Unlike the storage tents that allowed the Gu Masters to report and submit the various materials they hunt, the tent Fei Cai entered was a selling counter collectively controlled by the four elders and the Chieftain. The gu worms present were mostly the ones siphoned from the smaller tribes that the Fei Tribe annexed or the ones that the Fei Tribe specialize in. Instead of a carpet, the Gu Master sat behind a counter. The seller appointed was already old, and the assistant behind him was busy arranging all the jars. A heavy earthen scent filled the space, and Fei Cai took a moment to stabilize.
He still hadn't grown, and his physique was short, so Fei Cai had to stretch his toes to gaze above the counter and spoke with a straight face, "I am here to buy gu worms."
"Eh? You?"
The Gu Master opened his eyes before nodding and then took out many parchments with scribbles on it and placed it above the counter.
"The prices are set by the Elders and are non-negotiable. Kid, the first three pages are filled with Rank 1 gu worms."
Every Gu Master unconsciously gives off an aura that complements their ranks. There are many ways to hide such aura and hide amongst the mortals, but not many do that. Instead, they use such concealment gu worms to infiltrate enemy camps and carry out assassinations.
Fei Cai picked the journal and flipped through it. He was not a hot-headed youth who would let a temporary fortune affect his state of mind. Fei Cai had long since straightened his priorities and secondary objectives that he needed to achieve to successfully conquer his temporary goals. Many types of gu worms were listed in the journal. The primary ones were the attack and defensive type gu worms followed by movement and storage type. The investigative gu worms were quite rare even among the list, and even when Fei Cai read through all the pages of the journal to broaden his horizon regarding the gu worms, he only found thirteen investigative gu worms.
Right now, Fei Cai possessed three gu worms. Wolf strength gu for passive strength and greater physical prowess, aperture nurture gu for his ease in cultivation, and the manure gu he found through sheer luck. Fei Cai did not have that much of a use for the manure gu worm, but this type of support gu, which facilitates the growth of vegetation and resources, did kindle the interest of the elders of the tribe.
Now that Fei Cai had read the journal, he was more or less familiarised with the prices of the gu worms. Placing the journal on the counter, Fei Cai asked for the only rank 1 investigative gu worm on the list.
"I want to buy the ground eye gu worm in exchange for rank 1 manure gu."
Fei Cai made the black worm materialize over his palm and let the seller observe the gu worm for a few minutes.
"Ground eye gu worm is worth 380 primeval stones while the manure gu worm will be purchased for 250 primeval stones."
The Gu Master stated softly. The price was a fair one. In the Northern Plains, the tribesmen rarely moved against each other with ill will, and even now, the old Gu Master did not try to take advantage of Fei Cai's age. If the tribesmen do not have unity with each other, then how could they even think of prospering in such troubled lands? In the catalog, the selling price of the manure gu was 270 primeval stones, meaning 20 primeval stones will fill the coffins of the tribe as a whole. Without any objections, Fei Cai and the old Gu Master exchanged the gu worms while Fei Cai paid the remaining 130 primeval stones.
Each gu worms on sale were already refined by the old Gu Master, so the moment they exchanged the gu worms, the two allowed the other party to improve each other's gu worms without any resistance. Fei Cai observed the dark brown pupil eerily floating in his aperture and then walked out. This was just one of the many transactions he had in mind. Fei Cai still had a total of 879 primeval stones, and he needed two more gu worms that easily conformed to his budget.
Yesterday's mishap had already made Fei Cai aware of how easily he could have found the underground chamber if he had a proper gu worm, and now, with his wealth, he intended to achieve the first objective of arming himself with an appropriate set of gu worms. With a short roundtrip to his home, Fei Cai actually brought the total amount of primeval stones he would need— 860— in a large, covered basket and proceeded to buy two more Rank 1 gu worms— copper leaf gu and yellow tongue gu. Collectively, the two gu worms cost him 859 primeval stones while Fei Cai used the remaining primeval stone to purchase the food of the two gu worms— a bush of bright leaves and the tongue of a yellow python.
Since he had already fed the wolf strength gu, he could wait for two days before feeding it again, and by that time, Fei Cai wouldn't even be needing the gu worm anymore.
Back to his house, Fei Cai observed his newly purchased gu worms. One was in his aperture. It looked like a snake's tongue as it kept on floating above the jade green sea of primeval essence. This was the rank 1 yellow tongue gu, a type of rare healing gu worm. Aside from that, the other two gu worms had already moved. On Fei Cai's right wrist, there was a tattoo of a small green leaf in a circular shape. This was the rank 1 copper leaf gu, a defensive type gu worm.
Finally, on the soft side of Fei Cai's left palm was a tattoo of a brown eye. This was the rank 1 ground eye gu worm, an investigative type gu worm. With this, Fei Cai now planned to actually gain an immersive experience in hunting.
After one month of the awakening of the batch of Gu Masters, Fei Tribe organizes a small competition to ignite the passion of young gu masters and make them train and fight in the wilderness even harder.
The Beast Trials.
In this, the young Gu Masters would have to hunt for several beasts required by the tribe. The person who achieves the target the quickest would win and, in return, would stand to gain a rare gu worm of his choice. Not only that, but the winner could also even ask for an elder's pointers for a whole week. But the competition was cutthroat, and even the current Fei Cai had no chance in gaining the first place if he doesn't start training his skills now.
He wasn't that different from other Gu Masters of his age at the moment. He was good at archery, and with the wolf strength gu, he now theoretically could fight in narrow situations too. But this was just the theory. Fei Cai needed to improve in a lot of aspects if he wished to survive in this perilous world. Cultivation of his aperture was only one of many elements. The previous failure of the inability to even control his own primeval essence now made it possible for Fei Cai to look through his shortcomings.
Once he fed the newly bought gu worm, he decided to use his wolf strength gu once again. This might possibly be the last session with this gu worm. Unlike his previous attempts, Fei Cai did not pull a thick stream of primeval essence into the gu worm, but instead, he controlled an extremely thin stream and injected it into his gu worm. The pace at which the gu worm absorbed the primeval essence remained unchanged, but the pressure on Fei Cai built up more than usual.
Fei Cai's control was weak, and he would use every single chance to temper this issue regardless of the burdens he would have to face.
These burdens were just one of the many hurdles, and if Fei Cai wished to achieve success, then he would be passing hurdles deadlier than this one.
***
The next morning, Fei Cai and Lo ventured outside the tribe once again. The pair traveled through the familiar grassland and reached the forest line. In their path, strangely, the couple came across another Lucky Python. The dead python instantly filled the basket behind Lo.
Unlike yesterday, Fei Cai's movements had a strange vigor. His muscles seemed slightly pronounced, and his body seemed bulkier. Such a change was due to Fei Cai completely utilizing the effect of the wolf strength gu. This gu worm was wondrous. According to his father, the wolf strength gu should provide the Gu Master with the strength reaching two hundred kilograms, but, in reality, Fei Cai was a human, and no human could truly show the power of an entire wolf of this world. He was stronger than ordinary man now, but if faced with the toughness of the wolves of this world, Fei Cai was quite weak.
But, there is a famous phrase that could describe the truth of this world.
Humans are the spirit of all living beings, and Gu worms are the essence of heaven and earth, the heart of the world itself.
In essence, Humans have the potential to possess the strength of every living being of this world through the use of gu worms.
Even if Fei Cai couldn't utilize the entire strength of a wolf at the moment, there are a few conditions that are needed to be met before Fei Cai attains the chance to demonstrate it.
Sighing at the mysteries of this world, Fei Cai closed his eyes and injected his primeval essence into the ground eye gu worm while placing his left palm on the ground. Instantly, a brown pupil popped out of his palm, making Fei Cai feel a slight amount of pain. The brown pupils melded into the field and finally allowed Fei Cai to 'see' the steps within the area of the 50-meter radius.
Gu worms have mystical abilities, and in the darkness, Fei Cai could see the brightly lit footsteps of multiple animals in the grassland. He could even see a hollow structure beneath him, but the surface was thicker on his end and thinner in the region ahead. Meanwhile, as Fei Cai continued to use the gu worm, the primeval essence in his aperture depleted at a mild pace.
Once Fei Cai had grown familiar to the gu worm, he deactivated the gu worm and opened his eyes. His left palm still felt hurt without any apparent injury, but this was merely one of the small disadvantages of using this gu worm.
Growth and pain go hand-in-hand. If he is afraid of getting hurt, then his life would come to a sweet end rather easily.
After scouting out the area, Fei Cai already had a target in mind. He didn't move ahead and knocked an arrow before targetting towards his left. There, a bunny named— Calm Hare sat without any sound. He was rather close to Fei Cai and Lo, but the target itself could blend into the grassland due to its green fur and the fact that the Calm Hare could live for more than 30 minutes with a single breath of air!
While Fei Cai was not a natural warrior, his father's deeply rooted training kicked in, and the arrow hit the target. The beast let out a pained squeal, and Fei Cai finally moved forward to collect his prize.