New team

Gu Guangzhi simply wanted to go through the motions to form a team and guide them on some missions to make his contributions to the Tie clan. He still wanted to focus on mastering the refinement process. But now that Tie Ruo Nan wanted to join his team, he became the focus of several unwanted eyes. Seeing that Tie Ruo Nan was interested in joining Gu Guangzhi's team, several male students who were infatuated with Tie Ruo Nan wanted to join Gu Guangzhi's team as well. Several jealous team leaders started making incendiary comments about Gu Guangzhi.

"Is this the state of our Tie clan? Do we need an external member to lead the younger generations?"

"I heard he is from a puny clan previously. What can such an individual teach him? Tie Ruo Nan is taking a wrong step here."

"Well, what more can we expect from a girl of her age? What she does in private is her own business but I just can't stand our clan's bloodline being dirtied to such an extent in the future!"

"Hey! That's taking it too far."

"What? Am I saying something wrong? These external members should have no business in the internal affairs of the clan! So what if his grandfather is an elder? So is mine! What makes him better than a pure blood like myself?"

As that team leader was making all these statements, the faces of others surrounding him grew pale. Seeing their reactions, he turned around to find a person with a formless aura appearing from his body. The mere presence of this person made all the team leaders weak and doubt their own thoughts. The team leader who was just slandering Gu Guangzhi and Tie Ruo Nan lost the strength in his legs and kneeled on the floor.

"I was wrong! I'm sorry. I was too prideful of my own bloodline and became jealous. I'm sorry. I was wrong."

The formless aura slowly dissipated and the team leaders scurried away. This man was none other than Tie Xue Leng, the number one investigator of the Southern border. He held a great amount of influence in the Tie clan for the contributions he made and no one would dare talk back to him. Despite this, he stayed true to his convictions and remained humble in front of others.

Gu Yue Chao smiled upon meeting his old partner. When he first joined the Tie clan, he was ostracized by many but one man never did. He was Tie Xue Leng. Later, they became partners and completed several missions for the clan, becoming a star duo.

"How have you been brother? I'm glad that you're standing up for my grandson but he needs to learn to deal with this on his own. Besides, using your Righteous Gu on those team leaders probably breaks some clan rules.", said Gu Yue Chao.

"I'm sure they will learn to do that eventually. If those team leaders didn't have wicked thoughts then my Righteous Gu wouldn't have worked, right? This is also a service to the clan.", replied Tie Xue Leng.

Seeing the close relationship of his grandfather and the Divine Investigator, he felt a headache coming. He couldn't reject Tie Ruo Nan's request now, could he? Reluctantly, he agreed to having Tie Ruo Nan on his team. He also agreed to his grandfather's request to allow Tie Yue Sen on the team as well. He picked one other gu master who focused on gu insects with support and healing from the pool of Tie Ruo Nan's admirers to fill up the third spot. His name was Tie He Xi.

After he made his picks, he glanced at the team. One was the most talented in the class, one was a goofy but likable kid and the last was a groupie who focused on healing and support. He smiled at the coincidence and declared, "Alright! From now on this team shall be called Team Seven!"

"Huh? Are we planning to add more members to the team?", asked Tie Yue Sen?

"No.", answered Gu Guangzhi while covering one of his eyes with his headband.

Everyone present started looking at him weirdly. Tie Ruo Nan remembered the comments made the other senior she met in the Higher Academy of Refinement. She was thinking, "Is he really a weirdo? Did I make a mistake?"

…

Far away from the Tie clan, on the Qing Mao mountain, Fang Yuan was facing his younger brother in the year end assessment. Fang Yuan had reached the peak stage of Rank 1. Fang Zheng on the other hand, who received teachings from the clan leader much earlier than anticipated, had surpassed Rank 2 initial stage and was close to breaking through to the middle stage. Despite the advantage in Rank and primeval essence reserves, he couldn't maintain his defense from the Jade Skin Gu for long. Fang Yuan was ruthless to others but he was also ruthless to himself. His bones started showing from all his punches but he didn't stop punching. Eventually, the jade light from the Jade Skin Gu got smashed and Fang Yuan beat Fang Zheng to a pulp on the stage.

…

Gu Guangzhi summoned his team to the outskirts of the Tie city. "Alright, teamwork is the most important part of being a team. So today, we'll practice that."

"But we've already had those exercises in the academy. I want to take up a real mission.", said Tie He Xi eager to prove himself to Tie Ruo Nan.

Gu Guangzhi pulled out a pair of bells, "Don't worry. Practice will only last till you can get these bells from me. You can use any gu insects. Now, come at me!"

"Haha! Sounds interesting but we already have a mission for your team.", said Gu Yue Chao as he made their way towards them.

"Huh? Aren't I supposed to pick the missions as team leader? Grandpa, why are you interfering with my team?", asked an annoyed Gu Guangzhi.

"Well, Tie Ruo Nan is the successor of the Divine Investigator. So she has much to learn from her father. Initially, Tie Xue Leng wanted to take his daughter on a journey as his personal assistant but I persuaded him that it would be beneficial for her to grow in a team made of her peers. It would be a hassle for him to be the team leader so I thought you would be a good stand in for him. So don't worry about which missions to choose. You can directly take missions posted by Tie Xue Leng.", said Gu Yue Chao apologetically.

"That makes me their chaperone, not their team leader!", said Gu Guangzhi.

"I thought you would be happy to hear this. Weren't you focused on learning refinement methods? I thought this would solve the problem of making contributions to the clan. Tie Xue Leng could guide the team while you remain holed up in the Higher Academy of Refinement."

Tie Yue Sen and Tie He Xi were also very happy upon hearing that they would be personally guided by the Divine Investigator. Gu Guangzhi thought for a while and realized this was a good thing for him. He reluctantly agreed while thinking, "I was looking forward to using 'One thousand Years of Death'."