Fang Yuan glanced at the invitation. The words on it were exceedingly polite, written of course in Northern Plains script — a running style that looked rough and wild yet never undisciplined. The signature bore the name of the Man Clan patriarch: Man Tu.
This was an invitation penned personally by Man Tu himself, a gesture of sincerity.
The contents expressed the Man Clan patriarch's admiration for Chang Shanyin, and went on to say that the previous incident had merely been a misunderstanding between young folk. Chang Shanyin had not killed the Man Clan's outer-surname Elder, Shi Wu, and such magnanimity had earned the admiration of the entire Man Clan.
Therefore, a banquet would be held tonight, and they cordially invited Fang Yuan to grace the occasion. The gift box accompanying the letter contained compensation for Elder Shi Wu's offense against a hero.
Fang Yuan opened it and chuckled: "The Man Clan certainly has thoughtfulness."
Inside the box were over a hundred Bone Bamboo Gu.
Clearly, after Man Duo's return, the Man Clan had investigated Fang Yuan in detail — even learning of his purchases at the market.
"Brother Shanyin, this old man has an imposition to ask of you." The old clan patriarch beside him spoke up.
Fang Yuan waved his hand: "I understand what you mean, old brother. Rest assured, at the banquet I will put in a good word, and strive to turn the enmity between the Ge and Man Clans into friendship."
"Ah, then I am most grateful, Brother Shanyin!" The old patriarch was deeply moved. He rose with trembling limbs and bowed deeply to Fang Yuan.
There was still some time before the evening banquet. After seeing the old patriarch off, Fang Yuan closed the door.
He sat cross-legged on the bed. With a thought, a streak of light flew out from his Empty Orifice.
The faint glow dissipated, revealing the War Bone Wheel.
This Fifth Transformation Gu was massive — nearly large enough to touch the ceiling. The moment it appeared, the originally spacious room immediately seemed cramped beyond measure.
The wheel was covered in cracks. Several severe gashes nearly destroyed all of its spokes. And one wound, the deepest of all, was so grave it had almost split the entire War Bone Wheel in two — held together only by a sliver of bone in the center. The sight was enough to make one's skin crawl.
This Fifth Transformation Gu had not enjoyed good fortune. It had already been battered to near-ruin by Chang Shanyin. After its original owner Hatugu perished, it had become a wild Gu, subsisting on the rotting bones and corpses scattered across battlefields, surviving with tremendous difficulty while its wounds remained unrepaired.
Later, it had been attacked by both Fang Yuan and Ge Yao. The Spring Autumn Cicada was a Sixth Transformation Gu, yet even it could not fully suppress a Fifth Transformation Gu. Fang Yuan had no choice but to beat it to the brink of death before finally subduing it.
Precisely because of all this, the entire War Bone Wheel was on the verge of collapse. When it had landed in the room, several bone fragments had already broken off from the wheel.
It was, one could say, as wretched as any Gu could possibly be.
Fang Yuan took a Bone Bamboo Gu from the gift box. Relying on a wisp of the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura, he refined it with casual ease.
This Gu resembled a section of bamboo crafted from bone — deathly pale, utterly white, like a stick of white candle.
Fang Yuan held the Bone Bamboo Gu in his hand. True Essence flowed in response to his will, exiting the Empty Orifice and traveling upward until it reached beneath his tongue.
The Ghost Fire Gu was stationed beneath his tongue, already manifested as a small ball of blue flame.
Fang Yuan gently puffed out his cheeks and exhaled.
With a soft whoosh, he breathed out a wisp of ghostly blue fire.
The ghost fire landed precisely upon the Bone Bamboo Gu, clinging to its upper end and burning quietly. Fang Yuan held the base of the Bone Bamboo Gu, as though he were holding a blue-flamed candle.
The ghost fire burned ceaselessly, radiating waves of frigid cold that pierced bone. Under the scorching of the ghost fire, the upper end of the Bone Bamboo Gu slowly melted, forming a thread of white bone smoke that drifted upward.
Fang Yuan carefully brought the Bone Bamboo Gu close to the War Bone Wheel. The white bone smoke, as if drawn by some invisible force, drifted of its own accord toward the cracks on the War Bone Wheel. The wheel trembled faintly, and the cracks began to mend, little by little.
Before long, the blue ghost fire had burned down to a smaller and smaller flame. Fang Yuan then exhaled a second wisp, stoking the blaze back up.
After the time it takes to finish half a cup of tea, the first Bone Bamboo Gu had burned away entirely. Fang Yuan then took out a second Bone Bamboo Gu from the gift box, and continued to scorch it with ghost fire, producing more white bone smoke.
In this manner, he persisted tirelessly. After using more than thirty Bone Bamboo Gu, Fang Yuan had completely mended the deepest crack on the War Bone Wheel.
The gift box full of Bone Bamboo Gu had been depleted by a quarter in one go. To fully restore the War Bone Wheel, these Bone Bamboo Gu alone were far from enough.
And the War Bone Wheel was still nowhere near combat-ready.
The deepest crack had been repaired, but the rest of the wounds still covered its surface.
It was like a patient who, thanks to Fang Yuan's emergency treatment, had been pulled back a single step from the cliff of death. But this patient remained in critical condition, still requiring persistent and unrelenting restoration.
"You can't become fat in a single bite. The War Bone Wheel's injuries are simply too severe. But were it not for this, I would never have been able to subdue it so easily. Even if it were fully restored right now, my current True Essence wouldn't be nearly enough to activate it. There's no need to rush this."
Fang Yuan climbed down from the bed, stretched his stiff and tingling limbs, and opened the window. It was already night — the moon hung bright while the stars were sparse.
"It's almost time." Thinking of tonight's banquet, Fang Yuan stepped out the door.
Leaving the courtyard, he found Man Duo and the Ge Clan patriarch with his son already waiting for quite some time.