Having not slept all night, Fang Yuan left the house as soon as the sky brightened to make massive purchases.
The rented room was crude, and the bedding was dilapidated. If he lived there long-term, the cold air would invade his body, and he would definitely fall ill.
Although Fang Yuan had consumed the vast majority of his primeval stones by now, the necessary living utensils still had to be bought. He could not scrimp on these things.
First was the bedding. He needed large quilts filled with new cotton, at least two of them. In addition to that, he needed bedsheets and mattresses.
He had to buy another oil lamp for sufficient lighting, and at least stock up on two pots of lamp oil.
Fang Yuan thought for a moment. Although the area of the rented room was not large, it could still fit a small table and a chair, so he simply bought them as well.
The most important thing was still a furnace.
In the dead of winter, if there was no furnace for warmth, sleeping inside, one would still be frozen awake in the middle of the night.
Besides these, Fang Yuan also bought some dry rations. He also prepared some water himself, enough for his needs for seven days.
The winter sun slowly rose, emitting a lethargic glow.
The four Gu Masters, including Gu Yue Jiao San, stood at the north gate of the mountain village, already burning with anxiety from waiting.
"Something's not right. We clearly agreed on this time and place last night. But now fifteen minutes have passed, why hasn't this Fang Yuan appeared yet?" a female group member said.
"Patience, let's wait a bit longer. Being late is unavoidable for newcomers." Jiao San smiled. He was just worrying about not being able to find an opportunity to suppress Fang Yuan, and never expected him to take the initiative to deliver himself to their door on the second day.
"It's one thing for us to wait. To actually make Lord Group Leader wait with us, this kid puts on far too great of airs!" Gu Yue Kong Jing said, curling his lips, his tone filled with indignation.
However, half an hour later, there was still no sign of Fang Yuan.
A layer of gloom covered Jiao San's face.
"Could this stinky brat have remembered the location wrong? We clearly agreed to gather at the north gate," Kong Jing suspected.
"I will continue waiting here, you guys go look around the various gates." Under Jiao San's order, the three group members could only comply.
A moment later, they returned to Jiao San empty-handed.
"Could this Fang Yuan have already seen through our plans and directly separated from the group?" a female Gu Master said.
"You are thinking of him too profoundly. Even if he is the first place of the year-end examination, he is only a youthful newcomer. His age is right there," Kong Jing curled his lips and said.
Jiao San's expression was gloomy like water: "Whether he saw through it or not is a secondary matter. The key right now is finding the person himself. My only worry at present is that he ditched us and started charging towards Rank Two all by himself. Once he reaches Rank Two, he can take the initiative to give up a mission once, and directly apply to the Internal Affairs Hall to split the family property. Search, find him for me. The mountain village is only so big, and the rented houses are only so many. We must find him, we absolutely cannot give him the time to charge towards Rank Two!"
"Yes!"
…
In the room, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed.
In front of him, several pouches were opened, containing all the primeval stones he possessed.
"There are not many primeval stones left." Fang Yuan sighed, his expression somewhat solemn.
Primeval stones were the fundamental driving force propelling a Gu Master forward. If primeval stones were lacking, the recovery of primeval essence could only rely on one's own restoration ability, greatly lowering the speed of cultivation. At the same time, if the food supply could not keep up, the Gu worms would also starve to death.
Fang Yuan's primeval stones had once reached over a thousand pieces during his days studying in the academy. But they could not withstand the continuous daily consumption.
The Gu Masters of the same batch possessed only three Gu worms up until now.
However, after Fang Yuan obtained first place in the year-end examination, he entered the Gu room and freely selected another Little Light Gu.
He had to choose; giving it up would attract suspicion.
Only stringently like this, the number of Gu worms in his hands at this moment had reached as many as seven!
Without a doubt, this was a heavy economic burden.
"If things continue like this, I can only hold on for two months. So I must reclaim the inheritance; that is the best economic support. But to reclaim the inheritance, the very first step is to advance to Rank Two." Fang Yuan's gaze was profound.
For Fang Yuan, advancing to Rank Two was not very easy.
In a Gu Master's cultivation, resources were the first priority, and aptitude was the second priority. If the aptitude was poor, the Gu Master's cultivation would be more arduous, and their future achievements would be lower.
Aptitude was divided from lowest to highest into D grade, C grade, B grade, and A grade.
But this was only a rough classification.
In fact, within each grade of aptitude, there were detailed scale distinctions.
Taking C grade as an example, the maximum storage limit of primeval essence in the aperture was a minimum of forty percent, and could reach at most fifty-nine percent.
Fang Yuan's exact primeval essence was only forty-four percent. Within the range of this C grade aptitude, he was only lower-middle class.
Charging towards Rank Two required at a minimum fifty-five percent dark green primeval essence. For A grade and B grade Gu Masters, this was fundamentally not a difficult hurdle. For those C grade Gu Masters whose primeval essence was fifty-five, fifty-six… all the way to fifty-nine percent, they could also pass it effortlessly.
Therefore, for Gu Masters with C grade aptitude, generally as long as their accumulation reached a certain degree, the vast majority of people would advance to Rank Two. Only an extremely small portion of people could reach Rank Three.
Thus, once aptitude was tested out, the lifelong achievements of most people could be foreseen. Fang Yuan suffering the cold shoulder was not entirely to be blamed on the world's prejudice.
"My C grade aptitude, although only at forty-four percent, still has methods to smash through the crystal wall, destroy and then establish, and reach Rank Two. The most fundamental method is to find a Gu worm capable of raising one's own aptitude. The secondary method is to obtain an auxiliary Gu worm similar to the Liquor worm, which can also help a Gu Master break through obstacles. One level lower is to obtain the help of elders, but utilizing foreign kinds of primeval essence bears huge aftereffects, unless one can find a Clear Water Gu in the future to wash away the foreign aura."
While pondering in his heart, Fang Yuan reached out both hands to take primeval stones from the pouches, his fingers rubbing the smooth surface of the primeval stones.
"But all of these aforementioned methods are inadvisable for my current self. I do not have the help of elders, and even if I did, I would not entrust a vital spot like the aperture into someone else's hands. Gu worms like the Liquor worm are all very rare; being able to obtain the Liquor worm temporarily was already exceptionally good luck. As for Gu worms that raise aptitude, I obtained them in my previous life, thereby able to cultivate to the Rank Six realm. I also know where they can be obtained, but with my current cultivation, I fundamentally cannot enter those places. Even if I obtained them, I wouldn't be able to keep them, or even use them."
"However, apart from these methods, there is still the lowest-grade, clumsiest method. That is to forcefully push through using primeval stones!" Thinking of this, sharp light flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes, and his hands tightly gripped the primeval stones.
In a Gu Master's cultivation, resources were the first priority, and aptitude was the second priority.
Under the circumstance of insufficient aptitude, resources could be relied upon to make up for it to a certain extent.
"My primeval essence is at most only forty-four percent. Charging against the aperture walls, my foundation is insufficient. But if I charge while simultaneously absorbing primeval essence, holding on for a period of time, at most four or five days, I will be able to smash through the aperture walls!"
His determination had long been set. Fang Yuan resolutely closed his eyes and sank his mind into his aperture.
The green copper primeval sea set off waves once again, the tide continuously crashing towards the crystal membrane aperture walls.
But this time, to prevent the primeval essence from being consumed too early, leaving no surplus strength to maintain the cracks and causing the aperture walls to recover, Fang Yuan intentionally slowed down the impact force.
This way, the depletion speed of the green copper primeval essence was greatly reduced. Although the speed at which cracks increased on the crystal membrane subsequently slowed down as well, Fang Yuan was still extracting the natural primeval essence from the primeval stones.
The recovery speed of primeval essence was slightly greater than the healing speed of the cracks on the crystal membrane. As one fell, the other rose. Although the progress was extremely slow, not matching a hundredth of the effect when fully urging the primeval essence, looking at it long term, there was the hope of success.
Only, doing it this way, apart from necessary eating and excretion, Fang Yuan had to cultivate unceasingly. The more time he wasted, the more primeval stones he wasted, turning his efforts further into an illusion.
Stopping for at most a quarter of an hour; without any more primeval essence to continue the impact, the crystal membrane would completely restore itself.
Therefore, once the impact began, he had to persist until success, absolutely not allowed to be disturbed. Once the stopped time was too long, he would have to start from the very beginning.
Fang Yuan did not have that many primeval stones on hand to allow him to start over a few times.
Time passed swiftly during cultivation. In the blink of an eye, the sun fell behind the mountaintops.
Under the dusk, Jiao San's face was covered in frost, his voice low and deep: "Searched for a day, and still haven't found him?"
"No, Lord Group Leader." Kong Jing wiped the cold sweat from his head, "That kid fundamentally didn't rent the houses we introduced. Who knows where he holed up."
"Hmph! Continue searching tomorrow, he must be found. Remember to search the inns as well. I truly don't believe it, the mountain village is only so big, no matter where he shrinks away to, there will be clues!" Jiao San flicked his sleeves and walked away.
When noon arrived on the second day, their search finally yielded results.
A female Gu Master ran excitedly to Jiao San and reported, "Found him, found him! Fang Yuan rented a second-floor room in a dilapidated bamboo building. According to the landlord's description, it should be him."
"Hmph, exactly as I expected. He really hid away to fully charge towards Rank Two." Jiao San laughed sinisterly, "Let's go, we shall all go visit his house as guests and pay our respects. As a newcomer, he always needs some caring."
"Hehehe…" The group sneered for a while.
The four immediately arrived at Fang Yuan's residence.
A piece of bamboo paper was pasted on the door panel.
Jiao San took it down, unfolding it to take a look. The handwriting on the bamboo paper was exactly Fang Yuan's, the general idea being that he would enter secluded cultivation for a few days, not leaving the house, to fully charge towards Rank Two. If outsiders saw this, do not disturb him. If Jiao San saw this, this was a leave of absence slip.
Jiao San snorted coldly and threw the bamboo paper away with a flick of his hand.
How could I let you charge to Rank Two so smoothly?
He sneered, bending his fingers to knock on the door.
Thump thump thump.
"Little brother Fang Yuan, are you here?" He deliberately spoke very loudly, "We've come to see you. Really now, for a matter like secluded cultivation, you should have told us beforehand."
There was no response from inside the room.
Thump thump thump!
Jiao San knocked on the door forcefully.
"Little brother Fang Yuan, it's not that I want to criticize you. You are acting on your own accord. Since you have already joined our group, your actions should follow commands, obey the organization, and move together. We have already accepted the mission to capture wild deer, this is specially meant for you to practice your hands. You might as well stop first, let's complete this mission first; cultivating afterwards won't be too late." Jiao San narrowed his eyes, his face gloomy, yet his tone was very gentle.
There was still no response from the room.
Jiao San suddenly raised his pitch and said, "Little brother Fang Yuan, why haven't you responded to me yet? Nothing has happened to you, right? Charging towards Rank Two is not that simple. You could entirely have asked the few of us for experience first. Fang Yuan! Did you hear me? Not good, could he have fainted?"
Jiao San talked to himself, sneering on his face, but the words he spoke were filled with a concerned and anxious tone.
The other three group members watched from the side.
Right on cue, Kong Jing interjected, "Lord Group Leader, perhaps you truly guessed right. Fang Yuan hasn't responded for half a day, let's break in and save him!"
"Fang Yuan! Fang Yuan, open the door quickly. By not saying a word like this, you are really making us worry about you. If you don't open the door again, we are going to break it down. You are a newcomer who just joined our group, we cannot just watch you fall into danger!" Jiao San shouted loudly.
But there was not a trace of response from the room.
The corners of Jiao San's mouth curled up slightly, turning his head to signal Kong Jing.
Kong Jing understood his intent, raised his foot, and kicked fiercely.
With a loud clatter, the entire door was kicked flying, smashing onto the bed!