A month’s progress. Visiting the still living Old Man Wang

A month passed since the caravan visit in early May. The summer atmosphere intensified.

The bright morning sun shone on Qing Mao Mountain.

In the Academy, the Elder spoke about important details. "Tomorrow, we are choosing the second Gu worm for refinement. Everyone here has experience in successfully refining Gu worms, and this time you can solidify your experiences. For the selection of the second Gu worm, consider it carefully. With the experience of cultivating these few days and understanding of your own body, consider it as a whole. Normally, it is best if you pair the second Gu well with your vital Gu."

After hearing the academy elder's words, the youngsters began to ponder, and only Fang Yuan was sleeping soundly on the table.

The academy elder looked at Fang Yuan and frowned, but did not say anything. Ever since the clan leader spoke to him, he had adopted a 'let Fang Yuan do as he wishes, I am not going to give a care' attitude.

Besides, Fang Yuan was just a child, secretly wishing to be appreciated. The elder felt that he was unnecessarily worried about him.

"Which Gu worm should I choose?" As the students thought about it, they subconsciously looked towards Fang Yuan.

"Speaking of which, Fang Yuan already has his second Gu worm."

"Yeah, that is but a Liquor worm; to actually get a Liquor worm out of gambling rocks, his luck is off the charts!"

"Yes, but this is nothing. Chi Yan already has three Gu worms, including a Liquor Worm. And he even opened a Rank 2 Clearing Heat Gu from a gambling rock!"

"Such luck, next time I'm also going to rock gamble."

"Me too!"

Among the students, Gu Yue Mo Bei's expression was gloomy as he was left depressed in his heart. Now that Chi Yan had a Liquor Worm he had an incredible advantage over everyone and it was practically impossible for anyone to surpass him in cultivation.

It's only that Mo Bei had no idea how large the difference actually was.

At this moment Chi Yan already felt that he was not far from reaching the upper stage. To not make his cultivation progress too ridiculous, Chi Yan could only spend some of his time actively practicing with his Gu worm set every day.

Thanks to middle stage aperture walls, Chi Yan's primeval essence reserves and regeneration also doubled, allowing him to use Rank 1 Gu worms twice as much.

Chi Yan's Gu worm set also experienced a change. In his aperture there were now: Fire Pellet Gu, Jade Skin Gu, Green Silk Gu, Bookworm Gu, Single Aperture Charcoal Gu, Life Breath Grass Gu, Clear Wind Wheel Gu and the Liquor Worm.

As for Rank 1 Lightning Current Gu, it was already sold off to the caravan.

Chi Yan now possessed a whole nine Gu worms. For normal students it would be a complete overkill, but to Chi Yan using Gu came as naturally as using his arms and legs. Once Chi Yan picked up a new Gu he only needed some time to get used to it.

Naturally, Chi Yan attributed it to his Extreme Physique talent.

Recalling the novel, Chi Yan clearly remembered how Bai Ning Bing almost immediately picked up on how to use Blood Moon Gu and Chainsaw Golden Centipede once Fang Yuan lent them to him on the crocodile beach at the beginning of the second book, and that's even though Bai Ning Bing had never used these kinds of Gu in his life.

Chi Yan lacked Bai Ning Bing's foundation of using a variety of Gu before, but it was still very easy for him to control a new Gu worm and to gain proficiency with it.

As it seemed, those with Extreme Physiques were simply MADE for Gu cultivation and he could not be compared to ordinary people.

At this time Chi Yan's main attacking method was Fire Pellet Gu, and he now practiced using it while on the move, targeting wooden puppets that fought back and chased him.

His main defensive Gu was upgraded from Copper Skin Gu to Jade Skin Gu. Not only did Jade Skin Gu have stronger defense, but it also consumed less primeval essence on use.

However, Chi Yan practiced with Jade Skin Gu less these days, not having a good chance to use it. Instead, he began to use Green Silk Gu as a defensive Gu for hand-to-hand combat practice.

Green Silk Gu was a common Gu that would consume 20% of initial primeval essence (10% of middle stage primeval essence) and allow the Gu Master's hair to grow out to five to six meters, letting him to control them for offense and defense.

After gaining some proficiency, Chi Yan used Green Silk Gu to form a soft defensive helmet around his head and gloves on his fists, using it as a safety equipment for sparring with Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan was also lent a Green Silk Gu and used it to form his own boxing gloves and a helmet.

Once formed, the armor made by Green Silk Gu would persist and it didn't need continuous expenditure of primeval essence, so it was a perfect defensive Gu for sparring. It lowered the risk of serious injury and broken knuckles, while still allowing for a realistic fighting experience.

The soft silk armor was especially useful when the two transmigrators were practicing swordsmanship and when the blows of their practice bamboo swords often landed on their heads and hands, mostly Chi Yan's though.

Putting a side Green Silk Gu, another new Gu worm that Chi Yan got was a Bookworm.

Chi Yan hoped to use the Bookworm to memorize everything that Fang Yuan taught him during their martial arts classes, planning to review all of it several times later. Unfortunately, he was greatly disappointed, because it wasn't how Bookworms worked.

As it turned out, a Bookworm can only record information that was already written down. It did it through consuming paper pages of notes. Because of that the Bookworm had a limited use for Chi Yan at this time, while a Rank 1 Bookworm couldn't store a great deal of information either.

Apart from Bookworm, Chi Yan's other two new Gu were a common Rank 1 movement Gu Clear Wind Wheel Gu and an equally common healing Gu Life Breath Grass Gu. On occasion Chi Yan practiced his movement with Clear Wind Wheel Gu and used Life Breath Grass Gu to practice healing his own bruises.

Single Aperture Charcoal Gu was also kept by Chi Yan, but it didn't have a practical use yet. From time to time, Chi Yan would practice using it while standing bare-chested in the rain, controlling it to use the emitted heat to dissipate any droplets that would hit him. He would also use it to heat up his and his girls' second breakfast and lunch at school, which was the main way he used this Gu.

Right now, even though Chi Yan's cultivation was far ahead of the other students, his ability to control Gu worms was also incomparable to his peers that had to choose between cultivation and Gu worm practice.

In the case of Chi Yan, he simply HAD to spend quite a lot of time on Gu worm practice, as otherwise his cultivation speed would be simply too absurd. At the same time Chi Yan's skill was also rising sharply.

…

A day passed.

The sun rises, signifying the arrival of another day.

The students lined up properly, faces flushed with excitement as they stood before the academy Gu storage room.

Today was the day where they would pick their second Gu!

As the first to advance to Rank 1 middle stage, Chi Yan had the priority in choosing, thus he stood at the front of the queue.

Behind him was Gu Yue Fang Yuan, Gu Yue Mo Bei and Gu Yue Fang Zheng.

Creak.

The Gu storage room's door was opened by the guards, and Chi Yan was the first to set foot into it.

After looking around for a long time, checking out what was left, Chi Yan decided on taking Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle Gu. It was a Gu that he desperately needed right now and was still rather rare and valuable among Rank 1 Gu.

Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle Gu could grant the Gu Master durability and allow their stamina expenditure to be greatly reduced for fifteen minutes. However, Chi Yan didn't choose this Gu to use in combat, but so that he could train harder!

All this time when training martial arts, swordsmanship and footwork, Chi Yan was greatly limited by his cardio. When practicing intensely, he would simply run out of breath and then his form and practice quality would greatly suffer.

On Earth it's important for athletes to practice their cardiovascular endurance along with technique, but not necessarily in this world, because Gu worms could provide far more endurance and strength than a mortal body ever could. What Chi Yan wanted to practice was not mainly his endurance, but his true fighting ability and technique, without being limited by running out of breath so much!

That's why this Gu was perfect for him. He wanted to use it to benefit as much as possible from the time that he's being trained by Fang Yuan.

Having made his pick and feeling satisfied with it, Chi Yan left the Gu room.

Seeing Chi Yan leave, Fang Yuan expressionlessly walked in next.

Looking over, down the line Chi Yan saw his three female friends smiling as they looked at him.

These days Chi Yan's relationship with Kong Lian, Wei Yanyu and Shen Guang escalated by a bit, because they were now his girlfriends - all three of them!

Truthfully, it didn't take Chi Yan much for his 'harem' game, as he only needed to say that he liked all three of them and that he would make them his three concubines once he became an elder.

As a result the three girls agreed to become sister-wives and 'share him' awfully quickly. They didn't have complaints toward Chi Yan and seemed to be competing for his attention instead, each wishing to become the first wife.

Chi Yan was not sure of how serious he was about these three, but having three beautiful girlfriends that treated him amazingly was surely a nice experience. It was clear that his value as a man in that world was simply monstrous.

After waving his hand at his three embarrassed girlfriends, Chi Yan left to refine his new Gu worm.

As for his mortal servant Luo An, they didn't actually hook up in this timeline. Luo An was his most trusted maid, but for now they only maintained a close master-servant relationship, as Chi Yan was fully focused on his training. 

According to the clan rules, an Elder can have a maximum of two concubines and a wife, so Chi Yan couldn't really officially offer concubine spots left and right, especially to a mortal. At least not until he gained enough power to do however he wants.

Back at the Gu Room.

Some time later Fang Yuan finally left and Gu Yue Mo Bei went in hurriedly. However, he was immediately disappointed - the sole Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle Gu was gone.

…

Around an hour later.

Chi Yan sped through the beaten mountain path, going down the mountain.

When the students received their Gu worms today it was only morning. To allow the students to refine their second Gu without interruptions, the academy's lectures were suspended completely for the next several days. During normal times the Academy would end in the evening, so Chi Yan took this rare chance to go out on a training trip.

His destination was the mortal hamlet of Old Man Wang.

He wore a dark-gray training outfit with defensive bamboo sheets wrapped on his forearms and calves, and a robe covered his shirt and leggins. He also wore black low leather shoes. It was an outfit that Chi Yan used for training and had several sets of.

Chi Yan was not alone but a Rank 2 Gu Master of the Chi family, Gu Yue Chi Yang, followed him to ensure his safety, scanning the road ahead.

Light green rings spiraled around Chi Yan's feet, increasing his speed as he jogged. This was the effect of Clear Wind Wheel Gu.

The movement boost a Gu Master gained from Clear Wind Wheel Gu was quite low in the beginning when activated, but as time passed it would gradually increase as the rings began to rotate faster and faster.

Chi Yan ran and practiced his footwork, his speed gradually rising. From time to time he would slip and lose his footing, regaining balance with difficulty. Sometimes he would have tree and brush branches slam into his face, restricting his vision, and sometimes he would even fall onto the ground, bruising his body against the sharp mountain rocks.

Although there was no snow or rain and the woods were not very slippery, navigating through such an uneven terrain at superhuman speeds was still something that Chi Yan had no experience with.

If Chi Yan slowed down, then he could have easily avoided falling and hurting himself, but he still prioritized efficiency in his training. Chi Yan didn't think that he would actually cripple himself this way, as his luck seemed good, while the accompanying Gu Master of the family could easily heal the lesser wounds for him.

On the way Chi Yan was met with a plethora of birds chirping and flying around. There were many rodents, rabbits, snakes, deers and goats all around. The forest was brimming with life, lush and verdant, and it was incredibly beautiful. There were also many insects, in the air and on the ground.

The chance of simply encountering even one of these wild animals in a forest back on Earth was incredibly slim, but here Chi Yan frequently saw them one after another. 

At one point Chi Yan even met a giant bear in the woods, though the bear did not seem interested in him and his bodyguard, and instead kept his distance.

All the way until the mortal hamlet, Chi Yan didn't encounter any dangers.

When Chi Yan and his bodyguard arrived at the village, a Gu Master came out.

This Gu Master wore a deep blue uniform of the righteous sects with a belt indicating that his cultivation was at Rank 2. He had a slim build, his two eyes slender. He wore arm protectors on his wrists, and his calves had sturdy leg bindings, his entire being radiating with a highly capable aura.

"My name is Gu Yue Jiang He and I've been stationed in this village. May I know who you are?" Jiang He asked, scanning Chi Yan and Chi Yang with wary eyes.

Chi Yang cupped his fists at Jiang He as a shining crescent moon symbol appeared on his forehead at the same time. "My name is Gu Yue Chi Yang. I am here on a training trip with young Master Chi Yan."

Jiang He's eyes shone as his face showed astonishment. He looked at Chi Yan with an amicable smile. "So this junior brother is Gu Yue Chi Yan! I heard about you quite a lot. Opening Clearing Heat Gu out of a gambling rock. This sort of luck sure makes people jealous!"

"Yeah, I was lucky." Chi Yan smiled.

Jiang He laughed. "Junior brother, what is your reason for coming to this village today? Maybe I could help."

"I heard about someone called Old Man Wang. He's said to be the best hunter in the region. I want to find his residence," Chi Yan said honestly.

"Old Man Wang is indeed a hunter from this village, but he moved out a few years ago, building a wooden house away from the others. It's good that we met, junior. If you wish, I can show you the way." Jiang He smiled.

"Then please lead the way, senior." Chi Yan cupped his fists. As they began walking following Jiang He's lead, Chi Yan fished out five primeval stones from his chest pocket and passed them to Jiang He. "A little bit for your trouble."

"Haha, it's nothing! I'm glad that I can be of help to a junior," Jiang He said as he swiped the primeval stones and stored them.

Although five primeval stones didn't seem as much for someone rich, it was a few days' pay for regular Rank 2 Gu Masters or a five man team's prize for completing a clan mission.

The three walked out of the village and walked through the woods for quite a while, while Jiang He took this chance to bootlick Chi Yan, chatting with him and praising him.

Chi Yan remained unmoved in front of Jiang He's bootlicking and only felt annoyed inwardly. Only someone incredibly naive would be affected by such empty words.

"It's here. This is Old Man Wang's residence." Jiang He finally motioned forward as they reached their destination.

Under the surroundings of thick and large trees, there was a tall and great fence constructed from green spear bamboo. Through the gaps between the bamboo one could see a wooden house and a few people seeming to work at this time.

"This is Jiang He. Open up," Jiang He called out loudly with a cold commanding voice.

Hearing the command, an old man with a hunched back hurriedly walked over and opened the wooden fence. Behind him were two people, a muscular man around twenty years old and a beautiful young girl around sixteen years old.

Chi Yan naturally assumed that they were Wang Er and Sister Wang respectively, Old Man Wang's children.

"This old man pays respect to Lord Gu Masters!" The Old Man quickly fell down to his knees, prostrating himself in greeting.

"This mortal pays respect to Lord Gu Masters." The young man and woman knelt down as well.

"Old Man Wang, you're a hunter. This young master here wants you to draw him a map of the surroundings and the wild beast territories," Jiang He commanded coldly, taking the lead.

Hearing Jiang He's words, Wang Er bit his lips as he sent an angry glare at the Gu Masters. The map of the beast territories was their family's greatest treasure, their source of livelihood, yet these Gu Masters demanded it just like that!

"What's with that look, peasant?" Jiang He called out coldly to Wang Er in an unhappy tone.

Looking over, the old man noticed Wang Er's indignant expression. Panic and fear flashed across his face. He turned to Jiang He and quickly lowered his head, placing his forehead on the ground, prostrating himself before him. "Lord Gu Masters, I shall draw you the map for you. Please don't mind it!"

"It's enough." Chi Yan raised his hand as he intervened. Using a more gentle voice, he continued, "Old man, I heard that you're the best hunter in the area, that's why I came to you. I know that a hunters' family's map is their heirloom and source of livelihood. You can rest assured, I won't share it with anyone and only want to use it myself to train. You can even collect the dead bodies of the wild beasts I leave behind."

The three mortals showed surprised expressions, perhaps because of Chi Yan's kind tone.

The old man kowtowed. "Lord Gu Master, Lord Gu Master, then please allow me to retrieve my brush and paper."

"Then go," Chi Yan said.