8. Rules
Another week flashes by in the blink of an eye as Lo Jik and Fang Yuan confront students in groups. Oh, sure! The Academy Elder happened to focus on ‘gank’ tactics this week. Nothing suspicious about that. Lo Jik scoffs in his heart. Gu Yue Mo Bei leads the group focused on Lo Jik, his sharp glare befitting a war general strategizing to snatch a bowl of oatmeal from his brother-in-law.
“Give up, Lo Jik!” demands a student. “You cannot defeat us!”
“Yeah! It’s time you pay for your actions!”
“Hehe, we will defeat you today and take your remaining money. You can’t get a stipend for 4 additional weeks and will have to watch us in shame!”
Fang Yuan also faces similar shouts with the bonus of an extremely angry twin who got beat up to an inch of his life because of sharing a face with the indifferent devil ahead! Chi Cheng is also in this group.
Lo Jik thinly smiles. He slowly moves, making others jerk. Even if the students surround him, nobody rushes to attack him. Why would they? The first person to get caught by Lo Jik will have his face swollen with those slaps! So, their hearts shudder when Lo Jik quietly unsheathes his dagger.
“W-What are you doing?” A girl squeaks, making Lo Jik smile wordlessly. He rushes at the girl with his dagger shining a cold, keen light. The color drains from the girl’s face as she panics and stumbles back, watching in shock as a swift sidekick catches another student in the mug! Lo Jik glances at the girl, thrusting his dagger at her as she closes her eyes, only to feel a tight slap on the face, snapping her head aside.
Lo Jik looks at Mo Bei, beaming at the boy. However, Mo Bei only sees a terrifying opponent with a sharp weapon in his hand. The boy’s breath catches in his throat as he suddenly enters his stance, almost yelping in surprise when the boys meant to block Lo Jik’s charge and stand aside fearfully.
Mo Bei learns a valuable lesson—he can only rely on himself.
Lo Jik’s ruthless slaps only solidified that lesson.
<<<>>>
The Academy Elder snorts in displeasure as he witnesses how Fang Yuan and Lo Jik use their means to quickly terrify the groups of intimidated students and tame the rest. However, the Elder cannot interfere anymore. The lessons on tactics were his way of encouraging the students to follow forward courageously. Some did, but not the rest.
Yet, the Elder observes the situation quietly.
It was a simple scheme from his side to suppress Lo Jik and Fang Yuan. The Clan Head approved of it, or else he would not have punished Lo Jik in such a way.
They all understood the Mo Family would compensate Lo Jik. Gu Yue Bo could increase Lo Jik’s punishment. However, the critical part of the scheme wasn’t suspending Lo Jik’s stipend but turning it over to Fang Yuan!
Greed can change an individual. Wealth destroys the most beloved couples!
‘That’s right. How will you divide the extorted money? Will Fang Yuan reimburse Lo Jik? If he does, he will feel cold against Lo Jik since he is paying out of his pockets. If Fang Yuan doesn’t, Lo Jik will grow distant from him. He may turn against Fang Yuan, evening the battlefield altogether! Hehehe, these two have C-grade aptitudes and no external support. They can only rely on themselves.’
Even if nothing changes on the surface today, the seed of discord will grow and fruit within the next four weeks.
‘Once they fall out eventually, one of them can join the budding three factions within the classroom. It will also force Fang Yuan to select a group for himself, promoting group confrontations.’
Isn’t that what the Academy Elder wants to see?
He—
His smile fades as he observes gloomily as Lo Jik and Fang Yuan quietly divide the loot in their usual proportion of 28-27. Lo Jik never brings up the topic of reimbursement, and Fang Yuan doesn't offer it either. Instead, one walks over the unconscious bodies towards the dorms. Meanwhile, the other crosses his arms behind his head and exits the academy with a polite smile.
<<<>>>
Lo Jik’s careless demeanor fades once he enters his cabin. He exhales slightly, sitting on his mattress while letting his nervousness ease. Things are not so simple anymore. Firstly, his third Gu worm—Black Boar Gu—consumes a pig’s worth of pork every five days. Pork is expensive in Gu Yue Village. Since the mountainous and narrow regions of the village cannot rear pigs, the villagers need to hunt wild boars instead. However, wild animals have tough skin and unusually sturdy bodies compared to animals from Lo Jik’s previous world. Even his host only hunted a boar once after preparing a lot of traps!
Lo Jik cannot spare so much time!
He focuses on the lectures in the morning, ensuring the Elder doesn’t waste his time with useless propaganda. His afternoons and nights are just as busy! He spends the afternoon eating and selecting fruits to optimize his diet, and the nights are for cultivation. Since nurturing Aperture does not substitute sleep, Lo Jik spares 8 hours minimum every day.
Of course, the results are evident.
He’s grown more in a month than he did last year. A good diet during puberty is a wonder for the body, and Lo Jik is no longer wiry or bald.
How will he get time to hunt boars? He would consider leaving the village to hunt boars if he could take care of one in a few moves. However, he cannot.
Instead, he’s slowly adopted a careless and arrogant personality as if all his fortunes finally got to his head. He added to his weekly routine—celebrating the weekly extortions by feasting on pork.
There is no way Lo Jik can explain his acquisition of Black Boar Gu, leading to his next problem.
‘I spent weeks slowly clearing my doubts in a way that doesn’t make others suspicious that I have a second aperture. How will I hide it from others if they try and send their essence inside me to inspect me?’
To peek into another Gu Master’s aperture is a vile offense, almost always leading to fatal battles if done without a cause!
He lets his vision into the aperture within his heart.
There is one doubt Lo Jik doesn’t know how to clear—about the Vital Gu.
He stares at the Rank 1 Hope Gu.
‘Others don’t have two apertures, so they will never question if they can move their Vital Gu from one Aperture to another. The Moonlight Gu is only acting as my Vital Gu. I don’t need to make it my Vital Gu and can wait for a rare Gu instead. However, I cannot move the Hope Gu from my heart. Is it because of the legends? Hope Gu resides in the heart. Does Hope Gu refuse to leave my Aperture because it’s my Vital Gu, or does it need to stay in my heart?’
He wishes he could use the Hope Gu as in the Legends. However, Lo Jik admits he feels like Ren Zu— unaware of things.
<<<>>>
The story mentions that Ren Zu escaped his predicament because of hope. But eventually, he grew old, and without Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu, he could no longer continue to hunt. Even his teeth fell off, making him unable to chew many wild fruits and vegetables.
Ren Zu felt death slowly approaching.
At this time, the Hope Gu said to him, "Human, you must not die. If you die, your heart will be lost, and I will lose my only place of residence."
Ren Zu was helpless. "Who wishes to die? But if the heavens and earth want me dead, I have no choice."
The Hope Gu said, "There's always hope in everything. Catching the Longevity Gu will increase your lifespan!"
Ren Zu had heard of the Longevity Gu long ago. However, he waved his hand helplessly. "When the Longevity Gu stays still, nobody can detect it. When it flies, it is faster than light. How can I possibly catch it? It’s too hard!"
The Hope Gu told Ren Zu a secret, "Human, don't give up hope no matter what. Let me tell you, on the northwest corner of this continent, there is a huge mountain. There is a cave on a mountain, and in that cave is a pair of round and square Gu Worms. As long as you can subdue them, there is no Gu in this world that you cannot catch, including the Longevity Gu!"
Ren Zu had no choice. This was his last remaining hope.
He braved all difficulties and finally found the mountain. He then risked his life and ventured through countless dangers to ascend the Mountain. He spent his remaining energy to enter the cave on the mountaintop.
The cave’s interior was completely dark, and one wouldn’t even see their own fingers. Ren Zu walked in the darkness. Sometimes, he would bump into things, not knowing what they were. This caused him to get injured and wounded all over. At times, he felt that this dark cave was huge beyond words as if this was a world of its own. He felt as if he was the only person in the area.
He spent a lot of time. But he could not walk out of the darkness. Not to mention subduing the two Gu Worms.
On his last wits, almost losing hope, two voices spoke to him from the darkness.
One voice said, "Human, you're here to catch us? Go back, for even if you had the Strength Gu, it would be impossible."
The other said, “Human, go back. We will not take your life. You may not find us even with the Wisdom Gu.”
Ren Zu lay exhausted on the ground, panting. "The Strength Gu and Wisdom Gu had left me long ago, and I do not have much lifespan left. So, I’m at my wit's end. But I won’t give up as long as I have Hope!"
Hearing Ren Zu's words, the two voices went silent.
After a while, one of the Gu said, "I understand, human, you have already given your heart to the Hope Gu. You will not give up no matter what."
The other continued, "In that case, we shall give you a chance. We will allow you to us if you can say our name.”
Ren Zu was stunned. To find their names among all the words in the world was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
Furthermore, he didn’t know how many words were in their names.
Ren Zu quickly asked the Hope Gu, but it did not know either.
Ren Zu had no alternatives and had no choice but to randomly guess their names. He said several words and wasted a lot of time, but the darkness did not respond to him. Evidently, he was wrong.
Eventually, Ren Zu's breath weakened as he turned from an elderly into a dying man. It was like the scene of the evening's setting sun. The sun that would slowly descend had already been lowered halfway across the horizon, becoming a sunset.
The food he had brought was gradually reduced, his brain becoming slower, and he barely had any energy to speak anymore.
The voice in the darkness urged, "Human, you are almost dead, so we will let you go. Use your remaining time, climb out of the cave, and look at the world a final time. But you have offended us, and as punishment, the Hope Gu shall stay here as our companion."
Ren Zu clenched his heart and rejected, "Even if I die, I will not give up hope!"
The Hope Gu was very touched and answered Ren Zu's call enthusiastically, emitting a bright light. At Ren Zu's chest area, a light began to shine. But this light was too weak. It could not illuminate the darkness. In fact, it could not even cover Ren Zu's entire body but only engulfed his chest area.
Yet Ren Zu could feel a renewed surge of energy gushing into his body from the Hope Gu.
He continued to speak, shouting out names. But he was already muddled. He wasted a lot of effort since he couldn’t remember the words he uttered before, repeating himself several times!
As time continued to flow, Ren Zu's lifespan was almost over.
Finally, on his final day, he said the word ‘Regulation.’
A sigh came from the darkness as a voice spoke, "Human, I admire your perseverance. You have said my name. I will obey your commands. But only with my brother can I aid you in capturing all the Gu in the world. Otherwise, with my ability alone, it is impossible. Thus, you should give up. You're almost dead. You might as well use this chance to take a final look at the world."
Ren Zu was determined and shook his head. He used all his time to continue saying names as he tried to guess the other Gu worm's name.
Seconds and minutes went by, and soon, he only had one hour left.
But at this time, he unknowingly said the word ‘Rule.’
Immediately, the darkness dissipated.
The two Gu's appeared before him. As Hope Gu had said, one was cubic, called ‘Regulations.’ The other was spherical, called ‘Rules.’ Together, they made up ‘Rules and Regulations’.
The two Gu said concurrently, "No matter who it is, as long as they know our names, we will listen to them. Since you know our names already—we will be at your service, Human. But you must remember, it is important to not let others know of our names—the more people that know our names, the more people we have to obey them. Now that you are the first to subdue us, tell us your request."
Ren Zu was overjoyed. "Then I order you both, go and catch me a Longevity Gu."
The Rules Gu and Regulations Gu worked together and captured an eighty-year Longevity Gu.
Ren Zu was already a hundred years old. After consuming this Gu, the wrinkles on his face vanished, and his frail limbs became muscular again. A vibrant aura of youth oozed from him.
With a belly flop, he jumped up onto his feet.
He ecstatically looked at his body, knowing that he had regained the body of a twenty-year-old!
<<<>>>
Lo Jik sighs.
He is like Ren Zu. He doesn’t know the limits and rules of his Trait or the Hope Gu. It’s like guessing in the dark. Didn’t he spend a long time in his previous life to understand his Trait? He stumbled in the darkness, hit his toes against the rocks, and walked in circles, trying to learn its use. Hope Gu is similar.
All he knows is that it feeds on the Aura of Rejection his body seems to produce after absorbing a Primeval Stone.
‘No,’ Lo Jik’s gaze brightens. That isn’t all!
He also knows that the Hope Gu was in his heart, not revealing the Aperture until he released the Aura of Rejection. It was hidden!
Anticipation bubbles in his chest as Lo Jik stares at the Hope Gu. He can sense he’s on the right track as he tries commanding the Hope Gu to hide itself.
One must not confuse it with the Gu worm’s intended use. Several Gu worms move and play in the Aperture, acting as living beings. Some can hide, too.
The second he thinks of making the Hope Gu hide itself, he feels the Aperture in his heart ‘disappearing.’ He gasps in surprise. After all, he can still sense the Black Boar and Hope Gu inside his heart.
‘I see,’ Lo Jik narrows his eyes, instinctively commanding the Hope Gu to release its light.
It ‘brightens’ the aperture and makes it visible again.
The light of Hope!
‘It’s not just the legends,’ Lo Jik sucks in a breath of cold air. If Hope Gu contains its light, it can hide everything within his heart, protecting his secrets!
‘Let’s test my second theory,’ Lo Jik smirks as his shoulders relax.
‘I asked the Academy Elder—what if other student cheats their cultivation. That’s how I’m clear that Gu Masters can inspect each other’s apertures in a moment of vulnerability. However, he also said something intriguing. Since cultivation involves nurturing the Aperture’s wall, the better the quality of Primeval Essence, the more optimized the results are. So, why don’t other students ask their elders to nurture their aperture with superior essence? Why must we toil using our initial-stage Primeval Sea?’
He snickers.
‘The Elder said there are no two identical leaves. There’s a similar finding in my homeworld that no twins share the exact same DNA, no matter their external looks! Similarly, everyone’s Primeval Essence is different and unique. It contains our life signature or aura. Sending our Primeval Essence into another’s body will conflict with the target’s Aperture and leave hidden defects, if not outright injuries, should the other party fail to control their Primeval Essence.’
Nobody wants a defective Cultivation!
‘However, I have two apertures.’
A thin stream of jade-green essence with a copper-like luster flows into his first aperture. Lo Jik works cautiously, observing if the Primeval Sea from the second aperture conflicts with the one beneath his navel.
‘It doesn’t!’ He gushes.
‘This changes everything!’ Lo Jik licks his lips. Why?
Until now, he was dividing his efforts to nurture his Apertures simultaneously. It was similar to two C-grade students cultivating at a time. However, streamlining his resources into one Aperture will be equivalent to an A-grade talent’s cultivation with loads of money since he still possesses 210 stones!
Once his first Aperture breakthroughs into the middle stage, he can use the middle-stage essence to nurture his heart!
His cultivation will undoubtedly lag since he’s focusing on two Apertures. However, his speed will be Heaven and Earth apart from his current state!
Lo Jik chuckles and observes his second aperture.
Hope Gu brightens the space like a sun as the pitch-black Black Boar Gu flies around it, enjoying its warmth. The Moonlight Gu resides in his right palm. Lo Jik observes his fourth Gu worm.
It rests at the bottom of the aperture, indifferent to the green-copper essence. Thin green vines coil around its spherical green body as it releases a hint of regal and archaic aura!
‘The Green Copper Relic Gu.’
That’s right, he identified the strange Gu worm, and he’s thrilled!
‘It’s a Gu worm that can directly increase a Gu Master’s cultivation by a minor stage. If I use it now, I will instantly become a Middle Stage Rank 1 Gu Master.’ He sneers. ‘But why would I expose myself? This Relic Gu is extremely rare. However, it’s easy to feed. It only consumes my essence. I’ll wait until both my apertures are at the Upper Stage before I use it on one of them to become a Peak Stage Rank 1 Gu Master.’
‘Well,’ he beams. ‘Let’s continue!’
The Black Boar Gu stops flying aimlessly at Lo Jik’s command as thin streams of his essence enter its body. The Black Boar glints, releasing an ethereal, pitch-black glow.
If someone observes Lo Jik now, they will find him surrounded by a pitch-black mist sticking to his skin. He feels a warm current moving through his body before his body turns numb. The situation only lasts a few seconds, leading to extreme irritation and itching flooding his body!
Lo Jik grits his teeth.
It’s not like nurturing his aperture where time seems to fly by. Instead, Lo Jik feels that time is moving slowly. However, he persists. Did his body not endure molten candle wax atop his dick to get his third Golden Achievement? Jayda was kinky and dangerous, but he persevered! Can he not do the same again?
His breathing turns rough.
Lo Jik feels a sharp pain accompanying the itching after 15 minutes, signaling him to stop.
He exhales, stopping the Black Boar Gu as he notices his clothes sticking to his body.
Everything in excess has consequences. The Black Boar Gu grants permanent strength to the Gu Master. It’s a gradual process. A Gu Master cannot attain a wild Boar’s power in a day! Humans are feeble. They need time to adapt to such modifications.
‘Still, each use makes me stronger than before.
Lo Jik clenches his fist.
‘That’s why I have to resort to slapping more as I slowly learn to control my strength.’
***
Alternate Title: John Wick: Consequences; Other Students: Give Up! We Have the High Ground *Lo Jik Channels His Inner Vader When He Sees a Group of Younglings Ripe For The Picking*; Extreme Bullying; Earning Buttloads; Mo Bei Learns He Came Alone and Will Die Alone; Fear; Suppressed; Terrorized; The Elder’s Scheme; Lo Jik and Fang Yuan are too Chad To Care For 3 Primeval Stones!; Lo Jik Continues To Disrupt Propaganda!; Elder’s Worst Student; Learning; Rules and Regulations; Lo Jik Looking At Ren Zu: He’s Me FR!; The Darkness of Ignorance; The Myth, The Legend!; Light of Hope; A Great Gu!; Amazing Aperture; Two Apertures are a Damn Cheat!; The Relic Gu; Amazing Silver-Ranked Reward; Lo Jik DEEPLY Misses Mo Yan; A Boar’s Strength; The Facade of Careless Arrogance; Pork; Oink Oink Baby!