With Uncle gone, Fang Yuan had something to ponder.
The influence of his regression was already bearing fruit in how things were changing around Gu Yue Village.
While this was good, being that it showed that he could change things, it was also bad, because that meant that the more that things changed, the less he could benefit from having prior knowledge of events.
As it was, his wellspring of knowledge regarding the village's matters would soon end given that he had been chased out not long after graduating from the academy.
Regarding the matter of his Uncle, Fang Yuan had no fear whatsoever. He even found it mildly amusing - cute even, the way his Uncle tried to frighten him. Like a tiny puppy trying to be angry.
If Uncle only knew ten percent of the things that Fang Yuan had done - he would not have dared to cross him so.
His uncle had almost no real solution to his problem, so long as Fang Yuan was careful.
Then again, that was because Uncle was limited by the system. The system of the clan, that is.
Systems were strange, but Fang Yuan was no stranger to them. He had been at the bottom of the proverbial food chain many times, and at the top others. He may have never formally studied social structures, but he had more than enough experience with them.
Uncle actually had several ways to deal with him, he only lacked the will needed to go against the clan rules. Though, for someone like him, that was to be expected.
As for Fang Yuan, someone with no bottom line, the rules could not restrict him unless he so chose. Much like the 'system' inside his head was doing.
Speaking of, there was a gu worm he needed to check out.
He took out One With Scenery Gu. It had the appearance of a small paintbrush, though there was no paint on it. Just like with all gu worms he got from the system, it was already pre-refined for him to use, though even if it wasn't the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura would've made that a trivial matter.
The Liquor Worm had already concentrated Fang Yuan's primeval essence, and with it, he activated One With Scenery Gu.
It leapt up in the air in response to the primeval essence, and though it had no paint, it began brushing strokes over Fang Yuan.
He initially felt nothing different, though found that he was now covered in a layer of 'paint' that matched his surroundings perfectly.
"A stealth-type gu worm," Fang Yuan thought, nodding. This was quite good, and would be useful for things like sneaking out of the village for various purposes, including hunting boar. His primeval essence continued to be consumed, however, and he stopped it- the effect of the gu worm then disappeared.
Right now, his Rank 1 essence could not make full use of it, but that would change soon enough.
It required paint as food, fittingly enough, but that was easy enough to purchase, even if it was going to put another dent in his finances.
Seeing the One With Scenery Gu though did make him think of something once again - just what was this system and what were its origins?
Initially his thoughts went to Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable given how it seemed to be steering him, or trying to at least, the righteous path.
But here, it had handed him a Painting Path gu worm.
Painting Path was even more mysterious than Luck Path, as it was a secondary path developed by Genesis Lotus Immortal Venerable. As such, Fang Yuan also knew absolutely nothing about it.
Speaking of Luck Path, given that he was occasionally rewarded with increases to his luck pointed that there was a part of Giant Sun Immortal Venerable behind, or at least, a Luck Path expert.
But there were extremely few Luck Path experts in existence- to the point that Fang Yuan did not know the name of a single one even with the benefit of 500 years of foresight. That was how closely guarded Luck Path had been.
On top of all of that, he had gained this 'system' when he had used the Spring Autumn Cicada, which had been Red Lotus Demonic Venerable's vital gu if rumors were to be believed.
Lastly, its influence on the Human Path was something captured by none of the past Venerables. Fang Yuan knew of very few Human Path experts - some of them would emerge in the future, but he couldn't think of one who came even close to level of a Rank 8.
That might've had more to do with his own lack of experience in the future- he had been Rank 6 just before he died, at the bottom of the Gu Immortal world hierarchy. There could be Rank 8 Gu Immortals at the time who were Human Path experts, he just didn't know about it.
He couldn't think of anyone who cultivated Human Path and fit the other details of the system.
Putting all of these things aside, he chose to focus on his cultivation. Rank 1 Middle Stage was just a foot on the long staircase to eternal life for him.
His aperture was now surrounded by a water membrane and its primeval essence began to be elevated by the Liquor Worm. He had lost some of his primeval essence because of activating One With Scenery Gu, which he replenished with primeval stones.
The Liquor Worm released a fragrance that worked on this newly formed green essence, condensing it, so that Fang Yuan's aperture was now filled with Rank 1 Upper Stage primeval essence.
He then drove this primeval essence at the aperture walls, once again trying to nourish them.
With this level of primeval essence, his moonblades would be truly vicious, being able to cut through flesh and bone with great ease.
Now, he was relatively confident in his ability to take down wild boar if needed to feed the White Boar Gu. It would still be a more efficient use of his time to pay others to do it for him, but if he could not or wanted to save on primeval stones he could go out and do so himself. If he still only had 44% aptitude, things would be different, but with 56% aptitude and the help of the Liquor Worm and a stash of primeval stones - the most important thing for him to do was to focus all of his time and energy on cultivating. Though, because of the system, while he did get increasing benefits, he was also getting some new headaches he otherwise wouldn't have had.
Speaking of which, he needed to start preparing for his new role of being class president. He also needed to tell the guards that his uncle was not welcome to visit him in the dormitory.