Go ahead

"Mm?" Mo Yan furrowed her brow, anger appearing on her horse-like face. She finally understood that Fang Yuan had been playing her all along.

"Heh, you're really bold, daring to deceive your own aunt!" she said, extending her right hand to grab Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan didn't retreat a single step. He raised his head and laughed heartily, "Mo Yan, you'd better think this through!"

Mo Yan halted her action. She was still standing outside the door, her outstretched hand suspended in midair, with a hint of hesitation and anger flashing across her face.

There was a clear rule within the family: students in the academy were protected, and no one was allowed to enter the dormitories and capture students without permission. Mo Yan had only intended to teach Fang Yuan a lesson today, to make him suffer a bit. She had no desire to risk violating family rules.

"If it were just me breaking the rules, it wouldn't be a big deal. But I fear it might implicate my family and involve my grandfather." Thinking of this, Mo Yan reluctantly withdrew her hand.

She glared at Fang Yuan inside the room, her eyes wide with anger. If looks could kill, Fang Yuan would have been reduced to ashes in an instant.

"I never lied to you. I said I'd bring you to Fang Yuan, and now you've found him. It seems you have something to say to me." Fang Yuan, with his hands behind his back and a slight smile, met Mo Yan's furious gaze fearlessly, showing no fear of her power as a Rank Two Gu Master.

The distance between him and Mo Yan was only a step. One was inside the room, the other outside.

But this distance was as insurmountable as a chasm.

"Heh heh heh, Fang Yuan, you've really studied the family rules thoroughly." Mo Yan suppressed her anger, her face full of cold smiles. "But relying on the family rules, you can only delay the inevitable. You can't stay in the dormitory forever. Let's see how long you can hide!"

Fang Yuan laughed aloud, looking at Mo Yan with disdain. "Then let's see how long you can block me. Ah, it's already evening. You have a bed to sleep in, don't you? If I'm absent from class tomorrow, and the academy elders investigate, what do you think I'll say?"

"You!" Mo Yan was furious, pointing at Fang Yuan, itching to act. "Do you really think I won't dare to come in and take you?"

Creak.

Fang Yuan fully opened the dormitory door, a smile playing at his lips, his eyes dark and deep, speaking with a confidence that suggested he had everything under control. He said to Mo Yan, almost provocatively, "Then go ahead and try."

"Heh heh heh..." Mo Yan calmed down instead, squinting at Fang Yuan. "You think I'll fall for your provocation?"

Fang Yuan shrugged, having long seen through Mo Yan's nature.

If he had closed the door or left it half-open, there was at least a fifty percent chance that Mo Yan would force her way in. But by deliberately opening the door fully, he made Mo Yan more cautious, reducing the chance of her breaking in to almost nil.

Five hundred years of experience had already made him understand human weaknesses.

He turned around openly, exposing his back completely to Mo Yan. At this moment, if Mo Yan were to grab him, she could easily succeed. But Mo Yan stood outside, motionless, as if an invisible mountain was blocking her.

Even when Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed, Mo Yan continued to glare at him, gnashing her teeth but never making a move.

"This is the sad part of being human." Fang Yuan, sitting cross-legged, looked at Mo Yan standing foolishly outside the door, feeling a sense of lament. "Sometimes, what prevents people from acting is not material obstacles, but the shackles of their minds."

In terms of cultivation, Fang Yuan was no match for Mo Yan. But despite her Rank Two cultivation, she could only watch Fang Yuan without daring to act.

The distance between her and Fang Yuan was just a few steps, the door wide open with no barriers. The true constraint on her was herself.

"People go to great lengths to learn and understand the world, to know the rules, just to use them. If they become entangled by these rules, hindered by their own learning, that is the true tragedy." Fang Yuan gave Mo Yan one last look, then slowly closed his eyes, immersing his mind into his yuan sea.

"This Fang Yuan actually dares to cultivate right in front of me! He's completely disregarding me!!" Seeing this, Mo Yan felt a surge of anger in her chest, almost causing her to spit blood.

She wanted nothing more than to rush in and punch Fang Yuan right away!

But she knew she couldn't.

Suddenly, Mo Yan felt a bit of regret, standing outside the door with a sense of awkwardness, like being stuck on a tiger's back.

She was unwilling to let it go, but also couldn't justify herself. She had come all the way here to teach Fang Yuan a lesson, but ended up embarrassing herself.

Especially with a servant watching her.

"Damn it! Fang Yuan, this wretched boy, is so uncooperative and cunning!" Mo Yan thought angrily, starting to shout and curse outside the door, trying to provoke Fang Yuan to come out.

"Fang Yuan, you little rascal, come out if you have the guts!"

"Fang Yuan, as a man, you should have the courage to face the consequences of your actions. Now you're acting like a cowardly turtle, which is truly disgraceful!"

"Don't put on an act for me. Be sensible and come out quickly."

"You coward, you worthless wretch!!"

Fang Yuan turned a deaf ear, not responding at all.

After a while of cursing, Mo Yan felt none of the usual satisfaction but instead grew increasingly frustrated.

She felt more and more like a clown or a shrew standing at the door, feeling utterly embarrassed.

"Ahhh, this is infuriating!" Mo Yan was going mad with anger and finally gave up on trying to provoke Fang Yuan.

"Fang Yuan, you may dodge now, but you won't be able to escape forever." She stomped her foot in frustration and left unwillingly, throwing out one last order as she went, "Gao Wan, stand here and keep a close watch! I don't believe he won't come out."

"Yes, my lady!" The strong servant, Gao Wan, quickly agreed, watching Mo Yan leave with a respectful gaze. However, he was inwardly distressed, knowing that standing guard all night in the damp, cold mountain air could easily lead to catching a chill. It was a miserable task.

Swish, swish, swish...

The tide rose and fell in the yuan sea, waves forming and dissipating.

Bronze true essence gathered like water, forming waves that, under Fang Yuan's control, continuously crashed against the walls of his aperture.

A Rank One Gu Master's aperture wall was a white membrane. Now, under the impact of the bronze true essence, it showed variegated light and shadows, exuding an indescribable beauty.

Time passed by bit by bit, and the water level in the bronze yuan sea slowly dropped.

From the original forty-four percent, it fell to twelve percent.

"To advance as a Gu Master, one must continuously consume true essence to nurture the aperture. A beginner's aperture wall is a light membrane, an intermediate's is a water membrane, and an advanced's is a stone membrane. To advance from beginner to intermediate, I must transform the light membrane aperture wall into a water membrane aperture wall."

With five hundred years of memories from his past life, Fang Yuan was fully aware of the cultivation process at this stage.

He slowly opened his eyes.

It was already late at night.

A crescent moon hung high in the sky, casting down moonlight as pure as water.

The door was open, and the moonlight shone in, reminding Fang Yuan of a famous poem from Earth: "Before my bed, the moonlight so bright, I thought it was frost on the ground."

The night breeze blew, bringing a chill.

Fang Yuan, without a Gu worm for warmth, couldn't help but shiver slightly in the cool mountain night.

"Brat, you finally opened your eyes. How long are you going to keep cultivating? Come out now; whether you stick your head out or not, it's still a blade. You hit our Young Master Mo Bei; it's only a matter of time before my lady teaches you a lesson." Seeing Fang Yuan finally move, Gao Wan, who had been standing at the door, perked up.

Fang Yuan squinted, thinking that the Rank Two female Gu Master must have left by now.

"Brat, didn't you hear me? Get out here now. You have a room and a bed, while I have to stand out here in the yard. If you don't come out, believe me, I'll break in!" Gao Wan threatened when Fang Yuan didn't respond.

Fang Yuan remained indifferent.

"Damned brat, come out and surrender. You've offended our Mo clan branch, and you'll never have peace again. Bow and apologize to my lady, and maybe she'll forgive you." Gao Wan continued to curse.

Fang Yuan paid no attention. He leisurely took out a primeval stone from his money pouch and held it in his palm, then slowly closed his eyes again.

Seeing Fang Yuan preparing to continue cultivating, Gao Wan panicked and cursed, "With your low-grade C aptitude, you'll barely reach Rank Two Gu Master at best. What's the point of cultivating? How can you, alone, stand against our entire Mo clan branch? Brat, are you deaf? Didn't you hear me?!"