Amidst a forest teeming with wolves, slumbering peacefully on the earth and occasionally flipping over to alleviate the heat from the other side of their bodies, one would find 001(Xie Ling) leaping nimbly from one tree to another. Currently, he was experimenting with the power of his rank-3 Human Human Blood Heart Gu, which roughly cost him 80 human hearts, 500 liters of blood, and 25 liters of Blood Healing Water.
The recipe for Blood Healing Water was an entry in the book, and while seemingly simple, it required a blood path healing Gu and a water path healing Gu. Through the arduous process of trial and error, one would attain correct percentages of use from a blood-healing Gu to a water-healing Gu.
Empowered by the upgraded Human Blood Heart Gu pulsing through his veins, Xie Ling felt an immense surge of energy coursing through his body. Such a boundless reserve of stamina would allow him to explore the forest for weeks without ever feeling the need to sleep. However, he was aware of the need for sleep to allow his mind to reorganize, prompting him to experiment with a novel approach. Xie Ling attempted to teach his brain to work like a dolphin, where one half would be asleep while the other remained awake, switching interchangeably. However, instead of attaining this state, his mind simply turned off, rebooting like a computer. Groggy and disoriented, he muttered, "It seems rewiring millions of years of evolution is going to take a while."
As Xie explored the forest, a message-type Gu flew into his hands. The message was from a caravan that regretfully informed him that they could not provide him with the three rank-4 Relic Gu, as they had been stolen by a mysterious gu master. Xie couldn't help but smirk, knowing that he was the one who had taken them.
As he read the message, he thought to himself, "It's about time I begin reverting everything back to what it was," he lightly jumped down from the tree, landing softly on the ground. Some wolves were alerted but lazily put their heads back down upon realizing it was their master. However, that's when they received a new command, "humans are not friends, return back to your homes," the wolves sprang into action, heeding their master's orders.
He returned to the Xiong clan and summoned everyone to gather together. The elders, gu masters, and mortals stood in line as they eagerly awaited his orders.
"First, I'd like to do some Gu trading," he pulled out a large list and started giving names of Gu along with their current master, and one by one they would come up and give him their Gu, in exchange Xie would also give them a Gu of similar rank.
Now with a large grin plastered on his face, Xie stated, "Let's hope you all at least have some compassion left in your hearts."
And before anyone could have the time to process what they had just heard, suddenly, a peaceful whistling sound filled the air, transporting them back to a time four months ago when the world made less sense, but was also less vile. Then with a snap of his fingers Xie brought them back to reality. At first, everyone was confused, but as they recalled all the terrible deeds they had committed in the past few months, they began to weep.
The times they lied in the market to make a bigger deal, the times they didn't even trust their closest friend, the times they would even steal from their very neighbors, it was truly hell on earth.
While they all wept, Xie would enter the clan's recipe room and copy down the multitude of recipes in there into his own Book Gu. Making sure to also add a few notes on how he would improve the recipes, slowly until the heavy weight on the back of his neck would disappear.
With everything he needed now in his possession, there was little to nothing left for him in Qing Mao Mountain, as waiting for Nine months would be too wasteful of his time.