"Hmm?" Mo Yan's eyebrows furrowed, anger flashing across her horse-like face as she finally realized Fang Yuan had played her for a fool.

"Hah, you've got some nerve, daring to deceive your own grandaunt!" she exclaimed, reaching out with her right hand to grab Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan stood his ground, head held high, laughing heartily. "Mo Yan, you'd better think this through!"

Mo Yan's movement halted. She remained outside the door, her outstretched hand suspended in mid-air, a flicker of hesitation and anger crossing her face.

There were explicit rules within the clan. Students were protected within the academy, and no one was allowed to enter the dormitories to seize them without permission. Mo Yan only intended to teach Fang Yuan a lesson today, to make him suffer a bit, but she had no desire to risk violating clan rules.

"If it were just me breaking the rules, that would be one thing. But I'm afraid of implicating my family, involving my grandfather." With this thought, Mo Yan reluctantly withdrew her hand.

She glared at Fang Yuan inside the room, her eyes wide with fury. If her gaze could turn into flames, it would have incinerated Fang Yuan in an instant.

"I never deceived you. I said I'd lead you to Fang Yuan, and now you've found him. It seems you have something to say to me." Fang Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, a slight smile on his face, meeting Mo Yan's angry gaze without fear of the Rank Two Gu Master's presence.

The distance between him and Mo Yan was just a single step. One was inside the room, the other outside.

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Yet this distance felt like an insurmountable chasm.

"Hahaha, Fang Yuan, you really know the clan rules well," Mo Yan suppressed her anger, her face a cold smile. "But relying on the clan rules will only delay things temporarily. You can't stay in the dormitory forever. Let's see how long you can hide!"

Fang Yuan laughed loudly, looking at Mo Yan with disdain. "Then I'll see how long you can block me. Ah, it's already night. You have a bed to sleep in, but what about you? If I'm absent from class tomorrow and the Academy Elder investigates, what do you think I'll say?"

"You!" Mo Yan was furious, pointing at Fang Yuan, itching to act. "Do you really think I don't dare to come in and grab you?"

Creak.

Fang Yuan opened the dormitory door wide, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, his eyes deep as pools. His tone was filled with a sense of control over the situation, challenging Mo Yan openly, "Then go ahead."

"Hahaha..." Mo Yan calmed down instead, squinting at Fang Yuan. "Do you think I'll fall for your bluffing strategy?"

Fang Yuan shrugged, having long seen through Mo Yan's temperament.

If he had closed the door or left it ajar, Mo Yan might have forced her way in with at least a fifty percent chance. But by deliberately leaving the door wide open, he made her more cautious, reducing the likelihood of her barging in to almost nil.

Five hundred years of experience had long taught him the weaknesses of human nature.

He turned around openly, exposing his back completely to Mo Yan. At this moment, if Mo Yan tried to grab him, she would likely succeed. Yet she stood outside the door, unmoving, as if an invisible mountain blocked her path.

Even as Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed, Mo Yan continued to glare, teeth clenched, but she never made a move.

"This is the tragedy of human nature," Fang Yuan mused, watching Mo Yan stand foolishly outside the door. "Often, what stops people from acting isn't a physical obstacle, but a mental shackle."

In terms of cultivation, Fang Yuan was no match for Mo Yan. But despite her Rank Two cultivation, she could only watch him, unable to act.

She was only a few steps away from Fang Yuan, with the door wide open, no barriers at all. What truly bound her was herself.

"People learn in countless ways to understand the world and know the rules, all to use them. If they become entangled by the rules, constrained by what they've learned, that's the real tragedy." Fang Yuan cast one last glance at Mo Yan, then slowly closed his eyes, immersing his mind into his Primal Sea.

"This Fang Yuan is actually cultivating right in front of me! He doesn't take me seriously at all!!" Seeing this, Mo Yan felt a surge of frustration in her chest, almost spitting blood.

She wanted nothing more than to rush in and punch Fang Yuan a few times!

But she knew she couldn't.

Mo Yan suddenly felt a twinge of regret, standing outside the door, caught in an awkward situation.

She was unwilling to give up, but her pride wouldn't allow it. She had come with great fanfare to teach Fang Yuan a lesson, only to end up making a fool of herself.

Especially with a servant watching her.

"Damn it! That brat Fang Yuan is so uncooperative, so cunning!" Mo Yan thought angrily, starting to shout insults outside the door, trying to provoke Fang Yuan into coming out.

"Fang Yuan, you little brat, come out if you have the guts!"

"Fang Yuan, as a man, you should be brave and take responsibility. Now you're hiding like a turtle, it's disgraceful!"

"Stop pretending, be sensible and come out quickly."

"You coward, useless waste!!"

Fang Yuan remained indifferent, not responding at all.

Mo Yan cursed for a while, but instead of feeling the usual satisfaction, she felt more and more stifled.

She increasingly felt like a clown, or a shrew, her actions at the door truly embarrassing.

"Ahhh, this is infuriating!" Mo Yan went mad, finally giving up on her bluffing strategy.

"Fang Yuan, you can hide for now, but not forever." She stomped her foot in frustration and left, issuing a final order before she went, "Gao Wan, stand here and keep a close watch! I refuse to believe he won't come out."

"Yes, ma'am!" The burly servant Gao Wan quickly agreed, watching Mo Yan leave with a respectful gaze. Yet inwardly, he lamented, as the mountain night was damp and cold, and he had to keep watch all night, risking catching a cold. It was a tough job.

Splash, splash, splash...

The Primal Sea surged and ebbed, waves rising and falling.

The bronze True Essence gathered like water, forming waves that, under Fang Yuan's mental command, continuously crashed against the aperture walls.

The walls of a Rank One – Initial Stage Gu Master's empty aperture were white light membranes. Under the impact of the bronze True Essence, they shimmered with colorful light, exuding an indescribable charm.

Time passed bit by bit, and the water level of the bronze Primal Sea gradually fell.

From the original forty-four percent, it dropped to twelve percent.

"A Gu Master must constantly consume True Essence to nurture the empty aperture and advance in realm. The aperture wall of an Initial Stage Gu Master is a light membrane, for an Intermediate Stage it's a water membrane, and for an Advanced Stage it's a stone membrane. To advance from Initial to Intermediate Stage, I must nurture the light membrane aperture wall into a water membrane."

With five hundred years of memories from his past life, Fang Yuan had a thorough understanding of cultivation at this stage, as clear as day.

He slowly opened his eyes.

By now, it was already deep into the night.

A crescent moon hung high in the night sky, casting moonlight as pure as water.

The open door allowed the moonlight to spill in, reminding Fang Yuan of a famous poem from Earth—"Before my bed, the bright moonlight, I suspect it's frost on the ground."

A gentle night breeze blew in, bringing a chill.

Fang Yuan didn't have any Gu Insects with warming functions, and relying solely on the body of a fifteen-year-old boy, he couldn't help but shiver.

The mountain night was indeed quite cold.

"Brat, you finally opened your eyes. How long are you going to cultivate?! Hurry up and come out, whether you face it now or later, it's inevitable. You hit our Young Master Mo Bei, and being taught a lesson by our young lady is only a matter of time." Seeing Fang Yuan finally move, the servant Gao Wan at the door perked up.

Fang Yuan squinted, it seemed the Rank Two Female Gu Master had already left?

"Brat, did you hear me? Get out here, you have a room and a bed, while I have to stand out here in the courtyard. If you don't come out, do you believe I won't just barge in?!" Seeing no reaction from Fang Yuan, Gao Wan threatened.

Fang Yuan remained unmoved.

"You bastard, come out and surrender. You've offended the Mo branch of the clan, and your days won't be easy. Hurry up and apologize to the young lady, maybe she'll forgive you." Gao Wan continued to scold.

Fang Yuan paid no attention, leisurely taking a Primordial Stone from his pouch and holding it in his palm, then slowly closing his eyes again.

Seeing Fang Yuan about to continue cultivating, Gao Wan panicked, cursing loudly, "With your Grade C aptitude, at most you'll be a Rank Two Gu Master. What's the point of cultivating? How can you, alone, contend with our entire Mo branch? Brat, are you deaf? Did you hear me?!"