“President, please calm your anger.”
Beside Wu Jianchou stood a bald old man. The old man had dark skin, his face deeply lined, and strange tattoos. He was dressed plainly and was missing an arm.
Wu Jianchou glanced at the old man, his anger somewhat subdued. He said in a deep voice, “Chieftain Teng, this matter also concerns your Gu clan’s daughter. What are your thoughts?”
The old man was the chieftain of Tian Jue’er’s clan, named Xiong Teng.
In the Gu clan, the given name came before the surname. This meant the old man’s given name was Xiong, and his surname was Teng.
Xiong Teng was the most senior existence in this tribe of the Gu clan. It was he who personally gave Tian Jue’er to the Scarlet Flower Society and secured himself a vice-president position within it.
Now, with the help of the Scarlet Flower Society, their tribe had relocated to the Southern Grasslands, twenty kilometers outside Yuzhou City, enjoying a prime location.
Xiong Teng believed this was a very good deal, sacrificing one Tian Jue’er in exchange for the prosperity of the entire tribe.
At this moment, Xiong Teng said, “Fortunately, the young master is not a reckless person. He requested that we dispatch the one beneath the Octagonal Well. With that one’s intervention, no matter how powerful Yan Shouyi is, he is ultimately destined to die. The challenge states three consecutive battles, so Yan Shouyi will at most survive until the second match, perhaps not even meeting the young master.”
The so-called reputation of the Research Association was now merely a facade, solely for attracting attention.
For this reputation to hold true, the prerequisite was that Yan Shouyi must indeed defeat the Scarlet Flower Society.
Xiong Teng was entirely confident that Yan Shouyi would lose.
From the current perspective, the Research Association was merely a stepping stone for the Scarlet Flower Society. No matter how they advertised or caused a stir now, the greater their eventual defeat, the more people would recognize the Scarlet Flower Society’s strength, with the latter ultimately profiting.
Wu Jianchou calmed down for a moment and then suddenly sneered.
Xiong Teng was right. The Research Association’s fame was just empty glory. The Scarlet Flower Society had a two-hundred-year history and could not be overthrown by some novice.
“The fellow at the bottom of the Octagonal Well, while his strength is indeed formidable, I still feel it’s not entirely foolproof.”
Wu Jianchou pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice, “This concerns the reputation of my Scarlet Flower Society, so we must be cautious. Chieftain Teng, could I borrow your Absolute Gu?”
Upon hearing this, Xiong Teng’s expression involuntarily changed. He froze for a moment, then showed a troubled look:
“President, the Absolute Gu is my life-bound Gu. It cannot be easily lent out…”
A life-bound Gu was a Gu worm inextricably linked to the life of the Gu master, arguably the source of their power.
For ordinary people, lending out their car or wife was a serious matter. For Gu masters, there was an additional taboo: never lend out your life-bound Gu.
Wu Jianchou asking to borrow Xiong Teng’s life-bound Gu was far more serious than borrowing a car or a wife; it was akin to asking to borrow Xiong Teng’s head for a moment.
Wu Jianchou’s face darkened: “Chieftain Teng, ever since your entire clan joined our Scarlet Flower Society, I, Wu Jianchou, have treated you with sincerity. We even gifted you the prime location of the Southern Grasslands. Does Chieftain Teng still not trust me?”
“The President has treated us exceedingly well, but this Absolute Gu…”
Before Xiong Teng could finish his sentence, Wu Jianchou waved his hand to interrupt him: “I offered my heart to the bright moon, but alas, the bright moon shines upon the ditch. It seems in Chieftain Teng’s eyes, our Scarlet Flower Society is merely a stepping stone. Fine, fine. If you won’t lend the Absolute Gu, then you won’t. If Feng’er loses the match, at worst our Scarlet Flower Society will disband. Then, the Southern Grasslands will belong to whoever it belongs to.”
Wu Jianchou outwardly conceded, but in reality, he was cornering Xiong Teng, implicitly threatening to reclaim the Southern Grasslands.
Upon hearing this, Xiong Teng could not help but waver.
It was he who had overridden all objections, led the clan migration, and, under pressure, given Tian Jue’er to the Scarlet Flower Society, thus acquiring the prime location of the Southern Grasslands. Now their tribe was flourishing, with a promising future.
If he did not comply with Wu Jianchou this time, all his past efforts and sacrifices would be in vain. His angry tribesmen might even turn against him, their old chieftain!
Alas, if only they had remained peacefully in their mountain village, perhaps there would not be so many troubles.
Xiong Teng sighed inwardly. This feeling of being controlled was truly unpleasant.
But he still succumbed, nodding silently, “Then, please take it.”
“Chieftain Teng is truly loyal. I, Wu Jianchou, will not mistreat you!” Wu Jianchou’s smile immediately returned, his demeanor changing faster than the weather.
Xiong Teng lost his spirit, lowered his head, and reached to the back of his neck.
As he felt around, he suddenly cut his skin with his fingernails. Amidst the blood, a black Gu worm, shaped like a centipede with thirty-three segments, painfully struggled free.
This was the Absolute Gu, Xiong Teng’s life-bound Gu.
Once separated from Xiong Teng’s body, the Absolute Gu writhed like a fish pulled from water, as if struggling to breathe.
It was still covered in flesh and blood, emitting a foul odor.
Xiong Teng soothed it for a moment, then took out an iron box, placed the Absolute Gu inside, cut his palm, and poured a considerable amount of his blood into the box, nurturing the Absolute Gu like a fish.
Nourished by the blood, the Absolute Gu ceased its struggles and soon fell into a peaceful slumber, as if dead.
After completing this, Xiong Teng instantly looked decades older. With trembling hands, he offered the iron box, “President, please take it.”
Wu Jianchou accepted the iron box with a smile, sealed it with a talisman, carefully put it away, and then patted Xiong Teng’s shoulder, “The Scarlet Flower Society will not mistreat you.”
Xiong Teng forced a smile, thinking to himself: One can only hope.
…
The appointed day soon arrived.
In the preceding days, the Folk Customs Research Association had hosted over two hundred disciples from various folk sects, all arriving from different parts of the country.
Perhaps it was due to the gentleman’s agreement, or perhaps the sheer number of visitors, but Wu Tianfeng had not made a move against the folk sect disciples in recent days.
Thanks to this arena battle, the Folk Customs Research Association’s reputation had soared. Previously, Wang Jiwang had to rack his brains to recruit just over ten folk sect disciples, but now over two hundred had arrived in one go.
Although the majority of these two hundred were there to spectate, with only a few intending to join the Folk Customs Research Association, this was still a considerable improvement.
If Yan Shouyi won the arena battle, Wang Jiwang was confident he could secure half of them!
The Scarlet Flower Society, with its two hundred years of development, had only gathered a little over two hundred members. In contrast, the Folk Customs Research Association had amassed over one hundred in less than a month.
As for reaching two hundred, he believed they could surpass that within half a month after the arena battle.
At that time, the Folk Customs Research Association would ascend to become one of the foremost sect organizations in the Xuanmen world, forcing even Li Genmiao to reconsider any hostile intentions.
Concurrently, driven by Lin Yu and Lin Yin, the live broadcast page had gained a new feature – a chat bullet screen function!
Even though the live broadcast had not yet begun, people could already chat on the page.
This update was intended to further generate buzz and elevate the attention on the Folk Customs Research Association to its absolute peak!