Bao Zhi was not slacking in his free time. In the days leading up to the academy's tournament, he was busy refining gu.

First, he had to refine the Primeval Elder Gu.

Only then could he access his fifty-three thousand primeval stones contained in it!

But the Primeval Elder Gu was a rank 3 gu and Bao Zhi only had rank one initial stage primeval essence. It was a huge hurdle to refine it even with his hundreds of years of experience as an immortal. That knowledge could only help him so much when the difference was two ranks between the gu and him.

He was not discouraged. He calmly accepted his current situation. This was a good thing as well.

He spent his free time every day refining the gu worm without pause. He sat in his room, one hand holding the Primeval Elder gu the other holding a fistful of primeval stones.

He was refining gu and absorbing primeval essence at the same time!

If any established gu masters saw this they would be shocked.

Multitasking like this was not just impressive, it was also reckless.

In general, refining gu required the full attention of a gu master. One wrong step and he could suffer a backlash.

He had no choice in the matter. If he stopped refining to replenish his essence every time, he estimated, he couldn't refine it at all. He even brought the gu with him in his fake aperture and refined it while his essence lasted during the classes.

The next gu worm on his list to refine was the Five Fruit Golden Sapling Gu. But that was still something he could not start on. Processing his gains would take a while. This was already like the tale of a toad trying to swallow a swan.

For now, he urgently needed the primeval stones. The amount he acquired from Xing Zan, the traveling merchant, was mostly spent.

His funds were about to run dry!

It was ridiculous to think about this situation. Like dying of thirst in a desert, while one had a gourd of water they couldn't unseal.

But Bao Zhi has planned accordingly. In his calculations, he just had enough to get over this hurdle.

"The reward from the upcoming tournament will give me a bit of leeway." - He thought.

In the next room, Jin Ju was also doing his best to refine a gu worm. He had a serious attitude. The pride he had in the first days when he refined his gu worm first in the class was gone now. He had to realize that Zhao Min's talent was still above his in the end. But not for long!

Currently, he was sitting cross-legged on his mat and focusing on a gu.

This was already his third gu worm!

The wast majority in the class still only had their vital gu and no other gu worms. Jin Ju had already refined Carve Wood Gu and the Green Copper Relic Gu.

Now he was refining the Unpolished Jade Gu.

Although having three gu worms sounded impressive, two of the gu were consumable gu worms. Otherwise feeding them in the long term would be a headache for Jin Ju.

He had some understanding of the gu world economy, he knew about the cost of keeping gu worms. Too many gu worms could bankrupt a gu master's finances!

Thus, his plan was to use these two gu worms as soon as possible. First, he would use the Unpolished Jade Gu to raise his aptitude. With his new aptitude he could reach the third stage of rank one, the upper stage, and then use the Green Copper Relic gu to advance to rank one peak stage in one step.

Jin Ju nodded to himself as he thought of his plan.

He was already imagining a scene before him where his teachers and classmates stood in shock at his rapid advancement.

But he quickly dismissed this fleeting thought, now he had to give it his all! This was a rank two gu worm, he was only a rank one gu master. His experience was only outstanding among his peers, he could not hold a candle to experienced gu masters, not to mention Bao Zhi. Otherwise he would also know that gu masters with higher rank gu were abnormal.

"I need to hold on, when I refine this gu worm, the rest will be smooth sailing!" - Jin Ju encouraged himself.

When the day before the tournament came, Bao Zhi had dark circles around his eyes. They were bloodshot from the lack of sleep as well. He had not rested at all since starting the refinement. Refining gu day in, day out.

But he was finally close to refining his Primeval Elder Gu!

* * * * *

The day of the Brilliance Lotus academy's tournament.

The students were gathered around a designated fighting arena. Bao Zhi and Jin Ju were among their classmates, awaiting the event.

Yu Lingxin was also present, she had a troubled expression. She had a natural disadvantage as a girl. She had to rely more on her gu worm than the boys. She thought back to the incident with Su Kang trying to extort them. She wanted to face other girls. That would be the fairest, they couldn't expect them to be fighters after a bit over one month of cultivation, right?

The format and the matchups of the event were yet to be announced.

The students were discussing in a hubbub.

"I heard that the format will be a single-elimination, best of three. The matchups will be drawn randomly."

"That's right. I heard that too. We also heard that there will be a surprise element to the event."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Don't know. Nothing is definite yet."

"Maybe we will be fighting underwater or in the air or something."

Yu Lingxin sighed. She hoped that the event wouldn't be unfair. If it was, she would be at a disadvantage.

Teacher Tao announced: "The tournament's format will be a single-elimination, best of three. The matchups will be drawn randomly."

"The surprise element for this event will be that there will be a time limit for each match. If the match lasts more than ten minutes, the winner will be decided based on the number of blows landed."

The students were puzzled, but then they understood the reasoning behind it. So that would be the surprise element.

Teacher Tao continued: "You will be fighting in the arena. Get ready."

Teacher Tao announced the matchups in advance. Their order would still be drawn randomly.

Yu Lingxin was relieved that she was fighting another girl, but she was also worried when she looked at the next match.

She was fighting first in the first round!

She went up the stage with a visible nervousness.

The girl before her stood in the opposite side. She did not know this girl, she was from another class. They bowed and cupped their fists before teacher Tao instructed them:

"You may begin!"

Yu Lingxin was not sure of her strength, she straight away activated her vital gu.

Her skin gradually turned a deep green color.

"Look at her skin! It is completely green!"

"Oh, she's using the Leaf Skin Gu. It is very wise to activate it straight away."

Yu Lingxin wanted to win by technicality, either by enduring and exhausting her opponent or landing more hits in the ten-minute time frame.

She collected her courage and attacked!

The other girl was caught off guard, she expected Yu Lingxin to be more reserved.

Yu Lingxin's opponent also activated her vital gu. It was a movement-type gu worm, rank one Spring Twig Gu.

Yu Lingxin failed to land her hit, her opponent successfully dodged it.

"I have to change my tactic, I can't catch her like this!" - She thought.

She recalled the lessons of teacher Tao on the importance of the first strike. Now the opportunity was gone. She also realized she held the advantage in defense while her opponent had her advantage in movement.

A back and forth battle ensued, where Yu Lingxin tried to hit her opponent but was getting hit by her opponent instead.

"This can't go on! Since I can't land a hit, I need to counterattack when she attacks."

She stopped chasing her opponent and waited for a strike.

Yu Lingxin landed her first blow!

"Haha, I did it!"

"There is still time, don't get cocky! If I can't knock her out or make her admit defeat she still wins by how many times she hit me."

"But I have never fought like this before, I have never fought in a tournament. I am so nervous!"

Yu Lingxin was under immense pressure. She couldn't afford to lose.

The ten minutes were almost up! Both Yu Lingxin and her opponent had a rough expression, they were panting heavily in exhaustion.

Yu Lingxin: "I'm almost out of primeval essence, I need to end this quickly. Come already!"

In the meanwhile, her opponent was in a worse state.

"I have run out of essence already, as soon as she realizes this I lost. Now I can draw this out to win by a technicality."

Jin Ju and Bao Zhi were among the crowd. Bao Zhi noticed the peculiarity of the events.

"Oh, she seems to be out of primeval essence." - Bao Zhi commented.

Jin Ju: "Who? Sister Yu Lingxin or her opponent?"

Bao Zhi: "Her opponent, of course. Observe carefully you can learn from others' fights."

"I think you're right. Her opponent has not used her gu worm and been passive for a while." - Added another student.

Bao Zhi: "Mm. Spring Twig Gu consumes more essence than Leaf Skin Gu. If they have a similar foundation, Leaf Skin Gu will last longer."

Jin Ju looked at the countdown, not much time was left. Did she know these as well? Why did she not attack?

"She's already out of essence!" - Jin Ju suddenly shouted.

The rest of the students didn't know who he was talking about, but this was just the intel Yu Lingxin needed. She clearly had essence left, so she attacked again!

Her opponent cursed the random spectator exposing her flaw, but she had little time as she had to endure till the timer ran out!

A solid hit connected!

Yu Lingxin stood victoriously as the time ran out.

The crowd was cheering on her!

She managed to turn around her situation of passively taking hits by her nimble opponent.

She was exhausted not just in essence and body, but also mentally.

She passed the first round. She went down the stage to find Jin Ju's group.

Just as they started their small talk, teacher Tao said some words to praise the contestants for their good performance.

"Yu Lingxin had advanced to the second stage. The next fight of the first stage is..." - Teacher Tao looked at his notes to not make a mistake.

The students listened, holding their breaths in suspense. Some wanted to go up the stage, some wanted to delay it as they were afraid.

Teacher Tao: "...between Su Kang and Jin Ju!"

Jin Ju's face turned white. He still vividly remembered getting beaten by Su Kang on their first week.

They both went up the stage.

It was almost like a matchup of David vs Goliath. Jin Ju was average in height, with a narrow frame. He wasn't weak, but he looked like a thin twig next to the burly Su Kang who towered over him.

Su Kang looked Jin Ju in the eyes, at first he didn't recognize him just by his name.

"It is you!" - He recalled the humiliation when he failed to extort him.

"Give up if you know what's good for you." - Although Su Kang wanted to beat him, he put up a show of letting him off. In his eyes, the other fellow was too weak.

Jin Ju didn't reply to his provocation. He looked at him coldly and paid his respects.

"Hmph!" - Su Kang followed suit, bowing and cupping his oversized hands.

Jin Ju could see the glint in Su Kang's eyes. He knew he didn't have a chance in an all-out brawl, but he had to try his best!

Teacher Tao: "You may begin!"

* * * * *