The fragile crystalline wall of the peak stage of Rank Two shattered, replaced by a watery wall. At the same time, light silver primeval essence was produced, pushing the peak-stage Rank Two essence down into Fang Tian's primeval aperture. Fang Tian felt a massive burden lifted from him as he broke through to Rank Three. However, he knew this was only a temporary feeling; the pressure on his aperture would soon return, making him feel pain from time to time. Still, at least he had found a temporary solution.
"After a month of doing missions for the Wu Clan, I finally managed to secure enough contribution points to exchange for this Gu worm… And now, just a little over a year since I became a Gu Master, I've already broken through to Rank Three. My speed is abnormally fast."
Fang Tian held a Rank Four Gu worm in his hand and gazed at it with obvious longing, but he could not use it until he reached the middle stage of Rank Three. For now, he could only look at it. Ever since joining the Wu Clan, he had been running around everywhere completing missions due to a wonderful discovery.
The exchange board of the Wu Clan was completely different from Gu worm shops. If lone Gu Masters or demonic path Gu Masters considered the shops that sold Gu worms to be extremely wealthy and stocked with diverse collections, then if they were to look at the Wu Clan's exchange board, they would spit on those shops in contempt.
Although Fang Tian knew this was nothing compared to a clan that possessed Gu Immortals as supreme elders, he could not deny that the contribution board was incredibly tempting. Because of this, from the very next day after joining the Wu Clan, he worked tirelessly within the city—capturing rogue Gu Masters, arresting demonic path scum and handing them in, or even leaving the city to clear the surrounding areas of beasts.
All of these missions were profitable due to the high risks involved. However, he was already accustomed to danger, and even demonic path Gu Masters did not possess methods as varied or diverse as his. Thus, most of the missions to capture those wretches were easy.
After twenty such missions, Fang Tian submitted the recipe for the Rank One Wood Origin Gu to the exchange board in return for a large number of contribution points. Only then did he barely manage to gather enough to exchange for this Rank Four Gu worm.
"Light Essence… this Gu worm can greatly improve my situation, giving me a lot of time to accumulate enough contribution points to exchange for the method to seal the aura of the extreme physique…"
This Gu worm was called Light Essence, and it had only one function: instead of producing peak-stage primeval essence at the peak stage, a Gu Master would only produce initial-stage primeval essence after using this Gu worm. The rank of the Gu Master did not matter, whether Rank Three or Rank Four—it made no difference. What mattered was simply that they were not Rank Five.
Although this Gu worm limited his potential, there was no better solution at the moment. He could compensate by using Relics Gu and breaking through to the peak stage, but Rank Four was simply too difficult.
"But the positive side is that I can now properly use Rank Three Gu worms, and my combat strength has risen sharply! Maybe I should take that mission to investigate the Gu Masters under the Yang Clan?… Right, didn't Wu Ji urge me to join her on this mission? I can join her and split the contribution points, and if we manage to attack the Yang Clan's resource points and plunder them…"
In the previous week, the Yang Clan had been sending many teams of Gu Masters to their borders with the Wu Clan. This movement was deemed hostile by the senior elders of the Wu Clan. For this reason, a mission to go to the border and investigate the Yang Clan's intentions was issued. It had become one of the most selected missions among the Wu Clan's Gu Masters.
On that very day, Wu Ji had visited him to urge him to join her on this mission, but he had refused. However, Wu Ji was still in Wu Clan City and had not departed yet.
Fang Tian summoned one of the maids in his garden and instructed her to send a message to Wu Ji, asking her to come to his garden if possible. After dealing with this matter, he returned his focus to his aperture.
There were no new Gu worms in his aperture. He could not find any Wood Path Gu worms that suited him, and he already possessed several Rank Three Gu worms for use.
"I also still have my killer move, Twisted Vine Manifestation… I think I'm pretty good at naming things. But if I could use Palm Umbrella Gu together with Jade Bark Shell Gu to create a simple defensive killer move, that would be great. I have a feeling this is possible!"
Gu Masters used Gu worms, trained in their usage, fed them, and understood them through this process. Understanding Gu worms was a path to understanding heaven and earth. The more connections a Gu Master could extract between Gu worms, the closer they came to deepening their comprehension of the Dao.
Fang Tian had used Gu worms for a full year, fed them for a full year, and coordinated them for a full year. Naturally, his understanding of the Gu worms of his path was better than that of his peers. The feeling that coordinating his Gu worms was possible did not come from intuition or something vague—he had not yet reached the level of a master—but at least he could glimpse a part of that world.
And it was not as if coordinating three to four Gu worms would take him a long time, especially since he already had good experience in creating killer moves.
However, he could not continue this train of thought when Wu Ji arrived at his pavilion overlooking the beautiful lake and sat down on one of the cushions placed in front of him. Fang Tian was momentarily absorbed by Wu Ji's features, but he quickly regained his focus.
"You're really unreasonable. You've already broken through to Rank Three! Is an extreme physique really this amazing?! Heavens, why aren't you fair? Why didn't you grant me an extreme physique!"
"Believe me, if you were facing even half the pressure I'm under, you'd abandon that thought immediately and thank the heavens for your talent. I get closer to death every time my cultivation increases. That feeling of stepping closer to your own destruction is not pleasant at all… but I'm still trying to cling to a root or a stone on this path, just to delay my death even a little."
Wu Ji's eyes shone with admiration toward Fang Tian.
"This fellow has changed. He seems more gloomy, but he's still trying to find a solution. What admirable determination!"
Wu Ji did not express her inner thoughts. Instead, she looked at Fang Tian with a questioning gaze.
"You want to know why I asked you to come… Well, as you can see, I've used up all my contribution points, and I remembered your offer about joining your group and heading to our borders with the Yang Clan to investigate their intentions. Besides that, I feel like I might gain some insight by observing nature and trees. I feel like I'm close to understanding something, but I don't know what it is."
"No problem, you can join my group. We actually need someone strong to handle dangerous situations, and with your strength and mine, we'll become one of the strongest teams and reap huge benefits if we're smart. Besides, I can't stand turning those bastards from the Yang Clan into bloody pulp!"
"Well, that's another side of the matter, Wu Ji. I know you look like a brainless thug, but you're actually very crafty and smart. So you should know that I'm in desperate need of resources, and therefore, we won't be following the righteous path's methods in this investigation."
Wu Ji's eyes gradually lit up as she listened to Fang Tian's plan. By the end of it, she could not help but look at him in a new light.
"You're a devil!… This plan is brilliant—using the pretext of investigating the Yang Clan's motives to infiltrate their borders and then strike them hard! This isn't how we of the righteous path usually act, but…"
Fang Tian did not need to persuade Wu Ji. Although she was young and the same age as Fang Tian, she was extremely intelligent. With just a little prompting from him, she arrived at the conclusion that this plan would work.
The next morning, Fang Tian gathered with his new team, which included four Rank Three Gu Masters besides himself and Wu Ji.