"It's about time, I can't wait any longer."
As the night fell, Fang Yuan opened his eyes in a dark room.
He already took off his Gu Master uniform and was now wearing a black gown which covered his legs. Matched with his long black hair, he would appear like a specter as he moved in the dark.
He was already used to having long hair in his previous life. Some Gu worms needed long hair to show their abilities, like the Black Hair Gu, Steel Hair Gu and so on.
Having long hair was quite convenient as well. You could just cut it short if there came a time where you had to alter your appearance. But for short hair, to grow it in a short period, one needed to rely on specific Gu worms.
Not long ago, he had made an agreement with Gu Yue Mo Chen. Right now, he had already received the Pig Iron Gu and all forty thousand primeval stones. The only thing remaining was that healing grass Gu.
"I can only forget about the healing Gu now. How can everything go as one wishes, reality is full of helpless choices…."
Fang Yuan sighed, then stood up and lightly opened the door before using the Stealth Scales Gu and disappearing into the night.
He was forced by the circumstances to make this move.
Tie father and daughter were drawing in closer, and his plan to be an envoy to Xiong village had been stopped too.
Xiong village was able to preserve most of their strength; Bai clan and Gu Yue clan didn't dare to be overly forceful, thus the compensation talk ended in failure. The three sides then decided on holding a three-clan competition.
Mo faction might have intentionally recruited Fang Yuan, but this move caused Fang Yuan to be in the middle of the political struggle and draw every elder's hostility.
Also adding in Bai Ning Bing who was growing stronger as he approached his death, the whole situation was becoming more unfavorable to Fang Yuan, forcing him into an impasse.
Even if Fang Yuan was an old fox, he still needed strength to support his schemes. Facing such a situation, despite him already using up all his efforts and strength, making much faster progress than he did in his previous life, his Rank three initial stage cultivation was still not enough to overturn the situation.
"The situation is dire, I can only take a risk and bet on this method!" Fang Yuan thought hard, placing his hopes on the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.
As long as he plucked the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, the spirit spring in the underground cave would be wasted. The clan was sure to madly investigate, but what else besides the investigation?
The spirit spring would already be disabled, and even if they got the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus and destroyed it or put it back into the spirit spring again, the spirit spring would not recover.
What could the clan do to survive then?
There was only one thing: that was to seize a new spirit spring!
However, there were only three spirit springs in Qing Mao mountain and each were occupied by one of the three clans. If one was destroyed by Fang Yuan, then Gu Yue clan had only one choice—to make a choice between the two.
This choice was war, a war with either Bai village or Xiong village.
Only by seizing one of the spirit springs could Gu Yue clan have the foundation to continue its existence.There was no need to talk of Gu Masters being able to support their cultivation without the support of spirit spring.
This move was too dangerous, though. But Fang Yuan had no other choice as the Spring Autumn Cicada was recovering so fast that his aperture was already starting to feel a burden. He didn't have much time, so he could only fight back for a sliver of chance at survival and seek life in death. …
The hall was bright with all the lights.
A Gu Master had already delivered the Photo-audio Gu, but this Gu was currently in Gu Yue Bo's hand."Divine Investigator Tie, what did you think about my request?" Gu Yue Bo asked smilingly.
Tie Ruo Nan lightly snorted.
Tie Xue Leng ruminated for a while before agreeing, "Alright, if Fang Yuan really turns out to be the killer, I will leave enough time for him to participate in the three-clans competition.""Father…." Tie Ruo Nan's eyes flashed with a strange light; this was not her father's style.
"Hehe, Divine Investigator's words are worth a lot and he never breaks his promises. This humble one fully trusts you and also thanks you for understanding." Gu Yue Bo's smile became more gentle, however he coldly hummed inside.
Gu Yue Yao Ji had secretly brought the Tie father and daughter into the underground cave and let them look through the clan's official historical records. How could he as a clan leader not know of this?
But he had to restrain his anger because of the approaching tournament and also the complicated political struggles in the clan.
Tie Xue Leng might be a powerful Rank five expert, but he had no way to appease the dissatisfaction in Gu Yue Bo's heart.
"Fortunately, the genuine contents are all recorded in the clan's secret records and only the successive clan leaders can hold them. That official history is for the outsiders to look." Gu Yue Bo was secretly feeling smug.
Gu Yue clan's historical records were divided into official records and secret records.
Official records were hidden in the secret room in the underground cave and its contents were to brainwash the later generations and was a fake, in fact.
But the secret records recorded all the genuine details without any fake details. There were even records of some secrets that could never be divulged.
For instance, the ritual for summoning the Blood Guillotine Gu which could never be recorded in the official records, but was recorded in detail in the secret records.
"Gu Yue clan leader, my father has agreed to your request, now show us the image." Tie Ruo Nan's tone showed her bad mood.
"Even if Divine Investigator Tie hadn't agreed, I would have fully cooperated with your investigation," Gu Yue Bo gently clarified, then he lightly pinched his fingers, smashing the Photo-audio Gu.
Although the Gu broke into pieces, it instead formed into a ball of seven-colored smoke which contained all sorts of noise.
Gu Yue Bo lightly blew on it; this smoke floated into a wall, but didn't pass through.
Like an ink drop falling into water, a colorful imprint began to appear on the spotless wall.
The imprint grew larger until it formed into an image of the former Awakening Ceremony.
Within this image, Fang Zheng quickly found himself and also many other familiar faces.
All these faces held looks of excitement as they looked all around the cave, their faces full of the immaturity of young. They were like young chicks who had just learned to flap their wings and fly out of the nest.
"That is Fang Yuan….." Similarly, Tie Ruo Nan soon found Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was walking within the group, and although he was looking all around like the rest, his gaze was tranquil and detached. In the group of similar ages, he was like a crane within a group of chicken. If one didn't specifically pay attention to him, normal people wouldn't find any differences between him and the rest.
However, the group in the hall right now were all concentrating on him, exposing this peculiarity.
"Eh? This Fang Yuan is really strange." Right now, even Gu Yue Bo couldn't help but reveal a slightly surprised expression.
The scene on the wall changed to when the group of youths reached the sea of flowers.
The Awakening Ceremony began, and each of the youngsters stepped in the underground river and walked towards the sea of flowers on the opposite bank.
The light of the Hope Gu rose and fell.
There were also the elders' voices which could be clearly heard.
The scenes appeared with such clarity that it felt like one was really there.
First, it was Gu Yue Mo Bei who was found to have B grade aptitude, causing an uproar, then Gu Yue Chi Cheng was also tested to have B grade aptitude.
"It really is strange, this Gu Yue Chi Cheng looks too nervous. His body movements are stiff and his skin color is also not normal, it is just that the light in the underground is dim. But if one carefully looks into it, they will find that something has been applied on his body and that is what is attracting the Hope Gu.
Hehe, this is clearly a cheat." Tie Ruo Nan was confident as she observed this.But in the next moment, she immediately frowned.
It was Fang Yuan's turn. He stepped into the river and started moving towards the opposite bank.
The light from the Hope Gu wasn't vigorous. The higher the hope, the greater the disappointment, and the sighs from the youths and the elders could be heard by everyone in the group.
Everything seemed normal, but Tie Ruo Nan's frowns got even deeper. Because Fang Yuan's expression was calm all along the way.
At that time, his back was facing the elders and the youths; they couldn't see his expression. However, as Tie Ruo Nan observed as a spectator, she saw that Fang Yuan's expression didn't change at all, indifferent and cold.
It was as if, as if…..he already knew this would happen!
"This is impossible! If it was me in his place, a fifteen year old with everyone's expectations on me, but was tested to only have C grade aptitude, how could I not feel the least bit of frustration, disappointment and discouragement? How can this be, how can this be!?" Tie Ruo Nan's frowns were almost forming a knot.
Huge doubts and suspicions covered her mind, even stifling her breaths.
Her heart was beating loudly at this moment as all her thoughts flashed through her mind.
What is going on?
How could this be?
"Wait a moment, aptitude…. Could it be?!" Tie Ruo Nan suddenly raised her head. Her intuition had activated and an extremely bold and crazy conjecture formed in her mind.
Light and shadow reflected upon Fang Zheng's face.
The Awakening Ceremony had been the most important turning point in his life.
Before the Awakening Ceremony, he was living a low and insignificant life; a nobody. After the Awakening Ceremony, however, his life was completely changed. He was basked in the lights and his confidence also burst out.
In his memories, the Awakening Ceremony was a picture of blurriness; he had passed through it without even realizing it.
Right now, as he observed this as a spectator, complicated emotions rose up in his heart which he couldn't explain with words.
Fang Zheng looked at himself when it was his turn. He remembered how inferior and weak he had felt at that time.
Soon, he saw how he had tumbled down into the river and struggled to get up, and was pulled up by his brother Fang Yuan, how he had cut out a sorry figure.
A smile appeared on his face—this was the former him, the one who was ridiculed by many!
Then he saw himself walking absent-mindedly towards the opposite bank, and saw his body being enveloped by the lights of the Hope Gu along with the shocks and admiration of many.
That time was a moment of glory, a moment of miracle!
An A grade aptitude, his life would no longer be the same from that moment!
"Fang Zheng, I have a question." Tie Ruo Nan suddenly spoke, breaking Fang Zheng's recollection.
"What is it? Please ask. I will definitely answer everything I know," Fang Zheng turned around with a smile.
"It's about your brother. When your brother pulled you up, I saw his mouth moving, but there was too much noise in the surroundings. What did he say to you, could you tell me the exact words he told?" Tie Ruo Nan asked with a bright gaze.
"His words….." Fang Zheng tried to recall, "He seemed to have said… road?"
"Right. It was road." Fang Zheng's eyes brightened, "I remember it. He said to me, 'The road to the future will be interesting'. Huh?
Strange, I didn't think anything of it at that time, but now that I recall it, I think brother's words contained profound meaning… as if, as if he already knew I had A grade aptitude!""No, he didn't mean the A grade aptitude, but something else." Tie Ruo Nan's body trembled, her expression complicated as she let out a breath of turbid air.