Dozens of days passed in the blink of an eye. All fifty-plus new Students had refined their vital Gu, and the Gu Yue Village school finally officially began classes.
The first class was personally taught by the School Elder. The content was precisely instructing the Students on how to nurture their apertures and achieve a Breakthrough in their cultivation Realm.
"A Gu Master's fifth Rank is mortal, the sixth Rank is immortal. To this day, our Gu Yue Village has yet to produce a single Rank Six Gu Immortal, but in our clan's history, there were two Rank Five powerhouses. Do you know who these two were?"
The School Elder's gaze swept across the hall full of Students as he asked in a deep voice.
"I know! Elder!" Gu Yue Mo Bei suddenly raised his hand, his voice booming:
"They are the First Generation Clan Leader and the Fourth Generation Clan Leader! My grandfather told me this himself!"
Gu Yue Mo Bei was the heir of the Mo faction. His grandfather was none other than Gu Yue Mo Chen, one of the two ruling Elders of Gu Yue Village.
"Correct! Mo Bei, you answered extremely well." The School Elder nodded in praise. Gu Yue Mo Bei's face showed a look of pride as he lifted his eyes to provocatively look at his arch-rival—Gu Yue Chi Cheng.
Gu Yue Chi Cheng was the heir of the Chi faction. His grandfather was the other ruling Elder, Gu Yue Chi Lian.
The high-level power structure of the Gu Yue Clan had always been a tripartite balance: one was the Clan Chief's lineage led by Gu Yue Bo; the second was the Chi faction led by Chi Lian; the third was the Mo faction led by Mo Chen.
Seeing Mo Bei steal all the limelight, Gu Yue Chi Cheng felt quite displeased. He immediately raised his hand and said:
"Elder, I also know the related deeds of the Fourth Generation Clan Leader!"
Upon hearing this, the School Elder nodded with a smile. Seemingly greatly encouraged, Gu Yue Chi Cheng took a deep breath and blurted out the entire 'official history' version: how the Flower Wine Walker knelt and begged for mercy, and how the Fourth Generation Clan Leader, due to his kindness and benevolence, was sneak-attacked.
"Hahaha, well said! Chi Cheng, did your grandfather tell you these things as well?" the School Elder laughed heartily.
"Of course! My grandfather is amazing!" Chi Cheng puffed out his chest, his tone full of pride.
Gu Yue Mo Bei's face, however, darkened—obviously, Gu Yue Mo Chen had never told him about this past event.
On the other side, Fang Zheng was secretly thinking to himself:
"Demonic Path people are indeed all crazy. If I had been born in that era, I would have publicly exposed the Flower Wine Walker's ugly true face."
Thinking this, Fang Zheng looked at his own biological brother, wanting to see how Fang Yuan would react upon hearing this story.
But what Fang Zheng absolutely could not believe was that his Genius brother, at this very moment, was actually resting his head on his arms, face buried, motionlessly sleeping.
Fang Yuan and Yuan Fang were indeed very tired. More than ten days ago, they had already broken through the stone wall and entered a secret chamber. Inside the chamber was a heavy boulder and an earth hiding flower.
The earth hiding flower is a Rank Two flower-type Gu insect. However, once it takes root in the ground, it cannot move. It feeds by absorbing earth qi from the soil. Its sole function is to store Gu insects, putting them into a dormant state where they don't need to eat.
And inside this earth hiding flower was a Rank One Strength Path Gu Insect—a white boar gu.
The white boar gu is a very precious Rank One Gu insect, its value even greater than that Rank Two earth hiding flower. In fact, in the Southern Border where earth qi is abundant, earth hiding flowers are almost everywhere.
By using the white boar gu, a Gu Master can permanently gain the strength of one boar. This process takes about a month, and during its use, there is continuous, intense pain.
Every night, while Fang Yuan and Yuan Fang were using the white boar gu, they also had to spare time to nurture their apertures.
Half a month passed like this. Fang Yuan already had half the strength of one boar, plus his own natural strength, enough to lift a wild boar.
It could be said that Fang Yuan stayed up all night. Cultivation cannot replace sleep. Therefore, regarding the lessons taught in the school, Fang Yuan didn't listen at all and simply slept.
"Hmph! This Fang Yuan, does he really think having A-grade aptitude guarantees success? A Gu Master's cultivation relies not only on Aptitude but also on perseverance and persistence. I hadn't noticed before, but this Fang Yuan is actually such a lazy person."
"In contrast, his younger brother Fang Zheng, also with A-grade aptitude, can settle his mind, study diligently, and keep his feet on the ground. Alas, it's just that Fang Yuan has ninety percent True Essence, while Fang Zheng only has eighty percent. If only Fang Zheng had his brother's Aptitude, how wonderful that would be."
"Finally, we get a Genius, but who would have thought he'd be such an unambitious slacker. Alas, the Gu Yue Clan truly is declining with each generation."
The School Elder was extremely dissatisfied with Fang Yuan's performance.
The second class was practicing martial arts.
Both Fang Yuan and Yuan Fang were exceptionally skilled in martial arts, especially Yuan Fang. With his martial prowess, even in Jin Yong's Wuxia novels, he would be on the level of Qiao Feng of the North, Murong of the South, and Dongfang Bubai. Naturally, he still slept and didn't listen to the class.
Of course, in the Gu World, there is no Internal Energy. Relying only on half the strength of one boar, he indeed couldn't match Qiao Feng or Dongfang Bubai, but he could still contend with someone like the Little Dragon Maiden.
It could be said that at this moment, Yuan Fang felt that as long as he added a defensive Gu insect, he wouldn't even fear a Rank Two Gu Master.
The third class was practicing the use of the moonlight gu.
The moonlight gu is shaped like a crescent moon. Once activated, it can shoot out Moon Blades to attack.
Fang Yuan naturally knew how to use the moonlight gu. His combat skills in this aspect even far surpassed those of Gu Yue Bo, a Rank Four Gu Master. As for Yuan Fang, although he was a Grandmaster of martial arts, he indeed didn't know how to use Moon Blades. At this point, Fang Yuan had also slept enough. He stretched his aching muscles and bones and handed over control of the body to Yuan Fang.
Under Fang Yuan's instruction, Yuan Fang learned much faster than the other Students.
Moon Blades danced in the air. By the time class ended, it was noon. The Students chattered excitedly about the Moon Blade attacks. For these fifteen-year-old youths, this was something worth getting excited about all afternoon.
"It's Fang Yuan!" Suddenly, a female Student spoke. Her name was Gu Yue Jin Zhu.
"Hmph! Having A-grade aptitude is one thing. Fang Zheng also has A-grade aptitude yet works so hard. But this Fang Yuan actually sleeps in class, and now he acts all aloof and cold."
Another female Student was also very dissatisfied with this.
"Alas! Have you heard? Fang Yuan already has two Gu insects now. He actually discovered the wine worm. If only I had that Gu..."
At this moment, Fang Yuan had regained control of the body. Last night, Yuan Fang had controlled the body the entire night. He was indifferent to the people around him. Those words sounded to Fang Yuan like the cackling of chickens and the barking of dogs. Fang Yuan's face remained expressionless as he just walked quickly towards the door.
"Hmph! Pretending not to hear? How cowardly." a Student sneered.
"Fang Yuan! What are you doing! Get out of my way immediately!" Gu Yue Mo Bei was trying to leave the schoolhouse but was blocked by Gu Yue Fang Yuan.
"Robbery. One Primeval Stone per person."
"What! You dare..."
Before Gu Yue Mo Bei could finish, a heavy punch met his head. Gu Yue Mo Bei was knocked to the ground, fainting on the spot. Seeing this, the group of Students were furious and immediately began shouting:
"Fang Yuan! You dare hit someone in the school!"
"Fang Yuan! Are you crazy? You're challenging the school's authority!"
"You're finished! Fang Yuan, the School Elder will definitely be angry!"
Gu Yue Fang Yuan listened to everyone's angry shouts and just smiled slightly:
"Hand over one Primeval Stone, and you can avoid physical suffering; hand over one Primeval Stone, and you can leave safely."
"Fang Yuan! You still dare to rob!"
"This Fang Yuan must be drunk and crazy!"
"Brothers, let's attack together. There's strength in numbers."
The leader was Gu Yue Chi Cheng. Chi Cheng took a swift step towards Fang Yuan, his hands forming the 'One Thousand Years of Death' gesture, aiming straight for Fang Yuan's vital point. Fang Yuan merely shifted slightly, dodging it, then raised his left hand and gave a 'whack,' knocking Chi Cheng unconscious.
"Don't be afraid, everyone! No matter how powerful Fang Yuan is, he's just one person!"
Gu Yue Jin Zhu's loud shout directly caught Fang Yuan's attention. In three strides, a heavy fist viciously smashed into Gu Yue Jin Zhu's pretty face, directly cruelly crushing the flower. Followed by a sweeping leg, Gu Yue Jin Zhu fell to the ground with a thud.
"Despicable! This beast dares to use such heavy hands even on a girl."
"There's strength in numbers. Take down Fang Yuan!"
The Students swarmed forward, but Fang Yuan dodged left and right. These past few days, through Yuan Fang's memories, he had also learned the Misty Smoke Steps that Han Li used during his time in the Seven Mysteries Sect.
Although not yet proficient, in the eyes of these new Students, Fang Yuan seemed incredibly profound and unfathomable.
Imagine you are a Student wanting to watch the fight, hiding in the crowd, just trying to slack off. One second, Fang Yuan is dozens of meters away; the next second, he appears behind you like a ghost. Your eyes roll back, your body slumps, and you faint on the spot.
Fang Zheng, meanwhile, had bought a straw puppet at the school's shop. In the blink of an eye, over forty Students including Gu Yue Chi Cheng, Gu Yue Mo Bei, Gu Yue Bei Ju, Gu Yue Peng, and Gu Yue Jin Zhu lay on the ground.
Under Fang Zheng's shocked gaze, his older brother stood in the center of the square like a demon. One hand pressed down on a pitiful female Student, while the other hand rained down blows like a storm.
Terrifying, too terrifying. Was this still his older brother?
"Brother! You... how dare you!"
"You... you dare extort your classmates in the school! Brother, the School Elder will definitely be angry if he sees this! You must go apologize to the Elder, or you'll be expelled from the school!"
At that moment, a few more Students tried to leave. Fang Zheng also wanted to leave the schoolhouse but was blocked by Fang Yuan:
"One Primeval Stone per person."
"Brother, do I have to pay too?"
"Oh, my dear brother, of course you don't have to pay. But your fate will be the same as theirs." Fang Yuan looked mockingly at the people sprawled on the ground.
Soon, a few more people were added to the ground, one of them named Ancient Moon Fangzheng.
And so, all fifty-six Students of the school received the Immortal Venerable's protection.