Failure or Blessing?

When he heard his name being called, Shasi felt like vomiting. He was extremely nervous but also extremely excited, this would be the day he entered the Gu Master world and changed his life forever!

Somehow he managed to hold it all in and stepped up. Normally, people wouldn't pay too much attention to someone so ordinary looking like himself. But after hearing the surname "Sha" people naturally got curious and several accurate and inaccurate rumors about his identity began spreading.

Shasi's black hair reached his shoulders and he wore a leather strip around his forehead, the parts around his head were covered by his hair.

Ju Shaxi closed his eyes at that moment, as if he would rather not see the disgrace that was about to befall on his family. As for the other Elders, they all curiously looked at Shasi, they wanted to see how good this bastard son of the Sha family could be, it even created an invisible pressure in their hearts, what if he had an A grade aptitude?

Shasi's older brothers coldly looked from above, standing behind their father.

Shasi took his first step and couldn't help but tremble a bit, all he thought was about completing the first 10 steps, that would mean he had the lowest aptitude possible, but he would still be able to become a Gu Master, and that's all that mattered for him, being able to stand up on his own two feet.

The first five steps were relatively easy for him, but when he took the sixth step he definitely felt an invisible wall forming in front of him, "I need to get to 10, at least 10! I'm not asking for too much!" He thought as he struggled to take the next 3 steps, quickly in succession.

Shayu looked from afar with a mocking expression."Humph, so what if he becomes a Gu Master, he'll barely have a D-Grade aperture and will most definitely never break out of Rank 1". He snorted inwardly.

For the first time, Ju Shasi opened his eyes, seemingly quite relieved, to him, his son having no aptitude at all was the ultimate humiliation, even if it was a bastard, but him having a D-Grade aptitude wasn't so bad, it was high enough for for him not to feel humiliated and also low enough so that Shasi wouldn't cause trouble when succeeding his family's heritage!

"Good, good!". For the first time, a smile appeared in Ju Shaxi's face, his previous annoyed expression was now much brighter!

As for Shasi, the invisible wall got a lot sturdier by the 10th step, cold sweats ran down all over his body, Shasi positioned his body as if he was really trying to break through a wall. The ball of light on his abdomen was already very strong and it seemed like it wouldn't resist much longer.

He let out a grunt and forced himself forward with all his might. "pah pah". The sound of two more steps were heard followed by the sound of the ball of light shattering. Shasi passed out with a smile on his face. He was clearly satisfied about his results.

Those that felt like he could've been a threat in the future due to his surname let out breaths of relief. The ones previously interested in him due to his surname quickly looked away. As for those youths that didn't have any talent, they looked at his passed out figure being treated by the Rank 1 Gu Masters, with the utmost envy. This was a clear example of another man's trash being another man's treasure.

A while later, the healing was done and Shasi woke up, even the cut he had on the back of his head was fully healed, his face showed excitement as he went towards the Academy Elder to have his aperture checked.

"Let me see... hmmm, 12 steps... D-Grade aperture, 26% capacity". The Elder quickly informed Shansi who seemed to be in a daze. When he passed out, he couldn't feel his aperture forming, but when the Elder touched his abdomen to check his aperture, he could clearly feel an ethereal pool of primeval essence which seemed to me inside his stomach but was actually in a space of its own "Just like it's said in the books!" He exclaimed inwardly.

Shasi obviously knew that having a D-Grade aptitude would most certainly set him back in his path as a Gu Master, but! Initially he had no perspective even becoming one, he couldn't even leave his house, becoming a Gu Master, no matter what the Rank or aptitude, was a still blessing in his eyes, and he was thankful for it.

"Heh... A mere 12 steps, D-Grade aptitude and he's smiling?".

"He probably doesn't even known about the different aptitude grades, don't even bother explaining".

Shayu's unexpected attitude bothered some of the people around him, but he couldn't care less. After his turn, about 10 others youth were left, they quickly got tested and none of them had any talent at all.

The ceremony ended with a bitter taste for the Clan's higher ups, even after sending a compulsory order and all the fifteen year olds surnames Ju showing up, out of 140 youths, only 61 had enough talent to become a Gu Master, only 2 were B-Grades and no A-Grades.

A-Grade talents wouldn't regularly show up in Small and Mid-Sized Clans, but at least once every 20 or 25 years there'd be one, the Ju Clan had been without an A grade since their Clan Head Ju Yao Lao, since then, it's been more than 50 years without a real talent, the Ju Clan really was really declining...

The Academy Elder was quick to end the ceremony and escort everyone out of the Spirit Spring. All the Elders stayed behind to discuss the situation.

...

A week later, the students had all grown used to their Primeval Sea and had complete control over their own primeval essence. Until now, they had only been thought about the basics of the Gu World. The nine Ranks of Gu Masters, the nine Ranks of Gu, types of beasts and the different paths a Gu Master could trail.

"Today's class is over, there's already been a week since you've became Gu Masters, all of you are now genuinely at Rank 1 Lower Stage, there's enough time for you to get yourselves used to everything regarding the changes inside your bodies, so today you shall pick your first Gu Worm... Bear in mind that your first Gu Worm will be your Vital Gu, losing it or having it destroyed would be the same as this happening to an internal orgain, so choose wisely". The Academy Elder said and left the classroom, the students went behind him.

Shasi was a quick-witted youth, it didn't take too long for him to blend in, he had some trouble talking, since he had never left his Family's house compound until a week ago, but he was quickly getting the hang of things.

He and his brother Shayu acted like the didn't knew each other but would often shoot death glares at each other.

The Academy wasn't very far from the Clan's Gu Storage House, in a few minutes they reached their destination and formed a line."One by one you'll enter the storage house and pick any Rank 1 Gu you like, choose wisely" The Academy Elder stepped aside for the first student to enter while he caressed his pointy beard.

Shasi was in the middle of the line, the students that had already chose their first Gu would receive a 3 Primeval Stones monthly allowance and wait at the back of the line. He saw his brother enter and leave really quick with that usual arrogant smirk. Feng Mo and Yao Guang were the same, as if they had already planned their choice, they probably had long knew about the available Rank 1 Gu Worms due to their family statuses.

The other kids with lower aptitudes were all hesitant to choose, so they took a bit longer, Shasi would observe everyone's expression as they left, some looked happy and excited while others seemed to be a bit confused.

"Just choose already! I don't got all day" Ju Shayu said with an annoyed expression while glancing at a few youths that were next in line, the youths didn't have the courage to go against someone who belonged to one of the 3 families, so they lowered their heads.

"Tch... what a jerk" Shasi thought but didn't say anything, not because he was afraid but because he didn't feel like standing up for people he didn't even knew, and probably wouldn't stand up for him also.

"Shasi, you can go in". The Academy Elder calmly said while looking at Shasi with squinted eyes, realizing the way he glared at his brother. "There's a feud of some sort between the two". He concluded and decided to keep it in mind... Maybe having a good relationship with Shasi could benefit him in the future, he was surnamed Sha after all and Shasi was a much easier pawn to control than Shayu who actually had his family's backing.