Facing his younger brother's questioning, Fang Yuan did not speak, continuing to eat his breakfast. He knew his brother's personality clearly; Fang Zheng could not hold his temper.
Sure enough, seeing his older brother not even spare him a glance, seemingly treating him as air, the next moment, Fang Zheng yelled out with a dissatisfied tone: "Brother, what did you do to Shen Cui? Ever since she came out of your room yesterday, she cried a big match. When I comforted her, she cried even fiercer."
Fang Yuan raised his eyes and looked at his younger brother, expressionless.
Fang Zheng furrowed his brows, staring fixedly at his older brother, waiting for his answer.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
But Fang Yuan merely gave him a glance, lowered his head, and continued eating.
Younger brother Fang Zheng was instantly enraged. Fang Yuan's attitude was simply a naked disdain toward him. Out of shame and anger, he slapped the table and roared loudly: "Gu Yue Fang Yuan, how can you act like this! She is just a little girl, having served you for so many years, all her gentleness and consideration toward you I have seen with my own eyes. Yes, I know you are very disappointed and I can understand your depression. You only have a C-grade aptitude, after all. But you cannot vent your anger on others because of your own misfortune. This is not fair to her!"
Before his voice even settled, Fang Yuan abruptly shot up to his feet, raising his hand like lightning.
Smack!
A crisp sound rang out as he delivered a solid slap to Fang Zheng.
Fang Zheng covered his right cheek, stumbling backward two steps, wearing a face full of astonishment.
"Bastard thing, what kind of tone are you using to speak to your own older brother?! That Shen Cui is nothing but a little maidservant, and for such a small woman, have you forgotten that I am your brother?" Fang Yuan scolded in a low voice.
Fang Zheng reacted, the pain on his face transmitting to his nerve centers in waves. His eyes widened, panting heavily, and said in disbelief: "Brother, you hit me? From childhood to adulthood, you have never hit me! Yes, I was tested with A-grade aptitude, and you are only C-grade. But you cannot blame me for that, this was all an arrangement by heaven…"
Smack!
Before Fang Zheng could finish speaking, Fang Yuan delivered another backhanded slap.
Fang Zheng covered both sides of his face with his hands; he was stunned.
"Naive fool, what do you even remember! From childhood to adulthood, how have I taken care of you? When our parents just died, our living conditions were bitter. For the new year, Uncle and Aunt only gave us one set of new clothes. Did I wear it myself? Whom did I let wear it? When you were little, you loved eating candied fruit porridge; every day I instructed the kitchen to make an extra bowl for you. When you were bullied by others, who was it that brought you to get back your pride? There are all sorts of other things I do not even disdain to mention. And now, for the sake of a maidservant, you speak to me like this, coming to question me?"
Fang Zheng's face flushed red, his lips trembling. Ashamed, enraged, and shocked all at once, yet he could not utter a single word of refutation.
Because what Fang Yuan said were all facts!
"Whatever." Fang Yuan sneered continuously. "Since you have even abandoned your biological parents and acknowledged others anew, what do I, as an older brother, even count for?"
"Brother, how can you say that. You know that I have always longed for the warmth of a family since I was young, I…" Fang Zheng hurriedly tried to defend himself.
Fang Yuan waved his hand, stopping him from continuing: "From today onward, you are not my younger brother, and I am no longer your older brother."
"Brother!" Fang Zheng was greatly startled, opening his mouth to speak.
At this time, Fang Yuan spoke again: "Were you not fond of Shen Cui? You can rest assured, I did not do anything to her; she is still a virgin, a pure maiden. Give me six primeval stones, and I will transfer her to you. From today onward, she is your personal maidservant."
"Brother, how did you…" Suddenly having his thoughts exposed, Fang Zheng panicked for a moment, caught somewhat off guard.
But at the same time, his heart settled; the thing he worried about the most had not come true.
On that night not long ago, Shen Cui personally served him in taking a bath.
Although nothing substantial happened, Fang Zheng would never forget the gentleness of that night. Every time he thought of Shen Cui, remembering her nimble hands and soft, moist red lips, a wave of palpitation would surge in his heart.
The sentiments of youth had long accumulated and sprouted within the young man's chest.
Thus, when he learned of Shen Cui's unusual state yesterday evening, a surge of anger instantly welled up in his heart. He immediately gave up on refining the Moonlight Gu, turned to search the entire mountain village for Fang Yuan, intending to demand an explanation.
Seeing Fang Zheng not replying, Fang Yuan furrowed his brows: "Love between a man and a woman is very normal, just be a bit more candid. What is the point of dodging and hiding? Of course, if you do not want to exchange, then forget it."
Fang Zheng instantly grew anxious: "Exchange, how could I not exchange. But my primeval stones here are no longer enough for six pieces."
As he spoke, he pulled out his money bag, his face flushing thoroughly red.
Fang Yuan took the bag and found six pieces inside, but one of them was half the size of a complete primeval stone. He instantly knew that Fang Zheng had extracted the primeval essence from the primeval stone to refine the Moonlight Gu as quickly as possible.
As more natural primeval essence is extracted out, the volume of the primeval stone becomes smaller and its weight lighter.
Although it was only five and a half pieces, Fang Yuan also knew: this was all the primeval stones Fang Zheng had on hand. He originally had no savings; these six primeval stones were given to him not long ago by their uncle and aunt.
"I will accept the primeval stones, you may leave." Fang Yuan's expression was cold as he tucked the bag into his chest.
"Brother…" Fang Zheng still wanted to speak.
Fang Yuan slightly raised his eyebrows, saying slowly and methodically: "Before I change my mind, you had better disappear from my sight."
Fang Zheng's heart tightened. He gritted his teeth and finally turned his head and left.
Stepping out of the inn's doorway, he subconsciously covered his chest, feeling waves of hollowness in his heart. In the unseen, a feeling told him that he seemed to have lost something very important at this moment.
But his heart soon grew hot thinking of Shen Cui, and that soul-stirring night.
"I can finally have you legitimately, Cui Cui." Without looking back, he walked out of Fang Yuan's field of vision.
Fang Yuan remained expressionless. He stood for a good while before slowly sitting down.
The bright and beautiful sunlight shone through the window onto his cold face, giving onlookers an icy feeling.
Business in the dining hall was somewhat deserted, while the pedestrians on the street grew more numerous. The sounds of commotion drifting in only highlighted the silence of this place.
The breakfast had gone cold. The attendant walked over attentively, asking if it needed to be reheated.
Fang Yuan turned a deaf ear, his gaze fluctuating like smoke and clouds, seemingly recalling something.
The attendant waited for a moment, but seeing Fang Yuan in a daze and constantly unresponsively, he had no choice but to rub his nose and leave resentfully.
A long while later, Fang Yuan's gaze settled.
The memories in his heart were like smoke, gradually fading away.
He returned to the real world again. The sunlight spilled in, illuminating more than half of the table surface. The heat radiating from the food had dispersed, and the noisy sounds of pedestrians on the street entered his ears.
Through his clothes, he reached out and touched the five and a half primeval stones tucked in his chest. A trace of a bitter, mocking smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
But the smile vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"Attendant, take this food down and heat it up." Fang Yuan gave the food a glance and spoke flatly, calling out.
At this moment, his eyes were incomparably clear and cold.
…
"What! This is what your brother said?" In the hall, the uncle furrowed his brows, his voice carrying coldness.
The aunt sat to the side, looking at the bright red handprints on each side of Fang Zheng's face, utterly speechless.
"Yes, when I saw Brother, he was at the inn eating breakfast. The whole matter went exactly like this." Fang Zheng answered respectfully.
The uncle's brows furrowed even deeper, twisting into a character of 'river'.
After the span of a few breaths, he let out a deep sigh, using a serious tone to say: "Fang Zheng, my child, you must remember, the maidservant Shen Cui is not Fang Yuan's private property, but someone we assigned to him. How could she be bought and sold? Besides, if you wanted her, you should have told us plainly earlier; we would have simply reassigned her to you."
"Ah?" Fang Zheng listened, dumbfounded.
The uncle waved his hand: "You may go down first. Since you gave all your primeval stones to Fang Yuan, I will allocate another six pieces to you. Remember, this time you must use them properly on refining the Gu. Win first place this time, and we will feel proud of you."
"Lord Father, this child is ashamed…" Fang Zheng was instantly moved to tears.
The uncle sighed: "Go down, go down, hurry back to your room and refine your Gu, you have already wasted quite a bit of time."
Fang Zheng withdrew, and only then did the uncle reveal an angry and sinister expression on his face.
Bang!
He fiercely slammed a palm onto the table, roaring in a low voice: "Hmph, this little bastard, to actually use our people to do business, truly cunning and treacherous!"
The aunt hurriedly advised from the side: "Master, calm your anger. It is just six primeval stones."
"You womanly folk, what do you understand! That Fang Yuan only has a C-grade aptitude; to refine the Moonlight Gu, he has to use primeval stones. With his immature methods of refining Gu for the first time, six primeval stones definitely would not be enough. But now he has twelve pieces, which is more than enough." The uncle hated until he ground his teeth.
He continued: "A Gu Master's cultivation, as long as resources are ample and they are not stuck by bottlenecks, will be very rapid. In two or three years of effort, the clan can nurture Rank 2 Gu Masters one after another. The lower Fang Yuan's cultivation is, the smaller his hope of snatching back the family property a year from now. Now that he is young and just starting cultivation, we blockade him, making him fall behind his peers right at the starting phase. The academy's resources are all rewarded to outstanding students. With his aptitude, once he falls behind he will not get resources, and without resources assisting his cultivation he will fall even further behind. Continuing in this vicious cycle, one year from now let's see if he still has the strength to inherit the family property!"
The aunt did not understand: "Even if we do not suppress him, one year from now he will at most be at the Rank 1 middle stage. Master, you possess Rank 2 cultivation, are you still afraid of him?"
The uncle stomped his foot in anger: "Womanly folk, truly long hair and short insight! With my dignified status as an elder, could it be that I have to engage in a brawl with a junior? For him to demand back his inheritance is reasonable and legitimate; we fundamentally cannot directly block it. We can only tackle it from the clan rules. The clan rules explicitly state: a sixteen-year-old wanting to establish a household and career must have at least Rank 1 middle stage cultivation. Otherwise, it shows that he, Fang Yuan, has no qualifications to waste the clan's resources. Do you understand when I put it like this?"
The aunt came to a sudden realization.
The uncle narrowed his eyes, dark glints flashing within. He shook his head slightly, sighing with emotion: "This Fang Yuan is truly too shrewd, too treacherous. He even saw through the seduction trap, what kind of intellect is this? At such a young age, to be so deeply scheming and calculating, it's terrifying! Originally we wanted to scheme against him, but he directly moved out. We still wanted to rely on Shen Cui to monitor and interfere with him, but as a result she was sent away by him, and he even earned six primeval stones."
"Sigh, if only he could be as foolish as Fang Zheng, that would be great. Right, from now on you must treat Fang Zheng better, he has an A-grade aptitude after all. Moreover, I can tell he is very unresigned and unsatisfied toward Fang Yuan. This emotion is very good and needs to be guided properly. I have a premonition that in the future, he will be the best sharp weapon to deal with Fang Yuan!"
…
In the blink of an eye, another two days passed.
In the inn room, no lamps were lit. Moonlight spilled in, illuminating a floor of frost radiance.
On the bed, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, mobilizing his copper primeval essence, focusing his entire mind on refining the Liquor worm.
A small section of the Liquor worm's body had been dyed copper green, but its will remained tenacious and unyielding, struggling continuously inside the wrapping of the mist-like primeval essence.
Fang Yuan's refinement was progressing very unsmoothly; it could be said he was struggling with every step.
"I spent a full two days and two nights, only resting for two hours every day, and expended twelve primeval stones, yet only refined it to a one-fifteenth progression. Calculating the time, it should be within these recent few days that someone will successfully refine their Gu."
Fang Yuan saw through the situation with utmost clarity.
However, since his aptitude was lacking by a tier to begin with, and the survival will of the Liquor worm he was refining now was extremely tenacious, far exceeding an ordinary Moonlight Gu, it was perfectly normal that this lagging situation was created.
"A temporary lag counts for nothing, as long as I have the Liquor worm…" Fang Yuan's heart lake was like a mirror, without a trace of anxiety or discouragement.
But right at this moment, the Liquor worm suddenly curled up, rolling into a ball.
"Not good, Gu worm backlash!" Fang Yuan abruptly opened his eyes, a trace of astonishment flashing within. Before his eyes, the Liquor worm rolled into a perfectly round tangyuan shape, violently bursting out with a piercing white light.
It was making a desperate gamble!
Instantly, Fang Yuan felt a powerful will transmit from the Liquor worm's body, crossing directly over the primeval essence, descending upon his aperture's primeval sea.
The situation of a Gu worm backlash was extremely rare. Only the kind of Gu worms with exceedingly staunch wills would struggle with all their might, succeeding or perishing in the attempt.
If it were any other youth facing this situation, they would definitely be panic-stricken and at a loss.
But although Fang Yuan was startled, he was not panicked, instead feeling slightly joyful: "A desperate gamble is fine too. As long as I take on this backlash, I can greatly weaken the Liquor worm's will. But next I must condense all my spirit to fully resist the impact of this will; there cannot be the slightest bit of external interference. Otherwise, it will be disastrous. Sigh… Let's hope no one comes to disturb me during this time."
Having finished his contemplation, he was just about to activate his aperture's primeval essence to meet that will head-on, properly tangling with it to fight three hundred rounds.
But exactly at this moment, an unexpected mutation occurred!
A Gu worm manifested in the center of his aperture, floating above the primeval sea.
Boom!
This Gu worm erupted with an immensely powerful aura.
This aura was like the Heavenly River pouring down, a mountain flood erupting, and also like a terrifying giant beast whose majesty had been offended, opening its blood-red eyes to check who dared to infringe upon its territory!
"This is the Spring Autumn Cicada?!" Seeing this Gu worm, Fang Yuan was thoroughly shocked!!