Pitter-patter…
Bean-sized raindrops fell densely. Striking the verdant bamboo house, they produced crisp sounds.
In the pond in front of the building, the water surface was heavily beaten by the raindrops. Fish darted joyfully through the water, and water plants swayed at the bottom of the pond.
Dark clouds densely gathered, and the entire field of vision was blocked by a thick, heavy curtain of rain.
In a somewhat dim room, the window was open. Fang Yuan quietly watched this heavy rain, sighing softly in his heart: "It has been three days and three nights."
That night three days ago, he carried two jars of wine and left the mountain village to continue exploring the surroundings.
But deep into the night, a torrential downpour began.
Putting aside being drenched like a drowned rat, the key was that under such circumstances, he could no longer explore the area.
The rainwater could quickly wash away the smell of wine. At the same time, if he forcefully explored in the rain, he was afraid it would arouse suspicion.
Previously, he had disguised himself as a frustrated drunkard to conceal his true motives. But one must never underestimate the wisdom of others; it is often only fools who believe others are foolish.
Therefore, left with no alternative, Fang Yuan could only terminate his exploration.
Once this rain started, it continued ceaselessly; whether heavy or light, sparse or dense throughout the period, it never stopped.
"In this way, the Liquor worm will not be found in the short term. Just to be safe, I can only start by refining the Moonlight Gu first. During this refinement process, it would be best if I could find the Liquor worm, but if I cannot, I will just have to make do with this. However, this matter is also quite common; there are unforeseen storms in the sky. Where in this world is there anyone whose endeavors go smoothly and flawlessly all the time?" Fang Yuan's state of mind was very steady. Five hundred years of experience had long washed away the little impetuousness originally present in his temperament.
He closed the window and door, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Slowly closing his eyes and steadying his breathing, he concentrated his mind and sank it inward.
The next moment, the scene of his own aperture was displayed in his mind.
Although the aperture resided within the body, it was extraordinarily profound, infinitely large, yet infinitely small.
On the outside of the aperture was a membrane of light. The white light membrane gave a very thin feeling, but it solidly and substantially supported the aperture.
Within the aperture was a sea of primeval essence.
The seawater was copper-colored, and the surface of the sea was as calm as a mirror; the water level was about half the height of the aperture. The total volume of the primeval sea occupied forty-four percent of the aperture.
This was the copper primeval sea of a Rank 1 Gu Master. Every drop of seawater was primeval essence. It was Fang Yuan's life essence force, the condensation of Fang Yuan's essence, energy, and spirit.
Every drop of primeval essence was precious, because it was the fundamental root of a Gu Master, the source of strength. It was precisely by relying on primeval essence that a Gu Master could refine and activate Gu worms.
Withdrawing his mind from the primeval sea, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and took out that Moonlight Gu from his chest pocket.
The Moonlight Gu lay quietly in the palm of Fang Yuan's hand. It looked like a curved blue moon, petite and exquisite, crystal clear.
Fang Yuan's mind moved, and instantly the primeval sea in his aperture surged. A stream of primeval essence water broke through the sea surface, was mobilized outside his body, and entirely poured into the Moonlight Gu.
The Moonlight Gu violently burst forth with a serene blue radiance. It vibrated slightly in Fang Yuan's palm, resisting the influx of Fang Yuan's primeval essence.
Gu are the essence of heaven and earth, the codes of the Great Dao, the carriers of the laws. They are also living creatures, naturally free and unfettered, possessing their own will. Now that Fang Yuan wanted to refine it, it meant erasing its will. Sensing this crisis, the Moonlight Gu naturally had to resist.
The refinement process was extremely difficult.
The Moonlight Gu was like a curved crescent moon. When the copper-colored primeval essence poured into the crescent, it first dyed the two tips of the crescent green.
Subsequently, this shade of copper green began to spread toward the middle section of the crescent moon.
In less than three minutes, a trace of paleness appeared on Fang Yuan's face. The massive amount of primeval essence continuously pouring into the Moonlight Gu caused waves of marrow-draining weakness to wash over his heart ceaselessly.
One percent, two percent, three percent… eight percent, nine percent, ten percent.
Ten minutes later, Fang Yuan's primeval sea had consumed a full ten percent of primeval essence. However, on the surface of the blue crystal-like Moonlight Gu, the two spots of copper green at the tips of the crescent moon had only expanded towards the middle section by a tiny bit of area.
The Moonlight Gu's resistance was extremely tenacious.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan had anticipated this and was not surprised, persisting in infusing primeval essence into the Moonlight Gu.
Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent.
Another twenty minutes passed. The primeval sea in Fang Yuan's body was left with only fourteen percent. The copper green on the Moonlight Gu had expanded just a sliver. If the two patches of green were added up, they accounted for about one-twelfth of the entire Moonlight Gu's surface.
As for the rest of the portion, it was still the Moonlight Gu's original pale blue color.
"Refining Gu is difficult." Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan sighed inwardly and cut off the primeval essence supply, no longer continuing to refine this Moonlight Gu.
Up to this moment, refining the Gu for a full half hour had consumed more than half of the aperture's primeval sea, leaving only fourteen percent of primeval essence remaining. Yet the Moonlight Gu had only just been refined by one-twelfth.
Moreover, what was even harder to accept was that the Moonlight Gu still emitted its serene blue halo. Even though Fang Yuan stopped the refinement, it did not stop resisting; it was still expelling Fang Yuan's copper primeval essence.
Fang Yuan could clearly feel that the primeval essence which had poured into the Moonlight Gu was being expelled bit by bit by the Moonlight Gu, dissipating outside his body. On the surface of the Moonlight Gu, the copper green at the two tips of the crescent moon was also slowly shrinking.
Estimating by this speed of reduction, after about six hours, the Moonlight Gu would be able to expel all of Fang Yuan's primeval essence. To refine this Gu worm again at that time would be no different from starting the refinement all over again.
"Every time one refines a Gu, it is like two armies engaging in battle, fighting a positional war, a war of attrition. The Gu worm has only been refined by one-twelfth, yet my primeval essence has been depleted by a full thirty percent. When a Gu Master refines a Gu, they must constantly replenish the primeval essence in their primeval sea while continuously refining to consolidate the fruits of victory. Refining Gu tests not only the technique of mobilizing primeval essence, but also the patience for a protracted war."
As Fang Yuan thought this, he took out a primeval stone from his money bag.
Gu Masters usually have two methods to replenish consumed primeval essence.
One is natural recovery. After a certain period of time, the primeval sea automatically replenishes primeval essence. With a C-grade aptitude like Fang Yuan's, he replenished four percent of primeval essence approximately every hour. In six hours, he could recover a total of twenty-four percent of primeval essence.
The second method is extracting the natural primeval force from primeval stones.
Primeval stones are the treasures of nature, condensed with natural primeval essence that can be absorbed by Gu Masters.
Holding the primeval stone in his hand, Fang Yuan continuously extracted the natural primeval essence from within and funneled it into his own aperture's primeval sea.
The delicate luster on the surface of the primeval stone slowly dimmed down, while Fang Yuan's primeval sea water level continuously climbed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
About half an hour later, the primeval sea recovered to its volume of forty-four percent. Upon reaching this level, the trend of the sea surface rising came to an abrupt halt. Although there was still space in the aperture, Fang Yuan could no longer store any more primeval essence. This was the limitation of his C-grade aptitude.
From this, one could perceive the important role of cultivation aptitude.
The higher the aptitude, the more primeval essence stored in the aperture, and the faster the speed of natural primeval essence recovery.
For Fang Yuan, to refine the Gu worm and consolidate the results, he had to absorb primeval stones, because the natural recovery speed of his primeval essence could not match the speed at which the Moonlight Gu expelled his primeval essence.
But for Fang Zheng, who possessed an A-grade aptitude, he could replenish eight percent of primeval essence every hour. In six hours, he could recover a total of forty-eight percent of primeval essence, while the Moonlight Gu could only expel thirty percent of primeval essence within those same six hours.
He wouldn't even need outside help like primeval stones; simply refining like this continuously, taking a few breaks in between, he could successfully refine the Moonlight Gu in a few days.
Therefore, Fang Yuan knew from the very beginning that in this Moonlight Gu refinement assessment, it was utterly impossible for him to claim first place. This had nothing to do with strength; rather, aptitude was the primary factor in this matter.
The secondary factor was primeval stones.
If one had abundant primeval stones and did not care about the loss, a person with a B-grade aptitude could possibly surpass an A-grade and rightfully snatch first place.
"I only have six primeval stones in my hands, unable to compare to people like Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng who have the support of elders behind them. My aptitude is only C-grade, so I also cannot compare to Gu Yue Fang Zheng with his A-grade aptitude. There wasn't a shred of a chance to win this assessment from the very beginning. Instead of this, I might as well divide my energy to search for the Liquor worm. If I can refine the Liquor worm into my vital Gu, that would be much better than the Moonlight Gu. Hmm? The sound of the rain outside the window has softened, there seems to be signs of it stopping. This heavy rain has continuously fallen for three days and three nights; it is about time it stopped."
Fang Yuan put away the Moonlight Gu, stepped down off the bed, and was just about to open the window, when at this moment, the sound of knocking on the door rang out.
Outside the door came the voice of his personal maidservant Shen Cui: "Young Master Fang Yuan, it is this servant. With the rain continuously falling these three days, this servant has brought you some wine and dishes. Having something to eat and drink might help Young Master relieve some boredom."