Chapter Ten: When heaven brings unforeseen changes, refining gu proves uniquely arduous
Pop, pop, pop...
Raindrops, large as beans, fell in a dense downpour. They struck the verdant bamboo tower, producing crisp, resonant sounds.
In the pond before the tower, the water's surface was agitated by the raindrops, while fish darted merrily through the water and aquatic plants swayed gently at the bottom of the pool.
Overcast clouds blanketed the sky, and the entire field of vision was obscured by a dense, heavy curtain of rain.
In a somewhat dim room, with the window left open, Fang Yuan gazed silently at the torrential rain, a soft sigh escaping his heart: "It's been three days and three nights now."
Three nights ago, he had left the mountain stronghold, carrying two jars of wine, and continued exploring the surrounding area.
But deep into the night, a downpour had begun.
Setting aside the fact that he was drenched through, the critical issue was that under such conditions, further exploration was impossible.
Rain could swiftly wash away the scent of alcohol, and if he persisted in exploring under the rain, it would likely arouse suspicion.
Previously, he had disguised himself as a frustrated drunkard to conceal his true motives. But never underestimate the wisdom of others; only fools consider others foolish.
Thus, out of necessity, Fang Yuan had to halt his exploration.
And once this rain started, it persisted, fluctuating between heavy and light, sparse and dense, yet never ceasing.
"In this case, locating the Wine Gu in a short time is impossible. To be safe, I can only start by refining the Moonlight Gu first. During this refinement process, it would be best to find the Wine Gu, but if not, I'll have to make do. However, this is quite normal—unpredictable weather is common. In this world, who can always have smooth sailing and achieve perfection in everything they do?" Fang Yuan's mind remained calm; five hundred years of experience had long since washed away the little restlessness that had once been part of his temperament.
He closed the window and door, then sat cross-legged on the bed. Slowly closing his eyes and regulating his breath, he sank his consciousness inward.
In the next moment, the image of his own aperture manifested in his mind.
Although the aperture resided within his body, it was profoundly mysterious—infinitely vast yet infinitely small.
On the outer side of the aperture was a layer of luminous membrane. The white membrane appeared delicate and thin, yet it genuinely supported the aperture.
Within the aperture lay a sea of true essence.
The seawater was bronze-colored, and its surface was calm as a mirror. The water level was roughly half the height of the aperture. The entire volume of the essence sea occupied forty-four percent of the aperture space.
This was the bronze essence sea of a Rank One Gu Master. Every drop of seawater was true essence—Fang Yuan's vital essence, the condensation of his spirit, energy, and mind.
Every drop of true essence was precious, for it was the foundation of a Gu Master, the source of their power. It was through true essence that Gu Masters could refine and activate Gu worms.
Withdrawing his consciousness from the essence sea, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and retrieved the Moonlight Gu from his bosom.
The Moonlight Gu lay quietly in Fang Yuan's palm, like a crescent blue moon, petite and exquisite, translucent and crystal-clear.
With a thought, Fang Yuan's essence sea within his aperture churned. A stream of true essence burst from the surface, was mobilized outside his body, and surged entirely into the Moonlight Gu.
The Moonlight Gu suddenly emitted a faint blue glow, trembling slightly in Fang Yuan's palm as it resisted the influx of his true essence.
Gu worms were the essence of heaven and earth, the cipher of the Great Dao, the carriers of laws. They were also living beings, inherently free and possessed of their own will. Now that Fang Yuan sought to refine it—essentially to erase its will—the Moonlight Gu naturally resisted upon sensing this threat.
The refinement process was extremely arduous.
The Moonlight Gu was like a curved crescent moon. As Fang Yuan's bronze-colored true essence was injected into it, the two tips of the crescent first turned green.
Subsequently, this bronze-green hue began to spread toward the middle section of the crescent.
In less than three minutes, a pallor crept onto Fang Yuan's face. A massive amount of true essence continuously flowed into the Moonlight Gu, causing waves of bone-deep weakness to assail his heart without end.
One-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths... eight-tenths, nine-tenths, one full portion.
After ten minutes, Fang Yuan's essence sea had consumed a full one-tenth of its true essence. Yet on the surface of the Moonlight Gu, which resembled blue crystal, the two points of bronze-green at the crescent's tips had only expanded a minuscule area toward the middle.
The Moonlight Gu's resistance was remarkably tenacious.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan had anticipated this and was not surprised. He persisted in infusing true essence into the Moonlight Gu.
One portion, two portions, three portions.
Twenty minutes later, the essence sea within Fang Yuan's body retained only one portion and four-tenths. The bronze-green on the Moonlight Gu had expanded slightly; if the two areas of green were combined, they accounted for roughly one-twelfth of the Moonlight Gu's total surface.
As for the rest, it retained the Moonlight Gu's original pale blue color.
"Refining Gu is truly difficult." Seeing this, Fang Yuan sighed inwardly and cut off the flow of true essence, ceasing further refinement of the Moonlight Gu.
By this point, after a full half-hour of refinement, the aperture's essence sea had been more than half depleted, leaving only one portion and four-tenths of true essence remaining. Meanwhile, the Moonlight Gu had only been refined one-twelfth.
Moreover, what was even harder to accept was that the Moonlight Gu still emitted a faint blue halo. Although Fang Yuan had stopped refining, it had not ceased its resistance and was still expelling Fang Yuan's bronze true essence.
Fang Yuan could clearly sense that the true essence he had infused into the Moonlight Gu was being gradually expelled, dissipating outside his body. On the Gu's surface, the bronze-green at the crescent's two tips was also slowly shrinking.
Judging by this rate of reduction, in about six hours, the Moonlight Gu would have completely expelled all of Fang Yuan's true essence. At that point, refining the Gu anew would be no different from starting from scratch.
"Every Gu refinement is like two armies engaging in a battle of attrition, fighting for position. The Gu worm has only been refined one-twelfth, yet my true essence has been depleted by three whole portions. A Gu Master must simultaneously replenish the essence sea's true essence while continuously refining, consolidating the gains. Gu refinement tests not only the skill of mobilizing true essence but also the patience for a protracted war."
As Fang Yuan pondered, he took out an essence stone from his money pouch.
Gu Masters typically had two methods to replenish expended true essence.
The first was natural recovery. Over time, the essence sea would automatically regenerate true essence. For someone of Fang Yuan's C-grade aptitude, about four-tenths of true essence would replenish per hour. In six hours, a total of two portions and four-tenths could be restored.
The second method was to absorb the natural vital energy within essence stones.
Essence stones were nature's treasures, condensed with natural true essence that Gu Masters could absorb.
Fang Yuan held the essence stone, continuously drawing natural true essence from it and channeling it into his own aperture's essence sea.
The delicate luster on the essence stone's surface gradually dimmed, while the water level in Fang Yuan's essence sea visibly rose at a speed discernible to the naked eye.
Approximately half an hour later, the essence sea was restored to forty-four percent of its volume. At this point, the rising trend of the water level abruptly halted. Although there was still space within the aperture, Fang Yuan could store no more true essence. This was the limitation of his C-grade aptitude.
Thus, the importance of cultivation aptitude became evident.
The higher the aptitude, the more true essence could be stored in the aperture, and the faster the natural recovery rate of true essence.
For Fang Yuan, to refine a Gu worm and consolidate his gains, he had to absorb essence stones because his natural true essence recovery rate could not match the Moonlight Gu's expulsion rate.
But for Fang Zheng, who possessed an A-grade aptitude, he could replenish eight-tenths of true essence per hour. In six hours, he could restore a total of four portions and eight-tenths, while in the same six hours, the Moonlight Gu could only expel three portions of true essence.
He wouldn't even need external aids like essence stones; he could simply continue refining, resting occasionally over a few days, and successfully refine the Moonlight Gu.
Therefore, Fang Yuan had known from the very beginning that in this trial of refining the Moonlight Gu, he had no chance of claiming first place. This had nothing to do with strength; aptitude was the primary factor here.
The second factor was essence stones.
If essence stones were abundant and losses were disregarded, someone with B-grade aptitude could potentially surpass A-grade and claim first place.
"I only have six essence stones, not as many as Gu Yue Mobei or Gu Yue Chicheng, who have the backing of elders. My aptitude is only C-grade, also inferior to Fang Zheng's A-grade aptitude. This trial had not the slightest chance of victory from the start. It would be better to divert my efforts to searching for the Wine Gu. If I can refine the Wine Gu into my natal Gu, it would be far superior to the Moonlight Gu. Hmm? The sound of rain outside has lightened; it seems to be stopping. This heavy rain has continued for three days and three nights—it should cease now."
Fang Yuan put away the Moonlight Gu, got off the bed, and was about to open the window when a knock sounded at the door.
From outside came the voice of his personal maid, Shen Cui: "Young Master Fang Yuan, it's your servant. With the rain falling continuously these three days, I've brought you some wine and dishes. Perhaps eating and drinking a little will ease some of your weariness and boredom."
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