The Jia caravan ended up staying for three more days, nothing interesting showed up in their stock during the rest of the days. Flipping a coin on whether or not to gamble always landed on not going, so there was probably nothing else of much interest in their gambling den. Today is the day they are supposed to be leaving, so everyone is focusing on buying whatever they need before the caravan leaves.
Since there's nothing else for me to do today I go to the wine flower monk's inheritance, it's time to kill that chainsawpede.
I take a good look at the cave, making sure that there's nothing that I've missed. The chainsawpede is still thrashing around without a care in the world, chopping the centipedes around it into tiny pieces. There has to be a breeding ground for those things nearby, otherwise I can't explain how their population is still here despite getting constantly decimated in this manner.
I pull the dream gas gu out of my aperture, hopefully this will deal with most of the centipedes and allow me to progress further. The dream gas gu flies towards the chainsawpede, by the time that it notices the dream gas gu it is already too late. The dream gas gu explodes, releasing a large cloud of gas that instantly puts all of the centipedes to sleep.
The chainsawpede however remains undeterred, having instead become even more aggressive. I take another good look in the cavern to make sure that there are no enemies left awake other than the chainsawpede, I begin running towards it after confirming that there's no other hostiles.
It notices me before I can ambush it properly. Now that I'm closer to it I can see it much more clearly. The chainsawpede is about a meter in length and two fists wide. This close to it I can feel the aura of a rank 3 gu coming from it. it would probably make for a pretty good sword.
My initial plan was to chop off its head with boosted moonlight gu blasts, killing it, but I'll have to change that plan now that I know that it's a gu. I swipe my hand, unleashing a boosted moonlight gu into its midsection. The strike leaves just a small cut on its body which serves to just make it angrier. Looks like plan A had already been fucked from the start anyway.
The chainsawpede has already reached me after just one moonlight gu blast. It lunges at my left leg, trying to take a bite out of it. I activate the rock shin gu and boost it with the amplify effect gu on my right leg, turning it's shin to rock, and roundhouse kick the lunging centipede.
The kick lands and thankfully stops it from chopping my leg off, sending it flying into the wall on the other side of the cave. I prepare the moonlight gu for when the centipede comes back. Instead of crawling towards me on the floor the chainsawpede has decided to climb the roof and jump at me. I take another cut at its midsection and dash away with the bloodstep gu. Once the centipede is about to hit the floor I use the bloodstep gu and dash towards it, giving it a front kick with my right leg.
When the kick lands I use the blood step gu again, pushing the centipede into the cave's wall with my leg. Before the thing can recover I use the rock fist gu and begin to mercilessly pummel it into the wall, each strike resounding like a thunderclap as the centipede is hammered by rock into rock. I only stop once it's an inch away from death.
I lean down to the rank 3 chainsawpede gu, I don't know its actual name, and begin pushing my primeval essence into it. By the end of that fight I was down at about 30% primeval essence, refining this gu took 20% of my primeval essence, leaving me with 10%. Using a vitality leaf on it saves it from most of its wounds. Using the dream gas gu has relieved enough pressure from my aperture to put this wounded gu into it.
The massed centipedes are still sleeping, so there's no time to waste. There's a boulder blocking what I assume to be the path forward. A good kick dislodges it, revealing a long, dark tunnel. I have no idea how long this tunnel is supposed to be, but checking it now isn't a bad idea. I'll walk for half an hour, if I don't reach the exit then I'll just head back.
The tunnel ends up being a kilometer and a half, so half an hour ended up being just about the right amount of time to cross it. As I approach the exit I begin to hear the sound of running water. Existing the tunnel reveals two things. A natural essence spring and a rank 3 heavenly treasure lotus gu, the rank 3 equivalent of my rank 1 lotus gu, floating on top of said spring.
A natural essence spring produces primeval essence stones, it is what gives any clan the ability to function. The heavenly treasure lotus gu is refined using primeval essence springs, if I pick this one up then the primeval essence spring will become a simple ordinary spring, incapable of producing primeval stones.
I can only retrieve this gu from here before leaving the clan, otherwise even the other two clans on Qin Mao mountain will be coming for my head. I go back to the village and prepare to sleep, since there's not much else to do today. Once I wake up I just go to the academy and return to the tavern.
Shen Cui enters my room two hours after I come back to the tavern from the academy. "Chi Shan has arrived, he wishes to meet with you."
I put the trashy novel that I was reading down on the table. "Bring him here, we wouldn't have much privacy discussing things downstairs."
Chi Shan is one of the rank 2 elites of the Chi Faction. His cultivation has not reached rank 2 peak stage yet, but he possesses much more strength than an ordinary human, although not nearly to my extent.
Shen Cui bows and leaves to do as ordered. Chi Shan opens the door and plops himself down on a chair unceremoniously. "Chi Lian sent me, he is offering six hundred primeval stones in order to buy the liquor worm that you have."
I pull said liquor worm from my aperture, holding it in the palm of my hand so that he can see it. "I want one thousand, by the time that the Jia caravan arrives again he won't be needing it anymore."
Chi Shan frowns. "Be reasonable, we are both from the same faction. You don't need it anymore, so just accept the price, it's already more than the market value of your gu worm."
I shake my head. "The price is based on supply and demand. Right now I see demand and find myself the only one with supply. I will not budge from my price."
Chi Shan clicks his tongue. "Six hundred is already over any price anyone else is willing to offer you, this is the best offer that you are going to get."
I shrug. "This gu worm is pretty rare, there's no guarantee that another like it will come by. If you don't buy it at my price then I'll keep it for when I have children, I have plenty of wine to feed it anyhow."
If I had told him that I would just sell it to someone else then Chi Lian wouldn't buy the liquor worm from me, he'd wait to buy it from whoever I'd sold it to. Telling Chi Shan that I plan to keep it for myself puts a wrench in that plan. Chi Shan sighs and puts two bags of primeval stones on the table. "Both bags have five hundred primeval stones."
I hand Chi Shan the liquor worm. "Pleasure doing business with you."
I'm pretty sure that I heard him mutter 'scumbag' under his breath, rude.
—
With the current stall at the flower wine monk's inheritance and my cultivation having peaked I have now found myself with an amplitude of free time and not much to spend on it, so today I've decided to give a more thorough inspection on the wine tavern and the apartment buildings, more out of sheer boredom than anything else.
The first to be inspected are the apartment buildings. There's a total of two, both of them conveniently located in the same neighbourhood. The inhabitants are all gu masters, as mortal clan members can't really afford anything for themselves on their own. Once I'm noticed by the women living in the apartments some of them begin catcalling me.
"Pretty boy, why don't you come over here to have some fun~"
"Common, I know how to show you a good~ time~"
"If you let me borrow a kiss, I promise I'll give it right back~"
They're not hitting on me because they really love me and want for us to form an idyllic harem and live happily ever after, they're gold digging. Rent is extremely expensive in Gu Yue village, most gu masters spend most of the primeval stones that they receive from completing missions on rent, leaving them with none to use when cultivating.
Sticking my dick into a wood chipper would be less hazardous than doing it with these women, so I take the wise choice and simply pretend that they don't exist. Walking around the public areas of the apartment buildings doesn't lead to anything interesting, so I go back to the tavern.
The first stop in the tavern is the kitchens, which is where I've sent Wang Luli to work as a cook. She gives me a somewhat tense glance and swallows nervously while bowing when she sees me, but she doesn't let that stop her from chopping vegetables.
She doesn't appear to have started hating me for the death of her family. I could ask the other workers about what she thinks of me, but that'd be pretty boring. I motion for her to rise. "Do you feel any hatred towards me for the death of your family?"
Wang Luli immediately bows in panic. "This one dares not to harbour any hatred in her heart towards the young master!"
That line felt like it was prepared beforehand. "Rise up and look me in the eyes."
Wang Luli slowly comes up from her bow, her eyes showing clear fear. I give her a reassuring nod. "Now answer me again, do you feel any hatred towards me?"
Wang Luli opens and closes her mouth, seemingly discarding responses as soon as they come to her mind. In the end she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and steels herself. "This one feels no anger or hatred towards the young master, this one merely wishes to serve and atone as best as she can for the sins of her family."
Her eyes only show me fear, if there's any hatred towards me it's buried by terror. Looks like I don't need to look for a way to dispose of her. Luli looks at me and gulps, before quickly bowing and taking a deep breath. "Young master. This one can serve you if you desire, this one only asks that you do not kill her."
Looks like I'd accidentally let some killing intent leak, I wave her off. "Maybe later, for now just focus on work."
Now that I've confirmed that Wang Luli doesn't harbor any hopes of revenge, the next stop is the serving area of the tavern. The tavern is pretty busy at this moment, so I don't linger much and head over to the second floor, which is my living area. I'm still bored.
I send a servant to bring Wang Luli over. Sleeping with her right now would do more harm than good, but that doesn't mean that I can't just talk with her instead.
—
It's only after gathering enough primeval essence stones to begin the advancement to rank 2 that I realise an error in my plan. I have classes every day. I considered just skipping them but I got a really bad gut feeling when I did, so the advancement to rank 2 is getting postponed for when I graduate.
Wang Luli brings the plate of food to the dining table, giving me a bow afterwards. "This one has brought young master's dinner. Does young master require anything else?"
I motion for her to rise and calmly does so. She's gotten much more comfortable being near me as time has passed.. I take a good look at her, she appears somewhat nervous still, but the fear that used to permeate her being has faded away.
I point at the bed. "Wait there for after I finish eating."
She blushes red and walks obediently towards the bed. Shen Cui does not react to our interaction in any manner, she simply continues washing our clothes.
—
The rest of the year passes without anything interesting happening. Shen Cui, Wang Luli and I have gotten much closer during this time, as one would expect of teenagers with abundant free time. The end of our school year is marked by a final tournament, the prize of which is another selection of rank 1 gu.
The combination of this tournament using a bracket system and being a spectacle for the students to display their capabilities leads to my opponents not instantly surrendering, which allows me to have some degree of fun at least.
I grab Mo Bei's foot, blocking his frontal kick. My shin turning into rock alerts him to his leg having a limited life expectancy. Mo Bei shouts. "I Surrender!"
I shrug and let go of his foot. We then bow to each other before the clan leader begins giving a speech. "The winner of the tournament is Fang Yuan! This generation of our clan has brought hope and strength for our future! Our Gu Yue village will surpass the Bai clan and the Xiong clan!"
He then simply sits down and begins drinking tea. What follows is the clans team leaders scouting the students and the students scouting the team leaders.
Missions are usually taken and completed by a team, each clan member is assigned a mission every week that they have to complete, otherwise their assessment will drop. Rank 1 gu masters cannot form their own team, only rank 2 gu masters can.
In the end I end up choosing a random team from the chi faction. The team leader is a short bald man in his forties, the other members of the team are a tall lanky short haired young man, a thirty year old redhead and a sixteen year old teen, who'd just joined the team before me.
The team leader points at himself. "My name is Chi Jan, the woman with the dyed hair is Chi La and spindles there is Gu Hao."
I cross my arms. "My name is Fang Yuan."
The teen bows at Jan. "Junior greets Senior! My name is Chi Ju!"
Chi Jan gives both of us a nod. "We'll meet tomorrow morning at the northern gates. We will go on our first mission together and get acquainted."
After everyone has picked a team the academy elder leads me to the academy storage room so that I can pick my victory prize. I pick another little light gu.
—
Chi Jan waits for Chi Ju to arrive before giving the team instructions, once Chi Ju arrives he doesn't waste any time. "For our first mission we will be picking purple deathly berries. They are very similar to regular berries, so you will need a keen eye to distinguish them from regular berries. The bushes that they grow in look identical to other berry bushes, so you can only tell them apart by the berries. Their growing location is not far."
We make some small talk on our way. Chi La smiles. "Nice weather today isn't it?"
Chi Ju gives her an exaggerated nod. "Senior is right! The weather is most pleasurable!"
I raise my head and look at the gray cloud covered sky, it looks like it's about to rain too. Gu Hao is behind Chi Ju, snickering. Chi Jan nods. "Not too cold, not too hot, just the right temperature."
It's pretty cold, I'm glad that I listened to Wang Luli and went with the thicker robe. Chi Ju nods again. "Senior is most wise! The temperature is perfect today!"
Bootlicker.
—
"The main and singular difference between the regular berries and the poisoned ones is their seed. Both of them have their seed in the center, the poisoned berries seeds are just a little larger than the regular berries, if you need any help don't hesitate to ask either me, La or Hao, allright?"
I just give him a nod. Ju gives him a deep bow. "Junior thanks Senior for his guidance!"
Chi La sighs. "Don't feel too disheartened if most or all of your berries end up being regular berries instead of the poisoned ones. The two are extremely hard to distinguish and the regular berries are also extremely more common compared to the poisoned ones, even we only have a ratio of 10% poisoned berries to regular berries picked!"
I give her a nod. Ju gives her an even deeper bow. "Junior thanks Senior for her guidance!"
I just pick five bushes at random and get all of the berries in them. Even if I fail the mission there's no real consequences. When we turn in the mission it's revealed that I got 100% poisoned berries.
—
AN : I was tempted to write 'I walked three li in over twelve hours!', but that would've been too mean.