*Chii*
*Buzz*
A fierce battle shook a modest cave as a vicious worm group buzzed around and attacked a small colony of mutated fire path bat beasts, the Ash Bats. These bats had pale-grey, leathery hides with a slight red undertone on their faces and the underside of their wings. Classified as mutated beasts, these creatures all grew into powerhouses capable of tackling rank 4 gu masters.
But how could Jirou Yi amass such a frightening force without exposing his relationship with his mother after Wang Nan's demise? Fortunately, he didn't need to. Inner Disciples of his nature had enough connection to depend on other specialized means. The best way to tackle such a group of mutated beasts, many of which were suspected to possess rare rank 4 gu worms, was by using quantity instead of quality.
Credits where credits were due, Jirou Yi was a meticulous man. He prepared immensely for each transaction and maximized his profits.
"Go!"
Jirou Yi suddenly yelled, releasing a rank 4 gu worm. It dispersed into a mystical light before flashing and covering one of the panicked ash bats.
"Fantastic!" Another gu master besides Jirou Yi shouted gleefully. She waved her hands and covered the affected bat with her swarm of insects. She was an enslavement path gu master who had a gu set related to the control of these insect groups.
Other ash bats couldn't do a thing as Jirou Yi's gu worm returned. He couldn't help but sense a few other gu worms caged inside it!
"It's a success!" Jirou Yi nodded in satisfaction. "Kill the bat. Maintain the completeness of its corpse."
The enslavement path gu master nodded as she killed the defenseless bat, whose gu worm was already targeted and snatched by the rare gu-capturing gu worm that Jirou Yi had borrowed.
While the mutated ash bats were powerful, they could not withstand human scheming and planning. They lost most of their gu worms and soon, their lives.
'Good.' Jirou Yi nodded. He had been on the lookout for the missions related to the beasts Bai Shou wished to research. Ash Bats were one of them. He was also experienced in this task after a few ventures, having experienced a fruitful, albeit slightly unfair, trade with Bai Shou. But he couldn't do anything yet, not after Bai Shou managed to convince Sect Leader Shu to co-host an auction. The invitation letter had already been sent out, and the date was set for two months.
That piece of information was enough to slightly calm the building tensions as each elder wished to ensure one more transaction before praying for their enemies' deaths.
As for Jirou Yi?
He learned the ropes of the task, soon borrowing a rare gu worm from one of the elite disciples he knew. This allowed Jirou Yi to snatch the gu worms held by the beast groups and make more profits. Employing the enslavement path gu master was a costly investment, which fortunately had a massive return on investment.
Meanwhile, other disciples were set in various positions to maintain security. Of the released prisoners, only two were caught. The rest were still at large, with the elders of the Disciplinary Hall working day and night to reverse the massive impact on their reputations.
Deep down, Jirou Yi also maintained a sense of arrogance.
Wang Nan.
There was once a time when the late Violent Sword denied Jirou Yi from pursuing a deeper trading relationship with the Giant King's Refinement Stall. He spoke about the act being riskier due to more gu worms involved. However, the profits were similarly immense!
First, Bai Shou still paid for the corpses even if it was at a discounted price.
Second, Jirou Yi managed to prepare quite a bit for the auction by saving contribution points. Other inner disciples did not receive any invitation. Instead, only the elders, legacy disciples, and every rank 5 gu master in the sect were invited.
Third, Bai Shou also prioritized Jirou Yi's faction when it came to refining the gu worms. Sure, there were times when she outrightly rejected the commission, but it was quite a rare event unless one asked for a rank 5 gu worm.
It wasn't that Bai Shou wasn't willing to refine the rank 5 gu worm. However, the materials she asked for as compensation couldn't be acquired effortlessly.
'Wang Nan could have experienced such benefits only if he wasn't so arrogant. Hmph.' Jirou Yi sneered. Deep down, he felt envious of the rank 5 gu masters. He was already a rank 4 gu master, but he was running out of steam, and the gu worms capable of supporting a gu master's advance to rank 5 were… well, they weren't circulated in the sect's Exchange Hall.
One might not find such gu worms in the Inheritance Hall, either.
The sect would never dilute its control by releasing such gu worms even if they possessed it.
Soon, Jirou Yi brought the corpses to Bai Shou before requesting the refinement of another gu worm.
He started by requesting to commission a rank 5 gu worm like always. Their recipe was always rare, but quite a few of them were available in the Exchange Halls across all the sectors of disciples. Heck, even Bai Shou purchased most of the recipes she didn't possess, including the Rank 5 Preservation Gu. But acquiring the necessary materials or modifying the recipes to exclude ancient and extinct materials was another matter. The modified recipes weren't circulated in the Exchange Halls but were surely present in the Inheritance Hall.
"Rank 5 Essence Cloud Elephant Emperor…"
Bai Shou muttered as she observed the revised recipe for the umpteenth time. Jirou Yi wished to refine this outstanding steed gu worm. The request brought several memories to the back of Bai Shou's mind as she recalled Wu Ji in her Wind Qilin form destroying her former rank 4 cloud elephant steed gu.
While Jirou Yi expected another rejection before he prepared another rank 3 gu worm as a request, Bai Shou's gaze flicked at him with surprising consideration.
"I've appreciated your sincerity, Brother Jirou." She punctuated her words with appreciation. Still, Bai Shou's eyes were slightly tired, and her mind felt frail. She had spent the last month cultivating nonstop, from reinforcing her soul to using a few of the beast hearts to enhance her body refinement. There was also the matter of studying the Empty Heart Formation diligently and understanding its profundities at a snail's pace.
Finally, Bai Shou was already refining a gu worm, a task that consumed most of her time the entire month! It was all done to prepare the materials.
Still, the results were nigh. There was no reason not to fulfil Jirou Yi's request if he could provide appropriate compensation.
"I'll take your request first thing the next week."
Jirou Yi blinked before adopting a pleased smile.
"Very well, Sister Bai. I look forward to your success!"
He left after receiving his compensation.
'I will be out of primeval stones at this rate soon enough.'
Bai Shou sighed, feeling the burden of financial fluidity once again.
Ensuring her residence's safety, Bai Shou began to deal with the last of the beast phantoms left in her body.
She introduced several changes to the lineup of the beast phantoms on her body this month. Jirou Yi had truly been a fortuitous connection who worked diligently for his goals.
First, Bai Shou had removed the Infernal Ape, Sky Griffin, Three-Headed Underground Snake, Deep-Sea Coral Hippo, Thunder Boar, Fire Biao, Thorn Forest Tortoise, and Dragon Elephant beast phantoms.
Next, she did not supplant her body with 8 other beast phantoms of the level of a beast emperor.
No.
Bai Shou's battle with Wang Nan revealed her physical strength was too much for her body to bear. She could bear the pressure of ten rank 5 beast strength phantoms. However, a battle forced her to exert more output, which wasn't necessarily related to said phantoms. As such, Bai Shou found the combination of the Borrow Strength and Heaven Strength more useful.
Meanwhile, she still needed to maintain her beast phantoms for other killer moves. As such, she chose to focus on beast phantoms that could assist her mobility and defense alongside her secretive killer move.
Her choices were also based on convenience.
She had her eyes on the beasts or the corpses already available on the sect grounds. The benefits of being part of an Ancient Sect reared their beautiful head again in the form of dozens of top-notch choices!
So, Bai Shou purchased the water dragon corpses being sold in the exchange hall for the inner sect disciples, making appropriate use of Jirou Yi.
Water Dragon Beast Phantom worked well in enhancing Bai Shou's dexterity underwater once summoned using the All-Out Effort Gu. It also resonated well with the effects of the Dragon Travel Tiger Steps Gu.
Next, after a few idle commissions of beasts she did not want—to maintain a form of cover related to her beast phantoms—Bai Shou advanced her Earthen Armored Bear phantom to rank 5 by feeding ten of their hearts to the Rank 5 Fickle Heart Strength Gu.
Thirdly, Bai Shou was more than pleased with the effects of the Yin-Yang Panda with her arrow killer move. So, she advanced it, too. The arrow summoned using this phantom had two effects. If Bai Shou produced a white arrow, it would explode in pure white, erasing almost everything in its impact rather violently. Meanwhile, the black arrow was quiet with one of the highest piercing damages. Furthermore, it disappeared silently after flying a certain distance or once it struck something.
Unfortunately, Bai Shou stopped considering the dragonfish as a decent phantom once her conflict with Wang Nan ensured a pause in her ability to get more of these beasts.
So, her fourth phantom was the White Lightning Tiger. It was another mutated beast and present in the sect in decent numbers. Furthermore, it offered great mobility on the land alongside the resonance with the Rank 4 Dragon Travel Tiger Steps Gu.
Finally…
Bai Shou shrugged her shoulders as a pair of crimson wings emerged from her back, followed by a menacing phantom of a grey bat above her head.
She suddenly experienced more control of the Rank 4 Crimson Bat Wings Gu.
Ash Bats were also available in large numbers.
'It's done.'
Bai Shou relaxed momentarily.
Her necessary beast phantoms had reached their current peak. The same was the case for her body refinement.
One of the two gu worms she selected from the Inheritance Hall was the Rank 4 Strong Spirit Shield Gu, which advanced to the rank 5 gu worm Bai Shou desired, the Rank 5 Robust Spirit Shield Gu.
However, she could still enhance the effects of the gu worm using the Multiply Gu.
The second gu worm was surprisingly the Rank 5 Water Strength Gu. Compared to the rare gu capable of defending one's soul, the rank 5 strength path gu was relatively cheaper.
Despite possessing the Heaven Strength, Bai Shou needed the Water Strength for a killer move.
Lastly, she purchased the Golden Bell Shield Gu to act as her first line of defense, which she lacked against Wang Nan.
This was it.
Bai Shou sat quietly and drank a mouthful from her gourd.
She didn't plan to refine or advance her strength path gu set unless she was preparing to ascend as a Gu Immortal.
Her strength path gu set reached its completion.
Excluding investigation, her gu set covered almost all the aspects necessary!
'All that is left is refinement.'
Well, Bai Shou did mean her refinement path gu set. But she also meant the refinement of her strength path set in terms of coordination.
This many outstanding gu worms entailed her need to maximize their potential by crafting several killer moves!
For instance, she could maximize Self-Reliance's use by forming a killer move that healed others, too.
Bai Shou also lacked movement-type killer moves. She was a master in flying; a killer move in that regard would be immensely helpful!
She calmed down her thoughts and looked forward to her next objective.
'I only have one set of materials.'
She closed her eyes, resting. Even if there was a risk of suddenly entering another dream, Bai Shou did not wish to take any risks when it came to the gu worm she desired greatly for her refinement path set, the Preservation Gu Worm.
<<<>>>
Bai Shou spent a month preparing for the materials, sparing no expense. She further risked several injuries by reverse refining several gu worms to extract the desired materials for the refinement's success.
She only had one set of materials, and even her incomplete refinement path killer move did not offer a 100% refinement success rate. The Rank 5 Undefeated Hundred Battles Gu would be expended entirely should she drive the gu worm to that extent. What was the use of Rank 5 Preservation Gu then?
For Bai Shou, the Rank 5 Undefeated Hundred Battles was more crucial.
But there was no fear of failure or the resulting backlash.
After all, she had been injured a few times while performing reverse refinement on several gu worms.
'I didn't fall into any strange dreams.'
Bai Shou nodded. It was a good sign. The last thing she wanted was to have her soul inexplicably injured and reduced to its base state again.
As it had become her ritual, Bai Shou retrieved the recipe and observed every step. She knew the process by heart, pouring weeks of her life into understanding the reason behind every step.
Bai Shou visualized a complicated three-dimensional fragment inside her head. Each step in the refinement process would add or remove from the fragment, staining it with a different shade of color or changing its size. Some strands thickened, and some shattered and linked together like chains. In the end, all that remained in Bai Shou was a mysterious fragment. Her mental library related to such fragments was extensive enough to visualize what could be the wonder hidden inside the Rank 5 Preservation Gu.
'While my first ideal core gu turned out to belong to the human path, the second one that I felt must have been a human path gu now appears more like a refinement path gu worm.'
To Bai Shou, this visualization was also a method of understanding the fragments and shards of the great dao carried by the gu worms. It was another path that led to the same road.
After refinement, Bai Shou inspected the materials she procured from different methods.
She exhaled loudly after three hours of diligent examination.
The materials were good.
The recipe was also good.
She understood the recipe and visualized its progress, possessing greater than ordinary control of the process.
The Rank 4 Green Mountain Remains was by Bai Shou's side, ready to preserve one of the crucial rank 4 gu worms.
Bai Shou began by producing the Rank 5 Stable Cauldron Gu. It looked like a stone crab with massive pincers. However, the use of Bai Shou's essence transformed the gu worm into a giant cauldron standing on three legs. Flicking its lid open, Bai Shou placed another rank 5 gu worm inside the cauldron.
It was a skull-sized, pitch-black egg with faint white carvings on its surface. All around it was a strange mystique. It was the result of the formless qi surrounding the gu worm, the Djinn's Egg Gu.
Like Qin Juan's Solvent Gu, which turned the affected materials into 'jewels' of the related path, treating the material for direct refinement, the Djinn's Egg gu was a versatile refinement path qi path gu worm with the effects of refining the material into their relevant Dao's qi. It also made Bai Shou's Refinement Qi Gu obsolete. But Bai Shou preferred the latter when it came to things other than refining a gu worm, since the Refinement Qi Gu was easier to incorporate in a killer move.
The first step of the most gu refinement process was refining and processing the materials.
Without further ado, Bai Shou tossed the first material. She first fed the Djinn's Egg until it filled the Stable Cauldron's insides with thick refinement qi. It was like a viscous purple liquid under the control of the Djinn's Egg and didn't fizzle out.
Then, Bai Shou retrieved Protective Ostrich's dried carcass, crushing it with her hand and sprinkling it within the refinement qi sea.
*Swish*
Rank 2 Safe Lock Gu flew out, consuming the Protective Ostrich's remains within the refinement qi. Its body was soon liquified. The remaining powdered corpse stuck to the fluid before turning it dark grey, its surface littered with uneven crust.
The liquid then began to spin within the refinement qi sea until it churned everything within the cauldron. The agitated refinement qi bit and tore away at the fluid under Bai Shou's observant gaze. She carefully diverted the qi sea to remove too much from the liquified mix.
Rank 4 Continuance Gu followed. It consumed the dark remains before its body was also liquified.
This time, the concoction was dark brown.
She spread the crushed powder of Berserk Wolf's dried excrement, allowing the mix to stir, mix, and refine again.
Surprisingly, the once separate refinement qi began to slowly dissipate into the brown liquid until what covered the Djinn's Egg was a smelly paste.
Bai Shou exhaled a soft sigh before letting the rank 5 gu consume the paste. This time, it produced a strange blend of qi. Such a strange mix would lead to disaster in many refinement processes. But not here.
She started a new process while ensuring the first blend of qi sea remained untouched. What did it mean? She had to pull the first layer up at the topmost part of the cauldron while letting more materials stir and mix near the Djinn's Egg Gu.
Once satisfied with the concoction, she turned it into a light-yellow paste. It did not smell like the earlier batch and exuded the scent of wet soil.
Soon, Bai Shou maintained an active control over two waves of varied qi sea. She started another process like the earlier two methods.
Then a fourth paste.
Then a fifth one.
The first crucial material for the recipe was used in the fifth paste. There was no turning back now.
It was time for the second part of the process.
Bai Shou tossed a brown acorn while controlling five different areas inside the cauldron. However, she was nowhere near stretched thin just yet.
The brown acorn was called the Human-Armed Chimp's nuts because of its close resemblance to a Human-Armed Chimp's testicles.
She controlled the topmost qi sea to begin processing the material. The resultant powder was coarse. The second layer thinned it further, and so on. Eventually, a thin layer covered the cauldron's base. It wasn't fed to Djinn's Egg.
Bai Shou began processing several materials like this, each step consuming more and more of her mental energy until the last of the material left a coarse powder on the topmost part of the cauldron like a bad pot of soil unfit to flower anything.
'Huff!'
Bai Shou refused to relax at such a crucial stage. She eyed the cauldron and began to plant several rank 3 and 4 gu worms into the topmost layer of coarse brown powder.
Lastly, Bai Shou planted the most crucial material of the recipe. Several crucial materials of the recipe were the gu worms considered too rare to be exchanged even by elite disciples like Qin Juan. However, Bai Shou had persevered and refined most of the required materials using reverse and parallel refinement. But this last, unimaginably rare, material was an unassuming golden stick.
The stick was an unusual branch—a rank 5 material found only in one in a thousand Twisted Crumbling Trees—the Preserving Branch. Twisting Crumbling Trees were an odd species with a small lifespan of 15 days and only grew under specific conditions. Once they grew, the tree wouldn't surpass the height of 4 meters, and it could easily be knocked over by an unusually windy day. The tree's endurance was so notoriously lacking that a leaf blown onto its surface against the wrong spot could turn it into ashes.
When the Twisting Crumbling Tree reached the end of its natural lifespan, its greyish body turned pure white before disintegrating into a powder. In these rare powdered and fertilized spots, a Preserving Branch would grow. Under such strict conditions, the material was almost considered extinct.
Bai Shou pressed one end of the stick into the pot.
Her vision momentarily swam before Bai Shou gritted her teeth and concentrated. Processing all the earlier materials expended quite a lot of her thoughts.
As such, she used a gu worm.
Rank 5 Five Fusions at Once.
Bai Shou's expression eased, and she could breathe better.
The five layers of qi rushed up to the topmost layer, covering the several planted gu worms in a chaotic environment. Their bodies began to crack, and they almost died!
Her eyes were fixed on that golden stick. It stood ramrod straight.
Under the effects of the chaotic qi, Bai Shou prompted the gu worms to fuse together. All of them released a lump of light and rushed into the central spot pierced by one end of the preserving branch.
Fusing gu worms was always a tricky business. Even if the Rank 5 Five Fusions at Once eased Bai Shou's mental faculties, there was always the risk of failure.
She couldn't even use her killer move until completing all the steps, the last of which remained still!
'Come on.'
Bai Shou's will within the gu worms faced a massive pressure, the dao shards carried by each gu worm responding to her will in an attempt to merge—to destroy the unnecessary aspects of their earlier functions and merge whatever remained into something new!
The chaotic qi sea churned more intensely, almost breaking free from Bai Shou's control and destroying the entire pot. But she could not allow that.
As her eyes turned bloodshot, she felt a sharp pain threatening to jolt her control as the corner of her eyes bled her rich, strength-path-infused blood.
Bai Shou pressed her lips together even when her vision was compromised. She felt the process. More than that, she could imagine the very dao shards responding to her will and merging like a complicated but beautiful puzzle that was finally reaching its satisfying end.
While the chaotic qi sea failed to ruin anything, it still worked against the fusion process. It was consumed rapidly alongside Bai Shou's will within those lumps of light.
'Come on.'
Bai Shou waited for her signal.
The multi-coloured lights soon fused into a cocoon of light stuck against the golden stick inside the coarse sand. The qi sea grew more intense, finally affecting the edges of the preserving branch.
It was a solid, nigh-indestructible material in the mortal realm despite its humble origins. Yet, the chaotic qi sea ate away at the prestigious item.
Bai Shou felt her consciousness waver.
'Damn it!'
Bai Shou couldn't wait.
While she was sure of the material, recipe, and the process, something must have happened. Gu refinement was never the matter of 100% success, something which she attempted to rectify. It was the height of human hubris, and yet Bai Shou wouldn't want anything from herself.
Incomplete Killer Move: Undefeated Refinement Palms.
Phantom arms flew out of Bai Shou's body and took control of the refinement process.
*Thck*
A crack suddenly spread across the preserving branch's length.
'Come on!'
Bai Shou roared internally. She used the refinement palms to toss in the primeval stones as the topmost layer of the cauldron converged around the cocoon, infusing with a dim brown glow.
The qi sea suddenly grew invigorated after Bai Shou began feeding the process the needed primeval stones.
Despite her killer move, more and more cracks spread across the preserving branch.
Tens…
Hundreds…
Thousands…
Bai Shou forgot the number of times she almost lost control of the process as the qi sea grew more turbulent.
'NOW!'
Bai Shou retrieved the Djinn's Egg as the lowermost layer of soil infused into the glowing lump of pitch-black light. By now, the preserving branch was at the cauldron's base, its surface filled with numerous cracks, and the remaining space filled with the turbulent qi lump.
*Bang*
Bai Shou coughed a mouthful of blood before falling on her back. She felt like a massive hammer had struck the insides of her mind, leaving her concussed.
The preserving branch exploded into golden-coloured powder. The qi sea rushed everywhere, fizzling out of existence. Meanwhile, the black lump of light dispersed into motes of light, leaving Bai Shou with a sense of loss.
"Ugh…"
She used her healing gu worms to heal her body, mind, and soul.
Her eyes recovered as Bai Shou crawled to the cauldron, feeling incomparably weak.
It was destroyed…
She scanned the destroyed remnants with an impassive gaze before breaking into a grin.
Success!
She kept her eyes peeled for the golden-coloured layer of sand. Though the gu worms were destroyed, Bai Shou suddenly twitched. She sensed a weak but undeniable aura merge within the golden sand. It was as if every grain of golden powder wished to offer something.
Its resilience.
Its determination.
Its perseverance.
Its desire.
And most of all, its survival.
The aura grew intense as the golden grains of powder, the remnants of the preserving branch, released soft glows before fusing into a golden cocoon.
It was the aura of a rank 5 gu worm!
A thin crack split on the surface of the cocoon before a tiny black cockroach buzzed and flew out quickly—
—right into Bai Shou's hand.
It momentarily struggled before Bai Shou vanquished its pitiful newborn will, replacing it with her own will.
'It was never meant to be refined successfully. The trick to refining the Rank 5 Preserving Gu is to fail successfully!'
Bai Shou, despite possessing a master-level refinement path attainment, felt her horizons broadened.
She smiled widely. Her teeth were still bloodstained.
'The process was filled with human path profundities but led to the creation of a refinement path gu worm. Amazing.'
She couldn't help but laugh loudly while also feeling incomparably tired.
Her eyelids felt heavy.
While Bai Shou expected to open her eyes after momentarily resting them…
She never did.
***
Alternate Title: Poor Bats; First Step to Become a Batman; Ash Bats; Hunt for Mutated Beasts; Jirou Yi's Brilliance; Outstanding Disposition, Weak Talent; Envy for Rank 5; Completion; The Process of Addition Through Subtraction; Bai Shou: I'll Become Stronger by Becoming Weaker; The Line-up; The Seiryu; Cloud Elephant; Human Hubris; Human Opposes the Heaven; To Win, One Must Fail; When a Gu Worm has more Character than a Jade Beauty; Preservation Gu: I Believe I Can Fly *Gets Caught*; Preserving Life; Preserving Success; Bai Shou: Thank God, I Didn't Get Caught In a Dream At My Strongest *Gets Caught in Her Weakest Instead*; Dream Realms: I'm Somewhat of a Hunter Myself; Bai Shou: Dream Path is too Amazing; Bai Shou After 999th Consecutive Entry Into Melancholic Dream Realms: MOTHERFUCKER!; Bai Shou: Uses the Dream Path To Survive *Dream Path: And I Took That Personally*; Dream Path When Bai Shou Focuses on Strength, Refinement, and Human Paths: Fatally Tsundere… Yandere?; The Golden Rod; That One Gu Master Who Named the Acorn After Monkey Nuts; Time Traveler *Moves a Chair* The Timeline: Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing Happily Eat a Living Monkey's Balls Sack Instead of Brain Matter
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