Fang Yuan ramps up extortions, Jia Fu returns

It rained heavily the next morning. As scheduled, the merchant caravan set off from the Gu Yue village at that time under the rain.

It rained for four whole days before stopping, Heaven's blessing toward Fang Yuan.

On the fifth day Fang Yuan skipped the first class and the Academy Elder, in a poor mood, sent two mortal guards to bring him in. Fang Yuan then entered the classroom bathed in blood, having crippled the two guards who attempted to 'interrupt his advancement' and 'slandered the Gu Yue ancestors'. Just like it happened in the novel, when explaining himself, Fang Yuan also announced his advancement to Rank 1 middle stage, being the second to advance among the students.

In the end, Fang Yuan was not punished for harming the guards, but was instead praised for advancing to the middle stage so quickly as a C-grade talent.

It seemed that the merchant caravan didn't pay much attention to the missing Jia Jin Sheng, because the days continued to pass by. The third to advance to middle stage was Gu Yue Mo Bei, while the fourth was Fang Zheng, being dragged down by the lack of primeval stones.

When the week ended, the Academy Elder was handing out subsidies once again.

Being the first to advance to the middle stage, Chi Yan was called in first, collected his subsidy of ten primeval stones and then returned to his seat.

Fang Yuan was called up next. He was then appointed as class vice-chairman, but he rejected the position, visibly pissing off the Academy Elder.

With Fang Yuan rejecting his position, Mo Bei and Fang Zheng became the two class vice-chairmen, though Fang Zheng didn't seem very excited about holding that position.

For the next twenty minutes the other students were coming up one by one, while the others were forced to patiently wait in their seats, watching.

Chi Yan guessed that the giving of subsidies being so public and official was a display to teach the students the importance of hierarchy and status within the clan. Those who performed well were called in first, while those who did poorly were called in dead last.

Chi Yan didn't pay any attention to the giving of subsidy and instead focused on using the Liquor Worm to condense his rapidly recovering middle stage primeval essence into upper stage primeval essence in order to nourish his aperture walls.

In comparison to regular cultivation in which Chi Yan was overcapped on primeval essence unless he dumped it on Gu worms, the Liquor Worm could fully drain his Aperture in just a minute or two.

These days, thanks to receiving his own Liquor Worm, Chi Yan's potential cultivation speed skyrocketed. Originally Chi Yan already could cultivate twice as fast as Fang Zheng could in peak condition, so now it would be at least four times as fast!

The rapid primeval essence regeneration and the Liquor Worm complimented each other perfectly when it came to boosting cultivation speed.

Chi Yan's passive primeval essence regeneration covered about ¾ of the Liquor Worm's consumption when actively cultivating, and only then he needed to use some primeval stones for a while if going all out.

For once cultivating with the Liquor Worm consumed more primeval essence than Chi Yan could spend cultivating.

The progress was now even better than it seemed because Chi Yan could now dump the excess primeval essence that he gains during lectures into the Liquor Worm in an instant, and then later use this condensed essence to cultivate or on Gu worm practice, not overcapping a lot of primeval essence that was previously getting wasted.

In truth this Liquor Worm was only purchased by Gu Yue Chi Lian by Chi Yan's request in order for Chi Yan to show it off and keep up the appearances that his amazing cultivation speed was thanks to the Liquor Worm and not thanks to his talent. Chi Lian didn't want Chi Yan to progress too quickly…

However, Chi Yan never planned to do that. He freely used the Liquor Worm and even lied that his cultivation was raising by itself. With limited information about the Extreme Physiques, Gu Yue Chi Lian was simply unable to know if it was true or not.

Chi Lian surely worried about Chi Yan's short lifespan, but Chi Yan wanted to raise his cultivation quickly. Before the final battle of Qing Mao Mountain in two and a half years he wanted to have at least peak Rank 3 battle strength in order to gain the best benefits and survive the chaos, probably having a Rank 3 peak stage cultivation and a powerful set of Rank 3 Fire and Lightning Gu.

The quicker that Chi Yan could advance, the more primeval essence he would also have to practice with Gu worms to raise his combat proficiency.

As for surviving his aperture detonation when automatically reaching Rank 4, Chi Yan wasn't too worried about that for several reasons. He felt that in case of an emergency he could at least stall for long enough to acquire a method.

At one point Chi Yan also wanted to test the effect of the Dream Butterly Gu, but he first wanted to reach a decent cultivation level.

Eventually, the giving of the subsidies ended. The students began leaving the classroom.

Outside the academy, Fang Yuan blocked the gates once again. "Since you receive more, the two class vice-chairmen will now have to pass three primeval stones. Chi Yan, you only need to pass one."

Once Fang Yuan announced the new rules, the students realized that there was nothing special about the two vice-class chairmen positions.

Unlike a while back, the students were no longer envious of Mo Bei and Fang Zheng - they were being extorted just like the rest of them.

Bam!

The academy elder slapped the table fiercely when he heard the news.

"This Fang Yuan, just what is he trying to do? To go as far as to decline the vice-chairman's position to continue extorting, even robbing three pieces from the other two vice class-chairmen. With this, what is the difference of being a vice chairman in comparison with the other students?!" The academy elder tried his best to suppress his voice, but his tone was filled with fury.

Fang Yuan rejecting the position of vice-class chairman meant rejecting the clan system and it angered the clan elder, but he still controlled himself. However, right after that Fang Yuan's handreach had even furthered, and this had gone beyond the elder's bottom line.

"That Chi Yan too, he simply allows all of this to happen and gives a bad example to the other students! With his example, most of the others don't even dare to resist and obediently accept Fang Yuan's extortion as if it were natural."

The academy elder was greatly annoyed by Chi Yan. Although Chi Yan himself didn't seem to be affected much, his actions negatively influenced everyone else in class, including Fang Zheng and Mo Bei - the two other hopeful seeds of the clan.

The academy elder heaved a sigh as he looked at the reports on the table.

According to the investigation, almost every day Fang Yuan would visit the Chi family mansion and spar with Chi Yan. It was obvious that the two had some kind of relationship. It also showed that despite rejecting everyone else in class, Fang Yuan wasn't a complete loner.

The elder sighed. 'We all see that Fang Yuan is just a C-grade trash, but we're forgetting that he was once a genius of the clan. It's no wonder that after the clansmen personally plucked him down to the ground he's now so wild and unruly. And if there was anyone who would sympathize with his situation, then that would be Chi Yan. Although Chi Yan's aptitude is outstanding in comparison, he was also someone always expected to be an A-grade prodigy.'

The academy elder easily connected the dots. Fang Yuan and Chi Yan were both expected to be A-grades, so it was no wonder that they began interacting with one another. The two didn't show to be affected on the surface, but they were both very stubborn and extremely hardworking in their cultivation. This was them holding back their breath, unwilling to concede, they wanted to prove their abilities to the clan!

'Fang Yuan didn't rob more than one piece from Chi Yan. This is good. This shows that although he is angry at the clan, he can still be influenced with ties of friendship and kinship. Over time, this Fang Yuan can be reformed.'

If Fang Yuan were to even go hard on his 'friend' Chi Yan and spit on Chi Yan's position of the class chairman and their 'friendship', then that would show that he's truly unscrupulous and untamable - a traitorous scum that needs to be suppressed no matter what.

But in the end, the academy elder saw that Fang Yuan was just an indignant kid.

'Thus that is why when I suppressed him, he retaliated so fiercely…' the elder thought.

The more the academy elder learnt about Fang Yuan, the more he understood him. However, understanding didn't mean forgiving. Fang Yuan offended and disrespected him, causing the elder to greatly loathe him in his heart.

What the elder of crouse didn't know was that Fang Yuan's actions had much deeper intentions than he could imagine. His 'realizations' were merely what Fang Yuan wanted him to think, while Fang Yuan himself was also restricted and forced to act in a certain way in order to satisfy all parties and produce a desired result.

'But this matter still goes back to Fang Yuan's secret. Just what did he use to break through to middle stage so quickly? Chi Yan is now in possession of a Liquor Worm. Could it be that he lent it to Fang Yuan to help him take second place?'

Shaking the information in his hands, the academy elder frowned again. 'Chi Yan himself clearly denies giving help to Fang Yuan. The two of them won't say a word. Although the reports I received are detailed, they have nothing to do with Fang Yuan's advancement secret. It has already been a few days, I need to find the answer to tell the clansmen!'

Boom, boom, boom.

As the academy elder pondered, knocking sounds sounded out from the door.

It was the clan head, Gu Yue Bo's personal guard. It turned out that Sir Jia Fu's little brother, Jia Jin Sheng, had gone missing.

Shortly after, the academy elder brought Fang Yuan to the clan pavilion where he was interrogated in the matter of Jia Jin Sheng's disappearance.

Around an hour later the investigation ended. Jia Fu left the Gu Yue village, full of rage toward his brother Jia Gui.

…

Fang Yuan stood on a hill holding an umbrella, watching Jia Fu leave on a Treasure Brass Toad.

'The trouble from killing Jia Jin Sheng is finally settled.' Fang Yuan's eyes were dark and remote while his heart was calm, a bout of peacefulness.

Jia Jin Sheng was a great pawn that could allow him to inject himself into the Jia family and Fang Yuan felt some regret by being forced to discard him. However, in the face of the inheritance of a Rank 5 master it was entirely acceptable.

'Gu Yue Bo also asked the academy elder to stay. It seems like I can keep up my extortions,' he thought.

'The appearance of the Flower Wine Monk's secret inheritance was completely unexpected though. Originally I put great importance on Chi Yan's help in this life, willing to train him in martial arts and use the Chi faction to grow stronger, but now it's a hindrance.'

'In order to safely unearth the power inheritance and grow in secret, I cannot be clearly connected to any of the clan's factions, as it would only put people's attention on me and pull me into the political spiral. Earlier I had no choice but to join the system, but now I might be independent. What's problematic is that I already made a promise to Chi Yan.'

Fang Yuan began to slightly regret beginning to train Chi Yan. The time that he spent training Chi Yan was not the problem, but the act of him being close to the Chi faction.

A part of Fang Yuan even wished that he could simply stop training Chi Yan. Going back on his word was nothing, but he could not do that. To normal people Chi Yan's offer was simply too good, and Fang Yuan abruptly changing his mind would be too suspicious.

Even an idiot would figure out that since a C-grade loner like Fang Yuan gave up on the rare Gu and a great pay from Chi Yan, then it was because he probably had something better. And Chi Yan was definitely not an idiot.

Because of that Fang Yuan decided to keep training Chi Yan until the end of the Academy year, which is when he would go his own way.

At the same time, although Fang Yuan had a connection with Chi Yan, he was not clearly connected to the Chi faction. It was only 'friendship' and 'cooperation', and Fang Yuan was not necessarily working for the Chi faction.

In fact, this kind of situation was also very beneficial to Fang Yuan.

He would train Chi Yan in the early evening, so it would not hinder him from exploring the inheritance. He would then go to the secret cave early at night and return late at night, which was the least suspicious and Fang Yuan was already doing that earlier when he was searching for the Liquor Worm, 'drinking in the woods'.

At the same time Fang Yuan would still receive a great reward for training Chi Yan, and stay in his good books. To Fang Yuan, Chi Yan was still the most valuable person in the clan to keep in contact with.

That's also why Fang Yuan didn't ramp up extortions on Chi Yan in particular. Chi Yan was intelligent, capable and unpredictable, and could definitely make trouble for him if he really wanted, by, for example, ganging up the students against him. 

He could also keep receiving Chi Yan's cooperation of him obediently passing a single primeval stone and not interfering in his robbing which would make it more likely for the other students to follow the Class Chairman Chi Yan's example, and then Fang Yuan could continue robbing his classmates without trouble.

More importantly, despite the fact that Fang Yuan was completely selfish in his actions, thanks to giving up on taking more primeval stones from Chi Yan, he also wouldn't be seen as a clan's traitor. Instead, he was simply a rebellious child!

This benefit was huge. Should the clan at one point realize that Fang Yuan was disloyal and completely selfish, he would be suppressed entirely.

It also made Fang Yuan seem more attractive to recruit. Later it would make the higher-ups more likely to think that he could indeed be receiving support from one of the elders when they notice him growing abnormally fast - which would of course be a lie, because Fang Yuan would always remain a loner in operation, free from the system, and that 'supporter' would only be a layer of protection and a cover up for things that Fang Yuan receives from the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance but that might get leaked out by accident.

This way Fang Yuan was receiving the best benefits from all sides.