Bei Clan

"Hahahaha, congratulations for advancing to Rank 3, I have never seen or heard of a person with such a cultivation speed. My Bei Clan is really fortunate to have such a talented young lad." A vigorous voice entered his ears, making Bei Cai open his eyes, as he smiled slightly at the old man who was laughing happily.

"Yes, it has only been a little more than a year, and Little Cai has already broken through to Rank 3. Even I took more than 3 years to become a Rank 3 Gu Master." Bei Shi's voice followed Bei Yuan's boisterous laughter, as she opened the door and stepped into the room. Proud of her son, she gave him an appreciative gaze and sat beside him.

"If I couldn't even do this much with my aptitude and the clan's support, I would be ashamed to face the clan members." With a smile on his face, Bei Cai replied modestly, not showing the arrogance one might expect from a talented young master. But the happiness in his tone couldn't be concealed.

"That's a good attitude to have, but you shouldn't undermine your own efforts. We have all seen with our own eyes how hard you've worked, cultivating daily and practicing even when others were fooling around. The clan wouldn't support a useless fool who could only burn resources. Even talented people can only shine for a while before being forgotten if they aren't diligent and serious." Bei Yuan said in a pleased tone, clearly happy to see his grandson remember the clan's support and his mindset.

"Yes, Grandpa," Bei Cai nodded.

Looking at his grandson again, Bei Yuan sighed. Even though Bei Cai was just a 16 year old kid, he felt that he could only barely understand him. He still remembered how he helped a lot of people of the clan, even risking his life. He also remembered how he used a dead baby's body to refine a new Gu.

It seemed as if he had no regard for moral or immoral, but still had some principles restricting him, maybe, it was more apt to say he had his own unique morality. Bei Yuan knew since the start, this bearing had the shadow of demonic path in it, but it was not evil in itself. Therefore, as long as he understood the boundaries, Bei Yuan would not mind it. Righteous or demonic, they were not that different in his eyes, unlike the youngsters.

"Alright father, we can talk about this later. Little Cai has finally become a Rank 3 Gu Master, let him choose suitable Gu worms from the Clan's Treasury so that he can get used to them as soon as possible." Bei Shi interrupted both of them as she got up from the bed and beckoned for Bei Cai to follow.

'The Clan's Gu Room', Bei Cai was looking forward to it. He had been there before when he became a Rank 2 Gu Master, it was different from the Gu room of the academy which only held Rank 1 Gu. It had all ranks of Gu worms, from Rank 1 to Rank 5. But he could only choose the Gu worm corresponding to his own rank.

Last time, he had chosen the Rank 2 Wisdom Obstacle Gu, a wisdom path defensive Gu Worm. It had helped him complete many missions, which granted him a lot of contribution points due to which he could gather his set of Gu worms. He figured he could get suitable Rank 3 Gu Worms this time too. In fact, he had already thought of several Gu worms, which he would not hesitate to choose should they be available.

Bei Cai followed his mother as they walked towards the core area of the clan. Bei Clan Town was built at the upper half of the Xiao Yue Mountain. Many rock houses and steel towers lined up and extended to the mountain peak. Built like a fortress, it occupied most parts of the mountain. Tall large walls were constructed around the town, and within the walls were defense towers, while outside the walls were pillboxes.

The core area of the clan was located inside the mountain which had been dug out, much like Shang Clan's Shang Liang Mountain, but on a far smaller scale. It couldn't be helped, Bei Clan had neither Gu Immortals nor prominent Earth path Gu Masters, the small area they dug out was already their limit.

Xiao Yue mountain had 3 spirit springs, all of which were controlled by Bei Clan, as it was the overlord of the region. This was one of the reasons for the clan's strength, smaller clans had fewer spiritual springs because of insufficient strength and environment. The Clan Treasury was located exactly at the center of the 3 spirit springs.

Bei Yuan also left after bidding them farewell as he had to be present in the Clan Meeting Hall to discuss countermeasures against this year's beast tide. Even though Bei Clan had two Rank 5 Enslavement Path Gu Masters controlling a large portion of the wolves, there were still many other wolves on the mountain which they couldn't subdue yet. They would propagate and form a beast tide every 4 years, as many old, injured, and hungry wolves would come rushing to the town in a frenzy, bringing many casualties to the clan. In recent years, with Bei Shi's advancement to Rank 5 initial stage, the situation had improved a lot, but the danger had merely been reduced, not removed.

. . .

"Young master, Clan Leader." Xi Lao, one of the twin servants who grew up together with him, greeted them a few seconds after they separated from Bei Yuan.

"Xi Lao, anything new?" Bei Cai responded with a smile and asked. Bei Shi also spoke a few words then continued walking ahead so they could talk.

"Not much, it's the usual. Everyone is hurrying to complete their missions for contribution points, wanting to exchange for resources as fast as possible," Xi Lao became more casual when Bei Shi went away, then continued, "Another thing is Bei Yu Sou's team managing to kill an injured Thousand Beast King, the Lightning Frenzy Wolf, and getting a Rank 3 Thunder Wings Gu from it."

'Bei Yu Sou, huh… He is a talented fellow, among the fastest to reach Rank 3 from the previous batches. I finally have some people who can pose a challenge to me now, unlike the children in my generation who couldn't keep up with my cultivation speed.' Bei Cai grinned a little, thinking to himself as he listened to Xi Lao talking about recent events.

In reality, there were quite a few Gu Masters who could challenge and stand up to him at Rank 3 in Bei Clan, because Bei Clan Town, while not big enough to be called a city yet, was still a large and prosperous town with flourishing trade.

There were many shops in the town, owned by both clansmen and outsiders. It was relatively easy to find all sorts of Gu Worms and Gu Materials, effectively allowing the Gu Masters to improve their strength. Caravans would frequently visit and pass by, making the town more lively and providing stuff which the Clan's shops didn't sell.

"I'll go then, Master. There's someone waiting for me," Xi Lao said with a knowing smile, which Bei Cai returned, and ran away.

Bei Cai looked ahead, 'It seems mother is pretty far already, oh well.' He summoned his Hundred Blood Wolf King and rode till he caught up with Bei Shi.

. . .

Walking towards the core area, he could hear many people talking and see many Gu Masters and mortals moving in a hurry, the rock buildings and temporary tents where the injured Gu Masters were recuperating, and the mortal slaves transporting supplies.

On another side, there was a contribution board where everyone could exchange resources for their contribution points and accept tasks. It was made by using Swimwords Gu.

The clan had enabled the contribution system, with different tasks such as refining Gu, healing Gu Masters, hunting wolves, etc., giving many contribution points which could be exchanged for resources.

Even foreign Gu Masters could participate and exchange contribution points, albeit with fewer items to exchange for in the resource list. But that didn't stop the Gu Masters, as it was only natural that the Clan members would have more options, not to mention the rewards were already good enough for most of them.

Heroes are born in chaotic times, and wars and battles are the best way to have quick growth. There was a sharp increase in the strength of all Bei Clan Gu Masters as they got more resources, and became battle hardened warriors. In fact, Bei Cai himself got many supplementary Gu refinement materials and Gu Worms by using contribution points. Being the son of the clan leader, he had to prove himself too, instead of just burning resources and cultivating at home.

That's also how he explained the refinement of Sneak Attack Gu, that he deduced the recipe after many experiments. It wasn't a very good excuse since they didn't see him buy too many materials, but since birth he had shown intelligence far surpassing those of his age and the Ten Extreme Physiques had endless potential and unlimited possibilities, not much was known about them, so they accepted the reason. Not to mention, it was not too far fetched, considering that his dad's Refinement Path inheritance is of great help as reference.

'Thankfully, grandfather trusts me greatly. He covered up for me without questions despite how suspicious it was.' Bei Cai was rather grateful, even if he couldn't accept them as his real family, he could bond with them equally well. He wouldn't dare to help the clan with his knowledge of the novel if he hadn't become acquainted with Bei Yuan's character over the years, even if they were his close ones in this world.

Many Gu Masters died in battle, but even more advanced in their ranks and became pillars of support for the clan. Overall, the clan's situation and strength didn't decline, but improved instead. If given more time, this would lead to a qualitative change and the Bei Clan would have many more elders and possibly even more Rank 5s, and Bei Cai was certain that the day wasn't too far, not with him here.