Based on the uploaded chapter draft and the edited points.
Chapter 4: Refining the Moonlight Gu
The academy's Gu room stood beside the classroom.
It was not large, but to the youths who had just opened their apertures, this room was more important than any ordinary treasure vault. A Gu Master's strength began with Gu. Without Gu, primeval essence was only potential. It had no blade, no shield, and no method to reveal its power.
After the academy elder dismissed the class, the students hurried over with excitement on their faces.
Outside the Gu room, guards maintained order and instructed the students to form a line and enter one by one. The youths quickly obeyed, though their whispers did not stop. Some discussed Gu that could attack, some wanted defensive Gu, and others had already received instructions from their families, so they only needed to follow what had been arranged for them.
Fang Ming stood quietly among them.
He had already made his decision.
When his turn came, he stepped into the Gu room without hesitation.
The room was dim and filled with faint sounds. Chirping, clicking, rustling, and soft wingbeats mixed together, forming a strange rhythm of life. The 4 walls were filled with square holes, and inside those holes were different containers: stone basins, jade plates, grass cages, clay pots, and small wooden boxes.
Each container held a Rank 1 Gu.
Fang Ming walked slowly, his eyes passing over them.
There were many Gu here, and some seemed more unusual than others, but Fang Ming did not waste time being distracted. He was still a true beginner on the Gu Master path. At this stage, choosing something strange was not cleverness. It was gambling.
The Moonlight Gu was different.
It was the Gu Yue clan's signature Gu, useful, standard, easy to use, and easy to feed inside the clan. The clan had many records and teachings related to it, and its advancement paths were clear, numerous, and easy to obtain from the clan.
For someone who had just stepped onto the Gu Master path, this was the best option.
Fang Ming stopped before a row of silver plates.
On each plate lay a crescent-shaped Gu, clear blue and crystalline, like a small piece of cold moonlight.
This was the Moonlight Gu.
Fang Ming chose one and placed it carefully into his clothes.
It was very light, almost weightless, but he did not underestimate it. This would become his vital Gu. If it was damaged, he would suffer, and if it died, the blow would be even heavier.
This was not a toy from a story.
It was a living creature, a weapon, and a foundation.
After leaving the Gu room, Fang Ming returned home directly.
The first assessment had already begun. Whoever refined their vital Gu first would receive 20 primeval stones. To the current Fang Ming, 20 primeval stones were not a small amount, but the reward itself was not the only prize.
Fang Zheng had the clan head behind him.
Fang Ming had the Shi faction behind him.
The comparison between the 2 A-grade talents could not be avoided.
If he won, his value would rise.
And more value meant more resources.
That afternoon, rain began to fall.
At first, it was light, but by evening it had turned heavy, covering Qing Mao Mountain in a dense curtain of water.
Inside his room, Fang Ming sat cross-legged with the Moonlight Gu resting in his palm. Beside him were several primeval stones provided by the Shi faction, and he accepted this support calmly.
He closed his eyes and looked inward.
His aperture appeared in his mind, containing a deep green copper primeval sea. His A-grade aptitude showed its value clearly. The primeval sea was full, stable, and far superior to that of ordinary students.
The first step had succeeded.
Now came the second.
With a thought, Fang Ming moved his primeval essence.
Green copper essence flowed from his aperture and entered the Moonlight Gu, causing its crescent body to tremble as a blue glow appeared.
The Gu resisted the foreign primeval essence, and Fang Ming immediately felt pressure.
The Gu had its own will.
Refinement meant grinding that will away.
Reading about Gu refinement and experiencing it were completely different.
In memory, refinement sounded simple: pour in essence, suppress resistance, and complete ownership. But now that Fang Ming was doing it himself, he understood the hardship.
The Moonlight Gu resisted every moment, like a door being pushed from the other side without rest. A thin layer of green appeared at the tips of the crescent, but Fang Ming did not rush. He controlled the flow of primeval essence carefully while the rain beat against the roof.
Time passed slowly.
His primeval essence decreased, and when it dropped to a dangerous point, Fang Ming stopped, picked up a primeval stone, and absorbed the natural essence inside before continuing.
Refinement.
Recovery.
Refinement again.
This became the entire rhythm of the night.
There was no shortcut and no glorious scene, only patience, endurance, and constant pressure against the Gu's resistance.
By midnight, Fang Ming's face had turned pale. His mind felt heavy, and his palm had grown stiff from holding the Moonlight Gu.
The process was dull.
Painfully dull.
There was no battle cry, no flash of blade light, and no instant breakthrough. There was only repeated refinement, repeated recovery, and repeated pressure against resistance.
But Fang Ming was not unfamiliar with this kind of suffering.
In his previous life, Fang Ming had long understood the dullness behind progress. Most achievements were not born from excitement, but from repeating dry, exhausting work long after the mind had already grown tired.
So he continued.
Whenever exhaustion rose, he suppressed it. Whenever his mind grew heavy, he steadied his breathing. Whenever the Moonlight Gu resisted, he poured primeval essence forward again.
Comfort could wait.
Victory could not.
The rain fell for the whole night, then the next day, and then the next night.
For 3 days, the sound of rain almost never stopped.
During these 3 days, Fang Ming remained inside. He ate quickly, rested briefly, and spent nearly all his energy refining the Moonlight Gu.
The Gu's resistance weakened bit by bit.
The green copper essence slowly occupied more of its crescent body.
At first, the progress was difficult to see. Later, it became clearer. The blue light that originally belonged to the Moonlight Gu was gradually suppressed, while the color of Fang Ming's primeval essence spread deeper and deeper.
On the 3rd night, the rain finally weakened.
Fang Ming held a dim primeval stone in 1 hand and the Moonlight Gu in the other. Most of the Gu's crescent body had already been covered by his green copper essence, and only the final portion remained.
The Moonlight Gu's resistance became fiercer, as if it also sensed the end approaching.
Fang Ming's breathing slowed.
This was the critical point.
He absorbed the last useful essence from the primeval stone, replenished his aperture, and guided another stream of primeval essence into the Gu.
The green color advanced bit by bit while the blue glow struggled.
Fang Ming's face grew paler, and his hand trembled slightly, but his mind remained steady.
He could not fail here.
Another quarter hour passed.
Then another.
Finally, the last trace of blue vanished.
The Moonlight Gu became still as its resistance disappeared.
At the same time, Fang Ming felt a faint connection form between himself and the Gu in his palm. It was delicate but clear, like a thread tied between his life and this small crescent moon.
Fang Ming opened his eyes.
His vital Gu had been refined.
For a moment, he simply sat there, quietly feeling the connection.
Then he exhaled.
Outside the window, the rain had stopped.
The room smelled of damp wood and exhausted effort. Several primeval stones had become dull and useless, and Fang Ming's body was tired while his mind ached.
Even so, his eyes were bright.
He had won his first private battle.
Now he had to turn it into public victory.
Before dawn, Fang Ming stood, tidied his clothes, and left the room.
The air outside was cold and clean after the storm. Water dripped from bamboo leaves, mist lingered between the houses, and most of the village had not yet woken.
Fang Ming walked toward the academy alone.