"You have received all of your requested gu worms as per our agreement."
The unspoken part is 'Now give me that fucking recipe!'
The state of the clan is very tumultuous. The presence of a rank 4 gu master would've made the transfer of power much simpler, now the clan will hold an election among the elders to decide the next clan leader. I take a rolled piece of paper from my pockets and hand it to Chi Lian. "Here it is."
Chi Lian has come to my tavern to have some more discussions with me.
He takes it, unrolls the paper and begins reading. At first his face is scrounged in confusion, by the time that he finishes reading his expression becomes stupefied. "How do you even have this recipe?"
What I've just handed him is the recipe for the rank 3 man beast life burial gu. It's a gu worm that can make a peak stage rank 2 gu master forcefully breakthrough to rank 3. The required materials are pretty cheap too, just a few rank 2 gu worms, an enslaved beast and a virgin female gu master. "The tooth fairy gave it to me when I lost my milk teeth."
Chi Lian's expression doesn't change. "Is this tooth fairy the secret backing that you appear to have?"
Oh yeah, they use fairy to refer to beautiful women here don't they? "Yeah, I'm going to go meet with her in Wu clan city. Her interests only extend to me, not the clan. I sadly can't give more details about her."
Chi Lian sighs. "I certainly hope so, attracting the attention of a rank 5 gu master could spell the end of our clan."
The temptation to correct him that the tooth fairy is a rank 6 gu immortal is not insignificant. "Indeed it would. Is there anything else that you have come for?"
Chi Lian nods. "The election will take place in a week's time, I wish to ask for your support."
Mo Bei has gone into seclusion ever since both his kids died, so he's most likely out of the running. Chi Lian's faction has about a third of the elders, Gu Hao and I are known to be pretty close, so he's assuming that by buying me he'll get Gu Hao too. Mo Bei's faction is likely to have one of their own for the election if Mo Bei isn't present.
The vote is going to be decided by the independents. Most of them are going to vote for whoever brings them the most benefits, so they're going to be pretty expensive to bribe. "What're you offering?"
Chi Lian just stares at me, before sighing. "I had invested a sizable portion of my assets into the Jia clan caravan the last time they came. I will withdraw some of them and pay you two hundred thousand primeval stones when they arrive."
So an IOU. "I want five hundred thousand."
Chi Lian scoffs. "Hmp, two hundred and fifty thousand. I still need to keep some assets to repair the clan."
He's not trying to manipulate me with the whole 'the clan is family' shtick, looks like he caught on that I don't care about that. "Four hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine."
He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, calming himself, before replying. "Can you be serious for once?"
I nod. "I am serious, that's the amount of primeval stones that I want. You can think of it as a bribe for me not to expose your son's aptitude, you'd lose the election instantly then."
Wow, I can actually hear his teeth grinding. "Very well. Nine hundred ninety nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine, and not a single primeval stone more."
I extend my hand for a handshake. "Deal."
Chi Lian begrudgingly shakes it. "By the way, Gu Hao isn't going to just follow my vote."
He sighs. "I am not stupid, I know he needs to be bribed as well."
I bet he's waiting for the day that I leave with even more anticipation than a virgin waiting for his wedding night.
—
The next person on the meeting list is Gu Hao, thankfully our meeting is more friendly compared to the one with Chi Lian. "How's life as an elder treating you?"
Gu Hao smiles. "Perfectly. Chi La and I are getting married tomorrow, there isn't anyone to object anymore now that I am an elder."
Chi La leans on Gu Hao. "You are invited too, getting out of your room every now and then isn't going to kill you, you know?"
I smile. "I've heard that touching grass can lead to the most severe of heart demons. On a more serious note, have you blackmailed Chi Lian yet?"
Gu Hao shakes his head. "Not yet, I'm waiting for him to approach me about the upcoming election. As the newest elder I'm also probably the cheapest to bribe, so he should ask for a meeting any day now."
I pour all of us a cup of tea. "I've gotten five hundred thousand from him, but I also know some more of his dirty laundry than you do now. Going for two hundred thousand should be pretty safe."
The man beast life burial gu is a blood path gu worm. The process of refining it can be boiled down to force feeding a virgin female gu master to a beast and then burning the beast alive with kerosene gu. He's going to use it without a doubt. I shake my head "Actually, forget about that two hundred thousand. Here's a recipe for a gu worm."
I hastily scribble down the recipe for the rank 3 man beast life burial gu. "This is a gu worm that can force the breakthrough from rank 2 peak stage to rank 3. I sold it to him, you can blackmail him with it too. Ask for five hundred thousand and see where you go from there."
Gu Hao and Chi La read the recipe. Gu Hao simply closes his eyes and sighs after reading it, Chi La instead looks at it more thoughtfully. "Many clans would kill for a recipe like this, it's cheap enough to mass produce rank 3 gu masters…"
It's unlikely that Chi Lian will only use it for his own son, he'll probably use it to make enough elders to own the whole clan. Gu Hao folds the paper and puts it in his pocket. "Thank you for trusting us with this, I know it couldn't have been easy."
I smile. "Don't worry about it, if Chi Lian gets angry tell him that if anything were to happen to you the tooth fairy will pay the clan a visit."
Gu Hao and Chi La both questioningly stare at me. I giggle. "I told him I got the recipe from the tooth fairy to fuck with him, he thinks that there's a rank 5 gu master called the tooth fairy backing me."
Chi La takes the man beast burial gu's recipe from Gu Hao's pocket. "I feel like that's a joke that neither of us get."
I nod. "It is, my parents told me that if I put my fallen teeth under my pillow the tooth fairy will come and give me primeval stones."
Gu Hao smirks. "And you thought that everyone's parents told them this?"
I shrug. "Pretty much."
—
My vote has been bought so I can't just abstain from the election. Sending someone to represent me isn't an option either, so I'm forced to actually be there personally.
Almost all of the elders are present, the only absentee is Mo Chen. Chi Lian is the one to begin the election. "Fellow elder's, we must choose a wise and strong leader for our clan. I will enter the election personally, are there any other's who wish to join?"
There's no reason for an elder to be a candidate for the position of clan leader if they don't have any actual chances of winning. It's much more convenient to simply be bribed for your vote. None of the independents say anything, as do the elder's of the Chi faction.
The Mo faction is also surprisingly quiet. It seems that without Mo Chen to lead them they lack a sense of direction. One of the elders, a middle aged woman, steps forward. "I will run for the position of clan leader as well."
Going from the dirty looks that some of the Mo faction are giving her there's more behind the story of her joining. Chi Lian nods. "Very well. Anyone else wishes to enter the election?"
No one replies, leading to Chi Lian nodding again. "Very well. Do you wish to make your case first, elder Gao Ha, or do you wish for me to do so?"
She nods. "I will go first. I have chosen to participate for a single reason, and I will be frank about it, I hate you."
Chi Lian blinks. Gao Ha continues. "I hate you and everything that you stand for Chi Lian, the only reason that I have joined the election is to be a thorn in your side."
So that's why she's joined, she's gathering his haters and making the price of bribing her more expensive. Clever. She continues. "You are a disgrace and a shame to our clan. You used the death of Mo Chen's family to improve your own reputation!"
Chi Lian scoffs. "And you have chosen to join this election to cause disunity in the clan, instead of bringing us together you wish to separate us?"
Gao Ha nods. "If being on the side of justice means being against family then so be it! Justice is fair and blind, there can be no discrimination between close family and distant family!"
Chi Lian shakes his head. "You are young and lack wisdom, hopefully you shall not remain ignorant for long. Let us cast the votes, this minor dispute is not enough to grind our proceedings to a halt for."
She nods. "The good of the clan comes before my hatred of you, very well. Let us proceed to casting votes."
Translated : I'm keeping a door open with you. Chi Lian nods. "Very well. I will cast my vote for myself.
Gao Ha scoffs. "I vote for myself as well."
I shrug. "I cast my vote in favor of Chi Lian."
Yao Ji, Yao Le's grandmother, casts her vote. "I vote in favor of Chi Lian."
Gu Hao nods. "My vote goes to elder Chi Lian, he is the most appropriate person to become clan leader."
Chi Lian's faction votes for him.
"I cast my vote in favor of elder Chi Lian."
"Elder Chi Lian will most assuredly guide the Gu Yue clan to ever greater heights, I cast my vote for him!"
"My vote is in favor of elder Chi Lian."
Most of the independents follow suit, their votes cast in favor of Chi Lian as well. The ones who either have some form of beef with Chi Lian or just straight up don't like him vote for Gao Ha. Where it gets interesting is when the Mo faction is left to vote.
Chi Lian already has enough votes to win the election, their choice in voting now is them either pledging their allegiance or casting themselves as part of the opposition. Half of the Mo faction votes for Chi Lian, another quarter votes for Gao Ha and the final quarter abstain from voting.
Chi Lian has won the election by a landslide. "I thank you for your confidence in me, I vow to lead our Gu Yue clan into greatness!"
—
The conditions to create the killer move to deal with the snake have been completed.
A wisdom path gu worm that can aid a gu master in activating and using gu and the rank 5 blood frenzy gu are the key requirements to it.
The blood frenzy gu looks like a large clot of blood with a mouth full of teeth attached.
Any other gu can be replaced and swapped as needed, these two form the core of my strategy. The effect of the rank 5 blood frenzy gu is pretty simple.
I make the blood frenzy gu bite a rank 2 moonglow gu and immediately make it let go of it afterwards. The moonglow gu begins to glow slightly larger and become a bit red. The first use of it costs half as much primeval essence as usual, the second costs none at all.
The blood frenzy gu allows a gu worm of identical, or lower, rank to use the primeval essence present in the atmosphere, the same way that wild gu do, instead of the gu masters own primeval essence.
I continue spamming the usage of the moonglow gu until it becomes fatigued. I continue using it despite its apparent fatigue and begin to wound it. After about four hundred consecutive back-to-back uses the gu dies.
The downside to the blood frenzy is that the gu it is used on will die. This moonglow gu did not die from its effect however, it died from overuse. I attach the blood frenzy gu on a rank 1 moonlight gu, immediately detaching it afterwards.
I watch as the gu turns red and becomes slightly larger. Its size continues to slowly increase, as does its color slowly redden. After ten minutes it starts to melt, and in another half a minute it's turned into a clot of blood. This is how it kills gu, it slowly turns them into clots of blood.
Testing it on a cheap rank 2 gu worm shows that the duration until death is identical between ranks, this should let me use rank 5 gu for ten minutes.
I'll wait for the Jia clan caravan to arrive before going into the cave, advancing the thunder wail killer move is a priority.
—
This is the tale of two brothers.
Both of them were gu masters in the central continent. The older brother took care of his younger brother in his youth, protecting him and showing him the virtues of the righteous path.
The older brother's aptitude was merely C grade, not nearly enough to advance to rank 3. They both lived a life of hardship, taking comfort in the trust they placed in each other.
Their life changed when the aperture of the younger brother was awakened. The younger brother's aptitude was A-grade!
They immediately went from being treated like dirt to being treated like royalty in comparison. Rank A aptitude is a once in a generation genius, out of hundreds of gu masters only one or two might have this high of an aptitude!
The younger brother did not forget the help of his older brother. As the older brother helped the younger brother in his early years, the older brother helped the younger brother afterwards.
They were inseparable, each mission they took was undertaken together. They joined the immortal crane sect and swiftly became renowned as the righteous twin cranes. Upon finding a lifespan gu the younger brother even offered this precious treasure to the older one first, a most virtuous gesture of familial piety!
The older brother refused, insisting that his sibling use the lifespan gu. His aptitude was merely C-grade, leading to him to refuse the use of this gu. After a long dispute the older brother finally convinced the younger brother to extend his lifespan with the lifespan gu.
They slowly cultivated and became stronger. The younger brother never forgot the sacrifices his old brother made for him, even after becoming a rank 4 gu master he still kept his older brother in high regard, never forgetting all of the sacrifices that were made for him.
This all changed when the two brother's encountered an inheritance. A blood path inheritance from the Blood Sea Ancestor.
Blood Sea Ancestor is an extremely famous rank 8 blood path demonic gu master, he is the founder of blood path!
It is said that the righteous path finally cornered him after years of his crimes against humanity, fatally poisoning him and forcing him to run away. They did not insist on pursuing him, being more than confident in his impending death. This would prove to be one of righteous path's greatest blunders.
Blood Sea Ancestor spent his remaining life seeding tens of thousands of blood path inheritances all over the five regions of the gu world, ensuring that blood path will survive and prosper even after his death.
Even to the modern era, it is not uncommon for a gu master to find one of his inheritances and turn to the demonic path, finding one of his inheritances is the most common way that blood path gu masters emerge.
There is a myth that among these tens of thousands there are a precious few true inheritances, hidden from the righteous path by the sheer number of inheritances that the Blood Sea Ancestor had left.
Such was the inheritance that the two brother's happened upon, a true inheritance of the Blood Sea Ancestor, a true inheritance of one of the most notorious demonic gu masters that the gu world had ever seen!