His surroundings fell quiet in an instant. Countless eyes turned toward him.
“This is getting more and more interesting.” Fang Yuan smiled inwardly. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he waded across the river and stepped onto the opposite bank.
Immediately, he felt a layer of pressure bearing against him. The pressure came from the spirit spring deep within the flower field. The primeval qi it produced was so concentrated and abundant that it generated this pressure. But soon, a cluster of lights rose from the flowers beside Fang Yuan’s feet. The lights drifted around him, enveloping his entire body, before every last one entered it.
“These are Hope Gu,” Fang Yuan murmured inwardly. The elder in charge had not explained, but Fang Yuan knew perfectly well.
Every point of light was an individual Gu.
Their name was Hope.
One of the oldest legends told of Hope Gu. According to legend, when this world had just formed, it was a wilderness where wild beasts roamed unchecked. The first human came into being, and his name was Ren Zu. He lived a primitive existence, eating raw flesh and drinking blood. Life was exceedingly difficult. In particular, there was a group of wild beasts called Predicaments. They found Ren Zu’s scent especially enticing and wanted to devour him. Ren Zu had neither a body as tough as mountain rock nor the sharp teeth and claws of wild beasts. How could he contend with this pack of beasts called Predicaments? His food supply was unreliable, and he spent his days hiding from place to place. At the lower end of nature’s food chain, he was almost at the point where he could no longer survive.
At this time, three Gu sought out Ren Zu of their own accord and said, “As long as you sustain us with your life, we will help you overcome your difficulties.” With nowhere else to turn, Ren Zu had no choice but to agree to the three Gu’s terms. First, he sustained the largest of the three Gu with his youth. That Gu gave him strength. With strength, Ren Zu’s life began to improve. He gained a reliable source of food and the strength to protect himself. He took eagerly to fighting and defeated many Predicaments. But he soon suffered for it. Eventually, he discovered that strength was not all-powerful: it required rest and recovery and could not be squandered at will.
Moreover, his strength alone was far too little against all the Predicament beasts together. Once his suffering had eased, Ren Zu reflected on what he had endured. He decided to sustain the most beautiful of the three Gu with his middle years, when he was in the prime of his strength. Then the second Gu gave him wisdom. With wisdom, Ren Zu learned to think and reflect on his actions, and began accumulating experience. He discovered that wisdom was often more effective than strength. With both, he was able, for a time, to overcome much that had previously been beyond him and kill more Predicaments. He ate their flesh and drank their blood, tenaciously surviving in this way. But the good times did not last. Ren Zu grew old, older and older. This was because he had offered his youth and middle years to Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu.
Once a person grows old, their muscles waste away and their mind no longer works as quickly.
“Human, what can you still give us? You have nothing left to offer us.” Once Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu realised this, they both abandoned him without compassion.
Ren Zu had lost strength and wisdom. The Predicaments found him again and surrounded him. He was old and could no longer run. All his teeth had fallen out; he could not even chew wild fruit or edible greens. He collapsed helplessly to the ground, Predicaments crowding all around him. His heart was filled with despair. Just then, the third Gu said, “Human, sustain me, and I can free you from these Predicaments.”
Ren Zu said through his tears, “Gu, what could I possibly have left? Look, Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu have both abandoned me. All I have left is my old age. Compared with youth and middle age, it may be worth little, but if I offer even that to you, my life will end immediately. Though the Predicaments surround me, I will not die just yet. I want to live a little longer, even if only for a single second. So go. I can no longer sustain you.” But the Gu said, “Of the three of us, I ask for the least. Human, all you need to do is give me your heart.”
“Then I’ll give you my heart,” Ren Zu said. “But, Gu, what can you give me? In this desperate situation, even if Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu returned to my side, they could not change anything.”
Beside Strength Gu, this Gu had the frailest body: nothing more than a tiny point of light. Beside Wisdom Gu, it was the dimmest, giving off only a faint white glow, without any splendor or brilliance. But when the human gave his heart to the Gu, it suddenly blazed with boundless light. Amid that light, the Predicaments cried out in terror: “It’s Hope Gu! Retreat! We Predicaments fear hope most of all!” The Predicament beasts immediately retreated in panic.
Ren Zu stared, eyes wide and mouth agape. From that moment on, he understood: when facing predicaments, give your heart to hope. At that moment, the Hope Gu gathered into a stream of light and entered Fang Yuan’s body. Under the external pressure, they quickly gathered in Fang Yuan’s abdomen, clustering of their own accord roughly ten centimeters below his navel. Fang Yuan immediately felt the pressure ease slightly. He stepped forward and continued on. With every step he took, more Hope Gu rose from the flower field, entered his body, and joined the mass of light.
The mass of light grew larger and brighter. But across the river, the elder in charge frowned.
“There seem to be rather few Hope Gu.” At the sight, the hearts of the many elders who had been discreetly watching Fang Yuan sank.
The Clan Leader frowned as well. These were certainly not the signs one would expect from Grade A aptitude! Fang Yuan continued forward against the pressure.
“Fewer than ten steps means no aptitude for cultivation. Ten to twenty steps means Grade D; twenty to thirty, Grade C; thirty to forty, Grade B; forty to fifty, Grade A. So far, I have taken twenty-three steps. Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six… twenty-seven.” Fang Yuan counted silently. At his twenty-seventh step, he seemed to hear a boom: the mass of light in his abdomen, between his kidneys, had reached its limit and suddenly burst.
The burst occurred entirely within Fang Yuan’s body; no one else could detect it. Only he experienced its mysterious, earth-shaking wonder. In an instant, the fine hairs all over his body stood on end and his pores closed tightly. His mind drew taut like a bowstring suddenly pulled back. Immediately afterward, his mind went blank and his whole body relaxed, as though he had fallen into the clouds. The tension within him eased, his body hair settled, and every pore opened. All at once, a light sheen of perspiration covered his body.
Though it takes some time to describe, the entire process was exceedingly brief. It came swiftly and ended just as abruptly. Fang Yuan was dazed for only an instant before collecting himself. He quietly concentrated and examined within his body. An aperture had appeared out of nowhere in his abdomen, below his navel and between his kidneys.
His aperture had opened successfully!
This was the hope of immortality!