The white landscape of Bei Gu Mountain greeted Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing as they arrived atop the White Form Immortal Snake. By now, everyone within the new Gu Yue Village recognized them atop this mount, and a reception was quickly arranged to greet their returning Clan Leader.
Fang Zheng glanced at the form of the White Form Immortal Snake as he sighed inwardly. It was descending in a very specific manner - the manner that Fang Yuan had decided upon to indicate that it was truly him and not a rogue Demonic Cultivator. Had it been the latter, the clan would have had to mobilize its defenses, but then again, against someone capable of controlling such a gu worm they likely would not stand much of a chance anyway.
Although everyone gathered to receive the two was in high spirits, there was a murmur all throughout the clan - dissatisfied voices that Fang Yuan was returning so soon. He had not announced this visit beforehand like he sometimes did; in other words, it was an impromptu visit.
During the last impromptu visit, Fang Yuan had taken nearly everything that was not bolted down, either claiming that he was appropriating it for the greater good of the clan or borrowing it and promising to pay it back later.
Since no one could actually express their dissatisfaction to his face (him being a Rank 5 Gu Master), they instead decided to express their dissatisfaction to Fang Zheng when Fang Yuan was not around.
"What on earth is the Supreme Elder doing?"
"He spends all his time on Shang Clan City instead of developing this village."
"Is it truly right for him to be away from the village during all this time?"
"Forget that, why is he taking so many things? It would be preferable if he left us alone, instead he's borrowed so many primeval stones, but I don't think he has the slightest intention of repaying them."
"Even if he doesn't repay them, what can we possibly do? Fight him?"
"It's one thing to suffer under an enemy, but under Fang Yuan, we seem to be suffering because of our Clan Head!"
"An enemy Gu Master could extort us... we're here being extorted by our own Supreme Leader..."
"...and our current Clan Head will do nothing to stop him..."
Fang Zheng always winced when he heard those words. They were never shouted about the streets, but were whispered amongst the dissenters - whispers which were loud enough to reach his ears. Barring that it was clear form many of their body language and facial expressions that they were not all that happy about their clan leader whenever Fang Yuan wasn't there.
The problem was that he could not necessarily deny those accusations. If someone had the experience and understanding to see what Fang Yuan was doing, they would likely reach the exact same conclusion: that Fang Yuan was simply milking them dry and going to discard them, like an old cow that could no longer give milk and was being sent to the butcher's farm instead.
Many of them were wondering just exactly what Fang Yuan planned to take this time. There were also murmurs of discontent regarding Fang Zheng's own rule.
It wasn't that Fang Zheng was necessarily completely incompetent, but he was inexperienced and was often easily manipulated by various factions into doing things that ultimately undermined him.
Before, if someone had asked him, he would have thought that becoming Clan Head was one of the greatest joys in life. Now, though, he began to understand the weight of that responsibility. Qing Shu had helped him get out of quite a few political quagmires, but there was a limit to how much one person could help him. Eventually he would have to stand on his own.
He had thought that once he became Clan Head, he would no longer have confidence issues and would be able to stand tall on his own. Now, though, in a strange way, he felt smaller than ever before. Most of the clan's problems were unavoidable as they were slowly rebuilding, but naturally, they needed someone to dump their frustration on.
They couldn't do it to Fang Yuan, given his strength and the fact that he wasn't even there most of the time, and so the person who got blamed was Fang Zheng, whose immense strength was not enough to completely silence the elders as the magnitude of the difference was not nearly that massive as with Fang Yuan's.
Fang Zheng put these thoughts aside.
"Big Brother, welcome," Fang Zheng said as Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing dismounted the White Form Immortal Snake.
Fang Yuan was still Rank 5 Middle Stage like the last time that he had visited, but Fang Zheng knew that breaking through minor realms at Rank 5 was a big deal, so he did not expect anything to have changed. Bai Ning Bing, however, was now at Rank 4 Upper Stage.
"Good to see you, Younger Brother," Fang Yuan said toward Fang Zheng with a smile. "It's good to be back home here on Bei Gu Mountain." These were empty words; even if Fang Yuan missed his home, that would be Qing Mao Mountain, not this strange new mountain of bones that was quite alien to him, especially given how little time he spent there.
"We were delayed in our journey," Fang Yuan continued, "but we managed to get here well enough. I've brought several things from the Shang Clan which I think will help with our village's development." The majority of these things were low-grade resources at Rank 1 or Rank 2 level. However, that was the rank of the majority of Gu Masters within the newly formed Gu Yue Clan anyway.
Some of the Elders were uneasy upon seeing the gifts. Fang Yuan had brought along some gifts last time as well, but he had also taken a large portion of the clan's resources. His gifts could not be seen as being anywhere near equivalent what he took - quite frankly, it would be generous to call them even 1% of what he took.
"How did your fight go?" Fang Zheng asked, as he had understood his brother was in need of those resources for an upcoming battle.
"Unfortunately, despite how valiantly I fought, I ended up suffering a defeat," Fang Yuan said.
"Losing?" Fang Zheng asked, genuinely shocked. In Fang Zheng's eyes, his brother was a colossal behemoth who cast a massive shadow, able to handle almost anything. To Fang Zheng, Fang Yuan seemed to occupy a position even more unattainable and unreachable than back when they were kids. The idea of Fang Yuan meeting with defeat was such an alien concept to Fang Zheng that he found it difficult to wrap his head around it.
"Yes, my opponent was simply too strong," Fang Yuan said. "But what can one do? Victory and defeat are simply parts of life. All we can do is try to learn from them. And I've brought something for you as well."
Fang Yuan took out the Rank 4 Island Turtle Strength Gu. "Have you been using Steel Bone Gu and Steel Tendon Gu to strengthen your physique like I had recommended?"
"Yes," Fang Zheng said. "I've already finished with Steel Bone Gu, and I've started on Steel Tendon Gu!"
"Then you can add this as well once you've finished, and you will gain the strength of an Island Turtle," Fang Yuan said. "After that, you can feel free to keep this within the clan storage or dispose of it."
Speaking of, Fang Yuan still had not unraveled the secret behind the All-Out Effort Gu. Up until very recently, he had been occupied with other matters, so the Rank 3 gu worm was rather low on his list of priorities.
Now, though, he had a small army of beggars who were willing to do whatever he asked them for. He had asked them to monitor Li Ran, the person who had originally found the All-Out Effort Gu.