After some time, Jian Long finally managed to calm himself.
His breathing gradually slowed, and the trembling in his body faded little by little. He wiped the remaining tears from his face and slowly stood up.
However, there was still something he needed to confirm.
According to what he had heard in the past, a Spirit Spring was not only capable of awakening a Gu Master's Aperture. It was also the source that produced primeval stones, the very currency used throughout the world.
With that thought in mind, Jian Long suddenly turned and ran toward the source of the spring.
The sound of flowing water guided him deeper into the cavern.
After a short run, he arrived at the place where the spring originated.
And then…
He froze.
Before him was a sight that almost made his mind go blank.
At the base of the spring, scattered across the stone ground, lay countless primeval stones.
Thousands.
No…
Hundreds of thousands.
Perhaps even millions.
The faint light within the stones reflected the crimson glow of the cave flowers, making the entire pile shimmer like a mountain of pale jade.
For a moment, Jian Long simply stared.
Then in the next second—
He threw himself forward.
His body crashed directly into the mound of primeval stones.
The sharp edges of the stones pressed painfully against his body, but he did not care in the slightest.
Instead…
He began laughing.
Loudly.
Wildly.
Almost hysterically.
He rolled across the pile of stones like a madman, scooping them up with both hands as they slipped between his fingers like water.
He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
How much wealth was this?
Even a single primeval stone was incredibly valuable among mortals.
One stone alone could support a family of three ordinary people for an entire month.
Yet here…
There were millions.
In that moment, Jian Long could not help but wonder if he was dreaming.
Had he perhaps died somewhere without realizing it?
Was this nothing more than the hallucination of a dying mind?
But no.
The cold hardness of the stones beneath him was real.
The glowing cavern was real.
Everything here was real.
Just three days ago, when he had awakened on a drifting tree trunk in the river and learned that his entire family had died… he had believed his life was over.
He had believed he would soon die alone in the wilderness.
But now…
Look at this.
For the first time in what felt like forever…
Life had finally smiled upon him.
After a long while, Jian Long slowly calmed down again.
As he lay among the mountain of primeval stones, another thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He remembered something important.
Immediately, he reached into his clothes and took something out.
The Metal Spear Gu.
He held the small worm in his palm and carefully examined it.
Fortunately, it was still in good condition.
Luckily for him, the feeding requirements of this Gu were not complicated. According to what he knew, the Metal Spear Gu only needed to eat about a kilogram of black soil every three days—something that was very common throughout the Southern Border.
Jian Long looked at the Gu worm quietly.
"A Gu Master must always have a Gu worm," he muttered to himself softly.
"Without one… he is nothing more than an ordinary person."
"This is my first Gu."
He fell silent for a moment.
"But how exactly… do I perform what they call Gu refinement?"
After thinking for a moment, Jian Long slowly calmed his thoughts and focused his consciousness inward.
Soon, his awareness sank into his body.
Now that his Aperture had formed, sensing it felt almost natural—like seeing with his eyes or smelling with his nose.
Inside his lower abdomen, his primeval sea quietly existed.
It was jade-green in color, and it was almost completely full—about ninety-nine percent.
The surface of the sea was calm and still, like a flawless mirror.
Jian Long focused his will.
At once, gentle ripples began to form across the surface of the primeval sea.
The still waters slowly stirred.
Then, guided by his thoughts, a stream of primeval essence rose from the sea and flowed outward.
He directed it toward the Metal Spear Gu in his palm.
In the next moment—
Two wills began to clash.
His own will…
And the instinctive resistance of the Gu worm.
Jian Long began the process of refining the Gu worm slowly and cautiously.
With every passing minute, 1% of the primeval essence in his primeval sea was consumed. As the process continued, his will gradually seeped into the Metal Spear Gu little by little.
After ninety-nine minutes had passed, his primeval sea was almost completely drained.
And yet…
All he had managed to refine was only one part out of the twelve parts of the Gu worm.
The progress was extremely slow.
If an experienced Gu Master had been in his place, they would have been able—using the same amount of primeval essence—to refine three out of the twelve parts with ease.
But Jian Long understood this very well.
Still, he did not feel discouraged.
On the contrary, he was somewhat satisfied with his progress.
After all, he had only become a Gu Master a few hours ago and had never learned Gu refinement before. For someone like him, achieving this result was already not bad.
He slowly exhaled and reached his hand toward the pile of primeval stones beside him.
He picked up one stone.
But the moment he held it…
He hesitated.
A faint hesitation appeared on his face, barely noticeable.
It was the lingering effect of the many years he had spent living in poverty with his family.
Back then, a single primeval stone had been a treasure.
But now…
He was about to spend one simply to restore his primeval essence faster.
Jian Long let out a quiet laugh and shook his head slightly.
Then he muttered to himself,
"How vast the difference is between the life of a Gu Master… and that of ordinary people."
He sighed softly.
Then he looked at the mountain of primeval stones surrounding him.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"But now… I'm unbelievably rich."
"There's no need to worry about such things anymore."
He tightened his grip slightly.
Then he began absorbing the energy within the primeval stone.
Every minute, the stone restored 1% of the primeval essence in his primeval sea.
Thus, to completely refill his primeval sea, he needed ninety-nine full minutes.
However, during that time Jian Long noticed something important.
While his primeval essence slowly returned to his aperture, he could also feel the will of the Gu worm moving inside it.
It was pushing his will away little by little.
The change was subtle…
But it was definitely there.
After observing it for a while, Jian Long estimated that if he stopped refining, the Gu worm would be able to completely cleanse his will from it within about six hours.
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
Then he muttered,
"So it's like a game of tug-of-war…"
"Whoever keeps pulling harder… wins."
He did not hesitate any longer.
The moment his primeval sea was full again, he immediately began another round of refinement.
Once again, his will flowed together with the primeval essence toward the Gu worm.
And once again, the two wills began to clash.
This process continued like this…
Hour after hour.
Absorb a primeval stone.
Restore the primeval essence.
Then refine again.
Time passed slowly inside the silent cavern.
In the end, after eight full hours of continuous effort, Jian Long had managed to refine four out of the twelve parts of the Gu worm.
But at that moment, his body began to collapse from exhaustion.
A heavy weight pressed against his eyelids.
His thoughts became sluggish.
Only then did he realize something.
It had been almost a day and a half since the last time he had slept.
During that time, he had walked through the harsh wilderness, avoided wild beasts, discovered this hidden cavern, awakened his aperture, and begun refining his first Gu worm.
All of it had happened without him getting any real rest.
His body could no longer endure it.
Finally, Jian Long lay down on top of the pile of primeval stones.
The stones were hard and uncomfortable, but at that moment it did not matter.
Within only a few moments…
He fell into a deep sleep.
He slept for an entire day.
When he finally woke up…
The cavern was still as silent as before.
Jian Long slowly sat up and focused his awareness on the Gu worm.
After a moment…
He sighed.
Just as he had expected, the Gu worm had completely expelled his will while he slept.
All the progress he had made was gone.
Jian Long scratched his head slightly and let out another sigh.
Yet he showed no anger or frustration.
Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Then he said to himself,
"And who said becoming a Gu Master… would be easy?"
After that, he picked up the Metal Spear Gu once more.
And began the process of refinement again from the beginning.