As for the Bei Clan at the base of the mountain, news of Bai Ning Bing reaching Rank 4 lowered their spirits even further.
Now, they would not just have to deal with Fang Yuan if it came to a war in the future, but two other Rank 4 Gu Masters. With such strength, Fang Yuan could suppress all of the neighboring clans if it came to it. Thankfully, none of them had attempted to provoke him.
"This Gu Yue clan is too strong - they seem unmovable!"
"Who knows? They might even grow into a Super Force given a few centuries..."
There goal had been to swallow their resentment and bide for time, waiting for the right opportunity to strike, but instead the new Gu Yue Village was instead rapidly increasing in strength.
The Bei Clan head had thought about using Bai Ning Bing against Fang Yuan, but seeing how close the two of them had been when they had come to Bei Gu mountain, she quickly discarded the idea.
Not only did Fang Yuan have two very powerful allies with him, one of them was his younger twin brother, whom she felt would be almost impossible to turn against him. She turned her eyes to her own twins, noting how close they were to each other. When Bei Hua had hit her head against a table one day, Bei Sheng had started crying as if he had been the one struck.
"It would be easier to turn the shadow against someone than to turn their twin against them," she felt from her experience. If she had heard that Fang Yuan and Fang Zhen had a bad relationship, perhaps she would have found some hope there. However, that did not seem to be the case from what she could tell, and as for Bai Ning Bing, she seemed to be Fang Yuan's close friend, or a lover.
While all this was going on, Zhang Xin Ci and Xiao Die wandered around the village from time to time. Fang Yuan had given them a room within the newly constructed clan head pavilion. It was rather apparent that it was only a temporary structure even if it was the largest and most well-structured building in the village.
Still, their presence there meant that no one came to accost them thinking that they were the clan head's special guests.
Although many people were entranced by her beauty, they also felts that Fang Yuan had lightly brought her there to become his concubine.
"Look at that! Fang Yuan has two legendary beauties by his side! Zhang Xin Ci and Lady Ling Ding Ching."
"Truly, that is how heroes are treated in legends, aren't they?"
Zhang Xin Ci did not particularly like these rumors. That was not why she was here.
However, the thought of getting close to Fang Yuan still caused her heart to race.
If she had been told prior to this about what kind of place this was she would have found it impossible to believe: three different clans who had formerly been enemies had been brought together without any major bloodshed, and were now living together on a different mountain and had become friendly with a neighboring clan?
It was difficult to imagine, and yet, such was true before her. The place was not perfect by any means, she noted while walking around, but where could one find such a perfect place? And it was not like this was the roughshod collection of tents belonging to forlorn people that she had initially thought it might be. The people wandered around with hope in their eyes for the future.
Speaking of, she had learned that Fang Yuan had allowed mortals of many other villages to become Gu Yue Clan members with certain restrictions. This opportunity was not open to them right now, but would be at the next awakening ceremony.
"Do you think you should go ahead with it, Xiao Die?" Xiao Die was not from the Zhang family and so had not been allowed to participate in the awakening ceremony back at their clan.
Zhang Xin Ci had been allowed to, however she had no talent to become a Gu Master and could have only relied upon her uncle while traveling. "However, you might have some talent." It was said that four or five in ten people have the ability to cultivate. That meant there was about a coin flip's chance that Xiao Die might be able to cultivate.
"What are you talking about? We would have to stay here for so long for that to happen. And even then, there are some stipulations, aren't they? I would have to... end up marrying a Gu Yue Clan Gu Master, and even then, if I had the talent to cultivate, I would need to reach at least Rank 3 before we would be able to travel on our own, right?" Xiao Die was not a Gu Master but had learned of such from Zhang Xin Ci's uncle.
"Yes, it was just a fanciful thought," Zhang Xin Ci said. "If you wanted to try though, I would not blame you. Not everyone has the chance to awaken their aperture... I would find a way to move on without you."
"Young missy?! Are you abandoning me?"
"Never, I could never abandon you - you are my friend," Zhang Xin Ci said. "However, friends should look out after each other, shouldn't they? Where would you find an opportunity like this, other than a demonic Gu Master's inheritance? But even then, you'd have to cultivate on your lonesome. If you could do so here, you would have the support of the clan." It was an opportunity many mortals would happily trade their front teeth for, even if they weren't sure that it would result in them being able to cultivate. How could Zhang Xin Ci deprive her friend of such a chance?
"Young Missy, I haven't forgotten your kindness. Where you go -Xiao Die will follow! I will hear nothing else on the matter!" Xiao Die said with finality.
Zhang Xin Ci's impression of Fang Yuan had only deepened the longer she stayed there.
While it was to be expected that those of the Gu Yue Clan would greatly praise him and his kindness, it was not limited to just that. Both the Bai and the Xiong Clans, had to somewhat begrudgingly agree that Fang Yuan's reputation was well deserved.
'Everyone was praising me for being a kind-hearted lady,' she thought to herself. However, before Fang Yuan's achievements, what she did seemed insignificant.
It wasn't that Zhang Xin Ci didn't want to do things that would improve the world. However, without strength, there was a great limit on what she could do. She was just a mortal, and that meant that she could not bring about any great change in the world.
Up until now, she had only been relying upon her uncle's strength, but that was gone. Fang Yuan, however, was already strong. Not only was he strong, but he was kind as well.
Strength and kindness - these two must come together. She felt that without one, the other is worthless. If one was kind but lacked strength to back it up, they would only either be mocked or taken advantage of by others. If one was strong but was not kind, then they would grow into a cruel character.
However, it was rare to see these two qualities brought together. Many righteous path clan leaders may have pretended to be virtuous, but this was usually just a facade. She had seen that they would follow the rules, but nothing more than that and would oftentimes be only wearing the mask of virtue in order to hide their own wicked desires - true wolf in sheep's clothing, even if they often used that moniker for the demonic path. Fang Yuan, however, seemed to be genuinely righteous.
Other than Fang Yuan, there were many curious and significant people within the new Gu Yue Village who had caught her attention.