Winter deepened.
At first, the wolves appeared in scattered groups.
Crippled wolves near the warning zones. Starving wolves around hunter paths. Then healthy lightning wolves began to show themselves, moving in small packs under the cover of snow and wind.
The clan reacted quickly.
Patrol missions increased. The mission hall placed wolf-hunting tasks at the front. Lightning wolf eyes, claws, teeth, and pelts could all be exchanged for contribution points. The battle merit board was raised in the village, and every day, names moved up and down.
Some Gu Masters were excited.
Some were afraid.
Most were both.
Fang Ming also accepted missions with Chi Shan's group. He killed wolves, handed over materials, and received contribution points. Not too few, not too many. Enough to be ignored.
His Moonglow Gu had already replaced Moonlight Gu. Iron Skin Gu became his public defense. When wolves approached, he cut them down with blue moonblades, blocked with dull iron skin, and retreated when he should retreat.
The wolf tide grew day by day.
Hunter families no longer dared to leave the village. Mortals who went to gather firewood needed Gu Master escorts. Some small mission groups returned with fewer members than they had left with. Some did not return at all.
The clan still held.
The Gu Yue village had faced wolf tides before. The elders had experience, and experience easily became confidence.
But Fang Ming knew this tide was different.
The first heavy storm came near midnight.
Dark clouds swallowed the sky. Rain struck the bamboo buildings like thrown stones. Lightning twisted between the clouds, bright for an instant, then gone. Thunder rolled over Qing Mao Mountain again and again.
Fang Ming sat inside his room with his eyes half closed.
Outside, hurried footsteps passed by.
"Quick, gather at the eastern gate!"
"Second team, go to the wall!"
"Where is the healing Gu Master? Bring him over!"
The shouts were swallowed by rain and thunder, then rose again.
Soon after, wolf howls reached the village.
Not one or two.
A long, layered sound came from the mountain forest, rising and falling in the storm. It was as if the darkness itself had grown teeth.
The true wolf tide had begun.
Fang Ming opened his eyes.
He did not get up immediately.
On the table before him were primeval stones, arranged in neat rows. Beside them were several Gu food containers, his mission token, and a clean cloth.
He had prepared this earlier.
In peaceful times, advancing too quickly was trouble.
Rank three was not merely cultivation. It was elder status. Authority. Resources. A place at the table. The existing elders had already divided many benefits among themselves; another person joining meant another hand reaching into the same pool.
If Fang Ming became Rank three in calm days, surprise would only be the beginning.
There would be questions.
Then investigation.
Then people using investigation as a blade.
But tonight was different.
Tonight, the elders had no leisure to sit in warm rooms and calculate who would lose how much benefit. Wolves were outside the village. Gu Masters were dying in the rain. The clan needed strength.
A new Rank three at such a time was not first seen as a competitor.
He was a wall.
A wall others wanted standing in front of them.
Fang Ming lowered his gaze.
It was time.
He sat cross-legged and entered his aperture.
The primeval sea inside surged heavily. Dark red primeval essence rose and fell, filled to the limit of Rank two peak stage. His aperture wall was thick and firm, like a boundary that had been polished to its final point.
Beyond this wall was Rank three.
Fang Ming picked up a primeval stone.
Essence flowed into his body.
Outside the window, rain poured harder.
He guided his primeval essence and struck the aperture wall.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
The aperture trembled.
Breaking through a major realm was not like using a Relic Gu. There was no shortcut of red light pouring into the walls, no instant rise of cultivation. It was grinding, impact, recovery, and impact again.
Dark red waves struck the wall again and again.
Each collision shook his mind.
Fang Ming's expression did not change.
More shouts came from outside.
Someone ran past his door. Their footsteps were hurried and uneven.
A wolf howl sounded closer than before.
Fang Ming ignored it.
The world outside was rain, blood, and killing.
The world inside was only the aperture wall.
Primeval stones dimmed in his hand one after another, turning into useless grey fragments. He threw them aside and picked up new ones without opening his eyes.
The dark red sea fell.
Then rose again.
Fell again.
Rose again.
A faint crack appeared on the aperture wall.
Fang Ming's breathing became slower.
He did not rush.
A hurried breakthrough could damage the aperture. If the foundation was harmed, even surviving the wolf tide would be useless. He had waited this long not to ruin himself in the final step.
The crack widened.
Then another appeared.
Thunder exploded outside the window.
For an instant, the whole room was lit white.
Fang Ming's primeval essence surged like a tide, striking the aperture wall with all its strength.
Crack.
The sound did not exist in the outside world, but inside his mind it was clear.
The aperture wall shattered.
At that moment, the dark red primeval sea sank violently, as if a hole had opened beneath it. The broken wall dissolved into light, then gathered again. A new aperture wall slowly formed, stronger and brighter than before.
From the depths of the primeval sea, a thin thread of white silver primeval essence appeared.
Rank three.
Fang Ming opened his eyes.
The rain had not stopped.
The battle outside had not ended.
But the room had become strangely quiet.
He looked at the primeval stones scattered around him. Many had already lost their luster. The clean cloth on the table remained untouched. His mission token lay beside it, cold and silent.
Outside, a Gu Master shouted hoarsely, "Hold the gate!"
Another wolf howl answered.
Fang Ming stood up.
His body felt different.
Not stronger in the crude sense, but deeper. The primeval essence inside him was no longer red steel. Even the thin strand of white silver carried a pressure that Rank two essence could not compare to.
This was the gap between ranks.
He did not smile.
Breaking through was only crossing a threshold.
Surviving what came after was the true matter.
Fang Ming changed his robe, hid the useless stone fragments, and opened the door.
Rain and cold wind rushed in.
In the distance, the eastern side of the village flashed with Gu light. Moonblades, flames, and lightning tore through the storm. The wolf howls had already reached the village walls.
Fang Ming stepped into the rain.
By the time dawn touched Qing Mao Mountain, the village had survived one night.
Gu Yue Fang Ming had become Rank three.