Chapter 9 Expectations

Xuanyuan immediately opened his eyes, gesturing for Little Shadow to stop the birth of new Shadow Thoughts. This was the biggest danger associated with Shadow As Thoughts Gu.

"My mind can only handle so many Shadow Thoughts. Getting rid of them through meditation is easy enough in small numbers, but any more, and I'll need a Gu to remove them...".

Xuanyuan had known that Wisdom Path Gu specialized in manipulation and divination. Wisdom Path Gu were able to predict the coming of future Venerables, hundreds of thousands of years in the future, so trying to deduct the recipe of a new Rank 1 Gu was nothing in comparison.

Trying to deduce Heaven Path or Human Path would probably result in attracting the attention of Heavens Will. Doing something like that was stupid. 

But Gu Masters all over Gu World tried to deduce new Gu recipes everyday. What Xuanyuan was trying to do was no different.

Reaching for the jug of water in the corner of the room, Xuanyuan felt the pain in his temples lessen, enjoying the sensation of cold water running down his throat.

"Gu related to the creation of Thoughts act in some ways to a supercomputer. Producing a single question will give rise to a number of Thoughts. Those Thoughts would derive a myriad of answers, searching continuously for the Truth'.

Xuanyuan could only use Gu, or Gu materials that he was familiar with in his deductions. He couldn't just produce a random material out of nowhere.

For every Path there existed countless Gu and Gu materials. Some had gone extinct, while new materials were being found all over the Gu World. Xuanyuan could name, off the top of his head, about a hundred Shadow Path Gu and close to double that in terms of Shadow Path Gu materials.

After that he needed to remember the materials from other Paths, ones that can act complimentary with Shadow Path Gu and Gu materials.

Leaning against the wall, Xuanyuan glanced at his shadow, smiling as it played with the shadow of water through the glass jug.

"Wisdom Path Gu Masters... I truly underestimated them".

The Second Aperture Gu, which Xuanyuan knew a part of the recipe for, had more than ten thousand words, close to a thousand steps, and several hundred different Gu materials in order to be completely refined.

This... unknown Rank 1 Gu, required four, and it wasn't even guaranteed to work.

Xuanyuan reached for his small pouch of primeval essence stones, wincing as he felt the light weight of the pouch.

'I wanted to try and learn from one of the refinement classes, but it might have to wait until I'm at the Middle Rank 1 Gu Master stage...'.

The otherworldly demon let out a sigh, before stretching for a couple minutes and returning to his cross-legged stance. He spent almost the better part of an hour removing the excess thoughts from his mind, letting out a deep breath before grabbing one of his remaining primeval essence stones, pulling from the energy inside and letting it enter his aperture. 

Xuanyuan spent the majority of his day cultivating, slowly, but surely pushing his cultivation towards the Middle Rank 1 Gu Master stage.

Feeling only about 10% of his primeval essence left, Xuanyuan opened his eyes, seeing that all the natural candles in the room had completely melted, leaving only a single Candle Gu by the door.

Smiling, his mind was drawn to his primeval essence sea, towards the walls of his primeval sea, specifically, the colour and intensity of the light of his aperture walls. They glowed a thin, almost pale light, though the light itself was neither flickering, nor showing any signs of vanishing.

Xuanyuan knew what this meant.

'This time next week, I'll be a Middle Stage Rank 1 Gu Master. Even after I subtract the primeval essence stones needed to classes and for feeding my Gu, I'll still be able to reach it'.

It was quite fast, especially without the assistance of a cultivation type Gu. Xuanyuan's talent, would probably allow him to reach Rank 2 without too much trouble, even in the same conditions Fang Yuan started off in.

If he could get his hands on a Liquor Worm Gu, or a Relic Gu, he would soar past the other members of his generation. 

Xuanyuan was almost tempted to use Shadows As Thoughts Gu to deduce the existence of a Shadow Path cultivation type Gu but refrained against it. The Gu in question would more likely belong to the Heaven Path or the Human Path, in addition to the Shadow Path.

There was a reason why there didn't just exist a variant of a single Gu for every Path. There did, but for specific things there was a fundamental gap which either couldn't be filled, or couldn't occur naturally within nature.

For example, there existed Fire Thoughts Gu, which produced Fire Thoughts. This was a naturally occurring Gu. On the other hand, there was no way for one of the three unique flames in the Gu World to be naturally refined into Raging Wave Rising Dragon Fire Thought Gu.

It wasn't to say that the refinement was impossible, it was just that the refinement was impossible to occur naturally within nature.

At any rate, Xuanyuan was better off just focusing on his cultivation, and using his spare time to deduce new Gu, or research more Gu materials. This would increase his foundation, and allow him to deduce more in the future.

However, thoughts of further cultivation vanished, when Xuanyuan heard a faint knock on the door.

A familiar sounding voice echoed through the walls.

"Little Yuan, dinner is ready. We have guests, so make sure you are presentable".

"Yes Master!", Xuanyuan quickly responded.

Xuanyuan exited his study, moving down the corridor swiftly yet silently. Some of the maids had already prepared some clothes for him, more than likely at Elder Luo's request. 

After a few minutes the fifteen year old reincarnate exited his room, his back straightened, and a small smile marring his expression. It wasn't the first time that Elder Luo had brought him to meet other Elders within the Ancient Soul Sect, but all the previous times were more informal, casual greetings.

He had been introduced to one of the other Elders of the Ancient Soul Sect, Elder Tai, who had just married his third wife. She was a Rank 2 Gu Master and roughly twenty years old. She had a beautiful appearance and a C Grade Talent, but was about the same age as Elder Chen's oldest grandchild.

He was a jubilant person, uncaring of how others perceived him, and for that reason and that reason alone, Xuanyuan liked him over some of the other Elders.

Stepping into the main dining room, Xuanyuan noticed close to a dozen elderly men and women gathered around a long, large table. Food and wine were placed all along the rectangular table, with close to two dozen seats placed on both sides of the room.

Xuanyuan's eyes were drawn to the massive skull placed behind the head of the table. It was relatively clean, albeit with a few splotches of blood here and there, but the sheer size of the skull was enough for a fully grown man to stand inside of its jaw.

'Is that... a crocodile skull? What rank of beast would it have had to be for it to grow that large?'.

Xuanyuan's train of thought came to a halt as he noticed Elder Luo standing beside some other older men and women. The older slightly grey haired man smiled seeing Xuanyuan, before gesturing him to come closer and introduce himself.

"Little Yuan! How fares your cultivation? Oh, how could I forget, this is Elder Hu from the Dark Soul Hall, and Elder Kong from the Sky Soul Hall. Elder Hu is in charge of the entrances into the Earth Abyss, while Elder Hu is in charge of communing with our Sects Rank 6 Gu Immortals. Come, introduce yourself".

Xuanyuan, taller than Elder Luo for his age, was similarly taller than both Elder Hu and Elder Kong. Elder Hu was an older woman with black hair, and age lines around her brow and eyes. While Elder Kong was significantly older than the both of them, completely bald, with the sole exception of his thick white eyebrows.

Xuanyuan bowed, almost at a ninety degree angle, clasping his hands in front of the two Elders.

"This one greets the two Elders", Xuanyuan spoke, a hint of reverence in his voice.

The latter glanced at Xuanyuan, smiling, his eyebrows raising a fraction of an inch at the young man.

"Barely a month and almost a Middle Stage Rank 1 Gu Master, even without something like Liquor Worm Gu or Cloud Essence Gu your cultivation is still ahead of your peers".

Xuanyuan nodded deeply.

"Thank you for the compliments Elder Kong. I will strive to continue exceeding your expectations". 

Elder Kong just nodded, before Elder Hu gave Xuanyuan a once over.

"Elder Luo walks the Space Path. Have you also decided to walk the same Path Xuanyuan?".

The fifteen year old glanced at Elder Luo for a moment, before shaking his head, meeting Elder Hu's gaze. Elder Kong and Elder Luo shared a glance for a fraction of a moment, while Elder Hu continued to stare at Xuanyuan.

"I feel a greater attraction towards the Shadow Path, Elder Hu. I do not know the details, however I do understand that the Space Path is... an attractive prospect for Rank 6. However, the Shadow Path comes to me in a way that... almost feels like magic".

Xuanyuan's words were designed to be misleading, not that they weren't the truth anyway. It was impossible for any of the three Elders to be unaware of Xuanyuan's progress in Long Xi's classroom, and even the discussions with Elder Luo about the Shadow Path were much more profound than a mortal raised Rank 1 Gu Master.

Both Elder Hu and Elder Kong raised an eyebrow, sending Elder Luo another strange look. The latter just smiled, stroking his beard while patting Xuanyuan on the shoulder.

"Little Yuan here is fated for the Shadow Path. Let us not force things that should not be forced hmm?".

Elder Hu and Elder Kong just nodded, before the Sky Soul Hall Elder turned back to face Xuanyuan.

"Xuanyuan, how about, I set a little goal for you? If that is alright with you Elder Luo".

The Earth Soul Hall Elder just nodded, knowing where Elder Kong was going with this. The white eyebrowed old man just smiled, his appearance and demeanour disarming and friendly.

"If I am not mistaken, you should reach the Middle Rank 1 Gu Master stage within the next seven days or so. Even in comparison to all the other new outer sect disciples we recruited this year, with the exception of those from families of means, and descendents of other Elders, your cultivation is undoubtably the quickest. However... Talents such as yours need to be pushed, tempered, refined".

"Polishing isn't enough. We want diamonds, and diamonds require pressure in order to be formed. At the end of the year, there is a tournament for all the new Gu Masters recruited over the past twelve months. This is the first major examination of our new disciples and the winner of the tournament will automatically be made an inner sect disciple. It is also a place where talents can show themselves off, and potentially be made personal disciples of Elders".

"There will be children who raise their cultivation through Relic Gu and the like, but regardless of that, I would like to see how you perform during the tournament. If you take first place, then I'll see if I can arrange a meeting with Immortal Song, the Ancient Soul Sect's Shadow Path Gu Immortal. Does that sound fair to you?".

Xuanyuan couldn't help but feel his mouth drop for a moment, his breath hitching before a smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

The reincarnated man just bowed deeply, even more so than what he had done earlier.

"I cannot see the future Elder Kong, but I did make a promise to exceed your expectations. I will not disappoint".