Fang Zheng went into a brief summary of what was going on and mentioned the fact that they weren't really having that many problems, though he did mention the issues with the recent Bei Clan activities and the odd rumors being spread by the Xiu, He, and Ye clans.
"All right, then. I'll think about it. I think I have a solution in mind," Fang Yuan said, killing intent rising within his heart, though it was masked by his peaceful expression. "On that note, Fang Zheng, while you've done good with nurturing this village, I suppose that I do have certain debts which need to be paid off. I had taken several things out as a loan after promising to pay them back later. I think that time has arrived."
"Ah, no, about that, Big Brother..." Fang Zheng said quickly. While it was true that Fang Yuan had taken several things as a loan from their village, now that he was a Rank 6 Gu Immortal, from what Fang Zheng understood, those things were tiny and insignificant. The elders had been quite annoying regarding Fang Yuan's nonrepayment of said debts, but now that he was Rank 6, Fang Zheng didn't want that to leak out and for Fang Yuan to get angry. Dealing with the elders was a hassle to Fang Zheng but he didn't want them to be killed or anything like that. "It's okay, I think we can forget about that. It's not a massive amount to be worried about."
Fang Yuan chuckled coldly within his heart. Earlier, when he had been Rank 5, the restrictions of the village still tried to bind. Now that he was Rank 6, they handed over their wealth readily, not even demanding anything in return. That was just what the gap between Rank 5 and Rank 6 was! And that was also the importance of strength in this world.
That was also why Fang Yuan did not really have any further use for establishing any kind of sect or clan under him. He had wasted some time with such things in his last life while running the Blood Wing Demon Sect.
"No, as a matter of fact, I insist. After all, it is not appropriate for a leader to hoard all of the wealth of their village without giving anything in return," Fang Yuan said. "What is a man if he doesn't fulfill his promises." He pulled out multiple gu worms from his aperture.
"First off, regarding the matter of primeval stones." Fang Yuan removed 300,000 primeval stones from his immortal aperture collected from the primeval springs within. Given how suppressed Gu Master cultivation was in his aperture currently, the people within would hardly miss these stones for now. "Also, these Gu worms are quite nifty," Fang Yuan said, taking out several of them. "I've brought them for the sake of this village. You could perhaps give some of them to the Medicine Hall Elder. I'm sure they will know what to do with them."
Fang Zheng looked through the gu worms. He had never seen anything like them before. "Big Brother, what are these?" They came in all shapes and sizes, but there was one thing that stood out among them. "So many of them are blue."
"Yes, these are Pill Path gu worms. And those blue ones are called Little Blue Pill Gu," Fang Yuan said and frowned slightly. For whatever reason, the most popular Pill Path Gu that his subordinates in the Mushroomman Blessed Land were making was Little Blue Pill Gu. Fang Yuan had checked on their progress before leaving and this was by far the most widely produced and consumed gu worm. Fang Yuan would have preferred that they invest their time into something far more useful for battle, however. 'At the very least, they're motivated for something,' Fang Yuan thought.
"We can perhaps try producing these in certain amounts here," Fang Yuan said. He did not have very much use for the Gu Yue clansmen anymore. Their existence was not granting him Human Path dao marks; those were coming from the Integration Formation within his aperture. There were still, however, potential uses for them, especially for a mortal pawn piece such as Fang Zheng.
Perhaps they could find some way to elaborate on the Pill Path gu worms? After all, they did have their own talented people, such as Gu Yue Yao Le.
"Understood." Fang Zheng said. However much Fang Yuan had borrowed, he had ended up returning almost ten times the amount. It wasn't just the fact that these new mortal gu worms were impressive to Fang Zheng; it was the fact that they were so numerous. Fang Yuan could easily pull out hundreds of them from his immortal aperture. To mortals it was unfathomable to even contemplate of so many.
"I'm going to go survey the mountain before I work on my own things," Fang Yuan said.
"Oh, all right then, Big Brother," Fang Zheng said. He had hoped Fang Yuan would stop by for dinner at least, but it seemed that he had more important things to deal with.
He understood that being an Immortal was a busy existence; even if he didn't fully realize what an Immortal was.
Once Fang Zheng left, Fang Zheng called back Qin Shu and the other elders so that they could continue ironing out things and make sure the meeting tomorrow with the elders went without a hitch. He also introduced them to the various gu worms that Fang Yuan had left behind.
Fang Yuan, for his part, soared up high above Gu Yue Village and surveyed his surroundings. The white sheen of Bei Gu Mountain glistened slightly in the moonlight.
'Immortals, much like mortals, have their own territory, and there is often a limit to how much territory they can control,' Fang Yuan thought to himself. Although the Southern Border was mainly controlled by the Wu, Tie, and Shang clans, there were still areas which were completely barren of life or did not have even the shadow of an Immortal.
While certain things became easier as an Immortal, they could also become harder as well. An example of this was movement. Immortals were stronger, but that also meant they had to put more effort into traveling.
The elephant was stronger than the mouse by several magnitudes, but that strength could not be manifested completely because of its higher weight as well. There were many mortal movement gu worms which could allow one to travel short distances nearly instantly; however, if an Immortal wanted to use that kind of effect, they would need to create a killer move.
Because of this, it wasn't feasible for an Immortal to be everywhere all at once. They also needed to think about how much external land they controlled. A backwater area like this was of no real importance to Immortals.
That didn't mean that there was no one, even if the area was unmarked and Fang Yuan did not recall there being an Immortal nearby. There were numerous lone and demonic cultivators, as well as people residing within Blessed Lands and Grotto-Heavens which could be around.
Fang Yuan had deliberately unleashed his Rank 6 aura to its fullest extent while returning to the mountain, wondering if there was another Immortal in the area who would react to it. Even if they didn't approach him directly and instead made some other kind of move, he'd still be alerted.
Nothing had happened as of yet though.
'So it looks like I'm truly alone out here,' Fang Yuan thought to himself.