With this matter settled, and with Fang Zheng beginning to become more accustomed to his duties as a clan elder and absorbing some of Fang Yuan's responsibilities, Fang Yuan turned his attention towards his own cultivation. There was that dream realm that the system had given him that he wanted to look into. But before he could do that, a messenger arrived at his doorstep. It was odd for someone to come this late in the evening, which meant that it must have been urgent.
"Clan head, permission to enter?"
"Come in!"
"Lord Clan Head, I pardon the intrusion, however, you have asked to be notified of this the moment that it happened."
What's going on?" Fang Yuan asked. There were a number of emergency issues that he might be notified of at any time. Say, a Demonic Gu Master who had appeared near the village, or some powerful Gu worm, like the River Swallowing Toad, or had the Xiong Clan pulled some sort of odd political maneuver.
"The Crimsonhoof Deer was spotted at a location one day ago."
Fang Yuan's eyes widened. He had instructed all the Gu Yue clansmen to tell him if the Crimson Deer could be found. He had thought that it was likely that it had died after Bai Ning Bing's detonation, and if not from that, then perhaps from starvation. However, it looked like that mutant beast was not that easy to get rid of. It had managed to survive, though none of the scouting Gu Masters dared to go anywhere near it.
"All right, this is good," he said. "You may leave," he said to the scout. Although he did not have Rank 4 Deer Enslavement Gu, that did not mean that there were no ways to enslave the deer in question. There was only one Immortal Enslavement Gu after all, and yet Gu Immortals regularly enslaved all kinds of creatures.
Before, Fang Yuan had not had the appropriate cultivation level, nor the required gu worms to do so. However, now with preparation, he had a way of binding that Rank 4 beast using a Blood Path method.
A warm breeze washed past his face, signifying the first signs of an early summer.
The ice was almost completely gone by this point from Qing Mao Mountain.
In this scenario...
The next day, Fang Yuan left the village atop the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider. He told the villagers that he needed to deal with this Rank 4 Beast King.
None of the elders objected simply because this could potentially be a threat to the village. Fang Yuan knew better, of course. The Crimson Hoof Deer was not an overtly violent animal, although it was, without a doubt, strong. But this was a good enough pretense for him to leave the village to bring the deer back.
He found its tracks. And from there, he was able to use a Blood Path method to discern its location. He still had a small amount of blood left over from his earlier refinement of it, though it was too small to detect anything that was further away than ten li.
"There you are," Fang Yuan thought to himself as his wings burst from his back.
The Crimson Hoof Deer was not doing very well. Its ribs were showing, a clear sign of the lack of food on Qing Mao Mountain. Most of its brethren had died out or had simply separated from its care. Even though it was a full Rank 4 mutated beast now one could not get blood from a stone, and it still needed sustenance.
With a jolt, it suddenly smelled something- something that tasted good. It wandered off towards an area where it sniffed at a block of ice. With the sun beating down on it, it was feeling thirsty as well. While the streams had quenched its thirst, there was something different about this block of ice as it approached. It was not just a block of frozen ice, but a block of frozen blood. The deer began to eagerly lick it after it smelled it and noted that there was nothing wrong with the blood.
Fang Yuan watched this spectacle from a distance, hidden from its sight.
This tactic was something that had been used by one of his disciples in the Blood Wing Demon Sect. They took care of many Blood Path beasts on his behalf during those days, and during the height of summer, many of the Blood Path beasts would begin to become agitated from the heat.
The frozen block of blood was a simple enough invention, but very useful. The disciple in question had been a Rank 1 Gu Master; Fang Yuan didn't remember that person's name right now, but at the time, they had been awarded 1,000 primeval stones for their contribution to the sect.
Although deer were herbivores, they would have no problem taking meat or other things if there were carcasses lying nearby, and for a Blood Path beast, there's almost no better nutrition than blood itself.
There was another block of frozen blood lying near it. The Crimson Hoof Deer wandered over to it. Fang Yuan pondered his next move.
He wasn't sure how close his relationship was to this Crimson Hoof Deer, or how much it trusted him to put it simply. If the trust was good, this would be an easy enough affair.
If it wasn't, it would strike back with all of its strength. He did not know what kind of gu worms it had on its body now that it was Rank 4. It was entirely possible that it had multiple Rank 4 Gu worms. Of course, in a way, that only bolstered his desire to tame this deer. After all, those Rank 4 Blood Path Gu worms could be very useful for him.
The Crimson Hoof Deer noticed a piece of cloth near the next block of frozen blood.
It took a sniff. The smell reminded him of someone. The cloth had been imbued with Fang Yuan's scent, and he wanted to see if it still reacted to it. Back when it had been younger, he would often approach it and had given it a blanket made from a shirt he had used to wear. This had been an attempt to get it used to his presence so that it would be easier to deal with in the future.
With that said, he had enslaved its mother and had been the indirect cause of its entire herd being wiped out. He wasn't sure how much the Crimson Hoof Deer understood that, or how much it blamed him for it. But this could go either way.
The Crimson Hoof Deer, after smelling it, looked around as if it was searching for someone before continuing to lick away the block of ice. That was good, Fang Yuan thought to himself. That meant that it did not entirely despise him. That could make this next move much easier.
He emerged from where he was hidden, holding up a frozen block of blood high in the air so that it was very easily visible.
The Crimson Hoof Deer noticed him, and then Fang Yuan paused, bringing more attention to the treat he had brought along for it.
It did not make a move, neither attacking nor approving.
Fang Yuan took a single step forward, very slow.
It did not do anything.
He took another step forward.
It did not do anything.
But when he took the third step, it seemed to have finally decided on what it wanted to do and then bolted. Fang Yuan had been prepared for this, and immediately his wings erupted from his back once more as he flew after it.