chapter 30 soul path gu master

After Hito refined two more beggar moth gu, I put in a request to have them filled by someone with rank 1 peak stage primeval sea essence. I also exchanged one beggar moth gu for two specific gu. I could probably sell this gu, but selling too many could lower the cost to little or nothing, and not many people had access to mirror willow leaves to feed them.

    Inside my courtyard, I was having a chess match with my miniman self when someone knocked on my door. I had my human self answer the door, only to see a group of people I wasn't expecting to see again enter my courtyard. There were four women in total, but of the four, I recognized two. One of them immediately kneeled down by my table and stared at my miniman self as she yelled,

Dali: "OH MY GOSH, IT'S A FUN-SIZED SHUIDI!!!"

Xal: "First a featherman version of yourself, and now a human and miniman version of yourself. It's either a unique gu or a brand new killer move."

That's right; two of the four women were Dali and Xal, the main attackers from the demonic gu master execution mission I went on. As for the other two, I didn't recognize them; however, one looked to be a plain human while the other was a beast woman with the head of an ocelot and the arms of some scaled beast.

Shu: "I wasn't expecting to see you two. Are Ryan and Max not joining this mission?"

Xal: "Of course not; they're both rank 2. This mission is rank 3 minimum, which is why I was surprised that you'd be in this mission. Last I recall, you were rank 2."

Shu: "That's right, but a lot has changed since then. I was once a rank 2 gu master with a C-grade talent. Now you stand before the current me as a rank 3 gu master with an A-grade talent. Now can we head out?"

   My words shocked them all, even Dali, who was staring at my miniman self, looked up at me.

Dali: "You're an A-grade talent now, Shuidi? That puts you at least at 5th—no, 4th—on the young dragon tier list. NO WAIT!!! If people find out you're able to make multiple selves of yourself, then you're at least 2nd or 3rd."

With her statement, the stunned silence turned into an awkward silence. You know she'd make an excellent conversation diffuser. She always comes out of left field with remarks that have no sense of shame. As we sat in the awkward silence, the human woman cleared her throat to draw attention to herself.

    ??? : "Well... congrats on the improvement, Shuidi. My name is Linghun. I'm the person who'll be shielding you from soul path attacks, and this lady next to me is Bai; she'll be our scout."

Shu: "Oh, so you're the soul path specialist. Can I ask how you'll be able to protect myself and all the others from soul path attacks? It doesn't seem like that should be something easy to do."

Linghun: "I can place a shield on everyone that will protect you from their attacks, and if the shield goes away, then everyone is instructed to return to me so that I can give you another shield."

   Well, I would love a more detailed explanation, but who goes around telling others their methods? It'd be like me telling everyone how I execute variant self. Well, if her method isn't good enough, I'll swap places with my miniman self.

Xal: "Okay... well, we were ordered to bring you to where the rest of the team is waiting."

Shu: "Alright, let's get going then."

I picked up my miniman self and put him in my pocket while I recalled my human self. The ladies then led the way to a large building that had a large field inside, which reminded me of a rec center. Inside were 50 people, of which I recognized two: Fuile and Ji. Once Fuile saw me, she got up from where she was resting and clapped her hands, getting the attention of everyone inside.

    Fuile: "Alright everyone, listen up! Here's the plan: Shuidi, Xal, Dali, Linghun, and Bai will be our infiltration team. They'll head over to the Slin clan, claiming to investigate demonic activities by their clan. After they're deep inside their territory, Shuidi will use his method to bring us all over. From there, we'll immediately eliminate all of the Slin clan."

From there, Fuile and the group discussed how they'll proceed with the mission. Most just wanted to know who they'll be working with, while some asked about spoils of war, and others inquired about Linghun's soul path defense method. As they were discussing that, Ji came over to me.

Ji: "Are you all set for the journey?"

Shu: "Yeah, though I thought you were going to come along with me."

   Ji: "I wanted to, but Fuile said I had to stay here. But don't worry, we've rented wind fin sharks for you guys to ride, so we won't have to wait too long for you to reach the Slin clan."

Wind fin sharks? They're one of the most expensive beasts to rent, and if they die under your care, you'll spend years paying them off. They're large sharks that can fly through the air, and they're as fast as top-tier speed-enhancing gu. However, since they're beasts, they don't waste primeval sea essence, and their stamina is better than most mount-type beasts.

Shu: "That's good to hear. Here, he has to stay here. Don't bother him too much."

I handed her my miniman self as she held him in her palms, looking at him deeply.

Ji: "What should I call him?"

   Shu: "Call him what you'd like; he has no name. I simply call him miniman self. Only my hairyman self has a name."

Ji: "Well, at least now I have something to do to pass the time. I'll try to think of a good name for him."

During our talk, someone came to drop off the wind fin sharks. There were three in total; they hovered off the ground as if they were repelled from the very earth. They looked like tiger sharks but had light grey stripes all over them, with the main top fin being all grey. On their backs were saddles—two on each one—meaning most of us would have to share a ride while one person would get one all on their own.

Fuile then told us it was time for us to head out. Just like the last mission, Xal was the leader for this mission, so we were to do as she said.

Dali: "Hey Shuidi, ride with me."

She patted the front seat of the wind fin shark she was riding. Thankfully, I didn't have to deny her, as Xal said that I would ride with Linghun. Since if anything goes wrong while traveling to the Slin clan, I can send us back here and get help.

Linghun smiled with her eyes closed as she offered me either the front or back seat. I chose the back seat; that way, she'd be responsible for the driving. Once we were all on the beasts, they went up into the air, and we flew off out of the clan.

We stayed near the ground as we flew since there were many dangerous threats that would attack us in the air once we were far from the clan. Even though we were flying pretty quickly, I felt no disturbance. I didn't even feel the air brush past us, all thanks to the wind fin shark. It's their ability to cut through the air that prevents us from being disturbed by it.

Linghun: "So Shuidi, I hear you're a strength path gu master. Can I ask why that path? Wouldn't it be easier to be a water path gu master in our clan?"

Shu: "It would have been easier, but nothing easy is respected. That and strength path has many advantages. It has a low primeval sea essence cost. The food for most of their gu is easier to get and store, among many other reasons."

Linghun: "Oh, and here I thought you wanted to be more manly. But I have to say, I've never seen a strength path gu master have variants of himself."

Shu: "It's called variant self, a killer move I accidentally created. Though I could also ask you why you're a soul path gu master. It's very rare and frowned upon by many."

I steered her away from discussing my killer move as I heard her sigh out loud after my last statement.

Linghun: "You have no idea; so many people say bad things about me and my family behind our backs. It's only when they need our help that they say good things, only for them to continue their ways once they get what they want."

   Shu: "No path is evil in my eyes; all that matters is who is using that path. Although soul path has many gu and methods that are considered demonic, there are still soul path gu and methods that are considered righteous. So how did you and your family get into soul path?"

Linghun: "Well, it all started with one of my ancestors who was trying to refine a water path gu using an altered recipe, and a new soul path gu was created. From that gu alone, my family slowly built up their foundation in soul path. People can judge all they want, but many come to us to increase their soul strength. We've created many wonderful connections with high-ranking people. Even a few famous enslavement path gu masters have ties with us. If you're interested, you're welcome to come to our compound, and I can help increase your soul strength. The first time is on the house."

   I wasn't expecting an invite, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in strengthening my soul. My body has long been enhanced, and now technically I could greatly increase my soul strength since the body is considered the container for the soul. The main reason I want to strengthen my soul is because of self-being gu. It's a human path gu but has strong ties with wisdom path. If I strengthen my soul, what effects would it have on the wills produced? It was stated that strengthening the soul helped and empowered wisdom path gu masters. If it can empower my wills, then of course I'd want to strengthen my soul.

Shu: "Then I'll take you up on that offer once this mission is over. Soul path is very useful, and if I were born into your family, I'd also gladly use your gu over the clans. Strength path gu was one of the best options for me due to my circumstances."

   Linghun: "You're interested in soul path? And you don't have hate for it? You're a nice kid. No wonder Ji likes you so much. When you get back, maybe we can discuss trading gu and killer moves. I'm sure with enough time, we could create our own version of your doppelganger killer move."

Shu: "No, even if I wanted to do that, I couldn't. That killer move's name is variant self, and a key gu to it is unique and very unlikely to ever be recreated by anyone ever again. But I'm sure a soul path master could recreate the killer move using their own gu."

   Heaven Refinement Demon Venerable was able to create his Immortal Myriad Self killer move by using Cleanse Soul Immortal gu, which was a soul path gu. They have ties to each other, so it's very much possible to recreate it using soul path methods. This is yet another reason why I should try to gain some understanding of soul path. I may be able to improve variant self in the future using soul path methods. I can only hope to one day recreate Spectral Soul Demon Venerable's Split Soul killer move. Then I'd be a true one-man army.

   Linghun: "What a shame, but it's not hard to guess that your variant self-killer move uses the strength phantoms of humans. I never knew that there was a gu that gave you the strength of humans."

Shu: "They're my own creation, so no one but my master and I know about them. Honestly, you're the first person to put those pieces together, but then again, very few people have seen my killer move."

   It wasn't surprising that she linked together that part of my killer move. Strength phantoms are well known; it's just that making them solid is unheard of but not impossible. If I were to use any gu around anyone who knows some information about the strength path, they'd be able to understand that I have the fragmented strength dao marks of humans since I can bring them out with every use of gu or weapons.

Linghun: "Human strength phantoms... That could work well with my family's gu. If you want, we can trade gu; my family's gu vault has a lot of useful rare gu."

   Shu: "No, the recipes and gu will stay with me, but I'm not against trading benefits. If your family can strengthen and purify my soul, I can lend you the gu that can permanently give you the strength of a human."

Linghun: "Wait, it's a permanent strength boost? I thought it was a gu that gave you a temporary boost. If that's the case, I can definitely agree to your demands."

I don't want people getting my gu, let alone their recipes, but if I can strengthen and purify my soul, then I'd be more than willing to trade services.

   Linghun: "Still, with a human strength phantom, when people find out you have them, most, if not all, strength path gu masters might come and try to get them."

Shu: "I know; it's bound to happen whether I like it or not. The phantoms pop out each time I use tools, including gu. It's the reason why I didn't spend time with others. Well, if it does happen, I'll just stay home or do something else."

   I know no one could ever forcefully take my gu or recipes. Lady Initel wouldn't let that happen, but if I gain something useful, I don't mind exchanging services. In this world, give and take is important, and so is trading. What one can get and how much they gain or lose is all up to the individual.