In the innermost part of Shang Clan City, Shang Yan Fei heard the report from one of his attendants while he looked out at his magnificent garden. "Esteemed Clan Head, the woman in question is indeed your flesh and blood. She is Shang Xin Ci, and her body is intact. Her soul has not been tampered with. She is said to have left from Zhang Clan Village using a merchant caravan and we have confirmed this fact. However, no one from that merchant caravan has yet arrived. As a matter of fact, they would likely be scheduled to come within the next week. She managed to get here extremely fast, thanks to the help of a rank five Gu Master in question. However..."
"However what?"
"Additionally, as per Zhang Clan records, she is a mere mortal. However she has Rank One Initial Stage cultivation. right now"
Shang Yan Fei pondered this matter before finding it to be too tangled to make any assumptions at this point.
The easiest way to get the answers regarding this was to simply ask her directly.
He walked over to Shang Xin Ci's and Xiao Die's room with a gentle smile on his face. He had met her mother when he had been a young master, and the two of them had fallen in love despite the fact that the Shang and the Zhang Clans were enemies with each other.
Because of this, he had had to ultimately abandon her, but this regret had always nestled somewhere deep within his heart. Now, however, it seemed like heaven had given him a chance to make amends. He was the Shang clan head now and could finally give the child the love that she deserved.
He had a kind of expression on his face as he walked into her room.
Zhang Xin Ci - now Shang Xin Ci - had mixed feelings about meeting her father. On the one hand, she was overjoyed, on the other hand, there was the resentment of having been abandoned for so long. Xiao Die felt much the same way.
He had not even introduced himself when he had found her. The two of them had been wandering around the stalls near the Southern Gate wondering what their next move would be. As a Rank One Gu Master, she could more easily move around Gu Master circles and potentially employ some of them under herself. She was already formulating a plan using the seed money that Fang Yuan had given her, when there was a commotion in the street.
A flame burst out and from it emerged a man with a cold gaze whose eyes landed upon Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die. He had not even said anything, as Shang Xin Ci felt that he looked somewhat familiar, before putting the pieces together before even a word could be uttered.
She then found herself whisked away to this area which may as well have been a different dimension for all that she knew.
Memories of her earlier life - of being shamed for being an illegitimate child, the insults that were showered upon both her and her mother while growing up, and the huge sense of isolation reared their heads like a multi-headed dragon roaring in her chest.
Without a doubt, there was a great deal of negative feelings cooped up inside of her that seemed to want to burst forth like water through a broken dam.
However, she did not speak anything, and sat next to her calmly as her father asked certain questions.
"I see. So, you were saved from an attack on the caravan by a certain Gu Master," Shang Yan Fei said. "That is quite interesting." When she got to the part where she had been taught how to cultivate by this Gu Master in question, using a special gu worm despite having no talent, his eyes widened. And although he quickly covered up his expression, he could not hide the urgency in his voice as he asked her the name of the gu worm in question.
Shang Xin Ci shook her head. "He might've told me - but I might have forgotten. I remember what it looked like however, it almost looked like extremely old ginseng with many roots. And... yes, it was yellow. I'm sorry, I don't remember more than that."
His suspicions were confirmed. That was, without a doubt, Rank 5 Man Triumphing Over Heaven Gu. 'Where on earth had the Gu Master in question found that?' was the first question that he had.
The second question that came to his mind was, 'Why on earth had he given it to Shang Xin Ci, who was just an ordinary girl?' That gu worm was priceless!
He had already gotten the name of her savior - Gu Yue Fang Yuan. He had actually been informed of his arrival in Shang Clan City.
Soon after picking up his daughter, the arrival of a new Rank 5 Gu Master was reported as it was significant in and of itself. But to learn that this Rank 5 Gu Master had been the one who had saved his daughter and also showered such blessings upon her without apparently asking for anything in return... even he would have trouble getting Man Triumphing Over Heaven Gu without giving up something very valuable in return.
"Father, are you all right?" Shang Xin Ci asked, concerned as he seemed to suddenly blank out for a moment.
"Yes, I am all right," he said, relaxing a little. "And then afterwards, what happened?"
She told him that this man had given her two gu worms. She took out one of them.
One of them was a rank one Gu called Bone Spear Gu, and was a special gu found on Bei Gu Mountain. He took it and listened to her description of it. It seemed like a fine rank one gu worm.
The other gu worm in her aperture, however, he did not recognize whatsoever. It looked like a lotus. However, most of its petals were missing, only having a single row of petals surrounding the base. It still looked quite beautiful and eye-catching.
He had never seen a gu worm like this in the past. Its description also did not make much sense to him. He had not heard of Accumulate Virtue Gu in the past. "And he made you make this your vital gu?"
"Yes," she said. "I mean - it isn't right to say that he made me, more of he suggested it and I agreed."
Shang Yan Fei licked his lips.
He did not fully agree with this kind of decision. Why did this Gu Master impose the choice of a vital gu worm upon his daughter?
A vital gu was a keystone of a Gu Master's cultivation and could not easily be changed. Shang Xin Ci had not questioned Fang Yuan's decision simply because he was so experienced, and because he had given her the proper rationale for it. Naturally she had blindly trusted him with this.
To Shang Yan Fei, it seemed to be a useless gu worm as even Fang Yuan seemed to be vague about its function and said something along the lines of 'accumulating virtue' as per the inheritance's request - which made him think that the man in question didn't know what he was doing (unlikely as he was Rank 5) or had purposefully sabotaged Shang Xin Ci (also unlikely given everything else he had done).
'Before I jump to any conclusions, I need to find out about the so-called inheritance first,' Shang Yan Fei said to himself.
If it was indeed a Rank 5 inheritance like he suspected, there could be several very valuable things that he might be able to obtain.
She then described riding upon the White Form Immortal Snake several times, another rank five Gu worm; this one that he knew about.
"All right, then, you seem to have had quite a journey, my daughter," he said, with a warm smile, patting her on the shoulder. "I know that we've had a bit of a troubled past, but I hope you understand that if I had known that you were alive, I would have definitely sent someone to fetch you."
"My mother wasn't sure whether you would accept me or not," she said. "She said that there was a token I was supposed to show you." She handed him the token that he had given to her mother. This could not have been a forgery, as it had several indentations and markings which were unique to the one he had given to her mother. "She said I should show this to someone in Shang Clan City who was important, and if that person rejected it, then I should go back home."
Shang Yan Fei sighed. He was a bit disappointed to know that her mother had such little faith in him. "Don't worry about that now. Shang Xin Ci, anything that you happen to want, let me know, and I will arrange for it immediately. Additionally, if Gu Yue Fang Yuan comes to visit you, my daughter, well, I should also like a word with him."
"Father, he was only trying to help me, you don't need to..."
"I don't intend to harm him whatsoever," he said, with a gentle smile on his face. "I really only wish to thank him properly for taking such good care of you. Perhaps we can even have a banquet where we can all sit together."
"Certainly," Shang Xin Ci said, sounding slightly hopeful and happy at the prospect. "Oh, but he said that he was here on some secret business from his clan..."
"Don't worry, I'm sure if I send him an invitation, he will come," he said with a gentle look.
Shang Xin Ci didn't want Fang Yuan to be forced into anything. However, it looked like her father wanted to use the carrot rather than the stick. "I would like to give him an adequate reward," he continued.
"All right. Thank you, Father," Shang Xin Ci said. She still had very mixed feelings about this man. However, her heart had warmed up slightly. Knowing her good nature, she would soon open it up completely to this man, whom she had just met, but who was her father.
Shang Yan Fei left after assigning her an attendant, and his expression changed.
It went from a kind and caring father to the cold and hard look of the person who had, through his ambition and sheer determination, made himself the current clan head of the Shang Clan. The Shang Clan was big, so what? So what if there were a large number of resources? That only meant that the competition for whoever was top dog was even harder. He had forced some of his siblings to commit suicide during his ascent to the top.
Attitude is the mask of the heart, and what he had shown Shang Xin Ci was only a small part of who he was.
With that said, however, once he had reached the top and achieved his lifelong ambition, he had realized that standing at the peak of the world was quite cold and lonely, and that's why he had often thought about his former children.
He vowed to make things up to this young girl now. At the same time, his thoughts immediately moved to Gu Yue Fang Yuan. "I need to find out everything that I can about him."
He would have loved to have simply ordered the man to come before him. However, Gu Yue Fang Yuan was a Rank 5 Gu Master. A minor realm below him, but still a Rank 5 Gu Master, nonetheless. He would have to tread carefully upon this matter and could not simply put him under house arrest like he would have initially otherwise done so to the members of her merchant caravan. He also wanted information on this inheritance if it was indeed so plentiful as he had deduced.
Still, this was his territory - and this Fang Yuan had wandered into it. Fang Yuan was still going to have to play by his rules!