The sun had set.

Yet the evening glow still burned on the horizon. Looking out into the distance, the mountains were shrouded in a thick layer of gray, gradually transitioning to black.

The day's classes at the academy had ended, and the students walked out in groups of twos and threes.

"Today was really fun, I learned a lot. Especially how to use the Moonlight Gu."

"The Moon Blade flying in the air was so cool. It's a pity my aptitude isn't enough; I'll only be able to become a Logistics Gu Master in the future and won't be able to go to the battlefield." The youths chatted enthusiastically.

Some of them called out to their friends.

"Let's go eat together and have some rice wine, how about it?"

"Sure, that's a great suggestion."

"You guys go ahead, I need to stop by the shop next to the academy's Gu Room to buy a Straw Doll Puppet for practice at home."

...

Fang Yuan went to the Gu Room alone.

The academy's Gu Room housed many Rank One Gu insects of various kinds, and Fang Yuan's Moonlight Gu was selected from there for free.

Every so often, students had the opportunity to receive a free Gu insect. If they wanted more, they had to pay.

Fang Yuan had no intention of refining other Gu insects for the time being. He walked to the small shop next to the Gu Room.

Inside the shop, seven students were haggling with the shopkeeper over the price of a Straw Doll Puppet.

"Ah, it's the junior." The Rank One Gu Master in charge of the shop, a man in his twenties, greeted Fang Yuan while conducting business.

Fang Yuan was a bit surprised to see that this Gu Master was Jiang Ya, the young Gu Master who had disciplined the hunter at the inn.

"So it's the senior," Fang Yuan nodded, expressionless.

Jiang Ya, while handing a Straw Doll Puppet to a purchasing student, smiled warmly at Fang Yuan and asked, "Junior, are you here to buy a Straw Doll Puppet too? Should I reserve one for you? It's only three Primordial Stones. These sell fast; there are only seven left now, and they might be gone soon."

He was arrogant and rude to mortals, but he was quite friendly to Fang Yuan and the others.

Fang Yuan shook his head, amused: Jiang Ya was quite the businessman. The Straw Doll Puppet was made from the Straw Doll Gu, and with the True Essence invested, the cost was only about one and a half Primordial Stones.

"Senior, that's not fair. First come, first served. Why reserve one for him?"

"Yeah, we were here first. Business should follow rules."

"Three stones it is, here's the Primordial Stone, give me the puppet."

The youths in the shop, hearing there were only seven puppets left, hurriedly stopped bargaining and took out their Primordial Stones to buy them.

Soon, seven satisfied customers left.

"Junior, do you want to buy a Straw Doll Puppet?" Jiang Ya asked with a smile. "I said they were sold out, but there's actually an eighth one, the last in stock. If you don't buy it, you'll miss out."

Fang Yuan had no interest in the Straw Doll Puppet. He shook his head and took out a Primordial Stone, placing it on the counter. "I'll buy ten Moon Orchid Petals."

Jiang Ya was taken aback, giving Fang Yuan a deep look. He took the Primordial Stone, opened a drawer, and took out a paper packet. "Ten Moon Orchid Petals, all here, you can count them."

Fang Yuan checked them on the spot, found no issues, and then left the small shop.

Gu insects need to be fed.

Gu Masters refine, use, and also have to feed their Gu.

Refining Gu is difficult and carries the risk of backlash. Using Gu isn't easy either; it requires a lot of practice. The knowledge of feeding Gu is vast and profound, as Gu insects are varied, and their food is bizarre.

Some need to consume soil, some need starlight, some require tears, and some feed on the clouds of the nine heavens.

Take Fang Yuan's current three Gu insects, for example: the Moonlight Gu needs to consume Moon Orchid Petals, two meals a day, two petals per meal. The Wine Gu needs to drink wine; a jar of Green Bamboo Wine can sustain it for four days. The Spring-Autumn Cicada is even more peculiar, as it drinks directly from the River of Time to sustain its life.

The River of Time supports the operation of this world. It is not far away but close at hand, flowing beside everyone.

Every action of all living things requires the push of time.

Time flows like water, passing swiftly. The River of Time is formless and colorless, and all living things actually live within its waters.

After buying the packet of Moon Orchid Petals, Fang Yuan went to the inn to purchase Green Bamboo Wine.

The Wine Gu can also survive on some turbid wine or rice wine, but if it's this inferior wine, it requires a large amount, several jars a day. Fang Yuan calculated that it was more cost-effective to buy Green Bamboo Wine directly, and it wouldn't arouse suspicion.

"Sir, you're here," the inn's shop assistant, who already knew Fang Yuan, greeted him.

Fang Yuan tossed him three Primordial Stones and said familiarly, "Give me a jar of Green Bamboo Wine and a few good dishes. No need to give change, settle it at the end of the month, and adjust for any difference."

Although he no longer stayed at the inn and had moved to the academy dormitory, he would eat there whenever he bought wine.

"Certainly, sir. Please have a seat; the food and wine will be ready shortly." The assistant responded, leading Fang Yuan to a seat. He then took a cloth from his shoulder and diligently wiped the table and chairs before leaving.

True to the assistant's word, the food and wine were soon served.

As Fang Yuan ate, he calculated in his mind: "One Primordial Stone can buy ten petals, and the Moonlight Gu consumes four petals a day. A jar of Green Bamboo Wine costs two Primordial Stones and can sustain the Wine Gu for four days. This means that just feeding these two Gu requires nearly one Primordial Stone a day."

It seemed little, but it was actually quite expensive. A mortal family of three would only spend one Primordial Stone for a month's living expenses.

Since refining the Gu insects, it had been sixteen days. Just feeding the Gu had cost Fang Yuan fourteen and a half Primordial Stones.

"I obtained the Flower Wine Legacy, took Fang Zheng's bag of Primordial Stones, and received the first-place reward, bringing my assets to forty-four and a half Primordial Stones. But refining Gu initially cost six and a half, feeding the Gu fourteen and a half, and living expenses half a stone, leaving me with twenty stones."

Fang Yuan took out his money pouch and opened it, revealing the Primordial Stones inside.

These Primordial Stones were grayish-white, oval-shaped, and uniform in size, about as large as duck eggs.

He counted them and found that there were indeed only twenty left.

This meant that without any income, the remaining Primordial Stones would only last him half a month. Unlike his peers, who had family and friends to support them, especially students like Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng, who never lacked Primordial Stones, Fang Yuan had to find his own way.

"Uncle-in-law and Aunt-in-law have already cut off my living expenses, but every weekend, the clan academy gives each student a stipend of three Primordial Stones. It seems that in the Moon Blade assessment in three days, I should perform well to win the ten Primordial Stone reward." Fang Yuan thought as he chewed his food.

At his age, he was in a growth spurt, and before he knew it, all the food was gone.

Taking the unopened jar of Green Bamboo Wine, Fang Yuan stepped out of the inn.

"Sir, sir," the shop assistant called after him, "I have something to tell you. In less than a month, a merchant caravan will come to the stronghold. As usual, they will buy the Green Bamboo Wine from our shop. You love Green Bamboo Wine and come to buy several jars every week. The shopkeeper instructed me to inform you. Our stock of Green Bamboo Wine is limited, and once sold to the caravan, there might not be much left."

"Is that so?" Fang Yuan frowned slightly upon hearing this.

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With five hundred years of experience in reading people and discerning words, Fang Yuan could tell that while Jiang Ya's words were insincere, the shop assistant's were genuine.

This was a bit troublesome. Fang Yuan needed to feed the Wine Gu, and in the long run, the amount of Green Bamboo Wine required was substantial.

If the inn ran out of stock, he would have to use a large amount of inferior wine to feed the Wine Gu.

He couldn't drink several jars a day, as it would arouse suspicion over time.

After some thought, Fang Yuan took out ten Primordial Stones. "Then I'll buy five more jars. Help me carry them to the academy dormitory."

"Yes, sir." The assistant quickly took the Primordial Stones.

Without storage methods, Moon Orchid Petals could only be kept for five days, so Fang Yuan only bought one packet at a time. However, Green Bamboo Wine could be stored for a long time, so there was no such issue.

Several assistants followed Fang Yuan to the academy dormitory, placing the wine jars under his bed before leaving.

Looking at his now deflated money pouch, Fang Yuan sighed.

Refining Gu was arduous, and feeding Gu wasn't easy either.

This was even with his five hundred years of past life experience, meaning he didn't need to practice using the Gu insects, which saved a lot of True Essence and thus a lot of money.

His peers had to practice using the Moonlight Gu, which consumed True Essence. To improve proficiency, they had to practice more. With True Essence depleting quickly and recovering slowly, they had to use Primordial Stones to replenish it. Buying a Straw Doll Puppet cost three Primordial Stones. It was all money.

"Fortunately, my Spring-Autumn Cicada feeds on time rather than other food. Otherwise, I'd have gone bankrupt long ago and wouldn't be able to sustain it," Fang Yuan thought with relief.

The higher the grade of the Gu insect, the greater its appetite, or the more precious and rare its food, making it harder to feed. A Rank Two ordinary Gu insect could consume between one and two Primordial Stones daily.

Being able to buy food was already fortunate. Some Gu insects had food that was particularly hard to find and not available on the market.

Like the Spring-Autumn Cicada, which feeds on time, something even more precious.

As the saying goes, "An inch of time is worth an inch of gold."

No matter how much wealth you have, can you buy time?

You can't!

In theory, there is no limit to the number of Gu insects a Gu Master can refine. If you can refine them, you can have ten, a hundred, or even a thousand. You can refine as many as you want.

But in reality, a Gu Master usually only has four or five Gu insects.

Why?

The biggest reason is that they can't afford to feed them.

The higher the grade of the Gu insect, the more expensive it is to feed, often leaving Gu Masters financially strained and troubled.

Another reason is that they can't afford to use them.

Activating the Moonlight Gu to launch a Moon Blade attack consumes ten percent of True Essence. A Grade C aptitude Gu Master can only attack three or four times before their True Essence is nearly depleted.

Raising more Gu insects than you can use is a waste.

Therefore, there is a saying among Gu Masters.

Raising Gu is like keeping a mistress.

Keeping a mistress requires buying food, clothes, a house, and so on. It's expensive, and keeping too many is financially unsustainable for most people.

Even if you can keep that many, a man's energy is limited, and he can't use them all. Are you just keeping them for show?

As a Gu Master's realm improves, the food standards for Gu insects also rise. So, despite there being no limit to the number of Gu insects a Gu Master can refine, most Gu Masters only keep four or five of the same grade.

If the number increases, the Gu Master will go bankrupt!