"Psst... hey... Fang Zheng," Yu Sai said.
"What is it?"
"I heard you're also stepping out of the contest," Yu Sai said. "Tell you what- I'm not doing anything either way, and I heard you were lacking an attacking gu worm. I'll lend you my Moonlight Gu if you want to participate- all for five primeval stones! Just for the exam, mind you..."
Fang Zheng considered it - that way he would still be at a disadvantage but could make a reasonable showing of his skills.
However, five primeval stones was a lot to someone like him. And his brother's words echoed as he shook his head.
"Really? Oh well..." Yu Sai said, slightly disappointed.
Fang Zheng had reached Rank 1 Middle Stage a few days ago, though he was still was not participating based on what Fang Yuan had told him to do.
The tournament had attracted a large number of Gu Masters, some of them just here to see the fights, while others were here to eye the potential recruits to their teams. The excitement had died down a bit now that the rumored A-grade talent wasn't going to be performing, but even with three B-grades it promised to be quite the show.
Yu Sai, Fang Zheng, and the other losers who had chosen not to participate stayed on the sidelines- if they were lucky maybe one of the more desperate teams might choose them, but more likely than not they would all be relegated to the tasks of being logistics or support gu masters. Much like the people who ran the academy store, for example. While it could be said that in some way this was safer than going on missions as they usually would, when push came to shove, say, during the beast tide, they would have to fight the same. And in times of peace, they were the bottom of the totem pole- there was a reason that Jia Jin Sheng was so frustrated most of the time. These jobs did not pay well at all either, and meant that these people would barley be scraping by when it came to primeval stones. On top of that, any missions that they would take would be considered to be 'failures' further worsening their reputations among the clan.
That was why many students, even if they were just D-grade, still entered the tournament. To at least show that they could do something- anything, to escape that fate.
Many people gave Fang Zheng disappointed looks seeing where he was standing. They had higher hopes from him, and many rumors were being whispered about in the crowd.
"Is that Fang Yuan?"
"Of course, Fang Yuan would not be standing with those failures. That's his brother, Fang Zheng."
"Ah, the unlucky cripple."
"You'd think he'd at least try to make some kind of show with things, but to see him like that..."
"Heh, did you hear what he did to that mortal woman? I think it serves him right that he's like this now..."
The words were like poison to Fang Zheng's ears, but he only repeated what Fang Yuan had told him until now. 'Words are useless, they will not save you if your life is in danger. There are two ways to avoid being trampled upon in this world - become so strong that no one would dare mess with you, or become so loathsome that no one would even bother stepping on you! Fang Zheng, I know it is difficult, but for now, you have to play the part of a failure while gathering strength secretly. Only then will you be able to once again eventually soar into the clouds - don't worry, I promise that the sun will shine upon you once again someday!'
For now, Fang Zheng was only hoping that Fang Yuan, at the very least, gave a good performance.
Before the fighting started, everyone's apertures were inspected. This was the last time for most of them that this would happen in their lives, after this, their apertures would be considered very vital and private areas that they would not let others intrude upon.
Mo Bei and Chi Cheng had both managed to cultivate to Rank 1 Peak Stage. This had not happened back in Fang Yuan's previous life, and was likely a consequence of him rocketing upwards. While those two were happy, there was a tiny commotion when his own aperture was inspected.
"Rank 2 Initial Stage!"
"What?"
"Rank 2 already?"
"He must be at the peak of Rank 2 stage then- like Qing Shu."
"No, this is all because of the Liquor Worm's help."
"Oh right- he's the lad who found the Flower Wine Monk's Inheritance! How could I forget?"
The other students, who already thought that they were not Fang Yuan's match, had sour looks as half of them seemed like they wanted to join Yu Sai if they were to be paired against Fang Yuan.
"Rank 2 huh..." Mo Yan said. She was watching intently- after all, her grandfather was more serious about marrying her off to him and she wanted to see with her own eyes what he was like. She might even extend an offer to recruit him if his performance really lived up to the hype.
She was not the only one who wanted to recruit Fang Yuan. There was Chi Shan, from the Chi faction, who had incredible strength and was a B-grade talent.
Then there was Qing Shu- a man said to have 'pseudo-A-grade' talent who represented the interests of the clan head. Originally he had been planning to recruit Fang Zheng, but after the assassination attempt, the clan head's priorities had shifted.
The matches began. The D-grade talents could do little more than use their fists, but even then there were some good shows here and there. Li Mei was among them but had to concede after three rounds of fighting- with that said she had put up a good show all things considered.
Fang Yuan, as was to be expected, struck like lightning. He won most of his fights without even having to rely on his gu worms or primeval essence. His dominance from the martial arts training sessions was still fresh in everyone's minds, and he had not lost his advantage since then.
This was slightly different in the fact that gu could be used in these fights- meaning that moonblades flew around like frisbees. The issue was that the ones who were using them were extremely inexperienced to using them in actual fights being that most of their training was against stationary targets.
Even if they had been more seasoned, they would not have been able to deceive Fang Yuan. As a demonic Gu Master, he had fought with his own life on the line countless times, in many circumstances opponents with more strength than his own. His battle experience was honed to a base instinct. When one used moonblades, their wrists had to flick, their shoulders moved- and all of these actions betrayed them as Fang Yuan swerved and dived, seemingly not tiring whatsoever as he beat challenger upon challenger and sent them flying out of the arena.
There was a reward of 100 primeval stones for winning, and he intended to claim it. Above that, was the reward handed by the system.
New Main Mission!
Win the final exam!
Reward: 2% permanent increase to your aptitude.
With that, Fang Yuan would have 61% primeval essence, meaning that he would then be a true B-grade talent. There was no need to be worried about being discovered as a fake, because he was no longer a fake - the lie that he had woven would materialize into something that was fact!
The clan head, however, was a bit disappointed. Since Fang Yuan could dominate things so easily, he had no need to use gu worms. Meaning that he was not showing how he could use the Moon Raiment Gu, which was good for Fang Yuan to keep a card like that hidden, but disappointing nonetheless to the clan head.