Fang Yuan walked out of a hiding place with two heavy bags each containing boar tusks.
"Now should be the time I head back. Judging by the time, Wang Da should be dead by now," Fang Yuan thought, knowing the exact time of Wang Da's death from his previous life.
Similarly to his previous life, Fang Yuan traversed the exact same path as before. Therefore, he was cautious not to attract the attention of the Wild Boar King.
A massive wild boar, nearly the size of an elephant, lay half-kneeling and half-lying in a muddy pit, its eyes tightly shut as it rested. Its sharp, gleaming tusks were free of dirt, reflecting the fading light of dusk that shimmered across its dark fur. Its large white belly rose and fell with each breath, producing deep, rhythmic snorting sounds.
Beast kings often host Gu worms within their bodies.
The Wild Boar King was no exception—it likely carried Boar-type Gu, such as the Pink Boar Gu or Flower Boar Gu.
Beyond boar-related types, it might also harbor Gu like the Beast Skin Gu or Spike Fur worm.
In this world, Gu worms come in countless forms. They often live symbiotically within powerful wild beasts, coexisting and benefiting from each other.
When danger arises, these Gu worms instinctively respond, aiding the beast in fending off enemies.
The Wild Boar King's massive size and overwhelming power far surpassed that of ordinary boars. Fang Yuan alone was no match for it, especially when considering the unknown number of potentially dangerous Gu worms residing within its body. Not to mention even an average Rank two Gu Master cannot kill it, if he is not clear of the Gu worms on its body.
A few minutes later, a youngster full of grass bits, his shirt torn in several areas and his feet full of mud, carried two bags and ran up the hill.
This pathetic looking youngster, was Fang Yuan.
"I'm finally safely back here. At this place, there are clan elders to protect me and my safety is assured." Fang Yuan sighed in relief, and slowly ascended the hill.
When he got near the tentage, he heard the students' discussions.
"Did you hear, there was an assassination earlier, and several Rank two Gu Masters died."
"Are you serious?"
"It's true, I came here early, and I saw Gu Yue Fang Zheng carried away by several clan elders, hurrying away."
"Gu Yue Fang Zheng is too unlucky, to encounter something like this during the exam."
"Hehe, you don't know huh. The target was Fang Zheng, because he is A grade talent!"
"I wonder if he'll die?"
"Even if he doesn't die, he's gonna be affected. Maybe his talent might drop after that injury."
Fang Yuan was not surprise as he had heard the same thing before.
Next, Fang Yuan walked towards the academy Elder to submit his boar tusks.
"Fang Yuan you are here, how many did you get?" The academy elder's expression was ugly because of Fang Zheng condition but he still has to maintain his position and continue the mid-year examination.
Fang Yuan came here earlier than his previous life, he opened up the bags, grabbing the bottom of the bag and pouring out the contents.
Crash.
Dozens of wild boar tusks gathered into a pile by his feet.
"This!" the academy elder was shocked
"How can there be so many? This is too much!" The academy elder looked at Fang Yuan in disbelief, "Fang Yuan, did you hunt all these?"
Once again Fang Yuan repeated the same words as his previous life, cupping his fists. "I only hunted a dozen tusks myself, but I found a bag that could've been hidden by hunters. Inside it were many wild boar tusks. I thought about it, the exam was that we had to obtain as many tusks as possible within a day, and did not specify that we have to kill it ourselves, thus I brought it here."
Once he finished, the crowd around that was attracted by Fang Yuan results burst into discussions.
"How can this be?"
"Way too lucky!"
"This is too fake, could the questions have leaked thus he cheated?"
After an hour or so
Academy elder received the paper, reading without paying proper attention, "In this year's examination, the results are as follows… Gu Yue Chi Cheng sixteen tusks, Gu Yue Mo Bei fourteen tusks…"
The surrounding students' attention were obtained. The results were clear.
D-grade students, even if they worked together, they could only obtain three to four tusks. B and C grades, at most eight to nine. Those with more than ten tusks were the good performers.
The best was Gu Yue Chi Cheng with sixteen tusks. Next was Mo Bei, and as for Fang Zheng he had ten.
However, all of them showed an ugly expression because they knew Fang Yuan had once again secured the first place.
The academy elder announced, "As such, I announce the number one student for this examination is Fang Yuan."
"First place again?!"
"This is too much"
"Fang Yuan actually collected so many boar tusks that even the second place couldn't compare."
"Even A and B grade can't compete with Fang Yuan it seems"
The students discussed among themselves. Many of them were furious and jealous, but surprisingly, some had fully accepted the results—whether it was the continuous success Fang Yuan demonstrated or his complete domination.
The discussion room's atmosphere was heavy.
Gu Yue Bo sat at the leading seat, and the other dozen elders sat in two rows beside him, their faces full of rage.
"Gu Yue Yao Ji, you are the number one healer in our clan, I'm asking you how is Fang Zheng now?" Gu Yue Bo asked a clan elder.
Gu Yue Yao Ji was an old woman with a hunched back, her face full of treebark-like wrinkles.
She coughed twice, slowly saying, "Reporting to clan head, the situation has stabilized. Fang Zheng's life is in no danger, but he is still sleeping. His talent did not drop because of this."
"Good if the talent didn't drop." Gu Yue Bo breathed a sigh of relief, then asked the punishment hall's elder, "Has the assassin's situation been assessed?"
The punishment hall elder was not as senior as Gu Yue Yao Ji, and immediately stood up, lowering his head, "Yes, thirty-five years old, male, identity unknown, possibly a demonic faction Gu Master. He has two Gu worms, Shadow Follower Gu and Love Life Separation."
Gu Yue Bo nodded, "Seems like an assassin. Love Life Separation… the Rank two number one poison, no wonder he could kill three of my Gu Masters."
"Clan head, we have to investigate further! It's either the Bai clan or the Xiong clan!" Gu Yue Chi Lian shouted, his eyes almost bursting into flames.
"Shadow Follower Gu, Love Life Separation… this is not like the Bai or Xiong clan's pawn pieces. He might be an outside demonic faction Gu Master, wanting to get affiliated with the clans, thus being instructed to assassinate Fang Zheng to prove his loyalty. Regardless, this matter definitely has to do with the two clans," Gu Yue Mo Chen coldly said.
These two clan elders in power, although they did not get along, once an external enemy appears, they would discard their hatred and knit tightly together.
Gu Yue Bo nodded, thinking the same himself.
Wang Da had disappeared for three years, with no traces to be found. The villagers all thought of him to be dead, thus his identity became a mystery. The Gu Yue higher-ups did not know this, they would not be concerned with a servant's death. They placed all their attentions on the Xiong and Bai clans.
At this moment, the academy elder walked in.
"Clan leader…" He looked worried and was about to speak when Gu Yue Bo answered, "Academy elder, Fang Zheng is fine, his talent is still A-grade."
The academy elder's face became relaxed.
"Oh yes, are the other students safe? And for this examination, how are their results, which place is Fang Zheng?" Gu Yue Bo asked conveniently.
The academy elder answered truthfully, and when he said that Fang Yuan had accidentally picked up a bag of wild boar tusks and got first place, Gu Yue Bo's eyes shone.
The hall too went silent. The clan elders, as if they sensed it, subtly observed the atmosphere, and the originally nervous environment became slightly more peculiar.