Chapter 157

In the clan’s secret room, Fang Yuan memorises the recipe for Blood Moon Gu, a rank three Gu made by combining rank two Moonglow Gu and Blood Essence Gu. Its refinement text runs to only a few thousand words, far shorter than the classic Golden Moon, Frost Moon and Illusionary Moon recipes, and its range is a modest ten meters. Every few days it oozes blood on its own, and during that spell its attack power falls to a third of normal. What draws him to it is feeding. Instead of moon orchid petals it eats fresh blood, which the Southern Border’s wild beasts supply in abundance. ^{ch. 157}

He already holds the Moonglow Gu. The Blood Essence Gu is harder to come by. Looking over the yellow and purple Digital Shade Gu that record rank four and five recipes, he finds they give him no response, since the Secret Hall clan elder’s will governs them and does not yet recognise his authority to browse that high. He privately ranks the reverse fusion recipe for the clan’s own Moonlight Gu above any rank four or five recipe in the room, since a clan’s signature Gu, kept secret, is what stops its strength from being read by outsiders. He is not building an organisation of his own, though, so he decides not to force the matter, welcoming the recipe only if it comes his way before he leaves. ^{ch. 157}

Tallying what a lone traveller needs, Fang Yuan judges he will need at least six Gu worms, covering attack, defense, healing, storage, recon and movement. Against that list he counts what he already has. The newly memorised Blood Moon Gu barely covers attack, the Sky Canopy Gu covers defense, and the Thunderwings Gu covers movement despite its heavy cost in primeval essence. His Nine Leaf Vitality Grass is a weak healer, useful mainly for the vitality leaves it sells, and the Earth Communication Ear Grass covers recon. He has no storage Gu. He decides not to leave the village until he finds a Gu he judges satisfactory. ^{ch. 157}

Leaving the tunnel, Fang Yuan is met by Gu Yue Chi Zhong, the medicine hall’s acting clan elder after Gu Yue Yao Ji’s collapse. Chi Zhong hands him three hundred primeval stones, the week’s payout for clan elders, then asks him to turn over the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass. ^{ch. 157}