Chapter 14 Shadow Stinger Gu

Xuanyuan awoke several hours later, a dull pain throbbing in his head and the faint scent of dried blood on his face. The young man reached for his waterskin, ignoring the droplets of water running down his chin, relishing in the cool sensation down his throat.

The throbbing in his head didn't go away, even after rubbing his temples and nearly drowning himself in the water from his waterskin. 

Despite the pain however, Xuanyuan's memories were as clear as a warm Spring day.

He unconsciously smiled, remembering the outcome of his deductions last night.

"Rank 1 Shadow Stinger Gu... Theoretically, the recipe I deduced works. There shouldn't be anything wrong with the compatibility between Gu materials, nor should there be any unknown reactions while the refinement materials are being primed".

Xuanyuan's grasp over the Shadow Path had increased the moment he deduced the Shadow Stinger Gu recipe. His attainment was too low to consider himself a Master of the Shadow Path, but his understanding over the Path crossed a small threshold last night. 

Xuanyuan wouldn't be sure of how much his attainment had increased, and would only find out the next time he would try and deduce a Gu recipe. He theorized that his first successful refinement should also increase his attainment by a small threshold.

Glancing at the mirror in his room, Xuanyuan used some of the water from his waterskin to wash his face, quickly exiting the room with his bag of primeval essence stones in hand. There was no need to restrain himself when he was so close. He needed to practice refinement if he ever wanted to get better at it. Second guessing himself would only stall his progress.

Xuanyuan mentioned to one of the maids in Elder Luo's mansion that he would be heading to Earth Soul City for the day. He didn't tell them where he was going after that, but they didn't pry and just bowed as he exited the premises.

Xuanyuan had explored small pockets of Earth Soul City on his own. Primarily areas with prominent merchant stores that catered to Gu Masters, or one of the few gambling dens in the city, including both Gu Master arenas and Gu Gambling Dens.

Heading towards one of the stores that he had visited before, Xuanyuan entered, ignoring all of the Gu placed within glass containers, heading immediately towards one of the female shopkeepers currently standing idly off to the side.

The young shopkeeper, obviously hired for her appearance just smiled at Xuanyuan, gesturing to one of the glass cabinets containing a Rank 2 Flame Qi Gu. The price tag associated with this rare Qi Path Gu was 1,200 primeval essence stones. 

Flame Qi Gu could be used to produce Flame Qi which boosted the effectiveness of all Fire Path Gu. It was, in the eyes of all Gu Masters, an excellent support type Gu.

"Good afternoon young master, how can I be of assistance to you today?".

Xuanyuan glanced at the Flame Qi Gu before focusing his attention back on the young woman.

"Does this store possess either Crimson Lotus Flowers or Nervous Sand Geckoes? They are Dark Path and Poison Path Gu materials respectively".

Hearing the tone in Xuanyuan's voice, the young woman knew that this young man wouldn't be swayed by any of the Gu the store carried. Asking for specific Gu materials meant that this young man was attempting to refine a Gu himself, and was not looking to purchase any Gu directly.

The young shopkeeper bowed for a moment before walking over to an older gentleman, whispering in his ear before nodding, muttering something back to her.

The young woman swiftly returned to Xuanyuan, smiling while giving the younger man a nod.

"We carry both materials in the store. Crimson Night Flowers are priced at 3 primeval essence stones each, while Nervous Sand Gecko are only a single primeval essence stone each".

Xuanyuan nodded, before handing the woman eight primeval essence stones.

"Give me two of each please".

The young woman seemed slightly displeased at the amount, but her expression didn't change as she entered one of the backrooms of the merchant house, returning roughly ten minutes later with both materials.

Xuanyuan didn't waste anymore time there and headed towards another merchant house, purchasing more materials for the Shadow Stinger Gu. 

He wasn't sure if he was being cautious or paranoid, but refused to purchase all the materials in the same place. If a Gu Master talented enough in the Shadow Path, or skilled enough in deductions could extrapolate Xuanyuan's Gu recipe from just its materials, then his control over the recipe would be lost.

Even if it was only a Rank 1 Gu, Xuanyuan wanted to be completely sure before handing it over to the Sect. He needed the primeval essence stones in order to speed up his cultivation but also wanted to increase his attainment in the Shadow Path and Refinement Path as well.

'I can't exactly just ask Elder Kui or Master to watch me refine this Gu. If either asked where I obtained the recipe, it might make them suspicious of the Shadows As Thought Gu. If it works, then I can always reveal the recipe at a later date, saying it was the produce of countless hours of research and mortal deductions...'.

Heading to the refinement hall, Xuanyuan spent another primeval essence stone on a regular refinement room, bringing his total amount spent for the day all the way up to twenty-eight primeval essence stones. 

It physically hurt Xuanyuan to spend that much in a single day, but suppressed the pain in his heart as he purged his excess thoughts, meditating quietly in order to prepare for Gu refinement. 

'Little Shadow, send me a Shadow Thought in the event that something goes wrong during the Gu refinement, okay?'.

A harmless black wisp floated past Xuanyuan.

'I can do that!', the Rank 5 Gu replied.

Xuanyuan released a deep breath of air, igniting the flame beneath the cauldron, the first step in the Gu refinement repeating over and over in his mind.

"1st Step: Place a single Crimson Night Flower and Eight Layered Ginseng into the cauldron. Boil until the essence of Night and Life seep into the water. The swirling mists shall envelop each other, giving rise to a harmonious blessing".

Placing one of his two Crimson Night Flowers and Eight Layered Ginseng into the cauldron, Xuanyuan increased the temperature of the flames, watching as the two ingredients floated on the waters surface. The two ingredients constantly collided under the release of bubbles, releasing black and green essence into the pure water.

Xuanyuan slowly rotated the cauldron, letting the Crimson Night Flower and Eight Layered Ginseng collide against each other, while the green and black essence swirled in a counter-clockwise direction. 

Swirling essences of green and black enveloped each other, saturating the entire room in a pleasant earthy scent.

"2nd Step: Stir, continuously adding the blood of an Twilight Scorpion. The balance between Night and Life slowly creeping into the Shadow's favor. Shadows birthed from Night shall dance, wondrous scorpions shall ascend towards the Night Sky".

Xuanyuan stirred the cauldron, simultaneously pouring 100mls of Twilight Scorpion blood into the pure water. The blood was as red as any other living being, but the moment it came into contact with the essence of green and black, the entire mixture darkened, swirling mists taking on a much darker tone.

Xuanyuan could see the faint shadows swim beneath the waters surface. The steam that bubbled up towards the roof had become coloured black, the steam cast wisps of scorpion shadows along the wall and ceiling.

 The next step, was completely formed from Xuanyuan's deductions.

"3rd Step: Wondrous Scorpions admire the Night and Life, finding their home amongst Lunar Soup Frogs. Shadows, bathed in the swirling mists of green and black, find solace in the Moon. Twilight, lonely and pale, illuminating the Earth and Sky".

Xuanyuan had to admit that it was a little wordy, but kept the same motifs as the previous two steps. 

The otherworldly demon just gently dropped a single Lunar Soup Frog into the cauldron, watching as it immediately turned into a pale, silvery liquid. The Moon Path Gu material dissolved the moment it came into contact with the boiling mixture, releasing its essence into the swirling pool of Night, Life and Shadows.

The steam released by the cauldron gradually took on a much more dense and mystical appearance. It grew thicker, and pooled in one spot on the ceiling, almost resembling a moon, although shadowy and translucent.

Although the room was lit using mortal candles, the faintest traces of moonlight illuminated every corner of the refinement room. Xuanyuan ignored the beautiful transition of light, instead focusing on the fourth step of his refinement.

"4th Step: Twilight swims across Shadows and Night, reaching the end of Life, a hint of Poison obscured through mist and cloud. Nervous Sand Gecko nibble at the essence of green, swallowed by the Moon and returned to the embrace of Twilight".

Streaks of silver appeared within the swirling cauldron, the thickness of the steam released by the pure water was enough to almost obscure Xuanyuan's vision. Taking a deep breath, Xuanyuan gently lowered his Nervous Sand Gecko towards the Eight Layered Ginseng, watching as it nibbled on the Wood Path ingredient, before similarly dropping it into the cauldron.

The air suddenly grew bitter to the taste, and Xuanyuan felt his fingers go slightly numb after breathing the steam released by the cauldron. The pool of moon-like steam sitting on the ceiling grew even more pronounced, devouring the hint of poison Xuanyuan had introduced.

His eyes grew itchy, but Xuanyuan suppressed it, moving onto the final step.

"5th Step: Guiding Twilight and Shadows, infuse ten mortal scorpions into the cauldron. Their shadows will spark a frenzy, killing and devouring each other, each tainted by Night, Poison and Life. Only a single shadow will remain, absorbing the essence of nine shadows into one".

Xuanyuan adjusted the final step slightly, making it easier for him to comprehend, letting his final step account for the two recreated steps.

Lifting his cage of ten mortal scorpions, Xuanyuan placed the entire cage into the cauldron, not even once wincing as he saw the small arachnids clamber over each other, trying to force the others down, trying their best to stay above the water.

The boiling water was already causing them pain, but they were all spurned by on by Night, Life and Poison, their shadows forcing them to maim and kill their fellow arachnids. 

Shadows of scorpions danced along the wall, a bloody dance taking place within the refinement room. Within a matter of minutes, all of the scorpions were dead, all except one.

Xuanyuan could see the shadows of the other nine scorpions swirl within the cauldron. Each of them angry and fierce, swimming around the sole survivor of their bloody dance. 

"It's time", Xuanyuan muttered.

Reflected in his eyes, Xuanyuan could see the shadows swirl and swim beneath the single scorpion. Slowly, but surely, nine shadows returned to one, and the birth of a new Gu... had been completed.

"End result: Rank 1 Shadow Stinger Gu".

Xuanyuan lifted the cage out of the boiling cauldron, turning off the flames and letting the steam spread out over the entire ceiling. Opening the cage door, and reaching inside, Xuanyuan held the small scorpion looking Gu in both hands, cradling the Rank 1 Gu with the same care as if it were a newborn baby.

It was small, mostly black, with a hint of silver running up its stinger. Xuanyuan couldn't see that well due to the poor lighting in the refinement room, but the shadow beneath the Gu was much larger than what the size of the Gu suggested.

An enormous stinger, more than a foot long tried to strike at Xuanyuan, but immediately retreated, feeling the pressure of Rank 5 Shadows As Thought Gu around it.

Xuanyuan smiled, thanking Little Shadow for assisting him.

Focusing his attention back on this Rank 1 Shadow Stinger Gu, Xuanyuan just patted it gently, allowing the Gu to coil its stinger around his finger playfully.

"It's not much... but its a start", he muttered.