In an instant, the surroundings fell silent as countless gazes converged on him.
This is getting more and more interesting. Fang Yuan smiled inwardly. Under all eyes, he waded across the river and stepped onto the opposite bank.
At once, he felt a layer of pressure.
The pressure came from the spirit spring deep within the sea of flowers. The spirit spring produced primeval essence, and because that essence was too dense and abundant, it created pressure.
But soon, a shower of light specks rose from the flowers around Fang Yuan's feet.
The light specks drifted about, enveloping Fang Yuan's entire body before all flowing into him.
These are Hope Gu. Fang Yuan muttered inwardly. Though the attendant had not explained it, he knew perfectly well.
Every one of these light specks was a Gu.
This Gu was called Hope.
There was an ancient legend, one concerning Hope Gu.
Legend had it that when this world had first formed, it was a wilderness where savage beasts ran rampant. The first human appeared, named Human Ancestor. He ate raw meat and drank blood, living a life of great hardship.
In particular, there was a pack of beasts called Predicament. They especially loved the taste of Human Ancestor and wanted to devour him.
Human Ancestor did not possess a body as hard as mountain rock, nor did he have the sharp teeth and claws and fangs of beasts. How could he fight this pack of beasts called Predicament? His food supply was terribly unstable. Every day, he hid here and fled there, dwelling at the bottom of nature's food chain, nearly unable to survive.
At that time, three Gu took the initiative to seek him out and said to Human Ancestor, "as long as you use your life to nourish us, we will help you weather this hardship."
With no road ahead and no path behind, Human Ancestor had no choice but to agree to the three Gu.
He first used his youthful years to nourish the largest of the three Gu. That Gu brought him strength.
With strength, Human Ancestor's life began to improve. He gained a stable source of food and the power to protect himself. He was fierce and fond of fighting, defeating many Predicaments. Yet he soon suffered for it. In the end, he discovered that strength was not omnipotent. It too needed recovery and rest, and could not be squandered at will.
Moreover, against the entire pack of Predicament beasts, one man's strength was simply too small.
Having reflected deeply after the pain, Human Ancestor decided to use his Yearly Rich and Strong middle age to nourish the most beautiful of the three Gu.
Thus, the second Gu brought him wisdom.
With wisdom, Human Ancestor learned to think and reflect, and began to accumulate experience. He discovered that using wisdom was often more effective than using strength. Relying on wisdom and strength, he once conquered many targets he could not conquer before, slew even more Predicaments, ate their flesh, drank their blood, and stubbornly survived.
But fair weather did not last long. Human Ancestor grew old, older and older.
That was because he had offered both his youth and middle age to Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu.
Once a person grew old, his muscles withered, and his mind could no longer turn as swiftly.
"Human, what else can you bring us? You have nothing left to offer us." Once Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu discovered this, they left him without mercy.
Having lost strength and wisdom, Human Ancestor was discovered by Predicament once more and fell into the encirclement of the beast pack. He was old. He could no longer run, and all his teeth had fallen out. He could not even chew wild fruit or vegetables.
He collapsed helplessly onto the ground. Dense crowds of Predicaments surrounded him, and his heart was filled with despair.
At that moment, the third Gu said to him, "Human, offer yourself to me, and I can let you escape Predicament."
With tears streaming down his face, Human Ancestor said, "Gu, what do I still have? Look, Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu have both abandoned me. All I have left is old age. Compared to youth and middle age, old age is hardly worth mentioning. But if I offer even my old age to you, my life will end at once. Though I am surrounded by Predicament now, I will not die in a moment or two. I still want to live a little longer, even if only for one second. So leave. I can no longer offer you anything."
But the Gu said, "Among the three Gu, my demand is the smallest. Human, you can simply give me your heart."
"Then I will give you my heart," Human Ancestor said. "But Gu, what can you bring me? In this desperate situation, even if Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu returned to my side, they could not change anything."
Compared to Strength Gu, this Gu had the frailest body, merely a small light speck. Compared to Wisdom Gu, it was the dimmest, able to emit only a faint white glow, not magnificent or dazzling in the least.
But when Human Ancestor gave his heart to this Gu, it suddenly bloomed with boundless light. Within that radiance, the Predicaments cried out in terror, "It is Hope Gu! Retreat, quickly! We Predicaments fear hope the most!"
The Predicament beast pack immediately fled in panic.
Human Ancestor stood dumbstruck. From that moment onward, he understood—when facing Predicament, give your heart to hope.
And now, Hope Gu had gathered into a stream of light and entered Fang Yuan's body.
Pressed by the outside world, they quickly converged in Fang Yuan's abdomen, three inches below his navel, naturally forming into a ball.
Fang Yuan immediately felt the pressure lessen somewhat.
He took another step and continued onward.
With every step, more Hope Gu rose from the sea of flowers and flew into his body, joining the ball of light.
The ball of light grew larger and brighter.
Yet the attendant on the opposite bank frowned.
"The number of these Hope Gu seems somewhat low." Many clan elders who had been secretly watching Fang Yuan could not help but sink in their hearts at this sight. The clan head also frowned. This was absolutely not the bearing an A-grade Aptitude should have!
Fang Yuan bore the pressure and continued forward.
"Below ten steps means no cultivation aptitude. Between ten and twenty steps is D-grade Aptitude. Between twenty and thirty is C-grade Aptitude. Between thirty and forty is B-grade Aptitude. Between forty and fifty is A-grade Aptitude. So far, I have already taken twenty-three steps."
"Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six... twenty-seven." Fang Yuan counted silently. Upon reaching the twenty-seventh step, it was as though he heard a boom. The ball of light between his two kidneys in his abdomen had accumulated to its limit and suddenly exploded fiercely.
This explosion occurred only within Fang Yuan's body. Outsiders could not detect it at all. Only Fang Yuan, in that instant, experienced an earth-shaking mystery.
In an instant, every hair on his body stood on end, his pores snapped shut, and his mind was like a bowstring violently drawn back, abruptly stretched taut.
Then his mind suddenly emptied, and his entire body went limp, as though he had fallen from the peak of the clouds. The string in his heart relaxed, his hairs lay smooth again, and every pore across his body opened.
At once, a fine layer of sweat emerged across his entire body.
The process sounded somewhat long, but it was actually extraordinarily brief. It came swiftly and vanished just as suddenly.
Fang Yuan was dazed for only an instant before coming back to himself.
He secretly focused his mind and inspected his body, only to discover that below his navel, between his two kidneys, an aperture had appeared out of nowhere.
The aperture had opened successfully!
This was the hope of immortality!
Before you continue