Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 161 Small Actions, Time Is Mine
at the same time.

Fang Shu's background, lineage, and even his past in Guling Town were on the minds of some people. These people included those within the Gu Hall and those outside of it.

For example, in a secluded room, Erdaiyuan picked up a letter that a yellow bird had brought back, unfolded it and read it several times. Then, her eyes narrowed slightly, and she muttered to herself:
"As expected, he is just an ordinary mortal, born into an ordinary Taoist temple at the foot of the mountain, with no noble family background. Although he seems to have a past relationship with the old mountain lord of Guniu Ridge, judging from his usual behavior and his financial difficulties, he should only have gained the old mountain lord's favor, but not his financial assistance."

"But now, this boy has been in the Gu Hall for less than a year, and for some reason he has caught the eye of the Dragon Maiden Immortal..."

After a moment's thought, Er Daiyuan picked up her pen and wrote a few words on the bookmark. Fang Shu commented: "A poor boy with no special background, but with some potential and a knack for making connections."

After she stopped writing, her gaze fell on the two characters "缘" (fate/destiny), and she unconsciously drew a circle around them, her eyes lost in thought.

Apart from Erdaiyuan, the members of the Gu Hall also made their own judgments about Fang Shu, with attitudes ranging from fear to calmness, and their evaluations varying from high to low:

"The man from the foot of the mountain is quite ruthless; he dares to cultivate Yin-Yang True Qi in order to please the Dragon Master."

"This boy should be treated with respect but kept at a distance, but there is no need to be wary of him. We can simply observe his success or failure."

………………

Inside the Fangxian Cave.

Fang Shu was unaware of the spying on him. He pondered the letters on his desk repeatedly and had gained a more detailed understanding of his fifth senior brother's background.

He held a pale yellow piece of paper in his hand and thought to himself, "It's actually a mid-level spiritual root."

Those born with innate spiritual roots can begin Qi Refining at a lower level, Foundation Establishment at a middle level, and Core Formation at a higher level. However, these only represent potential, not destiny.

However, taking Qi Refining as an example, they do not need to plant spiritual roots and can directly transcend tribulations. Their probability of Qi Refining is several times or even more than ten times that of ordinary people.

His fifth senior brother, a celestial being with average spiritual root aptitude, is now in his forties or fifties and is only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, merely a fifth-tribulation celestial being. It is absurd that he has wasted his years and squandered his potential.

As for why the other party did this, whether according to what the second senior brother said or what Fang Shu found out on his own, the reason was that the other party changed his cultivation method.

Fang Shu pondered: "Logically speaking, changing one's cultivation method normally wouldn't be like this; it would only waste many years. It seems that this person did indeed inadvertently damage his foundation when changing his cultivation method, or perhaps he had already injured his body before changing it, forcing him to change his method."

Thinking of this, he felt much more at ease.

Even if a fifth-level immortal with a damaged foundation and only a medium-level spiritual root still has a connection with the Dragon Maiden Immortal Family, he is probably not highly regarded after all these years.

Furthermore, aside from his qualifications, Fifth Senior Brother was just like him—a mortal with no noble family background. In other words, Fang Shu only needed to worry about this person; he didn't need to worry about anyone else.

But after pondering for a moment, Fang Shu's eyes flickered, and he finally exhaled:
"Although his spiritual root is now useless, he was once quite powerful and is still a fifth-level immortal, with a realm far superior to mine... We should avoid direct confrontation and keep our distance for now."

He had made up his mind that the minor disputes in the Gu Hall should not be escalated, and that he should first note this matter and focus on his cultivation.

However, avoiding it doesn't mean that Fang Shu should be timid and hesitant.

He was even less likely to give up the opportunity to profit from the Gu pit!

Anyway, everyone is a disciple by name, so we are all equals in status. There are also rules in the temple, so we can't be disrespectful.

Not long after.

After carefully considering his options, Fang Shu packed his things and immediately went out, heading towards the Gu Hall.

Soon, he found his second senior brother, Hao Junliang, in the Gu Hall.

Upon seeing the other person, he bowed deeply:

"I have met Second Senior Brother. I have heard that you know everything about the inside and outside of the hall. I hope you can lead me to the Yin and Yang Gu pits to help me find my way."

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Hao casually replied, "This is simple. Just find a servant to take you there."

But after speaking, Hao Junliang noticed the awkwardness on Fang Shu's face, and after a moment's thought, he realized something.

He put down his work, sighed softly, and shook his head:
“You lot… alright, alright, I’ll take you there myself, so you won’t be fooled by those underlings.”

Fang Shu was overjoyed and cupped his hands in thanks again: "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Immediately afterwards, Hao Junliang led Fang Shu out of the Gu Hall and headed towards other parts of the valley.

On the way, the other party also instructed Fang Shu: "After all, we are still fellow disciples. Don't clash directly with Lao Wu. Just avoid him in the future. Anyway, it's only eight or nine years. Focus on your cultivation."

Fang Shu was extremely pleased with this and immediately replied, "I will definitely give way to my fifth senior brother."

He also suggested, "Please take me to the Gu pit where Fifth Senior Brother isn't, so I don't offend him."

These words surprised Hao Junliang quite a bit.

But seeing how obedient Fang Shu was, he was pleased and immediately led Fang Shu to the Yin-class Gu pit, explaining:

"This Yin-Yang Gu pit, Fifth Junior Brother will take care of it according to the Yin and Yang seasons. In summer, he will take care of the Yang Gu pits, and in winter, he will take care of the Yin Gu pits. He will visit the Yin pits during wind and rain, the Yang pits during the day, the Yin pits at midnight, and the Yang pits during the day... That's roughly how it is. You can arrange it yourself."

Soon, a dark and secluded forest appeared before Fang Shu, covered with thorny branches and adorned with many white bones, resembling a cemetery.

There was a formation in front of the Gu Pit. When the two stepped inside, their waist tokens swayed, and only then did the formation open.

Inside, quite a few people were busy at work. Besides the menial laborers engaged in essence refining, there were also many cultivators exuding the aura of Qi refining immortals. However, these individuals were quite different from ordinary Qi refining disciples; they all had disheveled hair and tattoos, and their expressions were wooden. They didn't resemble immortals; they looked more like barbarian soldiers. Senior Brother Hao led Fang Shu through the area, showing him off to everyone, and pointed to the barbarian soldiers, saying:
"These are Dao soldiers. Master selects those among the menial servants who have no potential, plants secret Gu worms in them, and promotes them to Qi Refining."

Those beings have short lifespans but immense strength, and they only obey their master's commands. We disciples can only have them move simple things; we have no real control over them. You can treat them as decorations and ignore them.

Fang Shu nodded.

He carefully examined the so-called Gu pit and found that it was similar to the Scorpion Pit, but there was more than one. Instead, it was like a cave, densely arranged in the formation, shaped like a stone cave, and the bottom was faintly connected to each other.

As the two observed, servants would frequently throw all sorts of snakes, insects, and other food—a colorful array—into the Gu pit. It was unclear whether they were feeding the insects or introducing Gu seeds.

Aside from the menial servants and Taoist soldiers, according to Senior Brother Hao, occasionally Qi Refining Immortals from the temple would come to borrow the Gu pit, and even Foundation Establishment Immortals would come to collect Gu. Fang Shu simply observed these events.

Having learned about the Yin-type Gu pit, Senior Brother Hao pondered for a moment, then led Fang Shu to the Yang-type Gu pit.

The Yang-character Gu pit and the Yin-character Gu pit are far apart, one in the south and the other in the north. The former is located on a mountain hollow, exposed to the sun, shaped like a small volcano. There are no trees around, only rocks, and once you enter this place, you will feel a heat.

Like the Yin-character Gu pit, this place also has a large number of miscellaneous servants and Taoist soldiers.

Fang Shu took a closer look and asked Senior Brother Hao. He discovered that the Gu pit was mainly used for feeding the insects and replenishing the various Gu insect materials in the pit every day in order to maintain the number and types of Gu insects in the entire pit. Only in this way could the Foundation Establishment Gu insects at the bottom of the pit slowly reproduce.

Apart from that, the so-called refining of Gu and the so-called repair were actually secondary, and could even be said to be the fellow disciples embellishing their own reputations.

"This place is a Foundation Establishment Gu pit set up by our master. How dare we interfere?"

Senior Brother Hao laughed and said, "We are only helping to manage the surface and supervise those errands. Even the Dao soldiers are not under our command. On the contrary, when feeding the Gu worms or cultivating in the environment of the Gu pit, Junior Brother must be more careful."

After all, Gu worms are all ferocious and lack intelligence. They don't distinguish between servants and non-servants; to them, we are nothing more than a pile of flesh and blood.

Fang Shu nodded earnestly: "Thank you for your guidance, senior brother."

After giving a brief introduction to the Yang-class Gu pit, Senior Brother Hao repeatedly gave Fang Shu instructions before letting him move around on his own and then leaving the place.

Fang Shu remained inside the Gu pit, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the large number of snakes, insects, and spirit stones around the pit.

Although the resources and materials in the Gu Pit are all for raising Gu, if anyone dares to steal them, the servants will be thrown into the pit to raise Gu, and the Qi Refining disciples will have their hands cut off. No exceptions will be made for nominal disciples like Fang Shu.

However, they are still different from outsiders.

Although they cannot take away the resources from the Gu pit, it does not mean they cannot use them.

Immediately, Fang Shu took out several Gu worms he had brought from his bosom, which were the Sleepy Worm, Breath-Holding Worm, and Follower Worm of the Third Tribulation.

He had obtained the four-fold Gu formulas for these three types of Gu worms from the Master of the Pavilion a long time ago, but he had always been reluctant to spend the materials to raise and refine them.

Now, being in the Gu pit, there is almost every kind of Gu material available.

He could take advantage of this place to refine some Gu himself and see what benefits the Gu pit could provide for Gu refining.

Soon, Fang Shu found a temporarily sealed Gu cave in the Yang-class Gu pit.

He sat cross-legged above the Gu Cave and unceremoniously ordered his servants to fetch spirit stones, snakes, insects, and various other things to serve as supplies.

Once he started refining the Gu, he became completely absorbed in it, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, he was frequently stared at, but no one bothered him, so he pretended not to notice.

However, as he continued refining the Gu, he discovered that the ingredients he needed were becoming increasingly scarce, while the less needed ones were in ample supply.

He summoned the servant to inquire, but the servant simply gave him the runaround, saying that the stock was used up and that was all there was left. As for getting more stock, that would have to wait until next month.

Fang Shu smiled wryly at this.

Needless to say, this must have been specially allocated by my own cheap fifth senior brother to supply the Gu pit, which turned out to be exactly what he wanted.

Fang Shu didn't take the matter too seriously; on the contrary, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The fact that the other party didn't dare to directly cause trouble, but only dared to do some minor tricks, proved that their control over the Gu Pit was limited and that they dared not disobey the orders of the Dragon Maiden Immortal.

Huai Liangxing is nothing but a petty manipulator.

Fang Shu believed that as long as he cultivated well, refined the Gu, and took care of his own safety, he would surely rise to prominence if he survived.

A few more days.

Fang Shu sat alone in the Gu pit, and several small flying insects immediately flew up beside him, buzzing incessantly, playful and cute.

In less than ten days, he had mastered the four tribulations of the Sleepy Bug, the Follower Bug, and the Breath-Holding Bug, and from then on he could sell the bugs to make money.

Time is on his side!

Fang Shu immediately felt relieved and his face lit up with joy.

(End of this chapter)