chapter 9

"Humans are the highest of all creatures, and Gu is the essence of heaven and earth. There are thousands of different races of creatures in this world, as well as countless numbers of Gu. Gu is found in everything and everywhere, in the soil, in the grass and bushes, even on the bodies of wild creatures."

"As humans continued to propagate and grow, the scholars of the past gradually uncovered more secrets of the gu-"

Fang Zheng was sitting among the students, his face full of eagerness and attention. He seemed completely absorbed by academy elder's speech, as if he was hanging on every word academy elder spoke. But this appearance was nothing more than a well-crafted facade.

In truth, Fang Zheng was struggling to keep himself from yawning. The academy elder's speech felt endless, like a monotonous river of words that dulled his senses. Inside, he could barely suppress his boredom.

"When will this boring speech will end?" Fang Zheng wondered, his thoughts was a stark contrast to the eager expression that he maintained.

Hopefully, In his previous life, he had mastered the art of concealing his true emotions while listening to others. Whether donning the guise of a diligent student, pretending to be a supportive friend enduring tedious conversations, or playing the role of a caring boyfriend listening to his girlfriend's problems, he had perfected this skill over the years. Even when boredom gnawed at him, he could somewhat effortlessly maintain this facade in the class is.

Seven days had passed since the awakening ceremony, and from that moment onward, Fang Zheng had been forced to maintain a meticulously crafted facade, to deceive everyone around him. of course His Main target was Fang Yuan.

These days were very hard. for Fang Zheng, as he had to constantly wear a mask, pretending to be someone he was not. this act put a lot of pressure on him, but each time he considered giving up, the fear of Fang Yuan and his will to survive drove him to continue.

There were still moments, though fleeting, where he could let down his guard and be himself—like when he was in his room or indulged in bathing. These brief respites allowed him to lesser some of the pressure on him. Yet, even these small moments didn't last long and were tainted by the thoughts that he couldn't stay for too long in them without arousing suspicions.

Particularly his concerns was the matter of his extended baths. For a vigorous young man like Fang Zheng, spending too much time in the bath could easily be misunderstood, worsening his "reputation". Even, despite his efforts to keep his bathing habits within reasonable bounds, he had already noticed the odd glances from others in the house.... Probably they misunderstood him a little

This was merely a fraction of the discomfort and hardship he endured during these days.

In his previous life, if someone had asked Fang Zheng whether he could do such a act, he would have likely responded with confident something like "Haha, it's simple. Of course I can."

But reality was very different than imagination. What might seem effortless and easy when you think about it often proves to be harder and more overwhelming when you face with it yourself.

Soon, Fang Zheng, that was lost in his own thoughts, snapped back to reality, nut he soon shocked by an unexpected sight.

He saw that nearly every teenager in the classroom was casting strange glances on him, The sight was unsettling enough to send a chill down his spine, and for a fleeting moment, he nearly exposed his carefully constructed facade. But he quickly regained his composure again.

At that precise moment, he start to hear some whispers

"Look, he's still sleeping"

"He's been sleeping continuously for a week, yet he's still not awake?" Someone cut in.

"There's more. I heard that he was up all night, wandering about at the edge of the village."

"There's been people who've seen it more than once, apparently he holds a wine-jar at night, dead drunk outside. Luckily these few years the village surroundings have been cleared clean, so it's safer." The fellow schoolmates whisper here and there, letting all kinds of small gossip spreading around quickly.

"Ah well, the blow was just too big. Someone hailed as a genius for so many years unexpectedly ending up to be a C-grade talent in the end, hehe."

"If only it was just the case. Of all the people his own little brother was announced as an A grade, right now being the center of attention, enjoying the best treatment. The younger brother soars up to the sky, while the older brother falls to the ground, tut tut…"

Gradually, Fang Zheng pieced together the situation. Though he couldn't recall the exact details of this scene, he recognized the scene as something that happened in the original story.

His gaze shifted to the academy elder at the front of the class.

As expected, the elder's expression was of evident anger and irritation, his brow furrowed deeply.

The elder's eyes were fixed at the back of the classroom, where Fang Yuan sat, leaning against the window, soundly asleep with his head resting on his arms.

Despite the academy elder's apparent irritation, he continued through his monotonous boring "lecture".

He start to talk about the clan history, detailing how the first clan leader was a formidable Rank 5, and how the fourth-generation leader was a prodigious talent, maybe even with potential to the reach the legendary Rank 6.

As it was normal when discussing the fourth-generation leader, the narrative would inevitably shift to another historical figure In clan's history : the Flower Wine Monk. This infamous individual, was known for his duplicitous and underhanded tactics in the clan history, he had grievously wounded the fourth-generation leader, an injury that ultimately led to Fourth generation clan leader death .

Throughout the elder's discourse, the teenagers in the class—except for one who slept soundly—listened with rapt attention. By the end of the speech, their frustration was palpable as they started to curse the treacherous Flower Wine Monk.

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The class dragged on with a tedium that seemed endless, and the hardest part for Fang Zheng was that he needed to maintaining a facade of a enthusiasm student.

but everything come to an end , and hopefully the dreary class was nearing its end.

"This week, we've covered how to examine and contemplate your aperture's primeval sea, as well as how to meditate and manipulate the primeval essence within your body. Now, you will refine your vital Gu. After this class, proceed to the academy's Gu room to select a Gu worm. Once you have chosen, focus on refining it at home. When you've successfully refined your Gu, return to the academy to continue your studies. This also serves as your first assessment. The first to complete it will earn a generous reward of 20 primeval stones" the academy elder announced, signaling the end of the lesson.

As soon as the class concluded, the students surged towards the Gu room next to the academy. However, the guards' shouts cut through the commotion, commanding the students to line up.

Fang Zheng, due to his reserved nature and lack of real urgency and eagerness compared to the others, lagged behind and found himself at the end of the queue.

Soon, he regretted not rushing alongside the rest.

Time dragged on, and as Fang Zheng stood among the last in line, boredom kicked in. after enduring a lengthy wait with patience, it finally became his turn.

Upon entering the room, Fang Zheng was met with a scene both strange and enigmatic.

The walls were dotted with a myriad of square holes, each nesting another square hole of varying sizes—some as large as an earthenware pot, others no bigger than a fist. Peering through these openings revealed an array of containers—gray stone basins, verdant jade dishes, intricate grass cages, and earthen stoves—each harboring an assortment of Gu, more precisely, Gu "worms."

As someone from the modern era, Fang Zheng, like most people from his era, found insects and worms unsettling, especially in such quantities. Yet, he steeled himself and forced his focus onto the task of selecting his Gu.

He approached the Gu catalog and began to read it. The catalog listed various Gu worms, many of which were unfamiliar to him. Although Fang Zheng's decided gu to choose, Moonlight Gu—the first on the list—he decided to explore the catalog further to learn about other rank 1 Gu worms.

The catalog detailed numerous rank 1 Gu worms, likely the ones that can find on Qing Mao Mountain naturally. The information was inscribed on a rough, dark-hued paper.

"What do they make this with, bamboo?" Fang Zheng thought. Qing Mao Mountain was renowned for its bamboo and bamboo products, as he had read in book and the information that he knew from the novel, so it was natural that they use bamboo for many things.

Fang Zheng continued to read the "bamboo paper". He didn't merely skim through but read carefully. Though he knew he wanted the Moonlight Gu—a signature Gu of the Gu Yue clan, that is special only to gu yue clan , it was made through a secret method that is exclusive to the gu yue village and probably is kept by clan leader himself—but he recognized the value of the catalog's information for him. Even though he had read the novel, it didn't cover all the Gu in this world. This catalog, though limited to rank 1 Gu worms, had some crucial and detailed information on those, good for understanding the appearances and abilities of the gu worms that he didn't know about.

He soon encountered names of Gu worms that wasn't not mentioned in the story—or at least the ones that he had forgotten. "Hmm, Shadow Dart Gu? Fire Arrows Gu? And there is a lot of gu that are just used for making food"

But soon fang Zheng stopped reading any further, after all human memory have limit and even if he stay a few hours here he can't just memorize all those information, so he just memorized the ones that he thought were more valuable and then moved toward the square hole that contained moonlight gu as was wrote in the catalog.

He approached this peculiar hole situated high on the wall, above many others. Inside this hole, he found several silver plates, each bearing a crescent-shaped crystal, glowing faintly with moonlight— it was the Moonlight Gu.

This Gu, the signature of the Gu Yue clan, was spread across all these plates. Fang Zheng selected one casually and held it in his hand.

"This Moonlight Gu is truly beautiful"he remarked, admiring the beauty of this gu.

The sight of the Gu alleviated many of the negative feelings Fang Zheng had about this Gu room full of "worms". He carefully put moonlight gu in his pocket and walked out of the gu room.

Without further distraction, Fang Zheng made his way home.

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The sea of jade-green primeval essence surged and swirled, crashing against the walls of Fang Zheng's aperture.

With each wave that crashed upon the aperture's boundary, the walls glowed with increasing intensity.

*Knock, knock.*

Fang Zheng's cultivation was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it? Didn't I clearly said that I don't want to be disturbed while I'm cultivating?" Fang Zheng's voice carried a tinge of irritation.

A moment later, a familiar, aged voice responded from the other side of the door, "My apologies, young master, but the old master and old lady wish to speak with you."

It was Fang Zheng's elderly personal servant, that aunt and uncle appointed for him.

"Tell them I'm at a critical point in my cultivation and I can't come now" Fang Zheng replied, his tone resolute.

"Very well, young master. I will convey your message" with this sentence the servant departed and leaved to give fang Zheng words to uncle and aunt.

As the footsteps faded, Fang Zheng stared at the door for a few moments.

After a this brief pause, his eyes closed once again as he refocused on his cultivation. This time, however, a faint smile curved on his lips.

He knew that soon, the pressure that was pressing down on him would be lifted.

Soon… he would be free to be himself again.