Gong Yannan never thought of defaulting because the Green Silk Spirit Grass Gu was really useful to him, worth more than two thousand Spirit Stones.
The reason he went to Tiantong to pledge this Gu Insect was that pledging to other Gu Cultivators, he simply couldn't get it back.
But his Life-bound Gu was about to advance, and he had to find a place to cultivate in seclusion and seize this opportunity.
However, pledging to non-Gu Cultivators doesn't fetch a good price as the "Spirit Grass" in the Green Silk Spirit Grass Gu is intended for Gu Insect purposes.
In short, Gu Cultivators are indeed relatively poor—which is not exactly poor, the key is most of their Spirit Stones are exchanged for cultivation resources, or they are unwilling to exchange cultivation resources for Spirit Stones.
Gu Cultivators are a niche group of cultivators, and their cultivation resources are rare and hard to find.
