The Northern Plains was not merely a location; it wasthe most expressive location showing the true essence of gu world , Strong eat weak and weak are to be trampled on by strong . It is crucible of ice, iron, and blood designed to show the difference between strong and the weak by the weaker sides death . Here, the weak were not pitied; they were simply food for the wolf packs that roamed the endless white plain.
"It's not without reason they called this world the gu world the gu worms were not the gu they meant, we humans were the gu . The strongest person coming out of this world will be the strongest gu created just like how ancient people cultivated gu and the northern plains followed this rule of the gu world perfectly . Truly befitting the name Gu Cultivation world" looking out i whispered with deep thoughts going through my head.
Outside, the wind screamed like a hungry wolf, clawing at the thick felt walls of the yurt. Inside, the air was heavy and warm, thick with the cloying scent of burning dry musk and expensive sandalwood incense.
I stood before the polished bronze mirror, my hands gripping the cold edges of the washbasin brought by the maid.
The face reflected in the metal was fifteen years old. It was face of a handsome boy capable of charming countless beauties , an aquiline nose, high, sharp cheekbones, and lips that naturally curled into a sneer of aristocracy. The eyes were the most striking feature; the irises held a faint, swirling golden hue, the undeniable genetic marker of the blood line of this body as his forefathers all had the same eye color . It was a face if i had in my previous life , i would have changed my profession to an actor and would be the most followed celebrity with it .
I couldn't stop imagining what a scene it would be for a moment , the eyes in the mirror lost focus for a moment as if going back to the world they came from where the person in the mirror had a different body , life and name.
In his previous life, on a blue planet far from this savage land, he was a man of science. A surgeon of unparalleled skill. But he was never a "healer." he grew bored of saving lives early in his career; doing what anyone else could do was boring for him he searched for a field no one had conquered .
He became obsessed with finding ways for extending life , his final goal immortality . He dissected the living and the dead, peeling back layers of fascia and muscle, searching for the biological mechanism of eternity. He wanted to know why cells underwent apoptosis. He wanted to know how to stop the clock of the cells . He was cold, rational, and unashamedly hedonistic, yes what's the joy of life if you don't spend the night in the body of a woman . He slept with a large number of girls , tried different fetishes he lived a life so full that after turning 70 years old and not being capable of getting an erection he tried his final experiment on himself going all in as no other way was left , but from the situation now it seems he failed and then," I died. A failure of my own surgery. Laughable."
"But it seems my consciousness or my soul persisted, survived in a way and came here ."
Now, I was a character in a story I once read. Giant Sun Immortal Venerable. One of the only eleven venerable in the world gu zhen ren created .The man destined to conquer the Northern Plains, establish a hereditary monarchy, and leave behind a bloodline so vast it would choke the world.
It was a strange realization the moment i realised i was not just born with the name ju yang in northern plains, the timeline being after thieving heavens demon venerable, golden hair and golden eye , and the most important information confirming my guess was correct written in my grandfather's journal given to me as an inheritance after his passing.
I spent all the years from the year i could walk on reading the tribes books and our family's specially collected and inherited books, information is the most important helper in a strange place not to mention a different world.
I looked down at my hands. They were pale, uncalloused, the hands of a Young Master who had never skinned a wolf or pitched a tent.They were trembling slightly.
Not from fear. But from the imbalance within.
My body was strangely hot ,always wanting release the same was true for my mind but for fifteen years no matter what method i used it wouldn't get hard, another sign showing my guess was correct
It was a cruel physiological joke. My aptitude must be too high and there should be another thing in this equation too otherwise nothing else could explain this situation. From what i know about the original ju yang he solved this problem meaning it was not completely useless. Also he later created the yin_yang path it may be related it could be the sheer density of the Yang essence accumulating in my body had created a pressurized system. It has sealed my Yang gates shut. My lower body was dormant because of this, a dead zone.
To the world, I seem like a genius from my actions till now they all guessed i will have an A grade aptitude , a pristine vessel of noble blood. To myself, I was a cripple. A man who desired to taste every beauty in the world, to indulge in the hedonism of an Emperor, yet lacked the biological capacity to do so. The tool was intact, but the force to pick it up was nowhere to be seen.
I need treatment, I thought, my internal voice clinical, detached, analyzing my own body as if it were another persons body . The blockage is in energy form from what i know till here not vascular. I need a catalyst to shatter the energy dam. A massive influx of Yin to create a vacuum so it comes out naturally, or a volatile Yang surge to blow the gates open.
"Young Master!"
A servant's voice cut through the thought process through the tent felts, shrill and anxious. "The tribe leader is waiting for your arrival ! The Awakening Ceremony is about to begin! The tribe's children are all gathered!"
I closed my eyes for a second, constructing the mask i always put on in front of others. I smoothed away the cold, analytical expression of the surgeon and replaced it with the arrogant, carefree smile of a pampered youth.
I donned my heavy wolf-fur robe, the pelt of a Thousand Beast King that cost more than a mortals whole life's earnings.
"I am coming," I said, my voice steady. "Let us see what Fate has prepared for me."
The place the awakening took place was called the pathway of the Wolf .
The Awakening Square was located in the heart of the Ju Tribe camp. It was less a square unlike it's name it was an underground cave although large , humanmade and the way to it looking like the emergency exit of those old castles. the difference being there were no castle around it , it was a path as if heading towards a military formation and the commander tent.
The Ju Tribe was a super_force focusing mostly on the Enslavement Path and Strength path. We did not build walls of stone; we built walls of flesh what a befitting slogan. As I walked through the camp, flanked by four Rank 2 guards, I passed the perimeter.
Thousands of hundred beast king Steel-Back Wolves lay in the water, their fur matted with ice, their yellow eyes watching every movement. They were one of the tribe's foundations. The smell was overpowering—wet fur, raw meat used to feed them, and the metallic tang of dried blood. To a normal person, it would be nauseating. To me, it was ordinary i had seen and even coused worse situations and messes in my past life.
In the center of the square, what was called the wolf Spring bubbled. It wasn't water; it was liquid primeval essence, forced up from the earth's veins by the tribe's gu formation.The situation only happened couse our tribe had lost our original spirit spiring during the previous tribe leaders leadership , meaning my grandfather's leadership. and for some strange reason wether it be previous or current tribe leader , neither decided to leave this area in search of a new spirit spiring.
My father, Ju Xiong, sat on the high seat. He was a mountain of a man, a Rank 4 Peak Stage strength Path master also having enslaved a mutant thousand beast king , although it was injured wnd didn't have a wild gu. He wore armor made from the teeth of every great wolf he killed. He didn't look like a father; he looked more like a bear wearing human skin.
"My son!" Ju Xiong roared, his voice amplified by a Sound Path Gu. The vibration caused the ice formed on some parts of the roof to tremble and fall . "Today, you awaken! Show them the blood of our ancestors! Show them that the Ju Tribe breeds dragons, not dogs!"
The crowd of thousands—Elders, Gu Masters, and mortals—cheered. Their breath formed a massive cloud of steam in the freezing air.
I stepped up to the edge of the Spirit Spring.
Analyzing in my mind as always Procedure: Aperture Awakening. Risk: Minimal. Variable: Aptitude.
I stepped into the water.
The cold was instantaneous and shocking. It bit through my boots, gnawing at my bones.The light spots called hope gu began gathering around my body this was the pressure of the spirit spiring trying to crush a mortal body.
I took steps. The water reached my ankles.
Grade D area . The level of servants and cannon fodders.
I didn't stop. I regulated my breathing, matching the rhythm of my heart to the pulses of energy in the water. My previous life's knowledge of anatomy allowed me to relax my muscles, reducing the resistance. Trying everything to gain most from this important turning point.
I passed the next checkpoint.
Grade C area. The level of the common soldiers.
I kept walking. The pressure grew heavier as the gathering light spots became more numerous, it felt like an iron band tightening around my chest. Most youths would be trembling now, their willpower fraying. But willpower is what the mind thinks of the capability of itself. I ignored it the mind was a tool to be used not to judge myself and order me around.
I passed the grade B chekpoint.
Grade B area. The level of most Elders.
As i stepped more steps the pressure continued to increase.
The crowd went silent. My father stood up, his hands gripping the arms of his seat so hard the wood splintered.
I took more steps. The pressure was immense, threatening to crush my lungs.
But I felt a wall ahead. The source of the formation was near.
Fate wants a Venerable in this time period, I thought, pushing forward with a surge of arrogance. So i shall be the shining star of this era as it wishes and use the opportunity it provides to my benefits.
I took the final step, standing a step remaining to the spring's eye.
BOOM!
A soundless explosion rang inside my body. It felt like a supernova expanding in my lower abdomen. My aperture finally opened.
I looked inside with using internal vision.
The walls were light membrane of initial stage gu master, radiating a blinding white light. The Primeval Sea was tumultuous jade green essence, crashing against the walls, filling the space almost entirely.
99% primival essence , A-Grade Aptitude.
The silence in the square stretched for a heartbeat, then shattered.
"A-grade aptitude!" The presiding Elder shrieked, falling to his knees in the snow. "Heavens! A child blessed by the Heavens!"
"The ancestors blessings on our tribe!"
"The Ju Tribe will rule the Plains again!"
My father leaped from the dais, landing with a thud that shook the ground. He grabbed me, hugging me so hard my ribs groaned. Tears streamed down his weathered face, freezing in his beard.
"I knew it! I knew it!" Ju Xiong sobbed, losing all dignity. "My son is a hero!"
I patted his massive back, smiling the smile of a dutiful son. His only son having a great talent and mature mindset from birth was a great gain for any father not to mention for a tribe leader meaning he gained a suitable heir. It is also great for me taking all the attention and care he can give me to grow is the best benefit a family member of strong status can bring me.
"Now," the Elder announced, wiping his eyes. "The Young Master must choose his Vital Gu."
This was the critical juncture. The first incision in the path of my life.
Servants brought forward a long table covered in red velvet. On it lay the diffrent types of rank 1 gu of the Ju Tribe.
The Rank 1 Wolf Strengh Gu . a gu giving the Strengh and speed of a Wolf after usage.
The Rank 1 Wolf Enslavement Gu. A pulsing gray beetle that allowed control over ten beasts.
The Rank 1 Wolf frenzy Gu . A red bead capable of increasing the ferocity of the wolf group in exchange for their sanity and increas in the difficulty of control.
The Rank 1 Iron Bone Gu. A defensive gu.
The Rank 1 Wolf soul Gu. A transformation path gu(later it is moved to soul path category).
.
.
.
The types and numbers numerous,the quality of the gu brought here high among the rank 1 gu of the tribe ,as the genius and the young master of the tribe it was what i was entitled to.
The Elders looked at me with expectant eyes. They expected me to take the Wolf frenzy Gu or Wolf soul gu. It was the legacy of our tribe.
But I walked past them.
My eyes the eyes of a researcher looking for the anomaly , i knew what i wanted as my vital gu from the moment i read my grandfathers diary and refinement books . I drifted to the far end of the table. To the less valuable ones.
There, sitting on a plain wooden tray, was a motionless, ugly brown beetle. It looked like a piece of dried mud or petrified dung.
I knew its history. I waited for this moment as i know no one knew better than me what it meant and what it would do.
My grandfather, Ju Bao, was a Mad Refiner. In his dying years, terrified of death, he tried to create a non consumable Life Extension Gu. He was insane. He threw a Rank 1 Lifespan Gu (15 Years) into the refinement fire. He added a Rank 1 Light Increase Gu. And then, in a fit of senile delusion about "grounding the heavenly energy," he added Thousand-Year-Old Desolate Hound Feces.
The experiment failed. The Lifespan Gu was consumed. The result was this beetle.
It did nothing. It attacked nothing. It defended nothing. It just sat there, emitting a faint, light and ate shit. The tribe kept it only out of respect for the ancestor.
But as I looked at it, a sharp, electric sensation pierced my mind.
It wasn't a system notification. It wasn't a voice from the heavens.
It was my Intuition or the fate calling for what was fated for me.
It was the same feeling one gets right before an accident or what one feels when the person you love cheats on you an abstract feeling not explained by any reason or research.
The final hypothesis i came up with through all these years after reading my grandfather's diary is ,this gu uses the medium of "Filth" (Feces) to ground abstract concepts like lifespan related to time and increase related to light meaning it has abstract powers. It doesn't eat shit to survive; it consumes itprobably to control uncertainty as the path it's related to is all about uncertainty.
My feeling screamed. Pick it. It is the Scalpel you need to dissect Fate's schemes.
I reached out.
"I choose this one."
The silence returned, heavier than before.
"The... The Dog Shit Gu?!" The Elder choked, his face turning purple it was the name they placed on it as it only ate dog shit and did nothing. "Young Master, are you feverish? It eats excrement and does nothing! It is a stain on your glory! It is a useless trash!"
"Ju Yang!" My father tried to dissuade me, stepping forward. "Do not make a choice you regret later! You have 99% aptitude! Do not throw your future away on a joke of a gu!"
I held the ugly beetle up to the sunlight.
"It eats waste and turns it into light , that should be what a gu is like, and I'm sure grandfather's work was something even at failure stronger than others success" I declared, my voice ringing clear and sharp across the square. "Wolves are common. Anyone can herd a beast. But this... my intuition tells me this is the path to my future."
"Intuition?!" My father sputtered. "You are choosing a Vital Gu based on a feeling?"
"I am a genius, Father," I said, channeling every ounce of arrogance I could muster. "Geniuses do not follow the common path just like Verdant Great Sun i refuse to be ordinary. Geniuses blazes new paths."
I said that and shoked them from the words from the legends of ren zu and didn't wait for his dissuations , thanked them and returned to my yurt.
What remained was the refinement of the gu.
My 99% primeval essence flooded the Gu. It offered no resistance. It was hungry and it's will weak.in less than an hour it buzzed
Buzz.
The Gu entered my aperture. It hovered over my vast primeval sea, vibrating contentedly.
Immediately after using it the world shifted.
I didn't see numbers. I didn't see auras.
I felt tugs.
A gentle pull to the left—the wind is about to shift, move your robe.
A sharp poke in the gut—don't step there, the ice is thin.
It was a sixth sense. A navigational system for reality.
I named it for what it would be called in the future: Dog Shit Luck Gu.
I turned to the mirror i knew my path was decided by Fate and it was helping me pave the way.
They thought their Young Master had gone mad.
I smiled looking at my image in the bronze mirror.
Let them think I am mad. Madmen are unpredictable. And unpredictability is the only thing that can hide me from the gaze of Heaven.
Now, I had the Luck. But I still had the Blockage.
I returned to my yurt, my body burning with unused energy, my mind already thinking on dissecting the next problem.
Tonight, I must be perfect again.