CH-3 Shop System
By the time he got home, it was already dark. Xiang Yao took a bath, changed his clothes, sat on the cloak in the lotus position, and began thinking.
"Now that I've gotten the 'True' Inheritance of the Monk of Flower Wine, I can finally cross this problem off my list."
Xiang Yao opened his system store and bought the memories and attainments of Hao Meng, better known as; Monk of Flower Wine.
[Memories of Hao Meng] ---> {$1,500}
['Quasi-Master' Level Attainment – Path of Wood] ---> {$20,000}
The identical translucent spheres appeared in front of him again; Xiang Yao picked them up and used them immediately as he felt a wave of new sensations.
He felt a lot of new knowledge and insight from the Path of wood; Xiang Yao enjoyed every moment until he finally received Hao Meng's memories and was extremely surprised.
"That lucky bastard found a full Wood Path inheritance and obtained the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus recipes up to Rank 5." Xiang Yao received all these memories and was amazed at his luck.
"That was why he was so intent on refining this Gu, to the point of fighting to the death with the ancestor of the Gu Yue clan. The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus is the core of the inheritance he received. If he could successfully refine the Gu, he would be qualified to receive the rest of the inheritance, a true inheritance from a Rank 6 Gu Immortal."
Xiang Yao would never have expected that the Flower Wine Monk would be lucky enough to find the inheritance of a Rank 6 Gu Immortal. Still, he is more than happy to get hold of that inheritance in Hao Meng's place.
"This inheritance tells how to find where the Blessed Land is and get the full inheritance. That is, of course, if this Blessed Land still exists and has not been destroyed." Xiang Yao was realistic and did not pin all his hopes on this inheritance, as it had been a long time since it was left behind.
"I'd better leave that for later, and I already have a plan for my life; this inheritance was just a bonus, so it doesn't matter if this Blessed Land still exists. For now, I need to focus on other things." Xiang Yao was realistic and focused on his concerns at the moment.
"The next problem will need more planning and care, and for that, I need to start gathering the materials to refine the Path of Dreams Inheritance Gu." Making up his mind, Xiang Yao prepared to enter his dream to get the materials needed to refine his first Dream Path Gu.
....
Three days passed in the blink of an eye; during those days, Xiang Yao concentrated on collecting the materials to refine his Dream Path Gu as much as possible. Because only after he manages to refine his Vital Gu will he be able to move forward with his plans.
But today, finally, he will refine his vital Gu; he already gathered all the material of the Path of dreams, and with the help of the system, he doesn't have to worry about failing the refinement since every time he gets some material of the Path of dreams he scanned it with the system, so even if the refine fails, he needs to buy the materials into the system again and repeat the process.
Soon Xiang Yao began to pay attention to the Elder's lecture, which spoke about the bond between humans and Gu Worms.
"Human beings are the spirit of all living beings, and Gu is the essence of Heaven and earth, the essence of the world itself. There are countless species and an ever-increasing number of new Gu in the Gu world."
"In nature, under the right conditions, Gu can form from life forms like insects; they live everywhere, in the deepest crevices of the earth, in the highest clouds, in the bodies of wild animals, and in the tiniest plants. Dangerous, and even in the dreams of man. Wild Gu can use natural primordial energy and create wondrous effects."
"Scholars of the past gradually discovered the mysteries of Gu, mortals who are awaking their aperture, were able to use primal essence to refine, manipulate, feed, and create Gu. These people are called Gu Masters."
In the village academy, the academy elder spoke with confidence and composure. Ahead of him were 57 students, sitting and listening intently. The mystery and strength of a Gu Master have been deeply rooted in young people's hearts long ago. So whatever the Elder taught and said, the students were very interested.
At that moment, a young teenager raised his hand. With the Elder's permission, he stood up and asked, "Elder, I've known this since I was little. There are Gu Masters of Rank One, Rank Two, and so on. Can you explain in more detail for us?"
As the Elder answered the students' questions, the teenagers' ears were all pricked, their eyes sparkling as they listened. Xiang Yao also listened silently, absorbing as much of the knowledge he was unaware of as possible.
Many students couldn't help but stare at Gu Yue Fang Zheng, sitting stiffly in the front row. After all, he was a Grade-A talent. His eyes were filled with feelings of envy and jealousy. At the same time, some were looking at the corner of the last row of the classroom.
Leaning against the window in the corner was Gu Yue Fang Yuan, who was hunched over the table, fast asleep.
"Look, he's still sleeping," someone whispered.
"He has been sleeping continuously for a week but still hasn't woken up?" Someone interrupted.
"Have more. I heard he stayed up all night, wandering around the village."
"There were people who saw this more than once. He holds a jug of wine at night, completely drunk outside. Fortunately, the village's surroundings have been cleaned in these few years, making it safer." Colleagues whisper occasionally, letting all sorts of gossip spread like wildfire.
"Ah well, the blow was too big. Someone hailed as a genius for so many years unexpectedly ended up becoming a Grade C talent in the end."
"If only that were just the case. Of all people, his little brother was declared Grade A, now the center of attention, enjoying the best treatment. The younger brother soars into the sky while the older brother falls to the ground."
As the discussion between the students grew louder and louder, the academy elder's forehead deepened into a frown. All the teenagers were sitting respectfully in the classroom, showing vivacity. This made Fang Yuan, who was sleeping at his desk, stand out so much that it hurt his eyes.
"It's been a week, but he's still so down. Initially, I must have been mistaken about him; how could someone like that be a genius!" The Elder thought, displeased. He had spoken many times with Fang Yuan about this matter, but to no effect – Fang Yuan still did what he wanted. He slept through every class, causing the Elder in charge of teaching a frustrating headache.
"Forget it; he's just a Grade C talent. If he can't even withstand that kind of blow, raising him with that kind of temper will end up wasting the clan's resources; nothing good will come of it." The Elder's heart was filled with disappointment in Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was only a Grade C talent compared to his younger brother Fang Zheng who was A Grade talent; now, this was someone worth the clan spending a lot of effort to create!
As he listened to everyone in the room, Xiang Yao discreetly glanced at Fang Yuan. He could see that he was pleased or maybe even relieved. "If it goes according to the novel, then by now, he should have already gotten the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance to back him up, it will strengthen Fang Yuan even more, and once he finds out that he has the Spring Autumn Cicada, your cultivation will be accelerated dramatically."
Looking away and focusing on the class, Xiang Yao moves closer to his plan. At the same time, Fang Yuan continues to grow; he is also growing; only Xiang Yao knows everything about Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan knows next to nothing about Xiang Yao.
"Flower Wine Monk, huh…." Woken up by the noisy classroom chatter, Fang Yuan opened his eyes sleepily.
He stretched his body and thought quietly in his heart, "This Flower Wine Monk left a good twist behind. Who would have thought that the heroic act of the fourth clan leader is nothing but a farce."
These last few days, he had been buying a lot of wine and wandering around the village as soon as night came. He wanted to use the liquor's aroma to attract the Liquor Worm. And yesterday, he finally got lucky and saw the Liquor Worm appear.
"Refining the Liquor Worm as my Vital Gu will be much better than the clan's Moonlight Gu. In the blink of an eye, it's already April; I must refine it soon." Fang Yuan let out a sigh and looked out the window.
Once Xiang Yao reaches Rank 3, he can refine his Dream Path Vital Gu to Rank 3, so he will finally have the power and freedom to carry out his plans.
Without realizing it, the class was almost over. The academy elder finally informed: "This week, I taught all of you how to contemplate and verify the Primal Sea of your Aperture and meditate and shift around the Primordial Essence within your body. Now is the time for all of you to refine your Gu Vital. After this class, all of you will go to the academy's Gu room and get a Gu worm."
"After choosing your Gu, go home and focus on refining it. When you finally refine your Gu, you can return to the gym and attend classes. At the same time, this is your first review. Whoever finishes this assessment first will be rewarded with a generous sum of 20 Primal Stones."
Next to the academy was a Gu room. The Gu room was small, only 60 square meters in size.
The excited teens ran to Gu's room at the end of class.
"Form a line, enter one by one," suddenly shouted some voices; it was natural for there to be guards outside the Gu room. The young people entered one at a time and left. Finally, it was Xiang Yao's turn to enter Gu's room.
This room was mysterious. All four walls had holes; in each of these recessed square holes was another square hole. Each of the holes differed in size, some large and some small. The biggest ones weren't bigger than a clay pot; the smallest ones weren't smaller than a fist.
In the many square holes were all kinds of vessels - gray stone basins, verdant jade dishes, exquisite grass cages, clay stoves, etc. These containers are held in all kinds of varieties of Gu.
Some Gu were silent, while some Gu made a lot of noise, creating chirping, cackling, rustling, and so on—all these noises combined to create a kind of symphony of life.
"Since I already have Moonlight Gu to buy in the system, I should look for a Gu that I don't have and which will be useful to me later." Xiang Yao thought as he looked at all the Gu stuck in the walls.
"Since my main path is Dreaming, I don't have to worry too much about what to choose, but it would be nice to have a Healing Gu." making up his mind, Xiang Yao picked up a 'Red Bud Flower Gu,' put it in his pocket and left the Gu room.
After he left the Gu room, Xiang Yao pretended that he was absent-mindedly admiring his Gu and discreetly bumped into Fang Yuan on purpose to scan everything he had with him.
[Scan Rank 6 – 'Spring Autumn Cicada Gu' – For 20,000 points?]
[Scan Level 1 – Body of a Gu Master with Grade C Talent – 44%- for 500 points?]
[Scan Level 1 - Fang Yuan's Memories - to 8,000 points?]
[Scan Level 1 - Fang Yuan's Attainments - to 310,000 points?]
[Level 1 Scan – Fate of Fang Yuan – for 10,000 points?]
"Sorry." After successfully scanning everything, Xiang Yao sincerely apologized and walked around as if nothing had happened.
Xiang Yao gave himself more time to calm down and check his impressive gains. He took a very relaxing shower, dressed in his most comfortable clothes, and then sat on the bed to look at his 'remains.'
[Body of a Gu Master with Grade C Talent – 44%] ---> {$500}
[Fang Yuan's Memories] ---> {$4,000}
['Quasi-Master' Level Attainments – Path of Strength] ---> {$20,000}
['Master' Level Attainments – Path of Refinement] ---> {$25,000}
['Master' Level Attainments – Path of Enslavement] ---> {$25,000}
['Master' Level Attainments – Path of the Earth] ---> {$25,000}
['Master' Level Attainments – No-Path Flight] ---> {$10,000}
['Grand-Master' Level Attainments – Path of Blood] ---> {$50,000}
[Fang Yuan's Fate]
[Intended to be used by the will of Heaven to destroy the 'Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu' created by the 'Spectral Soul Demon Venerable,' and then end up being killed by the Celestial Court]
[Heaven will protect him until he fulfills his destiny, and he cannot be killed until he fulfills his objective]
[The user will inherit Fang Yuan's fate and will be protected by Gu's fate until the imposed goal is fulfilled, thus deceiving the will of Heaven.]
Xiang Yao quickly bought Fang Yuan's Memories, Accomplishments for him. After absorbing Fang Yuan's memories and Attainments, he again enjoyed gaining new Attainments.
He tried to buy the Spring Autumn Cicada as well but was unable to because it already existed in the world, so he discovered one more thing about his system; not even he can make two Rank 6 Gu exist simultaneously.
Xiang Yao was tempted to buy Fang Yuan's fate for him too, but he ended up holding back and refusing the idea; he knows that there can't be two people with the same fate in the Gu World, that would create a conflict and end up warning the will of Heaven.
But Xiang Yao already had a feel for it; once he finished refining all of his Dream Path Gu to Rank 3, he could impersonate Fang Yuan and meet the same fate as him without drawing anyone's attention.
Xiang Yao prepared to refine his Gu of the Path of Dreams. Sitting on the bed, he bought the materials into the system and refined his vital Gu first.
Dream path materials were unique, just like their Gu; they usually don't have a physical form, and most of the time, they wouldn't stay in Master Gu's aperture but instead in his mental space.
So the refinement of a dream path Gu is extraordinary, as it must be performed in the Gu Master's mind space, as it cannot manifest in the real world (at least most of them).
Xiang Yao entered his mind space and began refinement. Carefully throwing the materials into the energy ball before him, Xiang Yao began his refinement.
Xiang Yao was in the last stage of Gu's refinement when he was careless and failed.
"Damn it! I was very anxious because the refinement was coming to an end. I ended up relaxing, and I failed." Having learned from his mistake, Xiang Yao began the refinement again, only this time with more attention.
As the energy ball increased in color, Xiang Yao increased his attention, slowed down the refinement speed, and then added the last refinement ingredient; The 'Fairy Dust of Dreams.'
The energy gathered into a single point and began to diminish until it reached the size of a hand. When the light dimmed, it could be seen as a Moth approximately 5 centimeters and highly unique, with hairy paws and large eyes.
The moth has a robust body covered with micro hairs, giving it a velvety appearance.
Easily recognized by its bright white body and wings, it has these feather-like antennae.
Its "skin" and wings are white. It has two peculiar golden-brown antennae with a strange design because it seems they are composed of thin fur and are curved, resembling false eyelashes worn by some women.
Its eyes are large and puffy in relation to its head and are black.
"Finally! I managed to refine the 'Ten Dream Moth' Gu." Xiang Yao looked with satisfaction at what would be his first Gu Vital.
"This Gu is extremely special even among those of the Path of Dreams. Because it can manifest itself in the real world and its effects are potent for its level - This Gu's main ability is to put the opponent into a dream that slowly wears down their soul until it destroys it." Xiang Yao quickly sold his Gu to the system.
[Sell Rank 1 – 'Ten Dream Moth Gu,' for 200 Points?]
[Buy Rank 1 - 'Ten Dream Moth Gu,' for 100 points]
Repurchasing the Gu from the system, Xiang Yao took it and immediately refined it to be his First Vital Gu.
[Buy Rank 1 - 'Gu Liquor Worm,' for 100 points]
[Buy Rank 1 - 'Moonlight Gu,' for 100 points]
[Buy Rank 1 - 'Red Bud Flower Gu,' for 100 points]
[Remaining Balance = $4120]
By purchasing and refining the other Gu, Xiang Yao now had 4 Gu Worms to feed and care for; he officially stepped onto the path of cultivation.
After that, Xiang Yao used Gu Liquor Worm to cultivate his primal essence for the rest of the day.
The dawn light spilled over Qing Mao Mountain like a flowing river; the trees danced in the dawn wind while the birds sang their beautiful melody, making the morning much more alive and active.
As soon as dawn broke, Xiang Yao got up to go to the academy while he pondered; "It's been three days since I finally started cultivating effectively with the Liquor Worm, and I ended up spending the rest of the days Cultivating without worrying about using primordial stone, so now I'm low on stones and need to sell more Gu to get more cultivation resources."
"The question now is, how am I going to sell and buy Gu Worms in bulk without drawing too much attention to myself?" While pondering, Xiang Yao arrived at the academy and ended up seeing the commotion that was happening in front.
"Or I can scan enough Primitive Stones for them to be free in the shop; the new 'scan' function says the more an item is scanned, the cheaper it gets, so logically, if I scan enough Primitive Stones, I can leave them for free." Xiang Yao thought some more before heading to the academy.
Several students were looking at the leaderboard who refined Gu the fastest; "I remember the Elder saying that the first one to refine his Vital Gu would earn a reward of 20 Primordial Stones, I could have tried, but there was a chance that Fang Yuan would set his sights on me. And I prefer not to take that risk that it might ruin my plan." Xiang Yao approached the poster and saw that Fang Yuan was in the first place.
"Hum… If I remember correctly from the novel, Fang Yuan would only discover the existence of the Spring Autumn Cicada because of the attack that the Liquor Worm made while refined by it." Xiang Yao thought in his heart.
"I already know a perfect method for me to be able to scan several primordial stones without attracting anyone's attention." Xiang Yao had a sudden inspiration. Soon a tiny expectant smile could be seen on her face.
"Fang Yuan will start extorting his classmates, and with that, he will get a lot of Primal Stones, and Xiang Yao can use this opportunity to scan everyone's, Primal Stones."
"Fang Yuan always asks others to collect the Primal Stones on the ground for him, he does this to demonstrate dominance and to affect the students' psychology, so I could use this opportunity and scan as many Primal Stones as possible."
"There are exactly 57 students in the class, including me, and if everyone earns 3 Primestones a week, then that means 171 Primestones a week and 684 a month, so that means that in a year, I will be able to scan 8,208 Primestones, I believe that is enough for the system."
Xiang Yao did the calculations in his mind as he walked to the classroom; as soon as he resolved his thoughts, he sat in his seat and concentrated on the Elder's lecture.