Frightening Skills and Talents!

Hundreds of young people between the ages of 15 and 16 gathered in front of a huge pavilion in the center of the clan. The pavilion was five stories ornate in the style of ancient Chinese architecture, heavily guarded by guards at every possible point.

While in front of the huge pavilion, the youths were instructed by the clan elder to prostrate themselves and pay their respects to the ancestors in front of the memorial tablets. This ceremony was held once a year, and all young people who would awaken its aperture should do so, as it represented the transition from their childhood to their adult phase.

Young people are considered adults in their own right from age 16. Then they are taken to participate in their awakening ceremony at the age of 15 and then spend a year at the Gu Academy, instructed by the teachers in everything they need to know before finally graduating and becoming a worthy Gu Master at 16.

Fang Yuan stood right in front of the youths with his hands behind his back, carrying his characteristic warm smile and calm eyes to everyone around him as he appreciated the culture and teachings the elder imparted.

"Now that you have paid your respects to the ancestors, we can finally begin the true awakening ceremony." The academy elder in charge of awakening this year's youth began to speak as he led the child toward where the awakening ceremony would be held.

As they descended into the subterranean cave just below the clan pavilion, the youths began to make noises of surprise and astonishment as they observed the stunning underground cavern.

The cave was beautiful and had its unique charm that captivated people who looked at it; its vast stalactites glowed in soft blue light while transiting between colors like a rainbow, delivering a feeling that attracted those who looked at it.

Fang Yuan began to appreciate the beauty of the place as he took the lead of the youth group to get a better view of the place. Until Fang Yuan finally saw the vast spirit spring at the bottom of the cave and had a sudden insight and started talking to Nexus.

"Nexus, you said before that you could use Dao marks to replicate any Gu you've studied before, but I was wondering if it would be possible to do the same with the Primeval stones?" Fang Yuan thought about this as he looked at the more than 10 meters wide river before him.

[I still don't know if it's possible, Sir!]

[I need more time to research and see if I can actually replicate them]

[So far, the only Gu I have in my database is the Spring Autumn Cicada, and even then, I don't have enough Dao marks to create it if it is destroyed now]

"I understand. So let's go with our original plan for now, but if possible, I want you to use the extra time we have to study the spirit source's ability to produce primeval stones." Fang Yuan was determined to gain as many benefits as possible from this ceremony.

Soon everyone arrived at the spirit spring river and looked around in amazement – ​​The rainbow light from the stalactites had long since disappeared. Still, the slight blue glow insisted on demonstrating its presence as it lightly reflected in the river's waters.

The blue light came directly from the blue orchids at the bottom of the river; they sported beautiful rose-blue petals in the shape of a crescent moon, with stem stems glowing a lime green and exuding vitality. These were the Moon Orchids, one of the spices produced by the Gu Yue clan.

Thanks to the soft glow of the orchids, it was possible to see the fish, aquatic plants, and even the sand that rested under the river.

"My mum had told me this place was beautiful, but it exceeded all my expectations!" One of the girls in the group sighed in surprise.

"Really beautiful!"

"It's amazing!"

Each of the young people agreed with the girl's observation. Everyone sighed as they admired the place with excited and anxious eyes.

"Alright, calm down, everyone, and pay attention to what I will say." The elder brought everyone out of their daze as he organized all the young people and explained the steps for the awakening ceremony.

As soon as the elder saw that everyone was organized and paying attention to him, he lightly raised a notebook with various names and information in his left hand and used his right hand that held the brush to point to the river in front of him: "As soon as I call for your name, I want you to start walking along this river towards the opposite bank. The further you go, the better it will be for you."

Before coming here, all these young people were instructed by their elders about the rules, so they knew that the further they walked on that river, the higher their talent would be, and consequently, their future would be much brighter.

All the youths nodded in understanding and patiently waited their turn. Once the elder saw that everyone had understood his instructions, he lowered his hands and started reading the names on the paper while calling them by name.

"Gu Yue Chen Bo," the elder called out the first name.

And so the awakening ceremony finally began. Fang Yuan, who already knew the results preferred to stay by the side, waiting his turn while he discussed with Nexus his plans, but he still kept an eye out for any changes that might be different from his knowledge.

...

A few minutes passed, almost half of the young people had gone through the ceremony, and not even half had successfully awakened their aperture. Many were sad and crestfallen, while others were satisfied and resigned.

"Gu Yue Fang Yuan!" The elder finally called out Fang Yuan's name.

As soon as they heard the name that was called, the youths immediately turned their heads and started to stare at Fang Yuan while some whispered and muttered things about him.

"It's finally the turn of the great talent of the year!"

"It will definitely be a Grade A talent."

"Don't you think he looks a little different?" a young woman lightly commented.

"Now that you mention it, it looks like he is even happier and has put aside his cold expression." the boy beside her replied hesitantly.

"Hmph! It must be because he knows he will be a great talent; that smile must be to mock us." Another, who was in a bad mood, replied with venom.

Many youths started gossiping about Fang Yuan as he walked towards the river following the elder's instructions.

As soon as Fang Yuan stepped onto the river, he immediately felt a pressure on his body, it was faint, but he could still feel it pressuring him not to continue. This pressure came from the rich Primeval energy that gathered near the spirit source area.

In the same instant that the pressure dropped on Fang Yuan, several light sources resembling tiny fireflies burst out from under the underwater petals and gathered around his body as he entered.

Fang Yuan looked at the tiny fireflies in awe and thought, "So these are the Hope Gu; they are way more interesting than described in the book."

"Nexus, start the preparations now." Fang Yuan asked Nexus as he calmly walked over the river and played with the Hope Gu around him.

[Immediately, Sir!]

[Processing...]

[...]

Once Nexus devoured the fragment of heaven's will inside the Spring Autumn Cicada, he learned some fragmentary information from her. Like for example, some special Inheritance of the human path that the of heaven's will tried to suppress or destroy, or even some places that it did its best to hide from prying eyes.

Unfortunately, the information Nexus got was fragmentary, so he got very little important information from her. But from all of them, Nexus still managed to extract some locations, recipes, and information from the will of heaven, and among this information was an incomplete inheritance of the human path that caught his attention a lot.

This inheritance of the human path had a frightening potential for the future, as it was left by a Level 8 Pseudo-Venerable who cultivated the human path. In the end, the Will of Heaven would find out and try everything to destroy and erase this inheritance from the Gu World. It was only after much time and effort that the Will of Heaven finally managed to destroy the inheritance of this Gu Immortal.

But ironically, she was the one who brought this inheritance directly into Fang Yuan's hands these days. And Fang Yuan would definitely get his hands on this complete inheritance.

In that inheritance, a special method can only be performed at the time of a Gu Master's awakening. For a Gu Master to awaken his aperture, he must undergo the pressure of a spiritual source and be bathed in the Hope Gu's lights. Still, this inheritance uses the Hope Gu to awaken the Gu Master's aperture as a refinement material and refines the user's aptitude.

But unfortunately, that was one of the few things Nexus managed to save from this inheritance. Since even this inheritance was somewhat incomplete, Fang Yuan would need to get the complete inheritance himself if he wanted to follow that path.

Nexus also gained some knowledge on how to create variant humans and some resources to enrich the environment of the immortal aperture.

At that moment, an acceptable amount of Hope Gu gathered in Fang Yuan's body, and thanks to the spiritual pressure, the Hope Gu began to spontaneously gather around his abdomen right where his aperture would be awakened.

"Start the process now, Nexus!" as soon as Fang Yuan felt that the pressure was lessening, he prompted Nexus to begin refining his aptitude.

[Ready Preparations!]

[Starting Process...]

[Using Spring Autumn Cicada's aura to suppress and attract more Hope Gu]

[Starting Refinement!]

[Refining Talent...]

[44%...]

[45%...]

Fang Yuan continued with his steps as Nexus concluded the Procedure, he had already taken 10 steps, and they continued to increase.

11, 14, 17, 20, 22...

Thanks to the refinement that was taking place in Fang Yuan's body, a large amount of Hope Gu continued to gather around it; it looked like a swarm of fireflies completely overtook Fang Yuan's body.

As this magical scene unfolded, the elders watched with a distinct gleam of happiness in their eyes; "He will definitely be a Grade A talent; with this amount of Hope Gu, there is no longer any doubt."

"In my entire life, I had never seen such an absurd amount of Hope Gu." Another elder gasped as he assessed Fang Yuan's situation.

"I knew he would be a Grade A talent. For a young man his age to recite poems as rich and creative as his, it would have to be a great talent indeed." An elder spoke while stroking his long white beard.

[50%...]

[51%...]

Meanwhile, Fang Yuan continued with his walk without making any effort, enjoying the overflowing feeling that refining his talent makes him feel.

28, 30, 34, 38...

Fang Yuan continued to count every step he took in his heart as he examined the refinement progress Nexus was carrying out.

[97%...]

[98%...]

[99%! Aperture Limit Reached!]

[Procedure completed, Sir!]

[You now boast a talent of 99% Primeval Essence!]

Fang Yuan was overjoyed as he redirected his attention inside his aperture and saw a spherical space with thin walls made of membranes of light, filled to the brim with Green Copper Primeval Essence. "This feeling is amazing, how much information you managed to gather. About the Spirit Spring, Nexus?"

[I had some achievements about how energy works in this world, but I still need more time to research]

[And now that you have an aperture with primeval essence, it will definitely speed up the research process]

"Good…" Fang Yuan replied as he turned around and walked back to the bank of the small river, as the crowd of children stared at him with eyes of astonishment and envy.

"A Grade A talent!"

"As everyone expected, he really is a great talent." Sighed a young man.

"Amazing, so this is what a Grade A talent looks like."

Fang Yuan returned to the shore with his same calm and warm smile as he approached the elder and checked his newly awakened aperture.

"Gu Yue Fang Yuan, Grade A Talent!" The elder spoke as he wrote down the specific amount of Primeval Essence within Fang Yuan's aperture on the paper.

Fang Zheng, who was watching everything, simply lowered his head and tightly gripped his clothes in frustration, thinking, "Why is only the older brother talented? And how about me? What has heaven left for me?"

Fang Zheng blamed his shortcomings on other things while not realizing that it was his fault for having so little confidence in himself and his mania for self-sabotage.

"Fang Zheng!" the elder called his name, but he did not listen.

"Fang Zheng!" the elder shouted louder to get Fang Zheng's attention.

"Hã? H-Here." Fang Zheng raised his arm as he dashed to the riverbank and almost slipped to fall to the ground if not for a well-timed hand that caught him and helped him before he could fall.

"Oops. Be careful where you walk!" The person who caught Fang Zheng and stopped him from falling was his older brother Fang Yuan.

"Th-thanks!" Fang Zheng stammered as he avoided looking directly into his older brother's eyes in embarrassment.

Fang Yuan held Fang Zheng closer and started talking in his ear; "Don't forget what I told you this morning. Ignore the eyes of others and go your own way without relying on others' approval."

Fang Zheng was taken aback by his brother's words and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, his brother simply pushed forward as he heard a small sentence.

"Give them a show!" Fang Yuan said as he slowly walked away from Fang Zheng with his hands behind his back.

Fang Zheng, who didn't know what to do after hearing what his brother said, simply started walking in the river waters, distracted by thoughts in his head.

"What can I do to change? What do I have to do to follow what Big Brother said?" Fang Zheng thought as he remembered his elder brother's words.

"What must I do to have the same confidence as my brother?" Fang Zheng started to get angry with himself as he thought.

"No, I must work up the courage and throw away my fear!" Fang Zheng was motivated.

"I must change myself first, and only then can I go my way!" Fang Zheng clenched his fists and started to take long strides, unaware of the miracle he was performing in front of everyone.

"Oh, my God! Another Grade A talent." The elder shivered slightly as he watched Fang Zheng bravely cross the river.

"The Fang brothers really are talented twins!" A girl on the side sighed.

"The clan bloodline still reigns strong in these brothers' veins." One of the elders observing the ceremony said.

This is a very rare feat to see nowadays for two people of the same bloodline to have such high talent in a village like the Gu Yue clan, where the lineage has already become very thin and shallow. All of this shows how strong the Fang family bloodline is.

Knowing this, some elders were already thinking of making arranged marriages with one of the Fang brothers. A child born of a Grade A talent has a high probability of having a high-Grade talent, especially if the bloodline gives birth to two Grade A talents like the Fang bloodline.

That would almost guarantee a good seedling for the future of your faction from some of these elders. These elders were already thinking of ways to pull the young people to their faction.

As soon as Fang Zheng came out of his trance because of the murmurs of the people on the bank, he saw the miracle he had established; "Grade A talent. I am really a Grade A talent like my older brother."

Fang Zheng clenched his fists with tears in his eyes and raised his head with a newfound confidence; with a more stable mindset, Fang Zheng returned to the shore with a distinct gleam as he looked at his elder brother.

But as soon as Fang Zheng looked at his older brother, he didn't see contempt, envy, or jealousy, but simply a warm and sincere broad smile of pure happiness redirected towards him. Fang Zheng almost couldn't believe what he saw; the brother, who was always cold and indifferent to everything around him, could crack that smile.

It was then that Fang Zheng began to remember his brother's encouraging words this morning, and he began to realize that Fang Yuan had been trying to boost his confidence a long time ago.

When the other children tried to bully him, Fang Yuan always came to his rescue and helped him unobtrusively, when he was cold at night because of the torn blanket his uncles gave him, and Fang Yuan gladly gave his to him.

When Fang Yuan gave him his share of food and told him wasn't hungry, so he wouldn't feel bad. As he thought about that, Fang Zheng had a breakdown in his psyche because of the thoughts he was gathering in his head.

"Now I realize I can see everything as clear as day. I was so busy trying to blame my problems on other things that I didn't realize what was unfolding before me."

Fang Zheng began to see Fang Yuan in a new light almost unconsciously; he didn't realize that Fang Yuan had changed his personality only last night, and what happened before was none of the merits of the current Fang Yuan.

But for some strange reason, Fang Zheng searched his head for old memories to justify why he looked favorably on the current Fang Yuan.

What happened to Fang Zheng is a powerful skill that Fang Yuan seized while trapped in 'that' place. It is the ability to make people who interact with him look favorably at him and have a favorable opinion of him.

Fang Yuan learned The essence of being a 'Human' while he was 'in that' place. The more he interacts with a person, the better that person's opinion of him will be.

It is an excellent skill for building friendships and making allies, but unfortunately, this skill is not omnipotent as it cannot brainwash a person into immediately liking Fang Yuan. All this skill does is boost Fang Yuan's charisma and eloquence to a high level.

Everything else is done by Fang Yuan's golden tongue and his expertise in understanding and deciphering the human mind. And Fang Zheng was already mentally broken and very easily swayed by others' words, so it didn't take even an entire day for him to have a good impression of Fang Yuan.