One thing had always bothered Fang Yuan about the whole story as to how the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance had originally been found in his past life.
That is to say- why did the clan member who found it report it back to the clan? It was a ridiculous decision and he should've kept his discovery to himself.
This wasn't just his opinion because he was a demonic path cultivator, even among the righteous path cultivators they would keep something on the down-low. After all, why hand over something you had encountered to the clan?
In the clan, it was still dog-eat-dog, even if rules needed to be followed.
However, this oddity was resolved the moment that Fang Yuan saw this recording.
This tipped the scales considerably. There was not much in the Flower Wine Monk's actual inheritance save for the Liquor Worm and a handful of primeval stones, along with this recording.
The Liquor Worm was not worth much to a Rank 2 Gu Master, as it could not do anything at Rank 2. The recipe for Four Flavors Liquor Worm had not been invented at this time yet.
There was however, a large risk in letting this recording play out. It involved the prestige of the clan, after all, and among the righteous factions, saving face was highly valuable.
That Gu Master, had he been discovered to be hiding this, would've been executed more likely than not. But, by willingly showing the clan this recording, he could avoid this fate, the clan was able to save face, and he was able to advance to Rank 3 with the help of the clan and earn his lover's affection back.
As for Fang Yuan though, he had different plans.
While the clan would reward him handsomely, the other clans on the mountain- the Bai clan and the Xiong clan would pay even more for something .
Anything that would have the Gu Yue's reputation in the toilet was very valuable for them.
Granted, there was the risk that he would be executed if found out, but he had never shied away from risks so long as the reward was large enough.
Clan loyalty and honor?
Ain't nobody got time for dat!
For Fang Yuan Gu Yue village was just a stepping stone, a tiny puddle in the vast wilderness that he needed to conquer.
It wasn't video would cause the downfall of the clan anyway, it would only cause their reputation to drop.
Just as he had made up his mind though, a notification popped up.
Description: Tell the elders about the Flower Wine Monk Inheritance and help hide the footage.
1. Red Steel Relic Gu (x 1)
2. White Boar Gu (x 1)
3. A permanent increase to your aptitude by 4%
Well, that changed things.
Interestingly, the system had told him the rewards up front, likely thinking that he would not agree to it unless he knew what he was getting.
It seemed that this 'system' was able to learn and adapt. He would need to be wary about it in the future.
However, this completely changed the dynamic he previously had regarding what to do with the inheritance.
Right now, what was most valuable to Fang Yuan was not primeval stones, but things that would make his cultivation easier.
This was not true just for himself, but for others as well. That was why one could not easily buy a Liquor Worm or a Relic Gu even if one had the required stones.
With the 4% increase to his aptitude alone, he could now reach Rank 2 without having to rely on external help as he would reach the 'breakpoint' of 50%.
If anything, he wanted to get even bigger increases.
The reasoning was rather simple.
A difference, say, between 50% and 55% may not seem like much at first glance to someone unfamiliar with cultivation. But take into account that the aperture wall's regeneration rate increased as one's cultivation advanced, the breakpoints would keep increasing in number.
As such, at 50% aptitude nearly all of that would go into breaking the natural regenerative ability of the aperture and one would only have about 1 or 2 percent left to actually progress. Compare that to someone who had 55% who, after overcoming the 50%, would have 5%. That would make their progress 5 times quicker than someone at 50%!
Granted, this was only theoretical and practical considerations like primeval stones, talent, and concentration also played a role so the gap was not quite so big, but it gave one an idea of how important a high aptitude was. This gap would get bigger the higher the realm one went to, with a 55% aptitude individual being able to accomplish some things that a 50% individual never could.
There was a reason that the clan was placing so much attention on Fang Zheng. He had a 80% aptitude, and though B-grade talents had between 60-79% it was clear with the above logic that he would soar ahead of the others.
With the Liquor Worm, Fang Yuan's advantage was doubled, meaning he could act as if he had 100% primeval essence while cultivating.
Even with just 50%, it had saved him at least around a thousand primeval stones when it came to breaking through to Rank 2 alone and would make it far easier as well.
Now, reaching Rank 2 was no longer such a big deal to Fang Yuan.
Hence, he assumed the system didn't give him a Green Copper Relic Gu but a Red Steel Relic Gu instead, which would be useful at Rank 2.
If he used his cultivation blessing, he could have 2 of such Gu. It would be far more worthwhile to save them for the future, as getting through Rank 2 would be a greater hassle. That, and he couldn't exactly speed through Rank 1 cultivation right now or he'd end up attracting suspicion.
As for the White Boar Gu, it could permanently raise his strength over time. Also quite useful for combat, but all of this made him wonder...
...wasn't the system being a bit too generous with these rewards?