After Lan Shi's astonishing results, the awakening ceremony resumed its flow. The children, one by one, stepped into the stream that tested their fate. Yet none managed to stir the crowd as he had.
Most results were expected. Whispers filled the cave, but the energy that had crackled moments ago now settled into calm observation.
That is, until a name echoed through the chamber.
"Feng Jiu Ge."
A tall, lean youth stepped forward. His presence was quiet but confident. With hair neatly tied back and eyes the color of smoldering embers, Feng Jiu Ge carried the distinct look of the Feng lineage. He was the grandson of Elder Feng Yong—head of the powerful Feng Faction—and many had been waiting to see how his bloodline would manifest.
He entered the stream with practiced calm, each step measured.
"Twenty... twenty-five... thirty... thirty-one... thirty-two..."
His pace slowed, but he did not falter. With clenched fists, he pressed forward.
"Thirty-eight... "
Finally, he stopped, chest rising and falling heavily.
"Feng Jiu Ge. Forty steps," the examiner declared. "B-rank talent. Primordial Sea: seventy-six percent."
Murmurs of approval spread through the chamber. A solid result—very close to A-rank, and far above average.
Elder Feng Yong, though unseen, allowed himself a subtle nod of satisfaction in the shadows.
While Lan Shi had stolen the ceremony's spotlight, Feng Jiu Ge's performance quietly reinforced the strength of his faction… and his future in the clan.
...
Lan Family Residence
Laughter echoed through the modest yet elegant tea room of the Lan family estate.
"Hahaha! That performance today—brilliant!" boomed Lan Zhao, slamming his teacup onto the wooden table with pride. "With A-rank talent, the position of Clan Leader won't be out of reach for you."
Lan Zhao was a broad-shouldered man, his skin bronzed from years of labor and travel. A deep scar marred the right side of his face, ending in the empty socket where an eye had once been. His remaining eye, however—bright and golden—shone with fierce paternal pride. Despite the scar, there was strength in his bearing and fire in his voice.
Across the table sat Lan Shi, calm as ever, sipping from a porcelain cup filled with Four-Fragrance Tea—an aromatic brew imported from the Eastern Sea.
"You speak as if the current Clan Leader doesn't have a son with A-rank talent," Lan Shi replied, his tone casual, though not disrespectful.
"Hmph. A mere A-rank with eighty-nine percent Primordial Sea volume," Lan Zhao scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "You, my son, possess ninety-nine percent! That's no ordinary A-rank—you're beyond comparison. You're the very genius who brought prosperity to the Shen Clan. To all of Huang Jin Mountain!"
Lan Shi said nothing at first. He merely watched the steam curl above his tea, golden eyes unreadable.
He had heard that phrase before—"Huang Jin Mountain's Genius"—whispered by merchants, spoken by Elders, even etched into the expressions of those who bowed before him. The words carried weight. They carried expectation.
Could I really be… chosen? Destined to rule this world?
The thought echoed in his mind like a forbidden song. In his past life, he had been a simple man—average, unnoticed. Now, in this life, he possessed the Supreme Grandmaster attainment in the Refinement Path, a sea of knowledge beyond comprehension.
When he was young, he had assumed others could do what he could. That his ease in completing Gu recipes was normal. But the years had stripped that illusion away. No one had ever matched him—not in talent, not in refinement, not in vision.
And now, with A-rank talent officially confirmed...
Maybe I am... different.
But the thought disturbed him.
He sighed.
"There's no point in overthinking it," he murmured inwardly. The future will decide who I truly am.
And as the tea cooled between them, Lan Shi looked beyond the open window of the estate—toward the distant peaks of Huang Jin Mountain, where shadows of war were already gathering.
"Okay, I'm going," Lan Shi said as he rose from the table.
"To where? The day's still young," Lan Zhao frowned, setting his cup down with a muted clink.
"I'm tired," Lan Shi replied, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve. "It's been a long day—congratulations from a dozen Elders, sycophants tripping over themselves to hand me gifts, and now... I still have to greet my mother and her guests."
At the mention of his mother, the light in Lan Zhao's eye dimmed. His expression twisted, and his hand moved reflexively to the long scar that marred the right side of his face.
"Tch... go see that woman, then," he spat. "That damn witch."
Lan Shi didn't flinch. He merely sighed.
He was used to this.
The cold war between his parents had lasted nearly a decade. He no longer remembered a time when they spoke kindly to each other. When he was six, his mother, Yi Hua, discovered that Lan Zhao had been cheating on her. The discovery ignited a storm that never truly passed.
Lan Zhao, proud and unapologetic, refused to deny the accusations. In fact, with time, he grew bolder—parading his lovers openly, even within the clan. What had begun as a betrayal evolved into a feud that consumed the household.
The arguments were frequent and vicious. And one night, during a particularly explosive confrontation, Yi Hua had snapped. In a rage, she had attacked Lan Zhao with her Gu—inflicting a wound that cost him his right eye. From that day on, their marriage was a formality at best.
They now lived in opposite wings of the Lan family estate—separate, bitter, and irreconcilable.
Lan Shi, caught between them, had long since learned to walk the fine line of silence.
Without another word, he bowed lightly and turned to leave the tea room, the air behind him heavy with old resentment.
.....
After visiting his mother, Lan Shi went to his room, which was large and cluttered. It contained towers of books stacked close together, in addition to various types of refining materials and bowls containing various types of Gu worms, some even of the third rank.
Since Lan Shi's arrival in the Gu world, he had begun trying to learn everything about it for two reasons.
The first was that he was fascinated by this world and found it entertaining to learn about it.
The second was that he understood the value of information and tried not to neglect any information, no matter how trivial it seemed.
His favorite books were the book The History of the World from Ren Zu to Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable was a history book that summarized the world's history, but the older the period, the more vague and unreliable the information became. The Lives of the Venerables and Introduction to the Geography of the Five Regions and the Wildlife of the Southern Border were also among his favorite books. However, his favorite was Legends of Ren Zu. Although most people thought it was just a children's story, as a history buff in his previous life, he knew that legends concealed a great deal of truth.
"Stop hiding and come out."
"As expected of the genius of Mount Huang Jin, it seems you'll find us no matter how hard we hide ourselves."
From the corners of the room, two second-rank gu masters emerged.
They were wearing two white masks devoid of any detail except for four black lines that crossed the two masks lengthwise. This was a Rank 2 Shadow Gu, allowing its user to sneak into dark or shadowy areas without leaving a trace. But how could a Gu of this level deceive Lan Shi, let alone a Rank 2 Gu? Even a Rank 5 Gu wouldn't be able to sneak near him without him noticing.
"Enough with this nonsense and get to the point. I want to finish this quickly, because I'm tired today."
Lan Shi knew these two men, as the Clan Leader had assigned them to accompany him long ago for two reasons:
To protect him, as Lan Shi was considered one of the most important people in the Clan, and many wanted to assassinate him.
The second reason was to serve as a secret means of communication between Lan Shi and the Clan Elders.
"You have new orders from the Clan Leader. He asks you to stop your research on food supplies and focus on strengthening the Clan's military power."
"What?! Did something happen?"
"You announced The Liu Clan announced that they would cut off food exports to our clan starting today.
Of the three clans inhabiting Huang Jin Mountain, the Shen Clan has the smallest area and is also the most densely populated. In contrast, the Liu Clan has the largest area, occupying more than half of the mountain.
This means that the Shen Clan has the smallest area of agricultural land, so it used to import 70% of its food. Thanks to Lan Shi's research, this percentage has been reduced to 60%.
18% of food is imported from the Gong Clan, while 52% is imported from the Liu Clan, which owns the largest area of agricultural land.
By depriving the clan of 52% of its food, this means that our clan will enter a food crisis within about a year.
This means that Liu Bai Zu will enter closed-off farming in the coming months, marking the beginning of a war.