Sun Lotus City
The Brilliance Lotus Academy's tournament has ended. The students were surprised to find out they won ample compensation of primeval stones from the academy. Even the ones who lost in the first round.
It was very generous. The teachers and senior students knew this as well. Usually, only the finalists would be rewarded.
But now this change was implemented to help the young gu masters.
Ye Xuegang was one of the elders of the Brilliance Lotus Academy. He was responsible for the distribution of rewards this time.
Ye Xuegang took a list in his hand. It was the final ranking of the first-year students.
Bao Zhi's name was at the top. In second place was Zhao family's young master, Zhao Min.
This made Ye Xuegang frown momentarily. The Ye family's young master wasn't even in the top ten. A shameful result for a prestigious house. But he didn't take the matter to heart, it was the young master's misfortune or lack of ability. Either way, Ye Xuegang had more important matters at hand, than worry about face. He did not ponder much on the matter, he had a detached attitude towards such matters.
Next, he took out a Primeval Elder Gu and retrieved a few thousand primeval stones from within, and started to portion them out for the students. This took him over three hours.
When he was finished, the primeval stones were all put in sealed bags and ready for the students to collect tomorrow.
Done with his duties for today, he decided to head home.
Back at the Ye Family's mansion.
A middle-aged man, with long silver hair, was sitting out in the courtyard.
He was Ye Ruogang, also known as old master Ye, the patriarch of the Ye family. He was having tea and discussing matters with his guests currently.
His yellow teeth flashed as he laughed heartily.
"Haha. My friend, you are right! The younger generation is full of surprises."
"But they lack the qualities of the long years of experience." - He continued as he fondled his short grey goatee.
"Indeed, indeed. Lord Ye knows the best." - Praised his company, not missing to fawn on old master Ye whenever they could.
Ye Xuegang arrived at this moment.
"Ah, Xuegang, you're back. Perfect timing. We were just discussing the younger generation now. Tell me about the academy tournament! How did our house perform?"
Ye Xuegang hesitated for a moment, not sure how he should phrase this in the best possible way.
"The young master has made it to the third round successfully."
"And then?"
"Then, misfortune struck. He was matched against the eventual winner of the tournament and got eliminated." - He recounted factually.
The atmosphere lost its previous cheerfulness. This was not what Ye Ruogang wanted to hear, especially in front of his guests.
"Was it the Zhao brat?"
"No, he too got eliminated as well."
"Hmph! So be it then! I have already given our rascal a Reform Gu to raise his aptitude. Xuegang, be sure to teach him properly!" - Ye Ruogang pushed the blame directly on his second son, Ye Xuegang.
Ye Xuegang did not reply, he endured silently.
Old master Ye's mood was already soured, but he acted his part before wrapping up the tea session and bidding farewell to his acquaintances.
Now only he and Ye Xuegang were present.
"Tell me something good. What's the status on Five Fruit Golden Sapling Gu?"
"I sent one of our men to tail the buyer. His identity was exposed. He is a first-year student in the academy."
"Impossible, how could a student pull out ninety-thousand primeval stones? What is his background? Which family is he from?"
"That is unclear so far, but he definitely has some backing. He placed first in the tournament as well. I tried probing his background, but this was the result."
"It was the same person? He has slapped our face not once, but twice now!" - Ye Ruogang stood up in shock.
"Tsk. Good. Good! This person is not afraid to cross our family it seems. Then he should not be afraid to lose his head as well!" - Threatened old master Ye in a fit of anger. His petty personality was shown in full.
"Xuegang, I entrust this matter to you."
* * * * *
Jin Ju was sitting cross-legged in his room. He tried to focus on cultivation, but intrusive thoughts kept interrupting his focus.
This made him even more frustrated.
After his crushing defeat at the tournament against Su Kang, his fragile ambition was shattered. He felt overwhelming helplessness. He tried to rationalize his situation and encourage himself, but it was without any success.
When he was just a slave, he had accepted his fate, that was all he knew then, he had no hope of accomplishing much. It was a simple life. He was told what to do, he did not need to do anything else.
It was Bao Zhi who freed him and gave him hope. Because of this, Jin Ju awakened his aperture. He became a gu master, now he could cultivate. This was a huge advancement for him. He expected a bright and effortless future.
But the reality was cruel.
Now he experienced that no matter one's status, they still had to face difficulties in their lives. Failures and setbacks were the norm, not the exception.
Even the invincible rank nine venerables were not carefree.
Because of his mental state, Jin Ju's progress at refining the Unprocessed Jade Gu has regressed to the baseline already. Now he was halfheartedly cultivating his aperture.
He did not dare to stop cultivating, he felt anxious that Bao Zhi would leave him behind if he found out about his situation. Guilt was burning his heart when he thought of the sum of primeval stones he "wasted" on his cultivation that Bao Zhi has given him.
A knocking startled him out of his troubled thoughts. Then his door opened as Bao Zhi came in to check on him.
Bao Zhi was clear about Jin Ju's mental condition after a single glance.
"How are you? It seems your loss has gotten to your head." - He stated with a faint smile.
Bao Zhi took the opportunity and sat beside Jin Ju.
"Let me tell you something. There is not much difference between success and failure. Many even confuse the two."
Jin Ju listened quietly, not sure where this was going.
"But there is a clear difference. Do you know what that is?"
Jin Ju shook his head in embarrassment.
"When someone succeeds, it means that he did the right thing. It means he was lucky. It means everything happened in just the right way. But this is one's personal tragedy! One can not learn anything when success is achieved right away. Like giving a man a windfall of wealth, he will not be prepared to handle it. You can only be sure of your actions after you failed countless times."
"Improvement has a cost, and that cost is a failure. Those who don't pay that cost are damned to repeat their mistakes over and over without realizing the reason for their failings."
Jin Ju was listening attentively, these words resonated with him very much.
"Thus, the worst thing one can do after failing is to stop. Do you not feel the same? Do you not want to continue walking ahead?"
Jin Ju: "I do want to... But I don't know if I can."
"Nobody does. This is why you need courage. Courage to take the next step, to overcome uncertainty, to conquer the unknown. "
"There is no single path that can be considered the 'correct' path. The path of Gu cultivation is like a river. It is vast and boundless, and there are many tributaries. There are also many experts who have gone down different paths and have achieved great success. There is no single path that is 'correct', and there is no single path that is 'incorrect'. The key lies in finding the path that is most suitable for you and walking down it."
Jin Ju felt like clouds were parted and the fog dissipated. He could feel that what Bao Zhi told him was just what he needed to hear. He was silent for a good while, thoughts racing in his mind before the responded.
"T-Thank you Bao Zhi!" - Jin Ju replied with genuine sincerity. He had his emotions stirred.
"I think you already know what you should do. All you needed was just a reminder." - Bao Zhi smiled as he left and let Jin Ju continue his cultivation.
* * * * *
The days went by one after one.
Bao Zhi's situation has gradually improved. Accessing his wealth in the Primeval Elder Gu now was possible, but it was still a rank three gu, he had to spend dozens of primeval stones and half a day to activate the gu. The efficiency was abysmal to activate the gu. He would do this sparingly to reduce his losses and time spent.
The next point on his agenda was refining his other rank three gu, the Five Fruit Golden Sapling Gu.
He did not have the urgency as before, now he had enough funds so he could afford to spend some of his time sleeping as well.
Even though that was the case, Bao Zhi decided to only sleep two hours until he finished this refinement. With his special body, this would still be sufficient.
In his free time he decided not to sit at home, he wandered around Sun Lotus City while refining the Five Fruit Golden Sapling Gu.
He went to markets to browse the wares. He passed by shops and food stalls.
He arrived at the city square, carefully observing the buildings and people coming and going.
Like a curious tourist taking in the beauty and ambiance of the place, he immersed himself.
He was like a leaf drifting in the wind aimlessly. But in fact, he was searching for something.
"It is probably here underground, or below the city lord's office." - He thought as his gaze stopped on the balcony of the city hall.
"This place is too open, and well observed. If I want to have my way, some distractions would be needed. And then I still would not have much time." - He analyzed, thinking to himself.
"There are too many pitfalls, I only have one shot in the end, so I will need to prepare-"
Killing intent!
"Who is it?" - Bao Zhi whipped his head around and surveyed his surrounding. But he didn't see anyone targeting him in any shape or form.
"I clearly felt my human qi wavering... There is no mistake."
Bao Zhi had a heightened perception thanks to his quasi-grandmaster attainment in human path. When someone would target him with intensity, be that killing intent or otherwise, his human qi would be disturbed.
Human qi was formless and invisible to the naked eye. But for experts like Bao Zhi, human qi could not be hidden. He clearly felt it just now.
"What is happening?" - He thought to himself.
"Is it possible that I am imagining it? No, I am not."
"There is someone targeting me... but why?"
Bao Zhi did not linger much and headed back after his casual reconnaissance. On his way back he felt the strange phenomenon multiple times.
"Could it be that the city lord is suspecting me? Or one of his subordinates?" - He thought to himself.
"No, it is not him... and it is definitely not his underlings. They have no basis to suspect me, and I have no grudges with any of his people."
He was eliminating possible scenarios one by one as he was walking leisurely.
"It must be the auction. If so, it is either the Zhao or the Ye family. One of them is easy to verify."
With this, he decided to change his direction. He headed towards the Zhao mansion.
* * * * *