Open market

Gu Guangzhi made his way into the open market setup by the Jia clan. Not all winners of the gu fighting competition would get suitable gu insects from the losers. So gu masters would often wish to trade or sell their newly acquired gu insects. In order to encourage this, Jia clan had setup an open market. Several merchants living in Jia city had already set up stalls to carry out their trades. And in the center of the open market was a large auction hall for the convenience of the participating gu masters.

Gu Guangzhi went to the auction hall and listed the moon bats he had in his possession for a high price adding a description that they were Batman's strengthened moon bats. He then received a time slot for his auction. There were many other gu masters who came to auction their items so he had to wait for a while. Gu Guangzhi had nothing to do till his allotted time slot so he went to see the list of items being auctioned. A few gu insects caught his eye.

Gu Guangzhi had built a nice system of gu insects belonging to earth and transformation paths but there was always room for improvement. He participated in the auction for Rank 3 Fist stone Gu and was able to successfully obtain it for eight thousand primeval stones. It was a bit pricey but Gu Guangzhi decided to splurge some money to obtain the gu insects he wanted. It was an earth path gu insect that could create fist shaped stone with every punch and can be used to attack long distance targets. Gu Guangzhi also tried to bid for Tar spit Gu. It was a good earth path gu insect that allowed a gu master to spit tar from the mouth in huge quantities. It could become deadly if used in combination with fire path gu insects. However, if it was not used carefully, the gu master could burn himself. Gu Guangzhi was confident that he could master this gu insect with proper training but another gu master bought it for twenty thousand primeval stones. Gu Guangzhi thought that he was better off finding other ways to improve himself.

After a while, Gu Guangzhi's strengthened moon bats were put up for an auction. Perhaps due to the notoriety of Batman, several gu masters were intrigued by the auction. Batman and Ironman were able to defeat several righteous path forces that chased after them so their battle prowess was well known in the region. For this reason, they were also well aware of the might of Batman's moon bats. Several gu masters placed bids one after another but it was finally won by a gu master belonging to the Tie clan.

Gu Guangzhi was ecstatic when he received the primeval stones from the Tie clan gu master. He received close to a hundred and twenty thousand primeval stones after deducting the auction hall charges. The Tie clan gu master immediately used enslavement gu to bring all the moon bats under his control. Though he spent a lot, he was satisfied with the strength of the moon bats he received. After enslaving the moon bats, he thanked Gu Guangzhi for being an enforcer of justice and killing Batman and Ironman. Gu Guangzhi awkwardly smiled and asked if there was any reward for doing so. The Tie clan gu master smiled and said that since Ironman's body was still in the arena. Jia clan would probably claim the reward.

Gu Guangzhi was a bit mad about Jia clan profiting off his hard work but even he knew that the reward money was nothing compared to the money he just earned. Setting the matter aside, he decided to spend quite a sum on the last gu insect he set his eyes on. Rank 3 Rock burst Gu! Contrary to its menacing name, it wasn't an offensive gu insect. It was a movement type gu insect belonging to earth path. It can be used to draw an explosive strength from the earth to aid in movement. It was so powerful that it left small sized craters in its wake.

The only limitation was that the gu master had to make contact with earth to draw the explosive strength for bursts in speed. In the first round of the gu fighting competition, an earth path gu master called Zhen Hong was very confident in his victory due to having this gu insect but a water path gu master, cleverly used water path gu insects to stop him from making contact with the ground. Thus, the earth path gu master was defeated. The water path gu master proceeded to demand this gu after the round to resell it.

As Gu Guangzhi was making a bid to obtain this gu insect, another gu master was also making bids to compete with him. After a short observation, Gu Guangzhi identified the competing gu master to be none other than Zhen Hong, the original owner of this gu insect! Gu Guangzhi didn't back down and finally bought Rock burst Gu for thirty thousand primeval stones. If it was an ordinary Rank 3 gu insect, it would've been an extravagant price to pay but for Rock burst Gu, it was merely an above average amount.

After Gu Guangzhi received the gu insect, he was approached by Zhen Hong. He looked very angry but he wasn't stupid enough to start a fight in the market. He said to Gu Guangzhi, "You better keep this gu insect well! I will challenge you in the next round and crush you. At that time, I will win back my Rock burst Gu. Oh, and you better bring this gu with you to the next round! Otherwise I'll rip apart your vital gu instead!" Saying so, he turned around and left. Gu Guangzhi chuckled to himself thinking that Mao Ning got herself a competitor for next round's spot.

After making a few more purchases related to refinement, he went back to his room. Initially, when he was looking for an accommodation in Jia city, he chose a place that was relatively isolated where he could refine what he wanted in peace. He had four more days before the next round so he started experimenting with his Fist stone Gu. When Yu Wen Zi saw what Gu Guangzhi was trying to accomplish, he was confused. He asked, "Isn't this a recipe for Flying stone Gu? Why are you refining your Fist stone Gu into a Flying stone Gu? You will lose most of the attacking power of Fist stone Gu and Flying stone Gu's mobility is very limited as well. Are you currently lacking in movement type gu worms?"

"Hehe! Initially I too had the plans of using Fist stone Gu as my long range offensive gu but after buying this Rock burst Gu, I changed my plans.", replied Gu Guangzhi.

Yu Wen Zi had a sudden realization. Flying stone Gu was used to create stones in mid-air that were capable of flying. If the gu master created small sized stones, they could use it for attacking their opponents. However, they were much weaker compared to Fist stone Gu. On the other hand, if the stones were big enough, gu masters could climb on the stones to fly around. Depending on the size of the stones, it would become more difficult to move them so they weren't ideal for flight. However, Gu Guangzhi wasn't creating them for flying around on them. He wanted to create flying stones in mid air, to draw explosive strength from them, thus overcoming the drawback of Rock burst Gu.

"But won't the burst speed be lower? After all, a single flying stone can't match the explosive strength drawn from the earth.", asked Yu Wen Zi again.

"If I sacrifice all the mobility while creating a flying stone, I think I can create a big enough stone boulder in the air to draw enough explosive strength. I guess that is my current limit. Even on earth, if I draw anymore explosive strength than I can handle, I may crash into something and hurt myself. So being able to control the size of the flying stones and the speed of my bursts will help me quickly get used to this gu insect."

Yu Wen Zi smiled and left Gu Guangzhi. He got back into refining. At the end of the fourth day of the preliminaries, he shouted in joy, "Yes! I did it! I now have Rank 3 Flying stone Gu!"