Many people gathered around Fang Yuan, if not to congratulate him, but to hear the full story from the horse's mouth.
Fang Yuan excused himself as fast as possible to get away from these people to begin cultivating the moment that the academy day ended.
While his gains were good, it would be for the better if he also was the first to refine the Moonlight Gu as well.
However, the odds of that working out were minimal. He had spent too much time not just looking for the Liquor Worm, but also with the fallout from informing the village elders about his finding.
Still, it was worth it for him.
He took out the Liquor Worm, which had woken up and had likely recovered by now, and immediately began instilling his primeval essence into it.
It immediately woke up and began resisting.
After all, gu were living creatures, and would fight back if someone tried to erase their will- which is what Fang Yuan was doing.
He quickly expended nearly all of the primeval essence in his aperture, and to his chagrin, he had barely made any progress despite his primeval essence now filling 50% of the aperture.
This Liquor Worm was more than four times as hard to refine as the Moonlight Gu- and he quickly assessed why. It had once been the Flower Wine Monk's vital gu, and had inherited a portion of his will.
'Man was the spirit of all things'- naturally, the will of a person was greater than that of a gu worm.
Fang Yuan considered his options.
He could take out the Liquor Worm from his inventory and refine it instead, it should have been easier to refine than this one. The issue was that he wasn't sure of that fact, and secondly, how was he going to explain where he got it from? That, and he would now have two gu worms to feed.
He could also use the Green Copper Relic Gu and advance a minor realm, his primeval essence would improve and that would also improve his speed- but he wanted to save it to upgrade it to Red Steel Relic Gu in the future. It was not worth it to use it now.
With those two options out of the way, there was only one thing to do- use primeval stones!
He estimated that it would take between forty and fifty to refine the Liquor Worm. This was a massive sum, though, he had more than enough after doing so many daily quests.
If it was one of the other students in his place, they would've greatly hesitated to spend so many primeval stones to refine a gu worm, and likely would've gone with the other two options that he had thought of.
However- what was the point of primeval stones? It was to help in cultivation, after all. As it was it was difficult for him to spend them otherwise.
Fang Yuan began absorbing primeval stones without regard, and slowly, he began to make progress.
The Liquor Worm fiercely resisted, and time began to pass so swiftly that Fang Yuan hadn't even realized when it was midnight.
His stomach growled- he went to the inn (the innkeeper was none too happy to be woken up at this time but said nothing in front of a Gu Master) ate, and then immediately came back to try again.
The Liquor Worm seemed to have realized that even if it continued to resist like this, that it would soon be refined by Fang Yuan and so changed tactics.
It leapt into the air and dived into his aperture.
It was counterattacking!
Fang Yuan immediately mobilized the primeval essence in his aperture. This would've shaken someone without his rich 500 years of experience, but while this was dangerous, there was also a silver lining to this. If he defeated the Liquor Worm, its will to resist would greatly drop, making the subsequent refinement easier.
However, just as Fang Yuan was prepared to throw hands, something emerged from the depths of his primeval sea.
It was a cicada whose body resembled the wooden rings of a tree, with fading and dying leaves for wings on its back.
The Spring Autumn Cicada!
All this time, Fang Yuan had thought that it had been a single-use gu, which would be consumed after it had activated. But no- it turned out that it had traveled alongside him as he went back 500 years in time!
It had been awakened when it had sense something invading its territory, and it immediately countered the Liquor Worm.
The Spring Autumn Cicada was a rank 6 gu worm, its mere aura was enough to cause the Liquor Worm to immediately freeze- much like wild animals, gu also had hierarchies, and it was thoroughly suppressed by the vast difference in power between it and the Spring Autumn Cicada.
Success!
Secret Mission Complete!
Ideal Vital Gu
Reward: Cultivation Blessing - Surefire Success [Guarantees The Activation And Success of Using the Spring Autumn Cicada]
New Secret Mission Unlocked:
Save Me Spring Autumn Cicada-chan, You're My Only Hope!
Description: ???
Reward: ???
Fang Yuan assessed his reward- it looked like it was offering him a way to use the Spring Autumn Cicada without the risk of it failing.
That said, even with this Cultivation Blessing he was sure that it would fail if he activated it now.
The Spring Autumn Cicada was much different from how it had been when he had first refined it- it had healthy green leaves and a vibrant hue to its body. Now, it looked close to death with wilted yellow leaves and the wooden body of a tree close to death.
Still, a rabbit would not fight a tiger, even if it was a wounded tiger, which is how it had been able to suppress the Liquor Worm.
He had sacrificed everything to use the Spring Autumn Cicada, which is how it had become his vital gu.
This was excellent, a far better choice than either the Moonlight Gu or the Liquor Worm. It was like being handed a Legendary as your starter Pokemon, it was not only unbelievable but also extremely broken. With it, any gu worm Rank 4 or lower could be refined by him instantly, giving him a massive leg up compared to anyone else.
With the Liquor Worm cowed, he instilled it with his primeval essence, finding no resistance at all as he refined it. Similarly, using the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura, he was able to refine the Moonlight Gu instantly.
He then set out for the academy elder's house- he had a reward to claim!