It wasn't until evening that the Gu insect battling tournament finally drew to a close.
On the Alliance Slope, the three major family factions of Gu Masters no longer stood as clearly separated as before. Gu Masters blanketed the entire hillside, though three denser clusters of people remained faintly discernible.
Gu battling exchanges served as both an outlet and a form of compromise.
In a world where power held the highest value, possessing strength earned you respect, and respect formed the foundation of cooperation.
Ever since Xiong Li had challenged Fang Yuan, no other Gu Master had come seeking him out.
Fang Yuan was merely a newcomer. He had barely interacted with Gu Masters from the other two families, let alone accumulated any grudges or entanglements. As for the Gu Masters of his own stockade, in a setting like this, they would never challenge someone of the same clan.
Moreover, Fang Yuan's voluntary surrender had sapped whatever interest other Gu Masters might have had in him. What was there to boast about, defeating such a "lazy" and "cowardly" opponent?
There were two ways to avoid being trampled. The first was to become a powerhouse—so powerful that no one dared trample you. The second was to become such dirt that no one bothered to bother.
Fang Yuan cared nothing for the reputation of being either dirt or a powerhouse. He had always operated without restraint, caring only for results. No one coming to challenge him left him quite at ease.
The contemptuous, dismissive glances of those around him? He paid them no more heed than the wind. If he couldn't even endure a few looks, what right did he have to speak of the Demonic Path?
The alliance had successfully concluded. The Guye Clan, the Bai Family, and the Xiong Family had temporarily reached a pact.
First, the promulgation of laws. The three families would set aside their past grievances and jointly combat the wolf tide. In times of crisis, they were obligated to aid one another. Internal killing was strictly forbidden. An investigation and supervision team would be established, and anyone caught committing murder would be expelled from their family, while the three families would jointly impose sanctions—the killer must pay with their life. Should the murderer flee, their relatives would be held accountable in their stead.
Even in the case of a Gu Master's death, the Gu insects recovered from the corpse had to be surrendered. Privately keeping or using them would be treated as murder. Once Gu insects were surrendered, they could be exchanged for battle merit.
Second, the establishment of a Battle Merit Ranking. Organized by small teams, it would display in real time the combat records and rankings of each team across all three families. One Lightning Wolf eyeball would be exchanged for ten points of battle merit. Battle merit could be redeemed for Gu insects, Yuan Stones, and other supplies.
The appearance of the Battle Merit Ranking naturally ignited an unparalleled passion among the Gu Masters.
The results of Gu battling exchanges did not necessarily reflect the true outcomes of actual combat. Take Xiong Jiang and Bai Bingyi, for instance—aside from the Water Drill Gu, Bai Bingyi naturally possessed other offensive methods. And the effective range of Xiong Jiang's Shadow Mourning Gu was merely ten meters.
Furthermore, any given battle involved countless factors influencing its outcome.
Gu battling exchanges lacked a certain persuasiveness, but the Battle Merit Ranking provided a far fairer competitive stage.
The Gu Masters of all three families threw themselves into hunting Lightning Wolves, vying for better positions on the ranking.
This concerned not only personal glory—it was also a matter of family honor.
The competition for the top three spots on the Battle Merit Ranking was especially fierce, reaching unprecedented levels. Nearly every day, the positions of the top three shifted.
Before long, more than a month had passed.
Winter gave way to spring, and all things began to flourish.
After one battle...
Fang Yuan trod upon the remnant snow on the ground, his breathing slightly labored as he surveyed the battlefield around him.
Scattered across the field lay over a dozen Lightning Wolves, all dead. Wolf blood and mangled carcasses lay everywhere, and the air was thick with the pungent stench of blood.
Awoooo...
At that moment, the distant howl of wolves suddenly echoed from nearby.
Fang Yuan's expression shifted slightly. With his experience, he knew a wolf pack was rapidly approaching.
Any other Gu Master, having just endured a fierce battle with their Empty Orifice depleted of True Essence, might already be contemplating retreat. But Fang Yuan gave no such thought. He crouched down and continued extracting eyeballs from the wolf carcasses.
His movements were practiced and efficient, yet even so, by the time he finished collecting them, he had already been half-encircled by the approaching pack.
This was a mid-sized wolf pack—over a hundred wolves in total, their green-glowing eyes radiating a ferocious intensity as they locked onto Fang Yuan without letting up.
Fang Yuan stored the wolf eyes away, rose to his feet with a faint smile, and then his figure rippled like water before slowly fading from the spot.
The charging wolf pack immediately fell into a commotion. Many of the wolves halted their steps, displaying looks of confusion and hesitation.
After all, they were merely beasts. Such a wondrous phenomenon was beyond their comprehension.
"Though that is partly because Lightning Wolves primarily rely on their keen eyesight rather than their sense of smell. Lightning Wolves are strange creatures of this world—their vision is as sharp as a hawk's, but their sense of smell is no better than a human's. My Concealing Scale Gu happens to counter a beast like the Lightning Wolf, but it wouldn't fool a dog's nose." Fang Yuan was well aware of this.
The Concealing Scale Gu was something he had successfully refined before the Gu battling tournament. It resembled a carp fossil, dull and grayish, resting in his True Essence Sea as the waters of True Essence flowed over the lifelike fish scales on its surface.
As for the Fish Scale Gu he had previously lacked, he had naturally obtained it through exchanging the Black Pig Gu and the Green Book.
With this Concealing Scale Gu, Fang Yuan departed safely under the very noses of the wolf pack.
This sort of scene had already played out many times over the past few days.
Ordinary wolves or dogs possessed an extremely keen sense of smell. But Lightning Wolves were different. They moved at tremendous speed—without sharp vision, they would crash into trees and rocks. Nature, however, was fair. In bestowing upon them their razor-sharp wolf pupils, it had stripped them of any acute sense of smell.
The Lightning Crown Alpha Wolf, however, was a different matter entirely.
With the Concealing Scale Gu, Fang Yuan could navigate an ordinary wolf tide with ease. But before a Beast King of the Lightning Crown Alpha Wolf's caliber, he had nowhere to hide.
This was because Lightning Crown Alpha Wolves often harbored Electric Eye Gu within their eyes—Gu insects capable of piercing through invisibility.
Beyond the Electric Eye Gu, there existed many other Gu insects that could detect Fang Yuan even when his form was concealed.
The Snake Tongue Gu, for example, could sense heat. The Beast Speech Gu allowed a Gu Master to glean information from conversations with wild beasts. The Downwind Ear Gu could sharpen a Gu Master's hearing to extraordinary灵敏.
Therefore, possessing the Concealing Scale Gu did not guarantee Fang Yuan's safety—it merely provided a small means of preserving his life.
By the time he returned to the stockade, it was already midday.
The spring sun shone brilliantly, and the area before the stockade gates bustled with coming and going. Unlike previous years, the majority of people on the road were Gu Masters, with only a handful of mortals among them.
Under the influence of the wolf tide, the wilderness was no longer safe. Hunters dared not venture into the mountains, and the farmland had all been left to荒.
On the streets, however, the Gu Masters were in high spirits. They returned from outside covered in bloodstrokes, or set out with revitalized energy.
They discussed the rankings on the Battle Merit Ranking, exchanged tips and experiences on hunting Lightning Wolves, and debated the prowess of outstanding Gu Masters from other stockades.
Fang Yuan moved through the crowd and entered the stockade, arriving at the plaza before the Patriarch Pavilion.
A platform had already been erected on the plaza—this was where battle merit was redeemed.
A large number of Gu Masters had gathered here. First Transformation Gu Masters manned the records, while a portion of Second Transformation Gu Masters crowded together, exchanging blood-stained wolf eyes for battle merit.