In an instant, the surroundings fell silent, and countless gazes were cast toward him.
"This is truly getting more and more interesting." Fang Yuan smiled inwardly. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he waded through the river water and stepped onto the opposite bank.
Immediately, he felt a layer of pressure.
This pressure came from the spirit spring deep within the sea of flowers. The spirit spring produced primeval essence, and because the primeval essence was too dense and abundant, it resulted in pressure.
But soon, from the flower bushes beside Fang Yuan's feet, a cluster of light specks rose up.
The light specks flickered, enveloping Fang Yuan's entire body, and ultimately plunged entirely into his body.
"So this is the Hope Gu." Fang Yuan muttered in his heart. Although the person in charge did not explain it, he knew it very clearly.
Every single one of these light specks was a Gu.
The Gu was named Hope.
There is a most ancient legend that speaks of the Hope Gu.
Legend has it that when this world was just formed, it was a desolate wilderness where wild beasts ran rampant. The first human appeared, named Ren Zu. He ate raw meat and drank blood, and his life was extremely difficult.
In particular, there was a group of wild beasts named Predicament, who particularly liked the scent of Ren Zu and wanted to eat him.
Ren Zu did not have a body as hard as mountain rock, nor the sharp teeth and claws of wild beasts. How could he fight against this group of wild beasts called Predicament? His source of food was highly unstable, he hid here and there all day, and situated at the bottom of nature's food chain, he could barely continue living.
At this time, three Gu took the initiative to approach him and said to Ren Zu, "As long as you use your life to provide for us, we will help you through this difficult time."
Backed into a corner, Ren Zu had no choice but to agree to these three Gu.
He first used his youthful years to provide for the largest of the three Gu, and that Gu brought him Strength.
Relying on Strength, Ren Zu's life began to improve. He started to have a steady source of food and possessed the power to protect himself. He was fierce and combative, defeating many Predicaments. But soon he suffered the consequences. Eventually, he discovered that Strength was not omnipotent; it also needed recovery and rest, and could not be squandered recklessly.
Moreover, against the entire pack of Predicament beasts, the strength of him alone was truly too small.
Learning from the painful experience, Ren Zu decided to use his most robust and vigorous middle-aged years to provide for the most beautiful of the three Gu.
Thus, the second Gu brought him Wisdom.
With Wisdom, Ren Zu learned to think and reflect, and began to accumulate experience. He found that applying Wisdom was often more effective than applying Strength. Relying on Wisdom and Strength, he once conquered many previously unconquerable targets and killed even more Predicaments. He ate the flesh of Predicaments and drank the blood of Predicaments, thereby stubbornly surviving.
But the good times did not last long; Ren Zu grew old, older and older.
This was because he had offered both his youth and middle age to the Strength Gu and the Wisdom Gu.
When a person ages, their muscles atrophy and their mind no longer turns quickly.
"Human, what else can you bring us? You no longer have anything to offer us." After discovering this, the Strength Gu and the Wisdom Gu both left heartlessly.
Ren Zu lost his Strength and Wisdom, was discovered once again by Predicaments, and fell into the encirclement of the beast pack. He was old, unable to run anymore, and his teeth had all fallen out, unable to even chew wild fruits and vegetables.
He collapsed weakly onto the ground, surrounded by densely packed Predicaments. His heart was completely filled with despair.
Just at this moment, the third Gu said to him, "Human, offer to me, and I can let you escape Predicament."
Ren Zu said with tears in his eyes, "Gu, what else do I have? Look, the Strength Gu and the Wisdom Gu have both abandoned me. And I only have my old age left. Compared to youth and middle age, although old age is not worth mentioning, if I offer my old age entirely to you, my life will immediately end. Though I am currently surrounded by Predicaments, I will not die for a little while. I still want to live a bit longer, even if just for one second. So you should go; I can no longer provide for you."
But that Gu said, "Among the three Gu, my requirement is the smallest. Human, you just need to give me your heart, and that will be enough."
"Then I'll just give you my heart." Ren Zu said, "But Gu, what can you bring me? In this current desperate situation, even if the Strength Gu and the Wisdom Gu returned to my side, it wouldn't change anything."
Compared to the Strength Gu, the body of this Gu was the weakest, being just a tiny speck of light. Compared to the Wisdom Gu, this Gu was the dimmest, only able to emit a faint white light, not gorgeous or brilliant at all.
But when the human gave his heart to this Gu, this Gu suddenly burst forth with boundless light. Within this light, the Predicaments cried out in terror, "This is the Hope Gu, retreat quickly, we Predicaments fear Hope the most."
The pack of Predicament beasts instantly retreated in panic.
Ren Zu was dumbfounded. From that moment on, he knew—when facing Predicament, give your heart to Hope.
And right now, the Hope Gu merged into a stream of light and had already entered Fang Yuan's body.
Due to external pressure, they quickly gathered at Fang Yuan's abdomen, three inches below the navel, and spontaneously formed into a cluster.
Fang Yuan instantly felt the pressure lessen slightly.
He took a step and continued moving forward.
With every step he took, successive Hope Gu would fly out from the sea of flowers, plunge into his body, and join the cluster of light.
The cluster of light grew larger and larger, brighter and brighter.
But the person in charge on the opposite bank furrowed his brows.
"The number of this Hope Gu seems a bit small." Many clan elders who had been covertly paying attention to Fang Yuan couldn't help but feel their hearts sink upon seeing this scene.
The Clan Head also furrowed his brows; this was absolutely not the phenomenon an A-grade aptitude should have!
Enduring the pressure, Fang Yuan continued walking forward.
"Under ten steps, one has no cultivation aptitude. Between ten and twenty steps, it is D-grade aptitude. Between twenty and thirty steps, it is C-grade aptitude. Between thirty and forty steps, it is B-grade aptitude. Between forty and fifty steps, it is A-grade. So far, I have walked twenty-three steps."
"Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six… twenty-seven." Fang Yuan counted silently in his heart. When he reached the twenty-seventh step, it was as if he heard a booming sound. The light cluster between the two kidneys in his abdomen had accumulated to its limit and suddenly exploded violently.
This explosion only occurred within Fang Yuan's body; outsiders could not detect it at all. Only Fang Yuan, in that instant, felt a sort of earth-shattering profundity.
In a flash, all the hairs on his body stood straight up, his pores tightly closed, and his mind pulled taut like a violently drawn bowstring.
Immediately after, his mind suddenly emptied, and his entire body went limp, as if plummeting onto a mountaintop of clouds. The strings of his heart thereby relaxed, his hairs smoothed down, and all the pores over his entire body opened up.
All at once, a layer of light sweat broke out all over his body.
This process might sound somewhat long when described, but it was actually extraordinarily brief. It came fast, and it left extremely abruptly.
Fang Yuan was absent-minded for only an instant before recovering his senses.
He covertly focused his mind to probe into his body and discovered that below his navel, in the center of his two kidneys, an aperture had appeared out of thin air.
The awakening was successful!
This was the Hope for Eternal Life!!