Every tribe chieftain has his specific direction of development for the tribe. However, across the entire Northern Plains, a few conventions remain constant.
The tempering of rank 1 gu masters.
The survival ability of a gu master can be divided into two very large categories— Skill and Fortune.
But faced with a tribulation every ten years, no tribe could afford to heavily invest in rank 1 juniors. Thus, aside from the annual Beast Trials, the rank 1 gu masters are given free rein. They weren't strong enough to impact the tribe so none of the Chieftain ever felt fear in giving rank 1 gu masters such autonomy. This, in return, improves the skill of gu masters and separate the hidden gems from ordinary rocks. In fact, if a rank 1 gu master isn't fortunate enough to a breakthrough in his cultivation, he can only remain a cannon fodder.
Rank 2 gu masters, however, proved to be too useful to be given free rein.
Yet another common convention present in almost all the tribes. Rank 2 gu masters are assigned a team and sent to perform various missions that will aid the development of the tribe and temper the gu masters in a more meaningful manner. Meanwhile, rank 3 elders would also scout talented rank 2 members from the group and impart tips and techniques to pull the gu masters into their fold and inner circle.
The moment morning came, Fei Cai took to the exit of the tribe. He couldn't take Lo with him due to his low cultivation but that wasn't an issue for Fei Cai. Lo's use had slowly plummeted and until Fei Cai could find more tasks for the young slave, he was to hunt in the outskirts.
With his beast group, Fei Cai waited for almost 20 minutes. He comfortable sat on the broad back of the hundred-beast terror horse king. Its injuries had healed completely but its strength could barely contend against a rank 2 gu master. A beast in the gu world would attract gu worms occasionally and would be able to use them naturally. However, a gu worm refined by a gu master can never be used by a beast since the gu worm would have lost its own natural will.
Beside the hundred-beast king lined up ten terror horses. Their expression was fearsome as they would neigh and snort in impatience. Unlike horses from the earth which could be easily intimidated, the terror claw horses had a fierce reputation that could surpass ordinary beasts.
"Ah! You are Fei Cai!" A clear and crisp voice broke Fei Cai out of his thoughts as the young boy looked back and found a teenager. Like other Fei Tribesmen, the youth wore beast hides and despite the cold temperature, he seemed oddly unaffected by his exposed arms and calves. In fact, the man wore no shoes. Long black hair tied into a ponytail with a few strands framing the sides of his face and a small scar running down from the left edge of his lips to his chin.
Unlike the youthful demeanor, an aura of mid-stage rank 2 cultivation was projected, making Fei Cai realize the seniority of the youth as he jumped down from his horse and nodded with an innocent and slightly dazed expression.
"Yes, senior," Fei Cai replied, "Elder Rong sent me the details of the meeting location of the team."
"Haha, Elders don't usually inform the newbies of their teammates. Don't get me wrong, you are famous indeed. Bai Ding Ming's famed lover, the youngest rank 2 gu master of the tribe and a refinement maniac. But the introduction of your team is quite an important phase. My name is Kim. Fei Kim."
"You mean Barefoot Striker?" Fei Cai inquired while feigning a surprised expression. In the last month, aside from focusing on his cultivation, Fei Cai also made great improvements in memorizing the inheritance of Thieving Heaven and also started to focus on the information of other rank 2 gu masters. Since he wouldn't usually leave his gu house, Lo would come in handy since his use had been shifted from a hunting partner to making his name in the slave community and gather information.
"Hehe, who would've guessed that even Manic Cai might have heard of me," Fei Kim shook his head but he clearly looked pleased.
"Senior, you jest. You encountered the wild rank 2 Bare-limbs strike gu worm. Just one gu worm to enhance your close combat proficiency so comprehensively! You even took out an injured thousand-beast Hunger Ape. Such accomplishments, how can I not know?" Fei Cai's words earned him the good graces of Fei Kim.
As mortals, the tribesmen would be taught to read and write but after reaching rank 1, there won't be a great use for such skill. However, the benefit of literacy shows itself after rank 2. Teams are a method to temper gu masters and the group of gu masters shares their knowledge regarding gu worms and various materials that are extremely rare and hard to identify. However, to gain such a benefit, one must leave a good impression.
Fei Cai understood the nature of changing tides. After Thieving Heaven, three more Venerables rose with each of their era already passing on. If he let his pride take the better of him, he could only refer to Thieving Heaven's inheritance which cannot hope to record rare gu worms and materials of the current era.
"I wonder who slanders your name by giving you the title of the demon. If anything, your battle with that Fei Mang was inspiring," Fei Kim smiled and looked at the horse group, "And, we can even help you grow your beast group. Fei Cai, you are too young to understand the importance of enslaving beast groups but in the long run, this aspect of cultivation will definitely come quite handy."
Showing a look of contemplation, Fei Cai nodded, "I think I understand a little. Thank you for your guidance, senior. But, when will I meet the other teammates?"
"Impatient, are we?" Fei Kim smirked as he looked around. His pupils turned bright red for a moment before he blinked and looked normal once again. "They are already here. Come out, you guys," Fei Kim smiled widely, "I remember... it's been years but the first topic of a new teammate is the ability to assess observational skills of the gu master."
"Something which this genius clearly lacks," A cold voice cut Fei Kim off as another rank 2 gu master appeared out of the ground. It felt like the mud molded into the person himself.
Unlike Kim, the considerably older man was much stronger. With the cultivation of upper-stage rank 2 and impressive stealth skills, the gu master showed a disheveled appearance. Long, unkempt hair naturally turning into dreadlocks in the lower region and loosely hanging over his shoulder while his piercing blue eyes observed Fei Cai with a hint of mocking intentions.
"I'm the leader of this team. Fei Hun'er. And this is Fei Hun Gong, my younger brother," Hun'er introduced another young man slowly turning into a human from the mud. The youth had initial-stage rank 2 cultivation and looked at Fei Cai with unconcealed envy.
If Fei Cai couldn't understand that this mocking and envy stemmed from his fortunate rise of aptitude then he might as well commit suicide and hope to reincarnate once again. Knowing that any words of flattery would only fall to deaf ears, Fei Cai smiled and clasped his hands, "Senior Hun'er, Senior Hun Gong, you must accept my apology... I... never heard of you. Senior Kim is extremely famous so there's nothing I can do about it."
The sibling's expression changed as they looked at Fei Cai with even greater unfriendly intentions but this was merely the emotions rising from their lack of fortune. Currently, they might think: Why wasn't I this lucky? Why couldn't I become talented?
But the two of them won't try to do something stupid due to Fei Cai's own accumulate reputation and the Chieftain's backing.
Glancing towards Fei Kim, Fei Cai realized that his petty scheme worked.
Fei Kim looked towards Fei Cai and nodded with satisfaction. His action of praising Fei Kim in front of the superiors gained Fei Cai the support he would later require in the team.
"Hmph, let's go," Fei Hun'er snorted, "We need to clear the apes gaining territory in the edge of the forest. Elders want the task done in three days and the contribution point will be divided equally."
In the latter part of the statement, he glared towards Fei Cai. Clearly, the addition of teammates would reduce other's shares but they couldn't do anything about it. Even Fei Kim was slightly affected by this realization.