After Fang Yuan, it was Fang Zheng's turn.
Fang Zheng remained still and in a daze after seeing Fang Yuan's result until the Academy Elder shouted at him again.
"Gu Yue Fang Zheng!"
"Ah? I'm here, I'm here!" Fang Zheng snapped out of his shock and ran out hurriedly.
Unfortunately, he tripped over his own foot and fell, hitting his head with a groan as he tumbled into the river.
Instantly the entire cave was filled with huge laughter.
Mo Bei stood there expressionlessly and did not move.
When Fang Yuan Comes, Hide Your Ammo. He had no plans to reveal himself as different than in Fang Yuan's first life just yet.
In the river, Fang Zheng was soon pulled up by his elder brother.
The other youths, including Mo Bei's lackeys, continued laughing. The elder did not stop them.
Being one of the closer people, Mo Bei heard Fang Yuan say: "Go on. The road to the future will be interesting."
Hearing this line in reality sent shivers down Mo Bei's spine. It will indeed be interesting.
He thought of the countless schemes this man would soon unleash. The blackmail, the manipulations, the slaughter. Fang Yuan would not be content with the fate assigned to him.
But neither would Mo Bei.
And just like Fang Yuan, he had his own trump card — a Glock, and the ability and madness to turn it into a cultivation Dao.
Without surprising Mo Bei, Fang Zheng walked deeply into the flower sea, displaying an A-grade talent.
The youths were amazed while the elders began to fight for him.
An hour later, all the youths were finally tested and the Awakening Ceremony came to an end.
All hundred of them walked back up the stairs, those with Gu Master talent looking relieved and excited, while those without looking depressed.
After leaving the clan pavilion and the central square, Mo Bei's two lackeys began chatting. Both of them turned out to have a cultivation aptitude - one was C-grade, the other D-grade.
"So we'll have an A-grade talent in our class," said one of them.
"Yeah. But not Fang Yuan. His brother. He looks weak though, like a skinny chicken."
The other snorted. "That Chi Cheng too—skinny as a red-furred monkey!"
The two cackled.
"He's nothing like Boss Mo Bei," the other said, gazing at Mo Bei as if hoping to make him happy with his bootlocking.
Mo Bei gave a faint smile and didn't say anything.
After walking a certain distance, the trio split. Mo Bei returned to the Mo family's residence alone.
At the entrance, Mo Yan was already waiting for him there. She ran up to him and looked him right in the eyes—earnest, concerned. "Little brother, how was it?"
Mo Bei allowed himself a small smile. "Seventy percent Primeval Sea."
"Seventy?!" Mo Yan looked at him with a surprised face. Then she formed an overjoyed smile. "That's amazing! I knew my little brother was going to be a genius!"
She looked very excited and tightly hugged him to express her excitement.
Mo Bei was caught off guard but awkwardly returned the gesture, arms loosely around her waist.
And he could feel…
Soft. Warm. Breasts. Pressed directly against his chest. His hands on her slim waist and her feminine fragrance like spring wine, and his lower body began to react.
His barrel was rising. Gun: locked, loaded, and pointing due north.
He secretly wished he could slide down his hands and grab that ass…
Unfortunately, their relationship was that of siblings.
'Daaamn it!!!'
After parting with Mo Yan, Mo Bei's sister told him that in the dining room his breakfast was already prepared.
As Mo Bei was about to finish his meal, a person walked into the room. He saw that it was his grandfather and his only other close family apart from Mo Yan - Gu Yue Mo Chen.
"Mo Bei! I heard from the Academy Elder that your Aptitude is 70%. That's quite excellent!"
Gu Yue Mo Chen looked excited.
Mo Bei faintly smiled in response. "Yes… I'm lucky."
Mo Chen raised his eyebrows, as if surprised by such a calm reaction. He said, "I expected you to get quite arrogant. Did something happen?"
"Hm? No… But maybe… There's an A-rank talent in the same year. So I can't be slacking off," Mo Bei gave an excuse.
Mo Chen still looked a bit surprised. "That… That's right! It seems you've slightly matured. Your talent is good, but you can't be slacking off. You must show everyone that our Mo family are no pushovers. That A-grade Gu Yue Fang Zheng is your rival, and you must especially suppress and beat the Chi family's Gu Yue Chi Cheng!"
"... Yes." Mo Bei replied in agreement, but he wasn't very concerned about that.
Chi Cheng?
Fang Zheng?
These toddlers weren't his enemies.
His true opponent was a demon in human skin – a reborn Gu Immortal who'll one day wrench heaven and earth into submission.
Mo Chen nodded as he continued staring at him. "Your aptitude is slightly higher than Chi Cheng, so you have a small advantage there. But you'll still need to work hard to get actual results. Do you understand?"
"I understand." Mo Bei nodded his head.
"... Good."
After saying this much, Gu Yue Mo Chen left.
Having finished his meal, Mo Bei left the mansion, telling the guards he's going for a walk.
But really, he needed to test the Glock.
He couldn't do it inside the villa – if there was a loud bang attached to it, he'd have no way to explain it.
With this reason, Mo Bei walked across the village and left its borders through one of the gates.
He then walked for a while alongside the wooden palisade until he felt he walked sufficient distance.
He then took out a piece of metal shin guard that he brought and placed it against a large boulder.
He took ten steps back and then summoned Rank 1 Gun Gu.
Time to shoot.
A black Glock materialized in his right hand. Sleek, matte and slightly vibrating as if it was hungry for action.
He pulled the hammer back with his thumb. A round loaded automatically, costing him a small amount of Primeval Essence.
He took aim.
There was no need to pull the trigger – intent was enough. A will to fire.
But he was a man of principle.
He pulled it anyway.
Bang!
With a loud bang, a bullet left the muzzle.
Mo Bei felt the recoil from his shot as the gun jumped ever so slightly in his hand, and saw the metal plate being struck in the distance.
After that, he pulled back the hammer again and shot out another bullet at the boulder itself.
Bang!
He then came in closer to inspect the damage.
First looking at the metal plate.
It was not pierced, but there was a significant indentation in it.
As for the boulder, there was a small amount of damage to it as well.
Mo Bei thought, 'This metal plate should be about as thick as typical medieval armor. My Rank 1 Gun Gu can't pierce through it, but if the bullet struck a skull instead, it might still shatter it.'
It was an amount of damage that seemed quite average among Rank 1 Gu, but Mo Bei knew better.
He was still only Rank 1 Initial Stage. The Gun Gu's power hadn't even bloomed yet.
Just like Fang Yuan's Moonlight Gu – it could only cut flesh at Rank 1 Initial Stage, but at Middle Stage? Off goes the head…
Same logic applied here. Once he hit Middle Stage, he'd likely be punching through armor, and people behind it too!
But what really excited him?
It was speed!
Bullets moved faster than the eye could see. Mortal opponents stood no chance. Even Rank 2 or 3 Gu Masters would likely have no ways to keep up.
'That's amazing!... As always – speed is king. What good was power if the enemy could dodge?'
Only someone with pre-activated defensive Gu or far higher cultivation would stand a chance.
'As expected… a gun in a backwards world is just OP.'
And there was more to it!
Thanks to his Gun Path Grandmaster Attainment, he saw that he had a natural talent and instinct toward the use of Gun Path related Gu. His Gun Gu use felt instinctive, almost guided. It felt… cultivated.
As a result, he could already aim quite well with it and wouldn't require much training to reach pin-point accuracy, becoming an expert marksman.
And the beauty of it is that despite the fact of him holding a gun in his hand, the Gun Gu was still a Gu Worm - it did not use the sight to aim but his mind. He simply had to imagine where he wanted his shot to land and command the Gu Worm to follow his will.
He just needed to think – There. And it would shoot there.
No scope, 420.
'That's dope!'
Two more points:
Recoil and sound.
Both were unavoidable – it was a part of how the Gun Gu worked.
Even so, it was a satisfying feeling to still have both. A Glock without recoil and a bang was like a sword with no edge – too sterile and tame.
Thankfully, the recoil didn't affect the accuracy.
The very last aspect was the Primeval Essence cost.
With his Grandmaster Attainment came a level of talent at handling Primeval Essence. After inspecting his Aperture, Mo Bei could sense his Primeval Sea level drop to about half of his Aperture.
With 70% being the maximum, it means the two shots cost him 20% Initial Stage Primeval Essence.
'10% per shot? That's just like Moonlight Gu.'
A bit steep for a cherry seed-sized projectile. But considering it included both bullet formation and the energy to fire it at a great speed, it was reasonable.
Suddenly–
"What's going on here?!"
Two figures rushed over to the scene.
Mo Bei turned his head.
The gate guards. They probably came here after hearing the gunshot.
"It's you… Young Master Mo Bei?..."
Mo Bei kept calm and gave a prepared answer: "There was a wild Gu here. But it already flew away."
"A wild Gu?..." The two looked surprised.
Mo Bei just nodded, casually picking up the dented shin guard.
He then started walking away.
"What kind of Gu…?" the other asked.
The guards looked at his leaving figure, but Mo Bei didn't reply, so they had no choice but to accept his explanation.
They looked at each other, then shrugged.
"So it was a wild Gu…"
"Or maybe he used a Gu worm?"
"But didn't he just awaken today?"
"Ah… good point. Then yeah. Definitely a wild Gu."
Mo Bei, hearing this exchange, smirked.
'Smooth.'
…
…
…
Author's Note: I'm writing this, but I actually know nothing about guns.