Chapter 2340 - The Third Awakening
Snap, Snap, Snap
Fang Yuan awoke to the patrolling night watchman banging his wooden clappers together in an hourly rhythm.
The sounds spread into the high standing houses; Fang Yuan opened his eyes while his heart silently thought,
It's the hour before dawn.
Last night Fang Yuan slept peacefully, he had already planned everything well in advance and there was no reason to stay awake longer. While he would have been fine if he forgoed sleep for the night there was no reason to, instead he rested in order to maintain his vigorous energy.
Unceremoniously he lifted away his thin silk blanket and got up neatly. He opened the window and found that the spring rain had stopped and a layer of dew covered everything in his limited darkened sight.
The mix of fragrances from the earth, trees and wildflowers greeted him. The light chill in the air helped him clear his head, the sleepiness washing away cleanly. Right now the sun had yet risen, and black heaven covered the sky.
Looking around, the tall houses made of green bamboo and wood nestled quietly with the mountain, was a sea of pale green buildings.
Mountain houses such as those in Ge Yue Village generally had at least two floors; it was the mountain clan's unique structure of a house. Due to the mountain's uneven terrain, the first floor is built around massive wooden stakes and often dug into the mountain slightly; the second floor is generally where the bedrooms were located.
"Young master Fang Yuan, you're awake. I will come upstairs and prepare some water for you to wash up." At this moment, a maiden's voice floated up from downstairs.
Looking down, Fang Yuan saw his own personal servant, Shen Cui.
He watched impassively as she carried a basin of water up the stairs. Fang Yuan motioned for her to step back, and he cleaned his face, brushed his teeth with a willow twig, and rinsed his mouth as she waited patiently.
Once he finished she helped Fang Yuan dress, her plump breasts rubbing against his elbow or his back a few times during the process. Fang Yuan's face showed no expression; his heart was calm as water.
Fang Yuan remembered this from both his first and second life, his reaction had been completely different between the two. In his first life he was still a young man who didn't understand the Gu world. He felt excited when Shen Cui showed him attention and believes she truly liked him, he learned an important lesson when she snuffed him for his brother.
His third life would go exactly as it did in his second life for he had no interest in what would not benefit him.
Shen Cui smoothed the creases on Fang Yuan's clothing as Fang Zheng approached. Fang Yuan watched as his brother's face sparked with jealousy but it was quickly erased and replaced with a pitiful smile.
"Enough." Fang Yuan roughly brushed away Shen Cui's hands and watched as Fang Zheng's face contorted in a smidge of pain for a second.
"You can leave." Fang Yuan did not even look at Shen Cui as he tidied up his own sleeve cuffs. She pouted slightly, surprised by Fang Yuan's strange behavior. She hesitated for a second unsure of what to do but a look in his eye made her quietly retreat obediently.
"Lets go" Fang Yuan said to Fang Zheng.
His younger brother stood at the doorway, his head bowed down to look at his toes. He muttered a light "yes".
Fang Zheng was too excited and awoke before the fourth watch, he had been too nervous to fall back asleep. His eyes had black circles around them and he had already been wearing his robes for a few hours. .
Fang Yuan noticed it all but cared little as he walked towards the ceremony.
On the way there they meet many other youths of similar age, all heading to the same destination. Conversation could be heard as they passed by but Fang Yuan paid them little attention. They were irrelevant so he simply continued to walk passed.
What most people feel about ants on the ground around them, Fang Yuan felt about the people on this mountain. They were irrelevant, inconsequential, and generally useless. Similar to how a person will see a line of ants but still continue their step, if they end up crushing them or stepping past them doesn't affect the person at all.
Fang Yuan's path towards his goal would treat these ants around him in a similar way, if he stepped on them oh well and if he missed them, oh well.
The clan pavilion was in the middle of the village, reaching 5 story's tall and having sharp tilted roofs; it was heavily guarded. Before the pavilion was the square where the children gathered. This was the same place that the clan elders gathered to pray to the ancestors the night before.
Once roughly one hundred students gathered at the pavilion, the elder of the academy before the children and began to speak. "Good, all of you are punctual. Today is the Awakening Ceremony; perhaps the most important day of your lives. Quietly follow me as we enter the most important place in the clan."
His long beard and hair were white and ornately decorated with gold clasps. The elder was in high spirits as he led the group of teenagers into the pavilion. Most expected to climb to the top of the pavilion but were surprised when they were led down a sturdily built stone staircase.
As the group of youths were lead deeper into a mountain cave they made surprised and amazed noises. The cave was beautiful, intricately carved stalactites sparkled with the colors of the rainbow. They gave off light that shone on the youth's faces, the neon hues gorgeous.
Fang Yuan was mixed into the crowd, quietly observing everything that was happening.
The Hope Gu in this cave are feed from the waters of the spirit spring and so are of the highest quality. Without heavens will's interference or the Spring Autumn Cicada to instantly refine Gu worms interfering with Ge Yue ancestor or refining the half complete Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus may be imposible.
They walked several hundred steps in awe of the shimmering lights above. After turning a bend in the cave they came to a fairly large cavern with many of the clans leadership already inside. Spliting the cavern in half was a three zhang wide underground river. The colorful lights of the stalactites reflected off the river's pale blue coloring bathing the cave in color.
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. On the opposite side of the river was a sea of bright white Hope Gu flowers.
This was one of the most important locations of the Ge Yue clan as it was where are their childred awakended thier apertures. If this cavern were destroyed and the clan was forced to grow lower quality Hope Gu then the children who were awakended later would not open thier apertures to theri fullest potential. Someone who would be able awaken at sixty seven percent would only open to sixty six percent or maybe even sixty five or sixty four if the Hope Gu were as especially low quality.
"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 through the field of flowers until you cant take another step, all of you must try your hardest to walk as far as possible! The elder sternly said while overlooking the entire group.
The youths replied enthusiastically as a twinkle entered their eyes. This is where the path of the rest of thier lives was dictated. None of the decitions or actions done before meant anything in comparasine to todays results.
"Gu Yue Chen Bo." The elder held the name list and called out the first person. He walked three steps into the flower sea ashore but could make it no further. He felt incredibly weak and sickly, turning around and leaving the river quickly.
"Gu Yue Chen Bo, three steps, no talent to become a Gu Master. Next, Gu Yue Zao Xie!"
"Gu Yue Mo Bei!"
"Gu Yue Kai Bun!"
The list of names continued as fifteen year olds continued to determine the rest of their lives.
Neary an hour passed and yet only about fifty of the youths had walked through the flower sea. About twenty five of them had no talent for cultivation while most of the rest had either C or D grade talent. At this point only Mo Bei and Chi Cheng had B grade talents, both of them were the grandchildren of clan elders.
"Gu Yue Fang Yuan!"
At that moment his surroundings went quiet. Countless numbers of eyes watched him intently, many people held "A" rank expectations and were excited to see Fang Yuan unlock his aperture.
Under the gazes of the masses, he walked across the river and reached the opposite bank.
He could feel a blanket of pressure on him as the first Hope Gu entered his forming aperture.
In his second life Fang Yuan was unable to change the outcome of his aperture opening and was stuck with C grade talent.
If he had known about the Spring Autumn Cicada then he could have forced additional Hope Gu into his aperture increasing his talent but damaging his aperture. Doing such a thing would have been risky for a number of reasons but he would have done it without hesitation despite the many risk if revealing a rank six aura.
In this third life Fang Yuan didn't have the Spring Autumn Cicada as such had no possible way to effect the hope Gu.
Hope Gu was the most common human path Gu worm and easily the most used Gu worm cross the five borders. While its use was incredibly limited, it was the best and most common naturally occurring way to open one's aperture and was used by nearly every cultivator at the start of their journey.
The pressure of a few Hope Gu was easily ignored as Fang Yuan kept moving forward.
After every step Fang Yuan took he could feel the pressure building, about three inches below his navel. One after another the Hope Gu would fly out from the sea of flowers and enter his body, joining the ball of light.
Fang Yuan ignored the frowns and the whispers around him as he focused on the light building about three inches under his navel.
Ten steps.
Twenty steps.
Twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven.
Fang Yuan counted in his heart; when he walked the twenty seventh 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, the hairs on his body flattened and his pores re-opened again.
Fang Yuan re-centered his mind and took a deep breath as he quickly inspected his aperture.
Like in his previous lives a pearl partially filled with a coppery green liquid could be found in between his kidneys. This pearl is most commonly called the primeval sea and was something shared by every cultivator. Mortal apertures themselves are a fundamental but poorly understood part of cultivation by the general Gu master population.
Mortals were far too afraid to experiment with their own apertures as any injury to the aperture would more than likely ruin their ability to contain primeval essence. In other words, the risk was incredibly high while the payoff had an incredibly low chance of paying out. It was similar to rock gambling, but the biggest risk of rock gambling is losing some primeval stones instead of destroying their aperture.
By the time anyone had the resources or the ability to research them they were already far past the point where it was worth it. Immortals are the only ones with those resources and by that time they had blessed lands which basically rendered this research useless.
In the hundreds of years of his first life even Fang Yuan avoided experimenting with his own aperture. As a demonic overlord he experimented on other people's apertures but even after ruining the cultivation of hundreds of people he barely made any gains into apertures.
With all the knowledge and attainment he has from his second life Fang Yuan has many ideas of how to change and improve his aperture but of course none of them were applicable any time soon.
As Fang Yuan just opened his aperture he was a rank one stage one cultivator which means his primeval sea is known as the green copper sea. His sea only filled up to a little less than half of the pearl.
A Gu master's talent is determined by how much of their aperture is filled by the primeval sea. Fang Yuan's aperture only fills to fourty four percent which means he has 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 fifteen years.
A person's life potential isn't something that can be changed by a different lifestyle. If Fang Yuan would have been reborn when he was a baby and lived up until he was fifteen he would have still unlocked forty-four percent talent. Some say it is determined by fate or luck, or even blood while truthfully it is a combination of all of them that determines a persons talent.
In Fang Yuan's original life on earth, genetics was a detailed field of study that most students touched on in school at least a little bit. Because of his knowledge Fang Yuan believes that genetics, or "blood" plays a meaningful but not the entire role in determining talent.
A shout brought him back to reality. "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.
Again the buzzing of ants around him filled his ears as he walked back to the group and awaited the next ant to unlock their aperture.
The thoughts and opinions of others were worth less than the water he could feel soaking his boots.
"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 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 lift him up. His head finally left the water surface and his body found balance again.
He wiped his face in a panic and focused on whoever lifted him up. 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 foolish older and younger brother of the Fang family!" Someone someone said from the riverbank. The laughter grew louder, yet the academy elder did not come out and stop it. He was deeply frowning, disappointment at such a display filling his heart.
Fang Zheng was completely at a loss on what to do, and then he heard his brother say to him,
"Stand up straight. Honor the deaths of our true parents and walk proud of the name Fang.
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, he looked full of pride despite only being a C rank.
He was obviously only a C grade talent, yet how can big brother be so calm when he thought he would be A grade? 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. Under his breath he said "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 displaying 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 three 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 composure.
"Well, the Fang bloodline originated from us Chi bloodline. So the Chi family will adopt 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 of the other elders.
When the clan head got in this state there was nothing they could do to stop him from getting what he wanted