The Empty Orifice is wondrously mysterious. Though it resides within Fang Yuan's body, it does not occupy the same space as his five viscera and six bowels. You could say it is infinitely large, or you could say it is infinitely small.
Some call it the Purple Mansion. Others call it the Hua Pool. But most people refer to it as the Yuan Sea Empty Orifice.
The entire Empty Orifice is spherical, its surface flowing with white light—a layer of Light Film. It was condensed from the Hope Gu when it shattered earlier.
It was precisely because of this Light Film that the Empty Orifice could be supported and would not collapse.
Naturally, within the Empty Orifice lay the Yuan Sea.
The sea was smooth as a mirror, presenting a dark cyan color, yet incomparably dense, carrying the luster of bronze.
This was Bronze True Essence—something only a First Transformation Gu Master possessed. Colloquially, it was called the Bronze Sea.
The sea level was less than half the height of the Empty Orifice, only forty-four percent. This was a limitation of Grade C Aptitude.
Every drop of seawater was True Essence, representing the crystallization of Fang Yuan's essence, energy, and spirit—symbolizing the life potential he had accumulated over fifteen years.
Gu Masters used this True Essence to activate Gu Insects. In other words, from this moment on, Fang Yuan had officially entered the ranks of a First Transformation Gu Master.
The Empty Orifice was now open. No more Hope Gu would flow into Fang Yuan's body.
Fang Yuan gathered his mind and found that the pressure ahead was as solid and unyielding as a wall. He could not advance any further.
"Just like my previous life." He smiled faintly at this outcome.
"Can you not go any further?" The Academy Elder called out from the opposite bank, clinging to the slimmest thread of hope.
Fang Yuan simply turned around and walked back, answering him through his actions.
By now, even the other youths had caught on.
In an instant, a buzzing sound rose as the crowd erupted.
"What? Fang Yuan walked twenty-seven steps?"
"So he only has Grade C Aptitude?!"
"Unbelievable! Such a genius, yet only Grade C?"
A massive uproar swept through the crowd.
"Brother..." Among the crowd, Gu Yue Fang Zheng raised his head, staring in shock as Fang Yuan waded back across the river. He couldn't believe what he was seeing—his own brother was only Grade C?
He had always believed his brother would be Grade A.
No, not just him—his uncle, aunt, and many others in the clan had thought so too.
But now, this was the result?
"How contemptible! Only Grade C!" Guye Patriarch silently clenched his fists, letting out a deep sigh, his disappointment plain for all to see.
The Elders watching in secret—some furrowed their brows, some lowered their heads to discuss in whispers, others gazed skyward with long sighs.
"Could there be an error in the test?"
"How is that possible? The method is flawlessly accurate. Moreover, with all of us watching, cheating would be nearly impossible."
"But then, how do you explain his earlier performance and talent?"
"The higher a youth's Yuan Sea Aptitude, the more they will indeed exhibit traits beyond the ordinary—intelligence, comprehension, memory, strength, agility, and so on. However, these traits do not necessarily indicate high Aptitude. Everything must be determined by the test results."
"Alas, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The Guye Clan grows weaker with each generation..."
...
The icy river water soaked through his socks and shoes, cold enough to be bone-chilling.
Fang Yuan continued walking with the same expressionless face. As the distance closed, he could clearly see the heavy expression on the Academy Elder's face, and could keenly sense the gazes of over a hundred youths falling upon him.
In those gazes there was shock, disbelief, mockery, schadenfreude, sudden realization, and indifference.
The identical scene made Fang Yuan think of his previous life.
Back then, he had felt as though the sky were collapsing. He had stumbled crossing the river, fallen flat, and ended up soaked through, his soul shattered and his spirit lost. Not a single person had offered him a hand.
Those looks of disappointment and indifference had sliced at his heart like sharp knives. His thoughts churned in chaos, and a dull ache throbbed in his chest.