"Hmm... is that how you see it?" Fang Yuan asked her. He then gazed out at the rising moon. "I don't see things like that. In my opinion, it's only natural to help each other, after all, we are classmates, aren't we?"
"That is..." Li Mei muttered, trailing off. While that should've been true in theory, the reality of the world was extremely harsh. In this kind of world, where she had little chance of accomplishing anything, why would the clan invest any kind of resources in her? "But what about the moonblade contest?"
Fang Yuan shrugged nonchalantly. "If I lose it, so be it. But I see no reason to change who I am- to stray from the righteous path, simply because it might give me a disadvantage."
Li Mei realized right then and there that she was standing in the presence of a true righteous hero- the kind of person who would no doubt make great contributions to the clan in the future.
"Ah, I'm sorry about what happened," Li Mei said.
"Sorry? For what? The refinement?"
"No, sorry that... you ended up with only a B-grade talent," she said. She said 'only' but she would've nearly fainted from happiness if she were a B-grade talent. However, she knew that much more was expected of Fang Yuan. "I mean... and then Fang Zheng was an A-grade talent..." If that were to happen to her, she would've been shocked. It was clear that Fang Yuan was still the smarter and more valiant of the two, at least, she felt so- but he had been dealt the worse hand when it came to aptitude.
However, to everyone's surprise Fang Yuan had taken this switch in their circumstances completely in stride. He had worked harder and greatly improved his image among the clansmen. And it seemed heaven had rewarded him in a different way, by showing him the pathway to the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance.
"You may look at it that way," Fang Yuan said. "However, ultimately I can still see myself as fortunate. What can go wrong? I could've had no aptitude whatsoever. Going back even further, what if my conception had failed and I died in the womb itself? What use is there lamenting upon it?"
Li Mei had to admit that was a very strange way to look at things, and she felt like she couldn't do the same.
"As it is," Fang Yuan continued, "I only wish to continue working for the betterment of the Gu Yue village, and to ensure peace and prosperity for my clansmen."
Li Mei already knew that Fang Yuan was going to become an elder, but now she felt that with his attitude, he might even become clan head! It would be wonderful if that could happen, she felt.
He smiled once again at her, and she couldn't help but feel her heart race.
Then again, he was only smiling because he was kind to everyone, she thought. There was no way that someone like him would like someone like her.
Li Mei knew that she didn't look very nice. If one had to rank the girls in their class based on looks, it would be far easier to count her from the bottom. And that was just when she compared herself with the girls in her class, there were other women in the village. Not just Gu Masters, but mortals as well. Mortal women wouldn't become wives, but they could possibly become concubines of elders.
'Even if I was just his concubine, it would be nice...' she thought to herself, though she knew she didn't have the qualifications for such.
Although she didn't know it, Fang Yuan was actually quite interested in her body. Even if she was ugly in the eyes of many, that didn't matter to someone like Fang Yuan.
While Li Mei was already thinking about what to name their hypothetical children, Fang Yuan was most concerned with the kinds of benefits he could gain by feeding someone like her to a bear.
He had not received a Bear Enslavement Gu as any reward, but they weren't hard to come by. It was not too late to think about how to advance to Rank 3 after all, given that getting to Rank 2 was guaranteed.
However, that path had its demerits. And now, his aptitude was rising rapidly, meaning that he likely wouldn't need to take such drastic action.
The first breakpoint to Rank 2 was around 50% essence. To Rank 3 was around 60% essence, though it could be reasonably done with 55% aptitude and with a huge amount of backing and luck possibly even as low as 50% as well. He was well on his way to gain 56% aptitude so long as he won the moonblade throwing competition, which he was relatively assured of doing.
With his prior life's experience, he was well-versed in using this kind of gu. Although he hadn't had much practice with this one in particular, the method of using such ranged attacks was similar. As such, he only needed to use it a few times to get the hang of it.
His rich battle experience bore fruit in this way. No, it likely wasn't necessary to obtain that gu and would likely just attract more attention to himself. Not to mention that Li Mei was a D-grade talent, meaning that she was not a good candidate whatsoever. A B-grade talent would be better, but there were so few of those and it would not be easy for him to take such people down regardless.
So long as his aptitude kept rising, Rank 3 would not be far off.
As he walked home, he noted that he had been rewarded some boar meat by the system for this daily quest. It must've recognized his need for the same over primeval stones.
Speaking of, he did about 80% of the daily quests. Some of them were just too annoying to do for the reward, while others would draw too much attention. This reset his progress, but there was little helping it.
Once he got back to his room, he took out the White Boar Gu. One of the benefits of the system that he discovered was that all of the gu were already refined the moment he took them out.
He placed the gu worm in his aperture and began to infuse it with primeval essence. He felt a slight tingling in his arms, which slowly spread to all over his body and intensified.
A while later, he had to stop it as it became painful. If he tried to use it all at once, he would end up damaging his body and maybe even killing himself.
It didn't need to be fed right now, so he could keep the pork in his inventory without taking it out. He would however, have to leave it in his dorm room and not take it carelessly outside lest it be discovered.
It would also be for the better if he developed a habit of eating pork regularly, that way he could disguise some of his purchases in case the system did not help him out in the future.