3. Unlucky?
If he were kicked in the head and didn’t understand from what little he observed and how much his host toiled in this world—maybe—Lo Jik would inquire the Academy Elder about his situation. Fortunately, Lo Jik knows the price of exposing one’s ability, even if unintentionally. However, there’s nothing he can do. He accepts he has two apertures and calmly refines his Moonlight Gu.
Unwilling to use any primeval stones, Lo Jik depends on the essence in his apertures to refine the Moonlight Gu in four days. It wasn’t fast since the person to win the competition was Fang Yuan. It took Fang Yuan three days to refine the Moonlight Gu. If one believes the rumor, Fang Zheng was only late by a few hours.
Meanwhile, with the academy closed off to him for the weak, Lo Jik needed to spend time hunting for food. Even if the gu world’s premium currency spooked him, he didn’t want to use them on material gains recklessly. Frankly, his second aperture within his heart has only been a boon to him.
Lo Jik’s feet sink in the mud as he sighs.
It rained for three days straight, and his roof snapped. With his trusty dagger, Lo Jik sought to cut bamboo shoots behind his ruined cabin to repair his roof.
It’s just plain unlucky.
He could be cultivating. Technically, he possesses an A-grade aptitude, too. However, he has to focus on his house.
‘Academy’s dorm should be available soon, right? That’s the primary reason why the academy shut down for a week. Previous dorm students are going through their former residences to clean things. Since not everyone is present in the village, they get a week’s notice to accomplish the task.’
He licks his dry lips.
‘Should I rest at the inn instead?’ He thinks it once before shaking his head.
‘I’m already halfway through.’
Lo Jik hacks at the Spear Bamboo. These bamboo are green and fragrant, but their tips are as sharp as a spear. His hand raises to hack down at the offending bamboo when Lo Jik wonders something.
‘Can’t I use the Moonlight Gu?’
Granted, Lo Jik knows little about the gu worm, and the demonstration from the Academy Elder on the first day was a swift process, leaving many others dazed. However, nobody’s stopping Lo Jik from trying… except for bad weather conditions.
He steps back, indifferent to mud sliding between his soles and sandals, as he wills the Moonlight Gu in his second aperture to travel into his hand. Every Gu Worm has different functions, like Traits, requiring various conditions to be usable.
For instance, the Moonlight Gu is useless within a gu master’s aperture. However, he can utilize it if the gu worm rests within his palm.
Gu Yue Lo Jik looks at his right palm. His calloused palm sports a blue crescent tattoo, indicating the presence of Moonlight Gu within his hand. Exhaling sharply, Lo Jik continues supplying the gu worm with his essence. Under his dazed, almost enamored gaze, a film of bluish energy surrounds his hand. It looks like clear water, flowing yet stable around his hand.
‘Hmm, next.’ Lo Jik purses his lips, finding it hard to maintain a continuous connection with the Moonlight Gu. Once a gu master refines a gu worm, they can control it as their limbs! However, things are not so easy. A gu master, like an infant, must learn to control these limbs again. With accumulated experience, a gu master will control new gu worms as easily as breathing.
The blue, watery light around Jik’s hand wavers as his breath catches in his throat.
He slowly sticks his fingers straight before slashing horizontally at the nearest bamboo.
A weak, pale blue, palm-sized, crescent-shaped arc of energy flies out of his hand, thinning as it glides. The weak arc of energy fizzles once impacted against the bamboo, leaving a visible scratch on its surface.
Lo Jik regains his breathing. He walks forward and inspects the tiny scratch.
‘Academy Elder effortlessly cut through a thick scarecrow. Even if I chalk it up to his rank 3 cultivation… the Elder made it look easy.’
A smile appears on his lips.
Good!
How many challenges Jik faced in his quest to bag higher achievements?
He joined several fighting gyms, making his way up the competition to impress who would be his silver achievements.
He learned several languages to fuck the language barrier and polish his game.
Hell! Lo Jik has done more for a lot less since he understood all those practices will help him enjoy his life and better himself!
‘Fear not the challenges, but one’s weak will to look away from them. Fearing weakness breeds the courage to challenge oneself.’
Lo Jik recalls reading something similar.
‘So, one attempt takes 10% essence. I can use the Moonlight Gu eight times, but I can’t reveal that. Hmm. I will mix things up—training my use of the gu worm and rebuilding my roof. I still have four days, and I will have excess essence for cultivation at night, too.’
With his thoughts set, Lo Jik gets to work.
<<<>>>
The academy training ground is almost 2000 square meters, padded with graphite and other materials to make the surface solid. A tall fence of stacked bamboo keeps their training away from the public gaze.
Five rows of students launch their Moonlight Gu at the thick scarecrows that would recover its body every time it gets hit. His turn finished, standing on the left side—Lo Jik frowns slightly.
The academy dorms have limited rooms and are granted on a first-come, first-served basis. If Jik has to calculate, he doesn’t think there are more than 10 students without a caretaker to look after them. Yet, all 20 rooms are occupied! He sighs. He wasn’t late either. The dorm guard admitted that 5-6 rooms remain unoccupied every year. However, not this year. It’s frustrating.
‘It’s already been five days. Well. The weather is stable for now, so it’s not like I’m hurting for a new place.’ Lo Jik exhales. He unconsciously reaches for his head.
‘Either this world has different types of humans, or my hair’s recovery is better than the rest.’
His previous bald head already sports a short carpet of brown hair as tall as one centimeter.
“Good!” The elder’s loud exclaim attracts everyone’s attention as a scarecrow’s head falls off. “Did you use that Moonlight Gu?” He glances at the nearby student, who is just as stunned as the rest before he slowly nods.
Aside from a student getting a lucky shot, the first day of practical training ends with the Elder announcing another competition in three days for the best aim in the class—for the prize of 10 primeval stones. Roused by the chance of earning the sum, other students rush to the Gu Store in the academy for straw men targets. Lo Jik would be the same if he didn’t have the dense bamboo grove behind his house and if he had three stones to spare. As things are now, Lo Jik smiles at the store clerk, a Rank 1 Gu Master named Jiang Ya, and purchases another load of Moon Orchid Petals.
As taught before, a gu worm needs food—except the Hope Gu, from the looks of it.
Moonlight Gu consumes two moon orchid petals in the morning and at night. One primeval stone buys a pack of ten petals. So, his Moonlight Gu consumes 0.4 stones a day.
Now, Lo Jik only has 5 stones remaining since he has yet to go on another hunt for materials.
He wishes hunting was more effortless. Catching a small game for dinner and hunting large creatures for profit are two distinct concepts. If hunting was lucrative, every mortal in the surrounding mortal villages would be bagging loads of primeval stones! Not to mention, preparation for the hunt and the act itself consumes time—which he can dedicate to his cultivation and practicing with Moonlight Gu instead.
‘What would be the easiest way to earn more?’
The most recent competition comes to mind.
Unlike what he’s shown, he’s got a better aim. He can use more practice, but Lo Jik believes he can win it if he trains seriously for the next three days.
‘And if I’m stuck in that cabin, I benefit from making it more stable. Hmm.’ His eyes gleam. ‘I can employ the woodcutters in the mortal villages under Gu Yue Clan’s authority. I’ll need wood and good wax. Tiles are expensive for the roof, and I can always reapply a coat of wax. Or I can lay another tarp atop it?’
Consumed in thoughts, Lo Jik exits the academy.
<<<>>>
Lo Jik stares at the dark cloud within his second aperture above the Hope Gu. This time, Lo Jik doesn’t let the gu worm consume it despite feeling its urge. The Hope Gu’s light is now weaker than before and sways midair.
He was wrong.
Hope Gu does need food to survive in his aperture.
He didn’t know what its food could be until he recalled its sudden arrival. The gu worm only revealed itself once he absorbed primeval essence from the stone, somehow invoking the dark mist. Unexpectedly, it worked.
Lo Jik can feel the gu worm’s hunger as the dark mist swirls in his aperture. The young gu master observes this mist. He was worried he wasn’t absorbing the entire effect of the stone’s essence. He was proved wrong when he recalled his classmate’s discussion. His aperture’s absorption rate is satisfactory.
The dark mist is merely something extra.
The more he looks at it, the more Lo Jik feels a profound rejection breeding in its mist-like pool. Unable to make heads or tails about it, he allows Hope Gu to feed as it creates a suction to consume the dark mist.
The light of the gu worm sharpens again, and it grows stable.
Lo Jik stares at the floating creature before retracting his vision.
‘It seems to need that mist once every week. But according to Academy Elder, Hope Gu can exist just fine in the clear pool and live off of natural primeval essence in the air. Why does Hope Gu in my aperture require this dark mist? Nevermind that. The clan has no knowledge beyond rank 5 gu masters. I can’t restrict myself to their norms. Also, my cost of living rose to 0.5 stones a day. I’ll be out of money in two more days. Just as well. That’s the day of the competition.’
<<<>>>
3 Days Later.
The class sits on the ground and watches their combat instructor take out grass and wood puppets. Grass puppets are agile, and the wooden puppets are tall and heavy! Their combat instructor is a rank 2 gu master with a bulky and muscular physique. His skin seems slightly unnatural, taking on a bronze tint, as his naked torso reveals several scars.
Slightly competent in close-quarter combats, not because he took classes in his previous life, but because he had several skirmishes with the husbands he wronged on the streets, Lo Jik finds it refreshing how their instructor talks about tackling boars and bears.
He wants to do that, too!
The streets of his previous life may as well be concrete forests since there weren’t any rules. Sure, his training helped. However, his ass got kicked more times than he would like to admit, forcing him to learn from his mistakes and become more shameless in his ways. He often slept with the same women to have rematches with their husbands!
However, Lo Jik notes how the combat instructor doesn’t have a teaching plan. A good teacher always prepares a concise plan to relay information and demonstrate skills.
As expected, students grew bored without a uniform teaching plan and began chatting among themselves. Many students are eager for the test.
Growing angry, the combat instructor shouts loudly, “No talking! Pay attention to the class and how to deal with your opponents. There isn’t just one Moonlight Gu, and you kids must learn how to fight with your body since your gu worms are only for show until much later!”
The students grow silent for a while, making the instructor feel helpless as they start whispering again. It’s always the same every year. Students get swept by the mesmerizing use of Moonlight Gu, unwilling to pay attention to martial arts until they suffer a few defeats.
The excitement rises to an all-time high after the combat lessons. The students wait in the training ground near the five straw scarecrows. Only today, the old Academy Elder arrives after the students become restless. He smirks internally, noting the eagerness in most eyes. Pointing at the five targets, the Elder prompts the classroom. “Form five groups and step forward. You will attack your target three times.”
Ordinarily, the class of 57 students will find it challenging to divide themselves into multiples of 5. However, not all students chose the Moonlight Gu as their vital gu and were exempted from the competition. A total of 35 students chose the Moonlight Gu. By now, even the students with D-grade aptitudes finished refining their gu, allowing them to enter the competition.
A group of five students steps up. There’s a bit of chaos as everyone wants to show their skills. Unlike them and intent on winning, Lo Jik decides to wait till the last group. If possible, he wants to be the last one to use his Moonlight Gu so he can assess everyone’s skill.
If he’s better than them, he will show limited expertise. If not, he’ll aim everywhere but on the target since there’s no chance of winning.
If Lo Jik was interested in kids, he would show off.
Fortunately, he isn’t. He doesn’t socialize with the rest and keeps to himself.
He, and a few other D-grade students alongside Fang Yuan, might be the most overlooked bunch in the batch.
Flowing blue crescent blades cut through the air in awkward arcs as only nine attacks land on the target. Meanwhile, two students miss entirely. Displeased and disappointed with such results, the Elder verbally tears the two students anew. Excitement fades from many students’ faces once they see the Elder’s reaction. The students were excited to show their skills. However, they are now nervous.
Another group steps forward, but their result isn’t great. Still, all of them manage to land one hit on their targets.
The next group sees one of the top three students entering the fray—Gu Yue Mo Bei.
*Fwip*
*Fwip*
*Fwip*
Three moonlight blades hit their targets. Two of them slash against the target’s chest while the other one brushes past the arm, cutting a deep gash. Exhaling sharply, Mo Bei turns around. This youth is one of the more ‘built’ students, possessing squarish features and short black hair. The Elder nods, his expression eases as he offers a few words of encouragement to Mo Bei.
The next group includes a slightly nervous redhead, Gu Yue Chi Cheng. Unlike his rival, Mo Bei, Chi Cheng has a thin frame, shoulder-length red hair worn in a high wolftail, and a face blessed with pockmarks. The boy sends out three attacks, all landing on the target’s chest.
Beaming instantly, Chi Cheng tosses Mo Bei a challenging look, causing the latter to snort and cross his arms. Hearing a few words of encouragement, Chi Cheng returns to his position.
It’s as if they have a tacit understanding that the trio didn’t enter the same group since the next group included Gu Yue Fang Zheng.
The grandsons of the Mo and Chi family elders straighten their backs and stare at Fang Zheng, who’s a nervous wreck.
‘I can do it.’ Fang Zheng psychs himself. ‘I trained every day! Elder Brother has a weaker talent than me. With my A-grade aptitude’s potential, I used Moonlight Gu more than most. Watch this, Elder Brother. I will surpass you today and focus on my true competition, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng.’
Lo Jik wouldn’t be surprised if he could read Fang Zheng’s thoughts. Why?
The twin’s relationship being strained would be a grave understatement.
A few days ago, Fang Zheng stormed into the classroom, accusing Fang Yuan of being a terrible brother. He revealed Fang Yuan slapped him when he tried talking some sense into the fallen star. Not only that, Fang Zheng also wanted Fang Yuan to apologize to him for scamming him. Why? Fang Yuan apparently ‘sold’ his maid to his younger twin since he liked her for six primeval stones. However, the maid wasn’t Yuan’s property.
It was easy for Lo Jik to deduce it was just Fang Zheng’s cock speaking for him since he fixated on the so-called Shen Cui’s honor.
*Fwip*
Surprisingly, Fang Zheng’s first attack slices into the target’s neck.
“Wow! That’s A-grade aptitude for you! He boldly went for one of the hardest regions to target!”
“Maybe he can teach us something?” A girl speaks with a hopeful expression.
More students clamor on while Mo Bei’s and Chi Cheng’s expressions turn dignified.
‘Uh. Am I the only one who thinks that was a fluke? He slices in the chest’s direction before shaking nervously and gets a hit on the neck? That’s some luck. All I have is the opposite of it.’
Lo Jik sighs.
Still, the praises stabilize the poor soul as his subsequent two attacks strike the chest region.
Fang Zheng returns with his head held high. He glances at Fang Yuan before returning to his position.
Another group of students produces a subpar result before Lo Jik’s turn.
He, Fang Yuan, and three more students step ten meters away from their targets.
While the three students aim at different parts of the body, barely missing or their attacks weaker than others, a relatively robust moonblade flies above the target’s head before fizzling away.
“Pfft! See that? That’s Fang Yuan. There’s so much difference between the twins!”
“Hmph! Serves him right. He’s a scammer! A con-man!”
Others were always jealous of Fang Yuan even before the awakening ceremony, and being the first to refine a gu worm earned him more ire from his classmates.
“Gu Yue Lo Jik! What are you waiting for?”
The Elder barks loudly as Lo Jik smiles wryly. Coincidentally, most of his interactions in the classroom are with this old Elder. Lo Jik has taken it upon himself to interrupt the Academy Elder’s propaganda lectures in favor of the real ones since anything else would be a waste of time. He would question concisely, ensuring the Elder had to answer him first. Of course, the Elder finds Lo Jik a bit of an eyesore.
To be fair, old Academy Elder internally commends Lo Jik’s spirit. However, the student is also a thorn in his responsibility and path of guiding the next generation of the gu masters.
“Uh.” Lo Jik nods, raising his hand toward the target and taking his sweet time to feed Moonlight Gu resting his palm as other students are already done. Fang Yuan briefly glances at Lo Jik before pointing at the target and releasing successive attacks that slice the target’s neck off neatly!
Everyone, including Lo Jik, gape in surprise.
They are momentarily stunned as Fang Yuan calmly adjusts his sleeves, revealing no pride in his gaze. The head of the dummy quietly rolls down to the ground.
Is it a fluke—
*Fwip*
*Fwip*
*Fwip*
Three water-like crescent slashes draw sharp, keen arcs in the air as vertical slashes neatly cut the target’s arms and head from their weakest links attached to its torso.
Fang Yuan stills, slowly glancing at the gu master beside him. Surprisingly, he notes a pair of curious brown eyes staring back into his abyss-like black pools.
*Thc*
*Thc*
*Thc*
The arms and the straw head fall onto the ground, forcing a strange silence on the group.
***
Alternate Title: Swept Roof; A Poor Cabin; Fickle Abode; Wasted Time?; Finding Ways to Train; A Challenge is Acceptable; Lo Jik’s Soiled Past; He’s Done A Lot More For a Lot Less—Creed; Lo Jik Really Becoming a Jack of Everything To Increase His Rizz; No Dorm; Forced Outside; A Rise of Children Estranged From Their Parents; Unlucky Streak; Star Constellation Sipping Her Coffee And Divining Ways To Ruin Lo Jik’s Morning; Skills Surpassing Luck; Hope Gu’s Feed; The Strange Black Mist; The Aura of Rejection; A Lively Gu; Practice; Practice More!; Streets Have No Rules; Lo Jik is Unhinged Menace for Sleeping With a Man’s Wife For a Rematch!; Le Husband: Why Couldn’t He Just Call Me Instead?!; Lo Jik Getting His Ass Whooped—Because He Learns From His Mistake *Sweet Avengers OST*; Lo Jik Wants To Fight Bears And Bores… Hopefully, He Won’t Mate with their Mates; Fang Zheng Forgetting Brotherhood For That Box; Lo Jik Loves Him Some Drama; Hack and Slash; Making Progress; The Competition; The Top 3; The Supreme Duo; Academy Elder: Let’s Talk About How Great The Gu Yue Clan Is! *Lo Jik Chuckles Menacingly: And I Took That Seriously*; Fang Yuan: Neck Slashed; Lo Jik: Body Decimated; A New Challenger Appears