Merit Board Gu was used by all the tribes in Northern Plains extensively. It looked like a large board with thousand names written upon it. A drop of blood from each gu master of the tribe was promptly taken and dripped upon the surface of the Merit Board. Next, Fei Nai would enter the name of the Gu Master whose blood had been consumed before it would flash. In reality, Merit Board Gu was a storage type and information type gu worm. Its use was supported by a few gu elders and the objective of the gu board was quite simple. From now on, instead of selling the materials brought by the hunts, a gu master could store it within the merit board gu. The moment a material is deposited, instead of primeval stones, a gu master would receive merit points that would be marked in from of the name on the surface of the gu board.
The Merit Board was already stored with plenty of resources and this is where the 'information' type aspect of the gu worm is revealed. The merit points can only be exchanged through the merit gu board by taking out other resources. To use this function, a gu master must have an elder as a witness and use the extraction gu provided by the elder to extract materials and other resources provided by the tribe. The reason why merits were more popular than using primeval stones as the exchange was that it left Primeval stones solely for cultivation purposes and, merits could even be exchanged for loads of primeval stones!
Gu worms, accumulated inheritances, and other precious materials. A few of them not affordable by primeval stones but definitely acquirable through merits. The factor by which the merits were distributed, unlike others, was not a mystery to Fei Cai. The information path depends on the link between the world. In Thieving Heaven's words, the information path was a worldwide network, sections of which, could be accessible by various forms of gu worms. The merits were actually based on countless transactions occurring through the past, making the price absolutely fair. This only made Fei Cai more sure that by accidentally arriving in this world, he had not left the comfort of the modern world. He simply hasn't invented it yet.
Still, with so many precious resources, none dared to even play with the thought of stealing. A team of six rank 2 gu masters and one elder was stationed on shifts with Fei Qing taking a small term of shift, too. This showed how much Fei Qing was finally willing to invest so that the tribe could survive the enemies from all directions vying for Warm Pond Valley!
With the task of Merit Board Gu completed, instead of continuing with cultivation, Fei Cai went to a deep slumber. From the might of the horse group, to his Fei Qing's method of using a house gu to kill a gu master in a single move, and finally, gaining a mutated Grey Peach Wolf, Fei Cai did not have enough fortitude to keep on going for the day.
The next day, Fei Cai readied himself for the day with menacing thoughts sponsored by Shrewd Gu colliding against each other and even more maniacal plans rising in his mind. 'With sneak attack gu, my attacking situation would balance once again but I need to refine an enslavement gu quickly. Fei Qing has already shown that only one's mind limits the methods and if someone found a way to make Lo talk then all my hard work would be for naught.' Thinking till here, Fei Cai cut off the expenditure of Primeval Essence into Shrewd Gu, a few seconds already costing him 36% out of his reserves.
"Master, Lord wanted me to give you this gu worm," Lo chirped the moment he saw Fei Cai walking out of his room. With a furrow of his brows, Fei Cai took the gu worm from Lo's hands and nodded, "Go and get dressed for the hunt. Be sure to not spill the refreshments today," his words made Lo nod furiously as he went off to get prepared for the day. This made Fei Cai realize that slowly, Lo was getting comfortable with his situation. With comfort came a certain sense of lethargy and he needed to cure Lo. With a soft snort, Fei Cai looked at the rank 1 book gu and began refining it. With his father's will already directing it, Fei Cai instantly refined the gu worm and looked at the contents of the gu worm.
'It's the merit list rewards...' Fei Cai looked curious as he continued to gaze through all the resources stored within the merit gu board. The rank 1 enslavement gu was worth 192 Merit Points. The fact that it was within the merit board was already surprising to Fei Cai but that wasn't even the best reward there. His eyes scrutinized the— Horse Monk's Inheritance— for a whooping three million inheritance points. While Fei Cai had not been too knowledgeable about Fei Qing's methods in the beginning, slowly, he found out that Fei Qing had been a lucky inheritor of rank 5 inheritance. Horse Monk's Inheritance.
Fei Cai did not know what else the inheritance contained but most of the horse groups were actually received alongside the inheritance. That is how Fei Qing skyrocketed through the ranks and became a Chieftain.
Recollecting himself, Fei Cai looked through other rewards and found eight copper relic gu worms, each worth four hundred merit points. This single-use gu worm could instantly make Fei Cai break through a minor realm, so, of course, this was a highly coveted resource.
Instead of waiting for Lo, Fei Cai first had him pack the refreshment and for the first time, handed out the punishment to the young slave. Since he wasn't even ready beforehand, Fei Cai made him travel without proper gear. Just a dagger latched onto his waist as he did not even wear a proper tunic or shoes for that matter. The hunt's efficiency had been lowered but Fei Cai wanted Lo at his best. And given the current situation, with Fei Yang looking for weakness amongst the younger section of the family, Fei Cai couldn't have Lo acting in such a manner.
Once again, the horrors of the gu world were revealed when Lo did not show any form of dissatisfaction towards his treatment. Instead, the slave worked harder despite the obvious lack of response due to cold as if he wished to make up for his tardiness.
Despite the slightly less speed, the master-slave's hunt today had been a slow one. Barely finding a slightly resourceful fowl. However, instead of preparing the hunt themselves, Fei Cai took the game to the mortals stationed near the board specifically for the task and had them prepare every material out of the twin-tailed duck's body. His merit points only increasing to 3 points.
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Violet miasma slowly entered through Fei Nai's pores, getting absorbed by his skin. The young man's forehead dripped with sweat and his lips trembled after every few moments. Finally, once the coat of miasma was absorbed from the pot in front of him, he finally opened his gaze as a calm look appeared on his face. Heaving a deep sigh, Fei Nai turned to look at Fei Chang with an embarrassed expression.
"Father... I feel ashamed of my earlier actions. If only..."
"You could have done nothing about it. My poison path takes a different approach. Instead of poisoning the body, my inheritance poisons the mind. A gu master needs a period of time to digest the gains but now, your mind is enforced and your soul strengthened. This is the nature of the poison. It is medicine. How to utilize it depends on oneself."
Hearing Fei Chang's words, Nai nodded with a deep expression. He experienced the same things and it was not at all easy. "Now that you have regained your clarity, I want you to focus on your cultivation with more effort. These are tough times but the use of Merit Board has boosted every gu master's morale. Your uncle, Lord Chieftain, has also increased his overall strength after enslaving the mutated peach wolf so we cannot afford to fall back."
"I understand, father. I will focus on merits to gain valuable gu worms and materials. I also need to refine gu worms that you could not share so that my strength can take a qualitative change."
"It is good that you understand it," Fei Chang nodded. It was at this time when a knock interrupted the duo. "Father, may I leave for Elder Dan's tent? He wishes to have a chat with me." The speaker on the other side was Fei Mang, Nai's younger sibling.
"Go ahead," Fei Chang replied casually. On the other side, an annoyed expression flashed on Fei Mang's face as he slowly walked out. After he was given the hand of Elder Dan's daughter, he was forced to receive Elder Dan's teachings. At first, he felt deeply aggravated but a few days of teachings caused his horizons to be broadened and he understood many things. He even cast his female slave aside, no longer willing to spend the night with her unless he really felt the urge. But still, the trials shattered his ambitions.
In fact, nothing had changed. Elder Dan continued to teach him with vigor, imparting his methods to the young boy daily whilst trying to make his wife seed with a son every night. But Fei Mang's young mind couldn't understand it. Defeat narrowed his vision once again while the pain terrified him more than ever. When Fei Mang explained the same to his father, he was subjected to torturous lectures and when found idling as his father droned, the mam delivered a tight slap. That drove the temporary estrangement to the relationship that continued to the date.
'Elder Fei Sheng asked me out a few days back but I was stopped by father... should I visit him now?' Fei Mang thought as the scene of delicious roasts the old elder treated him to previously swayed over Fei Mang's decisions heavily.
The sight of Elder Fei Sheng 'coincidentally' taking away a few slaves a few steps away from Fei Mang finally made the young boy decide on his course of action as he set forward to greet the old elder.