Chapter 11 Middle Stage

"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".

"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".

"3rd Step:...".

"4th Step:...".

"5th Step: Guiding Twilight and Shadows, infuse ten mortal scorpions into the cauldron. Their shadows will spark a frenzy, maiming and killing each other, until a single scorpion absorbs the essence of nine shadows".

"End Result: Rank 1 Shadow Stinger Gu".

Xuanyuan gazed down at the incomplete Rank 1 Gu recipe. He unconsciously nodded as he gazed at the recipe, an enormous pile of books and texts scattered around him.

Shadow Path Gu materials... Wood Path Gu materials... Poison Path Gu materials... Water Path Gu materials... Blood Path Gu materials... Dozens of books listing countless different materials from different Continents and regions were placed around Xuanyuan.

There existed places in the Gu World where certain Dao Marks could intersect, producing unique materials and Gu. There existed a place in the Western Desert where Gu and Gu materials belonging to the five elements could be found freely, a resource point for an Immortal Clan. A resource point in the Eastern Sea where Ice Path, Water Path, Sword Path and Blade Path materials could be found in abundance.

These resource points were created from a unique combination of Dao Marks. For whatever reason, they intersected in a way that didn't reduce the other, and instead complimented the other perfectly.

This made the list of materials extraordinarily high. Gu materials were one thing, but most beasts changed whenever their increased their Rank. The Dao Marks within their flesh, blood, and bones gradually grew more pronounced, sometimes tipping their effectiveness over a certain threshold.

"I'll ignore the other recipes for now. Shadow Stinger Gu is an offensive Gu whose materials I know are commonly available in Earth Soul City. The book was found in the Western Desert, meaning that it likely uses materials from the Western Desert in order to be produced. It uses Gu materials outside of Shadow Path, and references "Night", "Life", "Twilight" and "Shadows". These materials more than likely reference Dark Path, Wood Path, Moon Path and Shadow Path...".

There was always the possibility of there being another Gu material from an unknown Path, but both Xuanyuan and Shadow As Thoughts Gu agreed that the chances of it doing so was unlikely.

"There are only so many materials that a Rank 1 Gu recipe could use. It isn't a Heaven Path or a Human Path Gu either. If Shadow Stinger Gu does need a Gu material from an addition Path then I can understand why this Gu recipe was never recovered...".

Xuanyuan wrote notes in his own book about Gu refinement and Gu refinement techniques. There existed the methods that Xuanyuan was familiar such as Human Isolation Style, which relied on isolating the refinement from the external world, and Hairy Man Heaven and Earth Style which relied on manipulating the ambient Dao Marks to help assist in the refinement.

Most of what Xuanyuan read about fell solely under the Human Isolation Style of Gu refinement. Controlling as many possibilities and external factors as possible to increase the refinement success rate.

Xuanyuan knew that there were techniques other than these two main schools, but for humanity, Human Isolation Style provided the greatest success, considering they possessed no innate Dao Marks.

'But I possess Dao Marks', Xuanyuan thought.

But he didn't think that his Otherworldly Dao Marks would respond well under the influence of Heavens Will and Fate Gu. Xuanyuan didn't even have a method to leverage his own unique Dao Marks, and even if he did, he wasn't sure what the outcome could possibly lead to.

Shaking his head, Xuanyuan removed those senseless thoughts before smoothing out his breathing, focusing his mentality solely on the Gu recipe in front of him. He had spent the last few days devouring any and all information he could find on Gu materials from the Western Desert, specifically those relating to Dark, Wood, Moon and Shadow Path Gu materials.

He took into account the complexities that came with these materials.

The ratio from material to material. The concentration of said materials. The amount of force required to stir or crush a material. The different relationships between Paths. The timing in between each step. 

Even the humidity of the air and the intensity of the natural Dao Marks came into play.

Xuanyuan had the benefit of knowing concepts and notions that ordinary Gu Masters didn't even need to consider. It allowed him to control more factors relating to his deductions, increasing the likelihood of his deductions being correct.

"Are you ready Little Shadow?", he asked.

A single black wisp rose up from his shadow, sending a thought of affirmation flashing through Xuanyuan's mind.

"Then let us begin", he muttered.

'Little Shadow, produce Shadow Thoughts relating to Shadow Stinger Gu'.

In comparison to Shadow Eyes Gu, only about half the Shadow Thoughts formed from this question.

'Shadow Stinger Gu is a Rank 1 Shadow Path Gu. It is not a naturally occurring Gu. Materials for the refinement of Shadow Stinger Gu can be found in the Western Desert. It relies on Crimson Night Flower, a Dark Path material, Eight Layered Ginseng, a Wood Path material, Twilight Scorpion blood, a Shadow Path Gu material, mortal scorpions and an unknown Moon Path material. Shadow Stinger Gu manifests on the tailbone of a Gu Master. It forms a three metre long stinger formed from shadows, capable of wounding an individual through the reflection known as their shadow'.

Xuanyuan felt a small headache forming, but wasn't nearly enough of a pain to distract him from his goal.

'Assuming that the Moon Path material is Rank 1 and is from the Western Desert, give me possibilities'.

An enormous torrent of black wisps were released from Xuanyuan's shadow. The blood vessels in his eyes instantly contracting, causing bursts of red to appear in Xuanyuan's eyes. 

'Lunar Soup Frog... Moonlight Flower... Radiant Silver Rabbit... Illusory Lake Monkey... Selena Flower Petals... Silver Moon Fruit... Radiant Veil Root... Sunless Seeds... Argent Beauty Rock... Twisted Moon Gold...'.

Dozens upon dozens of different Gu materials appeared within Xuanyuan's mind. He experienced every Shadow Thought all at once, gritting his teeth heavily as a wave of pain coursed through his head.

'Take things one at a time Little Shadow... Start from the beginning, and assume the validity of each material when testing for compatibility. In addition, eliminate all materials that possess no compatibility with either the Wood Path and the Dark Path'.

The steps that Xuanyuan were given included Eight Layered Ginseng as a refinement material, a classic Wood Path Gu material. 

In the final steps, it mentioned guiding Shadows and Twilight, not guiding Night and Life like it did in the first step. It meant that the Crimson Night Flowers and Eight Layered Ginseng only primed certain materials for refinement. They were not involved in the formation of the Gu in the final steps.

This is what Xuanyuan meant by naturally occurring materials. In areas with a unique compatibility between Dao Marks, materials could be uniquely born here suitable for the formation of Gu. Outside of these resource points however, Gu, and Gu materials had to be refined before the formation of an actual Gu.

Xuanyuan felt his brain churn as though he had suddenly been hit with a rod of iron. His primeval essence sea similarly surged, waves forming under the huge amount of stress Xuanyuan was forcing upon it.

'Selena Flower Petals are compatible with both Crimson Night Flowers and Eight Layered Ginseng. Selena Flower Petals can only grow under complete darkness, and absorb the essence of surrounding plants in order to further fuel its growth. It can produce faint amounts of moonlight, attracting ambient creatures towards it, with illusory promises and sweet scents...'.

'Radiant Veil Root are compatible with both Crimson Night Flowers and Eight Layered Ginseng. Radiant Veil Root grows underground in complete darkness, latching onto nearby plants, connecting species of flora that shouldn't have any compatibility. The sap within the Radiant Veil Root are particularly enticing towards arachnids...'.

Deduction after deduction occurred within Xuanyuan's mind. Material after material was listed, possibility after possibility was taken into account, failure after failure resounded out in every corner of Xuanyuan's mind.

Eventually, he hit his own breaking point.

A single line of crimson dripped down from his eye socket, and immediately Shadows As Thought Gu stopped producing Shadow Thoughts.

Xuanyuan gritted his teeth, slamming his hand into the ground. The pain in his hand somewhat dulling the pain in his head.

"Fuck! I have to be missing something! Crimson Night Flowers and Eight Layered Ginseng are not the only materials used in priming the refinement! There is no stability in the refinement process! Life nurtures all, while Night can only nurture Shadows! Something must nurture Moon and balance out the refinement process!".

Xuanyuan hadn't finished going through all the possibilities that Shadows As Thought Gu produced, but was aware that the Shadow Thought existed.

Xuanyuan was missing something. An unknown refinement material, belonging to an unknown Path. 

Laying down in his current position, Xuanyuan let out a loud sigh, reaching for the leather pouch of water a few feet away from him. He had accidentally knocked over his jug of water yesterday, and almost damaged a few of his books, forcing him to adopt the waterskin. 

The otherworldly demon just drank his water in silence, letting out another sigh before sitting back upright.

"Guess there is only one thing left to do then", he muttered.

Focusing on his primeval essence sea, Xuanyuan took in a deep breath before exhaling aggressively, a method which assisted in the removal of his excess Thoughts. The process similarly took just under an hour, before Xuanyuan, as serene as he appeared before his deductions, let out a small, steady breath before muttering a single word.

"Rise".

The primeval essence within his aperture immediately surged, rampaging with the force of a thousand squalls. The surging primeval essence within his aperture tossed and turned, completely unlike the steady refinement that Xuanyuan had undergone previously.

The aperture walls of a primeval essence sea were designed to be nourished, broken down, then replaced with a higher quality of aperture walls. Xuanyuan's aperture walls had been nourished with his own primeval essence every night since he learnt how to refine them.

He could nourish them for longer, and much quicker than others without cultivation type Gu. His Master, Elder Luo, told him to keep refining his aperture walls, even after the light within them stopped flickering and remained pale but constant. 

It didn't necessarily improve his chances of breaking through, but reduced the chances of cracks forming in his future aperture walls, potentially leading to injury or backlash.

Only at point when Xuanyuan could no longer nurture his aperture walls, when they refused to accept more primeval essence, would he smash his primeval essence against his aperture walls, destroying the condensed primeval essence and allowing for them to be reborn stronger, more efficient in regenerating primeval essence, and with a much more dense qualitative increase.

Waves upon waves surged within Xuanyuan's aperture. He knew better than anyone else how tough his primeval sea was, and knew that they could withstand such an onslaught. He knew that the pain would be immense, but so long as he continued, eventually, cracks would start to form.

He unconsciously smiled as a hairline fracture appeared on his aperture walls. The jade green primeval essence smashed against it, again and again, creating more hairline fractures until.

'Fuck that hurt!'.

A massive divide appeared within his primeval essence sea. Xuanyuan flinched slightly as the crack suddenly formed, but continued swaying his jade green primeval essence causing crack upon crack upon crack to appear until he finally broke through his aperture wall.

Immediately, Xuanyuan felt a wave of pleasure wash over him. For a fraction of a moment, all of his senses were skewed inward, granting him perception over every tiny detail that was changing within him.

The broken shards of his aperture wall transformed from their pale gaseous state into water, smooth, flowing and much thicker and powerful. The colour of his primeval essence changed too, shifting from jade green to a slightly more visible pale green.

The Shadow Eyes Gu in his primeval essence sea swam about happily, floating amongst the higher quality primeval essence. 

Xuanyuan smiled, relishing in this feeling of cultivation, and progress.

'After just over a month in the Ancient Soul Sect... I reached the Middle Rank 1 Gu Master stage...'.