Gu Yue Man Shi was defeated by the newbie Fang Yuan!
The news spread quickly and caused small waves of gossip among Rank two Gu Masters.
Everyone was familiar with the two main characters of this event.
Man Shi was a slightly famous Rank two Gu Master who had managed to escape with his life under Bai Ningbing's hands; he was not to be sniffed at.
And Fang Yuan was the year's champion, many had witnessed him defeating Fang Zheng at the yearly assessment. He also obtained his family inheritance and became rich overnight, causing many to become green with envy.
The gap between the two was clear, but against all expectations, the weaker Fang Yuan had defeated the stronger Man Shi. Such a discrepancy really caught the people by surprise.
As more and more people continued to discuss the event, Fang Yuan's fame also rose.
Rank two Gu Masters began to take this young junior seriously.
"He directly attacked without saying a word. Young people are too impulsive."
"He has wealth and has also refined Moonglow Gu, he has some ability."
"He is a lunatic, he is too hard-handed. Reportedly, Gu Yue Man Shi had to lie in bed for at least three days to recover from his injuries!"
People commented on Fang Yuan.
He had made a sudden attack on Man Shi, initiating a head start; inflicting serious injuries on the very first attack and establishing great dominance. It felt like he did not win honestly.
However, victory was victory and loss was loss.
The result was everything.
Maybe on Earth, most would emphasize the process instead of the results, but in this world where survival was arduous, surroundings full of deadly dangers, victory often meant survival and defeat meant death, losing everything.
Winners gained everything, losers lost everything; almost everyone approved this notion.
Fang Yuan had won; it was the fact, no matter how he did it.
A newbie had sprung up by stepping on Man Shi, entering into everyone's eyes.
Man Shi had become a stepping stone, his reputation was destroyed. Once he recovered, he would resign from the group leader position.
This was the outcome of a failure.
Close relatives would sympathize with the losers, but they respected and acknowledged the winners even more. Winners represented strength and strength meant better security to the people.
After this event, Gu Yue Dong Tu sensibly stopped his dirty tricks.
Gu Yue Man Shi stepping down had finally made the astute uncle aware of the reality. Fang Yuan's growth made him feel helpless, resentment and indignation.
He knew he now had no chance of seizing the inheritance. Continuing was meaningless.
He had used his connections and employed other people to find trouble for Fang Yuan; this consumed his primeval stones. Yet Fang Yuan had profits coming from all sides.
In case the stalemate continued, even if he had a large amount of primeval stones, the final loser would definitely be he, himself.
Because he lost the bamboo houses, wine tavern and Nine Leaves Vitality Grass, he was now without any source of income; the used primeval stones would be difficult to replenish. By contrast, Fang Yuan lacked primeval stones but it was increasing day by day.
The main point was that Gu Yue Dong Tu dispiritedly realized that the stalemate would not have any benefits.
Thus, when he heard Man Shi running away in defeat, he immediately stopped these meaningless actions.
In fact, when Fang Zheng had not been able to create trouble for Fang Yuan, it already signified Gu Yue Dong Tu's defeat.
With this, Fang Yuan's wine tavern's business returned to normal, which was a joyous thing.
There was another joyous matter—the caravan would be coming early.
March.
In the bright and beautiful spring sunshine, the light song of the days of spring treaded a lively and cheerful beat as it arrived.
With the warmth of spring, flowers bloomed and grasses grew wildly.
Qing Mao Mountain was a scene of green as far as the eye could see. Wild flowers blossomed on the sunny side of the hills, forming a colorful and gorgeous sea of flowers. The gurgling and burbling river surged up like a flame and entangled with the sunshine.
Newborn dragonpill crickets came out of their eggs and formed a batch of new swarms, enlivening the nighttime.
At daytime, a large flock of colorful peacock parrots hovered in the air, chirping and twittering.
The warm spring spread its favor and kindness, letting all living things grow in brilliance.
In such a scenery, a caravan was slowly making its way to Qing Mao Mountain.
Fat black beetles were slowly moving forward, their backs filled with people and goods.
Proud ostriches with brightly colored feathers were pulling handcarts. Hairy mountain spiders disregarded the terrains, winged snakes twisted and snaked forward, occasionally opening its wings and flying forward.
A Treasure Brass Toad was leading the caravan. It was two and half meters tall, its entire body orange-yellow in color. On its back was the Rank four Gu Master, Jia Fu.
After the caravan stationed in the village, Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, "It changed again. In my previous memories, this caravan should have arrived in summer. According to the previous precedents too, the caravan should have only come in summer. Now, however, it has come in spring, two-three months earlier. And its scale is also much bigger."
Fang Yuan's rebirth changed his current situation and similarly also influenced his surroundings, creating changes in the future.
The root cause should be due to him killing Jia Jin Sheng.
Fang Yuan had deceived everyone, so Jia Fu mistakenly believed Jia Jin Sheng's death was a conspiracy by his rival, Jia Gui.
After Jia Fu returned to the clan, he had taken radical steps which made the competition between them more intense.
To strive for exceptional achievements, the Jia brothers rushed out even before the year's snow had completely melted, leading the caravans to peddle their goods everywhere.
The clan leader Gu Yue Bo received Jia Fu.
The two Rank four Gu Masters were the leaders of the both sides.
"Brother Gu Yue, I trust you have been well?" Jia Fu was full of smiles and warmth, but his face had a long scar now.
"Hahaha, brother Jia Fu, you are quite early this year." Gu Yue Bo looked at the scar on Jia Fu's face. His heart jolted but he didn't ask about it.
"The early bird gets the worm. This time, I have brought many precious goods and I believe the noble Gu Yue clan will have lots of needs." Jia Fu had made a big effort this time to fight for better achievements.
"Yes, this is good news." Gu Yue Bo's eyes flashed. Continuing on, "It just so happens that the day after tomorrow is our clan's Awakening Ceremony, and I would like to invite brother Jia to attend it."
"Haha, it is my honor to be able to witness the prosperity of Gu Yue clan," Jia Fu immediately cupped his hands and sincerely replied.
Inviting others to watch the clan's awakening ceremony was treating them as honoured guests. Jia Fu could feel Gu Yue clan's sincerity from this invitation.
"In fact, there is also another matter." Jia Fu hesitated.
"You have come from afar, so if you have any requests, please say it. Our clan will definitely do our best to fulfil it." Gu Yue Bo said.
Jia Fu sighed, "Ah, it is regarding Jia Jin Sheng's matter. I have especially brought over a few investigation experts from the clan, and I hope that in the course of our investigation, you can allow us some convenience."
Gu Yue Bo immediately revealed a look of understanding.
Apparently, Jia Jin Sheng's death had caused Jia Fu to fall into an awkward and passive situation in the competition for family assets. It was said that after returning to the clan, Jia Fu had squabbled with Jia Gui in public and the situation had erupted into an intense fight. The scar on his face could very well be a trace from that fight.
It was no wonder he had come running over at the start of spring; he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
Fang Yuan was strolling around tents and street stalls.
The scale of this year's caravan was much bigger than any of the previous years. Not only were there more tents, there was also a Gu house.
Gu house was something only large-scale caravans had. A large-scale caravan usually had two to three Gu houses. Jia Fu's caravan was at most a middle-scale, but it had a Gu house.
This Gu house was a large tree.
It was eighteen meters tall and it really seemed to reach to the sky. Its roots and branches were twisted like the tangling of dragons and snakes.
The diameter of the trunk at the base was ten meters; it decreased as it went up but the decrease wasn't that visible. The brown trunk was not actually a single entity, and had three layers of space inside.
There were also windows on the trunk. Sunlight and fresh air passed through the window and entered the three layers of space inside.
The branches and leaves seemed to be scarce on the trunk. Only at the treetop was it verdant and lush. The spring wind blew, and the tree leaves shook and created soft rustling sounds.
This was the most common type of Gu house.
The Rank three plant Gu named 'three star cave'.
It could instantly grow once primeval essence was poured into it. There were three rooms arranged in these three layers of space. The defensive power of these rooms were incomparable to that of the tents.
In the continuous stretch of tents, an enormous tree was standing aloft in the middle like a tower; it was like a crane among a flock of chicken.
At the base of the enormous tree, there were two wide doors used as entrance.
Fang Yuan followed the stream of people and walked into the enormous tree.
The tree had three layers of space which were transformed into the layout of stores. There were rows of counters inside and on them were displayed all kinds of Gu worms.
These counters were made of wood and were a part of the enormous tree. On top of growing green leaves and branches, the three star cave tree Gu could grow different designs according to the Gu Master's will.
Apart from these counters, there were stools and benches for the customers to rest upon.
A Rank three support Gu Master was constantly operating and monitoring the situation from somewhere in this enormous tree.
In case someone snatched the Gu worms in the counters, the monitoring Gu Master could operate the enormous tree to immediately close the doors and create a momentary prison cell. Countless branches would be madly grown and perform group attacks. At the same time, the security Gu Masters in the tree would also make their moves.
The treehouse was much more secure than the tents and so the goods sold inside were more precious.
Fang Yuan had just entered the first layer when he saw a lone counter in the middle and on it was a Liquor worm.
Many Gu Masters were surrounding this Liquor worm, assessing it. Some clicked their tongues in admiration.
Fang Yuan swept his eyes over the place, where the other counters also displayed many precious Gu worms.
There were Jade Skin Gu, Whirlwind Gu, Scar Stone Gu and so on.
All these Gu worms were compatible with the Moonlight gu and could fuse into higher Rank Gu worms.
Jia Fu wasn't completely clear on these fusion recipes, but with his many years of business experience, he knew which Gu worms the Gu Yue clan might need more.
"Naturally, Jia Fu's caravan isn't just targeting the Gu Yue village, he is really making an all-out effort this time. It seems he was thoroughly provoked when he returned to the clan." Fang Yuan's heart moved when he saw this.