In truth, news of the flower wine inheritance had long been circulating among the upper echelons of the Gu Yue Clan.
It was just that the Clan Chief, Gu Yue Bo, intentionally suppressed the information to allow Fang Yuan to focus on his growth in peace, keeping the matter of the inheritance from being made public, so that he could inherit this Rank Five Legacy alone.
"Clan Chief, actually, back in the Rock Crevice Secret Cave, I didn't only discover the wine worm, I also found the Strength Path Legacy of the Flower Wine Walker."
Fang Yuan stepped into the Clan Leader Pavilion and, led by the guards, met with Gu Yue Bo, laying out the entire matter of the flower wine inheritance.
After listening, a gentle smile spread across Gu Yue Bo's face, his tone unhurried:
"Fang Yuan, I've known about this for a while. So, how is the exploration of the flower wine inheritance progressing?"
"Reporting to the Clan Chief, everything is proceeding relatively smoothly. However, I've now reached a critical juncture in the inheritance, requiring a significant amount of time for exploration, but Group Leader Qing Shu has also assigned me Family tasks..."
Fang Yuan's words were cut off as Gu Yue Bo raised a hand to interrupt.
"I am aware of this matter," Gu Yue Bo's tone carried an unquestionable certainty:
"I will make things clear with Qing Shu. You just focus on exploring the flower wine inheritance."
Having received the Clan Chief's approval, Fang Yuan threw himself wholeheartedly into exploring the flower wine inheritance. After slaying countless Jade Eye Stone Monkeys, he finally discovered a long-sealed stone door deep within the stone forest.
Pushing open the heavy, cold stone door, behind it was a cramped secret chamber.
In the center of the chamber grew an earth hiding flower, while on the other side stood another new stone door. Fang Yuan walked to the earth hiding flower, slicing it open to extract a Rank Two Grass Gu—the Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass.
This Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass was a rare scouting-type Gu worm, capable of greatly amplifying a Gu Master's hearing, allowing them to hear clearly every rustle within a range of several hundred paces.
On that new stone door, two lines of text were clearly inscribed:
[In the Golden Centipede Cave lies a fatal calamity, use the Earth Listener to avoid disaster]
The so-called 'Golden Centipede' and 'fatal calamity' referred to a Rank Three attack Gu—the Serrated Gold Centipede; and the 'Earth Listener' was this Rank Two Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass.
The Flower Wine Walker left these words, intending for the inheritor to rely on the keen hearing of the Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass to evade the Serrated Gold Centipede's ambush. But Fang Yuan held the rank six immortal gu, the spring autumn cicada—why would he need to avoid its Sharpness?
The rank six immortal gu, the spring autumn cicada, was more than enough to directly suppress this Rank Three Serrated Gold Centipede.
"Taking this Serrated Gold Centipede now might be a bit too early. I'll come back for it after I advance to Rank Three."
Fang Yuan thought to himself.
Although with the spring autumn cicada's help, refining Gu worms was as easy as turning one's hand, the Serrated Gold Centipede was, after all, a Rank Three Gu worm. With his current cultivation at Rank Two Mid Stage, even if he obtained this Gu, he wouldn't be able to activate it freely as he wished.
"Since I'll have to come back for this Gu eventually anyway, why not just take it now?"
Yuan Fang's voice sounded in Fang Yuan's mind. Hearing this, Fang Yuan slightly frowned. He always felt Yuan Fang was brewing something, so he asked Yuan Fang:
"What have you discovered now?"
"Uh... nothing much, just wanting to save some trouble."
Fang Yuan didn't press further. First the spring autumn cicada, then the Flash Gu—this Yuan Fang always managed to pinpoint the most crucial spots. Besides, he didn't seem to have any malicious intent. So, Fang Yuan raised his hand, pushed open the stone door, and walked straight into the next stone cave.
The cave was densely packed with centipedes crawling all over the walls, layer upon layer like a black tide, but these mundane centipedes posed no threat in his eyes.
With a single activation of the white jade gu's protective shield, all approaching centipedes were repelled; not a single one could get close to his body.
But the true menace was only now making its belated appearance.
A giant centipede over a meter long suddenly shifted from stillness to motion.
Its two rows of cold-gleaming serrated teeth rotated at high speed like chainsaws, sharp and peerless. Even the defensive shield formed by the white jade gu couldn't withstand the Serrated Gold Centipede's fierce sawing.
The Serrated Gold Centipede shot towards Fang Yuan like a bolt of lightning, coiling around his body like a python, its serrated teeth pressed against the spiritual light, spinning wildly, emitting a piercing *chi chi* sound.
"spring autumn cicada."
Fang Yuan uttered a low shout, and the spring autumn cicada released a wave of aura.
The moment the spring autumn cicada's aura leaked out, the previously ferocious Serrated Gold Centipede instantly stiffened as if struck by lightning, offering no further resistance.
Fang Yuan reached out, grabbed the Serrated Gold Centipede, and channeled his Rank Two Mid Stage primeval essence, refining it in an instant.
The Serrated Gold Centipede was an extremely domineering close-combat Gu worm:
When held in hand, it could slash and chop like a chainsaw; more insidiously, its body could bend, twist, and freely lengthen or shorten at will, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, making it impossible to guard against.
In the original work, it was when Fang Yuan, at Rank Three, wielded this Serrated Gold Centipede and fought a great battle against the equally Rank Three Bai Ning Bing that the two fought to a standstill. This spectacle directly stunned everyone in Gu Yue Village and Bai Family Village.
In the early plot of the original work, powerful Gu worms were already few and far between, making the Rank Three Serrated Gold Centipede appear even more Heaven-Defying. It could be called the 'Qing Mao Mountain Divine Artifact.' It's just a pity it was a Rank Three Gu worm, and with Fang Yuan's current cultivation, he still found it difficult to wield it freely.
"A pity. This Rank Three Gu worm, I can't control it as I wish for now."
Fang Yuan sighed lightly in his heart, but his steps didn't stop as he continued deeper into the stone cave.
Suddenly, the sound of gurgling water reached his ears. An origin spring appeared before his eyes, but it was firmly blocked by a Pass Through Chasm Gu.
Fang Yuan's pupils contracted sharply, his eyes suddenly brightening—
Behind the Pass Through Chasm Gu, a lotus flower was in full bloom—it was the Rank Three heavenly origin treasure lotus!
"A pity my current strength is insufficient. Even if I took this heavenly origin treasure lotus, I wouldn't survive."
Fang Yuan knew this origin spring was the Foundation of the Gu Yue Clan. Once plucked, the origin spring would immediately collapse. At that time, the enraged Gu Yue Clan Members wouldn't care about any 'Gu Yue Genius'; they would tear him to pieces.
"Fang Yuan, why don't you use this Earth Listener Right Ear Grass first?" Yuan Fang's voice sounded again.
"What do you mean? What have you discovered now?" Fang Yuan asked coldly.
"Do you know of the Rank Five Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider? It feeds on earth and is probably still alive."
Hearing this, Fang Yuan asked no more. He raised his hand and activated the Serrated Gold Centipede. Its sharp, serrated edge, like a rotating blade, sliced directly towards his own right ear.
With a crisp *chi* sound, the entire right ear fell off. Yet, Fang Yuan's face showed no ripple of emotion, as if the flesh severed wasn't from his own body.
"Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass."
With a thought, the right-ear-shaped Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass immediately extended fine root tendrils, rushing towards the wound on his right ear, tightly adhering, taking root, completely replacing the lost ear.
The Gu World is filled with countless strange and bizarre Gu worms. Activating many powerful Gu worms requires paying a corresponding price:
For example, Gu Yue Qing Shu's wood charm gu, Bai Ning Bing's Frost Demon Gu, and the Northern Plains 'Elder of Chang Family's' Killer Move, the Six-Armed Heavenly Corpse King, are all like this.
And the price for the Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass was one's own right ear.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
Yuan Fang stared at Fang Yuan's impassive face, his tone full of shock.
Fang Yuan didn't answer, silently activating the Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass. Instantly, slender root tendrils suddenly sprouted from the earhole of his right ear, growing and dividing at a visible, frenzied rate.
Countless root tendrils burrowed into the ground like a spider's web. In an instant, Fang Yuan's hearing surged to its limit; every movement within a three-hundred-pace radius was clearly audible.
"This... this is the aura of a Rank Five Gu! It's in this direction!"
He abruptly locked onto the source of the aura, then stopped activating the Earth Listener Flesh Ear Grass. Raising his hand, he activated the Serrated Gold Centipede and used its sharp, silver-edged serrations to carve a conspicuous 'X' on that section of the stone wall before turning to leave.
"Fang Yuan, do you remember the Rank Four blood frenzy gu?"
On the way back to Gu Yue Village, Yuan Fang suddenly asked.
"Of course I remember," Fang Yuan said. "The blood frenzy gu is the Blood Sea Ancestor's lifelong My masterpiece. In my previous life, I ascended to Immortal Ascension via the Blood Path. How could I not know this Gu?"
He paused, then continued explaining: "The blood frenzy gu, a Rank Four Blood Path Gu worm, takes the form of a churning mass of blood mist. Its sole function is to send Gu worms into a frenzy."
"Once a Gu worm is incited into a frenzy by the blood frenzy gu, it gradually slips from its master's control. At that point, it no longer consumes the Gu Master's primeval essence, instead frantically devouring the natural primeval essence of the outside world until, in the end, this contaminated Gu worm completely turns into a pool of blood, vanishing without a trace."
Recalling the experience from the original work, Yuan Fang felt another pang of regret. In the original, Fang Yuan had discovered that Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider, but by then it had already been contaminated by the blood frenzy gu.
After a battle with the Rank Five Gu worm, White Phase Immortal Snake, that Rank Five Earth Wolf Spider turned into a pool of blood—it was a Rank Five Gu worm, after all.
"Do you have a method to cleanse the blood frenzy gu? I need to use it within two years."
Yuan Fang looked at Fang Yuan, his tone carrying an unquestionable seriousness.
"Hmm? What have you discovered now?" Fang Yuan thought to himself: What is this guy plotting now?
"Don't ask too much. That Thousand-Mile Earth Wolf Spider is indeed contaminated. I just sensed the blood frenzy gu's aura underground."
Fang Yuan nodded, saying gravely, "There is a method, and it's only a Rank Four technique. However, there's a problem."
"Speak quickly! What's the problem? Is the technique extremely difficult to master?" Yuan Fang pressed.
"It's not difficult. In fact, it could be said to be extremely simple."
Fang Yuan shook his head, his tone suddenly grave:
"The only problem is that this technique belongs to—the Blood Path."
"Blood Path Gu Masters are not tolerated by heaven and earth. The blood sea true inheritance poisons for ten thousand years."
In the Gu World, there was once a Rank Seven Blood Path Gu Immortal named the Blood Sea Ancestor.
The Blood Sea Ancestor dedicated his entire life to researching this Path. Blood Droplets, Blade Wing Blood Bats, blood frenzy gu... these were all his My masterpiece that allowed him to dominate the Five Regions.
It was precisely because the Blood Path was too vicious and cruel that the Blood Sea Ancestor was eventually jointly besieged by the Righteous Path immortals. Even someone as powerful as the Blood Sea Ancestor ultimately couldn't escape death.
But before his death, this Blood Path titan actually laid down thousands upon thousands of Blood Sea Inheritances across the Five Regions, ensuring that the Blood Path lineage not only didn't perish but instead grew even stronger.
The cultivation path of a Blood Path Gu Master was as different from that of a Righteous Path Gu Master as clouds from mud:
While Gu Masters in the neighboring Gu Yue Village toiled to cultivate moon orchid flowers just to feed their moonlight gu, Blood Path Gu Masters only needed some fresh flesh and blood to quickly nurture their Gu worms;
While Righteous Path Gu Masters traversed mountains and rivers searching for rare Gu materials, exhausting their efforts to refine Gu worms, Blood Path Gu Masters only needed to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people to gather the required blood path gu materials, never worrying about scarcity.
In terms of combat, Blood Path Gu Masters held even greater advantages:
While Righteous Path Gu Masters meticulously calculated their primeval essence consumption during intense battles, Blood Path Gu Masters simply smiled calmly, utterly unafraid of exhaustion;
While Servitude Path Gu Masters focused entirely on controlling beast hordes, the Blood Droplets of a Blood Path Gu Master would already blanket the sky and earth, requiring no deliberate control, no primeval essence consumption, leaving nothing alive in their wake like a locust plague;
Even Strength Path Gu Masters, if they underestimated a Blood Path Gu Master controlling Blood Droplets as an ordinary Servitude Path Gu Master, the terrifying power comparable to ancient Strength Path that the Blood Path Gu Master displayed would show them why the flowers are so red.
It could be said that the Blood Path was an almost all-encompassing school.
It might not be the rarest, highest-level, or most 'top-tier' school in the Gu World, but it was the most practical and destructive.
In his previous life, Fang Yuan had founded the Blood Wing Demonic Cult, establishing Demonic Soldiers, Demonic Generals, and Demonic Marshals. With only rank six cultivation and not a single immortal gu, relying solely on a group of Rank Five Blood Path Gu worms, he gained a foothold in Central Continent.
He could even withstand the attacks of Rank Seven Gu Immortals, narrowly escaping death several times from the sieges of the Ten Great Ancient Sects.
The might of the Blood Path had long exceeded the tolerance threshold of the Gu World—both the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path hated Blood Path Gu Masters to the bone.
The Central Continent Heavenly Court even specially established the immortal gu house, the Demon Judgment Board, listing Blood Path Gu Immortals as the primary targets for eradication. Almost no one who dabbled in the Blood Path could escape the fate of being hunted down.