Pitter-patter...
Heavy raindrops were intensively falling to the ground, hitting on the verdant bamboo houses resonating crisp sounds.
Those raindrops were attacking the water surface of the pond in front of the house. Inside the water, fishes were happily swimming back and forth while the water ferns were slightly swaying.
The sky was overcast. The whole vision was being covered by a thick layer of rain.
Inside the dim room, with his windows opened, Fang Yuan silently looked at the heavy storm, deeply sighed inside, "It's been three nights and three days."
Three days before tonight, he was still searching around the mountain stronghold while holding his two jugs of wine.
However, the heavy rain suddenly came at midnight.
Not to mention that he was completely soaked, but with these circ.u.mstances, there was no way he could continue his search.
The rain could quickly wash away the fragrance of wine. At the same time, if he was still determined in continuing his search even under the heavy rain, it would make others people suspect his actions.
Before, he had pretended to be a drunkard in order to hide his true intentions. Nevertheless, he absolutely should not have underestimated other people's intelligence. Normally, only stupid people would have thought that others were like them.
At a dead-end, Fang Yuan could only stop his search.
And this rain, once started, seemed like it was endless. It was either light or heavy, diluted or dense, but had never stopped.
"Just like this, I won't be able to find the Wine Gu for a short while. To ensure that I will be able to achieve my goal, right now I should first refine the Moonlight Gu. Along the process, it will be best if I could find the Wine Gu, but if not, then I could only accept it. Nonetheless, this is normal; fortune is as unpredictable as the weather anyway. In this world, how could there be someone who could sail with the wind perfectly without any flaws?" Fang Yuan maintained a steady emotion. Five hundred years had soon erased the little impulsiveness in his characteristics.
He closed the doors and windows, then sat cross-legged on his bed, slowly closed both of his eyes and calmed his breathing, he then immersed in his mind.
In a second, the scenery of his vain aperture appeared in his head.
Although his vain aperture was attached to his body, it was exceptionally profound. It could be extremely small yet incredibly big.
Covering the vain aperture on the outside was a layer of light. The white light layer had brought others a very weak feeling, but it was what had supported the vain aperture.
Inside the vain aperture was his Primeval Essence Sea.
The water had a bronze color. Its surface was as calm as a mirror's. The water level was about half of the vain aperture. The total volume that the Primeval Sea had taken up was about forty-four percent of the vain apertures.
This was the Bronze Primeval Essence of a level one Gu Master. Each of the water drops were all Primeval Essences. They were the Primeval power of Fang Yuan's vitality, as well as his condensed essence, qi, soul.
Each of those Primeval drops were absolutely precious, as it was the foundations of a Gu Master and their Primeval power. A Gu Master's ability to cultivate and urge the Gu were depended on this Primeval Essence.
As his mind left the Primeval Sea, Fang Yuan opened his eyes, taking the Moonlight Gu out of his bosom.
The Moonlight Gu silently laid on Fang Yuan's palm, like a curved blue moon, stunning yet refined, emanating dazzling light.
As Fang Yuan's mind gently shook, the Primeval Sea inside his vain aperture frantically twisted. A wave of Primeval Essence broke through the sea surface, left his body, and fiercely entered the Moonlight Gu.
The Moonlight Gu suddenly busted out its dim blue radiance, slightly shaking on Fang Yuan's palm. It was trying to resist the vigorous Fang Yuan's Primeval Essence.
Gu was the essence of Heaven and Earth, the code for the great path, the medium of principle. It was also a living ent.i.ty, being born with freedom, and having self-willpower. Right now, Fang Yuan wanted to cultivate it, erasing its willpower. Of course, the Moonlight Gu would naturally resist after feeling such danger.
The cultivating process was incredibly tough.
The Moonlight Gu was like a curved crescent moon. As the bronze colored Primeval Essence was poured inside its body, it had first dyed the two pointy tips of the crescent moon with a green color.
Following this bronze intent, it started to spread out to the middle part of the crescent moon.
After less than three minutes, Fang Yuan's face was already paled. A great amount of Primeval Essence was constantly intruding the Moonlight Gu, bringing him a weak feeling as if his veins were being drawn out and his marrow was being sucked out, attacking his heart non-stop.
One percent, two percent, three percent… eight percent, nine percent, ten percent.
Ten minutes later, Fang Yuan's Primeval Sea had decreased by ten percent of Primeval Essence. However, the green bronze intent still stayed on the two pointy tips on the Moonlight Gu's crystal blue body, only expanding to the middle by a tiny bit on the surface area.
The Moonlight Gu had surely resisted with all of its mind.
Luckily, Fang Yuan had soon predicted this. It was not unexpected. He was then diligently trying to impart the Primeval Essence in that Moonlight Gu.
Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent
After twenty minutes, the Primeval Essence inside his Primeval Sea was only left with fourteen percent. The green bronze intent which was expanding on the Moonlight Gu, in total, could only take up about one-twelfth of the Moonlight Gu's body.
The rest of its body still had a light blue color.
"Cultivating Gu is too tough." Seeing this, Fang Yuan silently exclaimed. Cutting off the Primeval Essence, he did not continue cultivating this Moonlight Gu.
Until now, he had cultivated the Gu for half an hour straight; his Primeval Sea had been wasted by half, with only fourteen percent remaining. But this Moonlight Gu had just been cultivated to one-twelfth of its capacity.
Moreover, what had made it hard to accept was that the Moonlight Gu's body was still emitting a dim blue halo. Although Fang Yuan had stopped his cultivating process, it did not stop resisting, trying to expel Fang Yuan's bronze Primeval Essence like normal.
Fang Yuan could clearly feel that the Primeval Essence that had entered the Moonlight Gu was gradually being repelled by it, dissipated outside of its body. On the Moonlight Gu's body, the green bronze intent in the two pointy tips had slowly shrunk.
With this speed, after around six hours later, the Moonlight Gu could totally repel Fang Yuan's Primeval Essence out of its body. When that happened, continued cultivating this Gu was not much different from starting all over again.
"Whenever one was cultivating Gu, it is like a war between two parties, a positional warfare, a war of attrition. The Gu have only been cultivated to one-twelfth, but I have wasted thirty percent of my Primeval Essence. To ensure a successful result, when cultivating Gu, a Gu master needs to constantly replenish their Primeval Seas while continuously cultivating. A Gu Cultivating examination does not only require the skill of urging their Primeval Essence, but also their patience in this war of attrition.
As Fang Yuan was thinking, he took out a Primeval Stone inside of his pouch.
A Gu Master normally had two methods to replenish their wasted Primeval Essence.
One was to recover naturally. After a period of time, the Primeval Sea would automatically recover its Primeval Essence. Like Fang Yuan who was a grade C apt.i.tude, within one hour, he could recover four percent of his Primeval Essence. In six hours, it would be up to twenty-four percent of his total Primeval Essence.
The second method was to directly absorb the Primeval power from the Primeval Stone.
Primeval Stone was nature's treasure. The condensation of the natural Primeval Essence could then be absorbed by the Gu masters.
Fang Yuan held the Primeval Stone in his hand as he constantly absorbed the surging natural Primeval Essence, urging it to enter the Primeval Sea inside his vain aperture.
The delicate aureole on the outside of the Primeval Stone gradually ceased as the sea level inside of Fang Yuan's Primeval Sea was continuously increasing with a speed that could be seen with naked eyes.
About half an hour later, the Primeval Sea had once again recovered to forty-four percent in volume. Reaching this level, the water surface's rising speed abruptly stopped. Although there was still an empty s.p.a.ce inside of the vain aperture, it was impossible for Fang Yuan to store anymore Primeval Essences. This was the limit of a grade C apt.i.tude.
Hence, this could clearly prove the important part of a cultivating apt.i.tude towards cultivation.
The higher the apt.i.tude was, the more the vain aperture could store Primeval Essence. Moreover, the Primeval Essence's recovering speed was also faster.
For Fang Yuan, if he wanted to ensure his results, he needed to absorb the Primeval Stones while cultivating the Gu, because his recovering Primeval Essence speed was slower as compared to the speed of the Moonlight Gu in repelling his Primeval Essence.
However, for a grade A apt.i.tude like Fang Zheng, he could have replenished his Primeval Essence for about eight percent per hour. After six hours, he could then recover forty-eight percent of the total Primeval that he could store. And the Moonlight Gu could only repel about thirty percent of Primeval Essence within six hours.
He would not even need the external help of the Primeval Stones. When consistently cultivating, with taking few rests in between, he could totally have success in cultivating this Moonlight Gu in just a few days.
Therefore, Fang Yuan had known from the start that cultivating the Moonlight Gu for this Gu Cultivating Examination; that it would have been impossible for him to have gotten first place. This was not related to one's competency. The most critical element was one's apt.i.tude.
The second element was Primeval Stones.
If having an exceeded amount of Primeval stones without being afraid of wasting it, even a grade B apt.i.tude could have had the same excellent ability as a grade A apt.i.tude, getting first place.
"I only have six Primeval Stones. In comparison with Gu Yue Mo Bei, and Gu Yue Chi Cheng who have seniors helping them behind their backs, I am obviously worse. I'm only at grade C apt.i.tude, also lower compared to Gu Yue Fang Zheng. Compared to an examination without a tiny bit opportunity of winning, it will be better to divert my attention, and go search for the Wine Gu. If I could cultivate it into my Vitality Gu, it would be better than the Moonlight Gu. Ah? The sound of the rain outside has gotten lighter, seems like it is stopping. The rain has already been here for three days, and three nights straight, it should stop now."
Fang Yuan retrieved his Moonlight Gu. As he was getting off the bed and about to open the window, a knocking sound started to resonate.
Outside the door, Shen Cui's voice arose, "Young master Fang Yuan, it is me. It has been raining for three days straight. I have brought some wine and food; young master should eat, as it may ease his sadness."