Fang Yuan was approached by the Gu Master in charge of the cavern, telling him his time was up. Fang Yuan agreed to leave, and chose the Viper Pit Gu to take with him.
As they had said, Li Mei and Yu Sai were waiting patiently for him outside and led him to a small pavilion where most of the rest of his class was waiting.
Fang Yuan demonstrated some of his political acumen here- addressing nearly every single one of them by name. It wasn't that he had bothered to learn any of their names for any particular reason, but when he had been class president he had committed them to memory by sheer repetition.
"To think that Lord Fang Yuan remembers my name!"
"I always knew that Lord Fang Yuan would rise above all others!"
He was offered some of the finest wine, and there had been celebratory performances like dancing as well.
Fang Yuan was the center of attention, drinking only in moderation. Towards the end, he raised his cup and said, "All of you- I know that you've looked up to me ever since I was class president. Many of you have supported me since then. I thank you all for that support!"
There were cheers and applause when he said those words.
"Lord Fang Yuan is truly too kind!"
"The fact that I was in the same class as Lord Fang Yuan is my greatest fortune!"
"I remember looking forward to attending academy only to hear Lord Fang Yuan's voice as he called my name while taking attendance!"
"Indeed, and to have sparred with him was also my greatest joy!"
"Lord Fang Yuan was always the best of us!"
"As expected of the greatest student to have walked into the academy!"
"Heh, we already knew of Lord Fang Yuan's greatness when he found the last traces of that bastard Flower Wine Monk's inheritance!"
"Fang Yuan, thank you for helping me refine my gu worm... ehehe..." this voice was lost in the clamor of the rest of the crowd.
"Here's a small gift that we've arranged for you," Yu Sai said, indicating for some servants to bring several bags with 10,000 primeval stones. "Consider it a small token of appreciation from us for your service."
Fang Yuan nodded, instructing the servants to take the stones to his place. The problems he was having with primeval stones had resolved itself for now. As it was, the clan heavily favored the elders. They would get 100 primeval stones from the spirit spring each week, and with the upcoming wolf tide this amount would be raised to 300 primeval stones. While this was nothing to sneeze at, it would take time for him to build up some capital without this generous donation from his friends.
The system gave him no pushback for accepting this- though it could hardly be called a true 'gift.' Elders were the top brass in the clan and no doubt they wanted to get close to him.
"So many primeval stones!" Fang Zheng said, watching the bags being dropped off at Fang Yuan's room.
"Indeed, it looks like our future will be quite bright," Fang Yuan said. Fang Zheng did not miss his use of the word 'our.' "Now, I think it's high time that we get you to Rank 2, brother."
He spent the next few days supplementing Fang Zheng's aperture, and also providing him with enough primeval stones to supplement his aperture to break through to Rank 2.
While Fang Zheng did this, Fang Yuan bought a Blood Essence Gu and began the process of refining the Blood Moon Gu. He was able to succeed on his second attempt, and now had a Rank 3 offensive gu worm!
With this, he felt that he would soon be ready to head out to obtain the Venerable Inheritance whose location he had.
Fang Zheng emerged from closed door cultivation emitting a Rank 2 aura.
"Congratulations," Fang Yuan said. "Now, you can alternate days with the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass Gu, and other days to cultivate. We're not as pressed for primeval stones as before. And once you get to Rank 2 Peak Stage, I'll help you get to Rank 3 as well. Then, both of us will be elders."
Fang Zheng nodded, wanting to express his gratitude, but slumped over as he nearly passed out. Cultivating for so many days would place a heavy toll on anyone.
Fang Yuan adjusted him to sleep and rest off from the strain in his bed.
Main mission complete!
Reward: Rank 5 Equality Gu (x1) has been added to your inventory!
'What does Equality Gu do?' Fang Yuan wondered.
Equality Gu is a Human Path gu worm that contains the profundities of Heaven Path as well. Its effect is to achieve equality between two people.
This explanation made very little sense to Fang Yuan- and seemed to be nearly useless to someone like him. Even for nurturing Fang Zheng, he didn't feel like the use of another gu worm would be needed to get him to Rank 3 so long as he supplemented his primeval essence with his own and continued to supply him with primeval stones. Beyond that- sure, if Fang Yuan wanted to take him to that level, but for now, Fang Zheng's progress would be perfectly adequate.
'He really needs to take a bath though,' Fang Yuan thought. Fang Zheng spent nearly all of his time indoors that he didn't spend wandering outside visiting the inn and inspecting things indoors. He had no real friends at this point, and made no moves to try and socialize with people. Like Yu Sai, he didn't do missions either, so that was also out of the picture as a chance to socialize. Because of this, he had given up on many things like bathing and grooming himself. It had gotten to the point that even Fang Yuan was annoyed by the scent- then again, the fact that he had been in closed door cultivation up till this point didn't help with things.
Fang Yuan returned to his own room, pondering what his next step should be. Should he try to get a Rank 3 defensive-type gu worm, or should he try to reach for the inheritance just like this?
Bird die for food, humans die for wealth- Fang Yuan was without a doubt greatly desirous of the inheritance, but also didn't want to let his greed blind him to the point where it might cause him to meet his end.
On the contrary, if he waited too long he might miss out on certain things that could speed up his cultivation. With the Spring Autumn Cicada recovering day by day, he couldn't afford to sit idle and cultivate for a few years in peace. Not to mention, for some of the other inheritances from his memories that he was eyeing, he would need to make a move soon.
"As the fresh soil of spring brings,
Bound into the hardest clumps,
Torn apart by the farmer's plough,
Into the tiniest of fragments,
Broken up but still whole,
Later joining with each other yet again,
The Earth, no matter how damaged,
Will over the eons, repair itself,
And then blossom into flowersanew."