Pitapat…
Rain fell heavily, hitting the verdant bamboo buildings with crisp sounds.
In the pond before the bamboo buildings, the water surface was pelted by raindrops, fish darted happily back and forth through the water, and water weeds swayed at the bottom. Dark clouds lay thick, and the entire view was veiled by a dense, heavy curtain of rain.
In a somewhat gloomy room, the window stood open, and Fang Yuan gazed quietly at the downpour, a faint sigh escaping his heart. “It’s already been three days and three nights.”
Three nights before, he had carried two jars of wine out of the village and continued exploring the surroundings. But deep into the night a downpour had begun. To be drenched like a drowned rat was not worth mentioning; the crux was that in such conditions he could no longer explore anywhere. Rain would swiftly wash away the smell of wine, and if he forced his way through the rain to explore, he would likely arouse suspicion.
Before, he had disguised himself as a frustrated drunkard to conceal his true motive. But one should never underestimate the wisdom of others; more often than not, only fools believe others to be foolish. So, helpless, Fang Yuan could only bring his exploration to an end. And once the rain began, it continued without cease. At times heavy, at times light, at times sparse, at times dense, yet it never stopped.
“At this rate, the Liquor Worm won’t be found anytime soon. To be safe, I can only set about refining the Moonlight Gu first. If in the course of refining I happen to find the Liquor Worm, best of all; if not, I shall have to make do with this. Yet such things are common enough. Heaven is unpredictable, as sudden as wind and rain. In this world, where is there a man whose every undertaking goes smoothly, perfect in every way?”
Fang Yuan's state of mind was very steady. Five hundred years of experience had long since washed away what little impatience was in his nature to begin with.
He closed the window and the door, and sat cross-legged upon the bed. He slowly closed his eyes, and once his breathing was even, he let his consciousness sink. The next moment, the scene of his own aperture appeared within his mind.
Though the aperture was lodged within his body, it was wondrous beyond measure, infinitely vast and infinitely small. A membrane of light enclosed the aperture. The white membrane seemed very thin, yet it truly supported the aperture. Within the aperture lay an ocean of primeval essence. The seawater was bronze-green in colour; its surface was as still as a mirror, and its level stood at about half the aperture's height. The entire primeval sea occupied forty-four percent of the aperture.
This was the bronze primeval sea of a First Revolution Gu Master. Every drop of seawater was primeval essence. It was Fang Yuan's life force, condensed from his essence, qi, and spirit. Every drop of primeval essence was precious because it was the root of a Gu Master, the source of power. Only by relying on primeval essence could a Gu Master refine and activate Gu worms.
Withdrawing his consciousness from the primeval sea, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and took out the Moonlight Gu from within his robes. The Moonlight Gu lay quietly in his palm like a small blue crescent, exquisite and translucent.
At a thought from Fang Yuan, the primeval sea within his aperture at once churned, and a stream of primeval essence broke through the surface, drawn outside his body, pouring entirely into the Moonlight Gu. The Moonlight Gu suddenly burst into a dim blue radiance, trembling faintly in Fang Yuan's palm, resisting the influx of his primeval essence.
Gu are the essence of heaven and earth, the cipher of the Great Dao, the vessels of law. They are also living beings, innately free and unrestrained, each possessing a will of their own. Now Fang Yuan sought to refine it, that is, to erase its will. Sensing this danger, the Moonlight Gu naturally resisted.
The process of refining was extremely arduous. As bronze primeval essence flowed into the crescent, it first dyed the crescent's two tips green. Then this bronze-green tint began to spread toward the middle of the crescent. In less than three minutes, a pallor appeared upon Fang Yuan's face. A great amount of primeval essence poured ceaselessly into the Moonlight Gu, bringing wave after wave of marrow-draining weakness that assailed his heart and mind without end.
One percent, two percent, three percent… eight percent, nine percent, ten percent. Ten minutes later, Fang Yuan's primeval sea had lost ten percent of its primeval essence. Yet upon the surface of the Moonlight Gu, like blue crystal, the two points of bronze-green at the crescent tips had expanded only a tiny area towards the middle.
The Moonlight Gu's resistance was extremely stubborn. Fortunately Fang Yuan had long anticipated this and was not surprised, persisting in infusing primeval essence into the Moonlight Gu. Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent.
Another twenty minutes passed, and the primeval sea within Fang Yuan's body retained only fourteen percent. On the Moonlight Gu, the bronze-green tint had expanded by a thread. Taken together, the two bronze-green patches covered about one twelfth of the Moonlight Gu's entire surface. As for the remaining portion, it was still the Moonlight Gu's own pale blue. “Refining Gu is truly difficult.” Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, cut off the supply of primeval essence, and refined the Moonlight Gu no further.
Half an hour into the refinement, the primeval sea within his aperture had been depleted by more than half, leaving only fourteen percent of primeval essence. Yet only one twelfth of the Moonlight Gu had been refined. Moreover, what was even harder to accept was that the Moonlight Gu still emitted a dim blue glow. Though Fang Yuan had stopped refining, it had not stopped resisting, still purging his bronze primeval essence.
Fang Yuan could clearly feel the primeval essence that had flowed into the Moonlight Gu being purged bit by bit by the Moonlight Gu, dissipating outside his body. On the Moonlight Gu's surface, the bronze-green tint at the two crescent tips was also slowly shrinking. At this rate of decrease, in about six hours the Moonlight Gu would be able to purge all of Fang Yuan's primeval essence. To refine the Gu worm again then would be no different from starting anew.
“Every act of refining Gu is like two armies at war: a positional war and a war of attrition. The Gu worm has only been refined by one twelfth, while thirty percent of my primeval essence has been consumed. A Gu Master refining Gu must replenish the primeval essence of his primeval sea even as he continues refining without cease, consolidating the fruits of victory. Refining Gu tests not only skill in mobilising primeval essence, but also patience for a prolonged war.” Fang Yuan thought as he took a primeval stone from his money pouch.
A Gu Master has two ways to replenish expended primeval essence. One is natural recovery. Every so often, the primeval sea will automatically replenish primeval essence. For someone of Fang Yuan's Grade C aptitude, about four percent of primeval essence is recovered in an hour. In six hours, twenty-four percent of total primeval essence can be recovered.
The second method is to draw upon the natural primeval power within primeval stones. Primeval stones are treasures of nature, condensing natural primeval essence that can be absorbed by Gu Masters. Fang Yuan held the primeval stone in his hand, continuously drawing out natural primeval essence from within, pouring it into the primeval sea of his own aperture. The fine lustre upon the primeval stone's surface slowly dimmed, while the level of Fang Yuan's primeval sea rose visibly.
About half an hour later, the primeval sea had recovered again to forty-four percent of its volume. At this point, the rising trend of the sea surface came to an abrupt halt. Though there was still space within the aperture, Fang Yuan could store no more primeval essence. This was the limitation of his Grade C aptitude.
From this, the important role of cultivation aptitude can be seen. The higher the aptitude, the more primeval essence stored within the aperture, and the faster the natural recovery of primeval essence. For Fang Yuan, to refine a Gu worm and consolidate his gains, he had to absorb primeval stones, because the speed at which his primeval essence naturally recovered could not compare with the speed at which the Moonlight Gu expelled primeval essence.
But for Fang Zheng of Grade A aptitude, he could replenish eight percent of primeval essence every hour. In six hours, he could recover forty-eight percent of total primeval essence, while the Moonlight Gu in the same six hours could only expel thirty percent of primeval essence.
He did not even need external aid such as primeval stones. Simply refining continuously like this, resting a few times in between, after a few days he could successfully refine the Moonlight Gu. Therefore, Fang Yuan had known from the very beginning that in this assessment of refining the Moonlight Gu, he had no chance at all of seizing first place. This was not a matter of strength; aptitude was the decisive factor.
The second factor was primeval stones. If primeval stones were abundant and one spared no expense, a person of Grade B aptitude might also surpass Grade A and seize first place.
“I have only six primeval stones in hand, not comparable to those like Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng who have the support of elders behind them. My aptitude is only Grade C, also not comparable to Gu Yue Fang Zheng of Grade A aptitude. From the outset, I had no chance of taking first place in this assessment. It would be better to split my focus and search for the Liquor Worm. If I can refine the Liquor Worm into my vital Gu, it would be far better than the Moonlight Gu. Mm? The sound of rain outside the window has softened; it seems to be letting up. This heavy rain has already been falling continuously for three days and three nights. It should stop by now.”
Fang Yuan put away the Moonlight Gu, got down from the bed, and was just about to open the window when a knock sounded at the door.
From outside the door came the voice of his personal maid Shen Cui. “Young Master Fang Yuan, it is your servant. This rain has been falling continuously for three days. Your servant has brought you some wine and food. Young master, eat and drink a little; it may ease some of your weariness and melancholy.”