Determination

The night comes with the stars that, even hidden, don't stop shining. The thin veil of moonlight radiated over the dead of summer night.

Xiang Yao was in dark clothes as he prepared to carry out his plan; "I've spent all day thinking of a way to sneak up on Fang Yuan and kill him, and now I've finally finished planning."

Xiang Yao had purchased the Shadow Follower at the shop and planned to sneak into the academy dormitory to Fang Yuan's room; then, he would sell Fang Yuan's vital Gu to Spring Autumn Cicada. The consequences of having a Rank 6 Vital Gu drained of your body's strength is enough to kill any mortal Gu Master.

"That way, people will think he had some negative reaction during cultivation and ended up damaging his aperture and dying in the process." Making up his mind Xiang Yao used the Shadow Follower Gu and left towards the academy dormitory.

Mortal guards mostly guard the dorm, the academy elder is the only Level 3 Gu Master around here, but he doesn't keep watch for 24 hours as no one would ever expect someone to enter the academy dorm just to kill one ordinary student.

Students with outstanding talent or family backgrounds are protected by their respective factions, so those who stay in the academy's dormitory are primarily students from humble backgrounds.

While the moon was high in the sky, hidden by thick clouds making the night even darker than usual, a shadow appeared on the ajar window of a student's dorm room.

The student in question was sitting in the lotus position with his eyes closed and a primaeval stone in each hand, assiduously cultivating. Without him noticing, a shadow quickly appeared on his back and touched his body.

[Sell Rank 6 – 'Spring Autumn Cicada Gu' – For 20,000 points?]

[Sell Rank 1 – 'Gu Moonlight' - for 100 points?]

[Sell Rank 1 – 'Black Boar Gu' - for 100 points?]

[Sell Rank 1 – 'Gu Little Light' - for 100 points?]

[Scan Level 1 – Body of a Gu Master with Grade C Talent – ​​44%- for 500 points?]

[Scan Level 1 - Fang Yuan's Memories – for 5000 points?]

[Scan Level 1 - Fang Yuan's Attainments - for 310,000 points?]

[Scan Level 1 – Fate of Fang Yuan – for 10,000 points?]

"What...?" Before Fang Yuan could react, Xiang Yao immediately activated the system and sold everything Fang Yuan had, causing him to vomit blood in reaction to having his vital Gu forcibly taken from him.

"Blargh!" Fang Yuan vomited blood as the light slowly faded from her eyes. Soon after, two guards broke down the door and entered to see what had happened, only to see Fang Yuan dead from having his aperture destroyed.

Xiang Yao had already left the room a long time ago; now, he was running around the village like crazy in case someone in the clan got suspicious and tried to use some mysterious Gu. So to cover his tracks, he spent the night wandering around various random places in the village; he continued doing this until dawn.

"Hahaha, I did it; I finally got rid of that razor stuck around my neck." Xiang Yao was still breathing heavily, but that didn't stop a smile from appearing.

Xiang Yao gave himself more time to calm down and check out 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 'spoils'.

[Body of a Gu Master with Grade C Talent – ​​44%] ---> {$500}

[Fang Yuan's Memories] ---> {$2500}

['Near-Master' Level Attainments – ​​Path of Strength] ---> {$20,000}

['Master' Level Attainments – ​​Path of Refinement] ---> {$25,000}

['Master' Level Attainments – ​​Path of Slavery] ---> {$25,000}

['Master' Level Attainments – ​​Path of the Earth] ---> {$25,000}

['Master' Level Attainments – ​​No-Path of Flight] ---> {$10,000}

['Grandmaster' 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 Heavenly Court]

[The will of heaven will protect him until he fulfils his destiny, and he cannot be killed until he fulfils his objective]

[The User will inherit Fang Yuan's Fate and will be protected by the Fate Gu until the imposed goal is fulfilled, thus deceiving the will of heaven.] (A/N: Fate has nothing to do with the Venerables' plans; this is the Fate imposed by the will of heaven and has nothing to do with the Venerable Ones. The Venerable Ones made their plans according to their prediction of the future, which the Fate Gu partially controls.)

Xiang Yao quickly bought Fang Yuan's Memories, Attainments and Fate for him. Fang Yuan's Fate may seem like a disadvantage from the outside, but that's a guarantee of life until he gets Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu; right after he gets it, he will immediately sell that Fate back to the system.

Right after buying the items - Several small and translucent balls appeared before him; they were the items he bought; first, he used the ball that contained the memories. Then the pellet dissipated and entered Xiang Yao's mind.

"That's quite a lot; I need time to process all this information." Xiang Yao thought to her heart as she lightly rubbed her temple.

After nearly an hour of processing the memories he had just gained, Xiang Yao's expression finally relaxed. "The will of heaven manipulated too much information for Fang Yuan not to remember." Xiang Yao received all of Fang Yuan's memories, and now he realized that the will of heaven was guiding Fang Yuan like a duck, not only about Shang Xin Ci's luck but also about a new inheritance that would appear nearby in a few years, which would be very useful for the Fang Yuan at that time.

Xiang Yao calmed down after digesting all these memories and was now prepared to absorb Fang Yuan's Levels of Attainment, repeating the Process; the translucent pellets began to be absorbed by Xiang Yao.

"Mm, I can feel my paths starting to level up, so this is what it feels like to be a Grand Master on a Path." Xiang Yao delved deeper into his consciousness, enjoying every moment.

"After taking it all in, I feel like I'm a new person, like I see the world from a new perspective; it's wonderful." Xiang Yao calmed down and prepared to absorb the last and most crucial translucent pellet.

"It's now or never." Xiang Yao took a deep breath and started absorbing Fang Yuan's Fate, but shortly after, a system notification appeared, which left him in shock.

[Fang Yuan's Fate being implemented...]

[Conditions for successfully activating Fate: Cicada Spring Autumn]

[Do you want to use 12,000 points to refine Spring Autumn Cicada in the aperture?]

Xiang Yao was confused for a short moment, but he quickly regained his composure and thought, "So, for me to inherit Fang Yuan's Fate, I need to have the Spring Autumn Cicada?"

"For what? The cicada is only useful at the beginning of the work because the will of heaven inside it always guarantees its success. Still, now that I've sold it to the system, the will in heaven inside it has been cleared; even if I repurchase it, it won't have the will of heaven impregnated it, which would make it lose its usefulness." Xiang Yao was now rethinking whether he should choose Fang Yuan's Fate.

What if when he buys the Spring Autumn Cicada, the will of heaven impregnates it again and ends up controlling Xiang Yao? He would end up losing his most significant asset, which is the surprise factor. And Xiang Yao would never accept being unwittingly used by heaven's will.

"But it could also be that Fate just needs me to own the cicada and doesn't need heaven's will to be in it. Fate is a kind of luck too, so it might be that when I activate the cicada, I can turn back time with 100% certainty, even without the will of heaven trapped inside it." Xiang Yao reflected and finally decided that he would take the risk; if anything happened, he could always count on the help of his grandfather, who had been protecting him until now.

"Buy", Xiang Yao replied with the conviction of his choice.

[Refining Cicada Spring Autumn]

[The Spring Autumn Cicada was stored in the User's Aperture]

[Suppressing Spring Autumn Cicada so it doesn't destroy the User's aperture]

[Changing the timeline and predictions of the past]

[Altering reality so that the Venerables' plans include you instead of Fang Yuan]

(A/N: For those who don't understand what happened here, it was; The system altered reality so that instead of Fang Yuan, it is Xiang Yao who is in the Venerables' plans, so the MC can inherit the legacies that were initially left to Fang Yuan such as the Gu Wisdom and True Inheritance of the 'Red Lotus Demon Venerable'.)

[Process completed successfully!]

Xiang Yao looked at all this in surprise; he had just witnessed the system's true power, the power to completely alter the entire history of the world, altering even the Venerables' knowledge. This is absurdly monstrous, such power in a simple Lodge system.

Looking at its aperture, Xiang Yao could sense that the Spring Autumn Cicada was hidden inside, being suppressed so as not to burst its aperture.

Relaxing their mind, Xiang Yao formulated his next plan: acquire Bai Ning Bing's body and increase his talent for the extreme physique. Once he reaches Level 3, he can use the Path of Dream killer move 'Nightmare of Thousands of Lives'; this killer move puts the enemy into ecstasy and slowly consumes their soul, thus creating a realm of Dreams.

The assassin's move needs three dream paths Gu, and everyone needs to be Rank 3. They are; 'Gu Moth of a Thousand Dreams', 'Gu Hope for a Better Day', and 'Gu Eyes That See Truth'. These Gu have been specified in the Dream Path heritage and are essential.

As soon as Bai Ning Bing's soul turns into a dream realm, Xiang Yao will use another dream path killer move to make his body absorb the entire dream realm, thus transforming the 'Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique' into the 'Unreal Great Dream Physique' thus creating the 11th Extreme Physique. (A/N: Not the same as the one the shadow sect created; this is a different Dream path Physique)

Having decided his path, Xiang Yao no longer hesitated and used the Green Copper Relics to reach the Level 1 Peak Stage. He hadn't done that before because he didn't want to raise Fang Yuan's guard, but now he didn't have to worry More.

He can reveal his Liquor Worm and say he won in the caravan, and if anyone doubts him, he always has 'Sir Jia Fu' to speak for him. Since Jia Fu still owes him a favour.

And Xiang Yao only intends to reveal his Level 1 Peak Stage Cultivation in the competition at the end of the year.

...

The sun rose in all its splendour, animals and people awoke, and mortals roamed the streets from one side to the other like ants in an anthill. The Gu Masters, with their clothes soiled with blood or dirt, walked with their heads held high as if they were kings.

The morning was as lively as ever, but something strange happened at the gym.

"Reporting to the Elder of the academy, it was his aperture that was damaged and ended up collapsing, resulting in his death." A healing Master Gu was reporting to the academy elder about the result of the research on Fang Yuan's body.

"Sigh! What an unlucky young man who would have thought that Fang Yuan would soon fail in cultivation." The academy elder sighed; it is not uncommon for inexperienced and anxious Gu masters to end up blundering in cultivation and having their talent reduced or, even worse, being killed. That's how the world is; it's cruel, unpredictable and strikes when you least expect it.

"Report to the clan leader about today's occurrence," The academy elder told the healing Gu master.

"Yes, sir." The healing Gu master responded and left immediately.

In the classroom, the young people were whispering about the recent occurrence.

"You knew? Fang Yuan reacted while cultivating and ended up dying!" A young man spoke.

"Hehe, this is divine punishment; who sent him to steal our primaeval stones!" another replied with satisfaction.

"It's his fault for being so ambitious and coveting everyone in the room's wealth!" snorted a young man angrily.

Listening to all this, Fang Zheng sighed, thinking, "Oh brother, why did it have to be this way? We had our disagreements, but we were still blood brothers. May you find peace wherever you are." The clan leader informed Fang Zheng today about what had happened to his brother.

Time was like a white steed that flew through an aperture, taking summer and autumn with it, leaving room for winter to come.

Due to the increasingly cold weather, everyone on the street wore simple, plain clothes with long sleeves lined inside.

The winter wind whispered as once-red leaves fluttered aimlessly, leaving the trees as dry as twigs.

The snow buried the wild grass that was dry yellow, and the red or yellow-orange berries that hung from the branches of the trees disappeared like a mirage.

Time flies, and it has been over four months since Fang Yuan's unexpected death.

"I'm almost at Level 2, but I'm putting it off until the end-of-year exam." Xiang Yao thought as he enjoyed the cool autumn breeze hitting his straight face.

Every day he goes to the nest of Stone Monkeys with Jade Eyes to hunt, he could already go to the centre and get the third Gu of the inheritance, but he is ahead until he reaches Level 2 and tests his strength with the Monkey King. In the meantime, he has never stopped studying the path of Dream and is constantly evolving; every day, he looks for materials of the path of dream and studies his inheritances. He feels that in just over two or three years, he had reached the 'Quasi-Grandmaster' level in the path of Dream.

In the academy arena, three stages had already been built.

To the side of the stage, close to the bamboo walls of the arena, were tents and long tables and chairs.

The academy elder, clan leader and a few other clan elders were sitting below the tent cover.

There was some snow in the sky.

Fifty-six students stood in the arena. Their noses were bright red from the weather, and every breath they took had steam coming out of them.

The academy elder said, "In the blink of an eye, a year has ended. During this year, you were trained in the academy and began to understand the qualities of a Gu Master. Tomorrow, you'll have your year-end exam to test the fruits of your hard work! Not only will the clan leader and elders personally come to watch, but your family elders and seniors will also observe to choose top-performing students to join your small teams.

"Your performances tomorrow will greatly affect your future. Getting first place is not only one hundred and fifty primaeval stones, but you also get an advantage in choosing Gu Worms! Now, begin the ultimate cultivation test in your academic life!"

Saying so, the academy elder nodded to a Gu Master beside him.

The female Gu Master received the instructions and called the name on the list, "Gu Yue Ping Lu!"

A young woman walked towards Master Gu with a nervous expression.

The Gu Master reached out, touching the young girl's abdomen. She closed her eyes to feel it, then opened her eyes and declared, "Gu Yue Ping Lu, Level 1 Intermediate Stage. Then Gu Yue Zhu."

One after another, the young people went to check. Then they went down and returned to the group.

"Gu Yue Chi Cheng." The middle-aged female Gu Master called.

Of the group, the smallest, Gu Yue Chi Cheng, puffed out his chest and left.

After checking, the female Gu Master opened her eyes: "Gu Yue Chi Cheng, Level 1 Peak Stage!"

Until now, this was the first level, Gu Master.

The clan elders present turned their heads.

Some elders acknowledged it, lightly saying, "This is Chi Lian's grandson, with grade B talent, no wonder."

Outside the tent, young people also commented.

"Chi Cheng is ranked one peak stage; II'd like to know if Mo Bei is as well. After all, they are rivals."

"Managing to advance to the peak stage, they are all A and B grades. Sigh, we C and D grades find a bitterness that cannot be envied.

"Hmph!" Gu Yue Mo Bei snorted; seeing Chi Cheng's proud expression, he was irritated.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng clenched his fists, lips tightly closed, as if he was suffocating in his emotions.

"Gu Yue Mo Bei." Soon, the examiner called.

The horse-faced Mo Bei quickly left.

"Gu Yue Mo Bei, level one peak stage." With this statement, he turned back and looked defiantly at Gu Yue Chi Cheng upon his return.

The examination continued, and the snow in the sky became less and less until it disappeared.

The cool air was quite refreshing.

"Gu Yue Xiang Yao." The middle-aged female Gu Master called.

Xiang Yao approached with a warm look on his face.

Soon after, she opened her eyes, looking at Xiang Yao in shock, before declaring, "Gu Yue Xiang Yao, Peak Stage Level 1!"

"Level 1 peak stage, did I hear that wrong?" Young people were shocked.

"Who is this Xiang Yao? Is it another Grade B talent?" Others questioned.

Even the elders were surprised at this turn of events that had taken place.

Gu Yue Bo looked at the academy elder; after that, he quickly understood and brought out the student's record.

"Here you are, Mister Clan Leader, Xiang Yao's entire history has been recorded here, from the awakening ceremony to the present moment." The academy Elder responded promptly as he handed a notebook to the clan leader.

"Mm, completely average in all respects, Grade C talent without family support; how did this young man achieve this achievement?" Gu Yue Bo wondered as he stroked his beard.

"After the exam is over, carefully investigate this young man's life, he is hiding something, and for some reason, he decided to show himself only now," Gu Yue Bo said as he looked at Xiang Yao suspiciously.

Xiang Yao felt all the looks that everyone was giving him, but he decided to ignore them all, as he already expected this distrust towards him. But he just needed to wait until the merchant caravan arrived so he could ask Jia Fu to speak for him, thus allaying suspicions about him.

"Gu Yue Fang Zheng." The female Gu Master finally said.

Fang Zheng stepped out of the crowd, he could feel the pressure these gazes were bringing on him, but his gaze was cold and calm.

"It seems that the fact that Fang Yuan died positively influenced Fang Zheng, making him mature faster." Xiang Yao thought in his heart as he watched Fang Zheng walk onto the stage.

"Gu Yue Fang Zheng, Cultivation Level - Level 2 Early Stage!"

Immediately, Fang Zheng became the centre of attention.