4 One Month of Torture; Rank 2 Gu Refinement

In a large building in the shape of a warehouse with over twenty rooms, each of which held a cauldron in the center and shelves made of a dark stone-like material, lights flashed from the many Gu refinement attempts being underwent. The shelves were stocked with items such as beaver ears, bird beaks, and rose-colored flower stems. All of these materials were somewhat rare, but even a mortal might be able to find them if they were searching for a while. The only thing these items, of which there were countless types, had in common was that they were Gu refinement materials. 

Xue Mingyu was currently situated in one of these rooms. After a month of "hard labor" working with Elder Dandan and doing as many missions as Xiao Pan squad could handle, Xue Mingyu's stockpile of primeval stones had reached unprecedented numbers. Previously, he was only allotted ten percent of the mission rewards spread throughout the five person group, but after breaking through to Rank 2, his rewards shot up to fifteen percent. Combined with the fact that they took twice as many missions as before, he was now earning around 150 primeval stones per week. Elder Dandan, whose "missions" Xue Mingyu found to not be as laborious but rather more disgusting, held a constant rate of 100 primeval stones of allowance. After a month of both of these sources and combining the earnings with his previous stockpile, he was holding onto a tremendous sum of 1,617 primeval stones. 

As a newly advanced Rank 2 Gu Master, Xue Mingyu's biggest weakness was his set of Gu. Although he had five Gu worms, which was considered a lot for the average Rank 2 Gu Master, they were all Rank 1. It was like an imperial knight fully dressed in armor using a kitchen knife to fight in a war. Thus, Xue Mingyu rented a refinement room and bought enough materials for one shot at refining two Gu worms to Rank 2. Of his five Gu; Hot Scar Gu, Small Spark Gu, Fire Jump Gu, Second Wind Gu, and Infrared Gu, Second Wind Gu was the most valuable, worth approximately 440 primeval stones. Its ability was quite simple, being that it automatically healed the Gu Master when they were close to death. Although it had many counters and limitations, it was still incredibly valuable as a Gu Worm that healed its user without them having to will it. Unfortunately, it was not Xue Mingyu's Vital Gu, and he was not confident in his ability to successfully refine it to Rank 2 on his first attempt. He figured it would be best to wait until he could afford a substitute refiner.

The Fire Jump Gu was a useful Gu Worm, but vertical mobility was not very important to Xue Mingyu. It was not included in his plans past the early stages of Rank 2. Infrared Gu, on the other hand, was definitely going to be advanced into his Rank 2 set, but it was a very common Gu Worm in the Xue Clan, and the increase in effectiveness from Rank 1 to Rank 2 would be relatively useless to Xue Mingyu, as Xue Xiao Pan was one of the best Rank 2 investigative Gu Masters in the clan. 

That left his Vital Gu which was also the signature Gu of the Xue clan, the Hot Scar Gu, and his offensive Gu, the Small Spark Gu. 

The Hot Scar Gu had an interesting effect. Instead of directly damaging things, it made use of the damage that had already been done, creating a large amount of heat which grew hotter the longer it was used. It worked well with Sword Path Gu, but Sword Path was very undeveloped in the Southern Border, so the Xue Clan utilized the next best thing: Fire Path. 

"Alright, time to start." taking a deep breath, Xue Mingyu started the refinement process. He picked up a knife by his side and cut a small wound into his hand, pouring the blood he spilled into the cauldron. The fire was already lit below, so the blood immediately started to burn. This process couldn't happen too fast, so Xue Mingyu quickly started to throw primeval stones into the cauldron. After he had thrown twenty primeval stones into the cauldron, he picked up two Sharp Horse Feet and used his Small Spark Gu to burn out the horse muscle left in the material. 

It took a couple of minutes before the muscles were fully burnt away. The refinement called for two burning Sharp Horse Feet without muscles. This was a difficult task, as the muscles were the only thing in the Sharp Horse Feet that was truly flammable. With little time before the fire went out, Xue Mingyu placed his hands into the cauldron and held the Sharp Horse Feet into the bloody mess. His hands started to melt and very quickly went numb, but he persevered, and after a bit, the sharp and bloody mess bubbled, which was the signal he needed in order to activate the Hot Scar Gu. The Hot Scar Gu's effect was to make scars burst aflame, and with his arms already submerged in boiling blood, a weird mix of burn scars, blood, and mostly the cries of pain filled the cauldron. 

The Hot Scar Gu flew into the cauldron and the blood started to undergo evaporation as a response. Very soon Xue Mingyu's torture was over, and the mass of blood and primeval essence condensed into a single Gu Worm. The Burning Scar Gu was born.

***

Xue Mingyu was surprised that he had managed to refine the Burning Scar Gu on his first attempt. He had never been particularly good at refining Gu, and this was the first time he had ever attempted to refine a Rank 2 Gu Worm. It seemed that he was a bit better than he had thought. Unfortunately, while the refinement succeeded the first time, it still set Xue Mingyu back almost four hundred primeval stones. Sharp Horse Feet were an exotic material, and the Xue clan held a blatant monopoly on them, not letting go of any for less than one hundred fifty primeval stones.

The Burning Scar Gu's refinement process was not very reliant on luck. There were very few moments in the refinement that required much skill either. Of course, one had to burn away all the muscle of the Sharp Horse Feet without putting out the fire, but any moderately experienced Fire Path Gu Master could do that without issue. The only reason the refinement was difficult was because it required immense physical pain. The cauldron reached heats of up to a couple hundred degrees; far too hot for an unprotected human. In fact, if not for the layer of primeval stones, it would melt away more than just the initial layer of skin. Xue Mingyu felt the sting of having lost a majority of the skin on his arms and couldn't imagine how much worse it could have been. After the Sharp Horse Feet were added, the pain would switch from burning to cutting. This step was crucial, as the burn scars and the cut scars were the two types of scars that the Burning Scar Gu used as catalysts for a breakthrough. To advance it to a Rank 3 Fiery Scar Gu, it would require not just burn and cut scars, but also tumors. Xue Mingyu didn't want to imagine the pain of developing tumors and using them to catalyze the refinement of a Gu Worm. His arms would already be itchy for at least the next five months from this refinement.

While he had advanced his Vital Gu to Rank 2, Xue Mingyu also wore out his mind for a bit. He figured that he would be unable to succeed in another refinement for the next two or so days, so he decided to take a break and nurture his aperture. 

Over the past month, Xue Mingyu had nurtured his aperture every day, even spending some primeval stones once in a while to speed up the process, but he still didn't feel any signs of progress at all, let alone any breakthroughs.

Leaving the refinement room however, Xue Mingyu realized that fate had other plans for him. Xue Sun Teng was standing outside and held his shoulder as he walked by. 

"So?"

"So… what?"

"How did the refinement go, dummy," Xue Sun Teng said, hitting Xue Mingyu lightly on the head.

"Oh, yeah, it went well. I think the pain was a little bad, but I held on. It's just gonna be annoying to deal with the itches."

"Man, I still can't believe you wanted to refine the Burning Scar Gu instead of the Hot Spike Gu. Don't you think it would've fit you so much better?"

"I think the Burning Scar Gu is the best advancement, so I chose it. While there is no strongest Gu, humans are the spirit of all living beings, so we should be able to adapt to a different set of Gu."

"Mingyu, your aspirations are so inspirational. It makes me remember a year ago when you joined the Xiao Pan squad and said 'I'm gonna be a Venerable!' like a little kid. The good old days, you know?"

"Sh-shut up!" Xue Mingyu's face grew into a shade of red.

The duo walked down the road while they talked. Although there was still a minor stage between them, now that they were both Rank 2 Gu Masters, they could talk on somewhat equal footing.

"Anyway, where are we going? Is there a new mission?" Xue Mingyu asked.

"Not a mission, but Xiao Pan wanted us to meet up at a tavern to talk about something. I don't know what exactly, but he seemed hearty so it shouldn't be too bad."

The two Rank 2 Gu Masters soon arrived at the tavern. Inside, there was a cheerful vibe. Xue Mingyu scratched the itches on his arms while he followed Xue Sun Teng to the table that Xue Xiao Pan had reserved. 

Xue Xiao Pan and Xue Guo Feng were sitting on opposite sides of the table, each with a large glass of Melting Wine in their hands. Melting Wine was the signature drink of the Xue clan. It was a white wine with red patterns seeming to shine from within like the northern lights. Xue Mingyu had had Melting Wine before; it had a weird sensation of bubbling when it made contact with his mouth, a sensation that seemed to have grown on him. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold his liquor like the other two attackers in the Xiao Pan group, who had both used a Black Strength Gu to increase their strength and stamina.

"Can you believe it? He took a mission to assist a merchant caravan!" Xue Guo Feng laughed as Xue Mingyu and Xue Sun Teng walked into hearing range.

"Who did?" Xue Mingyu asked while entering the conversation with his ever-growing curiosity on display.

"Oh, hi Mingyu, Sun Teng. I was just talking about how Xue Xia Xie took a mission outside the clan." 

"Xue Xia Xie? Isn't that the Grand Elder's nephew?" Recalling what Xue Dandan said about the Grand Elder being not the most liberal thinker, Xue Mingyu almost shivered. Among other things, the man was trying to abolish free healthcare for Gu Masters and use the increased funds to pay for missions to be more beneficial. While this may seem like a good thing for Xue Mingyu at first, it was almost entirely about gathering government funds, as the more missions were completed, the more injuries would occur.

"Yeah, it's interesting how the Grand Elder's bloodline is interested in so many different positions. His son is the External Affairs Elder and his other nephew Xue Xia Yin is rumored to be close to breaking through to Rank 2 Peak Stage. Jeez, how long's it been, 5 years since he started cultivating?" Xue Xiao Pan commented. 

"By the way, Nianzu was here earlier, right? Where is he now?" Xue Sun Teng butted in.

"He went to the bathroom, should be back in a few minutes."

After a few minutes of talking, Xue Mingyu's hands started to itch more and more, and he felt like he needed to deal with it. 

"Squad leader, why did you want us to meet up here? I'm sorry to be rude, but I was actually going to nurture my aperture for a bit." Xue Mingyu asked while gritting his teeth.

"Is that so… I'll tell you when Nianzu gets back."

It took seven minutes of Xue Mingyu meticulously checking the clock and looking in the direction of the bathroom every few seconds for Nianzu to come back. In that time, Xue Mingyu struggled to distance himself from the urge to itch; the burn and cut scars on his arm were like poison ivy and would only get worse if he scratched them. 

"Nianzu! Alrighty then." Xue Xiao Pan started immediately and lowered his tone, "I heard from a source of mine that a beast group of some kind of rare variety was spotted around the edges of Cao Da Mountain. It won't be an easy thing to find, but each corpse is worth a primeval stone, so I was thinking we should go searching. Thoughts?" It was clear he was a bit worried about Xue Mingyu's arms, which were visibly red and bubbling.

"What kind of beast is it?" Xue Guo Feng leaned in and said in a whisper so that no eavesdroppers heard.

"Some kind of rabbit; should be pretty harmless."

"Interesting. I'm in. Tomorrow at the usual time?" Xue Mingyu asked impatiently.

"If that works for all of you guys?" Xue Xiao Pan asked, looking around the table. When he saw that everyone had nodded, he looked over at Xue Mingyu and gave him a nod.

"Right. I'll be off then."

***

Xue Mingyu's original plan was to get a break to rest his soul before attempting to refine his Small Spark Gu into a Rank 2 Ignite Spark Gu in order to maximize his ability to refine it on the first attempt. This plan was the most cost-effective, but now that the hunt was scheduled, Xue Mingyu wanted to have an effective attack method, and the fastest way he could get that was by refining the Ignite Spark Gu. 

The refinement rooms were rented by the day, and Xue Mingyu anticipated a few failures, so he bought a whole week of time. After he found the materials he had set aside for the refinement, Xue Mingyu checked them for a bit. As an inexperienced refiner, Xue Mingyu's process of checking the materials was no more than making sure they were the same materials as advertised. 

"Flammable Water, check. Orange Oak Wood, check. Condensed Coal, check." 

The materials were all as advertised. Next, Xue Mingyu re-read the recipe. The Small Spark Gu was a common Gu, but Ignite Spark Gu were almost ten times as valuable. Small Spark Gu were very easy to refine; all one needed was a jar of Luminous Water and to catch a flying spark in it before aging it for ten days, using two primeval stones each day to keep the flame alive.

On the other hand, the Ignite Spark Gu required three rare materials and had a low success rate. Because of this, even some less fortunate Rank 3 Gu Masters would not advance their Small Spark Gu to an Ignite Spark Gu, instead opting to refine it to the Rank 3 Instant Fire Gu directly. 

Xue Mingyu was willing to take the risk however. He wasn't one to gamble, but he also knew that it might take a long time for him to reach Rank 3 and that the Ignite Spark Gu was very strong for a Rank 2 Gu Worm.

Doing his last minute stretches, Xue Mingyu took one final deep breath before he started.

The first step in the refinement process was to crush the Condensed Coal into powder and spread it along the Orange Oak Wood. Xue Mingyu didn't expect it to be such a troublesome task to crush the Condensed Coal. He took a little over an hour to crush just barely enough powder for the refinement. Knowing that the cauldron was far too close to reaching its maximum heat, he decided to change his plans a bit. 

It wasn't anything big, in fact it was something mentioned in the recipe as an alternate method, but Xue Mingyu was satisfied nonetheless when he lit the Condensed Coal powder ablaze using his Small Spark Gu and spread it into the cauldron at the right locations so that the Orange Oak Wood would be burnt perfectly without even using the powder spread.

The Flammable Water was inserted into the equation when Xue Mingyu poured it into the cauldron, causing a large explosion and sending him flying. He tried to stand up as fast as possible, but by the time he did it was already too late. The refinement had failed.

Xue Mingyu didn't feel any damage to his soul, and the Small Spark Gu hadn't even been touched yet, so there were no major issues besides the refinement failing, which caused him to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Xue Mingyu's undying will would not stop there. He quickly bought another set of materials and got to work. This time, he crushed the Condensed Coal first, spreading it along the Orange Oak Wood in the time it took for the fire to reach a decent temperature. When he poured the Flammable Water, he did so at a much slower pace and managed to avoid failing the refinement. 

Although he did fail upon adding his Small Spark Gu to the mix. 

Fail.

Fail.

Fail. 

Success!

On his sixth attempt, Xue Mingyu finally refined the Ignite Spark Gu. He would later learn that the refinement success rate according to that recipe with perfect accuracy was only ten percent, and that he had been lucky to only suffer minor damage to his soul. Still, he was hobbled and directly went to sleep in the refinement room.