Reverend Insanity-Blood Venerable Ascension (New Version)

Swish, swish!

"Surround the wolf from the left and right!" A young man with an ordinary appearance shouted after sending two blood blades flying with a wave of his hand.

Quickly, two youths rushed to either side of the wolf in haste. Seeing that one of the blood blades narrowly missed the wolf while the other struck its nose, they began attacking it from both sides, leaving the beast in a helpless state, unsure of where the next attack would come from.

After several minutes of coordinated fighting, the wolf finally collapsed to the ground, its wounds and bleeding accumulating to the point where its old body could no longer endure.

"Let's finish it off!" one of the youths shouted, prompting the three of them to rush toward the fallen beast. They used a combination of blood and water blades to put an end to the creature's suffering.

Watching all of this from a relatively distant spot, a robust Gu Master with tanned skin made notes in an information-path Gu while murmuring, "An old wolf of this size is worth 20 contribution points. Considering it was killed swiftly, mainly due to the commands and attacks of that student, he will receive 10 of those points, while the remaining 10 will be evenly distributed between the other two students."

After recording this, he turned to Chen Wei, who was standing beside him, observing his expression to gauge his approval of the evaluation. However, all he saw was a calm and composed face. Feeling compelled, he asked, "Is this correct, Elder Chen?"

Chen Wei, one of the three elders who had volunteered to oversee the students' safety during this test in case of emergencies, nodded slightly. "Your evaluation is flawless."

Though he maintained a composed and impassive demeanor, as his grandfather had taught him, Chen Wei was paying close attention to the students' performance during the test. Naturally, he wouldn't have volunteered otherwise.

This was primarily because he wanted to personally witness, rather than rely on various reports, how this year's academy students were faring in combat. This was particularly important now, as the initial signs of the wolf tide were becoming increasingly apparent. The older and weaker wolves had already started moving into the clan's inhabited periphery—excluding mortal areas—and it wouldn't be long before the younger, healthier wolves followed.

From what he observed, the results were promising. While this year's batch of students lacked a standout talent like himself or Jin Gu in his own class, or Wang Mei the previous year, the average combat capabilities of the students appeared to be considerably higher.

This comparison brought him back to his own academy days, when he regularly trained with students within his close circle. Their abilities were similar to what he was witnessing now, but such capable students were fewer in number compared to the proportion he saw this year.

However, he believed that the difference this year was not due to a single student leading the training, but rather the immense psychological pressure of the upcoming wolf tide. As everyone knew that the group most likely to suffer heavy casualties during the tide were the newly awakened Gu Masters. In the face of looming death, he imagined there weren't many youths this year who cultivated lazily or wasted time on frivolities compared to previous years.

Additionally, the clan conducts practical combat tests like this one with much greater frequency and is even more generous in nurturing this generation of students with their rewards.

Secondly, Chen Wei was there to observe the practical performance of students using Blood Cut Gu or other blood-path Gu. This year marked the first time a significant number of youths—like the one who had just earned 10 contribution points and whom Chen Wei recognized as the son of one of his family's subordinates—had chosen blood-path Gu as their vital Gu.

This was a result of the reputation for high combat power and low feeding costs that blood-path Gu had earned due to the Gu Masters who had been using them over the past few months.

It was only natural that, under the pressure of the wolf tide, this year's students would gravitate toward a Gu reputed for its strong offensive capabilities at its level. Furthermore, its food source—blood—was cheap under normal circumstances. And in a wolf tide year, they could feed their Gu until they were obese and still have enough blood to feed another dozen to the same state.

Of course this is only totally possible, due to Chen Wang donating a large number of Blood Path Gu to the academy at the beginning of this year, both to publicly and politically demonstrate that he does not intend to monopolize them but rather use them for the clan's benefit, and because he was convinced by Chen Wei's words to use this as one of the methods to gradually ease the clan's future shift from the Water Path to the Blood Path.

"Which student has the highest number of contribution points?" Chen Wei asked, snapping out of his thoughts, directing his question to the Gu Master beside him who was using the Information Path Gu.

"That would be... Gu Xi. He has a total of 125 contribution points!" the Gu Master promptly replied, as if answering an official order, after verifying the numbers in his Information Gu.

"He has already reached Rank 1 Middle Stage cultivation, being the first of this year to do so, and his vital Gu is a Blood Cut Gu," quickly added another Gu Master, who dealt with matters concerning the clan's academy, speaking without needing to think much.

Chen Wei nodded in satisfaction, appreciating the fortune of an elder that can have capable and dedicated subordinates ready to relay such details efficiently whenever needed.

"Hmm, there are still a large number of wolves in the test area. With 125 contribution points already, it's likely he'll reach 200. With the points he must already have saved, he could directly purchase some good Rank 1 Gu for himself," another Gu Master commented, a slight hint of envy in his tone.

'Exchanging contribution points directly for Gu...' Chen Wei cast a sidelong glance at the Gu Master.

Under normal circumstances, such words wouldn't make sense since the points earned in clan tests like these would ultimately be used to determine a winner who would receive a prize in primeval stones and could not be accumulated. But now, things were different—and the reason was singular: the wolf tide.

In response to the impending wolf tide, all the elders, including Chen Wei, had been tirelessly working to reorganizing the clan's supply routes and front-line structures. Their aim was to establish a clear, efficient, safe, and well-ordered system to withdraw resources and all Gu Masters from the front lines when the wolf tide struck. But beyond that, their main goal was to restructure the clan into what they call a "beast-tide economy".

The first step of this "beast-tide economy" was to replace the use of primeval stones in daily transactions—such as to buy food, bill payments, resource purchases, or Gu trades—with a contribution points system. Primeval stones were now reserved solely to replenish primeval essence, either in combat or in Gu refining.

Of course, this was not the entirety of the clan's adaptation to a full "beast-tide economy", but it was the primary step taken so far, with numerous smaller measures serving as preparations for upcoming bigger ones.

One of these smaller measures—and what Chen Wei believed to be the cause of the slight envy in the other Gu Master's tone—was that students at the clan's academy could retain the reputation points they easily earned in each test, whether they won or not. Moreover, they could directly purchase Gu from the academy's storage at significantly lower prices than in the clan's markets. Naturally, they were sworn not to resell them at prices below the clan's market rates.

Given all this, one might imagine that Chen Wei's days of reviewing reports and issuing orders to address various situations would have significantly decreased. However, this was far from the case. Even with the clan having many experienced elders and Gu Masters to facilitate this economic transition, the large number of captured enemy Gu Masters needing constant monitoring and integration into the clan led to frequent minor conflicts. As a result, newly advanced elders like him had yet to enjoy a single day off.

In comparison, supervising the students during this test could almost be considered a vacation while still maintaining the impression of working. Chen Wei didn't dismiss the idea that this might be one of the reasons why other elders had also volunteered for this task.

"Elder Chen!" A Gu Master came running swiftly toward him, giving a quick salute. "We have an emergency—a Hundred Beast King-level wolf has appeared in the students' test area!"

Hearing this, Chen Wei assumed a solemn expression and sighed lightly. 'Don't I have a knack for jinxing myself?'

Despite the thought, he acted swiftly, signaling with a wave of his hand for the Gu Master to lead the way to the emergency. The Gu Master immediately complied.

"How did a Beast King end up in this test area?" Chen Wei asked the pertinent question, as this area wasn't chosen randomly. The academy hadn't simply thrown the students into a dangerous wolf-infested location without caution, especially in a year marked by a wolf tide.

If this were the academy's standard approach, all the clan's young Gu Masters would end up dead or crippled in the same year they awakened their apertures.

What they actually did was select a location owned by the academy, which they had thoroughly cleared of dangers beforehand. Gu Masters were then sent to screen the beasts, eliminating any that posed life-threatening risks to students and avoid those were too strong for even Rank 2 Gu Masters to coordinate among themselves and force to enter the test area, as they did with those deemed suitable for academy students to handle.

"It's entirely our fault, Elder Chen! Somehow, the wolf slipped past our notice and remained passive until it suddenly attacked, nearly killing a student!" The Gu Master running ahead explained, his expression filled with regret and helplessness.

Chen Wei glanced briefly at the Gu Master, then shifted his gaze forward. A few hundred meters away, he could see several Gu Masters struggling desperately to contain the Beast King, along with a young man slightly younger than himself lying on the ground with a large gash on his chest. Two healing Gu Masters were attending to the injured student.

At that moment, as if mocking his previous pace, Chen Wei suddenly accelerated, crossing the several hundred meters in an instant. His previous speed seemed like a joke as he left behind only afterimages and bloody footprints where he had stepped.

'What!? Elder Chen!' This was the thought of the Gu Masters trying to hold back the wolf. For a moment, they panicked, seeing blurred afterimages rushing toward them. But once they recognized him as Chen Wei, their tense hearts eased significantly.

Chen Wei didn't bother to communicate his identity. Without hesitation, he sent six large blood blades flying in a fluid, precise motion of his hands.

Stopping his movement briefly, he extended his arm, preparing for his piercing blood attack. The wolf tried to escape the two blood blades aimed at its neck, but its four limbs were severed precisely by the remaining blades.

Mortal Killer Move – Heaven-Piercing Blood.

In the blink of an eye, the wolf's head was pierced, as if it had no defenses, and its life ended instantly, without a shred of dignity for a creature titled Beast King.

But Chen Wei didn't stop moving. He noticed a strong green light emanating from the wolf's body, desperately trying to flee. He cast it a look of disdain and activated the small Gu in his aperture—a blue dragonfly radiating the majestic aura of Rank 5.

The Gu escaping from the wolf's body froze mid-flight, suspended in the air, not daring to move. Chen Wei walked toward it unhurriedly, capturing it in his hand and refining it instantly, without resistance.

"Sneaky Bastard Gu…" Chen Wei murmured as he examined the famous Theft Path Gu, known for its ability to hide someone's aura, provided they remained "sneaking" without attacking or defending.

His gaze shifted to the Gu Masters nearby, who wore mixed expressions of relief at the wolf's death and unease at the pressure of a Rank 5 aura emanating from the Gu, which weighed heavily on their hearts.

"Alert the other elders about the possibility of more wolves with Sneaky Bastard Gu or similar gu," Chen Wei commanded, resuming his solemn expression.

"Yes, Elder!" the surrounding Gu Masters responded in unison, rushing to carry out his orders and tend to the gravely injured student.

Chen Wei mostly ignored them, focusing his attention on the Gu in his hand. It took the form of a dung fly, rubbing its hands together, radiating an aura of treachery. He smirked faintly.

"…It truly lives up to its identity."