The Nine Leaf Vitality Grass was an excellent gu worm, because it could be used to generate the Rank 1 Vitality Leaf Gu in perpetuity so long as it had enough primeval essence given to it. It took the appearance of a small plant, and when injected with primeval essence it would generate up to nine Vitality Leaf Gu. While only a Rank 1 gu worm, considering the fact that it was a healing-type gu worm and in the right circumstances could save one's life if a healer was not at hand, it sold for a very good price.
Of course, Fang Yuan did not have a monopoly on the supply of Vitality Leaves. The clan had a few Nine Leaf Vitality Grass Gu in its possession and some Gu Masters were tasked with the production of Vitality Leaves for the clan, but that was all fine with Fang Yuan. If he had a monopoly it might end up being seized from him for the good of the clan.
The issue was that while it could produce Rank 1 gu almost limitlessly so long as it had sunlight and water, it consumed a large amount of primeval essence to do so. While that was not an issue for now, given that he was going to simply use the Red Steel Relic Gu to advance, it would be in the future. He would need his primeval essence in order to advance, not to generate Vitality Leaves. Also, the more he made, the lower the price would be. On a good day, he could get about fifty primeval stones for each Vitality Leaf, though as the wolf tide crept closer and closer, the price would steadily edge up higher.
In addition to the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, there was the wine tavern and the bamboo apartments to take care of. Taking care of the bamboo apartments was not too difficult considering the fact that he had moved into one, being close to the others. But the wine tavern and raising and selling Vitality Leaves put a big burden upon how much time he had. This in addition to the various missions that he had to do along with Qing Shu would've left scarce time for cultivating even if he was serious about advancing right now and wasn't biding his time until he could use the Red Steel Relic Gu.
In his previous life, he had only himself to rely upon. However, he now had a lackey who would take care of much of these problems for him.
Fang Yuan's #1 lackey as a matter of fact - Fang Zheng!
Fang Zheng's life followed a simple routine. He would wake up early in the morning, his primeval essence having been replenished overnight.
He would make a quick inspection of the bamboo buildings that Fang Yuan owned, making sure that there were no issues going on with them. Some of the female tenants tried to get close to him, but he rejected them all. Many of them were Rank 2 Gu Masters, and for such people to show interest in Fang Zheng was in itself unusual- unless you accounted for how valuable real estate was in Gu Yue village. There was a limit to how far the village could expand, and as such rent was high for those who did not own their own homes.
When these women had realized that Fang Yuan did not care for them, they instead set their sights on Fang Zheng- seeing that he was allowed a place to stay by Fang Yuan without even needing to pay rent. They thought that if they became Fang Zheng's wife, they might also receive such treatment.
But while Fang Yuan was indifferent to their advances, Fang Zheng actively hated them. Ever since he had been betrayed by Shen Cui, he had started to hate women in general, thinking of them as nothing more than gold-digging hoes. He knew why it was that the women were showing this kind of interest in him.
'Women will only slow down the speed at which I cultivate,' Fang Zheng thought. This attitude of his was subtly encouraged by Fang Yuan, who didn't want him to suddenly run off with some random girl.
As it was, he was currently stuck at Rank 1 Middle Stage and hadn't been able to advance to Rank 1 Middle Stage. The reason for this was that once he was done inspecting the buildings, he would return back to his living quarters and use the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass. It was a Rank 2 gu worm, and so he couldn't use it to its full extent, but with the help of the Liquor Worm he could still produce two or three Vitality Leaves with each session. He would do so in the morning and in the evening, and would only cultivate with whatever essence he had left afterwards.
This did limit the speed at which he could ascend. On top of which, Fang Zheng did not own the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass or the profits gained from selling Vitality Leaves. Almost all of that went to Fang Yuan with little left to him, but he could do little about it.
'Elder Brother needs these primeval stones to advance to Rank 3,' Fang Zheng thought. 'Once that happens, he'll become an elder and then with those extra primeval stones, he'll help me get to Rank 2. For the big picture, it's better if I keep working for him.'
Fang Zheng thought these things mainly to reassure himself more than anything else. There was a small needling part of him which thought- 'What if brother is just using me and will abandon me once he becomes an elder?' Being stabbed in the back by Aunt and Uncle had dealt quite a blow to his ability to trust other people in general.
But, he pushed down this worry away. If he started to doubt everyone, he would have to become the kind of demon that Fang Yuan truly was- though the issue with that was that Fang Zheng did not have Fang Yuan's 500 years of experience of walking down the demonic path.
Once he was done with this, he took the Vitality Leaves and visited the wine tavern.
It was a small building though the effective area could be somewhat expanded so long as tables were set outside.
Fang Zheng was not worried as he walked down the street, even if he was carrying valuable gu worms with him. For one, he looked exactly like Fang Yuan at first glance and no one wanted to mess with the latter. Secondly, Fang Yuan was well known to hang out with Qing Shu, and so no one wanted to find trouble with Fang Zheng either. Third, Fang Zheng was not completely defenseless. While his vital gu continued to be the Liquor Worm, he had bought a Moonlight Gu for himself using a portion of the earnings that Fang Yuan had given him from selling Vitality Leaves.
Speaking of, when he went to the wine tavern he would order a glass of wine to feed his Liquor Worm. The Liquor Worm did not have many paths of advancement, so he felt rather bad regarding having it as his vital gu. Unlike Fang Yuan he did not know the full potential of this gu worm and felt that the Moonlight Gu was better in terms of advancement given how many recipes that the clan had for the same.
The Mist Perspiring Butterfly, which was the advancement path that the Flower Wine Monk had chosen, was rather useless unless it was your aspiration in life to become a serial flower thief. The clan did have a recipe for the Seven Fragrances Liquor Worm but this had a dud Rank 2 stage which was not that useful.