Cheating

 "It is indeed regrettable," lamented Gu Yue Bo, the esteemed clan leader of the Gu Yue clan, his voice tinged with disappointment as he clicked his tongue softly. His eyes, usually sharp and discerning, now held a glimmer of sadness as he observed the scene before him. Still, this small disappointment was swiftly overshadowed by the thought of Fang Zheng's existence.

'The loss of one B-grade is inconsequential in light of the A-grade talent we have obtained... wishing for more would be greedy on my part...' Gu Yue Bo thought to himself as he observed the expressions of the surrounding elders.

He could see that all of them appeared saddened by the scene in front of them, but he was experienced enough to discern that some of them were faking it. It was understandable because, although they were united as a clan, internal factions competed for influence and resources. The presence of another B-grade talent would imply the potential emergence of another rank 3 Gu Master in a few years. While this could be advantageous if the new Gu Master aligned with their political interests within the clan, there was also the risk of them becoming an adversary.

"Indeed, Clan Leader speaks the truth, the poor boy really tasted heaven before falling down to earth" Spoke Gu Yue Chi Lian, leader of one of the largest factions within the clan. 

He gazed at the sparkling river, his eyes filled with pity as they rested on the youth standing in the middle of it.

Of course, the subject of their conversation was none other than Gu Yue Qin.

He stood somewhere near the middle of the river, his entire body trembling.

At that moment, the calm smile he usually possessed was nowhere to be seen! His face flushed red from exertion, and the grinding noise of his clenched teeth echoed in the air. Every muscle in his body was taut like a steel cord pulled to its limit, yet he struggled to maintain his balance. His breath came in heavy, ragged gasps, and it was evident that he was on the verge of fainting!

Understandably so, for he had remained in the same spot for almost two minutes, enduring the relentless pressure of the rich primeval qi. Pure desperation was etched on his face as he attempted, yet again to take another step forward.

"Sigh... Gu Yue Qin, it's time to give up," the Academy Elder said with a soft tone he didn't use until then. Even the crowd of youths seemed moved by the valiant effort Qin was making... and how could they not? He was at the 29th step! The pinnacle of C-grade! With just a simple step, barely half a meter more, he could ascend to the ranks of B-grade talent! Someone with the potential to become an Elder of the clan! For a country bumpkin who had spent his entire life tending crops, such an attainment must have seemed godlike! It was no wonder that Qin would exert himself to the utmost to achieve such talent.

'He might not be a B-grade, but the boy has the right mindset' thought the Academy Elder as he observed Qin making his way back to shore, his head hung low in defeat. He appeared haggard and crestfallen, softly muttering under his breath, "...just one more step... Mother, father... I am sorry... your son failed to make you proud..."

Hearing these words as Qin arrived in front of him, the Academy Elder couldn't help but offer the youth a few words of encouragement as he checked his primeval sea...It was indeed, sitting at 59%, just a hair's breadth away from B-grade.

"Enough with the self-pity," the elder chided, his tone firm yet not unkind. "Your talent is nearly on par with a B-grade, and one missed step won't change that."

Encouraged by the elder's words, Qin's face brightened, and he managed to summon a feeble smile. "Thank you, Elder, for your encouragement. I will endeavor to work hard and follow in your footsteps as a strong gu master in the future" he said respectfully, bowing before rejoining the crowd of youths who were eager to congratulate him on his accomplishment.

"Don't worry, friend! With enough dedication, you can surpass even a B-grade talent." One of them said while patting Qin on the shoulder a few times in a friendly manner.

"Yeah, what does a stinky river know? True power comes from the heart and the mindset of the cultivator!" Shouted a fiery red-haired youth.

They echoed the elder's sentiments, and Qin gradually seemed to shake off his melancholy as he laughed and joked with his peers.

Of course, none acknowledged the truth lurking beneath their warm feelings towards Qin, the one who dared challenge his C-grade fate. 

Had he succeeded in crossing that threshold, their admiration would have swiftly curdled into bitter envy. For nothing stings quite like the sharp reminder of one's own shortcomings. If Qin had managed that 30th step, he wouldn't have been thought of as "My courageous, impoverished peer" any longer. No, he would have morphed into "That lucky fucking beggar bastard" in the recesses of their minds, breeding resentment masked by false smiles. 

As for the words of encouragement offered by the Academy Elder to Qin? They were lies, only meant to bring up his spirits. Could the chasm between C-grade and B-grade truly be so easily traversed? The classifications existed for a reason, after all. A C-grade talent would never enjoy the same chance to ascend to the rank of a third-rank Gu Master as a B-grade talent, even if they teetered on the edge of C-grade. That minuscule gap represented the difference between forging ahead or stumbling into stagnation. While it might not compare to the chasm between heaven and earth, it could be argued that the 30th step held more significance than the steps from 21 to 29 combined!

Indeed, Gu Yue Qin seemed to have been blessed with both fortune and bad luck.

...or so he wished to present himself to the masses and the elders, to be seen as a hard-working yet not too talented youth...

Because everything he did was an act! From the moment he stepped foot into the river, Qin had already decided that he would stop after 29 steps and pretend that he could not walk any further. His every move was a calculated performance, carefully choreographed to elicit sympathy and admiration from those around him.

The truth was that he did not have a limit! If he wanted to, he could walk all 50 steps, showing himself as an A-grade talent in front of which even the elders would bow! 

'But wouldn't it still be a deception?' one might ponder. Sure, he could have traversed all 50 steps, but his aperture wouldn't mirror such remarkable talent. While he might have manipulated the test, he couldn't manipulate the innate aptitude bestowed by fate itself.

And to that, Qin would respond with...

'What is this innate aptitude you speak of? I'm unfamiliar with such a notion...'

He was not to be shackled by such limitations! If he desired a 100% filled aperture, he could attain it in an instant! After all, how could Negary, the Demon of the Void, an entity so superior to the Venerables of this world that he made them look like mere mortals in comparison, not anticipate the challenges his clone might encounter in mortal cultivation due to unluckily taking over a mortal body devoid of innate cultivation talent? Should the clone simply roll over and die, or remain as a mortal until it secured a Man Triumphing Over Heaven rank 5 gu? What a preposterous notion!

The answer to this problem lay of course in the Fate Devouring Soul Gu's ability to absorb heaven path materials and other Gu's.

Ever since Qin stepped into the river until the moment he exited it, he had absorbed 58 hope gu!

17 of those were spent forming the D-grade aperture his body was naturally capable of forming.

The next 12 were absorbed through his torso as he walked through the river and then absorbed by his soul, and they helped produce the illusion that he had a peak C-grade talent.

And the remaining 29 were gathered secretly by absorbing them through the soles of his water-submerged feet when he was pretending to be stuck at the 29th step.

 Thus, his soul feasted upon 41 rank 1 Hope Gu in total!

This was an outrageous amount of food for a rank 1 gu. While a low-ranking gu had to be fed quite often, devouring so many gu of the same rank was an amount so far beyond the realm of possibility, it wasn't even worth imagining. 

Then could it be possible that the gu was attempting to advance in rank, and so it required so many materials?

Qin would have been overjoyed if that was the case, but unfortunately, it was not. While the Fate Devouring Soul was mighty beyond reason, able to conceal and protect someone from Fate itself while even siphoning its power, it was by no means omnipotent. It also had its limitations.

One of these constraints was its direct correlation with the rank of its user. Intricately linked to Qin's being, the Fate Devouring Soul could only progress alongside him. That is to say, even if the Soul somehow managed to swallow a rank 9 Fate gu right then and there, it would still remain as rank 1!

Still, that didn't mean that consuming heaven path materials or other gu was useless...quite the opposite, in fact. By consuming Heaven Path materials, the Fate Devouring Soul absorbed the small fragments of Heaven Path Dao Marks present inside of them... which it could then use as fuel for its abilities.

But what were the Fate Devouring Soul's abilities? Well...what were Fate's abilities? 

Deciding the rules of the world itself...

That was the crux of it. While unscathed, Fate Gu reigned as the supreme authority in the World of Gu, and its subjugation by Star Constellation Immortal Venerable was solely due to its lack of sapience.

It was evident that the Fate Devouring Soul Gu held nowhere near that level of power...However, with sufficient fuel, it could also exert its influence on the world. As its rank increased in the future, so too would its ability to alter the rules of the world...

But for now, at rank 1, there was only one thing it could influence—the object to which it was most closely linked. The object without which it could not increase its rank.

The aperture!

Even as Qin continued to converse with his new "friends" and feigned interest in the Academy Elder's concluding speech, the surface of his aperture, bathed in flowing white light, continued to pulsate and tremble as its capacity was forcefully elevated toward the peak of A-grade!

And the cost for this transformation was merely a few inquisitive glances directed at him by a particular time-traveling demon…