Chapter 8: Things will always be things, but humans will change
Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow
Beside the academy was a Gu room. The Gu room was not big; it was only 60 ters² in size.
In a Gu Master’s road to cultivation, a Gu is the key to strength.
At the end of class, the excited teenagers rushed towards the Gu room.
“Form a line, enter one by one,” so voices suddenly yelled; it was natural that there were guards outside the Gu room. The youths went in one at a ti and ca out. Finally it was Fang Yuan’s turn to enter the Gu room.
This room was a mysterious room. The four walls all had holes; in each one of these embedded square holes were another square hole. Each of the holes differed in size, so big and so small. The bigger ones were no bigger than a an earthenware cooking pot, the smaller holes no smaller than a fist.
In the many square holes were all kinds of containers – there were grey stone basins, verdant jade dishes, exquisite grass cages, earthen stoves etc. These containers kept in all kinds of variety of Gu.
So Gu were silent, while so Gu made a lot of noises, creating chirping, clucking, rustling sounds and so on. All these noises combined together to create a sort of life symphony.
“Gu are also divided into 9 big levels, following the sa concept of the 9 rank realms of Gu Masters. All the Guin this room are Rank one Gu.” Fang Yuan glanced around, imdiately aware of this.
Generally speaking, Rank one Gu Masters can only use Rank one Gu. If they used higher level Gu, these masters would need to pay an extrely heavy price. In addition, Gu need to be fed. The high cost of feeding higher level Gu was often not sothing lower ranked Gu Masters could afford. Thus to Gu Masters who were newcors, they would always pick a Rank one Gu worm as their first refined Gu unless under a special situation.
There is great significance to the first Gu that a Gu Master refines – It will beco their vital Gu, interconnecting their lives together. If it dies, the Gu master will suffer a huge blow.
“Alas, my original wish was to get my hands on the Flower Wine Monk’s Liquor worm and refine it as my vital Gu. But right now there are still no leads on my search for the Flower Wine Monk’s skeleton. I don’t even know when will I be able to find it, or when soone else does. Just to be safe I’ll pick a Moonlight Gu first.” Fang Yuan sighed inwardly as he walked straight along the wall on his left.
One of the top layers of the holes in this wall had a row of silver plates. In every plate was a Gu.
These Gu were crystalline and shaped like a crescent; it was like a piece of blue quartz. Against the backdrop of the silver dish, the Gu gave off a quiet and beautiful feeling.
Known as the Moonlight Gu, this variety of Gu was the local Gu of the Gu Yue clan and many of the clansn would choose the Moonlight Gu as their vital Gu. The Moonlight Gu was not a Gu of nature; it was a breed that was cultivated with a secret thod by the Gu Yue clan. The Moonlight Gu could not be found anywhere else; it could be said that this Gu was a symbol of the Gu Yue clan.
Since it was all Rank one Moonlight Gu, there was very little difference among one another. Fang Yuan casually chose one and took it. The Moonlight Gu was very light, comparable to the weight of a piece of paper. The insect occupied a small area of his palm; it was roughly the size of a common jade pendant. As Fang Yuan put it on his hand, he could see through it and gaze at the lines on his palm.
With one last look and finding nothing wrong with it, Fang Yuan put the Moonlight Gu into his pocket and walked out of the Gu room. Outside the Gu room, the queue was still quite long. As soon as the next person in line saw Fang Yuan leave, he went into the room hurriedly with excitent.
If it were others, when they got their Gu the first thing they would do, would be to take it ho and quickly refine it. But Fang Yuan was not in a hurry to do so, for his mind was still thinking about the Liquor worm.
The Liquor Worm was more precious compared to the Moonlight Gu, although the Moonlight Gu was a specialty of the Gu Yue village, it did not help a Gu Master as much as a Liquor Worm.
After he left the Gu room, Fang Yuan headed straight for the tavern.
“Shopkeeper, two jars of aged wine!” Fang Yuan fished around his pockets and drew out the remaining prival stone pieces, putting them onto the counter.
These few days he would co here and buy wine, then go around the village border and scout, intending to attract the Liquor worm so it would appear. The shopkeeper was a short and fat middle-aged man, his face oily. After these few days he had already rembered Fang Yuan.
“Sir, you’ve co.” While he greeted Fang Yuan, he stretched out a thick and short chubby hand and skillfully swiped away the prival stone pieces. As he put them onto his palm he shifted his hand up and down and felt that the weight was correct. With this the shopkeeper’s smile deepened.
Prival stones were the currency used in this world, used to asure the value of all commodities. At the sa ti it was also a condensed matter of the world’s essence, usable on oneself, and is important in helping a GuMaster in his cultivation.
As it has monetary attributes as well as usable properties, it was similar to the gold on Earth. Earth has a gold currency standard system, and in this world it was replaced with prival stones. Compared to gold, the purchasing power of prival stones is even more astonishing. However with Fang Yuan’s continued spending like this, no matter how many prival stones he had it would not be enough.
“Two jars of wine everyday, and it has been 7 full days already. The initial savings I had are already almost all spent,” Fang Yuan frowned slightly as he walked out of the tavern with two jars of wine.
Once soone becos a Gu Master, he would be able to extract prival essence straight from a prival stone to replenish the prival sea in his aperture. Thus to Gu Masters, prival stones were not just a form of currency, but also a supplent in their cultivation. With sufficient prival stones, the rate of cultivation will increase greatly; this can make up for the disadvantages of those with lower talent grade.
“I won’t have prival stones to buy wine anymore tomorrow, yet the Liquor worm just doesn’t want to appear. Do I really have to take the Moonlight Gu and refine it as my vital Gu?” Fang Yuan felt rather unsatisfied.
As he walked with the two jars of wine in his hand, he started to wonder. “Academy elder said, the first person who manages to refine his vital Gu will get a reward of 20 prival stones. Right now I guess a lot of them are at ho trying their best to refine their Gu and compete for the first position. A pity, refining the vital Gu is more of a test of one’s talent. Those with better prival talent will have better advantage. With my C grade talent, without any special ans I have totally no chance of winning.”
It was at this mont, the voice of Gu Yue Fang Zheng called out to him from behind. “Big brother, you really did go to the tavern and buy alcohol! Follow , aunt and uncle want to see you.”
Fang Yuan stopped in his tracks and turned around. He found his younger brother was no longer like before, always lowering his head as he spoke. Right now the two brothers gazed at each other face to face.
A gust of wind blew, lifting up the older brother’s ssy short hair, the lower hem of the younger brother’s robes swishing around.
Just a short period of one month has gone by, yet humans change.
A week after the Awakening Ceremony, a huge change ca upon the older brother and the younger brother. The older brother Fang Yuan fell from the clouds, the title of genius rcilessly destroyed. And the younger brother began to bloom with radiance, slowly rising up like a new star.
To the younger brother Fang Zheng, this sort of change was earthshaking to his world. He finally tasted the feelings that his older brother used to have – the feelings of people pinning their hopes on him, the feelings when people use envious and jealous looks to gaze at him. He felt like he was suddenly dragged out from a dark corner and placed into a heaven filled with light. Everyday when he woke up, he felt like he was having a very sweet dream. The difference of how he was being treated from before and now was like day and night, making him sowhat unable to believe his reality even until now, but at the sa ti also strongly unaccustod to it.
It was hard to adapt.
In a short while from being unknown to soone who was closely watched, people pointing at him all the ti. Sotis when Fang Zheng walked on the road, he would hear people around him talking about himself, voices praising him. His face would heat up and he would feel completely at a loss of what to do, his eyes trying to avoid gazes, he even almost forgot how to walk properly!
The first ten days or so, Gu Yue Fang Zheng beca thinner yet his energy beca more vigorous. From the inner depths of his heart, sothing called ‘self-confidence’ began to manifest.
“This is what big brother had always been feeling before, how beautiful and painful at the sa ti!”
He could not stop thinking about his older brother Gu Yue Fang Yuan; facing such attention and discussion, how did his older brother deal with it?
He subconsciously started to imitate Fang Yuan, pretending to look expressionless all the ti, but quickly found that he was not fit for this kind of style. Sotis during class, a girl’s shout could easily send him red-faced. On the roads, all the flirting from older won even caused him to flee in a hurry many tis.
He was like a toddler learning how to walk, stumbling and falling as he tried to get used to his new life. During this entire process, he was unable to avoid hearing about his older brother – falling into depression, becoming a drunkard, not going ho at night, sleeping soundly in class.
He felt very shocked at this. His own older brother, once a strong entity and hailed as a being of great genius, suddenly becoming like this?!
But slowly he started to sort of understand. His big brother was also a normal man after all. Encountering this kind of setback and huge blow would send anyone into depression. Along with this understanding, Fang Zheng secretly felt an indescribable happiness inside. This feeling was sothing he was terribly unwilling to admit, but yet it definitely existed.
His older brother who was hailed as a genius and always covering him in shadow, acting so depressed and dispirited right now. From a reverse angle, it was a testimony to his own growth, wasn’t it?
He was the outstanding one, this was the real truth!
Hence when he saw Fang Yuan holding the wine jars, his hair ssy and clothes untidy, Gu Yue Fang Zheng felt relieved, his breathing also becoming a lot easier. But yet he said, “Big brother, you have to stop drinking, you cannot go on like this! You have no idea how worried the people who care about you are, you need to wake up!”
Fang Yuan was emotionless; he did not say anything. The two brothers gazed at each other.
Younger brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng’s eyes were shining, giving off a sharp and keen feel. And the older brother Gu Yue Fang Yuan’s two orbs were a deep black, faintly resembling a deep ancient pool. These eyes could not help but make Fang Zheng feel a strange oppression. Not long after he subconsciously turned away his gaze and looked sowhere else.
But when he realized it, he felt a sudden rise of anger. It was an anger that was directed at himself.
What’s wrong with you? Can’t even muster the courage to look directly at your big brother?
I’ve changed, I’ve completely changed!
With these thoughts his eyes shifted back their sharpness and he shot his gaze at his brother again. But Fang Yuan was already not looking at him. Holding a jar of wine in each hand, he walked past Fang Zheng and said in a dull voice, “What else are you gawking at? Let’s go.”
Fang Zheng’s breathing beca disoriented, the strength that had accumulated inside his heart no longer able to be released. This made him experience a depression that was hard to describe.
Seeing that his older brother had walked far ahead, he could only quicken his pace to catch up. But this ti his head was no longer lowered, but rose to et the sun. His gaze was fixed on his own feet that was stepping on his older brother Fang Yuan’s shadow.
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