When the time finally came for him to make a move on the Three Kings Inheritance, Fang Yuan sent Qing Shu and Fang Zheng on their way, monitoring their progress from afar using his Wills and investigative methods.
Quickly enough the two of them ran into a problem.
"Please! Won't someone save me?!" a young woman cried out.
Her clothes were tattered, revealing pieces her alluring figure as she ran. Surrounding her were nine Gu Masters leering at her with delight in their eyes.
Despite many onlookers watching - several from the righteous path gritting their teeth in outrage - none dared to intervene.
The nine Gu Masters belonged to the infamous Ten Tyrants. Although their leader, Tyrant Heng Mei, was not present, he was a known demonic path Rank 4 Gu Master, and no one currently there dared to offend him.
"Please! I have 30,000 primeval stones!" the woman yelled. "30,000 to anyone who can save me!"
"Heh heh, little beauty, don't worry," one of the tyrants sneered. "We'll take good care of your primeval stones... once we're done with you, that is!"
"But feel free to run around and scream some more."
"...if they don't resist there is no fun in it!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out - clear and sharp as a whip: "Get away from that woman."
The woman turned around, her eyes lighting up as she found the source of the voice.
Two men stepped into the open. The Ten Tyrants were about to attack, but they immediately shrank back - both newcomers were radiating the aura of Rank 4 Gu Masters!
One was Gu Yue Qing Shu, who had reached Rank 4 with Fang Yuan's help, and the other was Gu Yue Fang Zheng!
"Oh, thank you, Lords, for saving me!" the young woman wept pitifully.
"Hey! I don't know who you are," one of the Ten Tyrants barked, "but our boss, Heng Mei, is not to be trifled with! Scram if you know what's good for you!"
Fang Zheng glared at the man coldly. "I don't think you heard me clearly. This woman is our prey, not yours."
Everyone - including the girl - was momentarily stunned.
Huh?
What was going on?
Wasn't the hero supposed to swoop in and save the beauty? That was what they were expecting.
Instead, Fang Zheng had arrived to torment her instead?!
"Ah... Lords, what exactly are you saying?" the girl stammered, stepping back.
"How much longer are you going to continue pretending, Hu Mei Er?" Fang Zheng asked coldly.
"Hu Mei Er? That name sounds familiar..."
"Isn't she that Enchantment Path Gu Master?"
"Ah, it appears your eyes are sharper than I gave you credit for," the woman said, her demeanor changing instantly. She shifted her posture, her body radiating an alluring, enchanting charm that captivated many of the onlookers. Her eyes seemed to be able to suck the soul right out of you, and her curves were alluring, making one want to instinctively grasp for them.
Additionally, a Rank 4 aura burst forth as well, placing her cultivation on full display!
This was no hapless maiden!
Fang Zheng sighed and waved his hand.
Suddenly, Hu Mei Er no longer possessed her overwhelming charm and many people began rubbing their eyes, the illusion broken.
"Hu Mei Er is an Enchantment Path specialist," Fang Zheng explained to the crowd. The Enchantment Path was simply another form of the Emotion Path, playing with people's feelings to enchant them. "In other words, she uses Emotion Path methods to manipulate others into doing her bidding."
Hu Mei Er was known for being promiscuous and playing with men's hearts, and she had specifically been toying with the Ten Tyrants to see if she could ensnare someone to save her.
However, this man had not only seen through her disguise, but completely neutralized her methods as well.
'Is this person also an Emotion Path cultivator?' Hu Mei Er wondered, taken aback. Still, she put a finger to her mouth and took an innocent step forward, swaying her hips as she did so. "Ah... I didn't catch your names, Lords."
"My name is Gu Yue Fang Zheng," he said.
"And I am Gu Yue Qing Shu," Qing Shu added. "We are both from the Gu Yue clan, here to make a name for ourselves and our clan."
Most onlookers had never heard of the Gu Yue clan, or if they had, they remembered it as a small, insignificant village.
But if it could produce two Rank 4 Gu Masters, it was clearly no ordinary force.
"Hold on... Gu Yue? I've heard that name associated with the Shang clan somewhere," one spectator muttered.
"Indeed... someone called the Insane Reverend had that surname..."
"Not only that! I've heard that one of their members recently cultivated to Rank 6 and became a Gu Immortal!"
"Is that so? We can't look down on either of these Gu Yue clansmen then."
Hu Mei Er purred, looking at Fang Zheng with renewed interest as she stepped forward coquettishly. "Well then, Young Master Fang Zheng, I was looking to see if there were any brave young masters who wanted to spend the night with me after rescuing a hapless maiden. But since you sought me out directly like this, could it be that you're secretly interested in villainous woman? If so, I can fill this demonic path lady can fill that gap in your heart..."
Fang Zheng snorted coldly. "All women, whether belonging to the righteous or demonic path, are villainous! You're nothing special!"
Silence descended over the entire area as everyone tried to digest what Fang Zheng had just said.
"What?" Hu Mei Er blinked, her entire act thrown off balance by his words.
"You heard me," Fang Zheng said.
Fang Zheng then proceeded to go on what would soon become known as one of the most absurdly misogynistic rants ever recorded in the entirety of the Southern Border's vast history (though in the Northern Plains, it would probably only rank third or fourth).
This outburst was not driven entirely by Fang Zheng's own thoughts.
Rather, it was one of Fang Yuan's underlying methods at work - amplifying Fang Zheng's lingering trauma from when he had been betrayed by Shen Cui over the course of the last month until Fang Zheng had completely forgotten about Yao Le.
After all, how could Fang Yuan possibly allow Fang Zheng to fall in love with a nice girl like Gu Yue Yao Le, forget his hatred for woman, and settle down to start a family?
If Fang Zheng did that, he would be far less useful to Fang Yuan. And harder to manipulate.
Allow Fang Zheng to be happy and content with life?
Impossible!
Fang Yuan had thus actively reignited his brother's resentment toward women so that he would remain a focused, usable tool.
Watching from a distance were two figures: a father-and-daughter pair. The father wore a mask that concealed his features, while the young daughter possessed remarkably long, shapely legs.
They were none other than Tie Xue Leng, the famous Rank 5 investigator, and Tie Ruo Nan. A few other Tie clansmen were traveling alongside them.
"That voice... that attitude towards women..." Tie Ruo Nan gritted her teeth, recognizing it immediately.
"Ah," Tie Xue Leng sighed. "It appears that Gu Yue Fang Zheng is still up to his old antics."
"Lord, do you know him?" several Tie clan guards asked.
Several other righteous path Gu Masters were bewildered by Fang Zheng's behavior and glanced towards Tie Xue Leng.
"Indeed I do," Tie Xue Leng said. "It is a sad story, really. That Fang Zheng over there used to be a talented young master with a bright future as a genius of the Gu Yue clan. However, he became crippled after an accident, losing most of his cultivation base, and his childhood love dumped him. Not only that, but she falsely accused him of violating her. Ever since, he has harbored a deep hatred towards all women. I thought he would have outgrown it over time, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
"Gu Yue Fang Zheng... I've heard that name before," one guard noted.
"You may have heard of the deeds of a righteous path cultivator Fang Yuan, the one who killed the Blood Tiger," Tie Xue Leng said. "Fang Yuan happens to be Fang Zheng's elder twin brother."
"Oh, it seems Fang Zheng is the black sheep of the Fang brothers," another guard remarked.
"Indeed," Tie Ruo Nan said, shaking her head. "Fang Yuan is a righteous hero. It's unfortunate that Fang Zheng turned out to be such an unscrupulous little..." she swallowed the final insult out of respect for her father.
Fang Zheng's rant went on to such an extreme that even the members of the Ten Tyrants were impressed. They spent most of their time tormenting women, but even they felt Fang Zheng had reached an entirely new level. Perhaps he could be recruited into their ranks?
"I can't believe half of what I'm hearing..."
"Is this what Misogyny Path Grandmaster attainment looks like?"
To give an example of Fang Zheng's logic:
"...Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was completely right about women! Many people say men and women are equal simply because both can cultivate, thereby making up for any natural differences in physical strength. But if that's correct, let me ask you this: why is it that out of the ten Venerables in history, nine were men and only one was a woman? Hmm? Can you answer that? Doesn't that prove men are nine times more worthy than woman to reach Rank 9? And if you say that was simply decreed by Fate, that only means that the Heavenly Dao itself agrees with me that men are superior to women! Furthermore, it should be noted that Star Constellation Immortal Venerable only achieved her position under Primordial Origin Immortal Venerable's guidance, meaning she needed a man's help to reach that level! The only female Venerable was also the only one to live under the reign of another Venerable - who was a man! That's right, Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was nothing special! She was a fraud who only achieved her Venerable status thanks to clinging to a man's coattails! I bet most of her 'achievements' were just things that Primordial Origin taught her and that she stole and called her own!"
Fang Zheng followed this up with five further uninterrupted minutes of Star Constellation Immortal Venerable slander.