Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
This was one of the greatest pursuits of refinement path — combining all kinds of killer moves into one Gu worm!
For instance, mortal killer move self strength.
This move was a strength path killer move which Northern Plains Gu Immortal Su Xian Er had created for her daughter Hei Lou Lan. Its core was strength path, but it treaded on soul path and qi path, once it was activated, it could produce a human phantom, the phantom’s appearance was lifelike and was a portrayal of the Gu Master’s inner consciousness.
Moreover, this strength path phantom could act on its own and chase its enemies.
There were altogether fifty Gu worms used in forming this killer move.
According to Fang Yuan’s current comprehension of the refinement path maxim: any killer move, be it of mortal or immortal level, could be considered as an incomplete recipe.
That was to say, self strength killer move’s contents could be altered by taking out and adding in various kinds of Gu materials, continuously improving it until it becomes a Gu recipe for self strength Gu.
When the Gu recipe is perfected and self strength Gu is refined, activating just this Gu worm could produce a strength path phantom!
The benefits of this were clear as day.
A killer move condensed into a Gu worm reduced the amount of Gu worms used to only one. When the Gu Master activates it, not only would it be extremely convenient and fast, the primeval essence expended would also be much less than activating the killer move.
Another example was immortal killer move myriad self.
This move was Fang Yuan’s unique creation, it combined enslavement and strength path, made from the merging of killer moves like dragon horse spirit, three heads six arms, rat epidemic, thunder explosion. leopard rush, horse barrage, three hearts combination soul, beast phantoms, six arm heavenly zombie king, and so on.
The core Immortal Gu were Self Strength, Pulling Mountain, Pulling Water, and Cleanse Soul. The supplementary Gu worms were all-out effort Gu, bitter strength Gu, borrow strength Gu, self-reliance Gu, refine essence spirit Gu, earth strength Gu, water strength Gu, wind strength Gu, lightning strength Gu, fire strength Gu, heavenly essence treasure king lotus Gu, lurking soul coat Gu, breath concealment Gu, group strength Gu, as well as all kinds of soul path mortal Gu.
This killer move clearly had lots of contents, it was extremely troublesome to activate.
It was because Fang Yuan had practised it frequently to the point where it had become a kind of instinct that he was able to use it freely in battle.
But in fact, it contained countless extremely complex steps.
What if this killer move was elevated and refined into a Gu?
Myriad self Immortal Gu!
It would clearly be extremely convenient and usable!
Fang Yuan would only need to transfer immortal essence and activate this Gu worm to produce tens of thousands of strength path phantoms, quickly and conveniently.
Fang Yuan did not have qualifications to do this before, but now with his quasi-supreme refinement path attainment, he had the ability to reach this level!
All kinds of killer moves refined into Gu worms!
Fang Yuan’s heart thumped with excitement, but he did not lose his calm as he continued to ponder.
“I now have the ability to elevate killer moves into Gu worms.”
“However, even though there are killer moves that can be refined into a Gu worm like myriad self, some killer moves cannot, like purple blood river formation or ignited thought flying rock. If these killer moves are condensed to their limit, they will comprise multiple Immortal Gu. Later on, I will need to coordinate and activate these multiple Immortal Gu to use the killer move.”
“This method has benefits and demerits as well.”
“The benefits are that it will be much more convenient and quick, the exhaustion of mind is also sharply reduced. But there are disadvantages, first, when myriad self killer move is condensed into a myriad self Immortal Gu, other Immortal Gu might be required to be used as Gu materials to refine it. Moreover, the power of just myriad self Immortal Gu might not be as strong as myriad self killer move.”
Myriad self killer move used so many Immortal Gu and supplementary mortal Gu, while myriad self Gu would only be one Gu, if its rank was just rank six or rank seven, it would have limited dao marks, thus not enough power.
“Another thing is that when only a Gu worm is used, it will be easy to counter. Killer moves are complicated but they are also much more difficult for others to deduce and decipher.”
Killer moves could also be continuously adjusted and elevated. For instance, myriad self killer move had the variation moves strength path giant hand and reverse flow protection seal.
But myriad self Gu itself would not have the potential to be elevated further.
“Of course, the overall benefits in elevating killer moves to a Gu worm is still much higher. Simply because the Gu could be used as the core of the original killer move anyway, raising its power and also preventing it from being deduced easily.”
“Even if some Immortal Gu have to be used as Gu materials during the refinement process, I can refine them again!”
This ability would be extremely helpful to Fang Yuan.
Look at myriad self first, Fang Yuan’s reverse flow protection seal was a variation move of this killer move. Since the start, it was extremely troublesome for Fang Yuan to activate reverse flow protection seal, he needed time to prepare for it because of the complicated procedures, and if there was even a slight mistake, the killer move would fail and inflict backlash to himself.
But if he had myriad self Immortal Gu, Fang Yuan could modify reverse flow protection seal, greatly simplifying its steps and activating it much faster.
With this, his battle strength would rise by another level!
Fang Yuan possessed a lot of killer moves, but the ones he used frequently were few.
Myriad self could be condensed and elevated, purple thought perception starlight could be condensed into multiple Immortal Gu, ancient sword dragon transformation could also be condensed into one Gu worm. By then, with myriad self Immortal Gu and ancient sword dragon Immortal Gu, he could use just two Immortal Gu to unleash the killer move myriad dragon!
Divination tortoise transformation, self cleansing killer move, hundred and eighty slaves, enslavement after victorious fight, and so on could also be condensed and elevated.
As Fang Yuan continued to ponder deep into this subject, he suddenly had another insight.
“Wait, be it killer moves or refining Gu, they are both basically the utilization of Dao.”
“Isn’t my reverse flow protection seal using Reverse Flow River? And didn’t Spectral Soul Demon Venerable’s orderly well use City Well?”
“City Well and Reverse Flow River are not Gu worms, why could they be used? Isn’t it because they are secluded domains of heaven and earth, containing a huge amount of dao marks which are then used by us?”
Fang Yuan thought about it again, the nurture, use, and refinement of Gu worms were in essence, Dao.
There were too many Gu cultivation paths1, fire path, water path, metal path, wood path, strength path, wisdom path, soul path, rule path, poison path, theft path…
“These paths all involve the nurture, use, and refinement of Gu, all involving Dao, this is in fact a kind of Dao that connects us to heaven and earth!”
Suddenly, the most classic phrase of the Gu cultivation world appeared in Fang Yuan’s mind.
Man is the spirit of all beings, Gu are the essence of heaven and earth!
Never had Fang Yuan’s understanding of this phrase been as profound as this moment.
“I want to condense and elevate killer moves into Gu worms, I need to take out Gu worms, add in Gu materials, and merge them into one.”
“Immortal Gu are the fragments of the Great Dao, Gu materials are the accumulation of dao marks, as long as the path is the same, they can be substituted with each other.”
“The reason why killer moves like reverse flow protection seal and orderly well can be activated is because Reverse Flow River and City Well have an abundant amount of dao marks that can take the place of Gu worms. From this point of view, these two killer moves have actually progressed from killer moves to Gu recipes!”
As Fang Yuan continued to ponder, many of his questions from before were being clearly solved.
Refinement path was actually rather special, although it was one path, it was related to every path. The comprehension gained from becoming a quasi-supreme grandmaster was much broader and deeper than any of Fang Yuan’s accomplishments in other paths.
“Thinking about it, I am using landscape as before Immortal Gu to restore Dang Hun Mountain, it looks like I am using a Gu worm on the surface, but it can also be seen as using the killer move landscape as before. Any killer moves can be seen as an incomplete Gu recipe, thus from another angle, this is also Gu refinement.”
“Only that what I am trying to refine is not a Gu worm, but a rank nine immortal material — Dang Hun Mountain!”
Fang Yuan was only rank seven, but he could refine rank nine immortal material?
The important thing here was the orderly well killer move, which was Spectral Soul Demon Venerable’s method. And back then, the orderly well killer move that Spectral Soul Demon Venerable used on Dang Hun Mountain was of rank nine level.
Realizing this point, Fang Yuan immediately got many new ideas for the restoration of Dang Hun Mountain.
“Dang Hun Mountain can be restored, it can also be used as a core like Reverse Flow River and form an immortal killer move!”
“Oh! I understand! The peak of soul cultivation recorded in Spectral Soul’s true inheritance —the Three Headed Thousand Arms Demon Soul, isn’t it an artificial secluded domain of heaven and earth?”
“Also, the rank nine killer move ghostly concealment of Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable has countless dao marks working together and can function endlessly without adding any immortal essence, this is also an artificial secluded domain of heaven and earth!”
All along, Fang Yuan did not understand why ghostly concealment did not need immortal essence and could continue working all the time.
But now, he came to a realization.
Did Dang Hun Mountain require immortal essence? No.
Did Luo Po Valley require immortal essence? Also no.
Spectral Soul forcibly resisted the calamities and tribulations, although he used immortal essence to activate killer moves, in essence, he did not require immortal essence to possess his extremely powerful battle strength.
But this did not mean all kinds of dao marks could be casually piled together with enough quantity to form a secluded domain of heaven and earth, or form a killer move like ghostly concealment.
Dao marks needed to coordinate together.
Wasn’t this coordination just Gu refinement? The required Gu materials needed to be selectively chosen.
Wasn’t it nurturing Gu? The required food materials needed to be of a certain standard.
Wasn’t it using Gu? The coordination between Gu worms was the coordination between dao marks.
Fang Yuan continued to ponder deeply for a long time before slowly opening his eyes.
Three days and three nights had passed.
He had absorbed the refinement path true meaning in a few hours, but his comprehension used up three days and three nights!
Fang Yuan’s black eyes shone brightly, he looked even more unfathomable now.
“You…” Looking at Fang Yuan’s eyes, Lang Ya land spirit became uncertain with shock.
“What’s wrong?” Fang Yuan asked.
Lang Ya land spirit sighed: “The air you gave off a moment ago made me feel like I was looking at Giant Sun Immortal Venerable or Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable!”
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable… any Gu Venerable was publicly recognized as a supreme grandmaster of their own path.
Fang Yuan was already able to reach their boundary with his refinement path quasi-supreme grandmaster attainment.
He was no longer looking up at the towering mountains, from the level below, he was able to observe the scenery!
This was the view at the peak of Gu cultivation!
