Fang Yuan has already counted the days until he is thrown out of the Gu Immortal Sect.
Ten years have passed since he entered the sect full of ambition, yet his cultivation barely moves while disciples who arrived later leave him behind one after another. Every monthly assessment becomes harder to face, whispers start following him through the mountain paths, and even the elders have stopped expecting anything from him. The final examination is approaching, and without a breakthrough, he will lose the chance to remain a cultivator altogether.
He still refuses to walk away quietly.
With his last savings, Fang Yuan places everything on a single Iron Skin Gu, hoping it can carry him across the final hurdle. Failure means returning home with nothing except ten wasted years and promises he could never keep. Success feels just as unlikely.
Instead of a breakthrough, something stranger answers him.
The Gu in his possession begin changing in ways no records inside the sect can explain. They cultivate on their own, growing stronger whether Fang Yuan is practicing or asleep. At first he suspects the change won’t last, then he notices small improvements appearing day after day, enough that even an ordinary Iron Skin Gu starts showing qualities it should never have possessed.
Keeping that secret alive quickly becomes more difficult than keeping himself alive.
The stronger his Gu become, the more resources they consume. Spirit herbs, beast blood, rare minerals, forgotten ruins, every path leading to faster growth also carries its own risks. Sect missions that once looked impossible slowly become worth attempting, while places sensible cultivators avoid begin attracting Fang Yuan’s attention for a completely different reason.
His collection doesn’t stay limited to a single companion for long. New Gu enter his hands through luck, bargains, and dangerous encounters, each with its own temperament and abilities. Some excel in battle, others quietly support cultivation, while a few refuse to cooperate until very specific conditions are met. Raising them turns out to be nothing like collecting treasures. They have to be fed, trained, and understood before they reveal their full worth.
By the time people notice that the disciple once mocked as hopeless has stopped falling behind everyone else, Fang Yuan has already realized something far more important.
His own aptitude may never change.
His Gu don’t seem to care.
Every day they continue growing, and with every step they take forward, they quietly drag their master along with them.
