First Place

In the evening, Mo Bei went to claim the first prize for refining Moonlight Gu.

"Gu Yue Mo Bei?" the guards called out.

Mo Bei kept silent.

The elder came out and after hearing from Mo Bei, he was surprised "Wait, what did you just say? A student already refined their first Gu?"

He felt that his view of the world had totally changed. B Grade talent Mo Bei had refined a Gu earlier than the A Grade talent Fang Zheng. The Gap between each talent grade was huge, and the difference in cultivation speed and refinement speed was huge as well. However, technique mattered too, and it seemed like Mo Bei had better control over his Primeval Essence.

"You have refined the Moonlight Gu?" The surprised academy elder asked.

"Yes" saying so Mo Bei showed the moonlight gu crest on his hand, proof that he could now shoot moonlight blades in the air, the signature move of the Gu Yue Clan.

"Great! Keep up the hard work Gu Yue Mo Bei and you might make it to Rank 2 within two to three years"

Later in the night, Fang Zheng rushed to the academy as well, proud of his achievement. He, too, had refined the Moonlight Gu successfully. However, he was shocked to learn that he did not reach first place, but only second place.

"Mo Bei?", Fang Zheng thought with excitement, "You are indeed worthy of being my rival"

Little did he know, Mo Bei was already nearing the rank 1 middle stage, thanks to his daily cultivation and the use of the [Liquor Worm]. Although he only had Grade B talent, he had this useful Gu to sustain his growth.

☼☼☼ The Mo branch family home ☼☼☼

The greenery in the courtyard was overflowing, the fragrance of tea dancing about.

Mo Bei was standing by the window staring into the dark sky with deep thoughts.

"Fang Zheng must be feeling wary of me now, but then again, having competition is not a bad thing" Mo Bei analyzed the situation.

"I also received 100 stones as reward from my grandfather for achieving first place at refining Gu on my own. Including my prior savings, I have a total of about 676 primeval stones. Grandfather still does not know about my liquor worm though. I can use the same excuse that Fang Yuan used to get the liquor worm - Gambling rocks. But I can't reveal it soon. It still has many uses and is also my vital Gu worm."

Vital Gu Worms was the Gu that the Gu Master chose as his core Gu. Unless the Gu Master died, the vital gu worm would not die, even if the refinement process to advance it to the next rank failed. Hence, most clansmen chose the [Moonlight Gu] as their vital Gu, but the Liquor Worm was too valuable. Until he reached rank 3, Mo Bei decided to keep the Liquor Worm as his vital Gu.

Thinking so, Mo Bei headed to his room to sleep. He knew that some of the students such as Fang Yuan had already shifted to academy grounds and would stay there until their education as Gu Master is finished. To them, it was an escape from their families too.

However, he himself preferred staying in his manor where he could easily leave and come back home without much monitoring.

Also, he loved attending academy since many things that were taught in academy were skipped over in the book due to Fang Yuan already knowing it. But it was the first time for Mo Bei to come into contact with such deep and refined knowledge. Gu recipes, history, geopolitics of the Qing Mao Mountains, various species of subhumans and other beasts...The world was wide and mysterious, but it was fascinating

The next morning, Mo Bei woke up early and headed to the academy. As he walked towards the academy, he couldn't help but think about his own objectives. He knew that he had to be careful and plan his every move if he wanted to achieve his goals. He could already feel his strength rise with each passing day thanks to the use of his [White Boar Gu].

Mo Bei reached the academy and started attending his classes. He was a diligent student who took his studies seriously.

"I need to be stronger"

"Strength is everything in this world"

These were the thoughts that filled his head all the time.

After all, he was the only one who knew that the coming beast tide would plunge the Qing Mao Mountains into a perilous situation, almost annihilating the three clans. If he wanted to survive this ordeal, and grow from the chaos, he needed to grow strong enough to participate in the battle. He could not do that as a rank 1 Gu Master, so he had to grow to rank 2 at the very least.

Getting first place in the test set by the headmaster was just the first step towards his end goal.