Chapter 5: Beast King

A figure wearing a fox mask rode through the sea of Gu masters towards the entrance of the Five Virtues Sect. His mask was white with red stripes just below smiling eyes and above a long snout. Right on the forehead was the simple outline of a red crane. The rest of his attire was similarly clean with only three colors, white, red and pink. His silky long sleeve robe was dark red from the open collar and slowly became lighter until it reached the baggy trousers where it became light pink. This was none other than Fang Yuan.

But what was more important than his disguise was the beast he rode on. Underneath Fang Yuan was a massive fox, almost 3 meters in height. It's coat was an impressive blend of the hues of the setting sky, filled with orange, red, yellow and pink. It's large legs didn't touch the ground but slightly floated above it, never making contact. This wasn't an ordinary fox but an Autumn Wind fox, a beast emperor at the level of rank 5.

"A rank five Gu master." The sect elder standing guard at the entrance of Five Virtues Sect was apprehensive but also excited. "This is a chance to recruit an enslavement path Gu master. But it seems he's already a member of some other sect..."

The sect elder thought over it for a second before deciding to wait. Enslavement path Gu masters were very rare and usually only came from highly acclaimed sects. This rank 5 Gu master was likely to be from a sect in similar status to Five Virtues Sect.

Without anyone's interference, Fang Yuan rode straight into the signing area. The Refinement Path Convention was based in Central Continent but it had many locations where people could participate. Five Virtues Sect was only one of the many signing areas where the first round of the convention would take place. Unlike the later rounds the first round was designed purely to lower the number of participants that would enter the actual competition.

"The first round has four tasks that you must complete in order to pass. The test begins now."

The four tasks needed to pass were refinement of four rank 1 Gu. An easy feat for basically any competent Gu master. This was just the first round. There wasn't really anything difficult so there also wasn't any benefit to doing a good job but Fang Yuan decided to put in a bit of effort. There was a reason why he chose to dress up like this and why he was masquerading as a member of Immortal Crane Sect.

The Refinement Path Convention wasn't just an opportunity to refine an immortal Gu, it was an opportunity to make connections. Fang Yuan was technically a subsidiary force of Immortal Crane Sect, and he planned to use this connection to form contacts with all of Central Continent.

Fang Yuan had quasi grandmaster attainment in refinement path in his past life. But now he had quasi supreme grandmaster attainment. This single attainment path made him one of the most valuable people in the world. From what Fang Yuan knew, no other person alive was on his level when it came to refinement path. This was a major incentive that would attract people's attention.

Refinement path wasn't a simple path like strength path, it was one of the three core aspects of cultivation. Attainment in this path meant much more than attainment in any other path. Countless people with incredible talent had fallen victim due to their Gu refinement failing. In these types of situations which constantly happened, the worth of refinement path masters was invaluable.

Many sects and clans nurtured refinement path Gu masters in order to make Gu refinement easier. At the immortal level the importance of refinement path attainment was even more important. Immortal Gu are incredibly difficult to refine, without the help of a refinement Gu immortal it's almost impossible. All immortals try and build connections with refinement path immortals for this reason, but none of them are on Fang Yuan's level.

In all of Heavenly Court, an organization that had existed for over 3 million years as the the leader of humanity, only one person had great grandmaster attainment in refinement path. An entire level lower than Fang Yuan. No one could compete with him for the spot of number one. Even without a single refinement path immortal Gu, Fang Yuan's methods were stronger than most refinement path immortals.

The problem was that Fang Yuan didn't have a reputation suitable to make his refinement path attainment a genuine business. Most refinement path Gu immortals made a living by refining Gu and selling them to other Gu immortals. The most lucrative version of this was refining and selling immortal Gu. But this was difficult to do for a number of reasons disregarding the difficulty of actually refining an Immortal Gu.

The most apparent of these reasons is a lack of trust between Gu immortals. Gu immortals are inherently distrustful of other Gu immortals. And immortal Gu refinement is a very expensive task. If a Gu immortal didn't have trust that the refinement path Gu immortal they hired wouldn't swindle them, then the negotiation would fall apart. This process required trust to be built between the two parties. Not just in terms of character but also in terms of skill.

Most refinement path Gu immortals aren't grandmasters, just masters. This level of attainment barely meets the criteria to refine an immortal Gu, and that's given that the refinement path Gu immortal has plenty of materials to refine with. If the refinement path Gu immortal is lacking in skill, then even if they have a good reputation and a stand up character, they may not get customers.

Being successful as a refinement path Gu immortal requires both skill and a good reputation. Fang Yuan had skill, but he had never entered the spotlight as a refinement path master so no one knew about him. The issue with Hu Immortal blessed land also caused his reputation to be very bad among the Gu immortals of Central Continent. Most thought of him as a foreign enemy placed in Central Continent as a spy.

The Refinement Path Convention was Fang Yuan's chance to become known in the Gu immortal world. Not as a villain, but as a neutral Gu refinement master without a strick code of ethics or morals. Building an identity was the key right now. No one currently knew of his crimes, this was the best possible timing. All he had to do was show what he was truly capable of.

Fang Yuan lifted his right arm and a warm current of vapor rose from the ground, enveloping him in a tight cocoon. Then he raised his left arm and a cold breeze came and melded into the vapor, creating a sphere of conflicting temperatures.

"Dual Refinement."

The heat and cold from the opposing elements intensified as fire and ice clashed against each other in a tight ball with the Gu materials and Fang Yuan inside. In just under ten seconds the sphere dissipated and four Gu were left in Fang Yuan's hands.

"This..." The Five Virtues Sect elder couldn't believe his eyes. "Did that man just pass in less than a minute? This level of attainment, could he be a grandmaster? No, a great grandmaster?"

Not just the sect elder, everyone else also had ridiculous expressions. Most of the contestants immediately failed their Gu refinement out of pure shock. In the large field containing hundreds of Gu masters, only Fang Yuan succeeded.

"Who is that man? I've never even heard of such an incredible expert."

"An expert like that, he can only be from one of the ten sects."

"Wait, he has a crane symbol on his mask. Maybe he's from the Immortal Crane Sect?"

Fang Yuan rose from his spot and walked up to the stage where the sect elder was, dragging his Autumn Wind fox with him.

"I believe I'm supposed to receive a token?"

The sect elder looked at the stumbling Gu master managing the desk. "Go on, give it to him. Why are you just sitting there."

The Gu master nodded and grabbed a token from the stack. "Your name, sect, and path sir?"

"My name is Fang Yuan of the Immortal Crane Sect, but you may address me as the Beast King."