Chapter 58 Departure!
Xuanyuan had decided then and there, that if there was any other Path worth comprehending other than the Shadow Path, it was the Space Path. There was no guarantee he would receive a similar chance in the future, so it was best to grab what was right in front of him, rather than just dream about obtaining future benefits.
With Elder Luo as his Master, Space Path knowledge, refinement methods, comprehension and even all manner of Gu were available to him, Luo Yu carefully showing his disciple the effects and abilities of all of his various Space Path Gu.
Rank 1 Cracking Shark was capable of cracking space within three feet of its body. It was the initial version of Luo Yu's Rank 4 Hammer Fissure Shark and possessed a size similar to a mortal tiger shark.
Rank 2 Fracture Shark was capable of fracturing space within a certain area, leaving lingering effects even after the ability was used. It possessed a length of almost two dozen feet, and its physical strength exceeded that of a regular Rank 1 Gu Master.
Rank 3 Shattering Tail Shark was a variation of Luo Yu's Rank 3 Hammer Shatter Shark which focused the strength of its spatial shattering in the enormous tail behind it. While the effects of the Shattering Tail Shark' spatial shattering were better than the Hammer Shatter Shark, it was significantly smaller than the latter, causing Luo Yu to disregard further methods of refinement.
There was Rank 4 Blood Piercing Shark which completely transformed the Rank 3 Hammer Shatter Shark into a Blood Path Gu. The Blood Piercing Shark was capable of instantly locking onto traces a Gu Master's blood instantly travelling the shortest distance possible to reach them.
It was a type of investigative type Gu, which Elder Luo actually kept, although it did require a targets blood in order to be used.
The Rank 5 Thought Jaws Shark was capable of devouring thoughts of all different types of thoughts, transforming the Space Path Gu into a Wisdom Path Gu. The Rank 5 Thought Jaws Shark could actually be used offensively, devouring the Thoughts of an opposing Gu Master, leaving them vulnerable to an attack.
Xuanyuan suddenly had access to dozens of Gu refinement recipes, all of them related to the basic, Rank 1 Cracking Shark Gu.
Some of the Gu refinement recipes were disregarded the moment they stopped being a Space Path Gu, but Elder Luo did keep some, such as the Rank 5 Thought Jaws Shark and the Rank 4 Blood Piercing Shark.
Xuanyuan could see all the hand written notes and deductions his Master had made over the years, constantly researching new variations of the same Gu, trying to perfect his initial Rank 1 Cracking Shark into his imagined Rank 5 Cracking Jaws Shark!
It wasn't even a fraction of all the Space Path Gu recipes in existence, but Xuanyuan knew that a complete refinement recipe which allowed a Gu to be refined from Rank 1, all the way up to Rank 5 could be considered the core of a Gu Master's inheritance.
Elder Luo had shared everything with Xuanyuan, multiple complete refinement recipes, even unique variation recipes which could refine a Rank 1 Cracking Shark or a Rank 2 Fracture Shark into a Wood Path, or even a Dark Path Gu!
Seeing Elder Luo show Xuanyuan his life's work, he felt the emotions in his heart stir, understanding the generosity and the strength of the righteous path. He could comprehend why the Sect system which Primordial Origin created was considered the strongest, even three million years after his death.
The Sect system focused on creating bonds of friendship and gratitude, rather than the Clan system which created bonds using blood and marriage. The Clan system prevented talented outsiders from joining, while the Sect system embraced it, allowing for even talented mortals to jump through the Dragons Gate.
Even if a Clan had thousands of members, if more than half were either D Grade or C Grade talents, their future achievements could only be limited. Resentment and jealousy were even more easily nurtured than love and familial bonds. This led to infighting and internal conflicts between factions.
On the other hand, every single member of the Ancient Soul Sect, and the Ten Great Sects in general were of a B Grade talent or higher. The Ten Great Sects protected and nurtured mortals, knowing that a fresh batch of talented disciples were destined to be born every year, from all corners of the Central Continent.
Xuanyuan wasn't so easily swayed by the Ancient Soul Sect, and only placed his gratitude in the hands of Elder Luo.
If Elder Huo or Elder Fang were to die tomorrow, it wouldn't even create ripples in Xuanyuan's heart. If Elder Hu, Elder Gong or even Elder Kong were to be killed, perhaps Xuanyuan would feel saddened by their deaths, but wouldn't even hesitate, trying to seek benefits from it.
Elder Luo patted Xuanyuan on the shoulder, gesturing for him to open his hands, gently placing a Gu within it.
Xuanyuan's eyes widened, seeing the familiar Gu in his hands.
"Rank 2 Shark Strength Gu!".
Luo Yu smiled at Xuanyuan, patting the small black and white shark in his hands, watching as it squirmed in his disciple's hands.
"When you return from your missions, I hope that you will be a Rank 3 Gu Master. By then, I will teach you the recipe to refine this Rank 2 Shark Strength Gu, into a Rank 3 Grand Shark Strength Gu".
"I'm sure that with your intelligence Xuanyuan, you should be able to refine your own Cracking Shark. If you truly want to help me refine my Rank 5 Cracking Jaws Shark, then perhaps you should be able to refine a Rank 3 Shattering Tail Shark, or one of the other Rank 3 variants?".
Xuanyuan's eyes widened at Elder Luo's words, but just nodded resolutely. Smiling, he let out a deep breath cupping the Rank 2 Shark Strength Gu in his hands.
"I will not let you down Master!".
Xuanyuan had in his possession two different types of body strengthening Gu. Light Bones Gu and Dark Muscles Gu to strengthen his foundations, and with his new Rank 2 Shark Strength Gu, Xuanyuan would eventually gain the strength of a single shark in his body.
While it was a limited increase overall, his jaw strength had increased tremendously! Xuanyuan could crush bones in his mouth with just physical strength, but suppressed a wince as bone shards stuck into his gums and tongue. He needed to be careful while eating not to crush his own tongue accidentally.
Additionally, his underwater capabilities dramatically underwent improvement, allowing Xuanyuan to swim faster and handle extreme depths much better than the average Gu Master. Xuanyuan wasn't a Strength Path Gu Master, so he didn't want to refine too many different beast strength type Gu, but the Shark Strength Gu was an extremely useful Gu for any Gu Master.
With this new Gu, Xuanyuan had an extraordinary amount of Gu for a Rank 2 Gu Master. If it wasn't for the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus which produced fifty primeval essence stones a day, Xuanyuan wouldn't be able to keep up feeding so many different Gu.
Rank 1 Nine Eyes Shadow Gu.
Rank 1 Push Gu.
Rank 1 Stepping Shadow Gu.
Rank 1 Liquor Worm.
Rank 2 Dual Shadow Stinger Gu.
Rank 2 Deep Shadow Pocket Gu.
Rank 2 Light Bones Gu.
Rank 2 Dark Muscles Gu.
Rank 2 Dense Shadow Blade Gu.
Rank 2 Bright Red Light Gu.
Rank 2 Thick Space Gu.
Rank 2 Solid Shadow Gu.
Rank 2 Blade Shadow Gu.
Rank 2 Rising Shadow Wall Gu.
Rank 2 Shark Strength Gu.
The Rank 2 Red Steel Relic Gu.
And the Rank 3 Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.
Xuanyuan had sold his Rank 1 Cloud Essence Gu, Rank 1 Silhouette Strings, and his Rank 1 Formless Shadow Gu. None of the Gu benefitting him in the short term. He had spent his spare time refining Green Shadow Gu selling them in order to obtain more primeval essence stones in the short term.
These primeval essence stones would be used to purchase food for his Gu, stored within his Deep Shadow Pocket Gu. He wanted to purchase enough to last for more than six month in Earth Soul City, then purchase more food to last another six months in Dream Garden City.
The others in the expedition were also purchasing large amounts of food for their Gu, but none of them had as many Gu as Xuanyuan did, who had more than a dozen different Gu as a Rank 2 Gu Master.
While the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus ate ambient primeval energy, and the Nine Eyes Shadow Gu ate at the shadows of mortal fruit which were easy enough, the others required things such as liquor, ores, unique leaves and flowers and even the Dual Shadow Stinger Gu required half a dozen scorpions to eat every seven days.
Xuanyuan was thankful that he hadn't properly contracted the Rank 5 Shadows As Thought Gu, lest his expenditure skyrocket, forcing him to purchase some rare and exotic Gu material as food.
There were plenty of Gu which Xuanyuan considered purchasing, but restrained himself, not being able to store too many more materials within his Deep Shadow Pocket. While Yu Xiaolong, Jia Yufei and Li Xiao Er were all forced to store their Gu's food in Lu Guo's Pocket Jellyfish, the remaining five members of the party all kept their food safe in their own storage type Gu.
Xuanyuan was sure that Tai Yin and Tai Yang shared a storage Gu, while Long Xi and Yu Zhong Er shared once as well. Yu Zhong Er had her Rank 2 Tree Wagon Gu, so he supposed Long Xi also had some sort of Dark Path or Shadow Path storage type Gu.
His party had an excess in offensive type Gu Masters, having only Lu Guo as a support type Gu Master, and Song Pei as a scout type Gu Master.
Li Xiao Er was a offensive type Gu Master who focused on speed, still fitting into the characteristics of an offensive type Gu Master.
Both Long Xi and Yu Zhong Er both possessed offensive capabilities, and while Xuanyuan hadn't seen their Gu personally, he knew from their discussions that Long Xi fought in close quarters, while Yu Zhong Er launched offensive ranged attacks.
Xuanyuan himself favored ranged methods, but with his three new body strengthening type Gu, he was much more dangerous in close quarters than he was in the tournament. Xuanyuan couldn't be sure if any of the others had a Rank 2 Gu which enhanced their physical capabilities, but none of the others could beat Li Xiao Er in a foot race or a contest of strength, and Xuanyuan knew that she had only used Rank 1 Rabbit Strength Gu to enhance herself.
Eventually, ten days passed, and everyone in Xuanyuan's group gathered at the North entrance of Earth Soul City before the crack of dawn. Even despite how early it was, shopkeepers, travelers, guards and Gu Masters exited and entered the city constantly, some even wearing clothing from the Western Desert, symbolizing their origins and how far they had travelled just to come here.
Glancing at his nine other group members, Xuanyuan's gaze lingered on each of them, noticing that his height had increased again after using the Rank 2 Shark Strength Gu. He was already the tallest amongst everyone his age, but even then he was almost pushing two hundred centimeters.
He wasn't quite an Upper Stage Rank 2 Gu Master quite yet, but before he estimated that before he reached Dream Garden City, his cultivation would match that of Tai Yin and the others.
While it wasn't quite evident on the faces of Song Pei and the Tai siblings, everyone else, including Long Xi and Yu Zhong Er all smiled, eager to make some primeval essence stones. Not everyone had the backing of an Elder, and even then, most were not willing to break the Sect rules like Elder Tai and Elder Song were.
Nodding at Song Pei to command his Armored Scale Crocodile to march, nine Rank 2 Gu Masters begun their mission to collect resources for the Sect, hoping to obtain a windfall of primeval essence stones upon their return.
... While one, just wanted to see what the Gu World had to offer, outside the boundaries of the Ancient Soul Sect.