When Fang Yuan returned to the village, he didn't immediately go back to his pavilion. Instead, he first went to the Blood River Graveyard.
Although first gen Gu Yue was dead and many of his secrets had passed away with him, Fang Yuan had been inspecting the area to see if there was anything useful for him. The corpse of the Blood River Python lay near the river. Sadly, it had perished during the fight with Lord Sky Crane.
Fang Yuan did not have any methods to bring the gu worm back to life. However, it was still covered in Rank 5 Blood Path dao marks.
If he had still been a Blood Path Immortal, he would have added the corpse to his own aperture, increasing the amount of blood path dao marks in the environment within. However, right now, all he could use it for was as material for possible refinement of Rank 4 or Rank 5 Gu worms.
Near the Blood River Graveyard was the Blood Chariot Wheel.
Now that Fang Yuan no longer had a method to obtain a bit of immortal essence its usefulness to him had greatly declined.
He also could not continue to take it out on a whim, based on the simple fact that it was a Blood Path Gu House, and it would give his identity as a Blood Path Gu Master away. For now, the Blood Chariot Wheel was soaking in the blood river, feeding upon it. Fang Yuan released Vermilion Blood Moon Gu from his aperture to allow it to feed as he looked for anything else that might have been useful.
Very few clues were left.
Fang Yuan did not have the necessary methods currently to soul search the body of first gen Gu Yue. He began to think- there was apparently a method through which he had concentrated his bloodline and had awaited the appearance of someone with the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin Physique. First gen Gu Yue had Blood Skull Gu, but that had been taken by Lord Sky Crane.
Still, it was not impossible for Fang Yuan to obtain an extreme physique with his own methods, especially once he ascended to become an Immortal.
Although Paradise Earth had greatly urged him to refine the Righteous Virtue Physique, Fang Yuan was not one to put all his eggs in one basket, especially when that basket belonged to Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable, whom he still did not fully trust.
Comparing the Righteous Virtue Physique and the Ancient Moon Desolate Yin Physique; it was clear which one was superior in his eyes.
Although Paradise Earth said that the Righteous Virtue Physique had no drawbacks, Fang Yuan had difficulty believing such. More likely than not, it had no drawbacks for someone like Paradise Earth, but likely had some requirements on how the user was supposed to behave in order to work properly.
Fang Yuan did not know first gen Gu Yue's attainment level when it came to the Blood Path. It was safe to say that it was likely no more than Master level attainment given how few mortals could even reach that point in their lives.
With his own Grandmaster level attainment in the blood path, Fang Yuan thought that it would be possible for him to improve upon the method used by first gen Gu Yue in order to awaken the Ancient Moon Desolate Physique. There was a reason why he had attempted to save so many Gu Yue clansmen, after all.
However, even this time, his search was ultimately fruitless. Even with a high attainment level, he could not make something out of nothing. He needed some clues to build upon.
He did find something interesting while exploring the nearby area, however. 'This is...' Fang Yuan thought to himself, dismounting the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider to see a gu worm that was encased in a thin layer of earth some distance from the Blood River Graveyard. The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider, a Rank 5 Gu worm, just sitting out here in the open for him to take.
As for the person who had left it here, that could only be the Flower Wine Monk. Obviously, as it had been his signature method of travel as per the clan records.
'However, why did it end up here?' Fang Yuan thought to himself. This was nowhere near where he had found the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance. 'Could it be that there had been something else to the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance?' Fang Yuan thought. 'Perhaps the Audio-Visual Gu had had more to it before it had been destroyed...'
Fang Yuan put these thoughts aside for now.
As he injected his primeval essence into the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider, putting the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider inside his aperture, the spider awoke, broke through its casing, and then began devouring soil hungrily. It looked like it had been placed in a state of hibernation for some reason much like the gu worms used in rock gambling were. Fang Yuan felt that he was still missing something, but with the recent destruction to the village, any clues that might have been left behind were likely gone.
Once the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider was done eating, having consumed nearly half a metric ton of soil, Fang Yuan mounted it and instructed it to dig towards the surface. However, while doing so, he was quite interested in exploring this area.
Perhaps there were more clues left behind by the Flower Wine Monk?
However, something happened as Fang Yuan began to emerge towards the surface: the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider suddenly began... there is no other word for it... misbehaving. It moved in directions that Fang Yuan did not want it to go. It would sometimes stop, and then sometimes start attacking part of the wall with no provocation whatsoever.
It eventually got to the point where, although it was a Rank 5 Gu worm, he was actually traveling slower than if he had just used the Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider. Part of this could be explained by the fact that he still only had peak Rank 4 essence and had not yet advanced to Rank 5. But something should have absolutely not been happening. As the spider finally emerged in the village, it became even more agitated.
Suddenly, something clicked in Fang Yuan's mind.
He had not seen all of the gu worms that first gen Gu Yue had, but he was able to make a reasonable guess based upon his own experience as a Blood Path Gu Master. 'This is the effect of Blood Frenzy Gu,' Fang Yuan realized.
Gu worms, which have been refined by Gu Masters, needed their primeval essence to work. However, wild gu worms existed, of course. So, there was a natural question in many people's minds as to how they activated their abilities. The answer to that was that they used the primeval essence in the air.
Once one thought of that, many people began wondering if it would be possible to have refined gu worms also use the primeval essence in the air rather than the Gu Master's own primeval essence. If that could be achieved, a Gu Master could use multiple gu worms without having to worry about his own primeval essence, giving them a massive edge in battle.
Many experiments were tried in this regard. However, most of them had failed. There was 'success' in the form of Blood Frenzy Gu. It allowed the gu worm to absorb the primeval essence in the air; however, there was a massive drawback: the gu worm in question would lose control and eventually turn into a pool of blood.
'So this means that the Flower Wine Monk did not just fight with the fourth generation Clan Head; he also fought with the first generation Ancestor as well,' Fang Yuan thought. The Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider melted into a small pool of blood as he dismounted. It was a shame that nothing remained of it. Otherwise, he might have been able to refine his own Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider into a Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider.