Moonblades Dance

The sky was blue and clear, so pure it seemed as though it had been washed clean.

The sun shone golden and dazzling.

Puffs of white clouds drifted by, while a flock of Rainbow Finch Parrots chattered as they formed an arrowhead formation beneath the blue sky and white clouds, beating their wings as they soared.

These Rainbow Finch Parrots appeared in large flocks only during spring. Their feathers were brilliantly multicolored, their bodies as large as eagles. Their heads and beaks resembled those of parrots, while their tails trailed long behind them like peacock tails.

More than ten days had passed since Fang Yuan took first place in the examination to refine his Destined Gu.

The spring breeze had turned the grass across the mountains green. Wildflowers bloomed in a riot of color, while swarms of bees and butterflies danced among them. It was a wondrous scene brimming with the vigorous vitality of spring.

The breath of spring was so rich that even the tall bamboo walls surrounding the Training Arena could not shut it out.

This Training Arena covered three mu of land. Its level ground was paved with a layer of broad, thick bluish-gray stone slabs. Green Spear Bamboo had been transplanted around its perimeter, their emerald stalks pressed tightly together, straight and sturdy, forming a ring of green walls.

Though stone bricks had also been laid beneath the walls, clumps of grass had already sprouted in many places. Wild roses crept in between the bamboo from outside, even climbing up the walltops.

Fifty-seven fifteen-year-old youths stood in the Training Arena, forming a semicircle around the Academy Elder at its center.

This was a lesson teaching the youths how to use the Moonlight Gu.

"The Moonlight Gu is the signature Gu worm of our Gu Yue Clan, just like the Bear Strength Gu of the Xiong family and the Stream Gu of the Bai family. Most of you present chose the Moonlight Gu as your Destined Gu. Watch closely now. I will personally demonstrate how to activate the Moonlight Gu for an attack. Those whose Destined Gu is not the Moonlight Gu must also pay close attention. This classic long-range attack method can be applied to other Gu worms as well, and its range of application is extremely broad."

As he spoke, the Academy Elder extended his right hand, spreading his five fingers and lowering his palm so the youths could all see it.

"First, use your will to mobilize the Moonlight Gu and move it into your palm." As he spoke, the crescent mark representing the Moonlight Gu traveled down the elder's arm and into his palm.

"Then, draw the True Essence within your Aperture and pour it into the Moonlight Gu." A thread of silver-colored True Essence flowed from the elder's body, nearly too faint to see, and entered the Moonlight Gu in his palm.

The Academy Elder was in the rank 3 Realm. Only a rank 3 Gu Master could condense True Essence with a silver hue.

The True Essence of a Rank 1 Gu Master was commonly called Bronze True Essence, while that of a Rank 2 Gu Master was known as Red Iron True Essence. Only upon reaching rank 3 did it become Silver True Essence.

After absorbing that thread of Silver True Essence, the crescent mark in the center of the elder's hand immediately grew brighter and brighter. Even in broad daylight, it gave off a radiant pale-blue glow.

"That's incredible!"

"So beautiful." Witnessing this sight, the youths could not help crying out in amazement.

The pale-blue light was clear as water, flickering faintly in the elder's hand. At a glance, it seemed as if the Academy Elder were cradling a handful of moonlight.

The Academy Elder smiled faintly. "Look carefully. The final step is to launch it out like this."

As he spoke, his spread fingers slowly drew together. Then he raised his arm and gradually extended it straight ahead before lightly chopping forward with his palm.

The entire movement was steady and powerful.

The youths all heard a soft sound beside their ears.

Following the Academy Elder's movement, the watery pale-blue light gathered in his palm was flung out.

The light formed a small moonblade in the air. The dark-blue moonblade was only palm-sized, like a crescent moon in the night sky. It cut a straight line through the air, then struck a Strawman Puppet ten meters away.

With a sharp hiss, the Strawman Puppet's thirty-centimeter-thick neck was severed by the moonblade. Its body swayed, and its enormous head dropped to the ground in one go.

After cutting through the strawman, the moonblade immediately dimmed. Yet it continued flying through the air for roughly another six meters before the crescent gradually faded away and finally dispersed into the air.

Looking again at the Strawman Puppet's neck, its cut surface was incomparably smooth, as though it had been sliced through with the sharpest sickle.

Nearly every youth widened their eyes in shock as they stared at the scene. A few even unconsciously touched their own necks, stunned by the moonblade's attack power.

After a brief silence, exclamations rose one after another. Some youths stared at the Strawman Puppet with shining eyes, while others watched the elder's palm. Still others leaned together, discussing it excitedly.

Only Fang Yuan remained hidden among the crowd, his expression cold and unmoved.

In his previous life, he had cultivated to rank 6, founded the Blood Wing Demonic Cult in Central Continent, commanded tens of thousands of followers, and was hailed as a titan of the demonic path, his fame resounding far and wide.

The Academy Elder was merely a rank 3 Gu Master. Such tricks were child's play and could not stir even the slightest ripple in Fang Yuan's heart.

"Next, everyone who has refined a Moonlight Gu, step forward. Each of you will receive a Strawman Puppet. Follow the method I just showed you, activate moonblades, and practice attacking."

As soon as the words fell, more than thirty youths stepped forward.

In this batch, more than a hundred youths from the entire clan had participated in the Aperture Opening Ceremony. Fifty-seven of them possessed cultivation aptitude. Of those, thirty-five had chosen the Moonlight Gu. After these days of effort, they had all refined their Moonlight Gu.

The remaining youths all had D-grade Aptitude. It was not that they did not wish to refine the Moonlight Gu, but their aptitude was insufficient, leaving them no choice but to retreat in the face of difficulty.

To the youths of the Gu Yue Clan, the Moonlight Gu was no longer merely a Gu worm. It symbolized the clan's glory.

Very soon, the thirty-five youths stood in a row. A Strawman Puppet stood ten meters directly in front of each of them.

Fang Yuan stood in the middle of the line, not attracting attention.

The practice began.

The youths extended their right hands one after another, moving their Moonlight Gu into their palms. As Bronze True Essence flowed into them, the blue crescent marks gave off watery-blue radiance one after another.

Yet when they held their palms upright and chopped through the air, only seven or eight crescents flew out. Some appeared for only an instant before swiftly dispersing. Some had barely flown two or three meters when they exploded with a bang into streams of blue light. Some flew rather far, but veered wildly off course and shot straight into the sky.

The youths frowned one after another. When they had watched the elder demonstrate, it had seemed quite simple. But once they tried it themselves, they discovered the hidden intricacies involved. Sending out a moonblade and making it hit the strawman was truly not easy.

The elder watched with a faint smile. He saw this scene every year and was not surprised.

The remaining twenty-two youths could only stand outside the field and watch enviously.

After practicing for five minutes, the youths gradually became able to send out moonblades. For a time, pale-blue moonblades shot everywhere through the air above the Training Arena.

Some moonblades dispersed midway. Some unfortunately collided with each other. Some flew out of the arena, crooked and askew. Only the occasional moonblade truly struck a Strawman Puppet. Naturally, those were all cases of a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

The Academy Elder began giving individual guidance.

He focused on Gu Yue Fang Zheng, Gu Yue Mo Bei, Gu Yue Chi Cheng, and other students with outstanding aptitude, patiently correcting their postures and imparting his own insights. As for students like Fang Yuan with C-grade aptitude, he merely gave them a few casual pointers.

Fang Yuan had kept the blue light condensed in his hand. After chopping through the air several times, he had only gathered it without releasing it, merely putting on a show. Now, seeing the scene in chaos and no one paying attention to him, his will moved. He loosened his control over the Moonlight Gu, tilted his palm slightly, and made a palm-blade motion through the air.

In order not to attract attention, he did not aim at the Strawman Puppet directly before him. Instead, he aimed diagonally at one to his left.

With a swish, a moonblade shot out at high speed, passing through the chaotic central area and drawing a straight line through the air before accurately striking the neck of a Strawman Puppet.

The strawman trembled. Its neck had been cut more than halfway through by the moonblade, but the severed green stalks soon began growing again, tangling together as the wound healed.

This Strawman Puppet was naturally no ordinary strawman. It was a Rank 1 Strawman Gu, possessing a slight plant-type self-healing ability.

Unless the strawman was cut cleanly into two pieces at once, its wound would soon mend itself as though nothing had happened.

"Wow, look at that crescent!"

"That was amazing. Who sent it?"

Moonblades that struck Strawman Puppets were already rare. Fang Yuan had merely attacked casually, yet it produced the most striking result so far, immediately drawing startled cries from the students outside the field.

Even the Academy Elder's attention was drawn over. He asked, "That crescent just now performed quite well. Did you send it?"

With an inquiring gaze, he looked towards a C-grade student, because that puppet corresponded to him.

The male student blinked repeatedly. Faced with everyone's suddenly focused gazes, he seemed rather at a loss. To tell the truth, the scene had been too chaotic just now, with moonblades flying everywhere. He did not know whether it had been his attack.

But it looked like it probably might have been mine? the youth thought, and he nodded unconsciously.

The surrounding youths immediately began viewing him in a different light.

"Who is he? What's his name?" Some female students began asking those around them.

"Even he can send out moonblades. I definitely cannot lose!" A trace of determination flashed through Gu Yue Mo Bei's eyes.

"So it wasn't Brother who sent it." Gu Yue Fang Zheng inexplicably let out a breath of relief. After Uncle and Aunt's consolation, he had already recovered from his previous setback.

Brother, you came first last time only because you were lucky enough to choose a Moonlight Gu with weak will. A Gu Master's cultivation cannot always rely on luck. I will defeat you. Fang Zheng secretly encouraged himself in his heart.

"Not bad. Keep working hard and seize that feeling from just now." The Academy Elder patted the student's shoulder and encouraged him with a smile.

The youth immediately nodded again and again in excitement, a different light surging into his eyes.

Taking this opportunity, the elder announced publicly, "Listen carefully. This is your assignment. Practice diligently after class, and your results will be checked in three days. Whoever achieves the best result will receive ten Primeval Stones as a reward. Did you all hear that?"

"Yeah!" the youths shouted in response. Hearing that there were Primeval Stones as a reward, they could not help becoming even more excited.

However, only three minutes later, the moonblades dancing through the air gradually became sparse.

"Damn it, every moonblade consumes ten percent of my True Essence."

"The moonblade's consumption is too great. I only have C-grade aptitude. My Aperture can store thirty-eight percent Bronze True Essence. I can only activate three moonblades in succession."

The youths who had stopped practicing all sighed and lamented.

The Academy Elder watched all of this without changing expression, yet sighed inwardly. This is the advantage of high cultivation aptitude. using moonblades comes down to just four words—practice makes perfect. Those with high aptitude can store more True Essence in their Apertures, and their True Essence recovers faster, giving them more opportunities to practice. Those with poorer aptitude can also use Primeval Stones to make up for it and increase their amount of practice. But those with low aptitude and no Primeval Stones, even if they wish to practice, have more heart than strength. Sigh, Gu Master cultivation is this cruel. I should take better care of those students with high aptitude.