Awakening Ceremony

"Look! It's the Sha brothers!".

"The oldest is already an Upper stage Rank 2 Gu Master, people say that in a couple of years he'll become an Elder for his family's own faction".

"Wouldn't that break balance within the Clan? The three major families only have 2 representatives at the Elders council each, if the Sha faction manage to get a third... who knows, they might become even more influential than the Clan head's Yao family".

"I wonder who's that other youth with the three brothers, is he a servant or something?".

"I don't think so, only Ju clansmen are allowed inside the Spirit Spring, maybe he's their cousin or something".

"Well, beats me, Sha family's people are recognized by their hair being a light shade of purple, but this kid has regular black hair".

Everyone seemed interested in the ceremony, and due to the Clan's compulsory order, every single fifteen year old was there, so even though Shasi stood out from his group, he didn't attract too much attention.

Ju Feng mountain's landscape was beautiful yet simple, the upper part of the mountain was filled by grass fields, it was where people lived, it was full of wooden houses and shops, as for the middle and lower parts, were full of wind willows, a Gu refinement material which was controlled by the Ju Clan, since it only grew in places with strong winds and cold weather, they strongly valued this resource point, since it was their only one.

At this moment, the sun bathed the mountain with all its light, the cold breeze made up for a comfortable weather. All the youths stood in front of a giant willow tree on the middle parts of the mountain, the tree trunk was hollow and had a stone stairway that lead them down.

"Good, good, it seems all of you are here, so I won't take much of your time, this may very well be the turning point of your life, so good luck to all of you, now follow me". The Academy Elder would always be in charge of things related to these younger Gu Masters, and today was no different as he was the one leading the juniors down the stairs towards the Spirit Spring.

Shansi quickly blended in with the other kids, his looks were pretty ordinary so nobody paid attention to him.

As they entered the cave trough the stairway, some of the kids that have never been educated about what was a Spirit Spring were shocked to the see many bright lights coming from a shallow lake full of primeval stones around it.

"Wow, it's so beautiful"

"Look! Are those primeval stones?"

Shasi breathed a sigh of relief, he was obviously nervous about the ceremony, but at least he wasn't like those country bumpkins who barely knew what a primeval stone was.

"Alright listen, I'll be calling your names one by one and giving the command for you to cross the lake, go as far as you can, do you understand?" The Academy elder asked while caressing his pointy white beard, his eyebrows and hair were also long, making him look like an ancient scholar.

The youths all nodded in response, the Academy Elder stepped away and called the first name "Ju Cheng Bo!".

"Here!" A regular youth with a serious expression said as he stepped forward, his face showed his determination as he walked into the lake.

As he began walking, his face instantly turned pale, after just 2 steps he seemed like he was pushing against an invisible wall, and a few seconds later, his blood pressure dropped making him pass out, a couple of Rank 1 Gu masters wearing blue robes took him out of the lake and began healing.

"Ju Cheng Bo, 2 steps! No talent to become a Gu Master. Next, Ju Feng Mo!" The Elder sighed as he called the next youth.

"Old Man Feng, this is your grandson isn't he?" The Clan Head asked while looking down at the lake on top of a few boulders, several Elders and prominent figures of the Clan also stood there and watched the ceremony.

The Feng family was the third founding family and was also very powerful, but still a bit lacking when compared to the other two, their best performance from the last 10 years was only a Gu Master with 60% capacity aperture, barely qualifying as a B-Grade talent, their current head was already old so they were slowly declining.

"Indeed, hopefully my Feng family can get out of this streak of bad luck today". Old man Feng replied with a smiled that wasn't really a smile he clearly had realized the Clan head's intentions to bring up his family's lack of suitable successors.

Ju Feng Mo was calm and composed, very different from most of his clansmen, being from one of the noble families, he knew that due to his family's genes, it was highly unlikely that he would have no aptitude, paired with all the education he was given about the Gu World, he looked like he knew exactly what he was doing.

Step by step he walked across the lake as Hope Gu gradually gathered around him and a ball of light formed on his abdomen... 5 steps... 15 steps... 25 steps...

By the 26th step, Old man Feng's previously half closed eyes widened as he inwardly begged the heavens for his grandson to reach the thirtieth step, that would mean a B-Grade aptitude, a result he would be very satisfied with, considering that all his latest descendants had high and mid C-Grade apertures.

Feng Mo was already sweating, but his mind was clear, as he gave the 27th step, he knew that there were still at least 3 more steps separating him from a B-Grade aperture, but his pressure was already dropping and the ball of light on his belly about to burst.

Ju Feng Mo's body couldn't handle the pressure by the 28th step, so he decided to give two quick steps in succession.

"Hop" he succeed in the first one but just as he raised his feet for the next step, the ball of light shattered and he passed out.

"Ju Feng Mo, 29 steps! C-Grade talent... sigh, just one step shy, unlucky! Unlucky. Next, Ju Man Ji!" the Academy Elder sighed and called the next name.

"Cursed! My Feng family must be cursed by something!". Old man Feng could not maintain his composure after his grandson missing a B-Grade aperture by one step, he rapidly got up and left the cave in a rage while mumbling about his frustrations.

Two Rank 1 Gu masters quickly took Ju Feng Mo out of the lake so that the ceremony could continue.

...

About an hour passed and no more members of the noble families were called, there was quite a number of C-and D-grade aptitudes, by much for the Clans dismay, out of 10 participants, only 4 would have any talent.

"Sigh... this is a shame to our ancestors, our bloodline is really getting thinner and thinner". One of the Elders said as he hook his head, all the other Elder also had grim expressions.

"Next. Ju Sha Yu!

Hearing the name of his brother being called, Ju Shasi was a bit nervous, he honestly hoped his brother wouldn't do too good, he didn't want there to be too wide of a gap in case his own aptitude was bad, if his brother had an A grade aptitude, it was highly unlikely that he'd ever catch up, and if that happened, even if he becomes a Gu Master nothing would ever change if he never had the strength to fight his brothers.

Shayu walked forward with a light smile, his hair was light purple and tied in a high ponytail and his expression showed extreme confidence, as if he already knew he'd get good results.

On his way toward the lake, he passed by Shayu and bumped him on purpose,"Watch me, little bastard". Shayu said while not even glancing at Shasi

Shasi clenched his fist but didn't move as he didn't want to attract attention "This grudge between us, brother... I shall never forget". He swore to himself even though Shasi would mostly be a righteous person during all his life. Like any other human, he held grudges, he was petty at times that was his personality, he had emotions. So what if it was a waste of time? If something annoyed him, he would deal with it in any way he sees fit, that's how life thought him to be.

Ju Shayu was quick to enter the lake, he calmly walked step by step and rapidly got to 15 steps, catching the eyes of everyone around. Ju Shaxi, their father, had a smile of contempt, previously he worried about his bastard son possibly staining his family's reputation, but if his other son managed to achieve great results then nobody would pay attention to the fact that Sha family actually has a bastard descendant.

Shayu got to 25 steps after a few more seconds, his confidence rose even more and he didn't show signs of stopping, after reaching the 30 step mark and even walked 6 more steps, making it 36 steps before the ball of light on his belly finally shattered, unlike most of the previous youths, he calmly walked back towards the other candidates and the Academy Elder.

Ju Shayu, 36 steps! B-Grade aperture! Congratulations, come, let me check your aperture". The Elder motioned with his hand for Shayu to come be examined, Shayu's performance had been the best for now, so he obviously attracted all the attention.

Looking down towards the lake, the Elders all congratulated Ju Shaxi, including Ju Yao Lao, the Head of the Clan. "Congratulations, brother Sha, it eases my mind to know that one of the founding families have capable heirs, our Clan's lineage remain strong" He congratulated with a light smile, his eyes were naturally squinted, making his expressions have a hint of insincerity.

"I can only hope my family's younger generation catches up, let's see how my little Yao Guang will do". The Clan head squinted his eyes again as he looked down again, his only grandson was being called up right after Shayu.

"Next, Ju Yao Guang!". The elder announced again, at this point, there weren't many youths left, which increased Shasi's nervousness a bit, all those that had already been tested were still there, as they had to wait for the ceremony to end. The atmosphere was quite depressing.

Yao Guang had a similar demeanor to Feng Mo, they even looked pretty similar to each other, both had short messy hair and were taller than their peers, the major difference was the characteristic jade-like blue eyes of the Yao family, which Feng Mo obviously didn't possess.

Yao Guang didn't waste any time with being a showboat like Shayu and quickly entered the lake, as the Clan's higher ups paid close attention, the amount of Hope Gu that gathered around him was not ordinary. In a few seconds, Yao Guang had already reached 20 steps, it passed like a breeze for him.

The next ten steps wasn't as easy, and a considerable amount of pressure began hitting his back and preventing his advance, but this didn't mean it was his limit, Yao Guang clenched his teeth and pushed forward for 6 more steps.

"36 steps! Just like Shayu! It seems our Clan's luck isn't so bad after all"

"Look! He isn't done yet!"

Yao Guang could barely breathe, but he continued, he got to the 38th step, very close to an A grade aptitude, but just as he took half of the next step, the ball of light on his abdomen shattered, this was his limit.

"Ju Yao Guang, 39 steps! B-Grade aptitude! Come, let me check your aperture" The Academy Elder announced with a voice filled with joy, but underneath that joy, he and all the Clan Elders sighed... "just one step away from an A grade aptitude" they all though at the same time.

Above the giant boulders, several Elders congratulated the Clan Head, even Ju Shaxi who had an annoyed expression, Yao family's younger generation has been one step ahead from the others for a few years now...

After checking Ju Yao Guang's aperture, the Academy Elder waited so that everyone calmed down and picked up his list to call the next name.

"Next, Ju Shasi!"