"Although Jia Jin Sheng's cultivation was weak and had little talent, he had a special status. The caravan's people are all busy with business, thus no one found out that he's missing. But once some time passes, it'd definitely be found out. By then, Jia Fu would return to investigate, and the real challenge would be then."
"The Jia family head intentionally arranged Jia Jin Sheng and Jia Fu to be on the same caravan, he had deep intentions. In terms of cultivation, they are worlds apart. In terms of cunningness, they're also incomparable. Such an arrangement is to inflict a blow to Jia Jin Sheng and let him be clear of reality, and live life peacefully. At the same time he is testing Jia Fu's nature, for if he is too overbearing on Jia Jin Sheng, how can he hand the position of clan head to him?"
"Jia Jin Sheng never truly understood his father's intentions. Although he had some intelligence, he only managed to scratch the surface of a merchant's wits, but well he has served his purpose for me already."
Different from Fang Yuan's previous life, where he had felt regret for killing off a good pawn piece, in this life, that pawn piece had served Fang Yuan well.
"Killing Jia Jin Sheng would leave problems for me in the future, but it would also allow me to expose the Liquor Worm. For now, I cannot go to the secret cave and must stash up some pork meat for the White Boar Gu's food to last a few days or even a few weeks." Fang Yuan turned around and held his umbrella, walking in the rain towards the village.
"Now I will have to nurture my aperture and break through to the Middle stage. Once I reach the middle stage, my power will double, allowing me to have more freedom of action."
The green mountain beneath the heavy rain extended continuously and unending, its green mixed with grey, appearing stifling and heavy.
A gust of wind blew, and the raindrops inclined a little, hitting onto Fang Yuan's shoulder and attacking him with a burst of chilliness.
Recalling his previous life actions and thought, ended making him thought about Jia Jin Sheng again.
"Oh, Jia Jin Sheng, this time I actually want to kill you." Fang Yuan thought.
What a use of a good pawn.
It is because of Jia Jin Sheng's death that Fang Yuan will be able to expose the Liquor Worm, and most importantly, he will be able to make Jia Fu's caravan come earlier next year as well. Naturally, you cannot forget that if not for Jia Jin Sheng, Fang Yuan would not have been able to refine the Quasi-Great Strength True Martial Gu.
Everything that happens leads ultimately to Jia Jin Sheng's death, as Fang Yuan had orchestrated.
Inside the academy dorm
Fang Yuan's door was shut tight.
In the darkness, he was not asleep, but sitting on his bed.
A Gu Master's cultivation could not replace the need for sleep. Normally, Fang Yuan would have already been fast asleep by this hour. However, ever since his body had transformed due to the Quasi-Great Strength True Martial Gu, his need for sleep had been significantly reduced.
Now, he could already feel that he was just one step away from reaching the middle stage.
"Judging by the time, it's still a bit early for me to be at the middle stage. Compared to my previous life, I'm already a week ahead of schedule," Fang Yuan calculated.
"Nevertheless, it's still better to have a higher cultivation stage." In just a short moment, Fang Yuan's eyes shone with determination as he fully concentrated his focus on his aperture.
44% of the green copper primeval sea remained. Just moments ago, all of it had been refined into pale green middle-stage primeval essence by the Liquor Worm.
"Rise." With a single thought, the calm surface of the green copper primeval sea began to stir.
The disturbance grew stronger and stronger until waves began to form.
Splash, splash, splash...
The tides surged forward, crashing against the aperture walls.
Like waves striking reefs, most of the primeval essence shattered into emerald ripples, then merged back into the sea.
A small portion, however, was consumed—transformed into a faint, invisible energy that seeped into the white aperture walls.
"Rise again," Fang Yuan commanded mentally.
The emerald ripples surged larger. If the earlier waves were like rabbits and dogs, these were now like charging warhorses galloping into battle.
A dragon among horses—the waves soared like the heavens!
The primeval essence depleted rapidly, the water level dropping sharply.
Splash, splash, splash...
The waves pounded the aperture walls again and again until—finally—a response. The once-still white wall trembled, suddenly shining with an intense, blinding brilliance.
Fang Yuan's heart leapt with joy—this was the breakthrough moment. Without hesitation, he summoned all remaining primeval essence to strike the walls in full force.
The white glow grew stronger. Light beams twisted and interwove, appearing thick and heavy.
After ten breaths, bands of white light appeared on the wall's surface, flowing like streams of water. These bands collided, fused, and gradually merged into a unified stream of flowing white light.
At last, the flow solidified and covered the entire wall.
The blinding white glow faded, and the former light wall was no more.
In its place was a spherical wall of white water—smooth, pure, and far denser than before. Ripples of light shimmered and danced across its surface.
The primeval sea settled once more, now holding only 20% primeval essence.
"I've advanced to the middle stage!" Fang Yuan laughed heartily and opened his eyes.
"Now, I'll pretend that I haven't advanced yet and wait for the right moment," Fang Yuan calmed himself and waited patiently for the fated time.
It rained for four days before finally coming to a stop.
The sun rose high into the sky, breaking through the veil of rain as if unveiling summer itself.
The scent of summer had begun to drift in the air.
The skies turned increasingly clear and cloudless, sweeping away spring's lingering melancholy, while the temperatures gradually climbed.
At night, the once-lively Dragonpill crickets of spring had burrowed deep underground to lay their eggs. The green spear bamboo, native to Qing Mao Mountain, began to grow wildly, showing noticeable growth nearly every day.
The grasses and trees shifted from a bright emerald to a deeper, richer green. The endless mountain ranges looked even more vibrant and full of life.
The sky stretched clear for thousands of miles, blue and gleaming like crystal.
Bang, bang, bang.
At the training grounds in the academy, sounds of punches and kicks could be heard.
After exchanging only five blows, Gu Yue Mo Bei was knocked unconscious by Fang Yuan.
The martial arts instructor stood before the stage and evaluated the situation. Seeing this, he immediately declared, "Gu Yue Mo Bei has exited the stage, Gu Yue Fang Yuan wins for the 33rd consecutive time!"
"I lost again?" Gu Yue Mo Bei gritted his teeth, as he woke up in the arena. His eyes were feeling defeated as he glance at Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan looked at him expressionlessly and said "Scram, whose next!"
The martial arts instructor sighed in his mind and quickly shouted "Next!"
However, there were no challengers coming up, rather there were several students talking among themselves.
"Mo Bei has good martial techniques, but he couldn't beat Fang Yuan."
"Fang Yuan is too good, basically no one can beat him!"
"Mo Bei actually fainted, how scary. I don't want to fight a guy like this."
"Sigh, but the instructor said today is practice combat, up on the arena! Each of us needs to go up and fight once."
The students stood outside the arena—some casting fearful glances at Fang Yuan, others sighing repeatedly. A few were pale, while others trembled with unease.
Surprisingly, most of them weren't seriously hurt. Only a few had light bruises on their faces, while the rest were simply shaken—fearful because Fang Yuan had ended their fights with ease in just a few rounds. Truth be told, it had been a one-sided beating.
"Next!" Seeing that there were no challengers coming up, the instructor yelled again.
However, no one answered. Usually those who were courageous to challenge Fang Yuan were only Gu Yue Mo Bei, Gu Yue Chi Chen and Gu Yue Fang Zheng. But these three were already beaten.
A heavy silence fell over the students, some even instinctively taking a step back. The instructor frowned as he noticed the fear written across their faces.
He could not help but think of the academy elder's words: "These days, Fang Yuan has gotten too dominant, we have to suppress him. The other students cannot even raise their heads under his pressure, and if this goes on, the courage in their hearts will be simmered. Our academy nurtures courageous tigers and wolves to fight enemies, not fearful sheeps and lambs. But looking at Fang Yuan… his talent in combat was undeniable. Even after facing 33 students in a row, he showed no signs of exhaustion, no struggle, not even a drop of sweat."
Nevertheless, the martial arts instructor tried to motivate the students again. "What's wrong with all of you? No matter how strong he is, Fang Yuan is only fifteen years old, he's one of your peers! He has the same age as you, eats the same food as you and drinks the same water. He does not have three heads or six arms, he's not a monster! Pluck up your courage and show me the pride of the Gu Yue clan within you!"
But unfortunately the respond he got was depressing
"But he is too strong, we cannot beat him."
"The classmates who fought him are not even his match. Mo Bei got easily beaten until he pass out."
"Instructor, we don't dare fight Fang Yuan anymore… just standing in front of him is terrifying."
The students spoke softly, offering weak retorts. Some even admitted they didn't dare to fight him at all.
The instructor was furious, but he clearly had no solution.
At one point, he even considered sparring with Fang Yuan himself, but quickly dismissed the idea. After all, he was the one who had suggested this practice match, offering a prize of 20 primeval stones to the winner.
If he were to fight Fang Yuan, there was no doubt he would win—but doing so would damage his reputation and honor as an instructor. Worse yet, it might be seen as breaking the rules—an elder intentionally picking a fight with a junior.
The instructor was anxious, caught up in his own thoughts, yet he kept trying to encourage the students.
But words were not his strong suit. At first, his speech had stirred some enthusiasm—his talk of pride and competition had lit a fire in a few of the students.
But now, after repeating the same lines over and over, the youths had grown numb. His words no longer moved them.
Fang Yuan stood at the center of the stage with his arms folded, watching coldly. Despite his position, he looked completely detached—like a mere observer.
The instructor had been encouraging them for a long time, but the students only glanced at one another. Not a single one stepped forward.
With no other choice left, the martial instructor finally gave in. He turned to Fang Yuan, reluctantly raising his hand to declare him the winner of the practice match.
"Winner... Fang Yuan."
After receiving his reward, he saw no reason to remain on the arena and turned to leave.
Watching this, the martial instructor sighed inwardly once again and shouted, "Those who haven't fought yet, come up and practice!"
As Fang Yuan left the arena, the rest of the students let out sighs of relief.
He was finally off the stage, and to them, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from their minds.
"I'll go!"
"I'll come!"
Two youngsters squeezed their way up the stage and began to spar.
"Sigh, if I had known this, I would have waited and not rushed up the stage. Then I would not have been throw off the stage by Fang Yuan."
"What a pity. To think Fang Yuan actually won."
"Pity? I'd be glad not to be chosen to fight Fang Yuan again—even if the instructor raised the prize to 200 primeval stones."
Hearing their whispers, the instructor felt as if his teaching was falling apart. He was deeply agitated and wanted to punish Fang Yuan severely. However, Fang Yuan had done nothing wrong.
An entire class of 57 students was afraid of just one person—if word of this got out, it would be truly laughable.
The instructor was both helpless and frustrated. Eventually, he turned to Fang Yuan and shot him an angry glare.
Fang Yuan, however, ignored him completely—lying down and pretending to sleep.