Moon Blade Dances

The sky was a clear, pristine blue, as if it had been freshly washed.

The sun shone with a golden brilliance.

White clouds drifted lazily, and a flock of Rainbow Finch Parrots chirped noisily, soaring in arrow formations against the blue sky and white clouds.

These Rainbow Finch Parrots only appeared in large numbers during spring. Their feathers were a riot of colors, and they were as large as eagles. Their heads and beaks resembled those of parrots, but their tails were long, like those of peacocks.

More than ten days had passed since Fang Yuan took first place in the assessment for refining his Destined Gu.

Spring winds had turned the mountainside grass green, wild flowers bloomed in profusion, and swarms of bees and butterflies danced in the air. It was a scene brimming with vibrant spring life.

The scent of spring was so thick that it couldn't be contained even by the tall bamboo walls surrounding the training ground.

This training ground covered three mu of land, with a flat surface paved with thick, wide, grey-blue flagstones. Around the perimeter, green bamboo poles had been transplanted. These emerald bamboo stalks stood close together, straight and tall, forming a ring of green high walls.

Although stone bricks were laid at the base of the walls, patches of grass had already sprouted in many places. Between the bamboo stalks, wild roses had pushed through from the outside, even climbing over the top of the walls.

Fifty-seven fifteen-year-old youths stood in the training ground, forming a semicircle, their gazes fixed on the Academy Elder in the center.

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

"The Moonlight Gu is our Gu Yue Clan's signature Gu, much like the Bear Strength Gu of the Xiong family or the Stream Gu of the Bai family. Most of you here have chosen the Moonlight Gu as your Destined Gu. Watch carefully, as I will personally demonstrate how to activate the Moonlight Gu for an attack. Those of you whose Destined Gu is not the Moonlight Gu, you must also pay close attention. This classic ranged attack method can be applied to other Gu, making it incredibly versatile."

As he spoke, the Academy Elder extended his right hand, fingers spread wide, and lowered his palm so that the youths could all see it.

"First, use your intent to guide the Moonlight Gu to your palm." Following his words, the crescent moon-shaped mark, representing the Moonlight Gu, moved along the elder's arm and into his palm.

"Next, mobilize the true essence in your aperture and infuse it into the Moonlight Gu." A thread of silver true essence surged from the elder's body, almost imperceptible, and flowed into the Moonlight Gu in his palm.

The Academy Elder was a Rank 3 Gu Master. Only Rank 3 Gu Masters could condense silver true essence.

The true essence of Rank 1 Gu Masters was commonly called Bronze True Essence, and Rank 2 Gu Masters were known to have Scarlet Iron True Essence. It was only at Rank 3 that one achieved Silver True Essence.

After absorbing this thread of silver true essence, the crescent moon mark in the center of the elder's hand immediately began to glow brighter. Even in the daylight, it emitted a bright, pale blue radiance.

"So amazing!"

"It's so beautiful." The youths couldn't help but exclaim in wonder.

The pale blue light, clear as water, shimmered softly in the elder's hand. At first glance, it looked as if the Academy Elder was cupping a handful of moonlight.

The Academy Elder smiled slightly. "Watch closely. The final step is to launch it, just like this."

With that, he slowly closed his spread fingers, then raised his arm, extended it forward, and finally, with a gentle sweep of his palm, released it.

The entire movement was steady and powerful.

The youths heard a soft sound.

Following the Academy Elder's motion, the pale blue, water-like light condensed in his palm was flung outwards.

The light formed a small Moon Blade in the air, only palm-sized, like a crescent moon in the night sky. It shot in a straight line and struck a Strawman Puppet ten meters away.

With a shing sound, the Moon Blade severed the 30-centimeter-thick neck of the Strawman Puppet. The puppet's body swayed, and its large head fell to the ground.

After cutting through the strawman, the Moon Blade immediately dimmed. However, it continued to fly about six meters further in the air before the crescent moon shape gradually faded and finally dissipated into the air.

Looking at the neck of the Strawman Puppet, the cut surface was extremely smooth, as if it had been made by the sharpest sickle.

The youths' eyes were wide with astonishment as they witnessed this scene. Some of them instinctively touched their own necks, amazed by the attack power of the Moon Blade.

After a brief silence, exclamations of awe erupted. Some youths' eyes sparkled as they stared at the Strawman Puppet, while others focused on the elder's hand. Still others whispered excitedly amongst themselves.

Only Fang Yuan, hidden in the crowd, remained impassive, his expression cold.

In his previous life, he had cultivated to Rank 6 and established the Blood Wing Demonic Cult in Central Continent. With tens of thousands of followers, he was known as a giant of the demonic path, his reputation immense.

The Academy Elder was merely a Rank 3 Gu Master. Such a display was child's play to Fang Yuan and wouldn't stir even a ripple of emotion within him.

"Next, all of you who have refined the Moonlight Gu, step forward. Each of you will have a Strawman Puppet. Following the method I just demonstrated, activate your Moon Blades and practice your attacks."

As soon as the Academy Elder finished speaking, over thirty youths stepped forward.

This year, over a hundred youths from the entire clan participated in the Aperture Opening Ceremony. Fifty-seven of them possessed cultivation aptitude and were enrolled in the academy. Among these, thirty-five chose the Moonlight Gu. After days of effort, they had all successfully refined the Moonlight Gu.

The remaining youths had D-grade aptitude. It wasn't that they didn't want to refine the Moonlight Gu, but their aptitude was insufficient, forcing them to retreat.

For the youths of the Gu Yue Clan, the Moonlight Gu was no longer just a Gu; it symbolized the honor of their clan.

Soon, the thirty-five youths lined up. Ten meters in front of each of them stood a Strawman Puppet.

Fang Yuan stood in the middle of the line, not drawing any particular attention.

The practice began.

The youths extended their right hands, transferring the Moonlight Gu to their palms. As their Bronze True Essence was infused, the blue crescent moon marks began to emit a watery blue glow, one after another.

However, when they cupped their hands and made the cutting motion, only seven or eight crescent moons flew out. Some of these moons appeared for only an instant before quickly dissipating. Others flew only two or three meters before suddenly exploding into streams of blue light. Some flew further, but their direction was so off that they shot straight into the sky.

The youths frowned. The elder's demonstration had seemed quite simple, but when they tried it themselves, they realized the difficulty. To unleash a Moon Blade and hit the strawman was truly not easy.

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

The remaining twenty-two youths could only stand on the sidelines, watching with envy.

After five minutes of practice, the youths gradually became able to unleash Moon Blades. For a time, the air in the training ground was filled with pale blue Moon Blades flying in all directions.

Some Moon Blades dissipated midway, some unfortunately collided with each other, some flew out of the training ground, and many were crooked. Only a few Moon Blades actually hit the Strawman Puppets, and those were mostly due to sheer luck.

The Academy Elder began providing individual guidance.

He focused on excellent trainees like Fang Zheng, Mo Bei, and Chi Cheng, patiently correcting their posture and sharing his own insights. For trainees with C-grade aptitude like Fang Yuan, he only offered brief pointers.

Fang Yuan kept the blue light in his hand condensed, making several empty palm strikes. They were controlled but not released, just for show. Seeing the chaos and that no one was paying attention to him, he moved his intent, releasing control of the Moonlight Gu. His palm tilted slightly, and he made a palm-knife slicing motion through the air.

To avoid drawing attention, he didn't aim at the Strawman Puppet opposite him but angled towards one to his front left.

With a swish, a Moon Blade shot out rapidly, crossing the chaotic central area and drawing a straight line in the air. It accurately struck the neck of a Strawman Puppet.

The strawman trembled, its neck more than half severed by the Moon Blade, but the severed green grass stems quickly began to regrow, intertwining and healing the wound.

This Strawman Puppet was, of course, not ordinary. It was a Rank 1 Strawman Gu, possessing a slight self-healing ability from the wood element.

Unless the strawman was cut into two pieces instantly, the wound would heal back to normal shortly.

"Wow, look at that moon crescent!"

"So powerful, who made that?"

The Moon Blades that could hit the Strawman Puppet were already rare. Fang Yuan's casual strike, however, produced the most significant attack effect so far, immediately drawing surprised exclamations from the trainees outside the field.

Even the Academy Elder's attention was drawn over. He asked, "That moon crescent just now performed quite well, was that yours?"

He looked towards a C-grade trainee with a questioning gaze. That puppet was the one corresponding to him.

The male trainee blinked repeatedly. Facing the sudden gazes of everyone, he appeared a bit flustered. To be honest, the scene was too chaotic just now, with Moon Blades flying everywhere. He didn't know if it was him who had sent it.

"But it looks like it probably could be him, right?" the youth thought, and subconsciously nodded.

The surrounding youths immediately looked at him with newfound respect.

"Who is he, what's his name?" some female trainees asked around.

"If even he can send out a Moon Blade, then I definitely can't lose!" Gu Yue Mo Bei's eyes flashed with determination.

"So it wasn't big brother who sent it." Gu Yue Fang Zheng felt inexplicably relieved. After comfort from his aunt and uncle, he had recovered from his previous setback.

"Big brother, you got first place last time because you were lucky and picked a Moonlight Gu with weak willpower. A Gu Master's cultivation can't always rely on luck. I will win against you," Fang Zheng secretly encouraged himself in his heart.

"Well done, keep up the effort and grasp that feeling you had just now," the Academy Elder patted the trainee's shoulder, smiling encouragingly.

The youth immediately nodded repeatedly, his eyes shining with a different kind of light.

The clan elder seized this opportunity to announce publicly, "Listen up, everyone. This is your assignment. Practice well after class, and I will check your results in three days. Whoever achieves the best results will receive a reward of ten primeval stones. Did you all hear that?"

"Oh!" The youths responded loudly, becoming even more excited upon hearing the reward of primeval stones.

However, just three minutes later, the Moon Blades flying in the air gradually became sparse.

"Damn it, every Moon Blade consumes ten percent of my true essence."

"The consumption of Moon Blades is too great. I'm only at C-grade cultivation, and my aperture can store thirty-eight percent of Bronze True Essence. I can only consecutively unleash three Moon Blades."

The youths who stopped practicing sighed in frustration.

The Academy Elder witnessed all this, remaining impassive, but he sighed inwardly, "This is the benefit of high cultivation aptitude. To use Moon Blades, it all comes down to four words: practice makes perfect. Those with high aptitude store more true essence in their apertures and recover it faster, giving them more practice opportunities. If one's aptitude is poor, they can use primeval stones to compensate and increase their practice volume. If one has neither high aptitude nor primeval stones, even with the desire to practice, they are powerless. Alas, Gu Master cultivation is truly this cruel. I should focus more on those students with high aptitude."