The Thunder Crown Wolf glared at their formation. There were several elders in front of Fang Yuan, with Qing Shu and Gu Yue Han Lin at their head.
The Thunder Crown Wolf must have noted the numerous Rank 3 Gu Masters which stood in front of it. For a Rank 4 Beast King, even dealing with a dozen of them would not have been impossible.
However, it could still sense Fang Yuan's aura from behind them. It had likely come in a hurry in order to reinforce the Lightning Lycan King. However, the Lightning Lycan King was already dead. Upon realizing that, while it was angry, it was not stupid either.
It might have lacked the intelligence of the Lightning Lycan King, but it could make simple calculations on risks and benefits. It realized that it could not get to Fang Yuan in time before he could recover. Even if it charged with all of its might, in order to get her as fast as it could, it had abandoned the wolf pack which normally surrounded it, so it did not have reinforcements either.
Now that the Lightning Lycan King was already dead, there was little to no benefit of it attacked anyway. Although both of them were Myriad Beast Kings and potential competitors for resources, it was also true that they cooperated much like the clans did so that they could deal with the Gu Masters to some capacity.
However, it was too late.
Given this fact, it snarled, gave them all a death glare, and decided to turn tail and fight some other day. The Gu Masters cheered, though Fang Yuan did not relax yet. He continued to refill his primal essence, and by now, his Rank 4 middle stage aura had leaked to everyone there. While there were only two Elders who knew of the prophecy of the Ancient Yin Desolate Moon physique, the knowledge of the Ten Extreme Physiques was less closely guarded.
Mo Chen and Chi Lian might've connected the dots by now.
Even if they knew though- what could they do at this point? Fang Yuan was powerful enough now that he could almost disregard them entirely.
With the departure of the Thunder Crown Wolf the Gu Masters cheered.
Fang Yuan considered going after the Thunder Crown Wolf, but then changed his mind. If they went after it, they would also run into its own reinforcements.
They had barely been able to succeed today, mainly because they had the element of surprise with them, and also because of help from the Crimsonhoof Deer and its herd.
As it was, with one of the Rank 4 Beast Kings taken care of, the wolf tide was no longer as threatening as it had been before.
The Gu Masters returned to the village victorious. Casualties were extremely low, mainly thanks to Fang Yuan's quick work and foresight, which had allowed this mission to be successful in the first place.
While many were happy about their success, there was also the fact that this would greatly increase Fang Yuan's reputation, which is something some of them may have wanted to avoid. However, faced with the threat of the Lightning Lycan King, they had no real choice other than to band together for this effort.
Fang Yuan gently walked the steps towards the clan head's house. "We were successful," he told the clan head.
"Good work, Fang Yuan," the clan head said.
There was a small ceremony to celebrate their victory as good news was rather rare during these dark times. And since they had been able to deal with the Lightning Lycan King, the future wolf attacks would likely be less lethal. As it was, they still had the benefit of having two Rank 4 Gu Masters, unlike the other villages.
There was music and dancing and some food stalls set up. The weekly quotas for many of the Gu Masters were decreased given the slaughter that the elders had engaged in made such things unnecessary.
The head of the Lightning Lycan King was placed on a pike and then passed around through the village as a symbol of what Fang Yuan had accomplished.
As for its other parts, they were harvested as resources that could potentially be used. Fang Yuan had collected some of its blood for a project he had in mind in the future.
It was one of the few bright days in the villager's memory ever since the wolf tide had begun.
"Hello, everyone!" the clan head announced towards the end of the ceremony. "I'm sure that all of you have heard of Fang Yuan's valor in dealing with the Lightning Lycan King. Thanks to him, our village is in a far more secure position than it was before." The clan head had not been blind to Fang Yuan's sudden increase in cultivation, which now matched his own level. At Rank 4, even the difference of a minor realm could greatly affect the outcome of any battle.
And to the clan head, it was clear that with the Ancient Yin Desolate Moon physique, Fang Yuan would soon become the strongest Gu Master on Qing Mao mountain.
He continued, "Fang Yuan's actions have proven that he is a capable leader, despite his young age. And that is why I feel that I would be quite comfortable leaving the running of this village in his hands." There were several audible gasps at that from the crowd, although many of the elders had already been expecting this.
A mountain could not hold two tigers, and with two Rank 4 Gu Masters with similar cultivation, it was obvious that there would be a clash between the two of them sooner or later. Such a thing had not happened up till now, mainly because Fang Yuan already belonged to the clan head's faction and because of the wolf tide.
But sooner or later, one of them was bound to give, and there would be a fight to determine who the next clan head would be.
'So, it looks like he would prefer to step down rather than force Fang Yuan to fight him,' Mo Chen thought.
He did not know the prophecy of the Ancient Yin Desolate Moon physique, nor did he think that Fang Yuan had managed to get approval from the founder of their clan. As a matter of fact, he did not even know that the first generation Gu Yue was still alive, so he did not have an idea about the bigger picture as to why the Clan Head had decided to willingly step down.
Fang Yuan pretended to act surprised as he made his way to the front of the stage. Everyone calmed down at that point, wondering what their new clan leader was going to say. "Everyone, I must say that I am so grateful to have obtained this opportunity!" Fang Yuan began. "I have been nurtured by this village ever since I was born, and I would love nothing but to continue working for the happiness and safety of all of my fellow clansmen, much as my Senior Brother Qing Shu and esteemed Clan Head Gu Yue Bo have done in the past. It is with this heart filled with aspirations that I accept this role of Clan Head and hope to guide you all through the tumultuous times that this wolf tide has brought upon us. However, I want you all to remember that the Gu Yue Clan is the strongest clan on Qing Mao Mountain, and we will continue to be for the future as well!" There were many cheers at this.