Chapter 3: Rank one is just the tutorial

This late evening, after Yao Le was left all by herself in her room, she jumped from her window to group of bamboo trees next by. 

These bamboo trees proved to be useful for climbing into her room again, so she sorta felt grateful.

Once she left the Yao Estate, headed straight to the the famous bamboo inn located in the outskirts of the Village.

While taking a detour would seem more sensible at the first glance, hiding herself within the crowds would be far less suspicious.

The streets were buzzing with life, even though Gue Yue village was only a middle-low sized clan. Thanks to its unique moon path heritage, it became a hotspot for merchants and curious spirits, seeking to either resell unique Gu or to enrich their knowledge of Gu.

After a twenty minute walk, she finally arrived at the bamboo inn and bough a jar of green bamboo wine with ease.

This world has no age restriction for alcohol after all.

At first, the bartender intended to berate her, but quickly shut up as I put an entrance primeval stone on the counter. 

Yet when I was about to leave, he halted me, raising two fingers. After glancing at his suggestive expression I handed him an additional primeval stone.

What a rip off.

'Ah, that's right… any young master getting caught will surely get punished for irresponsible behavior… and maybe the inn would get involved too.' Yao Le mused internally. 

She wasn't here to drink. She did it for her cultivation. She is indeed a very responsible person.

Shortly after, she arrived at the bamboo forest, a critical source for sustenance for mortal clansmen and mortals outside the Gue Yue Territory.

It provided much needed food and building material and even made Yao Le's current favourite dish in this life, possible: bamboo soup.

She missed eating chicken though, but the clan banned breeding chicken because that would attract the much despised wolf packs.

Setting these distracting thoughts aside, Yao Le directly headed to the small river passing the Gue Yue territory and went upstream. 

She remembered that the Flower Wine Monk hid in a cave behind a waterfall, so it was only a matter of time until she entered his hideout.

Once inside, she started pouring the bamboo wine on the stonewalls to attract the Liquor worm.

'I wonder if Heaven's will will obstruct me… what if I return the liquor worm once I reach rank 1 peak stage? Or what if I don't?' Yao Le got curious about how Heaven's will will respond, or if it will even respond at all.

She waited and waited, and occasionally replenished the green bamboo wine fragrance in the air.

'Ah… the jar is empty.' She turned the jar upside down and looked inside. 

She almost gave up for today until she suddenly saw a white worm nipping on the green bamboo wine covered rocks.

The Liquor Worm!

What should she do? What should she do? Catch it? It was drunk to the core after all.

She felt her heart puls accelerating in her excitement as she slowly approached the Gu worm and held up a piece of cloth.

And bam!

The Liquor worm is now trapped! She then poured her primeval essence into the Gu worm trough the cloth.

Somehow she could feel how her primeval essence is being rejected by the Liquor Worm but she was making process.

All the sudden, she maximized her output and it wasn't long until the Gu worm's will crumbled.

'60% primeval essence spent. That was easier than expected.' She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

She expected to spent a few primeval stones, especially considering that she wasn't skilled in converting those into primeval essence.

Maybe it was just her lucky day? In the novel it was said that Fang Yuan struggled at first but then used his rank 6 Spring Autumn Cicada to suppress its will to refine it effortlessly after.

She shook her head. Now that her objective is completed, she made her way home. The more time she wasted the more the risk for accidents.

While on her way out of the cave, she had a realization: She refined the Liquor Worm while it was drunk. That's why it's will was so weak.

She encountered no incidents afterwards, thus her preparations proved to be unnecessary, fortunately. She safely returned to her room after climbing up the bamboo trees and collapsed in her bed.

But she did not fall asleep. Thoughts about her smooth venture to obtain the Liquor worm still lingered in her mind. It just went too smoothly.

'Was Heaven's will on vacation? Or did it deliberately let me get that Liquor worm? But Fang Yuan wouldn't progress fast enough to handle the upcoming challenges without this cultivation speedrun gu…' Yao Le pondered for a while but let it go after concluding that answers only appear when she sees how Fang Yuan himself would fare.

'What is important now is sleep. Goodbye world, see you in 3 hours…' And she is gone.

… 

One and a half months later.

A plain looking boy with pitch black eyes as dark as the abyss entered the bamboo forest. He wore worn out clothes with a bronze plate on which a 'I' is engraved, indicating him being a rank one Gu master.

It was Fang Yuan! Two weeks ago it was revealed that the prodigy, famous for his early intelligence and many poems, only had a C-grade aptitude. As the heavens love spitting irony, it was revealed that his failure brother had an A-grade aptitude.

Now everyone thinks that the former genius has fallen from the skies, now that he sleeps in class, never got home and was sighted drunk in the bamboo forest.

But in reality, every move of him had a reason. 

Fang Yuan could not help but think of himself. "No matter what, after buying this jar of green bamboo wine I only have 2 primeval stones left on me. If I can't find the treasure then I'll be in grave trouble. Today shall be considered the final gamble, it's all or nothing!"

However he didn't have enough primeval stones to refine a Gu worm in the first place. So why not invest it in this wine and increase the chances of success?

If it were in the case of other people, most of them would probably play it safe and save up the primeval stones. But in the case of Fang Yuan, the efficiency of doing so was too low. He would rather take the risk and gamble.

Fang Yuan opened the jar seal, releasing a thick wine aroma instantly. Green bamboo wine could be said as the Gu Yue Village's number one wine. This was why Fang Yuan has confidence tonight.

All he heard was a nightingale crying in the near distance, its sound like a string of bells. His gaze was silent. He did not feel surprised, and he moved away, walking to a spot a few hundred meters away.

In this place he did the same, pouring out a few drips of wine and waiting at the spot.

He did the same thing over and over again, moving away to a few other different locations, dripping wine a few times. After all that the green bamboo wine in the jar was depleted.

"It failed after all." His heart muttered, "after all these attempts over the past two weeks, I still failed, not even seeing the shadow of the Liquor worm. This means that in future the rate of success will be lower. Right now I only have two primeval stones left, and I still need to refine the Moonlight Gu. I can't risk it anymore."

Defeated, Fang Yuan returned to the inn he was staying.

The sun was already rising just after a few hours of his return, but its rays were blocked from Fang Yuan, when his little brother stood right in front of him, seeking to enforce his ideals upon his fallen big brother.

After this little dispute with Fang Zheng, his foolish little brother agreed to give him five and a half primeval stones in exchange for freeing Shen Cui from his nonexistent ownership.

Ah, now his breakfast was cold…

… 

A few days after.

'It seems like Fang Zheng was the first one to refine his vital Gu… and it seems that Fang Yuan has travelled back in time as rumors about him being drunk in the bamboo forest are spreading.' Yao Le stood in front of the pinboard just outside the gates of the Gu academy. Any honorifics were displayed there.

She let out a sight of relief. For some reason Heavens will turned a blind eye to her. She put that subject aside for as long as it doesn't affect her in a significant way.

A group of students passed her as she debated what to buy for lunch. She overheard their rather overbearing declarations.

"He'll regret messing with my cute little Mei'er… ouw." It seemed like that he was the leader from the fact that the two others followed behind him.

"How dare he offend me, the handsome Wang Yan! My father will make his life hell!"

"Yeah! I make sure that Fang Yuan will pay for this ten fold!" The two others shower their agreement

That caught her interest. She turned to their direction and started speaking in a questioning tone: "Oh? What has that Fang Yuan done? You three seem in a rather bad shape, have you considered visiting the Medicine Hall?"

The leader spoke up with a wide smile as he recognized her. "Ah it's the angelic nurse, Gu Yue Yao Le. Unfortunately, we are broke and can't afford to visit a doctor." He bowed slightly.

"Oh no, no. I am not deserving of such title. Please just call me Yao Le." She protectively waved both of her hands in a waving motion. What is perceived as being humble outside, was actually just avoidance of cringe in the inside.

"But it is every man's dream to wake up to see a beautiful face such as yours and being treated with these angelic hands of yours." He slightly tilted his chin upwards and combed his bangs backwards with his hand. "My name is Xu Jie by the way."

'Is that what girls have to deal with everyday?' She masked her deadpan expression with a practiced smile. "Nice to meet you. But I am curious about that Fang Yuan guy… what has he done?"

Xu Jie was about to answer as his follower stole the initiative. "He's a monster! He demanded us to hand over a primeval stone from each of us and beat us down when we refused."

'Ah, so he still resorted to that trick.' Yao Le showed a shocked expression to seem sympathetic. In reality she felt indifferent, because they were just side-characters destined to be slaughtered as food for blood skull Gu anyways, but she doesn't want to be perceived as sociopathic.

But helping them would benefit her right? They are loud mouths after all…

But how would a good reputation benefit her?

Praises were nothing, she even cringed if she is being too idealized.

Or… would people sacrifice them self's for her just like described in the novel?

Nah, just healing people in her job at the medicine hall and giving some kind words here and there would suffice.

Being more famous would only paint a larger target on her back, so after some further smalltalk, she excused herself from the group of three Gu master students.

'And it's not like they will be of any help in the wolf tide next year either. Their aptitudes are only C-grade or lower.' She entered a restaurant and ordered a bowl of bamboo soup with pork.

While she was eating, she reflected on her current cultivation journey. 'I didn't know that the first Gu worm I refine would automatically become my vital Gu, but I wanted the Liquor worm as my vital Gu anyways.'

She started her cultivation journey almost two months ago and made significant progress. 

Despite her unwillingness to burn through her savings, she managed to reach rank one upper stage.

The liquor worm is just that impressive. Combined which her B grade aptitude, she is rapidly approaching rank one peak stage.

And unlike Fang Yuan and the other students, she doesn't have to spend primeval essence for the use of Gu, allowing her to use her to dedicate her primeval essence reserves completely for advancing her cultivation.

The draw back is that she is no stronger than the average mortal. But there is no regret as if she had not she started cultivating by herself, the result would have been the same.

While she did receive martial arts training and worked out in her room by herself, she believed she is only as strong as she would have been if she had been born a boy, without training.

Well, there are strengths and weaknesses in both genders, the true question is only how to take advantage of them.

'Thanks for the food.' She internally chanted internally in Japanese after finishing her meal. She wondered if her proficiency in 5 languages from her previous world would be of use. Well, now that she reincarnated, she could speak 6… if she won't forget her previous languages.

After paying a fraction of a primeval stone to a waitress, she to the medicine hall as work awaited her.

Contrary to what others would expect, she did not meet her grandma often, as the latter is constantly chained by administrative work.

'We Maybe that's why grandmother dotes so much on me. She wants me to take over her role, while she can have a relaxing retirement. That's the social contract of this world.' Instead of sighting in acceptance, she giggled when she thought that it didn't matter anyway once Qing Mao Mountain was only a remnant of snow and ice.

Yet she still went and worked in the medicine hall despite its bleak future. Why? Because she it was the only place where she could work with Gu masters. The salary of 10 primeval stones per month was just a nice bonus.

Sometimes she gets the chance to inject her primeval essence into the rank two nine leaf vitality grass Gu available to all staff and snatch a leaf for herself. 

Usually it was only used when a rank one vitality leaf was needed, because they expire after a week. But due to low supply outside the control of the medicine hall, it can be sold for a decent amount in the black market.

The market price for one rank one vitality leaf was 50 primeval stones. 

Yao Le sold them for forty and gained a stable supply of primeval stones, fulfilling her demand for resources to cultivate.

Of course she won't be there to sell them personally, the risk of her identity being found out was too high. That's why she delegated these errands to diligently developed connections.

She is pretty proud of herself for what she has achieved so far. 

After a few hours tending small injuries, cleaning and some paperwork, Yao Le headed to the Yao Estate where a martial arts lesson awaited her.

The teacher was a good one. Praising her to motivate her while always challenging her to expand her limits. He has nothing left to teach her outside of physical training. 

On days when she wasn't that exhausted from it, she would do additional strength training in her room in the evenings. If not, she would rest. Without rest, a burnout was inevitable.

Lastly she would cultivate her aperste at night.

All in all there is nothing troubling her at the moment. She only has to wait for the story to progress and reap the opportunities which Kaye's themselves in front of her.

And she learned from her previous life that worrying about the future chaos the Gu world was fated for would only waste her brain space.

'Life is… yes, life is good.' This was her last thought before falling asleep.