Night fell.
The moon appeared among the clouds like a silver plate. Sparse stars dotted the surroundings.
Gu Yue Mo Bei stood in the courtyard, looking up at the moon, his eyes shining brightly.
"Little brother, I heard you were injured today." The voice of his older sister, Gu Yue Mo Yan, suddenly came from behind him.
"Sister, are you worried that being beaten to the point of vomiting blood today might leave a shadow in my heart?" Mo Bei turned around, the corner of his lips curling up.
Seeing her younger brother smile, Mo Yan's heart instantly relaxed. Although she truly had this worry, she said, "Of course not, I, your sister, understand you best. Good brother, you have an unyielding fighting spirit and are the future person in power of our Mo family. How could you be frightened by such a minor injury?"
"Hehehe, I knew sister doted on me the most." Mo Bei scratched his scalp, giggling.
"Do you know, sister." Under the bright moonlight, this fifteen-year-old youth's eyes bloomed with a bright luster, "Although I failed again this time, during the battle, I heard that guy Fang Yuan panting rapidly. In the past, I was always beaten down by him in two or three moves, and he was always calm and composed. His panting has already revealed his weakness. He is absolutely not as strong as most people imagine. One day, I will defeat him fair and square!"
"Good, as expected of a fine young man of my Mo faction!" Mo Yan let out a clear laugh and rubbed her brother's head, a concerned look appearing on her face, "But you suffered internal injuries, so don't practice martial arts for the next few days."
"Sister, don't rub my head like this, I've already grown up." Mo Bei shook his head and said in a slightly dissatisfied tone, "I know everything you said. I already have a plan; I will use these days to warm and nourish the four walls of my aperture and complete the advancement from the initial stage to the middle stage. I'll secure the class head position first and suppress that guy Fang Yuan's limelight. I'll let him know that what a Gu Master's cultivation truly focuses on is still aptitude!"
"With you thinking like this, I am relieved. Back then, I was only a vice class head. If you become the class head, little brother, it can be considered making up for my regrets."
"Sister, just rest assured. The class head position, I will definitely obtain it!"
At almost the same time, in the Chi family.
In a secret room, there was only a single torch inserted into a groove on the bluestone wall.
The fire burned blazingly, illuminating this small secret room.
One of the two elders in power, Gu Yue Chi Lian, was facing his biological grandson, Gu Yue Chi Cheng. The two sat cross-legged on futons, their shadows cast on the ground, continuously swaying along with the dancing flames.
Gu Yue Chi Lian stretched out his large hand, pressing his palm tightly against Chi Cheng's lower abdomen. Strands of silver primeval essence poured backward into Gu Yue Chi Cheng's aperture, following the old man's intent.
Gu Yue Chi Cheng's face was full of tension, completely immersing his mind into his own aperture, trying his utmost to suppress the fluctuations of his primeval sea.
In this world, there are no two identical leaves. For different Gu Masters, there is also absolutely no identical primeval essence.
Once foreign primeval essence entered an aperture, it would trigger the natural resistance of the original primeval essence within it.
If Gu Yue Chi Cheng did not suppress it and allowed his primeval essence to resist, it would inevitably cause a clash of primeval essence. The violent fluctuations caused by the clash would damage the aperture.
The aperture's primeval sea is the foundational ground of everything in a Gu Master's cultivation, the core of the core.
Once the aperture was injured, lightly the cultivation level would drop, heavily the aptitude would be reduced. Once the aperture was completely shattered, the Gu Master would directly die.
After a good while, Gu Yue Chi Lian finally slowly stopped pouring his primeval essence and slowly withdrew his hand.
Gu Yue Chi Cheng instantly let out a long sigh of relief, his tense body relaxing as well: "Thank you, Grandpa, for instilling primeval essence to warm my aperture every three days. It has tired you!"
Gu Yue Chi Lian was covered in a heavy sweat. He sighed and said, "This is also something that cannot be helped. Your aptitude is only C grade. If you rely solely on your own power, wanting to advance to the middle stage would take a very long time. This time is often twice that of a B grade and four times that of an A grade. That way, you would be exposed. Therefore, although this method is highly dangerous, we have no choice but to use it."
"Grandson understands Grandpa's painstaking efforts and good intentions."
"It's good that you understand." The old man sighed again, "This method also has a huge aftereffect. That is, the aperture walls are being warmed and nourished by my silver primeval essence. Although silver primeval essence has excellent effects, to you, it is ultimately foreign primeval essence. In the future, even if the aperture wall transforms from a light membrane to a water membrane, it will be mixed with my aura. The more foreign aura there is, the more impure the aperture becomes. This is pulling up seedlings to help them grow; it will shrink your development space in the future."
Gu Yue Chi Cheng pursed his lips tightly: "Grandpa, for the future of our Chi family, I am willing to sacrifice my personal prospects!"
Gu Yue Chi Lian's old heart was instantly greatly comforted. He nodded and stroked his beard, saying, "To have such a mindset is very good, very good. However, the heavens often leave a sliver of opportunity; you are not entirely without hope. If you can find a Cleansing Water Gu in the future, it can wash your aperture walls, dissolve all the foreign aura within your primeval sea, and eliminate this kind of aftereffect."
"Also. Grandpa has already used his connections, asking people to search everywhere and purchase a Liquor worm for you. This worm can help a Gu Master refine primeval essence during Rank one cultivation, raising it by a minor realm. The primeval essence refined in this way is your own primeval essence, not foreign primeval essence. Using it to warm your aperture has no side effects, nor any risks, and the warming effect is even better!"
Gu Yue Chi Cheng was overjoyed: "Thank you, Grandpa!"
"However, Liquor worms are hard to find. Among Rank one Gu worms, the Liquor worm, Boar Gu, Bookworm, and so on are all the most precious Gu. Once they appear on the market, they are bought up almost immediately. Of course, there are also some Gu worms in this world that are rumored to be able to change a Gu Master's aptitude. But in the better half of Grandpa's life, I have only vaguely heard rumors and have never seen one with my own eyes," the old man said in an unhurried tone.
The night breeze blew gently, entering the room through the window.
Gu Yue Fang Zheng sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes shut tight, his two hands each firmly gripping a primeval stone.
The bronze primeval sea surged without wind, wave after wave washing against the white aperture walls.
He had A grade aptitude, with his primeval sea occupying over eighty percent of his entire aperture. The recovery speed of his own primeval essence was a full twice that of Fang Yuan's!
This uniquely exceptional advantage made him already close to the Rank one middle stage.
Phew.
After a long time, Gu Yue Fang Zheng let out a breath of turbid air and slowly opened his eyes.
Outside the window, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, with the green bamboo buildings spreading outwards.
It was a patch of quiet and peace.
"When cultivating, time always passes very quickly. Before I knew it, it's already late at night," Fang Zheng muttered softly, his lips moving. He slowly loosened his hands, and instantly two handfuls of grayish-white stone powder spilled from his hands onto the floor in front of the bed.
Once the natural primeval essence within primeval stones was completely extracted, they would turn into a pile of stone powder.
Looking at the spilled stone powder, Fang Zheng frowned slightly.
He took out a money bag from his chest; the money bag was already deflated.
Opening it, he saw that only three primeval stones were left inside.
Every seven days, Fang Zheng would receive a subsidy of three primeval stones from the academy, but one would be robbed by Fang Yuan, leaving only two in his hands.
His uncle and aunt would give him a living allowance, similarly three primeval stones every seven days.
How could just these primeval stones be enough to use?
Fang Zheng wholeheartedly wanted to surpass his older brother Fang Yuan, so he had proactively sought out his uncle and aunt several times to ask for some primeval stones.
After it happened too many times, his aunt talked to him, telling him that the family was currently in a difficult financial situation, expenses were tight, and there was no spare cash.
Thus, Fang Zheng felt too embarrassed to ask again.
"Father and Mother have already done their utmost to support my cultivation. I cannot put them in a difficult spot and demand primeval stones from them anymore. With only three primeval stones left, I must use them even more sparingly. Using one a day, this way they can last for three days."
"I have a feeling that in three or four days, I will definitely be able to advance to the middle stage! I just wonder what brother's progress is at?" Thinking of this, Fang Zheng subconsciously looked out the window, staring in the direction of the academy dormitories.
"I have A grade aptitude, and brother is only C grade, his progress is definitely not as fast as mine. Brother will absolutely not be my match this time! Brother, I will let you know the power of A grade aptitude!"
Thinking of this, Fang Zheng couldn't help but clench both of his fists tightly.
Academy dormitories.
The door to Fang Yuan's room was shut tightly.
In the dark, he had not gone to sleep, but was sitting cross-legged on his bed.
A Gu Master's cultivation could not replace sleep. Normally at this time, Fang Yuan would have already lain down to rest.
But during his cultivation just now, he felt he was only a hair's breadth away from stepping into the middle stage.
"Might as well skip sleeping tonight and sprint directly for the middle stage!" A trace of resolute light flashed in his eyes.
Following that, he closed his eyes and poured his mind into his aperture.
His forty-four percent bronze primeval sea had just been completely refined by the Liquor worm into pale green middle stage primeval essence.
"Rise." With a movement of Fang Yuan's thoughts, the calm bronze primeval sea immediately rippled with waves.
The ripples grew more numerous and larger, forming successive tides.
Crash, crash, crash…
The waves surged forward continuously, crashing toward the surrounding aperture walls.
Like hitting against a rocky reef, most of the primeval essence shattered into emerald spray, splashing high into the air before melting back into the sea.
A small portion of the primeval essence was consumed, turning into traces of a marvelous invisible power that permeated into the white light membrane of the aperture wall.
"Rise again." Fang Yuan agitated his mind, and the scale of the pale green waves grew larger and larger. The previous waves were at most like dogs and rabbits chasing each other, but now they were like herds of horses, charging toward the aperture's light membrane.
Horses like dragons, waves flying to the sky!
The primeval essence underwent drastic consumption, and the water level continuously dropped.
Crash, crash, crash!
The continuous onslaught of waves finally caused quantitative change to trigger a qualitative change.
That white light membrane suddenly trembled, and the originally gentle white light abruptly burst forth with an aggressive brightness.
Seeing this scene, Fang Yuan rejoiced in his heart, knowing it was the crucial moment. He hastily stirred his primeval essence, continuing the relentless washing.
The white light became increasingly bright, the rays twisting and entangling with each other, giving off a sensation of becoming thicker and thicker.
Within the time of over ten breaths, ribbons of light appeared on the light membrane. These light ribbons were like streams of water, continuously flowing and colliding.
In the process of collision, they continuously merged and expanded, forming a stream of white light.
Finally, the streams of light linked together in a single patch, completely covering the light membrane.
The white light dimmed, and the original white light membrane of the aperture wall had disappeared, replaced by a spherical layer of white water membrane.
The surface of the light membrane had been completely smooth, without a trace of impurity. The water membrane, however, was visibly thicker than the light membrane, with light rippling across its surface, flickering indiscriminately.
The surface of the primeval sea returned to calmness, with twenty percent of the seawater remaining in the aperture.
"Advanced to the middle stage!" Fang Yuan laughed brightly and opened his eyes.
Bright sunlight pierced through the gaps in the window and entered the room.
Before he knew it, a entire night had passed, and it was already morning.
Bang!
Suddenly, the door to his dormitory was violently kicked open, and two guards walked in.
"Fang Yuan, you skipped class without a reason, the academy elder wants to see you. Come with us!"