Surviving in the Gu World

by morlygarcia

In the dangerous world of soul searching insect magical users there is only a single constant: Align to heavens or defy it. See the Journey about surviving against all odds in a world filled with old demons and transmigrators. "Because hardships strengthen resolve, the strong-minded will not be lured by worldly affairs." If you are familiar with Reverend Insanity skip the prologue.

1. Prologue 1

PROLOGUE 1

"When as a child I laughed and wept, Time crept. When as a youth I waxed more bold, Time strolled. When I became a full-grown man, Time ran. When older still I daily grew, Time flew. Soon I shall find, in passing on, Time gone. O Christ I wilt Thou have saved me then? Amen."

A man, with a regal posture and honey eyes filled with nothing, prayed. In the church he himself built, or rather a mega-church. He knew his time was ending and that once he died his legacy would be this church, his books and his improvements to the Prosperity Gospel. He also knew his exploits and crimes would be exposed but he didn't care. He didn't feel anything towards it, or rather towards anything. Even his children and wife. Sure, he raised them to his best ability and treated them well, but only because that was what he knew he had to do.

Peter Paczkowski was a psychopath.

Coming from a polish immigrant family, he grew religious and, as his experiences with God pilled up, he started believing truthfully. When he was fourteen he realised he didn't feel things like others. His feelings were mere shadows of what they should be, also he perceived he could simulate emotions in his head . He never bothered to name them but as he grew older he saw the use of them and grew fascinated with other people. He could use those fake emotions to understand other people more profoundly.

Another phenomena that fascinated him was how everytime he focused on someone with the intention of understanding them he could easily copy their mannerisms and would start immediately simulating the person's feelings, or so he thought. He couldn't be sure if he only simulated those feelings or if he had actual empathy.

Either way, he was dying. He knew it and so did his enemies and children.

Peter standed and went towards the the entrance. Once he crossed the gateway, he could see a beautiful light blue hue on the moon.

And as such Peter died.

The spring rain quietly rained down on Qing Mao Mountain. It was already late in the night, a slight breeze blowing with the light rain.

Yet Qing Mao Mountain was not covered in darkness; from the side down to the foot of the mountain, dozens of tiny lights shone like a bright band. These lights shone from tall buildings, even though it could not be said to match up to ten thousand lights, yet it was still a few thousand in number.

Situated on the mountain was Gu Yue Village, giving the vast lonely mountain a rich touch of human civilization. On one of those estates was a large mansion and on this building there was a teenager sleeping on his bed, seeming like he was having a nightmare, which made him look like he was about to die. When suddenly he woke up, filled with náusea and a a profund headache.

'Where am I? What happened? Am I in Hell?' Peter could help but ponder in response to such intense discomfort. Then he calmed down and relaxed his muscles. On his mind were the new inumerable memories he received aparently out of nowhere.

'So I am in the Gu Yue Village, in a world filled with Gu másters, who control heavenly powers through Gu worms.'

'I am in Reverend Insanity.' Pazckowski realised he was in his favorite novel. He first read RI when he was 14 years old and he kept rereading it as he grew older as for him was the novel which was the purest in the 'follow your dream' criterion. Peter's dream was to be one with God. He never considered himself a prophet... but now he could be one.

Or become God himself.

So the first thing he did was to pray. Somewhat playfully as he always liked to pray in a freestyle manner.

"Lovely Lady dressed in blue —-

Teach me how to pray!

God was just your little boy,

Tell me what to say!

Did you lift Him up, sometimes,

Gently on your knee?

Did you sing to Him the way

Mother does to me?

Did you hold His hand at night?

Did you ever try

Telling stories of the world?

O! And did He cry?

Do you really think He cares

If I tell Him things —-

Little things that happen? And

Do the Angels' wings

Make a noise? And can He hear

Me if I speak low?

Does He understand me now?

Tell me —-for you know.

Lovely Lady dressed in blue —-

Teach me how to pray!

God was just your little boy,

And you know the way."

Even though he became Protestant as a way to more properly spread his views he still believed in saints, as sucess one should never worship the Saints, only God. So why was he asking for her help? Well he didn't feel as if he was worthy of God's Grace with his blasphemous thoughts.

Going back to the Virgin, who was Mary if not the greatest of saints?

After reciting Venerable Sheen's poem he started to meditate on the the urgent issues at hand, by pacing around the room. Tomorrow was the Awakening Ceremony, and Peter knew that would determine his prospects in the clan and perhaps in this new life of his, as he wasn't an old regressor like Fang Yuan that knew thousands of secrets from the future. But one thing was for sure:

Fang Yuan still didn't know of the existence of Heaven's will.

He could try to develop a refinement style that suited him as refinement Gu Masters were highly sought after. Maybe develop a business with his Math degree it shouldn't be hard to gain a good amount of money short-selling someone or collect debt with his family backing.

At moment he finished organising his thoughts, a beautiful woman opened the door.

Gu Yue Chi Fang, this body's mother.

"Gu Yue Chi Bai Jiade, what are you doing awake at this hour of the night. I know you are nervous about your prospects but you need to learn to be patient."

Bai Jiade looked at his mother with his honey eyes and smiled.

"Mother, it isn't that I'm nervous but excited. But you are right I should sleep. Good night, mom." Bai Jiade standed, went to his mother, hugged her and went back to his bed to sleep.

All these actions melted her resistance and made her adopt a more soft tone together with making her smile.

"What a filial son. Good night, Darling." Chi Fang closed the door not even imagining that her son was dead and an impersonator was in his place.

'Goal 1 : Acquire the family's backing.' thought Bai Jiade and drifted to sleep.

Waking up, he realised that it was around the 5th watch. Neither night nor morning, when he looked at the window he saw a moist groung mized with mud.

'So it rained. Huh that was the spring rain at the first chapter of Gu Zhen Ren.'

"Young Master, time to wake up. I will go upstairs and wait for you to wash up."At this moment a teenager's voice floated upstairs.

Looking down, Bai Jiade saw his own personal servant – Wang Bei.

His looks were easily above average and he dressed well, because of the intervention of Bai Jiade body's original owner's vanity. He wore a black robe with long sleeves and pants, had embroidered shoes on his feet a wooden harpin on his long black hair. He had no beard or facial hair. His body radiated youthful femininity.

He looked lazily at Bai Jiade, with some dark undercurrent in his eyes. He also carried a water basin.

'Looking down on me, huh.'

Wang Bei manipulated Bai Jiade to favor him greatly while exchanging Bai Jiade's gifts for items to gain Gu Yue Chi Huise's favor as he there were more chances of him being a B grade than Bai Jiade, who learned late how to walk and speak and was always sickly. This boy was just a vain proud peacock, who didn't yet learn to avoid jealousy by laying low. Bai Jiade certainly expected him to distance himself if Bai Jiade was discovered to have a low-grade aperture.

Bai Jiade forgave him, Wang Bei was just learning with the servants and had to be favored to feed his sickly sister.

Bai Jiade washed his face, brushed his teeth and waited for his servant to help him dress.

"You can leave, Bei Er. And thank you."

"That was my duty, Young Master."He bowed and exited. Bai Jiade looked at the mirror and went out too. Going down the marble stairs he greeted all the servants on his way, as that was a Chi Bai Jiade's habit. Then he greeted his father then his mother and finally his big brother.

"Good morning, father. Good morning, mother. Good morning, Elder Brother."

They all greeted back with the exception of Chi Huise, his older brother, who thought of him as a parasite leaching off his family's resources. Bai Jiade knew of that as he was very vocal about it when he was younger.

"Remember that heaven always leaves a way for you as long as you are wiling to travel it." Said Gu Yue Chi Zhong to both brothers. He was a good father if somewhat distant. And yes he was the Chi Zhong who would trade for the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass with Fang Yuan. Gu Yue Chi Fang's original name was Gu Yue Yao Fang.

And so they left. On the way they bumped into manu youths of similar age, all in groups of two or three, quite clearly heading towards the same destination. Then He appeared, walking casually.

Fang Yuan.

A lean teen with ordiniary looks with the sole exception of his abyss-like black eyes.

Bai Jiade hid his fascination towards Fang Yuan though he couldn't avoid listening to the youths talking.

"Look guys, those are the Fang brothers."

"The one walking in front is Fang Yuan, he's the Fang Yuan who created the poems," some of them emphasized.

"So that's him. His face is expressionless as if he had no regard for others, just like the rumors say." Someone said in a sour tone filled with jealousy and envy.

Hmph, if you were like him then you can also act like that!" Someone coldly replied against the person, hiding a sort of dissatisfaction.

Fang Zhen with his head low and looking like the Notredame's Hunchback quickly hid his emotions by wearing a expressionless mask, which didn't last long considering he was feeling his heart demon about Fang Yuan flare. Something that caused Fang Zhen's breathing to become erratic and dreary.

"Those that are whole need not a physician, but those who are sick do."

So Bai Jiade acted. And let his brother way behind.

"Are you alright, Brother Fang Zhen? You look pale."

"I'm... I'm alright." He said, surprised someone recognized him.

"Are you sure? Either way I will accompany you till the Ceremony."

"Thank You."

"Oh and by the way, I'm Bai Jiade." Bai Jiade said with a sunny smile.

And so Bai Jiade and the Fang Brothers walked. Bai Jiade kept making small talk with Fang Zhen till they reached the Jiade didn't even greet Fang Yuan. Something that touched Fang Zhen.

'So there exist someone who is interested in me and not in my brother.'

'It is a pity I transmigrated only now, if not it would be more easy to bury myself in Fang Zhen's heart.'Bai Jiade sighed.

The sun rises in the sky, the sun ray brilliant. The mountain fog is not very thick; the sharp rays easily pass through.

Over a hundred 15 year-old youths gathered in front of the clan pavilion. The clan pavilion was in the middle of the village, reaching 5 storeys and having sharp tilted roofs; it was heavily guarded. Before the pavilion was the square, and in the pavilion was the shrine of the Gu Yue ancestor memorial tablets. Every generation of clan head had lived in the pavilion. With every major ceremony or big incident, the clan elders would gather and discuss meetings here as well. This was the entire village's authority central.

"Good, all of you are punctual. Today is the Awakening Ceremony; it is your life's great turning point. I won't say much, just come with me." The one responsible at the moment was the elder of the academy. His beard and hair were white and he was in high spirits as he led the young teenagers into the pavilion. However they did not go up, but were led downstairs after going through the entrance of a great hall. Following down a constructed stone ladder, they went into an underground cave.

The group of youths made surprised and amazed noises. The underground cave was beautiful, stalactites sparkling with the colors of the rainbow. This light shone on the youth's faces, the neon hues gorgeous.

' Here comes the exposition: Fang Yuan was mixed into the crowd, quietly observing everything that was happening. In his heart, he thought; Hundreds of years ago, the Gu Yue clan came to Qing Mao Mountain and settled down after migrating from the central lands to the South Border. It was when they found a spirit spring in this underground cave. This spirit spring produces a large number of primeval stones – It could be said that this was the foundation of the Gu Yue village.'Bai Jiade forecasted Fang Yuan's thought process.

They walked several hundred steps. It got darker and the sounds of water were faintly heard. After turning around a corner, a 3 zhang – wide(1) underground river greeted them. By now the colorful lights of the stalactites had disappeared completely, yet in the darkness the river emitted faint blue light. It was like a star river of the night sky.

The river flowed from the dark depths of the cave. Inside the crystal clear waters, one could see fish, aquatic plants and even the sand beneath the river. Opposite the river was a sea of flowers.

This was the Gu Yue Clan's closely cultivated moon orchids. The beautiful blue and pink colored petals were like shaped like a crescent moon; the flower stems were like jade, the center of the flower shining like the sort of warm brilliance that radiates from pearls under the light. At first glance, in the dark background the flower sea looks like a huge piece of land covered in bluish green carpet dotted with countless pearls.

'The moon orchid is food for a lot of Gu. This flower sea could be said as the clan's biggest cultivation medium, Fang Yuan is probably thinking knowingly to himself.' Thought Bai Jiade

"Wow, so pretty!"

"It really is beautiful!"

The new sight opened the young teenagers' eyes. Each one of them had a light radiating from their gaze with excited and anxious feelings.

"Alright, listen as I call your names. Those who are called must walk through this river to the opposite bank. Walk as far as you can, of course the further you go the better it is. Are you all clear?" The elder said.

"All clear," the youths replied. Actually before they came here, they had all heard their family members or seniors talk about it. It is known that the further you can walk, the better your talent is. Your future will also become brighter.

"Gu Yue Chen Bo." The elder held the name list and called out the first person.

The river was wide but not deep – it covered up to a youth's kneecaps. Chen Bo's face was full of seriousness as he stepped into the flower sea ashore. As he did so, he could feel an invisible pressure as if there was a wall in front of him that he could not see, blocking him from walking forward. During this moment, the flowers at his feet suddenly gave off a weak white light. The light gathered around Chen Bo and entered his body. For a moment Chen Bo felt the pressure drop; the invisible wall blocking him suddenly felt softer. With this, Chen Bo gritted his teeth and mustered his strength, walking forward. He tried to force his way in stiffly, yet after three steps the wall in front of him hardened again back to the state before. Thus he could not walk any further.

As he watched this the elder sighed. While recording what happened, he said, "Gu Yue Chen Bo, 3 steps, no talent to become a Gu Master. Next, Gu Yue Zao Xie!"

Chen Bo was deathly pale as he walked pass the river back to the youths, clenching his teeth. Without the endowed talent he could live as a normal human, holding the lowest position in the clan.

His stature was shaky; it was a huge blow to him, as if reality had killed all his hopes. Many people threw him pitiful gazes, while even more had fixated stares at the second person crossing the river.

It was a pity that this youth could only walk four steps forward – he did not have talent either.

Not everyone has the natural talent to be a Gu Master. Generally speaking, it is not bad if five out of ten people have talent. In the Gu Clan, this ratio is higher, reaching six people. This is because the Gu Yue clan's ancestor – The first generation clan leader was a famous, legendary and powerful man. Due to cultivation reasons his bloodline carried powerful genes, thus the average quality of talent in the Gu Yue clan was generally higher as they carried his blood in their veins.

With two consecutive failures, the other elders observing the scene in the dark started making ugly expressions. Even the clan head was frowning slightly. The next moment, the academy elder called out the third name: Gu Yue Mo Bei.

"Here!" A horse-faced youth dressed in linen robes lightly called as he came forth. He was tall in build, looking much sturdier than his peers. There was a brave aura about him. He crossed the river in a few steps and reached the opposite bank. 10 steps, 20 steps, 30 steps; one after another small lights entered his body. He walked until he reached 36 steps before he could finally go no further.

The youths at the riverbank watched with wide opened eyes, shocked. The academy elder happily exclaimed, "Good, Gu Yue Mo Bei, B grade talent! Come here, let me see your Primeval sea."

Gu Yue Mo Bei walked back to the academy elder's side. The latter stretched out his hand and put it on the juvenile's shoulder, closing his eyes as he checked with focus. Then he retracted his hand and nodded, recording down on the paper: Gu Yue Mo Bei, primeval sea measuring six by six, can be vigorously trained.

This special talent can be measured by four grades – A grade to D grade. A D grade talent youth who is raised for 3 years would be able to become a rank one senior Gu Master, become the foundation of the family. A C grade talent youth after two years of cultivation will usually be able to become a rank two senior Gu Master, becoming the clan's backbone. A B grade talent must be cared for. Often becoming a future clan elder, with 6-7 years of training they will become rank three Gu Masters.

And when it comes to A grade, even if it was just one, would bring great luck to the entire clan. Great care must be given; with this talent in about 10 years they can become a rank four Gu Master. At that moment they would be able to compete for the position of the head of the clan!

In other words, as long as this Gu Yue Mo Bei grows up, eventually he will become one of the elders of the Gu Yue clan. That is why the academy elder laughed happily; the elders watching in the darkness also sighed in relief, then they all turned to look at one of the elders amongst them with jealousy.

This elder was also horse-faced, known as Gu Yue Mo Bei's grandfather, Gu Yue Mo Chen. His face was already smiling. He provokingly looked at his old nemesis and said, "What do you think? My grandson isn't bad huh, Gu Yue Chi Lian."

Gu Yue Chi Lian had a head full of red hair. He made an annoyed 'hmph', not replying to other. It was apparent that his face expression was really dark.

One hour later, half of the youths had already walked through the flower sea. There were quite a number of C and D grade talents among them, while half of those youths had no talent at all.

"Sigh, the bloodline is getting thinner. These few years the clan hasn't had any rank four masters to strengthen the bloodline. The fourth generation clan head was the only rank five master, but in the end he perished together with the Flower Wine monk and did not leave behind any descendants. The Gu Yue clan's later generation talents are getting weaker and weaker," the clan head said with a deep sigh.

At this moment, the academy elder shouted, "Gu Yue Chi Chen!"

On hearing this name all the elders looked at Gu Yue Chi Lian; this was Gu Yue Chi Lian's grandson.

Gu Yue Chi Lian had a small and short build with a face full of pockmarks. He was clenching his fist, his entire face sweating. It was evident that he was incredibly nervous.

As he walked onto the opposite bank, the little lights entered his body; after walking straight for 36 steps he stopped.

"Another B grade!" The academy elder yelled.

The youths started a commotion, sending Gu Yue Chi Chen envious stares.

"Hahaha, 36 steps, 36 steps!" Gu Yue Chi Lian shouted, proudly staring at Gu Yue Mo Bei. This time it was Gu Yue Mo Chen's turn to have a sour face.

"Gu Yue Chi Chen, huh…" In the midst of the crowd, Fang Yuan stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Bai Jiade played about guessing what Fang Yuan was thinking.

'In his memories, the clan heavily punished Gu Yue Chi Chen because he cheated during the Awakening Ceremony. In reality Chi Chen only had a C grade talent, but because his grandfather Gu Yue Chi Lian helped him fake the results, that's why he appeared to have B grade talent.

To be honest if he wanted to cheat, Fang Yuan had a countless number of ways to do so, some ways even more perfect than Gu Yue Chi Chen's method. If a B grade or A grade talent appeared, they would receive the clan's huge firstly, Fang Yuan had only just been reborn. It was hard to prepare the cheating method by this condition. Secondly, even if he managed to cheat, he would not be able to fake his cultivation speed. He would be exposed by then. However Gu Yue Chi Chen was different; his grandfather was Gu Yue Chi Lian – One of the two elders with the most authority within the clan. With this Chi Lian would be able to cover up for his grandson.'Foresaw Bai Jiade.

"Gu Yue Chi Lian was always hostile towards Gu Yue Mo Chen, these two elders are the clan's two biggest influential authorities. To suppress his opponent he would need his own grandson to have an outstanding talent. It is also because he was helping from behind, Gu Yue Chi Chen was able to conceal the truth for a time. In my memories, if it were not for that incident, the truth would never have been exposed."

Fang Yuan's eyes shone with light, his mind thinking up ways to use this knowledge to his advantage.

If he exposed the matter on the spot, he would receive a bit of reward from the clan, but then he would offend the highly powerful Gu Yue Chi Lian. This was not advisable.

Within such a short time he also could not blackmail them. Due to having low status, it would just backfire on him.

As he pondered, he suddenly heard the academy elder call out HIS name: "Gu Yue Fang Yuan!"

In that moment, the surroundings were quiet. All the eyes were on the 'Square –Round Man'(Fang Yuan meaning in chinese).

Fang Yuan laughted then under the gazes of the masses, he walked across the river and reached the opposite bank.

He could feel a layer of pressure on him. This pressure came from the spirit spring deep in the flower sea. The spirit spring produced primeval qi – because the qi was too rich in here, it caused the pressure.

But very quickly from the flowers below Fang Yuan's feet, little lights made their way up. These dots of light enveloped his entire body before finally entering him.

'The Fang Yuan thought: These are the Hope Gu, mused Fang Yuan. The person in charge did not tell them, but he knew it very clearly. Every spot of light is a Gu, known as the Hope Gu.' predicted Bai Jiade

One of the oldest legends talk about the Hope Gu. In the legend, when the world was just formed it was a land of savage wilderness. Among the wild beasts that walked the earth, the first man appeared. He was known as Ren Zu (1), eating raw meat and drinking blood, living a difficult life.

In particular was a group of wild beasts called Predicament. These wild beasts loved the taste of Ren Zu and longed to eat him.

Ren Zu did not have a body as strong as mountain rock, nor did he have the sharp teeth and claws of a wild beast. How could he fight with the Predicaments? His source of food was unstable and he had to hide all day. He was at the bottom of nature's food chain, and could barely survive.

At this moment, there were 3 Gu that came up to him and said, "As long as you use your life to provide us, we will help you through this difficulty." Ren Zu had nowhere to go, so he could only agree to these 3 Gu.

He first gave his youth away to the biggest Gu among the three. That Gu then granted him strength.

With strength, Ren Zu's life began to change. He started to have a stable source of food and was able to protect himself. He fought bravely and ruthlessly, defeating many Predicaments. But soon he suffered and finally realized that strength was not everything. It needed to heal and be cultivated, not spent freely at his will. Not to mention when facing the entire group of Predicaments, his strength alone was too small.

Ren Zu reflected over this lesson bitterly and decided to give his prime middle years to the most beautiful Guamong the three. And thus, the second Gu gave him wisdom.

With wisdom, Ren Zu was able to learn how to think and reflect. He began to accumulate experience and found out that many times when he used wisdom, it was more effective than using strength. By relying on wisdom and strength was he able to conquer all the goals that he formerly could not, and killed many Predicaments. He ate the meat of Predicaments and drank the blood of Predicaments, surviving with tenacity.

But good things do not last and Ren Zu was old, and would only grow older and older. This is because he gave away his youth and middle years to keep the strength and wisdom Gu. When a man is old, his muscles deteriorate and his brain slows down.

"Human, what else can you give us? You don't have anything else left to provide to us," the strength and wisdom Gu said as they realized this. They left him.

Without wisdom and strength, Ren Zu was once surrounded by Predicaments. He was old and could not run, his teeth had fallen out and could not even chew wild fruits and plants.

As he fell weakly onto the ground surrounded by Predicaments, his heart was filled with desperation. It was at this time the third Gu said to him, "Human, take me up. I will help you escape Predicament."

Ren Zu tearfully replied, "Gu, I don't have anything else left. See, the strength and wisdom Gu have abandoned me. I only have my old age left! While it is not as worth my youth and middle age, but if I give you my old age, my life would immediately end. Even though I am surrounded by Predicaments right now, but I will not die immediately. I wish to live a little longer, even if just a second more. So you should leave, I have nothing else to provide to you."

But the Gu said, "Among the three I have the smallest needs. Human, if you just give me your heart, it will be enough."

"Then I will give you my heart," Ren Zu said. "But Gu, what can you give me in return? In this situation, even if the strength and wisdom Gu returned to my side, it would change nothing."

When compared to the strength Gu, this Gu looked frail and was just a tiny ball of light. When compared to the wisdom Gu, this one was only able to give out a dim white light, not beautiful in any way.

But when Ren Zu gave it his heart, this Gu suddenly gave out endless light. In this light, the Predicaments screamed in horror: "This is the Hope Gu, withdraw! We Predicaments are most afraid of hope!"

The Predicaments retreated suddenly. Ren Zu was speechless, and from that day onwards whenever he faced predicament, he would give his heart to hope.

At this moment, the Hope Gu converged into a stream of light and had already entered Fang Yuan's body. Due to the outside pressure they quickly gathered into his abdomen and collected into a group spontaneously, 3 inches under his navel.

Fang Yuan suddenly felt the pressure lessen. He began to walk forward. With every step he took, one after another the Hope Gu would fly out from the sea of flowers and enter his body, joining the ball of light. The ball of light grew brighter and brighter, but the person in charge opposite the riverbank frowned.

"This number of Hope Gu is lesser than expected." Many elders watching Fang Yuan in the dark thought this as they saw the sight. The clan head frowned as well. This was definitely not the sign of an A grade talent!

Fang Yuan withstood the pressure, continuing to walk forward. "Below 10 steps it means that there is no cultivation talent. 10-20 steps means D grade talent. 20-30 steps would be C grade talent, 30-40 steps is a B grade talent. And 40-50 steps would mean A grade talent. Up till now, I have walked 23 steps."

24, 25, 26… 27.

Fang Yuan counted in his heart; when he walked the 27th step he could hear a bang and in between his two kidneys the ball of light reached its limit and suddenly exploded.

This burst of energy only happened inside his body; outsiders cannot see it. Only Fang Yuan alone could feel at that moment, an earthshaking reaction. Instantly the fine hairs on his body stood up, his pores shut tight, his mind stretched to a tense limit.

Soon after, his mind went blank, his entire body becoming soft as if he fell into some clouds. His heart relaxed, his fine hairs flattening and his pores re-opened again.

In a short while his entire body was perspiring.

This entire process felt long, but it actually happened in a short time. The feeling went away as fast as it came.

'Fang Yuan was blanked out for a short moment before he returned to his senses. He secretly focused his attention into his body and found that below his navel and in between his two kidneys, an aperture had formed out of thin air.' Recited Bai Jiade.

The Awakening Ceremony was a success!

This was the hope to immortality!

The aperture was mysterious and unusual. Although it was located inside Fang Yuan's body, it was at the same time, not sharing the same space with his internal organs. You could say that it was endlessly huge, yet at the same time infinitely small.

Some call it the Purple Prefecture; some call it the Chinese Pool. However many know it as the Primeval Sea Aperture. The entire body is spherical and the surface of it is covered in flowing white light, like a thin layer of light coating. It was the layer of light from the Hope Gu that previously exploded.

This thin membrane of light supported the aperture so it would not collapse, and inside the aperture was naturally, the Primeval Sea. The seawaters were smooth like a mirror, showing a greenish blue color, yet the water was dense and brought about a copper luster. Only Rank one Gu Masters can form this green coppery primeval essence, known as the green copper sea.

The height of the sea surface was not up to half of the aperture – it was only up to 44%. This was also the limitation of a C grade talent. Every drop of seawater was pure primeval essence, representing the condensation of Fang Yuan's essence, vitality and soul. It was also the accumulation of his life potential over the past 15 years.

This primeval essence is used by Gu Masters to raise Gu. This also means that from now onwards, Fang Yuan has formally entered the route of a Rank one Gu Master. Since the aperture had opened, no more Hope Guentered Fang Yuan's body.

Fang Yuan gathered himself and felt that the pressure before him was as thick as a wall; he could no longer walk another step forward. "Just like my previous life," he smiled indifferently at this result.

"You can't go any further?" The academy elder shouted across the river, holding onto a small thread of hope. Fang Yuan turned around and walked back, answering with his actions.

At this moment even the young teenagers started reacting. The crowd suddenly buzzed with chatter.

"What? Fang Yuan walked 27 steps?"
"So he was just a C grade talent?!"
"Unbelievable, only a C grade for such a genius like him?"

A great disturbance erupted from the crowd.

"Big brother…" Among them, Gu Yue Fang Zheng looked up, watching with shock as Fang Yuan returned across the river. He could not dare to believe it, his own brother was only a C grade?

He had always thought that his older brother would be an A grade talent. No, not just him, even his aunt and uncle and so many people among the clan thought the same too.

But now, the result was unexpectedly the opposite!

"Damn, he was only a C grade!" The Gu Yue clan head clenched both his fists, drawing a deep breath, disappointment in his voice.

The elders watching from the darkness had mixed reactions. Some were frowning, some lowering their head in discussion, some looking up with a sigh.

"Could the results be wrong?"
"How can that be? This method is accurate beyond reasoning, not to add that we were watching the entire time, even cheating is hard."
"But all his actions and intelligence previously, how do you explain those?"

"Youths with higher quality of primeval sea would indeed display characteristics that surpass the ordinary man. Such as intelligence, perception, memory, strength, agility and so on. On the other hand, these characteristics do not mean that the primeval talent is definitely high. Everything will still be determined by the results."

"Sigh, the bigger your hopes the bigger the disappointment. The Gu Yue clan's generation now is no longer like the first generation."

—

His socks were soaked with the icy cold waters from the river, the coldness piercing into his bones.

Fang Yuan walked with the same emotionless face, his distance getting closer and closer towards the crowd. He could clearly see the academy elder's heavy expression, and was aware of the stares thrown at him from over a hundred youths.

These glares were mixed with amazement, shock, sneering, and some taking pleasure at this unfortunate event, some indifferent.

It was the same situation, making Fang Yuan unwillingly remember his previous life.

During that time he felt as if the sky had fallen. When he crossed the cold river he lost his footing and fell, soaking his entire body in the water, feeling so lost. No one came forward to help him up.

Those disappointed, cold expressions and gazes were like sharp knives, piercing into his very own heart. His mind was in chaos, his chest searing with pain. It was as if he had fallen from the clouds, down to the ground. The higher you stand, the harder you fall.

But in this life, as the same scene replayed itself, Fang Yuan's heart was calm. He thought of the legend: When Predicaments come, give your heart to Hope.

And today that hope is inside of him. Even though it was not big, but it was better than those people who had totally no primeval talent.

If others feel disappointed, then let them be disappointed. What else can they do?

What does other people's disappointments have to do with me? The most important thing is to carry hope inside my heart!

500 years of living had led him to understand that the interesting things that happen in a person's life, happens during the process when one chases after his own dreams. There is no need to ask others around you to not be disappointed or make them like it.

Walk on your own path, let others be disappointed and unhappy however they please!

"Sigh…" The academy elder let out a deep breath and shouted, "Next, Gu Yue Fang Zheng!"

But no answer came.

"Gu Yue Fang Zheng!" The elder yelled again, the sound of his voice reverberating inside the cave.

"Ah? I'm here, I'm here!" Fang Zheng snapped out of his shock and ran out hurriedly. Unfortunately he tripped over his own foot and fell, hitting his head with a groan and tumbled into the river.

Instantly the entire cave was filled with huge laughter.

"The Fang brothers, nothing special." The Gu Yue clan head scoffed, feeling a sort of annoyed boredom towards Fang Zheng.

"This is such a huge embarrassment!" Fang Zheng struggled and splashed in the water. The bottom of the river was just too slippery; he couldn't get up properly. Trying his best only made him look more stupid and clumsy. His heart increasingly flustered as the sounds of laughter filled his ears.

But right at this moment, he suddenly felt a strong pull lifting him up. His head finally left the water surface and his body found balance again.

He wiped his face in a panic and focused his sight. It was actually his older brother Fang Yuan who had grasped his collar and pulled him up.

"Big brother…" He opened his mouth to say. But instead he started choking on water, ending up triggering a violent cough.

"Haha, the difficult older and younger brother of the Fang family!" Someone laughed at the riverbank. The laugher grew louder, yet the academy elder did not come out and stop it. He was deeply frowning, disappointment filling his heart.

Fang Zheng was completely at a loss on what to do, and then he heard his brother say to him, "Go on. The road to the future will be interesting."

Fang Zheng could not help but open his mouth in surprise. Fang Yuan's back was facing the crowd so they could not see properly, but Fang Zheng could clearly feel the calmness radiating from Fang Yuan. As his older brother spoke the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, revealing a deep and thoughtful smile.

It was obviously only a C grade talent, yet how can big brother be so calm? Fang Zhen could not help but wonder, his heart full of doubt. Yet Fang Yuan did not say any more. He patted Fang Zheng on the back, and turned and walked away.

Fang Zheng wore a stupefied expression as he walked towards the flower sea. "I never thought big brother would actually be so calm. If it was me, I'd…"

He lowered his head, walking forward absent-mindedly. Yet he did not know that he was playing out a miraculous scene. When he finally snapped out of his reverie, he was already deep in the sea of flowers, standing in a distance that no one else had reached before him.

43 steps!

"Oh my god, A grade talent!" The academy elder screamed, seeming to have lost his mind.
"A grade, really an A grade!?"
"It's been 3 years, an A grade talented genius has finally appeared in the Gu Yue clan!"

The clan elders that were watching in the darkness were also screaming out at the same time, losing their composures.

"Well, the Fang bloodline originated from us Chi bloodline. So we Chi family will adopt in this Gue Yue Fang Zheng," Gue Yue Chi Lian immediately announced.

"How is that possible? You old bag Chi Lian, your morals and abilities are out of order, but you're definitely good at misleading young boys. It's better to pass this kid to I, Gu Yue Mo Chen to raise!" Gu Yue Mo Chen roared back instantly.

"Stop arguing. No one is more qualified to raise this child than the current clan leader. Whoever has any objections is to go against me, Gu Yue Bo!" The Gu Yue clan head had gone crazy and swept his fiery red gaze over the disappointed and discouraged looks.

The academy elder asked for next person to present himself:"Next, Gu Yue Bai Jiade."

Bai Jiade laughted and smiled with a sunny complexion. Going foward he transversed the river until he reached 39 steps. His sunny disposition expressed itself further, his white smile blinding the viewers, his white robes and damp pants only served to show even more how spontaneous and pure this teenager was.

'Looks like you won't be able to suppress me, brother. Hopefully I'm the last one with a B grade aperture.'Thought Bai Jiade

"Another grade B! How can it be?"

"Let me examine your aperture, Gu Yue Bai Jiade."

"Yes, Lord Academy Elder." Bai Jiade obediently heeded his call.

Elder Gu Yue Mo Chen glanced with eyes filled with hatred towards Gu Yue Chi Lian and with caution towards Gu Yue Yao Ji. As he was the son of the aliance between those two.

"Next, Gu Yue Chi Huise."

Gu Yue Chi Huise managed to walk only 27 steps.

'How sad, brother.'Bai Jiade sneered secretly. And then went on to help his brother to his feet.

"Remember what father said about heavens and the path it lets you thread."Jiade consoles him. Only to witness eyes filled with killing intent pointing towards you from your 'brother'.

2

Soon a week passed. In this week, Bai Jiade with his extraordinary charisma and cunning rose to become the class's favorite student and Fang Zhen best friend. The exact moment the Awakening Ceremony was over he invited Fang Zhen over to his house to play some card games, talk and have lunch together. Over the week he befriended the Clan Leader faction lads and the Chi faction teens, though Chi Lian's grandson didn't like him much initially Bai Jiade was easily able to worm himself into the faction through carefully crafted and timed jokes many times at the expense of Fang Yuan. He only avoided the Mo faction as that would be break the implicit rules that each faction abided. He was part of the Chi and Medicine Faction, which gave him more flexibility as he was between three factions: The Clan Leader, as the Medicinal faction provided help to all; Chi faction, as his father was from such faction; and The Medicinal Faction itself, as his mother was from it.

"Humans are above all creatures, Gu are the essence of heaven and earth. In this world there are thousands of species, countless number of Gu. They live everywhere around us – In the soil, in the bushes, even on the bodies of wild beasts."

"As humans continue to propagate and grow, the scholars of the past gradually uncovered the mysteries of the Gu. Those who have opened the aperture, using their own primeval essence to feed, refine and manipulate these Gu – people who have achieved these various purposes are what we call Gu Masters."

"And all of you have successfully opened your aperture in the Awakening Ceremony 7 days ago. With the coagulation of the primeval sea, right now you are all Rank one Gu Masters."

In the village academy, the academy elder talked with confidence and composure. In front of him were 57 students, seated and listening attentively to the Demand For Purity and the implicit Milieu Control.

According to Bai Jiade's memories the clan since birth demands the young to go to the junior school to indoctrinate the yonglings properly, all using the standard tactics such as the previouly mentioned Demand For Purity, Sacred Science, Loading The Language and many more. Just as Lifton analyzed. Miscavige, Manson and Koresh would all be proud.

The mystery and strength of a Gu Master had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the youths a long time ago. Thus everything that the elder taught and said, the students were very interested in.

At this moment a young teen raised his hand. With the elder's permission he stood up and asked, "Elder sir, I've known this since I was small. There are Rank one Gu Masters, Rank two and so on, can you explain in more detail to us?"

The Gu Yue teacher nodded and waved his hand to ask the young man to sit down. "Gu Masters have 9 ranks, from bottom to the top – Rank one, Rank two, Rank three all the way up to Rank nine. Every rank is considered a big realm, and it is divided into 4 small realms – initial stage, middle stage, upper stage and peak stage. You have all just become Gu Masters, so all of you are Rank one initial stage."

"If you all work hard in your cultivation, your cultivation base will naturally advance to rank two, even rank three. Of course, the higher your talent the bigger your chance of promoting."

"For D grade talent, the primeval sea takes up about 2-3 layers of the aperture, the highest promotion reachable is Rank one to Rank two. For C grade talent, the primeval sea is 4-5 layers of the aperture. Usually the progress stops at Rank two, but with luck a small percentage of people can advance to Rank 3 initial stage. B grade talents have a primeval sea that takes up 6-7 layers of the aperture, they are able to cultivate to Rank 3, even as far as Rank 4. As for A grade talent, the primeval sea is plenty; it takes up 8-9 layers of the aperture. This kind of talent in a person is naturally the most gifted and the most suitable for a Gu Master's cultivation, being able to reach Rank 5."

"As for Gu Masters who are Rank 6 and above, they are all legends. I am not clear about the specifics either. In the Gu Yue clan, there has never been the appearance of a Rank 6 Gu Master, but Rank 4 and Rank 5 Gu Masters we have had before."

The teenagers' ears all pricked up, their eyes shining brightly as they listened.

Many of them couldn't help but look at Gu Yue Fang Zheng who was sitting rigidly at the first row. He was an A grade talent after all. Their eyes were filled with feelings of envy and jealousy and even more so to the one sitting on his side, Bai Jiade. At the same time there were some who stared at the corner at the last row of the classroom.

Leaning against the window at the corner was Gu Yue Fang Yuan, who was bent over the desk sleeping soundly.

"Look, he's still sleeping," someone whispered.
"He's been sleeping continuously for a week, yet he's still not awake?" Someone cut in.
"There's more. I heard that he was up all night, wandering about at the edge of the village."
"There's been people who've seen it more than once, apparently he holds a wine-jar at night, dead drunk outside. Luckily these few years the village surroundings have been cleared clean, so it's safer." The fellow schoolmates whisper here and there, letting all kinds of small gossip spreading around quickly.

Bai Jiade didn't interfere as gaining Fang Yuan's friendship is impossible. He, much like Jiade was incapable of having friends and family.

"Ah well, the blow was just too big. Someone hailed as a genius for so many years unexpectedly ending up to be a C-grade talent in the end, hehe."

"If only it was just the case. Of all the people his own little brother was pronounced an A grade, right now being the center of attention, enjoying the best treatment. The younger brother soars up to the sky, while the older brother falls to the ground, tut tut…"

As the discussion amongst the students got louder and louder, the academy elder's brow deepened into a frown. In the whole classroom all the teenagers were sitting respectfully, showing liveliness. This made Fang Yuan who was sleeping on his table stand out so much that it hurt the eyes.

"It's already been a week, yet he's still so dispirited. Hmph, initially I must have been mistaken by him, how could someone like this be a genius!" The elder thought disgruntledly. He had spoken many times to Fang Yuan regarding this matter, but to no effect – Fang Yuan still did whatever he liked. He would sleep through every class, making the elder in charge of teaching have a very frustrated headache.

"Forget it, he's just a C grade. If he can't even withstand this sort of blow, fostering him with that kind of temperament will just end up wasting the clan's resources, nothing good will come out of it." The elder's heart was filled with disappointment towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was just a C grade, compared to his younger brother Fang Zheng who was an A grade talent, now this was someone worth the clan spending an amount of effort on raising!

While the academy elder thought about all this, he was also replying to the latest question. "In the clan history, there has been many strong masters. For Rank five masters there were two. One of them is the first generation clan head, our ancestor. He was the one who established Gu Yue Village. Another one was the fourth clan head. He had remarkable talent, and managed to cultivate all the way to the realm of a Rank five Gu Master. If it wasn't for that despicable shameless demon Flower Wine Monk's sneak attack, he might have been able to achieve Rank six, but who knows…"

As he said this he heaved a deep sigh. Below the platform, the youths starting shouting in a rage, that was carefully rinsed and channeled ever since their could walk.

"It's all because of that Flower Wine Monk, he was too sinister and cunning!"
"What a pity that our fourth clan leader was softhearted and benevolent, and died at a young age."
"If only I was born a few hundred years earlier! If I saw that demon I would have torn off his ugly face."

The fourth clan head and the Flower Wine Monk's story is something that the entire Gu Yue clan knows.

The Flower Wine Monk was also a Rank five Gu Master, famous among the Demon faction in his time for his many years as a big flower thief. A few hundred years ago he travelled to Qing Mao Mountain. He attempted to commit crimes in Gu Yue Village, but was found out by the fourth generation clan leader in the end. After a earthshakingly huge battle, the Flower Wine monk was beaten to the point he had to beg for mercy on his knees. The fourth clan head was merciful and kind, intending to spare his life. Yet the Flower Wink Monk suddenly launched a sneak attack, successfully inflicting heavy wounds on the fourth clan head. The clan head flew into a rage, killing the Flower Wine Monk on the spot. However his heavy injuries were not curable and thus, he died.

Therefore in the hearts of the Gu Yue clansmen, the fourth generation clan head was a great hero who sacrificed his life for the village.

"Flower Wine Monk huh…" Awoken by the classroom's noisy chatter, Fang Yuan opened his sleepy eyes.

He stretched his body, something which attracted Bai Jiade's attention.

Sure he could try to usurp Fang Yuan's advantages but that would involve: First-being a apparent drunkard, something which would damage his reputation and make more difficult his plan of inheriting his father's wealth. Second- Bai Jiade would be on Fang Yuan's suspicious list and mayhaps his black list. And as someone with no combat experience, Bai Jiade knew he would lose. As such he chose to avoid directly confronting Fang Yuan.

If there was one thing Fang Yuan was absolutely right was that reputation was a chain, something Bai Jiade was deeply aware from his previous life struggle to find the right angle to present himself or any argument.

Fang Yuan was already looking for the Flower Wine Monk inheritance, which would mean he would win the refinement competition of the first chosen Gu.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, verdant mountains stretched into the distance. In the vicinity was a bamboo grove. This was Qing Mao Mountain's unique spear bamboo, each bamboo stick as straight as a line, the ends of the bamboo exceptionally sharp like the tip of a spear.

Not too far away, the woods were already turning green. The tender shoots sprouted in a sea of yellow green color. Every now and then, beautiful and colorful sparrows would perch on the branches. The wind of spring blew, wrapping up the freshness of the mountains and rivers, and dispersing it into the world.

Without knowing it, the class was almost over. The academy elder finally informed, "This week I have taught you all how to contemplate and check your own aperture's primeval sea, and how to meditate and shift around the primeval essence inside your body. Now is the time for you all to refine your vital Gu. After this class ends, you will all go to the academy's Gu room and pick a Gu worm. After choosing your Gu, please go home and focus on refining it. When you have finally refined your Gu, then you can come back to the academy and continue attending class. At the same time, this is your first assessment. Whoever can finish this assessment first will be rewarded a generous sum of 20 primeval stones."

Beside the academy was a Gu room. The Gu room was not big; it was only 60 meters² in size.

In a Gu Master's road to cultivation, a Gu is the key to strength.

At the end of class, the excited teenagers rushed towards the Gu room.

"Form a line, enter one by one," some voices suddenly yelled; it was natural that there were guards outside the Gu room. The youths went in one at a time and came came Fang Yuan's time, and then Bai Jiade's.

Entering the room, he thought:

'They are all rank One Gu so I should take the Moonlight Gu as Fang Yuan himself took it, as he considered it safer than the others.' And as such he went out with a Moonlight Gu in his pocket.

Going out he saw Fang Zhen waiting for him at the Zhen's white robes giving him a beautiful disposition.

"Want to go to my house, Brother Fang Zhen?"

"Maybe next time, Brother Bai. I have to refine this Gu quickly to gain the promised primeval stones." He showed me a Moonlight Gu, which prompted Bai Jiade to induce Fang Zhen to think they were very similar and then showed him his own Moonlight Gu. You both went together some part of the way then separated gracefuly.

Arriviving home you see that your brother was already there as he didn't wait for you at the gate. You greet him and all of the servants, who are way more cordial now. Including the eyecandy the female servants give you with their seductive eyes and even more seductive clothing.

Either way, you go upstairs and find Wang Bei waiting for you with water for a bath ready. He warmly greets you and offers to massage your shoulders, something you deny. You take a bath and then meditate as a preparation to refine the Moonlight Gu properly. Then you go downstairs, talk to your mother and ask for some primeval stones. Something she immediately gives.

"Thank you, mom."Bai Jiade hugs Chi Fang, which prompts her to pat his head.

"Remember to always give your all to any task given, son. As much as I want to pamper you, I won't be here for long so you have to learn how to live by yourself."She said with sad reminiscing eyes and a trembling voice. Gu Yue Chi Fang had a arranged marriage, which was soul-crushingly awful the first few years. She only started to enjoy it with the birth of her sons, something that also caused the couple Chi Fang and Chi Zhong to slowly let have a more peaceful living but love never sprouted.

"You will live for many years, mother. Though I agree I won't have you always there to take care of me, so I should develop some self-reliance." You say that, bid goodbye to your mother and go upstairs again.

'Ah, it is so good being the favorite.' Peter was the third of the family and the least cared for. He really didn't know how it was to be truly cared for.

So he meditated and spent the whole day refining it and was able to refine about 1/5 of the routine repeated itself: Go to school to get indoctrinated further, then learn some trivia about the Gu World, go home and meditate.

As such after 6 days he went to school and saw that Fang Yuan won the prize as expected, which meant that he had the Liquor Worm and found the inheritance already. You had refined around 75% of the Gu that could be considered impressive as for that an iron will was necessary.

Bai Jiade knows he must establish his own forces, and which way is better to start than by having resources to reward your subordinates and make them dependant on you. So he took his primeval stones and went to a gambling house, not a rock gambling house but a standard gambling house.

Entering he was greeted with the sight of a bunch of men and whores all around the place, all giving a musky and druken smell. Passing through them carefully to avoid a pickpocket you go to the first free table Bai Jiade sees that is across the fireplace and then immediately he sees many people going for it thinking you are easy prey.'All thanks to letting my Gu Master band at home.' And preparing a substance that reacts only to heat and can be detected only by smell. Having spinkled the substance on his hand before walking to this dubious establishment. A substance that reacts only to the cheap coarse cardboard of the cards.

Did you say you were a production engineer in the best university of your country, in said university you had 3 years of advanced Maths, Chemistry and Physics and then, and only then, could you chose your major. Peter Pazckowski had 4 degrees which included Math, Physics and Production Engineering. He also had an incomplete seminar at the Catholic Church.

Bai Jiade let the employee shuffle the cards and the fun start.

Well going back to what he was pondering ever since he came to this world:

'How the fuck am I going to survive Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing?

3

Following yours truly absurd winning streak Bai Jiade was immediately banned from all gambling houses within the Gu Yue Village, then was almost beaten to death, gained an aburd amount of fame and infamy and finally gained an good amount of a 1200 primeval stone fragments. Something which would show my capacity of self-reliance to my mom even if it would piss off Chi Zhong and net me around 5 months of competition with Fang Yuan.

As for how I would compete that is a secret, for now.

The starry sky was completely filled with stars, The pale crescent moon was reflected on the steams inland and the fragrance of the flower petals and grass mixed within the fog. Arriving home at midnight, Bai Jiade sees his mother and father with a thunderous look on their faces. Something Bai Jiade intends to remedy immediately. Trespassing the door, Bai Jiade is greeted by a hysterical shriek.

"What were you doing till this hour at night? At some bar or whorehouse? You ungrateful cur!"screamed Chi Fang after smelling his musky and drunken odor. Her expression couldn't conceal her profound disappointment.

Bai Jiade point towards your 3 three filled giant bags too lazy to argue and knowing that won't lead him anywhere against a woman's irrationality. Believe it Peter had one too many fights with his wife because of a perceived slight, either against her femininity or against her family. As Bai Jiade was about to open his bag to show the product of a day's work, Chi Zhong interrupted.

"Quiet, Chi Fang. Explain yourself, Gu Yue Chi Bai Jiade."He demanded with a tone that brooked no excuses.

In Bai Jiade's previous life he constantly pondered about how to properly introduce a topic and how to use the perfect angle for each situation which made him realise:

Results come first. So he immediately finishes his movement of opening his bags, one by one Bai Jiade lets the primeval stones fall to the ground, while maintaining eye contact with Chi Zhong, something that seemed to earn his grudging respect and confusion. Chi Zhong was surprised he only experienced this degree of pressure when engaging with his elder comrades.

'The boy has talent.'Thought him in a pleased mood.

"I got those by scamming the most dirty and repulsive establishment in the Village. You should all thank me that I made them a bit poorer."Bai Jiade said without actually revealing his anything about how he did the look on his face made Chi Zhong understand he wouln't truthfully answer either.

"Jiade Er, you need to understand your actions directly damage our reputation. You need to return this money."Said his mother with some of the luster back in her eyes at her son's capabilities.

"Why would he? Keep them that might have been the best action one could take to gain some funds while avoiding alertness from ones , boy, did you know that some elder is the owner of these 'dirty and repulsive establishments'?"

"How about this? I will return a third. Wouldn't this be a great business opportunity for him. A inexperienced lad was able to gain a fortune by having some fun. Wouldn't that be a great temptation to the younger generation? Even more so when this inexperienced lad is a classmate of theirs."

"Do you think he would even talk to someone who cheated him?Fo-"

"If he doesn't simply say I have more than 30 methods to get his establishment bare of any valuables and it just might spread."Bai Jiade interrupted him.

The boy really had potential. Carrot and Stick. The truth is ever since Bai Jiade was diagnosed with a B-grade aperture his father had been considering nurturing , he was even more assured of that decision. Chi Zhong finally realized he had no choice, either he could gain some benefits by allying with the gambling den's elder or by preying on his corpse. The Gambling Elder could only operate in the moral grey areas. For example are they really whores if the client assures the investigator they knew each other previously?Or is it gambling if the house didn't officially endorse such activity, only planting individual to encorauge gambling into the midst of the crowd?

"Go to sleep, Jiade Er. You are grounded."

Bai Jiade obediently went upstairs, though not before hugging his upstairs he meditated and quickly slept. The next morning, Jia Er was awaken by Wang Bei and proceed to wash his face and brush his teeth. He then for the first time hugged his personal servant, something that caused great shock to the teen servant.

Going downstairs, you see a contemplative and somewhat sad Bai Huise, together with mother and the other Bai Jiade quickly breaks his fast, he talks to his mom to the servants and to his 'brother', making witty comebacks and piercing remarks. He manages to impress those at the table and then proceds to go with his brother to the academy.

The sky was blue and clear, looking pure as if it had been washed sun was shining gold.

Puffs of white clouds floated away, and a group of colourful peacock parrots chirped as they flew beneath the blue sky, forming an arrow formation under the clouds as they soared.

This variant of colourful parrots would only appear in large groups during springtime. Their bodies were littered with feathers the colour of the rainbow, their bodies the size of an eagle. The birds had parrot beaks, while their tails were that of a peacock's flowing long tail.

It had been ten days since the day Fang Yuan managed to acquire number one in the test to refine the vital Gu. The spring breeze blew over the whole mountain's green grass, while the wild flowers bloomed eagerly, and the bees and butterflies danced around together. Life was surging all around; it was the wonderful beauty of spring.

The breath of spring was so strong that the tall bamboo walls surrounding the training grounds could not hold it back.

This training field occupied 3 Mu(1). The ground was flat, paved with a layer of thick and wide grey graphite. Its four sides were planted with green spear bamboo; these green poles were placed closely together side by side, straight and tall, forming a circle of green high walls.

While below the wall corners were stone as well, clumps of green grass emerged from many areas. In between the bamboo were also some wild roses, poking in from the outside, a few even climbing the wall.

Fifty-seven young teens at the age of fifteen were standing in the midst of the training field right now, formed in a semi-circle around the academy elder who was in the center, putting their focus on him.

This was a lesson to teach the students on how to use the Moonlight Gu.

"The Moonlight Gu is our Gu Yue clan's symbolic Gu, just like the Xiong(2) House's Bear Strength Gu, and the Bai(3) House's Stream Gu. The majority of you on the field have chosen the Moonlight Gu as your vital Gu, so you must all watch properly. Soon I will demonstrate personally how to use the Moonlight Gu to attack. Students whose vital Gu is not the Moonlight Gu must also concentrate on me, as this classical long-distance attacking method can also be used on other Gu; the spectrum of methods one can use is very wide."

As he spoke, the academy elder stretched out his right hand, his five fingers opening wide. He lowered his palm so that the young teens could see the center of it.

"Firstly, you use your mind to mobilize the Moonlight Gu, moving it to the center of your palm." Following his voice, the crescent mark that represented the Moonlight Gu moved down the elder's arm and into his palm.

"Then, you mobilize the primeval essence in your aperture, pouring it into the Moonlight Gu." A thread of white silver coloured primeval essence gushed out from the elder's body, so fine it was almost impossible to see. It entered the Moonlight Gu in his palm.

The academy elder was of a Rank three realm, and only Rank three Gu Masters could produce white silver coloured primeval essence. Rank one Gu Master's primeval essence was commonly known as green copper primeval essence, while Rank two Gu Masters had theirs called red iron primeval essence. When they reached Rank three, it becomes white silver primeval essence.

Once it absorbed the thread of white silver primeval essence, the crescent-shaped mark in the elder's hand instantly glowed brighter and brighter. Although it was daytime, it still issued a brilliant pale-blue light.

"That's awesome!"
"How beautiful." The youngsters could not help but let out praises of surprise and amazement when they saw it.

The pale blue light was clear like water. It flickered faintly in the elder's palm. At first glance it would seem as if the academy elder's hand was scooping a handful of moonlight. The academy elder smiled a little. "Now watch carefully, the last step is just like how I will do it, launching it out."

As he said this, his widely opened five fingers slowly closed together, then he lifted his arm up and slowly moved it forward, his arm straight. Finally he waved his palm lightly in a cutting motion.

The entire movement was steady and powerful.

Swoosh.

The young students could hear a light brushing sound beside their ear.

Following the academy elder's movement, the condensed water-like pale blue light in his palm was thrown out like that.

The light transformed into a small moonblade in the air, the faint blue moonblade only the size of a wide-open hand, the shape just like the crescent moon in the night sky. It drew a straight line in the air before it hit a grass puppet ten meters away.

A tearing sound was heard, and the grass puppet's neck that was about thirty centimeters thick was cut clean by the moonblade. The puppet's body swayed about, the huge head suddenly falling onto the floor.

After cutting the grass puppet into half, the moonblade immediately appeared dimmer. However it continued flying about another six meters in the air before the crescent began to gradually fade away, finally dissipating in the air.

Looking at the grass puppet's neck again, one could see that the cut area was extremely flat, as if it was cut away by the sharpest sickle.

The youngsters were all shocked as they saw this, their eyes wide-open. A few of them even touched their own necks involuntarily, astonished by the attacking power of the moonblade.

After a short silence, the sounds of exclamation began. The teenagers had shining eyes as they stared at the grass puppet, some of them staring at the elder's palm. A few of them were looking at their peers, talking and whispering excitedly.

One thing was obvious: The elder deliberately presented the magical, most interesting classes to build his charisma and make the students like and respect him

Only Fang Yuan stood hidden in the crowd with a cold expression, his stature calm.

"All those of you who have refined the Moonlight Gu, step out. Each one of you shall take a grass puppet and follow the way I just did it, throwing out the moonblade, practice attacking."

Once the elder finished speaking the students rushed to try their hands at this new mystical skill.

In this batch the entire clan had a hundred young teens joining the Awakening Ceremony. Those who had cultivating talent were around fifty-seven. Among these students, those who had chosen the Moonlight Gunumbered around thirty-five. After going through these few days of hard work, they had all refined the Moonlight Gu. Those that were left were all D grade talents. It was not because they did not desire to refine the Moonlight Gu, but it was due to the inability of their talent, so they could only withdraw after learning of the difficulty.

To the youngsters of the Gu Yue clan, the Moonlight Gu was not a simple Gu worm, but the symbol of the clan's glory.

Very quickly thirty-five of them stood in a row. Each of them faced forward, standing ten meters away from a grass puppet on the opposite.

Fang Yuan stood in the middle of the row, but he did not garner any attention. The practice began. As for Bai Jiade he was conversing with Fang Zheng and the clan leader faction.

The students all stretched out their right hands, letting the Moonlight Gu move to the heart of their palm. One by one the blue crescent mark started to give out water blue light as green copper primeval essence was poured in.

But when they drew a vertical cut with their palm, only seven or eight crescents flew out. Among these crescents, some of them only appeared for a short moment before dissipating away. Some flew out for two to three meters before disintegrating into blue light with a bang. Some flew further, but the direction was severely off-course, flying straight up to the sky.

The young teens all frowned. When they saw the elder's demonstration earlier it seemed quite easy. But when they started practicing themselves, they realised the skill required in this action. To throw out a moonblade and to have it hit on the grass puppet, it really was not that simple.

The elder had a faint smile as he watched. He saw this scene every year, and was not surprised. The remaining twenty-two students could only stand outside the field, watching jealously.

After practicing for five minutes, the youngsters were gradually able to produce moonblades. For a time in the training ground, pale-blue coloured moonblades flew about everywhere.

A few moonblades would fade halfway, a few unluckily crashing into another. Some flew out of the training field, twisting around. Those that were able to hit on the grass puppets were just a small few. Of course these were all due to sheer luck.

The academy elder started to tutor and guide each one personally.

He focused greatly on Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng and those others with good latent talent, which included Bai Jiade. He patiently corrected their postures, teaching them his experience. Towards those C grade talent students like Fang Yuan, he only mentioned two sentences.

Bai Jiade, who was a copycat, chose to copy both the Academy Elder and Fang Yuan. He first condensed the blue light then repeatedly waved his palm until he saw Fang Yuan throw his. Jiade's first moonblade only flew about 1 meter but it glided repeated the movement until, at the 3rd time he succeed at sending a perfect moonblade, which prompted the elder to praise him.

With a whoosh, a moonblade flew out quickly, passing through the center of chaos, drawing a straight line in the air and cutting accurately into the neck area of a grass puppet.

The grass puppet wavered for a moment, the neck area cut deeply by the moonblade. But very quickly, the green grassy area that was cut began to regrow, tangling together and healing away the wound.

"Very well, keep on training."The academy elder curtly said to Bai Jiade, who to seem like a obedient student and to actually trains kept on throwing near perfect moonblades

'A battle talent with a B-grade talent, he might be a good rook for either the Clan Leader's factions or the Chi faction or the Medicinal faction. Now, I just have to rinse the spirit to sacrifice for the clan on the boy and then the clan would benefit.'Thought the academy elder.

This simple act of praising Bai Jiade provoked the competitive spirit of the whole class. Trying to capitalize on this he then offered to teach this to Fang Zhen and then Chi Cheng and then finally to the rest of the students with the exception of the Mo faction. It apparently worked. The friendship could be seen on Fang Zhen's eyes and the respect on Chi Chen's pupils, with the much decreased respect on the rest's eyes.

The elder took the opportunity and announced, "Listen up everyone, this will be your homework. Practice well after class, in three days I will check the results. Whoever performs the best will receive ten pieces of primeval stones as the prize. Understand?"

However only three minutes later, the moonblades that flew about in the air started to thin gradually.

"Damn, every single moonblade takes up 10% of primeval essence."
"The consumption of the moonblade is just too much, I am just a C grade talent, my aperture can only hold 38% of green copper primeval essence. I can only throw out three moonblades."

Those that stopped all sighed.

The sun had already set

The sunset glow was still burning in the sky. The mountains far away in the distance were covered in a thick layer of grey ash, gradually turning to black.

In the academy, a day's class was over. The students walked out from the academy in groups of twos and threes.

"I'm really happy today, I learnt quite a few things. Especially how I got to learn how to use the Moonlight Gu."

"The way the moonblade flies in the air looks so cool. It's too bad that my talent isn't enough, so in the future I can only be a logistics Gu Master, I won't be able to go onto the battlefield." The young teenagers happily chatted away.

A few of them called their friends over.

"Let's go and eat, we can drink some rice wine while we're at it, what do you think?"
"Sure, that's not a bad suggestion."
"You guys go on first, I need to go to the store beside the academy's Gu room and buy a grass puppet. It will be easy to practice at home with it."

Bai Jiade went after Fang Yuan to observe the changes he made in the timeline and to buy some material for Gu fusion.

In the store there were seven students, each of them negotiating over the counter with the store owner for buying grass puppets.

"It's you, junior." The Rank one Gu Master responsible for the store was in his twenties. When he saw Fang Yuan, he automatically greeted him while bargaining with his customers.

Fang Yuan was taken by surprise, finding out that this Gu Master was Jiang Ya. It was the young Gu Master that had taught the hunters a lesson in the inn.

"Ah, it's you senior." Fang Yuan nodded his head, his face expressionless.

Jiang Ya took out a grass puppet from the counter behind him, passing it to the student who purchased it. At the same time he threw Fang Yuan a friendly smile and asked, "Did junior brother come here to buy a grass puppet as well? If you want me to leave one for you, you just need three pieces of primeval stones. These things sell like hotcakes, right now there's only seven left, if you wait any longer there won't be any stock left."

Jiang Ya's attitude towards mortals was arrogant, but towards people like Fang Yuan, he was very kind and sincere.

Fang Yuan shook his head.

this Jiang Ya really did know how to do business. The grass puppets were made with the Scarecrow Gu. Even after including the primeval essence that was put in, the final cost should not be more than one and a half primeval stones.

"Senior, this isn't fair. It should be first come first serve, why leave any for him?"
"Yeah, we all came early. If you want to do business you should know the rules."
"Three pieces will be three pieces, here's the primeval stones, give me a grass puppet."

The youngsters in the store were all worried when they heard that the store only had seven puppets left. They stopped trying to negotiate, and took out their stones to buy it.

Very quickly, seven satisfied teenagers walked out.

"Does my junior want to buy a grass puppet?" Jiang Ya laughed as he asked, "It seems like they were sold out, but actually there's still the eighth puppet stowed away below the chest. If junior doesn't buy it now, you will miss the opportunity."

Fang Yuan had no interest towards the grass puppet. He shook his head and pulled out a piece of primeval stone, putting it on the counter. "I want to buy ten moon orchid petals."

Jiang Ya was stunned. He looked Fang Yuan deep in the eye, taking away the primeval stone and pulling open the counter drawer. Then he took out a paper bag, saying, "Ten pieces of moon orchid flower petals, not one less. Please make sure."

Fang Yuan checked the goods on the spot and found no mistake with it. Finally he left the small shop.

Gu have to be fed.

A Gu Master refines Gu, uses Gu, and at the same time needs to raise Gu.

Refining a Gu is difficult; there is the risk of counterattack. Using a Gu is not easy; one needs a lot of practice. The knowledge of raising a Gu is even more extensive and profound, because there are all kinds of Gu worms and their food are exceedingly strange. Some need to swallow soil, some need starlight, some require tears and some feed on the clouds and air from the nine skies.

Just by taking Fang Yuan's current three Gu for example, the Moonlight Gu requires moon orchid petals, two meals a day. In the morning and night one meal, every meal two pieces of flower petals. Meanwhile for the Liquor worm, it needs to drink wine. A jar of green bamboo wine could support it for four days. As for the Spring Autumn Cicada, it is even more peculiar as it drinks straight from the River of Time, maintaining its vitality.

The River of Time supports the flow of this world. It is not far away in the sky but very near at hand, flowing by every person's side. Every move made by every living creature requires the push of time.

Time is like flowing water, hurriedly gliding forward. The River of Time is invisible and colourless, while in reality all living creatures are actually surviving and living in the waters of the River of Time.

Bai Jiade greeted Jiang Ya, and bought a Smelly Fart Gu, a Ghostly Fire Gu, a Lightning Current He didn't buy moon orchid petals as there was already many at the mansion. Jiang Ya had a Lightning Current Gu from the previous beast tides. Afterwards he went to the gates where Fang Zhen and his 'friends' were waiting together with my older brother, who was attempting to converse with them.

"Hello, Brother. Hello, Brother Fang Zhen…" I proceeded to greet everyone in the group and make some banter. I glanced at my brother and saw an envious look on my 'brother's face, something which Fang Zhen caught. Another thing to the 'similarities list'.

I invited Fang Zhen and his gang to go to my house to train and he accepted but he said he would have to go home to get his primeval stones first. Dad will be pleased I invited the only one who has a grade-A aperture in the current generation though he certainly won't be pleased about me using them to escape my grounded status, even if temporarily.

Refining a Gu is hard, but raising a Gu is also not easy.

This is also considering the fact that he had his five hundred years of previous life experience, so he did not need to practice using his Gu, meaning that the consumption rate of primeval essence would be lessened and thus saving him a huge sum of expenses.

For those at his age around him, they would need to practice using the Moonlight Gu and would need to waste primeval essence. To increase proficiency, one would need to practice many times. When too much primeval essence is consumed, primeval stones would have to be used as a supplement since the recovery rate is too slow. To buy a grass puppet it costs three primeval stones as well. All this is money.

The more high-end the Gu is, the greater the food consumption needed or the more precious and rare the food required would be, thus the more difficult it would be to keep. A normal level Rank two Gu worm would cost up to around one to two pieces of primeval stones a day.

It is good enough if the food is purchasable. There were some Gu that required food that was relatively difficult to find, some of it did not even circulate in the market.

Just like the Spring Autumn Cicada's(Fang Yuan's vital gu that enables him to go back in time if a few condtions are fulfilled) food being time itself, this was actually more precious. After all there was a saying, an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time.

No matter how much money you have, can you buy time?

You can't!

In theory a Gu Master can refine an unlimited amount of Gu. As long as you can refine it, whether ten, a hundred or a thousand worms is possible. You can refine as many Gu as you wish to.

But in reality a Gu Master normally only had 4-5 Gu.

Why?

The biggest reason is because it is hard to afford.

The higher the grade of the worm, the more expensive it would cost to feed and raise. It often gave a Gu Master too many difficulties to cope with, making them have unceasing headaches over it.

Another reason was – unable to use.

To use the Moonlight Gu to throw out a single moonblade attack, one would need to use up 10% of primeval essence. A C grade talent Gu Master could run out of primeval essence in their apertures after launching three to four attacks.

To raise so many Gu, wouldn't it be a waste if one couldn't use them anyway?

Thus in the Gu Master's cultivation there was a saying going around: Raising a Gu is like raising a mistress.

To keep a mistress you would need to buy food, clothes, a house etc. It is very expensive and the more you have the more costly it is; a normal man cannot afford it.

Even if you keep so many, a man's energy is limited; he cannot use them all. Would you raise them just to look at them?

When the rank of the Gu Master increases, so does the food standard of the Gu worm. Thus please refrain from seeing how a Gu Master has no limit to the number of refining Gu; in general a Gu Master only keeps around 4-5 Gu of his level.

If the number of Gu was raised higher, the Gu Master would go bankrupt!

Now going home with his brother, they give their mother a explanation of who is going to come and all that and then prepare the mansion for the Clan Leader's faction visit. The Fang Zhen's faction lads were trying pretty hard to groom Fang Zhen into a leader but with Bai Jiade's interventions Fang Zhen was increasingly more dependant on him, almost to the point of Bai Jiade being actual the leader. Something unsustainable, as such Bai Jiade would groom Fang Zhen himself and imprint into his heart 'Jia Er's wisdom'.

Arriving at the Chi Zhong's mansion, some of them are indifferent, others suitably awed. Playing the good host Bai Jiade invites them for a small snack, as they probably had already eaten at home so as to not impose on the host's hospitality. Glaringly, the Gu World was heavily inspired on the Chinese one.

Seizing the chance to direct the conversation at a moment of silence, he invites them to practice the moonblade together.

"Remember to spread your fingers."

"First practice lighting up your hands and then the coordination for the moonblade's throw."

"We repeat this movement 20 times."Mimicked Bai Jiade.

Teaching them he slowly exaled authority on the young teenagers, suppressing the prideful rebellious one's with harsh words and comparisons to either break their spirit or their growth mentality. As if you won't be mine pawn then you won't be anything important either. He obviously favored Fang Zhen, using their 'friendship' as an excuse to get closer to him.

After their practice they were all tired and, as such, decided to go back home.

Taking his primeval stones into his hands he slowly filled his primeval sea again. Not to practice with the moonlight Gu, even if would need to develop it to at least muscle memory, but to refine Gu. Or rather to experiment fusing Gu. He took a turbid and curve glass flask with a connetions to another glass bottle. The mortal technology wasn't very developed. He put water inside and activated the Lightning Current Gu.

Ammonia.

Time to make Gunpowder!

4

Apparently the gunpowder recipe is a flop. It didn't refine it at all. Bai Jiade, being the stubborn psycho he is, kept repeatedly trying to make a Gu instead as making a mortal substance wasn't very strength scalable other than being used to arm everyone. But in this world individual strength was king and Devils ran amok. As of now he failed every attempt to make a Gu out of most chemical reactions from Earth.

Three days later.

"Lowering your body to dodge, that is the usual technique of restraining against a flying fist. When your enemy comes and attacks you, quickly squat down and at the same time do a counterattack, striking his crotch and abdomen. Do not be afraid of a swinging fist. Usually those who come up and start swinging their fists at the first moment are people who have no brains and are impulsive and rash."

On the martial arts field, the academy's martial arts(1) instructor spoke while he performed actions to demonstrate. A wooden puppet's right first swept over, and the martial arts instructor quickly squatted down, dodging the incoming attack. Then he threw a punch at the puppet's abdomen, knocking it down with a few punches.

The students were looking at the demonstration in a circle, but most of them were lacking in spirit, showing very little interest.

The academy taught a variety of courses and this lesson was the one that taught foundation of martial arts. Using fists and legs to exert oneself was too inferior to the handsome and cool attack style of the moonblade, making almost all the students absent-minded.

"The next class will be the Moonlight Gu's usage assessment. How have you been practicing so far lately?"

"I'm still doing good. I can do three moonblades, but only a few of them actually hit. Usually I get two blades on the grass puppet."

"Mmm, that's the same like me. I specially bought a grass puppet just to practice for this in these few days."

…..

The young teens whispered to one another, their minds long gone from the lesson. They were all worried about the assessment in the next class. Just for this assessment, they had practiced hard for a long time after class, and now they were flexing their hands and feet, looking forward to the assessment.

The sounds of the students' discussion had reached the instructor's ear, and the martial arts coach jerked his gaze back at them, shouting, "No talking allowed in class, all of you keep your mouths shut and watch closely!"

He was a Rank two Gu master, his body rather muscular. His upper body was naked and robust, the bronzed skin littered with countless scars on it. With a loud shout he showed a threatening manner, pressing down on all the students in the field.

Silence fell in the martial arts field.

"The foundation of martial arts is the most important among important things. Especially in the early stages of a Gu Master's cultivation, it is more important than anything else. All of you better focus your attention on me!"

After he finished scolding, the martial arts instructor called out another wooden puppet. This light yellow wooden puppet was two meters tall, its huge wooden feet making sharp sounds as it stepped on the bluestone floor tiles. The wooden puppet stretched open its arms and rushed clumsily towards the coach.

The instructor dodge its attack, then fiercely hugged its waist and used his strength to push it forward down, causing the huge and tall wooden puppet to fall to the ground. Then the instructor rode on the puppet's waist and swung his fist quickly at the puppet's head.

The wooden puppet resisted for a moment, then its head was smashed broken by the instructor's raining blows. It was paralyzed on the ground, lying motionless.

The martial arts instructor stood up, his breathing calm and long as always. He explained to the students, "When facing a huge and tall enemy in close combat, do not be afraid. Ruining the opponent's center of gravity is a type of sensible tactic to pin down your enemy. Just like how I did it earlier, you must hug the opponent's waist, control his hips and then push forward with your strength. After that you take the opportunity and get on his body and fiercely punch at your enemy. Those with no defensive capabilities will instantly collapse."

The students nodded repeatedly, but most of their eyes showed disapproval. The coach saw all of this and laughed bitterly in his heart.

Every batch was like this. The attitudes of these youngsters were naturally easily attracted by gorgeous things. Without personal understanding and experience, it was hard for them to understand the importance of having a martial arts foundation. In truth especially for a Gu Master in his early stage, while the basic martial arts did not look promising, it was actually more important than the blade attack.

"….Remember, in close combat, your sight must not always stare at the enemy's eye. It should focus on the enemy's shoulder. No matter punching or kicking, the enemy's shoulder will always move first…."

"…In close combat your speed is very important, the speed I am talking about in this context is not the speed of your fists, but the speed of the movement of your legs…."

"….Distance is the best defense…"

"…Keep your legs elastic, then you will be able to easily burst out your strength…"

"When striking with your fists, maintain a triangle support. Otherwise you will lose your footing. The enemy has not fallen, yet instead you fell first…"

The instructor patiently explained while he demonstrated. These were all his valuable experiences that he got from sacrificing blood and tears, experience accumulated from long battles.

Unfortunately the students were unaware of this. They gradually started to whisper again, the focus of the discussion still on the next lesson's moonblade assessment.

Fang Yuan watched quietly among the crowd, nodding and shaking his head at times.

The instructor had no discipline in his teaching; he taught completely by interest, and just taught whatever he thought of. Therefore the things he taught came out in a mess and there was a lot of complicated info. In the beginning many students listened seriously, but gradually they lost interest and diverted their attention to other aspects

A Gu Master's method of fighting is usually divided between melee and ranged. The moonblade attack is a type of ranged attack, but when strictly speaking, it is considered medium range due to its effective distance only being ten meters.

When it came to close combat Gu Masters, the martial arts instructor was the best example. Melee battle GuMasters would usually choose Gu that amplified their own body strengths and cultivate. These Gu would give them superhuman strength, agility, responsiveness, endurance etc.

Just like this martial arts instructor, his whole body was covered in bronze skin. This was of course not his own skin colour, but it was a type of copper skin Gu's effect. The copper skin Gu would increase the Gu Master's skin toughness and defence by a lot, letting the Gu Master be able to endure more damage.

'This should be where the necessity of a martial arts foundation monologue occurs' Pondered Bai Jiade.

'Well… The monologue is correct. A moonblade expends about 10% of the primeval essence. A number a Gu Master can throw it is limited as such martial arts in the beginning realms are more important than flashy magicks.'

The basic martial arts class was finally over. After a short rest, the student's eyes were filled with anticipation; the academy elder was late. He waved his big hand, pointing at the row of grass puppets in front of the bamboo wall. He went straight to the subject and said, "Alright, today is the day to check the results. I want five people in a group coming up in proper sequence, using the moonblade to attack three times."

Swoosh.

The first group of students went up, and the moonblade danced in the air. After three rounds, only nine moonblades hit on the grass puppets.

The academy elder shook his head a little, feeling slightly displeased. This hit rate was too low, the key being that among these five only two managed to successfully throw out two moonblades.

"You all better practice properly after this, especially you, and you." The elder reprimanded in a short sentence, then he waved his big hand and said, "Next group."

The two that were reprimanded dropped their heads and left the field in dismay. One of them was a girl, her eyes a little red and her heart grieving. She was only a C grade talent, yet she could not bear to use primeval stones to quickly recover her primeval essence. Thus in these three days she practiced very little, resulting in her unskilled throwing of the moonblade.

A Gu Master needed money to refine Gu, raise Gu; even practicing to use Gu needed cash. But where was she able to get so much money? Even though her two parents were supporting her from behind, but every family had their own problems. To be short of funds was often the dilemma that a Gu Master faced.

"Anyway I don't have the slightest chance of getting number one. I might as well give up and save on primeval stones, that is better for me." As she thought of this, her heart became calm once more.

There were actually quite a number of people who thought the same way as this young girl. Because of the lack of practice, many of the students performed poorly. The academy elder's brow deepened more and more.

Those who are shortsighted would often haggle over every penny and chase after less important things. As for those with lofty aspirations, they usually showed a tolerant and generous attitude, and had the strength to give up and let go of things.

'Strenght determines quality of life in this worlds not money or penny-pinching.'Thought Bai Jiade.

"It's finally my turn." At this moment, Gu Yue Mo Bei's horse face lit up in a confident smile all over, and he walked up to the field. His stature was stout and gave out a fierce and strong aura. After standing still he raised his hand and threw three moonblades – all three of them hit. Among the blades, two of them hit on the puppet's chest, while the other blade hit the puppet's left arm, shaving away a few green grass.

This result naturally caused the young teens to burst with admiration.

"Well done." The elder's brow slightly smoothed out.

The next group came up, Gu Yue Chi Cheng standing among them. He had a small and short body, his face full of pockmarks, his expression bringing a slight nervousness.

He sent out three moonblades continuously and all three hit on the puppet's chest, cutting out three intertwined scars. The scars went from deep to shallow and restored back to its original appearance after a few breaths, due to the puppet's self-healing ability.

However this outcome was already tied to Gu Yue Mo Bei's result, and also received the elder's praise. Chi Cheng held his head high as he walked out of the field, looking at Mo Bei defiantly in the eye on the way.

"Hmph!" Below the field, Gu Yue Mo Bei gave a cold snort, but he did not return Chi Cheng's glare. Instead, he continued looking at Gu Yue Fang Zheng who had not gone up yet.

His heart clearly knew that the real threats were only Gu Yue Bai Jiade, Gu Yue Chi Cheng and Gu Yue Fang Zheng. The previous ones were the same as him – B grade talents while also having the constant supply of primeval stones. The latter was an A grade talent; while Fang Zheng did not have as many primeval stones as them, but just by relying on his own natural recovery speed thanks to his grade talent, he would also be able to practice a lot in a short amount of time.

Right now Gu Yue Chi Cheng's results have appeared, showing a tie to Mo Bei, and only Gu Yue Fang Zheng was left.

In the last few groups, Gu Yue Fang Zheng finally came up to the stage.

"Is he Fang Yuan or Fang Zheng?" Some of the students were muttering; there were still people who could not differentiate between Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng, the two twin brothers.

"It's Fang Zheng. Fang Yuan is always wearing a cold expression, he would never appear tense," someone answered.

"Oh, then there will be a spectacle. Fang Zheng is the only A grade talent from our village in three years, after all." The crowd casted their eyes over to the field.

Fang Zheng could feel the pressure among the gazes shot at him, and this made him feel even more nervous. Standing on the stage, his fingers were trembling slightly.

He threw out his first moonblade, originally intending to aim at the grass puppet's chest. But because he was tense, he missed – in the end the moonblade imprinted onto the grass puppet's neck area.

The young teens instantly let out a sound of slight surprise.

They thought that Fang Zheng deliberately did it. Instead of aiming for the easiest spot which was the chest of the puppet, he went for the neck instead – this was a showcase of huge self-confidence towards his own attacking skill.

They could not help but look forward to Fang Zheng's next move. Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng however had their complexions cast down.

Only those among the field who could see Fang Zheng's error were the academy elder and Fang Yuan.

"How dangerous!" Looking at the moonblade, Fang Zheng exclaimed in his heart while secretly feeling lucky. He took in a few deep breaths, trying his best to calm down. Then he threw out two blades. This time he did not make any mistakes, and the two blades hit accurately on the grass puppet's chest.

This result made the academy elder nod his head, and Mo Bei and Chi Cheng calmed down as well. Fang Zheng's result was different from theirs, so it would all come down to how the academy elder decided to grade them.

The other students let out sounds of sighing. Fang Zheng's later performance was not interesting, making them feel slightly disappointed.

The next few groups were not interesting either. No one was able to perform better than Mo Bei, Chi Cheng and Fang Zheng. The youngsters started to whisper around.

"At this rate, the top scorer in today's assessment should be among the three of them."
"All three of them managed to hit the grass puppet, I wonder who the academy elder will deem better."
"Hold on, it's the last group. Fang Yuan's going up."
"Oh, that C grade talent 'cold genius'? Heh heh."

Right when it was the last group, Fang Yuan finally went up stage.

"It's that Fang Yuan…." Gu Yue Mo Bei lifted his head and looked at Fang Yuan for a moment, then he lowered his eyes uncaringly.

"Last time you got really lucky, choosing a weak-willed Moonlight Gu by accident and getting number one. Let's see how you perform this time!" Gu Yue Chi Cheng hugged his arms, waiting to see Fang Yuan make a fool of himself.

"Big brother… This time will not be like the last. I have practiced so hard for so long, I can definitely surpass you." Among the crowd, Gu Yue Fang Zheng pursed his lips, subconsciously clenching his fists tightly.

Previously in the assessment to refine the vital Gu, he as someone with an A grade talent actually got second position. Naturally he was not happy with this. Especially after he understood that Fang Yuan was able to win and get number one because of sheer luck, this made him even more unsatisfied. To Gu Yue Fang Zheng, being victorious over his own older brother Fang Yuan had a special and great significance.

Many gazes were gathered on Fang Yuan, and the academy elder's sight was fixed on him as well. Fang Yuan made no emotion; his expression was cold and detached.

He stood still, primeval essence pouring into the Moonlight Gu in the heart of his palm. With a cut in the air, he struck out the first moonblade.

This moonblade flew very high. It not only went over the grass puppet's head, but flew over the bamboo wall as well. It went on for almost fifteen meters before the light turned dim and vanished into thin air.

"Pfffft…" Someone couldn't help but laugh out.
"This is way too outrageous, isn't it." Someone sneered.
"He's indeed a genius. No wonder he managed to get number one in refining the Gu." Another spoke sarcastically.

In the earlier years when Fang Yuan created poetry and showed early wisdom, it had already caused discontented emotions among these people. Later on when he relied on 'luck' and got number one in refining his vital Gu, this made them feel a layer of jealousy among their dissatisfaction.

Many of them were waiting to see a 'good show'. They waited to see the 'genius' Fang Yuan reveal an embarrassing action, and this moonblade of his did not let them down.

Waves of laughter swept across the crowd.

The academy elder shook his head slightly, secretly laughing at himself. Why did he have to be so concerned with Fang Yuan for no reason? He was just a C grade and merely a boy who got number one in refining Gu because of sheer luck.

In his heart he had already made up his mind. Although Mo Bei, Chi Cheng and Fang Zheng's results were the same, he would still pick Fang Zheng as number one.

The war between Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng was the epitome of the political struggle between the two most powerful elders in the clan. The academy elder had always remained in the center and had no intention to enter the middle of the political vortex.

The academy elder was more inclined towards the clan head Gu Yue Bo, and Fang Zheng was a set with the clan leader. Add in the fact that he had A grade talent, choosing him as number one would mean showing biased care for him, and it was something the clan's upper authorities could accept.

A warm spring breeze blew over, the smell of flowers drifting into the training grounds. The sunlight shone down on Fang Yuan's body, sending a lonely black shadow onto the ground.

His expression was still cold as he quietly gazed at the grass puppet ten meters away. The moonblade in his palm was giving out a faint blue light.

Of course, he had deliberately thrown the first moonblade off course. Right now he only had two chances left to act. Taking into account the academy elder's position, to acquire number one he would have to create an outcome that exceeded everyone's expectations in the next two attacks.

"With only two chances left to attack, it's impossible. Big brother, I have finally won over you." Gu Yue Fang Zheng's eyes did not flicker as he stared at Fang Yuan. From young till old, the life shadow that his older brother had brought onto him finally faded away slowly at this moment.

Fang Zheng could feel victory so nearby. His two fists were subconsciously clenched tight, his entire body so full of excitement that he trembled slightly.

"Big brother, my victory this time is just a beginning. Next, I will keep on winning over you again and again until I banish away all the shadows in my heart. I will prove to the clan, the excellence of an A grade talent genius!" Fang Zheng told himself in his heart.

But just at this moment, Fang Yuan acted. His right palm was like a knife, splitting the void.

With a sharp tearing sound, the watery blue light shrouded in his palm was thrown out. It flew in the air, turning into a curved blue moonblade, shooting towards the grass puppet.

In just the next second Fang Yuan's right palm lit up again in a coat of blue light. He turned his palm and shot out the third moonblade. These two attacks connected smoothly like flowing water; it was a seamless combination.

The two moonblades flew out in quick succession, the distance between the two blades less than half a meter apart in the air. Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, the two moonblades accurately hit onto the grass puppet's neck.

"This…" Fang Zheng's pupils shrank, a bad feeling emerging from his heart. In the next moment, the students slowly opened their mouths wide as they wore astonished expressions.

They saw that the grass puppet's head slowly tilted to one side, then it fell off the neck and dropped onto the ground. With a bounce, it rolled two to three meters away.

Fang Yuan had beheaded the puppet!

This outcome had gone beyond the expectations of everyone on field.

"Is this luck or skill?" The academy elder frowned. This doubt hovered in the hearts of the rest of the students. For a time, the entire training ground lapsed into silence.

"How could this be…" Fang Zheng murmured. He stared at Fang Yuan blankly, the surged emotions in his heart dropping instantly, falling deep into the lowest point.

Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes, acting as if he was oblivious to the gazes that fell onto him from the crowd.

Cluck, cluck…

Under the blue skies and white clouds, a group of peacock parrots suddenly flapped their wings and flew in mid-air. They dragged their magnificent, long and slender peacock tails, clucking in the air as they flew about playfully.

Fang Yuan stood in the center of the training field, looking up. Under the bright sunlight, the multi-coloured feathers of the birds dazzled even greater and gorgeous. His expression was indifferent, as if the person who just cut off the grass puppet's head was not him.

Lastly, came Gu Yue Bai Jiade. Standing on the stage as if it were nothing. His sunny disposition displayed fully. Something that made Fang Zhen admire him even more.

He threw his first moonblade then chained it with the next and the next. Two hitting the chest area and the fist hitting the neck.

'Talented and calm in face of adversities. You indeed are good, Bai Jiade.'Thought Fang Zhen.

He went down from the stage and went to exchange pointers with Fang Zhen. To further irrigate the seeds of friendship that were planted in his heart. Now though Fang Zhen's followers were trying to suppress Bai Jiade by whispering in their leader's ears about my arrogance and how they profoundly disliked Bai Jiade. Making the inexperienced Fang Zhen deeply uncomfortable and not knowing what to do.

"He doesn't respect proper morals. He went to a gambling den a few weeks ago."

"I heard he impregnated a whore from when he went into a whorehouse and got beaten for not wanting to pay for the proper service."

'The Clan Leader is striking to dimish Fang Zhen's dependence on me.'Analysed Bai Jiade.

Fang Zhen not knowing any of this was taken aback prompting you to rapidly intervene in this.

"I invited you to my house and you are backstabbing me like this. Consider our friendship broken. True friends defend each other from other's lies."Said Bai Jiade out loud to the ones scheming. Shocking them at sheer ruthlessness of Bai Jiade and how he successfully framed them as ungrateful to the rest of the class, by simply changing the public. Something the Chi and Mo factions rapidly capitalized. Even if at Mo faction Bai Jiade was vilified as well.

'It is easier to convince innocent passersby than your if it isn't as effective.'

All these events made Fang Zhen feeling guilty about how he didn't defend a friend of his, who had so much in common with him. Said friend even befriending him before he was hailed as a A-grade talent-wise. Said friend who never compared him to his brother. Fang Zhen didn't know what to do to apologise without losing face.

So he distanced himself from Bai Jiade.

Bai Jiade had his family backing but he was a B-grade. He unlike Fang Yuan, didn't have 500 years od experience neither knowledge about various inheritances, such as the Wine Flower Monk's. He needed the clan's support to reach rank 3 at same speed as Fang Yuan otherwise he would die at Bai Ning Bing's Detonation at the end of book 1.

As it neared nightfall, the sun on the edge of the horizon looked like blood. The afterglow rays poured into the school where around fifty students sat upright. On the stage above, the academy elder was reading out names one by one, distributing allowance to them.

This was the academy's weekly subsidy where every seven days allowance would be distributed. One could say it was financial aid for these young teens. After all with their capabilities, to feed and raise their own Gu was a lot of financial pressure.

"Gu Yue Fang Yuan." The elder read aloud.

Fang Yuan got up from the seat by the window at the last row. He walked up the stage, receiving two moneybags. In one bag was three primeval stones – the clan's allowance. The other bag held the reward of ten primeval stones.

"Work hard," the elder said. He gave Fang Yuan a deep look. Fang Yuan had continuously achieved number one, and this had let those elders who were originally disappointed in him start paying slight attention.

Fang Yuan nodded his head and took the purse into his arms, returning to his seat.

"Damn it, he actually got number one again…" Gu Yue Mo Bei fixed his gaze onto Fang Yuan firmly, his heart rather furious.

"Those two moonblades consecutively hit the neck of the puppet. Is this because of sheer luck or real skill?" Gu Yue Chi Cheng narrowed his eyes. Since the end of the assessment until now, this question had been hovering in his mind.

It was not just him – many students unconsciously drifted their sights towards Fang Yuan. This question haunted them. Although they had lost, their hearts were unsatisfied and they wanted to question what actually had happened.

When the day was about to end, the academy elder announced a matter. "You all have been in the academy for an amount of time now, and you are familiar with how to use your vital Gu as well. In the next few days I will teach you all how to warm and nourish your aperture, advancing a Gu Master's cultivation realm. The higher the realm of a Gu Master, the more concise your primeval essence becomes. A Rank one Gu Master has green copper primeval essence; a Rank two Gu Master has red iron primeval essence and a Rank three Gu Master possesses white silver primeval essence. A portion of red iron primeval essence is comparable to ten portions of green copper primeval essence. Similarly a portion of white silver primeval essence equals ten portions of red iron primeval essence!"

"You must all remember, the Gu are just tools that we use. Cultivation is the foundation of us Gu Masters. The higher your rank, the stronger the Gu you are able to use. In the next three months, whoever can take the lead and promote to Rank one middle stage will receive a reward of thirty primeval stones. At the same time he will be able to choose the second Gu first. After three months, we will elect a class monitor and two vice-class monitors based on the results. The class monitor will enjoy a subsidy of ten primeval stones while the vice-class monitor will have an allowance of five pieces! Alright, that's all for today. You can all leave."

The elder's words made the academy burst with noise.

"Time to elect the class monitor and vice-class monitor!" Someone clenched his fist in excitement.

"The class monitor receives ten primeval stones every seven days, and the vice-class monitor gets five pieces? If I am able to be the first to reach Rank one middle stage, I will definitely be able to become the class monitor." Another had lights in his eyes.

"The primeval stones are not the important focus. What matters here is the position of class monitor and vice-class monitor – it represents glory and places one's identity over others. When normal students sees the class monitor they must all bow and greet him." Gu Yue Mo Bei and Chi Cheng did not lack primeval stones, but they deemed the glory of the position very important.

"To become the class monitor, without mistake it is the first person who promotes to Rank one middle stage first! That means when big brother see me in future, he would have to bow and automatically greet me. Hold up, where is big brother?" Gu Yue Fang Zheng subconsciously looked back, but Fang Yuan's seat was empty.

The students walked out of the academy.

"Where's Gu Yue Fang Yuan?" Gu Yue Mo Bei wanted to look for Fang Yuan and ask him face to face. However Fang Yuan was one step ahead and had long left.

"Hmph, he sure ran away fast. Is he afraid? Looks like he got lucky again in today's test." Gu Yue Chi Cheng sneered.

"Whatever, it's just ten primeval stones. I don't need to care about this small matter, right now what's important is to advance to middle stage and get that class monitor position." Gu Yue Mo Bei narrowed his eyes, looking at his side where Gu Yue Chi Cheng and Gu Yue Fang Zheng were.

These two figures were his real enemy, while Fang Yuan was just a small C grade talent; he was not on par.

"In the first two times, Fang Yuan got lucky and got number one. However this time it is a cultivation test, and the focus is on the talent of cultivation. When the talent is higher by a grade, the advantage becomes much greater," Gu Yue Chi Cheng thought, depressed in his heart. His real grade talent was only a C grade; it was only because of cheating that let him gain the illusion of having B grade.

Fang Yuan sneered as he leaned against the gateway of the academy.

He had long left the academy, and right now he stood at the gate entrance of the school. He saw the first batch of students coming out, gradually walking closer towards him.

"It's Fang Yuan."
"What's he doing at the middle of the gate entrance?"
"Hmph, every time I see his dead dysfunctional state, I feel so pissed off."
"Don't worry about him, he's probably waiting for someone."

The young teens paid no attention to him. Just as they were about to walk over, Fang Yuan strode across and blocked them. "I'm plundering. Everyone must surrender a piece of primeval stone before they can leave."

'Looks like its time to get beaten by Fang Yuan.'Thought Bai Jiade.

The young teens were instantly shocked and angry.

"What, I didn't hear wrongly, did I?"
"Fang Yuan, your head must have overheated and gone confused. You would actually stand at the gates of the academy and blackmail us?!"

"Have you gone mad? Who gave you the guts to put your ideas on us?"
"Scram, you're just a petty C grade, how dare you block my way. If you don't scram, I will send you flying with my…Urghh!"

Fang Yuan suddenly lashed out.

His right palm furiously cut forward. His movement was quick and precise, his slice of his palm hitting the left side of someone's neck.

This unlucky teenager was totally not expecting Fang Yuan to suddenly attack him. While he was still cursing at Fang Yuan, he suddenly suffered a heavy blow. His two eyes instantly rolled up and he fainted on the spot.

"Fuck! You actually dared to strike?!" The crowd jumped, and the young teens subconsciously retreated backwards.

"Gu Yue Bei Ju fainted, what do we do?" Some of them were terrified and scared, shouting around in horror.

"What else can be done?! There's so many of us, and Fang Yuan is alone. We should all rush at him together and beat him up." Some people were shouting, their rage erupting.

"That's right, he sure doesn't know his place! How he dares to provoke us by himself. He's definitely digging his own grave with his over-ambitiousness! Everyone get on him together!"

Yet before they could do anything, Fang Yuan had already struck. He strode a few steps forward, rushing into the group of teenagers.

He slashed his palm and the edge of his hand cut onto a youth's neck. The young man rolled his eyes upward and fell.

"Ahh —!" Another teen yelled loudly, swinging his fist at Fang Yuan, sweeping through the air. Fang Yuan lowered his body and dodged, then he lifted his leg and kicked the boy's crotch area.

AHH OWWwwww—!

The youngster's loud roar was originally sonorous and indignant, but after he took the blow his voice instantly rose higher and became sharp and shrill, filled with a kind of misery and pain.

Thump.

He covered his crotch with his two hands, his knees giving way as he dropped to the ground. He rolled around on the floor screaming loudly, the pain so great his entire body was covered in cold sweat.

Fang Yuan swung his two fists around like a tiger that had entered a flock of sheep!

He had five hundred years of battle experience, and these youngsters were just a bunch of soft green kids; they had only just started cultivating not long ago, how could they possibly be his opponents?

In the blink of an eye, Fang Yuan put down the entire group of young students. If they had not fainted, then they would be lying on the ground, the pain making them drained and their bodies hurting all over.

"What's going on here?!" Gu Yue Mo Bei arrived and exclaimed. He saw that Fang Yuan stood at the entrance of the academy gates, and there were five to six students on the floor around him.

"This Fang Yuan, h-he wants to extort our primeval stones!" One of them lying on the floor shouted angrily while clutching his belly.

"Wow, still full of energy huh." Fang Yuan's expression was flat as he kicked fiercely at the abdomen of the boy who just yelled.

Oww!

The youngster immediately cried out in pain, his body curling up like a shrimp. Fear emerged from his face, his tears streaming down as he dared not to speak again.

As they saw this scene, the students that came over all felt Fang Yuan's fierce savageness and cruelty, their hearts throbbing.

"Alright, all of you be good and hand out a piece of primeval stone. Then I'll let you go, or else, these people on the ground here will be your fate." Fang Yuan made a big step forward, his tone callous.

"In your mother's face! You petty little C grade would even dare to win me, a B grade?" Gu Yue Mo Bei flew into a rage, swinging his fists as he rushed toward Fang Yuan before they knew it.

With a slight turn of his ankle, Fang Yuan swerved gently sideways and let Mo Bei's fist fly past. Then he stretched out his left hand, lifting the index and middle finger toward the center of Mo Bei's clavicle, accurately jabbing at the area below the throat.

Mo Bei immediately blacked out, falling onto the ground with a thump, fainting on the spot.

Hiss…

As they saw what just happened, the young students that planned to rush forward quickly stopped, each of them releasing a mouthful of cold air.

In the eyes of these youngsters, Fang Yuan's attacks were suddenly too profound to be understood. They did not pay attention to basic martial arts, but in reality it was vaguely mentioned during class. The human body had many vulnerable parts, and several parts that Fang Yuan had struck were one of those vulnerable places. When these parts were struck, it would easily make a person faint on the spot, and a heavy blow would induce a life-threatening crisis.

However Fang Yuan had proper restraint when he attacked.

Those that he had tackled down were either knocked out or suffering in immense pain, losing the ability for combat in a short amount of time. There was no one who was really seriously injured.

This was the terror of five hundred years' worth of combat experience!

"Are you going to give me your stones or not?" Fang Yuan did a step forward, forcing the other youths. They looked at each other for a moment, then half of them gritted their teeth while the other half roared angrily, all of them swarming towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan dodged about while striking at the same time. His cultivation base was lowly, but his realm was still there; his heart was cool as ice, his movements quick and precise.

Thump, thump…

After a few breaths, bodies fell down onto the ground again.

"It's too vicious! Too terrible!"
"They're not going to die, are they?"

There were still a few young girls left behind; they did not rush forward. Their eyes were open wide, and after seeing what had happened so far their bodies trembled more and more.

Fang Yuan swept his gaze to them, and their faces turned pale as they quickly waved their hands and retreated. "No, don't come over. We'll surrender, we'll surrender the stones!"

After Fang Yuan received a few pieces of primeval stones, he let them go. They stumbled out of the academy gateway, while in succession several students came over.

To leave the academy, this gateway was the only route. With Fang Yuan blocking this path, he would be able to block out all the students.

"Damn, what's going on?!" The new wave of students stared in amazement.
"Isn't that Gu Yue Mo Bei?" Gu Yue Chi Cheng stared at the unconscious Mo Bei on the floor, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

When Fang Yuan opened his mouth and spoke, the youngsters were instantly angered and they attacked him, then they fell.

"Sir elder, we're just going to keep watching all of this and not stop them? What if someone loses their life, how are we going to salvage the matter?" The guards were worried.

Some of the guards were indignant, saying, "This Fang Yuan has too much guts. He would actually dare to extort his classmates at the academy school gates under our eyelids. This is acting with utter disregard of the law and discipline! As long as sir gives the command, we subordinates will take away this kid."

The violent matter of Fang Yuan blocking the gateway and openly extorting his classmates had long attracted attention since the beginning. But mortal guards had no right to punish the students, so they could only go first to the academy elder and report.

When the academy elder heard the news, he did not immediately command for them to stop it. Instead he went up the pavilion and observed from afar.

"Looks like this child has fighting talent." The longer the academy elder watched the more interested he felt.

Fang Yuan's use of the moonblade today had already caused some uncertainty in the elder. Right now he watched as Fang Yuan with his strength alone, making an enemy out of the entire batch of students, bearing a sort of unstoppable fighting style of graceful demeanor. With this the doubts in his heart were cleared.

In this world, there were those who were particularly keen and sharp towards battles; these were hidden gifts. They were good at fighting, and they loved battles. In the battles they were often inspired, and always created surprising and even unbelievable accomplishments.

"Ah, he's a natural battle Gu Master. Pity, his talent is only C grade; in the end he just lacks one step of a grade." The academy elder heaved a sigh.

"Sir, are you not going to stop this farce? Letting him go on with this nonsense, I'm afraid the consequences wouldn't be too good." The guards beside him had worried expressions on their faces.

"Why stop it?" The academy elder lifted his eyebrows and laughed. He lifted a finger and pointed it at Fang Yuan who was far away and said, "This young man has taken control of the entire situation, and his attacks are fully restrained. Look at the way he cuts at the neck, he only acts on the left or right side, but never cutting at the nape. This is because he knows that striking the neck sides can make a person faint on the spot. Meanwhile attacking the area at the back of the head and neck could cause death, so he automatically abandoned that way of attacking."

"Look at all those youths on the ground, which one of them is actually heavily injured? None! Even if they were badly hurt, so what? Are you saying that our academy's treatment Gu Masters won't be able to cure this sort of traumatic wound?"

"But sir elder, that child is just too arrogant. He blocked the entrance; this is obviously not acknowledging our existence as guards! Being ignored isn't the main problem though, the important matter is how the clan will think of our academy. To actually allow a small petty C grade student make a fuss in the academy and not stop it. If word goes out, we're afraid this might affect your reputation, sir elder." The guard squinted as he said this.

"Hmph, in reality is that because you all were disregarded by the boy, so your own dignity feels challenged?" The academy elder was not too happy. He sneered and shot a gaze as sharp as a sword edge at the guards. They all lowered their heads, all of them disagreeing.

"What's wrong with fighting? As long as lives are not lost, it will stir up the competitive side of the students and temper their will to fight. To stop this kind of fight is to stifle the student's fighting passion! Was there no fighting in the past batches? Every batch had their own battles, and it happened very often. The only difference was that it usually happened in the latter half of the year when the students had already mastered some means of fighting. With strength they itched to fight, and at the same time it is an aggressive age. Why didn't you stop those people back then?" The academy elder questioned in a cold voice.

"Maybe it was because the fights in the previous years were all single battles, there were rarely huge scale fighting like this one. But this Fang Yuan is really good at creating a disturbance!" The chief of the guards replied.

"No, no, no." The academy elder shook his head, "That was because you all did not dare to stop it. Because after half a year, a Gu Master will have the ability to fight beyond a mortal's strength, and with your petty mortal bodies, how are you supposed to stop it? Right now you all want to stop Fang Yuan, perhaps it is because he just started cultivating, so he doesn't have enough power. It's also because you feel that he ignored your existence and offended your dignity. But you must all remember, these students all bear the surname of Gu Yue! They are my Gu Yue clan's clan members, your masters! Even if they are still of young age, no matter how weak, they are still your masters!"

The elder's tone had turned sharply.

"Your surnames are not Gu Yue, what is your worth? Because of your loyalty, you were all given the position of guards, rewarding you with some sweet benefits. But in reality, you are still slaves. Just slaves! A slave dare give preposterous opinions of their masters, caring about the matters of their masters?" The elder's face was dark like water.

"This was not your subordinates idea, not my meaning!"
"I wouldn't dare! I wouldn't dare!"

The guards were ashen-faced as they kneeled down to the ground, spouting nonstop. The academy elder gave a cold snort and pointed at the chief guard who had just called Fang Yuan a person good at creating disturbances. "You gave an outrageous comment on your master. You are relieved of your position."

After a while, the elder said to the others, "After half a month, there will be a re-examination to determine the new chief."

The other guards immediately had eyes that shone, their hearts pumping with enthusiasm.

"The position of chief of the guard! Every month I'll be able to receive half a primeval stone more!"
"To be able to become the chief is to become a man above men. Aside from the masters, I dare to see who else would show displeasure at me?"
"If I became the chief, how cool that would be…"

"Alright, what are you all pestling here for? Get downstairs and wait for the battle to end, then sweep the field!" The elder roared.

"Yes, yes, yes."
"Your subordinate takes his leave!"

The guards left in reverence and awe as they went down. One of the guards on the stairs lost his footing and fell down. Immediately there was a series of sounds implicating a chain of people falling and knocking down.

However under the academy elder's power and influence, the guards reddened their faces and endured in suffering, not letting out a single noise.

"Hmph! Those minions are just like dogs. Every once in a while they'd get this itch to misbehave; you'd have to smack them so that they know fear and respect. Then just throw some small victories and bones to them, letting them fight amongst themselves like dogs, letting them compete amongst themselves to serve my clan with their life. To hold a stick in one hand and a carrot in another – This is the unique way of the upper echelons." As the academy elder heard the quiet movements below, he sneered in his heart and turned his head, looking through the window and at the school gates.

A fresh group of ten or so students were on the ground at the entrance. Fang Yuan stood proudly, and there were three young girls back-to-back, huddling at a side opposite him.

"You, you-you better not come over!"
"If you come over, we'll shoot you with the moonblade!"

In their hands were a layer of blue radiance. It seemed like they were compelled to the point they would actually mobilize their primeval essence and use the Moonlight Gu.

Fang Yuan's body was still that of a normal fifteen-year-old boy, and if they attacked him with the moonblade it would not do him any good. Yet he was not afraid – instead he sneered at them and walked step by step towards the girls. "You girls have pretty big guts huh, have you forgotten the rules of the school? Inside the academy fighting using Gu is forbidden, or else the penalty will be expulsion. If you girls want to be expelled, then just do it."

"This…"The young girls hesitated.
"Indeed there is such a rule." The blue light in their hands faded away.

Fang Yuan's eyes flashed as he caught this opening and dashed forward, his palms waving in the air, cutting down two of them without a shadow of doubt.

Being the last one, her morale dropped and her knees turned weak. She collapsed to the ground crying heavily, begging fang Yuan, "Don't you come over Fang Yuan, please let me go."

Fang Yuan stared down at the young girl with a condescending look, his cold voice sounding in her ears. "A piece of primeval stone."

The girl's body fluttered and she quickly opened her money pouch, realization taking hold of her. She took out three to four pieces of primeval stones and held them in her palm, stretching out her hand to Fang Yuan, "Don't hit me, I'll give them all to you, I'll give all my stones to you!"

Fang Yuan was expressionless as he slowly reached out with his right hand. He lifted his forefinger and thumb, gently pinching at a piece of primeval stone from the girl's hand.

The young maiden could not stop trembling. Fang Yuan's hand had a youth's pale and slender form, but in her eyes his hand was horrifying like a ferocious claw of terror.

"I've said it earlier, I will only take one piece of primeval stone." Fang Yuan paused for a moment, then he said plainly, "You may leave."

The girl stared at Fang Yuan for a good while, then she finally got up. But her limbs were still weak and she could not properly stand. Her heart was already full of fear towards Fang Yuan, and she was afraid to the point that she could not muster a single breath of energy.

When the academy elder saw this, he could not help but shake his head. One of his reasons to remain an observer was to borrow the chance to see each of the student's respective fighting talents.

This girl who collapsed on the ground was only a C grade talent, but with this kind of mentality she could only become a logistics Gu Master. She would be able to be productive in the clan, but there was no expectation for her to be on the battlefield.

"As for this Fang Yuan…" The academy elder rubbed his chin, his eyes squinting with a flash of light. He felt that Fang Yuan was very interesting. Not only did Fang Yuan possess fighting talent, he even had a sense of propriety. To just extort for a piece of primeval stone was not beyond the bounds in the elder's heart. But if fang Yuan wanted to blackmail for two pieces, that would be too much and he would need to intervene.

The academy's allowance was originally three pieces. To have a piece taken away would still be considered harmless. But if he extorted away two stones, then what is the point of giving out subsidy? He might as well just give everything to Fang Yuan.

Very quickly the last group of students arrived. There were only five people, and among them was Fang Yuan's twin younger brother.

"Big brother, how could you be like this?! You are too bold, to actually beat up your classmates at the gates and take away their primeval stones!" Gu Yue Fang Zheng was wide-eyed as he looked at the scene. He could not believe what he was seeing before him, "I advice you to quickly go to the academy elder and take the initiative to admit your mistake, or else with you making such a huge matter, it's not a joke, you might actually get expelled!"

Fang Yuan laughed and said, "You're right."

Fang Zheng heaved a relieved sigh. Seeing that his older brother hadn't gone insane and could still be persuaded, that was good.

But very quickly he heard Fang Yuan say again, "Every one of you, a piece of primeval stone."

"What?" Fang Zheng opened his mouth wide with surprise, "Even I need to pay up?"

"My dearest little brother, of course you can choose not to." Fang Yuan's tone was very gentle. "But you will end up just like them," he said and pointed at those fallen on the ground. Some of them had fainted, and some of them were moaning in pain.

"Even his own younger brother isn't spared!"
"This Fang Yuan is crazy, he's too vicious…"
"We cannot defeat him, a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him. We better hand it over and overcome the trouble."
"That's right, we'll just pass up the primeval stone first. It's just one piece anyway, when we go back and report to the teachers, he'll be getting it!"

With the lesson drawn from their classmate's mistakes, the remaining youngsters obediently accepted Fang Yuan's blackmail with gazes of defiance. Except for the Bai Jiade, who chose to fight.

He went forward with his guard up, and punched. Fang Yuan easily dodged by a milimeters's distance and then counterattacked by jabbing the side of his neck.

Bai Jiade quickly fainted.

"It serves him right, this Bai Jiade is so arrogant."

"This whoremonger got what he deserved."

"Hold up." Just as the ones who paid were about to leave, Fang Yuan shouted at them to halt.

"Fang Yuan, are you actually going to go back on your word?" The youths started to become nervous.

Fang Yuan faced the teenagers on the ground, gently sighing. "Do you guys really think that I would squat down and search through their bodies one by one?"

The youths stared blankly, then they were hit by realization one by one. Each of them turned red in the face and stood at the spot hesitatingly.

Fang Yuan stared at them, narrowing his eyes. There was a flash of cold light in his gaze; immediately the five youngsters felt their heart beating fast, their scalps going numb at the same time.

"Alright, Fang Yuan. We understand your meaning."
"We'll just help you this once."

Under Fang Yuan's despotic aura, they could only lower their heads and search through each of the young teen's money pouches on the ground, taking out a piece of primeval stone from each bag. Then they brought it together and passed it to Fang Yuan.

The entire class had a total of fifty-seven people. By extorting a piece of primeval stone from every single one of them, Fang Yuan held fifty-six pieces.

He originally had twenty pieces, but he spent ten to buy a few jars of green bamboo wine. Adding the number of primeval stones from his own allowance and reward, the total number of primeval stones he had in his possession amounted up to seventy-nine pieces.

"This sort of capital free business that consists of extortion and plundering is really the most profitable business." Fang Yuan pocketed his money pouch that had suddenly expanded greatly into his bosom and strutted away, leaving behind a floor full of teenagers, lying like corpses on the ground.

And a few teenagers, Fang Zheng among them, blankly stared after Fang Yuan's gradually disappearing shadow.

"Get out there fast."
"All of you, faster! Arrange the little masters properly."
"The treatment Gu Master, where is he, ask him to come over fast!"

The guards were yelling as they all rushed forward, falling over each other in their eagerness to present themselves. They willingly gave their all for the small position of being the chief guard.

Waking up on the enfermary, Bai Jiade laughed.

.

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