"Put all the wine under the bed." Fang Yuan directed the four waiters of the tavern.
Each of them carried several jars of green bamboo wine in their hands. This was after Fang Yuan extorted the other students; he came to the tavern and bought another twenty jars in one breath.
Each jar was two primeval stones. For the sake of the Liquor worm, Fang Yuan smashed out forty primeval stones all at once.
His just-bulged money pouch instantly deflated by half, leaving only thirty-nine primeval stones. But it could be considered worth the price; this wine could support the Liquor worm for a rather long period of time.
"Alrighty." The waiters hurriedly responded, not daring to have the slightest disrespect towards a Gu Master.
Coupled with Fang Yuan buying so much wine, he could be considered a big customer of the tavern. With just one light sentence in front of the shopkeeper, he could easily make these waiters lose their jobs.
After the waiters left, Fang Yuan closed the dormitory door and sat cross-legged on the bed.
It was already night.
In the sky, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and a hidden fragrance flowed in the night breeze.
There were no lamps lit in the room. Fang Yuan smoothed out his mood and immersed his mind into his primeval sea.
The waves of the primeval sea rose and fell, and the seawater emitted a green copper luster. Every stream of seawater was the green copper primeval essence unique to a Rank 1 Gu Master.
The primeval sea only reached forty-four percent of the entire aperture; this was the limitation of Fang Yuan's C grade aptitude.
The four walls of the aperture were a thin layer of white light membrane, supporting and enveloping the aperture.
In the space above the primeval sea, there was absolutely nothing. The Spring Autumn Cicada, under Fang Yuan's mobilization, had already hidden away again, resting in a deep sleep.
Instead, floating on the surface of the primeval essence sea was a chubby, white, and cute Liquor worm.
It was frolicking wantonly in the primeval essence seawater, sometimes diving into the sea, sometimes shaking its head and flicking its tail, splashing droplets of water.
With a thought from Fang Yuan, the Liquor worm instantly responded, stopped its playing, curled up into a glutinous rice ball shape, leisurely floated up, rose to the very center of the aperture, and left the green copper sea surface.
"Go." Fang Yuan mobilized ten percent of primeval essence, forming a thin stream flowing against the current upwards, entirely poured into the Liquor worm's body.
The Liquor worm had long been refined by him, thus it refused no comers, completely absorbing this stream of primeval essence into its body.
Instantly, the forty-four percent sea level dropped by a small segment.
Turning the primeval essence into driving force, the Liquor worm curled into a ball began to bloom with a white glowing light. Inside the glowing light, a dense wine mist gradually emerged, eventually condensing into a mass of pale white wine fog.
The wine fog was wondrous; it did not drift apart, but shrouded around the Liquor worm.
"Rise." With a thought from Fang Yuan, he mobilized another ten percent of primeval essence.
The green copper seawater lunged onto the wine fog, and the wine fog blended into the seawater, becoming less and less, ultimately leaving not a single trace behind. And that ten percent of green copper primeval essence had visibly lost half its volume out of thin air, leaving only five percent.
But this five percent of primeval essence was even more condensed than before. The original primeval essence was emerald green, emitting a copper luster. The current stream of primeval essence, although similarly having a type of copper color, its green color was a layer deeper; it was pale green.
Pale green primeval essence was the primeval essence that only a Rank 1 middle stage Gu Master possessed. The function of the Liquor worm was to condense primeval essence, raising the Gu Master's primeval essence by a small realm!
Gu Masters had nine major realms, divided from low to high into Rank 1, Rank 2, naturally all the way to Rank 9. Inside every major realm, they were subdivided into four small realms, respectively initial stage, middle stage, upper stage, and peak stage.
At this moment, Fang Yuan was only a Rank 1 initial stage Gu Master, but with the help of the Liquor worm, he had five percent of Rank 1 middle stage Gu Master primeval essence!
"For me to condense five percent of middle stage primeval essence, I have to consume twenty percent of initial stage primeval essence. If I want to convert all forty-four percent of the primeval sea in my aperture into middle stage primeval essence, I will have to consume nearly one hundred and eighty percent of initial stage primeval essence. To achieve this goal as quickly as possible, I must rely on primeval stones."
Thinking of this, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and took out a whole primeval stone the size of a duck egg from his pouch.
A primeval stone was an ellipsoidal, translucent stone block, grayish-white in color. As the natural primeval essence inside the stone continually depleted, its volume would also continually shrink.
His right hand slowly closed, gripping the primeval stone tightly in the center of his palm, absorbing the natural primeval essence inside, continuously replenishing it into his own aperture.
The originally declining sea level in the aperture slowly rose up accordingly.
Primeval stones were meant to be used. Fang Yuan was not stingy in the slightest, nor would he conserve them.
"I have no backing, no financial support from relatives or friends, so I can only rely on robbery and extortion. Today is just the first time. In the future, every seven days when the academy distributes the primeval stone allowance, I will continue to block the academy's main gate."
Robbing and extorting one time, how could it satisfy Fang Yuan's appetite. For a Gu Master's cultivation, primeval stones were the most indispensable.
As for the repercussions of this robbery, Fang Yuan was not worried at all.
This world was different from Earth.
On Earth, schools frequently prohibited brawling, prioritizing stability and harmony. But in this world, battle was the main theme.
Whether it was a Gu Master or a mortal, they had to fight for survival. Sometimes it was grappling with terrifying wild beasts, sometimes it was fiercely battling severe and violent weather, and sometimes it was crossing swords with other Gu Masters to fight over resources.
Therefore, restrained brawls were instead encouraged and promoted by people.
From childhood to adulthood, from brawls to life-and-death fierce battles, this was the portrayal of life for the vast majority of mankind.
The area of this world was vast and boundless. Just the Southern Border where Fang Yuan lived alone was vaster than the total surface area of seven or eight Earths. The living environment here was extremely harsh, and humans usually built mountain villages in the form of clans, shrinking into a corner.
Every set period of time, there would be beast tides, or extremely severe weather, impacting the mountain villages.
Gu Masters became the core strength guarding the mountain village, and the situation of personnel attrition every year was rather severe.
Life required people with strong fighting wills. Clans required combat Gu Masters, and there was never such a thing as too many.
Moreover, Fang Yuan's strikes were measured.
He never attacked the chin, because this would easily cause skull base fractures and easily lead to loss of life. Nor did he attack the back of someone's head. When fighting, he did not use his fists, nor his elbows, or finger jabs, but rather used his palms. The number of times he kicked was also countable on one's fingers.
The students who fell down had no heavy injuries, at most light injuries.
Fang Yuan was not bloodthirsty; he just treated killing as a means.
Every time he made a move, he had a clear target. Whatever type of method was a shortcut allowing him to achieve his target, he would use that one.
In other words, he did things by fair means or foul.
…
Dark clouds drifted over, covering the moonlight.
A layer of shadow shrouded Gu Yue village.
The night watchman knocked the clapper, bang, bang, bang, reminding people that it was already deep into the night, to be careful with fire and candles, to cautiously guard against wild beast attacks, as well as Gu Masters from outside villages who might sneak in.
Inside the mountain village, quite a few lights were still unextinguished.
In the Chi branch faction, inside Gu Yue Chi Lian's study, the lights were bright.
This elderly man of high position and heavy authority was using a gentle tone to comfort his own grandson, Gu Yue Chi Cheng: "I heard you were beaten by that Fang Yuan today?"
Gu Yue Chi Cheng had a black circle around his right eye. He said angrily: "Yes, grandfather. That guy Fang Yuan, just a mere C grade, was actually so arrogant. He blocked us all at the gate, disregarding our classmates' friendship, and robbed our primeval stones. What is even more infuriating is that the academy side actually turned a blind eye. It was not until Fang Yuan swaggered away that the guards rushed over. Grandfather, this time you must help grandson vent this bad breath of air!"
However, Gu Yue Chi Lian shook his head: "This is a matter between you juniors. You were merely extorted of a measly one primeval stone, and did not suffer heavy injuries at that. Your grandfather doesn't have a justified reason to make a move. Furthermore, even if you were beaten to heavy injuries, grandfather would not stand up for you. Do you understand why?"
Gu Yue Chi Cheng froze. He pondered bitterly, and after a good while, said hesitantly: "Grandfather, I somewhat understand your meaning. You hope that I rely on my own strength to win back my lost face, is that right?"
"You only understood one aspect." Gu Yue Chi Lian nodded, "You must remember, you not only represent your individual self, but also represent the image of our Chi branch faction. Our Chi family and Mo family have confronted each other for many years. Your every action and word represents the Chi family's future hope. Grandfather can help you in secret, but you must establish an image of being strong and independent. Otherwise, the elders supporting us will not see hope for the future, and will all abandon our Chi family."
Speaking to this point, Gu Yue Chi Lian sighed: "This is also the reason why, grandfather had to help you cheat and make you pose as a B grade aptitude. Our Chi family needs a strong and powerful heir so as to make those people supporting us persist."
Gu Yue Chi Cheng only then suddenly realized: "Grandfather, grandson understands."
Gu Yue Chi Lian shook his head: "Just understanding is not enough; you must go exert yourself and work hard. This matter with Fang Yuan is a small trouble. Next, you must diligently study and bitterly practice basic fists and feet, and win back your lost face. At the same time, also do not forget to work hard on cultivation, and advance to the middle stage at an early date. It is best to size the position of class head. This is a tremendous glory, and also a type of help to our Chi family."
"Yes, grandfather." Gu Yue Chi Cheng responded loudly.
"Hehehe, this surge of vigor truly looks like the heir of our Chi branch's appearance. Grandson, you work hard properly, grandfather will use all his strength to help you."