At the peak of the ten-thousand-foot golden sand hill, after Lin Yan spoke, the Thousand Wishes Tree remained silent for a long time. Then, the small twisted tree suddenly trembled, and from the radiant tree behind it, countless pink blossoms slowly fell.
Lin Yan picked up dozens of stamens, laughed, then sat cross-legged beneath the small tree, closed his eyes, and entered his dream. Using these pure Human Path materials, he began deducing a new Gu that could improve aptitude.
This time, he remained immersed for a full month. With the accelerated time flow, it was equivalent to nearly two years of continuous deduction. His thoughts surged without rest, countless ideas forming and collapsing, refined again and again through failure.
After enduring all of it, he finally succeeded and created a completely new Gu, which he named the Aptitude Relic Gu.
Lin Yan opened his eyes, his face pale with exhaustion, yet his expression was filled with joy. The Thousand Wishes Tree's materials were far more powerful than he expected. Even a small amount carried the nature of the fruit itself—high compatibility and the ability to merge with almost anything.
As expected of Rank 7 immortal material. Even this small use pushed his Gu Recipe forward by a huge step. Without wasting time, Lin Yan began refining Gu on the spot. He took out three White Silver Relic Gu, four Red Steel Relic Gu, and six Green Copper Relic Gu, then used the petals of the Thousand Wishes Tree as supplementary materials.
This time, he was not just refining a new Gu. He had also figured out how to merge Relic Gu and raise their rank. The Relic Gu was fundamentally the same at every level. The only difference was the amount of accumulated human Qi contained within them.
Three Green Copper Relic Gu could be fused into one Red Steel Relic Gu, and the same pattern continued upward. The entire system followed a base-three structure, matching the increase in strength between different levels of primeval essence.
The Gu, Lin Yan was refining now—the Aptitude Relic Gu—was already at Rank 5. It used a large number of Relic Gu as its core materials, combined with a trace of Rank 7 immortal material from the Thousand Wishes Tree.
A vague but firm intuition rose in his heart. This refinement… would succeed in one attempt.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
The radiant tree behind the Thousand Wishes Tree suddenly shone brighter, its light surging upward. A cascade of brilliance poured down from above, covering the entire sand hill in a soft glow.
Beneath the tree, Lin Yan raised his hand. Between his fingers, a five-colored lotus slowly bloomed, its petals layered and radiant. At the center, within the pistil, a perfectly round five-colored pearl floated quietly, releasing a deep and mysterious aura.
The Aptitude Relic Gu… was successfully refined. At this moment, Lin Yan felt his mind clear and bright. A flash of insight struck him like lightning cutting through darkness—his attainment had advanced. Refinement Path reaches master and Human Path quasi-Master.
From the first idea of the Aptitude Relic Gu until now, he had spent nearly ten years inside his dreams, refining them again and again. Countless failures, endless adjustments of Barrier-Breaking Relic Gu… until everything finally reached completion.
"The road ahead is long, but I will keep moving forward."
Lin Yan steadied his mind, refined the Aptitude Relic Gu on the spot, and decisively activated it. In his aperture, the snow-silver primeval sea began to stir. A five-colored radiance gathered, then a brilliant sun slowly rose, vast and imposing, its light spreading across the entire sea.
The previously invisible barrier shattered. The primeval sea, which had already filled seventy-eight percent of the aperture, began to rise again—seventy-nine percent… eighty percent… eighty-three percent… and it did not stop. Lin Yan broke past the limit of Grade A aptitude, the momentum continuing to surge until the primeval sea reached ninety-eight percent before finally stabilizing.
Peak Grade A aptitude, almost touching the level of the Ten Extreme Physiques.
A single Aptitude Relic Gu had increased his aptitude by a full twenty percent. It fully deserved its Rank 5 status. Lin Yan could clearly feel the dense and overflowing Primeval essence within his aperture. He laughed loudly, and the Rank 3 crystal wall trembled under the pressure, as if it could collapse at any moment.
He knew the time had come. The bottleneck that had held him back for months was finally ready to break. Without hesitation, Lin Yan sat cross-legged and began pushing forward. His snow-silver Primeval essence surged like waves, crashing against the crystal wall again and again. Time lost meaning as he continued the assault and just before his mind reached its limit, a deafening roar suddenly resounded within his aperture.
Crack, crack, crack… The aperture's crystal wall shattered, and a brand new Rank 4 light membrane covered it. Wisps of pale golden primeval essence emerged from the bottom of the primeval sea.
Rank 4. He had finally stepped into it.