The immense joy did not make Fang Yuan lose his head. He quickly calmed down and began to ponder the impact the Spring Autumn Cicada brought him:
"The ability of the Spring Autumn Cicada is rebirth. But it is currently extremely weak; activating it once means death. However, it is fundamentally a Rank 6 Gu worm, and I can completely utilize its aura. This will absolutely not cause any harm to it itself."
"Hehehe." Thinking of this, Fang Yuan withdrew his mind and opened his eyes.
He saw that in front of him, the Liquor worm floated right before his eyes, wrapped in the mist-like copper primeval essence, trembling slightly.
Just now, in order to survive, it had made a desperate gamble, but as a result, its will was easily crushed by the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura. Because of this, it had suffered heavy damage, its will less than one percent of what it previously was.
"Spring Autumn Cicada." Fang Yuan's thought moved, releasing a trace of the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura.
When the aura pressed onto the Liquor worm's body, the Liquor worm immediately became still and motionless, as if it were dead. Its remaining will sensed the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura, just like a mouse meeting a cat, completely deadly awed, shrinking into a ball and not daring to move in the slightest.
Fang Yuan let out a loud laugh, taking the opportunity to incite his primeval essence.
When the copper primeval essence first started refining, due to the Liquor worm's tenacious resistance, it could only expand bit by bit with great difficulty. But at this moment, Fang Yuan's copper primeval essence drove straight in, pouring out thousands of miles. It simply did not meet any hindrance whatsoever.
The copper color on the surface of the Liquor worm expanded rapidly. In the span of a few blinks of the eye, the white pearl-like Liquor worm was dyed into a green worm.
The general situation was settled. The Liquor worm's remaining will was finally lightly dashed against by Fang Yuan's will, instantly dissolving like melting ice.
Just like this, the Liquor worm was refined!
Compared to the arduous hardship analogous to trekking across mountains and rivers previously, this refinement process now was as simple as drinking a mouthful of water.
An intimate yet profound connection bound the Liquor worm and Fang Yuan together.
The refined Liquor worm felt like a part of Fang Yuan's body. If Fang Yuan told it to curl its body, it curled; if he told it to roll up, it rolled into the shape of a tangyuan. It felt just like moving a finger.
Fang Yuan withdrew his primeval essence, and the Liquor worm returned to a chubby white appearance.
Then, with a leap in the air, it plunged into Fang Yuan's aperture. Upon entering the aperture, it kept far away from the Spring Autumn Cicada hovering in the air and drilled into the copper primeval sea. On the sea surface, it stretched its body wantonly, occasionally twisting its chubby waist, looking as comfortable as if it were taking a hot bath.
"With the Spring Autumn Cicada, my plans should also change." Fang Yuan withdrew his mind from his aperture and took out that Moonlight Gu once again.
Repeating the process, he leaked out a trace of the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura and pressed it onto the Moonlight Gu.
Sensing the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura, the Moonlight Gu's will instantly surrendered and gave up its arms, so terrified that it could only shrink to the furthest corner of its body.
Fang Yuan's primeval essence rolled down. In the blink of an eye, the Moonlight Gu was dyed into a piece of emerald jade.
Finally, with a slight movement of his thought, the Moonlight Gu's will was easily strangled.
After this, he withdrew his primeval essence, and the Moonlight Gu restored its original transparent blue crystal appearance.
He put the Moonlight Gu away.
This Moonlight Gu did not enter the aperture, but directly landed in the middle of Fang Yuan's forehead, forming a pale blue crescent moon mark.
From the start of refining the Moonlight Gu to the end, the entire process took less than five minutes.
This formed an extremely sharp contrast with the difficulty of refining previously; the speed was incredibly fast.
And not only was the speed fast, but the consumption of primeval essence was also extremely small.
Over the past few days, refining the Liquor worm had cost Fang Yuan a full six primeval stones from start to finish. But tonight, he had not consumed any primeval stones at all; only his aperture's copper primeval sea had bottomed out.
"Haha, with the Spring Autumn Cicada in hand, it is simply like having divine assistance! From now on, as long as I use its aura to suppress, any Rank 1 Gu worm can be caught easily. Even though my aptitude is only C-grade, I will not need to utilize primeval stones. The difference between before and after is simply heaven and earth."
Fang Yuan's mood was joyful; at this moment, it was simply like parting the clouds to see the clear sky.
Although the Spring Autumn Cicada had weakened to the extreme, it was nevertheless a dignified Rank 6 Gu worm. A fallen tiger's might still remains, a broken ship still has three pounds of nails; just relying on its aura would act as a massive driving force in Fang Yuan's future cultivation.
At this moment.
Outside the window, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The moonlight spilled through the window onto Fang Yuan's face.
"I originally thought I could not win first place, who would have thought there would be a turn of events. Time waits for no man; I am going to the academy right now to claim the first place reward!" A sharp glint flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes.
With a movement of his thought, the Spring Autumn Cicada in his aperture concealed its figure, vanishing once again and falling into a deep slumber. He then summoned out the Liquor worm and hid it in the corner of the headboard.
All of this was to prevent any unnecessary inspections from the academy.
Fifteen minutes later, the clan academy.
The Academy Elder had long since gone to sleep, but in his sleep, he vaguely heard someone knocking on the door.
He was awakened by the knocking and opened his eyes, feeling somewhat displeased: "In the middle of the night, who is outside?"
A respectful answer immediately came from outside the door: "Reporting to Lord Clan Elder, it is a student from this year's batch. He has successfully refined the Moonlight Gu. You had instructed your subordinates previously that roughly the moment the first place appears, no matter what time it is, we must immediately come and report to you."
"Hmm… there is indeed such a matter." The Academy Elder's brows furrowed. Rising and getting out of bed, while putting on his clothes, he asked, "Which student took first place this year? Is it Gu Yue Fang Zheng?"
The subordinate outside the door answered: "It seems to be. Upon hearing the news, this subordinate hurriedly came to notify Milord. It seems it is exactly the Fang family branch."
"Heh, calculating the time, it should be him." The Academy Elder laughed softly, muttering to himself, "Other than this A-grade genius, who else could it be? Even if those B-grade students utilized primeval stones, they are ultimately lacking by a tier. Otherwise, why would cultivation aptitude be so important."
As he spoke, he pushed open the door and walked out.
Outside the door, the subordinate took two respectful steps back, bowed in salute, and agreed: "What Milord says is true."
Inside the hall, over a dozen candles burned simultaneously, illuminating the hall brightly.
The person who had received Fang Yuan had already clarified the situation by this time. Under the bright lamplight, a heavy look of astonishment surged on his face: "Wait, what did you just say? Your name is Gu Yue Fang Yuan, not Gu Yue Fang Zheng?"
Fang Yuan nodded. Just at this moment, the Academy Elder walked in from outside the door.
Fang Yuan and the receptionist turned around together and bowed in salute.
Seeing Fang Yuan, the Academy Elder's face was already full of smiles. He took steps, walking directly in front of Fang Yuan, and patted Fang Yuan's shoulder friendlily: "Well done, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, you did not disappoint me. Truly a genius with A-grade aptitude! No matter how hard those B-grade and C-grade peers try, they cannot compare to you. Hahaha."
Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng were twin brothers, their appearances highly similar, to the point that the Academy Elder mistook them.
Fang Yuan was neither haughty nor humble. He took a slight step back, removing his shoulder from the Academy Elder's palm. He looked at the Academy Elder with his hands behind his back, smiling faintly: "Lord Clan Elder, you have made a mistake. This junior is Gu Yue Fang Yuan; Gu Yue Fang Zheng is my younger brother."
"Hmm?" The Academy Elder opened his mouth slightly, a look of shock appearing on his face.
He looked at Fang Yuan in sheer confusion, his brows tightly furrowed. After a few breaths, he finally spoke: "You are Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
"Precisely this junior," Fang Yuan answered.
"You refined the Moonlight Gu?" The Academy Elder felt utterly astounded in his heart. His eyes stared fixedly at the crescent moon mark on Fang Yuan's forehead. His gaze burned brightly; he was clearly asking despite knowing the answer.
"That is exactly the case," Fang Yuan replied again.
"Does this mean you are the number one of this batch?" The Academy Elder's question seemed somewhat foolish, but one could not blame him. Because this situation was truly too unexpected.
One must know that he had been managing the academy for dozens of years, possessing extreme wealth of experience. He had seen a C-grade aptitude snatch the crown before, but the time had absolutely never been this early. Moreover, in this year's batch, there were peers with A-grade and B-grade aptitudes.
"If there was no one earlier than me…" Fang Yuan made a thoughtful look, rubbed his nose, and only then continued answering, "It seems to be like so."
Academy Elder: "…"