14 Conclusion of the loops, Refinement Assessment

'I finally woke up?' Upon hearing these words, Chi Yan quickly straightened his body to look around more.

He felt Luo An squeezing his hand and looking at him worriedly. She said, "Young master, are you okay? You suddenly collapsed and didn't wake up for three whole days!"

"Three days? I was out for three days?" Chi Yan asked. "What day is it now?"

"It's the third day since you chose a Gu Worm from the Gu room. When you came back home, you mysteriously collapsed," Chi Lian explained. "How do you feel now? Is anything wrong?"

To not allow anyone to detect Chi Yan's Extreme Aptitude, Chi Lian had to watch over Chi Yan himself and didn't allow anyone into the room apart from the mortal servants.

"I'm fine…" Chi Yan muttered, feeling that there were many things that he needed to check.

Chi Lian turned toward Luo An. "Servant, leave us now. And don't you dare eavesdrop!"

"Yes, Master," Luo An replied obediently and stood up. However, after only taking a few steps, she collapsed to the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" Chi Yan quickly asked as he swept aside his silk blanket, getting up.

"Hmph. She's been watching over you these days and didn't sleep, so she must have fainted. Useless thing!" Chi Lian kicked lying Luo An's side with an annoyed expression; he immediately wanted to talk with Chi Yan about serious matters, so he wanted this mortal to quickly scram. Despite the kick, Luo An didn't wake up.

"Grandfather, don't!" Chi Yan frowned.

Chi Lian lightly snorted and squatted down to lift Luo An from the ground. He then carried her out to the corridor and left in the hands of another servant.

While Chi Lian was doing all that, thinking that Luo An was probably only exhausted, Chi Yan quickly inspected his Aperture.

Within the Aperture, the Primeval Sea was filled to the brim, filling the entire volume of the Aperture. At the bottom of the sea there was a light-purple shade of a butterfly.

Chi Yan saw that his Aptitude was at 100%, so he still had his Extreme Physique!

At the same time, he did have the Dream Butterfly Gu, but it was slightly different from before. While earlier it was half-transparent, now the butterfly's figure was barely visible - if not for the mysterious connection that Chi Yan shared with it, he might have not even been able to notice it.

'So this is reality?' Chi Yan asked himself.

"Chi Yan, how are you feeling?" Chi Lian asked as he returned.

"I'm fine," Chi Yan answered, already feeling much calmer. If he was indeed stuck inside a dream realm earlier, then he knew that nothing harmful happened to him.

"What do you remember?" Chi Lian asked.

Chi Yan gently wrinkled his eyebrows. He understood Chi Lian's meaningful gaze. "I remember things from the day before the Awakening Ceremony, and the conversation we had."

Chi Lian hummed solemnly. "I see…"

Chi Yan stretched his tense muscles. "Either way, I'm fine now. Sorry for worrying you. Hmmm…"

Chi Yan hummed. He walked toward the window and took a look while asking no one in particular: "What time of the day is it right now?"

Looking outside, it seemed to be late afternoon or early evening, and the rain was still going strong. It meant that soon the rain would cease and Fang Yuan would visit the inn.

'I hope I'm not dreaming inside a dream, that would just be sick…'

Chi Lian arrived beside Chi Yan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Anyway, you scared me so much. Do you know what caused you to faint?"

"I don't, but I had a very long and mysterious dream… Either way, I don't think it will happen again in the future." Chi Yan placed a hand on Chi Lian's shoulder with a smile as well. "Grandfather, don't worry about the future. I have a feeling that everything will be alright."

Chi Lian's smile was bright and full of confidence. If the previous experience had told him something, then it was the fact that he was a valuable and important character, and he had his role to play; after having received such a Gu worm, he shouldn't be discarded easily no matter what the near future holds.

Chi Lian faintly smiled. "I hope so. You're my only close family left, grandson. I'll do my best to help you."

"It will be fine," said Chi Yan.

He then thought of the possible future of the Gu Yue clan. Gu Yue Chi Lian was such a nice convenient grandpa, it would be a shame if someone… slaughtered him and sucked out his blood.

After a short conversation, Chi Yan went to the family's dining room to have a large meal after these last three days of fasting.

Chi Yan then returned to his room. He continued forcefully albeit slightly stretching out his stagnant muscles and tendons for a good while, and then instantly refined Single Aperture Charcoal Gu with the help of Dream Butterfly Gu.

Following that, Chi Yan nourished his aperture walls for a while until it stopped raining.

At that time Chi Yan repeated his actions from the last loop and went to the village's inn again. He drank some Green Bamboo Wine and returned home after Fang Yuan went out with a jar of wine of his own.

He then went to sleep.

After a full night's rest, the next morning Chi Yan was finally greeted with a new day. At the same time, his aptitude didn't drop - it remained at 100%.

Chi Yan smiled bitterly. 'So in the end following the dream was the way to end the looping, but this looping was actually just a Dream Realm. The meaning was - I shouldn't have killed Fang Yuan or schemed against him, but allow him to follow Heaven's assigned path.'

'I feel like this Dream Realm was like a tutorial. Although I am not fully in control, my gains from this Dream Realm were actually amazing - as a result I received the Dream Butterfly Gu, probably an Immortal Gu! For the time being I will let Fang Yuan do as he pleases and grow stronger myself. At the very least I did try killing the Protagonist, which many transmigrators never even think of. Now I will abuse my Extreme Physique to cultivate rapidly, reaching Rank 2 peak stage or Rank 3 cultivation, and then think of what to do next,' Chi Yan made up his mind.

Although Chi Yan was a tool of the Heavens, having an unknown purpose, after thinking things through he understood that everyone in this world is the same, including Fang Yuan, and he gradually began to accept it. As long as he can become powerful enough, one day he might have a chance of resisting Heaven's Will and becoming truly free.

At this moment Chi Yan wished that he could test the Dream Butterfly Gu's effect in reality to have more information about it, but he worried that he might lose his Aptitude once he did that - in that case his progress would be severely slowed down. Besides, testing an unknown Gu blindly was dangerous.

At the very least Chi Yan wanted to first reach Rank 2 peak stage or Rank 3 and only then test this mysterious Gu.

In the morning, without even eating breakfast, Chi Yan went out of the manor to report his Single Aperture Charcoal Gu that he refined to the Academy Elder to claim first place in the Assessment.

Chi Yan understood that the 20 primeval stones reward might have been meant for Fang Yuan, so him snatching it could be angering Heaven's Will due to slowing down Fang Yuan's growth, but Chi Yan still decided to test the limits of his freedom and balance it out with his own actions.

…

Ten minutes later, at the clan academy's grounds.

The academy elder put down his cup of tea as he could hear the sound of somebody knocking on the door. "What is it?"

Instantly a voice replied in a respectful tone, "Reporting to sir elder! There is a student from this year's batch; he claims that he has already finished refining his Vital Gu. You have instructed your subordinates earlier to report to you the very instant the first name appears."

"Refined his Vital Gu already?" The academy elder frowned, and then got off the couch. He asked. "Which student is it that got number one this year? Is it Gu Yue Fang Zheng?"

'Hehe, it's very early, but it is probably him.' The academy elder laughed lightly. 'It is much quicker than the previous A-grade talent. He must have worked hard without sleep!'

The subordinate outside the door replied, "Sir, it's Gu Yue Chi Yan from the Chi family."

"So it's Gu Yue Chi Yan? He had already refined his Vital Gu?" The academy elder walked towards the door, trying to clear up the situation.

Thinking back, the academy elder recalled that Chi Yan chose Single Aperture Charcoal Gu from the Gu room, so he wasn't entirely surprised that he refined his Vital Gu first in this batch. All of the Gu worms taken out by the students were carefully noted down, so he was clear of those that the most talented ones picked.

'Refining a common Gu like Single Aperture Charcoal Gu is significantly easier than refining Moonlight Gu. However, it was still very fast. If he really refined it, then Chi Yan would still deserve the first place.'

The grade of one's talent was usually the deciding factor for taking first place during this Assessment. Even if C-grade students chose a Vital Gu that was easy to refine, they would still lose to those rich B-grade talents, or would be seen as cheaters by everyone. Furthermore, no one was willing to choose a shitty cheap Gu when they had a chance to choose Moonlight Gu!

The elder was not able to disqualify Chi Yan for refining a different Gu.

Academy elder pushed the door open and came out. Outside the door, his subordinate respectfully bowed, moving two steps backwards.

The academy elder smiled as he saw Chi Yan. Although Chi Yan was not an A-grade but a B-grade, his talent was also excellent, his Aptitude reaching a whopping 79%!

"Gu Yue Chi Yan, you said that you refined your Vital Gu? Can I see it?" The elder asked.

Chi Yan answered respectfully as he presented a charcoal stone mark on his wrist. 

Academy elder strode over and stood in front of Chi Yan. He patted his shoulder in a friendly manner and said, "I see. You did well, Gu Yue Chi Yan. Keep working hard!"

The Academy elder nodded and then continued, "You can have a day off to rest today. Tomorrow morning, come to the Academy as usual, the lessons will resume. For the time being it will only be you attending, so you can greatly benefit from individual tutoring."

"I understand. Thank you, Sir elder."

...

When Chi Yan came to the inn to have a drink and a meal after visiting the Academy, it was just in time to see Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng confronting each other at one of the tables.

Fang Yuan scolded, "Naïve fool, do you still remember! From young till now, how did I take care of you? When our parents died, our life was hard. During New Year, aunt and uncle only gave us both one new robe, did I wear it? Who did I give it to wear? When you were small you loved to eat sweet porridge, I would tell the kitchens to make another bowl for you everyday. When you were bullied by others, who brought you back? Not to mention a ton of other things, I don't feel like it is worth talking about. Well, right now because of a maid, you would talk to me like this, coming to question me?"

Fang Zheng's face was red. His lips trembled, ashamed and annoyed, as well as surprised and angry. Yet he was unable to say a single word of rebuttal.

Because everything Fang Yuan said was the truth!

"Whatever." Fang Yuan sneered, "Since you even gave up your own biological parents and admitted someone else, what am I worth to you, as merely your big brother?"

Following that, Fang Yuan scammed five and a half primeval stones from Fang Zheng in exchange for Shen Cui.

Noticing his classmate Chi Yan see him perform this trade and indirectly admit his feelings for Shen Cei, Fang Zheng's face was as red as a tomato's.

"I'll keep these, you can go now." Fang Yuan's expression was cold as he tucked the bag of primeval stones away.

"Big brother…" Fang Zheng wanted to say more.

Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly, speaking in a slow and leisurely manner: "Before I change my mind, you better disappear from my eyes."

Fang Zheng felt his heart tighten. He gritted his teeth, and finally turned and left. When he stepped through the doorway of the inn, he subconsciously covered his chest with his hand, feeling a wave of uneasiness. There was a feeling that was telling him that he had just lost something very important.

But very quickly he felt hot as he thought of Shen Cui, and that dreamy night she attended to him. 'I can finally have you rightfully as mine, Cui Cui.'

He did not look back, and walked out of Fang Yuan's sight.

Fang Yuan stood expressionlessly; he stood for a long time, then he finally slowly sat down. The bright sunlight passed through the window, shining onto his indifferent face, making those who saw this feel somewhat cold inside.

The business in the cafeteria was rather poor, and the streets grew busier with people. The noise and excitement from the bustling crowd traveled over, making the place feel quieter.

Gu Yue Chi Yan sat opposite him and said something, but Fang Yuan did not hear it. His gaze kept shifting like a cloud, as if he was reminiscing some old memories.

Chi Yan waited for a while, but seeing Fang Yuan in a trance, he turned his head toward the inn worker who also seemed to have had some business with Fang Yuan. "Waiter, bring me a jar of Green Bamboo Wine and two cups! Get me some dishes too!"

After a long time, Fang Yuan's eyes became focused again. The past memories in his heart were like smoke; they had already dispersed away.

He returned to reality once more. The sunlight that flowed in shone over half the table. The hot air that wafted out of his dishes had already disappeared, and the bustling noise of the crowd on the streets traveled into his ears.

Fang Yuan reached into his robes and patted the five-and-a-half primeval stones at his bosom, his mouth curling into a bitter and mocking smile. But the smile was quickly cast away.

"Chi Yan, do you need something?" Fang Yuan took a look at Chi Yan and faintly opened his mouth. At this moment his eyes looked extremely chilly.

Chi Yan faintly smiled. "You looked like you needed a drink."

He uncorked the jar of the Green Bamboo Wine, spreading its overwhelming fragrance through the cafeteria. He then filled one cup and pushed it toward Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan's lips curled up into a faint smile. He had to keep up apperances as someone addicted to Green Bamboo Wine, and Chi Yan also looked like a perfect person that could improve his financial situation.

Fang Yuan took the cup of wine into his hand and drank a mouthful. He then placed the cup back down with a light thud. "Good wine!"

******

(AN: So since Fang Yuan had already rebirthed, I feel like an RI fanfic would be the most interesting with Fang Yuan! I could write a fanfic where the OC kills Fang Yuan and takes his place in a few chapters, or is simply nurtured as a new pawn from the start, but it isn't the one. Though I really needed a good reason for the OC to not be able to eliminate Fang Yuan after already being summoned - which is important for RI world logic, so here it is. At this moment the MC is wary of Heaven's Will and its warning, and decides to take a step back with making a move on FY, growing stronger a long the way.)

(Commentary: In this world everyone is the pawn of Heavens, this is the truth, except in most cases it isn't so obvious. In particular the inhabitants of this world are the most pitiful, their lives and actions being fully controlled by Fate. In the novel even Fang Yuan had no choice but to go along with the flow of things, waiting for an opportunity to break free. Chi Yan is no different; to realize the ambitions in his heart he not only needs to be wary of Fang Yuan but is also forced to follow Heaven's Will unknown intentions, gathering his own opportunities, persevering and waiting for a chance to change his fate.)