Shi Zhong wasn't the only one who had taken note of this kind of development.
The Fang Clan was another super force within the Western Desert. Their leader was a Rank 8 Formation Path expert, and among their ranks was a Rank 7 Immortal with Great Grandmaster attainment in the Wisdom Path - Fang Di Chang.
Fang Di Chang was also the second supreme elder of the clan, and had quite a lot on his plate to handle. For now though, he was glancing at this new gu worm that had been purchased by Fang Yun, his son.
Fang Yun was Fang Di Chang's adopted son, though he considered him as if he was his own true flesh and blood. The main issue was not that - the issue was that Fang Yun was a bit too trusting and carefree and that Fang Di Chang didn't have any other descendants.
Fang Di Chang was in possession of a profound Wisdom Path inheritance, and the day would come sooner or later when he would pass from this world. The abilities of a Wisdom Path Immortal were quite profound at the Great Grandmaster level and any super force would greatly benefit from their existence.
As such, he needed someone to pass this down to.
Sadly Fang Yun did not possess the requirements to be good at the Wisdom Path. And so, he could only sigh and try and search for another inheritor.
Today's events were a good example of this.
Fang Yun had approached him saying, "Father! Father! Look what I managed to buy from Yellow Treasure Heaven! From The Legends of Ren Zu!"
These words almost instantly gave Fang Di Chang a headache. After all, his son was rather easily mislead and it seemed from his words that he had been swindled by someone on Yellow Treasure Heaven.
At least, that is what he had assumed.
Now though, that he held a Rank 4 Ambition Gu in his hands, he could see that if only accidentally, his son had stumbled upon something profound.
Rank 4 Ambition Gu!
Without a doubt, this was worthwhile if only one could deduce its recipe - so that they could attempt to refine Immortal Ambition Gu! Being one of the gu mentioned in The Legends of Ren Zu, it would be of great help to their clan if they could obtain it.
Fang Di Chang had used his Wisdom Path methods, but had found no answer to what this gu worm's refinement recipe was even after multiple attempts. No - it wasn't just that there was no answer, he didn't even get a partial recipe from examining it.
This was not necessarily that unusual. Relic Gu and Lifespan Gu for example had no known refinement recipes even until now.
"Too bad this gu worm is only Rank 4. If it were Rank 5, I think that some of our formations could make use of it," he muttered. The Human Path was not well-studied, but there was some inkling regarding its capabilities.
Putting that aside, this could be useful in raising the mortals of the Fang Clan. He might end up finding a suitable inheritor after all.
Since he was unable to deduce the recipe, the only other thing that he could attempt was to try and deduce who the owner was.
He did not have any clues other than the fact that this person had made this gu worm, but there was still a slim chance of finding something out.
Thoughts began colliding in his head as he held Rank 4 Ambition Gu, only for him to abort the process within a few seconds.
He could tell that there would be no easy answers this way. The person who had made this had either hidden their traces, were a Wisdom Path Immortal themselves, outside the Western Desert, or inside someone's Blessed Land.
As it was a single gu worm was not enough to make deductions from. He would need some greater clue.
The seller in question was no longer active on Yellow Treasure Heaven, but had said there would be a new batch being delivered soon.
He would just have to wait for then and see if more clues would emerge.
Meanwhile in the Central Continent, within the Immortal Crane Sect, there was a meeting of the sect's mortal elders.
"Any more information on who might've slain Lord Sky Crane?"
"He had left for a mission in the Southern Border, but was not killed there - he was slaughtered as he returned to the Central Continent."
"One of our enemies must have gotten to him here. All of his gu worms had been detonated and his body was mangled beyond recognition - only the remains found in some of his own cranes. His soul was destroyed as well, whoever did this left no traces."
"Even our Supreme Elders could not find anything."
"A pity - but was this from one of the other sects or a demonic force?"
"I doubt the other sects would ever be so vicious and savage."
"And that's how you know it might've been the other sects - to cover up their tracts!"
Unbeknownst to them, there was a similar meeting occurring between the Supreme Elders of the Immortal Crane Sect.
Since this meeting had been called rather suddenly, many of the members there only had their Wills present while their physical bodies were elsewhere.
This was not regarding the matter of Lord Sky Crane - as an answer hadn't been obtained in some time, many of them had disregarded the matter and eventually most of the Supreme Elders had forgotten all about it.
To the mortals, the loss of a Rank 5 Gu Master was quite significant, but to the Supreme Elders, it was hardly anything losing any sleep over.
No, what they were here about was the discussion of a new kind of gu worm.
"This is called Ambition Gu - I managed to buy it off of Yellow Treasure Heaven."
"The same Ambition Gu from The Legends of Ren Zu?"
"These are only mortal Ambition Gu."
"Have you been able to deduce its recipe?"
"I have tried by talking to a Refinement Path expert I know - but they were unable to find anything."
"But this could be quite useful for our sect. There are many people who we could recruit, who have potential, but because of low aptitude they cannot progress further. With this though, they would have some chance of advancement. And it is easier to obtain compared to many aptitude-raising gu worms."
"Does a Rank 5 variant exist?"
"Per my knowledge, no."
"The Myriad Dragon Dock Sect has also purchased some of them for their members as a friend over there has told me. Some of the other sects haven't, but I expect them to quickly follow suit."
"We can't be left behind then. We need to purchase a good stock of these. Otherwise our sect will be left in the dirt."
"The seller is giving them out in limited batches - either from a limitation of making them, or to drive up market value."
"Has the seller identified themselves?"
"Not using anything that we can find. Not enough clues to deduce their identity."
"A Human Path expert... those are few and far between. Well then, let us continue trade with this person. I think we can commit twenty Immortal Essence Stones this year to their purchase?"
"As Supreme Grand Elder dictates."