Delusions of Youth

Western Qi Mountain

Kame Village

Today, the calm and still village was bursting with certain excitement and anxiety.

"Hey, did you hear the news. There is actually a group of youths that had their apertures opened. Not only that, but they originate from a mortal village."

"Yeah! I can bet you that a precious treasure is going to be surfacing on that Village. How else can you describe this phenomenon?"

"Haha, with another influx of Gu Masters this year and a probability of a precious treasure, we can easily leave the Crane Village behind."

"Hehe, just two years... no! In just three year's time, we will be able to slaughter the Crane village. Not only their Gu recipes will belong to us, but also their Spirit Spring will belong to us."

"Yeah! The village is fortunate."

Kame Village is structured and constructed in accordance with a circular shape. The whole village surrounding with spiky fences and barbed vines.

The pathway in the village had already been formed by the accumulation of all the people since the formation of the village. The ground was smooth and hard, perfect for walking.

In the middle of the village was a large shed with a dark brown roof covering a larger part of the shed. From the centre, the houses were formed in the shape of ripple. The inner circle had luxurious and large houses, capable of accommodating two-three hundred people while the houses in the outer circle were considerably poor.

The most central location of the village, where the large shed was constructed, is also called the Kame Pavilion.

Right now, the Kame Pavilion is surrounded by a lot of people as they tried to look inside the pavilion. Their breaths bated and their expression filled with various complicated emotions.

"Sigh, who would have thought that a group of mortal youths will gain the opportunity to earn the qualifications to cultivate."

"Yeah! Cultivation is the hope of immortality. To gain the chance to embark on this journey is quite fortunate itself."

"Let's just wait for the decision of the Clan Head."

A person spoke out. His gaze calm and collected.

Meanwhile, inside the Kame Pavilion.

A group of youths stood straight. Some of them had a confused expression while the others were excited. Some people were so happy that their face blushed red.

Gohan was among them, too. They were the fortunate youths that had their apertures opened the previous night.

"Hey, Gohan. Do you think we will be able to become Gu Masters."

Among the younger generation of the Mortal Village, Gohan was fairly popular. He was always calm and collected and his indifferent actions created a lot of space in the hearts of young maidens.

"..."

Gohan couldn't be bothered to reply to such a stupid question.

If they weren't going to be trained into Gu Masters, why would the 'high' and 'mighty' Gu Master stationed in the village bring them here?

"Hey, she is talking to you. Now we all have the same status of being Gu Masters. Don't be too arrogant." A burly youth spoke from the sidelines.

"..."

Again, Gohan couldn't be bothered to reply to such an immature provocation.

Equal Status?

This is one of the most delusional concepts in the world. Some are richer, some are poorer. Some are strong and some are weak.

Even in Gu Masters, such difference will always exist.

The difference in talents, the difference in background. Everything is based on the ability of the person.

Even when Gohan knew nothing about the Gu Masters, he could be sure that no Gu Masters have equal status.

Seeing that Gohan ignored him, the burly youth was going to speak again. But before he could do that, the door of the main courtyard of the pavilion opened.

"You all will form a single line and enter the courtyard one by one." A middle-aged, lanky man emerged with an indifferent expression and looked at the group coldly.

Under his gaze, the group felt that the overbearing sun wasn't too hot anymore and their whole body was covered with cold sweat.

Meanwhile, inside the courtyard, a group of old men were standing in front of a middle-aged man with grey sideburns and a balding head.

"It is a godsend opportunity for the family to cultivate another group of youths this year. If we are able to utilise this opportunity properly, our Clan will move forward to an era of prosperity."

He was the clan head of the Kame Clan. But even in such a joyful occasion, his tone was completely serious.

The group of old men were the Elders of the Clan. Their expression was gloomy and cloudy, too.

They all understood the fact that the influx of such a large number of youth will give them benefits over a period of time.

It wasn't hard to understand. All these youths were Gu Masters without any background and knowledge. They all were hot-blooded and had just stepped on the road of cultivation.

If these group of mortals can be manipulated properly, the family of Elders, as well as the military of the Clan will improve over the period of time.

If these people have offsprings, their future generations will also have the probability of cultivating and this virtuous cycle will continue.

"But let me tell you all one thing. Healthy competition is good for the progress of the clan, but conspiring against your own clan members will be dealt against seriously."

The moment the clan head's word fell, the expression of the group of Elders changed. Their eyes turned sharp as they looked towards each other.

"We understand, Clan Head."

"We wouldn't dare!"

"Yes, you can rest assured."

The group of Elders quickly replied.

Even though the Clan Head's words were blunt, they all didn't feel any anger towards the Clan Head.

Humans live to acquire more wealth and profit and these Elders weren't any exceptions.

The clan head nodded and looked towards a particular Elder.

"Elder Garo, please inspect the apertures of all the children and note it down. We will be observing from inside."

A bald old man nodded as the group of Elder and the Clan Head walked inside the big shed.

Outside the courtyard, the middle-aged man spoke once again.

"Alright, you will report your name and enter the Courtyard one by one. You, report your name and move on."

The man pointed at the boy standing in front of the line.

"Y- yes! Ray Kai, Sir!" The boy stuttered and entered the courtyard slowly. He looked quite nervous.

Meanwhile, the other boys and girls looked at the back of Ray. The door wasn't closed and all of them could see the process happening inside the courtyard.

Ray stood in front of an old man.

Without waiting for Ray to respond, the Old Man immediately grabbed Ray's hand and let go after a moment. He closed his eyes and his expression had already turned easy. He nodded in a satisfied manner and asked Ray to stand on his right side.

The whole process took around five minutes and the line started to move forward.

Ahead of Gohan stood the girl who asked the stupid question. She also looked quite nervous.

'Hmm, something's wrong!' Gohan looked at the Old Man in the courtyard and noticed that only 3 boys were placed towards his left while all of them were placed on his right.

"Are they more talented?"

According to the norms of nature, talents are always rare. So it wasn't wrong to assume that the boys sanding to the left of the old man had better talents compared to others.

Finally, Gohan's turn came up.

"Gohan Kai, Sir."

Among the boys and girls that stood like quivering chicken. Gohan looked extraordinary in the first glance.

His neutral expression alongside the pupils that looked like an ancient abyss attracted the attention of the Middle-aged man.

Gohan finally entered the courtyard and noticed the difference in the air. Surprisingly, the air inside the courtyard was fresher in comparison to the air of the village.

Not only that, the sea like substance inside his aperture also started to show signs of movement.

As usual, without waiting for Gohan's reaction, the old man grabbed his arms and injected a sliver of energy.

Gohan also closed his eyes as he sensed the energy. It was extremely small and warm. The energy itself caused his body to feel a little fresh.

But unlike Gohan, the elder trembled slightly as he took away his hands.

"Go to the right."

Gohan nodded.

***

After all the youths were called and inspected the old man, the group was ordered to stay inside the courtyard as the Clan Head made his way towards the group.

"You all need to understand the basics of Gu Master before we can allocate all of you." The previous Elder spoke out and he looked at everyone. His gaze lasted a little longer on Gohan.

Behind him stood a group of Old men that looked towards Gohan and others with a fierce expression. Their eyes also showed various emotions, but they managed to keep up their faces.

"Gu Masters have Apertures inside their bodies that are filled with Primeval Essence shaped into a sea. But at the same time, the difference between the talents of the apertures is needed to be understood properly."

The old man continued.

"There are five four grades of talents— A, B, C, D. The talents represent the amount of Primeval Essence present inside the aperture. D Grade talent will have 20-39% of Primeval Essence, C Grade talent will have 40-59% of Primeval Essence, B Grade Talent will have 69-79% of Primeval Essence and A Grade talent will have 80-99% Primeval Essence in their bodies."

Speaking till here, the old man paused for a while as he let the youngsters digest the information. The information about the grades was fairly straightforward and easy to understand.

But some of the youths that had mature mindsets, understood the hidden meaning of the Old Man. They immediately closed their eyes and looked inside their Apertures.

Some were frowning while some grinned with pride.

"Alright! Ray, Bai, Daisy and Gohan. Step forward."

The group was excited, but the Old Man's words caused the group to quieten down.

After the four of them stepped forward, the old man nodded and spoke with a gentle smile on his face.

"Congratulations, you all have A Grade Talent."

Ray was the nervous teen that went inside first while Daisy was the stupid Girl that annoyed Gohan.

Looking at their excited expression, Gohan laughed internally.

"Interesting, too good. The moment we embark on this journey, we are divided by the matters of talents. The talented Gu Masters will keep on growing and soon become a strong existence while others will remain weak and helpless."

Gohan felt that he had seen a part of the Gu World that shouldn't be promoted outrightly.

But his thoughts were broken by Old Man's next words.

"Jun, Tama, Nora, Aoi are all C Grade Talents. The rest of you lot, congratulations. You all are B Grade Talents."

The moment the old man spoke out, Gohan felt the Elders behind the Old Man show a strange expression. Their faces were blushed and their whole body gave off the aura of liveliness.

***

"So, as Gu Masters, you all need to remember that the cultivation of Gu comprises of three important factors."

"Refining the Gu, Using the Gu and nurturing the Gu."

Inside the Clan Academy, the old man— Garo Kame, the Academy Teacher, spoke.

The class comprised of all the youths that came from the mortal village. Their class was set separately from the Gu Masters that lived in Kame Village.