"Clan Leader, for what matter did you seek me out?" The academy elder stood respectfully to the side.
"It is nothing much. Sit down, I have a story here I want to tell you to listen to." Gu Yue Bo narrowed his eyes, his tone unhurried.
"Your subordinate listens respectfully!" The academy elder then chose the lower seat closest to the clan leader and sat down.
Clan Leader Gu Yue Bo then told the story of Ren Zu.
The story goes—
Ever since Ren Zu spoke their correct names, he subdued the Rules Gu. His first command was to ask them to capture a Lifespan Gu for him.
The Rules Gu, one square and one circle, working together, could capture all the Gu in the world; a Lifespan Gu was naturally not an issue.
Ren Zu used the Lifespan Gu and instantly regained his youth, returning to the age of twenty.
But at this time, the Compass Gu said to him: "Human, although you subdued us, every time you command us, you must add an item of rules."
The Square Gu followed and said: "We captured the Lifespan Gu for you; this was the first command. Our new rule is that we will not capture duplicate Gu worms for you again."
That is to say, if Ren Zu wanted to capture a Lifespan Gu again in the future, the Rules Gu would not make a move.
Ren Zu nodded, only able to agree.
He opened his mouth and gave the second command: "Then besides the Lifespan Gu, please capture all the myriad Gu in the world for me."
Receiving this command, instantly the Compass Gu turned into an infinitely large circle, enclosing space and time. The Square Gu turned into an infinitely large square, covering the great world.
One square and one circle formed a giant net, enveloping the entire heaven, earth, and universe.
When they shrank back down and returned to the palm of Ren Zu's hand, all the myriad Gu in the world, aside from the Lifespan Gu, had been captured by them.
Ren Zu was overjoyed. In this way, all the Gu worms in the world belonged to him, and from now on, he would be the master of the world!
However, when he opened the square and circular silk net, with a splash, a massive stream of insects surged outwards. The Gu worms that the Rules Gu had painstakingly captured all scrambled to fly away.
When Ren Zu hurriedly closed the square and circular net, only five Gu worms were left inside.
"Why is this?" Ren Zu was very astonished.
The Rules Gu then answered him: "Human, the Gu worms in the world number in the thousands and tens of thousands, of all types and forms. You have neither strength nor wisdom, how can you subdue them? We can only capture the Gu worms for you; you have to rely on yourself to subdue them in order to make them work for you."
Then they said again: "This is your second command, we must also add a second rule—From now on, we can only capture one Gu for you at a time."
Ren Zu had no choice but to nod. He carefully lifted the silk net, exposing only a single gap.
Among the remaining five Gu worms, there was the Strength Gu, and also the Wisdom Gu. Seeing this, Ren Zu was very delighted.
He then said to the Strength Gu: "Strength Gu, you left me back then, do you regret it now? If you submit to me now, I can return your freedom to you."
But the Strength Gu said: "Human, you are wrong. The reason I did not fly away was not because I had no chance, but because I wanted to stay. It is impossible for you to subdue me. I only submit to existences whose strength is greater than mine, and you are lacking. However, we can make another transaction. If you give me your youth, I can temporarily listen to your commands."
Hearing these words, Ren Zu felt somewhat reluctant. He had just gained his youth, was he going to lose it already?
But he was extremely thirsty for strength. He knew that after possessing strength, he would become powerful, and life would become easier.
Moreover, only by possessing strength could he subdue more Gu worms.
Thus, Ren Zu agreed to the Strength Gu once again, reaching a second transaction with it.
Ren Zu instantly reached middle age, and the Strength Gu flew out from the net of rules, landing on Ren Zu's shoulder.
Having strength, Ren Zu instantly had ample confidence.
He then said to the Wisdom Gu: "Wisdom Gu, you left me back then, do you regret it now? If you submit to me now, I can return your freedom to you."
But the Wisdom Gu said: "Human, you are wrong. The reason I did not fly away was not because I had no chance, but because I wanted to stay. It is impossible for you to subdue me. I only submit to existences who are more intelligent than me, and you are lacking. However, we can make another transaction. If you give me your middle age, I can temporarily listen to your commands."
Hearing these words, Ren Zu did not want to trade anymore.
He cherished life much more than last time, and he also knew that once his middle age was sold off, he would only have old age left. And then, not long after, the Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu would leave him again, just like last time.
Ren Zu was unwilling to make the transaction, but he also didn't want to let the Wisdom Gu go.
The Wisdom Gu became somewhat anxious and had no choice but to take a step back, saying: "Alright, human, you win. I was defeated by your hands this time. As long as you tell me what method you used to catch me, I will admit defeat, not take anything from you, and be used by you from now on."
Hearing these words, Ren Zu was instantly overjoyed. Before the Rules Gu even had time to stop him, he blurted out: "I used the Rules Gu to capture you."
Hearing this, the Wisdom Gu laughed heartily: "I will remember this. So it turns out the names of these two Gu are Rules. Haha, now that I know your names, you can never catch me again."
After saying so, it turned into a streak of light and flew out, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
The Rules Gu both began to complain: "Human, we told you long ago. It is best that only you know our names, do not let other existences know. Otherwise, we will be used by other existences. Now look, the Wisdom Gu already knows our names, things have become troublesome."
Only then did Ren Zu realize he had fallen for the Wisdom Gu's trick. He was extremely remorseful. He knew he had lost the only chance to use Rules to capture Wisdom.
Speaking up to here, Gu Yue Bo's story also temporarily came to a conclusion. He looked at the academy elder, profound meaning hidden in his gaze.
The academy elder could not help but stand up from his seat. He had heard the tales of Ren Zu long ago, but Gu Yue Bo telling it now naturally contained a profound meaning.
His gaze flickered, having already gained an understanding in his heart. He immediately bowed slightly towards Gu Yue Bo and said respectfully: "Lord Clan Leader, by telling this story, are you perhaps making an analogy? Comparing Fang Yuan to the Wisdom Gu, and treating the clan as Ren Zu. Although Ren Zu used rules to catch the Wisdom Gu and trapped it in the net, ultimately he still let the Wisdom Gu escape."
Speaking up to here, the academy elder paused for a moment, pondered, and looked at Gu Yue Bo again: "Could it be that Lord Clan Leader wants me to let Fang Yuan off and stop suppressing him? But what he is doing is getting more and more excessive…"
Gu Yue Bo raised a hand to stop the academy elder's words, gesturing for him to sit down and speak.
The academy elder sat down again, only to hear Gu Yue Bo let out a sigh: "You, you are still as perceptive as ever, a smart person, understanding with just a single point. It's a pity that your breadth of mind and layout are still not large; you only look at your own small plot of land. I will tell you now, the academy is small, the clan is what's large."
"I know what you are worried about, afraid that the other students will be suppressed to death by Fang Yuan, and ultimately all their spirit and drive will be completely crushed. Hehehe." Gu Yue Bo shook his head slightly, pointing at the academy elder, "You worry too much."
"What do you think the clan is for? Relying solely on your academy to cultivate newcomers? No, behind every student, there are still their parents, their elders, their good friends. As long as there are these people supporting, encouraging, and harboring expectations, the hearts of our Gu Yue clan's juniors will have confidence and drive."
"Fang Yuan has indeed exceeded my expectations repeatedly, bearing a trace of appearing out of nowhere. I have been secretly paying attention to Fang Zheng all along, and already knew about Fang Yuan robbing and extorting. Just let him continue robbing; use him to well and truly hone Fang Zheng, Mo Bei, and Chi Cheng, these uncut jades. This has great benefits; at the very least, this class of students has the most solid martial arts foundation I have seen."
However, a look of worry appeared on the academy elder's face: "But Lord Clan Leader, too many setbacks are not good either, it will grind the uncut jades to pieces. Especially now that Fang Yuan has a Liquor worm, this worm has immense assistance for a Rank one Gu Master. I am worried that during this Rank one period, under Fang Yuan's oppression, the other students won't be able to turn their fortunes around."
"Then let them be unable to turn their fortunes around!" Gu Yue Bo gave a cold snort, revealing a trace of the magnanimity and coldness of a person in a high position, "What do these minor setbacks count for? Is it more terrifying than death? If with the support of their family elders, they still cannot retain their spirit and drive, it proves they aren't uncut jades at all, and thus have no value in being cultivated. The clan has new students entering the academy every year; if this class fails, there is still the next class. As for Gu Yue Fang Zheng… starting tomorrow night, I will personally guide him in secret."
"Having the clan leader personally teach him, that is Gu Yue Fang Zheng's good fortune." The academy elder opportunely administered a piece of flattery.
Gu Yue Bo's expression softened a fraction. Looking at the academy elder, he exhorted: "Do you know the reason why, after serving as the academy elder for decades, you are still the academy elder now? Broaden your capacity for tolerance a bit. I know Fang Yuan touched upon your majesty and swept away your face, but why must you haggle over every ounce with a junior?"
"I also know this Fang Yuan has some early wisdom, but ultimately he still has the temperament of a youth, young and impulsive. Otherwise, he wouldn't have injured the guards and put you in a position where you couldn't step down in public. He is holding a pent-up breath of air in his heart; this can be understood. Falling from a genius to a mortal, holding hostility towards the clan is very normal."
"He is actually still very childish; you can tell just by looking at how he tried to conceal the Liquor worm. How could a Liquor worm possibly be concealed? He is not mature and still has naive thoughts, don't think of him as so terrifying. By comparing him to the Wisdom Gu, I was elevating him highly. At most he has some petty cleverness, but lacks great wisdom. If he had calmly concealed his middle stage cultivation, or remained unperturbed and accepted the class head position, that would truly be called deep scheming."
"What does Lord Clan Leader mean?" The academy elder raised his eyebrows.
"My meaning is, since Fang Yuan is dissatisfied with the clan, then let him vent. If an ant spits at an elephant, would the elephant care? Emotions should be smoothed out, not blocked. After he finishes venting, he will naturally integrate into the clan. Since the founding by the first generation, our Gu Yue clan has existed for nearly a thousand years. There are plenty of people dissatisfied with the clan, but did they ultimately overturn the clan?"
"The clan is not only about rules, there are also bloodline relations. Ren Zu wanted to use rules to catch wisdom, and as a result, not only did he fail, but the rules were also known by wisdom. The allegory in this is profound… Rules are dead, people are alive, and affections are deep. If you blindly use rules to catch people, it will instead increase hatred and push Fang Yuan further away from the clan. Fang Yuan is only C grade; if lucky, decades later he will merely be a low-level elder. But he is ultimately Gu Yue Fang Zheng's twin brother, do you understand?"
"Understood!" Hearing Gu Yue Bo's final sentence, the academy elder instantly saw the light.
"Mm… If the clan is only about rules, then it's just a stiff puddle of dead objects. But if one adds bloodline relations, then it comes alive." Gu Yue Bo nodded slowly, "There is one more sentence I want to give you, I hope you can keep it firmly in mind."
"Please give your instructions, Lord Clan Leader."
Gu Yue Bo's gaze was profound as he looked at the patch of moonlight outside the window: "The ocean is vast because it admits all rivers; tolerance brings greatness… remember it, and then you may withdraw."
"Yes, Lord Clan Leader, your subordinate complies and takes his leave." The academy elder said yes respectfully and withdrew.