44 RI

Nurture, use and refinement, those were the three aspects of a Gu Master's cultivation.

No matter which aspect, they were extremely profound, and each contained knowledge that was wide as the sea. Many people spent their entire lives without venturing fully into one of them.

"Please advise me brother Wei." At the feast, Fang Yuan cupped his fists.

"We hit it off so well, I shall not beat around the bush." Wei Yang cleared his throat, before officially teaching: "From the general aspect, Gu Masters are split into nine ranks, rank one to five are mortal, while six to nine are immortal. Among ten million Gu Masters, not even one might become an immortal. It is too tough to become one, even recognised geniuses may not reach it. But let's not talk about immortals, but focus on mortals."

"The five mortal ranks, rank one and two are beginners, and rank four to five are a high level fighting force. Rank three is in the middle, it is what connects the two. By this point, both of you are already full-fledged Gu Masters, rank three is the most important stage, because here, you will build upon your foundations, and choose the right direction to advance, it will definitely result in a better future for you."

"By rank three, a Gu Master's strength is already a force to be reckoned with. In many villages, rank three are clan elders. At this stage, the Gu Master has to determine the direction they want to go, and create a set of Gu worms along that line. If you want to be a support Gu Master, your Gu worms will be mainly storage type. If you want to be an investigative Gu Master, the core of your Gu worms will be investigative types. If you want a future in Gu refinement, you can choose to work on existing recipes to create your own new recipe. If someone likes to plot, they can collect thinking-assist type Gu worms, like the lightning thoughts Gu or the immortal showing the way Gu."

Wei Yang introduced again.

The so called direction refers to attack, defense, healing, storage, movement, and investigative, the six aspects.

Healing Gu Masters were known as doctors, having a grand status. Storage Gu Masters were support Gu masters, every force and clan needed them.

Wei Yang was a movement type Gu Master, his core Gu worm was the rainbow light Gu.

Of course, other than these six, there were other smaller branches.

Like a Gu Master specializing in substitute refinement, they had Gu worms that increased refinement speed or helped to weaken the Gu worm's will.

Or maybe those Gu Masters who specialized in catching Gu, they were good at finding and capturing wild Gu worms.

All in all, by rank three, Gu masters would have started to classify into their specific classes, and they become more specialized, becoming an expert in one domain.

Saying so, Wei Yang paused, then looked at Fang and Bai, asking: "Have both of you thought about your advancement direction?"

"Attack." Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing said at the same time with no hesitation.

The two were focused on attack, they had an inborn fighting nature, and could not be easily subdued.

Wei Yang nodded, not surprised at all, he had seen many people, and could guess their choices.

He continued: "Then next, you have to choose Gu worms, and form a set, a group of Gu worms that chains into one system."

Forming a set of Gu worms had many benefits.

Firstly, in terms of feeding, similar Gu worms had similar requirement for food, it was easier to collect, store and trade for these food.

Next, in terms of use, Gu worms could be used together and increase their ability or cover up their weaknesses. For example: Wei Yang's rainbow light Gu had great expenditure issues, but using the light source Gu, it reduced the weakness.

Lastly, in terms of refinement, placing similar Gu worms together to refine them into higher ranks, it not only saves money, but also has higher chances of success compared to refining an array of Gu worms.

"Both of you chose attack, then without doubt, an attack type Gu will have to be your core. Other Gu worms will have to support this core. Take for example Little Xiao, he chose the red fire Gu as his main attack method, then I advised him to use the duplicate Gu, to increase the number of his flames. I next chose the enlarge Gu, causing the flame to enlarge in size and become stronger. After that, I chose the fire source Gu, to reduce his primeval essence expenditure. Lastly, I chose the fire discharge Gu, as his movement type Gu." Wei Yang patted Xiao Yan's shoulders as he said.

Xiao Yan purposely showed a bitter expression: "Big brother Wei, you dug up all my secrets."

Wei Yang did not mind it: "Haha, your secrets are well known to everyone. Among the people in the battle stage now, who does not know what Gu you own?"

Wei Yang then turned to Fang Yuan: "It is no matter even if your Gu worms are exposed; as long as you pair it well, you can deal with all situations. Your core Gu worm is the foundation of the entire set. Have you thought of what attack type Gu worms you want to use as your core?"

Fang Yuan clenched his fist: "Before this, i have already used many Gu to raise my strength. Strength is my advantage, I want to continue on it, and crush my foes with overwhelming strength."

Bai Ning Bing said the name of a Gu: "Frost demon Gu."

Speaking of which, Bai Ning Bing had a rank three frost demon Gu in the past, it allowed the Gu Master to turn into the frost demon, Bai Ning Bing had a great compatibility with it.

But during the battle with Gu Yue Qing Shu, it was destroyed.

This caused Bai Ning Bing to still have lingering emotions towards the Gu.

Wei Yang heard this and frowned: "You want to go on the strength path and ice path... For ice path, the advantage lies in defense. Frost demon Gu, snow fairy Gu, ice crystal Gu, these are the three most famous transformation type Gu. Frost demon Gu and snow fairy Gu are for women, while ice crystal Gu is more suited for men."

"As for Fang Zheng's strength path..." Wei Yang shook his head: "I'm not trying to discourage you, but this would not work. The strength path is the most common route people choose, why is that? Because it is cheap and affordable, most of the Gu related to the strength path are cheap, but because of this, the Gu Masters do not stand out and are very ordinary."

"I'll tell you the truth, I tried the strength path in the past, but wasted a lot of primeval stones later to remove the increased strength in my body. Most demonic Gu Masters lack resources, and use the strength path as a stepping stone. But brother Fang Zheng, you have the purple thorn token and hundreds of thousands of primeval stones, you do not have to take this narrow path, the strength path makes it hard to succeed in life!"

Hearing Wei Yang's words, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing looked at each other, nodding.

Wei Yang smiled, he did not waste his efforts.

Xiao Yan laughed too: "After hearing brother Wei's words, I have gained much insight as well."

"Brother Wei makes sense, but I still want to walk on the strength path." Fang Yuan cupped his fist.

"Yes, I have decided to give up on the frost demon Gu, and choose the ice crystal Gu!" Beside him, Bai Ning Bing also made her decision.

"Huh..." Wei Yang's smile froze on his face.

"Hey, hey, hey, did you listen to what he said at all." Xiao Yan shouted.

Bai Ning Bing smiled as determination shone across her eyes.

Precisely because the ice crystal Gu is suited for males, that is why I chose it, heh.

Fang Yuan rubbed his nose: "I am thankful to brother Wei for the advice, but I still like the strength path. Others might not achieve success out of it, but if I can, doesn't that show my superiority? Hahaha, challenges lie in difficulty, and there is only a sense of accomplishment if there is a challenge. I was hesitant before, but now that brother Wei has said it, I am definitely choosing this!" @@novelbin@@

Choosing the strength path was part of Fang Yuan's plans; it involves the three kings inheritance in a few years.

Of course, he cannot mention that to anyone.

"You two..." Xiao Yan stared in a daze, unsure of what to say.

"This... you have to reconsider, this is not a joke!" Wei Yang's expression was solemn, his tone was anxious, he did not expect his heartfelt advice to work in the opposite direction.

"No need to say anything else brother Wei, paths are made by men, my decision is final. Hahaha, let's continue drinking." Fang Yuan said, showing his determination, causing Wei Yang to swallow his words.

"Sigh..." Wei Yang lifted his glass helplessly, but swore in his heart, that he had to convince them otherwise.

Especially this Fang Zheng, he was truly messing around! Treating his future as a game, he should not do this. At this rate, it would put his superior aptitude to waste!

Wei Yang really could not stand it.

He had to quickly adjust Fang Zheng's mindset, this was a future star that the clan leader wanted to recruit.

After the banquet ended, and the nagging Wei Yang left together with Xiao Yan, Fang and Bai arrived at the Gu shop.

After showing their purple thorn token, Bai Ning Bing spent twenty-eight thousand primeval stones and bought the rank three ice crystal Gu.

Fang Yuan chose a rank two brown bear innate strength Gu, spending four thousand one hundred primeval stones.

"You really intend to make the ice crystal Gu your vital Gu?" Out of the shop, Fang Yuan frowned and asked.

Bai Ning Bing knew what he truly meant, she was rank three peak stage, if she advanced further, it would be rank four realm. She can totally purchase a rank four Gu worm in advance instead.

But Bai Ning Bing shook her head, her expression grim: "I do not intend to advance to rank four, just yesterday, I found that my aptitude rose by one percent again."

The northern dark ice soul physique was a curse coiling around Bai Ning Bing.

As she continued to cultivate, Bai Ning Bing's aptitude would eventually return to a hundred percent, regaining the ten extreme physique status.

Thus, she would rather give up on advancing.

Rank four yellow gold primeval essence had better quality than white silver primeval essence, it could nurture the aperture better and would cause Bai Ning Bing"s aptitude to recover more quickly.

Fang Yuan's steps halted: "Is that so, in that case, you can't live without the Yang Gu in my hands. Hehehe, maybe you can go to Feng Yu Manor and ask them. They specialize in selling information, they might have what you need."

"You are not going with me?" Bai Ning Bing stopped, looking at Fang Yuan.

"I am going to walk around the gambling den." Fang Yuan laughed.

"Alright."

Seeing Bai Ning Bing walk away, Fang Yuan's smile vanished.

He returned to the shop: "Shopkeeper, I forgot to buy some things earlier, do you have them?"

He gave a list.

Shopkeeper did not dare to make a purple thorn token owner wait, he quickly looked at the list and nodded: "Yes esteemed guest, we have them all."

"Good, prepare one portion for me, immediately!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

A moment later, he walked out of the backdoor of the shop, and went into another path, going to a lower level and arriving at the gambling den.

"Now then, let me see that sealed legendary Gu fossil." Moving according to his memories, Fang Yuan entered an extravagant gambling den.

-x-X-x-

It was a black rock.

The size of a person's face, the black rock's surface glowed with bits of blue light.

At one glance, it resembled the stars shining in the night sky.

This was a stellar stone.

But different from the surrounding stellar stones, this one was cubic and looked like a brick.

But this rock, buried in a pile, was that legendary Gu that someone obtained. And that lucky person, from someone unknown, he became a famous strength path Gu Master all due to this Gu, causing everyone to look in envy.

Fang Yuan stood here, observing the surroundings, instantly understanding why no one cared about this rock.

This was an extravagant large sized gambling den, and had great business.

Although it was third inner city, there was human crowd around it.

Gambling rocks were classified into five categories; scrap, low, medium, high, and super grade.

At scrap grade, each rock was sold for over ten primeval stones. Low grade rocks were around a hundred primeval stones, medium grade were a thousand, high grade were ten thousand, and super grade were a few hundred thousand per piece.

And this stellar stone was of scrap grade.

Scrap grade gambling rocks were the ones most looked down on. Most were solid on the inside, even if there was a Gu, it was mostly dead carcasses.

Especially after the demonic Gu Master Wei Shen Jing's appearance, it caused the scrap grade rocks' market value to be severely affected.

Wei Shen Jing was skilled at creating counterfeit items, called the Counterfeit Master by people.

He had once sold large amounts of counterfeit scrap grade gambling rocks, causing almost all large clans to post his arrest warrant. In the southern border, he was hated by everybody.

This caused the scrap grade gambling rocks to become even more unpopular, but it was not completely ignored.

Sometimes, when Gu Masters were in the mood when they were shopping, they would engage in small gambles for fun. Buying a few scrap grade gambling rocks, just for entertainment. Other than that, professional gamblers also used them for practice.

After all, scrap grade gambling rocks were cheap, to some Gu Masters, there was no pain in losing the gamble.

But the problem was, this is third inner city.

Here, most Gu Masters were rank three.

Rank three was clan elder level, at this stage, most had their own assets. Even if they were practising, the would choose low grade rocks which had a much higher chance of winning.

Scrap grade rocks were an insult to them.

Despite so, in such a large gambling den, which was overflowing with people, there were certain Gu Masters who had their attention on these scrap rocks.

But still...

"Hehehe, how would they guess, that the stellar stone used to support a leg of this counter would hide a legendary Gu worm." Fang Yuan laughed in his heart.

Indeed, this stellar stone was used to fix a shaky counter, placed below one of its legs.

People moved about, but who would notice an ordinary counter out of tens of rows of counters at the scrap rock area.

These counters were filled with scrap grade rocks, one piled on top of another. They were so cheap it was like the rows of vegetables and fruits in a market back on Earth.

None of the Gu Masters who came here placed their sights on these scrap grade gambling rocks.

Thus, this stellar stone became unnoticed, and eventually gathered a layer of dust, causing it to be even more unappealing.

No one knew when this stellar stone started being used as counter support, but during this period, an uncountable number of people walked past it daily.

Until one day.

A down-and-out Gu Master, came here, and tripped at this counter.

To be honest, this Gu Master should be blamed for not looking at where he's going. The counter was an inanimate object, so many Gu Masters walked past it daily but no one had ever been tripped by it.

Like a lamp post, it stood straight on the street, being no obstacle to men, but some people tend to knock onto it for no reason. Can you blame the lamp post for that? @@novelbin@@

But no matter what world it is, reasons do not resolve arguments, only strength does.

A farmer raised a rooster, but it was so noisy the farmer could not get his nap. Feeling angered, the farmer slaughtered the rooster, there was seemingly nothing wrong with that.

No matter which world, the stronger person only had to relent a little to resolve conflicts. But the eventual settlement of the issue would often result in the stronger person not giving in, and the weaker person would pay a heavy price.

The Gu Master was tripped, even though he did not fall down, he was angry. He vented his anger on this piece of rock.

Since you dared to trip me, I will slice you open!

Thus, the Gu Master bought this rock, and dissected it in public.

And then, the legendary Gu appeared in this world.

It was a very dramatic incident, but precisely because it was so dramatic that people passed around the story in Fang Yuan's previous life.

And now, this incident has not happened yet.

This stellar stone, was still used as a counter support, quietly and silently awaiting its fate.

And Fang Yuan's feet, was only two inches from it.

"Dear customer, is this your first time here?" A clerk walked over seeing Fang Yuan's dazed expression, he was not aware Fang Yuan was looking at this rock with the corner of his eye.

Fang Yuan rubbed his nose, saying: "Yeah I guess." If he did not consider his previous life, this was the second time he was at a gambling den.

Newbie.

Easy to trick!

The clerk's smile became extremely bright: "Please come inside, to speak the truth, the rocks here are the cheapest, but nothing cheap is good. They have poor quality, and are of all shapes and sizes, what can you get out of them? Let me introduce for you, customer."

"Oh? Then talk." Fang Yuan's eyebrows raised as he followed the clerk into the gambling den.

"Customer, do you know how gambling rocks are formed?" The clerk walked ahead as he looked back and asked.

Before Fang Yuan replied, he answered already: "As the saying goes, Man is the spirit of all livings beings, Gu is the essence of heaven and earth . Man has great inspiration and thus are able to innovate. They have the highest intelligence, and can create many things, many new Gu worms that do not originate from nature. Gu is the essence of heaven and earth, they have little intelligence, but their tiny bodies contain the law fragments of the Great Dao."

"Heaven and earth always leaves a chance of survival, some Gu worms get gravely injured, or run out of food, they might go into hibernation. Through long periods of time, a rock layer would form around their bodies. The rock gets thicker, and thicker, until it gains substantial mass. As time passes, more and more layers form, until a fossil is created. These rocks wrap around the Gu worms, and due to the influence of the law fragments in the Gu worms, they become different from other rocks, and look very different compared to the surrounding soil. People find these fossils, and collect them, this is the truth of the gambling rock that you see before you."

Fang Yuan nodded, as he walked, he answered: "Hmm, I've heard of the story of the gambling rock before."

The deeper he went into the gambling den, the more Gu Masters he saw.

Many Gu Masters were picking rocks, or discussing quietly.

The gambling stage and empty spaces felt even more silent due to the soft discussions.

The clerk calmly said: "Since customer wants to gamble, you cannot be rash about it. We might be a gambling den, but we do not scam our customers. We have to let you gamble with a peace of mind, and be informed about your decisions. Here, we sell old man stones, pushing cart stones, stellar stones, cold ice stones. Each rock are split into five grades according to quality, and have different prices. It ranges from over a hundred thousand to a few primeval stones."

"Customer, the area you were at earlier was the cheapest scrap grade area, I did not recommend you to buy from there because the quality there is the worst, let's take the stellar stone for example."

"In the stellar stone, starlight type Gu are the most commonly seen. These Gu contain the law of the stars, thus, the fossil develops markings that resembles shining stars. Among star type Gu, the most commonly seen are the rank one star dart Gu, thus the fossil would become the shape of a dart. If it is the star arrow Gu, the fossil would be long and have a pointy tip and a spreading end. There is also the shooting star Gu, the fossil would be round but carries a tail. There is a very high chance of having a Gu within rocks of these shapes."

"Of course, other than the appearance, there are many other elements, like the number of shining stars, the more there are, the more likely there is a Gu within, and the higher rank it could be. Customer, what you are seeing now, are medium grade rocks. You will discover that better grade rocks are better. Of course, the price is steeper."

"Yes, that is indeed so." Fang Yuan casually remarked.

The clerk used a proud tone as he said: "Our shop has the most talented rock dissecting masters, they have at least twenty years of experience. There is a Master Duan, he specializes in using acid to dissect the rocks, having over fifty years of experience."

"I strongly advise you to dissect the rock in our shop after choosing your gambling rock. The rock dissecting master are professionals, and they have a set of Gu worms specially used to dissect rocks."

"The method of dissecting has to be appropriate, like for the stellar stone, magnetism should be used. For old man stone, acid should be used."

"If there is a Gu within the gambling rock, they are extremely weak. If a wrong method is used to excavate them, it can deal a fatal blow to them, it would be too late then."

"Customer, if you choose rocks from the high and super grade area, we can dissect the rock for you for free. If you choose from low or medium grade, you will have to pay yourself. For scrap grade, hehe, we do not advise you to waste money hiring a dissecting master. The cost of hiring him would greatly exceed the price of the rocks itself."

Back on Qing Mao mountain, when Jia clan caravan came, Fang Yuan once dissected the purple gold rock for himself.

But his method, was simply brute force.

Thankfully, the purple gold rock was softer, the mudskin toad had a strong life force, of course, it also had to do with Fang Yuan's great experience.

Rock dissecting cannot be done through brute force, it would easily murder the Gu worm inside.

If Fang Yuan wanted to dissect rocks, he would need to employ the rock dissecting masters in this shop.

After one round, Fang Yuan chose a few rocks at the low grade area. Old man stones, pushing cart stones, and stellar stones, a few of each.

The clerk was disappointed, after spending so much effort in speaking and encouraging, trying to convince Fang Yuan to buy a few high grade rocks, but how could Fang Yuan fall for this.

Getting this result after such a long time, the clerk spoke listlessly: "Dear customer, do you have a token? If it is a yellow pear token and above, there are discounts available. Please show me your token if you have one."

Soon after, his expression changed, as he opened his mouth wide, his eyes about to fall off.

"Purple thorn token? Oh my god!"

-x-X-x-

The purple thorn token was letting out a dreamy and illusionary light.

The clerk stared at this token closely, his expression sluggish as he was lost for words.

After a long while, he came back to his senses and respectfully said: "Esteemed guest, please forgive me for being blind! Please wait a moment, I will go call the shopkeeper."

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged white fatty who ran in flustering when he heard a purple thorn token holder appeared.

He immediately bowed deeply towards Fang Yuan: "Esteemed guest, your presence brings light to this little shop!"

Fang Yuan pointed at the rocks he chose and said indifferently: "I have chosen some rocks, I will have to trouble you guys to dissect them."

The shopkeeper was stupefied when he looked at the rocks, how could they all be low grades?

He could not help quickly glancing at the clerk with a reproachful gaze: 'Those with purple thorn tokens are all important characters, big clients, you actually let him choose these rocks?'

The clerk stood uneasily at the side, words stuck at his throat.

The shopkeeper bowed his head towards Fang Yuan: "Esteemed guest, you don't need to worry about dissecting the rocks. Purple thorn token holders can have rocks dissected free of charge in rock gambling zone. After calculating the discounts for these rocks, it comes down to six hundred and fifty primeval stones."

"I know the rock gambling rules, pay first before dissecting the rocks." Fang Yuan nodded and took out the primeval stones from primeval elder Gu.

The shopkeeper swifty received the primeval stones and turned towards the clerk: "Go and call Great Master Duan, Master Huang, Master Zhang, Master Zhao and Master Ma here quickly."

He then turned towards Fang Yuan: "Esteemed guest, rock dissection counter is inside, let's wait there."

The five old masters at dissecting rocks were resting at the small courtyard behind the rock gambling den. At their levels, they couldn't be bothered with dissecting normal gambling rocks. Those in charge of dissecting normal rocks were their disciples or some young Gu Masters.

The clerk ran all the way to the courtyard and explained the purpose of his visit.

"Oh, requesting all five of us to go?" The five old masters' gaze shone with radiance.

"Could it be someone bought those few super grade gambling rocks?" The old masters immediately felt their hands itching.

The clerk shook his head: "It is only some low grade gambling rocks."

The old masters expressions changed into an unhappy one.

Great Master Duan snorted coldly.

Asking them to dissect low grade gambling rocks was simply an insult and contempt towards their identities.

But the clerk immediately followed: "The person has a very high status and possesses the purple thorn token. So the shopkeeper intentionally asked me to call all five masters!"

"What, purple thorn token?"

"Are you sure?"

"Shang Clan has existed for thousands of years but the number of purple thorn tokens it has given out is mere a few hundred. And now, someone who holds a purple thorn token appears?"

"Quickly, what are you being dazed for?"

The five Gu Masters hurriedly ran out of the courtyard and walked up the platform.

On the work platform, the young rock dissecting masters got a little shock, and quickly greeted them.

The old masters waved their hands and made these juniors get down from the platform.

This scene quickly attracted the bystanders' attention and soon many gazes were casted here.

The curious nature of people aroused and they began discussing in whispered tones. @@novelbin@@

"What is going on here?"

"All five masters have appeared together, this is a rarely seen sight."

"Could it be someone bought a batch of super grade gambling rocks?"

Fang Yuan was accompanied by the shopkeeper and was already before the rock dissection counter with the crowd. However he did not go forward, and just gazed from afar to maintain a low profile. But the five old masters were astute and saw the shopkeeper following a young man like an attendant, how could they still not recognize Fang Yuan's identity?

However, Fang Yuan remained gazing from afar and did not walk towards the platform.

The five old masters thought: 'it seems this young master doesn't want to show off."

This was also normal.

Many people behaved the same before dissecting rocks because they would have no face if they lost the gamble!

"I have to do this properly and leave behind a deep impression in this esteemed guest, having a connection with someone of higher status would be great." The five old masters were all scheming in their mind and rubbing their hands, eager to try it out at that thought.

The rocks Fang Yuan chose was delivered by the clerk.

The spectators couldn't believe their eyes when they saw these rocks.

"What? These are only some low grade rocks!"

"I am not seeing it wrongly, right? These damaged rocks..."

"Making the old masters dissect low grade gambling rocks, this is simply an insult to them."

But what made them even more surprised and stare with their eyes wide open was the following scene.

The five old masters held these gambling rocks and placed them carefully on the stone platform. Their expressions were very serious as they did this, then they summoned their respective Gu worms and began dissecting the rocks.

Most of the five old masters were at rank two peak stage while great master Duan was the only one in rank three. For a moment, the appearance of different Gu worms stunned the crowd.

"What in the world is going on!"

"Could it be these rocks have a long history behind them and aren't as simple as they look?"

"I have never seen the five old masters look this cautious and serious."

...

On the platform, Gu worms flew about as the five old masters showed off their unique methods.

Great master Duan whose cultivation was the highest was known as a great expert in dissecting rocks in the rock gambling den. He specialised in using acid to dissect rocks. He took out a king-sized bowl then summoned a snake Gu which spurted out acidic liquid into the bowl.

He then carefully put a gambling rock into the acid.

Bubbles continuously formed and popped in the acid.

After quite a while, with his hands covered in a layer of light, he took out the gambling rock which had shrunk by half. He then placed it into another type of acid.

Master Zhang used magnetism to dissect the rocks. His palms faced each other and the gambling rock was put in between them; the gambling rock floated in air and bits of rocks was continually extracted by the power of magnetism.

As for other masters; one called out a frog Gu which used its tongue to lick the gambling rock. Another used fire to roast the rock, and another controlled a small whirlwind to cut down the gambling rock.

The group of young rock dissecting Gu Masters watched from behind the old masters with a stunned gaze.

Why was there a need for such a great fanfare for some low grade gambling rocks? It was simply using an ox-cleaver to carve a chicken or using a talented person for an insignificant task!

'Could it be the old masters have some hidden intent for doing doing this? It won't do, I need to observe it properly.'

The results, however, made everyone flabbergasted. After the dissection, these low grade gambling rocks didn't have anything impressive; it was either solid rock or hollow inside, there was not even a dead Gu.

"What the! I thought there was something special going on."

"So they were all ordinary low grade rocks."

"Why were these old masters in such a hurry for? They really wasted my time..."

The surrounding spectators were greatly disappointed and stormed out.

The shopkeeper's face paled as he heard these remarks. In the past, he would have been really happy if the gamblers didn't get any Gu worms from the gambling rocks they chose. But now, he really wished he could stuff in some Gu worms inside the rocks.

Purple thorn token holders could not be easily offended!

He cautiously looked at Fang Yuan thinking of something to say to comfort him.

However, Fang Yuan was smiling: "No matter, it seems my luck isn't good today, so I will stop now. I will come again another time."

The shopkeeper and the clerk respectfully accompanied Fang Yuan towards the door.

They were even thinking of accompanying him out to the streets, but were stopped by Fang Yuan.

Only after Fang Yuan's figure disappeared in the street, did the shopkeeper lift up his bent back. He turned towards the clerk and gave a strong knock on his head, scolding him for neglecting an esteemed guest!

The clerk rubbed his head in pain, but did not dare to say anything.

Fang Yuan's purpose in coming here today was only to probe.

Now, since he found his target, his visit today was already achieved. But he couldn't directly take the stellar stone out, he would have to take twists and turns.

Fang Yuan needed to dissect the stellar stone to get the Gu, but he didn't have any ways to dissect it by himself. Collecting a set of specialized rock dissecting Gu worms would be too much of a waste, thus he would have to let the old Gu Masters in the rock gambling den take care of it.

It would only lead to a commotion if the old Gu Masters dissected the rock in front of everybody. And requesting them to secretly dissect the rock by using purple thorn token was also not appropriate and would only create suspicions.

If Fang Yuan got a legendary Gu worm right off the start, it would mean his luck was way too good.

Fang Yuan had no doubts of the huge influence of Shang Clan. With the recent investigation on him Shang Yan Fei probably knew about Fang Yuan winning the mudskin toad in rock gambling in Jia Clan's caravan.

Winning a mudskin toad on his first gamble and a legendary Gu in his next; a smart man like Shang Yan Fei would definitely be suspicious.

The profits involved in rock gambling was huge; if Shang Yan Fei doubted Fang Yuan had some ways to check if the rocks had Gu worms in them or not, he was bound to be tempted and even make his move.

Fang Yuan had no such methods, but no matter what, some Gu worms on him could never be exposed.

Especially Spring Autumn Cicada.

And on Shang Liang mountain, Shang Yan Fei was not the main threat. The real main threat were the rank six Gu Masters.

Almost all the overlord level forces had rank six Gu Masters behind them.

When a Gu Master reached rank six, they would dwell in deep seclusion and rarely come out; one secluded cultivation could last for dozens of years. It was all because their strength would continue to experience a qualitative change and they had their own problems to take care of.

But it would all change if Spring Autumn Cicada was exposed; these rank six Gu Masters were bound to come charging in.

'A little impatience can spoil great plans.'

Fang Yuan was cautious by nature, how could he make such big mistakes in these small places?

He would put an end to all risks that could expose Spring Autumn Cicada, even if that meant there was a risk for the stellar stone to be discovered.

According to his previous life's memories, the probability of the legendary Gu being discovered was infinitesimally small. But even if it was discovered, Fang Yuan had already planned for it and it was better than attracting suspicions on himself and risk the exposure of Spring Autumn Cicada.

"Now, I will stroll around the rock gambling zone for few days and buys some gambling rocks to leave behind an impression on people."

Fang Yuan continued to scheme while walking back to Nan Qiu garden.

Bai Ning Bing was already back from Feng Yu Manor.

"I have been waiting for you." She took out the ice crystal Gu and gave to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan used the aura of Spring Autumn Cicada to refine it then threw it back to Bai Ning Bing.

Bai Ning Bing would help him in cultivation and he would help Bai Ning Bing in refining Gu; this was one of the terms in poison vow.

Bai Ning Bing took the ice crystal Gu and walked to a secret room to refine it.

Fang Yuan also walked to another secret room and began refining a Gu.

The name of the Gu — Eating one's words.

-x-X-x-

Starlight shone on the secret room.

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on his mat and started refining his Gu.

After he parted with Bai Ning Bing, he went to the shop again and bought all that he needed to refine the eating one's words Gu. Of course, to prevent his secret recipe from being exposed and hide his true intentions, he bought some unnecessary materials as well.

He willed, and summoned a Gu.

This Gu was round like a ball, fist sized and orange in color. The surface was wrinkled and thick, giving an unpleasant feeling at touch.

This was a rank one smelly fart Gu.

Its only use was to emit a foul odor and possessed no attacking power.

However, even though this Gu has little to no use on its own, it was a widely used refinement material.

Fang Yuan injected light silver primeval essence, causing the smelly fart Gu's body to expand and float in the air.

At the same time, he opened an urn in front of him.

At once, a rotten smell spread on the room.

In this urn, there was rotting swamp mud - black and gooey. This mud was also a widely used refinement material.

"Rice bag, go." Fang Yuan willed, and a seed flew out of his aperture.

The seed was planted into the mud, and as his primeval sea level fell, dark green vines grew out of the rotten mud.

The vines continued to extend and grow out of the urn; after around 60 centimeters, leaves started to grow on it.

These leaves were bucket shaped. They were small at first, but grew to the size of a bowl quickly.

Fang Yuan peeled the leaf from the top of these buckets, revealing the white delicious rice kernels within.

However, Fang Yuan did not take them out, but poured the rice grains into the rotting mud. He next lowered the smelly fart Gu, and multi-tasked, activating the rice bag grass and smelly fart Gu at the same time.

The smelly fart Gu glowed in an orange light, while the rice bag grass gave off a green light; the two fused together eventually.

The fusion light dimmed, as it went deep into the urn.

The urn vibrated intensely, before finally stopping as a new Gu flew out of it; yellow-brown in color, like a lump of mud, it gave off a slight stench just like faeces.

This was the defecate Gu.

It might look unappealing, but it could cause people to suffer from diarrhoea. Many doctors used it to heal illnesses and for detoxification; this gu was very valuable.

Fang Yuan was calm as always.

Gu existed in all forms and sizes. It could be the pure and holy heavenly essence treasure lotus, the poetic and mysterious Spring Autumn Cicada, the evil and bizarre blood skull Gu. Without a doubt, one that was disgusting in appearance, smell and touch, such as the defecate Gu or smelly fart Gu existed as well.

Refining the rank two defecate Gu was the first step.

Next, Fang Yuan took out the big strength Gu, bought from the shop as well. This could increase a Gu Master's strength for fifty breaths of time.

Fang Yuan fused the big strength Gu and defecate Gu, successfully refining the big strength defecate Gu.

Although the big strength defecate Gu was rank three, its purpose was the same as the defecate Gu, even looking similar but its effect was three times as strong.

This Gu, however, was much less popular than its rank two counterpart.

Gu worms were not necessarily better as they get higher in rank.

Rank three Gu worms consumed much more food than their lower counterparts, although the big strength defecate Gu was more effective, the same effect could be achieved if one used the defecate Gu multiple times. There were also cases of misdiagnosis, where the big strength defecate Gu was used inappropriately and resulted in a person dying from excessive diarrhoea.

Obtaining the big strength defecate Gu was the second step.

Next, Fang Yuan took out the lion roar Gu.

This Gu looked like a lion head, and once used, it summoned an image of a lion's head, the size of a stone mill, and unleash the mighty lion's roar. It was often used to send signals or scare away wild beasts. In battle, when used properly, it could cause the opposing Gu Master to lose their concentration.

Fang Yuan used both the lion roar Gu and big strength defecate Gu.

As a result, a weird scene appeared in the air; a lion head's image opened its mouth and started to eat the big strength defecate Gu.

But after eating a third of it, the lion roar Gu could not eat anymore, and the image was on the verge of collapsing.

Thereupon, Fang Yuan willed, and summoned a paper crane Gu, also bought from the shop.

This Gu was split into light blue, dark green, pink and several other colors; it was especially used to send letters.

The light blue color paper crane flew towards the lion roar Gu, and was swallowed by lion image.

Doing three things at once!

If outsiders saw this, they would scream out in shock.

It would be impressive if ordinary Gu Masters could do two things at once. But three, few could do it, this was a display of a Gu Master's extreme talent in refinement.

Many ordinary Gu Masters required the use of Gu worms to be able to multitask.

Fang Yuan used the lion roar Gu, big strength defecate Gu as well as the paper crane Gu using only his own mind.

But to him, this was not talent, rather it was an accumulated experience.

Any skills could be improved with practice. Fang Yuan spent five hundred years, slowly gaining experience, and trained for hundreds of years. From doing a single task at one time, it increased to two, then three, sometimes he could even do four things at once!

Of course, any more and he would need an assistance Gu worm.

After the lion head image swallowed the paper crane Gu, it no longer fizzled, but went back to original.

Fang Yuan continued to will it to eat the big strength defecate Gu.

After another one-third, the same thing happened, as the lion head image fizzled once again.

Fang Yuan was not flustered and calmly called out the second deep green paper crane Gu.

As with before, the lion head image started to become unstable again after it swallowed the entire big strength defecate Gu.

Fang Yuan then used the third pink paper crane Gu. @@novelbin@@

After swallowing it, the lion head image suddenly shrunk by more than half, and its white body started to glow in light blue, dark green, and pink. At the same time, the lion image started to chant: "Eat shit, eat shit..."

The voice echoed in the room, causing Fang Yuan's ears to buzz.

He was not afraid of the sound leaking, as it was a special secret room with reinforced walls, isolating any sounds.

He cheered in his heart, this Gu was finally completed!

This was the eating one's words Gu!

But this eating one's words Gu could only exist for ten breaths before it destroyed itself.

Fang Yuan did not dare to waste any time, calling the eating one's words Gu to his side.

As the light blue, deep green, and pink color lights shone on him, Fang Yuan's body started to produce a faint purple smoke.

"Eat shit, eat shit..."

The smoke trembled and moved about as the lion roared; in two breath's time, the smoke gathered into the images of two poison vow Gu.

Fang Yuan willed, and the lion head image opened its mouth, swallowing it. As it chewed, the poison vow Gu gave out an indignant cry, but it soon came to a stop.

The lion head image opened its mouth again, swallowing the other poison vow Gu. As it chewed, the poison vow Gu was completely eliminated, not a trace of purple smoke remained on Fang Yuan.

A few breaths later, the lion head image exploded into a three color rain in the air. The light rained down, causing the entire secret room to shine brilliantly.

Fang Yuan stood among the light raindrops, revealing a cold smile as his lips curled up.

Poison vow Gu?

Hehehe... hahaha...

Trying to restrict me with a poison vow Gu, how naive!

However, they could not be blamed. In his previous life, this eating one's words Gu only appeared two hundred years later.

It originated from a tribe leader in the west desert, only spreading around the world after another few decades. After ten more years, someone finally invented the black and white paper Gu replacing the poison vow Gu; it could not be broken by the eating one's words Gu.

The eating one's words Gu lost its effects, but in another few hundred years, the distorting black and white Gu appeared which was able to overrule the power of the black and white paper Gu.

Poison vow Gu, eating one's words Gu, black and white paper Gu, distorting black and white Gu, this was just a small segment of the struggle between agreements and breaking them. The struggle has been going on since the beginning of time and will continue into the future.

Fang Yuan possessed five hundred years of experience, it was as if he was ahead of the world by five hundred years! It was not hard to overrule the poison vow Gu.

Once the restraints were gone, Fang Yuan felt relaxed. Most importantly, he only removed his side of the vow, thus, Shang Ya Zi and Bai Ning Bing still had the restraints of the poison vow Gu on them.

This way, Fang Yuan held the complete advantage against these two people.

"Shang Ya Zi is narrow-minded, after I extorted him like this, he will definitely take revenge. But I have already planned for that, I shall let him play around for now. As for Bai Ning Bing, now that you are dancing in the palm of my hands, I will make good use of you in the short run, there is no need to fall out yet."

"These few days, after I gave away half my primeval stones, and bought many Gu, I spent over tens of thousands of primeval stones. Including the banquet treat, Nan Qiu garden's rental, the expenses at the gambling den, and the food for Gu worms, I have only four hundred and twenty thousand left."

If one did not have huge worries, they would worry about small things . Thinking about this, Fang Yuan frowned.

He wanted to assemble a set of Gu worms, he might seem wealthy now, but it was not enough.

Rank one Gu worms were around five hundred primeval stones. Rank two were five hundred to a thousand. Rank three ranged from a thousand to ten thousand.

For rank four, it ranged from ten thousand to a hundred thousand. For rank five, it could range from a hundred thousand to a million.

Rank six Gu has never been sold before.

These prices were only for ordinary Gu. Some rare Gu like liquor worm had the price of a rank two Gu although they were rank one.

The relic Gu was even more expensive. Green copper relic Gu was two thousand, red steel relic Gu was eight thousand, white silver relic Gu was fifty thousand, and the yellow gold relic Gu was close to three hundred thousand!

Fang Yuan had four hundred and twenty thousand now, he could not even afford two yellow gold relic Gu.

Relic Gu were natural Gu, they cannot be refined by Gu Masters. In many occasions, not even money could buy them.

"I want to stay here for two-three years, four hundred and twenty thousand won't even last me for a year. Gu Masters rely on resources to cultivate, the higher the rank, more the expenses. Next, I still have to spend a ton on the gambling den, I need to find a good way to earn money."

Shang clan city was bustling and competition was intense, but chances were everywhere.

As long as you had the ability, earning money was easy, but without ability, you will get eliminated.

This was another law of nature, filled with cruel competition.

Fang Yuan combined his previous life's experiences, and his understanding of this life, already having an idea on how to earn primeval stones.

That would be the battle stage.

-x-X-x-

Wei Yang was distressed, he had been having a headache for the past few days.

Shang Yan Fei wanted to recruit Fang and Bai, but even after Wei Yang's probing, the two did not show a hint of interest in joining them.

This was normal.

They were youngsters. Hot-blooded and at the peak of their lives, having grand aspirations and did not want to be under anyone, always thinking that effort was the key to success in this world.

Naive, so very naive.

Wei Yang could understand, he went through this phase in his youth.

Thus, he did not directly recruit Fang and Bai.

Once he made it clear, and got rejected, there would be no way to salvage the situation. Wei Yang was a sly fox, he had already devised a plan to make the two slowly fall into his trap.

He did not think of anything scheming or devious. For something like recruiting talents, the important thing was willingness. If they were forced, it would ruin the entire result.

Especially after Wei Yang had interacted with these two for a few days, he knew they were not the type to give in.

Thus, Wei Yang decided to take it slow as he influenced them gradually, using a righteous method to achieve victory.

For this, he had great confidence.

"What does a Gu Master's cultivation rely on? Resources! It is easy for righteous Gu Masters, but for demonic Gu Masters... hehe."

Wei Yang was once a demonic Gu Master, fighting his way out of the battle stage.

He knew the hardships of being a demonic Gu Master.

Gu Master's cultivation could not steer away from primeval stones, Gu worms, and food to feed them. The higher the cultivation, the greater the need for them.

At the start, Gu Masters could still fulfill this need using their own abilities.

But later, they would find that the resources needed were too huge, and competition got more intense, sometimes they were even unable to procure food for themselves!

When Wei Yang was rank one, he stepped into the battle stage. From rank one to two, then to three, the stronger he got, the weaker he felt.

Like a scholar, the more he learned, the more ignorant he felt about himself. The stronger Wei Yang got, the more he knew how weak he was.

An individual was so weak, only by relying on others, and relying on a clan, could one survive better.

When he realized this, he accepted Shang Yan Fei's offer.

He had gone through this himself.

"When Fang and Bai learn how weak they are alone, Shang clan's recruitment will come to fulfilment. But before that, I cannot watch Fang Zheng step into the wrong path, this would expend his youth and effort, and put that great talent he has to waste!"

In Wei Yang's perspective, Fang Yuan choosing the strength path was a huge mistake.

The hot-bloodedness and ignorance of youth.

Strength path?

From Shang clan battle stage, among those demonic Gu Masters who managed to make it out, which one used strength to dominate? None!

Strength path is one for bottom feeders, it cannot help a Gu Master in succeeding.

Thinking of relying on the strength path to make it big in life? Fat chance!

Nonetheless, things did not advance as he wished.

These days, Wei Yang had approached Fang Yuan and advised him many times, but each time, he was rejected as Fang Yuan kept a firm attitude.

Wei Yang learnt just how stubborn Fang Yuan could be, after failing many times, he went back and considered it carefully, finally deciding on a new method of advising...

This day, he came again.

"Brother Wei, you are advising me to enter the battle stage, and participate in battles?" Fang Yuan showed a confused expression.

"Yes, I relied on the battle stage, cultivating step by step, I will definitely share my good experience with you." Wei Yang gave a sincere gaze.

Next, he lifted three fingers: "There are three benefits you can gain from entering the battle stage."

"Firstly, you can earn a fortune. Each battle that you participate in, as long as you win, you can gain primeval stones. The more viewers you get, the more the primeval stones you earn."

"Secondly, you can gain Gu worms. There is a rule in the battle stage, the winner can choose a Gu from the loser and take it from them."

"Thirdly, entering the battle stage can train your battle tactics. At the same time, it examines the strength and cooperativeness of your Gu worms. It would help you to make the relevant adjustments."

Fang Yuan heard Wei Yang's final sentence, and understood in his heart.

These days, Wei Yang had advised him to give up on the strength path, and change to another path. After failing, he decided to use an indirect method, using the battle stage to let Fang Yuan experience the weakness of the strength path, forcing him to give up on it.

"The cultivation of the strength path was decided after a long and thorough analysis, it has great benefits for my future, how could I change it? But, the battle stage is also part of my plans..."

Thinking so, Fang Yuan nodded, agreeing with Wei Yang.

Wei Yang was joyous: "Back when you fought with me, you only borrowed the use of the battle stage. Shang clan's battle stage has a refined system, if you want to participate, you will need to sign up for it. Follow me!"

Thus, the two came to fifth inner city's battle zone.

This was far more crowded than third inner city, as people moved about, all sorts of voices entered Fang Yuan's ears, and an intense atmosphere assaulted him.

"Did you hear? Li Hao won again, this is this thirteenth consecutive victory, before long, he would be able to rise to fourth inner city."

"He has rank three cultivation, it is certain that he will enter fourth inner city."

...

"Did you see Wang Da Han and Ma De Quan's battle? It was so exciting!"

"Wang Da Han lost to Ma De Quan, losing his most important raindrop Gu, he is nearly crippled."

...

"Zhao Da Xiong and Zhang Niu's battle is about to start, go see!"

"These two are both from the strength path, there is nothing nice to watch. We might as well go see the match between Qiao Da and Qiao Er, a battle between brothers."

...

Wei Yang purposely disguised himself, as he led the way for Fang Yuan, as he said: "You need to have thirty net victories in fifth inner city to advance to fourth inner city. There, you will need eighty net victories to advance to third inner city. What do I mean by net victory? For example, if you won ten battles, and lost two, you would have eight net victories."

"The battle stage is split into three levels, low level in fifth inner city, middle level in fourth inner city, and high level in third inner city. Little brother, you are a newbie at the battle stage, your wins and losses are both zero. According to the rules, you will have to start at fifth inner city."

"Don't be anxious yet, the way I look at it, you should be able to quickly rise to middle level. As for high level, it might take quite some effort, but it should still be quite fast. A year or two would do." Wei Yang patted Fang Yuan's shoulders and said.

He acknowledged Fang Yuan's battle talent, but the strength path only dominated the middle and lower levels, once he got to the high level battle stage, where experts roamed, the strength path's weakness would gradually show, being greatly suppressed by other paths.

Under Wei Yang's lead, the two came to a grand hall.

In the hall, there was a great number of Gu Masters requesting battles or checking battle details.

Some were here to participate, some were here to watch battles, and there were even some here to set up their betting business.

Wei Yang did not squeeze with them, but pushed open a small door.

There was a narrow walkway behind the door, and two Gu Masters guarded it.

One of the Gu Masters came forward, saying to Wei Yang and Fang Yuan: "This is a special reception, unauthorised people are not allowed to enter."

Wei Yang displayed his clan elder token, and the two quickly cupped their fists and gave way.

After crossing the tunnel, it was another hall, with four reception tables.

Three of the tables had guests already.

This place was much quieter than the grand hall.

Fang Yuan used Gu Yue Fang Zheng's name to sign up. After paying five hundred primeval stones, he obtained a vine information Gu.

This Gu was like a long vine, having many large jade green leaves.

It was a rank one Gu, storing some of Fang Yuan's information inside.

This Gu was not bought by Fang Yuan but rented to him by Shang clan city. Fang Yuan was in charge of feeding it, but he could not alter the information inside, only Shang clan could.

Of course, it was not hard to hack the rank one vine information Gu, but Shang clan had a backup copy of the information, and with everyone's watchful gaze, situations where the information was fake rarely happened.

"There are not many rules in the battle stage, there is a high degree of freedom. If you wish to battle, come here to sign up, Shang clan will assign you an opponent. They can be stronger or weaker than you, but you can also designate the opponent you want, although they will have to agree. Once a month, an individual has one chance to challenge another person, where they are not allowed to reject."

"Moreover, there is also a restriction in the number of battles in the battle stage. A person can only issue one challenge a day. Every ten days, you have to participate in at least one battle or we will remove one win from you. If your overall losses reach five, your qualification will be revoked. If you want to participate again, you will need to sign up again. Now, are you interested in taking part, and trying it out?" Wei Yang smiled.

Fang Yuan nodded.

This was the special reception, the efficiency of the receptionists was high, Fang Yuan was quickly assigned an opponent: "The time is 1:30pm, the location is at number five battle stage, the terrain is grassland."

There were only about seven minutes till the start of the battle.

Wei Yang brought Fang Yuan over to number five battle stage, his opponent was already waiting inside.

He was a young man, tall and skinny, an ordinary appearance and wore a green shirt.

Seeing Fang Yuan enter the stage, joy flashed across his eyes.

Looking at Fang Yuan, he was just a youngster, how high could his cultivation be?

Looking at himself, he had recently advanced to rank two middle stage, this was his first battle since coming out of closed cultivation, it was a good sign.

Fang Yuan entered the field, number five battle stage was a middle stage battlefield, more than twice as large as the previous flagstone stage they had fought in before.

The battlefield was covered in grass, Fang Yuan stepped on the ground with his boots, feeling the soft loamy soil underneath.

There were only two to three people watching, including the disguised Wei Yang.

Watching battles required primeval stones, Fang Yuan was a nobody. His opponent Tang Qing was slightly famous, but after his closed cultivation, the little attention he received previously vanished completely.

Clang!

The bells rang loudly, signifying the start of the battle.

"My name is Tang Qing." The young man was a gentleman, cupping his fists towards Fang Yuan.

Jumping grass.

Fang Yuan willed, stepping hard and bursting forth.

"What the f*ck, attacking like that?!" Tang Qing was taken aback, not expecting this youngster to be so shameless, sneak attacking in public.

He completely ignored the formalities!

-x-X-x-