Rue Bu and Shui Tao were seated in what looked like a pavilion, situated in the middle of a small garden. Nearby, a flat space hosted four rank-two Gu Masters and Elder Chen Ning, who were training five young Gu Masters. Rue Bu recognized all of them except for a young girl. However, when he heard the rank-two Gu Master call her name, he realized he had heard it before.
Shui Tao, on the other hand, only recognized one of the girls and was puzzled by her presence. "Hey Rue Bu, do you have any idea what's going on here? See that girl? She's from my tribe. Her name is Shui Chun, and I don't know why she's here. I bet the others are also students from different tribes." Shui Tao whispered to Rue Bu.
"Yeah, I know her. She was in Chen Yan's team with that other guy over there. His name is Ma Xiao. He has a unique talent for sucking up to people. Those two girls over there are also from my tribe. The small and muscular one is Ma Dong Min, and you should remember the other one; she was in Shui Jun's team." Rue Bu explained.
"Hmm? Was it Ma Jia Juan? Anyway, why are all of them here at the Chen family's residence? There aren't even any Lin tribe students except for Chen Huan." Shui Tao said, confused by the presence of these random students.
"It probably has to do with the Chen family's situation." Rue Bu said plainly.
"Am I supposed to understand that?" Shui Tao asked, still confused.
"Ah, I guess you guys from the Shui tribe don't know about it." Rue Bu began to explain but was interrupted by Chen Huan.
"Sorry for making you wait, but Grandfather would be angry if I slack off during training." She was tired and sat down to catch her breath, then looked at Shui Tao and continued. "The two Chen families in the Ma and Lin tribes were once one big family that had multiple rank four Gu masters and, at some point, even a rank five. They weren't originally from this region, but one day, for some unknown reason, they came here and ended up dividing into two sides over an internal dispute. One side helped found the Ma tribe, while the other did the same for the Lin tribe."
"Oh, I didn't know that. But why is your grandfather taking in students to train them because of that?" Shui Tao still didn't understand.
"When the Chen family came here, the head of the family, who was a rank five at the time, was still alive and strong enough to keep such a big entity united. But after his death, there wasn't anyone else to fill the gap he left. No rank four in the family was close to his level. So no one could agree on who would inherit his Gu worms and powerful killer moves. Every rank four in the family wanted them for themselves, so they ended up fighting over them. Eventually, the family collapsed. It had only two rank four Gu masters left, and the rank threes were almost all gone. To ensure their family's survival, both agreed that they shouldn't fight over them anymore." Rue Bu explained.
Before Shui Tao could say anything, Chen Huan continued. "But each of them still wanted the position of the head of the family, so they agreed that they shouldn't fight themselves. Instead, they would choose someone from the younger generation to fight, and whoever's side won would get the Gu worms and killer moves that belonged to the previous family head. After many generations of doing this, the two sides continued to distance themselves until they eventually separated entirely, each claiming to be the 'real' Chen family."
"It became increasingly convoluted as each side found new loopholes in their initial agreement. The Ma and Lin tribes even intervened because neither wanted to lose the Chen family from their territory, as both of the new Chen families were still influential and powerful enough to shift the region's balance of power. Despite the new agreement, both sides found ways to circumvent it. However, by that time, the Chen family had diminished in power, and the Ma and Lin tribes did not intervene, leading to our current situation. After Chen Yan's death, my grandfather had no choice but to resort to this." she continued looking at the other four students at the training ground.
"What? So you and these guys are going to fight the other Chen family for rank four and five Gu worms?" Shui Tao couldn't believe his ears but eventually calmed down when Rue Bu explained.
"What do you think would happen to the Chen families if those Gu worms still existed? They could defend themselves in the past, but now? The Jin tribe, or rather, the Ma and Lin tribes, would destroy them if they didn't hand over the Gu worms." He didn't know for sure but assumed that either the Gu worms were destroyed or given to someone in power within the Ma or Lin tribe at some point.
"Yes, Rue Bu, you are right. We are mostly fighting for rank two and three Gu worms. The original two rank four Gu masters who founded the new families knew that something like this might eventually happen and instructed their descendants to destroy the Gu worms if the families couldn't protect them anymore." Chen Huan said with a bitter expression.
"Wait, why didn't either side refine another set of Gu worms? Even if both sides didn't like the idea of the family being separated and wanted to reunite eventually, wouldn't everyone know the killer moves if one side won the fight and then the other won the next year? Why wouldn't the losing side want to refine another set of Gu worms after experiencing the power of the killer moves? Did they lose the recipes?" Shui Tao asked.
"No, we still have the recipes for the rank four and five Gu worms, and we still know those killer moves." Chen Huan revealed, shocking both of them. "But, apparently, the ingredients for them became extinct long before the Chen family divided. So even if the losing side wanted to refine the Gu worms and use the killer moves, they couldn't." Her words calmed them again.
"Our side is the one in possession of the Gu worms now, so when my grandfather found Chen Yan's body, he accepted the situation, and gathered these people to train to find someone else capable of fighting against Chen Cheng at the end of the year." she explained bitterly.
"Speaking of Chen Yan, I heard my grandfather say that she didn't just die from encountering a rank two beast; she actually dared to steal a Gu worm from it." she whispered, afraid someone might overhear. She continued excitedly. "It's a rare Gu worm that not everyone knows about. Its usage is uniquely tied to its nurturing."
Rue Bu, 'unexpectedly' intrigued, asked. "What do you mean? Do you mean it has to eat before someone can use it? Don't all Gu worms essentially work that way to some extent?"
"Oh, no, no. What I meant is that when this Gu worm eats, its effect is activated immediately. It doesn't require any primeval essence to activate; it just works the moment you feed it. The mindless wasp is a unique but dangerous Gu worm." she explained further.
"The mindless wasp, huh?" Rue Bu had a curious expression on his face, which made Chen Huan excited. She began to explain everything she knew about the Gu worm without him even asking.