I don't waste any time after leaving the clan leader's home, Immediately beginning preparations for the mission. Buying everything necessary does not take long, which allows me to spend a few hours with Shen Cui and Wang Luli before making the final preparations necessary.
If I walk I will arrive in the vicinity of Xiong village in about five days, If I run it will take me two days and If I use the golden talon eagle I will arrive near it in a couple of hours. The only problem with using the golden talon eagle is that it might be associated with my massacre of the Ko village.
Running to the village might also attract unnecessary attention and make the Xiong clan wary, walking there however would not leave me with much time to prepare a plan. Buying a horse gives me a nice middle ground between running and walking, allowing me to get there in three days.
I arrive in the forest surrounding Xiong village just as the sun begins rising, giving me four days to scout and prepare. The horse has outlived its usefulness at this point, so I kill it and store the body in a yellow tusita flower gu. It's after this point that patrols become an issue, necessitating the use of stealth type gu to avoid them.
Using the rank 2 stealth scales gu and the rank 1 smell lock gu allows me to pass the patrols undetected. The smell lock gu gets rid of a gu masters body odors. It is one that has been in my possession for quite some time. I bought it in preparation for massacring the Ko village.
The stealth scales gu I bought before leaving Gu Yue village for this mission, it makes the gu master and his clothes temporarily invisible. Combining it with the smell lock gu allows me to sneak undetected by any patrol that I happen to come across.
Using dream path gu to sneak by them would have been an option as well, but I would rather keep that trump card hidden just in case. In Ko village I only had to contend with the one stationed gu master, here I will have to contend with multiple of them, potentially even facing their academy elder.
Once the sun begins to set I look for a hollow tree large enough for me to fit inside of. Finding one does not take long, the hole leading inside of it being ten meters above ground should deter anyone from investigating this tree. Covering myself in a blanket and putting leaves, dirt and tree bits atop of the blanket will suffice if anyone decides to investigate further.
—
There's a small list of things that I need to do to ensure this mission goes as planned. First of all is finding the places where bears are common, as the Xiong students trip is more likely to pass through those areas.
Second is placing traps deep in those areas. Placing them such that they are encountered too soon will lead to them retreating, placing them too deep risks them not being encountered at all. Ideally the academy elder will be the first to fall into one.
Third, and most important of all, is preparing an exit route. Adding a fuckload of traps in my escape path will slow down my pursuers and allow me to escape. Worst comes to worst I can use dream path gu to 'teleport' away.
There's a single zone that has a large bear population, allowing me to simply put traps along the path to said zone.
The days until the Xiong clan trip begins are spent making as many traps as possible. Simplicity is king in this case, a small pit with a wooden spike inside of it is more than enough to cripple a gu master if they are caught unaware.
The final day I spend preparing a makeshift ghillie suit. My stealth gu allow me to become invisible and have no scent, but they still use primeval essence and therefore cannot be used indefinitely.
On the day of the trip I patiently wait right at the start of the bear area, where I've placed most of my traps. Once I spot the Xiong Clan gu masters I use the stealth scales gu and the lock smell gu to approach them.
They are none the wiser as I look for my target. The student that I am looking for is supposed to be a brown haired short, stocky teenager. There's two that fit that description.
One of them is at the front of the group, the other is in the middle. The students and their escorts are keeping themselves silent for now, not giving me any clues. It's more likely that the student at the front is my target, but it's better to kill both just to be safe.
The group is in a pretty bad formation for me at this moment. The students are in a line at the center, rank 2 gu masters surround and guard them. At the lead of the entire group is the academy elder.
I continue following the group in invisibility, waiting for an opportunity to attack. We pass the point where the traps begin. My opportunity comes with the elder stepping into a spike trap, impaling his foot on a poisoned wooden stake.
I immediately activate the rank 2 love life separation gu and nick the neck of the lead student, the poison will kill him before they can heal him. The chaos caused by the elder's misstep allows me to nick the neck of the other student as well.
I run away before the Xiong clan gu masters can realise what's happened, the fate of the two students is already sealed. I don't need their bodies, ten minutes will be more than enough for me to skim and memorize every single recipe in the clan's secret area.
—
The trip back to Gu Yue village proves itself to be uneventful. Escaping immediately after the attack has allowed me to outrun any potential pursuers. Running at my full speed would have left tracks leading to Gu Yue village, which might make Gu Yue Bo withhold my reward.
I sleep in whatever hidey holes I happen to come across, whether they be caves, alcoves or hollow tree trunks. On the first day I encountered no patrols, on the second I happened to come across two, which I avoided with my stealth gu. By the third day I was already in the territory of our Gu Yue clan, where the Xiong clan wouldn't dare enter just yet.
The first thing that I do after arriving in Gu Yue village is take a long bath. Two weeks in the wilderness will do a number to your hygiene. I simply cultivate for the rest of the day, my breakthrough being not that far away at this point.
I go to the clan leader's house in the morning of the following day. Gu Yue Bo pours green tea for the both of us. I wait for him to take a sip before doing so myself. "I've killed the target. There were two people matching the description that you gave me, I killed both just to be safe."
Gu Yue Bo gives me a slight nod. "Have you secured their bodies as well?"
I shake my head. "No, I wasn't able to get those."
Gu Yue Bo takes a sip of tea. "That is a shame. Do you wish to receive your reward now or later?"
I take a sip of tea. I gotta steal this guy's tea recipe. "Now, there's no point in wasting time, is there?."
Gu Yue Bo takes a final sip of tea. "As you wish. Follow me."
We leave the house, with him leading me to the village shrine. Once we are at the entrance to the shrine he hands me a blindfold. "You are not an elder.This is a special reward for this mission."
I shrug and put said blindfold on. Gu Yue Bo then leads me around the shrine aimlessly for a bit, trying to make guessing the location of the entrance more difficult. After leading me around for a while he takes me to the leftmost corner, pauses a bit, before leading me down a set of stairs.
We pause for a bit once we reach the bottom of the stairs, before he removes the blindfold and reveals the empty room that we are in. There's a single stone door in front of us. "I will open the door into our secret area. You will enter and I will close the door. You will remain for exactly ten minutes, after which I will open the door for you to leave."
I give him a nod, to which he responds by opening the stone door. I enter the room before Gu Yue Bo closes the door, leaving me alone inside. The room is full of stone pillars, each adorned with stone tablets containing the recipes to gu.
The rank 5 moonraiment gu, the rank 3 Golden moon gu, the rank 3 illusory moon gu and much more. Giving each stone tablet a good look is more than enough to enshrine it in my memory. There is one gu that catches my attention, the rank 3 blood moon gu.
Blood path is extremely reviled and suppressed, our clan having a blood path gu is unusual. Its power is identical to the rank 2 moonglow gu, the difference between the two being that the rank 3 blood moon gu provokes unending bleeding. Once a month the blood moon gu will bleed and become weaker?
This isn't the blood moon gu to me anymore, it's now the moon period gu. It doesn't take long for me to memorize all of the recipes in this area, which leads me to spend the rest of my time staring at the description of the rank 3 gold moon gu.
It's an upgrade over the rank 2 moon glow gu, where its power is doubled in every category. The moonblade fired by the rank 3 gold moon gu will be golden, unlike the blue moonblade of the rank 2 moon glow gu.
I continue staring at the recipe and description of the rank 3 golden moon gu until the door is opened. I leave the room and the clan leader blindfolds me again, before leading me upstairs and wandering around with me once more. When he gets tired of leading me around he takes me to the entrance of the shrine and removes my blindfold.
I give him a bow. "Junior gives his thanks to clan leader!"
Gu Yue Bo simply gives me a slight nod after I rise up, before leaving for his house. I head over to my own house. The Jia clan caravan will be arriving soon, most of my preparations are complete, all that's left is recounting how many primeval stones I have.
The final few days until the Jia caravan arrives I spend preparing and cultivating. Once the caravan arrives and settles I enter the sales tents and begin browsing their stock of gu.
There's a few gu that attract my attention.
The rank 2 red steel relic gu, the rank 2 equivalent of the rank 1 green copper relic gu. This one can help me breakthrough to rank 2 peak stage much quicker.
The rank 2 cleansing water gu, capable of removing foreign essence from an aperture. This one attracts my attention by virtue of being exactly what Chi Lian needs.
Chi Lian has sped the cultivation of his grandson Chi Cheng by injecting his own primeval essence into Chi Cheng's aperture. This allows Chi Cheng to cultivate much faster, but it also damages his potential because the primeval essence does not belong to him. The cleansing water gu will solve this issue.
I can buy this gu and then fleece Chi Lian for it.
There's a few more gu that look interesting. They have a rank 3 iron bone gu and a rank 3 steel tendon gu. Usually most strength path gu masters can only use two to three strength boosting gu before their strength is too much for their body to handle, these gu will reinforce the bones and tendons, allowing a gu master to use more strength gu.
I have just enough primeval stones to be able to buy the rank 3 iron bone gu, the rank 3 steel tendon gu and the rank 2 red steel relic gu and have a small amount left for buying gambling stones. I write down random numbers for each of the gu, before leaving the papers in their respective boxes.
The first time that I did this the Jia clan clerks were more dismissive than anything else, now they are instead giving me more analytic looks. It appears that me winning their auctions by a single primeval stone has attracted their attention.
It's as I exit the village that the Jia clan caravans leader, Jia Fu, comes towards me. I give the man a bow, he gives me a slight nod in response. "I have an offer for you, would you follow me so we can discuss it in more detail?"
I'll need to stay close to him, if he tries anything funny I'll be in range to attack him before he can react. I nod. "Of course, lead the way."
Jia Fu leads me to his personal tent, motions for me to take a seat at a nearby table before pouring tea for the both of us. I wait for him to take a sip before doing so myself. Gu Yue Bo's tea was better. "I want to hire you."
I blink. Jia Fu elaborates. "Last time you bought every single gu worm that you had made an offer for with a price that was only a single primeval stone above the second highest offer. I wish to hire you, you have a lot of potential as a merchant."
That's actually a pretty good way for me to leave the village safely. I can bring Shen Cui and Wang Luli with me, I can take the rank 3 heavenly essence treasure lotus gu in secret with dream path gu. There are only two problems with accepting his offer at this point in time.
My aptitude is still trash, I haven't upgraded it with the blood skull gu yet. And there's still the blood sea ancestor's potential inheritance. Until I accomplish both of those goals it's just not worth leaving Qing Mao mountain yet.
I shake my head. "This junior gives his sincere apology, I cannot accept your offer. My loyalty lies with my clan."
After getting the inheritance and improving my aptitude I'll be able to travel the world on my own. Tying myself to a caravan would limit my destinations and opportunities.
Jia Fu sighs. "My offer still stands. I will offer you both a sizable wage and a cut of the profits of any of your trades. If you ever change your mind feel free to contact me, whether it be this year or the following years."
I give him a slight bow. "This junior thanks senior for his understanding."
I finish my tea and leave for the gambling tents. There are two more stands than last time, hopefully there's more gu as well. The clerks don't bat an eye at my lucky die, they are already used to more ridiculous gambling superstitions.
In the end I buy 1 blue rock, 1 golden rock and 1 grey rock. With all of my shopping done I head back to the tavern to open my rocks.
Inside of my apartment I find Shen Cui and Wang Luli gossiping. They both freeze when they see me, before Wang Luli begins to whisper in Shen Cui's ear, beginning another session of gossip. I just take a seat at a table and begin opening my gambling rocks.
Shen Cui whispers to Wang Luli. "Are you sure that she said that?"
Wang Luli whispers back. "Yeah, she has a gigantic crush on Yuan."
I begin chipping the golden rock. Shen Cui giggles, before whispering. "What do you want to do about it?"
The rock is opened, revealing a rank 4 sword qi gu. This is an extremely rare gu. It allows a gu master to throw spectral swords made from qi from their enclosed middle and index fingers. Wang Luli whispers. "You first, what do you want to do?"
I begin chipping away at the grey rock. Shen Cui whispers. "I think Yuan would really like her, she has both a good temperament and good looks."
The rock is opened, revealing a rank 3 saw qi gu. This gu forms a spectral chainsaw around the arms of a gu master, increasing their attack power. Wang Luli whispers back. "Are you sure? I heard that she is very spoiled."
I begin chipping away at the blue rock. Shen Cui whispers. "She is going to mature in time, she was just very sheltered during her childhood."
The rock is opened, revealing a rank 2 rewind gu. This gu is a time path gu with the power of rewinding the time of a gu. As an example, if someone were to fire a moonblade at me, using this gu would allow me to reverse the moonblade, making it as if it was never fired.
This can also be used on your own gu, allowing to bypass the restrictions of certain gu. For example, I could create nine vitality leaf gu using the vitality grass gu, use the rewind gu then make another nine vitality leaf gu.
The chainsaw gu's and the sword qi gu's food is unavailable in Gu Yue village, so I will have to seal them away with a gu like the earth treasure flower gu. I look into my aperture and inspect the chainsawpede. Another idea has come to my mind, intuition confirms its possibility.
Wang Luli whispers. "Alright, I'll have a talk with her servant, we'll see if anything happens." I take out the chainsawpede and push the rank 3 saw gu into it, turning the two of them into a large ball of light. Shen Cui and Wang Luli stop gossiping, now staring curiously at the ball of light.
I throw in the last few primeval stones that I have left into the ball of light and wait for it to begin dimming. Once the ball of light starts to dim I throw in the rank 4 sword qi gu, which makes the ball of light disappear.
A four meter long centipede with gold chitin drops. Its feet and jaw are made of steel chainsaws. It has the aura of a rank 4 gu. This is a new gu.
I will name it rank 4 iron chainsaw golden centipede gu. As for this one specifically I'll have to come up with a go- "Young master, can this one give it a name?"
I turn towards Shen Cui, she is giving me puppy dog eyes. I shrug. "Sure, why not."
Shen Cui turns to Wang Luli. Wang Luli gives her an eager nod. Shen Cui turns towards the rank 4 iron chainsaw golden centipede gu. "You are Wiggles."