Embracing the Blood Path's Potential

"...Then comes Rank 4, colored golden yellow, and finally Rank 5, colored purple crystal. They are also divided into Initial, Middle, Upper, and Peak, just like your Rank 1 ones." The elder of the academy is explaining fervently to the newly awakened aperture students about the cultivation ranks.

The students, for the most part, are paying full attention to the academy elder, trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

The class is organized in such a way that students with high cultivation aptitude or connections within the clan are seated at the front of the classroom, while those with lower aptitude and fewer connections sit at the back.

A student in the middle of the classroom raises his hand to ask for permission to ask a question, and the elder nods, allowing him to do so.

"Academy elder, what about the legendary Immortal realm?" the young man asks curiously, wanting to know about the legendary Immortal realm he had heard about in legends.

"Well... apart from the legends, there isn't much that I know." The academy elder has a complicated look on his face, not knowing much about cultivation from Rank 6 to 9.

"In the long history of our clan, there has never been a person to reach that realm. Even the four great leaders in the history of our clan who reached Rank 5 left no information about the Immortal realm from Rank 6 onwards." The academy elder responds to the student's question and begins to talk a bit about the clan's history for the students.

Sigh "But well, that's in the past... at the moment, the clan has a total of two Rank 4 Gu Masters, as everyone knows. They are the current clan leader and the old leader who is currently incapacitated due to age and injuries sustained throughout his life." The elder has a sad look as he thinks about the precarious situation of the old clan leader who never fully recovered after an assassination attempt that almost succeeded.

While most of the youth are paying attention to the stories and teachings of the academy elder, Chen Wei is thinking about the events of the previous night and his conversation with his grandfather.

Flashback

"I, Chen Wei, pay my respects to my esteemed grandfather." Chen Wei salutes while kneeling on one knee before his grandfather.

"Ah, little Wei, you don't need all this formality with grandpa." Chen Wang speaks with a gentle voice and face that would make his enemies question if he's the same person.

Chen Wang exudes the aura of a wise and just monarch who can be both a benevolent administrator and a brutal conqueror.

"Well, little Wei, you've made me very proud. An A-grade aptitude of 85% is a great blessing for our Chen family." He speaks with pride and happiness, thinking about the bright future ahead for his grandson.

"Ah, your father had an aptitude of 83%. He also had a bright future if it weren't for that incident..." his mood shifts from happy and excited to melancholic.

Chen Wei knows that this incident was the assassination attempt on the old clan leader that led to his father suffering a serious injury that caused him to fall in cultivation and aptitude.

"But let's forget the sad past and celebrate the blessings of the present." He takes out a Gu worm and hands it to Chen Wei.

"This is the Legend Recall Rank 1 Gu Worm, and it contains various of my experiences on battle, refinement, nourishment, and Gu usage." Chen Wei takes the Gu worm from his grandfather but doesn't refine it since he doesn't want it to become his vital Gu.

"Thank you very much, grandfather. I will always remember your kindness and care , and I swear to bring glory to the clan." Although Chen Wei is genuinely grateful, he doesn't aim to bring glory to the clan or anything like that since he's fully aware of how small the mortal world is.

"Well, well, you're a young man who knows his duty and expresses deserved gratitude. My teachings have not been in vain." He speaks happily as he continues to explain, "Most of the information in there I've already taught you over the years, but there are still some pieces of information I've been waiting for you to awaken your aperture to reveal."

Chen Wei shows an excited face, but inside he has no excitement since with his knowledge from the novel, he has more theoretical knowledge about cultivation than his grandfather can give him.

"Yes, grandfather, I will work hard to turn this theoretical knowledge into practical." He carefully stores the Gu worm to avoid accidentally injuring the gu.

"And could you tell me if grandfather agrees with my proposal in case I take first place in the first academy test?" He asks, wanting to know his grandfather's opinion on the request Chen Wei made to him yesterday.

"Well, little Chen, refining your Rank 1 signature Gu from our Water Cut Gu clan into this Rank 1 Blood Cut Gu you've developed isn't the wisest idea." Sigh He falls silent for a while in deep thought.

"But it's not like I can dictate how you live your life; I can only advise you and give you my support in the path you choose to tread." He takes out a piece of paper and hands it to Chen Wei.

"Write down the materials you'll need for the refinement; I'll get them for you if you take first place in the first academy test."

Chen Wei writes down the materials and their quantities, the majority being blood from different animals and some plants of the Blood Path.

"Thank you, grandfather. I assure you that the Blood Cut Gu has great future potential. Although Blood Gus don't have an established history or reputation, I promise you they are the future!" This Blood Cut Gu was partially developed by him, so he has great confidence in its potential.

To be more specific, four years ago, an elder friend of his grandfather, who has a hobby of creating new Gu worms, came to show his grandfather his new creation.

This creation was a modification of the Water Cut, and he named it Bloody Water Cut Gu, which launched a blade of red water that, despite having less cutting power, caused a large amount of bleeding to the enemy.

When Chen Wei saw the Gu being used for the first time, he was inspired and finally decided what his chosen path for cultivation in the future would be if he could become a Gu Master.

Of course, as a reader of the novel, he knows that the Blood Path is one of the strongest and has greater potential, being a path created by a Venerable, so this only increased his desire to practice this path, which at this time was not even seen as demonic.

Thus, he asked his grandfather's friend for a Bloody Water Cut, which was not a problem for an elder who wanted to gain favor with his grandfather.

So, over time, he has been researching and learning about the Blood Path, which has not been easy since he is a pioneer and has no one to rely on except his knowledge from the novel on how the Blood Path should be.

But to his pleasant surprise, he discovered that he is quite talented in things related to the Blood Path, receiving praises from his grandfather, father, and older brother several times.

In fact, his great talent was the only reason his grandfather allowed him to refine his vital Gu into the Blood Cut Gu.

In fact, he has already developed several Rank 1 Blood Path Gu recipes for movement, investigation, combat, and storage over these four years.

Although he has never refined any of them personally, he has asked the Gu refining masters of his family to do so, so he knows that at least some of them, like the Blood Cut Gu, are viable for refinement.

But now he will have to refine the Blood Cut Gu personally since his grandfather wouldn't let him seek external help because according to him, that would only create a spoiled young master instead of a responsible and capable successor for our family.

This is also one of the reasons why he will not receive primeval stones from his grandfather to get ahead of the others, just as the other elders will not give them to their grandchildren.

This is an implicit agreement among the elders of the clan to generate a new generation of capable successors who can fend for themselves without relying on their parents and grandparents for everything.

"I bid farewell to my esteemed grandfather and promise not to disappoint his expectations." After Chen Wei leaves his meeting with his grandfather, he goes straight to bed since it is already late at night, and he can't be late for the academy tomorrow.

End of Flashback

"Well, students, we've come to the end of today's class, but I still have an important announcement to make before you leave." He shows them a Gu that looks like a green water spider.

"As you have already learned to check your own aperture and move your primeval essence, the next step is for you to refine your own vital Gu! And of course, the first to successfully refine their vital Gu will be rewarded with the handsome sum of 20 primeval stones!" With the elder's announcement, most of the young students become quite excited and motivated to achieve first place in the first official competition at the academy.