Qing mao mountain was covered in mist, for the rain had just washed it to reveal its ethereal beauty. On a pdeastal, people were bowing down to a statue.
"Great ancestor of our Bai clan, bless us with a talent so that we may become the overlords of this mountain. Bless us with the strength to beat those accursed gu yue and xiong clans, and let us rule for as long as heavens exist."
Lightning struck the pavillion, and the gathering slowly dispersed.
In a wooden house not far away
"Push harder, milady, just a bit more." With a final scream, Bai Pa An Sha was born into this world.
'Hm, i thought i died sometime ago, when that truck hit me, where am I?'
"Congrats to Lord Bai Pa Xi and Lady Bai Pa Ju on the birth of your child. Kindly record the details in the photo-audio gu"
'Gu, did i hear that right? Wait I am the child here, am i in the gu world?'
An Sha was earlier a 17 year old from Earth, who was killed when he was reading a manhua. To think that he was now being born in that same world, it felt like a nightmare.
Years passed like days, and An Sha quickly learned the proper language, as well as mannerisms of the gu world. His father, Pa Xi was an elder of the Bai clan on Qing Mao mountain, a rank 3 middle stage gu master. His mother, Pa Just was a rank 2 peak stage gu master, who specialised in support.
"An Sha, tomorrow is the awakening ceremony, great things are expected of you. Get some rest instead of standing out in the cold"
The awakening ceremony was the most important event of many people's lives, as it decided if they were a talent prized by the clan, or a dog shit mortal, with no aperture, whose life would be as cheap as grass to the gu masters.
'I did read about the awakening ceremony, to think one day i would witness it. Bai Ning Bing has not appeared yet, so I am probably a year ahead of Fang Yuan, I wonder if this is his first life or his second one? Also does heaven's will know of my otherworldly demon status? Ahhhh, too much to think, i'd better go to sleep'
Humans are the greatest among thousands of creatures, Gu are the essence of heaven and earth.
Gu comes in thousands of shapes and sizes of strange and mysterious variety – there are too many to count. Some Gu after being used once or even twice or thrice will completely dissipate. And some Gu can be reused again and again as long as it is not used over its limits.
The way of cultivation, was the way of the gu master. Every gu master had an aperture, it was like an internal organ, too small to be detected, much like the soul. The aperture held the primeval essence, or the life energy, of the gu master. To use the gu was to keep it in ones aperture, make its will submit to one's own and to spend primeval essence to use it.
Even if it was late in the night, most of the homes in the village still had lights on, which was unusual.
Tomorrow was the awakening ceremony, and it affected everyone's best interests. A kind of excited yet tense atmosphere had enveloped the hearts of the people of the clan, and thus naturally many people could not sleep well.
An Sha was up as well, he had all the knowlege of future events, of the demon Fang Yuan and his deeds, which will cause chaos in the as he chased eternal life. What role did heaven want An Sha to play, that he was not worried about yet.
He spent a few hours making plans according to his knowlege, and slept for the rest, being a mortal, he still needed sleep.
The next day
An Sha woke up and opened his window. The earthy smell of a lake and freshly cut trees greeted his nose. He breathed in deeply, fully prepared to live his new life un the gu world.
The awakening ceremony was a huge event, as it allowed people to open their apertures to whatever takent they have. Till 39% was D grade talent, 40-59 % was C grade talent, 60-79% was B grade, and 80-99% was A grade talent.
Talent decided most of a gu master's life and prospects, D grade could reach rank 1 peak stage, C grade could reach rank 3 peak stage, B grade could become rank 4 peak stage, and A grade could reach to the peak of the mortal realm as rank 5 peak stage. Obviously, cultivating to this from rank 1 inital stage took a lot of effort, and only geniuses could achieve this.
'I wonder what talent i have, hopefully it is not D grade, otherwise my life would be very difficult'
There was a huge gathering of over a hundered youths at the clan's spirit pool, in the basement beneath the clan's headquarters, there were also several small rooms storing gu owrms, recipes, ingredients, rare materials etc. This was the clan's dark hall. Just as An Sha was asmiring the beauty of this place, a chilly wind blew and waves formed on the otherwise calm spirit spring. The hope gu inside were awakened rudely by this pressure, which was formed by the immense human qi gather at this place.
"Alright, listen as I call your names. Those who are called must walk through this river to the opposite bank. Walk as far as you can, of course the further you go the better it is. Are you all clear?" An elder, probably the academy elder, said.
"All clear," the youths replied. Actually before they came here, they had all heard their family members or seniors talk about it. It is known that the further you can walk, the better your talent is. Your future will also become brighter.
The elder began calling names from a parchment
"Bai Han Xi"
The aforementioned youth walked forward, into the river. The crushing pressure made him feel like he was walking through quicksand, and after 21 steps, he stopped.
"D grade talent"
While it wasn't common knowledge, the number of steps corresponded to the amount of primeval assence your aperture could store as compared to its space.
Below 10 steps had no talent, and were resigned to the fate of a mortal. 10-20,steps were D grade, 20-30 steps were C grade, 30-40 steps were B grade and above 40 were A grade talents.
Just as Bai An Sha was recalling this, he heard a name which made his hair stand on the skin.
"Bai Ning Bing"