Inside his room, Fang Ming sat cross-legged.
The door was shut tight, and the room was quiet.
A whole months passed after the caravan matter, his situation had changed completely.
Before this, Fang Ming had been short on primeval stones. Even with Liquor Worm helping him refine jade-green primeval essence into pale-green primeval essence, he could not cultivate as freely as he wanted. Most of the time, he still had to rely on his aperture recovering naturally, sharply reducing Moonlight Gu practice just to save primeval essence for cultivation.
But now it was different.
After selling Liquor Worm to the caravan, then later selling Green Blood Cockroach Gu to a Gu Yue clansman, Fang Ming had more than 1,000 primeval stones on hand.
This amount was not enough for true long-term security, but for a Rank 1 academy student, it completely changed his current situation. He no longer had to count every primeval stone carefully or stop cultivating just because his aperture was empty.
From now on, speed came first.
Expenditure came second.
Fang Ming had also copied Fang Yuan's Liquor Worm again.
He had not exposed it yet, but he already knew that hiding it forever was impossible. With A-grade aptitude, enough primeval stones, and Liquor Worm refining his primeval essence, his cultivation speed would soon surpass Fang Zheng by a wide margin. If he continued to hide the Liquor Worm, there would be no reasonable explanation for his progress.
Fang Ming had no intention of slowing himself down just to appear ordinary.
If the Gu Yue elders questioned him later, he would simply admit that he had obtained Liquor Worm from the gambling den.
The explanation was already prepared.
The half-opened rock that Jia Jin Sheng tried to forcefully buy had contained a Gu. Fang Ming had seen a trace of white skin inside and stopped opening it because he was tired. Jia Jin Sheng noticed something unusual and wanted to take it, which led to the fight.
Later, Fang Ming opened it privately and obtained Liquor Worm.
As for Snow Larva Gu, Fang Ming would keep it hidden and sell it later when there was a chance. It was not important enough to expose now.
Liquor Worm was different.
Its value to his current cultivation was too great.
If the elders believed him, good.
If they doubted him, so what?
He had opened a living Gu in public already. He had nearly opened a second Gu in front of many witnesses. Jia Jin Sheng had indeed tried to interfere. The excuse had enough surface logic.
Fang Ming was simply lucky.
What could they do about it?
Inside his aperture, the jade-green primeval sea was calm.
The Liquor Worm floated above the sea, its fat white body giving off a faint wine fragrance. Under Fang Ming's will, it absorbed jade-green primeval essence and refined it into Rank 1 middle-stage pale-green primeval essence.
The pale-green essence sank back into the sea.
Compared with jade-green primeval essence, pale-green primeval essence was stronger, denser, and far more useful for tempering aperture walls. Fang Ming was still Rank 1 initial stage, but with Liquor Worm, he could use essence 1 small stage above his own level to push his cultivation forward.
This was the real value of Liquor Worm.
Combat improvement was only secondary.
A moonblade released with pale-green primeval essence was faster and stronger, and the same amount of essence allowed Fang Ming to release nearly twice as many attacks. But for Fang Ming, the most important thing was still cultivation speed.
He wanted Rank 2 before graduation.
For that, he could not cultivate slowly.
Fang Ming closed his eyes.
His mind entered his aperture.
The pale-green primeval sea surged under his will.
"Rise."
The primeval essence moved.
At first, the waves were small, only faint ripples rolling across the surface of the sea. Then, as Fang Ming pushed more primeval essence forward, the ripples grew into waves, rushing toward the surrounding aperture walls.
Splash.
Splash.
Splash.
Each wave struck the white light wall.
Most of the primeval essence scattered back into the sea after impact, but a small portion transformed into invisible energy, seeping into the aperture wall and tempering it.
Fang Ming did not stop.
Primeval essence was consumed quickly, but beside him were enough primeval stones. When the sea level dropped, he absorbed essence from the stones, recovered, and continued pushing forward.
Again.
And again.
Pale-green waves crashed against the aperture wall without pause.
The white light wall trembled faintly.
Fang Ming's expression remained calm.
This was not the first time he had tempered his aperture wall, but tonight was different. Before, he had always been limited by resources. If his primeval essence ran low, he had to stop and wait. Every round of cultivation had to be calculated carefully.
Now, he could continue.
Primeval stones dimmed one after another beside him.
The natural essence inside them entered his aperture, transformed into his own primeval essence, then passed through Liquor Worm and became pale-green essence before crashing into the aperture wall.
The process was dull.
Repetitive.
Expensive.
But effective.
The white light wall gradually grew brighter.
Fang Ming sensed the change and pushed harder.
The pale-green sea surged violently, waves rising higher than before and slamming into the aperture wall from all directions. The light wall shook again, and the gentle white color became sharper, almost dazzling.
This was the crucial point.
Fang Ming did not hesitate.
More primeval essence surged upward.
The waves crashed again and again, and after several breaths, thin strips of white light began to appear on the aperture wall. They flowed across the surface like water, colliding, merging, and spreading until the entire wall seemed to soften.
The original light wall began to change.
Its surface was no longer only a layer of white light. It thickened, condensed, and slowly transformed into a spherical water wall. Faint ripples moved across it, flowing continuously with a soft white glow.
Rank 1 middle stage.
Fang Ming opened his eyes.
The room was still dark, but faint light had begun to seep through the window.
The night had passed without him noticing.
Several primeval stones beside him had already turned dull and useless, their natural essence fully drained. The cost was not small, but Fang Ming did not care.
He had broken through.
Rank 1 middle stage meant more primeval essence, stronger cultivation foundation, and greater efficiency when using Moonlight Gu. With Liquor Worm, his middle-stage pale-green primeval essence could now be refined into Rank 1 upper-stage dark-green primeval essence.
His speed would only become faster from here.
Fang Ming looked toward the dim sky outside the window.
He did not rush to report his advancement.
There was no need.
It was still late in the night, Whether he reported tonight or tomorrow made no difference. Fang Yuan would still need around 1 month before breaking through, with Fang Zheng and the others following after that.
Fang Ming closed his eyes again and steadied his breathing.