Days later.
At the crowded village square, Fang Yuan stood before a large flag.
Displayed on it were lines of text formed by the Swimword Gu, detailing the resources jointly provided by the three clans.
These resources covered a wide range—there was food for Gu worms, rice, condiments for humans, oils, daily necessities, as well as Gu worms and primeval stones.
Each item was listed alongside a number indicating how many merit points were needed for exchange.
One wolf's eye was worth ten merit points, five points could get you a 500-gram bag of rice, and a primeval stone required twenty-five points.
Clearly, the wolf tide had created an unprecedented opportunity compared to times of peace.
The battle merit board, combined with this resource exchange board, drove many Gu Masters to charge into battle with zeal, willingly soaking themselves in blood to hunt lightning wolves day and night.
Especially now, as the wolf tide grew fiercer, the three clans had opened their reserves to fan the flames of combat spirit and enhance the Gu Masters' strength—efforts made to ensure the survival of the villages.
Because of that, the resource board now featured items rarely seen before.
At this moment, Fang Yuan's eyes were fixed on one such Gu.
"Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu," he muttered, staring at the description on the large flag.
"Last time, I needed this Gu to assist with my movement, but even if I have the required amount of merit to redeem this Gu, I will be obstructed by the medicine hall elder, Gu Yue Yao Ji, as I did not sell her my Liquor Worm," Fang Yuan thought silently.
"But maybe I could use this to distract or divert her attention. Still, I will need to pretend to go for this Three Step Fragrant Grass Gu. Oh yes, there is also that Bai Ning Bing I would be encountering… hmm." Fang Yuan pondered deeply and began planning ahead.
He stared at the resource board and the merit board, sinking into deep thought.
Compared to those around him, he had a much clearer and more thorough understanding of merit points.
In essence, merit points functioned as a form of emergency currency.
During peaceful times, primeval stones served as the standard medium of exchange. As a hard currency with intrinsic value, they held stable worth and were not prone to devaluation.
However, the outbreak of the wolf tide caused a sharp rise in demand for primeval stones, rendering them impractical as a daily currency.
In response to this, a substitute currency was needed—and so, merit points came into existence.
"With an alternate currency like the merit point, it can prevent the economy from collapsing temporarily. Like on Earth, when there's a war, the government would print large amounts of paper money. Of course, that causes inflation and rising price levels. The merit points are the same; the more it drags on, the more it devalues. But during the time of the village's life and death situation, without merit points and using only primeval stones is not sustainable. Thus, they can only pick the lesser poison. Hence after the wolf tide, the economy always has signs of depression."
"Sigh, this rough form of an economy is nothing worth mentioning. If I am a Rank three, I can easily play around. But unfortunately, I do not have enough strength, so I'm unable to handle the risks. If I push on, it is equivalent to playing with fire."
Fang Yuan sighed internally.
The point was that his cultivation was not high, and his strength was not sufficient.
Without strength, only having wisdom, it is useless.
Fang Yuan was still thinking deeply when he heard the discussions of the people around him.
"Do you guys know? Bai Ning Bing struck again!"
"What, what, which unlucky Gu Master is it this time?"
"It's Xiong clan's Xiong Li, that dejected-looking one."
"Sigh, what is this Bai Ning Bing doing? Last time, injuring Chi Shan, and now attacking Xiong Li. With the wolf tide coming, he is still fooling around!"
"He's always does what he wants, he is already a Rank three Gu Master and is still finding problem with Rank two Gu Masters. For fairness, he even used a Gu worm to suppress his own cultivation to Rank two, he is really bored and hard to understand!"
Sprinting at full speed!
The trees ahead of Fang Yuan blurred past as if crashing toward him, yet he dodged through them with agility, launching himself forward with powerful strides.
From his right ear, the roots of the Earth Communication Ear Grass swayed in the wind, while behind him, a bold lightning wolf—deliberately provoked by him—led several hundred healthy ordinary lightning wolves in pursuit.
The lightning wolves were faster than he was. Especially the bold lightning wolf, whose sleek form darted effortlessly through the complex terrain at a terrifying speed.
Just as it looked like Fang Yuan would be overtaken, light shimmered across his body and he vanished without a trace.
The bold lightning wolf abruptly stopped, scanning the area in confusion.
Meanwhile, Fang Yuan had already reappeared a good distance away.
The bold lightning wolf, with its sharp vision, spotted him at once and resumed the chase with a furious snarl, the pack close behind.
Fang Yuan grinned inwardly and kept running.
He repeated this tactic several times before finally reaching his target location. This time, he fully activated the Stealth Scales Gu, becoming completely invisible.
The wolves soon reached the spot where he had vanished and began sniffing around.
Moments later, the bold lightning wolf caught sight of another target.
In a mountain valley not far off, five Gu Masters were engaged in a fierce fight with a group of wolves.
Howl!
With limited intelligence, the bold lightning wolf quickly lost interest in Fang Yuan. It turned and roared, leading the pack into the valley like a crashing wave, plunging straight into the battle.
"How can this be?" The Gu Master in battle saw this scene and despaired.
"Didn't they say that each pack of wolves have their own mobility range?"
"We took so much effort to kill a bold lightning wolf, and here comes a second one! We're screwed."
"Quickly send the distress signal to the clan!"
The investigative Gu Master shot out a Gu worm from his hand. It flew into midair and exploded, turning into a rainbow flame, observable from a 50km range. This was the signal Gu, a Rank one expendable Gu worm, often used to send signals.
"The signal has been sent, everyone hang in there, wait for reinforcements!" The group leader shouted at an appropriate timing, slightly raising the morale and stabilizing their fighting spirits.
"It's useless." Fang Yuan appeared at a high point on the cliff, staring downwards, his heart smirking.
He is repeating his previous actions from his past life.
"Killing lightning wolves, each eyeball is ten merit points. But on the battlefield, reclaiming Gu worms and bringing them to the clan higher-ups is worth at least a thousand points!" Fang Yuan thought in his heart.
Under his scheme, the Gu Master group's fate was sealed.
"Next, I will wait for them to be exterminated. Then I shall lure the lightning wolf pack away and come back here to collect the Gu worms." Fang Yuan walked to a nearby tree and sat down leisurely.
No one wanted to die, so the Gu Masters fought back fiercely.
Fang Yuan didn't take the risk of luring a thousand beast king frenzy lightning wolf, but instead targeted a bold lightning wolf.
This gave the Gu Masters a chance to resist for a longer time.
Among them was someone Fang Yuan had once defeated — Gu Yue Man Shi.
Man Shi possessed the Monolith Gu, which gave him powerful defenses.
He alone could withstand the attacks of many lightning wolves.
This was precisely why Fang Yuan chose their group.
The more valuable the Gu worm, the higher the merit point reward for retrieving it.
Returning the Monolith Gu would earn Fang Yuan around 3,900 merit points, enough to boost his ranking on the battle merit board by at least twenty spots.
Of course, Chi Shan, Mo Yan, and Qing Shu's Gu worms were even more valuable than the Monolith Gu.
However, Chi Shan's group included Gu Yue Chi She, who owned the Snake Communication Gu, which could detect heat signatures and render Fang Yuan's stealth ineffective.
Mo Yan's group had an even more capable investigative Gu Master than Chi She, with a variety of detection methods.
She had completed numerous wolf den scouting missions alone for the clan.
While Qing Shu's group lacked a powerful investigative Gu Master, the presence of Gu Yue Fang Zheng meant the clan would surely have an elder secretly protecting him.
Targeting them would be suicidal.
As for the Gu Masters from the other two clans, Fang Yuan didn't know them well enough.
Framing others wasn't easy.
After careful consideration, he narrowed it down to a few groups, and only after shadowing them for quite some time did he finally find the right opportunity.