Qing Shu examined the bed of Moon Orchids near the primeval spring. 'So, this is how Fang Yuan solved this,' he thought to himself. He tapped the Moon and Stars Support Vine Gu and injected his primeval essence into it.
He was only Rank 3, and so the effect could not compare with what Fang Yuan could do with it. But he only needed to snap his fingers as an elder and ask for some of the guards to assist him with it.
The effect of the gu worm could not be denied. The Moon Orchids were already replenishing themselves and were resisting the occasional frostiness that seeped in. Those which were wilting had now bloomed again with life anew.
The issue was maintaining this vine and ensuring that the Moon Orchids were supported for the coming future. Fang Yuan had left this task to Qing Shu, mainly because he was thought to be the most honorable of the elders and wouldn't be one to snatch a few Moon Orchid Petals on the side to line his own pockets. The men he had gathered were also people that he thought could be trusted.
However, given the price that people were allegedly selling Moon Orchid Petals for on the black market, it could turn many an honest man to theft.
Right now, he wanted to see how many ordinary Gu Masters it would take to support the vine. Even with six of them, a mixture of Rank 2 and Rank 1, they could not achieve an effect that was equivalent to his.
That was only to be expected in a way; each minor realm doubled the value of primeval essence. Not to mention their aptitudes were lower than his.
While the most ideal thing would have been to have Fang Yuan maintain this vine, he was clan head and had a thousand other things going on.
At the very least, an issue like this was a scenario where many weaker Gu Masters could come together to attempt to mimic the power of one strong person. There were many scenarios where that couldn't happen, such as fighting a Myriad Beast King, for example.
However, the quantity of people needed was quite alarming. Qing Shu made some mental calculations and figured that they would need at least thirty people to adequately maintain this every four hours.
'Thirty people,' he sighed to himself. Thirty people to get a single gu worm to function. How could they spare that many? At the same time, though, they couldn't neglect the Moon Orchid Petals they needed.
They would need to get some of the elders to all lend a helping hand, even though they might not be happy about it.
As it was, once the Moon Orchids had fully populated the area they used to occupy, things would be much easier. They would no longer need to maintain the vine and would have enough for the clan's needs, but that would take time.
And as they say, when it rains, it pours.
There was more than enough work to keep everyone busy three times over. The wall needed to be repaired, and that required primeval essence and workers. Many gu worms needed to be fed. Vitality Leaves needed to be produced from Nine Leaf Vitality Grass Gu which the clan kept. Refinement materials and feed for gu worms needed to be arranged for. And a hundred other things that either required primeval essence or free hands.
All of this resulted in a massive headache for the elders, who realized that it wasn't people being lazy leading to this (as some of them commented), it was just that they didn't have enough people.
There were many things only the elders could do - threats that only they could face like the Thousand Beast Kings. But when it came to the day-to-day functioning of the village, they needed far more Rank 1 and Rank 2 Gu Masters to keep things running smoothly. A mansion might need only one or two architects to design it, but would need hundreds of laborers.
Because of this, many of the elders had come around to Fang Yuan's idea of letting some of the mortals become Gu Masters despite their initial resistance to the idea. They thought it was better than trying to assimilate the Xiong and the Bai clans, who would have far more reason to resent them than some of the more promising mortals.
However, ultimately, Qing Shu figured that it could not be helped for now, even if the elders had to cut into their own supplies of primeval stones to keep this going - or even if he had to request for the elders to participate themselves.
This was a 'solution' to their problem, though unfortunately it was a rather expensive one.
Not that it mattered how high the price was.
They needed to make sure that the Moon Orchids returned to their prior glory. The Moon Orchids were the lifeblood of the clan, and without them, the clan would be like a defanged snake. It was the equivalent of people being armed with guns but having no ammo. Without their gu, most Gu Masters were weaker than ordinary mortals and could not protect themselves against the threats that populated the mountain. Fang Yuan had thought to solve this problem by seizing the Xiong clan's signature Bear Strength Gu, but that plan had not come to fruition yet.
Qing Shu was interrupted in his thoughts by someone coming in to report someone who had appropriated a gu worm that should've been donated to the clan.
"Hmm," he mused to himself. "This doesn't seem to be that important... if someone has committed a crimes like that they should be punished. Why bring this to me?" The clan rules on this matter were quite clear. Gu Masters were not allowed to keep any gu worms of any deceased they came upon - the rules were the same as during the wolf tide. As it was, many of these 'abandoned' gu worms could be said to technically belong to someone else if their relatives were still alive or they could prove some connection to the deceased.
In other words, it was nothing short of theft.
"I came to you simply because of who did it," the Gu Master said nervously. "The culprit in question is Gu Yue Fang Zheng."
Qing Shu paused. No wonder the Gu Master in question was so nervous.
Fang Zheng was Fang Yuan's younger brother, and the entire village knew how much Fang Yuan doted on him. Of course, the two of them were twins, so it was understandable that they would have a close relationship with each other, even if things had been frosty between them initially.
The Gu Master in question had not felt that he could report this to Fang Yuan because of that, and had therefore come to Qing Shu instead.
"All right, I will have a word with Fang Zheng. Let me dig into the matter, and I will possibly speak with Fang Yuan if needed."
The Gu Master thanked him before leaving.
Qing Shu sighed. He was beginning to understand the meaning of the phrase, 'If you help someone out, then they will definitely remember you when they need your help again.'
Because Qing Shu had such a gentle reputation, many people came to him with tasks that should have been given to the other elders, simply because they thought that he could fix things. And Qing Shu, with his nature, and given the state of the village right now, did not feel that he could reject all of them.
This matter, on the other hand, was indeed something he felt he needed to look into. If he hadn't been an elder, there was no way that he would have been called upon for something like this.