The Gu True Man

The weather is unpredictable, and refining Gu is extremely arduous.

Pat-pat-pat... Raindrops the size of soybeans fell densely. They hit the verdant bamboo building, making crisp sounds.

In the pond in front of the building, the water surface was battered by the raindrops. Fish darted happily in the water, and aquatic plants swayed at the bottom of the pond. Dark clouds filled the sky, and the entire view was obscured by a thick, heavy curtain of rain. In the somewhat dim room, the window was open, and Fang Yuan watched the heavy rain quietly, letting out a soft sigh in his heart: "It's already been three days and three nights."

Three nights ago, he had carried two jars of wine, left the mountain stronghold, and continued to explore the surrounding area. But late at night, a torrential downpour began. Being soaked to the skin was nothing; the key was that under such circumstances, he could no longer explore around. Rainwater could quickly wash away the smell of wine, and if he forced himself to explore in the rain, it would likely arouse suspicion. Previously, he had pretended to be a frustrated drunkard to cover up his true motives. But one must never underestimate others' wisdom—only fools think others are foolish.

Thus, reluctantly, Fang Yuan had to stop his exploration. And once this rain started, it kept going, now heavier, now lighter, now denser, now sparser, but never stopping.

"In this case, I won't be able to find the Wine Worm anytime soon. To be safe, I'll have to start refining the Moonlight Gu first. If I can find the Wine Worm while refining it, that's best; if not, I'll just have to make do. But this is nothing out of the ordinary. Misfortune comes unexpectedly like the weather. Who in this world can have everything go smoothly and perfectly all the time?" Fang Yuan's state of mind was calm. Five hundred years of experience had long washed away the little impetuosity he had in his temperament.

He closed the window and door, crossed his legs, and sat on the couch. He slowly closed his eyes, regulated his breathing, then sank his mind.

In the next moment, the image of his own Empty Aperture appeared in his mind.

Although the Empty Aperture resided in his body, it was extraordinarily mysterious—infinitely large and infinitely small.

Outside the Empty Aperture was a layer of light membrane. The white light membrane looked very thin but**** supported the Empty Aperture.

Inside the Empty Aperture was a sea of True Essence.

The water was bronze-colored, the surface as calm as a mirror, and the water level was roughly half the height of the Empty Aperture. The entire volume of this True Essence Sea occupied 44% of the Empty Aperture.

This was the Bronze True Essence Sea of a First-Level Gu Master. Every drop of water was True Essence—it was Fang Yuan's life force, the condensation of his essence, energy, and spirit.

Every drop of True Essence was precious, for it was the foundation of a Gu Master, the source of power. It was by relying on True Essence that Gu Masters could refine and** (activate) Gu worms.

Withdrawing his mind from the True Essence Sea, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and took out the Moonlight Gu from his bosom.

The Moonlight Gu lay quietly in his palm, like a curved blue moon—small, exquisite, and translucent.

With a thought from Fang Yuan, the True Essence Sea in his Empty Aperture immediately surged. A stream of True Essence broke through the sea surface, was channeled outside his body, and poured entirely into the Moonlight Gu.

The Moonlight Gu suddenly emitted a faint blue glow, trembling slightly in Fang Yuan's palm, resisting the influx of his True Essence.

Gu are the essence of heaven and earth, the codes of the Great Dao, the carriers of laws. They are also living beings, born free, with their own will. Now that Fang Yuan wanted to refine it, meaning to erase its will, sensing this crisis, the Moonlight Gu naturally resisted.

The refining process was extremely difficult.

The Moonlight Gu was like a curved crescent. When the bronze-colored True Essence was injected into the crescent, it first dyed the two tips of the crescent green.

Then, this bronze-green hue began to spread toward the middle of the crescent.

In less than three minutes, a pale tinge appeared on Fang Yuan's face. A large amount of True Essence kept pouring into the Moonlight Gu, causing waves of bone-deep weakness to surge continuously into his heart.

Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent... Eighty percent, ninety percent, one hundred percent (of a tenth)...

Ten minutes later, Fang Yuan's True Essence Sea had consumed a full 10% of its True Essence. But on the surface of the Moonlight Gu, which was like a blue crystal, the two bronze-green spots at the tips of the crescent had only expanded a tiny bit toward the middle.

The resistance of the Moonlight Gu was extremely stubborn.

Fortunately, Fang Yuan had anticipated this, so he wasn't surprised. He persisted in infusing True Essence into the Moonlight Gu.

Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent.

After another twenty minutes, only 14% of the True Essence Sea remained in Fang Yuan's body. The bronze-green hue on the Moonlight Gu had expanded a little; if the two patches of green were added together, they accounted for about one-twelfth of the entire surface of the Moonlight Gu.

The rest of the surface remained the light blue color of the Moonlight Gu itself.

"Refining Gu is hard indeed," Fang Yuan sighed secretly at the sight, cutting off the supply of True Essence and stopping the refinement of the Moonlight Gu.

Up to this point, he had been refining the Gu for a full half-hour. The True Essence Sea in his Empty Aperture had been depleted by more than half, leaving only 14% of True Essence remaining. Yet the Moonlight Gu had only been refined by one-twelfth.

What was even more unacceptable was that the Moonlight Gu still emitted a faint blue glow. Although Fang Yuan had stopped refining, it didn't stop resisting, still expelling Fang Yuan's bronze True Essence.

Fang Yuan could clearly feel that the True Essence he had poured into the Moonlight Gu was being*** expelled by it, dissipating outside his body. The bronze-green hue at the two tips of the crescent on the Moonlight Gu was also slowly shrinking.

Judging from the rate of this reduction, in about six hours, the Moonlight Gu would expel all of Fang Yuan's True Essence. By then, refining this Gu again would be no different from starting over.

"Every time you refine a Gu, it's like a battle between two armies—a positional war, a war of attrition. The Gu has only been refined by one-twelfth, yet I've consumed a full 30% of my True Essence. To refine a Gu, a Gu Master must replenish the True Essence in their sea while continuously refining to consolidate their gains. Refining Gu tests not only the skill of channeling True Essence but also the patience for a protracted war."

As Fang Yuan thought this, he took out an Essence Stone from his money pouch.

Gu Masters