Instead of venturing in the wild, Fei Cai kept himself shut in the house gu. He had clarity in his heart as he slowly moved the bluish baby phantom around. It was silent and did not cause any disturbance in the surroundings. This was rank 2 Sneak Attack Gu! But the use of rank 2 gu worm had depleted his middle-stage rank 1 primeval essence by 40%. However, this was completely acceptable. After all, Shrewd Gu utilized far more essence than this. But once Fei Cai utilizes the two copper relic gu worms, the expenditure of Primeval Essence would drop to 10%! What concept was this? At rank 1, Fei Cai would have genuine rank 2 attack power. And with the theft path being completely mysterious, none would be able to defend against it.

In fact, Fei Cai appreciated Thieving Heaven's perfectionist nature. As a gu master, Ben Jason had a tough life. He had to go against his moral time and again but once he reached the peak of the gu world, he started enhancing his previous recipes. He became an invincible rank 9 Venerable and he had the time to finally observe his past and correct many recipes and expand their refinement methods so that they can be fused into a higher rank. This simply didn't come from his perfectionist nature but also his most selfish desire.

When he arrived in this world, Ben Jason had nothing. Not even his own name. So... what would have changed if he had all these gu recipes back then? Would his path had gotten easier? This desire led him to create mortal gu methods of every legacy that shocked the world. And all of it was in Fei Cai's hands. 

After storing the Sneak Attack Gu worm, Fei Cai closed his eyes and observed two green-colored spheres floating in his green primeval essence. These were the two rank 1 green copper relic gu worms he had received from Fei Qing as the first portion of his inheritance. Thinking for a moment, Fei Cai injected his primeval essence into one of them and it turned into a bright light that covered his aperture walls. The original water-flowing state of the aperture walls changed as, under the effect of green light, it started to turn solid. The mysterious transformation continued for a few minutes before the consumable rank 1 gu lost its effect and disappeared.

"Huff, months of hard work skipped with a single gu worm, really, anything is possible," Fei Cai whispered to himself as from the bottom of his aperture, a wisp of dark green primeval essence was regenerated but Fei Cai did not stop here. Using the last relic gu, Fei Cai observed closely and saw that the aperture walls now went through another round of mystical changes. The solid aperture walls started to crack but instead of falling apart, shards of glimmering white crystals emerged and began the process of crystallization of the entire aperture boundary. The cracks ran deep but this only enhanced the quality of the crystal.

Peak-stage Rank 1— Complete!

Fei Cai couldn't help but feel a sense of loss after using the two gu worms. He had firsthand experience of how difficult cultivation can be and even with Aperture Nurture Gu, Fei Cai knew that the cultivation road is long. But in a single day, he skipped two minor realms. Gu worms! They are the essence of heaven and earth! Fei Cai exclaimed internally but didn't let himself get consumed by his emotions.

Right now, his aperture was filled with mid-stage rank 1 primeval essence but when all of it is expended, Fei Cai would generate dark green primeval essence that denominated the essence of a peak-stage rank 1 gu master. 

But this wasn't all for the day and he needed to start with the removal of the effects of rank 1 wolf strength gu.

Sitting cross-legged Fei Cai fished out another gu worm. It was in the shape of a pair of scissors, its body pitch black, and the length of the gu worm comparable to a palm. This was a rare consumable type rank 1 Remove Gu of the rule path. Letting the gu worm float, Fei Cai closed his eyes and recalled the knowledge he learned from the computer gu worm.

"The ability of gu worms to control natural forces of the world comes from a concept called Dao. I'm not familiar with this concept, after all, I would be considered a lunatic in my previous world if I openly proclaimed this. But, Thieving Heaven did a great job comparing dao and dao marks to mathematics," Fei Cai mumbled, his mind recalling the astonishing subject, "Dao, according to Thieving Heaven is everything. Moving is dao, sleeping is dao, learning is dao. It is life and way of living. But, Dao marks are a more quantifiable aspect than the mysterious dao. Just like in mathematics, there are rules and formula, with Dao, there are dao marks."

"How can my poison arrow gu manifest and poison others? It is from the shards of poison dao marks. If I follow Ben's words then these dao marks actually contain information and specific programs that define a gu worm's ability. Similarly, the enslavement path can enslave others because the dao marks, i.e, the program in the gu worms works that way. In fact, thinking of dao marks as various programs is quite a simple observation but not complete. Others cannot understand the meaning of dao marks easily but with such a technical example, how can I not understand it?"

"Programs have different requirements and sometimes, two programs may crash due to the conflicting operation. Similar is the Strength Path and Ice Path that I am stuck in between. Wolf Strength Gu worm is amazing. In my hands, where I can use the beast phantom at will, it is even more amazing. But the program of beast phantom hides in my body, lurking till I live. If I use ice path gu worms that also affect my body, the two programs would clash and might even injure me. This is where the remove gu comes into view. Remove Gu has a single function, to remove the set of dao marks aka function as if uninstalling a program."

"Though rare, this gu is not popular. Until a gu master reaches a higher rank and decides to change his path, he would realize that the strength path gu worms he used for gaining quick strength were now a disadvantage. Remove gu is only rank 1 gu with rank 2 and higher variations unavailable. How will he be able to quickly remove the dao marks of the beast phantom then? Remove gu is the quickest way to remove an unwanted set of dao marks but it has its limitations, too. Nobody, not even Thieving Heaven has the recipe for remove gu worm. In fact, it is not even mentioned in his inheritance."

Fei Cai slowly opened his eyes and looked at the floating pair of scissors. With a thought, Fei Cai activated the gu worm and made it find the beast phantom mark hidden in his body. The remove gu turned into a phantom and pierced Fei Cai's body as an unimaginable pain instantly filled his mind. Before he could shout, Fei Cai resolutely shoved his hand into his mouth and bit hard, drawing his own blood but only letting out soft whimpers as he could feel the sharp scissors traveling around his body, making him spasm in pain.

The situation lasted until Fei Cai's body shook when a silently howling wolf phantom appeared behind him. 

*Kacha*

Instantly, the pair of scissors shot out of Fei Cai's body and cut the phantom in half, disintegrating into motes of light alongside the collapsing wolf phantom.

"Hah! Hah!" Fei Cai heaved in pain while his pupils became slightly dilated. His throat was dry and he tasted something sweet. It was his blood! His hand was bitten harshly but looking at the wound, Fei Cai couldn't help but smile tiredly. Only 30% of his essence remained now but it was enough for something else. Pursing his lips, Fei Cai took out a small gu worm. It looked like a silkworm covered by its cocoon. A frosty air condensed around the thumb-sized gu worm as it slowly floated towards Fei Cai's right palm and descended slightly, hovering around the blood. The moment the blood came into contact with the frosty breath of the gu worm, it instantly started to freeze with a layer of cold crust covering Fei Cai's hand until it completely covered the wound.

Even though rank 1 healing gu worms had less formidable effects, the slight injury didn't last for more than a few breaths. Fei Cai realized that his injuries were healed when the crust melted and blood flowed once again but it wasn't connected to any wound. Wiping his hand, Fei Cai looked at the slight scratch marks with a satisfied expression. Rank 1 Ice Crust gu's effect would become even greater the colder the temperature gets. This was the same for almost all the Ice and Snow path gu worms. Being connected to a form of nature directly— Ice and Snow— the gu worms showed better effects once they were in familiar domains. 

But Fei Cai couldn't continue any longer. He was exhausted but instead of sleeping, he chose to close his eyes and meditate for as long as he can, eventually falling asleep in the same position.

---

*Step*

A crisp sound echoed as the hardened grass was crushed under the claws of a scarred Terror Horse. On top of the horse sat a young man with an ordinary face but from his body, the breath of peak-stage rank 1 cultivation echoed. Right now, Fei Cai still had a lot of things to test. He spent a little over half of his merit points for ice and snow path gu worms. Unless he tests them out quickly, Fei Cai would not be able to confirm his path. After all, the advantage of the merit board was that he could exchange gu worms at the same price he purchased them for.

Unlike before, Lo looked far more prepared. His gaze was like a hawk looking for prey. 

'I have received a thought gu worm and enslavement gu worms from Fei Qing. They have their own advantages but unless I develop an ice-related battle system of my own, I might face quite a bit of trouble in the next few months.' 

In fact, Fei Cai knew that getting his preparations correct was not a matter of choice but necessity. Else, he would die the same way as rodents he hunted. But today, his gaze landed on the stretch of the forest past the grassland. He was finally going to step up his hunting targets!

Slowly, they entered the forest without paying attention to the small targets from the grassland surrounding the entrance of the tribe. Once they entered the outskirts of the forest, Fei Cai motioned Lo with a gesture of his finger. The youth instantly crouched and placed his hand on the ground. An uncomfortable look flashed through Lo's face as he activated rank 1 ground eye gu worm. Meanwhile, Fei Cai observed the surroundings and activated his new snow path investigative gu worm— Snow Snout Gu worm. 

Instantly, the small totem within Fei Cai's nostrils, unseen by the eyes of gu masters, flashed and covered the base of his nostrils. Inner flesh was slowly frozen stiff while the base of his nose turned warm. There was no external difference to Fei Cai's nose but as he sniffed softly, he could not only smell the tender grass more easily but a plethora of scent entered his senses alongside the 'scent' of temperature!

This was the use of snow snout gu worm. It could clearly differentiate scent through temperatures. In common mind, this was illogical but Fei Cai had an understanding that if he were to be in a snowy land, then this gu worm's effects would become even greater. Fei Cai and Lo simultaneously looked to their right while the Terror Horse continued to snort softly while swinging its thick demonic-looking tail. 

"There's something there," Fei Cai got down of the terror horse. He still wasn't able to fight on a horseback and after thinking for a while, he decided to make the first move. The target was unmoving and simply scouting Lo and Cai. It's most probably a form of reptile, Fei Cai felt but its kind was a mystery. Raising his hand, Fei Cai revealed a blue snowflake tattoo. Injecting his black green primeval essence into the long-range Spiral Snowflake Gu, a palm-sized glowing snowflake shot out with a drill-like force. Instantly, 1% of Fei Cai's primeval essence was used while a soft hiss rang out with the shrub shaking intensely. Lo prepared his bow and a poison arrow formed in between his fingers instantly while a pitch-black python slowly crawled out. Its eyes were beady red while the black scales had green patterns on them, giving the snake a terrifying experience. A long gash ran through the base of its neck but it moved slowly despite the green blood flowing out. Soon, a large indention in the latter part of its body was revealed, making Fei Cai sigh and let Lo deal with it.

"This Black Venom Serpent just ate its food and is extremely slow. Let's just retrieve its head," Fei Cai directed and kept a lookout. He had many gu worms now and needed to use them to get experience and familiarise with them.

---

"Bai Tribe has begun moving closer to our tribe," Fei Qing stated with his sharp gaze falling on everybody. Seeing the elders look away, th Chieftain couldn't help but sigh. The role of Chieftain brought Fei Qing many benefits but it also bound him harshly. The fact that he supported Fei Cai's cultivation was an open secret now. Although acceptable, such actions were found quite disdainful in the eye of others. But if Fei Qing let himself get affected by the emotion of other elders, he couldn't have become a tribe leader in the first place.

"And, this brings us to the next event. Once we have 20 tribe elders, we will divide the responsibilities of elders into two portions. The elders capable of passing the Elder's Trial would be in charge of the defenses of the inner valley while those who will not participate in the trial will focus their energy in stabilizing the outskirts of the tribe." Fei Qing's words dampened the mood of almost all the elders except Fei Chang, Nai, Dan, Sheng, and Kao. The other elders still hadn't passed the Elder's Trial and it was Fei Qing's manner of informing the group of opportunistic elders that they would need to show their capabilities before ever thinking of truly entering the top brass of the tribe!

Not even Fei Sheng interjected as the old elder found extreme wisdom in this move. If the elders do enter the trials and lose their lives then it would serve to weaken the foundation of the tribe. If they succeeded, it will only dilute the authority of the other elders and Fei Sheng could use it to his own advantage.

Unlike Fei Sheng, Fei Qing had different thoughts. Even while discussing tribal matters, in his mind, his thoughts were tangible. They were in the shape of handsome and strong horses that would gallop in his mind fiercely. Uncountable galloping horses thoughts moved around and ran into each other, giving rise to firm decisions. This was the combined effect of rank 4 Gallop Horse King Gu worm and Rank 4 Firm Decision Gu Worm!

'Hehe, in face of benefits, loyalty can be diluted. Fei Chang is extremely loyal to the tribe and supportive of me from the shadows. First, it was due to me striking him down using Nai's incident. Then, Fei Chang lost his will and accepted the outcome which led him to find countless benefits in working together, slowly turning him into a good subordinate. But... now, almost all the elders have their pawns quickly collecting merit points for Horse Monk's Inheritance.'

'But why will I ever give out the true inheritance? The one posted on the merit board is simply a refining recipe from rank 1-5 horse enslavement gu worms. This isn't even the single portion of the inheritance but with my actions and reputation, the horse monk inheritance is extremely lucrative in the eyes of elders. And that is why I didn't let them participate. This event is only for regular tribesmen. In time, more rank 3 gu masters would emerge but now, they won't make a hasty decision of becoming elders. The merit board is extremely beneficial to them and would force these new gu masters to collect more and more gu materials and gu worms!' 

Fei Qing thought calmly. This was one of the main reasons for activating the merit board. While a person would have thought that the resources of the tribe would dwindle, instead, it only rose higher. After all, to gain merits, they would have to submit resources! There were a few occupations that would only reward merits for tasks but their deficit is easily covered.