The hundred entrance points to Reincarnation Battlefield mimicked the locations of the hundred most well-known locations of Central Continent from Paradise Earth's era. So, the best way to identify the camps set by the Ten Ancient Sects was by just using those hundred names.
Spirit Affinity House's primary camp controlled the easternmost entrance point, the Blue Saint Fog point. Their direct competition was the Heavenly Lotus Sect, Wind Cloud Manor, and Heaven's Envy Manor. Previously, Bai Shou rammed through the Pot Soil Point controlled by Heavenly Lotus Sect, but she couldn't capture it. Instead, she snatched many captives, forcing Heavenly Lotus Sect to cough up some compensation.
That was a great contribution in time of Spirit Affinity House's dire need. She was also rewarded appropriately.
Now, Bai Shou needed contribution points once again.
"Look, something is flying."
"Is it a flying beast?"
Two scouts quickly discovered some movement.
Their expressions soon shifted, turning bloodthirsty.
"It's her! Inform Senior Brother Cheng!"
A lone figure flew through the sky, indifferent to the risk of attracting any other flying predator when she was the fiercest one around. Her sharp gaze scanned the region, taking in the hastily growing barriers around the Wind Valley Point defended by the disciples of Wind Cloud Manor.
Bai Shou circled above them, watching them like a hawk. Meanwhile, the disciples called for reinforcements from the three nearest entrance points. Leaving any of the entrance points wasn't wise, so taking few reinforcements from several sources was the norm here.
Of course, Bai Shou's notoriety spread after her initial display. No elite disciple wanted to take this extraordinary ordinary disciple lightly.
In fact, Bai Shou waited for these reinforcements.
Several lights flashed as streams of gu masters rushed over, each using their movement gu worms.
"Can I begin?" Bai Shou laughed arrogantly.
"We should kill this bitch in the most humiliating manner!"
"Skin her!"
"How dare you look down on us?!"
"Get down and fight three hundreds round if you dare!"
Several shouts echoed as Bai Shou's lips stretched wider.
She suddenly dropped down, zooming towards the barrier. Other gu masters prepared. A few key disciples felt happy. They had planned several traps to tackle Bai Shou.
Nevertheless, the sky was instantly lit with hundreds of powerful long-range attacks!
Bai Shou chuckled and flapped her wings.
"Eh?"
One of the scouts gasped.
Bai Shou must have experienced some issues with her wings because she dodged right INTO a lightning attack before being zapped away and being smashed by a massive boulder. Her charred body rolled down pitifully, sliced into three uneven halves by unforgiving wind blades.
A purple light flashed and carried her corpse away.
"We… won?" A few disciples looked sad and disappointed.
"No, you fools!" The elite disciple screamed. "It's a ruse! Quick, contact the other three camps!"
As the elite disciple feared, Spirit Affinity House attacked all the three weakened camps!
The elite disciple quickly mobilized several disciples and sent them to the three camps. He even added gu masters originally attached to the Wind Valley entrance point.
However, Elite Disciple Cheng was still vigilant. He didn't lose his focus and continued to send scouts out at consistent intervals. What if the real Bai Shou showed up now?
His vigilance paid off.
The scouting pair had better investigation gu worms. Unfortunately, the same was true for Bai Shou. Both parties discovered each other as the scouts heard a distant roar of tigers and dragons. The roars were nothing but rumbling thunder, announcing the lightning quick Bai Shou, her speed boosted using Rank 5 Multiply Gu. She didn't pause for the gu worms the pair weren't quick enough to detonate and reached for the walls.
She was discovered by the many scouts on top of the towers. There was no guarantee in bypassing them even with Invisibility Gu so there was no need to hide.
"She is here."
Disciple Cheng gritted his teeth, commanding others to attack Bai Shou as they made a terrifying discovery.
Disciple Cheng's gaze grew gloomy and dark. The pressure on his shoulders intensified further.
He was a peak stage rank 4 gu master. His battle prowess was extremely high among other rank 4 gu masters. But how could he face a monstrous middle stage rank 5 gu master?
Middle stage rank 5!
Bai Shou's first aperture advanced by a minor realm. She was already at the cusp of advancement and using the second aperture's essence helped her through.
Disciple Cheng didn't consider Bai Shou monstrous because of her cultivation. He considered her a monster due to her combat strength.
'She already killed cruel demonic path gu masters like Wang Nan and even defeated Heavenly Lotus' rank 5 elite disciple.'
Still, Disciple Cheng gritted his teeth and stood his ground firmly.
'The traps are still in place.'
He had slight hope in his heart as he commanded the troops to attack. Bai Shou evaded gracefully, her control over Dragon Travel Tiger Steps nimbler and livelier.
"Hehehe!" Disciple Cheng laughed as Bai Shou slammed into the defensive barriers raised by several rank 3 gu masters.
"Now!" He screamed.
All defensive barriers suddenly overturned and condensed rapidly, trapping Bai Shou in distinctly colorful layers as her movements and struggle grew weaker, dampened by these barriers targeting her strength path gu set—
Disciple Cheng's eyes suddenly widened as he noticed cracks forming and widening around the colorful and glass-like cocoon.
"How—"
*Bang*
A layer of mist exploded out with extreme pressure as several disciples controlling the barriers coughed mouthfuls of blood after suffering from a terrible backlash. Within the layer of mist was the barest ember of strength qi, the proof of Bai Shou's strength path killer move deduced by an outstanding gu immortal—Imaginative Strength!
But there was another layer to Bai Shou. Her control over her gu worms had increased tremendously and it was partially due to her wisdom path grandmaster attainment.
<<<>>>
'Huff.'
Bai Shou exhaled as the light roll of her shoulders left her muscles exposed through the tattered robes flexing and tensing. She quietly gazed at the unconscious captives, her thoughts reflecting on her practical experience.
'Who knew wisdom path gu worms could be used like that?' She smiled bitterly. 'No. Many knew. There's a chance Shu Zhe also knows such a use, and it has nothing to do with attainment. However, I never had any wisdom path inheritance or guidance.'
Ordinarily, a gu master gained attainment after using, refining, and nurturing gu worms for many years. Being a master took talent and dedication, but it couldn't diminish the virtue of learning and teaching. A gu master learns from their predecessors in the form of inheritance or even living masters. Under their guidance, the gu masters understand the depths of the three aspects of gu cultivation and among a million gu masters, perhaps five or six gu masters elevated their craft to a level of an art, becoming masters.
Once a gu master gained master-level attainment in their paths, they would generate intuition for it, no longer acting like blind passengers on a vague road but determined drivers willing to see through the hazy mist and expand their vision.
Reaching the sagely realm of a grandmaster was even more arduous. It took hundreds of years of practice, comprehension, accumulation, and fortuitous encounters at times for the necessary inspiration!
Using Dreamer Gu, Bai Shou skipped many of these steps. She generated intuition and was able to use wisdom path to understand the mystery of other paths. However, her foundation in wisdom path was flimsy. She didn't know many basic things about the use, refining, and nurturing of this path.
Recently, Bai Shou was inspired to try something after becoming a wisdom path grandmaster.
She decided to modify the will inside her strength path gu worms using Brave Will.
When a gu master refined wild gu worms, they overtook the wild gu worm's will with their own will. But to understand will, one must understand wisdom path.
Thoughts, Wills, and Emotions.
It was the foundation of wisdom path. Wisdom Path divined, deduced, and schemed using these three concepts.
Thoughts were like water droplets, easily created and destroyed. A living being created several thoughts without feeling exhausted. The most well-known thought is none other than obsession. When a gu immortal perished, those with obsessions would resonate with their blessed land's heavenly power, transforming said obsession into a land spirit. The origin of a land spirit was a thought, so they were simple and pure, unable to lie.
Meanwhile, the linking of several thoughts in a certain fashion formed a will. Will couldn't be described with words. Will inherited attainment. Bai Shou's will inside the human path clone gu worms shared her attainment, making the best use of it. Wills weren't so easy to destroy and had different forms and weaknesses.
Collection of several wills formed emotions. Emotions were the hardest to get rid of. Wisdom path gu masters with ability to manipulate emotions were regarded with more caution compared to others.
Now, humans are capable of thinking without gu worms. The thoughts created in the head would collide and result in these thoughts fusing or nullifying each other. It may even break apart into another line of thought. It was the process of thinking.
Similarly, they did not need gu worms to possess will and emotions.
Gu masters ordinarily relied on their self-generated will to refine wild gu worms by making their primeval essence the carrier of their will.
But what about wisdom path gu worms?
Gu worms modified thoughts, wills, and emotions.
Bai Shou possessed Brave Thoughts and Will. Brave Will was headstrong but lacked decent foundation and could be dealt with using the wills modified by softer gu worms—Courteous Intent, Foxy Will, and such.
Said Brave Will also did not leave Bai Shou's soul.
However, Bai Shou was curious what would happen should the will in her strength path gu worms were modified using this Brave Will. Gu worms also had a soul where a will remained. That is how a gu master manipulated the gu worms like an extension of their bodies.
So, Bai Shou did just that and was amazed at the results. It was seamless.
With brave thoughts in her mind, Bai Shou's ability to mobilize killer moves grew exponentially!
Earlier, when she was trapped, Bai Shou's killer move happened as effortlessly as breathing!
'But if it was common for wisdom path gu masters… Imaginative Strength should have known. This trick would have long been an open secret for powerful gu immortals.'
'He didn't know about it.'
Bai Shou wasn't arrogant enough to believe she figured something new. She did not have a wisdom path inheritance, and she wasn't the first wisdom path grandmaster in existence.
All she could suspect was that this thinking process might not be so open even to weaker wisdom path gu masters.
Regardless, she was satisfied with the results of the battle and waited for other's notification. She did not have anything to say about Shu Zhe's plan. After all, Shu Zhe had to earn her keep, too. It wouldn't do for Bai Shou to overtake her wife's role as a strategist.
<<<>>>
Shu Zhe struck four different camps at once, targeting Wind Cloud Manor.
Her plan was simple and efficient. First, they disguised a rank 3 guard as Bai Shou, sending her as a distraction alongside the real Bai Shou. When the other camps sent reinforcements, the fake Bai Shou committed suicide with some drama. It was to alert the higher disciples of Shu Zhe's 'scheme.' The second Wind Valley Camp returned the reinforcements, the real Bai Shou struck.
It was to confuse the groups of gu masters stuck between Wind Valley Camp and the other three camps.
Including the necessary gu worms to disguise someone as Bai Shou, Shu Zhe had invested deeply in the plan. She carefully studied her opponents for the last three months before choosing to strike Wind Valley Camp due to the weaker elite disciple.
The truth was, the other nine ancient sects were stretched too thin after they took over Spirit Affinity House's former camps and resource points. Dealing such a strike wasn't an extraordinary achievement for Shu Zhe.
Soon, Spirit Affinity House captured most of the disciples and retreated, only taking over one more camp instead of all the defeated camps.
It wasn't to earn favors from her opponents. Instead, Shu Zhe decisively struck a few resource points, too. Unlike the camps, Spirit Affinity House didn't have to secure different resource points. They targeted resources points that originally belonged to Wind Cloud Manor and Heavenly Lotus Sect, plundering everywhere and leaving the other two sects to pick up the pieces.
Soon, Bai Shou was witnessed cruelly tearing out an elite disciple's head out of his body alongside their spine when invading a camp maintained by Heavenly Lotus.
These attacks revealed Shu Zhe's intentions to target Wind Cloud Manor and Heavenly Lotus Sect to everyone.
'As expected, the best method was to wait them out.' Shu Zhe nodded after observing the latest development.
<<<>>>
Supreme Elder Mi Yao was happy at this development. While an experienced gu immortal, she wasn't very fortunate and struggled with all her might to reach this stage. However, in the end, she was schemed by Xu Hao to volunteer for Reincarnation Blessed Land the second Feng Jin Huang successfully became Hu Immortal Blessed Land's owner. That wisdom path gu immortal must have accurately predicted the sect's predicament and extracted the elder of his side from the battlefield, letting Mi Yao gain some profits until the other nine ancient sects allied and moved against Spirit Affinity House.
'That Xu Hao…' Fairy Mi Yao gritted her teeth before feeling slightly helpless.
As an Ancient Sect's Gu Immortal, Mi Yao was talented even among her peers and possessed a water path immortal gu worm. Most gu immortals experienced their entire life without an immortal gu, forced to stay at the bottom of the barrel. She also managed a stable business in Treasure Yellow Heaven even if it wasn't exactly too profitable. And having access to Treasure Yellow Heaven allowed Fairy Mi Yao to purchase several wisdom path gu worms and their information.
Like other gu immortals, Mi Yao also placed a level of attention on wisdom path. However, buying incomplete mortal level wisdom path inheritance could never help her bridge the gap against a proper wisdom path gu immortal.
Even if she used wisdom path gu worms, Mi Yao was a water path gu immortal. One's understanding of the gu worm transformed into an attainment as they used, refined, and nurtured the gu. When using the gu worm, the dao fragment inside the gu and the dao marks on the gu master's body resonated, creating this indescribable force of intuition.
The more resonance the gu masters and gu immortals experienced, the better chance they had at becoming a master in their given paths. It was also because of this Mi Yao and many other gu immortals didn't casually dual cultivate or something like that nonsense. It was primarily dabbled by mortals who didn't know any better or extremely talented gu immortals with sufficient foundation and inheritance.
First, the majority of the dao marks they possessed were of their main path. What use was it to muddy their growth by diverting their attention to a new path? Second, if they weren't careful, this dao mark conflict might negatively impact them.
There wasn't much benefit but a number of disadvantages.
So, wisdom path gu immortals were still regarded with caution even if all gu immortals could use a few wisdom path gu worms.
Mi Yao also possessed a master-level attainment in water path. Most rank 6 gu immortals with enough time reached this stage. But becoming a grandmaster was still a considerable distance away.
'Only by becoming a grandmaster will I have slight hope to resist the cunning of a gu immortal.'
Mi Yao sighed endlessly.
Every path had its boons and weaknesses. Else, wisdom path would have overtaken the world if it was infallible.
'This Shu Zhe is also a talent. But her use of gu worms is still slightly lacking.'
Mi Yao observed after she stopped reflecting on her situation. These days, Shu Zhe's schemes truly reversed Spirit Affinity House's situation. Even Mi Yao hadn't been so clear about certain matters.
'Indeed.' She praised Shu Zhe's mindset. 'This lass' mind is sharp, and her vision is broad. Ever since Spirit Affinity House was forced to the Blue Saint Fog Camp, we had to remove many disciples and immortal level forces to protect other interests outside Reincarnation Battlefield. If we invested here, we would have lost a few crucial resource points in Central Continent.'
'But if we are forced to this extent by the other nine ancient sects, isn't the same true for them?'
Mi Yao smiled.
'Other nine ancient sects first employed a few desperate demonic path gu immortals to harm our interests before becoming forceful. Their investment in suppressing us also grew.'
'Because of this, their investment in Reincarnation Battlefield became stagnant. With time, it became lesser because the other nine ancient sects had their own interests to worry about. Such a conflict, when stretched out, benefits nobody.'
'Our members remained defensive outside, quietly protecting the resources even when faced with such bullying.'
'Here, Shu Zhe also had a similar idea and didn't reach beyond her means, protecting two camps and focusing more on the resource points. By plundering the resource points originally held by others, Shu Zhe created a smokescreen and allowed Bai Shou to take over the nearby resource points once held by us.'
Mi Yao's expression grew cold when recalling the suppression she endured from the supreme elders of nine other sects.
She couldn't help but glance at the sect's most recent reinforcements. It was a desolate beast.
Desolate beasts, once killed, were not revived. But it was an excellent deterrent. Either way, Mi Yao was no longer forced to constantly engage in friendly spars with her peers after the few victories from the mortal side.
Naturally, other gu immortals weren't here to observe mortals only. There were also immortal resource points in Reincarnation Battlefield, each fought over by these gu immortals fiercely! However, Spirit Affinity House no longer held any other immortal resource points.
'But that was before.'
Mi Yao snorted.
The period of suppression waned.
Spirit Affinity House didn't mind losing these smaller resource points when compared to the legendary Dang Hun Mountain! It did not give into the demands and business transactions of other nine ancient sects to letting their disciples also use Dang Hun Mountain.
What a joke!
Guts Gu couldn't be used outside of Dang Hun Mountain. How can Spirit Affinity House allow other sect's disciples into Hu Immortal Blessed Land? What if they carried the methods of other supreme elders and tampered with the blessed land?
Furthermore, Feng Jiu Ge was firm in not letting his daughter's achievement be contaminated.
Feng Jiu Ge… his wishes were not so easily dismissed. The weight of his words was only surpassed by Second and First Supreme Elders.
Mi Yao's expression changed and she hurriedly moved, her body language was slightly reserved as she greeted another gu immortal visiting her to congratulate Spirit Affinity House for their recent victories. It was the way of the Ten Ancient Sects. They may compete, but maintained a cordial mask on the surface. She had to host other gu immortals with tea a few times already.
However, the visitor this time was truly unexpected.
His long green hair was combed neatly, and his face was devoid of emotion. The gu rank aura from his body far surpassed Mi Yao's cultivation as she adopted the position of a junior.
"Little Mi greets Senior Heavenly Informant."
Tian Zhenli, Rank 7 Heavenly Informant Immortal, shook his head and similarly cupped his fist.
"There's no rank of seniority in the path of cultivation but only those who are a few steps ahead and those who will catch up. I hope my visit did not interrupt you, Fairy Water Jade."
Mi Yao shook her head and warmly welcomed him to her residence. To her surprise, Heavenly Informant wasn't the least bit overbearing despite his sect suffering losses at mortal side. He didn't even breach the subject as the duo conversed for hours, talking about Central Continent's circumstances as well as any interesting event they might have witnessed in Treasure Yellow Heaven.
Heavenly Informant left soon after.
'What did he want?'
Mi Yao was suspicious of Heavenly Informant. The latter was not a wisdom path gu immortal, but he was famous for his information path killer move. Many wisdom path gu immortals approached him, asking him to collect relevant clues to deduce certain matters.
Like enslavement, wisdom, and soul paths were connected due to their need for a sturdier soul, information and wisdom paths also complemented each other. To divine and deduce without clues was extremely challenging. And Heavenly Informant happened to be one of the top information path gu immortals in central continent!
'Was he here to collect information?' Mi Yao frowned. 'I heard that even if the effects of his killer move are amazing, the Heavenly Informant killer move only gives answers in one word or two. But there is a significant backlash every time, forcing Tian Zhenli to look for the components of his killer move.'
Part of Feng Faction, she was also cautious of Heavenly Informant because Feng Jiu Ge had pinned the blame on the former in their meetings for tampering with an inheritance that almost killed Bai Shou and Qin Juan.
'Is he after Bai Shou again?'
Mi Yao shook her head.
Even immortals couldn't kill a human here. Gu Immortals more renowned and stronger than Tian Zhenli tried and failed.
'He might have been here to affect my state of mind.'
She put this matter out of her heart and focused on her cultivation.
'I will also have to put that reward in the supply hall soon. But… sigh, Sister Shu will definitely interfere.'
***
Alternate Title: The Ultimate P2W Path—Dream Path; Other Gu Immortals: Barely Masters After Advancing *Meanwhile Bai Shou: Too Poor to P2W My Way to Grandmaster in All Paths*; Is It a Bird? A Plan?; Ferocious Attack; Targeting Two Ancient Sects; Seamless; Imaginative Strength's Killer Move; Failed Trap; The Need for Contribution Points; Earning Keep; Impressive Display; Reversing Situation; The Nature of Suppression; Water Path Master; Bai Shou's Wisdom Path Inspiration; Modifying Wills; Heavenly Informant's Appearance; Tea?; Gu Immortals: Being Careful and Not Using Every Other Path *Le Mortal Supremacy: Using Gu Worms of Every Path Under Heaven Without Excessive Conflict*
***
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