Fang Yuan shook his head.
…
Shang clan city is bustling and flourishing, causing many to have lingering memories even after they leave.
A day's time is too short, while Shang clan city is too huge, even if the two used horse carriages to travel, they cannot even cover one percent of the entire city.
On the third day, Wei Yang came over again to attend to Yuan.
...
"This is the substitute refinement zone. You are a Gu Master, so you naturally understand the difficulties in refining Gu. To us, what we fear most is encountering a strong-willed wild Gu worm during refinement, or a Gu that an expert had left behind. The higher the rank of the Gu, the harder it is to refine. Back in the day, Empress Wu Ji spent eleven years just to refine a rank five dragon strength Gu. Thus, substitute refinement is a necessity, and has always been in the market."
…
"This is the auction zone, every day there will be a small scale auction held here, every two weeks there will be a mid scale auction, and at the end of every month, there will be a large scale auction. Most items that appear on the auction are rare and coveted."
…
"This is the battle zone, with over eighty battle stages. This place is always the most popular! There are single battle stages, for Gu Masters to experiment and practise using their Gu worms. There are dual battle stages for Gu Masters to exchange pointers, and even multi-battle stages, to experience multiple enemies at once."
Just as Wei Yang had said, the battle stages were the most popular place in Shang clan city.
The place was chaotic and noisy, as human traffic stayed high, rank three Gu Masters could be seen everywhere.
"Big brother Wei, why are you here?" From among the crowd, a young man saw Wei Yang and immediately called out, walking briskly towards him.
This man was about twenty seven or eight years old, having a common face but gave off a strong aura.
"Little Xiao, I heard you fought your way into third inner city. Good job!" Wei Yang patted the young man's shoulders, encouraging.
"Yes, I recently advanced to rank three middle stage, and my fighting strength improved as well. Come to think of it, I have to thank you for all your guidance, or I would have never made it this far." The young man earnestly thanked.
"You have good talent lad, you could do it even without me, You are not thirty yet, but you have already reached rank three middle stage, that is much more impressive than me back then, haha." Wei Yang laughed and said.
The young man gave Wei Yang an admiring gaze: "Big brother Wei Yang, how can I compare to you. You were only rank three middle stage back then, and already dominated the third inner city. At twenty five, you got the attention of the lord clan leader and was recruited. Now, you are already a clan elder, just look at Shang clan, how many external clan elders are there in total?"
"As long as you work hard, you can do it too." Wei Yang encouraged the young man.
Soon after, he turned around, and explained to Fang Yuan: "The battle zone is one of the ways Shang clan recruit outside talents. Back then, I fought my way from the fifth inner city's battle zone all the way to third inner city, and stayed on the stage for eighteen consecutive rounds before being recruited by lord clan leader."
Back then, Shang Yan Fei was still not the clan leader.
After becoming his trusted aide, Wei Yang was also successfully promoted to an external clan elder after Shang Yan Fei got into power.
Shang clan's enterprise was huge, and they needed manpower in many areas. Just relying on their clansmen would be difficult to handle the entire situation. The many generations of Shang clan young masters would definitely recruit a number of demonic Gu Masters for their own use.
If the young master that supported these demonic Gu Masters became the clan leader, then the demonic Gu Masters under them would likely become an external clan elder, enjoying the treatment of a clan elder.
Gu Master's cultivation required lots of resources. Many demonic Gu Masters did not have a stable source of resources from their clans, and were often poor. Only by relying on a clan could they better survive.
Wei Yang was a successful example.
In Shang clan city's battle zone, there are large numbers of demonic Gu Masters. In order to join the Shang clan, and become part of the righteous path, to become someone like Wei Yang, they had to compete as they fought their way up to the top.
"Big Brother Wei, who is this?" Little Xiao asked, glancing curiously at Fang Yuan, who wore a bronze mask.
Wei Yang looked at Fang Yuan, silently signaling for him to introduce himself.
Over the past two days, Wei Yang had tried multiple times to extract more information from the masked youth, but the latter was extremely cautious and tight-lipped. He hadn't even shared his name.
Fang Yuan glanced briefly at Wei Yang, then at Little Xiao, and calmly said, "Fei Long."
Just two words—nothing more.
Wei Yang's mouth twitched in annoyance, but he didn't press further. He assumed the name Fei Long was fake anyway. So, he decided to switch tactics.
"This battle stage brings back memories. Fei Long, how about a friendly spar?" Wei Yang suddenly suggested.
Since he now had a name to call him—real or not—he dropped the formalities and addressed him directly.
"You're going to fight, Big Brother Wei?" Little Xiao asked excitedly, his eyes lighting up.
Fang Yuan simply shook his head.
There were things he needed—resources and rare Gu—that could only be acquired from superpower clans like Shang Clan, Tie Clan, or Fei Clan. That's why he was maintaining a polite front, even going as far as using a Hypnosis Gu on Shang Xin Ci. It had erased her doubts after she saw him slaughter the flying elephants. Because of that, everyone now believed Fang Yuan to be just a Rank 2 Gu Master.
Shang Xin Ci and Xiao Die had only seen him kill a few—less than five—of the beasts. They hadn't witnessed the rest of the massacre, as it happened farther away. Flying elephants were generally Rank 1 or Rank 2, and the armored ones were Rank 3 or higher. Based on what they saw, they assumed he wasn't very powerful—maybe Rank 2, or even just Rank 1.
Fang Yuan had no reason to correct them. The misconception worked to his advantage.
To him, wasting time wandering around the city with Wei Yang was pointless. That time could be better spent refining and upgrading his Gu. But for now, he needed to play along—at least until he got what he came for from the Shang Clan.
Seeing that Fei Long had declined the opportunity to spar—a perfect chance to gauge his strength—Wei Yang nodded in disappointment, turned around, and silently escorted Fang Yuan back to his inn before leaving the area.
...
"Lord Clan Leader, Fei Long has a firm temperament—he doesn't falter even when at a disadvantage," Wei Yang reported respectfully.
"He's sharp-minded, with a discerning gaze, and only acts when he's certain of the outcome."
"When I tried to provoke him into a spar, he calmly admitted defeat instead of reacting emotionally. That shows he's broad-minded and level-headed."
"If we were to recruit him, it would be neither a great gain nor a loss for the Shang Clan—but he does show potential."
Shang Yan Fei nodded slowly, setting aside the report.
"Wei Yang, you've followed me for many years. I trust your judgment," he said warmly. "You've only been held back by your limited aptitude. If not for that, your accomplishments would far exceed what they are now."
"There's no need to dwell on it. If a Reform Gu ever appears, I will make sure it ends up in your hands."
Reform Gu could raise a Gu Master's aptitude; it was extremely rare and expensive.
Wei Yang's eyes turned red with emotions: "I won't forget this kindness for as long as I live!"
"I, Shang Yan Fei, will never treat my loyal followers unfairly. Leave now, continue attending to him for a few days and see what he thinks about Shang Clan and whether we can recruit him or not."
"Yes, clan leader!"
...
After a week, Shang clan's investigations ended, and Wei Yang brought Shang Yan Fei's invitation over: "Fei Long, my lord clan leader has set up a clan banquet, specifically ordering me to invite you over."
"Clan banquet? The moment is finally here." Fang Yuan thought.