"Hold on Fang Yuan, we are here to help you!" Jiao San shouted with a face full of concern, then took a large stride into the room.
However, the next moment, he froze on the spot.
The room was completely empty; Fang Yuan wasn't here.
The four fell into a period of silence.
"How could this be, where is he?" Jiao San abruptly broke the silence, feeling a mix of shame and annoyance.
He had put on a performance by the door for a good half day, but it turned out to be a one-man show; Fang Yuan fundamentally was not in the room.
The three looked at each other in dismay, none having anticipated such a result either.
"This is somewhat strange. Since Fang Yuan isn't here, then why did he stick that piece of paper on the door?" Kong Jing said carefully.
"Why haven't you called the landlord over yet!" Jiao San lifted his foot and kicked the door panel away.
"You are looking for me? Hmph, I still need to look for you. The moment you came into my building, you made a huge ruckus and even kicked my door to pieces. Young man, you are quite capable." The landlord was an old man, but his tone was very forceful.
To have a surplus house in the Gu Yue mountain village and be able to rent it out, one was naturally also a Gu Master.
A Gu Master's strength and status entirely overlaid that of mortals. Mortals fundamentally wouldn't dare operate this kind of business; in truth, they had no real estate at all.
All the real estate in the entire mountain village belonged to the Gu Yue clan. The mortals residing here were all reared serfs and domestic servants.
"Senior, we are looking for a youth, he is a member of our group." Facing the landlord, Jiao San restrained his temper.
An old Gu Master like the landlord, although elderly and no longer fighting outside, still possessed interpersonal connections and relationship networks. Although he had retreated to the second line, his influence remained considerable.
Without some trump cards and interpersonal connections, how would one dare to do business?
This world was not an era of peace; it was filled with martial force and plundering.
The landlord shook his head, his tone stiff: "This old man doesn't care about the traces of tenants, but this old man knows that if you kicked my door broken, you must pay compensation."
"Hehe, this loss was caused by us, compensation is only right." Jiao San gave a hollow laugh, feeling pent-up anger in his heart, yet still pinched his nose and paid the primeval stones in compensation, even giving a bit extra.
The landlord's expression instantly turned much better: "If the youth who rented this house is the person you are looking for, then he hasn't returned for a day. He paid a month's rent, made large-scale purchases yesterday morning, and also asked me where to buy coal stones to be relatively cheaper. I told him there was no need to buy any; at the eastern end outside the mountain village is a valley with an exposed mine where he can directly dig. He thanked me and left, and after that, he hasn't come back."
"So it's like that." Jiao San looked around at the furnishings in the room.
Indeed, the bedding on the bed was all brand new. A square table and chair were bought second-hand goods, looking quite sturdy.
The inside of the furnace was completely empty, it truly lacked coal stones.
Jiao San exhaled a long breath of turbid air and immediately relaxed his heart.
"It seems Fang Yuan might have been delayed because of digging for coal stones. Forget it, we shall come again tomorrow." He unhesitatingly took the lead and walked out of the room.
However, arriving at the third day, Fang Yuan did not appear.
Jiao San and the other three stood in the room, somewhat hesitant.
"Digging for coal stones fundamentally does not require such a long time. Fang Yuan wants to enter secluded cultivation, so perhaps he wanted to dig a bit more all at once. But this time has long passed. Could it be he encountered some kind of accident during the digging process?" Kong Jing speculated.
Jiao San nodded nearly imperceptibly, pointing at the bedding and furnace Fang Yuan had purchased: "This kid is very stingy. He paid a month's worth of primeval stones in one go, set up so many things, and specially stuck a note on the door; he should have simply wanted to cultivate here. Pity, bad luck hit him on the head. These days, due to the wolf den expanding, the movements of wild beasts around the mountain village have become increasingly frequent. Maybe he really ran into some wild beasts."
"Group Leader is brilliant!" The two female group members said in unison, flattering him.
Jiao San threw his head back and laughed loudly: "Hahaha, I was just worrying about not finding a method to deal with him. Although we have a mission to capture wild deer, we shouldn't be in a rush to go out. What if we run into this kid in the wild, we can't possibly watch him die without saving him right?"
"Hehehe." The other three group members involuntarily laughed along.
The fourth day.
In the aperture, waves of dark green tides continuously surged up, crashing against the crystal membrane aperture walls without end.
The semi-transparent white crystal membrane was already covered in deep crosscrossing fissures.
This was the result of Fang Yuan's continuous efforts over three days and three nights without sleep or rest. At most, he had only quickly eaten a meal and resolved excretion issues when he couldn't hold it back.
These past few days, Fang Yuan had consistently intentionally suppressed the impacting waves, while simultaneously extracting the natural primeval essence within primeval stones. Therefore, after so much time had passed, the green copper primeval sea had only lowered about twenty percent of its water level from its forty-four percent limit.
Time flowed on; when the green copper sea surface only had thirteen percent water level remaining, the crystal membrane finally could not hold on anymore, reaching its absolute limit.
Crack, crack, crack…
The originally thick and sturdy crystal membrane all collapsed and shattered. Countless crystal fragments fell downwards, landing into the primeval sea and splashing up clusters of spray. Then, in the blink of an eye, they turned into glittering white specks and thoroughly dissipated.
Replacing the crystal membrane was a set of brand new white light membrane.
This was the Rank Two light membrane. Although there wasn't a major change and it still emitted a white light, it was much more dazzling than the Rank One light membrane.
At the same time, a trace of pale red primeval essence was generated within the primeval sea, mixing in with the shallow dark green primeval sea at the bottom of the aperture.
This was the red iron primeval essence unique to Rank Two initial stage!
"Success, I have finally broken through to Rank Two!" Fang Yuan abruptly opened his eyes, and a streak of lightning instantly lit up in the dim room.
However, immediately following that, an intense sense of dizziness transmitted over.
"Continuously cultivating for four days and three nights without stopping, the intensity is very high, the body is somewhat unable to endure it." Fang Yuan smiled bitterly, slowly lying down. "The cultivation process was not disturbed. It seems that set of arrangements in the rented house has played its part. Spending this sum of money was still worth it. Next, I will rest well for a night, and then return to the mountain village tomorrow."
Thinking of this, an intense wave of sleepiness had already struck him.
Fang Yuan forcefully propped up his eyelids, relying on tenacious willpower to pull the cotton quilt at the head of the bed over his body.
After he closed his eyes, in merely the time of a few breaths, he fell heavily asleep.
The previous cultivation had consumed a massive amount of his spirit.
This sleep lasted a full stretch until the afternoon of the second day.
When Fang Yuan opened his eyes, he felt his spirit had mostly recovered, but a sense of weakness seemingly lingered in his bones.
He pushed open the door, stepping out of this room for the very first time in five days.
This movement immediately attracted someone.
This person had slender eyes and a thin figure; it was exactly Jiang Ya's older brother, Jiang He.
Seeing the withered-looking Fang Yuan, he spat out a mouthful of turbid air and said, "You finally came out, phew. If you didn't come out in a few more days, I really would have had to break the door and go in. After all, if you died here, my responsibility would be massive."
Fang Yuan smiled, saying nothing.
The winter sunlight passed through the window, shining onto his body and face, further displaying a sense of pale weakness.
As early as five days ago, he had deliberately asked the landlord, leaving behind clues of coal stones for Jiao San and the others. Then, he had left the mountain village and come directly to the village at the foot of the mountain.
Because of the old man Wang family's matter previously, Jiang He became his half-ally. Exactly by utilizing this layer of relationship, Fang Yuan resided in the village these past few days without suffering any interference, successfully charging to Rank Two.
Of course, the secret rock crack cave was undoubtedly more hidden than Jiang He's place here, but it was unsafe. Fang Yuan had to consider the possibility that if Jiao San and the others stubbornly searched for him, they might discover the secret cave.
Although this possibility was very small, once the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance was investigated and exposed, Fang Yuan's life would be in danger.
Acting cautiously, Fang Yuan naturally would not take this risk.
At the same time, Jiang He's side was also relatively safer. Even though there was a shared secret, Jiang He wouldn't kill him to silence him because of it.
The trouble and risk of killing a Gu Master were truly too immense. Insufficient benefits wouldn't constitute a motive for Jiang He to commit murder. On the contrary, because of wanting to keep the secret, Jiang He would be even more worried about Fang Yuan's safety.
Once Fang Yuan died and the clan's punishment hall investigated, who knew if the secret of the old man Wang family would be excavated.
Seeing Fang Yuan come out safely, Jiang He truly breathed a sigh of relief.
But very quickly, he sensed the aura on Fang Yuan's body, and his expression could not help but change slightly: "To think you truly succeeded, breaking through to Rank Two in one go!"
He felt exceedingly astonished in his heart. Five days ago, when Fang Yuan suddenly came to his door and clarified his intentions, Jiang He actually felt somewhat disdainful internally.
To absorb the natural primeval essence within primeval stones while simultaneously charging towards Rank Two—this method involved splitting one's mind to do two things at once, extremely consuming one's energy. Generally speaking, a Gu Master had to possess exceptionally designated willpower, patience, and at least several years of cultivation experience.
Only with this cultivation experience could a Gu Master make extracting primeval essence from stones a type of instinct. At the same time, skillfully manipulating the primeval sea tides to suppress the impact force to a certain degree. And this degree had to be exactly precise. It must be able to counteract the aperture wall's self-recovery, yet not consume too fast either, cooperating with the primeval essence recovery to conduct timely replenishment.
In Jiang He's view, Fang Yuan's chance of success were practically zero, but unexpectedly, he actually succeeded in one go.
Fang Yuan smiled dismissively: "Just a fluke. I plan to return to the mountain village today, but before that, if I could have a meal, that would be for the best."
"Hehehe, little brother Fang Yuan, since you are at my place, food and drinks are naturally taken care of." Jiang He patted his chest, his attitude increasingly amicable.
Although he did not think highly of Fang Yuan's prospects, Fang Yuan had now successfully advanced to Rank Two, equivalent to breaking past a difficult hurdle; he already possessed the qualifications to sit as an equal with him.
After a sumptuous banquet, Jiang He personally sent Fang Yuan to the village entrance.
"Little brother Fang Yuan, be careful on your trip. Recently the wolf den over there has been acting up quite violently, leading to increasingly frequent wild beast activity around the mountain village. Eh, it's snowing again." Jiang He paused for a moment and continued, "If you ask me, just don't go back, how about staying for a night?"
Ever since Fang Yuan advanced to Rank Two, he had become much more enthusiastic.
Fang Yuan, however, stubbornly insisted on leaving, bidding farewell to Jiang He.
The snow fell bit by bit, silently, floating down slowly like pure white fluff.
The light of the setting sun dyed this snow a golden yellow.
Specks of snow landed on Fang Yuan's head and shoulders.
In the distance, the Gu Yue mountain village softly stood on the waist of the mountain, distant but in sight.