Tap, tap, tap...
Large raindrops fell densely, hitting the verdant bamboo building with a crisp sound.
In the pond in front of the building, the water surface was being struck by the rain, while fish swam happily beneath, and aquatic plants swayed at the bottom.
The sky was overcast, and the entire view was obscured by a thick curtain of rain.
In the somewhat dim room, the window was open, and Fang Yuan quietly watched the heavy rain, sighing softly in his heart: "It's been three days and nights."
Three nights ago, he had taken two jars of wine and left the stronghold to continue exploring the surroundings.
But by midnight, it had started pouring rain.
Being drenched like a drowned rat was one thing, but the key issue was that in such conditions, further exploration was impossible.
The rain could quickly wash away the scent of alcohol, and forcing exploration in the rain might arouse suspicion.
Previously, he had disguised himself as a disheartened drunkard to cover his true intentions. But one should never underestimate the intelligence of others; only fools think others are foolish.
So, reluctantly, Fang Yuan had to halt his exploration.
And once the rain started, it continued without stopping, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, sometimes sparse, sometimes dense.
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"This way, the Wine Gu won't be found anytime soon. To be safe, I can only start refining the Moonlight Gu. During this refining process, if I can find the Wine Gu, great; if not, I'll have to make do. But such things are common; the world is full of unpredictable events. Who can always have things go smoothly and perfectly?" Fang Yuan's mindset was calm, his five hundred years of experience having long washed away the impatience he once had.
He closed the window and door, sat cross-legged on the bed, slowly closed his eyes, and after regulating his breathing, sank his mind.
The next moment, the scene of his own empty aperture appeared in his mind.
Although the empty aperture was housed within his body, it was extraordinarily mysterious, infinitely large, yet infinitely small.
The outer side of the empty aperture was a layer of light membrane. The white light membrane seemed very thin, but it firmly supported the empty aperture.
Inside the empty aperture was a sea of true essence.
The seawater was bronze in color, the surface calm as a mirror, with the water level about halfway up the empty aperture. The entire Primal Sea occupied forty-four percent of the empty aperture.
This was the Bronze Primal Sea of a Rank One Gu Master, and every drop of seawater was true essence. It was Fang Yuan's life essence, the condensation of his energy, spirit, and vitality.
Every drop of true essence was precious because it was the foundation of a Gu Master, the source of power. It was through true essence that a Gu Master could refine and activate Gu insects.
Withdrawing his mind from the Primal Sea, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and took out the Moonlight Gu from his bosom.
The Moonlight Gu lay quietly in Fang Yuan's palm, like a small, curved blue moon, delicate and translucent.
With a thought, the Primal Sea in his empty aperture began to churn, and a stream of true essence broke through the surface, moved outside his body, and poured into the Moonlight Gu.
The Moonlight Gu suddenly emitted a deep blue radiance, trembling slightly in Fang Yuan's palm, resisting the influx of Fang Yuan's true essence.
Gu are the essence of heaven and earth, the code of the great path, the carriers of laws. They are also living beings, inherently free, with their own will. Now, Fang Yuan wanted to refine it, to erase its will. Sensing this crisis, the Moonlight Gu naturally resisted.
The refining process was extremely difficult.
The Moonlight Gu was like a crescent moon, and as the bronze true essence flowed into it, the two tips of the crescent were first dyed green.
Then this bronze-green hue began to spread toward the middle of the crescent.
In less than three minutes, Fang Yuan's face turned pale. The continuous influx of true essence into the Moonlight Gu brought about a persistent feeling of weakness, attacking his heart.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes... eight parts, nine parts, one-tenth.
After ten minutes, Fang Yuan's Primal Sea had consumed a full tenth of his true essence. However, on the surface of the Moonlight Gu, the two points of bronze-green at the crescent tips had only expanded a tiny bit toward the middle.
The resistance of the Moonlight Gu was extremely strong.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan had anticipated this and was not surprised, continuing to infuse true essence into the Moonlight Gu.
One-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths.
Another twenty minutes passed, and Fang Yuan's Primal Sea was left with only fourteen percent, while the bronze-green on the Moonlight Gu had expanded slightly. If the two green areas were combined, they covered about one-twelfth of the Moonlight Gu's surface.
As for the rest, it remained the light blue color of the Moonlight Gu itself.
"Refining Gu is difficult." Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, stopped supplying true essence, and ceased refining the Moonlight Gu.
At this point, after half an hour of refining, the Primal Sea in his empty aperture had been more than half consumed, leaving only fourteen percent of true essence. And the Moonlight Gu had only been refined one-twelfth.
Moreover, what was even harder to accept was that the Moonlight Gu still emitted a deep blue glow. Although Fang Yuan had stopped refining, it had not stopped resisting, still expelling Fang Yuan's bronze true essence.
Fang Yuan could clearly feel the true essence he had infused into the Moonlight Gu being gradually expelled, dissipating outside his body. On the surface of the Moonlight Gu, the bronze-green at the two crescent tips was slowly shrinking.
At this rate of reduction, it was estimated that in about six hours, the Moonlight Gu would expel all of Fang Yuan's true essence. At that time, refining this Gu insect would be no different from starting over.
"Every time refining Gu is like two armies at war, a battle of attrition. The Gu insect has only been refined one-twelfth, yet I've consumed a full three-tenths of my true essence. A Gu Master must replenish the Primal Sea's true essence while continuously refining to consolidate the victory. Refining Gu tests not only the skill in manipulating true essence but also the patience for a prolonged battle."
As Fang Yuan thought about this, he took out a Primordial Stone from his money pouch.
There are usually two methods for a Gu Master to replenish consumed true essence.
One is natural recovery. Over time, the Primal Sea will automatically replenish true essence. For someone like Fang Yuan with Grade C aptitude, about four percent of true essence is replenished every hour. In six hours, he can recover twenty-four percent of his total true essence.
The second method is to absorb the natural essence from Primordial Stones.
Primordial Stones are treasures of nature, containing natural true essence that can be absorbed by Gu Masters.
Holding the Primordial Stone, Fang Yuan continuously drew natural true essence from it, channeling it into his own Primal Sea.
The fine luster on the surface of the Primordial Stone gradually dimmed, while the water level of Fang Yuan's Primal Sea rose visibly.
About half an hour later, the Primal Sea was restored to forty-four percent of its volume. At this point, the rise in the sea level abruptly stopped. Although there was still space in the empty aperture, Fang Yuan could no longer store more true essence. This was the limitation of his Grade C aptitude.
Thus, the importance of cultivation aptitude was evident.
The higher the aptitude, the more true essence can be stored in the empty aperture, and the faster the natural recovery of true essence.
For Fang Yuan, to refine Gu insects and consolidate results, he must absorb Primordial Stones, as his natural recovery of true essence could not keep up with the rate at which the Moonlight Gu expelled true essence.
But for someone with Grade A aptitude like Fang Zheng, he could replenish eight percent of true essence every hour. In six hours, he could recover forty-eight percent of his total true essence, while the Moonlight Gu could only expel thirty percent of true essence in the same six hours.
He wouldn't even need the external help of Primordial Stones, and could continue refining, taking breaks in between, and within a few days, successfully refine the Moonlight Gu.
Therefore, from the start, Fang Yuan knew that in this Moonlight Gu refining assessment, he had no chance of taking first place. This was not about strength; aptitude was the primary factor here.
The second factor was Primordial Stones.
If Primordial Stones were abundant and not spared, someone with Grade B aptitude could also surpass Grade A and take first place.
"I only have six Primordial Stones, not comparable to Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng, who have the support of elders. My aptitude is only Grade C, not comparable to the Grade A aptitude of Gu Yue Fang Zheng. This assessment was never winnable for me. It's better to divert my efforts to finding the Wine Gu. If I can refine the Wine Gu as my life-bound Gu, it would be much better than the Moonlight Gu. Hmm? The sound of rain outside has lessened, it seems to be stopping. This heavy rain has lasted for three days and nights, it should stop now."
Fang Yuan put away the Moonlight Gu, got off the bed, and was about to open the window when there was a knock on the door.
Outside, the voice of his personal maid, Chen Cui, came: "Young Master Fang Yuan, it's your servant. This rain has been pouring for three days, and I've brought you some food and wine to relieve your boredom."
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan