The academy's Gu room stood beside the classroom.
It was not large, but to the youths who had just opened their apertures, this room was more important than any ordinary treasure vault. After the academy elder dismissed the class, the students hurried over, their faces filled with excitement.
A Gu Master's strength began with Gu.
Without Gu, primeval essence was only potential. It had no blade, no shield, no method to reveal its power.
Outside the Gu room, guards maintained order.
"Form a line. Enter one by one."
The students quickly obeyed.
Fang Ming stood among them quietly. Around him, the youths whispered about their choices. Some wanted a Gu that could attack. Some wanted a defensive Gu. Others had already received instructions from their families and only needed to follow them.
Fang Ming had also made his decision.
When his turn came, he stepped into the Gu room.
The room was dim, filled with faint sounds. Chirping, clicking, rustling, soft wingbeats—many small noises mixed together, forming a strange rhythm of life.
The four walls were filled with square holes. Inside those holes were different containers: stone basins, jade plates, grass cages, clay pots, and small wooden boxes.
Each container held a Rank one Gu.
Fang Ming walked slowly, his eyes passing over them.
For a moment, he felt temptation.
There were many Gu here. Choosing something unusual might give him a different advantage. With his knowledge and system, perhaps he could walk a path different from ordinary Gu Yue clansmen.
But this thought was quickly suppressed.
Now was not the time to stand out in the wrong way.
The Moonlight Gu was the Gu Yue clan's signature Gu. Most Gu Yue clansmen began with it, fought with it, and built their early combat methods around it. Choosing it was not merely practical; it was politically correct.
Fang Ming had just revealed A-grade aptitude. Many eyes were on him. If he chose some strange Gu immediately, others might think he was arrogant, ungrateful, or difficult to control.
But choosing Moonlight Gu sent a different message.
He was part of the Gu Yue clan.
He accepted the clan's tradition.
He was willing to walk the path the clan had prepared.
That kind of signal mattered.
As for competing with Fang Zheng, that was only an additional benefit. Since both of them would refine the same Gu, the result of the first assessment would be cleaner.
Same aptitude.
Same vital Gu.
Then whoever won would win through effort, control, and endurance.
Fang Ming stopped before a row of silver plates.
On each plate lay a crescent-shaped Gu, clear blue and crystalline, like a small piece of cold moonlight.
Moonlight Gu.
Fang Ming chose one and placed it carefully into his clothes.
It was very light, almost weightless, but he did not underestimate it.
This would become his vital Gu.
If it was damaged, he would suffer. If it died, the blow would be even heavier. This was not a toy from a story. It was a living creature, a weapon, and a foundation.
After leaving the Gu room, Fang Ming returned home directly.
The first assessment had already begun.
Whoever refined their vital Gu first would receive twenty primeval stones.
Twenty primeval stones were not small to the current Fang Ming.
But the reward itself was not the only prize.
Fang Zheng had the clan head behind him. Fang Ming had the Shi family behind him. That much was already known, and comparison between the two A-grade talents could not be avoided.
Fang Ming did not need to think too deeply about it.
If he won, his value would rise.
More value meant more resources.
More resources meant faster cultivation.
That was enough.
That afternoon, rain began to fall.
At first, it was light. By evening, it had turned heavy, covering Qing Mao Mountain in a dense curtain of water.
Inside his room, Fang Ming sat cross-legged.
The Moonlight Gu rested in his palm.
Beside him were several primeval stones provided by the Shi family. They were not given out of kindness. They were investment.
Fang Ming accepted this very calmly.
In the Gu World, investment was often more reliable than affection.
He closed his eyes and looked inward.
His aperture appeared in his mind.
Inside was a deep green copper primeval sea. His copied A-grade aptitude showed its value clearly. His primeval sea was full, stable, and far superior to ordinary students.
Fang Ming felt a trace of calm.
The first step had succeeded.
Now came the second.
With a thought, he moved his primeval essence.
Green copper essence flowed from his aperture and entered the Moonlight Gu.
The Moonlight Gu trembled.
A blue glow appeared from its crescent body as it resisted the foreign primeval essence. Fang Ming immediately felt pressure. The Gu had its own will, and refinement meant grinding that will away.
Reading about Gu refinement and experiencing it were completely different.
In memory, refinement sounded simple.
Pour essence.
Suppress resistance.
Complete ownership.
But now that he was doing it himself, Fang Ming understood the hardship. The Moonlight Gu resisted every moment. It was like pushing against a door while something behind the door pushed back without rest.
A thin layer of green appeared at the tips of the crescent.
Fang Ming did not rush.
He controlled the flow of primeval essence carefully.
Too little, and the Gu would push back.
Too much, and he would waste essence needlessly.
The rain beat against the roof.
Pitter-patter.
Pitter-patter.
Time passed slowly.
His primeval essence decreased. When it dropped to a dangerous point, Fang Ming stopped, picked up a primeval stone, and absorbed the natural essence inside.
Then he continued.
Refine.
Recover.
Refine again.
There was no shortcut.
There was no glorious scene.
Only patience, endurance, and the constant pressure of resistance.
By midnight, Fang Ming's face had turned pale. His mind felt heavy, and his palm had grown stiff from holding the Moonlight Gu.
The process was dull.
Painfully dull.
There was no battle cry, no flash of sword light, no instant breakthrough. Only repeated refinement, repeated recovery, repeated pressure against the Gu's resistance.
But Fang Ming was not completely unfamiliar with this kind of suffering.
In his previous life, he had gone through university.
He had endured long nights of study, dry textbooks, endless assignments, exams that decided months of effort, and the kind of exhaustion where his eyes burned but his hands still had to keep moving.
That life had not given him strength.
It had not given him Gu.
But it had trained his focus.
Fang Zheng had talent, but he was still a fifteen-year-old youth of this world. He had never experienced another life, never sat through countless nights forcing himself to continue for a goal that would only show results much later.
Fang Ming had.
So he continued.
Refine.
Recover.
Refine again.
Whenever he wanted to rest, he reminded himself that comfort could wait.
Victory could not.
The rain fell for the whole night.
Then the next day.
Then the next night.
For three days, the sound of rain almost never stopped.
During these three days, Fang Ming remained mostly inside. He ate quickly, rested briefly, and spent nearly all his energy refining the Moonlight Gu.
His uncle came once.
The man saw the primeval stones beside him, the pale color of his face, and the Moonlight Gu in his palm. For a moment, he seemed to want to say something.
But in the end, he only sighed.
"Do not ruin your body," his uncle said.
Fang Ming nodded. "I know."
His uncle looked at him for a while longer before leaving.
After the door closed, Fang Ming continued.
He knew his limits.
But he also knew that comfort was a trap.
A-grade aptitude gave him the right to compete.
It did not guarantee victory.
On the third night, the rain finally weakened.
Fang Ming held a dim primeval stone in one hand and the Moonlight Gu in the other. Most of the Gu's crescent body had already been covered by his green copper essence.
Only the final portion remained.
The Moonlight Gu's resistance became fiercer, as if it also sensed the end approaching.
Fang Ming's breathing slowed.
This was the critical point.
He absorbed the last useful essence from the primeval stone, replenished his aperture, and guided another stream of primeval essence into the Gu.
The green color advanced bit by bit.
The blue glow struggled.
Fang Ming's face grew paler.
His hand trembled slightly, but his mind remained steady.
He could not fail here.
Not after spending three days.
Not after using so many resources.
Not when victory was already before him.
Another quarter hour passed.
Then another.
Finally, the last trace of blue vanished.
The Moonlight Gu became still.
Its resistance disappeared.
At the same time, Fang Ming felt a faint connection form between himself and the Gu in his palm. It was delicate but clear, like a thread tied between his life and this small crescent moon.
Fang Ming opened his eyes.
Refined.
His vital Gu had been refined.
For a moment, he simply sat there, feeling the connection quietly.
Then he exhaled.
Outside the window, the rain had stopped.
The room smelled of damp wood and exhausted effort. Several primeval stones had become dull and useless. Fang Ming's body was tired, and his mind ached, but his eyes were bright.
He had won his first private battle.
Now he had to turn it into public victory.
Before dawn, Fang Ming stood, tidied his clothes, and left the room.
The air outside was cold and clean after the storm. Water dripped from bamboo leaves. Mist lingered between the houses. Most of the village had not yet woken.
Fang Ming walked toward the academy alone.
The Moonlight Gu rested inside his aperture.
Twenty primeval stones were waiting.
More importantly, so was reputation.
Today, he would show the academy elder, the Shi family, Fang Zheng, and the clan that Gu Yue Fang Ming was not merely an A-grade talent who had appeared by luck.
He was someone worth investing in.