The morning sun rose, its radiance brilliant and colorful.
The mountain mist was not thick. The sunlight, sharp as a blade, pierced through it effortlessly.
Over a hundred fifteen-year-old youths had gathered in front of the Patriarch Pavilion.
The Patriarch Pavilion stood at the very center of the stockade, rising five stories high, with upturned eaves and flying corners, heavily guarded. Before the pavilion lay a plaza, and inside it were enshrined the ancestral tablets of the Guye forebears. Every generation's patriarch lived and resided within as well. Whenever a major ceremony was held or an unexpected crisis arose, the Elders were summoned here for deliberation. It was the power hub of the entire stockade.
"Good, everyone's on time. Today is the Opening Orifice Ceremony—a major turning point in your lives. No need for further talk; follow me." The one in charge of this event was the Academy Elder. His hair and beard were completely white, yet he was hale and spirited as he led the youths into the Patriarch Pavilion.
However, they did not go upstairs. Instead, they passed through an entrance in the ground floor hall and descended.
Following a stone staircase that had been carefully carved out, they entered an underground cavern.
The youths let out exclamations of amazement. The underground cavern was breathtakingly beautiful. Stalactites radiated light in seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—and this radiance fell upon the youths' faces, shimmering like a neon display.
Fang Yuan, mixed in among the crowd, quietly surveyed everything, silently pondering: "Several hundred years ago, the Guye Clan migrated from the Central Land to the Southern Border and settled on Qing Mao Mountain. They chose this place precisely because of the spiritual spring in this underground cavern. The spring produces a great quantity of Yuan Stones—it can be said to be the foundation of the Guye Stockade."
After walking several hundred steps, the surroundings grew increasingly dark, and they could faintly hear the sound of water.
Rounding a bend, a subterranean river over three zhang wide revealed itself before the group.
The colorful glow of the stalactites had completely vanished in this area.
But in the darkness, the river water emitted a faint, ethereal blue luminescence, like a river of stars in the night sky.
The water flowed from the deep darkness of the cavern, crystal clear—so clear that one could see fish swimming within, water grass, and the sand and pebbles at the riverbed.
On the opposite bank lay a sea of flowers.
These were Moon Orchid Petals, deliberately cultivated by the Guye Clan. The petals were shaped like crescent moons, displaying a delicate, elegant blue-pink hue. The flower stems gleamed like jade, and their centers shimmered with a warm luster, like the refraction of light off pearls.
At first glance, against the dark backdrop, the flower sea along the riverbank looked like a vast blue-green carpet adorned with countless pearls.
"Moon Orchids are a food ingredient for many Gu Insects. This flower sea can be said to be the clan's largest cultivation base." Fang Yuan knew this all too well.
"How beautiful."
"It's really gorgeous."
The youths were seeing something entirely new. Their eyes lit up, filled with both excitement and nervousness.
"Alright, now listen as I call your names. Those called will cross this river to the opposite bank. Go as far as you can—the farther, the better. Understood?" the Elder spoke at this moment.
"Understood," the youths responded one after another. In truth, before coming here, they had all heard from family or seniors that the farther one could walk, the better one's aptitude, and the greater one's future achievements would be.
"Gu Yue Chen Bo." The Elder took the roster and called the first name.
Although the river was wide, it was not deep—reaching only to the youths' knees. Chen Bo wore a grave expression as he stepped onto the flower bank.
Immediately, he felt an invisible pressure, as if an invisible wall stood before him, blocking his advance.
Just as he struggled to move forward, a cluster of light particles suddenly rose from the flower sea at his feet. The light particles were sparse and faint, pure white in color.
The luminescence gathered toward Chen Bo and seeped into his body.
Chen Bo instantly felt the pressure drop sharply. That invisible wall suddenly turned soft.
He gritted his teeth and pushed forward with all his strength, forcing his way through. After three steps, the pressure ahead surged once more, just like the wall before—impossible to advance even a single inch further.
Seeing this, the Elder sighed and, recording on the spot, announced: "Gu Yue Chen Bo. Three steps. No Gu Master aptitude. Next—Gu Yue Zao Xie."
Chen Bo's face turned deathly pale. Gritting his teeth, he crossed the river and returned to the starting point. Without aptitude, he could only live as an ordinary person for the rest of his life, occupying the lowest rank within the clan.
His body swayed as though he might collapse. The blow was too devastating—it was tantamount to snuffing out all hope for his entire life.
Many directed looks of pity toward him, while even more turned their attention to the second youth to reach the opposite shore.
Unfortunately, that youth could only manage four steps, also lacking aptitude.
Not everyone possessed the aptitude for cultivation. Generally speaking, if five out of ten people could cultivate, that was considered decent. Within the Guye Clan, this ratio was somewhat higher—reaching six out of ten.
This was because the Guye ancestor, the first patriarch, had been a legendary powerhouse of great renown. Due to his own cultivation, his bloodline carried within it genes capable of bearing power. Because the Guye clansmen shared his blood, their aptitude was generally superior.
Two consecutive failures left the other Elders watching from the shadows looking grim. Even the composed and steady Guye Patriarch furrowed his brow slightly.