Strenghtening the clan

Eventually two more years of hard training, meditation and further studying passed.

Fang Zheng, Fang Yuan and Mo Bei continued practicing combat with an instructor, being around 9 years old, while Mo Yan was receiving individual lessons and sparred with them from time to time.

Fang Yuan attempted to train hard, but he wasn't as crazy about training as Fang Zheng. He was still as talented, which put Fang Zheng on edge and caused to put even more effort into his technique.

Seeing that he was inferior to the both Fang brothers in fighting, Mo Bei was also very stubborn in his training, he would often lash out and be vicious with his strikes during casual spars. Mo Bei was a very bitter and spiteful child, but Fang Zheng still tried to play the role of a big brother, console him and raise Mo Bei into someone who admires him, as annoying as it was.

Because nothing special seemed to happen throughout these years, Fang Zheng decided to take another risk in drastically changing the future.

After considering his future course of action, Fang Zheng deemed that it was in his best interest that the Gu Yue clan survived the horrible beast tide that annihilated it in the novel. This way, once Fang Zheng becomes strong enough, he might come back to the Gu Yue village and loot the First Gen's Inheritance.

As long as the village is strong and safe, then First Gen Gu Yue will not awaken from his slumber and slaughter the remains of the clan, fleeing thereafter never to be found again. Not to mention that there would be no sacrifices for Blood Skull Gu if the clan perishes.

Fang Zheng might not desperately need Blood Skull Gu to improve his aptitude, but he still wanted the entire true inheritance of Blood Sea Ancestor to stay safe below the Gu Yue village.

What is a Blood Sea Ancestor's true inheritance?

Unlike an ordinary inheritance, a true inheritance is one that allows someone to become a Gu Immortal! It would include all kinds of precious Gu worms, cultivation insights and recipes. Fang Zheng also assumed that this true inheritance in particular, apart from mortal Rank 4 Blood Skull Gu, Rank 5 Blood Guillotine Gu and Rank 5 Blood Python, should also include the complete Blood Deity Immortal Gu recipe!

Fang Zheng remembered from the novel that the Blood Skull Immortal Gu true inheritance was destroyed when the five regional walls merged, so it couldn't be here under the Gu Yue village. First Gen Gu Yue's true inheritance included Rank 5 Blood Guilllotine Gu which is a precursor to Rank 6 Blood Deity and First Gen Gu Yue also had insights regarding purifying bloodlines of his descendants, thus Fang Zheng made this conclusion.

Not even counting the Blood Deity Immortal Gu recipe, Blood Skull Gu's value alone should be considered higher than that of many Immortal Gu. This little Rank 4 Gu has the potential to completely change the balance of the five regions, allowing a superforce to produce A-grade geniuses in great quantities by recycling untalented people. And more A-grade geniuses meant potentially more Gu Immortals! Fang Zheng needed to get it for himself!

It would be ideal that this true Inheritance remains undiscovered and awaits quietly to be snatched by Fang Zheng in the future.

Unfortunately, only Rank 5 can fight Rank 5, so realistically Fang Zheng figured that he can only attempt to claim this inheritance once he gets strong enough to completely overpower First Gen Gu Yue, becoming a powerful Rank 5 or Rank 6 cultivator.

Fang Zheng trying to get this Inheritance just with cunning and scheming, not having sufficient strength, is just wishful thinking. There is not much to say; in the best case Fang Zheng knew that he would only get scraps, but never the full inheritance.

Fang Zheng even lacked a crucial tool if he wanted to take a reckless risk and imitate Fang Yuan - a Rank 6 Gu that could help him refine First Gen Gu Yue's Gu worms during the conflict, not even including how much luck any kind of plan would involve, as attempting it was practically impossible and suicidal.

Now the first part for Fang Zheng was ensuring that the Gu Yue clan is strong enough and ready for the devastating wolf tide and can keep surviving future wolf tides and other conflicts without his presence. The second part was making sure that Lord Sky Crane won't detect First Gen Gu Yue, just like it happened in the first timeline, but that will wait for the future.

For now Fang Zheng searched for ways to aid in the village's survival, not for the clan, but for his own benefits. To do that he found in the novel an excellent Rank 2 Gu worm recipe that would only be discovered in two hundred years from now.

It isn't the Liquor Worm recipe and it isn't Sneak Attack Gu either, not even mentioning that Sneak Attack Gu is impossible to be refined under normal circumstances or just based on the novel knowledge. This precious Rank 2 recipe is something much more simple with seemingly low value, but it actually has the potential to completely overturn the Gu Yue clan's situation in fighting the Lightning Wolves.

…

The birds chirped around at this moment, and the overflowing air of spring took over Qing Mao Mountain.

The guards in front of the Gu Yue clan pavilion stepped aside as they noticed the person arriving at the entrance.

It was the elder Gu Yue Mo Chen. He swiftly entered the clan pavilion without any obstructions as if he was visiting his own home; a nine year old boy with long black hair followed closely next to him, as the Mo family's mortal servants stayed outside the pavilion.

After the proper procedures, the middle-aged man and the young boy walked up the stairs of the pavilion.

At one point, the two arrived at the clan head's office, as the guards led them inside.

In the room there was a man in his forties, sitting in a lavish chair behind a wooden carved table. It was the current Gu Yue Clan leader, Gu Yue Bo.

"Clan leader." Gu Yue Mo Chen cupped his fists respectfully in a greeting.

"Gu Yue Fang Zheng pays his respects to the clan leader," Fang Zheng said while also cupping his fists and bowing slightly.

"Mmmm. Please, sit down. Gu Yue Mo Chen, what is the matter?" Gu Yue Bo asked elder Mo Chen from his chair, his eyes drifting to the young boy beside him, feeling slightly confused as to why he was brought to the clan leader's office.

"My Mo Family and Fang Zheng have something to report and contribute to the clan," Gu Yue Mo Chen said as he sat down with Fang Zheng on a red sofa opposite Gu Yue Bo.

Gu Yue Bo raised his brows in interest.

"Actually, it will be my nephew Fang Zheng that will be reporting it," Mo Chen said fondly, as if Fang Zheng was his own grandson.

"Hmm?" Gu Yue Bo was surprised and gazed at Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng was also surprised. 'Mo Chen really wants me to view the Mo faction as my family, heh.'

The mere fact that Gu Yue Mo Chen didn't claim the full credit of this recipe to himself and brought Fang Zheng to the clan head's office spoke volumes about how much he cared about Fang Zheng's views. After all, if the old man stole the credit from Fang Zheng, then he would undoubtedly offend the young genius, which could be catastrophic for his Mo faction in the future.

Fang Zheng collected himself; he looked straight at Gu Yue Bo, not shrinking in front of the Rank 4 expert and started his report, "Sir clan leader, the story is like this. During the caravan visits my father in the past bought a lot of various books for me to study about Gu Master cultivation, about Gu and so on. Among them there was one old book with Gu worm recipes. Among its pages I happened to find an old paper note with a Gu worm recipe."

Gu Yue Bo smiled benevolently, nodding his head for Fang Zheng to continue.

Fang Zheng continued with an expressionless face: "It was a Gu recipe to refine a Rank 2 Gu called Stealth Scales Gu. It's a concealment type Gu allowing a person to become completely invisible, both their body and clothes disappearing from sight. Lightning Wolves have great sight, but their hearing and sense of smell is no different from a human's. This Gu doesn't allow a Gu Master to hide from a dog's nose, but it perfectly counters the Lightning Wolves! Sir clan leader, this is the recipe."

As he said that, Fang Zheng pulled out a piece of paper and put it on the desk. The paper note was very pale and mangled, visibly quite old.

Gu Yue Bo glanced at it. He quickly raised his eyebrow, reading, 'Rank 1 Stealth Rock Gu, Rank 1 Fish Scale Gu. That's the recipe?'

The clan head's expression immediately turned to that of disappointment. Such a simple Gu recipe was very likely fake, or the result of the final Gu Worm was far from satisfactory.

Little Fang Zheng explained, "The recipe is very simple, but as I searched through many books with Gu and asked around the merchants in the caravan, no one seemed to have heard of such a Gu worm. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that it must be a secret recipe, or an ancient recipe that was long forgotten."

Gu Yue Bo didn't have much expectations for the little kid's big words, he turned toward the elder Gu Yue Mo Chen and asked, "Mo Chen, was this recipe confirmed?"

As if to answer the clan head's words, Gu Yue Mo Chen disappeared from his seat. The seat that was occupied just a second ago became completely empty!

"As you can see, sir clan leader," a voice called out seemingly from nowhere.

Gu Yue Bo widened his eyes in shock. He then observed the sofa carefully, but couldn't notice even a fraction of anything that would indicate that Mo Chen was in front of him.

Suddenly, Gu Yue Mo Chen appeared back in his seat as if he was always there. He said, "As long as we can acquire Rank 1 Stealth Rock Gu, this Rank 2 Gu will be very easy and cheap to refine. It's a secret Gu Worm recipe, but my nephew judged that it would greatly help our clan in the fight against the Lightning Wolves. Because of that, our Mo family is willingly contributing this recipe to the clan."

Gu Yue Bo felt very intrigued and started stroking his beard.

This Rank 2 Gu would be extremely cheap to refine, but it had simply incredible prospects of being useful during the fights against the wolf tides. It would reduce casualties among the Rank 2 Gu Master elites, allow them to advance and retreat as they wish, allow for better scouting ability and so on. But more importantly…

"Even most Frenzy Lightning Wolves shouldn't be able to see through this stealth unless they possess Lightning Eye Gu," Gu Yue Mo Chen added. "And most do not."

Gu Yue Bo continued stroking his beard, deep in thought. What Mo Chen said is the truth. Such a Gu worm would significantly reduce the threat of Frenzy Lightning Wolves which usually required three clan elders to take down. Forget about just retreating, this Gu worm would help a lot with sneak-attacks and killing of these beasts!

After a while Gu Yue Bo asked, "Can I see this Gu?"

Mo Chen naturally obeyed. He willed and a Gu worm flew out from his aperture, flying toward Gu Yue Bo. The Gu looked like a fossilized carp, gray throughout, its fish scales very realistic.

Gu Yue Bo received it and tried using it a few times. After a while, he called out from empty space: "This Gu worm is really good! It counters Lightning Wolves perfectly."

The clan head re-appeared. He smiled at the nine year old Fang Zheng and continued: "Fang Zheng, by finding and providing this unique recipe you are making a large contribution to the clan. The clan will reward you properly."

Fang Zheng smiled slightly, instead saying, "Sir clan leader, I also thought about something. If our clan starts refining this Stealth Scales Gu en masse, calls it by its proper name and buys the materials openly, then the other two clans will quickly figure out the recipe to refine it. That's why I thought we should call it by a different name, for example Moon Stealth Gu. We should also keep the recipe top secret and buy the intermediary materials in a confidential manner. It's a very precious recipe for those on Qing Mao Mountain after all."

Saying that much, Fang Zheng felt that there was no need to explain more; in his opinion Gu Yue Bo was a very intelligent man in the novel so he would understand.

This way the other clans will think that the recipe to refine <Moon Stealth Gu> is a creation of the Gu Yue clan and uses its unique Moonlight Gu as the main ingredient. It won't last forever, but this tactic should at least slightly delay the time until the recipe is reverse-refined by the Bai and Xiong clan, giving Gu Yue clan an advantage over the other two clans for several years.

Was it dishonorable? Was it plagiarism? Who cares, it was smart! Once the matter that the recipe was renamed and doesn't even use Moonlight Gu is found out in the future, the Gu Yue clansmen won't be ashamed, but instead praise the Gu Yue clan higher-ups for their cunning, all while mocking the other clans for their naivety.

Gu Yue Bo said, "Interesting… I will think about it."

"In that case junior will now take his leave," saying so, Fang Zheng stood up, cupped his fists while bowing slightly and left the room, leaving Gu Yue mo Chen to talk with Gu Yue Bo alone.

"This Gu Yue Fang Zheng , he is your nephew? He's from Fang Zhi's side?" asked Gu Yue Bo.

Hearing the clan head's words, Gu Yue Mo Chen smiled. "Yes, clan leader, he's from Fang Zhi's side. His parents died when he was three years old and I took him and his brother in, raising them as my nephews."