"With my Grade C aptitude, the Yuan Sea stored within my Empty Orifice can hold no more than forty-four percent at most. The speed at which Gu Insects reject True Essence far exceeds my own rate of True Essence recovery. If I want to refine a Gu Insect, I must rely on external force — meaning I have to consume Yuan Stones."
"The weaker the Gu Insect's will, the less resistance it puts up, and the easier the refinement. But all living creatures possess an instinct for survival. To refine the Moonlight Gu, I'll need at least five Yuan Stones, and at most eight." Drawing upon his vast cultivation experience, Fang Yuan estimated the total number of Yuan Stones he would have to expend.
"Now, to refine the Wine Worm, I'll need at least eleven, and at most sixteen." Although the Wine Worm and the Moonlight Gu were both First Transformation Gu Insects, the Wine Worm was undoubtedly rarer, and the difficulty of refining it had increased as well.
In other words, even though Fang Yuan now possessed seventeen Yuan Stones, after refining the Wine Worm he would be left with at most six, and at the very least only one.
In the night sky, a slender crescent moon radiated its brilliant light.
Moonlight fell like a fairy's gentle hand, softly caressing Guye Stockade. The bamboo towers along the way stood in rows like jade tablets.
A cool night breeze blew gently.
Beneath this moonlight, Fang Yuan returned to the tavern.
The tavern's door had already been shut.
Fang Yuan knocked loudly — bang, bang, bang.
"I hear it! I hear it! Who's knocking this late at night..." the tavern hand muttered as he opened the door, bleary-eyed.
But when he caught sight of Fang Yuan standing at the entrance, his expression of mild annoyance and lethargy changed in an instant. He bent at the waist, breaking into an obsequious grin. "It's the young master. What a privilege for this lowly one to open the door for you."
Fang Yuan nodded, his expression cold, and walked into the tavern.
This demeanor only made the hand smile more humbly. He proactively asked, "Is the young master hungry? Shall this lowly one notify the cook to prepare a few small dishes as a late-night snack?"
"That won't be necessary." Fang Yuan shook his head and simply instructed, "Prepare some hot water for me. I need to wash up."
"Yes!" The hand nodded hastily. "Please return to your room first, young master. I guarantee the hot water will be sent up immediately."
Fang Yuan gave a faint grunt, stepped onto the stairs, and headed to the second floor.
The hand watched Fang Yuan's retreating figure, his eyes glinting in the lamplight, an unmistakable look of envy on his face.
"So that's a Gu Master... If only I had cultivation aptitude, how wonderful that would be!" He clenched his fist and let out a deep sigh.
The words drifted into Fang Yuan's ears, and he couldn't help but laugh bitterly to himself.
Gu Masters could wield power beyond mortals, becoming people above other people. But the price paid for that power was steep.
The first obstacle was financial resources.
Cultivation required Yuan Stones, battle required Yuan Stones, Gu refinement required Yuan Stones, trade required Yuan Stones.
Without Yuan Stones, how could anyone cultivate?
This was something a mortal tavern hand, merely an onlooker, could never truly appreciate.
Just like that evening, when the young Gu Master Jiang Ya, in a fit of frustration upon smashing the wine jar, vented his grievances at the hunters: He himself couldn't bear to spend Yuan Stones on this Green Bamboo Wine, yet here you mortals — nothing but common hunters — had money to spare for it!
One could read the broader picture from a single detail. That one sentence alone revealed the plight of Gu Master cultivation.
Gu Masters possessed great power and earned more than mortals, but their expenditures were equally enormous. Often, every single Yuan Stone had to be carefully accounted for. This was especially true for low-ranked, minor Gu Masters.
Never mind that some Gu Masters appeared prosperous on the surface — in reality, their lives were often quite straitened.
"Moreover, as a Gu Master's realm advances, their demand for resources grows ever more vast. Without a patron, a Gu Master's cultivation is a treacherous path." Fang Yuan reflected on his previous life and understood this acutely.
He returned to his room and had just lit the lamp when the tavern hand arrived with a basin of hot water.
Along with it came a cloth towel and other washing necessities.
Fang Yuan dismissed the hand, shut the door, slid the latch into place, freshened up, and then climbed into bed.
Although his body felt some fatigue, a lingering excitement still coursed through his mind. "I've finally obtained the Wine Worm. The Wine Worm is even more precious than the Moonlight Gu — in a sense, it's a Gu that can enhance a Gu Master's aptitude!"
Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the Wine Worm.
The Wine Worm was still sound asleep. It was slightly larger than the Moonlight Gu, tender and white, resembling a silkworm larva.
Under the lamplight, its body was enveloped in a faint, luminous glow — a luster as smooth and round as a pearl. Its two eyes, like a pair of black sesame seeds, were set into its plump white head, giving it an endearingly naive appearance.
Held in his palm, it weighed very little — roughly half the weight of an egg.
Drawing closer to sniff, he caught a faint thread of wine fragrance wafting from its body.
This aroma was not the scent of Green Bamboo Wine, but rather a fragrance emitted naturally by the Wine Worm itself. It was delicate and ethereal, seeming to appear and vanish at will. Fang Yuan's nostrils flared as he inhaled the wine-scented vapor deep into his body.
The wine-scented essence flowed downward, entered directly into his Empty Orifice, and plunged into the bronze-colored Yuan Sea.
The Yuan Sea rippled once, then quickly absorbed and integrated the wine essence. A wisp of exceedingly pure True Essence was born from it.
The rest of his True Essence was emerald green, shimmering with a coppery metallic luster.