.

The white light grew brighter, the light rays distorted and tangling together,
giving people a feeling of thickness. After more than ten breaths, white
strips of light bands appeared on the light wall, and the strips collided with
each other like water flowing nonstop. In the process of collision, they
continued to combine and merge, forming a white flowing light.

Finally, the flowing light gathered into one piece and completely covered
the light wall.

The white light dimmed, and the original white light wall of the aperture
was gone, replaced by a layer of spherical shaped white water wall. The
light wall’s surface was smooth with no impurities. The water wall
however, was thicker than the light wall, the ripples of light flowing and
flickering on it.

The primeval sea regained its peace, the aperture still having 20% primeval
essence left.

“I advanced to middle stage!” Fang Yuan laughed heartily, opening his eyes.

The bright sunlight creeped in through the openings in the curtains.

Unknowingly, the night had passed, and it was already morning.

Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Let’s see how you are going to explain
this

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Fang Yuan didn’t come to class today. Look guys, his seat is empty.”

“He’s so bold! Today’s lesson is taught by the academy elder, yet he dared
to not show up.”

“This is bad, the elder’s expression is ugly, it seems that Fang Yuan is in
trouble. Hehehe.”

In the academy, the youngsters discussed softly. A few glanced towards

Fang Yuan’s empty seat, as well as the academy elder’s darkening
expression. Ever since he started the extortion, Fang Yuan stood against
everyone in the class. Seeing him in trouble, all the students were excited
for what was to come.

The academy elder’s expression was stiff as he explained the crux of

nurturing the aperture while secretly staring at Fang Yuan’s seat.

He laughed coldly in his heart, “Fang Yuan, oh Fang Yuan. I was still
worried about not being able to catch your weak point yesterday, and here
you give it to me today. You are after all a fifteen year old teenager, I have
overestimated you.”

His ugly expression was mostly fake. His motive was to use this
opportunity to find trouble with Fang Yuan and punish him, eliminating his
increasing dominance in class. Undeniably, as time passed, Fang Yuan’s
dominating presence was getting stronger, causing the other students to be
barely catching their breaths.
A one-sided dominance was not what the academy elder wanted to see. He
wanted to see the entire class shining.

“Men!” The academy elder raised a finger and knocked lightly on the table.

“Elder, your subjects are here.” The two guards standing outside at the door
entered.

The academy elder snorted in public, “This Fang Yuan is getting out of
hand, being so lazy and skipping classes right under my nose. Go to the
hostel and bring him here for me.”

“Yes, elder.” The guards went on their way. Seeing the guards disappear
outside the door, the academy burst into discussion noises.

Numerous students joined in the conversation.

“Fang Yuan is in deep shit now,” someone said with his eyes shining
brightly.

“Hehe, we have a show to watch later.” Another laughed in pleasure

towards Fang Yuan’s misery.

“Big brother, you are too arrogant. This is challenging the elder’s authority.
No matter what punishment it is, you had it coming.” Gu Yue Fang Zheng
looked at the empty seat, sighing internally.

Bam, bam, bam!

The academy elder with a strict expression, slammed the desk thrice,
“Silence, no talking in class!”

His aura at this moment was like a volcano about to erupt, causing fear in
others.

Immediately, the academy fell into pin-drop silence. The students fearfully
shut up, quickly getting into position. Except, although their expression was
so, their thoughts were already deep into this matter.
The class continued, the youngsters not concentrating at all.

A few students by the window looked out constantly.

As time passed, after a while, footsteps could be heard at the door. Instantly
the students’ ears twitched, tens of eyes showing bright expressions.

“Arriving…” The academy elder heard the footsteps too and narrowed his
eyes as a result.

He had already thought of how to deal with Fang Yuan. He’ll punish him to
stand outside for three hours.

Although the punishment was not heavy, it was enough for him to be
humiliated.

Throughout lessons, students entering and leaving would see Fang Yuan
standing there.

This way, it would ruin Fang Yuan’s image of invincibility. When the
students realize that Fang Yuan was nothing special, the impact he has on
them would be greatly reduced. This would result in them gaining courage
and stir their competitive spirit.

The great part was, since Fang Yuan’s punishment came from the academy,
this would improve the academy’s reputation.

Only with reverence will they obey.

Thus, while the method is simple, it has deep intentions underneath.

The footsteps got closer, and finally someone stood outside the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knocking sounds could be heard.

“Hehe, I will open it!” The student near the door volunteered and
enthusiastically went to open the door.
The academy quietened down, numerous eyes staring at the door.

Crack.

The door was easily opened by the student, exposing a gap.

Sunlight infiltrated from the gap. The student opening the door suddenly
froze, shuddering suddenly.

“AHH!!!” He was stunned for a second before suddenly screaming,

subconsciously taking a large step backwards. His body knocked onto the
desk and he instantly lost his balance, falling with the table onto the ground.

The boy’s face was pale, his expression horrified, limbs trembling and
unable to exert strength. Lying on the floor, he frantically tried to get up, but
fell back down again and again.

“What’s wrong?!” In a moment everyone was astonished, all of them

frowning deeply.

Numerous gazes curiously looked towards the door.

The door was slowly pushed opened by the person outside.

The academy elder stopped his lecture out of reflex.

What everyone saw first, was a hand on the door.

A teenager’s left hand.

A left hand with dripping blood.

A bloody hand!

Seeing this bloody hand, many of the female students covered their mouths
and screamed in terror.

The door slowly opened fully.

The brightness of the sunlight pricked everyone’s eyes, causing them to
squint. With the bright sunlight as his background, a dark shadow attached
to a thin teenager appeared before everyone.

He didn’t know why, but the academy elder felt a strong feeling of unease
in his heart.

“It’s Fang Yuan!” Someone screamed out loudly.

Everyone who had gotten used to the sunlight could clearly see who the
person was.

What met their eyes was Fang Yuan, bathed in blood, standing outside the
door as if he had gone through an intense battle.

His left hand slowly retracted, his right hand grabbing onto some hair,
dragging along a person. The person’s left arm was entirely detached from
the base. He was lying there motionless, evidently unconscious. Blood on
his left shoulder gushed out.

“It’s one of the guards who went to look for Fang Yuan!” Someone
recognised the person’s identity.

“What exactly happened?” Someone was going berserk.

“He murdered again, this time he killed the guards!” Someone pointed at
Fang Yuan, screaming in horror, getting louder and louder, as if it would
purge the terror and fear in his heart.

At once, the academy was rowdy.

Many students forgot the rules at this time, and stood up from their seats.
They looked towards Fang Yuan with fear, shock, and nervous expressions.

In their imaginations, Fang Yuan would be dragged here by the guards left
and right.

But the truth was —— Fang Yuan bathed in blood, his expression cool like
a devil approaching. The two guards, one missing while the other lying
motionless, blood oozing from his body quickly forming a puddle.

A thick scent of blood permeated the academy.

The academy elder was stunned, he did not anticipate such a scene!

After his shock, came intense rage.

The two guards were merely external martial artists. So what if they died?
The academy elder did not really care.

But the crucial point was their identity. They were the academy’s guards,
representing the academy’s prestige. Representing the academy elder’s face.

This Fang Yuan was simply too bold. Not only did he kill Gao Wan, now he
even went and murdered the academy’s guards!

No, this isn’t just being bold. He was practically provoking, challenging the
clan academy’s prestige.

The academy elder flew into a rage, pointing at Fang Yuan, screaming,
“Fang Yuan! What is this? You have to give me an explanation, a good
reason to spare you. If not, with the crime of murdering the guards, you will
be thrown in jail, awaiting the clan verdict!”

The students all shuddered.

Even the windows trembled, the entire academy reverbing with the
academy elder’s screams.

Only Fang Yuan was calm-looking, his eyes dyed a deep miasma, behaving
like usual, unable to see any change in his emotions.

After looking around, Fang Yuan let go of his right arm, and with a plop,
the guard’s head fell into the puddle of blood, splashing onto Fang Yuan’s
pants.

He cupped his fists towards the academy elder, his calm voice echoing
throughout the silent academy, “Academy Elder, I truly have something to
report.”

“Speak.” The academy elder spoke with both arms behind his back, arching
his head as he looked at Fang Yuan, his expression ice cold.

Laughing coldly in his heart, he thought, “Fang Yuan, you’re making more
and more mistakes, increasing the severity. I’ll see how you’re going to
explain yourself!”
Chapter 52
 Chapter 52: You have no choice but to accept my
explanation

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Inside the academy, everyone’s attention was on Fang Yuan.

Their expressions showed shock, fear, mockery and callousness.

Fang Yuan paid no attention to these people. He looked at the academy

elder with a stern expression, with his finger pointing towards the fainted
guard.

“Reporting to elder, these two guards had impure motives, devious

intentions! They broke into my room when I was at the crucial moment of
breaking through into the middle stage. As everyone knows, a Gu Master
cultivating cannot be interrupted. Especially so when one is trying to break
through into higher realms. A moment of distraction would not only cause
the breakthrough to fail, but their aperture would also get damaged.
Thankfully my luck was good, because at the moment where they barged in,
I had already stepped into the middle stage.”

“However!” Before the masses had reacted, Fang Yuan continued, “These
two did not admit their mistakes earlier. To my surprise, they boasted
shamelessly about wanting to get rough with me, even scolding our clan’s
ancestors, lying that the act of disturbing my cultivation was the esteemed
elder’s decision. Your student did not believe so, and resisted furiously.
These two had strong martial arts, and I had to fight for life before finally
defeating these two people.”

“But seeing as they were the academy guards, your student did not kill them
immediately. I merely cut off one of his arms, and the leg of the other
person. Although there was quite some blood loss, they are still alive. That
is my report for this matter, please uphold justice for me, esteemed elder!”
Having said so, he cupped his fists towards the academy elder.

His tone was urgent, saying a ton of information, and leaving no room for
others to interrupt.

After he had finished, the surrounding people slowly started to react.

“What did Fang Yuan say earlier, I did not catch it.”

“I think he said he advanced to the middle stage!”

“How is that possible, he is just a C grade trash, to think that he actually

advanced to the middle stage first.”

“He definitely lied, he is afraid of the academy’s punishment, thus he lied!”

The students discussed loudly.

When compared to Fang Yuan’s advancement to the middle stage, the two
guards’ lives no longer mattered.

They were not Gu Yue clan members, who cares if they’re dead or alive?

“You said you advanced to Rank one middle stage?” The academy elder’s
voice was ice cold, his expression unforgiving. “Fang Yuan, this is not a
laughing matter. If you admit your wrongdoing now, I can still take into
account that this is your first mistake and deal with you leniently. If you
want to continue lying and attempting to cover up your mistakes, then I can
tell you now, lies are easily seen through.”

Fang Yuan did not explain himself further, he laughed lightly and said to the
academy elder, “Please inspect, elder.”

Even without his words, the academy elder had already moved forward.

He placed his hand on Fang Yuan’s abdomen, placing a trace of his spirit
into it. Immediately he saw the inside of Fang Yuan’s aperture.
Within the aperture, there was no Gu.

The Spring Autumn Cicada had already hidden itself. A Rank six Gu is way
superior than a Rank three academy elder, so if it wanted to hide, it would
not be found easily.

As for the Liquor worm, Fang Yuan had placed it into the dormitory’s wine
reserves, and did not bring it along.

The academy elder with his eyes shut, could see a green copper primeval
sea, calm as still water.

Drops of primeval essence inside were all emerald green colours of middle
stage primeval essence.

Seeing the aperture walls, the white coloured aperture walls were glowing
with reflected light as if they were all made of water. Gushes of water flow
rapidly moved along the wall.

Water wall!

“He really advanced to the middle stage, how is this possible?!” The
academy elder shouted in his heart, a sign of shock under his calm
expression. But he tried to hide it to the best of his ability, his face still
expressionless.

A moment later, after he had digested this fact, he drew back his hand,
speaking in a solemn voice, “It is indeed middle stage.”

The students had been holding their breaths, awaiting the results.

The academy elder’s verdict caused a huge commotion in the academy.

The students were full of bewilderment and shock, each of their faces
showing immense disbelief.

Fang Yuan was only a C grade, but yet he was the first to breakthrough into
the middle stage, this was against common sense!
For a Gu Master’s cultivation and breaking through realms, the most
important aspect should be talent. How is this possible, a C grade was the
first to advance? How would this make those A grade, B grades feel!

“This!” Gu Yue Fang Zheng’s face was pale. He was still confident last
night, but now that reality sat in front of him, he was unable to accept such
a fact and fell to the ground.

Gu Yue Mo Bei clenched his fists, and Gu Yue Chi Chen hatefully gritted
his teeth.

The academy elder could not be easily fooled, so how did Fang Yuan
manage to do it?

At once, all the youngsters stared at Fang Yuan, having one question in their
hearts —— with that C grade talent, how did he advance?

The academy elder’s heart was similarly full of doubt.

Under such great empuzzlement, he ignored the idea of suppressing Fang

Yuan and asked directly, “Fang Yuan, I hope you can explain this, how did
you manage to advance to middle stage.”

Fang Yuan laughed silently, “Heaven rewards the hard-working, and as a

result of student’s persistent training, I managed to advance smoothly.”

“Lies!”

“Tsk, if heaven rewarded the hard-working, I’d be first long ago!”

“Diligently studying and training? Some time ago, I still saw him strolling
around the shop district.”

The students were evidently not satisfied with such an answer.

“Is that so?” The academy elder replied neutrally, his gaze staring at Fang
Yuan, emitting pressure.
Fang Yuan’s expression was candid, making eye contact with the elder
without fear.

His body was bathed in blood, his linen shirt messy, as if he had gone
through an intense battle.

A pair of black abyss-like eyes, showing a kind of peacefulness,

indifference, and even hiding a hint of amusement.

Seeing such a gaze, the academy elder’s heart wavered.

“This Fang Yuan, he is not afraid, not fearful, not threatened, and not
shocked, how can he be interrogated by me right here? With his C grade
talent, being the first to advance to middle stage, there has to be a secret.
But since he does not want to say it, as the academy elder, I cannot
forcefully interrogate him. It seems I can only investigate this privately.”

Thinking of this, the academy elder retracted his gaze and his cold
expression became milder.

Fang Yuan however did not let the matter go, “Your student is frightened,
esteemed elder. How are you going to deal with these two guards? They
have lost a lot of blood, if they are not treated soon, they might die.”

“Frightened? You?” The academy elder retorted in his mind. His brows
frowned deeply.

At this point, as the person in charge of the academy, he had to step forward
and settle this.

“But how should I resolve this?” The academy elder could not help but feel
troubled.

He silently began to think.

Fang Yuan took all of the academy elder’s change in expressions into
consideration. He laughed internally; the academy elder must be really
troubled now.
These two guards, they were merely outsiders, their lives cheap as grass. In
normal times, no one would care if they died.

But now the situation was different, they were sent out by the academy
elder. If they really died, the academy elder would lose his reputation!

Thus, the guards could not die, the academy elder is going to save them.

The part that truly troubles the academy elder is Fang Yuan’s verdict.

In his original plan, Fang Yuan first played truant, and then killed the
guards. This could be said to be defying his teachers, being arrogant and
self-centered. According to the clan rules, he’d be thrown into the clan jail,
reflecting upon his mistakes inside.

But when adding in the matter of Fang Yuan’s advancement to middle

stage, these wrongdoings became very different.

Fang Yuan played truant and killed the guards because he was cultivating.
This was reasonable.

The crucial part was, he was successful in advancing to the middle stage,
and became the first in this class. This allowed him to be on the side of
reason.

Just what did Fang Yuan rely on to advance to middle stage, this secret
would be discussed later.

Winners win all, losers lose all, the world only cares about result. No one
would reprimand such an outstanding junior.

The academy elder could not execute any punishments on him.

What is the academy for? It is to nurture outstanding Gu Masters, and inject

fresh blood into the clan.

Now that we have such an aspiring young man, you as the academy elder
still wants to find trouble with him? That would be neglecting your role!
Just like a student who got good results, as a teacher he should be
encouraging and praising him, instead of punishing and criticizing. A
teacher who punishes and scolds a student for his good results is not one
that would ever be recognised.

Perhaps the other elders would secretly cause problems for Fang Yuan
because they fear Fang Yuan’s future prospects, or because of grudges and
past grievances. But him alone, the esteemed academy elder, cannot do such
a thing!

Because he is in charge of the academy, he has to be impartial, at least on

the surface.

These are the rules!

“Do I just let him go like this? It was not easy finding a weakness of his.”
The academy elder was indignant. He knew in his heart that all the
youngsters in the academy were merely spectators of this matter.

They can only look at the matter as entertainment, but are unable to see the
crucial point in this, they are unable to experience the excitement in this
battle!

The truth is, this is the one time where he as the academy elder, was battling
against Fang Yuan the student.

First he grabbed hold of the rules, and was bent on punishing Fang Yuan,
removing his strong image in front of the other students.

Next, Fang Yuan retaliated! His actions may seem rash, but it hit the matter
on the point, and with the excuse of advancing to the middle stage, he got
back his argument.

As for those two unlucky guards, they were merely sacrificial pawns who
were implicated by the two’s battle of wits.

“This Fang Yuan, he is too cunning! If he had really killed the two guards, I
can still retaliate against him with this reason. Although his talent is
lackluster, with such a meticulous and experienced method, it is hard to
believe that he is just a fifteen year old. The worst part is, I cannot retaliate.
No wonder back in those days, the clan had rumors about his early
awakened intelligence!” The academy elder suddenly realised, he had lost.

His loss was due to his status, he was the elder in charge of the academy.

This was both his strength and weakness.

One’s strength is also one’s weakness.

Fang Yuan had understood this logic long ago!

The academy elder was both helpless and frustrated.

He had asked Fang Yuan to explain, and in actuality Fang Yuan’s

explanation was full of loopholes and easily exposable.

These guards were chosen by the academy elder himself, they would not be
so rash and retarded to scold the Gu Yue ancestors.

Fang Yuan’s words were on purpose, it was blatant accusation, framing and
laying a trap in front of the other party!

The academy elder was clear of this, but he knew that he could not pursue
the matter.

This was a trap.

Once he looked into it, the truth would be revealed, and how would he
handle this matter?

If he did not punish Fang Yuan, the two guards would be pitifully framed,
and as the academy elder, if he does not handle things impartially, how can
anyone trust him?

If he punished Fang Yuan, that would be suppressing and displaying

jealousy of the talented! To suppress a junior of the clan for two servants
who were not part of the clan, this matter would trigger the unhappiness of
the clansmen.

Thus, the best way to resolve this was to pretend to not see anything, and
treat these two guards as discarded pieces. Admitting that they had
performed a huge mistake, as well as praising Fang Yuan.

This way, the clansmen would be satisfied, and the deceived guards,
without additional information, would think of this as being impartial.

If he handled the matter like this, it would give the academy elder the
largest benefit.

Logic told the academy elder that this is the way to handle it. But
emotionally, he could not take it lying down.

This Fang Yuan was too devious!

The academy elder not only failed to suppress Fang Yuan, but he himself
became the stepping stone for Fang Yuan, getting humiliated in public!

Fang Yuan did not show the slightest respect for him and dared to oppose
him like this in public, causing this esteemed academy elder to suffer such
humiliation and frustration.

The point was, in future if these two guards felt indignant and wanted to
reveal the truth, as the academy elder, if he wanted to maintain his image
and position, he would have to be the first to step up and suppress them.

But this was all caused by Fang Yuan!

What sort of feeling is this?

For example, it would be like Fang Yuan pooping on the academy elder’s
face, but the elder himself still has to praise him and at the same time, clean
his butt for him. If anyone wanted to point out that there was poop on his
face, he has to be the first to shut that person up.

This feeling of grievance, it was almost unbearable for the academy elder.
There was a growing urge in his heart to give Fang Yuan a few tight slaps!

But finally, the academy elder stretched out his arm and patted Fang Yuan’s
shoulder.

“Good lad.” The academy elder’s face was dim like stillwater, forcing the
words out of his mouth.

“It is all thanks to the academy’s nurturing,” Fang Yuan replied plainly.

The corner of the academy elder’s eye twitched.

Chapter 53
 Chapter 53: Fang Yuan, you are appointed as
class chairman

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Everything was going according to Fang Yuan’s calculations.

Thereafter, the academy elder ordered the healing Gu Master to save the
two guards.

The guards were saved, but they had suffered heavy injuries and were
almost crippled, ending up getting fired from the academy by the elder.

Fang Yuan did not receive any punishments, on the contrary he received
compliments thoroughly.

This result caused much fear in the other youngsters.

But this issue was far from over. As time flowed, the commotion spread to
the rest of the clan.

Fang Yuan being the first to advance to the middle stage with his C grade
talent became the after-meal gossip of the entire clan.

After meals and tea breaks, everyone was discussing this matter.

Subsequent to the initial peculiarity, everyone started to guess the secret

behind Fang Yuan’s quick advancement.

“Actually, with a C grade talent, surpassing A grade and B grade to advance

first into middle stage is not something that strange.”

“True, there are many methods in this world that can achieve such a thing.”
“Take the Relic Gu for example. Once this Gu is used, the aperture walls
would be enhanced and it will assist the cultivation to rise by a small realm,
being the easiest method of breaking through.”

At once, the crowd’s discussion evolved into all sorts of possible answers
and methods.

As for theories about Liquor worms and external sources of primeval

essence, these ideas were also naturally brought up by by many people.

If Fang Yuan revealed the existence of the Liquor worm at the start, there
would not have been such a commotion. But because he hid it, this resulted
in the curiosity of many people being raised.

Although it appeared peaceful, Gu Yue village had an undercurrent

brewing.

Numerous eyes were watching the academy elder, all waiting for his
explanation.

As the academy elder, if he did not know how a student that he had taught
himself had advanced, that would be negligence of his role.

Thus, the academy elder had to give an explanation.

Days passed by.

The second youngster to breakthrough the initial stage and advance to

middle stage appeared.

It was Gu Yue Mo Bei.

Soon after, with just a three hour difference, Gu Yue Fang Zheng advanced
too.

He was after all, dragged down by the lack of primeval stones. Of course,
there was also the reason of him being traumatised by Fang Yuan.
The third was Gu Yue Chi Chen.

Even if he had Gu Yue Chi Lian’s infused primeval essence, the method’s
effectiveness was not very high and could only be performed once every
three days, adding to the fact that it was very risky. But with his C grade
talent, getting third position was already a success.

On the fifth day, the academy elder once again handed out subsidies.

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan.” He stood at the front, calling out Fang Yuan’s name
first.

Fang Yuan stood up and walked towards him with a plain expression.

The youngsters’ attention was on him as he moved, revealing all sorts of

envy, jealousy, inspection, and hatred, not one was the same.

“Today, the elder is not only handing out resources, he is also appointing
the chairman and vice chairman positions!”

“As expected, the first to be called up was Fang Yuan.”

“He is the first to advance, the title of chairman belongs to him.”

“It is hard to imagine that this would be the result. Before this, I thought it
would be Fang Zheng who would come first.”

“He was the first to advance to middle stage, it is so peculiar, there has to be
a huge secret, but he refuses to tell us!”

“Hehe, if it was me I wouldn’t tell anyone either. Keep quiet and prosper.”

As the students conversed, Fang Yuan arrived in front of the academy elder.

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan, you are the first Gu Master to reach Rank one middle
stage in this class, so this is your reward.” Saying so, he handed him a white
and blue money bag.

Fang Yuan received the money bag and opened it in public, peeking inside.
“Be rest assured, there’s a total of thirty primeval stones inside, the
academy would not shortchange you.” The academy elder smiled.

Frankly speaking, he would never have expected that the first youngster to
advance to middle stage would be Fang Yuan.

However, Fang Yuan did not listen to the academy elder. He rarely trusted
others, and only believed in himself. He checked carefully and found that it
was indeed thirty primeval stones, not one less. He then placed the money
bag into his bosom pocket.

The academy elder upon seeing this action, thought that his finances were
tight, and could not help but smile even more brightly.

“I guessed so, he is after all a C grade talent. Rushing to the middle stage,
his primeval stone expenditure had to be huge. He has no funding from
anyone as well, thus he has to be tight on primeval stones. As long as he has
a need for primeval stones, we’ll not be afraid of him leaving the control of
the clan. Once he enters the clan’s system, he would not be able to keep that
secret, so even if we can’t investigate it, one day, he will tell us.” Towards
this, the academy elder was full of confidence.

The truth is, after that day, he had sent people to investigate Fang Yuan in
secret. Almost everyday there would be progress in the search.

But evidently, those people had not found out that Fang Yuan has a few
hundred primeval stones in his possession, and was actually rather rich.

The academy elder continued and said, “Fang Yuan, you are the first to step
into Rank one middle stage, and according to the academy rules, you not
only will receive thirty primeval stones as reward, but you will also gain
priority in choosing your second Gu soon after. Right now, I shall appoint
you as class chairman!”

“Fang Yuan was appointed as chairman after all!” Upon hearing this, a few
students sighed.

“Damn it.” Gu Yue Mo Bei gritted his teeth, feeling indignant.

“Hmph!” Gu Yue Chi Chen crossed his limbs, staring at the scene coldly.

The one that was affected the most was Fang Yuan’s brother, Gu Yue Fang
Zheng.

His face was pale, and his expression looked uncertain, a dark cloud
looming over his head. “Ordinary students, upon seeing the chairman and
vice chairmen, have to bow and pay respects. With my results, I will
definitely be a vice chairman. But from now on when I see big brother, I’ll
have to pay my respects to him.”

“Hold on.”

But at this moment, Fang Yuan spoke.

He smiled faintly to the academy elder and said slowly, “Esteemed elder,
your student here is not gifted and does not have high wisdom, hence being
unable to properly take on the role of chairman. This role, should be given
to talented people.”

“What? You mean you do not want to be chairman? As the chairman, you’ll
get ten primeval stones every time. Are you sure you want to reject it?” The
academy elder frowned deeply as he spoke. For the last tens of years of
teaching, he had not seen anyone reject this position!

Actually he had already given much thought about this matter, and letting
Fang Yuan be class chairman had its merits.

Once he was the chairman, he would be inside the clan system. Fang Yuan
will have to carry out his duties at the same time while enjoying his
treatment.

No matter what the chairman’s role was, the least he had to do was to stop
extorting his classmates.

This was definitely not something a class chairman can do.

This is like before, even though the academy elder was humiliated by Fang
Yuan, he still had to praise him for his excellent cultivation results.
As someone bound by the system, he would not be able to do as he pleases
when handling matters, and many times he’d be left with no choice.

Of course, this was not because the academy elder was displeased with
Fang Yuan extorting so many primeval stones every time.

He was thinking for the entire board of students. Once Fang Yuan becomes
chairman and stops extorting, this would allow the other teenagers to have a
breather under Fang Yuan’s pressure.

Next, with some push of a hand, it would result in a multiway competition

among the families. As long as he can nurture the clan’s hopeful seeds –
Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Chen, what is the cost of sacrificing a small
role of a chairman?

And yet, although he had a good plan, the truth was very different from
what he expected.

Fang Yuan rejected it!

He actually rejected it!!

Although this position is small, it is the first representation of honor among

these hot-blooded youngsters.

Besides honor, as the chairman, they get ten primeval stones as resources
each time!

This temptation, no youngster has ever resisted it before.

But Fang Yuan actually rejected.

Fang Yuan looked at the stunned elder, and asked him back, “Did the
academy rules state that the first has to be chairman? The position of
chairman, is it irrefusable?”

The academy elder replied with a cold expression, “Of course there are no
such heartless rules.”
Fang Yuan laughed, “Thank you elder for your understanding.”

Saying so, he cupped his fists and walked back to his seat.

The students who saw this scene with their own eyes all flew into a
commotion.

At once, the academy was lively!

“Fang Yuan actually rejected it? Are you kidding me?!”

“Is he sick in the head?”

“Not sure why he’s acting crazy, but hehe, he’s gonna regret this later.”

“Fang Yuan gave up on being chairman, this means I am the chairman?!”

Happiness came too quickly, and the second place Mo Bei could not react
in time.

Chi Chen showed a look of disbelief, he was unable to comprehend that

someone actually gave up the spot of chairman, he has to be beyond stupid!

“Big brother…” Fang Zheng stared with huge eyes as he looked at Fang
Yuan disappointedly.

According to his results, Fang Zheng was assured to be vice chairman.

But when Fang Yuan gave up the position, Fang Zheng felt that this position
no longer had any meaning.

The academy elder’s face was dark this time, really really dark.

The last time when Fang Yuan skipped class, although he looked angry, it
was just an act for the others to see.

But this time, he was in a bad mood, worse than before.

Fang Yuan gave up the position of chairman. This means he is rejecting the
clan system. The elder had governed the academy for tens of years, but this
was the first time he saw such a student, rejecting this huge temptation!

He wanted to invite Fang Yuan into the trap, but since he wouldn’t enter, the
academy elder was helpless.

The giving out of subsidies ended.

Mo Bei claimed the position of chairman with his result of being second.
Fang Zheng and Chi Chen each became vice chairman.

The class chairman was given ten primeval stones. The vice chairmen got
five.

A few students who were not from well-to-do families were so envious that
they almost drooled when seeing the three students’ primeval stones.
Chapter 54
 Chapter 54: But I am the class chairman!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The wheel of red fire, the sun slowly sank down on the west side of the
mountain range.

Its light was not eye-piercing, but it was a sort of bright and gentle ray.

The west sky was dyed a shade of blushful red, the sunset glow
continuously spreading out. It was just like an imperial concubine who had
just been rewarded, happily crowding around the emperor, wanting to sleep
together with him. (1)

Qing Mao Mountain was engulfed entirely in a sea of rose red colour. Each
of the tall-pillared buildings and houses were also draped over with a layer
of golden yarn.

The surrounding forest planted around the academy seemed like it was
wiped with a faint stratum of oil. The wind blew slowly, and as the students
walked out of the classroom with their bosoms carrying the primeval stones
that were just passed out, they were in a relaxed and calm state of mind.

“I really don’t know what Fang Yuan is thinking, to actually give up on the
role of class chairman!”

“Heh heh heh, his brain is fried. I bet he thinks of killing people all day,
let’s not concern ourselves with this kind of crazy guy.”

“Come to think of it, that day when he burst into the academy I was really
freaked out. It was just so terrifying, I had a nightmare on the day itself
after I went home.”
The students were in groups of twos and threes as they walked.

“Good day class chairman.”

“Mmm.”

“Greetings class chairman.”

“Mhmm.”

Gu Yue Mo Bei swaggered around as he walked, and wherever he went the

students would bow and greet him without exception.

His face was unable to stifle the expressions of excitement and infatuation.

This was the fascination of authority itself.

Even if it was just a tiny bit of difference in status, it could also make a
person even more confident in his own self worth.

Right now as the dying sun looked as red as blood, Mo Bei watched it while
his heart sang, “How is it that I have never realised before, this sunset’s
rosiness sure is adorable…”

“Hmph, going head over heels just because of becoming a chairman, as if

it’s so amazing.” Gu Yue Chi Cheng purposely walked behind, since he just
didn’t want to greet Gu Yue Mo Bei at all.

“I really have no idea what Fang Yuan is thinking about, to think he actually
let go of the position of chairman. However it’s also a good thing, or else
me as the third, how could I have been able to obtain the role of vice
chairman?” Gu Yue Chi Cheng was confused in his heart, but he also felt
happiness and relief.

“Good day vice chairman.” At this moment a normal student walked past
him and immediately bowed to greet him.

“Heh heh, good day to you too.” Gu Yue Chi Cheng instantly nodded, his
face full of smiles.
Once the student was gone, Chi Cheng naturally thought, “The taste of vice
chairman is rather pleasant. I’m sure the feeling of being the class chairman
is even better. If only I was not the vice chairman, but the chairman himself,
how good that would be!”

The Chi Cheng who had just been rejoicing earlier was now already filled
with insatiable greed, starting to amass expectations for the role of class
chairman.

Under the system of the clan, each rank that was higher than the last was
just like a carrot getting bigger than the previous one, deeply enticing him.

“Although I am only a C grade talent, but I believe that everything will get
better and better.” Gu Yue Chi Cheng was full of hope for his future.

However right now, the other vice chairman Gu Yue Fang Zheng was
feeling very much terrible in his heart, his face expression also quite
unsightly.

“Big brother, you!” He looked wide-eyed with disbelief at the academy’s

gate entrance, where a lone figure stood.

“Old rules as usual, every person one piece of primeval stone.” Fang Yuan
stood while hugging his arms, his tone dull.

Fang Zheng’s mouth opened and closed a few times, then after some
moments of effort he finally said, “Big brother, but I am the vice chairman
now!”

“That’s true.” Fang Yuan was expressionless as he nodded, giving Fang

Zheng an indifferent look, “The vice chairman receives an allowance of five
pieces each time. So you should give up three pieces instead.”

Fang Zheng was flabbergasted, and for a moment he was unable to say a
word.

A group of teenagers were crowding around Gu Yue Mo Bei as they walked

over.
When they saw Fang Yuan blocking the school gate entrance, Gu Yue Mo
Bei flew into a rage, his finger pointing towards Fang Yuan. “Fang Yuan!
You sure have the guts to actually still dare hold us back?! Right now I am
the chairman, and as a normal student when you see me, you should first
bow and greet me!”

What answered him next was Fang Yuan’s fist.

Gu Yue Mo Bei was caught unexpected. After being hit by the fist, he could
not refrain from retreating a few big steps backwards, his face full of
disbelief. “You hit me, you actually dared to hit me? I am but the
chairman!”

What answered him again was still Fang Yuan’s fists.

Bang, bang, bang.

After a few rounds of exchanging offensive and defensive blows, Gu Yue

Mo Bei was knocked down to the floor by Fang Yuan, and he fell
unconscious.

The surrounding youths were all wide-eyed as they watched, all of them
unsure of how to react for a moment.

This was totally different from their imaginations!

The guards at the gate entrance had also been watching everything that
happened under their eyelids. They could not help but whisper among
themselves.

“Fang Yuan just knocked down the new class chairman, what do we do?”

“Salad dressing!” (2)

“What do you mean?”

“It means just watch them, then call some other guys and tidy up the place.”

“But…”
“Hey hey, you want to provoke a person like Fang Yuan? I hope you
remember what happened to Wang Da and Wu Er!”

The questioning guard immediately quivered and stopped saying anymore.

The two guards at the huge gate entrance stood perfectly straight and
upright. To let an incident happen right beside them, it was as if they were
deaf and blind, unable to hear or see anything.

After Fang Yuan sorted out Gu Yue Mo Bei, he also dealt with Fang Zheng
and Chi Cheng.

It was then that the other teenagers realised that nothing had changed. Fang
Yuan was still the same old Fang Yuan, and the extortion would still
continue as always.

“Each of you hand over one piece of primeval stone, vice chairmen three
pieces, class chairman eight pieces.” Fang Yuan announced the new rules.

The youths could only sigh and obediently fish out their primeval stones.

When they walked out of the school gates, suddenly someone slapped his
head and exclaimed loudly, “I’ve thought of it, no wonder Fang Yuan did
not want the position of class chairman. He wanted to continue extorting
us!”

“That’s right. Everytime he does it he would get about fifty-nine piece of

primeval stones, and right now it’s gone up to about sixty-eight pieces. If he
was the class chairman, he’d only get ten pieces.” Quite a few of them were
enlightened.

“He’s too treacherous, too cunning, too savage!” Some of them were
slapping their thighs, full of hatred and resentment.

“Sigh, this way it means that there’s nothing extraordinary about the
position of class and vice chairman. They’ll also be extorted and be left
with two pieces, just like the rest of us.”
It was unknown who just spoke, but when the youngsters heard it, they all
could not help but turn silent.

Bang!

The academy elder slapped the table fiercely, feeling extremely furious.

“This Fang Yuan is just too absurd, what is he trying to do? To go as far as
to continue extorting, taking eight pieces from the class chairman and three
pieces from the vice chairman. With this, what is the difference of being a
class and vice chairman in comparison with the other normal students?!”
The academy elder tried his best to suppress his voice, but his tone was
filled with fury.

When Fang Yuan rejected the position of class chairman, it meant rejecting
his own integration into the clan’s system. In strict terms, this was a sort of
betrayal towards the clan itself. This was enough to make the academy elder
very angry.

Immediately after that Fang Yuan had gone to extort his fellow classmates.
His handreach was getting further, and this had already gone beyond the
academy elder’s bottom line. After the extortion this time, the influence of
class chairman and vice chairman would be completely weakened.

Over time, the normal students would lose their respect and interest for
these two positions.

While Fang Yuan’s actions this time seemed small, the meaning behind it
was rather heavy.

It was pretty much using oneself’s own strength to challenge the clan’s
system!

This was something the academy elder totally did not wish to see. He was
raising the clan’s fresh new hopes, not the clan’s traitors. Yet despite
knowing Fang Yuan had gone and challenge his baseline, he knew that he
was unable to do anything to handle the matter.
If he really did, the first one who would not let him go would be the clan
head. The second and third person to have opinions against him would be
Gu Yue Chi Lian and Gu Yue Mo Chen.

The clan head put in all his hopes onto Gu Yue Fang Zheng, for Fang Zheng
was the only A grade talent in three years. The clan leader needed a
tenacious and independant genius, not a fragile and delicate flower who was
cared for.

At the same time for Chi Lian and Mo Chen, they also had placed their
hopes onto their own respective grandsons, hoping that their grandchildren
would grow in the midst of setbacks and frustrations.

If the academy elder acted and replaced the students in punishing Fang
yuan, once word got out then there would be the sayings of “Mo and Chi
family’s future successors could not beat Fang Yuan and could only let the
elders help them out.”

How unpleasant that would be.

This would inevitably be a huge blow towards the fame and honor of the
Mo and Chi family.

Of course the academy elder was not afraid of a small little Fang Yuan, but
he was instead worried that his intervention would attract pressure from the
three sides – the clan head, Mo and Chi bloodline. They pretty much made
up of almost the entire Gu Yue high authorities. As a lowly elder, how could
he possibly endure?

“The root of this matter still goes back to Fang Yuan’s secret. What in the
world did he rely on to break through to the middle stage?” The academy
elder restrained the fire in his heart and shot his gaze at the three
investigation reports on his table.

The first report showed extensive info about Fang Yuan’s family
background.
Fang Yuan was born into a good family; there was nothing strange about his
identity and his life experience was perfectly clean and spotless. Both his
parents had passed away and he was taken in by his uncle and aunt.
However they did not get along, and ever since he attended the academy
Fang Yuan had always stayed in the academy hostel.

The second report was about Fang Yuan’s life records.

He had showed early intelligence during junior age, and was seen
optimistically by the clansmen, predicted to be a possible A grade talent. Yet
after the Awakening Ceremony, he was tested to be a C grade, greatly
disappointing the clan.

The third report was on Fang Yuan’s recent trail.

His everyday life patterns were very simple, and he had a rigid schedule.
During the day he would always be attending lessons in the academy, and in
the night he would always sleep in the dormitories. He was extremely
hardworking in his cultivation, and would always enter a Gu Master’s
cultivation every night, nurturing his aperture. There were times he would
go out to the village’s only inn to have better meals and buy wine to drink.

He had a special affection towards wine, and loved to drink the green
bamboo wine. Under his hostel bed, he kept tens of pots of green bamboo
wine.

The academy elder looked carefully again at the three reports, his heart
forming a deeper impression of Fang Yuan again.

“Both his parents died early, and he was unable to get along with his uncle
and aunt… No wonder this brat Fang Yuan does not have a sense of
belonging towards the clan. He was personally crowned as a genius among
all by the clansmen, yet they also personally plucked him out of the sky and
threw him down to the earth… No wonder he is so wild and unruly, and so
peculiarly cold and detached. His life is so simple and he is assiduous
towards cultivation. This is him holding back his breath, unwilling to
concede, he wants to prove his ability to the clan! Thus that is why when I
suppressed him, he retaliated so fiercely…”
Once the academy elder carefully thought until this point, he could not help
but heave a sigh.

The more he learnt about Fang Yuan, the more he understood Fang Yuan.

Of course, understanding does not mean forgiving. Fang Yuan went against
him, offending his dignity, rejecting to be class chairman, and even
extorting his classmates. These were things he could not tolerate.

Shaking the information in his hands, the academy elder frowned again.
“Although these reports are detailed, they have nothing to do with Fang
Yuan’s advancement secret. It has already been a few days, these people are
atrocious!”

Boom, boom, boom.

At this time, knocking sounds were heard on the door.

“Come inside,” the academy elder said.

The door opened.

It was the clan head, Gu Yue Bo’s personal guard. “The clan leader has
orders, esteemed elder, please hurry to the main family pavilion, there is a
matter to discuss.”

“Oh, what’s the matter?” The academy elder stood up from his seat, he had
felt the severity of the issue from the guard’s tone and expression.

“The Rank four Gu Master Sir Jia Fu has come back, his brother Jia Jin
Sheng has gone missing!” The guard answered.

“Hiss…” The academy elder instantly drew a mouthful of cold air.

(1) This analogy is unique to the author. I translated as closely as possible,

yeah… Something about how basically two colors in the sky blend together
like an emperor ‘sleeping’ with his concubine.
(2) Salad dressing is a chinese wordplay that is very hard to contextualise.
(怎么办 Zen Me Ban and 凉拌 Liang Ban, are homophones with the
character ‘Ban’ so it is a phrase commonly used when people don’t know
how to reply to the “How?” question.)
Chapter 55
 Chapter 55: Exactly the words I wanted to hear!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The moon, round like a wheel, was faintly discernable among the floating
clouds.

The academy elder hurriedly walked on the road, his face barely visible
under the flickering moonlight.

It was hard to survive in this world, and Gu Masters going missing was a
common thing. With his extensive life experience, the academy elder knew
that under normal circumstances, these sort of sudden disappearances often
spelled death.

Anyone can die, but Jia Jin Sheng cannot! Especially not dying in the Gu
Yue Village.

His identity was special, his father being the Jia family head, his brother
being the Rank four Gu Master Jia Fu.

A Rank four Gu Master has yellow gold primeval essence, and they have
absurd fighting power. Within the Gu Yue clan, only the clan leader is Rank
four and can match up to him, while the other clan elders were all Rank
three.

The Jia family head was at an even higher cultivation level. He was a Rank
five, and under his lead the Jia family rose to prosperity, becoming a large
sized clan and possessing the resources of an entire mountain, with a large
number of clansmen. Compared to them, Gu Yue clan was just a middle
sized one.
If the two clans fought, Gu Yue village would definitely have the
disadvantage.

The most crucial part was, if this matter was spread, the Gu Yue clan’s
reputation would be tarnished. Many merchants are vigilant in choosing
their routes. Without the interaction with merchants, the Gu Yue clan’s
surplus local resources would not have an avenue to sell, and the external
resources they required would not be purchasable. As time passes, they
would definitely weaken.

“This matter is severe, if we do not handle it well, it would be a disaster!”

The academy elder worriedly rushed towards the clan head’s pavilion.

Once he stepped into the conference hall in the clan head’s pavilion, the
academy elder felt the solemn and serious atmosphere.

The main seat was occupied by the current clan leader Gu Yue Bo. The fat
and short Jia Fu brought along five to six followers with him and stood at
the center of the hall, adopting an accusative stance.

Under the bright light of the lamp, the solemn faces of the elders who were
standing at side of their chairs were evident.

Jia Fu was a Rank four Gu Master, and since he was not sitting, these Rank
three clan elders naturally did not dare to sit.

This was the deterrent force of a Rank four Gu Master.

It was also a form of respect for power.

“Greetings….” The clan elders were about to pay their respects, but they
were stopped by the clan leader Gu Yue Bo’s hands.

Gu Yue Bo who had grizzled white hair was using his finger to rub his
temple, a look of distress on his face, “I’m not going to say more about the
matter, the clan academy is always under your supervision. Let me ask you,
where is Gu Yue Fang Yuan?”
The academy elder was shocked. Internally he thought, how does this have
to do with that brat Fang Yuan?

He answered politely, “At this timing, he should be cultivating in the

academy hostel.”

The clan leader sighed, “Brother Jia is very suspicious now, he thinks that
his brother Jia Jin Sheng’s disappearance has something to do with Fang
Yuan. I order you to go and bring him here immediately.”

The academy elder shuddered in his heart. “Yes!”

He understood the severity of this issue, and hurriedly paid his respects
before he turned around and left.

“Brother Jia, that Fang Yuan will be brought here immediately, have a seat.”
Gu Yue Bo pointed at a seat near him and said to Jia Fu.

Jia Fu laughed bitterly, cupping his fists at Gu Yue Bo. “I apologise to

Brother Gu Yue! I was really anxious then, it has already been days since
I’ve seen my brother, I fear for the worst. I really cannot afford to wait.”

There are some things that, only after losing them can they be understood.

Jia Fu only realised it in these few days, the reason why his father paired
him up with the burden Jia Jin Sheng for the caravan.

It was to test his nature. Seeing if he could, while suppressing his brother,
remember their kinship, and at the same time take care of this little brother.

If Jia Jin Sheng was dead now, how would his father view him?

When he realized this point, he immediately held investigations in the

caravan, and quickly set his target on the Gu Yue village.

He rushed back without a single break.

Now that he was standing, reluctant to sit, it was to create the impression
that he was determined to get the culprit. This was both emitting pressure
on the Gu Yue clan as well as giving his father a form of assurance when he
return to the Jia family.

“Reporting to clan leader sir, Fang Yuan has been brought here.” Quickly,
the academy elder brought Fang Yuan to the hall.

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan pays his respects to clan elder, Sir Jia Fu, and the
various clan elders,” Fang Yuan said with an expressionless face.

“It’s him?” Jia Fu coldly observed Fang Yuan, at the same time, asked a
female Gu Master.

This female Gu Master was the one who Fang Yuan bought the purple gold
rock from at the gambling den.

“Yes, it’s him! There is no mistake,” The female Gu Master stared at Fang
Yuan, saying confidently.

Jia Fu nodded. Immediately his gaze was like two steel blades, slashing at
Fang Yuan. But he did not interrogate openly, for this was the Gu Yue
village, thus he had to give the Gu Yue clan leader some respect.

Thus he looked towards the Gu Yue clan leader.

The Gu Yue clan leader had a serious expression. He knew that Jia Fu
purposely conversed with the female Gu Master loudly; it was not only to
confirm Fang Yuan’s identity, but also to assert his motive.

He was implying to the Gu Yue clan head that he had the evidence in his
hands, “I have sufficient confidence, so you better not overly defend your
own clansman.”

This caused some displeasure in the Gu Yue clan leader’s heart, thinking,
“You Jia Fu lost your brother, it was your mistake to begin with. Now you
come here to our Gu Yue village with an accusative stance, do you think my
Gu Yue clan can be easily bullied? My Gu Yue clan is impartial and works
around based on logic, but don’t be mistaken that this is a weakness!’
Thinking of this, he did not interrogate Fang Yuan immediately, but fiercely
said to the female Gu Master, “Did you see clearly? I’m not afraid to tell
you this, but Fang Yuan has a twin brother who looks extremely identical to
him, are you really sure it’s him?”

The female Gu Master was just a Rank one, and under Gu Yue Bo’s
pressure, she instantly showed a hesitant and nervous expression.

Jia Fu frowned and took a step forward, blocking her from Gu Yue Bo’s
sight. Cupping his fists, he said, “Brother Gu Yue, I’ve always respected the
Gu Yue clan. Especially the Gu Yue clan’s first and fourth clan leader, these
two were Rank five powerhouses. One built the clan from scratch, where he
went through tough times and created the Gu Yue family’s hundred year
foundation. Another was a benevolent hero, for to protect his clan he
sacrificed himself, and is worth respecting. Brother Gu Yue, as the clan
leader, I believe you will act impartial, please interrogate this Fang Yuan.”

Hearing that his tone had softened, Gu Yue Bo nodded, but his heart had
already decided.

If this Fang Yuan was the culprit, then he would hand him over. After all he
was just a C grade, there is no loss in losing him. As long as it is able to
settle this dispute.

If Fang Zheng was the one who did it, Fang Yuan also has to take the
blame. Fang Zheng is an A grade genius, the only one in three years. The
clan higher-ups still expect to nurture him greatly to go against that Bai
Ning Bing from the Bai clan village.

“Fang Yuan, don’t be nervous.” Gu Yue clan leader smiled benevolently,

using a gentle tone towards Fang Yuan, “Let me ask you, do you know any
information about that Jia Jin Sheng?”

“Who is Jia Jin Sheng?” Fang Yuan looked up and said calmly.

“He’s lying!” The female Gu Master from the gambling den shrieked right
as Fang Yuan finished his question.
The people in the discussion hall, upon hearing this shrieking, frowned and
all looked towards her.

The female Gu Master pointed at Fang Yuan, showing an agitated

expression, “It’s him, it’s him! At our gambling den, he bought six purple
gold rocks, and the fifth was a mudskin toad. Young master Jia saw it and
tried to use five hundred primeval stones to purchase it. This left a huge
impression on me, even if a year or two passes I will not forget. Not only
me, but the other Gu Masters at the gambling den saw it too.”

“Is that so…” The Gu Yue clan leader’s smiled disappeared, showing a stiff
expression and dragging his question towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan only nodded now, showing a hint of nervousness, and pretended
to suddenly realize, “Oh it’s him. Alright, if he’s Jia Jin Sheng, then I do
know him. But after the gambling den incident, I did not see him ever
again.”

“He’s lying again!” This time, it was not the female Gu Master, but a male
Gu Master who called out in public.

Fang Yuan looked towards him, and as if he had recognised him, showed an
expression of shock, but quickly tried to hide it.

His expression changes were reflected in everyone’s eyes.

Everyone started to ponder.

“Esteemed sirs, I am an employee at the wine shop.” The male Gu Master

first cupped his fists to everyone, and then vigorously pointed at Fang Yuan,
“That night, I saw clearly at the wine shop, he was sitting with young
master Jia Jin Sheng, and the two secretly conversed for a long time!”

Once he said so, the hall erupted into a clammer of soft discussions.

The academy elder used a cold gaze and looked at Fang Yuan.

The Gu Yue clan master moved backwards slightly, slowly leaning on the
large chair.
“How can that be!” Fang Yuan showed an obviously frantic expression,
hurriedly saying, “The wine shop had so many people, how can you
recognise me just like that? You might be mistaken yourself!”

“Haha, I am definitely not wrong.” The male Gu Master smiled, his gaze
staring at Fang Yuan, at this moment he felt extremely confident.

“Not to mention it was young master Jia Jin Sheng who coming to our wine
shop, we have to take care of him carefully. Even if it was not him, I would
still have had recognised you, as you had given me a strong impression!”

Saying so, he raised his eyebrows, saying smugly, “Do you still remember?
That day you came to our shop, wanting a cup of monkey wine. But you
only drank a mouthful. After that you released the Liquor worm and fed the
remaining monkey wine to it. I saw the Liquor worm and was very agitated,
wanting to purchase it from you but you refused to sell it and walked away
immediately!”

“Good, exactly what I wanted to hear.” Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his
heart, but showed an expression of shock on his face, subconsciously taking
a step backwards.

“Liquor worm!” The eyes of the academy elder behind Fang Yuan shone.

But quickly he frowned again, and could not help but ask, “Fang Yuan,
where did you get that Liquor worm?”

Fang Yuan clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, but refusing to answer.

The surrounding clan elders flew into a rage, starting to scowl.

“Fang Yuan, do you know the trouble you’ve caused!”

“Talk, exactly what happened?”

“Tell us of what you know, own up. This Liquor worm, is it Jia Jin
Sheng’s?”
“How can it be his? The Liquor worm is obviously obtained by myself! I
opened it!” Fang Yuan raised his head suddenly, his expression worked up,
as if he could not stand such a slander, and shouted loudly with an indignant
emotion.
Chapter 56
 Chapter 56: Dispelling suspicion

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“You opened it?” Gu Yue Bo frowned deeply.

“That’s right, at this point, I shall not hide it any further!” Fang Yuan acted
as if he was risking everything, speaking urgently, “I bought six pieces of
purple gold rock at the gambling den, but because I did not have enough
primeval essence, I only opened five on the spot. The last one, I brought
back to the hostel and after opening it, I found a Liquor worm inside. I was
overjoyed as I had searched up information on it before, and knew that the
Liquor worm is a rare Gu worm that could supplement my lack of talent,
thus I refined it on the spot.”

“Wait, you said that you bought six gambling rocks and opened a mudskin
toad as well as another Liquor worm?” The clan elders upon hearing this,
could not help but ask in an unbelievable tone.

“So what?” Fang Yuan answered as a matter of fact, then pointed at the
female Gu Master, shouting, “She can be my witness!”

Everyone on the scene were momentarily stunned before turning to look at

the female Gu Master.

The female Gu Master felt the pressure from all the gaze and did not dare to
lie, so she honestly said, “It is indeed true, Fang Yuan bought six rocks and
opened the mudskin toad on the fifth. He brought the sixth piece away, but I
do not know what he opened inside.”

“Buying six purple gold rocks and getting two Gu worms consecutively,
isn’t this luck way too good?” The clan elders mumbled.
“What’s so hard to understand? It’s luck, who knows, heh, back in the days
when I gambled rocks I also…”

“Wait, Gu worms are hard to refine, why did it sound like Fang Yuan easily
refined it?” Some of the family elders asked suspiciously.

“You’re muddled. Don’t you know that when a Gu is extracted from a

fossil, they’re extremely weak, tittering on the brink of death? Even refining
then from a lower Rank is possible. What’s so peculiar about him refining
the Liquor worm?” Someone immediately answered.

Fang Yuan continued, “I refined the Liquor worm and went to the stores on
the second day, I indeed went to a wine shop in the afternoon and bought a
cup of monkey wine. At night, I went again and witnessed a scamming
scene, Jia Jin Sheng was selling a smelly fart fat worm as a Black Boar Gu
to someone in my clan. Next, Sir Jia Fu appeared and resolved the dispute.”

“I went to the wine shop again, but I did not expect to see Jia Jin Sheng
drinking wine in a poor mood. I had just obtained the Liquor worm and was
extremely happy, so I asked him how many primeval stones I could sell it
for. Who knew that Jia Jin Sheng upon hearing my Liquor worm, wanted to
forcefully buy it. I obviously rejected him, I had no intentions to sell it, only
wanting to know its value. Even if I wanted to sell it, that would have to be
after I am Rank two, thus I left on the spot.”

Fang Yuan’s words had brought out the matter of Jia Jin Sheng and Jia Fu’s
conflict, causing the clan elders to see Jia Fu in a different light.

Under these pressuring gazes, Jia Fu coughed and asked Fang Yuan with
shining eyes, “Then did my brother chase after you?”

Fang Yuan nodded, half lying, “He not only chased me, but also added an
extra fifty primeval stones. But I did not want to sell it, so he was furious,
claiming that the Gu Yue clan was no big deal, asking me to watch out.
After saying that, he walked away. I never saw him again.”

Jia Fu nodded internally. With his understanding of Jia Jin Sheng, he

definitely would have chased after Fang Yuan and gave threats as that was
his style.

If Fang Yuan said he did not chase after him, that would be a lie.

But since Fang Yuan said so, this led Jia Fu to a predicament. His
investigations led up only to this clue. Did Jia Jin Sheng really not search
for Fang Yuan after that? Maybe he found Fang Yuan again afterwards, and
as the two could not agree on the matter, he was killed by Fang Yuan ——
This is entirely possible.

‘Speak, was Jia Jin Sheng killed by you!” Thinking of this, Jia Fu
interrogated fiercely, attempting to pressurize Fang Yuan with his aura.

Fang Yuan denied once again, claiming that he did not see Jia Jin Sheng
anymore.

Jia Fu had no other evidence, and while one side questioned intensely, the
other denied. At this point, it had become a stalemate.

As Gu Yue Bo listened to their conversation, he turned displeased. That Jia

Jin Sheng actually dared to threaten the Gu Yue clan on Qing Mao
mountain, this was not giving the Gu Yue clan any respect! Now this Jia Fu
dared to interrogate a Gu Yue clan member so intensely in front of all the
Gu Yue clan higher-ups. Nevermind if he had evidence, but now that he has
no evidence or proof, if this matter spread out, what would happen to the
Gu Yue clan’s honour?

“Brother Jia, it’s not that I want to speak out of turn.” The clan leader
interrupted his interrogation and continued, ” Jia Jin Sheng has gone
missing for so many days, hope is bleak. The culprit who caused this crime
definitely left behind some traces. Did brother find anything yet?”

Jia Fu stared fiercely at Fang Yuan before raising his head and sighed, “I
understand brother’s words! If there were any traces, I would not have
come here to find the culprit. That criminal is obviously experienced with
vile methods and meticulous handling. To speak the truth, all the clues are
at a dead end, and on the day we left, there was a huge rain that could have
washed away all the possible blood traces.”
Gu Yue Bo smiled faintly. “Brother Jia, I heard that your Jia family has a
tracing Gu worm called the Underworld Path Butterfly. It can emit soul
fragrance and be implanted on Gu worms. The scent is colourless and
odourless, and never fades. Your Jia family member’s Gu worms all have
this scent. As long as you use the Underworld Path Butterfly, following the
fragrance, you’ll be able to find the Gu worms and thus your brother.”

Jia Fu solemnly said, “I used the Underworld Path Butterfly long ago, but
there was no effect. I’m sure you’ve heard that once the Gu worm dies, the
fragrance dissipates. Evidently the murderer killed all of the Gu worms in
my brother’s possession.

Gu Yue Bo’s words turned, “That’s strange. The murderer harmed your
brother, but he did not go for the Gu worms, or for extortion to get primeval
stones. The murderer killed this tiny Rank one Gu Master, what was the
motive?”

Indeed, what was the motive?

Regardless of whether Jia Jin Sheng was dead, there had to be a motive,
right?

If not for Gu worms nor primeval stones, then was it for love?

But if it was a crime of passion, it had to be a long term process, and Jia Fu
would not have come to the Gu Yue clan. The caravan members and
clansmen would fall under greater suspicion as they have a long
relationship with him.

At once, the hall fell into silence.

Fang Yuan followed everyone’s gazes, and suddenly said to Jia Fu, “Maybe
Jia Jin Sheng was killed by you. I heard before that your family is splitting
assets, now that one brother is dead, wouldn’t you get more inheritance?”

“Shut up!”

“Baseless accusation, do not slander Sir Jia Fu.”

Immediately the family elders erupted.

Fang Yuan kept quiet immediately, his gaze shining obscurely, but his
objective had been reached.

His earlier words were like a pebble that was thrown into the elders’ sea of
thoughts, causing waves of ripples.

The clan elders followed this train of thought, and started to think, “Jia Fu
cannot kill Jia Jin Sheng, this causes more harm to him than reward. Wait,
even if he won’t do it, that does not mean others won’t…”

“The Jia family’s internal dispute!” A certain elder had a flash of inspiration
and lightly muttered.

His volume was not high, but in the silent hall it could be heard clearly.

At once, the elders’ gaze shone.

“Finally, they have thought of this.” Fang Yuan’s mouth twitched, his
eyelids drooping, hiding away his cold gaze.

The Jia family’s clan leader wants to split the assets and impart the role of
clan leader, and because of this his children underwent intense competition,
especially Jia Fu and Jia Gui, both being Rank four Gu Masters and having
their own supporters.

In these few years, the Jia family situation is somewhat known by many of
the mountain villages.

Jia Jin Sheng’s misfortune was too strange. Currently there was no evidence
showing that Fang Yuan was the killer. It was obvious that the motivation
for murder was not enough just based on the theory of killing just because
of a Liquor worm. At the same time, the murderer’s actions and methods
would not be so meticulous and secretive.

But if Jia Gui was the one acting in the shadows, then it could be explained.
Everyone present was a higher-up, and as someone in a position of power,
there had to be something capable about them. At least for political
schemes, they had great intuition and perception.

The Jia family dispute, this gave everyone’s imaginations a pair of wings.

The Jia family clan leader had arranged Jia Jin Sheng to join the caravan.
One reason was to test Jia Fu’s nature, to see if he was a good brother, and
only suppressed but not bully his brother.

Now that Jia Jin Sheng was in trouble, Jia Fu would be implicated, and who
is the true winner?

Obviously Jia Fu’s greatest competitor — Jia Gui!

The criminal’s actions were so fluid, causing all clues to come to a dead
end, this showed how experienced the criminal was. How could this be
done by a fifteen year old like Fang Yuan?

All the answers were revealed at once!

The discussion hall was still silent, but the elders exchanged gazes full of
meaning.

“To make someone believe in something wholeheartedly, it is not through

convincing, but directing.” Fang Yuan’s keen observation allowed him to
see these glances, and he laughed coldly in his heart, but his face still
showed an expression of indignance and stubbornness.

Jia Fu’s face was so dark and gloomy it could drip water.

The matter of the Jia family internal dispute caused him to think of Jia Gui.

At that moment, his soul shook!

Who else had a greater motivation than Jia Gui?

No one!
“I understand now, I understand everything.” The academy elder stood
behind Fang Yuan, looking at him. His eyes shone, “Fang Yuan is both
lucky and unfortunate, meeting Jia Jin Sheng at the last moment. With his
age of just starting to attend school, how can he get rid of all the evidence?
If he had such scheming abilities, how can he show this expression of
indomitability. He denied it earlier just to hide the existence of the Liquor
worm.”

At this point, everyone had dispelled their suspicious towards Fang Yuan!

“Getting rid of the suspicions on me is just the first step, what happens next
is crucial.” Fang Yuan was in grasp of the situation, and at this point,
everything was going according to plan. He sighed internally and looked at
Jia Fu.

Jia Fu looked at him too, the unfriendliness in his eyes growing obviously
more intense.
Chapter 57
 Chapter 57: A gentleman’s lie

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Jia Fu was conflicted.

He had dispelled his suspicions of Fang Yuan and was certain that Jia Gui
was the mastermind.

“But yet, so what if I know the truth?” Jia Fu felt anger and sadness
surging, “I have no evidence at hand, so if I accused Jia Gui in front of
father without any proof, father might even think I am trying to frame him!”

Jia Fu was smart, and he looked at Fang Yuan, a light flashing in his eyes.

Jia Jin Sheng had journeyed with him together, and now that he was
missing, it was Jia Fu’s fault for not taking care of him! Since he could not
accuse Jia Gui, he had to give his father some answer.

And this answer was in front of him!

“That’s right, if Fang Yuan is the scapegoat, it would at least help me get
through this crisis. Once I get over it, I can get back at Jia Gui with twice
the payback.” Jia Fu thought deviously.

He raised his pitch, interrogating Fang Yuan, “Fang Yuan, how do you
prove that you did not harm Jia Jin Sheng?”

The clan elders were stunned. This is obviously your internal dispute, why
are you still grabbing onto my clansman?

Only the Gu Yue clan leader looked grim, his expression turning sharp as he
stared at Jia Fu.
“Fang Yuan, what proof do you have to show that you were not present at
the time and did not harm Jia Jin Sheng? If you can’t prove it, you are the
murderer!” Jia Fu pointed at Fang Yuan, his gaze furious as he threatened
with his aura.

“He’s trying to push our clan’s Fang Yuan into being the scapegoat. How
atrocious!” At this point, the clan elders had reacted and their expressions
all turned unkind.

They had been fighting and scheming against each other for a long time, so
if they thought about it, they would know easily about Jia Fu’s standpoint
and intentions.

“Witness? Of course I do! I prepared it long ago.” Fang Yuan smiled

internally, but showed an expression of shock, as if he wanted to speak but
couldn’t.

“No need for others, just tell me if you do or not!” Jia Fu raised his voice
again, forcing Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan showed an indignant expression, but finally gritted his teeth and
said helplessly, “No.”

“Haha. Then you are —”” Jia Fu was about to declare his verdict but at that
point.

“Halt!” The academy elder took a step forward and stood in front of Fang
Yuan with a solemn expression, “Of course he has a witness, that would be
me!”

“You?” Jia Fu asked in shock.

“That’s right, me.” The academy elder, facing Rank four Jia Fu, was
slightly overpowered. But seeing Gu Yue Bo’s encouraging gaze, he
gathered his courage and raised his head, “These days when Fang Yuan
unexpectedly became the first to break through the middle stage, I sent my
men to investigate him. His everyday activities and actions are recorded
down, there was no time for him to harm Jia Jin Sheng.”
“Yes, this is it…” Fang Yuan hid behind the academy elder’s back, where
no one could see his curled lips, revealing a smile.

Jia Fu’s expression was dim, he did not expect the academy elder to stand
out and protect Fang Yuan.

The crucial point was, the Gu Yue clan leader did not object. This had a
great meaning, for it meant the Gu Yue clan was going to protect Fang
Yuan.

“I get it! I wanted to get Fang Yuan to become the scapegoat, but that was
from my perspective, and I did not consider their perspective. Indeed, once
Fang Yuan is criminalized, the Gu Yue clan has to bear the evil name of
harming a Jia family member. From then on they will have to face the Jia
family’s retribution as well as losing their own reputation. Furthermore,
future caravans would not dare to come here and trade anymore, the loss is
too great!”

Thinking of this, Jia Fu was anguished and wanted to slap his own head.

The Gu Yue higher-ups did have such considerations.

Fang Yuan was a C grade, so if he really harmed Jia Jin Sheng, handing him
over was nothing. But the point was, now that his suspicion had been
cleared, if he was handed over, wouldn’t the Gu Yue clan suffer a great
injustice and lose out greatly?

Knowing that this conflict could not be resolved, Jia Fu gritted his teeth,
determined to get his way. He said, “If so, why don’t you let me use the
Footprint Gu. Once this Gu is used, it will show us his last 30,000 footprints
on the floor.”

The academy elder scoffed in displeasure.

Jia Fu’s words meant he did not trust them. But he has no reason to stop
him, thus he let Jia Fu through.
“Come and test!” Fang Yuan laughed coldly at Jia Fu, walking towards him
with his head lowered.

He was confident, having predicted this. Thus, these few days he kept his
activities within the village and did not go to the secret cave.

Under the Gu Yue higher-ups supervision, Jia Fu did not play any tricks.

The Footprint Gu was very peculiar, it was shaped like a person’s foot. Its
material was like a translucent yogurt, giving others a feeling of
smoothness, and the surface had a yellow-green luster.

Its size was small, being only palm size.

Jia Fu held it in his hands, sending primeval essence into the Footprint Gu.

The Footprint Gu became brighter, and then suddenly with a “bam” sound,
exploded into a cloud of yellow green powder.

The powdery cloud enveloped Fang Yuan and spun around him before
flying out of the discussion hall.

Where the powder cloud passed through, the floor would show a series of
footprints.

These footprints glowed in a yellow green light around the same size as
Fang Yuan’s foot. They were Fang Yuan’s footprints when he entered the
discussion hall.

The footprints extended from the family head pavilion into the academy
hostel and then to the academy and circulated. Other than that, it reached
the mountain village’s inn.

The powder cloud became smaller as it flew, and finally at the 30,000th
step, it vanished.

The results were clear, everyone had checked and knew that Fang Yuan was
innocent, there were no suspicious points.
Jia Fu sighed, taking out a small jade box.

He opened the jade box, where there was only a jade piece inside.

The jade piece was a translucent emerald colour, and there was a Gu sealed
inside.

This was a phasmids(1), its body long and slim, with the colour of jade, its
entire body looking like a bamboo tube.

The phasmids was normally longer than a palm, but this one wasn’t, being
only the size of a fingernail. On its surface, it emitted a white glow.

“Green jade as its body, white light enveloping its form, this is the Bamboo
Gentleman!” At once, some of the elders recognised this Gu worm and
exclaimed.

Even Gu Yue Bo was moved. He could not refrain from advising, “Brother
Jia, this Bamboo Gentleman is a Rank four Gu, it is not easily refined. Why
waste it here?”

Jia Fu shook his head, looking at Fang Yuan: “This Bamboo Gentleman was
obtained through gambling rocks when I was young. The rock was only
opened halfway before it could no longer be extracted. As everyone knows,
this Gu worm is fed honesty as food, being able to detect lies from birth.
Only an honest gentleman who has never lied can refine and feed this Gu.”

“Fang Yuan, you just have to open this rock and keep the Bamboo
Gentleman in your aperture. Whatever I ask you, you will answer. Next, we
will take out this Gu and let everyone see if it changed colour. If the Gu
changes colour, you’re lying!”

“No problem.” Fang Yuan did not hesitate. He immediately opened the jade
piece and did as Jia Fu instructed.

The Bamboo Gentleman appeared in his aperture and emitted a faint green
glow, covering the primeval sea.
Fang Yuan felt that if he said a single lie, the Bamboo Gentleman could
detect it and turn its body from green into another color.

But he only accepted it because he had his trump card.

“Spring Autumn Cicada!” With a thought, the Spring Autumn Cicada

awakened and let out a trace of its aura.

This aura was overpowering, and it immediately suppressed the Bamboo

Gentleman.

The Bamboo Gentleman emitted a green glow and immediately shrunk its
body. Its entire body was curled up, trembling in fear. How could it have the
excessive spirit to detect lies?

Jia Fu begin interrogating, with his first question hitting home, “Fang Yuan,
did you harm my brother Jia Jin Sheng?”

“No!” Fang Yuan affirmed.

Jia Fu asked, “Do you have any other information about him?”

Fang Yuan shook his head, “No idea.”

Jia Fu asked again, “Did you say anything dishonest to us earlier?”

Fang Yuan shook his head again, “No.”

“Alright, you can take out the Bamboo Gentleman now.” After finishing
with three questions, Jia Fu instructed Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took out the Bamboo Gentleman, and everyone saw that it was
still an emerald green colour with no changes.

The clan elders heaved a sigh of relief.

Jia Fu’s expression became milder as he kept the Bamboo Gentleman,

cupping his fists towards Gu Yue Bo, “Much offense this time, brother Gu
Yue.”
“No matter, the truth is what we wanted to see as well.” Gu Yue Bo waved
his hand, then sighed, “But what a pity for this Bamboo Gentleman.”

The Bamboo Gentleman had the ability to detect lies and was a Rank four
Gu, thus it was very valuable. But feeding and refining it was not easy. It
had to be refined by an honest gentleman. If any other Gu Master had said a
single lie, the refinement would fail and the Bamboo Gentleman would die
on the spot.

Its food was honesty. It would reside in the aperture of an honest gentleman
and consuming the gentleman’s honesty as food to survive.

Now that the Bamboo Gentleman had been opened, it was extremely weak,
but it had no food to restore its strength. After being treated so harshly by
Fang Yuan, its death was set in stone.

Jia Fu shook his head, looking at the Bamboo Gentleman in his head, not
feeling any pity.

He said solemnly, “I have already done my best to investigate, but I

received no results. This time, when I get back to the family, I will employ
the divine investigator Tie Xue Leng(2), it would definitely get this matter
cleared up! Goodbye.”

Saying so, he cupped his fists towards Gu Yue Bo and left, crisp and quick,
with a certain elegance to it.

Seeing Jia Fu and the rest leaving, Gu Yue Bo heaved a sigh of relief and
said, “You can all leave now.”

He waved at the clan elders, but suddenly thought of something and said,
“Academy elder please stay back.”

Without losing a single drop of sweat, Fang Yuan walked out of the family
head’s pavilion safe and sound.

(1) Phasmids: Stick-bugs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasmatodea

(2) 铁血冷 – Tie Xue Leng, Tie means Metal and is the name of the Tie
clan. Xue Leng means cold blood. This name will be important.
Chapter 58
Chapter 58: The clan does not only have rules and
regulations

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Clan leader, what is the matter?” The academy elder respectfully stood at a
corner.

“It’s nothing much, take a seat, I have a story to share with you.” Gu Yue
Bo squinted his eyes and said slowly.

“Your subordinate shall listen with full attention!” Academy elder chose to
sit at the seat closest to the clan leader.

Clan leader Gu Yue Bo began his story on Ren Zu.

Some say ——

Ever since Ren Zu was able to get their names and subdued the Rules and
Regulation Gu, his first order was for them to capture a longevity Gu.

Rules and Regulation Gu, one round and other other square, worked
together and could capture all the Gu in the world, a longevity Gu was
nothing difficult.

Ren Zu used the longevity Gu and got back his youth, becoming 20 years
old again.

But now the rules Gu said, “Human, although you subdued us, every time
you command us, it will add a rule and regulation.”

Regulation Gu continued, “We can catch the longevity Gu for you, this is
the first order. Our new rule and regulation is, we will not repeatedly catch
the same Gu for you.”

That means, if Ren Zu wanted to catch a longevity Gu again, the two Rules
and Regulation Gu would not help.

Ren Zu nodded, having no choice but to accept.

He gave his second command, “Then, other than the longevity Gu, please
capture all the other ten thousand Gu in the world for me.”

Rules and regulation Gu got this command and Rules Gu turned into a giant
circle, encompassing the universe. Regulation Gu turned into a giant square,
covering the large world.

One square and one round formed a giant net together, enveloping the entire
world.

When they shrunk again and returned to Ren Zu, all the Gu in the world
other than longevity Gu were captured.

Ren Zu was overjoyed, with this all the Gu belonged to him, from now on
he was the ruler of the world!

But once he opened the net, with a swoosh, a large number of worms flew
outside and the Gu that Rules and Regulation Gu worked hard to catch, all
escaped fervently.

When Ren Zu closed the net, only five Gu were left.

“Why is this?” Ren Zu was astonished.

Rules and Regulation answered him, “Human, the world has over ten
thousand Gu with all sorts of abilities. You have no strength or knowledge,
how can you subdue them? We can only capture Gu for you, to subdue
them, you have to rely on yourself to get them to work for you.”

Next they added, “This is your second order, so we’ll add a second rule and
regulation — From now on, we can only catch one Gu for you at a time.”
Ren Zu could only nod, and carefully opened the net, only showing a small
gap.

The remaining five Gu contained the Strength and Wisdom Gu. Seeing this,
Ren Zu was overjoyed.

He said to Strength Gu, “Strength Gu, you left me back then, do you have
any regrets? If you succumb to me now, I will return you your freedom.”

Strength Gu said, “Human, you are wrong. I didn’t leave not because I
couldn’t, but because I wanted to stay. You want to subdue me but that’s
impossible. I only succumb to those stronger than me, but you are out of the
question. However we can deal again, give me your youth and I will
temporarily obey you.”

Ren Zu was reluctant upon hearing this, he had just gotten back his youth,
was he about to lose it again?

But he desired strength, he knew that with strength, he would get stronger
and life would get easier.

Moreover, with strength, he could subdue more Gu.

Thus, Ren Zu accepted, and formed a second deal with it.

Ren Zu became middle-aged at once, and the strength Gu flew out of the
web and landed on Ren Zu’s shoulder.

Ren Zu had strength, and was full of confidence.

He said to Wisdom Gu: “Wisdom Gu, you left me back then, do you have
any regrets? If you succumb to me now, I will return you your freedom.”

Wisdom Gu said, “Human, you are wrong. I did not leave not because I
couldn’t, but because I wanted to stay. You want to subdue me but that’s
impossible. I only succumb to those smarter than me, yet you are not
smarter than me. But we can deal again, give me your middle age and I will
temporarily obey you.”
Ren Zu upon hearing this, refused to do the same deal again.

He treasured his life more, and he also knew that once he sold his middle
age, he would be left with old age. Before long, the Strength and Wisdom
Gu would leave him again, just like last time.

Ren Zu refused to deal, but did not want to let go of the Wisdom Gu.

Wisdom Gu was anxious, reluctantly giving in, “Alright, Human, you win. I
lost to you this time. As long as you tell me what method you used to
capture me, I will admit defeat and not take anything from you, being at
your disposal.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Zu was overjoyed and before the Rules and
Regulation Gu could stop him, he said, “I used the Rules and Regulation Gu
to capture you.”

Wisdom Gu laughed upon hearing, “I remembered it, so these Gu are called

Rules and Regulation. Haha, now that I know your names, you can no
longer capture me.”

Saying so, it turned into a flash of light and flew away, vanishing into thin
air.

Rules and Regulation Gu begin to complain, “Human, we told u long ago

that our name should be known by you alone, and not others. Otherwise, we
would be used by others. Look what happened, now that Wisdom Gu knows
our names, it spells trouble.”

Only then did Ren Zu realise that he was tricked by Wisdom Gu. He was
anguished, for he knew he lost the only chance he had of capturing the
Wisdom Gu using Rules and Regulation.

Saying so, Gu Yue Bo’s story came to an end. He looked at the academy
elder with a meaningful gaze.

Academy elder jumped from his seat. He had heard of Ren Zu’s story long
ago, but from Gu Yue Bo’s mouth, it had a greater meaning.
His gaze shone and his heart understood. He bowed slightly at Gu Yue Bo,
respectfully saying, “Clan leader, you are using this story as an analogy?
Fang Yuan as the Wisdom Gu and the clan as Ren Zu. Although Ren Zu
used the Rules and Regulation Gu to capture Wisdom Gu and managed to
trap it, the Wisdom Gu eventually escaped.”

Saying so, the academy elder paused and thought about it for a while,
before looking at Gu Yue Bo. “Sir clan leader, you want me to let go of
Fang Yuan and stop pressuring him? But he’s getting more and more
overboard…”

Gu Yue Bo stopped the academy elder’s words, holding out his hand,
indicating for him to sit and speak.

The academy elder sat and heard Gu Yue Bo sigh, “You, your
comprehension is still superb, being an intelligent person, easily getting my
point. Unfortunately your grasp of the situation is still too small, you can
only see that tiny plot of land in front of you. Let me tell you, the academy
is a small matter, and the clan is really the important one.”

“I know what you are worried about, afraid that the other students are
heavily suppressed by Fang Yuan, eventually losing the fire in their heart.
Hehehe.” Gu Yue Bo shook his head, pointing at academy elder, “You’re
overthinking it.”

“What do you think the clan is doing? Just relying on your academy to
nurture new people? Of course not, behind every student, there’s their
parents, elders, and friends. Only with these people’s support,
encouragement, expectations, our Gu Yue clan’s new generation can have
the confidence and motivation in their hearts.”

“Fang Yuan has indeed repeatedly exceeded my expectations, he has a hint

of outstanding excellence. I have been observing Fang Zheng secretly and I
have long known about Fang Yuan’s extortions, just let him continue. Use
him to train Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng, these rough jades. There
are many advantages in this matter, at the very least this round of students
have the best fighting skills among all the previous seasons.”
Academy elder was worried, “But clan leader, excessive hurdles isn’t a
good thing either, it will crush the jade. Especially that Fang Yuan has the
Liquor worm now, this worm provides great help to a Rank one Gu Master.
I’m worried that at the Rank one stage, under Fang Yuan’s suppression, no
one can overturn the situation.”

“Then let them be unable to turn over the situation!” Gu Yue Bo snorted,
showing the grace and callousness of a person in power, “This tiny setback,
what does it matter? Is it scarier than death? With their family elder’s
support, if they still lacked motivation, then they are not even jade to begin
with and have no value to nurture. The clan has tons of new students into
the academy each year, so if this season doesn’t succeed, there’s always the
next. As for Gu Yue Fang Zheng, starting tomorrow night, I will teach him
in secret.”

“With the clan leader’s personal teaching, that is really Gu Yue Fang
Zheng’s fortune.” Academy elder licked his boots at the appropriate
timing(1).

Gu Yue Bo’s expression softened as he looked at academy elder, instructing,

“Do you know the reason why after so many decades, you are still the
academy elder? Have greater tolerance, I know Fang Yuan infringed your
dignity and made you humiliated, but do you really have to be so
calculative with a junior from a younger generation?”

“I know that Fang Yuan has some earlier wisdom, but he is still a youngster
and tends to be rash. If not, he would not have hurt the guards in public and
caused you to be in a predicament. He was furious internally back then and
that is understandable. From being hailed as genius to a commoner, it is
normal to be angry at the clan.”

“He is actually very childish, you can tell from him trying to hide the
Liquor worm. How can the Liquor worm be hid? He is not mature yet and
is still innocent, don’t think of him as a scary being. Comparing him to the
Wisdom Gu, I am thinking too highly of him. At most, he has some small
intelligence, but lacks true wisdom and knowledge. If he hid the fact that he
rose to middle stage silently, or accepted the class chairman position
without any displeasure, that would truly be deep scheming.”
“Clan leader, your meaning is?” Academy elder raised his eyebrows.

“What I’m trying to say is, Fang Yuan is discontented with the clan, thus let
him go vent his anger. An ant spitting at an elephant, will the elephant care?
Emotions are meant to be let out and not bottled inside, so once he’s done
venting, he will naturally fuse into the clan. Our Gu Yue clan has been
around for nearly a thousand years ever since the first generation founded it.
There has been countless of people who were discontented with the clan,
but eventually did any of them manage to overturn the clan?”

“A clan is not just about rules and regulations, there’s also blood relation
and kinship. Ren Zu wanted to use the rules and regulations to capture
wisdom. Yet not only did he lose, but he also informed wisdom of the rules
and regulations. There is profound meaning in this story – the rules are
dead, but people are alive, and relationships are deep. If you only know
how to use rules and regulations to catch people, it will only increase
resentment and cause Fang Yuan to be more dissociated with the clan. Fang
Yuan is only a C grade, if he’s lucky, after tens of years he’d still be a low-
ranking clan elder. But he is still Gu Yue Fang Zheng’s twin brother, do you
understand now?”

“Understood!” Hearing Gu Yue Bo’s final sentence, the academy elder

realized at once.

“Mmm, if a family only has rules and regulations, then the family is a pile
of dead objects. But if you add in blood relationship, it’ll be alive.” Gu Yue
Bo nodded, “and one more sentence, I want you to remember.”

“Please admonish me, sir clan elder.”

Gu Yue Bo, with a distant gaze, looked out of the window towards the
moon, “The sea can hold the water from thousands of rivers, it’s big
because of its capacity. A person is great when he can be tolerant and
forgiving to many other people. Remember this, and leave.”

“Yes clan leader sir, your subordinate takes his leave,” said the academy
elder as he left the hall.
(1) Boot-licking basically.
Chapter 59
 Chapter 59: Regardless of Rank Three or Four,
you’re all monkeys

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Tonight’s moon was especially round.

The moonlight shone splendid and like muslin, draping over the Qing Mao
Mountain.

The Treasure Brass Toad would travel a hundred meters with every hop.
Due to its leaping method to move forward, the precipitous and narrow
mountain path was unable to serve as a limitation or hindrance to it.

Jia Fu and his crew sat on the back of the Treasure Brass Toad. After exiting
the Gu Yue Village, they once again headed towards the merchant caravan’s
direction.

The wind blew past their ears, and their view followed the Treasure Brass
Toad as it moved up and down.

The moonlight shone on everyone’s faces and they all looked solemn, while
Jia Fu’s face was cold as ice.

After a while, a close subordinate could not stand this atmosphere and
asked Jia Fu, “Master, what are we going to do now? Jia Jin Sheng’s death,
once master returns, how will you answer to old master? Should we find a
scapegoat first…”

Jia Fu shook his head, but avoided the question, “Do you know the story of
Ren Zu?”
The subordinate was stunned, not expecting this answer. At once he did not
know how to reply.

Jia Fu continued, “Ren Zu had the Rules and Regulation Gu, and could
capture all the ten thousand Gu in the world, obtaining strength but losing
wisdom. At that point his net still contained three Gu. He opened and saw
that they were the Attitude Gu, Belief Gu and Suspicion Gu respectively.
Ren Zu was unwilling to let them go, thus the three Gu could only bet with
him. Once Ren Zu opens the net, they would run out in three different
directions, and whoever is captured by Ren Zu would be subdued. Guess,
who did Ren Zu capture in the end?”

The trusted aide thought, and answered, “It’s the Attitude Gu!”

“Do you know why?” Jia Fu asked. The loyal subordinate shook his head.

Jia Fu laughed, “Because attitude means everything. No matter if father

‘believes’ or ‘suspects’, I have already displayed my ‘attitude’. Jia Jin
Sheng went missing, and I immediately conducted investigations in the
caravan. Once I had a clue, I rushed towards the Gu Yue clan without stop.
At the village, I risked the danger of being attacked by them and
interrogated them on the spot. I did not even sit down, and to prove Fang
Yuan’s words, I went as far as to use the Rank four Bamboo Gentleman.”

“Once I get back, I will even spend a ton of money to employ the divine
investigator, inviting Tie Leng Xue to investigate this matter. Regardless of
whether Jia Jin Sheng is dead or alive, as his brother I have already done all
that I should, my attitude shows everything! I have thought it through
earlier, we do not need a scapegoat. We shall go back in this honest state,
because I was not at fault for this matter! Finding a scapegoat, that might
just be a trap by Jia Gui. If I can find a scapegoat, he can also find someone
to overturn the case.”

His subordinate was shocked and said, “Master, you really suspect that
young master Jia Gui was behind this?”

“Hmph, who else but him can do something so perfectly?” Saying so, Jia
Fu’s face distorted, anger bursting from his eyes, “Before this, I was
thinking about our blood relationship and did not do such a thing to him.
But since he is so devious, I will have to pay him back an eye for an eye,
don’t blame me for being unscrupulous!”

He did not know that far away in a distant place, there were a pair of eyes
sending him off.

Fang Yuan stood on the hillside as he silently watched.

The view tonight was truly spectacular.

The golden yellow, round moon was high up in the night sky, shining so
brightly that the entire earth was lit bright.

The nearby green mountains were verdant and lush, all kinds of flora
growing about. The Man Mountain’s pine and cypress trees, as well as the
Qing Mao Mountain’s distinctive green spear bamboo grew in continuous
clumps, cluster after cluster. A wide expanse of dark green colour poured
down in torrents from the mountaintop and flowed down to the foot of the
mountain.

Faraway mountains ranged endlessly, forming a muddled heavy black

shadow under the moonlight.

The tortuous and entwined mountain road resembled goat intestines as it

meandered into the distance, occasionally sheltered away by the forest,
stretching out all the way.

Jia Fu and his group sat atop the Treasure Brass Toad, following the
mountain road as they moved forward. As they continued on the leaping
toad, their figures were finally covered away by the trees.

Although the mountain terrain could not affect the Treasure Brass Toad’s
speed, Jia Fu did not dare to recklessly cut through Qing Mao mountain, for
if he barges into a monster horde, even with his Rank four cultivation he
would still not come out unscathed. Hence following the mountain trail and
moving forward is the best path.
Not long ago, Fang Yuan was standing on the hill holding an umbrella,
sending the caravan off. But now he was here again, watching Jia Fu leave.

“The trouble from killing Jia Jin Sheng is finally settled.” He eyes were
dark and remote while his heart was calm, a bout of peacefulness.

Even since he killed Jia Jin Sheng that night, he had been considering how
to tie the loose ends.

He was clear that without base or support, if the truth was revealed, the Gu
Yue clan would definitely sacrifice him. But if he just hid it blindly, the
truth was bound to get exposed one day.

A smart way to lie, is to have truth and lies, some truth in his lies, and some
lies in his truth.

He had to direct the trouble elsewhere!

This incident was like a chess game with two sides against each other. One
side is Jia Fu’s caravan, while the other is the Gu Yue clan. In this incident,
be it Gu Yue Bo, the academy elder or Jia fu, they were all pawns, heck
even Fang Yuan himself was just a pawn.

To protect the pawn that represents himself, he had to use the two opposing
sides and find a chance in between.

Few days ago, Fang Yuan had already started plotting.

He first made use of those two guards to come up with a good show with
the academy elder at the academy. Next he hid the existence of the Liquor
worm and stirred the curiosity of the clansman, gaining great attention,
attracting the higher-ups. Simultaneously, he allowed the academy elder to
hold private investigations.

Next, he extorted his classmates and expressed his rashness, wildness and
displeasure towards the clan, “showing weakness” to the Gu Yue higher-
ups.

Then he counted the days and waited for Jia Fu.

During the interrogation he displayed his immaturity and fear, which
allowed him to lead the other’s thoughts by the nose. Letting them find out
the “truth”.

Lastly he made use of the Gu Yue clan and Jia Fu’s opposing interests, and
turned the academy elder who was suspicious of him and held
investigations, into his eye witness.

The Bamboo Gentleman was a small unexpected accident, but it was still a
Rank four Gu and under the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura, the Bamboo
Gentleman ironically became Fang Yuan’s greatest evidence.

Finally, Fang Yuan not only explained perfectly where he got the Liquor
worm, but also pushed the blame to the innocent Jia Gui, while he himself
got out of this incident without losing a hair.

“Academy elder was asked to stay behind, it seems that Gu Yue Bo is going
to interfere in the academy’s matters and get rid of the plan to pressurize
me. With his nature, he does have this tolerance. But his real motive isn’t
me, it should probably be Fang Zheng. One of my motives for blowing up
the matter was to stir a commotion and make the higher-ups notice. If Gu
Yue Bo doesn’t show up, there will still be Gu Yue Mo Chen and Chi Lian
who would come out to defend their reputation.”

“As for Jia Fu, he should be certain that Jia Gui is the culprit now. With the
flames of revenge burning in his chest, hehe, I am looking forward to it.
With my interference, their sibling conflict would be elevated. I wonder if
that Gu Master competition would be brought forward?”

“Oh yes, there is still that divine investigator Tie Leng Xue. Tie Leng
Xue… hmph.” Fang Yuan repeated this name, and after half a beat, lightly
smiled, “Among the righteous path, this is indeed a character. Unfortunately
he is riddled with official business and has a tight schedule. For this matter,
it is not easy to get him to come. Jia Fu wants to show his attitude thus he
has to invite him, but the time is hard to gauge, at the very least it should be
arranged in two to three year’s time.”
In two to three years, he would have Rank two or three cultivation. By then,
life would be in a completely different sight.

The night wind blew over with the fresh cool air of the mountains,
penetrating with a kind of fragrance.

Fang Yuan breathed in, feeling more refreshed.

He looked into the distance, his field of view wide. The unrestrained
mountains were picturesque, looking tranquil and auspicious under the
moon.

“The bright moon illuminates among pines, the clear spring flows upon
stone.” Fang Yuan lightly recited, he could not help but think of a verse
from a fable from Earth.

There were a group of monkeys that pursued the moon. They saw the moon
in the well, and they wanted to fish it up. The monkey from behind grabbed
hold of the tail of the monkey before it, and the monkey before it grabbed
ahold of the monkey in front of him. Thus this went on repeatedly until the
first monkey was able to touch the water surface of the well.

Once it stretched out its hand, the water rippled and the moon disappeared.

People in this world were like this. They would see the reflection of the
moon, and think that it is the real thing.

Not knowing it was just the moon in the well, the moon in their eyes, or
simply the moon in their hearts.

“In this life I hope to become the real moon, rising above the mountains and
heavens, toying with the clouds and seas, following the ancient times and
walk in the darkness above the various heavens.” Fang Yuan’s eyes were
crystal clear, and the beautiful green mountains were reflected on his pupils.

On the hill, the thin body of a teenager stood silently.

A golden moon wheel shaped like a disk suspended high in the night sky.
It has existed since ancient times, travelling through the night sky, casting
the small shadow of the teenager faintly onto the limestones.
Chapter 60
Chapter 60: Passage behind the broken wall, how
can the legacy be easily obtained?

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The night sky of early summer is beautiful.

There was not a single cloud floating in the sky, and the stars flickered like
crystals, shining with emotionally moving radiance.

Sandalwood crickets appeared on stage to take over the place of the

dragonpill crickets, and they sang their emotional songs in the grassy
bushes, creeks and tree branches.

The Gu Yue Village was radiantly lit, as if it was reflecting the bright starry
sky.

One by one the dark green bamboo houses stood in the night wind, and
beneath the star dome it had a tranquil and peaceful ambience.

Fang Yuan was not in the village now, but he had snuck into the secret cave
among the rock cracks.

He half-kneeled on the ground, his hand caressing the image wall, his palm
emitting a lump of blue-coloured moonlight.

On the image wall, the original scene was already gone, and it was now no
different from the other surrounding stone walls. If Fang Yuan did not
remember this position, who else would know that hidden under this image
wall was Flower Wine Monk’s strength inheritance?

On a night over a month ago, the image wall transformed and the Flower
Wine Monk’s secret hideout appeared. The image wall first showed a video
of Flower Wine Monk bathed in blood, but proclaimed he was leaving his
inheritance. Next was a line of bloody words, hinting for the discoverer to
break the image wall and the cave opening would appear. Then the words
vanished, and the image wall’s Photo-audio Gu’s strength was depleted, and
the image wall went back to being an ordinary wall.

Although he knew about the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance, Fang Yuan
did not have the time to explore it.

As it was an unexpected occurrence, he had to kill Jia Jin Sheng on the spot
and was busy that night getting rid of the evidence. Towards the impending
interrogation, he had to plot carefully and had restricted his activities inside
the village.

Until when Jia Fu left and after the academy elder stopped his
investigations, about ten days later, the attention had waded and Fang Yuan
could finally sneak back into the cave.

In the aperture, the green copper sea was reducing as Fang Yuan deployed
his primeval essence into the Moonlight Gu on his right palm.

The Moonlight Gu emitted a gentle moonlight and flickered continuously.

Under its effect, the rock wall was shaved off slowly, and large amounts of
rock powder fell on the ground.

This was Fang Yuan’s extensive control of the Moonlight Gu, the same
method he used to open the gambling rocks.

Compared to opening rocks, this method was more coarse, but in breaking
this thick rock wall, this method seemed a little too gentle.

This was the sixth day that Fang Yuan was using the Moonlight Gu to shave
the rock wall.

On the floor was a thick pile of dark red coloured rock powder.

Logically speaking, Qing Mao Mountain’s soil was all green-coloured. But
here, the soil were strangely bright red and emitted a dark glow.
But fortunately so, because of this source of light, Fang Yuan did not need
to prepare a torch.

In order to avoid being suspected, Fang Yuan did not use any tools. Steel
hammers and pickaxe were undoubtedly better for breaking the rock wall,
but if he did, the sound of the wall breaking would reverb all over the area.

Regardless of whether the outside world would hear a faint or loud noise,
Fang Yuan wanted to eliminate all such possible suspicious points.

Fine details often decided in one’s victory or defeat.

To Fang Yuan, being cautious is not just his good point, it was more like a
habit to him.

In his past life he had been careless and carefree, but he quickly paid a hefty
price. There is a saying that goes, ‘people get more cowardly when they
age’. Yet actually this is not cowardness, but patient cautiousness. 500 years
of experience ingrained the word caution into his soul.

“Puff…” Taking in a deep breath, Fang Yuan slowly stopped the

transmission of his primeval essence.

He plopped onto the ground, extremely exhausted.

He had dug around three inches of thickness out of the entire slab of image
wall that was the height of half a man.

Fang Yuan wiped the sweat off his forehead while exercising his shoulders
and stretching his legs. Due to long hours of squatting, a sense of numbness
was felt from his legs.

‘Knock, knock, knock’.

Fang Yuan bent his fingers and knocked on the rock wall.

Hearing the sound, he was slightly happy in his heart, as he could tell the
wall was getting thinner.
Closing his eyes to meditate, he checked the situation inside his aperture
once again.

The green copper primeval essence had less than 20% left.

“Continue working hard!” Fang Yuan grit his teeth and stretched out his
right hand again on the rock wall.

The water-blue coloured moonlight sustained a glow for around fifteen

minutes, then Fang Yuan suddenly halted his actions. He took out his right
arm and found out that the rock wall had a small hole in it already.

He immediately stood up and kicked.

With a thunderous noise, the hole expanded and became as big as a bamboo
basket.

Fang Yuan cautiously took a few steps backwards. He felt a sense of

staleness emitting from the hole and permeating into this secret cave.

The secret cave’s ventilation was not good. Fang Yuan thought about it for a
moment and decided to leave the rock crack, returning to the outside world.

Only after a while did he return.

The stale feeling in the cave was slightly better than earlier, and Fang Yuan
continued to expand the size of the hole, sometimes using the Moonlight
Gu, and at other times using his hands to dig, or his legs to kick. After a
while, he finally expanded the hole into a size that he could fit into.

Looking from the hole, there was a diagonal path downwards.

The path was initially narrow, but the deeper it was, the wider it got. A
person must lower their head when entering at first, but towards the latter
half of the path, they are able to take large strides with straightened backs.

The cave’s walls were a weird red soil colour, emitting a faint red glow.
This caused the passage’s interior to be visible.
But the path was very long and extended beyond what the eye could see.
Due to the angle, Fang Yuan could not see what was at the end of the path.

He stood at the cave entrance and did not immediately step in, instead
squinting and standing on the spot.

A strength inheritance was not like a legacy inheritance.

Legacy was when a Gu Master died and left behind his belongings. Those
who find this legacy can find the items on the corpse.

A strength inheritance is when a Gu Master who is on the verge of death

and reluctant to let his legacy go extinct, or to benefit the future
generations, or wants to leave behind his last trace of existence in the world,
purposely set hurdles to test the people who arrive.

Taking the Flower Wine Monk for example, he set up this inheritance with a
clear objective – it is to nurture an avenger, to take revenge on the Gu Yue
clan!

If the person who comes along is able to pass these trials he(she) would
obtain all sorts of benefits. The person who gets through the final test would
obtain the entire strength inheritance.

According to the two factions, strength inheritance is split into the righteous
inheritance and the demonic inheritance.

Righteous inheritances often had exquisite design, to test the nature and
character of the person. Those who fail midway, would not be in any mortal
danger.

Demonic inheritance was more complex.

Those demonic cultivators were often insane and persistent, cold-blooded,

or a mass murderer, unable to be assessed by normal standards.

Some demonic inheritances had trials that tested the mind. With lots of
mind-boggling decisions to make, a lot of people would fall into deep and
painful thoughts without getting a single result.
Some demonic inheritances were extremely simple, being a secret room
with Gu worms and primeval stones inside.

Some demonic inheritances were extremely cruel, and failure midway often
spelled death.

Some were more extreme – a few demonic cultivator’s inheritances were a

huge lie, being a giant trap itself. They followed the rules of ‘bringing
someone down with them’, and even right before dying, they would set up
this trial and trick others.

“Which type does Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance belong to?” Fang Yuan
thought deeply.

With his previous life’s memories, he was clear of any future famous
demonic inheritances. But this one in particular, no one discovered it in his
lifetime, and Fang Yuan was left unaware of the details.

“By right, the chances of a trap isn’t high. Otherwise the Flower Wine
Monk would not design this image wall. But is there a hidden mechanism?”

Fang Yuan picked up a rock and threw it into the cave.

The rock rolled in the path and quickly rolled out of Fang Yuan’s sight; he
could hear a series of colliding sounds echoing in the cave.

Fang Yuan fell into deep thought. The rock testing results showed that it
was safe.

But he did not enter the path yet, and instead took out some rock powder
and spread it around the entrance of the secret cave. At the same time, he
spread a layer on the rock crack entrance.

Next, he squeezed out of the narrow rock crack and left the place.

Around a few hundred meters from the river in a hidden bush, he found the
green bamboo wine that he had brought along this time. Opening the seal,
he drank a huge mouthful and purposely spilled some of the liquor, getting
it on his clothes and making him smell of alcohol.
Carrying the wine, he went back to the village, and upon reaching the
school hostel, it was exactly midnight.

If he did not return at night often, people would get suspicious. This was
better, going out early at night and returning late at night.

When finding the Liquor worm, Fang Yuan already did this, and with that
background, such behaviour was not peculiar.

The stars fade and the sun appears, a night of silence.

Chapter 61
 Chapter 61: Life hanging on a grass rope

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The bright morning sun shone on Qing Mao Mountain.

In the academy, the elder spoke about important details. “Tomorrow, we are
choosing the second Gu worm for refinement. Everyone here has
experience in successfully refining Gu worms, and this time you can
solidify your experiences. For the selection of the second Gu worm,
consider it carefully. With the experience of cultivating these few days and
understanding of your own body, consider it as a whole. Normally, it is best
if you pair the second Gu well with your vital Gu.”

A Gu Master’s first Gu was known as the vital Gu, and once it was chosen
it would be the footing stone of their development. After that, the second
and third Gu worm would be nurtured upon this footing stone and decide
the Gu Master’s cultivating direction.

After hearing the academy elder’s words, the youngsters began to ponder,
and only Fang Yuan was sleeping soundly on the table.

He had worked hard for half the night yesterday, and after returning to the
hostel, he still continued in his Gu Master cultivation, nurturing his
aperture. When the sun had risen, only then did he sleep.

The academy elder looked at Fang Yuan and frowned, but did not say
anything.

Ever since the clan leader spoke to him, he had adopted a ‘let Fang Yuan do
as he wishes, I am not going to give a care’ attitude.
“Which Gu worm should I choose?” As the students thought about it, they
subconsciously looked towards Fang Yuan.

“Speaking of which, Fang Yuan already has his second Gu worm.”

“Yeah, that is but a Liquor worm; to actually get a Liquor worm out of
gambling rocks, his luck is off the charts!”

“If I had the Liquor worm, I would advance to middle stage first too huh?”

The students’ thoughts varied, having admirers and jealous people among
them.

Ever since that day after the interrogation, Fang Yuan’s Liquor worm was
successfully exposed. The origins of the liquor worm did not raise
suspicion. The clansmen were both enlightened and also exasperated at
Fang Yuan’s luck.

“Why don’t I have such luck, sigh!” Gu Yue Chi Cheng who was also a C
grade talent sighed deeply in his heart.

Quite a while ago, his grandfather had asked around and tried to procure a
Liquor worm for him. To think that even as a family branch’s inheritor, he
was not able to have one; to think Fang Yuan managed to get the Liquor
worm before him.

Compared to Chi Cheng’s envy and depression, vice chairman Fang Zheng
was full of spirit.

“Brother, I will definitely surpass you.” He looked at Fang Yuan and said in
his heart before looking away.

These days his eyes were shining with light, and he felt a sort of excitement
towards life. His face was flushing red and his forehead was glowing, even
his steps were quicker and lighter.

The academy elder saw all of it, and immediately understood that the Gu
Yue clan leader had started secretly teaching Fang Zheng.
These underhand methods were obviously not for the public to know.

The academy elder turned a blind eye to this.

Soon it was night once more.

Fang Yuan entered the secret cave again.

Ring ring ring……

In his hand, a wild rabbit was struggling, and there was a bell was on its
neck.

This was a wild rabbit that Fang Yuan caught on the mountain, the bell was
naturally attached by him.

After a day, the stuffy smell in the secret cave has dissipated, and the air
was fresh.

The cave’s passage entrance was open; it was silent inside. Fang Yuan half-
kneeled on the floor as he inspected the floor. Yesterday he had sprayed
rock powder all over the area, and this thin layer of powder was
inconspicuous.

“The passage entrance’s rock powder is intact, thus it seems that during my
absence, nothing strange has crawled out of it. The rock crack entrance does
have a footprint, but that’s mine, so evidently no one else had come here.”
Fang Yuan felt at ease after his inspection.

He stood up, using his hands to pull the dead vines from the wall. Next he
sat on the ground and his leg was used to hold the wild rabbit in place,
leaving his two hands free to weave the vines.

This was work that normal Gu Masters wouldn’t know, but Fang Yuan had
too much life experience. In his past life, many a time was he so poor that
he couldn’t afford to feed his Gu worms, leaving them to starve to death
one by one.
For a time, he had primeval essence but no Gu worms; he became just like a
mortal person, even living was difficult. Having no choice, he learned to
weave the grass ropes into straw sandals, hats etc. and sold them in
exchange for primeval stone fragments to feed himself.

While twisting the grass ropes in his hands, Fang Yuan’s memories
resurfaced.

The anguish and suffering from back then had transformed into his
soundless laughter now. The rabbit underneath his foot continued to
struggle, the bell ringing nonstop.

A pair of two strings touch for long, ten thousands of twists and thousands
of returns make their inseparable love numerous. (1)

Delicately and slowly, with the passing of years, letting them converge.
Complications, entanglements and turns present.

Weaving the grass ropes, isn’t it just like experiencing life?

In the secret cave, the red light shone onto Fang Yuan’s face, showing his
youthfulness and experience intertwining together on his face.

Time seemed to have stopped too, silently appreciating the young man
weaving his ropes.

Ring ring ring…

An hour later, the wild rabbit rapidly entered the passageway, the bell on its
neck ringing continuously. In a few breaths it left Fang Yuan’s field of
vision.

Fang Yuan held onto the improvised grass rope that he wove temporarily,
and on one end the rope was attached to the rabbit’s hind leg, dragging into
the tunnel with it.

After a while, the rope stopped all movement.

But this did not mean the rabbit had reached the end of the tunnel. It could
have been killed by a trap or just decided to take a rest midway.

Fang Yuan began to pull at the rope, retrieving it. The rope gradually
tightened as he tugged.

On the other end, a force of strength suddenly tugged back as the rope
started to move towards the cave again.

Evidently the rabbit on the other side had felt the tugging force and in its
fluster, started to move deeper into the cave.

After many attempts, the rabbit finally reached the end of the path, and no
matter how Fang Yuan tugged at the rope, it only tightened and relaxed.

Maybe the rabbit had reached the end of the tunnel, or maybe it had fallen
into a trap and got stuck.

It was simple to test and find out the answer.

Fang Yuan started to retrieve the rope. His strength surpassed the rabbit by a
mile, and eventually he dragged the rabbit out by force.

The rabbit struggled at the other end, but the rope was made from materials
acquired from the Wine Sack Flower Gu and Rice Pouch Grass Gu.
Although it had been dead for years, it remained sturdy unlike normal grass.

The wild rabbit was once again in Fang Yuan’s hands jumping about. Fang
Yuan inspected the wild rabbit and saw that it had no injuries, then he
finally breathed out in relief.

“For now, it seems that this segment of the passageway is safe.”

With this result, the rabbit thus lost its value and Fang Yuan killed it
instantly, throwing the corpse on the ground.

He could not let the rabbit go, for animals also had memories. If it came
back again, and like the Liquor worm, attracted outsiders, that would be
very bad.
He breathed in deeply. After several tries and probes, he finally stepped into
the passageway carefully.

Even with the wild rabbit exploring, there were many traps and mechanisms
that specially targeted only humans. A small animal like the wild rabbit
would be unable to trigger it. Thus, Fang Yuan still had to be careful.

The tunnel was straight, diagonally slanting towards the bottom. The deeper
it was, the wider and taller the passage became.

Fang Yuan had to lower his head when entering at first, but after more than
fifty steps, he was able to take large strides with a straightened back, and
after a hundred steps, he could walk while lifting his upper arms and
brandishing them left and right.

The tunnel was not that long, it was only around 300 meters. But Fang Yuan
spent around two hours venturing before he finally reached the end of the
path.

On the way, he was vigilant and explored step by step. At the end of the
path, he was already sweating profusely.

“It is so troublesome without a detection Gu worm.” Fang Yuan wiped the

sweat off his forehead and after confirming his safety, calmed down and
inspected the area.

This time at one glance, he was stunned.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a huge rock. The rock’s surface was
smooth and protruded towards Fang Yuan’s direction, resembling Jia Fu’s
belly.

This rock alone halted Fang Yuan’s progression.

Other than this huge rock, there was nothing around Fang Yuan.

“Is it because of an accident that the tunnel path was blocked, causing
this?” Fang Yuan squinted as he thought about the possibilities.
Before the Flower Wine Monk died, he was eager to set up the inheritance.
He used the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider and created a tunnel path. The
path led deep within the mountains and to guide the inheritor in.

After hundreds of years, the passage was unable to withstand the corrosion
of time and at one point, one of the areas collapsed due to lack of
maintenance.

All sorts of accidents often happen in life.

“If this is the case, won’t I be stuck at this point?” He went forward and
touched the rock. This rock was halting his progression, its size was like a
door, one could only imagine its overall thickness.

Fang Yuan could use the Moonlight Gu to carve away at the rock wall, but
if he wanted to grind off this huge rock, it would take at least a year or two.

“It seems like I’m forced to use tools, I’ll need to use spades and pickaxes
to break the rock. Except if I do this, I might reveal some traces. The
construction sounds might also travel out.” Thinking of this, Fang Yuan
frowned deeply. He was weighing the pros and cons.

If the risk was too huge, he would rather give up this strength inheritance.

After all, if others found out this secret, all the plotting and acting that Fang
Yuan had done would go to waste, and his life would even be in danger!

(1) Seems to be a line from a poem.

Chapter 62
Chapter 62: Choosing Gu again in the Gu storage
room

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The sun rises, signifying the arrival of another day.

The students lined up properly, faces flushed with excitement as they stood
before the academy Gu storage room.

Today was the day where they would pick their second Gu!

As the first to advance to middle stage, Fang Yuan had the priority in
choosing, thus he stood at the front of the queue.

Behind him was Gu Yue Mo Chen, Gu Yue Fang Zheng and Gu Yue Chi
Cheng.

Creak.

The Gu storage room’s door was opened by the guards, and Fang Yuan was
the first to set foot into it.

The Gu room was not big, but was a sight to behold. The surrounding walls
had square holes in them, some were big but others were small, holding all
sorts of containers in them.

There was rock pots, jade pots, cages made of weaved grass, and some
porcelain ware.

All sorts of Gu worms, being all Rank one, were stored in these containers.
The academy probably spent more than 1000 primeval stones every day just
to feed these Gu worms.
Fang Yuan glanced through and found that in many containers, they were
already empty, having no Gu worms inside.

The Gu worms in the storage room were replenished once a year.

Previously when they were choosing their vital Gu, most of the youngsters
chose the Moonlight Gu, thus the storage room had no moonlight Gu left at
the moment.

The storage room had no windows, there was only a small skylight at the
rooftop.

The sunlight shone in from the skylight and formed a rectangular golden
image on the ground.

The first time when he entered the Gu room, Fang Yuan already had an
objective and chose the Moonlight Gu immediately. But now, he had
several possible targets in his mind.

Yet these targets also depended on whether there was stock in the storage
room.

Fang Yuan moved along the left wall and strolled inside slowly while
examining the catalogue.

Five steps later, he paused.

A square box frame near his shoulder had a bronze bowl inside, and within
it was a Gu worm.

This Gu worm was like a bedbug, flat and wide with a small head, having
an oval body. It was yellow-orange throughout, and emitted a faint bronze-
like glow.

This was the Bronze Skin Gu, the choice for most close-combat Gu
Masters. The academy’s martial arts instructor raised such a Gu, and once
activated, causes the body to glow yellow, greatly raising defense.

Fang Yuan’s knowledge was deep and broad, so of course he did not have
any urge for this Gu. He continued forward and saw a Stone Skin Gu.
The Stone Skin Gu and Bronze Skin Gu were similar in appearance, but the
Stone Skin Gu’s body was grey instead, like an art piece made of rock.

After six Stone Skin Gu, there was the Iron Skin Gu.

Iron Skin Gu and Bronze Skin Gu were outwardly similar but with only a
tiny difference. It was silently staying in a iron bowl, unmoving. It emitted a
black iron-like glow around its body.

As humans have clans, so do Gu.

The three Gu that Fang Yuan saw simultaneously were all from the same
series. They were similar in appearance and had similar effects.

“Iron Skin, Bronze Skin, Rock Skin, Jade Skin Gu….. if there is a Jade Skin
Gu, I might as well choose it.” Fang Yuan mumbled as his heart felt a tiny
flicker of expectation rising, and he continued walking.

However he was destined to be disappointed, for after the Iron Skin Gu, he
saw the Beast Skin Gu.

The Jade Skin Gu and Beast Skin Gu belonged to the same series as the
Bronze Skin Gu etc. But they had great difference in value – the Beast Skin
Gu was the most common, even cheaper than the Rock Skin Gu, but it had
more evolutionary lines and could fuse with more varieties of Gu.

The Jade Skin Gu was the most rare Gu in this series. Its market value was
only second to the Liquor worm, and at times the price would fluctuate and
rival with the Liquor worm itself.

Fang Yuan took a look, but he did not find a Jade Skin Gu. He was not
disappointed, but laughed in relief, “Gu Yue village is just a middle-sized
clan, the academy Gu storage room is only of middle tier quality. To have a
Jade Skin Gu, that is rather impossible.”

The left side of the wall had already been inspected, so Fang Yuan swapped
to another wall and continued strolling.

On this wall, there was mostly the Longhorn Beetle Gu.

Similar to the Skin Gu series, Longhorn Beetle Gu was a large clan among
the Rank one Gu worms.

Their outer appearances were similar – they had long and circular cylinder
figures, the back area having many outlines. A large part of the body was a
black colour, giving out a metallic luster. It had a pair of feelers that were
long and exceeded the body size; its chin was strong and it gave out
screeching noises, like the sound of timber being sawed. With this, a few
Gu Masters from some places would call them as the ‘sawing tree bunch’.

What first entered Fang Yuan’s vision was a Brute Force Longhorn Beetle
Gu.

Its entire body was a red metallic colour, and it had a pair of antennae that
was coarser than the usual Longhorn Beetle ones. On the top surface of the
antenna there was a bamboo joint-like growth with every small interval.

This Brute Force Longhorn Beetle Gu was highly sought after in the
market; earlier the caravan that came to the Gu Yue village had people who
sold large numbers of this Gu.

The Brute Force Longhorn Beetle Gu gave Gu Masters temporary super

strength. It had the reputation of the strength of one bull, and could sustain
for five breaths.

But it had two weaknesses.

One was that every activation consumed too much primeval essence. Rank
one middle stage required 10% primeval essence, but if converted to initial
stage, it would consume 20%.

Another was sequela. If the Gu Master had a weak constitution, using this
Gu a lot would cause their muscles to get injured, even experiencing muscle
tearing. Only Gu Masters with a strong body would choose to use this Gu.
A small-sized person like Fang Yuan was unsuitable for it.

Fang Yuan knew this too, and walked past the Brute Force Longhorn Beetle
Gu, continuing to look around.
“Oh? This is not bad.” He halted his steps.

It was a Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle Gu.

The beetle’s figure was a tiny bit thinner and longer than the Brute Force
Longhorn Beetle Gu, the entire body coated in dark yellow colour. Its pair
of long feelers did not have bamboo joints, and the roots were yellow in
colour, slowly fading into black at the tip.

The Brute Force Longhorn Beetle Gu could grant a Gu Master temporary

strength, and this type of strength was immediate, only lasting for five
breaths. But the Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle Gu could grant the Gu
Master durability and allow their stamina expenditure to be greatly reduced,
however it could only sustain for fifteen minutes. At the same time it had no
repercussions.

Among the Rank one Gu worms, the Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle had
high market value, comparable to the Moonlight Gu and only losing to the
Jade Skin Gu and Liquor worm.

Fang Yuan inspected the surroundings and found that there was only one
Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle.

“The Gu is not bad, but it is not compatible with me.” Fang Yuan shook his
head, giving up this Gu.

Very quickly he walked and reached the corner of the wall, having finished
looking at the second wall, but he was not satisfied.

The Gu in the storage room were only of this quality, and if he wanted to
get lucky or get a surprise Gu, the chances were slim.

Fang Yuan turned to the third wall and continued inspecting.

On this wall, the Boar Gu were dominant.

Boar Gu was a series among the Gu worm.

There’s the Flower Boar Gu, Pink Boar Gu, Black Boar Gu and White Boar
Gu.

Pink Boar Gu had the least value, almost no Gu Masters chose them. It only
had one ability, and that is to gain weight. After a Gu Master injects their
primeval essence, the Pink Boar Gu would change their constitution and
cause them to get fat. No matter how skinny they were, they would be able
to become a big fat person.

There was only two to three Pink Boar Gu in the storage room, obviously of
no nurturing value.

The Flower Boar Gu was the most abundant, having a dozen at least lining
into a row. These Gu worms had flower patterns on the surface, either white
and black, black and pink, or white and pink. There were even some that
had all three colours.

The Flower Boar Gu’s use was similar to the Brute Force Longhorn Beetle
Gu, temporarily adding strength to the Gu master.

The Brute Force Longhorn Beetle Gu gave one bull’s strength, and the
Flower Boar Gu gave one boar’s strength. The Flower Boar Gu spent the
same amount of primeval essence as the Brute Force Longhorn Beetle Gu
but could sustain for ten breaths, twice of the Brute Force Longhorn Beetle
Gu.

This was because the Gu Master gained lesser strength, thus lesser side
effects.

“The Flower Boar Gu is the most common Gu worm, and it is sold most
abundantly in the market. It’s price is half of the Brute Force Longhorn
Beetle Gu, truly value for money. But among the Boar Gu clan, only those
two last Gu has greater value, being even more expensive than the Jade
Skin Gu and Liquor worm!” Fang Yuan’s eyes showed a light of deep
thoughts.

A Black Boar Gu or a White Boar Gu could sell for 600 primeval stones in
the market. Once it appeared, it was often sold immediately.
The Black and White Boar Gu’s ability was to change the Gu Master’s body
constitution and raise their strength permanently.

Although the Brute Force Longhorn Beetle could grant a bull’s strength, it
could only last five breaths, uses too much energy to sustain and had strong
after-effects.

The Black and White Boar’s strength increment, although little at a time,
would be accumulative over time and once obtained, the strength would
belong to the Gu Master wholly. Even if the Gu dies, this strength will still
remain on the Gu Master’s body.

This is the reason why the Black and White Boar Gu’s value is higher than
the Liquor

Worm.

The public recognises that the Liquor worm’s value should be slightly
inferior to the Black or White Boar Gu.

The Liquor worm can only refine primeval essence, and after an intense
battle, a Gu Master’s primeval essence is easily depleted. For the remainder
of the battle, they can only rely on their martial arts and their physical
strength. This is when the White and Black Gu show their worth; they are
more reliable than the Liquor worm.

“If I can refine a Black Boar Gu or White Boar Gu, that would be good.”
Fang Yuan was just imagining the scenario, but with this type of Gu storage
room which only has one Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle, how can there be
White or Black Boar Gu which are so rare?

He walked another round and saw all the Gu worms the room had to offer.
As expected, there was nothing that truly captivated him.

At last, he retrieved a Little Light Gu at a corner of the wall.

There were five Little Light Gu in the storage room.

This Gu was oddly shaped, looking like a pentagram, and only half as large
as a fingernail.

The Little Light Gu was mainly paired with the Moonlight Gu, a common
assistance-type Gu worm for the Moonlight Gu. To Fang Yuan had chosen
this Gu, it was merely an average option, but at least it suited his
development path.

“Fang Yuan is out.”

“Geez, finally out after so long.”

“I wonder what Gu he chose?”

“He already has the Liquor worm, this is his third Gu, maybe he won’t be
able to raise them properly. Hehe.”

Fang Yuan leisurely walked out of the storage room. The students were
outside for such a long time and had started to become restless.

“It’s my turn! I wonder what Gu has Fang Yuan chosen?” Once Gu Yue Mo
Chen saw Fang Yuan stepping out he hurriedly took big steps and entered
the storage room.

He checked and found that the sole Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle was still
there. Mo Chen could not refrain from becoming overjoyed, immediately
taking it away.

Afterwards, Fang Zheng went in.

“I have the Moonlight Gu for offense, but I lack a defensive-type Gu

worm.” Gu Yue Fang Zheng after long consideration, decided to choose a
Bronze Skin Gu.

Gu Yue Chi Cheng was the fourth to enter.

“I need an evasion ability, so in future battles I will be able to hit others, but
others cannot hit me. I’ll be virtually unbeatable.” He looked left and right,
and finally chose a Dragonpill cricket Gu.
Chapter 63
Chapter 63: Gifting the jade skin under the moon;
white boar hidden in the ground flower

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The sun lowers and the moon rises, the signal of the arrival of nightfall.

This was one of the concealed courtyards in the Gu Yue Village.

A locust tree that stood with complicated branches and luxuriant leaves, its
robust and spacious treetop that was like a jasper imperial canopy,
enveloped the entire courtyard.

The moonlight was gentle like water, travelling through the leaves and
branches of the locust tree, spilling into the courtyard.

A gust of wind blew over, sending the tree leaves rustling, the shadows of
the tree swaying slightly.

It was under this tree that two people stood.

Gu Yue Bo used a gentle gaze and looked at Fang Zheng. “Fang Zheng,
today you chose your second Gu, I wonder what it is?”

“Reporting to clan leader sir, today I chose a Bronze Skin Gu.” Gu Yue
Fang Zheng stood rigid, saying with a look of admiration.

Gu Yue Bo nodded, and after pondering he replied, “Not bad, it is a good

choice.”

Gu Yue Fang Zheng stood before Gu Yue Bo, his body tensed and
tightened. Hearing Gu Yue Bo’s praise, he did not know how to reply for a
while, so in the end he only laughed, “Clan leader, I chose randomly.”
“You think I’m not serious in praising you? No.” Gu Yue Bo stared at Fang
Zheng, a smile on his face, “Do you know? From choosing a Gu, it shows a
person’s disposition.”

“You chose the Bronze Skin Gu for defense. Paired with the Moonlight Gu,
it is both offense and defense. This shows your pure nature. In this world,
offense and defense are like frontal and ambush, yin and yang, soft and
hard, this is the king’s path.”

“Gu Yue Mo Bei chose the Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle, this Gu grants
stamina and allows him to sustain battle. This shows his stubborn and
strong attitude.”

“As for Gu Yue Chi Cheng, he chose the Dragonpill cricket Gu, allowing
him to increase his dodging ability. This shows he does not like frontal
attacks, being a witty person, good at tactics, but also showed the weakness
in his character.”

Gu Yue Fang Zheng was stunned after listening, for he did not expect that
such a simple matter could reveal that much information and logic.

Consequently, his attitude towards Gu Yue Bo became even more

respectful.

“Clan leader, what did my brother choose?” Fang Zheng thought of Fang
Yuan and immediately asked.

Gu Yue Bo laughed, “He chose the Little Light Gu, this Gu is used to assist
the Moonlight Gu and can make the moonblade attack stronger. This shows
his extreme, active and invasive personality.”

“Indeed, big brother seems to be like that.” Fang Zheng muttered.

Gu Yue Bo took Fang Zheng’s expression into consideration and etched it

into his mind.

Those who were rulers had their unique ability. Although Gu Yue Bo and
Fang Zheng did not interact for long, Gu Yue Bo’s experienced gaze had
already seen through Fang Zheng.

Him telling Fang Zheng about Mo Bei and Chi Cheng’s decisions had
deeper meaning.

It was to help Fang Zheng analyze these two people, for he anticipated him
defeating the two of them and establishing the role of clan leader with his A
grade talent.

But Gu Yue Bo would not say it out loud, and would not instigate Fang
Zheng’s actions.

As the clan leader, his every word and action had political implications. If
he directly controlled Fang Zheng and dealt with Chi Cheng and Mo Bei, if
words spread it might be misunderstood as the clan leader’s political
assault. If that’s the case, the implication would be huge and it might even
cause a clan dispute, harming the entire village.

There was another point – Gu Yue Bo was waiting for Fang Zheng to
understand his intentions. He spent time and effort to nurture Fang Zheng,
but it was not to nurture a Rank four or five fighter. A fighter without
political knowledge was like a double edged sword. He needed the future
leader for the clan!

“I analyzed Mo Bei and Chi Cheng’s personality for Fang Zheng, but he did
not notice my intention, instead asking about Fang Yuan’s situation. It
seems that he has great trauma regarding Fang Yuan, but he is also at his
rebellious stage. He wants to beat Fang Yuan, that’s understandable. Sigh, if
only Fang Zheng had Fang Yuan’s intelligence, I’ve seen many youngsters
these years, but when it comes to political wits, Fang Yuan tops them all. It
is a pity he only has C grade talent.”]

Gu Yue Bo sighed internally but his smile got even more gentle.

He took out a Gu worm from his pocket.

“This is —– Jade Skin Gu?” Fang Zheng on seeing this Gu worm, said
lightly with his eyes wide open.
Gu Yue Bo said, “Compared to the Bronze Skin Gu, this Jade Skin Gu is
much better, not only using less primeval essence but also gives greater
defense. Fang Zheng, do you want it?”

“Clan leader!” Fang Zheng was shocked and he looked at Gu Yue Bo,
stuttering, “I… of course I want it.”

“I can give it to you.” Gu Yue Bo laughed even more amicably, “But as the
clan leader, I have to be impartial and cannot give it to you for no reason,
thus I have a condition.”

Fang Zheng nodded repeatedly, staring widely, “What condition?”

Gu Yue Bo’s smile vanished, showing a stern expression, “I want you to be

the first to breakthrough Rank one into Rank two, be the first place in terms
of cultivation! And this Jade Skin Gu is your advancement reward.”

“Ah, advance to Rank two?” Gu Yue Fang Zheng hesitated for a moment.
He had just become Rank one middle stage; after middle stage was upper
stage, and after that there was still peak stage.

But now Gu Yue Bo wanted to him to be the first person to advance to Rank
two.

“What’s wrong, are you afraid? Then I can only give this Gu to others.” Gu
Yue Bo pretended to keep the Jade Skin Gu.

Fang Zheng was incited by this sentence, immediately his brain heated up
as he shouted, “No, I promise you! I will defeat everyone and be the first
Rank two cultivator!”

“That’s the way.” Gu Yue Bo showed his gentle smile again, placing the
Jade Skin Gu on Fang Zheng’s hand.

He thought in his heart, “Fang Zheng, I know you feel inferior, but this
inferiority complex is too harmful to your growth. The best way to dispel
your inferiority is success. You have A grade talent, so advancing to Rank
two first is your greatest advantage, and also the easiest success you can
achieve. You must succeed, for if you fail even this, I would be too
disappointed.”

At the same time, Fang Yuan stepped into the secret cave behind the rock
crack again, getting into the end of the tunnel.

This time, he did not bring any steel spade, pickaxe or hammer, but
carefully observed the surroundings. He was discouraged by this setback
the previous night, and on the way back to the village he felt something
amiss.

Only today in the dormitory where he used the Spring Autumn Cicada to
refine the Little Light Gu did he suddenly understand the weird part of this
situation.

“This huge rock blocking my path is too round and smooth, this is
definitely man made. That is to say, the Flower Wine Monk purposely set
this to block to path, but why did he set this hurdle at such a place?” Fang
Yuan pondered.

He looked at the surroundings again.

The ground of the path was smooth and the top was curved; the walls on
both sides were red soil, emitting a red light.

“Eh?” When he looked at the ground again, he found a point of suspicion.

The ground near the giant rock was slightly darker in colour. This colour
difference was not very obvious and not easily found under such a dimly lit
environment.

Fang Yuan knelt down, touching the ground, feeling a sense of wetness.

No wonder the colour was darker, it was wet.

But this path was so dry, where was the water coming from?

Fang Yuan grinded the soil with his fingers, finding out that the soil on this
patch of earth had issues. It was very soft and loose, not lumpy like the dry
red soil.

Fang Yuan’s gaze shone. Experience and intuition told him that this area
had the ‘key’ that the Flower Wine Monk had hidden.

And this ‘key’ was the clue that would allow him to continue moving
forward.

Fang Yuan began to dig the soil. It was loose so he did not spend much
effort.

After digging for around an inch deeper, there was a peculiar fragrance
rushing into Fang Yuan’s nostrils.

“This fragrance is thick and luxurious yet not common, it seems delicate
and elegant, could it be…” Fang Yuan’s heart moved as he thought of a
possibility, his hands moving even faster.

While digging, the area under the soil suddenly emitted a faint dark gold
light.

“It really is what I’m thinking of!” Fang Yuan’s eyes shone, his hand
movement becoming more delicate, carefully digging the surrounding soil
away, expanding this hole.

After a while, a dark gold-coloured flower bud that was buried under the
ground appeared in front of him.

It was two inches deep in the ground, around the size of a stone mill, the
bud’s surface delicate and with the dark gold colour, it appeared to be
mysterious and elegant.

“It really is the Earth Treasury Flower Gu!” Seeing this, Fang Yuan
breathed out deeply.

He was not eager in peeling away the flower petals, but took a rest on the
ground instead, wiping the soil off his hands. Then he slowly stretched his
hand and pried open the dark gold-coloured petals.
The Earth Treasury Flower Gu was like the combination of a lotus and kale.
Its petals were tightly knitted together with numerous thick pieces, slippery
when felt. As Fang Yuan opened the petals one by one, it was like revealing
thick layers of silk.

Once it left the main body, the huge dark gold-coloured petals would
disperse quickly. It was like snowflakes that melted into the air.

After uncovering around fifty to sixty pieces of petals, the bud had shrunk
in half, revealing the flower core.

The core’s petals were smaller and thinner, its texture becoming more
smooth and fine. It was no longer like silk, but more like thin pieces of
paper. .

Fang Yuan’s movements became gentler and slower, only opening a piece
of petal in a few breaths.

The petals became increasingly transparent, and after a while, when Fang
Yuan had opened the pieces of thin paper-like petals, he stopped his
movements.

The Earth Treasury Flower Gu at this moment only had a last layer of petals
left.

These petals overlapped each other, forming a fist-sized ball.

The petals were translucent, thin as paper. Inside these petals contained a
golden liquid and in the middle of this liquid, a Gu worm was sleeping
inside.

Fang Yuan looked intently, but he could only see a blurry shadow of the Gu
worm, and he could not tell which Gu it was.

He was close to it, and his breath was blown on the flower core. The
spherical flower core began to shake, the golden liquid also moving gently
inside the petals.
Gu worms would die without food, and only a few Gu worms could seal
themselves. To protect and conserve Gu worms, Gu Masters have had
thought of many methods.

The Earth Treasury Flower Gu was one of them.

It was a one-time use type Gu, and once implanted on the ground, it could
not be moved.

Its food was simple, which was earth energy. As long as it was planted on
the ground, it would be able to survive with sufficient earth energy.

It only had one use, and that is to contain a Gu within the flower heart and
immerse the Gu in the golden liquid.

This golden nectar could to an extent, imitate the sealing state and let Gu
worms fall into hibernation.

“The Flower Wine Monk planted this Earth Treasury Flower Gu, so the Gu
within has to be for the inheritor.” Fang Yuan stretched out a finger and
peeled the remaining petals carefully, revealing an opening.

The golden liquid flowed out along his finger, feeling like soybean oil.

The flower core began to soften with the loss of the golden liquid. Fang
Yuan moved his finger and the petals were split, allowing him to retrieve
the slumbering Gu worm.

It was a cute ladybug. Only the size of the thumb’s fingernail.

Its body was a milky white colour, and if overlooked from the back, it was
like a circle.

Its head only occupied a small area, while the rest of the body was its large
fat stomach and bright shiny exoskeleton.

Its six tiny limbs were also cream coloured, hidden under its stomach.

“White Boar Gu!” Fang Yuan showed an expression of joy on his face.
Chapter 64
 Chapter 64: Easy to do secretly, difficult to do
openly

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The temperature these few days had gotten higher.

The sun shone intensely in the afternoon, hanging right over everyone’s
head.

The caravan left and the inn’s business fell again.

Fang Yuan stepped into the cafeteria, immediately attracting the attention of
the shop assistants.

A familiar face rushed over and gave him a flattering smile. “Oh, young
master, you’re here! Please take a seat!”

“Give me a jar of wine and cut me 600g of beef, and serve a few side
dishes.” Fang Yuan strode through the cafeteria and approached the window
seat that he always sat at.

The shop assistant showed a difficult expression, “Young master, my

apologies but during the last time the caravan came, the innkeeper sold all
of the green bamboo wine. We do not have this wine here anymore.”

Fang Yuan nodded, not feeling surprised, “Then give me a jar of rice wine
and tell the innkeeper, brew more green bamboo wine this year, I am pre-
ordering a hundred jars. As for how much the advance payment will be, you
can count first and report to me.”

Now that the Liquor worm was exposed and did not gather any suspicion,
Fang Yuan did not have to be restrained in buying wine anymore.
“Alright, I will definitely convey your words! Please be at ease young
master.” The shop assistant patted his chest, sounding confident.

Soon, the dishes were served.

Fang Yuan drank and ate while staring out of the window.

In such hot weather, especially during meal times, there were few people on
the streets.

The sunlight shone on the ground and the green coloured bamboo tall-
houses.

A few barefooted mortal farmers carrying cement, steel spades or shoulder

poles walked in front. They had just finished their farm work, and were
heading home.

Two children held the bamboo frame of their windmill toy and ran about.
The one behind chased while crying and shouting; it seems that the boy in
front had stolen his windmill toy.

At this moment, two young Gu Masters wearing green belts walked

hurriedly on the street.

“Get lost, don’t block the way!” A Gu Master pushed the farmer in front of
him.

The farmers frantically gave way.

“Hmph.” The two young Gu Masters walked through arrogantly.

Fang Yuan looked with a distracted gaze in his eyes, as part of his mind was
already focused on his aperture.

Within the aperture, the water wall continued to flow as his green copper
primeval sea rose with raging waves.

The Liquor worm was playing around in his primeval sea, at times
comfortably rolling around, and at times curling into a ball.
The Spring Autumn Cicada was in deep slumber, hiding its appearance.

The round body of the White Boar Gu spread its wings and drew circles in
the sky.

The White and Black Boar Gu were equally well-known, both being
precious and rare Rank one Gu worms. Their market value was even greater
than the Liquor worm.

Although they had the same usage and similar appearance, their future
advancement routes were greatly different.

The Black Boar Gu and the Green Silk Gu would combine into the Rank
two Black Mane Gu, and then into the Rank 3 Steel Mane Gu.

But the White Boar Gu was most compatible with the Jade Skin Gu, where
it would turn into Rank two White Jade Gu, and later into the Rank three
Heavenly Mugwort Gu(1).

The Steel Mane Gu could let the Gu Master’s hair become tough as steel,
raising both offense and defense. The Heavenly Mugwort Gu allowed the
Gu Master’s body to become tough as white jade while at the same time
reducing the damage from attacks such as the moonblade.

Fang Yuan was slightly happy over this.

Getting the White Boar Gu was just one aspect of it, but what made him
truly happy was the Flower Wine Monk’s strength inheritance.

“The White Boar Gu can increase strength. The Flower Wine Monk set a
giant rock to block the way, so it seems I need to refine this Gu and with
enough strength, push the giant rock away and continue forward. This must
be the first test.”

“With the Flower Wine Monk’s meticulous setup, I can infer that there has
to be future inheritance trials, a second or third hurdle. Most importantly, I
can confirm that he set this strength inheritance not as a trap, but with true
sincerity.”
“With this inheritance, I can reach Rank three faster and leave this Qing
Mao Mountain, and venture outside, gaining greater opportunities!”

What does a Gu Master need most in cultivating?

The answer is but one word — Resources.

Fang Yuan needs to cultivate, thus he needs resources. But the clan’s
resources are limited, so if he wants more, he needs to fight for it.

Not only fighting for resources, he also has to be victorious.

To him, the more he fights and the more victories he obtained, the more he
would reveal more of his trump cards and make others more wary.

Wariness when accumulated to an extent, would turn into suppression and

hurdles blocking his path.

Fang Yuan killed a family servant, but why did the Mo family stay
indifferent? Robbing the classmates, why did their family not pursue it?
Fang Yuan resisted the clan and refused to be part of the system, but why
did the clan leader choose to be lenient?

It is all because he is weak, because he is C grade.

They feel strong and do not feel like bullying the weak. Under the family’s
system, being petty with the weak Fang Yuan not only causes them to face
humiliation, it also makes others feel that the person is cold and unfeeling,
ruining one’s social relationships.

Weakness was a safety umbrella that Fang Yuan had for now.

But with his continued competition for resources, Fang Yuan would appear
stronger. This would make everyone start being wary of him, and begin to
try recruiting him. No matter which side he chooses, he would face
suppression and troubles from the other factions.

Suppression and restrictions would drag down his growing speed.

Fang Yuan was aware of his predicament, he was in a delicate position. He
seemed to have offended everyone, but he had not violated any law in
reality.

Yet with time, his cultivation level will rise, and conflicts will arise and
worsen.

Fang Yuan knowns that this conflict would escalate, but the later it
escalated, the greater benefit he would gain.

Thus, the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance was perfectly timed!

With this strength inheritance, he would have hidden resources. Using this,
he could be free of the system’s control and walk his own path, cultivating
at his own speed and secretly accumulate strength.

Once he was adopted into the system, he would need to side with a faction.
Even if he did not want to compete, he would definitely be dragged into the
political strife.

Inside the system, one is a pawn. You first have to be a proper pawn for
others to use you willingly. After they trust and use you, you have the
chance to climb upwards, and even during that process, you have to be
careful not to become a discarded pawn.

Fang Yuan was clear of this procedure, he knew it too well. Even with his
vast knowledge, there was nothing he could do to this situation. These were
the rules!

The more crucial part was his C grade talent. To the clan, there was no
desire in investing in him. Often he would be treated as a discarded pawn.

The most optimum progress route was to work alone. This way, he could
avoid most competition. Towards the higher-ups in the village, the image he
had created earlier would be sustained.

“This world’s matters, it is always easily done secretly, but difficult to do

openly. Using the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance, I can cultivate and
gather strength secretly without gaining attention and suppression. But the
extortion has to continue, for if it stopped abruptly, it would invite
suspicion, and I also need primeval stones.” Fang Yuan considered his
future plans.

He really needed primeval stones.

Other teenagers of his age had only started refining and feeding a second
Gu worm. He however, had also refined the Little Light Gu and recently
acquired the White Boar Gu, thus having a total of four Gu worms.

Previously, he needed around one primeval stone a day just to feed the
Moonlight Gu and Liquor worm. Now after calculating, he needed more
than two pieces everyday just as expenditure!

If including his cultivating needs and living expenditures, he would need to

use around five primeval stones a day!

Five primeval stones was enough to feed a family of three mortals for five
months.

On hand at the moment, he had several hundred primeval stones, but it was
not enough to sustain such an expenditure in the long run.

More importantly, the further he got, the greater his expenditure would be.
Especially after advancing to Rank two, every time he tried combining Gu
worms, it would be cost a huge sum.

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan felt troubled.

The matter of primeval stones was a problem, and by relying on just

extortion and the resources on hand, he could only delay this problem from
erupting.

Moreover, he had another problem, and that was the White Boar Gu’s
feeding.

The White Boar Gu’s food was pork.

Boar, obviously referred to pigs. The Boar Gu series’ food, was all pork.

Black and White Boar Gu had huge appetites. Every five days they would
need to eat around one fully grown pig’s amount of meat.

Pork in this world was not cheap, and mortals could only afford to slaughter
one during the New Year celebration, and enjoy themselves. Without the
large scale cultivation technique of Earth, the price of pork and beef was not
something mortals could eat often. At the same time the topography of the
Qing Mao Mountain was precipitous, the area of residence narrow, how
much space could be allocated just for rearing livestock?

You eat what you can procure at where you live, the villagers were able to
eat pork occasionally because of the hunters hunting wild boars in the
mountains.

“It seems that I have to go hunting myself from now on, for pork.” Fang
Yuan’s eyes shone with a glint.

Relying on the village to purchase pork, first was the expenditure of

primeval stones, second was that it would attract attention. Even if you
loved eating pork, how could a person eat so much in such a short period?

If he hunted himself, it would not only resolve this problem, but also
alleviate his current financial stress.

“Shop assistant, bill!” Thinking of this, Fang Yuan hesitated no more, and
after footing the bill, he left the inn.

These few days the academy was on break so that the students could refine
their second Gu worm. Fang Yuan decided that he could use this time well.
He would leave the village and scout the mountains, and then kill some
wild boars and get himself some pork.

(1) Mugwort – A kind of plant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_princeps
Chapter 65
 Chapter 65: Quickly get lost

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The mountain forest was boundless, and Fang Yuan walked through
patiently.

The sunlight permeated through the huge and tall woods, shining and
creating a ground of mottled and fragmentary tree shadows.

The green grass beside his feet was like a mattress, and the wild flowers
bloomed with bright colours.

His ears picked up the sound of birds chirping, or the trickling of flowing
water.

The further he got from the village, walking towards the outer surroundings,
the more risky it was. Thus Fang Yuan was even more careful.

The wilderness was very dangerous, Gu Masters had to have at least Rank
three cultivation to be able to venture the wilds alone and explore. But this
did not mean they were safe, as many Rank three Gu Masters died in the
wild, sometimes even Rank fours. Wild beasts, poisonous worms, human
threats, and at times the weather, these were all causes of death.

However, Fang Yuan wanted to kill the wild boars which were often found
around the village’s peripheral. Otherwise, the village hunters would not be
able to catch wild boars.

“The environment around the village, every now and then, Gu Masters from
the clan would come out and clear the area. This environment to a Rank one
middle stage like me, is still safe. But I still have to be careful, wild beasts
and Gu worms like to move around.”
With his experience from his previous life, Fang Yuan scouted carefully.

Time gradually passed, but Fang Yuan gained nothing.

“Damn, Qing Mao Mountain is still too big for the current me. I have no
scouting-type Gu and I am not familiar with this environment, plus Qing
Mao Mountain is periodically cleared up, so to find a wild boar, it is too
difficult. Let’s go to the foot of the mountain!”

Fang Yuan’s scouting was unfruitful, thus he changed his mind and went to
the mountain foot.

Qing Mao Mountain has three mountain villages. Gu Yue village, Xiong
family village, and Bai family village. The Xiong family village was on the
fore mountain, the Gu Yue mountain village was at the mountain waist, and
Bai family village was at the back mountain waterfall.

Other than the three villages, there was also tens of tiny villages at the
mountain foot, all being inhabited by mortals.

The three mountain villages split these small villages among themselves,
being the ones controlling them behind the scenes. Once they lacked family
servants, they would pick from these small villages.

But they would not choose Gu Masters.

Nurturing a Gu Master, they would only choose a clansman. Even if they

knew that among these mortals were people with talent, although rare, they
would still not use them.

This world was heavily sided towards bloodline, and holding power among
relatives was the political stability that the clan needed.

In order to expand in size, many mountain villages had adopted outsiders

into their system. Eventually their power flowed out and caused internal
conflicts, thus causing the entire clan to breakdown or weaken.

No matter the world, political power was still based off military force, this
is the truth.
And troops are the brute force department, representing strength. By
controlling strength, one gains status and authority.

Of course, the clan’s rules are not ever constant, they also adopt new blood.
Every year, there would be outsiders marrying into the clan, leaving their
servant status, and the children they give birth to would be a Gu Yue, a new
generation clansman.

This is like connecting a tiny stream into a spring. Do not underestimate

this stream, as without it, a spring would be still, and eventually rot. With it,
there would be life, and the spring would grow even stronger.

Fang Yuan’s previous servant Shen Cui was betting on this idea of marrying
into a Gu Yue and leaving her servant status.

Fang Yuan left the mountain, and after thirty minutes, could see thick
smoke rising from under the mountain.

After a while, he could see a wide hill in his vision, and a village around
that area beside a small river.

The small villages around the vicinity were under the rule of the Gu Yue
village. Although they were closeby, the small villages were not as safe,
thus requiring regular clean up. For mortals to live in such conditions and
manage to survive, to Fang Yuan, he naturally could accept such a fact.

“Oh?” On the mountain path nearing the village, Fang Yuan sensitively
found traces on the ground. His past experience told him that this was a
wild boar’s traces.

“Chase!” Fang Yuan raised his spirits as he followed the clues, getting
deeper into the mountains.

Green moss spread over the stones, ancient juniper trees and tall pagoda
trees completing the great forest.

Under the strong light of the sun, the mountain woods of summer was even
more profound and serene. The lush underbrush suddenly moved a little.
A few deer eating the sumptuous grass looked up, vigilantly staring at the
bushes, their ears twitching.

The bushes that were half a man’s height split apart, and a young man
crawled out from within. His skin was pale and his black hair was short. He
was wearing a modest linen shirt, it was Fang Yuan.

Swoosh.

A few wild deer were frightened, and their four thin limbs quickly moved,
sprinting away. In a moment, they vanished from Fang Yuan’s vision.

“These are female deer, their fur can be shaved to make warm clothing, and
deer meat is also some Gu worm’s food. If it’s a male deer, the antlers are
most precious, and some are even necessary ingredients for a Gu worm’s
advancement.

The wild was dangerous all over, and at the same time it had great treasures.

Fang Yuan looked at the direction that they were escaping in, and retracted
his gaze. His target was wild boars, not these deer.

He continued moving.

There was the sound of buzzing.

Nearing these noises, Fang Yuan stopped in his tracks.

“Beehive.” He looked forward and saw a beehive hanging on a tree.

The bee’s nest was massive, the size was that of a wicker-basket. It
appeared as a sort of greyish dark yellow colour. Outside the bee nest was a
few dozen bee soldiers flying around; occasionally a few worker bees
would enter and exit.

“Beehive has honey, and honey is the Bear Strength Gu’s food. Thus, the
Xiong family has great demand for honey. This beehive is only a small-
sized one, and the chances of producing a Gu isn’t high. If I had the Bronze
Skin Gu, I could risk getting stabbed and collect the honey. What a pity.”
Fang Yuan thought.

In this world, not all insects are Gu.

Gu are the spirit of the world, the body of the laws, how can it be so cheap?
Among a swarm of insects, normally only the insect king is a Gu.

But that depends on their size and development, so if the swarm is too
small, there is no Gu either.

Taking the beehive ahead as an example, because it is too small, there is a

low chance of having a Gu.

Fang Yuan routed around this beehive and continued forward.

The traces of the wild boar was getting more evident, and Fang Yuan knew
he was getting close to it, thus he became more careful, as wild boars were
very dangerous.

Wild boars are not reared pig. When a mature wild boar fights with a tiger,
the tiger may not win.

In this mystical world, wild beasts are not simple too.

“Oh? This situation!” When Fang Yuan finally found the wild boar, he saw
that it had fallen into a huge pit. A sharpened green bamboo was situated at
the bottom of the pit, where it had pierced the wild boar and was causing it
to bleed.

Seeing the accumulated blood in the pit, he could tell that the boar had
already been in the trap for at least fifteen minutes.

But this wild boar continued to struggle, whimpering and howling, still full
of life.

“This trap is obviously set by hunters. To think I’m reaping the rewards.”
Fang Yuan smiled but his expression was grim.
These traps threatened him too.

If he had fallen into it, after half a quarter of an hour, he would die.

Although the village surroundings were cleared regularly, the hunters often
came to hunt and set many traps. Some could be discerned, while others
were designed to be hidden, and if Fang Yuan could not discover them, he
might fall into the trap.

“Any area in this mountain could have a trap buried by the hunters. But
among hunters, with every trap set they would inform each other on the
location. It seems I have to find an old hunter’s residence and find out about
the trap locations from him. Along with the surrounding wild beasts’
activity area and with these intel, I would not have to search like trying to
find a needle in a haystack.” Fang Yuan thought internally.

This was the problem of not having a scouting-type of Gu worm.

But to find a good scouting-type Gu, it was not easy.

In a short time, he could barely make do with a hunter’s intel.

With such a thought, Fang Yuan’s wrist flicked and a moonblade flew out,
easily hitting the wild boar.

Whoosh!

With a light ring, the entire moonblade cut through the boar’s neck and
caused a long and slender wound. Then with a plop sound, a blood fountain
spewed out from it.

The spewing blood caused the wound to become bigger, and thus the blood
fountain also enlarged.

The boar screeched, thrashing about with the last of its energy, until its
movements became smaller and smaller……

Fang Yuan silently looked at the scene, his face calm.

The wild boar’s life faded as its eyes were staring wide and perfectly round,
the muscles on its body twitching and the warm blood filling the trap hole, a
thick smell of blood permeating the surrounding.

“Survival or death, this is the theme of nature.” He sighed in his heart.

At this point, human voices were heard.

“Second brother Wang, within our village, no one is better than you at
hunting. Especially killing wild boars, your family’s Old Wang is the
hunting king in the entire region, who would not know of his great name?”

“That’s right, second brother Wang inherited the old hunter’s abilities. To
hunt a wild boar, it is naturally as good as caught!”

“Second brother Wang, why didn’t little sister Wang come with you today?”

After all the bootlicking, a grave and stern voice said, “Hmph! Hunting a
wild boar, how can it show my true abilities? Today I want to kill three
boars, you’ll see! Er Gou Dan, stop lusting after my sister, or I’ll thrash
you!!!”

Er Gou Dan retorted, “Men and women marry when they’re of age, what’s
wrong with liking little sister Wang? Moreover, I’m not the only one, which
guy in your village doesn’t also fancy her too? Second brother Wang, in my
opinion you are also nineteen already, you should marry a wife and have
kids already.”

The voice spoke again, “Hmph, I’m a true blue man, how can I lust after
such a small temptation? One day, I will leave this Qing Mao Mountain and
explore the world and learn about everything under the sky, that will truly
be fitting of my manly status!”

Saying so, the four young hunters walked out of the forest.

The leader hunter had a tall build, carrying a bow and arrow, his muscles
bulging and his eyes full of spirit, showing a powerful aura.
When he saw Fang Yuan, he frowned and screamed, “Hmm? Which village
are you from kid, how dare you try to take advantage of me Wang Er,
quickly get lost!”
Chapter 66
 Chapter 66: A person’s death is akin to a pig’s
death

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Get lost?” Hearing Wang Er’s words, Fang Yuan immediately broke into a
cold smirk and he brandished his palm in front of him.

Swoosh.

With a light sound, a blue coloured moonblade shot forward.

At the same time, he put strength into his leg and rushed towards the four
hunters.

“Gu Master?!” The hunters were stunned and shouted upon seeing the
moonblade.

The moonblade had already fired over, and they rushed to evade.

Plonk.

A person did not evade fast enough, and his right forearm was hit by the
moonblade. Immediately his bones and flesh split, the entire wrist and his
forearm cut through and fell on the ground.

“AHHHH!”

He laid on the ground, screaming in fear and pain. His left arm was like an
eagle claw gripping his right arm. His right limb spewed bright red blood
non stop, quickly dyeing the floor red.

“Spare me!”
“We did not offend you intentionally!”

The other two mortals on seeing their companion’s state, went pale without
a trace of blood in their face. They hurriedly got on all fours and kneeled
down, kowtowing to Fang Yuan nonstop.

“Hmph, a bunch of fags, what are you afraid of? It’s just a Gu disciple!”
Only Wang Er was still standing. Fang Yuan attacked without warning, and
this had made him frightened and angry. His arms went behind his back,
and with a swift action, he grabbed hold of the bow and arrow in his arms.

“Stop, come further and I’ll shoot you!” Wang Er retreated as he readied the
arrow while screaming.

“Oh?” Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes. This Wang Er was rather intractable.
Normally when mortals saw Gu Masters, they would be cowering in fear.
Yet this man was able to remain calm, he must be rather bold.

Pew.

Another moonblade shot out towards Wang Er.

“Unappreciative bastard.” Wang Er snorted and killing intent rose from his
heart.

He took a side step and evaded the moonblade while shooting an arrow. The
arrow was fast, and with a swoosh, it reached Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan ducked, his head lowering slightly and evading the arrow as he
continued rushing forward, quickly reaching Wang Er.

Wang Er bravely threw away the bow in his hand and clenched his bowl
sized fist, rushing towards Fang Yuan.

He had a large build, his back strong like a wolf’s and his waist like a bee’s,
and he was at least fifty centimetres taller than Fang Yuan. The sunlight
shone from behind him, and as Fang Yuan rushed towards him, he could see
a dark shadow hanging over his face, his eyes emitting killing intent like a
wolf!
“No!!”

“Stop quickly!”

The two hunters seeing that the two were going to collide into each other,
frightfully shouted.

“Die!” Wang Er’s eyes were fierce as the muscles on his face twitched,
showing his sinister and insane expression, like a bloodthirsty evil wolf.

Both his fists flew towards Fang Yuan.

Boom.

His fist was fast and heavy, even cutting the wind!

Fang Yuan could see the fist getting bigger in his eyes, but his expression
was unchanging as he took a side step.

Swoosh.

At the crucial moment, he avoided the fist and forcefully rotated his body,
knocking Wang Er’s left hand away.

Wang Er laughed sinisterly as he waved his fist horizontally, his fist striking
first, about to reach Fang Yuan’s back.

But at this moment, a bright flash of sunlight entered his iris.

His back was originally facing the sun, and now that he had turned around,
the eye-piercing sunlight temporarily made his eyes hurt, and his vision
went blank.

Fang Yuan smirked as he backflipped in the air, dodging Wang Er’s fist, at
the same time waving his right arm.

Pew!

The third moonblade flew along the sunlight trajectory.

Wang Er’s senses tingled as he felt unprecedented danger. He turned his
head around and the next moment, the eerie blue moonblade flew past.

“Be careful brother Wang Er!”

“Did he avoid it?”

The two kneeling on the ground forgot to beg for forgiveness at this
moment, staring widely.

The piercing sunlight shone on their face.

At this moment, time seemed to slow down.

The surrounding sound vanished, and the world was silent.

The afternoon’s blazing sun paved a white background, and on this

backdrop, Wang Er’s body became a black shadow. His body was in the air
at an arc, his muscular body stretching in a crescent shape like an open bow,
full of masculine appeal.

His head lowered as he tried to avoid the moonblade.

The moonblade flew like a snail in the air, its eerie blue light almost
invisible under the sun’s rays.

The white background, the black shadow, and the blue moonblade — these
three formed a brilliant stage for a moment full of life and death.

The moonblade flew over.

The shadow that represented Wang Er landed smoothly as it flowed with the
trajectory.

He was safe and sound.

“Phew!” Seeing this, a young hunter breathed out a sigh of relief.

“He avoided it!” Another hunter was cheering internally.

But at this time!

A small piece of the shadow’s head flew out along with red fluids,
separating from the shadow and spewing everywhere.

The blue moonblade gradually dissipated in the air.

That black shadow was like a broken bow, as the energy accumulated
within it disappeared at once. It turned into a beautiful but sad fallen leaf,
silently landing on the ground.

The two hunter’s irises shrunk into pin size.

Their mouths were agape, stretching to their bodily limits.

Splat.

The bright red fluid landed on their faces.

The two touched their faces —

Blood!

They jolted awake!

In their perception, time had returned to normal, and noise returned.

There were birds chirping, water flowing and their companion screaming
while grabbing his broken arms.

“Second brother Wang…?” A hunter called, his voice full of horror. All this
time, Wang Er was their leader.

“He’s dead!” Another hunter cried out, his face grim to the limit.

“Brother Wang Er is our strongest hunter. A while ago he was still talking
with us, but to think the next moment he’s dead!”
“He should not have angered that Gu Master, we mortals are no match for
Gu Masters!”

The two hunters were frightened and shocked, at once they were like statues
kneeling on the ground.

Fang Yuan got up from the ground.

Earlier, to avoid Wang Er’s fist, he rotated his body in the air and lost his
balance. After shooting the moonblade, he fell to the ground. But this fall
was worth it, as Wang Er’s fist would’ve caused him to vomit blood on the
spot. After all, Fang Yuan had no defensive Gu, and his body was only a
fifteen year old.

Now, he stood up, other than his shoulders hurting, he had practically no
injuries.

“This Wang Er is very strong, much stronger than that Mo family servant
Gao Wan! If any other student encountered him, they would lose without
doubt. Even a Rank one upper stage Gu Master would lose to him out of
carelessness.” Fang Yuan stared at the corpse of Wang Er deeply.

Gu Masters were still threatened by genius mortal martial artists when they
are at Rank one stage.

This Wang Er was truly skilled.

His archery skill was fast and stable, just relying on this it could match
moonblade. In fact, the moonblade might even be inferior, as the arrow has
a larger range. His fighting skill has reached the peak of mortals — a strong
body with tough bones, and he was also ruthless. With Fang Yuan’s small
body, it could not go head to head with him.

Thus, any other student would lose undoubtedly. Unfortunately for Wang
Er, he met Fang Yuan.

Once he appeared, Fang Yuan noticed his bow and deduced that he could
not fight long range with him.
The moonblade only had a range of ten meters. The bow had far greater
range than the moonblade.

Thus, Fang Yuan ditched long combat. He quickly got closer and closed the
gap between them, showing a physical fighting stance.

Wang Er had no choice but to discard his bow and fight physically with
Fang Yuan.

But Fang Yuan did not really think of going close combat with Wang Er. He
used the angle of the sun’s rays and caused a weakness in Wang Er, before
shooting out his third moonblade.

He was already middle stage now, and with the Liquor worm’s refinement,
the moonblade had the attack power of an upper stage Gu Master. At such a
close range, with Wang Er’s weakened vision, his defeat was guaranteed.

“But this Wang Er is indeed skillful. I wanted to decapitate him, but at the
crucial moment, he relied on his senses and reflexes and evaded half of my
attack, causing my moonblade to cut off only half of his head.”

“Life and death is nature’s law. All living beings are equal, and everyone
has their right to survive and be killed. There might be royalty and lower
beings, but in face of death, a person’s death is no different from a pig’s,
what’s the difference? They’re both dead.”

Fang Yuan took a final look at Wang Er’s corpse and sighed in his heart.
Chapter 67
 Chapter 67: Don’t worry, I’ll spare you

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The tree roots penetrate into the mountain soil, letting their green hands
reach up towards the sky. Thick and solid tree trunks faced each other,
looking similar through the distances. The exuberant branches and leaves
intertwined in mid-air.

Under the surroundings of these trees was a wooden house.

The wooden house was made entirely from the solid thick barks, leaking
out a type of genuine firm smell. The wooden house was not a newly built
one, but it had gathered many years. Thus the house surface had green moss
growing all over, and some of the tree trunks had begun to sprout out tender
little branches.

Around the wooden house was a tall and great fence constructed from green
spear bamboo. The back and front area was all vegetable fields, and in the
middle of the fields was a man-made well.

At this time, a young and beautiful lady was drawing water from the well.

While she wore simple and plain clothing, this was still hard to mask her
complexion. She was sixteen years of age, and she had a big pair of black
eyes, the black and whites of her eyes clearly defined, and pure like
crystals.

The sunlight penetrated through the overlapping and luxuriant tree leaves,
shining onto her face, letting her skin reflect light like it was white snow,
also showing a sort of transparent red flush and gentleness on her.

Her black hair hung down unruly and half-covered her cute earlobes.
The pink lips were pursed at the moment, and she was clenching her set of
white perfect teeth, her face showing an expression of full concentration.

She used all her strength to pull the bucket full of water out of the well.
With another breath, she moved the bucket to the ground outside the well.

“Huff!” The young girl wiped her forehead and breathed out, using her pale
hand to fan her own face.

Hearing the bucket hitting the ground, the wooden house’s door opened,
and an old man came out.

The old man’s hair was a mix of black and white, his face having layers of
wrinkles. Although his eyes looked tired, they showed a hint of brilliance
sometimes. Like an elderly tiger, although old, the tiger’s authority was still
evident.

“Lass, this bucket is too heavy, I said let me carry it. Why are you secretly
watering the plants behind my back again?” The elderly looked at the young
girl and showed an expression of doting affection.

“Father!” The young girl sweetly called, “You were hunting until late at
night yesterday, I wanted you to sleep in later today. It’s just a water bucket,
look, I can carry it out, right?”

“You, always loving to act tough!” The old man’s voice was full of
helplessness, but his eyes were once again doting on her.

He took a large step and got to the well, stretching out his hand and easily
grabbing the bucket, “Come, lass, let’s water the plants together.”

The air was full of the smell of wild grass and flowers, and the summer’s
wind blew warmly and passed by the trees, turning into a gust of refreshing
wind.

The wooden house on the mountain had a vegetable field, and the girl used
the pail, lowering her back to water the plants. The father was in charge of
getting the water, rotating between two water buckets. The atmosphere of a
loving family was evident in this tiny space.

“Sigh, I am too old, just a few buckets and I am already exhausted.” After a
while, the old man stood by the well, wiping the sweat off his forehead and
sighing deeply.

The young girl turned her head back, smiling like flowers, saying, “Father,
you finally realized it. You’re already so old, yet you want to act tough all
the time. How many times have I told you, let second brother do the
hunting, you should be resting at home enjoying your life at this age.”

“Hehehe,” the old man laughed, nodding, “Relying on your second

brother’s abilities, he can roam this mountain easily. With his archery skills,
it even surpasses me in my youth. But I still cannot feel at ease, his heart is
too wild, and with just martial art skills he wants to soar. Sigh, young men
love to imagine freely, they all have this problem.”

“Father…..” The young girl dragged her words.

The old man laughed even more heartily now, his tone carrying a
mischievous hint, “Oh yeah, there’s still you. You’re not young anymore,
it’s time to get married. I have found a good partner for you, and with your
good looks, there’s no problems with finding a good family.”

The girl’s face grew red like a tomato. Immediately she felt too embarrassed
until she was lost for words.

The old man looked at the sky, imagining the great future as he sighed,
“Once your second brother suffers some setbacks and curbs his nature, I
will retire and never go into the mountains. Next I will find you a good
family and watch you marry and have children, preferably a chubby boy.
Heh heh, your father wants to take care of his grandson, that’s all I want. A
person’s life is not easy, and as a hunter, how many can have a good
ending? Sigh, all my partners and comrades from back then are already
gone, I am all that’s left.”
“Father, you are wrong.” The young girl consoled, “What do you mean
there’s only you left? You still have us.”

“Hehe, hmm?” The old man was laughing and was about to reply, but he
suddenly heard a sound and turned his head.

The little entrance of the bamboo fence was broken from the outside by
someone.

“You are old man Wang?” Fang Yuan’s cold expression with his eerie eyes,
stepped forward with a lump of moonlight in his right arm.

The old man was shocked as he looked at the moonlight on Fang Yuan’s
hand, rapidly kneeling, “This old man pays his respects to Lord Gu
Master!”

“Old man Wang, your son dared to offend me, I have executed him. Bring
his corpse forward!” Fang Yuan stood proudly, staring at the kneeling old
man as he brought out the main topic.

His words had just finished, and two young hunters carried Wang Er’s
corpse in.

Seeing this corpse, old man Wang’s body shook!

“Second brother —!” The young girl screamed pitifully, rushing forward
and grabbing Wang Er’s corpse, her face flushed with tears.

“Wang family’s daughter…” The two young hunters, seeing the girl they
liked crying in front of them, felt terrible. They wanted to console her, but
no words came out.

“Old man Wang, I heard you’re a hunter, the best among the few villages.
At such an old age, you can still hunt and get a good result every time, this
is great.”

Fang Yuan paused here for a moment, and continued expressionlessly,

“Draw me a map of all the traps of the nearby mountain area now, as well
as the results of your observation of wild beast territories from your hunting
experience all these years. Draw it for me and I will spare your son’s sin of
offending me, if not… hmph.”

These villages were under Gu Yue village’s control. The villagers were all
farmer slaves of the Gu Yue clan.

With Wang Er’s offense for offending his master, according to the clan
rules, their entire family would be implicated!

Old man Wang’s body shook again, almost falling to the ground. An impact
like this was too sudden and great to him.

“Murderer, you are the murderer that harmed my brother! You treat human
lives like livestock, and you dare to confront us? I will exact revenge for my
brother!!” The young girl screamed, her voice full of hatred and anger
towards Fang Yuan, and she rushed towards Fang Yuan.

But she was only halfway there when she got stopped by someone.

It was not the two young hunters, but her father.

“Disgraceful wretch!” Old man Wang screamed as he gave the young girl a
tight slap, sending her to the ground.

“Your second brother is dead, do you want to die too? Do you want this old
father of yours to be old and alone forever?!” The old man cried profusely
saying this, his body trembling furiously.

“Father!” The young girl was awakened by this, and her tears poured out.
Her voice was full of sadness, unjust, pity, hatred, and helplessness.

The old man turned his body, facing Fang Yuan as he kneeled down and
placed his forehead on the ground, prostrating deeply at Fang Yuan’s feet.
His voice shook as he said, “Lord Gu Master, my son offended you and
deserved to die! I shall draw the map for you now, please spare us with your
magnanimity.”

Fang Yuan’s expression turned milder, he looked at the old man arrogantly,
saying, “Be at ease, as long as you draw honestly, I will spare you. But
don’t think of lying to me, for if I find any suspicious points, your lives will
be forfeited!”

“I understand, this old man understands.” Old man Wang kowtowed non-
stop, “Please Lord Gu Master, allow me to retrieve my brush and paper.”

“No need.” Fang Yuan waved his hand, looking at the two hunters he had
forced along, ordering, “Enter the room and find paper and brush, and bring
them out.”

“Yes, Lord Gu Master.” The two youngsters did not dare to rebel under
Fang Yuan’s authority.

“Lord, the paper and brush are on the square table in the kitchen.” Old man
Wang said.

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone but he remained silent.

The two hunters barged into the house and quickly brought out the paper
and brush.

In the southern territory, the paper were specially made of bamboo, where
the quality was bad and the paper was tough with green overlays. Paper like
this was suited to the moist weather of the southern territorial weather.

If it was rice paper, it might be destroyed after a week due to moisture.

The old man carried the brush and kneeled on the ground, drawing out
black lines, curves or dots.

He used over ten bamboo papers, before handing them all to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan looked through them and split these bamboo papers into two,
handing them to the two hunters, “Take a look if there’s any inappropriate
areas. Every mistake, I’ll give you one primeval stone!”
Chapter 68
 Chapter 68: There is no innocence in nature

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The two hunters took the bamboo papers, their hands trembling, eyes
shining.

“This is hunter Wang’s life experience and effort. Us hunters, although we

keep in contact, it is all about trap placement, we will not tell others about
the wild beast distribution. This bamboo paper, it is all the information that
hunter Wang had gathered since his ancestors.”

“So this valley has a herd of wild deer, haha, after I hunt these wild deer, I
won’t have to worry about expenses for the next three months! Ah, this
stream has a cave of mountain bears? How close, I almost hunted at this
region last time, note it, I must note it all down!”

These were precious information, it could be said to be a hunter’s rice bowl!

Normally not within a generation but all the way from their forefathers,
these experiences and information were obtained at the expense of their
blood and lives.

But old man Wang’s family had always hunted for a living. When it got to
old man Wang, he had reached the peak of his family line, the acclaimed
number one hunter.

Information in the hands of such a person, is the most useful and truthful.

The two young hunters checked for nearly fifteen minutes, glossing through
the map multiple times. Only after Fang Yuan rushed them did they finally
hand over the bamboo paper reluctantly.
During this period, old man Wang was kneeling on the ground, his forehead
touching the ground as he expressed his respect. The young girl was lying
on the ground, as if she had gone lifeless.

“There is no problem, lord.”

“The trap areas in these bamboo papers are all accurate.”

The two answered.

“Lord Gu Master, this concerns me and my daughter’s life, I would

definitely not lie to you!” The old man on the ground shouted as he
continued to kowtow.

“Mmm, not bad.” Fang Yuan waved the stack of bamboo paper, yet
suddenly his words changed, “But, I don’t believe it.”

Old man Wang jolted, raising his head, but only saw an eerie blue
moonblade enlarging within the reflection of his iris.

Pew.

A skull flew into the air, fresh blood spewing all over.

“Argh!!!”

“Lord, this—!”

The two young hunters were taken by surprise. Shock and disbelief showed
on their faces.

“Father—!” The young girl cried out profusely as she leapt towards old man
Wang’s headless corpse, but midway, a moonblade flew towards her face.

Splat.

She fell onto the ground, lifeless.

Her beautiful face, from her forehead to her chin, slowly showed a thin red
line.

The line became thicker as fresh red blood oozed out, flowing down along
half of her nose and half of her lips. They flowed onto the black soil, dyeing
half of her face bright red.

The other half of her face though, was still as beautiful, the skin fair and
rosy. Under the bright blue sky, it seemed even more lustrous, like a work
of art.

“At least she looks decent.” Fang Yuan looked at the dead girl blandly,
nodding satisfactorily.

Using Rank one middle stage primeval essence, the moonblade could slice
Gu. Now that he was using upper stage primeval essence, it could break
bones and even cut steel!

“Wang family’s daughter!” A young hunter fell onto the ground in despair
after seeing her demise with his own eyes.

“Lord Gu Master, spare us!” The other hunter feeling Fang Yuan’s faze,
nearly died of shock as he plopped on the ground.

“Get up, go inside and search!’ Fang Yuan ordered, “I know that a hunter’s
family always keeps a beast skin map. On top of it is the terrain, trap
locations and the beast territories. Find it for me, and I’ll let you keep your
lives.”

“Yes, yes, yes, we will search immediately. Give us some time, Lord Gu
Master!” The two frantically got up and ran into the wooden house.

Sounds of wardrobes overturning and falling could be heard from the

wooden house.

But a moment later, even though the hunters ransacked the house, there was
no beast skin map to be found.
“Lord, please give me some time, we will find it right now!” The two
hunters were terrified as they got more desperate and searched boorishly,
smashing many furniture in the process.

“Fuck, where is it?”

“Appear, please appear!”

They muttered as their bodies shivered, their eyes getting bloodshot.

“Useless trash.” Fang Yuan slowly walked into the house.

“Lord! Lord! Forgive us, please…wahh…” The two young hunters shivered
like they were electrified and fell to the ground, begging for their lives.

Fang Yuan ignored the two and observed the house.

There were four rooms in the house, a living room and a kitchen. All the
furniture were in a mess, like they were ransacked.

Fang Yuan slowly stepped in, his steps producing echoes in the wooden
house.

“It has indeed been searched, that shouldn’t be right. Almost every hunter
has a beast skin map inherited throughout the generations, getting refined
along the way, recording all the beasts territory and pitfalls. This is the
livelihood of a hunter, how can they not have it?”

Fang Yuan stood pondering, “Moreover, I tested that old man Wang earlier,
purposely getting the two hunters to search for paper and brush. The old
man immediately called out the location of the paper and brush, probably
worried that they might find the beast skin map, thus it has to be in this
house!”

Fang Yuan observed the house again, and suddenly his inspiration struck as
he looked at the firepit.

This firepit was connected to the chimney, used in winter to gain warmth.
There was even some residue charcoal in the firepit.
Fang Yuan walked to the firepit, slowly squatting down and taking a shovel
beside the firepit, digging out the charcoal.

Most of the charcoal still has their wooden shape, they were brittle and
easily broken into two.

“Oh?” Fang Yuan inspected, suddenly finding a charcoal block that had a
very tough material and was very heavy, not light like the other charcoal
blocks.

He used the shovel to dig out this charcoal block, smashing it on the
ground. The charcoal smashed into bits, revealing a bamboo tube.

The two hunters gasped at this scene.

Fang Yuan took the bamboo tube and opened it on one side, shaking it,
causing a map to fall out.

The map was heavier than the stack of bamboo paper, made with a piece of
white beast skin. The beast skin was huge, over a meters long and half a
meter in breadth. There was black, green, red, yellow and blue lines on it,
forming a complicated map.

Fang Yuan was slightly taken aback looking at it.

The map’s range was very big, extending far beyond the village’s vicinity.
As a mortal, it was not easy to map out areas so far away.

His gaze focused on five spots, those with wild boar herds.

Two were small sized, two were medium sized, and there was a large sized
boar herd. In the middle of the large sized herd, there was a giant red cross.

Seeing this cross, Fang Yuan snickered. On his bamboo paper, there was no
such marking!

The two young hunters had also seen the bamboo paper, and found no
problems. This was their own inexperience, only certain of some areas. This
red cross was far beyond the village, and from this, old man Wang’s
cunningness could be seen.

This was why Fang Yuan killed them.

To hunt for wild boars, he needed such a beast skin map. But he was not
convinced by a map drawn by others. Only getting a “real” map like this,
could it be dependable.

Fang Yuan had heard of all sorts of remarks in his past life. Just a word
“scram”, was not enough reason for him to kill Wang Er.

When hearing the four hunters’ conversation beside the boar trap, Fang
Yuan had already planned his murder.

Killing Wang Er reduced his opposition, and gave him reason to obtain the
map. Why wouldn’t he kill him?

Fang Yuan would not kill for the sake of killing, killing is only a method.
Using this method, if it can solve the problem, then why not?

The old man definitely had to die, even if he can endure the murder of his
son, Fang Yuan would not be at ease. Otherwise, it would be a case of
“When cutting down weeds, you must get at the roots. Otherwise, the weeds
will return with the spring breeze.”

What, you said killing the innocent?

Hehe, no matter which world, as long as one lives in this world, they would
be intertwined in karma, how can anyone be innocent? Humans slaughter
pigs, aren’t the pigs innocent?

Big fish eats small fish, and small fish eats shrimps, in nature there is only
the food chain, there is no innocence.

In this world, anybody can live, anybody can die, but nobody is innocent!
Chapter 69
 Chapter 69: Life is as cheap as grass

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The beast skin map was very thick, it was unlike paper that could be folded
and carried around easily. Fang Yuan could only roll the beast skin up and
put it back into the bamboo tube, where he then tied up both ends of the
bamboo tube with hemp rope, and carried it on his back.

The two hunters stared firmly at the bamboo case, their eyes unavoidably
showing signs of greed. They were not idiots after all — they knew the
value of the map.

This beast skin map is something that Gu Masters would not even bother
looking at, but to mortals, especially hunters like them, it was the most
valuable treasure.

The Wang family had began to pass down this map since the time of their
ancestors. Old man Wang was able to become a famous hunter, his name
known throughout the vicinity and beyond; the map had much contribution
to this. It was truly an authentic family heirloom.

“I’m going to ask you — in Old man Wang’s household, is there anyone
else?” Fang Yuan’s gaze was dark, his tone cold as he asked.

The two young men kneeling on the ground shuddered immediately when
they heard this question from Fang Yuan. They thought about what had just
conspired earlier, and the greedy expressions from their faces disappeared
in an instant, replaced with fear and terror.

“There is no one else, the entire family is dead, lord Gu Master!”

“Hunter Wang originally had a wife, but that was decades ago, and she was
killed by wild wolves that intruded the village. Before his wife died she
gave birth to two sons and a daughter. But the oldest son Wang Da died on
the mountain while hunting three years ago. There is no one else in the
Wang family.”

This was the immediate reply from the two young hunters.

“Is that so…” Fang Yuan narrowed his two eyes and he looked at the two
men kneeling before him, knowing that they were telling the truth. When
one’s life and death was in the hands of others, the probability of lying was
very small.

But he asked anyway, “Did you lie to me?”

“We would not dare to lie even the slightest, lord!”

“I-I thought of something! Old man Wang actually also has a daughter-in-
law, Wang Da’s old wife. But after Wang Da disappeared, his wife died due
to a broken heart. That year, the village even specially sent down a chastity
memorial arch! But rumour has it that Wang Da’s wife wanted to remarry,
and she was actually hounded to death by Old man Wang. When you killed
Old man Wang, lord, you are helping us citizens, rooting out the evil and
bringing people peace!”

The other hunter quickly added, “That’s right, that’s right. Actually lord, we
have long found this old Wang unfavourable. Hmph, he’s nothing special,
just that he can hunt better than us. We’re all just mortals, yet he thinks he’s
more special than us and purposely moved out of the village to live here. As
the younger generation, we sometimes will ask him to teach us and impart
his experiences, but he would just outright chase us away and never allow
us to show up again near the wooden house!”

Fang Yuan listened quietly while nodding. Although these two started
belittling Old man Wang in an attempt to keep their lives, he did not sense
any resentment from these two men’s mouths.
Fang Yuan guessed inwardly that these two men asking to consult for
hunting matters should be fake, he surmised that they were just over to
covet for the Wang family’s daughter and her good looks. Yet in the end
they were found out by Old man Wang and disciplined a few times harshly.

“Weeding out the wicked and let the law-abiding citizens live in peace.
Enough of such bootlicking, this time I killed them because my motive was
just for this beast skin map. Well, both of you have showed a satisfying
behaviour, you can both go now.” Fang Yuan’s tone softened, but at the
same time the right hand behind his back shone with gloomy moonlight.

The two young men kneeling on the ground felt surprise and joy once they
heard this.

“Thank you so much for your mercy, lord!”

“Lord, your generosity and indulgence, we shall remember in heart

forever!”

They kowtowed on the ground, their mucus and tears overflowing, sounds
of dull knocking could be heard. After several knocks they immediately got
up and turned to leave.

Although Fang Yuan was younger than them in age, but after witnessing
firsthand what Fang Yuan was like in doing things, they were beyond
fearful and terrified, wishing never to meet Fang Yuan again.

“Hold it.” Just at this moment, a voice suddenly travelled over.

The moment it finished there was a swoosh and a Gu Master jumped down
from a treetop.

“You both cannot leave, tell me what happened here. All of it.” This Gu
Master that just jumped down was wearing a deep blue uniform, and there
was a scarlet belt with a metal plate in the middle. There was a huge ‘Two’
word carved onto the metal plate.
This Rank two Gu Master had a slim build, his two eyes slender. He wore
arm protectors on his wrists, and his calves had sturdy leg bindings, his
entire being radiating with a highly capable aura.

“This commoner greets lord Jiang He!” The two young men had just got up
with the intention to leave, but once they saw this Gu Master they instantly
knelt down again, prostrating themselves in admiration while greeting.

This Gu Master was someone they knew — it was the Gu Master stationed
at the village.

Every year to reinforce their control in their surroundings, the Gu Yue

Village would dispatch Gu Master down into the little villages and hamlets,
stationing Gu Masters there. This would also prevent the other powers from
infiltrating and at the same time strengthen their defences on their borders.

This Gu Master named Jiang He did not bother with the two hunters
kneeling on the ground, instead looking straight at Fang Yuan, asking in a
cold tone, “I am the Gu Master Jiang He of the Gu Yue clan who has been
stationed here, you are?”

Fang Yuan laughed lightly and stretched his right palm out, where the
Moonlight Gu was giving out a ball of moonlight in the middle of his palm.

When the Gu Master Jiang He saw the moonlight in Fang Yuan’s hand, his
gaze softened considerably — the Moonlight Gu was the sign of the Gu Yue
clan, this was something that could not be forged.

“This matter is simple actually. Old man Wang’s second son offended me,
so I killed the entire family off in anger. Those two can be my witness.”
Fang Yuan straightforwardly admitted with a bold and confident manner,
pointing at the two hunters kneeling down at the same time.

Fang yuan was not lying, and these two hunters nodded in haste; there was
no hesitation.

Jiang He stared blankly for a moment before he started laughing loudly,

“You killed well! Just a bunch of measly peasant servants, to actually dare
to offend their masters, they deserved to be killed!!”

But he quickly added with a change in tone, full of emotion and deep
meaning, “However young junior, what you’ve done has also brought
problems to me. Although Old man Wang resides far away from the masses
and stayed here alone with his family, they are still villagers that I am in
charge of. I was sent out from the clan and stationed here in this village, this
means I’m supposed to protect the villagers and be on the alert as defence.
Now that you’ve killed these few people, the number of villagers will have
lessened. During the examination at the end of the year the clan’s
assessment towards me will drop.”

Fang Yuan’s gaze shone, and he instantly knew that this Jiang He was using
this as a pretext to extort money from him.

He laughed and said out, “This isn’t so difficult. Senior you just have to
report the truth back. Just say that this entire family was killed by me, and it
has nothing to do with senior whatsoever.”

When Jiang He heard this his eyelids twitched, anger rising in his heart
towards Fang Yuan who did not know how to appreciate favors. His manner
of speaking became extremely solemn, “Then I will have to conduct
business impartially here. Junior, if you are not afraid of the clan’s
investigation then report your name, I will record it in detail as how things
really are on paper.”

His words brought a strong implication of threat; if it was any other

youngster they would have been frightened by this statement already.

But Fang Yuan could see Jiang He’s weakness from it, and he instantly said,
“Then senior shall report as how it should be. Ah right, my surname is Gu
Yue, and my name is Fang Yuan.”

“So you’re actually Fang Yuan!” Jiang He’s face evidently showed
astonishment for a while, “I have been hearing about you all the time from
my little brother recently. You thoroughly beat up all your classmates,
extorting in front of everyone, getting sixty pieces of primeval stones each
time. Every time my little brother speaks of it he’s always jealous of how
you can earn money so easily. Not to mention that time when you gambled
out a Liquor worm and a Mudskin Toad consecutively. This sort of luck
sure makes people jealous. Oh right, my little brother is Jiang Ya, you both
should have met each other long ago.”

“So it’s him.” Fang Yuan nodded and admitted, “Yes, every time when I buy
Moon orchid petals, I would buy them in Jiang Ya’s shop.”

“Hahaha, since this it the case then we both are acquaintances. Oh well let’s
forget about it, this matter I’ll handle it!” When he said this, Jiang He
clapped his chest with his hands, putting out the appearance of one with the
spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice.

He was merely using this favourable circumstance, there was no way he

could have really reported the matter.

After reporting of such a thing the clan’s assessment towards him would
still drop either way. You might as well just do a good turn to Fang Yuan, as
for Old man Wang’s family’s death, he could just report that they were
invaded and attacked by a wild beast.

It’s Old man Wang’s fault for his unconventional ways of insisting to move
out of the village, building a wooden house far away from the population!

Jiang He was not afraid of the matter being disclosed, there was just a few
mortal peasants around. Their lives were cheap ass grass, who cares if they
died? Even if the clan found out about the cover-up they would hardly care
about such a small matter.

“But junior, you have yet to graduate from the academy and do not have the
Gu Master uniform like I am wearing now. If that Wang Er saw this outfit
he’d know about your status as Gu Master and wouldn’t offend you. Junior
you are a smart person, don’t you think so, hehe,” said Jiang He again.

Fang Yuan’s eyes flashed. Jiang He’s words had implicit meaning, and was
actually warning himself — do not run out of the academy and wander
around for no reason, and you better not come to the area under my
jurisdiction here after today to cause trouble and kill people again.
“In that case thank you very much for your advice, senior.” Fang Yuan
cupped his fists in greeting, bidding farewell to Jiang He, immediately
taking his leave from here.
Chapter 70
 Chapter 70: Using the White Boar Gu

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the black of the night, the moon is shaped like a silver plate, hanging
high in the sky spewing its watery moonlight down.

The dense woods lightly unfold their dense green leaves and branches in the
summer wind. The waterfalls crash down as they flow, but the sounds are
unable to cover the noises of the sandalwood crickets chirping about.

Fang Yuan stepped onto the green grass, quietly approaching a mountain
boar.

This mountain boar had its head buried, puffing and snorting as it digged
the emerald earth with its snout, rummaging among the soil and grass to
look for worms.

The wild boar was an omnivorous animal. It not only ate worms, but also
stole bird eggs and was adept at hunting wild rabbits, mice, even venomous
creatures such as snakes and scorpions.

Fang Yuan crept slowly from behind the boar.

Under the bright moonlight, the greyish black fur coat of the wild pig could
be seen clearly. Its body was strong and firm, the four limbs short and
rough. On its back was a long and stiff mane, while atop its ears were
sparse fur that was erect like needles. With all four limbs on the ground,
each foot had four toes but only the two middle ones were digging against
the soil. Its fail was thin and short, sometimes flinging about, chasing away
the mosquitoes flying around.
Suddenly it stopped digging for its meal, rearing its head up. At the same
time the boar’s sharp little upright ears quickly trembled a few times.
Although Fang Yuan had managed to stop his tracks in time, this mountain
boar still found him. It immediately turned around and groaned out with
warning sounds.

Fang Yuan was not surprised by this. A wild animal was not like a domestic
one, they were all very alert. Especially the wild boar, they had acute smell
and could find bird nests that were often hidden very well.

Even if this mountain boar did not hear any noises, when Fang Yuan neared
around a hundred meters away from it, it would be able to smell the his
body odour and will still be able to sense Fang Yuan’s presence.

Although Fang Yuan had five Gu worms on him at the moment — the
Spring Autumn Cicada, Liquor worm, Moonlight Gu, Little Light Gu and
the white boar Gu, these Gu were all not able to match each other, and were
incompatible.

If Fang Yuan had a Smell Lock Gu that could cover up his body odour, and
another Quiet Steps Gu that concealed the noise of one’s footsteps, he could
completely and silently reach up to a distance of ten steps away from the
mountain pig.

However if he had these two Gu then Fang Yuan would have been keeping
seven Gu worms, this would cause his primeval essence usage to be too
great and he would have difficulty supporting them.

Gu Masters in general can only feed four to five Gu worms of the same
rank. Thus Gu Masters usually do not move alone, but instead form small
groups of five, or at the very least with three.

Among the groups, there would be someone specially in charge of

detection, one responsible for advancement, one bearing the offence role,
another responsible for medical treatment and someone in charge of
resisting and holding back hostiles.

Fang Yuan continued without stop, getting closer to the wild boar.
The wild boar screeched lowly, the white fur on its neck standing, the
symbol of its agitation.

Finally when Fang Yuan was near enough, closer than the wild boar’s
acceptable range, the wild boar’s hoofs dug the ground three times before
spreading its muscular four limbs, lowered its head and dashed towards
Fang Yuan.

Its upper jaw was withdrawn, its lower jaw turning upwards, forming two
white tusks. Under the moonlight, the tusks shone with light as it stabbed
towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan had no defensive type of Gu worm, and if he was pierced by the
tusk, his stomach would be penetrated, his intestines would be punctured
and he would be heavily injured if not dead.

“Moonlight Gu.” Fang Yuan’s face was calm as he thought in his mind,
causing the Moonlight Gu in his palm to absorb his primeval essence and
emit an eerie moonlight glow, interweaving with the moonlight from the
night sky.

The wild boar charged towards Fang Yuan as his right palm swiped across
the air.

With a swoosh, the moonblade flew out and hit the wild boar in the face,
causing blood to splatter all over.

The wild boar cried out loudly, turning its anger into fuel as its charge
became even faster, and in the blink of an eye, it reached a few steps before
Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan nimbly jumped to the side, rolling and breaking his fall.

The wild boar charged right past Fang Yuan, and with a boom, crashed into
a tree behind him.

The tiny tree was only as thick as a human arm, after getting knocked by
the wild boar, it received devastating damage as the tree trunk tore open and
split into two.

Fang Yuan stood up, quickly getting close to the wild boar while a
moonblade shot out from his right hand at the same time.

The eerily blue moonblade drew a straight line across the air as it landed on
the wild boar.

The wild boar’s black fur had several thin cuts on it. The injury was very
deep and bright red blood oozed out from it.

The moonblade Fang Yuan activated used up upper stage primeval essence,
thus it was able to break even a human’s toughest bones in one shot. But on
the boar, it could only cause such superficial injury, and not damage the
bones.

A small wild boar like this was so strong, this showed how cruel the living
environment was in this world!

The wild boar growled, and charged towards Fang Yuan again.

In the process of sprinting, its blood-dripping wound continued to tear open,

and its warm blood poured out like water.

Fang Yuan used the same trick, taking a tumble sideways and dodged its
charge.

The wild boar, although strong and very ferocious, had one weakness — it
could not change directions easily. Its speed was fast, but that meant it
could not alter directions easily, so this way, every one of its charges is in a
straight line. As long as a Gu Master is attentive enough, it is not hard to
dodge.

Boom, boom, boom.

Every time the wild boar charged, Fang Yuan would shoot a few
moonblades, causing its old wounds to be overlapped with new wounds,
and the angrier it got, the more blood flowed.
After a few times, its movements slowed and its growling also revealed a
hint of weakness.

“Little light Gu.”

This time, Fang Yuan not only activated the Moonlight Gu, but also
deployed his primeval essence and injected it into the Little light Gu.

The Moonlight Gu after being refined had always stayed in Fang Yuan’s
right palm, turning into a blue crescent moon tattoo. After the Little light
Gu was refined, it also resided in his right palm, turning into the shape of a
five-sided star.

At this point, his dark green primeval essence entered the two Gu, the
moonlight emitting an eerie blue moonlight while the Little light Gu
emitted a milky white glow.

The milky white light fused into the moonlight, and the originally small
lump of moonlight instantly became twice as big.

“Go.”

Fang Yuan’s right hand sweeped, and an enhanced giant moonblade flew
out.

Using only the Moonlight Gu, the size was only palm-sized. But with the
addition and help of the Little light Gu, the moonblade’s size doubled, and
its attack range also doubled as well.

Swoosh!

The moonblade hit the wild boar on the neck, creeping into its black grey
fur. It emerged from the other end and flew for about three to four meters
before dissipating in the air.

Glup glup…

The wild boar stood on the spot, frozen for a moment, then blood oozed out
from its injuries like a fountain.
It abruptly collapsed, half of its head cut off, washed away by the pouring
blood, and only a small piece of flesh kept it together with its body.

A thick smell of blood gushed out into his nose.

Fang Yuan did not dare to hesitate, pointing a finger at the wild boar, and
the White Boar Gu which was residing in his aperture instantly turned into a
milky white light and entered the wild boar’s body.

Fang Yuan stood on the spot, nervously staying alert of the surroundings.
Although the beast skin map said that the area was relatively safe, there
were always accidents in nature, what if beasts were attracted by the smell
of the blood?

After a while, the White Boar Gu flew back safe and sound.

The entire boar had shrunk in half, only leaving behind its black grey fur
and the intestines under its skin. As for the meat, most of it was eaten by the
White Boar Gu.

But the strange thing was, although the White Boar Gu ate pork nearly a
thousand times its size, it did not change physically.

There was not even a drip of blood on it, as it maintained that milky white
worm appearance.

“After this meal, I’ll come five days later to hunt boars.” Fang Yuan kept
the White Boar Gu, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he took out his
knife and extracted the two tusks of the boar.

The wild boar’s body had a few things of value.

The first was pork, the second was fur, and the third was its teeth.

But now the wild boar meat was mostly eaten by the White Boar Gu; its
skin was full of holes due to the moonblades, being meaningless even if
retrieved.
Only this pair of tusks had some value. It could be used as food for certain
Gu worms which ate teeth as food, or used as a catalyst for some Gu
worm’s advancement.

Fang Yuan hid the teeth in the rock crack’s secret cave before returning to
the hostel.

He did not sleep immediately, but sat on his bed and started to cultivate.

Within the aperture, the primeval sea acted like waves, rising and falling.

Fang Yuan was now a middle stage Gu Master, so after using the Liquor
worm refinement, he had upper stage primeval essence.

Thus, while the people his age had middle stage pale green primeval
essence, Fang Yuan’s primeval essence was dark green.

Now that he killed a boar, there was only 23% of his primeval essence in
his aperture.

A Rank one Gu Master was not that strong in battle. Or rather, nature’s
environment was too harsh. Even if the moonblade could break bones, to
kill a normal wild boar, Fang Yuan had to use 20% of his upper stage
primeval essence.

“White Boar Gu.”

His eyes were shut tight, his spirit immersed into his aperture.

In the aperture, a gush of dark green primeval essence rushed up against the
flow, injecting into the White Boar Gu.

The White Boar Gu immediately emitted a bright white light, and the light
enveloped Fang Yuan’s body. If one looked from the outside, they would
see that Fang Yuan’s body was emitting a pure white light from the inside.

Fang Yuan’s every muscle and every inch of skin, was soaked in this white
light.
A feeling of numbness and itchiness was felt by him. As the white light
modified his muscles, it allowed strength to be slowly infused into his body,
thus gaining roots and never to be lost again.

However, after a moment, the numb feeling became pain. This pain was like
getting electrocuted, from numbness to sharp pain like getting cut by razor
blades.

Fang Yuan hurriedly stopped the White Boar Gu.

Anything prolonged was not good.

The White Boar Gu could not be overused, it could be applied about fifteen
minutes a day. Exceed it, and extreme pain would be felt, increasingly
painful.

If he continued using it despite that, a person might even die from the pain!
Chapter 71
 Chapter 71: Keeping a low profile even if one’s
strength can carry a boar

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Time flies, and with the blink of an eye, it was already the middle of June.

The summer night, with the golden arc of the moon hanging high in the sky,
shining its radiance on the green mountain lands.

The winds blew and the leaves danced with the moonlight. The song of the
cicadas and bullfrogs were simultaneous with each other. At times the
sound of a wolf howling could be heard from afar, echoing throughout the
green mountain.

On a river bank, a creek was scrubbing over a piece of smooth cliff rock.
Beside this bank, a battle was ongoing.

A mountain boar covered in fine and deep wounds all over kicked its legs
and rushed forward once more towards Fang Yuan. The blood was pouring
from its wounds, marking a road of fresh red liquid.

Fang Yuan wrestled with it, showing no signs of panic.

The wild boar was on the verge of death, but it was precisely these
moments that wild beasts are the most dangerous. Using the last remaining
potential of their lives, their insanity and tenacity, could cause one to get
gravely injured at any careless moment.

Fang Yuan was peaceful, his black iris glowing eerily under the moonlight,
showing the light of absolute calmness.
He had the experience of 500 years, a part of him was engrossed in combat,
while another disengaged from the battle, and remained alert towards the
surroundings.

Many times when he was hunting wild boars, other animals came to wreck
havoc. At times, a wild boar, another time wild wolves, and even once a
wandering tiger.

As time passed, the wild boar’s attacks gradually slowed down.

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone brightly as he took a few strides forward, getting
close to the wild boar. Raising strength in his shoulder and arms, he carried
and raised the wild boar in one breath.

Huff!

Fang Yuan growled as his face was puffed red, his arms stretching out and
raising the wild boar high above his head.

The wild boar feebly struggled.

Fang Yuan’s body was unstable, he used all his strength to throw the wild
boar.

With a boom, the wild boar was thrown onto a large rock by the river bank.
It cried pitifully as sounds of its bones breaking could be heard.

It fell down from the large rock, blood oozing out from its ears, nose and
mouth.

It struggled a few times before drawing its final breath.

The surroundings regained its peace.

The river water flowed endlessly, carrying the boar’s blood along the river
to some far away place.

“My strength right now can compete with a boar! Tonight I’ll go try that
giant rock at the passageway.” Fang Yuan stood on the spot, breathing in
heavily with a hint of excitement flashing across his eyes.

These days he had used the White Boar Gu non-stop to increase the strength
of his body. He could feel strongly now that his strength was getting bigger.

Back then when he fought wild boars, he could only use a kiting technique
with the moonblade, but now he could even carry the wild boar, so the
increment of his strength had shown great progress.

Of course, the White Boar Gu would not endless give him strength. The
limit was a boar’s strength, and once he reached the limit, it would no
longer grant him any additional strength.

“I can carry a wild boar now, but that does not mean I can go head to head
with a boar, like how a strong man can carry another strong man, but it does
not mean they have equal strength. My strength can continue to grow.”
Feeding all the pork to the White Boar Gu, Fang Yuan used his hunting
knife to retrieve the boar’s teeth, and finally diced up the already heavily
torn boar skin, before going into the secret cave in the rock crack.

As for the boar’s corpse, it did not need him to do anything. During the
summer night, wild beasts roamed freely, and not long after, there should be
wild beasts picking up the scent of the blood and rush here to clean the
scene for Fang Yuan.

Or rather, even if someone found out, it was inconsequential. The wild

boar’s injuries were all ‘edited’ by Fang Yuan, looking nothing like
moonblade cuts.

Back to the secret cave enveloped in red light, Fang Yuan threw the two
wild boar teeth at a corner.

The wild boar’s teeth collided, causing a crisp sound.

At this corner, there was already a pile of wild boar teeth. They were the
results of Fang Yuan’s hunting.
Fang Yuan squirmed into the passageway, once again getting to the end of
the tunnel.

Walking on the tunnel, his footsteps could be heard echoing in the cave, his
vision dyed red due to the light.

Everything was unchanged; the giant rock was still there, quietly blocking
his path. As for the hole created after digging out the earth treasury flower,
it had already been filled up by Fang Yuan.

Haa!

Fang Yuan walked in front of the giant rock, raised both hands and pushed.

Although his face grew red with exertion, and he used all his strength, the
giant rock did not move an inch.

“With my current strength, I can only carry a wild boar. But this giant rock,
it is at least the weight of five to six boars. No wonder I cannot move it. The
Flower Wine Monk’s strength inheritance is not that easily obtained!” Fang
Yuan’s gaze shone as he estimated in his heart.

He did not give up, but instead came out of the tunnel and returned to the
secret room upstairs.

Taking a bamboo tube from the corner of the wall, Fang Yuan sat on the
ground and opened the lid, taking out the beast skin map and sheets of
bamboo paper.

He opened the beast skin map and started to memorise it, using his fingers
to draw on the traces on the map to aid in his memorization.

Ever since he had obtained the map, he had been doing this everyday.

Fang Yuan did not have a storage type Gu, he could not bring the beast skin
map with him everywhere. Carrying a bamboo tube on him while battling is
inconvenient too. Thus, Fang Yuan put in some effort and was prepared to
stuff the entire beast skin map’s content into his head.
Some things, even if troublesome, had to be done. In a person’s life, those
who did not actively resolve problems due to fearing trouble, would always
face a dangerous predicament at the end. Fang Yuan understood this logic
from his previous life.

“When one is young, their memory sure is good. I have already memorised
more than half of this map. If I was old, I would probably forget the content
while memorising this. Hehehe… of course if I had a Bookworm, I would
feed this map to it, and from then on, as long as I do not lose the
Bookworm, I will be able to recall this map clearly forever.”

Fang Yuan had the Liquor worm, White Boar Gu, and was now beginning
to have insatiable greed, starting to crave the Bookworm.

The value of the Bookworm was quite close to the Liquor worm and White
Boar Gu, all being rare species among the Rank one Gu worms. The market
price was expensive and they were often sold out in moments.

In his previous life, Fang Yuan did not obtain the Liquor worm or White
Boar Gu, but he accidentally obtained a Bookworm. This Bookworm
eventually advanced ranks with him, and accompanied him for a whole
sixty years.

“Forget it, Bookworms are rare and low in numbers, I won’t be able to get
one anytime soon. To speak the truth, my current stage is way better than
my previous life at this point. Last time at this period, I was still a Rank one
initial stage, while the others like Fang Zheng, Chi Cheng, Mo Bei were
already upper stage, far beyond me.” Fang Yuan was not someone who
worried over nothing, quickly getting over it.

He was rather satisfied with his current progress.

He was a middle stage, and the others were also middle stage. With his C
grade talent, he could maintain the same speed as these A and B grades, it
was not easy. Much effort was given to the Liquor worm, as well as Fang
Yuan’s rich cultivating experience.

The other aspect, was also due to Fang Yuan.

His act of extortion had caused the classmates to bulk up on training their
physical fighting skills under the help of their elders. Unknowingly, it
caused them to be distracted, reducing the time they spent on nurturing their
apertures. This resulted in everyone’s cultivation level being even lower
than Fang Yuan’s past life.

But even so, they were not so far from upper stage now.

Gu Masters’ early stage of cultivation was rather easy, seeing effect in a

short period of time. Especially Gu Yue Fang Zheng, Mo Chen and Chi
Cheng, their cultivation level had already creeped and even seemed to
surpass Fang Yuan.

With constant cultivation, these three with their talent, or the support behind
them, had already begun to show their advantage. The lead that Fang Yuan
had due to the Liquor worm was starting to disappear.

Of course, there was also the reason of him hunting recently and using the
White Boar Gu to raise his strength, or spending much of his time and effort
in doing so.

“At this rate, before long, someone will advance to upper stage. The first
person that achieves upper stage will get a reward of thirty primeval stones.
But this reward, I do not intend to contest for it.” Fang Yuan had decided
long ago.

If he abandoned the White Boar Gu now and rushed for upper stage, he
might have some hopes of winning. But that was not Fang Yuan’s goal.
Thirty primeval stones might be good but he did not lack primeval stones at
the moment.

The bigger reason was that he needed to remain concealed and keep a low
profile to reduce other people’s attention towards him, so that he can inherit
the Flower Wine Monk’s strength inheritance successfully.

This is his real motive.

“The academy has all sorts of rewards, but it is just carrots to pique the
student’s interest, and most importantly, it is a part of the family’s system.
Fighting for these little rewards, is not what a wise person would do.”

Fang Yuan collect his spirits and gazed at the beast skin map again.

The beast skin map had two pages; one recorded the day while the other
recorded the night. Many lines of different colours intertwined on it.

These lines, some were straight, some were curved, but they all had their
own specific meaning. Only old man Wang would be clear of their
meaning, but it is a pity he died. But even if he was alive, by forcing him to
speak, he might not say the truth.

These days, Fang Yuan relied on his knowledge and experience, and
according to the bamboo paper’s comparison, he had already deciphered it
all.

“The red cross represents danger, a forbidden zone. The area with the red
cross seems to be surrounded by wild boars, it is probably a wild boar king
there. With my current strength, I’m as good as dead if I encounter one.
Hmph!”

Thinking of old man Wang, Fang Yuan could not help but snort again.

This area marked with a cross was not marked on the bamboo paper. If
Fang Yuan really believed the bamboo paper, he would probably die by the
fangs of the wild boar king one day. This old man Wang was indeed
experienced. To avenge his son, he did not have to act himself, but
borrowed the wild boar king’s strength. This way, even if Fang Yuan dies,
he would be able to avoid responsibility.

“But these three spots marked with a red circle, what do they mean?” Fang
Yuan was perturbed.

This was the beast skin map’s final suspicious point.

Three red circles, showing three very isolated areas. They were also very far
apart, and had little surrounding beasts, considered safer areas in the wild.

“The red cross represents forbidden area, but what does the red circle
represent?” Fang Yuan fell into deep thoughts, “Normally, red is the most
alert colour. Old man Wang marked these three areas, meaning they are
important. It is a pity these areas are far, if not I would inspect them myself
and find the reason.”
Chapter 72
 Chapter 72: Any organisation would also require
loyalty

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The hot summer sun blazes on, the mountain winds blowing the warm
winds around, Qing Mao Mountain steaming under the hot air.

In the blink of an eye, it was already near the end of June.

“Gu Yue Fang Zheng!” In the academy, the family elder called out.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng got up from his seat and came before the Academy
Elder.

Under the admiring gaze of his classmates, Fang Zheng received a heavy
bag of primeval stones.

“Fang Zheng, you are the first to advance to upper stage, this is your
reward. Good job, continue working hard.” Academy elder smiled
pleasantly, patting Fang Zheng’s shoulders.

Fang Zheng acknowledged with a grunt, his face full of excitement.

He took the money bag over with emotion and returned to his seat.

“I finally did it. The first to advance to upper stage, do you see that big
brother, I finally beat you for once!”

His eyes shone with bright light as he swept his gaze over at Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was sprawled on the table, sound asleep. Last night he had killed
another wild boar, and after returning to the hostel, he used the White Boar
Gu to improve his body and also used the natural essence within the
primeval stones to refine his primeval essence using the Liquor worm.
Finally, he used his upper stage primeval essence to nurture his aperture, all
the way until morning.

He hurriedly ate breakfast before rushing to class, falling asleep as soon as

he settled in. He was too exhausted, and Gu Master cultivation could not
replace sleep.

“Hmph, even if you don’t admit it, this is the truth. Big brother, I have
finally surpassed you! This is the first, and there will be a second time, a
third time!”

Fang Zheng clenched his fists. This success was extremely meaningful to
him. He had already broken through the dark clouds in his heart, creating
and opening to allow light to penetrate in.

Even though this light was thin, it gave Fang Zheng hope and
encouragement!

“Hmph, I actually lost to that Fang Zheng.” Gu Yue Mo Bei sat on his seat,
arms crossed, feeling indignant.

“This is the advantage of an A grade, damn it…” Gu Yue Chi Cheng said
with a dark expression. As he cultivated, he felt strongly the advantages of a
good talent. Even with his grandfather Gu Yue Chi Lian’s support, plus his
extremely hard work, he was still left behind by Fang Zheng.

“If only I had a Liquor worm, plus grandfather’s help, I might not lose to
Fang Zheng! Those accursed Fang family brothers! Little brother is A
grade, suppressing us, but the brother being a C grade has a Liquor worm.
Why did all the good things in this world go to these brothers?” Gu Yue Chi
Cheng felt really indignant.

“This time Fang Zheng broke through to upper stage first.”

“Of course, he is A grade talent”.

“Yeah, even Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Yuan lost to Fang Zheng. Fang
Zheng has gained all the attention this time.”

“Fang Yuan having the Liquor worm is not putting in effort. Wasting his
time everyday, even sleeping in class, he might as well give his Liquor
worm to me.”

The surrounding students discussed, feeling indignant in their hearts,

helplessness and envy.

The academy elder called them one by one, and students went up
continuously to collect their primeval stones allowance, and returned to
their seats.

“Everyone quieten down.” After the allowance was given out, the academy
elder used his hand to hit the table. All of a sudden, the academy became
silent.

“Now, you’ve all mastered your second Gu worm and even so much as
broke through into the upper stage. In the past half a year, you have all
worked hard, and now you have some basics, it is time for you to train in
the wilds. True battles, are not scarecrows or puppets, wooden puppets that
stand there and await your attacks.

“The following mid year examination, will be held three days later, all
students have to attend! The examination content is to hunt wild boars. By
collecting wild boar teeth as results to record, those who collect the most
wild boar teeth will get better scores. At the end of the examination, each
wild boar teeth can be exchanged for ten primeval stones. Furthermore, you
are allowed to hunt in groups.”

The academy elder’s words caused a commotion among the students.

“The mid-year exam is finally here!”

“Every year’s students study at the academy for a year, and there is always
a mid-year exam and an end of year exam. Looking at the time, it really is
time for the mid-year exam.”
“Every year’s examination content is different, to think that this year, our
examination is to hunt and acquire wild boar teeth.”

“What should we do? My talent is only D grade, my vital Gu isn’t an

attack-type like the Moonlight Gu, how can I hunt wild boars?”

“Didn’t you hear, the family elder said, we are allowed to hunt in groups.
For those with talent that can’t make it, or those with Gu worms that aren’t
suitable, we can help each other and cooperate! When we get boar teeth, we
just need to share with one another, and that would work.”

“Each wild boar teeth can be exchanged for ten primeval stones, this is the
academy encouraging us to hunt more wild boars, and the prize is set for
that. For true market value, one primeval stone can buy twenty wild boar
teeth.”

The students had varying expressions, some were happy while other fretted,
some were eager to go, while others called on companions, even Fang Yuan
was slightly moved.

“It changed! I remember that last year’s examination was to collect wildlife
honey. To think that it changed to wild boar teeth. Is this the butterfly
effect?”

A butterfly flapping its wings can cause a giant storm on the coast of
another ocean. A small change in the initial conditions lead to drastic
changes in the results.

Ever since his rebirth, Fang Yuan had made many changes, the conditions
of his current self was vastly different from his previous life. Back then he
had already been left behind by Fang Zheng and the others, but now he was
adamantly at the top of the student board.

In his past life he did not kill Jia Jin Sheng, in fact they did not even meet.
But this life, he did not only kill Jia Jin Sheng, he even excavated the
deeper treasures of the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance.
These changes are like a butterfly flapping its wings, indirectly causing
changes to the environment. The mid-year examination change is only the
first of such symptoms.

“If I continue changing things, will it cause history to become completely

unrecognisable as well? In that case, the advantage from my rebirth would
be significantly reduced.”

Fang Yuan looked calm, but was sighing internally.

The feeling of inability and pressing urgency roamed his heart, but he
quickly adjusted his mood.

“No matter what, since it has already happened, I can’t stop it. What I need
to do now is to actively change myself. Even if the events are completely
different at the end, I would not slow down my growth just because of such
concerns!”

“In my past life I knew nothing about the future, does that mean that in my
current life I lack courage? Hehe, even if the world is full of thorns, I will
cut through all the thorns in my way and pave out a blood-filled path
myself!”

“Every teeth for ten primeval stones, this price is very high. Should I sell all
those wild boar fangs I have stocked up at the cave? But if I do, I might
attract suspicion? No, according to the Gu Yue clan’s political situation, if I
sell these wild boar teeth publicly, I might get screwed over.”

Fang Yuan shook his head, the risks were too big. If he really sold these
teeth, what could he get in return?

A little over one hundred primeval stones?

“Wait, primeval stones aren’t important. Maybe I can use this change to
construct my image again.” Thinking of this, Fang Yuan’s eyes shone
brightly.
He needed to get rich secretly now, being as low profile as possible. If the
Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance was exposed, he might even lose his life.

But his current position was awkward.

He stood against all his classmates, being outside the system, and among
the higher-ups, he was an untamable, unhappy and indignant, intelligent and
cold, C grade talent teenager.

This image was not good, it literally portrayed him as unloyal. But a clan
requires loyalty, in fact, any organisation requires loyalty.

No matter which world, loyalty is the value that is most sought after in
clans. Loyalty to the clan, loyalty to the country, loyalty to his leader,
loyalty to his loved one, loyalty to his friends etc.

As Fang Yuan’s cultivation level got higher, the higher-ups would only get
more concerned, and if needed, the family may even use hard handed
methods on him. At that point, Fang Yuan would be really thrown into
passivity.

Fang Yuan did not like passiveness, he liked to have the control of all
matters tightly in his grip.

Because of a series of events before, Fang Yuan could only operate on the
go, relying on outside strength, and this image he constructed was only to
protect himself in times of need.

But now that he could protect himself, Fang Yuan needed to be stronger!

Thus, he needed to change this image, letting the higher-ups think that he
had given up and joined the clan system. But this conversation cannot be
too abrupt, or it would be suspicious.

More importantly, joining this system is only a facade, Fang Yuan would
not really join them truly, and be manipulated and restricted. He had too
many secrets.
He needed large amounts of freedom, and in actuality he was still a loner in
operation.

But now the mid-year exam was a chance.

“It seems I have to do some plotting, I’ll start from the extortion then.”
Fang Yuan’s gaze became certain as everything fell into his scheme.
Chapter 73
 Chapter 73: The mysterious red circle marking

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“You said that during Fang Yuan’s extortion this time, although he defeated
Fang Zheng, Chi Cheng and Mo Bei, he left go of them and did not take
their primeval stones?” Hearing the guard’s report, the academy elder
revealed a slightly shocked expression.

“I dare not lie to lord, it is indeed like this.” The guard kneeling on the
ground immediately responded.

“Mm.” The academy elder did not express his opinion, and waved his hand,
“I have understood this matter, you may go.”

“Your subordinate takes his leave.”

Once the guard had left, the academy elder immediately fell into deep
thoughts.

He was originally concerned with this matter as he was afraid Fang Yuan
would snatch away the thirty primeval stones that Fang Zheng had gotten as
a reward. If that was the case, the academy’s reward system would have no
meaning, they might as well give everything to Fang Yuan.

If Fang Yuan really did that, the academy would not allow it, and the
academy elder was already prepared to punish Fang Yuan.

But he did not expect that not only did Fang Yuan have no intention to take
the thirty primeval stones from Fang Zheng, he even let go of Mo Bei and
Chi Cheng as well.
“Fang Yuan has hundreds of primeval stones on hand, he might not be too
concerned with the thirty primeval stones, that is understandable. But
giving up on extorting Mo Bei, Chi Cheng and Fang Zheng, what is the
reason?”

The academy elder contemplated, his eyebrows gradually easing. He had

understood something.

Mo Bei, Chi Cheng and Fang Zheng, they could be said to represent the
three factions of the clan. Letting go of them, the meaning was that he was
appealing to the three different factions. This was understandable, as Fang
Yuan’s attitude change meant that he was finally willing to lower his head
to the clan.

“Understandable. As he cultivated, Fang Yuan may have the Liquor worm,

but the situation has gotten clearer to him. The inability of a C grade talent,
after a few outbursts, and letting go of the majority of his negative feelings,
he is probably rather downhearted and depressed now.”

“It seems the clan leader’s words make sense, Fang Yuan is after all a
fifteen year old, how can he go against the clan’s system? Now that he has
started to accept reality, once he finds the position that he belongs to, he
would fuse into the clan naturally.”

Thinking of this, the academy elder breathed out a sigh of relief, his
feelings becoming more cheerful.

Three days passed in a flash. Soon, the mid-year exam was here.

“Faster, faster, I’ve lured the wild boar out!” A youngster ran as he shouted
out frantically.

On both his legs, there was a light green ring of swirling wind. With these
two rings, it led to him having above average speed at such a young age.

However, the wild boar chasing after him became faster and faster, and the
distance between them was shortening.
The scorching sun penetrated the forest and reflected on the wild boar,
causing both its teeth to shine brightly.

“The wild boar is coming, hold the rope tightly!” The four ambushing
youngsters quickly hid in the bushes and pulled the ropes tightly, instantly
forming a tripping rope.

The speeding youngster leapt lightly, jumping over the road and continued
running.

But the boar behind him tripped over the rope and fell harshly on the
ground, crashing five to six meters before stopping.

“Oww!” The four youngsters were pulled along by the rope, and fell to the
ground along with the wild boar.

“Strike!” The youngster running ahead turned around and shouted.

The few people lying on the ground frantically stood up, and surrounded the
wild boar.

Kacha!

A small budding tree, under the impact of the wild boar, snapped in half and
the tree crown fell to the ground.

“What a close shave!” Gu Yue Chi Cheng wiped the sweat off his forehead,
feeling lingering fear. “Luckily I managed to use the Dragonpill cricket Gu
and leapt three meters to the left, otherwise this tree would’ve been my
outcome.”

Pew pew pew!

Moonblade danced in the air as it hit the wild boar’s body, causing long and
shallow cuts.

Gu Yue Mo Bei’s face was excited, his eyes glowing, his spirits immersed
in this battle.
Half an hour later, the wild boar collapsed due to excessive loss of blood.

Gu Yue Mo Bei breathed roughly and also sat on the ground, his entire body
full of mud and grass, at the same time full of sweat.

“Fighting against a living being like the wild boar is indeed different from
the wooden puppet, grass puppet during practise battles. I spent thirty
minutes just to kill a wild boar, I wonder how are the others doing?”

On a hidden small hill, there was a temporarily built tent. The tent blocked
the punishing sun rays and casted an area of cool dark shadowy shade.

Under the cover, there was a few chairs and tables, with the academy elder
sitting at the main seat. Beside him, there were other clan elders. A few Gu
Masters were standing behind them.

In the surrounding forests around the tent, there were also some hidden Gu
Masters.

At this time, the forest ahead had an abnormal disturbance.

Whoosh!

A Gu Master emerged from the forest like a shadow and quickly ran out,
kneeling outside the tentage.

“How is the situation?” Academy elder asked.

“Reporting to Lord Elder, at this point, there are no casualties among the
students.” The Gu Master quickly answered.

“Good, good.”

“An afternoon had already gone by since the mid-year exam started. To
have no injuries, this is different from the past years.”

“It looks like this is all the academy elder’s effort.”

The other clan elders nodded satisfactorily, praising in turns.

The academy elder shook his head slightly, he knew the reason. This was
due to Fang Yuan’s emergence, extorting his classmates, causing them to
practise hard on basic martial arts, thus having such a performance.

He looked towards the kneeling Gu Master, and continued asking, “Then at

this point, whose results are the best?”

The Gu Master answered immediately, “Reporting to Lord, at this point, Gu

Yue Fang Yuan, Fang Zheng, Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, are leading. Chi Cheng
killed three boars, Fang Zheng and Mo Bei killed five, and Fang Yuan has
the most, at eight.”

“Oh? To think Fang Yuan is leading!”

“In all the years, it is a very rare sight that A and B grade talents are being
suppressed by a C grade.”

“He has the Liquor worm right? That means he has upper stage green
copper primeval essence, so to have such a result, it is understandable.”

“I believe that from now on, Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng would
surpass him. Although he has the Liquor worm, his primeval essence
recovery rate cannot compare to A, B grade talents.”

The other clan elders discussed.

“You may go.” Academy elder waved his hand towards the kneeling Gu
Master. “Instruct the others, focus on their protecting job. Especially Fang
Zheng, Chi Cheng and Mo Bei, pay more attention and ensure their safety!”

“Yes, lord.” The Gu Master retreated.

These outdoor combats to most students, it was really their first time. Thus,
there was danger and the clan naturally has plans. Dozens of Rank two Gu
Masters were concealed in the forests, controlling the safety of this entire
examination. At the same time, some Rank three clan elders were staying
here to anticipate sudden accidents.
The blazing sun slowly descended from the highest point in the sky,
gradually nearing the north-east mountains.

The sunset glow ignited the clouds; it was the sun’s last flow of passion.

As the last sunlight shone into the forest, another wild boar fell on the
ground.

“Twenty third.” Fang Yuan calculated in his heart, and then squatted down,
skillfully carving out a wild boar teeth.

There was a bag on his back, inside was a large number of wild boar teeth.

At the same time, he had another bag, carrying the teeth of those boars he
killed last time. These teeth were originally stored in the rock crack secret
cave, and were retrieved by Fang Yuan the previous night, stored into a bag
and buried in a secret location.

“I am familiar with the terrain and wild boar distribution, at the same time I
have upper stage primeval essence to use the Moonlight Gu together with
the Little light Gu. The others’ efficiency definitely cannot compare to me.
Just with this bag on me, I can get number one easily. I wonder what
expressions they would show when I take out the other bag later? Hehe.”

Fang Yuan looked at the sky; it was time to retrieve the other bag.

Thinking of this, in his head, a map showed up.

These days, he had memorized the beast skin map. Fang Yuan was clear of
his current position. If he turned left and walked along the stream for fifteen
minutes, he would reach the location where he buried the bag.

But when he was about to move, he hesitated.

“With my current location, I am only five to six hundred meters away from
the nearest red circle marking. Such a rare chance, should I go take a look?”

Once he had the thought, it was unstoppable.

Since he had already won anyway, Fang Yuan had a lot of time left.

“That beast skin map had three red circle markings, these three locations
were very important to old man Wang. It is also the only meaning that I
could not decipher on the map. I’ll go see!”

Fang Yuan naturally knew that there were Gu Masters controlling the scene,
but this was also why he needed evidence.

Immediately, he acted like he was going to continue killing wild boars, and
moved deeper into the forest.

Seven minutes later, he arrived at the red marking location.

A treehouse was hidden among the bushes on a huge tree, and if one did not
observe closely they would not be able to find it.

“This is old man Wang’s temporary residence while hunting?” Fang Yuan
frowned, his heart getting confused.

He climbed into the treehouse.

When he saw the sight in the tree house, his expression changed!
Chapter 74
 Chapter 74: Solving the mystery with knowledge
and discovering killing intent

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The space in the tree house isn’t large, but there were many items inside, so
at one glance it seemed extremely messy.

The floor in the center had a thick dark yellow-coloured carpet.

Inside the house, there was an iron stove beside the wall, and on it there was
a bronze kettle. Inside the stove there was black coloured soot, and beside it
there was a small pile of unburnt dried firewood.

Despite it being summer, the nights in this mountain were still icy cold. The
iron stove could maintain the entire treehouse’s warmth when lit, despite its
small size.

The treehouse has two sets of windows, two to three ropes wrapped as the
frame of the windows, connecting the two together in the middle of the
room.

On the rope hanged several torn pieces of clothing, the torn patches pieced
together. It was obviously an adult’s clothing and was still slightly damp,
not completely dry from the sun yet.

The light of the setting sun penetrated the windows and shone inside the
treehouse.

The treehouse was rather dark internally. At a corner there were axes and
hunting knives with beast skin wrapped on the handle. On the blade there
was even dark red blood traces.
On the other side of the wall, there was a piece of bamboo paper with a
dagger stabbed in the middle.

There was a young man’s face on the bamboo paper — it was Fang Yuan’s
appearance!

This all meant that during this short period, someone had come to the
hidden treehouse and lived here. The person’s intention was obvious, his
target was Fang Yuan.

The paper was stabbed by a dagger and showed his evil intent to the
extremes!

Such a scenario, even Fang Yuan was taken aback.

“What does this person want, and why is he against me? No, maybe it isn’t
me but Fang Zheng.” Fang Yuan’s thoughts flew all over his mind.

Fang Zheng was an A grade talent, the only one in the last three years of the
Gu Yue clan, and is their only hope. If he could be truly nurtured, he would
be the next figure in the clan.

But nurturing was a process.

During this process, there were calamities and human-made disasters.

Ignoring calamities, the most important was human disasters. As everyone

knew, Qing Mao mountain did not only have the Gu Yue clan, but also the
Bai clan and Xiong clan. These two forces would not be happy to see the
dominating Gu Yue clan successfully nurturing an A grade talent.

Thus, sending assassins to get rid of him was a common thing.

In this world, there are little geniuses, and even less of those who could
successfully grow up.

A grade talent Gu Masters, it was not that they did not exist. Three years
ago, one appeared in the Gu Yue clan. In even earlier generations, they also
appeared on occasions.
But on Qing Mao Mountain, out of the three clans in these years, there was
only one successful A grade talent nurtured — the Bai clan’s Bai Ning Bing
of Rank three cultivation.

Such a scenario was enough to say many things.

“This person, is he from the Bai clan or the Xiong clan? They want to get
rid of Gu Yue Fang Zheng so soon?” Fang Yuan frowned, staring at the
portrait.

“But why did old man Wang’s beast skin map indicate this treehouse? Was
he a spy from the other forces? No, this person is obviously after me!”

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with brilliance.

At this moment, he thought of many scenes.

The first time, it was beside the trap, and the four hunter’s conversation —

A hunter said, “Second brother Wang, you’re almost nineteen, it is time you
got married and have children.”

Wang Er said, “Hmph, as a true man, how can I be lusting after such small
beauty! One day, I will walk out of this Qing Mao mountain and roam the
world, learn everything in the world and live up to the expectations of my
male body!”

The second time was after he himself acted, Wang Er’s peculiar calmness.
He pulled his bow and pointed at Fang Yuan. The others were already
begging for forgiveness.

The third was when Fang Yuan was asking questions.

“I ask you, in old man Wang’s family, who else is there?”

A hunter answered, “Hunter Wang originally had a wife, but that was
decades ago, and she was killed by wild wolves that intruded the village.
Before his wife died she gave birth to two sons and a daughter. But the
oldest son Wang Da died on the mountain while hunting three years ago.
There is no one else in the Wang family.”

“I, I remember! Old man Wang actually also has a daughter-in-law, Wang
Da’s old wife. But after Wang Da disappeared, his wife died due to a broken
heart. That year, the village even specially sent down a chastity memorial
arch! But rumour has it that Wang Da’s wife wanted to remarry, and she
was actually hounded to death by Old man Wang. When you killed Old man
Wang, lord, you are helping us citizens, rooting out the evil and bringing
people peace!”

The other hunter quickly added, “That’s right, that’s right. Actually lord, we
have long found this old Wang unfavourable. Hmph, he’s nothing special,
just that he can hunt better than us. We’re all just mortals, yet he thinks he’s
more special than us and purposely moved out of the village to live here. As
the younger generation, we sometimes will ask him to teach us and impart
his experiences, but he would just outright chase us away and never allow
us to show up again near the wooden house!”

Old man Wang’s family, moving out of the village, away from people……

Eldest son Wang Da, died on the mountains three years ago while
hunting……

Wang Da’s wife wanted to remarry, and was forced to commit suicide by
old man Wang, and obtained a chastity memorial arch….

Old man Wang chased away all the young hunters who were trying to ask
for guidance…

Old man Wang tried his best to hide the beast skin map, and on the bamboo
paper, there were no such circles……

Wang Er was at such a young age, but was calm towards Gu Masters. At the
same time he did not marry, and had the aspiration to surpass mortal realm
in his heart……
Most importantly, the circles on the beast skin map indicated a hidden
realm, there was obvious human activity in the area. At the same time this
person held strong hatred towards Fang Yuan……

All the clues pieced together, if separated they were not easy to link, but
once linked it was peculiar!

The more Fang Yuan thought about it, the more he felt that the mist
shrouding this mystery has thinned.

The setting sun’s afterglow passed through the window and reflected upon
his face, the strong light alike to the colour of blood.

The surroundings had fallen into a deadly silence, was there someone
secretly peeping at him all this time?

Suddenly, Fang Yuan’s eyes lit up, his vision crossing through time and
space; he had seen the truth!

“Wang Da, did not die.”

At this moment, the glow in his eyes radiated the surroundings(1).

“Not only did he not die, he even became a demonic Gu Master by chance!”

It was not that mortals had no cultivating talent, but that the clan restricted
the cultivation methods from leaking out, and controlled it tightly in their
hands.

But there was no absolute in this world.

Mortals could become Gu Masters as well, from accidents in the wild and
encountering the Hope Gu, opening their aperture. Or inheriting a certain
strength inheritance, or getting the personal guidance from a certain clan’s
member.

But these Gu Masters were not accepted into the clan completely, and could
only be their henchmen. Thus, they would not be satisfied and became loner
Gu Masters. Their cultivation is extremely difficult. As time passed, as they
competed for resources, they would have to kill snatch and murder, turning
towards the demonic path.

“Because of some lucky chance, the highest possibility is that he obtained a

large fortune from a certain Gu Master’s corpse and became a Gu Master
three years ago. To hide from others, he sent out the fake information that
he died, but no one had ever seen his corpse. Old man Wang’s family found
out about this and moved out of the village, risking the chance that wild
beasts might invade and lived alone, just to hide this truth.”

“But there were some problems that occurred, Wang Da’s wife did not agree
and might have wanted to report to the Gu Yue clan. Wang family had no
choice but to kill her, and released some seemingly real and fake
information to hide the truth. Something about her remarrying, or forcing
her to commit suicide to hide the truth under all these rumors.”

“Once in awhile, Wang Da would return home to stay. Thus, old man Wang
had to chase those youngsters who were seeking guidance away. Wang Er
after interacting with his brother had dispelled his fear of Gu Masters, and
naturally developed the goal of wanting to be a Gu Master and explore the
greatness of the outside world!”

“Because of the fear that Wang Da might be exposed, even at such an old
age Wang Er did not get married. Wang Da could not stay in the house, thus
old man Wang drew three red circles on the beast skin map, these three
locations should be hidden residential areas like this. Having three hiding
spots, Wang Da rotated his stay around the houses, and lived in the fringe of
the three clans’ authority.”

The meaning of the three red circles was finally revealed!

Red indicated alertness, but most importantly to old man Wang, this was his
eldest son’s residence. Thus, when Fang Yuan wanted the old man to draw
the map, he did not indicate it on the bamboo paper, it was to protect his
son. Similarly, he drew fewer red crosses, to avenge the death of his son.

“Maybe at a certain time each year, Wang Da will return home to stay for a
while. When he returned, he found that his entire family was dead. After
asking around, he found out it was me, thus he used the dagger to pin my
portrait on the wall, so that he would exact revenge on me!”

With his previous life’s experience, Fang Yuan was almost certain this was
the truth.

If it was some other power that wanted to assassinate Fang Zheng, they
could be much more subtle. They did not have to develop a spy like old
man Wang. After all, old man Wang lived at the mountain foot, not inside
the Gu Yue village.

“To think that over a beast skin map, I provoked a murderer of the demonic
faction. This world really works in wondrous ways,” Fang Yuan could not
help but snicker.

He first killed Wang Er, the old man Wang and Wang’s daughter, and it was
all for the beast skin map. Old man Wang was the number one hunter in the
village, so his beast skin map had the greatest value.

At that time he was thinking: It’s merely three mortal lives, what’s the big
deal, I’ll just killing them conveniently.

In this world, anyone had the right to live, and anyone could die just as
easily.

To think that out of nowhere, a demonic way Gu Master emerged!

With regards to this, Fang Yuan did not have a tint of regret, but instead felt
at ease.

If he had been too merciful at the time, in his goal to obtain the Wang
family beast skin map, Wang Er, old man Wang and sister Wang would’ve
been a huge disturbance. To protect Wang Da’s secret, they would not give
him the real product.

Wang Er’s battle strength could exterminate an ordinary Rank one upper
stage Gu Master. Old man Wang was even more experienced with age, and
in terms of killing strength, he was even more of a threat than Wang Er.
Even if he had gotten the real product, old man Wang would’ve informed
Wang Da, and Wang Da would’ve gotten Fang Yuan’s information
immediately. No matter how he dealt with it, he would be in the shadows
while Fang Yuan was out in the open. Wang Da would be having the
advantage of being in control of the situation.

“Good thing I killed them at the start! Regardless of what, I have to control
the situation in my own palm. This way, even if I do not get the real item,
there is no loss to me, and I can even snatch other hunters’. Killing old man
Wang and that girl caused Wang Da to spend a lot of time just to get my
intel. Needless to say, those two young hunters must’ve already been
silenced.” Fang Yuan confirmed in his heart.

There was only a few people who knew the situation, and Wang Da would
not attack Jiang He. Once Jiang He is dead, the clan would send people to
investigate. But if those two hunters disappeared on the mountain, it was
easy to manipulate. Jiang He would not reveal an incident like this as it
would affect the clan’s evaluation of him, and would even cover up the
situation.

(1) ‘glow in his eyes radiated the surroundings’ is a metaphor.

Chapter 75
 Chapter 75: Resolution of the Demonic way!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The thoughts of Fang Yuan flew all over the place in the tree house.

With the knowledge acquired from his previous life, Fang Yuan could sense
Wang Da’s existence, but how was his strength?

Fang Yuan had never seen this Wang Da, but with the information at hand,
there was much he could analyze from this.

“Courage is built upon the basis of strength, he had collected my

information and still wants to exact revenge on me. With such a confidence,
his cultivation has to be above Rank one!”

“These three years he had been moving around the three red circled areas,
living on the fringe of the three clan villages. Almost everyday he faced the
risk of getting discovered and purged. This shows he does not have the
strength to roam outside, and roaming outside requires Rank three
cultivation.

“This means that, at first evaluation, he is a Rank two.”

Fang Yuan’s eyes glinted with cold light, “Counting the time, he
disappeared for three years and cultivated to Rank two now, so he should be
a B or C grade talent, and his aperture should have about 40-70% primeval
essence.”

“These three years, he could survive and at the same time, live at home
despite Jiang He’s observation, so he has to have a stealth-type of Gu worm
at work.
Information was the most important thing to a Gu Master’s showdown.

Although Fang Yuan had no investigative-type Gu worm, with his

experience and knowledge, he could forcefully reverse engineer Wang Da’s
cultivation level and Gu worms to a highly plausible degree.

Very quickly, his mental image of a Rank two demonic faction Gu Master
appeared, carrying the hatred of his family’s murder and lurking somewhere
to kill his revenge target.

“I can kill others, others can naturally come to kill me. This is nothing.”
Fang Yuan laughed lightly.

In this world, anyone had the right to live, and anyone had the chance to
die.

Those who kill, are bound to get killed.

Since he committed murder, he should be mentally prepared to get killed.

If he was killed like that, then he would die like that, it was nothing much,
and definitely no regrets. This was the path he chose.

This point, Fang Yuan had great resolve already.This is the resolution of the
demonic way!

“Wang Er wants to kill me, then in this mid-year exam, it is definitely the
best chance. Normally, students would reside in the village, and with his
Rank two cultivation, he cannot creep into the village, that is courting
death.”

“Maybe he evaluated that I might come out to hunt. But Qing Mao
Mountain is so huge, he alone has to hide his traces and also have to search
for me, it is too difficult. Now that there’s this chance, he is most likely to
strike.”

“He is a Rank two Gu Master, and one that has struggled for three years,
living a life of danger and unknown, a demonic faction Gu Master nurtured
like this. With my current battle strength, I am definitely not his match. But
this does not mean that I have no chance of survival.”

Escape!

Fang Yuan instantly decided.

Nothing is too shameless if it is to survive, so if he can’t fight it, run.

For a Gu Master to make a sudden breakthrough is almost never happening.

Fighting against a higher realm is possible, but that is built on the base that
the Gu Master has special Gu worms.

Fang Yuan had a number of Gu worms in his possession, but the Spring
Autumn Cicada was hibernating and unusable, while the Liquor worm,
White Boar Gu, Little light Gu and Moonlight Gu were not trump cards to
fight a higher realm.

Obviously knowing the enemy was unbeatable, yet resolving to fight to the
death, that is a stupid “hot-blooded” behaviour. Even if he wins, that would
not win him the favor of fate.

Fang Yuan is cautious his entire life even with trump cards, and if the
chances of victory is slim, he would choose to avoid combat.

He liked to be in control of the situation, using unscrupulous methods to

raise his chances to the limit. He loved fighting assured battles.

Only when he has no choice would he engage in a risky fight.

Thus, his favourite activity was to bully the weak and snatch resources to
get stronger. Strong enough until he surpasses his enemies and then stomp
on them afterwards, bullying the weak.

There is nothing shameless about this, those who find challenges just to
prove their bravery and risk their lives to fight to the death with strong
enemies, that is the real stupidity.
But unfortunately, this “quality” has been praised and recommended,
because any organization needed the individual to sacrifice themselves to
protect the interests of the ones in power.

One just needs to think slightly to know that survival is the prerequisite to
all activities.

In order to survive and fulfill the ambitions on their heart, this is a person’s
greatest courage.

Dying for aspiration, those are fools. Surviving shamelessly for their
ambitions, those are true brave warriors!

On earth, Han Xin(1) endured the shame of crawling through someone’s

legs, Cao Cao(2) was chased till he shaved his beard and torn his robe, Yue
Wang(3) in order to live, had to eat shit to express his loyalty……

That’s why, fuck off with honor and reputation, and face!

Regardless of organization, they would applaud such a value system. The

more that needed to be sacrificed, the more they would be promoted, like a
military.

“Which direction should I go, the one that has the lowest chance of
encountering Wang Da?” A map appeared in Fang Yuan’s mind.

“Wang Da already knows I have the beast skin map, now he should be
hiding in the forest, searching for me by looking for the wild boar
distribution on the map. I cannot go to these places, thus I can only move in
reverse to find a chance to survive.” Thinking of this, a slightly insane route
surfaced in Fang Yuan’s mind.Under the sunset in the mountain forest, tree
shadows overlapped and wild grass grew abundantly.

A pair of bloodshot eyes hid deep in the shadows. His eyes burnt with
hatred and anger, as if it couldn’t be doused even with a tsunami.

“Fang Yuan, I’ve finally found you…” Wang Da gritted his teeth, growling
the words out from his mouth.
Under his gaze, not far away, a youngster with a thin body and pale face
was traversing the forest.

With his enemy nearby, Wang Da did not act immediately, but turned his
gaze to several other positions.

From each of these positions, an invigilator Gu Master was hidden.

To prevent cheating and for immediate treatment of injuries, the area nearby
had around a few dozen Rank two Gu Masters hiding. There was even Rank
three clan elders holding the fort on the mountains high up.

Wang Da carefully moved around the forest and collected a lot of intel.

“I want to kill Fang Yuan, so I need to get rid of these three Gu Masters
first. Otherwise, once I show myself, I will be disturbed. Maybe with
surprise, I can kill Fang Yuan, but I will also get killed by the Gu Masters
that chase after me from there.”

“I have Rank two middle stage cultivation, and there’s 50% primeval
essence in my body. I have to act first and kill these three Gu Masters, it is
difficult. I have to strike consecutively in a very short period. Otherwise,
once they find their companions dead, they would become alert and my
traces will be exposed……”

“Shadow Follower Gu.” Wang Da closed his eyes and called in his heart.

Immediately, his body became enshrouded in a lump of darkness and could

move among the tree shadows.

All was silent.

In a thick bush nearby, the Gu Yue clan’s Rank two Gu Master sprawled
inside, yawning out of boredom.

“So boring, accompanying these junior students, I feel like a nanny.” This
Gu Master complained softly, not feeling the shadow that was slowly
creeping around him.
A pair of bony hands stretched out from the shadows.

This pair of hands was pale to the limit, the joints were huge and the ten
nails were sharp and long, the nails dyed a shade of dark purple and emitted
a slightly fishy smell.

“What smell is this?” The Gu Yue clan Gu Master sniffed, frowning

subconsciously.

He just wanted to investigate, but it was too late.

Wang Da pounced like a snake, striking at lightning speed!

One hand covered the Gu Master’s mouth and nose, while the other stabbed
from the shadows towards his back. His dark purple nails were sharp as
blades, his fingers easily entering the Gu Master’s body and reaching his
heart.

The fingernails were poisonous, and at that moment it invaded the heart.
Through the blood, it spread all over the Gu Master’s body.

The Gu Master’s body stiffened and lost all signs of life.

Although they were both Rank two Gu Masters, one had assaulted abruptly
with preparation, so before the battle even begun, it had ended.

“I used 10% of my primeval essence, 40% left.” Wang Da checked his

aperture, and fused into the shadows once again.

A moment later, the second Gu Master hiding behind a rock also met his
assault. His eyes shrunk to pin size as he collapsed on the ground.

The poison invaded his body, and soon he turned purple, and from his nose
two streams of purple blood flowed out.

“30% left.” Wang Da chanted silently, turning into shadows again.

“Who is it!” The third Gu Master was hiding on a tree branch atop a huge
tree. At the crucial moment he sensed something wrong, and at the time
where Wang Da struck, he turned around and grabbed the two poisonous
hands.

“Damn it!” Wang Da laughed sinisterly, his ten nails growing crazily, at
once becoming five centimeters long, stabbing the Gu Master’s forearm and
piercing his skin.

His forearm bled and the blood quickly turned dark purple.

“This is the Love Life Separation?!” The third Gu Master seeing this was
shocked beyond doubt; the purple poison had already infected his face.

He knew he had no poison resistance Gu worm and was surely dead, thus
he showed resolve on his face, shouting, “Then let’s die together!”

He opened his mouth and stretched out his tongue.

There was a crescent moon tattoo on his tongue — it was the Moonlight
Gu.

A moonblade shot out and slashed Wang Da’s right shoulder, piercing
through and coming out from his back.

The blood splattered.

Wang Da grunted, his body swaying a little, but the Gu Master had already
passed away, with a trace of life left.

“Correct, this is Love Life Separation.” Wang Da stood on the tree branch,
slowly standing up, showing a bitter smile.

Love Life Separation, the number one poison among the Rank two Gu
worms! To refine it, one needs the Rank one life breath grass, widow spider,
red needle scorpion and the heart of a lover.

To refine this Gu worm, Wang Da killed his own wife who loved him
deeply, and dug out her heart!
“It is all for survival, I could only choose strength… this is the resolution of
my demonic path!” Wang Da’s eyes were red as he stared tightly at the
nearby youngster.

“I gave up on love, and only had kinship left, but you took them from me!
Fang Yuan…” He growled lowly, “I want you to regret deeply all that you
did!”

(1) 韩信 (Han Xin): Famous general of first emperor Han emperor Liu
Bang.

(2) 曹操 (Cao Cao): Famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted
poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei,
father of Emperor Cao Pi, as well as the main villain of the novel the
Romance of Three Kingdoms.

(3) 越王勾践 (Yue Wang/King Gou Jian of Yue): sometimes considered one
of the Five Hegemons.
Chapter 76
 Chapter 76: Do you regret it?

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Kill!” Wang Da growled, ferociously leaping into the air from the tree
branch.

As he was about to get near to his mortal enemy, three moonblades shot out
from nowhere suddenly and intercepted him midway.

“Why is there a fourth Gu Master?” Wang Da’s heart sank, twisting his
body forcefully in midair, narrowing avoiding two moonblades. The
remaining one, which he could no longer evade, hit his left leg.

Bang!

Wang Da crashed onto the ground, lowering his head to look at his left leg.
There was a wound, deep and long, blood already dripping all over.

“Damn……” Wang Da gritted his teeth, his heart thinking, “Shadow

Follower Gu!”

Immediately, he turned into a lump of dark shadow as his speed rose

drastically, moving backwards without a sound.

At this moment.

A Gu worm flew out from nowhere, at the same time an old and weary
voice sounded out —

“Flash Blink Gu, explode.”

The Gu worm exploded on command, turning into a blinding white light.

The white light was unavoidable, abruptly appearing and turning the entire
dark forest bright.

“Ah!” Wang Da shrieked. His body which had turned into shadows could
not hide anywhere under the bright light, and went back to his human form.

Although the Flash Blink Gu was only Rank one and also a consumable
type, it was the complete counter of Wang Da’s Shadow Follower Gu. Once
the darkness was dispelled by the light, the Rank two Shadow Follower Gu
needed to rest three hours before it could be used again.

In nature, all beings are equal, one counters another. Although the Shadow
Follower Gu had very strong lurking abilities, it also had a great weakness.

After he was countered, Wang Da’s heart sank to the bottom of the valley.

This fourth Gu Master was more experienced, not only did he know which
Gu to use, he also hid himself well, a true foe. More importantly, Wang Da
could no longer use the Shadow Follower Gu, thus having no way to retreat.

“I am Gu Yue Sou, lad, if you surrender now, my clan might still spare your
life!” A white haired, silver beard Rank two Gu Master appeared in front of
Wang Da’s vision.

“Spare me, hmph, I’ll kill you first!” Wang Da knew that if it was dragged,
there would be more Gu Masters appearing to deal with him, he had to kill
this fourth Gu Master as soon as possible.

“My primeval essence only has 20% left, be it revenge or preserving my

life, I have to kill this meddlesome old fellow first!” Wang Da picked up his
spirits and jumped towards Gu Yue Sou.

Gu Yue Sou snorted. His entire body, be it hair or pore hair, grew insanely
and intertwined, in the blink of an eye forming a snow white battle armor
with a spiky design.

Seeing this change, Wang Da’s expression changed. The experienced Gu

Master was like a porcupine, causing Wang Da to not know how to strike.
His Rank two strong poison Gu Love Life Separation, although the poison
was extremely strong and deadly, it did not have strong attacking abilities,
only usable as a sneak attack.

Wang Da only had Love Life Separation and Shadow Follower Gu. If he
had a defensive Gu worm, he would not have gotten hit by the moonblade.

“Hmph, if I cannot deal with you, I’ll kill Fang Yuan first!” Wang Da was
not stupid. The three years of living had made him cunning and ruthless.

He moved quickly, getting around Gu Yue Sou and attacking the culprit of
his family’s murder.

“Dream on!” Gu Yue Sou activated his primeval essence, and his body of
spikes immediately shot out two sharp pins, spiralling and flying five to six
metres towards Wang Da.

Wang Da’s body shifted, narrowly avoiding the two snow white spikes.

On his hands, his ten nails were half a palm long, purple and dark, the fog
state poison circulating them.

“Die!” Wang Da was already mad from battle, laughing maniacally as he

rushed towards his target.

In his eyes, Fang Yuan’s face was full of shock and panic.

Killing intent had overtaken Wang Da’s brain, he could almost hear himself
piercing Fang Yuan’s skin, and his indignant last breath.

“You wish!”

Seeing that he was about to succeed, another person appeared, blocking

Wang Da’s way.

The fifth Gu Master rushed over from nearby!

“It’s actually the Love Life Separation?” This middle-aged man was
unmoved by Wang Da’s crazy and ferocious demeanour.
Rock Skin Gu!

The middle-aged man activated his primeval essence, red steel primeval
essence gushing out like smoke, his naked arms immediately turned from
yellow to grey-white colour. At the same time both his arms expanded like
balloons, forming a large and thick rock arm.

As both parties got closer, Wang Da’s expression became more twisted and
insane. The middle-aged Gu Master had a solemn expression as he stretched
out both arms to grab Wang Da.

“Trying to get me with this speed?” Wang Da showed a mocking

expression.

The middle-aged man’s limbs were covered by a thick rock skin, even
Wang Da’s nails could not penetrate. But the arms were really too heavy
and slow. Fang Da felt that he could easily evade them.

“Really? Jade Wind Wheel!” The middle-aged Gu Master shouted, and

suddenly a pair of jade-coloured cyclones circulated around his rock arm
like armbands.

The rock arm’s speed immediately rose!

“How can that be… urgh!” Wang Da’s face was shocked as he was swept
by the rock arm and flew away.

The middle-aged Gu Master was experienced in battle. If he had used the

bee Gu Jade Wind Wheel from the start, Wang Da might not have fallen so
easily.

Wang Da was sent flying by the rock arm, falling on the ground in a mess.
The chest that was hit felt pain.

Puke.

He barely got up, but could not help but vomit blood.
“5% primeval essence left, I’m gonna die.” He checked his aperture,
laughing bitterly. Seeing Fang Yuan near him, he showed insane resolve on
his face, “Even if I die, you will join me!”

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

He ignored his injuries and rushed out.

“Block him!” The middle-aged Gu Master was a pure close-ranged fighter

with no long range Gu, at once he could do nothing.

The old Gu Master had already arrived, his body’s white hair turning into
finger-sized spirals as they flew like nimble snakes, extending five to six
metres and reached from behind, piercing Wang Da’s body.

But Wang Da did not care, rushing out regardless.

“Die!!!” He screamed loudly, his ten fingernails already fifty centimetres

long.

The middle-aged Gu Master chased after, and upon seeing this scene, his
expression changed as he could no longer stop it.

Seeing that Wang Da was about to get his way, a bright blue jade light burst
from the other side.

“Jade Skin Gu!” Under the pressure of life and death, Fang Zheng screamed
out loudly.

Immediately, his skin was covered by a sturdy layer of jade skin.

Wang Da’s fingers were like knife blades, stabbing at him. Although the
Love Life Separation did not have strong attacking ability, the Jade Skin Gu
was only a Rank one Gu worm and could not block his nails.

Howl!

The elderly Gu Master seeing Fang Zheng about to die, shouted frantically
and his eyes expanded. Even more snow white needles shot out and pierced
Wang Da’s body.

After that, the needles worked like snakes, first piercing his back to his
chest, the circulating around his neck, his arms and his legs.

Boiling blood poured from Wang Da’s body, immediately dying the white
hair red.

His entire body was covered by white hair, just like the wild boar who had
fallen into a trap of green bamboo spikes, stopping his charge and being
unable to move.

An intense feeling of dizziness hit him. Wang Da laughed pathetically, he

knew that death was impending.

How unsatisfying!

His vision was dyed blur, and on his death moment, the most vivid memory
in his life surfaced again.

“Wan Er….” He subconsciously called out his wife’s name, as the knife on
his hand pierced her body.

“Why?” His wife looked at Wang Da, her beautiful face showing confusion
and shock, tightly staring at Wang Da’s eyes.

Wang Da’s eyes were red, as his body shivered, forcing out a word from his
mouth, “Sorry.”

His wife smiled slightly, her smile full of love. There was not a single drop
of hate.

“I understand,” She said.

She wanted to stretch out her right hand, touching Wang Da’s face for the
last time before she died.

But in the middle, her hand dropped.

Killing his wife for her heart, and refining Love Life Separation. From then
on he had strength and went on the demonic path!

Do you have regrets?

From that day on, he constantly asked himself this.

I regret it!

He regretted so much that he would rather die, thus he swore that he had to
protect the remaining family members of his!

But.

But……

“If I could start from the beginning again, Wan Er, I would still do the
same….” Emotional tears poured from Wang Da’s red eyes.

Fang Zheng stared at him, his body glowing with jade light.

From start to end, he was in deep confusion and suspicion.

An unfamiliar Gu Master rushed madly towards himself, and wanted to tear

him to bits. But Fang Zheng did not know him.

Under the thick death aura, Fang Zheng could not move an inch. His mind
was blank as he only subconsciously activated the Jade Skin Gu.

Wang Da’s nails pierced the jade skin and stabbed one centimetre in, but did
not move anymore.

He died.

He was full of tears when he died.

“Its… over?” Fang Zheng breathed roughly, his eyes losing focus and
seemed rather hollow.
Then, a strong sense of dizziness overcame him.

Plop.

He also fell on the ground.

Love Life Separation, the strongest Rank two poison. Although it did not
pierce through all the jade skin, the poison already invaded his body.
Chapter 77
 Chapter 77: An odd coincidence

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

A wild boar almost as huge as an elephant was lying in the mudpit.

It closed its eyes shut, half kneeling and half lying, a pair of tusks clean
from soil, shining like sharp blades.

The twilight reflected on its dark black fur, its huge stomach was white and
with each breath, moved up and down creating a snorting sound.

Wild boar king!

Fang Yuan was several hundred meters away from it, but still carefully
walked along with the direction of the wind.

“Even though I can kill wild boars now, against this wild boar king, I can
only run away. Even an average Rank two Gu Master cannot kill it. If he is
not clear of the Gu worms on its body, he might even fall prey to it.

King of the beasts normally have Gu worms inhabiting their bodies.

On the wild boar king’s body, there would normally be Boar Gu, such as
Pink Boar Gu or Flower Boar Gu. Other than the boar species, there might
also be Beast Skin Gu or Spike Fur worm.

In this world, there are all sorts of Gu worms. Normally, Gu worms reside
in the bodies of strong wild beasts, and live alongside the wild beasts.

When the wild beast gets attacked, the Gu worms will sense the danger and
assist the wild beast in resisting the strong foe.
This wild boar king’s body was huge, and its strength greatly exceeded the
average wild boar. Fang Yuan was no match against it alone, not to mention
there was at least one or more mysterious Gu worms in its body.

However, Fang Yuan’s adventure this time, was not to kill the wild boar
king. It was to avoid Wang Da’s pursue.

Wang Da knew that Fang Yuan had the beast skin map, and Fang Yuan used
that knowledge to his advantage. Going nowhere but instead heading
towards the wild boar king’s danger marking area.

The wild boar king although dangerous, was still a beast after all, and had
no human intelligence. Old man Wang as a mortal, could venture to this
place and retreat safely, so why couldn’t Fang Yuan do the same?

Going on a reverse path, although seemingly dangerous, hid a way to

survive instead.

As he moved even further, the wild boar king was slowly left behind by
Fang Yuan. On the map, it would seem like Fang Yuan took a big circle and
went around the red cross, forming a concave curve. Finally, he reached the
hill where several clan elders were staying and having the mid-year
assessment there on the spot.

An hour later, a youngster full of grass bits, his shirt torn in several areas
and his feet full of mud, carried a bag and ran up the hill.

This pathetic looking youngster, was Fang Yuan.

“I’m finally safely back here. At this place, there are clan elders to protect
me and my safety is assured. But I cannot afford to be careless.” Fang Yuan
sighed in relief, and slowly ascended the hill.

The hill had a simple tentage and tens of students were nearby as the
academy’s guards were collating the wild boar tusks in their bags. The few
clan elders that were stationed here were missing, and only one was left.
“Why is the atmosphere so weird?” Fang Yuan frowned slightly, acutely
feeling something important had occurred.

When he got near the tentage, he heard the students’ discussions.

“Did you hear, there was an assassination earlier, and several Rank two Gu
Masters died.”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s true, I came here early, and I saw Gu Yue Fang Zheng carried away by
several clan elders, hurrying away.”

“Gu Yue Fang Zheng is too unlucky, to encounter something like this during
the exam.”

“Hehe, you don’t know huh. The target was Fang Zheng, because he is A
grade talent!”

“I wonder if he’ll die?”

“Even if he doesn’t die, he’s gonna be affected. Maybe his talent might drop
after that injury.”

Fang Yuan’s footsteps halted. He was clear in his heart, conjuring the truth
of the matter.

“Wang Da wanted to deal with me and avenge his kin. But after I found the
treehouse, I changed my route and went towards the wild boar king. Wang
Da did not expect this and found Fang Zheng by accident instead. His
source of information came from those hunters and he did not know that I
have a twin brother. He mistook Fang Zheng as me and wanted to kill me,
but was stopped by the surrounding Gu Masters who were protecting the
area. Right now the question is — Did Wang Da die?”

Fang Yuan frowned tightly. Wang Da successfully escaping, Wang Da

captured, Wang Da killed — these three possibilities would greatly affect
his future plans and actions.
Thinking for a while, Fang Yuan decided to follow his original plan.

The academy elder’s expression was ugly, Fang Zheng was actually
assassinated. Without any clues or evidence, he would not be able to guess
that Fang Zheng had become Fang Yuan’s scapegoat, but thought of the Bai
clan and Xiong clan!

Fang Zheng was the only A grade talent that the Gu Yue clan had for the last
three years, the Bai clan and Xiong clan would naturally not let him grow.
Sending an assassin Gu Master to kill him and prevent him from getting
stronger, this was normal.

Even the Gu Yue clan would do something like this. Secretly sending Gu
Masters and targeting the other two clan’s genius students.

“The assassin was killed on the spot, but I wonder how is Fang Zheng’s
injuries?” Academy elder thought, and at this moment, his attendant
brought him a piece of paper.

Academy elder received the paper, reading without paying proper attention,
“In this year’s examination, the results are as follows… Gu Yue Chi Cheng
sixteen tusks, Gu Yue Mo Bei fourteen tusks…”

The surrounding students’ attention were obtained. The results were clear.

D grade students, even if they worked together, they could only obtain three
to four tusks. B and C grades, at most eight to nine. Those with more than
ten tusks were the good performers.

The best was Gu Yue Chi Cheng with sixteen tusks. Next was Mo Bei, and
as for Fang Zheng he had ten.

Gu Yue Chi Cheng showed a smug expression. He was lucky this time and
encountered two wild boars fighting each other, thus he got the easy reward.
Gu Yue Mo Bei was indignant, allowing Chi Cheng to surpass him.

The academy elder announced, “As such, I announce the number one
student for this examination is…”
“Halt!” Fang Yuan stepped out at this moment.

“Fang Yuan, you are late. The examination ended an hour ago, according to
the rules, the wild boar tusks that you obtain will be deducted by four as
punishment.” Chi Cheng immediately shouted.

Fang Yuan ignored him and opened the bag on his back, grabbing the
bottom of the bag and pouring out the contents.

Crash.

Dozens of wild boar tusks gathered into a pile by his feet.

“This!” Chi Cheng stared with his mouth agape.

Mo Bei and the others stared their eyeballs out at the pile.

“How can there be so many? This is too much!” The academy elder looked
at Fang Yuan in disbelief, “Fang Yuan, did you hunt all these?”

Fang Yuan cupped his fists, “I only hunted a dozen tusks myself, but I
found a bag that could’ve been hidden by hunters. Inside it were many wild
boar tusks. I thought about it, the exam was that we had to obtain as many
tusks as possible within a day, and did not specify that we have to kill it
ourselves, thus I brought it here.”

Once he finished, the crowd burst into discussions.

“How can this be?”

“Way too lucky!”

“This is too fake, could the questions have leaked thus he cheated?”

The academy elder stared at Fang Yuan, looking for a while, then declared,
“This exam, Fang Yuan is the first.”

…
The family head room’s atmosphere was heavy.

Gu Yue Bo sat at the leading seat, and the other dozen elders sat in two
rows beside him, their faces full of rage.

“Gu Yue Yao Ji, you are the number one healer in our clan, I’m asking you
how is Fang Zheng now?” Gu Yue Bo asked a clan elder.

Gu Yue Yao Ji was an old woman with a hunched back, her face full of
treebark-like wrinkles.

She coughed twice, slowly saying, “Reporting to clan head, the situation
has stabilized. Fang Zheng’s life is in no danger, but he is still sleeping. His
talent did not drop because of this.”

“Good if the talent didn’t drop.” Gu Yue Bo breathed a sigh of relief, the
asked the punishment hall’s elder, “Has the assassin’s situation been
assessed?”

The punishment hall elder was not as senior as Gu Yue Yao Ji, and
immediately stood up, lowering his head, “Yes, thirty-five years old, male,
identity unknown, possibly a demonic faction Gu Master. He has two Gu
worms, Shadow Follower Gu and Love Life Separation.”

Gu Yue Bo nodded, “Seems like an assassin, Love Life Separation… the

Rank two number one poison, no wonder he could kill three of my Gu
Masters.”

“Clan head, we have to investigate further! It’s either the Bai clan or the
Xiong clan!” Gu Yue Chi Lian shouted, his eyes almost bursting into
flames.

“Shadow Follower Gu, Love Life Separation… this is not like the Bai or
Xiong clan’s pawn pieces. He might be an outside demonic faction Gu
Master, wanting to get affiliated with the clans, thus being instructed to
assassinate Fang Zheng to prove his loyalty. Regardless, this matter
definitely has to do with the two clans,” Gu Yue Mo Chen coldly said.
These two clan elders in power, although they did not get along, once an
external enemy appears, they would discard their hatred and knit tightly
together.

Gu Yue Bo nodded, thinking the same himself.

Wang Da had disappeared for three years, with no traces to be found. The
villagers all thought of him to be dead, thus his identity became a mystery.
The Gu Yue higher-ups did not know this, they would not be concerned
with a servant’s death. They placed all their attentions on the Xiong and Bai
clans.

At this moment, the academy elder walked in.

“Clan leader…” He looked worried and was about to speak when Gu Yue
Bo answered, “Academy elder, Fang Zheng is fine, his talent is still A
grade.”

The academy elder’s face became relaxed.

“Oh yes, are the other students safe? And for this examination, how are
their results, which place is Fang Zheng?” Gu Yue Bo asked conveniently.

The academy elder answered truthfully, and when he said that Fang Yuan
had accidentally picked up a bag of wild boar tusks and got first place, Gu
Yue Bo’s eyes shone.

The hall too went silent. The clan elders, as if they sensed it, subtly
observed the atmosphere, and the originally nervous environment became
slightly more peculiar.
Chapter 78
 Chapter 78: Great rewards all according to plan

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the discussion room, Gu Yue Bo expressionlessly sat in the leader’s seat

with deep meaningful eyes.

The remaining dozen or so clan elders all sat upright, looking down, only
using the corner of their eye to sweep the surroundings and discern some
clues from their expressions.

The atmosphere became delicate.

“Fang Yuan getting first place, the deeper meaning behind this is definitely
not simple. He actually said he found a bag of hidden wild boar tusks, this
is too unbelievable.”

“This bag might’ve been prepared by someone, it is not possible for Fang
Yuan to do it himself. That means someone is helping Fang Yuan in the
dark.”

“This year’s mid-year exam is unlike the previous ones. We had to deploy
tens of Rank two Gu Masters to invigilate the exam. Thus the contents of
this examination, not only does the academy elder know, but many of the
elders in the clan as well.”

“If anyone wanted to prepare this bag in advance, it can only be the clan
elders present here now, or even the clan leader!”

The clan elders were all shrewd foxes. After being in the political field for
years, they immediately thought of many things.
Fang Zheng was an A grade talent, if he really reached Rank four, what did
that mean?

That would mean he is the next clan leader!

Fang Yuan is Fang Zheng’s brother. Even if he is only C grade, with that
blood relationship, he is worth investing in!

To the clan leader Gu Yue Bo, if he helped Fang Yuan secretly, that would
be bringing him into his faction, and to Fang Zheng, it was a good belt to tie
him to the leader faction together.

To the clan elders, Fang Zheng who is the only A grade talent in years, has
already been absorbed into the clan leader’s faction. If he was really
nurtured, the clan leader’s faction would be even stronger. However, if the
clan elders made Fang Yuan into their own, using this layer of blood
relation, it would be a good chess piece when dealing in Fang Zheng in the
future.

Thus, the ten over people in this hall, they all had the motive to help Fang
Yuan.

But who?

Gu Yue Chi Lian thought deeply, “I did not recruit Fang Yuan, so who
would help him secretly? Is it Mo Chen that old man, hmm, possible.
Although Fang Yuan killed his family servant, but that’s just a servant, even
if they all died it wouldn’t hurt him. The clan leader is more possible
though, he took in Fang Zheng, so if he recruited Fang Yuan as well, that
would increase his control over Fang Zheng! But… in previous years, the
norm is to recruit them during the year end exam. Taking his action now
during the mid-year, it is breaking the rules.”

“Not exactly breaking the rules, but it really is throwing a curveball. Just
exactly who thinks highly of Fang Yuan, even more than me?” Gu Yue Mo
Chen was also thinking.
The truth is, after Fang Yuan killed Gao Wan and sent the minced corpse, he
changed his impression of Fang Yuan and had the thoughts of recruiting
him.

But such actions only happened during the year end, after the students
graduated from the academy.

Fang Yuan being recruited in advance, it struck Mo Chen by surprise.

Gu Yue Bo’s gaze was focused on Gu Yue Mo Chen and Gu Yue Chi Lian,
the two elders in power.

This clan leader had greater insight.

Fang Yuan blatantly said a lie and got the first place. This action had the
meaning of being fearless, thus sending a signal to everyone to show them
that — I’m protecting Fang Yuan! He is now my member, and you all better
not touch him.

Then who is this person?

The political field in the Gu Yue clan was split into three. Other than the
clan leader faction, it was Gu Yue Chi Lian’s Chi family, and Gu Yue Mo
Chen’s Mo family.

Gu Yue Bo knew that he himself did not take any actions to recruit Fang
Yuan. Thus, the greatest suspect was Chi Lian and Mo Chen.

“These two old fellows, their acting is improving. Seeing their expressions,
I really cannot tell. Don’t tell me it really isn’t them, but some other small
faction?”

Gu Yue Bo observed carefully as he investigated. He did not know that all

the elders were like him, observing, suspecting and deducing.

The academy elder was also guessing, but he had always been in a neutral
position, outside of politics, thus his thoughts were simpler, “So Fang Yuan
has been recruited by a clan elder. No wonder he let go of Fang Zheng, Mo
Bei and Chi Cheng while extorting, that means the one who recruited him
was either the clan leader, Chi Lian or Mo Chen. This is good news! It
shows that he has accepted reality and has starting integrating into the clan.
No matter what, he is now a member of the clan, so once he fully integrates,
he will contribute his entire life to the clan!”

After a short silence, Gu Yue Bo could not see any more clues, thus he
spoke, “An eye for an eye, since the other party has started targeting Fang
Zheng, our Gu Yue clan is not to be trifled with, we will show them! Dark
Hall Elder, formulate a plan for this matter and report to me afterwards.”

“Yes, sir clan leader.” Dark hall elder immediately nodded.

“As for Gu Yue Fang Zheng, I’m afraid his heart might be damaged from
such an encounter. He is an A grade talent, and to our clan, the status is
monumental. From now on, I will teach him personally.” Gu Yue Bo said.

No clan elders objected.

Many people knew that the clan leader had already given much benefits to
Gu Yue Fang Zheng in the dark. Now that he mentioned this, even though it
violated the fairness rule, with sufficient reasoning, the clan elders could
not stop him.

“As for Gu Yue Fang Yuan…” Gu Yue Bo dragged his words.

At once, all the clan elders paid their fullest attention. Was the clan leader
hinting that he was the one helping Fang Yuan secretly?

Gu Yue Bo looked at everyone’s expression as his gaze swept through, but

he was destined to be disappointed.

Thus, he could only continue, “With his C grade talent, he managed to get
first place. It is not easy. Thus, in my personal name, I reward him thirty
primeval stones. Academy elder, pass my word and tell him to continue
working hard.”

“Yes, clan leader.” The academy elder bowed as he received his orders.
“Thirty primeval stones, such an ordinary reward, what does this mean?”
The clan elders frowned.

“No matter who absorbed Fang Yuan, this thirty primeval stones is my
expression of goodwill. After all, there is still the Bai and Xiong clan other
than Gu Yue.” Gu Yue Bo sighed in his heart.

Fang Zheng was assassinated by external foes. Fang Yuan’s cheating was
internal conflict.

Against external foes, one had to use hard handed methods to retaliate, but
for internal conflict, Gu Yue Bo chose to use the soft approach, in order to
avoid too much internal conflict and result in the entire clan’s strength
being weakened.

“Alright, this matter will be settled like this. Everyone may leave and do all
your work well, the clan’s prosperity has everything to do with your
performances.” Gu Yue Bo waved his hand.

“Yes clan leader, we will take our leave.”

The clan elders left one by one, and after a few breath’s time, only Gu Yue
Bo was left in the room.

He sighed deeply, using his fingers to rub his two temples.

As the clan leader, even if he was the person with the most authority in the
Gu Yue clan, it did not mean that he had it easy. He needed to coordinate
the interests of the different factions, and could not do as he wished. The
clan’s forces were dispersed and intertwined through many generations of
inheritance, and they all had long history, restricting one another.

Against outside forces, he had to deal with the arrogant and rude Xiong clan
village and the gradually rising Bai clan village.

Internally, he had to resolve the complicated political conflict in the clan.

Although he was middle-aged, he already had white hair all over.
“These years of being the clan leader, although I had sufficient resources,
my cultivation has barely advanced. My heart is tired from all these
tiresome clan affairs. Sometimes, I really want to be a lone cultivator, free
and easy with no burden. That would allow me to move faster and I might
travel even further in my cultivation path.”

Gu Yue Bo sighed in his heart.

As long as one is in the clan system, they had responsibilities on them.

Once they had responsibilities it would not be easy to wholeheartedly
cultivate.

But on the reverse, if one is not in the system, the clan’s resources would
not be available to them, and without resources, their cultivation would
come to a halt.

This formed a contradiction, a weird loop.

Because of this loop, many people’s futures were ruined, burying an

insurmountable number of talents and geniuses.

Wang Da is dead.

Three days later, Fang Yuan got the news.

At the same time, he also heard from Jiang He that the two young hunters
vanished when hunting in the mountains. As for the hunter whose right
hand was broken by Fang Yuan, he “committed suicide” in his home out of
depression.

Jiang He looked at Fang Yuan meaningfully when he said the news. He had
seen Wang Da’s corpse, thus recognising him.

But he did not dare to say Wang Da’s true identity.

He was the stationed Gu Master, and held responsibility. As long as one is

in the system, regardless of position, they had responsibility.
Wang Da became a demonic faction cultivator for three years, and Jiang He
as the village Gu Master did not investigate. If they really pursued
responsibility, this would become the biggest flaw in his records, and his
future in the clan would be ruined.

The three hunter’s peculiar deaths were covered up by him.

“Fang Yuan, since we’re acquaintances, from now on you get a 50%
discount when you purchase things from my cousin brother Jiang Ya’s
shop!” During one time, Jiang He said this to Fang Yuan.

Everyone else was dead, only Fang Yuan and him knew of this matter. But
if the matter was revealed, it did not have a huge impact on Fang Yuan.

He only killed three village servants, and even if he killed thirty, the clan
would not pursue it, at most he would pay “tens of primeval stones” as a
punishment.

Jiang He’s bribery, Fang Yuan took it with ease. To him, this matter was full
of surprise and danger, but the result was good.

After this matter, Fang Yuan who had no foundation within the clan,
received half an ally and also a non-existent faction supporting him.

This mysterious backer became Fang Yuan’s second safety net. When he
started showing his strength gradually, this safety net would have a crucial
impact, at least able to allow him to cultivate until Rank two without much
opposition.

At this point, he could feel clearly the academy elder’s changing attitude
towards him, into a more amicable one.

Over ten days passed in a flash.

After Gu Yue Fang Zheng and Mo Bei advanced, Fang Yuan and Chi Cheng
almost simultaneously advanced to Rank one upper stage successfully.

Although extortion continued, he no longer took Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and

Chi Cheng’s primeval stones, and he started becoming more low key, while
his strength grew rapidly at a speed multiple times of his previous life.
Chapter 79
 Chapter 79: Breakthrough to the sixth Gu in the
inheritance ground

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Time was like a white steed that flitted past a crack, and summer left with
the arrival of autumn.

In the walled-in path, Fang Yuan stood once more before the giant boulder
blocking the way.

Due to the weather growing colder, he wore plain and simple garment with
long sleeves. But his body figure was no longer the thin sort like how it was
a few months ago.

His chest, two arms and legs, and abdomen all showed obvious muscle.

These muscles were not as protruding as a stone, but it showed as a type of

streamline, matching up with Fang Yuan’s slowly growing body. Matched
as well with his white skin, this gave others a type of youthful, full of
vitality feeling.

“Starting from three days ago, the White Boar Gu stopped supplying me
any increase in strength. That means, I already have one boar’s strength,
thus reaching the Flower Wine Monk’s requirement. Today, I shall try
pushing this round rock again!”

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone as he took a step forward with his right leg, his left
leg at the back, forming a bow step.

His arms touched the surface of the round rock as he took a deep breath in
and pushed with all his strength.
The large boulder moved under the pressure of both his arms, moving
slowly, gradually gaining momentum and rolling forward.

The road before the boulder blocking the path was an inclined slope. Being
turned into a round rock by the Flower Wine Monk, it was most suitable for
rolling. This must have been his intention, to allow the inheritor to push the
boulder upwards and move it away.

“Ten steps, twenty steps, thirty steps…” Fang Yuan slowly progressed,
counting in his heart, “Last week, I pushed it to forty-five steps and that
was the limit of my stamina, forcing me to quit. This time, I wonder how far
I can push it?”

Forty steps, forty-five steps……

A while later, Fang Yuan broke his original record, but that was enough for
him to feel unbearably tired.

Forty-six steps, forty-seven steps……

Fang Yuan could feel strongly, at this point his stamina was almost all gone.

Forty-eight, forty-nine steps….

He mustered all his strength and moved another two steps. Finally, he was
at his limit, sweating profusely. Using his shoulder and leg to anchor the
rock in place, he took a few deep breaths.

“Should I give up?” Fang Yuan could not help but have such thoughts. This
inclined slope, when returning he has to expend quite a bit of stamina as
well. After all, the rock has to roll down and he had to slowly release it in
the process.

If he let go and ran, the rock would roll faster and faster. Fang Yuan did not
want to get turned into a pile of flesh after being unable to avoid it.

But thinking for a while, Fang Yuan felt indignant. Let’s push it a few more
steps.
Fiftieth step.

He suddenly felt that the pressure from the huge rock had lightened. It had
actually rolled into a straight platform.

Fang Yuan pushed for a few more steps. After routing past the huge rock he
found himself in a secret room.

This secret room was like the rock crack’s secret cave. He temporarily
named it the second secret room.

There was nothing in the room. The four walls were a strange red soil,
glowing red. On the other end of the secret room, there was a simple grey-
coloured rock door. It should be the hurried product of the Flower Wine
Monk.

Fang Yuan rested for a while but did not immediately open the rock door, as
he had a new discovery.

He found that the ground before the rock door was slightly damp.

“Don’t tell me…” Fang Yuan had a thought. He bent down, stretching out
both arms and loosening the soil.

The second Earth Treasury flower!

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, carefully peeling the flower petals and
retrieving the Gu worm slumbering in the golden nectar.

Once he deployed his primeval essence, it was instantly refined.

This was a Jade Skin Gu. Its appearance was like the bedbug, flat and wide
with a small head and its green body was oval in space, emitting a faint jade
coloured glow.

“I obtained the White Boar Gu, and was still thinking where could I get a
Jade Skin Gu so I could refine it into the White Jade Gu. To think that the
Flower Wine Monk already prepared it for me,” Fang Yuan contemplated,
thinking about the significance of this Jade Skin Gu.
This is Fang Yuan’s sixth Gu worm.

Although he had five already, none were defensive. Now that he had the
Jade Skin Gu, he could cover up his weakness in defense.

At times, defense means offense.

This was not hard to understand. Taking for example Fang Yuan’s body.
Using the White Boar Gu, his strength grew to one boar’s strength.
Theoretically, with this strength, he could smash a rock in one punch, but
Fang Yuan never did such a thing.

Because he knew his defense was not sufficient, so with one punch, the
rock would break, but his fists would also turn bloody from the damage.

Now that he had the Jade Skin Gu, he could supplement the advantage he
had in strength.Obviously, there were advantages and disadvantages.

The Jade Skin Gu had a high value, being one of the best defensive Rank
one Gu. It was not easy to feed, consuming two pieces of jade rock every
ten days.

Jade rock’s market price was expensive, and the source was often the
problem.

Fang Zheng also has a Jade Skin Gu, but he has the clan leader’s backing,
providing him with jade rocks. If Fang Yuan wanted jade rocks, he would
have to buy them, and that could easily expose him.

“Originally in feeding the White Boar Gu, I had to regularly kill wild boars,
and that is already troublesome. With the addition of this Jade Skin Gu, do I
have to go dig in mines?” Fang Yuan laughed bitterly, seeing a new problem
in front of him.

Keeping the Jade Skin Gu, temporarily nurturing it in his aperture, Fang
Yuan gradually opened the rock door.

The rock door was heavy, and if Fang Yuan did not have the White Boar
Gu’s boost in strength, he would not be able to move it. But now, with Fang
Yuan pushing it, the door slowly opened.

The scene that was revealed to Fang Yuan caused his field of vision to
expand all of a sudden.

It was no longer a narrow tunnel or a secret room, but a large spacious plot
of underground stone forest.

Fang Yuan estimated at initial approximation, the stone forest’s size was
over thirty Mu(1)! On earth, a standard football field was only eleven Mu.

“I should be inside Qing Mao mountain now, this underground space should
be naturally formed.” Fang Yuan looked up at the stone walls.

The stone walls in this space were over sixteen meters tall, and the ceiling
was also made of stone.

From the top, there were large dark red pillars erected. Each emitted a faint
red glow, and so did the walls, just like the tunnel and secret room. The
light although dim, allowed Fang Yuan to see some things at least.

Fang Yuan looked far, and each stone pillar was like an upside down tree,
except without branches, and only leaving the stem.

The stone pillar’s surface was not smooth, and was full of dark eerie holes.
Numerous pillars drooped down, forming an inverted stone forest within the
mountain.

Nature had its way with things.

Fang Yuan with his immense knowledge, was not shocked, but stared at the
dark holes in the pillars, frowning more intensely.

He had suddenly understood the Flower Wine Monk’s intention in placing

the Jade Skin Gu.

“If I am not wrong…” Fang Yuan turned his right hand, and out came a
moonblade.
The eerie blue moonblade flew through the sky in an arc, precisely hitting a
dark hole in the stone pillar.

A shrill and angry sound came from the dark hole.

With a ‘swoosh’, a grey monkey flew out from the cave and leapt towards
Fang Yuan.

Pow pow pow.

Fang Yuan shot three moonblades.

The monkey was in midair and could not adjust its position, but its tail was
extremely agile, sweeping several times and causing its body to flip in
midair. After avoiding two moonblades, it was finally hit by the third,
plopping on the floor dead.

It was dead, without a drop of blood.

Only its grey body turned to stone, and in a second, its flesh and blood body
became a stone monkey statue.

The statue’s posture and facial expression was just like the monkey right
before it died, imitated to perfection. After two breath’s time, the stone
monkey’s surface cracked, and cracks developed all over its body. Finally
with a boom, its entire figure blew up into tiny rock fragments.

“It really is an underground colony of jade eye stone monkeys.” Fang Yuan
knelt down, sweeping the fragments aside and taking out two jade green
yellow pearls. These two pearls were the jade eye stone monkey’s eyes.

This strange animal would turn into grey rock fragments once dead, and
only its eyes would turn into two jade green spherical pearls. Each were
very heavy, reaching at least fifty grams.

This meant that as long as he killed jade eye stone monkeys, the Jade Skin
Gu’s food problem would be resolved.
“I not only have to feed the Jade Skin Gu, I also have to continue the
inheritance. Flower Wine Monk’s next clue should be hidden in this stone
forest.

Fang Yuan frowned. Things had become complicated.

He tried taking a few steps forward, his eyes peeled to the stone pillar.

On his seventh step, on the pillar closest to him, numerous jade-coloured

glowing eyes could be seen peeking out of the stone holes.

At once, a drop of sweat fell from Fang Yuan’s forehead.

He quickly took a step back, and the numerous eyeballs in the dark holes
faded.

Evidently, each pair of eyeballs meant a jade eye stone monkey. The jade
eye stone monkey was terribly agile, and to kill one Fang Yuan had to use
four moonblades.

On a stone pillar, there were at least a hundred jade eye stone monkeys, and
in the entire forest, who knew how many were there in total.

With Fang Yuan’s current strength, he would die from being attacked by
four monkeys. If he included the Jade Skin Gu’s defense, Fang Yuan could
deal with twelve monkeys at once at most.

Thankfully, these monkeys usually slept in their dark holes and ate rocks
when they were hungry or thirsty. The stone pillar was their home and food.
Unless he got within ten meters of them or provoked them purposely, they
would not come out.

Using earth’s words, they were a bunch of neet/hikikomori monkeys.

(1) Mu (亩) – 1 Mu is 666 ⅔ meters²

Chapter 80
 Chapter 80: A surge in battle strength

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The autumn wind rustled through the air, while the red leaves drifted
aimlessly.

The wild grass was dried yellow, and brilliant red or orange yellow wild
fruit hung from the tree branches.

“Hurrumph!” A black coloured wild boar rushed madly with its four hooves
on the ground, its mane pricking up.

There was a thick layer of fallen leaves that accumulated on the surface of
the mountain.

As the wild boar rushed forward, a gust of wind was wedged between it,
and the fallen leaves were sent dancing behind its body.

Fang Yuan silently stood there, showing a cold calculating expression as the
wild boar got closer.

Kill!

He took a huge stride forward, and then both his legs stood firm, not
dodging at all, facing the wild boar head on.

The wild boar’s two snow white tusks tore through the air with
overwhelming killing intent.

Fang Yuan turned his body to avoid the tusks, his shoulder knocking onto
the wild boar’s skull.
When they were about to collide, Fang Yuan’s shoulder shone with a faint
green coloured light.

Jade Skin Gu!

Boom.

With a loud crash, the two collided.

Fang Yuan took three steps back, while the wild boar took one step back.

To be fair, when comparing both side’s strength, Fang Yuan was stronger.
But Fang Yuan ran with both legs while the wild boar used four to sustain
its force, and at the same time the center of gravity of the wild boar was
lower and more stable than Fang Yuan.

However, after being harshly hit on the head by Fang Yuan, although the
wild boar was still standing, its fat body was already wavering.

With a roar, Fang Yuan rushed up again, his left hand grabbing the wild
boar’s tusk, his right hand raising high in the air, the light green colour jade
glow forming a thin layer of protection covering his fist.

Bam.

His fist crashed strongly downwards and the wild boar screamed in pain,
struggling intensely.

Fang Yuan’s muscles on his left arm tensed, and the green veins popped like
centipedes encircling his arm as he restrained the wild boar with all his
strength.

At the same time, his right fist continued to raise and slam down on the
boar.

Bam bam bam.

Every time his fist hit the wild boar’s head, the green coloured glow on his
fist would shine once.
The wild boar was smashed into oblivion by the fist, and its struggle
became weaker.

“Last strike!” Fang Yuan’s eyes glowed like lightning. He loosened his
upper body, his right arm stretching straight and raised to the highest point,
before smashing down at full force.

The green coloured jade light stuck to Fang Yuan’s right arm and following
his movement, drew a green arc in the air.

Bam.

Fang Yuan knelt on the ground on one knee, his elbow harshly whacking
the wild boar’s skull. Even before the wild boar could cry out, its noise
came to a stop.

An entire pig head turned deformed, the broken white skull pierced through
the black skin, exposing outside. Fresh blood and brain matter slowly
flowed out, and in the layers of leaf litter, it infected an area of bright
redness.

The autumn wind blew.

Leaves flew about as the scent of the pig blood emanated.

“Life, is splendid just like the flowers of summer. Death, is as delicate as

the leaves of autumn,” Fang Yuan muttered, appreciating this frame of
scenery.

The survivor lives brilliantly while the dead is lonely and pitiful.

Dead or alive, filled with intense difference, it reflected nature’s cruelness

and the excitement of life.

“No matter the world, the victor always gets all the fame, while the loser
suffers defeat in the unrelentless world. Victory and loss, to me means life
and death. Because I walk on the demonic path, once I lose, it means death
awaits.”
Fang Yuan got close to the corpse and sat on the ground, taking out the
White Boar Gu, letting it consume the meat while his consciousness entered
the aperture in his body.

Within the aperture, the black green-coloured primeval sea’s tides turned
and crashed, ebbed and flowed.

When the primeval sea is full, it occupied 44% of the space. After an
intense battle, Fang Yuan used the Jade Skin Gu multiple times to raise his
defense, and some primeval essence was expended, thus there was only
36% primeval essence left.

Counting the amount, he only used 8%, not even 10% of his total. But
because this was the Rank one peak stage black green primeval essence, the
expenditure was considered large.

Rank one initial stage is jade green primeval essence.

Rank one middle stage is pale green primeval essence.

Rank one upper stage is dark green primeval essence.

Rank one peak stage is black green primeval essence.

The essence was in concentration (the relative amount of a particular

substance contained within a solution or mixture or in a particular volume
of space.).

The Moonlight Gu’s activation required 10% of jade green primeval

essence, and in terms of pale green primeval essence, it was 5%. For dark
green primeval essence, it further halved, and the same went for black green
primeval essence.

That is to say, 10% of black green primeval essence, was equivalent to 20%
dark green, 40% pale green and 80% jade green primeval essence.

Using the Jade Skin Gu cost 8% black green primeval essence, if converted
to initial stage jade green primeval essence, it would be 64%!
If Fang Yuan was still at initial stage, his aperture would only have 44%
primeval essence, and halfway through using the Gu, his primeval essence
would be completely expended.

“The higher the Gu Master’s cultivation, the stronger their battle strength,
and this shows in the primeval essence. The higher the stage, the darker the
colour of the primeval essence, and the more durable it is. My black green
primeval essence was on the basis of upper stage primeval essence, refined
by the Liquor worm. It is unlike Fang Zheng, who is already Rank one peak
stage cultivation already.” Thinking of this, Fang Yuan’s gaze shone.

Time flies, it is already late autumn.

Two months had passed since Wang Da’s attempted assassination.

Fang Zheng was poisoned and was in comatose for seven days and seven
nights. Once he woke up he was like a changed man, very hardworking and
also cultivated extremely dutifully.Some people say, difficulties in life was
wealth just like gold.

Regardless of whether this saying is correct, Fang Zheng did emerge from
this difficulty changed and obtained much experience. He was like a raw
jade, and after some polishing, he finally showed the beautiful jade quality
inside.

He was the first to advance to upper stage, and not long ago, he was the first
to advance to peak stage, leaving his classmates in the dust. The advantages
of an A grade talent has finally started showing.

“I am not far from peak stage either, at most half a month. In fact, I have
been nurturing my aperture nonstop every day, but a C grade talent really
cannot compete with A and B grades, and I also have another reason…”
Fang Yuan laughed bitterly without sound as he thought of it.

Once in a few days, he would have to kill jade eye stone monkeys to feed
the Jade Skin Gu. At the same time, he had to search inside the stone forest
to find the next clue of the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance.
The stone forest was complicated with pillars of huge rocks drooping from
the ceiling. If Fang Yuan was not careful and got too close to any pillar, he
would trigger the attack of all the stone monkeys.

A few times, he was chased by tens of stone monkeys and had to escape.
The most dangerous time, when retreating he stepped into another pillar’s
territory, and ended up having up to a hundred monkeys chasing after him.

Luckily, these monkeys were sedentary, and every time they chased after
him, they would not chase too far. After a distance, they would go back to
their homes and continue being sedentary.

Even so, Fang Yuan walked on the brink of death several times. During
crucial times, the Jade Skin Gu’s defense came into good use.

Such investigation and exploration caused Fang Yuan to devote much time
and effort, and thus became the key reason why his cultivation was
advancing so slowly.

“Even so, this is way better than my previous life. The stone forest
exploration is not without results either. At least I already know that the
walls around the forest have no problems. That means that the next clue of
the strength inheritance, should be somewhere in the forest.”

Fang Yuan continued thinking, but suddenly a shadow stepped over the
dried branches and got close.

This is a wandering old wolf.

It had a brown fur coat, limping and had one eye was damaged. Only the
danger and alertness of its left eye remained.

It stared at Fang Yuan tightly, its nose twitching. Wolves and dogs were the
same, using their keen sense of smell, it must have been attracted by the pig
blood.

Wolves were often in packs, but there were also lone wolves like this. There
were competition in wolf packs as well, and to maintain the atmosphere in
the pack, they would sometimes get rid of those crippled old wolves.

Fang Yuan quickly stood up and silently looked at this old wolf.

Back then when he killed a wild boar, there would be little primeval essence
left in his body and that caused his fighting strength to greatly reduce. Thus
when he encountered other wild beasts, he would choose to avoid them.

But these few months, his battle strength had increased tremendously, and
with the Jade Skin Gu, against a crippled wolf, it was more than enough.

The unrestrained mountain trees were everywhere with their red leaves.

The setting sun illuminated the dark hour.

A person and a wolf distanced fifty steps away, silently observed each other.

In the wolf’s eye, green light shone as it showed a cruel and cunning
expression. Fang Yuan’s eyes however, were dark and eerie, his black iris
emanating chilling intent.

The White Boar Gu came out. It was full and returned to Fang Yuan’s
aperture satisfied.

The old wolf looked at the wild boar, it had only bones and skin left, the
meat was all eaten by the White Boar Gu.

The wolf’s eyes shone with green light and contracted. It first took a few
steps back, then jumped into the bushes.

This wolf was still alive till today, it definitely had some intelligence. It
keenly felt Fang Yuan’s danger, and decided to retreat.

Its entry and exit were both fast and abrupt.

Without the wild boar’s crashing sound, and without the tiger’s growling.

Against Fang Yuan, without a sound, the battle had started and ended.
“The main theme of life and death, such excitement born from great
nature.” Fang Yuan stood on the spot, and did not give chase. This wolf did
not have anything worth Fang Yuan’s attack.

Aiiee!

But the next moment, the old wolf’s crying was heard.

The wolf’s howling suddenly erupted and ended suddenly. Even so, there
was a thick surge of death aura overflowing.

Crack crack.

In the bush, there were sounds of twigs being stepped on.

The sound was fearless and got closer, causing Fang Yuan’s iris to shrink.

“Able to get rid of that sneaky old wolf in a second…” His gaze became
more and more chilly.
Chapter 81
 Chapter 81: Rank two Initial stage!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The footsteps got closer, and soon the dark green trees at the side of the
slope were forcefully separated. A tall man stepped forward, appearing in
Fang Yuan’s vision.

He had black short hair, each strand standing straight up. The upper half of
his body was naked. He had a large and thick body, the entirety of his body
muscles bright red colour.

He was almost two meters tall, and during the cold autumn, he gave off the
feeling of a mobile cauldron, his every breath able to raise the surrounding
temperature.

On his waist, several wild beast corpses were hanged. There were foxes,
wild rabbits and chickens, not to forget the old wolf who had just left.

Seeing Fang Yuan, he was slightly shocked, but quickly took large steps and
walked past Fang Yuan.

“Gu Yue Chi Shan.” Seeing the large man’s back leaving, Fang Yuan
thought of his name.

He was a representative of the Chi faction, having Rank two upper stage
cultivation. His experiences were similar to Fang Yuan even.

This person was also very talented, having very great strength from young.
At ten he accidentally beat a family servant to death, and at twelve he could
hold a heavy stone grinder and played it like a frisbee.
Back then, the family all thought well of him, thinking he was an A grade.
But during the awakening ceremony, they tested that his talent was only B
grade.

He had an originally wild and untamable nature, looking down on everyone.

But he quickly changed after this experience, becoming more mature. Even
with B grade talent, he was the top student in his level.

After a year of studying, he graduated from the academy and fought his
way to the top. Years later, he had already become an elite among the clan’s
Rank two Gu Masters.

Happiness cannot teach a person life’s true meaning, while only pain and
suffering can.

“In the clan, a youngster attends the awakening ceremony at fifteen and
enters the academy. At sixteen, they graduate from the academy and form a
five person group and complete the clan’s missions, at the same time
inheriting the family fortune. From sixteen, they will fight and compete
while continually raising their cultivation. As the missions get more
dangerous, their status will also increase. Some die and some live. Some get
injured, and their cultivation level drops, living a plain life thereafter. Some
become a Rank three Gu Master after all the hardship and advance to clan
elder, being one of the higher-ups.”

Fang Yuan’s gaze shone, thinking of many things.

The more a Gu Master cultivates, the harder it gets, and advancing becomes
way more difficult. Coupled with dangerous and tough living environment,
those that can advance to Rank three are few to none.

“Speaking of which, it is almost winter. That means I’ve spent almost a year
at the academy. Each year there are two examinations. The first is the mid-
year exam, with different contents each year. The second is the year end
exam, and the contents never change, being arena fights. After the arena
fight, I would no longer be able to stay at the hostel, and I would need to
move out.”
Move out, but stay where?

Fang Yuan could not live with his aunt and uncle, which was what they
wanted.

In this world, sixteen meant adulthood, the age to start reproduction.

Coupled with Fang Yuan’s numerous secrets, he needed to live
independently.

“In my previous life, after leaving the academy I was only Rank one middle
stage. This time, the situation is much better, I would be Rank one peak
stage by then. But with a C grade talent, coming this far is really an
achievement. Although it had its costs, expending much of my primeval
stones.”

Fang Yuan’s eyebrows raised, he did not have many primeval stones left.

Restricted by his talent, the primeval stones he expended for cultivation was
much more than Fang Zheng, Chi Cheng or Mo Bei.

He raised six Gu worms by himself!

Furthermore, the Liquor worm’s refinement, nurturing the aperture, using

the White Boar Gu to increase strength — they all needed primeval essence.
After the primeval essence was used up, with a C grade recovery speed, it
could not satisfy his needs, so he could only use primeval stones and
retrieve the natural essence within to replenish.

Luckily he had the Spring Autumn Cicada, and also retrieved two Gu from
Earth Treasury Flowers, thus refining Gu worms did not expend much of
his primeval stones. This made him feel slightly better.

But after this when he leaves the academy, he needs to rent a house and get
some income.

After peak stage, it was to push for Rank two. This process would spend a
lot of primeval stones.
After Rank two, he still had to combine Gu worms, and each combination
attempt was a hefty cost.

With all these factors, he was even clearer that his financial situation could
no longer support him. Furthermore, he still had to continue feeding his Gu
worms and continue cultivating.

If it wasn’t for the mid year exam where he used the wild boar tusks to
exchange for quite some primeval stones and alleviated the pressure, he
would not have survived till now.

“Primeval stones, primeval stones… the Flower Wine Monk did not give
any primeval stones in his inheritance, what a shame. Extorting my
classmates is still my most important source of income. But after
graduating, the academy’s allowance would stop, and I cannot continue
extorting. But if I get first for the year end exam, I can get a hundred and
fifty primeval stones as reward,” Fang Yuan contemplated in his heart.

If he could get first place, the hundred and fifty primeval stones would
alleviate his financial difficulty for a while.

Time flies, autumn leaves and winter comes.

On the arena in the academy, three stages had already been built.

Beside the stage, near the bamboo walls of the arena, there were tents and
long tables and chairs.

The academy elder, clan leader and a few other clan elders were sitting
below the tentage cover.

There was a little snow in the sky.

Fifty-seven students stood straight on the arena. Each of their noses were
bright red from the weather, and every breath they took had steam coming
out of their noses.
The academy elder spoke loudly, “In a flash a year has ended. During this
year you were trained in the academy and have started to grasp the qualities
of a Gu Master. Tomorrow, you will have the year end examination to test
the fruits of your hard work! Not only will the clan leader and clan elders
come personally to watch, your family elders and seniors will also come to
observe to pick excellent performing students to join their small teams.”

“Your performances tomorrow, will to a large extent affect your future.

Getting first place, not only is it a hundred and fifty primeval stones, but
you also get an advantage in picking Gu worms! Now, start the final
cultivation check in your academic life!”

Saying so, the academy elder nodded to a Gu Master beside him.

The female Gu Master received the instructions and called out the name
from the list, “Gu Yue Jin Zhu!”

A young girl walked towards the Gu Master with a nervous expression.

The Gu Master stretched out her hand, touching the young girl’s abdomen.
She closed her eyes to feel, then opened her eyes and declared, “Gu Yue Jin
Zhu, Rank one middle stage. Next, Gu Yue Peng.”

One after another, youngsters went up to check. Then they walked back
down and returned to the group.

Their expressions varied, some were happy while others were upset.

The worst result was naturally Rank one initial stage, all being the D grade
talents.

A large number of the students were Rank one middle stage, and little of
them were B grade, mostly C grades.

“Gu Yue Chi Cheng.” The middle-aged female Gu Master called.

From the group, the shortest Gu Yue Chi Cheng puffed his chest and walked
out.
After checking, the female Gu Master opened her eyes, “Gu Yue Chi
Cheng, Rank one peak stage!”

Up till now, this was the first Rank one peak stage Gu Master.

The clan elders present turned their heads.

Some elders recognised, saying lightly, “This is Chi Lian’s grandson,

having B grade talent, no wonder.”

Outside the tent, the youngsters also commented.

“Chi Cheng is Rank one peak stage, I wonder if Mo Bei is too? They are
rivals after all.”

“Being able to advance to peak stage, they are all A and B grades. Sigh, we
C and D grades encounter bitterness that cannot be envied.”

“Hmph!” Gu Yue Mo Bei snorted, seeing Chi Cheng’s proud expression, he

was annoyed.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng clenched his fists, his lips tightly shut, as if he was
stifling in his emotions.

“Gu Yue Mo Bei.” Soon, the examiner called.

The horse-faced Mo Bei quickly walked out.

“Gu Yue Mo Bei, Rank one peak stage.” With this declaration, he walked
back and stared defiantly at Gu Yue Chi Cheng when returning.

The examination continued, and the snow in the sky became smaller, until it
vanished.

The cold chilly air was rather refreshing.

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan.” The middle-aged female Gu Master called.

Fang Yuan walked up expressionlessly.

Soon after, she opened her eyes, looking at Fang Yuan in shock, before
declaring, “Gu Yue Fang Yuan, Rank one peak stage!”

“Rank one peak stage, did I hear wrongly? Fang Yuan cultivated to this
level?” The youngsters were shocked.

“Sigh, he’s just lucky, having the Liquor worm to nurture his aperture. Even
against the A and B grades, with his C grade he isn’t at a disadvantage.”
Some youngsters said with envy.

Especially those C grade talents, they sourly said to console themselves,

“This isn’t much. The Liquor worm cannot refine Rank two primeval
essence, Fang Yuan would no longer have such an advantage anymore.”

“Even if he is peak stage, he is still a C grade, this is of no concern to us.”

Mo Bei and Chi Cheng stared at Fang Yuan, but quickly turned their
attention to Fang Zheng, who was still waiting for his turn.

In their hearts, only the A grade talent Fang Zheng was a competitor.

“Brother, you’ve caught me by surprise. But from now on, watch

carefully…” Fang Zheng looked at Fang Yuan walking down, his eyes
shone and revealed an anticipating expression.

“Gu Yue Fang Zheng.” The female Gu Master finally said.

“The A grade talent?” The clan elders focused their attention to Fang
Zheng.

Fang Zheng walked out from the crowd, he could feel the pressure that
these gazes were bringing him, causing him to become slightly nervous.

But when he saw the clan leader Gu Yue Bo’s smile, the nervousness in his
heart melted.

He walked in front of the female Gu Master.

She shut her eyes, and then abruptly opened her eyes, saying in shock, “Gu
Yue Fang Zheng, cultivation level — Rank two initial stage!”
Boom.

The youngsters erupted into a wave of discussions.

“What, he reached Rank two?!”

“As expected of the A grade talent genius.”

“Incredible, he left Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Yuan in the dust.”

“This Fang Zheng!” At once, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng stared at Fang Zheng
in shock.

“Hehehe, actually higher than in my previous life…” Fang Yuan’s eyelids

drooped down as he laughed. He was not surprised, and after observing
Fang Zheng’s expression earlier, he could guess the result.

“A grade talent after all.”

“The hope of our clan.”

“This is the credit of clan leader’s nurturing…”

The clan elders praised.

At once, Fang Zheng became the center of attention.

Half a year ago, Gu Yue Bo gave him a Jade Skin Gu and asked him to be
the first person to advance to Rank two. He did it!

“Clan leader, I did not disappoint you, I did it! From now on, I will achieve
even more, getting the approval of the clan elders and the people around
me. Brother, I’ve left you behind, you are no longer the shadow in my heart.
I, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, am no longer the one from back then!”

Fang Zheng yelled in his heart, his eyes shining with a kind of brilliance.

This brilliance, is called confidence!

Chapter 82
 Chapter 82: Start of the year end examination

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The sun was bright after the snow passed.

Gu Masters streamed into the academy in the morning.

“The annual year end exam has begun again. Hehehe, I wonder if the scene
I saw from more than a decade ago when I graduated will be seen again.” A
middle-aged Gu Master with long green hair cascading down his back stood
outside the academy, reminiscing.

“Leader, get in, you love reminiscing.” The young female Gu Master beside
him had blood red lips, her hands placed in the pockets of her pants. There
was a blade of grass in her mouth, and she rolled her eyes.

“Hehehe, Yao Hong, don’t rush. We have to get in anyway. Since the clan
leader had arranged it already, our new members have been decided long
ago.” The green haired Gu Master laughed.

“The A grade talent Fang Zheng?” The female Gu Master Gu Yue Yao Hong
tutted in her mouth, saying unhappily, “The clan leader’s idea is to get us to
babysit him!”

“But this babysitting mission is not easy to accomplish.” The green haired
male Gu Master sighed, “Nevermind, let’s go in.”

As time passed, more and more Gu Masters entered the academy doors, and
stood in the arena.

These were male and female Gu Masters. There were young faces, middle-
aged, and old people as well.
Gu Masters after graduating would come out and form small teams to
complete the clan missions. The Gu Masters that came to the arena were all
the representatives of their groups, to assess the performances of the
students and absorb them into their own teams.

To the small groups, this was injecting fresh blood and expanding their
group.

To the newly joined members, under the guidance and teaching of the older
members, they can swiftly adapt to the new environment and more
effectively complete the clan missions and result in lesser deaths.

The sun gradually rose, as the students entered the fray.

“So many people today.” The youngsters proclaimed.

“Quickly see, that is Lord Qing Shu. He is our Gu Yue clan’s number one
person among the Rank two, and he is known for his mild and amiable
temper.” A person pointed at the green haired male Gu Master and shouted.

“Chi Shan senior is here too.”

“That is the Mo family’s little miss Mo Yan!”

Qing Shu, Chi Shan, and Mo Yan were the rising stars of the Gu Masters,
known by all students.

“Sigh, their teams are too hard to get in. I am only D grade, and my vital Gu
is a Gentle Silk Spider, I am meant to be a support staff.” A youngster
sighed, then asked his friend, “You?”

“Oh, I got it settled with relationships. Through the godson of my uncle’s

cousin’s sister.”

As the students observed the Gu Masters, Qing Shu, Chi Shan and Mo Yan
also observed the students.
“Oh? There are two Gu Yue Fang Zhengs.” Yao Hong saw Fang Yuan and
Fang Zheng, shouting out subconsciously.

The green hair male Gu Master Gu Yue Qing Shu helplessly sighed, “Did
you see the information I gave you yesterday? Fang Zheng has a twin
brother, they look very similar in appearance, but his brother is only C
grade talent.”

“Oh so that’s the case. I seem to have heard that the one who made poems
when he was young was Fang Yuan? Are we getting him into the team?”
Yao Hong patted her forehead with her palm, saying whatever she thought
of.

Qing Mao shook his head, “The clan leader specifically mentioned, do not
recruit him. He seems to be wanting to observe something. The brothers
don’t have a good relationship anyway. Even if we want to recruit him,
Fang Yuan probably wouldn’t join.”

Yao Hong did not think much of it, muttering, “Among the groups, we are
the publically acclaimed number one, joining us means a bright future. Any
student would be interested. How could he be unwilling?”

Qing Shu laughed lightly, “That’s because you don’t know him, look at the
information I sent you first.”

At this time, the clan leader Gu Yue Bo, and the authoritative clan elders Gu
Yue Chi Lian and Gu Yue Mo Chen entered, getting into the seats under the
tentage.

“Not only the clan leader, but also Lord Chi Lian and Lord Mo Bei are
attending this year.”

Seeing this, not only the students but also the Gu Masters were excited, this
did not happen in previous years.

“Nothing strange, Chi Lian and Mo Chen’s grandsons are all in this year’s
class.”
“Fang Zheng is the clan leader’s successor, the hope of the future to go
against Bai Ning Bing. The clan leader naturally has to observe carefully.”

Discussions were aplenty among the people.

“Perform well brother.” Mo Yan looked at Mo Bei among the people,

silently praying in her heart. Her group had the most people, it was of the
largest scale. Thus there were a bunch of Gu Masters around her, showing
her imposing aura.

As her most intense rival, Gu Yue Chi Shan from the Chi faction was
standing alone, his huge figure easily acting like a giant red tower in a sea
of people, standing out extensively.

After checking out Chi Cheng, he retracted his vision.

With a speech from the clan leader, the year end exam began.

The three stages held fights at the same time.

At once, shouting noises, sounds of moonblades flying, and the sounds of

punches and kicks as well as the discussions of the Gu Masters below the
stages fused into a loud banter.

“This year’s physical fighting skills is high.” Soon, Yao Hong saw the
difference.

“Hehehe, all thanks to Fang Yuan.” Gu Yue Qing Shu laughed.

“What do you mean?” Yao Hong did not understand.

Qing Shu explained to her.

Yao Hong exclaimed in shock after listening, “Fang Yuan this lad, he’s
really daring, almost to the point of fearless. Hehehe, bullying even his own
brother. This is interesting.”

She looked towards Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng from the crowd, thinking
internally — Which is the elder brother and which is the younger one.
“Next, Gu Yue Jin Zhu against Gu Yue Mo Bei.” On the arena, the hosting
Gu Master shouted.

Gu Yue Mo Bei leapt upwards, and Jin Zhu walked up the stage with a
serious expression.

The two paid respects to each other and said no more, fighting at once.
Moonblades danced in the air.

The two continued to shoot and at the same time, moving and evading
nonstop.

Although a girl, Jin Zhu had good basic skills and was able to fight equally
with Mo Bei for a while. But as time passed, her stamina could not keep up,
and she started to be suppressed.

Finally, with her body full of sweat and having no energy left, she
surrendered.

Mo Bei on the other hand was not even fazed.

“Increasing endurance Gu huh, probably the Yellow Camel Longhorn

Beetle Gu….” Below the stage, Fang Yuan observed, quickly seeing
through Mo Bei.

Fang Yuan had six Gu worms, but that was an exception. Among the people
of his age, they all had one or two Gu worms.

Not only because of the financial stress of feeding Gu worms, but also
because the Gu worm’s usage needed constant practice to accumulate
experience.

Greed for more would backfire. The students only started interacting with
Gu worms, and just began on their cultivation journey. Two Gu worms were
enough for them to practice.

Only an exception like Fang Yuan with his rich experience from his
previous life, could easily grasp every Gu worm that comes into possession
and use them to the very best he can.
The exam continued.

“Damn, jumping like a rabbit!” On another stage, a youngster angrily

shouted, “Gu Yue Chi Cheng, you’re not a man, do you dare to fight with
me physically?!”

“Tsk, only a fool would fight close range with you.” On the stage, Gu Yue
Chi Cheng laughed in disdain. He used the Scarlet Pill Cricket Gu and
jumped around, his body being very agile.

His opponent only had a Flower Boar Gu. Even if he could temporarily
raise his strength by one boar, it was useless. Chi Cheng would not go hand
to hand with him.

Finally, he got hit by a moonblade from Chi Cheng and lost too much
blood, retiring from the fight.

The healing Gu Masters below the stage quickly rushed up and treated his
injuries.

As time passed, more and more students were mercilessly eliminated, and
many youngsters also started to show their abilities.

Chi Cheng, Mo Bei, Fang Yuan, Fang Zheng……

Until noon.

The D grade talents were all eliminated. They had limited talent and all
chose support-type Gu worms for production line or transport, which suited
their lives. Thus, they had little help in battles.

“Little junior sister, your vital Gu is a Life Breath Grass right, my group
needs a healer Gu Master.”

“Senior, I wish to join your group, my vital Gu is a Moonlight Gu.”

“Sorry, we are not lacking any attack-type Gu Master.”

…
The small groups quickly recruited newbies, and the students also chose the
groups they wanted.

The fights on the stage did not have much visual appeal, and after a few
rounds, there were not many highlights, it was even boring. This was
because most people chose the Moonlight Gu, and to most people, the fight
would start with shooting moonblades. Whoever expended their primeval
essence first would lose.

If both parties had no more primeval essence, they would fight with
punches and kicks. At the end, one will fall.

Be it students, Gu Masters, or clan elders, they got bored watching and

some were about to fall asleep.

Until evening, there were only less than ten students left on the stage.

“Finally ending.” Some Gu Masters lifted their spirits, shrugging off the
sleepiness.

At this moment, the Gu Master shouted, “Next round, Gu Yue Fang Zheng
vs Gu Yue Mo Bei!”
Chapter 83
 Chapter 83: Sweeping strong foes, Fang Zheng
displays his skills

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Zheng and Mo Chen both walked up the stage.

“Fang Zheng, don’t think that I will lose just because you have Rank two
cultivation! Today I will challenge and beat a higher realm.” Mo Bei gritted
his teeth, his expression solemn, cheering for himself in his heart. Against
the Rank two Fang Zheng, he indeed felt a strong sense of pressure.

“Come.” Fang Zheng roared, rushing out ferociously.

Mo Bei’s heart jumped, this Fang Zheng wasn’t acting according to plan.
Normally, they would first shoot moonblades before using hand to hand
combat. But this time, he actually rushed up immediately, and wants to fight
physically?

“Isn’t he afraid of getting injured by my moonblade when exchanging

punches and kicks?” Mo Bei was perturbed.

He was naturally not worried for Fang Zheng’s safety, but knew that if they
engaged in close combat, with such a short distance if Fang Zheng shot a
moonblade, it was unavoidable.

Mo Bei quickly took a step back, attempting to pull some distance. At the
same time, he shot out a moonblade with a flick of his wrist.

Fang Zheng was unfazed, taking a tumble and avoiding the moonblade,
continuing his pursuit. At the same time, a lump of lunar energy collected in
his palm.
Mo Bei looked at the moonlight in his hands that hasn’t been fired and felt
tense in his heart, quickly taking steps back.

Although he worked hard in close combat and also trained his moonblade,
he was still inferior to Fang Zheng who was nurtured personally by the clan
leader.

Mo Bei was not suited to this style of combat, and quickly fell into
disadvantage.

“Eh? That side is interesting.” The battle on this arena attracted much
attention.

“They’re actually fighting so closely, this Fang Zheng has guts.” Yao Hong
could now discern who is Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng. Fang Yuan had a
cold expression and emitted an aura of maturity, while Fang Zheng was
steel-willed, radiating a sunny aura.

“It must be the clan leader’s teaching. Normally when students fight, they
would be ten meters apart. Further than this distance and the moonblade
would dissipate. If they fought closer than this distance, the students would
not react in time.” Gu Yue Qing Shu’s gaze shone, “Fang Zheng’s battle
distance now has shrunk to six meters, but his ability to avoid the
moonblade is proficient. It seems that not only is the clan leader helping
Fang Zheng, but Fang Zheng also put in some hard work and went through
much hardship.”

“Little brother!” Mo Yan seeing Mo Bei forced into a corner by Fang

Zheng, showed worry and panic on her face. She really wanted to go in and
help out, giving Fang Zheng a good beating.

Chi Shan however was expressionless, only watching and not speaking.
After Fang Zheng got close to Mo Bei and shortened the distance to six
meters, he no longer got closer, but used the Moonlight Gu and entered a
firing contest.

Mo Bei tried hard to improvise. His actions were in a mess, and many times
he was almost hit by the moonblades, constantly in danger.
Fang Zheng on the other hand, already had his winning formula.

Even if he could not evade in time, he still had the Jade Skin Gu, and as
long as he uses the jade green glow in time, he would be able to block the
moonblade.

Seeing how Mo Bei was defenselessly beaten by himself, Fang Zheng’s

thoughts flew back to a time in the past.

Under the moonlight, the clan leader taught him the evasion movements
step by step, unreservedly imparting him all the experience he had.

“Clan leader, I will not let you down.” Fang Zheng’s eyes shimmered with
hope, he was getting braver as he fought!

“Fang Zheng, you have the talent and the endurance, studiously training.
The result is all because of your blood and sweat. This is the fruits of your
hard work, continue like this, Fang Zheng. Using this aura, go and show
your brilliance!” Under the tentage, the clan leader excitedly cheered on
inwardly, even though he looked like he was quietly watching the fight, his
lips curled into a smile.

Although Mo Bei struggled furiously, resisting adamantly, but after fifteen

minutes, his entire body was full of injuries, the blood oozing out and
dyeing his shirt red.

The organizing Gu Master, upon seeing such a scene, announced, “The

victory goes to Gu Yue Fang Zheng.”

“I haven’t lost yet!” Mo Bei shouted loudly, his entire bloodbathed body
wavering in the air. But after struggling to no end, he was forced to receive
treatment by the healing Gu Masters.

“A battle of such an intensity is already beyond the graduating standard.”

“An A grade talent, is after all a genius.”

“I heard he received personal guidance from the clan leader, can he not be
amazing?”
Seeing such a result, the Gu Masters below the stage praised endlessly.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng panted as he walked down the stage. Three Gu Masters
came to him and healed him, while also providing free primeval stones to
allow him to quickly recover his primeval essence.

After resting for a while, he recovered to his peak condition and ascended
the stage again.

This time, he was against Gu Yue Chi Cheng.

Chi Cheng looked at Fang Zheng, laughing dryly, “Very good! Fang Zheng,
you defeated Mo Bei that rascal, if I defeat you now, it would be killing two
birds with one stone.”

He seemed very confident.

Fang Zheng’s lips remained tight, as he said nothing but rushed towards
him.

“Dragonpill cricket Gu!” Chi Cheng’s thought flashed, and immediately an

orange red-coloured glow came from both his legs. He leapt lightly and
instantly retreated ten meters away.

The distance that Fang Zheng had just shortened was immediately
lengthened.

“Hehehe.” Chi Cheng got smug and laughed, “Fang Zheng, you have no
speed increasing Gu, and with your two legs, you cannot catch me.
Although this stage isn’t big, it is enough for me to manoeuvre. Your tactic
might have worked on Mo Bei, but against me it is ineffective.”

“Is that so?” Fang Zheng stopped his movements and stood on the spot,
staring intently at Chi Cheng.

He smiled, his eyes showing iron will, shouting loudly, “Continue dodging
like that, but everytime you use the Dragonpill cricket Gu, you have to use
a certain amount of primeval essence. You have merely Rank one peak
stage green copper primeval essence, but I am already at Rank two red steel
primeval essence, three times your endurance. Your talent is inferior to me
as well. At the end, you would run out of primeval essence and the loser
will be you!”

“You!” Chi Cheng was shocked, he only saw his advantage but did not
notice his weakness. Right now, he could not help but agree with Fang
Zheng, and his fighting spirit dampened.

“What, Fang Zheng is Rank two?!” The surrounding Gu Masters gasped.

The examination results were only obtained the day before, thus they were
only spread among certain people, so most of the crowd did not know about
it yet.

“An A Grade talent no doubt, amazing, this Fang Zheng might really be the
rising star of our clan.”

“Bai clan has that Bai Ning Bing, he is really too powerful. If Fang Zheng
can grow up, he might be able to resist Bai Ning Bing.”

“This lad is interesting. Getting to Rank two in the academy and with such
solid basic skills, this is such an uncommon scene. No wonder the clan
leader poured so much effort into him,” Yao Hong muttered.

Qing Shu replied, “The clan leader’s guidance is only part of it, don’t look
down on this lad. Ever since he survived the assassination incident, he has
become very hardworking, cultivating to the best of his limits, he is a good
seedling, with both talent and hardwork. If he can grow up…, sigh, I feel
like my burden is increasing.”

“Hehehe.” Clan leader Gu Yue Bo laughed lightly.

Chi Cheng’s weak nature was analyzed by him to Fang Zheng. Now that he
saw Fang Zheng using it to his advantage, Gu Yue Bo was very pleased.

“It seems that Fang Zheng is this year’s number one.” Beside the clan
leader, Gu Yue Mo Chen said.
Gu Yue Chi Lian snorted, staring at the scene intently. He obviously wished
for his grandson to win and defeat Fang Zheng, that way he would win
honour for the Chi faction.

But things do not go as he wished, and on the stage after getting

demoralized, Chi Cheng could no longer display his 100% ability against
Fang Zheng, and made continuous mistakes.

Eventually, Chi Cheng was caught with a fatal flaw, and was swept down
the stage.

“Gu Yue Fang Zheng wins!” Gu Master announced.

Gu Yue Chi Lian’s face was black.

At once, Fang Zheng was famous, getting all the attention from the clan
people.

“Fang Zheng beat Mo Bei and Chi Cheng simultaneously with wits and
courage, it seems he is the first place this year,” Some people praised.

“Makes sense, I think well of him as well. Too bad he cannot join our
group.” As the groups choose students, students are also choosing groups. A
seeded student like Fang Zheng was already long booked.

“Fang Zheng is the clan leader’s faction, while Mo Bei, Chi Cheng are the
Mo faction, Chi faction’s future leaders. This way, it seems that the Gu Yue
Clan would be heavily dominated by the clan leader faction, suppressing
the two clan elders.” Some people could see even further.

On the other two stages, the battles continued.

Fang Zheng walked down the stage long ago, hearing the people’s praises,
his heart roaring as he felt himself being reborn.

Different, it was very different from before.

His heart was filled with the excitement of recognition, the anticipation of
being appreciated, and the joy of being commended.
A gust of winter wind blew, and although he felt the chilly wind, Fang
Zheng could only feel the sense of warmth like the summer day.

“Last match, Gu Yue Fang Zheng vs Gu Yue Fang Yuan!” A while later, an
announcer shouted.
Chapter 84
 Chapter 84: Trample ruthlessly!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The final battle, Gu Yue Fang Zheng vs Gu Yue Fang Yuan!

“Oh, interesting.”

“To think that at the end, it is a showdown between brothers.”

“Fang Zheng…” Seeing this, the clan leader’s smile faded slightly, “The
greatest obstacle in your heart is your brother Fang Yuan. Go ahead and
defeat him, you have red steel primeval essence while also having the Jade
Skin Gu. With both offense and defense, you have the greatest advantage.
Break apart this obstacle in your way, and you shall be reborn!”

The final match finally started.

The two brothers stood on the same arena, staring at each other.

The last remaining sunrays were like blood…

The light of the sunset was like a luxurious carpet for the arena.

Two very similar faces.

The little brother’s fighting spirit burned on, while the older brother’s gaze
was deep as the abyss.

“Brother…” Fang Zheng’s fists were clenched as he stared intently at Fang

Yuan, speaking with a firm voice,” Admit defeat! I am already Rank two,
and I have over 80% red steel primeval essence. Your green bronze
primeval essence is only 44%, you have no chance.”
Fang Yuan lightly looked at his brother, “You are surely clear about my
primeval essence. But it’s better if you don’t spout nonsense. If primeval
essence can decide the victory, what’s the point of fighting?”

Fang Zheng was stunned, but soon he raised his spirits, and his vigor could
be seen burning in his eyes.

In truth, in the deepest part of his heart, he also did not want Fang Yuan to
admit defeat. But Fang Yuan was his older brother after all, thus in view of
their relationship he had to say it.

If not, that would be too cruel.

“Since big brother is so determined, then I have no choice but to attack!”

Before he finished his sentence, Fang Zheng rushed towards Fang Yuan.

“This again!” Below the stage, Mo Bei looking at this scene, gritted his
teeth. He made up his mind to harshly train himself after going back and
return this humiliation tenfold to Fang Zheng!

“Fang Yuan is finished, he does not have my Dragonpill cricket Gu.” Chi
Cheng folded his arms and smirked, enjoying Fang Yuan’s troubles.

Fang Zheng sprinted and instantly shortened the distance. In his hand there
was a ball of moonlight.

Fang Yuan’s expression was like steel; there was not a single change as he
looked at the charging Fang Zheng. He did not take a single step away but
blue coloured moonlight also gathered in his right palm.

Suddenly!

Fang Yuan took a firm step after stomping the ground, and moved towards
Fang Zheng instead of backing away.

“This!” Fang Zheng did not expect Fang Yuan’s movement, he panicked
internally and quickly fired a moonblade.
Fang Yuan rushed quickly, and twisted his body, avoiding the moonblade by
a hair’s breadth.

His expression was cold, without any shouting or aggression. But in his
silence, there was an aura of absolute iciness emitting from him.

Fang Zheng subconsciously took a few steps back. His limit was six meters,
but now Fang Yuan was five meters away from him. This time he had to be
the one trying to increase their distance.

Dundundun.

Fang Zheng retreated while flicking his right wrist several times, sending
moonblades flying to try and push Fang Yuan back.

Fang Yuan took fluid steps that were one after another, his body extremely
agile. He moved intensely, and every time he managed to avoid the
moonblade with no margin for error.

“This Fang Yuan is even more daring!” Yao Hong shouted.

“Such a battle, they’ve disregarded death already,” Qing Shu also
exclaimed.

“Another battle maniac!” Mo Yan gritted her teeth, giving a glance at Chi
Shan who was not far away.

Chi Shan was expressionless, but his eyes glimmered occasionally.

The noise from the audience stopped, they were all captivated by the battle
on the stage.

The moonblades and Fang Yuan brushed past each other. From time to time
there was a blue light that would reflect upon Fang Yuan’s face. His cold
expression remained as it was without any change, and each time he
narrowly evaded death, showing his extreme battle talent!

The clan leader and clan elders all showed a serious expression.
Chi Cheng and Mo Bei stared with their mouths wide open, looking at Fang
Yuan dodging every single moonblade in an impossible manner.

How did he do it? Numerous students had a giant question mark on their
heads.

Hmph, Fang Yuan who had 500 years of battle experience, how can he be
compared to Fang Zheng who was only taught for a year by a Rank four Gu
Master?

In Fang Yuan’s eyes, Fang Zheng was as thin as a clear stream. No matter
how the stream flowed, or turned its way among the mountain rocks, he
could see through it clearly to the bottom of the river.

The moonblade’s every attack was not instant, it needed a process. Fang
Zheng had to flick his wrist, and that was the greatest foretelling.

In Fang Yuan’s eyes, Fang Zheng’s shoulder movement, the movement of

his wrist, every step he took provided a large amount of information. Fang
Zheng’s every attack, evasion and dodging was easily seen through by Fang
Yuan, even as to what was going on in Fang Zheng’s head, Fang Yuan could
guess to a degree.

Fang Zheng’s mind right now was flabbergasted!

Fang Yuan was the obstacle in his heart for more than ten years, the shadow
quickly expanding into darkness, dragging him into the abyss.

The nervous emotion made him forget to use the Jade Skin Gu. Fang Yuan’s
strong approach caused him to panic and he was unable to regain his tempo,
thus not allowing him time to think.

This was the difference in experience, this was the difference between
inside knowledge!

In Fang Yuan’s perspective, his inside information was even more important
than the Spring Autumn Cicada, it was his greatest reliance.
He was able to not rely on the clan leader, clan leader, family, friends, or Gu
worms.

He had always and only relied on himself!

In this world, only oneself is the most reliable!!

Those teammates and battle partners, they were just the masks of
weaklings, the excuse to anticipate help from others.

He finally reached near Fang Zheng!

Bam.

Fang Yuan’s punch was pulled from a hidden angle, smashing right into
Fang Zheng’s stomach.

Fang Zheng’s body curled as the force of the fist almost caused him to
vomit. He quickly protected his head with his arms and took a large step
back. At the crucial moment, it showed his steady basic skills.

“Where is he?” Fang Zheng’s eyes stared wide, looking around from the
gap between his arms, trying to find Fang Yuan’s location.

“Behind!” With this thought, Fang Zheng felt a strong force at his waist.

He lost his center of gravity and fell on the ground.

But Fang Zheng had gone through tough training. With this movement he
flipped around on the ground and at the same time, shot out a moonblade
from his palm towards his back.

This movement was the battle experience imparted by the clan leader.

If it was a normal person, they might follow closely behind Fang Zheng. If
they could not react in time, they would be hit by the moonblade. Even if
the moonblade did not hit, they would be forced back.

But who was Fang Yuan? Even Gu Yue Bo could not compete with him in
terms of experience.
Fang Yuan moved steadily, not giving chase. Instead, he moved in a circle
and got near to Fang Zheng. The moonblade only managed to hit air.

Fang Zheng thought he was able to pull some distance and quickly stood
up. He was about to reorganise himself but he suddenly heard a swoosh
sound.

“This is the gust of a punch!” At that split second, Fang Zheng had such a
thought.

Immediately after, he was harshly hit in the ear by Fang Yuan’s fist.

Bam.

He immediately felt his vision darken, and a strong sense of dizziness

caused him to lose balance, completely collapsing on the ground.

He sprawled on the ground for over two breath’s time, and finally he
recovered slightly. His vision became clearer, seeing Fang Yuan’s two feet
right beside him.

He suddenly understood how ugly his situation was. He was sprawled on

the ground like a dog while Fang Yuan stared at him from that high
position.

“Damn it!” Fang Zheng was furious and tried to get up.

Under everyone’s eyes, Fang Yuan lifted his right leg and stepped down
firmly.

Bam.

Fang Zheng’s head was harshly stepped on, like a rock hitting the stage,
making a loud sound.

“Fuck!” Fang Zheng raged and tried to get up again.

Fang Yuan stared coldly, trampling down once again.

Bam.

Fang Zheng’s head hit the stage again. His scalp knocked open and blood
bled nonstop.

“Damn! Damn it!!” Fang Zheng’s teeth were about to be crushed from his
clenching, and the rage in his chest burned through his entire body. He
raised his head again, trying to get up.

Bam.

Fang Yuan’s third step came down. This time he continued to step on his
head, not letting go. Under the immense force, Fang Zheng’s face was
harshly squeezed on the stage floor.

Fang Zheng’s face was almost deformed, and he breathed raggedly,

struggling to no avail. He felt that on his head, there was a huge rock that
would not move no matter how he struggled.

“Right, how could I forget, I have the Moonlight Gu!” Under the despair,
Fang Zheng’s inspiration struck, and he thought of the Moonlight Gu.

His right palm gathered moonlight again.

But how could Fang Yuan not notice?

With a light sound, he shot out a moonblade onto Fang Zheng’s right palm.

Argh!

Fang Zheng cried out, the immense pain sending his body into a spasm like
he was struck by lightning.

His palm was almost pierced through by Fang Yuan, showing his white
bones. The Moonlight Gu on his palm was already struck a great blow, it
was on the brink of death!
Chapter 85
 Chapter 85: Hot-blooded and cold-blooded

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“These two brothers really aren’t on good terms,” Yao Hong mumbled.

“This Fang Yuan is too cruel, treating his brother like this,” many people
frowned unhappily.

“Fang Yuan is too savage, extorting our primeval stones for an entire year!
Now he’s treating his brother like this,” the students gritted their teeth. Fang
Yuan’s coldness forced out their hatred towards a common enemy.

“Fang Zheng, stand up, stand up! Defeat Fang Yuan.” Some unknown
student shouted.

“Defeat Fang Yuan, defeat Fang Yuan!” Instantly, many youngsters shouted.

“This Fang Yuan, is indeed a hated person.” Mo Yan snorted, enjoy his
predicament.

“Fang Zheng, hang in there, stand up! Defeat this monster Fang Yuan!”

“Fang Zheng, stand up. We’re with you.”

“Fang Zheng, you can do it, you can do it!”

The crowd cheered on fiercely, and sounds of encouragement entered Fang

Zheng’s ears.

Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!

Fang Zheng gasped heavily. As the sounds entered his heart it gave him an
unimaginable strength!
The scenes of the past played in his head.

On the streets, the clansmen’s comments.

“That’s Fang Yuan, the future genius, he is not to be underestimated!”

“Who’s that behind him?”

“Oh, probably his brother, who knows what his name is.”

Uncle and aunt laughed, “Fang Yuan, now the entire village is discussing
the new poem you wrote! This is very good, uncle and aunt are proud of
you.”

Fang Yuan waved his hand, saying calmly, “I only made those on a whim.”

Uncle and aunt nodded, saying to Fang Zheng, “Learn well from your
brother, if you are half as talented as your brother, we would not have to
worry.”

Under the moonlight, deep in the courtyard.

Clan leader Gu Yue Bo looked at Fang Zheng, saying gently, “Fang Zheng,
have confidence. You must find your purpose, believe in yourself.”

“But, sir clan leader…”

Gu Yue Bo patted his shoulders, encouraging, “The shadow in your heart,

others cannot dispel it for you. You can only rely on yourself. I await that
day.”

The night before the year end exam.

Shen Cui looked at Fang Zheng with love in her gaze under the lamp lights,
“Young master, I believe that you can get number one. I have always
believed it! Work hard!”

The morning before departure.

Uncle and aunt stood at the doorstep, “Fang Zheng, after the year end exam,
you would be leaving the academy. Seeing your growth, we are very happy!
Go, go and show everyone the strength of an A grade!”

And……

Under the setting sun, in a dark corner, a female classmate cried profusely,
“The allowance is only three primeval stones, but Fang Yuan snatched a
piece away, leaving me with two. I am almost unable to feed my Moonlight
Gu at this rate.”

Fang Zheng’s heart softened, “This is my primeval stone, I’ll lend it to

you.”

The female classmate took the primeval stone, saying with tears, “Fang
Zheng, you are too nice, please defeat your brother and end his tyranny in
the academy!”

Fang Zheng was silent.

A bunch of classmates appeared in front of him.

“Fang Zheng, you are an A grade talent, you can do it.”

“Fang Yuan is too much, constantly bullying us, you are our only hope.”

“Fang Zheng, from today onwards, we’re with you, we will always support
you!”

“Everyone…” Fang Zheng observed the surroundings, seeing the concerned

pairs of eyes, and felt extremely touched.

Everyone…

Everyone has expectations of me.

My classmates, uncle, aunt, Shen Cui, and sir clan leader!

Everyone is waiting for me, looking at me, supporting me……

How can I lose? How can I fall here? How can I!

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

His heart pounded in his chest, and Fang Zheng’s eyes shone with
brilliance.

I cannot fall here!

I will dispel the shadow and stand up!!

Fang Zheng’s fists were tightly clenched, no longer feeling any pain at this
point. He felt a lion in his chest, awakening from its sleep and opening its
huge mouth to roar!

Hot-blood boiled in his body.

Stand up, stand up!

Break the shadows, break the darkness!

“ARGHHHHHHHHH!” Fang Zheng opened his mouth wide to shout, his
body starting to emit a green jade light.

“What’s that?” The crowd silenced.

“Jade Skin Gu!” Someone shouted.
Bam!

The students roared towards the heavens.

“Fang Zheng, you can do it!”

“Fang Zheng, we have your back!”

Finally only one last cheer remained —”Stand up! Stand up!”

“Everyone….. I can hear your voices.” Fang Zheng clenched his fist, his
teeth almost crushed. Fang Yuan’s pressure was no longer so imposing, he
could finally get up, slowly and steadily.

The shouting intensified.

“He’s burning with anger!!”
“He’s going to do a comeback.”

Gu Masters hearing such cheers and excitement from the crowd, were all
starting to feel moved.

“That’s right, Fang Zheng, that’s right! Stand up, stand up, abandon the
past, dispel the shadow and stand up, you will become a new person!” Clan
leader’s eyes shone with bright light as he cheered Fang Zheng on in his
heart.

“Jade Skin Gu…” Fang Yuan’s eyelids drooped. He pulled back his leg and
saw Fang Zheng stand up slowly, the Jade Skin Gu’s radiance turning his
face green.

Fang Zheng had always been hiding this trump card up till now and did not
reveal it to anyone, thus nobody knew about it.

“Fang Zheng got up!” The crowds’ cheers exploded.

“He stood up!” Clan leader was moved, uncontrollably standing up from his
seat. At this moment, he saw the rise of an A grade talent! He saw the future
of the Gu Yue clan!

“I stood up, brother, I will defeat you!” Fang Zheng’s eyes burned with
determination, his entire body enveloped in bright green light like he was
wear a jade armor!

“Oh wow, this defense, even the moonblade can’t pierce it. It seems Fang
Zheng wins.” Yao Hong raised her brows, blowing a whistle.

“Indeed, even with the Little Light Gu’s reinforcement, hitting on this
barrier, it would only cause Fang Zheng’s primeval essence to be consumed
faster. But comparing primeval essence expenditure, Fang Yuan is no match
for Fang Zheng. After this match, Fang Zheng is going to rise!” Qing Shu
laughed lightly.
“Fang Zheng had a Jade Skin Gu, but only used it now. It seems Fang
Yuan’s earlier attacks confused him. But now, victory is already waving
towards him.” Mo Yan folded her arms, her gaze slightly uncertain.

Time seem to have paused.

On the stage, the brothers faced each other.

The two’s distance was so close yet so far.

Fang Zheng’s firm determination, Fang Yuan’s eternal indifference.

“Little brother…” He looked at Fang Zheng peacefully, his lips curling into
a smirk, “Thinking of defeating me, you’re still far from it.”

He raised his right hand, his right arm flexing, pulling into a bow shape.

“Big brother, you’ve lost!” Fang Zheng felt amused in his heart seeing Fang
Yuan’s raised fist.

As long as he had primeval essence, even with the Little Light Gu’s
reinforcement, the moonblade could not break the jade colour barrier, not to
mention his fist? Unless he used the Flower Boar Gu or the Brute Force
Longhorn Beetle Gu to raise his strength. But even so, he would need a
defensive type Gu……

Fang Yuan did not say anything, but he used his fist to give the most
straightforward answer.

The next moment, the right fist flew in the air and hit Fang Zheng harshly
on the cheeks.

Bam!
After a loud crash, blood spilled as the jade light smashed to bits like
broken mirror fragments dancing in the sky before vanishing.

“What?!” Fang Zheng was hit by such a shock once again, and after a
stunned moment, his neck was almost broken as he hurriedly retreated.
Fang Yuan followed up closely, using a bow step and raising his left fist,
pulling back and striking again upwards!

Bam!!

Fang Zheng’s other half of his face was hit by the impact, his head rising
high up with blood and broken jade light flying in the air.

Bam, bam, bam!

He took three steps backwards, his ears buzzing as a dizziness ten times
greater than before assaulted him.
“How can this… be!” His vision darkened, and he collapsed on the arena —

Plop.

Fang Zheng fell on the ground, the light dissipating on his body as he
fainted in the next moment.

The shouts and cheers came to an abrupt end.

The happy, excited expressions of the students were still glued on their
faces, unable to change due to such a shock.

The entire arena was silent.

Fang Yuan’s fists were bloody, to the point his bloody finger bones could be
seen. Drops of blood fell and dripped on the stage.

Swoosh…

A cold winter wind blew, freezing away all the hot-bloodedness.

Fang Yuan’s hair wavered in the air as he stood still on the stage. It was
almost as if the heavily injured person with both his fists almost crippled
was not him!

He looked coldly at the surroundings with a calm expression.

Everyone was silent.
In the tentage, the clan leader was still standing, staring dumbfoundedly.
“Sorry, I’ve let you all disappointed,” Fang Yuan said lightly.
Chapter 86
 Chapter 86: Suspicion and probing

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

On the stage, Fang Zheng fainted on the ground with no more movements
from him.

Fang Yuan however, continued with his cold expression, standing in the
middle of the stage.

After a momentary silence, the crowds erupted.

“How can this be?” Some people hugged their heads, revealing an
expression of disbelief.

“Two punches breaking the Jade Skin Gu’s defense, this-this-this…” Some
people were tongue-tied.

“Too savage, even the jade light got smashed by him, does he not feel
pain?” Some female Gu Masters took in a chilly breath.

“Without any defensive Gu worm and using his bare hands to break the jade
light, this is true blue self-harm!” Even male Gu Masters’ eyes twitched
upon seeing Fang Yuan’s hands, and were shocked by his ruthlessness.

Being ruthless to others, that is easy, but being ruthless to yourself, that is
hard.

Fang Yuan using his bare hands to break the Jade Skin Gu’s defense, it was
not only savage to his younger brother, but even harsher on himself!

“I’ll go take a look.” The academy elder could no longer stand it, and after
saying so, he jumped onto the stage.
He first squatted down and observed the fainted Fang Zheng, sighing in
relief as he found that Fang Zheng was not in a critical condition. His head
just had a huge impact, causing him to fall unconscious.

“Unbelievable, with the Jade Skin Gu’s defense, he still suffered such heavy
injuries from someone using their bare hands.” The academy elder was
shocked internally, raising his head and looking at Fang Yuan, his eyes
shining with a fierce light.

“Fang Yuan, I’ll heal you.” The academy elder stood up, taking a few huge
strides towards Fang Yuan and grabbing his forearm.

Fang Yuan’s arms were in terrible condition. Not only was the blood and
skin vaguely mashed, even his bones were revealed. Because of the huge
impact there were also cracks on the bones.

“How intense this pain is, yet he didn’t even frown a bit.” Even if it was the
academy elder, his heart shuddered seeing such injuries.

His tone was complicated, saying to Fang Yuan, “Endure it, the healing is
very itchy and also very painful.”

Saying so, his five fingers spread open and emitted a wave of blue
moonlight. The moonlight got brighter and caused the academy elder’s right
hand to be translucent from the shine.

At a glance, the academy elder’s entire right hand was like a piece of blue
jade, the blood vessels and bones were all turned into jade.

The academy elder lightly raised his right hand and covered Fang Yuan’s
injured fist.

It was just like a piece of cold jade touching on an injury that was mashed
with blood and flesh. Fang Yuan felt a heart-piercing pain, but he gritted his
teeth and did not make a sound.

The academy elder’s hand emitted gentle moonlight and the moonlight
nourished Fang Yuan’s injured spot.
On the bones, the cracks started to mend, and the flesh and skin started to
grow rapidly and heal.

Fang Yuan felt an intense itching, causing him to breathe heavily.

The academy elder’s expression was calm. While healing Fang Yuan, he
diverted a part of his concentration towards Fang Yuan’s arm, and also
inspected his aperture.

In the aperture, the black green-coloured copper primeval essence was

raging like waves in the sea.

A white and fat liquor worm was swimming and playing in the primeval
sea.

The four walls of the aperture were all made of white-coloured crystal
walls. This showed Fang Yuan’s Rank one peak stage cultivation clearly.

The academy elder did not look away, but continued to scan Fang Yuan’s
body.

Finally, he found that on Fang Yuan’s palm, there was the Moonlight Gu
and Little Light Gu.

“No other Gu worms, did Fang Yuan really use his own strength to break
the defense of the Jade Skin Gu? Such strength is far beyond a mortal adult.
He is only fifteen years old, how can he have such strength?” The academy
elder’s eyes shone with suspicion.

“Clan elder, thank you for your treatment.” Fang Yuan took back his arm
from the academy elder and shook it around.

Although there was still some pain, the injury had already healed. If this
was back on Earth, such an injury would have taken a year or two to heal
and would even leave some serious side effects.

This was the magical aspect of this world. Now that Fang Yuan’s arms were
healed, although he still felt like they were weak when he grabbed the air or
waved them around, seven or eight days later, the strengthless side-effect
would disappear.

But Fang Yuan was not grateful to the academy elder. His injury could also
be healed by other healing Gu Masters, and he was well aware: the
academy elder’s motive was to inspect his aperture.

Fang Yuan had expected this from the start, so he left the White Boar Gu
and Jade Skin Gu in the second secret cave. As for the Spring Autumn
Cicada, with its Rank six status, if it wanted to hide, even the Rank four Gu
Yue Bo would not find it if he inspected personally.

The academy elder did not find anything, and that caused him to frown.
Although he was still suspicious in his heart, but in front of so many people,
he did not have the proper opportunity to ask.

“Fang Yuan, you performed well, continue working hard.” Finally, the
academy elder patted Fang Yuan’s shoulder and declared loudly, “This
year’s final exam, the first place goes to Fang Yuan!”

Ever since the academy elder’s ascension to the stage, the audience watched
quietly. After hearing his announcement, they started discussing fervently.

“To think that at the end, Fang Yuan had the last laugh!”

“He’s merely a C grade, but he beat the Rank two Fang Zheng who has a
Jade Skin Gu, did he cheat?”

“Probably not, from the academy elder’s personal treatment and probing. If
he did not find any problems, Fang Yuan probably did not cheat.”

“Fang Yuan’s fists were greatly injured, that’s normal. But as a fifteen year
old, having such strength that surpasses an adult by far, isn’t it suspicious?”

“What is there to be suspicious about? There are always people who are
born with strange talents. Either super strength, or super smart, actually
Fang Yuan’s strength isn’t that scary, think about that guy.” The speaking
Gu Master indicated at the standing Chi Shan.
People were immediately enlightened, “Oh yes. When Chi Shan was still a
kid, his strength was already greater than an adult, is Fang Yuan also such a
monster?”

“That has to be it. When Fang Yuan was young, he could make poems.
Those poems were famous around the village back then. We thought he was
an A grade, but he turned out to be C grade, but it seems heaven has other
plans and compensated him with strength.”

“He is still a C grade anyway, if he was B grade he would be another Chi

Shan. Hmph, nothing to be envious about, a Gu Master’s cultivation relies
on their talent. If I can get a Black Boar Gu in the future, I would have even
greater strength than him. That is nothing much, he can only be arrogant for
a while.” Some people shrugged, speaking unconcernedly.

Fang Yuan walked down the stage, his eyes picking up the people’s
discussions as he smirked coldly inside his heart.

The Liquor worm’s origin was already perfectly explained by Fang Yuan,
but once the Jade Skin Gu was exposed, Fang Yuan would not be able to
explain it. Thus, he had to keep this secret and could not use it in public.

As for these people’s thoughts and explanations, it was the direction Fang
Yuan wanted them to go. Or rather, even if the higher-ups were suspicious,
they would only be suspicious of his mysterious backer.

“Half a year ago, I risked the danger and used the wild boar tusks to create a
second layer of protection at the camp. It is finally coming into play.” Fang
Yuan eyes were dark like the abyss.

The Gu Yue clan leader did not sit down. He kept on standing and frowning
deeply.

This matter had developed out of his control.

Fang Yuan getting first place, he did not really care much. It was just a year
end exam’s first place, it was nothing significant.
He was worried about Gu Yue Fang Zheng.

Undeniably, today’s impact was too great on Fang Zheng.

If Fang Zheng was beaten completely from the start and lost the fight, so be
it. But it just had to be at the point where he used his full strength and got a
huge confidence boost, that he was sent sprawling by Fang Yuan’s two fists.

Such a psychological trauma might negatively impact his growth.

“Under my guidance and arrangement, Fang Zheng was the first to advance
to upper stage, peak stage and Rank two initial stage, continuously gaining
success and confidence. But this confidence is probably gone by now. Sigh,
my hard work has all gone up like smoke.” Gu Yue Bo sighed deeply,
naturally gaining a little sense of disgust and loathing towards Fang Yuan.

If Fang Yuan had lost to Fang Zheng, everything would have been perfect.

But he actually won, that is too… infuriating.

Not only the clan leader, but the other clan elders’ were also full of solemn
and complex gazes.

“Fang Yuan’s strength is actually so huge, is he really a monster like Chi

Shan?”

“Actually, he was strange from young, making poems when he was younger
than ten, so his strength getting larger as he grew up is nothing strange.”

“But there is another possibility, and that is human action. Fang Yuan has a
mysterious backer, maybe the backer assisted him.”

“But the person behind him, who could it be?”

The clan elders’ hearts were overturning, but their expressions said
otherwise.

Clan leader Gu Yue Bo went silent before revealing a smile, saying, “Fang
Yuan, getting first place with a C grade talent, this is an unprecedented
grand feat! Becoming first place, you have a hundred primeval stones as
reward and also Gu worm choosing priority. Now, I shall reward you
further, you can choose any small group you want and join it. Regardless of
the group, whichever one you want, just say it and you can join!”

Upon saying so, all the Rank two Gu Masters and students stared at Fang
Yuan in envy.

Small groups had their differences too, and joining a good group meant a
bright future. Gu Yue Bo’s reward was very generous.

“Although I made this decision on the spot, I believe the clan elders here
would agree with me,” Gu Yue Bo smiled even more intensely, looking at
the clan elders beside him.

With Gu Yue Chi Lian and Gu Yue Mo Chen as the head of the clan elders,
all of their faces were grim and some even frowned, but no one stopped
him.

Fang Yuan’s heart jumped.

Trouble had come.

Chapter 87
 Chapter 87: Attitude is the mask of the heart

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Yuan could see the intentions behind such an action, this was a small
probing (test) from the clan leader.

His gaze swept through the arena, the entire clan’s best performing three
groups were here. The clan leader’s faction’s Qing Shu group, Chi faction’s
Chi Shan group, and Mo faction’s Mo Yan group.

If it was a regular student, joining any of the three groups meant getting a
huge backer, representing a bright future.

But to Fang Yuan, it was the reverse.

In the clan’s higher-up’s perception, he was already part of a mysterious

faction. Joining any of the three spelt trouble.

For example, if he joined the Chi Shan faction, the Chi family obviously
know they did not recruit him, so their first thought would be — Fang Yuan
is a pawn of another family, but now that he’s joining our group, what
intentions does he have?

Next they would think — The mysterious faction that recruited Fang Yuan
earlier had already broken the rules, and now that Fang Yuan is present
here, the clan leader would think that we were the ones who recruited him,
so isn’t this ‘carrying the fault’ for them? That will not do, we have to arrest
Fang Yuan, keep a close eye on him and investigate him! We shall find
concrete evidence and reveal the mysterious backer of his.

But the truth was, Fang Yuan has no backer!

“Once I join any of the three groups, it means I am offending one out of the
three biggest factions in this clan. That will definitely not do! Sigh, I
originally wanted to keep a low profile and join Jiang He’s group, but Jiang
He’s group is backed by the punishment hall elder. Under everyone’s
watchful eye, if I join abruptly, that is inappropriate as well.” Fang Yuan
inevitably hesitated.

Gu Yue Bo’s smile became even more intense, continuing, “Fang Yuan, if
you don’t choose, I’ll select for you.”

The clan elders beside him watched quietly with an unmoving expression,
each of them standing like statues.

“Hmph, forcing me?” Fang Yuan’s gaze shone, immediately guessing Gu

Yue Bo’s next words — either throwing him to Chi Shan’s group or Mo
Yan’s group.

Gu Yue Bo knew in his heart that he did not recruit Fang Yuan. To him, this
act can not only remove suspicion on him but also weaken his foe, as well
as reveal the mysterious faction; it was killing three birds with one stone. It
was a play that could divert the problem away — although seemingly
simple, it was a strategic move showing Gu Yue Bo’s experienced political
ability.

“No, I must not let him dictate it. It seems I can only choose a crappy
group.” Fang Yuan was about to open his mouth and speak.

Suddenly at this moment, someone spoke, “Why don’t you join our team.
Our group is lacking an attacker.”

Who said that?

At once, everyone turned around towards the source of the voice.

The person speaking was neither tall or short, with dark yellow skin that
made him look sickly. A pair of triangular eyes shone with brilliance.
“It’s the sickly snake Gu Yue Jiao San(1).” Someone pointed out his
identity.

“Gu Yue Jiao San? It’s just a trash team with no background!” The clan
leader and clan elders all showed a disappointed expression.

“Jiao San…” Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with an undetectable dark shine.

He and this Gu Yue Jiao San person had never met or spoken before, and he
had no memories of such a person.

Why did Jiao San open his mouth and invite him into his team? Was it
purely because he had gotten first place in the examination?

How can that be!

Only someone as childish as Fang Zheng would have such a naive thought.

But……

Since Jiao San opened his mouth and invited Fang Yuan personally, such a
situation was a good breakthrough point.

“The clan’s higher-ups must be very disappointed now. Hehe.” Fang Yuan
smiled thinking of this, his eyes looking downwards, hiding the brilliance in
his expression.

“Then I’ll join your group,” Fang Yuan agreed on the spot, blocking Gu Yue
Bo’s upcoming words.

“Is this Fang Yuan retarded?”

“Ignoring those top performing groups and joining the sickly snake’s
group!”

“He must be bonkers, Jiao San’s personality, hehehe…”

The students and Gu Masters started to discuss, looking at Fang Yuan like
he was a fool.
The clan leaders and elders’ expression turned dim.

Today’s probing was thwarted by this Gu Yue Jiao San! No… Maybe this
Jiao San is also a pawn in this game, but no matter what, they must
investigate on this Gu Yue Jiao San!

Three days later.

It had already been snowing for a day, and now that it was gradually getting
smaller, pieces of snowflakes flew in the air gliding with the wind.

On Qing Mao mountain, there was a layer of white colour over it. Many
branches were naked with no leaves, except the evergreen pine trees and
Qing Mao bamboo, which had retained their original colours standing
proudly in the snow.

A group of five people ran in the snow.

The leading person was neither short nor tall, bearing a sickly yellow skin
— it was Gu Yue Jiao San.

As he ran, he turned towards the quiet Fang Yuan, smiling gently with
kindness, “Fang Yuan, don’t be nervous. Although this is your first clan
mission, the contents are simple. Just follow us and learn along the way.”

“Yes,” Fang Yuan lightly replied, staring forward with a solemn expression.

It was already winter.

Running on the snow, the chilly winter winds were even more intense.
Every breath was like eating snow dust, chilling his entire chest.

Fang Yuan’s face was originally very white, and now that the snow shone
on it, it appeared even paler. In the process of running, the snow kept falling
on his short black hair, his shoulders and forehead.

What was different than before was that Fang Yuan had changed his clothes.

This was a dark blue coloured battle attire.

The attire had long sleeves and long pants, with bamboo sheets tied on his
legs as wrappings, and bamboo shoes adorned his feet. On his head there
was a bright blue headband, and the headband fluttered in the air as Fang
Yuan ran.

On his waist, there was a loose belt.

The belt was navy blue with a bronze plate on it, carved with the number
“1”; it was very much eye-striking.

This was a Gu Master’s attire, showing Fang Yuan’s status as a Rank one
Gu Master.

The youngsters had to stay a year in the academy and graduate before they
were allowed to wear this.

This attire had much meaning. Once worn it meant that one has transcended
the realm of mortals, leaving the lowly life and stepping into the upper
society, being the middle class of the entire human race. Even if Rank one
Gu Masters were the bottom of this tier, from now on any mortal had to
give way to Fang Yuan and pay respects to him.

Gu Yue Jiao San’s gaze continued to shine. This battle attire when worn by
Fang Yuan, coupled with his cold expression, showed the atmosphere of a
cool and collected person.

While running, he continued asking Fang Yuan, “We are out on a mission,
and normally we would have to rush when travelling, so running is a
common thing. Are you used to it?”

“I can cope.” Fang Yuan’s words were precious like gold, using the corner
of his eye to look at Gu Yue Jiao San.

Jiao San’s warm and kind expression caused him to think about the legend
of Ren Zu.

Words have it that Ren Zu used the Rules and Regulation Gu and obtained
strength but lost wisdom, leaving behind three Gu worms. One was
Suspicion, one was Trust, and another was Attitude.

Ren Zu grabbed the Attitude Gu.

Attitude Gu followed the betting rules, submitting to Ren Zu, telling him,
“Human, you caught me, I can only curse my bad luck. From now on, I will
be at your command. Wear me and you will be able to use my ability.”

Attitude Gu’s appearance was like a mask. Ren Zu put it on his face, but in
the end he could not wear it. Even if he used a rope to tie it, it would still
fall off.

“What’s going on?” Ren Zu was troubled.

Attitude Gu laughed, “I know, human, you have no heart. Attitude is the

mask of the heart, so without a heart, how can you wear me?”

Ren Zu realised at once, he had already given his heart to hope.

He was heartless.

Someone who is heartless cannot wear the attitude mask. In other words, to
someone with a heart/an intention, their attitude is a mask.

“This kind and warm attitude is only Gu Yue Jiao San’s mask, what is his
real intention?” Fang Yuan pondered.

While the person “sickly snake” Jiao San observed Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan
was also secretly observing him.

(1)Gu Yue Jiao Shan – His name Jiao Shan means three angles. Probably
referring to his triangular eyes.
Chapter 88
 Chapter 88: Initial display of authority, picking
on, and suppression

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

On the snow, five small groups were running.

Gu Yue Jiao San looked at the sky, saying, “The sky’s getting dark, our
mission this time is to collect ‘permafrost decayed soil’. Although it is easy,
it consumes too much time. We have to speed up, everyone follow me, try
not to get left behind. Fang Yuan, if you are unable to keep up, just inform
us. Don’t worry, you are a newcomer, we will take care of you.”

Gu Yue Jiao San smiled very amicably.

Fang Yuan nodded silently.

The other three members exchanged glances. The sky was actually still
bright, Jiao San had no need to say this. In reality, he wanted to give Fang
Yuan an initial display of authority.

The three knew this deep down, but did not expose him.

In actuality, these kind of authoritative displays were common. When a new

member joins, the older members would usually exert their authority to get
rid of the younger member’s arrogance so that it would be easier to
command and control them.

“Let’s go.” Jiao San said lightly, taking huge steps and being the first to
rush out.

Fang Yuan’s gaze shone, heading out with the same speed as the other three,
following closely behind.
The bamboo shoes stepped on the snow, leaving behind traces of footprints.

The mountain road was full of obstacles, being difficult to manoeuvre.

Especially with a layer of thick snow, it was even easier to fall down. At the
same time, due to the snow cover, who knew if underneath it was sharp
rocks or pitfalls?

If one stepped into a hunter’s trap, they would be even more unlucky.

Living in this world was tough. Travelling seemed easy but in fact it had
much to do with experience. Many newcomers suffered due to this.

Only through a long period of training, having gone through much hardship,
a Gu Master that has accumulated much experience would be able to avoid
these obstacles.

The chilly winter winds blew directly towards their faces as Fang Yuan
strode through the snow.

At times he took small leaps, at times he ran long distances. Sometimes he

sidestepped, sometimes he climbed, following closely behind Jiao San.

The entire Qing Mao was covered by a layer of snow coat, and many of the
trees had naked branches, without a single leaf.

At times, squirrels or wild deer were frightened by these people and ran
away quickly.

Thirty minutes later, Jiao San stopped in his tracks as he had reached his
destination.

He turned over his head, looking at Fang Yuan, smiling, and praising,
“Good job! You truly are this year’s champion, following behind me and
not losing your pace once.”

Fang Yuan smiled silently. This kind of authoritative display, he was clear
of it. In fact, sprinting in the snow had become a “traditional event”. Many
small groups used this to suppress the newcomer’s arrogance.
The two stood on the spot and waited, until the remaining three members
arrived.

Puff, huff, puff……

They took deep breaths, their foreheads full of sweat, their faces red as they
placed their hands on their waits, the last members plopping on the ground.

Jiao San harshly stared at them, barking, “Stand straight! Haven’t you
embarrassed us enough? Look at Fang Yuan, then look at yourselves.
Hmph, after this mission, go back and reflect on yourselves.”

The three immediately stood up straight, but lowered their heads. They
were chided by Jiao San until they did not dare to raise their heads or
rebuke him.

Only their gaze towards Fang Yuan changed.

“How strange, how can this Fang Yuan be so experienced? I did not see him
fall even once!”

“Sigh, we only have normal strength, how can we compete with this
monster?”

“Hmph, not only did we not get a show to watch, we even became the
sacrificial lambs. This guy…”

“Enough, buck up.” Jiao San pointed forward, “This small-sized valley is
our destination. Inside, there are large amounts of permafrost decayed soil
for us to collect. Let’s split up here and harvest the frozen earth. An hour
later, we will gather here. Kong Jing, distribute the tools.”

Jiao San had just spoken, and the male member called Gu Yue Kong Jing
stood up.

He opened his palm wide and a yellow light shot out from the aperture in
his abdomen, landing on his palm.
The yellow light dispersed, showing its true form. A frog with a golden
back.

This golden frog was plump with a giant snow white belly, causing its
entire body to look like a ball when inflated. The frog’s mouth and eyes
were all at the top of its head due to this belly, being squeezed into a spot.

Fang Yuan’s gaze shone, recognising this Gu worm.

This was the Rank two Gu worm — Large Belly Frog.

Soon after, Kong Jing’s hands emitted traces of red steel primeval essence,
and were absorbed by the frog.

Ribbit.

The Large Belly Frog screeched, opening its mouth to vomit out a steel
spade.

The steel spade flew in the sky, turning large quickly. In the blink of an eye,
it landed on the ground, becoming a large steel spade half the size of a
person.

Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit……

It called for several times, throwing up a tool each time.

Eventually, the snowfield in front of everyone had five steel spades, and
five wooden boxes. The wooden boxes all had two ropes for carrying.

Gu master feeding Gu worms was a large burden. Thus, Gu worms were

limited in numbers. During the initial stages, it was hard to single-handedly
deal with different environments, and with different intensity of troubles,
Gu Masters thus often worked in groups.

In a small group, there was someone doing reconnaissance, someone for

offence, someone in charge of defence, someone healing, and someone as
logistics support.
The Gu Master who stood up, Kong Jing, was a logistics support Gu
Master. He controlled this Large Belly Frog, which was a support Gu worm,
where its belly had another space that could be used as storage space.

Of course, every Gu had its strengths and weaknesses.

The Large Belly Frog’s weakness was that not only was the storage space
limited, every time it vomited an item, it had to croak once, and this was
irritating. Especially when a Gu Master is hiding in the battlefield, if
handled poorly, it would reveal one’s location.

Another thing was, the Large Belly Frog could not store Gu worms, and it
was not immune to poison, unable to store poisonous objects.

After distributing the tools, each of the group members had a steel spade
and a box in their hands.

“Let’s set off,” Jiao San waved his hand, leading the party into the valley.

Fang Yuan held the steel spade and carried the wooden box, choosing
another direction.

“He is after all a newbie, rushing in like that. Hehe.”

“Is the permafrost decayed soil so easy to harvest? If he cannot differentiate

it, he might get normal frozen earth, wasting his efforts.”

“The truth is, it is really difficult to differentiate. The permafrost decayed

soil’s colour is around the same as normal frozen earth, especially under the
cover of all the accumulated snow, so newbies can only dig relying on their
luck.”

The three members seeing Fang Yuan’s backview laughed internally.

An hour later, they saw that Fang Yuan returned with an entire box of
permafrost decayed soil, and were all stunned.

Including Jiao San, all their wooden boxes were only half-filled with
permafrost decayed soil.
Seeing Fang Yuan’s wooden box, they were almost ashamed to show their
results.

“It is all permafrost decayed soil!” A member observed carefully and was
even more shocked.

“Fang Yuan, how did you gather so much frozen earth?” A female member
could not hold in her curiosity and asked.

Fang Yuan’s brows raised, and the snowlight shone on his iris, showing a
clear and transparent gaze.

He laughed lightly, “The academy elder said before, the permafrost decayed
soil is a fertilizer created when the snow freezes the swamp. It has a tint of
purple in the blackness, and is actually very smelly, but because it is frozen
by the snow, it cannot be smelled. It is the Smelly Fart Fatworm’s food. At
the same time it is also very fertile, often mixed in the soil to grow crops,
fruits and vegetables. The clan sending out this mission, is probably
because they want to use it in the underground cave and fertilize the moon
orchid flowers.”

His words caused the four to be frozen on the spot.

“These theories are obviously learnt in the academy. But theory and reality
are very difficult to be linked. Has Fang Yuan collected permafrost decayed
soil before?” The three members looked at each other in shock.

Gu Yue Jiao San’s gaze shone, saying, “Good job Fang Yuan.”

As he praised, his usual warm and kind smile became a little forced.

Jiao San turned around, saying to the rest, “This way, our mission is
completed. Everyone pass your spades and boxes to Kong Jing, and let’s
return.”

When they got back to the village, it was already afternoon.

The five walked out of the internal affairs hall, Jiao San distributing the six
primeval stones they earned. He got two pieces, while the rest of the
members got one.

The primeval stones were so easily earned, so the members all broke into a
smile.

Fang Yuan kept his primeval stone stealthily.

Only in his heart did he think, “When a newcomer joins a small group, the
clan would usually give a large reward for the mission as a form of
supporting the newcomer. Collecting the permafrost decayed soil mission,
the reward was at most two primeval stones, but because of me there were
three times more. According to logic, I should have gotten more stones. If
the snow sprinting was an authoritative display, then having us purposely
collect the frozen soil alone was a sign of picking on me, and the
distribution of primeval stones is suppression already.”

One or two primeval was not a concern for Fang Yuan. He was only
wondering strangely — he and Gu Yue Jiao San never had any interactions,
so why was he suppressing him?

“Unless…” An inspiration struck Fang Yuan.

Chapter 89
Chapter 89: A sickly snake coiling around the legs

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The five stood on the walkway.

Gu Yue Jiao San laughed kindly and said to Fang Yuan, “Little brother Fang
Yuan, your performance really impressed all of us. It seems we did a correct
thing inviting you to join us. You have just graduated from the academy,
and might be unclear of some things. Let me introduce you to them.”

“Firstly, the clan missions, each Gu Master must complete at least one a
month. The more you complete and the more perfect it is, the higher your
evaluation.”

“Secondly, the missions are distributed by the internal affairs hall or the
external affair hall, each Gu Master can only accept one. Once accepted,
they must complete it.”

“Thirdly, under special conditions, a Gu Master may choose to abandon a

mission, but that will cause their evaluation to fall greatly. At the same time,
Rank one Gu Masters have no rights to give up, and only Rank two Gu
Masters do. But they can only abandon one mission a year.”

“Fourth, the clan’s evaluation is very important. It concerns your future in

the clan, and the higher your evaluation, the greater your future and the
brighter it is.”

Fang Yuan listened, nodding. These things were already memorized by him.
Gu Yue Jiao San was right and did not misdirect him, but many key
contents were not spoken.
“Alright, the permafrost decayed soil’s mission has just been completed.
Next, I accepted a wild deer hunting mission. The danger is low, so it is
suitable for you to practice.” Jiao San said to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart, but said, “Thank you for your
concern, group leader.”

Gu Yue Kong Jing immediately followed up, “Little brother Fang Yuan, you
should really properly thank the group leader. Although simple missions are
easily completed, they have a small reward. The group leader’s actions are
to take care of you.”

The other two female Gu Masters also spoke, “Yeah, yeah, little brother
Fang Yuan, action speaks louder than words. Why don’t you thank the
group leader by treating him to lunch.”

“Little brother Fang Yuan, you just left the academy, society is complicated.
Human relationship is very important. If you don’t know anything, just ask
us during lunch.”

Gu Yue Jiao San laughed, purposely waving his hand, “Don’t put him in a
spot, he just left the academy, he must be tight on primeval stones.”

“How can that be! Besides, just being the first place in the year end exam
gave him a hundred primeval stones as reward right?” A female Gu Master
purposely said, and then showed an expression of envy, “I’m really envious
of you, a hundred primeval stones is a huge sum even to us.”

“Group leader, you’ve mistaken our little brother Fang Yuan. How can he
be so stingy. Am I right, little brother Fang Yuan?” Gu Yue Kong Jing
laughed heartily, as if he was very happy.

Another female Gu Master got nearer to Fang Yuan, as if they had a close
relationship, saying, ” Little brother Fang Yuan, a word of advice. You can
choose not to suck up to us, but the group leader, you have to. You know,
our group’s evaluation has a portion written by the group leader. If he says
you’re outstanding, you’re outstanding. If he says you performed badly, it
means you really performed badly.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Evaluation is very important to us Gu Masters, we
need at least an outstanding evaluation to be noticed by the higher-ups. In
the future where we have sufficient achievements, we would be able to
work for several years less!” Kong Jing immediately followed up.

Throughout the entire process, Gu Yue Jiao San was smiling and watching.

Finally he waved his hand with a kind expression and laughingly said, “Ah,
don’t speak nonsense. I am always impartial when writing my evaluation,
and will not be easily bribed by you. But don’t worry Fang Yuan, you are a
newcomer, so now that you’re in our group, I will take good care of your
evaluation.”

If it were a normal teenager, they would’ve been led by the nose by these
few people, feeling touched secretly. They are bullying a newcomer’s
ignorance and naivety.

But Fang Yuan’s iris was calm as the sea.

Group leader being involved in the member’s evaluation, that was the truth.
This is the clan’s system, giving the authority to the group leader, so that
they can manage each small group.

But it is not as severe as these people said.

For the clan evaluation, the group leader’s evaluation is only a very small
portion, and it is still mostly attributed to the clan’s internal affairs hall.

Or rather, even if the group leader had a great influence on it, so what?

Fang Yuan didn’t give a damn about the evaluation.

He had already decided — quickly raise his cultivation, reach Rank three,
and then leave this place. He had never thought of staying in this clan for
over a hundred years to slog his life away.

To these ignorant and lowly peasants, the evaluation was the most important
thing. But to Fang Yuan, it was lower than dog shit!
Thus, their somewhat threatening tone was of no use to Fang Yuan.

“I understand what you all have said. I still have something on, so I’ll take
my leave,” Fang Yuan after being quiet for a while, said.

Eh?

At once, the four Gu Masters showed a shocked expression.

“What is the meaning of this? Did you not hear what we said earlier?” A
female Gu Master stared with her eyes wide, screaming in her heart.

“Is your comprehension ability really okay?” Gu Yue Kong Jing at this
moment, really wanted to grab Fang Yuan by the collar and ask him.

Jiao San’s mouth twitched.

Fang Yuan’s indifference caused their self-directed performance to look like

a joke. It made the scheme that they set up become a laughingstock.

Seeing Fang Yuan turning around and walking away, the fury in his heart
blazed on.

“Come on Fang Yuan, don’t leave so quickly, don’t listen to their

nonsense.” Jiao San controlled his temper and conjured a smile, quickly
chasing up and blocking Fang Yuan, “You’re going to rent a house right?
Let us go with you. I have some personal relations, I am more familiar with
the rental situation.”

“I am indeed going to rent a house, I can’t stay at the hostel anymore, do

you have any ideas?” Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows, asking calmly.

“I know a few houses that are considerably cheap, and with good location.”
Jiao San smiled, leading the way.

“My house, fifteen primeval stones a month, no second price.”

“Pfft, renting my house with eight primeval stones? In your dreams.”

“You must pay a deposit, 25% deposit. Other vendors are doing this too.”

“My house has good Feng Shui, and its quiet at night. More importantly, it
is facing the clan leader’s pavilion, you know how good the location is. It is
really cheap, only twenty-five primeval stones a month.”

All the way until night time, Fang Yuan did not find a house to stay.

“Little brother Fang Yuan, you’re too stingy. The village is only so big, the
prices are all like this.”

“In my opinion, you should get the house near the clan leader’s pavilion,
the second floor is very spacious and the scenery is nice. Little brother Fang
Yuan, don’t be so thrifty, it is only twenty-five primeval stones. The reward
that you got is enough for you to stay four months.”

The two female Gu Masters continued to urge him on with ill intent.

Fang Yuan shook his head, “I do not have many primeval stones, I cannot
be wasteful.”

“Then rent an underground apartment, it’s cheaper.” Gu Yue Kong Jing’s

eyes shone with cold brilliance, suggesting.

Fang Yuan snorted in his heart, this Kong Jing has such a vile heart!

The village is already high in precipitation, and now that it is winter, the
underground apartments would have poor airflow, and tenants would easily
catch a cold. Even if there aren’t diseases, it would cause problems in the
long term.

Seeing that Fang Yuan kept his silence, Jiao San said, “Actually the big
hall’s first floor is good too. Co-staying with other people causes the rent to
reduce as well.

Fang Yuan shook his head, “I want to stay alone, I do not like to stay with
others.”
Gu Yue Kong Jing snorted, saying unhappily, “You don’t want this, you
don’t want that. I’m not trying to scold you, little brother Fang Yuan, but
you’re too picky and expect too much. With such high standards, it is not
realistic.”

Fang Yuan listened, laughing coldly in his heart while thinking, “Even if
they fulfil the criteria, I would not accept any house you recommend.”

His act of pacifying them was just for the sake of being careful, finding out
if there are any traps.

Just as Fang Yuan was about to leave, Mother Shen appeared.

“Young master Fang Yuan, I finally found you. The academy can no longer
be stayed at, and the old master and his wife have already prepared a
banquet, specifically asking me to invite you home. Staying at home is so
much better, there is no need for you to go about renting houses outside,”
She urged.

Finally here……

Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart, this Mother Shen really found a
good time. Finding him here at once, someone must have notified her!

Just as he had expected, the masterminds were his uncle and aunt!

And Jiao San was the chain that his uncle and aunt created to bind him.

Fang Yuan’s silence looked like hesitation.

“Fang Yuan, why don’t you stay at your uncle and aunt’s house, why make
life difficult? Renting a house will spend a lot of primeval stones.” Gu Yue
Jiao San spoke in a ‘concerned’ manner at an appropriate juncture as he
looked at Fang Yuan, his eyes shining ominously.
Chapter 90
 Chapter 90: It’s just a little wind frost

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the hall, the lights shone brightly.

On the round dining table, the wine was already cold, and the dishes were
cool.

The brilliant red candle flickered and danced, projecting the shadows of
Aunt and Uncle onto the wall.

The two figures’ shadow combined into one, and swayed gloomily with the
candlelight.

In front of them, Mother Shen was kneeling.

Uncle broke the silence, “To think this Fang Yuan is dead bent on going
against me. Sigh, I wanted to calm him down with nice words and keep him
in the house first before finding a reason to chase him out of the house. To
think that he did not fall for it! He has made up his mind, rejecting my
invitation without a single way to negotiate! Not even taking a step into my
house!”

Aunt gritted her teeth, her expression slightly flustered, “This scoundrel is
already sixteen years old, so if he wants the family fortune now we cannot
deny it to him. Years ago we obtained that family fortune and it was clearly
recorded in the inner affairs hall. Now that we cannot deny it, what shall we
do now?!”

“Leave first.” Uncle waved at Mother Shen to withdraw, laughing coldly,

“Don’t be anxious. Throughout the year, I have already been planning for
this. First, to get back the assets, he needs to have Rank one middle stage
cultivation. He already achieved this and is even at peak stage, and gotten
number one in the exam, that is very impressive. Hehe…”

“But, to successfully obtain his family fortune, it is not so easy! Rank one
middle stage cultivation is only a pre-condition. To split the assets, Fang
Yuan has to apply for it, and the internal affairs hall has to approve it and
send him a mission to test if he has the qualifications. This is to prevent the
clan from splitting family assets nonsensically, causing internal strifes and
weakening the clan.”

Aunt was enlightened, “This means that, he has to complete the mission
before he can get his parents’ inheritance.”

“That’s right.” Uncle laughed sinisterly, “But the internal affairs hall’s
missions are sent to groups. The family asset mission will be the same. If
Fang Yuan wants to complete it, he would have to rely on the group, he
cannot do it alone. The family does this to make sure that the small groups
stay united and increase their cohesiveness.”

Aunt laughed loudly, “Husband, you’re too smart. Getting Jiao San to
recruit Fang Yuan — this way, if Fang Yuan wants to accomplish the
mission, he would need their strength. But Jiao San is on our side, so Fang
Yuan can never accomplish this mission.”

Uncle’s eyes shone smugly, “Hmph, even if he cannot get him into the
group, I have other ways to deal with him. Not to mention completing the
mission, even if he wants to apply for the splitting of the fortune and
receive the mission, it might not be possible!”

Nightfall arrived and the snow stopped.

Fang Yuan walked on the streets. The bamboo houses along the way were
all covered by a layer of white snow.

The snow that he stepped on emitted a light sound. The cold air entered his
respiratory system, causing Fang Yuan’s brain to be extremely awake.
After rejecting Mother Shen, Fang Yuan disregarded Jiao San and the
group’s advice and said goodbye to everyone, leaving by himself.

“So that’s it.” He walked and thought, “Uncle and Aunt are trying to trap
and delay me, causing me to lose the chance to take back my inheritance.”

“After the new year, I would be sixteen years old and be qualified to split
the assets. My parents are dead, and my brother has new parents. If I am
successful, the entire inheritance is mine. But to take back the inheritance,
there are two crucial steps, each being extremely important.”

“The first is to apply for the mission at the internal affairs hall without any
other missions at hand. The second is to complete the mission to earn the
rights to inherit the asset.”

“Jiao San is in cahoots with Uncle and Aunt. Leaving aside the second step,
he’s already trying to trap me at the first step.”

The clan rules state that Gu Masters can only be on one mission at a time.
This is to prevent Gu Masters from hogging and causing negative
competition in the clan.

Jiao San received missions consecutively. After finishing the permafrost

decayed soil mission, he immediately accepted a new mission for catching
wild deer.

The clan’s missions were all given to groups, that is to say, according to
clan rules, Fang Yuan has to finish the deer capturing mission before
applying for his asset splitting mission.

“But at that point, I believe Jiao San would just accept another new mission.
As the leader, when accepting missions, he will always be a step ahead of
me, causing me to be unable to accept my mission, thus always stopping
me.” Thinking of this, Fang Yuan’s eyes shone ominously.

These plots and schemes were irritating, like an invisible rope blocking
Fang Yuan’s progress.
But Fang Yuan did not regret entering this group.

At the arena, he was backed into a corner. Jiao San’s invitation became a
way for him to be free from the predicament.

If he did not enter the team, his uncle and aunt would have other ways to
deal with him, this cannot be prevented and will be hard to defend against.
But now that he is in the group, he can clearly see their schemes and easily
counterattack.

“Solving this problem, I have my ways. The easiest way is to just eliminate
Jiao San, or assassinate uncle and aunt, then no one would compete with me
over the family assets. But this way is too risky, they are all Rank two Gu
Masters and my cultivation is still too low. Even if I kill them I cannot get
out of the troublesome aftermath. Unless there is a good chance for me to
take advantage of… but these chances are usually by luck.”

Fang Yuan could kill the servant Gao Wan and could kill old man Wang, but
that was because they were mortals and servants, with life cheap as grass.
Killing them was akin to killing a dog or pulling off weed, it was
insignificant.

But assassinating Gu Masters is very troublesome.

Gu Masters were all Gu Yue clansmen, no matter which one dies, the
punishment hall would investigate. Fang Yuan evaluated his own strength
and knew there was too much risk in killing them now; he might even get
killed. Even if he kills them, the punishment hall’s investigation is even
more troublesome. His future actions would be spied on and they might
even find out the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance.

“Attracting a much larger problem when eliminating a small problem, that

is not what a wise person does. Oh? I’m here,” Fang Yuan spoke lightly,
stopping at a worn out bamboo building.

This bamboo building was torn and worn out, like an old man about to die,
panting for his last breath in the cold harsh winter.
Seeing this bamboo building, Fang Yuan’s face showed a trace of
reminiscence.

This was the room he rented in his previous life.

In his previous life, after being thrown out by his uncle and aunt, he had
less than fifteen primeval stones left and had to sleep in the streets for a few
days before finding this place.

This place was too worn out and had much lower rent than other places. In
addition, while other places counted the rent by months, this place
calculated it by days.

“I do not know about other places, whether or not they have uncle and
aunt’s traps. But my previous life’s memories tell me that at least this place
is safe.” Fang Yuan rang on the door.

After half an hour, he established the renting terms and was brought to the
second floor by the owner.

The floors were old, emitting dangerous and concerning sounds when
stepped on.

The room had only one bed, and a blanket. The blanket had many patches
but was still riddled with some holes, and the yellow cotton wadding leaked
out from inside.

The head of the bed had an oil lamp. The landlord left after lighting the
lamp.

Fang Yuan did not sleep, but sat on the bed and started cultivating.

As his primeval sea raged on in the aperture, every drop of primeval

essence was black green.

The aperture’s four walls were a white crystal colour, in a translucent state.

Rank one peak stage.

Suddenly, the green bronze primeval sea started to have currents, like wild
beasts raging and suiciding towards the four aperture walls.

Bam bam bam…

The huge waves crashed onto the aperture walls, causing the little ripples to
break into small droplets before dissipating.

After a while, the 44% primeval essence sea was quickly expended, with
large amounts of primeval essence used up.

On the sturdy aperture walls, there was lines of cracks.

But just cracks were not enough.

Fang Yuan wanted to break through Rank one peak stage and reach Rank
two, thus he needed to break this aperture wall completely, evolving
through its destruction!

Black green primeval essence continued to attack the crystal wall, and the
cracks increased, forming a giant piece. At some places, the cracks were
even deeper, forming very evident lines.

As he used up the primeval essence, he did not continue to use primeval

essence to attack, and the crystal walls started to heal, causing the cracks to
vanish.

Fang Yuan was not surprised, collecting his spirits and opening his eyes.

The oil lamp had gone out already. There was not much oil anyway.

The room was dark, with only the window providing a little bit of light
through the crack.

The room had no firepit and was not warm. Fang Yuan had sat on the bed
for a long time without moving, and felt that the chilliness had intensified.

His dark iris fused with the darkness.

“To breakthrough Jiao San’s lock, there is an easier and safer method. That
is to advance to Rank two! Rank one Gu masters have no right to give up
on missions, but Rank 2 Gu masters can do it once a year. If I advance to
Rank two, I can give up on my mission and apply for the asset splitting.”

“But to breakthrough to Rank two, it is not an easy task.” Thinking of this,

Fang Yuan sighed. Coming down from his bed, he strolled around in the
tiny room.

From initial stage to middle stage, middle stage to upper stage, these are all
small realms. From Rank one peak stage to Rank two initial stage, that is
breaking through a large realm. Between these two cases there was an
extremely different difficulty.

Simply put, to break the crystal wall, it needed explosive strength, forming
a strong impact in a short time to smash the wall.

But Fang Yuan only had C grade talent, and the primeval sea is only at
44%. If he used his entire force to attack the wall, his primeval essence
would be used up immediately.

Just like earlier, after his primeval essence was exhausted, he would no
longer have the strength to continue. And the wall had recovery ability, so
before long, it would heal up. Whatever Fang Yuan did earlier would have
been wasted.

“Breaking the wall and reaching Rank two without special situations, one
needs 55% black green primeval essence. But my talent is limited, having
only 44%, thus people say that talent is the key in a Gu Master’s
cultivation!”

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan slowed in his steps.

Unknowingly, he had moved to the window, thus he opened the windows

casually.

Every gust of wind shook the bamboo lattice window, and when opened the
snow-covered mountain greets one’s eye. (1)
Under the moonlight, the snow was like white jade, spreading out and
letting the world resemble a crystal palace before one’s eyes, untainted by
dust.

The snowlight shone onto Fang Yuan’s youthful features. His expression
was peaceful and calm, his brow smooth, his pair of orbs looking like the
ancient spring underneath the moon.

As the cold winds blew onto his face, the young man laughed, “It is merely
a small bit of wind frost(2).”

(1) This is a line from a poem.

(2) Just a little wind frost: non-literal sense refers to hardship/obstacles. A

pun to the obstacles that he is facing.
Chapter 91
Chapter 91: Fang Yuan, we’re very worried about
you

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

It was a night without sleep, and once day came, Fang Yuan stepped out of
the room and started to purchase stuff wantonly.

The room was poorly furnished and the blankets were torn. If he lived there
for long, the chill would enter his body and cause him to get sick.

Fang Yuan’s primeval stones were already half-used up, but he still had to
purchase the necessary equipment. He could not scrimp on these things.

Firstly was a blanket, he had to get a large blanket stuffed with cotton, or at
least two. He also needed bed sheets and a mattress.

He needed another oil lamp so that it could illuminate the room, and he
needed at least two pots of lamp oil.

Thinking about it, although the room was small, it could still hold a table
and a chair, thus he bought those as well.

Most importantly, it was a stove.

In the winter, if he did not have a stove to warm himself when sleeping in
the room, he would still get shocked awake by the cold.

Other than these, he also bought some dry rations and some water to last
around seven days’ worth.

The winter sun slowly rose, giving out languid rays of light.
Gu Yue Jiao San and the other Gu Masters stood at the North door of the
village, waiting anxiously.

“Something’s not right. Last night we agreed to meet at this time and place.
But it has already been fifteen minutes, and this Fang Yuan still hasn’t
shown up?” A female Gu Master asked.

“Calm down and just wait. It is inevitable that a newcomer is late,” Jiao Sao
laughed. He had been fretting over not having any reasons to fault Fang
Yuan with, but to think he faltered on the second day.

“Never mind that we are waiting. Even the group leader has to wait for him,
this lad thinks too much of himself!” Gu Yue Kong Jing complained, his
tone indignant.

Half an hour later, Fang Yuan was still nowhere to be found.

Jiao San’s face was darker than night.

“This scumbag, did he remember the wrong location? We said clearly that
we are meeting at the northern door,” Kong Jing said suspiciously.

“I’ll wait here, you guys go look around the different doors,” Jiao San
instructed, and the three obliged.

Fifteen minutes later, they returned with no fruit.

“Did this Fang Yuan see through our ploy and left the group directly?” A
female Gu Master asked.

“You think too highly of him. Even if he is the first place in the year end
exam, he is still a young newbie. His age is apparent.” Kong Jing said.

Jiao San’s face was grim, “It is secondary to whether he has seen through
us. The crucial thing is to find him now. I am afraid that he has left us
behind and is trying to breakthrough to Rank two on his own. Once he
reaches Rank two, he can abandon this mission and apply for the splitting
of assets from the internal affairs hall. Find him, go and find him! The
village is only so big and there are only that many rental houses, we must
find him and not give him the time to breakthrough to Rank two!”

“Yes!”

……

In the room, Fang Yuan sat on the bed.

In front of him were a few money bags, and inside them was all primeval
stones.

“Not enough primeval stones,” Fang Yuan sighed, his expression grim.

Primeval stones are the driving force behind a Gu Master’s advancement,

and if they are lacking, the Gu Masters would need to rely on their own
recovery speed for primeval essence, which would greatly reduce their
cultivation speed. At the same time, without sufficient food, the Gu worms
would die of hunger.

Fang Yuan’s primeval stones, during his time at the academy, it had reached
the peak of being slightly above a thousand. But it could not stand up to the
expenditure over time.

A same stage Gu Master up till now, only has three Gu worms.

But Fang Yuan, after getting number one in the year end exam, entered the
Gu hall and chose another Little Light Gu for free.

He must choose, for if he gave up, it would invite suspicion.

Like this, he had seven Gu worms on hand!

Undeniably, this was a huge financial burden.

“If this continues, I can only hold out for two months. I must get back my
family assets, that is the greatest financial support. But to get them back, the
first step is to advance to Rank two.” Fang Yuan’s gaze was dark.
To Fang Yuan, advancing to Rank two was not easy.

For a Gu Master’s cultivation, first was resources, second was talent.

Without talent, the path of cultivation would be difficult and their
accomplishments in the future would be lower.

Talent is split according to D, C, B and A grade.

But this is only a rough distribution.

In fact, every grade has another specific differentiation.

Taking a C grade for example — the primeval essence storage in the

aperture would be around 40-59%.

Fang Yuan’s primeval essence was 44%, so in the C grade range, he was
only middle-lower class.

Rushing to Rank two, he needed at least 55% black green primeval essence.
To an A and B grade Gu Master, this was not difficult, and to the 55-59% C
grade Gu Masters, they could pass as well.

Thus, for C grade Gu Masters, once they reach a certain accumulation, most
of them would advance to Rank two. Only very few can attain Rank three.

Thus, the talent could determine most people’s achievements in their lives.
Fang Yuan being given the cold shoulder, he could not blame the people for
being biased.

“Although my C grade talent is only 44%, if I want to break the wall and
reach a new height, attaining Rank two, it is still not impossible. The easiest
way is to find a talent raising Gu worm. Secondary, I can get a support-type
Gu like the Liquor worm, and that can help to break the barrier as well.
Lastly, I can attain the help of a higher-ranking Gu Master, but using
external primeval essence has a huge backlash, unless I can get the
Cleansing Gu in future to eliminate the external presence.”

Fang Yuan thought about it while using both hands to take out a primeval
stone, using his fingers to rub the smooth surface of the stone.
“But the above methods are not recommended for me. I do not have any
friendly Gu Master to help, and even if I do I will not let my aperture be at
their mercy. Gu worms like the Liquor worm are too rare, even getting the
Liquor worm was my extreme luck. As for talent raising Gu worm, I got it
in my previous life and attained Rank six cultivation, and I also know
where to find them, but I cannot go to those places now with my current
cultivation. Even if I get them, I cannot keep them, or even use them.”

“But other than these methods, there is a final most stupid method. Using
primeval stones to force it!” Thinking so, Fang Yuan’s eyes flashed as he
gripped the primeval stone tightly.

Gu Master cultivation, first was resources, second was talent.

Without sufficient talent, one can compensate using resources to a degree.

“My primeval essence is only 44%, I do not have enough to break the
aperture walls. But if I absorb primeval essence while attacking the walls, I
can hold on much longer, and in about four to five days, I would be able to
smash the walls!”

Making up his mind, Fang Yuan opened his eyes, his heart sinking into his
aperture.

Green copper primeval sea raged on as the waves crashed into the aperture
walls.

But this time, to prevent his primeval essence from drying up and becoming
insufficient to maintain the cracks and causing the aperture to recover, Fang
Yuan purposely slowed the attacking speed.

This way, the green bronze primeval essence expenditure would be greatly
reduced, but the crack formation would also slow down. Despite so, Fang
Yuan continued to absorb the natural essence of the primeval stones.

Primeval essence recovery has to be slightly above the crack recovery

speed. This way, even if it is slow, showing less than 1% progress, there
would be hope as time passes.
The only thing about this method would be that other than eating and
shitting, Fang Yuan had to cultivate non-stop. The more time he wasted, the
more primeval stones would go down the drain and the more his hard work
would squander.

He could stop for a maximum of fifteen minutes, and after that if there isn’t
any primeval essence to continue attacking, the aperture would fully
recover.

Thus, once the attack began, he had to persevere until he succeeded, and
cannot be disturbed. Once he stopped for too long, he would have to restart
the process.

Fang Yuan did not have so many primeval stones on hand to do it multiple
times.

Time flies when cultivating, and in the blink of an eye, the sun set.

Under the setting sun, Jiao San with a cold expression said, “After finding
for a day, you still haven’t found him?”

“No, group leader.” Kong Jing wiped the sweat off his forehead and said,
“That lad, he did not go to any of the houses we recommended, we have no
idea where he is hiding.”

“Hmph! Continue searching tomorrow, we have to find him. Remember to

search the inn as well, I do not believe that we cannot find him. The village
is only so big, no matter where he is hiding, there has to be a trace!” Jiao
San walked away in fury.

Until the afternoon of the second day, their search finally bore fruit.

A female Gu Master walked to Jiao San excitedly, reporting, “Found him,

found him! Fang Yuan is at a worn-out bamboo building, and has rented the
second floor. According to the owner’s description, it should be him.”

“Hmph, as I expected, he really hid himself and is trying to breakthrough to

Rank two.” Jiao San laughed sinisterly, “Let’s go and make ourselves guests
in his room and show him some concern. He is a newcomer after all.”

“Hehehe..….” The others also started smirking.

The four immediately came to Fang Yuan’s residence.

There was a paper on the door.

Jiao San took it down and read it. It was Fang Yuan’s handwriting, saying
that he needed to go into closed door cultivation for a few days and will not
leave, as he would be attempting to breakthrough to Rank two. If others saw
it, they should not disturb him. If Jiao San saw it, it was a ‘request of
absence’ application.

Jiao San snorted, throwing the paper away.

How can I let you advance to Rank two so successfully?

He laughed coldly, knocking on the door.

Knock knock knock.

“Little brother Fang Yuan, are you here?” He purposely said loudly, “We are
here to see you, how could you not tell us about your closed door
cultivation, seriously.”

There was no reply.

Knock knock knock.

Jiao San knocked loudly.

“Little brother Fang Yuan, it’s not that I want to nag at you. But you are
making decisions on your own. Now that you are our group member, you
should listen to instructions and obey orders, moving together. We have
already accepted the wild deer hunting mission, this is specifically for you
to train, so why don’t you stop first and complete the mission with us, then
cultivate,” Jiao San’s eyes squinted as he said in a gentle tone, although his
expression was dark.
There was still no reply.

JIao San suddenly raised his voice, “Little brother Fang Yuan, why are you
not replying, did something happen to you? It is not so easy breaking
through to Rank two, you can ask us for experience. Fang Yuan! Did you
hear me, oh no, could it be that you fainted?”

Jiao San talked to himself, smirking coldly but his voice was full of concern
and anxiety.

The other three members observed the show.

Kong Jing interrupted at an appropriate timing, “Leader, you might be right,

Fang Yuan hasn’t responded after so long, let’s go in and save him!”

“Fang Yuan! Fang Yuan, quickly open the door. We’re really worried if you
keep silent. If you don’t open the door, we will break in. You are our newest
member, we cannot let you be in danger!” Jiao San shouted loudly.

Still, there was no reply.

Jiao San’s mouth curled, indicating to Kong Jing.

Kong Jing acknowledged and raised his foot.

With a loud BAM sound, the entire door was sent flying, crashing onto the
bed!
Chapter 92
 Chapter 92: The future is in sight

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Hang in there Fang Yuan, we’re coming to help you!” Jiao San shouted
with a concerned expression, taking huge steps into the room.

But the next moment, he was dumbfounded.

The room was empty, Fang Yuan was not inside.

The four became silent.

“How can this be, where is he?” Jiao Sao broke the silence, saying
frustratingly.

He ‘performed’ outside the room for such a long time, but it turned out to be
a one man performance as Fang Yuan was never inside.

The three looked at each other, not expecting such a result.

“This is weird, if Fang Yuan isn’t here, why would he paste that paper on
the door?” Kong Jing said carefully.

“Get the landlord here now!” Jiao Sao raised his foot and sent the door
flying.

“You looking for me? Hmph, I was just about to find you. Coming to my
house and raising a huge ruckus, even breaking down my door. Young man,
you sure are capable.” The landlord was an old man, but his tone was very
firm.

Being able to own additional houses in the Gu Yue village and renting it
out, he was obviously a Gu Master.
A Gu Master’s strength and status supersedes a mortal. Mortals do not dare
to operate such a business. In fact, they do not own property.

The entire village’s property is owned by the Gu Yue clan. The mortals who
live here are the farmers and servants of the clan.

“Senior, we are here to find a young man, he is our group member.” Facing
the landlord, Jiao San controlled his temper.

An old Gu Master like the landlord, even if he is old and no longer striving
for his career, he still has strong relationships and connections. Even if he is
retired his ability is still not to be underestimated.

Those without human relationships and trump cards, how would they dare
to do business?

This is not a peaceful era, it is full of violence and plunder.

The landlord shook his head, his tone rigid, “I do not care about my tenant’s
whereabouts, but I do know that you broke my door. You need to
compensate me.”

“Hehe, this is our fault, it is only right that we compensate you,” Jiao Sao
laughed dryly. Although he was furious inside, he still forced himself to
compensate some primeval stones and even gave some extra.

The landlord’s expression turned slightly better, “If the young man who
rented this room is who you are finding, then I must tell you that he has not
turned in for a day. After paying a month’s rent, he bought a huge amount of
things yesterday and asked me which place sold coal cheaply. I told him
that there was no need to buy coal, as there is a valley outside the village
towards the north. A mine is situated there where he can excavate the coal.
After thanking me, he left and never returned.”

“So that’s it.” Jiao San looked at the decorations in the room.

Indeed, the mattress and bedding was new. The table and chairs were old
goods bought by Fang Yuan that were seemingly firm.
The stove was empty, it indeed did not have coal.

Jiao San breathed out slowly, being at ease.

“It seems Fang Yuan was delayed by excavating coal. Nevermind, let’s
come again tomorrow.” He walked out of the room first.

But on the third day, Fang Yuan still did not show up.

Jiao San and the others stood outside the room, hesitant.

“Digging for coal, it does not need so much time. Fang Yuan wants to do
closed door cultivation so maybe he dug more. But it’s been so long, could
something have had happened to him while he was excavating?” Kong Jing
conjured.

Jiao San nodded unnoticably, pointing towards the bed and stove, “This lad
is very stingy. He paid a month’s rent all of a sudden and even bought so
many things, and especially pasting that paper on the wall, he probably
wanted to cultivate here. Too bad he was unlucky. These days the wolf
hordes have gotten bigger, and the wild beasts around the village have
gotten more active. He might have encountered some wild beasts.”

“Leader is wise!” The two female Gu Masters said at the same time,
flattering him.

Jiao San laughed while raising his head, “Hahaha, I was still fretting over
how to deal with him. Though we have that deer catching mission, let’s not
rush out to do it. If we meet him in the wilds, we are forced to save him,
right?”

“Hehehe.” The other three members started laughing.

Day four.

In the aperture, waves of black green primeval essence hit against the
crystal walls relentlessly.
The translucent white crystal wall was already full of cracks, crisscrossing
each other.

This is Fang Yuan’s result after working hard non-stop for three days and
three nights. At most, when he really could not take it anymore, he would
quickly take a meal and settle his bowels.

These days, Fang Yuan had purposely slowed the wave crashing process,
and at the same time he drew more primeval essence from his primeval
stones. Thus, after such a long time, the green copper primeval sea had only
dropped from the 44% limit to around 20%.

As time passed, when there was only about 13% primeval essence left, the
wall could no longer hold up, and had reached its limit.

Crack crack…

The originally sturdy crystal wall broke into pieces, and the fragments fell
into the primeval sea, causing ripples and waves. After that, it turned into
white dots and vanished into thin air.

What replaced the crystal wall, was a brand new white light wall.

This was the Rank two light wall. Although there was not much difference
and it still emitted white light, it was much more glimmering that the Rank
one light wall.

At the same time, traces of red primeval essence were produced in the sea
and it mixed around with the black green primeval sea in the aperture.

This was the Rank two initial stage red steel primeval essence!

“Finally I did it, I broke through to Rank two!” Fang Yuan opened his eyes
abruptly, the room immediately brightening up.

But a second later, a strong wave of nausea hit him.

“I went through four days and three nights of non-stop cultivating, it is too
intense and my body is going to collapse soon.” Fang Yuan laughed bitterly,
slowly lying down. “My cultivation was not disturbed at all, it seems that
my set up at the rental house had worked. It was worth spending this sum,
next I shall rest well for the night and return to the village tomorrow.”

Thinking of this, intense sleepiness assaulted him.

Fang Yuan forced his eyes to stay open and used his intense will to cover
himself with the blanket.

After closing his eyes, in a few seconds, he fell soundly asleep.

The cultivation earlier had used up most of his spirit.

He slept until the afternoon of the second day.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes, feeling his spirit recovering to around half, but
he was still feeling weakness in his body.

He opened the door, walking out of the room for the first time in five days.

This attracted a person.

This person had slim long eyes with a thin body — it was Jiang Ya’s brother
Jiang He.

Seeing Fang Yuan, he exhaled in relief, saying, “You’re finally out! Hmph, I
would have broken into the room if you still did not come out after the next
few days. After all if you die here, I’d be held responsible.”

Fang Yuan laughed but did not say anything.

The winter sunlight broke through the window, shining onto his face,
amplifying the trace of pale white weakness on his features.

Five days ago, he purposely asked the landlord and gave Jiao San the clues
of his coal story. After that he left the Gu Yue village and went to the hamlet
at the mountain foot.
Because of old man Wang previously, Jiang He was half an alliance mate of
his. Using this relationship, Fang Yuan stayed a few days in the village and
advanced to Rank two without any interruption.

Of course, the rock crack secret cave was much more elusive than Jiang
He’s place, but it was not completely safe. Fang Yuan had to consider the
possibility of Jiao San and the others relentlessly finding him, and might
find the rock crack secret cave.

Although chances were slim, if the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance was
found out, Fang Yuan’s life would be in danger.

Fang Yuan was a very cautious person, and he naturally would not take such
risks.

At the same time, it was safer at Jiang He’s place. Even if they had a shared
secret, Jiang He would not kill him to silence him.

The risks and troubles of killing a Gu Master was too great. Without
sufficient benefits, Jiang He had no motivation to do it. In fact, to preserve
the secret, Jiang He would even have to worry about Fang Yuan’s safety.

After all, if the clan’s punishment hall investigates Fang Yuan’s death, they
might find out about old man Wang’s secret.

Seeing Fang Yuan safe, Jiang He was really relieved.

But quickly, he felt the aura of Fang Yuan and his expression changed, “To
think that you really succeeded, reaching Rank two in one go!”

He was shocked in his heart. Five days ago when Fang Yuan approached
him and stated his intentions, he was actually feeling disdainful in his heart.

Absorbing the primeval essence from the primeval stones and breaking
through to Rank two, this kind of multitasking method was very draining on
the spirit. Normally speaking, Gu Masters needed a very strong will,
patience and years of cultivating experience.
Only with the experience, a Gu Master could treat the extraction of
primeval essence from the stones as an instinct. At the same time,
manipulating the primeval sea skillfully and causing the impact to be
controlled at a degree, and it had to be perfectly calculated, just enough to
match the recovery rate of the primeval essence so that the process could be
sustained.

In Jiang He’s opinion, Fang Yuan had no chance of success. But to think, he
did it in one go.

Fang Yuan laughed indifferently, “I was lucky. I plan to return to the village
today, but before that, it would be nice if I can have a meal.”

“Hehehe, little brother Fang Yuan, since you’re here, of course I’m taking
care of your meals.” Jiang He patted his chest, his attitude even more
friendly than before.

Although he did not think well of Fang Yuan’s future, but now that he has
advanced to Rank two, it meant that he had gone through a difficult hurdle
and has the qualifications to be on par with him now.

After a scrumptious meal, Jiang He brought Fang Yuan to the entrance of

the small village personally.

“Little brother Fang Yuan, be careful this time. Recently the wolf nest area
has gotten slightly fiercer, causing the wild beasts to become more active.
Eh, it is snowing.” Jiang He paused, then continued, “My opinion is, don’t
go now. How about you stay here for another night?”

After Fang Yuan reached Rank two, he became really friendly.

But Fang Yuan was insistent on leaving, thus saying goodbye to Jiang He.

The snowflakes fell calmly, just like pure white fur that was floating down
slowly.

The light of the setting sun turned the snow into a golden yellow.

Flake by flake, the snow drifted onto Fang Yuan’s head and shoulders.
In the far distance, the Gu Yue village stood upright over the mountain
waist, watching over quietly.
Chapter 93
 Chapter 93: Small beast horde

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Run faster, don’t fall behind!”

“The clansmen in front are fighting a bloody battle, they are waiting for our
backup.”

“Follow closely, or you will easily lose your direction in the midst of battle
at night. Newcomers better pay special attention!”

On the way back to the village, there would be a five-man group from time
to time running hurriedly past Fang Yuan’s side.

“Did something happen?” He had not walked for more than five hundred
meters when Fang Yuan saw the thirteenth group.

He could not help but contemplate, but to be quite honest, with five hundred
years’ worth of memories it was just too superfluous and messy. Mentioning
this, although Fang Yuan was reborn, he had never given up any of his old
memories.

Yet, much of his memories were enshrouded in a layer of thick fog, and if
he tried to retrieve them by force, he would only get lost in the fog, getting
more losses than benefits.

Only a few deep and powerful memories that were like sparkling and
translucent pearls ran through his previous life’s five hundred years like a
connected thread.

It was evident that what was happening right now, was in fact not in any of
these pearls.
The life of his in the Gu Yue Village was just the beginning of the preceding
period, it was just way too long ago. Besides…

“There’s a possibility that this never happened in my previous life, but

because of my change, a butterfly effect happened and caused changes to
the surroundings.”

Just like that, he walked while pondering. Subconsciously, Fang Yuan

reached the Northern gate of the village.

By chance, there was another group about to set off.

“Eh?” On seeing Fang Yuan, only one person from this group stopped in his
tracks. “Fang Yuan, why are you still here?”

“What’s wrong?” Fang Yuan raised his eyes and looked at this person. It
was no other than his fellow schoolmate, Gu Yue Chi Cheng.

Chi Cheng immediately frowned and said, “Oh geez, you still don’t know
yet? There’s been a small scale beast tide that formed near the village. If we
let it be, it will slowly become a big scale beast tide. When that happens the
villages at the foot of the mountain will be crushed. Without those lowly
mortals and slaves, we’d also be in a difficult position sometimes.”

“Oh, so it’s like this?” Fang Yuan’s gaze flashed.

Being reminded like this, he was able to remember that such a thing did
happen in his memories.

In this world, it was hard for humanity to survive. Every few years a beast
tide would happen. Humans need resources and living space. This is no
different from wild beasts and insects, they also needed such things!

To explain the beast tide as a war between wild beasts and humanity,
perhaps this will be easier to understand.

Taking Qing Mao Mountain for example, every three years there would be a
large scale wolf tide that attacks each of the big mountain villages.
“According to my calculations, the real outburst of the wolf tide will
happen next year. However, this small scale beast tide, is a subsidiary of
that. The wolf group will continue growing stronger and bigger, and this
will cause the other beast groups around the area to lose their living space.
As this effect accumulates, when it reaches the maximum limit, it will cause
the migration of beast groups. Migrating beast groups will naturally
influence other beast groups.”

“Under such an intertwined influence, there is a chance that the influence

would be expanded and cause all sorts of beast groups to relocate, causing
the beast tide to be formed from this matter. If this problem is not controlled
in time, the tide would only get bigger. Although it is still unable to
endanger the existence of the Gu Yue village, if we leave it alone, the
village’s power would be greatly reduced.”

“Wait! If this is the case… Heh heh heh heh.” There was a sudden flash in
his eyes, but Fang Yuan promptly cast his gaze down, hiding away the
change in his eyes.

Seeing that Fang Yuan had not said anything, Chi Cheng continued to
speak. “At the present time, the internal affairs hall and external affairs hall
have both already given out the order to mobilize, they proclaimed this as
an urgent mission. Fang Yuan, don’t you think of goofing off. Your group
has already left in the morning, you must also go. But…”

As he spoke up to this point, Chi Cheng purposely dragged out his

intonation, “Danger lurks everywhere during a beast wave. All kinds of
wild beasts roam about, and most of all a battle in the night is way more
dangerous than the day. You’re just a small little Rank one Gu Master,
unlike a Rank two like me, you should be careful. Heh heh heh!”

As he said this, he purposely held his head high and puffed his chest out,
stroking his own belt, his expression joyfully satisfied and proud.

His belt was no longer the green coloured Rank one belt, but a Rank two
Gu Master’s red coloured belt. At the same time on top of the metal plate on
the belt, there was a ‘2’ word.
It was thanks to his grandfather Gu Yue Chi Lian’s help that he ascended to
Rank two not long ago.

“I just heard about this news, but since this is the case.” Fang Yuan
suddenly smiled and said, “Then I’ll follow you guys and set out together.
Once on the front lines I’ll leave the team and return to mine.”

“What? Urgh, who wants to bring you!” Chi Cheng folded his arms, his
mouth twitching disdainfully.

Fang Yuan’s tone was distant. “The clan rule states: Gu Masters that are left
behind must merge into the closest group to their location, they have an
obligation to continue fighting. Chi Cheng, you don’t even know this
point?”

“You!” Chi Cheng glared, just about to flare up.

“Indeed, this is the case,” Chi Shan who had been watching quietly finally
spoke.

His body stature was close to two meters tall, and his figure was powerful
and strong. His upper body was bare, the muscles hard and tough like
metal. His entire body was covered in fiery red skin that seemed to faintly
emit hot air.

Undoubtedly, he was the leader of this group.

Seeing him speak, even Chi Cheng who was the Chi faction’s inheritor, kept
his mouth shut.

Chi Shan expressionlessly looked at Fang Yuan, continuing, “Let us depart,

you keep up.”

His voice was low and deep, his words short and simple. There was an aura
of him that caused people to hardly question him.

Fang Yuan shrugged nonchalantly, taking it as agreeing.

Chi Cheng laughed coldly, his gaze harboring malicious intentions as he
looked at Fang Yuan, speaking in an emphasized, peculiar tone, “Then you
had better keep up!”

Fang Yuan did not reply to him.

“Hmph, why do we have to drag him around. Just a Rank one Gu Master.”
Chi Cheng mumbled to himself angrily, but since he was hindered by Chi
Shan’s authority, he did not dare act impudent.

At once, a group of six people set out from the entrance, following the
mountain road and running down the slope.

Gu Yue Chi Shan took the lead. He may be big-sized, but his speed was also
not slow. Besides him and Chi Cheng, there were also two men and one
female, their facial expressions indifferent.

As they ran, Chi Shan’s group started to display the graceful bearing of
being one of the three strongest groups.

Each of them had rhythmic breathing, their footsteps fast and easy. Only
Chi Cheng seemed to be in a difficult situation, but he would use his Scarlet
Pill Cricket Gu from time to time, catching up reluctantly. Yet it could also
be seen that he had received good teaching, for although he often staggered
along the way, at least he never fell down.

When they reached the mountain foot, with one hand gesture from Chi
Shan, the group swiftly stopped in their tracks.

Huff huff…

Chi Cheng had fallen behind by three hundred meters, and he was the last to
catch up. His face was pale and he panted heavily, his gaze inconceivable as
he looked at Fang Yuan.

During the journey Fang Yuan had always been following tightly behind,
and up till now his breathing was only slightly heavy. He did not look the
least bit like a newcomer who just graduated.
“Chi Cheng, remember, regulate your physical strength,” Chi Shan looked
back and advised Chi Cheng. Then he swept his gaze past Fang Yuan, his
eyes showing a hint of praise.

The looks that the other few group members gave towards Fang Yuan had
also softened a little.

“We will be nearing the beast tide down there. Chi Cheng and Fang Yuan,
come towards the middle of the team.” Chi Shan looked at the pitch-black
mountain forest before him as he spoke.

This sentence let Fang Yuan reevaluate Chi Shan.

This huge boulder of a man sure had tolerance. The middle of a group is
often the safest spot. Although Fang Yuan was not a person of the Mo
bloodline, Chi Shan still maintained the manner of protecting a newcomer.
To compare him to the sickly snake Jiao San, the latter would immediately
pale in comparison.

The sky had already become completely dark, and the black clouds were in
layers, causing the accumulated snow to also become dark and gloomy.

Chi Shan’s group had already changed their group formation. Their speed
dropped greatly as they ran slowly through the complicated terrain of the
mountain forest.

Fang Yuan and Chi Cheng were in the middle part of the group, where on
the left side was the huge Chi Shan, while the right side was an old man.
Behind them was a young woman with a head of watery blue-coloured long
hair.

And in front of them was a male Gu Master called Chi She.

He was the reconnaissance Gu Master of this group, and he gave out hissing
noises. From time to time he would stick his tongue out into the air.

Right now his tongue had a small divide in between, becoming the bright
red forked tongue of a snake. As they entered deeper into the mountain
forest, their surroundings started to show wild beasts violently running
about wildly.

Suddenly Chi She opened his mouth and spoke, “Before us, three medium-
sized animals have appeared. Suspected to be wild deer.”

“Drive it away.” Chi Shan’s expression was unchanging as he immediately

gave the order.

The six-manned group did not change their direction; they continued
pursuing forward. Three wild deer appeared before them, quickly changing
their direction and dispersing.

Not long after, Chi She’s expression changed. “A group of medium-sized

creatures. Suspected to be turtleback apes.”

“Shift,” Chi Shan said.

The small group immediately broke to the left side, bypassing this group of
troublesome apes.

This was the benefit of having a reconnaissance Gu Master, he was able to

anticipate and inform earlier, letting them make accurate decisions from it.

“Chi She is probably using the Snake Tongue Gu. This Rank two Gu worm
can sense heat temperatures. But it has three very obvious flaws — firstly,
the perception radius is small, secondly it is easily interfered with. Thirdly it
cannot detect cold-blooded creatures. Yet no matter what, it is better than
not having any detection. I have reached Rank two now, and in future to
survive in the wild, I will also need a detection-type of Gu,” Fang Yuan
thought.

Suddenly Chi She urgently spoke, “A middle-sized creature, suspected to be

a white tiger. It’s found us and is quickly approaching!”

“Engage.” Chi Shang’s tone was calm and collected.

Roar!
A fierce tiger jumped out from the thicket in front of them, and the group
met it head-on. Without Chi She’s warning in advance, perhaps they would
be caught unprepared.

But right now, the group had long anticipated.

Firstly, the old Gu Master on the right suddenly drummed up his cheeks and
then spit out a white coloured, viscous substance.

The substance abruptly expanded in mid-air, becoming a huge spider net. It

used its strong viscosity and trapped the white tiger full in the face.

The white tiger struggled fiercely in the net, and Chi Shan immediately
stepped forward and brandished his fist, pounding onto the tiger’s head.

His fist had a golden luster flashing through, and with a bang, the tiger’s
head was smashed into pieces. The white tiger died in one breath.

The group did not stop to stay behind, but instead walked over the tiger’s
body and continued forward. Chi She took Chi Shan’s place again and ran
in front, taking the lead.

Through the entire process it was like moving clouds and flowing water. All
the group members displayed mutual understanding.

“That entire process did not take more than three seconds. If it was me right
now who was taking on that tiger alone, I would need at least five minutes
to contend with.” Fang Yuan’s gaze was flashing.

These Gu Masters were also Rank two like him, but the main disparity was
still Gu worms.

They all used Rank two Gu worms, and this enabled them to bring out the
best in each other. However, all the Gu in Fang Yuan’s hands were still
Rank one.

Gu Master, Gu Master, the word Gu is before the word Master, signifying

that Gu worms have a huge impact on a Gu Master’s fighting power. (1)
“Although I have advanced to Rank two, I still need to have Rank two Gu
to be able to display the fighting power of a Rank two Gu Master. However
right now I do not have many primeval stones on me, I have used up a huge
portion from breaking into Rank two. Refining two Gu worms together will
also use up a considerable amount of primeval stones.”

As Fang Yuan thought of this, Chi She who was in front of him suddenly
said, “I found the sickly snake’s group.”

(1) The Chinese like to repeat things sometimes when emphasizing

something. Gu Master, Gu Master… Gu and Master! Gu is before Master,
Gu is so important.
Chapter 94
 Chapter 94: Suddenly withdrawing strength

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Found the sickly snake group in front, they are currently contesting with a
large-sized wild beast.” Only half a second later, Chi She said again, this
time more specific.

“What’s the situation?” Chi Shan frowned.

“There’s no mistake,” Chi She’s snake tongue continued to stretch and

shrink, “Jiao San’s red lava python is the only one in the entire village, and
now they are fighting against… wild boar king!”

Everyone’s expression changed.

“Wild boar king… If I want to combine Gu worms, I require the wild boar’s
tusks. Undoubtedly, the wild boar king’s tusks are the most suitable.” Fang
Yuan’s heart stirred, and in actuality he had the intention to kill the wild
boar king from the start.

“That wild boar king?” Watery blue hair female Gu Master raised her
brows.

“Other than that one, there is no other in the vicinity. But relying on just the
strength of the sickly snake group to reap the wild boar king, their appetite
is too big.” The old Gu Master sneered in disdain.

If Old man Wang could grasp the terrain of the mountain himself, these
Rank two Gu Masters who were always roaming around on Qing Mao
mountain would obviously be more familiar with it. Not eliminating the
wild boar king before this, they had their reasons.
Chi Shan pondered, then said, “Go support them.”

“Hehe, I’m afraid they might not reciprocate.” The old Gu Master laughed
coldly.

“Even if we do not go and support them, we still have to send someone

over, right!” Chi Cheng looked at Fang Yuan, saying in an unhappy tone.

The team’s direction steered towards the left.

Although Chi Shan and the rest always looked down and did not like Gu
Yue Jiao San, but as clansmen, towards outside foes, even if they had
amnesty normally, they would group up and work together.

This is the cohesiveness of a clan in this world.

And especially relying on this cohesiveness could a hundred year old clan
sustain itself without dying out, even becoming a thousand year old clan.

Everyone moved through the jungle in the darkness, heading towards a low-
lying land.

Sickly snake group’s four Gu Masters were surrounding the wild boar king,
engaging in fierce combat.

In the center, the elephant-like wild boar king was fighting with a thin and
long red-coloured python.

This red giant python had dark red rock pieces all over its body, the
temperature very high. It was like a thick chain coiling around the wild boar
king.

The wild boar king cried out angrily, constantly rolling on the ground, its
snow white tusks piercing the darkness and drawing cold light in the air.

Its body was full of big and small injuries, its tail already broken. While
flipping around, it revealed its fresh red injuries, stuck to the red lava
python’s body and scalded by the high temperature.
The Chi Shan group did not get closer, but observed from a distance.

Taking a few looks, the old Gu Master was enlightened, “I say, how did the
sickly snake have this courage. Looks like the wild boar king was actually
injured already, tsk, he sure picked up the cheap goods, this scoundrel got
lucky.

“Do you guys think that this wild boar king’s body would have the Black
Boar Gu?” Chi Cheng excitedly said with glowing eyes.

Fang Yuan’s expression was unchanged as he watched silently.

At this time, Jiao San and his gang also realised the situation of being
watched, and immediately the support Gu Master Gu Yue Kong Jing who
was the furthest away from the wild boar king left the battlefield and ran
over.

“Oh, it is Lord Chi Shan. There’s no problems here now, we can handle it.
There are many wild beast groups in front, they need your support.” Kong
Jing said to the people.

“Hmph, what do you mean you can handle it? You’re clearly lying through
your teeth, I can see that this python isn’t going to hang in there much
longer.” The old Gu Master’s experienced gaze revealed the situation at
once.

“You’re just afraid of us wanting to split the rewards after helping,” the
watery blue long-haired female Gu Master immediately pointed out Jiao
San and his gang’s intention.

“This wild boar king is yours,” Chi Shan said, looking at the old Gu Master.

The old Gu Master snorted, but he still bent down, vomiting out a piece of
white sticky spider web.

The spider web expanded in the air and spread out, enveloping the wild
boar king.
The wild boar king struggled intensely in the web, breaking threads after
threads, but it could not get free quickly.

During this period, sickly snake Jiao San quickly got the red lava python to
retreat. After that, together with the healing female Gu Master in the group,
they underwent emergency battle healing on the python.

In the fierce battle earlier, the red lava python’s rock body already had some
cracks. Through the healing, the cracks mended, shrinking until they
disappeared.

“Fang Yuan, you should go back. You still want to depend on our group?”
Chi Cheng said in annoyance.

Fang Yuan took a step out and walked out from behind Chi Shan.

Gu Yue Kong Jing was blocked by Chi Shan’s huge body earlier and did not
see him. At the moment when he saw Fang Yuan, his expression turned
weird.

Jiao San turned his head around and upon seeing Fang Yuan, was overjoyed
at once, “Fang Yuan, you’re finally here! Quick, the spider web is not going
to hold, you have huge strength, go and restrain the wild boar king and buy
us time. We need time to heal the red lava python.”

Without a defensive Gu and only with Rank one cultivation, getting close to
the wild boar king was nothing but risky.

Chi Shan took a look at Fang Yuan and said, “Go.”

Saying so, he took a huge step and left the place.

He kept his word; although the wild boar king had much value, he turned
around and left without hesitation.

Seeing Chi Shan’s group leaving, Jiao San and the gang breathed a sigh of
relief. From start to finish, they did not say a word of thanks.
Jiao San continue shouting, “Fang Yuan, hurry, the wild boar king’s strength
is huge, the spider web is not going to hold out. If you perform well this
time, I will not pursue the matter of you leaving the team on your own.”

“Okay.” Fang Yuan agreed, quickly getting to the wild boar king and
grabbing its two huge tusks.

He used all his strength and pulled, causing the wild boar king to be
suppressed, its struggling suddenly diminished.

“Good job!” Jiao San praised, but his eyes shone with cold light.

This Fang Yuan came at a good time, the small beast horde was the perfect
chance!

Jiao San had never thought of killing Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan was his
member, and if he died, the clan’s evaluation of him would drop. This did
not suit his interests.

He only promised his uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu to slow Fang Yuan’s growth.
If he could drag it beyond sixteen years old, he would obtain a fortune
promised by Gu Yue Dong Tu.

The truth is, even with his scheming and intolerant nature, he did not think
of killing Fang Yuan before. This is not just because after a Gu Master dies,
the punishment hall would hold a thorough investigation, thus being risky,
but also because of the clan’s belief — Blood is thicker than water, family
comes first. This notion is ingrained into the people’s hearts. Unless there is
a feud of killing one’s parents or stealing one’s wife, there is no such
phenomenon of disputes.

Like how the Gu Yue clan leader once taught the academy elder, not only
does the system and rules hold the clan together, there is also the thick
family relationships.

Any organisation would need to have a system and values as their basic
core.
“Using this opportunity, I’ll let Fang Yuan get injured and return to the
village to nurse his injuries. Let’s see if he can cultivate to Rank two like
that! Of course, I cannot strike personally, if I get discovered that would be
bad. Since there are so many beasts in the horde anyway, I’ll borrow from
their strength.”

Gu Yue Jiao San laughed coldly in his heart, but he asked, “Fang Yuan, how
long can you hold out?”

“A while more, don’t worry group leader.” Fang Yuan replied with much
strength.

“Very good, Hua Xing, go and plant the corrosion blood grass Gu,” Jiao
San instructed while healing the red lava python.

“Yes!” A female Gu Master walked up.

She came to the side of the wild boar king and stretched out both hands,
giving a thumbs up on both hands. The nails on her thumbs had a purple
vine insignia coiling around.

Light red coloured red steel primeval essence gushed out and surrounded
her white thumb, and entered the insignia.

The vines were brought alive immediately, extending a delicate tentacle

from her nails.

The tentacles moved like snakes, extending to the wild boar king’s mouth,
and then along its teeth, going deep into its stomach.

“Hehehe….” Fang Yuan covered his mouth in the darkness as it curled into
a devious angle.

Others would think about kinship and not have killing intent on their
clansmen, this was going against the traditional moral values of the clan.
But he did not put these values into his heart.

The strength he placed on the wild boar king’s tusks suddenly vanished.
The wild boar king furiously growled and summoned all its strength. Its
tusks swung in the air as Fang Yuan who was holding onto both tusks was
brought along with the force and was thrown away.

The wild boar king once again turned its head, and the tusks swept through.
The female Gu Master was beside it and could not react quickly enough to
such a change. She was hit by the tusks and screamed in agony.

Then her slim body, after getting hit by the tusks, broke into two with a
snap.

The female Gu Master flew away like a broken bag; she was swept high
into the sky, and then plopped down again.

She landed on the ground, her eyes wide open. She was dead on the spot.
Chapter 95
 Chapter 95: Garbage teammate

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The female Gu Master’s body was like a ragdoll. From the waist and across
it was broken, and her upper body laid on the ground, displayed at an odd
angle against her lower body, the arms parallel to the ground while her legs
were pointing towards the sky.

From afar, Fang Yuan also started to descend.

First, he hit the tree canopy and broke many branches before landing on the
snowy ground.

He turned his body nimbly and stood up on the snowy ground. Because he
had utilized the Jade Skin Gu earlier, other than some pain in his back, he
was unscathed.

On the battlefield, after a momentary silence, Jiao San’s angry howl could
be heard, “Fang Yuan, didn’t you say you could hold on!”

Fang Yuan laughed coldly in the dark, but suddenly his body twisted and he
almost fell down. He used his hand to hold onto the tree trunk as support
and was able to maintain his body balance.

He pretended to limp as if he could not walk, but his gaze swept across the
surroundings to see if there was any other Gu Masters.

Against the beast horde, the Gu Masters were fighting with all they had, and
could not be free enough or even have the mood to observe Fang Yuan.
Even though he had been observing in secret and found no Gu Masters
nearby, Fang Yuan still discreetly chose to hide himself.
From the other side, intense battle noises could be heard again.

Evidently, the wild boar king had escaped its entrapment and was fighting
once again with the red lava python.

Fang Yuan shifted step by step towards them with a face of anxiety, almost
falling onto the ground a few times. Dirt, soil, grass and snow were all over
his body, making him appear battered and exhausted.

He finally got back to the fringe of the battlefield.

On the battlefield, three people and a pig were fighting.

The red lava python coiled around the body of the wild boar king and its
two hind legs.

The wild boar king’s two front legs could only thrash around randomly,
causing it to roll on the ground, sometimes struggling. With the movement
of its two front legs, it knocked and crashed into things randomly.

There were even more injuries on its body now, the boiling pig blood had
dyed the floor red.

Seeing Fang Yuan, the outermost positioned Gu Yue Kong Jing said, “Fang
Yuan, you scum, you caused Hua Xin to die!”

“I… I didn’t mean it. But I really couldn’t hold it.” Fang Yuan shouted.

“Fuck, then why did you promise so confidently if you couldn’t. No means
no, giving false promises like this will kill us all!” Gu Yue Kong Jing
furiously screamed. If he was not in combat at the moment, he would go up
and give Fang Yuan two tight slaps.

“S-Sorry, I won’t do it again.” Fang Yuan quickly yelled back.

“Fang Yuan, we’ll talk about this later!” Sickly snake Jiao San roared,
feeling his pressure intensify. The almost dead wild boar king had flown
into madness, and the red lava python had injuries and cracks all over its
body.
“Kong Jing, don’t bother with Fang Yuan. Quickly take out the knife scale
web!” When Jiao San saw that the red lava python was almost at its
breaking point, he shouted in panic with cold sweat all over.

“Yes!” Kong Jing quickly retrieved the big belly frog and used his primeval
essence, vomiting a piece of steel web.

On this steel web, there were sharp spikes and apparent blades.

“Fang Yuan, grab the other end and rush up with me, we’ll entangle the
wild boar king.” Kong Jing said.

“But my leg is injured, I cannot walk!” Fang Yuan said with an anxious
expression, crippling his way there.

“Useless thing!” Kong Jing with no other choice, had to do it himself, his
hands dragging the knife scales web and throwing it at the wild boar king.

The wild boar king was covered by the knife scale web, causing it to cry out
as fresh blood splattered.

It had predicted that its death was impending, and struggled even more
fiercely. As its struggle intensified, the knife scale web’s entanglement got
tighter, and its injuries worsened.

As for the red lava python, because of its rock body, it did not take much
damage from this knife scale web.

“What a waste of this fur!” Jiao San said in pity.

“Finally settled.” Kong Jing breathed out in relief.

At this time, Fang Yuan shouted, “Let me help you guys!”

Swoosh swoosh swoosh.

Numerous moonblades flew out and hit the knife scale web, causing the
steel threads to be torn apart. With the wild boar king’s intense struggle, the
hole got even bigger and the knife scale web was torn into pieces, allowing
the wild boar king to escape.

At once!

Kong Jing stared with bulging eyes, lost for words.

“What… what the fuck…” Another female Gu Master could no longer care
about her feminine image and swore loudly.

“I… it seems I messed up. I wanted to help!” Fang Yuan said, sounding
very sincere and innocent.

Jiao San dodged the wild boar king’s charge, rolling on the floor. Before he
even got up, he shouted, “Fang Yuan—! You dumb piece of shit, see what
you did! You’re simply garbage for a teammate!!!”

“Leader, you must trust me, I didn’t mean it,” Fang Yuan defended himself.

“Shut the fuck up, from now on, do nothing, wait at the corner!” Jiao San
shouted, rolling again and dodging the wild boar king’s trample.

Fang Yuan snickered, but still obediently took tens of steps back.

“All of you get back!” Jiao San shouted, finally showing his true trump card
as two strands of poisonous yellow air came out from his nostrils.

The poisonous air continued to come out from his nose, growing more and
more until they gathered into a lump of yellow poisonous cloud.

The wild boar king and Jiao San’s shadow could be seen outside the
poisonous cloud.

Kong Jing, Fang Yuan and the others observed outside the yellow cloud.

Fang Yuan said to the remaining female Gu Master, “Heal my leg, it’s
injured!”
The female Gu Master flew into a rage, “My good sister is dead, and your
leg is only stumped! Why don’t you go and die?!”

Fang Yuan said in grievance, “I didn’t want this to happen either.”

But his eyes shone with a trace of sharpness.

Should I act, and eliminate these people?

It is a chance to act now. In their subconscious minds, they would not

expect me to have killing intention.

If the sickly snake group is exterminated, there would be fewer restrictions

on me.

But…

If any Gu Master saw this process, I would fall into the abyss. The crime of
killing a clansman is the most unforgivable in this world. Not only will I be
executed, I would also have to face all sorts of torture for seven days and
seven nights.

Death is not scary, but for such a small group, it is not worth the risk.

A pity the wild boar king is dying. After this battle the sickly snake group
would be greatly weakened and their battle strength would be at the lowest,
they would definitely leave the battlefield. What a pity, this was a godsend
opportunity……

Fang Yuan felt regret and pity in his heart.

But he had done it to the greatest limit, and if he exceeded this, the feeling
of “sabotage’ would thicken. The others were not stupid, they would notice
and if other Gu Masters saw this, the risk would intensify.

Five minutes later, the wild boar king plopped onto the ground.

The yellow cloud dissipated, and Jiao San breathed loudly with a pale face.
He had used his final trump card, and now he had little to no primeval
essence left.

“All of you come here and dissect the corpse quickly, we will retreat after
taking the spoils of the battle!” Jiao San shouted.

Fang Yuan surrounded the wild boar king and quickly began to dissect the
corpse.

The wild boar king’s blood was still hot, and the smell of blood was thick.
Throughout the surrounding forest that was enshrouded in darkness, there
were continuous howls from wild beasts and intense battle noises.

But there were no wild beasts in this tiny battlefield.

This was the authority of the beast king.

There were rules among the wild beasts.

The thick aura of the wild boar king caused other wild beasts to shrink in
fear, and if the beast horde came here, they would find their way around this
region. Of course, if it was another stronger beast horde or another beast
king, they would not care about the wild boar king’s aura.

At this time, pairs of blue eyes glowed in the surrounding darkness.

From other places, blood-curdling screeches and alarmed cries of Gu

Masters could be heard.

“It’s the wolves, the wolf pack!”

“The lightning wolf pack actually appeared!”

“Damn it, why is there a wolf pack here, it is still not the time for the
outburst of the wolf tide right?!”

“Retreat, forget the wild boar king, we have to retreat quickly!” Jiao San
shouted, and the faces of the surrounding people also turned white.
One lightning wolf was not scary. But a pack of lightning wolves, even the
wild boar king would have to run.

Most importantly, the lightning wolves’ durability and endurance were high.
They also had great speed, being most proficient at chasing.

At such a critical moment, Jiao San could no longer care about the others,
abandoning the three and running for his life.

“Group leader, wait for me,” Kong Jing shouted in panic, catching up to
him.

“I do not have a Gu worm that enhances my speed, I can’t escape. Jiao San
and the others have no primeval essence left, so even if they have a speed-
type Gu, they can’t escape the chase of the lightning wolves!” Under the
danger of death, Fang Yuan evaluated calmly.

He quickly hit the neck of the female Gu Master near him who was in a
daze, causing her to faint.

Next, by dragging her, he burrowed into the wild boar king’s stomach that
was cut open.

The wild boar king’s stomach was already cut open with a huge wound.

Fang Yuan squeezed his way into the bloody wild boar’s body, at the same
time using the female Gu Master’s body to block away the entrance and
cover up his body.

The wolf pack quickly descended, mostly chasing after Jiao San and Kong
Jing, while a portion of them surrounded the wild boar king and feasted.

While Fang Yuan was inside the wild boar’s body, he could hear the wolves’
chewing and swallowing, as well as their biting, causing vibrations in the
corpse.

“To think that the first beast horde had lightning wolves, this is a surprise,
the clan would definitely send reinforcements. The wild boar king’s body is
huge, so if the lightning wolves want to eat it completely, they would still
need some time. As long as I can hold out, I would be spared from them.”

Fang Yuan pondered deeply.

Without accident, Jiao San and Kong Jing should be dead meat. They had
little primeval essence and were not speed oriented, so with such a small
distance, they would definitely get slaughtered by the wolves.

When people panic, they would make dumb decisions. Under the pressure
of death, there are little who can remain as calm as Fang Yuan and make the
most appropriate decisions.

Even if the wild boar king’s flesh was all eaten, exposing Fang Yuan who
was hiding, the amount of lightning wolves that Fang Yuan would have to
deal with is definitely lesser than the others. According to his experience, at
most five would appear, which would be his limit. He had much greater
chance of surviving.

The lightning wolves continued to chew and bite, the sound indicating that
they were getting closer. The wild boar king’s flesh had mostly gone into
the lightning wolves’ stomach.

If a normal person was in such a predicament, they would feel as if the

seconds that were passing by were like an eternity. But instead Fang Yuan
closed his eyes and took out his primeval stones, fighting against time to
recover his primeval essence.
Chapter 96
 Chapter 96: For the sake of those who died

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The primeval essence that Fang Yuan recovered while in the boar’s stomach
went unused ultimately.

The beast horde this time was under the supervision of the Gu Yue higher-
ups, and the lightning wolf gang was just a small accident. Quickly, the Gu
Yue higher-ups gave their response.

Three clan elders led their respective teams and swiftly grasped the
situation.

Merely ten minutes later, Fang Yuan could hear fighting sounds from
outside the boar’s stomach, as well as the cries of the lightning wolves.

He quickly kicked the female Gu Master out, and crawled out with blood
stains all over him.

Fang Yuan was naturally not afraid of the lightning wolves, but he was
afraid of getting caught in the battle. If a Gu Master accidentally attacked
the corpse, wouldn’t he be too unlucky, by then who can he hold
responsibility for?

With a big living person suddenly crawling out from the boar’s stomach,
this caused the few Gu Masters fighting the lightning wolves to be taken
aback.

Fang Yuan’s entire body was a bloody mess, and his leg was still entangled
in the wild boar king’s intestines. His entire body emitted a nose-piercing
bloody smell, and the few Gu Masters frowned in response.
But Fang Yuan paid no heed to that, he breathed deeply in enjoyance,
extending his limbs and observing the battlefield.

As he had predicted, there were five lightning wolves.

But these lightning wolves were either old or injured. They were the bottom
of the pack’s hierarchy. As the wolf pack got stronger and bigger, in order to
protect the young and healthy lightning wolves, the wolf king would expel
all these old and sickly wolves in order to allocate resources efficiently.

These lightning wolves gathered together and rushed towards the

surrounding beast groups, and under each other’s influence, eventually
formed this small beast horde.

The five lightning wolves quickly had casualties under the Gu Masters’
attacks.

They were too full from eating, and their stomachs expanded, affecting their
battle strength. At the same time, new arriving Gu Masters had sufficient
primeval essence in their aperture and had their peak battle strength, unlike
Jiao San and the rest.

Primeval essence was especially important to Gu Masters. A weakened

phoenix is inferior to a chicken, with less primeval essence, a Gu Master’s
battle strength would fall rapidly. And without primeval essence, they were
even inferior to mortals.

Why do you think for example, the Liquor worm, Black and White Boar
Gu, these Gu were so precious?

It had to do with this fact.

Firstly, with the Liquor worm, it can refine primeval essence and allow Gu
Masters to store much more primeval essence. (Remember that higher tier
essence is essentially double of the previous tier 88% Mid tier = 44% Upper
tier)
And the Black and White Boar Gu worms gave Gu Masters strength.
Without requiring primeval essence, they can unleash their worth. And for
the Black and White Boar Gu, once one person has used them, they can be
given to another person to use, showing great collective value in a group.

The battle continued for a while and stopped.

The five lightning wolves continued to fall, and the new reinforcement
group did not venture further. Their primeval essence had been used up
nearly, and their battle strength had been greatly reduced. To be safe, they
stopped on the spot. As they recovered, they awaited further reinforcements.

A group of five, with the reconnaissance Gu Master keeping alert while the
other three used primeval stones to recover their primeval essence, the
healing Gu Master bent down and observed the female Gu Master’s corpse.

“She’s dead…” Healing Gu Master sighed deeply. Seeing his sad

expression, it seemed like he knew the female Gu Master.

Fang Yuan watched coldly.

This female Gu Master which he had knocked unconscious was blocking in

front of him. Now she had lost her right chest, and a leg. Her arm was also
greatly injured by the wolves, eaten until the bones could be seen.

But these injuries and the massive loss of blood was not the true cause of
her death.

What caused her demise, was cardiac arrest.

The lightning wolves’ bites carried electric currents with them. The currents
flowed into the female Gu Master’s body while she was unconscious, and
caused her to have a heart attack.

The originally beautiful and sexy body was now lying on the ground, still
and unmoving. Her previous glamour was nowhere to be found, being just
an ugly dead corpse now.
“She’s dead, and it is all your fault! As a man, why did you hide behind a
woman? You’re a disgrace to men!” The healing Gu Master looked up,
staring at Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan shrugged emotionlessly, his expression calm, “The truth is, she
competed with me over the spot, but eventually I won, so I’m very glad
about the results.”

“Scumbag!!” The healing Gu Master rushed up.

Bam.

Fang Yuan raised his feet and sent him flying.

Healing Gu Masters were normally weak at combat, and because of the clan
rules, he did not dare to use his Gu worms. Just competing with physical
strength, how can he be Fang Yuan’s match?

“This detestable guy!” Healing Gu Master crawled up with a dusty face and
wanted to rush up again, but was stopped by the reconnaissance Gu Master.

“If you think I committed a crime and caused her to die, you can report it to
the punishment hall, I’ll take it,” Fang Yuan said lightly as he stared at the
healing Gu Master, and left.

“Damn! Damn it!” The healing Gu Master’s eyes were blowing fire as he
stared at Fang Yuan’s backview, urging to rush up but was restrained by his
teammates.

“Calm the hell down!”

“Even if you report it to the punishment hall, the clan won’t punish him!”

“We know you liked her, but although the clan cannot punish him, we can
spread this matter out…”

Under the urging of his teammates, the healing Gu Master calmed down
and lowered his head, crying.
“A boat encountered trouble, a man grabbed onto a wooden plank and was
temporarily saved. At this time, another man swam up and wanted to grab
the plank as well, but this plank can only hold the weight of one man, so the
first man pushed the second man away so that he could be safe, causing the
other person to drown in the sea. The rescued man was later tried in court
but declared not guilty. This is the wooden plank incident on earth.”

“Meaning, to save oneself under forced circumstances, endangering another

person’s life is no crime. On Earth, it is the Necessity Law. In this world,
there are similar clan rules. This means, even if the healing Gu Master
reports it to the punishment hall, I will not be punished. But….”

Fang Yuan continued to walk as he pondered. He moved in a steady pace

without any rush.

Along the path that had been cleared, Fang Yuan would discover corpses,
the majority of these being wild beasts of all kinds of varieties, and in the
mix were some Gu Master corpses.

At the same time, there were small rescue groups rushing to the front lines.
When they met Fang Yuan on the way, they would look at this bloody
young man with curious and confused gazes.

Fang Yuan paid no attention to them. His eyes were a dark abyss,
continuing his train of thought.

“But……” If the fact that I knocked the female Gu Master unconscious was
found out, I would be tried for ‘harming a clansman’. Yet at that time,
nobody should have seen it, Jiao San and Kong Jing were all looking at a
different direction and rushing for their lives. Eh?”

Fang Yuan’s footsteps came to a halt.

He saw the corpses of Kong Jing and Jiao San.

The former’s body had already been eaten until it was unrecognisable,
while the latter’s corpse was still well preserved.
The red lava python was already a pile of lava rocks, completely dead. And
beside the sickly snake, there were a few lightning wolves’ corpses.
Evidently Jiao San’s final struggle caused a huge battle.

“Good, that means that other than me, everyone else is dead.” Fang Yuan
evaluated internally, feeling joy.

“This means I would have fewer restrictions around me…. Eh?” Fang Yuan
stopped, he saw Jiao San’s finger twitch softly.

“Not dead, what a stubborn life…” Fang Yuan snickered, killing intent
rising again.

At this point, there was tens of healing Gu Masters coming from the front.

“Quick, save the injured!”

“They are our clansmen, we have to save what we can!”

“If they are confirmed dead, retrieved their Gu worms.”

Fang Yuan’s gaze concentrated.

What to do?

They were so close, he would have to take a huge risk to kill Jiao San.
Whether using strangulation or a moonblade, there will be traces.

In front of these Gu Masters, he had no time to clear the traces.

So… let him live?

Even if Jiao San is treated now, he might not survive.

NO!

“If I can exterminate Jiao San, there would be a lot lesser opposition in my
way. Such an opportunity, if lost, I would have a hard time finding another
one.”
Thinking of this, Fang Yuan had an inspiration.

He gradually half-kneeled beside Jiao San, removing his upper shirt and
covering Jiao San’s face and upper body.

He was inside the boar’s stomach for a long time, so the pig’s blood had
soaked his shirt, causing it to be heavy and wet.

He put the upperwear on Jiao San’s nose and mouth, preventing him from
breathing.

Fang Yuan half-kneeled, silently watching, his expression solemn and

pained.

At this point, a Gu Master came over, “Little lad, I am the medicine hall’s
Gu Master, let me take a look…”

“Scram!” Fang Yuan growled angrily, pushing him away.

The Gu Master fell on the ground, but he was not angry, instead consoling
him, “Little brother, my condolences! I know how you feel right now and I
know how it feels to see the clansmen that you live with die in front of you.
But you are covered in blood now, you must be heavily injured. For the
sake of these sacrificed clansmen, you have to live properly. Come, let me
heal you.”

Fang Yuan did not open his mouth. He remained silent, the lower half of his
face covered in a dark shadow. He allowed this Gu Master to check his
body.

The result was rather surprising. Although Fang Yuan was bathed in blood,
appearing terrifying to everyone, he actually had no injuries at all!

But the Gu Master quickly collected his spirits, concentrating on Jiao San.

“I’m very sorry, the clan needs to take back the Gu worms.” The Gu Master
sincerely looked at Fang Yuan, then he lifted the bloody shirt slowly off
Jiao San.
Jiao San’s eyes were half open without any life in them.

The Gu Master professionally used his finger to prop open Jiao San’s
eyelids, looking at his iris and then touching his neck. But he felt no pulse.

Dead.

Completely dead.

The Gu Master did not suspect anything. He sighed and placed his hand on
Jiao San’s stomach.

His stomach still had some warmth and the aperture was slowly
disappearing; there were no Gu worms inside.

The Gu Master looked at Fang Yuan, whether intentionally or

unintentionally, “Every Gu Master’s Gu worm is stated in writing, and after
a Gu Master dies, his Gu worms will be treated as an inheritance for his
inheritor. Taking it for oneself is against the clan rules.”

Fang Yuan was fearless, staring right at the Gu Master, “Of course I know
that. You suspect that I took the group leader’s Gu worms?”

Taking these Gu worms involved risks and trouble. If his secrets were
dragged out, they would bring more loss than gain. Fang Yuan knew this,
even if with the Spring Autumn Cicada he could instantly refine any Gu, it
was difficult to do in the clan. It was not worth inviting such troubles for
these minute gains.

Apart from than this, there was another point — with his financial status
now, even if he got them, he might not be able to feed them.

To Fang Yuan’s question, the Gu Master laughed quickly, “I did not mean
that! People cannot come back to life after dying, so please restrain your
grief, little brother. For the sake of the deceased, you have to live even
better!”

Fang Yuan gradually stood up.

He used an extremely sad and pained expression, staring at sickly snake’s
corpse with rapt attention.

The night wind howled in his ears.

“You are right.” After a while, Fang Yuan broke the silence, his gaze
determined, saying with an intentional meaning, “For the sake of those who
died, I have to live even better than before.”
Chapter 97
 Chapter 97: Devils run amuck

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Internal affairs hall, interrogation room.

The light of the winter sun shone on the ground through the only window.

Fine dust particles slowly floated on the light pillar.

The light pillar enshrouded a chair.

Fang Yuan was sitting on that chair, bathing in the sunshine.

In the darkness ahead of him was a long table where three elders were
seated.

The interrogation had already continued for an hour.

“Fang Yuan, are you sure there are no mistakes in your narration?” An elder
asked.

“Yes.” Fang Yuan’s eyes were down, looking at his toes. The sunshine
shone on his fair face, making him look like a white sculpture.

He had already expected this situation.

After all, all his group members had died except him.

In fact, every Gu Master would go through a certain degree of interrogation

which conveniently helped the clan to gather battle statistics. But, Fang
Yuan was continuously interrogated for an hour; clearly, someone was
making it difficult for him from behind the scenes.
This was completely understandable.

As long as one was human and had social relations, there would be series of
people involved.

“Then narrate your account on the battle situation at that time again.” The
elder continued to ask.

“Okay. I used several days to breakthrough to Rank two. Upon returning to

the village gate, I met Chi Shan group… and reunited with Jiao San group
after finding them. At that time, they were having a fierce fight with the
wild boar king…” Fang Yuan calmly narrated.

He took the initiative to reveal his breakthrough to Rank two. With no

concealing Gu worm, he wouldn’t be able to conceal his Rank two aura.

Now the sickly snake and the team were dead, so he naturally fabricated the
events. But, he could only conceal some main details and narrate the
majority of the events as they were.

This was already the fifth time Fang Yuan narrated the events. The three
elders frowned as they listened.

They couldn’t find any holes, but they knew – if it was fabricated, then
there would be unnecessary details. After one kept on talking about it
several times, there would naturally be holes. But after five times, although
there were some differences in how Fang Yuan narrated the events, the
contents were the same.

“It should be true.” The three elders communicated with each other using
eye signals.

But one elder was not satisfied.

Her daughter was the sickly snake group’s healing Gu Master whom she
loved dearly but ended up dying a cruel death in the wolves’ mouths. Thus
she was very angry and her gaze carried coldness as she looked at Fang
Yuan.
“Fang Yuan, you cut the knife scales net with your moonblades, why did
you do it?” This middle-aged female elder spoke sternly.

“Because I wanted to have some contributions, but it ended up being a bad

move.” Fang Yuan replied.

“Then let me ask you, did you intentionally use your teammate – the female
Gu Master – as a shield when you hid in the boar’s stomach?” The elder
asked again.

“I don’t know. I was very scared at that time and hurriedly tried to hide
inside the boar king, but she also entered inside and fought me for the inside
position. She couldn’t defeat me and was bitten to death by the lightning
wolves. I am ashamed.” Fang Yuan answered.

The middle-aged female elder grinded her teeth. Fang Yuan’s answer was
cunning, he only stated the fact but didn’t mention his subjective intentions
at all. This made the elders who wanted to suppress him, not find any
handle on him; their hearts were filled with anger but they couldn’t do
anything.

Under such situation, they couldn’t judge Fang Yuan guilty.

It had already been three days since the small beast tide.

The statistics of the casualties made all the higher ups have ugly
expressions.

There were losses in the past small beast tides too but they were definitely
not as grave as this. The cause was the lightning wolves pack. Before, these
lightning wolves packs would only appear after at least three waves of
small beast tide.

The environment was dangerous in this world; survival, difficult.

From a human standpoint, to survive, apart from fighting with other humans
for resources, they still had to struggle against fierce beasts and nasty
weathers.
And these struggles were often very difficult.

The small beast tide was still only a prelude. The real terror would be the
large wolf tide, a year after. Tens of thousands of lightning wolves would
charge towards the village with the terrifyingly powerful lightning wolf
king.

The female elder continued to ask several questions but she had to finally
give up under Fang Yuan’s invulnerable answers.

“Then Fang Yuan, what do you plan to do from now on?” Another elder
asked with deep intention.

“I plan to apply for the family assets, inheriting and continuing my family’s
heritage.” Fang Yuan spoke openly, there was no need to conceal it.

Sickly snake group was destroyed and now only Fang Yuan was left.
Because of this, he didn’t have to use Rank two Gu Master’s right to give
up a mission and could accept the family assets mission.

The elder nodded his head then shook his head, “You didn’t understand my
meaning. Apart from you, your group is no more. I can give you a
suggestion: Join another group. Internal affairs hall’s missions difficulty is
designed for groups, it is very difficult for a lone person to complete them.
Whether it is your family inheritance mission or the compulsory monthly
missions, they are both like this.”

Fang Yuan was silent.

This elder continued, “Of course, there is another option. You are already a
Rank two Gu Master. You have the qualifications to become a group
captain. You just need to pass the examination mission and you can build
your own group. Which do you want to choose?”

Fang Yuan blinked his eyes: “I don’t know yet, I need some time to
consider.”
“Then you can leave. Think it over as soon as possible. After a few days
pass, it will be difficult for you to join a group,” the elder said concernedly.

Fang Yuan sneered inwardly, he wouldn’t choose any of these two paths.

He had a lot of secrets. Only by himself could he be safe and do things

properly. Otherwise, wouldn’t he be annoyed to death if there were others
with him all the time?

Leaving this interrogation room, Fang Yuan didn’t immediately leave the
internal affairs hall but instead applied for the family inheritance mission.
However, he was informed that he could only take it after three days due to
the busy events recently.

Coming out of the internal affairs hall, he gazed at the sky.

It was just an ordinary winter afternoon.

The winter was bleak along with biting wind. The sky seemed to be
pervaded with deep grief.

“Today is group memorial assembly. Gu Yue Jin Zhu is dead, did you know,
Fang Yuan?” Mo Bei, along with a group of youths, were walking through
the path.

Other than Mo Bei, there were Fang Zheng, Chi Cheng and others.

Mo Bei and Chi Cheng normally hated each other very much, but today,
they seemed to forget this grievance and walked together.

“Big brother, Jin Zhu studied with us for a year. Come with us.” Fang
Zheng said.

Gu Yue Jin Zhu…

A girl’s image immediately appeared in Fang Yuan’s mind.

Previously, she had been evenly matched with Mo Bei on the arena but lost
because of her lacking stamina. She was a hardworking girl.
But, death didn’t discriminate between beauty and ugly.

Most people would feel pity, but Fang Yuan was indifferent as usual.

“Ah, she is dead? But dying of old or sickness, they are both normal events.
After seeing it many times you’ll be indifferent to it. You guys go, I am
busy.” Fang Yuan brushed past the group.

“This guy!” At once, many among the group were angered.

“He is really cold-blooded and heartless…”

“He simply doesn’t have a feeling of friendship!”

“Hehe, there is a rumor going around recently. You should have all heard it,
right? The reason Fang Yuan survived was because he hid inside a boar’s
stomach and used his female Gu Master teammate as a shield.”

“He is really a disgrace with no worth. He doesn’t even have the manners of
a man.” Chi Cheng folded his arms and laughed coldly.

“Big brother…” Fang Zheng lowered his head and grinded his teeth.

Hearing these discussions, as Fang Yuan’s little brother, he felt shame.

Fang Yuan left and as he walked farther, the mockeries behind him
gradually couldn’t be heard anymore.

His heart was calm.

“Why would insults matter to me?”

Insults were insults, what could they do?

A superficial person would be angry due to curses and would be happy due
to praises.

These were just bystanders’ way of looking at you. Those who lived
according to other’s point of view were really pitiful.
In fact, some people had deliberately spread the rumors to degrade Fang
Yuan’s name.

Sacrificing a female teammate to protect oneself wouldn’t be subjected to

punishment, but would be criticized by moral consensus.

But, this was the exact situation Fang Yuan wanted.

Once one enters the system, one would be a pawn with no freedom and
must follow the system’s rules. To Fang Yuan, it was a huge obstacle, he
needed resources and even more needed to be solitary.

So, he wanted to be a loner.

What if you were rejected by the crowd? Haha, only weak-hearted people
would be afraid of being rejected.

If this happened on Earth, no matter who, they would end up dead. After all,
two fists can’t beat four hands, social connections were the way to survival.

But in this world, if the cultivation was strong, one person could beat ten,
hundreds and thousands of enemies. So what if you were rejected, just kill
the ones who block your path. If you don’t have resources, snatch them.

Every world had different rules and regulations, the society structure was
also bound to be different, causing the difference in human behaviours.

And in a world of martial arts, group thoughts were rather weak.

So in this world —
Devils run amuck.
Chapter 98
 Chapter 98: Difficulty of refining Gu

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“What? That lad, he’s a Rank two Gu Master now, and even applied for the
asset-splitting mission from the internal affairs hall!” Uncle Gu Yue Dong
Tu’s furious and shocked voice reverbed throughout the main hall.

“That is indeed so. Although I accepted your primeval stones, I cannot do

much to stop him, I only managed to tell him to collect the mission in three
days. I can only stall that long for you, that is my limit.” The middle-aged
Gu Master beside him said.

Gu Yue Dong Tu snorted in his heart, he could sense the hidden meaning in
the internal affairs hall’s Gu Master’s words.

‘Stall for three days, it is the limit’, such words were merely an excuse to
extort even more money.

“But, top priority now is still to do all I can to retain the assets. This rascal
is really too troubling!” Gu Yue Dong Tu’s sweat poured from his forehead
as Fang Yuan’s growth was so rapid it gave him the feeling of a heart attack.

“I came here especially to tell you this, so I’ll take my leave now.” The
middle-aged man stood up to depart.

“Don’t be in such a rush, brother. There are some things I still need for you
to assist me a little with.” Gu Yue Dong Tu hurriedly stood up, retrieving a
money bag and stuffing it into the middle-aged Gu Master’s hand.

The male Gu Master took the entire bag of primeval stones and stuffed it
into his chest pocket, his tone quickly changing, laughing loudly. “Brother
Dong Tu, you are too polite. We have such a great relationship, we’ve
known each other for over ten years. Don’t worry, I will prepare the
toughest mission for Fang Yuan, but he might employ other Gu Masters to
help him. You have to watch out for this.”

“Hehehe, you can be rest assured. Although I have retired, I still have my
relationships, I’ve sent people to observe him. If that lad employs outsiders,
that is against the clan rules, and I am still waiting to get a hold of his
weakness. Hehe…”

“Then I am at ease, goodbye.”

“Let me send you out.”

“It is okay, please stay.”

Gu Yue Dong Tu stared at the leaving Gu Master, his smile slowly

collapsing.

“This Fang Yuan, he is only C grade, how can he advance to Rank two so
soon?! Dammit, what were Jiao San and the others doing! Can’t even guard
against a newbie.”

“Sigh, now Jiao San and the team were all killed by the beast horde, what
incompetent fools. Fang Yuan also advanced to Rank two, this way he can
definitely receive the family asset mission. My previous methods to block
him will no longer work. But he is now working alone, and aiming to
complete the asset inheritance mission alone is really difficult.”

“No! This lad’s luck is absurd, first I got Jiao San and the rest to suppress
him, and immediately the beast horde came. If he relies on this luck again
and completes the mission, what then? I have to prepare for the worst!”

An old sly fox, Gu Yue Dong Tu being able to enter and leave the fighting
life peacefully and live up until now, it represented success already.

Compared to the newly independent Fang Yuan, his interpersonal

relationships were much stronger.
“Collecting honey wine?” When Fang Yuan received the asset mission, his
eyes shone with cold glimmer.

This mission was very troublesome, it was to collect five Liang(1) of

golden bee’s honey wine. Golden bees were all fist-sized with gold and
black stripes, and they had a sharp stinger packed with a strong attack.

That was not all. Among normal small hives, there was only honey. Only
those large or medium hives had the precious honey wine made from a
large accumulation of honey.

“This mission, even for a five-man group, is very difficult. Because the
number of people no longer matter, the Gu Master collecting honey wine
has to have a defensive-type Gu to withstand the stings. It seems that
uncle’s relationship has struck and is bullying my lack of a defensive Gu
worm. Unfortunately for him… ” Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart.

At this point, it showed the inherent benefits of the Flower Wine Monk’s
inheritance.

Easy to do things secretly, difficult to do things openly.

The more one worked openly, the more their trump cards get revealed, and
they become easier to trap. Conversely, working secretly helps to hide
trump cards and lets others be unable to assess your situation, thus not
being able to nip the problem in the bud.

“But, if I want to collect honey wine, the Jade Skin Gu isn’t enough. Jade
Skin Gu is only a Rank one Gu, but if it can advance to the Rank two White
Jade Gu, I would be able to do it easily.”

WIthout the need to attempt to take risks, his rich life experience allowed
him to take less pointless steps.

Speaking of which, Fang Yuan is already a Rank two initial stage Gu

Master, but the Gu worms on him, other than the Spring Autumn Cicada,
were all Rank one Gu worms.
This situation is like a grown man who is able to wield a halberd only
holding a small dagger. The dagger is unable to display the full extent of the
man’s strength, and only with a halberd is it the most suitable.

Fang Yuan had seven Gu worms in his possession.

The vital Gu Spring Autumn Cicada, Moonlight Gu, Liquor worm, White
Boar Gu, Jade Skin Gu and two Little Light Gu.

In this mix, the Moonlight Gu can fuse with the two Little Light Gu to form
the Moonglow Gu. The White Boar Gu and Jade Skin Gu can fuse into
White Jade Gu.

Moonglow Gu represents a surge in attack power, while White Jade Gu is

an increase in defense.

If Fang Yuan had enough primeval stones, he would choose to refine them
both. But not long ago, in order to push his cultivation to Rank two, he
expended most of his primeval stones. Now, with the primeval stones on
hand, it was only enough for one use.

“Undoubtedly, choosing to refine the White Jade Gu is a better choice. With

the White Jade Gu, I can retrieve the honey wine. And with the White Jade
Gu, I can advance better in the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance. But if this
fusion fails, the results will be dire. My finances are on the brink of
collapse, so without the White Jade Gu, I cannot get my parent’s assets.
Stuck at this point, it will greatly slow my growth.”

Fang Yuan felt a subtle pressure.

He knew that he was at a crossroad, and if this fusion succeeds, the future is
bright. If he fails, then he would fall into the abyss. To get back to the
current point, he would need even more effort in management and spend a
longer time.

……
“Gu Masters use their primeval sea as the base, and Gu worms as the
method. Gu is a Gu Master’s necessity, without Gu they are not Gu Masters.
Other than their own cultivation, Gu Masters also have to refine, nurture
and use Gu.”

In the room, clan leader Gu Yue Bo meticulously explained to Fang Zheng.

“Refine, nurture, and use. These three aspects, whichever one is also a huge
knowledge trove. Even if you spend an entire lifetime, you cannot
completely finish it. On the aspect of refining Gu, you already know how to
refine a Gu and make it yours. But this is only a single refinement. There is
also the more important aspect of fusion.

“Through fusion, you can fuse multiple Gu worms into one with a higher
rank. This is the evolution of life. Fang Zheng, you are already a Rank two
Gu Master, but your Gu worms are all Rank one. It is time you refine a
Rank two Gu worm.”

Fang Zheng asked, “Clan leader, how do I do fusion?”

Gu Yue Bo said, “To fuse, you have to know the recipe. Some Gu worms
cannot be fused together. Through many eons of trial and error, and endless
failures, our ancestors have come up with several recipes. Our Gu Yue clan
has the most in-depth research with the Moonlight Gu, and we now have
two Rank five recipes on hand.”

“What is a Rank five recipe?”

“In accordance to this recipe, through multiple fusions, one can finally
refine up to a Rank five Gu worm. Fang Zheng, you have one Jade Skin Gu
and a Moonlight Gu on hand, it satisfies the condition for one of the Rank
five recipes. If you follow this recipe, you will get the Rank five Gu
eventually — Moonlight Treasure King Gu!”

“Moonlight Treasure King Gu?” Fang Zheng’s face was full of desire.

“Hehehe, telling you about a Rank five Gu now is still too early. Come, take
out your Jade Skin and Moonlight Gu, I’ll teach you how to fuse these two
Gu into the Rank two Moon Raiment!”

Saying so, Gu Yue Bo’s expression turned solemn, “The most important
thing about fusing Gu is parallel thinking, fusing your consciousness. The
Moonlight Gu and Jade Skin Gu in your hands now have no wild
consciousness anymore, overwritten by your own consciousness. What you
have to do now is to fuse these two thoughts together.”

“Fuse together?” Fang Zheng blinked, confused.

Gu Yue Bo smiled, “No worries, practise more, you will be able to grab
hold of this feeling. Let’s begin.”

“Mm.” Fang Zheng nodded, and under Gu Yue Bo’s guidance, his light red-
coloured red steel primeval essence rose like smoke, enveloping the Jade
Skin Gu and the Moonlight Gu in midair.

Fang Zheng shut his eyes, feeling and manipulating the two Gu worm’s
consciousness.

Gu Yue Bo was outside watching, and saw the Jade Skin Gu and Moonlight
Gu circling each other like two planets.

As the consciousness fused, the distance between the two Gu worms

shortened.

After three hours of continuous tries, their consciousness was finally

controlled by Fang Zheng, and fused together perfectly.

At once, the Jade Skin Gu and Moonlight Gu both erupted in a bright white
light.

The two lights linked together, forming a lump as big as a face.

“Maintain this condition, and throw primeval stones into the light.” Gu Yue
Bo advised.

Fang Zheng took out a primeval stone and threw it into the light.
Strangely, after throwing the primeval stones in, the stones turned into a
surge of pure natural essence, completely fusing with the lump of light.
Only rock powder remained, scattering on the bed.

“Continue throwing until the Rank two Gu is complete.” Gu Yue Bo said.

Fang Zheng was about to throw a second piece, but at this point, the light
disappeared, and the two Gu flew in two opposite directions like they were
pushed away ruthlessly by each other.

The fusion failed.

“Damn, I forgot to maintain the fusion of the consciousness earlier.” Fang

Zheng immediately realized his mistake.

“No worries, failing at the start is normal.” Gu Yue Bo consoled, but

reminded, “But be careful, you cannot fail too many times, if not both the
Moonlight and Jade Skin Gu will perish.”

Fang Zheng recalled back the Jade Skin Gu and Moonlight Gu, and found
cracks on the Moonlight Gu’s surface, while the Jade Skin Gu looked like it
was weakened.

His heart sank, feeling the difficulty of refining Gu.

(1) Liang – one Liang is 31.25grams.

(2) So to make it clear just in case: 炼蛊 – refine Gu, 合炼蛊 –

fusion/fusing Gu. Fusion is part of the process of refining a Gu.
Chapter 99
 Chapter 99: Human, not God

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Crash…

Great waves tumbled in the primeval sea, rising up and down.

The sea was light-red in color. This was not the green copper sea of a Rank
one, but a red steel sea.

The aperture was covered with a layer of light coating; this was the
appearance of Rank two initial stage.

The whole red steel primeval essence sea occupied 44% of the aperture.
Above the sea, the Spring Autumn Cicada appeared.

After going through a year of recuperation, it had already somewhat

recovered.

Previously, there was no shine from its body, it looked rough and dim like
withered wood. Now, it had some gloss to it.

Its two wings had been like the yellowed and withered leaves of autumn
and the tips had been damaged. Now, there was some green to it and there
were black leaf lines on its tips, making a complete arc without any
previous defect.

“Spring Autumn Cicada, spring and autumn… I see now, it needs to

experience the changes of spring and autumn to recover. Since rebirth, a
year has passed by, which means a turn of spring and autumn, and so it has
recovered.”
Fang Yuan looked at the Spring Autumn Cicada and this thought rose within
him, increasing his understanding of the Spring Autumn Cicada by another
stage.

A Gu Master needs to refine, nurture and use Gu. Among them ‘use’ was
further classified and contained myriads of variations. Fang Yuan had been
in contact with the Spring Autumn Cicada all the time; his comprehension
of the Spring Autumn Cicada was slowly accumulating and deepening.

“But the Spring Autumn Cicada is still weak, it has only moved a few steps
away from nearing death. I can only use its aura to suppress Gu worms and
increase the efficiency of single refining. As for fusing, it won’t be of any
help.”

There were mystical Gu worms that raised the success rate of fusion.
Everything had their own specialties; the Spring Autumn Cicada possessed
the ability of rebirth.

Other than the Spring Autumn Cicada, there was the fat Liquor worm which
was curled up in a round ball, floating and playing around in the sea.

The ladybug-like White Boar Gu and the Jade Skin Gu which had green
jade color were revolving around each other.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes and slowly unfolded his right palm. In it were
the imprints of a crescent moon and two five-sided stars.

They were precisely the residence of the Moonlight Gu and the two Little
Light Gu.

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, his line of sight falling on the bed
sheet.

There were three money bags on the bed sheet; two were bulging and one
was mostly thinned out. Apart from this, there was also a snow-white tusk
from the wild boar king. It looked like an elephant’s tusk, lying close to
Fang Yuan’s leg on the bed sheet.
Sickly snake group had used all their strength to kill the wild boar king, but
they met with the lightning wolf pack’s attacks and the majority of the skin
and flesh of the wild boar king had been eaten away by the lightning
wolves. The two snow white tusks were thus the most valuable spoils of
war.

According to the clan’s rules and regulations, Fang Yuan – being one of the
members in killing the wild boar king – received one of the wild boar king’s
tusks.

Fang Yuan looked at these items, his expression was heavy. “I don’t have
much primeval stones left and it is only enough for one fusion. After this
fusion, no matter success or failure, my financial condition will drop. But if
I don’t fuse it now, my primeval stones will only last for twelve or so days
and I will even lose the chance to fuse.”

Fang Yuan was raising seven Gu worms so he had a large financial burden.
And because of his C grade aptitude, he had to repeatedly use the Liquor
worm to quickly improve his cultivation. Thus, his primeval stone
consumption was more than an ordinary Gu Master’s.

Recently, he no longer used primeval stones to recover the primeval essence

in his aperture. The red steel sea in his body now was all recovered by its
natural self-recovery rate.

Fang Yuan was already beginning to cut the primeval stones consumption;
he couldn’t misuse them after calculating his expenditures.

The current situation was like he was about to fall off a cliff. He could only
grab on to the wild grass at the side of the cliff to stabilize his body without
falling.

But as time passed, these lifelines would be continuously used up. If he

didn’t take any risks, it wouldn’t take long for him to fall off the cliff.

What he had to do now was to use these lifelines and climb up the cliff with
all his strength.
If he succeeded, he could seize the opportunity to obtain the family
inheritance and ascend to another level and it would be a whole new scene
in front of him.

If he lost, he would drop down and in trying to climb up to this stage again,
he would need to spend large amount of time and energy.

“No matter what happens, let’s begin.” Fang Yuan took in a deep breath and
focused his gaze.

White Boar Gu, Jade Skin Gu!

The two Gu worms followed his will, drilling out of his aperture and
floating in front of Fang Yuan.

“Fuse!” Fang Yuan shouted inwardly. White Boar Gu and Jade Skin Gu
suddenly emitted dazzling lights and directly bumped into each other.

This was a silent bump, but it created a ball of light.

The white light was more dazzling than before.

This showed that Fang Yuan’s two consciousness were fusing.

Fang Yuan used his consciousness to maintain the white ball of light white
taking out primeval stones from the bag and throwing them into the ball of
light.

The primeval stones were engulfed by the ball of light and only rock
powders remained, scattering on the bed. Each time the ball of light
swallowed a primeval stone, its edges would expand a little.

The ball of light absorbed the natural primeval essence and became bigger
and bigger.

Gradually, it changed from the size of a washbowl to a grindstone size.

“Almost there.” Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes; he decisively threw the wild
boar king’s snow-white tusk into the ball of light.
If anyone were to witness this scene, they would be astonished. The secret
recipe of fusing White Boar Gu and Jade Skin Gu to form White Jade Gu
was well known and circulated for over thousand years, but no one had ever
heard of adding in a wild boar king’s snowy tusk.

However, not being used in the past doesn’t mean that it won’t be in the
future.

One hundred and fifty years from now, a Gu Master would improvise this
recipe; he discovered that adding a wild boar’s tusk would greatly increase
the fusion success rate.

Fang Yuan had five hundred years of experience, he naturally knew of this
trick.

The snowy tusk was thrown into the ball of light and a fantastic
transformation happened immediately.

The previously dazzling light turned softer. The light that was blindly
shooting off everywhere now had a movement pattern to it, naturally
changing between light and dark.

Under Fang Yuan’s gaze, the ball of light slowly shrunk and finally
dissipated into the air.

Instead of the Jade Skin Gu and White Boar Gu, there was now a
completely new Gu worm calmly hovering in front of Fang Yuan.

It was like an oval pebble, its whole body was completely white; this white
was not pale like Xuan paper and was not milky white like milk, but was a
kind of moist white like that of the luster of jade.

This was — Rank two White Jade Gu!

Only now did Fang Yuan let out a mouthful of turbid air, his heart relieved.

You might think that this process looks simple. It is not.

First, the consciousness merging needed multitasking.

Drawing a circle with one hand and a square with another is called dual
tasking. A lot of people cannot even do this, let alone the highly difficult
multi-tasking.

One can only achieve multi-tasking after years of hard cultivation, suffering
through countless defeats and setbacks, and even then one would still need
some talent.

Fang Yuan could do this so proficiently because of his five hundred years of
deep experience; not a hint of his experience was fake or forged.

Second, was understanding and knowledge of Gu worms.

The deeper the Gu Master’s understanding of Gu worms, the higher the

success rate of fusing.

This point, in about three hundred years from now, would be a widely
recognized knowledge.

Thus, the longer you use Gu worms, the greater the probability of success in
Gu fusion.

Third, was the correct and original recipe.

For example, this time, adding the snowy tusk was like the finishing touch,
increasing the success rate by 20%. Its efficiency was extraordinary.

Some recipes were widely spread in this world, but there were many recipes
which people would collect and weren’t circulated.

Such as in the Gu Yue village, the recipe of refining Moonlight Gu was held
by a small number of elders and successive generations of clan leaders.

Especially those rank five and above recipes. They would be hidden and
treasured like their lives. Many Gu Masters would not spread these recipes
until death.

But even with these three points, there was no absolute guarantee of
success. Even a person like Fang Yuan who had five hundred years of
memories, plentiful experiences, deep understanding of Gu worms, could
multitask and knew a lot of recipes, had a possibility of failure when fusing
Gu worms.

One can only say that his failure rate is lower.

Fusing Gu worms was an evolution of life, a type of creation. It condensed

time to the extreme, making the long evolution process bear fruit in an
instant.

On earth, only gods could do this.

This was no doubt a miracle of life. Gu Masters making divine intervention

with a mortal body, how could it succeed every time?

If it succeeded every time, that would not be human, but god.

Chapter 100
 Chapter 100: White Jade Gu

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the blink of an eye, ten more days passed.

Deep in the mountain, in the underground rock forest.

Squeakkkkk!

Tens of jade eye stone monkeys jumped in the air with blurred silhouettes.

They continued to leap and attacked Fang Yuan aggressively.

If it was like before, Fang Yuan would retreat without a doubt. But now, he
stood on the spot with a cold expression, still like a rock.

The stone monkeys slammed, scratched, and bit Fang Yuan’s body, but a
crisp ‘ding ding’ sound could be heard, as if they were not attacking a
person, but a sturdy jade pillar.

A bright white jade light covered the area as it attached itself to Fang Yuan’s
body. This light, although it was thinner than the Jade Skin Gu’s jade green
glow, it had more than twice of the defensive power.

Jade Skin Gu’s defense can only handle up to sixteen monkeys’

simultaneous attack, but now Fang Yuan could face off against more than
thirty monkeys alone.

“On the arena, I could break Fang Zheng’s Jade Skin Gu’s defense with my
bare fists, but if Fang Zheng used this White Jade Gu, even if I broke my
wrist bone, I would not be able to penetrate his defenses.”
Fang Yuan pondered while diverting a part of his thoughts towards his
aperture sea.

In the red steel primeval sea, the White Jade Gu sank to the bottom of the
sea, constantly absorbing primeval essence. Its surface also emitted a faint
white jade glow, like a lightbulb.

Every time the stone monkeys attack Fang Yuan, the White Jade Gu’s
surface which resembled an oval pebble would flash faintly.

At the same time, Fang Yuan could feel a trace of his primeval essence
being expended.

“White Jade Gu’s defense is the same type as the Jade Skin Gu, they both
require a continuous source of primeval essence. At the same time, the
greater the intensity of the attack, the more primeval essence is expended.”
Fang Yuan concluded in his heart.

At the same time, he counterattacked.

Punches and kicks kicked up a sandstorm. His strikes were simple, yet
brutal and effective with an imposing aura.

Although the White Boar Gu was gone, the strength it gave to Fang Yuan
still remained in his body.

Endless monkeys were hit by Fang Yuan. Some were kicked away,
knocking on the stone pillar; some were killed in midair, turning into stone
and breaking into fragments when they landed on the ground.

At the same time, with a flick of his wrist, Fang Yuan sent moonblades
flying around, like the scythe of the reaper, harvesting the lives of the stone
monkeys.

With the supply of red steel primeval essence, the Rank one Moonlight Gu
could cause the greatest attack damage to the monkeys with every hit.

Squeak squeak…
The stone monkeys screamed in fright, retreating.

Fang Yuan had exterminated the stone monkeys in a short moment of

counterattack, with only five or six remaining.

Fang Yuan killed another, and the remaining stone monkeys broke down,
frantically running around and escaping deep into the stone forest.

Fang Yuan did not chase these escapees, but continued forwards deeper into
the stone forest.

These days, he had been working hard to find the next clue for the
inheritance. With continuous exploring, he had stepped foot on most of the
areas around the stone forest, but did not find anything.

He had a hunch, vaguely guessing the Flower Wine Monk’s idea. He felt
that the next step of the inheritance was likely linked to the most central
area of the stone forest.

The deeper he got into the forest, the larger the stone pillars were, and the
more stone monkeys lived inside them.

Fang Yuan walked as he observed — at the center of the stone forest, there
was a large stone pillar. Its circumference was wider than tens of men
surrounding it and attempting to hug it.

This stone pillar was his objective.

But, the deeper he got, the larger the monkey gangs, and the higher the
difficulty.

Fang Yuan took a crucial step out and entered the alert zone of a group of
monkeys.

Squeak squeak squeak!

The black caves in the stone pillar had emerging furious jade eye stone
monkeys, and up to a hundred jumped in Fang Yuan’s direction.
Fang Yuan ran for his life.

Against so many monkeys, even with the White Jade Gu, he could not
massacre them.

The stone monkeys chased Fang Yuan for a while, then some started to
abandon the chase and turned around, going back to their caves. Eventually,
only thirty or so monkeys trailed after Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan seeing the time was right, turned around and fought.

After a round of fighting, the last few monkeys ran and escaped, not even
daring to return to their original caves.

After a few rounds, Fang Yuan killed over a hundred stone monkeys. On the
road there were traces of broken stones from the corpses of the stone
monkeys.

“Insufficient primeval essence.” Fang Yuan inspected his primeval sea and
sighed, forced to stop in his tracks.

If it was before, he would use his primeval stones to recover swiftly, but
now, after fusing the White Jade Gu, he had a severe lack of primeval
stones, or rather his entire finance was on the brink of collapsing.

Fang Yuan picked up the jade rock eyeballs and stuffed them into his bag.

“It should be at the bottom of the center of that rock pillar. But to reach
there, I have to open a path.” This feeling was getting more intense, Fang
Yuan gave it one last look before opening the stone door and returning to
the second secret room.

At the corner of the hidden room, there were some items.

A small bag with hundreds of eyeball jades. Fang Yuan opened the bag and
poured his loot in from today.

The jade pearls collided with one another, emitting a crisp sound.
There was another bag, and wild boar tusks were inside. But now Fang
Yuan no longer needed to slaughter wild boars.

He used the White Boar Gu and the Jade Skin Gu to refine the White Jade
Gu. The White Boar Gu had disappeared, and reduced his necessity for pork
to 0.

The new White Jade Gu was more like the Jade Skin Gu, it consumed jade
rocks.

Jade Skin Gu needed two liang of jade rocks every ten days. While the
White Jade Gu needed eight liang of jade rocks every twenty days.

Normally speaking, the higher the rank, the longer interval there is for each
meal. Rank two Gu usually feed every half a month, while Rank three Gu
feed every month, or longer.

Of course, higher ranking Gu also consume more food. On average, the

White Jade Gu consumed more in cost than the Jade Skin Gu and the White
Boar Gu combined.

But to Fang Yuan, he had this rock forest and did not lack jade rocks. At the
same time he did not need pork, so he did not need to kill wild boars, thus
this saved him a lot of trouble and a lot of time.

Tying the little bag up, Fang Yuan picked up a bullskin water sack.

Inside the water sack, there was golden honey wine inside. A few days ago,
Fang Yuan had relied on the Jade Skin Gu and endured the bees’ attacks,
and gathered enough honey wine.

“I only have two and a half primeval stones left, it is time to go to the
internal affairs hall and turn in the mission.”

Fang Yuan kept the water sack well and returned to the tunnel, squeezing
out of the rock crack and returning to the outside world.

It was sunset now.

The golden sunset of winter was in fact not cold, the weather bright and
fair. The setting sun emerged with comfortable rays of a red-orange colour,
the exquisite sunlight passing through the crown of pine trees and shining
onto the mountain floor.

Walking alone, he headed towards the village.

Yet Fang Yuan did not go directly, but took a few reroutes to prevent the
rock crack from being found out.

Winter wind blew on his face, this was the smell of freedom.

Back in the academy, he could only sneak out at night. Now that he was
Rank two, he could move about freely in the day without any suspicion.

More importantly, the death of sickly snake and the others allowed Fang
Yuan to move alone with fewer restraints.

The only thing is, Fang Yuan was now alone without any supporting group
members. The following clan mission which occurs monthly, he had to
complete one at least, and that would be difficult.

Now, after the small beast horde, all the groups had regrouped. Fang Yuan
had missed the chance.

Because of his reputation, Fang Yuan was also ostracized by the Gu

Masters. Joining other small groups was not going to be easy.

“So what if I’m left out, the more I float around at the brink, the less
attention is on me, and the more advantageous it is for me. As for the clan
mission, it is mandatory so I have to take it. But….”

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with cold light, he had plans
already.

The clan mandates that every Gu Master had to accept a mission every
month, but did not force them to complete it.
Being unable to complete the mission will result in falling evaluation. This
was something no Gu Master wanted to see, thus they did their all to
complete the missions.

But to Fang Yuan, this evaluation was crap!

Walking into the village, there was an endless stream of people walking
along the limestone paths of the streets.

At this time, it is normally the peak period.

Many Gu Masters complete their missions with injuries and whatnot,

returning to the village. After working for a day, farmers drag their muddy
feet and tired bodies, quietly moving along.

In this world, living was not easy, it was full of pain and suffering.

The setting sun slowly dropped below the mountain top, giving out the last
ray of warm light. This light would be diminished by the unevenly criss-
crossed branches of the withering trees, becoming the fragments of time
scattered upon the green jade walls of bamboo houses.

“Oh no, my toy,” a girl cried out, chasing her spinning top among the
crowd.

The spinning top rolled to Fang Yuan’s feet, and the girl also hit Fang
Yuan’s leg, falling on the ground.

“Sorry, sorry! For offending lord Gu Master, please pardon us!” The little
girl’s father hurried over. When he saw Fang Yuan’s clothing, his expression
was white as paper, bringing the little girl and kneeling down, kowtowing to
Fang Yuan.

The girl cried out of shock, pearls of tears trailing down her white and rosy
face.

The walking mortals upon seeing this scene, turned away and avoided them
like the plague.
Some Gu Masters stared coldly, before turning away and leaving.

“Stop crying, you troublemaker!” The father was frightened, angry and
afraid, moving his hand to give her a slap, but Fang Yuan grabbed his hand,
not allowing any movement.

“Just a small matter, no worries.” Fang Yuan laughed lightly, touching the
little girl’s head, softly consoling, “Don’t be afraid, it is okay.”

The girl stopped crying, using her teary eyes to look at Fang Yuan, thinking
this big brother was really gentle.

“Thank you lord, thank you lord for your kindness!” The girl’s father was
overjoyed, kowtowing to Fang Yuan without a break.

Fang Yuan continued forward.

His rented house was not far away.

And on the ground floor of that bamboo house, his uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu
stood, staring at Fang Yuan who was still a distance away, evidently waiting
for him.
Chapter 101
Chapter 101: The person is as old as his heart has
aged

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

With his abilities, Gu Yue Dong Tu could easily find Fang Yuan’s residence.

He was wearing the Gu Master’s uniform which he rarely wore; he had leg
wrappings around his legs and was wearing a red belt around his waist.
Everything was neat and clean, and gave off a faint feeling of majesty.

He looked at Fang Yuan who was slowly coming over and his line of sight
fell on the latter’s belt; deep emotions emerged in his heart.

“Only C grade aptitude but he has already broken to Rank two at sixteen, it
is truly surprising. I really don’t know how he succeeded. However…this
quick speed should be mostly attributed to the Liquor worm. Pity that
Liquor worm has no use at Rank two.”

Following that, he saw the faint smile hanging on Fang Yuan’s mouth.

This smile made Gu Yue Dong Tu’s heart chill.

Anger rushed through his mind, “This kid acts so calm, does he think he has
me trapped within his palm?!”
Fang Yuan slowly walked over and stopped in front of Gu Yue Dong Tu, he
knew the latter was definitely here for him.

Sure enough, Gu Yue Dong Tu opened his mouth, “Fang Yuan, I think we
can have a talk.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Fang Yuan slightly frowned.

Gu Yue Dong Tu laughed but then talked of another thing, “Do you know, I
was the same as you, I became a Gu Master when I was fifteen.”

“It was right at the time of wolf tide, there was a large number of casualties
and we – students – also had no choice but to fight. I had B grade aptitude; I
reached Rank two initial stage at sixteen, upper stage at seventeen and peak
stage at eighteen. When I was nineteen, I was already beginning my charge
to Rank three. At that time, I believed I could be a Rank three Gu Master at
twenty.”

“Hahaha, I was too frivolous, I thought I was above everyone else and
thought I could accomplish anything. I even thought I was omnipotent, I
simply didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth. It was when I was
twenty. I went out to do a mission and was beaten by a Xiong village’s Gu
Master. I was on the brink of death but fortunately, medicine hall’s elder
personally moved and saved me. But after that event, my aptitude dropped
down to C grade, I couldn’t recover from this shock for a whole of eight
years.”

“At my twenty-ninth birthday, I started to have another look at myself and

this world. I discovered that a single person’s strength was limited. So what
if I had broken through to Rank three? Living in this society, the most
important thing is not individual strength, but the connections with others.”

“I began my life anew when I was thirty. I stepped down from the frontlines
when I was forty-five. A hundred Gu Masters jointly petitioned to elect me
as an elder dozens of times. Even though I only had the cultivation of Rank
two peak stage, I couldn’t take that final step but there was also no need. I
had already achieved success. Clan members call me as the ‘hidden elder’.
Most of my peers have already passed away but my life sailed smoothly. I
still have influence on many Gu Masters.”

After giving a lengthy report, Gu Yue Dong Tu returned to the main topic.
He looked at Fang Yuan, his mouth curved up, “Fang Yuan, you are too
young and inexperienced, just like I was back then. Believing you can
accomplish anything and finish everything by yourself. Hehe.”

Gu Yue Dong Tu shook his head and continued, “But when you gain more
experience, you will understand that human is a social animal and not a
lone beast. Sometimes we need to lower our heads and take a step back.
Being an extremist and arrogant person will only bring isolation and
destruction. I believe you have already felt it; no group will take you and
everyone is leaving you out. Even if you receive the family inheritance
mission, what would that do? As a person who has been left out by
everyone, you definitely won’t have the chance to finish the task. Give up.”

Fang Yuan indifferently looked at the middle-aged man; his expression,

calm.

“I wonder what expression he will show if he knew I have five hundred

years of experience?”

Fang Yuan’s eyes couldn’t help but reveal a trace a of smile when he
thought this.

Actually, his uncle’s way of thoughts had been his life’s concept for a long
period of time in his previous life.

Thus, he had created the Bloodwing Demon Sect, relying on the system and
human emotions to create an enormous influence. Ten thousands would
come forth with his one call, seizing resources and fighting enemies.

However, when he broke through to Rank six, he saw a completely new

scene.

Gu Masters up to Rank five were mortals but Rank six were immortals.
When he stood at that height and looked at the world, he suddenly
comprehended — an enormous influence was indeed a powerful help but at
the same time was an enormous burden.

No matter which world, there was only one thing which one could truly rely
on; that was oneself.

Only that such people were usually weak. People couldn’t endure loneliness
and liked chasing after family love, friendship and romance to fill in their
spirit. They indulged in being in a group and were afraid of being alone.
When they received setbacks, they would hide in the group, complain to
relatives and share with friends. They didn’t dare to confront their fears and
defeats by themselves. When there was pain, they would be busy sharing it;
when there was something good, they would be anxious to boast of it.

Gu Yue Dong Tu succeeded? No doubt he succeeded.

He couldn’t walk his original path, so he went in another path and left for a
new scene.

But at the same time, he was also a failure.

He had lowered his head because of one setback; he was no more than a
coward, but he was content with his running away.

Gu Yue Dong Tu didn’t know Fang Yuan had already labelled him as a
coward. He saw Fang Yuan made no reply, so he thought the latter was
absorbed in his speech.

He continued, “Fang Yuan, I won’t beat around the bush, you are not Fang
Zheng. If you give up your idea of inheriting the family assets, you will
receive my friendship and you can use all my connections. I will also give
you a thousand primeval stones. I know you are hard pressed for money
these days and you are even late in paying the rent by two days, right?”

Fang Yuan indifferently smiled and spoke, “Uncle, you don’t wear these
clothes often, right?”

Gu Yue Dong Tu was taken aback, he hadn’t expected Fang Yuan would
suddenly talk about this.

Fang Yuan was indeed correct, he had already been retired for a long time
now, this uniform was usually stored deep in a box. He had worn this
uniform especially to meet Fang Yuan today; it was to increase his
persuasion and deterrence power.

Fang Yuan sighed, he sized up Gu Yue Dong Tu’s clothes and continued, ”
A Gu Master’s uniform isn’t so clean and neat. It would be covered with
sweat, mud and blood; it would be in shreds and patches; that is the smell of
a Gu Master.”

“You are old. Uncle. Your great ambitions and aspirations have already
disappeared from your youth. These years, you have lived an easy life and it
has corrupted your heart. You are vying for the family assets, not for
cultivation but to maintain your rich life. With such a mentality, how could
you obstruct me?”

Gu Yue Dong Tu’s face instantly turned ashen, anger surging through his
mind.

There was always a group of ‘old’ people in this world. They touted their
social experience everywhere. They considered others’ dreams as illusions;
considered others’ passions as frivolous; considered others’ persistence as
arrogance. They would seek their own existence and superiority by
lecturing the later generations.

No doubt, Gu Yue Dong Tu was such a person.

He wanted to educate Fang Yuan but he had never thought that Fang Yuan
not only didn’t listen to him or yield to him, but would instead lecture him!

“Fang Yuan!” Gu Yue Dong Tu shouted, “I wanted to guide and persuade

you with good intentions as your elder but you don’t know what’s good
from bad. Hmph, since you want to go against me, then so be it. I am not
afraid to tell you that I already know the contents of your family inheritance
mission. Young people don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth.
Haha, I really want to see how you will complete this mission!”

Fang Yuan had a ridiculing smile on his face, there was no need to conceal
now. Anyway, they could no longer reconcile, so there was no harm in
enjoying Gu Yue Dong Tu’s upcoming wonderful expression.
Thereupon, he took out the bullskin water bag and opened it; a fragrance
that was specific to honey wine floated out.

“What do you think is in here?” He asked.

Gu Yue Dong Tu turned pale with fright, his mood immediately sank to an
all-time low.

“How can this be? Where did you get this honey wine?!” He roared, a
stunned expression appeared on his face.

Fang Yuan ignored him, closed the cap, put the water bag back and walked
towards the internal affairs hall.

Gu Yue Dong Tu’s forehead was covered with cold sweat, many thoughts
surging in his mind.

“Where did he get the honey wine? I already made sure that as long as he
looks for other groups, I would get the news the very first moment. Could
he have done this alone? No, that’s not possible, he doesn’t have a defense
Gu worm. Someone definitely helped him. No! The point now is not finding
the reason. This kid already has the honey wine, he is going to hand over
the mission!”

Gu Yue Dong Tu was already panicking as he thought this and no longer

had the calm appearance from moments ago.

He quickly chased after Fang Yuan, “Fang Yuan, wait, everything can be
discussed.”

Fang Yuan didn’t speak and continued to walk, Gu Yue Dong Tu could only
follow beside him.

“If one thousand primeval stones won’t do, then how about two thousand,
no, two thousand five hundred.” Gu Yue Dong Tu kept on increasing the
offer.

Fang Yuan turned a deaf ear to Gu Yue Dong Tu, instead increasingly
having some expectations towards the family assets. On seeing how Gu Yue
Dong Tu was so anxious and was continuously raising the offer, the real
family assets should definitely be very good.
Gu Yue Dong Tu was perspiring, he saw Fang Yuan was not moved, his face
revealed a fierce look and he threatened, “Fang Yuan, think this through
clearly! What end will you have if you offend me, hmph, don’t blame uncle
for being cold-hearted if you miss an arm or leg in the future.”

Fang Yuan laughed.

This Gu Yue Dong Tu was really a lamentable person. He was bound by

rules and regulations; the water bag was clearly within his reach, but he
didn’t dare to snatch it. If he didn’t even have this much guts, how could he
succeed in fighting for the benefits?

Riches and danger went together. No matter which world, if you want to
obtain something, you need to pay its price.

“Fang Yuan, you think everything will be well after you get the family
assets! You are too young, you don’t have a clue about society and its
dangers!” Gu Yue Dong Tu snarled by Fang Yuan’s ear.

Fang Yuan shook his head and ignored him, walking into the internal affairs
hall in front of his glaring eyes.
Actually, he didn’t hate or even loathe this uncle of his.

He had seen a lot of such people and understood this type of people.

If Fang Yuan had enough primeval stones to support his cultivation, he

wouldn’t even fight for the family assets. But what good will giving such
insignificant benefits to uncle do?

For what reason was he reborn?

It was not for this momentary period, but to step to the highest peak. This
type of passerby, as long as they didn’t interfere with this and only raged
from the side, Fang Yuan would disdain to even step on them.

But unfortunately, this Gu Yue Dong Tu obstructed Fang Yuan’s path.

Since it was so, then he will stamp on this obstacle and move forward.
“Fang Yuan! Fang Yuan…” Uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu watched on as Fang
Yuan stepped into the internal affairs hall; his whole body shook and veins
bulged up on his forehead.

The light of the setting sun shone on his hair which was already turning
white.
He was indeed old.

When he sustained that injury at the age of twenty, he had already aged.
Chapter 102
Chapter 102: Spring comes after the winter winds

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Yuan arrived at the internal affairs hall and turned in the golden honey
wine.

The middle-aged male Gu Master in charge was very surprised. While

holding his pen, he asked, “You completed the asset mission already?”

“What do you think?” Fang Yuan retorted.

The middle-aged male Gu Master frowned, this was the mission he chose
specifically to make life difficult for Fang Yuan. To think he completed it so
quickly!

He looked at Fang Yuan, his eyes threatening, saying solemnly, “Young

man, answer whatever I ask you. If you do not reply honestly, it will affect
your evaluation. Let me ask you, did you complete this mission alone? Say
the truth, we will investigate thoroughly.”

“Of course I finished it myself.” Fang Yuan replied.

“Good, I will note that down.” The middle-aged Gu Master recorded while
laughing internally, you’re just a newbie, how could you complete it alone?
Such a falseful report, the clan would definitely investigate. You will have
trouble then.

But unexpectedly Fang Yuan continued, “But this situation is slightly

peculiar. That day I only went to scout out the area, but to think the bear
was digging the beehive. Using that chance, I retrieved this honey wine.”
“What?” The middle-aged man’s pen stopped, raising his head to look at
Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan shrugged, smiling, “What, did you think I could accomplish this
mission alone? To say the truth, this is all thanks to you, finding this
mission for me.”

The middle-aged Gu Master was stunned on the spot, a complex and

unexplainable feeling in his heart as he laughed dryly and continued to
record in the book.

Fang Yuan stared at this man calmly, knowing full well that his extremely
difficult asset mission was all ‘thanks’ to this man. Unfortunately, he had
already completed the mission; even if the clan investigates, Fang Yuan had
the appropriate set up already. He could stall Fang Yuan no longer.

Even if this matter was handled by him.

This is the grief of being in the system. Your status is the chain that restricts
your actions.

“Alright, your mission is complete, you can inherit the family asset already.
Except, your asset is all controlled by your uncle and aunt. The internal
affairs hall will retrieve it for you, come back in three days.” After
recording, the middle-aged man said.

Fang Yuan nodded, he knew this rule, but he stared at the middle-aged
man’s record paper, saying, “According to the clan rules, the internal affairs
mission record needs to be confirmed by the accomplisher on the spot.
Please let me see this record.”

The middle-aged man’s expression changed, he did not expect Fang Yuan to
be so familiar with the process. He snorted lightly while handling the report
to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan looked at the record without any problems. A few hundred
words with the final evaluation — Good.
He could immediately see the relationship between Gu Yue Dong Tu and
this Gu Master.

This evaluation was definitely fair, showing that the middle-aged Gu Master
did not give up on his work ethics just because of Gu Yue Dong Tu; the
reason he helped Dong Tu was only because of their friendship and the
transaction between them.

It was the ‘taking money to settle problems for others’ type of transaction.

Giving the report back to the middle-aged Gu Master, Fang Yuan left the
internal affairs hall.

Outside, Gu Yue Dong Tu was already gone.

Fang Yuan could not help but laugh coldly. Gu Yue Dong Tu’s influence
was not big enough to affect the internal affairs hall. Even if Gu Yue Bo the
clan leader wanted to do this, he would have to go against the immense
pressure from the clan elder circle and pay a huge price in his political
career.

There was a phrase on earth, called ‘those who live in the society has to
follow its rules.’

There were rules in the society, and that is a form of system. Those who
follow the rules, being anyone’s pawn piece, restrict each other, and it is not
up to them to control.

Unless an individual’s strength has reached the point where it can oppose
the entire organisation, otherwise, joining an organisation and wanting to
retain freedom was a pointless dream!

Borrowing the power of the clan system, Fang Yuan had already affirmed
the truth of getting back his assets.

Regardless of Gu Yue Dong Tu or the clan leader, they will not pay the
political price for interfering with such a small matter.

In the guest hall.

“Brother Dong Tu, there is nothing I can do anymore.” The middle-aged Gu
Master sighed, standing in front of Gu Yue Dong Tu.

Gu Yue Dong Tu’s face was grim as he remained silent on his seat.

“Are there really no more methods?” Beside him, Aunt fearfully asked in an
anxious and indignant tone.

The middle-aged man shook his head, “The results are set in stone and have
entered the internal affairs hall’s procedure. Unless the two clan elders in
power or the clan leader interferes. Brother Dong Tu, this internal affairs
hall’s inventory list states clearly the inheritance items and amount, please
return them all and don’t make my life difficult.” Saying so, he took out the
inventory list.

The inventory had a ton of records, from expensive items like estates to
cheap tables or chairs, other than that there were also the Gu worms that
Fang Yuan’s parents had left behind.

After a Gu Master dies of battle, their Gu worms would be retrieved as an

inheritance for their successor. This was a political move by the clan.

Aunt took a look at the list, before losing her composure, “Damn it, you
cannot do this! This is all ours, OURS! Hubby, say something, think of
something. Without these assets, what do we have left? Even our servants
will be gone by half, we cannot afford it! ”

Slap!

Gu Yue Dong Tu stood up and sent his palm flying towards Aunt, sending
her to the ground from her seat.

“Noisy bitch!” Uncle flew into a rage, scolding in an agitated tone, “Frog in
the well, the clan rules are there, you think you can choose not to return
them? Dumb, ignorant!” Aunt used her hand to cover her cheeks, beaten
into stupidity, lying on the ground in shock, staring at her husband blankly.
“Hmph!” Gu Yue Dong Tu grabbed the inventory list, gritting his teeth,
scanning through.

His eyes were filled with blood traces as he breathed heavily, saying with
hatred, “Return! All these things… I will return… NOT A THING LESS!!!
But…”

His veins popped from his forehead, the muscles on his face twitching, his
expression full of ruthlessness, “But Fang Yuan, I cannot stop the internal
affairs hall, yet I can deal with you. Don’t think everything is well and alive
now that you have these assets, hmph!”

Three days later, Fang Yuan walked out from the internal affairs hall with a
stack of house and land deeds and sold human contracts in his hands.

“To think this inheritance is so abundant.” He was slightly stunned.

Even though Fang Yuan had some estimations, after receiving this asset list,
it was way out of his expectations.

Over ten mu of farmland, eight family servants and three bamboo buildings,
and a wine tavern!

“No wonder uncle was so insistent, thinking of all ways to stop me.” Fang
Yuan could understand Gu Yue Dong Tu’s actions.

With such a large family asset, even in this world, one could live like a
king.

Ten mu of farmland, eight family servants, put this aside first. Those three
bamboo buildings were property assets — even if they were only rented
out, every month, the rental amount was enough to support Fang Yuan’s
current cultivation.

Other than that there is also a wine tavern. Note that there is only four wine-
selling areas in the entire village.

Such an asset, if on earth, would be equivalent to having several mansions

and a hotel, it is an aristocrat life with multiple servants.
What’s worth mentioning is, this world’s living conditions was way more
ruthless and difficult, thus the village being the safest location, priced the
property assets even more expensively than on earth.

“It is said that my Fang family, three generations ago, had a clan elder who
held power and left much inheritance for his future generations. With these
family assets, the seven Gu worms aside, even if that number doubled I can
still afford them! But the crucial point isn’t this. It is this grass Gu!”

At this point, there was a grass Gu lying quietly in Fang Yuan’s palm.

It was dainty and delicate, the emerald green roots resembling a ginseng’s
beard. There were some semi-transparent stolon that was like jadeite. Nine
pieces of round-shaped leaves that were jade green covered and reflected
each other, forming the shape of a round plate.

This was the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, the healing-type Rank two Gu worm.

If it came to normal healing, it had no difference from the Life breath grass.

The true value of the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass lay in its leaves – Every one
of the leaves torn from it was a vitality leaf.

Vitality leaf is also a type of grass Gu. At rank one, it is an expendable type,
disappearing after one use.

It had another flaw, and that was when a piece of vitality leaf is used to heal
injuries, within the next hour, other vitality leaves had no more healing
effect on the person.

But, all in all, it was easy to refine, and instantaneous healing together with
the easy feeding of it made it the most popular healing technique among
Rank two Gu Masters.

Healing Gu Master, every group needed one. But in times where multiple
Gu Masters were injured, what can a single Gu Master do? If the healing
Gu Master was the one who died, or got lost, what happens to the rest?
Thus, Gu Masters always prepared some healing methods for themselves,
and the vitality leaf was the best method. Every Gu Master that roamed
outside needed to prepare at least one or two.

“After I refine the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, every piece of leaf torn out
would be a vitality leaf. Using the primeval essence to inject into the grass,
I can make it grow new leaves. Thus, this Nine Leaf Vitality Grass can be
said to be a moving goldmine. The most important asset of all… without
exception. Having this Nine Leaf Vitality Grass is an avenue of business. In
this dangerous world, which Gu Master does not get injured on their
missions? They have a perpetual need for the vitality leaf.”

“No wonder Gu Yue Dong Tu was known as the ‘hidden elder’ even after he
retired many years ago; he still held great influence outside. So the reason
was this Nine Leaf Vitality Grass.”

Gu Masters needed the vitality leaf, and Gu Yue Dong Tu sold the leaf.
With such a relationship, it is no question that his influence remained.

Fang Yuan was enlightened.

“Only in this world are clan relationships raised to such a level, restraining
Uncle and Aunt. If this was earth, with such a conflict of interest, Fang
Zheng and I would already have had been killed by them. This is not good,
it seems I have some trouble ahead, Uncle and Aunt will not let go so
easily.”

“But I have already grown up with Rank two cultivation. If they want to
deal with me and also consider the clan regulations, they would be highly
restricted. Hmph, regardless of what they do, just show me what you’ve
got. Dealing with it as it comes, I will handle them all.”

Fang Yuan walked on the street, his eyes glimmering in brilliance.

A gust of winter wind blew on his face.

It was still far from spring, but Fang Yuan knew that ‘spring’ (start of his
new life) had already come.
Chapter 103
 Chapter 103: The larger your ambitions, the
smaller the world

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The wine tavern wasn’t big, but it was in a good location; it was at the
eastern side of the village near the eastern gate.

The flow of people was the largest at the eastern and northern gates. Thus,
the wine tavern’s business was pretty good whether it was day or night.

“Young lord, please take a seat.” An old man lowered his head to Fang
Yuan.

Few waiters wiped the benches and tables with a fawning and flattering
smile towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan shook his head. He didn’t sit, but walked around the tavern,
sizing everything. He thought inwardly, “This is my wine tavern.”

This wine tavern only had one floor, but it had an underground wine cellar.

Huge and square black tiles covered the floor. There were eight square
tables; two tables were set against the wall and other six tables were
surrounded by four benches.

A dark brown, long sales counter could be seen immediately upon entering
the wine tavern. There were papers, brush, ink stones and also an abacus on
the counter. Behind the counter was the liquor cabinet where all sizes of
wine jars were displayed. Some of these were large wine jars of black
pottery, and some were small and bright porcelain wine bottles.
Fang Yuan was walking around as he wished; the old man and waiters
didn’t dare to sit, they could only follow close behind.

They were restless, the news of the landlord changing was too abrupt. The
previous landlord Gu Yue Dong Tu was cunning as a ghost, he was strict
and acrimonious; they were under a lot of pressure. This boy in front of
them was actually able to take the wine tavern from Gu Yue Dong Tu’s
hands. Such a method of snatching was shocking. So these people’s gazes
towards Fang Yuan carried unease and fear.

Fang Yuan suddenly stopped, “It is good. But this store is a bit small.”

The old man immediately walked forward and bowed to answer, “Young
lord, we put sheds outside every summer and lay tables and benches. But it
is winter now and the wind is biting cold, no one would sit outside even if
we put up sheds. So we took them down.”

Fang Yuan slightly turned. He glanced at this old man, “You are the
shopkeeper?”

The old bent his waist even lower and said even more respectfully, “I dare
not, I dare not. Young lord, this wine tavern is yours, whoever you choose
as a shopkeeper is the shopkeeper.”

Fang Yuan nodded then glanced at the waiters; they all seemed to be
competent.

If it was on earth, he would be anxious that this shopkeeper and the waiters
would team up and scheme against him, the owner. But in this world, Gu
Masters were high and mighty, killing mortals would only require a
thought. Even if Uncle and Aunt egged them, these mortals wouldn’t dare to
go against Fang Yuan.

“Alright, bring the accounting books and bring me a pot of tea.” Fang Yuan
sat down.

“Yes, young lord.” The shopkeeper and waiters moved hurriedly.

There were as much as sixteen account books, and every book used bamboo
papers which had a light green hue. The bamboo papers were more brittle
than Xuan paper and were suitable for the damp atmosphere of the Southern
Border.

Fang Yuan casually picked up a few books and skimmed over them, asking
some questions occasionally.

The shopkeeper gave prompt replies; soon, his forehead was covered with
sweat.

Fang Yuan had created the Bloodwing Demon Sect and taught countless
people in his previous life. He was rich in experience and his eyes were
shrewd. Others might be confused and dazzled when they see the account
books; but in his eyes, all the doubtful points were as clear as crystal.

This wine tavern was the second biggest asset after the Nine Leaf Vitality
Grass; Fang Yuan naturally wanted to firmly grasp it.

There were only some small problems in the account books which could be
attributed to mistakes and negligence. These mortals didn’t dare to be
presumptuous.

However, when Fang Yuan turned to the last page, he saw that this month’s
income had already been taken by Gu Yue Dong Tu.

“Young lord, the previous landlord personally took it. We didn’t dare to
resist.” The shopkeeper replied while wiping his sweat. His aged body was
already trembling and his face had become very pale.

Fang Yuan was silent, he put down the account books on the table and
glanced at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper immediately felt a huge pressure as if a mountain was

pressing down on him. He was scared witless, kneeling on the ground.

Seeing the shopkeeper kneeling down, the waiters also astutely knelt down
one by one.
Fang Yuan calmly sat and turned his gaze towards them.

The waiters immediately felt like they were in a world of ice, they couldn’t
resist Fang Yuan’s aura. They were all silent.

To these mortals, the wine tavern’s work was both stable and safe, the ideal
job. They didn’t want to lose this job.

Fang Yuan stopped upon seeing that his authority had been established,
going too far could end up being detrimental. He slowly spoke, “I won’t
bother about the past matters. I saw that your wages are somewhat low;
waiter’s wages will be raised by twenty percent and the shopkeeper’s by
forty percent from now on. Work properly and you will get more benefits.”

Fang Yuan stood up and walked to the entrance.

The group of people kneeling on the ground were stunned for a good while
before coming back to their senses. All of their eyes brimmed with tears
that flowed down their faces.

“Thank you young lord for your great kindness!”

“Young lord is compassionate, we will definitely work with all our

strength!”

“Young lord, you are our benefactor, please take care.”

Tearful sounds came from behind, there were also crisp sounds of forehead
smashing on the black tiles from continuous kowtowing.

Use might alongside mercy, this was the only way the top controlled its
subordinates no matter in which world. Might was the foundation and under
this might, any small kindness would be magnified by countless times.

A benefit without might would only give a title of a good samaritan. But as
time passed, people would no longer feel grateful for such kindness and it
would instead result in greed and disaster.
“But these ways to control people are all unorthodox methods. It would be
highly esteemed on Earth, but in this world, raising one’s own strength is
the one true way. No, even on Earth, strength is first.”

Fang Yuan thought of the Scarlet Red Imperial Ancestor. (1)

In those days, the Scarlet Red Imperial Ancestor had gone through and
experienced a trial and he had come to a conclusion: Political power comes
from guns!
This was the naked truth — strength was the foundation of any political
power. So-called authority is only an accessory to strength.

Actually, not only authority, wealth and beauties were also derivatives of
strength.

Fang Yuan headed towards the three bamboo houses after leaving the wine
tavern.

These three bamboo houses were rented out by uncle and aunt; they were
practically full.

This world paid attention to more birth. To the ever-growing huge

population, the space in the village seemed narrow.

The clan had the system of the eldest son inheriting the property. Other sons
and daughters would have to rely on their effort. Even if a lot of people
relied on clan politics to get a meager split of the family assets and work
hard outside, they might not even be able to save enough to buy a bamboo
house in their whole life.

On one hand, raising Gu consumed a lot and on the other, the village had
limited space, so the house prices were very expensive.

They could naturally build house outsides the village but that was not safe.
Wild beasts and snakes would always roam around and could intrude into
the houses. Above all, every time a beast tide occurred, all the houses
outside the village would be destroyed.
Extending the village was the only way to solve this.

But extending meant the area to defend would increase and the village
wouldn’t be able to defend against beast tide’s attacks. Moreover, if the area
was big then it would be difficult to guard against and search for infiltrating
Gu Masters of other villages.

Gu Yue village had extended several times in history but had been
devastated by beast tides. After learning from this lesson, the current village
size was already the largest.

Fang Yuan skimmed through it and after understanding some situations, he

already got the picture.

These three bamboo houses were operated very well by Uncle and Aunt.
The rent was also customized to get more profits, so he might as well just
let it run like that. He calculated that the earnings from these three bamboo
houses were not as much as the wine tavern but the difference was not
much.

The overall situation was much better than Fang Yuan’s original
expectations.

Just the day before yesterday, he was left with nothing and had become so
poor that his primeval stones count didn’t even reach five. But now, all of a
sudden, he rose to the list of richest people in the clan.

The female tenants in these rented houses were all Rank two female Gu
Masters in difficulty. After knowing Fang Yuan’s identity, their gaze
towards him turned amorous.

If they could be near to Fang Yuan and get married to him, then they would
no longer have to rush about facing danger; their lives would be smooth and
steady.

Such a life was what they were pursuing and using all their strength to fight
for.
That is to say that if Fang Yuan wanted, he could retire and live a rich life
now like his uncle used to.

With a tap of a finger, many female Gu Masters would flock to him.

“But that is not what I want.” Fang Yuan stood at the second floor of the
bamboo house, letting female Gu Masters’ provocative gazes fall upon his
body. He frowned as he held the railings and gazed afar.

Far away, stretched of green mountains went on continuously, looking like a

sleeping giant with the gray-blue sky as its quilt.

The endless rivers and boundless earth, when can I move unhindered on
them?

Amidst the winds of change, dragons and snakes rise from the lands(2),
when can I look down upon all living things?

“Since rebirth, I have been drifting with the waves like a rootless
duckweed. I spared no effort to get the family assets; with this base, I can
be said to have become independent and gained my footing. Next would be
to unearth the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance and put all my effort in
cultivating to Rank three, then I can leave this village and go out to the
wide world!” Fire burned in Fang Yuan’s deep black eyes.

Qing Mao mountain was one of the countless mountains in the Southern
Border. And the Southern Border was only a corner of this world.

Too small, too small! How could such a place sustain his lofty ambitions?

Compared to his ambitions, these family assets – which others were

cracking their brains to obtain, which was a thing of yearning – was as tiny
as dust.

“Big brother, come down, I need to talk to you.” At some point in time, Gu
Yue Fang Zheng had reached the bamboo house. He looked up at Fang
Yuan and yelled.
“Hmm?” Fang Yuan’s train of thoughts were broken, he looked down at
Fang Zhen with an indifferent look.

The brothers’ eyes met; it was silent…

Younger brother Fang Zheng was downstairs and was shrouded by the
shadow of another house. He was facing up; his eyebrows were raised and
his two eyes were flickering with light.

Big brother Fang Yuan was upstairs; sunlight shone on him, his slightly
drooping eyes had pupils as dark as night.

Similar faces reflected in each other’s eyes.

As to his little brother’s appearance, Fang Yuan wasn’t surprised. Fang

Zheng was a weapon of Uncle and Aunt to fight for family assets.

And yet, so what?

Fang Yuan looked down at Fang Zheng, sighing inwardly, “A grade

aptitude, but is nothing more than a pawn…truly insignificant.”

(1) It’s referring to Chairman Mao. Writing his name directly in chinese
texts are taboo, it seems.

(2) 龙蛇起陆 – It’s along the meaning of ‘an earthquake is about to happen,
and all kinds of living creatures feel fretful and uneasy, they start to move
about lively. It’s a visualisation description.
Chapter 104
 Chapter 104: Want to buy the liquor worm?

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Eventually, Fang Yuan did not go downstairs, and his brother did not go up.

The two persisted, and the distance between the floors indicated that the
distance between the brothers were enlarging.

The talk was not smooth.

“Brother, you are just too much! To think that you are such a person!”
Downstairs, Fang Zheng stood, his brows creasing tightly as he screamed.

Fang Yuan was not angry, but laughed lightly, “Oh, what kind of person am
I?”

“Brother!” Fang Zheng sighed deeply, “After our parents died, Uncle and
Aunt adopted us. They have the gratitude of raising us. To think that you are
so heartless, returning favor with revenge. Big brother, is your heart made
of stone?”

Saying so, Fang Zheng’s tone was slightly trembling.

“So strange, this inheritance is rightfully mine, what is there to be said

about revenge and favour.” Fang Yuan retorted unenthusiastically.

Fang Zheng gritted his teeth, acknowledging, “Yes! I know, this inheritance
is from our parents. But you cannot take them all, you have to at least leave
some for Aunt and Uncle to let them enjoy their life in retirement, right?
Doing so, you really are making our hearts bitterly disappointed, you let me
look down on you!”
Pausing, he continued, “Did you ever return home to see the living
conditions that they are in now? Half the servants at home were already
retrenched, they cannot afford it. Brother, how can you be so cruel!”

Fang Zheng’s eyes were red, clutching his fist, he screamed at Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, he knew that Uncle and Aunt had controlled the
assets all these years and must have amassed a huge fortune. Even if this
was not so, just with the profits at the end of the month from the wine
tavern, they would be able to afford all those servants. They are only
pretending to be poor so Fang Zheng would come and find trouble.

Fang Yuan used his gaze to size up Fang Zheng and said directly, “My
adorable little brother, if I insist on not returning the assets, what can you
do? Although you are sixteen, you have already acknowledged them as
parents, don’t forget that. You have lost the rights to the inheritance.”

“I know!” Fang Zheng’s gaze had a divine light, “That’s why I am here to
challenge you to a written war challenge (1). On the arena, let’s have a
match to decide victory, if I win, return a portion of the family asset to
mother and father.”

This world’s Gu battles were like the Earth’s martial arts competitions.

Between clansmen, if they had unresolvable conflict, they could use this
method to settle the problem. There were many types of Gu battles — 1
versus 1, 2 versus 2, battle of arts, battle of strength, and life and death
battle.

Of course, Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng would not be so serious as to fight to
the death if they had a Gu battle.

Seeing the brother’s determined expression, Fang Yuan suddenly laughed,

“It seems that before this, Uncle and Aunt specifically told you huh. But, as
someone who lost to me before, you have such confidence of winning me?”

Fang Zheng squinted, unwillingly thinking of what happened not long ago
— the humiliation on the arena.
Ever since, every time he thought about it, rage would rise from his heart.
This rage was directed towards Fang Yuan as well as himself.

He hated himself for being useless, being frantic at the critical moment. As
a matter of fact, he had underperformed in that battle. His tempo was taken
away by Fang Yuan, and he only thought of using the Jade Skin Gu at the
last moment. In the end, he lost abruptly and very indignantly.

Fang Zheng’s anger towards himself fuelled even more intense indignance.

Thus, unavoidably, he had such a thought —”If I could redo it, I can
definitely perform better and defeat my older brother!”

Thus, when Uncle and Aunt complained to him, Fang Zheng not only
wanted to take back the inheritance for the two of them, but also wanted to
fight Fang Yuan again to prove himself.

“Things are different now, brother.” Fang Zheng looked at Fang Yuan, his
eyes burning with determination, fires blazing around him, “Last time, I
performed badly and lost to you. This time, I have successfully refined the
Rank two Gu worm Moon Raiment. You cannot break my defense
anymore!”

Saying so, he emitted a vague light blue fog around his body.

The fog enveloped him, and in the mist, it eventually formed into a long
floating ribbon.

The ribbon looped around his waist and coiled around his two limbs. (2)
The middle section of the ribbon drifted above his head, causing Fang
Zheng to give out a sort of graceful and mysterious magical breath.

“Indeed, it is the Moon Raiment, how foolish, revealing your trump card
like that.” Fang Yuan stood on the stairs, seeing this scene, his gaze
twinkled.

Moon Raiment was a Rank two Gu worm with defensive properties.

Although the defense was slightly lower than the White Jade Gu, it could
assist others in defending and had greater contribution towards small group
fights.

With this Gu in his hands, Fang Yuan really could not break Fang Zheng’s
defense with his bare fists. Sending the fist over was like hitting cotton,
absolutely losing its kinetic force.

Even if he used the Moonlight Gu, he could not breakthrough unless it was
the Moonglow Gu. Thus if Fang Zheng wanted to fight and invited Fang
Yuan to a Gu battle, according to the clan rules he has to accept. Without
revealing the White Jade Gu, Fang Yuan might really lose.

A grade is A grade, and with the clan leader’s nurture, Fang Zheng is
growing rapidly. It could be said that, during the academy phase, Fang Yuan
suppressed Fang Zheng. But now he had to admit, Fang Zheng was starting
to show the brilliance of a genius and was showing imposing threat to Fang
Yuan.

“But, you think I did not expect this?” Fang Yuan stared down at his
brother, his lips curling.

He said to Fang Zheng, “My persistent little brother, of course you can
challenge me. But have you gotten the approval of your teammates? If
during the battle, your group has to go on a mission, how would you
choose?”

Fang Zheng paused; indeed, he did not think of this.

He had to admit, his brother was right. The group had to work together, and
if teammates wanted to go on individual operations, they would need to
report first.

“Thus, you might as well go back, find that leader Gu Yue Qing Shu of
yours, and explain the situation. I’ll wait for you guys at the northern gate’s
wine tavern,” Fang Yuan said.

Fang Zheng hesitated slightly, then gritted his teeth, “I’ll go now, brother!
But let me tell you, delay tactics don’t work.”
He came to Gu Yue Qing Shu’s residence, and the family servant led him in.

Gu Yue Qing Shu was practising using his Gu.

His body was moving around in the garden’s arena stage, extremely agile
and fit.

“Green vine Gu,” he lightly said, and from his right palm, a green vine shot
out. It was around fifteen meters. Qing Shu grabbed the vine and used it as
a whip, splitting, coiling and sweeping around.

Pow pow pow!

The shadow of the whip swept across the floor, sending the concrete on the
broken ground flying.

“Pine needle Gu.” He suddenly kept the vine whip, and flipped his long
green hair.

Immediately, from among the hair pine needles shot out like rain.

The pine needles hit the wooden puppet not far away, piercing its entire
body and creating close and numerous pinholes.

“Moonwhirl Gu.” Next, he placed out his left palm, and a green-coloured
crescent insignia glowed in a bright green light.

With a flick of his wrist, the green moonblade was sent flying.

Different from the trajectory of a normal moonblade, this green moonblade

was more curved. While flying in the air, it travelled in an arc, making it
harder for enemies to predict.

“As expected of the number one Gu Master among the Rank two, Senior
Qing Shu! With such an attack, I can’t even last for ten breaths. He’s really
too strong.” Fang Zheng stared with his mouth wide open, forgetting his
original intention in the first place.
“Oh? Fang Zheng, why are you here. The previous mission just ended, you
have to rest more, got to keep that balance between work and rest!” Gu Yue
Qing Shu upon noticing Fang Zheng, kept away his fighting aura and
smiled gently.

“Senior Qing Shu.” Fang Zheng bowed to him respectfully.

This respect was sincerely from his heart. Ever since he joined the group,
Fang Zheng had been attentively taken care of by Qing Shu, and in Fang
Zheng’s eyes, Qing Shu was like an elder brother.

“Oh Fang Zheng, it seems you have business with me?” Qing Shu wiped
the sweat off his forehead while going towards Fang Zheng with a smile.

“It’s like this…” Fang Zheng said his intentions, as well as the entire story.

Hearing so, Qing Shu’s eyebrows slightly rose. The truth is that he had
heard a lot about Fang Yuan, and when compared to Fang Zheng, he was
more interested in Fang Yuan.

“Might as well meet him for once.”

Thinking so, Gu Yue Qing Shu nodded, “I have something to discuss with
your brother as well. In that case, let’s go together.”

Fang Zheng was overjoyed, “Thank you senior!”

“Hehehe, no need to thank me, we’re in the same group.” Qing Shu patted
Fang Zheng’s shoulders.

Fang Zheng could feel warmth in his heart, his eyes unwillingly turning red.

The two got to the tavern. A shop assistant had been expecting them all
along, and brought them inside.

On a square table by the window, there were several side dishes and two
wine cups, and a pot of wine.
Fang Yuan sat on one side, and when he saw Gu Yue Qing Shu, he smiled
and extended his hand, “Please sit.”

Gu Yue Qing Shu nodded to Fang Yuan. He took his seat, then said to Fang
Zheng, “Fang Zheng, go take a stroll around, I’ll talk with your brother.”

He was a smart person. Upon seeing only two wine cups, he knew that Fang
Yuan wanted to have a chat alone.

The truth is, he had such intentions as well.

Fang Zheng acknowledged and left the shop indignantly.

“I know you, Fang Yuan.” Qing Shu smiled, opening the wine pot skillfully,
pouring a cup for Fang Yuan and one for himself.

“You are a very interesting, smart person.” Saying so, he raised his cup
towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan laughed and raised his cup as well to return the toast.

The two drank it in one shot together.

Qing Shu poured another for Fang Yuan again, as well as for himself.

As he poured, he said, “There’s no point beating about the bush when

talking to a smart person. I’ll be open, I want to buy your Liquor worm,
how much would you sell it?”

He did not ask Fang Yuan if he was selling it, but asked directly — How
much, showing his immense confidence.

He was the number one Rank two Gu Master. At a young age, he reached
Rank two peak stage, overpowering the Rank two upper stage Chi Shan and
Mo Yan.

Once he appeared, he took the initiative and poured the wine and toasted
Fang Yuan.
His confidence together with his gentle smile formed a unique aura. It was
not overbearing and forceful which could make people disgusted, but it
made others feel his persistence.

His long green hair, and the winter sunlight shining through the window
and unto his fair, gently streaked face. This let Fang Yuan subconsciously
think of the bright and beautiful radiance of spring.

“A truly talented person. What a shame,” Fang Yuan thought.

He was not bothered by Qing Shu’s act of taking over the initiative. In fact
Fang Yuan was slightly appreciative of him, and he sighed lightly.

(1). Written war challenge – SHAOLIN SHOWDOWN!! Gu battle

showdown basically.

(2). If you really have no idea what it looks like, perhaps this link might
help (tell me if it ever gets broken?)
Chapter 105
 Chapter 105: I will lose extremely terribly

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Gu Yue Qing Shu was also an orphan like Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng.

His parents had died in a wolf tide when he was young.

He was personally raised by clan leader Gu Yue Bo.

After he was tested to have B grade aptitude, he received Gu Yue Bo’s

personal guidance. His aptitude was outstanding and could be said to be at
the top among the B grades, it could even be called ‘false A grade’. Gu Yue
Bo had been raising him as a clan leader candidate.

Gu Yue Qing Shu had a warm temperament and was amicable. He was
highly praised and received well by the clan members. He was also very
loyal to the clan; Fang Zheng’s arrival cut off his hopes of inheriting the
clan leader position, but he was instead happy and wholeheartedly took care
of Fang Zheng.

On Earth, Yue Fei(1), Wei Zheng(2) and Bao Zheng(3) were people with
such character.

Unfortunately, in the wolf tide a year later, the Northern gate would fall; to
block this gap and protect the clan members, he stepped forward. In the
end, he forcefully used a Rank three Gu with his Rank two cultivation,
becoming an impenetrable fortress and successfully defending the village.

However, his aperture was destroyed because of this and he finally turned
into a treeman and died.

Thus, Gu Yue Qing Shu had left a profound impression on Fang Yuan.
When he saw Fang Yuan sighing, Gu Yue Qing Shu naturally didn’t think
that Fang Yuan was looking back on his death and thought Fang Yuan was
vexed due to the Liquor worm.

He smiled, “Fang Yuan, you should already be clear on the limits of Liquor
worm. The Liquor worm is only a Rank one Gu worm and can only refine
Rank one green copper essence. But you are already a Rank two Gu Master;
the Liquor worm has no use towards red steel primeval essence. Although
you have a wine tavern now and can easily raise the Liquor worm, why
would you vainly raise something that has no use to you?”

He switched the thread of discussion, “The Liquor worm has no use to you
but it is useful to other Rank one Gu Masters. Especially in the awakening
ceremony next spring, there will be a new batch of students and the Liquor
worm will be of great help to them. So, you might as well just sell the
Liquor worm to the clan and contribute to clan’s strength.”

Fang Yuan didn’t reply.

Qing Shu pondered, guessing Fang Yuan’s intention, “I understand now.

You are reluctant to part with the Liquor worm, you even want to fuse it. If
I am not wrong, you should be thinking of going the route of the Rank two
White Chrysalis, then the Rank three Mist Perspiring butterfly fusion route,
right?”

“This is the most widespread and also the most practical recipe. The Mist
Perspiring butterfly is a great Gu worm. But the White Chrysalis has no
ability. This fusion route wouldn’t have much value to you. You have C
grade aptitude and now have Rank two cultivation; White Chrysalis doesn’t
have any ability and will only squander food, it will be of no help to you.”

“What is the possibility of you reaching Rank three? Even if you succeeded
in advancing to Rank three, you will probably be middle-aged by then. Will
you raise the useless White Chrysalis for tens of years? It will be better to
use the expenses of raising White Chrysalis on nurturing Gu worms. That is
more practical and will be more helpful to you, am I wrong?”
“Liquor worm’s true value lies in refining primeval essence and raising a
small realm. If you go through this fusion, you will only be treating the
Liquor worm as a material, won’t that be a pity?”

All Gu worms had only one ability.

For instance, the Spring Autumn Cicada was a Rank six Gu, but it only had
the ability of rebirth.

The new Gu worm that comes from fusion usually took an ability from one
Gu worm and enhanced it. White Jade Gu, for instance, took the defensive
ability of Jade Skin Gu and enhanced it, while losing the White Boar Gu’s
ability to gain increased strength.

That is to say, if someone obtained White Jade Gu, it would only help in
defense and couldn’t increase the Gu Master’s strength.

Qing Shu was correct, the Liquor worm’s value was in refining primeval
essence and raising its stage by a small realm.

To Gu Masters, this was another form of increasing their primeval essence

reserves while also being an enormous help in nourishing their aperture and
increasing their cultivation speed.

If one went through ‘White Chrysalis, Mist Perspiring Butterfly’ fusion

route, the resulting Gu worms won’t have the ability to refine primeval
essence which would truly be a pity.

In fact, Flower Wine Monk took this route and refined the Mist Perspiring
Butterfly from the Liquor worm, using it to enchant women and commit
evil acts. After his death, the Mist Perspiring Butterfly continued to
degenerate due to not having sufficient food and finally reverted back to
Liquor worm.

Qing Shu’s eyes flashed upon seeing the silent Fang Yuan and continued,
“Actually, our clan has a recipe; this recipe raises Liquor worm to Rank two
Moon Harbinger Gu then the Rank three Seven Fragrances Liquor worm.
Seven Fragrances Liquor worm has the ability to refine primeval essence.”
“Fang Yuan, if you don’t want to sell the Liquor worm, then we could
change it to a business transaction. You will sell the Liquor worm to the
clan and if the clan can refine it to the Seven Fragrances Liquor worm, you
will have the right to use it for five years. If it fails, the clan will
compensate for it. What do you think?”

Doing this meant the clan will bear all the risks for the fusion. With such a
superior condition, others might eagerly agree to it.

But Fang Yuan only sneered coldly in his heart.

He knew himself.

With his 44% C grade aptitude, advancing to Rank three was almost
impossible. In his previous life, Fang Yuan had stalled at Rank two for over
a hundred years before finally and coincidentally obtaining a talent-raising
Gu worm and becoming a Rank three Gu Master.

Five years of using rights sounded wonderful but to Fang Yuan, it was like
trying to catch the moon’s reflection in water.

Gu Yue Qing Shu had said so because he saw Fang Yuan’s ambitions to
charge to Rank three, so he intentionally threw this sweet bait to lure Fang
Yuan.

But he had miscalculated from the start!

In Fang Yuan’s memories, there was the best recipe for the Liquor worm
fusion.

First was advancing the Liquor worm to Rank two Four Flavors Liquor
worm then to the Rank three Seven Fragrances Liquor worm. Whether it
was Four Flavors Liquor worm or Seven Fragrances Liquor worm, both had
the ability to refine primeval essence.

However, it was not easy to refine the Four Flavors Liquor worm.

First of all, its fusion required two Liquor worms; Fang Yuan only had one
currently. Next, the fusion required four types of wine, and these four wines
should be of four different flavors: sour, sweet, bitter and spicy.

Let’s not talk about the difficulty in purchasing a Liquor worm with there
being hardly any supply of it in the market.

Let’s look at these four wines first.

Spicy wines were the most common, ordinary white spirit wine were all of
this type. For sour wines, you could get bayberry wine and grape wines;
rice wines could fit the sweet wine criteria. But as for the bitter wines, it
needed some thinking to be done.

From what Fang Yuan knew, there was a type of green bitter wine which
was brewed by using Ai grass. Unfortunately the Ai village was
immeasurably far away, how would he obtain it?

Fang Yuan had detained the Liquor worm not because he wanted to wait
and sell it for a high price. Rather, Fang Yuan had all along wanted to go
through this fusion route; using any other fusion routes could be counted as
ruining the Liquor worm.

How could Gu Yue Qing Shu know what Fang Yuan had in mind.

Seeing Fang Yuan not making any moves to agree at all, he threw his trump
card, “Fang Yuan, if you sell the Liquor worm, I can mediate between you
and Fang Zheng. At least, he won’t use the family assets to challenge you to
a Gu battle. You also know the clan rules; the challenge must be accepted.
Even if the Gu battle request is not approved by the higher-ups, it must first
be accepted. Even if you are sure of your defeat and don’t want to go to the
arena, directly throwing in the towel, you still need to accept the challenge.”

This world promoted martial spirit; clans didn’t need cowards. If there was
a challenge, Gu Masters must accept them. Accepting the challenge proves
that you are not a coward. Even if you admit your defeat in front of the
public, that too would be a conduct of courage.

Under the oppression of the ruthless environment, this had automatically

turned and formed into a system of values.
The clan’s higher-ups would arbitrate according to the results of the Gu
battles and resolve any problems and disputes.

The premise of a Gu battle was to have a reason. The challenger should be

in the right and the challenge should be reasonable, or the two parties could
both make an agreement similar to betting, only then would the Gu battle be
approved.

“Fang Zheng’s Gu battle request is reasonable and fair; it will be approved.

If this happens, no matter the result – whether loss or win – will be judged
by the elders. Who do you think the elders will side with between you and
Fang Zheng?”

Qing Shu’s smile became bigger, he looked at Fang Yuan with a burning
gaze and continued to add pressure, “Fang Yuan, if you win, you will
simply have to part with a tiny bit less of the family assets. But if you sell
the Liquor worm to the clan, you will be contributing to the clan. The clan
will remember you. I can also guarantee that Fang Zheng would never
challenge you on the basis of family assets.”

The implication was that Fang Zheng could still challenge Fang Yuan with
different reasons.

This was one of the things Gu Yue Qing Shu and Gu Yue Bo would be
happy to see. They hoped Fang Zheng would defeat Fang Yuan and break
the shadow in his heart to build up his self-confidence.

Fang Yuan suddenly smiled, he had been listening to Gu Yue Qing Shu’s
chatters from the beginning. And now, he finally spoke.

“You think I will lose if we fight?” Fang Yuan asked Qing Shu.

Qing Shu also smiled, “Fights are full of variations, no one can foretell
what might happen. However, I need to remind you, Fang Zheng has
already refined the Rank two Moonveil Gu; you won’t have much of an
advantage.”
“Hahaha.” Fang Yuan shook his head, and the smile on his face became
bigger, “I will lose, I’d definitely lose.”

Qing Shu stared blankly.

Fang Yuan stared into his eyes and continued, “Not only will I lose, I will
even lose very miserably. I will hand over all my parents’ inheritance, and
from then on I will sleep on the street and wander about begging in the
village.”

“You….” Gu Yue Qing Shu was smart, he understood Fang Yuan’s true
intentions. His expression became grave; no longer was it confident and
graceful.

Fang Yuan’s words were a bare threat.

Fang Zheng was being raised as the next clan leader; if it was made known
that he had recognized others as his parents, used his cultivation and
aptitude to bully his big brother, snatching the inheritance, then there would
be a devastating damage to his reputation.

Even on Earth, a person who did this would be shamed and disdained by
people. Let alone in this world where the values of family love was raised
to a whole new level.

It wouldn’t be anything if Fang Zheng wanted to become a devil. But he

was going to become a clan leader, a leader of the righteous path, and that
meant he needed to uphold virtue and cherish it.

For a moment, Gu Yue Qing Shu looked dazedly at Fang Yuan. He

discovered that despite hearing a lot about Fang Yuan, he had still
underestimated the latter.

The dominance that he built up from his many sentences since the moment
they met, had now crumbled with a bang.

Fang Yuan hit the nail on the head, directly indicating the main part to Gu
Yue Qing Shu.
If it was another person, Fang Yuan would have spoken differently. But Gu
Yue Qing Shu was someone who had extreme loyalty to the clan and in
Fang Yuan’s previous life, he would rather sacrifice himself to protect the
clan. Thus, he had no choice but to worry because of Fang Yuan’s threat.

However, he quickly calmed down, his eyes staring at Fang Yuan as he

spoke between clenched teeth, “But you won’t do this. Because the
inheritance has been your goal all along, how will you cultivate if you give
up the inheritance?”

Fang Yuan wasn’t afraid. He met Qing Shu’s gaze, his lips curled up in a
smile, “That’s why I believe you will give up the notion of buying the
Liquor worm and also persuade Fang Zheng to not challenge me, am I
wrong?”

Others might not be able to persuade Fang Zheng, but Gu Yue Qing Shu
had this capability.

Fang Yuan had no doubt on this.

The situation was in a deadlock.

After a moment, Gu Yue Qing Shu lowered his eyes.

He stared at the wine cup in his hand for a while and suddenly laughed.

“Interesting, we will do just that.” His tone carried a hint of melancholy.

(1). Yue Fei (岳飞) – [1103 AD – 1142 AD] Song Dynasty patriot and
general.

(2). Wei Zheng (魏征) – [580 AD – 643 AD] Tang politician and historian,
notorious as a critic, editor of History of the Sui Dynasty.

(3). Bao Zheng (包拯) – [999 AD – 1062 AD] Northern song official
renowned for his honesty.
Chapter 106
 Chapter 106: Half his life-savings gone to dust,
only his vitality remains for eternity

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

A day later.

On the futon, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged.

A large face-sized white light was an arms’ distance from his face, silently
floating.

Fang Yuan took out piece after piece of primeval stones from his money
bag and threw them into the light ball.

The white light contracted, but became more eye-piercing.

When it shrunk to a fist-size the white light was glaring, and Fang Yuan
could only squint his eyes to observe it.

“Probably the last piece…” Fang Yuan played around with the primeval
stone in his hand, knowing that the critical moment was here.

He tossed the primeval stone into the light ball.

He could vaguely see the primeval stone floating around in the light ball,
like snow dropping into boiling water, constantly melting away.

A large amount of rock powder fell on the ground.

The primeval stone vanished, and the light ball exploded!

With a bam, the three Gu worms flew in three directions. One fell on the
bed, while the other two flew to the walls, and then dropped to the ground.

Refining the Moonglow Gu had failed!

Fang Yuan’s heart sank. He quickly moved his finger, calling back his Gu
worms.

The Moonlight Gu and Little Light Gu wavered their way to Fang Yuan as
they floated around, slowly landing in his palm, but the other Little Light
Gu had no response.

It laid on the ground, its milky-white five star-shaped body gradually

dissipating into the air.

After a few breath’s time, it had completely vanished with no lingering

traces.

This was the price of a failed fusion — according to the different fusing
recipes, the Gu worm might get injured as a result, or when unlucky, might
even die.

Even with his rich experience, adding on to the fact that Fang Yuan could
multitask and had the right recipe, there was still a chance of failure.

Fang Yuan was not upset, he had seen such an event many many times. He
had already performed to his best, and if the result still failed, it could only
be attributed to luck.

“Luckily, it was not the Moonlight Gu that died, but the Little Light Gu. I
can just buy another one from the shop, it is easy to replenish. If the
Moonlight Gu died, it would not be easy trying to get another one.” He had
lots of cash now, even if one Little Light Gu died, he could just purchase
another one.

Next, he inspected the Moonlight Gu and the remaining Little Light Gu. On
the surface of both Gu, it was slightly dimmer than usual. This was the
result of an injured Gu due to fusion failure.
“Once a Gu worm gets injured, the chances of a successful fusion would
drop drastically. I have to wait for them to recover before I continue trying.”
Fang Yuan knew that haste does not bring success, and quickly kept the two
Gu.

He estimated the time, around at least three days later would he be able to
perform another try.

Cultivation did not end there.

Fang Yuan opened his right palm.

His left hand was pale, and on his palm, there was a green insignia with a
grass pattern, like a dark green tattoo.

Fang Yuan’s thought moved, and the primeval essence in his aperture began
to move, like light red fog flowing towards the insignia on his left arm.

The green insignia was instantly brought alive. From Fang Yuan’s palm, the
tip of the grass emerged, followed by the round leaves of nine dark green
leaves, lastly followed by the jade green transparent stem. As for the roots,
they were not exposed.

On his palm, the original dark green tattoo was gone, only leaving behind
traces of dark green lines. It represented the intertwining of the grass with
Fang Yuan’s palm.

It was the Rank two grass Gu — Nine Leaf Vitality Grass.

Right now, Fang Yuan’s palm was like a piece of land, and a Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass was growing on top of it, like the exquisite art made of jade
stone carvings.

Fang Yuan stretched out his right hand’s finger and plucked the leaves.

With every piece of round leaf that he plucked, Fang Yuan could feel a
slight pain himself, like the feeling of pulling his hair.
After the nine pieces were plucked and placed at the bedside by Fang Yuan,
there was only the bare stem of the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass left on his
palm.

Fang Yuan continued to deploy his primeval essence. The light red-coloured
Rank two primeval essence continued to rise from his palm like a cloud of
mist, and covered the jade green stem.

The stem continued to absorb the primeval essence, and eventually a bud
started to grow from deep within the stem.

This budding was pinkish green, small, delicate and very fragile, breaking
upon contact.

Fang Yuan continued to use his primeval essence, and the bud grew bigger,
its colour deepening. Eventually it grew into a piece of dark green colour, a
completely mature leaf.

“I used up 20% of my primeval essence.” Fang Yuan inspected his aperture

and concluded.

He only had 44% primeval essence in his sea, that meant that he could only
create two vitality leaves at one go.

After creating another piece, Fang Yuan grabbed a piece of primeval stone
and rapidly recovered the primeval essence in his aperture.

When the primeval essence rose to 40%, he nurtured the vitality leaf again.

Rinsing and repeating like this after half a day, he had finally made the Nine
Leaf Vitality Grass grow back to nine full leaves.

He did not pluck the leaves this time, but with a thought, kept the Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass back into his left palm, turning it back into a green insignia.

He took the leaves that he plucked and placed them into a small bag,
bringing it with him.
A piece of vitality leaf was a Rank one Gu worm, each worth around fifty
primeval stones in the market. This meant that with just these nine leaves, it
could allow Fang Yuan to earn four hundred and fifty primeval stones.

Of course, he incurred costs in creating them, but excluding costs, he still

profited around four hundred primeval stones.

Among all of the family assets, the most valuable one was no doubt this
Nine Leaf Vitality Grass. Owning it was tantamount to owning a gold mine!
And this Nine Leaf Vitality Grass had an advantage too — it was easy to
feed. It only needed water and sunlight to survive, thus there was virtually
no cost in raising it.

To Fang Yuan, he could give up all the other family assets, but for this Nine
Leaf Vitality Grass, he needed to grasp it firmly in his hands!

Of course, this type of Nine Leaf Vitality Grass Gu was not owned by Fang
Yuan alone. In the village, others held this grass Gu as well.

In fact, there were five Nine Leaf Vitality Grass Gu that was collective
property owned by the clan. Everyday there were specialized Gu Masters
whose missions were to create large numbers of vitality leaves.

To Fang Yuan, this is a good thing.

If he alone had the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, the clan would definitely strike
and buy this grass Gu by force. Just like how Gu Yue Qing Shu represented
the clan and came to buy his Liquor worm.

Precious Gu like Liquor worm, Black and White Boar Gu and the Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass, the clan higher-ups all wanted to control it and make it
useful for the whole clan.

Three days later.

A light ball under Fang Yuan’s supervision suddenly exploded, and a new
Gu worm floated in midair slowly.
It was sparkling and translucent, bent like a crescent, resembling a piece of
water blue crystal. In a nutshell, it was like the Moonlight Gu that was
enlarged in size by twofold.

Yet it was not the Moonlight Gu, but the higher-ranking Rank two
moonglow Gu.

This time, Fang Yuan’s fusion succeeded.

The Moonglow Gu is made by fusing a Moonlight Gu and two Little Light

Gu. A Little Light Gu can raise the power of the moonblade by 100%, but
two Little Light Gu still raised its power by 100%, this boost was not
additive.

But the refined Rank two Moonglow Gu, its attack power reached three
times of the Moonlight Gu!

Actually, there are many different recipes to refine the Moonlight Gu, and it
has many advancement paths.

Fang Yuan took this path to raise the moonblade’s attack power to the limit.
The attacking range remained unchanged, it still had a scope of ten meters.

There was a route — using the Moonlight Gu and the Stone Scar Gu to
perform fusion, the result would be the Moon Scar Gu. Its attack power
remained unchanged, but the range doubled, reaching twenty meters.

There was another common route, which was using the Moonlight Gu with
the Whirlwind Gu to fuse, creating the Moonwhirl Gu. Using it, the
moonblade turns from blue to green, and at the same time its attack
trajectory becomes curved. Gu Yue Qing Shu took this path.

As for Gu Yue Fang Zheng, he used the Moonlight Gu and Jade Skin Gu to
create the Moon Raiment. This was a rare route and had an upper limit of
Rank five, becoming the Moonlight Treasure King Gu.

However, having a Rank five recipe did not mean it was definitely possible
to create a Rank five Gu worm.
Many Rank five Gu Masters did not have a single Rank five Gu in their
possession.

What causes this awkward situation is not a lack of ingredients, but the
success rate.

Gu fusion was not a 100% success rate. The higher the ranking of the Gu
worm you are trying to refine, the lower the success rate. In his previous
life, Fang Yuan’s Spring Autumn Cicada had a success rate of less than 1%,
and it failed countless times. Sometimes, he was lucky and less Gu worms
died; other times, all the Gu worms died together.

To refine the Rank six Spring Autumn Cicada, it needed all Rank five Gu
worms. Once these Gu worms die, all of Fang Yuan’s hard work and
accumulation would go up into smoke, becoming an illusion.

Fang Yuan failed countless times and started over many times, fusing once
again and collecting Gu worms and special ingredients all over again.
Eventually, he caused too much of a commotion and incurred a public
outrage, causing the will of the people to become disorganised, and many
deaths forming seas of blood and floating corpses.

He was lucky though, as he finally succeeded and obtained the Spring

Autumn Cicada.

But once he obtained this Rank six Gu, all the righteous cultivators who
were eyeing his Gu all along came to attack, and before he even got a
chance to familiarise himself with the Gu, he suicided.

Thousands of millions of years, it was because of this disgusting failure rate

that caused many high-ranking Gu Masters to waste their efforts, and go
back to square one.

The only way was to slightly curb this failure rate.

And that is —

Vital Gu.
No matter the fusion result, failure or success, the vital Gu never dies. At
most it gets injured.

Why?

Many people guessed that it was because the vital Gu is the Gu Master’s
first Gu worm and is linked to the Gu Master’s life, forming a mystical
relationship and connection.

As long as the Gu Master is alive, if the vital Gu’s fusion fails, at most it
would be almost dead.

Of course, the other Gu worms used in the fusion had a possibility of death.

Even so, a portion of the Gu Master’s fruits and labour can be preserved
and accumulated.

The vital Gu is the Gu Master’s greatest fortune and fallback. Whatever the
vital Gu is, it can to a large extent affect the Gu Master’s development path.
Conversely, Gu Masters also find new recipes aggressively to raise the level
of their vital Gu.

Some Rank two and Rank three garbage recipes, to Gu Masters, it worsened
their future prospects.

When Fang Yuan found that the Spring Autumn Cicada had become his
vital Gu, why was he so happy?

This was why.

The Spring Autumn Cicada was an extremely rare Gu worm, allowing

others to rebirth, it was a heaven-defying ability. No matter how it is
refined, it will not die. If this was Fang Yuan’s previous life where the
Spring Autumn Cicada was not his vital Gu, if he continued refining, it
could potentially die.

Spring Autumn Cicada was Rank six, something many Gu Masters would
never be able to reach in their lifetime. An extremely large number of Gu
Masters did not even have a Rank six recipe, and are still desperately
searching!

Spring Autumn Cicada, although unable to be used to its full potential by

the current Fang Yuan, was still his greatest treasure. The Flower Wine
Monk’s inheritance compared to this, was a difference between heaven and
earth.
Chapter 107
 Chapter 107: Skillfully earning primeval stones,
ill-intent customers come to wreck havoc

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The cold snow came to an end, and spring wind took its place.

Without realising it, winter had already passed, and the days of spring
arrived.

The frozen mountain creek began to flow again. The ice cones under the
eaves of bamboo buildings and trees were sparkling and translucent,
dripping water in the sunlight.

In the morning, the wine tavern was quite empty, there were not many
drinkers.

Fang Yuan sat inside at the seat near the window. According to his request,
the surrounding was covered by wooden plank screens, creating a small
room for him.

A gust of wind blew in from the window, and the fresh and fragrant smell of
the earth was wedged between the air, letting people who smelled it feel
carefree and pleased.

Jiang Ya sat opposite Fang Yuan, his face full of smiles.

“These are the primeval stones this time, please confirm it.” He took out
four money bags, placing them on the table and pushing it towards Fang
Yuan.

What was inside the money bag was naturally primeval stones.
Fang Yuan did not open them one by one, but checked their weight by
holding them in his hand.

He had over a hundred years of experience making deals and transactions,

so he could easily tell the number of primeval stones in his hands. One less
and he could immediately tell.

This was nothing special, to be honest.

On Earth, there was an oil seller who placed a coin on the bottleneck and
dripped oil inside, where the oil dripped in a line and entered the bottle
through the tiny hole without any spillage. There was another divine shooter
who could shoot tree leaves at 100% accuracy from a hundred meters away.
There was also a butcher who worked for many years, using his hands to
check the weight, he could tell their exact weight and when scaled, was
exactly as he said.

How to train such a skill?

Nothing else but ‘practise makes perfect’!

Accumulation of experience, when enough, can stir up a miracle.

After his rebirth, this kind of experience was naturally brought over as well.
Fang Yuan used his hand to check, and on finding no problems, he then
took out a small cloth bag and gave it to Jiang Ya.

Jiang Ya received it with both hands and opened the bag, checking the
quantity carefully.

Although Fang Yuan had nine vitality leaves in his possession, he did not
plan to sell it himself. If it was Gu Yue Dong Tu, he would rather do this to
sustain his social relationships and increase his influence.

But Fang Yuan was reluctant to do this. It wasted too much time and effort.
Thus, he sold them all to Jiang Ya who was a shop owner, so Jiang Ya could
sell the Rank one healing grass Gu to the clansmen.
Jiang Ya is Jiang He’s brother, and when Fang Yuan was searching for the
Liquor worm, they met before. His brother was even Fang Yuan’s half-
alliance mate, thus, having him take over the transaction and sell to the
clan, was a reliable method.

“One, two, three… nine. Indeed, it is nine vitality leaves.” Jiang Ya counted
three times before closing the bag and carefully keeping the bag close to his
body.

Next, he raised his cup, toasting to Fang Yuan. “Lord Fang Yuan, happy
doing business with you, let me toast you!”

His gaze towards Fang Yuan carried deep admiration, even turning into a
hint of jealousy.

A year ago, when it was also spring. The first time he met Fang Yuan, the
latter was still a student at the academy, not even having the rights to wear
the Gu Master’s battle attire.

But now, Fang Yuan was not only wearing battle attire, his belt was also red
colour, and a square steel piece in the center of the belt — a Rank two Gu
Master!

However, he himself was still a Rank one, carrying a green coloured belt.

Nevermind that, what made him jealous was, after getting the inheritance,
Fang Yuan turned from a pauper into a tycoon.

He owned the wine tavern, bamboo buildings as well as the nine leaf
vitality grass. It was all fortune that Jiang Ya would never be able to earn
throughout his lifetime!

But, Jiang Ya did not dare to show his deep emotion of jealousy.

Fang Yuan sold the vitality leaves to him and allowed him to earn the
difference in price. Fang Yuan is already his money tree, and Jiang Ya no
longer dared to offend this junior.
“Sigh, comparing among people is odious…..” Jiang Ya held the cup. His
face was full of smiles, but in his heart, he was sighing deeply.

Fang Yuan raised his cup and drank it in one shot.

Jiang Ya’s expression although secretive, with Fang Yuan’s old fox wits,
how could he not tell?

Fang Yuan did not put it to heart, for if Jiang Ya was not jealous, it showed
that he had much greater heart, and that would make Fang Yuan think more
highly of him.

But, he stared at Fang Yuan’s small fortune and got jealous, this showed
how little his world was, insignificant. Drinking with him was solely
because he still had some value to exploit.

Jiang Ya put down the cup, excitedly saying, “The clan’s vitality leaves are
sold at fifty-five primeval stones a piece. I followed your instructions and
only sold our grass Gu at fifty primeval stones, and the demand is
overwhelming! Lord, why don’t you make more leaves daily, that way we
can earn much more!”

Fang Yuan listened and slowly shook his head, rejecting outright, “No,
creating nine leaves is already my limit, it is already wasting much of my
cultivating time.”

This was the difference between Fang Yuan and a mere frog like Jiang Ya.

In Fang Yuan’s perspective, primeval stones were just a cultivating

resource, a tool. It is all for his cultivating needs. However, Jiang Ya treated
primeval stones as his life goal, thus he cultivates in order to earn more
primeval stones.

But even if Fang Yuan only made nine leaves a day, he could earn four
hundred primeval stones daily, and with the accumulation, the fortune in his
hands also grew to an amazing level.
Seeing Fang Yuan’s rejection, Jiang Ya did not dare to push his luck, only
moving his lips in pity, then continuing to pour wine for Fang Yuan
enthusiastically, and then for himself.

“Indeed.” He exclaimed, “Lord has such great fortune, you do not have to
waste time and effort daily. In my opinion, why does lord have to stay in
that poor old rented flat? Why don’t you empty out a bamboo building and
stay there yourself. Then marrying a beautiful wife, and having seven or
eight family servants to take care of you. That is truly the dream life.
Hehe.”

Fang Yuan laughed lightly, not saying anything.

How could a farmer understand the ambitions of the conqueror!

He turned around, looking outside the window.

House after house, the bamboo roofs had remnant snow, bathing under the
bright and beautiful light of spring. Faraway was a willow tree, the
branches of yellow-green soft leaves rolling down, gently swishing in the
soft spring breeze.

Fang Yuan’s gaze was slightly blank as he thought about his current
predicament.

After solving the problem of Fang Zheng, the family asset could be said to
be in the bag.

The White Jade Gu and Moonglow Gu were successfully refined, he now

covered attack and defense. What came next was the Liquor worm.
But the Liquor worm was troublesome. To refine the Four Flavour Liquor
worm, he needed a second Liquor worm, as well as sweet, sour, bitter and
spicy — four types of wine. These things, he had no idea where to get.

“I definitely have to refine the Liquor worm. Without it, my progress will
be slower by at least half. But to refine the Four Flavour Liquor worm, I
will need to wait for the caravan and borrow that chance to showcase my
White Jade Gu. That way, I can show off my true fighting strength and stop
hiding my abilities.”

Fang Yuan had the Moonglow Gu and the White Jade Gu. Together with his
five hundred years of combat experience, he was stronger than most Rank
two Gu Masters.

Slightly famous group leaders like sickly snake Jiao San, if fighting one on
one with Fang Yuan, might not be his match.

But against Chi Shan, Mo Yan and Qing Shu, Fang Yuan was still weaker.

One was insufficient cultivation level, Fang Yuan was only a Rank two
initial stage, but they were upper or even peak stage. Next was the lack of
strong Gu worms. Fang Yuan only had two battle Gu worms, but they all
had at least three and even hidden trump cards.

Among the same age group, Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng were
already showing their dominance, no doubt.

Especially Fang Zheng, now that he had obtained the Rank two Moon
Raiment, he already has the ability to fight with Fang Yuan. As time passes,
his cultivation level will get higher and eventually he will leave Fang Yuan
in the dust.

Unless Fang Yuan can fuse the Four Flavour Liquor worm and maintain the
same cultivating speed as Fang Zheng.

As for the higher ranks, those Rank three or Rank four Gu Masters.

To Fang Yuan, battle results aside, even keeping his life is a difficult thing,
not to mention challenging a higher rank.

Transcending rank was very difficult, one was that Fang Yuan did not have
trump cards, and two he does not have talent. Even with his rich fighting
experience, a woman cannot cook without rice, without a strong Gu worm,
his experience cannot display their worth.
“If I can successfully fuse the Four Flavour Liquor worm, my cultivating
speed will be satisfactory. But I also have to replenish my Gu worms.
Defense I have White Jade Gu, offense I have Moonglow Gu, healing I
have nine leaf vitality grass, but I need a movement-type and recon-type
Gu, these two although are support types, they can cover up my weakness
and at least triplefold my fighting strength!” Fang Yuan pondered.

He did not need to learn step by step, with his rich life experience, he
already knew the direction to take.

Beside him, Jiang Ya’s voice came, “I heard, recently someone is finding
trouble with you, lord? Purposely finding trouble at your bamboo building
and wine tavern?”

Fang Yuan frowned, his train of thoughts were broken.

But Jiang Ya was right.

Fang Yuan had investigated, this was his uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu’s act.

After Gu Yue Qing Shu warned his uncle, he did not dare to use Fang
Zheng to instigate trouble anymore. But after waiting for a while, the
indignance and anger in his heart rose, and using his relationships, he got a
few Gu Masters to find trouble at Fang Yuan’s places.

People who do business hate these kinds of problems.

Thus, recently, he had been finding time to look after the locations.

“Owner, someone is finding trouble again.” At this time, a clerk carried a

scared expression and walked towards Fang Yuan.

“Oh?” Fang Yuan’s brows raised, not expecting to encounter this

immediately.

Not waiting for Fang Yuan to react, Jiang Ya stood up abruptly, eagerly
saying, “Wait a moment lord, let me go see.”

He walked out of the partition and came back almost immediately.

“It is Gu Yue Man Shi!” Jiang Ya’s expression was pale, suppressing his
voice. His gaze revealed shock and worry.

Gu Yue Man Shi?

Fang Yuan did things carefully and knew the importance of information.
During this period, he had gotten the information of all the Rank two Gu
Masters in the clan, and memorised most of them.

Gu Yue Man Shi is a slightly famous Gu Master, specializing in defense and

having a great strength, being the Man Shi group’s leader. In terms of fame,
he was higher than Jiao San by a little.

Bam!

Smashing sound came from outside.

Thereafter, a coarse and arrogant voice resounded, “Blah, what sort of wine
is this? Tastes like horseshit, you dare sell this to me?”

“Hmph!” Fang Yuan’s gaze shone with cold light as he stood up.
Chapter 108
 Chapter 108: That pair of eyes!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Jiang Ya saw that Fang Yuan intended to go out, and hurriedly stopped him
—”Lord Fang Yuan, a wise man does not fight when the odds are against
him. This Man Shi is very strong, one of the few people who managed to
escape for their lives from Bai Ning Bing, he cannot be underestimated.”

“Using his loss as a glorious fame, what fear is there for these kinds of
people?” Fang Yuan laughed lightly, stretching his hand to put it on Jiang
Ya’s shoulder, “Just sit here and drink away.”

“Lord…” Jiang Ya was about to urge again, but he met with Fang Yuan’s
icy gaze.

The chilliness in Fang Yuan’s eyes caused his heart to stop.

He was tongue-tied, helplessly sitting on the chair again while Fang Yuan
took a few strides and left the partitioned room, walking towards the main
hall.

He saw that at the center on a square table, a Rank two Gu Master had one
foot stepping on a stool while another stepping on the table.

His body was slightly short, but his arms and waist were thick. With a thick
black beard, extending downwards from his cheeks to meet at his chin, his
body emitted a strong aura of ferociousness.

The ground near him had broken wine pot fragments, and most of the liquor
had seeped into the ground along the concrete cracks on the floor.
Only two or three puddles of wine accumulated on the surface, or in the
broken pots.

The shopkeeper old man bowed his head low as he apologised in

trepidation, “Lord please be appeased, if this wine is not to your
satisfaction, the shop will give you another brew free of charge!”

“Hmph, I don’t want wine! Your wine tastes like shit, why are you opening
a shop. Compensation, I must be compensated! My good mood was ruined
by you guys, you have to compensate me at least five hundred primeval
stones!” Man Shi demanded a ridiculous amount.

“This is the third time already, it seems this wine tavern has offended some
people.”

“Sigh, let’s not drink here anymore.”

“Quick, go, when Gu Masters fight, we mortals suffer.”

The surrounding people frantically left their seats, only a few Gu Masters
remained and continued their chat.

“I heard this tavern is opened by Fang Yuan, who is it that is finding fault
with him?”

“Oh! The one whose parents died and inherited their fortune, the lad who
got rich overnight?”

“No wonder people are doing this, even if it is me, I’d be jealous. Just think,
we fight for our lives out there for these fortunes to live a stable life. But he
Fang Yuan is merely a newbie, what rights does he have to obtain these
things!”

“That’s right, even if his ancestors are taking care of their future
generations, times have changed. The clan’s resources are limited. Everyone
can only get a small piece of the pie. How can he, a C grade talent, enjoy
such fortune at this age? Preposterous!”
“Is Man Shi trying to anger him into a duel? If they had a Gu fight, he
might be able to get a piece of the pie.”

Someone shook his head, “Heh, you think those clan elders are fools?”

Someone nodded, “Could be true. The clan policies are there, haven’t you
guys understood from all these years? To a degree, they allow us to
compete, the strong should get more resources, isn’t that right? If the weak
cannot protect their assets, they would have to give it up. It is all for the
clan’s prosperity!”

“Mm, makes sense. Let’s see first. There’s something going on here. I heard
that Man Shi has a retired elder behind him,” someone suppressed his voice
and said.

“Who dares to leave, all of you stand there, no one is to leave!” On the
table, Man Shi suddenly shouted.

Those mortal drinkers were already at the doorstep, but did not dare to
disobey, they all stood at the spot in horror. Some of the pedestrians found
that there was drama going on and they went to the doorstep, stopping to
watch the show.

“Purely here to find trouble!” Fang Yuan upon seeing this scene, his face
was emotionless, but his eyes glinted with cold light.

Man Shi saw him.

“Oh? You are that Fang Yuan right. Junior, your wine tavern is cheating my
money with your horrible wine. However, since you are a newbie, I’ll give
you a chance to repent and apologise in public. If not others will say that I,
Man Shi is bullying a junior with my status. Hahaha!”

Man Shi laughed loudly, “As long as you apologise and bow to me, this
matter will be over. I walk my talk, I will do as I promised!”

He patted his chest in thunderous volume, showing an air of magnanimity,

but his intention could not lie to the surrounding Gu Masters.
“What a bastard move.”

“That’s right, If Fang Yuan apologised, he would no longer be able to raise

his head, and anyone would come over and step on him and bully his
weakness. But if he does not apologise, that is disrespecting a senior, and
with such an attitude, the entire community will keep him away.”

“Yeah, he’s stuck with two difficult decisions… oh my, what the fuck!!!”

The Gu Masters whispered, but suddenly someone’s mouth went wide

open, able to swallow a duck’s egg.

The remaining Gu Masters were in a similar state.

Some stared until their eyeballs almost fell out.

Some choked and spilled out the wine in their mouths.

Some stared in utter disbelief, like statues.

They were here to watch a show, an enjoyable show.

In the end, Fang Yuan not only satisfied their wish, but also gave them a
great “surprise”. The young man instantly flicked his wrist and shot a
moonblade out.

Pew!

The moonblade of the Moonglow Gu!

The eerie blue crescent fang flew in the air, as large as a face. Trailing along
a square desk, it was quickly cut like tofu into two halves.

“Eh?!” Man Shi’s laughter stood, his pupils dilated as the moonblade
became increasingly larger in his eyes.

In the blink of an eye, the eerie blue moonblade was already near his face,
showing every single strand of his moustache with its glow.
Facing strong feelings of death, at the very last moment, Man Shi screamed
out in panic, “Monolith Gu!”

Immediately, his entire body had a deep grey light. His skin turned and
became rock skin.

But before it had fully grown, the moonblade had already hit his chest.

With a light sound, the rock skin tore open and Man Shi’s chest became a
large diagonal injury. Blood spilled and poured out of his large wound.

“Ah—!” Intense pain rushed through his nerves as Man Shi shouted out in
horror, his voice full of disbelief and shock.

He had never expected Fang Yuan to attack immediately without a single

word.

He dared to attack!

In the village, directly using a Gu worm and attacking a clansman?!

Not to say Man Shi, even the onlookers showed utter disbelief, and were
lost for words.

“What situation is this, is this lad crazy?!”

“Not saying a word and immediately going for a fatal attack! Isn’t he afraid
of killing Man Shi and being arrested by the punishment hall, paying for his
crimes?”

“Young men are way too rash.”

“Did you guys see that moonblade? It is definitely not the Moonlight Gu
but the Moonglow Gu, to think Fang Yuan succeeded in his fusion already.”

“Fang Yuan, what are you doing?!” Man Shi stood on the square table,
tearing his throat and screaming in a thunderous volume with a face full of
ruthlessness.
His entire body’s muscles bulged, growing into rock skin at a deeper
intensity. The injury was also covered by the rock skin, but large amount of
blood still poured out, although less of a fountain.

Fang Yuan’s face was calm as he continued his walk. He did not talk, or
rather, he did not have the intention to talk.

He made another move to reply to Man Shi.

Another moonblade!

Pew.

The moonblade flew across the short distance and shot out.

“You!” Man Shi had no time to talk, but raised his arms and protected his
brain and chest.

His limbs were covered with a thick deep grey coloured rock, as if arms
made from a statue, sturdy and thick.

The moonblade hit his arms, cutting a deep wound, numerous small rock
fragments flying out.

The moonblade’s strength caused Man Shi’s body to fly backwards.

His entire body was made of rocks, causing his weight to rise drastically.
Finally, the table under him could not bear the weight, and with a crack, it
collapsed completely.

Man Shi lost his footing and fell on the ground, his defenses revealing a
weakness.

Fang Yuan walked slowly, his eyes shining in cold light as he captured the
weakness, and fired another moonblade at it.

The moonblade tore through the air and emitted a swooshing sound of the
wind.
Man Shi hurriedly raised his hands, but he underestimated Fang Yuan’s
intense battle experience. Although the moonblade was moving straight, it
tunneled for an angle not parallel to the ground.

Man Shi’s arm could block half of the moonblade, but the other half hit his
chest.

Injury on top of injury, Man Shi’s chest had even greater blood loss now.

“Is, is he going to kill him?” The Gu Masters who were originally sitting on
the seat could not stand it any longer, and they all got up.

The mortals did not dare to make any noise. They watched in fear and
anticipation.

Gu Masters killing each other, it triggered something that had been

repressed in their hearts all along.

Man Shi breathed heavily, wanting to climb up. But due to his injuries, the
intense pain caused his hard work to be wasted as he crashed on the ground
once again with a thump.

Fang Yuan walked over slowly.

Man Shi lost a lot of blood, and his face was pale. He stared at Fang Yuan
in horror. Fang Yuan was walking slowly with a cold expression, getting
closer, bringing him greater pressure by the second.

“Fang Yuan, you cannot kill me! Killing me, you will be arrested by the
punishment hall!” Man Shi pushed against the floor, trying to move
backwards.

He was still bleeding, and along with his body, carved a bright red line on
the concrete.

The gallery was silent.

Everyone was stunned by Fang Yuan’s cold aura and held their breaths as
they wanted. Nobody felt that Man Shi was a worthless piece of shit.
Without any composure, they would not have fared any better if they were
in his shoes.

Fang Yuan walked to Man Shi, raised a leg and harshly stepped on his chest
injury.

The pain caused Man Shi to draw in a cold breath.

Fang Yuan continued to stomp, and Man Shi began to feel immense pain;
like a wild boar charging around was trampling him repeatedly.

He could not endure it any longer, screaming loudly. Even with the thick
rock skin’s protection, his chest was still enduring great pressure from Fang
Yuan, and the injury area was still overflowing with blood.

More importantly, Fang Yuan’s right hand was covered in an eerie blue
moonlight, held in place but not fired yet.

This was the symptom before a moonblade attack. Man Shi thought this
worriedly as he did not dare to move a muscle.

“You, you cannot kill me!” He stared with his eyes wide open, growling in
difficulty.

“I won’t kill you.” Fang Yuan said the first sentence since he arrived.

His tone was flat, and in the dead silent wine tavern, it reverbed into
everyone’s ears.

“But I can cripple you, breaking one of your arms, or a leg. According to
the clan rules, I have to compensate you a number of primeval stones and
be imprisoned for some time. But what about you? Your remaining life
would be spent in bed, your injury would reduce your battle capability
greatly, and you shall no longer be able to execute missions. Do you think
this result is acceptable for you?” Fang Yuan stared down at the sprawling
Man Shi, slowly reasoning.

The emotionless voice travelled into Man Shi’s ears, causing his heart to
stop and his body to shudder.
He opened his mouth, breathing heavily, his brain becoming more chaotic.
Fang Yuan’s leg exerted strength that made him feel like he was being
crushed by a rock, making him feel harder to breathe.

“Damn it, damn it! If I was on guard, if I was not caught off guard and were
injured at the start, how could he… Urgh!”

Man Shi’s voice came to an abrupt stop as his gaze met with Fang Yuan’s
eyes.

He lay on the ground, staring upwards.

Fang Yuan’s half-narrowed eyes, dark and eerily looking down on him.

Just what sort of pair of eyes was that?

If it was full of killing intent, Man Shi would not be afraid. However, this
pair of eyes was filled with indifference.

This indifference was like arrogance towards reality, the disdain towards
people of the world, the trampling of life and the abandonment of rules!

“This pair of eyes, this pair of eyes…” Man Shi’s eyes shrunk into pin-size
as the deepest memory in his heart played.

The nightmare of his life!

Two years ago, at night in the bamboo forest.

A young man in white clothing, similarly trampling him under his feet.

“Damn it, god damn it! If I had refined the Monolith Gu, how could you
break my defense?” Death was impending. He screamed with his life, full
of indignance.

“Oh, in that case, I shall not kill you.” The white-clothed young man’s lips
curled, revealing a smile full of interest, “Go back to the village and
cultivate harder. Refine the Monolith Gu and let’s have a match again.
Hehehe, I hope that in the future, you can bring a tint of excitement to my
life.” Saying so, the young man lifted his feet, sparing him.

Man Shi breathed roughly, lying on the ground, not expecting this turn of
events.

He stared at this white-clothed young man in shock.

The young man looked at him like an ant, saying indifferently, “Why aren’t
you scramming?”

Man Shi’s body shook as he hurriedly got up and made his escape.

This white-clothed young man was none other than Bai village’s number
one genius, Bai Ning Bing. Back then, he was only Rank two, but could
already kill Rank three clan elders!

Man Shi escaping from him and preserving his life caused his fame to shoot
up.

Through the two years, Bai Ning Bing’s facial expression had become a
blur in his memories, and he could only remember those eyes.

Eyes that looked at the common life, the world with indifference. The high
and mighty iris, hiding an unbelievable pride that mortals cannot
comprehend.

To think……

To think!

To think that in his own village, he could see these eyes!

At this moment, Man Shi’s heart was filled with terror, the indignance and
anger in his heart dissipating without a drop of fighting spirit left.

Fang Yuan closely observed Man Shi’s facial expression.

The young man was slightly shocked, not expecting Man Shi to be so
cowardly.

But, nevermind… just a cowardly mouse.

Fang Yuan’s objective was achieved, and he let go of his leg, “You can
scram now.”

Man Shi felt like he had heard a divine mantra as he rolled and climbed out
of the tavern with a pale face.

The audience were stunned.

Fang Yuan stood on the spot, his gaze sweeping the area.

The surrounding Gu Masters, Rank one and some Rank two, avoided his
gaze subconsciously.

The shopkeeper and clerks were all terrified and excitedly worshipped him.
Who did not want a strong backer?

Behind him, Jiang Ya was staring dumbfounded.

He heard a commotion and ran out, but saw Fang Yuan chasing away Man
Shi.

That is Gu Yue Man Shi……

His heart was shocked to the limit, and his gaze towards Fang Yuan
changed.

Jealousy had vanished.

At this point, Jiang Ya understood why Fang Yuan had such an

achievement.

“Because he was never the same kind of person as myself!”

Chapter 109
 Chapter 109: Treehouse hides the Liquor worm

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Gu Yue Man Shi was defeated by the newbie Fang Yuan!

The news spread quickly and caused small waves of gossip among Rank
two Gu Masters.

Everyone was familiar with the two main characters of this event.

Man Shi was a slightly famous Rank two Gu Master who had managed to
escape with his life under Bai Ningbing’s hands; he was not to be sniffed at.

And Fang Yuan was the year’s champion, many had witnessed him
defeating Fang Zheng at the yearly assessment. He also obtained his family
inheritance and became rich overnight, causing many to become green with
envy.

The gap between the two was clear, but against all expectations, the weaker
Fang Yuan had defeated the stronger Man Shi. Such a discrepancy really
caught the people by surprise.

As more and more people continued to discuss the event, Fang Yuan’s fame
also rose.

Rank two Gu Masters began to take this young junior seriously.

“He directly attacked without saying a word. Young people are too
impulsive.”

“He has wealth and has also refined Moonglow Gu, he has some ability.”
“He is a lunatic, he is too hard-handed. Reportedly, Gu Yue Man Shi had to
lie in bed for at least three days to recover from his injuries!”

People commented on Fang Yuan.

He had made a sudden attack on Man Shi, initiating a head start; inflicting
serious injuries on the very first attack and establishing great dominance. It
felt like he did not win honestly.

However, victory was victory and loss was loss.

The result was everything.

Maybe on Earth, most would emphasize the process instead of the results,
but in this world where survival was arduous, surroundings full of deadly
dangers, victory often meant survival and defeat meant death, losing
everything.

Winners gained everything, losers lost everything; almost everyone

approved this notion.

Fang Yuan had won; it was the fact, no matter how he did it.

A newbie had sprung up by stepping on Man Shi, entering into everyone’s

eyes.

Man Shi had become a stepping stone, his reputation was destroyed. Once
he recovered, he would resign from the group leader position.

This was the outcome of a failure.

Close relatives would sympathize with the losers, but they respected and
acknowledged the winners even more. Winners represented strength and
strength meant better security to the people.

After this event, Gu Yue Dong Tu sensibly stopped his dirty tricks.

Gu Yue Man Shi stepping down had finally made the astute uncle aware of
the reality. Fang Yuan’s growth made him feel helpless, resentment and
indignation.

He knew he now had no chance of seizing the inheritance. Continuing was

meaningless.

He had used his connections and employed other people to find trouble for
Fang Yuan; this consumed his primeval stones. Yet Fang Yuan had profits
coming from all sides.

In case the stalemate continued, even if he had a large amount of primeval

stones, the final loser would definitely be he, himself.

Because he lost the bamboo houses, wine tavern and Nine Leaves Vitality
Grass, he was now without any source of income; the used primeval stones
would be difficult to replenish. By contrast, Fang Yuan lacked primeval
stones but it was increasing day by day.

The main point was that Gu Yue Dong Tu dispiritedly realized that the
stalemate would not have any benefits.

Thus, when he heard Man Shi running away in defeat, he immediately

stopped these meaningless actions.

In fact, when Fang Zheng had not been able to create trouble for Fang Yuan,
it already signified Gu Yue Dong Tu’s defeat.

With this, Fang Yuan’s wine tavern’s business returned to normal, which
was a joyous thing.

There was another joyous matter — the caravan would be coming early.

March.

In the bright and beautiful spring sunshine, the light song of the days of
spring treaded a lively and cheerful beat as it arrived.

With the warmth of spring, flowers bloomed and grasses grew wildly.
Qing Mao Mountain was a scene of green as far as the eye could see. Wild
flowers blossomed on the sunny side of the hills, forming a colorful and
gorgeous sea of flowers. The gurgling and burbling river surged up like a
flame and entangled with the sunshine.

Newborn dragonpill crickets came out of their eggs and formed a batch of
new swarms, enlivening the nighttime.

At daytime, a large flock of colorful peacock parrots hovered in the air,

chirping and twittering.

The warm spring spread its favor and kindness, letting all living things
grow in brilliance.

In such a scenery, a caravan was slowly making its way to Qing Mao
Mountain.

Fat black beetles were slowly moving forward, their backs filled with
people and goods.

Proud ostriches with brightly colored feathers were pulling handcarts. Hairy
mountain spiders disregarded the terrains, winged snakes twisted and
snaked forward, occasionally opening its wings and flying forward.

A Treasure Brass Toad was leading the caravan. It was two and half meters
tall, its entire body orange-yellow in color. On its back was the Rank four
Gu Master, Jia Fu.

After the caravan stationed in the village, Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, “It
changed again. In my previous memories, this caravan should have arrived
in summer. According to the previous precedents too, the caravan should
have only come in summer. Now, however, it has come in spring, two-three
months earlier. And its scale is also much bigger.”

Fang Yuan’s rebirth changed his current situation and similarly also
influenced his surroundings, creating changes in the future.

The root cause should be due to him killing Jia Jin Sheng.
Fang Yuan had deceived everyone, so Jia Fu mistakenly believed Jia Jin
Sheng’s death was a conspiracy by his rival, Jia Gui.

After Jia Fu returned to the clan, he had taken radical steps which made the
competition between them more intense.

To strive for exceptional achievements, the Jia brothers rushed out even
before the year’s snow had completely melted, leading the caravans to
peddle their goods everywhere.

The clan leader Gu Yue Bo received Jia Fu.

The two Rank four Gu Masters were the leaders of the both sides.

“Brother Gu Yue, I trust you have been well?” Jia Fu was full of smiles and
warmth, but his face had a long scar now.

“Hahaha, brother Jia Fu, you are quite early this year.” Gu Yue Bo looked at
the scar on Jia Fu’s face. His heart jolted but he didn’t ask about it.

“The early bird gets the worm. This time, I have brought many precious
goods and I believe the noble Gu Yue clan will have lots of needs.” Jia Fu
had made a big effort this time to fight for better achievements.

“Yes, this is good news.” Gu Yue Bo’s eyes flashed. Continuing on, “It just
so happens that the day after tomorrow is our clan’s Awakening Ceremony,
and I would like to invite brother Jia to attend it.”

“Haha, it is my honor to be able to witness the prosperity of Gu Yue clan,”

Jia Fu immediately cupped his hands and sincerely replied.

Inviting others to watch the clan’s awakening ceremony was treating them
as honoured guests. Jia Fu could feel Gu Yue clan’s sincerity from this
invitation.

“In fact, there is also another matter.” Jia Fu hesitated.

“You have come from afar, so if you have any requests, please say it. Our
clan will definitely do our best to fulfil it.” Gu Yue Bo said.
Jia Fu sighed, “Ah, it is regarding Jia Jin Sheng’s matter. I have especially
brought over a few investigation experts from the clan, and I hope that in
the course of our investigation, you can allow us some convenience.”

Gu Yue Bo immediately revealed a look of understanding.

Apparently, Jia Jin Sheng’s death had caused Jia Fu to fall into an awkward
and passive situation in the competition for family assets. It was said that
after returning to the clan, Jia Fu had squabbled with Jia Gui in public and
the situation had erupted into an intense fight. The scar on his face could
very well be a trace from that fight.

It was no wonder he had come running over at the start of spring; he had a
lot of pressure on his shoulders.

Fang Yuan was strolling around tents and street stalls.

The scale of this year’s caravan was much bigger than any of the previous
years. Not only were there more tents, there was also a Gu house.

Gu house was something only large-scale caravans had. A large-scale

caravan usually had two to three Gu houses. Jia Fu’s caravan was at most a
middle-scale, but it had a Gu house.

This Gu house was a large tree.

It was eighteen meters tall and it really seemed to reach to the sky. Its roots
and branches were twisted like the tangling of dragons and snakes.

The diameter of the trunk at the base was ten meters; it decreased as it went
up but the decrease wasn’t that visible. The brown trunk was not actually a
single entity, and had three layers of space inside.

There were also windows on the trunk. Sunlight and fresh air passed
through the window and entered the three layers of space inside.

The branches and leaves seemed to be scarce on the trunk. Only at the
treetop was it verdant and lush. The spring wind blew, and the tree leaves
shook and created soft rustling sounds.
This was the most common type of Gu house.

The Rank three plant Gu named ‘three star cave’.

It could instantly grow once primeval essence was poured into it. There
were three rooms arranged in these three layers of space. The defensive
power of these rooms were incomparable to that of the tents.

In the continuous stretch of tents, an enormous tree was standing aloft in the
middle like a tower; it was like a crane among a flock of chicken.

At the base of the enormous tree, there were two wide doors used as
entrance.

Fang Yuan followed the stream of people and walked into the enormous
tree.

The tree had three layers of space which were transformed into the layout of
stores. There were rows of counters inside and on them were displayed all
kinds of Gu worms.

These counters were made of wood and were a part of the enormous tree.
On top of growing green leaves and branches, the three star cave tree Gu
could grow different designs according to the Gu Master’s will.

Apart from these counters, there were stools and benches for the customers
to rest upon.

A Rank three support Gu Master was constantly operating and monitoring

the situation from somewhere in this enormous tree.

In case someone snatched the Gu worms in the counters, the monitoring Gu

Master could operate the enormous tree to immediately close the doors and
create a momentary prison cell. Countless branches would be madly grown
and perform group attacks. At the same time, the security Gu Masters in the
tree would also make their moves.

The treehouse was much more secure than the tents and so the goods sold
inside were more precious.
Fang Yuan had just entered the first layer when he saw a lone counter in the
middle and on it was a Liquor worm.

Many Gu Masters were surrounding this Liquor worm, assessing it. Some
clicked their tongues in admiration.

Fang Yuan swept his eyes over the place, where the other counters also
displayed many precious Gu worms.

There were Jade Skin Gu, Whirlwind Gu, Scar Stone Gu and so on.

All these Gu worms were compatible with the Moonlight gu and could fuse
into higher Rank Gu worms.

Jia Fu wasn’t completely clear on these fusion recipes, but with his many
years of business experience, he knew which Gu worms the Gu Yue clan
might need more.

“Naturally, Jia Fu’s caravan isn’t just targeting the Gu Yue village, he is
really making an all-out effort this time. It seems he was thoroughly
provoked when he returned to the clan.” Fang Yuan’s heart moved when he
saw this.
Chapter 110
 Chapter 110: Old woman, you’re too tender!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Liquor worm…” Fang Yuan lightly muttered, walking to the side of the
center reception desk.

He only needed this Liquor worm, along with the sweet, spicy, sour, bitter
— four types of wine, to refine the Four Flavours Liquor worm. Of course,
such a fusion also entailed a chance of failure.

But if Fang Yuan did not have a second Liquor worm, he does not even
have a chance to try.

This is life after all, hard work does not mean results, nor success. But if
one does not work hard, they are destined to fail.

The Demonic path was the same, the demonic cultivators are good at
clearing obstacles in their way, bravely advancing in their paths. To most
people in the world, they were seen as extremists and adventurous.

“I was still worried earlier as to where to find a second Liquor worm. To

think that fate sent this Liquor worm right to my doorstep. The chance is in
front of me, how can I give up? I must get this Liquor worm!” Fang Yuan’s
eyes shone with determination.

“If my cultivation reaches Rank four or five, with a strong fighting

capability, I would snatch it away without a thought, killing gods and
slaying buddhas in my way! If I was Rank three or four, with my ample
experience, I can steal it without anyone finding out. Sadly I am just a Rank
two now, in fact I’m just initial stage…”
Fang Yuan sighed in his heart, “I can only purchase it fair and square like
this.”

He looked at the price on the counter.

“Liquor worm — Five hundred primeval stones.”

The Liquor worm’s normal price is five hundred and eighty primeval
stones. The price here was actually eighty pieces cheaper than the market.

But if Fang Yuan really thinks he can spend five hundred primeval stones to
buy this Liquor worm, then his five hundred years of living would have
been in vain.

The low price was just to attract customers and trigger people’s mentality
and greed into buying it.

This treehouse was obviously Jia Fu’s asset.

“Grandma, this Liquor worm is only five hundred primeval stones!” A

young girl walked in, screaming in shock.

The young girl’s eyes were glowing, shaking her grandmother’s hand,
“Grandma, tomorrow is the awakening ceremony. Didn’t you promise to
give me a present? Why don’t you give this Liquor worm to me.”

The young girl’s grandma had a white waist belt, and the belt had a square
silver piece with the number “3” on it.

Once a Gu Master reaches Rank three cultivation, they automatically

ascend to clan elder position.

Only that among clan elders, there were differences. There were elders in
power who held great political power. While others were not, they would
only be controlling the departments with little profits.

But this Rank three elder was not those weak clan elders.
“Gu Yue Yao Ji…” Fang Yuan recognised her immediately, this was the
medicine hall’s clan elder. The medicine hall is the clan’s support faction, it
can be said to be the most lucrative department. Gu Yue Yao Ji had very
great influence due to her seniority, even towards the clan leader, she could
do away with paying respects and reply while sitting. She was the number
one healing Gu Master in the clan and had saved many lives of the clan
elders, thus having very strong network in the clan.

“Alright, alright. If my obedient granddaughter wants it, grandma will buy

for you.” The old woman’s face was full of wrinkles. She was a hunchback
and had a walking cane in one hand, helplessly sighing and saying with a
benevolent face.

“Grandma is the best, I knew grandma dotes on me the most,” The young
girl happily grabbed Gu Yue Yao Ji, joyfully planting her lips on her
grandma’s cheek.

“Then grandma, let’s call the shop assistant and buy this Liquor worm
immediately!”

Gu Yue Yao Ji shook her head, “My lovely granddaughter, the Gu worm
here isn’t bought like that. Let granny teach you, you see that stack of paper
and pen over at the counter?”

The young girl nodded, “I see it.”

Gu Yue Yao Ji said, “Go get a piece of paper and use the pen to write down
the price of the Liquor worm. After that, stuff it into the hole. If among all
the bidders, your price is the highest, this Liquor worm will belong to you.”

“So that’s it, very interesting.” The young girl took a bamboo paper and
held the pen, but hesitated when writing down.

Her lovely eyebrows frowned as she thought hard for a moment, then
finally pouting her lips, she said, “Grandma, what price would be
appropriate? If I set it too low, other people will get the Liquor worm, but if
I set it too high, I would be making a loss.”
Gu Yue Yao Ji laughed, teasing her, “How can it be so easy to buy the
Liquor worm? Let’s see your luck…”

“Grandma!” The young girl said coquettishly, hogging Gu yue Yao Ji’s limp
and shaking arm.

“Alright, alright, stop swinging, my body is going to collapse.” The old

woman sighed, “Grandma will fill it for you.”

The young girl quickly jumped, saying, “I knew grandma is the best!”

Gu Yue Yao Ji wrote a price before putting her own name as the young girl
watched in anticipation.

After she had finished, she folded the paper and signalled to the girl, “Go,
put the paper in.”

The young girl obediently took the paper and found the hole in the counter
and stuffed the paper in.

She returned beside Gu Yue Yao Ji, feeling uncertain, “Grandma, will this
do?”

The old woman nodded, “That’s about it. But life is hard to predict,
someone might put a higher price. But that price would be too high. If they
really bidded so much, the person who bought this Liquor worm is a fool.
Don’t worry, the Liquor worm is in the bag.”

“Oh.” The young girl nodded with a cute expression.

“Let’s go. Come accompany grandma upstairs and look around.”

“Okay, grandma.”

Seeing them leave, Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with severity.

This Gu Yue Yao Ji, to him, was a tough competitor, not to be

underestimated.
But this situation, Fang Yuan had prepared and anticipated it.

The Liquor worm was precious. Although it was only usable for Rank one
Gu Masters, the Liquor worm could refine primeval essence and that was
very useful. Refining primeval essence and raising it by one small stage —
this meant that the primeval essence storage increased and this had a great
driving force towards Gu Master cultivation.

The only flaw is that the Liquor worm did not have a good prospect in the
future.

According to the popular recipes, Liquor worm was only used as a fusion
ingredient, and the new Gu worm created does not have the primeval
essence refining ability.

This was too much of a waste. In fact, it was not worth it.

Thus, most clans have the Liquor worm and did not use it to undergo
fusion, but is used by the academy to allow the students to take turns using
it.

If Fang Yuan exposed his advancement recipe, the Liquor worm’s market
value would rise drastically.

“Sigh, it is not easy to get this Liquor worm. This grandma and
granddaughter is just one competitor. I wonder how many others are there
who have placed the paper into this hole?”

Liquor worm was a good thing, and people naturally want good things.

Just that among these competitors, some were sincere about buying it, while
others were just trying their luck. Some are affluent, like Gu Yue Yao Ji,
while some were poor, like Fang Yuan.

“Luckily, I got back the family assets, and these few days I’ve sold some
Rank one vitality leaves, plus the wine tavern and bamboo buildings are all
rented out. Thus I could accumulate some savings. If not, I would not even
be able to compete.”
But he had too little time to save up. On one hand he had a lot of Gu worms
to feed, and in terms of fortune he could not compete with an old woman
like Gu Yue Yao Ji.

“Sigh, let’s go. Lord Yao Ji just tossed in a paper.”

“I saw it too, it seems I’m not fated to have this Liquor worm.”

The Gu Masters surrounding this counter all left dejected.

Only Fang Yuan still stood there.

His eyes were like the abyss river, shining with cold light.

The Gu Masters who left were all scared off by Gu Yue Yao Ji’s aura and
backed out of their own accord. But how could Fang Yuan be scared away?

“Some chances are just in front of you, only that people choose to give it
up. I still have a chance!” Fang Yuan’s brain worked intensely as he fell into
deep thought.

To compete fortune, Fang Yuan was not her match.

Even then……

That did not mean that Gu Yue Yao Ji’s bidding amount was definitely
higher than Fang Yuan!

Even though the Liquor worm was precious, it was still a Rank one Gu
worm. The price of any commodity would fluctuate, but it would definitely
not rise or fall beyond a certain limit. Thus, all price deviations have a
range.

The crucial point now is, what price did Gu Yue Yao Ji give!?

She did not lack money, and for the granddaughter she doted, how much
was she willing to pay?

As long as Fang Yuan’s price, if even a single point, is higher, he wins.

This is a different kind of battle! The strong might not necessarily win, the
weak might not necessarily lose. Guessing and gambling made the fight
much more exciting.

“If it were others, they might not be able to guess it. Gu Yue Yao Ji, you
purposely said some things earlier to scare away competitors? But in front
of me, you are still too tender!” Fang Yuan’s lips curled into an angle as he
smiled confidently.

In this world, transactions were very interesting.

If it was on Earth, the seller would definitely adopt an auction style when
selling rare Gu worms like the Liquor worm.

But in this world, auction did not work well.

An important reason was that kinship is the greatest value here, it is the
clan’s cohesiveness.

If an auction was held, the clan’s members would have a subconscious

animosity towards outsiders like Jia Fu.

Once the auction items are priced too highly, they would step out of the
competition and even try to appease the seller, making some leeways to
exchange and compensate.

This world’s people had one viewpoint — Losing to the family is okay, but
for an outsider to earn from it, that is an insult to the entire clan!

Unless, a few clans joined in an auction together. In that case, there is

competition, and it would be full of rivalry.

But these auctions were hard to conduct.

Because transport is inconvenient.

Transport is the basis of trade, and if the transport system is not developed,
the business and trade would dwindle. Because in trade, it was the
movement of commodities that matter.
Each village occupied a mountain and stayed far from each other. The roads
that connected them are hard to travel, constantly having wild beasts, cliffs,
coupled with dangerous terrain and weather, and even dangerous wild Gu
worms — it was truly full of difficulties.

Such an inconvenient transport system made it difficult for different clans

to come together for an auction.

Even at Qing Mao Mountain with its three clans, Jia Fu did not dare to
organise an auction.

Firstly, where would it be held? It isn’t safe in the wilds, and if it is held in
the Gu Yue Village, the other two clans would not feel safe.

He was only Rank four, and the head of the other three villages were also
Rank four. He could not suppress the situation. Compared to Earth, trade
here was not developed and had its own rules.

Using his knowledge of business and enterprise from Earth, Fang Yuan
managed to earn and also lose money. After some painful experiences, he
finally learnt from experience.

Combining the complete business knowledge from Earth, along with his
personal experience, without bragging, Fang Yuan had the top tier
knowledge in the business industry in this entire world.

Just an old woman who had lived in the Qing Mao Mountain’s village her
whole life, she dares to obstruct me in getting the Liquor worm?

Old woman, you’re far too tender!

Chapter 111
 Chapter 111: Primeval stones are but material
goods

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Grandma, what Gu is this?” The young girl curiously pointed at the central
counter in the third floor.

There were three floors in this treehouse; the first floor sold Rank one Gu
worms, the second floor sold Rank two Gu worms and the third floor sold
Rank three Gu worms.

The higher you went, the lesser the Gu worms and the more expensive the
price.

Naturally, the Gu worms that were put for sale in the treehouse were all rare
and precious.

Gu Yue Yao Ji followed her granddaughter’s gaze and saw a round bucket-
shaped, tall and thin tree stump. The stump had five branches like five
fingers of a human and were intertwined in the middle.

A sphere-shaped Gu worm that was thumb-sized was wrapped around by

the fine branches and covered by green leaves, emitting a white silvery
glow.

“This is a white silver Relic Gu, it can only be used once and can instantly
raise a Rank three Gu Master’s cultivation by a small realm,” Gu Yue Yao Ji
slowly explained.

Relic Gu was a series Gu worm.

Rank one had green copper Relic Gu which was specially targeted towards
Rank one Gu Masters. Rank two had red steel Relic Gu which was effective
only on Rank two Gu Masters, and Rank three was this Silver Relic Gu.

Rank four had yellow golden Relic Gu.

“The price is thirty thousand primeval stones, it’s so expensive!” The young
girl was so shocked, she stuck out her tongue.

Gu Yue Yao Ji nodded, “Its final price should reach at least fifty thousand
primeval stones. Alright, we have strolled long enough here, let’s go to the
first floor reception desk, the results to the Liquor worm’s bidding should
have come out.”

In the treehouse, a Rank one Gu worm would only be displayed for half a
day once there was a bid on it. For Gu worms that people had little interest
in, it would be kept on display till someone made a bid.

Rank two Gu worms would be displayed for a day and Rank three ones for
two days.

At first glance, this practice looked odd but when put in practice, this was
the most suitable way of doing business.

At the reception desk.

“What, the Liquor worm has been bought by someone else?” Gu Yue Yao Ji
immediately frowned upon seeing the results. She had put a high price and
was confident in obtaining the Liquor worm, but to think she had actually
miscalculated.

“Hmph! Who is it to be so bad as to snatch my dear Liquor worm?” The

young girl angrily asked.

“Yao Le,” Gu Yue Yao Ji reminded her granddaughter.

The young girl pouted and obediently shut her mouth.

The sales clerk behind the counter was a Rank two female Gu Master. She
slightly bowed and answered the young girl, “I am sorry, we can’t divulge
our customers’ information. Each business has special rules, please forgive
me.”

It was this confidentiality that dispelled many customers’ apprehensions and

allowed them to freely take part in the bid.

Sometimes, people would have some things they clearly wanted, but they
would yield to others because of feelings and courtesy. After all, they would
frequently see each other in the clan.

But such a method of doing transactions secretly allowed one to go around

the problem of sentiments.

Why would such a good thing need to go to you? Because you are my
senior, relative or friend?

Never underestimate the dark side in everyone.

Such secret transactions allowed this dark side to come out.

Gu Yue Yao Ji ruminated for a while and said, “I know the rules. You don’t
need to worry little girl, I won’t ask the name of that person who bought the
Liquor worm, I only want to know what the final price was.”

The female Gu Master bowed again, “I am really sorry, the price is also
confidential. But please don’t worry, the final price was definitely the
highest among all the bids. Jia family’s business has always centered
around honesty.”

“Hmph, little girl, do you know who I am?” Gu Yue Yao Ji’s face sank and
coldly snorted.

“What is going on?” At this moment, a Rank three middle-aged Gu Master

hurried over.

This treehouse was constantly being monitored; they would naturally know
if anything occurred.
“Lord supervisor.” The female Gu Master immediately greeted this middle-
aged man.

The man waved his hand at the girl, “You can leave now, I will handle it
here.”

He turned towards Gu Yue Yao Ji and smiled, “So it was lord Yao Ji. She
should be your granddaughter, right? She looks smart and sweet.”

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s expression softened upon seeing that this man was also a
Rank three Gu Master, but she still asked to know the final price.

The male supervisor felt that the situation was rather tricky.

He was an elder at the caravan and also a trusted aide of Jia Fu. After doing
business for many years, he had a deep understanding of the Gu Yue
village’s situation and knew the influence this old woman had.

To them, even if they offended Gu Yue Chi Lian or Gu Yue Mo Chen, they
wouldn’t want to offend Gu Yue Yao Ji. The latter’s influence was second
only to clan leader Gu Yue Bo.

The male supervisor pondered and said, “How about this, since lord Yao Ji
wants to purchase the Liquor worm, I could call the shots and secretly
transfer one over. To be honest, the warehouse has three Liquor worms and
Lord Jia Fu personally decides where to sell them. You should know how
precious the Liquor worm is. As for the price, let’s decide your bidding
price as it.”

However, Gu Yue Yao Ji slightly shook her head and knocked the cane on
her hand on the ground.

She said, “I am not looking for a bargain. The price…will be the same as
the selling price of the previous Liquor worm.”

“This…..” The supervisor hesitated, he naturally saw Gu Yue Yao Ji’s aim.

Gu Yue Yao Ji pretended to be annoyed and continued to pressure the male

supervisor, “What? Is the price so high that you are afraid I won’t be able to
afford it?”

“Of course, I didn’t mean that. Sigh, alright, we will do like you say.” The
supervisor sighed and said a price.

Upon hearing the price, the young girl first heaved a sigh of relief, but soon
after that she felt somewhat indignant, “What, it was only twenty primeval
stones more than ours?”

Gu Yue Yao Ji narrowed her eyes, but didn’t speak.

Meanwhile, Fang Yuan had already exited the treehouse and arrived at the
wine tavern.

The second Liquor worm was already in his possession, and now the only
things he needed were the four types of wines — sour, sweet, bitter and
spicy wines.

“I already have the sweet wine; there is still quite a lot of the golden honey
wine remaining from the family inheritance mission. Spicy and sour wines
should not be a problem. My only concern is the bitter wine.” Fang Yuan
was a bit worried when he thought of this.

If he had bitter wine, he could begin refining the Four Flavours Liquor
worm tonight.

Many things in life were like this, whatever you fear, it will come true.

Fang Yuan’s worry became reality. He spent several hours rushing through
countless tents; he found spicy and sour wines, but he didn’t find bitter
wine.

“Not everything in this world follows our wishes.” Fang Yuan was very
helpless. He could only set aside the fusion plan for the Liquor worm.

Without the Four Flavours Liquor worm, his cultivating speed would be
ordinary.

In the afternoon, he went to the treehouse again.

There were new Gu worms in many counters on the first floor.

The central counter – where the Liquor worm had been displayed – was
now occupied by a Cleansing Water Gu.

The Cleansing Water Gu resembled the leech on Earth, except it was much
cuter than the leech; its whole body had a light-blue luster like that of the
glimmering water.

“Cleansing Water Gu can remove the mixed aura in the aperture. To Chi
Cheng, it is a Gu worm that he must have.” Fang Yuan thought of Chi
Cheng when he saw this Cleansing Water Gu.

He knew Chi Cheng only had a C grade aptitude and had forcefully raised
his cultivation with the help of his grandfather Gu Yue Chi Lian’s primeval
essence, thus Chi Lian’s aura was mixed inside Chi Cheng’s aperture. If Chi
Cheng didn’t clean it off, then his future prospects would be jeopardized.

“Chi Lian will definitely buy this Gu worm for Chi Cheng. Hmm, let me
think…..his quote should be between six hundred thirty to six hundred
forty.”

This price was much more than the Liquor worm’s market value. The main
reason was that Chi Cheng especially required this Gu worm.

“If I quote six hundred fifty, it should get me this Cleansing Water Gu. Just
by adding ten primeval stones, this Cleansing Water Gu is bound to fall in
my hands! As for the Liquor worm I bought this morning, my quote should
have been about twenty primeval stones higher than Gu Yue Yao Ji’s.” Fang
Yuan coldly smiled inwardly.

He had this self-confidence.

His five hundred years of experience and the advanced business knowledge
from Earth had combined to form this self-confidence. It was beyond
ordinary.
With his previous life’s experience, when he just put ten more primeval
stones, he had an eighty percent guarantee of getting the goods. When he
bought the Liquor worm, the reason why he had put ten more primeval
stones was because of his cautious nature.

Fang Yuan didn’t make a quote, he didn’t need the Cleansing Water Gu.
And if he obtained it, then it would be investigated by Chi Lian. Of course,
the main reason Fang Yuan did not bid was because he needed to hold onto
the remaining money to see if there were any good Gu worms in the coming
days.

“I lack two types of Gu worms; a scouting-type and a movement-type. The

wolf tide will come in the coming year, and the caravan won’t come again.
Although there is the Flower Wine Monk’s hidden inheritance, that was
hastily left behind by Flower Wine Monk after he was injured. Who is to
say if it is complete or not and what Gu worm would be next?”

In his memories, the wolf tide next year will be very dangerous. Fang Yuan
didn’t want to be powerless just because he lacked Gu worms, being injured
or even perishing in the wolf tide.

It would be a disaster for the current him if he were to be surrounded by

wolf packs.

Before that happens, he needed to make sufficient preparations; both his

cultivation and Gu worms shouldn’t be lacking.

After this, he repeatedly went to the treehouse for three days.

On the third day, in the first floor of the treehouse, he discovered something
to be happy about — a Black Boar Gu!

Black and White Boar Gu were Gu worms that could increase the
fundamental strength of Gu Masters. Fang Yuan had already used the White
Boar Gu and received a power equal to that of a boar. If he used another
White Boar Gu again, he wouldn’t receive any increase in strength. But the
Black Boar Gu was different, its ability could overlay with the White Boar
Gu’s.
Hence, at noon, there was one more Gu worm in his possession.

After that, there was nothing.

Some scouting and movement-type Gu worms appeared on the counters but

they couldn’t satisfy Fang Yuan.

These Gu worms were displayed on ordinary counters and the price wasn’t
good, so there weren’t many who would purchase them. Fang Yuan heard
the caravan would be staying for eight days, so he patiently waited without
becoming anxious.

It was the seventh day.

In the second floor of the treehouse, Fang Yuan discovered a red steel Relic
Gu.

It could instantly raise a Rank two Gu Master’s primeval essence by a small

realm!

Its price was marked at three thousand primeval stones, attracting many
Rank two Gu Masters to bid over it, dropping papers in the counters; it was
a very lively scene.

“If I obtain this red steel Relic Gu, I could push my cultivation to middle
stage instantly. With the middle stage scarlet primeval essence, I would be
able to use the Moonglow Gu and White Jade Gu many more times.”

Cultivation was the foundation of a Gu Master, an increase in cultivation

meant an increase in fighting power. In terms of its effects, it was far better
than getting the scouting and movement Gu worms.

Moreover, these two types of Gu worms in the treehouse were all ordinary
to Fang Yuan, with none catching his eyes.

“I have purchased the Liquor worm and Black Boar Gu, I also bought some
wine. This red steel Relic Gu’s final price will definitely cross five thousand
primeval stones and could even reach eight thousand. After all, everyone
knows about the wolf tide, so raising one’s cultivation by a small realm will
be a lot of help. My primeval stones won’t be enough if I want to get this
Relic Gu!”

Fang Yuan instantly realized that an obstacle had appeared in front of him.
Chapter 112
 Chapter 112: Truly a great resolve

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Even though he inherited his parents’ assets, to Fang Yuan, the time he had
to accumulate wealth was still too little.

Activating the vitality leaf, he could not do it daily as it consumed a lot of

time. Every time he grew out nine vitality leaves, half a day would be
expended.

Fang Yuan considered for a moment. The sale time of this red steel Relic
Gu is only one day. In such a short time, to come up with these large
amount of primeval stones, the only way was to mortgage his wine tavern
or the bamboo buildings.

This was nothing to feel pity over.

A year later, it would be the wolf tide. Under the wolves’ attack, Gu Yue
Village would desperately hold on several times, and during the most severe
attack, even the front gate was broken through. The clan leader and the clan
elders restrained the lightning crown head wolf, and Gu Yue Qing Shu
sacrificed his own life to block the gate and stabilized the situation.

The wolf tide caused Qing Mao mountain’s three clans to suffer a great
reduction in clan members. Although not as much as 90% was gone, but at
least half the population was wiped out.

By then, there would be more property than people, what talk would there
be about renting out the bamboo building? The wine tavern was facing the
eastern gates, who would dare to drink there? Even if they wanted to drink,
the tavern would’ve gotten used by the clan and turned into a defensive
tower.
Right now, the clan and many people were underestimating the severity of
the wolf tide. At this point, if he could get rid of the tavern and bamboo
buildings, he would be able to sell it at the best price.

“Money and fortune are just material goods, only one’s cultivation is the
root. But, selling it to the clan is too cheap. If I sell it to an individual, the
price would be higher. But who would have the financial ability right now
to buy my bamboo building and tavern? Such a huge transaction, it is not
something that can be settled at one go. Both sides have to observe and
haggle for the best prices, that would take too much time. I only have one
day. Wait, maybe someone can…”

Fang Yuan’s inspiration struck as he thought of someone.

This person was none other than his uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu.

Uncle and Aunt were both cunning and miserly. These decades of operating
the tavern, bamboo buildings and selling the vitality leaves, they must have
a huge stash of primeval stones.

Moreover, these assets were originally operated by them. All and all, it can
save a lot of observation time.

The most important part was, they desperately needed this family asset to
continue operating. No matter how much assets they had, without any
income, this was like a river without a source; their primeval stones would
get lesser and lesser, anyone would also be anxious over it.

It could be said, Uncle and Aunt were the best transaction targets.

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan hesitated no longer, leaving the treehouse and
walking towards Gu Yue Dong Tu’s estate.

The one who opened the door was Shen Cui, his former servant.

“Ah, it- it’s you!” Seeing Fang Yuan, she was very shocked.

Soon, she realized her slip of the tongue, and her face turned white from
horror. Fang Yuan was now a Rank two Gu Master, but she was a mere
mortal, the difference between them was like heaven and earth.

More importantly, Fang Yuan was the ruthless person who dared to kill the
Mo family servant, later mincing the corpse and sending it to the Mo
family.

“This servant pays her respects to young master Fang Yuan, welcome home,
young master.” Shen Cui shivered from her fear and her knees went soft,
kneeling on the ground.

“Home?” Fang Yuan took a step into the courtyard. Seeing the familiar
settings, his face showed a hint of mockery; there was no sense of
belonging or attachment.

A year later, he had returned here once again.

Compared to his mental impression, this place was much more vacant. Just
as Fang Zheng had said, some family servants were already sold away or
retrenched.

Fang Yuan’s sudden appearance had alarmed Uncle and Aunt.

As the housekeeper, Mother Shen arrived at the first moment, kneeling and
bowing to invite Fang Yuan into the living room, and served him tea by
hand.

Fang Yuan sat on the chair, observing the living room.

Many of the furniture was missing, and the decor was much more simple
and plain.

But this did not mean that Uncle and Aunt had no savings.

“Gu Yue Dong Tu is still very cunning, this is an act of self-preservation.

He had already stepped into the background, and his battle strength had
drastically slipped. Most importantly, he had lost the Nine Leaf Vitality
Grass, meaning that he had lost the trump card in maintaining his personal
relationships, no longer able to exert influence outside.”
A man’s wealth is his own ruin by causing another’s greed.

After Fang Yuan inherited the assets, many clansmen were jealous and eyed
his fortune.

As for Uncle and Aunt, they faced the same problem. The huge amount of
savings they had was both a blessing and a problem.

Not showing off one’s wealth, to them, this was the correct method of
living.

At this time, footsteps could be heard.

The footsteps got closer, and soon, Aunt appeared at the doorstep.

“Fang Yuan, you actually still dared to come back here!” Seeing Fang Yuan,
the rage in her heart appeared out of nowhere, screaming shrilly, “You
traitorous scoundrel, how did we raise you. And to think you treat us like
this, do you have a conscience, has your conscience been eaten by a dog!”

“You still have the cheeks to come here, and have the cheeks to drink tea
here? Are you here to see our sorry states, now that you’ve seen it, are you
happy?!”

Her finger pointed at Fang Yuan, her other hand at her waist as she
screamed like a shrew.

If not for Fang Yuan wearing a glaring Rank two Gu Master battle attire,
reminding her, she would have pounced on him and strangled him.

Fang Yuan paid no heed nor showed any expressions to Aunt’s finger or her
angry accusations.

A year of not meeting, Aunt’s yellow face, although full of rage and hatred,
could not hide her haggardness.

Her clothes had already changed to a simple hemp garment, and the
accessories on her head had reduced. WIthout any make up, her mouth
looked sharp and her face small, like a monkey.
Fang Yuan getting back the assets had caused a great influence and impact
on her daily life.

To her furious bantering, Fang Yuan paid no heed to them, he held up his
cup and drank some tea before saying slowly, “My trip here today is to sell
the tavern and bamboo buildings, does Uncle and Aunt have any interest?”

“Pah, you traitorous wolf, what good can you have, wanting to sell the
tavern and bamboo…” Aunt’s tone stalled as she finally reacted, her face
showing disbelief, “What, you want to sell the tavern and bamboo
buildings?”

Fang Yuan put down his teacup, leaning back on the chair, closing his eyes
to rest, “Better to get Uncle here to discuss with me.”

Aunt gritted her teeth, not believing it, her eyes like erupting flames as she
stared angrily at Fang Yuan, saying, “I know, you’re trying to toy with me,
that’s why you said that! Once I agree, I will get harshly mocked and
ridiculed. You think I’m a fool, and would be played by you?”

This was purely a way of thinking from a person of low social status.

Fang Yuan sighed in his heart, before saying one sentence to change his
aunt’s attitude—

“Say any more bullshit and I’m leaving. I believe others would be interested
in these assets. By then, I would have sold it to other people, so don’t you
both regret it.”

Aunt paused for a moment, “Do you really want to sell these assets?”

“I am only waiting for five minutes.” Fang Yuan opened a slit of his eyes to
talk, before shutting them again.

He heard Aunt stomping her foot before a series of quick and softer
footsteps.

Not long after, uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu appeared in front of Fang Yuan, but
Aunt did not accompany him.
Fang Yuan looked at him.

Uncle was already aging extensively, his originally well-maintained face

had shrunk, and there was much more white hair on his head now.

He had been worrying these few days.

Losing the family assets, he lost his financial sources all of a sudden.
Without the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, he also lost his outside influence.

His “hidden elder” title, was already falsifying.

Although he had a huge amount of fortune in his hands, without his

influence, these primeval stones had gotten troublesome.

The clan’s politics was to encourage the clansmen to compete for resources,
especially the rules on Gu fighting, it was inhumane and non-friendly. But
this could exterminate parasites and the appearance of a good-for-nothing
second generation, allowing the clan’s people to maintain a sense of
alertness. This also allowed the clan’s fighting force to maintain at a strong
position.

In this world, only strong fighting force could ensure survival. Tornadoes,
floods and beasts do not speak sense with you.

These years, Gu Yue Dong Tu had lived a life of peace, and his fighting
ability had diminished. In order to reduce his burden, the Gu worms that he
used to fight with, he had sold them away already.

If someone sent him a challenge now, he would definitely lose more than
win.

Towards his uncle, Fang Yuan spoke openly about his purpose in coming.

“Fang Yuan, I shall not beat about the bush. I don’t understand something,
why do you need to sell the wine tavern and bamboo buildings? If you keep
them, you will have a steady source of income.” Uncle could not believe it,
but his tone was much more acceptable than aunt’s.
“Because I want to buy a red steel Relic Gu.” Fang Yuan said honestly,
there was no need to hide such things.

“So that’s it.” Uncle’s gaze shone, “Then, you are selling the Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass too?”

“That is impossible.” Fang Yuan shook his head without any hesitation, “I
am only selling the wine tavern, the bamboo buildings, the land and the
eight servants.”

Nine Leaf Vitality Grass was the most valuable thing in the asset, Fang
Yuan needed its healing ability as well as selling them to earn primeval
stones. It could sustain his cultivation and also feed the Gu worms.

Furthermore, next year the wolf tide was coming, and the vitality leaves’
price would soar. With this Nine Leaf Vitality Grass in hand, Fang Yuan
would have no problems with primeval stones for his Rank two cultivation
journey.

But if uncle obtains the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, his “hidden elder”
influence would instantly recover. Fang Yuan did not want to see this
happen.

Seeing Fang Yuan’s determined attitude, Gu Yue Dong Tu’s heart was very
disappointed. At the same time, he felt helpless.

The two had a secret talk for two hours, then they signed an extremely
secure transfer agreement.

Gu Yue Dong Tu regained the tavern, bamboo buildings, family servants

and land, while Fang Yuan led three family servants who were holding a
box full of primeval stones each, towards the treehouse.

They each got what they wanted.

Hearing the news, Aunt rushed over. Seeing Gu Yue Dong Tu’s contracts
and deeds in his hands, she stared with round eyes and showed
overwhelming joy, “Hubby, that lad got stupid from cultivating, he actually
sold away such a profitable business! So stupid, wanting the eggs and not
keeping the hen that lays eggs.”

“Will you die if you stop talking, shut up.” Gu Yue Dong Tu sounded very
irritated.

“Husband…” Aunt pouted, “I’m just happy about it.”

“Do not get complacent! With this tavern and the bamboo buildings, we
have to be even more cautious now and keep a low profile. A huge tree
attracts the wind. Although Fang Zheng is our adopted son, we cannot
misuse this relationship. After all, Fang Zheng has not fully developed
himself yet, who knows what the future entails?” Gu Yue Dong Tu sighed
deeply.

“Got it, husband!” Aunt listened while staring at the stack of deeds,
laughing uncontrollably.

Gu Yue Dong Tu’s face was solemn throughout.

The transaction went well, and he now had income. The primeval stones he
spent would be replenished with two or three years of operation. But he was
not happy at all.

His mind was full of Fang Yuan’s silhouette.

For a Relic Gu, Fang Yuan unhesitantly sold the assets, this was akin to
giving up the comfortable life ahead.

Gu Yue Dong Tu placed himself in Fang Yuan’s shoes and thought, would I
be able to do this?

I can’t.

Even if he did not like Fang Yuan, filled with hatred and disgust, at this
moment he could not help but exclaim in his heart, “Able to give up and
abandon his future comforts just like that, what great resolve he has!”
Chapter 113
Chapter 113: Keeping quiet and earning a fortune

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“The competition is really fierce, who knows who the final winner will be.”

“I have been standing here for just fifteen minutes and have already seen
over ten Gu Masters putting quotes in the counter.”

“Ah, this is a game for the rich. People like us don’t even qualify to
compete.”

In the second floor of the treehouse, Gu Masters were surrounding the

central counter; discussing and sighing.

As night approached, the competition for the red steel Relic Gu had reached
its peak. Many Rank two Gu Masters who were observing in the dark
started putting their quotes in this final hour.

Some Gu Masters even made several bids.

“The final winner for this struggle should be either Mo Yan or Chi Shan,”
someone guessed.

“That’s possible. Mo Yan and Chi Shan are both at Rank two upper stage.
With this Relic Gu, they can advance to peak stage and be at the same level
as Qing Shu.”

“In recent years, Gu Yue Qing Shu has been hanging over their heads. I
don’t believe these two don’t have any thoughts about it.”

“We can’t say for sure. It is not only us Rank two Gu Masters, there are
even some Rank three elders who have made bids. Just this morning,
someone saw Lord Yao Ji casting her bid.”
“Right, I also heard that. Lord Yao Ji’s granddaughter Gu Yue Yao Le is
taking part in the coming Awakening Ceremony; Lord Yao Ji should be
preparing ahead and paving the way for her granddaughter.”

“Ah, how good would it be if I had such a doting senior!”

Fang Yuan was among the crowd, his gaze tranquil as he listened to the
discussions.

No one had mentioned his name. In the people’s eyes, Fang Yuan was only
a lucky kid who had just inherited the family assets. In their minds, Fang
Yuan was still not at the level of people like Chi Shan, Mo Yan and Qing
Shu.

“Great. The less attention on me, the more smoothly can I get this red steel
Relic Gu. But with these repeated purchases, I should have attracted his
attention.”

Fang Yuan was ninety-nine percent sure of getting this Relic Gu; he began
to think of another problem.

If the following events develop according to his expectations, then there

would be a perfect ending to his several days of effort.

It was time.

The leaves and branches on the counter suddenly grew and wrapped firmly
around the Relic Gu. The green leaves blocked the people’s sight and when
these leaves again unfolded, the red steel Relic Gu was not there anymore
and was replaced by a Revert Gu.

The Revert Gu looked like a flat, oval, palm-sized stone. Its surface was
slightly bulging and smooth, forming an eye pattern. The base of the stone
was flat and felt rough to the touch.

The stone was black whereas the eye’s pattern was covered with white
lines.
About every two seconds, the eye would blink once and the white lines that
portrayed the eyeball would swivel, giving the feeling that this stone was
rolling its eyes.

Revert Gu had a special function.

It decomposed Rank two Gu worm to Rank one.

For example, if the Revert Gu was used on Fang Yuan’s White Jade Gu, the
White Jade Gu would again change back to White Boar Gu and Jade Skin
Gu.

This process was called reverse-refining.

Fang Yuan glanced at it and immediately lost his interest. He didn’t need
the Revert Gu.

The surrounding Gu Masters began arguing. Revert Gu couldn’t become

everyone’s focal point like the red steel Relic Gu.

Everyone was very curious on who the red steel Relic Gu went to.

Some people looked for the floor’s caravan Gu Master and some people
waited at the main desk.

The crowd slowly thinned out, but Fang Yuan didn’t move away.

“Young master Fang Yuan, please come to the third floor. Our lord Jia Fu
would like to have a chat with you.” A voice suddenly entered Fang Yuan’s
ears.

Fang Yuan wasn’t surprised; there were many types of secret sound-
transmission Gu worms in this world.

He followed the directions given by the voice and walked to a wall in the
third floor.

Branches and leaves stacked together and covered the wooden wall.
Swoosh…..

The branches and leaves automatically parted to the sides and revealed a
concealed door.

Fang Yuan pushed open the door and saw an exquisite whirling staircase
that moved up.

He walked along the stairs and came to a small study room.

In the study room, Jia Fu was handling some accounts, his hand writing
away speedily.

He raised his head when he heard Fang Yuan’s footsteps, revealing the scar
on his face. He gave a gentle smile, “We meet again, little brother Fang
Yuan.”

“Respects to Lord Jia Fu.” Fang Yuan clasped his hands and saluted.

“Come, sit here.” Jia Fu pointed at a nearest desk.

After Fang Yuan sat, his left hand pushed a bamboo paper on the desk
towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took a glance and immediately recognized that this bamboo
paper held all his quotes that he had made in the recent days. Under every
quote was his signature.

He was inwardly happy, it had gone according to his expectations. But on

the surface, he wore a doubtful expression as he asked, “I am not sure what
Lord Jia Fu wants to show me?”

Jia Fu’s smile slightly decreased, his eyes flashing as he looked at Fang
Yuan, “These are your quotes you made along with the quote you gave for
the red steel Relic Gu. I will be honest, I am amazed at your business talent.
Do you know, every one of your bids was very close to the final sale price.”

“Although you only succeeded in buying a Black Boar Gu, a Liquor worm
and the red steel Relic Gu, your quotes for other Gu worms only lacked by
ten or so primeval stones. Brother, do you have any interest in working for
me?” Jia Fu tried to recruit Fang Yuan.

“Here it comes!” Fang Yuan laughed inwardly. He had repeatedly made

bids these days and had intentionally lost on most of them; his bids
differing from the final price by only ten or so primeval stones. He had only
successfully won Black Boar Gu, Liquor worm and red steel Relic Gu.

And just like he wished, Jia Fu was interested in the business talent he
showed and took the initiative to recruit him.

However, in fact if Fang Yuan wished so, he had almost full guarantee of
being able to purchase all the Gu worms.

“This….” Fang Yuan hesitated, then shook his head, “I am greatly honored
to receive Lord Jia Fu’s kindness, but I don’t want to leave the clan.”

“Oh, so it’s like that.” Jia Fu’s gaze flashed, “Brother might have some
misunderstandings towards me. A year ago, I indeed doubted you, but after
using the Bamboo Gentleman, the suspicions on you have already been
removed. Jia Jin Sheng was my brother, I hope you understand what my
mood was like then. There is another piece of good news, I have already
invited divine investigator Tie Xue Leng. There isn’t any case which he
cannot solve. I believe he will definitely be able to investigate the truth and
give justice to you.”

“Divine investigator Tie Xue Leng….this is a problem.” Fang Yuan thought

over this name. This was not good news to him.

In this world, there were many magical places and also many amazing
methods that could be used to investigate.

When Fang Yuan killed Jia Jin Sheng, he had only been at Rank one. Even
if he knew a lot of methods, he couldn’t use them.

In his memories, Tie Xue Leng had a profound cultivation and wouldn’t
even tolerate a bit of sand in his eyes. He followed the thought of punishing
evil and rewarding the right throughout his whole life. He had an extremely
rich sense of justice and his thoughts were meticulous. He was very good at
finding subtle traces from any clues.

“Divine investigator has a high reputation, I have also heard of him. But
when will this lord divine investigator arrive at Qing Mao Mountain?” Fang
Yuan put on an anticipating look and directly asked.

“That…..” Jia Fu awkwardly smiled, “Divine investigator is very busy.

From his reply, it might only be the year after the next.”

Fang Yuan immediately felt relieved, he had a lot of time to prepare.

“Brother, I think highly of you. I hope you can carefully consider my

proposal.” Jia Fu made attractive offers.

Fang Yuan tactfully refused; now was not the best time to leave Qing Mao
Mountain.

If he went to a strange environment without enough strength, he was bound

to be bullied and pushed aside. The caravan was also full of unwritten rules
on bullying and pushing aside.

“That is really a pity for your talent. How about this, I will give you this
token. If there comes a day where you want my help, this token will be the
proof that I will always welcome you.” Jia Fu had failed in recruiting Fang
Yuan, but he didn’t feel surprised. He had a deep understanding towards this
type of clan’s cohesiveness.

If he was to know now that Fang Yuan was Jia Jin Sheng’s murderer, who
knows what his expression would be.

Fang Yuan apologised in shame as he received the token handed by Jia Fu

along with the red steel Relic Gu.

He kept the two items close to him and backtracked his way out.

A young female Gu Master was caressing the leaves on the wall, when
suddenly she cried out in shock. The branches and leaves suddenly parted
and revealed a door.
The door was pushed open from inside and Fang Yuan walked out
expressionlessly.

“You, you, you!” The young girl widened her eyes and blankly looked at
Fang Yuan brushing past her.

Among the surrounding Gu Masters who saw this scene; some were
familiar with this, some gave a knowing smile and some threw amazed
looks.

Fang Yuan paid no heed to these gazes and walked down to the second
floor. Some Gu Masters were still waiting there, excitedly discussing who
the red steel Relic Gu went to.

Some people brazenly made guesses whereas some people gave some little
news- “Mo Yan had a mysterious smile when she walked out of the
treehouse,” – “Chi Shan’s face was ashen,” – and so on.

And to top it all, some people pledged that so and so had bought the Relic
Gu, even making an oath.

Fang Yuan went past this bored group of people. No one knew that at this
moment, the red steel Relic Gu was so close to them.

When Fang Yuan walked out of the treehouse, he bumped into Chi Shan.

His face indeed looked unsightly, and at his side, Chi Cheng was asking
about the whereabouts of the red steel Relic Gu.

After seeing Fang Yuan, Chi Cheng snorted and turned his head,
intentionally not looking at him. Chi Shan silently nodded his head towards
Fang Yuan as a greeting.

Fang Yuan also nodded his head as a reply, his face carrying a wisp of
smile.

The last of the sunshine shone on this young boy’s face; he was indeed
happy.
With the red steel Relic Gu, his cultivation would instantly advance by a
level.

And there was also the token.

A year ago, Fang Yuan wanted to build a friendship with Jia Jin Sheng and
rely on him to take part in the future large-scale Gu fighting competition,
reaping benefits in that period of upheaval.

Unfortunately, life was unpredictable, the final outcome made Fang Yuan
not know whether to laugh or cry — unexpectedly, he ended up killing Jia
Jin Sheng with his own hands.

No matter. Without Jia Jin Sheng, relying on Jia Fu also worked. This token
was equivalent to the admission ticket to the future large-scale Gu fighting
competition.
Chapter 114
 Chapter 114: Monkey King in the cave

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Three days after the caravan left the village.

In the rock forest inside the mountain, filled with dark red light.

Huge stone pillars extended down from the ceiling, resembling long and
gigantic tree trunks, forming into a majestic grey coloured stone forest.

Fang Yuan was retreating from battle in the rock forest.

Chirpchirpchirp……

A bunch of stone monkeys stared with their green circular monkey eyes,
chasing after Fang Yuan relentlessly.

“Moonglow Gu!” Fang Yuan called in his mind, his right arm chopping
towards the direction of the monkey gang.

Pew.

An eerie blue moonblade as large as a face formed into a crescent and

pierced through the air, cutting into the monkey gang.

A jade eye stone monkey was jumping in the air. With no foothold to escape
on, it was hit directly by the moonblade.

Before it could scream, in the next moment, its entire body was split into
two from head to toe.

It had lost all its remaining life force and was enveloped in a deep aura of
death.
In a split second, its lively eyes became a pair of jade pearls. As its body
descended, it turned into a rock statue.

Bam.

With a crisp sound, the statue fell onto the ground, smashing into pieces.

The moonblade only dimmed a little, and after killing this stone monkey, its
force remained as it rushed for the monkeys behind.

Kachakkk…

After a few cries, five or six stone monkeys were killed on the spot.

Chirpchirpchirp!

Their companions’ death fueled the monkey gang’s rage as they screamed
furiously, their influence doubling, imposingly leaping at Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was unfazed by the danger, his heart remaining as calm as ice.
He fought and retreated appropriately. As the stone monkeys neared, he
attacked with the moonblade.

The Moonlight Gu in the past, even with the boost from Little Light Gu,
each moonblade could only kill one or two monkeys. But now, with one
attack the Moonglow Gu could kill five or six stone monkeys.

But there were positive and negative impacts. The Moonglow Gu, to the
current Fang Yuan, had a huge cost.

Each moonblade used 10% of his red steel primeval essence. Fang Yuan
only had 44% primeval sea in his aperture.

This meant that he could only use four moonblades in one go.

“If I can successfully fuse the Four Flavors Liquor worm and refine my
primeval essence, I would be able to shoot eight moonblades. What a pity.
Even though I have the second Liquor worm and three out of the four
flavours of wine, I am lacking the final one, I’m stuck at the final step,”
Fang Yuan sighed deeply.

Three moonblades later, his aperture only had 14% light red primeval
essence left.

To play safe, he no longer used the moonblade, but activated the White Jade
Gu.

The stone monkeys encircled him, the closest monkey jumping to Fang
Yuan’s leg and going into a frenzy. From down to up, it used its monkey
head to hit Fang Yuan’s chin.

Fang Yuan snorted, he wanted to use his fist to crush this overconfident
monkey.

But suddenly he had a thought and stopped his hand, using his chin to
receive the blow instead.

A moment before the point of impact, his chin shone with white jade cold
light.

A loud bam sound resounded.

The force of the attack caused Fang Yuan’s head to tilt back. But that
monkey laid on the ground, hugging its head and rolling around the ground
screaming in agony.

Without the White Jade Gu, Fang Yuan’s chin would’ve been smashed. But
now, Fang Yuan only felt slightly dizziness with no injuries.

But, even with the White Jade Gu’s defense, he still had to withstand the
impact of the attack.

Fang Yuan took a few steps back before recovering and seeing the scenery
clearly before his eyes again.

He had intentionally withstood the monkey’s headbutt earlier, it was to have

this body get used to such attacks and get used to the slight dizziness.
This way, in the future when he falls into a life-and-death crisis,
encountering such an attack, he would be able to recover much more
quickly and fight for a survival chance.

Fang Yuan was always ruthless with his methods. This ruthlessness was not
only towards enemies, but also himself!

He came here to kill stone monkeys almost every three days.

His motive was not just the Flower Wine Monk’s strength inheritance, but
also another motive — to utilize the stone monkeys to train his own fighting
ability.

A Gu Master’s physical stats, physical combat proficiency, aperture

primeval essence, battle experience and every Gu worm, they were all
elements that affected the overall battle strength.

Only by gathering all these elements tightly together can one exert the
greatest fighting strength.

The stone monkey group was like a hammer, and Fang Yuan was the ingot
that had just came out of the cauldron. With every hit of the hammer, he
would become more sturdy, more refined, and more compact.

Fifteen minutes later, this battle ended.

On the ground, there were rock fragments all over the ground, and within
those were dozens of jade pearls.

“I killed fourty-one jade eyes stone monkeys this time,” Fang Yuan counted
in his heart, and every time he would collate the battle results. From each
battle, he’d reflect upon himself and improve upon what he did not do
properly. At the same time, he would feel his own improvement speed.

“In the earlier battle, the Moonglow Gu was the most contributing factor,
with three moonblades killing at least seventeen or eighteen stone monkeys.
That is about half of the entire battle results, the remaining monkeys were
all killed by my close combat.
Moonlight Gu’s effect on the stone monkeys was not very obvious. But
after advancing to Moonglow Gu, it jumped to being Fang Yuan’s most
powerful attacking method.

Not only was its attack power strong, but more crucially, its efficiency was
very high.

Fang Yuan utilized three moonblades only in the span of a few breath’s
time, but when he used his fists and kicks to smash the stone monkeys, that
took over ten minutes.

These stone monkeys were very agile and had swift movements.

When the stone monkeys were on the ground, there was no point thinking
of hitting them physically. With a jump, they could easily leap away and
avoid Fang Yuan’s attack.

The only weakness was that when they jumped in mid-air, they couldn’t
change their moving direction. Fang Yuan being able to kill them, was due
to this weakness.

But this was owing to his rich fighting experience. If it was any other Rank
two Gu master, even Chi Shan, Mo Yan or Qing Shu, they would not be
able to catch the weakness every time like Fang Yuan.

His previous life’s memories could allow Fang Yuan to sensitively catch the
opportunities in battle and seize them. He could meticulously use every
ounce of his strength. Even though he was Rank two, he could already
utilize his fighting strength to the limit of his abilities.

He was definitely not like Fang Zheng, having the Jade Skin Gu, but on the
arena after being overwhelmed by Fang Yuan’s aura, could not even display
his supposed strength.

Of course, Fang Yuan’s cultivation was still very low, and against the
monkey group, he could not overwhelm them by brute force.

Every time, he had to fight while retreating.

Luckily, the monkeys did not have high intelligence. They could not adjust
their attack patterns, and even after seeing Fang Yuan crushing them in mid-
air many times, they still leapt towards Fang Yuan while attacking.

At the same time, every time they chased Fang Yuan, if it was too far from
their homes, their longingness to their homes would overwhelm their anger.
Many monkeys gave up on the chase due to this.

Gu are the essence of heaven and earth, humans are the spirit of all living
things.

Fang Yuan is relying on the intelligence of humans to understand the stone

monkeys’ habits and using the correct fighting methods to get deeper into
the rock forest, at this point he was already near the central area of the rock
forest.

After many attempts, Fang Yuan finally exterminated the monkey group on
this rock pillar.

Right now, in front of him, was the final pillar.

It was the largest and thickest rock pillar in this rock forest.

The pillar extended downwards from the ceiling, almost touching the
ground. It emitted a majestic aura amidst the silence.

Fang Yuan counted the number of rock caves on the pillar, getting an
estimation of at least five hundred stone monkeys. This was the largest
monkey group he had encountered up till now.

But no matter how many jade eye stone monkeys there were, to Fang Yuan,
it was just a small bit of trouble, at most he’d have to exert more effort and
waste a few more trips.

What caused his gaze to become serious, was the rock cave at the most
upper level.

The entrance of this cave was larger than any of the surrounding caves, at
least twice as large if not more.
And below it, the caves were tightly cluttered together, forming and
resembling a position where they were worshipping and revering.

“It seems that there is a monkey king in this rock cave.” Fang Yuan
frowned.

This was where the problem lay.

As long as a beast group is large, there would be a beast king created. There
was a wild boar king in the wild boar group. Obviously there would also be
a monkey king in the monkey group.

The threat of a beast king was multiple times higher than a normal wild
beast.

The reason was that their bodies had one or two Gu worms inside. These
Gu had a mutual partnership with the beast kings, and once the beast king is
attacked, they would come out and assist.

“This jade eye stone monkey king should not be very strong, at least weaker
than the wild boar king. Otherwise, the surrounding monkey groups
would’ve been under his control already.” Fang Yuan using his experiences,
gauged the monkey king’s strength.

Normally, the bigger the beast group, the stronger the beast king; weaker
beast kings did not have the ability to rule over a large number of its kind.

According to the beast group’s size and classifying of the beast kings, from
low to high, they could be classified as hundred beast king, thousand beast
king, and myriad beast king.

The wild boar king that sickly snake’s group hunted was a thousand beast
king, it ruled over a thousand wild boars.

The stone monkey king before Fang Yuan was a hundred beast king, it only
had several hundred stone monkeys under its rule.

The culprit behind the wolf tide, the lightning crown wolf was a myriad
beast king, every single lightning crown wolf ruled over at least ten
thousand lightning wolves.

The difference in ability between the three beast kings, were huge.

Thousand beast kings needed three teams to cooperate together to be able to

barely kill it. The sickly snake group was able to deal with the wild boar
king, mostly due to it being injured beforehand.

A myriad beast king required the clan elders and clan leader to work
together to be able to go against it head on.

As for hundred beast king, a regular five man group would be able to
handle it.

But for Fang Yuan who wanted to deal with this monkey king, he could not
borrow outside strength, and could only rely on his own power.

“Rank two initial stage primeval essence is ineffective here, it seems it is

time to use the red steel Relic Gu.” Fang Yuan eyed the rock cave deeply,
then left the second secret room and closed the rock door.

If what stands in his way is a thousand beast king like the wild boar king,
Fang Yuan would retreat without thinking.

But if it is only a hundred beast king, if Fang Yuan had Rank two middle
stage cultivation, he could give it a shot.

Of course, the results could go either way. Even with middle stage
cultivation, he still had roughly 75% chance of failure, his chances of
success not even hitting 30%.
Chapter 115
 Chapter 115: Advancing to middle stage

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The translucent light membrane, faint red primeval sea and the surging
waves.

On the sea surface, two fat white Liquor worms were absorbing the water.
In the air above the sea, a black ladybug-like Black Boar Gu was shaking its
wings and hovering around the red steel Relic Gu.

The pebble like White Jade Gu had sunk to the depths of the sea and was
motionless.

Spring Autumn Cicada had concealed itself; it was in a deep slumber to

recuperate.

“It is time.” Fang Yuan willed; the sea waves paused, and a portion of
primeval essence surged up and poured towards the red steel Relic Gu.

The red steel Relic Gu immediately shook and flew up, giving off bursts of
red rays of light.

It was like the slowly rising sun, its rays of light shining upon the aperture
wall.

The rays of light were as hot as fire and as dazzling as a sword.

The Black Boar Gu was soon unable to bear it and fell down to the primeval
sea.

The two Liquor worms also sunk down to the depths of the primeval sea.

White Jade Gu was flashing inside the sea.

For Fang Yuan to advance to rank two middle stage with normal methods,
he could only use the method of grinding; using his light red primeval
essence to cleanse the light membrane aperture wall.

But now, red steel Relic Gu gave off majestic red light which replaced the
light red primeval essence and poured directly into the aperture wall, giving
astonishing results.

Fang Yuan could see the whole light membrane thickening at an astonishing
pace.

The light on the light membrane condensed into streams of light, gradually
changing to a water membrane. The white shimmering rays flowed
continuously; becoming clear one moment and dark in the next.

Right now, Fang Yuan had advanced to middle stage!

However, the Relic Gu was still bursting with red rays of light.

The rays of light filled the whole aperture; it replaced the primeval essence
and continuously injected its essence and foundation into Fang Yuan’s
aperture.

The water membrane accepted it all and the shimmering rays of light on it
was like water as it flowed freely.

This continued on for about fifteen minutes.

Red steel Relic Gu had thoroughly exhausted all its energy; its body turned
transparent and disappeared in the red light.

The penetrating red rays of light also suddenly dissipated with its
disappearance.

The aperture recovered its tranquility once again.

However the water membrane had become much thicker. Using the red
steel Relic Gu had saved Fang Yuan from wasting a lot of time and effort.
A thread of scarlet red primeval essence appeared in the primeval sea.

This was the rank two middle stage primeval essence. It was more
condensed than the light red initial stage primeval essence. It sank to the
depths of the primeval sea and lingered around the White Jade Gu.

A red steel Relic Gu could directly strengthen the foundation of the

aperture. To a Gu Master, this meant advancing by a small realm.

This type of Gu worm was naturally better if used early.

To a Gu Master, higher cultivation meant stronger fighting force, better

survival rate, more mission completions and also more primeval stones
earnings. It had a great influence on every aspect.

After reaching the middle stage, Fang Yuan took several primeval stones
and started recovering his primeval essence. He stopped only after the 44%
percent primeval sea in his aperture had completely filled with middle stage
scarlet primeval essence.

Half an hour later, he once again stepped into the stone forest, heading
towards the central area.

He stepped into the warning zones of the monkey groups; immediately,

furious jade eye stone monkeys came out of the stone pillars.

They screeched and pounced upon Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan’s expression didn’t change, most of his attention was on that
cave at the highest layer of the stone pillar.

When encountering a common jade eye stone monkey, there was no need to
be nervous as long as you weren’t surrounded by them. The main problem
was the stone monkey king.

What Gu worms resided on it? Fang Yuan didn’t know.

Fang Yuan slowly retreated while cautiously observing, but the stone
monkey king didn’t appear.
Fang Yuan was baffled, “Is there no monkey king in this monkey group? If
there was a monkey king, then it would no doubt be the first to come out if
someone infringed on its territory. Hold it, maybe it has already come out!”

Just as he thought of this, the sleeping Spring Autumn Cicada in his

aperture suddenly floated into appearance. Its body was trembling as it gave
a weak startled cry that resonated only within Fang Yuan’s mind.

The vital Gu’s warning!

This appeared only when the vital Gu felt there was an intense threat
against the Gu Master’s life.

In that split second, Fang Yuan’s hairs stood up. Without thinking twice, he
directly used the White Jade Gu.

A layer of bright white jade light covered his whole body.

In the next instant, the stone monkey king – who was three times bigger
than a normal stone monkey – suddenly appeared on the left side of Fang
Yuan and fiercely struck out with its sharp claws at Fang Yuan’s left
shoulder.

Bang.

The stone monkey king’s attack was blocked by the White Jade Gu’s
defense; its attack failed.

In the instant Fang Yuan received this attack, the White Jade Gu in his
aperture suddenly lit up and consumed five percent of the scarlet primeval
essence.

If it was when Fang Yuan was at the initial stage, ten percent of light red
primeval essence would have been used up.

From this, one could see how sinister and vicious the stone monkey king’s
sneak attack was.
Despite Fang Yuan having a calm character, he couldn’t help breaking out
in cold sweat at this moment. If it were not for him sharpening himself
these days and polishing his condition to a peak combat state, he might
have really been hit by the stone monkey king’s attack.

Had his reaction been just a bit late, his left shoulder would have become
crippled and unusable. Fang Yuan would then end up miserable just like Gu
Yue Man Shi not long ago.

“There is actually a wild concealing-type Gu worm residing in this stone

monkey king!” Fang Yuan hurriedly retreated, he had no way to detect a
concealing Gu worm and ended up in disadvantage all of a sudden.

The stone monkey king seemed to be more cunning than normal stone
monkeys. After its attack missed, it again hid itself away.

This undoubtedly was a huge mental pressure on Fang Yuan.

He used the White Jade Gu to form a defense around his whole body. Such
a method used primeval essence every moment and it was impossible for
him to maintain this defense.

Even when he had fought with the stone monkey troops before, he would
only use the White Jade Gu at the crucial moment.

If he continued to maintain this state, then his primeval essence would

completely dissipate not long after.

Over five hundred stone monkeys encircled Fang Yuan aggressively.

Fang Yuan used his greatest speed to retreat and pull some distance.

Some stone monkey’s momentum became weaker, whereas some stomped

on the ground and began to head back to their homes.

“Chirp!” Right at this moment, the jade eye stone monkey king appeared
and commanded in a loud voice.
“Chirp chirp!!” The stone monkey groups immediately responded; their
confusion and hesitation disappeared and again started their chase after
Fang Yuan.

Over five hundred jade eye stone monkeys were persistently chasing after
him, but Fang Yuan didn’t panic; his lips revealing a cold smile on the
contrary.

This accident was already in his expectations.

He had chosen the easiest route towards the central area of the stone forest,
opening up a passage. In the surroundings of the passage were large
numbers of stone monkey groups.

Fang Yuan was very familiar with this passage.

However, with the low intelligence of these stone monkeys, how could they
know? Under the supervision of the stone monkey king, they stormed
through the stone forest, infringing on other monkey groups’ warning zones
and resulting in counterattacks from the other monkey groups.

The stone forest was in a great chaos!

Countless jade eye stone monkeys stood at their place, starting a massacre
to defend their homes.

In ten or more years, the stone monkey king might even advance to become
a thousand beast king and completely unify this stone forest. But now, it
was only a hundred beast king and didn’t have the ability to control so
many stone monkeys.

The different groups of stone monkeys fell into a chaotic battle with each
other.

For a moment, all Fang Yuan could hear was the screeching and screaming
sounds of the stone monkeys.

Those five hundred stone monkeys that were chasing him were quickly
entangled with the other stone monkey groups. But the stone monkey king
still persisted on chasing after Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was attacking and retreating. In this period of time, he suffered
many sneak attacks from the stone monkey king and every attack would
consume great amounts of his primeval essence. Luckily, he had advanced
to middle stage before this. Otherwise, with the initial stage primeval
essence, he wouldn’t have been to handle this consumption.

Fang Yuan landed in absolute disadvantage; he had not found any weakness
in the stone monkey king.

The only chance to attack lay in the moment the stone monkey king was
about to attack. But even if Fang Yuan was able to react, he had no time to
even make an attacking movement.

The stone monkey king possessed a concealment-type gu worm and firmly

held the initiative. It could attack Fang Yuan whenever it wanted to attack.
Even if Fang Yuan injured it, it could use the concealment-type gu worm to
safely escape; it was in an invincible position.

“Without a stealth-removal Gu worm, the probability to win this battle is

extremely low! If I had a wide area attacking method, maybe I could give it
a try. But Moonglow Gu…I will only be able to hit this stone monkey king
if I am lucky, but the probability is too low.”

Fang Yuan clearly understood the battle situation and immediately retreated.

However, the stone monkey king seemed to be determined to kill him.

Fang Yuan retreated to about a hundred meters from the rock door when he
suddenly stopped.

“I only have a bit over 10% of my primeval essence remaining. It won’t be

enough to cover this hundred meters of distance. And even if I am able to
enter the second secret room and close the rock door, this stone monkey
king might just break the door!”
Fang Yuan had thought that the stone monkey king would give up after
chasing him for such a long period of time. Yet who could have thought that
it still persisted on chasing him.

He was already out of the stone forest now and around him was a patch of
empty ground.

Countless stone monkeys were fighting chaotically in the stone forest,

causing an uproar. Their noisy sounds kept on echoing within this empty
space.

Fang Yuan didn’t budge; his battle intuition told him that the stone monkey
king was hiding somewhere, waiting for him to show a gap before making a
fatal attack.

Fang Yuan knew he had already fallen into an impasse.

Normal Rank two Gu Masters would have already fallen apart from this
fear, unable to endure this formless pressure.

But Fang Yuan was still calm.

This situation was also within his expectations, though its probability was
very low. According to logic, the stone monkey king should also possess the
stone monkey’s habits and be reluctant to leave its home. But for some
reason, this stone monkey king was hell bent on chasing and killing Fang
Yuan.

“If you choose to take a risk, you need to be willing to risk your life!” Fang
Yuan’s eyes flashed with a cold light; he then took off his upper garment.
Chapter 116
Chapter 116: Killing the Monkey King and getting
new Gu

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“11% primeval essence, this means two moonblades or sustain the monkey
king’s sneak attack twice. Relying solely on the Moonglow Gu or White
Jade Gu will not do. My only chance is the instant where the monkey king
attacks me, I have to grasp the opportunity and shoot the moonblade,
instantly killing it!” Fang Yuan’s thoughts sparked like flint, thinking of the
most optimum strategy.

Stone monkeys did not have outstanding defense, and since the monkey
king chose a sneak attack approach, it revealed that defense was its
weakness.

One moonblade could slaughter five or six jade eye stone monkeys. Even if
it couldn’t kill the monkey king, it can still heavily injure it.

But do not think that this is easy; getting to this point is difficult, even if a
group of Gu Masters came, without a stealth removal type Gu they would
still lose their lives.

“This monkey is cunning, choosing not to attack, is it waiting for my

primeval essence to be used up? Nevermind, I shall trust the Spring Autumn
Cicada once and bet on this chance!” Fang Yuan instantly decided, his eyes
shining with a cold and ruthless light.

He stood on the spot, both hands hanging beside him, holding the collar of
his shirt. At the same time, he closed his eyes, only leaving a slit of
visibility. What is more shocking is that he removed the defense of the
White Jade Gu.
The expenditure of the primeval essence in his aperture, finally stopped. At
the same time, he was no longer under the protection of the white jade light.

The rock forest continued to reverb with the cries and anguish of the
monkeys, but Fang Yuan could feel that these noises were getting closer and
closer to himself.

A type of calmness enveloped his heart and mind.

He was silently waiting for the stone monkey king’s attack.

When it attacks, that is when the match is decided!

Waiting…

Waiting…

Suddenly, the Spring Autumn Cicada vibrated in the aperture.

Pew!

The very next moment, Fang Yuan heard an explosion and the stone
monkey king appeared on his left!!

“White Jade Gu!” Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with brilliance as the white jade
light covered his entire body.

Bam.

The stone monkey king hit Fang Yuan’s body with a strong force, almost
causing him to topple, his primeval essence dropping by 5%, only left with
the other half!

Seeing that his attack did not finish Fang Yuan off, the stone monkey king
tried to escape!

Fang Yuan had no time to counterattack, but it was enough for him to flick
his upper shirt.
Suddenly, he felt that there was someone on his upper shirt, tugging
towards the outside direction.

The shirt was not made of steel, and to prevent it from tearing, Fang Yuan
let go of both hands, seeing the floating shirt fly around the place at a
shocking speed.

“Now!” Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with cold light as the battle’s outcome
would be decided with this moonblade, his heart cold and calm as ice.

The monkey king was afterall a wild beast, and after having its face covered
by a shirt, it flew into a panic.

It emitted a shrill scream, calling its stone monkeys to help. At the same
time the shirt continued to move around, changing directions and going all
over the place.

An eerie blue moonblade flew out and hit the stone monkey king.

The monkey king cried in pain as its camouflage was exposed.

Its appearance was the same as a normal stone monkey, but its body size
was three times bigger, and at the same time its eyes shone with a bloody
red light.

A long and deep wound stretched from its chest to its left leg, blood
continuing to pour from it.

Although not dead, it had already suffered a heavy injury, and the aura of
death permeated its entire body. It covered its wound in shock, going
invisible again.

Fang Yuan’s upper shirt was cut open by his moonblade, falling onto the
ground. But the blood traces exposed the monkey king, and it hurriedly
retreated, no longer having the idea of killing Fang Yuan. With such a grave
injury, if it did not deal with it, it would lose its life.

At this time, Fang Yuan also retreated to the rock door. After activating the
moonblade, his aperture only had a little bit of primeval essence left, and
his battle strength dropped drastically.

Although it looked like a draw, Fang Yuan had won.

The monkey king’s injury could not be recovered shortly. The more blood it
lost, the weaker it felt.

But Fang Yuan could use the primeval stones to recover his primeval
essence and recover his battle strength.

Even without a stealth removal type Gu, nor a wide area attack method,
with his rich fighting experience and the will of steel in the face of danger,
Fang Yuan could beat the strong in a weaker state.

“Monkey, fox, bei(1), these wild beasts have extraordinary intelligence

compared to ordinary wild beasts, and are more cunning. Because of this,
they lack the wild courage and often retreat while injured. If it were a wild
boar or bull, they would go into a frenzy while injured. This monkey king
seems to only have one Gu worm. Although the Gu worm could grant
stealth, it cannot hide blood traces, and if my guess is correct, it should be
the Rank one stealth rock Gu.”

Fang Yuan pondered in his heart, and relying on his memories, the monkey
king had no more secrets in front of him.

“The results has been decided.” Fang Yuan returned to the rock room,
closing the door and replenishing his primeval essence.

A moment later, his primeval essence went back to its peak state, and Fang
Yuan opened the rock door, being in the rock forest once again.

The rock forest was still a mess, but better than before.

“After this chaos, the entire rock forest’s forces will be reset. The stone
monkeys will relocate and regroup, and the roaming and isolated stone
monkeys form into new monkey gangs. The path that I painstakingly
created would thus vanish.”
Fang Yuan’s heart sank, he needed to kill the stone monkey king before this
path is completely gone.

If not, opening this path would expend much of his time again, and by the
time he got to the center again, the monkey king would’ve completely
healed.

He shall chase after and annihilate lingering enemies with bravery, rather
than be easily contented with fame and compliments like Xiang Yu(2).

Fang Yuan trailed along the opened path, invading the rock forest. The
stone monkeys who appeared in his way were all exterminated.

Fifteen minutes later, he appeared at the central pillar once again.

The stone monkey king laid on the ground; it had turned into a statue and
was already dead.

A jade eye stone monkey was stepping on its corpse, screaming about.

Replacing the title of king, with the death of the former king, a new king
takes its place. Regardless of the beast group or human society, this was the
cruel elimination system.

“Saved some effort of mine.” Fang Yuan slowly got closer.

At this moment, a Gu worm slowly floated from the corpse of the stone
monkey king, flying towards the new king.

Moonglow Gu!

Fang Yuan shot out a moonblade just in time, chasing away the new stone
monkey king, then walking up and grabbing the Gu worm.

This Gu looked ordinary like a grey rock, with an uneven surface that was
not even squarish nor spherical. If this Gu was thrown on the road, no one
would notice it based on appearance.
But in reality, it was the essence of a rock, a natural Gu nurtured by Mother
Nature.

It seemed like an inanimate object, a rock. But in fact, it was the real deal, a
living being with its own consciousness and thought.

As Fang Yuan predicted, it was the Stealth Rock Gu.

Grabbed by Fang Yuan, it desperately struggled, trying to be free of his

demonic grasp.

Spring Autumn Cicada.

Fang Yuan called in his mind, and the Spring Autumn Cicada appeared in
his aperture, leaking a trace of its aura.

The Stealth Rock Gu instantly went dead, not daring to struggle, like a
mouse meeting a cat.

Fang Yuan’s red primeval essence activated and instantly refined it.

Another Gu in the bag!

The Stealth Rock Gu was kept in the aperture and sunk to the bottom of the
primeval sea, side by side with the White Jade Gu.

The stone monkey watched helplessly at the side, and on seeing Fang Yuan
keep the Stealth Rock Gu into his body, it frantically jumped about,
screaming incoherently.

It had just gotten the new position, so not many monkeys obeyed it.

With another moonblade, Fang Yuan took a few more monkey lives. Those
that gathered around their new king instantly dispersed.

The new stone monkey king gnawed its teeth at Fang Yuan.

“Scram.” Fang Yuan stared at it, saying a word, with his expression cold as
ice.
The monkey king shuddered, feeling the intense killing intent from Fang
Yuan. It stared at Fang Yuan blankly before gulping and turning around to
escape, showing its superior intelligence compared to wild beasts.

Fang Yuan chased these stone monkeys away and ignored them, getting to
the bottom of the rock pillar as soon as he could.

As he got close, he found a cave below the rock pillar.

The cave was not big, and some rock stairs extended downwards into the
darkness.

Fang Yuan had no investigative Gu worm, so he could not tell what was
down there.

With the situation unclear, Fang Yuan did not enter the cavern and walk
down the stairs. He had barged his way in earlier, and his body condition
was not at its prime. Furthermore, the chaos in the rock forest was
disappearing and was stabilizing.

He had spent much effort and time to open the path, but many stone
monkeys were starting to reside in the pillars along the way.

“Haste brings no success. Now that I have found the inheritance clue, I have
achieved my goal. It is time to return.” Fang Yuan controlled the urge to
investigate, and returned via the same route.

On the way, the pressure intensified but eventually, he endured the pressure
as he was chased by hundreds of monkeys, tragically rushing out of the
rock forest.

TIme passed quickly, and summer replaced spring.

Unknowingly it was the scorching summer again already.

Fang Yuan spent every second of his time cultivating diligently. Using the
red steel Relic Gu, he instantly caught up to Fang Zheng’s cultivating
speed.
He did not have a special Gu that could hide his middle stage aura. After
killing the monkey king and obtaining the Stealth Rock Gu, a day later, his
cultivation level was exposed.

The clansmen only knew then that he was the one who obtained the red
steel Relic Gu; it was actually Fang Yuan!

At the same time, he intentionally revealed the Black Boar Gu.

Fang Yuan sold such a huge amount of assets to get the Black Boar Gu and
red steel Relic Gu. Many people could not understand his thoughts, calling
him a ‘fool’, ‘dumbass’, ‘maniac’ and ‘short-sighted’, as they became his
new nicknames.

With a rise in attention, Fang Yuan had to reduce the number of times he
ventured into the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance.

He continued to nurture his aperture as he steadily moved towards Rank

two upper stage, while collecting the ingredients to fuse the Liquor worm as
well as the Stealth Rock Gu. At the same time, he used the vitality leaf to
earn primeval stones, sustaining his cultivation.

July, the start of autumn.

At the foot of the mountain near the village, a wild Rank five Gu suddenly
appeared, causing a huge tremor at Gu Yue Village!

(1) Bei – A legendary wolf in chinese mythology

(2) Xiang Yu – Qing Dynasty conqueror

Chapter 117
 Chapter 117: Bitter shell wine and River
Swallowing Toad

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

A solemn and serious atmosphere filled the conference hall.

A group of elders silently sat on their seats; their faces were either
indifferent, gloomy or serious.

Clan head Gu Yue Bo was sitting on the main seat, his gaze also filled with
unconcealed worry, “Three days ago, a River Swallowing Toad appeared
near the village by the foot of the mountain. This toad flowed along with
the Huang Long River(1) and accidentally reached here. Right now, it is
blocking up a river channel and sleeping there. If we ignore it, the village
will constantly be in danger. So I would like to ask the elders if you have
any good ideas to drive this toad away?”

The elders looked at each other; for a moment, no one spoke.

River Swallowing Toad was a Rank five Gu; it had an enormous might and
could spit out a river. If this was not handled properly and it was provoked,
over half of the Qing Mao mountain could be submerged with water and the
whole village would be destroyed.

After a long silence, Gu Yue Chi Lian spoke, “The situation is grave, and
we need to resolve this as quickly as possible. If this news gets leaked, we
can’t say for sure if those with evil intentions might not secretly go and
intentionally provoke this River Swallowing Toad to entrap our Gu Yue
clan.”

“Elder Chi Lian is right.” Gu Yue Mo Chen nodded in agreement. Although

he and Gu Yue Chi Lian were political enemies, but at such a critical time
for the village, he let go of his past prejudices.

He continued speaking after a moment, “There is another more serious

problem. If the River Swallowing Toad floods the Qing Mao mountain, the
wolf lairs will be submerged and for their survival, the wolf hordes will
move up the mountain. At that time, the wolf tide will break out before its
time. And we will have to fight with countless wild beasts to fight for the
space at the top.”

The elders’ complexion turned pale when they heard this.

Gu Yue Bo spoke with heavy tone, “Everyone, don’t forget the foundation
of our village. The first generation ancestor set up the village in this place
because of the underground spirit spring. If Qing Mao mountain gets
flooded, this spirit spring might also be destroyed.”

“What should we do?”

“Sigh….even if we withstand the beast tides and survive at the

mountaintop. After the flood subsides, the spirit spring will have
disappeared, many beasts will have died, our surroundings will turn to a
wasteland and we will be lacking cultivation resources.”

“If we are to die, then why not ask help from Xiong and Bai villages? We
are three boats tied with one rope, I don’t believe they won’t help!”

The elders whispered to one another with panic hidden inside. Some had
already started thinking of asking for reinforcements.

“It is too premature to ask for help now,” Gu Yue Bo shook his head and
denied this idea immediately. “It is not the most challenging period now.
When the first generation ancestor had just established the village, a Rank
five Blood River Python attacked the village, but the first generation clan
head killed it. Compared to the Blood River Python, the River Swallowing
Toad is just so much more adorable.”

“It has a warm temperament and is harmless to ordinary people. Only if it

senses the aura of other Gu will it be alert. If it receives serious injuries, it
will be angered and spit out a river. By chance, I heard the previous clan
head talk of a rumor about the River Swallowing Toad….”

Gu Yue Bo’s composed and calm voice resounded within the conference
hall.

The group of elders listened attentively; their nervous and panicked

expressions eased up.

“He is really worthy of being the clan head. He calmed their hearts with just
his words.” Gu Yue Yao Ji sensed the change in the atmosphere. She gave a
profound look at Gu Yue Bo and praised him inwardly.

“If we follow what clan head said just now, chasing away the River
Swallowing Toad wouldn’t be a difficult thing,” An elder spoke.

“We can’t say that.” Gu Yue Bo shook his head, “These are only rumors, I
haven’t personally seen it or even put it to use. The important thing is that
we can’t be careless. I suggest we first send a group of Gu Masters to test
it.”

All the elders agreed.

Gu Yue Chi Lian spoke, “Then how about I send a member of my Chi
family. If he can’t do it, then no one among our clan might be able to do it.”

Everyone knew who Chi Lian was speaking of, and they approved of it one
after another.

Clan head Gu Yue Bo smiled, “Since it is so, then we shall just assign it to
the Chi Shan group.”

It was early autumn, the weather was gradually turning cool.

On a table by the window of the tavern, Fang Yuan was sitting alone,
calmly tasting some wine.

The tavern shopkeeper was standing beside him, bowing his head.
“Shopkeeper, is there progress on the matter regarding bitter shell wine that
I asked you to look into a few days ago?” Fang Yuan asked.

Fang Yuan was lacking a bitter wine for the liquor worm fusion.

However, bitter wines were difficult to find and because of the matter
regarding the red steel Relic Gu, people had been focusing on him.
Wherever he went, people would point him out. Thus, it was not easy to
make inquiries of bitter wines.

The disturbance had settled down only recently, and maybe because
extreme sorrow turns into joy, Fang Yuan had accidentally found a clue
regarding the bitter wine.

The old shopkeeper promptly replied, “Young master, the bitter shell wine
you wanted me to look into, someone had drunk it in Bai village. The raw
material of this wine is a type of conch found in deep ponds.This type of
conch is completely black, with circles of white lines on its shell resembling
a tree’s growth rings. We call it a bitter shell. Normal conches can form
pearls. The bitter shell swallows the sands and stones in the water,
dissolving them and forming bitter water instead. Someone pried open its
shell and obtained this bitter water, using it to brew wine, making the bitter
shell wine. Its taste is very unique; bitter and fragrant.”

Fang Yuan slightly raised his brows upon hearing this, “Does that mean Bai
village has this bitter shell wine?”

The shopkeeper hurriedly bent down, “I don’t dare to guarantee it, I have
only heard people talking about it occasionally. However, the truth is Bai
village is famous for its white grain liquid. This wine along with our clan’s
green bamboo wine and Xiong village’s bear gall wine are called the three
wines of Qing Mao. Bitter Shell wine…. I think even if the Bai village
possesses it, there wouldn’t be much.”

“Even if there is little, I have to find it,” Fang Yuan said in his mind.

But this matter was troublesome; Bai village had been gradually showing
signs of coming to emergence these years, starting to shake the Gu Yue
village’s position as the overlord.

If Fang Yuan wanted to enter the Bai village without permission, the
patrolling Bai village’s Gu Masters might kill him before he even sees the
village gate.

Even if it was so, Fang Yuan still wanted to attempt it. After all, getting this
bitter shell wine was more reasonable that the green Ai wine that was
immeasurably far away.

As he broke away from his contemplations, Fang Yuan found that the old
shopkeeper was still standing beside him. He waved his hand, “Alright, you
can leave, there is nothing for you here.”

The old man didn’t leave, his face revealed hesitation, not speaking out
what he was about to say.

He finally summoned his courage, “Young master, could you please take
back this tavern again? All the waiters and I want to work for you. You
don’t know that when the old landlord came back, he deducted most of our
wages. With such little primeval stones each month, it is really difficult for
us to support our families.”

Fang Yuan shook his head, his face without any expression, “I have already
sold this tavern to him. I can’t take it back according to the contract.
Moreover, I don’t want to engage in this tavern business. You can leave
now.”

“But, young landlord…..” The old man still didn’t move.

Fang Yuan frowned in annoyance, “Remember, I am no longer your

landlord!”

He had previously increased their salaries, only to arouse their passion for
their work. It was all for himself. However, these people mistook it for his
tolerance and wanted to push their luck.
Right now, by selling the vitality leaves, he could only fulfill his own needs.
On top of that, he was feeling vexed due to the bitter wine. So why would
he take back the tavern for these people?

“But young landlord, we really can’t keep on living like this! Please show
mercy and have pity on us.” The shopkeeper knelt on the ground and
implored.

The sound immediately attracted the surrounding guests.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly. He picked up a wine jar from the table and
smashed it on the shopkeeper’s head.

Kachak.

The jar shattered; the wine splashed all around and blood flowed from the
old man’s head.

“Did you think I won’t dare to kill you? You tactless fool, get lost.” Cold
light flashed out from Fang Yuan’s eyes.

The old shopkeeper’s whole body trembled from this killing intent; he was
startled and hurriedly left.

No matter which world, there will always be a group of weak people who
will brazenly and indiscreetly ask charity from the strong. As if helping
them was the manner of the strong and not helping them was wrong.

The weak should have the manners of the weak; they should either resign to
their fate and act like slaves or try hard while keeping a low profile.

The strong helped the weak only as a charity when they were in a good
mood.

The weak refuse to work hard, shamelessly begging from the strong, and
even demanding definite results, acting like a leech; they deserve getting
rejected.
People who were content with being weak, who don’t put their own effort
and only think of begging from the strong, simply aren’t deserving of
sympathy.

“Shopkeeper…”

“Quick, bandage the wounds.”

The waiters hurriedly surrounded the old man whose face was covered with
blood.

The old shopkeeper was only a mortal, it wouldn’t be a problem even if he

was killed on the spot.

Such an ending took away the interest of the surrounding guests; they
turned back and continued with their discussions.

“Do you know? Something big happened recently!”

“Are you talking about that River Swallowing Toad? Right now, who
wouldn’t know of this?”

“This is a Rank five Gu, if it isn’t dealt properly, the village might fall into
crisis!”

“It is said that this River Swallowing Toad’s food is water. When it is
hungry, it opens up its large mouth and directly sucks a river in!”

“If it is angered, it can release the water into the Qing Mao mountain, its
power is extremely horrifying. We might die!”

“Then what should we do?”

“Sigh, we just have to see how the clan’s higher-ups will deal with it. After
all, we can’t escape, where can we escape to?”

Bewilderment and confusion pervaded the air in the tavern.

“River Swallowing Toad….” Fang Yuan inwardly smiled when he heard
this.

Fear was infectious, it increased the more it is spread.

Actually, the River Swallowing Toad was very gentle and was not dreadful.
Its natural disposition was to sleep and people would often see it flowing
with the river. The toad would lie down on the water surface with their
white bellies facing up, and sleep soundly.

When it wakes up, it would swallow the river water up to its fill and return
back to sleep. They had no interest towards fighting and killing; if they
meet an enemy, their first reaction would be to flee. Only if they fall into an
impasse and couldn’t escape will they make fierce counterattacks.

They were very powerful and could release torrential river from their
mouths, engulfing the lands instantly and turning them to marsh.

“This River Swallowing Toad probably fell asleep, then drifted along the
Huang Long river and accidentally entered a tributary, reaching the foot of
the Qing Mao mountain.” Fang Yuan guessed the truth.

(1) Huang Long River – The name means Yellow Dragon River.
Chapter 118
 Chapter 118: Legend of the River Swallowing
Toad

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

It is said that every single River Swallowing Toad’s stomach carries a river.

Fang Yuan did not use the River Swallowing Toad in his previous life, but
he has a strong impression of this Gu, because of one person.

A normal person, a family servant.

Around two hundred years later in his previous life, a very special Gu
Master will appear— Jiang Fan.

His existence shocked numerous Gu Masters, and his story would be spread
around by the mortals.

Once he appeared, he became a legend.

His entire success was attributed to a River Swallowing Toad.

Jiang Fan was a mere family servant, single-handedly taking care of a

fishery for his master. One day, a River Swallowing Toad arrived at the
coast with its belly side up, lying in the water, asleep the entire time.

Jiang Fan was initially scared and shocked, but slowly, he felt that this toad
was dead, why was it not moving at all?

The “toad corpse” blocked the upflow of the river water, and this caused
many problems for Jiang Fan who was taking care of the fishery.
Jiang Fan tried many different methods and ways to move this “toad
corpse” away. But he was just a mere mortal, how could he move
something as heavy as the River Swallowing Toad?

His master was stingy and cruel, and if he could not meet the monthly
quota, his head will be decapitated. Jiang Fan did not dare to report it, as
someone not too long ago did not manage to fulfill his quota and reported it
with a proper reason, but ended up getting killed on the spot.

Seeing that the due date was getting closer, and the corpse still remained
there blocking the water, it greatly affected his revenue. Gradually, Jiang
Fan became more frightened, and his temper became more abusive and
frustrated.

Although he knew that he could not move this corpse away, he would still
go to it everyday, to punch and kick the “toad corpse”, crying and making a
din. Letting go of all the fear and anger he had in the face of death.

But one day, the River Swallowing Toad woke up, and with its half-opened
eyes, stared at Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan’s legs went soft from the shock.

The River Swallowing Toad was half asleep and half awake, but it still laid
there like it was a “corpse”. After some time, Jiang Fan regained his
composure.

He was not afraid, he was going to die anyway, what is there to be afraid
of?

He climbed to the top of the River Swallowing Toad’s belly, and lied down
face up. Staring at the sky, “Toad, oh toad. You are the same as me, with
only one last breath left in you, you’re about to die too huh?”

He did not know about the characteristics of the River Swallowing Toad.
Looking at its half dead state, he thought that it was going to die. After
saying so, Jiang Fan’s face flooded with tears.
The River Swallowing Toad squinted its eyes, listening to Jiang Fan’s
words while staring at the sky.

For the next few days, he continued to lie on the River Swallowing Toad’s
white and soft belly, crying while talking, complaining about the pain and
the repressed feelings of a mortal.

Finally, the deadline was here. The person-in-charge came down from the
village to the fishery to collect the fish.

Where could Jiang Fan find fish to meet the quota? Left with no choice, he
could only give an excuse that he needed to do some packing, and ran to the
River Swallowing Toad to bid farewell.

He patted the River Swallowing Toad’s belly, “Old toad, to think that I’m
going to die first. It must be affinity that led to me knowing you. I hope that
in your remaining days, you will have a better life.”

At this moment, the River Swallowing Toad started move.

Jiang Fan was taken aback. Seeing that the River Swallowing Toad’s
actions were becoming larger, he quickly jumped off.

Plop!

The River Swallowing Toad turned around, with its belly side down and
back facing upwards. It had fully woken up.

Jiang Fan’s body was drenched, and on having seen this scene he became
angry and stomped his foot, “Old toad, oh old toad, so you can still move?
Ahhhh, you have caused my death, if you had moved a few days ago, I
would not have to die!”

The River Swallowing Toad ignored his words, it had just woken up and
felt hungry.

Half of its body was submerged into the water as it opened its mouth,
starting to suck in the river water in order to sate its hunger.
Seeing this, Jiang Fan was dumbfounded. He shockingly saw that the water
level was receding, dropping at an observable pace, rapidly falling.

Large amounts of river water were swallowed into the toad’s belly, but its
belly did not even expand a bit, it was almost like a bottomless hole.

A moment later, the River Swallowing Toad stopped its meal. The river
water had already dropped to an extreme level, and the bedrock was
exposed. If a person stood in the river, the water would only reach their
knees.

Jiang Fan stood at the coast, at a lost for words.

The River Swallowing Toad glanced at him and suddenly burped. Its
stomach expanded and contracted, its mouth opening wide as it and it
vomited out a large amount of seafood.

Fish, prawn, turtle, crab, snails, eels, everything!

The River Swallowing Toad only ate water as its food, but did not consume
these seafood, hence it vomited all of them out.

At this point, it seems like it was raining seafood.

In the blink of an eye, the seafood gathered into a mountain, and Jiang Fan
upon seeing this, was overwhelming exhilarated. He screamed loudly, “I’m
saved, I’m saved! These seafood is enough for me to hand up for three
months. Old toad, oh old toad, it is all thanks to you!”

He packaged those seafood, and quickly handed them to the person-in-

charge.

The person-in-charge was both shocked and suspicious, how could there be
so much? He quickly reported it, and the Gu Masters in the village also
found out that the water level had changed drastically.

After investigating, they found out about the River Swallowing Toad’s
existence.
It was a Rank five Gu!

The village fell into a panic and they formed into large groups, trying to
expel the River Swallowing Toad.

Jiang Fan did not want the River Swallowing Toad to be harmed; these days
he had treated the River Swallowing Toad as his only friend.

He kneeled in front of the Gu Masters and pleaded hysterically. But why

would Gu Masters care about a mere mortal? They kicked him aside and
were about to murder him.

But at this moment, the River Swallowing Toad arrived.

Nobody knew if it had treated Jiang Fan as its friend, or felt that being with
Jiang Fan was interesting and could cure boredom.

The point is, it struck.

It carried Jiang Fan and vomited out a stream of river water that engulfed
the whole village and drowned half the hill.

This battle startled the entire southern continent!

Thereafter, Jiang Fan’s name spread throughout the one hundred thousand
mountains. With the River Swallowing Toad staying by his side, it meant
that he owned a Rank five Gu worm!

After all, even a Rank five Gu Master, might not have a Rank five Gu
worm.

Rank five Gu Masters were rare, even in the Gu Yue clan’s history, there
were only two people — the first generation clan leader and the fourth
generation clan leader.

But he Jiang Fan did not have an awakened aperture, yet as a mere mortal
he had a River Swallowing Toad.

His existence stunned the entire Gu Master world.

After that, Jiang Fan built a hamlet at the village’s location. He was
endearing to people and sympathized with mortals, aspiring to reach
equality among all people. It was a village without oppression.

He became a flag, and the mortals in the surrounding villages came to him
and wanted to depend on him.

But eventually, he was still assassinated.

With just a River Swallowing Toad, it could not make him truly powerful.
He was not a Gu Master after all, and after his death, the River Swallowing
Toad left.

Gu Masters razed his hamlet to the grounds, and slaughtered the mortals
who dared to oppose them.

With his mortal self, Jiang Fan challenged the entire system of society, and
that brought forth the rage of the Gu Masters.

“I wonder if Jiang Fan will still appear this time after my influence.” After
his recollection, Fang Yuan laughed.

But Chi Shan could not laugh.

His face was grim as he returned.

The villagers at the mountain foot were waiting for the Gu Masters to deal
with this problem.

But the great Gu Yue Chi Shan arrived and still could not solve the issue.
This caused the villagers to panic, and the panic spread and reached a high
point.

They dragged their families, brought big and small bags, and rushed up to
the village. They naturally did not dare to step inside, thus more and more
villagers kneeled outside the village’s doors, begging the Gu Masters to
have mercy and let them in.

In the hall.
“What? These lowly commoners dare to surround the main gate. Atrocious,
they are getting more and more daring, kill, kill them all!” The punishment
hall clan elder screamed.

Medicine hall’s Gu Yue Yao Ji’s face was also grim, “Although these lowly
commoners deserve death, killing a few is enough to threaten the rest and
chase the group away, but it would be like a joke for the other villages to
observe.”

Gu Yue Chi Lian said, “The important thing now is not this. If even Chi
Shan cannot wake this River Swallowing Toad, who else in our clan can? It
seems we have to get reinforcements, the Xiong clan specializes in
strength.” He sighed and continued, “for the safety of the clan, we should
get them to do it. Even if we have to pay a price, it is worth it.”

These words got the consent of the other clan elders, and even clan leader
Gu Yue Bo was moved.

“Clan leader and the other clan elders, this junior has something to report.”
Gu Yue Chi Shan had been standing in the hall, listening to the clan elders,
but suddenly he bowed and said spoke.

Gu Yue Bo nodded, he had an appreciative attitude towards Gu Yue Chi

Shan, “Chi Shan, if you have any ideas, you might as well say it.”

Chi Shan asked instead, “Elders, to push this River Swallowing Toad
awake, does it really need one person’s strength?”

Gu Yue Bo said, “According to the previous clan leader’s words, the River
Swallowing Toad has a mild temper and loves to sleep. Even if it is
awakened by someone pushing it, it would not rage. Thus, we asked you
who has the greatest strength in the village to wake it. But it ended in
failure.”

Chi Shan said, “Then can clan leader grant me a Brute Force Longhorn
Beetle Gu? With one bull’s strength and my inborn strength, I would be
able to push this River Swallowing Toad awake.”
“You definitely cannot use a Gu worm’s strength.” Just as Chi Shan finished
speaking, a clan elder denied his request, “A Gu worm’s aura will invite the
vigilance of the River Swallowing Toad. If this causes it to feel threatened
and rampage about, who would face the consequences?”

“That’s right.” Gu Yue Bo nodded, “By using a Gu worm, even if we wake

up the toad, we cannot get its approval. It has to be a single person, using
his own strength to wake it and get its approval.”

Gu is the spirit of heaven and earth, but it behaved more like wild beasts.
Wild beasts have their territories, and roaming wild beasts when
encountering the king of a territory, would have a battle. The victorious
takes the territory and the loser roams.

The formation of a beast tide is also based on this wild beast instinct. Strong
beast groups will invade and conquer neighbouring land. Weaker groups
would be exiled and this forms the beast tide.

To chase the River Swallowing Toad away, they have to abide to its habits.

River Swallowing Toad has a mild temperament, not enjoying conflict, and
as long as the territory’s “beast king” can be recognised, it would leave.

Thus, using Gu worms is a no-no, the Gu worm’s aura will be sensed and
cause the River Swallowing Toad to take unpredictable actions. Using
everyone’s strength was not possible too. Once there are many people, even
if it is moved, the toad would not leave.

That is because everyone acting together was not fair, and would not be
recognised by it.

Thus, the clan leader got Chi Shan to go ahead, as he had the greatest
strength in the village.

“So that’s it, I understand.” Chi Shan finally understood the situation, he
cupped his fists, “In that case, I will recommend someone to the clan elders,
he has greater strength than me.”
“Oh, who?”

“There’s such a person, why did we not know?”

“Chi Shan, don’t keep us waiting, quickly say it!”

“This person, is Gu Yue Fang Yuan.” Chi Shan said a name.

Chapter 119
 Chapter 119: This lad is stubborn, he needs more
polishing

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan?” The elders couldn’t help but look at each other upon
hearing this name.

They clearly recognized this name. In fact, from the beginning, Gu Yue
Fang Yuan’s name would occasionally reach their ears.

Especially after the Awakening Ceremony, when his Gu Master cultivation

started, this lad had been getting restless; he frequently caused some
disturbances that attracted attention.

“Ah, I remember him. Isn’t this kid the one who sold his family assets and
bought a red steel Relic Gu?” An elder came to realization.

Gu Yue Chi Lian and Gu Yue Mo Chen’s faces turned ugly.

If Chi Shan or Mo Yan had used the red steel Relic Gu, they could ascend to
rank two peak stage and be equal to Gu Yue Qing Shu.

This would reflect towards the higher-ups — whether it was the Mo faction
or Chi faction who got the relic gu, it would be a political victory. But to
think that this prodigal kid had ruined it all!

“Returning to the main topic, this kid is truly strong. At the arena
previously, he used his bare fists to shatter Jade Skin Gu’s defence and
pummeled Fang Zheng down, achieving the championship,” an elder
recalled.

This time, it was the clan head Gu Yue Bo’s turn to be embarrassed.
He had especially nurtured Gu Yue Fang Zheng, thus Fang Zheng’s defeat –
in some sense – was his, the clan head faction’s, defeat.

As long as one entered the system, anyone would be labelled with factions.
There were neutral political factions, but absolutely not a person without
any faction.

“But in terms of power, his strength shouldn’t be comparable to yours,

right?” Chi Lian doubtfully asked Chi Shan.

Chi San respectfully answered, “Elders, perhaps you might not know, Fang
Yuan not only bought red steel Relic Gu, he also purchased a Black Boar
Gu. These few months, he has been buying pork to nurture the Black Boar
Gu and increase his strength. Once, I even saw him moving a huge rock in
the mountain to measure his strength. I am not sure how much strength he
has, but from what I have seen, his strength absolutely doesn’t lose to
mine.”

“So it was like that. To think this kid, Fang Yuan has grown to this stage.”
Gu Yue Bo nodded his head. “Then let’s assign Fang Yuan’s group to give it
a try.”

Hearing this, the internal affairs hall elder awkwardly stood up from his
seat, “Lord clan head, this Fang Yuan is a loner and hasn’t joined a group.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Gu Yue Bo frowned.

“The thing is – after the first beast tide, his group was completely
annihilated and the only survivor was him, alone,” the internal affairs hall
elder replied.

“Even if it is so, why was he not considered during the group

reorganizing?” An elder curiously asked.

“Sigh!” The internal affairs hall elder gave a heavy sigh, “I also urged him
about this, but he didn’t have any intention to join any groups. Honestly
speaking, I don’t approve of this kid. He is very good at goofing around, it
might be that he has lost the will to fight after inheriting that inheritance.”
“Goofing around? How can that be, he hasn’t joined any groups so how
could he complete the monthly clan missions?” An elder doubted.

The internal affairs hall elder’s face sank, “Every month, he receives the
compulsory mission but the results are all failure. I haven’t seen records
worse than his; almost all the missions are recorded as failures. I have
already tried talking with him several times, but he still wants to continue in
his way, without any repenting. However, he hasn’t violated the clan rules,
so I can only give light punishments to this unruly and crafty kid!”

The elders looked at each other; they had never seen such a younger
generation who didn’t want to advance forward.

Mission failures represented a narrower career progression within the clan.

“This kid has become muddled…..”

“Hmph, he is too unruly!”
“He is destroying his own future!”
“If I had such an indolent child, I would directly slap him to death!”

“Enough.” Gu Yue Bo raised his hand, putting a stop to the elders’ private
chats; one couldn’t tell if he was happy or angry.

Gu Yue Bo’s gaze moved around and finally stopped on the internal affairs
hall elder, “Send a compulsory command, let Gu Yue Fang Yuan try his
strength on River Swallowing Toad. This kid is stubborn, rebellious and
unruly, he needs to be polished. If he fails, we can use this pretext to give
some punishments.”

“It will be as lord clan head says.” The internal affairs hall elder promptly
agreed.

There was a racket in the tavern.

“Do you guys know, the clan sent the Chi Shan group to the foot of the
mountain but they ended up returning in defeat.”
“The villagers living at the foot of the mountain are all kneeling in front of
the clan’s entrance, blocking the gate.”
“Hmph, these lowly commoners don’t even have a bit of knowledge. River
Swallowing Toad is a Rank five Gu, do they really think they will be safe in
the village?”

Although this was said, the air was dense with panic. These Gu Masters
were all forcefully calming themselves.

Fang Yuan listened for a short moment before no longer paying attention;
this was no longer fresh news. He stood up and was about to leave when a
person entered the tavern.

This person was tall with a thickly built body. The upper half of his body
was naked and his muscles were the color of bright red, seemingly wanting
to erupt.

It was Gu Yue Chi Shan.

The chatters within the tavern immediately stopped. Countless gazes landed
on Chi Shan.

Chi Shan ignored these gazes; he glanced around and found Fang Yuan.

“You were here.” Under the numerous gazes, he walked in front of Fang
Yuan, “Let’s go, the clan has already given a compulsory order. Let’s head
to the foot of the mountain, I will tell you the details on the way.”

Fang Yuan’s gaze flashed, he couldn’t refuse a compulsory order. Moreover,

there was not much danger when facing the River Swallowing Toad, thus he
agreed.

Only after Fang Yuan and Chi Shan left the tavern did the racket start again
in the tavern.

“Shopkeeper, the heavens have eyes. Look at this, such a quick karmic
retribution! That is a Rank five Gu, even other lord Gu Masters are helpless
facing it, whereas he is so young, isn’t this just losing his life in vain?!”

“We thought young master Fang Yuan was different from other Gu Masters
and would empathize with us mortals’ pain and sufferings. Hmph, to think
he would also be of the same mould. Screw him, we wouldn’t have any
regrets even if he dies.”

“Shopkeeper, you didn’t suffer this wound in vain, getting a Gu Master’s

life for it is absolutely a profit.”

The old shopkeeper’s head was bound with circles of white bandages. Right
now, he continued to groan, leaning weakly against the corner.

Several waiters were by his side, consoling him.

The old man’s eyes flashed with resentment, but his mood slightly eased up
upon hearing these words.

However, after a while of listening, he hypocritically berated them in a low

voice, “Shut your mouths, is this something we can talk of? Aren’t you
afraid of losing your lives if the other Gu Masters hear it?!”

The waiters giggled, “Shopkeeper, you are too worried. It is so noisy in the
tavern, who could have heard our whisperings?”

They had just said this, when a Gu Master sitting nearest to them spoke, “I
heard it.”

The shopkeeper and the waiters’ complexion changed greatly; they were
extremely terrified.

“Lord…” The old shopkeeper ignored the dizzy feeling in his head and
hurriedly walked towards the Gu Master to ask for forgiveness.

This Gu Master raised his hand and stopped him.

“You all spoke very well, I liked what you said. Fang Yuan, this bastard,
even if he dies, it shouldn’t be regretted! Speak more, I will give you great
rewards if I like what you say!” The Gu Master took out a primeval stone
and slammed it on the table with a bang.

If Fang Yuan was here, he would recognize this person. This person was
that healing Gu Master of the previous small beast tide. Fang Yuan had used
the girl this Gu Master sought after as a shield to cover his body. Thus, this
Gu Master had a deep hatred towards Fang Yuan and it was irreconcilable.

The waiters looked at each other. One of them with more guts started
staring at the primeval stone on the table with wide-eyes.

The Gu Master’s three companions frowned, but didn’t stop him. They
could only listen to the waiters scolding Fang Yuan as if they were in a
competition.

It was early autumn and the scenery was good.

In the forests, some leaves were of dark shade and some were of light.
Green leaves had started changing to yellow and yellow leaves faintly
showed red.

In the paddy field, fields of yellow-orange rice crops waved along with the
autumn wind.

In some lush vegetable fields, the vegetable leaves were fat, tender and
pleasing.

Fang Yuan sped all the way from the middle of the mountain, following the
Chi Shan group down to the foot of the mountain where he saw the Rank
five River Swallowing Toad.

It was huge and resembled a small hill. It lay belly side up in the riverbed
and blocked the river channel. The upstream of the river was already filled
with so much water that it was almost spilling to the riverside. And there
was almost no flow of the river downstream; only a shallow moist riverbed
could be seen.

The River Swallowing Toad’s belly was exquisite snow-white and was
covered with a layer of luster. Its back was clear sky blue color and also had
a glossy shine to it, with no warts like the ones found in common frogs and
toads.
It was sound asleep at this moment. But there were no sounds of snoring; it
was sleeping very quietly.

Sensing its aura, the two Liquor worms in Fang Yuan’s aperture curled up
into a ball. The Black Boar Gu’s lively appearance seemed to have been
wiped out as it flew down. The Moonglow Gu that resided in his right palm
hid its glow.

Only the Spring Autumn Cicada was still sleeping peacefully.

Fang Yuan withdrew the Moonglow Gu into his aperture. As long as he

didn’t take the initiative to use these Gu, their aura wouldn’t leak out.
Putting them in the aperture was very safe and reliable.

“Fang Yuan, it’s your turn next,” Chi Shan spoke from the side.

He had already explained most of the details on the way.

Fang Yuan also approved of this method. Of course, the simplest way was
to use Spring Autumn Cicada; once a Rank six Gu worm’s aura leaked out,
this River Swallowing Toad would be frightened and immediately flee.

This was also because the River Swallowing Toad didn’t like fighting. If it
was a vicious Gu like the Blood River Python, Spring Autumn Cicada’s
aura would instead cause it to go berserk and retaliate madly.

Fang Yuan stood at the riverside, trying out to push at first. The River
Swallowing Toad’s skin was slippery, making one feel that his strength has
been nullified.

In addition, it was extremely heavy, one simply couldn’t even budge it.

“Can you do it?” Chi Cheng sneered from the side.

Fang Yuan ignored him and said to Chi Shan, “Although I have the
increased strength from Black Boar Gu, my strength is probably only a little
more than yours. As for pushing this River Swallowing Toad, it is not
hopeless, but I need your help.”
“What help?” Chi Shan immediately asked.

Fang Yuan slowly explained it. Chi Shan was doubtful, “If we do this,
wouldn’t it be teaming up? Even if the River Swallowing Toad wakes up,
will it still acknowledge you and then willingly leave?”

Fang Yuan smiled, “You don’t have to worry about it. As long as you guys
keep a distance and not let it detect you, it will be possible. After all, it is a
Gu, don’t think it as too intelligent.”
Chapter 120
 Chapter 120: Literally effortless

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

At the height of autumn, the air was refreshing, and the breeze moderately
flowed under the beautiful sun.

The blue dome of heaven was clean and clear like a crystal.

The wind blew gently, brushing Fang Yuan’s appearance into motion.

Looking from afar, the nearby villages had little people. Nearby, the hill-
like River Swallowing Toad was slumbering, blocking the river bed. Fang
Yuan who was standing at the river edge looked like a tiny monkey beside a
large elephant in comparison to this Rank five Gu.

Fang Yuan’s heart was calm as water, without a trace of nervousness,

thinking internally, “I used the White Boar Gu and the Black Boar Gu to
enhance my body and raise my strength, having the strength of two boars.
Together with my own strength, I have around the strength of five or six
adults. But to push this River Swallowing Toad, I need to have around two
bull’s strength. With just my current strength, it will not do. But, if I borrow
the power of the tides… it’s here.”

Swish swish swish……

Fang Yuan turned his body around and saw that waves were crashing and
approaching, causing a huge movement in the peaceful river water.

The tides got bigger and continually crashed against the River Swallowing
Toad, causing the waves to fly high into the sky.

Fang Yuan only stood for a while before he got drenched.

He did not mind it, and began to push the River Swallowing Toad with
vigor.

The River Swallowing Toad was still dead asleep. It was originally a Gu
worm that lived in the rivers and sea, and to it, the force of the waves was
normal and could not awaken it.

With the force of endless waves, Fang Yuan tried for some time and finally
managed to push the River Swallowing Toad away from its original
location.

The riverbed was wider as the river got downstream. Along with the flow of
water, it made Fang Yuan’s pushing easier.

After about three hundred meters, the River Swallowing Toad opened its
sleepy eyes.

A pair of deep green eyes, in its sleepy state, gradually contracted and
stared at Fang Yuan who was beside it.

Fang Yuan was fearless as he matched its gaze.

From its dark eerie eyes, Fang Yuan could see his own reflection.

“Jiangaaaang!” River Swallowing Toad raised its head, suddenly opening

its mouth and emitting a strange croak.

The cry spread out and reverbed throughout Qing Mao mountain.

At once, Fang Yuan could feel his ears going deaf from the ringing noise.

River Swallowing Toad lowered its head, its mouth sucking at the river
water that was approaching.

Swish swish swish!

The river water flowed at ten times the original speed as it was all sucked
into its stomach, and the water level could be seen decreasing at an
observable pace.
Fang Yuan stood beside the River Swallowing Toad, clearly seeing a large
amount of seafood also being sent into the River Swallowing Toad’s
stomach along with the river water.

Sensing the river water’s change, the Chi Shan group also hurried over, and
as the three observed the River Swallowing Toad who was ingesting water,
they were stunned.

“What a spectacular sight!” Chi Cheng observed, unable to hide his shock.

“You succeeded?” Chi Shan looked at Fang Yuan.

“Seems so,” Fang Yuan nodded lightly.

The water level decreased until the water stopped flowing, and the River
Swallowing Toad raised its head once again, its stomach expanding and
contracting, vomiting out numerous fish, prawns, turtles etc.

At once, a large amount of seafood fell onto the ground, emitting a crisp
sound.

A fish splashed on the ground, a turtle fell on its back confused, the crabs
walked away horizontally, and then they were smashed by the falling
seafood.

Fang Yuan did not mind it and only looked casually, but suddenly he smelt
some wine fragrance.

“Strange, why is there a wine smell?” Chi Cheng sniffed, a face of surprise.

“It should be the Hundred year bitter shell,” the female Gu Master in the
group said and pointed at a disc-sized broken black shell.

This shell was black as ink with white round markings on it, like the rings
in a tree trunk.

“That’s right, bitter shell can turn the sand and rocks into bitter water juice.
Hundred year bitter shell’s bitter water, after the accumulation through time,
can turn into wine. Bai clan’s current clan leader loves to drink this bitter
shell wine,” Chi Shan added on.

He needn’t go into detail; Fang Yuan had already long taken up this
seashell, starting to collect his bitter shell wine.

Not too long ago, he was still worried about how to get this bitter shell
wine, but to think it appeared in front of him like this.

Truly the phrase ‘spending lots of effort looking for something fruitlessly,
but it appears in front of you when least expected’!

The River Swallowing Toad had pretty much swallowed all the water in this
river. Deep in the river bed, there had been some Hundred year bitter shells
buried in the soil, and because of the River Swallowing Toad, the shells
were exposed.

Fang Yuan quickly collected six little Hundred year bitter shells. Two of the
shells were broken, but the other four were intact.

“I’ve finally collected the bitter wine, this way, I can start refining the Four
Flavor Liquor worm!” This moment, Fang Yuan was overjoyed, but had no
one to share the joy with.

“Jiangang!”

After the River Swallowing Toad vomited the seafood, it croaked again, and
then looked at Fang Yuan once before moving its large body to swim
downstream along the river.

“He really succeeded!” Chi Shan muttered, his heart feeling relief. He
observed the River Swallowing Toad leaving until its shadow was
completely gone, away from his vision.

“What, he scared it away so easily. If I knew this earlier on, we could’ve

done it ourselves, but now we let Fang Yuan become a hero so easily!” Chi
Cheng pouted, his tone full of jealousy and indignance.
“Fang Yuan, no matter what, this time you have done a good deed, you are
the Gu Yue Clan’s hero!” Chi Shan stared at Fang Yuan with a complicated
expression.

“Oh,” Fang Yuan replied absent-mindedly, giving a half-hearted feeling. At

the same time, his gaze shone as he continued to rummage and search for
Hundred year bitter shells among the seafood.

What hero, it was merely a title.

Between praise and slander, they were all views and expressions of others
onto oneself.

What opinions others had of him, Fang Yuan did not give a damn.

You can think all you want, I live my own life.

Hero? Zero? Hehe, I rather have a bitter shell.

News of chasing away the River Swallowing Toad reached the village at
once.

Gu Yue Bo said “Good” three times continuously, and the solemnness in the
hall was swept away at once.

Only the internal affairs elder’s face was complicated, he did not think well
of Fang Yuan. Not too long ago, he even criticized Fang Yuan, but now that
the village was in danger, Fang Yuan was the one who resolved the issue.
With these two issues coming together, wasn’t it a slap in his face?

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan has the credit of chasing away the River Swallowing
Toad, we’ll make an exception to promote him to team leader and reward
him five hundred primeval stones.”Gu Yue Bo thought, before giving the
order filled with a special meaning.

In the wine tavern.

“What, Fang Yuan actually succeeded?!”

“Strange, he’s just a newbie, how can he chase away a Rank five Gu
worm?”

“Even Chi Shan failed miserably, but he did it…”

The news spread, and everyone was filled with shock.

“Fang Yuan became the savior of our clan? This…” The male Gu Master
who had animosity with Fang Yuan was lost for action after hearing this
news.

His group leader suddenly shouted, pointing at the clerks in the tavern,
“You mere mortals, you dare to slander our clan’s hero, you deserve
execution!”

Even before finishing his words, he shot a moonblade.

The elderly shopkeeper did not expect that such a life-threatening situation
would occur, and after being hit by this moonblade on his neck, he was
beheaded.

“Lord, spare us!” The clerks upon seeing this were first stunned but quickly
kneeled on the ground, begging for mercy loudly.

“Group leader, what are you doing?” The Male Gu Master stood up.

“What am I doing huh?” His group leader moved his brows, sighing
solemnly, “Times have changed, Ah Hai. Fang Yuan has turned into a hero
suddenly, the higher-ups will pay attention to him. If words of our slander
towards him spread, what do you think will happen? There are lots of
detection-type Gu Masters around, and if someone wants to harm us and
said several bad things to the clan elders, our future would be ruined!”

The male Gu Master broke out in cold sweat from fear.

It was indeed like this, clan relationships ruled above all. Fang Yuan had
gone and dealt with a Rank five Gu worm, risking his life to defend his
clan. At the same time he was slandered and insulted by them. What
mindset was this? This was ungratefulness, coldness, emotionless and utter
disregard for relationships!

Like history on Earth, Yue Fei fought in the battlefields, defending his
country, but Qin Hui framed him as a spy in court.

Although these Gu Masters did not go as severe as framing, but if this

matter was spread out, would the higher-ups feel safe with these people
around?

If it was Mo Yan or Chi Cheng, people with tough backgrounds, that would
still be alright. But these few were people without backing.

Trying to climb up the system’s ladder, it was push and shove, stepping on
each other. If others used this incident and attacked them, to their future, it
had a destructive influence!

“It is still not too late to salvage the situation, we just have to express our
attitudes, and outsiders won’t say much. These mortals have cheap lives, so
be it if they die. But they can be sacrifices for us, and this is their honor.
You guys should immediately strike, each one of you must kill one each.
After killing you should praise Fang Yuan and express our stand!” the group
leader shouted.

“Dammit!” The male Gu Master cursed; between hatred and his future, he
unhesitantly chose the latter.

With a moonblade, a clerk died on the spot.

“Lord, please spare us.” At once, all the other clerks were paralyzed on the
ground, scared until they peed their pants.

The male Gu Master did not care about them, and under everyone’s
watchful gaze, he pointed at these pitiful clerks righteously, shouting, “You
lot deserve death. Gu Yue Fang Yuan is a hero, and with his own strength,
he defended the clan, what gave you the courage to slander him!”

The male Gu Master said this while frowning.

This was his true emotion. Fang Yuan was someone he deeply hated, but he
had to praise him in public; he felt a strong sense of disgust and irk for
himself.

“Lord, didn’t you ask us…. Urgh!” A clerk felt feelings of injustice deeply,
shouting out loudly.

But he could not finish his sentence before he stopped.

A moonblade went flying, splitting him in half.

“A bunch of lowly slaves, not only slandering Fang Yuan, but also wanting
to implicate us!” A female Gu Master struck, her expression cold as she
shouted fiercely.

Other Gu Masters seeing this, felt like they were watching a soap opera.

Some smirked, some were indifferent and some continued chatting, but
nobody stopped them.

So what if a few mortals died?

Just compensating a few family servants would do.

Everyone was part of the clan, they were family. No one would interfere or
pursue the matter for these outsiders, causing conflict for themselves.
Chapter 121
 Chapter 121: Four Flavours Liquor worm

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Gu Yue Clan….” Xiong Li stood at the mountainside and gazed at the
distant Gu Yue village; a complicated expression on his face.

Cool autumn wind was breezing gently.

The color of autumn dyed the mountain.

Tree leaves were a mix of yellow and red, with wild fruits growing all over
the place. Only the Qing Mao bamboo remained green and erect.

“Not long ago, Gu Yue Clan was like these Qing Mao bamboo, evergreen
all the year, the overlord of Qing Mao mountain. Now, they are actually
falling behind,” Xiong Li’s lips curved with a cold mocking smile.

But quickly, he thought of the Bai village and the curve of his lips smoothed
out; his mood turned serious.

Bai village’s uprising had already broken the old balance of Qing Mao
mountain. The traditional hedgemon, the Gu Yue clan had weakened; Xiong
village’s operations were not running properly; all these were pushing the
situation in the Qing Mao mountain towards an upheaval.

Xiong Li knew this upheaval hadn’t erupted yet because of the pressure
from the wolf tide. The three villages needed to collaborate if they wanted
to overcome this wolf tide, thus they tacitly maintained peace and threw
away grievances for the time being.

“Once the wolf tide is gone, Qing Mao mountain’s old structure will be
shattered. Bai Ning Bing has already reached Rank three in only a couple of
years. It’s really terrifying…..” Xiong Li recalled the figure of a white-
clothed youth, and he felt stifled as if he was pressed down by a huge rock.

He, Xiong Li, was the top amongst the Xiong village’s Rank two Gu
Masters. He had fought all sorts of battles and won most of them,
establishing his name. He held the Grand Bear Gu and could erupt with a
bear’s strength. He was also known as the strongest person in Qing Mao
mountain.

He had already made his debut and had personally seen the rocket-like
emergence of Bai Ning Bing, so he was clearer than others regarding the
terror of this youth.

“Group leader, that is Gu Yue village! It’s still far away, why are we
stopping here?” From the side, Xiong Lin raised his two hands and clasped
them behind his head as he curiously asked.

In this five-person group, Xiong Lin was the youngest and was a newbie
who just made his debut. He was the same age as Fang Yuan and was this
year’s top genius of Xiong village.

His stature was short and he had shaved his head which seemed to shine
under the sunlight.

Xiong Li looked at this new talent of the clan, his heavy mood eased up a
little. He answered in a deep voice, “We are here on a diplomatic mission
and not on a scouting mission. This area is already the warning area of the
Gu Yue clan, and we will probably be treated as enemies if we boldly
enter.”

“Oh, so it was like that.” Xiong Lin realized.

“We have two objectives this time. One is to hand the clan head’s personal
letter to Gu Yue’s clan head. Another is to investigate the matter regarding
the River Swallowing Toad. Gu Yue village is not our area, so make sure to
keep your temper in check when we get there. However, you absolutely
can’t degrade the prestige of our Xiong village, understood?” Xiong Li’s
gaze swept all around and shouted.
The rest of the Gu Master’s expressions all turned serious and silently
nodded.

“Group leader, someone’s here,” the scouting Gu Master in the group

suddenly spoke.

“We have revealed our movements for so long, they should be here by now.
But who would it be……hmm? So it was Chi Shan.” Soon after, Xiong Li
also discovered Chi Shan group; his eyes flashed.

“Wow! That person is so tall, is he Chi Shan? He is even taller than the
group leader. Such muscles, piece by piece…group leader, isn’t he the guy
born with super strength who has been trying to seize the title of the
strongest person of the Qing Mao mountain?” Xiong Lin immediately
looked straight at Chi Shan.

“Hmph, it had to be him…..” Xiong Jiang spoke gloomily and twisted her
lips in disdain.

“Xiong Li!”

“Chi Shan.”

The two groups were fifty steps apart from each other. The two group
leaders came face to face, their gazes clashed in the air and seemed to form
sparks.
“Looks like you are Xiong village’s special envoy this time,” Chi Shan
snorted coldly; he had fought many times with Xiong Li.

“That’s right. Has the special envoy from the Bai village arrived?” Xiong
Li’s expression steeled up.

“Why ask so much? Follow me,” Chi Shan cautiously turned and invited.

Meanwhile.
In the second secret room, four wine jars were in front of Fang Yuan.

Sour, sweet, bitter and spicy, four flavors of wine. Sweet belonged to
golden honey wine; spicy was white grains liquid; sour came from redberry
wine; bitter was from bitter shell wine.

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground. He then willed the two Liquor
worms to fly out of his aperture.

The fusion process of Four Flavours Liquor worm was slightly different
from normal fusion.

The two Liquor worms followed Fang Yuan’s will and entered the redberry
wine jar.

They started the fusion within the redberry wine. A white ball of light
formed in the wine jar, its majestic light pierced out of the wine jar and
shone on the wall.

Fang Yuan threw primeval stones in the wine jar; one piece, ten pieces, fifty
pieces…..

When it reached the hundredth piece, the light ball shrunk to a fist’s size
and floated in the wine jar.

The redberry wine was completely used up. Fang Yuan picked the second
wine jar – golden honey wine – and poured it into the jar.

The white ball of light was immersed in the honey wine, suddenly swelling
up to its original size.

Fang Yuan’s head was soaked with sweat; he was constantly maintaining
the fusion of the two Liquor worms’ consciousness, and such multitasking
was extremely taxing on the mind.

He continued to throw primeval stones towards the wine jar.

Every piece of primeval stones caused the ball of light to shrink by a bit,
until it condensed to a fist’s size again, reaching its limit.

Fang Yuan followed the pattern and successively poured the bitter shell
wine, then the white grains liquid.
When the four types of wine were completely used up, the light in the wine
jar suddenly flourished before disappearing completely.

“Success.” Fang Yuan knew he had succeeded without even looking in the
wine jar.

He willed and a Gu shakingly flew out of the wine jar.

It was the Four Flavours Liquor worm.

Comparing it with the Liquor worm, there wasn’t much change in its
external form, except that it was slightly bigger.

It also resembled a silkworm and had a tiny pair of shiny black eyes.

The difference was that the Liquor worm’s body was completely white, but
this Four Flavours Liquor worm’s body continuously flickered with four
colors; red representing spicy, blue representing bitter, green representing
sour and yellow representing sweet. Fang Yuan couldn’t help but associate
it with the neon lights on Earth.

“Huff…” Fang Yuan let out a big sigh of relief. His luck was good this time
and didn’t encounter failure, succeeding the first time.

If it failed, the Liquor worms could suffer serious damage and one of them
could even die, or the bitter shell wine might be used up. Either of these
outcomes would be troublesome.

Fortunately, this situation didn’t occur.

A Gu Master needs to use, nurture and refine Gu; none of them were easy.
And in the aspect of fusing Gu worms, many Gu Masters would go through
a lot to look for recipes and collect materials.

There were various recipes and they might not necessarily be suitable. As
for collecting materials, Gu Masters might even spend over ten years of
efforts on it. Even if they find the recipe and collect all the materials, if the
fusion failed, the materials would be used up, and all their previous efforts
and preparations would go down the drain.
“Gu Master’s cultivation is difficult…..” Fang Yuan sighed.

Fusing Gu worms were easy at the beginning stage of the cultivation. But
the success rate for Rank four and Rank five fusion would often not reach
even one in ten times.

Rank six fusion success rate was even as low as one percent. Every failure
when fusing high rank Gu worms meant a loss of a great sum of resources.

However, once succeeded, the benefits would be extremely high.

Taking Fang Yuan’s newly refined Four Flavours Liquor worm into
account, it could refine Rank two primeval essence and increase it by a
small realm.

Fang Yuan used a red steel Relic Gu to advance to middle stage. Now, with
the Four Flavours Liquor worm, he would have upper stage primeval
essence.

His fighting strength was now doubled. At the same time, the Four Flavours
Liquor worm would nourish his aperture which meant faster cultivation
speed.

However, with advantages comes disadvantages.

Using the Four Flavours Liquor worm to refine his primeval essence would
definitely lead to an increased consumption of primeval stones. Just by
relying on the income from selling vitality leaves was already not enough to
maintain his cultivation expenditure.

“Next, I need to fuse the Stealth Rock Gu into Stealth Scales Gu. This will
add on to another expenditure.”

Fusion, whether success or failure, used up primeval stones every time.

Fang Yuan had used up over four hundred primeval stones earlier for
refining the Four Flavours Liquor worm.

The clan had awarded him with five hundred primeval stones for chasing
away the River Swallowing Toad. Five hundred primeval stones was
enough for other Gu Masters to spend for a long while, but Fang Yuan had
almost used it completely.

Fortunately, from the reselling of the assets, after using up most of it to

purchase the red steel Relic Gu, some of it still remained. There was no
need to worry for a short period of time.

But it was necessary to refine the Scales Stealth Gu.

Fang Yuan had obtained the Stealth Rock Gu after he killed the stone
monkey king. However, it had no practical use.

It could only conceal the body. That meant, once Fang Yuan used it, his
body would be concealed and be invisible to people.

But the clothes on his body – his wrist guards, leg wrappings and bamboo
shoes would still be visible to the naked eyes.

The stone monkey king had no worries about this; it was a wild beast and
didn’t need clothes.

But Fang Yuan would be in an awkward situation. To use the Stealth Rock
Gu to the best of its ability and be invisible, he would need to take of all the
clothes on his body. Otherwise, even if he concealed his body, others would
see a set of ‘walking’ Rank two Gu Master’s uniform.

Stealth Rock Gu was a Rank one Gu worm. Once it advanced to Rank two
Stealth Scales Gu, this problem would be resolved.

Stealth Scales Gu could conceal even the clothes. If the stone monkey king
had Stealth Scales Gu, then even if Fang Yuan’s shirt covered its body, the
shirt would also become invisible.

Supposing that the stone monkey king had Stealth Scales Gu, then the
matter of whether Fang Yuan could defeat it was rather suspenseful.

Refining a Stealth Scales Gu naturally required other materials other than

the Stealth Rock Gu. These materials were quite common and Fang Yuan
had already requested Jiang Ya’s help to gather them.
“If I could refine Stealth Scales Gu, it will become very convenient for me
to enter the secret cave. Moreover, during the wolf tide, I could easily attack
and retreat with this method,” Fang Yuan pondered.

It was getting late, he retrieved the Four Flavours Liquor worm into his
aperture and exited the cave, walking towards the village.

He had instantly attracted a lot of attention after successfully chasing away

the River Swallowing Toad. It was not easy moving about these days, so he
was slightly worried that if he stayed for long in the secret cave, people
would harbor suspicions.

At the village gate, a bout of strength contest had concluded.

Xiong Li’s group was proudly standing whereas Chi Shan’s group along
with the Gu Masters guarding the gate had heavy faces.

Xiong Li wasn’t as tall as Chi Shan but his gaze seemed to be overlooking
everything at this moment. He slowly spoke, “Chi Shan, you are indeed
blessed with super strength. But I have Brown Bear Innate Strength Gu and
I possess the strength of a bear. You saw from the battle just now that you
are still not my match.”

“Hmph, wanting to get the title of the strongest in Qing Mao mountain,
dream on,” Xiong Jiang sneered from the side.

Chi Shen’s face was ashen, he knew the other party had intentionally
challenged him and their conduct was filled with political intentions. His
loss now was no longer just his personal affair; rather, it was tarnishing Gu
Yue clan’s name.

“What are you being proud over defeating me? You don’t know that I am no
longer the strongest person in the clan. If you have skills, then speak after
defeating Fang Yuan,” Chi Shan had no choice but to mention Fang Yuan.

“Oh, Fang Yuan? I heard an A grade genius emerged in Gu Yue clan and his
name was Fang Zheng. But who is this Fang Yuan?” Xiong Li asked,
doubtfully.
Chi Shan sneered, “Fang Yuan is Fang Zheng’s older brother, he is also
blessed with innate super strength and similarly possesses a strength-
increasing Gu worm. Previously, he alone pushed the Rank five River
Swallowing Toad over a hundred meters, finally driving it away. If you
don’t believe me, you can ask anyone in the village.”
Xiong Li group’s expressions couldn’t help but change.
Rank five River Swallowing Toad!
Fang Yuan!

This name was instantly engraved in their minds.

Chapter 122
 Chapter 122: There are many blizzards in life

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Whizzzz!

Three face-sized moonblades slashed through the air, carrying an eerie blue
light.

Screeeech!

Instantly, sixteen to seventeen jade eye stone monkeys were killed on the
spot.

The stone monkey groups chasing after Fang Yu were instantly cut down by
a small half.

Fang Yuan stood on the spot and didn’t retreat. Instead, he lifted his right
hand and slashed the air three times.

Three moonblades ran through the stone monkey group, beheading any
stone monkey in its way.

The corpses of the stone monkeys fell on the ground, shattering into
countless pieces. Their eyes turned into jade pearls and rolled on the blood-
filled ground.

Fang Yuan inspected his aperture; he still had greater half of dark red
primeval essence remaining.

The Moonglow Gu required ten percent of light red primeval essence to use
a moonblade. Fang Yuan could only use four moonblades repeatedly at
Rank two initial stage. The number increased to eight when he reached the
middle stage. And at the upper stage, the number doubled once more,
reaching sixteen.

Fang Yuan wasn’t really at Rank two upper stage, but with the Four
Flavours Liquor worm’s refining of upper stage primeval essence, he could
be considered to be at false upper stage; his fighting strength was rising
sharply.

Before, he would have needed to fight while retreating when chased by

these seventy or eighty stone monkeys. Now, he just attacked with the
moonblades, rapidly killing most of them. The remaining stone monkeys
had escaped.

“I cleared up three stone pillars within just two days. This speed is many
times faster than before! If this goes on, I will be able to re-open a path to
the central area in about half a month,” Fang Yuan pondered.

“From the Flower Wine Monk’s style, the underground cave in the central
pillar should be the next barrier. It is very likely that there will be another
Earth Treasure Flower Gu at the barrier. I reckon the Flower Wine Monk’s
strength inheritance is almost over. After all, he was seriously injured and
his state was far from good, thus he hurriedly set up this inheritance. At
most, there will probably be two more obstacles remaining.”

Fang Yuan recalled the scene on the image wall; the blood-soaked Flower
Wine Monk on his last breath. With his previous life’s deep experience, he
reached this conclusion.

Flower Wine Monk had too little time to set up this legacy, there was no
way for him to do more. However, this was a special case.

Gu Masters normally used years to set up their legacies. There were some
large scaled legacies that would only open once every ten or more years.
Some legacies were even divided and scattered across different areas and
could even be at the different ends of the world.

The latter generations would need ten or more years or even decades of
time to go through all the tests of such legacies.
Some legacies might not even be explored completely throughout a Gu
Master’s life; the Gu Master would often leave this incomplete task for their
descendants.

“Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance can be classified as a micro-scale legacy;

its shortcoming being the small amount of inheritance items. But this also
has its advantage — the first barrier is arranged according to the local
conditions and is thus simple. I have successively obtained White Boar Gu,
Jade Skin Gu and Liquor worm from this inheritance. Stealth Stone Gu can
be barely considered as the inheritance. Next, there are probably only two
more earth treasure flowers remaining. I hope that the Gu worms in them
will be related to scouting or movement-type!”

Time passed quickly, autumn went and winter arrived.

Early winter, the first snowfall had come.

The sky was grey, snowflakes floated and fell on Qing Mao mountain.

Fang Yuan was moving alone through the snow. He had just come out from
the secret cave in the stone crack and was hurrying towards the village.

“Over two months have passed, but my progress in clearing the stone pillars
has not been good.” Fang Yuan’s countenance carried a dark scowl.

It was not because he hadn’t put in effort, but rather the prelude to the wolf
tide had already shown its signs.

Food was scarce during the winter; the growing wolf packs started to
increase their hunting scale to gather enough foods to eat their fill.

The wild beast groups in the surroundings were purged due to this. Small
beast tides frequently started to occur due to the disorder; similarly, there
were also the crippled wolf packs.

These crippled wolves were expelled from the nest. These wolves gathered
together and formed a group; they had started making frequent movements
near the village.
It hadn’t reached the wild stage of attacks on the village yet, but the hunter
families no longer went up the mountain to hunt. Similarly, there were
occasionally some villagers who lost their lives to the wolves.

Gu Yue village mobilized many Gu Masters to carry out a clean-up

operation. Due to this, there were many people moving about, along with
lot of scouting Gu Masters among them. Thus, Fang Yuan sensibly
decreased the amount of times he went to the secret cave inside the stone
crack.

No doubt, this caused the speed of his progress in the stone forest to fall
steeply.

The cold wind was getting stronger; snow was also falling heavily.

Houuuuu…

A deep beastly howl suddenly spread through the wind and snow.

Fang Yuan swiftly stopped and looked around, alert.

A small scale wolf pack with about twenty or more lightning wolves
quickly appeared in range of his sight.

“Here we go again…..” Fang Yuan muttered, this was already the eighth
beast group he had encountered this month.

However, this time was somewhat different.

“The wolf packs are starting to make their moves so near to the village.
Next, the clan’s Gu Masters will make their moves more often. The stone
crack’s secret cave is not far away; looks like I can’t go there for some
time.” Fang Yuan’s heart sank upon this thought.

The journey was difficult, there would always be some obstacles preventing
people from progressing.

The wolf pack closed in on Fang Yuan.

Houuu! Houuu! Houuu!

They howled before charging at Fang Yuan, coming at him one after
another.

“Moonglow Gu,” Fang Yuan willed; a moonblade flew out from his hand.

The eerie blue moonblade slashed through the wind and snow, going
through the sickly wolves. It instantly beheaded three wolves, but when it
reached the fourth wolf, the wolf suddenly rolled and cleverly dodged the
moonblade.

Although most of these crippled wolves were handicapped, blind or missing

their tails, they had plenty of battle experience and were very cunning.

A normal Rank two middle stage Gu Master would be in intense danger if

they ran into such a group of crippled wolves and especially if they were
surrounded by these wolves.

But Fang Yuan was calm.

His plentiful battle experience and the refined upper stage dark red primeval
essence were the source of his confidence.

Kill, kill, kill!

He nimbly moved under the joint attacks from the crippled wolves, calmly
dodging and decisively attacking.

The wolves continued to die by his hands.

After a short while, the number of the lightning wolves in the pack had
sharply decreased by half.

Houuu—!

A wolf gave a mournful howl; the wolf pack immediately stopped their
offensive attacks and began retreating.
This was the cunningness of these wolves.

When they discovered that Fang Yuan was a tough bone, they decisively
retreated, giving up their plan to hunt Fang Yuan.

These old, sickly and injured wolves weren’t in a perfect state but being
able to live till now showed their survival wisdom.

Fang Yuan stood on the spot, calmly looking at these crippled wolves
disappearing into the wind and snow. If he could hide his strength, then he
didn’t feel it necessary to reveal it.

After confirming that the wolf pack had completely escaped, he promptly
collected the items on the wolf corpses.

Wolf skin, teeth and so on were all valuable.

Although their market price was on the low end, it could be made up by the
quantity.

In these two months, Fang Yuan had made some earnings from the spoils of
war from eradicating these crippled wolves.

The blood flowing from the wolf corpses were still warm. There were some
crippled wolves who still had some breath left, their eyes showing a trace of
vigor.

“In this world, not only humans but all living things are struggling to
survive. This world is using life and death to unfold a brilliant stage!” Fang
Yuan sighed before ruthlessly killing off these dying wolves.

A crippled wolf’s fighting strength was higher than two jade eye stone
monkeys. Under the coordination with the pack, their fighting strength
would double.

“I can still deal with these small-scale crippled wolf packs. But it would be
troublesome to handle large scale crippled wolf packs or a small scale
healthy wolf pack.”
Fang Yuan could feel a faint pressure.

“The wolf tide will break out soon and the whole clan will be mobilized. I
won’t be able to act aloof. If I want to hunt the lightning wolves by myself,
I must have a scouting or movement-type gu. Otherwise, I will fall to the
wolf tide.”

Fang Yuan clearly recognized his shortcomings due to his ample

experience.

His fighting strength had increased sharply after getting the Four Flavours
Liquor worm. With the Moonglow Gu and Jade Skin Gu, he had both
offense and defense. With his previous life’s deep accumulation, he could
totally be ranked along with Qing Shu, Chi Shan and Mo Yan.

One could say, he was barely, but already able to stand in the top ranks
among the Rank two Gu Masters of the clan.

Why it was barely, was because he was not truly at the upper stage, and at
the same time his aptitude was also only C grade and was thus very limited.

Being able to accomplish this much with his fighting strength was already
the best result, but fighting strength was only one aspect in surviving the
wolf tide.

“I must have a scouting method. If I have a scouting Gu worm, I will be

able to sense the movements of the wolf pack and quickly retreat or move
through another route. Or use movement-type Gu worms to quickly run and
escape from the wolf pack’s besiegement,” Fang Yuan pondered.

His survival rate would greatly increase if he had just one of these two Gu
worms. If he had both, then he would be able to move about easily.

“I hope Flower Wine Monk’s legacy contains such Gu worms. It’s not a
problem even if it doesn’t. From my memories, the three clans would
jointly establish contributions list during the wolf tides and put their stored
Gu worms out for exchange. There were many precious Gu in the list. At
that time, I can use my contributions and exchange them for Bai or Xiong
village’s Gu worms.”

Fang Yuan planned in his mind and stood up.

He had swiftly arranged the spoils of war in a short period and packed them
in a bag which he then carried on his back.

The snow continued to fall and soon froze the wolf blood, covering their
corpses.

“Look, Fang Yuan is back.”

“He is carrying a bag, did he go out to hunt the crippled wolves again?”
“It was him that saved our village?”

“Hey, it was only by a stroke of luck. We both know how it went, if I had
such great strength, I could also do that. It’s no big deal.”

As Fang Yuan walked through the village, the people made way for him;
there were praises, curiosity and also envy.

“Fang Yuan!” Chi Shan suddenly appeared from a corner and shouted.

Note: The ‘blizzards’ in the chapter title “There are many blizzards in life”
is a metaphor for ‘obstacles’.
Chapter 123
 Chapter 123: I travel alone through heaven and
earth

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“What’s the matter?” Fang Yuan looked at Chi Shan.

Even if it was winter, he continued to be topless, his red skin emitting a

warmth that made people feel like they were near a heater.

The white snow that landed on his body instantly melted.

This is because his aperture had a Double Orifice Stove Gu.

The Stove Gu was a Rank two Gu worm. It could store internal heat that
could be used for attacking. Subduing the cold was just a side effect.

Chi Shan’s expression was complicated, he stared at Fang Yuan and said
gravely, “Do you know that these days, Xiong Li from the Xiong clan has
been finding you for a contest of strength?”

“I know,” Fang Yuan nodded.

Chi Shan sighed, “Xiong Li finding you for a contest of strength is not a
mere competition, but it involves the interest allocation of the three clans’
alliance. Under the wolf tide, non-alliance means destruction. But after
forming an alliance, the biggest problem is how to distribute the interests
and profits. These days, the three clans have been at a stalemate due to
that.”

Fang Yuan looked at Chi Shan, instantly understanding why he had looked
for himself.
Negotiation was the hardest thing to do. For their own interests, the three
clans would not give way automatically, and they would have to fight for
their best interests. The negotiation table was long filled with gunpowder
and smoke, battling wits.

In this world’s system of values, first was strength, second was kinship.

Qing Mao Mountain’s three clans were individual clans, having great
conflict towards each other since a long time ago, each bearing old and
deep grudges. Of course kinship cannot be used to alleviate their tensions.
So to break the tension, they had to rely on strength.

On earth, there are military exercises to display one’s strength. In this

world, it worked similarly in that there are Gu contests to display the
strength of one faction and achieve greater benefits for themselves.

Xiong Li finding Fang Yuan for a contest to compete strength, was due to
this.

As expected, Chi Shan said next, “I have competed with Xiong Li, he has
the Brown Bear Innate Strength Gu and already possesses the strength of
one bear. He also has the Grand Bear Gu, and can increase his strength by
another bear. Together he has two bear’s strength. I am far beyond his
match, as much as I want to deny it. But as Qing Mao Mountain’s number
one strongest person, the title belongs to him no doubt.”

He paused for a while, then continue, “Let’s talk business. Your strength is
around mine, so you are not his match either. But you cannot lose, as you
were the one who woke up the River Swallowing Toad, the hero that saved
Qing Mao Mountain. Once you lose, our Gu Yue Clan’s interests will be
compromised. So for the clan’s interests, discard your personal honor and
avoid battle!”

Fang Yuan stared silently at Chi Shan.

Chi Shan looked down, “I know that this matter towards you is very
difficult. After all, avoiding the competition has a disastrous damage
towards one’s own reputation. But it is for the interests of the clan; if you
lose, the clan would have to give up much more. The clan has nurtured us,
we naturally have to contribute to the clan right? The clan needs you.
Sacrificing your own reputation for the clan is only natural! But this matter
started due to me, so in my personal name, I will compensate you for it, as
part of my goodwill.”

Saying so, Chi Shan handed Fang Yuan a large money bag.

Fang Yuan weighed it, and chuckled, “So my reputation is only worth two
hundred primeval stones?”

Chi Shan could hear the sarcasm in his words, his gaze sharpened as he said
solemnly, “Fang Yuan, please do not have any indignant feelings! Earlier, I
tried to console you with kind words, but the truth is I’m here with a
mission. Avoiding the competition is the clan higher-up’s orders. Regardless
of what you think, this is an order. I hope you understand your position.”

Saying so, he turned around and left, leaving deep footprints in the snow.

Fang Yuan looked at Chi Shan’s back as his eyes revealed a sign of
understanding.

“In order to get the greatest benefits, the clan has already used the event of
me chasing away the River Swallowing Toad as a chip in the negotiation.
After all, the River Swallowing Toad was a danger to the entire Qing Mao
Mountain. In order to get rid of this chip, the Xiong clan sent Xiong Li to
challenge me.”

“To the clan, I am but a chess piece. Xiong Li is the same, and Chi Shan is
also a chess piece. What is sad is that these people are willingly being pawn
pieces, even basking in its glory and finding it natural; this is truly a
successful brainwash by the clan.”

“But I originally did not want to compete with Xiong Li anyway, the so-
called reputation is merely praises from others. This chain that binds people
has captured many heroes and geniuses in the past. But to me, what loss is
there? Hehe, I have to thank Chi Shan for sending me two hundred
primeval stones.”
Thinking of this, Fang Yuan smirked.

Why did he attract Xiong Li’s challenge? Merely because he had the glory
of saving the village. Why did Chi Shan challenge Xiong Li? It was merely
for the reputation of Qing Mao Mountain’s number one strongman.

The so-called reputation is merely a superficial carrot. It has tempted many

people and trampled many others, manipulating countless people.

Sad, how sad!

Snow continued to descend slowly.

The entire Gu Yue village was silently erected in the snow. The people
beside him rushed through the streets.

“What’s laughable is that these people have had their bodies trapped by this
fictitious glory!” Fang Yuan’s eyes drooped down as his eerie dark iris was
half-covered by hair.

The light reflecting from the snow shone on his face. The young man’s face
was pale and had a sort of coldness.

Suddenly laughing, Fang Yuan recited a poem, “White snow blankets the
land as I travel alone through heaven and earth. Alone without any
attachments, my solitary shadow travels freely.”

He took a large step and continued travelling.

While others rushed, Fang Yuan walked alone.

Whether it was clansmen, snow or the village, they were merely a blurry
background.

A moment later, he reached his rental apartment.

The bamboo buildings and the wine tavern, he had already sold them all
away. He continued to stay in the rented flat, and although it was very
simple, Fang Yuan did not ask for more, he just needed a shelter over his
head.

Sitting on the bed, Fang Yuan began to cultivate.

Gu Masters in cultivating to breakthrough a large realm, needed ability and

talent. But to break through a small realm, it was merely the accumulation
of time. With enough time, the aperture would be continuously nurtured,
and it can continue to elevate.

According to agreement, when it reached evening, Jiang Ya came to Fang

Yuan’s residence.

“Lord Fang Yuan, these are the primeval stones this time, please inspect it.”
He walked into the room, handing over five money bags respectfully, filled
with primeval stones.

There was more than four hundred primeval stones inside, and as the wolf
tide approached, Gu Masters had an increased reliance on the vitality
leaves. This caused Fang Yuan’s sale price to continuously go up.

Fang Yuan handed Jiang Ya nine vitality leaves, asking, “The thing I asked
you to purchase, have you done it?”

Jiang Ya showed a look of disappointment, shaking his head, “Lord Fang

Yuan, this is bad timing. The wolf tide is coming, and the clan has increased
its control on resources. Other things aside, that Fish Scale Gu is only
slightly less valuable than the Jade Skin Gu. I have already tried my best,
but it is difficult to have results immediately.”

Fang Yuan frowned.

Fish Scale Gu was used with Stealth Rock Gu to create the Stealth Scale
Gu. Without the Fish Scale Gu, he couldn’t refine the Stealth Scale Gu.

“Even with resource control, it does not mean we cannot find a Fish Scale
Gu. The root of the problem is Jiang Ya’s ability being too small. It seems
that fusing the Stealth Scale Gu would have to drag on.” Fang Yuan sighed
in his heart.

But he was not discouraged.

Nine out of ten things in this world will not go according to plan.

This is life, and the phrase “smooth-sailing” is only a beautiful greeting.

“Bai clan produces the Fish Scale Gu, and our clan also has them, although
less in number. It seems this matter has to wait after the formal alliance.”

Fang Yuan was not in a rush, he knew that once the three clans form an
alliance, they would create the battle merit board. This would encourage Gu
Masters to proactively hunt wolves. By then, he would be able to use his
merit points to exchange for the three clan’s resources.

Of course, Gu Yue Clan’s Moonlight Gu, Xiong clan’s Bear Strength Gu

and Bai clan’s Stream Gu were the clan’s signature, and would not be
exchangeable.

But the Fish Scale Gu was definitely inside.

Danger is accompanied by opportunity.

To Gu Masters, the wolf tide was a strict examination, but also an

opportunity to rise up.

Under the attack of the wolf tide, numerous famous Gu Masters died while
many Gu Masters gained fame due to it. The older factions in the clan
would weaken due to this, but new factions would rise up into the political
stage.

At night, unexpected guests arrived.

Gu Yue Qing Shu and Gu Yue Fang Zheng.

Qing Shu got to the main point, mentioning his previous objective, wanting
to buy the Liquor worm from Fang Yuan.
At the same time, he also wanted to buy the Black Boar Gu, and even the
Nine Leaf Vitality Grass.

Nine Leaf Vitality Grass was a no brainer; Liquor worm had long become
the Four Flavor Liquor worm, even if Fang Yuan wanted to, he couldn’t
even produce it now, thus he rejected them.

But the Black Boar Gu…

“I have already gained the strength of a boar, so the Black Boar Gu has little
value to me anymore. Black Boar Gu’s best advancement path is the Steel
Mane Gu. Although it is a Gu with both offense and defense, to me who
already has the White Jade Gu, it has little use. I might as well exchange it
into a Fish Scale Gu.”

Fang Yuan thought of this, and mentioned it.

“Fish Scale Gu?” Qing Shu frowned, then nodded, “I know, you lack a
defensive Gu worm. The Fish Scale Gu can be fused into the Rank two
Scale Armor Gu. It can provide good defense.”

Using the Fish Scale Gu and Stealth Rock Gu to create the Stealth Scale
Gu, the recipe would only be discovered two hundred years later, so it was
natural that Qing Shu had no clue.

Fang Yuan did not expose himself, “The Black Boar Gu is more valuable
than the Fish Scale Gu, so if we exchange it, you have to compensate me
the difference in price.”

“Naturally.” Qing Shu nodded then asked, “Nevermind about the Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass, are you really not selling the Liquor worm? It is useless to
you already, raising it for nothing is just a waste of your primeval stones.”

Fang Yuan shook his head, “Don’t mention the Liquor worm, it is not for
sale.”

Qing Shu rubbed his nose, laughing bitterly, “Fang Yuan, this matter is
more complicated than you think. Do you know Gu Yue Yao Le? She is the
granddaughter of medicine hall elder Gu Yue Yao Ji, a new student this
year, and has B grade aptitude. Gu Yue Yao Ji loves her granddaughter and
once tried to buy a Liquor worm in the treehouse, but did not succeed.”

“You’ve used the Liquor worm before, I’m sure you know the benefits it
has. I won’t say anymore, but Lord Yao Ji really wants this Gu worm for her
granddaughter. An elderly’s affection for her grandchildren is completely
understandable. Thus, she has come to you, she is serious about buying it
and has offered a high price. She even promises that if you got injured in
the wolf tide, you’d get special attention from the medicine hall. I hope you
consider it thoroughly.”
Chapter 124
 Chapter 124: I don’t need your understanding

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“So that’s it,” Fang Yuan rubbed his chin, then shook his head, “This Liquor
worm is not for sale. Since Yao Ji is insistent, why isn’t she finding that Gu
Master who bought the Liquor worm?”

Hearing this, Qing Shu looked like a dark cloud was looming over him as
he sighed deeply, “Sigh, we do not know which clansman has it. After
buying this Liquor worm, there has been absolutely no news. We cannot
find anything, and we cannot simply inspect apertures right? That is a
taboo, the biggest taboo among Gu Masters. For a small matter like the
Liquor worm, causing public rage is not good. But it is understandable that
this clansman is keeping a low profile on his treasure, this is also human
nature.”

Qing Shu did not know that the real person who bought the Liquor worm
was sitting in front of him.

But Qing Shu never suspected Fang Yuan, since in his perspective, Fang
Yuan had the Liquor worm already, he wouldn’t need to buy a second one.
What’s the use of it?

If he knew about the Four Flavor Liquor worm’s recipe, he would definitely
suspect Fang Yuan. But now, this recipe was solely Fang Yuan’s secret to
keep.

The only one who knew that Fang Yuan was the buyer, is Jia Fu. But to Jia
Fu, Fang Yuan could be helping another person to buy it. Whether it be a
relative or a lover, something like this is natural. Yao Ji is the same right,
buying the Liquor worm for her granddaughter?
“No matter what, I am not giving way for this Liquor worm matter.” Fang
Yuan’s attitude was firm without any loosening, as he smirked in his heart.

This was the system.

The system made one strong, but it was also a restraint.

Gu Yue Yao Ji was a Rank three Gu Master. She was much stronger than
Fang Yuan, but due to the system she could not snatch it from him. Due to
the rules of the system and minding her own reputation, she cannot
forcefully purchase it either.

Fang Zheng who was at one side suddenly urged, “Brother, the Liquor
worm is useless to you, why cling on to it. Granny Yao Ji is very kind. I’ve
met sister Yao Le many times too, she is a good person, I am sure she will
take good care of the Liquor worm. And the Liquor worm is very helpful to
her. Kindness begets kindness, brother, you saved the village and I am
happy for you. This brings honor to our family as well. But why are you
being so stubborn now, isn’t this too petty?”

Fang Yuan’s expression stiffened as he said coldly, ” My good little brother,

are you lecturing me? The Liquor worm is my business. Even if it rots in
my hands, you have no rights to dictate what I do.”

He was not really angry, but attitude is the mask of the heart, and by
expressing his attitude, it would allow Qing Shu to see his determination to
reject.

“It seems Fang Yuan is bent on rejecting. Bringing Fang Zheng here on
purpose was a bad move. These brothers have a poor relationship and are
always at odds, I’ve shot myself in the foot,” Gu Yue Qing Shu’s gaze
shone.

“Fang Zheng, go out and shop around.” Fang Zheng wanted to say more,
but he was stopped by Qing Shu.

Fang Zheng gritted his teeth, but still obeyed Qing Shu’s command.
“Either way, I cannot understand you in this matter, big brother.” He opened
the door, leaving his last sentence.

“What I do, does not require your understanding, Fang Zheng.” Fang Yuan
was expressionless.

Fang Zheng’s movement of opening the door stopped for a moment, but he
quickly walked out of the room without turning around, closing the room
door with a bam.

This movement caused the room’s atmosphere to become even more

awkward.

“If there is nothing else, brother Qing Shu can take your leave.” Fang Yuan
instantly evicted his guest.

“Hehehe,” Qing Shu laughed dryly, trying to alleviate the tension, but Fang
Yuan’s face was cold as ice, showing no signs of change.

But his temper was mild, and he did not get frustrated.

Touching his nose, Qing Shu laughed awkwardly, “There is another matter,
regarding the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass.”

“The Nine Leaf Vitality Grass is not for sale.” Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.

“I know, I know,” Qing Shu nodded, “It is regarding the vitality leaf, this is
the personal business of my group. I hope you can supply the produced
vitality grass to us. Of course, we will pay you an appropriate
compensation.”

Seeing business approaching, Fang Yuan naturally did not reject, “Then,
sixty-five primeval stones per leaf.”

Qing Shu on hearing the price, was tongue-tied.

According to market rates, the clan’s original sale price is fifty-five

primeval stones. Although the vitality leaf is an expenditure type Rank one
Gu, gone after one use, this was something to save lives, and nobody would
mind more of it.

Especially with the wolf tide nearing, the clan is also raising prices, and
each leaf is sold at sixty primeval stones. Actually, not just the vitality leaf,
but also resources are also getting pricier. This is the volatility of the
situation, and Gu Masters have to live with it.

But what Qing Shu did not expect was, Fang Yuan’s price was even higher
than the clan’s.

“Finding it expensive? You don’t have to buy it. But as far as I know, after
the wolf tide, the clan will tightly control resources, and the vitality leaf
would have excess demand. By then, the prices will soar again, there might
not even be stock, what do you think?” Fang Yuan’s tone was calm as he
safely evaluated his pricing.

Qing Shu was stumped, his tone turning helpless, “You sure are clear of it.
But your price raising is slightly overbearing. Aren’t you afraid of offending
people? If you reduce the prices, you can use the opportunity to build
relationships. But if you raise prices like this, the clansmen will keep a
grudge on you for earning profits this way.”

Fang Yuan raised his head and laughed, “The wolf tide is nearing, I am but
a small fry, I can die anyday. How can I bother with these trivialities?”

“You have long gone past the stage of a small fry, and human relationships
are not trivial either.” Qing Shu stared at Fang Yuan deeply, then lightly
shook his head, “But everyone has their own thoughts and choices, I will
not force you. However do be more careful, Lord Yao Ji will not let go so
easily… Goodbye.”

Qing Shu no longer mentioned the matter of purchasing vitality leaves,

Fang Yuan’s prices had scared him.

He was a smart person, and when a smart person buys things, they do not
act on impulse, but only after intelligent consideration. A smart person
would have an evaluation in their heart, and once the prices exceed their
worth, they would calmly pull out.

Fang Yuan seemed to have only increased the price by five primeval stones,
but Qing Shu was not just buying one vitality leaf, and the wolf tide would
be going on for at least a year, he would be expending a lot of vitality
leaves. If this accumulated, it would be a heavy cost.

“Thanks for your advice, take care, I shall not send you off,” Fang Yuan
said, watching Qing Shu leave. His heart was clear as he knew that Qing
Shu would definitely be back.

That is because he had underestimated the wolf tide’s severity too much.

Under such a wolf tide, death might instantly befall anyone, and the vitality
leaf had no lack of customers. In his memory, the price rocketed to over a
hundred primeval stones!

Of course, this price was also during the period when the wolf tide was at
its strongest. Right now, what Fang Yuan wanted to do was to accommodate
to the time period, gradually raising prices.

As time flowed, the winter wind grew more cold and harsh.

This year’s winter winds were evidently colder than previous years for Qing
Mao Mountain’s three villages.

Taking the Gu Yue village for example.

More and more crippled wolves appeared near the village surroundings.

The clan sent out large amounts of missions, and almost all of them were
about exterminating the crippled wolves.

During December, when the crippled wolves’ amount reached its peak, this
caused the situation to worsen quickly, reaching an atrocious level. In fact,
there was even a situation where a hamlet at the mountain foot was
slaughtered by a large group of wolves.
Good thing was, the dozen Gu Masters in the village retreated in time. The
clan higher-ups breathed a sigh of relief secretly, as the death of a Gu
Master would cause them to feel pity for over half a day, but for mortals,
they were all slaves anyway, so be it if they die.

In this world, there are no human rights.

A Gu Master’s life is more valuable than a hundred mortals, this is the

viewpoint of everybody.

However death and injury would definitely not be little, thus, the village
had sounds of crying and sniffing from morning to night.

The village emanated a sense of grief and suppression throughout.

The crippled wolves were only the prelude; the true wolf tide was even
more horrifying.

More and more people started to realize that the wolf tide this year, is
exceptional.

Under such pressure, the negotiation that had been under a stalemate
obtained quick progress, and the three-clan-alliance was formed.

A month later, at the end of winter.

Alliance Slope, Three Clan Alliance Meeting.

Little snowflakes that were like soft white fur slowly drifted down.

Hundreds and thousands of Gu Masters gathered here, forming a grand

scale.

The alliance slope was originally an ordinary mountain slope, but

throughout history, the Gu Yue clan’s second generation clan head managed
to create the first three clan alliances at the slope. Thus forth, all future
alliances were held there.
After many years of refinement, the current alliance slope had already
expanded tens of times, becoming a giant town square.

The town square was along the mountain wall, and there was a huge rock
erected there.

On the huge rock, there were rock carvings of buildings, and in the
buildings there was rock furniture properly assembled. The three clan
higher-ups were sitting inside, closely discussing.

Below the giant rock building, the three clan’s Gu Masters had their
respective standings, forming three large groups.

Gu Masters wore similar battle clothing, and along with a belt, their
respective cultivation levels were apparent. Fang Yuan was within them.

He secretly observed the situation.

The Gu Masters below the stage were all Rank two Gu Masters. Most Rank
one Gu Masters were allocated to support, and only Rank two Gu Masters
were the true mobile troops. As for Rank three Gu Masters, they were clan
elders, and for a mid-size clan like the Gu Yue clan, even after each
generation’s effort they only had a little more than twenty clan elders.

Fang Yuan was observing, and the other Gu Masters were also watching.
Countless gazes intersected with hatred, curiosity, and alertness.

Gu Yue clan’s Gu Masters were on the skinny side. Xiong clan’s Gu

Masters were strong and robust, and from appearance their strength could
be shown. Bai clan’s Gu Masters, maybe due to living by the waterfall
behind the mountain, had whitish skin and had a Yin aura(1) around them.

“That long hair guy is Gu Yue Qing Shu, Rank two peak stage, and is the
Gu Yue clan’s number one Rank two Gu Master,” some pointed out.

“Mo Yan! Hmph, this wrench caused me to lose an arm. After the wolf tide,
I must get revenge!!” Someone snorted in their heart.
“Woah, that girl riding on the giant bear, she should be the Xiong clan’s
Xiong Jiao Man. Don’t be deceived by her appearance, she goes battle-
crazy when fighting.”

“Do you see that white fat girl? She’s Bai clan’s Bai Zhong Shui, a Rank
two upper stage fighter, who has the Water Boar Gu. She is very
promiscuous and very lustful towards men. You newbies be careful, don’t
get fucked by her.”

The three clan’s animosity and grudges had long been deep-seated.

Alliance slope’s discussion noises became louder as it turned into an uproar.

Many Gu Master seniors were pointing around, introducing the strong
people from the other two clans to their juniors, reminding them to be
careful of them.

(1) Yin aura, this is a bit hard to explain? Yin is associated with females,
dark energy, water energy…

Reminder:

Xiong clan – Bear clan.

Bai clan – White clan.

Chapter 125
 Chapter 125: Oh, then I admit defeat

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“The traditional overlord Gu Yue clan, the newly rising Bai clan, and the
never-underestimated Xiong clan…” Fang Yuan’s gaze flew across the
people as he stood in the crowd, observing the entire situation.

Gu Yue clan has Qing Shu, Chi Shan, Mo Yan; Xiong and Bai clan also had
their outstanding Rank two elite Gu Masters.

Together with the different clan’s heads and elders in the rock building, the
alliance slope can be said to be filled with elites.

“I wonder which one is Bai Ning Bing? The man who symbolizes the Bai
clan’s rise!”

“Bai Ning Bing is already Rank three, he is definitely not among the Rank
two Gu Masters.”

“It seems he isn’t in the rock building either.”

Gradually, the discussions gathered on Bai Ning Bing.

Although Bai Ning Bing did not appear, his brilliance had already
suppressed all the Gu Masters below the rock building.

“I remember that three years ago on the alliance slope, it was Bai Ning Bing
who was the first to step out and start the Gu battle. In just three years, he
became a Rank three clan elder, thinking about it makes me shudder.”

“He rose to heaven in one step. When he was Rank two, he could defeat a
clan elder in the Xiong clan, this guy has a bright future ahead.”
“The point is that right now he has already grown up, and at this rate, he
can become a Rank four expert and even rank five. As for Rank six…”

“Rank five is mortal, while Rank six is immortal. Rank five is already
amazing. Rank six? Hmph, you are all overestimating him….”

“That might not be, who can predict the future?”

Under such discussions, the three clan heads in the rock building stood up,
staring down at the thousands of Gu Masters.

Gu Yue clan head was in the center, Bai clan head and Xiong clan head at
his left and right respectively.

The alliance slope gradually quietened down.

Gu Yue Bo held the railings, sweeping a glance at the crowd, before saying,
“The three-clan-alliance will pull together in times of trouble. For the Gu
battle tournament, in the spirit of competition, competitors shall stop before
fatality occurs. Start.”

The alliance slope was dead silent. The crowd looked at each other.

The three-clan-alliance, would always hold a Gu battle tournament. Not

only was it to show off the clan’s individual strength, it was also to promote
conversation and temporarily alleviate their grudges, to achieve the aims of
working together.

But who will stand out first?

If the first Gu Master to stand up failed in public, it would be shameful on

their own reputation, and it even shames the clan elders up in the rock
building.

Last time, Bai Ning Bing stood up. But this time……

The crowd continued to hesitate. Suddenly at the Xiong clan’s side, a group
of Gu Masters stood first, it was Xiong Li’s group.
Immediately, the group of five invited numerous people’s attention and
gaze.

The Xiong Li group walked past the Gu Yue clan’s area, and under
everyone’s watchful eye, he stood at the Bai clan’s territory.

“It’s Xiong Li.”

“Qing Mao Mountain’s strongest man?”

“That’s right. It seems that not too long ago, the Gu Yue clan’s Chi Shan
lost to him in public. His title is unmovable, not even Bai Ning Bing can
take it away.”

“Damn it, the Gu Yue clan isn’t going over, are they trying to bully our Bai
clan?”

At the Bai clan territory, there was a mild disturbance. Many people knew
Xiong Li’s strength, and felt a sense of pressure.

But Xiong Li looked around, and did not move from his spot; instead,
Xiong Jiang who was beside him stood out.

Xiong Jiang had a thin body, and at the Xiong clan’s area with lots of burly
men, he was very striking.

He took a few steps forward, facing the Bai clan’s Gu Masters, cupping his
fist, “Xiong clan Xiong Jiang, challenges brother Bai Bing Yi.”

Once he spoke, astonished noises could be heard below the rock building.

Bai Bing Yi’s status was around the same as Chi Shan and Xiong Li etc.
Among the Bai clan’s young Gu Masters, he is only inferior to Bai Ning
Bing. For Xiong Jiang to challenge him, he was evidently trying to
overcome the stronger foe.

But could he?

Bai Bing Yi stood up with a grim face. His body was small and his face was
pale; he was like a patient who had just recovered from a serious illness,
giving off a feeling of being weak and sickly. But no one dared to
underestimate him.

“You, Xiong Jiang dare to challenge me, you have some courage. How do
you want to compete? Say it, I’ll accept it,” He said to Xiong Jiang.

Xiong Jiang laughed darkly, “I specialize in defense, and you specialize in

attack. How about this, I defend and you attack. I’ll give you three attacking
opportunities, and we’ll compare the results.

This was not a life and death match, it was only sparring.

But Xiong Jiang had such confidence, he was obviously prepared, and this
caused many people to mutter among themselves.

Bai Bing Yi raised his brows, “Xiong Jiang, no matter what Gu worm, you
are still a Rank two Gu Master, your cultivation is like that. Do you really
think you can block my Water Drill Gu? If I injure you, don’t complain.”

Xiong Jiang snickered, “We wouldn’t know unless we try right? Come.”

Saying so, he activated the Gu in his body and his body changed colour,
becoming dry and green like a dead block of wood.

At the same time his teeth turned sharp and long, and four fangs were
exposed out of his lips.

His iris also turned green.

This was the Rank two Gu, Roaming Zombie Gu.

Once activated, it could turn one into a zombie.

Compared to living people, zombies are better at resisting punches and

kicks and have greater regeneration, but is afraid of fire, lightning and light,
although it has greater resistance towards water, wind and poison.
At the same time, zombies when fighting under the sunlight are not as
strong as in the night, and thus are weakened by the time of the day.

“Even so, I am not afraid,” Bai Bing Yi laughed coldly, raising his right
arm.

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he gathered his five fingers at one point
and contracted his fist.

First, a droplet of water formed on his five fingers, then in the blink of an
eye, the droplet expanded, turning into a fast flowing current, and from his
fingertips, the water coiled around his palm in a spiral manner.

In two breath’s time, Bai Bing Yi’s fist was already covered by a light-blue
coloured spiral drill that rotated non-stop.

Rank two Water drill Gu!

Able to drill through rocks and steel with very strong attack power, barely
any Gu worm could defend against it.

“Receive my blow,” Bai Bing Yi coughed, throwing out his fist.

Xiong Jiang raised both arms, forming an arm shield.

The water drill hit his arm, and a large amount of water splattered. The two
were at a deadlock for a few breaths when suddenly the water drill’s
rotation intensified, and Xiong Jiang flew five to six steps back.

Xiong Jiang laid on the ground, but quickly did a belly-flip, standing again.

One could see that the muscles on both his arms were torn by the water
drill, showing his pale white bones.

Bai clan’s Gu Masters upon seeing this scene uncontrollably cheered, but a
small number frowned.

“Hehehe…” Xiong Jiang laughed slyly, not minding his injury as a zombie;
his pain sensors had been reduced to zero.
Bai Bing Yi stood on the spot, but suddenly his pale face changed, and he
vomited a mouthful of blood.

Bai clan Gu Master’s cheers ended.

“What happened?!” someone exclaimed.

“It’s the Shadow Bond Gu!” Bai Bing Yi stared deeply at the ground, where
Xiong Jiang’s shadow was distorted at a creepy angle, pasted on top of the
snow. It connected both Xiong Jiang and Bai Bing Yi together.

“It seems I win, brother Bai. With this Shadow Bond Gu, no matter how
much injury I suffer, you will take 10% of it. I specialize in defense, but
you are a pure attacker, and you have poor health, so even 10% of the
damage is deadly to you,” Xiong Jiang said plainly.

Bai Bing Yi wiped the blood traces off his lips, staring deeply at Xiong
Jiang for a while before saying, “Good. Very good. You planned well with
such great tactics. I lost.”

He admitted defeat on the spot.

“Too unscrupulous.”

“Absolutely cunning and shameless!”

“To think he had a Shadow Bond Gu, senior Bai Bing Yi was completely
outplayed.”

Bai clan’s Gu Masters exploded into a series of discussions.

Xiong Jiang cupped his fist, “I’m flattered. If we really fought, the final
winner would still be brother Bai. The Shadow Bond Gu’s range is limited,
it can only bully close-ranged Gu Masters, I hope brother Bai can take good
care of me in this upcoming wolf tide!”

“Of course.” Bai Bing Yi’s expression softened a little, and nodded.

Bai clan’s Gu Masters also started to quieten down.

Standing on the rock building, the three clan’s higher-ups who had been
observing, nodded discreetly at this scene.

The Gu fighting competition was only for sparring and not ruthless assault.
Xiong Jiang exposing a trump card also increased each other’s trust and
understanding.

Whether it was Xiong Jiang or Bai Bing Yi’s attitude, they were good.

Resolving it like this, the Bai clan’s Gu Masters, even if they did not admit
it, felt admiration towards Xiong Jiang.

After all, the strong were respected.

“Xiong Li’s group had a good start,” Gu Yue Bo lightly praised.

“Hehehe.” Xiong clan head beside him laughed lightly, Xiong Jiang had
given him face.

Bai clan head at the other end had a tough expression.

But Xiong Li’s group did not quit while they were ahead, the five left the
Bai clan’s area, and came to the Gu Yue clan.

“After challenging the Bai clan, they are challenging the Gu Yue clan
now?”

“Oh no, Xiong Li himself is stepping up now!”

Gu Yue clansmen were slightly nervous, many of their gazes were gathered
on Chi Shan, Mo Yan and Qing Shu.

But who knew Xiong Li shouted loudly, “Who is Fang Yuan, please stand
up. I heard you could chase away the River Swallowing Toad alone, why
don’t we have a contest of strength!”

Instantly, the crowd exploded.

Xiong Li stood up, yet he did not challenge Qing Shu, Chi Shan or Mo Yan,
but instead pointed out a newbie junior.

“Fang Yuan, who is Fang Yuan?” Some of the other village’s Gu Masters
had never heard this name before.

“Chasing away the River Swallowing Toad alone, oh my god, that’s a Rank
five Gu, is he so absurd?” Some shot glances of shock and curiosity.

Gu Yue clan’s Gu Masters took the initiative and opened up a path, and
Fang Yuan who was among them was exposed.

Without anything hindering their vision, Xiong Li and Fang Yuan stared at
each other.

Xiong Li’s lips curled to an angle, saying with a very manly elegance, “I
hope Fang Yuan would generously teach me.”

“This Fang Yuan, who in the world is he, he doesn’t have three heads or six
limbs anyway.”

“Chasing away the River Swallowing Toad is also by coincidence and luck,
it is nothing hard. Heh, being targeted by this muscled man Xiong Li, he is
in big trouble now.”

“Fang Yuan, you can’t avoid it anymore. Sigh, in that case, just hope for the
best and go ahead and battle!” Chi Shan sighed in his heart.

“Oh, is that so…” Fang Yuan shrugged with a plain expression, “Then I
admit defeat.”

The moment he said so, the crowd all went dumbfounded.

Chapter 126
 Chapter 126: Demise of the wood charm

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Admit defeat…..

Fang Yuan’s words were still lingering in the crowd’s ears.

Instantly, almost all the Rank two Gu Masters below the rock building
looked at Fang Yuan with surprise.
Fang Yuan ignored them; he held his arms and stood on the spot with an
indifferent expression.
“Admit defeat? He directly admitted defeat, did I hear that wrongly?”
“He is Fang Yuan? He doesn’t even have the guts to come out, haha.”
“We recognize Xiong Li’s power, he is indeed strong. But even if you want
to admit defeat, at least do that after the formalities. By directly admitting
defeat, he is not only showing that he is a coward, he is even tarnishing the
clan.”

The whispers were like ripples in a calm lake.

The Gu Masters’ gazes turned from surprise to despise, scorn and gloating.
Many Gu Yue clan Gu Masters felt unease; the gazes from the Xiong and
Bai clan’s Gu Masters were like invisible needles, piercing their self-
esteem.

Fang Yuan was a member of the Gu Yue clan, with him directly admitting
defeat, this made them feel absolutely humiliated.

“How could you admit defeat? Fang Yuan, you are a man of Gu Yue village,
stand up and fight bravely with Xiong Li!”
“Even if you lost, it wouldn’t be anything serious.”
“If you don’t even have the guts to go out, then that would really be
throwing away our dignity!”

Some Gu Yue clan Gu Masters shouted and urged Fang Yuan to take the
challenge.
Fang Yuan was indifferent; to him, these words were like dogs barking.
The so-called name, face and honor was only a pie painted on a paper;
shackles used by the higher-ups to bind the organization members.
These Gu Masters were also dogs on a leash.
Xiong Li gazed at Fang Yuan and suddenly laughed, “I am truly
disappointed. Is this how a Gu Yue village’s bravery looks like?”

Gu Yue clan Gu Masters looked unsightly when they heard this.

Hoots of laughter came from Xiong village’s side, and even Bai village’s
Gu Masters looked at Gu Yue clan with mockery.
The people around Fang Yuan started moving away. Everyone made some
distance from him; their faces were filled with embarrassment.
Soon, there was no one within five steps from Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan stood alone. My way or the highway(1), his expression was calm
as opposed to the surroundings.
Others fancied a courageous reputation, but Fang Yuan scoffed at it. This
made others loathe him.
Because Fang Yuan loathed fame, he was rejecting the society’s values.
Denying this system of values was rejecting the people who lived their lives
following these values.
Others naturally wouldn’t deny their own values, otherwise they would feel
that they were living in a wrong way. Thus, they had subconsciously started
to reject and boycott Fang Yuan.
A weak-hearted person would be defeated by such rejection and they would
change themselves to suit the public.
However, Fang Yuan needed such rejection. He had too many secrets on
him and so he needed to be solitary. At the same time, these people weren’t
worth being friends with. In his memories, Qing Mao Mountain’s three
villages barely survived the wolf tide, but the accident two years later
would totally destroy them and turn the entire Qing Mao Mountain into a
desolate area.
What Fang Yuan needed was to use this time to improve himself as much as
possible, then leave the clan and avoid the fatal disaster.
Gu Yue Qing Shu – the number one Rank two Gu Master in the Gu Yue
Clan – couldn’t help but stand up seeing this situation.

“Xiong Li, how about sparring with me?”

“Hehe, what will we compete on?” Xiong Li was smiling, but his
expression was serious.
Gu Yue Qing Shu didn’t look at Xiong Li; he slightly raised his palm and
silently moved his primeval essence, his eye watchfully looked at the green
vine that was slowly growing out from his palm.

He calmly said, “Let’s compete on your strength. If you can break away
from my green vine’s binding, I will admit defeat. Is that okay?”
“Hehe, good suggestion, let’s do it that way.” Xiong Li grinned, his eyes
revealing a bright light.

He inwardly thought, I already have the strength of a bear and combining it

with the strength-increase from Grand Bear Gu, I possess the strength of
two bears. Although green vine is tough, I have absolute guarantee of
breaking it away with the strength of two bears. Xiong Jiang won against
Bai Bing Yi and if I defeat Qing Shu, it would give us great reputation!
Qing Shu gently smiled. Without speaking, he extended his two hands; two
green vines grew out from his palms. Like two nimble green pythons, the
two vines climbed up Xiong Li and twisted around his body.

Xiong Li’s hands were at his waist; the green vines coiled around both his
arms and instantly made a dozen circles around them, tightly binding his
hands with his back.
The Gu Masters on the scene couldn’t take their eyes off this contest.

“Please.” Qing Shu said to Xiong Li.

Xiong Li opened his eyes. He tightly clenched his fists and started putting
strength.
Every muscle on his body seemed to stand out like lumps on a huge rock.
Strength of a bear!
Boom.

The green vines started to snap under his enormous strength.

“Hahaha, brother Qing Shu, it seems the winner of this contest belongs to
me!” Xiong Li was using his strength to break free, but he still had enough
energy to make a conversation.

“Senior Qing Shu….” Fang Zheng was nervous and his hands were
sweating
The other Gu Yue clan’s Gu Masters were also the same. Gu Yue Qing Shu
was the number one among them and if he lost the contest, the Gu Yue Clan
would have thoroughly lost their face this time!

“Not necessarily.” Gu Yue Qing Shu smiled, his eyes showing confidence.
When he finished speaking, the green vines on his hands started changing.
The originally green-like jade color suddenly changed to a dark green color.
At the same time, the vines also became thicker and green wide leaves
started growing on it.
Xiong Li’s face changed, he sensed the green vine’s coiling strength had
increased by more than ten times.

What made him more apprehensive was that those green vines which he
had broken away from started growing and reconnected with the broken
areas.
Grand Bear Gu!

He sensed the situation going bad and immediately used the Grand Bear Gu
in his aperture.
Immediately, his hair started stiffening up like steel needles. The muscles on
his whole body enlarged and he seemed to have become much taller and
bulkier.
Strength of two bears!

The green vines gave creaking noises but it was still able to resist this
terrifying strength, firmly confining Xiong Li.
Xiong Li’s face became very red, and he brought out all his strength to
break the green vines. But finally, he was only able to snap one green vine
and couldn’t continue anymore.

“I lost.” He released the supporting strength of Grand Bear Gu and said

while gasping.
“You let me win.” Qing Shu cupped his hands and retrieved the green vines.
“Senior Qing Shu, you are the best.” Gu Yue Clan’s Gu Masters were
jubilant.
“Senior Qing Shu really deserves his name. Big brother can’t compare to
him at all.” Fang Zheng stood beside Qing Shu and looked at the latter with
reverence.

Xiong Li’s gaze was complicated as he looked at Gu Yue Qing Shu. He had
progressed and obtained Brown Bear Innate Strength Gu, but Qing Shu had
also progressed. Although he didn’t know what the latter used, but this was
his true rival. As for that Fang Yuan, he was only a newbie and was nothing
to worry about.
“It really is the Wood Charm Gu,” Fang Yuan thought as he observed Qing
Shu from afar.

Xiong Li hadn’t discovered anything when facing Gu Yue Qing Shu. Two
emerald-green leaves had grown on Gu Yue Qing Shu’s hair.

This was the sign of using the Wood Charm Gu.

The so-called Wood Charm was a tree spirit.

Using the Wood Charm Gu could let one battle as a tree spirit.
The tree spirit was an unusual creature. It could directly absorb the natural
essence in the air and use it.
Gu Masters couldn’t do this, they could only use the primeval essence in
their aperture.

When one used the Wood Charm gu, they could become an embodiment of
a Wood Charm tree spirit and would be able to directly absorb the natural
essence in the air and replenish their primeval essence. It was the same as
absorbing the primeval essence from primeval stones.
When normal Gu Masters battle, they are unable to divide their mind and
absorb primeval essence from primeval stones while fighting.

But as an embodiment of the tree spirit, the absorption of natural essence is

an instinct and does not need one to divide their minds. This meant that the
Gu Masters who used Wood Charm Gu were experts in war of attrition.
Although one couldn’t say that they could use the natural essence endlessly,
they could fight for as much as three times longer because of the continuous
replenishment.

And once one became an embodiment of the tree spirit, Gu worms like
Green Vine Gu and Pine Needle Gu would also have their strength
amplified.

Fang Yuan instantly connected the dots, “Wood Charm Gu’s fusion
advancement can be said to be one of the most extravagant advancement
routes. It is a Rank three Gu and needs to fuse with a hundred-
years Lifespan Gu to advance to a Rank four hundred-years Wood Charm
gu. The hundred-years Wood Charm Gu needs to fuse with a thousand
years Lifespan Gu to advance into a Rank five thousand-years Wood Charm
gu. Everyone knows this fusion route, but Gu Masters rarely use this recipe.
The reason is due to the preciousness of the Lifespan Gu. When the Gu
Masters finds Lifespan Gu, they will usually use it directly to increase their
own lifespan.”
In this world, a human could live for at most a hundred years if they didn’t
encounter any accidents or illnesses. A hundred years was the lifespan limit
of the humans.

But a Lifespan Gu can increase lifespan.

A hundred years Lifespan Gu can increase the lifespan of a person by a
hundred years and a thousand years Lifespan Gu could increase it by a
thousand.

Lifespan Gu were extremely rare and everyone sought after them.

Fang Yuan had lived for five hundred years in his previous life because he
used five hundred-year Lifespan Gu in his previous life, thus adding five
hundred years to his lifespan — his one hundred years lifespan had turned
to six hundred years. But in the end halfway through, he was attacked by
the righteous factions and had no choice but to self-detonate and die.

Lifespan Gu represented ‘long life’ and could let people live for long, but it
didn’t mean ‘undying’.

“The Wood Charm Gu is powerful but has its weakness; Gu Masters can’t
use it for a long period. If they use it for too long, the Wood Charm Gu’s
strength will affect their body and will transform their body to that of wood,
finally changing the body into a wooden corpse. In my previous life, Gu
Yue Qing Shu had died in this way.”
Thinking of this, Fang Yuan’s eyes flashed.
Ordinarily, powerful Gu worms had huge side effects and needed to be used
with other Gu worms. Otherwise, there would be harmful influences on the
Gu Masters’ body.
Xiong Jiang’s Roaming Zombie Gu was best used with the Bloodline gu. If
not, the blood in his body would decrease when used for too long and he
would change into a true zombie.
The Xiong Li group returned to their camp. They first won against Bai Bing
Yi, then met defeat against Qing Shu. Even so, the group still received a lot
of applause and praises.
“Mo Yan, I challenge you.”

“Come, Xiong Jiao Man, I will fight you!”

After the Xiong Li group, the whole scene suddenly became noisy. Many
Gu Masters continuously came out and challenged the powerful opponents
in their minds, demonstrating their bravery.

The Alliance slope turned chaotic, and all kinds of brilliant and varied Gu
battles were occurring.

The true Gu battle had started.

(1) Not entirely sure how to fit this into the passage, it is an idiom, but it
just means he does whatever he wants/to persist in whatever he is doing no
matter what others say.
Chapter 127
 Chapter 127: So-called morals and relationships
(Long chapter)

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Only until evening did the Gu tournament come to an end.

On the alliance slope, the Gu Masters from all three clans were no longer as
divided as earlier. Gu Masters plastered the slope and only three densely
packed groups could be vaguely seen remaining.

Gu battle sparring was both a form of venting and also compromise.

In this world where the greatest value is strength, only with strength comes
respect, and that forms the basis for cooperation.

After Xiong Li challenged Fang Yuan, no one else came to look for him.

Fang Yuan was only a newbie and did not have much interactions with the
other two clan’s Gu Masters, not to mention any animosity. As for his own
clansmen, they would not challenge someone from their own clan in this
situation.

Especially after Fang Yuan admitting defeat, it caused other Gu Masters to

lose interest in him. Towards this ‘lazy’, ‘cowardly’ opponent, what value is
there in winning?

Not wanting to be trampled on, there are two ways. One is to become
strong, strong until no one dares to step on you. Another is to turn into dog
shit, something no one would want to step on.

Fang Yuan did not care about dog shit, or the reputation of the strong. He
always acted unscrupulous, and only cared about the results. Without
anyone challenging him, it made his life easier.

The surrounding people’s contempt and disdain , he treated it like air. If he

could not endure even these gazes, what right did he have to pursue the
demonic way?

The alliance gathering ended successfully, and Gu Yue clan, Bai clan, and
Xiong clan all reached an agreement.

First, declaring the rules. The three clans will temporarily put aside their
grudges and resist the wolf tide together. In times of danger, they will assist
each other. At the same time, internal killing is prohibited, and an
investigating battle group will be set up. Once they find any murders, the
murderer will first be chased out of the clan, then the three clans will bring
judgement together, making them pay with their lives. If the murderer
escapes outside, their families’ lives will be forfeited.

Even if the Gu Master dies, Gu worms retrieved from their corpses have to
be given to the clan, and if it is used secretly, they will be charged with
murder. After the Gu worm is submitted, they can exchange it for merit
points.

Secondly, setting up the battle merit board. With a small group as a unit,
every moment will be showing the battle achievements of the groups from
all three clans and their rankings. A lightning wolf’s eyeball is exchanged
for ten merit points. Merit points can be used to exchange for Gu worms,
primeval stones, and other resources.

The appearance of the battle merit board naturally inspired the hot
bloodedness of the Gu Masters.

The result of the Gu battle sparring could not explain the true strength of
both parties in actual combat. For example in the case of Xiong Jiang and
Bai Bing Yi, other than the Water Drill Gu, Bai Bing Yi naturally had other
attacking methods, but Xiong Jiang’s Shadow Bond Gu only had an
effective range of ten meters.

Furthermore, the results of any battle are swayed by many external factors.
Gu battle sparring lacked a convincing element, which the battle merit
board can provide as a fairer method of competition.

The Gu Masters from the three clans wasted no time in hunting lightning
wolves, fighting for a better ranking on the battle merit board.

This was not just for one’s own glory, but also for the reputation of the clan.

Especially the top three positions in the merit board, it showed intense
competition. Almost every day, the top three would have some sort of
change.

Very quickly, a month passed.

Winter left and spring came, causing all living beings to grow once more.

After a battle.

Fang Yuan stepped on the remaining snow, regulating his breathing as well
as observing the battlefield around him.

On the battlefield, there were over ten lightning wolves, all dead. Wolf
blood and minced corpse could be seen everywhere, and the air emanated a
smell of thick blood.

Howl……

At this point, wolf cries could be heard from a distance not too far away.

Fang Yuan’s expression changed slightly. With his experience, he knew that
a pack of wolves were heading this way rapidly.

If it was any other Gu Master, after an intense battle, without enough

primeval essence in their aperture, they might have thoughts of retreating.
But Fang Yuan did not care about this; he squatted down and began to
gather the eyeballs from the wolf corpses.

His movements were fluid and highly efficient, but even so, after he was
done extracting, he was already half-surrounded by the wolf pack.
This was a mid-sized wolf pack with around one hundred crippled wolves,
their greenish wolf eyes showing a ruthless expression as they stared at
Fang Yuan firmly.

Fang Yuan kept the wolf eyes well before standing up with a smile. Next,
his body flickered like water ripples, and he vanished on the spot.

The wolf pack that had come to assault him were instantly riled up, and
some of the crippled wolves stood in their tracks, showing a hesitant
feeling.

After all they were wild beasts. Seeing such a magical scene, it was hard to
comprehend.

“But, this is also because the lightning wolf king uses its wolf eyes to
observe, and not its nose. Lightning wolves are fantastical creatures of this
world; their vision is sharp like an eagle, but their sense of smell is no better
from humans. My Stealth Scales Gu counters these lightning wolves
perfectly, but it cannot hide from a dog’s nose.” Fang Yuan was clear in his
heart.

Stealth Scales Gu was successfully refined by him before the Gu battle

tournament. It was like a fossilised carp, grey throughout, lying in Fang
Yuan’s primeval sea, letting the liquid essence flow around its very realistic
fish scales.

The Fish Scale Gu that Fang Yuan lacked was naturally obtained by trading
the Black Boar Gu with Qing Shu.

With this Stealth Scales Gu, Fang Yuan could retreat from under the
lightning wolves’ nose.

In these few days, this situation had already occurred many times.

Normally, wolves or hounds had very sensitive noses. But lightning wolves
were different — they were very fast, but without clear vision, they would
knock into a tree or the mountain rocks.
But nature is fair, as when it bestowed the lightning wolves with its sharp
vision, it also took away their sense of smell.

However, the lightning crown wolf was different.

Even with the Stealth Scales Gu, Fang Yuan could travel freely among the
normal wolf tide, but in front of a myriad beast king like the lightning
crown wolf, he had nowhere to hide.

That is because the lightning crown wolf’s eyes had the Lightning Eye Gu
residing in it — this Gu allowed the ability to see through all sorts of
cloaking.

Other than the Lightning Eye Gu, there are actually also many other Gu
worms that can detect the stealthed Fang Yuan.

For example, the Snake Communication Gu, it can detect heat. The Beast
Language Gu can allow a Gu Master and wild beasts to converse and obtain
information. The clairaudience Gu can allow a Gu Master’s hearing to be
extremely sensitive.

Thus, even with the Stealth Scales Gu, it did not mean Fang Yuan was
completely safe, but it was at most a good life-saving trump card.

When he returned to the village, it was still afternoon.

The day in spring was bright and beautiful, and there were many people
passing in and out of the village door. What was different from previous
years was that people on the road were mostly Gu Masters, while there
were very little mortals.

Under the influence of the wolf tide, the wilderness was not safe. Hunters
did not dare to hunt in the mountains, and farms were almost abandoned.

On the streets, Gu Masters were high in morale, each returning with blood
traces all over, or enthusiastically leaving.

They were either talking about the battle merit board’s ranking, or
discussing their experiences in killing the lightning wolves. Some were
talking about the well-performing Gu Masters from the other villages.

Fang Yuan was among the crowd that walked into the village, and he went
to the village square in front of the family head pavillion.

The square already had a stage; the merit points were exchanged here.

A large amount of Gu Masters gathered here, and Rank one Gu Masters

were doing administrative work. Some Rank two Gu Masters squeezed
around, using the bloodstained wolf eyes to exchange for merit points.

There was also a portion of them that were using their merit points to
exchange for primeval stones, Gu worms or food ingredients, etc.

In the middle of the village square, a large banner was erected, and on it
there was the written language of this world; it was constantly changing.

This is the battle merit board, and on it there are over a dozen Swimword
Gu.

Rank one Swimword Gu, after being manipulated by Rank one support Gu
Masters, can freely convert the contents of the writings on the banner.

“Hmph, why is the #1 still the Bai clan’s Bai Bing Yi’s group?” Some
stared at the battle merit board, frowning.

“Let me see, Bai Bing Yi is #1, our clan’s Qing Shu group is #2, and Xiong
Li group is #3, my group is the 137th.” A Gu Master counted.

This time, someone suddenly said, “It changed, it changed! Qing Shu group
is now #1. They pushed Bai clan’s Bai Bing Yi to #2!”

On the battle merit board, the symbol showing the second ranking Qing Shu
group suddenly moved, crawling its way upwards and pulling the Bai Bing
Yi group down with its “hands”, ascending the position of number one
itself, even using its “leg” to trample around.

Such a human reaction, it was naturally due to the Gu Master manipulating

the Swimword Gu.
Seeing this interesting change, the Gu Masters in the village square laughed
heartily, pointing a thumbs up towards Qing Shu’s group, praising nonstop.
The Rank one Gu Master controlling the Swimword Gu had a red face as he
showed an expression of excitement.

“Lord Qing Shu, you are indeed our number one Rank two Gu Master!”

“Good job, Lord Qing Shu.”

Gu Yue Qing Shu walked among the crowd, smiling faintly. Gu Yue Fang
Zheng who was behind him clenched both fists, following closely with an
excited expression on his face.

The praises from all over the square filled the young man’s strong
materialistic desire. This made Fang Zheng feel like he was walking on a
bright path, unknowingly increasing his recognition towards the clan.

“Big brother…” He saw Fang Yuan standing among the crowd, observing
with his arms folded.

“Big brother, you are still alone, all by yourself. No wonder you have been
at the bottom of the ranking every since the start. Only by removing your
prejudice and fusing into the masses can you feel the warmth and happiness
of the clan,” Fang Zheng sighed, feeling that Fang Yuan was somewhat
pitiful and pathetic.

People who were like Fang Yuan, always fighting alone without any
companions, could not feel any kinship from the clan or friendship forged
from fighting together with your teammates.

Facing everything alone is not only dangerous, but mundane.

A person living without friendship, love or kinship, what is the meaning of

being alive?

Fang Yuan stood among the crowd, staring at the tall merit board. Without
doubt, the last position on the ranking was written in large letters —”Fang
Yuan Group”.
Other Gu Masters upon seeing this, felt extremely shameful, but Fang
Yuan’s gaze was calm, not minding it one bit.

After being promoted to group leader, he had never recruited any members.
He was a loner group leader, the most special group in the entire Qing Mao
mountain’s three clans.

With only him alone, of course his daily hunting results could not compare
to other groups. Of course, with Fang Yuan’s current abilities, if he tried
hard he would definitely not be last place.

But this was pointless to Fang Yuan.

He did not need much merit points, living resources or Gu worm’s food, he
had stock for everything. He had planned to exchange for a Fish Scales Gu
earlier, but now he no longer needed to.

Right now he was hunting lightning wolves daily just to put on a show to
fulfil the quota, and secondly accumulate some merit points to exchange for
moon orchid petals.

After all, his Moonglow Gu needed this food.

Half a month soon passed, and the spring atmosphere intensified.

Trees started to grow leaves, and wildflowers on the roadside bloomed.

Under the warm spring winds, Gu Masters sang in battle, and the battle
situation was getting better and better.

Fang Yuan walked on the pavement, seeing everyone’s happy faces, their
exchanges of praise like courageous acts and the likes.

Of course, there were also some Gu Masters who were in deep worry,
showing an unhappy expression. These Gu Masters were mostly the elderly,
as with their rich life experiences, they knew that the real wolf tide was
coming in summer and autumn.

Fang Yuan realized in his heart.

“What caused this current situation is due to the three-clan alliance, thus
people have reduced their caution of each other, and this enabled Gu
Masters to be more invested in resisting the wolf tide. Secondly, the
lightning wolves exterminated were only the crippled wolves. Thirdly, with
the coming of spring, many wolves are busy mating. When summer comes,
the truly energetic and healthy wolves would attack from all directions,
causing great damage and deaths to the three clans.”

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with cold light.

In this year’s wolf tide, the intensity was like never before, it reached a
danger level that was unforeseen. Even the clan higher-ups greatly
underestimated the severity of this wolf tide.

In his memory, most of the Gu Masters died, and the trump cards of the
three clans were nearly fully expended.

Fang Yuan had never thought of warning the higher-ups. One is that even if
he did, they might not listen to his suggestion, and even emphasize on
where he got the information, which he is unable to explain. Secondly, there
was no point in telling them, it is a fundamental difference in strength.
Thirdly, and the most crucial reason, warning the clan did not fit his biggest
interest!

I would rather let the world down, than be let down by the world!!!

What kinship, friendship, love – these are but an ornament in life, how can
they compare to a man’s great ambition?

On Earth, Xiang Yu wanted to cook Liu Bang’s father, and the Han dynasty
ancestor Liu Bang even laughed and said, “Go ahead, don’t forget to give
me a piece of meat.”

Tang Dynasty Li Shi Ming killing his brothers, Cao Cao’s army having no
rations and cooking people to turn them into dried meat as food. Liu Bei
borrowing Jing Zhou but never returning.
The higher-ups praised the values and morals, but those are just tools to
maintain their rule.

If one is restrained by these, how can they achieve anything?

Those who step into upper society, who does not have bloodstained hands,
stepping on corpses along the way? A capitalist’s initial startup fund, the
process is always bloody. Any politician’s hands are dirty, and the so-called
philanthropists are merely using money to gain recognition in society.

It is just that the successful are apt in hiding their past acts, and those who
believe the stories of the successors are truly fools.

“These fools are everywhere, restrained by emotions and morals, they

deserve to be stupidly manipulated by rules. What’s sadder is that when
they see others not being restrained, they would jump out and criticise,
trying to impart these morals to the people, not allowing others to have
more freedom than them. In this process, they would even enjoy this
ridiculous moral superiority and bliss.”

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan looked at the Gu Masters walking past him.

These people, they had a body full of abilities, and some even had higher
cultivation than him, but for what?

They are just pawns, merely restrained dogs.

What truly stalls a person’s success is not talent, but mindset.

Any organisation, once a person is born, would impart their morals and
rules, constantly brainwashing. Those that want to surpass humanity’s
achievements have to break this restraint on their mindset. Sadly, most
people are trapped by this their entire lives, using this to move forward with
motivation and even use their chained collar as a symbol of pride.

Thinking so, Fang Yuan laughed coldly.

Walking out of the village door, he retracted his thoughts.

There was something important today, he was preparing to enter the rock
crack’s secret cave again!
Chapter 128
 Chapter 128: If not for the harshness of the
winter, how could we look forward to spring!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

A faint red glow pervaded the stone forest, the petrified growths sprouting
out from the ceiling towards the ground like upside-down trees. It was a
sight to see.

“It has been over a month since I last came here.” Fang Yuan thought
helplessly.

After the three clans united, they had commenced a crusade to continuously
eliminate the surrounding wolf packs. Because the of the constant traffic for
the war effort, Gu Masters made up an almost ever-present flow moving
nearby the stone crack cave. In such a situation, even if Fang Yuan
possessed Stealth Scales Gu, there was a danger of exposing himself.

Despite the risk, Fang Yuan was very careful in the way he did things. Five
hundred years worth of life experience had nurtured enough patience in
him; he kept reign over his desires and made sure not to make movements
around the stone cave during this period.

When spring came, the crippled wolves had been successfully rooted out
and there were few Gu Masters left roaming around. Only then was he
willing and Fang Yuan circled around the village before using the Stealth
Scales Gu to come back.

A month had passed by, allowing some stone monkey groups to repopulate
and they had moved to the stone pillars he had cleared before.

Fortunately, the number were quite few.

Fang Yuan spent some time killing the monkey groups and advancing
towards the central area of the stone forest.

Under the shadow of the huge stone pillar, an obvious artificial cave
entrance appeared before his eyes.

Some crude rock stairs extended downwards from the cave mouth into the
darkness.

Fang Yuan used the White Jade Gu to cover his whole body with a layer of
faint jade light and carefully descended down the stairs.

His left hand held a fire torch, whereas bright moonlight shone on his right
palm — The Moonglow Gu was already activated.

It was completely dark underground and even the fire torch could only
illuminate five steps ahead.
An illumination-type Gu would be a lot helpful in such situations.
Unfortunately Fang Yuan was not so affluent.

Step by step, he walked on for a long while before reaching the end of the
stairs.

A crude artificial stone door was in front of him.

“Golden Centipede’s cave is precarious, Earth Communication is the way to

avoid the disaster.” Fang Yuan lifted his fire torch which illuminated some
characters carved on the stone door.

Earth communication……
Golden Centipede…..

Fang Yuan’s eyes gleamed, comprehending the meaning.

“If this is what I think it is…” He crouched down and touched the ground;
the soil was wet.
“There’s something.” He was happy. He began to dig the soil and indeed, he
found an Earth Treasury Flower.
He carefully uncovered the petals and took out a Gu worm from the heart of
the flower.

This was a special Gu.

It resembled a human ear, but much smaller. It was yellowish-brown, and

looked shrivelled and dull.
He felt it in his palm; it was shrivelled like marinated radish and carried
some warmth. Dozens of roots like the ginseng roots grew out from its
sides.

This was a Rank two grass Gu — Earth Communication Ear Grass.

Looking at the Earth Communication Ear Grass, Fang Yuan’s gaze flashed.

This Earth Communication Ear Grass’s usage was to scout. It had appeared
in a great time and was perfect for Fang Yuan.

Earth Communication Ear Grass had a great advantage; it could scout up to

three hundred paces. This range was among the best of Rank two
investigative Gu worms.

It was easy to feed too. Its food was the ginseng roots.

There were many forested mountains in the Southern Border. There were
far more ginsengs here than in Earth. Hunter families would occasionally
pick some when they went to hunt in the mountains.

Especially when ginseng is easy to store; as long as it is completely dried

and sealed up properly, it could be kept for a long time under room
temperature.

Moon orchid petals wilted in a few days, but ginseng could be stored for a
long time.

“Gu worms need to be nurtured, used and refined. These three aspects are
broad and has many mysteries within them. Earth Communication Ear
Grass is easy to nurture, but using it is rather troublesome,” Fang Yuan
pondered. He held the Earth Communication Ear Grass and poured
primeval essence, instantly refining it.

Earth Communication Ear Grass was very outstanding and could compare
with many Rank three investigative Gu worms. However, heaven was fair,
and using the Earth Communication Ear Grass didn’t end with just refining,
it still needed a certain price.

Just like the Zombie Gu and Wood Charm Gu which needed to be used with
other Gu worms,, there was a consequence. If used for a long time, the Gu
Master’s body would slowly corrode and turn into a true zombie or tree
man.

“Many Gu worms can’t be used by merely refining them, they still need
some special prerequisites. This Earth Communication Flesh Ear Gu is also
the same. By using it to ascertain the situation, I can truly move about
freely in the wolf tide and even achieve some of my goals during this wolf
tide…..”

Fang Yuan pondered for a while and decided to use this Earth
Communication Flesh Ear Gu.

As the gains would be greater than losses, even if he had to pay the price, it
was nothing for the sake of his future.

“No matter which world, how could one gain anything without paying a
price?” Fang Yuan coldly smiled and put the Earth Communication Ear
Grass in his aperture.

He gazed at the stone door deeply then turned around and left.

If he didn’t guess wrong, there would be a great danger in the other side of
the stone door. Only by using the Earth Communication Ear Grass, could he
be able to avoid it.

Fang Yuan exited the secret cave and leisurely circled the village; after
making several rounds, hunting several lone wolves and taking their
eyeballs, he returned.
He was still the last in the battle merit board. As he walked through the
street, the Gu Masters who recognized him laughed at him or threw a
contemptuous look.

Fang Yuan didn’t care and still went his own way.

After several days, he used small battle merits to exchange for ginseng
roots, properly feeding the Earth Communication Ear Grass and recovering
its vitality.

Most of the clan’s attention was on the wolf tide, no one paid attention to
Fang Yuan. If it was before, Uncle and Aunt might have brought him some
troubles, but they had made no more movements ever since Fang Yuan sold
the family assets to them.

Difficult to do openly, easy to do secretly.

Soon, Fang Yuan smoothly completed some preparations in the dark.

Tonight, the moon was bright and stars were few.

The moon hung high above like a jade plate and the gentle darkness of the
night was like a yarn, covering Qing Mao mountain.

From time to time, wolf howls could be faintly heard from afar.

Fang Yuan securely closed the door and windows. He stood inside his
rented room, his whole body naked. There was a table in front of him and a
basin filled with warm water was laid on it. Beside the washbasin was a
white towel and a sharp dagger on top.

Even the floor he was standing on was covered with a layer of thick cloth.

Strands of moonlight passed through the cracks in the windows and shone
upon the table.

Fang Yuan’s expression was indifferent as he grabbed the dagger. The

dagger was sharp and had a cold shine to it. It could even be used as a
mirror.
Under the faint light, the young man’s indifferent face was reflected on the
dagger.

Right now, Fang Yuan couldn’t help but think of a martial arts skill book
from Earth called the <Sacred Sunflower Scroll>.

The first sentence in the first page of <Sacred Sunflower Scroll> was
‘Castrate yourself to train this skill.”

One needed to give up or pay something if they wanted to receive quick

strength!

So what if you needed to castrate yourself?

If you don’t have such ruthless decisiveness and aren’t willing to let go,
how could you accomplish your ambitions and become a lord ruling over
everything?

Wanting to receive without paying anything was only fairytales to deceive

children.

Back to Fang Yuan’s current state, to use this Earth Communication Ear
Grass, the price he needed to pay couldn’t amount to anything.

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan coldly smiled.

He used his fingers to lightly caress the cold blade and softly hummed—

Moon like the frost-filled night, the dagger shines with a cold light.

If not for the harshness of the winter, how could we look forward to spring!

He quickly moved his hand.

The hand rose and the dagger fell; blood burst out.

A piece of flesh fell on the table—

Fang Yuan had cut apart his whole right ear and blood was spurting out of
it.

He first felt a little cool before an intense burst of pain suddenly attacked
him.

He gritted his teeth and sucked in breath through his teeth. He resisted the
pain and called out Earth Communication Ear Grass from his aperture.

He had nurtured this Earth Communication Ear Grass back to its full
vitality. It was now completely different from how it looked back when he
just got it.

Back when he had taken it out of the Earth Treasury Flower, it was
shrivelled and dull. Now, it was plump and warm; fat and big and had
grown up to an adult palm size.

It was highly elastic and resembled the Buddha’s drooping ear of Earth.

Fang Yuan pressed the Earth Communication Flesh Ear Gu on his wound at
the right side of his head and immediately poured red steel primeval
essence towards it.

The Earth Communication Flesh Ear Gu’s roots immediately came to life
and rapidly began to grow, taking root in Fang Yuan’s wound.

Another burst of pain came!

Fang Yuan felt like dozens of earthworms were drilling towards his brain
from his wound.

This feeling was painful and also nauseating.

Generally speaking, Gu Masters would use some Gu worms to numb their

nerves in this stage. But Fang Yuan wasn’t in that situation and could only
rely on his iron willpower to forcefully endure it.

In the end, his body was that of a youth’s, and Fang Yuan who endured this
pain couldn’t help but feel his body starting to sway.
More and more roots extended, entered his wound. Slowly, the Earth
Communication Ear Grass glued together with the bloody wound,
becoming Fang Yuan’s new right ear.

Finally, there was no more blood flowing out of the wound, there wasn’t
even a scar.

However, Fang Yuan’s face was pale; the pain had only slightly decreased,
it was still tormenting him.

Veins bulged out from his head and his heart thumped rapidly.

At this stage, Fang Yuan was already finished for the most part, but some
time was still necessary for his body to adapt to the Earth Communication
Ear Grass.

He picked up a mirror and looked at it under the faint moonlight.

He saw his pale face and frowning brows in the mirror. His right ear was
bigger than his left by over two times and looked like a deformity.

Fang Yuan didn’t mind it; after looking at the mirror for a moment and
seeing no problems, he felt satisfied.

He put the mirror down and picked up the towel. He dipped the towel in the
warm water in the basin and wiped the bloodstains on his body.

He had no clothes on, so it was very easy to clean the bloodstains. Some
blood had flowed down his foot but were absorbed by the cotton cloth
spread on the floor.

Fang Yuan cleaned the bloodstains, then picked up his right ear from the
table.

He coldly snorted, then used the Moonglow Gu, slicing his own right ear
into meat paste and completely destroying it.

Fang Yuan held the basin filled with the watery blood and put it under the
bed before throwing a piece of coal in it.
Only after doing all this did Fang Yuan lay down on the bed.

The pain had weakened for the most part but was still tormenting him.

Fang Yuan felt the pain in his head along with his heartbeat.

He did not know how much time had passed, but he finally fell into a deep
sleep.
Chapter 129
 Chapter 129: Chainsaw Golden Centipede

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

When Fang Yuan woke up, it was already noon of the second day.

His headache was gone, and the intense pain had vanished completely.

He touched his ear subconsciously, the sense of touch no different from

before. It was as if the cutting of his ear never happened last night.

He climbed down from his bed, finding a mirror to look at himself.

In the mirror, a young man’s face was shown; he was not handsome, but his
dark abyss-like iris, made him stand out from mortals, showing a special
unique coolness and charisma.

The young man’s ears were the same as any others.

Last night, when he planted the Earth Communication Ear Grass, Fang
Yuan’s right ear was plump and big, his ear drooping till it nearly reached
his chin. But now it was completely normal from appearance, there was
nothing different.

This is because his body and the Earth Communication Ear Grass had
gotten used to each other.

Fang Yuan’s thought moved, and from his aperture a little red steel primeval
essence flowed along his body, moving up towards his right ear.

At once, his hearing improved multiple times, and numerous footsteps

could be heard.

Although he was on the second floor, he had a feeling of stepping on earth.

Fang Yuan paid attention and listened as his primeval essence continued to
be used, and his hearing improved as well. In the mirror, roots started to
grow out of his ear.

These roots were like the roots of a thousand year ginseng, extending from
his ear towards the outside, constantly growing longer and moving towards
the ground.

At the same time, his right ear had the notion of becoming fatter.

Fang Yuan stopped using the Earth Communication Ear Grass, and a second
later, the roots growing out of his ears retracted, and his right ear became
normal again.

Of course, his hearing also went back to its initial state.

“This way, I have a recon-type Gu.” Fang Yuan wore his upper shirt, taking
out a water basin from under his bed.

Last night, the bloody water had turned into blackish dirty water due to the
charcoal tossed in. The bloody towel submerged within was the same as
well. There was still some white in the red colour initially, but now it was
all covered by the black soot. It was easy to make people assume that it was
a cloth for wiping grease in the kitchen.

This basin when brought out, even if it was poured in front of someone,
nobody would notice.

Summer was coming, and many clansmen were trying to clean the stove
that they used in winter. Often they would end up with a basin of dirty
water just like this.

While the iron was still hot, Fang Yuan entered the rock crack secret cave
again.

This time, he did not enter empty-handed, but caught a deerling outside and
tied its four limbs together. He used a steel contraption to bind its mouth,
and then used the Stealth Scales Gu to hide his presence and brought it to
the rock door.

He did not open the door in a hurry, but activated the Earth Communication
Ear Grass.

The roots extended from his ear, and his hearing ability amplified.

Dongdongdong……

Firstly, he heard a light sound, the sound of slow heartbeat.

As the roots grew longer, the heartbeat became louder, and the sources of
sound also increased.

Fang Yuan did not need to think to realize that these heartbeats were
coming from the jade eye stone monkeys in the rock forest.

His shut his eye and he could imagine in his head, the owners of these
sounds hiding in their caves, curling into a ball and sleeping.

But this was not what he wanted to find out.

He continued listening, his right ear already becoming slightly fat, the
ginseng limbs growing out of his ear almost half a metre long, the roots
having sentience. They extended to the rock door, and stabbed in rather
shallowly.

At this moment, Fang Yuan felt that his hearing had a gigantic boost.

With him as center, he could hear the numerous noises of a three hundred
step radius!

This was the Earth Communication Ear Grass’ true usage; what he did in
the village was merely a test.

If the Earth Communication Ear Grass’ roots did not touch the ground, for a
Rank two recon Gu, it was at a very average level. But once the roots are in
the ground, its range would drastically improve.
This was understandable.

On earth, the theory was that sound travels at a speed related to its
intermediary. Sound in the earth or in water, the speed of transmission was
far greater than through air.

In ancient China, some soldiers in war when sleeping, would use a wooden
quiver as their pillow. Once any cavalry attacks, the soldiers would hear the
noise from the earth and be awakened in time. If they waited for sound to
travel by air, they would not have time to react.

The roots grew into the rock door, and Fang Yuan could instantly hear the
commotion behind it.

It was a very scrambled and confusing noise, but very frequent. Compared
to this noise, the stone monkeys’ heartbeat was like the sound of drums.

If a newbie was using this Earth Communication Ear Grass for the first
time, upon hearing this they would be thinking of all the possible guesses.
But to Fang Yuan, this noise was expected, and he only listened for a while
before frowning.

He pushed open the rock door.

The rock door was heavy, but with his strength of two boars now, it was
easy.

The rock door opened, and a dark long tunnel appeared in front of him,
stretching on at a straight line, towards the unknown.

Fang Yuan untied the deer he had caught, and tossed it into the tunnel.

The deerling was very smart. Sensing the dangers of the dark path ahead, it
did not dare to move forward. Its huge eyes stared at Fang Yuan, showing
fear and a begging intention.

Fang Yuan snorted and threw a moonblade.

This moonblade was controlled to be small, slicing vertically and inflicting
a light wound on the deerling’s body.

The blood gushed out from its wound, and under the pain, the deerling’s
fear towards Fang Yuan won and it rushed into the dark tunnel.

Darkness soon engulfed it.

Fang Yuan activated the Earth Communication Ear Grass again, this time
the roots grew into the walls.

His hearing amplified, and first he heard the deerling’s footsteps, its
heartbeat, and some other noise.

Golden Centipede’s cave is precarious, Earth Communication is the way to

avoid the disaster……

Fang Yuan knew in his heart that these noises were the movement sound of
a centipede.

In his ear, he could hear the deerling’s cries.

Evidently, it had gone into the cave and met the centipede.

Fang Yuan could see the image in his mind, the flustered deerling attacked
by a centipede swarm, completely engulfing it. The deerling turns around in
fright, and as it kicks its young hooves it felt the sense of death approaching
and gave cries for help.

Uncountable number of centipedes climbed onto its body, and the deer laid
on the ground, rolling and struggling.

Only after a while later, its heartbeat stopped.

The centipede army started to consume the deerling meat on its body.

Fang Yuan’s gaze shone as he heard a special sound.

This sound was like a buzzing, like the turning on of a chainsaw; it was full
of arrogance, dominance, and wildness.

If a newbie heard this, they would be confused. But with Fang Yuan’s
experience, he could guess the identity of this sound at once.

Rank three wild Gu worm — Chainsaw Golden Centipede!

This was the worm king in the centipedes, the true killer in the centipede
cave.

Fang Yuan could completely imagine: A metre over in length, the breadth of
two fists, coiling and slithering around the cave.

On the two sides of its body, there is a row of sharp saw-like teeth. As it
moved, the chainsaws also moved around rapidly, just like an electric
chainsaw.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s arrival caused the centipede army to

quieten.

It came ferociously, and wherever it went, the centipedes gave way,

showing the half-body remains of the deerling.

It climbed to the deerling’s body, opening its mouth and consuming the deer
blood and deer meat, and when it got to the bones, it coiled its body up and
used the chainsaws to lightly grind against the bones, turning it into powder
easily.

“Even the White Jade Gu’s defense cannot endure this Chainsaw Golden
Centipede’s attack. It seems that the Flower Wine Monk’s intention is to
make me use this Earth Communication Ear Grass and avoid the centipede.
But I have the Spring Autumn Cicada, so to subdue this Chainsaw Golden
Centipede, it is not impossible!” Fang Yuan had a thought in his head.

He was overjoyed at this prey.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede was an outstanding Gu worm. If it was his

to use, it would be another strong method of attack.
Only that, in order to subdue this Chainsaw Golden Centipede, even a Rank
four Gu Master would have to expend a lot of effort.

Catching and killing are two things, the former is way harder than the latter.

Wild Gu worms were all crafty, and if the Chainsaw Golden Centipede saw
something amiss, it would burrow into the ground and escape. If a Gu
Master did not have a burrowing method, how can he give chase?

But Fang Yuan had the Spring Autumn Cicada, thus as long as he caught
this Chainsaw Golden Centipede and released a hint of the Spring Autumn
Cicada’s aura, he would make the Gu worm cower and not dare to move.

Spring Autumn Cicada was a Rank six, its aura was extremely powerful
against Rank one to Rank four Gu worms. But against Rank five, it had less
effect, and towards other Rank six, there was no deterrence force in it.

This phenomenon is very interesting, but actually human society is just the
same.

Towards someone outstanding, people would envy, worship and admire.

But to someone who is only slightly better performing, they would dare to
offend, and was mostly competition and jealousy.

“I am only at Rank two middle stage now, hence to subdue this Rank three
Chainsaw Golden Centipede, it is possible but still too early.” Fang Yuan
assessed.

Rank two Gu Masters should use Rank two Gu worms which is the most
appropriate, and most useful. Of course, Rank two Gu Masters can also own
Rank three or even Rank four Gu worms.

But this was not common.

Firstly, the higher rank the Gu worm, the more expensive it is to feed it.
Secondly, they become harder to use and require more cost when activating.
Like a baby trying to wield a large hammer, if it forcefully tried to, it might
pull a muscle due to the hammer’s weight and smash its own leg.
“The deerling has already alerted the entire colony, it would take ten days to
half a month for these centipedes to calm down. After my testing, the
thought in my heart has been affirmed, but I have no chance to strike yet.
Why don’t I slow down and give it some time, this matter cannot be
rushed.”

Fang Yuan left his thoughts here and closed the rock door again. He then
left using the Stealth Scales Gu.
Chapter 130
 Chapter 130: Clansmen are still more reliable

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Dark clouds covered the sky, casting shadows over the entire Qing Mao
mountain, seemingly signifying the coming of a storm.

On a remote mountain side, a dozen robust lightning wolves drew back the
corners of their mouth and made low roars. They had surrounded Fang
Yuan.

These wolves had a healthy body and were not like the crippled wolves.

Any other Rank two Gu Master would be desperate if they were caught in
such besiegement, alone. However, the situation was quite opposite right
now.

Fang Yuan was standing on the spot, his expression calm. Instead, these
lightning wolves that were surrounding him were slightly nervous and
afraid.

The battle had already continued for a while and the ground was soaked
with blood. Several lightning wolves had collapsed on the ground, and the
silence showed Fang Yuan’s battle accomplishments.

Kill!

Fang Yuan shouted inwardly, he took the initiative to attack even though he
was the one surrounded. His foot pushed the ground as he pounced towards
a lightning wolf on his left side.

This lightning wolf immediately shrunk back a small step in fear, but then
its vicious personality was stimulated; it made a powerful jump and
attacked Fang Yuan.

It opened its mouth in the air, revealing the many sharp wolf teeth that filled
its mouth.

Fang Yuan laughed loudly; he didn’t evade but just swung his right arm.
Whoosh.
An eerie-blue moonblade flew horizontally through the air and struck the
lightning wolf’s open mouth.

There was only a ripping noise, this unfortunate lightning wolf was
instantly cut apart into two – from its mouth to tail – by this moonblade.

Boiling blood spurted out and poured like a rain of blood.

Fang Yuan’s whole body flashed with white jade light as he charged
through the blood rain and rampaged within the wolf pack.

The lightning wolves reacted, they attacked him from all sides. They
opened their mouths and tore at him but were blocked by the White Jade
Gu’s defense, causing their own teeth to be broken.

Their claws were also of no use.

Fang Yuan punched and kicked, and the lightning wolves were sent flying
under his enormous strength of two boars. Some lightning wolves had their
skulls directly smashed and died on the spot. Fang Yuan grasped the upper
hand in this battle.

But good things don’t last forever, for his primeval essence was being used
quickly.

Fang Yuan’s aptitude was only C grade and his cultivation was at Rank two
middle stage currently. The primeval essence in his aperture was not even
fifty percent.

He looked at his declining primeval essence, but there were still several
lightning wolves remaining. He had no choice but to use — Stealth Scales
Gu!
His body gradually disappeared like the ripples in the water. In a blink of an
eye, there was no more trace of him.

The lightning wolves were at their wits’ end, and they gave off furious
howls and started searing the area but didn’t find anything.

Fang Yuan had not gone far. He gazed at the lightning wolves’ movements
while absorbing primeval stones to recover his primeval essence and also
maintaining the concealment of the Stealth Scales Gu at the same time.

Lightning wolves had extraordinary eyesight but their sense of smell were
not sharp. The Stealth Scales Gu just so happened to be their bane.

When Fang Yuan’s primeval essence recovered to thirty percent, the

lightning wolf pack finally retreated unwillingly.

Fang Yuan didn’t have a movement Gu worm, so if the lightning wolves

really retreated, he would definitely not be able to catch up to them with his
speed. Thus, he removed the concealment of the Stealth Scales Gu and
became visible.
Hooooowl!

The lightning wolves saw Fang Yuan and as if he had killed their fathers,
they rushed at him.

Fang Yuan sneered. He waited till the lightning wolves were in front of him,
then he suddenly struck with his right hand.

His right fist was covered with a layer of faint white jade light which was
extremely hard. The punch ferociously struck a lightning wolf’s lower back.

Crack. A crisp sound was heard immediately and this unlucky lightning
wolf was sent flying by Fang Yuan, its lower back fractured.

It fell on the ground and crazily struggled while letting out miserable howls,
but it could no longer get up.

Fang Yuan had recovered sufficient primeval essence and with his
formidable fighting strength, he killed four more lightning wolves in a few
moments.

The remaining several lightning wolves lost their fighting spirit and looked
at Fang Yuan with fear. They whimpered and then tucked their tails and
escaped.

Fang Yuan didn’t chase after them.

He couldn’t compare to these lightning wolves in speed; chasing was

pointless.

The ground was filled with wolf corpses and they were all Fang Yuan’s
spoils of war. But Fang Yuan was cautious, he didn’t hurry to take out the
lightning wolves’ eyeballs.

Earth Communication Ear Grass!

He got down on his hands, his right ear close to the earth. Roots grew out
from the ear and pierced the soil.

His hearing strength amplified instantly; he could scout anything within a

three hundred step radius.

Many sounds entered his ear, but there were no sounds of wolf packs or the
sounds of other Gu Masters moving about.

“It is safe for the moment.” Fang Yuan let out a breath of relief. He took out
a dagger and began to dig out the eyeballs of the lightning wolves.

He only handed over a small part of these eyeballs and hid the rest.

If he handed all of them, it would no doubt attract suspicions and even

result to secret investigations. Fang Yuan wanted to prevent such
inconveniences as much as possible.

Fang Yuan immediately left after digging out all the eyeballs of these
lightning wolves.
When he had killed two more wolf packs like this, the sky was already
covered with thick dark clouds. Strong wind blew, blowing through the pine
forests, creating a green wave in the mountain along with the rustling of the
leaves.

Hoooowllll…

Faint howls of large numbers of lightning wolves echoed within the wind.

Fang Yuan’s expression slightly paled; according to his previous life’s

memories, today was the day the wolf tide truly broke out.

He used the Earth Communication Ear Grass again but didn’t hear the rapid
advancement of the lightning wolves.

He wasn’t surprised, but instead became calm.

This meant that there was at least over a three hundred step gap away
between him and the lightning wolves. This distance along with his own
speed and the knowledge of the topography, sufficed to let him reach the
village safely.

“These lightning wolves are cunning, choosing to attack in such weather.

The noise from the strong wind and the sounds from the pine forest will
mask their movements to a great degree,” Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, then
ran towards the village with his greatest speed.

After running for hundreds of meters, he bumped into a five person Gu

Master group.

“Hey, you are Gu Yue Fang Yuan!” A young Gu Master in the group raised
his eyebrows when he saw Fang Yuan and greeted him in an odd way.

This Gu Master was Gu Yue Peng, Fang Yuan’s classmate. During the
academy period, he had suffered from Fang Yuan’s bullying and extortion.
Fang Yuan indifferently glanced at him before brushing past him without
pausing, not giving him a chance to speak again.
“Bastard!” Gu Yue Peng was stunned, then a stifled feeling rose up in his
heart and his speed slowed down.

He didn’t get the chance to ridicule Fang Yuan.

“Little Peng. Don’t slow down. We need to hunt at least fifty lightning
wolves today to preserve our rank in the battle merit board!” The group
leader spoke.

Gu Yue Peng immediately restrained his furious expression and quickly

followed the group members.

“My group is ranked seventy-five in the battle merit board. That Fang Yuan
is ranked at beyond two hundred. This difference is like that of heaven and
earth! I am also quite fortunate to have such a caring senior as the group
leader. From the start of the wolf tide till now, I have exchanged part of the
battle merits to get a Gu worm. My future is bright, how could Fang Yuan
compare to me?”

Gu Yue Peng calmed down a lot when he thought of this, even feeling
blessed at that.

“In this world, what can one accomplish by fighting alone? Many hands
make light work, unity is the greater power. It is still the clansmen that are
reliable! Borrowing the clan’s strength, we newbies can safely grow up.
That Fang Yuan is an idiot, he really thinks he is a hero. He resolved the
problem of the Rank Five River Swallowing Toad only by luck and he is
putting on airs. Although he has become a group leader, he hasn’t recruited
any group members, serves him right to be ranked last! Haha. Anyway, with
his eccentric personality, how will he recruit any group members?”

Gu Yue Peng’s movement became more relaxed.

Strangely, all along the way, they hadn’t run into any wolf packs.

Gu Yue Peng raised his head to look at the sky, it was afternoon but the sky
was already dusky as if it was evening.
The wind blew, and the dark clouds densely covered the sky and moved
rapidly, brewing thunder and rainstorm.

However, Gu Yue Peng was not afraid, a mocking smile appearing on his
mouth as he thought, “Hahaha, so Fang Yuan was hurriedly rushing back
because he was worried of this rainstorm? What a coward, what is there to
be afraid of a rainstorm?”

Right at this time, the group leader’s face suddenly paled, he opened his
mouth and sucked in a deep breath.

“Sir group leader, what happened?” Other four members naturally noticed
this.

In this Gu Master group, the group leader was in charge of scouting.

Although he was also a Rank two Gu Master, his scouting Gu worm didn’t
have as great a radius as Fang Yuan’s Earth Communication Ear Grass.

His face was deathly white right now and he had no wish to give detailed
explanation.

“Run, quick!” He shouted with terror and amidst other group members’
astonished gazes, he turned around and ran.

“Follow the group leader!!” Other group members were not foolish, they
quickly reacted and broke into a run.

Hoooowllll——!

Wolf howls came from behind them continuously. From these noises, they
knew there was more than a thousand lightning wolves!

Everyone in the group was pale, they breathed heavily and used all their
strength to run.

“Wait for me!” Gu Yue Peng sprinted with all he had but was still the last;
he lost his composure and started screaming for help.

He felt the breathing sounds of the lightning wolves behind his back.
But what made him despair was the group leader who normally showed
great consideration to him, didn’t even turn his head back. The teammates
who used to pat their chests and speak of brotherhood and sentiments
ignored his shouts.

Houuu!

Gu Yue Peng suddenly heard a wolf howl right next to him.

In the next moment, he felt an enormous force pressed on his back and
knocking him down.

He tumbled on the ground; the fall had made him dizzy.

He subconsciously turned around to try to resist.

Boom!

A lightning snake flashed through the air.

In the darkness, a bold lightning wolf’s figure immediately became visible.

Its body was twice the size of a normal lightning wolf, the hair in its body
erect. It opened its mouth and revealed its silver white sharp fangs.

Gu Yue Peng’s pupils shrank to a needle size, a thought echoing within his
mind—”Hundred beast king!”

The wolf pack’s scale in the wolf nest was enormous; not only were there
three myriad beast king level thunder crown wolves, there were also
hundred beast king level bold lightning wolves and thousand beast king
level frenzy lightning wolves.

In the very next second, the bold lightning wolf opened its mouth and with
a crack sound, Gu Yue Peng’s whole head was gnawed off.

Fresh blood and brain matter splashed. The bold lightning wolf lowered its
head and began to swallow the blood from Gu Yue Peng’s neck and gnawed
at his fatty meat.

Countless lightning wolves came from behind it and rushed ahead.

Rumbling sounds continued incessantly.
Pitter-patter, heavy rain also started pouring.

The true wolf tide had begun!

Chapter 131
 Chapter 131: Loneliness is the deepest darkness

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The rain poured heavily from above, and snake-like lightning danced in the
sky randomly. This sustained for the entire night.

Fang Yuan lay on his bed, hearing the shouting of Gu Masters outside his
house and the sound of their footsteps in the rain.

He squinted his eyes, visions of his past life flashing in his head again.

In his previous life when the wolf tide attacked, he was still a Rank one Gu
Master, and being part of the support group, he hid within the village and
managed to escape the disastrous fate.

But this time, he was already a Rank two middle stage, and he had the Four
Flavor Liquor worm, currently moving towards upper stage. Thus, he had to
be like other Gu Masters, resisting the wolf tide in such a dark night.

“The rain is pouring outside, and they still have to fight the large amount of
lightning wolves in this poor vision, this is truly torture,” Fang Yuan snorted
in his heart.

He did not sleep in the rented apartment, but instead he was at the inn.

If Fang Yuan was at the rented house, he would definitely be forced to

participate.

“The clan higher-ups have definitely underestimated this wolf tide’s

severity, the correct method would be to hide in the village and defend to
the end. Unfortunately, they are blinded by past experiences…” Fang Yuan
flipped around in his bed while thinking about this.
Outside the window, the rain splattered all over the place, it was definitely a
storm.

Sounds of thunder constantly entered his ears.

On the streets, Gu Masters hurriedly moved about, the sounds of their

footsteps and furious bellows never having a pause.

At once, the cries of the wolves reached the village.

This was destined to be a sleepless night.

Whether it was the Gu Masters who were risking their lives fighting, or the
mortals hiding in the village shivering, or even Fang Yuan. After sleeping
until the midnight hour, they naturally awoke.

He did not get up, but opened his eyes in the darkness while lying on his
bed.

The sounds outside the window entered his ears. People’s life and death
battles, he could imagine, along with the thunderstorm outside the village.
Gu Masters and wolf packs formed an extraordinarily lively stage. No
matter which character, they were displaying the essence of life.

Life was like a show, this was a good show. But Fang Yuan had no
intentions of joining the act.

On the contrary, he felt a sense of unexplainable loneliness.

A loneliness with boundary.

This was not because he was a transmigrator, reincarnator, or the fact that
he carried an unspeakable secret.

But because, everyone was born lonely!

Humans are like isolated islands, floating in the sea of fate.

Human encounters are like the collision of these loneliness islands, and
once they touch, there would be an effect.

Sometimes, the islands would stick together, in the name of ‘interest’,

‘kinship’, ‘friendship’, ‘love’ and ‘hate’.

But eventually, they would separate, walking towards the path of

destruction.

This is the truth behind life.

Unfortunately people are always afraid of being alone, they craved the
liveliness of human crowd, and they refused to do nothing with their time.

Because once they face loneliness, it meant facing pain and hardship.

But once they can face this pain, people would obtain talent and courage.
Thus, there is a saying — High achievers are definitely lonely.

“This is the feeling of being lonely. Every time I savour this, it strengthens
my resolve to pursue the demonic way!” Fang Yuan’s gaze shone, thinking
of the story of Ren Zu.

Legend says, Ren Zu had obtained the Attitude Gu. Attitude Gu was like a
mask, and without a heart Ren Zu couldn’t wear it.

Because before this, Ren Zu had given his heart to the Hope Gu, and from
then on he never feared difficulty.

But if Ren Zu wanted to use the Attitude Gu, he needed to have a heart.

Ren Zu was troubled, thus he asked Attitude Gu; he said, “Oh Gu,
sometimes attitude says its all. Now that I have encountered a problem, you
know it, thus I’m here to seek advice.”

Attitude Gu said, “This is not hard. Ren Zu, you lack a heart, thus you just
have to find a new one.”

Ren Zu was confused, asking again, “Then how can I find a new heart?”
Attitude Gu sighed, “Heart, is nowhere and everywhere. Finding a heart, it
is both easy and difficult. With your situation, you can obtain a heart now.”

Ren Zu was overjoyed, “Quick, tell me, how?”

Attitude Gu warned him, “This heart, is called loneliness. Human, are you
sure you want it? Once you obtain it, you will face endless pain, loneliness
and even fear!”

Ren Zu did not listen to his warning, he continued asking.

Attitude Gu could not defy Ren Zu’s orders, thus he said, “You only have to
stare at the sky on a starry night, and say nothing. Once you reach daylight,
you will obtain the heart of loneliness.”

That night, it was a star-filled sky.

According to Attitude Gu’s instructions, Ren Zu sat alone at the mountain

peak, staring at the night sky.

Before this, his life was very difficult, constantly struggling for survival, he
had no time to admire this beautiful yet mysterious sky.

But now, as he stared at the starry sky, his thoughts began floating.
Constantly thinking about himself, such a meagre and weak being like
himself, living a life of constant fear and insecurity.

“Sigh, although I have Hope Gu, Strength Gu, Rules and Regulation Gu,
and Attitude Gu, to survive in this land, it is still difficult as ever. Even if I
die tomorrow, it is not shocking. If I die, will the world remember me? Will
anyone rejoice over my existence, and grieve over my death?”

Thinking of this, Ren Zu shook his head.

In this world, he was the only human, how can there be others?

Even with Gu accompanying him, he still felt a strong sense of —

Loneliness.
Heart of loneliness!

At this moment, when Ren Zu felt lonely, his body suddenly had a brand
new heart.

The sun rose from the horizon, and shone on his face. But Ren Zu felt no
happiness, and instead felt an endless pain, despair, confusion and even fear.

He could not endure this loneliness and fear, for all he felt was the advent of
darkness and apocalypse!

Thus, he painfully cried, stretching out his fingers and digging out his eyes.

His left eye fell onto the ground and transformed into a young man. He had
golden hair and a strong body. Once he appeared, he kneeled at Ren Zu’s
feet, saying: “Oh Ren Zu, my father, I am your eldest son, Verdant Great
Sun.”

At the same time, his right eye turned into a young girl, and she held Ren
Zu’s hand, saying, “Oh Ren Zu, my father, I am your second daughter,
Desolate Ancient Moon.”

Ren Zu laughed loudly, tears flowing out of his empty sockets. He said
‘good’ three times and continued, “I have children now, I can finally endure
the pain of the heart of loneliness. From now one, there will be people
celebrating my existence, and grieving for my death, even if I die now, you
will remember me.”

“Only that…” Finally, he sighed, “I lost both my eyes, and can no longer
see the light. From now on, you two shall observe this world for me.”

It rained the entire night, only at dawn did the rain stop.

Fang Yuan left the inn. Along the streets the passersbies carried heavy and
sad expressions.

This night, the clan suffered great losses.

The truth was, for the three clans on Qing Mao mountain, none of them
escaped this fate; all had suffered heavy losses.

Fang Yuan could tell from seeing the merit board.

After a night, the battle merit board lost twenty-five small groups, all
sacrificed in the wolf tide. Even if there was one or two survivors, they
were either injured or crippled.

The group Gu Yue Peng was in, was among this.

The dozen over days after this, the situation worsened by the day.

First, the hundred beast king bold lightning wolf had appeared, and then
soon after, reports came in that there was the thousand beast king frenzy
lightning wolf!

Information like this, caused the Rank two Gu Masters battling to be

frightened.

If they met the frenzy lightning wolf, they would need at least three groups
to cooperate to deal with it. This is not including the normal wolf groups
together with the frenzy lightning wolf.

The three clans had to send out their Rank three elders to deal with the
situation.

In this situation, the Gu Masters’ daily lives became very dangerous and
long.

Even with the Stealth Scales Gu, Fang Yuan had to be careful and
meticulous. After all, he might encounter a beast king class lightning wolf
with a Lightning Eye Gu.

The good news was that he had previously paid a price to be able to use the
Earth Communication Ear Grass.

This investigative Gu’s range was very large, allowing him to avoid the
large-sized wolf packs.
Eventually, the weather got warmer as July was at its end. Even though the
situation was not optimistic, under the cooperation of the three clans, the
situation was under control.

Somewhere near the mountainside.

Three Gu Masters who had already experienced an intense battle were

facing against a bold lightning wolf that had just arrived.

The aura of death was impending.

“Damn it, insufficient primeval essence, if I had 60%, no just 30%, we

would not have to be chased like this!” Group leader Xiong Zhan stared at
the slowly approaching bold lightning wolf, like a cat chasing a mouse, he
vomited a mouthful of bloody water.

“The mountain cliff is ahead, there is no path left, what do we do?” A group
member asked with a pale expression.

“What can we do? We can only put our hopes on the reinforcements. I heard
lord Bai Ning Bing from my clan has come out of his closed door
cultivation and is rushing into battle.”

The two original groups, from both the Xiong clan and Bai clan, faced the
wolf tide together and cooperated, but now only three people were left.

“Rather than relying on the Bai Ning Bing who is nowhere to be found, I’d
rather fight for a chance to survive!” Xiong Zhan gritted his teeth, “The
reason why a beast king is so dangerous, is because of the Gu on its body. I
have a Plunder Gu, it can forcefully steal a Gu worm from my enemy. But it
needs to be sustained when activated and I cannot move. During this period,
you have to protect me.”

“Okay!” The other two looked at each other and stood in front of Xiong
Zhan, helping him block the bold lightning wolf.

Even though they knew that there was little hope, no one was willing to
resign themselves to death.
“If the plunder is successful, we have a chance to live! Heaven bless us!”
Xiong Zhan’s face was determined as he raised his right arm.

Life and death depends on this!

The three humans and one wolf did not know that, high up on the cliff, a
white haired young man wearing a white shirt was staring at this scene.

“Life is so boring…” He sat on the ground, one hand propping himself up,
while the other was pouring liquid from his wine bottle.

What he poured out was not wine, but sweet mountain springwater.

He did not drink wine, but only liked water.

As this young man drank, he stared at the show before him.

“Fight, and die. Such a mundane life is too boring. Only with an intense
battle like this, can your lives have a hint of excitement and colour. This
way, your lives has some meaning.”

He laughed lightly in his heart, not showing any inclination to help.

Even if he had the ability, even if his Bai clan member was there.

So what?

To him, loneliness is the deepest darkness, and the light of kinship is just a
facade.

He Bai Ning Bing would not do something as boring as saving someone!

太日阳莽 – Verdant Great Sun

古月阴荒 – Desolate Ancient Moon

Important Note: These names are really hard to translate, actually because
they are names they should be in pinyin, Tai Ri Yang Mang and Gu Yue Yin
Huang.
However the names are relevant to another plot-wise matter… so they had
to be translated to English, which was really difficult. For Gu Yue Yin
Huang, the Gu Yue here is exactly the same as the Gu Yue clan.
Chapter 132
 Chapter 132: Three Step Fragrant Grass

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

On the cliff, Bai Ning Bing watched with interest.

As he sat at the cliff, a life and death battle was on full display.

The bold lightning wolf took its move, slowly approaching.

Two Gu Masters blocked its path with a grim expression.

Behind them, Xiong Zhan was half-kneeling on the ground, his left hand
grabbing his right wrist, his right hand in the shape of a claw, aiming at the
bold lightning wolf.

“Plunder Gu!” Suddenly, he shouted loudly, all the primeval essence in his
body gushing towards the Plunder Gu.

An invisible grabbing force exploded from within.

Xiong Zhan’s right hand grabbed the air, and a sense of illusion made him
feel that he had grabbed onto a Gu worm.

But this Gu worm continued to struggle, contesting with him.

This force was very large; his center of gravity had already been very low,
but he still felt a very strong force dragging him forward.

“Plunder Gu’s success rate is very low, but I have to succeed this time,
otherwise we’re doomed!” He gritted his teeth, veins popping up on his
forehead as his expression turned ferocious, contesting with all his ability.

Xiong Zhan had no other way.

Failure means death!

Under the pressure of death, he infused the Plunder Gu with all the
primeval essence he could muster. With the infusion of the primeval
essence, the Plunder Gu residing in his right palm also increased its sucking
force. The bold lightning wolf felt something amiss, and started howling,
attacking in a frenzy.

The two Gu Masters could hardly block it.

Just when Xiong Zhan felt that his plunder was going to succeed, his
expression changed.

“Damn it, not enough primeval essence!” He suddenly vomited a mouthful

of blood, his state of health being at the worst. Once a plunder fails, he
would face some backlash. This was a flaw of the Plunder Gu.

Howl!

Without the Plunder Gu’s restriction, the bold lightning wolf opened its
mouth, and started to howl.

The Gu worm that lived within it used its ability, and made its teeth shine
with lightning.

Eerie blue lightning discharged and finally shot out from its mouth.

The lightning shot through the middle of both Gu Masters, aiming for the
half kneeling Xiong Zhan.

Xiong Zhan did not even have time to cry before he got hit by the lightning,
turning into a piece of charred black cooked meat, instantly dead.

“Run!” The remaining two Gu Masters no longer had any fighting spirit as
they ran in two directions.

The bold lightning wolf chased up to one of them, pouncing on him and
biting the throat.
The final Bai clan Gu Master was blocked by the bold lightning wolf, and
could only retreat towards the cliff.

“Ahhhhh. I’m going to die!” With his back against the cliff, he roared in
despair, venting out the fear in his heart.

But suddenly his voice came to a stop — He saw Bai Ning Bing on top of
the cliff.

“Lord Bai Ning Bing! Lord Bai Ning Bing, is that really you?” He was
stunned but then started shouting, overjoyed.

“Oops, you found me,” Bai Ning Bing laughed, and raised his right hand.

His right index finger pointed downwards and an icicle instantly formed,
shooting downwards.

The icicle hit the Gu Master crying for help, penetrating his skull, all the
way to his chin.

“Ah!” His face was still fixed with intense joy after finding hope, but then
fell to the ground with a plop.

The bold lightning wolf was shocked by the event.

It stared at Bai Ning Bing, its mouth opening. Within, lightning coiled
around its teeth.

“Ignorant beast.” Bai Ning Bing stared plainly, jumping down lightly from
the five metre cliff.

In the air, he clapped his palms together, and icy mist instantly formed.

Next his palms splitted, and an ice blade appeared.

This ice blade was around 1.7m, like the katana on Earth, with a transparent
icy body. The handle was grabbed by Bai Ning Bing.
Bold lightning wolf shot out electric light from bottom to up, and Bai Ning
Bing laughed while two lines of white water vapour poured out of his nose.

The water vapour swirled around, wrapping around his body into a layer of
water barrier.

The water ball continued to rotate on its own, and the bold lightning wolf’s
lightning dissipated upon hitting this barrier.

The water ball burst open, and the white clothed young man appeared from
within.

“Die.” The young man’s iris turned from black to pure blue, like two pieces
of blue crystal, devoid of feelings and emotion.

The light of the blade shone.

Bai Ning Bing landed lightly, and from his half-transparent white ice blade,
a drop of blood fell.

Meanwhile, the bold lightning wolf stayed still like a statue.

A breath later, fresh blood poured from its neck as the large wolf head fell
on the ground, rolling several times. As for the body, it collapsed on the
ground.

The Lightning Current Gu that resided in its body shot out like lightning
towards Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing flicked his wrist, and a light shot out from his blade.

The Lightning Current Gu, under his sword, exploded into a ball of eerie
blue lightning current with a bang, perishing instantly.

Bai Ning Bing slowly walked towards Xiong Zhan’s corpse.

“The other Gu worms, they are all ordinary. But this Plunder Gu is slightly
interesting.” From Xiong Zhan’s corpse, he extracted the Plunder Gu and
held it near his chest.
Even though the three clans have an agreement — after a Gu Master dies, if
anyone after that obtains a Gu worm that has lost its Gu Master, they need
to hand it over.

But Bai Ning Bing did not care about this rule.

Even if they found out, so what?

He was the symbol of the Bai clan’s rise, and the clan would definitely
protect him.

This, he was very sure of.

“Only… this wolf tide is really boring.” He used his hand to caress his ice
blade, feeling the intense freezing sensation.

“Come to think about it, it is more fun competing with someone.” He

yawned, suddenly smiling, “I wonder how Qing Shu, Xiong Li and the
others are doing, how much have they grown? After cultivating behind
closed doors for so long, maybe they can give me a surprise, maybe.”

Days later.

At the square where it was overflowing with people, Fang Yuan stared at a
giant flag.

On the flag, words were formed by the Swimword Gu. The content was
about the resources co-supplied by the three clans.

These resources were very broadly categorized, from food used to feed Gu
worms, rice and condiments for humans, oil and other living necessities, to
Gu worms themselves and primeval stones.

But behind these resources, there was a number attached to them,

corresponding to the amount of merit points needed to exchange for them.

A wolf’s eye was ten merit points, and five merit points was for a bag of
500g of rice. Using twenty-five merit points could let a Gu Master
exchange for one primeval stone.
Undoubtedly, the arrival of the wolf tide brought about an opportunity
never seen before during peaceful times.

The battle merit board and this resource board urged on many Gu Masters,
making them willingly bath in warm blood, hunting lightning wolves day
and night.

Especially recently, as the wolf tide intensified, the three clans brought out
the savings they had and spurred on the Gu Masters’ battle spirit, also
raising their battle capability to help the village survive this ordeal.

Thus, the resource board had many things that were not commonly seen.

Like now, Fang Yuan’s attention was on this Gu.

“Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu,” he muttered, staring at the description on

the large flag.

Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu was a Gu worm Fang Yuan needed, as it

could assist with movement, raising Fang Yuan’s running speed.

Honestly speaking, these days, the resource board had many new Gu
worms. But only this Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu was what Fang Yuan
wanted.

Except that this grass Gu was not easy to get. It was not only the only one
of its kind on the resource board, but the merit points required to exchange
for it is also very high.

“If I use my true ability, I can definitely gather enough merit points to
exchange for this Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu. But if I do that, it would
invite the suspicion of the clan, and that is not desirable.”

Fang Yuan thought silently.

“There is another way, and that is to produce a large amount of vitality

leaves and sell these Rank one Gu to the clan, exchanging it for merit
points. But this method is slow, by the time I get enough points, someone
might have exchanged it already.”
Fang Yuan shook his head internally, this method had a flaw that would lead
to failure.

Then what should he do?

He stared at the resource board and the merit board, falling into deep
thought.

Towards the merit points, he had a clearer and deeper understanding of it

compared to all the surrounding people.

Merit points are basically a kind of emergency currency.

During peacetime, primeval stones are the common medium of exchange.

They were hard currency and had high commercial value in themselves,
thus would never devalue.

But with the wolf tide, the need for primeval stones surged, and it could no
longer be used as a currency. Thus, an emergency currency was needed to
take over.

Thus, merit points were born.

“With an alternate currency like the merit point, it can prevent the economy
from collapsing temporarily. Like on Earth, when there’s a war, the
government would print large amounts of paper money. Of course, that
causes inflation and rising price levels. The merit points are the same; the
more it drags on, the more it devalues. But during the time of the village’s
life and death situation, without merit points and using only primeval stones
is not sustainable. Thus, they can only pick the lesser poison. Hence after
the wolf tide, the economy always has signs of depression.”

“Sigh, this rough form of an economy is nothing worth mentioning. If I am

a Rank three, I can easily play around. But unfortunately, I do not have
enough strength, so I’m unable to handle the risks. If I push on, it is
equivalent to playing with fire.”

Fang Yuan sighed internally.

The point was that his cultivation was not high, and his strength was not
sufficient.

Without strength, only having wisdom, it is useless.

Thus, in Ren Zu’s story, Ren Zu chose to deal with the Strength Gu,
obtaining strength and giving up on wisdom.

That is because, strength is the foundation.

Fang Yuan was still thinking deeply when he heard the discussions of the
people around him.

“Do you guys know? Bai Ning Bing struck again!”

“What, what, which unlucky Gu Master is it this time?”

“It’s Xiong clan’s Xiong Li, that dejected-looking one.”

“Sigh, what is this Bai Ning Bing doing? Last time, injuring Chi Shan, and
now attacking Xiong Li. With the wolf tide coming, he is still fooling
around!”

“He’s always does what he wants, he is already a Rank three Gu Master and
is still finding problem with Rank two Gu Masters. For fairness, he even
used a Gu worm to suppress his own cultivation to Rank two, he is really
bored and hard to understand!”

“Bai Ning Bing huh… hmph, a person halfway into the coffin. But that
reminded me of something.” Fang Yuan upon hearing this felt something in
his heart stir.

He knew how to get a large amount of merit points quickly.

Chapter 133
 Chapter 133: Thanks for letting me kill you

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Sprinting rapidly!

The trees before Fang Yuan looked like they were crashing into him, and he
quickly avoided them nimbly, pushing off with his legs.

His right ear had roots swaying around, and behind him was a bold
lightning wolf angered by him on purpose and several hundred healthy
ordinary lightning wolves.

The lightning wolves’ speed was faster than him. Especially the bold
lightning wolf, its streamlined body jolted around in the complicated
terrain, having an extremely fast speed.

Seeing Fang Yuan who was about to be caught up, suddenly, his body had
ripples of light around him, and he vanished.

The bold lightning wolf had to halt its steps and observe the surroundings
with bewilderment.

Fang Yuan sprinted to a faraway place, before reappearing again.

Bold lightning wolf’s eyesight was sharp, immediately finding him. It

growled angrily and chased after Fang Yuan again.

As for those ordinary lightning wolves, they followed closely behind.

Fang Yuan laughed internally and continued sprinting.

Rinse and repeat, he had finally reached his destination. This time, he
activated his stealth completely.
The wolf pack who came chasing sniffed around the area where Fang Yuan
disappeared, and soon after, the bold lightning wolf found its new target.

Not far away, on the mountain valley, there were five Gu Masters fighting
with a pack of wolves.

Howl!

The bold lightning wolf had limited IQ, immediately forgetting Fang Yuan.
It turned its head and growled, and the lightning wolves behind it entered
the valley’s battlefield like tidal waves.

“How can this be?” The Gu Master in battle saw this scene and despaired.

“Didn’t they say that each pack of wolves have their own mobility range?”

“We took so much effort to kill a bold lightning wolf, and here comes a
second one! We’re screwed.”

“Quickly send the distress signal to the clan!”

This new pack of wolves joined in and the Gu Master’s pressure intensified,
their tone showing a panicky and flustered emotion.

The investigative Gu Master shot out a Gu worm from his hand.

This Gu worm was like a golden round ball, but had a pair of colourful
feathered wings. It flew into midair and exploded, turning into a rainbow
flame, observable from a 50km range.

This was the signal Gu, a Rank one expendable Gu worm, often used to
send signals.

“The signal has been sent, everyone hang in there, wait for reinforcements!”
The group leader shouted at an appropriate timing, slightly raising the
morale and stabilizing their fighting spirits.

“It’s useless.” Fang Yuan appeared at a high point on the cliff, staring
downwards, his heart smirking.
This Gu Master group’s situation was already well investigated by him. The
nearest group in the vicinity was also deep in the wolf pack’s encirclement.

That pack of wolves was also lured over by Fang Yuan, to restrict them.

“Killing lightning wolves, each eyeball is ten merit points. But on the
battlefield, reclaiming Gu worms and bringing them to the clan higher-ups
is worth at least a thousand points! This kind of thing, after doing it two or
three times, I will be able to exchange the Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu,”
Fang Yuan thought in his heart.

Under his scheme, the Gu Master group’s fate was sealed.

“Next, I will wait for them to be exterminated. Then I shall lure the
lightning wolf pack away and come back here to collect the Gu worms.”
Fang Yuan walked to a nearby tree and sat down leisurely.

No one was willing to die, so these Gu Masters put up a strong resistance.

Fang Yuan did not risk it to lure a thousand beast king frenzy lightning
wolf, but instead chose the bold lightning wolf, so this gave them the
opportunity to struggle for a longer time.

Especially when among them, there was a defeated opponent of Fang

Yuan’s.

Gu Yue Man Shi.

He had the Monolith Gu and had strong defense, thus he alone could block
many lightning wolves’ attack.

But, this was also why Fang Yuan chose their group.

The more precious the Gu worm, after returning them, the more merit
points are awarded. After bringing back the Monolith Gu, Fang Yuan can
get around 3900 merit points, and that can let his position on the battle
merit board rise by at least twenty positions.
Of course, Chi Shan, Mo Yan and Qing Shu’s Gu worms, were more
precious than the Monolith Gu.

But Chi Shan’s group had Gu Yue Chi She, who possessed the Snake
Communication Gu, able to rely on heat to detect living beings. Fang
Yuan’s stealth had no use against him.

As for Mo Yan, she had an even stronger investigative Gu Master than Chi
She, with even more methods. She had single-handedly completed wolf den
investigation missions given by the clan many times.

Qing Shu group does not have a strong investigative Gu Master, but
because of Gu Yue Fang Zheng’s existence, the clan has definitely sent a
clan elder to follow and protect him, thus if Fang Yuan lures them, it is
courting death.

For the Gu Masters in the other two clans, Fang Yuan was not familiar with
them.

Setting up others was not easy to do. After choosing left and right, he
finally decided on a few groups, and after following them for a long while,
he managed to find an appropriate chance.

Bai Ning Bing was sleeping when sounds of battles entered his ear.

His opened his eyes slightly, the slit of his eye shining with cold light.

“Another boring scene.” He was sleeping on the edge of the cliff, and just
turning around allowed him to have a clear view of the valley. He was about
to go back to sleep, but suddenly saw a figure.

“Oh?” His eyes shone with shock as he saw Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was leaning against the tree, eating a wild fruit he picked,
staring coldly at the battlefield with no intention to help.

Bai Ning Bing instantly grew interested, he had never met someone like
this. From young, the people around him were all loyal to the clan, and
indulged in kinship.
But from Fang Yuan, he felt a sense of familiarity, loneliness and aloofness.

“Who is he?” Bai Ning Bing’s heart developed confusion and interest.

The wild fruit was picked on the spot, but with his experience, Fang Yuan
could tell it was harmless.

The fruit was juicy, sour and sweet. As he ate, his right ear twitched; he
heard something, and it was nearby!

Bai Ning Bing was sleeping on a higher terrain of the cliff earlier, but
without making any movements, the Earth Communication Ear Grass could
not sense him. However, now that he moved, he was instantly discovered.

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with lightning as he turned his body to see a white
haired and white clothed young man, stabbing his ice blade into the cliff
and sliding down along it, landing not too far away.

Bai Ning Bing!

Fang Yuan’s eyes squinted, recognising him instantly.

Qing Mao Mountain’s number one genius, the symbol of Bai clan’s rise.
Killing a Rank three clan elder at Rank two, and at this young age he
already reached Rank three, a crucial person capable of changing the entire
power distribution of Qing Mao mountain!

If it was other Gu Masters facing Bai Ning Bing alone, their expression
would be rapidly changing, either nervous or wary.

But Fang Yuan’s gaze only stayed on him for a second before looking back
at the valley. His expression was calm, almost uncaring. This is because
Fang Yuan knew all about Bai Ning Bing’s trump cards and secrets. Very
clearly.

“Oh…” Bai Ning Bing walked over, staring at Fang Yuan blankly. His
mouth opened, dragging his word.
He curiously stared at Fang Yuan like he was looking at an object he had
never seen before.

He got closer and closer. The more he looked at Fang Yuan, the more his
eyes shone, and the greater interest he had in his heart.

“On this person, why do I sense a familiar smell? It feels like I’ve seen him
before. Like long ago, we are already friends, this feeling!” Bai Ning Bing’s
heart was turbulent.

Friend — This word, he was always sceptical, despising, and even felt
disdain towards it.

He never thought he would have a friend. Those commoners around him,

they only had the right to admire him, they had no right to become his
friend.

Bai Ning Bing always thought, he would never have a friend in his life.

But now — he suddenly had this feeling!

This was a mystical feeling, but he was very sure of it. When he looked at
Fang Yuan, it felt like he was looking at himself!

Bai Ning Bing got slightly too close, and Fang Yuan turned around, staring
at him plainly with his deep dark iris.

Without a reason, Bai Ning Bing understood the meaning of his gaze.

It was a warning.

He halted his steps, slightly stunned, very impolitely staring at Fang Yuan
while saying, “Eh, you really are interesting.”

If the Bai clan Gu Masters who were familiar with him heard this, they
would go crazy.

That is because, since his birth, Bai Ning Bing had never praised someone
like this.
Fang Yuan ignored him, biting his wild fruit and staring at the valley’s
intense fight.

Bai Ning Bing circled around Fang Yuan, observing him closely. As if he
was looking at the strangest food on earth. He looked from every angle,
even squatting down on the ground and looking up at him from the floor.

His silky white hair which was impeccably clean like a crystal, instantly
laid on the muddy ground, but he did not care.

His white robe dragged across the ground and he paid no heed either.

This moment, he was like a pure child, seeing his playmate, curiously
staring at Fang Yuan with a longing expression, many times wanting to
speak but couldn’t.

Bai Ning Bing felt that he had many things to say to Fang Yuan, but when
he was about to speak, he felt no need anymore, because he felt that Fang
Yuan understood.

After being silent for a while, he asked, “The valley’s battle is not
interesting at all, what’s there to look at.”

Halfway through, his eyebrows raised, showing an expression of

realization, “I see. You lured this wolf pack, you want to kill these Gu
Masters, but why did you not do it yourself. Oh, afraid of leaving evidence.
You are too vigilant, from your aura, you already have Rank two
cultivation. If I were you, I’ll just go ahead and do it myself!”

Suddenly, he chuckled like he had seen the most fun toy in this world as a
kid. His eyebrows darted around, “You are really interesting, even the
things you do are interesting. Hehehe, I am starting to like you!”

Fang Yuan retracted his gaze, turning around and looking at Bai Ning Bing.

He knew this person.

That is because this person is also a natural demon.

What is a demon?

Abandoning the worldly customs, treating the people of this world with
indifference. Engulfed by loneliness, and despising relationships!

This person was like Fang Yuan’s shadow, except that Fang Yuan was
deeper down the path, and Bai Ning Bing was more pure.

In simple words, they were kindred spirits!

In his previous life’s memory, after the three clans barely survived the wolf
tide, this man murdered the three clans and caused the lustrous green Qing
Mao Mountain to turn into a hellish ice mountain!

“Bai Ning Bing, Bai Ning Bing…” Fang Yuan sighed in his heart, saying
slowly, “You’re very lonely, huh.”

Bai Ning Bing’s eyes widened, squatting on the floor, nodding

continuously, empathising and sighing, “Yes, these days, life has been super
boring. Some time ago, I killed a Xiong clan Gu Master and that was
somewhat fun. Getting this Gu, look.”

Fang Yuan looked at the Plunder Gu in his hand, starting to laugh, “So, you
want to kill me?”

Bai Ning Bing’s eyes turned from black to blue crystal colour as he jumped
up and straightened his body.

“Hahaha!” He raised his head and laughed thrice, staring at Fang Yuan with
an excited expression, “You do know! That’s right, I want to kill you, come
kill me too. Life and death battles are the most fun, meeting someone as
interesting as you, I swear I’ve never done anything so interesting!”

He got more and more excited as he suddenly opened both arms, arching
his head and sighing, “Ahhhh! I can feel that my life had never been so
colourful! Thank you, thank you, although I don’t know your name, thank
you for letting me kill you!!! Hehehe…”
Chapter 134
 Chapter 134: Hunting down

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Do not worry, you are only a Rank two, I will not lower myself and take
advantage of you. I shall restrict my cultivation to the same rank for your
sake; so come, let’s have a fair fight!” Bai Ning Bing roared with savage
laughter.

Facing the crazy Bai Ning Bing, Fang Yuan easily maintained a languid
expression. He met the heated glare in an equal manner, responding coolly.

“Wanna kill me, then come.”

Nothing left to say, Fang Yuan took the first step, his body drifting away
like a falling petal.

Bai Ning Bing’s laugh came to an abrupt stop at this, his voice easily
tainted with anguish.

“Don’t you run from me!”

He instantly ran after, engaging Fang Yuan in a relentless chase.

Fang Yuan ridiculed the disheveled master soundlessly, sprinting towards

the mountain valley.

Disturbed by the two barging into the valley’s inner battlefield, the wolf
pack reacted with fury, wasting no time in attacking Fang Yuan and Bai
Ning Bing.

The Gu Masters who had already been forced into the valley and lost one
man noticed the spectacle, the remaining four revealing a relieved
expression when they saw saw the wolves become distracted.
“Hang in there guys, reinforcements are here!” One even shouted loudly,
blatantly trying to encourage the wolves against the newcomers.

“Why is there only two?” Another asked, clueless while they saw the
muffled figures of Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.

But as they got closer, Gu Yue Man Shi’s face turned weird with realization.

“It’s him!”

It was impossible for him to not remember Fang Yuan, along with a sharp
feeling of fear mixed with shame; it was this man that had defeated and
publicly humiliated him. Those cold, merciless eyes, dug out the deepest
nightmare in his heart. He would never forget that terrifying event and the
fiendish man who accompanied the memory.

He had once sworn to himself that he would buck up and reclaim his pride.

But now, faced with Fang Yuan who was here to ‘save’ him, Gu Yue Man
Shi felt very complicated internally.

“Wait, the second person is…”

They all were able to recognise Bai Ning Bing, and showed collective signs
of shock at his appearance.

“Bai Ning Bing . . . Bai Ning Bing!” Gu Yue Man Shi’s eyes widened, he
did not expect in the least to suddenly see Bai Ning Bing appear under such
a situation.

“Scumbag, stop right there!” Behind him, Bai Ning Bing was continuing to
shout vehemently.

Fang Yuan paid no attention, however, and transversed among the wolf
pack.

His body was glowing with a white jade light, protecting him from the rabid
lightning wolves’ bites and scratches. But because each assault made
contact, his aperture’s primeval essence dropped quickly in turn.
Not far away, Bai Ning Bing’s nose had flared and was blowing out water
vapour, forming into a round shield of condensed moisture, enveloping his
body.

As each of the numerous lightning wolves hit this seemingly water shield,
though, all of their kinetic force build up by their charge was simply
dispersed by the water flow, and they were quickly sent flying away after
with the resounding ripples of water.

Logically speaking, Bai Ning Bing’s performance now wasn’t that

impressive though. He was already a Rank three, even though according to
him, he had already seemed to have suppressed his cultivation personally,
using only Rank two strength to deal with Fang Yuan.

Even with Rank two strength, Bai Ning Bing’s speed was slightly faster
than Fang Yuan’s, and he had more primeval essence, but with the
interference of the wolf pack, his distance with Fang Yuan started to
increase.

The crucial deciding factor was the difference in physical strength between
the two.

Fang Yuan had the strength of two boars, while Bai Ning Bing’s strength
was of a slightly lower quality. Fang Yuan could also endure the wolf pack’s
attacks and continue moving forward. Bai Ning Bing’s water shield,
although it is able to mitigate some of attacks, could not open a path
forward for him, unlike Fang Yuan.

“Howl!”

One especially bold lightning wolf began to pay attention and was drawn to
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.

It howled, commanding the ordinary lightning wolves around it to give way,

opening a path for it instantly.

The lightning wolf wasted no time and spread its limbs, charging towards
Fang Yuan.
Seeing this scene, the four trapped Gu Masters all showed expressions of
worry.

As for Bai Ning Bing, still behind Fang Yuan, upon seeing this new
development, laughed loudly.

But the next moment, Fang Yuan’s body disappeared right before Bai Ning
Bing’s eyes, vanishing from his vision like a fleeting ripple of water.

His laughter cut off abruptly at the sight, the other Gu Masters in the valley
being left similarly speechless.

The bold lightning wolf howled angrily after having lost track of Fang
Yuan, but did not reduce its speed while charging towards Bai Ning Bing to
take it’s fury out on him instead.

This prompted a smile from Bai Ning Bing, his lips curving once more in
amusement.

“Hehehe, this is really interesting- you really are interesting! Hahaha, then I
shall start my meal with this appetizer!”

As he finished speaking, his eyes transitioned, changing from black to a

shade of blue the same color as that of the sky.

Taking a stance, he propped one leg up like a flamingo, holding out the ice
blade, and started to rotate. Quickly picking up speed, the ice blade carved
out many waves of sword traces, maneuvering and slashing the air to form a
scene similar to a tornado.

The bright sword waves congealed into a blizzard storm and quickly
engulfed the wolf pack.

Numerous lightning wolves were torn to shreds by the act, becoming pieces
of minced meat flung about by the storm. But not much blood ended up
splattering against the surroundings, as it had almost all been completely
flash frozen by the icy blizzard storm already.
The bold lightning wolf howled, showing its ferocity against the storm. The
Gu worm in its body started to work as well, causing golden sparks of
electricity to flicker throughout its rugged coat.

The hair on its body stood on ends, golden electricity flowed like chains,
coiling around its body and limbs. Altogether it formed what looked to be a
modest chainmail.

Its four paws sprinted and it streaked like a golden shooting star, rushing
into the ice blade storm.

“Bam!”

A thunderous explosion sounded through the valley as the ice blade storm
came to a stop, a broken piece of the ice blade flying in the air and with a
swoosh, stabbed into a mountain rock above.

The white mist dispersed around the area.

The bold lightning wolf laid on the revealed ground, its heart pierced
through by an ice blade. Such a fatal attack ended its life almost instantly.

Bai Ning Bing laughed as he retracted the ice blade in his hands, gloating in
his victory.

The ice blade itself was broken from the middle down, the blade that
managed to survive full of cracks, seemingly in a sorry state in his grip. But
Bai Ning Bing did not care as he stretched out his left hand and wiped the
blade.

The icy mist from before emanated from his left hand at the touch,
spreading across the blade starting from the handle before covering it
completely.

Everywhere it reached, the ice blade was regenerated, the edge being
sharpened once again. Soon a new tip was fully grown in place of the
broken end.
The death of the bold lightning wolf had dispersed the wolf pack, but Fang
Yuan was nowhere to be seen.

“We will definitely remember Lord Bai Ning Bong’s act of saving us!” The
few Gu Masters that survived went up and gratefully paid their respects to
Bai Ning Bing.

Only Gu Yue Man Shi stayed on the spot, his expression being uncertain.

Back then, he lost to Bai Ning Bing, and was very indignant, but was let off
by the latter. Now, though he had already successfully refined the Monolith
Gu, upon seeing Bai Ning Bing again, he did not have any confidence to
challenge him anymore.

Bai Ning Bing snorted. Suddenly his arm moved, and the ice blade drew a
few shining traces in the air.

“This…”

“Ah!”

The three Gu Masters were caught off guard, not expecting their savior just
moments ago to attack. They carried a look of disbelief as they laid on the
ground, forever.

“Bai Ning Bing, what are you doing?!” Gu Yue Man Shi screamed, shocked
and angry at the sudden manslaughter.

“Murdering of course. Is something wrong in your head, isn’t this

obvious?” Bai Ning Bing shrugged and laughed coldly.

“Accursed bastard!” Gu Yu Man Shi tightly clenched his fists out of rage
while he gritted his teeth and scolded the other master. “Our three clans
have formed an alliance, yet you attack our Gu Yue clansman; this is a
violation of our alliance treaty! If you have any problems, come at me, I’m
here. Nevermind, it is time we settle our grudge from back then!”

Saying so, Gu Yue Man Shi shouted and took a few steps, charging towards
Bai Ning Bing.
He activated the Monolith Gu with all his strength, and all the muscles on
his body bulked up while a thick rock skin formed. His entire appearance
had turned into a rock man.

“Courting death.” Bai Ning Bing laughed coldly, raising his blade.

The sharp ice blade came down relentlessly, first hacking Gu Yue Man Shi’s
head, moving down past his brows before carving through his nose, lips and
throat. The blade quickly came to a rest after it bisected the Gu Master
down past his chest in an instant.

Rock fragments flew out as the ice blade hit the abdomen, and the blade
snapped. But the icy mist had already frozen all the remaining life force left
in Man Shi’s body.

“Plop.”

He fell to the ground with a splatter, as dead as can be.

The rock skin on his body slowly vanished, revealing his true form.

“Looks familiar…” Bai Ning Bing shook the wrist that was hurt by the
vibration of the rock; he had pretty much forgotten the incident where he
spared Man Shi.

He shook his head, turning around and facing the wide valley to shout.

“Come out. The Gu Masters you want dead, I’ve done it for you. Come
come come, let’s have a life and death match!”

Just as Bai Ning Bing’s words had finished, Fang Yuan appeared not far
away.

The white hair young man’s gaze became excited, as he raised his ice blade,
slashing towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan laughed soundlessly at the act, turning around and leaving.
Bai Ning Bing shouted in anger that he was still fleeing, once again chasing
Fang Yuan relentlessly.

On the way, Fang Yuan lured Bai Ning Bing to the battlefield that was the
closest, where the Xiong Li group was fighting against another group of
wolves led by a bold lightning wolf.

This pack was obviously lured by Fang Yuan as well.

“Everyone put in more effort, the wolf pack is at its limit! The south-east
direction sent a distress signal, it’s been a while, they need our help!” Xiong
Li urged on his group, but halfway through, he could no longer speak when
he saw Fang Yuan, and the Bai Ning Bing persistantly behind him.

Ever since Fang Yuan surrendered, Xiong Li no longer cared about him.
Thus, his gaze quickly shifted from Fang Yuan to Bai Ning Bing.

“Bai Ning Bing!” Xiong Li’s eyes spewed fire upon seeing the white
clothed, white haired young man, his heart uncontrollably growing with
rage.

Not long ago, Bai Ning Bing had appeared in front of him and attacked
without a word, the event still fresh in his mind.

And had been purposely suppressing his cultivation to Rank two.

Xiong Li was caught off guard, and lost the battle. His personal honor, and
the clan’s glory, was all trampled by Bai Ning Bing ruthlessly! This to him,
was a big disgrace, how could he not be furious?

“Wait, Bai Ning Bing seems to be chasing Fang Yuan.” Xiong Lin suddenly
noticed.

His body was short in stature, his round bald head glowing with light.
Xiong Lin is the same age as Fang Yuan, but having B grade talent instead,
he is the number one talent among Xiong clan’s new Gu Masters of age.

He was a Rank two cultivator as well now, and after getting some
experience, had grown up.
Xiong Li suppressed the urge to attack.

Fang Yuan was from the Gu Yue clan, not from his Xiong clan. Even though
there was the three clan alliance, they are still not close. Since it is an
outsider fighting, it is best if one does not get involved.

The Xiong Li group was about to watch on the sidelines, but how could
Fang Yuan not expect that? One sentence from him changed their
perspective in an instant.

Fang Yuan quickly got close to the Xiong Li group, shouting in a frightened
voice.

“I saw the Plunder Gu on him, protect me! Bai Ning Bing is trying to
eliminate all witnesses!”
Chapter 135
 Chapter 135: Northern Dark Ice Soul, Ten
Extreme Talents

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“What?!” Xiong Lin was stunned.

“Plunder Gu? There is only one person that has this Gu worm in Qing Mao
mountain and that is my cousin Xiong Zhan!!” Xiong Jiang’s face turned
gloomy.

Xiong Li closed his eyes, fierce light flickering in them. Others might be
afraid of Bai Ning Bing and even he was afraid, but this fear didn’t
represent his weakness and cowardice. In his heart, long was there already
thoughts of sacrificing himself for the clan; he had the resolution to fight to
the death with Bai Ning Bing!

“Bai Ning Bing, is the Plunder Gu in your possession?” He stepped forward

and faced Bai Ning Bing, letting Fang Yuan brush past him.

Bai Ning Bing laughed coldly, “So what if it is?”

Xiong Jiang’s face was as gloomy as water and asked, “Tell me how did my
cousin die? Why is his Gu worm in your hands?”

Xiong Lin also asked, “Bai Ning Bing, I respect you as my senior but you
secretly seized our Xiong clan’s Gu worm and didn’t hand it over. This is an
open violation of the alliance treaty!”

After he spoke, he raised a Signal Gu in his hand.

With a bang, bright fireworks burst in the sky.
The colorful light from the fireworks shone upon Bai Ning Bing’s face. He
laughed, “I have never cared about the dogshit alliance treaty. I only saw
someone using the Plunder Gu and thought it was interesting, so I collected
it.”

Xiong Jiang was unable to hold back his anger when he heard this. He gave
a furious shout and charged towards Bai Ning Bing, “Bai Ning Bing, you
looked while my cousin fought to death and didn’t help. You bastard!”

The five person group was an integral whole. For personal or private
reasons, the Xiong Li group were irreconcilable with Bai Ning Bing.

The fight was hard to avoid; the scene immediately turning chaotic.

On one side was Bai Ning Bing facing the Xiong Li group’s attack; on the
other side, they were surrounded by wolf pack and still had to face their
attacks.

Fang Yuan left the battlefield and calmly spectated from far away.

The wolf pack moved together like a large millstone, and the six Gu
Masters fought with their lives; the slightest carelessness could land them
into the wolves’ mouths.

Xiong Jiang used Roaming Zombie Gu, his two irises turning gloomy
green; Xiong Li’s two eyes were red whereas Bai Ning Bing’s pair of pupils
were azure like crystals. The fight between these three was the most intense
in the battlefield.

Under the Roaming Zombie Gu’s ability, Xiong Jiang turned into a zombie;
his defense was amplified against water and ice, withstanding Bai Ning
Bing’s attacks. Xiong Li used Grand Bear Gu; with the strength of two
bears, his bowl-sized fists were without rival and even Bai Ning Bing’s
water barrier was destroyed under their attacks.

It wasn’t easy for the remaining three group members to meddle in this
fight, they could only do their utmost to fight against the lightning wolves.
That bold lightning wolf lured in by Fang Yuan could have been easily dealt
with, but it had turned into a huge threat now.

“Bai Ning Bing, you will pay for what you have done!” Xiong Jiang
shouted and charged at Bai Ning Bing.

“Hmph, just with you?” Bai Ning Bing coldly smiled. He nimbly jumped
back, pulling apart some distance and flung out his left hand, throwing out
five finger-sized icicles.

The icicles struck Xiong Jiang’s body but Xiong Jiang didn’t feel any pain
whatsoever. When he turned into a zombie, even if his hands and legs were
broken, he wouldn’t feel any pain.

The cold aura in the icicles could freeze and slow down ordinary people’s
movements, but it only felt cool and refreshing to Xiong Jiang. Zombie
physique belonged to yin physiques; it had low resistance to fire, lightning
and sunlight, but was very powerful against this type of cold aura.

“Bai Ning Bing, you are still playing in this situation? Unleash your true
strength!” Xiong Li furiously shouted.

Bai Ning Bing had been suppressing his cultivation base to Rank two from
the very beginning and was also mostly using Rank two Gu.

Xiong Li felt like he was being held in contempt, he felt humiliated which
caused his anger to burn even more.

“Hahaha, how can you minor characters have the qualifications to make me
use my full strength?” Bai Ning Bing coldly laughed; his attacks were
becoming more powerful but he was still suppressing his strength and
didn’t use a Rank three Gu worm.

Fang Yuan who was spectating from afar with his hands crossed, clearly
understood the reason.

“It is not that he doesn’t want to unleash his true strength, but he cannot use
it. Bai Ning Bing, heh, he has Northern Dark Ice Soul physique…..”
In the oldest legends of this world, all humans are descendants of Ren Zu.

But as the saying goes, the dragon has nine unique sons. There are no two
absolutely same people, and even twins have differences.

In this world, the difference that is of the biggest concern is aptitude.

Those that have the aptitude to cultivate could become Gu Masters, going
beyond ordinary. Those with no cultivation aptitude were just mortals, the
lowest level in the society, who could be trampled upon and played with.

Cultivation aptitudes were divided into four grades; A grade, B grade, C

grade and D grade. Everyone knew this.

But actually, there were still more outstanding aptitudes above A grade.

This was a secret. Clans would never carelessly spread this, and only after
reaching a certain status in society, could one know this secret.

Xiong Li and the rest naturally didn’t know, even elders and clan leaders
might not know. But Fang Yuan, who had reached Rank six in his previous
life, shedding his mortal body and becoming a Gu immortal, naturally was
aware of this.

There were ten types of aptitudes above A grade and they were collectively
called Ten Extreme physiques.

“Before Ren Zu died, he gave birth to ten children. The eldest son Verdant
Great Sun, second daughter Desolate Ancient Moon….. Among the ten,
there was one named Northern Dark Ice Soul. Ren Zu’s legends whether
real or false, alluded to many secrets in Gu Master’s cultivation. Ren Zu’s
ten kids individually represented ten types of ultimate aptitudes.” Fang
Yuan recalled.

“Any one of the ten extreme physiques is superior to A grade aptitude. The
most excellent A grade aptitude can only store ninety nine percent primeval
essence in their aperture. But any one of the ten extreme physiques holds
full hundred percent primeval essence in their aperture!”
“However, everything exists in balance; the ten extreme physiques which
holds hundred percent primeval essence is too perfect and heavens won’t
easily allow their existence. For instance, in Ren Zu’s story, his ten kids
didn’t have a long life. In reality, it is difficult for the Gu Masters who hold
ten extreme physiques to grow and mature, almost all dying an untimely
death. Of course, if they can really grow to become a Rank six, they will be
able to sweep through same stage opponents and even perform miracles
such as fighting a higher rank!”

“Bai Ning Bing who possesses Northern Dark Ice Soul is the same. With
hundred percent primeval essence, his aperture is too stressed out and has
the risk of collapsing any moment. To decrease this risk, Bai Ning Bing
must cultivate and use primeval essence to nurture his aperture walls and
increase its strength to be able to support the hundred percent primeval
essence. Thus, his cultivation speed is outstanding and shocking.”

“However, high cultivation means higher quality primeval essence which

subsequently increases the pressure on the aperture, instead increasing the
risk. Bai Ning Bing is like a victim in a lone boat in the sea; he doesn’t have
fresh water and can only drink the sea water to relieve his thirst, but the
seawater is salty and will absorb the original moisture content of the body
instead, making him even more thirsty.”

“The higher his cultivation is, the nearer he is to destruction. Yet he cannot
choose not to cultivate, since being from Bai village and the one upon
whom the clan’s expectations lies, he will also face assassination from
Xiong and Gu Yue village. This forces him to continue to grow stronger.
Being the possessor of the Northern Dark Ice Soul, he clearly understands
his situation. Knowing he doesn’t have much time left and his death being
certain, he has thus formed this temperament.”

Fang Yuan sighed when he thought of this.

This was clearly an irony.

Excessively excellent aptitude didn’t lead a Gu Master to have a meteoric

rise, but would be the main culprit behind their deaths.
Too much is as bad as too little; people need to drink water and eat food,
but if they eat and drink excessively, they could die.

From another angle, no matter which world, there is no true perfection.

There is no perfect love, no perfect work.

Excessively perfect will just lead to destruction.

In Fang Yuan’s previous life, three years after the wolf tide, Bai Ning
Bing’s cultivation inevitably reached Rank four realm. His aperture couldn’t
support the burden from the primeval essence and ultimately, it exploded.

Ten extreme physiques wasn’t tolerated by the heavens and earth, and the
self-detonation of such a heaven-defying thing was like the most perfect
song, its power outstanding; directly annihilating everyone in the three
villages and turning the whole Qing Mao Mountain into an absolute death
ice domain.

Fortunately by that time, because of Fang Zheng who had been making
things difficult for Fang Yuan who only had an average cultivation, Fang
Yuan could only join a caravan to go away, thus luckily avoiding this
disaster.

To delay his death, Bai Ning Bing used Gu worms to dilute his Rank three
silver primeval essence into Rank two red steel primeval essence, of his
own accord. He also rarely used Rank three Gu worms at the same time.

This was simply because Rank three Gu worms consumed great amounts of
red steel primeval essence every time, resulting in the strength waning if it
continued. Instead, it was better to continue using Rank two Gu worms
which would be of much more help to Bai Ning Bing in battles.
This was the real reason Bai Ning Bing suppressed his cultivation.
If not, having strength but choosing to bind one’s own hands and feet,
landing in a dangerous state, was something only a brainless retard would
do.

Bai Ning Bing was smart and intelligent, he had received great training and
education, so how could he do such a foolish thing?
Except, such a temperament at his young age was indeed unusual. But as
someone who was about to die, why would he have misgivings in his
behavior?

Such disregard and fearlessness prevented him from being assimilated into
the system, and nurtured a heart of the demonic path in him.

Otherwise, with his living environment – countless expectations, great

trainings, holding honor, fighting enemies, bright future – he would have
already been assimilated into the organization system and nurtured a
leader’s temperament.

Bai Ning Bing was actually a pitiful child, and Fang Yuan had no wish to
deal with him before. But since he wanted to kill Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan
also didn’t mind making use of him first before removing this misfortune
early.

The battle was still continuing.

In this while, the situation had already changed.

Bold lightning wolf was killed by Bai Ning Bing and the wolf pack had ran
away in defeat. Xiong Li group’s healing Gu Master fell under Bai Ning
Bing’s blade but he had paid a heavy price for this; his right arm was
viciously punched by Xiong Li and it seemed to have fractured as it was
hanging limply throughout the battle.

However, all of these couldn’t hinder him from occupying the upper hand.

Xiong Li was a top elite amongst Rank two Gu Masters, his strength equal
to Qing Shu and Chi Shan. Xiong Jiang was a newly rising defense expert.
Xiong Lin was the genius newbie and now had Rank two battle power.
There was also another Gu Master, but even after combining their strength,
these four were still suppressed by Bai Ning Bing.

One should know Bai Ning Bing had already fought a battle before which
had consumed a lot of his red steel primeval essence. He also killed bold
lightning wolf and the healing Gu Master, resulting in his right arm losing
its ability to move; he could only abandon using his ice blade with his
habitual right hand and switch to his left. By doing this, he had to
temporarily abandon using his icicles; his offensive power almost reducing
by half.

He was still occupying the upper hand in such situation and his dominance
was even becoming more solid.

“It is after all the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique. Although he used Gu
worm to dilute his primeval essence and sealed the true advantage of the
Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, the primeval essence recovery speed is
still maintained. His advantage will continue to increase the longer the
battle lasts.” Fang Yuan looked at the situation and inwardly sighed.

“My current battle strength is not enough to defeat him,” Fang Yuan calmly
admitted this point.

Fang Yuan only had C grade aptitude with 44% primeval essence. Even the
combined strength of B grade aptitudes’ Xiong Li, Xiong Lin and Xiong
Jiang were being suppressed by Bai Ning Bing. It was obvious that if Fang
Yuan faced Bai Ning Bing by himself, his situation would only become
more difficult than Xiong Li and the rest.

“However, not being able to defeat you doesn’t mean I can’t kill you.” Fang
Yuan coldly smiled.

This was the accumulated wisdom from five hundred years of experience.

Although they had similar reflections, compared to this centuries old devil,
Bai Ning Bing was only a little devil forced into it by his cruel fate.
Chapter 136
 Chapter 136: Clash of brawn and brain

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Cold air blew all over the place, accompanying ice blades in flight. Steel
fists howled in the wind, and fangs growled their fury.

Xiong Li and the other’s fight against Bai Ning Bing had reached its
climax.

Not that much time had passed since the battle began, to be honest. But as
the pressure from Bai Ning Bing intensified, Xiong Li and the others started
to feel that time dragged on longer with the difficulty he posed.

Xiong Jiang’s face was dim as water, Xiong Lin’s forehead dripping with
cold sweat, while Xiong Li maintained a serious gaze.

At this point, even Xiong Li had to suppress his anger and admit Bai Ning
Bing’s formidable strength. Even though Bai Ning Bing suppressed his
Rank three cultivation, and only fought with Rank two Gu worms, he
displayed strength that was able to suppress their entire group.

But even then, the truth was that Bai Ning Bing had not even given it his
all. This was not intentional to prove a point, rather, it was a precautionary
measure against Fang Yuan.

To Xiong Li and the others, their motive was simple, it was to arrest or kill
Bai Ning Bing.

But to Bai Ning Bing, the situation was more complicated.

He needed to fight back the Xiong Li group on one end, while

simultaneously being on guard to prevent Fang Yuan’s sneak attack on the
other end.

He had seen Fang Yuan using the Stealth Scales Gu with his own eyes, thus
in battle he needed to make sure to divert some of his attention to prevent
Fang Yuan’s attack.

But till now, Fang Yuan had not made a move.

“Did he leave? Impossible! Although it is our first meeting, he is not the

type to retreat! He will definitely act. He is just biding his time.” Bai Ning
Bing waved his ice blade and suppressed Xiong Li, while his thoughts raced
in his mind.

Not only did he have to use his brawn to fight the Xiong Li group, he also
had to compete with Fang Yuan using his wit.

Fang Yuan refusing to attack was increasingly putting pressure on himself.

A sheathed sword is the most dangerous, because one would not be able to
predict where the sword is going to stab.

Although Fang Yuan had not struck, and was secretly watching the battle,
he had been able to divert Bai Ning Bing’s attention all this time. If not for
this diversion, the Xiong Li group would have lost long ago, otherwise they
would not be able to hold on for so long.

“This Bai Ning Bing is very meticulous. First he killed the bold lightning
wolf decisively, reducing a pawn that I could use. Next he risked getting
injured to killing the healing Gu Master in Xiong Li group. All these actions
are the most sensible decisions to make in his situation. Although he is
engaging in serious combat with Xiong Li group, he is still holding back to
prevent my attack, in fact…”

Under the shadow of a nearby tree, Fang Yuan crossed his arm as he
watched, his eyes shining with uncertainty.

It was not that he did not want to strike, but he just could not find an
opportunity to.
He was not anxious though.

The longer this dragged on, the more battle strength would be drained from
Bai Ning Bing. The Ten Extreme bodies had a supreme primeval essence
recovery rate, much more than A grade, but it still was spent up over time.

The longer Fang Yuan waited, the more primeval essence used up in Bai
Ning Bing’s aperture, and the more the scales of victory would shift
towards Fang Yuan.

If Bai Ning Bing’s aperture had no primeval essence left, so what if he is

the Northern Dark Ice Soul Body? One moonblade and he’s beheaded!

Fang Yuan knew this, and Bai Ning Bing was aware of this fact as well.

Although he currently had the upper hand, his heart was getting heavier.

“I cannot continue like this!” Bai Ning Bing’s blue eyes shone as he took a
large step back, pulling some distance from the Xiong Li group.

Next he gulped, his throat expanding like something had risen from his
stomach into his mouth.

His jaw was raised high as he opened his mouth in difficulty.

An icy blue colored small bird popped out of his mouth, its head raising
above his white teeth. It looked around and soon found a locked onto a
specific gaze.

Jumping out of Bai Ning Bing’s mouth, the small, icy bird flapped its wings
strongly, flying towards Xiong Li.

The the small blue bird was cute like a pigeon, but Xiong Li and the others’
faces lost their colour upon seeing it.

“Rank three Blue Bird Ice Coffin Gu?”

“Get away from it, quickly!”

The Xiong Li group frantically tried to dodge around, but this blue ice bird
was not like the moonblade; once sent out, it was locked on to the target.

“Boom!”

It smashed into the support Gu Master in Xiong Li group, before promptly

exploding.

Frosty air blew all over the place, and the piercing blue light from the
explosion lit up the entire battlefield.

The next second, the blue light dispersed, and a partially transparent block
of ice was revealed, a cold watery blue in color.

The Gu Master was visibly sealed within the ice block, his face still
retaining the fear and anxiety before death, but he had lost all signs of life.

Even though Bai Ning Bing was already a Rank three Gu Master, once a
Rank three Gu worm was used, his suppressed Rank two primeval essence
in his aperture would be rapidly used up. At the same time, it cannot display
the true power of a Rank three Gu worm. Moreover, once used, during the
following period, the enemy can make use of this opportunity to attack.

But Xiong Li’s group of three were frozen in shock instead, startled by this
Blue Bird Ice Coffin Gu.

Bai Ning Bing did not follow up the attack, and instead turned around and
left, attempting to leave the battlefield.

This was a wise decision, for if he continued, the situation would become
more disadvantageous for him.

“Damn it…”

“Bai Ning Bing, don’t run if you have guts!”

“Big brother Xiong Xin was killed by him, kill him, take revenge for
brother Xiong Xin!!!”
Xiong Li group cursed loudly, but could not catch up.

Originally, the four of them were barely enough to form an encirclement,

but now that they had one less person, their blockade was easily broken by
Bai Ning Bing.

Seeing that Bai Ning Bing was about to leave the battlefield, at this time, a
moonblade flew out from among the bushes, and a person leapt out and
quickly following after.

“Bam!”

Bai Ning Bing’s ice blade waved, and dispelled the moonblade. But his
abdomen was hit by someone, throwing him back by three large steps.

During this period, Xiong Li and the others were sobered from their stupor,
getting close and surrounded Bai Ning Bing again.

Bai Ning Bing ignored the three, staring at the newcomer instead,
chuckling.

“So you finally appeared . . .”

“It’s Fang Yuan!” Xiong Lin’s eyes shone, seeing a glimmer of hope.

“Fang Yuan, good job!” Xiong Jiang was overjoyed, shouting.

Xiong Li stayed silent; although he seemed rash, his thoughts were more
meticulous than anyone else. Fang Yuan did not strike earlier, but suddenly
appeared . . . was he watching the battle all along? The thought of this
possibility brought him unease.

Fang Yuan smiled mildly, showing a victorious appearance, but his heart
sank. Bai Ning Bing’s act of retreating was to force him to appear. Fang
Yuan was clear of his intentions, and saw through it, but so what if he did?
He had to show up.

Xiong Li’s expression was also taken into account, and he had expected it.
“Rest assured, everyone.” He opened his mouth. “I’ve informed the clan,
just hang in there for a little longer, reinforcements are coming!”

Xiong Li was relieved at once.

Xiong Lin, Xiong Jiang’s battle spirits were ignited, and Bai Ning Bing
suddenly laughed loudly, “Haha, so he’s called Fang Yuan, such an
interesting guy… I only want to kill you even more now!!!”

“I’m afraid you’re not capable enough to achieve that.” Fang Yuan’s eyes
shone with cold light, taking a step forward.

“Bai Ning Bing, the heavens want you dead, you’re finished!” Xiong Jiang
gritted his teeth, running into Bai Ning Bing.

“Bai Ning Bing, you are too arrogant, you will pay the price today!” Xiong
Lin growled, moving towards Bai Ning Bing’s back.

“Fang Yuan, stay back a little, back us up and prevent Bai Ning Bing from
escaping.” Xiong Li said.

If Fang Yuan interfered, it would destroy the chemistry the three of them
shared.

Battle continued.

Fang Yuan’s expression was tranquil while he continued to constantly

attack, treating Xiong Li’s words as if they were air.

The Xiong Li group frowned; outsider interference would cause the battle
formation to be chaotic, and their cooperation would start to fail. But Fang
Yuan’s every attack was ruthless and decisive, having a strong grasp of
opportunity, instead being of great help to them.

At first, Xiong Li growled threateningly at him, but soon, he shut the fuck
up. His frowning face slowly eased, and his brows started to raise instead,
revealing his surprise towards Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan did not strike much, but each attack he made had great
implications on the battle. Once his master level methods were displayed,
he instantly grasped the battle in his hands.

Xiong Li’s group of five originally were at a disadvantage when fighting

Bai Ning Bing, and ended up getting two of their members killed. But once
Fang Yuan joined in, along with the three’s combined combat prowess, they
managed to suppress Bai Ning Bing into a corner.

“Bai Ning Bing, just go and die!”

Xiong Li growled loudly, jumping up and landing heavily. His ten fingers
intertwined to form a punch, slamming toward Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing wanted to dodge, but Fang Yuan appeared at that moment,
and at the same time shot out a moonblade, blocking the direction where he
wanted to leap.

Bai Ning Bing had no choice but to endure Xiong Li’s attack.

“Water Shield Gu!”

From his nostrils, two lines of water vapour coiled around his body,
forming a spherical barrier of condensed moisture.

With a loud impact and a compressed pop, Xiong Li’s heavy punch landed
on the barrier, breaking through it instantly.

But this act also caused the punch to lose all its built up velocity and
allowed Bai Ning Bing to escape death.

Even so, Xiong Li took a glance at Fang Yuan, showing signs of admiration.
If not for his superb cooperation, this hit would’ve been avoided by Bai
Ning Bing. It would not have forced Bai Ning Bing to take the hit head on,
expending his primeval essence.

“Water Shield Gu again…”

Fang Yuan did not mind Xiong Li’s gaze, but focused on Bai Ning Bing,
frowning.

It was this Water Shield Gu that alleviated Bai Ning Bing’s predicament.
The defensive power of the water shield was superior to even the White
Jade Gu.

But it had a weakness — he needed to form a ball shape and rely on the
moving water to draw the force away, dispersing the damage in order to
display its full defensive capabilities.

If Bai Ning Bing was up against a wall, he cannot form a ball shape and his
defense power would be greatly reduced.

There are many forests on Qing Mao Mountain, but even then Bai Ning
Bing had been very careful, making sure not to get into a tight spot.

“As long as I beat this Water Shield Gu, I can put Bai Ning Bing in a tight
spot. But how?” Fang Yuan was thinking, but suddenly Bai Ning Bing’s
mouth opened, and a new blue bird flew out.

Xiong Li and the others were fearful of this attack, but Fang Yuan was not
flustered in the least.

He snorted coldly, shooting a moonblade.

With a bam, the moonblade hit the ice bird, causing it to explode.

Bai Ning Bing growled in a low voice, he was too close by, and after the ice
bird exploded, he was hit by it too.

The impact caused him to fly up and then fall on the the ground. At the
same time, half of his left limb was frozen, losing its ability to fight.

“Divine opportunity!” Seeing this, Xiong Li’s eyes shone with brilliance,
shouting “Go die!” and his arms gathered to form another punch towards
Bai Ning Bing.
This hit was too heavy, and as Bai Ning Bing was on the ground, the Water
Shield Gu’s defensive capabilities were less than half of the usual; if this hit
his head, there was no doubt that he, Bai Ning Bing, would instantly die.
Chapter 137
 Chapter 137: Shadow of death

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Seeing that Xiong Li’s fist was about to hit Bai Ning Bing, Xiong Lin and
Xiong Jiang both showed a joyful expression.

Only Fang Yuan stood far away, his eyes shining with solemnness.

With his understanding of Bai Ning Bing, how could he commit such a
beginner’s mistake?

As expected, at this moment!

Bai Ning Bing suddenly struck; his right hand and forearm’s flesh all turned
into a transparent blue frosty ice, from outside his finger bones could be
seen.

His fingers gathered straight, forming a palm blade and striking like
lightning, puncturing Xiong Li’s heart!

“Urgh!” Xiong Li’s descending body came to a halt.

He stared with wide-opened eyes, lowering his head and staring at his chest
in disbelief.

“How can this be?”

“Lord Xiong Li!”

With the sudden twist of events, Xiong Jiang and Xiong Lin could not
believe it.
“You think my right arm was really broken by your punch? Naive! I already
used the Rank three ice muscle Gu, and trained a body of ice muscles, this
is the ultimate defense! The reason I pretended earlier was to give a certain
someone a surprise.” Bai Ning Bing slowly got up, showing disdain in his
eyes, and at the end of his speech, he looked towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan’s expression was calm, staring at him too.

Plop.

“Bai… Ning Bing….” Xiong Li opened his mouth, saying his last words
with difficulty. Bai Ning Bing’s ice hand spread out some cold air and froze
his heart, cutting off his life force!

“Scheming scumbag, I will fight it out with you!” Xiong Lin saw Xiong
Li’s death firsthand, and under the extreme pain and anger, he ignored his
own danger and charged towards Bai Ning Bing.

“Xiong Lin, calm down!’ Xiong Jiang acted in time, restraining Xiong Lin.

“Group leader is dead, we are no longer his match, quickly leave, I’ll block
him!” Xiong Jiang controlled his sadness and said.

“Brother Xiong Jiang…” Xiong Lin was dumbfounded, his eyes turning
red.

Xiong Jiang shrugged his hand backwards and took a step forwards,
blocking Bai Ning Bing.

Shadow Bond Gu!

The shadow below his feet suddenly came alive, distorting creepily,
connecting itself to Bai Ning Bing’s shadow.

“I have the Shadow Bond Gu! Once I get hurt, Bai Ning Bing takes the
same damage. He won’t kill me so easily. Xiong Lin, you are still young
and have better talent than me or group leader, go away quickly!” Xiong
Jiang’s gaze was locked onto Bai Ning Bing as he shouted.
“Brother Xiong Jiang!” Xiong Lin’s eyes were teary, he knew the weakness
of the Shadow Bond Gu.

In the previous battle, Xiong Jiang had used the Gu worm too, but once Bai
Ning Bing pulled sufficient distance, the shadow would split. Xiong Jiang
saying this was just to console him.

Especially now, Xiong Jiang did not have enough primeval essence; he had
already used up too much, and even the Roaming Zombie Gu had stopped
working.

Xiong Lin’s feet seems to have taken roots, as he refused to move a step. He
turned around, staring at Fang Yuan, “Fang Yuan, why are the
reinforcements not here yet?!”

Fang Yuan did not speak, only staring firmly at Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing moved his right arm, and after a while, his right arm
regained its fleshy state. He used a mocking tone, “Reinforcements?
Hehehe, they would’ve come long ago if it was the case, but this is all a lie.
Tsk tsk tsk, you are even more naive than the other one. You really think
such a cheap method like Shadow Bond Gu can restrain me?”

He stared at the shadow in disdain, not giving a fuck.

“Fang Yuan, is this true?” Xiong Lin clenched his fist, eyes speaking fire as
he asked furiously.

Fang Yuan did not care about him, but stared at Bai Ning Bing, his mouth
curling into a smile, “That move earlier, it expended your primeval essence
right? By now, how much primeval essence do you still have in your
aperture?”

Xiong Li used a defensive Gu worm but it was weaker than Fang

Yuan’s White Jade Gu. The result was that his defense was penetrated, but
such an attack is clearly not owned by a Rank two Gu Master.
According to the earlier situation, Fang Yuan guessed that Bai Ning Bing
used the Rank three Frost Demon Gu.

This Gu’s ability was strong, renowned among the Rank three Gu, but
overuse harmed the user. Joint problems were just a light symptom, but if
serious, one’s muscles could be frozen and damaged, thus it needed to be
used with other Gu worms.

Bai Ning Bing had said earlier that his muscles had become ice muscles,
and could take the cold of the frost. Thus, when used together with the Frost
Demon Gu, they complemented each other.

This was still Bai Ning Bing using Rank two primeval essence to forcefully
activate a Rank three Gu worm, so it had to have high consumption, but he
needed to use such a method to break the stalemate.

Bai Ning Bing’s expression changed; the move earlier had caused a great
consumption of his primeval essence, and Fang Yuan saw through it.

Thus, after killing Xiong Li, he did not strike again, but used the talking
time to recover.

He laughed heartily, nodding, and confessed, “Not bad, my primeval

essence is running dry, I left my right limb unused to lure you to attack. But
you didn’t fall for it. Hehehe, the real battle is just starting, isn’t it?”

Fang Yuan squinted.

If Bai Ning Bing denied it, he would attack without doubt. But Bai Ning
Bing confessed, showing a look of fearlessness…

Either that Bai Ning Bing knew he was going to die, showing no fear
towards death, or he probably had other strong trump cards and had great
confidence in surviving.

Ordinary Gu Masters only had three to five Gu worms, even Qing Shu and
Chi Shan, were as such.

But there are exceptions.

For example Fang Yuan, with the Moonglow Gu, White Jade Gu, Stealth
Scales Gu, Four Flavour Liquor worm, Spring Autumn Cicada, Earth
Communication Ear Grass and Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, he had seven Gu
worms in his possession.

Bai Ning Bing was the Bai clan’s hope and had the Northern Dark Ice Soul
body, an absolute genius. From the start of his cultivating journey, he had
received the full support of his clan, his wealth definitely greater than Fang
Yuan.

Up till now, he had displayed over six Gu worms. Fang Yuan was sure that
he had others.

And these Gu worms allowed him to be calm despite being in this position
of having little primeval essence.

Actually, the most troublesome kind of opponent is like him.

Not only having talent, but not fearing death, and having large amount of
Gu worms in hand.

With these three, it greatly affected a Gu Master’s battle in terms of victory

or loss. Especially Gu worms, with a strong or special one, it can allow a
Gu Master to overturn the situation.

Bai Ning Bing’s Frost Demon Gu was a Rank three Gu worm, so even with
Fang Yuan’s White Jade Gu defending, he could be penetrated. This is also
why Fang Yuan had not engaged Bai Ning Bing personally.

Fang Yuan had used Gu Yue Man Shi, Xiong Li and others to fish out Bai
Ning Bing’s secrets. After all, only knowing one’s enemy can one be
assured of victory.

In comparing talent, Fang Yuan was only a C grade. Compared to Bai Ning
Bing, it was a world of difference. Bai Ning Bing started cultivating earlier
and had the clan’s assistance, and he had more outstanding Gu worms in his
possession than Fang Yuan.
In terms of temperament, his fearlessness towards death made him almost
invulnerable.

The difference between the two was that Bai Ning Bing was strong, and
Fang Yuan was weak. This is the truth, he had to accept it and understand it.

But battles are interesting because the strong might not necessarily win, and
the weak might not always fall.

Fang Yuan wanting to win against the odds, it was not impossible, but he
had to use all of the methods he had, and make use of all the strength he
could gather.

“Gu Yue Man Shi was just the beginning, and Xiong Li group is not the
end.” Thinking so, Fang Yuan struck.

With a moonblade, a head flew away, and blood spewed!

This moment, Bai Ning Bing’s iris shrunk to pin-size, his face changing
colour.

Fang Yuan’s moonblade did not attack him, but was aimed at Xiong Jiang’s
head.

Xiong Jiang did not expect Fang Yuan’s betrayal; Bai Ning Bing’s pressure
was too great, and all his attention was gathered on the latter.

He did not have much primeval essence left, so to conserve them, he did not
maintain the Roaming Zombie Gu, thus getting one-shotted.

Bam!

Bai Ning Bing’s face was pale as he vomited a mouthful of blood, and at
the same time, his ears, nose and eyes had blood traces.

Ever since the battle started, this was the most severe injury he had
sustained.

Shadow Bond Gu!

With the shared damage effect, when the Shadow Bond Gu Master sustains
an injury, the chain-linked Gu Master takes 10% of the damage. Now that
Xiong Jiang is dead, his injuries were connected through the shadow and
transmitted to Bai Ning Bing.

This injury with a direct effect, even if Bai Ning Bing had the Water Shield
Gu, it cannot block against it.

“Fang Yuan, what have you done?!” A second later, Xiong Lin came back
from shock and shouted in a furious voice, heartbroken.

Fang Yuan ignored him, his body glowing with white jade light as he
charged towards Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing getting such an injury, his body was wavering, and his head
was dizzy, his battle strength dropped drastically. Seeing Fang Yuan
attacking, he retreated immediately.

“Bai Ning Bing, didn’t you want a life and death battle?” Fang Yuan chased
relentlessly.

Bai Ning Bing gritted his teeth, escaping silently. His footsteps were messy,
but he forced himself to focus, ignoring Fang Yuan’s taunting.

Although he knew he was a dying man and did not fear death, he was not
stupid, and with such a dangerous situation, his heart grew calmer.

Xiong Lin stood on the spot, not choosing to help Fang Yuan chase Bai
Ning Bing.

His heart was filled with pain and anger. He hated Bai Ning Bing, and also
detested Fang Yuan.

Bai and Fang moved closely, traversing the valley.

As time passed, Bai Ning Bing’s injuries slowly recovered, and his nose
and eyes stopped bleeding. Slowly his footsteps became more composed.
He did not simply run away, but during this time, used his Gu worm to heal
his body’s injuries.

Fang Yuan’s pursued and his heart was secretly shocked.

“Previously Bai Ning Bing’s primeval essence was almost fully expended,
but during this time, the amount he recovered was enough to heal his own
injuries. Northern Dark Ice Soul body, Ten Extreme talents, what sort of
primeval essence recovery speed is this!”

The more he knew, the more determined he was to kill Bai Ning Bing.

Moonglow Gu!

Fang Yuan sent a moonblade around the size of a face flying; it flew across
the sky, emitting a buzzing sound.

Bai Ning Bing heard this sound and tried to dodge, but his arm still got
sliced away.

An injury appeared and blood poured out, but the injury was quickly
covered by a layer of frost, stopping the blood.

Bai Ning Bing had obtained the ice muscles, and once this is achieved, it
was like the Black and White Boar Gu’s strength increase — it required no
primeval essence to sustain.

But Bai Ning Bing’s heart continued to sink. Before his old injuries healed,
new injuries would come; evidently, Fang Yuan wanted to slowly grind him
to death!
Chapter 138
 Chapter 138: Someone is actually chasing and
trying to kill Bai Ning Bing?

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Hehehe, there has never been anyone who forced me into such a state!
Fang Yuan, you… are interesting. Once I recover adequately, I’ll definitely
kill you!!” Bai Ning Bing screamed in his heart as he ran.

The killing intent from Fang Yuan had him feel suffocated.

This to him, was an unprecedented experience.

The thick aura of death made his body shudder, and it developed a twisted
sense of excitement.

Behind him, Fang Yuan was chasing and getting closer.

“Take this!” He suddenly flicked his wrist, and threw a black coloured Gu
worm.

Fang Yuan’s steps came to a halt as if an enemy had appeared, but once he
got closer, he found out that this was the Plunder Gu from Xiong Zhan.

Splat.

With a light sound, Fang Yuan caught this Gu worm in his hands.

The Plunder Gu was a black beetle, and at a normal size, its head had a pair
of metal antenna, and its back had white spots.

Once the Spring Autumn Cicada revealed its aura, Fang Yuan easily refined
this Plunder Gu and kept it in its aperture with some use of its primeval
essence.

He continued chasing.

For Bai Ning Bing to even use such a method, it showed the severity of his
injuries and the desperate situation he was in. But with this action, the
distance between Fang Yuan and him had been pulled apart again.

“Unfortunately, I lack a movement Gu worm. If I had such a Gu worm, I

would have caught up to Bai Ning Bing already.” Fang Yuan sighed in his
heart.

“This Fang Yuan, he actually refined the Plunder Gu instantly?” Bai Ning
Bing was shocked in his heart.

He obtained this Plunder Gu and had been refining it for the last few days.
Although there were improvements, the process was tough and he did not
succeed. This is also because Xiong Zhan’s death had an indirect
relationship with him. The will of this Plunder Gu originated from Xiong
Zhan, thus, it had greater hatred towards Bai Ning Bing and raised the
difficulty in refining it.

But Fang Yuan instantly refined this Plunder Gu, and Bai Ning Bing who
only used his side vision to see this could feel his heart turn shocked and
dismayed.

There are a few Gu worms that can achieve this.

But Bai Ning Bing had never owned one, to think that Fang Yuan would
instead?

Unknowingly, he had become more wary of Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan’s image
in his heart had intensified in a dangerous and mysterious way.

However, as time passed, Fang Yuan’s heart was the one that sank.

The longer it dragged, the more primeval essence would be recovered by

Bai Ning Bing, and the lesser injuries he has. Fang Yuan’s advantage over
him would become milder and milder.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to kill him this time!” Fang Yuan sighed in his
heart.

According to this development, it won’t be long before Bai Ning Bing’s

injury and primeval essence recover sufficiently.

Although Fang Yuan had been using the Moonglow Gu to intensify the
injuries on him, the Northern Dark Ice Soul body’s talent is too outstanding,
it can be said to be a gift from heaven. The primeval essence recovery rate
was even faster than Fang Yuan using primeval stones.

“Unless… the people in front encountered a wolf pack, and are trapped. Or
there will be a Gu Master group appearing, and can temporarily block Bai
Ning Bing. But if it is a Bai clan group, I’m in danger.”

Fang Yuan’s thoughts flowed like a whirlpool as he started to have

intentions to retreat.

Their chase was a long road, but in the middle they did not encounter a
single pack of wolves or a Gu Master group. This meant to say that Bai
Ning Bing who is selecting the escape route also has a recon Gu worm and
can avoid danger.

Qing Mao Mountain is so huge, he can escape in all directions, Fang Yuan
has no way to force Bai Ning Bing to run in one direction.

“Against the wolf tide, the most important thing is to be united and not be
isolated by the wolf tide. Once you are isolated, you are in danger,” Qing
Shu told Fang Zheng as they were rushing on the road.

“If the opponent is the bold lightning wolf pack, we can defend using
terrain, and defeat them head on. But if it is the frenzy lightning wolf pack,
the first thing to do is retreat, then use the Signal Gu, and wait for the
surrounding Gu Masters to regroup. We need at least three groups to
cooperate to have a good chance of defeating the frenzy lightning wolf. Of
course, opponents in the wolf tide are not just lightning wolves, but also Gu
Masters.”
Saying so, Gu Yue Qing Shu paused.

The other four knew who he was talking about.

Evidently, it was Bai Ning Bing.

These days, Bai Ning Bing had been challenging people all over,
suppressing his cultivation and only using the Rank two red steel primeval
essence, and found trouble with Xiong Li, Chi Shan and the rest.

From what he declared, Gu Yue Qing Shu is his next target.

“If we encounter Bai Ning Bing…” Gu Yue Qing Shu continued, “The best
would be to avoid battling.”

This sentence entered Fang Zheng’s ears and caused his heart to feel
disturbed.

In his heart, Gu Yue Qing Shu, although mild on the outside, had a tough
personality and stuck close to his principles. From Gu Yue Qing Shu, he
could feel a strong sense of kinship. Towards Gu Yue Qing Shu, he
respected and loved him, and naturally was not willing to see Bai Ning
Bing being superior to Qing Shu.

“Everyone is discussing Bai Ning Bing, what kind of person is he?” Fang
Zheng frowned and asked.

The three other people in the group became solemn.

Gu Yue Qing Shu smiled kindly towards Fang Zheng, “He is Qing Mao
Mountain’s number one genius! Fang Zheng, listen well. You are still
young, and have A grade talent, you might be able to surpass him in the
future. So before you fully grow up, avoid direct conflicts with him.
Remember the story I told you before? Lowering your head and raising it
— sometimes, people have to lower their heads.”

Fang Zheng looked towards Qing Shu, and when they made eye contact, he
could not help but nod and respond, “I understand, Brother Qing Shu.
Please be rest assured.”
“Good…” Qing Shu was still speaking, when suddenly the recon Gu Master
interrupted, “Not too far away ahead, there is a Gu Master rapidly moving.”

Everyone’s expressions changed.

The healing Gu Master Gu Yue Yao Hong’s expression was solemn, “Must
be a small group that got scattered by the wolf pack, let’s go save them.”

Fang Zheng said instead, “Could it be Bai Ning Bing, doesn’t he travel
alone usually?”

“It could be him, or not. But if it really is a Gu Master that got lost, no
matter which village, they are our alliance mate. We have to go save them,”
Gu Yue Qing Shu said, turning direction and charging towards the Gu
Master.

The four around him followed closely.

But quickly, the recon Gu Master spoke, “It is not a Gu Master, behind the
first Gu Master, there is another one.”

“It’s actually two Gu Masters huh. It seems that the situation is just like
Sister Yao Hong had said. It should be a group that got separated by the
wolf packs,” Gu Yue Fang Zheng sighed a breath of relief.

Gu Yue Qing Shu’s expression was unchanging, but the other three’s
expression became more relaxed.

At this point, if one was observing from a higher point of view, they would
see Qing Shu’s group, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing, getting closer along
the mountain road.

“Oh?” Bai Ning Bing’s expression changed. He had a recon Gu, and he felt
that a group of five Gu Masters were approaching.

He quickly changed his direction.

Although he had a recon-type Gu worm, it could not detect the identities of

the people ahead. Every Gu worm had one ability, thus it had pros and cons.
Taking Fang Yuan’s Earth Communication Ear Grass for example, it can
hear noise and is most sensitive to footsteps, but it cannot discern
information like male or female. And if a Gu Master uses the Silent Step
Gu, they can conceal their footsteps and he would not be able to detect
them.

Not knowing who it was, to play it safe, Bai Ning Bing chose to avoid
them.

But this time, the situation was different. Qing Shu’s group was full of
elites, and their recon Gu Master was a professional as well.

“There’s someone!” Soon after, Fang Yuan detected the existence of Qing
Shu group.

He was sprinting, and his right ear had roots growing out, but did not go
into the ground, thus his detection range was not even half of its peak.

Bai Ning Bing changed his running direction again.

But Qing Shu group followed closely, changing their direction to match.

This way, be it Bai Ning Bing or Fang Yuan, their expressions turned
serious.

The two were extremely clever, they knew at once: This unknown group is
the biggest uncertainty, it would definitely affect the result of the battle.

“If it is a Bai clan group, I will immediately use the Stealth Scales Gu and
retreat. But if it is the other two clans, hehe.” Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with
coldness.

He knew that this decision carried certain risks.

If it was a Bai clan group and the Gu Masters among them had a detection
method, he would be chased into a dead end.

But if he lost this prime opportunity, he would probably never have another
shot at killing Bai Ning Bing.
Furthermore, whichever clan the Gu Masters are from, Fang Yuan had a
66% chance, while Bai Ning Bing only had one third, so Fang Yuan had
reason to gamble.

As they sprinted, the two parties continued to get closer.

“We can almost see them, right behind that turning point,” the recon Gu
Master pointed at a curve along the mountain path.

They could not help but slow their footsteps, awaiting the meeting further
ahead.

A white figure turned around the corner, and appeared in front of them.

“Bai Ning Bing!” Fang Zheng shouted in dismay, he had obviously seen
Bai Ning Bing’s portrait before.

The other four, even Qing Shu’s expression sank.

“Bai Ning Bing is in such a sorry state, he must’ve encountered a frenzy

lightning wolf pack.”

“Hmph, he deserves this, travelling alone in the wolf tide, what airs is he
trying to put on?”

Everyone at once, did not go up and meet with him.

Bai Ning Bing’s movements and expression, showed signs of escaping, this
caused Qing Shu group to feel happy internally.

But at this moment, Fang Yuan shouted from over the corner, “Bai Ning
Bing, why are you running? I must kill you today!”

Saying this, he was trying to test water.

Using the Earth Communication Ear Grass, he knew that around the corner,
there was an unknown group of five.
If it is a Bai clan group, this proclamation would invite their intense
rebuttal.

Around the corner, Qing Shu and the others heard this and their eyeballs
rolled wide.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s actually someone chasing and trying to kill Bai Ning Bing?”

“Did I get it wrong, something like this is happening?”

“Getting Bai Ning Bing into such a pathetic state, who in the world is
behind him?”

Gu Yue Yao Hong could not help but look at each other, a look of shock all
over their faces.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng was shocked and suspicious, “This voice, why is it so
familiar?”

Before he could remember the owner of the voice, Fang Yuan turned around
the corner.

“What?” Gu Yue Qing Shu’s serious expression turned into

dumbfoundedness.

The other four stared with their eyes wide opened; after seeing Fang Yuan
appear, their eyeballs almost dropped.

“This, this, this!” Gu Yue Yao Ji opened her mouth wide, big enough to
swallow a duck egg.

“Big brother!” Fang Zheng was tongue tied.

“It’s him?” Even Gu Yue Qing Shu with outstanding composure, was
shocked beyond words.
Chapter 139
 Chapter 139: Broken Arm

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Who was Bai Ning Bing?

The number one genius of Qing Mao mountain—someone who could

single-handedly change the structure of the three clans, whose cultivation
speed left everyone dumbfounded, dimming the luster of even A grade
geniuses. No one doubted his future accomplishments; even his enemies
had no choice but to accept the fact his talent was unparalleled.

However, now someone was actually making this genius flee in such a
wretched state.

No one among the Qing Shu group expected this.

What was even more astonishing was that the person chasing after Bai Ning
Bing was actually from their clan: Fang Yuan.

Regarding their impressions of Fang Yuan, they were mainly based around
the arena battles and chasing away River Swallowing Toad. And since the
moment Fang Yuan had admitted defeat to Xiong Li, his true strength was
widely underestimated.

“When did Fang Yuan become so powerful?”

The Qing Shu group found this difficult to accept.

Fang Yuan turned around the corner.

“Gu Yue Qing Shu!” His mind jolted when he saw the Gu Yue Qing Shu
group.
“I won the gamble. Bai Ning Bing, today will be the day you die,” Fang
Yuan thought. He shouted, “Little brother, you were here! Great! Quickly
stop Bai Ning Bing! He is a heinous murderer who killed the Xiong Li
group and even our clan’s Gu Yue Man Shi group!”

“What?”

“But our clans have signed a treaty!”

“No, nothing is too excessive for Bai Ning Bing.”

“So it was like that! No wonder Fang Yuan was able to chase Bai Ning
Bing…..”

The Qing Shu group was shocked and came to a realization. It seemed that
after Bai Ning Bing had fought several intense battles, his fighting power
had fallen to its lowest state—allowing Fang Yuan to luckily seize the upper
hand.

“Am I really going to die here? No, I have just enough primeval essence to
self-detonate the Frost Demon Gu. I still have hope!” Bai Ning Bing
thought in his mind. In front of him was the Qing Shu group and behind
him was Fang Yuan. The situation was extremely unfavorable.

Actually, there was a rift in Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng’s relationship; Fang
Zheng naturally wouldn’t heed Fang Yuan’s words.

However, Bai Ning Bing didn’t know of this. As an outsider, he only saw
the similarity in appearance between Fang Zheng and Fang Yuan, and
firmly made a choice.

He lifted his right arm, pouring all the hard-earned primeval essence that he
had recovered into the Frost Demon Gu in his right palm.

The muscles in his right arm transformed into a light blue ice. One could
clearly see the white bones of his arm within the ice.

Bang!
With an explosive sound, Bai Ning Bing’s whole right arm suddenly self-
detonated.

Steam and mist arose, and an intense chill started to crazily pervade the
surroundings.

Snap, crack.

Pure, white frost spread onto the narrow mountain path in the blisteringly
hot summer, covering the soil and the trees. The temperature abruptly
dropped.

“He sacrificed his entire right arm!” Fang Zheng was aghast by Bai Ning
Bing’s ruthless move.

“Quick, retreat.” Gu Yue Qing Shu grabbed Fang Zheng and hurriedly ran
away.

Great amounts of frost rushed towards them like the wolf tide.

It would be very troublesome if they actually got frozen.

Fang Yuan retreated to a distance of hundred steps along with the Qing Shu
group as the onslaught of frost gradually dwindled.

Originally, the mountain path had been full of lush trees, filled with the
fragrance of wild plants. Now, it had become a world of ice. The trees were
all frozen and there was a thick layer of snow on the ground.

Fang Yuan stepped onto the snow and approached the middle of the
mountain path.

Bai Ning Bing’s whole body was frozen in ice like an insect in amber, his
expression still showing the malevolent decisiveness and ruthlessness of his
personality.

“He…. suicided?” Fang Zheng muttered. The Qing Shu group had quickly
followed after Fang Yuan.
“No!” Qing Shu’s expression was very heavy. “Bai Ning Bing has already
formed ice muscles, this layer of ice crystals won’t freeze him to death and
will instead act as his armor, giving him time to recover.”

Fang Yuan stared closely at Bai Ning Bing and threw a moonblade.

Screech.

The moonblade produced a crisp sound when it struck the ice crystals.

On the three meters high and two meters wide ice crystal, there was only a
shallow scar. But in just a moment, the cold aura within the ice crystal filled
the injury and the scar disappeared.

“Fang Yuan, is what you said earlier true?” Qing Shu turned his gaze
towards Fang Yuan.

“Of course. Only Xiong Lin remains of the Xiong Li group and he can
testify for me. We can’t stay here for too long; the details will have to wait.
We must quickly leave this place.” Fang Yuan nodded and answered.

He had made up his mind to leave.

He knew he was unable to destroy this ice crystal. Even if they were to
combine their strengths to destroy it, it would waste a lot of time and
primeval essence.

If Bai Ning Bing broke out of the ice, their fighting strength would have
dropped and his fighting strength would have recovered, making it a bad
situation if a battle started.

“Leave? Why should we leave?” Fang Zheng couldn’t refrain from asking
in a loud voice. “Bai Ning Bing has already destroyed his right arm and
with the battles he went through, he is tired both mentally and physically.
We can break open this ice crystal and activate the Signal Gu for the clan’s
reinforcements to eliminate him! This is an extremely rare opportunity.”

Everyone’s hearts were moved by these words.

“Since Fang Yuan could chase Bai Ning Bing and try to kill him, why can’t
we do the same?” Several Gu Masters looked at each other and they
couldn’t help but have such thoughts.

“If we kill Bai Ning Bing, we will become great heroes of the Gu Yue
clan!”

“But if we kill him, won’t the Bai village start a war in their anger? And
now, there is the wolf tide….”

“No, it is exactly because there is a wolf tide that even if we kill Bai Ning
Bing, Bai village will just have to swallow their bitterness.”

“Right, a dead genius isn’t a genius!”

The group members discussed, their minds set on the fame and glory.

“Truly stupid, how can you imagine the power of the Northern Dark Ice
Soul Physique?” Fang Yuan squinted his eyes while sneering inwardly. He
was not going to accompany these people if they wanted to look for death.

Gu Yue Qing Shu also hesitated.

He, no doubt, had much deeper understanding of Bai Ning Bing than the
rest of the group.

He didn’t know of the secret of the ten extreme physiques, but he didn’t
have much yearning towards the fame from killing Bai Ning Bing, either.

He was indifferent towards fame and profits; he had once been nurtured by
Gu Yue Bo as the next clan head, but he willingly gave up this position to
Fang Zheng.

His true concerns lay within the interests of the clan, and his heart was
intricately linked with the clan’s well-being.

“Bai village’s emergence is completely due to Bai Ning Bing. If we kill Bai
Ning Bing, our Gu Yue Clan will remain the number one clan of Qing Mao
mountain! Although Bai Ning Bing is a Rank three Gu Master, I have the
Wood Charm Gu and the ability to fight with him. Moreover, he just lost his
right arm and he will certainly need some time to get used to the absence of
a limb. This can be the greatest disadvantage in a life and death battle!”
Qing Shu thought.

Gu Yue Qing Shu’s gaze turned resolute.

Fang Yuan was observing Qing Shu’s expression the entire time; he realized
what the latter had chosen to do when he saw Qing Shu’s expression.

“If Gu Yue Qing Shu uses the Wood Charm Gu without any regards to the
consequences, he will be much stronger than the average Rank three Gu
Master and even have the power to surpass levels and fight. However, the
one he is facing is Bai Ning Bing who possesses the Northern Dark Ice Soul
physique. The battle definitely won’t be easy. Since Bai Ning Bing can
dilute his primeval essence and suppress his cultivation, he can naturally
restore his Rank three cultivation. Right now, he has enough time inside the
ice crystal to remove this restriction. Once he breaks out, he will very likely
be as a Rank three Gu Master.”

Bai Ning Bing was extremely talented and Fang Yuan had needed external
help to fight against him even when Bai Ning Bing’s cultivation was
suppressed to Rank two.

Once Bai Ning Bing enters Rank three, his fighting strength would rise by
several times. Fang Yuan was the main cause of the loss of his right arm.
When the battle begins, Bai Ning Bing’s ruthless temperament will
definitely target Fang Yuan.

Moreover, Fang Yuan had some concerns and didn’t want to reveal his true
strength in front of Gu Yue Qing Shu.

Thus, Fang Yuan immediately expressed his intention to leave and left the
battlefield, ignoring the urges of others to stay.

“He really left? Such a coward.”

“Hmph, him leaving is good. If he were to meddle, it might instead destroy
our tacit teamwork.”

“Hahaha, it really frightened me when I saw him chasing after Bai Ning
Bing. Now, it seems Fang Yuan is indeed Fang Yuan: a coward who
admitted defeat in the Gu battle competition!”

“Quit it, everyone has their own ambitions. At least, he gave us intel on Bai
Ning Bing before he left. Moreover, he will inform the clan who will send
reinforcements.” As Qing Shu gazed at the departing figure of Fang Yuan,
his brows slightly furrowed.

“Group leader, you are too kind. There is no need to justify for cowards like
Fang Yuan.”

“Right, although Fang Yuan is Fang Zheng’s older brother, the way I see it,
one is earth and the other is heaven.”

” I, I have already stopped talking with Fang Yuan,” Fang Zheng’s face
grew red, he felt ashamed at Fang Yuan’s running away before battle.

“Fang Zheng, you leave too,” Gu Yue Qing Shu suddenly spoke.

“What?!” Fang Zheng’s eyes were wide open.

“As the clan’s only A grade talent, we can’t lose you. Bai Ning Bing may
have lost an arm, but the following battle will definitely be very dangerous.
For the clan, we can die, but you, Fang Zheng, must not die.”

The other four members were all moved.

“Well said!” A bright laughter echoed and an old Gu Master appeared.

“Lord elder.” Fang Zheng promptly paid his respects. He recognized this
man as a very senior clan elder.

The elder drew near, looking at Gu Yue Qing Shu with praise, “Gu Yue Bo
raised a great adopted son. With such feelings of fighting to the death for
the clan, why would we have to worry about our Gu Yue Clan not
expanding?”

Fang Zheng was still growing up and after the Wang Er’s assassination
attempt, the clan had sent an elder to always follow Fang Zheng and protect
him.

“Fang Zheng, you don’t need to take part in the fight. But don’t leave; you
can just observe from a distance. Isn’t it just a Bai Ning Bing? I’ve always
heard about how outstanding he is and how he has the strength of an elder.
Hmph, now it seems he is only just a kid. How much battle experience can
he have? Mutilating himself, he is really amateurish!” The elder snorted in
disdain.

Gu Yue Qing Shu still wanted to persist in his own viewpoint, but it
wouldn’t be good to refute the elder’s decision.

As a junior, he needed to respect the old and take care of the young. How
could he so easily refute and question his elder?
Chapter 140
 Chapter 140: Gu Yue Qing Shu vs Bai Ning Bing
(Part 1)

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The time Bai Ning Bing took to break out of the ice was shorter than
anyone had imagined.

With a loud crack, the ice crystal began to fracture, the cracks intensifying
until it completely broke from within.

The clan elder, Gu Yue Qing Shu, Gu Yue Yao Hong and the others, totaling
up to five altogether, had surrounded him. Gu Yue Fang Zheng was standing
far away on the mountain slope, staring at the battle from a higher ground
while staying vigilant. Once a Bai clan Gu Master group appears, he has to
send out a warning immediately.

“Bai Ning Bing, you dare to kill the Gu Masters in our clan, breaking the
three clan alliance openly. Paying a life for a life is natural law! What else
do you have to say?” the clan elder said with a haughty snort.

Bai Ning Bing did not pay him any mind, staying quiet and staring at his
right arm instead.

His left arm floundered in vain, grasping nothing as it was reaching for
something that wasn’t even there in the first place.

He started to frown, his face dim like water as lightning started to nurture
between his eyes.

“Actually forcing me to lose off my right arm, this guy is called Fang Yuan,
right…” Listening to Xiong Li and Qing Shu’s words, he had already
learned Fang Yuan’s name.
Muttering, Bai Ning Bing’s pair of crystal blue eyes was filled with
extremely callous killing intent.

His body emanated the oppressive aura of a Rank three Gu Master. As Fang
Yuan had predicted earlier, with the capabilities to seal his own cultivation,
Bai Ning Bing was also able to release the restrictions on it. It was just that
in the battle earlier, he did not have sufficient time to unlock it.

Now, the white silver primeval essence of Rank three filled his aperture
fully. The dense primeval essence placed great pressure on his surrounding
aperture walls; Bai Ning Bing knew that he was moving towards the path of
destruction.

A Gu Master’s aperture produced primeval essence, and the primeval

essence in turn, nurtures the aperture.

The truth being, as long as the primeval essence exists within the aperture,
it acts as a form of nurturing towards the aperture. It is just that this effect is
not very evident, far less effective than the Gu Master using the primeval
essence to do so.

This was similar to how a still sea water would still have a corrosive effect
towards surrounding rocks, but this effect is less evident than the waves
hitting on the rocks.

But to the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, after attaining Rank three,
even if they do not expend primeval essence, as long as the primeval
essence is stored in the aperture, the nurturing effect would be the same as
if a Gu Master was actively using the primeval essence to nurture their
aperture.

This is the secret behind the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique’s ability to
raise a Gu Master’s cultivation at rocket speed.

Moreover, this nurturing effect would become stronger as the primeval

essence is refined. At Rank four, as long as primeval essence exists within
the aperture, they would nourish the aperture and the effect would be
several times better than a regular Gu Master using primeval essence to
nurture their aperture.

With ordinary Gu Masters, the higher their cultivation, the slower the speed
of cultivation. However, the ten extreme physiques were the opposite — the
higher the cultivation, the stronger their aptitude and the faster their
cultivation, until they explode into oblivion.

As an analogy, it is similar to a person in free fall, dependent on the posture

and qualities of that person, they would continue to accelerate as they
descended, albeit dying a horrible death once they reach the ground.

The ten extreme physiques’ cultivation technique is falling from the highest
point with the most suited conditions to fall faster than anyone else. As their
cultivation gets faster and faster, it only gives them the temporary glory that
they attain before they face the threat of death approaching. Like a meteor
landing on Earth, moving toward its own destruction; the point where it
shines the brightest comes only at the very moment where it burns up
completely in the atmosphere.

Earlier, the reason Bai Ning Bing had diluted his white silver primeval
essence into red steel primeval essence was for because of this.

Right now, his aperture was completely filled with white silver primeval
essence again, and he could feel that every second, his cultivation was
steadily rising and improving.

“Actually forcing me to use the white silver primeval essence, and even
making me go as far as to sacrifice the Frost Demon Gu! Where is Fang
Yuan?” Bai Ning Bing’s killing intent intensified as he asked. His blue iris
swept across the surroundings, but could not find a trace of Fang Yuan.

The Frost Demon Gu that he sacrificed was a Rank three Gu worm, one that
he only managed to refine after three failures and consuming a large amount
of resources. Now that it was gone, it is truly a waste.

Although Bai Ning Bing is Rank three, it only happened recently, and even
with the clan’s support, he could not hog all the resources to himself. Thus,
he only had two Rank three Gu worms. Now that the Frost Demon Gu is
gone, he only had the Blue Bird Ice Coffin Gu left.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt angered! Since the start of
his youth, he had never suffered such a loss!

If Fang Yuan was here, he’d have attacked in a frenzy with no one able to
stop him.

Bai Ning Bing’s disregard caused the Gu Yue clan elder to feel greatly
humiliated.

“Arrogant young lad, eat my moonblade slash!” He shouted, and jumped.

“Hmph!” Bai Ning Bing’s left arm swept, and the frost air that gushed out
formed into a long ice blade.

The original ice blade he created was only over a meter long, but now it
was two meters in length, with an even deadlier edge and greater frost
energy.

Ching!

The Clan elder raised both hands shining with moonlight to collide with the
ice blade, emitting a metallic noise.

The Clan elder’s face was full of shock however as he took a step back, and
both his palms clapped together and slashed out.

Golden moon slash!

A curved moonblade, over a meter long with a golden body, emitted a

dominating aura as it flew out.

The golden moonlight reflected on Bai Ning Bing’s pale face. He laughed
as he raised the ice blade in his left hand, attacking head on.

Clank!
Moonblade and ice blade colliding, the golden moon disappeared, and the
ice blade broke into small fragments of ice.

“This is a battle between Rank three Gu Masters? Really strong, not only
the ice blade, but also that golden moonblade, I cannot block either!” Far
away, Fang Zheng watched in fascination, with his lacking knowledge.

“How can this be? A Rank two Ice Blade Gu, managing to block my Rank
three Moonhand blade, as well as the golden moon!” Clan elder stared with
bulging eyes, disbelief in his tone.

The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique had a strengthening effect towards
Ice Gu, a variation of water-type Gu. In addition, this boost grew stronger
as the Gu Master’s cultivation rose.

Bai Ning Bing, at Rank three in cultivation, can make a Rank two Gu worm
display Rank three power. When he is Rank four, if he used a Rank four Gu
worm, it would have an effect that can even surpass Rank five.

Firstly, he suppressed his cultivation, thus only the effect of recovering

primeval essence remained. Now that his limiter was off and he was back to
Rank three, the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique’s true ability was starting
to show up.

“Hmph, old man, you don’t know a lot of things.” Bai Ning Bing’s feet
paused, holding his ice blade horizontally, as he started to rotate.

Huhuhu……

The intense sound of the wind enveloped him as he became faster and
faster.

Howl!

The wind seemed to have transformed into a beast howl, a five meter sword
storm forming after a matter of minutes.

The tornado-like winds were white in color, whipping out and causing the
people nearby to have numbed senses.
“Quickly dodge!” Even a clan elder, upon seeing this, did not dare to
challenge it — he quickly avoided.

But the other Rank two Gu Masters could not manage to dodge in time.

The ice blade storm came at once, with a speed three times or even greater
than before.

Ah——!

As soon as the two male Gu Masters were caught up in the storm, their cries
came to a stop. In a matter of seconds, they were already minced to a paste
by the ice blades and lost their lives on the spot.

“Save me!” Gu Yue Yao Hong screamed in fear, seeing that she was about
to be swept into the tornado and perish.

Green Vine Gu!

Gu Yue Qing Shu shot out green vines, which quickly coiled around Gu Yue
Yao Hong’s waist like snakes.

Just as he was about to drag her back, the ice blade storm had already
reached her, devouring her in one shot.

Swish swish swish.

The ice blades instantly went to work, cutting this female Gu Master into
five or six pieces. The icy air had already frozen her blood before she could
bleed.

Soon after, these pieces were further cut into smaller pieces, forming palm-
sized frozen corpse fragments.

“Yao Hong!” Seeing this scene, Qing Shu grieved with sorrowful eyes.

“Sister Yao Hong…” On the slope, Fang Zheng could not take such an
intense scene, kneeling on the ground with a soulless gaze, tears
overflowing from his eyes.
“Damn it, Steel Shirt Gu!” The clan elder took a deep breath as his body
glowed with black light, looking as he was covered in a steel armor.

He used both arms to cover his face as his legs sprinted, charging towards
the icy blue ice blade storm.

Chink chink chink.

He charged inside bravely.

In a few breaths time, the ice blades hacked on his body numerous times,
emitting a crisp sound.

A moment later, the storm ended.

Bai Ning Bing and the clan elder faced each other.

“Old thing, you are asking for death.” Bai Ning Bing’s blue iris were purer,
complementing his white hair and white clothes while standing still in the
cold winds.

His left hand’s ice blade had already broken into two. But this did not stop
it from penetrating the elder’s heart.

“Huh…” Clan elder lowered his head, staring at his left chest, his mouth
emitting a sound of helplessness and shock.

Bai Ning Bing let go of his right hand, abandoning this ice blade. He
walked past the clan elder, steadily approaching.

Behind him, the clan elder’s face was covered with a light blue frost, and
soon he collapsed onto the ground to never get up again.

Far away, Fang Zheng saw this scene and his irises shrunk to the size of
pins, intense fear spreading throughout his body.

This was out of his wildest dreams.

A grand Rank three clan elder actually died like this. This Bai Ning Bing is
so strong?!

“Where is Fang Yuan? Tell me, and I can let you die peacefully.” Bai Ning
Bing walked towards Gu Yue Qing Shu.

“Bai Ning Bing…” Gu Yue Qing Shu sighed deeply, staring at Bai Ning
Bing without fear, “You and I have fought over ten times, you are getting
stronger, and right now I have to admit that you have surpassed me. But
your strength cannot cause me to betray my clansman. Come, fight me!”

“Just you? Hehe.” Bai Ning Bing snorted in disdain, turning around to look
at Fang Zheng, raising a brow. “That is Fang Yuan’s brother?”

Gu Yue Qing Shu’s expression changed, taking a big step out and blocking
Bai Ning Bing. “Don’t think of finding trouble with him!”

Bai Ning Bing’s face sank. “You are quite an interesting opponent, keeping
you alive can add some colour to my life. But my mood is very bad now,
don’t take my patience for granted. Tell me nicely, which direction Fang
Yuan went.”

Gu Yue Qing Shu replied him in the most direct way with action.

He closed his eyes, and opened them again.

Wood Charm Gu!

Chapter 141
 Chapter 141: Gu Yue Qing Shu vs Bai Ning Bing
(Part 2)

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Under the power of the Rank three Gu worm, Qing Shu’s eyes turned into a
jade green colour.

At this moment, his aura changed. From a vibrant human, it turned into a
deep serene forest feeling.

“Oh?” Bai Ning Bing showed slight shock unknowingly. He pouted in

dissatisfaction, “It seems that after a long time, you’ve gained some
interesting new skills.”

Icicle Gu.

He willed the Gu, and five sharp icicles appeared out of nowhere.

“Go.” Bai Ning Bing’s ice hand pointed, and the icicle shot out.

Pow pow pow.

From Qing Shu’s palms, two vines grew out. The vines danced in the air
like two snakes, dancing agilely, easily deflecting the icicles.

The icicle changed directions, only scraping Qing Shu’s shoulder, and
stabbed deeply into the ground, the hard mountain rock, and the forest that
stood like a statue.

Qing Shu easily broke through the attack, causing Bai Ning Bing’s attack to
be futile.
Bai Ning Bing laughed coldly, “Your whipping skills got better, but I want
to see, how many icicles can you block?”

Saying so, Bai Ning Bing’s eyes shone with a mild blue light.

Ten icicles appeared immediately, floating in front of him before shooting

towards Qing Shu.

After that, ten more were created……

Like this, over several times, it turned into an icicle rain.

Swoosh……

The icicle tore through the air, emitting a sound that shocked people’s
hearts.

Qing Shu dodged while manipulating his green vine with both hands,
dancing like a shadow.

His whipping technique after countless practices, had gotten to a level

where he could command them like his fingers, fully in sync.

But there was too many icicles; Qing Shu was bound to miss some, and his
shoulder was hit by an icicle.

The icicle penetrated his right shoulder, and the tip appeared from behind
him.

Pin Needle Gu.

Qing Shu controlled the pain, sweeping his long hair. From the tips of his
hair, numerous jade coloured pin needles shot out.

The pin needles engulfed Bai Ning Bing, but he managed to activate the
Water Shield Gu in time — it had gotten stronger too, and was much thicker
than before, being no weaker than a Rank three Gu worm’s defense.
The pin needles entered the water shield and slowed to a halt, before being
purged by the water currents.

But this also forced Bai Ning Bing to stop his icicle attack.

Seeing this opportunity, Qing Shu ignored the pain and pulled out the icicle
from his shoulder by force.

There was no blood dripping out, one was due to the icicle’s cold air, and
the other was because his body was gradually turning into wood.

Bai Ning Bing kept the Water Shield Gu, his gaze attracted to Gu Yue Qing
Shu’s injury.

From the opening on his torn shirt, he could see Qing Shu’s injury,
revealing the rings of the tree trunk, and his flesh could be seen recovering
at an observable speed, and on the newly grown muscles, the tree’s ring
lines were formed.

At the same time, both his ears started to become longer, and his hair turned
jade green, with green leaves growing within. Both his hands, from the
fleshy colour of a normal person, turned darker and more reserved. His skin
became harder, and turned into the brown tree bark.

This was the first time he had used the Wood Charm Gu without
considering the consequences!

The Wood Charm Gu was causing him to turn into a tree spirit, and at the
same time, Gu Yue Qing Shu could feel the rich natural essence in the air.

These essence could not be felt by ordinary Gu Masters. Only special

lifeforms like tree spirits could feel, absorb and use them.

Gu Yue Qing Shu felt that he was soaking in his mother’s liquid, thick
essence enveloping him, giving him a strong sense of fulfillment.

On his body, the Moonwhirl Gu did not change, but the Green Vine Gu, Pin
Needle Gu and the vitality grass all showed signs of growth. With Qing
Shu’s identity as a tree spirit, when he uses these wood attribute Gu worms,
their power is amplified!

Gu Yue Qing Shu breathed deeply, he had never felt so strong before! The
rich natural essence gave him an almost infinite source of primeval essence
to use. This was the power of the Wood Charm Gu.

But in his heart, a deep sense of fear also rose.

He knew that if he was greedy over this strong and comfortable feeling, and
used the Wood Charm Gu without restraint, he would eventually turn into a
dead treeman.

Any thing had its price.

Gu Yue Qing Shu soon suppressed this fear. He stared at Bai Ning Bing and
said two words —”Let’s fight.”

Thus, the intense battle started.

Green vine vs Ice blade, Icicle vs Pin needles!

One was the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, with insane primeval
essence recovery rate, and the other was the wood charm tree spirit, using
all the natural essence as his own.

This battle, had far surpassed the realm of ordinary Rank three Gu Masters.

Fang Zheng stood on the slope, watching dumbstruck. He had never seen
such an all-out intense fight!

Normally speaking, Gu Masters have limited primeval essence, and they

always have to keep 10% of it as reserves. Carefully using them, like thin
ice.

But now, be it Qing Shu or Bai Ning Bing, both were using it without
constraints as if they had an unlimited supply of primeval essence.
The entire path was wrecked by their battle. Huge trees fell and were
destroyed, mountain rocks smashed to bits.

After a long time……

Blue bird ice coffin Gu!

Bai Ning Bing grabbed an opportunity and opened his mouth, and from
within, an ice blue bird flew out.

The flying bird chirped, its body like a pigeon, but under the boost of the
Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, it gradually turned into the size of an
eagle while flying, and after circling for a while, flew towards Gu Yue Qing
Shu.

Gu Yue Qing Shu could not dodge in time, so he faced it head on.

Bam.

A sound explosion later, Gu Yue Qing Shu was frozen in an ice crystal as
large as a room.

“It’s over…” Bai Ning Bing sighed as he had not fully enjoyed himself.

He saw the immobile Gu Yue Qing Shu within the ice crystal, and muttered,
“Thanks for providing me such an interesting experience, this battle is the
most exciting one I’ve had thus far. Qing Shu, your death has meaning, I
will remember it clearly.”

“Lord Qing Shu!” On the slope, Fang Zheng shouted loudly.

“Why are you shouting, you mere ant, the next one will be you.” Bai Ning
Bing snorted, walking towards Fang Zheng.

At this point, the sound of the ice crystal breaking entered his ears.

“How can this be?” He turned around and saw that within the ice crystal,
Qing Shu had undergone a massive transformation.
His body became bigger, and his Rank two Gu Master outfit was almost
ripped.

His hair turned into green vines, and palm-sized leaves grew on it endlessly,
turning into a thick greenery.

His fingers had turned into sturdy wood, his limbs turning into thick tree
branches, only having a rough form for his arms and legs.

With a sound, the ice crystal broke completely.

Gu Yue Qing Shu stood up; he had already changed in appearance

completely, the original delicate and handsome human face turned into a
sharp-nosed, huge eye tree spirit face.

He was three meters tall with a strong body, wearing tree barks as his
armor, and on them were large amounts of leaves and vines.

Bai Ning Bing stared at his transformation in shock; compared to this Qing
Shu, he was like a child beside an adult.

“This appearance, did you refine the Wood Charm Gu? This Gu is way
harder to refine than my Frost Demon Gu!” Bai Ning Bing found the
answer.

“Tree spirit wood charm can use the essence in the air, no wonder Gu Yue
Qing Shu had such ample primeval essence.” He realized at once, but got
more confused.

He asked the question in his heart, “Qing Shu, using the Wood Charm Gu
like this, aren’t you afraid of turning into a dead treeman? So what if you
win me? You’re destined to die!”

“Bai Ning Bing…” Gu Yue Qing Shu’s voice became low, “I understand
you like I understand myself. You and I are both orphans, adopted by the
clan leader. Yet we walk on such different paths. A tree dying in a forest is
nothing, for as long as the forest exists, numerous trees will continue to
grow and rise up. Let’s have our final battle, my nemesis!”
Saying so, hundreds of green vines assaulted Bai Ning Bing like giant
pythons.

“For the clan? What a fool!” Bai Ning Bing retreated in a rush.

But the green vines’ speed was faster than before by several times, quickly
chasing up to Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing controlled his body and dodged nimbly. Green vines thick as
an arm swept near his body, hitting the soil or the mountain rocks, causing
the soil to fly and the rock fragments to scatter.

Water Shield Gu!

Bai Ning Bing could not dodge in time, and created his shield.

Qing Shu had seen through the weakness of this Gu worm. He did not
attack forcefully, but manipulated the vines to wrap around the shield.

Next, he pulled back his strength, and the water shield came into contact.
The surface water current moved quickly as it hit the green vines, causing
water to splash everywhere.

The water shield could not endure the strength of the green vines’
restriction, and shrunk in size, on the verge of collapsing.

“Not good! If the water shield breaks and I get entangled in the green vines,
I will get killed by Gu Yue Qing Shu!” Bai Ning Bing in the water shield
was sure of his situation.

In the next moment, the water shield exploded.

Bam!

An ice blade storm exploded from within, becoming larger and larger.

Bai Ning Bing purposely withdrew the Water Shield Gu’s defense — since
defending couldn’t work, he had to fight offense with offense!
At once, the temperature fell and cold air emanated.

The white ice blade storm flew towards Qing Shu. The vines could not stop
this tornado, and were cut into numerous segments by the ice blades.

“Nice timing.” Gu Yue Qing Shu had no fear, his large body bravely
entering the ice blade storm.

With a bam, he knocked onto the white colour tornado.

He opened both hands, wrapping around it.

Crack crack……

The sharp ice blades cut through his body, and numerous leaves and tree
bark were sent flying.

The delayed sense of pain assaulted him as Qing Shu growled in pain, but
did not let go, using all his strength to grip the tornado.

The ice blade storm was actually shrinking under his strength.

“Damn it! This maniac that doesn’t care for his life…” Bai Ning Bing
scolded internally. In this situation there was no other way, he could only
create more ice blades and rotate faster, competing with Gu Yue Qing Shu.

The ice blades slashed on Qing Shu’s body and gradually became blunt, but
under the Ice Blade Gu’s power, they sharpened once again.

The battle was at a stalemate, out of their control, and no one could hold
back and stop.

Either Gu Yue Qing Shu kills Bai Ning Bing, or Bai Ning Bing kills Qing
Shu. Pitting offense with offense, the battle was filled with bravery and
intensity.
Chapter 142
 Chapter 142: Gu Yue Qing Shu vs Bai Ning Bing
(Part 3)

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Zheng stood far away, not even daring to take a deep breath as he
watched.

The battle had reached the climax, the winner and loser will be decided in
this showdown.

“Lord Qing Shu, hang in there!” Fang Zheng was so nervous his body was
shaking, he knew that going over would only cause trouble, thus he could
only cheer for Gu Yue Qing Shu loudly.

As if he heard Fang Zheng’s voice, the ice blade storm got smaller,
forcefully suppressed by Qing Shu.

“Damn it, I can actually get into a situation where my primeval essence is
insufficient…” Bai Ning Bing gritted his teeth, rotating slower as his
primeval essence recovery could not keep up with his expenditure, getting
into a helpless situation.

The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique’s primeval essence recovery is very
fast, but the recovery speed at Rank three is still slightly inferior to the tree
spirit’s ability to extract natural essence. If Bai Ning Bing could cultivate to
Rank four, his recovery speed would greatly surpass the Wood Charm Gu.

Except, in life and death battles, there is no “if”.

Whether its win or lose, the results have to be accepted.

Eventually the ice blade storm stopped, but Gu Yue Qing Shu also paid a
heavy price.

His arms were large like a horse carriage, and at the moment on his left arm
he had two fingers left and three on his right. Both his palms were sliced off
by half due to the ice blades.

But when his palms gradually gathered together towards the middle, new
tree branches grew again rapidly from his palm, interweaving together.

The two palms formed a wooden cage, trapping Bai Ning Bing within.

“Damn it!” Bai Ning Bing gritted his teeth. His primeval essence was
running dry, he could only be at Qing Shu’s mercy.

“We won!!” Far away, Fang Zheng jumped at this sight.

“Am I going to die…?” Bai Ning Bing shouted in his heart, his eyes
widening as he saw the two palms approaching. When both palms clasp
together, he would be smashed into a bloody meat pie.

But the palm’s speed became slower, and slowly stood in mid-air.

Bai Ning Bing was stunned momentarily, before realizing that Gu Yue Qing
Shu’s body had developed problems, instantly being overjoyed.

“Damn, I was so close…” At this moment, Gu Yue Qing Shu’s heart was
filled with helplessness. His hands had lost all senses, completely turning
into wood.

At the same time, he gradually lost the connection to his intestines and
lungs. The Wood Charm Gu’s ability had corroded his entire body, bringing
him to the brink of death.

“No, it cannot end like this! I can still use the Green Vine Gu!” Gu Yue
Qing Shu forced himself to focus and activated the Green Vine Gu.

Numerous thick vines appeared and attacked Bai Ning Bing through the
openings of the cage.
Bai Ning Bing dodged quickly but he had undergone several battles, and his
stamina was greatly depleted. Furthermore, there was little space in the
cage, and he could not move much, thus eventually a vine entangled onto
his right leg and tripped him.

“It’s over.” Qing Shu sighed in relief, as he quickly moved tens of green
vines to follow up.

At his moment of life and death, Bai Ning Bing’s aperture finally recovered
enough primeval essence for his usage requirement.

He used all the primeval essence without further thoughts, sending it all into
the Ice Blade Gu, and formed a new ice blade.

The ice blade was sharp and cut off the green vine on his right leg. Bai Ning
Bing rolled in a sorry state, managing to avoid tens of vines.

The green vines hit the ground and penetrated the thick earth. The soil flew
around, and the green vines attacked once again.

Bai Ning Bing breathed heavily as he used the ice blade to defend
desperately.

The green vines attacked from all directions, as if he was walking on thin
ice. A single mistake by Bai Ning Bing would cause him to be instantly
killed by the vines.

But he was after all a top tier genius. With the stimulation of death, he
squeezed out all the potential in him, and his evasive actions became quick
and clear.

Although he was tripped sometimes by the green vines, he managed to

avoid the danger and eventually kept his life.

The green vines were cut by the ice blades, and their amount became less
and less.

It was not that Qing Shu did not want to activate the Green Vine Gu and
produce more vines, but it was because the surrounding natural essence had
been almost fully absorbed by him.

Although outside, there was still essence in the air gathering, the diluted
essence in the air was no longer able to fulfill the Green Vine Gu’s needs.

There was an even worse piece of news — the Wood Charm Gu’s strength
had completely corroded Gu Yue Qing Shu’s body, and was starting to take
over his consciousness.

Gu Yue Qing Shu’s consciousness started to become dazed, and he had

intermediate blank outs.

The aura of death was blowing on his face.

“Is it going to end? No…” He was indignant, forcing his mind to focus and
put in the last ditch effort in killing Bai Ning Bing.

He could no longer see anything, for the Wood Charm Gu had taken over
his eyes, and he could not hear any longer either, his ears merely an
accessory now.

He only had a meagre sense of touch.

Relying on Bai Ning Bing’s retaliation, he judged the distance and position,
and attacked.

His efforts were rewarded, as Bai Ning Bing was finally captured. A vine
wrapped around his neck and raised him up, gradually tightening.

Bai Ning Bing could feel difficulty in breathing, it was no use even if he
opened his mouth. Along with Qing Shu, they was progressing towards
death.

Fang Yuan breathed roughly, an intense battle had ended.

On the floor laid five corpses with opened eyes, they were all Bai clan Gu
Masters.
Relying on the Stealth Scales Gu to sneak attack, with the advantage of the
Moonglow Gu and the strength of two boars along with his 500 years of
experience, he displayed shocking abilities.

Although he told Qing Shu he was going to return to the village, it was just
an excuse.

After leaving for a distance, he used the Stealth Scales Gu to hide himself,
moving around the battlefield and going to the area where Man Shi and
Xiong Li died.

He collected the Gu worms in Man Shi and his groupmates’ corpses, and
when he got the Xiong Li’s corpse, he found that the corpse was missing,
not to mention their Gu worms.

“It seems that Xiong Lin collected their corpses. What a waste, I wanted to
get Xiong Li’s Brown Bear Innate Strength Gu.” Fang Yuan sighed.

Leaving Xiong Lin alive was not what he wanted.

But back then, after he had killed Xiong Jiang, Xiong Lin was already
vigilant, thus killing the latter would expend much effort.

At that time, Bai Ning Bing was close by. If Fang Yuan and Xiong Lin
fought, Bai Ning Bing would be overjoyed.

“But the Brown Bear Innate Strength Gu might not be on Xiong Li’s body.
He already has the strength of a bear, he might have given the Gu back to
his clan already.”

Fang Yuan focused his gaze and escaped the mountain path battlefield.

Qing Shu and the others fighting against Bai Ning Bing would cause a huge
commotion, and it will be detected by the surrounding wolf packs and Gu
Masters.

Although Fang Yuan was not optimistic about Qing Shu’s group, he had
seen firsthand the power of the Wood Charm Gu in his previous life.
Against Bai Ning Bing, there would at least be an intense struggle.
He was unwilling to give up such a chance, thus he chose to wait at the
surroundings.

At times, Gu Masters were attracted by the sounds of the intense battle, so

Fang Yuan lured some wolf packs over and restrained them.

Those that he cannot stop, Fang Yuan would strike with his own hands.

“The mountain path battlefield’s noise has come to a halt, it seems they are
deciding the victor already.” His right ear had roots growing out, digging
into the mountain walls, allowing Fang Yuan to hear some things from the
battlefield.

Honestly speaking, Qing Shu’s performance was better than expected. After
Bai Ning Bing lost his right arm, the effect on his battle strength was much
greater than Fang Yuan had expected.

But soon, Fang Yuan’s expression changed.

He heard large amounts of footsteps from two directions, heading towards

the battlefield.

One direction was from Gu Yue village, while the other direction was from
the Bai clan village.

Each group had at least twenty people. It was not something a bold
lightning wolf pack could block, and Fang Yuan could not lure two groups
of wolf over anyway.

“It seems the news about this battle has been found out by someone, so
these are the reinforcements sent by the two clans, I have to enter the
mountain path immediately.”

Fang Yuan’s distance was shorter, thus being the first to enter the mountain
path.

The battlefield’s scenario was not out of his expectations.

From the cage’s opening, he could see Bai Ning Bing hanging by the vines
on his last breath, but was still barely alive.

“The ice muscles’ defense are stubbornly sustaining Bai Ning Bing’s life.
Hmph, unfortunately, you have encountered me.” Fang Yuan’s killing intent
surged as he took a few steps forwards, sprinting towards Bai Ning Bing.

Swish swish swish.

Suddenly, a flurry of pin needles surrounded Fang Yuan like rain droplets.

It was Gu Yue Qing Shu’s Pin Needle Gu, attacking Fang Yuan.

“What is going on?” Fang Yuan retreated immediately, avoiding the pin
needle rain.

He focused the gaze at the large tree, realizing at once, “It seems that Gu
Yue Qing Shu’s consciousness had been blurred to the point where he can
no longer differentiate between friend or foe. He’s merely relying on his
will and attempting to kill Bai Ning Bing. Anyone that intrudes the
battlefield would be regarded as an interferer by him.”

At this moment, Bai clan Gu Masters appeared from the mountain path.

Seeing such an intense battlefield, their faces showed a shocked expression.

“The lad over there, don’t make any unnecessary movements!” A Rank
three Gu Master shouted towards Fang Yuan, his tone full of warning and
threat.

“This Bai Ning Bing is such a cockroach.” Fang Yuan seeing this scene,
laughed coldly in his heart, knowing that he could not have the last strike.

Firstly, Qing Shu’s consciousness was blurred, a green vine was insufficient
to kill Bai Ning Bing who had the ice muscles.

For Fang Yuan to get close to Bai Ning Bing, he had to break through Qing
Shu’s trap, but this way, it would divert much of his attention and might
even help Bai Ning Bing in escaping his predicament.
Even if they broke through by force, Bai clan’s Rank three Gu Masters and
Rank two elites were not for show, they would definitely stop him.

Furthermore, fighting against Bai Ning Bing had danger as well.

Bai Ning Bing’s aperture had recovered primeval essence sufficiently to at

least use the Blue bird ice coffin Gu.

Even if Fang Yuan managed to kill Bai Ning Bing, these Bai clan elites
would not let go of him, they would definitely kill Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan sighed in his heart, “The distance is too long, there are at least
twenty steps to get to him, and my Moonglow Gu’s attack range is only ten
steps, furthermore… to kill this Bai Ning Bing who is destined to die
anyway, I would need to put my life at such risk, greatly interfering with
my rebirth plans, it is not worth it.”

Thinking so, Fang Yuan took a few steps back.

This was evidently a weak and cowardly movement, causing the Bai clan
Gu Masters to breath a sigh of relief.
Chapter 143
 Chapter 143: Answer

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Soon after, Fang Zheng rushed over as well.

“Lord Qing Shu!” He had an exhilarated expression, stupidly running

towards Gu Yue Qing Shu, but soon was forced to retreat by the pin
needles.

“Group leader, it’s me Fang Zheng!!” He shouted in shock, sensing

something amiss for the first time.

But how could Gu Yue Qing Shu answer him.

“Big brother, what’s wrong with Lord Qing Shu?” Fang Zheng, under
confusion and shock, could only turn to Fang Yuan.

But Fang Yuan ignored him, squatting down and grabbing with his right
hand, making a claw shape towards Bai Ning Bing.

Plunder Gu!

He secretly activated this Gu, quickly sensing that he had grabbed

something.

He quickly pulled back, and a Gu worm flew out of Bai Ning Bing’s body.

It was a red steel Relic Gu!

This was given to Bai Ning Bing by the Bai clan leader, but Bai Ning Bing
never used it as he quickly reached Rank three cultivation.

Now, it became Fang Yuan’s loot.

Seeing the red steel Relic Gu coming out of Bai Ning Bing’s body and
flying away, landing in Fang Yuan’s palm, the Bai clan Gu Masters were
anxious until their eyes turned red, starting to scream.

“Scumbag, if you don’t want to die, stop right now!”

“Stealing our Bai clan Gu worm right in front of us!!”

“It’s a red steel Relic Gu worm…”

Fang Yuan laughed coldly. Once the red steel Relic Gu was obtained, he
used the Spring Autumn Cicada to instantly refine it but did not keep it in
his aperture, putting it in his clothes instead, giving the impression that he
had not refined them yet.

He grabbed once again; this time a grey coloured beetle flew out.

“Stone Aperture Gu…” Fang Yuan recognised this Gu immediately. As his

eyes shone, he refined it once again and kept it in his arms.

“Damn it, yet another Gu worm!”

“Stop him, stop him, he dares to do so openly, he does not hold any regard
for our Bai clan.”

“Save Bai Ning Bing, kill these guys!”

The Bai clan Gu Masters growled, running furiously from the mountain
path.

Bai Ning Bing had the full support of his clan, so every Gu worm in his
possession was outstanding. Now that they were snatched away by Fang
Yuan in public, they all could feel their hearts bleeding.

This felt worse than killing them.

Seeing these people approaching with their imposing aura, Fang Zheng took
a step back in fright, but Fang Yuan was unfazed.
In the current scene, he and Fang Zheng were at the east side of the
mountain path while the Bai clan Gu Masters were at the west, and in the
middle of the two sides were Gu Yue Qing Shu and Bai Ning Bing.

Whoosh whoosh!

Pin needles rained like cats and dogs.

“Damn it…” Bai clan Gu Masters started scolding, as they were blocked by
Gu Yue Qing Shu.

“Gu Yue Qing Shu is going to die anytime, the remaining time only allows
me to use the Plunder Gu once, what would it be this time?” Fang Yuan
calmed down, using the Plunder Gu again.

Every time the Plunder Gu was used, it expended a large amount of

primeval essence. It depended on how strong the target Gu worm was. The
harder the process, the more primeval essence is expended. If the plunder
fails, the Gu Master would even face a backlash.

Thus, the Plunder Gu was a rather unreliable Gu, with little usage.

But at this moment, Bai Ning Bing was almost dead, his consciousness was
hazy and he was almost at his limits. Plundering his Gu worm was not hard
at all.

Among the Gu worms in Bai Ning Bing’s possession, the most valuable is
the Frost Demon Gu. This Gu was on par with the Wood Charm Gu,
allowing a person to transform into the frost demon. But if used for
extended periods, it would cause the Gu Master’s life force to dwindle,
turning into an ice statue.

Bai Ning Bing knew this weakness, thus he had never been like Gu Yue
Qing Shu, using the Gu to such an extent.

Other than the Frost Demon Gu, the second most valuable is the Blue bird
ice coffin Gu, a Rank three Gu. Right now, it resides in Bai Ning Bing’s
throat.
If he can plunder the Blue bird ice coffin Gu, it is the best scenario. But the
Plunder Gu is only a Rank two Gu, even if the Gu Master wills it, it does
not have to ability to do so.

Eventually, Fang Yuan caught Bai Ning Bing’s Water Shield Gu.

This was not bad at all. The Water Shield Gu together with the White Jade
Gu could provide Fang Yuan greater defensive power.

The tree spirit that Gu Yue Qing Shu turned into was eventually felled by
the Bai clan Gu Masters.

They split open the wooden cage and saved the Bai Ning Bing who had
fainted after losing his right arm.

Just as they were about to slaughter Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng, the Gu Yue
clan reinforcements arrived.

The two were at a stalemate for a while, before both retreated in mutual
understanding.

Qing Shu’s death and Bai Ning Bing’s injury, with the threat of the wolf
tide, such a loss is already horrifying. If a large-scale fighting broke out, for
each clan their pressure for survival would intensify greatly.

Regardless of which world, people always compete for their own benefits.

And the greatest benefit in the world, is undoubtedly “survival”.

Eventually, Gu Yue Qing Shu’s corpse and Gu worms, were brought back
by the Gu Yue clan’s Gu Masters.

The two sides held caution as they retreated from the battlefield.

The sky was raining, and the entire area was gloomy.

A group of people stood at a slope behind the village, this was the
graveyard.
Every now and then, there would be a few more gravestones erected here.

In this world, it was tough for people to survive, and whether it is due to
external threat or internal cause, there would always be a few sacrifices.

The clan elder’s voice was low as it entered everyone’s ears, making them
feel even more down.

“We have the same surname, we come from the same clan, the same blood
flows in our bodies.”

“We are so close together in distance, yet we are forever separated by life
and death.”

“This pain aches in my heart.”

“Wait for me.”

“Someday in the future, I will lay beside you as well.”

“Let us turn into ash and soil, as we support our future generations…”

On a newly erected gravestone, a group of people hung their heads low.

Some were crying softly, and some were staring at the name on the
tombstone as they were filled with sadness.

The cruelty of death was like a white bony arm, slashing a bloody injury on
everyone’s heart.

Except that some were already numb from the pain, while others were still
too inexperienced.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng was among these people, his drooping eyes staring at
the tombstone with “Gu Yue Qing Shu”, these four words.

Dead?

In his eyes, there was endless uncertainty.

Yesterday’s battle, the entire process and situation was still imprinted deep
in his heart.

His experience was limited, he did not understand Gu Yue Qing Shu’s
moving and tragic bravery as well as his sacrifice.

But now that the truth was in front of him, he could not accept it suddenly.

“Dead? That kind Lord Qing Shu that always smiles, advises, shows
concern and takes care of me…. Is actually dead?”

“Why did this happen?”

“Why is it that in this world, good people die easily, while bad people live
long?”

“Is this a dream, am I having a dream right now?”

Fang Zheng clenched his fists, and the realistic feeling of touch caused him
to feel ever more upset.

The discussions of the surrounding Gu Masters entered his ears.

“Sigh, I can’t believe that this time, even Lord Qing Shu sacrificed
himself.”

“Humans will eventually die, but it is too much of a pity, I heard that Bai
Ning Bing still had a breath of vitality left, he was eventually saved.”

“May he rest well underground, and bless us with the hopes of surviving
this wolf tide…”

The crowds slowly dispersed, until Fang Zheng was the last one left.

The young man’s lonely shadow, facing the graveyard full of tombstones
alone.

“Lord Qing Shu!” He suddenly kneeled on the ground, his tears falling on
the ground.
He was lost, he was regretful, he was in pain!

Drip. Drip drop, drip drop…

Bean-sized raindrops fell from the dark clouds, hitting on the ground,
causing the leaves and tree branches to bend.

The smell of the earth rushed into Fang Zheng’s nostrils, and he wept in
painful grief. The sound of his crying and the raindrops mixed together; his
ten fingers grabbed the soil, trying to retrieve Qing Shu’s life, but
eventually he only had two handfuls of soil.

It started raining, and Bai Ning Bing lay upon a soft bed, staring at this rain
blankly.

His right arm which was broken was already taken care off, wrapped with a
white bandage. His eyes also returned to black, but his cultivation was Rank
three, he had no longer suppressed it to Rank two.

When he woke up from his slumber, he suddenly lost all spirits, feeling
extremely empty.

He laid on his bed peacefully, his eyes opened for over ten hours. He let the
Rank three white silver primeval essence nurture his aperture; he couldn’t
bother to care about it.

This rain triggered the deepest memories in his heart.

It was under such a summer rain that he was officially adopted by the Bai
clan leader. The clan leader’s benevolent and hopeful gaze fell on him, as
the surrounding clan elders gave their words of congratulations, gushing in
like tidal waves.

The young him stood on the icy ground barefooted, and he stared at the rain
outside the window, but all he felt was being lost and lonely.

“What is the meaning of living?” This question troubled him for twenty
over years, and could continue to trouble him, until the problem of his self-
explosion surfaced again.
“Is it for kinship, for the clan…” Bai Ning Bing unavoidably thought of Gu
Yue Qing Shu.

From young to adulthood, he had seen such a sacrifice many times —

sometimes it is a Bai clansman, sometimes they were from Gu Yue clan or
Xiong clan.

He could not understand these fanatics, he was born as a cold and

emotionless person.

Gu Yue Qing Shu could not give him answers, thus Bai Ning Bing thought
of Fang Yuan.

The first time he saw Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan was sitting by a tree, eating a
wild fruit he picked, emotionlessly starting at the battle below.

He was excited until his body shuddered, shivering with excitement. The
reason was that he saw himself from Fang Yuan’s similar eerie abyss-like
iris.

But now that he thought about it, Fang Yuan’s gaze had something more
than him.

That thing, is the answer to his questions.

The rain got heavier and thunder rumbled while lightning flashed in the sky.

“What is the meaning behind living?” In the dark room, Gu Yue Fang
Zheng asked the same question.

Gu Yue clan leader, Gu Yue Bo sighed. He stared pitifully at the young man
who had lost his soul, and then looked outside the window, at the rain.

Fang Zheng’s doubt was understandable; an unavoidable death always

urges people to think behind the true value of existence.

“You know something? More than ten years ago, there was another young
man with a similar situation as you, and asked me the same question.” Long
after, Gu Yue Bo started to speak.
“That person, is your clan leader’s… my adopted son — Gu Yue Qing
Shu.”

Fang Zheng was momentarily stunned, raising his head. A pair of swollen
red eyes, showing an intense urge for answers.
Chapter 144
 Chapter 144: Sacrifice is common, and faith is
undying

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“I said to him, a person has a thousand and one reasons to live. Why are you
alive, I cannot answer that, only you have the answer. Go find it yourself,”
Gu Yue Bo said.

“Then clan leader, what is your answer for yourself?” Fang Zheng blinked
in confusion, asking.

Gu Yue Bo laughed. In his eyes, Fang Zheng and Qing Shu’s images were
overlapping, Gu Yue Qing Shu had asked the same question in the past.

Clan leader thought for a moment, recalling the past, then repeating the
same answer he gave back then, “An organisation is bound to have
sacrifices. From the moment a person is born, death is imminent. Between
life and death, humans are fragile, but one thing can warm the heart, and
shine upon our souls. That is love — this is my answer.”

Sacrifice is common.

Gu Yue Qing Shu is he, Gu Yue Bo’s adopted son, and after raising him for
so many years, his current sacrifice brought great pain to this foster father.

But as clan leader, he had seen far too many sacrifices.

When one has the resolution of life and death, pain and grief becomes more
acceptable.

Fang Zheng lowered his head, keeping silent; it seems he was thinking.
Clan leader laughed, taking a letter from the drawer in his desk. He handed
it to Fang Zheng.

“This is Gu Yue Qing Shu’s letter. It records the answers to questions he’s
been thinking about for years, I am handing it to you now, you can take a
look. This is his answer.”

Undoubtedly, Fang Zheng’s current heart had intense attraction to this letter.

He opened it on the spot, and after seeing the first line, his tears could not
help but flow out.

It was Gu Yue Qing Shu’s familiar handwriting, in his words there was his
unique amicable aura.

The starting paragraph recorded his perplexity and pain.

Next was the situations that had given him some ideas through continuously
thinking about them these past years.

Fang Zheng looked at the letter, and felt like he had experienced Gu Yue
Qing Shu’s entire life. He followed Gu Yue Qing Shu’s footsteps, until he
finished the entire letter.

At the end, this was recorded.

“The clan is like a forest, and we members are like the trees in the forest.
The old trees extend their branches and shelter the young from rain and
wind. When the young trees grow into large and tall trees, the old trees will
turn into the nutrients in the soil, fertilizing the land and nurturing new
trees. People will always die, and heaven and earth will not remember us.
But new trees are the proof that the old trees have existed. Under this
continuous testament, the clan forest becomes larger and spreads further,
walking towards the path of prosperity and flourishment.”

“People are bound to die. As Gu Masters, we cannot hide from impending

death. Even Rank seven and eight Gu Masters can merely live a little
longer. Towards death, I feel fear as well. But I understand deeply,
eventually, one day I Gu Yue Qing Shu will die too. I might die of old age,
illness, or the battlefield. But at that moment, I can leave peacefully with no
regrets.”

At the end of the letter.

“Lord foster father, the question I asked you before, I think I have found the
answer.”

After seeing the letter, Fang Zheng wept soundlessly.

In his mind, it was filled with memories of Qing Shu. When he committed a
mistake, Qing Shu did not blame but instead comforted him. When facing
trouble, the gaze of encouragement was given, and when in a loss, the
hands of Qing Shu would warmly touch Fang Zheng’s head.

Gu Yue Bo kept the letter and said, “In future, when you think of the
answer, you can also write a letter and tell me. Go, return and have a rest.
The danger of the wolf tide is not over, we need you to contribute your
strength as well.”

“No.” Fang Zheng slowly raised his head, clenching his fists.

“What?” Gu Yue Bo asked.

“I’ve found my answer.” Fang Zheng’s tone was filled with indescribable
determination as he continued, “I want strength! To protect my family, and
protect them from any harm. I want to protect the clan, and strengthen the
clan! I want the wolf tide to no longer be able to torture us, I want to see the
happiness of joy of my companions! This pain, I do not want it to repeat. I
want to use my pair of hands, my body, my soul, to protect those around
me!”

Gu Yue Bo showed an expression of surprise, and at this moment, he felt

that he saw Gu Yue Qing Shu.

“Qing Shu, you did not die in vain…” Seeing Fang Zheng’s shining eyes,
clan leader sighed emotionally in his heart.
An old tree has fallen, and just as it gradually decays away in the soil, a
new sprout is already starting to grow rapidly.

Ren Zu was unable to endure the heart of loneliness, thus he dug out both
eyes, turning them into a son and daughter. This alleviated his sense of
loneliness.

But good things do not last, for his children started to crave the scenery of
the outside world, forgetting all about their father Ren Zu and always going
out to play until they forgot the time, and even forgot to take care of Ren
Zu.

Ren Zu could not see anything, it was total darkness.

But at time, he could see a little bit of light.

To this, he felt perturbed, and asked the Attitude Gu.

Attitude Gu told this to him, “Oh, this is the eternal light given out by the
Faith Gu.”

“Faith?” Bai Ning Bing seeing this, laughed and threw the book that
recorded the ancient legends out.

The door was opened at this moment, and the person entering was almost
hit in the face by the book.

“Ning Bing, what are you doing?” The one entering was the Bai clan leader.

He frowned, consoling, “I know your mood is bad, but losing your right
arm is nothing. In this world, there are many Gu worms that can heal such
an injury.”

“In the past, I got the clan elders to stay by your side and protect you, but
you always rejected it, and even attacked the clan elders. You’ve finally
suffered a loss this time huh?”
“But this is a good thing. Since young you’ve had too smooth of a path, but
as long as it is not death, such a loss is no big deal. Your injuries are already
healed, but the wolf tide is getting more ferocious, the clan needs your
strength!”

“A bunch of wolf cubs, what can they amount to?” Bai Ning Bing shut his
eyes, lying on the bed and answering nonchalantly.

Clan leader’s face showed a serious expression, “The situation is not

looking good, or rather, it is pessimistic. According to our reconnaissance,
there are already three frenzy lightning wolf packs moving near the village.
Your failure brought a great influence to our clansmen. I hope that tonight,
you can come out and show yourself. As long as you are standing, it can
greatly motivate our clansmen. Do you understand?”

“I get it, I get it. It’s a small matter.” Bai Ning Bing responded, showing
impatience.

If it was any other person acting like this to the clan leader, they would have
gotten heavily punished, but Bai Ning Bing was different.

Bai clan leader sighed helplessly, closing the door and leaving.

When the room had only Bai Ning Bing left, he opened his eyes, showing a
gaze full of loneliness and perplexity.

He did not tell the others about the problem with his body, and the
premonition of death that he was feeling.

From the clan’s ancient records, he found out the name of the Northern
Dark Ice Soul physique. In that limited information, the ten extreme
physiques were also known as the absolute death talents, for when the
aperture walls reach their limits, the self-destructive power would be
extremely great.

It is true that the Bai clan leader had raised Bai Ning Bing for many years,
being so lenient to him. However, if the matter of the Northern Dark Ice
Soul physique was exposed, Bai Ning Bing had no doubt that the first
person to kill him would be this Bai clan leader.

“What’s the point of a person being alive?”

In the past, when he considered this question, Bai Ning Bing would feel
lost, feeling emotions like boredom, frustration and anger… all these
negative emotions.

But now, his heart felt a sense of peacefulness.

People would grow up, not to mention a genius like him.

In the past, he knew that he was going to die, thus in his despair he longed
to live, and he felt a sense of fear towards death deep in his heart.

But now, after he had almost died, he had gotten over it.

Allowing the Rank three white silver primeval essence to nurture his
aperture, he was no longer worried.

After all, he was no longer afraid of death.

Even though he was still lost about the meaning of living, he knew where
the answer was.

This answer, was already in Fang Yuan’s heart.

This feeling was indescribable; it was like an instinct, but he was clear of it.

Moreover, the Stone Aperture Gu was in Fang Yuan’s hands.

“Fang Yuan… we will meet again,” he lightly muttered, his eyes shining
with a brilliant light, like the glimmer of a diamond.

“Stone Aperture Gu…” In the rented house, Fang Yuan held the Gu worm
in his hands, falling into deep thought.
Stone Aperture Gu was like a dice, cubic and had a grey white body,
extremely sturdy.

This Gu was an expenditure type Gu, gone after one use. Its use was to turn
a Gu Master’s aperture wall into a sturdy rock wall.

This act completely squeezes the aperture’s potential and growth dry,
allowing the Gu Master to reach peak stage cultivation.

For example, Fang Yuan was now a Rank two middle stage, so after using
the Gu, he can instantly become Rank two peak stage.

But the price is, Fang Yuan would no longer have the possibility to advance
to Rank three. At the same time, he would lose the ability to regenerate
primeval essence, thus he would only be able to use primeval stones to
replenish them.

The Stone Aperture Gu was for some Gu Masters who were at their wits
end. For some Gu Master’s aperture that suffered an unrecoverable injury,
developing cracks and can’t be healed, they would have to use this Gu.

Or in special situations, the Gu Master has no hopes of advancing and need

to raise their cultivation quickly to live. Thus they will use this Gu.

“The cost of refining this Stone Aperture Gu is very high. Seeing that Bai
Ning Bing refined this Gu worm, he probably wants to convert his aperture
into a stone aperture to prevent the imminent death. Unfortunately this
method can only delay his death, but cannot stop his destruction. If the
Northern Dark Ice Soul physique is so easily broken, how can it be called a
ten extreme physique?”

This Stone Aperture Gu was useless to Fang Yuan, but the red steel Relic
Gu he got from Bai Ning Bing’s body as well as the Water Shield Gu were
very useful.

As for the Gu worms Fang Yuan extracted from Gu Yue Man Shi and the
other’s bodies, they were not outstanding, and once he returned to the clan
he had them exchanged for large amounts of merit points.
Because of the wolf tide, the issue of Qing Shu and Bai Ning Bing’s battle
was suppressed by all three clans, controlling their urges. The three clans
needed each other’s power to survive this ordeal first.

Xiong Lin’s report, exposed the fact that Fang Yuan possessed the White
Jade Gu. But he used the reason of buying it from the caravan to get
through for the time being.
Chapter 145
 Chapter 145: Sacrifices are encouraged

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

As a person involved, Fang Yuan had to go through the clan’s investigation.

It was not an in-depth investigation; the ever growing severity of the wolf
tide had attracted almost all the attention of the clan’s higher-ups. Fang
Yuan’s Earth Communication Ear Grass and Stealth Scales Gu were still
concealed but even if they were exposed, Fang Yuan could just attribute it
to the caravan.

In any case, communications had already been severed due to the wolf tide;
the caravan won’t be coming. Under such circumstances, the clan couldn’t
obtain the confirmation from the caravan and could only delay the
investigation.

When the results of any investigation truly came out, Fang Yuan would
have already become a Rank three and left Qing Mao mountain.

Of course, if the Four Flavors Liquor worm and Spring Autumn Cicada
were exposed, it would be a completely different matter.

Either of them could cause a huge commotion in the village if exposed.

Four Flavors Liquor worm represented a whole new fusion recipe and had
extremely significant meaning. Fang Yuan wouldn’t be able to explain it
even if he pushed it onto the caravan, and would be thoroughly investigated
by the clan.

And Spring Autumn Cicada? If it was discovered, the wolf tide would be
greatly sidelined. This is a Rank six Gu after all! Even the clan head Gu Yue
Bo would immediately dispense with the civilities; the nonsense of kinship
and the clan head position could all be given up. There was no doubt that it
would be forcibly seized.

July was month of a scorching hot summer, and the hot air was filled with
the iron smell of blood.

The wolf tide was growing more serious and fights were becoming more
intense.

Many had begun to realize that the wolf tide this time was of a rarely seen
enormous scale among all of past history.

Bold lightning wolf packs had fallen to a supporting role now; thousand
beast king frenzy lightning wolf packs had started to roam nearby the
village.

Mankind’s living space had shrunk down to an extreme level.

Even Gu Yue clan headquarters were as such; there was no need to mention
the village at the foot of the mountain.

Nine out of ten houses were empty and a portion of fortunate villagers were
living in the clan by utilizing all kinds of connections. But the majority of
the villagers could only leave their homes and make an arduous journey to
evade the wolf tide.

Their destination was another mountain village. But the fierce beasts, wild
Gu and the lightning wolves that filled the whole mountain reduced their
hopes to an almost negligible amount.

This was a hopeless journey.

Gu Yue clan could only give up on these mortals, they would all die before
they even reached halfway to their destination. Either because of the fierce
beasts or due to attacks from insects.

No matter if it was mortals or Gu Masters, they were all struggling between

life and death. Even the elders who usually had a high position, had no
choice but to don their armors and go to the battlefield.
The Gu Masters that had retired were enlisted again. When the wolf tide
ends, those that manage to live on would definitely not surpass even one
tenth.

The cruelty of nature was displayed in all its glory at this moment. It was
the survival of the fittest and in no way could it be avoided by speaking
words of warmth.

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed; his eyes were closed as he looked at
his aperture.

In his aperture, 44% of red steel sea waves were surging up and down.
These primeval essence were all dark red. It was the Rank two peak stage
dark red primeval essence.

Rank two primeval essence were collectively called red steel primeval
essence. But it had four different small realms: initial stage, middle stage,
upper stage and peak stage. There were also slight differences in the red
steel primeval essence.

Rank two initial stage primeval essence was light red; middle stage
primeval essence was scarlet; upper stage was crimson and peak stage was
dark red.

Many days ago, Fang Yuan had advanced to upper stage. His crimson
primeval essence went through Four Flavors Liquor worm’s refinement and
along with the replenishment from primeval stones, it had completely
changed to the current dark red primeval essence.

Right now, the aperture wall was no longer a watery membrane with the
flowing light, but it was instead a thick stone membrane formed by layers
upon layers of piled up white light.

White Jade Gu and Stealth Scales gu were in the depths of the red steel sea.

Four Flavors Liquor worm was playing around in the sea but when the
Spring Autumn Cicada slowly showed up, it immediately sunk towards the
depths of the sea.
Under the aura of the Spring Autumn Cicada, the surface of the whole
primeval sea became as calm and smooth as a mirror without the slightest
wave.

Spring Autumn Cicada’s condition was getting better.

Its two wings were completely recovered, appearing like a pair of tender
leaves. Only its main body was still withered.

Fang Yuan would check on Spring Autumn Cicada every so often; he could
clearly sense the recovery speed of Spring Autumn Cicada increasing
rapidly.

The Spring Autumn Cicada was like a dying patient before, one who
couldn’t even open their mouths to eat and could only take in liquid food to
preserve their life force.

Now, this patient could get off the bed and eat much more food to nourish
itself; the recovery speed would naturally become faster.

Besides the Spring Autumn Cicada, there were two new members in Fang
Yuan’s aperture.

They were both taken from Bai Ning Bing; one was Water Shield Gu which
looked like a jellyfish as it floated in the sea. Another was red steel Relic
Gu.

Fang Yuan’s advancement to upper stage was because of the purified

primeval essence by the Four Flavors Liquor worm and continuous
nourishment of the aperture wall, causing a qualitative change. Fang Yuan
hadn’t used the red steel Relic Gu.

Just based on cultivation level, Fang Yuan would already be the third
highest person among Rank two Gu Masters of Gu Yue clan. Xiong Li and
Qing Shu were dead; Fang Yuan was in the top five even among the whole
Qing Mao Mountain.
As for Chi Shan and Mo Yan, they originally were at Rank two upper stage
but had advanced to peak stage not long ago. This could be said to have
aroused the morale of the clansmen who were down after Qing Shu’s
sacrifice.

Fang Yuan was progressing and others naturally were also progressing.

Chi Shan and Mo Yan had been in upper stage for quite a bit of time and
had continuously been pressured by the peak stage Qing Shu.

The intense stimulation of death brought by the wolf tide caused Gu

Masters to have a deep thirst for power, squeezing out their potential and
leading to cultivation advancement.

“But if we count fighting strength, I am the number one among the Rank
two Gu Masters of the whole Qing Mao mountain. Now, after I use this red
steel Relic Gu, my cultivation will rise to peak stage and when combined
with my deep experience, I can even battle Rank three Gu Masters to a
certain degree,” Fang Yuan calculated.

His low profile and patience had brought him plentiful gains now.

He could advance to this stage with just C grade aptitude, the whole clan
would be shocked if they knew this. Even the A grade aptitude Fang Zheng
was only at Rank two middle stage.

Naturally, even if he advanced to peak stage, Fang Yuan couldn’t win

against Rank three Gu Masters.
Bai Ning Bing was able to surpass levels and kill a Rank three Gu Master
because of his Northern Dark Ice Soul physique. Gu Yue Qing Shu also
could do that because he had the Wood Charm Gu, a powerful and special
Rank three Gu worm.

In actuality, Fang Yuan had a much stronger trump card than them —
Spring Autumn Cicada.

However, this Rank six Gu was very special, and Fang Yuan forced himself
to not use it. Spring Autumn Cicada hadn’t fully recovered and if it was
forcefully used, whether it could rebirth would be a huge question mark.

The red steel Relic Gu was only effective to Rank two Gu Masters; there
was no value in keeping it.

Fang Yuan was just about to use this Gu when there came a knock on the
door.

Dong, dong, dong.

“Lord Fang Yuan, it is me, Gu Yue Jiang Ya,” a voice shouted after the
knocking.

Fang Yuan frowned, this Jiang Ya was getting more overbearing recently;
he would repeatedly look for him to ask for vitality leaves.

The number of deaths and crippled people were increasing, causing the
price of the vitality leaves to become increasingly higher and even
becoming a situation of high demand but no supply.

“How many times have I told you that I don’t have more vitality leaves. Get
lost.” Fang Yuan coldly snorted. How could he give up his cultivation time
for trifle primeval stones earnings.

Outside the door, Jiang Ya had a flattering smile on, “Lord Fang Yuan,
please appease your anger. You are aware of the current situation, what
choices do I have? Many Gu Masters know I sell vitality leaves and they all
look for me. It is not easy for the little me to pass my days. How about this,
I will pay ten percent more. Lord Fang Yuan, please be kind and give me a
dozen vitality leaves.”

After speaking, he started begging and his sound carried some sobbing.

Fang Yuan was indifferent, “That is your affair, what does it have to do with
me? Hmph, your guts are getting bigger these days, you forgot the
agreement between us and actually brought someone else.”

“Ah…..” Jiang Ya gave a bitter smile outside the door. He looked at the old
Gu Master beside him. He had no other way, this Gu Master was very
powerful and had stubbornly followed him here.

“Little friend Fang Yuan.” This old Gu Master spoke, “I am Gu Yue Ye, I
believe you have heard of me. I came to purchase some vitality leaves and
hope you, little friend, can show me some respect and give a little time to
produce some.”

“Give you respect. Heh, what reputation do you have?” Fang Yuan sneered.
This Gu Yue Ye was somewhat famous, he was a retired Gu Master but had
been brought back by the clan due to the wolf tide.

At his peak period, he had reached Rank three. However, because of

injuries, his cultivation dropped down to Rank two peak stage and now due
to his old age, his cultivation had further dropped down to Rank two upper
stage.

Although his cultivation was the same as Fang Yuan, his fighting strength
could not be compared to the latter.

Gu Yue Ye’s expression was ashen, he had long heard of this eccentric loner
Fang Yuan; a lad with a vicious and stubborn temper, arrogant and rude,
considering everyone beneath him. He had prepared his heart before he
came here, but to think that he had still underestimated Fang Yuan.

He wanted to use his reputation, but this usually successful method had no
effect on Fang Yuan.

He felt his face burning and his heart filled with anger. He had lost all his
honor right now!

“This disrespectful son of a bitch!” He cursed inwardly, but didn’t leave.

He needed the vitality leaves!

He was an experienced man and deeply knew the importance of the vitality
leaves. In times, a vitality leaf could mean the difference between life and
death.

As one gets old, their courage starts to shrink.

Back when he was young, he was hot-blooded and easily excited. He
wanted to protect the clanspeople, he wanted to change the world, he
wanted to become a great hero! In those times, he had the resolution to view
death as a return home!

However, right now he was old and was much more cool-headed. He had
seen through many aspects of life in these years and could be said to have
reflected on himself.

Especially after several of his children died, his heart had grown more cold.

Any organization needs sacrifices.

Resources are limited. Although they are produced all the time, they are
also consumed. As such, this add and decrease limits the total amount.

Humans need food, clothes and lodging to survive; these are resources. Gu
Masters need Gu worms, primeval stones and food to cultivate; these are
also resources.

Becoming strong requires even more resources. But if you don’t sacrifice,
then where can I get more resources?

I rather compromise others than sacrifice my benefits!

Protecting, honor, family love, dreams, hot blood; they are all honorable
reasons for sacrificing.

There are no organizations that do not encourage self-sacrifice. However,

the higher-ups would never say that, they would instead talk of ‘protecting,
honor, family love, dreams, hot blood, happiness’ and so on, and give all
kinds of material benefits.

However, the material benefits are just nonsense once one dies. What could
a dead ‘great hero’ enjoy?

Look at Gu Yue Qing Shu.

He ‘blissfully’ died and was buried in the soil; his name carved in the
gravestone as his spirit continues to influence future ‘heroes’.
Chapter 146
 Chapter 146: Oppressive

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Jiang Ya looked at the Gu Yue Ye whose face was grim, the former secretly
feeling happy in his heart.

This old man had forcefully made Jiang Ya bring him to this place. Jiang Ya
only had Rank one cultivation and was a junior, thus he had to lower his
head to Gu Yue Ye and bring him here.

But now that he had been humiliated, Jiang Ya’s heart was envious of Fang
Yuan’s unrestrained personality.

Gu Yue Ye wanted to give Fang Yuan a few tight slaps, to lecture this
arrogant junior. But for the vitality leaves, he had to control himself, “Junior
Fang Yuan, you can’t say that. You are still young, you don’t know the
importance of human relationships, there will come a time when you need
to beg others. Just think, in future when you come to ask me for a favour
and I treat you like this, how would you feel?”

“Bullcrap human relationships!” Fang Yuan laughed in disdain in his heart.

The so-called unity was just because they were individually weak.

Human relationships, it was important on earth. After all, there was no

difference in personal strength among people. But in this world where
people cultivated, things were inherently different.

Human relationships were just a byproduct of strength — if one is strong,

their human relationships would thrive.
But for those who pursue relationships, they definitely have something to
ask others of.

As for not needing relationships — if one is overly powerful, they can

snatch anything they want, give it away or die, why would they need
people’s relationships?

These were demonic path thoughts, and Fang Yuan would naturally not
advertise them publicly.

But since he was disturbed like this, Fang Yuan might as well do this
business.

Thus, he said, “It’s not that I can’t sell it either. One vitality leaf for sixty-
eight primeval stones. How many do you want?”

“Huh!” Gu Yue Ye outside the door was shocked by this price, quickly
saying, “Junior Fang Yuan, this price is too expensive!”

Fang Yuan snorted, “Then don’t buy it. Among the resources provided by
the clan, there are also vitality leaves, you can exchange it with merit
points.”

Gu Yue Ye laughed bitterly, “How would I not know that, but these vitality
leaves are all sold to those with relationships, the medicine hall clan elder
Gu Yue Yao Ji has complete control over it, how can I interfere? Junior
Fang Yuan, sell me a favour, I will definitely repay you. From what I see,
sixty primeval stones is a just price.”

“I do not anticipate people’s repayment, you have wasted enough of my

time. Seventy primeval stones, if you don’t want to buy it, leave.” Fang
Yuan responded.

Gu Yue Ye was furiously stomping, “Junior Fang Yuan, how can you do
business like this?”

Fang Yuan snickered, “Times are different, it is seventy-two primeval

stones now, every sentence you say wastes some of my time, and when I
feel unhappy I will raise the price, I hope you can make the right
decisions.”

Hearing this, Gu Yue Ye’s face became furious; he wanted to say

something, but every time he opened his mouth, no words came out.

His hagged face was green and red, and Jiang Ya who was beside him saw
this and cheered internally.

Finally, he gritted his teeth, saying, “Okay, I’ll buy it, I need five vitality
leaves.”

“You can hand the primeval stones to Jiang Ya. As for the vitality leaves,
collect them from him three days later.” Fang Yuan said.

This was overbearing, trading goods and money was the most basic
fairness.

But Gu Yue Ye still paid the money, handing multiple bags to Jiang Ya on
the spot.

His movements were slightly trembling, for this was his meagre savings,
the savings from him scrimping throughout the years, and now they were all
taken by a shrewd merchant!

Finally, he walked out of this bamboo building with an endless feeling of

indignance.

“Lord Fang Yuan, what you did was really cool revenge! But I’m afraid you
have completely offended Gu Yue Ye. This old man, when he was young he
always took revenge on people, he would not let go of this easily.” Outside,
Jiang Ya said carefully.

“Let him be, an old man relying on his seniority, he is bound to get
eliminated by the clan.” Fang Yuan opened the door, and Jiang Ya handed
him the bags.

The clan wants to resist the wolf tide, so that requires large amounts of
resources. With less resources, they cannot maintain the large organisation
structure, thus they would need to get rid of members.

These old men being alive were wasting precious scarce resources, they
were destined to go.

The wolf packs eliminated the old and sickly, expelling the crippled wolves.
In human society, they would not be so obvious, always masking their evil
with a shield of light, thus they called these old Gu Masters to fight.

So what if Gu Yue Ye understood the intention?

Being in the system, a person in society, they had no choice.

The clan uses the reason of protecting their family and clan to call them to
fight and sacrifice, how can they refuse?

On Earth there is a sentence, if the Emperor wants the subjects to die, they
cannot do otherwise. But still countless people fight for the positions of
being the emperor’s subjects. This was the allure and cruelty of the system.

“Every round of the wolf tide in the past, those old Gu Masters who come
out to fight, how many can survive? Let’s not say five vitality leaves, even
if we give this Gu Yue Ye fifty pieces, he might not make it out alive.” Fang
Yuan stood at the door, laughing coldly.

When Jiang Ya heard this tone, his heart was freezing.

He could feel an aura from Fang Yuan, full of coldness and frost, like the
northern winds blowing until he cannot raise his head.

Fang Yuan looked at Jiang Ya, his eyes dark and black, continuing, “From
now on, other than the arranged timings, you cannot look for me! If you
break my rules, be prepared to face the consequences. Letting you sell the
vitality leaves for me, is on account of your brother. But respect is given by
others, and thrown away by ownself. Think over your own actions.”

Jiang Ya heard Fang Yuan’s lecture, not daring to speak. Thinking of Gu

Yue Ye’s sad state, sweat poured from his forehead.
“Also, from now on, raise the price of the vitality leaves to seventy
primeval stones.” Fang Yuan said again.

“Seventy?!” Jiang Ya was shocked as he gulped, his eyes shining, as if he

can see an endless supply of primeval stones.

But he was also rather afraid, asking meekly, “Lord Fang Yuan, raising
prices like this, will it cause others to think that we are growing a fortune
through the misfortune? Would we have the suspicion of taking advantage
of the clan’s state? If we do this, we might incur public outrage.”

“Public outrage? Hmph, what can they do, do what I order, don’t talk crap.
If someone finds trouble, tell them the vitality leaves are sold by me.” Fang
Yuan snorted.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Jiang Ya nodded furiously, Fang Yuan’s words were what
he wanted to hear, he was going to do this as well.

He was just a Rank one small fry, he cannot offend too many people.
Throwing all these problems to Fang Yuan, he had already started doing so.

A small fry also has his own survival methods, and towards Jiang Ya’s
intention, Fang Yuan was clear at heart.

But cultivation difference and era difference, results in Fang Yuan living a
different lifestyle.

After using that red steel Relic Gu, he would be Rank two peak stage, near
to Rank three. That means he has finally grown past the initial step, and
having this strength means his life and future would be different.

In the past he needed to lay low, but now he needed to be oppressive.

Only when he is oppressive can he obtain the biggest benefit.

As for this Jiang Ya, he still has some value to make use of. Even with his
petty acts, as long as it does not infringe on Fang Yuan’s benefits, he can
tolerate it.
Even revealing some unimportant trump cards is not a big deal.

During peacetime, those higher-ups have nothing to do, thus they might
find problems. But now that there is the wolf tide, who has the energy to
care about such minute details?

After the wolf tide, it is not guaranteed that the Gu Yue village still exists.

Half a month later.

Lightning wolves attack like tidal waves, causing the Gu Masters to retreat
in a hurry.

“Xiong Yuan Zhen, you must hang in there! Gu Yue village is not too far
away.” Xiong Jiao Man stared at the clansmen on the ground, her eyes
turning red as she shouted.

“Leader big sis, I can’t take it anymore. I have something in my heart I

want to tell you…” Xiong Yuan Zhen was at his dying breath, his injuries
were severe and his face was full of death.

“Okay, speak!” Xiong Jiao Man sobbed. She knew in her heart that
although this Xiong Yuan Zhen was normally quiet, but he was secretly in
love with her. At this moment, she knew what he wanted to say.

But when Xiong Yuan Zhen opened his mouth, he did not manage to
confess and say “I love you.”

He had died, died of blood loss, injuries too severe to cure.

His body was full of injuries, all from the bites of the lightning wolves. The
most fatal blow was at his chest, from his right shoulder all the way to his
belly button — this was caused by a bold lightning wolf.

“Big sis, the situation is bad, another bold lightning wolf group came!” The
recon Gu Master shouted, his voice filled with panic.

Xiong Jiao Man’s cries ended, placing Xiong Yuan Zhen’s body down. She
was the group leader, her group members need her!
The dead has passed, and those alive has to continue facing the cruelty of
this world.

“These goddamn wolves, is there an end to them!” Xiong Jian Man cursed
fiecely. Her body figure was hot and she had a nice pretty face, so when she
said these swear words there was a unique flavor about her.

Hearing her words, the others calmed down internally.

As Xiong Jian Man cursed, she observed.

The investigation result made her slightly distressed. She could kill a group
of bold lightning wolves, fight her way out of two groups, but against four
bold lightning wolf groups, the wisest decision is to retreat to the valley
behind her and use the Signal Gu, hoping for reinforcements.

“Retreat to the valley,” Xiong Jiao Man shouted as she activated both her
giant bears to protect them.

These two giant bears were well-raised by her. One brown and one black,
with smooth and shiny fur, but they were both full of injuries all over their
bodies.

When Xiong Jiao Man and the others successfully retreated to the valley,
these two bears were left with one; the black one had been engulfed by the
lightning wolves’ pack after killing tens of lightning wolves, having run out
of energy.

A Gu worm shot out from the bear corpse, returning back to Xiong Jiao
Man’s hand in an instant.

This was the Bear Enslavement Gu.

It can be planted into bears to allow the Gu Master to manipulate giant

bears.

Of course, it can only be an ordinary bear, for the Bear Enslavement Gu is a

Rank two — it cannot enslave a bear king.
If it can enslave a bear king, they would be strong. Because a bear king,
even if it is the weakest, has at least a hundred bear subordinates.

If a Gu Master can enslave a bear king, it means they have a beast group to
manipulate as well.

“Now we wait for reinforcements, hopefully they can get here soon!” Xiong
Jiao Man panted as she sighed.

They had retreated to the valley, thus the area they had to defend against
greatly decreased, causing the pressure from the wolf packs to also
decrease. But it also meant they had no way out, and the blood and
continual battle would attract more wolf packs.

The crisis was not resolved.

“Eh.” At this point, from the cliff above their heads, a voice was heard.

Everyone raised their heads to look, and saw that there was a young man.

“It’s him…”

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan!”

The seven Xiong clan Gu Masters were first invigorated, but then showed a
complicated expression.
Chapter 147
 Chapter 147: This Fang Yuan is too arrogant

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Ever since Bai Ning Bing and Qing Shu’s intense battle, Fang Yuan who
had chased after Bai Ning Bing the entire way had become well-known, and
his popularity rose.

These days, Fang Yuan had shown his strong side in the wolf tide, heading
alone to hunt lightning wolves and showing shocking results.

He was the new generation’s rising star. If not for his strange personality
and bad reputation, his status would be on par with Chi Shan and Mo Yan.

But to the Xiong village members, Fang Yuan was also Xiong Jiang’s
murderer.

Thus, when Xiong Jiao Man and the others saw Fang Yuan, they showed a
complicated expression.

Fang Yuan stared at them from above, waving his tree vine, saying slowly,
“You can continue to wait for reinforcements, or escape using the vine in
my hand and climb up the mountain.”

Who knew when the reinforcements would come?

Matters on the battlefield were ever changing.

Xiong Jiao Man and the others obviously chose the tree vine in front of
them, but Fang Yuan actually asked them for remuneration.

This caused the Xiong clan Gu Masters to be furious.

“Fang Yuan, we are alliance mates. How can you do this!” Someone
shouted furiously.

“Asking for the Bear Enslavement Gu, how shameless can you be!”
Someone sneered.

Fang Yuan calmly retorted, “One Bear Enslavement Gu and seven hundred
primeval stones, in exchange for all seven of your lives, this is a cheap
price. You can reject me, and I will go back to the clan to report your
circumstances. Hehe, but when will the reinforcements come, will they
encounter a wolf pack on the way here, that I cannot guarantee.”

Everyone became quiet.

Their expressions were ugly.

“Alright, I promise you. Fang Yuan, you really live up to your reputation.”
Finally, Xiong Jiao Man chose to give way for the sake of everyone. Her
words were full of spite towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan shrugged nonchalantly, the result was as expected.

He threw down the tree vine, and laughed coldly in his heart.

These four bold lightning wolf packs were lured here by him, he wanted to
wait for them to die before retrieving their Gu worms and get a huge
amount of merit points. But their Signal Gu had attracted the attention of
the surrounding groups of Gu Masters, and they were all rushing over to
help.

To not waste his effort, Fang Yuan could only act as a reinforcement Gu
Master for once.

Xiong Jiao Man and the others used the tree vines and successfully escaped
from the wolf pack. Not long after, three Gu Master groups arrived, and one
of them was the Chi Shan group.

This caused the seven Gu Masters to become even more upset.

Xiong Jiao Man was extremely regretful. Not long ago, she had withdrawn
her consciousness from the Bear Enslavement Gu and cooperated with Fang
Yuan in refining the Gu worm, thus even if she wanted to go back on her
words now, it was impossible.

“Fang Yuan, I will remember you.” Xiong Jiao Man stared at Fang Yuan
fiercely in the eye.

“Remember or not, that’s your business.” Fang Yuan laughed plainly,

turning around and leaving.

“Miss Xiong, we meet again.” At the other end, Chi Shan group arrived,
speaking with a courteous tone.

Ever since the Bai Ning Bing incident, Gu Yue clan lost a Qing Shu, and
Xiong clan’s Xiong Li died, thus the two clans got closer. Politically, Bai
clan became resisted by the other two clans together, even though the
alliance was still in place.

“Little sister pays respects to elder brother Chi Shan.” Xiong Jiao Man
lifted her frowning brows, cupping her fists towards Chi Shan, continuing,
“This time, we are asking the Gu Yue clan for some reinforcements, Xiong
clan has been surrounded by wolf packs for six days and six nights
already.”

These days, the wolf tide was getting more severe. The lightning wolf packs
have already started to surround the villages with the intention of attacking.

Xiong clan had the lowest position among the three clans – situated at the
mountain foot, they would be the first to get attacked by the wolf packs. In
fact, this is the third time they had gotten surrounded, and they needed
reinforcements. With the coordination of offence from the outside and
inside together, they would then be able to scatter and defeat these lightning
wolf packs.

“The matter about reinforcements is not issue, didn’t we cooperate well the
last two times? But this matter, I have to report to the clan leader first.
Come with me,” Chi Shan said.
Xiong Jiao Man and the others followed Chi Shan group, coming to Gu Yue
village.

Gu Yue village already had layers of defences. The outer walls were
strongly reinforced with dozens of towers. Below the village walls were
trenches dug and filled with sharp bamboo poles.

The village walls had been planted with the Steel Vine Gu and Poison
Flower Gu; at one glance, the walls were covered in sharp vines and the
beautiful poisonous flowers were all budding, over hundreds or even
thousands of them.

Entering the main door, one could see that the surrounding buildings,
whether it was a residence or tavern, had been all transformed into
temporary forts.

Xiong Jiao Man and the other six, after leaving the Xiong clan, their
journey was filled with difficulty. Traversing through wolf packs, they all
had different injuries. Thus, they were led into a bamboo building to receive
treatment.

There was over ten healing Gu Masters in the bamboo building, mostly
Rank one Gu Masters, but also a few Rank two Gu Masters. But what
caused Xiong Jiao Man and the others to be shocked was, the person in
charge was not a Rank two healing Gu Master, but a young girl.

“Put this unconscious one on the vine chair.”

“The one here has a fracture on his leg, Gu Yue Xing, come here and give
him treatment.”

“Superficial injury, Ah Feng, come here and stop the bleeding, Ah Xing
come here and apply the disinfectant, Xiao Hua go place a fracture board on
that leg fracture, then come here to bandage the injury.

The young girl had black hair, a peach-like small mouth, both eyes shining
like crystals and her face was slightly chubby, with a alluring voice. But
when she handled the patients, she was very experienced, causing others to
look in amazement.

Xiong Jiao Man suddenly thought of one person, asking, “This little sister,
are you Gu Yue Yao Le?”

“Xiong clan’s sister Jiao Man, hello. To think you know of my name.” After
assigning the Gu Masters to their stations, Gu Yue Yao Le walked over and
introduced herself.

“Sister Yao Le, you are a famous character. Inheriting Lord Yao Ji’s
benevolent heart, and also extremely talented in medical skills, even with
your Rank one cultivation, you are known as the top ten rising stars in Qing
Mao mountain. Even at the Xiong clan, there are numerous people admiring
you, sister.” Seeing her strong background, Xiong Jiao Man politely praised
as she was on a trip to ask the Gu Yue clan for help.

“I’m flattered, sister Jiao Man.” Gu Yue Yao Le is still young, and her face
turned red as she looked down in embarrassment after being praised.

At this time, a Xiong clan Gu Master complained, “Although you’re both

the top ten rising stars, that Gu Yue Fang Yuan seriously cannot compare to
you, little sister.”

“Don’t mention Fang Yuan, my blood boils thinking of him!”

“Times without heroes, lad gains fame! Sigh…”

“This person’s morals are lacking, to think he is also a top ten rising star,
and even the number one position. Thinking about it makes me want to
vomit.”

This sentence immediately attracted the attention of the people nearby,

including the Gu Yue clan’s Gu Masters.

“Gu Yue Fang Yuan? What did he do this time?” Someone curiously asked.

“Hmph, he took one of my Bear Enslavement Gu, and even seven hundred
primeval stones, as a reward for saving us. I’ve never seen anyone so
shameless, and corrupted by greed!” Xiong Jiao Man snorted, venting her
unhappiness.

“This is nothing, there are worse things.”

“His heart is blacker than coal, selling a vitality leaf for eighty primeval
stones, he is taking advantage of the situation, this person is greedy and
extremely shameless!”

“He is too arrogant and proud. My friend wanted to join his group, however
not only was he rejected, but he even got insulted in public. What’s his deal,
he’s merely a C grade talent.”

“He is a living prodigal son, wasting the inheritance both his parents left
him to buy a red steel Relic Gu from the caravan. Next he snatched another
red steel Relic Gu from Bai Ning Bing. If I had these two Gu worms, I can
also have his cultivation!”

“Lord Gu Yue Qing Shu is the best after all, humble and kind, too bad he
died early.”

“But his brother Fang Zheng has a sense of justice, helping those in need
and is kind hearted, also having Lord Qing Shu’s humble attitude, he is
completely the opposite of his brother.”

Xiong Jiao Man did not expect her ranting to cause so much reaction from
the Gu Yue clansmen.

She was shocked. To think this Fang Yuan was such a failure as a human,
being hated by so many people.

She felt strange, asking, “Since he is so hated, why did no one teach him a
lesson?”

The bamboo building instantly became silent.

The Gu Yue clansmen all looked at each other, not saying a word.
In truth, many people could not stand Fang Yuan’s mannerisms, as well as
his act of maximising profit under such circumstances. Many people found
problems with him, but the result everytime was that the person finding
fault got into an even bigger mess themselves.

After many times, no one came to find fault with him anymore.

And Fang Yuan also became publicly known as the head of the top ten
rising stars that emerged from the wolf tide.

All these statuses, originate from strength.

Fang Yuan’s battle strength was the strongest, so he was the head.
Regardless of how bad his reputation is, or how poor his human relationship
is.

“That Fang Yuan again…” Gu Yue Yao Ji lightly frowned, muttering.

She had never seen Fang Yuan, but had already heard much about him.
Towards Fang Yuan, she had a poor impression of him.

“This Fang Yuan, although my senior, the things he does are unforgivable,
and he is so extreme. He dared to extort sister Jiao Man this time and got
the Bear Enslavement Gu, not giving a hoot about our two clan’s
agreements. No, I must tell grandma and let her teach this Fang Yuan a
lesson, otherwise our Gu Yue clan will be humiliated.”

Thinking of this, the young girl suddenly felt that there was a need for a
clan higher-up to come out and teach this Fang Yuan a lesson.

She naturally did not have this ability, but she felt that her grandma,
medicine hall’s Gu Yue Yao Ji could.

In her eyes, her grandma was omnipotent.

“You want me to deal with Gu Yue Fang Yuan?” Yao Ji looked at her
granddaughter, her expression blank, and soon after that she started getting
nervous.
“My dear granddaughter, did he bully you?” She hurriedly asked.

“He did not bully me, but he bullied others. This time it is the Xiong clan
sister Jiao Man, he extorted her, getting a Bear Enslavement Gu and seven
hundred primeval stones. This is too much, if this goes on, the clan’s
reputation would be completely ruined by him,” Gu Yue Yao Le said.

“Mmm, grandma knows this matter. Darling granddaughter, leave first,

grandma will not disappoint you.” Yao Ji said after deep considerations.

“Thank you grandma! Grandma you do not know but this person is too
wicked, raising the price of his goods and bullying the weak, he is a true
villain.”

After the young girl left, Yao Ji fell into deep thoughts.

She had wanted to deal with Fang Yuan for a long time, however it was
naturally not a naive reason like Yao Le’s, but because Fang Yuan possessed
enough profits for her to strike.

First was the Liquor worm.

Although previously, Yao Ji had bought one from the caravan. But that was
given to her granddaughter Yao Le. She herself still needed one Liquor
worm as an ingredient to refine a Rank three Gu worm she wanted to fuse.

Next was the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass.

The clan’s Nine Leaf Vitality Grass were mostly in Yao Ji’s control, and by
relying on selling the vitality leaves, she could consolidate her authority and
status in the clan.

“This Fang Yuan is too arrogant! First I wanted to buy his Liquor worm, but
he refused, what guts. This time he raised the price of the vitality leaves and
earned a fortune. Does he really think I, the medicine clan elder, is thin air?
Hmph!”
Chapter 148
 Chapter 148: Circumstance

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Two giant banners fluttered in the wind with a ringing noise.

One was the battle merit board; Fang Yuan was now among the top ten in
the list. Another banner listed all kinds of goods which could be exchanged
with battle merits.

However, most of the Gu Masters in the crowded plaza had their attention
on a newly announced decree.

The content of the announcement was: The wolf tide is becoming more
fierce and the casualties among the clan’s Gu Masters are increasing day by
day. To reinforce the treatment methods, the medical hall orders all the Gu
Masters who possess Nine Leaf Vitality Grass to temporarily hand them
over to the clan. The medical hall will organize staffs to unify all the
productions.

There were a list of names in the notification. They were the names of the
Gu Masters that possessed Nine Leaf Vitality Grass in the clan.

Naturally, Fang Yuan was also listed.

Right now, he was standing in a distant corner looking at this notification;

his expression couldn’t help but turn ugly.

At first sight, he had realized this to be Gu Yue Yao Ji’s move against him.

“Hmph, this Gu Yue Yao Ji has been indignant since she failed to purchase
the Liquor worm from me. I already accumulated enough battle merits to
exchange for that Three Steps Fragrant Grass gu, but she prevented this
from happening in the dark. Now, she is actually coveting my Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass…..”

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s actions were understandable.

People of the same trade were natural enemies.

By controlling the sale of the vitality leaves, Gu Yue Yao Ji could

consolidate her authority, deepen her influence and maintain her
connections. However, Fang Yuan sold them in increased price, so this
imperceptibly was infringing on her benefits and shaking her influence.

“I have a lot of Gu worms on me now; White Jade Gu, Moonglow Gu,

Plunder Gu, Water Shield Gu, Earth Communication Ear Grass and more.
Nine Leaf Vitality Grass is my most important economy source; if I lose
this Gu, it will be like receiving a checkmate. Gu Yue Yao Ji made a really
fierce move,” Fang Yuan frowned.

The discussions of the surrounding Gu Masters entered his ears.

“Medicine hall made a truly great decision! There are very few vitality
leaves and they simply can’t meet our needs. Every time a batch appears in
the goods board, they will immediately be purchased by others.”

“Elder Yao Ji is truly gentle and kind. Look at the name list, it includes
several Gu Masters from both Chi and Mo factions. She has no doubt
offended many powerful elders with this action.”

“Elder Yao Ji is thinking for the clan, she is worthy of respect!”

“Ai, only Lord Yao Ji has such courage. If it was any other elders, who
would dare to take such action?”

“Eh! Look, the notification contents have changed. Chi and Mo faction’s
Gu Masters have handed over their Nine Leaf Vitality Grass.”

The crowd was boiling.

Nine Leaf Vitality Grass being consolidated and unified production meant
the availability of much more vitality leaves. This was a great news to the
crowd.

Fang Yuan watched the notice with rapt attention and sure enough saw:
Beside the name list of these Gu Masters, there were new words ‘handed
over’. His own name had thus become conspicuous.

His heart felt increasing pressure.

Gu Yue Yao Ji was an old veteran with deep schemes; with this move, she
was borrowing the momentum to pressure Fang Yuan. If Fang Yuan resisted
or disobeyed, that would be attracting even bigger troubles, giving people a
hold over him; it was absolutely not a sensible act.

This was the power of the system.

If the clan wanted you to sacrifice, it won’t directly say so. Instead it will
drape a shiny cape of righteousness, and give you no choice but to submit.

An example was the recruitment of those retired old Gu Masters and

making them sacrifice their lives, how could they resist?

The current movement of collecting the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass was
asking Fang Yuan and other Gu Masters to sacrifice their benefits to satisfy
everyone, and was basically to Yao Ji’s benefits. Anyone that dared to
disobey was going against the clan and alienating themselves! They were
traitors and rebels!

“To resolve this, small schemes like delaying tactics won’t work and will
instead put oneself into an even more passive state. Yao Ji’s move carries
righteousness and the public opinion; any small schemes will be destroyed.
Only by using an even bigger momentum, fairly fighting back and defeating
her momentum openly will resolve this.”

Fang Yuan already had a solution.

This plan was simple but grand; advance to Rank three!

Rank three and Rank two Gu Masters had completely different status. In the
clan, any Gu Master that advanced to Rank three would immediately
become an elder and join the decision makers circle. Even the clan head
couldn’t lightly infringe upon their benefits.

Don’t think that the Gu Masters of the Mo and Chi factions obediently
handed over the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, seemingly sacrificing their own
benefits. Behind the scenes, Gu Yue Yao Ji should have already completed
secret transactions with Gu Yue Chi Lian, Gu Yue Mo Chen and other
elders.

This was political transaction.

However, the majority couldn’t see this truth and were hoodwinked by Yao
Ji.

If Fang Yuan was a Rank three Gu Master, even if he had to hand over the
Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, he would definitely obtain enough compensations
in other aspects.

Why was Gu Yue Yao Ji so anxious to deal with Fang Yuan?

On one hand, it was because of benefits; Fang Yuan’s actions infringed on

her benefits and similarly she wanted some Gu worms that was on Fang
Yuan’s body.

On the other hand, Fang Yuan was already at Rank two peak stage; if she
didn’t make any move now and waited for him to become a Rank three
elder, there would be no more opportunities.

“Advancing to Rank three is a must. The clan can sacrifice Rank two Gu
Masters, but Rank three Gu Masters are its pillars and each loss would incur
a huge damage. Moreover, I have accumulated too many troubles. Qing Shu
died but the clan didn’t do a careful investigation. I have the Water Shield
Gu, Plunder Gu and other Gu worms, but the clan has turned a blind eye to
it. My cultivation is advancing so fast, the higher-ups clearly know about it,
but are enduring it and haven’t examined the secrets on me.”
Fang Yuan was very clear on his current situation.

On the surface, he looked to be strong and well off, but he was actually
surrounded by danger.

The clan didn’t move against him because their attention was completely on
the wolf tide. If they can’t resist the wolf tide, the clan would be destroyed.
In front of such pressure, Fang Yuan’s situation was only a minor detail to
them.

However, once the wolf tide is gone, the clan’s higher-ups would regain
their energy; how could they not look for him to settle the account?

Before in the academy, the clan elders didn’t move against Fang Yuan
because he was too weak. He was taking small steps and didn’t infringe
upon their benefits, thus not attracting their attention.

But, it was different now.

Fang Yuan’s cultivation was already at Rank two peak stage, if he took one
step further, he would become an elder.

Simply this cultivation had already touched the elders’ nerves. His every
movement was observed and noted by the elders.

Any newly advanced elders could influence the whole political situation of
the Gu Yue clan. This resulted in continuous suppression of Fang Yuan.
What’s more, Fang Yuan hadn’t joined the system and entered any factions,
thus these made the suppressions become even more intense.

Neutral faction was also a faction.

No one could tolerate the current Fang Yuan, someone who was roaming
beyond the clan system.

“If I advance to Rank three, the suppression will definitely be much more
lower than now, though they will still be there. Rank three is a point of
qualitative change, a threshold. Stepping through it will bring one to a
whole new world. Similarly, with Rank three cultivation, I can freely move
about. At worst, I will simply leave the clan.” Fang Yuan was clear on this.

However, advancing to Rank three was not an easy thing. Especially

considering Fang Yuan’s C grade aptitude, it was almost an impossible
barrier.

In his previous life, he had stalled at Rank two peak stage for over a
hundred years. Until afterwards, he paid a painful price to obtain a Gu and
promoted his aptitude. Only then could he step through this difficulty.

In a Gu Master’s cultivation, it was easy to advance through small realms,

they only needed enough time and patience. However, every large realm
had a barrier, and the higher you go, the harder it is to cross. Especially the
difficulty in advancing from Rank five to Rank six was beyond imagination,
harder than ascending heaven!

Fang Yuan already had a lot of difficulties in advancing from Rank one to
Rank two. Now, to advance from Rank two to Rank three, there was no
possibility of success by following the traditional route.

Fortunately, in Fang Yuan’s five hundred years of life experience and vast
memories, there were two to three methods. Saying it nicely, they were
alternative paths but saying it coarsely, they were demonic practices.

This option was very suitable for Fang Yuan’s current situation.

With this option, advancing to Rank three required one to refine a peculiar
and bloody Gu — Man-beast Life Burial Gu. An ancient devil path sect
leader had made painstaking efforts and invented this recipe to strengthen
his subordinates’ cultivation.

The Man-beast Life Burial Gu was specialized for Rank two Gu Masters to
breakthrough to Rank three realm.

In his previous life, Fang Yuan explored unknown places and coincidentally
found this recipe. It had made a deep impression on him and he had firmly
kept it in mind.
The crucial point was that the materials required for the fusion were not
rare.

If it were normal times, Fang Yuan might need two-three years to collect
them, given his circumstances. However the wolf tide gave him a great
opportunity.

He had already collected sufficient primeval stones and Gu worms. The

only remaining thing was to wait for an opportune moment.

“Everyone, quickly look at the notice the medicine hall has just issued.”

“They want to collect Nine Leaf Vitality Grass and unify the production of
vitality leaves?”

“This is a great news.”

In the bamboo building, a group of Gu Masters gathered near the notice

pasted on the wall. They were all filled with delight when they read it.

“Hahaha, I reckon Fang Yuan is close to tears.”

“Hmph, serves him right for selling the vitality leaves at such a high price,
exploiting our hard earned money!”

“I really want to see what expression Fang Yuan has now….it would
definitely be very ugly.”

Many people were taking joy in the others’ misfortune.

“Hehehe, this really lets us vent our resentment. We really need to thank
Miss Yao Le for this, if she didn’t persuade Lord Yao Ji, how could there be
such a day?”

“Right, we are really grateful to Miss Yao Le.”

“Miss Yao Le is not only beautiful, she is also kind-hearted, upholding

justice and fairness for us. She has the demeanor of Lord Yao Ji.”
As she heard the continuous praises, Gu Yue Yao Le shyly lowered her
head, she felt happy.

“Little sister Yao Le.” Right at this time, Xiong Jiao Man walked in through
the door, “I came to say my goodbyes. I saw the medicine hall’s notice, I
am really thankful to you for letting me vent out my indignance. People like
Fang Yuan are black sheeps and need to be controlled.”
“Big sister, you are leaving?” Gu Yue Yao Le threw a concerned look.

Xiong Jiao Man put one hand on her hip and pointed the thumb of her other
hand to a group of Gu Masters standing outside the door, saying, “I have
already asked for reinforcements, I must hurry back. Let’s meet again next
time.”

Yao Le’s heart was filled with grief.

Xiong Jiao Man had ten Gu Masters when she had left her clan, but there
were only seven left when she reached here. Now, these Gu Masters were
going to step into the cruel battlefield again, how many of them could
safely return?
Chapter 149
 Chapter 149: Wolf pack attacks the village

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Yao Le sent Xiong Jiao Man and the others to the door with her gaze as
they got further apart.

But this separation was extremely short lived; merely fifteen minutes later,
Xiong Jiao Man and the others returned to the bamboo building.

“We are unlucky, there’s a wolf tide,” Xiong Jiao Man laughed bitterly,
explaining.

When the Gu Masters in the bamboo building heard this, their expressions
tensed.

Xiong Jiao Man’s group had great numbers, yet they were forced to retreat
to the village – it showed the intensity of this wolf tide.

“Everyone get ready, the lightning wolf pack is about to assault the village,”
Xiong Jiao Man said.

Once she finished her words, sirens resounded in the entire village.

The village went quiet for a moment, then in the next instant noise erupted.

“This alarm… there is a large-sized wolf pack attacking the village!”

“Quick, quick, gather all our group members here, there’s a huge battle
incoming.”

“Damn it, I just got back, I wanted to get a good sleep…”

Gu Masters cursed as some showed a cold expression. At once, in the
bamboo building and on the streets, Gu Masters could be seen moving
quickly, gathering towards the four doors of the village as well as the outer
walls.

On the interior side of the village outer walls, there was a large wooden
ladder at every interval for Gu Masters to climb up.

And the many defensive towers were made higher than the outer walls, like
brave courageous defenders of the village.

Fang Yuan was among the crowd, arriving at the base of the outer wall. A
Gu Master was treading on the wooden ladder, and as he was about to head
up, Fang Yuan pulled him down and ascended himself.

“Which bastard…” That Gu Master was about to scold out, but saw that it
was Fang Yuan and immediately shut up.

Fang Yuan climbed up the wooden ladder, then he expedited the White Jade
Gu and peeked at the front lines.

Just outside the village, there were roaming lightning wolves everywhere,
thousands of them!

Taking a glance, there was an endless number of glimmering green wolf

eyes, causing one to break out in cold sweat.

These wolves were all starving, and some were so hungry even their bodies
were shrinking.

The lightning wolves’ amount was too much, it became a moving disaster.
The surrounding wild beasts were either chased away or eaten, and for the
wolf packs, they were getting less and less food.

To them, a village full of people was a fatal attraction.

Wolves were full of wildness, and a hungry wolf is even scarier, more
dangerous, and crazier.
A lightning wolf that is full would not attack the village.

Other than these normal lightning wolves, there was also the bold lightning
wolf.

Although mixed in with the wolf packs, the bold lightning wolf was still
easily recognised.

Their bodies were as large as a calf.

There was at least thirty!

Many people upon seeing this, drew in a deep breath.

This was the second time Gu Yue village had been attacked by wolves this
year, but this size was almost twice or even more than that of the last time.

These bold lightning wolves were all at the peak of their health, strong like
bulls. Ordinary lightning wolves might not get food, but these hundred
beast kings definitely had ample nutrition.

Resources were naturally given to the higher-ups first.

The benefits of the lower rank members would be stripped, sacrificed and
given to the higher ranks.

Be it human society or wild beast groups, it worked the same way.

“These bold lightning wolves are not the real threat.” Fang Yuan’s gaze
moved, continuously finding and quickly saw three large wolf shadows at
the back of the wolf pack, hiding under the shadow of the trees.

Thousand beast king, frenzy lightning wolf!

Each frenzy lightning wolf was as large as an elephant.

When Fang Yuan saw this, his pupils shrunk slightly, but went back to
normal immediately. He continued observing, only finding even more bold
lightning wolves coming in from all directions.
Fang Yuan did not see the lightning crown wolf.

Fang Yuan breathed out a sigh of relief secretly, for without the lightning
crown wolf, the village was relatively safe.

In his memory, the lightning crown wolf appeared at the end of August. It
caused great damage to the Gu Yue clan, and if not for the clan leader and
elders joining forces to block them relentlessly, along with Gu Yue Qing
Shu sacrificing his life to raise his strength, Gu Yue village would’ve gotten
wiped out already.

Ever since his rebirth, Fang Yuan changed many things. Gu Yue Qing Shu
had already been sacrificed prematurely, so Fang Yuan dared not be
careless. There was even a possibility of the lightning crown wolf appearing
now. Thus, he rushed to the site to observe the scenario.

Howl!

Three frenzy lightning wolves raised their heads as they howled long and
loud.

In their cries, numerous lightning wolves received their orders, and started
to attack the village.

On the village’s end, the Gu Masters had already prepared themselves,

getting into formation.

Rank one Gu Masters were all at the wall’s corners, both hands supporting
the cold walls.

Rank two Gu Masters, some climbed the wooden ladders while others
gathered at the top of the towers.

Right behind them, the temporary forts that were remodelled from buildings
were filled with Gu Masters, some were support teams, some were healing
Gu Masters from the medicine hall, and recon Gu Masters were moving
between them providing the battle information to the back end staff.
Some clan elders were at the back end, some ascended the tower buildings,
and others watched at the sidelines, reserving their strength and being a
pillar of mental support to the clansmen.

“They’re here.” Fang Yuan stood on the wooden ladder, his eyes
glimmering.

LIghtning wolves moved from the entire mountain, forming into a tidal
wave and assaulted the village.

Rumble rumble…

They first fell into the pre-dug pitfalls outside the walls, their bodies
penetrated by numerous bamboo spears, like dumplings inside a pot.

Some died on the spot, while others had some life remaining, crying out
pitifully.

The wind blew, and the smell of blood entered everyone’s noses, while wolf
cries entered their ears.

The wolf packs attacked in a frenzy. Not only did they not stop, they were
in fact stimulated by the blood and attacked even more furiously.

Lightning wolves fell into the trap one by one, using their lives to pave the
way for the others. Stepping on their companions’ corpses, and crashing up
onto the village walls.

At once, thudding sounds were heard.

A lightning wolf was powerlessly against the wall, but with the endless
hordes, the impact caused the outer wall to shake.

Rank one Gu Masters below the outside wall held in their tremendous fear,
and risked their lives injecting primeval essence into the Steel Vine Gu and
Poison Flower Gu.

The village walls’ numerous thorns stabbed into the lightning wolves’ body.
The Poison Flower Gu gave these steel vines a poisonous touch as the
poison invaded the lightning wolves’ body.

Lightning wolves scratched and attacked the village walls, opening their
mouths and biting, but as their injuries intensified and the poison
accumulated, their movements gradually turned sluggish.

Pewpewpew.

Rank two Gu Masters stepping on the wooden ladders, along with those at
the tower buildings, shot out moonblades.

The moonblade shot into the wolf packs, and instantly blood splashed
everywhere, and wolf limbs went flying.

The bold lightning wolves began to enter the battle, immediately bringing
injuries and deaths to the Gu Masters.

Fang Yuan’s corner.

A thin long blue lightning current moved about and hit onto the village
walls, instantly penetrating and creating a hole. It electrocuted an
unfortunate Rank one Gu Master inside as well.

That bold lightning wolf that killed a Gu Master quickly received heavy
attention.

Numerous moonblades flew towards it, but it dodged left and right, relying
on the surrounding lightning wolves to provide cover, thus suffering only
minor injuries.

Howl!

It opened its mouth, and between its sharp teeth, sparks flew, quickly
forming an electric current that flew through the air towards Fang Yuan.

Water Shield Gu.

Fang Yuan snorted, and from his nose, two lines of light blue water vapour
flowed out.
The water vapour expanded, forming a water ball shield, protecting him.

The lightning current hit the water shield and caused it to shake, almost
breaking.

Moonglow Gu!

Fang Yuan kept the water shield, and from his wrist, three moonblades shot
out.

The moonblades’ angle was tricky. The bold lightning wolf dodged the first,
but its right front leg was hit by the second, causing its movement to slow
down, and the third hit its head, causing a severe injury that crushed its left
eye.

It cried out in pain, but other Gu Masters saw the opportunity and quickly, a
flurry of moonblades enveloped it.

Pewpewpew!

This bold lightning wolf was instantly pelted, its body bathed in blood, and
injuries were so deep its bones could be seen. Its body shook a little before
collapsing completely. The surrounding wolf packs went into a panic, like
ripples in a pond.

But at this point, there were three frenzy lightning wolves behind holding
the fort, and the wolf packs only went into chaos for a while before raising
their claws and attacking the village walls again.

Fang Yuan shot a few more moonblades out before getting down the
wooden ladder. With just this, his deep red primeval essence had already
gone below half, needing replenishment.

Seeing him coming down, a Rank two Gu Master quickly replaced his
position and ascended the wooden ladder.

Normally, Gu Masters that had long range attacks would ascend the wooden
ladder, or gather at the tower building’s roof. Their emphasis was on the
bold lightning wolf, as its threat was greater than any ordinary lightning
wolf.

Some bold lightning wolf had a Gu worm that assisted with jumping in their
bodies, allowing them to leap into the village.

Fang Yuan walked down the ladder, and continued towards the back.

Surrounding him, there was people walking around, similar to him, those
that had expended their primeval essence and were recovering. Another
group of Gu Masters replaced their positions and entered the battlefield,
providing their strength towards defending the clan.

This was a battlefield.

Strength below Rank two peak stage was meagre. Only Rank three Gu
Masters were the important pillars, able to control the situation.

Fang Yuan came to a bamboo building. This was a modified building and
was heavily reinforced. He squeezed his way in, where many Gu Masters
were sitting inside, holding primeval stones and recovering their primeval
essence.

Some healing Gu Masters moved among the crowd; some squatted on the
ground, some bandaged injured Gu Masters, and the first aid kits were
placed at the side.

Fang Yuan found a spot to sit down, and a healing Gu Master immediately
came over.

He shook his head towards her, and she understood, approaching another
Gu Master instead.

Such a rotational strategy, all the way till ten o’clock at night, Fang Yuan
had already entered battle five times. But the lightning wolf packs did not
seem to reduce, in fact, they could see even more wolf packs, hurriedly
arriving upon hearing the frenzy lightning wolf’s call.
“It seems this wolf tide will sustain through the night,” said a clan elder
who stared outside the village, his face full of worry.

At night, Gu Masters’ vision was poorer, but on the other hand, the
lightning wolves had superior vision and were unaffected by the darkness.

“This is only the second wolf tide this year, and it is already so intense. The
situation is not optimistic.” Another clan elder sighed.

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s face was sullen.

She was the medicine hall clan elder, leading the healing Gu Masters. First-
hand injury reports would be sent to her.

On that thin piece of bamboo paper, it recorded the injuries and deaths of
the day. Yao Ji held it in her hands, feeling solemn.

The death toll was far greater than previous years.

But she understood, this was not due to the decline of quality of Gu
Masters, but because the wolf numbers were too great, and too ferocious.

“Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, how’s the acquisition?” Seeing the blood red sun
setting, Yao Ji sighed, asking faintly.

Her subordinate quickly reported – three people had not given up theirs yet,
and Fang Yuan was among them.

Yao Ji listened and snorted, then asked, “Where is Yao Le?”

“Miss Yao Le is near the east door, leading the healing team. I’ve advised
her many times, but she refuses to stay at the back, insisting on going to the
frontlines to battle.” Saying so, he kneeled down in horror.

Yao Ji thought for a while before nodding, waving her hand to send off the
subordinate.

Near to her granddaughter, there was a clan elder. Xiong Jiao Man and the
gang were also there, fighting at the village walls. It could be said that the
frontlines was the safest place.

Although Yao Ji doted on her granddaughter, she supported her courage as

well.

The ones in power have their considerations.

These experiences will become Gu Yue Yao Le’s political advantage when
she inherits the medicine hall!
Chapter 150
 Chapter 150: I am only helping myself

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The golden full moon hung in the sky, the drifting clouds casting a gloomy
shade.

There were desperate battles going on outside the village and the bright
moonlight was great news to the Gu Masters in the dark night.

Wolf corpses piled up in the traps and were already reaching the midpoint
of the wall. This gave a good platform to move on for the charging
lightning wolves.

Some ordinary lightning wolves jumped, clawed and even directly leaped
across the wall.

However, these lightning wolves usually fell or staggered due to the height
disparity and were immediately disposed off by the standby Gu Masters.

At this time, Fang Yuan was standing on top of a tower, along with many
other Gu Masters; they were endlessly throwing out moonblades and other
attacks at the wolf packs.

In the whole battlefield, these towers were the most important source of
damage. The combination of the Gu Masters and the towers had eliminated
a large number of bold lightning wolves.

“Kill, kill, kill. Annihilate these wolves!”

“Nana, I will take revenge for you!!”
“Persevere, just a bit more. The clan’s safety lies in our hands.”
The surroundings were a cacophony of noises; some people were madly
screaming, some were shouting revenge, some were shouting in pain, and
some were shouting slogans.

Fang Yuan indifferently stood there, his hand tossing out moonblades
occasionally while continuing to observe the battlefield.

Although there was a bright moon, the visibility couldn’t be compared to

daytime after all. The three frenzy lightning wolves were at the rear,
unmoving; their figures indistinct.

As long as they were unharmed, the lightning wolves were just cannon
fodders and even bold lightning wolves were only high level sacrifices.

Suddenly!

A frenzy lightning wolf unhurriedly took a step forward, it opened its large
mouth and threw a thunderball.

Rank three thunderclap Gu.

This thunderball was not big, it was only the size of a millstone. However, a
large amount of eerie blue electricity was condensed in it and its speed was
strangely fast.

Almost immediately, the thunder ball fiercely collided with the tower Fang
Yuan was on.

The progress of the fierce battle had been in a deadlock, many Gu Masters
were mindlessly fighting and they were not able to react to the thunderball.

Water Shield Gu, White Jade Gu!

Fang Yuan was only able to put up his defense before white light covered
his sight.

BOOM!

The huge sound from the explosion nearly ruptured his eardrums.
A formless force erupted out from the explosion and sent him flying.

The devastating thunder destroyed the water shield within two breaths of
time. The surplus electric current struck Fang Yuan and even with the White
Jade Gu’s defense, he still felt bursts of numbness.

Bang.

He fell to the ground from a height of three to four meters. White Jade Gu
was not the Raiment Gu; it couldn’t lessen the force on impact. Fang Yuan’s
back hurt all over.

He quickly got up from the ground, his eyes repeatedly blinking as

teardrops fell from it.

After three breaths of time, he slowly recovered his sight.

The tower that had been built with thick stones was half-destroyed. There
were many burnt black corpses scattered around on the ground. The
thunderball attack had opened a huge hole on the outer wall, and an
unending stream of wolf packs charged into the village like a tide.

The frenzy lightning wolves finally entered the battlefield!

Thousand beast king level strength was extraordinary.

The many Gu Masters that were around Fang Yuan in the tower just a
moment ago were completely dead, some left without intact corpses. Only
Fang Yuan alone had survived.

The jellyfish-like Water Shield Gu appeared very dull inside his aperture.

If the water shield was continuously destroyed many times, the Water
Shield Gu would also be damaged and could even perish.

White Jade Gu was also in a similar state.

Gu worms were strong and yet fragile.

Take this Thunderclap Gu for example; its thunderball was very powerful
and fast, also difficult to resist. But it also had a weakness — it couldn’t be
used repeatedly and needed some time before the second thunderball could
be shot out.

BOOM!

But Fang Yuan had just stood up when another thunderball flew over.

“To think this wolf king has two Thunderclap Gu on it!” Fang Yuan’s
complexion turned pale and he hurriedly dodged.

He tried not using the Water Shield Gu and only relied on the defense from
the White Jade Gu.

“Beast, stop your insolence!” At this critical timing, a figure appeared in

mid-air, golden light bursting out from the figure as he resisted this
thunderball.

The elders had made their moves!

However, one elder was still not enough. Soon, the elder was joined with
two other elders.

A frenzy lightning wolf needed at least three groups with great teamwork to
join hands, or at least three Rank three Gu Masters to face it.

The frenzy lightning wolf took heavy steps forward, emerging from the
indistinguishable wolf packs, as the surrounding wolves gave way.

It gradually started from a slow run, and then got faster and faster, charging
at the village wall with its head lowered.

Seeing this scene, all the Rank one and Rank two Gu Masters fled in terror.

Only those three elders still remained on their spots.

Everyone tacitly vacated this part of the battlefield and left it to them.
The intense battle between the three elders and this frenzy lightning wolf
unfolded.

Not long after, the other two frenzy lightning wolves also charged towards
the village; opening another two battlefields.

Nine elders and three frenzy lightning wolves formed into three great
battlefields. Thunder and lightning burst out everywhere, destroying the
bamboo buildings. Most of the Gu Masters or the lightning wolves who
were caught in these three great battles didn’t have a good end.

Lighting wolf packs were still charging towards the village, but Fang Yuan
didn’t fight anymore and moved to a corner of the battlefield, observing the
three great battle stages from a distance.

No doubt, the attacks from these wolf packs had reached the climax.

“Three frenzy lightning wolves; one has two Thunderclap Gu and has high
offensive power; another has Thunder Wings Gu and can fly for a short
moment, giving it very high flexibility in the battle; another holds the
Thunder Roar Gu and can kill its enemies with the soundwaves.” Fang
Yuan slowly got the details on these three frenzy lightning wolves after
observing for a moment.

A thousand beast king usually has three-four Rank two and a Rank three
wild Gu worm residing on it.

The Gu Masters could give proper response as long as they were clear on
these Gu worms. Once the frenzy lightning wolves suffered targeted
attacks, with their low wisdom, they wouldn’t change their monotonous
attack styles, and the battle outcome was certain.

Sure enough, soon the several elders retreated and other elders replaced
them.

With the mutual coordination between them and superior tactics, they were
soon able to occupy the upper hand. After a short moment of intense battle,
they controlled the battle situation.
Victory was only a matter of time.

“The outcome is set.” Just when Yao Ji puffed out a sigh, a roar sounded out
from the eastern gate.

A lightning wolf was growing bigger, from the size of a normal lightning
wolf – as if air was blown inside it – it swelled up to a size of an elephant.

“There is actually another frenzy lightning wolf!” Many elders were

alarmed at this scene.

Their attention had all been on the three battle stages. As their entire battle
formation was heavily emphasized on these three areas, the forces at the
eastern gate was somewhat thin and weak.

“Not good, Yao Le is still there!” Yao Ji suddenly turned pale, and she
immediately shot out towards the eastern gate.

“Eh, to think there was still such an unforeseen event. This frenzy lightning
wolf should have a Rank three Aura Restraint Gu; it used this disguise to
mix in with the lightning wolf packs and deceive the Gu Masters at the
eastern gate.”

Fang Yuan observed carefully; the situation at the eastern gate was far from
good.

A frenzy lightning wolf suddenly appeared and directly smashed the eastern
gate, creating a huge hole.

Countless lightning wolves flocked behind the bold lightning wolves,

howling savagely as they charged into the village.

Gu Yue Yao Le was numb with fear as she saw the lightning wolf packs
charging in like a tide.

Fortunately, she had veterans like Xiong Jiao Man beside her. At this
critical timing, Xiong Jiao Man took it upon herself to control the scene and
ordered, “Quick, close the doors and the windows. We need to defend this
place till the reinforcements arrive, and only then will we have a fighting
chance!”

She had just finished speaking when – BANG – the roof of the bamboo
building collapsed under the attack of the frenzy lightning wolf.

Gu Yue Yao Le screamed. The abrupt twist in events had caused her to lose
her composure.

She was after all too young and only had Rank one cultivation. She had
stubbornly stayed here because she felt safe and had never thought she
would fall into such a dangerous state.

“Brute beast, stop at once!” Gu Yue Yao Ji shouted while frantically

running.

She helplessly looked as the frenzy lightning wolf rammed into the bamboo
building. Her beloved granddaughter was in a dangerous situation but even
though she had the power, she couldn’t help her because it was beyond her
reach.

At this dangerous moment, it was again Xiong Jiao Man who stepped
forward.

She willed in her mind and her remaining brown bear charged towards the
frenzy lightning wolf with a roar.

The frenzy lightning wolf swatted with its right paw, sending this four-
hundred-kilogram-over brown bear flying.

It opened its mouth and bit the brown bear’s head to pieces. How could an
ordinary wild beast resist a thousand beast king level’s strength?

Xiong Jiao Man took this time when the frenzy lightning wolf was tangled
up with the brown bear to rush out with Gu Yue Yao Le in tow, managing to
pull apart a small distance.

The frenzy lightning wolf roared. It naturally wasn’t willing to see its prey
run away like this. It leapt and crossed a dozen meters at once, landing in
front of Xiong Jiao Man.

Suddenly seeing this frenzy lightning wolf appear in front of her, Gu Yue
Yao Le’s legs went soft.

Xiong Jiao Man dragged her but didn’t dare to rush forward recklessly; she
could only change her direction and run towards the outside of the village.

The frenzy lightning wolf was just about to pounce on them when Gu Yue
Yao Ji arrived and threw a light purple moonblade at the wolf’s back; the
moonblade quietly changed into a ball of miasma and bore into the frenzy
lightning wolf’s nose.

The frenzy lightning wolf immediately coughed twice; it was poisoned!

This was the Rank three Moon Poison Gu.

The frenzy lightning wolf was furious, and it raised its head and roared; its
fierce roar formed into an invisible force and smashed into the
surroundings.

Thunder Roar Gu used the vibration of the soundwaves to kill, but this was
not Thunder Roar Gu – it was the Soundwave Gu which formed invisible
pushing force.

Xiong Jiao Man and Gu Yue Yao Le were sent flying into different
directions by this pushing force. Xiong Jiao Man struck a bamboo building;
no more movements could be seen from her, whereas Gu Yue Yao Le was
sent flying past the broken eastern gate and out of the village.

The fall stunned her and as she tried getting up, she saw a lightning wolf
opening its bloody mouth and trying to bite her.

Aah—!

She gave a shrill scream and at this critical juncture, a moonblade flew over
and killed this lightning wolf.
She hurriedly stood up and saw the benefactor who saved her; he was a
young male Gu Master. The lower half of his body had been buried under
the collapsed wall.

The male Gu Master vaguely smiled at her with his blood-drenched face;
the next moment, his throat was ripped open by the swarming lightning
wolves.

Tears flew down Gu Yue Yao Le’s face, and she cried as she ran.
This part of the battlefield was extremely chaotic.

Because of Gu Yue Yao Le’s identity and background, there were Gu

Masters who helped her out from time to time. But they were powerless to
even protect themselves, much less help her out of this predicament. Gu
Yue Yao Ji was also tangled up with the frenzy lightning wolf and couldn’t
attend to her.

Gu Yue Yao Le was perplexed and fully at a loss within; there were only the
images of claws and teeth of the lightning wolves in front of her. In her
frantic state, she suddenly heard a voice speak, “Move a step back!”

She subconsciously followed the voice and was able to luckily avoid a
lightning wolf’s bite.

“Roll to the right.” That voice came again.

Yao Le’s consciousness was still blank, but her body had already made the
move. There was a snapping sound of a wolf’s mouth; she had escaped the
bite by a hair’s breadth.

The voice arrived unceasingly and the young girl meticulously followed
them. There were mistakes made sometimes, but at those times a
moonblade would fly over from seemingly nowhere and get her out of the
trouble.

Only when there were no more lightning wolves around her, did Yao Le
discover that she was already safe.
It was only when she had unconsciously drifted far away from the village
and was in a remote forest.

A human figure appeared in front of her.

Her eyes immediately opened wide, “Gu Yue Fang Yuan, you were the one
who helped me?”
“No, I am only helping myself.” Fang Yuan grinned, revealing an evil
intent.
Chapter 151
 Chapter 151: Demonic nature

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“What?” Gu Yue Yao Le was shocked when she heard this.

Fang Yuan had already struck at lightning speed, his hand chopping her
neck! She fainted immediately.

The young girl fell down helplessly, and Fang Yuan’s hand quickly moved,
holding her by the waist. Next, he activated the Stealth Scale Gu, and their
bodies vanished on the spot.

When Gu Yue Yao Le woke up in a sleepy state, she found herself in a dark
mountain cave.

She shrugged her head, trying to stand up subconsciously.

But she soon found out that her arms were tied behind her back, the rope
looped around her neck; she was tied tightly on a large rock.

All the Gu worms on her body had been plundered away by Fang Yuan,
refined and turned into his.

She was merely a fifteen year old young girl — with that frail body, how
could she break free from that thick ropes wrapped a few times around the
rock, even tied with knots?

Being trapped in this remote and unfamiliar place, the young girl started to
feel frightened.

She thought about the moment before she had fainted; even the most naive
person would also know that Fang Yuan was going to do something bad to
her.
“But how would Fang Yuan deal with me? What is he planning to do? Is it
because I complained about him to grandma, thus he is taking revenge?”
The young girl was tied helplessly, but her thoughts quickly flipped like
pages of a book.

The more she thought, the more frightened she got, and she started sobbing
uncontrollably.

“Grandma, where are you? Quickly come and save me…” As she cried, she
felt an intense fear and loneliness.

Fang Yuan was nowhere to be seen, and the cave was filled with her cries.

“Is Fang Yuan planning to trap me here? For seven, eight days, and make
me suffer in hunger, so I will never speak ill of him again?” After crying for
a while, Gu Yue Yao Le thought of a possibility.

Too evil!

Fang Yuan, I will never forgive you!!

She gritted her teeth as her impression of Fang Yuan, which was bad from
the start, fell into negatives.

Since her birth, Gu Yue Yao Le had not hated a person so much.

At this moment, footsteps were heard.

Soon, Fang Yuan’s silhouette was seen emerging from the shadows.

“Fang Yuan, what do you want, let go of me now! Otherwise my grandma

will deal with you.” Seeing Fang Yuan, Gu Yue Yao Le struggled intensely,
her slim legs stomping on the ground like a small deer that fell into a trap.

“You sure are lively,” Fang Yuan coldly snorted.

Gu Yue Yao Le was about to open her mouth and continue crying in a rage,
but she soon saw a large bear moving behind Fang Yuan.
“B-bear…” Her widened eyes showed shock as she stuttered.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, stretching out his hand and caressing the bear’s
black fur, his voice filled with coldness that flowed in the cave like ominous
winds, “Because of the wolf tide, it was not easy to find such a wild bear, it
took me lots of time and effort to find it.”

Gu Yue Yao Le reacted instantly. Her quick-witted thoughts soon

remembered that Fang Yuan had once taken a Bear Enslavement Gu from
Xiong Jiao Man.

“So that’s it…” She laughed coldly and was about to speak, but Fang Yuan
suddenly squatted in front of her.

“What are you doing?!” The young girl tried to move away, but Fang Yuan
easily used his right hand and grabbed her cheeks firmly.

“Such a cute appearance, lovable indeed,” Fang Yuan plainly commented.

Swoosh!

His right hand moved quickly, grabbing Yao Le’s shirt, and pulled.

The shirt was instantly torn, showing her pink undergarment.

“Ah—!!!” The young girl was stunned momentarily before shrieking

loudly, frantically struggling. Even though her tender muscles bled due to
friction from the ropes, she couldn’t care less.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, continuing to pull and tear her clothing apart.

Rrrrrip.

Soon, the young girl’s ragged garment was only left with a few torn strips
of cloth, showing off large areas of her milky, delicate flesh.

“No, no!” She was extremely frightened, crying out loudly. As she thought
of all the various possible ways Fang Yuan was going to deal with her, her
whole body shook and trembled.
However, Fang Yuan did not continue on as she expected, but instead he
stood up and moved backwards.

The young girl’s loud cries turned into sobbing.

But at this moment, the black bear moved its paws, and got closer.

The young girl was frightened as her iris shrunk into pin-size, for at this
moment, she felt an intense sensation of death.

Whoosh!

The bear paw struck, and the sound of it breaking air could be heard.

With a crisp sound, the young girl’s skull was hit, and the intense force
broke her thin neck.

Her head was twisted at a creepy angle, broken and hanging on one end.

One moment ago, she was still an alluring beauty, and the next moment she
was a corpse. Her warm body tied to the huge rock, was like a broken toy
doll.

At this moment, even without Fang Yuan’s control of the Bear Enslavement
Gu, with its craving for food, the black bear had already lowered its head,
enjoying this sumptuous meal.

It first started to gnaw at the young girl’s throat, and fresh blood
immediately bubbled out, splashing onto its black fur.

Next was the young girl’s white and tender breasts, like flower buds that
were unopened.

The black bear bit on her right breast in one whole mouthful, tearing away
the skin and flesh, exposing her deathly pale ribs.

At this moment, the black bear used its paw to break these bones. The
young girl’s internal organs were crushed, and immediately blood poured
out endlessly.
Without the skeleton’s interference, the black bear placed its mouth further
into the girl’s body. It nipped at the girl’s heart that was still beating, then
proceeded to swallow it in one mouthful.

The heart passed through its throat and into the stomach, and this bear that
had to hide around and couldn’t eat due to the wolf tide, howled out in
satisfaction.

After another cry, it lowered its head again and started to consume her
internal organs wantonly.

Chomp chomp chomp.

The black bear’s mouth opened and chewed, large amounts of blood
gushing out from its mouth, issuing a watery sound.

After a good while, the black bear finally moved its head out.

The young girl’s chest was already empty, the immense injury extending to
her stomach. But towards the shining, white intestines, the bear did not
seem to have much interest.

It started to focus on the young girl’s white slim legs.

The girl’s jade-like fingers were all bitten away by the black bear at once,
and with a few rounds of chewing, the fingers were swallowed with a crisp
sound.

The girl’s thighs were also a delicacy.

The tender skin and flesh of her thighs emitted a virgin fragrance. When the
bear had finished, all that was left was the white leg bones.

Among the swaying movements, the girl’s skull finally dropped onto the
ground.

To be honest, she did have a cute appearance. Those black lustrous eyes
with a round nose slightly pointing up, and her skin blushing like peach
blossoms, with a small mouth and two rows of white clean teeth.
But now, her face had lost the colour of blood, her skin turning deathly pale.
Her fine black hair was left hanging, covering half of her face, with those
pair of eyes staring wide-open, filled with fear and anger.

A death full of grievance!

NOTE: The following is religious text that may make no sense to most,
but read it with a pinch of salt.

Fang Yuan folded his arms as he observed Gu Yue Yao Le’s expression,
thinking of a Buddhist saying on earth: ‘Without a sense of self, without a
sense of person; to be detached of all living things, detached of the sense of
time. Void is the red skull and white bones, skin and flesh!’

I am namely myself, without individuality. Breaking the sense of self,

realizing that one is common and ordinary. ‘Without a sense of self’ means
‘everyone is equal, there is no difference.’

Man is humanity no longer treating humans as a superior race and

demeaning other living beings. ‘Without a sense of person’ means that ‘the
world is equal, there is no difference.’

‘Living things’ refers to all life, no longer recognising life as superior and
thinking that non-living beings like rocks and water have cognition. This is
‘detached of all living things’ , which means ‘all in the world is equal, there
is no difference.’

Any object or creature has their respective lifespan, and ‘ detached of the
sense of time’ namely means ‘regardless of whether it exists or not, they are
all equal without difference.’

No matter how beautiful the guy or girl, they eventually turn into a
skeleton. Bones, skin and flesh are one, but people favoured skin and flesh
while fearing bones — this is being fixated on appearance, not recognising
that all is equal.

This Buddhist term is calling for humans to break through all forms, seeing
the truth.
Beauty is superficial, and people, me, the world, and time, is all superficial.
If one goes past the superficial aspect, they would see Buddha.

Recognising and going beyond, treating all as equal, all is equal.

Thus, Buddha sacrificed his body to feed tigers, cutting off his flesh to feed
eagles. This was the benevolence in his heart, seeing all in this world as his
own, loving everything, and his great love for everything.

No matter if it’s me, others, animals or plants, or even the lifeless rocks and
water, even those that do not exist, we have to love them.

If a mortal standing there watches the bear eat a person, some hot-blooded
teenager would jump out and scream, “You beast, don’t you dare eat a
person!” or “Beauty, do not fear, uncle is here to save you!” etc.

This was the mortal’s love and hatred, loving young girls and hating large
bears. Not going beyond and still fixating on the superficial, not able to see
her red human skeleton.

If Buddha stood there and watched the bear eat a person, he would sigh,
chanting, “If I do not enter hell, who would enter?” He would save the
young girl and feed himself to the black bear.

This was Buddha’s love and hatred, loving the young girl and loving the
bear, treating all as equal.

But right now, Fang Yuan was the one standing here.

Seeing the young girl’s tragic and violent death, his heart was unmoved.

This was not because of his numbness to death, but he had gone beyond the
superficial, having no obsessions. Without a sense of self, without a sense of
person; to be detached of all living things, detached of the sense of time…

Seeing all living things as equal, the world is equal.

Thus, the girl’s death is no different from a fox or a tree’s death.

But to a mere mortal, the girl’s death would trigger their anger, hatred, and
pity. If it was the girl eating the bear, they would not feel anything. If an old
lady was eaten, the pity in their hearts would be greatly reduced. If it was a
villain, a murderer getting eaten, they would clap their hands in joy,
praising.

In actuality, all beings are equal, and heaven and earth is just.

Nature is fair, disregarding love or hate; it is emotionless, and never gives

differential treatment.

Rule of the strong, victor takes all!

The disappearance of a lifeform, towards the entire natural realm and the
infinite cosmos, to the long river of history — what does it amount to?

Death means death, who can choose not to die? What talk about a girl, bear,
ant, fox, tree, old lady, murderer, they are all lowly! Humble! Mongrels!

Only by recognising this and going beyond the superficial, arriving at the
truth, does one gain divinity.

This divinity, taking a step towards the light, it becomes Buddha. If it takes
a step towards the darkness, it becomes a demon.

Demonic nature!
Chapter 152
 Chapter 152: Advance to Rank three

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

An hour later, Gu Yue Yao Le was almost completely eaten by the black
bear.

The black bear was unwilling to eat the intestines and the girl’s brains, but
Fang Yuan did not want that to happen.

According to the Man-beast Life Burial Gu’s recipe, a wild beast must
consume the entire person up to the tiniest scrap for the greatest effect. This
can ensure success to the greatest rate.

To refine this Man-beast Life Burial Gu, about ten ingredients are needed.

And the most important two, are man and beast.

The human has to be a virgin girl, and has a Gu Master’s aptitude.

Furthermore, she has to be at least C grade talent, but of course A and B
grade would be better, and can greatly enhance the chances of success.

This beast refers to the Beast Enslavement Gu. The Bear Enslavement Gu,
Wolf Enslavement Gu, Tiger Enslavement Gu etc, even Deer Enslavement
Gu or Bull Enslavement Gu can work. However only bears, wolves and
tigers – these carnivores have it easier eating meat. Otherwise, if forcing a
herbivore like a deer or bull to consume this human, the Enslavement Gu’s
manipulation would be required to force them to do so.

After the beast consumes the human, the refinement has to begin
immediately. Otherwise, when the beast digests the person’s bones and
meat, the refinement would no longer be possible.
Seeing that the black bear refused to eat Yao Le’s intestines and brain, Fang
Yuan snorted in displeasure and willed in his mind, activating the Bear
Enslavement Gu that was planted in the black bear’s body.

The black bear growled, and under Fang Yuan’s oppression, was forced to
swallow the intestines and brain. At the same time, it broke the girl’s bones
to bits and swallowed them piece by piece.

The bone shards were sharp and pointy, but under Fang Yuan’s control, it
swallowed them and many of the shards stabbed into its mouth and throat,
the pain causing the huge bear to tear up.

But Fang Yuan only strengthened his control, and the bear’s body was no
longer under its own control.

Seeing the black bear stuffing the spine into its throat, Fang Yuan knew the
time was ripe.

He flicked his finger, and a Single Aperture Charcoal Gu flew out.

The Gu worm flew into the black bear’s mouth and burrowed its way in.

The black bear suddenly cried out painfully, as the Charcoal Gu’s power
was burning its internal organs.

The black bear’s body was shuddering intensely; it cried painfully and
wanted to roll around on the ground, but the Enslavement Gu had a steady
grip on its movements.

After burning for fifteen minutes, Fang Yuan’s finger moved again and
three Kerosene Gu flew out.
The Kerosene Gu was a Rank one expenditure-type Gu, and upon entering
the black bear’s body, it exploded into large amounts of kerosene and
intensified the fire burning inside the black bear’s body.

The black bear cried until its throat was dry, but Fang Yuan timed it well
and threw several more Gu worms out into its body.

These Gu worms were all exchanged using merit points.

The black bear laid on the ground, completely motionless.

A moment later, from its eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth as well as its butt,
small sparks of flames were seen. Then, the fire got bigger and quickly
enveloped its entire body, turning it into a giant fire pillar.

The entire dim cave was lit up by this fire.

But this fire was not the usual orange, but instead an eerie blood colour.

Fang Yuan patiently waited for a moment, until the fire was about to
extinguish, then he threw out the final Gu.

This was a Rank two poison Gu.

Throwing it into the fire, an intense reaction occurred.

A white lump of light emerged from the fire, initially only fist size.

Fang Yuan quickly took out primeval stones from his money bag and threw
them into this light lump.

The white lump digested the primeval stones and became bigger.

After throwing up to a thousand primeval stones, the light was around the
size of a room door, and then suddenly shrunk.

Huff!

The fire on the bear’s corpse extinguished at once, and the cave returned to
darkness, while a Gu worm wobbled its way to Fang Yuan.

Man-beast Life Burial Gu.

Rank three, expenditure-type Gu.

It looked like a black spider with furry long legs, but it had the head of a
bear, and on its back there was a blood coloured tattoo, drawing the outline
of a young girl’s beautiful face.
This was Gu Yue Yao Le’s face.

It resembled a smile yet wasn’t, it looked like a crying face and yet was not,
but she seemed to be staring at Fang Yuan with a gaze filled with utter
hatred!

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, not minding it at all.

Death is the end of all, even in life she was merely so, what more can she
do to Fang Yuan after death?

He opened his mouth with no hesitation and swallowed this Man-beast Life
Burial Gu.

The Man-beast Life Burial Gu moved along his throat into his esophagus,
turning into a black and red mix of water flow.

The water flowed from above, like an inverted heavenly river, pouring into
his aperture.

Entering the aperture, this gush of black red water entered the red steel
primeval sea immediately.

At once, the entire primeval essence was turned into an eerie black-red
colour, filled with the smell of blood.

Fang Yuan’s thoughts moved as he activated this black-red primeval

essence, rushing it towards the aperture walls.

10%, 20%, 30%, when 38% of the primeval essence was expended, the
aperture had a loud boom as the white crystal walls broke into pieces.

What replaced it was an entirely new round ball-shaped light membrane

aperture wall.

At this moment, Fang Yuan advanced to Rank three!

But Fang Yuan did not loosen up, and instead forced the remaining black
red primeval essence out of his body.
This primeval essence was not usable, and if injected into Gu worms, they
would die. If left remaining inside the aperture, the longer it stayed, the
more it would pollute the light membrane aperture walls, and cause one’s
aptitude to decrease.

After expelling all of the black-red primeval essence out of his body, he
grabbed a primeval stone and started to recover his primeval essence.

First, a white silver fog appeared, then it condensed into water droplets,
finally forming his white silver coloured primeval sea.

For a Gu Master, Rank one is green copper primeval essence, Rank two is
red steel, and Rank three is white silver.

But this white silver primeval sea was not pure, as there was a trace of
black-red mixed in — this is the side effect of using the Man-beast Life
Burial Gu.

Fang Yuan was not surprised. He calmed his mind and expelled this white
silver primeval essence out of his body, before forming new primeval
essence.

The second time round, the black-red coloured substance was reduced by
half.

But Fang Yuan was not satisfied, and expelled his white silver primeval
essence again, forming new primeval essence for the third time.

After several tries, the black-red substance was reduced to a barely

observable amount, and even if Fang Yuan attempted more tries, this
substance would remain.

This was an unavoidable consequence of using the Man-beast Life Burial

Gu.

The Man-beast Life Burial Gu’s effect was extraordinary, able to turn a
Rank two peak stage Gu Master with no hopes of advancing his entire life,
into a Rank three. This was literally changing fate, thus there had to be
some imperfection.
Getting rid of this black-red substance, there was a method. The most
common would be to use the Cleansing Water Gu.

Cleansing Water Gu can completely wash away impurities in the aperture; it

appeared once in the tree house, but was bought by the Chi faction.

In this short term, Fang Yuan could do nothing about the black-red
substance.

“You bunch of useless idiots, what are you all doing! Not able to find such a
large, lively person?!” In the medicine hall, Gu Yue Yao Ji flew into a
furious rage, and her screaming caused even the window lattices and
curtains to tremble.
In her heart, she was worried, frightened, anxious and enraged.

It had been three days and three nights, the four frenzy lightning wolves
were exterminated and Gu Yue village was relatively safe at the moment.
But her granddaughter Gu Yue Yao Le was nowhere to be seen.

Even after she mobilized all her relationships and combed the battlefield,
there even being large-scale search parties around the village, there was still
no trace of her.

The ones who saw Gu Yue Yao Le for the last time were the battling Gu
Masters. What they saw was — Gu Yue Yao Le falling into the encirclement
of the wolves, and had to run away frantically, in a worsening predicament.

These showed that Gu Yue Yao Le was not in an optimistic situation, most
likely consumed by the wolf packs.

But Gu Yue Yao Ji was indignant.

She could not accept such a cruel truth.

If it was any other girl, so what if they die. But this was her own blood-
related granddaughter, someone she had nurtured since young to be the
inheritor of her medicine faction!

She was so well-behaved and intelligent, loved by everyone. So lively and

cute, bringing others joy.
These days, Gu Yue Yao Ji could not sleep at all, for in her mind, it was all
images of her granddaughter.

Gu Yue Yao Ji had originally maintained her looks well, but in these three
days, she seem to have aged over ten years. It was like her heart was dug
away, and she felt an endless pain of emptiness.
In her screaming, tens of Gu Masters lowered their heads, enduring the
cruel insults of the old woman.

“Reporting to medicine hall clan elder, this subordinate has something to

report.” At this time, a Rank two Gu Master walked in.

“What! Is it news about Yao Le?” Gu Yue Yao Ji’s eyes shone, asking
quickly.

“Someone advanced to Rank three, the clan leader is holding an elder

meeting at the clan leader pavilion, to confirm the situation.” The Gu
Master quickly reported.

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s eyes dimmed, waving her hands, “Not information about
Yao Le, and still disturbing me? Wait… wait, what did you say… Someone
advanced to Rank three and became a new clan elder?”
Halfway through, she reacted and lightly frowned.

This was too sudden, with zero premonition.

The appearance of a new clan elder would influence the entire Gu Yue
clan’s political situation. This was a huge hit on the medicine faction who
has lost its inheritor.
In the medicine hall, the standing Gu Masters started to discuss among
themselves, guessing the identity of the new clan elder.

Gu Yue Yao Ji frowned, asking immediately, “Who advanced to Rank

three?”
“Reporting to Lord Yao ji, it is Gu Yue Fang Yuan,” the Gu Master
answered.

“What? It’s him!” At once, Gu Yue Yao Ji’s iris shrunk; this was the worst
of news to her.

In the hall, the Gu Masters also started to discuss violently.

“They couldn’t have made a mistake could they, to think it’s Fang Yuan?”

“Isn’t he a C grade talent? How can he become a Rank three Gu Master so

quickly?”

“Once he’s Rank three, he will be a clan elder, a higher-up in the clan.
When we see him next time, we have to bow and greet him!”

“How can this be…. This is literally soaring through success!”

“Earlier, didn’t they say he’s dead? He went missing for three days and
three nights, and his corpse could not be found on the battlefield. We
thought he was eaten by lightning wolves already…”

They were stunned, jealous and confused.

“Missing for three days and three nights, without a corpse on the battlefield,
isn’t this the same as Yao Le’s situation?”

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s ears twitched, and her woman instinct caused her to have
intense suspicion towards Fang Yuan for no reason!

She suddenly changed her mind; she is going to the clan leader’s pavilion.
Chapter 153
 Chapter 153: Really aged

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“He has truly advanced to Rank three!”

“This Rank three aura is genuine, and there is the white silver primeval
essence; there is no mistake.”

The atmosphere in the clan hall was solemn.

The clan head Gu Yue Bo was sitting on the highest seat, with many elders
seated in rows by his left and right.

Whispers could be heard here and there, and dozen of people’s attentions
were more or less gathered on a young man who was standing upright in the
center of the hall with his head held high.

The young man was Fang Yuan.

“To think this Fang Yuan advanced to Rank three.”

“If I hadn’t personally seen it, I would never have believed it…..”

“Doesn’t he only have C grade aptitude? How could he advance so

suddenly?”

“Actually, it can’t be said to be sudden. Did you forget that he obtained two
red steel Relic Gu?”

“Right, it was two whole Relic Gu, they can completely raise his cultivation
steeply. Just thinking back when I cultivated, sigh…..”
The group of elders were both amazed and puzzled; this matter had caught
them completely unprepared.

“This Fang Yuan was able to advance to Rank three! He is merely of C

grade aptitude, but could actually have such accomplishments in this short
time. This is really a surprise.” Gu Yue Mo Chen who was seated on the
frontmost seat in the left row exclaimed inwardly.He thought of two-three
years ago, when Fang Yuan was still in the academy, and killed a servant of
his family.He had already forgotten the name of this servant. But the
minced corpse Fang Yuan sent over had left a profound impression on him.

From that day, he saw Fang Yuan in new light, but didn’t expect much from
him due to his aptitude.

Now, this young man actually had such accomplishments!

According to the clan system, all Gu Masters who advanced to Rank three
were new elders.

A new elder was bound to have a huge impact on the old political structure.

“If I had recruited him before, I would be able to use this impact and gain
political dominance. Sigh, it really is a pity…..” Thinking of this, Gu Yue
Mo Chen couldn’t help but glance in front of him.

His old rival Gu Yue Chi Lian was seated on the frontmost seat in the right
row. Right now he had a gloomy expression and obscure light flashed in his
eyes.

“This Fang Yuan definitely has secrets on him. Although he had the help
from the two red steel Relic Gu, he couldn’t have had advanced to Rank
three so fast, this is something even Qing Shu couldn’t accomplish,” Gu
Yue Bo was also pondering.

He unavoidably thought of his adopted son Qing Shu, and sighed.

Were Gu Yue Qing Shu alive, he might also have Rank three cultivation by
now. Unfortunately, reality is cruel.
“Medicine hall elder Lord Gu Yue Yao Ji has arrived—!” At this moment,
the doorguard suddenly announced loudly.

Following his announcement, an old woman walked in through the door.

Her face was pale and filled with wrinkles, but under her weary eyelids
were extremely sharp eyes that locked onto Fang Yuan in an instant.

Gu Yue Yao Ji spoke as she walked forward quickly, “Fang Yuan, you
advanced to Rank three? I don’t believe it! I will personally verify it, let me
inspect your aperture!”

The aperture was a Gu Master’s most important secret and was also their
personal affair. How could they let others inspect it so easily?

Fang Yuan slightly turned his body and looked at Yao Ji who was walking
over. He replied with a sneer, “Gu Yue Yao Ji, on what basis are you
demanding to inspect my aperture?”

Back then, when he had just begun cultivating, his aperture would be
inspected at fixed intervals by the academy elder. But it was different now,
he was already a Rank three Gu Master, someone who was on equal footing
with other elders like the academy elder and the medicine hall elder.

Moreover, it was very simple to verify one’s cultivation.

White silver primeval essence couldn’t be faked easily, and similarly, his
Rank three aura was a fact.

“Outrageous! You, a junior dares to call me by name?” Yao Ji’s eyes

widened, “Why can’t I inspect you? With my identity as the medicine hall
elder and also as your elder, I have the right to do so!”

“Hmph, old hag, calling you by name is giving you respect. I still have yet
to settle the scores between us. You harbored a grudge towards me when I
didn’t sell you my Liquor worm, and actually wanted to plunder my Nine
Leaf Vitality Grass? Hmph, I also wanted to exchange my merits for that
Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu, but you prevented it in the dark. Now, I am
also a Rank three Gu Master, so you had better stop putting on airs!”
Fang Yuan’s eyes were narrowed and his words sharp as a blade. He was
very clear-cut with his words, completely showing off his hostility towards
Yao Ji.

If he said this with a cultivation of Rank one or Rank two, he would

definitely be suppressed and even attacked. However, the situation was
completely different now; he was a Rank three and his position was already
equal to the elders.

Towards Fang Yuan insulting Gu Yue Yao Ji, the other elders’ strategy was
to wait and see.

Being at a high position, their considerations were profound. Even if they

weren’t born shrewd, the years of political struggle had trained the
shrewdness in them.

They didn’t have much understanding of Fang Yuan, so they could take this
opportunity to observe him.

“Brat, you have the cheeks to slander me!” Gu Yue Yao Ji was furious due
to the humiliation. What Fang Yuan said was true, but why would she admit
it in front of everyone?

The elders present were all silently observing the situation unfold. Most of
the elders present here knew of the matter regarding the Nine Leaf Vitality
Grass and even had transactions with Gu Yue Yao Ji.

However in politics, there are only eternal benefits; never eternal enemies
or eternal friends.

Upon hearing Gu Yue Yao Ji retort herself, Fang Yuan coldly laughed and
didn’t reply.

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s sound echoed and lingered within the hall.

This old woman was slightly trembling, this silence made her feel like she
was alone!

Something had changed.

The situation was no longer the same.

Were Fang Yuan to be a Rank one or Rank two, these elders would
immediately jump out to stand on Gu Yue Yao Ji’s side and unitedly punish
Fang Yuan. The authority of higher-ups absolutely didn’t allow the lower
levels to challenge it!

However, Fang Yuan was Rank three now, and even if the clan head hadn’t
officially announced it, his position as an elder was already set in stone.
Thus, his contradiction with Gu Yue Yao Ji was now the internal conflict
between higher-ups.

Fang Yuan was a newly advanced elder, his foundation were not yet deep
and didn’t have any background, but this was also his strength as he had
nothing to lose in the first place, thus having no fear.

By contrast, Gu Yue Yao Ji was old and though she was in control of
medicine hall, had a high position and broad connections, this was also her
weakness.

She was old and she couldn’t afford to lose. Her medicine faction’s
inheritor Yao Le was missing and the enormous assets she controlled were
coveted by many.

It would not be bad if it were peaceful times, but now was the time of the
wolf tide and even elders had the possibility of dying.

Things were turbulent, newcomers climbed up in position and old timers

stepped down.

This was a time of change, there weren’t any elders that could guarantee
their own safety. Even the clan head could fall down.

In the history of Gu Yue clan, the number of clan heads that died in a wolf
tide weren’t few.

As for the elders, they couldn’t even guarantee their own safety, so unless
there were enormous benefits involved, they wouldn’t meddle in other
people’s fights.

Gu Yue Yao Ji felt like the situation had turned thorny.

The hall was silent.

Due to the matter regarding her granddaughter, she hadn’t slept for three
days and three nights. Right now as she stood there, she felt an invisible
pressure shrouding her body and mind and it caused cold sweat to form on
her forehead.

She felt like a crippled old wolf, standing alone in the wolf pack.

The surrounding wolves were standing in the shadows, observing her

through their deep, dark green eyes.

Fang Yuan who was in front of her was like a stoic wolf who had revealed
its brilliance in the battle. He was so young, energetic and also ambitious.

It really was the saying — Old waves push the new waves forward, and a
new generation replaces the old!

At this moment, Gu Yue Yao Ji felt that she had really aged. Very much so!

Her eyelids jumped even more severely as her imposing aura gradually
lowered.

However, Gu Yue Yao Le’s figure appeared in her mind; she forcefully
opened her blurred eyes, her aura increasing suddenly.

She opened her mouth, “Fang Yuan, why did you disappear for these three
days? If you hadn’t shown up, your name would have been listed in the
casualties announcement in the medicine hall, in the list of the Gu Masters
who died in battle. You disappeared for three days and three nights, and
when you come back, you are already a Rank three Gu Master. What
happened during these days? Heh heh, I believe everyone here is interested
in your explanation.”
After realizing she could no longer easily create troubles for Fang Yuan, her
tone became more mild, no longer as forceful as before. However, her
words were still very strong, with treacherous intentions hidden within.

After all, she had the highest seniority as a high-ranking politician!

The elders’ eyes brightened when they heard this, revealing clear interest.
No one was a fool among those present here, Fang Yuan’s sudden
advancement to Rank three was indeed strange.

His C grade aptitude was after all known by everyone.

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s words brought those elders to stand by her side again.

However, since Fang Yuan dared to return so grandly, he naturally had

made preparations.

Under everyone’s gazes, he raised his head and laughed, “Old woman, what
you want to know, am I obliged to tell you? However… hearing the pitiful
news of your granddaughter’s death, I will benevolently tell you. During the
past few days, I have been in closed door cultivation in Elder Chi Lian’s
manor, trying to breakthrough to Rank three. This point can be verified by
Elder Gu Yue Chi Lian!”

“What?” Gu Yue Yao Ji revealed a startled look.

Other elders were also shocked, all kinds of complicated expressions

appearing on their faces.

Immediately, everyone’s gazes were cast towards the gloomy-faced Gu Yue

Chi Lian.

The Chi faction head, who held one of the two most powerful influences in
the Gu Yue Clan, now appeared so gloomy that water could drip out from
him.

However in front of everyone’s gazes, he knew he needed to give an

explanation, thus he reluctantly replied, “It is indeed so. I can testify that
Fang Yuan has been in a closed door cultivation in a secret room in my
manor during these past few days.”

The instance these words came out, the whole crowd went in an uproar.

The elders possessed deep restraint, they wouldn’t lose their bearings and
make a scene. However, there were many whispers and mutterings.

“To think Gu Yue Chi Lian actually had relations with Fang Yuan!”

“Fang Yuan’s advancement is related to Chi Lian?”

“There is a great probability! Didn’t people speculate that Fang Yuan had
someone supporting him from behind the scenes? To think it was the Chi
faction.”

“Maybe the reason for Fang Yuan’s fast cultivation speed is because of Chi
faction pouring resources to him. Fang Yuan is Fang Zheng’s older brother,
Elder Chi Lian’s actions have a very profound meaning.”

Some elders discussed whereas some elders’ mind were flipping over.

“It turns out this Fang Yuan wasn’t a junior with no one to guide his steps,
he has the help from Chi faction. We need to be cautious towards him in the
future.”

“Fortunately, we didn’t interfere and jump into the fight between Fang Yuan
and Yao Ji.”

“Yao Ji is in a dangerous predicament, she wanted to deal with an elder who

didn’t have any backing, but she could never have had expected that his
background was so solid. It’s actually the Chi faction!”

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s face was very pale. When she had heard Gu Yue Chi Lian
confirming it, she took a step back in shock, her whole body trembling
faintly.
Opposing a lone elder compared to an elder backed by the Chi faction,
these were two utterly different concepts!
Chapter 154
 Chapter 154: Vomit blood out of anger

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Gu Yue Mo Chen’s heart was very heavy.

He had planned to recruit Fang Yuan, but stopped himself due to Fang
Yuan’s aptitude.

But now his old rival Gu Yue Chi Lian actually got affiliated with Fang
Yuan already. All the evidence points to Chi Lian providing support for
Fang Yuan since over a year ago.
Now, his investment had received such a great reward, and the Chi faction
has a new clan elder. How can his heart not be heavy?

Except, other than solemness, Mo Chen was also confused.

He was Gu Yue Chi Lian’s old rival, having competed since they were
young. He had such a good understanding of his rival that he even knew
what colour of underwear his rival liked to wear.

Logically speaking, Gu Yue Chi Lian would’ve started gloating by now,

throwing mocking and smug glances towards Mo Chen. But right now, his
face was grim like he had suffered an injustice.

This was too strange!

Just what had transpired between him and Fang Yuan? What sort of
agreement did they reach?
Gu Yue Mo Chen could not get an answer.

“This Fang Yuan, his guts are greater than the heavens, to think he would
actually threaten me!” Gu Yue Chi Lian’s heart was filled with anger and
perplexity.
Last night, Fang Yuan had secretly approached him and used the matter of
‘Gu Yue Chi Cheng’s fake aptitude’ to threaten him.

Heavens!

How did this important secret that only he, Gu Yue Chi Lian and his
grandson Chi Cheng knew about, come to the knowledge of this outsider
Fang Yuan?!

Gu Yue Chi Cheng was only a C grade talent, but for the sake of the Chi
faction’s benefits, Chi Lian had to take a risk and show a facade of Chi
Cheng being B grade.

If this matter was exposed, its impact towards the Chi faction would be
unforeseen. The Chi faction family head’s integrity would be questioned for
his cheating personally, and this would ruin his reputation completely. More
importantly, the Chi faction inheritor is only a C grade, this means that the
Chi faction would have no political outlook anymore. Who would be dumb
enough to rely on this type of faction?

Fang Yuan knowing this secret, was equivalent to grasping the fatal
weakness of the Chi faction.
When Fang Yuan threatened him, Gu Yue Chi Lian almost couldn’t control
himself from attacking and eliminating this threat on the spot!

But he forcefully stopped himself, as he did not know who else got ahold of
this secret, and whether Fang Yuan told anyone or left behind any paper
evidence at some secret location.
“Pacify him first, understand the situation, then eliminate him! I cannot
leave this threat hanging!” That was his thought at the time.

But soon after that, Fang Yuan displayed his Rank three cultivation.

Chi Lian, while shell-shocked, could only change his plan to cooperation.

Rank three is a clan elder, and if he murdered a clan elder, this matter would
just be as serious as cheating.
Furthermore, fighting against a Rank three Gu Master would take some
time, and the commotion it creates is even harder to deal with.
Falling out with Fang Yuan would not have any benefits for the Chi faction
— in fact the risk was even greater.

“Although Fang Yuan has a hold on me, a shared secret is also a form of
collaboration.” Finally, Chi Lian could only convince himself to comfort his
heart. Fang Yuan’s threat was so sudden, so he could not tell how many
safety nets Fang Yuan had in place, thus he could only go along with it.

But now, Fang Yuan fearlessly implicated him, letting him attract the
attention in Fang Yuan’s place, it was really throwing him under the bus!

However, even if Gu Yue Chi Lian knew this, what could he do?
This time, Fang Yuan slowly spoke again, “Gu Yue Yao Ji, I know your
heart is in a mess now. Yes, that B grade talent granddaughter of yours is
dead, and without a proper corpse, your medicine faction is now without an
inheritor. But a C grade talent like myself advanced to Rank three instead,
so you feel anxious and indignant, thus your fury is directed at me. I
understand that.”

“What did you say?!” Gu Yue Yao Ji stared widely, uncontrollable anger
rising, “You little wretch, I’m telling you Yao Le is not dead.”

Fang Yuan laughed loudly, shrugging nonchalantly, “Her matter of life or

death, what does it have to do with me? Yao Ji, you don’t have to emphasize
that.”

“But!” He suddenly twisted, “Gu Yue Yao Ji, in order to find your
granddaughter, you assembled search parties and wasted much human and
material resources. That concerns me, the clan elders here, and even the
clan leader. Gu Yue Yao Ji, letting you lead the medicine hall, that is
because of our trust. But what have you done? You dispatched the medicine
hall’s healing Gu Masters out to search for your granddaughter, leaving
those injured and crippled Gu Masters in distress. You are too selfish! Yao
Le’s sacrifice, it is indeed the clan’s loss. But you further worsened our loss,
you are not fit to be our medicine hall clan elder at all!!”
Fang Yuan’s words hit the nail on the head, tearing at Yao Ji’s weakness, her
pain.

But what he said, was very true.

Upon hearing Fang Yuan’s words, many clan elders started frowning
secretly.

Whose faction did not have injuries? Gu Yue Yao Ji’s actions were indeed
overboard, dispatching Gu Masters on her own and not attending to the
urgent business at hand, but instead searching for her granddaughter.

“You… you!” Gu Yue Yao Ji was so angry her body was trembling, her
finger pointing to Fang Yuan, unable to say another word. Her eyes were
like blowing fire, having a strong urge to strangle this bastard Fang Yuan on
the spot.

Fang Yuan’s gaze was cold and indifferent, staring at her with no fear.

He was returning the favour to her. Gu Yue Yao Ji’s earlier words were all
righteous and caused the many clan elders to get curious about Fang Yuan’s
secret to advancing, causing a huge commotion. Fang Yuan’s words were
the same, and with reason backing him, standing at the highest point of the
clan rules, it caused the clan elders to subconsciously defend him.

To the clan elders, protecting the clan’s rules were akin to protecting their
own interests.

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s actions these days did infringe on their interests!

“This Fang Yuan… bastard! Fucking bastard!” Gu Yue Yao Ji shuddered,

not knowing that Gu Yue Chi Lian was also angered to the point of fuming.

Fang Yuan was offending Gu Yue Yao Ji to the limit, and her hatred towards
him will also spill to the Chi faction since Fang Yuan was now ‘a part of
them’.

But the truth was, Chi faction is innocent!

Was he, Gu Yue Chi Lian a fool? Why would he offend Gu Yue Yao Ji who
is the most senior and has the greatest social network.

Gu Yue Chi Lian subconsciously shrunk his body, praying in his heart: May
the other clan elders not direct the attention to himself. Fang Yuan doing
this, is his own idea, it has nothing to do with the Chi faction!

But Fang Yuan’s next sentence, broke this illusion of his to smithereens.

He turned around and reported to the clan leader Gu Yue Bo, “Clan leader, I
highly doubt Gu Yue Yao Ji’s ability to continue leading the medicine hall. I
suggest, we temporarily revoke her title of medicine hall clan elder and hold
a thorough assessment of her. Each one of the clan’s healing Gu Masters are
precious to us. We cannot let her waste them like this. Otherwise, the ones
that suffer the most are the brave Gu Masters that fight using their lives for
our precious clan!”

Pausing momentarily, he continued, “This suggestion of mine, elder Chi

Lian is also very supportive of.”

“What?!” Gu Yue Yao Ji’s iris shrunk as her face changed colours.

“What?!” The clan elders were all taken aback. To hear of Gu Yue Chi
Lian’s forthright attitude like this, does it mean that he was unhappy with
Yao Ji from long ago and has been lusting after the huge benefits in her
possessions, wanting to get a piece of the pie?

“WHAT?!” As the person in question, Gu Yue Chi Lian nearly jumped from
his seat.

How could he not be angry?

He was going to go crazy from Fang Yuan’s antics!

This Fang Yuan had not only offended Gu Yue Yao Ji, he even dragged him
into the boat.

His original political intent towards the medicine faction was closeness and
cooperation. But now, his efforts were all thwarted by a single sentence
from Fang Yuan!
Fang Yuan was framing and harming him. In front of the person himself,
framing, harming, and spreading false rumors!
But he, Gu Yue Chi Lian, the grand Chi faction family head, was held
hostage by Fang Yuan, and had no way to fight back!!

“Oh, Elder Chi Lian, you support this?” Gu Yue Bo’s gaze shone as he
asked.

Gu Yue Chi Lian gritted his teeth, slowly getting up.

He stiffened his neck, resisting the urge to look at Fang Yuan; he was afraid
he could not control his rage.

At this point, he can do nothing to Fang Yuan, and can only carry on the
show.

“Revoking Yao Ji’s title, this is Fang Yuan’s sole idea. With the threat of the
wolf tide, suddenly changing people is not appropriate. However, I do agree
that elder Yao Ji has deviated from the role of the healing Gu Masters due to
her personal feelings. If these efforts were placed into the right areas, it
would reduce our clan’s loss to a great extent.”

Saying so, his heart was bleeding.

He would definitely not follow through with what Fang Yuan said, as he
had his own interests in mind. These words, he had already exerted the
greatest effort to find a balance between Fang Yuan and Yao Ji.

But even so, after he finished speaking, he heard a thump.

He turned his head around and saw that Gu Yue Yao Ji had vomited blood
out of her intense anger, and fell on her back.

It’s over!
“I’ve completely offended Yao Ji!” At this moment, Gu Yue Chi Lian felt
like he had fallen into a chasm, his heart icy cold.

“Lord Yao Ji!”

“Someone, quickly diagnose her.”
“She just lost consciousness, it’s not an emergency. Lord Yao Ji had not
rested at all for these three days and three nights, her body and mind is
exhausted and needs to rest.”

The hall was in a mess, but slowly quietened down.

Gu Yue Yao Ji was carried away by a stretcher.

She was already old, and had worried for so many days. With a weakened
heart, now that she was triggered by both Fang Yuan and Chi Lian, adding
on to her misery, it was no wonder that she fainted.

“Lord Yao Ji had led the medicine hall for so many years, she had worked
hard for so long, she is truly tired. Letting her rest is also for her own good.
Now that she is unconscious, the medicine hall cannot be without a leader. I
advice that we let Fang Yuan take over,” Gu Yue Chi Lian suddenly said.

This old man stood before his seat. Seeing Gu Yue Yao Ji being carried out,
his eyes shone coldly.

Since he had already offended her, then why not go the entire way and
continue the mistake! To prevent the medicine faction’s revenge, he might
as well suppress them entirely. This is someone in power, the resolve and
wisdom of an expert in politics.

The hall fell into temporary silence.

Yao Le’s death, Yao Ji’s downfall, it showed that the medicine faction was
on an imminent decline. The cruelty of politics is even more heartless than
the wolf tide.

Fang Yuan was silent as well.

Letting him be the medicine hall clan elder, heh heh, Gu Yue Chi Lian was
only saying it casually.

Letting a newly advanced young clan elder to hold such an important role.
Maybe if the clan elders and clan leader were all retarded.
Gu Yue Chi Lian saying this intentionally, had deep meaning.

As expected, in the next moment, Gu Yue Bo declared, “The medicine

hall’s role shall temporarily be held by elder Chi Zhong. Fang Yuan’s
cultivation has indeed reached Rank three, thus according to the clan rules,
he shall also assume the role of clan elder. Send out the news, and let the
entire village rejoice.”

Saying so, Gu Yue Bo stood up and left.

“Congratulations, congratulations…” After the clan leader left, the clan
elders all walked towards Fang Yuan, cupping their fists with faces full of
smiles.

Fang Yuan cupped his fists as well, replying with a warm smile.
Chapter 155
 Chapter 155: Borrow

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Congratulations, congratulations.”

“Elder Fang Yuan is young and promising. You are definitely a role model
for the young generation!”

“Haha, we truly anticipate Elder Fang Yuan’s brilliance as we work together

from now on.”

The group of elders surrounded Fang Yuan and spoke customary words.

The academy elder stood at the edge of the crowd, his expression
complicated as he looked at Fang Yuan.

He had never expected Fang Yuan to become an elder. In his class, he had
been most optimistic of Fang Zheng, and then Chi Cheng and Mo Bei.

But to think that the one who was the first to achieve success, was actually
Fang Yuan!

“How could these little achievements of mine compare to the elders? I still
need to thank the clan’s teachings for today’s achievements. Academy elder,
I have always engraved your words in my heart,” Fang Yuan had a warm
smile on, and he spoke modestly and prudently.

The academy elder hadn’t expected this punk to take the initiative to greet
him.

He was blank for a moment before a gratified expression appeared in his

face, “Looks like you have matured a lot in these years, Elder Fang Yuan.
Keep up the good work, I am proud of your achievements. The clan needs
new blood like you.”

Fang Yuan sincerely thanked the academy elder again and also replied to
the other elders.

With his five hundred years of experience, putting on such an act was very
easy.

He had a sense of propriety, his words were gentle and his attitude was
humble, making all those who heard him feel like they were basking in
spring breeze.

Gu Yue Chi Lian was indifferent at this scene, but the more he observed, the
more frightened he became. This Fang Yuan knew how to deal with the
situation adequately, and every sentence and word were as if spoken by a
veteran. Was he really just in his teens? Could he be a born politician?

The academy elder was astonished too. He thought of the academy times;
Fang Yuan was so rebellious, even exploiting his own classmates. He had
countless headaches due to this, but the current Fang Yuan seemed to have
completely changed.

On the contrary, Gu Yue Mo Chen wasn’t baffled by Fang Yuan’s

behaviour. After all, he already had a taste of Fang Yuan’s schemes.

Right now, as he looked at Fang Yuan’s cultured and gentle behaviour,

becoming a focal point of the crowd, he kept on sighing that Gu Yue Chi
Lian had made a great move.

The exchanges continued on for some time. But, regardless of what

thoughts the elders had, the ones present there couldn’t help but look at
Fang Yuan in a new light. They continuously sighed that rumors were really
unreliable!

In the end, Fang Yuan tactfully rejected some of the elders’ invitations and
left the clan head pavillion with a smile together with Gu Yue Chi Lian.
“Hmph, are you satisfied now? After pulling down Gu Yue Yao Ji, you even
dragged my Chi faction into hot water!” When they reached the study room,
Chi Lian couldn’t pretend anymore, and the smile on his face was replaced
by fury.

Fang Yuan was sitting in front of him and leisurely smiled, “You need to
thank me for this. Gu Yue Yao Ji is down, this is a great benefit to your Chi
faction.”

Gu Yue Chi Lian’s gaze flashed, “Hmph, young man, your thoughts are too
simple. Chi Zhong is my Chi faction’s member but his wife is of Yao
faction. The clan head appointed him as the temporary medicine hall elder
precisely because he wants to balance out the internal strife between my
Chi and Yao faction. You, how did you find out about Chi Cheng’s matter?”

At the end, Gu Yue Chi Lian suddenly asked this.

He closely watched Fang Yuan with a gaze like that of an eagle’s.

Fang Yuan unconcernedly shrugged his shoulders and said, “Old man, I
don’t have much primeval stones on me left, give me three thousand
primeval stones.”

Bang.

Gu Yue Chi Lian fiercely slammed the table; he lowered his voice and
roared, “Fang Yuan! Don’t even think that you can extort my Chi faction
just by knowing that secret. I am old and don’t have long to live, so at worst
I will just give up my life! Hmph, I can accept cooperating, but I will
absolutely not receive any threats!”

“I won’t allow what happened today to happen again! If you recklessly

make enemies and pull my Chi faction into your mess, you will regret it!
You really think that secret can destroy my whole Chi faction? Heh, don’t
be so naive.”

Fang Yuan didn’t reply, his gaze was ghostly as he let Gu Yue Chi Lian
continue to berate him.
When Gu Yue Chi Lian had slammed the table, his aura was astonishing
like that of a tiger, but as he continued to speak, his aura started getting
weaker and weaker and in the end, he appeared to be in deficiency of
energy, showing a lack of confidence.

Only when he no longer spoke did Fang Yuan leisurely smile and say, “Old
man, don’t get so angry. I am indeed short of money recently, and I am not
asking these three thousand primeval stones for free, I am just borrowing
them. I can even sign the receipt for loan.”

Gu Yue Chi Lian snorted, he spoke slowly, “You won’t lack primeval
stones, you have just become an elder and don’t know the preferential
treatment the clan gives to the elders. As long as you are an elder, you will
receive a hundred primeval stones every week. This is the amount you
receive in ordinary times, but as this is the time of the wolf tide, you will
receive three hundred primeval stones as allowance.”

“Not only that, you can also freely take a Rank three Gu worm. Similarly,
the clan’s Rank one to Rank three recipes will be opened to you. You can
choose any recipe that you like and refine your Rank three Gu worm. There
are also other privileges, for example: Ordinary Gu Masters can only marry
one wife, but an elder can have one wife and two concubines.”

“So that’s it.” Fang Yuan knew this of course, but he pretended it was the
first time he heard it.

“But even if it is so, I still want to borrow three thousand primeval stones.
You also know that I just advanced to Rank three. Refining a Rank three Gu
worm consumes a great amount of primeval stones,” Fang Yuan ‘sincerely’
said.

Gu Yue Chi Lian reflected on this.

He pondered, “With Fang Yuan’s identity as an elder, he wouldn’t go so far

as to not pay his debt. Does he not want his reputation? If in case, he dies in
the wolf tide, then wouldn’t my three thousand primeval stones go in
waste? Wait, won’t it be better if he dies? We can continue to hide the
matter regarding Chi Cheng’s aptitude. But how did he learn this secret? Is
there still anyone else who knows of it? I had better lend the money to him
first and lower his guard, then I can probe his secret.”

As he thought up to this point, Gu Yue Chi Lian didn’t insist anymore and
immediately took out a brush and paper.

Fang Yuan wrote the receipt for loan and signed with his fingerprint.

Gu Yue Chi Lian called his butler and gave some orders. Soon, several
money bags full of primeval stones were brought over.

Fang Yuan weighed each money bag and didn’t find any problems.

He truly needed these primeval stones.

He had almost spent all his savings in refining the Man-beast Life Burial
Gu. These three thousand primeval stones could be considered a timely
assistance.

He had just advanced to Rank three. He needed to refine a Rank three Gu

worm. Only then could he truly possess the battle and survival ability of a
Rank three Gu Master.

He already had a rough plan regarding this. Three thousand primeval stones
might not be enough. However, it wasn’t urgent, and the Chi faction would
be his great money farm.

The primeval stones he borrowed this time was only the start. If it happened
once, it will happen twice; first time is difficult, but subsequently gets
easier.

As for paying the debt, hehe….

Fang Yuan wasn’t in a hurry to leave after getting these primeval stones, but
instead smiled, “I still want to borrow something.”

“Don’t go overboard.” Gu Yue Chi Lian was grim, but in the end, he still
said, “Speak, what is it?”
“Cleansing Water Gu,” Fang Yuan’s’ eyes narrowed as he said candidly.

There was a Cleansing Water Gu on sale previously in the caravan, and if

you consider who was most likely to purchase this Gu, it would be Gu Yue
Chi Lian.

He used his own primeval essence to nurture his grandson’s aperture and
advance his cultivation. This led to there being mixed auras in the aperture,
which needed to be purified by the Cleansing Water Gu.

“That is impossible!” Gu Yue Chi Lian firmly refused.

He indeed bought that Cleansing Water Gu, but he prepared this Gu for his
grandson Gu Yue Chi Cheng. If he wanted to buy it again, he could only
rely on fate.

“Don’t refuse me so fast.” Fang Yuan laughed, “I believe you – Lord Gu

Yue Chi Lian, the head of Chi faction – know which is more important, a
Cleansing Water Gu or Chi faction’s reputation.”

Gu Yue Chi Lian’s face darkened completely, the aura around him turning
cold as he fiercely looked at Fang Yuan, gnashing his teeth, “Fang Yuan,
know what you are trying to do. You are blackmailing me, blackmailing the
head of the grand Chi faction!”

“No, no, this is not a blackmail, it is a discussion. I am only borrowing the

Cleansing Water Gu and will return you a new one in the future. I can sign
the receipt of loan for this too,” Fang Yuan chuckled. However, his tone was
firm and it showed his determined will.

“Don’t even imagine it!” Chi Lian’s attitude was also firm.

……

After an hour, Fang Yuan walked out of the Chi family manor with three
thousand primeval stones and a Cleansing Water Gu.

And Gu Yue Chi Lian was sitting in the study room, looking at the two
receipts – written by Fang Yuan – on the table. The indignance in his heart
was like a surging river, overflowing endlessly.

Fang Yuan had a hold on Chi faction which put Chi Lian in an extremely
passive situation, thus his victory was reasonable.

Three days later.

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, white light shining upon his face.

A white ball of light was floating in mid-air — the fusion process had
reached its end stage.

Fang Yuan used his consciousness to maintain the ball of light while
throwing primeval stones into it.

The ball of light suddenly faded away and a whole new Gu worm flew into
Fang Yuan’s palm.

Its appearance was like a big ladybug. Its semi-circular milky white
carapace was decorated with dark spots.

It was quite big, about the size of an adult’s fist.

Rank three Sky Canopy Gu!

“I’ve finally succeeded.” Fang Yuan satisfiedly nodded his head, this was
his second time trying this fusion.

The Sky Canopy Gu was refined from the fusion of Rank two White Jade
Gu and an aqua defense Gu.

In the first try, Fang Yuan used the Water Shield Gu and White Jade Gu. But
the fusion ended up a failure, resulting in the death of the Water Shield Gu.

The aqua defense Gu he used this time had been exchanged with his battle
merits.

However, this Sky Canopy Gu wasn’t Fang Yuan’s first Rank three Gu
worm. His first Rank three Gu worm was directly obtained from the clan.
After advancing to Rank three and becoming an elder, the clan would
bestow them with a Rank three Gu worm.

Fang Yuan used this chance to pick a Thunderwings Gu.

This Gu was gotten as spoils of war after the elders had killed a frenzy
lightning wolf. Its ability was to materialize a pair of thunder wings and
give Gu Masters the ability to fly for a short duration.

With the Thunderwings Gu to assist with movements, Fang Yuan’s final

combat shortcoming was fixed.
Chapter 156
 Chapter 156: Digital Shade Recipe, Flower Wine
mystery

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Lord Fang Yuan, this way towards the secret room, please enter.” In the
dark eerie tunnel, a Rank two old Gu Master walked in front, leading the
way for Fang Yuan.

The secret room that held all the Gu worm combination recipes of the clan,
was not far ahead.
Fang Yuan advanced to Rank three, thus his status had a 180 degree change.
All the fusion recipes kept in the clan – as long as they were not Rank four
or five recipes, he had the authority to look through.

If it was a Rank one or two Gu Master, to look through the recipes, they
would need to pay primeval stones or exchange using merit points.
This secret room was in the basement of the village, at a very hidden
location. Even if the village was eradicated, this secret room would still
remain.

Back then, the Gu Yue clan’s creator, the first generation clan leader, found
a primeval essence spring inside this underground cave, thus deciding to
build his village here.

Through the generations of development and growth by the clan leaders, Gu

Yue clan’s underground cave had become the Gu Yue clan secret base.

Normally, ordinary Gu Masters did not have the rights to appear at this
location. Only clan elders, the clan leader, and the Dark Hall’s Gu Masters
in charge of protecting the place had such authority.
Many Gu Masters had only been there once in their lives.
That is during the awakening ceremony, where the youngsters would come
to the primeval spring sea, hoping to awaken their aperture.

Other than this, unless there is a special reason, entry to this underground
cave is prohibited for all people. Even the Gu Master guarding the place is
picked after careful consideration.

After all, the primeval spring in this underground cave is the entire
foundation of the Gu Yue village. From the spring center, large amounts of
primeval stones are produced, and that sustains the Gu Master cultivation of
the entire clan.

In the tunnel, two sets of footsteps could be heard.

Far away, the sound of river water flowing sounded — that is the
underground river in the cave.

A moment later, the Gu Master leading the way brought Fang Yuan to a
rock door.

He patted his belly, and a Gu worm flew out of his aperture. As sparks flied,
it knocked onto the rock door.
The rock door’s surface rippled, like a rock thrown into the water. Soon
after, the rock wall blinked and gradually faded away, showing the secret
room behind.

The secret room’s size was rather small, being only 666 ⅔ m². Every few
steps, there would be a rock table half the height of a person. Tens of rock
tables had a white jade plate on them, and on the plate there was a Gu worm
silently resting.

These Gu worms had all sorts of colours, being around the size of a fist;
they had very similar appearances, like silkworms. On its head, there were
two compound eyes like bees or dragonflies, it was colourful and looked
like shiny glass. However the surface was not soft, but covered in a layer of
insect shell, and the shell even had golden lustre.
“Lord Fang Yuan, this is your first time to the secret room, so let me
explain. These are Rank two Digital Shade Gu, all have recipes recorded in
them. In the green Digital Shade Gu worms, almost all the Rank one recipes
can be found in them. As for the red-black coloured Gu, there are Rank two
recipes. White contains the Rank three recipes, and orange has the Rank
four recipes. As for Rank five, it is contained in the most central purple
Digital Shade Gu worms.”

Beside him, the old Gu Master introduced appropriately.

Digital Shade Gu was a recording type of Gu worm. Just one step further in
advancement, and it would be the Rank three Photo-audio Gu.

After the Photo-audio Gu is refined, it not only can store a recording, but
can also record the voices as well. In the rock crack secret cave, the Flower
Wine Monk used a Photo-audio Gu to inform Fang Yuan of the inheritance
details.

But to record down recipes, voices are not necessary, thus the Digital Shade
Gu is enough.

Fusion recipes, these were very precious. Using normal bamboo paper to
record them, if they were stolen, not only can they refine the Gu Yue clan’s
specialty Gu worms, it is also a huge leak of the clan’s information.

Knowing the enemy leads to easier battles, and experienced Gu Masters can
learn about the strengths and weaknesses of a Gu worm from the refinement
recipe.

Once it is leaked, towards a clan the loss would be severe. In future when
they battle, the Gu Masters from that clan may also be disadvantaged in Gu
worms.

Thus, recipes were strictly controlled, and as classified by ranks, stored

appropriately.
Digital Shade Gu was easier to refine and had a low cost, thus it was a
common method to contain recipes.
“Lord Fang Yuan, these Digital Shade Gu all belong to the Secret Hall clan
elder. But it would not impede you from using primeval essence and
browsing through. Just that with your current identity, you cannot browse
the Rank four and five recipes. There’s also two more things — the secret
room is the clan’s red zone, your every action here is observed fully in
secret. Everyday, you can only stay here for fifteen minutes. Once the time
is up, you must leave,” the Gu Master continued speaking.

“Mm, I understand.” Fang Yuan nodded.

“Lord Fang Yuan, this subordinate has no authority to enter, thus I will wait
at the door. Once the time is up, I will bring you out,” the old man bowed.

Fang Yuan walked into the secret room. Once he entered, the rock door
turned from virtual to solid, trapping him in the room alone.
Walking in the secret room, it was peaceful. The echoes of his footsteps
could be heard bouncing off the walls as the surrounding walls had Water
Light Gu in them.

Their bodies emitted a light, wavering like water, interchanging between

light and shadow, with layers after layers shining indefinitely.

Fang Yuan took a red-black coloured Gu worm and injected his white silver
primeval essence inside. Immediately two beams of light shot out from the
Digital Shade Gu’s compound eyes.

He raised the Gu up, and pointed the eyes at the white jade plate on the
table.

Two beams of light hit the white jade plate, and after some fluctuations,
words started to appear.
This was the recipe on how to refine the Moonscar Gu.

First it listed the Moonscar Gu’s strengths, which was the increase in attack
distance, twice of the Moonlight Gu. The weakness was the subpar attack.

Next was the refinement recipe — Moonscar Gu is refined from fusing the
Moonlight Gu and Scar Rock Gu.
Next is the important points for refining this Gu, the crux was — if during
the refinement, some jade rock is added in, or done during a night when
there is abundant moonlight and exposed to it, there would be a higher
chance of success.

Lastly, it is the experiences of the Gu Masters who had attempted to fuse

this Gu. This had the greatest content, almost up to ten thousand words.

Fang Yuan took a look and memorised some things to heart.

It was after all countless people’s experiments and tries, and the
experienced gathered from numerous attempts. Some information, even
Fang Yuan did not know.

After all, Moonlight Gu is a unique Gu to the Gu Yue clan. In his previous

life, he had never become a clan elder or came here to browse the recipes.

Time was limited, so Fang Yuan quickly took a look and placed the Digital
Shade Gu back to its spot, then picked up a white coloured Gu to observe.

In the white Digital Shade Gu, there was the Rank three fusion recipes.
Most of the recipes did not suit Fang Yuan, as they needed Gu worms like
Moonwhirl or Moonscar Gu as the base.

Fang Yuan did not look through closely; to save time, he skimmed through.

He first used the Moonlight Gu to fuse with the Little Light Gu to form
Moonglow Gu. On that basis, there was only three refinement recipes worth
using.

First was the Rank three Golden moon, with the same ten steps of shooting
distance, but the attack power is increased once again. Once shot out, the
golden coloured crescent moon would nearly be half a man tall, and had a
strong imposing aura.

Second was the Frost Moon Gu. The moonblade becomes eerie white and
icy, having an element of ice to it. Whoever it hurts will be invaded by the
coldness, moving slowly.
The third is the Illusory Moon Gu. This Gu was more unique — it is not
used to attack, but once activated, it can allow the Gu Master to create a
shadow clone to attract attacks and confuse the enemy.

Especially when this Illusory moon Gu, once refined, can be used as the
basis for the Rank four Moonshadow Gu.
“Moonshadow Gu can be implanted into a Gu Master’s aperture and
suppress them from using primeval essence.” In the information on the
Illusory Moon Gu, there was only some vaguely explained information
about the Moonshadow Gu, as reference.

“Moonshadow Gu… isn’t that the Gu worm used by the fourth generation
clan leader to sneak an attack on the Flower Wine Monk?” Fang Yuan
seeing this, frowned deeply.
In this world, there are countless Gu worms, and even with his five hundred
years of experience, he only knew less than 0.001% of all the Gu worms in
this world.

He originally had a rough idea of the Moonshadow Gu, but now that he
knew the Gu worm’s effect, suspicion rose in his heart.

Moonshadow Gu had a unique use. It was able to suppress 30% of the

primeval essence in a Rank four Gu Master’s aperture, 15% of a Rank five,
and 60% of a Rank three Gu Master. That means, with a C grade talent like
Fang Yuan, only having 40~50%, if they were hit by this Moonshadow Gu,
they would be unable to deploy a single ounce of primeval essence, losing
all their battle strength and were as good as crippled.

Of course, if it were Fang Yuan, if the Moonshadow Gu was used on him, it

would be ‘throwing a meatbun at the dog’ – what’s gone can never come
back.

That is because once the Moonshadow Gu enters his aperture, the Spring
Autumn Cicada will demonstrate its dominance, and under its aura, the
Moonshadow Gu would be instantly refined by him, and become his.

What puzzled Fang Yuan, was not the Moonshadow Gu’s effect, but the
Flower Wine Monk.
“I remember that on the shadow wall, the Flower Wine Monk was bathed in
blood, full of injuries. Firstly, his battle with the fourth generation clan
leader and elders only gave him mild injuries. I thought those severe
injuries were caused by this Moonshadow Gu, but to think that this
Moonshadow Gu is only used to suppress primeval essence, crippling the
Gu Master. Then where did the Flower Wine Monk get his severe injuries
from?”

Fang Yuan’s thoughts were meticulous, thus becoming more suspicious.

Back then, when the Flower Wine Monk lost to the clan elders and escaped,
what actually happened?

Moonshadow Gu was not the cause of his death. So then, what was?

At once, the originally clear Flower Wine Monk inheritance, became a

complete mystery to Fang Yuan again.

“Lord Fang Yuan, it has been fifteen minutes, I believe you have had some
gains. No matter what, please come again tomorrow.” At this point, the door
turned into an astral state again, as the old Gu Master stood outside and said
respectfully.

“Okay.” Fang Yuan’s gaze shone as he put down the Digital Shadow Gu,
leaving the secret room.

Regardless of whether it is the Golden moon, Frost moon, or Illusory moon,

these refinement recipes were not what he wanted. That is because they all
consumed large amounts of moon orchid flower petals.

Moon orchid flower petals were hard to store, only able to live for a few
days. In Fang Yuan’s plans, he wanted to leave the Gu Yue clan and roam
the world. If he refined these Gu, without any food they would die in half a
year. He might as well not refine them.

However, there were still Rank three recipes that he did not manage to see.

“I’ll come again tomorrow, I guess.” Such a thought flashed across his
mind.
Chapter 157
 Chapter 157: Blood Moon Gu

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Second day, secret room.

On the shiny white jade plate, there was a recipe —

Blood Moon Gu.

Using Rank two Moonglow Gu and Blood Essence Gu to combine and

form the Rank three Gu worm.

Once activated, the moonblade glows blood red, with the size of a face. If
one gets injured by it, there would be a continuous bleeding effect.

“That’s it.” Fang Yuan’s gaze swept through the information and memorised
this recipe at heart. Then he closed his eyes and recited again, and opened
his eyes to check. After several times, he checked that he had completely
memorised this recipe in his heart, with no margin of error.

Compared to the Golden Moon, Frost Moon and Illusionary Moon Gu – the
three classics, this Blood Moon Gu was much more unorthodox.

The former three’s refinement recipes had almost a hundred thousand words
of refinement experience. But this Blood Moon Gu barely had a few
thousand.
It can be seen that through history, Gu Masters who chose this Blood Moon
Gu were rare.

The Blood Moon Gu’s attacking capability was average. It only had a ten
meter range, and even the bleeding effect after attacking isn’t optimal.
Gu Masters from Rank one to five had limited primeval essence, and could
not sustain for a long battle to decide the victor. A bleeding effect, in the
real battlefield, was only a small problem. Against a Gu Master experienced
in healing, they could even have the ability to counter this.

Furthermore, the Blood Moon Gu had the biggest flaw.

Every few days of the month, it would ooze fresh blood out. The blood
would flow uncontrollably and during this period, its attack power would be
reduced to a third of the original.

But it had the greatest advantage that Fang Yuan liked.

It was easy to feed.

Much easier than the Golden Moon, Frost Moon and Illusionary Moon.

The food it needed was no longer moon orchid flower petals, but fresh
blood.

Although the blood required was a lot, it was not limited to one type. In the
Western Desert it might be a problem, but the Southern Border had all sorts
of wild beasts in its forested and mountainous areas.

Killing them would allow easy extraction of blood. To the Blood Moon Gu,
its food was all over the Southern Border, everywhere.

“Next, all I have to do is refine this Blood Moon Gu.” Fang Yuan decided in
his heart.

The refinement steps, as well as things to take note of, were all memorised
by him. In his hand, there was already the Moonglow Gu, but the Blood
Essence Gu was slightly harder to get a hold of.

The Blood Essence Gu was precious, being able to replenish the blood of a
Gu Master. Those Gu Masters with it were always energetic and even if
they got injured and lost a lot of blood, they could replenish it easily. Thus,
their survivability in battle was much higher than others.
Xiong Jiang once desired a Blood Essence Gu badly.
If the Blood Essence Gu was paired up with the Roaming Zombie Gu, it
would greatly reduce the side effects. It would allow him to be a zombie for
a longer period without any worries for backlashes.
He was already a well to do Rank two Gu Master, and had a rather high
position, but until he died, he did not get his wish fulfilled.

In the secret room, Fang Yuan looked at the Digital Shade Gu on the rock
tables again.

There was still ample time today. Out of the fifteen minutes, he only used
five minutes, so there was still ten minutes left.

The yellow Digital Shade Gu recorded the Rank four recipes. The purple
Digital Shade Gu recorded Rank five recipes.

The owner of these Digital Shade Gu had always been the generations of
each Secret Hall clan elder. But the one responsible for feeding them, is the
clan.
Gu worms can be borrowed, as long as the will on the Gu worms concedes
to it.

The will in the Digital Shade Gu is one with the Secret Hall clan elder. Fang
Yuan as a newly advanced clan elder, is recognised by the Secret Hall clan
elder thus he can freely use a portion of the Digital Shade Gu.

But the Secret Hall clan elder does not think Fang Yuan has the authority to
browse the Rank four and five recipes, thus the yellow and purple Digital
Shade Gu, even if he used primeval essence, there would not be any
reaction.
The truth is, even if it’s a wild natural Gu worm, it is possible to gain their
recognition as well.

Those beast kings are like this, thus able to borrow the Gu worm’s ability.
Among humans, such situations occur as well, like the story of the Rank
five River Swallowing Toad and Jiang Fan.

Of course, Fang Yuan could rely on the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura to
refine these Gu worms and obtain the recipes, that was definitely possible.
But the consequences of doing that, is something Fang Yuan cannot handle
yet. The benefits involved is not sufficient for him to act either.

“Actually the most precious recipe is not these Rank four or five recipes,
but how to reverse engineer a Moonlight Gu. This Gu originated from the
first generation clan leader, and on that basis, after hundreds of years,
developed into such a scale and structure,” Fang Yuan thought.

Gu fusion is to turn low ranking Gu worms into higher ranking ones, while
reverse fusion is to turn the high ranking Gu worms, back to their lower
forms.

Between rising and falling, because of different processes, what is obtained

can be entirely different Gu worms.
The Moonlight Gu is not a natural Gu worm, but something gotten from
reverse fusion by the first generation clan leader.

The Gu worms in this world were mostly new species created by many Gu
Masters on the basis of natural Gu worms. Thus, even with Fang Yuan’s
five hundred years of experience, he still had limited knowledge of the
entire Gu worm ecology.

And for the clan, they would definitely have one or a few unique Gu
worms. These Gu worms were not the rare natural species, but a new
species created through reverse fusion.
On this basis, Gu Masters can develop a strength unique to their clan.

Gu Yue clan’s Moonlight Gu, Xiong clan’s Bear Strength Gu, Bai clan’s
Stream Gu, these were all the same.

If they used a common and well-known Gu worm, they would be easy to

deal with, and easily targeted.
A clan’s foundation lies in the primeval spring, as it can produce primeval
stones. Next is a unique Gu worm that can prevent one’s strength from
being completely deciphered. Lastly it is bloodline, bloodline and kinship
are an important chain that ties a clan together.
Thus, don’t look down on the Rank one Moonlight Gu – the worth of its
reverse fusion recipe is far greater than Rank four or five recipes.
The recipe to reverse fuse the Moonlight Gu is normally kept by the clan
leader. Other than the clan leader, the most loyal clan elder of that
generation would also know the recipe’s secret. At the same time, the
Moonlight Gu recipe’s Digital Shade Gu is also hidden appropriately.

Fang Yuan could obviously not obtain the recipe from this secret room.

“This recipe’s value is very high, thus if I can obtain it before I leave, that
would naturally be the best. But I do not have to force it.” Fang Yuan was
very plain about this matter.

For starters, he was not planning to create an organisation or force. The

Moonlight Gu’s recipe to him, was not a necessity.

“However, the Blood Moon Gu and the other Rank three recipes are what I
need.”

Although Fang Yuan was Rank three now and had white silver primeval
essence, not all his Gu worms were Rank three, thus he could not display
the true fighting power of a Rank three Gu Master.

“I have the Thunderwings Gu and Sky Canopy Gu, so if I manage to refine

the Blood Moon Gu, I will have three Rank three Gu worms. But that is
nowhere near enough.”

Ordinary Gu Masters can rely on the clan. With the cooperation of their
clansmen, as well as ample resources, they only needed three to four Gu
worms.

But Fang Yuan wanted to roam the Southern Border and leave his
homeland, thus he needed at least six Gu worms to deal with all situations.

With his experience, the six Gu worms had to be attack, defense, healing,
storage, recon and movement – six attributes to provide him ample support.
For attack, the Blood Moon Gu barely qualifies. For defense he has the Sky
Canopy Gu. Movement wise, even though the Thunderwings Gu uses a lot
of primeval essence, it can allow temporary flight and is very powerful.

For healing, the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass is slightly weak. It is afterall a
Rank two Gu, and even the advancement option is not satisfactory to Fang
Yuan.
The Rank two Nine Leaf Vitality Grass did not have outstanding healing
abilities. Its only advantage was creating the Rank one vitality leaves and
from selling that, Fang Yuan can get a continuous supply of primeval
stones, akin to a money tree.

But thereafter, Fang Yuan is going to travel to places where there are no
inhabitants, so even if he creates the vitality leaves, no Gu Masters would
buy them using primeval stones.

For recon, Earth Communication Ear Grass had a huge range, so even as a
Rank two, it was still usable.

For storage, Fang Yuan had no such Gu. This was however, the Gu of the
utmost importance. This is because after he starts travelling alone, the
supplies are the most important, it can single-handedly become the basis of
the other five categories.

Storing food to feed the Gu worms, his own food, and storing primeval
stones.

Without primeval stones, Gu Master lose the power to cultivate.

On this matter, Fang Yuan had no progress. Before he obtains a satisfactory

storage-type Gu worm, he will not leave the village.

“Gu worms for storage, the first condition is a wide utility, able to store
food and primeval stones. Next, they have to be easy to feed, and lastly, it is
best if they have the ability to prolong the expiry date of the items stored.
But even in the resource board of the three clans, there is no Gu worm that I
like. It seems I can only make use of the Chi faction and squeeze out the
last of their savings.”
Once fifteen minutes was up, Fang Yuan walked out of the tunnel as he
continued to ponder.

“Lord Fang Yuan, hello.” A middle-aged Gu Master stood outside,

specifically waiting for Fang Yuan.

“You are?”

The person smiled, “I am Gu Yue Chi Zhong, the current acting medicine
hall clan elder.”

“So that’s him,” Fang Yuan realized, starting a close inspection of this
person.

Gu Yue Chi Zhong had a proper appearance with a squarish face, and he
showed an aura of stability. Similar to Fang Yuan, he was also a clan elder,
but his cultivation was Rank three middle stage.

After Fang Yuan caused Gu Yue Yao Ji to faint, Gu Yue Chi Zhong had been
ordered to temporarily lead the medicine hall, and his wife was an
important member of the medicine faction, thus this was Gu Yue Bo’s
political approach to balance the two faction’s rivalry.

But no matter what, Gu Yue Chi Zhong still managed to ascend to this role.

“This is three hundred primeval stones, the payout to the clan elders for this
week. I know that you are here, thus I brought this over as well. I hope you
do not mind me taking matters into my own hands,” Gu Yue Chi Zhong
said, handing a money bag to Fang Yuan.

“This man…” Fang Yuan squinted, taking the bag.

The clan elders’ payout needed to be collected by the clan elder themselves.
But Gu Yue Chi Zhong could collect it for him, so in some ways, this was
hinting to Fang Yuan his status in the clan as well as his social network.

But this hint was also well-timed, as it showed a sign of goodwill, and was
not aggressive.
“To speak the truth, I took the initiative to find Lord Fang Yuan this time,
because I have a matter to ask of you.”

Soon after, he went straight to the topic and mentioned his intention.

“Oh, you want me to turn in the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass?” Fang Yuan
showed a deep profound expression.
Chapter 158
 Chapter 158: Times have changed

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Gu Yue Yao Ji had longed after Fang Yuan’s Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, and
thus, she exploited her authority to set a policy for the transfer of Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass.

However, Fang Yuan advanced to Rank three and became an elder,

responding with a powerful counterattack which caused Gu Yue Yao Ji to
faint on the spot and let Gu Yue Chi Zhong take the stage.

A new officer in power has to display his authority, Gu Yue Chi Zhong took
the initiative to find Fang Yuan and persuade him to hand over the Nine
Leaf Vitality Grass.

“Handing over the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, it’s not that it cannot be done,”
Fang Yuan said after muttering to himself for a bit.

There was a saying: what was true then isn’t true now.

And now, the situation was different from before….

Previously, Gu Yue Yao Ji wanted Fang Yuan to hand over the Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass; that was an order, you had to hand it over whether you
wanted to or not.

However, Fang Yuan was already an elder now and his status was equal to
Gu Yue Yao Ji and others, and only lower than clan leader Gu Yue Bo.
Thus, Gu Yue Chi Zhong asking Fang Yuan to hand over the Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass was not an order, but instead it was a type of transaction with
equal benefits.
Nine Leaf Vitality Grass was indeed very precious; with its ability to
produce vitality leaves, it was by itself a micro-scale source of revenue and
was in high demand. Fang Yuan was now raising many Gu worms and a
large part of their food expenses was supported solely by it.

However, this world didn’t have anything that couldn’t be sold. It was only
a matter of the profits being too small to move the heart.

Nine Leaf Vitality Grass was precious but if an appropriate price was
provided, why couldn’t it be sold?

Gu worms were only tools; methods to achieve one’s desires and ambitions.
So what if it was the Spring Autumn Cicada? As long as the circumstances
were suitable, why couldn’t one give it up to exchange for an even larger
benefit?

If one wants to obtain benefits, they need to learn to give up first.

Naturally, Fang Yuan had the awareness of this and looked at Gu Yue Chi
Zhong.

Gu Yue Chi Zhong understood and smiled, “If sire is willing to hand over
the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, I will willingly compensate you with this
command token.”

Saying so, he took out a token.

This token’s design was simple; it was triangular-shaped with smooth

corners. There were words written on the front, pilling up in a pyramid
shape —‘Prize Token’; similarly on the back said —‘Reward
Contributions’.

Prize Token, Reward Contributions.

“Sire is a newly promoted elder, and may not be clear on some matters.
This Prize Token is issued to the Gu Masters who have made great
contributions to the clan. Even among elders, few possess it. With this
token, you can go down to the clan’s underground Gu cave and choose any
Gu worm you like. The underground cave holds many rare, precious Gu
worms. Among the top ten Gu worms in the exchange board, four of them
have been selected from the underground Gu cave,” Gu Yue Chi Zhong
explained.

Fang Yuan was instantly moved.

He wasn’t surprised about this, for Gu Yue Clan had stood high for
centuries and it was impossible for there not to be any trump cards and
accumulations.

In fact, any long-established clan would also have secret places to store Gu
like the Gu underground cave.

But to obtain such Gu worms, one needed to have made great contributions
and also should be loyal to the clan.

Fang Yuan only recently became an elder, so he was very far away from
having such qualifications.

“I want to leave the clan so I need a storage Gu. This token is a good
choice, but….” Fang Yuan had some worries.

If he had to give up the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, so be it; it was a great help
to Fang Yuan, but he wouldn’t have any use for it in the future.

Its healing ability was not outstanding and one couldn’t continuously use
the vitality leaves to heal.

Fang Yuan’s worry was that there might not necessarily be his ideal Gu
worm in the Gu underground cave.

Gu Yue Chi Zhong had been observing Fang Yuan’s expression and he
misunderstood the latter’s hesitation, saying, “The underground cave holds
not only Rank three Gu worms but also Rank four. Elder Fang Yuan, you
won’t be at a disadvantage. But, if somehow you regret it, we could re-
exchange them. That can be done after some time, secretly.”
Fang Yuan raised his eyes, unable to refrain from looking at Chi Zhong
again.

“This is an outstanding guy,” he sighed inwardly.

A new officer in power has to display his authority, Chi Zhong clearly
understood why he was promoted; he had to strike a balance with not only
the clan leader but also Chi and medicine faction. And at the same time, he
needed to display his ability.

Fang Yuan transferring the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass over, held a special
significance to him and he was willing to pay a high price for it.

“The world is vast, countless outstanding talents are everywhere! Under the
wolf tide, the old timers are being sacrificed and newcomers are advancing.
From a certain point, this can also be said to be a reform which allows the
clan to preserve its vitality and stand high without falling,” Fang Yuan
thought inwardly.

Too many old timers will only create a rotting organization. Thus the
process of elimination is the only way for an organization to continue
working.

Gu Yue Chi Zhong was a representative of this.

The world was all about the survival of the fittest. A human body continues
to live through the process of metabolism. A Gu Master shouldn’t stick with
the same Gu worms, only with change could they progress.

At this thought, Fang Yuan accepted the token from Gu Yue Chi Zhong and
then handed over the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass. As he had transferred it
himself, Chi Zhong could quickly refine the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass.

Only after keeping this grass Gu into his aperture did he let out a big sigh of
relief.

He had his own ambitions and being able to act as the temporary medicine
hall elder was an extremely important opportunity to him. If he could grasp
this, he might even assume the official post instead of temporary.

However, he would have to make compromises with the three sides if he

wanted to achieve this. After all, politics was an art of compromising.

Yao Ji couldn’t do anything to Fang Yuan while she was reigning. But after
taking the seat, he was able to get Fang Yuan to hand over his Nine Leaf
Vitality Grass. This not only showed goodwill to the medicine faction,
being able to handle the political matters left behind by Yao Ji and subtly
display his own ability.

Thus, he didn’t hesitate to give up the prize token which he had got with
great difficulty.

“Lord Chi Zhong, it’s really delightful to chat with you. I wonder if you still
have some time now?” Fang Yuan asked as he stored the token.

Gu Yue Chi Zhong’s eyes flashed; he was puzzled.

After a while.

In a hall.

“We pay respects to the two elders!” Fang Yuan’s uncle and aunt bowed and
greeted. They were very respectful and even a little afraid.

After the news of Fang Yuan becoming an elder was announced, he became
a model example for young Gu Masters, whereas it brought astonishment
and panic to the uncle and aunt pair.

He was clearly a C grade talent, how could he advance to Rank three and
become an elder so fast?

Even Gu Yue Fang Zheng who was an A grade talent was only at Rank two
upper stage currently.

After the astonishment was fear.

They couldn’t help but be afraid.

When they thought of how they had bullied and been so hard on Fang Yuan,
their hearts trembled with fear.

What goes around comes back around!

It was not the same once he had an elder’s identity.

They were afraid of Fang Yuan taking revenge on them after achieving
success.

But still, in the end Fang Yuan came to their door, and also brought another
elder with him.

“They came with bad intentions, bad intentions!” Gu Yue Dong Tu sighed
in his heart.

Fang Yuan chuckled, “Uncle, Aunt, no need to be so courteous. Although I

have become an elder, I am still your nephew. Come, let’s all take a seat.”

Saying so, he sat down on the main seat.

Gu Yue Chi Zhong sat beside him.

These two positions were usually where Uncle and Aunt sat; the seats of the
family heads.

Uncle and Aunt, however, weren’t the least bit discontent with the seatings.
They were even full of hesitation and fearful when sitting in the lower seats.

This was the power of the clan elders.

Uncle and Aunt glanced at each other, they were on tenterhooks as they sat
stiffly; only sitting near the edge of the chairs.

The servants came in with some tea.

Gu Yue Chi Zhong maintained his silence and didn’t drink. Fang Yuan,
however, took a sip calmly and asked, “How has Uncle and Aunt been these
days?”
Fang Yuan was smiling as he asked, but in Uncle and Aunt’s eyes it felt
even more terrifying than him flying into a rage.

It was especially so for Aunt; when she thought of how she had insulted
Fang Yuan, she started trembling with fear.

“Sigh, life had been in upheaval due to the wolf tide. The tavern was forced
to close down and the rent of the bamboo houses has been decreasing. In
fact, we are so poor that we’re reaching the point of starvation,” Uncle said,
and then tears fell down from his eyes unexpectedly.

He used to maintain his health very well before, but now his face was no
longer ruddy, while the hair near his temples had gone white and the
wrinkles on his face had increased. His predicament was even more obvious
due to the forceful enlistment.

However, Fang Yuan knew his uncle had managed the tavern for many
years, so he definitely had some savings. The miserable appearance he was
putting on now was because he was afraid of Fang Yuan’s revenge, and
wanted to use his pathetic look to gain Fang Yuan’s sympathy.

“Uncle is usually so astute, but how could he be so stupid when the matter
involves himself? If I had come to take revenge, why would I bring Gu Yue
Chi Zhong with me?”

Fang Yuan sneered in his mind. He greatly disliked and had no respect
towards his uncle and aunt, but this didn’t mean they had no use.

“Uncle, Aunt, you have taken good care of me for so long, all my current
accomplishments are due to your nurturing. I have just received the elder
payout from the clan; these three hundred primeval stones, please take
them.” Saying so, Fang Yuan handed the money bag to uncle.

“What? This….” Gu Yue Dong Tu’s expression was really wonderful at this
moment.

His astonishment contained unease, the unease was close to fear, and under
the fear was incredulousness.
Aunt who was at the side was also dumbstruck as she blankly looked at the
money bag in Fang Yuan’s hand.

What in the world was going on?

There was none of the revenge they had imagined, but instead, they were
being gifted three hundred primeval stones?

Fang Yuan’s words were ear-piercing, no matter how they looked at it. The
words ‘taken good care’ and ‘nurturing’ were full of sarcasm which made
them feel the whole situation was even more bizarre.

“What is he scheming?”

“What the heck does he want to do? How does he want to torment us!?”

Uncle and Aunt glanced at each other. Both were hesitating and didn’t dare
to receive the money bag.

“It is Elder Fang Yuan’s filial piety, do accept it,” Gu Yue Chi Zhong
expressionlessly spoke from his seat.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Uncle repeatedly nodded his head and hurriedly accepted
the money bag. Even if he was called the hidden elder, that was nothing in
front of the medicine hall elder.

He used both hands to hold the bag full of three hundred primeval stones.
He normally loved money, but right now, he felt like the money bag was
scalding hot and wanted to immediately throw it!

“Since uncle has received it, I will take my leave,” Fang Yuan said and
started leaving.

Uncle and Aunt immediately tried to see them off, but were stopped by
Fang Yuan.

“Don’t look anymore,” At the corner, Mother Shen let out a breath of relief
and said to her daughter Shen Cui.
Shen Cui’s expression was gloomy, and she looked at Fang Yuan and Chi
Zhong’s figures from behind until they were completely gone.

“Mother, did I make a wrong choice?” She said.

An elder could take in a wife and two concubines; if she had been faithful
from the start, who is to say that she couldn’t be Fang Yuan’s concubine at
this moment.

“I really hadn’t expected this. This Fang Yuan advanced to today’s stage
with only a C grade aptitude!” Mother Shen helplessly shook her head,
“Daughter, cheer up. Fang Zheng has an A grade aptitude, his
accomplishments won’t be any less!”

“Yes,” Shen Cui responded, and some luster emerged within her dark
pupils.

In this world, the status of a common mortal was so petty and low!

How many things did she have that could move the great Gu Masters’
hearts?
She had already given her body to Fang Zheng, that was the gamble of her
life and she couldn’t turn back anymore.
Chapter 159
 Chapter 159: This Fang Yuan……

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Howl—!

Four frenzy lightning wolves raised their heads and howled loudly.

Pit pat pit pat.

The rain poured from above as the curtains of water interweaved, and dark
clouds roamed the sky. It caused the weather to turn dark, obstructing the
vision of many.

“Quick, the northern gate has a breach, quickly go there, Sheng Nan
group!”

“Healing Gu Master? We have a heavily injured person here!!”

“Kill, kill, kill! Kill all these bastard wolves!”

The wolves’ cries were countered by the Gu Masters’ shouting.

Almost everyone was bathed in blood as they battled ferociously.

Surrounding the village, battles ensued, spreading like wildfire.

The people’s cheers, the wolves’ cries, the sound of the rain, mixed in with
the sound of the wind.

Uncountable number of lightning wolves rushed towards the village walls.

The pitfall trap before the walls had already been flattened by a thick layer
of wolf corpses, and as they were led by the numerous bold lightning
wolves, the lightning wolves had a strong charging force together.
Rank one and Rank two Gu Masters fought bravely on the frontlines. Large
amounts of moonblades flew towards the wolf packs, slaughtering
numerous lightning wolves.

But the wolf packs still sent out lightning currents and lightning balls
towards the village, bringing injuries and fatalities to the clan.

“Elder Fang Yuan, this is the medicine hall’s newest injury report, please
take a look!” A Gu Master in charge of transmitting information quickly
arrived, and after seeing Fang Yuan, greeted him and handed over the report
with both hands.

Fang Yuan was now a Rank three Gu Master, thus as a clan elder, his
mission by the clan was to lead the Gu Masters in suppressing the western
area.

Fang Yuan removed his attention from the battlefield and took the report,
saying to the Gu Master, “You may leave.”

The Gu Master paid his respects before taking his leave.

His speed was fast, and by using Gu worm to accelerate his body, he
quickly left to the next area.

Any Gu Master in charge of information dissemination had at least one

movement assist-type Gu worm, while some even had two.

Fang Yuan opened the report, taking a glance.

The injury toll on the report gave a feeling of considerable shock.

Until now, the wolf tide had attacked the village over ten times. The injury
and death of the clan’s Gu Masters was very severe. This led the clan elders
to be so frantic, and the Gu Master that took over the medicine hall, Gu Yue
Chi Zhong, felt even greater pressure. As a middle-aged man, he even had
several white hair growing out some days ago!

But Fang Yuan had his previous life’s memories and was mentally prepared,
thus he was not surprised.
“This wolf tide is one of the most severe ones in the Gu Yue clan’s history.
Such injuries and death is unavoidable.”

He thought this in his heart, and as moonlight gathered in his palm, he

reduced this report to ashes.

This report, only clan elders had the authority to view it. If it was released
to the masses, it would cause social instability.

Despite this, the Gu Yue clan was already in a panicky state, as the feelings
of instability got stronger by the day.

At this point, the moonlight in Fang Yuan’s palm was no longer the eerie
blue colour, but of blood colour.

This is the Rank three Blood Moon Gu.

To refine this Gu, Fang Yuan had failed once, and only on his second
attempt did he succeed.

As for the refinement ingredients, he naturally extorted Gu Yue Chi Lian for
it.

Fang Yuan closed his eyes, his mind entering into his aperture.

In the aperture, the aperture walls were shining and dimming at regular
intervals without a single drop of impurity; it was a pure white state.

His primeval essence was fully white in colour, but also emitted a lustre of a
silver metallic glow — this is the Rank three Gu Master’s white silver
primeval essence.

Water gathers into a sea – in his aperture it was a white silver primeval sea.

On the surface, there was originally a black red residue, but now it was no
longer there.

The Cleansing Water Gu he forced out of Gu Yue Chi Lian had long been
used. The Man-beast Life Burial Gu’s side effect was completely
eliminated.

But this was not without a price.

Fang Yuan’s aptitude lowered a little from 44% C grade — due to the Man-
beast Life Burial Gu, it dropped by 2%, to a maximum capacity of 42%.

But this price, Fang Yuan was prepared for it.

In fact, it was all thanks to Gu Yue Chi Lian. If not for the Cleansing Water
Gu and letting that black red residue corrupt the primeval essence any
longer, Fang Yuan’s aptitude would decrease even further.

A white-shell, black spotted ladybug danced in the air above the sea. This
was the Sky Canopy Gu.

The Stealth Scales Gu with a stonefish appearance was deep inside the
primeval sea.

Four Flavors Liquor worm was playing with the waves above the sea
surface.

As for the newly refined Blood Moon Gu, its appearance was similar to the
Moonlight Gu, residing in Fang Yuan’s right palm, turning into a red
crescent insignia.

As for the Rank three Thunderwings Gu, it resided in Fang Yuan’s back as
two lightning bolt tattoos.

To be worth mentioning is the Spring Autumn Cicada.

Its condition was getting better, and was recovering quicker. This situation
caused Fang Yuan to rejoice and at the same time worry.

Spring Autumn Cicada is Rank six, but he is still Rank three, and at this
time his aperture is unable to hold a fully recovered Spring Autumn Cicada.

The Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura was getting stronger. Like using a paper
tube to contain rocks, the aperture would not be able to handle the load.
“If I’m left with no choice, I can only raise it outside of my body,” Fang
Yuan sighed.

That had great implications.

Rank six Gu worms are implicated with Dao, containing the law fragments
of heaven and earth. If left outside for extended periods, it would create a
resonance with the natural laws, unless the Gu worm is slumbering.
Otherwise the commotion would be huge, as it would cause all sorts of
natural phenomena, attracting the attention and greed of other experts.

But this was a solution out of necessity.

Howl!

At this point, a loud shrill wolf howl suddenly entered everyone’s ears.

Fang Yuan gathered his spirits.

“Lord clan elder, the frenzy lightning wolf has entered the battle! Gu Yue
Jiang Jian and two others elders are at the eastern gate blocking them, they
hope you can go and assist,” a Gu Master frantically reported.

Crack!

The sound of lightning cracked as two wings sprouted from Fang Yuan’s
back.

These two wings were formed by blue lightning, the form abstract and
simple. But with a flap, it brought Fang Yuan high into the sky, and with a
fast speed, he sped towards the eastern gate.

Flying in a straight line in the air, Fang Yuan got to the battlefield in a few
breath’s time.

The frenzy lightning wolf was trying to break through the eastern gate, and
a few clan elders were near the door aggressively engaging in battle.
The frenzy lightning wolf jumped abruptly out of the battlefield and with a
swing of its tail, swept at a female Rank one Gu Master at the corner.

This Gu Master’s face went pale. She could only hear the sound of the
winds blowing as the wolf tail swept at her, and in her heart she screamed –
“I’m doomed!”

With her ability, she could neither dodge nor take the hit.

But at this crucial moment, a shadow descended from the sky, hugging her.

The young girl felt the world spinning before her. When she finally
recovered, all she saw was that she was flying in mid-air, while the wolf tail
swept right below her; a two storey bamboo building took the hit and was
shaking violently.

Her expression got dimmer. If she was hit right on by this tail, she would’ve
turned into meat pulp.

Soon after, she realized that she was saved.

Who saved her?

She stared at this person, and was stunned.

It’s him?

Gu Yue Fang Yuan!

At once, the young girl’s heart was filled with complexity; it was
impossible to describe with words.

She and Fang Yuan were classmates. Fang Yuan had formerly extorted her
primeval stones, thus she hated him greatly.

But she had to be amazed at his achievements, especially after news of him
advancing to clan elder spread, causing her to be in shock and admiration.
Compared to Fang Yuan, she was also a C grade talent, but was now only a
Rank one.

Now, she was saved by Fang Yuan once.

He was a true lifesaver!

She was filled with gratitude towards Fang Yuan, and under her shock and
admiration, her lingering hatred was also gone with this.

“The battlefield here is dangerous, retreat far away.” Fang Yuan’s wings
flapped, landing on the ground and placing her down gently.

He had some impression towards this young girl. They were possibly
classmates, but he could not remember her name.

Saying so, he turned around and left, no longer flying. Instead he sprinted,
entering the battlefield.

The Thunderwings Gu’s speed was fast, but its primeval expenditure was
faster. Fang Yuan being only C grade talent, among the Rank three Gu
Masters in terms of purely primeval essence storage, he is the lowest tier
possible, thus he needed to conserve his primeval essence more than others.

Blood Moon Gu!

He threw a moonblade out.

The moonblade was blood red in color, and upon hitting the frenzy
lightning wolf’s body, it caused an injury that bled continuously.

The young girl’s sight remained on Fang Yuan, staring at his shadow
blankly. Slowly, her eyes started to shine in a mysterious manner.

Seventeen to eighteen years of age, this is the prime of youth.

“This Fang Yuan, what do you think of him?” Far away, Gu Yue Bo looked
at this scene and asked a close aid.
The aid replied, “I heard that elder Fang Yuan had already answered the call
of the medicine hall and handed in the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass in his
possession. After getting the first payout, he gave it all to his uncle and aunt
as a filial gesture. These days, he had struck personally and participated in
killing lightning wolves. His aggressive and ruthless attacks have gained
him much battle merits. Not only that, after saving many clansmen this
time, his reputation is improving. The clan already has rumors—him
turning over a new leaf, the Fang faction’s new clan elder etc.”

“This subordinate thinks that, although he is only a C grade talent, with his
impressive battle capabilities, he had gotten great opportunities. First with
his parents inheritance, the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass became a continuous
source of income. Using two red steel Relic Gu, he managed to cultivate to
Rank three, but also had an element of luck.”

Saying so, this close aid showed an expression of slight jealousy.

He was also a C grade talent, but was only Rank two. Getting to this stage,
he spent half his life doing so. But that Fang Yuan was merely seventeen
years old, yet he was already a clan elder.

Competing with others, is really infuriating.

Hearing his aid’s words, Gu Yue Bo nodded unnoticeably.

His close aid’s words represented the view of majority of the people in the
clan, but was slightly shallow.

Gu Yue Bo had been the clan leader for many years, thus he had greater
foresight.

Fang Yuan handing in the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, he had obviously struck
a deal with Gu Yue Chi Zhong. Handing his payout to his aunt and uncle
was not out of goodwill, but a political show.

The person who spread news on this matter, was Gu Yue Chi Zhong.

As for saving people…whether it’s true and sincere, there remains doubt.
But no matter what, Fang Yuan no longer isolated himself, and his actions
were indeed worthy of praise.

Him advancing to clan elder and his actions thereafter, this was an initiative
to get close to the clan and contribute to the clan. The clan’s prosperity
requires these contributions and relationships.

Thinking so, Gu Yue Bo instructed, “Those people in the Hidden hall, these
few days they also did not find anything from their investigations. Forget it,
withdraw the investigations on Fang Yuan for now.”

“Yes, this subordinate shall inform them now.” Saying so, he took his leave.

Gu Yue Bo stood on the ground, squinting.

He thought in his heart, “No matter what’s the reason, his cultivation still
rose too quickly. This Fang Yuan, he has a great secret on him! However in
this period, with the severity of the wolf tide, every bit of strength is
needed, and wasting it on Fang Yuan is too wasteful. Investigation is still
necessary, but this can only wait after the wolf tide.”
Chapter 160
 Chapter 160: Astounding applause

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

With a bam, the frenzy lightning wolf fell on the ground like a giant
elephant.

It opened its mouth wide, but its eyes lost focus as life slowly exited its
body.

On its body, there were injuries all over. As wolf blood poured out
endlessly, the environment was dyed red.

The rain continued to pour as it diluted the wolf blood, and caused the
blood to spread further into the ground.

The ground was muddy, and some elders were standing beside the frenzy
lightning wolf corpse, taking deep breaths as their bodies were drenched by
the rain. They were also covered in wolf blood and mud, looking like
beggars.

“Finally killed it!”

“This frenzy lightning wolf actually had a defensive Gu worm in its body,
and was so difficult to take down…”

“Luckily we had elder Fang Yuan’s Blood Moon Gu accumulating injuries

on it, or else it would have been even more difficult trying to kill it.”

When the elders said this, they looked towards Fang Yuan.

Initially when they heard that Fang Yuan had refined the Blood Moon Gu,
they felt disapproving towards it. But it seems now that, it was very
effective in dealing with frenzy lightning wolves.
“I am flattered, fellow esteemed elders, if not for your assistance and
protection, I would not have been able to attack so relentlessly.” Fang Yuan
wiped the rain water off his face as he said politely.
“No, no, it is our duty.”

“We are old people already. We didn’t feel it before, but after fighting
together with elder Fang Yuan, we feel that we have truly aged.”

“Indeed, indeed.”

The several elders laughed together.

In this earlier battle, Fang Yuan had a strong grasp of when to attack and
retreat. With his ruthless and savage attacks, many times his methods were
even more effective than normal elders, causing the clan elders to see him
in a different light.

Especially with his polite and humble attitude and no sense of arrogance, he
is definitely not what the rumors said – that aloof and unruly person – thus
the elders had a good impression of him.

“I still have many aspects that need to be learnt from all of you,” Fang Yuan
said respectfully, but his eyes shone with a dark light.

The Blood Moon Gu had pros and cons.

After using it for so many times, he had some insights about it.

The Blood Moon Gu specialized in prolonged battles, causing unhealable

injuries. As time passed, the enemy’s injuries would get more and more
severe.

But this is established on the fact that there is no healing-type Gu worm.

Nature is balanced, there is no strongest Gu worm. Each Gu was bound to

have strengths and weaknesses.

“Blood Moon Gu’s greatest drawback is the few days of the month where it
oozes blood and faces a rapid drop in battle strength. It is my main
attacking method, so this makes it too unstable. But, after I get the
Chainsaw Golden Centipede in the Flower Wine inheritance ground, I can
cover this weakness.”

These few days were a high alert period where the wolf tide continued to
attack the village, so as a clan elder, Fang Yuan attracted even more
attention than before and had no chance to go to that rock crack’s secret
cave.

“Quick, save our clansmen!”

“Sweep the battlefield, don’t miss a single Gu worm!”

Seeing the frenzy lightning wolf fall, a group of healing Gu Masters

immediately came forth.

“Esteemed elders, you all have exerted yourselves, please accept special
treatment from our medicine hall.” The leading Gu Master bowed towards
Fang Yuan and the elders.

“Oh… medicine faction’s Li Chen.” The few clan elders recognised this
person, nodding and changing their expression.

They were courteous to Fang Yuan, putting on a face full of smiles. But
towards this person, they kept their emotions and displayed the authority of
a higher-up.

This is the difference in status!

This Gu Yue Li Chen, is only a Rank two Gu Master.

“I have no injuries, I do not require treatment. Elders, let’s talk again when
we are free.” Fang Yuan nodded to the elders.

“Elder Fang Yuan is so outstanding, he’s not even injured from such a
battle, what a true young hero!”

“Sigh, compared to elder Fang Yuan, we are really old.”

“Hehe, take care of yourself elder Fang Yuan.”

The few elders started to laugh as they said.

“Elder Fang Yuan, please pardon my rudeness, but do allow our medicine
hall healing Gu Master to do a check up for you,” Gu Yue Li Chen insisted.

He was a member of the medicine faction, and after Fang Yuan angered Gu
Yue Yao Ji to the point of fainting, causing her downfall, he naturally had
hatred towards Fang Yuan. But with his position and job, as the leader he
cannot ignore Fang Yuan.

“Thanks for your goodwill, but it’s fine. I’ll see everyone again!” Fang
Yuan patted Gu Yue Li Chen’s shoulder, leaving with a smile.

The elders smiled or nodded to reply him.

Only after he left did their expression change rapidly, turning solemn.

This Fang Yuan, although only C grade, had grown to this point, it is truly
hard to come by! Fighting together with him, they could feel his
heartlessness and ruthlessness, but when thinking about it, they felt
threatened. When they were seventeen, did they have such achievements?

Especially when they saw him smile as he patted the medicine faction
member’s shoulder, such talent in politics and scheming, it is truly
stunning!

……

“Lord Fang Yuan, do you recognise me?” Along the road, a person showed
a respectful expression as he greeted Fang Yuan.

“You are…” Fang Yuan squinted, recognising this person as his classmate.
Only that he could not remember the name, but when he extorted primeval
stones from him, this person always handed them up nicely. It shows his
brilliance under that meek personality.
“Lord Fang Yuan, I am Gu Yue Ding Zong. To have the fortune to be your
classmate, that is my honor. Actually, after news that you had advanced to a
clan elder spread, many of our classmates admired and were envious of you
lord, wanting to find an opportunity to discuss cultivation experiences with
you. Are you free tonight, lord?” Gu Yue Ding Zong rubbed his hands, his
eyes smiling into a line.

“Oh, is that so…” Fang Yuan’s eyebrows raised, nodding, “Okay, but let me
change my clothes first, this drenched attire is making me uncomfortable.”

“I have already prepared warm water and new clothes, and several beautiful
attendants are waiting for serve you Lord!” Gu Yue Ding Zong smiled, his
expression very eager.

Fang Yuan shook his head to reject, “No, before that, I have to go to the
underground tunnel.”

“Ah I see.” Gu Yue Ding Zong expression changed. The underground

tunnel was only accessible to the clan elders, and to people like them, it was
a forbidden ground in the clan.

Next, his smile become even more subservient, and his back was arched
even further, as his tone carried a servant feeling, “Lord, go ahead with your
business, this lowly one’s time is not valuable, waiting for you is also an
honor of mine.”

Fang Yuan nodded, not speaking anymore and continued to walk away.

Gu Yue Ding Zong took a step back quickly, opening a path as he bent his
back and sent Fang Yuan off with his gaze.

Entering the underground cavern again.

This secret room that contained precious Gu worms was very large, almost
as big as the village square.

But the Gu worms contained inside were not many; there was only a few
dozen.
Cave Declaration Grass, Air Return Cicada, Dried Bone Dragonfly, Phoenix
Wing Butterfly… there were Gu worms varying from Rank two to four.

It was only that there was very little Rank two Gu, and among them was a
Love Separation Gu — this is the number 1 poison Gu among the Rank
twos, and injuries caused by it cannot be healed even by a Rank three
healing Gu.

This Love Separation, is the one Wang Er owned back then. After obtaining
it, the clan kept it here.

The most was Rank three Gu, while Rank four Gu was relatively little.

Fang Yuan did not have high hopes. Although the clan had some fortune, it
is still a middle-sized clan and has competition with two other villages, as
well as the pressure of the wolf tide.

But to think that, he actually found a desirable Gu.

Tusita flower.

This was a Rank three grass Gu shaped like a red lantern, and had round
green leaves. The leaves were thick and fat, a total of three pointing at three
directions in symmetry.

This tusita flower is the same as the tusita grass. Not only was it able to
store food, but it could also store primeval stones and is one of the most
ideal Gu in Fang Yuan’s mind.

“To think that this Gu Yue village had the tusita flower. With it, I can cover
the weakness of storage,” Fang Yuan rejoiced, choosing it immediately.

“Actually, in the village there definitely is a Rank five Gu. Gu Yue clan had
two Rank five experts in history, they were bound to leave behind some Gu
worms. Except they cannot be placed here, these Rank five Gu are the
trump cards of the village, fed by the village with all their resources.
Though to say ‘feed’, it is actually more like offerings.”
Fang Yuan left the tunnel. The rain had stopped but the weather was still
gloomy. The air was also not fresh, as there was the smell of blood.

Fang Yuan changed to a clean shirt and slowly moved towards the gathering
point.

“Elder Fang Yuan, you are here, it is our greatest honor to have you with
us!” Gu Yue Ding Zong stood at the door, staring with wide eyes. From afar
he could see Fang Yuan walking across the street, and he quickly smiled
and received him.
He brought Fang Yuan into the bamboo building. There was already a feast
prepared as many people were sitting there.

On seeing Fang Yuan, they quickly got up.

Soon after, all sorts of praises and flattering rushed like water towards Fang
Yuan.

“Greetings to lord Fang Yuan.”

“After so long, elder Fang Yuan’s glamor is greater than ever, this lowly one
truly admires you!”

“To be lord Fang Yuan’s classmate, it is my luck from three lifetimes! Even
thinking about it now, it feels like the experience of a dream…”

Fang Yuan’s gaze swept across the table, seeing all his classmates; they
were familiar faces, all of them people who he had extorted.

“My pleasure.” He lightly smiled, sitting at the highest position.

“Serve the dishes, serve the best wine!” Gu Yue Ding Zong shouted, and the
servants quickly got to work.

All sorts of dishes were served, their flavors top notch; this Gu Yue Ding
Zong’s family sure had some assets. To be able to serve such dishes during
the wolf tide, it showed that he really paid a big price, showing his sincerity.

“Elder Fang Yuan, this lowly one toasts you!”

“Elder Fang Yuan, take your time to drink, I’ll down this first!”

Fang Yuan was really very casual. With a cup of wine, he only took a small
sip every time, but the people had no complaints towards this.

After toasting almost everyone and having drunk a decent amount, he

suddenly held his cup and stood up, laughing, “The young are foolish, I was
immature in the past and did some horrible things, I hope everyone can
forgive me, and do not mind the past.”

Once he stood up, no one else dared to continue sitting, and all of them
quickly got up.

Everyone knew that the matter Fang Yuan was referring to was the primeval
stone extortion.

They quickly shouted, “Not at all, not at all!”

“Elder Fang Yuan truly has character, a true hero!”

“To have my primeval stones eyed by elder Fang Yuan, that is our greatest
honor!”

“That’s right, that’s right, elder Fang Yuan’s glamor and heroism has always
been engraved in my heart…”

Fang Yuan drank this cup of wine in one mouthful, as everyone cheered and
clapped.
Chapter 161
 Chapter 161: Willingly exploited

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Yuan put down his cup, sitting down.

Only then did everyone dare to sit down. Among them, not all the
classmates were present. For example, Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and the others
with strong backgrounds, were not among the ones present.

“It’s about time, I have to go. This was a well-organised meetup.” Fang
Yuan showed his inclination to leave.

Gu Yue Ding Zong upon hearing the praise, was overjoyed and quickly
stood up, taking out a money bag from his pocket.

The bag was filled with primeval stones.

He smiled and bowed, “Upon hearing lord’s wisdom today, I’ve felt a
strong sense of enlightenment, reaping a great reward. This is a small gift,
but I hope lord can accept my token of gratitude.”

He talked a bunch of crap, and from the start of the banquet, he had been
flattering Fang Yuan non-stop, so how could he have gotten any
enlightenment?

But everyone else acted as if this indeed really happened, shouting loudly
and urging Fang Yuan to accept his gratitude.

Fang Yuan did not reject, smiling lightly and naturally taking over this
money bag.

Next, was the second, and the third, simultaneously coming up to offer their
gifts, all primeval stones!
“Alright, alright.” Fang Yuan smiled as he accepted them all.

Tens of bags filled with primeval stones, how could Fang Yuan carry them
all? Gu Yue Ding Zong on seeing this, quickly summoned a few family
servants to carry his load for him.

In this short amount of time, Fang Yuan gained almost ten thousand
primeval stones!

Lastly, Fang Yuan slowly stood up, raising his cup once again, “Our
encounter is by fate; this classmate relationship, both you and I remember it
at heart. This is truly worth drinking over.”

“Yes!”
“Well said, Lord Fang Yuan.”

“Such perfect phrasing, taking the words right out of our hearts, this is
talent no doubt!”

Everyone stood up, praising as they raised their cups.

They either had no background, or their background was not strong enough.
Fang Yuan advanced to clan elder, and they were afraid of his revenge, but
at the same time they also wanted to enter Fang Yuan’s social network.

Fang Yuan smiled lightly, raising his hand and toasting with his wine cup.

At this point, the dark clouds dissipated, showing the lustrous moonlight
enveloping the garden outside. The cool air was mixed with the smell of
blood, and reality was extremely cruel.

But in this hall, it was exquisite with beautiful lights and decorations,
overflowing with wine and fortune, and everyone smiled superficially as if
they were in heaven on earth.

“This is the allure of the system.” Fang Yuan’s eyes glinted; as he stared at
the wine in his cup, his mind thought about it.
Back then, when he extorted his classmates, it was only several primeval
stones, but he incurred public outcry.

However right now, he didn’t even have to say a word. Yet these people
were all willing, fighting to be the first to give him primeval stones, each
bag having over a hundred primeval stones!

This differential treatment – on the surface it looked like the result of Fang
Yuan’s elder status.
In reality, the truth was because he had previously been outside the system.
Right now however, he had entered the organisation’s higher management.

Under the system, the members are all exploited willingly. Even without
any hints from Fang Yuan, they would come forth and bribe him. Some
would use their network to get into his faction, while women used their
charms to get closer.

It works this way in this world, and the same goes on Earth as well.

“This world’s people are hilarious. Being robbed and extorted only for a
meagre loss and they resist violently, screaming injustice. But bribing the
higher-ups, sending gifts, bodies and virginities, they do it willingly. And
they are even afraid that it’s not enough! Being able to get so many
primeval stones today, this is all borrowing the power of the system.”

Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart, thinking of Gu Yue Qing Shu, Mo
Yan and Chi Shan.

Talented people like Gu Yue Qing Shu having B grade talent, they had
much greater cultivating talent than Fang Yuan!

But all of them cultivated slowly, staying at Rank two realm for a long time.

Did they not work hard enough?

Hehe.

Let’s laugh a little.

This is the deprivation and pressure from the system.

Such deprivation and pressure, it is invisible. Ordinary people cannot even

feel it!

Taking Fang Yuan’s situation for example. The primeval stones these people
gifted, if used on themselves, would definitely be a driving force towards
their own cultivation.

Thus, bribery is a form of deprivation!

Numerous lower rankers fight to bribe the higher-ups. This was a form of
gathering resources and fortifying the authority of the higher ups.

Other than monetary fortune, there is also the deprivation of time.

Elites like Gu Yue Qing Shu did not need to bribe others, but their time was
used up. Telling you to do this and that on a daily basis, running errands,
doing missions, but acting rightfully so – this is for the higher-ups’ attention
and favor!

If this time was used to cultivate, Gu Yue Qing Shu would’ve broken
through Rank two peak stage and reached Rank three. Then using the Wood
Charm Gu, he might’ve even been able to kill Bai Ning Bing!

The amazing part was that, the clan elders did not want this junior Gu Yue
Qing Shu to advance to Rank three so quickly.

For such a useful pawn piece, if he really became Rank three and was on
the same status as them, how can they make use of him?

Who is willing to have their authority shaved?

Thus, they consciously dragged and suppressed him, even using the reason
of —— I think well of this lad, but he needs to train. Only by refining can
he become a true jade……

Hehe.
“This is the truth of the system. If one cannot see beyond this, regardless of
how heroic they are or how talented one is, they are merely tigers and
dragons chained up, only being slaves. People like Gu Yue Qing Shu and
Chi Zhong, no matter how intelligent or talented they are, so what?”

Although he had so many thoughts, his thoughts flashed in an instant, and

only a second passed in real life.

“Everyone, please drink up!” Fang Yuan moved the cup to his lips, downing
the drink in one mouthful.

Everyone quickly toasted him, not daring to leave behind a single drop.

“Goodbye.” Fang Yuan cupped his fists, taking his leave. The family
servants held the primeval stones as they followed behind him.

Everyone quickly sent him off.

“Please continue drinking, you don’t have to send me off,” Fang Yuan said,
but everyone did not do so. Instead, they left their seats and continued their
flattery.

Fang Yuan continued, “I like peace and quiet.”

Seeing his expression, everyone finally got his intentions and remained in
the hall.

Seeing Fang Yuan’s figure leaving, some people sighed, while others
remained silent, and someone exclaimed, “Elder Fang Yuan truly is a
legend, such elegance…”

They were all frogs in the well, only able to see the moon from below,
thinking about Fang Yuan’s unrestrained position but not being able to see
beyond the system’s restrictions.

Actually, as long as one joins the system, they would be weakened, and
their benefits would be sacrificed.
Even the clan leader has to sacrifice. He needed to manage the clan, and
with this he contributed much of time and effort.

It is just that the members at the bottom of the chain are deprived more
severely. The higher one’s status is, the more benefits one will enjoy.

Initially, when Fang Yuan extorted primeval stones, he worked against the
system, acting alone and not even sparing his own brother. That was to
avoid this deprivation. Thus, he had ample time and energy to advance to
Rank three and become a clan elder, causing numerous people to scream in
wonder.

But now that he had undergone a huge transformation, becoming a clan

elder, his temperament became mild and respectful with authority and
status, enjoying the benefits of a clan elder, causing many to be filled with
envy.

This separation and joining, entering and leaving, is filled with deep
wisdom and knowledge.

But how many people can see clearly across this fact?

Fang Yuan was not exploited, but he still enjoyed the benefits. In the eyes of
mortals, this is unrestrain and elegance.

“Alright, put the things on the table and you can go,” Fang Yuan said.

The family servants did not dare to have an opinion, quietly placing down
the items and bowing to Fang Yuan before taking their leave.

This is no longer the rented apartment Fang Yuan stayed in before.

After advancing to elder, the clan allocated him a brand new bamboo
building.

There was a study room and a secret room for closed door cultivation in the
bamboo building, but there were no family servants; Fang Yuan needed to
find them himself.

“Tusita flower, come out.”

Fang Yuan willed in his heart and with the injection of his white silver
primeval essence, the tusita flower residing on his tongue as a tattoo came
alive immediately.

He opened his mouth and spit out, only to see red light appearing as the
tusita flower rotated gradually like a lantern in mid-air, floating and
appearing in front of him.

Fang Yuan activated the tusita flower. Instantly, red light flashed and caused
the entire area to be lit in a red hue.

When the red light shone upon the pieces of primeval stones, there was a
formless attraction and all the stones flew out of their bags and entered the
tusita flower.

A moment later, the red light dissipated and Fang Yuan opened his mouth.
The tusita flower entered his mouth once more, landing on his tongue and
turning into a red flower lantern tattoo.

“This tusita flower is a Rank three Gu, able to store primeval stones and
other things. Among the Rank three storage Gu, this is one of the better
ones, being able to store a max of thirty thousand primeval stones. But
considering that I have to store other things as well, the most would
probably be around fifteen thousand primeval stones.”

Although it was his first time using this Gu worm, with his previous life’s
experience, he could quickly estimate the limit of the Gu.

Primeval stones are the most basic resource for a Gu Master’s cultivation,
undeniably.

Without primeval stones, Gu Masters would lack a driving force severely.

And primeval stones also help in quickly restoring primeval essence, so in

battle it has a lot of help.
Especially for Gu Masters who travel alone, primeval stones are the most
basic assurance for travelling. Normally, they would need at least ten
thousand primeval stones to ensure that a Gu Master has the basic needs
covered for a period of time. And every once in a while, they require
replenishment.

A saving of fifteen thousand primeval stones, to Fang Yuan, was still too
little, but also at an acceptable range.

“First I borrowed three thousand primeval stones from Chi Lian, and with
today’s earnings, I do not have to fret over primeval stones for a while. In
the six classifications, I have the Blood Moon Gu and Sky Canopy Gu for
attack and defense, Thunderwings for movement, tusita flower for storage,
and Earth Communication Ear Grass for recon. I only lack a healing Gu,”
Fang Yuan calculated.

He previously had a Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, but Fang Yuan handed it up
already, thus being able to get the tusita flower.

But for this Rank two Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, even in Fang Yuan’s
possession, the healing ability was not satisfactory.

“Rank three healing Gu worms, there are a few desirable ones. Endless
Vitality Gu can sustain healing and expends little primeval essence. On this
note, it is the best for Gu Masters like me with low aptitude. There’s also
the Undying Grass, a Gu that can save me as long as I have a single breath
left, this is the best life-preservation type of Gu. The most optimum is the
Self-reliance Gu, relying on the Gu Master’s own strength. The larger the
Gu Master’s strength, the more it can stimulate the metabolism of the Gu
Master and thus recover injuries faster.”
But for these three Gu worms, how can Fang Yuan obtain them?

In the Gu Yue clan, he even checked the underground cavern, but found no
such Gu.

On the resource board, they would also not display such a precious Gu.

The only hope lies in the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance.

But the chances were slim, Fang Yuan barely held any hope. He could feel
that the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance was coming to an end. How could
there be the exact Gu that Fang Yuan needs right at the end?

If that was the case, it would be too perfect, too idealistic.

But Fang Yuan knew how cruel this world was. Placing your faith in such a
thing, that’s naivety!

“But even so, I have to finish exploring this inheritance ground. At least for
that Chainsaw Golden Centipede, I have to subdue it,” Fang Yuan thought
in his heart.
Chapter 162
 Chapter 162: Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Although he had planned to investigate the Flower Wine inheritance

ground, Fang Yuan couldn’t find the time to do so. With his elder status,
many were watching him, and with the busy schedule of the wolf tide,
many battles had to be fought and he did not have an opportunity to leave.

By the time he returned to the rock crack’s secret cave, it was over ten days
later.

The end of summer, night time.

The rain just stopped, bringing the atmosphere of autumn itself.

In the sky, a golden moon was hanging, round like a plate, high up in the
sky.

Hearing vague wolf cries mixed with the remaining crickets, Fang Yuan
stood on a slope, turning back and observing.

Gu Yue village was bright with numerous lamps lighted. The torn walls had
been fixed over and over, losing the peace and tranquility it once had. It was
almost like a huge beast that had undergone numerous battles, lying on the
ground gasping for breath.

“After my rebirth, even the wolf tide’s progress has changed much. In my
memory, the thunder crown wolf arrived three days ago, but now it is
nowhere to be seen.”

Fang Yuan took a look, before moving his sight. Tonight he had managed to
squeeze out some time, and had to make good use of it.
A moment later, he entered the rock crack’s secret cave again.

The cave entrance was purposely covered with grey ash. There had never
been any footsteps on it, showing that this place was yet undiscovered.

This small kind of detection method could not be called professional, but
Fang Yuan’s experience placed them to good use.

Of course, he did not only have one method of precaution, and after several
layers of checking, he finally confirmed that this secret cave was still safe
for the time being.

He breathed a sigh of relief. After all, since his rebirth, many things had
been altered. Especially during the wolf tide, Gu Masters moved around
more frequently, so someone might have discovered this place.

He entered the tunnel and went into the second secret room. Pushing open
the rock door, he entered the rock forest.

In the rock forest, the path that he once excavated was filled with jade eye
stone monkeys again.

But the Fang Yuan now, is already a Rank three Gu Master. Although the
Blood Moon Gu did not have the highest attacking power among the Rank
three Gu worms, it was definitely far superior than the Moonglow Gu.

Fang Yuan spent six hours, exterminating almost ten groups of monkeys,
reopening a path for himself.

He came to the most central area and stepped down the rough rock stairs,
entering the third secret room. A rock door blocked his path, and on the
rock door there was a carving —”Golden Centipede’s cave is precarious,
Earth Communication is the way to avoid the disaster.” Last time, he had
been stuck at this step.

But this time, he opened the rock door with no hesitation, striding into the
darkness.

He held a torch that illuminated the surrounding ten steps.

This centipede cave was wide, having a height of three metres, and breadth
of two metres. There were also many narrow paths that extended all over
the place.

Wherever Fang Yuan walked, the fire would proceed to light up the place
and dispel the darkness. Initially the cave only had the sound of his
footsteps, but soon all sorts of noises came from all over the place.

The sound gathered into one collective body, continuously sounding. At the
edge of the lighted area, he soon saw a large number of centipedes.

They were ferocious. It was only due to the bright fire that they did not
attack Fang Yuan. But Fang Yuan knew that as time passed, the centipedes
would increase in number, and with the back pushing the ones in front, this
stalemate would soon be broken.

But he did not mind it.

If he was still Rank two with only the White Jade Gu’s defense, he would
definitely not cause such a commotion, attracting the movement of the
centipede group. But now that he was Rank three, the Sky Canopy Gu’s
defense was enough for him to withstand the bites of the insects, and his
only concern was the insect king of the place — Chainsaw Golden
Centipede.

It had appeared!

Fang Yuan purposely used a trace of his white silver primeval essence from
his aperture, releasing it into the air, exposing his Rank three Gu Master
aura.

This aura caused the Chainsaw Golden Centipede to feel a strong threat. To
it, Fang Yuan had stepped into his territory, and this “wild beast” needed to
be eliminated immediately.

Fang Yuan stood on guard against it.

This Chainsaw Golden Centipede was around a metre long, its body as wide
as two fists. It first landed at the fringe of the lighted area, coiling its body
around it, like python ambushing its prey.

But in the next moment, it moved slowly with numerous legs sustaining its
weight as it gradually got closer towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan’s Rank three aura only made it alert, and not afraid. If he was
Rank four, it would not pressure Fang Yuan like this. If he was Rank five
and only revealed a bit of that aura, it would run for its life.

Fang Yuan raised the torch high. As the fire burned, it illuminated the
surroundings and the shadow’s movements.

Under the glow of the fire, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s exoskeleton
emitted an eerie light. At the side of its body, there were silver coloured
sawteeth. As it got closer, the sawteeth moved as well, looking like a
slowed chainsaw, emitting a buzzing sound.

The other centipedes gathered towards Fang Yuan from the walls and the
ground.

Some centipedes climbed to the ceiling, then dropped down, landing on

Fang Yuan’s shoulder and back.

Fang Yuan did not mind it; he activated the Sky Canopy Gu, and a thick
white crystal light appeared on his body, the form of an armor subtly
showing as it covered him fully.

The centipedes’ poisonous limbs could not do anything against this white
crystal armor.

The twisting and turning centipedes climbed on his face or behind his ears;
it was a little disgusting, but Fang Yuan’s endurance level was way beyond
this, thus ignoring them completely. In his previous life, he had eaten
almost anything in the wilderness, and even non-poisonous centipedes were
eaten raw. In fact the taste was not that bad, almost a bit strange initially,
but he got used to it after eating them for a while.
He only placed his attention on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede moved gradually, reducing the distance

between Fang Yuan and itself.

When there was a distance of three to four steps between them, Fang Yuan
stopped the white silver primeval essence from leaking and this caused his
aura to instantly weaken.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede acutely felt that, thus instantly increasing
its speed, moving like a golden line.

Pew!

In the blink of an eye, it had shortened the distance, and coiled around Fang
Yuan’s stomach.

This speed was really fast. It first appeared motionless, then on the very
moment it moved, it dashed through like a golden light.

When Fang Yuan managed to react, this Chainsaw Golden Centipede had
already coiled around his waist like a snake, opening its mouth and
attacking towards Fang Yuan’s face.

Fang Yuan quickly stretched out both arms, grabbing the head of this
golden centipede.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede struggled, and Fang Yuan who had the
strength of two boars, felt that his strength was insufficient.

Especially when the Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s two bladed edges started
to move rapidly.

Clank clank clank!

A strong pulling and slashing force grinded at the white light of the Sky
Canopy Gu.
At once, Fang Yuan’s white silver primeval essence was rapidly used up as
the white light grinded with the chainsaws, causing sparks to fly.

Fang Yuan’s primeval essence was only initial stage light silver primeval
essence, and with only 42% in storage, it could not support such an
expenditure.

However, Fang Yuan was unfazed; even though he could not get free from
the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, he had a trump card!

Spring Autumn Cicada!

He willed in his heart and the Spring Autumn Cicada’s shadow appeared
from his aperture.

The Spring Autumn Cicada was gradually recovering; its two wings were
tender and new like fresh leaves, and at the same time its body had a royal
wooden lustre. But overall, it still gave off a withered feeling of death.

It had recovered around 20%, thus its aura was much stronger.

Once this aura was leaked, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede that was
struggling intensely immediately surrendered!

It was only a Rank three wild Gu worm. Against the aura of the Rank six
Spring Autumn Cicada, it did not dare to move at all.

Fang Yuan felt it most evidently. Previously he was still gripping the
Chainsaw Golden Centipede like a poisonous python, using all ways to
prevent it from biting; the next moment, it had become a soft and harmless
rope.

Fang Yuan smiled lightly, using his white silver primeval essence onto the
Chainsaw Golden Centipede that had basically given up. Fang Yuan’s will
worked without obstacles, completely eliminating the wild consciousness it
had.

In a few breath’s time, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede was already refined
by Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan let go of both hands. The Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s
numerous segments moved with rhythm, moving across the white
protective armor and around Fang Yuan’s waist, finally twisting and coiling
around his arm.

The surrounding centipede groups went away like a receding tide.

The wild Chainsaw Golden Centipede, because of its natural consciousness,

was able to dominate the insect group. But now that Fang Yuan’s will
replaced it, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede lost its ability to communicate
and control the group.

Fang Yuan did not eliminate these centipedes, instead letting them leave.
Maybe in another dozen plus years, a new Chainsaw Golden Centipede
might be born. But this no longer had anything to do with Fang Yuan.

He let the Chainsaw Golden Centipede hang on his shoulder as he

investigated deeper into the cave.

This centipede tunnel had a lot of paths, and after moving for a while, the
main path split into three branches.

Fang Yuan first used the Earth Communication Ear Grass, and after a while,
he eliminated the center path. Choosing the path on the right, he moved for
half an hour and found a dead end. He could only backtrack and go through
the left path.

By keeping the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, he could deter the centipede

groups and cause them to move away from wherever he goes with the
golden centipede’s aura.

This greatly aided his search.

Not long after he entered the left path, the centipede group that moved away
revealed a cave, and he found some clues there.

“These are signs of human construction!” Fang Yuan’s heart was moved.
Very evidently, this path was dug out by the Flower Wine Monk initially
using the Thousand Li Earthwolf spider.

Fang Yuan moved along this path at a slow pace, patiently investigating.

There were a lot of centipedes in this path, and this was another piece of
good news for Fang Yuan.

This is because areas with insect groups living there allowed him to
eliminate the possibility of placed traps.

This tunnel was longer than he expected, Fang Yuan spent over twelve
hours and walked over three Li worth of distance!

The slope gradually moved down as Fang Yuan approached a deep

underground area.

Every once in a while, he stopped and used the Earth Communication Ear
Grass to eliminate any possible threats.

Swoosh swish!

“What sound is this?” Fang Yuan eventually heard a weird noise.

Immediately, he noticed what it was.

“This is water… don’t tell me?” His thought moved quickly as he had an
idea.

At the end of the tunnel, he saw a crystal wall.

And behind the crystal wall, was water.

In the water, there was an ash-gray coloured river that flowed in a spiral,
like a mini tornado, endlessly swirling in a self-sufficient system.

“As I thought, this is a natural essence spring!” Seeing this, Fang Yuan’s
attention was piqued.
Soon after, he saw that behind this watery crystal wall, there was something
else in the spring.

A flower bud with the colours of blue and white following one another, was
leisurely floating in the spring water.

“This… is actually the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus!” Fang Yuan was
shocked!

Note: > This tunnel was longer than he expected, Fang Yuan spent over
twelve hours and walked over three Li worth of distance! Li is 500 meters, I
don’t know why he took twelve hours just to walk 1.5km lol? It’s not even
an exaggeration.
Chapter 163
 Chapter 163: Thunder Crown Wolf

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

As Fang Yuan looked at the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, many doubts
in his heart was cleared. He could roughly speculate what had happened.

Going back in time, a millennium ago.

A solitary Rank five Gu Master came upon Qing Mao mountain and
incidentally found this underground natural spirit spring.

He was exulted and settled down here. He began merging the mortal
villagers living around the foot of the mountain together, forming the
prototype of Gu Yue village.

He took in over a hundred wives and concubines, wantonly spreading his

bloodline.

He was the ancestor of Gu Yue clan, the founder of Gu Yue village.

Time passed by, and he passed away ending the first generation, then it was
the second, third until it reached the fourth generation.

The fourth generation clan leader possessed an A grade aptitude and

cultivated to Rank five, creating another golden age for the clan.

One day, a demonic path Gu Master came to the village.

He was bald and muscular, dressed in pink clothes and moved alone; his
favorite hobby was to defile innocent women. It was the famous devil of the
demonic path: Flower Wine Monk.

Who knew what fortuitous encounter this Flower Wine Monk had, to be
able to know the recipe to refine Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. After
many preparations, he only lacked a natural spirit spring to refine this
flower Gu.

After looking all around, he finally chose Gu Yue village’s spirit spring.

At first, he used the pretence of buying moon orchid to slowly approach the
Gu Yue clan’s higher-ups and get the details on Gu Yue clan.

Afterwards, in the battle with the fourth generation clan leader, he was able
to achieve complete victory with his formidable strength. He had not only
killed the fourth generation head, but also downed a large majority of the
elders. However, his body was infected by the Moonshadow Gu.

Moonshadow Gu’s ability was to restrict primeval essence and wasn’t

enough to be fatal. However, Flower Wine Monk couldn’t wantonly
slaughter if he wanted to refine the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, as
that would attract a lot of attention and hinder the progress. Thus, he chose
to do things from the dark.

He used the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider to dig out a tunnel, secretly

advancing to this area. Due to the thorough preparations he had made
before and with the sufficient materials, he was able to refine Heavenly
Essence Treasure Lotus in the spirit spring.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus has an extraordinary background. Its

fusion recipe had been created many millenniums ago by a Gu Master of
the righteous faction: Immortal Venerable Genesis Lotus.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was only a Rank three flower Gu, but it
had its advancement route and could become the Rank six Heavenly
Essence Treasure Imperial Lotus, which was ranked sixth among the list of
Top Ten Great Immortal Gu rankings. Its worth was about the same as the
Spring Autumn Cicada!
The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus had a reputation as a portable spirit
spring, because it could produce primeval stones.

However, its fusion process had an extremely high price.

To refine the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, there must be a natural
spirit spring. This spring should be full of primeval energy, and cannot be a
spirit spring that has been used for many years, with its reserves drying out.

After the fusion succeeds, this spirit spring will be thoroughly useless and
will lose its ability to produce primeval stones, becoming just an ordinary
spring.

A natural spirit spring is extremely valuable. One only needs to look at how
this spirit spring has sustained countless Gu Masters of the Gu Yue clan for
close to a millennium to realize this point.

Refining a Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus would completely destroy this

spirit spring. But that was just the beginning. If it was to be advanced to
Rank four, it would need seven spirit springs, nine at Rank five, and eleven
for Rank six!

Apart from this, many extremely precious Gu worms would be needed as

auxiliary ingredients.

“If I take this Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, it would be like carrying a
mini-scale spirit spring with me. The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus is
only a Rank three Gu, so its daily primeval stones production can’t compare
to a normal spirit spring, but the amount will be enough to sustain my
cultivation expenditure!”

This was just one of its benefits.

The primeval stones produced by Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus were a

lot more than the earnings from the Nine Leaves Vitality Grass.

Primeval stones can not only help in advancing cultivation – they are also
an exchangeable form of currency.

With the treasure lotus, Fang Yuan could decrease the amount of primeval
stones he carried. The tusita flower could then be used to store various
stuffs which could greatly decrease the burden on him.
“However….I heard that the fusion process of the treasure lotus is quite
mysterious; it appears from nothing during which it transits between the
astral and physical form. Ordinary people can’t see it, and it can only be
seen clearly through the crystal. This Gu is quite delicate and needs to be
nourished within the spirit spring for nine days and nine nights until it
grows out nine intact leaves, before it can be plucked and put into the
primeval sea in the aperture. If one picks it up before the time is ripe, all
their efforts would be completely wasted.”

Fang Yuan didn’t know the detailed recipe of Heavenly Essence Treasure
Lotus and only knew some insider rumors. He had no idea on how to
advance it in the future.

Even so, this Rank three Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus would be of an
enormous assistance to him.

He looked beyond the crystal wall and carefully observed; to his surprise,
the flower only had eight and a damaged half leaf. There was only half a
leaf left for the nine complete leaves.

Fang Yuan wasn’t baffled by this.

Centuries had passed, the spirit spring’s reserves had been consumed for
four generations of time.

This Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus condensed the majority of the spirit
spring’s essence, constantly consuming the primeval stones produced by the
spirit spring, and causing the spirit spring’s reserves to further decrease. As
a result, the treasure lotus slowly began to reverse the absorption, instead
replenishing the damage to the spirit spring. By doing this, it was damaging
itself; this was the reason for the damaged leaf.

“Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus must have nine complete leaves before
it can be plucked. It only has eight leaves and a half now. I need to throw in
primeval stones to the spring if I am to pluck it!”

Primeval stones were the crystallization of the spirit spring, they could
provide the nourishment to the treasure lotus and let it grow again.
However, don’t underestimate this half damaged leaf. It was sure to require
large amounts of primeval stones for it to grow back!

“If I am not wrong, this crystal wall should be produced by a Moat Gu….”
Fang Yuan tried to touch the wall, and found that this wall was real but also
virtual, just like light and shadow; his hands went through the wall without
any obstruction.

But he quickly took back his hand and didn’t dare to go deep into the spirit
spring.

Spirit springs should never be polluted.

He poured his primeval essence into the tusita flower and took out a
primeval stone.

He threw the primeval stone through the crystal wall. As if the wall didn’t
exist, the primeval stone went through it and dropped into the spirit spring,
striking onto the phantom figure of the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.
Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus transited between blue and white and
started shaking like water ripples. It digested the primeval stone in almost
an instant.

After waiting for the flower to turn calm, Fang Yuan observe it attentively,
but found no change in that damaged leaf.

His expression was calm. He started throwing in dozens of primeval stones

but there was still no change to the damaged leaf.

Fang Yuan continued to throw in primeval stones while silently counting

the number. When over five hundred primeval stones were thrown, the
damaged leaf finally grew by a little.

After the sight of this scene, Fang Yuan couldn’t help but feel slightly
gloomy.

From this calculation, he had to throw in at least over fifty thousand

primeval stones in at one time.
If he did it in batches and the time gap was long, Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus would consume itself to replenish the spirit spring as the
clan continuously extracted primeval stones.

“Over fifty thousand primeval stones…I only have just over ten thousand
with me and lack forty thousand more.”

With his status as an elder, raising these forty thousand primeval stones
wasn’t really a problem.

The true problem, however, lay elsewhere. Once he took out this Heavenly
Essence Treasure Lotus, the spirit spring would be completely useless and
this was bound to attract the whole clan’s furious and frantic investigation.

Fang Yuan had plentiful experience, but he had limited methods. If the clan
investigated without any considerations, they were sure to find some clues.
In fact, the clan’s higher-ups were already suspicious of him, but their
suspicions were temporarily suppressed by the wolf tide.

If the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance was exposed, Fang Yuan would
definitely be the primary suspect.

Even if Fang Yuan secretly escaped, he would suffer the whole clan’s
reckless chase.

“I can’t give up over the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. Even if I don’t
have its fusion recipe, who knows what the future holds? The problem is
that once I take this Gu, it is akin to stabbing a hornet’s nest and bringing
calamity upon myself.”

Fang Yuan secretly considered every situation and decided he had to wait
for the best opportunity to appear, to take this Heavenly Essence Treasure
Lotus.

“This Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus should be the last inheritance of

Flower Wine Monk. But there are many suspicious points to this; Flower
Wine Monk would have come to this place to refine the Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus, so what kind of accident did he encounter to be so seriously
injured that he had to hurriedly set up this inheritance before dying?”

Fang Yuan already knew the reason for the Flower Wine Monk to set up the
inheritance.

It was to take revenge against the Gu Yue clan.

If Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was to be taken out of the spirit spring
– whether it was a success or failure – this natural spirit spring was bound
to be useless.

Without the natural spirit spring, Gu Yue clan would have no foundation to
stay here. It was only a matter of time before the clan broke apart.

“Forget it, I won’t make any headway in my doubts without any new
evidence. I should return to the village now.” In the end, Fang Yuan shook
his head and began to return back the way he came.

When he had just exited the rock crack, a loud and clear wolf howl
continuously resounded.

“This sound!” Fang Yuan turned grim and quickly moved.

When he reached the riverbank outside of the rock crack, he could smell a
thick odor of blood.

Sounds of cries, yells, wolf howls and explosions could be heard even
though there was still some distance to the village.

Fang Yuan concealed his figure and climbed a hill.

It was early in the morning and the first rays of sunlight had just broken out
of the sky.

Countless wolf packs were rushing towards the Gu Yue village like a flood.

Fang Yuan’s gaze swept past them, then his body trembled.
In the rearmost part of the wolf packs, he saw a lightning wolf that was as
large as a small hill.

Myriad beast king: Thunder Crown Wolf!

It was tall and slim, had strong limbs and its whole body was covered with
eerie blue scales. Tufts of golden wolf fur could be seen on its claws and
tail.

The fur on its head were all stiff and upraised, forming a towering crown.

It was crouching on the ground and was still like a sculpture. The frenzy
lightning wolves and bold lightning wolves around it constantly howled,
serving to show its elegance and nobility.

Just by sitting there, it had already brought a great mental pressure to the
Gu Yue clan.

“The myriad beast king has finally arrived, it is the decisive moment for the
survival of the Gu Yue village!” Fang Yuan gazed towards the village;
innumerable Gu Masters were in fierce battles, using all of their strength to
block the frantic charge of the wolf tide.

Suddenly, around ten figures flew out of the village and rushed against the
wolf tide, charging towards the Thunder Crown Wolf.

They were all elders and in front of them was the clan leader Gu Yue Bo!
Chapter 164
 Chapter 164: Intense Battle

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

If one wants to fight against the thunder crown wolf, one must strike first.
Its strength is just too great, and if it was let into the village, it would
definitely cause great losses and damage.

This group’s capabilities were huge. With the Rank four clan leader Gu Yue
Bo as the leader, and his elders as his support, they were a strong attacking
force.

The wolf tide was surging violently, yet they went against it with careful
and compact cooperation. As if the group was a warship, splitting the waves
apart, advancing bravely forward.

Wherever they went, they were practically sweeping everything away in

their path!

The closer they got to the thunder crown wolf, the more the pressure
coming from the wolf tide increased.

Gu Yue Bo was calm and composed. Suddenly he stretched out his right
palm, and slashed in front of him.

Swoosh!

A golden coloured moonblade, as big as a grown adult, formed in a split

second and flew out towards the front.

Swooosh swoosh swoooosh!

After flying out for a few meters, this moon disk suddenly went through a
change, and from one blade it turned into three.
Three moonblades flew alongside each other, bringing about the sound of
the wind whistling as it plowed open three bloody paths like knives cutting
meat apart.

Many wolves fell without exception. Broken limbs flew into the air, and
blood-curdling cries sounded non-stop.

A frenzy lightning wolf roared and started rushing over fiercely towards the
Gu Masters from the right side.”Let me!” A clan elder suddenly went from
a thin and dry appearance, turning into a huge fat man in one breath.

With a bang, he used his round belly and sent the frenzy lightning wolf
flying away.

The frenzy lightning wolf had come in a torrential rush, and the greater the
strength of collision the stronger the bounce back was. It was thrown across
high into the air, cutting an arc and then finally falling down hundreds of
meters away.

The other elders were displaying all sorts of abilities.

There were some with long hair like needles, continuously shooting out and
sweeping away lightning wolves.

Some of them had their bodies covered in light armor, forcefully bearing
through the wolves’ tearing and biting.

The thunder crown wolf went from a half-sitting state, and slowly got onto
its feet. It firmly stared at the Gu Masters rushing towards itself, and the
wolf’s dark eyes flashed with warning.

It opened its mouth and let out a low roar, revealing its sharp and jagged
wolf fangs.

Each of the frenzy lightning wolves and bold lightning wolves that heard its
roar immediately got up and rushed towards the Gu Masters.

The Gu Masters were instantly slowed in their charge, receiving great

obstruction.
“Clan leader!”

“I’ll leave it to all of you, clan elders!”

“You have to win…”

Numerous eyes flashed and gathered on them. Unknown number of rallying

cries and shouts sounded from the the depths of the clansmen’s hearts.

This was the most crucial battle.

If they lose the battle, the entire clan would face the danger of being wiped
out. If victory was assured, then they would have held against the hardest
moment of the wolf tide.

This was the battle that would decide the life and death of the Gu Yue clan!

None of the elders backed off. They pushed forward, while drenched in
blood. Even though they did not lose any numbers, none of them were
spared from injury.

They eliminated all the obstacles around them, until they faced the thunder
crown wolf, then charged towards it.

Therapy Light Gu.

Suddenly a middle-aged female clan elder stretched out both her hands, and
a pure white, warm light bubbled forth. The light first flowed onto the clan
leader’s body, and then reflected onto each of the other clan elders.

This was a Rank three healing Gu with area-of-effect properties, and it

could instantly cause the wounds on Gu Masters to stop bleeding. Light
wounds would be recovered completely, while heavy wounds would be
healed by half.

“Continue fighting!” Gu Yue Bo roared loudly.

Five clan elders swiped their arms as they heard the signal, and sent a
moonblade flying towards the sky.
Suddenly a clan elder roared as all the muscles on his body erupted and
expanded three times, becoming a white fur giant ape.

It jumped in front of the group, its hands joined together.

Gu Yue Bo stepped onto its two hands, and with a low roar, the ape kicked
from the ground and stretched out its waist, using all the strength in its body
to toss Gu Yue Bo into the sky.

Moon-invite Gu.

Gu Yue Bo spread out his left hand; it was giving out a hazy, whirlpool-like
purple moonlight.

The moonblades that the clan elders had shot towards the sky were all
absorbed and annexed by this purple moonlight.

“SLASH!”

Gu Yue Bo’s eyes shone as he shouted in a thunderous volume, splitting the

air with his palms from up to down.

Pew!

Winds and thunder resounded as a purple moonblade, larger than a horse

carriage, flew towards the thunder crown wolf.

This moonblade looked slow but was actually fast, and in a split second, it
struck its target.

The thunder crown wolf howled and at the last moment, a thunder light
armor appeared on its body.

Bam!

In the next moment, an intense explosion occurred as the sky was engulfed
in eerie blue lightning pitting against the purple alluring moonlight.
Numerous people squinted as the shockwaves spread from the impact,
sending the ordinary lightning wolves in the vicinity flying.

When the intense light dissipated, the Gu Masters were already engaging in
battle with the thunder crown wolf.

The clan elders were all extremely experienced and well coordinated with
each other.

An aged old master with floating white hair shot out needles from it
endlessly like rain.

On another side, a female Gu Master blew out flames from her nostrils like
lingering snakes, and she spouted a wave of orange flame and assaulted two
sides at the same time.

There were another three Gu Masters – one turned into a white ape, while
another turned his muscles into steel from head to toe as they both tried to
curb the thunder crown wolf. The other Gu Master tossed out unending
numbers of Puppet Gu, pouring his primeval essence and turning them into
vine armoured grass soldiers or wooden servants with red spears, using
them as fodder to attract the incoming assault.

Healing Gu Masters stood at the outer circle, using Therapy Light Gu from
time to time. Beside them were defensive Gu Masters, giving them care and
protection.

The thunder crown wolf had been beaten badly. Its right front limb had a
huge wound, the blood flowing non-stop. This was the outcome from the
attack of the purple moonblade a moment ago.

It roared continuously as it had fallen into the Gu Master’s well planned

trap. Even if it had the spirits to fight back, there was not much it could do.

The Gu Masters weaved and jumped around it like fleas on a cat or dog.
They continued to move around and pulled space as they worked with
completely chemistry.
But the good situation did not last, for the thunder crown wolf slowly began
to adapt, while the wound on its body did not stop healing.

It was clear that it had a healing Gu on its body. This was very bad news.

The healing Gu’s existence would mean that this is a war of attrition.

Wild Gu could just use the natural essence straight from the air, while Gu
Masters could only use primeval essence from their own apertures.

After the battle reached fifteen minutes later, the thunder crown wolf
suddenly howled towards the sky, and a torrent of lightning flashes
enveloped its whole body, while its speed sharply increased onefold.

The elder who had turned into a white ape could not dodge in time. Unable
to react to this change, he was bitten by the thunder crown wolf and his
skull was torn into two by the wolf’s tugging.

The thunder crown wolf had torn a line in the battlefront, and with
continuous swipes of its tail, purplish blue electric currents rushed forth; the
Gu Masters could only back away non-stop.

In this dangerous moment, the clan leader Gu Yue Bo stood out.

He was a Rank four expert with powerful attacks and superior defense, like
the center pillar of the group, using all his strength to salvage the situation.

Mountain rocks broke and shadows dissipated as group battles enlarged.

The aftermath ravaged the battlefield, and not a single lightning wolf dared
to enter battle.

The situation of the battlefield only became more desperate. The thunder
crown wolf’s injuries became heavier and worse, the bleeding unable to
stop, and bones could be seen in the deeper wounds. At the same time, the
Gu Masters also suffered heavy losses — so far they had already lost six
clan elders. If not for the village’s clan elders’ immediate and urgent
dispatch, coming in to aid the fight, the battle might have long collapsed.
“Everyone, stand strong, holding is the key to victory!” Gu Yue Bo killed
until his eyes were red, and his voice was hoarse as he gave his all to arouse
morale.

But at this moment, the thunder crown wolf suddenly went berserk, and its
body was enshrouded in a layer of bright red light.

Rank four Berserk Gu!

The thunder crown wolf’s strength, speed, agility and other attributes
suddenly rose to twice the original base.

Boom!

There was a loud noise as it swiped its right claw, turning a clan elder into
complete meat mush.

With a flick of its tail, the sound of wind erupted and an electrical net flew
out, trapping a field of grass and wooden puppets, then burning it all into
charcoal.

“I can’t keep up, my puppets are already used up!” The elder cried out,
frightened.

With the situation rapidly changing for the worse, the terror of the myriad
beast king was fully unleashed, leaving everyone in despair.

Gu Yue Bo’s eyebrows were locked tight, and it seemed like he was about
to break his teeth from gritting, when he suddenly yelled, “Trap it, use the
Iron Chain Snake!”

As the clan elders heard this, they were awed in their hearts.

Early during the start of the wolf tide, they had already displayed countless
of battle tactics; this was a method that must only be used when there was
no other choice!

“Wind Snare Gu!” An elder cried out, and from his nostrils came a green
breeze, wrapping around the thunder crown wolf’s claws.
“Swamp Gu!” Another elder roared and crouched down, bringing his two
hands down and slamming on the ground. Instantly, the earth below the
thunder crown wolf turned into mud.

With these simultaneous attacks, the thunder crown wolf’s movements were
slowed at that moment.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the other elders all stretched out their
hands, and from their sleeves and pants, waves of black shadows shot out.

The black shadow was about the size of a fist, and each length was around
two meters long. On close inspection, one would see that each black
shadow was a snake Gu.

This snake was shaped like an iron chain, its whole body a gloomy black.
Coils of metal rings were strung and connected together, and only the snake
head looked normal.

As it flew out, the snakes wriggled on the ground, quickly climbing onto the
thunder crown wolf’s body.

Their heads and tails then connected and mutually fit together, forming a
metal net in the blink of an eye, taking root from the ground and trapping
the thunder crown wolf on the spot.

But this situation was only temporary, for as the thunder crown wolf
struggled continuously, one by one, the iron chains would break off. In just
five to six minutes, these metallic snakes would completely disintegrate
away, no longer trapping the thunder crown wolf.

“Chi Guang, Suo Ping, stay here and stop the wolf pack from attacking the
metal chains. The rest of you, fall back to the village with me!” Gu Yue Bo
shouted. He actually had chosen to retreat.

However the other clan elders did not show any surprised expressions; they
had already known the clan leader’s intention.
They hurried back to the village, and immediately a clan elder came up
towards them and said, “Lord clan leader, everything has been prepared!”

Gu Yue Bo nodded, commanding the group to go to the clan pavillion.

In the plaza before the clan pavillion, there was already up to a hundred Gu
Masters seated on the ground.

These Gu Masters were mainly those who were seriously hurt and could not
enter battle in a short period of time. Each of their faces carried a calm
expression of facing death without fear. Meanwhile for those who still had
the ability to battle, they were fighting away on the front lines.

With the battle reaching this moment, the clan had already given its all. In
this dire situation, even the mortals had been mobilized. Using each and
every single human life to be turned as a meat wall, obstructing the wolf
tide for the time being, this gave the Gu Masters some time to recuperate
and regroup.

Gu Yue Bo and the clan elders went into the ancestral halls of the clan
pavillion.

Under the memorial tablets of their ancestors, they all sank to their knees on
the floor.”To the great ancestor above me, we descendants are greatly
ashamed! The wolf tide is turbulent, and the village has fallen into the
situation of life and death. We beseech our great ancestor to come and give
us a hand!” When Gu Yue Bo finished speaking in a low voice, the ancestral
hall fell into deep silence.

Drip drop.

A few of the clan elder’s blood seeped out from their hastily bandaged
wounds, dripping onto the floor.

Gu Yue Bo and the rest of the clan elders held their breaths, not even daring
to pant or breathe loudly.
Back in the day, when the first generation clan leader felt his death
approaching, he set out to leave the village. Before his departure, he left a
testament behind. It spoke that if the clan would ever fall into the danger of
perishing, they could pray before his memorial tablet. At that moment, Gu
worms would descend from the sky and help the village through the
difficult situation.

Throughout history, the Gu Yue clan had suffered through major crisis a few
times, and they had dealt with the calamity this way.

This was the Gu Yue clan’s last trump card!

Chapter 165
 Chapter 165: Blood Guillotine

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the ancestral hall, it was deadly silent. The clan elder and clan leader
lowered their heads like a big rock was weighing on their heart.

After a Gu Master dies, the Gu worms they leave behind will still have the
person’s will remaining. They cannot be considered wild Gu worms, and
have had lost their ability to use the natural essence in the air.

These Gu worms can be considered a extension of life of that particular Gu

Master.

Everyone’s heart was uneasy.

The first generation clan head had passed on for at least a thousand years,
so were the methods that he had left behind still effective? No one knew.

After all, since the last crisis, it had already been two hundred years.

“Why did they retreat?” On the slope, Fang Yuan saw this scene and grew
suspicious.

In his previous life, his cultivation was too low, thus he could not learn
about the clan’s secrets.

But soon his body shook, discovering that a group of flying worms had
descended from the sky.

“This is…” Fang Yuan eyes squinted as cold light shone.

There were up to a hundred Gu worms flying around in a cluster, forming a

red cloud, descending and landing on the village square.
Buzz buzz buzz…

The noises emitted by the insect group entered the ancestral hall, and the
clan elders raised their heads, showing a frantically overjoyed expression.

“Thank you great ancestor, for the protection!” Gu Yue Bo’s heart felt at
ease as he paid his respects before getting up.

“Go, go and see,” the clan leader sighed. On his face, there was happiness,
solemness and grief, a complicated expression.

Leaving the ancestral hall and standing on the building’s stairway, everyone
could see that on the village square, there was a red tornado rampaging.

These Gu worms were only around the size of a fingertip. They were
shaped like locusts, with a scary face and was red all over.

They entered the bodies of the Gu Masters sitting on the square, extracting
their blood and primeval essence. In a few breath’s time, one insect
multiplied into more worms.

Thus, the Gu increased greatly in numbers as time went by. There were
constantly new Gu worms being produced, flying into the Gu Master’s skin
and flying out, and then digging in again.

In the village square, miserable cries and cold groans sounded, but not one
Gu Master fled.

Before they came, they were already informed by the clan elders. For the
clan, they willingly tributed their bodies to feed the Gu, using their own
sacrifices to bring about the survival of the clan.

“These are all good lads of our clan!” Gu Yue Bo seeing this muttered in a
low voice, as the hand holding onto the railing shivered slightly.

The other elders showed a painful expression, but did not say anything.

This situation was exactly as recorded in the clan memorials. The first
generation ancestor had left behind these Gu worms, and they required Gu
Master’s lives to feed. Only then are they satisfied and will help the clan to
defend against external enemies.

After these flying Gu were full and satisfied, they flew up again with an
even greater presence; in the blink of an eye, they had grown in number
over tens of times!

What was left on the square were piles of white bones as the Gu flew out
like a tornado, rampaging through the wolf packs outside the village.

“The Blood Guillotine indeed…” Fang Yuan who was standing on the slope
saw everything and thought in his heart.

This Blood Guillotine is a Rank five Gu. Its usability and feeding are fused
into one; it was a very strange Gu.

They specialized in consuming a Gu Master’s life-bound origin blood, and

after feasting, they would start to multiply, from one to two, two to four…

If they were hungry and couldn’t find food, they would start to eat each
other, reducing the size of their group to sustain the expenditure they
needed in moving around.

At its peak the Blood Guillotine could engulf the skies and lands,
destroying villages in their path, and were more fearsome than many Rank
six Gu worms. When it was weak at only one or two in number, they would
barely have any power and is worse than a Rank three Gu.

Especially when this Blood Guillotine Gu advances into the highly

acclaimed Rank six demonic Gu, Blood Deity. Among the Top Ten Great
Demonic Gu in the world, it ranks 7th.

In his previous life, when Fang Yuan created the Blood Wing demonic sect,
he first wanted to refine the Blood Deity instead of the Spring Autumn
Cicada. However, because of circumstances and many other reasons, he
could only reduce his expectations and refine the Spring Autumn Cicada.
This group of Blood Guillotines numbered up to tens of thousands. Like a
tornado sweeping the battlefield, everywhere they went, wolf packs howled
and wailed.

They flew left and right, entering the lightning wolves’ bodies and in a few
breaths’ time, the lightning wolves’ blood would be completely absorbed.

But this beast blood could not allow the Blood Guillotine to multiply. Only
a Gu Master’s origin blood that contains primeval essence could achieve
this effect.

One after another, lightning wolves were reduced to dry corpses, lying on
the ground and losing their lives.

Only the bold lightning wolves and frenzy lightning wolves’ lightning
currents could resist this Blood Guillotine.

However, they could only electrocute a small number of flying insects,

before an overwhelming number of Blood Guillotines would rush up and
suck them into dry corpses.

Howl!

The steel web broke completely as the thunder crown wolf regained its
freedom, howling in anger.

The Blood Guillotine detected it and it gathered quickly, forming a large red
cloud and engulfing the thunder crown wolf completely.

The thunder crown wolf’s tail swung around as blue lightning currents shot
out and turned hundreds and thousands of Blood Guillotines to crisps.

The popping sound was just like firecrackers going off.

A gust of wind blew, bringing along the horrible burnt smell of the roasted
Blood Guillotines.

The Blood Guillotine was indeed a Rank five Gu, but without a user, it
could only attack head on. The thunder crown wolf had several Rank four
Gu residing in it, and some had a wide area attack method, countering this
Blood Guillotine.

The flying insects moved like a red cloud as the thunder crown wolf’s hill-
like body howled and struggled, creating a havoc.

At this moment, the thunder crown wolf’s large body became its weakness
as the fingertip-sized Blood Guillotine took advantage of it.

The battle was intense. As large numbers of Blood Guillotines fell on the
ground, the thunder crown wolf’s armor was broken through, and some
Blood Guillotines drilled their way in and started to suck blood wantonly.

Without any other choice, the thunder crown wolf could only spray
lightning plasma on its own body, electrocuting these Blood Guillotines.

But this way, its surface muscles were all fried, emitting a fragrant cooked
meat smell.

The wolf tide’s attack on the village had already stopped.

Under the thunder crown wolf’s command, numerous lightning wolves

attacked the insect group instead.

The Gu Masters could be said to have escaped death, and many held their
breaths as they watched this intense and tragic battle nervously.

The insect group was like a death plague. Numerous lightning wolves
would rush in and drop dead soon after.

However, the lightning wolves’ sacrifice also caused the insect group to
face high expenditure.

The Blood Guillotine dropped in numbers. The original dense cloud had
turned into a thin fog, and soon it was reduced to a small tornado still flying
in the air.

The thunder crown wolf struggled and escaped, its mouth howling as it ran
with all its speed.
The blood in its body was almost half gone. Now its body felt soft and tired,
while its running speed was not even 10% of the usual speed, and the
lightning currents flowing on its body also became extremely scattered.

As the leader of the wolf packs, the escape of the thunder crown wolf
caused the other lightning wolves’ fighting spirit to diminish, and they also
escaped all over the place.

“We finally did it…” The Gu Masters seeing this, became blank as some
just collapsed on the ground, unwilling to get up.

“I’m actually still alive!” Many Gu Masters’ expression was complicated;

some were filled with happiness while also in grief.

Through the wolf tide, many clansmen were sacrificed!

Buzz buzz buzz…

The scattered Blood Guillotine group flew high into the sky, flying one
huge round around the Gu Yue village before vanishing into the clouds.

Seeing this, Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with a complex thought.

The defeat of the thunder crown wolf meant the village was now safe. In
fact, most of the wolf packs were dead or injured, so they no longer had
such a huge number.

This wolf tide, could be said to have been over.

However, wolf packs bear grudges, and as long as this myriad beast king is
not dead, during the next wolf tide it would attack once again. After many
years of recuperating, it would become even shrewder and stronger.

In the current situation, it was at its weakest. Killing it now and getting the
Gu worms on its body, can help replenish some of the clan’s losses.

“Yao Zhong, Ge Yan, you two stay behind and take care of the situation.
Other clan elders, follow me and assault the thunder crown wolf!” Gu Yue
Bo hurriedly ordered, before leading the remaining seven elders capable of
fighting out of the village and towards the direction that the thunder crown
wolf escaped in.

Fang Yuan’s gaze shone, weighing in his heart, “Although the clan’s power
is greatly reduced, the current situation is not in a mess. Moreover, this
Blood Guillotine has a suspicious origin, I better follow the clan leader and
check out the situation.”

Saying so, he went into stealth mode and went down the slope.

The Stealth Scales Gu and the Thunderwings Gu cannot be used

concurrently. Thunderwings Gu was a Rank three Gu, and once activated it
forms a pair of lightning wings that cannot be hidden by the Rank two
Stealth Scales Gu.

Against the Rank three clan elders, the Stealth Scales Gu’s hiding ability
was not effective.

Fang Yuan could only follow their tracks and keep a distance between them,
not daring to get close.

When the thunder crown wolf attacked, he was still in the rock crack secret
cave and did not participate in the battle. If he appeared now, it would
attract the rage of the clan head and clan elder, and if they questioned him,
he would have not been able to explain himself.

The injuries of the thunder crown wolf were very severe, so it could not
move fast. After half an hour, Fang Yuan could hear that there was the
sound of fighting and scolding ahead of him.

He went there in stealth, getting onto a mountain rock, observing the Gu

Masters’ fight.

The thunder crown wolf lay on the ground with many new injuries on its
body. Blood was flowing non-stop as it was gasping for breath. Its dim eyes
showed that it was very near death.
“Old geezer Bai, you and your guys sure have the face, coming here to take
advantage of the situation!”

“Hehehe, Gu Yue Bo, that’s not the right thing to say. This thunder crown
wolf was obviously stopped by us, get a clue and fuck off!”

Gu Yue Bo and the Bai clan leader were at a standstill, wary against each
other.

The wolf den had three thunder crown wolves, all myriad beast kings, each
having their packs of tens of thousand lightning wolves. But they did not
glue together, and neither could they suppress one another.

The wolf packs’ movements relied on working together. The three thunder
crown wolves had intelligence, each targeting the three large “beast groups”
to hunt.

In their eyes, humans were also wild beasts, and even prey.

In their understanding, the wolf tide was a massive hunting session.

On Qing Mao mountain, the Xiong, Gu Yue and Bai clan were able to live
for hundreds of years. Naturally, they all had their trump cards.

Xiong clan was the weakest, still resisting the wolf tide with difficulty even
now. The Bai clan had risen these years, and their cumulative strength had
exceeded the Gu Yue clan. After killing a thunder crown wolf and pushing
back the wolf tide, the Bai clan leader brought his clan elders to Gu Yue
village, trying to find some opportunities.

To think that there really was such a chance! Thus they blocked the thunder
crown wolf in this valley.

The thunder crown wolf’s body had many Gu worms, and some were even
Rank four. The thunder crown wolf’s blood, bone, eye and fur were all
precious refinement material. The Gu Yue clan naturally would not let go of
them, and under intense anger, they attacked.

“Hehehe, Fang Yuan you really came. I’ve waited for so long!”
On the mountain wall, a cold laughter was heard.

Fang Yuan raised his head, only to see a white clothed young man
descending from the sky as an iceblade slashed towards his face with
resolution.
Chapter 166
 Chapter 166: Second Battle versus Bai Ning Bing

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

His hair snowy white and his orbs blue, a one-arm figure in white.

Who else could it be but Bai Ning Bing?

Before the ice blade touched his body, Fang Yuan could feel a cold eerie
feeling assaulting him from behind like a comet striking the earth, full of
cold killing intent.

Fang Yuan’s irises were black in contrast, unmoving in danger, leaping

backwards and injecting primeval essence into the Sky Canopy Gu, creating
a white armor to protect himself.

Bam! The iceblade struck the ground heavily, and at that instance a bunch
of white icicles grew from the ground, erupting upwards.

Swoosh!!

The sharp icicles stabbed upwards at the direction Fang Yuan was retreating
towards, creating an icy path.

Fang Yuan easily somersaulted and avoided them.

The mountain path was narrow, so he slid down towards the valley along
the edges.

“Hehehe, Fang Yuan oh Fang Yuan, why is it that everytime I see you, I feel
that intense urge to kill you? Mmm, tell me!” Bai Ning Bing excitedly
shivered as he laughed maniacally.

His laughter attracted the gaze of the other Gu Masters in the valley.
Seeing Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan, their expressions were different.

“Lord Bai Ning Bing, let me assist you!” A Bai clan Gu Master who
originally stood at the side shouted and struck towards Fang Yuan.

“Clan leader, it is our clan’s Fang Yuan!” Gu Yue clan’s Gu Masters

shouted.

“I know.” Clan leader Gu Yue Bo’s expression was uncertain, and he

dodged the Bai clan leader’s attack as he decided, shouting, “Get the
materials into our possession first!”

Fang Yuan had mysteriously vanished before the wolf tide arrived, causing
the Gu Yue higher-ups to feel highly doubtful of him. In addition, the
intense pressure from the Bai clan Gu Masters resulted in no one going to
reinforce Fang Yuan.

Bai Ning Bing saw help arrive and flew into a rage, shouting at the person,
“Scram, this is my battle, don’t interfere!”

“Lord Bai Ning Bing, you lost an arm and have reduced battle potential.
You are the hope of our Bai clan, you cannot be lost. Let me sweep this
obstacle for you!”

The Bai clan Gu Master shouted as he leapt, charging towards Fang Yuan.

He activated his Gu worm, both hands glowing with a orange yellow light.

Bam!

He lightly patted the ground, and the light entered the earth. Instantly, a
lump grew from the earth.

The mud lump advanced towards Fang Yuan as it got bigger.

Suddenly the mud lump exploded, revealing a yellow mud arm.

This arm was humongous, as tall as an adult as it grabbed towards Fang

Yuan. Its power and presence caused others to feel suffocated.
Fang Yuan snorted in disdain.

Seeing this arm grab at him and about to succeed, a dark golden light
suddenly shot out from his aperture, turning into a shiny ribbon of light,
wrapping around Fang Yuan’s body.

The big arm reached his body but was twisted by this dark golden light,
breaking and collapsing.

“Oh? What Gu worm is this?” Bai Ning Bing showed shock on his face.

The dark golden light dispersed, revealing the true form of the Gu.

It was over a metre long, as wide as two fists. Its dark golden exoskeleton
displayed dominance as its sharp razor blades at the side of its body shone
with cold light.

Chainsaw Golden Centipede!

“Come,” Fang Yuan shouted, extending his right arm, his fist clenched.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s numerous segments climbed up his body

nimbly, its body twisting and turning like a snake, coiling around his right
arm.

Its mouth opened and swallowed Fang Yuan’s right fist in one mouth, all the
way until half his forearm was swallowed.

Fang Yuan’s arm swung, and the metre-long golden centipede moved its
tail. In the air, it drew an arc, emitting a crisp sound.

At this moment, the golden centipede shrunk its body to the max, its near-
two metre length shrinking to one meter and a half. At the same time its feet
shrunk into the exoskeleton, leaving behind only two rows of razor blades.

At one glance, Fang Yuan looked like he was holding a dark golden-silver
bladed, giant hiltless sword!
The reinforcement Gu Master was shocked, he had never thought that the
Chainsaw Golden Centipede could be used like this.

The Gu Master’s raising Gu, refining Gu, using Gu — all three required
deep research. Fang Yuan’s method was innovative and unheard of, using
his imagination to the limit.

But actually, this method was not invented by Fang Yuan.

Three hundred years later, a new demonic faction talent, the ‘Chainsaw
Mad Demon’ would use the Rank four Chainsaw Killer Centipede, one of
the advancement paths of the Rank three Chainsaw Golden Centipede.

But in this life, Fang Yuan using it at this point is really unprecedented.

“I shall let you guys have a taste,” Fang Yuan smirked, using the primeval
essence in his aperture and injecting them into the Chainsaw Golden
Centipede’s body.

Buzz buzz buzz!

The Chainsaw Golden Centipedes’ two rows of razor blades started to move
violently, emitting a wild sound, causing others’ heart to shiver upon
hearing.

Thunderwings Gu!

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with determination as a pair of eerie blue

thunderwings formed on his back with a crisp sound.

Whoosh!

The thunderwings flapped, causing Fang Yuan to shoot out like lightning.

Fast! Fast! FAST!

The speed was so fast that the Bai clan Gu Master’s iris shrunk as he felt a
chill.
The smell of death was so close, and he shrieked as he used his strongest
Gu; a thick yellow light appeared on his body.

The yellow light was like armor, except that before it fully materialized,
Fang Yuan had already gotten close.

His black hair danced in the wind, his eyes like lightning, looking like a
demonic god that emerged from nightmares, killing his way into the mortal
realm!

His movements were violent, and he completely exerted his muscles. As

they tightened up, he used the strength of two boars to their limit.

The golden centipede-like sword, waved like a golden shadow in the air.
The razors rotated violently, slashing towards the Bai clan Gu Master’s
waist.

Crack!

The yellow light armor broke under the slaughter of the chainsaw – it was
never fully formed in the first place. At this moment, it scattered instantly.

The razors entered the meat as if it was cutting butter, and as Fang Yuan
flicked his wrist, the chopped up meat flew all over the place along with the
blood. The Gu Master’s spine smashed and his intestines were grinded to a
pulp.

The Bai clan Gu Master’s upper half of the body flew into the air, while his
lower half remained on the spot.

Plop.

He stared with wide-opened eyes, staring in fright at his lower half, dying in
extreme fear and shock.

This commotion caused the fighting among the two clans to stop
temporarily. They all looked towards Fang Yuan, sending shocked, angered
gazes.
This Bai clan Gu Master was also a Rank three elder, and was slightly
famous.

But under Fang Yuan’s aggressive, dominant attack, he was instantly killed.

Fang Yuan’s body was still blood bathed, with the Bai clan Gu Master’s
flesh still sticking to his clothes. The Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s two
edges were still rotating violently, and with such ferocity, it caused
everyone to look away.

“What a great Gu worm!” Bai Ning Bing shouted, his eyes showing
insanity and excitement.

“Fang Yuan, you did not let me down indeed! Come battle!” He shouted,
his passion blazing like flames, striking towards Fang Yuan.

“Noisy fucker.” Fang Yuan’s expression was cold as ice, turning around to
counterattack.

Bam!

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede and the iceblade collided. With a cracking
sound, the razors cut into the iceblade and caused it to shatter into pieces.

In the next moment, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede broke through the
iceblade and swept across Bai Ning Bing’s face.

Bai Ning Bing’s expression changed as he resolutely let go of the iceblade

and retreated backwards, almost two metres of distance away.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede when shrunk was only 1.5m. Adding on
Fang Yuan’s right arm, there was still a little distance before it could reach
Bai Ning Bing. But Fang Yuan willed, and the Chainsaw Golden Centipede
suddenly extended itself.

“This?!” Bai Ning Bing was dumbstruck and did not anticipate this turn of
events.
He was hit on the chest by the centipede’s tail. Even with his ice muscles
protecting his body, there was still a large cut on his body.

At that instance, he felt a strong force assault him, and he was unavoidably
sent flying, landing on a huge rock behind him.

Blood splattered on the rock’s surface, but his ice muscles soon stopped the
bleeding.

Bai Ning Bing coughed intensely and was about to get up, but suddenly he
heard a thunderous sound.

The sound was right beside his ear, and an unprecedented sense of danger
entered his heart.

Bai Ning Bing’s iris shrunk as he did not even raise his head, but frantically
rolled away.

BAM!

In the next moment, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede descended from the
sky. With its imposing aura, it struck the ground that he was at a moment
ago.

The razors rotated violently, and the huge rock broke into pieces.

“If this hit landed on my body… I’m afraid…” Bai Ning Bing’s heart
chilled, and a sense of anger stemming from his indignant nature rose.

Ever since his battle with Gu Yue Qing Shu, he had stopped suppressing his
cultivation, and let it rise naturally.

Although he lost a limb, he had his complete cultivation, but was still
suppressed by this Rank three initial stage Fang Yuan!

Indignant! Humiliation! Rage!

“KILL!” He growled, his wrist turning and injecting primeval essence into
the iceblade Gu, forming a brand new iceblade.
Seeing Bai Ning Bing come closer, Fang Yuan laughed coldly and attacked
with all he had.

He had obtained the Black and White Boar Gu, thus his strength was greater
than Bai Ning Bing. At this point when waving the Chainsaw Golden
Centipede, it was as light as a tree branch.

Cut, slash, hack, twist, turn, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede rotated
violently, moving as agile as a bee in Fang Yuan’s hand. At times it
appeared heavy like an elephant, sometimes ferocious as a tiger, and
sometimes flexible like a snake.

The most crucial point was, the golden centipede followed Fang Yuan’s
will, extending and shrinking at times, sometimes longer and sometimes
shorter, sometimes straight sometimes curly. That made it hard for Bai Ning
Bing to adapt, and he could barely defend himself.

He cried and screamed as he retreated gradually, his body filled with

injuries. His white battle robe had turned into a beggar’s attire.

Fang Yuan moved like a black wind, his expression cool as he displayed an
extremely profound sword technique, saber art, axe and rod skills. He fused
all these skills into one, turning the Chainsaw Golden Centipede into a
lethal weapon!

A Gu depends on who the user is.

“Good on you, Fang Yuan!” Bai Ning Bing shouted after numerous
iceblades broke; he finally realized that he could not go head on against
Fang Yuan.

His body was bathed in blood and the ice muscles’ defense was almost
broken, but this led out his immense battle passion.

If close range won’t do, then long range it is.

Blue bird ice coffin Gu!

Bai Ning Bing pulled some distance and spit out several times.
Several flying birds flapped their wings and flew towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan did not fluster. With an unchanging expression, his left arm
moved and the blood colored moonblade stopped these ice birds in their
tracks, causing them to explode in mid-air.

People were normally proficient in using moonblades on only one arm, but
Fang Yuan had such a rich battle experience, and even his left arm could
completely shoot out moonblades without any deviation.

Bai Ning Bing seeing that did not work, used the Icicle Gu.

Icicles flew and mixed in with the blue birds to form a barrage attack.

Fang Yuan’s long range attack was solely moonblade, thus he only chose to
block the most dangerous ice birds. Against the icicles, he dodged some
while tanking the others with his Sky Canopy Gu.

Bai Ning Bing finally had a bit of an upper hand and wanted to increase his
advantage, but Fang Yuan suddenly laughed coldly and shrugged his right
hand, causing the Chainsaw Golden Centipede to detach and burrow its way
into the ground.

This hidden threat was too much.

Bai Ning Bing was dumbfounded at this, scolding loudly as he quickly took
steps back!
Chapter 167
 Chapter 167: A fourth one?!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“You forced my hand!” Bai Ning Bing gritted his teeth, forming an
iceblade.

At the same time, he activated his Swirl Gu and Fierce Wind Gu.

The white iceblade storm appeared once again!

At first it was just a small gust, but very quickly, the size expanded and the
icy winds roared as the blizzard spread. The floor was slowly covered in
hard ice, preventing the Chainsaw Golden Centipede from emerging and
attacking.

This iceblade storm is a unique move of Bai Ning Bing’s. Evidently it

showed the battle talent of the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique.

This was formed by the Iceblade Gu, Swirl Gu and Fierce Wind Gu. When
used together, it created something that could attack and defend. Without
two or more defense Gu working together, one cannot resist it.

The fierce winds roared and the ice blades froze all in its path. The white
storm assaulted like a huge beast awakening, opening its mouth and
devouring Fang Yuan.

These three Gu together form a ferocious offensive technique that can

freeze all life. Even with the Sky Canopy Gu’s defense, Fang Yuan would
probably be unable to block it.

The storm approached, but Fang Yuan showed a look of disdain.

The thunderwings behind him instantly flapped, pulling a large distance
away from this iceblade storm.

Times were different now. If this was the past, his movement speed would
be lower than this storm, but now the storm could no longer catch up to
him.

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with brilliance as he turned his direction in mid-air,
and flew towards the valley.

The iceblade storm chased him relentlessly.

“Don’t come here!”

“Fuck off!!”

Whether it was the Bai clan Gu Masters, or Gu Yue clan, both were
scolding and shouting.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, continuing his charge.

The iceblade storm had an imposing aura as it continued to chase Fang

Yuan while Bai Ning Bing’s laughter was heard from within.

“Don’t think of getting any further!” A Bai clan Gu Master blocked Fang
Yuan’s path.

Fang Yuan’s hand hooked, and from the ground a thick and long golden line
jumped out and landed on his right arm, like a large sword.

Buzz buzz buzz!!

The rampaging sound from the razors caused the Bai clan Gu Master’s
eyelids to shiver.

Fang Yuan held the Chainsaw Golden Centipede in his right hand as blood
light shone in his left – he was using the Blood Moon Gu but not shooting
it. His body was covered in a white coloured armor, and thunderwings
sparked behind his back. His black hair flew in the wind, and behind him
there was a mountain-sized white storm.

His presence was overwhelming with his eyes emitting sharp killing intent,
as if he was charging through the desert, a general with seven victories
under his belt. Stomping all his enemies into minced meat, and chopping
any opponents into broken bones.

“AHHH!” The Bai clan Gu Master felt an impossible pressure as veins

popped on his forehead, and he suddenly shouted loudly, edging himself on.

But as he shouted, seeing Fang Yuan was rushing towards himself without
pause, he suddenly shut up and ran away.

He was scared!

The fear in his heart eroded his fighting spirit.

Fang Yuan did not care about him, instead rushing over towards the thunder
crown wolf who was on the verge of dying.

Winds blew as his charging was fearsome, and everywhere he went, Gu

Masters avoided.

The thunder crown wolf forced itself to focus, turning its head towards
Fang Yuan. Lightning gathered on its teeth; the myriad beast king’s pride
refused to let itself die so easily. Even through death will it retaliate!

Fang Yuan was seemingly about to collide onto the thunder crown wolf like
a meteor hitting earth, but at the last second he suddenly jerked his leg and
rushed up into the sky, flying out of the valley at a steep angle.

He had just flown out of the valley when an intense explosion occurred
behind him.

The thunder crown wolf’s cries fused with the sound of the ice blade storm.

A move like the iceblade storm could be said to be Bai Ning Bing’s
masterpiece, but it had weaknesses too – it could not be easily displayed or
stopped.

Of course, this storm knocking into the thunder crown wolf was also due to
Bai Ning Bing’s personality.

The thunder crown wolf was heavily suppressed by the white storm.

It was already going to die, but now it could resist no further. Its armor was
cut into pieces and blood and flesh flew all over the place, revealing its
white skeleton, which was quickly minced into bone matter.

“Damn it!” Seeing this, the Gu Yue clan’s side all swore.

The Bai clan Gu Masters also showed a pained expression.

With Bai Ning Bing doing this, after the thunder crown wolf dies there
would no longer be any valuable loot left on its body.

But Bai Ning Bing did not mind it. Instead he rotated even faster, enjoying
the feeling of devastating a myriad beast king.

Gu worms turned into rays of light one after another, flying out of the
thunder crown wolf’s body.

These wild Gu worms had all resided in the thunder crown wolf’s body,
using each other to work together and survive. Now that the thunder crown
wolf was dying, they were like crewmen on a ship, abandoning the sinking
ship and escaping for their lives.

“Catch them!”

“Quick, stop these Gu!”

The two clans shouted at once.

The situation went into chaos again as clan elders attacked each other in
attempt to hinder the other. The two clan leaders could not split themselves,
thus finally, only two or three clan elders with movement-type Gu managed
to fly out of the valley.
The wild Gu worms ran everywhere and Fang Yuan focused and observed,
trying to discern them.

“What a pity my recon Gu is Earth Communication Ear Grass, it cannot

increase my vision. There is definitely a healing-type Gu on this thunder
crown wolf, but whether I can catch it or not, it’s up to fate!”

This was betting purely on luck, but Fang Yuan had no choice.

Recon-type Gu worm, there were all sorts of them, but right now he only
had the Earth Communication Ear Grass.

His thunderwings spread and he rushed towards the closest Gu worm.

This Gu’s body was covered in a blue light, trying to fly far away.

Fang Yuan rushed up, opening his hand and grabbing it.

Whoosh!

Its body emitted an intense electric current and assaulted Fang Yuan.

Thunderwings are formed by lightning, it has speed but is not flexible. Fang
Yuan groaned as he used the Sky Canopy Gu to endure this attack.

He could forcefully grab this Gu, but he wisely chose to give up.

The ability of this Gu was already exposed; it was able to use electric
currents to attack enemies, so this was obviously an attack-type Gu, but
Fang Yuan wanted a healing Gu instead.

Fang Yuan gave up on it and approached another Gu worm.

When he got close, he saw this Gu’s appearance, a body that seemed to be
made of light blue glass, flying in the air with a semicircle shell that had
turtle shell markings.

Thunder Shield Gu!

This was a defensive Gu, able to form a semicircle lightning shield.

Fang Yuan gave up once again, looking around and finding his third target.

But at this time, a white shadow came from the valley, holding an iceblade
and shouting Fang Yuan’s name.

Fang Yuan sighed, knowing that lady luck was not on his side. He could
only take the best alternative, reaching and grabbing towards the Thunder
Shield Gu right next to him.

Thunder Shield Gu created a lightning shield, its eerie blue lightning

sparking as it tried to resist Fang Yuan’s hand.

Fang Yuan sneered, releasing the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura. Suddenly
the Thunder Shield Gu became tame like it died, dispersing its shield and
falling towards the forest.

Fang Yuan waved and grabbed it in his hand, releasing his primeval essence
and instantly refining it.

Stealth Scales Gu!

Ripples formed all over his body as he vanished on the spot.

“Fang Yuan!” Bai Ning Bing shouted, as his eyes shone with lightning.

This is the Rank three Lightning Eye Gu, using the power of lightning to
break through stealth.

But it did not have see-through vision. Fang Yuan noticed this, and although
he was stealthed, he could also use the forest to conceal himself. Bai Ning
Bing’s gaze swept through the environment and angrily growled as he had
no findings.

Fang Yuan found a hidden spot, instantly sitting down and activating the
tusita flower, making it spit out primeval stones.
Although he was Rank three, his aperture only had 42% primeval essence
storage, and though he had the upper hand during the previous battle, it
could not be sustained. Right now, his aperture only had a thin layer of
primeval essence left, being around 3%.

Gu Masters needed primeval essence to activate Gu worms.

Without primeval essence, Gu Masters’ battle strength would drop

drastically. In fact in extreme situations, they were even worse than mortals.

The primeval stones continued to shrink, the natural essence injecting into
Fang Yuan’s body. The primeval sea in his aperture started to rise gradually.

Back then, when he was Rank one or two and using the primeval stone to
replenish his primeval essence, it was very noticeable. But now that he was
Rank three, as the Gu Master’s primeval essence quality is greatly
improved, more primeval stones are required and a longer time is needed to
replenish it.

Sounds of Gu Masters battling continued to be heard. After eight or nine

minutes, Fang Yuan replenished the primeval essence in his aperture back to
the limit.

He came out of his hiding spot, discovering that five clan elders had died.

Among them, three were from Gu Yue clan, two from Bai clan.

Each clan elder was the clan’s asset. To think that so many were sacrificed
this time.

Gu Yue Bo and the Bai clan leader’s battle was very intense. They were
feeling heartache from their respective losses, thus getting more aggressive
in their attacks.

Other than this, there were three fighting groups surrounding the wild Gu
worms.

Ordinary Gu Masters do not have the Spring Autumn Cicada’s help to

capture wild Gu worms, thus it was troublesome.
To catch the Gu worm, they cannot deal heavy blows. Instead, they need to
gauge the strength they use.

Eight to nine Gu worms had flown out of the thunder crown wolf. It was
not certain how many Gu worms they had captured, but three still remained
right now.

The clan elders surrounded these three Gu worms, striking as they blocked
the worms while facing obstruction from the other party. This caused the
scene to be at a stalemate, neither sides able to gain anything.

“Water Cage Gu, trap it!” A Bai clan Gu Master shouted, spitting out a
water ball.

The ball increased in size until it was over two metres, covering the Gu
worm completely and trapping it inside.

Bam!

In the next moment, a golden moonblade flew towards the water ball cage
and burst it open by force.

The Gu worm flew away, escaping with its life.

Seeing this Gu worm fly away, the Bai clan Gu Master cursed. To think that
a Gu worm at his mercy got away just like that!

The Gu Yue clan Gu Masters were even more furious. These Gu worms
were originally their battle rewards, but now that the Bai clan interfered,
they could not gain anything.

“Bai clan scoundrels, shameless dogs, go to hell!”

“Gu Yue clan, you guys are finished. Our Bai clan will definitely rise up
and stomp you all to the grounds!”

Both sides were furious, full of hatred and madness. They had battled till
their eyes turned red, and only fighting remained in their minds.
Fang Yuan saw the Gu worm fly away, thus he had no choice but to look at
the other two groups. There was still a Gu worm at each of their
encirclement. There might be a healing Gu worm, but it was unlikely.

Fang Yuan knew that this world did not have things like ‘a wish coming
true’, but even so he wanted to try.

Just when he was about to rush up and attack, he heard a wolf’s howl like a
military horn, spreading out in rhythm, rising and falling in succession.

Soon after, tons of lightning wolves rushed down like tide water.

There was no lack to the sound of bold lightning wolves and frenzy
lightning wolves, but the one that made everyone’s expression change was
the mountain-like giant wolf.

Thunder crown wolf!

“There’s a fourth thunder crown wolf?!” The clan elders shouted as they
could not keep their calm anymore.
Chapter 168
 Chapter 168: Lightning lycan

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Wolf packs were on the move, rushing in like the tide.

The situation turned for the worst, and the two clan leaders and their elders’
expressions changed.

Although both clans managed to resist the wolf tide, it was through a
dangerous battle and were pyrrhic victories. Now that there is a new strong
wolf tide, they had no way left to resist it.

At once, both clans subconsciously stopped battling.

“The reports said there were three thunder crown wolves right?” A clan
elder screamed in panic.

“No, this thunder crown wolf has lots of injuries, and the size of the wolf
pack isn’t very large either,” Gu Yue Bo forced himself to remain calm and
analysed.

“Don’t tell me, this is the thunder crown wolf that attacked the Xiong
village?” A clan elder slapped his forehead as he shouted.

This was very possible, and most likely the truth.

The clan elders were feeling solemn as one said, “The fact that they
appeared here, doesn’t that mean the Xiong clan already…”
“That goddamn Xiong village, how can they be so useless? Not even able to
resist a wave of wolf tide!” someone scolded.

But some were optimistic, “You see, this thunder crown wolf’s forelegs are
injured, the muscles have all shrivelled!”
They followed the voice and observed, regaining some lost morale.

It was true.

This thunder crown wolf’s hind legs were developed, but its forelegs were
smaller, with shrunken muscles. This caused it to only use the back legs
when running, jumping forward like a kangaroo.

“Wait, this doesn’t seem like a thunder crown wolf…” Bai clan leader
suddenly thought of something, shivering.

“Lightning lycan!” Fang Yuan had an answer already.

Five tigers one lamassu, three hounds one molossus, ten wolves one lycan.

The lycan was also a type of wolf, but it was far smarter than a wolf by
many times, and was usually the strategist of a wolf pack. The lightning
lycan before them seemed like a thunder crown wolf in appearance, thus a
recon Gu Master’s confusion is very common. But it was a true blue myriad
beast king, and had intelligence no less than men!

This lightning lycan, although inferior to an ordinary thunder crown wolf in

terms of physical strength, had human intelligence and was far more
dangerous than a thunder crown wolf. With a huge army of lightning
wolves to command, it was no wonder that the Xiong clan was
exterminated by them.

“Go!” Fang Yuan spread his wings and flew into the sky.

These elders here had undergone long battles, and their battle strength was
greatly eroded. They could not deal with the wolf packs, and more crucially,
their misgivings towards each other made it hard for the two sides to work
together.

Fang Yuan turned around and left; the myriad beast king was no joke. Even
though there was still two wild Gu worms flying around, he couldn’t care
less.
He had to leave immediately, for any later and he might not have the
chance!

Knowing one’s limits and being able to let go and give up, this is the
number one criteria to roam the world.

“Retreat, the wolf tide is huge, we cannot do anything to it.”

“Get back to the village and plan our defenses!”

Even though the clan elders have not realized the lightning lycan’s identity,
they all had retreating thoughts.

But at this time, the lightning lycan growled, opening its huge mouth.

Its wolf fangs were sharp as a dagger, and in between, a black lump
appeared out of nowhere, forming into a black ball in an instant.

Pew!

The black ball shot out, drawing a curved black trajectory in the air and
smashing on the ground.

“It missed?”

“This thunder crown wolf is finished, its aiming sucks!”

The clan elders shouted about, but Fang Yuan flew even faster.

Bam!

The black ball of mist exploded and under that intense impact, the black
mist spread all over the place.

The speed was faster than the eye could see. In a short moment, it covered
over a hundred li (one li = 500m) of radius.”This is the Rank four Wolf
Smoke Gu!” Fang Yuan’s heart sank; he had made the most logical response
at the first moment. But the black wolf smoke spread too fast, completely
enveloping him.
At once, he felt like he was standing in the middle of the night sky, seeing
nothing but darkness. Everywhere was thick smoke, making breathing
difficult, and was extremely uncomfortable.

But thankfully he had the Thunderwings Gu, so as long as he flew up, he

could get out of the wolf smoke’s range.

Crack!

In the next moment, a lightning bolt struck, splitting the thick black smoke
apart like a thunder snake or a raging dragon, travelling over a hundred li
and assaulting Fang Yuan head on.

The lightning lycan attacked.

The lightning was so fast a person could barely react to it.

But at this crucial moment, Fang Yuan’s battle instinct surpassed the speed
of his thoughts, reacting in advance.

Thunder Shield Gu!

Sky Canopy Gu!

A round lightning shield appeared in front of Fang Yuan, and on his body a
white armor appeared as well.

The raging lightning shone at an eye-piercing brightness like a heavenly

dragon roaring, ramming onto the lightning shield.

The shield lasted less than a second before it broke under the intense force
of the lightning.

The lightning landed on Fang Yuan. At that moment, even though he

already shut his eyes, he still felt the light piercing through his pupils.

A intense force assaulted him, causing him to fall.

He was about to faint as the electric currents moved, paralyzing his
muscles, almost causing him to forget to breathe!

Plop, he landed on the ground.

He finally only managed to regain consciousness after intense pain surged

through him like waves.

He endured the intense pain and numbness, and tried to get up.

The Thunder Shield Gu was already dead, while the Thunderwings Gu was
hit and barely held onto life; it was impossible to use anymore. The Sky
Canopy Gu was injured heavily too, looking rather dispirited. After all, it
was hit by such a strong electric current.

The lightning lycan’s attack emitted a Rank four Gu worm’s full power.

The more a Gu worm advances, the bigger the difference between realms.

For the attack of a Rank four Gu worm, at least two Rank three Gu would
be needed to defend against it. However, the Lightning Shield Gu died
because the previous battle had already caused it to sustain much injuries.

“To think that this lightning lycan thought so highly of me…” Fang Yuan
laughed bitterly, observing the surroundings.

His surroundings were dark, full of thick smoke; Fang Yuan was unable to
tell directions.

“Be careful, that thunder crown wolf became smaller, it is now as small as a
normal lightning wolf and is hiding among the pack,” A clan elder shouted
at this time from the smoke.

Fang Yuan heard it and his iris shrunk.

This lightning lycan was too crafty, and very sinister. It probably wanted to
eliminate all these Gu Masters, and when it attacked Fang Yuan, it showed
that it did not want to let a single one of them off.
The surroundings quickly shone with countless wolf eyes.

The sounds of their growls and the sound of the wind from wolf packs
running about were all heard by Fang Yuan.

Under such a dark environment, the Gu Masters’ vision is greatly

obstructed. But the wolf packs were unaffected, because they had given up
on smell and gained excellent vision.

“I have to get out of here quickly. Who knows if I will encounter that
lightning lycan? Even if I do not meet it now, just being surrounded by the
wolf packs when I only have 40% primeval essence, it is insufficient to
sustain my expenditure!”

Fang Yuan quickly considered in his heart, then he activated the Earth
Communication Ear Grass.

Over ten roots grew out from his ear and extended outside.

Many voices were heard. There were wolf cries, battle noises, clan elders’
frantic growling and lightning wolves’ sad cries when dying.

Too confusing!

The Earth Communication Ear Grass’ range was huge, but it could not
discern small details.

Fang Yuan frowned, only listening to a direction with less noises.

But quickly he encountered a pack of over one hundred wolves.

Lightning wolves ran from the black smoke, each ferocious as ever.

Fang Yuan summoned the Chainsaw Golden Centipede and activated the
Sky Canopy Gu.

The razors rotated violently and the centipede was like a large sword,
cutting through the black smoke and landing on the wolf’s bodies, causing a
rain of blood and bones.
Fang Yuan attacked like a boat trying to row uphill, eliminating his
obstacles.

Numerous lightning wolves died under the Chainsaw Golden Centipede.

But then the second, third… they continued to assault him.

“This lightning lycan is too sinister and diabolic, actually making the
lightning wolves surround us from the back.” Fang Yuan had been moving
in one direction, and after rushing for a while, he realized the truth at once
after he kept encountering lightning wolves.

He battled as he retreated. After a while, he was bathed in blood.

The pressure was too large, the surroundings were covered in darkness; he
was unable to see anything. Wolf packs rushed in from all directions, and it
was difficult for him to deal with it alone.

“Gu Yue Bo, what do you say?” At this time, the Bai clan leader said from
within the dark smoke.

“Alright, let’s work together and get out of this first!” Gu Yue Bo shouted,
quickly replying.

This was the forced circumstance of the situation — only through

cooperation can they have a chance of survival.

Otherwise, by fighting alone, they would soon expend all their primeval
essence on the lightning wolves and be turned into food. That would surely
be a bad ending.

Howl!

“Fuck!”

In the next moment, with a wolf’s cry, an intense explosion was heard and
the two clan leaders shouted, no longer able to organise the clan elders.

Evidently, the lightning lycan came out and did a sneak attack.
It had a man’s intelligence after all. Once it attacked, it was able to interfere
with the two clan leader’s plan, and ruined the flow of the clan elders’
resistance.

Without the two clan leaders to suppress the scene, how can the clan elders
work sincerely together?

This was a huge question.

“I’m unable to go on. My primeval essence expenditure is too high, I need

to borrow strength from others!” After killing for a while, Fang Yuan felt
exhaustion.

He had the strength of two boars, but now he felt extremely sore all over.

His primeval essence was no longer enough. He had injuries all over him,
but he was forced to stop using the Sky Canopy Gu.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s body was dim, its razors already in bad
shape. In a short period of time, it had killed up to a thousand wolves, and
within that number, there were bold lightning wolves as well.

A few of them were harder than steel, because they had a defensive Gu.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede was not invulnerable, and without razors,
its attack strength would be greatly reduced, quickly becoming useless.

Fang Yuan did not prolong any battles; he quickly moved as he fought.

He relied on the Earth Communication Ear Grass to analyze the situation.

Once he heard a frenzy lightning wolf’s footsteps, he would change
directions and try to avoid them.

The frenzy lightning wolf was a thousand beast king, he could not fight it
alone. Once he was pulled into battle, he would fall into encirclement, and
that would be a dead end.

“I’m not satisfied!” From the thick smoke, a clan elder cried as his voice
came to an end.
From the black smoke, the wolf packs attacked, and many clan elders died
by the wolf’s mouths, growling in helplessness and indignance.

“I can’t hold on much longer either!” Fang Yuan felt the aura of death, but
he was still calm; the more dangerous it is, the calmer his mind.

His heart did not waver at all. In his previous life, he had been in worse
situations.

The situation right now was still not that bad. With the two clan leaders
fighting the lightning lycan, Fang Yuan still had a chance.

“Oh? Fighting sounds ahead.” Fang Yuan heard the noise and changed his
direction. He was at his limits, so no matter if it was the Gu Yue clan or the
Bai clan Gu Masters, they were useful to him either way.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” Far away, he heard this Gu Master screaming, battling
relentlessly.

Fang Yuan sprinted over, and suddenly came to a stop.

Bai Ning Bing!

Notes: 狡电狈 – Lightning Lycan, well to be honest it directly translates to

‘Cunning electric 狈’. Since there’s no english word for 狈, Lycan is used.
狈 is actually a legendary wolf in China that may or may not exist; it’s said
to have two very short paws in front so it rides on a normal wolf’s back
instead. (Or something like that…)

彪 – Legendary/mythical tiger that does not have an equivalent English

word. So I just subbed it with lamassu.
Chapter 169
 Chapter 169: Finding a path

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Bai Ning Bing’s body was laden with injuries. He was breathing raggedly
and looked like a mess.

When Fang Yuan got there, both were stunned.

Fate was indeed, a mysterious thing. Just not long ago, they were still
mortal enemies, wanting to kill each other. But in this moment, they had to
work together for the chance to survive.

Working together with Bai Ning Bing?

Fang Yuan’s eyes shone like the abyss, evaluating, “Although Bai Ning
Bing is batshit crazy, along with the fact that he also recognised his own
fate, that does not mean he gave up on living.”

A will to live was a person’s natural instinct, the most basic requirement of
all.

The truth is, because of Bai Ning Bing’s intense will to live and because he
was facing an unavoidable path of destruction, he developed such a
personality.

In this world, there are no eternal enemies. Working together with Bai Ning
Bing was the best solution. But how can he ask it in a way that can
convince him?

“Hehehe, Fang Yuan, to think it’s actually you!” Bai Ning Bing spoke first,
laughing loudly, his tone becoming aggressive, “Then die together with me.
With you dying alongside me, it shall be an interesting end to my life.”
“Interesting?” Fang Yuan had a thought. Smiling lightly, he approached Bai
Ning Bing.

The surrounding lightning wolves attacked, but Fang Yuan shrugged his
hand, the chainsaw centipede swinging and killing three lightning wolves
on the spot, sending them flying.

Up till now, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s two rows of razors were
already greatly damaged. Its cutting strength was greatly diminished. It
could only be used as a blunt object.

“Under the pressure of these wolves, let’s have an intense life and death
battle, isn’t that more fun?” Fang Yuan got closer to Bai Ning Bing, his
mouth curling into a cruel smile.

Bai Ning Bing’s eyelids trembled, he did not expect Fang Yuan to be a
greater maniac than him.

But this was in tandem with his wish. If Fang Yuan’s attitude had gone
softer, and in order to survive Fang Yuan wanted to work together and
escape, he would instead look down on Fang Yuan, even feeling humiliated
and wanting to kill Fang Yuan himself.

In this world, some people are like this. If you be kind to them, they will
feel that you are easy to bully, and look down on you. By having a strong
attitude towards them, you can gain respect instead.

“You really want to die? Then I’ll grant your wish!” Bai Ning Bing squinted
his eyes, emitting a dangerous aura.

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, his steps slow as he spoke in a old and
experienced tone, “Humans only live for a hundred years, it is as unreal as a
dream that ends in an instant. What is the point of a person living in this
world? No more than just being on a journey, and witnessing interesting
things. Although I do not want to die, I do not fear death. I am already on
my right path, I have no regrets even if I die.”

This was Fang Yuan’s true feelings.

Since the start of time itself, who could live forever?

Even if it was a Rank nine Gu Master. Or even Ren Zu himself who could
only live longer, but not forever. They eventually face destruction.

So be it if one dies, what’s the big deal? Even if in the next moment, Fang
Yuan dies in this wolf tide, he would have no regrets.

Because he had already worked hard for his goals. He had given it his all,
and lived all according to his will!

Being able to look beyond life and death. Only then can one live
unrestrained, only then can life have true freedom.

Bai Ning Bing heard this, and his entire body shuddered.

He kept saying he was not afraid to die, but he was still never free and at
ease. Because he could not see beyond death, and was unable to let go of
this life.

When a person fears, he becomes a slave.

Bai Ning Bing himself was just a slave to life and death.

However, this was not his fault, since he was still way too young. Many
things needed to be experienced by themselves; only then can one gain
enlightenment.

But now, Fang Yuan’s words gave him a new path, to go beyond the truth
that he is struggling with.

“Witnessing interesting things… already on your path… no regrets even if

you die?” Bai Ning Bing muttered, then suddenly asked, “Path, what’s a
path?”

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, getting closer, “Everyone has their own paths, I
don’t have to tell you mine, and how would I know yours?”
In this world, many people do not have a path through their entire lifetime,
while some walked on their path constantly struggling, trying to find the
sanctuary within the darkness.

Bai Ning Bing’s blue eyes suddenly shone with a blinding light.

“Path… that’s right, I must find my path!”

In this moment, the excitement in his heart was impossible to be understood

by others.

He was like a man, bitterly searching for a girl but to no avail, yet one day
he finds the correct method. Or like a treasure hunter, blocked at the last
puzzle for a long time, but one day he finds the method to solve the puzzle.
Or like a difficult question, thinking for years without an answer, but
suddenly finding the method to solve it.

Bai Ning Bing had no path and couldn’t find the meaning of his life, thus he
felt lost.

Fang Yuan cannot solve his feeling of being lost, but from the sidelines he
can give him hope. Giving him a consolation to face death — as long as
you are on your path, even if you die there are no regrets. Thus, death is no
longer so scary.

“I feel that I am about to find my own path!” Bai Ning Bing clenched his
fists, his expression becoming extremely excited.

He looked towards Fang Yuan, saying meaningfully, “I finally understand

our difference. You are on your own path, but I am still trying to find mine.”

“Hehehe!” He suddenly laughed, his expression turning crazy, “Fang Yuan,

if you want to fight, I’m all for it. But not now! Let’s work together. I have
the Lightning Eye Gu, but my vision is obstructed, only able to see thirty
steps ahead. Once we escape from here, let’s have a battle another day.
Being able to work together with my mortal enemy, don’t you find that
more interesting, more fun?”
“Oh, how can I believe you?”

“I’m not asking for you to believe me. You can choose to trust me, or not.
You can entrust your back to me, or you can strike at any time, and sneak an
attack on me. Hehe, it all depends on your mood!” Bai Ning Bing shrugged
as he smiled, showing an inborn nonchalance.

The thick smoke was all over, and their surroundings were lit with wolf
cries.

Fang Yuan’s eyes narrowed as he considered Bai Ning Bing’s suggestion.

Convincing a person is very difficult, yet very simple. The important thing
is accurately understanding their thoughts.

“Alright.” Fang Yuan stretched out his hand and caressed the Chainsaw
Golden Centipede’s armor, raising his head, “But be on guard for my sneak
attack anytime!”

“Hehehe.” Bai Ning Bing’s mouth curled, smiling very deviously. A wave
of air blew as the black smoke dispersed, and the broken arm’s sleeve
swayed in the wind.

In the thick smoke, to decide the direction, it was difficult. The more
narrow their vision, the more easy it is to get lost.

Bai Ning Bing had the Lightning Eye Gu and could see up to fifty steps
ahead. But now, it was restricted by the thick smoke, so he could see less
than thirty steps ahead. However, this was already much better than Fang
Yuan’s normal vision.

While Bai Ning Bing had the Lightning Eye Gu, he could not see the entire
topography, and had no clear understanding of the situation.

He could only see what was ahead of him, and at times he even ran into a
wolf pack and got surrounded by them.

Fang Yuan on the other hand, had the Earth Communication Ear Grass.
The smoke reduced vision, but could not block sound from being
transmitted.

The surroundings were noisy, and the Earth Communication Ear Grass
could hear up to two hundred steps away, but Fang Yuan could only move
according to the noise. His vision was too narrow, only able to see a tree or
a rock right in front of him. Without anything to compare to, he could not
discern his direction.

Cooperation!

Bai Ning Bing’s Lightning Eye Gu, together with Fang Yuan’s Earth
Communication Ear Grass.

The two Gu together, complementing each other, caused the situation to be

easier.

“This is the southern side. Going this direction, we’ll get to the Gu Yue
village.” Bai Ning Bing’s eyes glowed with lightning as he said.

“No, there’s too many wolf packs there, we have to take a roundabout
route.” Fang Yuan’s right ears had roots flying around.

“Hehe… then we’ll go around the southeast direction, how about that?” Bai
Ning Bing licked his lips.

Fang Yuan squatted down, extending the roots into the soil and listening
attentively.

During that period, the lightning wolves that rushed up were all killed by
Bai Ning Bing.

Fang Yuan listened for a while, before standing up, “There’s an opening in
the southeast direction, but we have to hurry, the opening is going to be
filled!”

“Let’s charge then.” Bai Ning Bing said, but did not move immediately.
He still had some guard against Fang Yuan. He did not dare to attack ahead
and reveal his back to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly; he was also full of qualms towards Bai Ning
Bing.

Eventually, the two killed their way through shoulder to shoulder, with a
distance of five steps between them.

The lightning wolves howled, attempting to kill them.

But relying on the Lightning Eye Gu and Earth Communication Ear Grass,
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing could avoid strong enemies and continue to
roam, finding an opportunity to break through.

The advantage of having information was unveiled here.

Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan, if alone, they would be trapped by numerous
wolves. But now that they worked together, they could control the initiative
and started to have an easy time.

After charging for a while, the path ahead of them was suddenly clear, and
the bright sunlight caused both of them to squint.

“We’re out!” Bai Ning Bing laughed loudly.

Fang Yuan looked back, only to see a thick black veil behind him, as if a
black pot had covered the entire mountain.

The intense smoke continue to emit sounds of explosions and screams.

Evidently the two clan leaders were still fighting the lightning lycan.

“To think that working with you is actually quite pleasant.” Bai Ning Bing
turned his body, smiling lightly.

“I feel the same way too,” Fang Yuan also smiled lightly.

But in the very next moment, both of their eyes shone sharply.
Iceblade Gu!

Chainsaw Golden Centipede!

The long iceblade cut through the air with a cold light.

The thick golden centipede attacked head on and carried the howling of the
wind.

Bam.

Both sides collided. The iceblade cut a wound on the golden centipede’s
body, but broke right after.

Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing both took a step back, both of their eyes
emitting intense killing intent.

Their temporary cooperation could not change their enemy status.

Fang Yuan’s black hair danced in the wind, while Bai Ning Bing’s white
shirt swayed; both had too much in common. Precisely why they became
natural enemies.

Black iris against blue orbs, almost creating sparks in the air.

Both of their killing intent slowly dispersed.

“Hmph, this is but a dying man. Even without me interfering, heaven will
take his life. What’s most important now isn’t Bai Ning Bing but the
Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus! Once the lightning lycan attacks Gu Yue
village, its most likely game over. I have to strike before that, while I have
the chance…” Fang Yuan analyzed, his eyes narrowing.

Bai Ning Bing’s eyes became even brighter, muttering, “Path… no

regrets… that’s right, even Ren Zu has to die. Humans live and die. So as
long as I can live an interesting life, what harm is there even if I die?”

Thinking so, his eyes glowed with an intense brilliance.

“Hahaha. I’ve finally found my path, and that is to witness this world’s
brilliance! Fang Yuan, we will battle another day. I hope that by then, your
death can bring some light into my life!”

Saying so, he leapt backwards continuously. After pulling apart some

distance, he turned around, leaving.

Although he was in a mess, his body full of injuries and his face covered in
soot, with only one arm left, but his back was straight like a sword; he was
no longer lost.

He had found his path.

In other words, he had truly become himself!

Chapter 170
 Chapter 170: Can the blood of Incorruptible
Justice be cold?

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Yuan watched Bai Ning Bing’s figure walk until he was far away.

“Witness this world’s brilliance….” His two black pupils flashed with an
imposing light. The Bai Ning Bing who was no longer bewildered was
more dangerous than before.

Life and death no longer bothered him, and the closer he was to death, the
more he would display the incomparable grace of the Northern Dark Ice
Soul Physique.

“However, wanting to fight me later, heh.” Fang Yuan suddenly chuckled,

“You are bound to be disappointed…”

The instant he came out of that thick smoke, Fang Yuan had decided to
leave Qing Mao Mountain.

It would be interesting to fight with Bai Ning Bing, but it was of no benefits
to him.

Bai Ning Bing had set the definition of brilliance on Fang Yuan, and that
was because he was young and his view of the world was limited to Qing
Mao Mountain.

Fang Yuan, however, was different.

In his grand plan since his rebirth, Qing Mao Mountain was only a starting
point.
As long as the heart possessed great ambitions, one was bound to be broad
minded, not being constrained by small details with others.

“It’s time to leave, the lightning lycan is more cunning and more difficult to
handle than the thunder crown wolf. Just with Bai clan or Gu Yue clan’s
current strength, it will be difficult to withstand its attacks. Unless a Rank
five expert appears and turns the tide, or maybe if the two clans ally.”

Bai Clan and Gu Yue Clan had deep grudges against each other; they would
ally if the situation came to that point, but the alliance wouldn’t be sincere.

Fang Yuan wasn’t optimistic about this prospect.

“Qing Mao Mountain’s state will be determined by this battle. If the two
clan leaders are both killed by the lightning lycan, Qing Mao Mountain will
become the lightning wolves’ territory. If one clan leader survives, then
with the alliance, the other clan will only become cannon fodder. If the
lightning lycan is killed, the two clans will definitely have to rehabilitate
due to the severe casualties. The clan will tidy up its internal affairs and I
will be investigated.”

Fang Yuan could clearly see the changes that could occur through this.

This is the world of Gu, and in here an individual’s strength can rule over
the group. Thus, the higher the cultivation of a Gu Master, the more power
he has to turn the tide.

No matter the Bai Clan or Gu Yue Clan or the lightning wolf packs, as long
as another Rank four expert appears among any of them, the outcome
would be a foregone conclusion.

However, no matter the situation, they were all disadvantageous to Fang

Yuan.

“It is time to leave. Although I still lack the ideal healing Gu, how can one
have everything he wishes for? After returning to the village, I will take the
Heavenly Essence Lotus and then take out a healing Gu from the clan
storage before leaving immediately!”
Fang Yuan gave one last look behind him; the sound of intense explosions
were still coming from the black smoke.

He turned around and left, rushing towards the Gu Yue village.

With his status as an elder, he could forcefully open the clan storage and
take out primeval stones as well as Gu worms.

There was unrest all around, people were frightened; it was the best time to
take advantage of the situation.

If this chance was let go, no matter what the battle outcome is, the general
situation would be set, making it difficult to take advantage.

Thunderwings Gu couldn’t be used for the moment, so Fang Yuan could

only run quickly through the forest.

The wolf tide had ravaged everything in its path, making the once
dangerous pathways peaceful and safe.

Soon, Fang Yuan was able to see the Gu Yue village in the horizon.

“Hmm? Who are you!” Fang Yuan swiftly stopped; two strangers had
appeared in front of him.

These two were both wearing Gu Master’s clothings. One was an elderly
man. He was tall and his back was ramrod straight, giving a sense of being
as steady as a mountain and as profound as a deep pool. The most eye-
catching part was the copper mask that he was wearing on his face.

The mask was of a plain design and gave an antique feeling. There were
three openings on it, revealing the wearer’s eyes and mouth.

His eyes showed the vicissitudes of life and revealed a grand and righteous
aura. His lips were pursed up, the contour in between as sharp as a blade,
hinting at this man’s firm willpower.

The mask didn’t cover his ears, exposing his greying temple hairs and
revealing that this man should be of an older age.
The one next to the man was a youth with eyebrows that were as upright as
a sword, and eyes that were bright and shining, periodically sending out
sharp glances that looked like an eagle or a tiger’s.

Looking at this appearance, the youth’s age should be similar to Fang Yuan.
However, this person’s belt had a silver plate on it, carved with the
character ‘three’.

So young and already a Rank three Gu Master, this showed amazing talent
in cultivation!

This was a young genius!

However, Fang Yuan’s gaze only paused a moment on this youth, before
turning towards the senior.

This youth had a slight dark complexion with similarly pursing lips, the
entire body releasing a sharp and professional aura, definitely not someone
to be underestimated.

But the slightly bulging chest area along with the structure of the limbs and
throat allowed Fang Yuan to instantly see through her identity as a girl.

Fang Yuan would never look down on women, but compared to this heroic
girl, the identity of the middle-aged man beside her would shock anyone.

“Tie Xue Leng…..” Fang Yuan’s mind jolted, he inwardly recalled the
identity of this middle-aged man.

The man was wearing a copper mask, and the square amethyst plate on his
belt was carved with the character —‘five’.

He was the Rank five Gu Master, enforcer of the law, a great detective, the
number one investigator of the Southern Border: Divine Investigator Tie
Xue Leng!

He was impartial and merciless in upholding justice. Many demonic path

cultivators had been arrested by him and many vile characters beheaded. He
was the model example of the righteous path, and had made a very high
reputation for himself by solving countless cases as he travelled throughout
the Southern Border.

“Little brother, please wait.” Tie Xue Leng cupped his hands to Fang Yuan.

He had already made a name for himself for a long time and was also a
Rank five Gu Master, but his attitude was polite and amiable.

“Seeing little brother’s state of injuries and hurried appearance, did your
esteemed clan leader and elders encounter trouble?” He asked.

Fang Yuan automatically changed his expression to that of anxiety and

astonishment, while mixed within them were doubts and fear. “Who are you
guys? How do you know this? Right, we were chasing after a thunder
crown wolf but we ran into trouble by encountering a lightning lycan. I am
hurrying back to request reinforcements.”

“I am Tie Xue Leng, I am an ally, not your enemy. I just came from Gu Yue
village. Little brother, you don’t need to return for reinforcements, the beast
tide concerns all humans and we need to join hands to face it. This Tie shall
contribute all he can.” Tie Xue Leng immediately took this task upon
himself.

……

“Damn it, to think that I, Gu Yue Bo, will die here today!”

“Hmph, even if we die, we can’t let this lightning lycan get off so easily.”

Gu Yue clan leader and Bai clan leader were full of injuries and had almost
exhausted their primeval essence. Right now, they could sense the grim aura
of death.

The thick smoke had already dispersed. All the elders had died, and only
these two clan leaders were left.

The lightning lycan also didn’t fare well. Its body had some deep wounds
from which one could see its bones. It barred its teeth and retreated to the
back of the lightning wolf packs, its eyes flashing with a sly look as it
retreated from fighting in the frontlines.

“Come, you coward!” The Bai clan leader furiously roared.

However, the lightning lycan kept on retreating backwards and then let out
a howl, commanding the ordinary lightning wolves to charge towards these
two Rank four Gu Masters.

“Cunning bastard…” Gu Yue Bo and Bai clan leader looked at each other,
and sighed.

They had prepared to make a strong counterattack before dying, but the
lightning lycan had a wisdom that didn’t lose out to humans and wasn’t
fooled.

“My life is over….”

“Damn this, we are going to die in these ordinary lightning wolves’

mouths!”

Just when these two clan leaders were becoming extremely distraught, a
voice suddenly arrived from a distance, “Two leaders, hang in there for a
moment!”

The voice echoed through the mountain forests. The two clan leaders’
bodies jolted and they immediately turned to look, noticing a tall figure
rushing towards them.

The figure repeatedly flashed, freely moving through the wolf packs. After
a few moments, the figure stood beside the two clan leaders.

“You are?” The two clan leaders asked at the same time.

“My name is Tie Xue Leng.”

Gasp…
The Bai clan leader drew in a long breath in shock. He was surprised,
joyous and also puzzled; why was Tie Xue Leng here?

Gu Yue Bo, on the other hand, was aware of the reason as he joyfully said,
“So it is Divine Investigator Tie!”

Just as he said this, the wolf packs charged in.

“A bunch of foul creatures!” Tie Xue Leng’s tongue seemed to burst with
thunder, and with a low shout he willed a Gu in his aperture.

BOOM!

A formless aura suddenly erupted, radiating and engulfing everything.

This aura was like a mountain, indomitable and unshakeable. It was like the
heaven itself as it overlooked the world and saw through everything.

Righteous Gu!

Only a Gu Master who had a righteous heart could use it.

The righteous aura could weaken vile creatures; within its range, the lower
the willpower of his enemies, the more the weakening effect.

Tie Xue Leng had once used this Gu to make a Rank four Gu Master lose
his fighting strength and surrender completely. This was the supreme art of
subduing enemy without fighting.

Howl howl…

The lightning wolves’ momentum stopped. Their limbs were trembling

under the pressure of this aura, and they didn’t dare to move forward.

Houuu!

The lightning lycan gave out a battle cry from the back, trying to command
these lightning wolf packs.
“Such nerve!” Tie Xue Leng glared and suddenly stretched out his right
hand, making a grabbing motion towards the lightning lycan.

Rumble….

Ripples spread in the sky, and an enormous black iron hand tore the sky
apart and grabbed towards the lightning lycan.

Rank five Ironfist Grappling Gu!

The lightning lycan was cunning, but it lacked bravery. In addition to that,
its body was riddled with wounds so it didn’t dare to resist this move head-
on, and instead quickly dodged.

However, this black iron hand had firmly locked onto the lightning lycan,
and it kept on chasing.

The lightning lycan wasn’t able to escape from it. Its vicious personality
was stimulated; it gave a loud roar and fiercely collided against the black
iron hand.

The enormous hand shattered but the lightning lycan received serious
injuries. Almost all its bones were on the verge of shattering.

It let out miserable whimpers but didn’t dare to fight Tie Xue Leng again.
Finally, it resentfully looked at Tie Xue Leng and the two clan leaders,
before it tucked its tails and ran away.

“It is about to escape!”

“Quick, stop it!!”

The two clan leaders shouted, but Tie Xue Leng stood on the spot and
didn’t move.

“Divine Investigator, please finish it,” Gu Yue Bo cupped his hands and
implored.

Tie Xue Leng slightly shook his head.

At this time, Fang Yuan and the young girl finally arrived. They had seen
how the lightning lycan had been forced away by the iron hand.

“Dad! Why did you do that? You are injured!” The young girl quickly
approached Tie Xue Leng and stamped her feet in anger; her reproaching
tone was full of concern.

“Ruo Nan, this lightning lycan is very cunning. Chasing it away by force is
the best way to deal with it.” Tie Xue Leng spoke, when suddenly his body
slightly trembled.

Puff! He spurted out blood from his mouth.

There was a strange, gloomy greenish color in his blood, and as the blood
fell on the ground, it immediately corroded a patch of green grass, letting
out an unpleasant smoke.

Clearly, he had suffered serious injuries.

“Dad, are you okay?!” The young girl, Tie Ruo Nan quickly lifted her hands
and tried healing Tie Xue Leng.

“No need to make a fuss about it, you know of my injuries, I will feel a lot
better after letting out some blood,” Tie Xue Leng laughed and waved his
hands, refusing the treatment.

Seeing this scene, the two clan leaders who had been feeling resentment just
before, immediately felt embarrassed.

“Divine Investigator is selfless, you helped us even though you are

suffering from serious injuries. We will deeply remember this favor.”

“I have heard of Tie Xue Leng’s great name, and today I can see that it is
fully justified and worthy of admiration! We thank Divine Investigator for
saving us!”

The two clan leaders cupped their hands one after another and expressed
their thanks.
“Lord Divine Investigator, please honor my Bai village with your presence.
This gratitude of saving my life, I will do my best to repay!” The Bai clan
leader said.

How could Gu Yue Bo just watch as the Bai village tried to bring Tie Xue
Leng away.

He knew why Tie Xue Leng was here, and gave a proud smile, “I know that
Lord Divine Investigator is here due to Jia Fu’s request and has come to
investigate that murder case. Our Gu Yue clan will do our best to
cooperate!”

Bai clan leader’s expression changed when he heard this.

Tie Xue Leng said, “It is so. However, the one in charge of this
investigation won’t be me, but my daughter Tie Ruo Nan.”

“Eh?” Immediately, everyone present turned to look at the young girl.

Chapter 171
 Chapter 171: Inbred demonic nature

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“What, father, you want me to solve the case?” The girl pointed to herself,
her face in utter shock.

“Why, are you unwilling?” Tie Xue Leng smiled gently.

“No, no, of course I’m willing!” Tie Ruo Nan finally reacted, jumping in
joy.

Tie Xue Leng nodded, sighing in a complex tone, “You aspire to walk the
same path as me. These few years where you were by my side, you have
been greatly influenced by me and learnt much. An eagle can only learn to
fly by itself, only then can it truly grow up. Your father is old already, my
injuries cannot be cured. I cannot continue being with you as you live your
life, and as the newer generations replace the old, what happens next is up
to you.”

“Father… don’t give up yet, isn’t there still hope for treatment?” The young
girl’s voice trembled as she choked back tears.

“You and I both know that the chances are infinitely slim. People have to
learn to face facts, Ruo Nan,” Tie Xue Leng laughed, then turned towards
Gu Yue Bo, “Don’t worry Gu Yue clan leader, this daughter of mine has
learnt at least 80% of my abilities. With my guidance along the way, she
will not let your clan suffer any injustice.”

“Of course, of course.” Gu Yue Bo quickly cupped his fist, “Young heroines
are on par with males; such an elegant disposition and the child of a hero,
there is no reason for me to worry. Please come to the village and let us
feast upon your arrival.”
……

The dishes filled the entire table, with the fragrance overwhelming the
surroundings. Clear wine was poured out from the wine jar in a straight line
into Tie Xue Leng’s cup.

The wolf tide was just over, and Gu Yue village was in its toughest period.
Large amounts of resources had been expended, causing a food shortage
and lack of commodities. Many mortals would starve to death.

But even so, to welcome Tie Xue Leng, Gu Yue clan still assembled this
banquet.

As the clan leader, Gu Yue Bo sat at the clan head’s seat, while Tie Xue
Leng and Tie Ruo Nan were beside him.

Other than that, Gu Yue Chi Zhong, Gu Yue Ge Yan, Gu Yue Mo Chen, Gu
Yue Yao Ji, as well as Fang Yuan and the others, all being elders, were
present.

Before the wolf tide, Gu Yue clan had over a dozen clan elders. But now,
only one table remained, and there were less than ten elders.

Moreover, the clan elders present were all injured to varying degrees.

Especially in the case of Gu Yue Mo Chen — two weeks ago when he

resisted the wolf tide, he was heavily injured and had been hiding in his
private room to recuperate. He was resting in bed, but when he heard about
the arrival of Tie Xue Leng, he forced his body up and attended this
banquet.

But this also let him escape the crisis, while his old rival Gu Yue Chi Lian
had followed the clan leader in assaulting the thunder crown wolf and was
killed by the lightning lycan.

“If not for Brother Tie’s help today, I might’ve become the lightning lycan’s
lunch already. For saving my life, I toast Brother Tie this cup!” Gu Yue Bo
stood up, holding the cup with both hands and bending his back, sincerely
offering his gratitude.

“I was only doing what I could.” Tie Xue Leng raised his cup, drinking the
wine in one go.

He had a vigilant and strict lifestyle, refusing to gamble or find prostitutes,

standing by his morals and never went greedy on drinking. He had thus,
never been drunk.

After drinking this cup, Gu Yue Bo looked at the people in the banquet, his
eyes turning red, sighing and sitting down.

Tie Xue Leng had seen such situations many times, and he consoled, “Gu
Yue clan leader, my condolences. As long as your clansmen still exist, the
village will definitely thrive again one day. That lightning lycan was heavily
injured as well, and the lightning wolves have greatly been damaged, they
will not attack for the next few years. This wolf tide has been safely
endured.”

The wolf tide’s harshest period is indeed over. For the next few months,
although lightning wolves will still appear, their quantity will continue to
decrease, and no large groups will be formed. The wolf packs no longer
have the ability to directly charge at the village.

The lightning lycan will return to the wolf den and recuperate there, while
slowly organising the remaining wolves. Many wolves will be recalled, and
many lightning wolves would die, causing the wolf pack’s need for food to
decrease drastically.

The wolf packs would become self-sufficient, and in the next few years,
they would gradually get stronger, during which new hundred beast kings –
bold lightning wolves, thousand beast kings – frenzy lightning wolves, and
myriad beast kings – thunder crown wolves would appear.

At its peak, it begins to weaken, and at its weakest, it begins to prosper.

Regardless of humans or wolves, they follow such a law.

But although Tie Xue Leng’s words were right, humans are not grass or
trees, they have feelings. The Gu Yue clan leader understood this fact much
better than Tie Xue Leng, but the misery and pain in his heart was
unavoidable.

The sacrifice was too big……

Just the higher-up clan elders were already gone by at least half. As for the
Rank two and Rank one Gu Masters, they had an even larger amount of
casualties. The entire Gu Yue village’s strength had fallen to rock bottom,
and could no longer endure any more disasters.

“Why is it that you guys do not counter attack, and go wreck their den?” On
one side, Tie Ruo Nan could not understand and asked in confusion.

“That is because inside the wolf den, there are over dozens of groups of
thunder gas worms, amounting to over a million of them in total. There are
also large numbers of wild Gu mixed in. It is hard to cause any damage to
them, unless all three clans work together,” Gu Yue Yao Ji explained.

Saying so, she suddenly snorted, staring at Fang Yuan, “But this possibility
is too small. Even within our clan, there are clan elders shrinking in fear,
and during the wolf tide’s attack, god knows where they were hiding!”

Saying so, all the other clan elders turned their vision towards Fang Yuan.

Previously, Fang Yuan was inside the rock crack secret cave exploring the
Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance, causing him to miss the huge battle in
resisting the wolf tide. In everyone’s eyes, this was being crafty and
evasive, as well as being timid and fearing death.

Thus, the clan elders’ expression towards Fang Yuan were all full of
unhappiness, disdain, and some hidden anger.

Even Gu Yue Bo’s expression was looking ugly.

As the clan leader, he was most revolted by people like Fang Yuan, doing
things according to their own will, mysterious and having their own little
schemes. He could not feel safe with such a person around.

The atmosphere at the banquet immediately transformed.

The Tie father and daughter also felt this change, following everyone’s gaze
and looking towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan’s young appearance had attracted the attention of Tie Ruo Nan
who was the same age as him.

Fang Yuan drank his wine calmly. Even though everyone’s gaze was on
him, he acted as if he felt nothing.

His expression was calm, as he already had anticipated such a situation of

people finding problems with him.

“Things are getting troublesome,” he sighed in his heart. Although worried,

he was not frightened.

Tie Xue Leng’s appearance had heavily destroyed his plans to leave. If he
took the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and destroyed the foundation of
the Gu Yue village, this would cause the Tie father and daughter to arrest
him.

The name of divine investigator is not just a myth. With his abilities and
strength, as long as Tie Xue Leng commences his chase, there is no
possibility of failing.

Even if he does not take the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, his
mysterious disappearance would cause the clan to investigate. As it involves
Jia Jin Sheng’s death, even the Tie father and daughter would get involved.

If he left without notice, in their eyes it would be a thief trying to escape,

running from his crimes.

With no choice, Fang Yuan could only choose to stay and observe the
situation.
Although everyone reprimanded him, the situation now was still not at its
worst. If he left right now, that would be a panicky move, and it would
cause the entire situation to worsen.

“Is the wine nice?” Gu Yue Yao Ji laughed sinisterly, staring at Fang Yuan,
“Aren’t you going to explain?”

Fang Yuan slowly put down his cup, raising his head and looking at Gu Yue
Yao Ji’s broken arm.

The old are the most cunning, this is extremely true.

To preserve her life, Gu Yue Yao Ji broke her own arm, and under the name
of being injured, she avoided the clan mission of entering the battlefield.

This happened in Fang Yuan’s previous life as well, but to think she did the
same thing once again.

Her act of sacrificing one limb to save her life, was indeed effective. It
prevented her from getting killed by the thunder crown wolf and not
participating in the chase, thus keeping herself alive. However, right now
she was finding problems with Fang Yuan — one aspect was due to old
grudges, but mostly was because she wanted to bring the attention to Fang
Yuan and reduce people’s attention on herself.

“What do you want me to explain? Explain how you broke your own limb
just to preserve your miserable life?” Fang Yuan sneered.

“WHAT?!” Gu Yue Yao Ji was shocked and enraged, standing up from her
seat.

She stared with both eyes wide open, pointing at Fang Yuan’s nose,
shrilling, “You little rascal! How dare you accuse me like this, this is blatant
defamation, slander!! How can you be so shameless? How can our Gu Yue
clan have such a joke like you?”

“Gu Yue Yao Ji!” Gu Yue Bo’s expression changed, shouting, “Sit down at
once, we have an important guest here, how can you scream and shout
freely like this?”

Gu Yue Yao Ji wanted to continue scolding, but on seeing Gu Yue Bo’s dim
expression, she could only swallow the words she was about to spit out.

She stared angrily at Fang Yuan, sitting down reluctantly.

Gu Yue Bo settled Yao Ji’s problem, then turned to look at Fang Yuan,
“Elder Fang Yuan, I need an explanation. During the attack of the wolf tide,
where were you?”

“Fang Yuan… he’s Fang Yuan?” Tie Xue Leng’s eyes shone with surprise.
In Jia Jin Sheng’s mysterious disappearance, Fang Yuan had played an
important role. Before coming here, Tie Xue Leng had already gotten much
intel from Jia Fu. But to think that this young elder was Fang Yuan himself.
At once, Tie Xue Leng’s heart became interested.

He had solved numerous cases and could see the peculiarity from all the
traces of evidence, to guess the actual fact. From everyone’s expression, he
could tell the truth behind Fang Yuan’s sudden evasion from battle.

But the truth that everyone knew was only scratching the surface, what is
the utter reality?

Regardless of what the truth is, Fang Yuan’s answer would reveal a
fragment of his inner thought. That would be very helpful in solving the
case later.

Sensing Tie Xue Leng’s attention on him, Fang Yuan’s heart tightened, but
his expression remained the same.

He looked at everyone plainly, and a mocking smile appeared on his face,

“There’s not much to explain. Since clan elder asked, I’ll just say it out. I
was extremely frightened back then. The stressed accumulated during this
extensive period, as well as my fear of death that had reached its limits. I
could not endure it, I was cowardly and weak, I hid in a corner and no
longer dared to enter the frontlines.”
Once he said so, everyone was dumbfounded.

They had expected Fang Yuan to use all sorts of excuses and reasons, and
were prepared to expose his lies and criticize Fang Yuan. But to think he
admitted it directly!

“Any kind of lie, as long as it is not true, will have loopholes. Furthermore,
Tie Xue Leng is here…” Fang Yuan’s expression was calm, looking down
and staring at the wine in his cup.

Tie Xue Leng’s expression turned weird. He subconsciously frowned, and a

sense of loathing and antipathy rose in his heart.

“This young man, he has an inbred demonic nature!”

Chapter 172
Chapter 172: No one more suited than Fang Yuan!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

At the banquet, it was utter silence.

Everyone was stunned, staring at Fang Yuan blankly.

They had not expected him to reply like this, directly admitting it so
honestly.

“He’s too young after all, actually saying such words.”

“Hmph, once he said that, it means his entire political career is ruined.”

“From now on, this Fang Yuan is no threat anymore…”

The clan elders furiously assessed.

At this point into the wolf tide, the outcome had already been decided. In
the next few months, there will only be small wolf packs moving about. As
the lightning lycan continues to call them back, as well the the Gu Masters
killing them, the lightning wolves would basically vanish completely by the
end of the year.

But conflicts never end.

At places with people, there are interests. And where there are interests
involved, there are conflicts.

During the wolf tide, it is the struggle between man and wolf. But now that
the toughest part of the wolf tide is over, the clan’s internal struggles
surface above the water, turning into internal strifes.
The wolf tide assaulting the village caused many Gu Masters to die. Some
factions were destroyed, and the interests they once held, naturally has to be
distributed.

Among the Gu Yue clan higher-ups, there were originally many clan elders
to divide the interest cake of the entire village. But now that only Fang
Yuan and the other elders amounting to less than ten remained, that cake
was still whole and intact.

To split this large cake among themselves, they would have to compete
against one another. Political battles, although not as flashy or bloody as the
wolf tide, was full of schemes, plotting and setting traps; it was difficult and
harsh.

At first, Fang Yuan as the only newly advanced elder, had a strong
momentum and attracted great attention. But now that he admitted his
mistake, it completely ruined his political career; it was tantamount to
giving up the chance to compete for this interest cake with the other clan
elders.

At once, Fang Yuan’s threat level towards the other clan elders became
much lower.

Their gaze towards Fang Yuan showed that the pressure they felt towards
him had reduced.

At this time, clan leader Gu Yue Bo sighed, “Since Fang Yuan himself
admitted to it, as clan leader, I have to punish you for the act of running
away from battle. According to the clan ancestor’s rules, runaways will be
stripped of their clan elder status, but the final result shall be decided by me
and the other clan elders. We’ll decide on your punishment after a
discussion. But regardless of the result, I hope you can accept it.”

The others showed a weird expression.

Fang Yuan nodded, not speaking, as if he had submitted to fate.

Gu Yue Yao Ji broke her own arm to save her life, this was decisive and
ruthless. Fang Yuan was the same, except he lost even more, giving up his
clan elder status.

His greatest problem now, is the sudden appearance of the Tie family father
and daughter. If he got involved in the political turmoil now, facing
suppression from other elders, his situation would get even more dangerous.

“Letting go, willingness to let go, among taking and letting go, that is life.
The identity of clan elder was to cultivate better, that is its only purpose to
me. To pursue eternal life I walked on the demonic path, I am willing to
discard my own life. What else can I not discard? Clan elder status,
hmph…”

Fang Yuan did not feel a shred of regret or annoyance.

This was the wisest decision.

Moreover, although there’s a punishment, it would definitely be minimized.

After all, there were little clan elders left, and as a Rank three Gu Master,
his strength was greatly valued. The clan leader has to punish him on one
end, but also needs to borrow his strength to stabilize the entire village’s
circumstance, thus he also needed to give in to Fang Yuan.

As for the other clan elders, Fang Yuan had stepped out of this political
contest and no longer held any threat. They would not offend Fang Yuan
anymore. After all, if they force Fang Yuan to retaliate, isn’t it finding
trouble for themselves?

“Although there is the clan system, but what is a system? Hehe, a system is
just a tool to maintain the interests of those in power. On one hand it
governs and divides the interest of the lower levels, but it is also the rules
that contain the higher-ups as they compete against each other.” Fang Yuan
laughed coldly. These matters, he was clear as day, the truth was transparent
to him.

“The most crucial point now, is the Tie family father and daughter. Fuck,
they came much earlier than I had anticipated, even before the wolf tide is
completely gone. Hmph! But such a behavior perfectly fits Tie Xue Leng’s
hatred towards evil, and his selflessness in fighting crime.”
Thinking of this, Fang Yuan felt a strong pressure.

Even though Tie Xue Leng is injured now, his battle strength was not
something Fang Yuan could compete against. A starving dying camel is
larger than a horse, it is this logic.

“I need to leave the village, but I also need to avoid the pursuit of the Tie
father and daughter pair, how can I get out of this predicament?”

Fang Yuan was vexed.

This Tie family father and daughter was not as easy to confuse as Jia Fu.
Moreover, Fang Yuan’s cultivation was too low. Even if he had a thousand
and one plans, what could he do without actual strength?

Rank three and five, it was a world of difference.

“Everyone, I have something to say.” At this point, the silent Gu Yue Mo

Chen suddenly said.His expression was pale as he had dragged his injured
body to the banquet, and he did not drink wine, only sipping tea.

But what he said next, shocked people to death, “There’s something I have
to be honest about. Elder Fang Yuan did not manage to enter the battlefield,
and that was due to me.”

“What?”

At once, the other clan elders were shocked.

“Oh, what do you mean?” Gu Yue Bo asked.

Fang Yuan sent a glance over, hiding his shock.

Why would this Gu Yue Mo Chen stand up for himself?

During this wolf tide, the Mo faction inheritor Gu Yue Mo Bei had already
died unfortunately.
Even though the Mo faction had to the greatest of their ability, protected
Mo Bei. On the battlefield, surprises were aplenty. Moreover, during the
wolf tide, everyone was in danger, sometimes they can’t even take care of
themselves, what more towards others?

Gu Yue Mo Chen sighed, “To speak the truth, my granddaughter Gu Yue

Mo Yan had fallen deep in love with elder Fang Yuan. Before this, she had
come to beg me, kneeling on the ground and crying, not willing to see Fang
Yuan die on the battlefield. I only have one granddaughter, thus out of
selfishness, I kept Fang Yuan in my estate and knocked him out. It was only
until we chased the lightning crown wolf that I let him out. Thus,
everything was due to me, it is my fault. It has nothing to do with Fang
Yuan.”

“What?”

“Oh, is that really it?”

The clan elders were suspicious.

Gu Yue Mo Chen’s words were quite a stretch; it was rather unbelievable.

“Love and relationship among youngsters is common,” Gu Yue Bo nodded,

staring at Fang Yuan with deep meaning, wanting to find out some clues
from his expression.

But Fang Yuan looked down with a calm expression. There was nothing to
see.

Clan leader was disappointed.

The other clan elders exchanged glances, not understanding why Gu Yue
Mo Chen was so defensive of Fang Yuan.

Him saying this in order to aid Fang Yuan, it meant that he had sacrificed
his own reputation and ruined his own political prospect!!

Gu Yue Mo Chen continued, “In order to protect my reputation, elder fang

Yuan willingly let himself suffer the injustice. But I have already erred
once, how can I make a mistake once more? This is the truth. As for the
punishment, I implore lord clan leader to consider. I admit my mistake and
as with the rules, if my clan elder status is to be stripped, I have no
objections.”

Clan leader quickly waved his hand, saying, “Elder Mo Chen has worked
hard all these years. What you did was understandable, humans are not
grass or wood, how can we not have feelings? Now that our clan is greatly
weakened, we need loyal and strong elders like you. But this is still your
own selfishness, thus the punishment still needs to be decided. We have an
important guest today, let’s not talk about this now. Come, brother Tie, I and
the clan elders shall offer you a toast!”

Saying so, Gu Yue Bo stood up.

The other clan elders stood up as well, raising their cups.

“Everyone is too kind. I still have to trouble you all later, I hope I can seek
your understanding.” Tie Xue Leng did not put on airs, standing up and
drinking his wine.

In the courtyard of the Mo faction, flora and fauna were abundant. The
artificial mountain had a spring flowing with crystal clear water.

In the night sky, the moon hung high in the sky like a plate.

The banquet had long ended.

Fang Yuan sat in the cooling pavilion as he listened to the sound of the
flowing water, and he placed down his tea cup with a plain expression.

Sitting opposite him was Gu Yue Mo Chen. After the banquet was over, he
had invited Fang Yuan over for a discussion.

“Come, have another cup of tea, this bamboo leaf clear water tea is good in
eliminating hangovers.” Gu Yue Mo Chen laughed, pouring personally into
Fang Yuan’s cup.
Fang Yuan’s expression was calm, and on seeing the cup being filled again,
he said, “Indeed a good cure for hangovers.”

Saying so, he looked outside the pavilion, only to see that the pale white
moon had radiated the grounds with its moonlight. Under the moon, the
pavilion was quiet and graceful, but in the wind there were lurking
shadows, showing how the Mo faction courtyard was turning from a
prosperous state, to a declining one.

During the banquet, Fang Yuan had already understood Gu Yue Mo Chen’s
intention. Seeing this scene, he was even more sure of himself.

The Mo faction had no inheritor left!

Once Gu Yue Mo Bei died, the entire Mo faction would lose its inheritor.

Although Mo Bei still had his sister Mo Yan, the clan rules was that, since
ancient times, it favored males over females, and the assets can only be
inherited by a male and not female.

Even if Gu Yue Mo Yan gets to Rank three next time and advances to clan
elder, her assets do not represent the Mo faction, but only her own. If she
married anyone, this asset will be transferred to under her husband’s name.

If they lost their inheritor, a clan’s political influence would have no

prospects, and no one would join them.

The Mo faction had already fallen into difficult circumstances, on the verge
of breaking down.

But heaven always left a way, and the Mo faction was not truly at its wits
end; there was still a sliver of hope.

This hope lies in Gu Yue Mo Yan’s hands.

Although she is a female, she can marry someone.

If the son-in-law marries into the Mo faction, he would have an acceptable

status, and can inherit the Mo faction!
Seeing that Fang Yuan had no inclination to mention it, Gu Yue Mo Chen
scolded this crafty lad internally, but had to speak, “I wonder what elder
Fang Yuan thinks of my Mo faction?”

He had an unspeakable grief.

Ever since his injury, his cultivation had fallen to Rank two, without any
chance of ever regaining Rank three.

He could only rely on his Gu worm to conceal his true aura. But paper
cannot cover fire; he would be exposed one day.

His only inheritor had died, while he himself was Rank two and would lose
his clan elder identity. Gu Yue Mo Chen needed someone who could hold
the fort to sustain their faction.

Back then, he had both authority and status, thus the Mo faction controlled
a large amount of the interest cake. But now that the clan’s factions were
reorganising themselves, he did not want any more interests. As long as he
can defend what he already has, that would be the biggest victory.

He pondered left and right, and the most suitable person was Fang Yuan
without doubt!
Chapter 173
 Chapter 173: White form immortal snake

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Sunset clouds are blown away as cool wind fills the air, and the jade disc
spins silently in the milky way.

Bai Ning Bing looked out from the window and gazed at the night sky.

A bright and sparkling moon was shining in the sky. Occasionally, wolf
howls could be heard in the distance, adding some bleakness to the peaceful
moonlight.

In the study room, the Bai clan leader was sitting at a side with a dazed
expression.

Just a moment ago, Bai Ning Bing told him about the Northern Dark Ice
Soul physique.

“Northern Dark Ice Soul….ten absolute aptitudes….” The Bai clan leader
mumbled constantly.

“I have already sensed that my end is nearing, my aperture is gradually

unable to endure the burden. These past few years, I’ve truly caused you
much problems!” Bai Ning Bing softly sighed.

His expression was calm. No longer was there the abnormal reckless and
crazed state as before. What replaced them was tranquility and peace.

This tranquility and peace came from his heart.

He had found his path and was no longer perplexed by life and death.
People mature over time, and the stimulation from life and death could
further speed up this process.
Moonlight fell down like flowing water, illuminating Bai Ning Bing’s fair
skin. Under the flowing radiance, his two blue eyes shone with depth.

He was like a beautiful young man from a painting, with white hair and
white clothes like the immortals in the clouds, causing people to look
intently.

“How could this happen? You were clearly A grade with 99% primeval
essence when your aptitude was tested. It absolutely wasn’t the Northern
Dark Ice Soul.” The Bai clan leader was still refusing to accept it.

“It was indeed so. But one day when I was cultivating, my aptitude
suddenly advanced. I checked the ancient scrolls and records in the clan and
found some information on this; every 99% A grade aptitude has the
possibility of advancing to ten absolute aptitudes while cultivating,” Bai
Ning Bing said.

“All ten defy the heavens, and the heavens can’t tolerate them. Even Ren
Zu’s ten children didn’t have a good end. Sigh, is there really no way to
salvage it?” Bai clan leader felt pity and regret when he looked at the
beautiful boy in front of him.

He was the clan’s pride and their hope to rise up in power. However, his life
was already nearing its end. Despite glowing brightly, he was like a
firework which could only shine splendidly for one single moment.

“There are no ways to evade my impending doom, but there are some ways
to delay it. However, all these methods need many years to prepare, which I
don’t have.”

Bai Ning Bing said all this and gave a light laugh, as if the one being
discussed about was not him, but some irrelevant outsider.

“Don’t worry. Who doesn’t die? True immortality doesn’t exist! As long as
we live our life interestingly, it is enough.” He was instead consoling the
clan leader.
“I cannot accept this! I absolutely cannot! Damn it, my Bai clan has been
suppressed by the Gu Yue clan for centuries, we finally found hope but it
ends up like this! No, there is still hope!”

Bai clan leader’s voice got louder and louder till suddenly, his expression
turned firm as if he had decided on something.

“Follow me, I will bring you to a place….” He stood up and said.

After a while.

The bright moonlight shone upon a deep pool.

“This is the spirit spring?” Bai Ning Bing asked. He had been led by the Bai
clan leader as they went through a long secret pathway, and finally arrived
here.

“Indeed. This is our clan’s restricted area, the location of the spirit spring.
You also know this — every clan’s foundation is established upon a natural
spirit spring, where the primeval stones produced by it will be used to
provide for their cultivation. Our Bai clan can only be considered a small-
medium scale clan, and only by annexing Gu Yue and Xiong clan as well as
possessing at least three springs can we become a large scale clan,” Bai clan
leader sighed.

“Then clan leader, what did you bring me here for?”

Bai clan leader’s face revealed a complex expression, and as he turned

around to look at Bai Ning Bing, his expression contained some hesitation,
“I had originally never thought of bringing you here. However, the affairs
of the world are hard to anticipate. To think, you would end up possessing
Northern Dark Ice Soul! Your only chance at living lies within this spring.”

“What is in this spring?” Bai Ning Bing asked.

“A great Immortal!” Bai clan leader said with a deep voice.

“Great Immortal?” Bai Ning Bing was flabbergasted.

“Great Immortal is its title. It is a snake Gu left by our Bai clan’s first
generation ancestor. It likes cleanliness, and its food is the water of spirit
spring. It has always been secretly living in the spirit spring,” Bai clan
leader introduced.

“Before the first generation ancestor passed away, he set up a secret

inheritance and left behind this snake Gu as a clue. If you can get the
approval of the Great Immortal, it will open the secret inheritance for you.
But if you can’t receive its approval….” The Bai clan leader stopped his
sentence in the middle.

“What happens then?” Bai Ning Bing asked.

Bai clan leader’s expression turned grave and he said, “It will kill you!”

At the same time, Gu Yue village.

Inside the room, Tie Ruo Nan kept her recon Gu and nodded with
satisfaction, “The environment here is pretty good, it’s rather clean.”

The ‘clean’ she referred to wasn’t talking about the cleanliness of the room,
but was pointing at the lack of surveillance.

It was impossible to say that there absolutely wasn’t any surveillance.

After all, Tie Xue Leng was rank five, so he possessed too great of a threat.
Hence, there was a necessity for some precautions.

However, Gu Yue clan’s defensive and surveillance measures were just at

the right amount and the level was quite low too, not creating any feelings
of provocation and aversion. It could even be taken as excessively earnest
and passionate reception, which was why Tie Ruo Nan gave the assessment
of ‘rather clean’.

Tie Xue Leng slightly nodded, “Ruo Nan, you have followed me for so long
and have learned many things. However, some things can only be learned
by taking actions and not just by spectating from the sides. Hence, I handed
this case to you.”
“Father, I will definitely work hard and give my best!”

“Good. Then, let me ask you, what should your next step be?” Tie Xue
Leng was deliberately testing her.

Tie Ruo Nan smiled. She turned around and gazed at the moon through the
window, “The moon is beautiful tonight. Dad, can I have the pleasure to
take you around this Gu Yue village?”

Upon hearing this, Tie Xue Leng revealed a gratifying smile.

When starting out on a case, it was not urgent to understand the details of
the case. The first step to solve a case was to survey the surroundings.

The father and daughter pair slowly walked through the streets. After
resisting the most terrifying attacks of the wolf tide, Gu Yue clan was now
in a wretched state.

There were collapsed bamboo buildings and bloodstains all around. Junks
were piled up all over the place and feeble moaning sounds of crippled
people could be heard from time to time.

The Tie father and daughter pair walked around the village without saying
any words.

“Fang Yuan, you bastard, fuck off!” Suddenly, a loud roar came from within
a courtyard.

The Tie father and daughter stopped walking.

After a long while, the courtyard gate opened and Fang Yuan walked out
while rubbing his nose with a vague smile on his face.

“Hello, little brother Fang Yuan.” Tie Xue Leng took the initiative to send
his greetings.

“Junior pays his respects to lord divine investigator.” Fang Yuan

constrained his smile and cupped his hands.
“Little brother, we are new here and don’t know the place well. Is it
possible for little brother to tell us a thing or two?” Tie Xue Leng suddenly
asked.

Tie Ruo Nan glanced at her father, but she didn’t make any comments.

Fang Yuan’s gaze hardened, he was just about to go meet them but this
opportunity was delivered right up to him.

“Both of you have travelled a great distance and suffered hardships to come
and solve the case, the whole village ought to help you. Please follow me.”
Fang Yuan spoke directly without showing the slightest evil intention, and
walked in front.
…

The spirit spring was raging like the boiling water.

All of a sudden, the springwater rose up like a tidal wave.

After it reached a certain height, the spirit spring scattered and splashed in
all directions. A slender white snake, its whole body covered with snow
white scales, tread on the waves and revealed its elegant appearance.

Its eyes were like jade, cold and indifferent. On the two sides of its head
were a pair of long whiskers, floating like celestial ribbons.

Rank five white form immortal snake Gu!

“I pay respects to Great Immortal!” Bai clan leader emotionally kneeled on

the ground, and at the same time anxiously urged, “Bai Ning Bing, why are
you not kneeling down?”

“I will never kneel before a Gu!” Bai Ning Bing coldly snorted, his body
standing upright and tall.

Although the white form immortal snake Gu released an ethereal cold

grandeur with heavy killing intent concealed within, Bai Ning Bing was not
the least bit afraid. His two blue pupils directly stared at its snake eyes.
Time seemed to have stopped at this moment.

The spirit spring and the Bai clan leader had become insignificant
background objects.

Under the bright moonlight, the picturesque youngster with blue pupils and
the silver whiskered white snake gazed at each other.

After a good while, the white snake suddenly gave a long cry and turned
into a white rainbow, slamming into Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing’s body jolted. The white light entered his aperture and turned
into a white snake.

The white snake occupied the central area of his primeval essence, and with
its tyrannical attitude, all the surrounding Gu were immediately forced to
the side.

“This situation…” Bai clan leader stood up with a puzzled expression, “It
doesn’t match what the clan’s secret records say.”

According to the clan’s secret records, once a Gu Master obtained approval,

the white form immortal snake Gu would fly with the inheritor and open the
inheritance in the sky.

However, the current situation was somewhat weird.

The white form immortal snake Gu took the initiative to enter Bai Ning
Bing’s aperture and didn’t kill him, which should mean that it had approved
of him. But why didn’t it carry Bai Ning Bing and fly to the sky?

Could it be that the secret records were wrong?

Bai clan leader couldn’t make sense of it.

……
Time quietly flew by.

“That more or less sums up everything about Gu Yue village. There is the
underground cave, but that is a restricted area of the clan and outsiders
aren’t allowed entry.” Fang Yuan said.

He looked at the bright moon in the sky and continued, “It is getting late,
please go and rest, you need to have the energy to investigate tomorrow,
right?”

“Hahaha, Elder Fang Yuan is correct. We are really thankful for Elder Fang
Yuan’s directions, please go and take a rest,” Tie Xue Leng said.

“In that case, I will take my leave.” Fang Yuan cupped his hands before
directly leaving.

Tie Xue Leng looked at Fang Yuan’s figure with interest, and only after
Fang Yuan turned into a corner, did he take back his gaze.

“Ruo Nan, what do you think of this Fang Yuan?” He suddenly asked.

“I don’t like him, my intuition tells me he is covered in shadows.” The

young girl frowned.

Tie Xue Leng nodded his head, “I know you have the Intuition Gu which
strengthens your intuition, but we need definite evidence to solve a case.
Just relying on intuition alone won’t be convincing. Don’t always depend
on your intuition, I do not want you to use the intuition Gu to solve this
case.”

“Yes, father.”
Chapter 174
 Chapter 174: Junior divine investigator

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Tie Xue Leng said again, “Now, analyze this person Fang Yuan.”

“Father, you suspect it is Fang Yuan?” Tie Ruo Nan was stunned, but
continued, “He is a very logical and intelligent person, and when he
introduced the village to us, every word he said was appropriate and well
organised. Gasp!…”

Tie Ruo Nan suddenly drew in a mouthful of cold air.

She frowned, “I didn’t notice this earlier, but after you just reminded me, I
realised it! This Fang Yuan is too good at speaking. Everything he said is
objectively the truth, abandoning his personal feelings. Standing at a
bystander’s perspective, and describing calmly. Not allowing others to find
flaws in his words, thus not able to get additional clues. His words were
very…. very…. very clean.”

The young girl hesitated, before using the word ‘clean’.

Tie Xue Leng nodded, but then shook his head, “He did not abandon his
feelings. Everyone has feelings, and even a cold blooded murderer has
feelings. He only concealed his personal feelings very well, and was in full
control of his emotions. This lad has a demonic nature.”

“Demonic nature?””That’s right, think about it. He spoke the truth during
the banquet, saying he was frightened and did not dare to enter the
battlefield. Tell me, if it was a normal person, would they do that?” Tie Xue
Leng asked.
Tie Ruo Nan shook her head, “No, Gu Masters put the clan’s honor and
their own reputation higher than their own lives. But, that might not be
certain, for in history there have also been many people who sacrificed their
own reputation, right?”

“That’s right, but who were those people?” Tie Xue Leng’s gaze was deep.

Tie Ruo Nan considered, before her expression changed, “They were all
outstanding individuals!”

“That’s correct. Throughout history, those who sacrificed their own

reputations only had two aims. One was that they had a greater aim in mind,
and compared to their aim, reputation is worth nothing. The other is to
preserve themselves, defaming themselves to prevent suspicion.”

Tie Ruo Nan’s eyes shone, “Father, you are saying?”

“You are thinking too much. I just feel that this young man is very
interesting, but too bad he is only a C grade…” Tie Xue Leng said.

The moonlight was like water on this night.

Fang Yuan walked on the empty street, his footsteps slightly heavy but
filled with determination.

After interacting with Tie Xue Leng earlier, he was indeed what the rumors
said. This Tie Xue Leng had a gaze that could see through the world, and
his intelligence and wits were deep like a chasm. He swept through the
Southern Border for tens of years, establishing his famed name; he really
was an outstanding talent.

Wanting to remove his suspicions in front of such a person was extremely

difficult. As long as they had enough time, they would definitely discover
the truth!

“Now is a race against time. But, Mo faction’s recruitment, I can make

good use of it.”
Not long ago in the Mo faction pavilion, Fang Yuan had given absurd
demands. In return for marrying Mo Yan, he wanted a hundred thousand
primeval stones, ten rare Gu worms and each at least Rank three.

This made Gu Yue Mo Chen furious.

He was marrying away his precious granddaughter, but Fang Yuan still had
more demands?!

Such a shameless way to ask for gifts, and so greedy, it was really the last
straw!

Thus, the discussion faltered, and he chased Fang Yuan out.

Fang Yuan left immediately without any inclination to stay.

He knew Mo Chen’s intention, thus he would definitely compromise. His

absurd demands were just a way of bargaining, paying the lowest price
when buying, and asking for the highest price when selling.

“But this matter has equal benefits and demerits. Although with more
primeval stones I can feed the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, my
original plan to get out of the political spiral would be ruined. In tonight’s
banquet, Gu Yue Mo Chen sacrificed himself to salvage my political career.
From then on, he might face all sorts of elder’s suppression.”

Gu Yue village’s political situation now was: Clan leader was healthy, while
for the two important elders, Gu Yue Chi Lian was dead but the Chi faction
was not finished yet, as inheritor Chi Cheng was still alive. At the same
time there was still Gu Yue Chi Zhong, an elder from the same faction. But
Mo faction lost its inheritor and Mo Chen was heavily injured, falling to
Rank two, unable to even keep his clan elder status.

The two formerly large factions had already gone downhill. The medicine
faction in contrast were mostly healing Gu Masters. As supports they had
little sacrifice while still keeping most of their strength, and were on the
verge of rising up.
Medicine faction was originally the clan leader’s faction, but now it had the
ability to be independent. Regardless of whether Gu Yue Yao Ji chooses to
be independant or rely on the clan elder, in order to strengthen themselves,
they would need to snatch and merge. And the weakened Chi and Mo
faction were the best targets.

If they did not strike now, later on when the two factions stabilize internally
it would be much more difficult.

“Being in the human world, many things are not up to me, why not just let
down my hair and sail away to the seas? Sailing with the winds and
breaking waves as I travel thirty thousand Li, that is the true demonic path I
take!” Fang Yuan raised his head, looking at the moon as he sighed.

He wanted to get away from the political spiral, but Gu Yue Mo Chen
dragged him back by force. He faced pressure from all the factions, and Tie
Xue Leng was already starting to solve the case. On the other hand, Bai
Ning Bing had already regained his new arm.

Like a boat travelling in the darkness with danger lurking everywhere, how
was he to open up a path for himself?

……

The next day.

“What? You said that the person who murdered Jia Jin Sheng had already
been found and was killed already?” Tie Ruo Nan felt extremely perturbed.

This morning, she had woken up early and officially started to solve the
case.

But to think that the first information she got, was that the killer had already
been sentenced.

“That’s right, the killer is a demonic Gu Master. He once assassinated our

clan’s rising star and tried to kill the genius, thus he was killed on the spot.”
A clan elder provided the information.
“Is that really so? Did he admit personally that he was Jia Jing Sheng’s
killer?” Tie Ruo Nan frowned deeply. Beside her, Tie Xue Leng wore a
copper mask as he stood like a statue.

“He didn’t. But, if it’s not him, who else could it be?” The clan elder
shrugged.

Tie Ruo Nan thought internally, “This is all an assumption, there is no real
proof. But whether it is the truth or not, this demonic Gu Master has to be
investigated clearly. Most likely, this is a lead that will bring us to the
truth!”

Thinking of this, Tie Ruo Nan raised her head abruptly, “Where is he
buried? I want to inspect the corpse!”

In a simple and torn coffin, there was a corpse within.

The rotting smell assaulted noses, and clan servants and Gu Masters were
so disgusted that they ran far away to hide.

Tie family father and daughter acted as if they were unaffected, and Tie Ruo
Nan’s eyes glowed brightly, excitedly stretching her hand and inspecting.

A person’s corpse has lots of traces. At times, one or two small injuries
would be the evidence needed to point out the murderer!

On this corpse, there were many injuries, but the person’s appearance was
still clear, and he was still wearing his original clothes.

Tie Ruo Nan checked for ages, and only then did she get up with a lingering
interest.

“Anything?” Tie Xue Leng asked lightly, testing her secretly.

“Gu Yue clan thinks this person is Jia Jin Sheng’s killer, thus they kept the
corpse well. There’s a huge problem in this corpse,” Tie Ruo Nan answered.

“He’s a middle-aged man, right arm thicker than the left; both his hands
have a thick callus. Seeing how his callus is distributed, they are uneven.
There are many injuries on his body, numerous fatal wounds, showing the
intense battle he had before death. But on his body there are also a lot of
hidden injuries, especially his left foot having three less toes, this is left
behind from many years ago.”

Saying so, she continued deducing, “He was most likely a hunter. There are
many evidences – his disproportional left and right side and the callus on
his hands shows that he’s an experienced bowman. There are many injures
made by wild beasts on his body, like claw marks and bites, showing he
often fought against beasts. His clothes are not the traditional Gu Master
clothes, and his shoes are even more interesting, weaved from bamboo
hemp grass. This kind of grass only grows near Qing Mao bamboo, and
Qing Mao mountain only produces Qing Mao bamboo; other than that, in
the surrounding mountains, there is no bamboo hemp grass.

“So what are you getting at?” Tie Xue Leng pursued.

“Before this person became a demonic Gu Master, he was a hunter. From

his clothes, he was most likely a resident hunter on Qing Mao mountain,”
Tie Ruo Nan’s eyes shone brightly.

“Why do you think he is a resident here? If it is the grass shoes, he could’ve

killed the villagers here and worn them,” Tie Xue Leng rebuked.

“That’s not it. The most special part of his clothes is the shoes, because if
they were taken by force, most would not fit his size perfectly. But look at
this, two disproportionate legs and yet the shoes fit nicely, this is made just
for him. He has three less toes on his leg feet, thus the left grass shoe is
shorter. His stump is very cleanly cut and sharp. I assume it is most likely
due to stepping on a trap by mistake,” Tie Ruo Nan said.

Tie Xue Leng did not deny it nor confirm it, and did not even give any
criticism.

Like what he said earlier, he left it to Tie Ruo Nan to solve the case.

Tie Ruo Nan continued saying, “With this conjecture, we can go to the
surrounding hamlets and investigate. We might find more clues… wait!”
Just when she was about to speak, the young girl’s expression stiffened.

She suddenly remembered, this Qing Mao mountain had just undergone a
wolf tide calamity. Even the villages were heavily damaged, not to mention
those hamlets?

She knew that using this method to find out the person’s identity and
information bore little hope.

“But even if the chances are slim, as long as there is a possibility for
success, I must try!” It was the young girl’s first individual case, and she
was full of drive.

But half a day passed, and she returned empty-handed. This wolf tide was
the largest and most horrifying one yet. So many hamlets had zero
survivors, and this brought great trouble to her investigations.

“This lead is gone. What are you going to do next?” Tie Xue Leng asked at
an appropriate time.

The young girl gritted her teeth, and in her tone there was stubbornness and
tenacity, “No, it is not over yet. Father you said it yourself, the true lead is
often hidden more deeply, and as long as we continue to excavate, it will
appear.”

“This demonic Gu Master’s death is strange. Firstly, why did he assault

Fang Zheng? What did Fang Zheng do to offend him, causing him to
assassinate him with his life, under the situation which was basically an
assured death? Moreover, he is a local, but after his death, why did no one
recognise him?”

Hearing her words, Tie Xue Leng was a little surprised.

“Child, you have truly grown up,” the divine investigator sighed, and in his
tone there was contentment and gratification.
Chapter 175
 Chapter 175: Increasing pressure

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“You’re asking me why that Gu Master came to kill me? How would I
know!” Facing Tie Ruo Nan’s questioning, Fang Zheng blinked innocently.

“If you have done something, I hope you won’t conceal the truth. Because
your words, even though they might seem insignificant, can have great help
towards solving the case,” the young girl said sincerely.

Fang Zheng shook his head. “I’m very perplexed too. During that period, I
was cultivating non-stop, so how could I attract any assassinations? But
afterwards, the people around me realized that this demonic Gu Master
could have been hired by the other two clans, to kill a rising star like
myself. You also know the rivalry between us and the Bai clan and Xiong
clan. Especially the Xiong clan, they are the greatest suspects as they had
once recruited demonic Gu Masters into their clan.”

“Xiong clan huh…” Tie Ruo Nan became a little discouraged after hearing
this, since the Xiong clan had already been eliminated by the wolf tide. It
seems that this lead is lost as well.

Suddenly, murmurs came from outside the room.

“Quick, look there, isn’t that people from the Xiong clan?”

“I thought the Xiong clan was exterminated, how can there be any envoys
coming here?!”

Xiong clan envoy’s appearance caused a vivid discussion among the

village, as people talked with one another.
Soon, news came from the clan leader pavilion.

“Xiong clan still has a large number of survivors.”

“They retreated on their own, using a Gu that their ancestor left behind,
concealing many people at the same time, cheating death!”

“These scumbags, retreating and avoiding battle, causing the wolf tide to
come to us.”

“Hmph, these Xiong clan people may look rough and large, but their hearts
are devious on the inside. Wanting to borrow the power of the wolf tide to
weaken us, they are too despicable!”

Gu Yue clansmen were furious.

The appearance of the Xiong clan envoy had caused the Qing Mao
mountain’s political distribution to undergo a complete shift.

What was thought to be a two-sided competition between Bai clan and Gu

Yue clan in the end remained a three-way competition.

But one would understand once they thought about it. The Xiong clan had
survived for hundreds of years without falling, they had their own
foundations too. Which clan did not have an ancestor, and a trump card?

After the Xiong clan envoy left, Gu Yue Bo immediately called for a clan
elder meeting.

“These Xiong clan bastards, they really are nothing good. To think they
retreated immediately!”

“Can’t look down on anyone indeed. Xiong clan had always ranked behind
our clan and Bai clan, and was the weakest among the forces on Qing Mao
mountain. But to think they had such a scheme, we have to be more careful
from now on.”

“They wanted to borrow the strength of the wolf tide to eliminate us. They
nearly got us this time, if not for that lightning lycan, we might not have
lost so many elders. These people deserve to die!”

“If it wasn’t for the Tie divine investigator appearing, two clan leaders
might’ve died. We cannot let them off simply.”

“Asking for compensation is a must. It was us and Bai clan working

together to settle the problem of the lightning lycan. But to ask for
compensation, we need to first discuss and formulate a sum.”

The clan elders spoke one after another, discussing until they had a
conclusion.

Gu Yue clan would dispatch an envoy towards the Xiong clan. They have to
observe Xiong clan’s remaining strength.

If Xiong clan was strong, they would join forces with the Bai clan. If the
Xiong clan was weak, they might send people to eliminate them and steal
the spirit spring.

“So then, who would be suitable enough to be dispatched to Xiong clan?”

Gu Yue Bo looked around, asking, “Which clan elder would shoulder this
responsibility!”

The hall immediately became silent.

The clan elders look around at each other. No one was willing to go.

The internal conflict was at its peak now, and it was the most crucial
moment for the factions to divide the interest cake. If they went to the
Xiong clan, their faction would be without a leader and others would make
use of the opportunity. When they return, all would’ve been decided, so by
then who would they complain to?

“This old one feels that, to go to the Xiong clan, someone of seniority and
experience must go, it has to be someone who can hold his own. Among all
of us here, only elder Mo Chen can take on this role!” Gu Yue Yao Ji
suddenly said.
Gu Yue Mo Chen snorted, rebuking, “Speaking of qualification, lord Yao Ji
has much more experience than me. Especially in terms of fame, I cannot
compete at all, I admit complete defeat. Going to the Xiong clan, it seems
we will have to trouble lord Yao Ji after all.”

“Elder Mo Chen is extremely right, I recommend lord Yao Ji.” A clan elder
stood up.

“I feel that lord Mo Chen is a more suitable candidate.” Another elder

immediately rebuked.

The scene was chaotic.

Gu Yue Bo stood at the leader’s seat, staring coldly without making a

sound.

The medicine faction already had intentions of detaching into its own force,
no longer under his control. Thus he did not want to help either, and merely
observed the scene.

This was the first contest between the medicine faction and the Mo faction.

The two had their respective political allies, but the current situation was
that both leaders made much compromises as well as exchange of benefits.
But on a whole, the medicine faction was stronger.

Gu Yue Yao Ji’s reputation as well as the Chi faction’s inclination, caused
this situation.

Gu Yue Bo stared coldly, noting in his heart the factions that each individual
belonged to.

As the clan leader, he did not want to see his authority being reduced, and
these elders were his competitors. But now he had decided to merely
observe, and not strike yet.

“Mo faction controls too much power and resources, and now that they
have lost their inheritor, the medicine faction jumped out hurriedly and tried
to attack them. Thus, the most crucial aspect of this contest is all on one
person.”

Gu Yue Bo thought silently, turning his gaze towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan had been sitting in his seat, not saying a word.

“It seems this Fang Yuan isn’t very close with the Mo faction, and has not
gotten a mutual agreement on interest distribution. Otherwise, he’d have
helped out already. Is this my chance?” Gu Yue Bo thought.

But at this moment, Fang Yuan suddenly stood up from his seat.

This action, attracted everyone’s attention.

What he said next was a shocker. “Going as an envoy, this is an important

matter involving the survival of our clan. I am willing to step up, bearing
the responsibility of an envoy, and investigate the Xiong clan’s current state
for our clan!”

“What?”

“Fang Yuan is asking to go?”

“What is the meaning of this? Is he really stupid or acting stupid? Isn’t he

afraid that when he comes back, all the interests would’ve been distributed
away already!”

The clan elders all showed expressions of shock.

Fang Yuan had his own plans. If he went to the Xiong clan, he might be
able to find a chance and instigate a conflict among the three clans. Even if
he can’t, this is a chance to leave.

“Wait! Anyone here can be the envoy but Fang Yuan alone!” The door
suddenly opened and Tie Ruo Nan walked in, barging her way in.

Fang Yuan turned his body to look, and his irises shrunk a little. He saw the
Tie family father and daughter walk in, as well as two other people behind
them. One looked just like Fang Yuan — it is indeed his brother Gu Yue
Fang Zheng, while the other was Gu Yue Jiang He.

“What does Tie divine investigator have to enlighten us on today?” Gu Yue

Bo stood up to greet him, his tone slightly unhappy. This was a Gu Yue
internal discussion, how could they just barge in like that?

“Gu Yue clan leader, as well as the other elders. My daughter has already
investigated the identity of the demonic Gu Master that once assaulted Gu
Yue Fang Zheng,” Tie Xue Leng spoke.

“Oh? Is that so…”

“That demonic Gu Master, wasn’t he instigated by the Xiong clan?”

“Is there a hidden story behind this?”

“Indeed, this demonic Gu Master’s true identity is a hunter from a hamlet at

the base of the mountain. Only by chance did he manage to become a
demonic Gu Master, his name is Wang Er. The reason why he assaulted Gu
Yue Fang Zheng, is because of his brother Fang Yuan!” Saying so, Tie Ruo
Nan stared intently at Fang Yuan.

“Brother, to think you are such a person!” Fang Zheng standing at one side
clenched his fist, showing rage in his eyes.

“What do you mean by this, young lady?” Gu Yue Mo Chen said in a

solemn voice.

“Don’t tell me, Fang Yuan is the one that hired this demonic Gu Master to
assassinate his own brother Fang Zheng?” Gu Yue Yao Ji showed an excited
expression.
Even Gu Yue Bo was taken aback, as he adjusted his posture on his seat.

“You’re all mistaken.” Tie Ruo Nan shook her head. “The truth is, Fang
Yuan killed innocent people, murdering old man Wang’s entire family,
causing Wang Er to take revenge. But Wang Er did not know that Fang
Yuan had a twin brother, thus he mistook Fang Zheng for Fang Yuan, and
assaulted him for revenge.”

“Young lady, everything needs proof,” a clan elder spoke.

“Of course I have evidence. Gu Yue Jiang He, tell us everything that you
know.” Tie Ruo Nan was prepared for this, not panicking.

Gu Yue Jiang He sighed. He looked at the Tie family father and daughter in
fear, slowly walking forward and kneeling on the ground, crying, “It is this
subordinate’s dereliction of duty, I seek clan leader’s punishment!”

Gu Yue Bo’s face was grim as water, “Say everything clearly first, do not
hide anything from us!”

Back then, when Fang Yuan killed old man Wang’s family, it was under Gu
Yue Jiang He’s area of jurisdiction, and only when he got to the spot did he
discover it. Because of the clan evaluation, he suppressed this matter and
did not report it. Never would he have thought that today, the matter would
be exposed, dug up by Tie Ruo Nan.

“The truth is like this…” Jiang He stammered as he spoke, not adding any
details into his descriptions, very simple and truthful.
At this time and place, he did not dare to lie. Fang Yuan was also a clan
elder, so he did not dare to exaggerate facts.

“I never would’ve thought that the truth would be like this!”

“Fang Yuan killed Wang Er’s father, and Wang Er came to take revenge, but
found Fang Zheng instead. So that’s it….”

“Fang Zheng was innocently involved, and blocked the crisis for Fang
Yuan.”

The clan elders whispered among themselves.

Fang Zheng’s clenched fist was even tighter as rage grew in his heart. He
could not help but growl at Fang Yuan, “Brother, how can you take people’s
lives away so easily. That old man and girl, they were innocent mortals.
How could you cut them down?!”

Facing his brother’s accusations, Fang Yuan was indiffierent, as if he did

not hear it.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng was not the main point.

Fang Yuan looked at the Tie family father and daughter. Being able to
discover the truth in such a short time, they were indeed divine
investigators.

Regardless of what Gu worms they used, whatever method to make Jiang

He submit and reveal his own secret, they had their ways.

This ability made Fang Yuan even more certain that the matter of him
killing Jia Jin Sheng, would definitely be found out by the Tie father and
daughter duo. It was only a matter of time. After all this is the Gu world,
where Gu can be used to commit crime, and also used to solve crime.

Pressure was intensifying…

Chapter 176
 Chapter 176: The resolve to sacrifice

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Elder Fang Yuan, is it true that you massacred the whole family of old
Wang?” Gu Yue Bo asked with a heavy voice from the main seat.

All the gazes were on Fang Yuan; the young elder coldly smiled, “It is
indeed true.”

Gu Yue Fang Zheng closed his eyes in grief.

He may have killed many lightning wolves, but he had never taken any
human lives. And now that he heard Fang Yuan admitting it himself, he
suddenly felt that his own big brother had become so unfamiliar and
estranged.

In this estrangement, he also felt fear towards his brother’s cruel methods
and anger at the loss of innocent lives.

“Fang Yuan, do you not feel any guilt at slaughtering innocents? If you have
any difficulties, you can say them out,” Tie Ruo Nan spoke as she frowned.
She was someone with extremely righteous character, and hated people like
Fang Yuan the most.

“So what if I killed them, I don’t find it necessary to tell you my story.
However, at that time, I didn’t know that the missing Wang Er was a
demonic Gu Master. It could be said that Fang Zheng was unexpectedly
implicated,” Fang Yuan spoke honestly.

“Big brother, aren’t you going to say something to me?” Fang Zheng
opened his eyes; the corners of his eyes had become red.
“What do you want me to say? Comfort you or to apologize? …..Hmph,
little brother, you are too soft,” Fang Yuan sneered.

“Damn it, big brother…don’t think you are extraordinary just by becoming
an elder. I will tell you that I already have the qualifications to breakthrough
to Rank three….” Fang Zheng gritted his teeth, veins popping up in his
clenched fists.

“Enough!” Gu Yue Bo couldn’t continue looking at this anymore and

shouted, “Fang Zheng, go back, what decorum are you showing by making
a fuss here?”

His words had other meaning and expressed dissatisfaction. Tie Ruo Nan
couldn’t sense it, but Divine Investigator Tie Xue Leng reacted
immediately; he stepped forward and cupped his hands. “Gu Yue clan
leader and all elders, it is indeed improper for my daughter to charge in and
rush into the lords’ discussion hall. This one apologizes for offending
everyone!”

The elders promptly stood up and kept on saying Tie Xue Leng was too
kind.

Gu Yue Bo’s expression also relaxed.

Tie Xue Leng continued, “Since little brother Fang Yuan is involved in Jia
Jin Sheng’s case and is also a suspect, I hope he remains at the village and
will not leave to the other village.”

Gu Yue Bo massaged his temples and sighed, “Our Gu Yue clan really
hopes we can provide a suitable explanation to lord Jia Fu. Since Divine
Investigator is also requesting, I will have to request Elder Fang Yuan to not
leave before you are free of suspicions. I hope you can understand.”

Gu Yue Bo looked at Fang Yuan, his expression sincere. But his gaze,
however, held deep meanings.

Fang Yuan might have killed the whole of old Wang’s family, but they were
only mortals. How could it be a crime for a Gu Master to kill these mortals?
Especially if this Gu Master was an elder of the clan. Thus, there was no
punishment.

“Yes.” Fang Yuan glanced at Gu Yue Bo and replied expressionlessly.

“Damn it, it’s like this again!” Tie Ruo Nan punched a tree, causing the
leaves to scatter.

She was very indignant as she said with clenched teeth, “It is clearly a
murder, but they are turning a blind eye to it and not giving a damn. Father,
are the mortals not humans? Why do Gu Masters feel that they have the
rights to kill the mortals?”

Tie Xue Leng was silent like a sculpture.

The weather was somewhat gloomy, and the wind blew and tree leaves
rustled.

Tie Ruo Nan suddenly lowered her head, her expression was down. “I am
sorry, father.”

She apologized, “I didn’t listen to your advice, and used the Intuition Gu.”

“Sigh…..” Divine Investigator let out a long sigh and looked at his daughter
with a profound gaze, “Child, you have such hatred for evil and is full of
righteousness, just like me when I was young. I am happy but also
worried.”

“Why are you worried?”

“Your ideals are much bigger than mine was at that time. When I was
young, my ambition was to capture all the criminals and cram up the
Demon Suppression Tower. But as for you, you want to make everyone
equal, treating both Gu Masters and the mortals equally, causing law and
order to be established in the whole world. Such ambitions and ideals are
too big and also very heavy,” Tie Xue Leng’s words were filled with
experience.
“But father, this so-called law, fairness and justice. If we don’t treat
everyone equally, what meaning do they have? If the young don’t have
ambitious dreams, then how could they be considered young? I believe it’s
all a matter of our own efforts. As long as I give my best, it might not
necessarily be impossible to achieve!” Tie Ruo Nan spoke excitedly, her
two eyes filled with hopes for the future.

Tie Xue Leng was silent for a good while, “There will be a day when you
will understand. But, this is good too, young people should walk their paths
by themselves. Setbacks will make you mature. Father won’t interfere
anymore. I only hope you can live the life you want!”

He then took out a letter and gave it to Tie Ruo Nan.

“This is….?!” Tie Ruo Nan tore open the letter and was immediately
overjoyed.

This letter was from Jia Fu and it recorded every information regarding Jia
Jin Sheng’s case, including how Fang Yuan obtained the Liquor worm by
rock gambling, how the bamboo gentleman was used to interrogate Fang
Yuan, and even Fang Yuan’s bidding prices at the second caravan visit
where he showed business talent and received Jia Fu’s recruitment offer.

Tie Ruo Nan reread the contents of ‘Fang Yuan’s bidding prices’ multiple
times; her gaze turned brighter and brighter.

“This Fang Yuan is not only fierce in his methods, but also has cruel nature
and is even able to scheme deeply. My intuition tells me he is very
suspicious. If he is really the killer, then he should be somewhat afraid. But
the bamboo gentleman showed no changes to his lies, how did he do it?”
Tie Ruo Nan muttered to herself.

“What are you preparing to do next?” Tie Xue Leng asked.

“It has been a long time since Jia Jin Sheng’s death. Everything is fishy and
filled with mysteries. Till now, his corpse has not been found and even the
place of his death hasn’t been deduced. This case is too clean, giving me no
clues, except that Fang Yuan is the biggest suspect. Although the clues from
Wang Er has been broken, there are no evidences to prove he is the killer.
However, because there are no other clues, I can only rely on my intuition
to investigate this Fang Yuan!” Tie Ruo Nan enthusiastically replied.

“You feel that Fang Yuan is suspicious?” Tie Xue Leng asked.

“Extremely suspicious!” Tie Ruo Nan immediately said, “This Fang Yuan is
clearly only a C grade aptitude, but why is his cultivation speed faster than
Fang Zheng’s? One could say he had the help from the Liquor worm and
the Relic Gu, but this speed is still very fast. Gu Yue clan might not have
sensed anything wrong, but this is a case of ‘those closely involved can’t
see as clearly as those outside’. This is the first suspicious point.”

“Besides this, there is another suspicious point; his luck. He rock gambled
for the first time in his life and bought six purple gold stones, but was able
to get two live Gu; a mudskin toad and a Liquor worm. Isn’t this luck way
too much?”

Tie Xue Leng nodded, “Yes, continue.”

“This Fang Yuan looks ordinary, but if we look into him, we will find that
the mysteries surrounding him are like the thick fog covering the mountain.
Many things that were inadvertently revealed makes one ponder. For
instance, his rock dissecting technique; he actually used the Moonlight Gu
to dissect rocks and did it without damaging the core. Such delicate control
is really unimaginable for a student….wait!”

Tie Ruo Nan paused. She had discovered something as her eyes let out
bright and sharp light!

Her gaze landed on a line of words in the letter, and the more she looked at,
the more her gaze brightened.

“I found it. This Fang Yuan has a huge problem!” After a long while, she
suddenly raised her head and excitedly spoke.
…
The fragrance of the tea in the cup rose with the steam and spread in the
study room.

Fang Yuan held the tea cup, then blew the floating tea leaves and drank the
hot tea. After that, he leisurely let out some turbid air.

Upon seeing the leisurely attitude of Fang Yuan, Gu Yue Mo Chen did his
best to endure and felt the veins in his forehead bulging.

Previously, Fang Yuan had asked for a huge price and he had angrily chased
the latter out of his house.

But today, he had no choice but to re-invite Fang Yuan.

All this was simply because circumstances are more powerful than men.
Yao faction had been pressuring him from everywhere and the matter
regarding his drop to Rank two was going to be revealed sooner or later. Mo
faction was in imminent danger; it urgently needed an elder to serve as son-
in-law and stabilize the situation.

“This bastard is too vile, making such sky-high demands. Does he really
think my Mo faction is bathing in gold?” Gu Yue Mo Chen cursed inwardly,
while outwardly putting on a warm smile and speaking in a negotiating
voice, “Elder Fang Yuan, your price is too much, it greatly exceeds what my
Mo faction can support. Can you decrease it?”

Fang Yuan glanced at Gu Yue Mo Chen. This old man who knew when to
give and take was worthy of respect.

In fact, his current situation was also becoming messed up.

The Tie father and daughter were forcing him into a corner. Once it was
found out that he killed Jia Jin Sheng, Gu Yue Clan would definitely hand
him over to appease the Jia family’s anger and simultaneously be able to
continue trading with the Jia family caravan every year.

It was almost the crucial moment now, so Fang Yuan softened his tone,
“Then we will decrease it by thirty percent. But there is a condition, you
need to show me your sincerity by paying forty thousand primeval stones in
advance. Also you must hand over a Pig Iron Gu and an Afterlife Grass
Gu.”

Gu Yue Mo Chen couldn’t help but massage his brows when he heard this.
He replied in a sunken voice, “Pig Iron Gu will be handed to you, but my
Mo faction’s warehouse doesn’t have any Afterlife Grass Gu. We can’t also
give the forty thousand primeval stones at once, they will be given to you in
installments.”

Fang Yuan knew this old fox wasn’t speaking the truth, but he was very
clear that being too overbearing could instead produce the opposite result.

“That’s okay. I will wait for you to send them first, then we can talk about
marriage. Before that, I can’t guarantee my allegiance.” Fang Yuan left
these words before walking away.

The study room was silent once more.

A long while later, Gu Yue Mo Chen suddenly said, “You can come out.”

A hidden door was pushed open and a young girl walked out. There were
tear stains on her face and her eyes were red from the crying.

“Grandpa.” She paid her respects; she was Gu Yue Mo Yan.

Gu Yue Mo Chen sighed, “You are also clear on the family’s situation. Mo
Yan, our family needs your sacrifice, can you understand?”

“Yes.” The young girl sobbed and lowered her head.

No matter which world, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Even Fang
Yuan contributed a lot of strength to the clan as a clan elder. The only
difference is that the amount one pays or obtains, differs from person to
person.

Even those kids with golden spoons also cannot freely enjoy the privileges.
By receiving the family’s nurturing, they needed to have the resolve to
sacrifice.
And this resolve was already present in Gu Yue Mo Yan.
She didn’t have the least bit of feelings for Fang Yuan, even feeling hatred
and disgust towards the latter. But she knew, she had to marry him for the
sake of her family, becoming his wife!
Chapter 177
 Chapter 177: Big brother, how can you do this to
me?!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Living Steel Gu is a Rank two Gu, looking like a charcoal briquette, fist-
sized and black all over. On the surface, there were numerous holes.

Fang Yuan injected his primeval essence and this Living Steel Gu started
floating, rotating on its own, black smoke pouring out from the holes on it.

Chainsaw Golden Centipede coiled around Fang Yuan’s leg, its dark-gold
colored armor full of injuries, the two rows of razors on its sides tattered
and damaged.

But when the steel smoke came over and covered these wounds, they
gradually healed.

The black smokey steel essence continued to be used, as the two rows of
razors on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede could be seen growing at an
observable rate.

Healing Gu varied in a few types. There were some that healed Gu Masters,
some that specialised in certain injuries, and those that healed Gu worms.

To the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, the Living Steel Gu is its healing Gu

worm.

An hour later, the Living Steel Gu became smaller and smaller. It went from
a fist-sized charcoal to a pearl size, eventually vanishing.

It was an expenditure-type Gu.

But its sacrifice brought about the recovery of the Chainsaw Golden
Centipede.

At this point, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede was good as new. Its two
rows of razors were shiny as new, glowing with a sharp and cold flash. On
its dark gold exoskeleton, the injuries were mostly healed, and only five to
six light scars remained.

But this was nothing to worry about. In about a few weeks, these scars
would vanish through the natural recovery of the centipede.

However, if not for the Living Steel Gu and just relying solely on the
Chainsaw Golden Centipede, it would take at least half a year for the razors
to fully grow back.

The Chainsaw Golden Centipede was more strong than it was flexible.
Although it used little primeval essence and had great attacking power, its
weakness was a lack in the healing aspect.

All living beings are equal, in this world there is no all-rounded Gu, there
has to be weakness and advantages. Even Rank six or seven Gu and above
followed this natural law.

“This way, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s battle strength is completely

recovered…” Fang Yuan stretched out his hand, touching the cold
exoskeleton of the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, his face slightly pale.

On his pale face, cold sweat was forming.

“Damn it, it had to come at this time…” Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, his left
hand subconsciously pressing his stomach.

His mind entered his aperture, only to see that the white silver primeval sea
was still, the entire aperture filled with an oppressed feeling.

All the other Gu had been suppressed to one side. Only above the sea,
within the aperture, the Spring Autumn Cicada was glowing with a yellow
and green lustre.
At this time, the Spring Autumn Cicada not only had both wings recovered,
but its main body also recovered much of its energy.

Just like an object falling from the sky, the closer it gets to the ground the
faster it falls, and the Spring Autumn Cicada’s recovery rate was the same.
After the initial difficult period, as time passed, its recovery speed
accelerated.

Thus, the problem came.

The Spring Autumn Cicada was Rank six, while Fang Yuan was only a
Rank three Gu Master. His aperture was gradually unable to hold the Spring
Autumn Cicada.

Back then, when the Spring Autumn Cicada was weak, the burden on the
aperture was not as huge. But now that the Spring Autumn Cicada gradually
recovered, regaining its Rank six ability, it caused this tiny temple of Fang
Yuan’s to be unable to hold this high god.

“If this goes on, I might even die from the Spring Autumn Cicada before the
Tie family father and daughter find out the truth! Truly, when your roof has
a hole it just has to rain non-stop for days…..”

The best solution was to raise his own cultivation level. When he gets to
Rank six, the aperture will have the capacity to store the Spring Autumn
Cicada again.

But this method takes too long. In his previous five hundred years of life, he
also used more than four hundred years to attain Rank six.

He was now a C grade talent with Rank three cultivation. To cultivate to

Rank six, he had a severe lack of time.

Other than that, there was another way to solve the problem.

It was to take the Spring Autumn Cicada out of his aperture and raise it
outside his body.

But that act had great disadvantages.

Firstly, the Spring Autumn Cicada was not a battle-type Gu, so it could not
protect itself. Keeping it in the aperture was safer. Secondly, when a Rank
six Gu appears, it would interfere with natural laws and cause a mirage at
the location it is at.

Fang Yuan was now at the village where there were many people, and the
Tie family father and daughter was on to him as well. Once this Spring
Autumn Cicada leaves his body, everyone would find out.

Therefore, he could only feel troubled.”The Spring Autumn Cicada’s

recovery is getting faster. At this rate, I don’t have much time. Once I get
the forty thousand primeval stones from Gu Yue Mo Chen, I’ll take the
Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and leave this place. As for the Tie family
father and daughter, I can resolve it at a later time.”

Fang Yuan sighed.

Tie family father and daughter’s matter was something that he could only
put off and delay. But now, the Spring Autumn Cicada was not giving him
time to stall.

He was at his wits end. As time urged him, wasting every minute and
second is reducing his lifespan.

A Gu Master being killed by their own Gu worm was not uncommon. Many
Gu Masters who forcefully activate their Gu get a backlash from their Gu
worm’s power and lose their life. Such incidents were everywhere. Gu Yue
Qing Shu was the prime example, buried not far away.

“Six purple gold stones, each fist-sized. With Fang Yuan’s cultivation, he
actually opened five on the spot. How could he have so much primeval
essence at that time?” Tie Ruo Nan stared at the information on the letter,
laughing smugly.

Tie Xue Leng nodded, “You finally found this suspicious point. Indeed,
only when you are meticulous can you discover what normal people cannot
see. But what can you derive from this suspicious point?”
Tie Ruo Nan closed her eyes, activating the Intuition Gu secretly.

In the darkness, she felt an enlightenment in her mind, and she opened her
eyes abruptly. “Instinct tells me, Fang Yuan must have had the Liquor worm
from long ago!”

“But instincts are sometimes wrong, they cannot represent truth,” Tie Xue
Leng reminded.

“Isn’t it easy to get evidence? Hehe, as long as he has the Liquor worm, he
has to feed it. If he feeds it, there has to be evidence.” Tie Ruo Nan’s mouth
curled into an arc, “Let’s go! We’ll find Gu Yue Fang Zheng, Fang Yuan’s
brother once again. As the little brother, he has to be the most familiar with
Fang Yuan.”

……

“You’re asking about big brother’s actions back then?” Fang Zheng showed
a complicated expression.

He sighed, recalling, “Back then, big brother was a very outstanding

individual. Since young he constantly displayed his talent, making many
poems, causing the entire village to put their attention on him. Back then, I
admired him and held him in awe. In my heart, he was like a tall mountain
that I couldn’t climb. Maybe because he was at such a high point, when he
tumbled down, the despair was greater. Afterwards during the awakening
ceremony, he was tested to have only C grade talent, thus he became
discouraged for a long time, sleeping in class and not returning to the hostel
at night, buying wine and getting drunk all the time. From that moment on,
I realized, big brother was also human…”

“Wait you said, buy wine?” Tie Ruo Nan heard this crucial phrase and
caught on to it, squinting.

“Yes, for a period of time, he was dead drunk. Sigh, maybe reality was too
harsh. He only had C grade talent, but his brother turned out to be A grade,
and he could not accept the truth. Actually, if I was in his shoes, I would
understand his feelings and emotions as well,” Fang Zheng said.

“Wait let me ask you, from that moment on, Fang Yuan would buy wine to
drink every few days?” Tie Ruo Nan asked again.

“Yes, from that moment on, brother fell in love with alcohol, spending a lot
of money for wine. For a time, he was in love with the bamboo wine, which
is our clan’s speciality, a very expensive wine. He snatched primeval stones
from his classmates in order to buy wine to drink. This is an overbearing
act, thus not a single student liked him. Why, is there a problem?” Finally,
Fang Zheng asked in confusion.

“There’s a huge problem. I suspect that your brother’s Liquor worm wasn’t
obtained from the gambling rocks, but he had it long ago. Your brother’s
drunkard act was merely a performance. His real motive was to conceal the
fact that he had the Liquor worm, and was feeding it,” Tie Ruo Nan replied
solemnly.

“WHAT?!” Fang Zheng hearing so, jumped from his seat in shock.

This was shocking information!

“What you just said made me even more suspicious. Where did your
brother buy wine normally? I need to investigate.” Tie Ruo Nan stood up as
well. she was racing against time, moving quickly to solve the case.

“In our entire village, there is only one place selling Bamboo wine, it is that
sole inn.”

“Then I’ll take my leave.” Tie Ruo Nan turned around and left.

“Wait, I… I’ll go with your guys!” Fang Zheng hesitated, chasing after
them.

An hour later.

Tie Ruo Nan walked on the stone pavement, concluding, “Earlier the
innkeeper already told me everything, and the situation is clear as day. Fang
Yuan buying so much wine, his true motive is to feed the Liquor worm.
After that, he purposely went to gamble rocks, and that is to expose the
Liquor worm logically in front of everyone. All this, is according to his
plans.”

On one side, Fang Zheng appeared a little distraught, his face looking a
little lifeless.

He did not expect that the truth was really like this!

Long ago, he had once looked down on Fang Yuan, thinking he was a loser,
giving up on himself. From that moment on, he felt that the tall mountain
was no longer so hard to scale.

But the truth was, everything was Fang Yuan’s disguise, his performance,
his scheme!

The surrounding people were played by him like fools, believing his lies.

Even he Gu Yue Fang Zheng was no exception!

Looking at it now, his disdain and despise towards his big brother back
then, was like a giant mockery of a joke.

“Big brother… in your heart, what place do I hold? In those eyes of yours
that pretended to be drunk, was I a huge joke? Big brother! You are such a
scheming fox, in your heart, was I childish enough for you to sneer at?!”
Fang Zheng screamed in his heart.

He was humiliated, he was furious.

He felt that he was played by Fang Yuan. From the start, he was a clown
putting on a childish and laughable act.

He felt the disdain Fang Yuan felt towards him.

“Big brother, how can you treat me like this?!”

“If not for lady Tie, I would still be in the dark. How long do you intend to
lie to me, and to the clan? You killed the innocent, taking lives as you wish.
Deception and lies, indifferent and inhumane, is that the real you?”
Chapter 178
 Chapter 178: Black White Grey

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Long ago, in Fang Zheng’s heart, Fang Yuan was like a tall mountain, so
tall he could never scale.

Long ago, Fang Zheng thought that the shadow of this tall mountain would
enshroud him his entire life.

But life gave him an unexpected twist.

Fang Yuan being dispirited, let Fang Zheng see his weakness. The tall
mountain that he resembled, instantly collapsed.

And yet—
This was actually all big brother’s performance, an act?

The collapsed mountain in his heart became enshrouded in a layer of

mystery.

“Big brother, exactly what kind of person are you?”

Fang Zheng realized at this moment that he knew nothing about this blood
related brother of his.

Fang Yuan’s heart was full of scheming, he had too deep of a shrewdness.
With his acting skills and the indifference towards taking human lives, Fang
Zheng felt infinitely distant towards him.

Along with this distant feeling, there was also a feeling of fear that Fang
Zheng did not want to recognise.

This goddamn feeling was back, creeping into his heart.

He tried his best to shrug off this feeling of fear, causing him to
subconsciously follow after Tie Ruo Nan’s footsteps.

“Lady Tie, thanks for letting me find out the truth and seeing my brother’s
true side. Helping you is akin to helping myself, so just ask away, I will tell
you everything I know,” Fang Zheng said earnestly.

Tie Ruo Nan nodded, but then shook her head quickly, “What I need to
know, I already understand now. The problem now is, where did Fang Yuan
get that Liquor worm from?”

“You are right, this matter is suspicious. During big brother’s situation back
then, he had not inherited our parent’s assets, and at the same time was only
a C grade, beginning his cultivation. Where did he get the Liquor worm
from?” Fang Zheng frowned.

“In this situation, there’s only two causes. One is outside help, and the other
is an inheritance legacy. But who would invest in a C grade talent? If it is an
inheritance, which is it?” Thinking of this, Tie Ruo Nan stopped in her
footsteps.

Inheritance legacy… inheritance legacy…

In her mind, this phrase kept appearing.

She fell into deep thought.

“If it was an inheritance legacy, everything would fall into place. Firstly, the
Liquor worm’s origin can be explained. Secondly, the reason for killing Jia
Jin Sheng is also established!” Tie Ruo Nan thought excitedly.

What perplexed her the entire time, was the killer’s motive.

There has to be a reason to kill.

Fang Yuan showed the Liquor worm, and Jia Jin Sheng wanted to buy it.
But the value of the Liquor worm is too low to establish a motive to kill.
But what if, Jia Jin Sheng who refused to give up, adamantly wants to buy
the Liquor worm from Fang Yuan, thus following him all the way and
discovering an inheritance legacy ground……

What would Fang Yuan do?

“Hehehehehe.” Tie Ruo Nan laughed.

Fang Zheng showed a perplexed gaze.

Tie Ruo Nan looked back, “I want to inspect the Gu Yue clan’s history
records!”

Fang Zheng shook his head, waving his hand, “The history is kept in the
clan’s forbidden grounds, how can an outsider inspect it?”

“Then can you get in?”

Fang Zheng shook his head, “Only clan elders.”

“Is that so… then what can we do now?” Tie Ruo Nan frowned.

“Lady Tie, maybe I can help.” From the shadows, a crippled old woman
walked out.

It was none other than Gu Yue Yao Ji.

She was still the medicine faction family head, but when she stepped down
from the medicine hall elder’s position and was replaced by Gu Yue Chi
Zhong, also losing an arm, her former authority had almost fully vanished.

But the pursuit of authority was already ingrained in her soul. She
understood deeply that collaborating with Gu Yue Chi Zhong was only a
temporary solution. The only way was to devour the Mo faction. Only then
would she have the ability to take back her medicine hall elder’s position.

To absorb the Mo faction, all she had to do was to eliminate their hope.

And this hope was naturally Fang Yuan.

“Divine investigator Tie, to speak the truth, I’ve been observing both of you
for some time. Come with me, I’ll bring you into the clan’s forbidden area.
Hehehe, normally that place would be heavily guarded. But coincidentally,
right now I am in charge of protecting the forbidden grounds,” Gu Yue Yao
Ji laughed sinisterly.

She obviously hoped to harm Fang Yuan indirectly, but if he was innocent,
she could definitely slander him using her wicked methods.

In the underground tunnel inside a hidden room, Tie Ruo Nan looked at the
Gu Yue clan’s historical records.

From the first generation onwards, after Gu Yue clan was built until its
golden age, and then its decline, the records contained the information for
the last few hundred years. All events, big and small, were recorded in
detail.

“This first generation clan leader has a mysterious origin, creating the Gu
Yue village singlehandedly. He’s most likely a demonic cultivator!” Tie Ruo
Nan flipped the first few pages, saying something shocking.

“That’s nothing much. Many demonic cultivators, after getting sick of

roaming, would choose to spread their bloodline, and establish a clan. A few
hundred years later, they would be wiped off their demonic origins, and the
descendants would become righteous cultivators. Such situations are
actually very common, it is nothing strange.” Beside her, Tie Xue Leng
said.

“Then all his previous wrongdoings, will it all be spared like that?” Tie Ruo
Nan had an indignant expression. “These demonic cultivators caused all
those crimes, but when the time is ripe and they feel tired, they would settle
down and enjoy their old age. Isn’t this too good for them?”

Tie Xue Leng sighed deeply, “Ruo Nan. When I was young, I felt like you
too, thinking that this world is in black and white. But after you see more of
the world, you will find out that this world is actually grey. Many times can
black turn to white, and white can turn to black. Some white can also be
more devious than black, and even bear greater sins.”
“And demonic cultivators also have their own grievances. Righteous Gu
Masters control the cultivating resources, while demonic Gu Masters are all
alone, only able to rely on their extreme methods. Those like the first
generation clan leader who are able to change their ways, that is the best
solution. At least he will no longer cause harm to others. Turning from
black to white, he can contribute his strength towards the righteous path.”

Tie Xue Leng explained and consoled, but the young girl Tie Ruo Nan did
not seem to be convinced.

She shook her head, saying adamantly, “Father, it is not right for you to
sympathize with demonic Gu Masters. White is white, black is black. They
should be punished for making a mistake. Breaking the law, they should
face judgement. If not, where would justice lie, where would fairness lie,
where would the law stand?”

“This is not sympathy. Anywhere where there’s people, there are interests
involved. Places that involves interests will have crime. As long as people
exist, crime would never end. My child, you will find out eventually, a
person’s strength is too insignificant.” Tie Xue Leng’s voice was
experienced and wise, but also sorrowful, “Nevermind. To the current you,
it is still too early to say such things, you should concentrate on solving the
case.”

“Yes, father,” Tie Ruo Nan pouted, not agreeing with Tie Xue Leng’s
pessimistic outlook.

When people are young, they tend to think they can change the world. But
after they grow up, they will eventually find out that a person being able to
retain their sense of self, and not being changed by the world is already a
great success.

As the girl continued to flip, her hand suddenly stopped.

“Fourth generation clan leader… Flower Wine Monk? Li… Liquor worm?”
Her eyes shone!

…
Electric currents flowed as the sharp teeth edges cut like blades, shining
with a cold light.

A frenzy lightning wolf pounced towards Bai Ning Bing, its wolf claw
drawing a shadow in the air.

Bai Ning Bing did not have any movements. As the frenzy lightning wolf’s
claw became larger in his eyes, he did not have any inclination to dodge.

Suddenly, a white rainbow shot out from his aperture.

The light rainbow burst, and white light shot down like rain. In the light
rain, the elegant white snake appeared, its long whiskers bringing about a
fairy-like atmosphere.

Towards this Rank five snake Gu, the arrogant frenzy lightning wolf
immediately withered, wanting to retreat.
But the white form immortal snake opened its mouth and shot out a cloud
smoke.

The white smoke looked slow, but quickly enveloped the lightning wolf.

The frenzy lightning wolf’s vision was obscured by the smoke, and it
quickly moved back. But no matter how it moved, the white smoke
followed it like a shadow, always engulfing its surroundings and not giving
it any chance to escape.

White form immortal snake’s ability was this lump of smoke. After being
enshrouded, one cannot tell their directions, as their vision is dyed in a
white smoke.
Wild beasts like lightning wolves relied on their strong vision and had weak
hearing. The frenzy lightning wolf was the same, thus its most useful
sensory organ being blinded caused it to howl in panic. In its struggle, it
broke many trees and mountain rocks as it became more agitated.

HOWL!

It suddenly opened its mouth and shot out a blue thunderbolt.

The thunderbolt shot towards Bai Ning Bing, but he had no plans to dodge.

Crack!

The thunderbolt hit Bai Ning Bing on the chest, penetrating it.

Bai Ning Bing lowered his head and saw the huge hole that the thunderbolt
had made, allowing him to see through to the back.

But quickly, the huge hole began to freeze. Layers of white ice covered the
injury and the ice slowly melted, turning into flesh.

“This is the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique’s true strength. I am ice, and
ice is me. Fatal injuries to ordinary Gu Masters can be recovered in just a
few seconds for me,” Bai Ning Bing thought, as he slowly raised his right
arm.

His right arm was ordinary broken, but relying on the Northern Dark Ice
Soul physique, it had already recovered fully.

“The white form immortal snake Gu also sensed the Northern Dark Ice Soul
physique, thus it entered my aperture. The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique
can attract water-type Gu worms to join me! Such great strength, yet so
brittle!”

Bai Ning Bing sighed at the heavens.

These days, he did not suppress his cultivation. The Northern Dark Ice Soul
physique was getting stronger, but he felt that death was approaching him
even faster.

“Great immortal hasn’t done anything?” At this time, Bai clan leader came
over, asking in concern.

Bai Ning Bing shook his head, “This snake Gu does not recognise me, it is
merely attracted by my Northern Dark Ice Soul physique and moved from
the clan’s spirit spring into my aperture. Only when I am in mortal danger
and in a death situation would it come out and protect me.”
But the white form immortal snake was not refined by Bai Ning Bing, thus
this protection also had its limits.

Like earlier, the frenzy lightning wolf’s thunderbolt was too fast, and the
white form immortal snake could not react in time, thus Bai Ning Bing was
hit head on.

After all, the white form immortal snake was not a defensive Gu.

In Fang Yuan’s previous life, Jiang Fan and the River Swallowing Toad was
the same. Although Jiang Fan had its assistance, he was still assassinated by
a Gu Master.

Bai clan leader sighed. He felt intense regret and pity towards this, yet there
was nothing he could do. He had already done what he could.

“Right, the three clan’s negotiation results is out. Xiong clan preserved
more than half of their strength, we cannot underestimate them. Eventually
the three clans came to a decision that there shall be a three-clan
tournament. And the compensation will be decided by the results of the
competition. Only Gu Masters aged thirty and below can enter the
tournament.”

“I understand.” Bai Ning Bing nodded, “I can already sense it, my life is
coming to an end. Having a competition at the end, I am really happy.
Thank you, lord clan elder.”

“No no, this is also for the sake of the clan.” Bai clan leader’s expression
was embarrassed. It was his suggestion in the first place, and the biggest
reason for it was to squeeze out the last remaining value that Bai Ning Bing
possessed.

But Bai Ning Bing’s gratitude, came from the bottom of his heart.

The white form immortal snake was unmoved, meaning that he was not
fated to receive the first generation ancestor’s inheritance. But life and
death are bound to occur, what fear could he have?
Bai Ning Bing had already found his path, he no longer feared. There was
only one lingering battle that he could not let go of.

“Fang Yuan, the three-clan tournament, will you attend it? Don’t disappoint
me, because right now, I am really really strong…”
Chapter 179
 Chapter 179: History is written by men

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“The Flower Wine Monk begged for mercy on his knees. The fourth clan
head was merciful and kind, intending to spare his life. Yet the Flower Wink
Monk suddenly launched a sneak attack, and the clan head flew into a rage,
killing the Flower Wine Monk on the spot. However, due to the heavy
injuries from the sneak attack, he passed away not long after. Alas, demonic
path members were indeed treacherous and unworthy of kindness….”

However, as Tie Ruo Nan read through this content, her eyes gradually
dimmed down.

“What a pity, this Flower Wine Monk died on the spot and couldn’t leave
behind an inheritance. If he could leave an inheritance, that would be
perfect to explain everything,” The young girl sighed inwardly.

Yet she didn’t give up and continued to flip through the Gu Yue clan
records, until the time was up and Gu Yue Yao Ji rushed them out.

Fang Zheng welcomed the Tie father and daughter outside of the clan
pavillion, “Were there any discoveries?”

Tie Xue Leng was silent whereas Tie Ruo Nan gave a bitter smile and
shook her head.

Fang Zheng continued, “I just thought of something which might be of

help. Big brother and Chi faction worked quite closely, and the Chi
faction’s elder Gu Yue Chi Lian had once defended him in front of
everyone. Lady Tie, do you think this Liquor worm could have been
secretly handed over by elder Chi Lian to my big brother?”
“Chi faction?” Tie Ruo Nan frowned.

“Yes. Chi and Mo faction were the most influential factions of our Gu Yue
clan before the wolf tide,” Fang Zheng explained.

How was Fang Yuan involved with Chi faction? Tie Ruo Nan reflected on
this.
She started feeling a headache; this was her first case and she had been full
of confidence at first but when she actually started doing it, she felt that it
was filled with difficulties.

When she had seen her father solving the cases, it was as if success was
guaranteed; all the mysteries were solved with methodical and orderly
arrangement. However, she realized how truly difficult it was to solve a
case when it was her turn.

There seemed to be no trails sometimes whereas all kinds of weird clues

seemed to emerge, causing Tie Ruo Nan to be at wit’s end.

It was like she was covered in a dense fog and she didn’t know how close or
far she was from the truth.

Would this clue regarding Chi faction be of any use?

Tie Ruo Nan couldn’t help but feel at a loss, and she subconsciously looked
at her father.

“Father should have already discovered some clues, right?” At this moment,
the admiration in the young girl towards her father deepened further.

“If it was my father, this case should have already been solved. I am still far
away from father’s level. But even if I fail, as long as father is here, the
truth will come out and the killer will be punished.” Tie Ruo Nan felt
ashamed but also a sense of pride.

With Tie Xue Leng here, she had no worries that the criminal could get
away.
But the young girl quickly shook her head, getting angry. The anger was
towards herself.

“Ruo Nan, you are worthless. Didn’t you think of surpassing father? How
can you surpass him if you have the mentality of always relying on him!?”

“Ruo Nan, cheer up, you can do it!” The young girl pursed her lips,
inwardly encouraging herself.

Her spirit boiled up again.

She decided to overthrow her previous conjectures and start over.

“If Fang Yuan didn’t obtain the Liquor worm from an inheritance and got it
from other people, then this Chi faction would be the biggest suspect.
However, why would Chi faction take notice of a C grade aptitude ordinary
student and secretly give him the Liquor worm?”

“What does Fang Yuan have that Chi faction felt it worthy to invest in him?
Because he is Fang Zheng’s brother? No, that is almost negligible. Wait a
second, it might not be Chi faction taking the initiative to invest in him.
There is another possibility, and that is because Fang Yuan blackmailed
them!”

“If it is truly so, what did Fang Yuan have on them to make them hold their
nose and obediently compromise with a student that had yet to be a Gu
Master?”

Tie Ruo Nan racked her brains and an answer seemed to gradually emerge
in her mind.

But this answer was blurry like the light behind a paper window. Tie Ruo
Nan could feel its existence but she couldn’t grasp and understand it.

“Father.” The young girl suddenly raised her head and looked at Tie Xue
Leng, “I would like to borrow the Cactus Pointer.”

Tie Xue Leng replied in a relaxed voice, “The suggestion given by Cactus
pointer is based upon the information the user has. It only speculates on
behalf of you and might not be accurate. Are you sure you want to use it?”

The young girl nodded.

Cactus pointer was a seed.

Tie Ruo Nan buried it in the ground then used her palm to press on the soil,
transferring her white silver primeval essence to it.

After several breaths, she withdrew her hand. Soon, they could see the soil
loosening up, and a young sprout grew out of it.

The newborn sprout was a translucent green, and looked very fragile. It
quickly grew, becoming bigger and bigger, and its color changed from
fragile greenish yellow to verdant green, then finally to dark green.

Its appearance was similar to a cactus. It had thick flesh, the surface
covered with sharp black thorns and was lush green all over.

Within moments, a flower bud appeared on its top part.

The white flower bud gradually grew, becoming charming and delicate. The
main body of the cactus, however, was shrinking as if its moisture was
being squeezed out.

Tie Ruo Nan stretched her fingers and gently plucked this flower bud. The
moment the flower bud was taken out, the cactus started turning grey and
completely died after a few seconds.

The cactus pointer was a Rank three consumable Gu.

Tie Ruo Nan carefully opened the flower bud.

The flower bud, however, was not wrapped up with layers of petals, instead
appearing similar to a ball of paper.

When Tie Ruo Nan completely opened it, it formed into a neat and square
white paper.
There were only one word written on the white paper —‘Aptitude’.

This word would mean nothing to others and might even sound ridiculous.
But to Tie Ruo Nan, it was a very important tip.

The cactus pointer was used just like this; it gave insights to the Gu Masters
who had racked their brains but couldn’t advance forward. It pierced the
paper window and let the Gu Masters see the light.

“Right, it is aptitude!” Tie Ruo Nan shouted.

She immediately took out the letter which recorded all the intels collected
by Jia Fu.

There was something written in this intel which described the details on
when and at what price Gu Yue Chi Lian had bought the Cleansing Water
Gu.

“It’s this! I only briefed through this earlier and neglected it, not
considering the underlying meaning. But the cactus pointer speculated on
my behalf and gave me the answer. This Cleansing Water Gu only has one
use and that is to cleanse the foreign primeval essence auras from the
aperture.”

“Why did Gu Yue Chi Lian need it? Hehe, this situation is too common and
happens a lot in many clans. He should have bought this for Chi faction’s
inheritor. Chi faction’s inheritor should have a bad aptitude, so Gu Yue Chi
Lian poured his primeval essence to raise the former’s cultivation. The
Cleansing Water Gu is necessary to remove any after-effects from this
action. By some chance, Fang Yuan found this secret and used it to
blackmail Chi faction, thus forcing them to compromise and give him the
Liquor worm.”

Tie Ruo Nan kept on mumbling out her conjecture.

“Lady Tie, you are amazing. You could deduce so many things with just this
word! But Gu Yue Chi Cheng clearly has B grade aptitude,” Fang Zheng
said.
“B grade aptitude? Hehe, does that mean it can’t be fake? It is very simple
to prove this. We only need to examine Chi Cheng’s aperture and the truth
will be out.” Tie Ruo Nan’s gaze was burning as her mouth slightly curved
upwards.

“That’s inappropriate.” Tie Xue Leng, however, shook his head

disapprovingly.

If this truth was found out, it would be a great blow to Chi faction, leading
to turmoil among the Gu Yue village’s higher-ups and causing political
conflicts.

Tie Xue Leng said, “We came here to solve a case and not to wreck havoc.
In the end, we are outsiders and unless it is absolutely necessary, we can’t
meddle in other clan’s politics.”

Tie Ruo Nan nodded, “Father is right. Besides this, there are also other
ways to prove it. I remember that clans use a Photo-audio Gu to record
every important sacrificial ritual. This is a traditional practice and I believe
Gu Yue clan isn’t an exception. I want to refer to the Awakening
Ceremony’s image!”

“Divine investigator Tie, you have constantly been on the move for so many
days and have gone through a lot of trouble to solve the case, please come
have tea. As for the image you want to look into, it is stored in the secret
room inside the underground cave which is among the clan’s restricted
areas. It would be inconvenient to let you two enter, but I have already sent
someone to get it. It will be here in a short while,” Gu Yue Bo spoke with a
smile.

“I have troubled the clan leader,” Tie Xue Leng politely said.

Tie Ruo Nan and Gu Yue Fang Zheng were standing on the side.

“Divine investigator Tie, if I may be so bold to ask a favor….” Gu Yue Bo

suddenly said.
Tie Xue Leng. “Oh? Please speak, clan leader.”

“This is our Qing Mao Mountain’s internal affair. My clan, Bai clan and
Xiong clan have always been in a deadlock but that changed due to the wolf
tide. Xiong village evaded the wolf tide with malicious intentions and tried
to take advantage of the wolf tide to weaken the other two clans. The
negotiation earlier for compensation with them ended up in nothing. Hence,
our three clans decided to hold a three-clans tournament. Only Gu Masters
at age thirty or below can participate in it, and it will decide the future
strength of each clan.”

Upon saying this, Gu Yue Bo sighed, “Actually I have already felt that
something was strange with Fang Yuan long ago, but couldn’t look into it
properly because of the wolf tide. If he really is the killer, my clan
absolutely won’t shield him. But I hope Divine Investigator Tie can delay
this for a few days, since the three-clans competition is hosted on the day
after tomorrow.”

Fang Yuan killed old Wang’s whole family, but they were just mortals and it
was not worth investigating. What if he killed them? It wasn’t a big deal.

However, if he really killed Jia Jin Sheng, then that would change
everything.

If Gu Yue clan still protected Fang Yuan, that would mean becoming
enemies with Jia family and losing the chance to trade with Jia family
caravan again; it would even result in Jia family’s retaliation.

Organizations protected their inner members, but if benefits were

endangered, the organization could easily give up one or two members for
the greater good.

The organization’s earliest form came from ancient times. Human clans
assembled together for their survival, borrowing each other’s strength to
gather more food and dividing up their work to hunt more successfully.

Any organization’s essence was obtaining maximum benefits.

If one or two members obstructed the organization’s path to benefits, then
sacrificing them was a natural thing.

Thus, even if there were very few elders in Gu Yue clan right now, if there
came a time when they had to abandon Fang Yuan, the clan leader would
have no hesitation.

However, the day after tomorrow was the three-clans competition. The
results of this competition would decide their future for the next few years
as well as the benefit allocation of Qing Mao mountain. As a Rank three Gu
Master, Fang Yuan was a vital fighting force for the Gu Yue clan.
Just like Bai clan’s clan leader, Gu Yue Bo also wanted to squeeze out Fang
Yuan’s maximum worth.
Chapter 180
Chapter 180: Watching the Awakening Ceremony
again

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“It’s about time, I can’t wait any longer.”

As the night fell, Fang Yuan opened his eyes in a dark room.

He already took off his Gu Master uniform and was now wearing a black
gown which covered his legs. Matched with his long black hair, he would
appear like a specter as he moved in the dark.

He was already used to having long hair in his previous life. Some Gu
worms needed long hair to show their abilities, like the Black Hair Gu,
Steel Hair Gu and so on.

Having long hair was quite convenient as well. You could just cut it short if
there came a time where you had to alter your appearance. But for short
hair, to grow it in a short period, one needed to rely on specific Gu worms.

Not long ago, he had made an agreement with Gu Yue Mo Chen. Right now,
he had already received the Pig Iron Gu and all forty thousand primeval
stones. The only thing remaining was that healing grass Gu.

“I can only forget about the healing Gu now. How can everything go as one
wishes, reality is full of helpless choices….”

Fang Yuan sighed, then stood up and lightly opened the door before using
the Stealth Scales Gu and disappearing into the night.

He was forced by the circumstances to make this move.

Tie father and daughter were drawing in closer, and his plan to be an envoy
to Xiong village had been stopped too.

Xiong village was able to preserve most of their strength; Bai clan and Gu
Yue clan didn’t dare to be overly forceful, thus the compensation talk ended
in failure. The three sides then decided on holding a three-clan competition.

Mo faction might have intentionally recruited Fang Yuan, but this move
caused Fang Yuan to be in the middle of the political struggle and draw
every elder’s hostility.

Also adding in Bai Ning Bing who was growing stronger as he approached
his death, the whole situation was becoming more unfavorable to Fang
Yuan, forcing him into an impasse.

Even if Fang Yuan was an old fox, he still needed strength to support his
schemes. Facing such a situation, despite him already using up all his
efforts and strength, making much faster progress than he did in his
previous life, his Rank three initial stage cultivation was still not enough to
overturn the situation.

“The situation is dire, I can only take a risk and bet on this method!” Fang
Yuan thought hard, placing his hopes on the Heavenly Essence Treasure
Lotus.

As long as he plucked the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, the spirit

spring in the underground cave would be wasted. The clan was sure to
madly investigate, but what else besides the investigation?

The spirit spring would already be disabled, and even if they got the
Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and destroyed it or put it back into the
spirit spring again, the spirit spring would not recover.

What could the clan do to survive then?

There was only one thing: that was to seize a new spirit spring!
However, there were only three spirit springs in Qing Mao mountain and
each were occupied by one of the three clans. If one was destroyed by Fang
Yuan, then Gu Yue clan had only one choice – to make a choice between the
two.

This choice was war, a war with either Bai village or Xiong village.

Only by seizing one of the spirit springs could Gu Yue clan have the
foundation to continue its existence.There was no need to talk of Gu
Masters being able to support their cultivation without the support of spirit
spring.

This move was too dangerous, though. But Fang Yuan had no other choice
as the Spring Autumn Cicada was recovering so fast that his aperture was
already starting to feel a burden. He didn’t have much time, so he could
only fight back for a sliver of chance at survival and seek life in death.
…

The hall was bright with all the lights.

A Gu Master had already delivered the Photo-audio Gu, but this Gu was
currently in Gu Yue Bo’s hand.”Divine Investigator Tie, what did you think
about my request?” Gu Yue Bo asked smilingly.

Tie Ruo Nan lightly snorted.

Tie Xue Leng ruminated for a while before agreeing, “Alright, if Fang Yuan
really turns out to be the killer, I will leave enough time for him to
participate in the three-clans competition.”
“Father….” Tie Ruo Nan’s eyes flashed with a strange light; this was not
her father’s style.

“Hehe, Divine Investigator’s words are worth a lot and he never breaks his
promises. This humble one fully trusts you and also thanks you for
understanding.” Gu Yue Bo’s smile became more gentle, however he coldly
hummed inside.
Gu Yue Yao Ji had secretly brought the Tie father and daughter into the
underground cave and let them look through the clan’s official historical
records. How could he as a clan leader not know of this?

But he had to restrain his anger because of the approaching tournament and
also the complicated political struggles in the clan.

Tie Xue Leng might be a powerful Rank five expert, but he had no way to
appease the dissatisfaction in Gu Yue Bo’s heart.

“Fortunately, the genuine contents are all recorded in the clan’s secret
records and only the successive clan leaders can hold them. That official
history is for the outsiders to look.” Gu Yue Bo was secretly feeling smug.

Gu Yue clan’s historical records were divided into official records and
secret records.

Official records were hidden in the secret room in the underground cave and
its contents were to brainwash the later generations and was a fake, in fact.

But the secret records recorded all the genuine details without any fake
details. There were even records of some secrets that could never be
divulged.

For instance, the ritual for summoning the Blood Guillotine Gu which could
never be recorded in the official records, but was recorded in detail in the
secret records.

“Gu Yue clan leader, my father has agreed to your request, now show us the
image.” Tie Ruo Nan’s tone showed her bad mood.

“Even if Divine Investigator Tie hadn’t agreed, I would have fully

cooperated with your investigation,” Gu Yue Bo gently clarified, then he
lightly pinched his fingers, smashing the Photo-audio Gu.

Although the Gu broke into pieces, it instead formed into a ball of seven-
colored smoke which contained all sorts of noise.
Gu Yue Bo lightly blew on it; this smoke floated into a wall, but didn’t pass
through.

Like an ink drop falling into water, a colorful imprint began to appear on
the spotless wall.

The imprint grew larger until it formed into an image of the former
Awakening Ceremony.

Within this image, Fang Zheng quickly found himself and also many other
familiar faces.

All these faces held looks of excitement as they looked all around the cave,
their faces full of the immaturity of young. They were like young chicks
who had just learned to flap their wings and fly out of the nest.

“That is Fang Yuan…..” Similarly, Tie Ruo Nan soon found Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was walking within the group, and although he was looking all
around like the rest, his gaze was tranquil and detached. In the group of
similar ages, he was like a crane within a group of chicken. If one didn’t
specifically pay attention to him, normal people wouldn’t find any
differences between him and the rest.

However, the group in the hall right now were all concentrating on him,
exposing this peculiarity.

“Eh? This Fang Yuan is really strange.” Right now, even Gu Yue Bo
couldn’t help but reveal a slightly surprised expression.

The scene on the wall changed to when the group of youths reached the sea
of flowers.

The Awakening Ceremony began, and each of the youngsters stepped in the
underground river and walked towards the sea of flowers on the opposite
bank.

The light of the Hope Gu rose and fell.

There were also the elders’ voices which could be clearly heard.

The scenes appeared with such clarity that it felt like one was really there.

First, it was Gu Yue Mo Bei who was found to have B grade aptitude,
causing an uproar, then Gu Yue Chi Cheng was also tested to have B grade
aptitude.

“It really is strange, this Gu Yue Chi Cheng looks too nervous. His body
movements are stiff and his skin color is also not normal, it is just that the
light in the underground is dim. But if one carefully looks into it, they will
find that something has been applied on his body and that is what is
attracting the Hope Gu. Hehe, this is clearly a cheat.” Tie Ruo Nan was
confident as she observed this.
But in the next moment, she immediately frowned.

It was Fang Yuan’s turn. He stepped into the river and started moving
towards the opposite bank.

The light from the Hope Gu wasn’t vigorous. The higher the hope, the
greater the disappointment, and the sighs from the youths and the elders
could be heard by everyone in the group.

Everything seemed normal, but Tie Ruo Nan’s frowns got even deeper.
Because Fang Yuan’s expression was calm all along the way.

At that time, his back was facing the elders and the youths; they couldn’t
see his expression. However, as Tie Ruo Nan observed as a spectator, she
saw that Fang Yuan’s expression didn’t change at all, indifferent and cold.

It was as if, as if…..he already knew this would happen!

“This is impossible! If it was me in his place, a fifteen year old with

everyone’s expectations on me, but was tested to only have C grade
aptitude, how could I not feel the least bit of frustration, disappointment and
discouragement? How can this be, how can this be!?” Tie Ruo Nan’s frowns
were almost forming a knot.
Huge doubts and suspicions covered her mind, even stifling her breaths.

Her heart was beating loudly at this moment as all her thoughts flashed
through her mind.

What is going on?

How could this be?

“Wait a moment, aptitude…. Could it be?!” Tie Ruo Nan suddenly raised
her head. Her intuition had activated and an extremely bold and crazy
conjecture formed in her mind.

Light and shadow reflected upon Fang Zheng’s face.

The Awakening Ceremony had been the most important turning point in his
life.

Before the Awakening Ceremony, he was living a low and insignificant life;
a nobody. After the Awakening Ceremony, however, his life was completely
changed. He was basked in the lights and his confidence also burst out.

In his memories, the Awakening Ceremony was a picture of blurriness; he

had passed through it without even realizing it.

Right now, as he observed this as a spectator, complicated emotions rose up

in his heart which he couldn’t explain with words.

Fang Zheng looked at himself when it was his turn. He remembered how
inferior and weak he had felt at that time.

Soon, he saw how he had tumbled down into the river and struggled to get
up, and was pulled up by his big brother Fang Yuan, how he had cut out a
sorry figure.

A smile appeared on his face — this was the former him, the one who was
ridiculed by many!
Then he saw himself walking absent-mindedly towards the opposite bank,
and saw his body being enveloped by the lights of the Hope Gu along with
the shocks and admiration of many.

That time was a moment of glory, a moment of miracle!

An A grade aptitude, his life would no longer be the same from that
moment!

“Fang Zheng, I have a question.” Tie Ruo Nan suddenly spoke, breaking
Fang Zheng’s recollection.

“What is it? Please ask. I will definitely answer everything I know,” Fang
Zheng turned around with a smile.

“It’s about your big brother. When your big brother pulled you up, I saw his
mouth moving, but there was too much noise in the surroundings. What did
he say to you, could you tell me the exact words he told?” Tie Ruo Nan
asked with a bright gaze.

“His words…..” Fang Zheng tried to recall, “He seemed to have said…
road?”

“Right. It was road.” Fang Zheng’s eyes brightened, “I remember it. He said
to me, ‘The road to the future will be interesting’. Huh? Strange, I didn’t
think anything of it at that time, but now that I recall it, I think big brother’s
words contained profound meaning… as if, as if he already knew I had A
grade aptitude!”
“No, he didn’t mean the A grade aptitude, but something else.” Tie Ruo
Nan’s body trembled, her expression complicated as she let out a breath of
turbid air.
Chapter 181
 Chapter 181: By an odd twist (Long chapter)

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Lady Tie, what do you mean?” Fang Zheng did not understand.

Tie Ruo Nan stretched out her finger, pointing at the wall, “Look at him, Gu
Yue Fang Yuan! Don’t you think he looks way too calm? When finding out
that he has C grade talent, while his blood related brother has A grade
talent, normal people would definitely have some reaction to it. But him?
Not a trace of emotion! The surrounding praises and mockery cannot move
his heart. Don’t you find this strange? Throughout the process, he is too
calm.”

Tie Ruo Nan’s words, attracted everyone’s gaze.

As this scene replayed, all the gazes on the wall landed on Fang Yuan’s
silhouette.

Fang Yuan stood among the crowd, standing alone, upright. A dark shadow
engulfed half his body.

And this scenario, was a huge contrast to the other side.

His own brother, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, was moving step by step, his body
bathed in the Hope Gu’s pure white light.

At this moment, the elder and younger brother had a swap of identities. The
former fell from grace, falling to the lowest point in his life, engulfed by
shadows. The latter being blessed by fate, shining in brilliance, climbing his
way to the top.

“A fifteen year old youngster, going through such a catastrophic change in

his life. But yet, on his body there is no trace of disappointment, perplexity
or jealousy. Only calmness, he stood among the crowd, silently watching
like he was an outsider, like he was watching a show,” Tie Ruo Nan’s voice
came appropriately.

Yes.

Fang Yuan watched silently.

As the shadows engulfed half his body, his face was expressionless, except
the pale colour of a youngster’s skin.

Gu Yue Bo stared at the wall, solemn.

Fang Zheng felt a strong chill emerging from deep within his body.

Brother, what in the world are you……

“Even if he had a prediction towards the Awakening Ceremony’s results, his

heart would definitely feel a change in emotions, and he definitely won’t be
as calm as this. I used the Cactus Pointer earlier, and always thought that
the word ‘aptitude’ was referring to Gu Yue Chi Cheng. But now that I think
about it, it might not refer to Chi Cheng, but most likely Fang Yuan!” Tie
Ruo Nan said.

“Lady Tie, what do you mean? I don’t understand it at all?” Fang Zheng
was more confused.

Tie Ruo Nan raised a finger. “Only one type of situation would cause Fang
Yuan to be so calm. That is, he has a trump card that no one knows. Only
one situation would cause him to not be jealous, and that is because he has
something greater. If two people walked together and one person finds a
primeval stone, only if the other finds ten or a hundred would they not be
jealous, and have a calm emotion. Fang Yuan is like that.”

“You are saying, Fang Yuan cheated and concealed his true aptitude? He is
not a C grade talent?” Gu Yue Bo understood Tie Ruo Nan’s words, “But if
he is A or B grade, why would he not display it outright?”
“Fang Yuan had great wisdom since young!” Tie Ruo Nan’s lips curled, her
expression confident as she radiated utter confidence. “These few days, I’ve
read some of his poems. With such visions and aspirations, even father was
full of praise for him. Such a genius, he naturally has his own schemes.”
Gu Yue Bo shook his head, “Just with this alone, it still doesn’t confirm
anything. Concealing aptitude and revealing his aptitude gives two
completely different treatment. Even if Fang Yuan didn’t know this, after a
year in the academy, he should be clear of it.”

“Of course he knew, that’s why he did not dare to reveal it.” Tie Ruo Nan
did not beat about the bush, saying confidently.

“What do you mean?” Gu Yue Bo was also lost now.

“Gu Yue clan leader.” Tie Ruo Nan turned around, looking at Gu Yue Bo
solemnly. “Do you know about Ren Zu’s ten children?”

Gu Yue Bo was first stunned, before he immediately reacted, understanding

Tie Ruo Nan’s true meaning.

HE WAS SHOCKED!

His iris expanded, his mouth agape, not having any of his clan leader
disposition.

This was the first time Fang Zheng saw Gu Yue Bo in such a state.

Ren Zu’s ten children, eldest son Verdant Great Sun, second daughter
Desolate Ancient Moon… the ten children’s aptitude defied heaven, thus
heaven was wary and did not give them a long lifespan. In the Gu world,
the ten children also represented the top ten most extreme aptitudes!

That is — the ten extreme physiques!

“Ren Zu’s ten children died one by one, and Ren Zu was about to die of old
age. But at the end, Ren Zu gathered the corpse of his ten children and
sacrificed himself, all going into the stomach of the Derivation Gu.
Derivation Gu’s stomach burst, exploding and countless life spreading
across the land, creating the first batch of mortals. These mortals did not
have Ren Zu or the ten children’s talent, but they could cultivate after
awakening their aperture. Humanity thus grew and developed, forming
today’s size. Of course, that is all a mythological story.”

“But according to the story, every one of us has Ren Zu and his ten
children’s bloodline in us!” Tie Ruo Nan continued, “The only thing is that
most people have diluted bloodlines, or due to intermarriage, restricted each
other and caused it to remain dormant. But some people when born have
stronger bloodlines, and as they aged or cultivated, they would start going
towards the extreme, with one bloodline dominating the rest. When it
appears, that is the ten extreme physiques!”

“What is this ten extreme physique?” Fang Zheng asked.

“Don’t tell me, Fang Yuan has one of the ten extreme aptitudes?!” Gu Yue
Bo was stunned.

“Very likely so! Only the ten extreme physique would cause Fang Yuan to
be so calm, and does not have much need for cultivation resources. And
only the ten extreme physique that dominates the A grade talent can cause
Fang Yuan to not have a hint of jealousy or envy, and only the ten extreme
physique can cause Fang Yuan to not reveal his aptitude, as he fears being
killed earlier, thus choosing to conceal the truth!” Tie Ruo Nan spoke
quickly.

Even Tie Xue Leng would not think of rebirth. Not to mention the young
girl. Under all sorts of coincidences, she managed to conjecture a
conclusion that was completely the opposite of the truth.

Hearing so, everyone was dumbfounded.

Tie Ruo Nan’s analysis had proof and evidence, causing others to believe it.
If not for this reason, what other explanation is there?

“Yes, yes! The ten extreme physiques, ten extreme physiques… It has to be
the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin physique!”
Gu Yue Bo’s heart was in turmoil, so excited that his body shuddered.
Others might not know this, but he had the clan’s secret history and knew
many ancient secrets.

Hundreds of years ago, the first generation ancestor established the village
at this spot and named it Gu Yue village. The truth is, the first Gen was not
named Gu Yue at all!

Why did he pick the name ‘Gu Yue’? It was a mystery.

But before Gen 1 died, he once sighed, “The bloodlines shall be passed
down, there will be a great plan of centuries, Ancient Moon Desolate Yin,
the world shall shudder!”

He left behind those parting words, and in his will, it predicted that the Gu
Yue clan would one day in the future produce a Gu Master with one of the
ten extreme aptitudes, the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin body! He would
cause the world to tremble and bring the Gu Yue clan towards a new golden
age! He also mentioned to his descendants that if one day such a physique
appeared, they had to be brought into the blood pond graveyard.

As the clan leader, Gu Yue Bo knew the weakness of the ten extreme
physiques, but he had studied this will deeply, and found that the first
generation ancestor seemed to know a method to curb this weakness. And
this method was kept in his coffin in the graveyard, in an eternal slumber
with him.
If the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin physique really appeared, bring him to
the coffin……

“To think that Gu Yue Fang Yuan is that prophesied genius — the Ancient
Moon Desolate Yin physique!” Gu Yue Bo screamed in his heart.

“This cannot be. Under everyone’s watchful eye, how can big brother cheat
under everyone’s gaze?” Fang Zheng was completely taken aback, shaking
his head, unable to accept this theory.
Tie Ruo Nan looked at him in pity. “If even Chi Cheng could cheat, why
couldn’t Fang Yuan? The ten extreme physiques have endless potential,
unlimited possibilities. Maybe Fang Yuan awakened early, and maybe he
deceived the bamboo gentleman, due to the ten extreme physique. Or
maybe Jia Jin Sheng was killed by Fang Yuan, because he found out this
secret of Fang Yuan’s.”

“Tie family young lady, speak with caution.” Gu Yue Bo’s expression was
unhappy, speaking in a low tone, “Words cannot be spoken mindlessly.
Whether Jia Jin Sheng is killed by Fang Yuan, that is not confirmed yet.
Fang Yuan is my clan’s member, and even if he did commit the act, how we
are going to answer to the Jia family is also our matter. You are only here to
investigate the case.”

Gu Yue clan leader’s attitude had changed 180 degrees.

Before, he had thought Fang Yuan was a C grade talent with no possibility
of investment. But now, Fang Yuan was the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin
physique?!
Once it involved the first gen’s prophecy and will, his value completely
changed.

He had to be protected, and even if the Jia family was offended, there will
be no regret!

“Oh crap. This Gu Yue clan leader just turned on his words. How shameless
is he, changing his attitude so quickly! I should not have revealed the truth
of the ten extreme physiques so soon. The ten extreme aptitudes rule over
the A grade talent, so it seems the Gu Yue clan leader wants to protect Fang
Yuan now. This will bring great obstruction to solving the case. What do I
do now, father?”
Tie Ruo Nan’s heart sank, and gritting her teeth, she subconsciously looked
for her father’s figure.

“Eh, where’s father?” The young girl was stunned.

Divine investigator Tie was still around earlier, but in the blink of an eye he
was gone.

This discovery caused Gu Yue Bo to tense up.

Where could Tie Xue Leng have gone at this time? Gu Yue clan leader
naturally related it to Fang Yuan.
“Fang Zheng, I am going to look for your big brother. Go inform the other
clan elders, and quickly assemble to look for me!” Leaving behind his
instructions, Gu Yue Bo activated his Gu worm and flew out from the
window.

Tie Ruo Nan snorted, running out of the room towards Fang Yuan’s
residence.

In the entire hall, only Fang Zheng was left.

“How… how can this be?!”

Fang Zheng’s current state was not optimistic. His face was pale, his body
on the verge of falling over, his spine devoid of all strength.

He felt that his world was covered in darkness.

He felt his world collapsing!

How could it become like this?

“Brother’s aptitude is the ten extreme physique? My A grade talent is

nothing compared to him, a complete failure compared to him!”

As he thought and thought, Fang Zheng’s tears fell down.

At this moment, all of his spirit was dampened.

All this time, his greatest achievement was beating Fang Yuan in aptitude.
All his confidence was built upon this. But right now, he was told this cruel
fact — his aptitude was nothing compared to his brother!

His proudest and most confident area had been suppressed by Fang Yuan.

The confidence he had built up after so long, collapsed in an instant.

“BIG BROTHER!” He raised his head, allowing his tears to flow like a
river.
He screamed in his heart, “From start to end, you’ve been watching a show
all along! Seeing me jump up and down, looking at my clown-like
performance?”

The corners of his eye looked at the wall again.

The images turned and moved, and people moved all over the place with
countless voices praising Fang Zheng’s performance. However, Fang Yuan
alone stood among the people, his face calm as he watched.

Peacefully watching just like that……

Fang Zheng suddenly felt that in this image, he who was covered in this
light of hope, was so childish, so eye-piercing. In his heart, Fang Yuan’s
calm dark irises showed a divine expression.

His image was gradually enlarged, getting taller and taller until he was
unable to climb over, as high as a mountain reaching into the clouds.

Those calm eyes looked at him from that mountain high up in the sky,
staring at Fang Zheng’s pathetic appearance who was at the foot of the
mountain.

Those eyes were like they were saying — Fang Zheng, my laughable little
brother, you won’t do, you won’t do, won’t do…

Like the echoes in a valley, reverbing in Fang Zheng’s heart.

He felt a strong depression.

Unimaginable depression, suppressing him until he could not breathe

properly.

He thought he had gotten rid of this feeling, but to think that that today this
feeling assaulted his heart again.

In fact, it was more intense than before by a hundred times!

“AHHHHHH! I’m going to die, I’m going to die!” Fang Zheng’s face
twitched, veins popping on his forehead. He was drowning in his delusions,
gripping his own throat tightly.

With a plop, he fell onto the ground kneeling.

Because he lacked oxygen, his face went red and his tongue stretched out,
his eyes gradually popping out.

“No! I don’t want to die, I really don’t want to die!!” His other hand
grabbed the tile on the ground, but as he used too much strength, even his
nails broke and blood bled. The intense pain increased Fang Zheng’s desire
to live!

His body had no injuries, but in his heart, he had received a fatal injury.

He could not get up, for the pride sustaining him had already shattered.

He felt that he did not have the face to see anyone; he was unable to face up
to reality, to his older brother. He had become a huge joke, an ironic clown.

He was heart was like dying ash, but this ash still had small embers
burning.

“So what if he is the ten extreme aptitude? Brother, you did something
wrong. You killed someone, you should not have done so! Right, that’s
right! You have to pay for your sins of murdering, big brother, Jia Jin Sheng
was killed by you right? You walked on the wrong path, you did something
wrong, so what if your aptitude is better than me?!”

Ring……
Something seemed to have sounded off near his ear.

A lump of fire started to burn in Fang Zheng’s heart.

The dying ember resurrected!

The hand gripping his throat, gradually let go.
Fang Zheng’s body was covered in sweat as he kneeled on the ground, one
hand sustaining himself as the hand was full of injuries from grabbing the
tile.

Droplets of sweat flowed down his face and nose, and onto the file.

His distorted horrifying face had gradually calmed down.

A gust of wind blew along the door and windows, into this hall.

The cold wind of the night sky stimulated his body as he shuddered.
“HEHEHEHEHEHEHE…” Fang Zheng half laid on the ground as he
laughed, his voice shrill and eerie.

The light of the fire danced around his face along with the wind. As it shone
on the young man’s face, it was not of warmth and brightness, but it
resembled the devil’s dance.
Chapter 182
 Chapter 182: Blood pond graveyard

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“There’s no one here!” Turning the house upside down, Gu Yue Bo did not
find Fang Yuan anywhere. A huge rock weighed on his heart. With Fang
Yuan and Tie Xue Leng’s sudden disappearance, it easily caused him to
relate them together.

“Speak, where is Fang Yuan?” Gu Yue Bo’s face was grim like water, as he
screamed at Tie Ruo Nan who just arrived.

“How would I know where Fang Yuan is?” Tie Ruo Nan’s attitude was
tough. Even against a Rank four expert, she did not relent.

“Hmph, why did Tie Xue Leng go missing? Tie family’s young lady, can
you give me an explanation?” Gu Yue Bo said as he got closer to Tie Ruo
Nan.

The young girl’s expression was slightly stunned. The truth was, this matter
had been very peculiar from the start.

The original plan was that her father and her would come here next year.
Back then, Tie Xue Leng was solving another case when a white crane
suddenly descended from the sky.

The white crane carried a letter, and passed it to Tie Xue Leng.

After seeing this letter, Tie Xue Leng changed his plans and put down the
case at hand, heading immediately towards Qing Mao mountain.

If not for the letter, the Tie family father and daughter would not have
gotten here so early.
As his daughter, Tie Ruo Nan knew her father well. Normally, only
exceptional cases would cause Tie Xue Leng to make such a decision.
But, what caused her to not understand was that this Qing Mao mountain
case was only about Jia Jin Sheng’s death.

Although Jia Jin Sheng’s death involved the asset struggle of the Jia family,
its severity level was merely average, and was far below the point where the
divine investigator has to put so much emphasis on.
Towards this, Tie Ruo Nan was always doubtful.

And now, Tie Xue Leng mysteriously disappeared, not even telling his own
daughter.

Where did he go? What did he do?

“Father, you have an injury, please take care of your body.” Tie Ruo Nan
was worried.

This situation had happened several times before. Every time, it was when
Tie Xue Leng was fighting against a strong foe and could not distract
himself to protect Tie Ruo Nan, thus choosing to battle alone.

His injuries right now were caused by a strong foe under such
circumstances previously.

“Although father is injured, he is after all a Rank five expert. Ordinary

Rank four Gu Masters are not his match. Father, I believe in you, I will wait
for you to return!” Tie Ruo Nan’s eyes shone with light as she encouraged
herself.

Gu Yue Bo got closer as the young girl raised her head, staring right at the
Gu Yue clan leader. “Explanation? You want an explanation, but does it
mean I need to give you one?”

Gu Yue Bo’s face grew even grimmer as he said, “Little wretch, you sure
talk tough, it seems I can only take you captive and use you to exchange for
our clan’s Fang Yuan!”
“Hehehe.” Tie Ruo Nan laughed instead. “Gu Yue clan leader, would you
really dare to do such a thing? My uncle is the current Tie clan leader, do
you want to cross swords with my Tie family?”

Gu Yue Bo stopped in his tracks.

He was anxious and almost forgot.

Tie family!

It was but a super clan, having thousands of years of legacy, standing strong
even today. Standing tall in the Tie clan mountain fort was the Demon
Suppression Tower, imprisoning countless demonic Gu Masters, the symbol
of the righteous faction.

Gu Yue clan was only a slightly average clan, and was smaller than Jia clan.
But Jia clan was also merely a young clan, unable to compare with the Tie
clan.

Even in the entire Southern border, the Tie clan is a first class powerhouse,
a large clan with strong foundations!

Tie Ruo Nan’s words softened. “Gu Yue clan leader, I am not here to be
enemies with you. But please believe in my sincerity. I do not know where
father went, but I will not leave or secretly run away. The Tie family only
dies in battle, there are no cowards that run from battle. Not only will I stay
here, I will also arrest the criminal that killed Jia Jin Sheng!”

“Fang Yuan might not be the murderer!” Gu Yue Bo frowned, showing a

fierce expression.
“But he might be!” Tie Ruo Nan stared, her heroism overflowing; at this
point she was refusing to relent.

Both sides stared for a long time.

Tie Ruo Nan continued, “Fang Yuan went missing, so it is very likely that
he is escaping for his crimes, thus he has greater suspicion. But I will
definitely not malign an innocent party!”
“Hmph, I hope so.” Gu Yue Bo swung his sleeve and left.

Fifteen minutes later….

Gurgle gurgle.

The spirit spring’s whirlpool moved violently as a lotus image flickered

above the spring water like an image.

Pieces of primeval stones were thrown in by Fang Yuan, causing the

appearance of the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus to become clearer.

“Earlier at the classmate gathering, they gave me around ten thousand

primeval stones. Together with Gu Yue Mo Chen’s forty thousand, I’ve
already thrown them all in. Why is it that this Heavenly Essence Treasure
Lotus still hasn’t shown its true body?”

Fang Yuan stared intently through the crystal walls, glaring at the center of
the spirit spring, feeling uncertain.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was very precious. After continuous
advancing and reaching Rank six, its value would be no less than the Spring
Autumn Cicada.

Even in his previous life, Fang Yuan had only heard of it, and never
interacted with it.

Thus right now, it was his first time seeing one, and so he was slightly
unsure.

But he soon calmed himself, laughing, “Around fifty thousand primeval

stones, it’s more than enough. Why am I worrying over nothing here? So
what if the refinement fails? Hehehe.”
Thinking so, he no longer hesitated. Taking in a deep breath, he jumped up,
knocking onto the crystal wall.

This wall was formed by the Moat Gu.

When Fang Yuan knocked onto it, it was like jumping into the water. There
was a ripple in the walls as he was instantly swallowed up.

Water surrounded Fang Yuan from all directions.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes, but he could not see the Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus could only be seen through the water
crystal walls before extraction.

Fang Yuan knew this well, and was not surprised. He had already estimated
the distance, and even accounted for the refraction of the light due to the
water, and grabbed according to his memory.

This grab, was like grabbing out of thin air, conjuring a lotus.

The lotus was blue and white, its petals closed, looking like a lamp filled
with a holy aura. But it had its own consciousness, and even though it was
grabbed by Fang Yuan, it resisted.

But that was nothing!

Just by leaking a little of the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura, this Rank three
flower Gu was instantly refined.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus obtained!

In the spring water, Fang Yuan’s lips curled into a smile.

He willed, and the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus turned into a white
blue light, shooting into his aperture.

Without the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, the numerous whirlpools in

the spirit spring vanished. The spring water that was filled with vitality
turned into a puddle of still water without any signs of life.

“The spirit spring is no more. This place is no longer safe, I have to leave as
soon as possible.” Fang Yuan’s expression turned serious, and just as he was
about to leave, something suddenly happened!

Deep in the spirit spring, a blinding blood colored light shot out.

A large suction force suddenly appeared. Caught off guard, Fang Yuan was
sucked deep into the water.

The spring water turned red, becoming blood water, wrapping around Fang
Yuan completely, dragging him down.
Sky Canopy Gu! Thunderwings Gu!

In the moment of crisis, Fang Yuan screamed in his heart and a white armor
appeared on his body. At the same time, a pair of large lightning wings
appeared behind his back.

Thunderwings spread, giving Fang Yuan an upward force. But the blood
water came endlessly, and its suction force became greater and greater;
there was no way to oppose it.

Puff……

Hearing the water all around him, Fang Yuan was dragged by the currents,
along the tunnel, heading straight down.

Just when his breath was used up, the surrounding pressure vanished.

Fang Yuan took a deep breath. At least he did not die of suffocation, but he
found that he was falling from a high spot.

He subconsciously activated his wings, but the Thunderwings Gu was in

bad shape.

The originally strong wings, were tired and soft.

Fang Yuan’s heart sank. He tried his best to maintain his balance in the air,
slowing his descent.

This was an area underground. It was not dark, but filled with red light.
Fang Yuan was falling from about fifteen metres, and below him, was a
pond.

But this underground pond was not of the transparent colour; it was red, like
blood water.

No, it IS blood water!

The piercing blood stench assaulted Fang Yuan as he continued to fall.

This situation was weird no matter how he looked at it, so for safety, Fang
Yuan did not want to land in this bloody pond.

Chainsaw Golden Centipede!

He activated the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, his palm entering the

centipede’s mouth and swinging it like a whip.

The golden centipede’s body stretched to the longest, and its tail stabbed
into the mountain wall at the side.

Fang Yuan willed with his mind, and the golden centipede’s body
constricted. This way, it brought his body to the side of the mountain wall.

These walls were slippery and did not have a good landing spot. But as
Fang Yuan relied on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, he managed to find
an uneven area and placed his feet above.

“Where the fuck is this?” Stabilizing his body, Fang Yuan immediately
observed the surroundings.

According to his estimations, this should be in a place deeper underground,

even below the underground cave.

“How can there be such a place?” Fang Yuan was shocked. In his previous
life, he was not strong enough to learn about the secrets of the higher-ups.

The truth is, this was the blood pond graveyard, the forbidden grounds that
buried the first generation’s coffin. Even among clan elders, only one or two
knew this secret.
Fang Yuan looked down. This blood pond shone with a bloody radiance. Its
circumference was even larger than the village, emitting an eerie and scary
aura.

At the top of the cave, there was up to a hundred holes that had water
gushing down, bringing the shells, turtles, snakes and fish from the river
with it.

Swoosh swoosh…
Streams of water continued to pour down from the holes, entering into the
blood pond.

The blood water was turbulent as numerous seafood moved around,

entering the pond. However, in a few breaths, all the blood in their bodies
were sucked out. They turned into dry corpses and floated on the surface of
the water, appearing and disappearing as the waves moved them about.

The blood pond’s redness only intensified.

As Fang Yuan looked on, his iris shrunk a little. If he had landed in this
pond, even with the Sky Canopy Gu’s protection, he would not be in good
shape.

He continued to observe, and other than fresh dry corpses, there were also
some bones in the water.

Some were fish bones, bear bones, and even human skeletons.

This was a giant burial ground; it was creepy, and bloody.

The ripples and waves in the blood pond raged on and swept into the
surrounding walls, the bright red and glowing blood water entering the
surrounding soil. This caused the soil to all turn into a bright red color,
turning into red soil.
Chapter 183
 Chapter 183: Blood Sea Ancestor

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Wait a second, red soil?”

Fang Yuan’s mind jolted at the sight.

He stretched his hand out and grabbed the wall beside him, taking out a
lump of red soil.

This red soil was very soft and emitted a faint red light. Fang Yuan merely
pressed it lightly, but it crumbled down.

“So, it was like this.” He seemed to have come to a realization.

The first time he had entered the secret cave inside the rock crack, he saw
that the secret cave was full of this red soil which emitted faint glow; there
was no need for any other lighting source.

He had felt it weird at the time because Qing Mao mountain’s soil was blue-
black in color. He had thought this was arranged by the Flower Wine Monk,
but now it seemed that the source was this strange blood lake.

Fang Yuan felt even more wary; his five hundred years of experience had
almost become an intuition.

“This place is not only strange, but also dangerous. I don’t have the time to
dilly-dally, I need to think of how to leave here.” Fang Yuan raised his head
and looked at the cave walls, where hundreds of holes were in the top part
of the wall; which was the one connected to the spirit spring?

Fang Yuan hesitated for a moment.

Water could flow down here, but it didn’t mean that the passages were wide
enough for a human to pass through.

“And….” Fang Yuan looked grave as he tried shaking his two wings.

However, he couldn’t control these thunderwings perfectly like before, and

the originally clear blue thunder was now stained with some scarlet; it gave
off a contradictory feeling of power and weakness existing at the same time.

The Thunderwings Gu had become unreliable, it was very possible for it to

screw up and drop Fang Yuan in the middle of flight.

Swoosh….

An inexplicable undercurrent surged up from within the blood lake, giving

off the enormous aura of Rank five gu.

“That is….” Fang Yuan’s pupils shrunk; a long shadow gradually appeared
in the blood lake.

Its length surpassed forty meters and its width over six meters.

This was an enormous python; it dwelled in the depths of the blood lake,
but now that it had smelled out the scent of flesh on Fang Yuan, it came out
to begin the hunt!

“Damn it…..” Fang Yuan felt a pressing urge in his heart.

Right now, he was relying on the Chainsaw Golden Centipede to puncture

the wall, barely managing to hang onto the soft red soil. And with his long
hair and black gown, he looked like a black ant compared to the enormous
blood lake.

Hundreds of black dots appeared in the blood lake and rose up, just like a
travelling shoal of fish.

Whooshhh…..
They were much faster than the giant python and flew out of the blood lake
within moments, revealing their appearance.

These were not fish, but bats.

These blood colored bats had two long pointed ears with two pairs of
wings. The main pair of wings were rather big, whereas the secondary pair
of wings was on the smaller side and was below the main wings.

They didn’t have claws, but the edges of the two pairs of wings were as
sharp as steel blades.

“Rank three — bladewing blood bat Gu?” A name immediately appeared in

Fang Yuan’s mind.

These bladewing blood bat groups were directing their intense murderous
aura towards him, but the first thing that appeared in his mind was ‘that’
image.

In the image from the Photo-audio Gu, the Flower Wine Monk’s whole
body was covered with blood, with severe injuries to the point of being near
death.

Moonshadow Gu was not able to cause such injuries, but these bladewing
blood bats were a different matter.

“Could it be that the Flower Wine Monk had come to this place and was
injured by these bladewing blood bats?” Fang Yuan’s thoughts revolved
rapidly.

Flower Wine Monk’s death had been shrouded in riddles. Now, it appeared
extremely likely that it was due to this place.

“Bladewing blood bat….” Fang Yuan murmured. In fact, this Gu wasn’t a

stranger to him.

Even though this Gu was a Rank three Gu, it was very easy to feed, its food
being blood.
In his previous life, he had established the Bloodwing Devil Sect, and the
symbol of the sect was precisely the bladewing blood bat. The resources
from the devil sect were more than enough to support close to ten thousand
bladewing blood bat Gu, allowing the sect to establish a terrifying might
and spread terror.

More precisely, he owed his success to bladewing blood bats.

After over four hundred years in his previous life, he had accidently
obtained an inheritance from the Blood Sea Ancestor. With the colonies of
bladewing blood bats and his own Rank five cultivation, he became an
overlord of a region.

This Blood Sea Ancestor was a Rank seven demonic path Gu Master who
took lives as easily as cutting grass, and his evil reputation was such that it
resounded throughout the world, having his name recorded in history.

At the beginning, he was just a mortal, but through luck and destiny, he
became a Gu Master of demonic path. He started out from the lowest of
levels and rose up in ranks, before becoming an authority of demonic path
after eight hundred years.

He didn’t have high aptitude, thus he had limited primeval essence in his
aperture. Therefore, he had a crazed interest towards researching the fusion
of Gu worms.

Wild Gu worms possessed their own will and could absorb the natural
primeval essence in the air by themselves. However, after a Gu worm was
refined by a Gu Master, its willpower would be dominated by the Gu
Master, and it would lose the ability to absorb the surrounding primeval
essence. It would be able to only absorb the primeval essence in the Gu
Master’s aperture.

Blood Sea Ancestor had invested a lot of efforts in researching Gu which

could absorb natural primeval essence even after being refined by a Gu
Master.
The righteous Gu Masters were very afraid of this. They were extremely
worried that the Blood Sea Ancestor would succeed in his research. As a
result, they organized countless traps before moving in for the kill.

In the end, Blood Sea Ancestor wasn’t able to succeed, but it also wasn’t a
complete failure.

He succeeded in producing the fusion recipes of bladewing blood bat, blood

guillotine and blood frenzy Gu.

Rank three bladewing blood bat Gu was his first accomplishment. It was
very easy to feed, but it still needed the Gu Master to provide primeval
essence. The colony of bladewing blood bats was very special; a Gu Master
just needed to control a male bat, and they could indirectly command all the
other female bats.

Blood frenzy Gu was his second accomplishment. This Gu was formless; as

a ball of blood essence, it survived by attaching itself to other beings. It was
a Rank four Gu and had a very unusual ability. Every Gu worm infected by
its aura could absorb natural primeval essence every now and then. But it
had a great disadvantage — the Gu worms affected by the Blood frenzy Gu
would gradually leave the control of the Gu Master and would turn into a
pool of blood after a period of time.

Blood guillotine was the Blood Sea Ancestor’s last accomplishment. This
Gu was a Rank five Gu and was no doubt more advanced than the previous
two. Its usability and feeding were fused into one. Usings wars to sustain
itself, it multiplied by swallowing Gu Master’s blood. It didn’t need the Gu
Master to provide it with any primeval essence.

Unfortunately, after the Blood Sea Ancestor created the blood guillotine,
due to the many battles and the entrapment by the righteous path, he was
defeated.

He suffered from fatal wounds that could not be healed, and he carved out a
bloody escape from the layers of entrapment.
The righteous path figures were worried about his final counterattack which
could endanger themselves, so they didn’t have any inclination to chase
after him and looked on as he made his getaway. Since then, these righteous
path figures would regret the moment every time they recalled it; they
regretted that they let him get away.

The Blood Sea Ancestor knew his death was a sure thing, so he started
setting up a large scale inheritance. In the limited time before his death,
with the strength of his Rank seven cultivation, he unexpectedly set up
hundreds of thousands of inheritance grounds; his inheritances extended
everywhere from the Middle Continent to the Southern Border and other
places.

Right before his death, he smiled devilishly, “The blood path is not alone,
the legacy will continue for all eternity!”

This statement was not in the least false, for countless Gu Masters benefited
from his inheritances, and thus the demonic path flourished greatly.

No matter the bladewing blood bat Gu, the blood frenzy Gu or the blood
guillotine, they were all very easy to raise and multiply. Maybe in some
unremarkable valleys, at poor villages, at no-man deserts, or beside some
mountain paths, you might find two or three Gu left casually by the Blood
Sea Ancestor.

These Gu were easy to raise and didn’t have a high demand for primeval
essence, thus they could easily be used by Gu Masters with ordinary
aptitudes.

Survival was a difficult thing in this world, so which Gu Master wouldn’t

thirst for stronger powers? The Gu worms left by the Blood Sea Ancestor
represented a whole new strength; this strength was a quick and easy way to
rise in power, and it became more welcomed than other Gu worms.

Power itself had no sins; it became good in the hands of good, and evil in
the hands of evil. But in the world, how many people could have a resolute
mind after a sudden increase in strength?
A man who got money would often become fickle. A sudden rise in strength
would certainly nourish ambitions that weren’t there before.

As a result, many Gu Masters that obtained the Blood Sea Ancestor’s

legacy would become a devil that massacred everything. Even many
righteous path figures had changed their sides.

The inheritances of blood Gu brought great turmoil and danger towards the
whole world.

In each inheritance of the Blood Sea Ancestor, there were often only two to
three Gu. However, these inheritances were like a spark of fire that could
cause a prairie fire if left alone!

There would be demonic path Gu Masters who would come into possession
of the blood Gu every so often and cause chaos. Some of them would fail;
killed away in some villages. Some would succeed temporarily and become
a huge figure, harming a whole region.

No matter if they succeeded temporarily, or failed, at the moment of their

exhaustion, they would also leave behind new blood inheritances.

Thus, the blood calamity continued endlessly. Not only did it not end with
the death of the Blood Sea Ancestor through the combined strength of the
righteous path, it instead thrived even more greatly with the foundations left
behind, unable to be eliminated as it continued for eternity.

It was to the extent that the righteous path figures would frequently curse,
“These accursed Blood Gu Masters! We have already killed waves upon
waves of them. But if we become even a bit careless, we will see a new one
coming up from nowhere!”

By now, the Blood Sea Inheritances were already publicly recognized as the
most popular in the whole world, with the greatest number of inheritances.
There was no competition!

In the strictest sense, Fang Yuan had received a favor from the Blood Sea
Ancestor.
“In my previous life, only after over four hundred years, I found a blood sea
inheritance and was then able to begin my rule. Now, if I can subdue these
blood bats, it will be like completing four hundred years of effort.”

Blood bats charged at him but Fang Yuan was not afraid.

He had the Spring Autumn Cicada, so these bats would submit without
question in front of the Rank six aura. The only problem was the Rank five
Blood Python that was still concealed, hiding within the blood lake.

“But this situation is somewhat fishy. The Blood Sea Ancestor’s

inheritances normally only have two-three Gu worms. How come this place
has hundreds of bladewing blood bats? Could it be… that rumor is true?”

The rumor said that the Blood Sea Ancestor’s hundreds of thousands of
inheritances were diversions, and the true inheritances were only a few.

In these few inheritances, the Blood Sea Ancestor was said to have
concealed his best Gu worms, or research insights or fusion recipes.

“Could this place be a true inheritance ground of the Blood Sea Ancestor?”
When Fang Yuan thought of this, his heart started to beat loudly.

His thoughts moved like lightning and although he thought of many things,
only a little time had passed in reality.

Bladewing blood bats charged at him one after another; Fang Yuan was
calm, his long hair and black gown fluttering in the air as he climbed up the
wall and was going to summon Spring Autumn Cicada.

But right at this time, there was a sudden change!

“As expected, this place is hiding the blood calamity!” A deep and firm
voice, loud like the clash between iron and stone, came from the top of the
cave and echoed within the blood lake.

Divine Investigator Tie Xue Leng!

Chapter 184
 Chapter 184: Rank five intense battle

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Tie Xue Leng, why is he suddenly here?” Fang Yuan recognised the voice,
feeling shocked.

This loud voice echoed above the blood pond, causing intense waves to
form.

“This is… Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu?” Fang Yuan gritted his
teeth. As the loud voice hurt his eardrums, he felt his entire brain buzzing.

Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu, a Rank five Gu, was from a sound-
type Gu. Once activated, it could form soundwave attacks that had a wide
range, belonging to an extremely strong area-of-effect attacking-type Gu.

The voice that Fang Yuan was hearing now, is only Tie Xue Leng’s probing;
it was just him slightly shouting and not activating his Gu completely.

This intensity was like Fang Yuan using the Moonlight Gu to open the
purple gold rock; it was a type of in-depth control of his Gu worm.

Of course, the Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu also had its weakness.
If used for long, it would cause great strain to the Gu Master’s throat and
vocal cord. Once his limit is exceeded, the Gu Master would become
completely mute, losing his ability to speak.

Bam!

A loud explosion occurred as blood and water flew everywhere.

The top half of the huge python’s body appeared in Fang Yuan’s vision.
Blood river python!

Fang Yuan’s irises shrunk as he saw the python with its bright smooth blood
red scales, and its head around the size of an elephant. Scarlet-gold
coloured sharp bone spikes protruded out from above its eyes, showing its
ferocious and frenzy aura completely.

“Blood river python… I remember that in the Gu Yue clan’s history, after
the first generation clan leader created the village, a blood river python
appeared and was a huge threat to the village. Legend says the first gen
killed it, but don’t tell me…”

Fang Yuan’s thoughts moved, thinking of something.

The blood river python was humongous, snake head high in the air, its
purple irises staring right at Fang Yuan with two ruthless glances.

It had a ruthless nature, untamable and fed on blood. Even if the Spring
Autumn Cicada’s aura tried to suppress it, that would only cause it to
become more frenzied. Among Rank five Gu worms, it was one of the
hardest to refine.

But after the blood river python took a look at Fang Yuan up on the walls, it
raised its head higher and turned towards the top of the cave.

At the top of the cave, there was another tiny shadow, floating down from
one of the holes at the ceiling.

He wore a bronze mask, his hands behind his back, his gaze cool and calm.
Although compared to the blood river python, he was small like an ant, but
the imposing aura coming from his body caused a great pressure to emit
from him at all directions, like a heavenly being descending down to Earth.

Righteous Gu!

A mind-type Gu that only someone who upheld justice could activate.

People who were villainous or had weak minds and aspirations, were often
scared shitless under the influence of the Righteous Gu, afraid of everything
as they had a guilty conscience, their battle spirit decreasing in battle and
causing them to feel an inability to defeat Tie Xue Leng, thus collapsing
without battle.

Screech screech….

Under the pressure of the righteousness, the bladewing blood bat Gu were
frantic and could only scream shrilly as a strong pressure pushed down on
their bodies. Their wings could only continue to flap as they struggled to
stay in mid-air, floating up and down.

They could barely take care of themselves, much less bother about Fang
Yuan.

Even the ferocious blood river python slightly lowered its head, feeling Tie
Xue Leng’s supreme presence.

“What a good Righteous Gu!” Fang Yuan climbed on the wall, smirking.

This suppression from the Righteous Gu had no effect on him. Only those
with weak minds could be greatly weakened. He was a supreme demonic
overlord, his mind strong as steel, how could this illusionary pressure scare
him?

“Eh?” Fang Yuan’s immunity caused Tie Xue Leng to call out in shock,
feeling very surprised.

The Righteous Gu had been with him for many years, and he was very sure
about the Gu’s effect.

Righteous Gu’s effect varied. It attacked the mind directly, sometimes

having great effect while other times having no effect.

But the times where it did not work, were almost nonexistent. Even
righteous people felt a strong suppression in their hearts. After all, their
factions did not determine a person’s kindness and evil; there are no perfect
humans.
But Tie Xue Leng knew deeply about Fang Yuan’s crimes. The first time
they met, he already implanted a Gu on Fang Yuan, using it to track his
whereabouts. After that, Tie Xue Leng could faintly discern the changes in
the surroundings where Fang Yuan went.

Those who committed great sins, under the Righteous Gu, would definitely
waver. But Tie Xue Leng also met a good number of demonic Gu Masters,
that were unaffected by the righteous aura.

“There is only one type of person who would be unaffected by the

Righteous Gu even after commiting sins. These are the people with real
demonic nature, in the deepest parts of their hearts. They are crazy and
adamant, not treating their sins as sins, but thinking of it as natural. To think
that this Fang Yuan has such an intense demonic nature! Hmph, I’ll get rid
of this great demon here first. If Fang Yuan manages to survive, I will come
and finish him later!”

Tie Xue Leng hated evil with a burning passion. With a cold snort, he
turned towards the blood river python.

Once he appeared, he was locked on by this blood river python. As long as

he was distracted in killing Fang Yuan, he would reveal a weakness.

Tie Xue Leng had such a severe injury on him, and at the same time there
might be a powerful enemy hidden in the background and observing him.
Thus, he did not dare to lose focus.

He stared at this blood river python for a moment, before looking further
into the blood pond.

Not long ago, he received a mysterious letter. Inside there was concrete
evidence that Gu Yue village held a bloody calamity.

This letter was held by a red-crowned crane coming from the sky, with a
questionable source.

But Tie Xue Leng would rather believe it than miss it. After all, the blood
calamity was not ordinary, he could not take it lightly. If he lost focus, it
would expand and spread like a plague, harming the world.

The best method to deal with it was to eliminate the source before it forms
into a strong force.

Coincidentally, he already had another request at hand — it was Jia Fu

paying a high cost to ask him to investigate Jia Jin Sheng’s death.

Tie Xue Leng thus brought his daughter and rushed to Qing Mao Mountain.

He ordered his daughter to investigate Jia Jin Sheng’s case. It was to nurture
and train Tie Ruo Nan, but also to act as a red herring, stalling for time and
hiding in the background investigating this issue.

The first time when he met Fang Yuan, he implanted a Shared-sense Gu on

him. Although it was merely at a whim, he did it due to his accumulated
experience and instinct.

Shared-sense Gu was formless and colorless, like a signet. He had

implanted over tens of them, but the only successful one was the first one
he implanted.

“First gen Gu Yue, I know you are not dead. You hid for nearly a thousand
years plotting this scheme, but unfortunately, it’s all going down the drain.”
Tie Xue Leng opened his mouth, causing the air to tremble.

But there were no changes to the blood pond. Instead, the blood river
python opened its mouth, screaming furiously.

It was born ferocious, unable to be suppressed. The Righteous Gu triggered

its ferocity.

Bam.

It stretched its body abruptly, the huge snake body rising with the tides of
blood, bringing a killing intent that tore through the skies, pouncing towards
Tie Xue Leng who was in mid-air.
Tie Xue Leng was already wary against the blood river python, and he
quickly moved, avoiding the blood river python’s bite.

The python’s body was too long, and its momentum was too strong. It
ended up crashing all the way onto the ceiling of the cave.

A loud bang ensued as a portion of the ceiling collapsed, and large amounts
of debris fell and caused much commotion in the blood lake waves.

“Hmph, First gen Gu Yue, you think you are safe with just a blood python
protecting you? You might as well appear now,” Tie Xue Leng snickered.
He moved about in the air, and the blood river python’s attacks were like a
gentle rain pelting on him.

The blood river python attacked furiously, getting more worked up as it

continued to miss.

It had unparalleled strength, able to display it all and cause great damage.

The entire space was shaking from its strength like an earthquake, and the
blood lake began to raise strong ripples.

“Fuck!” Fang Yuan was caught by the crossfire, and as the red soil softened,
his foothold had been ruined.

He could only use the Chainsaw Golden Centipede as well as the

Thunderwings Gu to move along the walls. Meanwhile the rock debris was
falling down like rain.

As he had expected, the Thunderwings Gu was really in bad shape. Fang

Yuan’s thunderwings were extremely weak and lethargic, unable to provide
him much boost in speed.

But the strange thing was, the Thunderwings Gu was taking lesser and
lesser primeval essence from Fang Yuan. During the period where Fang
Yuan moved about, it started to absorb primeval essence from the
surrounding air to replenish itself.
At first, this situation was uncommon and happened in short intervals.
As Fang Yuan continued to dodge, he did not notice initially. But
eventually, the intervals got shorter and the duration lengthened.

At the same time, the Thunderwings Gu got weaker and weaker.

“I get it, its the Blood Frenzy Gu!” Fang Yuan’s mind shone with
inspiration.

Only when affected by the Blood Frenzy Gu will such a situation occur.

Plop!

Fang Yuan put in 100% effort, but eventually still fell into the blood lake.

The blood river python was rampaging everywhere, using its thick tail to
sweep across the place, causing large debris to fall like rain.

Fang Yuan activated the Sky Canopy Gu, covering himself with a white
armor. He was good at swimming. In his previous life he had lived in the
Eastern Sea for a long time, thus he had sufficient training.

The falling rocks were as large as houses, and he tried his best to avoid
them. Sometimes he swam underwater, sinking into the lake to use the
water to reduce the impact of the rocks.

But for the smaller fragments, some were fist-sized while others were like
grindstones, and he could not avoid them all.

The white light armor was firm like a monolith, but it could not handle the
full impact of the rocks, causing him to feel pain when they hit his armor.
At the same time, his primeval essence also decreased with each hit
endured.

Thankfully, the Righteous Gu’s power was surrounding the area, causing
the group of bladewing blood bat Gu to fly around randomly, not finding
trouble with Fang Yuan.

But Fang Yuan’s expression was solemn.

The Thunderwings Gu was half crippled after being corrupted by the Blood
Frenzy Gu, and without a special Gu to clean it, it would soon turn into a
puddle of blood water, turning into a new pollution origin.
How did it get infected by the Blood Frenzy Gu?

Fang Yuan considered the previous events, and there was only one
explanation — in this blood water, there was a Blood Frenzy Gu inside.

The Thunderwings Gu continued to weaken, and started to become

uncontrollable.

Thankfully he activated the white light armor in time, otherwise if the

Blood Frenzy Gu got into his body and entered his aperture, most of his Gu
worms would get corrupted.

But if his primeval essence was expended, or if this armor was broken, the
consequences would be severe!

“I have to leave this place as soon as possible!” Fang Yuan gritted his teeth,
trying to find a way out from the surroundings as he swam around.

Large amounts of red soil on the mountain walls collapsed from the battle.

The cave ceiling was completely destroyed beyond recognition as well. Tie
Xue Leng floated in mid-air, engaging the blood river python in combat.
Rank five battles were not something Fang Yuan could interfere in.

The more a Gu Master advanced, the larger the difference in battle strength
among ranks.

Maybe with a sweep of the blood river python’s tail, it could break the light
armor and cause the Sky Canopy Gu to be gravely injured, breaking all of
Fang Yuan’s bones in the process. Perhaps with a simple wave of Tie Xue
Leng’s hands, it could send Fang Yuan falling into an impasse.

The situation right now was like two giant elephants fighting, while Fang
Yuan was a domestic cat. Although he had tiny claws, there was nothing he
could do.
“Wait, a cave entrance?”
Chapter 185
 Chapter 185: Gu Yue first gen, Five great flying
zombies

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The tunnel entrance wasn’t big and should have been buried by the red soil
before. But now, as the blood lake surged up in a huge wave, the red soil in
the surrounding walls were washed away, sinking down in the lake. As a
result, the tunnel entrance cleared up again and became visible.

No matter what, this tunnel entrance was like a light of hope. Fang Yuan
immediately turned around and started swimming towards it.

BOOM!

Another intense explosion occurred in the air. The enormous force of the
explosion struck the surroundings and violently pushed Fang Yuan forward.

“Damn it!” He cursed.

Great amounts of red soil had fallen down and buried the tunnel entrance
again.

Iron fist grappling Gu!

In the air, Tie Xue Leng took a deep breath and slowly extended his right
hand when he felt the time was right.

There was a ripple in the air before him and a giant black iron hand
appeared; it appeared slow but pressed down on the blood river python’s
tail within moments.
Blood river python struggled fiercely, and with its wet scales and slick
body, the iron hand slipped off it and burst out with golden-red light.

Tie Xue Leng, however, had plenty of battle experiences and wasn’t
downcast. He slightly raised his head, puffed up his cheeks and blew
strongly towards the Blood River Python.

Whoosh!Pitch black oil fell down like waterfall and formed into the shape
of a dragon in the air, before plunging towards the Blood River Python.

Oil Dragon Gu!

The blood River Python was furious. It snarled and started tearing at the Oil
Dragon Gu.

The black oil dragon was not in the least inferior to Blood River Python in
terms of physique, but it was only a Rank four Gu and did not have a
physical body; it was soon torn to shreds by Blood River Python.

Tie Xue Leng smiled, on the contrary.

Beasts were beasts, if a Gu Master had personally controlled it, they would
have seen through this classic and ordinary battle tactic. The Blood River
Python had been refined and although it had a Gu Master’s imprint on it, it
didn’t have the wisdom of humans.

The oil dragon was exterminated, causing backlash to the Oil Dragon Gu in
the aperture.

Tie Xue Leng didn’t care; he stopped using the Oil Dragon Gu then began
activating Fire Dragon Gu.

He gave a loud shout and his body shook, and then a Gu that looked like a
flame shot out of his aperture. The flame quickly formed into a fire snake,
winding around its own body.

As the fire snake flew, it grew bigger, then it immediately started growing
scales, claws, horns and sharp teeth. Its face started becoming more like that
of a horse; it had changed into an enormous fire dragon.
This Fire Dragon Gu was also a Rank four Gu, but it was able to cause a lot
of pain to Blood River Python.
This was because of the oil dragon; when it was wiped out, great amounts
of black oil stuck to Blood River Python’s body, and now the fire dragon
was causing the oil to catch fire and roast the Blood River Python.

Besides the snake, the black oil had also fallen on the lake surface. Right
now, a raging inferno was burning on the bright red blood lake, causing the
air temperature to increase rapidly.

The fire dragon was not the Blood River Python’s match at all, it suffered
heavy injuries and kept on shrinking. But every time this happened, it
would drill into the raging inferno and recover some of its power.

With the raging inferno, the fire dragon had a homeground advantage.

Blood River Python was constantly being burned as it fought with the fire
dragon, there was even a smell of scorched meat coming off it.

Blood River Python had a berserk nature and it would erupt with even
stronger counterattack if it got suppressed. But right now, it was actually
shrinking back, giving up on the fire dragon and diving deep into the blood
lake.
Humans were the highest of all living beings and possessed the intelligence
to develop new concepts. With Tie Xue Leng’s tactics, two Rank four Gu
were able to make the Rank five Blood River Python retreat.
But Gu were the essence of the world, containing the secrets of heaven and
earth, a portion of the natural laws. And Blood River Python’s ability was
extreme self recovery.

As it sank to the bottom of the lake, the blood water continuously nourished
it, rapidly healing the wounds on its body. The fire dragon had the field
advantage; so did the blood python. As long as the blood lake existed, it
was like a cockroach that couldn’t be killed.

Fang Yuan’s situation was even more perilous.

The inferno on the surface of the blood lake was constantly spreading,
burning even hotter, and the flames were roasting him alive.

The pressure on the Sky Canopy Gu was getting bigger and bigger. But the
most critical point was not this, but rather it was the increasing difficulty in
breathing.

The flames used great amounts of air to maintain their combustion, and this
place is underground and was originally a half-sealed area, which meant it
took more time to replenish the used oxygen. Fang Yuan was gradually
starting to feel suffocated.

“Although Oil Dragon Gu and Fire Dragon Gu sent Blood River Python
retreating with their combined efforts, this is only temporary. As long as
there are large amounts of blood water, Blood River Python will recover
with a terrifying rate. Once it comes out, it will have recovered to its peak
state and the Fire Dragon Gu would no longer be its match. But, this is
basic knowledge, it is impossible for Tie Xue Leng to not know this. Then
he….”
Fang Yuan bobbed up and down on the blazing lake; his thoughts were
revolving rapidly. And his heart tensed when he thought of this.

If he wasn’t wrong, Tie Xue Leng should have achieved his intention by
making Blood River Python retreat.
Tie Xue Leng needed enough time and he needed the situation to be like
this to prepare his following killing move.

Sure enough, in the next moment, while floating in the air Tie Xue Leng
suddenly extended both his arms and a deep roar emerged from his mouth.

He withdrew the righteous aura that had been suppressing everything, and
whole-heartedly poured his Rank five primeval essence into the copper
mask.

The copper mask started to brighten up; it was only a glimmer at first but
within few breaths of time, it burst out with an extremely dazzling green
light, as bright as a fragment of the sun.
The green light shone upon everything like a monarch overlooking the
heavens and earth. For a moment, the red soil, blood lake and raging
inferno were covered with a layer of dark green light.

The green light contained a mystical power.

Under this power, the mountain rocks began to shake and crumble.

From above the cave, huge rocks came crumbling down, flying towards the
copper mask. Great amounts of soil and rocks from the top to bottom of the
red walls also slowly flew up.

Tie Xue Leng’s face was already shrouded by the light from the copper
mask. Great amounts of mountain rocks gathered around the copper mask
and condensed together into a human shape.
Debris continuously converged from all around and the rock figure kept on
getting bigger.

From one meter in the beginning, it rapidly grew to three meters… five
meters…eight meters…and finally reached eighteen meters!

Giant Mountain Puppet Gu!

The giant figure with indomitable spirit descended towards the blood lake.

Its two feet touched the bottom of the blood lake, but the water only
reached up to about its waist. Its body was very robust and grand; horse
chariots could run on its two arms and it could hold an elephant on its fist.

Its face looked simple and unadorned; it was the enlarged version of the
copper mask.

“Fire dragon, come.” It spoke, and its voice seemed to shake the heavens
and earth.

The fire dragon which was churning in the fire sea flew up and coiled
around the giant puppet’s right arm like a snake, and its head rested on the
right shoulder of the giant puppet.
Next, the Oil Dragon Gu flew out and formed a pitch black oil dragon
which coiled around the giant puppet’s left arm and its head rested on the
left shoulder of the giant puppet.

With dragons on his left and right, the giant figure appeared like a heavenly
deity descending down!

Fang Yuan used all his strength to swim towards the tunnel entrance. When
the debris had flown and formed the giant puppet, the red soil covering the
tunnel entrance had also gone with it, once again revealing the opening.

This battlefield was becoming more dangerous, the tunnel entrance could be
buried again at any time; Fang Yuan didn’t dare to stay longer.
The fire sea gradually died out, and suddenly a huge red wave rose from the
blood lake.

Blood River Python initiated its attack from the lake; it coiled around the
giant puppet and moved upwards. The giant snake head smashed towards
the giant puppet’s face like a ram.

This attack was very powerful and if it really struck, more than half of the
giant puppet’s head would be destroyed.
“Iron fist grappling!” The giant puppet shouted; the air split open and an
iron hand flew out, grabbing at the snake head.

With a loud boom, the iron hand shattered but Blood River Python’s attack
was also stopped.

Tie Xue Leng won a brief respite. The giant puppet’s two hands grabbed
towards Blood River Python in tandem.
Oil dragon and fire dragon seized the chance and climbed Blood River
Python. The two snake combined and formed a blazing flame, roasting
Blood River Python.

Blood River Python kept on hissing in pain and struggled furiously. But
why would Tie Xue Leng let it escape so easily? The giant puppet’s hands
were like pincers as they firmly pressed on the Blood River Python.
The Blood River Python was not able to escape. Its body was scorched
black, giving off the smell of burnt meat. This stimulated its vicious nature;
since it couldn’t escape, it coiled around the giant puppet and violently
contracted, trying to kill it by constriction.

Although the giant puppet was made from condensed mountain rocks, its
body had the softness of the red soil. With Blood River Python’s
constricting force, its waist quickly shrunk by a fold.

Cracking sounds emerged, and fragments of rocks flew in all directions.

Under the stimulation of death, Blood River Python burst forth with an even
greater strength.

Fang Yuan finally climbed to the edge of the tunnel entrance, when
suddenly the giant puppet gave out coughing sounds.
Tie Xue Leng’s old illness had reappeared!

The giant puppet’s hands loosened, and the Blood River Python hissed and
its body suddenly jumped ahead.

However, the giant puppet’s hands tightened again. The Blood River Python
opened its mouth wide and revealed its sharp fangs, its head crazily
swaying but it still fell short by a distance.

It was not able to retaliate and it was gradually losing its strength; it would
burn to death soon.

But right at this moment, dense bloody fog rose up from the middle of the
blood lake.

“Blood Frenzy Gu!” Fang Yuan’s eyes showed a hint of dread; he

immediately climbed the tunnel entrance and went inside it.

The bloody fog rapidly pervaded the air, and the raging inferno on the
bloodlake had completely extinguished.

A whirlpool appeared in the middle of the blood lake.

The whirlpool had started from the middle of the lake and quickly spread
from there, growing bigger until its edges were touching the surrounding
walls.

“Humph, Gu Yue first head, you couldn’t endure it anymore?….” The giant
puppet coldly snorted.

A giant blood wave reaching as high as ten meters gushed out of the middle
of the whirlpool.

And from within the blood wave, a vertical crimson coffin gradually rose
up.

” Hehehehe ….” A hoarse and strange voice was transmitted from inside the
coffin, and anyone that heard this voice would feel cold to the bone.

“Young junior, thou dare spoil my plan, thou court death and I shall give it
to thee!” Before the voice had died away, the coffin lid shot out like a
catapult, revealing a shrivelled corpse.

He had a scarlet face and fangs, his hair red like blood, his eyes deep and
contained a fire that seemed about to extinguish.

He had no skin, and thin strips of red muscles were clinging onto the white
bones, giving him a shrivelled and fierce look.

“Junior, thou art wounded but yet dare to provoke me. Today, thou shalt
die!!” The corpse spoke, but there was no movement in its mouth, the voice
had come from its abdomen.
He kept on saying ‘ I ’, ‘ thou ’— these were the speech habits of thousand
years ago.

“Rank five Blood Wight Gu! Is he really the first head?” Fang Yuan was
flabbergasted, but wasn’t surprised.

In this magical world, there were plenty of Gu Masters who lived for
centuries. Besides using the most orthodox way of increasing lifespan
through the Lifespan Gu, there were also some demonic ways to make one
live forever.

For instance, the Rank two Roaming Zombie Gu.

If this Gu was used for too long, the Gu Master would turn completely into
a zombie and as long as they sucked blood at specific times, they could live
freely forever.

The Gu Yue first head in front of him had used such a way.

Blood Wight Gu was a major Rank five advancement route of the Roaming
Zombie Gu. Along with the Asura zombie, heavenly demon zombie,
nightmare zombie and plague zombie, they were called five great flying
zombies.

The Lifespan Gu was difficult to find. The first head had turned himself into
a blood wight flying zombie and buried himself here!
Chapter 186
Chapter 186: Spring and autumn does not appear

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the blood lake, two strong foes opposed each other.

“Even the Rank five Blood Wight is only a zombie at the end. First gen Gu
Yue, you are no longer a living person, you are full of death essence. Your
aperture is dead too, and even though you can store primeval essence, every
bit you use cannot be replenished, you cannot recover on your own,” the
giant puppet said coldly.

“Hehehe… although I cannot recover primeval essence, so what? I can

continue to use primeval stones to regain primeval essence. You have an
injury on you, yet you dare disturb me… die!” First gen Gu Yue shouted.

At once, blood mist spewed out, and as blood waves raged on, a large group
of insects flew out from the blood lake.

It was the Rank five Blood Guillotine!

At the same time, troops of bladewing blood bats flew out from the cave
ceiling and emerged from the blood lake, joining together and attacking
towards the giant puppet.

A large pack of bats, almost a thousand of them, formed into a huge army.

Although they were Rank three and were a close-combat type Gu, but
numbers made up for quality, even the Rank five Tie Xue Leng felt a
headache fighting against them.

But that was not the end, for after First gen Gu Yue’s consciousness
awakened, under his command, troops of blood bats continued to show up,
gathering here.

He had operated there for almost a thousand years, and had a heaven
shattering scheme. He had converted the place into his personal backyard,
thus having a great location advantage.

Blood bat groups were organised, staying in formation in the air, continuing
to move around like a strong army, surrounding the giant puppet.

The blood river python stopped struggling, instead coiling up its body. This
caused Tie Xue Leng to feel a threat, and he concentrated his mind even
further.

A Gu’s power although strong, was unintelligent. A blood bat army with or
without a Gu Master’s control, had a hell of a difference.

“First gen Gu Yue only just appeared, and yet he has turned the tables,
almost suppressing Tie Xue Leng. He has great location advantage, having
his troops at his disposal, while Tie Xue Leng has an injury on him, the
situation is not looking good.”

Fang Yuan had hid into a cave in the walls, using the shadows to hide and
observe the battle.

“But Tie Xue Leng has roamed the Southern Borders for many years. With
an injury on him but still entering this trap, he has to have some trump card.
No matter what, there’s going to be an intense battle soon, this entire district
might even collapse. Should I stay here and observe? Staying here is very
dangerous, this is the deepest part of the underground cave, I might get
buried alive. If I stay and watch the show, what are the chances of me
benefiting from their conflict?”

Fang Yuan thought quickly, evaluating the gains and losses.

He was only Rank three initial stage now, and there was a high risk in
staying. As long as he got hit indirectly by one of their attacks, he would get
heavily injured.
But if he really gained something from this, surviving to the end, the
benefits would be overwhelming. After all, what a Rank five Gu Master
owns could help him save up to a hundred years of hard work!

“High risk high return…” Fang Yuan heaved a long sigh, and planned to
retreat.

The situation was no longer under his control; there was too much risk in
staying.

Birds die for food, people die for fortune, these situations, he had seen
much of them in his previous five hundred years of living.

He was vigilant in nature. As long as he lived, there would always be more

opportunities in the future. After all, he knew countless secrets and many
unexposed inheritance grounds; they were all profitable and useful to him,
he did not have to risk his life here.

Just when Fang Yuan was about to leave, a small amount of blood bats flew
out from the army and towards him.

This blood bat group had around a hundred, causing Fang Yuan to quickly
retreat.

“My clan junior, don’t worry. There are traps set up in that cave, and even
underground beasts reside there. These blood bats can ensure your safety,”
the first gen Gu Yue’s voice resounded.

When Fang Yuan heard this, he ran even faster.First gen Gu Yue was
slightly shocked, not expecting Fang Yuan to be so observant at such a
young age, able to sense his evil intents. Immediately, he pushed his will
and another group of hundreds of blood bats chased after Fang Yuan.

His distraction caused Tie Xue Leng to discover a weakness that wasn’t
really a flaw.

Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu!

Howl!The giant puppet opened its mouth, giving off a howl that shook the
nine heavens. At once, the overwhelming soundwaves rushed towards all
directions like the sound of thunder.

The bladewing blood bat Gu closeby were instantly murdered by this

power, falling down one by one.

Blood bat groups further away were in disarray from the attack, flying
randomly in the air.

The concentrated bat army earlier had in a split second, gone into chaos and
could not have any utility in the next short period.

Heaven Earth Magnificent Sound Gu was as high as Rank five, and it was
an area-of-effect type that specialized in dealing with blood bat groups.
When Tie Xue Leng first used it, the power was not strong, but that was due
to him keeping it down forcefully. Now that he used the body of the giant
puppet, he could display the true power of the Heaven Earth Magnificent
Sound Gu.

Even numerous Blood Guillotine all over the sky were killed. As the blood
mist dispersed, clear vision returned.

The soundwaves bounced off the walls as the entire space within the
mountain started trembling.

With the giant puppet as the focal point, the blood lake’s water level was
forced downwards, forming a bowl shape in the lake, and the blood water
oozed out through the cave opening.

But before that, there were sound waves spreading.

Fang Yuan was caught in the crossfire, his white armor shimmering, almost
breaking apart. To endure this soundwave attack, his aperture’s primeval
essence was used up by about 10%.

The soundwaves echoed in the narrow cave, and Fang Yuan’s ears could not
endure the buzzing and he almost tripped on the ground.
But this soundwave was at least helpful to him.

For the two groups of blood bats chasing him, the second was already
decimated, and the first were in chaos from the attack, flying all over the
place in the cave and not being able to chase Fang Yuan.

It was a rare chance, so Fang Yuan quickly sprinted, pulling some distance
from the blood bats.
This group of bats were the furthest from the soundwaves, thus recovering
quickly. They flapped their wings, continuing their assault.

There were about a hundred blood bats, all Rank three. Fang Yuan could not
fight against them and could only run away.

Earlier, the cave was dark and he did not know the directions. But now, his
eyes had adapted to the dark environment, and he could see a bit of the area.

This was all thanks to the red soil emitting light.

Although his thunderwings were already unreliable, it could at least help a

little, thus Fang Yuan activated it with all his strength.

But even so, the two had a great difference in speed, and the distance was
slowly shortened.

“The distance is almost there, it’s time to use the Spring Autumn Cicada!”
Fang Yuan gritted his teeth. As the blood bat group continued to get closer,
he could only use this method!

Bladewing blood bat Gu was only Rank three, so the Rank six Gu aura
completely dominated them. But Tie Xue Leng and First gen Gu Yue were
nearby.

Once the Spring Autumn Cicada appears, it would cause a great mirage and
the commotion would attract their attention.

But Fang Yuan had no choice. With the situation before him, he could only
hope that they were concentrated in fighting, and could not split their
attention towards him.
Screech screech…

The blood bat group continued to get closer, almost less than a hundred
steps away.

Fang Yuan breathed out in anticipation, thinking in his heart, “Spring

Autumn Cicada, come out!”

One second, two seconds, three seconds……

Fang Yuan was stunned, standing on the spot; the Spring Autumn Cicada
was in the center of his aperture, unmoving while emitting a brilliant yellow
green light.

“How can this be?!” Fang Yuan was shocked.

Far away, the sky glowed amidst the mist.

It was dawn.

On the slope, Gu Yue Bo, Bai clan and Xiong clan leader stood side by side.

“Even though the real competition is tomorrow, we have to have a

preliminary competition. The time is just right, shall we start?” Xiong clan
leader smiled as he said.

Bai clan leader snorted, ignoring him.

“Then let’s start.” Gu Yue Bo answered while distracted. He moved his gaze
to the Gu Masters gathered there, trying to search but could not find Fang
Yuan among them.

His worry intensified.

These Gu Masters were all under thirty years old, and while standing
together, they distinctly split into three groups.
Taking one glance, the three clan’s strength was apparent.

Xiong clan had the most Gu Masters since they retreated at the start, and
kept most of their battle strength. Gu Yue clan and Bai clan had less
members, but Bai clan had Bai Ning Bing. He alone was enough to promote
the Bai clan’s overall strength to the top of the three clans.

Xiong clan leader shouted, “This competition will be held around the
surrounding hundred li, all the way until night time, ending when the sun
sets. Battles will not have life-and-death restrictions, but I hope you can
control yourselves. You have a token in your hands, and the ones who
collect thirty of them gets the qualification to enter the three-clans
competition! Ready, and start!”

Life and death battles, only those who qualify can enter. There is no
participation limit, and the surrounding hundred li is the stage. Even
entering midway is permitted.

This is not a fair competition. But the three clan leaders did not have any
opinions or grudges towards it.

In this world, survival is based on one’s own strength, one’s fist. The
stronger you are, the more rights you have to gain more benefits. If you are
weak, then you should begrudge your luck and lay low, accumulating
strength and becoming strong.

In a few breath’s time, Fang Yuan felt like two or three years had passed.

His forehead was full of cold sweat; the Spring Autumn Cicada was unable
to come out, how could this happen?

Spring Autumn Cicada is his vital Gu, it was very important to him. A Rank
six Gu, his final trump card, to think it could not be controlled! This was
too severe, and Fang Yuan had to place all his attention on this problem.

In the dark cave, he squinted.

He only panicked for less than a second, before calming himself down.

His mind moved like lightning, his spirit entering his aperture; there was
nothing wrong with the Spring Autumn Cicada, it was still recovering
quickly.

But no matter how Fang Yuan willed it, it remained stagnant at the center,
not moving even a single step.

“I get it!” Fang Yuan was enlightened, “This Spring Autumn Cicada, once it
becomes a vital Gu, it stays in the aperture and can no longer be moved.”

Gu was the essence of living beings, it had endless possibilities, and all
sorts of forms and abilities.

For Gu worms — nurture, use, and refine, all three were deep and profound
and often were there special cases in these aspects.

On ‘nurturing’, Gu worms only ate specific food. On ‘refine’, they had all
sorts of requirements.

On ‘use’, the Bamboo Gentleman could only be used by a Gu Master that

has never lied. And to use the Righteous Gu, it needed the Gu Master to
have a heart of justice.

Or the Photo-audio Gu, dying after one use, while the visuals could stay on
the rock walls for a period of time.

Once the Spring Autumn Cicada is refined, it stays in the aperture and can
no longer be moved. This specialty, reminded Fang Yuan of another Gu —
The Water Curtain Skyflower.
Chapter 187
 Chapter 187: There exists one river of time, and
the Spring Autumn Cicada acts as the crossing
boat

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The Water Curtain Skyflower Gu was a Rank four Gu. Once used, it would
turn into a giant spherical water shield. The defensive strength of the shield
was extremely good and it could even resist attacks from Rank five Gu.
However, it had a big weakness; it couldn’t be moved and couldn’t be
stopped. The water shield isolated the inside and outside world, so even the
owner couldn’t freely enter or exit. Thus, this was used by many forces to
protect their territories.

Fang Yuan was not familiar with Spring Autumn Cicada.

In his previous life, he died by the besiegement of the righteous path after
just having succeeded in refining the Spring Autumn Cicada; he simply
didn’t have the time to experiment with it. Also, Spring Autumn Cicada
wasn’t his vital Gu at the time and this characteristic hadn’t revealed itself.

In this life, his cultivation was still low, so he didn’t dare to randomly let
out the Spring Autumn Cicada.

Spring Autumn Cicada was classified as one of the most unusual Gu and
was extremely mysterious. The records of the insights and experiences of its
users had never been spread.

Furthermore, once a Gu reaches Rank six and above, they become the only
one of their type in the whole world. If someone wanted to refine them,
they would only have a probability of success after the previous Gu died,
otherwise it was a hundred percent failure.
Thus, this led to Fang Yuan knowing about this characteristic only now.

“Rebirth isn’t an easy thing, the Spring and Autumn conceals disaster.
Spring Autumn Cicada’s recovery speed is increasing more and more, and
even the cultivation speed of an A grade aptitude with a sea of resources
might not be able to match its speed. Their aperture will sooner or later
explode under the pressure of Spring Autumn Cicada!”

Fang Yuan clenched his teeth.

Rebirth was beautiful but possessing Spring Autumn Cicada was equivalent
to having half a ten extreme aptitude. It was like being under the execution
post where you could be executed at any moment!

“If I can’t let Spring Autumn Cicada out, then does that mean I can only use
it to rebirth again?” Fang Yuan’s frowns deepened.

This appeared to be the only way. A rebirth would mean Spring Autumn
Cicada would enter a weak state again, and at the same time, Fang Yuan
could escape from this dangerous situation.

This situation seemed to be perfect, but it contained many problems and

huge dangers.

First of all, there was no guarantee of the rebirth being successful.

Fang Yuan had gone through rebirth once and he was only able to bring
back his valuable experience.

He came to an understanding by integrating the Earth’s concept: The world

is a three-dimensional space and time is an axis connecting the past and
present. Without time, space would be stationary. The movements of every
matter was a process, signifying the consumption of time.

There were no parallel dimensions in a world. Using the Spring Autumn

Cicada to be reborn was to step across from the latter half of the time axis
(future) to some point in the first half (past).

However, Fang Yuan’s aged body in the ‘future’ didn’t exist in the ‘past’.
Due to the restrictions from the great dao of the world, his body couldn’t be
brought over to the past, and could only self-detonate. The energy from the
self-detonation was a propulsion force and the fragment of the laws of time
in Spring Autumn Cicada was like a lone boat which carried Fang Yuan’s
consciousness from ‘future’ to be reborn into the ‘past’.

Consciousness wasn’t a physical matter like a body. Strictly speaking, this

‘future’ consciousness too, didn’t exist in the ‘past’.

The ingenuity was contained therein!

‘Future’ consciousness led to the Gu Master changing himself, and thereby

influencing his surroundings. This influence would gradually extend to the
whole world; this was the butterfly effect.

When the butterfly effect took place, the world would no longer be the
same, causing the existence of the ‘future’ consciousness to receive the
approval of the great dao of the world.

Someone had said that history was like a long river, and a change in an
event in the upstream would completely change the downstream.

This mystical world of Gu was like the water in the long river. Almost
everyone could only flow along with the stream and go from upstream to
downstream. Fang Yuan’s consciousness, however, went against the stream,
going from downstream to upstream by relying on Spring Autumn Cicada.

When he made changes in the upstream, there would also be changes in the
downstream. But the river was still the same river; the world of Gu Masters
was still the world of Gu Masters. It was just that history had turned into
another corner, bringing another possibility to the equation.

This analogy could be easily understood.

However, Spring Autumn Cicada hadn’t recovered completely. It was like a

leaky, worn-out boat right now.
Fang Yuan’s cultivation was also only Rank three initial stage. There would
be an unimaginable difference between the propulsion force of his self-
detonation now from the self-detonation of his Rank six cultivation in his
previous life. With such a minute force, he simply wouldn’t be able to push
the Spring Autumn Cicada, let alone flow against the long river of time.
“I probably won’t succeed by trying to rebirth through self-detonation. Who
is to say that the broken boat won’t be stranded in the long river? And if that
happens, my consciousness and memories will be ruthlessly washed away
by time. To raise the probability of success, it would be best to wait until
the aperture is pushed to the limits, stall for time as much as possible and let
Spring Autumn Cicada recover more, decreasing the holes in the worn-out
boat. At the same time, increasing my cultivation will provide higher
propulsive force to go against the stream, after self-detonation.” Fang Yuan
heaved a long sigh.

This change in the Spring Autumn Cicada was beyond his anticipation. But
with his ever cautious nature, he had a plan ready.
The blood bat group was nearing. Fang Yuan, however, had his attention in
his aperture.

Yellow-green rays of light flooded his aperture. His white silver primeval
sea was as still as a mirror under the majestic aura of Spring Autumn
Cicada, but there were dangerous cracks in the light membrane of his
aperture.

All the other Gu had been suppressed down to the depths of the sea by
Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura.

Fang Yuan sent his will and a Gu slowly flew towards the surface of the sea,
resisting the pressure.

This Gu appeared like a square dice; it was gray and very firm.
This was one of the Gu that Fang Yuan had plundered from Bai Ning Bing.

It was a one-time use Gu, and would disappear once used. But its effects
were extraordinary, and once used it would completely extract all the
strength and potential in a Gu Master’s aperture and instantly raise a Gu
Master’s cultivation to the peak stage of the same rank.
“Stone Aperture Gu, explode.”

Fang Yuan willed it; the Stone Aperture Gu immediately exploded,

changing into grey powders just like the smoke from a cigarette, and
pervaded the primeval sea.

The aperture’s walls were originally a light membrane, but once this grey
powder touched it, the light immediately dimmed down. The powder stuck
to the light membrane and the light membrane gradually thickened,
experiencing a qualitative change from light to stony.

After several seconds, Fang Yuan’s aperture walls had thickened by several
times and changed into a heavy, sturdy stone aperture.

The yellow-green radiance of Spring Autumn Cicada still fluctuated

continuously, but the aperture could now support its pressure.

Fang Yuan was at Rank three initial stage with light silver primeval essence,
and his primeval sea shone with light silver light. But right now, his
cultivation experienced a sudden rise, leaping from Rank three initial stage
to Rank three peak stage, possessing snow silver primeval essence!

“Using the Stone Aperture Gu means cutting off one’s advancement route
and using up all the potential within the aperture; it will be very difficult to
step to Rank four. But, my cultivation has increased and the aperture has
turned into stone walls, which is multiple times thicker and firmer than
before, and will be able to support the pressure from Spring Autumn Cicada
for the time being! Using the Stone Aperture Gu should have been Bai Ning
Bing’s response to the limits of Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique.
Unfortunately, the Ten Extreme Aptitudes are much more troublesome than
the Spring Autumn Cicada. Their potential is endless and even by turning
one’s aperture into stone, the aperture walls will quickly recover.”

At this second, the bladewing blood bat group pounced in for the kill.

Fang Yuan gave a cold snort, then took out his Chainsaw Golden Centipede
and killed as he retreated.
Fortunately, this tunnel was narrow, and with the Sky Canopy Gu’s defense
and the Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s wide body, Fang Yuan was able to
block the blood bat group and stop them from surrounding him.

This greatly reduced their threat.

For a moment, there were only continuous ringing sounds within the tunnel.

The sounds of Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s attacks and the sound of

bladewing blood bats smashing into the white armor, quickly echoed
through the tunnel walls and formed into a medley.

The primeval essence in Fang Yuan’s aperture continued to deplete rapidly.

There were close to a hundred blood bats, but without a Gu Master there to
control them, there were a lot of internal frictions between the bats and they
couldn’t form a tacit cooperation. Thus, in reality, Fang Yuan only needed
to deal with 30-40 blood bats at the same time.

But even this number wasn’t something he could withstand, and he had to
retreat while fighting back.

What was even more awkward was that even though he had leaped to Rank
three peak stage, his aperture still contained the initial stage light silver
primeval essence. Just by relying on his C grade aptitude, the self-
production speed of snow silver primeval essence was way too slow. The
current situation also didn’t allow Fang Yuan to multitask and take out
primeval stones to absorb natural primeval essence.

Consuming primeval stones could quickly recover primeval essence, but

this method wasn’t suitable in a real battle.

Distracting oneself in a life and death battle was asking for humiliation; it
was an extremely stupid move and was akin to courting death. At the same
time, the efficiency in absorbing natural primeval essence at such a situation
was also very low.
This way could only be used during normal cultivation, or to exploit short
gaps in battles to quickly recover primeval essence.

Luckily, Fang Yuan obtained a grass gu not long ago: Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus could produce primeval stones; it was

very precious and rare. But in fact, this effect was only an expression of its
innate ability.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was also called ‘portable spirit spring’
and its innate ability was to produce natural primeval essence. The primeval
essence would then condense together to form primeval stones.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus that Fang Yuan possessed was lying
deep in his primeval sea; it appeared like an extremely small spirit spring.

Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus’s recipe was created by Immortal

Venerable Genesis Lotus.

Only the Gu Masters who have reached Rank nine were respected as
venerables. For righteous path, they were called Immortal Venerables; and
for demonic path, they were called Demonic Venerables.

Immortal Venerable Genesis Lotus was also known as the the person with
the fastest primeval essence recovery speed since the ancient times. In this
aspect, he was above other immortal venerables and demonic venerables,
and it was all because of the Essence Lotus!

Fang Yuan’s Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was only a Rank three and
he had just refined it, so it was at its poorest level. But it was already
providing a continuous supply of natural primeval essence to Fang Yuan.

The moment this natural primeval essence appeared in Fang Yuan’s

aperture, it would be automatically refined and turned into snow silver
primeval essence.
Supposedly if Fang Yuan absorbed primeval essence from primeval stones,
he would still have to divide a part of his mind. But this Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus was his Gu, so using it was as simple and easy as moving
his fingers!

Fang Yuan retreated while fighting, and with the assistance of Heavenly
Essence Treasure Lotus, his primeval essence recovery speed could already
be comparable with B grade aptitude Gu Masters.

“Kill!”

He gave a fierce shout before abruptly changing his battle style and
charging into the blood bat group.

Chainsaw Golden Centipede exploded forth, and its silver sawtooth crazily
rotated around, producing screeching sounds as it cut down on a bladewing
blood bat hiding in the rear.

This blood bat appeared rather similar to other blood bats, albeit looking a
bit more dominant. This was the sole male bat in this blood bat group, and
was refined by the first gen Gu Yue. By controlling it, one could indirectly
gain control of the whole blood bat group.

Fang Yuan had been secretly planning this attack after careful observation,
and made this attack appear unintentional. With the Gu Yue first head not
present on the scene, this attack was very effective.

The male bat died on the spot, twisting into a bloody pulp.
The remaining female bats immediately scattered!
Chapter 188
 Chapter 188: Senior paves the way for juniors to
run smoothly

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In a blood bat group, there was only one male bat, while the rest were all
females under the command of the male bat.

Between the male and female bats, they looked the same and did not have
difference in appearances. But Fang Yuan was beyond familiar with these
bladewing blood bats in his previous life. As long as he had enough time, he
could differentiate them.

Without the male bat, the entire group fell into chaos.

Fang Yuan took the chance and waved the Chainsaw Golden Centipede,
killing his way through.

A moment later, over twenty bladewing blood bats were decimated,

showing Fang Yuan’s resolution of battle.

But the intense battle also caused Fang Yuan’s primeval essence in his
aperture to decrease tremendously.

“Time to go!” Fang Yuan decisively retreated, running away at full force.

When the blood bat group behind him reacted, Fang Yuan was already a
hundred steps away. About twenty bladewing blood bats continued to chase
after him while the others flew in all directions.

“Gasp gasp…” In the narrow tunnel, Fang Yuan breathed hard while
sprinting, activating the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.
After an intense battle, the snow silver primeval essence left in his aperture
as well as the low primeval sea level gradually rose back up.

The longer time passed, the faster Fang Yuan’s battle strength recovered.

Suddenly, Fang Yuan’s thunderwings flapped, and the force dragged his
entire body forward, almost letting him crash into the cave walls.

The Thunderwings Gu had been polluted by the Blood Frenzy Gu, and it
had reached its limits, starting to show signs of being uncontrollable.

“Very soon, the Thunderwings Gu will turn into a pool of blood water and
turn into a new pollution source.” Thinking so, Fang Yuan stopped
hesitating and activated it three times, finally causing the disobeying
Thunderwings Gu to detach from his back.

“Go.” Fang Yuan resolutely gave up the Thunderwings Gu, throwing it

behind him.

The bladewing blood bat group behind him surrounded the Thunderwings
Gu completely. They rushed up, tearing the Thunderwings Gu into bits.

This obstruction gave Fang Yuan a little bit of time to recover.

Until the bladewing blood bats caught up to Fang Yuan, the primeval
essence in his aperture had already recovered over half of the total.

The snow silver primeval essence compared to the light silver primeval
essence, had several times more sustainability, and Fang Yuan’s current
battle strength had greatly exceeded an initial stage.

He laughed heartily, waving the Chainsaw Golden Centipede to fight once

again.

After killing around 8-9 of them, the rest all flew and escaped.

“Unfortunately I do not have a Gu like the iron hand grappling Gu. The
bladewing blood bat Gu flies too fast, and its wings are sharp like blades, it
is really hard to capture. If I can capture two or three, that would be nice.”
Fang Yuan kept the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, and turned around
towards the deeper part of the cave.When he snatched the Heavenly
Essence Treasure Lotus, he was engulfed by the blood water. That was
definitely caused by the first gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue used the Blood Wight Gu, turning into a flying zombie.
His aperture was long dead and could no longer recover primeval essence.
Unless he used primeval stones, his primeval essence in the aperture would
be limited by the amount left inside.

But if he had a Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, to a large extent, he could

negate this weakness.

Thus, not long ago, he sent two groups of bladewing blood bats towards
Fang Yuan, attempting to capture him. Thankfully, Fang Yuan saw
something amiss and turned around in time. At the same time, Tie Xue Leng
indirectly helped him with the soundwave.

“I wonder how’s the battle between Tie Xue Leng and First gen Gu Yue.”
Fang Yuan gaze was concentrated.

No matter which side won, they would still target him.

Tie Xue Leng wants to bring him to justice, while First gen Gu Yue wants
the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

Although the bladewing blood bats had dispersed, Fang Yuan’s danger was
still unresolved.

“I have to leave Qing Mao mountain immediately, as soon as possible!”

Fang Yun gritted his teeth. He could no longer return, only able to walk
along this mountain cave, trying to find a way out.

This cave was obviously man-made, but after a long time, many areas had
collapsed.

Fang Yuan continued to advance, and when he met these dead ends he could
only use the Chainsaw Golden Centipede.
The Chainsaw Golden Centipede was originally an underground creature,
adept at digging holes, so at this time it had a great use.

Fang Yuan also had the strength of two boars, and he dug through the soil
and continued forward.

This greatly reduced his speed, and after three to four hours, he finally got
to the end of the cave.

A large sturdy rock wall blocked his path completely.

Even the Chainsaw Golden Centipede couldn’t drill its way through.

“Did the First gen Gu Yue seal this cave completely already?” Fang Yuan’s
heart sank.

Bam!

The two sides’ palms met, and the Xiong clan Gu Master flew into the air
like a rag, landing heavily on the ground.

Cough

The Xiong clan Gu Master coughed out a mouthful of blood, falling

unconscious.

In the sky, the sun was shining brightly, sending down scorching rays of
light. The sunlight shone over the wilderness, and the light reflected on Bai
Zhong Shui’s fat face.

This young Bai clan Gu Master laughed smugly, “Hmph, so what if you’re
the Xiong clan Gu Master? Daring to compete strength with me!”

She moved her fat ‘slim body’, trying to finish off her opponent and take
the token, but suddenly a moonblade came attacking.

Bam!

Bai Zhong Shui’s body turned, shooting a water ball from her mouth.
The water ball and moonblade collided, exploding together.

Three Gu Masters with Fang Zheng as the lead, jumped down from the
branches.

“Gu Yue clan’s people, this is my battle reward.” Bai Zhong Shui squinted,
her eyes showing a dangerous light.

Fang Zheng’s strangely bloodshot eyes stared at Bai Zhong Shui intently as
he said, “So what? Now YOU are our prey!”

At another side of the forest, more footsteps were heard.

A few people walked out from the shadows; it was Xiong clan’s genius
youngster Xiong Lin. his bald head reflected the sunlight, causing him to
shine like a diamond.

“Hehehe, this has gotten interesting!” Bai Zhong Shui laughed loudly, but
the next moment her laughter stopped.

The two sides attacked together, causing Bai Zhong Shui to be caught off
guard, getting surrounded.

Bai Zhong Shui coughed out some blood, her expression turning ugly,
“What? Gu Yue clan, you are cooperating with these despicable Xiong clan
people?”

Fang Zheng was expressionless, his killing intent raging, not saying a word
and getting closer to Bai Zhong Shui.

Xiong Lin laughed, “This battle concerns the three clans’ demographics for
the next hundred years, so let me tell you. Gu Yue clan has already
established an alliance with our Xiong clan. Bai Zhong Shui, today is your
death date.”

“Spit!” Bai Zhong Shui coughed out a mouth of blood water as she stared at
her surroundings in disdain, “So what if I die? Heh, ganging up… you are
just afraid of our Bai Ning Bing. It’s useless, this is only the initial battle,
there will still be 1 versus 1 later. Is there anyone in your clans that can
fight against Bai Ning Bing? We are destined to be number one!”

“Hehehe, thus we decided that in this first battle, we shall cooperate and
finish off Bai Ning Bing!” Xiong Lin laughed loudhly.

buzzbuzzbuzz

Chainsaw Golden Centipede’s razors grinded against the rock wall, causing
a loud noise to echo in the cave.

This rock wall was sturdy and thick, being very weird. Fang Yuan’s
forehead was full of sweat, as he used the Chainsaw Golden Centipede and
Blood Moon Gu to attack in turns, but even after many hours, he only
progressed about 50cm.

“Is it really the end for me… eh?” Fang Yuan’s heart moved, suddenly
feeling that there was a lifeform in the rock wall.

He quickly used the Earth Communication Ear Grass Gu, listening to the
rock wall. There was a mysterious lifeform on the other side of the rock
wall, but its aura was very weak.

Half an hour later, Fang Yuan dug a hole, ad the mysterious life form
showed itself.

Its entire body was pitch black, emitting a metallic glow like iron and steel.
Both its chest and back armor were thick lines that showed a dominating
aura. It had three pairs of legs, each having spiral shaped feelers at the tip. It
caused Fang Yuan to think of the spiral tip of an electric drill.

“It’s the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider!” Fang Yuan was enlightened,

immediately thinking of the Flower Wine Monk.

The questions in Fang Yuan’s heart were mostly answered at this point.

Back then the Flower Wine Monk, in order to nurture the Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus, came to the Gu Yue village. But at the last moment, he was
stopped by First gen Gu Yue, thus he used his methods to throw it into the
blood river graveyard.
The Flower Wine Monk was also a Rank five Gu Master, he had to have an
intense battle with First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue had operated for hundreds of years, having terrain
advantage, so the Flower Wine Monk could not compete against him, thus
he could only escape.

He used the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider to dig out this path, and after
leaving the battlefield he had already suffered an incurable injury. At the
end of his life, he hurriedly left behind his inheritance as a last act of
revenge. He attempted to let his descendants take the Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus and ruin the Gu Yue clan’s foundation.

This explains why the Flower Wine Monk was bathed in blood, his body
full of injuries.

But the reason for why the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider fall into slumber
and seal itself here, that was still a mystery. Also the First gen Gu Yue, what
in the world was he after?

“These suspicions are all minute details. What’s important is leaving this
place!” Fang Yuan stretched out his hand, sending out some primeval
essence and refining the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider.

This sturdy rock wall was the cocoon created by the Thousand Li Earthwolf
Spider when it fell into hibernation. It was extremely weak, like the White
Boar Gu that Fang Yuan took out from the Earth Treasury Flower Gu.

Thus, even though it was Rank five, Fang Yuan easily refined it.

Fang Yuan threw the Thunderwings Gu away earlier and was lacking a
movement-type Gu, this being his weakness once again. But now he
obtained the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider, so it was like a glimmer of
hope in the darkest hour.
This Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was a large steed-type Gu. It ate soil as
food, and was easy to raise.
Fang Yuan injected his snow silver primeval essence into it, and the
Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider gradually awakened, its aura becoming
stronger.

It started to consume, eating large amounts of soil.

When it recovered to an extent, Fang Yuan who couldn’t wait to leave

quickly got onto its back, ordering it to move forward.

Although it had only recovered a little, the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider

was still a Rank five Gu. Its three pairs of legs moved quickly, dashing
through.

After the cocoon broke, the cave behind was exposed too.

This path was the one the Flower Wine Monk created when he escaped.
Seniors pave the way for juniors to run along, so this greatly helped Fang
Yuan.

The only worry was, steed-type Gu worms took a lot of primeval essence to
use.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was Rank five. Rank three primeval
essence could not sustain its expenditure, so every now and then, Fang Yuan
had to stop and sit on the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider’s back, activating
the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus while extracting natural essence from
his primeval stones.

With two sources, as well as his C grade natural recovery, Fang Yuan’s
primeval essence recovery rate was fast, incomparable to before.

As he instructed the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider to move forward, he

would also stop to recover his primeval essence. When they encountered a
cave-in, they would drill their way through, and with such a repeated
process, Fang Yuan gradually moved away from the blood lake graveyard,
going towards the surface.
Chapter 189
 Chapter 189: Shocking change

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The sun lowers as night descends, and the setting sun was like a burning
fire on the horizon.

Standing on a slope was Bai Ning Bing, clothed in white, his hair snowy
white. The setting sun’s last rays reflected in his eyes, hinting that his life
was ending.
“Such a beautiful sunset, how many more times can I see it… this brilliance
of nature, I have only seen a little of them all, what a waste. Especially
when around me, these annoying fellows are still arguing.”

Bai Ning Bing snorted in his heart, retracting his gaze and sweeping the
environment.

Gu Yue and Xiong clan’s alliance, the remaining hundred Gu Masters

gathered together and surrounded Bai Ning Bing.

“Bai Ning Bing, if you back out of this competition now, we can spare your
life!”

“Indeed, if you know your place, we might as well be kind and let you off.”

“Your Bai clan Gu Masters are mostly finished. The remaining ones have
all been stopped by us. Don’t rest your hopes on reinforcements, they will
not come!”

With Fang Zheng, Xiong Jiao Man, Xiong Lin and Chi Cheng as leaders,
the young Gu Masters spoke in turns, trying to break Bai Ning Bing’s
spirits.
But these words, Bai Ning Bing did not put to heart.

“A bunch of rats coming to the elephant and screaming, how pathetically

laughable,” Bai Ning Bing laughed coldly, his gaze sweeping across the
crowd, showing disdain. “Among you people, only Gu Yue Fang Yuan is
slightly interesting. Too bad he isn’t here. Hehe, come at me together.”

Saying so, Bai Ning Bing created an iceblade, using his hand to wipe the
sharp blade that emitted cold energy; he did not even look at the people
around him.

“This person is too arrogant!”

“Hmph, not taking us seriously!”

“Brothers, let’s attack together. Everyone send out one attack, even ten Bai
Ning Bings will be turned into meat paste!”

The Gu Masters jeered, but no one dared to attack rashly.

Although Bai Ning Bing was alone, his aura was overwhelming, causing
everyone to feel threatened.

“Everyone calm down, don’t listen to Bai Ning Bing’s taunts. We did not
practice together before and do not have good cooperation. If we attack
together, we will waste much of our efforts and he will take advantage of
it.” Xiong Lin shouted.

“Then who attacks first?” Chi Cheng asked.

Although they cooperated with Xiong clan and attacked the Bai clan, this
alliance was not a close one. Whoever attacks first bears higher risks, and
also risks the other party taking advantage of their combat.

“Nevermind, I’ll engage Bai Ning Bing first. To be honest, I’ve wanted to
fight you some long ago.” Xiong Jian Man took a step forward.

She blew a whistle, and once she did, sounds of beasts stampeding could be
heard from afar. Many blacks shadows overlapped in the forest, and what
showed up was over two hundred black bears!

The black bear at the front of the horde was larger than the rest; it was a
hundred beast king level black bear.

The wolf tide was dangerous, but it was also an opportunity. Xiong Jiao
Man rose to Rank three because of it, and the Bear Enslavement Gu also
rose to Rank three, finally being able to enslave bear-type hundred beast
kings!

This was Xiong Jiao Man’s trump card.

“Way to go, lady boss!”

“Oh my god~, so many bears.”

“With all these bears and us being around a hundred people, Bai Ning Bing
is dead meat!”

Xiong clan Gu Masters were stirred, getting excited. Gu Yue clan looked
complicated; after Xiong Li died, this Xiong Jiao Man became the number
one contender in the Xiong clan. Looking at Gu Yue clan, after Qing Shu
died, Mo Bei followed as well. Although Fang Yuan rose to Rank three, his
aptitude is only C grade, it was hard to count on him.

“Thankfully, we still have the A grade Gu Yue Fang Zheng!” Many Gu

Masters looked at Fang Zheng, thinking so and feeling assured.

Especially during this three-clan competition, Fang Zheng seemed to have

gotten more mature, attacking more ferociously, and many Bai clan Gu
Masters were killed by him. Such a performance caused many clansmen to
feel comforted.

This was the true disposition of a A grade genius!

“The results are pretty much assured. Even a Rank three peak stage with
much talent cannot be the match for a hundred people. Lord Qing Shu, I
will take revenge for you personally!! After that, if big brother appears…”
Fang Zheng stared intently at Bai Ning Bing, thinking rapidly in his mind.
“Merely a hundred beast king, what a boring trick.”

His entire body was emitting cold air.

“Northern Dark Ice Soul physique… I’m at my limit already huh.” Bai
Ning Bing felt his life ending; his body had reached some sort of limit. Not
soon after, he would die. Even now, he could feel his body starting to
collapse, and much of his flesh and blood was turning into ice and snow.

But even so, Bai Ning Bing remained calm, his gaze concentrated. He took
a final look at the sun’s rays, before turning around and looking at the
charging bear group.

“Since you are all looking for death, I shall act mercifully and grant you all
your wishes. Maybe this way, it can bring some excitement to my life,” he
sighed softly.

Not far away, the three clan leaders and Gu Masters stood still, completely
silent.

“The battle is finally starting! Killing Bai Ning Bing is the greatest
victory!” Xiong clan leader was secretly excited.

“Hmph, we were tricked. They actually ganged up to deal with us. Hehehe,
you have all underestimated Bai Ning Bing, get ready for a shock.” Bai clan
leader was calm as water, plotting in his mind.

Gu Yue Bo showed a worried expression.

Up until now, Fang Yuan and Tie Xue Leng did not show up at all.

Although the three-clan competition was important, his mind was

elsewhere.

“Desolate Yin Ancient Moon physique… If Fang Yuan really has such an
aptitude, we have to protect him at all costs and bring him into the blood
lake graveyard!” Thinking so, Gu Yue Bo looked at Tie Ruo Nan without
turning his body.
This Tie family young lady had a strong background, but she was already
brought around by Gu Yue Bo, secretly a captive.

Tie Ruo Nan was not worried about her situation. She believed her father,
and was also thinking about how to capture Fang Yuan.

Whatever aptitude Fang Yuan had, as long as one bothered to, they could
assess it. If he really was a ten extreme talent, then his suspicion would be
the greatest!

“Fuck!” Fang Yuan cursed, lying on the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider’s

back, sticking closely and preventing himself from falling off.

He wanted to use the Flower Wine Monk’s opened path to advance easily.

But good times do not last, for not long after, the Thousand Li Earthwolf
Spider started to go crazy.

It started to absorb the natural essence in the air, using it. At the same time,
its three pairs of legs started to dig out new paths, moving around randomly
in the underground cave.

Fang Yuan understood finally.

This Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider, under the Flower Wine Monk’s

command, had engaged in battle with First gen Gu Yue previously.

In the battle, it was corrupted by the Blood Frenzy Gu.

The Flower Wine Monk relied on it to escape, then hurriedly created the
secret cave, leaving behind his inheritance before dying.

Upon losing its master, the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider lost control and
frantically went back to that path that it had dug when escaping.

Right before death, what was fortunate was that the Thousand Li Earthwolf
Spider sealed itself and fell into hibernation, preserving its last life force
before dying.
Hundreds of years later, Fang Yuan returned to the place and dug out the
cocoon, causing it to awaken again. But the Blood Frenzy Gu’s problem
was not solved, and thus after a while, it started to act up again.
Fang Yuan was deep in the cave, and just by relying on his own strength he
could not escape to the surface. He needed the ability of the Thousand Li
Earthwolf Spider.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider started to go crazy, getting more

uncontrollable; Fang Yuan could only ride on its back, betting on his luck.

But at this point, the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider’s frequency of going

crazy was not so high, so Fang Yuan still had some control of it.

Although his control was slipping, overall, he still controlled the general
direction. He let the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider dig its way to the
surface, but where it would end up, Fang Yuan had no idea.

The last of the sun’s rays were like blood, reflecting on the minced corpses
and broken limbs everywhere on the battlefield.

Bai Ning Bing stood arrogantly on the battlefield, a thick layer of ice
beneath his feet as the icy domain continued to spread outwards.

The remaining Gu Masters amounted to less than thirty, staying closely

together trying to find a bit of assurance from each other’s body warmth.

The bear group had long been exterminated. Even Xiong Jian Man had been
beheaded by Bai Ning Bing’s iceblade, and her head flew far away as blood
poured like a fountain out of her neck.

Xiong Lin was penetrated by the icicles from Bai Ning Bing, and Gu Yue
Chi Cheng was turned into a ice sculpture. In the ice coffin, he still retained
the dodging action right before death, his face showing shock, fear, and
utter shock, vivid and lifelike.

Fang Zheng’s body was full of injuries, but there was no blood; his injuries
were all frozen by the ice and snow.
He breathed roughly, looking at Bai Ning Bing in disbelief. What happened
earlier was like a nightmare!

Bai Ning Bing was definitely a Rank three, but his battle strength was
almost Rank four!!

“Hmph, although lookalikes, but you are not him, how boring….” Bai Ning
Bing looked at Fang Zheng, walking closer. Fang Zheng still being alive,
was also intentional by Bai Ning Bing.

The Gu Masters all got into a commotion, their morale at its lowest. If not
for the fact that their clan leaders were watching from afar, they would’ve
broken down and escaped for their lives already.

“Damn it, damn it! Why is our battle strength so different, I am an A grade
talent, am I going to die here?” Fang Zheng gritted his teeth, screaming in
his heart.

“Die.” Bai Ning Bing jumped, raising his iceblade high while in mid-air.

SLASH!

The iceblade expanded, almost five to six times of the original, sending an
unblockable aura as it slashed towards everyone.

“I am going to die!”

“Ahhhhh…”
Facing this attack, many Gu Masters broke down and cried in despair.

“Fuck, why did it come to this!” Xiong clan leader’s face was full of
despair.

Gu Yue Bo was urging to move, but Bai clan leader snickered, stopping
him, “Gu Yue clan leader, no one is to interfere, are you going to turn on
your word and break the agreement?”

Gu Yue Bo squinted his eyes, “Bai Ning Bing is only Rank three, he cannot
have such strength, you are cheating blatantly!”
“Cheating? Hehe, let me tell you the truth, our clan’s Bai Ning Bing is the
Northern Dark Ice Soul physique!” Bai clan leader shouted loudly.

“What? Ten extreme aptitude!” At once, Gu Yue Bo and Xiong clan leader
were shocked.

“Reporting! Clan leader, there has been a strange earthquake, many of the
clan’s bamboo buildings have collapsed, and the ground is seeping with
blood water. Not many people are injured but they are flustered,” A Gu Yue
clan Gu Master came running.

“To think that there is a thing!” Gu Yue Bo’s expression changed.

Chapter 190
 Chapter 190: Third battle against Bai Ning Bing

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Moon Raiment!” With the blade impending, Fang Zheng shouted,

activating his Gu worm. A misty light that was blue like the moon gushed
out from his body, extending and surrounding all the Gu Masters around
him.

But even so, everyone was still in despair.

“Struggling is useless.” Bai Ning Bing’s blue eyes shone with cruelty and
indifference.

But at this time!

Bam!
The ground under everyone’s feet suddenly grew and turned into a lump
before exploding, sending soil flying.

Gu Masters cried painfully as they rolled away from the impact.

In a cloud of smoke, a giant spider emerged from everyone’s sights.

The aura of a Rank five Gu made everyone wary.

On the spider that looked like it was made of steel, a black clothed, black
haired young man was standing upright.

“I finally reached the surface!” Fang Yuan clenched his fist, his eyes
emitting a brilliant glow!

“Eh?” Soon after, he saw Bai Ning Bing who was hacking towards him in
mid-air.
The giant iceblade cut through the winds as it slashed towards him.

“Fang Yuan, you are finally here!” Bai Ning Bing’s calm face, after a slight
stun, completely transformed into one of excitement and battle intent.
Fang Yuan snorted before the iceblade touched him. The icy winds caused
him to feel a slight chill as his black hair flew behind him.

He raised his hand, the Chainsaw Golden Centipede!

Bam!
Iceblade collided with the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, and after a
stalemate, the golden centipede’s razors rotated furiously, large amounts of
ice shards flying out.

[Friction noises]

Cracks quickly emerged from the surface of the iceblade, quickly covering
its entire body.
“Break!” Fang Yuan shouted; he had the strength of two boars, his strength
completely overwhelmed Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing could only let go as the iceblade broke into pieces, and ice
shards fell.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider began to go berserk again, spreading its

six legs and attacking towards Bai Ning Bing.
Gu worms had low intellect, but they were born sensitive, able to sense
which target was more of a threat to them. Bai Ning Bing’s aura caused the
Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider to treat him as an enemy, locking onto him.

Bai Ning Bing’s arms waved, and icicles flew out in a row. The icicles hit
the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider’s body and shattered, while the Thousand
Li Earthwolf Spider went berserk and growled, pouncing while Fang Yuan
was on it.

Swish swish swish!

Three black spiral legs shot out like an arrow towards Bai Ning Bing’s
fragile body.
Sensing danger, a snowy light shot out from Bai Ning Bing’s aperture.

The light expanded, revealing the white form immortal snake Gu, floating
in mid-air.
Bai Ning Bing laughed heartily, leaping and landing on the white form
immortal snake’s back, staring at Fang Yuan, “Interesting! Very interesting!
Fang Yuan, you didn’t let me down after all!”

“B-Big…brother…” Fang Zheng climbed up from the floor. His face had
been cut by the iceblade, his face full of blood as he stared at Fang Yuan
with a complex expression.

“The opponent has a Rank five Gu as well?” Bai clan leader’s gaze
tightened, becoming nervous.

“Fang Yuan, you finally appeared! Rank five Gu… isn’t that the Thousand
Li Earthwolf Spider?” Gu Yue Bo’s attention was attracted.

On the battlefield, two youngsters of different ages stood on opposing sides.

One wore white robes, had silver hair and blue eyes, riding on the white
form immortal snake holding an iceblade in his hand, like a ice immortal
descending to the mortal realm.

The other had black robes, black hair and black eyes, standing on the
Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider’s back, having the Chainsaw Golden
Centipede in his hand, buzzing as it rotated, like a demon god summoned
into the world.

The two’s opposing stances attracted many gazes.

Bai Ning Bing had an excited expression, raising the iceblade, shouting
loudly, “This will be the most exciting battle in my life. Come, Fang Yuan,
let us battle to the death!”

“Hmph.” Fang Yuan stared at Bai Ning Bing, using his peripheral vision to
observe the surroundings.
This was the three clans’ competition.
To think that the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider brought him here……

He did not want to engage with Bai Ning Bing and waste his time here.
Whether Tie Xue Leng or the First gen Gu Yue wins, they would definitely
hunt him down. But if he does not defeat this Bai Ning Bing, how could he
escape?

Thus battle it is!

BAM!

White form immortal snake and Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider collided.

The white snake coiled as the black spider stabbed, fighting at close range.

On the two Gu’s backs, two bodies moved about, the iceblade drawing
different sparks in the sky while the Chainsaw Golden Centipede buzzed as
it extended and contracted at will.
The mountain rocks broke, and thunderous explosions happened
continuously.

Icicles hit Fang Yuan directly, but were blocked by the white armor of the
Sky Canopy Gu. Blood moonblade hit Bai Ning Bing, causing a large injury
that was instantly covered by a layer of frost, sealing the wound. The frost
turned into blood and flesh, causing Bai Ning Bing to recover completely.
“It really is the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique!” Xiong clan leader saw
this and stared with his eyes wide open.

Ten extreme physiques were legendary aptitudes, he did not think he would
see one with his own eyes.

“Hehehe, Fang Yuan dares to attempt to fight Bai Ning Bing, he is assured
to lose!” Bai clan leader laughed sinisterly.

“That might not be…” Tie Ruo Nan beside him pouted.

“Ten extreme physique, it has to be it. In such a battle, if he was a C grade,

his primeval essence would’ve been long gone! Fang Yuan, you are indeed
the Desolate Yin Ancient Moon physique!” Gu Yue Bo clenched his fist, his
expression extremely agitated.

“This is big brother’s true power? So big brother really is a ten extreme
physique, he’s been concealing himself this entire time!” Fang Zheng’s
mouth was slightly open, his face full of dejection.

The truth was in front of him, so what does his previous pride amount to
now?

Everytime, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing’s intense clashes would cause his
heart to tremble once.
He felt himself getting smaller, and his older brother Fang Yuan’s shadow
started to enshroud him once again.

“What sort of battle is this! I cannot believe that this is two Rank three Gu
Masters fighting!”

“Did I see wrongly? Fang Yuan is so ferocious? Fighting one on one against
Bai Ning Bing and being equally matched!”

Some surviving young Gu Masters stared in disbelief.

The battle suddenly shifted once again.

White form immortal snake and the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider both
took great damage, but it was not refined by Bai Ning Bing, merely
attracted by the Northern Dark Ice Soul physique.

White form immortal snake spit out a lump of white fog, covering the entire
battlefield. Then, its body trembled and it threw Bai Ning Bing off its body
before leaving.

“This, immortal…” Seeing this, Bai clan leader was shocked. As he

watched the escaping white snake, he did not know what to say.
This fog was like a maze, able to obscure vision and follow one like a
shadow. Fang Yuan was covered by the white fog, and his eyes saw nothing
but whiteness.
But he did not panic, as although his vision was affected, he still had his
other four senses — taste, hearing, smell and touch.

Earth Communication Ear grass.

Roots grew out of Fang Yuan’s ears, and very soon he heard a sound
analyzing the situation within three hundred steps of his radius.

Lightning Eye Gu!

Bai Ning Bing’s eyes shone with lightning. Although Lightning Eye Gu was
Rank three and could break through illusions, this fog made by a Rank five
immortal snake completely suppressed it.

“Fuck!” He cursed loudly.

Icicle Gu!
Dozens of icicles flew out in all directions.

Fang Yuan’s ears twitched, hearing the sound of the icicles moving against
the wind. Thus, he hurriedly flipped his body to the other side of the
Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider.

Bam bam bam.

The icicles struck the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider’s body, causing it to go
into a rage and rush towards the direction of the icicles.

“I’m not going to play with you.” Fang Yuan got off the Thousand Li
Earthwolf Spider, abandoning it and relying on the Earth Communication
Ear grass and attempting to leave the battlefield.

This Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider had already been corrupted by the

Blood Frenzy Gu, about to turn into a pool of blood water soon, so he
should abandon it as soon as possible.

That Bai Ning Bing was now a ticking time bomb, and killing him is akin to
setting off a bomb, he cannot be touched.
The Gu Masters observing the battle only saw a lump of mist, before a
small piece was divided out and floated towards the southeast direction of
the battlefield.

Within this mist, it was naturally Fang Yuan.

The maze fog followed like a shadow, and unless dispelled, it would
continue to obscure Fang Yuan’s vision until the maze fog fades on its own.

Fang Yuan’s eyes continued to see nothing but fog, but he had the Earth
Communication Ear grass, thus he could determine his location through
sound.

The moving wind and tree leaves, the mountain springs and its flowing
water, the chirping of the birds, the breathing of the wild beasts, these were
all sounds. Only the mountain rocks had no sound, thus, he sometimes
knocked into them.

“Iceblade storm!” Behind him, Bai Ning Bing’s voice came.

Huff huff huff…

The winds blew as cold air spread, the temperature in the air started to
decrease, and the white colored iceblade storm was formed, even bigger
than before.

Even the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was repelled by it.

“That lump of mist, it should be Fang Yuan! Quickly stop him!!” Beside,
Tie Ruo Nan shouted loudly.

“Fang Yuan, don’t go, Gu Yue village is your home!” Gu Yue Bo was
anxious, trying to chase after him but was stopped by the other two clan
leaders.

“Why? Gu Yue clan leader, are you going to break the agreement and enter
the battlefield?” Xiong clan leader crossed his arms and snickered.
“Hmph, our Gu Yue clan admits our loss for this battle. Now, whoever stops
me, I will murder without hesitation!” Gu Yue Bo watched as Fang Yuan
got even further, as his anxiety rose.

“Are you threatening me? I am not scared of you, Gu Yue Bo.” Bai clan
leader’s expression was grim, at the same time signalling to his Gu Masters.

The Gu Master understood, and immediately dispatched his men to chase

after Fang Yuan.

“We cannot let him escape, I’m going ahead.” Tie Ruo Nan seeing this
chance, immediately moved, a pair of black steel wings emerging from her
back as she flew into mid-air, chasing after Fang Yuan.

But at this time, a green shadow shot over.

Rank five — Giant mountain puppet Gu!

This Gu looked like a bronze mask. Its appearance was simple, only
showing both eyes and mouth. The bronze mask was covered in blood,
flying towards the young girl’s face disregarding her shock.

“Father!” Seeing the blood traces, Tie Ruo Nan screamed subconsciously.

At this time, a large steel hand flew over as well, grabbing Tie Ruo Nan and
flying far away without a moment of pause.

This sudden change caused everyone to be taken aback.

“It seems Tie Xue Leng is most likely going to lose. Hehe, it has been
almost a thousand years, senior brother. You have really brought me, your
junior brother, some surprise.” Over 300 metres above the ground, an
elderly Gu Master stared at the scene, his expression calm and indifferent.

His hair was white, and so were his eyebrows. As he sat on a giant crane,
his right palm opened with a Kinship Blood worm Gu.
This Gu was crystal clear, like a red agate. Its shape was like a cicada,
emitting a glow at times, pointing towards the Gu Yue village.
“Senior brother, even if you hide here, I can still find you. You stole my
opportunity back then, so I will return the favor to you a thousand fold this
time!”

The white brow elderly gritted his teeth as he said so, and he showed an
expression of utter hatred.
Chapter 191
 Chapter 191: Crane disaster

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

In the azure blue sky, numerous clouds were floating aimlessly.

The elderly Gu Master rode on top of the white crane. Under his white
eyebrows that were sharp like daggers, his eyes revealed a deep killing
intent.

“Hehehe, with this grudge of mine, I shall start taking revenge on your
descendants,” he laughed, staring down at the battlefield, stretching his thin
and dry finger and pointing downwards.

The white crane below him raised its long and elegant neck, crying out in a
bright and loud voice.

The voice spread through the skies, and from far away, there were many
return calls.

“What sound is this?” Fang Yuan was activating the Earth Communication
Ear grass at the time, thus he heard it first and was shocked in his heart.
The crane cries went on endlessly, all at different pitches, giving off an
impressive magnitude. This was not over a hundred canes, nor a few
thousand crying at once; it was the collective cries of over ten thousand
flying cranes that could cause such an effect.

“Is there a migrating flock of cranes nearby?” Out of nowhere, Fang Yuan
felt a strong sense of danger.

The crane cries attracted the attention of the Gu Masters in the arena,
turning their heads to look at them.

“What’s that in the sky?”

“From the sound, I’d say its a large herd of migrating birds. Tell all the Gu
Masters not to attack recklessly and bring trouble upon themselves!” Bai
clan leader was just saying, but suddenly he came to a halt.

His eyes dilated, seeing one, two, three… almost ten thousand cranes in the
sky, clumped together and attacking towards the arena.

“How can this be?”

“Get your guard on, defend!”

“Let’s escape, there are ten thousand cranes here, there has to be a myriad
beast king.”

“The wolf tide is just over, now we have a crane disaster? Oh Heavens,
Qing Mao Mountain is truly a place of disasters.”

Gu Masters started commenting, expressing the shock in their hearts as

their spirits wavered.

After finally resisting the wolf tide, a crane disaster appears. The three clans
on Qing Mao mountain have suffered great losses already, how could they
have the excess energy to deal with such a large flock of cranes?
The flying cranes folded back their wings, shooting down like a rain of
arrows.

Under the thunderous cries, screams of fear, pain and horror erupted at
once, as all sorts of lights burst forth — moonblades, water balls and steel
spikes were sent into the skies.

After a momentary resistance, more than half of the Gu Masters were

killed.

These flying cranes were like pile drivers; each time their wings flapped, it
had the strength of a boar, and their claws were sharp and could break
rocks. Ordinary cranes were hard enough to deal with, not to mention the
large amounts of hundred and thousand beast kings among them.
The clans had centuries of experience in dealing with the wolf tide, and also
the sturdy villages that can defend against them. But here, it was the
wilderness with no buildings in sight. Where could they find anything
resembling a fort?

Thus, during the first attack, half the Gu Masters passed away.
The cranes’ long beaks penetrated hearts, their claws grabbing onto skulls.
With a flap of their wings, people would vomit blood and be sent flying, all
their bones broken.

Fang Yuan was also attacked. his eyes could only see white fog as he relied
on the Earth Communication Ear grass to avoid their attacks.

“Fang Yuan, hang in there!” This time, he heard Gu Yue Bo shouting behind
him.

Fang Yuan felt puzzled.

What’s up with this Gu Yue Bo, when he shouted Fang Yuan’s name earlier,
the tone was weird, like he had intentions to protect him. Now he even ran
over to help.

Fang Yuan was a scheming old fox, but even he could not predict
everything. In this short period, how could he conjecture that Tie Ruo Nan
assumed he was a ten extreme physique?

Gu Yue Bo was a Rank four expert, thus since the cranes attacking Fang
Yuan were ordinary beasts, they were easily killed or repelled by him.

“Fang Yuan, is that you?” Gu Yue Bo came to the maze fog.

Fang Yuan’s thoughts whirled in his mind: Right now, his predicament was
extremely dangerous, and being near Gu Yue Bo would greatly increase his
chances of survival. Thus he answered: “It’s me.”

Gu Yue Bo hearing Fang Yuan’s voice, finally breathed a sigh of relief,

“Very good! Fang Yuan, let’s not mention what happened in the past. No
matter what, the clan will protect your safety. Let’s return to the village, I’ll
protect you while retreating!”

What he did not know was that the village was the most dangerous location
for Fang Yuan right now.

But the crane disaster was a much greater threat compared to the village. At
least if he went back to the village, he would not die immediately compared
to staying under the cranes’ attacks.

Fang Yuan sighed without hesitating, “Please lead the way clan leader, I
will try to keep up!”

But at this time, a giant crane descended from the sky. The white-brow old
Gu Master sat on top of the crane, his tone cold, “No one can escape, all of
you shall die here.”

Fang Yuan could not see, but heard Gu Yue Bo beside him shout, “Rank
five Gu Master!”

Evidently, the Gu Yue clan leader had investigative methods that was able
to deduce the stranger’s cultivation level.
Fang Yuan was stunned in his heart: Where is there another Rank five Gu
Master here? This tiny Qing Mao mountain, it was neither a famous
location nor full of resources, why are all the Rank five experts gathering
here?

“Don’t tell me, this has to do with First gen Gu Yue?” Fang Yuan hit an
inspiration.

His heart jumped!

If it was an ordinary crane disaster, he would have no chances left. Wild

flying beasts were hard to make use of, and although he was at Rank three
peak stage, compared to a Rank five he was still weak and could not get out
of the danger.
But now another Rank five Gu Master showed up. Not only is he another
source of extreme danger, but also a chance to break out of his predicament.

This current Qing Mao mountain, the three Rank five experts were the
crucial players, the rest were insignificant.

Only a Rank five can deal with Rank five.

Immediately, Fang Yuan decided in his heart.

It is time, he has to bet on this!

“Clan leader, the First gen ancestor has fully awakened, we will be safe if
we return to the village!” Fang Yuan said.

“What?” Gu Yue Bo shouted in shock.

His shock gave Fang Yuan reassurance.

“I won’t lie about such things. As long as we get back to the village, we can
save our lives,” Fang Yuan continued.

Gu Yue Bo was a resolute man, thus he brought Fang Yuan and sped
towards the village.

But the flying cranes continued to approach, blocking the path. Hundred
beast kings and thousand beast kings appeared non-stop.

Gu Yue Bo fought with his life, protecting Fang Yuan. Eventually he could
no longer proceed, falling into the encirclement of the flying cranes. Fang
Yuan was protected by Gu Yue Bo, thus he was safe for the time being.

Once time was up, the maze fog vanished.

Fang Yuan observed the battlefield, only to see corpses lying everywhere,
showing that a terrifying battle had happened. The Gu Masters’ sacrifice
was huge, but the flock of cranes were also greatly damaged. Other than
broken limbs of humans, there were also crane corpses everywhere.

“Isn’t this the Iron Beak Flying Crane?” Fang Yuan felt puzzled.
Others might not recognise it, for after all, this flying beast was not from
the Southern Border. But he knew that this Iron Beak Flying Crane
originated from the Middle Kingdom.

“Eh? Myriad beast king, Rank five expert!” Next, Fang Yuan saw in mid-
air, a giant crane was flapping its wings, floating. On its back, a white-brow
white haired old man was sitting with a cold expression.

Fang Yuan looked away, back at Gu Yue Bo.

This Gu Yue clan leader was already full of injuries, his body full of blood,
fighting with his life. Many times he could clearly have avoided, but to
protect Fang Yuan, he would rather suffer the injury himself.

“Clan leader! The current situation is not looking good. Gu Masters are
fighting bravely, but are all divided into different areas by the flying cranes,
they will eventually get overwhelmed. We must gather their strength into
one. Only then can we have a chance to break out of this and return to the
village!” Fang Yuan said to Gu Yue Bo.

“You are right.” Gu Yue Bo looked across the battlefield, shouting loudly,
“Everyone, the enemy is before us, our Gu Yue village has a method to deal
with the enemy, quickly assemble with me and kill our way out!”

The voice echoed in the battlefield, attracting numerous gazes.

“What? Gu Yue clan still has a trump card to deal with a Rank five?”

“Believing in it is better than nothing!”

“Brothers, let’s go, gather with the Gu Yue clan leader!!”

They were already despairing, but now that Gu Yue Bo said it, they saw
some hope.

Under the pressure of death, these former enemies united and worked
together, quickly gathering into one spot.

“Gu Yue clan… hehe, you are all senior brother’s descendants.” On the
huge crane, the white brow elderly laughed coldly, about to command the
cranes to intercept, but on second thoughts, he stopped that idea.

“Why not let these people escape back, so I can finish them off together.
But these are all his descendants, so in the battle later, I can use them to
threaten him. But these three Rank four Gu Masters have the ability to
interfere with the battle, I cannot let them stay, I shall kill them first!”

Thinking so, the white brow elderly screeched strangely, flicking his finger
and sending three balls of light flying.

“What Gu is this?” Xiong clan leader was first hit by the white ball, and
after getting covered by it, his speed fell drastically, slower than a snail.

The other two clan leaders were the same.

“Fang Yuan, quickly go, Gu Yue clansmen listen up, you have to protect
Fang Yuan at all costs, he’s the only one that knows the method!” Gu Yue
Bo tried all ways but could not get rid of this light ring, thus he screamed
loudly and turned around to face the white brow elderly.

Fang Yuan turned around, looking at this Gu Yue clan leader deeply.

“Elder Fang Yuan, let us protect you!” A large number of Gu Yue clansmen
gathered beside Fang Yuan, protecting him in all directions.

Healing light as well as speed buffs were all casted on Fang Yuan.

Collision sounds were heard from the back, and under the mystical and
cruel fate, the three clan leaders who hated each other worked together
tightly right now, battling against the mysterious elderly with their life on
the line.
The results of this battle, was decided from the start.

The three clan leaders died one by one as the white brow elderly flicked his
sleeves, sitting firmly on the huge crane. Flying cranes engulfed the skies as
they gradually forced their way into Gu Yue village.

Gu Yue village was in chaos, and the sad cries of people were heard
everywhere.
Large numbers of bamboo buildings fell, and the debris area was full of
corpses with white cloths covering over them. Injured members cried in
pain, lying on the ground as many healing Gu Masters worked to the bone.
The clan main pavilion was half devastated, and the village square was
covered in a layer of blood water; this was extremely horrifying to the
clansmen.

Because Tie Xue Leng and First gen Gu Yue engaged in fierce combat, it
caused the mountains to shake. Thus, Gu Yue village which was right above
was greatly affected.
Gu Yue Yao Ji who was staying in the village, did not manage to receive Gu
Yue Bo, but instead saw the injured remnants of the three clans.

“What is going on?” She shouted loudly.

Fang Yuan didn’t reply, because the flock of cranes behind her was the best
explanation.

“This?!”
“Oh my god…”

“Is our Gu Yue clan going to perish today?”

Immediately, the village fell into chaos once again.

“Senior brother, your junior, I have come here all the way to see you. Why
aren’t you coming out to meet me?” White-brow elderly stood on the
crane’s back, his tone full of icy killing intent.

Before he was finished, on the village square, blood water gushed out like a
ten metre fountain, and the bright red coffin appeared vertically.

As a blood wight, First gen Gu Yue stood inside the coffin, his blood red
eyes staring closely at the white-brow elderly.

“To think that you didn’t die… how did you find this place? As expected,
that Gu Master earlier was instigated by you!” First gen Gu Yue said
hatefully.
Chapter 192
 Chapter 192: Raising Eyebrows & Exhale

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“How did I find you? Hahaha!” The white-brow elderly laughed loudly, his
voice sound extremely happy, while his gaze was ruthless. He opened his
palm, revealing a Gu.

It was the Kinship Bloodworm.

Kinship Bloodworm was crystal clear, like a red agate. It was like a cicada,
emitting light at times, pointing towards First gen Gu Yue.

“Although senior brother stole my opportunity and backstabbed me, taking

away my Gu, I still managed to learn the secret arts. Thus I refined this
Kinship Bloodworm. You know how I refined it? Hehehe, using the heart
blood of your two blood-related sons. They were only five to six years old
and were too young, so without sufficient heart blood, I could only turn
them both into living sources, taking their blood every month. After
spending tens of years, I finally accumulated enough heart blood and
refined this Gu.” The white-brow elderly said briskly, his tone extremely
smug.

“Oh, right, both your sons died soon after. HAHAHA, after refining the
Kinship Bloodworm, I used it to find you for many years. But this world is
too big, and you were nowhere to be found. Even though the Kinship
Bloodworm was Rank five, its range is still limited. Eventually, when I was
almost dying, I could only use the life-retaining Jade Burial Gu, living
through death and sealing myself. Not long before this, I had to come out of
sealing and I tried one last time. To think I found you by coincidence!
Senior brother, do you know how happy and excited I was at that time?!”
“As for that Tie Xue Leng, hehehe, I did send him a letter to attract him
here. Seeing him, I thought of our former relationship. How nostalgic. Back
then we were from the same sect, chasing after demonic cultivators. We
were called the Righteous Twin Cranes, having unlimited glory and pride,”
The white-brow elderly saying so, showed a nostalgic expression.

His expression was calm and his tone was gentle, but the more he thought
about it, the stronger the killing intent was in both of his cold eyes.

This white-brow elderly, came from the Middle Continent; he was known
as Lord Sky Crane.

Back then, he used the Rank five Crane Enslavement Gu and ruled over a
myriad beast king level crane king and rose to fame. Because he could
enslave a myriad beast king, it meant he controlled a ten thousand beast
army.

This strength allowed him to use his own power and eliminate a single
village.

Lord Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue both came from the Middle
Continent’s Immortal Crane Sect. Hundreds of years ago, they were senior
and junior brothers, closer than real brothers, killing many demonic Gu
Masters and working together, having perfect synergy with each other.

In one of their attempts in chasing after demonic cultivators, they found an

inheritance ground.

This inheritance was one of the many set up by the Blood Sea Ancestor. But
if it was an ordinary inheritance, so be it, they would not have turned on
each other.

However, this inheritance ground’s treasure was beyond precious; it could

allow one to rise to the heavens and become an immortal from a mortal!
Thus, the two brothers were moved.

Legend says, Blood Sea Ancestor left behind over a hundred thousand
inheritances, spread throughout the world. But his real motive was the few
true treasures hidden in a few of these spots. They hid his personal Gu
worms, his true methods.

The sect brothers encountered the Blood Sea Ancestor’s true treasure
inheritance.

Lord Sky Crane was quicker and obtained the inheritance. Corrupted by
greed, First gen Gu Yue schemed against him and stole the Gu worm. Then
he attempted to kill Lord Sky Crane, but did not succeed as the latter
managed to escape.

Seeing that the matter was exposed, First gen Gu Yue could only hide his
name and escape everywhere, preventing himself from getting found by his
former sect. After tens of years, he could not find a Lifespan Gu, thus in his
final days he stood at Qing Mao Mountain in the Southern Border, changing
his appearance and calling himself Gu Yue, establishing the Gu Yue village.

Lord Sky Crane being unable to find him, was filled with hatred.
Meanwhile the Immortal Crane Sect was very interested in the blood sea
inheritance, thus with their help, Lord Sky Crane used the life-preserving
Jade Burial Gu, falling into a deep sleep and preserving his last bit of life.

This life-preserving Jade Burial Gu’s method was also a special method.
Similar to First gen Gu Yue’s transformation into a zombie, they were
unorthodox methods and were just desperate measures.

Turning into a zombie, replacing life with death. Life-preserving life burial
could enable one to hang onto life, but did not increase their lifespan.

There was only one way to increase one’s lifespan in this world. Like what
Fang Yuan did in his previous life, they would need to use the Lifespan Gu,
increasing one’s own lifespan from the roots; this was the proper way. Other
methods had disadvantages and were not recognised by Heaven and Earth,
belonging to helpless resorts.

“Senior brother! You shameless disciple, despicable scum! Back then when
you backstabbed me, did you expect retribution today? Haha, the heavens
did not let me down, for I finally found you. Today, not only will I
exterminate your bloodline and destroy your thousand year plot, but I will
also take back my opportunity! This day, I have waited far too long!!”

Ending his reminisces, Lord Sky Crane sighed loudly, gathering his killing
intent.

But before he struck, First gen Gu Yue acted even faster!

The blood water on the ground poured up like a fountain, giving off a
terrifying aura.

The sharp smell of blood spread as within the thick concentrated blood
water, tens of thousands of blood guillotines flew out, tightly packed
together.

Whoooosh.

Sounds of wings flapping were heard as countless bladewing blood bat Gu

flew into the air, engulfing the sky and killing towards the crane flock.

The crane flock fell into chaos.

Blood guillotines and bladewing blood bats were much smaller than the
Iron Beak Flying Cranes, gaining movement advantage in battle.

Lord Sky Crane was furious, screaming loudly and ordering the flying
crane king he was riding on, rushing towards First gen Gu Yue.

“Retreat!” A Gu Master shouted.

The winds howled as the myriad beast king’s charge was too imposing, like
a meteor hitting the ground, causing people to feel shocked and afraid.

But suddenly, a blood wave flew into the sky, and the hiding blood river
python assaulted under the cover of the blood water. It opened its mouth,
biting at the flying crane king’s long neck. At the same time its body coiled,
trying to drag the flying crane king into the blood pond on the ground.
Lord Sky Crane snorted; he knew about the blood river python. Blood water
was like a supreme recovery medicine for the python, thus he needed to cut
the contact between them.

With this he willed in his mind, and the flying crane king stretched out its
steel claws, grabbing onto the blood river python. At the same time it
flapped its wings, flying towards the sky. After battling with Tie Xue Leng,
the blood river python still had many injuries on its body, and its strength
was also greatly diminished. Thus it was carried by the flying crane king
into the air, slowing leaving the village.

“Hand over your life!” Lord Sky Crane howled, turning into a white flash
and pouncing on First gen Gu Yue was who in the red coffin.

First gen Gu Yue took a step out of the coffin, and with a stretch, wings
grew out of his back. These pair of wings were large and strong, like jet-
black coloured bat wings.

Zombie Gu are a classic series of Gu worms, widely spread in the world.

Rank two Roaming Zombie Gu, Rank three Fur Zombie Gu, Rank four
Jumping Zombie Gu, Rank five Flying Zombie Gu. The Blood Wight Gu
was one of the flying zombies, of course it could fly!

First gen Gu Yue’s eyes burnt with raging flames as he opened his arms and
showed his devious demonic claws. He spread both wings, rushing towards
the sky. With a boom, he collided with Lord Sky Crane who was in the air.

The two had almost equal strength, and after retreating for a distance, they
stabilized themselves and attacked once again.

Boom boom boom….

The two engaged in aerial combat, their bodies colliding constantly. The
power of Rank five was fully displayed, as the aftermath of their conflicts
resulted in numerous bamboo buildings collapsing.

After a while, First gen Gu Yue shouted loudly, his body covered in blood
shadows, as his attacks became several times more ruthless.
Lord Sky Crane’s eyes glowed with light, attacking like the slashing of a
flying blade, or the piercing of an immortal sword, breaking the shadows
one by one.

First gen Gu Yue breathed out a bloody mist again, prompting Lord Sky
Crane to activate his Gu worm which formed a light barrier, blocking the
blood mist from invading.

After a while, Lord Sky Crane was after all a dying old man, his elderly
body weak, and thus his strength fell, slowly getting overpowered by First
gen Gu Yue, falling into a disadvantage.

“After hundreds of years, you did not improve one bit!” First gen Gu Yue
laughed loudly and mocked.

“God damn scoundrel!” Lord Sky Crane scolded in rage; he did not expect
First gen Gu Yue to be so strong, be it the blood guillotine or the bladewing
blood bat Gu — they were supposed to be his.

Thinking so, he got even more furious.

“Hmph, it’s time to use my trump card!” Lord Sky Crane snorted secretly,
his white eyebrows raising lightly, transforming.

His eyebrows grew frantically, becoming two thick bushes over tens of
metres, one left and one right like snakes coming out of their dens, moving
quickly and coiling around First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue struggled to no avail, his claws unceasingly attacking.

These eyebrows looked fragile but were stronger than steel, and also
malleable. Once restrained, it was like the roots of an old tree.

“It is actually the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu!” First gen Gu Yue’s tone
changed for the first time, shocked and furious.

This Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu did not use ordinary qi, but primeval
energy. Using the primeval essence in the Gu Master’s aperture, and
sending it out as primeval energy, this Gu was uncommon as it had a lose-
lose type of usage.

By using this Gu now, not only was First gen Gu Yue’s primeval essence
rapidly expended, but so was Lord Sky Crane’s.

Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu was like a bridge, connecting the two’s
aperture, causing primeval essence to be expended. It was often used by
high ranking Gu Masters to bully the weak. Once used on someone
stronger, it was akin to courting death.

But this situation was different.

Lord Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue were both Rank five peak stage, but
First gen Gu Yue turned into a zombie and his aperture was dead, thus he
was unable to recover natural primeval essence. Although Lord Sky Crane
was dying of old age and barely had any lifespan, his aperture was full of
life, and his primeval essence could still recover. This attacked First gen Gu
Yue’s greatest weakness.

Lord Sky Crane’s primeval essence was still recovering, but in First gen Gu
Yue’s aperture, his primeval essence would only go down and not up.

First gen Gu Yue desperately retreated, but the white eyebrows extended
with him as if they were endless, and at the same time Lord Sky Crane was
moving closer as well.

First gen Gu Yue howled, willing in his mind and calling the blood
guillotine and bladewing blood bat Gu in attempt to cut the white eyebrows,
but it had no effect. The whitebrows were extremely strong, and even if a
few were cut, they would reconnect themselves.

His primeval essence continued to decrease, and if this went on, First gen
Gu Yue was definitely going to lose. He was after all an ambitious man,
forced to his wits end. He gritted his teeth and changed tactics, sending the
blood guillotine and bladewing blood bat Gu towards Lord Sky Crane.
Lord Sky Crane had to constantly sustain the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu,
and by being attacked like this, he could only use the light barrier and
defend himself passively.

The white barrier wavered and Lord Sky Crane’s heart sank, the situation
was not looking good for him.

Most likely, before he finishes expending First gen Gu Yue’s primeval

essence, his light barrier would be broken through and he would get killed
by First gen Gu Yue!

Note: I am so sorry if the name “Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu” is dumb
but there’s no other way to translate it… Lol.
Chapter 193
 Chapter 193: Divine investigator’s last move

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The Sky Crane Lord’s face turned malevolent and his two eyes glinted with
ominous light as he suddenly threw down a rain of feather arrows.

This arrow rain was not targetted at the First gen Gu Yue; First gen Gu Yue
had already turned into a blood wight zombie, a being that possessed
astounding defence and would be difficult to breach.

The feather arrows rained down and instead pierced through countless of
Gu Masters, instantly killing them!

Along with this, two white lights burst out from Sky Crane Lords’s eyes. As
two beams of light swept through the village, wherever they went the
bamboo buildings would collapse and street pavements were disintegrated.
Anyone that touched these beams of light would melt like the snow meeting
the sunlight.

When a Rank five Gu Master acts, he could instantly create huge casualties
with every move.

Miserable shouts, screams and cries of despair continuously rang in the

battlefield like a medley.

A feather arrow flower towards Fang Yuan, but he casually grabbed

someone beside him and threw the man into the arrow’s path. The feather
arrow pierced this person’s head and stopped. Fang Yuan then rolled,
dodging a claw attack of an Ironbeak Flying Crane.

There was very little that a Rank three could do against a Rank five. Even
Bai Ning Bing was dodging nonstop at this moment. Every time he was
injured, the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique would heal him, but this also
brought him closer to death itself.

Rank five Gu Masters were already at the peak of the secular world.

“Stop!” The First gen Gu Yue shouted. As he watched the Gu Masters

before him getting slaughtered, his heart felt like it was bleeding.

He had a great conspiracy for establishing the village and spreading his
bloodline; it was not simply just to hide his identity. The clan members
were the fruits of centuries of planning. But now, as they were slaughtered
by the Sky Crane Lord, it was akin to using up the First gen Gu Yue’s
centuries’ worth of heart blood.

Being left with no choice, First gen Gu Yue could only five up on Sky
Crane Lord. He ordered the blade wing blood bat Gu and blood guillotine to
fly towards the village, defending it against the Sky Crane Lord’s attacks.

The Sky Crane Lord laughed loudly. The Blood Sea Inheritance was
focused on attack and not defence — by doing this the First gen Gu Yue
was giving up on his own advantage and using his weak point to battle.

The Sky Crane Lord understood the First gen Gu Yue very well and knew
his scheme. Thus he intentionally let these Gu Yue clan members go first,
and then attacked them at this moment. Sure enough, he was able to escape
from the perilous situation he was under while the First gen Fu Yue was
troubled by trying to take care of the entire situation.

“Not good!”

As the situation continued to be in a deadlock, the First gen Gu Yue

suddenly shouted. Shadows of iron chains had suddenly appeared around
his entire body.

These shadows immediately turned from virtual into reality, and formed
into long iron chains. These chains were like snakes and pythons as they
coiled around First gen Gu Yue, binding his hands and feet.
A talisman paper also gradually appeared and stuck right between the First
gen Gu Yue’s eyes.

Bang.

First gen Gu Yue was bound by the iron chains; he could no longer stretch
his wings and thus he fell smashing down onto the ground.

Such an unexpected scene not only shocked the First gen Gu Yue, but it also
caused Sky Crane Lord to be shocked for a while before the latter started to
laugh madly. “So this is the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu and the
Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu. Hahaha, I guess that so-called Divine
Investigator wasn’t a good-for-nothing after all. My good senior brother,
you are sure to die today!”

These two great Gu were both the main Gu worms of the Tie family.

The Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu could restrict a Gu Master’s

movement ability and thus let others trample upon them. The Problem
Nipped in the Bud Gu was able to extract Gu worms from inside the Gu
Master and seal them away.

Countless numbers of demonic path Gu Masters had been captured by Tie

Xue Leng through these two Gu, and now he had used it on the First gen Gu
Yue.

“When did this happen?!” The First gen Gu Yue was startled and also
furious. He though back to the final scene when he had struck Tie Xue Leng
dead.

The copper mask had flown away, revealing a square face.

Although his death was certain, there was no fear on his features. Two eyes
shone with the vicissitudes of time and resoluteness as his bloodied palm
struck lightly against First gen Gu Yue’s chest.

However, the strength it contained was so minuscule that First gen Gu Yue
had completely ignored it at the time.
“So it was then! Damn it, I would have already sensed it if I had a living
body. But though my zombie body is strong in both offence and defence, it
is not sensitive.” The First gen Gu Yue’s head was full of regrets.

There were many shortcomings when turning one’s body into a blood
wight. He should have already died according to his original lifespan, but
he lived on by defying the heavens, so how could there not be any price to
pay?

“Hahaha! The Sky Crane Lord’s aura grew with his laughter, then he
charged towards the First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue could only try to resist. Naturally, he fell into an absolute
disadvantage.

The Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu not only bound his whole body, but
the phantom image of the black iron chain also appeared within his aperture
and sealed it.

The primeval sea surged like boiling water and many Gu worms flew
around in the aperture, resisting the suppression of the Demon Suppression
Iron Chain Gu.

With this, the First gen Gu Yue’s primeval essence expenditure became
extremely huge.

“Your defeat is certain, accept your death!” Sky Crane Lord’s attacks came
nonstop, like he had fallen into madness.

First gen Gu Yue’s head was riddled with injuries, while his pale ribs were
exposed and his two arms severed from the shoulders by the Sky Crane
Lord.

When it seemed that Sky Crane Lord was going to really kill him, the First
gen Gu Yue suddenly opened his mouth and gave an unearthly cry.

“Yannngggg—!”
Extremely ear-piercing sound waves concentrated and instantly struck the
Sky Crane Lord.

When Sky Crane Lord heard this sound, he felt like he had just met with an
enormous attack, and he was sent flying dozens of steps away, his white
eyebrows even pulled tight and straight. After that, he rapidly fell down to
the ground.

Blood started flowing out of his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The lingering
sound was causing chaos inside his body, causing the blood to flow in
reverse; he couldn’t move at all for a moment.

Seeing this chance, many Gu Masters threw moon blades, water bullets and
so on from a distance, but they were all blocked by the light halo on the Sky
Crane Lord.

Dozens of flying cranes swarmed at the First gen Gu Yue, but their iron
beaks felt like it was smashing against steel skin and iron bones as they
attacked the blood wight zombie body, and broke off one after another.

A Rank five Gu’s defense was no small thing. Even if Fang Yuan used the
Chainsaw Golden Centipede to saw at the blood wight zombie body for
some time, he might not be able to cut off even a piece of skin.

Right now, in this battle, only these two Rank five Gu Masters could
threaten each other.

Although they were in a very bad state, as long as their primeval essence
didn’t end, others could only look on helplessly.

Sky Crane Lord saw that the flying cranes were unable to accomplish
anything, while the flying crane king was fighting with the blood river
python far away. As for himself, he was unable to move anything other than
his eyes properly due to his qi and blood being in conflict. He concentrated
his mind on the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu, greatly accelerating the
primeval essence consumption.

First gen Gu Yue was on the verge of death!

The primeval essence in his primeval sea quickly decreased and once it was
completely used up, his Gu worms would have no primeval essence to resist
the suppression of the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu. Once this
happened, Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu would start extracting the Gu
worms and sealing them. That would truly be the end!

First gen Gu Yue shouted in panic, “Quick, lend me a hand! Grab the
eyebrows and activate your primeval essence.”

“Let’s help!”
“Help the first ancestor!!”
“Let’s go.”

A large group of Gu Masters went to help – not only from Gu Yue clan, but
even Bai and Xiong clan.

Even First gen Gu Yue was not able to cut apart these white eyebrows, so
there was no way these Gu Masters’ methods would work. They could only
do as First gen Gu Yue said, stretching their hands and grabbing the white
eyebrows.

They had just touched the white eyebrows, when some of the eyebrows split
up and coiled around their wrists, arms and then finally extended to their
bodies.

“Ahh…..” Miserable shrieks echoed in succession.

How could a rank two Gu Master’s primeval essence fight against a Rank
five primeval essence? In a short while, their primeval essence was
consumed clean, their primeval sea was empty, their apertures completely
dried up; their apertures started to crack, before finally crumbling and
collapsing.

The aperture was the most vital part in a human body, even more important
than heart. Once the aperture broke, many Gu Masters’ eyes would roll and
lose their lives on the spot.
“Fuck!” First gen Gu Yue cursed in anger. The Demon Suppression Iron
Chain Gu was tightening up, piercing into the skin and flesh; the bones
were starting to make cackling sounds.

It was reasonable to say that with Tie Xue Leng’s death, this Demon
Suppression Iron Chain Gu couldn’t get primeval essence from its Gu
Master and shouldn’t have been able to activate. However, it had been
infected by the berserk blood Gu, and thus it could absorb the primeval
essence in the air. Also, Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu was Tie Xue
Leng’s Gu, so it contained Tie Xue Leng’s will to subdue First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue’s primeval essence was depleting quickly, and he would
not be able to bear it much longer.

Many Gu Masters that were rushing to provide assistance, saw this and
couldn’t help but slow down.

“What are you afraid of? If the first ancestor loses, we will also die! Are
you hoping that you will be spared?” Fang Yuan shouted; he hurried to the
side of First gen Gu Yue and grabbed the white eyebrows.

The Thousand Li Earthwolf spider had already died, and the enemy had
flying cranes that could fly around to pursue and attack. There was no hope
for him if he tried to escape alone.

On the contrary, if he helped First gen Gu Yue and the two sides fought
each other to death, he might be able to reap some benefits.

The white eyebrows firmly locked onto Fang Yuan’s wrists, then it followed
to his arms and creeped along like a vine towards his waist. The snow silver
primeval essence in his aperture was being quickly consumed, but Fang
Yuan clenched his teeth and persevered.

His actions served as an example. Other Gu Masters were spurred and

rushed forth in succession.

“Let’s do this together, we might have a chance at life!”

“That’s right, there is strength in numbers!!”
“Sigh, what else can we do, we can only stake our lives.”

Countless hands touched the white eyebrows; Gu Masters kept on dying

and many other Gu Masters kept on filling the gaps to add in to the
consumption.

“Hahaha, fighting against a Rank five, how brilliant and interesting!” Bai
Ning Bing also stepped forward.

“Life or death will be decided by this.” Xiong Jiao Man similarly stood up.

Fang Zheng was nowhere to be seen; he was lost in the wild and hadn’t
escaped back to the village. Whether he lived or had died, no one could be
sure, but everything bode ill for him.

Time seemed to be passing very slowly at this moment, becoming

unendurable.

As time passed, many Gu Masters died. Some Gu Masters directly attacked

Sky Crane Lord, but the white halo around him stood as steady as Mt. Tai.

Only Rank three Gu Masters could hold their grounds in this consumption
face off.
Many Gu Masters’ confidence started shaking and they were beginning to
hesitate.

Both sides were locked up in deadlock. Sky Crane Lord smiled grimly and
said, “My victory is certain, you will all die!”

There was too big a gap between Rank three and Rank five. Rank fours
would have been able to affect the situation, but the three Rank four clan
leaders were already killed by Sky Crane Lord.

First gen Gu Yue was bound by the iron chains while the white eyebrows
had also coiled up around him and the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu on
his forehead was swaying; there was already very few primeval essence left
in his aperture.
Suddenly the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu let out a faint yellow light and
slowly extracted a ball of yellow light from First gen Gu Yue’s aperture.

This yellow light was bigger than a fist but smaller than a basin. It slowly
floated down on the ground, and only a faint glimmer of the yellow light
remained.

A Gu that looked like a crystal skull showed up. The Gu was like a skull of
a child that could fit on a palm, and the skull was like a crystal filled with
reddish bloodstripes.

“Blood Skull Gu! After hundreds of years, I finally get to see you again!”
Sky Crane Lord looked on from a distance and wept tears of joy; he was
extremely moved.

Note: ‘Problem Nipped in the Bud’ Gu – The name of this Gu is an idiom

that means: Solving the problem from the roots itself.
Chapter 194
 Chapter 194: Blood Curtain Skyflower

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

First gen Gu Yue clenched his bloody fangs so hard that it made cracking
sounds, but he couldn’t even budge, much less struggle.

Suddenly, another ball of light was captured by the yellow talisman and it
fell to the ground, turning into an alternating black and white Taiji light
sphere.

Two peculiar Gu worms were circling and chasing each other within this
light sphere. As the Taiji light sphere continued to rotate, they seemed to
carry traces of great dao, shocking many Gu Masters.

“What Gu is this?” Bai Ning Bing and many others were bewildered.

“It actually is a Rank four….” Fang Yuan’s eyes focused in concentration.

“Yin Yang Rotation Gu!!” Sky Crane Lord screamed, his face clearly
revealing his shock. He remained stunned for a while, then he raised his
head and laughed, “My good senior brother, I truly have to thank you for
finding such a good Gu. Hahaha, you actually wanted to turn back into a
human, but what a pity, for your plan has been destroyed by me!”

First gen Gu Yue anxiously moved his legs and snarled; he had completely
lost his manners. Whether it was Blood Skull Gu or Yin Yang Rotation Gu,
they were both crucial to his plan that stretched through a millennium. Now,
they were both sealed and extracted; all his painstaking plotting had almost
gone in up into smoke now.

Sky Crane Lord’s smile turned even more jubilant, his desire for vengeance
was fully satisfied by seeing this expression of First gen Gu Yue.
Another yellow light that was captured fell to the ground; it was a scarlet
colored Gu and looked like a translucent water sphere.

On seeing this Gu, First gen Gu Yue suddenly stopped his struggle; he was
exulted. He opened his bloody mouth, revealing his fangs as he shouted,
“Quick, destroy this Gu worm!”

Several Gu Masters immediately moved forward upon hearing this and used
their attacks.

This Gu had been sealed by Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu, stopping the
First gen Gu Yue from activating it with his thoughts. There was a layer of
yellow light on the surface carrying an imprint; it could only be unsealed by
Tie Xue Leng or by using some special Gu worms.

However, this Gu was an expendable Gu and was special as it needed to be

destroyed to be activated.

Several Gu Masters made their moves; the yellow light imprint was only a
sealing Gu worm and didn’t have any defensive powers. After several
attacks, the yellow light imprint collapsed, destroying the sealed Gu worm
along with it.

Buzz!

A soft cry resounded, and a blood light bloomed, suddenly expanding and
turning into a spherical shield within moments.

First gen Gu Yue was within the shield, while Sky Crane Lord was outside.

The blood red shield’s range was six mu, and Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan
were both within the shield, whereas Xiong Jiao Man and some others were
outside.

The most encouraging part was that the white eyebrows were instantly cut
apart into two halves by this shield; with the disintegration of the white
eyebrows, Fang Yuan and others recovered control of their bodies.
“The aura of this shield reaches Rank five, but why does it resemble the
Water Curtain Skyflower Gu?” Fang Yuan was bewildered; he had never
seen this Gu before.

Sky Crane Lord was separated by this shield, and he staggered up before
laughing coldly, “Senior brother, such a good move, you are actually able to
counterattack and break my Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu. It’s a pity such a
trifle defense won’t work against me, you are just prolonging your
imminent defeat by doing this!”

First gen Gu Yue instead laughed loudly, “Junior brother, how about testing
it yourself?”

“That’s my intention!” Killing intent flashed in Sky Crane Lord’s eyes;

countless flying cranes and feather arrows shot towards the shield, while his
eyes also sent out the white beams at the same time.

However, the blood shield was still unshakeable and was as stable as
before.

Sky Crane Lord’s face turned extremely dark as he stopped his attacks,
“What Gu is this?”

Gu Yue first threw his head back and laughed, “Let me teach you, this is my
personally fused gu: Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu. The Water Curtain
Skyflower Gu – a Rank four gu – can block Rank five Gu attacks. This Gu
is at Rank five and has even more powerful defense. Water Curtain
Skyflower Gu prevents its owner from going in and out; but this Blood
Curtain Skyflower Gu lets me go out. Junior brother, don’t be impatient,
you can attack slowly, use all your strength. Just wait till I recover, then I’ll
come out and cut your dog head, ahhaha!”

“You thief, keep on boasting!” Sky Crane Lord was in turmoil; he had
everything in his grasp before, but to think First gen Gu Yue was able to
recover some ground and the situation turned into a deadlock again.

He attacked madly and extremely fiercely, killing all the Gu Masters

outside the shield including Xiong Jiao Man.
However, inside the Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu, all was calm and quiet.
The blood shield was as stable as Mt. Tai, and the group of Gu Masters
inside the shield were relieved.

“First ancestor is indeed an unrivalled hero!”

“We are finally saved. The first ancestor will show his divine might and this
person will definitely be defeated.”

“Hu, this is the strength of Rank five Gu Master? I am actually still alive in
front of such strength!”

The Gu Masters cheered and shouted.

On the contrary, Bai Ning Bing snorted; his death was certain due to the Ten
extreme aptitude, but this deadlock decreased the splendor of it and he was
not happy about it.

Sky Crane Lord kept on attacking for a long while with no results. At one
moment, he suddenly stopped as if he had woken up.

First gen Gu Yue’s words were meant to incite him into attacking the Blood
Curtain Skyflower Gu and wasting his primeval essence. If he wasn’t
wrong, this Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu had the same effect as Water
Curtain Skyflower Gu. Its fusion price was extremely high and belonged to
one time use expendable category, but it had a high defense, albeit with a
set duration. It would automatically dissipate after a certain amount of time.

At this thought, Sky Crane Lord sat cross-legged, then took out two
primeval stones and pinched them, starting to recover his primeval essence.

“Lend me a hand, you will only have a chance at life by helping me.
Primeval stones, I need a large number of them!” First gen Gu Yue shouted
– the surrounding Gu Masters immediately took out primeval stones and
piled them around him.

First gen Gu Yue opened his bloody mouth wide and breathed in deeply,
sucking the primeval stones into his mouth.
Crack, he chewed the primeval stones; large amounts of natural primeval
essence poured into his aperture.

On seeing this, the Sky Crane Lord became anxious and started shouting,
“Don’t give them to him, you morons! Once he recovers his movement, he
will kill you all and use your blood to upgrade his aptitude. You are causing
your own doom!”

“Hmph, using such a low level tactic to sow distrust, so ridiculous!”

“Quick, this old thief is telling us not to give it, so we need to give even
more primeval stones.”

“Everything depends on lord ancestor!”

Gu Masters provided the primeval stones generously and soon, great

quantities of primeval stones entered First gen Gu Yue’s mouth. Fang Yuan
and Bai Ning Bing watched indifferently from the side.

A normal body wouldn’t be able to endure such a large amount of primeval

essence pouring into them, but First gen Gu Yue’s blood wight zombie body
was powerful and strong. The primeval essence in his primeval sea began to
rise rapidly.

The Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu was becoming weaker, and after
quite a while, it turned into a pool of blood; it had thoroughly died out.

With the bindings gone, First gen Gu Yue gave a long roar and activated his
blood wight vital Gu. Great quantities of blood were absorbed into his body,
and within moments, his powerful arms grew back again with claws as
sharp as a knife.

He gave a hearty laugh then stood up.

At this exact moment, the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu on his forehead
also turned into a pool of blood and completely dissipated.

“It seems the heavens do not want me dead!” First gen Gu Yue threw his
head back and laughed.
“We ask first ancestor to behead this old thief!”

“Once the lord ancestor makes his move, he will definitely succeed.”

The group of Gu Masters was elated.

First gen Gu Yue’s laughter gradually stopped, and fire burned in his eyes as
he spoke unhurriedly, “I will, of course, kill my enemy. But before killing
him, I still have something I need to do.”

“Not good.” Fang Yuan’s heart suddenly jumped when he heard the tone of
the voice, and he discreetly moved towards the outer edge of the group.

The people beside him were puzzled by this but they were still filled with
high fighting spirit, “We are not sure what first ancestor has to do, but we
will serve the ancestor to the best of our abilities!”

First gen Gu Yue threw his head back and cackled with laughter, “Haha, the
thing I need to do is to take your lives!”

“What?!” The crowd turned pale with shock.

First gen Gu Yue, however, didn’t hesitate to make his move.

Squelch, his claw immediately pierced through a Rank three Gu Master

near him. When he took back his palm, there was a pulsing heart on it.

This Gu Master was a Gu Yue clan member, and his expression was one of
disbelief at this moment. He gave a loud scream, blood spurting out like a
fountain as he fell down with his head facing up.

“Good blood, it can’t be wasted,” First gen Gu Yue exclaimed. With a shift
of his mind, the Blood Skull Gu flew up and made one round around this
Gu Master’s body.

The Gu Master’s corpse twitched, and all the blood in him was extracted by
the Blood Skull Gu, entering into its two empty eye sockets.
After the Blood Skull Gu drank its fill, the blood stripes on its crystal skull
turned even brighter.

“First ancestor, you?!” As the group retreated with all their might, someone
cried out.

“Noisy!” First gen Gu Yue’s figure flashed and appeared in front of this
person, slashing his body into two with a knife. Blood spurted out and was
absorbed by the Blood Skull Gu.

“First ancestor, you ungrateful beast, if not for our primeval stones, how
could you have any fighting strength left?!”

“This first ancestor is no decent person, everyone lets attack together and
kill him!”

“That’s right, there is power in numbers….ahh!”

A bloody massacre unfolded. First gen Gu Yue was a peak Rank five and he
had completely recovered his primeval essence. These Gu Masters were just
Rank one, Rank two or at most Rank three, so how could they be his
match?

And this Blood Curtain Skyflower separated inside from outside, forming a
sealed space. Only its master, First gen Gu Yue could go out. But once he
exited, he couldn’t enter again; he would have to destroy the Blood Curtain
Skyflower or wait for it to dissipate.

The group of Gu Masters weren’t able to escape, they tried fighting but
were utterly defeated and killed by First gen Gu Yue.

Except for Bai clan’s and Xiong clan’s Gu Masters, he killed every Gu Yue
clansmen and used the Blood Skull Gu to absorb the blood. After killing
several hundreds, the Rank four Blood Skull Gu was glistening red, as it
had reached the limit of what it could absorb.

First gen Gu Yue laughed loudly and summoned the Blood Skull Gu; the
Blood Skull Gu came towards him and floated above his head.
“This day, this moment, my centuries of arduous planning has finally come
to fruition!” He let out a long exhalation of relief. At this moment, the
Blood Skull Gu opened its tightly shut mouth and threw up a blood
fountain.

The blood fountain didn’t have the fishy odor of blood, but instead let out a
sweet relaxing fragrance.

This blood fountain poured from above First gen Gu Yue and completely
soaked him.

However, what was strange and mysterious was that not even a drop of the
blood fountain sprayed on the ground. All of the blood stuck to First gen Gu
Yue’s body, then slowly seeped inside, finally reaching the aperture.

First gen Gu Yue stood on the spot; he was silent and his head was down as
he appreciated this moment. Suddenly, he burst out with a crazed laughter
as he spoke, “Kakakaka, my aptitude has advanced, my aptitude has really
advanced!”

The rest of the Gu Masters tremored.

Outside the blood shield, Sky Crane Lord pointed at First gen Gu Yue and
furiously shouted, “Return my Blood Skull Gu back to me!”
Chapter 195
 Chapter 195: Then let me become a demon

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

First gen Gu Yue laughed with even more joy; suddenly, he stopped
laughing and turned towards Lord Sky Crane, speaking with a voice filled
with hatred, “Junior brother, you never thought there would be a day like
this, right?! We were both orphans raised by the master. But since young,
master always pampered you more. Why? Isn’t it because your aptitude is A
grade and mine is only C grade?”

“Naturally, with your A grade aptitude, your cultivation progressed much

faster. Did you know, with my C grade aptitude, how much sweat and effort
I had to put in compared to you, just barely be able to match with your
pace? Although we were called the Twin Cranes of Righteous Paths – you
were always the main and I the second. You were like the brightest star, just
because you were an A grade genius!”

“Even your luck was good and you obtained one of the true inheritances of
Blood Sea ancestor. Blood Skull Gu could purify the blood of the relatives
killed and pour them into the aperture, upgrading it. Did you know what my
mood was like at the time? I thought day and night, thinking of countless
schemes. I knew the Blood Skull Gu was my only hope; with it, I could
change my life, change my fate!”

“But it is mine, MINE!” Lord Sky Crane was so angry that he stamped his
feet repeatedly.

“Yes, it is yours.” First gen Gu Yue nodded, “Your aptitude is great and
your luck is also great. Clearly, we started out at the same time, killing
enemies together, but the heavens only appreciated you, giving you the true
inheritance. Did you know, when I looked at your proud expression and
listened to you talking about your future plans, when I was forcing myself
to smile, I suddenly realized.”

“The heavens favored you, gave you A grade aptitude and the true blood sea
inheritance. But what could I do about it? I was only an insignificant C
grade talent, so how could I succeed just by relying on myself? I could only
seize, rob! Change what wasn’t mine to become mine! The fate that heaven
had planned for me was to let me bow under someone, making me a
shadow behind others! But I am indignant, for on what basis did he put me
below and you above?” First gen Gu Yue actually seemed to be weeping
and whimpering at the end.

Blood wight zombie’s appearance was extremely terrifying, and adding on

to this strange sound, anyone who heard it would feel coldness seep into
their bones.

“Since the heavens don’t favor me, master doesn’t love me, other people
don’t value me – I can only love myself more, I can only value myself
more, I can only rely on myself more. I can only put in more effort, I can
only take more risks, I can only exert myself more! Only then can I
succeed! But the righteous path talks of moral codes, ethics, comradeship,
qualifications, hierarchy. I am only a lone person, a nobody with no
background, no talent and no resources. So tell me, how could I succeed?”

“With the righteous path, I could only let myself be exploited and bullied, I
could only look up to these young masters and geniuses. Even if I kept on
increasing my qualifications until I got old, I would only achieve minute
success. This is the righteous path… a bullshit path!”

“Only by becoming a demon, forsaking ethics, comradeship, the social rules

and paying a huge price, I could take another path among the thorns and
brambles, a path that belonged to myself! So, I schemed against you, seized
your blood sea true inheritance and became a demon. Haha, and a demon I
became!”

A demon I became…

A demon I became…
The voice reverberated within the blood shield.

Outside the shield, Lord Sky Crane was in a quiet and sombre mood.

First gen Gu Yue slowly stopped laughing then began killing again. Large
numbers of Gu Masters were killed, their blood absorbed by the Blood
Skull Gu and concentrated into the blood fountain, pouring into First gen
Gu Yue’s aperture and raising his aptitude.

The higher the aptitude, the more primeval essence could be stored in the
aperture.

As First gen Gu Yue killed more and more Gu Yue clansmen, his aptitude
kept on increasing. After chewing the primeval stones, his primeval essence
increased and his fighting strength became more powerful.

Outside the blood shield, Lord Sky Crane was burning with anxiety, but the
Blood Curtain Skyflower was like a deep chasm; he could do nothing but
sigh. He had tried to prevent it, but he could only give up.

As time passed on, there were only a few numbers of people left inside the
blood shield.

“Brat, you stole the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. I will give you a
chance to atone for your crime, obediently hand it over and your life will be
spared!” First gen Gu Yue walked closer step by step, his killing intent
firmly locking Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan knew the chance of his survival was scarce, but his expression
didn’t change and instead sneered, “Only three year old children might be
deceived by your bullshit. Hmph, I will destroy Heavenly Essence Treasure
Lotus if you come any closer. You should know that I have refined this Gu
and can easily cause it to self-destruct with a thought. It’s up to you.”

First gen Gu Yue’s steps slowed, then he resolutely and quickly pressed on
towards Fang Yuan.
“Brat, you have guts and you are smart too. You are indeed my descendant,
I will take your blood and use it to raise my aptitude. Of course, I won’t let
you go. Originally, I used a blood type Gu to purify my heir’s blood
lineage, to try and bring out a descendant with the Ancient Moon Desolate
Yin physique. As long as I absorbed the blood of such a genius, I would be
able to raise my aptitude sharply to 99% A grade aptitude!”

“If it had been so, I could have let you guys go, but unfortunately your luck
doesn’t seem to be good. Humph, the thing I hate the most in my life is
being coerced. If Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus dies then so be it, but
you are sure to die!”

His words hadn’t even finished when the two wings on his back flapped,
propelling him forward; in the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Fang
Yuan.

First gen Gu Yue made a grabbing motion with his right hand; in that split
second, Fang Yuan’s pupils shrunk, and his hairs stood on the end as he
retreated hastily.

However, how could it be easy to dodge a Rank five expert? The blood
wight claws were almost upon him, but suddenly an ice hand pierced in
from his side.

BANG.

There was the sound of a collision, and the ice hand shattered and cold aura
flew all over the place; the First gen Gu Yue had to take a step back.

“Bai Ning Bing?!” Fang Yuan was shocked when he turned around to look
at the person who had helped him.

Bai Ning Bing took back his broken arm, and cold air blew out from the
wound and instantly condensed into a new ice hand just like before. It was
just that there was no flesh in the hand – he was already reaching the
lifespan limits of his ten extreme aptitude.
“To think that I can have a such a splendid death. It’s a pity I won’t be able
to see the conclusion to this battle!” Bai Ning Bing heaved a deep sigh, then
suddenly smiled and looked at Fang Yuan with his deep blue pupils, “Fang
Yuan, you and I are the same kind of people. My death is certain, but it
would be a real pity if you were to die too. So I will protect you, but I have
a condition.”

Bai Ning Bing may only be a Rank three Gu Master, but as his death closed
upon him, his fighting strength continued to grow steeply like a water
fountain. The final hope to win against First gen Gu Yue was him!

“What condition?” Fang Yuan’s gaze flashed.

Bai Ning Bing stretched out his two arms like he was embracing the world.
Clothed in a white gown, matching with his snowy white hair and sharp
eyebrows, he said, “Live on for me and witness the myriad wonders of this
world!”

In that moment, Fang Yuan was emotionally moved!

This man…

Fang Yuan looked at Bai Ning Bing and he felt like he was looking at his
younger self in his previous life.

Bai Ning Bing’s words might sound like nonsense, but they were genuine.
Maybe, ordinary people would never believe it, but Fang Yuan understood
the profound meaning contained within these words.

Bai Ning Bing was a top genius, his talent in defiance of the heavens and
but his lifespan superficially short. He had already found his path, and
found his faith. He wasn’t afraid of death but he was reluctant to leave this
world.

He had regrets, but under this situation where he had no other alternatives,
he could only entrust them to Fang Yuan.
“Oh, it actually is Northern Dark Ice Soul physique! Tsk, such a pity that
you are not a descendant of my lineage, otherwise they wouldn’t have
needed to die.” First gen Gu Yue smiled malevolently. “But you want to
block me by relying on this Northern Dark Ice Soul physique? So naive!”

His figure disappeared and appeared right in front of Bai Ning Bing.

BOOM!

There was a noise of explosion, and the two had traded off a blow.

First gen Gu Yue was forced back two steps whereas Bai Ning Bing’s whole
skull and most of his body was blown away.

But in the next instant, crackle, crack…

Cold air permeated the area, ice and frost condensed together to again grow
out the body and the skull – Bai Ning Bing was resurrected!

“What!” First gen Gu Yue got the shock of his life. Ten extreme aptitudes
were rarely seen and this was the first time he was facing one.

Two people traded off blows again. In the end, Bai Ning Bing’s cultivation
level was weak and was firmly pressed in a disadvantageous position, so the
situation looked very bad. However, no matter how First gen Gu Yue killed
him, he didn’t die.

At this moment, Bai Ning Bing’s Northern Dark Ice Soul body was close to
an undying body; no matter how severe the wounds, they would be frozen
back to the original state in a matter of seconds.

Gu Yue Bo was becoming more furious and also fearful, and he crazily
increased his offensive attacks. Bai Ning Bing gradually lost all color of
life, turning into a moving iceman. Even his white hair had turned into thin
icicles.

The time had finally arrived…

Death was descending at this moment.

“Infinite brilliance in the mortal realm, to the ends of the world the skies
and seas stretch beyond. As the winds blow my ashes back to the earth, it is
incomparable to the shining moon in the reflection of the water!” Bai Ning
Bing recited a poem with a faint smile.

Henceforth, his facial expression froze.

There was a burst of cold wind and the fog like frost suddenly rose up.

Crackle…..

Large amounts of ice started spreading from under his feet, then the glacier
rose up like the birth of a mountain!

The surging majestic ice was like a landslide, like a tsunami, like a dragon
rolling on the waves, as it crushed towards First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue let out a gasp and brought out all his strength to resist it.
The red hairs on his head were all standing on end, mist of blood rising
from all over his body, and large numbers of blood guillotine and bladewing
blood bat Gu were sent to crash against the glacier in an attempt to slow it
down even by a bit.

In the end, he was still suppressed by the glacier, confined and engulfed.

The enormous glacier filled the whole blood shield, but it didn’t touch Fang
Yuan as he was in a small space left intentionally by Bai Ning Bing.

Bang.

The Blood Curtain Skyflower burst with a soft sound. With no hindrances,
the cold air crazily flew around, and ice immediately condensed into a
glacier which continued to spread.

“It broke the shield of Blood Curtain Skyflower gu! Such power…” Lord
Sky Crane didn’t dare face the glacier as he promptly took to the air.

Under his astonished gaze, the glacier continued to spread and actually
covered the whole Qing Mao mountain from the top of the mountain to the
bottom. In this instance, the lush, thriving Qing Mao mountain turned into a
sinister land of ice and snow.

The icy ground under Fang Yuan’s feet continued to raise higher, he too was
personally observing this scene.

This thousand li glacier was the evidence of the fall of a young genius, and
contained within it was Bai Ning Bing’s indignance and helpless sigh.

“Not good, I need leave this place soon! Bai Ning Bing’s consciousness is
weakening and gradually dying out, he is already losing the control of the
glacier.” Fang Yuan found that the space he was on was shrinking, ice
continuously condensed and moved forward, compressing the space he was
on.
Chapter 196
 Chapter 196: Rebirth once more

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Fang Yuan immediately used the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, as well as

the Blood Moon Gu, trying to break the ice.

But the ice layer was way too thick, and the coldness was oozing. Every
layer of ice he shaved off, two layers would grow. Fang Yuan was trapped
in a desperate situation, without any way to free himself.

At this same time, blood light emerged from under the icy river.

There was initially a hint of blood light, but it soon spread, becoming
stronger and stronger, until a blood coloured aurora enveloped the area.

“Hahaha.” With a long laugh, blood light rushed towards the sky as First
gen Gu Yue broke the ice and escaped. Although he looked miserable, his
tone was arrogant, “This Northern Dark Ice Soul physique, if he reached
Rank four, he might be able to kill me. Sadly for him, he is only a Rank
three peak stage……”

Saying so, he turned his gaze to Fang Yuan within the ice river.

“Northern Dark Ice Soul physique couldn’t kill you, then let me do it.” Far
in the sky, Lord Sky Crane flew over casually. The Ironbeak flying crane
king he was sitting on, had already returned after killing the blood river
python when they flew away earlier.

At this point, in the entire Qing Mao mountain, only three people remained.

Bai Ning Bing had already turned into the ice mountain, his consciousness
expended. Fang Yuan was like an insect inside an amber, trapped within the
ice.

As for the two Rank five Gu Masters however, after First gen Gu Yue raised
his aptitude, his aperture could store much more primeval essence. Lord
Sky Crane had already recovered most of his strength after resting.

The two’s gaze were focused on Fang Yuan.

First gen Gu Yue wanted to kill Fang Yuan, to take his blood. Lord Sky
Crane wanted to stop First gen Gu Yue, and he would naturally not restrict
himself by protecting Fang Yuan, thus he could only strike first and kill
Fang Yuan.

With their natures, they would not tolerate a bystander. After all, what if
both of them got injured, and a third person profited from it?

Fang Yuan sighed. Seeing their gazes, he knew he was finished.

He had lost the Thunderwings Gu and Thousand Li Earthwolf spider. Even

if he had them, he could not escape from two Rank five Gu Masters.

He only had Rank three peak stage cultivation, incomparable with Rank
five. In this situation, he was like fish meat, easily cut by knives. And these
were two extremely sharp knives!

He could not beat them in combat, and couldn’t escape from them either,
but Fang Yuan had a final move!

That is — Spring Autumn Cicada!

Fang Yuan’s mind went into his aperture. The light walls in his aperture had
turned into a rough stone aperture.

His snow silver primeval essence was about half left. The stone aperture no
longer had recovery abilities, but Fang Yuan’s Heavenly Essence Treasure
Lotus maintained such a scene in his aperture.

These were not important; he placed all his concentration on the Gu in the
middle.
His vital Gu, the Rank six Spring Autumn Cicada!

Only by using this Gu could he travel against the flow of time, creating a
new miracle!! Using an impossible method to change fate itself!

Even then—

Such a method, was extremely risky.

The river of time is a forbidden area in the great dao, mortals are not
allowed to traverse in it. Once they enter, it is breaking the rules of heaven
and earth, and they would face divine retribution.

Secondly, Spring Autumn Cicada had not fully recovered, so it was like a
broken boat forcefully travelling in the river of time, he might capsize mid-
way and sink.

Lastly, Fang Yuan was only at Rank three peak stage. Activating the Spring
Autumn Cicada now was like a baby using a sword, and he might easily get
hurt by the sword.

“Once I use the Spring Autumn Cicada, I will have to self detonate. Using
all my cultivation and the flesh and blood of my body, as well as all my
other Gu worms, as a driving force to move the Spring Autumn Cicada
forward. Compared to my previous life,even if I self detonate, this force is
too small, and there is a high chance it would kill me directly. But at this
point, I have no other ways left, I am forced to use this Gu!”

Fang Yuan was helpless too.

Earlier, he would rather use the Stone Aperture Gu than the Spring Autumn
Cicada, because of the great risk involved.

Given 100%, there was less than even 10% chance of succeeding.

Many times, when Gu Masters use high ranking Gu, they would face a
strong backlash. Like Gu Yue Qing Shu, right now Fang Yuan could only
bet on the fact that “Spring Autumn Cicada is his vital Gu”.
“Little rascal, hand over your life and contribute your blood to your
ancestor!’

“Lad, you are unlucky, you can only blame this despicable ancestor of
yours. I will set you free from your misery!”

First gen Gu Yue and Lord Sky Crane both attacked at once.

Fang Yuan was forced to the cliff’s end, he could only jump.

“Spring Autumn Cicada, do it!” His eyes glowed with wondrous light, as
two green and yellow lights burst forth from his body.

“This aura?!”

“How can this be? A Rank six Gu!”

At once, the two Rank five Gu Masters were shocked, but soon, greed
emerged on their faces.

“Kill him and take the Rank six Gu!”

“This is a an opportunity from heaven, good lad, hand it over and I may
spare your life!”

Their speed was even faster than before.

But at this time, a loud boom occurred.

Fang Yuan self detonated!

“What?!” Before his death, he heard the two Rank five Gu Master’s cries of
shock.

Legend says, the world has one long river, known as time! Humans were
like fish in the river, and under the currents, the fish could only flow
downwards. Sometimes, one or two fish would jump above the surface of
the river and see the events below — this was predicting the future.
Without the river of time, the world would be still, becoming a drawing.
Only with this river can change occur, and the world can move, either
prospering or withering.

The river of time, with roaring currents. Every ripple was a story, an event
that occured in the past.

Under the turbulent river water, a tiny Gu worm was flowing upstream.

It spread its wings, moving with difficulty. With the waves crashing against
it, every impact could nearly cause its demise.

It carried Fang Yuan’s consciousness and memories, while a yellow green

light was protecting its body. It moved up the river shakingly, like a candle
blown by the wind.

Eventually, it could only move up a little, before the yellow green light
dispersed. The Spring Autumn Cicada had reached its limit, and with a
swoosh, it turned into a flash and burrowed into one of the ripples.

Fang Yuan’s body shook, his eyes having a tint of yellow green light deep
within.

This light flashed by quickly, and Fang Yuan shuddered.

Consciousness and memories assaulted his brain, merging instantly.

He succeeded!

He was extremely happy, he had rebirthed once more!

After sensing this, he immediately looked around, observing his

surroundings.

He found that his primeval essence was being expended as his arms and
body were coiled by white eyebrows.

Seeing once again, oh!

So it was this moment.

Tie Xue Leng’s backup plan activated already. First gen Gu Yue was
trapped by iron chains, not being able to move. His forehead also had a
yellow talismen, the Demon Suppression Iron Chain Gu and the Problem
Nipped in the Bud Gu.

That Lord Sky Crane also landed on the ground, his body covered in a
white barrier. He activated the Raise Eyebrows & Exhale Gu, trying to
exhaust all of First gen Gu Yue’s primeval essence.

Fang Yuan squinted. He was coiled by the white eyebrows, not able to
move, thus he could only use up primeval essence and wait for a good
chance.

Under the effect of the Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu, a yellow light flew
out of First gen Gu Yue’s body.

This yellow light was about fist-size, smaller than a person’s face. It
casually landed on the ground, showing the Blood Skull Gu inside.

“Blood Skull Gu! After hundreds of years, I finally see you again!” Lord
Sky Crane on seeing this, was exhilarated and his expression extremely
excited.

Gu Yue first head clenched his bloody fangs so hard that it made cracking
sounds, but he couldn’t even budge, much less struggle.

Suddenly, another ball of light was captured by the yellow talisman and fell
to the ground, turning into the alternating black and white Taiji light sphere.

Two peculiar Gu worms were circling and chasing each other within this
light sphere. It was the Yin Yang Rotation Gu.

According to Fang Yuan’s memories, Lord Sky Crane shouted again, “Yin
Yang Rotation Gu, my good senior brother, I truly have to thank you for
finding such a good Gu. Hahaha, you actually wanted to turn back to a
human, but what a pity your plan was destroyed by me!”
Fang Yuan looked at First gen Gu Yue.

Indeed, he was anxiously moved his legs and snarled, he had completely
lost his manners.

“Wait a bit longer, my opportunity is coming.” Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with
brilliance, choosing to wait a bit longer.

The third yellow light that was captured fell to the ground; it was a scarlet
colored Gu and looked like a translucent water sphere.

Fang Yuan’s heart jumped: “Blood Curtain Skyflower!”

It was this Gu that changed the situation and allowed First gen Gu Yue to
overturn the crisis.

Blood Curtain Skyflower was created by First gen Gu Yue, Fang Yuan
didn’t know it earlier but now he was clear of its effects.

Indeed, afterwards, First gen Gu Yue shouted, “Quick someone, destroy this
Gu worm!”

Several Gu Masters immediately moved forward upon hearing this and

immediately used their attacks.

Swoosh!

A soft cry resounded, Blood Curtain Skyflower appeared again, the blood
color sphere shield isolating the two areas. Some people were outside, while
some were inside.

The blood shield broke the white eyebrows completely, and Fang Yuan and
the others no longer had to compete with the Lord Sky Crane in primeval
essence, thus regaining freedom.

Lord Sky Crane was blocked by this Gu, hurriedly getting up and
snickering continuously.
After some conversation, he could not break the blood shield, and had to
stop, asking, “What Gu is this?”

Gu Yue laughed smugly, “Let me teach you, this is my personally fused Gu

— Blood Curtain Skyflower. Water Curtain Skyflower – a Rank four Gu –
can block Rank five Gu attacks. This Gu is at Rank five and has even more
powerful defense. Water Curtain Skyflower prevents even its owner from
going in and out; but this Blood Curtain Skyflower can let me leave. Junior
brother, don’t be impatient, you can attack slowly, use all your strength. Just
wait till I recover, I will then come out and cut away your dog head,
ahahaha!”

Lord Sky Crane was furious, attacking again, but failed. After he calmed
down, he chose to replenish his primeval essence, waiting for the blood
shield to lose effect.

The Gu Masters seeing the blood shield being impenetrable, were overjoyed
thinking their lives were saved, quickly flattering First gen Gu Yue, but only
Bai Ning Bing snorted.

First gen Gu Yue thus asked for more primeval stones, and everyone
quickly contributed what they had.

Although First gen Gu Yue was chained up, and could not move, his mouth
continued to crush primeval stones as he recovered quickly.

Sky Crane Lord seeing this, started shouting, “You morons! Once he
recovers his movement, he will kill you all and use your blood to upgrade
his aptitude. You are causing your own doom!”

No one believed him.

“Hehe, using such a low level tactic to sow distrust, we’ll laugh till our
teeth drops!”

“Quick, this old thief is telling us not to give, so we need to give even more
primeval stones.”
“Everything is depending on lord ancestor!”
Chapter 197
 Chapter 197: Changing Fate!

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Large numbers of primeval stones continued to be absorbed by First gen Gu

Yue, as he chewed and crushed them.

Bai Ning Bing watched coldly.

But Fang Yuan moved; he did not observe but had a different choice than
before.

“First gen Ancestor, the situation is dire, I have the Heavenly Essence
Treasure Lotus to offer!” He was filled with sincerity as he walked up
quickly, a look of helplessness but determination.

Gu Yue laughed heartily, “Very good, as expected of my descendant. Such

filial piety, as your ancestor, I am very happy!”

He had long wanted the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, and once sent
two bladewing blood bat groups to chase after Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan
escaped quickly and didn’t give him the chance.

However right now he had no suspicions.

Firstly, he did not fall out with Fang Yuan yet, and earlier he had lied that he
was protecting Fang Yuan when he dispatched the bladewing blood bat
group.

Secondly, Fang Yuan had taken the initiative to grab onto the white
eyebrows and help the First gen Gu Yue in the primeval essence
expenditure, causing the wavering people to make up their minds. Such a
loyal performance, First gen Gu Yue still remembered it vividly.
Lastly, under such circumstances, Fang Yuan could only place his hopes on
First gen Gu Yue. Only then could he defeat Lord Sky Crane and protect his
life. First gen Gu Yue did not believe that Fang Yuan would ruin his own
survival chances and attack him.

Thus, when Fang Yuan got closer, First gen Gu Yue laughed continuously,
“With the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, my chances of victory is
higher by 20%. All of you move away, and let him in.”

“Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus?” Outside the blood barrier, Lord Sky
Crane was stunned and quickly shouted, “You mustn’t do it!”

Under everyone’s gazes, Fang Yuan got to First gen Gu Yue’s side.

“First gen ancestor. I have thought it through! It was you who created the
village, it was because of you that all of us descendants exist. Back in the
day, you made such a great contribution to the village. Today, you even led
our clan towards brilliance. The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus should
be used by you, great ancestor.” He was full of admiration, his tone excited
and nervous.

First gen Gu Yue nodded continuously, thinking: This lad is good with
words. Too bad I still have to kill him later and retrieve his blood.

But at this time!

Fang Yuan lowered his back, striking.

He grabbed First gen Gu Yue, using the strength in his waist to turn his
body and moved both arms.

He opened his mouth and growled, using the strength of two boars,
expending all his energy to throw!

Swish!

First gen Gu Yue was thrown out of the blood barrier by him.

Dead silence!
At this time, it was as if time stopped.

The outside winds blew relentlessly. First gen Gu Yue was smashed onto the
ground, his red hair flying around in the winds as he stared blankly, having
unable to react to what had just happened.

In front of him, less than ten steps away was Lord Sky Crane.

This old man was still furious and anxious over Fang Yuan contributing the
Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus. He did not expect in the least that in the
very next moment, such a drastic change would occur.

He was stunned too, staring blankly at First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue was his mortal enemy, but at this point Lord Sky Crane
was stunned, like he was still dreaming, not moving at all.

In the blood barrier, everyone stood like a statue, silent and unmoving.

Some people opened their mouths, so large that a fist could fit in it. Some
stared with wide-opened eyes, almost bulging out.

Even Bai Ning Bing lost his composure, staring at Fang Yuan in
astonishment.

Only when half a bamboo building collapsed within the blood barrier did
everyone jolt awake all of a sudden.

“Wha… what… what the fuck!” Someone swore.

“Fang Yuan, what dumb shit did you do!” Someone pointed at Fang Yuan,
his entire body shivering.

“First gen ancestor!!” Someone attempted to pull First gen Gu Yue back,
but was blocked by the Blood Curtain Skyflower.

“Despicable thief! Lying to your ancestor, I will tear you to shreds!” First
gen Gu Yue finally reacted, lying on the ground screaming.
“Hahaha…” Amidst the frightened individuals, someone laughed.

It was none other than Bai Ning Bing.

He laughed till his tears came out, giving a thumbs up to Fang Yuan,
“Interesting, interesting, truly spectacular.”

“Fang Yuan, are you crazy?”

“Fang Yuan, you harmed the First gen ancestor, you plot even against the
ancestor, are you still human?!”

“Waaaaaah, Fang Yuan must’ve been bought over by that white hair old
man. You spy, you traitor!!”

The surrounding people pointed at him in rage, but Fang Yuan lightly
laughed, “I am a Rank three peak stage, who dares to kill me? Who can kill
me?”

At this point, within the blood barrier, there were few Rank three Gu
Masters. They had little primeval essence left due to the fight earlier, and
they even gave up their primeval stones and could not get replenishments.
As for the others, they were mortals or Rank one or two Gu Masters.

Without the First gen Gu Yue, within this blood barrier, Fang Yuan really
was unstoppable.

“Hehehe.” Fang Yuan laughed, bending down and picking up the two Gu
worms.

His left hand carried the Blood Skull Gu, and his right hand carried the Yin
Yang Rotation Gu. These two were owned by First gen Gu Yue, but right
now they had a thin layer of yellow light, sealed by the Problem Nipped in
the Bud Gu, unable to sense First gen Gu Yue’s desperate calls.

But this seal was an obstacle to Fang Yuan as well.

He wanted to break the seal and refine the two Gu worms. Forcefully
breaking the seal however, will only cause these two Gu to be destroyed.
This was different from the Blood Curtain Skyflower Gu, as the Blood
Curtain Skyflower Gu had to be destroyed to be used. By breaking the seal,
it was the same as using it.

But Fang Yuan was not anxious.

He knew what would happen next. Both the Demon Suppression Iron Chain
Gu and Problem Nipped in the Bud Gu would be corrupted by the Blood
Frenzy Gu, turn into blood water and die.

“Hahaha, my good senior brother, to think you have this day! Hand over
your life!” Lord Sky Crane howled, rushing into the sky and attacking
towards First gen Gu Yue.

First gen Gu Yue was suppressed by the demon suppressing chains and
could not move, thus he was a target board and could only take the hits.

He scolded furiously, howling and struggling.

Suddenly the iron chains turned into a puddle of blood water, allowing him
to regain his freedom and he hurriedly flew into the air, crashing against the
blood barrier.

With a loud bang, unquestionably, he was blocked by the blood barrier.

This Blood Curtain Skyflower was refined by him, and it was his greatest
invention. It had superb defense, but once used it cannot be moved nor
turned off. For him, he could only exit and not enter.

“Little rascal, you will die a painful death!” First gen Gu Yue’s grievance
and rage towards Fang Yuan was greater than anything, rising like a
tsunami.

Lord Sky Crane naturally chased him, laughing non-stop.

First gen Gu Yue could only give up on the blood barrier and resist the Lord
Sky Crane. He had eaten large amounts of primeval essence earlier, thus he
had ample primeval essence. Even though he had the lower hand, he could
stabilise his situation.
“First gen ancestor, good luck!”

“Lord First gen, we are cheering for you!”

“Ancestor, you are our only hope…”

The battle between two Rank five attracted everyone’s attention. Fang Yuan
however, retracted his gaze and looked at Bai Ning Bing.

This situation was like two tigers competing, while he Fang Yuan was a
rabbit. Both the Lord Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue were crafty old
foxes. To wait for the two to injure each other and benefit Fang Yuan, such
a chance was slim.

No one was stupid, they would not let the battle adrenaline get to their head.

Moreover, this blood barrier could only protect them for a while. Once the
time is up, everyone inside including him would face the slaughter of Lord
Sky Crane and First gen Gu Yue.

He had already rebirthed once, thus the Spring Autumn Cicada had fallen
into a weak state again, unable to be used.

Right now, he could only try to get as strong as possible, exerting the
greatest effort to fight for a chance to survive.

Fang Yuan already had a plan. But in this plan, there was a person who
played a crucial role. That person is Bai Ning Bing.

The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique’s self detonation would greatly affect
the battlefield. Especially when the two Rank fives were fighting outside of
the barrier.

But how was he going to convince Bai Ning Bing?

Fang Yuan looked at Bai Ning Bing, and Bai Ning Bing sensed it, turning
back to look at Fang Yuan.

Among the people, they stared at each other.

Fang Yuan in his black robe, with black hair and eyes, revealed a devilish
smile as his lips curled.

“I have a way to resolve the ten extreme aptitudes, and allow you to return
to life.” He said.

Bai Ning Bing’s body shuddered, he obviously wanted to live. “What

method?”

However, Fang Yuan’s words changed. “But this method does not have
much chance of success, it is highly probable to fail.”

Yet this made Bai Ning Bing even more convinced.

Next Fang Yuan said his third sentence, “But I think even if we fail, it will
allow your final moments to be as spectacular as ever.”

Bai Ning Bing’s was moved.

Fang Yuan used three sentences and targeted his heart’s innermost desires,
convincing him!

He was also smart, and after thinking, he asked directly, “Then what do I
need to do?”

Fang Yuan’s smile disappeared. At the same time, the Problem Nipped in
the Bud Gu turned into a puddle of blood water.

Blood Skull Gu and Yin Yang Rotation Gu’s seal vanished and were about
to fly away, but Fang Yuan grabbed onto them.

He used the Spring Autumn Cicada’s aura. These three Gu were merely
Rank four, they were immediately tamed. Fang Yuan injected his primeval
essence and refined them, turning them into his!

“What? Fuck!” Outside the blood barrier, First gen Gu Yue’s head hurt as he
lost the connection with the Blood Skull Gu and Yin Yang Rotation Gu.
He was beyond shocked, losing his bearing and rushing towards the blood
barrier!

“How can this be? How could you refine my three Gu worms so quickly!”
First gen Gu Yue cried out sadly, attacking the blood barrier like a crazed
man.

Fang Yuan stole food from a tiger’s mouth. By taking the Blood Skull Gu
and Yin Yang Rotation Gu, it was a fatal blow to the First gen.

Everyone was shocked, taking a step back. First gen Gu yue was like a
fierce beast trapped in despair, his eyes starting to burn with fire.

But quickly, Lord Sky Crane’s attack came.

“I want you to die, I want you to die!” First gen Gu Yue went frantic,
attacking without defending, exerting all his anger on Lord Sky Crane.

Lord Sky Crane was taken aback as he received some damaging blows.

The two fought it out again, as the battle slowly reached its climax.

Fang Yuan laughed loudly, saying to Bai Ning Bing: “Come, kill them all
with me!”

Before he finished, he acted. As the razors on the Chainsaw Golden

Centipede moved, he slashed a Gu Master nearby into half!

Blood Skull Gu!

Soon after, Fang Yuan activated the Blood Skull Gu, absorbing the blood.
Chapter 198
 Chapter 198: Ruthless in murdering people,
cruelty exercised to profit from disaster

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

“Fang Yuan, what are you doing?”

“Quickly stop, the enemy is before us, how can we fight among ourselves?”

“Stop now, otherwise… urgh!”

Everyone was shocked. Fang Yuan was ruthless, killing another clansmen.

“I am only killing Gu Yue clan people, outsiders fuck off! Otherwise I’ll kill
you as well!” Fang Yuan screamed.

Everyone was stunned, retreating steps away, not expecting Fang Yuan to be
so insane.

“Fang Yuan has lost it!”

“He’s lost his logic, attack together!”

“Indeed, if this goes on, even before the first ancestor defeats the enemy,
we’d have been slaughtered by Fang Yuan already….”

It was like Fang Yuan stabbed a beehive, causing everyone to stir, but no
one dared to attack; most could only shout and encourage others to fight.

“Hahaha, interesting!” Bai Ning Bing laughed loudly, suddenly attacking

and killing someone beside him.

“Lord Bai Ning Bing, you!” The dying person was a Bai clansmen.
“Oh no, Lord Bai Ning Bing lost it too!” Everyone shouted.

Fang Yuan’s gaze concentrated, looking at Bai Ning Bing, not expecting
him to change so drastically.

Bai Ning Bing laughed maniacally, “Since you can kill your own clansmen,
I can’t lose to you. Sigh, since too many deaths have occurred, Bai clan’s
future is ruined already, we can no longer be a village. The clan leader I’m
indebted to is dead too, I might as well kill them now, and enjoy the fun.”

“Hehehe, that’s great,” Fang Yuan laughed heartily, his body moving
quickly, starting his slaughter.

Since these clansmen were going to die anyway, they might as well die at
Fang Yuan’s hands, contributing to his aptitude growth instead of First gen
Gu Yue.

These people in the blood barrier, how could they be a match for Fang Yuan
and Bai Ning Bing together? Especially when Bai Ning Bing who was
nearing death, was much stronger and killed even more people than Fang
Yuan.

Fang Yuan took the last hit and extracted their blood.

After killing a hundred people, the Blood Skull Gu reached its limit, and the
crystal skull started to turn blood red.

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, activating the Blood Skull Gu, raising it over
his head.

The teeth opened, shooting out a fragrant blood stream, drenching Fang
Yuan from head to toe.

Fang Yuan enjoyed the discomfort and breathed in deeply, living in the
moment.

His black robe and hair together with his bloodbathed body, made him look
like a demon straight out of hell. The surrounding people upon seeing him,
were all scared and cried out in fear.
“My aptitude really increased!” Fang Yuan’s aptitude was only 44% C
grade originally, but after the Man-beast Life Burial Gu, it dropped to 43%.
Right now, standing under the blood stream as it gushed into his aperture,
his aptitude rose by 10%, going to 53%.

“Indeed a great treasure, no wonder First gen Gu Yue treated it like his
life!” Fang Yuan opened his eyes, nodding in satisfaction, starting another
round of slaughter.

The two caused much bloodshed within the blood barrier.

This was a large slaughterhouse.

“Fang Yuan, you mad and crazy monster!” Gu Yue Mo Yan rushed up.

Fang Yuan dodged her attack and raised his Chainsaw Golden Centipede
before throwing it down.

The young girl was split in half.

“Fang Yuan, let us go please, we’re your uncle and aunt!” Gu Yue Dong Tu
and his wife kneeled down and begged.

Fang Yuan laughed coldly, his left hand waving, and a blood colored
moonblade shot out, beheading the two.

Blood Skull Gu absorbed the Gu Yue clansmen’ blood, turning into a thick
blood stream, pouring into Fang Yuan.

“What a pleasure…” Fang Yuan closed his eyes, breathing in deeply, only
to feel a warm feeling travelling through his body and causing his mind to
become sharper, like he had been reborn.

Aptitude rose again, becoming 63%!

A Gu Master’s aptitude, 40-59% was C grade, 60-79% was B grade, and

80% and above was A grade.

Fang Yuan had officially left C grade and become a B grade talent!
“But, my cultivation dropped…” Fang Yuan opened his eyes, staring
intently.

Fang Yuan’s aptitude rose to B grade, but his cultivation dropped from
Rank three to Rank two.

Strange!

First gen Gu Yue evidently retained his cultivation level as his aptitude rose,
so why was it that when it came to Fang Yuan, such a thing happened?

“This problem should be due to the Stone Aperture Gu!” Fang Yuan sighed
in his heart.

Fang Yuan had used the Stone Aperture Gu to squeeze out all his potential,
causing his cultivation to rise to Rank three peak stage. But this Blood Skull
Gu injected the quality blood stream into him, raising the aperture’s
potential and raising his aptitude.

Undeniably, these two Gu clashed in nature.

But Blood Skull Gu was Rank four, while Stone Aperture Gu was Rank
three. The Blood Skull Gu ruled over the Stone Aperture Gu, causing Fang
Yuan’s aperture to turn from stone back to light. However, the cultivation
increase that the stone aperture brought was also disappearing, and even
reducing his cultivation in the process.

This change was something Fang Yuan did not expect in such a short time.

But Bai Ning Bing was getting stronger, he killed everywhere he went.
Thus, Fang Yuan was able to keep his strength and stop attacking, only
collecting the bloodline.

First gen Gu Yue who was outside the blood barrier, saw the people getting
slaughtered and flew into a rage, screaming but to no avail.

He spread his bloodline, waiting for hundreds of years. It was all for this
moment, killing his descendants to raise his aptitude. After planning for so
long, in the end, someone else benefited from it.
“This lad, so young yet so ruthless, even more demonic than his ancestor!”
Lord Sky Crane seeing this, was slightly shocked too.

The slaughter continued, until six hours later.

Fang Yuan’s cultivation dropped to Rank one initial stage, but his aperture
returned to being a light wall, able to recover primeval essence on his own.

He was bathed in blood over ten times, and towards the last few times, the
effect weakened. The first few raised his aptitude by 10%, but the
percentage continued to drop with each try.

But his aptitude had increased from the C grade 43% to over 90%.

90%, A grade aptitude!

A grade aptitude!!

“Five hundred years of my previous life, I only manage to raise my aptitude

from C to B about 200 years later through pure luck. To think that this time,
I can benefit from a disaster and rise to A grade.” Fang Yuan clenched his
fist, secretly excited.

Bai Ning Bing stopped his killing, walking over, “Next, what do we do?”

In the blood barrier, only the two of them were left. The others, whether it
was Gu Master or mortal, were all killed.

Outside the blood barrier, no one was spared from the aftermath of the two
Rank five experts’ battle.

In the entire area, there was only the two inside the barrier, and the two
outside.

Fang Yuan looked outside, saying casually, “Next, we wait for First gen Gu
Yue to run into defeat, and the Blood Curtain Skyflower to vanish.”

“And then?” Bai Ning Bing pursued.

“Then?” Fang Yuan turned around and looked at Bai Ning Bing, then he
smiled, “Then you can go and die.”

Bai Ning Bing was stunned.

“Oh? What do you mean?” Immediately, his eyes squinted into a line as his
blue irises had a dangerous killing intent.

“The Northern Dark Ice Soul physique’s self detonation is extremely strong.
Even though your cultivation is weak, and the chances are not high, it
should be able to hurt Rank five experts. After detonating, are you able to
control the direction of the snow and frost?” Fang Yuan laughed.

“How would I know?” Bai Ning Bing’s lips twitched. “I’ve never self
detonated before!”

“I know you can!” Fang Yuan laughed heartily, patting his chest.
Unknowingly, the image of Bai Ning Bing self-detonating previously
appeared in his mind.

And that line—”Live for me, and witness the brilliance of this world!”

“I will stay by your side. After you detonate, and when the time is ripe, I
will save your life and cause you to resurrect,” Fang Yuan continued.

“What if you can’t?”

“Hehehe.” Fang Yuan laughed plainly, “Then you need to bet. When you
detonate, I will be by your side. If you suspect my sincerity, you can send
the ice storm to kill me. You must’ve noticed already. That’s right, my
cultivation is already Rank one initial stage. By then, I will have no way to
survive.”

“But if you believe me, then I could be lying too. Eventually I will not
resurrect you, because I have no way to do so. Thus, you need to gamble —
whatever choice you make, not just what you are thinking, but also what
you are considering in the moment before you die.”

Bai Ning Bing was solemn.

Fang Yuan’s words was telling him to gamble away. But actually, wasn’t
Fang Yuan betting too? He was using his own life as the wager, fully
dependant on Bai Ning Bing’s thoughts.

“Hehe. So exciting. So very exciting! Then I shall bet on it, haha!” A

moment later, Bai Ning Bing raised his head, laughing loudly.

Fang Yuan did not care about him, but concentrated on the battle outside the
blood barrier.

As expected, First gen Gu Yue had the lower hand, suppressed by Lord Sky
Crane.

Although he replenished his primeval essence, he could not replenish it, so

under a sustained battle, how could he compete with Lord Sky Crane?

Moreover, Lord Sky Crane was clear of his methods, and he would not
allow First gen Gu Yue to take back any advantage.

“I AM SO FUCKING FURIOUS!” A moment later, First gen Gu Yue cried

out, “Little thief, you destroyed my thousand year plan, I will spare you
today. Someday, I will kill the hell out of you to appease my anger!”

Throwing this angry statement, First gen Gu Yue flapped his wings and
escaped the battlefield, flying towards the skies.

“Don’t think of leaving!” Lord Sky Crane quickly turned into a flash of
light, chasing relentlessly.

Without their intense battle, this battlefield became quiet instantly.

This was originally the best time to leave, but the blood veil aurora became
a huge obstacle.

Four hours later, the blood barrier was thinning, and was about to vanish.

But at this time, a white light flew over, turning into the Lord Sky Crane.
His body was full of injuries. A wound stretched from his left shoulder to
his waist, so deep that his bones could be seen, overflowing with purple
poisonous red blood. But his face was extremely uplifted, showing the
happiness of getting his long awaited revenge.

His right hand held a skull, a blood covered face, it was First gen Gu Yue!

“He actually managed to kill First gen Gu Yue?” Bai Ning Bing showed
astonishment.

Fang Yuan laughed instead, “It seems this old fellow hates First gen Gu Yue
to the core. Hehe, to kill the First gen, he definitely paid a huge price.

While they were speaking, the blood barrier vanished, and there were no
longer any obstacles between the two.

“Little thief, quickly hand over the two Gu worms. I am still in a good
mood now, I might spare your lives. Otherwise, when the blood barrier
vanishes, you will all die without a resting place!” Lord Sky Crane flew
into the sky, looking down and laughing loudly.

Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing looked at each other before laughing lightly,
not speaking.

“Lord Sky Crane flew into a rage. “Good lad, refusing a toast only to drink
a forfeit, you deserve to get killed!”

Before he finished his words, he turned into a white light and assaulted.

Bai Ning Bing laughed grandly, taking a huge step in front, “I was waiting
for you!”

Saying so, his body lost all color, turning into an ice statue.

Cold winds blew, and as winds turned into a hurricane, frost and ice
covered the sky and the infinite ice river appeared.

“This is!” Lord Sky Crane did not expect it in the least that such a
development would occur, causing him to be unprepared against Bai Ning
Bing’s attack, and was sealed into the ice.
Chapter 199
 Chapter 199: Walking towards their own destiny

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

BOOM! BOOM!

The ice glacier shook intensely as Lord Sky Crane carried out his attacks;
he was about to break out of the ice layer in just a few seconds.

“We can’t let this old geezer break free!” Fang Yuan shouted.

Bai Ning Bing couldn’t speak anymore; after Fang Yuan’s shout, he
resolutely self-exploded one of his arm, turning it into vast amounts of frost
wind. The wind swept through everything, the glacier spread and the ice
layer rapidly thickened by a hundred feet.

Lord Sky Crane roared within the ice and started attacking in a frenzy.

Bai Ning Bing exploded his other arm. More ice condensed and the glacier
repeatedly pressed down on Lord Sky Crane, suppressing him every time he
tried to breakthrough.

Under Bai Ning Bing’s meticulous control, the ice moved like an army,
firmly entrapping Lord Sky Crane. Lord Sky Crane may be a Rank five Gu
Master, but after killing Gu Yue first head, he was thoroughly spent. He
attacked again and again, but couldn’t break out in the end.

“It is actually Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique! But if you want to kill me
with just this, you can keep on dreaming!” He suddenly realized and
immediately activated Life-retaining Jade Burial Gu.

Green jade light came into being and covered his body. Then the rays of
light turned from virtual to material, changing into a transparent jade coffin
with Lord Sky Crane inside it.

This jade coffin was abnormally hard; even after trying multiple times, Bai
Ning Bing was not able to put even a scratch on it. In the end, he could only
add more ice layers around the jade coffin, forming an ice peak that was
hundreds of feets high.

Fang Yuan had watched all this from the sidelines.

“Worthy of being a ten extreme physique!” He was impressed even though

this was his second time seeing it.

Fang Yuan was standing right beside Bai Ning Bing. Right now, Bai Ning
Bing had destroyed his two arms and was turning into an ice sculpture.
Even his appearance was becoming indistinct as the ice slowly covered
him.

Both his appearance and his consciousness were slowly dissipating. Once
his consciousness fades, he would be completely dead.

As the ice layer started to spread towards himself, Fang Yuan was clear on
what he had to do: It is impossible to escape by myself; I will be sealed and
frozen to death by the glacier sooner or later!

“It’s time.” Immediately, he took out a pair of Gu worms from his aperture.

One black Gu and one white Gu were revolving around each other in an
orbit, forming a light sphere of Taiji diagram.

This was the Yin Yang Rotation Gu.

“Go.” Fang Yuan willed it; the black Gu immediately flew out and merged
into Bai Ning Bing’s ice sculpture.

Fang Yuan may just be a Rank one right now, but his aperture still contained
large amounts of Rank three snow silver primeval essence which he almost
used up in activating this Gu.
In the instance when the black Gu went into the ice sculpture, black light
burst out everywhere; yin qi gathered from all around and formed into an
energy vortex in the air. A completely new life force came into being within
the ice sculpture, and started growing vigorously.

The dazzling black light dissipated; the ice sculpture cracked and broke into
pieces, which then flew scattered to the surroundings.

A white gown, silver hair, intact arms, picturesque appearance with lovely
blush on the cheeks; Bai Ning Bing broke free of the ice and came out!

The blizzard came to a sudden stop and the cold air also completely
dispersed. The ice layer stopped a few inches from Fang Yuan, he had lived
through this near death experience!

“I am really alive!” Bai Ning Bing was shocked. He looked at his pretty
jade-like hands and then felt his whole body; his disbelief changed to
ecstasy.

“Hahaha.” Fang Yuan laughed brightly, “I used the Yin Gu of Yin Yang
Rotation Gu on you, this Gu can change yang to yin and give you a
complete transformation. It is a Rank four healing Gu and has the effect of
bringing the dead to life. It has a weak point though, and that is — the Gu
Master’s aptitude will be lowered by 10% once it is used.”

Bai Ning Bing possessed the ten extreme physique which was a 100%
aptitude. Now, his aptitude was lowered by 10%, and was equal to Fang
Yuan’s 90% aptitude.

This news, to others, might have been grievious, but to Bai Ning Bing, it
was joyous news.

“This feels great. My aptitude has been lowered, I no longer have the
Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique. Haha, what does it matter if I only have
90%?” Bai Ning Bing started laughing loudly.

Fang Yuan, however, shook his head. “It is very difficult to change the ten
extreme physiques. Although this method lowered your aptitude, as you
cultivate in the future, your aptitude will also recover until the day it turns
into Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique again. When that day comes, you will
need to use this Yang Gu – it will turn you around again and lower your
aptitude by 10%.”

Upon saying this, Fang Yuan put back the Yang Gu into his aperture in front
of Bai Ning Bing’s dead-straight gaze.

“Yin Yang Rotation Gu all come in pairs; you have already used that Yin
Gu, so only the Yang Gu on me will have any effect on you. Don’t even
think of stealing it, I have already refined this Yang Gu; I can easily order it
to self-destroy with just a thought,” Fang Yuan explained.

He only had Rank one cultivation now, but Bai Ning Bing was still a Rank
three Gu Master; naturally he needed some ways to stop Bai Ning Bing
from taking actions against him.

“I see, Fang Yuan, you really planned it all!” Bai Ning Bing heaved a long
sigh, “What do you want from me for that Yang Gu?”

“Hahaha…” Fang Yuan laughed for a good while then turned serious, “Qing
Mao Mountain has already turned into a desolate ice mountain. The three
great clans along with countless living beings have all been frozen and will
die within three to five days. Such a scene will definitely attract the
attention and investigation of many forces. Moreover, that old man isn’t
dead and has sealed himself within the jade coffin, waiting to breakout. We
can’t stay in Qing Mao Mountain anymore, we need to leave.”

“But look at me, I only have Rank one cultivation now; I can’t even take
out my Gu worms, much less leave by myself. Hence, I need to rely on your
strength. This world is so big, so wondrous, and Qing Mao Mountain is
only a very small part of it. Follow me as I roam this land, and witness the
wonders of the world!”

“It was like this! You really planned out everything. Humph!” Bai Ning
Bing grinded his teeth. He was really happy but there was also some
resignation now. However, as it turns out, Fang Yuan’s proposal moved
him. “I can agree to you but I need to make one thing clear.”
“What?” Fang Yuan asked.

“It is not me who is following you, but you who is following me as I roam
the lands!” Bai Ning Bing’s red lips slightly raised with an arrogant smile.

“Hahahaha.” Fang Yuan laughed heartily.

“Then, where are we going next? What do you have in mind?” Bai Ning
Bing asked.

“Bai Gu mountain.” Fang Yuan answered in between his laughters.

“What’s so funny?” Bai Ning Bing was truly puzzled.

Fang Yuan laughed until his tears flowed, “You still haven’t discovered
anything wrong?”

“What is there that’s wrong?” Bai Ning Bing raised his dark eyebrows;
suddenly, his face turned extremely wonderful.

Surprise, fear, puzzled, panic, shock, anger… all these expressions

intertwined in her face.

She looked at her round and full chest, and cried out with a loud voice, “I,
how did I become a woman?!”

The voice resounded throughout the Qing Mao mountain, shaking the snow.

“Of course it would be like that! Yin Yang Rotation Gu – Yin Gu is used in
male body, to turn yang into yin, and become a woman; likewise, Yang Gu
is used in female body, to turn yin to yang, and become a man. Yin Yang
Rotation, rotating yin and yang… what do you think it means?” Fang Yuan
spoke like it was what it should be.

“I, I… what the fuck!” Bai Ning Bing looked at Fang Yuan with a furious
gaze and cursed. With this, she must now get hold of that sole Yang Gu.

“Brother Bai, calm yourself, being able to live is the greatest fortune,” Fang
Yuan consoled her.
“Fortune my ass, how about you try being a woman?!” Bai Ning Bing’s
furious growl resounded within the snow covered mountain and glaciers.

Two days later.

The sun hung high in the sky; the ice was melting down and a stream of
clear water flowed through the ice mountain.

Crackle….

The silence of the surroundings was broken by the cracking of ice; a jade
light burst out from within the ice and hovered in the air, turning into a jade
coffin.

The jade coffin exploded, and Lord Sky Crane gave a long cry upon
regaining his freedom and seeing the daylight again.

This Life-retaining Jade Burial Gu was a Rank five Gu and was very
mysterious. As long as the Gu Master had one breath of life in him, it could
suspend his life and delay the injuries. Not only this, but the jade coffin it
formed was extremely strong and could even be considered a defensive
weapon.

“Goddamn thief!” He cursed with a pained voice. Right now, he was both
furious and impatient.

Even after killing his lifetime enemy, the First gen Gu Yue, he couldn’t get
the true blood sea inheritance; how was he going to answer his teacher
when he returned?

According to his memories, the ice layer where Fang Yuan was supposed to
be was already cut open.

“If only he didn’t get far!” He patrolled the surroundings hoping for a lucky
break.

He used his recon Gu and discovered many life forces hanging on to their
lives in the depths of the ice layers.
Living beings were tenacious and this tenacity could often bring about
miracles. It had only been two days since this glacier covered these life
forms, which was not enough to lead to their complete deaths.

“Found him! To think he was actually hiding here, hmph, the most
dangerous area is the safest place, right? This guy is really crafty!” Lord
Sky Crane’s whole body jolted and became indescribably happy upon this
discovery.

He rushed into the ice layer and soon fished out an ice chunk.

Within the ice chunk, Fang Zheng’s whole body was covered with a layer of
moonlight from the Moon Raiment Gu. He was already at the edge of
death’s door.

Lord Sky Crane could swear he would never forget Fang Yuan’s appearance
in this life.

However, he was a Rank five expert and after closely looking at Fang
Zheng, he was immediately disappointed. “This person isn’t him, only their
appearances are similar. Sigh…”

He heaved a deep sigh before suddenly becoming stupefied.

“Wait a second, their appearances are so similar which means they are
extremely likely to be twins! If so, then he is closely related to that little
thief!” Lord Sky Crane’s dim old eyes suddenly burst out with a sharp gaze.

With a close relative on him, he could refine the Kinship Blood worm!

It was because of this Rank five Kinship Blood worm that he was able to
locate the First gen Gu Yue among this vast world and its diverse life forms.

“I haven’t completely failed teacher’s assignment. There is still some hope.

This kid is my only hope. I must save him!”

Fang Zheng slowly opened his exhausted and heavy eyes.

“Where is this?” His eyes were still hazy and he could only see a blurry
figure before him. At the same time, his whole body felt weak, along with
an intense headache.

The last thing he recalled was the three clans competition, where Ironbeak
flying cranes covered the sky and everyone around him had fled.

He had activated the Moon Raiment Gu and resisted against the flying
cranes’ attacks. As the battle continued, a flying crane broke through his
barrier and pecked fiercely at his forehead.

He had immediately lost consciousness, tumbling down the cliff.

“You are the elder standing on the crane?!” As he became clear on the
identity of the person before him, Fang Zheng struggled to get up in shock,
but fell down again before he could completely stand up.

“Kid, you are still thinking of escaping in front of me, Lord Sky Crane?”
Lord Sky Crane sneered.

He sized up Fang Zheng once and said, “You could say that I am even your
lifesaver. If not for me, you would have already frozen to death. I advise
you to not move around randomly, don’t blame me if you fall down.”

Fang Zheng looked beside him and immediately got a great shock.

There were clouds moving all around him, and he was standing on the back
of an enormous crane as it flew in the sky.

“You, who the hell are you? Where are you taking me to?” Fang Zheng
cried out in alarm.

“I am Lord Sky Crane, and we are heading to the Middle Continent.”

“Middle Continent?!” Fang Zheng shouted in shock.

Chapter 200
 Chapter 200: The raft overturns along the Yellow
Dragon River

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Book 2: The Demon Leaves the Mountain

The Yellow Dragon river is the third river in the Southern Border – it is
over eight thousand kilometers. It starts from Mount Huang Guo, and
passes through mountains and hills like Mount Xuan Ming, Mount Gui Bei,
Mount Qing Mao, Mount Bai Gu and Mount Lei Ci before finally flowing
into the ocean.

If the whole Southern Border was seen through a bird’s eye view, one could
see the Yellow Dragon river forming a zigzag shape as it ran through over
half of the Southern Border.

Several waves roared as they turned over, the violent waves rolling in an
imposing manner along the river. It bore through the crack between the
shores, and fog was raise up into the blue sky.

The Yellow Dragon river flowed rapidly and unceasingly. Many creatures
lived in the river – fishes, turtles, snakes, clams and other life forms. At this
moment, there was a bamboo raft bobbing up and down with the waves.

This green raft looked quite battered and seemed to be in need of repair.
There was a simple and crude mast in the middle with a shabby white sail
hanging on it. A pile of goods were put around the mast to stabilize the
center of the raft. The bamboo were tied with hemp ropes and there were
many loops around some areas; they were clearly hurriedly done as the raft
sailed through the river.
The bamboo raft flowed with the currents of the river, and every time the
waves crashed onto it, the raft gave out a creaking noise which was far from
reassuring.

This bamboo raft which looked like it could break apart at any moment was
carrying two youngsters – one had an ordinary face with black pupils and
black hair, wearing a black gown; another was a woman with the looks of
an immortal fairy, blue pupils and silver hair, wearing a white gown.

They were Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.

After the battle at Qing Mao mountain – Bai Ning Bing self exploding his
Northern Dark Ice Soul physique and sealed Lord Sky Crane for the
moment – they used all their strength to break out of the ice, then cut off
some Qing Mao bamboos to make this raft before immediately hitting the
road to flee.

Fang Yuan’s thousand li earth wolf spider was already dead; and ever since
Bai Ning Bing’s white form immortal snake had flown out on its own, there
had been no news from it.

With no transportation gu worms, the two would definitely be caught by

Lord Sky Crane if they were to move on land as their speed would be too
slow. Thus, Fang Yuan could only think of this method.

Many tributaries of Yellow Dragon river flowed through Qing Mao

mountain. Previously, the Rank five River Swallowing Toad had flowed
with the main course of Yellow Dragon river and accidentally flowed to the
foot of the Qing Mao mountain.
The bamboo raft flowed through one of the tributaries to the main river
course, and as it flowed with the river, its speed was naturally extremely
fast.

“It has been five days, it doesn’t look like that old guy will come,” Fang
Yuan mumbled as he stood on the bamboo raft and took a glance behind
him.
The bamboo raft’s speed could definitely not match the Ironbeak flying
crane king. But the Ironbeak flying crane king would definitely need to rest
and couldn’t compare with the bamboo raft which continuously flowed with
the river. And as more time went by, Fang Yuan became more assured.

Moreover, Fang Yuan recalled that Lord Sky Crane had returned alone after
killing the Gu Yue first head. The Ironbeak flying crane king was likely to
be already dead.

The raging waves of the river bombarded their ears. Bai Ning Bing took a
glance at Fang Yuan; she might not have understood the details in his
words, but knew what he meant.

She laughed loudly, “What are you so worried for! If that old geezer chases
us, we will just fight to death. Fighting on this Yellow Dragon river will be
extremely spectacular. Well, the thing is that if we die here, we will end up
in the stomachs of some fishes. Haha, that sounds interesting too.”

Fang Yuan ignored her, instead gazing towards the distance.

With five days of sailing, they were almost at the Bai Gu Mountain.

According to his memories, there was a secret inheritance hidden in Bai Gu

Mountain. The inheritance was arranged by a Rank four Gu Master of the
righteous path, for someone fated to it.

“I haven’t personally seen this inheritance in the Bai Gu Mountain, and

have only heard about it. But it was rumored that this inheritance had some
obstacles which required two people to coordinate to pass through.”

When Fang Yuan thought of this, he gave a casual glance towards Bai Ning
Bing.

Although they were travelling together, it was only due to the situation and
the pressure of a powerful enemy. He himself was only at Rank one initial
stage and absolutely needed help to roam outside. But with Bai Ning Bing
turning into a woman, he had the greatest hold on her in the Yang Gu,
giving her no choice but to compromise.
After entering the Bai Gu Mountain, could they really coordinate with one
mind? It was a big question mark.

Snap.

Suddenly, a muffled sound was heard.

“Not good, the rope has come off.” This sound was very familiar to Bai
Ning Bing as she immediately shouted.

The force of the river flow was fierce, and in these five days, who knows
how many times the hemp rope binding the raft had rotted out due to it.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan had made enough preparations before they had set
out.

“Quick get the hemp rope, I will hold it till then.” Fang Yuan immediately
crouched down and used his hands to hold the areas where the rope had
come loose, preventing the situation from getting messed up.

The river flowed fast and violently, it would take a lot of strength to hold
the bamboo raft; Bai Ning Bing wasn’t qualified for this, only Fang Yuan
who had the strength of two boars was.

Luckily, this situation had occurred multiple times before and Bai Ning
Bing had become more experienced in dealing with this; she quickly went
to get the hemp rope tied around the simple and crude mast in the center of
the boat.

“Here, take it!” She rushed over and handed the hemp rope.

Fang Yuan agilely took it and rapidly coiled it around the loose areas with
sweat starting to drip off his head as he concentrated on the task. After
coiling the hemp rope around the loose area several times, the raft finally
stabilized.

“This raft has already suffered a lot of damage, from the looks of it, it can
only continue on for a day. We need to reach the shore in this duration.”
Fang Yuan heaved a sigh.
Yellow Dragon river was not safe at all, who knew how many dangers were
hidden within this raging river. If the bamboo raft fell apart in the middle of
the river, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing would have no choice but to go
with the river, with no way of telling if they would survive.

Ta.

There was a soft muffled sound.

“What was that sound?” Fang Yuan immediately furrowed his brows.

Bai Ning Bing listened closely with a doubtful expression: “What sound? I
didn’t hear anything.”

Roots grew out from Fang Yuan’s ears, and almost immediately he heard
the continuous tatata sounds. Along with the sounds, the bamboo raft also
started shaking.

“What is that thing attacking the bamboo raft from the river!” Bai Ning
Bing cried out in surprise.

A black ray flew out from beside the bamboo raft and brushed past Bai
Ning Bing.

This black shadow was too fast and couldn’t be seen clearly. Bai Ning Bing
only felt her ear go cold, with some liquid flowing down her cheeks. She
subconsciously wiped it; it was blood!

“What the hell is this thing!” She cursed as she looked up, only seeing a
spindle-shaped black fish falling into the river from mid-air.

“It is the Shuttle Swordfish, damn it, we need to pull towards the shore
immediately!” Fang Yuan shouted before pulling the sail.

The Shuttle Swordfish had a sharp head and tail, whereas its stomach was
big, just like a textile shuttle. They only appeared in big rivers or oceans,
roaming and hunting in groups of hundreds or thousands. They were
carnivorous and would often hunt prey ten times or even hundreds of times
their size.
Whooshh!

The Shuttle Swordfishes shot out of the river like black arrows.

The bamboo raft shook violently as many of the Shuttle Swordfishes struck
it. Fortunately, Qing Mao bamboo was a top grade bamboo; it was very
strong and durable. But as the Shuttle Swordfishes kept on piercing the
bamboo raft from below, the raft looked like it would fall apart at any
moment.

The sail was adjusted to borrow the force of the wind, thus the raft leaned to
a side and sailed quickly towards a riverbank.

However, the group of Shuttle Swordfishes had no intention to give up.

They scuttled beneath the river and attacked the raft violently.

Crack.

A Qing Mao bamboo was split open and a Shuttle Swordfish smashed upon
the bamboo raft; its momentum was already exhausted as it landed beside
Bai Ning Bing.

Its head was like an auger and scales tightly covered its whole body, shining
with grim light. Bai Ning Bing watched it struggling helplessly; after she
had self-exploded, all the Gu worms she possessed had been frozen to
death, while the Yin Yang Rotation Gu saved her but it didn’t have the
ability to resurrect her Gu worms.

Crack, crack, crack.

Following closely, other bamboos on the raft started snapping apart.

It was outstanding enough that the bamboo raft could even endure the first
wave of attacks. But it couldn’t endure the second wave.

The bamboo raft was damaged and was starting to sink under the river.

“Quick, quick, quick!” Fang Yuan cursed as he protected the sail. If the sail
was lost, the raft would lose the propulsive force; Fang Yuan and Bai Ning
Bing would fall into the river, their deaths being a sure thing!
The Shuttle Swordfishes prepared to charge in for a third wave of attacks.
Large numbers of the Shuttle Swordfishes shot out like arrows, breaking the
bamboos and snapping the hemp ropes; the bamboo raft was breaking apart.

Sky Canopy Gu!

Fang Yuan forcefully activated the Rank three Gu, immediately causing the
primeval essence in his aperture to decrease in a terrifying rate.

This was still under the conditions of him having 90% A grade aptitude
along with Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

A Rank one initial stage’s green bronze primeval essence could hardly meet
the requirements for the Sky Canopy Gu.

Even if a white light armor took shape, it looked extremely weak and didn’t
exude the aura of a Rank three Gu.

Bang, bang, bang.

A series of dull thuds issued as the Shuttle Swordfishes struck against the
white armor; they were unable to harm Fang Yuan. Bai Ning Bing,
however, was already injured, and was frantically avoiding the Shuttle
Swordfishes that shot towards the bamboo raft. At the same time, she stood
behind Fang Yuan, relying on him to block off majority of the attacks.

The situation was very critical; the sail was already covered with holes and
the speed of the bamboo raft continued to decrease. There was less than
one-third of the bamboo raft left, and it was already sinking down with the
water surface reaching the ankles of Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.

“Damn it, a Rank five Gu Master couldn’t kill me, but I am going to die by
this group of measly Shuttle Swordfishes instead?” Bai Ning Bing let out a
deep sigh.

With another wave of attacks, the bamboo raft would definitely sink, and
they would surely die after falling into the river.

However….
The Shuttle Swordfishes were delaying their attacks, causing Bai Ning Bing
to hold her breath and watch tightly, seemingly on edge.
“We have reached the shore, the Shuttle Swordfishes won’t swim in shallow
water. Huff! We are safe for the time being.” Fang Yuan let out a breath of
turbid air. His whole body ached and was on the verge of giving out.

He had almost no rest in the past few days, what with needing to control the
sail and adjusting the direction of the raft from time to time. It had already
taxed his body to the limits.

Bai Ning Bing also gasped in the cold air, her white gown dyed with blood.
There were many injuries on her body, but fortunately she had combat
talent, and with full efforts on dodging along with the bamboo raft lowering
the charging momentum of the Shuttle Swordfishes, she suffered only light
injuries.

Fang Yuan glanced at Bai Ning Bing, and shortly after, intense pain
travelled through his body.

He was also injured, with the bleeding continuing even now.

The primeval essence in his aperture had completely dried out within few
minutes of using the Sky Canopy Gu. Without its protection, his flesh body
naturally couldn’t resist the Shuttle Swordfishes.

His original plan had been to sail for a day more.

However, unexpected events can happen at any moment. Planning could

never overtake the changes, and there was still some distance from Bai Gu
Mountain, but Fang Yuan knew they had to pull toward the shore now.

The sail was already useless. Fang Yuan had given all his efforts to steer the
raft clear from the reefs, stranding towards a beach.

The two splashed their way through the water and stepped on the soft
beach; they had reached the shore.
Bai Ning Bing covered her wounds and sat down on her butt. Her face was
pale, “If this continues, I might die from excessive blood loss! Quick, bring
out your healing Gu.”

Fang Yuan gave a bitter smile, how could he pull a healing Gu out of thin
air?