Fang Yuan was pondering how he could get his hands on some of the wine he needed when a notification popped up in his view.
They're (allegedly) turning the frogs gay(?)!
Description: Prevent the River Swallowing Toad from destroying the village.
Reward: Hundred Li Earth Wolf Spider (x 1)
At first, Fang Yuan couldn't figure out what on earth was going on with the mission's name.
That said, he had heard of the River Swallowing Toad in his past life. A mortal had managed to become friends with one, before being assassinated later on.
As for dealing with it, Fang Yuan had an easy method for doing so. He merely needed to reveal the Spring Autumn Cicada's Rank 6 aura and it would immediately get agitated. If it was of a more mercurial temperament, it might attack, but it was at baseline a very docile creature unless it was provoked.
As for refining it, that was out of the question unfortunately since the Spring Autumn Cicada was only Rank 6 and not Rank 7, it could not frighten a wild Rank 5 gu worm into submission like it could Rank 4 and below.
Regarding the prize, the Hundred Li Earth Wolf Spider was an excellent mount that would allow one to quickly burrow underground. The Flower Wine Monk had a Rank 5 version of the gu, the Thousand Li Earth Wolf Spider, which he had used to evade the righteous path Gu Masters who trailed him over and over again.
In other words, it greatly suited a future demonic overlord like Fang Yuan!
Before Fang Yuan could even get up from his seat, Qing Shu had arrived along with his other two team members at the tavern's door. "Junior! We've been given a compulsory mission by the clan head himself! I'll explain on the way there- there's no time to waste!"
"Is this regarding the River Swallowing Toad?"
"Junior seems to have eyes and ears everywhere- yes, it is about the same. We have heard that your strength is not inferior to Chi Shan's," Qing Shu said. It was odd for him as a team leader to be unaware of his team mate's capabilities, but he had already felt that Fang Yuan had a number of trump cards up his sleeve. His cultivation had grown by leaps and bounds, and it was all but clear that he was the one who had purchased the Red Steel Relic Gu from the market.
Chi Shan was waiting for them at the mission area, on the pretense of telling Fang Yuan about the mission, while also watching him.
"Do you think you can do it?"
"I can, but I need help."
"Asking for help is out of the question- the River Swallowing Toad won't accept you then."
"No, not direct help, but indirect help."
Fang Yuan approached the giant toad as the gu worms within his aperture hid their aura in fear from the Rank 5 worm, only the Spring Autumn Cicada was unperturbed.
Fang Yuan approached it and began giving it a test push- he felt that his strength was just enough to be able to possibly budge it by a few inches, but that was not enough. He was unable to increase his innate strength any further as his body was still bound by the limits of a mortal without any gu worms.
However, that didn't mean that he couldn't borrow some outside help in some way.
A distance away, Qing Shu was in motion as the river water suddenly increased in intensity and strength. Fang Yuan found himself soaked from the water, though to the River Swallowing Toad this was nothing abnormal. Borrowing on the strength of the water and the tides, the River Swallowing Toad began to move.
Ten feet... twenty feet... as Fang Yuan continued to push it, it finally opened its eyes and let out a loud croak, flipping onto its hind legs.
It then opened up its mouth, and began rapidly drinking the river water. The water disappeared into its stomach despite it seeming too small to carry that kind of capacity. Once it was satisfied, it let out the prawns, fish, and other creatures within the river out by spitting them. It only ate the river water, not the living creatures inside it.
Fish began to rain from the sky, and a strange smell began to permeate the air.
"Is that... wine...?" Fang Yuan thought as he looked around, finding a strange kind of turtle that was letting out that fragrance. 'This is... bitter shell wine! To think that I would find it in this way!'
Qing Shu and the others arrived to see the River Swallowing Toad hopping away into the horizon.
"Great job, Fang Yuan, you really did it!"
However, Fang Yuan paid them no heed, running around to gather as many of the bitter shells as possible.
Word of this reached the clan head. Naturally, as a member of the clan head's faction, Fang Yuan's success increased his prestige.
"Give Fang Yuan a reward of one thousand primeval stones!"
Word of Fang Yuan's exploits quickly spread around the village, and many of them were not surprised as the image of Fang Yuan's heroism had already etched itself in their hearts by this point.
Fang Yuan, however, was unmoved. He had stored away the bitter shell wine for now- the goal was to get Fang Zheng to Rank 1 Peak Stage so that he would accept the fusion of the two Liquor Worms into a Four Flavors Liquor Worm.
Fang Yuan now asked Fang Zheng to stop creating Vitality Leaves, and was injecting his aperture with his own primeval essence. There was a limit to which he could do so, given the damage to Fang Zheng's aperture, but he was able to bring up his aptitude to around 62%.
Fang Yuan now made the Vitality Leaves himself, his greater primeval essence meaning he was able to match Fang Zheng so long as he no longer focused on nurturing his aperture.
He had used the second Red Steel Relic Gu by this time, word of him having bought one of the Red Steel Relic Gu from the market (or both of them) already gotten out.
In truth, one of them had been bought by Chi Shan, and the other by Mo Chen. Being on other sides of a political divide, they didn't know about each other and thought that the 'extra' one was bought by Fang Yuan. And to Qing Shu who did not know at all about either of them, it seemed normal to assume that Fang Yuan was the buyer.
Now at Rank 2 Peak Stage, there was only the advancement to Rank 3 left. His aperture was surrounded by crystal walls, and he was able to make minor cracks in them over time. However, to really break through it would be best to have 65% aptitude.
And for that, it was best for Fang Zheng to advance.
'Finally... I'm at Rank 1 Peak Stage,' Fang Zheng thought.
"Fang Zheng, the Liquor Worm will be of little help to you now," Fang Yuan said to Fang Zheng one day. "Remember when I told you that I had a new recipe to advance your vital gu...? Well, it's time to use it."