Chapter 4: Leaving the village
Morning came like always accompanied by the roosters that climbed to the top of the houses and sang, waking every villager up.
But this time was different for the family that had gathered in a shabby bamboo house.
Everyone in the family had gathered to bid their farewells to Liang Lu.
"Goodbye Lu, bring me a good wine when you are back." Liang Lu's uncle casually responded. His uncaring personality hadn't changed at all since his youth except that he had married not long ago and had 3 kids.
"Goodbye little Lu, take my bow and make sure to pack plenty of arrows." Lu Yi, his grandfather, spoke as he gave him a black bamboo bow that he had proudly made a few years ago.
"Goodbye grandson, remember that in a life-and-death fight kicking someone in the testicles isn't something to be ashamed of." Liang Hu patted his grandson's back as he gave him a sharp dagger.
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
After about a dozen or so family members gave their farewells to Liang Lu it was the turn of the ones who brought him to this world to say their farewells.
"Liang Lu…" Liang Xin, a woman approaching her 40s dressed in brown clothes and having long black hair that had a few strands of white hugged her son. She opened her mouth but was unsure what to say.
Even though his mother remained quiet Liang Lu knew what went through her mind.
The journey to the soul toad sect will be filled with danger for a mortal even though rank 2 to rank 3 gu masters come to collect the yearly tributes they come only once a year and couldn't be trusted to give a ride to Liang Lu.
Unlike other mortal villages that are visited by merchant caravans or by gu masters, the mortal village where Liang Lu lived was quite poor in cultivation resources, badly located, and hard to travel due to the surroundings causing most of the mortals to stay there their entire lives.
The soul toad sect usually expended more than they received from the mortal village every time they came for the yearly tributes but the objective wasn't to profit it was more of a formality as close to this poor mortal village was the place the soul toad sect originated from the soul toad valley.
The village chief had informed of the local genius called Liang Lu to the Gu masters who came every year and they in turn had informed the sect.
The soul toad sect noted it down but didn't place much importance on Liang Lu.
The reason?
There simply were too many people wanting to join the soul toad sect, not just their sect but all around the central continent countless people from all backgrounds applied for the examinations of the super forces such as the ten great ancient sects wanting to join even those of other continents.
Unlike the clan system that ruled the other continents, the sect system was exclusive to the central continent and allowed any talented person regardless of birthplace to join as long as they were not variant humans.
For a mortal, this was a huge opportunity becoming a Gu master was taking a huge step in life. Liang Lu compared it to his previous life. It was like a person in a third-world country gaining citizenship in a first-world country. Many opportunities and even basic rights and necessities were opened along with challenges, the biggest being money.
Money is everything in the Gu world, not only in Gu master cultivation Liang Lu knew that quite well.
He lived as a mortal for 15 years and knew the value of primeval stones. Just one was enough to feed a family of 5 for 3 months but compared to the price of Gu it was nothing.
What are gu worms? They are the tools that gu masters use to unleash supernatural powers.
Gu worms needed to be bought or refined, which cost money but unlike other novels in which they depicted the creation of magic swords, relics, spells, etc. As a single-time expense things were not like that with Gu worms.
Gu worms were alive, they needed to eat just like any living organism, some were easy to feed like the spring autumn cicada that fed on time.
Some feed on food that could be considered evil and mark the owner of the gu as a demonic Gu master like woman's heart immortal gu that feeds on the hearts of women.
Some were almost impossible to feed like bamboo gentleman Gu who feeds on the honesty of a gentleman who has never lied in his life. Only men could feed it which instantly reduces the candidates by half but if someone tried to feed it and has lied even a single time no matter how small the lie was the gu worm would die.
This shows just how complicated and expensive Gu master cultivation is but that was just the gu part not accounting for the primeval stones it would take to practice with the gu worms, aid the gu master aperture cultivation, food of the gu master, dwelling of the gu master, education, etc.
In front of such expenses, it was reasonable that sects would only want to nurture the talented.
For that reason super forces in the central continent only accepted those with B grade and A grade aptitudes unless they showed extraordinary talent for a path or had connections then they would be recruited and be given gu worms that could raise aptitudes but they were expensive and rare usually only a gu immortal could afford them.
"Mom, don't worry." Liang Lu softly spoke, his voice mesmerizing and soothing. The words came out naturally from his mouth he had been born from and raised by Liang Xin he considered her his mother and the rest of her family his family.
Even though Liang Lu still had his previous memories as Billy and remembered and missed his previous family he had long accepted from the moment he was trapped in the womb that he might never see them again and had to accept that he was now Liang Lu.
"There is no need to worry. I promise I will succeed even if I don't manage to pass the soul toad sect entrance examination. My aperture will still be awakened by the sect to check my aptitude. With my awakened aptitude, I can search for a sect that will accept me. I can even leave that sect if I'm not satisfied with it later on once I have grown a bit. Maybe I can apply for the entrance examination of one of ten great ancient sects."
Liang Lu comforted Liang Xin but deep down Liang Lu knew that even if he got accepted into a sect as long as it wasn't a super force with at least a rank 7 gu immortal he would leave as soon as possible.
This was one of the disadvantages of the sect system, the lack of loyalty. The creator of the sect system primordial origin immortal venerable had long mentioned that the system wasn't perfect.
Unlike a clan the disciples and elders of a sect weren't bound by blood only by benefits and objectives even if Liang Lu left the sect there wouldn't be any problem as long as he didn't cross the line and followed common sense.
Even if Liang Lu had an extreme physique and an obvious immortal seed that in case of ascending to rank 6 would be able to wipe the floor with the opponents of the same ranks and even perform the miracle of fighting higher ranks for a sect it was completely useless if he was an uncontrollable dog that even bit the hands that fed him.
Liang Lu knew this very well although it wasn't explicitly stated in the novel he deduced this based on common sense just by imagining himself as a gu immortal considering recruiting Bai Ning Bing.
From the perspective of the Gu immortal although bai ning bing was a genius she was an uncontrollable maniac that would one day get herself killed, betray and even bring trouble to the sect as she simply didn't give a fuck about what she did as long as she got excitement out of it.
'Well… that is just an extreme example. I'm not crazy like bai ning bing…' Liang Lu inwardly thought before he knew it his father stepped forward. 'Oh here comes my loyalty token.'
Lu Yao slowly walked forward avoiding the gazes of his family that were filled with hate, disgust, and restraint even his elderly parents and only sister had the same cold gazes especially his father Lu Yi if Liang Lu hadn't begged on his knees to spare his father Lu Yi would have already beaten up Lu Yao a long time ago.
"When did I go wrong?" Lu Yi mumbled feeling disappointed at his son but even more at himself as he felt he failed as a father. Lu Yi's father hit him every time he made a mistake words were never used to correct him. Although that made Lu Yi into the man he is, Lu Yi didn't want to repeat his father's actions for that reason he never once hit Lu Yao. Maybe if he had hit him in his childhood, maybe Lu Yao wouldn't have laid a hand on Liang Lu.
The old man could only sigh.
Lu Yao heard his father and could only lower his head. When he saw Liang Lu's bare arms he rarely left exposed, filled with bruises and scars. Lu Yao couldn't face his son, only being able to look at his feet, feeling ashamed.
Ironically only now did Lu Yao notice his mistakes when the son he hated the most and always wished to go away was about to leave him.
Only now did he let go of the irrational hate he had for his son and regretted never being a good father even feeling that he didn't deserve having such a son.
Even after Lu Yao beat and treated his son like a stray dog, Liang Lu never fought back, never tried getting revenge, or showed hate. He only showed confusion, depression, and love. He went as far as to beg on his knees to protect Lu Yao.
'Goodbye, my son.'
'Why was I such a fool? Please forgive me.'
'Even if you punch me once it won't be enough to repay your suffering.'
Countless thoughts passed through Lu Yao's mind. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Liang Lu took a step forward.
"Father…"
Before Lu Yao could react Liang Lu pounced at him but the strike that he expected didn't come instead it was a hug.
"Goodbye Father, I will make sure to return once I have made you proud. Maybe… maybe you will finally love me." Liang Lu spoke in a sad tone, his face filled with uncertainty, anxiousness, and a bit of hope like a sailor parting away from his family as he headed into a turbulent sea not knowing if he would make it out alive.
"..."
Everyone in the room stayed quiet, some inwardly criticized Liang Lu's kindness thinking he was emotionally weak, some applauded his filial piety, while the youngest kids in the room couldn't understand what was happening.
'Goodbye everyone I comprehended the human path thanks to you all. A shame you won't be able to live even a century.' Inwardly Liang Lu thought.
Liang Lu considered these people his family and even loved some of them but in the end, he understood that he needed to prioritize himself. These people would normally live about a century without the use of lifespan gu and life extension methods but in about 20 to 30 years fate will be destroyed and the venerables would revive as for his family they would die either at the hands of Spectral Soul or die to the crossfire of the venerables.
Right now things appeared peaceful and slow but Liang Lu knew he was rushing against time. For his plans to work he needed to at minimum reach rank 6 in 3 years for that he needed to do whatever he could even if it meant abandoning sleep, killing, betraying left and right, and abandoning his humanity only then would he have the initiative to retreat and advance at will greatly increasing his chance of survival.
'Bai Hu died on her fifth earthly calamity. She should still be alive but not for long. I must hurry.' Liang Lu inwardly thought calculating in his mind.
'An earthly calamity happens every 10 years in aperture time. Her immortal aperture time flow was 5 times faster than the Gu world meaning 2 years between each in Gu world time. Fang Yuan and I should be around the same age. He obtained the blessed land when he was around 20 years and it was almost time for the sixth earthly calamity.'
"Hmm… I'm already on the outskirts of the village..." Liang Lu stopped to look back.
The mortal village located in the spear bamboo forest was the only place he had experienced since he reincarnated to the Gu world he had grown up there, ran on its streets, worked on the fields, and knew most villagers by name.
Only by seeing the village from the top of a hill did he realize how small it was. This small chunk of land had about 800 people and hundreds of bamboo houses, some so old they were about to crumble and some new that the ones that built them always boasted about them.
The village had countless family discussions, money problems, ups and downs, etc. But from where Liang Lu stood they all seemed small and insignificant.
"Now I fully understand the story of the miniman only after I climbed to a higher place did I fully realize how insignificant I once was."
Liang Lu felt he had increased his comprehension of the human path along with the wisdom path.
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