Ch 23 – Refining Gu

A cold gust of air lightly enters a brightly lit room, causing the solemn Kaleido who sat on his bed to turn his gaze towards his closed curtains and said, "Hmm, just to be safe."

Pouring primeval essence into Formless Barrier Gu, he controls the barrier that covered his arm to extend outwards, grabbed the window, and closed it shut. But as he did so, he paused his stretched arm, felt his heart skip a beat, and spread the barrier throughout the entire room. Seeing that no more extraneous variables were there to interfere, he nodded his head and closed his eyes shut.

Breathe in, breathe out. He controlled his breathing and felt his whole body relax, from his head, down to his neck, to his chest, arms, fingers, legs, and toes. As his mind cleared with no more distractions, he paused his breath and recalled memories from the vast sea of his mind.

'Gu Masters nurture, use, and refine Gu. Refining Gu would allow Gu to advance, causing it to undergo a qualitative change and reach a higher rank. It is an essential part of Gu Cultivation, meaning that if I want to reach greater heights, I'll need to master refinement path as well!' Kaleido opened his eyes and clenched his fist.

Finally entering the right mental state, Kaleido activated Space Bubble Gu, and a void black bubble appeared right beside him. Plunging his hand into it, he took out metallic ores and refined metal, alongside a knife and other sword-like objects.

After that, he swept his consciousness into his aperture and saw two Space Knife Gu swimming in a lazy manner inside his primeval sea. Feeling his heart beat with excitement, he calmed himself once again until he became a calm lake, and nodded his head with a serious gaze.

Next, he thought with helplessness, 'Before this, I tried out other refinement path methods, and just like I expected, they were far from satisfactory due to the negative amplification brought by the markings on my body. Coupled with me having the Cosmic Great Evolution extreme physique, it means that I'll have to rely on space path to refine my current set of Gu!'

'Space path is quite the unorthodox method when it comes to refinement, so the "experiences" and knowledge that I gathered from books are few and scarce. Sigh, it means I'll have to rely on my own master attainment in space path to develop my own space path refinement method.' Kaleido lets out a helpless grin and shook his head, discarding his emotions and continuing, 'Regardless, one step at a time and I'll eventually gain progress.'

Staring at the new Gu swimming in his aperture, he steeled his heart and poured primeval essence into them, and prepared his refinement.

In front of him, space slowly warped, and a strange "sphere" that bent light around it appeared. There, a suction force seemed to appear, and Kaleido swiftly controlled two Gu Worms—both being Space Knife Gu—into the sphere and watch them disappear.

After that, Kaleido activates another Gu inside his aperture and the sphere in the air in front of him suddenly twisted and turned, as if the space within it was chaotic and messy. Feeling the two Gu Worms inside were being affected by the strange phenomenon, Kaleido remembered the general principles of refinement and used his own master attainment in space path to aid him in his refinement.

Tossing in a metallic knife, he felt and saw the situation inside the sphere of warped space stabilize for a bit before it became chaotic once more. Not stopping his movements, he tossed in more and more of the materials he prepared beforehand, and felt sweat dripping from his forehead profusely.

'Not only do I have to maintain the sphere so that it doesn't accidentally collapse, but I also have to take care of the situation of the Gu so that it doesn't get damaged or die, while also controlling the intake of materials and so much more to form an equilibrium…' Kaleido ignored the sweat dripping from his forehead and continue in utter silence.

'Not only that, but "It" also exists, meaning that I have to maintain the barrier that covers the entire room so that "It" can't interfere in my refinement!' Kaleido gritted his teeth and maintained his calm, tossing in more and more of the ingredients prepared into the sphere.

Knock knock knock.

"Sir! Sorry for interrupting you, but we would like to remind you that your lease is ending soon!" the muffled and warp voice of the hotel clerk rang from the door.

Almost losing control because of the sudden sound, Kaleido waved his trembling arm and stabilized the situation, and did his best to ignore the woman outside the room.

"Sir! Sir!" She continued shouting after seeing that no response came from the room. Worried that Kaleido might have a problem, she banged on the door with increasing intensity.

'Fuck, I don't have the energy to respond to her! Damn invisible bastard!' Kaleido's brows furrowed until he gained an idea.

Swiftly controlling a small part of the formless barrier surrounding the entire room, he formed two small spheres and neared them to his ear, and blocked his hearing. Hearing nothing else except for nothingness, Kaleido felt relieved and refocused his entire attention on the sphere.

"Hmm, he must be a heavy sleeper," the hotel clerk outside the room turned around and left the premise.

Feeling her presence disappear, Kaleido knew that "It" failed and continued without any more disturbance for the time being.

'Finally, an incomplete Gu! I'm almost there!' Kaleido stared at the metallic blade in his arm and clenched it tightly.

Slowing down his heartbeat, he prepared to throw the blade into the sphere when all of a sudden, the entire room of his shook!

Even without looking, he suddenly saw in the room right beside him suddenly had a loud explosion along with the sight of two Gu Masters fighting. 'What the fuck?!'

Cursing his luck, he saw their attacks land exactly at the wall that connects both of their rooms, colliding with his formless barrier and shocking his focus.

'Fuck! Why is "It" so desperate?! I'm just refining a goddamn Rank 2 Gu! While yes, the recipe was created solely by me, and the method too, it's not that heaven-defying!'

Without any time to waste under the constant barrage of attacks that "coincidentally" came his way, he threw the metallic blade into the sphere and felt it merge with the incomplete Gu in moments. As light shone from the sphere, he controlled it with finesse and the light exploded in brilliance.

Watching the sphere expand and burst, a Gu Worm flew towards him and he catch it with gleaming eyes. But as he felt more and more attacks land at the broken wall beside him, he gazes at the two Gu Masters inside the room with killing intent.

"OI! YOU FUCKERS! YOU WANNA DIE?!" Kaleido appeared right between the two of them.

One was a young man with pale white skin wearing a wide blue robe, with long black hair and glistening blue eyes. The other was a cloaked figure wielding a solid qi blade in their hand.

Before the two can even respond, a loud bang was heard and Kaleido's fists struck their heads, pummeling the two defenseless Gu Masters' heads into the ground.

"Fuck you, you goddamn assassin. Fuck you, you 'Water Droplet' Rank 3 nobody, why the fuck do you have to fight inside a hotel?!" Kaleido cursed and spewed out his anger, stomping on their defenseless bodies with anger and wrath.

After a short while, he felt his anger diffuse and walked back into his room through the large hole produced on the wall, plastered some paper to block the hole, returned to his bed, and sat in a lotus position.

'Sigh, It's abilities are getting stranger by the second. Now it can even control Rank 3 experts to fight against one another in the room right beside me. Does this mean that I might have to live as a hermit and seclude myself in the woods and mountains?' Kaleido paused, then grinned, his eyes gleaming with a tinge of craziness, 'So be it. Once I'm strong enough, I'll just cause bloodshed to whoever stands in my way.'

Calming himself, Kaleido immersed himself in his newfound experience and revised his mistakes, along with deepening his foundation in refining Gu.

'I did a lot of mistakes back then, but luckily, my master attainment in space path allowed me to adapt quickly. I guess the amplification brought by the marks on my body isn't omnipotent, because while the refinement is faster and more solid, having zero experience would still cause it to be hard as hell.'

Gaining a newfound understanding of the markings on his body, his personal "hack" gained from his transmigration, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Next, after calming himself down and entering a serene mental state, he caused a larger sphere of warped space to appear in the air in front of him once again.

With experience already in tow, Kaleido has a more solid foundation and confidence for his second attempt at refining Gu.

'Still, I was lucky as hell for my first refinement considering it succeeded. But even if I do fail, I still have an abundance of resources, and Space Blade Gu is my Vital Gu so I don't have to worry about it breaking. And even if it did, I have access to Space Cave with nigh-endless space path Gu to be found inside it.'

From his aperture, two Gu shot out. Both of which were familiar to Kaleido—Space Step Gu and Spatial Domain Gu!

Doing the same as before, he threw ingredients one by one into the sphere of space just like before and did his best to maintain its stability.

Unfortunately, it seemed like his beginner's luck has ran out, and as he threw in another ingredient, the sphere popped and two Gu flew back to him.

Inspecting the two Gu swiftly, he lets out a sigh of relief to see them relatively well and unscathed. Nodding his head, he thought, 'They should be able to withstand two more attempts before they break.'

Feeling zero fear of losing his Gu, Kaleido redid the and underwent another attempt. This time, he reached a little further and almost created an incomplete Gu, but failed near the end.

'Again!' He once again continued, this time, his gaze was steady and lack fear. His breathing was calm and controlled, and his hands were solid and firm.

Tossing in material by material, the incomplete Gu finally formed, and he felt a little relieved. Not stopping his movements, a burst of light appeared from the sphere and a Gu flew back to him just like last time.

Knowing that it wasn't an offensive type Gu, he activated it and felt his spatial awareness expand and solidify, creating a "domain" where he can sense everything within it like an omniscient god.

It was like spatial domain Gu, but in the next moment, Kaleido willed and a piece of paper suddenly appeared on his open palm.

'Hhe, Space Blade Gu, and Displace Domain Gu are successfully refined. I now have a strong offensive prowess, and I can more easily teleport and sense attacks with Displace Domain Gu. Now, I need to enhance my defense!'

Straightening his back, he stored Displace Domain Gu back into his aperture and placed more materials on his bed for refinement.

After that, just like clockwork, the sphere appeared in the air once again in front of him. This time, it was a bit smaller compared to previous attempts, but it was more solid and dense compared to before, and the warping of light was less noticeable.

Next, he took out two Gu from his aperture—Formless Barrier Gu and Space Bubble Gu, and resolutely threw them into the sphere.

AN: This chapter has 2004 words.

Here is a hint to something that would happen way later in this volume: Refinement path is gonna play a huge role, so be on the look out for anything refinement path related.

(January 8, 2023 – 409th day of writing)