"Ma Tribe..." Fei Qing closed his eyes and slowly sorted out the information his dead master gathered for him. Originally, Horse Monk was a wisdom path gu master who chanced upon an enslavement path inheritance which he modified later on to create a rather cruel set of methods. Wisdom path gu masters were notorious to be the cause of many conflicts even without the knowledge of the participants of the said conflicts. Meanwhile, Enslavement Path gu masters, especially the accomplished ones, were notorious for being called the one-man army. Their beasts able to tip the scale of war towards their Ally's favor! The mixture of both paths, the ingenious use of wisdom path to increase the control in enslavement and the enslavement path's use of dividing one's soul and mind to enhance the methods of wisdom path made Horse Monk gain his fame.
Horse Monk, however, did not innovate this particular combination. Gu Masters were known to dabble into various paths and then mostly stick to at least two paths. Thieving Heaven created Theft Path through a combination of other paths while cultivating space path. Similarly, Reckless Savage Demon Venerable cultivated Strength and Transformation path. He was the inventor of the Transformation path!
So, unknown to others, Fei Qing and Horse Monk were also adept Wisdom Path gu masters. After realizing Ma Tribe's involvement, a Super Tribe with multiple rank 5 experts, Fei Qing figured out that the Fei Tribe was being targeted for the same reason why Fei Qing eradicated Pei Tribe. The Horse Groups!
Ma Tribe housed one of the four first-rate enslavement path master— Horse King Ma Zun. It was obvious that Fei Qing's second-largest horse group was quite an attraction but... "They are confident enough to attack without caring for their losses. It is also the time of war. I'm afraid that they have the confidence due to legendary masters surpassing mortal gu masters. Sigh..." Fei Qing's expression turned somber. Ma Tribe would not attack Fei Tribe just yet. They would slowly gather various banners underneath them before taking extreme actions. It gave Fei Tribe at least a year but the time was too less. Even when the Merit Board is released, the development to create a sizeable foundation would require a minimum of 17 months!
"The simplest option is the hardest one this time around. Breaking into rank 5 will take time. Increasing the number of my horse groups will be a tough task, too," Fei Qing casually rubbed the little Wolf's furry head. The mutated peach wolf might have rank 5 battle strength but when compared to multiple rank 5 gu masters, well-trained and cruel, the might of a single wolf will never be enough. Not to mention, Fei Qing himself fell short on the cultivation rank.
"Hmm, using wisdom path methods is an appropriate choice but if any one of the tribe traces the method back to Fei Tribe, they will be alerted. The Fei Tribe will be pulled into conflict regardless of the methods so it is unwise to attract more attention than we already have. Fei Tribe has already shown the might so now is the time to select a few allies of our own. Benefits make the world run and to the mid-scale tribes with no source of gu houses, the Earth Lizard House Gu worm would be a major attraction. But I can't just use that. The pot isn't too sweet just yet. However, I also need to prioritize my demands and make the relationship beneficial for the tribe to stop the other tribes from leeching off our methods and resources."
"Well, the first thing to do is remove the quota on the refinement of Earth Lizard House Gu worm. In fact, I will demand the materials for refinement during the alliance meeting and make them bleed a little. Hehe, this will do well enough."
---
The next day, Fei Cai took Lo to the Merit Board. Right now, Fei Cai held a total of 426 merit points. And he had also chosen the Vital Gu for Lo. Out of many paths Fei Cai could peruse from Thieving Heaven's collection, Fei Cai found one single path of gu worm quite resonating with the theft path. Of course, Space Path was filled in that library but space path materials and gu worms were extremely rare.
Slightly bowing to his Elder Cousin on Merit Board's duty, Fei Cai silently went through the rewards and picked up rank 1 Phantom Blossom Gu worm. The choice surprised Fei Nai but he kept his silence. He wasn't in his emotional state any longer. Phantom Blossom Gu, though it sounded extremely extravagant only cost mere 75 merit points. Considering other gu worms, it was cheaper and far more useless. The only function of the Gu Worm was to project a phantom spring blossom with four petals and wait until it blooms and refreshes the surroundings. From an education point of view, a projection affecting reality was quite far-fetched but in the tribal situation, none cared.
Even Fei Cai didn't. The reason he selected the unwanted gu worm was due to a rather crucial use of its existence. In the revised refinement recipe of Sneak Attack Gu worm, a particular phantom path material is used— Phantom Sprinkle Gu. But since it wasn't available, Fei Cai devised to use the gu worm's projection and phantom spores as a replacement for the refinement. Not only that, he had the recipe of phantom venom vine series, man-eating phantom flower series which were developed from this very gu worm.
Looking at the small violet sprout in his hands, Fei Cai refined the gu worm himself but before he could leave, his path was cut-off by a slightly excited Fei Mang.
"Oh, I didn't know that slaves were allowed to cultivate, too. Is the genius of the tribe that low that he cannot find support from his own tribe members?" Fei Mang mocked with a vicious expression. Hearing him, Fei Nai's expression changed slightly while Cai couldn't help but observe minor changed that Fei Nai still hasn't discovered. 'His pupils just changed shapes... instead of round and dark, they were slightly boxy. Could the change in Fei Mang's personality have something to do with it? Too strange.'
"I took your support, Cousin," Fei Cai smiled suddenly, his words itching against Fei Mang's heart while Fei Nai seemed to have realized the situation among two 'kids' would only worsen.
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"You two should resolve your issues over a hunting match," Elder Fei Nai stirred with an easygoing smile but Fei Cai's gaze brightened a bit and he nodded quickly, "That is a great idea, Elder Fei Nai. Cousin, once we compete, we can determine the winner and the victor of the match will defeat Fei Sau, gaining the right to rival the youngest Elder of the Tribe— Elder Cousin!"
Fei Nai's cheeks paled slightly at the name of the youth in trend but Fei Mang furrowed his brows. A slightly nervous expression on his face. "What do you mean?"
"Listen—"
With a naive and exciting burst, Fei Cai cut off Fei Nai's intervention and spoke hurriedly, "What? You still don't know. Fei Sau has some grudge against Elder Cousin. Elder Nai has shown me the warmth of an elder sibling, so of course, I will defeat Fei Sau one of these days!"
Fei Mang's expression worsened at the explanation as he hissed, "Fei Cai, stick to your slave! Elder Brother Nai is my brother!" Mang emphasized, "Only I will kill Fei Sau for even boasting to go against Elder Brother!" With a snort, the young boy left while Fei Nai let out a deep sigh.
"Little Cousin... sometimes you speak too much. Anyway, don't think of Mang'er wrongly. He still feels a little down after the injuries from Beast Trials."
Fei Cai nodded and apologized before leaving the area. In fact, he had also wished to cash out green copper relic gu but all of them were already taken away. Still, acquiring Phantom Blossom Gu was already a major step in his agenda and with him finally realizing to use Fei Mang as a piece to sow discord between Fei Nai and Fei Sau, he figured out that the opportunity to be gained was Fei Mang's unconditional support. The boy was young and naive, his actions based on short-sighted thoughts but he was still Fei Chang's son.
Unlike Fei Qing, Fei Chang did not intervene in Fei Mang's life that much. In any other situation, the young gu master would have felt natural and grown into a tough warrior if he survived in the first place but that wasn't the case this time. Fei Mang had a talented elder sibling. Fei Cai thought that no father, no matter how apathetic, could stop himself from commenting, at least, once at the progress of a talented offspring. And if the action is committed once, it will happen again.
How would Mang feel when Fei Chang paid attention to Fei Nai but not him? Will he grow into a strong warrior? Or will he grow to resent his family in the form of psychological issues that can be twisted for one's own benefits? Fei Cai was willing to bet on the latter and based his speech on that. Any youth with a thirst for their elder's affected and acknowledgment wouldn't let an outsider steal an opportunity. To Fei Mang, now, Fei Sau was the target and his defeat, an opportunity. Why would he let Fei Cai take it away from himself?
"Hehe," Fei Cai couldn't help but chuckle to himself, 'Now, I need to find the best use of Fei Sau that can assist my current needs. Once I have Fei Mang's trust, I can turn him into a scapegoat if I find an appropriate target for Invasion Gu.
Once Fei Cai reached the inner portion of the valley, he handed the refined Phantom Blossom Gu worm to Lo and made him refine his vital gu on the spot, imparting a few uses of the gu worm, and sent him out for hunt again. Meanwhile, he turned to the deeper section where the refinement group was situated.
---
The scent of fresh mud pleased Fei Cai slightly as he stepped on the warm ground, unlike the colder weather near the exit of the tribe. The refinement team was situated by a warm pond to provide an optimal location. Seeing the place already filled with a few gu masters, these being the core members of the team, Fei Cai moved towards the Rank 2 peak-stage gu master tasked to oversee the situation. Even Fei Yang was visible from the distance.
As Fei Cai reached the area, the gu master waved his hand at Fei Cai with a wide smile on his face. "Ah, Fei Cai! Come, come! Elder Fei Chang is extremely pleased with your successes. Here, we just received the orders that more Gu houses are to be refined. We have not got a second to waste. Take this bud storage gu and familiarise yourself with the process. Unlike the group here stuck with refining incomplete products, the one designed to refine complete gu worms are separated. A gu master will keep tabs on you. Here, Fei Bo, little rascal! Come, greet Fei Cai and take him to the seventh spot by the shrivel rose bushes!"
Fei Yang observed the situation from afar and did not raise suspicion by warming up to Fei Cai in front of others. Every approach would feel suspicious unless Fei Cai takes the initiative himself and that he did not. Instead, the gu master named Fei Bo led Fei Cai to his spot while explaining the situation.
Pei, Pa, Bai, Han, Lin, and Ma.
These were the six tribes that were in the same region as Fei Tribe. Northern Plains is divided into seven smaller regions. The region holding Warm Pond Valley is named Tian Chuan. For the past thirteen years, Fei Tribe controlled the Warm Pond Valley but now, they were being encroached by external forces. Out of these Pei Tribe was already annexed, Pa Tribe now seemed to be in cahoots with Ma Tribe. However, Fei Qing was sure that Bai and Han Tribes had nothing to do with Ma Tribe just yet. One had only reached the level of a large-scale tribe three years before while the other was a mid-scale tribe.
According to Fei Bo, Fei Qing had already received Bai Tribe's allegiance. The mid-scale tribe had a dire need for such gu houses and with the war on the brink of occurring, Bai Tribe seemed to have crumbled under Fei Qing's early persuasions.
'War... according to the tradition of the Northern Plains, a full-force war cannot occur until the Heroes Assembly. It takes a little time to understand the mentality of the gu masters but having a faction puts gu masters in the so-called righteous faction. Fei Qing planted dubious reasons to attack the Pei Tribe, the fact is only revealed to me to expand my horizons,' Fei Cai thought to himself, appreciating how a person can control a situation based on one's own method, 'with that, Fei Qing managed to warn the surrounding tribes that attacking the Fei Tribe comes at a cost. Now, until the Heroes Assembly, only a few skirmishes will occur. But, it is high time to reinforce myself again. Thieving Heaven's inheritance, while being the most precious, is ironically useless in the short-term.'
Once Fei Cai was made aware of his assigned spot, he sat down and slowly took out the parchment necessary to understand the refinement recipe. Many thoughts continued to flicker in his mind and he was made aware of the natural benefits of pursuing wisdom path. Thought, will, emotion. That is the essence of the wisdom path. Usually, when a youngster starts the wisdom path, his mind is considerably less affected by the choice of wisdom gu worm. But Fei Cai had almost 30 years of prior experience. His nature was complete, and his morals were set. With the use of Shrewd Gu every night, Fei Cai's natural thinking process was slowly turning more devious and twisted. Everywhere he would look, he will start to focus on benefits to be gained but this was, in fact, one of the many hurdles in wisdom path.
Wisdom is attained in clarity. Shrewdness is only necessary when required. Fei Cai now started to understand many cautions that Thieving Heaven listed in his personal journal. But, Shrewd Gu was necessary to develop onto the Theft Path. Completing the set of Shrewd Gu came Shrewd Will Gu, Shrewd Thoughts Gu, and Shrewd Heart Gu. But this was a situation not to be considered now.
Closing his eyes, Fei Cai let the warm atmosphere clear his head and then observed the recipe to the detail.
"My task is to use incomplete products to refine a rank 1 gu worm— Lizard Mouth Gu. Unknown to others, I already have experience in refining this gu worm and with incomplete products present, almost 80% of the task is done. Not only that, but I am able to earn 60 merit points after successful refinement followed by a penalty of 10 merit points for failure. This is the payment for my services itself and the penalty is for the destruction of already refined incomplete products. Not only that, after reaching a success quota of 15 refinements, I will be able to earn an extra 300 merit points! It was beneficial to show my skills and talents in refinement, after all. If I had a subpar performance, I would have been stuck with earlier refinement!"
Fei Cai analyzed his situation. Licking his lips slightly while understanding the urge to think more shrewdly and now starting to reign it under his command, Fei Cai began refining the gu worm.