This wide access to metals - including iron - had spurred on the development of metallurgy among the people of the continent. Earlier, most of their tools had been simple wooden or stone ones. Metal was usually not easily accessible enough to be used on a larger scale, nor was it even necessary for most people's lives.
It was here that again, the relative abundance of food and the lack of external problems, like the wolf tides on Qing Mao Mountain, meant that simple farming and oftentimes subsistence hunting and gathering were more than enough to satisfy most people's hunger and lives; thus, the use of metals had been rather limited.
However, with a small portion of the continent becoming inhospitable and people being pushed out of where they used to live, there was a new use for metals - not just for farming, such as with plows made of iron, but for warfare as well.
Before this, the people of the continent had spurned the use of gu worms, either fearing them or seeing them as dangerous. But as conflict began arising, people turned to whatever tools they had.
Initially, it was the use of iron to make deadlier weapons like swords and spears. This was relatively easy to do, given the fact that it did not require talent or the aptitude for Gu Master Cultivation which was largely underdeveloped given how it was not quite popular. Not only that, but iron weapons and tools could be used by everyone and could be easily transferred from one person to another and did not require expensive 'food' or access to primeval springs.
Bloodshed began spreading around the affected areas of the continent, and people began donning armor reminiscent of medieval knights. Warlords began emerging, commanding legions of up to several hundred men which was quite a large force given the size of most tribes on the Fang Yuan Continent.
This is why Fang Yuan could dub this era - the Age of Iron!
Those tribes which used horses were even able to think of iron armor for their mounts. Of course, metallurgy required a certain degree of sophistication, so not all tribes could benefit from it equally. Those which were larger were naturally the ones who could actually take advantage of having a blacksmith. As such, blacksmiths became such a hot commodity that human groups would raid each other, not necessarily for resources like food or land, but for their enemy's blacksmiths, whom they could capture and turn into slaves.
Fang Yuan looked upon this development with some degree of satisfaction. Through this technological development, and with the people of the continent becoming a bit more bloodthirsty, it would lead to them advancing far further than they had initially. Furthermore, soon enough they would realize that iron tools and the like were insufficient for the needs of war, and eventually, Gu Master cultivation would begin flourishing. Most Gu Masters who had arisen from this sort of chaos and fighting were lone cultivators. However, with very little guidance, much like Wang Tian, their potential was limited. Metal Path Gu worms were very good for fighting, but they were not that useful for other things like gathering food. Many large groups, therefore, shunned Metal Path cultivators in particular, even though Metal Path resources were in a new phase of abundance. This was yet another hinderance to cultivators emerging.
Fang Yuan thought of ways that he could solve this. He could certainly drop down an inheritance somewhere or another, but this would risk shifting the balance of power far too quickly.
There was also the fact that these changes were only happening in a specific region of the continent. There was still a good portion of the continent where these changes had not yet spread, which included where Wang Tian lived, cultivating in peace near his primeval spring. Fang Yuan could not monitor every single aspect of the continent in detail, but he had set up methods to detect large changes, and he was alerted a few days later of a new development towards which he turned his attention immediately.
***
Wang Tian climbed out of his cave and greeted Huang Er, as well as Bai Xiao - both of whom had the same question. "Brother, have you succeeded?"
"Indeed, I have," Wang Xiao said, smiling as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. His stomach gurgled; he had not been eating or going to the bathroom properly for the last few days. However, his aperture was now filled with pale red primeval essence, signifying the fact that he had broken through from rank 2 to rank 3 stage.
Not only that, but a strange thing was happening: his aptitude had begun increasing. He had never heard of a Gu Master's aptitude rising like that before, but it was now at 97%, and over the next few days it would increase to 98%, then 99%, and even seemed to be reaching beyond that limit. Wang Tian may not have realized what was going on, but Fang Yuan did immediately upon spotting the dao marks on Wang Tian.
This was the Verdant Sun Great Yang Physique!
Fang Yuan was deep in thought, his eyes widening slightly at what he had seen before when he remembered this boy and how he had almost found a Rank 5 gu worm.
Intrigued, he used Weighing Luck Gu upon Wang Tian, only to find that the gu worm broke almost instantly in response, causing a small degree of backlash to Fang Yuan.
'His luck is nearly as strong as Shang Xin Ci's,' Fang Yuan determined, basing this on the reaction from Weighing Luck Gu. His eyes shone. Fang Yuan did not exactly know how bad his own luck was, but he did know that he needed to find a way to correct it. If only there were a way for him to take Wang Tian's luck and transfer it into his own...
That wasn't the only issue that Wang Tian posed, however.
There was also the Verdant Sun Great Yang Physique itself. Fang Yuan had not anticipated that one of the ten extreme physiques would manifest so early on his continent. To give an example, the Gu Yue Clan had lasted for over a thousand years, and yet not a single person with the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin Physique had been born, despite the first-gen Gu Yue ancestor being able to tell that it was going to happen and taking methods to ensure that his bloodline would strengthen over time.
'I don't know whether to think I'm lucky or unlucky,' Fang Yuan thought to himself. Wang Tian was soon going to reach the limit of his extreme physique and would end up exploding. At least, that is what he would normally be afraid of. The ten extreme physiques were manifestations of the Human Path, and Fang Yuan had multiple ways of dealing with such a thing. He expected that Wang Tian, given his luck, would find a way to deal with it on his own soon enough.
"I just wish I knew what this gu worm was. I am Rank 3, but I only have one Rank 3 gu and don't know what it is," Wang Tian told his friends, taking out his Vital Gu once again. Wang Tian did not know what it was, but Fang Yuan recognized it instantly.
'This is Unity Gu,' Fang Yuan thought. It fed upon Human Qi, and when humans gathered together, it could be refined further. Fang Yuan now made the decision that he would be watching Wang Tian far more closely and carefully.
Even if he was not going to interfere in the boy's life, he would watch Wang Tian to see what would happen. As it was, he would probably need to deal with the extreme physique in question if Wang Tian could not control it sooner or later, before it caused too much damage to his aperture.