The sixth and final purple stone

In the Bronze Sea of Primordial Essence, waves ebb and flow, rising and falling with the tides.

Above the surface of the sea, the alcohol bug formed into a cluster, emitting an alcohol scent like a misty white fog.

A surge of true essence roared upward, piercing into the alcohol fog. When it descended, it was reduced by half, its color deepening. It transformed from a primary stage verdant green to a mid-stage azure green.

The mid-stage true essence fell into the Primordial Sea, yet it did not mix with the primary stage true essence. It seemed heavier, sinking to the bottom.

Thus, the Primordial Sea formed a structure where the upper half was primary stage true essence water, and the lower half was mid-stage true essence.

As time passed, the ethereal mist from the alcohol bug continued to swirl in the empty aperture. Under the refinement of the alcohol bug, the primary stage true essence gradually decreased while the mid-stage true essence steadily increased.

One could clearly see the water level of the mid-stage true essence in the lower half rising higher and higher, while the water level of the primary stage true essence in the upper half continuously fluctuated.

Fang Yuan, while refining his true essence, simultaneously absorbed the natural true essence from primordial stones outside, quickly replenishing his empty aperture.

Eventually, the four-and-a-half tenths of the Primordial Sea in the aperture were entirely refined into mid-stage true essence.

"Thanks to the mid-stage true essence, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to consecutively solve stones five times in the gambling den," Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes as he sat cross-legged on his dormitory bed.

It was already late at night.

After leaving the gambling den, he didn't visit any other shops and instead returned directly to the school.

Although he was in the vicinity of the Gu Yue Village, carrying five hundred and thirty-eight primordial stones was still too much for a primary stage first-turn Gu Master.

This wasn't just because these stones were somewhat heavy and inconvenient to carry. It also attracted covetous eyes, posing a life-threatening risk.

If a high-stage first-turn or even second-turn Gu Master harbored ill intentions, Fang Yuan, with his current abilities, wouldn't be able to withstand them.

"Money is an external possession. Dying for it is tragic. It's laughable how many people can't see this. How many people have boarded the ship of profit, only to sink with it." Fang Yuan's lips curled into a cold smile as he looked at the gray-white primordial stone in his hand.

Each intact primordial stone was the size of a duck egg. But this one in his hand, after being half-drained of true essence, had significantly shrunk.

Fang Yuan didn't feel any distress.

Gains always come with losses. Being of B-grade aptitude and needing to use the alcohol bug to refine true essence, his primordial stone consumption was several times that of his peers. However, this allowed him to overcome his aptitude shortcomings. In terms of actual cultivation progress, he ranked among the top three.

Fang Yuan put the primordial stone back into his money pouch and took out the last piece of purple-gold fossil.

He had purchased six pieces at the gambling den, solved five on the spot, and brought one back with him.

His eyes flashed with a sharp glint as he activated the moonlight Gu again, rubbing his fingers together to solve the stone.

The purple-gold fossil quickly reduced under the blue waves of light, eventually turning to nothing, leaving only a small pile of stone powder by the bedside.

Fang Yuan was not surprised. When it comes to gambling stones, you lose nine times out of ten.

Even with five hundred years of experience, at best, he could only achieve an eight out of ten loss ratio. The remaining twenty percent win rate still divided between dead Gu and live Gu.

Dead Gu had little value. Even if a live Gu was obtained, it might not be a rare Gu insect. If a highly valuable live Gu was found, it could bring fatal trouble.

At his current level of cultivation, Fang Yuan was at the very bottom tier of Gu Masters. The toad he just obtained, if not for being in the vicinity of the Gu Yue Village, could have been snatched by Jia Jinsheng.

Gambling has never been a way to get rich; it often leads to bankruptcy. This wasn't Fang Yuan's development path.

Although the last piece of purple-gold fossil didn't yield a Gu insect, Fang Yuan wasn't disappointed. Instead, he looked at the pile of stone powder on the ground and gradually smiled.

Indeed, his ultimate goal in entering the gambling den lay in this pile of stone powder.

As for the toad, it was just a convenient byproduct.

He solved the stone in private; no one but himself knew the true outcome.

From now on, he could claim that the alcohol bug was awakened and captured from this purple-gold fossil.

This idea was clever.

First, no one could determine what kind of Gu insect was sealed in the fossil. Who could say the alcohol bug couldn't be dormant in the purple-gold fossil? It was entirely possible!

Second, he had some witnesses who saw him extract the toad, leaving a lasting impression on the gambling den's Gu Masters.

Thirdly, even if someone pursued the matter relentlessly, he could attribute everything to luck. Luck is the most difficult thing to grasp. Even if someone suspected that this was the Wine Insect from the Flower Wine Walker, they couldn't do anything against the excuse of "luck."

In the dark room, Fang Yuan's gaze was deep.

Simply hiding it was like trying to wrap fire with paper; it would eventually be exposed.

To deal with the hidden danger of the Wine Insect, he had to take the initiative. This was Fang Yuan's style.

Moreover, he had carefully considered that in his future cultivation, he would need to expose the Wine Insect.

"The Wine Insect, as a first-turn Gu insect, is very precious to a first-turn Gu Master. But by the second turn, it becomes useless. Therefore, exposing it might draw some attention but won't affect the overall situation. It's not like the Spring Autumn Cicada; if that were exposed, I might not live to see the next moment."

With five hundred years of life experience, Fang Yuan had long mastered human psychology, understanding it thoroughly.

"The Flower Wine Walker's legacy and the toad—these were the only cheap things in my memory, and I've already taken them. From now on, I can only rely on my own step-by-step cultivation."

Fang Yuan sighed, stretched his body, and felt a sense of fatigue and weariness.

A Gu Master's Primordial Sea cultivation couldn't replace sleep.

Fang Yuan pulled up his bedding and lay down on the bed, still half-opening his eyes.

Although he had over five hundred primordial stones hidden at the head of his bed and many jars of green bamboo wine stored underneath, he felt a faint sense of crisis.

These five hundred primordial stones were already an extreme limit. Things flourish and decline; Fang Yuan knew that the consumption of primordial stones would increase in the future.

And most of his income came from extorting his classmates.

He increasingly felt the obvious progress of his classmates around him. Especially in recent extortions, Gu Yue Mo Bei, Chi Cheng, and his younger brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng had all made significant progress in their fighting skills. Previously, he could deal with them in one or two moves, but now it took five or six.

"If I continue to rob them three or four more times, their fighting skills will be honed. Each will challenge me, and with my current physical strength, I can't withstand such a series of battles. Over five hundred primordial stones seem like a lot, but with my daily consumption of four primordial stones, it's actually not much."

"There are no more treasures on Qing Mao Mountain, but there is a power inheritance set up by a righteous four-turn Gu Master on the nearby White Bone Mountain. However, obtaining this inheritance is troublesome, as it requires two people to work together to pass an important checkpoint."

"Alas, the Flower Wine Walker's legacy was too small, only yielding a Wine Insect. Hmm... there's also that shadow wall. Maybe I could sell it to a merchant in the caravan..."

As Fang Yuan thought, his eyelids grew heavier until he finally fell asleep.