Bai Ning Bing left and Fang Yuan considered what his next move should be.
He had some free time now, which was a rare thing, meaning he needed to make full use of it as possible. Dual cultivating with Bai Ning Bing in order to advance his aptitude? She was already gone, so he couldn't do that.
He could try cultivating on his own, but it was far less efficient than using Equality Gu, so he would put that off for now. As it was, they would probably have many opportunities once they traveled to the location he was thinking of. Thinking of new refinement recipes or killer moves was quite intensive- and he lacked the necessary gu worms for many of them in the first place.
Instead, he decided to use this opportunity to explore the dream realm that the system had given him. He called the House Spirit, and it was instructed to awaken him should anything happen as he removed the dream realm from his inventory.
Fang Yuan found himself in a large tent.
Based on the design of the tent and how it was set up, it looked like he was somewhere in the Northern Plains.
He was one of a number of Gu Masters who were surrounding a table.
They were all wearing slightly different uniforms, which meant that they probably belonged to different tribes. This was some kind of inter-tribe meeting, and he had been invited to the same.
He checked his aperture, finding that he had Rank 3 Middle Stage cultivation. There were several gu in there, most of which were strength path gu that were common within the Northern Plains.
Several of them, though, were quite old-fashioned gu worms and a few were even extinct in current times, meaning this was likely from the Olden Antiquity era.
There was one gu in particular, though, which caught his attention. Earlier, if he only had his Grandmaster path attainment in the human path, he would have only been able to recognize it as a human path gu.
Now, however, after studying from the records kept in the Dollhouse, he recognized this as being Benevolence Gu. It was a gu that allowed one to share the effects of, say for example, someone used a defensive type ability on themselves. Then, by using Benevolence Gu, you could copy that defensive type ability upon yourself.
While it seemed to be somewhat useful at first glance, it was less so when you considered the practical aspects of it. Gu Masters used gu because they tended to complement each other's effects in various ways. If you took the ability of your opponent, then they would still have their ability, which was likely modified by their other gu, but you would have their ability only weaker. Rather than trying to copy your opponent's abilities, it was far better to just use your own.
That wasn't to say that it didn't have its niche uses. When it came to the Immortal realm, since Immortal Gu were unique, it was one way of replicating a certain gu worm's effects, but this was a mortal gu.
A feast had been set out for all of them and a Gu Master with Rank 4 cultivation stood up at the head of the table.
Whoever he was, he was someone important, either the leader of this meeting or of this inter-tribal alliance. "Thank you all for gathering today. As you all know, destruction and chaos have been spreading throughout this region. Other tribes have gathered around us, attempting to undermine what we can do. We may be at war at any moment now. It is important that we keep our eyes and ears alert, and above all, trust no one."
The feast started.
Fang Yuan looked at the delicacies laid out before him, but before he could reach his hand out, the Gu Master who was sitting next to him suddenly slumped over, falling onto the table.
He was motionless.
There was silence all around them.
One of them pointed out said Gu Master in question, "What happened to Do Ka?"
The person who had been speaking at the head of the table earlier, who had warned them not to trust anyone, snorted and said, "Ah, I poisoned his venison. He really should have learned to test his food before he ate it." The man snorted and there was gentle chuckling throughout the room. Whoever this Do Ka was, he was clearly not very well liked, Fang Yuan noted. Though as to why he had been killed off like this, was still a mystery to him.
Right then, as the meal continued, there was suddenly shouting from outside. "Attackers!" a voice came from outside. "We're under attack!"
"Let's go," the person at the head of the table said, getting up.
Fang Yuan exited the tent.
The Northern Plains were a region of constant strife and fighting, so it looked like whatever enemies these people had, they had chosen to come ahead and strike out at them at this very moment. Was it dishonorable to attack someone at this point, when they were at a gathering? Who would care - it was also dishonorable to poison one's guests as well. Yet in the dog-eat-dog world of Gu Masters, particularly in the Northern Plains, treachery was common.
There was chaos everywhere as Fang Yuan pondered what to do.
He wasn't sure about what the requirements were to clear this dream realm were, but he began fighting. His martial arts prowess from his actual life did translate to the dream realm as he began striking out at people, at the enemy, doing massive damage and punching far above his weight.
However, despite his strength and skills, it was clear that he was being whittled down.
Finally, a Gu Master struck him with something with a strange bee-shaped gu worm, and he fell to the ground as a strange itching and warmth sensation spread from where the gu worm had struck his body. He died.
Fang Yuan came back to his senses as he felt his soul take some slight damage. He took out a Guts Gu from his inventory and then he used it to mend his soul.
'So I failed that time around,' he thought instead. Before he tried to go back into the dream realm, he tried thinking about what had happened.
Should he think of a counter to that strange bee-shaped gu worm? Doubtful, as he couldn't recognize it. There was a bigger problem than it.
During the latter part of their fight, he had been completely surrounded to the point where his individual's friends couldn't have possibly changed things. None of his gu were anything spectacular either, other than Benevolence Gu.
There were several questions, of course, that he had in his mind. A new theory began to emerge in his mind. He had to do something; intervene before the battle took place, otherwise, he would end up right in the same situation once again and would be ejected from the dream realm.
He entered it once again with his new idea.
This time, he got up before the Rank 4 Gu Master could begin his speech. This shocked everyone, as it was a massive breach of etiquette, as well as disrespectful to their host. However, he quickly said, "Everyone! We're going to be attacked from the southwest! We need to prepare to engage the attackers!"
There was noise at his suggestion, with tensions easing.
However, at that moment, the attackers suddenly descended, faster than they had before, nullifying his advantage.
Things shouldn't have played out this way, but sometimes dream realms did not make sense like this. There was a decision to be made, and he hadn't made the right one.
It ended in the same way as last time, and Fang Yuan was ejected from the dream realm.