Jia Fu was quite shocked. He had not known that Gu Yue Village apparently had some kind of agreement with the Bei Clan. It was normal that villages very far away were friendly with each other and those next to each other tended to be enemies, but they were a bit too friendly. There had clearly been some agreement going on, he thought, as the Bei Clan continued to see to the needs of the Gu Yue clan, helping them wherever possible.
Did Fang Yuan get engaged to a woman of theirs? He likely would've heard gossiping about that if that were the case, so the likely answer to that was 'no.'
'There is some kind of deal that has been struck,' he mused to himself. 'If only we'd had the kind of luck getting here before heading towards Qing Mao Mountain, we would be in a much better state.' He had rarely seen an expedition go as smoothly as this one, though this was partly because of the close proximity of the two regions.
Curious as to what kind of political situation was going on, but unable to say anything more, a shadow descended upon them. The aura of a Rank 5 gu worm emanated through the air as Fang Yuan landed from the top of the White Form Immortal Snake. A woman with long, silvery hair and bright blue eyes accompanied him.
Although Jia Fu had not seen this person in the past, he immediately recognized her from the descriptions he had heard. "Gu Yue Fang Yuan, and Lady Ching Ding Bing, welcome! Good to see that both of you are here safely," he said.
Bai Ning Bing glared at him, a deathly cold gaze that sent shivers down his spine.
Fang Yuan said with a light smile on his face, "Oh, I may have misspoken her name earlier. It's not that - it is Ling Ding Ching"
"Oh, I see," Jia Fu said. "I apologize for messing up your name." Bai Ning Bing had not defrosted in the slightest from this apology.
"I trust that all is going well here?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Indeed, it is," Jia Fu said. "Our journey here was mostly uneventful."
"That is good to hear," Fang Yuan said, before heading off to go speak with Qing Shu.
He wanted to know if this cooperation between the Bei Clan and the Gu Yue Village was going smoothly. It was, and this was mostly thanks to Qing Shu being present there and the Bei Clan understanding their position. As such, both sides were able to get along without much friction between them.
Of course, Fang Yuan knew that this peace would never last.
If the Gu Yue Clan continued to stay here, then without a doubt, in the future, the Gu Yue and the Bei Clan would become enemies. The Bei Clan also knew this and were only burying whatever hatred and resentment they had deep in their hearts, so that one day in the future, the Bei Clan would be able to conquer the mountain.
Or at least, become its overlords. For now, though, the Gu Yue Clan occupied the highest primeval spring on Bei Gu Mountain. But as they say, "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river." The time may come when these positions are reversed. Of course, if that were to happen, Fang Yuan would no longer care.
Without the Bone-Flesh Unity Gu, could the Bei twins still reach Rank 5? Even if they did, it would be at least twenty or thirty years before that could happen. He would either be an immortal by then or dead. Fang Yuan had not wasted the time granted to him by using Jia Fu; he had used it to try to raise Fang Zheng's cultivation level as much as he could with the help of the Bone-Flesh Unity Gu.
Needless to say, he was not helping Fang Zheng out of the kindness of his heart. Not only was there the Rank 6 Ambition Gu waiting for him, once Fang Zheng reached rank four, Fang Yuan would hand over most of the responsibility of the clan to him.
Qing Shu might have been a better candidate for the role. However, Qing Shu was loyal to the clan first and foremost, and to Fang Yuan second, so Fang Yuan could not make use of him like he could with Fang Zheng.
Also, if he revealed the secret of Bone-Flesh Unity Gu to Qing Shu, he would no doubt try to see if it could be used for the benefit of the entire clan. This was a mistake, of course. Fang Yuan knew that the more people knew about it, the more attention it would draw and the higher likelihood there would be of news of it leaking outside.
And once the secret of the Bone-Flesh Unity Gu was known to the whole world, every single super force would want it. The Tie, Shang, and Wu clans would all descend upon them and they would be unable to withstand that kind of force.
Fang Yuan sighed. Although everyone admired him as the clan leader, the position meant nothing to him. It was nothing compared to the seat of Supreme Elder he had held in the Blood Wing Demon Sect in his old life.
And much like in his old life, he was clearly recognizing just how much of a drag it was to be in such a position in an organization. He spent most of his time trying to cater to the needs of others and was unable to act how he wished. That was why he truly loved the demonic path because it spoke of true freedom, unlike the righteous path, which would tangle one in a web of responsibilities and family ties.
Fang Yuan had two things that he wanted to do.
One was to explore Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's little inheritance he was said to have left behind, and the second was to go to Shang Clan City in order to finish filling in all of Genesis Lotus's paintings. The day would soon come when he would reach Rank 5 Peak Stage and if he wished to have an extreme physique in order to strengthen his foundation, this would be the best time to act.
His attempt to refine the Righteous Virtue Physique had failed. That didn't mean that he was going to give up. There was a large amount of Hope Gu up there, near the primeval spring, and he intended to take it and attempt the refinement once more.
The rest of the merchant caravan stayed near the base of the mountain, while Fang Yuan led the Gu Yue Gu Masters up the mountain, easily taking care of any bone beasts that they happened to run across.
They then reached the primeval spring, and Fang Yuan checked it, noting that it had indeed remained untouched, and the Bei Clan had upheld their end of the deal. More likely than not, this was simply because they could not reach this place without encountering heavy losses, which would make it impossible for them to hold it.
"Alright then, this will be our base of operations," Fang Yuan said.
The Gu Yue clansmen took out various gu worms and put them in the ground before a problem immediately emerged: the fact that there was no soil for them to use.
"Clan head - we can't use our gu worms!"
"There is no fresh and loamy soil here!"
"Drat - how are we going to build now?"