Gu Raising Was Like Keeping a Mistress

The sun had set.

Yet the sunset still burned at the edge of the sky. Looking into the distance, the mountains were shrouded in a thick layer of gray, gradually fading into black.

A day of classes at the academy had ended, and the students left in twos and threes.

"Today was really great. We learned quite a lot, especially how to use the Moonlight Gu."

"The moon blade flying through the air was unbelievably cool. Too bad my aptitude isn't good enough. In the future, I can only be a support Gu Master and won't be able to go to the battlefield." The youths chatted with great enthusiasm.

Others called out to their friends.

"Let's go eat together and have some rice wine while we're at it. How about it?"

"Sure, that's a great suggestion."

"You go ahead first. I need to buy a Strawman Puppet from the shop beside the academy's Gu room so I can practice at home."

Fang Yuan came alone to the Gu room.

The academy's Gu room stored quite a few Rank 1 Gu worms of many different kinds. Fang Yuan's Moonlight Gu had been selected from there for free.

At regular intervals, students had an opportunity to receive a Gu worm for free. If they wanted additional Gu worms, they had to pay.

For the time being, Fang Yuan had no intention of refining any other Gu worms. He walked next door to the Gu room, where there was a small shop.

Seven students were inside, bargaining with the shopkeeper over Strawman Puppets.

"A junior brother, huh?" The Rank 1 Gu Master in charge of the shop looked to be in his twenties. Upon seeing Fang Yuan, he greeted him proactively while conducting business.

Fang Yuan was a bit surprised and recognized this Gu Master as Jiang Ya—the Young Gu Master who had taught the hunter a lesson at the inn.

"So it's senior brother." Fang Yuan nodded, expressionless.

Jiang Ya took a Strawman Puppet from the counter behind him and handed it to a student who had purchased one. At the same time, he smiled amiably at Fang Yuan and asked, "Is junior brother here to buy a Strawman Puppet too? Should I reserve one for you? Just three Primeval Stones. These sell quickly. There are only seven left now; if you come any later, they'll be out of stock."

He was arrogant and vile toward mortals, but toward people like Fang Yuan, his attitude was exceedingly friendly.

Fang Yuan shook his head, inwardly amused. This Jiang Ya really knew how to do business. Strawman Puppets were made using Strawman Gu. Including the primeval essence invested, their cost was no more than one and a half Primeval Stones.

"Senior brother, that's hardly fair. First come, first served. Why should you reserve one for him?"

"That's right, we came much earlier. Business should follow rules too."

"Three stones it is, then. Here are the Primeval Stones. Give me the puppet."

Hearing that only seven puppets remained, the youths in the shop grew anxious. They stopped haggling and took out Primeval Stones to buy them.

Very quickly, all seven left in satisfaction.

"Does junior brother want a Strawman Puppet?" Jiang Ya asked with a smile. "I said they were just sold out, but there's actually an eighth one tucked away at the bottom of the chest. If junior brother doesn't buy it, you'll miss a rare opportunity."

Fang Yuan had no interest whatsoever in Strawman Puppets. He shook his head, took out a Primeval Stone, and placed it on the counter. "I'm buying ten Moon Orchid petals."

Jiang Ya froze for a moment and gave Fang Yuan a deep look. He took the Primeval Stone, pulled open the counter drawer, and retrieved a paper packet. "Ten Moon Orchid petals, not one missing. Count them."

Fang Yuan inspected them on the spot. Only after confirming there was no mistake did he leave the small shop.

Gu worms needed to be fed.

Gu Masters refined Gu, used Gu, and also had to raise Gu.

Refining Gu was difficult and carried the danger of backlash. Using Gu was no easy matter either and required abundant practice. The study of Gu Raising was even broader and deeper, because Gu worms came in every conceivable variety, and their food was equally strange and bizarre.

Some needed to swallow earth, some needed starlight, some consumed tears, and some sucked in the clouds and mist of the nine heavens.

Take the three Gu worms Fang Yuan currently possessed. The Moonlight Gu needed to consume Moon Orchid petals, two meals a day—one in the morning and one at night, with two petals per meal. The Wine Worm Gu needed alcohol. One jar of Green Bamboo Wine could sustain it for four days. The Spring Autumn Cicada was even stranger; it drank directly from the River of Time to maintain its life.

The River of Time supported the workings of this world. It was not far beyond the horizon, but close at hand, flowing beside every person.

Every movement made by all living things required the push of time.

Time flowed like water, rushing away. The River of Time was colorless and formless, yet all living things in truth survived and lived within its waters.

After buying the packet of Moon Orchid petals, Fang Yuan went to the inn to purchase Green Bamboo Wine.

The Wine Worm Gu could also live on some cloudy wine or rice wine. But once it drank such inferior alcohol, the amount it needed greatly increased, requiring several jars every day. Fang Yuan calculated that it was better to simply buy Green Bamboo Wine. Not only was it somewhat more cost-effective than inferior wine, it also would not attract suspicion.

"Young master, you're here." The inn's attendant already recognized Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan directly tossed him three Primeval Stones and said with practiced ease, "Bring me a jar of Green Bamboo Wine, and prepare a few good dishes as well. No need to return the change. Keep it here and settle it all together at the end of the month—refund any excess, make up any shortage."

Although he no longer lived at the inn and had moved into the academy dormitory, whenever he came to buy wine, he would eat here as well.

"Right away. Young master, please sit over here. The wine and food will be ready shortly." The attendant responded, led Fang Yuan to a seat, then took the rag from his shoulder and diligently wiped the table and bench before leaving.

Just as the attendant had said, the wine and food were served very quickly.

As Fang Yuan ate, he calculated in his heart. "One Primeval Stone buys ten petals. The Moonlight Gu consumes four petals a day. One jar of Green Bamboo Wine costs two Primeval Stones and sustains the Wine Worm Gu for four days. In other words, feeding these two Gu worms alone costs nearly one Primeval Stone per day."

It seemed little, but it was actually already exorbitant. A family of three mortals spent only one Primeval Stone per month on living expenses.

Sixteen days had passed since he refined the Gu worms. In Gu Raising alone, Fang Yuan had consumed fourteen and a half Primeval Stones.

"I obtained the Flower Wine inheritance, took a bag of Primeval Stones from Fang Zheng, and received the first-place reward. My Primeval Stone assets once reached forty-four and a half. But refining Gu in the early stage consumed six and a half, feeding Gu worms consumed fourteen and a half, and living expenses took half a stone. I should have twenty left now."

Fang Yuan took out his money pouch and opened it. Inside lay Primeval Stones one after another.

These Primeval Stones were grayish-white, oval-shaped, all equal in size, each about as large as a duck egg.

After counting them, there were indeed only twenty left.

That meant that without new income, Fang Yuan's remaining Primeval Stones were only enough to sustain him for a little over half a month. Unlike the others his age, who had more or less relatives and friends supporting them—especially students like Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Chi Cheng, who simply did not lack Primeval Stones.

Fang Yuan could only think of a way himself.

"Uncle and Aunt have already cut off my living expenses. But every weekend, the lineage academy gives students a subsidy of three Primeval Stones. It seems that in the moon blade assessment three days from now, I should show what I can do and secure that reward of ten Primeval Stones." Fang Yuan chewed his food as he pondered.

At his age, he was precisely at the stage of growing. Without realizing it, all the food had gone into his stomach.

Picking up the unopened Green Bamboo Wine, Fang Yuan stepped out of the inn.

"Young master, young master." The shop attendant chased after him from behind. "There's something I need to tell you. In less than a month, a merchant caravan will arrive at the mountain village. According to custom, they will buy up the Green Bamboo Wine in our shop. Young master loves Green Bamboo Wine and comes every week to buy several jars. The manager instructed this lowly one to inform you. Our Green Bamboo Wine supply is limited; once it is sold to the caravan, there may be very little left."

"Is that so?" Hearing this, Fang Yuan lightly furrowed his brow.

Fang Yuan had five hundred years of experience in reading people and discerning words. The shop attendant and the Young Gu Master Jiang Ya had conveyed similar meanings, but Fang Yuan could naturally distinguish Jiang Ya's empty words from the shop attendant's truthful ones.

This matter was somewhat troublesome. Fang Yuan needed to feed the Wine Worm Gu, and in the long run, the quantity of Green Bamboo Wine required would be immense.

If this inn ran out of stock, he might have no choice in the future but to use a large amount of inferior wine to feed the Wine Worm Gu.

He could not possibly drink several jars of wine a day. Over time, it would draw suspicion.

After thinking it over, Fang Yuan took out ten Primeval Stones. "Then buy five more jars. Have someone carry them with me and place them in the academy dormitory."

"Yes, young master." The attendant hurriedly accepted the Primeval Stones.

Without storage methods, Moon Orchid petals could only be kept for five days, so Fang Yuan bought only one packet at a time. Green Bamboo Wine, however, could be stored for a long time, so that was not a concern.

Several attendants followed Fang Yuan into the academy dormitory, placed the wine jars beneath his bed, and then took their leave.

Looking at the money pouch that had suddenly shriveled in his hand, Fang Yuan sighed.

Refining Gu was arduous; Gu Raising was no easier.

This was with his five hundred years of experience from his previous life. He did not need to practice using Gu worms, which meant less primeval essence consumption and saved him a large sum.

Others his age had to consume primeval essence to practice using the Moonlight Gu. To improve proficiency, they had to practice several more times. When too much primeval essence was consumed and recovery was too slow, they could only replenish it with Primeval Stones. Even buying a Strawman Puppet cost three Primeval Stones. All of that was money.

"Fortunately, my Spring Autumn Cicada feeds on time rather than some other food. Otherwise, I would have gone bankrupt long ago and been unable to support it." Fang Yuan suddenly felt very fortunate.

The higher-grade a Gu worm was, the greater its appetite, or the rarer and more precious its food, making it harder to raise. A normal Rank 2 Gu worm required between one and two Primeval Stones per day.

Being able to buy its food was already fortunate. The food of some Gu worms was extraordinarily difficult to find; such goods simply did not circulate on the market.

The Spring Autumn Cicada's food was time, for example. In truth, that was even more precious.

As the saying went, an Inch of Time could not be bought with an inch of gold.

No matter how much wealth you had, could you buy time?

You could not!

In theory, there was no limit to the number of Gu worms a Gu Master could refine. As long as you could refine them, ten, a hundred, even a thousand were all possible. You could refine however many Gu worms you wanted.

But in fact, a Gu Master usually possessed only four or five Gu worms.

Why?

The biggest reason was that they could not afford to raise them.

The higher a Gu worm's grade, the more expensive the cost of feeding it. It often left Gu Masters with their elbows showing and their knees exposed, agonizing over the matter.

Another reason was that they could not afford to use them.

Activating the Moonlight Gu to launch a single moon blade attack consumed one-tenth of one's primeval essence. A Gu Master with C-grade Aptitude would have nearly exhausted the primeval essence in his Aperture after launching three or four attacks.

No matter how many Gu worms you raised, if you could not use them, wasn't it all raising them for nothing?

Thus, a saying circulated among Gu Masters.

Gu Raising was like keeping a mistress.

To keep one mistress, you had to buy food, buy clothes, buy a house, and so on. It was very expensive. Keeping too many consumed an enormous amount, and ordinary people simply could not afford it.

Even if you could support so many, a man's energy was always limited, and he could not make use of them all. Were you raising them merely to feast your eyes on them?

As a Gu Master's realm rose, the standard of a Gu worm's food also rose along with it. Therefore, although there was no numerical limit on refining Gu, Gu Masters generally raised only four or five Gu worms of the same rank.

If the number grew any greater, the Gu Master would go bankrupt!