Legend says there is a River of Time in this world, its waters surging and rushing. A tiny Gu insect carried Fang Yuan's will and his grand plan for eternal life, swimming against the current. Finally, the spring autumn cicada ran out of strength and plunged headfirst into the river.
"Hahaha, I actually really have been reborn!"
In the midst of his ecstasy, Fang Yuan found his body unable to move. Outside the window, the shadows of the qing mao bamboo swayed; leaning against the railing and looking out, a fine drizzle fell over Qing Mao Mountain. It was already night, and before his eyes were the lights of ten thousand homes in the Gu Yue Village.
As the rain hit his face, he unexpectedly heard an unfamiliar voice coming from his own mouth:
"Transmigrated again?"
Deep within the body, Yuan Fang's consciousness suddenly awakened—one moment he was a Student on Earth, the next he had become Fang Yuan. Even more bizarre was that this wasn't his first Transmigration; last time, he had actually transmigrated as Han Li from "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality."
"A side effect of the spring autumn cicada?"
Fang Yuan's heart was in a state of upheaval, yet his surface remained as calm as an ancient well.
Yuan Fang quickly discovered his existence, and his complaints exploded in Fang Yuan's mind:
"Dammit! If I'd known, I wouldn't have read novels; I actually transmigrated as the Devil Head Fang Yuan!" Just a short while ago, Yuan Fang had returned to his original world, and before transmigrating, he was still reading a book.
Fang Yuan carefully pondered Yuan Fang's complaint just now. What novel? Why did he appear in my body again? The two entities in the mind were getting to know each other, gradually digesting each other's memories.
Memories surged like a tide. Fang Yuan had come from five hundred years in the future, and every step had been fraught with danger. From Qing Mao Mountain to the Caravan, from the Caravan to the Eastern Sea, from selling straw sandals to selling hooks, from the Eastern Sea to the Central Continent.
Five hundred years of time had passed slowly, long ago washing away the little impetuousness Fang Yuan originally possessed. His eyes were as resolute as a rock, and his heart held only the grand plan for eternal life.
Just then, a twelve-word heavenly voice shook his Divine Soul, as if coming from thousands of years ago, the sound carrying an indisputable authority:
"twins of one heart, one returns home, one gains eternal life."
Gu Yue Fang Yuan's eyes lit up, instantly grasping the rule: "We share a body and take turns in control?"
"That's right," Yuan Fang's voice carried a hint of helplessness. It turned out that each person had a set amount of time to control the body every day; once that time was exceeded, the soul would be damaged.
Because there were two people, in terms of the soul, Fang Yuan's was stronger than that of an average person.
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind. Yuan Fang turned to look and saw someone with the same appearance as Fang Yuan—it was Fang Yuan's twin brother, Fang Zheng. Fang Zheng said:
"Brother, why are you standing in the rain outside the window? If Uncle and Aunt find out, they'll likely be worried."
Fang Yuan gave a cold snort as the ugly faces of his Uncle and Aunt flashed through his mind, but he didn't say much—he had already seen through the Gu Yue Village.
In his previous life, he was tested to have C-grade Aptitude, leaving him with no one to rely on in the Family, even sleeping on the streets and being suppressed by his brother Fang Zheng. Eventually, he could only leave his hometown and join the Caravan.
Fang Yuan didn't have the slightest bit of goodwill toward the Gu Yue Village. Even if he did, what would it matter compared to his grand plan for eternal life?
Early the next morning, the new Students of Gu Yue Village headed one after another to the Clan Leader Pavilion. Passing by the memorial tablets of the Gu Yue Ancestors, they arrived before the underground origin spring of the Gu Yue Village. There, the Gu Yue Clan's Aperture Opening Ceremony would take place; the underground cavern was bustling with noise.
The Gu Yue Clan Chief, Clan Leader, and a group of Gu Yue Elders all arrived on the scene. Even Gu Yue Chi Lian and Gu Yue Mo Chen came because their own grandsons were new Students in this batch.
Chi Lian's grandson, Gu Yue Chi Cheng, was tested to have B-grade aptitude through cheating, while Mo Chen's grandson possessed a genuine B-grade aptitude.
"Next, Gu Yue Fang Yuan!"
The youth stepped out from the crowd, his dark and deep eyes sweeping over the gossiping Students. Ignoring the whispers about the "cool Genius who wrote poems in his early years," he walked straight toward the origin spring.
"This is Fang Yuan?"
Clan Leader looked at this fifteen-year-old youth, a sense of expectation rising in his heart: "If Fang Yuan is tested with A-grade aptitude and is nurtured well, he might be able to contend with the Bai Family's Bai Ning Bing."
In recent years, the rise of the Bai Family Genius Bai Ning Bing had shaken the Gu Yue Village's hegemonic position on Qing Mao Mountain.
There were a total of three villages on Qing Mao Mountain: Gu Yue Village, Bai Family Village, and Xiong Family Village. Over the years, geniuses had emerged from both other families; not to mention Bai Ning Bing, the Xiong family's Xiong Lin also possessed terrifying natural talent.
At this moment, Fang Yuan held control of the body while Yuan Fang watched from within the mind. The youth waded through the river water as the hope gu around him flew into his abdomen like balls of light. There were many hope gu, and the aperture in his abdomen slowly began to take shape.
Ten steps, twenty steps, twenty-seven steps... "He can still walk?" Clan Leader clenched his fists, and the surrounding Elders held their breath. Fang Yuan was momentarily stunned as he took the twenty-eighth step, a step he hadn't taken in his previous life.
Twenty-eight steps! Twenty-nine steps! Thirty steps! Forty steps!
Fang Yuan walked for a long time, as if another five hundred years had passed. Within the aperture, the light of the primeval sea surged violently, and the emerald-green bronze primeval essence filled it to the limit! It occupied a full ninety percent of the aperture's space!
"A-grade, ninety percent! It's A-grade, ninety percent!" Clan Leader laughed loudly, and the surrounding Elders were also ecstatic, saying:
"Heaven bless our Gu Yue! If this boy is nurtured well, he will surely be able to contend with Bai Ning Bing!"
Fang Yuan remained expressionless, but Yuan Fang's voice rang out in his mind: "What's going on? You... shouldn't you be C-grade, forty-four percent?"
Fang Yuan also had his suspicions; when he refined the spring autumn cicada, it shouldn't have had such an effect. Unless this wasn't due to the spring autumn cicada—aside from that, the answer could only lie with Yuan Fang.
Regarding Yuan Fang, Fang Yuan also felt a sense of wariness. Although Fang Yuan hadn't found those stories of his own future when reading Yuan Fang's memories, with his five hundred years of experience, he was certain this Yuan Fang knew something.
"Your Aptitude was likely supposed to be forty-six percent, and combined with my forty-four percent Aptitude, it became ninety percent."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because a Gu Master only has one aperture. Although there are rumors of a second aperture gu, that is a rank six immortal gu; the spring autumn cicada couldn't possibly have that kind of power."
"But about that kid Chi Cheng cheating, should we take the opportunity to cause some trouble?"
Fang Yuan paused his steps, his gaze turning slightly cold: "No rush. Our strength is too weak right now. With A-grade talent, the Family won't let us lack resources before Rank Three."
He glanced at the pale-faced Gu Yue Chi Cheng in the crowd, then looked up at the dark cavern roof outside the origin spring.
At that moment, control quietly shifted, and Yuan Fang's consciousness gradually took the lead. A playful smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he cupped his hands to thank the approaching Clan Leader and Gu Yue Elders. His voice, however, carried a trace of imperceptible majesty:
"The Clan Leader overpraises me; this Junior was merely lucky."
Clan Leader was taken aback, feeling that the Fang Yuan before him seemed to have a subtle difference from the cold youth of a moment ago...