In the densely packed forest, the moonlight shone on the tree branches, its silvery light illuminating parts of the forest and casting shadows on the ground. Rue Bu sat in silence under a tree, eyes closed and breathing steadily, appearing to meditate. Waves of primeval essence crashed against his light membrane aperture walls, which were much more condensed now after his continuous nourishing. He was at a crucial moment, needing to focus all his attention on breaking through the aperture wall.
*crack*
After about ten minutes, small cracks finally began forming in his aperture wall. 'God, how much longer does it need? I've already spent over a month nourishing it.' Despite his irritation at how long it had taken to form these small cracks, he was also excited. 'I can feel it—today I'm going to advance to the middle stage!' The waves of primeval essence continued crashing against the aperture walls as he concentrated his efforts on widening the cracks that had already formed.
*crack* *crack* *crack*
"Hahahahaha, finally..." He watched as his light membrane aperture wall finally gave in, its fragmented debris falling into his primeval essence sea, making way for a more condensed aperture wall. The light it emitted flowed like water. "I'm finally at the middle stage. It took me over a month to just cross this minor realm. Gu master cultivation is really tough—not only does it take so long to progress, but you also need talent, or it would take even more time to achieve the same result. Not to mention the cost of cultivation and feeding your own gu." His excitement quickly faded as he pondered his future accomplishments and how far he could reach in this world.
Rue Bu had spent the past month doing nothing but nourishing his aperture walls, trying to break through as soon as possible. He had even used some primeval essence stones to help him, and he had finally succeeded.
"Even though I wasted some time refining the second Gu worm I got, it wasn't that long compared to the time I spent nourishing my aperture. And yet, it took over a month just to advance to the middle stage."
The nonstop cultivation and feeding of his two Gu worms depleted a lot of primeval essence stones, but it wasn't a problem for him. Over the past month, he continued to outperform every student, taking first place in every weekly fight. However, in the second week, he pretended to lose to Rue Gang in the daily fights to make his performance appear more consistent.
"I eventually got tired of doing that and started beating him in daily fights during the third week. This improved my overall performance for the week, making my rewards even better. It still annoys me that I don't understand why the tribe is giving us so much more attention." The tribe continues to reward the top five students, and the rewards are even more amazing than coming in first place in the weekly fights. For the first reward, they gave gu worms, for the second and third, they provided primeval essence stones, and the fourth reward was the best yet.
"I still can't believe that some elders are going to train us in using simple killer moves. Even though it's just training with borrowed gu worms and the killer moves are rank 1, it's still a huge advantage. The five students who got this opportunity will surpass every other student in gu usage. However, something isn't right, and it's not just me who has noticed. Now that the tribe is offering special training like this, it's evident to every student that something is going on." Rue Bu knew from the start that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite figure it out. He even asked Long Mei to question his grandmother about it, but Long Mei refused right away.
"Such a pussy—why was he so scared of his own grandmother? Anyway, the only guess I have is that there will be a situation where the tribe will need strong and young gu masters in advance. But what exactly is that situation, I have no idea. Is the jin tribe up to something? But even if they planned to attack the alliance how long do you need to prepare for a war? A month or two? We would at most be rank 1 middle stage by then. What use would weak gu masters like that be? Maybe it's one of those inheritances that I heard of, but again, why would they send weak and inexperienced gu masters like us when they have much stronger and relatively young gu masters?"
He was a soldier in his past life, an experienced one. He knew what it meant when superiors gave you significant benefits for free—they needed something from you. His final battle had been just like that. However, he also knew that a war would usually break out in just a few months, if not weeks, making it illogical for the tribe to invest so heavily in them.
"Or maybe the alliance is up to something... Forget it." He eventually gave up and stopped thinking about it. Getting up, he stretched his body and started walking towards his home. "Next week, a considerable number of students should also have advanced, and the elder is bound to give me more clues anyway."
_______________________________________________
*Thud*
"I'm so sorry, esteemed gu master. My little granddaughter didn't mean to be disrespectful!" A frail old man said, shaking. His granddaughter had bumped into a gu master while she was playing. 'He isn't wearing the usual attire of our tribe's gu masters. I hope he isn't some demonic cultivator.'
"How disrespectful! Do you know who you are talking to? I should teach you two a lesson." a young and skinny man said loudly, trying to intimidate the old man even more. He looked like he enjoyed doing so.
"Shui Jun, stop. It's okay, old man, take your granddaughter and go." the gu master that the girl bumped into said in a calm voice. He appeared to be in his 50s, with black and grey hair, a big beard, and dim eyes that seemed to lack light.
"Elder Shui Xin Xiao, how can you let them be so disrespectful like that? And even worse, they are just mortals. Shouldn't we at least—" Xin Xiao cut him off before he could finish.
"What did I tell you, Shui Jun? We aren't here to put on a show. I don't care how you feel about mortals, and I couldn't care less about how you treat them at home. But if you cause problems here, you will deal with the consequences alone. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Xin Xiao spoke in a calm voice, but to the young man he was addressing, it sounded angry.
"Yes, Elder. I will keep that in mind." Shui Jun replied respectfully, though he was seething inside. 'How can he speak to me like that? I'm the most talented student in the tribe, probably in the whole region, with A-grade aptitude. I'm going to be the future leader of the Shui tribe. How can a mere elder speak to me like that?' He gritted his teeth in silence, knowing that if he said that out loud, the elder might kill him. No, he would definitely kill him.
"Oh, Elder Shui Xin Xiao, did you just arrive too? Great, let's go together then, if you don't mind."
"Elder Lin Lou, it's great seeing you in good shape as always. I don't mind at all." The old man in front of him looked almost like a walking corpse at this point, but Xin Xiao knew that Lin Lou was actually younger than him. It was due to his vital gu that he appeared so old compared to his actual age.
"Hahaha, yes, yes, I haven't died yet. Anyway, it looks like the number of students you brought is less than the Shui tribe produced last year. Hmm, but considering you have this one, it makes sense." Lin Lou said while looking at Shui Jun.
'Why is this old tree bark looking at me like that? Hmph, he's probably jealous.' Shui Jun felt a shudder and was a little scared for a second, but looking at his elder again, he managed to calm down.
"Haha, how can we compare to your tribe, Elder Lin Lou? We heard you had two talented brothers, both with the highest B grade. But I really wanted to see that genius from last year again. It's a shame that he is already rank 2 and isn't under Elder Lin Lou anymore." Xin Xiao said, sighing and pretending to be sad while subtly provoking Lin Lou.
"Yes, yes, it's truly a shame. I did want him to be under me after he graduated. It's no secret, Elder Xin Xiao, but he was unwilling. What can you do?" Lin Lou shrugged his shoulders and continued walking towards their destination.
The two academy elders were in Ma tribe territory, heading to the Ma Tribe Academy where Elder Ma Ru Da was waiting to announce their plans to the students.
When they arrived at the academy, Elder Ru Da was waiting outside. About 30 students of the Ma tribe stood in the middle of the fighting ring, while the rest sat around the ring. It was clear that only those 30 had managed to advance to the middle stage in such a short amount of time.
"Elders, welcome to our tribe's humble academy. It's a shame we couldn't receive you better than this." Ru Da said in a sincere voice.
"Elder Ru Da, don't be so humble. The Ma tribe is famous for its strong young gu masters that you bring up in this academy." Lin Lou said.
"Yes, didn't Jin Jian die in a fight with your Ma Long Min when he was just a rank 1 peak stage?" Xin Xiao added.
"What? It's just a rumor, Elders. How can a rank 1 gu master possibly defeat a rank 2? It's just a hateful rumor that the Jin tribe spread to tarnish our reputation." Ru Da said firmly. "Anyway, Elders, please follow me." He continued, walking through the gate, finally stopping in front of the students. The two visiting elders were right beside him. They instructed their middle stage students to stand in the middle of the ring, while the rest sat outside of it as well. The numbers were roughly the same as the Ma tribe's.
"All of you have worked really hard these past weeks. Your combat skills are impressive, especially considering your age. However, your gu usage is still lacking, as you observed in the weekly fights. The rankings keep changing each week as you improve your ability to utilize your gu worms and study your opponents. To help you further, the alliance has decided to assign us the smaller missions that the mission halls can't get rid of. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Elder Ru da addressed the students in general but focused specifically on the 100 or so students in the middle of the ring.
'What? Why would the alliance decide that? Wouldn't the Ma tribe decide it for its own gu master students?' Rue Bu thought to himself. He was standing in the middle of the ring too, with Rue Lan and Rue Gang beside him, along with some students who liked to "follow" him and Rue Gang around.
"What do you think the Elder means by that, Rue Gang?" one of the students asked carefully, trying his best not to stutter when speaking to that monster of a 15-year-old.
"Hmm? Who are you again? Ah, Ma Chao. Sorry, I didn't notice you, hahaha. The Elder said the alliance decided this, not the tribe, so it probably has something to do with all the rewards we've been getting. Ah, yes, not you, just us, hahahaha." Surprisingly for Ma Chao, Rue Gang wasn't all that bad. Besides forgetting his name, he was... friendly?
"What about these guys? Are they here too because of that?" Ma Chao said in a low voice, pointing at the students from the other tribes.
"Hmm, the alliance is probably up to something." Rue Bu muttered unconsciously.
"Oh, what do you mean, Rue Bu? Do you know something? Come on, tell us," Ma Chao said, seizing the opportunity to speak to him too. 'This guy finally opened his mouth. Why is he harder to get close to than this muscle head? I thought Rue Gang would be a lot more aggressive, or at least that's what it looked like when he spoke to Rue Bu.' he thought to himself. 'Aren't they cousins, though?' He assumed that if Rue Gang was that harsh towards his own cousin, he would surely be worse to a stranger, but he was surprised to find the opposite.
"I don't know, but as Rue Gang said, the Elder did specifically mention that the alliance is the one deciding this, so there must be a reason behind it, right?" Rue Bu replied, offering an excuse. 'I understand why all these kids are following us, but it's starting to get on my nerves a little.' he thought.
"As Elder Ru Da said, and as you noticed, the alliance is the one deciding this. From now on, you will all need to learn to work together more, as you are also part of the alliance." Elder Xin Xiao said after they calmed down a little.
"Yes, as Elder Shui Xin Xiao said, the alliance took into consideration that even though these missions were abandoned for their low rewards, they are still dangerous missions that you can't undertake alone." Elder Lin Lou added.
"So, to ensure you train with your gu worms in real battles and become more proficient in using them, the alliance provided these missions. To make sure you can complete them, the alliance established a rule: if you want to take on these missions, you must join a team." Elder Ru Da continued.
"And to enhance your abilities even further, the alliance also decided that no students from the same tribe will be on the same team." Elder Lin Lou said.
'Hmm, what do you think?' Rue Bu asked the voice silently.
'They are trying to hide their intentions, but considering the last part, "no student from the same tribe will be on the same team." it's obvious what they are trying to do. For some reason, they are attempting to foster cooperation among students from different tribes, specifically to facilitate cohesion in battles and prevent interference with each other.' the voice analyzed.
'Yes, every elder probably knows that the alliance is really just an excuse to prevent the Jin tribe from attacking any of them. It's a way to make themselves feel safer. But if a war broke out between the alliance and the Jin tribe, the Jin tribe would undoubtedly emerge victorious, as the members of this "alliance" can't effectively fight side by side without getting in each other's way.' Rue Bu agreed with the voice.
'Yes, but it's not as useless as you describe. While the jin tribe would likely emerge victorious, the aftermath could inflict significant, possibly irreparable damage. Additionally, the benefits gained wouldn't outweigh the losses. Therefore, the alliance does serve a purpose in preventing the jin tribe from launching an attack in the first place.'
'Hmm, I see your perspective. Nonetheless, I'm curious why they're providing us with so many benefits. I understand the desire for harmony among the younger generation, but what's their motivation for such "generosity"?' He asked sarcastically, not expecting an answer.
'According to their behaviour, it seems like the alliance is preparing to attack the jin tribe.' But the voice still gave an answer.
'Yeah, I was afraid you were going to say that. But why the fuck would they?' He didn't want to believe it, but he had to acknowledge that it made sense, the way they're treating the younger generation. And now this—it all points to just one thing: they're preparing to start the attack themselves as soon as possible.
"Calm down." Elder Ru Da shouted. "If you don't like being on a team with strangers, you don't have to participate in missions. The alliance isn't forcing anyone to take them. However, being in an unfamiliar environment from time to time is essential for further self-improvement. Keep that in mind and consider it." They stayed silent for a minute or two, giving the students a chance to understand what was happening.
"Now, if you want to take part in this activity, that will make you much stronger and earn you a lot of primeval essence stones. Step forward. Anyone who doesn't want to, for whatever reason, stay in the back." Elder Ru Da finished speaking.