NOVEL WEB Chapter 239: Chapter 2573
For Fang Yuan, all these tests were child's play, even though his aperture was in a reduced state, his body was currently still that of a Rank 6 Immortal Zombie!
Whether in terms of Luck, Talent, or Strength, Fang Yuan was capable of placing first among anyone his age. (His current body's age)
"The question is should we place first or just well enough to pass?" Wisdom Gu was floating as a tiny blue speck around Fang Yuan.
"Both have their merits," Wisdom Gu was operating at a slower speed than what he was accustomed to because he didn't want to recklessly use all his strength and be forced to consume lifespan Gu that Fang Yuan did not possess at the moment.
"Hmm," Fang Yuan scratched his chin, "You know…I bet the Heavenly Dao is paying extreme attention to talents that are middling or better than average but worse than genius."
"? Why?"
"Because that's exactly how I would play it in this scenario, if I was forced to restart from the beginning, I wouldn't stand out too much, just enough to get the best treatment, but not enough to be hammered down…but with my clone in charge of the world, and my main body stronger than the world, why do I have to act like the idiot?"
"I see," Wisdom Gu nodded, "Hiding in plain sight can often be the most effective method…"
The two turned to each other, and a tacit nod of understanding was given.
"Number 888, Fang Yuan, reporting for the Strength Test."
The counter staff looked up, a beaming handsome youth, exuding confidence, and yet gracefulness stood before her.
She froze and blushed slightly.
"888, Fang Yuan, here." Fang Yuan handed the token after more than a minute of just staring elapsed.
"Erm, yes, of course," she coughs to cover her embarrassment, "Please come with me."
"What am I doing!" the girl's face flushed red, "He's just a young boy, whilst I'm already considered an old woman past her teens…but there's something weird about him that I can't put my finger on…"
In the Gu World, 15 was considered an adult, most seniors were in their late teens.
"Erm, the name's Wei Xuan, I'm 19, what's your name?" Wei Xuan tried to start a convoy to ease her embarrassment but…
"..." Fang Yuan was slightly caught off guard, "Hmm there's no way a cultivator would so easily forget a person's name, which suggests that she's trying to make small talk whilst being flustered, and the only reason a young woman like her would be flustered is…"
Fang Yuan gave a sly grin, "I can use this."
"My name's Fang Yuan Miss Wei Xuan." he quickly switched up his smile into a charming enduring yet confident smile.
"Crap!" Wei Xuan thought to herself, she noticed the shift in his demeanor "He mentioned his name and I wrote it down to register him for the strength test! Argh I'm such an idiot! But…he's such a gentleman, he didn't point out my mistake."
The corridor toward the strength testing hall was relatively short, but for Wei Xuan, it felt like an eternity, Fang Yuan was a confident and resplendent gentleman, asking for advice, how her day went etc… but all Wei Xuan could focus on was her blunder.
"Ah!" seeing the field in front of her made Wei Xuan light up, "We're here!"
The testing ground for strength was modelled very similarly to the battle arenas that Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing took part in during their earlier days, while they were making a name for themselves.
"This certainly does bring back some memories…" Fang Yuan took the air in around him, the smell of a hard-fought battle lingered in the air bringing him back to a time when he was still just a pawn on the Venerable's chessboard.
"And now there's only me…and the Heavenly Dao…" Fang Yuan clenched his fists, "Soon…soon…"
Wei Xuan didn't notice Fang Yuan's slight mood change, the profundity that lay in his recollective state would have given normal mortals an epiphany, akin to Immortal Ascension.
"This here is the latest and greatest Gu House devised by the Lord Wu Shuai himself!" Wei Xuan began bragging about it as if she were the inventor, "It's called Testing Ground Ver. 3.0!"
Fang Yuan's curiosity was piqued, "I wonder what Wu Shuai did…"
"Training Ground uses the data collected from 1000s of Beasts from Rank 1 to Rank 3! It perfectly uses a mix of various Paths to recreate the look, feel, and attacks of these beasts!" the pride in her voice made its way up to her eyes and was seen through enthusiasm, which met eye to eye with Fang Yuan's scepticism.
"Heh," but Wei Xuan wasn't dismayed, on the contrary, she became almost evangelical about promoting, "You see, it is an amazing invention, borrowing on the principles of Killer Moves as Gu House, and drawing reference from the Peaceful Soil Heavy Mountian Fortress, Wu Shuai created this Mortal Gu House, Training Ground!"
"Hoh," Fang Yuan scratched his chin, "I've never heard of such a thing before, a Mortal Gu House that uses a Killer Move as its base, fascinating."
Fang Yuan was truly impressed, based on the data that Wisdom Gu was showing him, he had a nearly complete idea of how Training Ground operated, was capable of, and even areas to improve!
After all, he was the foremost expert in just about every Path, and the number 1 in Refinement Path, the concept of a Mortal Gu house was considered nothing more than a simple puzzle that he would tackle out of leisure.
"Mortal Gu Houses are a great idea for improving the lives of the organization you run, but during times of war they might as well be scrapped as cannon fodder."
Wei Xuan was still full of pride, "Indeed, this is what sets Heavenly Star Academy apart from the rest of the great academies, Lord Wu Shuai has clear favorites, even amongst his wives and concubines, and it speaks volumes considering the amount of funding and attention he gives the Heavenly Star Academy."
Fang Yuan continued smiling and nodding, but in his mind, "Wisdom Gu…we may have a problem."
"Mhm," Wisdom Gu telepathically nodded, "I've come to a similar conclusion…Wu Shuai might be under the control of Star Constellation!"