Inside the academy dormitory, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged. Within his aperture, the phantom image of the Bronze Sarira Gu gradually dissipated. When the aura of this gu worm completely faded away, Fang Yuan's cultivation Realm once again welcomed a Breakthrough.
"Rank One Peak... In a single night, I've finally advanced from Rank One Middle Stage to Rank One Peak."
Fang Yuan was filled with a myriad of emotions in his heart: "In my previous life at this time, I was probably still stuck at Rank One Initial Stage."
In his previous life, he didn't have the spring autumn cicada by his side, lacked five hundred years of memories and experience, didn't have Yuan Fang to assist him, and certainly didn't possess this A-grade aptitude. Everything he had now was a scenario he wouldn't have dared to imagine in his past life.
Three hundred years of wandering displacement, two hundred years of roaming the world. These five hundred long years felt like a grand dream to him, fleeting in an instant.
"Fang Yuan, I'm going to kill three members of the Human Race," Yuan Fang's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Oh? What have you discovered now?" Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked.
"That need not be said explicitly, but this matter is beneficial for us," Yuan Fang replied. "Before that, you'd better refine the white jade gu. With our ninety-percent primeval essence Aptitude, we should be able to activate the Rank Two white jade gu."
"That's not a bad idea, but the white jade gu's defense is ultimately limited. You'd better be careful."
Although Fang Yuan didn't know exactly what Yuan Fang intended, if it made Yuan Fang so urgently demand the refinement of the white jade gu, this matter must conceal significant risk.
"Let's start refining the gu now." Before Yuan Fang's words even finished, Fang Yuan willed it, and the white boar gu and jade skin gu flew out from his aperture, hovering in mid-air.
"Merge!"
Fang Yuan multitasked, channeling his primeval essence to guide the two gu worms. In an instant, the white boar gu and jade skin gu merged into one, erupting with a dazzling light. The two gu worms seemed to fuse together, gradually developing a subtle connection between them.
"Go!"
Fang Yuan was well-prepared. Countless primeval stones were consecutively offered up by him, whizzing into that ball of light. In the blink of an eye, several hundred primeval stones had been exhausted.
In the fifth month, the Caravan arrived at Gu Yue Village as scheduled. Relying on his memories from his previous life, Fang Yuan knew that within the gambling den brought by this Caravan, a Rank Two Mud Toad Gu was hidden. He seized this opportunity, successfully uncovered this gu worm, and after deducting the gambling costs, netted a profit of four hundred and twenty primeval stones.
It was precisely because of this that Fang Yuan now had sufficient primeval stones to support him in merging and refining the white jade gu.
"The final step."
Fang Yuan focused all his attention, injecting his primeval essence into the glowing sphere. The dazzling light suddenly surged, and the Rank Two white jade gu was completely refined at this moment.
Fang Yuan raised his hand, cradling this brand new Rank Two gu worm, and said to Yuan Fang:
"Yuan Fang, the white jade gu is refined. Do you want to personally take control of the body?"
"Of course. At least for today, there won't be any trouble," Yuan Fang's voice was certain.
"Alright, you can act now."
That day, Yuan Fang, controlling the body, killed Old Man Wang and his Family of three. This matter quickly alarmed a Rank Two Gu Master, Gu Yue Jianghe.
He was the resident Gu Master of this area. Upon hearing that the youth before him was the famous Fang Yuan, he immediately conceived a desire to befriend him.
"Junior Brother, I've heard my younger brother Jiang Ya mention you," Gu Yue Jianghe initiated the conversation.
"Oh? So you're Senior Brother Jiang Ya's elder brother. I often go to his shop to buy moon orchid petals," Fang Yuan responded accordingly.
"Is that so! Junior Brother, you and I seem to hit it off. From now on, whenever you go to my younger brother's shop to learn things, I'll give you a fifty percent discount."
"Then I must thank Senior Brother Jianghe."
"Ah~ what are you saying? Junior Brother, from now on, if you ever need help with anything, just come find me. If you encounter difficulties, I will definitely lend a hand."
"Senior Brother Jianghe, there actually is one matter I'd like to ask of you," Fang Yuan suddenly shifted the topic.
"What is it?"
"Don't you think the circumstances of Old Man Wang's Family are far too abnormal?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Yue Jianghe's heart immediately sank, feeling that this matter was off in every aspect. It was already unusual for Old Man Wang to have moved his Family outside the village.
Old Man Wang's son, Wang Er, was usually arrogant and domineering, even daring to defy Gu Masters. Now, with this incident happening, it seemed even more bizarre.
"What do you want me to do?" Jiang He asked solemnly.
"Just keep an eye on Old Man Wang's house for me these next couple of days," Fang Yuan smiled slightly, his tone hinting at deeper meanings.
Although Jiang He couldn't fathom Fang Yuan's intentions, he was clear that Fang Yuan had A-grade, ninety-percent Aptitude and had a high chance of becoming the future Gu Yue Clan Chief.
Since he already intended to befriend him, helping with this small favor was naturally harmless, so he agreed on the spot.
Not long after, the Mid-Year Assessment finally arrived, but the assessment content had changed.
In Fang Yuan's memory, the Mid-Year Assessment originally involved collecting wild honey; in Yuan Fang's memory, the assessment content was hunting wild boars.
But this time, the assessment content had changed to hunting electric wolves. The reason was an unprecedentedly massive Wolf Tide that would descend upon Gu Yue Village in two to three years.
Normally, every three years, Gu Yue Village would encounter a large-scale beast tide, mostly consisting of Electric Wolf packs. According to Fang Yuan's experience from his previous life and the original trajectory after his Rebirth, this wolf pack should have invaded Gu Yue Village in the second year.
But this time, due to Yuan Fang's appearance, the trajectory of the Wolf Tide had mutated abnormally: originally, there were only three Thunder Crown Head Wolves, but recently a fourth had appeared.
This Electric Wolf pack had just slaughtered the Lei Family Village, located four hundred li away from Qing Mao Mountain, a month ago. Now, having suffered some losses, the wolf pack estimated it would delay until the third year to attack.
"Three years... In three years, I will already be a Rank Two Gu Master. By then, I should have finished exploring the flower wine inheritance."
Fang Yuan calculated in his heart: "Yuan Fang, I plan to leave Qing Mao Mountain directly when the Wolf Tide arrives and go to White Bone Mountain to inherit that Legacy."
In this life, because he had A-grade aptitude, Fang Yuan had considered taking the Family route. But upon hearing that this Wolf Tide would have four Thunder Crown Head Wolves, he immediately dismissed that idea.
The Thunder Crown Head Wolf was a Ten Thousand Beast King, possessing formidable combat power between Rank Four and Rank Five.
Relying on the gu worms residing on the Thunder Crown Head Wolf's body, plus its own powerful Physical Body, it was sufficient to kill ordinary Rank Four Gu Masters.
Fang Yuan didn't think Gu Yue Village could survive such a Wolf Tide, but Yuan Fang didn't agree with his view:
"The Family route has other great uses. At least until Rank Four Peak, this path still has its merits. Perhaps we can use the Family's assistance to go to White Bone Mountain after advancing to Rank Two."
"What have you discovered this time?" This time, Fang Yuan directly pressed for an answer.
"Heh heh, heaven's secrets cannot be revealed," Yuan Fang laughed, playing coy.
Fang Yuan then asked no more. In Yuan Fang's view, this meant Fang Yuan had agreed.
Yuan Fang found Fang Yuan quite interesting. Just the fact that he could precisely grasp the boundaries in their interaction, ensuring no conflict had arisen between them so far, was enough to show the vast difference between Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing.
After all, Bai Ning Bing was merely a lunatic with the appearance of a Genius.
The Mid-Year Assessment officially began. The rules were simple: count based on the number of Electric Wolf eyeballs collected. The more eyeballs, the higher the assessment score.
The Family would also reclaim these Electric Wolf eyeballs. One eyeball could be exchanged for five primeval stones at the academy.
Of course, the market price of Electric Wolf eyeballs was far from this high. Although they were Materials for Thunder Path Gu Refining, they could only refine some low-rank gu worms.
The academy offered such favorable exchange conditions merely to encourage the Students and also to prepare in advance for the Wolf Tide three years later.
Relying on five hundred years of experience from his previous life, Fang Yuan was highly proficient at killing electric wolves. In the end, he took first place with a score of fifty-four Electric Wolf eyeballs, a full twenty more than the second-place finisher, Gu Yue Chi Cheng.
On Qing Mao Mountain, there was a hunter Family surnamed Wang. Old Man Wang had two sons and one daughter. One day, while out hunting, the eldest son, Wang Da, accidentally discovered a Demonic Path Legacy and from then on embarked on the path of Gu Master cultivation.
To avoid detection by the resident Gu Master, Gu Yue Jianghe, Old Man Wang's Family moved out of the village and secluded themselves outside.
Days passed one by one. Wang Da, relying on this Legacy, advanced all the way from a Rank One Gu Master to Rank Two.
And within that Legacy, hidden was a gu recipe for a Rank Two gu worm—the love-shedding gu. This gu was hailed as the number one poison among Rank Two gu worms. To refine it, one needed the heart of a loved one.
To refine the gu, Wang Da personally killed his deeply loving wife and dug out her heart.
"Why..."
His wife, Wan'er, stared at Wang Da before her, her face full of shock and confusion.
"I'm... I'm sorry..."
Wang Da wept bitterly, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
"I... I... understand..."
Wan'er murmured, her face showing not a trace of hatred, only deep affection and endless regret for the man before her. The light gradually faded from her beautiful eyes. Before dying, she reached out, wanting to touch Wang Da's face one more time.
In the end, her hand fell powerlessly, ultimately failing to touch the face of the man she deeply loved.
Killing his wife and seizing her heart, he refined the love-shedding gu, gaining power from then on.
As Demonic Path Gu Masters, they were both detestable and pitiable. In this world where the Family system reigned supreme, they had Aptitude but lacked resources to rely on. Demonic Path Gu Masters like Wang Da were always targets of suppression by families and Schools.
"In this world, power reigns supreme—this... this is the enlightenment of us Demonic Path Gu Masters!"
"Then let me become a demon!"
This was Wang Da's enlightenment, Gu Yue First Generation's enlightenment, and also Fang Yuan's enlightenment.
"I abandoned love, exchanged it for power. From that moment on, I swore to protect my only remaining Family bond... But now, even that Family bond is gone... Fang Yuan, I will definitely kill you..."
Wang Da gazed at his tragically deceased Family, looking around blankly. Only overwhelming hatred remained in his heart.
Suddenly, a tricky Moon Blade flew towards him.
"Someone!!!"