"Huff," Fei Cai heaved a deep sigh, his mind slightly tired. In the last week, he and Lo had been putting more and more effort into hunting. The use of gu worms in various situations increased Fei Cai's overall capabilities but he still couldn't use his Invasion Gu. Not only that, if he were actually a child, he wouldn't have been able to manage so many gu worms in terms of feeding them. After all, Fei Cai still searched many feeding materials from the wild to not let the others, especially, Fei Qing feel suspicious. But all of this took a toll on Fei Cai. Even now, he just ended the feeding session, turning his gu worms lively once again.
However, in return for such a depressing situation, Fei Cai held only 4 primeval stones but 76 merit points. His strength was limited and Fei Cai understood the concept of accumulation and growing resources from resources. It is the same concept as making money from more money. Fei Cai now held a considerable sum for a 10-year-old rank 1 gu master and now, he needed to scheme so that he can gain more merit points out of the earlier expenditure. In two words, the essence could be described as— Correct Investment.
"The refinement team led by Fei Chang is the most appropriate source of earning quick merit points. Unlike hunting where we have to store the resources, Fei Chang is authorized to add more merit points to the board once a gu master under him successfully reach a quota. Not only that, I can understand more about the refinement from the experience but... I will have to make a few errors along the way to hide my current streak of 100% success rate. That will make me subject to voluntary backlashes," Fei Cai pondered over the benefits and disadvantages before moving onto the next resourceful endeavor.
"Fei Kao's expedition team is given merit points based on the duration of the scout every day. This has already made the scouting team the most attractive choices but if I consider the Terror Horse, I would have a chance to join them. My earlier rise of reputation due to taming a terror horse might also come into play this time. But," Fei Cai's eyes turned complicated, "Aside from the hunting experience I'll gain, there remains a definite risk to my life. Each expedition is sure to cause injuries and ever now and then, the death of a gu master is reported."
Finally, he thought of the last and least attractive source of merit points, but this was Fei Cai's evaluation. In reality, being Fei Sheng's apprentice to carry out tests of new recipes was quite an opportunity but it was far more dangerous than the two former methods. Backlashes were one of the most serious injuries a Gu master can face that even had the possibility of destroying cultivation. This possibility became a major obstruction while devising new recipes and with no method to cope up with such injuries, Fei Cai quickly discarded the third option and focused on the first one. He just needed to find the points in the process where the backlash would be least monstrous and play along.
With that, Fei Cai walked out and greeted Fei Qing. "Father," he spoke, "May I please join Uncle Chang's refinement team." Before Fei Qing could interrupt and reject, Fei Cai willed out a small bug. Seeing it, Fei Qing's gaze sharpened while Fei Cai continued, "After spending six merit points, I was able to gather enough primeval stones to refine Enslavement Gu worm. Fortune favored me and granted me success on the very first try!" He stated while emulating deep emotions as if he had practiced the current speech for days instead of refinement.
Fei Qing's gear began to move again as he nodded slightly. "You can join your uncle's refinement team but the required gu worms, you shall acquire yourself. Now, who do you plan to use this gu worm on?"
"Lo," Fei Cai informed, making Fei Qing furrow his brows. "Son, it will be far better use of the gu worm if you take a rank 1 gu master as your slave. Even if the tribe won't provide you, in time, you might just get the chance."
"I understand. But Lo is already loyal," Fei Cai explained with childish naivety oozing through his tone, "Wouldn't it be better if we turn him into a gu master and use the gu worm for another layer of assurance to keep him loyal?"
Fei Qing narrowed his gaze and stared Fei Cai down for minutes. But seeing that the young boy remained silent, albeit unnerved, Fei Qing gave his consent. "A slave is like one's property. If you wish to make Lo a gu master, you shall pay up the appropriate price, and his needs would befall upon you. Meanwhile, your allowance of fifty primeval stones would remain the same."
Nodding and as if in deep thought, Fei Cai approached cautiously. "Then, Father... may I borrow the amount necessary? Once again, I am willing to lose out my allowance as interest until I am capable of repaying you."
Fei Qing nodded and stood up while making his way out of the gu house, his voice lingering behind, "Then take Lo to the spirit spring. I shall convey your authenticity." As Fei Qing left, the tired look on the father's face turned to a relieved one. He had imparted quite a bit of tricks in regards to enslavement and while he would have doubted Fei Cai's success in the past, now, not a blemish of doubt remained in his heart. Fei Qing's trust in his young son could be seen through earlier conversations. This was the first time Fei Qing allowed Fei Cai to have the initiative in a conversation and while it might take experience to perfect the art, Fei Cai had long surpassed the budding juniors in merely a month. Now that he thought of it, the transformation was a stunning one but as a father, he couldn't be more proud.
Meanwhile, with Fei Cai, instead of taking Lo to the spirit spring and promote him to a gu master, the boy stepped out and made his way to the merit board. There, another rank 3 gu elder waited for Fei Cai. In fact, this was the ninth gu elder. After removal of the very deadly trials, many peak stage rank 2 gu masters let go of their worry and broke through the rank in peace. This had started to change the very foundation of the tribe. Unlike rank 1 and 2 gu masters whose needs were individuals, rank 3 gu masters had needs that befitted a faction. So, to them, merit gu was barely attractive. Instead, they consolidated their foundation and started to work to increase the rank of their gu worms and standing within the tribe to claim more opportunities. Needless to say, factions were turning more competitive in the tribe.
Going through the merit board, Fei Cai utilized 60 merit points to procure quite a useless token from the storage. The refinement token. After the establishment of the merit board and the envious distribution of merit points in Fei Chang's team, Fei Qing decided that to even get the chance of entering the team, one must purchase a token for the same at the cost of 60 merit points. This stopped many, but plenty continued forward. Next, after procuring a token, a rank 2 Gu Master directly under Fei Qing would keep an eye out for three days of productivity, and only then can a person join the refinement group.
Not only that, more focus was turned on Fei Chang after he almost successfully refined another Earth Lizard House Gu worm, which made Fei Cai realize that the opportunity was limited. Once the quota of the gu house was completed, the project would be eventually disbanded!
Now, after gaining the token, Fei Cai made his way to the inner section of the Valley with Lo beside him.
---
Fei Chang's gaze remained narrowed as he rested under the shade of the tree. However, his gu worm was activated to keep alert of the procedures going on. Even with the enslavement gu, he did not truly trust the two slaves assisting the gu masters. Fei Yang was beautiful and knew how to use beauty to her advantage. But that was the least destructive quality of hers. After all, the status of female gu masters in Northern Plains was only slightly better than mortals. However, Fei Yang turned out to be truly talented in the art of refinement. Her methods were ingenious as she did not shy away from sharing some of her old tribe's methods. This made both, Fei Qing and Fei Chang cautious of her. But she wasn't drained of her usefulness just yet, ensuring her life temporarily.
Soon, one of Fei Chang's apprentice walked up to him and bowed slightly, "Master, Fei Cai approached our camp with the refinement token."
"Hmm, take him to the batch of recruits under inspection. Under no circumstances is he to be given favorable treatment despite his past fame and parentage. The word is, he has been purchasing quite a bit of refinement materials from the day he began cultivating so I want to see a fair environment for my nephew."
The apprentice nodded and left away, making Fei Chang sigh. "There is this young genius who doesn't let his father worry and then... *sigh*... there is my Mang'er who knows nothing but to make others worried. But elder cousin needed to have a blessed son for he never intended to marry again."
On the other side, Fei Cai was brought to a group of 11 gu masters who sat cross-legged at quite a distance away. None had the time to greet each other or even pay attention to anybody else. Their foreheads were filled with sweat. Suddenly, someone lost their focus, a brown-haired gu master, as the swirl of energy in front of him disrupted. However, at the blast, no sound echoed, making Fei Cai feel extremely mystified. To his inquiry, the old gu master overseeing the situation smiled and spoke up, "Those boys and girls are covered by my gu worm— Silent Dome Gu. Any sound produced in the space covered with my gu worm will be absorbed and nothing will pass. Hah! I remember those days! My father gifted me this gu worm when I was rank 1. He said that I made too much noise with my slave. Ah... youth," he rambled for quite a few minutes until he looked at Fei Cai with an impassive expression.
"Go and sit there," the old master pointed, "and take his storage gu worm. All of the recruits are lent this gu worm. If the gu worm is damaged, the responsibility shall be borne by oneself. The refinement recipe of the parts and quota necessary is written in detail within the parchment stored in this gu. Do not expect any form of assistance unlike those who are confirmed."
"Yes," Fei Cai bowed slightly and walked towards the appointed location. He felt phasing through something soft, as if he just jumped through a veil of condensed air. The moment he entered the domain, he felt nothing. The crisp sound of his footsteps vanished and if he wasn't careful, Fei Cai would have tripped. Slightly unnerved, Fei Cai sat and recollected himself.
Finally, he used the rank 1 Bud storage gu and planted it a few steps away from himself. A small bud instantly tore through the ground, creating a fist-shaped hole surrounded by yellow petals. Nodding to himself, Fei Cai pushed his hand into the hole and fished out the parchment containing the information regarding the recipe and the merit points payment per successful refinement of a step needed by other gu masters for further refinement.
Heaving a deep sigh, Fei Cai started taking put refinement materials. The recipe wasn't that hard and utilized gu masters' sense of time instead. A swirl of primeval essence is to be created to mix the refinement materials. The complication in the steps would be to determine the right moment to add new material. It was like creating a grinder made of primeval essence and then adding one vegetable after another. Each successful process would be rewarded with five merit points! If the quota of 25 successes was reached, another hundred would be granted alongside the supposed 125!
"But..." since he had already decided to hide the streak of 100% success rate which he could achieve for whatever reason, Fei Cai aimed for less than a hundred and began the steps of refinement.
His methods and demeanor made the old gu master overseeing the situation eye Fei Cai for a few moments before he started to observe with a smile. Everybody enjoys the prospect of their tribe getting a genius and seeing Fei Cai's refinement process, the old master, with his limited knowledge, considered the youth a genius.