success.

Under the morning sun, casting its golden rays upon the world, life and peace flourished. In the distance, the laughter and play of children filled the air, infusing the atmosphere with both liveliness and chaos. At the borders of the Ma tribe's territory, three figures stood.

Among them was a beautiful woman, despite being almost 50 years old, exuding an air of grace and elegance. Beside her stood a man with broad shoulders, his rugged face marked by an ugly scar that ran across it, his expression tinged with annoyance for some unknown reason. And finally, there was an old man, whose frail appearance suggested he was nearing the end of his days, yet his eyes held a depth of wisdom that belied his appearance.

The man voiced his concerns. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, Elder Ma Li, but can we really trust this information? You know what this means for our alliance, right?"

Echoing his sentiments, the woman added. "We can't report this until it's 100% verified, Elder Ma Li. Please reconsider." Both of them sounded stressed out, but Elder Ma Li simply started laughing.

"Hahah." he chuckled, shaking his head. "Do you even know what I had to sacrifice for this intel? And now you imbeciles want me to disregard it? Are you even hearing yourselves?"

He paused for a moment, the gravity of his words sinking in, before continuing. "I had to sacrifice our most important spy in the Jin tribe. The rest of the spies are pretty much useless now. There won't be any new information, they're either going to get killed, run, or worse, caught alive." He finished the last sentence with a grim expression, the weight of his decision evident on his face.

"God damn it, what is that Jin Huang thinking? Does he want an all-out war?" the woman exclaimed, concern etched across her beautiful face.

"I just don't understand. How can he choose to do something like that? He is basically dooming his whole tribe along with us in the process. We have no choice but to fight." the man remarked, his frustration evident.

"Fen Bao, Long He, this information is still top secret. Do you understand? Only rank 3 and above need to know this. Anyone else would be a liability," Elder Ma Li instructed firmly.

"Yes, First Elder. We understand," Fen Bao and Long He replied in unison. Fen Bao, a newly advanced rank 3 gu master, but the peak stage and even rank 4 were just a matter of time for him. Meanwhile, Long He, much older, was already at the peak stage of rank 3. Despite their achievements, both had to lower their heads to the elderly man before them, as he was a rank 4 middle stage expert.

__________________________________________________________

Rue Bu rose early the next morning, eager to continue his refining efforts. Though he didn't make much progress due to time constraints, he knew he had to attend classes at the academy. Even without refined gu worms, there was still so much to learn, especially about gu refinement.

At the academy, students delved into topics such as how to handle different materials in the refinement process, the various methods required for different recipes, and how to discern if a refinement process had failed due to bad luck and not due to a mistake you made. This knowledge wasn't limited to those interested in refinement, it was essential for all students aspiring to become experts one day.

Nurturing, use, and "refinement" were the three principles in handling gu worms, emphasizing the importance of understanding every aspect of gu manipulation.

'As for the nurturing and use part, I guess we are going to start learning more about them once we successfully finish refining our gu worms.' Rue Bu thought to himself while eating breakfast with his parents. He headed straight to the academy afterward, where, as he had anticipated, they had just one class today, focusing on refinement this time.

Afterward, they began their close combat "training", and then the teachers announced that they could work on refining their gu worms once they finished. Rue Bu was eager to delve deeper into the process and see what new knowledge awaited him in the realms of nurturing and use, as he wasn't particularly talented in refinement.

Rue Bu didn't waste any time. While waiting for his fight to begin after the 5th and 6th contestants faced off against each other, he continued refining his gu. After the fight, which took half an hour just to start, ended in no more than 4 minutes, Chen Cheng emerged victorious. Knowing from yesterday and analyzing Rue Bu's fights that he wouldn't stand a chance against him today, Chen Cheng opted not to fight him.

Instead, the match between Rue Bu and Dong Min, who held the 3rd position, began shortly afterward. Rue Bu didn't expect anything amazing from her, just some fun. However, when she closed the distance and started striking him nonstop, he understood.

'I guess she analyzed my fights from yesterday? She isn't giving me any chance to control the rhythm of the match.' he thought. 'She has seen what happened to Long Mei after just a little bit of distraction, and Fen Fu who couldn't even retaliate when I initiated the attack. But did she forget about the rest of the fights because they weren't as flashy? No, she should know that I'm good at defense too. It's just a trap to push me to use the tactics from my earlier fights, and then she would win. She thinks I lost yesterday because of my stamina, and stamina is all she's got. It's a logical conclusion, albeit wrong, as I could have continued fighting yesterday. But I guess I will play your game.' Rue Bu prepared himself mentally to face Dong Min's strategy head-on.

As they continued clashing, Dong Min delivered strikes while Rue Bu focused on defense. She wasn't an exceptional fighter, but she managed to keep him on the defensive. However, Rue Bu was strategically trying to create distance between them to gain control of the fight.

'I will not let you run away. I will win this fight no matter what. I will win...' Dong Min kept repeating such thoughts, her focus solely on the fight to prevent Rue Bu from creating distance.

However, as she became accustomed to the rhythm, she didn't anticipate Rue Bu suddenly stepping to the side, shifting her vision to the side. She thought he was attempting to escape again, but when she delivered the next strike, he angled himself slightly, disrupting her strikes and creating an opening to counterattack.

Seizing the opportunity without hesitation, Rue Bu initiated his attack. Unfortunately for Dong Min, she wasn't Long Mei, unable to anticipate any of the incoming strikes. She endured punches to the stomach, lower and upper body, and even to the face. Rue Bu didn't give her any chance to retaliate, knowing she wouldn't surrender easily.

As he intensified the power of his punches, one after another, Rue Bu showed no signs of stopping until someone stop him. And the teacher did stop him eventually, preventing the situation from turning ugly, similar to what happened yesterday when Dong Min fought against Rue Gang. Rue Bu stood, panting heavily, his victory secured.

Observing the determined attitude of Dong Min and other participants, Rue Bu couldn't help but ponder the significance they placed on power at such a young age. 'Is power this crucial in early life? It seems it's not just him,huh?' he mused, noting the competitive spirit among his peers.

As he watched the remaining fights, Rue Bu realized the effectiveness of the system in motivating them. 'If it weren't for the prize stones every week, I wouldn't risk revealing my exceptional fighting talent.' he acknowledged.

After informing the teacher that he wouldn't be fighting Long Mei today, Rue Bu returned to refining his gu. 'She's bound to choose and fight me tomorrow. I'll have to assert dominance from the start, denying her any chance, unlike today.' he strategized. 'Then, I'll have a rematch with Long Mei, which would be more acceptable, as I'll have 'figured out' Dong Min.'

As the final fights began, Long Mei faced Rue Gang once again, putting on a more strategic fight this time by avoiding close combat and seeking safe opportunities to strike. However, despite his best efforts, he still couldn't evade all of Rue Gang's attacks, eventually becoming too slow to escape. The fight ended similarly to yesterday, leaving Long Mei frustrated.

'This brute... How can I defeat him without using any gu worms?' Long Mei wondered, feeling dejected. 'It's just his luck to have a physique like that of a monster's.'

Realizing that defeating Rue Gang without gu worms seemed impossible. 'I guess my last chance is going to be in 3 more days.' Long Mei resolved to rely on his gu in the upcoming weekend fight, his last chance before the academy awarded prizes. Deep down, he knew it was his only opportunity, but he refused to admit it openly.

Returning home ahead of his peers, Rue Bu used refining his gu as an excuse, eager to continue his progress. After dedicating the entire day to refining and practicing multitasking with the assistance of the "state of peace" he successfully refined another third of the gu, bringing his total progress to two-thirds.

"Refining gu is certainly challenging, but I should be able to complete it tomorrow." he reflected. With only one or two days left before the final fights of the week, Rue Bu was determined to succeed. He looked forward to experiencing the sensation of using the gu for the first time before the upcoming battles.

As Rue Bu anticipated, the third day at the academy unfolded predictably. Dong Min emerged victorious against Chen Cheng once again and challenged him for a rematch. This time, Rue Bu didn't give her any chance to control the fight and swiftly ended it.

In his match against Long Mei, Rue Bu ensured the victory appeared more believable by feigning a struggle, although it posed no real difficulty for him. Using these two matches as an excuse, he avoided fighting Rue Gang, who consequently won the day without even participating in a match.

'He must be pissed. I'd better leave quickly before he finds me.' he thought as he went straight home to continue refining the Gu worm. He was confident he would eventually succeed today.

Upon arriving home, he headed straight to his room, closed the door, and sat down on his bed. Taking out his Gu, he wasted no time getting to work. Out of the ten primeval essence stones he received from the academy this week, he had already spent 6-7, leaving him with only 3-4.

Nonetheless, it should be more than enough to finish refining the berserk Gu. 'It may seem little, but for the task of refining this rank 1 Gu worm, it should suffice.' He began to reconsider his earlier decision to nurture his aperture, but it was too late to dwell on that now.

Once again, it was midnight, much like the days before. He was tired and panting, sweat covering his body and staining his bed. He was exhausted beyond belief. However, his crystal blue eyes shone under the moonlit room, as today was different from the previous two days. "Finally, you stubborn piece of shit, you're now mine." he exclaimed, excitement coursing through him. Peering into his aperture, he saw the little white spider playing in what remained of his primeval essence sea, its blood-red eyes flickering with light, truly beautiful. "This feeling, it's amazing. But I'm even more excited to try it and train with it tomorrow." he mused. As he thought about this, he relaxed, and eventually, fatigue overcame him, putting him to sleep.

There was just one day left before the final fights of the week, but this day was peculiar. When he arrived at the academy, the guards informed him that there wouldn't be classes or training today. This was unprecedented in the tribe, a day off? Unthinkable. The guards and the few teachers he managed to see advised him to focus on refining his Gu worm and preparing for tomorrow's fight.

However, that was his plan all along. 'And the academy's training ground and even the students would help a little with "training" at least from their perspective. They should know that. There's no excuse I can think of for this abrupt "day off" .' he thought to himself as he returned home, puzzled. 'Something else is going on.'