50 Tough times

As Gu Guangzhi stopped his punch mid way, the snow path gu master felt relieved. The snow path gu master gave his participant token away along with a prize token he collected to Gu Guangzhi. Unless this was done, the organizer wouldn't come to his rescue. A Rank 3 peak stage Jia clan gu master entered the maze through a hidden entrance directly to their location. He left with the snow path gu master using Quick exit Gu. Gu Guangzhi quickly refined the snow path master's participant token to imprint his identity on the token. Then he looked at the prize token. It had the number 300 written on it.

The entire prize pool was a million primeval stones. However, for the preliminary rounds, only three hundred thousand primeval sones were allocated. There were twenty five matches in the preliminaries with each match having prize tokens worth twelve thousand primeval stones. Each prize token was worth three hundred primeval stones. Since only the top ten participants who made it out of the maze could exchange their tokens, the Jia clan expected they could save about two hundred thousand primeval stones in the preliminaries. They were truly cunning businessmen.

Gu Guangzhi reverted to his human form and used Rank 3 Bamboo stalk Gu to heal himself. The sweet medicinal alcohol made him a little tipsy. However, Gu Guangzhi was prepared. He had long pondered about this problem of his healing gu insect. He had thought that he would eventually gain some alcohol resistance to the medicinal alcohol from Bamboo stalk Gu but it did not seem to be the case. He would always find himself tipsy after having a few sips.

Gu Guangzhi initially had some ideas to refine a gu insect to give him a clear mind no matter how much alcohol he consumed. He called this gu insect 'Bamboo rocking fountain Gu'. It would be bamboo family gu insect with wisdom path characteristics. However wisdom path seemed to be too out of reach for him. It was one of the most mysterious paths so Gu Guangzhi didn't succeed in refining this gu insect. However, he didn't obsess himself with the recipe and looked for other alternatives. After reaching Jia city, he made some enquires and heard of a Rank 4 Clear Mind Gu that could help give gu masters a clear mind. However it was not available in any of Jia city's shops and auction halls and it's price was way beyond Gu Guangzhi's budget.

The solution to this problem came from the mortals. Young clan members who couldn't awaken their aperture would often fall to the addiction of drinking. Even their parents would permit this behavior for a short while, allowing them to get over the results. However if these youngsters treated alcohol like water and wasted their lives, their parents would often force a hangover medication down their throats. This was so bitter that all the alcohol with they consumed would be vomited and they would regain their senses. Perhaps the only drawback was the beating these youngsters would receive from their parents!

Now that most of his injuries were healed, Gu Guangzhi took out the hangover medicine from Flowerbud Gu and gulped it. Gu Guangzhi vomited the medicinal alcohol and it left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. He didn't feel so tipsy anymore. He took out a few primeval stones to replenish his primeval essence to its limit. At this moment, a faint light showing the way appeared on the ceiling. It meant that an exit had just opened. Gu Guangzhi used Tremor sense Gu to locate his next target. He could sense heavy footsteps making way in the direction of exit. Only one pair of steps could be heard so Gu Guangzhi picked him to be his next opponent. However as Gu Guangzhi made his way towards his opponent, he found two gu masters present there. One gu master was on the ground while the other was flying on a giant bat.

Gu Guangzhi instantly recognized them, "Ironman and Batman…"

"Oh, it seems you know about us. Now had over all your tokens and gu insects.", said the enslavement gu master who was flying on the bat. He was a Rank 3 peak stage gu master.

Gu Guangzhi's Tremor sense Gu was an excellent investigative type gu insect but it couldn't identify flying targets. Now he had to fight two Rank 3 gu masters at once. Gu Guangzhi quickly made a decision and transformed using ground bear transformation. He charged at the enslavement path gu master. Beheading the enemy was the best tactic when faced with an enslavement path gu master. Enslavement path gu masters usually had large reserves of beasts for attacking their opponents but had fragile bodies. If they strengthened their bodies using strength path methods, their efficiency with enslavement path would fall. Hence it was of utmost importance for Gu Guangzhi to eliminate this enslavement path gu master to avoid wasting his primeval essence. He jumped high in the air and with the momentum generated with his charge, he was able to reach the gu master on the giant bat.

However, before he could strike, another gu master jumped and blocked his way. He was the metal path gu master, Ironman. He had Rank 3 middle stage cultivation. Gu Guangzhi was actually surprised for a moment that this metal path gu master had such a mobility given his weight. However, the next moment, he couldn't think about it anymore. The reason… was the iron fist that squarely landed on his jaw. After receiving such a heavy hit, Gu Guangzhi crashed back to the ground and was dazed for a moment. If he was in human form when he received that hit, his jaw would've shattered to pieces. Gu Guangzhi rose while trying to shake off the pain and roared in anger. But before he could attack again, he was attacked by several moon bats. Most of these moon bats had the strength of Rank 1 gu master. Using their sharp wings, they made several small cuts to Gu Guangzhi's body. Each attack wasn't very powerful but Gu Guangzhi felt that he would die by a thousand cuts. He could kill the moon bats easily but they were just overwhelming him in numbers. The metal path gu master would take advantage of these attacks and throw in his attacks at opportune moments.

'Damn! These gu masters' combination is far better than I expected. I tried to use only Rank 2 gu insects in this competition but it seems that it is clearly not enough. I need to make full use of my gu insects to win this.', thought Gu Guangzhi.

Gu Guangzhi then proceeded to use Rank 3 Bamboo swamp Gu and Rank 3 Turn Rock Gu to turtle himself. For a short while, he was protected from all the attacks. He did not have his water wolf by his side. So he couldn't use the killer move 'Alphas among wolves'. He could try to use the move without his water wolf but would it compare to an actual enslavement path gu master? He would be beaten badly. He could try to use his Rank 1 formation Zombification swamp. However, enslavement path gu masters didn't expend much primeval essence while fighting. They depended mostly on their soul foundation. Metal path gu masters would usually expend primeval essence to some extent, but Ironman seemed to use metal path gu insects that imitated strength path. So the metal path gu master's primeval essence was limited as well.

Gu Guangzhi then said to himself, "This is going to be tough."