"Grandpa, what happened? You called me again." Kugo looked a little puzzled.

In front of him stood the strongest Elder of the Clan— Tien Kame.

He was a bald old man with a burly body and a sharp face. Even when his face was riddled with wrinkles and scars, he was still exuding a dangerous aura.

"Kugo... sigh... tell me about your experience in the academy today."

Tien looked at his grandson. Previously, he also enjoyed a lot of benefits because of Kugo's potential.

But the loss of such favour did not affect his mentality. Actually, he had an open mind and understood the situation. There were three more Elders trying to fight for the position of the Clan Head while the Clan Head wanted to defend his position with a successor of his own.

After all, the Clan Head did not have any of his own offspring. This made Gohan perfect for the job.

"Grandpa, you already know that the Students from my class and the students of the other class have some misgivings against each other."

"Today, the combat class was joined by the other batch of students. So without any suspense, the students started to argue with each other. At this point of time, the combat teacher suggested that we spar against each other to resolve our differences and also added a reward of fifteen Primeval Stones."

"At this point of time, a signalled Yamcha to go on the platform. After all, he is specifically nurtured to excel in physical combat."

"But Gohan easily defeated him in one kick. Not only that, his neck was fractured and his right elbow was crushed."

"This kind of brutal method deterred other students, including me."

Kugo did not find it embarrassing to tell the truth to his Grandpa. After all, any kid would feel a sliver of fear when faced with such an opponent.

"What happened next?" Tien remained standing. His back against Kugo, nobody knew his expression.

"Under the combat teacher's encouragement, more students dared to challenge Gohan, but their ending was more or less the same, bloody."

Kugo replied grimly.

"What do you think about all of this?" Tien asked again.

Hearing his Grandpa's inquiry, Kugo fell stunned. Grandpa is actually asking for my thoughts?

This was a very rare opportunity for Kugo to prove himself. He fell silent for a bit and arranged his thoughts in an orderly manner.

After a moment, he took a deep breath and replied to his grandfather.

"At first, I thought that Gohan wanted to cooperate with me. After all, he did not show any negative attitude towards me or our family in public."

"But today's performance showed me another side of Gohan. He is very arrogant and brutal. Even if he had thoughts of cooperating with me, he does not give me any face and directly destroys Yamcha."

"In my opinion, Gohan is still unaware of the hidden conspiracies of the clan and is still getting a hang of the situation."

Kugo took exhaled lightly after speaking his mind.

Tien also turned to look at his grandson and nodded satisfied. He smiled lightly and praised his grandson.

"Good, you are able to understand the situation clearly. But you have only grasped the situation on the surface."

Hearing this, Kugo took the initiative.

"Please, teach this junior."

Tien looked at his Grandson. He knew that Kugo felt a little indignant because of his loss of status. But Tien was also gratified by the fact that he was able to contain his emotions and evaluate the situation to such an extent.

"Your conclusion about Gohan wanting to cooperate with you isn't wrong. But all of this is actually decided by the person behind him– The Clan Head."

"You have to understand that there are currently three factions in the clan. One is the group of Elders that have recruited the three talents and want to contain our family. The second faction is the alliance of Clan Head and the Academy Elder and the third faction is our family."

"We have the support of a majority of the fighting force of the main village because you were the first A Grade Aptitude and you also belong to Kame Village. The rest of A Grade Aptitudes originates from the mortal village and they are still considered as outsiders."

"Right now, the clan head and our family can be said to be in the same situation. It is not surprising that the clan head would want to cooperate with us."

"But there is still a condition for cooperation, that is the strength of our family."

"Clan Head is the strongest expert of the Family. He is a rank 4 Gu Master and he can control the overall situation of the clan with a wave of his palms."

"So, the whole condition of the cooperation depends on only one factor– you."

Tien pointed at Kugo and spoke seriously.

"M- Me?"

No matter how mature Kugo felt about himself, he was still thrown off guard. His face showed incredulous expression. Looking at Kugo's state, Tien couldn't help but sigh.

"Our family cannot compete with the Clan Head in the area of strength. This means that we can't try to raise or qualification in that area, but we have you. Your Aperture is 96% filled. That is top notch even in the A Grade Aptitudes."

"But only your Aptitude won't cut it. You have to show your wisdom and strength. You have to gather attention and also leave some leeway for Gohan. Do you understand me?"

Tien closed his eyes and turned back once again. His back facing his Grandson.

Understanding that this meeting is concluded, Kugo bowed and spoke lightly.

"This junior understands."

***

The sun was setting on the Western Qi Mountain. The villagers of Kame Village started to prepare for their dinners and prepared their beddings to sleep peacefully.

But such luxury could only be afforded by the mortals of the Kame Village.

Even if the status of mortal villagers is comparable to ants, they still get to live the lavishness of sleeping and resting, which is not affordable to a Gu Master.

Many mortals have the wrong impression that the Gu Masters only know how to utilise their authorities. They don't know anything about hard work and they like to slave away the mortals.

But they fail to see the nights filled with blood and sweat. They fail to see the sacrifice of sleeping made by the Gu Masters. They fail to see the sacrifice of their loved ones to go down the road of cultivation.

See, this is the most wonderful aspect of this world. At least, this is the most wonderful aspect of this world to Gohan.

He believes that strength cannot be raised without making an appropriate sacrifice.

Some may lose their home, some lose all of their fortunes and some lose their loved ones. It's all part of the game.

Oh, you think that it isn't fair? 

You think that you could be strong and also protect your interests at the same time?

If a Gu Master has such thoughts, he will be defeated, killed and looted by this cruel world. And his 'loved ones', that he wanted to protect, they may get slaved, raped or even worse.

This is the world where strength speaks and words means paper swords.

Right now, under the beautiful evening, Gohan had already locked himself in his room as he injected his Primeval Essence inside the Core Strength Gu.

"The sacrifice of a beautiful is nothing compared to the gains of refining a Gu Worm before anyone else."

Inside the dim room, Gohan's eyes were as bright as torches.

Some people think that beautiful scenery is not something that is actually worth sacrificing. After all, a Gu Master can always enjoy some scenery in his life.

What can a Gu Master gain by sacrificing his time of enjoying sceneries?

The answer is— time.

And to a rookie Cultivator like Gohan, this is all he needs. He needs time to concentrate on refining the Gu Worm.

"If I had not used my time and Primeval Essence to nurture my Aperture Walls, the Gu Worm could have been refined yesterday."

Gohan had also learned from his previous mistake. 

He had to set up his priorities. He has to direct all his resources to refine his first Gu worm. After that, he can start concentrating on the nurturing of his Aperture Walls.

Slowly, the Core Strength Gu started to turn copper green.

1%.. 7%.. 19%.. 22%

After refining 22% of the Gu Worm, Gohan's aperture was empty. The whole aperture was dry without a drop of Primeval Essence.

Sigh

Letting out a mouthful of impure air, Gohan took out a leather pouch. This pouch contained a shocking number of 31 Primeval Stones.

Gohan immediately held two Primeval Stones in each hand and started to absorb the pure energy gushing out of the Primeval Stones.

"I have the time I need and the resources required. Even the Elders of the other family wouldn't dare to supply more Primeval Stones to the younger generation in fear of limiting their future. So, my odds are absolute."

"If I can't get the 20 Primeval Stones reward, then I am really not worthy of the road to cultivation."

Within a few minutes, his Primeval Essence rose to the level of 80% and he opened his palms. 

Smooth, crystal clear dust rolled off his hands and he immediately picked up the Core Strength Gu and started refining it.

***

"Young Mistress, Gairo Kame wants to have a word with you."

In a beautifully decorated room, Daisy frowned with annoyance. She was focusing on nurturing her aperture wall and her hands held a Primeval Stone. 

Aside from the allowance received from the academy, Daisy also received a weekly stipend from the family that recruited her. Now, she had a total of thirteen Primeval Stones, including the one she just used away.

Her pretty face glowed under the light of the room and she couldn't help but shout.

"Just tell him that I am cultivating."

With that, the room fell silent once again. 

"No matter how much of a talent you are, only Gohan is worthy enough for me."

Her face turned arrogant as she started to think plans on seducing Gohan, easily forgetting about her cultivation. Wasting away her precious time.

***

Just like Daisy, Ray and Bai were also focusing on their cultivation through different approaches. 

Soon, the evening sun fell and the sky darkened, giving the opportunity to the moon and the stars to show their brilliance.

But such a beautiful view couldn't be savoured by those blessed with good taste.

Gohan was still focusing on his cultivation. His fists were full of crystal clear sand, but the Gu Worm in front of him was already refined.

Yes, Core Strength Gu worm was finally refined.

Huff

A mouthful of impure air was exhaled from Gohan's mouth as he felt exhausted all over his body.

But his heart was calm, through and through. 

Gohan looked at the Gu worm in front of him and mentally commanded his Primeval Essence inside the Gu worm to return back to his Aperture.

Soon, the greenish Gu worm turned brown colored and Gohan could feel absolute control over the Gu worm.

"But..."

His eyes narrowed and he couldn't help but frown.

According to the experience spoken by the Academy Elder, the feeling that a Vital Gu gives is that you want to protect it no matter what. The vital gu is akin to another beating heart inside the Gu Master's body.

But the feeling derived from Core Strength Gu was only the feeling of having an extra limb.

"What the hell is going on?"

Gohan admitted that he did not have enough knowledge about this world. Through the already known situations, Gohan could simply assume two situations.

First, he had another vital Gu that he couldn't activate till now.

Second, something is wrong with his body.

Usually, the first case is very rare and many times, it is also considered fortunate.

"But if something is wrong with my body..."

Gohan felt that this case was more likely. After all, he originated from Earth and his soul was transported to this world.

Sigh

"Brooding over the unknown isn't going to help me, only by taking the initiative can I get stronger and figure out my situation."

Gohan sighed and stood up.

His body was covered with sweat and a stink lingered on his body. His face was completely pale and his eyes were bloodshot.

But without taking any rest, he walked out of the room and immediately walked out of the courtyard.