Half an hour later, the remaining students who were seriously injured returned from the infirmary. After Elder Ru Da explained the situation, they proceeded to the tribe's storage area for their first gu selection.
"I won't repeat myself, so listen carefully." Elder Ru Da addressed the group. "When we arrive at the storage area, the servants will distribute a list to each of you containing all the gu available for selection today. There's plenty of stock, so don't worry. However, don't even dream of obtaining the rarer gu you may have heard of before. The gu you receive today for free is an exception, not the rule. If you want other gu in the future, aside from refining it yourself, finding it in the wilds, or purchasing it with primeval essence stones, the only way to obtain more gu from the tribe is by consistently delivering strong performances every week on the weekly board." After saying that, Elder Ru Da stayed silent the whole way to the storage.
When they arrived at the storage area, they were greeted by numerous mortal servants who promptly distributed lists to each student, just as Elder Ru Da had described. Upon a quick glance, Rue Bu noted that all the gu worms listed were rank 1.
'Obviously, they wouldn't be giving a bunch of kids anything greater than rank 1 for free. Well, let's see what we've got here.' he thought as he scanned the list.
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Beast Strength Gu:
Black Python Coiling Strength Gu.
Green monkey strength Gu.
White Boar Strength Gu.
Black Boar strength Gu.
Pink Boar strength Gu.
Bear Strength Gu.
And many more variations of gu that granted the user the strength of ordinary
beasts. As expected of a tribe that primarily focused on raw strength, there were numerous options available. However, there were also other types of gu worms, such as:
Borrow Strength Gu.
Grip strength Gu.
Fire Strength Gu.
Fire Muscle Gu.
Overwhelm Gu.
Extinguish Gu.
Berserk Gu.
In addition to strength and fire path gu worms, there were other miscellaneous gu worms like Amplify Effect Gu, Bookworm Gu, and various Beast Skin Gu Worms.
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Rue Bu meticulously went through the list, but nothing particularly stood out to him except for the Berserk Gu. It was an all-rounder gu worm, enhancing agility, strength, and speed, with the effect increasing with higher ranks. It came as no surprise that many gu masters chose this as their vital gu.
After considering the voice's opinion, Rue Bu concluded that the best option for himself would be the Berserk Gu as his vital gu. He planned to complement it later with a defensive gu, as he didn't want a defensive gu worm as his vital one. Once everyone had obtained their first gu worm, the first day at the academy came to an end.
'I only rewatched two fights, mainly because I was bored, but at least I tried to pretend I was learning and analyzing.' Rue Bu reflected. 'I ended up in 4th place. I had planned to lose against Rue Gang, but I'm glad I chose Long Mei instead. That brat would have taunted me even more than he is now. Forget it I should just go home and start working on refining this gu worm.' he thought to himself as Rue Gang continued to mock him relentlessly.
"Hahaha, I surrender!! Did you think you were cool when saying that? You looked like a wimp." Rue Gang laughed, taunting Rue Bu all the way to his home. Despite Rue Gang's attempts to provoke a reaction,
Rue Bu just said. "Oh, Rue Lan, I think you should be careful of Long Mei and Dong Min as they may try to take revenge on you instead of Rue Gang. It would be a shame if you got hurt because of Rue Gang's reckless actions..." Rue Bu continued, spouting nonsensical warnings.
"What? Why would they target me?" Rue Lan was taken aback by the unexpected accusation.
"Well, we are cousins, aren't we? If they couldn't target him or me, they will surely come to you, since you only got around 40th place." Rue Bu continued to speak, adding fuel to the unfounded fear.
As Rue Gang mulled over Rue Bu's words, he thought. 'I didn't think of that. Would they stoop so low? Well, whoever dares to touch her, I will teach them a lesson.' "Don't worry, Rue Lan, I will smash the head of anyone that comes near you!" he declared aloud.
'What a dumbass. Why would they make you angry and come after someone from your family? Well, I'm glad he stopped speaking at least. He was getting on my nerves.' Rue Bu thought to himself, using the tactic to unsettle Rue Gang and divert his attention from his "loss".
As he finally arrived home around 4 in the afternoon, Rue Bu found himself alone, his father away on a mission and his mother occupied with administrative duties in the tribe. Settling into his room, he sat on his bed and examined the gu worm in his hand. It resembled a spider, its body white with eight legs and eyes as red as blood—the Berserk Gu.
"Should I try to refine it already? No, there's no hurry." he deliberated. "The fight is still four days away. I should focus on experiencing how to move my primeval essence around and how nourishing my aperture feels like. I'll also practice replenishing my primeval essence using primeval essence stones, as that will aid greatly in refining the gu faster. Perhaps I'll attempt to refine it while replenishing my primeval essence simultaneously, even though I won't complete the refinement that way. Since I've never moved my primeval essence in my aperture before, I'll give it a try at least. It might help me multitask more efficiently in the future."
With his plan outlined, With determination, Rue Bu began to move his primeval essence left and right within his aperture. At first, he struggled, feeling the unfamiliar sensations and encountering difficulties in controlling the flow. However, with persistence and focus, he gradually gained a better understanding and control over the movement of his primeval essence. As he continued to practice, he started to feel more confident and adept at manipulating the energy within his aperture.
Feeling confident in his control, Rue Bu began directing his jade green primeval essence in all directions within his aperture, nourishing and condensing the thin, flickering light of his aperture walls. He stopped after utilizing only 30% of his primeval essence, not aiming for a breakthrough but rather seeking the experience of the sensation.
Turning his attention to the 10 primeval essence stones on his bed, which were their weekly allowance before the first weekly fight. Rue Bu picked one up and focused on extracting the natural essence within it. After about a minute of concentration, he successfully accessed the essence stored within the stone. Then, after approximately 30 minutes of effort, he managed to replenish his primeval sea level back to 79%. Despite his best efforts, the sea surface refused to rise any further, indicating the limit of his current talent.
As the sun began to set, casting an orange hue over the world, Rue Bu felt the fatigue from his efforts, sweat glistening on his body after spending the past 2-3 hours nourishing his aperture walls. Despite his weariness, he knew it was time to focus on refining the gu worm in his hand.
"I shouldn't delay its refinement any further." he acknowledged to himself. "Though there are still four days until the fight, I want to train with it beforehand, and I don't want to expend all my precious stones before refining my vital gu."
With determination, Rue Bu willed a jet of his jade green primeval essence to shoot out of his aperture and toward the delicate spider in his hand. The little gu worm was currently in a dormant state, a technique employed by Rue Bu's tribe to tame more aggressive gu worms for newer gu masters. However, when the primeval essence entered its body, it was startled awake. Sensing the potential threat to its life, the gu worm instinctively resisted Rue Bu's efforts. Despite the resistance, Rue Bu preserved, making gradual progress, albeit slowly.
Rue Bu observed that only 1/6 of the gu worm's white body was covered by the green essence, leaving him with 19% primeval essence in his aperture. Reflecting on his progress, he calculated that he had spent almost 3 hours refining just 1/6 of the gu worm.
'It could have been even faster if not for the resistance I encountered.' he thought to himself. 'At this rate, and considering that I replenish 6% primeval essence per hour, in six hours I would regenerate 36% of my primeval essence. And looking at the rate at which the Berserk Gu expels my primeval essence, it would expel 6% in the same amount of time. So, if I never use any primeval essence stones to replenish my primeval essence sea, I would need another... one-two days to fully refine it. But I have a better idea.' He thought as he tried to use a primeval essence stone while refining the gu at the same time.
Despite the difficulty and numerous distractions, Rue Bu refused to give up. Perseverance fueled his determination as he continued to refine the gu worm.
"This is really hard." he admitted to himself, recalling Rue Sa's words when he had asked about the challenges of cultivation. Rue Bu remembered overhearing his parents discussing their struggles with advancing beyond rank 2. In a moment of curiosity, he had "innocently" asked. "Why, Dad? Can't you just continue?"
"It's not that easy, Rue Bu." his father explained with a sigh. "You need a certain amount of primeval essence to advance to higher stages, and I happen to have just enough for rank two middle stage. That's the limit of my talent, after all."
Rue Bu listened intently as his father explained the concept of "talents" in their world. This conversation sparked an idea in Rue Bu's mind.
"Can't you just use primeval essence stones to replenish the lost essence while breaking through at the same time?" Rue Bu asked, hopeful for a simple solution.
His father sighed again before responding. "It's called multitasking, Rue Bu, and it's not as easy as you describe it to be. If you even get a little distracted during the process of breaking your aperture wall and stop supplying primeval essence, your entire process could be thwarted. Some people even sustain damage to their walls when they mess up too much during that process, and I'm not skilled enough to attempt such things."
At the time, Rue Bu had thought to himself. 'How hard can it be? You're just a pussy.' But now, facing the challenges of cultivation firsthand, he understood the gravity of his father's words.
'Well, I wouldn't even try this if I were breaking through, but refining the gu should be fine. Besides, I still have one thing that Rue Sa doesn't.' Rue Bu thought to himself.
He then addressed the voice, saying. 'Do the state of peace thing.' The voice immediately activated it, and Rue Bu experienced the same sensation he had felt when he awakened his aperture the day before. It was peaceful and helped him concentrate on refining the gu and replenishing primeval essence using the stone in his hand. Finally, in that state of peacefulness, he succeeded multitasking in a steady pace and even continued for some time after the two-minute duration ended.
Like that, he spent the entire night practicing multiple stuff, even dabbling in a bit of multitasking. As the exhaustion began to weigh on him and he felt on the verge of unconsciousness, Rue Bu finally relented and stopped his cultivation. Despite the fatigue, he had made significant progress, refining almost one-third of the gu worm with the assistance of primeval essence stones, and seizing the opportunity to practice multitasking along the way.