Mid-stage

The night descended.

The moon, like a silver plate, appeared between the clouds. Sparse stars dotted the surroundings.

Gu Yue Mo Bei stood in the yard, gazing up at the moon, his eyes shining brightly.

"Little brother, I heard you were injured today," his sister Gu Yue Mo Yan's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Sister, are you worried that I'll have a psychological scar from spitting blood today?" Mo Bei turned, a smirk on his lips.

Seeing her brother smile, Mo Yan immediately felt relieved. Although she genuinely had this worry, she said, "Not at all, big sister understands you best. Good brother, you have an indomitable fighting spirit, you are the future head of our Mo family, how could you be scared off by such a minor injury?"

"Hehehe, I knew sister loved me the most." Mo Bei scratched his scalp, chuckling.

"Do you know, sister?" Under the bright moonlight, the fifteen-year-old boy's eyes sparkled with a brilliant light. "Although I failed again this time, during the fight, I heard the rapid panting of that Fang Yuan fellow. Before, I was always defeated by him in a few moves, and he was always calm and composed. His panting already revealed his weakness. He is nowhere near as strong as most people imagine. One day, I will defeat him fair and square!"

"Good, worthy of being a fine man of our Mo lineage!" Mo Yan laughed heartily, patting her brother's head, her face showing concern. "But you have internal injuries, so don't practice martial arts for the next few days."

"Sister, don't pat my head like that, I've grown up." Mo Bei shook his head, his tone slightly displeased. "I know all that. I already have a plan, and I'll use these days to nourish the walls of my aperture and complete the promotion from initial stage to mid-stage. I'll first secure the class leader position and suppress that Fang Yuan's momentum. Let him know that what Gu Masters truly focus on in cultivation is aptitude!"

"If you think like that, then sister is relieved. Sister was only the vice class leader before. If you become the class leader, it will also be a compensation for sister's regret."

"Sister, don't worry. I will definitely take the class leader position!"

Almost at the same time, at the Chi family.

In the secret chamber, only one torch was lodged in a recess on the bluestone wall.

The fire burned fiercely, illuminating the small secret chamber.

Gu Yue Chi Lian, one of the two powerful clan elders, was facing his grandson, Gu Yue Chi Cheng. The two sat cross-legged on futons, their shadows cast on the ground, flickering with the dancing flames.

Gu Yue Chi Lian extended his large hand, pressing his palm against Chi Cheng's lower abdomen. Strands of Silver True Essence, following the elder's thoughts, poured into Gu Yue Chi Cheng's aperture.

Gu Yue Chi Cheng's face was filled with tension, his mind fully focused on his aperture, desperately suppressing the fluctuations of his primeval sea.

In this world, no two leaves are identical. Similarly, for different Gu Masters, their true essence is never exactly the same.

Once foreign true essence enters the aperture, it will trigger the natural resistance of the original true essence within the aperture.

If Gu Yue Chi Cheng did not suppress it and allowed the true essence to resist, it would inevitably lead to a clash of true essences. The violent fluctuations caused by the clash would damage the aperture.

The aperture and primeval sea are the foundation of all Gu Master cultivation, of utmost importance.

Once an aperture is injured, at best, cultivation will decline; at worst, aptitude will decrease. If the aperture is completely shattered, the Gu Master will die directly.

After a long while, Gu Yue Chi Lian slowly stopped pouring true essence and slowly withdrew his hand.

Gu Yue Chi Cheng immediately let out a long sigh of relief, and his tense body relaxed. "Thank you, Grandpa. You have to infuse me with true essence every three days to nourish my aperture. You must be tired!"

Gu Yue Chi Lian, covered in sweat, sighed and said, "There's no other way. Your aptitude is only C-grade. If you relied solely on your own strength, it would take a very long time to advance to the mid-stage. This time is often twice as long as for B-grade, and four times as long as for A-grade. This way, you would be exposed. So, although this method is dangerous, it must be used."

"Grandson understands Grandpa's good intentions."

"It's good that you understand." The old man sighed again. "This method also has a significant side effect. That is, the aperture walls are nourished by my Silver True Essence. Although Silver True Essence is exceptionally effective, for you, it is still foreign true essence. In the future, even if the aperture walls transform from a light film to a water film, they will still be mixed with my aura. As the foreign aura increases, the aperture will cease to exist. It is like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, and it will narrow your future development space."

Gu Yue Chi Cheng tightly pursed his lips. "Grandpa, for the future of our Chi family, grandson is willing to sacrifice his personal prospects!"

Gu Yue Chi Lian's heart was filled with joy, and he nodded, stroking his beard. "It's good that you have such thoughts, very good, very good. However, heaven's will always leaves a sliver of hope, so you are not without hope. If you can find the Spring Autumn Cicada in the future, it can cleanse your aperture walls, remove all the foreign aura in your aperture and primeval sea, and eliminate this side effect."

"Also. Grandpa has already pulled some strings and asked people to search for the Wine Bug for you. This bug can help Gu Masters refine their true essence during the Rank 1 cultivation and improve their cultivation by a small level. The true essence refined this way is your own true essence, not foreign true essence. When used to nourish the aperture, there are no side effects or risks, and the nourishing effect is even better!"

Gu Yue Chi Cheng was overjoyed. "Thank you, Grandpa!"

"However, the Wine Bug is hard to find. Among the Rank 1 Gu worms, the Wine Bug, Pig Gu, Bookworm, and others are the rarest Gu. Once they appear on the market, they are almost immediately bought up. Of course, there are some Gu worms in this world that are rumored to be able to change a Gu Master's aptitude. But Grandpa has only vaguely heard rumors for most of his life, and has never seen them with his own eyes." The old man's voice was leisurely.

The night breeze blew gently into the room from the window.

Gu Yue Fang Zheng sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed, each hand clutching a primeval stone.

The Bronze Primeval Sea surged without wind, waves of it washing against the white aperture walls.

He had A-grade aptitude, and his primeval sea occupied more than eighty percent of the entire aperture. His own true essence recovery speed was a full double that of Fang Yuan!

This heaven-blessed advantage had brought him close to the Rank 1 mid-stage.

After a long time, Gu Yue Fang Zheng exhaled a breath of turbid air and slowly opened his eyes.

Outside the window, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Rows of greenish bamboo buildings stretched out.

A scene of peace and tranquility.

"Time always passes very quickly when cultivating. In the blink of an eye, it's already late at night," Fang Zheng's lips moved, murmuring softly. He slowly released his hands, and two handfuls of grayish-white stone powder fell from his hands onto the floor in front of the bed.

Once the natural true essence within the primeval stones was completely absorbed, they would turn into a pile of stone powder.

Seeing the stone powder fall, Fang Zheng frowned slightly.

He took out his money pouch from his waist. The pouch was already shriveled.

Opening the bag, he saw only three primeval stones left inside.

Fang Zheng received a subsidy of three primeval stones from the academy every seven days, but one was snatched by Fang Yuan, leaving him with only two.

His aunt and uncle also gave him living expenses, also three primeval stones every seven days.

With just these primeval stones, how could they be enough?

Fang Zheng was determined to surpass his brother Fang Yuan, so he had repeatedly approached his aunt and uncle to ask for some primeval stones.

With more time passing, his aunt took him aside for a heart-to-heart talk. She told him that the family was in financial straits and struggling with expenses, with no spare money.

Fang Zheng felt too embarrassed to ask for anything.

"My parents have done their best to nurture my cultivation. I can't make things difficult for them by asking for primeval stones anymore. With only three primeval stones left, I have to be even more economical. I'll use one per day, which will last me three days."

"I have a feeling that in three to four days, I'll definitely be able to advance to mid-stage! I wonder what my brother's progress is like?" Thinking this, Fang Zheng subconsciously looked towards the academy dormitories outside the window.

"I have A-grade aptitude, while my brother only has C-grade. His progress must not be as fast as mine. My brother definitely won't be my opponent this time! Brother, I'll show you the power of A-grade aptitude!"

With that thought, Fang Zheng couldn't help but clench his fists.

The academy dormitories.

Fang Yuan's room door was tightly shut.

In the darkness, he hadn't slept. Instead, he was sitting cross-legged on his bed.

A Gu Master's cultivation couldn't replace sleep. At this time in the past, Fang Yuan would have already been lying down and asleep.

But today, during his recent cultivation, he felt that he was just a sliver away from breaking through to mid-stage.

"Since I'm so close, I won't sleep tonight and will push for mid-stage directly!" a determined light flashed in his eyes.

Afterward, he closed his eyes, his mind sinking into his aperture.

His four-tenths Bronze Primeval Sea had just been refined by the Wine Bug into mid-stage True Essence, which was a verdant green.

"Rise," Fang Yuan willed. With a thought, the calm Bronze Primeval Sea immediately rippled with waves.

More and more ripples formed, growing larger and larger, creating waves upon waves.

Swish, swish, swish...

The waves surged forward, crashing against the walls of his aperture.

It was like hitting reefs; most of the True Essence shattered into emerald green spray, splashing high before merging back into the sea.

A small portion of the True Essence was consumed, transforming into wisps of mysterious, invisible power that permeated the white, membranous walls of his aperture.

"Rise again." Fang Yuan urged his mind, and the green waves grew in scale. The previous waves were like dogs and rabbits chasing each other, but now they were like herds of horses charging towards the aperture's light membrane.

Horses like dragons, waves flying to the sky!

The True Essence was consumed violently, and the sea level continuously dropped.

Swish, swish, swish!

The continuous waves and surges finally caused a qualitative change from a quantitative increase.

The white light membrane suddenly trembled. The originally soft white light abruptly emitted an aggressive radiance.

Seeing this, Fang Yuan was overjoyed, knowing it was a critical moment. He quickly urged his True Essence to continue the relentless assault.

The white light grew brighter and brighter, the light distorting and intertwining, giving a sense of increasing density.

After more than ten breaths, bands of light appeared on the light membrane. These bands of light flowed like streams of water, constantly colliding.

During the collisions, they continuously merged and grew, forming white streams of light.

Finally, the streams of light connected, completely covering the light membrane.

The white light dimmed. The original white light membrane around the aperture's walls had disappeared. In its place was a spherical, white water membrane.

The surface of the light membrane was smooth and free of impurities. The water membrane was clearly thicker than the light membrane, with light rippling across its surface, flickering intermittently.

The True Essence sea returned to calm. Two-tenths of the "seawater" remained in the aperture.

"I've advanced to mid-stage!" Fang Yuan laughed heartily and opened his eyes.

Bright sunlight streamed through the gaps in the window.

Unknowingly, the night had passed, and it was already morning.

Suddenly, the dormitory door was kicked open violently, and two guards entered.

"Fang Yuan, you've skipped class without reason. The Academy Elder wants to see you. Come with us!"