"You say that although Fang Yuan defeated Fang Zheng, Chi Cheng, and Mo Bei while extorting the students this time, he let them go and did not collect their primeval stones?" Hearing the guard's report, the academy elder revealed a slightly surprised expression.
"I would not dare to deceive my lord; it is indeed so," the guard kneeling on the ground immediately replied.
"Mm." The academy elder was noncommittal and waved his hand. "I know of this matter now; you may withdraw."
"Subordinate takes his leave."
After the guard left, the academy elder immediately fell into deep thought.
Originally, he was concerned about this matter because he worried that the thirty primeval stones reward Fang Zheng obtained would be extorted by Fang Yuan. If that happened, the academy's primeval stone reward would have absolutely no meaning; they might as well issue it all to Fang Yuan directly.
If Fang Yuan really did that, it was something the academy side absolutely would not allow, and the academy elder had already made preparations to punish Fang Yuan severely.
But what he did not expect was that this time, Fang Yuan not only did not have designs on those thirty primeval stones, but he also took the initiative to let the trio of Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Zheng go.
"Fang Yuan has several hundred primeval stones on him; perhaps he looks down on these thirty primeval stones, which is understandable. But to proactively give up extorting Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Zheng, what is the reason for this?"
The academy elder pondered, and his furrowed brows gradually smoothed out.
He understood somewhat.
This trio—Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Zheng—could be said to represent the three major factions of the clan. Fang Yuan letting these three go had a self-evident meaning: it was proactively showing goodwill to these three major factions. This could also be interpreted as a change in Fang Yuan's mindset, a signal that he wanted to bow his head to the clan.
"It is understandable. With continuous cultivation, even though Fang Yuan has the Liquor worm, it is enough for him to realize the insufficiency of C grade aptitude even more clearly. After making a fuss a few times previously and venting most of his dissatisfaction and unwillingness, the current him probably feels a lot of discouragement and depression."
"It seems the clan head's words still made sense. After all, Fang Yuan is just a fifteen-year-old teenager; how could he successfully challenge the clan's system? He has now preliminarily accepted reality; once he finds his own position, integrating into the clan will be an inevitable matter."
Thinking of this, the academy elder breathed a sigh of relief, and his mood involuntarily became cheerful.
Three days passed in a flash.
Soon, the mid-year assessment arrived.
"Quick, quick, quick, I've lured the wild boar over!" A teenager roared anxiously while running wildly.
On each of his calves, a ring of pale green whirlwind was wound around. It was exactly these two rings of whirlwinds that allowed him to possess speed surpassing ordinary mortals at such a young age.
However, the speed of the wild boar charging up behind him was getting faster and faster, and the distance between them was getting closer.
The scorching sun shone through the forest onto the wild boar's body, illuminating its two tusks until they were snow-bright.
"The wild boar is coming, pull the rope tight!" Four teenagers lying in ambush fiercely pulled up the thick hemp rope hidden in the grass, instantly forming a tripwire.
The sprinting teenager gave a light leap, jumped over this tripwire, and continued to run wildly forward.
But the following wild boar was tripped solidly, smashing ruthlessly onto the ground and sliding out a distance of five or six meters.
"Ouch!" The four teenagers were also dragged by the rope, and following the wild boar, they fell to the ground.
"Get him!" The teenager sprinting in front had already turned around, shouting loudly.
The few people who had fallen on the ground scrambled up in a flurry and surrounded the wild boar one after another.
…
Crack.
Under the wild boar's collision, the trunk of a small sapling snapped directly, and its crown planted headfirst onto the ground.
"That was close!" Gu Yue Chi Cheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, fear lingering in his heart. "Fortunately, I used the Dragonpill Cricket Gu in time just now and jumped three meters to the left; otherwise, that small tree would be my ending."
…
Swish, swish, swish!
Moonblades danced in the air, shooting onto the wild boar's body, creating slender and long wounds one after another.
Gu Yue Mo Chen's face was agitated, his eyes burning bright, his mind completely immersed in this battle.
Half an hour later, the wild boar lost too much blood and finally fell.
Gu Yue Mo Chen panted heavily and sat down on the ground with a thud, his entire body covered in mud or green grass clippings, along with dripping sweat.
"Fighting against a living wild boar is indeed completely different from practice battles with wooden puppets or grass puppets. It took me half an hour to kill one wild boar; I don't know what the situation is for the others?"
…
On a concealed small hillock, a shed had been temporarily set up. Enduring the illumination of the scorching sun, the shed stubbornly cast a patch of cool shadow.
Under the shed, several chairs were arranged, and the academy elder sat squarely in the main seat. Beside him sat other clan elders. There were also several Gu Masters standing behind them.
In the forest surrounding the shed, some Gu Masters were also concealed.
At this time, there was suddenly a burst of abnormal commotion in the forest ahead.
Whoosh.
A Gu Master, his figure like a shadow, broke out from the forest, ran over quickly, and then knelt outside the shed.
"How is the situation?" The academy elder asked him.
"Reporting to Lord Elder, so far, there have been no casualties among the students," the Gu Master answered hastily.
"Not bad, not bad."
"The mid-year assessment has already gone on for a morning, yet actually no one has been injured. This situation hasn't been seen much in previous years."
"It seems, Academy Elder, that your teaching methods are effective."
Hearing these words, the other few elders nodded in satisfaction, praising in unison.
The academy elder shook his head slightly; he knew the reason. This was all because Fang Yuan appeared out of nowhere and extorted his classmates, causing this batch of students to train hard in basic martial arts, hence the current phenomenon.
He looked at the Gu Master kneeling on the ground and continued to ask: "Then up until now, which ones have relatively good results?"
That Gu Master immediately replied: "Reporting to Lord, so far, Gu Yue Fang Yuan, Fang Zheng, Mo Bei, and Chi Cheng are at the forefront. Among them, Chi Cheng has already killed three wild boars, Fang Zheng and Mo Bei have slain five, and Fang Yuan has the most, already having a harvest of eight heads."
"Oh? I didn't expect this Fang Yuan to be temporarily leading!"
"Throughout the previous years, A grade and B grade students being suppressed by a C grade; such a situation is still extremely rare."
"Doesn't he have the Liquor worm? That is to say, he has reached the bronze primeval essence of the upper stage. Having such results is also understandable."
"I believe that following this, the trio of Fang Zheng, Mo Bei, and Chi Cheng will definitely surpass him. Although he has the Liquor worm, the recovery speed of his primeval essence is far from a match for A grade and B grade students."
The other elders began to discuss.
"You may withdraw." The academy elder waved his hand at the Gu Master kneeling on the ground. "Instruct the others to definitely ensure protective work is done well. Especially the safety of Fang Zheng, Chi Cheng, and Mo Bei; strict attention is needed!"
"Yes, Lord." The Gu Master retreated.
This kind of wild combat was truly a first for the vast majority of students. Therefore, it carried risks, and the clan naturally had arrangements long ago. Dozens of Rank two Gu Masters were currently hidden within the mountain forest, monitoring the safety of the entire assessment. At the same time, several elders with Rank three cultivation were also holding the fort here, ready to deal with unexpected situations at any time.
The fiery sun slowly descended from the highest point of the sky; at this time, it was already approaching the mountains in the northwest.
The evening glow was patches of burning clouds; this was the passion flowing out from the sun at the last moment.
The afterglow shone into the mountain forest as another wild boar fell to the ground.
"Original twenty-third one." Fang Yuan calculated in his heart, then squatted down, deftly peeling off a pair of tusks into his hand.
On his back, he carried a bag, which already contained quite a few wild boar tusks.
At the same time, he had another bag containing the tusks obtained from secretly killing pigs some time ago. These tusks were originally stored in the rock crack secret cave but were secretly taken out by Fang Yuan the night before yesterday, packed into a bag, and buried in a hidden place.
"I am familiar with the terrain and the distribution of wild boars. At the same time, I have upper stage primeval essence to activate the Moonlight Gu and also the combination with the Little Light Gu. The efficiency of others hunting pigs is definitely not as high as mine. Relying solely on this bag on my back, I can steadily secure first place. I wonder what kind of expressions the others will have when I take out the other bag later? Hehe."
Fang Yuan looked up at the sky; it was time to go take out the other bag.
Thinking of this, a map instantly surfaced in his mind.
Over these days, he had already memorized the beast skin map in his head. Fang Yuan was very clear about his current position; as long as he turned left and followed a mountain stream for a quarter of an hour, he could reach the location where the bag was buried.
But just as he was about to move, he suddenly hesitated.
"Based on my current position, the nearest red circle mark is only five or six hundred meters away. The opportunity is rare; should I go there and take a look?"
Once this thought moved, it became uncontrollable.
Since winning was already certain anyway, Fang Yuan still had a relatively ample period of time.
"That beast skin map has three red circle marks. These three places were very important to Old Man Wang. They are also the only map markers whose meaning I cannot guess. I don't know what they mean. Let's go take a look!"
Fang Yuan naturally knew that there would be Gu Masters monitoring in secret during the assessment, but he precisely needed such witnesses.
Immediately, he pretended to continue hunting wild boars and headed towards the depths of the mountain forest.
Half a quarter of an hour later, he arrived at the location marked by the red circle on the map.
A treehouse was concealed within the lush branches and leaves of a giant tree. If one did not observe carefully, one would truly not be able to detect it.
"Is this a temporary residence for Old Man Wang when he was hunting?" Fang Yuan frowned, and a wave of doubt involuntarily rose in his heart.
He climbed into the treehouse.
When he saw the scene inside the treehouse, the color of his face changed abruptly!