While it would've taken Fang Yuan only a few moves to deal with the group himself, there was a reason beyond reputation that he was trying to get Fang Zheng to fight.
Although Fang Yuan was tied to Qing Mao mountain for now, he still planned on leaving eventually along with Fang Zheng. Between him and his brother, he would naturally prioritize his own strength first. But, he needed Fang Zheng to have some battle experience before they left the mountain, and in case they found themselves in a sticky situation in the future.
Fang Zheng still had some flaws in his combat skills, though he was vastly improved from only a few months ago. That was to be expected as progress was the easiest when one was starting out- whether it was in cultivation or something else, the higher up the mountain one went the harder it was to climb further.
The wolf group was taken by surprise, but was unable to retaliate against them without being slaughtered by the Gu Masters they had been attacking just moments earlier. Although it was just two people, they were able to put great pressure upon the wolf group by mere virtue of the fact that they had attacked all of a sudden and that the wolf group was already occupied against another enemy.
It turned out that the wolf group was not without tricks of its own.
One of the wolves began morphing and growing in size and then glared at Fang Zheng. A Hundred Beast King- it must have had an aura-suppressing gu worm to hide in the pack . Fang Zheng had used up a good portion of primeval essence, and the other Gu Masters could not reach out to help him. If the Hundred Beast King pounced, he would quickly be put in a difficult position and might even lose his life.
Then again, it was for a situation that Fang Yuan was on standby.
Thanks to the effects of the Training Weights Gu, Fang Yuan essentially had limitless Rank 3 primeval essence with how rapidly his primeval essence was replenished. It was still not worth diluting it from Rank 4 to Rank 3, but that was the price that one had to pay.
The Hundred Beast King was bisected before it could even take ten steps.
With their leader gone, the wolf group fell into disarray and gaps in their lines began to show. The Gu Masters, who had earlier been besieged, targeted these gaps to great effect. These small flaws then quickly grew into bigger ones until the wolf group was in complete disarray and unable to coordinate any kind of attack.
There was still a large divide between the understanding of a human being and a wolf, after all.
The wolves tried to escape only to be hunted down and eliminated.
"Thank you, Elder Fang Yuan!"
"Elder Fang Yuan, you're simply too kind!"
"Elder Fang Yuan is the real hero of Gu Yue Village!"
"Elder Fang Yuan, I don't know if you remember me from our school days, but I always greatly admired you back when you were president!"
"Heh- I was a fan of Lord Fang Yuan far before you were! Back when he was reciting poems, I had already glimpsed a portion of his genius!"
"You're just small fry, I remember when Lord Fang Yuan was only a few months old but could already talk. I knew he would be a hero right then and there!"
Great praise was lavished upon Fang Yuan, who was indifferent from it. Fang Zheng couldn't help but feel slightly irritated - he had also put in great amounts of effort and put his life on the line for these people, yet they only saw Fang Yuan!
'The more things change, the more they stay the same,' Fang Zheng thought bitterly.
From their perspective, though, it was only natural. Even if Fang Zheng worked and fought his hardest, he could not compare to the strength of a Rank 3 Gu Master.
"It was nothing, it is only natural for humans to help each other. That is what it means to be part of a clan, after all," Fang Yuan said, brushing their compliments aside. "And, I was not alone- my younger brother was there to lend me aide."
Fang Yuan's words snapped Fang Zheng out of his reverie as the other Gu Masters turned to him, showering him with praise as well.
However... unlike before, Fang Zheng no longer felt his heart flutter wildly at this praise. It only caused a brief twinge if anything, before he returned to normal.
'What use is praise if I would've been killed? They only praise people to make use of them,' Fang Zheng thought. 'Praise, compliments, both are useless if one finds oneself in a shallow grave.'
To be hailed as a hero of the clan- that had been Fang Zheng's dream earlier in life. Now though, he saw what the title of 'hero' usually meant and how hollow it was.
When did people call you a hero or remind you of your duty to the clan? Only so that you would be willing to take risks for little to no reward. The praise itself was supposed to be a form of benefit given out, a benefit that required nothing more than empty words on the clan's part.
Guts Gu (x 1) added to inventory!
Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng finally returned to the village after this.
There was a leaderboard signifying where everyone's place was based on their contribution points. The Fang brothers were currently ranked at number thirty-four, a respectable position given that neither of them made a full-time job of hunting wolves, and the fact that Fang Zheng had exchanged some points before to get some gu worms to supplement his arsenal.
"Only two people and yet ranked so much higher than our group with four people..."
"Of course they are, Fang Zheng's lucky to have Fang Yuan with him."
"It's true, not even a team of Rank 2 Gu Masters can equal even a greenhorn Rank 3 elder in combat..."
Fang Yuan went over to check the rewards.
"Is there anything worth getting?" Fang Zheng asked.
Fang Yuan shook his head.
"Alright, I'll go check out the wine tavern," Fang Zheng said. By now tending to that business had basically entirely fallen on his shoulders alone, as well as the selling of Vitality Leaves. Now that he was Rank 2 and had the help of the Four Flavors Liquor Worm, it was not a huge burden to make them every day. Even if it required primeval stones to do, the net profit was greatly worth it.
The only real thing that Fang Zheng lost was time, but as long as it wasn't his time, Fang Yuan was okay with it.
"I will return home and will be cultivating until tomorrow morning, please don't disturb me," Fang Yuan said, and Fang Zheng nodded.
Fang Zheng, naturally, also wanted to advance. However, he also wanted to help his brother out- and once Fang Yuan had helped him get to Rank 2, he basically had Fang Zheng's unconditional trust at that point.
Fang Yuan did not go directly home as a matter of fact, but stopped by the underground cavern before heading back, contemplating what his next move would be.