Gu Yue Yao Ji secretly brought the Tie father and daughter into the underground cave to review the clan's historical records. As the clan leader, Gu Yue Bo knew about this.
However, he had to control his anger due to the upcoming tournament and the internal political struggles.
Tie Xue Leng, despite being a powerful Rank five expert, couldn't ease Gu Yue Bo's dissatisfaction.
"Fortunately, the genuine contents are all recorded in the clan's secret records and only the successive clan leaders can hold them. That official history is for the outsiders to look." Gu Yue Bo was secretly feeling smug.
Gu Yue clan's records were split into official and secret categories.
The official records, hidden in an underground cave, were fake, intended to brainwash future generations.
In contrast, the secret records contained the truth, including forbidden details.
For example, the ritual to summon the Blood Guillotine Gu, which couldn't appear in the official records, was fully detailed in the secret ones.
"Gu Yue clan leader, my father has agreed to your request, now show us the image." Tie Ruo Nan's tone showed her bad mood.
"Even if Divine Investigator Tie hadn't agreed, I would have fully cooperated with your investigation," Gu Yue Bo gently clarified, then he lightly pinched his fingers, smashing the Photo-audio Gu.
Although the Gu shattered, it turned into a ball of seven-colored smoke filled with noise.
Gu Yue Bo gently blew on it, and the smoke drifted toward a wall but didn't pass through.
Like ink in water, a colorful imprint appeared on the wall, growing into an image of the Awakening Ceremony.
Fang Zheng quickly spotted himself and other familiar faces, all excited and full of youthful energy, like chicks flapping their wings for the first time.
"That's Fang Yuan..." Tie Ruo Nan soon noticed him too.
Fang Yuan, walking with the group, looked around like the others, but his gaze was calm and detached. In a crowd of youthful faces, he stood out like a crane among chickens.
Though unnoticed by most, those in the hall focused on him, revealing his uniqueness.
"Eh? This Fang Yuan is really strange." Right now, even Gu Yue Bo couldn't help but reveal a slightly surprised expression.
The scene shifted to when the youths reached the sea of flowers.
The Awakening Ceremony began as each stepped into the underground river, heading toward the sea of flowers on the opposite bank.
The Hope Gu's light flickered, and the elders' voices rang out clearly.
The scenes were so vivid, it felt like being there.
First, Gu Yue Mo Bei was revealed to have B-grade aptitude, causing a stir, then Gu Yue Chi Cheng was also tested with B-grade aptitude.
"It really is strange, this Gu Yue Chi Cheng looks too nervous. His body movements are stiff and his skin color is also not normal, it is just that the light in the underground is dim. But if one carefully looks into it, they will find that something has been applied on his body and that is what is attracting the Hope Gu. Hehe, this is clearly a cheat." Tie Ruo Nan was confident as she observed this.
"It looks like what Mo Chen said was true; the Chi faction has indeed broken the clan rules." Even the clan leader saw it clearly.
He then called the Gu Master who delivered the Photo-audio Gu to grant Mo faction the authority to investigate Chi Chen's grade and send back the report.
But in the next moment, Tie Ruo Nan immediately frowned.
It was Fang Yuan's turn. He stepped into the river, heading for the opposite bank.
The Hope Gu's light was faint. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, with sighs from both youths and elders echoing.
Everything seemed normal, but Tie Ruo Nan's frown deepened. Fang Yuan's expression remained calm throughout.
His back was to the group, so they couldn't see his face, but Tie Ruo Nan, watching closely, noticed his indifferent and cold demeanor.
It was as if... he already knew this would happen!
"This is impossible! If it was me in his place, a fifteen year old with everyone's expectations on me, but was tested to only have C-grade aptitude, how could I not feel the least bit of frustration, disappointment and discouragement? How can this be, how can this be!?" Tie Ruo Nan's frowns were almost forming a knot.
"Wait a moment, aptitude…. Could it be?!" Tie Ruo Nan suddenly raised her head. Her intuition had activated and an extremely bold and crazy conjecture formed in her mind.
"Fang Zheng, I have a question." Tie Ruo Nan suddenly spoke
"What is it? Please ask. I will definitely answer everything I know," Fang Zheng turned around with a smile.
"It's about your big brother. When your big brother pulled you up, I saw his mouth moving, but there was too much noise in the surroundings. What did he say to you, could you tell me the exact words he told?" Tie Ruo Nan asked with a bright gaze.
"His words….." Fang Zheng tried to recall, "He seemed to have said…road?"
"Right. It was road." Fang Zheng's eyes brightened, "I remember it. He said to me, 'The road to the future will be interesting'. Huh? Strange, I didn't think anything of it at that time, but now that I recall it, I think big brother's words contained profound meaning… as if, as if he already knew I had A-grade aptitude!"
"No, he didn't mean the A-grade aptitude, but something else." Tie Ruo Nan's body trembled, her expression complicated as she let out a breath of turbid air.
"Lady Tie, what do you mean?" Fang Zheng did not understand.
Tie Ruo Nan stretched out her finger, pointing at the wall, "Look at him, Gu Yue Fang Yuan! Don't you think he looks way too calm? When finding out that he has C-grade talent, while his blood related brother has A-grade talent, normal people would definitely have some reaction to it. But him? Not a trace of emotion! The surrounding praises and mockery cannot move his heart. Don't you find this strange? Throughout the process, he is too calm."
Tie Ruo Nan's words drew everyone's attention.
As the scene replayed, all eyes focused on Fang Yuan's figure.
He stood alone, upright, with a dark shadow engulfing half his body.
In contrast, his brother, Gu Yue Fang Zheng, moved forward, bathed in the Hope Gu's pure light.
In this moment, their roles reversed. The former fell from grace, overshadowed, while the latter rose, shining and destined for greatness.
"A fifteen year old youngster, going through such a catastrophic change in his life. But yet, on his body there is no trace of disappointment, perplexity or jealousy. Only calmness, he stood among the crowd, silently watching like he was an outsider, like he was watching a show," Tie Ruo Nan's voice came appropriately.
Gu Yue Bo stared at the wall, solemn.
Fang Zheng felt a strong chill emerging from deep within his body.
Brother, what in the world are you...
"Even if he had a prediction towards the Awakening Ceremony's results, his heart would definitely feel a change in emotions, and he definitely won't be as calm as this. I used the Cactus Pointer earlier, and always thought that the word 'aptitude' was referring to Gu Yue Chi Cheng. But now that I think about it, it might not refer to Chi Cheng, but most likely Fang Yuan!" Tie Ruo Nan said.
"Lady Tie, what do you mean? I don't understand it at all?" Fang Zheng was more confused.
Tie Ruo Nan raised a finger. "Only one type of situation would cause Fang Yuan to be so calm. That is, he has a trump card that no one knows. Only one situation would cause him to not be jealous, and that is because he has something greater. If two people walked together and one person finds a primeval stone, only if the other finds ten or a hundred would they not be jealous, and have a calm emotion. Fang Yuan is like that."
"You are saying, Fang Yuan cheated and concealed his true aptitude? He is not a C-grade talent?" Gu Yue Bo understood Tie Ruo Nan's words, "But if he is A or B grade, why would he not display it outright?"
"Fang Yuan had great wisdom since young!" Tie Ruo Nan's lips curled, her expression confident as she radiated utter confidence. "These few days, I've read some of his poems. With such visions and aspirations, even father was full of praise for him. Such a genius, he naturally has his own schemes."
Gu Yue Bo shook his head, "Just with this alone, it still doesn't confirm anything. Concealing aptitude and revealing his aptitude gives two completely different treatment. Even if Fang Yuan didn't know this, after a year in the academy, he should be clear of it."
"Of course he knew, that's why he did not dare to reveal it." Tie Ruo Nan did not beat about the bush, saying confidently.
"What do you mean?" Gu Yue Bo was also lost now.
"Gu Yue clan leader." Tie Ruo Nan turned around, looking at Gu Yue Bo solemnly. "Do you know about Ren Zu's ten children?"
Gu Yue Bo was first stunned, before he immediately reacted, understanding Tie Ruo Nan's true meaning.
HE WAS SHOCKED!
His iris expanded, his mouth agape, not having any of his clan leader disposition.
This was the first time Fang Zheng saw Gu Yue Bo in such a state.
Ren Zu's ten children, eldest son Verdant Great Sun, second daughter Desolate Ancient Moon… the ten children's aptitude defied heaven, thus heaven was wary and did not give them a long lifespan. In the Gu world, the ten children also represented the top ten most extreme aptitudes!
That is the ten extreme physiques!