Despite this enticing offer, Fang Yuan had no intention of taking it up on it.
Certainly, the reward was rather large given it was risk-free. But one also had to take it into perspective. For one, it would lock him onto cultivating Human Path, which is not something he wanted to dedicate himself fully to as of yet. Secondly, it would mean that he would be bound to this location- Qing Mao mountain, for a very long time which he could not accept. There was an entire world waiting for him, after all! Third, while it sounded like a large number of dao marks- for example, by becoming an elder Fang Yuan would get 260 Human Path dao marks a year, about the same as an earthly calamity, because time moved faster within one's immortal aperture than the outside world the best way to accumulate dao marks was still through calamities and tribulations.
With these thoughts in mind, Fang Yuan left.
The elders who had all bore pleasant expressions until this point, became far more dour. Many of them had mixed reactions to Fang Yuan rising to the position of elder.
"How did he manage to reach Rank 3 so quickly?"
"He initially had the help of a Liquor Worm, and then later was able to use Red Steel Relic Gu!"
"Ah- if only I had those gu worms with me when I cultivated- life would've been so much easier!"
"Still to have gotten so far so soon- he seems to even be leaving Bai clan's Bai Ning Bing in the dust!"
These were just the thoughts that they voiced, their inner feelings were also quite complex.
'Perhaps I should have reached out to him for a marriage offer sooner,' Mo Chen thought.
'It will be harder to control him now, power changes a person greatly, and who knows what kinds of temptations will present themselves now that he is at Rank 3,' the clan head thought. His idea of stalling Fang Yuan's cultivation were not entirely out of pure self-interest, those who gained power too quickly tended to stray from the right path, and he didn't want such a thing to happen to Fang Yuan.
As Fang Yuan left, two people interrupted his path. One of them was Yu Sai, whom he had just recently met, and the other was a girl he vaguely recalled... right, her name was Li Mei.
"Elder Fang Yuan, congratulations on your ascent to Rank 3," Yu Sai said. "A few of your other classmates and I have arranged for a banquet for you, if you would, please come with us."
"Yes, we wish to give you our heartfelt congratulations," Li Mei said.
The reason that the two of them were doing so was because after it became widespread news that Fang Yuan had become an elder, his classmates naturally wanted to cozy up to him. And these two had been known as the 'leaders' of the Fang Yuan faction back during their academy days- and so had been roped into approaching him.
At least, Yu Sai had been roped in with the promise of a few primeval stones for arranging the whole thing. Li Mei though, was genuinely happy for Fang Yuan.
Also, as unrealistic as she knew it was, she was hoping that she might be able to catch Fang Yuan's attention now. As an elder he was entitled to one wife and two concubines- it was too much for her to hope to be his primary wife, but could she become his concubine? It would be wonderful if such a thing could happen!
"I need to deal with some business in the underground cavern first," Fang Yuan said.
"Of course, we will wait for your esteemed self," Yu Sai said as Fang Yuan walked off.
The underground cavern was a sacred place for the clan, and he had only entered it before when he had first awakened his aperture. Even as an elder, there was a time limit to how long he could stay there.
He first went through the Rank 3 gu recipes until he found one that he felt suited him to advance the Moonglow Gu. While there were a number of conventional advancement options, Fang Yuan was choosing to go with the Blood Moon Gu.
It had an effect of not only damaging a target, but also causing them to bleed out over time. It had its weaknesses- namely, most fights did not last long enough for the bleeding to actually be effective. Secondly if the enemy had even a Rank 2 healing gu worm they would be able to recover from the bleeding with relative ease. Third, the gu worm had a weakness where it would lose a third of its power and ooze fresh blood out once a month.
Despite these disadvantages, which is why most clan members chose to advance to something else like the Frost Moon Gu or the Illusory Moon Gu, Fang Yuan still went with it for one simple fact: it was very easy to feed.
All the Blood Moon Gu needed in order to be fed was fresh blood- it did not need the Moon Orchid Petals that most of the gu derived from the advancement of the Moonlight Gu did. Once Fang Yuan was free from this feeding requirement it would be much easier to leave Qing Mao mountain. Also, its third weakness, the fact that it lost some of its strength once a month, could be patched over once it was advanced to Rank 4.
He intended to refine it himself, as it was, it was not available for picking among the gu that were displayed here.
He looked at most of them and discarded them from his mind- many were not suitable for him or they had side effects or feeding problems that made them hard to use.
Among some of them he saw the Rank 3 Testicular Torsion Gu that Lord of the Mysteries had used. The unfortunate Gu Master who had fallen victim to its blow had recovered, and the clan had been able to refine it for their own use. Its food- which was the testicles of either animals or humans- were obtained from livestock after they had been slaughtered. Aside from this complex feeding requirement, Fang Yuan had no interest in it as it was useless against half the population he might have to fight in the future. Also, while it was painful it could not usually get a lethal blow.
He finally did find something that was useful to him- Rank 3 Pit Viper Gu. It took the form of a small beetle about the size of the head of a pin. It would reside near the Gu Master's nostrils and work quite similar to the pit organs that vipers possessed that let them sense heat. It worked like infrared vision goggles back on Earth- allowing the Gu Master to detect changes in temperature between different objects.
This had its own counter, being unsuitable for use in places like volcanos and the like, not to mention Gu Masters who could alter their body temperatures (though these were rare), still, it was a Rank 3 investigative gu and he could greatly benefit from it while exploring.
Feeding it was going to be a bit of a problem- as its food was snake meat. Not only was snake meat not commonly sold, it was also a bit of a pain to have to go out and hunt snakes. Given the few other options he had though, he would gladly go with this. As it was, now that he was an elder it would be easier to find others to do this kind of work for him.