Jian Long continued crawling through the narrow opening, placing his hands carefully in front of him as he slowly pushed his body forward. Rough stones scraped against his shoulders and back, and the air inside was cold and slightly heavy, as if this passage had not seen a human for a very long time.
At first, the path was extremely tight, so much so that every movement required effort. But as he moved forward little by little, the passage gradually began to widen.
After about a minute of slow progress, the tunnel became wide enough for him to crawl more easily.
Another minute later, he was finally able to stand upright.
Jian Long slowly stretched his back and took a deep breath. His body felt somewhat stiff from crawling, but his curiosity did not allow him to stop.
He continued walking forward.
The farther he went, the wider the passage became.
It was no longer just a crack in the rock; it began to resemble a natural corridor within the mountain. After a short distance, the space became as large as a small room.
Jian Long paused for a moment, looking around with mild astonishment.
He had never expected that such a narrow hole would lead to a place like this.
But before he could think more about it, he noticed something else.
At the end of the passage, there was a turn.
He approached it cautiously, and his heart began beating faster for no clear reason.
When he reached the bend…
He saw a faint light coming from the other side.
He froze for a moment.
Deep inside the mountain like this, there should not have been any light at all.
At first he advanced slowly, but his curiosity soon overcame his caution, and he quickened his pace slightly.
Step by step, he moved toward the source of the light.
Then…
He emerged from the end of the passage.
In the next moment, his eyes widened.
The sight before him was enough to make him stop in place.
The tunnel had opened into an enormous cavern.
The ceiling of the cave was high, and its stone walls stretched into the darkness like a vast natural hall hidden within the heart of the mountain.
But what truly filled the cavern… was not darkness.
It was light.
On the ground and along the edges of the rocks grew strange glowing flowers.
Their delicate petals shimmered with a vivid red light, as if each flower held a tiny spark of fire within it. Hundreds… no, thousands of these flowers were scattered throughout the cave, spreading a soft glow that bathed the entire cavern in a quiet crimson aura.
The cave looked like another world hidden inside the mountain.
Jian Long stood there, stunned.
He had never seen anything like this in his life.
Then, amidst the strange silence, he heard another sound.
The gentle murmur of water.
The sound was soft, but in the stillness of the cavern it was clear.
Jian Long slowly turned, trying to locate its source.
With every step he took, the sound grew clearer.
Until he finally reached the center of the cavern.
And there…
He suddenly stopped.
Before his eyes was a small spring of clear water, quietly flowing within a natural hollow in the rock.
But this was no ordinary water.
Within its depths, tiny points of light shimmered, as if droplets of pure light were drifting within it. They moved slowly with the current, emitting a faint glow that was barely visible unless one looked closely.
Jian Long stared at the water… and his eyes widened even further.
He did not need to think long.
He already knew what this place was.
His heart began to pound violently.
This…
was a Spirit Spring.
Jian Long stood only a single step away from the water.
It felt as though the air around him had suddenly grown heavier.
Among ordinary people, a Spirit Spring was nothing more than something that appeared in stories and legends. Hunters, farmers, and even the elderly in villages sometimes spoke about it around fires on long nights.
They said that Gu Masters drew their power from it.
They said that anyone who walked within its waters could awaken an Aperture within their body.
But for most people… it was nothing more than a distant dream.
A dream that would never come true.
Like many children, Jian Long had once dreamed of it as well.
When he was younger, he used to imagine himself walking through the waters of a Spirit Spring, awakening a new world within his body—the world of Gu Masters.
But as the years passed…
And as life revealed its cruelty…
And as he realized how distant that dream truly was…
The dream slowly faded.
It did not completely disappear.
But it became nothing more than a small spark hidden deep in his heart.
A spark he never told anyone about.
But now…
He stood before a real Spirit Spring.
Not a story.
Not a rumor.
But something real before his very eyes.
And that meant only one thing.
He had a chance.
A chance to see… whether he possessed the talent to become a Gu Master.
But in the next moment, another thought appeared in his mind.
What if he failed?
What if he stepped into the water… and nothing happened?
What if he had no talent at all?
He stood there for a moment, hesitating.
But after only a few seconds… he let out a faint, self-mocking smile.
"Why am I thinking about this?"
The opportunity was right in front of him.
What was he waiting for?
He slowly lifted his foot.
Then he took his first step into the waters of the Spirit Spring.
The water was slightly cold… yet strangely comforting.
He took the second step.
Then the third.
His heart beat faster with every step.
Ten steps.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
He did not stop.
Thirty steps.
He kept walking.
Thirty-five.
Forty.
His eyes widened.
But he did not stop.
Forty-five.
Forty-six.
Forty-seven.
Forty-eight.
Forty-nine.
Then…
The fiftieth step.
At that moment…
He felt something happening inside his body.
Deep within his lower abdomen, in a place he had never sensed before, a strange void suddenly formed… as if an invisible door had opened.
That was the Aperture.
And in the next moment, primeval essence began to slowly form within it.
Jian Long froze in place.
According to what people commonly knew:
Anyone who could not reach ten steps could not become a Gu Master.
Less than twenty steps meant D-grade aptitude.
Thirty steps meant C-grade.
Less than forty meant B-grade.
But those who could surpass forty…
possessed A-grade aptitude.
Which meant…
his aptitude was A-grade.
A long moment of silence passed.
Then suddenly…
The strength left his legs.
Jian Long collapsed to his knees within the waters of the Spirit Spring.
He could not stand.
After fourteen years of living in this cruel world…
After all those dangers…
After all those moments when death had nearly claimed him…
He finally possessed a real chance.
He lowered his head, and tears began to fall silently from his face.
Then he raised his head toward the ceiling of the cavern and shouted hoarsely:
"Thank you… heavens…"
His voice paused for a moment.
Then he said in a trembling voice:
"There… there was still hope."