11 RI
The thoughts of Fang Yuan flew all over the place in the tree house.
With the knowledge acquired from his previous life, Fang Yuan could sense Wang Da's existence, but how was his strength?
Fang Yuan had never seen this Wang Da, but with the information at hand, there was much he could analyze from this.
"Courage is built upon the basis of strength, he had collected my information and still wants to exact revenge on me. With such a confidence, his cultivation has to be above Rank one!"
"These three years he had been moving around the three red circled areas, living on the fringe of the three clan villages. Almost everyday he faced the risk of getting discovered and purged. This shows he does not have the strength to roam outside, and roaming outside requires Rank three cultivation.
"This means that, at first evaluation, he is a Rank two."
Fang Yuan's eyes glinted with cold light, "Counting the time, he disappeared for three years and cultivated to Rank two now, so he should be a B or C grade talent, and his aperture should have about 40-70% primeval essence."
"These three years, he could survive and at the same time, live at home despite Jiang He's observation, so he has to have a stealth-type of Gu worm at work.
Information was the most important thing to a Gu Master's showdown.
Although Fang Yuan had no investigative-type Gu worm, with his experience and knowledge, he could forcefully reverse engineer Wang Da's cultivation level and Gu worms to a highly plausible degree.
Very quickly, his mental image of a Rank two demonic faction Gu Master appeared, carrying the hatred of his family's murder and lurking somewhere to kill his revenge target.
"I can kill others, others can naturally come to kill me. This is nothing." Fang Yuan laughed lightly.
In this world, anyone had the right to live, and anyone had the chance to die.
Those who kill, are bound to get killed.
Since he committed murder, he should be mentally prepared to get killed.
If he was killed like that, then he would die like that, it was nothing much, and definitely no regrets. This was the path he chose.
This point, Fang Yuan had great resolve already.This is the resolution of the demonic way!
"Wang Er wants to kill me, then in this mid-year exam, it is definitely the best chance. Normally, students would reside in the village, and with his Rank two cultivation, he cannot creep into the village, that is courting death."
"Maybe he evaluated that I might come out to hunt. But Qing Mao Mountain is so huge, he alone has to hide his traces and also have to search for me, it is too difficult. Now that there's this chance, he is most likely to strike."
"He is a Rank two Gu Master, and one that has struggled for three years, living a life of danger and unknown, a demonic faction Gu Master nurtured like this. With my current battle strength, I am definitely not his match. But this does not mean that I have no chance of survival."
Escape!
Fang Yuan instantly decided.
Nothing is too shameless if it is to survive, so if he can't fight it, run.
For a Gu Master to make a sudden breakthrough is almost never happening. Fighting against a higher realm is possible, but that is built on the base that the Gu Master has special Gu worms.
Fang Yuan had a number of Gu worms in his possession, but the Spring Autumn Cicada was hibernating and unusable, while the Liquor worm, White Boar Gu, Little light Gu and Moonlight Gu were not trump cards to fight a higher realm.
Obviously knowing the enemy was unbeatable, yet resolving to fight to the death, that is a stupid "hot-blooded" behaviour. Even if he wins, that would not win him the favor of fate.
Fang Yuan is cautious his entire life even with trump cards, and if the chances of victory is slim, he would choose to avoid combat.
He liked to be in control of the situation, using unscrupulous methods to raise his chances to the limit. He loved fighting assured battles.
Only when he has no choice would he engage in a risky fight.
Thus, his favourite activity was to bully the weak and snatch resources to get stronger. Strong enough until he surpasses his enemies and then stomp on them afterwards, bullying the weak.
There is nothing shameless about this, those who find challenges just to prove their bravery and risk their lives to fight to the death with strong enemies, that is the real stupidity.
But unfortunately, this "quality" has been praised and recommended, because any organization needed the individual to sacrifice themselves to protect the interests of the ones in power.
One just needs to think slightly to know that survival is the prerequisite to all activities.
In order to survive and fulfill the ambitions on their heart, this is a person's greatest courage.
Dying for aspiration, those are fools. Surviving shamelessly for their ambitions, those are true brave warriors!
On earth, Han Xin(1) endured the shame of crawling through someone's legs, Cao Cao(2) was chased till he shaved his beard and torn his robe, Yue Wang(3) in order to live, had to eat shit to express his loyalty...
That's why, fuck off with honor and reputation, and face!
Regardless of organization, they would applaud such a value system. The more that needed to be sacrificed, the more they would be promoted, like a military.
"Which direction should I go, the one that has the lowest chance of encountering Wang Da?" A map appeared in Fang Yuan's mind.
"Wang Da already knows I have the beast skin map, now he should be hiding in the forest, searching for me by looking for the wild boar distribution on the map. I cannot go to these places, thus I can only move in reverse to find a chance to survive." Thinking of this, a slightly insane route surfaced in Fang Yuan's mind.Under the sunset in the mountain forest, tree shadows overlapped and wild grass grew abundantly.
A pair of bloodshot eyes hid deep in the shadows. His eyes burnt with hatred and anger, as if it couldn't be doused even with a tsunami.
"Fang Yuan, I've finally found you..." Wang Da gritted his teeth, growling the words out from his mouth.
Under his gaze, not far away, a youngster with a thin body and pale face was traversing the forest.
With his enemy nearby, Wang Da did not act immediately, but turned his gaze to several other positions.
From each of these positions, an invigilator Gu Master was hidden.
To prevent cheating and for immediate treatment of injuries, the area nearby had around a few dozen Rank two Gu Masters hiding. There was even Rank three clan elders holding the fort on the mountains high up.
Wang Da carefully moved around the forest and collected a lot of intel.
"I want to kill Fang Yuan, so I need to get rid of these three Gu Masters first. Otherwise, once I show myself, I will be disturbed. Maybe with surprise, I can kill Fang Yuan, but I will also get killed by the Gu Masters that chase after me from there."
"I have Rank two middle stage cultivation, and there's 50% primeval essence in my body. I have to act first and kill these three Gu Masters, it is difficult. I have to strike consecutively in a very short period. Otherwise, once they find their companions dead, they would become alert and my traces will be exposed..."
"Shadow Follower Gu." Wang Da closed his eyes and called in his heart.
Immediately, his body became enshrouded in a lump of darkness and could move among the tree shadows.
All was silent.
In a thick bush nearby, the Gu Yue clan's Rank two Gu Master sprawled inside, yawning out of boredom.
"So boring, accompanying these junior students, I feel like a nanny." This Gu Master complained softly, not feeling the shadow that was slowly creeping around him.
A pair of bony hands stretched out from the shadows.
This pair of hands was pale to the limit, the joints were huge and the ten nails were sharp and long, the nails dyed a shade of dark purple and emitted a slightly fishy smell.
"What smell is this?" The Gu Yue clan Gu Master sniffed, frowning subconsciously.
He just wanted to investigate, but it was too late.
Wang Da pounced like a snake, striking at lightning speed!
One hand covered the Gu Master's mouth and nose, while the other stabbed from the shadows towards his back. His dark purple nails were sharp as blades, his fingers easily entering the Gu Master's body and reaching his heart.
The fingernails were poisonous, and at that moment it invaded the heart. Through the blood, it spread all over the Gu Master's body.
The Gu Master's body stiffened and lost all signs of life.
Although they were both Rank two Gu Masters, one had assaulted abruptly with preparation, so before the battle even begun, it had ended.
"I used 10% of my primeval essence, 40% left." Wang Da checked his aperture, and fused into the shadows once again.
A moment later, the second Gu Master hiding behind a rock also met his assault. His eyes shrunk to pin size as he collapsed on the ground.
The poison invaded his body, and soon he turned purple, and from his nose two streams of purple blood flowed out.
"30% left." Wang Da chanted silently, turning into shadows again. @@novelbin@@
"Who is it!" The third Gu Master was hiding on a tree branch atop a huge tree. At the crucial moment he sensed something wrong, and at the time where Wang Da struck, he turned around and grabbed the two poisonous hands.
"Damn it!" Wang Da laughed sinisterly, his ten nails growing crazily, at once becoming five centimeters long, stabbing the Gu Master's forearm and piercing his skin.
His forearm bled and the blood quickly turned dark purple.
"This is the Love Life Separation?!" The third Gu Master seeing this was shocked beyond doubt; the purple poison had already infected his face.
He knew he had no poison resistance Gu worm and was surely dead, thus he showed resolve on his face, shouting, "Then let's die together!"
He opened his mouth and stretched out his tongue.
There was a crescent moon tattoo on his tongue — it was the Moonlight Gu.
A moonblade shot out and slashed Wang Da's right shoulder, piercing through and coming out from his back.
The blood splattered.
Wang Da grunted, his body swaying a little, but the Gu Master had already passed away, with a trace of life left.
"Correct, this is Love Life Separation." Wang Da stood on the tree branch, slowly standing up, showing a bitter smile.
Love Life Separation, the number one poison among the Rank two Gu worms! To refine it, one needs the Rank one life breath grass, widow spider, red needle scorpion and the heart of a lover.
To refine this Gu worm, Wang Da killed his own wife who loved him deeply, and dug out her heart!
"It is all for survival, I could only choose strength... this is the resolution of my demonic path!" Wang Da's eyes were red as he stared tightly at the nearby youngster.
"I gave up on love, and only had kinship left, but you took them from me! Fang Yuan..." He growled lowly, "I want you to regret deeply all that you did!"
-x-X-x-
(1) 韩信 (Han Xin): Famous general of first emperor Han emperor Liu Bang.
(2) 曹操 (Cao Cao): Famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei, father of Emperor Cao Pi, as well as the main villain of the novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms.
(3) 越王勾践 (Yue Wang/King Gou Jian of Yue): sometimes considered one of the Five Hegemons.
-x-X-x-
"Kill!" Wang Da growled, ferociously leaping into the air from the tree branch.
As he was about to get near to his mortal enemy, three moonblades shot out from nowhere suddenly and intercepted him midway.
"Why is there a fourth Gu Master?" Wang Da's heart sank, twisting his body forcefully in midair, narrowing avoiding two moonblades. The remaining one, which he could no longer evade, hit his left leg.
Bang!
Wang Da crashed onto the ground, lowering his head to look at his left leg. There was a wound, deep and long, blood already dripping all over.
"Damn..." Wang Da gritted his teeth, his heart thinking, "Shadow Follower Gu!"
Immediately, he turned into a lump of dark shadow as his speed rose drastically, moving backwards without a sound.
At this moment.
A Gu worm flew out from nowhere, at the same time an old and weary voice sounded out —
"Flash Blink Gu, explode."
The Gu worm exploded on command, turning into a blinding white light.
The white light was unavoidable, abruptly appearing and turning the entire dark forest bright.
"Ah!" Wang Da shrieked. His body which had turned into shadows could not hide anywhere under the bright light, and went back to his human form.
Although the Flash Blink Gu was only Rank one and also a consumable type, it was the complete counter of Wang Da's Shadow Follower Gu. Once the darkness was dispelled by the light, the Rank two Shadow Follower Gu needed to rest three hours before it could be used again.
In nature, all beings are equal, one counters another. Although the Shadow Follower Gu had very strong lurking abilities, it also had a great weakness.
After he was countered, Wang Da's heart sank to the bottom of the valley.
This fourth Gu Master was more experienced, not only did he know which Gu to use, he also hid himself well, a true foe. More importantly, Wang Da could no longer use the Shadow Follower Gu, thus having no way to retreat.
"I am Gu Yue Sou, lad, if you surrender now, my clan might still spare your life!" A white haired, silver beard Rank two Gu Master appeared in front of Wang Da's vision.
"Spare me, hmph, I'll kill you first!" Wang Da knew that if it was dragged, there would be more Gu Masters appearing to deal with him, he had to kill this fourth Gu Master as soon as possible.
"My primeval essence only has 20% left, be it revenge or preserving my life, I have to kill this meddlesome old fellow first!" Wang Da picked up his spirits and jumped towards Gu Yue Sou.
Gu Yue Sou snorted. His entire body, be it hair or pore hair, grew insanely and intertwined, in the blink of an eye forming a snow white battle armor with a spiky design.
Seeing this change, Wang Da's expression changed. The experienced Gu Master was like a porcupine, causing Wang Da to not know how to strike.
His Rank two strong poison Gu Love Life Separation, although the poison was extremely strong and deadly, it did not have strong attacking abilities, only usable as a sneak attack.
Wang Da only had Love Life Separation and Shadow Follower Gu. If he had a defensive Gu worm, he would not have gotten hit by the moonblade.
"Hmph, if I cannot deal with you, I'll kill Fang Yuan first!" Wang Da was not stupid. The three years of living had made him cunning and ruthless.
He moved quickly, getting around Gu Yue Sou and attacking the culprit of his family's murder.
"Dream on!" Gu Yue Sou activated his primeval essence, and his body of spikes immediately shot out two sharp pins, spiralling and flying five to six metres towards Wang Da.
Wang Da's body shifted, narrowly avoiding the two snow white spikes.
On his hands, his ten nails were half a palm long, purple and dark, the fog state poison circulating them.
"Die!" Wang Da was already mad from battle, laughing maniacally as he rushed towards his target.
In his eyes, Fang Yuan's face was full of shock and panic.
Killing intent had overtaken Wang Da's brain, he could almost hear himself piercing Fang Yuan's skin, and his indignant last breath.
"You wish!"
Seeing that he was about to succeed, another person appeared, blocking Wang Da's way.
The fifth Gu Master rushed over from nearby!
"It's actually the Love Life Separation?" This middle-aged man was unmoved by Wang Da's crazy and ferocious demeanour.
Rock Skin Gu!
The middle-aged man activated his primeval essence, red steel primeval essence gushing out like smoke, his naked arms immediately turned from yellow to grey-white colour. At the same time both his arms expanded like balloons, forming a large and thick rock arm.
As both parties got closer, Wang Da's expression became more twisted and insane. The middle-aged Gu Master had a solemn expression as he stretched out both arms to grab Wang Da.
"Trying to get me with this speed?" Wang Da showed a mocking expression.
The middle-aged man's limbs were covered by a thick rock skin, even Wang Da's nails could not penetrate. But the arms were really too heavy and slow. Fang Da felt that he could easily evade them.
"Really? Jade Wind Wheel!" The middle-aged Gu Master shouted, and suddenly a pair of jade-coloured cyclones circulated around his rock arm like armbands.
The rock arm's speed immediately rose!
"How can that be... urgh!" Wang Da's face was shocked as he was swept by the rock arm and flew away.
The middle-aged Gu Master was experienced in battle. If he had used the bee Gu Jade Wind Wheel from the start, Wang Da might not have fallen so easily.
Wang Da was sent flying by the rock arm, falling on the ground in a mess. The chest that was hit felt pain.
Puke.
He barely got up, but could not help but vomit blood.
"5% primeval essence left, I'm gonna die." He checked his aperture, laughing bitterly. Seeing Fang Yuan near him, he showed insane resolve on his face, "Even if I die, you will join me!"
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
He ignored his injuries and rushed out.
"Block him!" The middle-aged Gu Master was a pure close-ranged fighter with no long range Gu, at once he could do nothing.
The old Gu Master had already arrived, his body's white hair turning into finger-sized spirals as they flew like nimble snakes, extending five to six metres and reached from behind, piercing Wang Da's body.
But Wang Da did not care, rushing out regardless.
"Die!!!" He screamed loudly, his ten fingernails already fifty centimetres long.
The middle-aged Gu Master chased after, and upon seeing this scene, his expression changed as he could no longer stop it.
Seeing that Wang Da was about to get his way, a bright blue jade light burst from the other side.
"Jade Skin Gu!" Under the pressure of life and death, Fang Zheng screamed out loudly.
Immediately, his skin was covered by a sturdy layer of jade skin.
Wang Da's fingers were like knife blades, stabbing at him. Although the Love Life Separation did not have strong attacking ability, the Jade Skin Gu was only a Rank one Gu worm and could not block his nails.
Howl!
The elderly Gu Master seeing Fang Zheng about to die, shouted frantically and his eyes expanded. Even more snow white needles shot out and pierced Wang Da's body.
After that, the needles worked like snakes, first piercing his back to his chest, the circulating around his neck, his arms and his legs.
Boiling blood poured from Wang Da's body, immediately dying the white hair red.
His entire body was covered by white hair, just like the wild boar who had fallen into a trap of green bamboo spikes, stopping his charge and being unable to move.
An intense feeling of dizziness hit him. Wang Da laughed pathetically, he knew that death was impending.
How unsatisfying!
His vision was dyed blur, and on his death moment, the most vivid memory in his life surfaced again.
"Wan Er...." He subconsciously called out his wife's name, as the knife on his hand pierced her body.
"Why?" His wife looked at Wang Da, her beautiful face showing confusion and shock, tightly staring at Wang Da's eyes.
Wang Da's eyes were red, as his body shivered, forcing out a word from his mouth, "Sorry."
His wife smiled slightly, her smile full of love. There was not a single drop of hate.
"I understand," She said.
She wanted to stretch out her right hand, touching Wang Da's face for the last time before she died.
But in the middle, her hand dropped.
Killing his wife for her heart, and refining Love Life Separation. From then on he had strength and went on the demonic path! @@novelbin@@
Do you have regrets?
From that day on, he constantly asked himself this.
I regret it!
He regretted so much that he would rather die, thus he swore that he had to protect the remaining family members of his!
But.
But...
"If I could start from the beginning again, Wan Er, I would still do the same...." Emotional tears poured from Wang Da's red eyes.
Fang Zheng stared at him, his body glowing with jade light.
From start to end, he was in deep confusion and suspicion.
An unfamiliar Gu Master rushed madly towards himself, and wanted to tear him to bits. But Fang Zheng did not know him.
Under the thick death aura, Fang Zheng could not move an inch. His mind was blank as he only subconsciously activated the Jade Skin Gu.
Wang Da's nails pierced the jade skin and stabbed one centimetre in, but did not move anymore.
He died.
He was full of tears when he died.
"Its... over?" Fang Zheng breathed roughly, his eyes losing focus and seemed rather hollow.
Then, a strong sense of dizziness overcame him.
Plop.
He also fell on the ground.
Love Life Separation, the strongest Rank two poison. Although it did not pierce through all the jade skin, the poison already invaded his body.
-x-X-x-
A wild boar almost as huge as an elephant was lying in the mudpit.
It closed its eyes shut, half kneeling and half lying, a pair of tusks clean from soil, shining like sharp blades.
The twilight reflected on its dark black fur, its huge stomach was white and with each breath, moved up and down creating a snorting sound.
Wild boar king!
Fang Yuan was several hundred meters away from it, but still carefully walked along with the direction of the wind.
"Even though I can kill wild boars now, against this wild boar king, I can only run away. Even an average Rank two Gu Master cannot kill it. If he is not clear of the Gu worms on its body, he might even fall prey to it.
King of the beasts normally have Gu worms inhabiting their bodies.
On the wild boar king's body, there would normally be Boar Gu, such as Pink Boar Gu or Flower Boar Gu. Other than the boar species, there might also be Beast Skin Gu or Spike Fur worm.
In this world, there are all sorts of Gu worms. Normally, Gu worms reside in the bodies of strong wild beasts, and live alongside the wild beasts.
When the wild beast gets attacked, the Gu worms will sense the danger and assist the wild beast in resisting the strong foe.
This wild boar king's body was huge, and its strength greatly exceeded the average wild boar. Fang Yuan was no match against it alone, not to mention there was at least one or more mysterious Gu worms in its body.
However, Fang Yuan's adventure this time, was not to kill the wild boar king. It was to avoid Wang Da's pursue.
Wang Da knew that Fang Yuan had the beast skin map, and Fang Yuan used that knowledge to his advantage. Going nowhere but instead heading towards the wild boar king's danger marking area.
The wild boar king although dangerous, was still a beast after all, and had no human intelligence. Old man Wang as a mortal, could venture to this place and retreat safely, so why couldn't Fang Yuan do the same?
Going on a reverse path, although seemingly dangerous, hid a way to survive instead.
As he moved even further, the wild boar king was slowly left behind by Fang Yuan. On the map, it would seem like Fang Yuan took a big circle and went around the red cross, forming a concave curve. Finally, he reached the hill where several clan elders were staying and having the mid-year assessment there on the spot.
An hour later, a youngster full of grass bits, his shirt torn in several areas and his feet full of mud, carried a bag and ran up the hill.
This pathetic looking youngster, was Fang Yuan.
"I'm finally safely back here. At this place, there are clan elders to protect me and my safety is assured. But I cannot afford to be careless." Fang Yuan sighed in relief, and slowly ascended the hill.
The hill had a simple tentage and tens of students were nearby as the academy's guards were collating the wild boar tusks in their bags. The few clan elders that were stationed here were missing, and only one was left.
"Why is the atmosphere so weird?" Fang Yuan frowned slightly, acutely feeling something important had occurred. @@novelbin@@
When he got near the tentage, he heard the students' discussions.
"Did you hear, there was an assassination earlier, and several Rank two Gu Masters died."
"Are you serious?"
"It's true, I came here early, and I saw Gu Yue Fang Zheng carried away by several clan elders, hurrying away."
"Gu Yue Fang Zheng is too unlucky, to encounter something like this during the exam."
"Hehe, you don't know huh. The target was Fang Zheng, because he is A grade talent!"
"I wonder if he'll die?"
"Even if he doesn't die, he's gonna be affected. Maybe his talent might drop after that injury."
Fang Yuan's footsteps halted. He was clear in his heart, conjuring the truth of the matter.
"Wang Da wanted to deal with me and avenge his kin. But after I found the treehouse, I changed my route and went towards the wild boar king. Wang Da did not expect this and found Fang Zheng by accident instead. His source of information came from those hunters and he did not know that I have a twin brother. He mistook Fang Zheng as me and wanted to kill me, but was stopped by the surrounding Gu Masters who were protecting the area. Right now the question is — Did Wang Da die?"
Fang Yuan frowned tightly. Wang Da successfully escaping, Wang Da captured, Wang Da killed — these three possibilities would greatly affect his future plans and actions.
Thinking for a while, Fang Yuan decided to follow his original plan.
The academy elder's expression was ugly, Fang Zheng was actually assassinated. Without any clues or evidence, he would not be able to guess that Fang Zheng had become Fang Yuan's scapegoat, but thought of the Bai clan and Xiong clan!
Fang Zheng was the only A grade talent that the Gu Yue clan had for the last three years, the Bai clan and Xiong clan would naturally not let him grow. Sending an assassin Gu Master to kill him and prevent him from getting stronger, this was normal.
Even the Gu Yue clan would do something like this. Secretly sending Gu Masters and targeting the other two clan's genius students.
"The assassin was killed on the spot, but I wonder how is Fang Zheng's injuries?" Academy elder thought, and at this moment, his attendant brought him a piece of paper.
Academy elder received the paper, reading without paying proper attention, "In this year's examination, the results are as follows... Gu Yue Chi Cheng sixteen tusks, Gu Yue Mo Bei fourteen tusks..."
The surrounding students' attention were obtained. The results were clear.
D grade students, even if they worked together, they could only obtain three to four tusks. B and C grades, at most eight to nine. Those with more than ten tusks were the good performers.
The best was Gu Yue Chi Cheng with sixteen tusks. Next was Mo Bei, and as for Fang Zheng he had ten.
Gu Yue Chi Cheng showed a smug expression. He was lucky this time and encountered two wild boars fighting each other, thus he got the easy reward. Gu Yue Mo Bei was indignant, allowing Chi Cheng to surpass him.
The academy elder announced, "As such, I announce the number one student for this examination is..."
"Halt!" Fang Yuan stepped out at this moment.
"Fang Yuan, you are late. The examination ended an hour ago, according to the rules, the wild boar tusks that you obtain will be deducted by four as punishment." Chi Cheng immediately shouted.
Fang Yuan ignored him and opened the bag on his back, grabbing the bottom of the bag and pouring out the contents.
Crash.
Dozens of wild boar tusks gathered into a pile by his feet.
"This!" Chi Cheng stared with his mouth agape.
Mo Bei and the others stared their eyeballs out at the pile.
"How can there be so many? This is too much!" The academy elder looked at Fang Yuan in disbelief, "Fang Yuan, did you hunt all these?"
Fang Yuan cupped his fists, "I only hunted a dozen tusks myself, but I found a bag that could've been hidden by hunters. Inside it were many wild boar tusks. I thought about it, the exam was that we had to obtain as many tusks as possible within a day, and did not specify that we have to kill it ourselves, thus I brought it here."
Once he finished, the crowd burst into discussions.
"How can this be?"
"Way too lucky!"
"This is too fake, could the questions have leaked thus he cheated?"
The academy elder stared at Fang Yuan, looking for a while, then declared, "This exam, Fang Yuan is the first."
...
The family head room's atmosphere was heavy.
Gu Yue Bo sat at the leading seat, and the other dozen elders sat in two rows beside him, their faces full of rage.
"Gu Yue Yao Ji, you are the number one healer in our clan, I'm asking you how is Fang Zheng now?" Gu Yue Bo asked a clan elder.
Gu Yue Yao Ji was an old woman with a hunched back, her face full of treebark-like wrinkles.
She coughed twice, slowly saying, "Reporting to clan head, the situation has stabilized. Fang Zheng's life is in no danger, but he is still sleeping. His talent did not drop because of this."
"Good if the talent didn't drop." Gu Yue Bo breathed a sigh of relief, the asked the punishment hall's elder, "Has the assassin's situation been assessed?"
The punishment hall elder was not as senior as Gu Yue Yao Ji, and immediately stood up, lowering his head, "Yes, thirty-five years old, male, identity unknown, possibly a demonic faction Gu Master. He has two Gu worms, Shadow Follower Gu and Love Life Separation."
Gu Yue Bo nodded, "Seems like an assassin, Love Life Separation... the Rank two number one poison, no wonder he could kill three of my Gu Masters."
"Clan head, we have to investigate further! It's either the Bai clan or the Xiong clan!" Gu Yue Chi Lian shouted, his eyes almost bursting into flames.
"Shadow Follower Gu, Love Life Separation... this is not like the Bai or Xiong clan's pawn pieces. He might be an outside demonic faction Gu Master, wanting to get affiliated with the clans, thus being instructed to assassinate Fang Zheng to prove his loyalty. Regardless, this matter definitely has to do with the two clans," Gu Yue Mo Chen coldly said.
These two clan elders in power, although they did not get along, once an external enemy appears, they would discard their hatred and knit tightly together.
Gu Yue Bo nodded, thinking the same himself.
Wang Da had disappeared for three years, with no traces to be found. The villagers all thought of him to be dead, thus his identity became a mystery. The Gu Yue higher-ups did not know this, they would not be concerned with a servant's death. They placed all their attentions on the Xiong and Bai clans.
At this moment, the academy elder walked in.
"Clan leader..." He looked worried and was about to speak when Gu Yue Bo answered, "Academy elder, Fang Zheng is fine, his talent is still A grade."
The academy elder's face became relaxed.
"Oh yes, are the other students safe? And for this examination, how are their results, which place is Fang Zheng?" Gu Yue Bo asked conveniently.
The academy elder answered truthfully, and when he said that Fang Yuan had accidentally picked up a bag of wild boar tusks and got first place, Gu Yue Bo's eyes shone.
The hall too went silent. The clan elders, as if they sensed it, subtly observed the atmosphere, and the originally nervous environment became slightly more peculiar.
-x-X-x-
In the discussion room, Gu Yue Bo expressionlessly sat in the leader's seat with deep meaningful eyes.
The remaining dozen or so clan elders all sat upright, looking down, only using the corner of their eye to sweep the surroundings and discern some clues from their expressions.
The atmosphere became delicate.
"Fang Yuan getting first place, the deeper meaning behind this is definitely not simple. He actually said he found a bag of hidden wild boar tusks, this is too unbelievable."
"This bag might've been prepared by someone, it is not possible for Fang Yuan to do it himself. That means someone is helping Fang Yuan in the dark."
"This year's mid-year exam is unlike the previous ones. We had to deploy tens of Rank two Gu Masters to invigilate the exam. Thus the contents of this examination, not only does the academy elder know, but many of the elders in the clan as well."
"If anyone wanted to prepare this bag in advance, it can only be the clan elders present here now, or even the clan leader!"
The clan elders were all shrewd foxes. After being in the political field for years, they immediately thought of many things.
Fang Zheng was an A grade talent, if he really reached Rank four, what did that mean?
That would mean he is the next clan leader!
Fang Yuan is Fang Zheng's brother. Even if he is only C grade, with that blood relationship, he is worth investing in!
To the clan leader Gu Yue Bo, if he helped Fang Yuan secretly, that would be bringing him into his faction, and to Fang Zheng, it was a good belt to tie him to the leader faction together.
To the clan elders, Fang Zheng who is the only A grade talent in years, has already been absorbed into the clan leader's faction. If he was really nurtured, the clan leader's faction would be even stronger. However, if the clan elders made Fang Yuan into their own, using this layer of blood relation, it would be a good chess piece when dealing in Fang Zheng in the future.
Thus, the ten over people in this hall, they all had the motive to help Fang Yuan.
But who?
Gu Yue Chi Lian thought deeply, "I did not recruit Fang Yuan, so who would help him secretly? Is it Mo Chen that old man, hmm, possible. Although Fang Yuan killed his family servant, but that's just a servant, even if they all died it wouldn't hurt him. The clan leader is more possible though, he took in Fang Zheng, so if he recruited Fang Yuan as well, that would increase his control over Fang Zheng! But... in previous years, the norm is to recruit them during the year end exam. Taking his action now during the mid-year, it is breaking the rules."
"Not exactly breaking the rules, but it really is throwing a curveball. Just exactly who thinks highly of Fang Yuan, even more than me?" Gu Yue Mo Chen was also thinking.
The truth is, after Fang Yuan killed Gao Wan and sent the minced corpse, he changed his impression of Fang Yuan and had the thoughts of recruiting him.
But such actions only happened during the year end, after the students graduated from the academy.
Fang Yuan being recruited in advance, it struck Mo Chen by surprise.
Gu Yue Bo's gaze was focused on Gu Yue Mo Chen and Gu Yue Chi Lian, the two elders in power.
This clan leader had greater insight.
Fang Yuan blatantly said a lie and got the first place. This action had the meaning of being fearless, thus sending a signal to everyone to show them that — I'm protecting Fang Yuan! He is now my member, and you all better not touch him.
Then who is this person?
The political field in the Gu Yue clan was split into three. Other than the clan leader faction, it was Gu Yue Chi Lian's Chi family, and Gu Yue Mo Chen's Mo family.
Gu Yue Bo knew that he himself did not take any actions to recruit Fang Yuan. Thus, the greatest suspect was Chi Lian and Mo Chen.
"These two old fellows, their acting is improving. Seeing their expressions, I really cannot tell. Don't tell me it really isn't them, but some other small faction?"
Gu Yue Bo observed carefully as he investigated. He did not know that all the elders were like him, observing, suspecting and deducing.
The academy elder was also guessing, but he had always been in a neutral position, outside of politics, thus his thoughts were simpler, "So Fang Yuan has been recruited by a clan elder. No wonder he let go of Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng while extorting, that means the one who recruited him was either the clan leader, Chi Lian or Mo Chen. This is good news! It shows that he has accepted reality and has starting integrating into the clan. No matter what, he is now a member of the clan, so once he fully integrates, he will contribute his entire life to the clan!"
After a short silence, Gu Yue Bo could not see any more clues, thus he spoke, "An eye for an eye, since the other party has started targeting Fang Zheng, our Gu Yue clan is not to be trifled with, we will show them! Dark Hall Elder, formulate a plan for this matter and report to me afterwards."
"Yes, sir clan leader." Dark hall elder immediately nodded.
"As for Gu Yue Fang Zheng, I'm afraid his heart might be damaged from such an encounter. He is an A grade talent, and to our clan, the status is monumental. From now on, I will teach him personally." Gu Yue Bo said.
No clan elders objected.
Many people knew that the clan leader had already given much benefits to Gu Yue Fang Zheng in the dark. Now that he mentioned this, even though it violated the fairness rule, with sufficient reasoning, the clan elders could not stop him.
"As for Gu Yue Fang Yuan..." Gu Yue Bo dragged his words.
At once, all the clan elders paid their fullest attention. Was the clan leader hinting that he was the one helping Fang Yuan secretly?
Gu Yue Bo looked at everyone's expression as his gaze swept through, but he was destined to be disappointed.
Thus, he could only continue, "With his C grade talent, he managed to get first place. It is not easy. Thus, in my personal name, I reward him thirty primeval stones. Academy elder, pass my word and tell him to continue working hard."
"Yes, clan leader." The academy elder bowed as he received his orders.
"Thirty primeval stones, such an ordinary reward, what does this mean?" The clan elders frowned.
"No matter who absorbed Fang Yuan, this thirty primeval stones is my expression of goodwill. After all, there is still the Bai and Xiong clan other than Gu Yue." Gu Yue Bo sighed in his heart.
Fang Zheng was assassinated by external foes. Fang Yuan's cheating was internal conflict.
Against external foes, one had to use hard handed methods to retaliate, but for internal conflict, Gu Yue Bo chose to use the soft approach, in order to avoid too much internal conflict and result in the entire clan's strength being weakened.
"Alright, this matter will be settled like this. Everyone may leave and do all your work well, the clan's prosperity has everything to do with your performances." Gu Yue Bo waved his hand.
"Yes clan leader, we will take our leave."
The clan elders left one by one, and after a few breath's time, only Gu Yue Bo was left in the room.
He sighed deeply, using his fingers to rub his two temples. @@novelbin@@
As the clan leader, even if he was the person with the most authority in the Gu Yue clan, it did not mean that he had it easy. He needed to coordinate the interests of the different factions, and could not do as he wished. The clan's forces were dispersed and intertwined through many generations of inheritance, and they all had long history, restricting one another.
Against outside forces, he had to deal with the arrogant and rude Xiong clan village and the gradually rising Bai clan village.
Internally, he had to resolve the complicated political conflict in the clan. Although he was middle-aged, he already had white hair all over.
"These years of being the clan leader, although I had sufficient resources, my cultivation has barely advanced. My heart is tired from all these tiresome clan affairs. Sometimes, I really want to be a lone cultivator, free and easy with no burden. That would allow me to move faster and I might travel even further in my cultivation path."
Gu Yue Bo sighed in his heart.
As long as one is in the clan system, they had responsibilities on them. Once they had responsibilities it would not be easy to wholeheartedly cultivate.
But on the reverse, if one is not in the system, the clan's resources would not be available to them, and without resources, their cultivation would come to a halt.
This formed a contradiction, a weird loop.
Because of this loop, many people's futures were ruined, burying an insurmountable number of talents and geniuses.
Wang Da is dead.
Three days later, Fang Yuan got the news.
At the same time, he also heard from Jiang He that the two young hunters vanished when hunting in the mountains. As for the hunter whose right hand was broken by Fang Yuan, he "committed suicide" in his home out of depression.
Jiang He looked at Fang Yuan meaningfully when he said the news. He had seen Wang Da's corpse, thus recognising him.
But he did not dare to say Wang Da's true identity.
He was the stationed Gu Master, and held responsibility. As long as one is in the system, regardless of position, they had responsibility.
Wang Da became a demonic faction cultivator for three years, and Jiang He as the village Gu Master did not investigate. If they really pursued responsibility, this would become the biggest flaw in his records, and his future in the clan would be ruined.
The three hunter's peculiar deaths were covered up by him.
"Fang Yuan, since we're acquaintances, from now on you get a 50% discount when you purchase things from my cousin brother Jiang Ya's shop!" During one time, Jiang He said this to Fang Yuan.
Everyone else was dead, only Fang Yuan and him knew of this matter. But if the matter was revealed, it did not have a huge impact on Fang Yuan.
He only killed three village servants, and even if he killed thirty, the clan would not pursue it, at most he would pay "tens of primeval stones" as a punishment.
Jiang He's bribery, Fang Yuan took it with ease. To him, this matter was full of surprise and danger, but the result was good.
After this matter, Fang Yuan who had no foundation within the clan, received half an ally and also a non-existent faction supporting him.
This mysterious backer became Fang Yuan's second safety net. When he started showing his strength gradually, this safety net would have a crucial impact, at least able to allow him to cultivate until Rank two without much opposition.
At this point, he could feel clearly the academy elder's changing attitude towards him, into a more amicable one.
Over ten days passed in a flash.
After Gu Yue Fang Zheng and Mo Bei advanced, Fang Yuan and Chi Cheng almost simultaneously advanced to Rank one upper stage successfully.
Although extortion continued, he no longer took Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng's primeval stones, and he started becoming more low key, while his strength grew rapidly at a speed multiple times of his previous life.
-x-X-x-
Time was like a white steed that flitted past a crack, and summer left with the arrival of autumn.
In the walled-in path, Fang Yuan stood once more before the giant boulder blocking the way.
Due to the weather growing colder, he wore plain and simple garment with long sleeves. But his body figure was no longer the thin sort like how it was a few months ago.
His chest, two arms and legs, and abdomen all showed obvious muscle.
These muscles were not as protruding as a stone, but it showed as a type of streamline, matching up with Fang Yuan's slowly growing body. Matched as well with his white skin, this gave others a type of youthful, full of vitality feeling.
"Starting from three days ago, the White Boar Gu stopped supplying me any increase in strength. That means, I already have one boar's strength, thus reaching the Flower Wine Monk's requirement. Today, I shall try pushing this round rock again!"
Fang Yuan's eyes shone as he took a step forward with his right leg, his left leg at the back, forming a bow step.
His arms touched the surface of the round rock as he took a deep breath in and pushed with all his strength.
The large boulder moved under the pressure of both his arms, moving slowly, gradually gaining momentum and rolling forward.
The road before the boulder blocking the path was an inclined slope. Being turned into a round rock by the Flower Wine Monk, it was most suitable for rolling. This must have been his intention, to allow the inheritor to push the boulder upwards and move it away.
"Ten steps, twenty steps, thirty steps..." Fang Yuan slowly progressed, counting in his heart, "Last week, I pushed it to forty-five steps and that was the limit of my stamina, forcing me to quit. This time, I wonder how far I can push it?"
Forty steps, forty-five steps...
A while later, Fang Yuan broke his original record, but that was enough for him to feel unbearably tired.
Forty-six steps, forty-seven steps...
Fang Yuan could feel strongly, at this point his stamina was almost all gone.
Forty-eight, forty-nine steps....
He mustered all his strength and moved another two steps. Finally, he was at his limit, sweating profusely. Using his shoulder and leg to anchor the rock in place, he took a few deep breaths.
"Should I give up?" Fang Yuan could not help but have such thoughts. This inclined slope, when returning he has to expend quite a bit of stamina as well. After all, the rock has to roll down and he had to slowly release it in the process.
If he let go and ran, the rock would roll faster and faster. Fang Yuan did not want to get turned into a pile of flesh after being unable to avoid it.
But thinking for a while, Fang Yuan felt indignant. Let's push it a few more steps.
Fiftieth step.
He suddenly felt that the pressure from the huge rock had lightened. It had actually rolled into a straight platform.
Fang Yuan pushed for a few more steps. After routing past the huge rock he found himself in a secret room.
This secret room was like the rock crack's secret cave. He temporarily named it the second secret room.
There was nothing in the room. The four walls were a strange red soil, glowing red. On the other end of the secret room, there was a simple grey-coloured rock door. It should be the hurried product of the Flower Wine Monk.
Fang Yuan rested for a while but did not immediately open the rock door, as he had a new discovery.
He found that the ground before the rock door was slightly damp.
"Don't tell me..." Fang Yuan had a thought. He bent down, stretching out both arms and loosening the soil.
The second Earth Treasury flower!
Fang Yuan laughed heartily, carefully peeling the flower petals and retrieving the Gu worm slumbering in the golden nectar.
Once he deployed his primeval essence, it was instantly refined.
This was a Jade Skin Gu. Its appearance was like the bedbug, flat and wide with a small head and its green body was oval in space, emitting a faint jade coloured glow.
"I obtained the White Boar Gu, and was still thinking where could I get a Jade Skin Gu so I could refine it into the White Jade Gu. To think that the Flower Wine Monk already prepared it for me," Fang Yuan contemplated, thinking about the significance of this Jade Skin Gu.
This is Fang Yuan's sixth Gu worm.
Although he had five already, none were defensive. Now that he had the Jade Skin Gu, he could cover up his weakness in defense.
At times, defense means offense.
This was not hard to understand. Taking for example Fang Yuan's body. Using the White Boar Gu, his strength grew to one boar's strength. Theoretically, with this strength, he could smash a rock in one punch, but Fang Yuan never did such a thing.
Because he knew his defense was not sufficient, so with one punch, the rock would break, but his fists would also turn bloody from the damage.
Now that he had the Jade Skin Gu, he could supplement the advantage he had in strength.Obviously, there were advantages and disadvantages.
The Jade Skin Gu had a high value, being one of the best defensive Rank one Gu. It was not easy to feed, consuming two pieces of jade rock every ten days.
Jade rock's market price was expensive, and the source was often the problem.
Fang Zheng also has a Jade Skin Gu, but he has the clan leader's backing, providing him with jade rocks. If Fang Yuan wanted jade rocks, he would have to buy them, and that could easily expose him.
"Originally in feeding the White Boar Gu, I had to regularly kill wild boars, and that is already troublesome. With the addition of this Jade Skin Gu, do I have to go dig in mines?" Fang Yuan laughed bitterly, seeing a new problem in front of him.
Keeping the Jade Skin Gu, temporarily nurturing it in his aperture, Fang Yuan gradually opened the rock door.
The rock door was heavy, and if Fang Yuan did not have the White Boar Gu's boost in strength, he would not be able to move it. But now, with Fang Yuan pushing it, the door slowly opened.
The scene that was revealed to Fang Yuan caused his field of vision to expand all of a sudden.
It was no longer a narrow tunnel or a secret room, but a large spacious plot of underground stone forest.
Fang Yuan estimated at initial approximation, the stone forest's size was over thirty Mu(1)! On earth, a standard football field was only eleven Mu.
"I should be inside Qing Mao mountain now, this underground space should be naturally formed." Fang Yuan looked up at the stone walls.
The stone walls in this space were over sixteen meters tall, and the ceiling was also made of stone.
From the top, there were large dark red pillars erected. Each emitted a faint red glow, and so did the walls, just like the tunnel and secret room. The light although dim, allowed Fang Yuan to see some things at least.
Fang Yuan looked far, and each stone pillar was like an upside down tree, except without branches, and only leaving the stem.
The stone pillar's surface was not smooth, and was full of dark eerie holes. Numerous pillars drooped down, forming an inverted stone forest within the mountain.
Nature had its way with things.
Fang Yuan with his immense knowledge, was not shocked, but stared at the dark holes in the pillars, frowning more intensely.
He had suddenly understood the Flower Wine Monk's intention in placing the Jade Skin Gu.
"If I am not wrong..." Fang Yuan turned his right hand, and out came a moonblade.
The eerie blue moonblade flew through the sky in an arc, precisely hitting a dark hole in the stone pillar.
A shrill and angry sound came from the dark hole.
With a 'swoosh', a grey monkey flew out from the cave and leapt towards Fang Yuan.
Pow pow pow.
Fang Yuan shot three moonblades.
The monkey was in midair and could not adjust its position, but its tail was extremely agile, sweeping several times and causing its body to flip in midair. After avoiding two moonblades, it was finally hit by the third, plopping on the floor dead.
It was dead, without a drop of blood.
Only its grey body turned to stone, and in a second, its flesh and blood body became a stone monkey statue.
The statue's posture and facial expression was just like the monkey right before it died, imitated to perfection. After two breath's time, the stone monkey's surface cracked, and cracks developed all over its body. Finally with a boom, its entire figure blew up into tiny rock fragments.
"It really is an underground colony of jade eye stone monkeys." Fang Yuan knelt down, sweeping the fragments aside and taking out two jade green yellow pearls. These two pearls were the jade eye stone monkey's eyes.
This strange animal would turn into grey rock fragments once dead, and only its eyes would turn into two jade green spherical pearls. Each were very heavy, reaching at least fifty grams.
This meant that as long as he killed jade eye stone monkeys, the Jade Skin Gu's food problem would be resolved.
"I not only have to feed the Jade Skin Gu, I also have to continue the inheritance. Flower Wine Monk's next clue should be hidden in this stone forest.
Fang Yuan frowned. Things had become complicated.
He tried taking a few steps forward, his eyes peeled to the stone pillar.
On his seventh step, on the pillar closest to him, numerous jade-coloured glowing eyes could be seen peeking out of the stone holes. @@novelbin@@
At once, a drop of sweat fell from Fang Yuan's forehead.
He quickly took a step back, and the numerous eyeballs in the dark holes faded.
Evidently, each pair of eyeballs meant a jade eye stone monkey. The jade eye stone monkey was terribly agile, and to kill one Fang Yuan had to use four moonblades.
On a stone pillar, there were at least a hundred jade eye stone monkeys, and in the entire forest, who knew how many were there in total.
With Fang Yuan's current strength, he would die from being attacked by four monkeys. If he included the Jade Skin Gu's defense, Fang Yuan could deal with twelve monkeys at once at most.
Thankfully, these monkeys usually slept in their dark holes and ate rocks when they were hungry or thirsty. The stone pillar was their home and food. Unless he got within ten meters of them or provoked them purposely, they would not come out.
Using earth's words, they were a bunch of neet/hikikomori monkeys.
-x-X-x-
The autumn wind rustled through the air, while the red leaves drifted aimlessly.
The wild grass was dried yellow, and brilliant red or orange yellow wild fruit hung from the tree branches.
"Hurrumph!" A black coloured wild boar rushed madly with its four hooves on the ground, its mane pricking up.
There was a thick layer of fallen leaves that accumulated on the surface of the mountain.
As the wild boar rushed forward, a gust of wind was wedged between it, and the fallen leaves were sent dancing behind its body.
Fang Yuan silently stood there, showing a cold calculating expression as the wild boar got closer.
Kill!
He took a huge stride forward, and then both his legs stood firm, not dodging at all, facing the wild boar head on.
The wild boar's two snow white tusks tore through the air with overwhelming killing intent.
Fang Yuan turned his body to avoid the tusks, his shoulder knocking onto the wild boar's skull.
When they were about to collide, Fang Yuan's shoulder shone with a faint green coloured light.
Jade Skin Gu!
Boom.
With a loud crash, the two collided.
Fang Yuan took three steps back, while the wild boar took one step back.
To be fair, when comparing both side's strength, Fang Yuan was stronger. But Fang Yuan ran with both legs while the wild boar used four to sustain its force, and at the same time the center of gravity of the wild boar was lower and more stable than Fang Yuan.
However, after being harshly hit on the head by Fang Yuan, although the wild boar was still standing, its fat body was already wavering.
With a roar, Fang Yuan rushed up again, his left hand grabbing the wild boar's tusk, his right hand raising high in the air, the light green colour jade glow forming a thin layer of protection covering his fist.
Bam.
His fist crashed strongly downwards and the wild boar screamed in pain, struggling intensely.
Fang Yuan's muscles on his left arm tensed, and the green veins popped like centipedes encircling his arm as he restrained the wild boar with all his strength.
At the same time, his right fist continued to raise and slam down on the boar.
Bam bam bam.
Every time his fist hit the wild boar's head, the green coloured glow on his fist would shine once.
The wild boar was smashed into oblivion by the fist, and its struggle became weaker.
"Last strike!" Fang Yuan's eyes glowed like lightning. He loosened his upper body, his right arm stretching straight and raised to the highest point, before smashing down at full force.
The green coloured jade light stuck to Fang Yuan's right arm and following his movement, drew a green arc in the air.
Bam.
Fang Yuan knelt on the ground on one knee, his elbow harshly whacking the wild boar's skull. Even before the wild boar could cry out, its noise came to a stop.
An entire pig head turned deformed, the broken white skull pierced through the black skin, exposing outside. Fresh blood and brain matter slowly flowed out, and in the layers of leaf litter, it infected an area of bright redness.
The autumn wind blew.
Leaves flew about as the scent of the pig blood emanated.
"Life, is splendid just like the flowers of summer. Death, is as delicate as the leaves of autumn," Fang Yuan muttered, appreciating this frame of scenery.
The survivor lives brilliantly while the dead is lonely and pitiful.
Dead or alive, filled with intense difference, it reflected nature's cruelness and the excitement of life.
"No matter the world, the victor always gets all the fame, while the loser suffers defeat in the unrelentless world. Victory and loss, to me means life and death. Because I walk on the demonic path, once I lose, it means death awaits."
Fang Yuan got close to the corpse and sat on the ground, taking out the White Boar Gu, letting it consume the meat while his consciousness entered the aperture in his body.
Within the aperture, the black green-coloured primeval sea's tides turned and crashed, ebbed and flowed.
When the primeval sea is full, it occupied 44% of the space. After an intense battle, Fang Yuan used the Jade Skin Gu multiple times to raise his defense, and some primeval essence was expended, thus there was only 36% primeval essence left. @@novelbin@@
Counting the amount, he only used 8%, not even 10% of his total. But because this was the Rank one peak stage black green primeval essence, the expenditure was considered large.
Rank one initial stage is jade green primeval essence.
Rank one middle stage is pale green primeval essence.
Rank one upper stage is dark green primeval essence.
Rank one peak stage is black green primeval essence.
The essence was in concentration (the relative amount of a particular substance contained within a solution or mixture or in a particular volume of space.).
The Moonlight Gu's activation required 10% of jade green primeval essence, and in terms of pale green primeval essence, it was 5%. For dark green primeval essence, it further halved, and the same went for black green primeval essence.
That is to say, 10% of black green primeval essence, was equivalent to 20% dark green, 40% pale green and 80% jade green primeval essence.
Using the Jade Skin Gu cost 8% black green primeval essence, if converted to initial stage jade green primeval essence, it would be 64%!
If Fang Yuan was still at initial stage, his aperture would only have 44% primeval essence, and halfway through using the Gu, his primeval essence would be completely expended.
"The higher the Gu Master's cultivation, the stronger their battle strength, and this shows in the primeval essence. The higher the stage, the darker the colour of the primeval essence, and the more durable it is. My black green primeval essence was on the basis of upper stage primeval essence, refined by the Liquor worm. It is unlike Fang Zheng, who is already Rank one peak stage cultivation already." Thinking of this, Fang Yuan's gaze shone.
Time flies, it is already late autumn.
Two months had passed since Wang Da's attempted assassination.
Fang Zheng was poisoned and was in comatose for seven days and seven nights. Once he woke up he was like a changed man, very hardworking and also cultivated extremely dutifully.Some people say, difficulties in life was wealth just like gold.
Regardless of whether this saying is correct, Fang Zheng did emerge from this difficulty changed and obtained much experience. He was like a raw jade, and after some polishing, he finally showed the beautiful jade quality inside.
He was the first to advance to upper stage, and not long ago, he was the first to advance to peak stage, leaving his classmates in the dust. The advantages of an A grade talent has finally started showing.
"I am not far from peak stage either, at most half a month. In fact, I have been nurturing my aperture nonstop every day, but a C grade talent really cannot compete with A and B grades, and I also have another reason..." Fang Yuan laughed bitterly without sound as he thought of it.
Once in a few days, he would have to kill jade eye stone monkeys to feed the Jade Skin Gu. At the same time, he had to search inside the stone forest to find the next clue of the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance.
The stone forest was complicated with pillars of huge rocks drooping from the ceiling. If Fang Yuan was not careful and got too close to any pillar, he would trigger the attack of all the stone monkeys.
A few times, he was chased by tens of stone monkeys and had to escape. The most dangerous time, when retreating he stepped into another pillar's territory, and ended up having up to a hundred monkeys chasing after him.
Luckily, these monkeys were sedentary, and every time they chased after him, they would not chase too far. After a distance, they would go back to their homes and continue being sedentary.
Even so, Fang Yuan walked on the brink of death several times. During crucial times, the Jade Skin Gu's defense came into good use.
Such investigation and exploration caused Fang Yuan to devote much time and effort, and thus became the key reason why his cultivation was advancing so slowly.
"Even so, this is way better than my previous life. The stone forest exploration is not without results either. At least I already know that the walls around the forest have no problems. That means that the next clue of the strength inheritance, should be somewhere in the forest."
Fang Yuan continued thinking, but suddenly a shadow stepped over the dried branches and got close.
This is a wandering old wolf.
It had a brown fur coat, limping and had one eye was damaged. Only the danger and alertness of its left eye remained.
It stared at Fang Yuan tightly, its nose twitching. Wolves and dogs were the same, using their keen sense of smell, it must have been attracted by the pig blood.
Wolves were often in packs, but there were also lone wolves like this. There were competition in wolf packs as well, and to maintain the atmosphere in the pack, they would sometimes get rid of those crippled old wolves.
Fang Yuan quickly stood up and silently looked at this old wolf.
Back then when he killed a wild boar, there would be little primeval essence left in his body and that caused his fighting strength to greatly reduce. Thus when he encountered other wild beasts, he would choose to avoid them.
But these few months, his battle strength had increased tremendously, and with the Jade Skin Gu, against a crippled wolf, it was more than enough.
The unrestrained mountain trees were everywhere with their red leaves.
The setting sun illuminated the dark hour.
A person and a wolf distanced fifty steps away, silently observed each other.
In the wolf's eye, green light shone as it showed a cruel and cunning expression. Fang Yuan's eyes however, were dark and eerie, his black iris emanating chilling intent.
The White Boar Gu came out. It was full and returned to Fang Yuan's aperture satisfied.
The old wolf looked at the wild boar, it had only bones and skin left, the meat was all eaten by the White Boar Gu.
The wolf's eyes shone with green light and contracted. It first took a few steps back, then jumped into the bushes.
This wolf was still alive till today, it definitely had some intelligence. It keenly felt Fang Yuan's danger, and decided to retreat.
Its entry and exit were both fast and abrupt.
Without the wild boar's crashing sound, and without the tiger's growling.
Against Fang Yuan, without a sound, the battle had started and ended.
"The main theme of life and death, such excitement born from great nature." Fang Yuan stood on the spot, and did not give chase. This wolf did not have anything worth Fang Yuan's attack.
Aiiee!
But the next moment, the old wolf's crying was heard.
The wolf's howling suddenly erupted and ended suddenly. Even so, there was a thick surge of death aura overflowing.
Crack crack.
In the bush, there were sounds of twigs being stepped on.
The sound was fearless and got closer, causing Fang Yuan's iris to shrink.
"Able to get rid of that sneaky old wolf in a second..." His gaze became more and more chilly.
-x-X-x-
The footsteps got closer, and soon the dark green trees at the side of the slope were forcefully separated. A tall man stepped forward, appearing in Fang Yuan's vision.
He had black short hair, each strand standing straight up. The upper half of his body was naked. He had a large and thick body, the entirety of his body muscles bright red colour.
He was almost two meters tall, and during the cold autumn, he gave off the feeling of a mobile cauldron, his every breath able to raise the surrounding temperature.
On his waist, several wild beast corpses were hanged. There were foxes, wild rabbits and chickens, not to forget the old wolf who had just left.
Seeing Fang Yuan, he was slightly shocked, but quickly took large steps and walked past Fang Yuan.
"Gu Yue Chi Shan." Seeing the large man's back leaving, Fang Yuan thought of his name.
He was a representative of the Chi faction, having Rank two upper stage cultivation. His experiences were similar to Fang Yuan even.
This person was also very talented, having very great strength from young. At ten he accidentally beat a family servant to death, and at twelve he could hold a heavy stone grinder and played it like a frisbee.
Back then, the family all thought well of him, thinking he was an A grade. But during the awakening ceremony, they tested that his talent was only B grade.
He had an originally wild and untamable nature, looking down on everyone. But he quickly changed after this experience, becoming more mature. Even with B grade talent, he was the top student in his level.
After a year of studying, he graduated from the academy and fought his way to the top. Years later, he had already become an elite among the clan's Rank two Gu Masters.
Happiness cannot teach a person life's true meaning, while only pain and suffering can.
"In the clan, a youngster attends the awakening ceremony at fifteen and enters the academy. At sixteen, they graduate from the academy and form a five person group and complete the clan's missions, at the same time inheriting the family fortune. From sixteen, they will fight and compete while continually raising their cultivation. As the missions get more dangerous, their status will also increase. Some die and some live. Some get injured, and their cultivation level drops, living a plain life thereafter. Some become a Rank three Gu Master after all the hardship and advance to clan elder, being one of the higher-ups."
Fang Yuan's gaze shone, thinking of many things.
The more a Gu Master cultivates, the harder it gets, and advancing becomes way more difficult. Coupled with dangerous and tough living environment, those that can advance to Rank three are few to none. @@novelbin@@
"Speaking of which, it is almost winter. That means I've spent almost a year at the academy. Each year there are two examinations. The first is the mid-year exam, with different contents each year. The second is the year end exam, and the contents never change, being arena fights. After the arena fight, I would no longer be able to stay at the hostel, and I would need to move out."
Move out, but stay where?
Fang Yuan could not live with his aunt and uncle, which was what they wanted.
In this world, sixteen meant adulthood, the age to start reproduction. Coupled with Fang Yuan's numerous secrets, he needed to live independently.
"In my previous life, after leaving the academy I was only Rank one middle stage. This time, the situation is much better, I would be Rank one peak stage by then. But with a C grade talent, coming this far is really an achievement. Although it had its costs, expending much of my primeval stones."
Fang Yuan's eyebrows raised, he did not have many primeval stones left.
Restricted by his talent, the primeval stones he expended for cultivation was much more than Fang Zheng, Chi Cheng or Mo Bei.
He raised six Gu worms by himself!
Furthermore, the Liquor worm's refinement, nurturing the aperture, using the White Boar Gu to increase strength — they all needed primeval essence. After the primeval essence was used up, with a C grade recovery speed, it could not satisfy his needs, so he could only use primeval stones and retrieve the natural essence within to replenish.
Luckily he had the Spring Autumn Cicada, and also retrieved two Gu from Earth Treasury Flowers, thus refining Gu worms did not expend much of his primeval stones. This made him feel slightly better.
But after this when he leaves the academy, he needs to rent a house and get some income.
After peak stage, it was to push for Rank two. This process would spend a lot of primeval stones.
After Rank two, he still had to combine Gu worms, and each combination attempt was a hefty cost.
With all these factors, he was even clearer that his financial situation could no longer support him. Furthermore, he still had to continue feeding his Gu worms and continue cultivating.
If it wasn't for the mid year exam where he used the wild boar tusks to exchange for quite some primeval stones and alleviated the pressure, he would not have survived till now.
"Primeval stones, primeval stones... the Flower Wine Monk did not give any primeval stones in his inheritance, what a shame. Extorting my classmates is still my most important source of income. But after graduating, the academy's allowance would stop, and I cannot continue extorting. But if I get first for the year end exam, I can get a hundred and fifty primeval stones as reward," Fang Yuan contemplated in his heart.
If he could get first place, the hundred and fifty primeval stones would alleviate his financial difficulty for a while.
...
Time flies, autumn leaves and winter comes.
On the arena in the academy, three stages had already been built.
Beside the stage, near the bamboo walls of the arena, there were tents and long tables and chairs.
The academy elder, clan leader and a few other clan elders were sitting below the tentage cover.
There was a little snow in the sky.
Fifty-seven students stood straight on the arena. Each of their noses were bright red from the weather, and every breath they took had steam coming out of their noses.
The academy elder spoke loudly, "In a flash a year has ended. During this year you were trained in the academy and have started to grasp the qualities of a Gu Master. Tomorrow, you will have the year end examination to test the fruits of your hard work! Not only will the clan leader and clan elders come personally to watch, your family elders and seniors will also come to observe to pick excellent performing students to join their small teams."
"Your performances tomorrow, will to a large extent affect your future. Getting first place, not only is it a hundred and fifty primeval stones, but you also get an advantage in picking Gu worms! Now, start the final cultivation check in your academic life!"
Saying so, the academy elder nodded to a Gu Master beside him.
The female Gu Master received the instructions and called out the name from the list, "Gu Yue Jin Zhu!"
A young girl walked towards the Gu Master with a nervous expression.
The Gu Master stretched out her hand, touching the young girl's abdomen. She closed her eyes to feel, then opened her eyes and declared, "Gu Yue Jin Zhu, Rank one middle stage. Next, Gu Yue Peng."
One after another, youngsters went up to check. Then they walked back down and returned to the group.
Their expressions varied, some were happy while others were upset.
The worst result was naturally Rank one initial stage, all being the D grade talents.
A large number of the students were Rank one middle stage, and little of them were B grade, mostly C grades.
"Gu Yue Chi Cheng." The middle-aged female Gu Master called.
From the group, the shortest Gu Yue Chi Cheng puffed his chest and walked out.
After checking, the female Gu Master opened her eyes, "Gu Yue Chi Cheng, Rank one peak stage!"
Up till now, this was the first Rank one peak stage Gu Master.
The clan elders present turned their heads.
Some elders recognised, saying lightly, "This is Chi Lian's grandson, having B grade talent, no wonder."
Outside the tent, the youngsters also commented.
"Chi Cheng is Rank one peak stage, I wonder if Mo Bei is too? They are rivals after all."
"Being able to advance to peak stage, they are all A and B grades. Sigh, we C and D grades encounter bitterness that cannot be envied."
"Hmph!" Gu Yue Mo Bei snorted, seeing Chi Cheng's proud expression, he was annoyed.
Gu Yue Fang Zheng clenched his fists, his lips tightly shut, as if he was stifling in his emotions.
"Gu Yue Mo Bei." Soon, the examiner called.
The horse-faced Mo Bei quickly walked out.
"Gu Yue Mo Bei, Rank one peak stage." With this declaration, he walked back and stared defiantly at Gu Yue Chi Cheng when returning.
The examination continued, and the snow in the sky became smaller, until it vanished.
The cold chilly air was rather refreshing.
"Gu Yue Fang Yuan." The middle-aged female Gu Master called.
Fang Yuan walked up expressionlessly.
Soon after, she opened her eyes, looking at Fang Yuan in shock, before declaring, "Gu Yue Fang Yuan, Rank one peak stage!"
"Rank one peak stage, did I hear wrongly? Fang Yuan cultivated to this level?" The youngsters were shocked.
"Sigh, he's just lucky, having the Liquor worm to nurture his aperture. Even against the A and B grades, with his C grade he isn't at a disadvantage." Some youngsters said with envy.
Especially those C grade talents, they sourly said to console themselves, "This isn't much. The Liquor worm cannot refine Rank two primeval essence, Fang Yuan would no longer have such an advantage anymore."
"Even if he is peak stage, he is still a C grade, this is of no concern to us." Mo Bei and Chi Cheng stared at Fang Yuan, but quickly turned their attention to Fang Zheng, who was still waiting for his turn.
In their hearts, only the A grade talent Fang Zheng was a competitor.
"Brother, you've caught me by surprise. But from now on, watch carefully..." Fang Zheng looked at Fang Yuan walking down, his eyes shone and revealed an anticipating expression.
"Gu Yue Fang Zheng." The female Gu Master finally said.
"The A grade talent?" The clan elders focused their attention to Fang Zheng.
Fang Zheng walked out from the crowd, he could feel the pressure that these gazes were bringing him, causing him to become slightly nervous.
But when he saw the clan leader Gu Yue Bo's smile, the nervousness in his heart melted.
He walked in front of the female Gu Master.
She shut her eyes, and then abruptly opened her eyes, saying in shock, "Gu Yue Fang Zheng, cultivation level — Rank two initial stage!"
Boom.
The youngsters erupted into a wave of discussions.
"What, he reached Rank two?!"
"As expected of the A grade talent genius."
"Incredible, he left Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and Fang Yuan in the dust."
"This Fang Zheng!" At once, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng stared at Fang Zheng in shock.
"Hehehe, actually higher than in my previous life..." Fang Yuan's eyelids drooped down as he laughed. He was not surprised, and after observing Fang Zheng's expression earlier, he could guess the result.
"A grade talent after all."
"The hope of our clan."
"This is the credit of clan leader's nurturing..."
The clan elders praised.
At once, Fang Zheng became the center of attention.
Half a year ago, Gu Yue Bo gave him a Jade Skin Gu and asked him to be the first person to advance to Rank two. He did it!
"Clan leader, I did not disappoint you, I did it! From now on, I will achieve even more, getting the approval of the clan elders and the people around me. Brother, I've left you behind, you are no longer the shadow in my heart. I, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, am no longer the one from back then!"
Fang Zheng yelled in his heart, his eyes shining with a kind of brilliance.
This brilliance, is called confidence!