The underground cave was buzzing with noise as the young teenagers were excited and anxious about what was about to happen.
Inside the cave, the academy elder stood in a corner, calling different names to step into the spirit spring and cross the ″river″, However, the results so far hadn't been really good.
So far, two teenagers had attempted to walk through the spirit spring but couldn't take more than a few steps. As a result, they failed to awaken their apertures.
In this world, not everyone had the talent to awaken their aperture and become a Gu master. In fact, only a small number of people could. But at the same time, in this world, those who remained as mortals and couldn't awaken their apretur, were looked down upon by Gu masters, their lives considered as cheap as grass.
The two young men who failed to awaken their apertures had a dead look in their eyes. All their hopes had vanished, replaced by despair.
The academy elder sighed as he saw the results, but there was nothing he could do. After all, it was fate that determined whether a person had talent or not, and fate was dictated by the heavens. He, a mere mortal, had no control over it.
He continued calling names, moving the awakening ceremony along.
"Gu Yue Mo Bei!"
"Here!" came the quick response, as a fifteen year old young man emerged from the crowd.
He was a horse-faced youth, wrapped in linen robes. Tall and much more muscular than his peers, he exuded a brave aura that made him stand out.
He quickly stepped into the spirit spring.
This time, the result was very different than before. He took ten steps, twenty steps, thirty steps, and finally stopped at thirty sixth step, unable to go any farther.
Seeing this, the academy elder happily announced, "Good, good! Gu Yue Mo Bei, B-grade talent! Come here and let me check your primeval sea."
Mo Bei walked back, quicker than when he first entered the river, and approached the academy elder.
The academy elder extended his hand, placing it on Mo Bei's shoulder. He closed his eyes, focusing. After a moment, he retracted his hand and jotted something down on the paper he held: 'Gu Yue Mo Bei, B-grade talent, primeval sea measurement: sixy six precent of the aperture.'
In the Gu world, talent was measured by four grades: the best was A-grade, followed by B-grade, and then C and D grades. C and D-grade talents rarely progressed beyond the low ranks of Gu master cultivation.
But even within the same grade, there were differences, and that was the primeval sea measurement. To put it simply, this measurement represented how much primeval essence a Gu master's aperture could hold. This was all Fang Zheng could recall about the talent system.
"I'm not sure what the original Fang Zheng's primeval sea measurement was," he thought, "but if I remember correctly, an A-grade talent aperture could contain at least eighty precent primeval essence." He tried to recall more details but found it difficult to remember those small detail.
After Mo Bei's turn, Fang Zheng lost interest in watching the ceremony. He already knew what was going to happen, so instead, he began to admire the beauty of the moon orchid flowers on the opposite side of the spirit spring.
Fang Yuan, on the other hand, was far more attentive. Even though he knew what was about to happen better than anyone, he still paid close attention to every detail.
It was amusing how meticulous Fang Yuan was, making sure nothing deviated from his memories of his previous life. But he didn't put much effort into observing Fang Zheng, his own little brother.
Had Fang Yuan paid closer attention, he might have noticed something unusual about Fang Zheng. But, unfortunately for him, he subconsciously didn't care enough about his younger brother.
Sometimes, it's not the surroundings or other people's actions that prevent someone from reaching their goals—it's their own mind playing tricks on them. For Fang Yuan, it was his own mindset that hindered him from realizing whether there was anything different than his previous life.
Fang Zheng and Fang Yuan's situations were both similar and different at the same time. Both had knowledge of the future, but Fang Yuan's knowledge was limited to his personal experiences. While detailed, his understanding of the Gu world's deeper truths was incomplete.
Fang Zheng's knowledge, in the other hand, came from reading a book, not his own experience. He knew much about this world, the hidden schemes, the powers behind the scenes, and certainly more about the actual future of the Gu world than Fang Yuan. However, his knowledge lacked the same level of detail as fang yuan's.
Both had their own advantages and disadvantages. But for now, Fang Zheng held the upper hand in this indirect fight—a fight they weren't even aware they were engaged in.
As the academy elder continued to call out names, more teenagers stepped into the spirit spring. Some had C-grade talent, others D-grade, and most had no talent at all.
at the next moment, the academy elder shouted, "Gu Yue Chi Chen", and a boy came forward.
In contrast to Mo Bei, Chi Chen was short and small, with pockmarks covering his face. He was clenching his fists and sweating nervously as he stepped into the spirit spring.
He took ten steps, twenty steps, thirty steps, and just like Mo Bei, he stopped at thirty sixth step.
"Gu Yue Chi Chen, B grade talent." Academy elder announced happily.
When Fang Zheng heard the academy elder's announcement, his eyes, which had been focused on the sea of flowers, gleamed with a mysterious light. A quiet laugh escaped from his mouth, but no one noticed it—everyone's attention was fixed on Chi Chen and Mo Bei.
As the academy elder continued calling names, a group of people on the opposite side of the spirit spring observed this awakening ceremony. This group was composed mostly of elders from the Gu Yue clan—this group was full of old men and women, with hardly any young faces among them.
"Congratulations to elder Chi and elder Mo; the future of both families looks secure now."
"Right, with the support of Elder Chi and Elder Mo, the futures of those two children and our clan are bright," others exclaimed.
Among the group, two elders stood out, while the rest seemed intent on flattering them. One was a red-haired old man, and the other one was a horse-faced elderly man. Despite the compliments, the horse-faced elder appeared to be in a bad mood, his gaze directed at the other elder.
The red-haired elder, in contrast, was in excellent spirit. He wore a broad smile and laughed as the others praised him.
The horse-faced elder was Gu Yue Mo Chen, and the red-haired elder was Gu Yue Chi Lian. These two were the leaders of the Gu Yue clan's two major factions: the Mo faction and the Chi faction.
The awakening ceremony was critical to the futures of both factions, as the heirs of each faction were awakening their apertures today. This was the source of Elder Chi Lian's joy and Elder Mo Chen's frustration.
Chi Chen, the inheritor of the Chi faction, had just awakened as a B-grade talent, much to the delight of his grandfather, elders Chi Lian. and at the same time it was the reason for elder Mo Chen, the leader of the Mo faction's irritation.
As the ceremony went on, the academy elder continued to call out names. Some youths had talent, while others did not, but after the two B grade talents, there were no other high-grade talents.
"Gu Yue Fang Yuan."
The moment the academy elder called this name, the underground cave fell silent. At the same time, the youth who had been called began to walk toward the spirit spring.
Everyone in the cave focused on him, their faces filled with complex emotions—envy, jealousy and...hope.
But one person felt none of these emotions.
"Haha, everyone is going to be disappointed," Fang Zheng thought, observing Fang Yuan as he entered the spirit spring.
Sure enough, everything unfolded exactly as he remembered.
After twenty seven steps, Fang Yuan stopped.
"You can't go any farther?" the academy elder shouted, his voice tinged with disappointment, still holding onto a faint hope that Fang Yuan might push further.
But, unfortunately for him, sometimes things didn't goes as one wishes.
Fang Yuan turned back and began walking toward the shore. With that, the academy elder's last glimmer of hope faded.
Everyone was perplexed, and soon the cave filled with murmurs.
"What? Fang Yuan only took twenty seven steps?"
"Does that mean he's just a C grade talent?"
"Unbelievable! Only a C grade for someone as brilliant as him?"
The result shocked everyone. After all, Fang Yuan had been regarded as the number one genius within the clan for a long time.
The elders were equally unsettled.
"Could the results be wrong?"
"How could this happen? This method is incredibly accurate. We watched the entire time; even cheating would be difficult."
"But what about his previous actions and intelligence? How do you explain those?"
The elders were clearly displeased with Fang Yuan's results.
Fang Yuan, however, didn't care. In his first life, these results had devastated him—he had felt as if the sky was collapsing, and he had been utterly lost. But now, as the same scene replayed itself, he felt nothing. His mind was clear as he walked back.
"Next, Gu Yue Fang Zheng."
The academy elder's disappointment over Fang Yuan's results was still evident in his voice as he called out the next name.
But a frown deepened on his face shortly after.
"Gu Yue Fang Zheng!" He shouted louder, with anger creeping into his voice.
"Huh? I'm here, I'm here!" Fang Zheng, too focused on admiring the sea of flowers, hadn't noticed his name was called. But the elder's louder and more frustrated shout this time, snapped him out of his reverie.
He hurried toward the spirit spring, but his foot caught on a rock, and he nearly tripped, creating a humorous scene.
Although this scene wasn't as embarrassing as the original Fang Zheng's blunder in the original story, but the others didn't care.
After Fang Yuan's disappointing result, they were eager to mock someone to vent their frustration. As if laughing at Fang Yuan wasn't enough, they quickly turned their mockery toward Fang Zheng's clumsy movement.
Before continuing forward, Fang Zheng looked around at the people laughing and mocking him. The scene, which had once left the original Fang Zheng feeling embarrassed and awful, had no effect on the new Fang Zheng. He wasn't like the original; in fact, he didn't even care about those people.
He just looked at them with wonder. "The original Fang Zheng really was an idiot. I get that he had those inferiority issues, but trying to win the attention of these hypocrites is just... pathetic."
Fang Zheng started walking again, or at least, that's what he intended to do at first. But soon, he noticed a figure beside him—a boy in a black robe, standing next to him, watching him.
When Fang Zheng saw this, his body quietly shivered, especially when he saw Fang Yuan's cold eyes looking directly at him. Although he no longer felt the intense fear he once had and had somewhat ″adapted″ to it, those eyes still scared him.
Of course, Fang Yuan noticed this reaction. He moved his hand, placing it on Fang Zheng's shoulder.
"Go on. The road to the future will be interesting."
Fang Yuan turned and walked back into the crowd, not noticing anything strange about his ″new little brother″. Perhaps it was because his memories of this scene from his previous life were fuzzy, or maybe Fang Zheng's current actions resembled those of the original.
Whatever the reason, Fang Yuan acted just as he had in the original story, giving Fang Zheng a little encouragement and even saying the same exact words.
"The road to the future will be interesting, huh?" After Fang Yuan left, a faint smile appeared on Fang Zheng's face. His shivers stopped, and he moved forward, smiling.
The crowd continued to laugh and mock Fang Zheng till the first twenty steps, but as he reached the thirty step, their laughter and mockery began to fade. With each step he took after that, the noise around him died down.
By the time Fang Zheng reached forty step, the young teenagers… Went crazy.
Even the academy elder and the other elders were taken aback. Forty step? This was an A-grade talent, something they hadn't seen in a long time. But Fang Zheng didn't stop there; he kept walking forward.
But When he reached the forty third step, he felt an immeasurable pressure bearing down on him.
"So, this is the limit they talked about huh." Fang Zheng thought. The pressure was nearly crushing him. He could barely stand, let alone take another step.
But then, something extraordinary happened.
Suddenly, an explosion went off—not in the cave, but inside Fang Zheng's own body. It was a heaven shattering explosion, unlike anything he had ever experienced.
As soon as the explosion occurred, the crushing pressure on fang Zheng vanished. A few seconds later, a euphoric feeling began to rise within him.
The feeling was so good that it couldn't be described, at least with any words Fang Zheng knew of.
After briefly losing himself in this joyful feeling, Fang Zheng regained his focus. And When he did, he noticed something new inside his body.
This new presence seemed to exist around his stomach area, yet at the same time, it felt... non-existent. Like an illusion, it was there but also not there at the same time.
Upon discovering this new "part" of his body, a broad, joyful smile appeared on Fang Zheng's face because he knew this was his hope.
To others, this might represent a hopte to gain fame and change their lives.
For some, it could be a turning point in their life—a hope for a fresh start.
And For some, it might be a hope to overcome their struggles.
And For a few other, it could be the hope for revenge, the chance to retaliate against past humiliations.
And for Fang Yuan, this represented the hope for immortality.
This was hope—hope for everything one desires, hope to achieve one's goals in life.
But unlike everyone else, Fang Zheng had no lofty aspirations, no dreams of success, no great ambitions.
For Fang Zheng, this was simply... the hope for survival.