The Devil King? No, Please Call Me The Immortal King Xiaoyao.

"To advance to the second rank, one needs to solidify and transform this bronze primeval essence into crimson iron primeval essence."

"Ever since opening my aperture, I have persisted in cultivation daily, never slacking. Now, I have reached the high stage of the first rank ahead of everyone else."

"Recently, I obtained second rank Gu worms from the caravan market. Many people saw it that day. As the saying goes, a common man is not guilty, but possessing a treasure invites trouble. My family's influence is weak, so I must refine them quickly to avoid attracting unwanted attention."

He focused his mind, looking into his aperture, where the dark green bronze primeval essence occupied ninety-nine percent of the space.

"My background is pitiful and miserable, and I was born in this Qing Mao Mountain region. But at least there's a glimmer of hope, which is my A-grade aptitude. But even with an A-grade aptitude, if I don't do my best and cultivate diligently, I'll only end up like Zhong Yong, who wasted his talent. Moreover, I've finally been given another life, and I must not leave with regrets!"

Immediately, he threw himself back into cultivation, hoping to reach the peak of the first rank in seven days.

But sometimes, the vision is beautiful, but the reality is harsh.

Such is the way of fate.

"How could this be? It's only been a day, how could the primeval essence have increased so quickly!" Yi Xin stared at his aperture in disbelief.

In the aperture, the primeval essence surged. The original ninety-nine percent volume instantly expanded, directly slamming against the outer wall of the aperture, wave after wave, even cracking the aperture!

"This isn't right. Even with my A-grade aptitude, it's impossible to go from the high stage of the first rank to the brink of the peak of the first rank in a single day, right?"

But the primeval essence in the aperture completely ignored Yi Xin's questions. The primeval essence, which was previously at ninety-nine percent, was now at one hundred percent. Yet, this one hundred percent was not the limit, and it continued to increase. Yi Xin's aperture felt as if it was being filled with a massive object, and a huge pain transmitted into Yi Xin's mind.

"This situation, could it be! Could it be!"

Yi Xin didn't have time to feel emotional. At this moment, his entire aperture was like a bomb. If he didn't remedy it immediately, it would be too late.

He immediately suppressed the tension and anxiety in his heart, re-entered meditation, stabilized the primeval essence with his will, solidified the outer wall of the aperture, and attempted to break through to the second rank in one fell swoop.

The suddenly surging primeval essence was extremely difficult to control. With ordinary people's mental strength, even subduing this primeval essence would consume a lot of energy, let alone trying to break through to the second rank.

But Yi Xin was different. He had the soul of two lifetimes, and his mental strength far exceeded that of ordinary people, as could be seen from his precise control of the Moonblade.

Yi Xin's mental strength burst forth, transforming into a large hand, fiercely grabbing the rampaging bronze primeval essence. Then, he exerted all his strength, clenching it into a single point.

Yi Xin was drenched in sweat, gritting his teeth and persevering, holding on tightly.

He didn't know how long his low roar lasted, but the dark green light under the mental hand finally began to change.

Gradually, a trace of crimson light probed out from within, and Yi Xin had reached his limit. He carefully released the tightly gripped primeval essence, and instantly, crimson light burst forth!

A feeling of ascending to a celestial realm directly flooded his brain. Crimson iron primeval essence directly filled the entire aperture, instantly giving the originally broken aperture a new lease of life, restoring it to its original state, and even expanding its volume by a factor of two.

He didn't know how much time had passed. Seeing the crimson iron primeval essence in the aperture slowly calm down, gradually filling the entire space, no longer restless, Yi Xin collapsed weakly on the bed.

"I finally understand why the primeval essence in my aperture was always inexplicably increasing, why my cultivation speed was faster than Fang Yuan's." Yi Xin was exhausted and could only reveal a helpless bitter smile. "I never expected that I would be a Ten Extreme Physique!"

The so-called Ten Extreme Physique refers to the ten types of aptitudes above A-grade.

Human legends record that the Ancestor Ren Zu had a total of ten children, each of whom had supreme aptitudes, but all of them died young.

In reality, most Gu Masters with Ten Extreme Physiques are like this, often dying before they even grow up. Bai Ning Bing, one of the culprits who made Yi Xin want to escape Qing Mao Mountain, was one such example. He was the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique, one of the Ten Extremes.

"Presumably, I am probably the Gu Yue Yin Desolate Physique."

The reason why Yi Xin would guess this was because,

After all, in the original work, the Gu Yue generation once used the Blood Seed Gu to purify the bloodline of their descendants, attempting to create the Gu Yue Yin Desolate Physique. Obviously, if the Gu Yue clan were to produce a Ten Extreme Physique, it would most likely be the Gu Yue Yin Desolate Physique.

"Ha, as the saying goes, a fine steed can't leap ten steps in one bound, but the Ten Extreme Physique can travel a thousand miles in a day. Such aptitude is resented by both gods and men."

"I never expected that I just wanted to advance to the third rank sooner so that I could escape Qing Mao Mountain, but now I've become a Ten Extreme Physique! Truly, the winds of death are always with me."

Now, Yi Xin's situation is like being forced to a cliff by a beast. If he doesn't increase his strength, he won't be able to escape Qing Mao Mountain. But if he increases his cultivation, the Ten Extreme Physique will be closer to exploding.

Taking a step forward is dangerous, and taking a step back is also dangerous.

"What should I do, what should I do?"

"Stop cultivating? No, I'm not cultivating just for myself, but also for my mother, and for A Niu and A Lan. I'm determined to protect them well!"

"Ten Extreme Physique? That's right, the Yin Yang Transformation Gu! I can still seek the Yin Yang Transformation Gu."

"Strength, I must increase my strength. Only then can I try to snatch the Yin Yang Transformation Gu from the hands of the Gu Yue generation as much as possible. Moreover, I must be cautious enough not to let anyone discover that I am a Ten Extreme Physique, especially..."

"Fang Yuan!"

"I'm calling you, Fang Yuan!"

Inside the classroom, a student called out to Gu Yue Fang Yuan: "Today is the year-end assessment, Fang Yuan. What's your cultivation level?"

But Fang Yuan turned a deaf ear and continued walking forward.

Seeing Fang Yuan's attitude, the student snorted disdainfully: "Tch, what's he acting for? With a C-grade aptitude, he thinks he's hot stuff just because he advanced to the middle stage of the first rank earlier."

His companion echoed: "That's right, brother. But it doesn't matter. We still have Senior Brother Chi Cheng and Senior Brother Mo Bei. This year-end assessment, when he goes on stage to be tested, he'll definitely be exposed."

Suddenly, he thought of something and grinned: "I heard that his relationship with his younger brother isn't good, and his younger brother has an A-grade aptitude, while he has a C-grade. Hehehehehe, there will be fun to watch."

In the martial arts arena, three platforms had been set up at some point.

Next to the platforms, a shed had also been built, with long tables and chairs set up. The clan leader and elders were sitting here, looking at the students in the arena.

It was the end of the year, and it was snowing lightly. Each student exhaled hot air, looking solemn.

The academy elder walked out slowly and said loudly: "In the blink of an eye, a year has passed. This year, you have all received training in the academy and have initially acquired the qualities of a Gu Master."

"Today, we will not only examine the results of your year's cultivation, but also test your combat skills. As you can see, the clan leader and elders have all come to the scene, and your seniors are observing from the sidelines. They will recruit you into their groups based on your performance."

"Without further ado, let's proceed with the first item of the assessment: cultivation level detection!"

After saying this, the academy elder looked at the Gu Master standing aside and nodded.

The middle-aged female Gu Master received the signal and read out the first name according to the list: "Gu Yue Jin Zhu!"

A girl walked out from the crowd with a nervous expression and walked to the Gu Master.

The Gu Master reached out and touched the girl's abdomen, closed her eyes and felt for a moment, then opened her eyes and announced: "Gu Yue Jin Zhu, middle stage of the first rank. Next, Gu Yue Peng."

One after another, the teenagers went up for the test and then walked down, returning to the team.

Their expressions varied, some disappointed, some happy.

The worst results were naturally the initial stage of the first rank. Without exception, they were all teenagers with D-grade aptitudes.

Most people's cultivation was at the middle stage of the first rank. Among these people, a few had D-grade aptitudes, and most had C-grade aptitudes.

Then, it was Gu Yue Chi Cheng, who was detected to be at the peak of the first rank, immediately causing a stir in the crowd.

After that, it was Gu Yue Mo Bei, who was also at the peak of the first rank. The crowd was surprised again.

But after the two of them, no one reached this level.

Even the discussions in the crowd became quieter.

After an unknown amount of time, a name finally made the crowd boil again.

"Gu Yue Fang Yuan!" the female Gu Master called out.

Fang Yuan walked up expressionlessly.

After a moment, the female Gu Master looked at him with some surprise, then announced: "Gu Yue Fang Yuan, peak of the first rank."

Finally, the whispers in the crowd suddenly erupted: "No way, isn't he C-grade? How is he also at the peak of the first rank?"

"Alas, you don't know, he had good luck. He obtained the Wine Gu. That's why he was able to reach the peak of the first rank with his C-grade aptitude.", one of the teenagers said with a jealous expression, as if he knew the inside story.

Hearing this, the crowd boiled over even more. But the next name made them shut up again.

"Gu Yue Fang Zheng!" the female Gu Master read.

"Gu Yue Fang Zheng, that's A-grade! His brother is already at the peak of the first rank, do you think he will reach the second rank?"

All the elders also looked at the teenager who was walking confidently to the front of the stage.

The eyes of the crowd made Fang Zheng a little proud. His eyes were bright, but he shouted in his heart: "Brother, although you surprised me, watch carefully what a genius is!"

After a moment, the female Gu Master suddenly opened her eyes wide and shouted: "Gu Yue Fang Zheng, initial stage of the second rank!"

Boom!

The crowd suddenly erupted in a wave of sound.

"What, the second rank? That's too outrageous."

"Is this the A-grade aptitude? I'm so envious!"

All the elders nodded one after another: "Truly remarkable, a heroic young man."

"Yes, yes."

The clan leader, Gu Yue Bo, was also very excited in his heart: "It's not in vain that I cultivated you, Fang Zheng. You really didn't disappoint me."

But he still looked calm on his face and said to the elders: "We still have an A-grade genius."

"Gu Yue Yi Xin."

As soon as this name came out, the whole place was silent. A handsome, well-proportioned black-haired teenager walked over with a calm expression.

"I haven't seen him for several days."

"Yes, he took six or seven days off last time."

"Is his mother sick again?"

"Maybe that's it."

Gu Yue Bo also stared at him intently: "Originally, I wanted to call him when I called Fang Zheng, but I didn't expect him to take such a long leave. It seems that I usually only focus on him and forgot that he has a seriously ill mother. Well, I'll ask the people from the medicine hall to treat her later."

The female Gu Master slowly closed her eyes, stroked Yi Xin's abdomen, and suddenly, she opened her eyes in surprise, with an unbelievable expression, but Yi Xin looked at her calmly.

Everyone also felt puzzled. The clan leader even frowned slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"

The witch doctor came back to her senses and said nervously: "No... nothing, I'll test again."

After a while, she said with dull eyes: "Second rank high... high... high stage."

"What!" Gu Yue Bo stood up directly and flew over, passing the female Gu Master, and came to investigate in person.

After a while, he took a deep breath and patted Yi Xin's shoulder with some excitement: "Good, good!"

"Second rank high stage, second rank high stage! Our Gu Yue clan really has produced a Qilin child, hahaha, hahaha..."