"Everyone!" Fang Zheng yelled out from atop the clan head's pavilion. "Make way! That's my brother, Gu Yue Fang Yuan!"
At these words, it seemed like someone had poured cold water over the entire crowd's heads.
"What? Is that Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
"Is he an Immortal now?"
"Amazing - to think that we now have a Rank 6 Cultivator with us!"
"We've never had anyone that strong!"
"At long last - our Gu Yue Clan's future is finally secured!"
"Lord Fang Yuan might be our first Immortal, but he won't be our last! Just watch, soon we'll have a number of Immortals spring up among us with his help!"
"Gu Yue Village is no longer going to be looked down on!"
"That's right, those Jia Clan losers can no longer look down upon us!"
"We might soon join the ranks of the Shang, Wu, and Tie Clan!"
"We are truly lucky to have a genius like Lord Fang Yuan be born in our era!"
"Well of course we are, I always knew that Lord Fang Yuan was going to accomplish great things in the future ever since I heard his poems when he was young."
"That's true, even remembering those recitals brings a tear to my eyes."
"Ah, I used to go to class with Lord Fang Yuan. He once gave me the honor of asking me to hold the door open for him!"
"That's nothing, I happened to sneeze once while I was walking and Lord Fang Yuan had such a kind heart that he said 'bless you' to me. I've never forgotten that day, even now!"
"One time, I had the honor of being able to take a piss side by side next to Lord Fang Yuan. I still treasure that moment within my heart..."
"That's nothing! One time, Lord Fang Yuan kicked a rock on the side of the road. I've kept that rock with me always since that day as a lucky charm!"
"Hey wait," Yu Sai said to Li Mei. "Mei'er, this is just like the dreams that I've been having where Fang Yuan gets to Rank 6. I think that there's a bit of truth to those dreams. Do you know what that means?"
"No. What?" Li Mei asked.
"It means that I'll also soon awaken some kind of hidden talent or happen upon some kind of inheritance," Yu Sai said. "Just watch! Just like in my dreams - I think I'll become strong too! And I'll reach Rank 7!"
Li Mei sighed. "You really shouldn't be thinking those kinds of things. Its only going to get worse when you can't achieve them."
"Hmph! Just you watch, I'll be the second Immortal after Fang Yuan in the Gu Yue Clan," Yu Sai said.
While the Gu Yue clansmen were cheering, those who had originally belonged to the Bai and the Xiong Clans had somewhat paled.
They might not fully understand the strength of an Immortal - but they did know one thing, and that was that they had no chance of winning against Fang Yuan. Any thoughts of rising up and seizing the village for themselves were dashed.
Fang Yuan walked towards them, choosing not to fly as a sign of solidarity. Upon seeing the smiling faces of the Gu Yue Villagers he said, "Ah! It is so nice to see the familiar smiles of my clansmen here to greet me! There truly is no place like home!"
"Ah! It really is Lord Fang Yuan!"
"No one else would have such kind words for us!"
"Truly, he is a hero!"
The crowd moved aside as Fang Zheng descended - leaping off the balcony of the clan head's pavilion in a single bound. With his body strengthened, this was no issue as he made his way towards his brother.
"Big Brother! You're returned!" Fang Zheng shouted out.
"Yes I have," Fang Yuan said.
Voices from the crowd came out to greet Fang Yuan. Among them, someone asked, "Lord Fang Yuan, is Lady Ling Ding Ching with you?"
"She is still in Shang Clan City," Fang Yuan said. "Alright everyone, I know you're excited by my presence and seeing that I've reached Rank 6. I just want you all to know that I couldn't have accomplished this without your help. Even though I've become an Immortal, I haven't forgotten about what the clan has done for me. Without a doubt, this isn't the end - but a new dawn for Gu Yue Village as we all make a move for the future together!"
There were cheers from the villagers at Fang Yuan's words, as both he and Fang Zhen went to return to the clan head's pavilion.
"Big Brother, I had no idea that you managed to reach Rank 6," Fang Zheng said.
"It was a very complicated journey," Fang Yuan said as they both sat down. Qing Shu and the other elder both lowered their heads.
"Gu Yue Qing Shu greets Supreme Elder!"
"Raise your heads, there is no need for formalities," Fang Yuan said. "We can have a full meeting tomorrow with the clan elders. For now though, I'd like to rest and look into matters with my younger brother."
"Certainly, we will all be there tomorrow!"
With them gone, there was just Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng in the room together.
"Ah - is something on my face?" Fang Yuan asked.
"No, but... I thought that your body changed once you became an Immortal? Or are the legends wrong? You... look just like you did when you left last time," Fang Zheng said.
"Well, there have been changes, just not big ones," Fang Yuan said. His right eye was gone, but that was patched up with illusory gu worms well enough so that Fang Zheng wouldn't have been able to tell. "But, before we go on that, how has the village been?"
"Doing well enough," Fang Zheng said. "Nothing major to report. There are some issues here and there, but we can handle them."
"Good to know," Fang Yuan said. "I haven't come here empty-handed though. Here are some presents I brought for you."
Fang Yuan removed several exotic Strength Path gu worms to hand them to Fang Zheng. They might've been hard to get in the mortal realm, but Fang Yuan had been able to find them easily on Yellow Treasure Heaven.
One of them stood out the most.
"This... is this the legendary Rank 5 Dragon Strength Gu?" Fang Zheng asked, his eyes shining as he took it in his hands. "The same one that the Empress Wu took twelve years to refine?"
The gu worm in question had come pre-refined courtesy of Fang Yuan. Meaning Fang Zheng wouldn't even have to try.
"You cannot use it as of now, that's correct," Fang Yuan said. "However, I will keep it for safekeeping so that once you get to Rank 5, you can use it. And then you will have the strength of a dragon on top of all the other beasts whose strength you have imbibed."
An ordinary body couldn't hold that many Strength Path dao marks, but Fang Yuan had come prepared with other gu worms in order to strengthen Fang Zheng's body so that he could accommodate it.
Fang Zheng's face fell slightly. "Brother... with my aptitude I don't think I can get much further. Even with Equality Gu I was facing difficulties..."
"Don't worry, I have a solution for a low aptitude," Fang Yuan said.
"Really?"
"Indeed, for Immortals, low aptitude isn't an issue at all," Fang Yuan said. "I have ways of dealing with them. Naturally for you, my younger brother, I'll arrange for them once the time is right. Now, give me a quick rundown on how the clan's matters are going..."