Chapter 38: Chapter 38 Again
Adding Beast Kings was an original refinement material for the refinement of Rank 6 Qi Shape Gu. A flying path beast, an earth path beast, a water path beast, and then a fire and ice path beast. Other beasts can be used too, but these are the most common and abundant.
Formless Blessed Land is a Qi Path Blessed Land, so raising beasts of other paths would be very difficult. However, most of these beasts weren't raised here; they were bought. The Formless Land Spirit has them in suspended animation to keep them as fresh as possible.
They were mostly inside a giant warehouse. It looked like he bought them all from the same people, as they were the same species used in the previous refinement attempt. "I have 6 Myriad Beast kings of each necessary path and about 10 of each path as Thousand Beast Kings," Formless Land Spirit said as he showed me around the warehouse.
"Beast Emperors were too expensive, huh?" I asked him.
"Of course they're too expensive! Anyone who nurtures Beast Emperors rarely sells them unless you're willing to buy them at a high price. Since they have a better chance at being nurtured into Desolate Beasts and are walking, living resources," he said, his face drooping into an unnatural, sad expression as he likely remembered having to buy these beasts.
Inside the warehouse were the Lava Crocodiles, the Emerald Green Parrots, and the White Transparent Penguins. "I'm assuming that the Brown Rhinos and Rainbow Trouts are raised in the Blessed Land?" I asked the Land Spirit.
"Yeah, the Mud Horn Menaces and Multi-Shining Trouts can live well in my Blessed Land. I don't have strong enough Qi Path Beasts to challenge them," he replied.
I could easily see that. Rhinos and trouts aren't that aggressive, so it wouldn't be hard to place them in most Blessed Lands. Unlike the Lava Crocodiles, which are aggressive and require lava to thrive, or the Emerald Green Parrot, which probably needs a good environment in the sky. Most flying beasts eat fish, so if he let them out, it could mess with the Multi-Shining Trouts.
Lastly, the Ice Penguins definitely need a cold environment to live and thrive. Raising beasts is not an easy task; even if he had a Qi Path Beast King inside, he'd still have to keep it in check. The beasts could roam around and consume all the precious resources or destroy things meant to be protected. Most people who raise beasts like this have methods to enslave or keep them in a designated location.
I activated Aurora Scent Gu and took a deep breath. The whole room was enveloped in three colors: a bright red, a light blue, and a soft white. Each color represented the Dao marks each beast belonged to. "Take out these five; they're too weak, and don't use this one; he's stronger than all of them," I told the Land Spirit.
"And how do you know that? I doubt you know the beasts, so how could you know which is good for the refinement?" Formless Land Spirit asked.
"I have a way to see a form of the Dao on others. It's not exact, but it's good enough to tell if a beast is too strong or too weak. Now, I'd like to see the last two beasts," I replied.
He didn't respond, but simply separated the beasts I had marked as no good and then picked me up, flying out of the warehouse.
In the sky, he took me to where the Mud Horn Menaces lived. There were six large ones and ten smaller ones under them. I activated Aurora Scent Gu again and took a look at them. "That one lying down is no good; he's the leader because he's the strongest. Those three are out since they're too weak, and those four seem too young. As for the others, they're all good." With that, he marked the ones that were no good and then took me to the sea part of the Blessed Land.
Formless Land Spirit created a giant net made with Qi Shape Gu and dragged it all over the sea. Since the Multi-Shining Trouts were large, the net had very large holes, so only the Multi-Shining Trouts were captured. Once again, I activated Aurora Scent Gu and took a look at the fish.
"Oh, these guys seem to have been thriving here in this Qi Dao Water Sea. They're all equally strong and healthy. Good job raising them," I told Formless Land Spirit.
"Of course they are. It's so easy to raise fish-type beasts here in the Eastern Sea, and they have no predators to worry about. But the biggest factor is the Qi Dao Water. It's very good for them, since Multi-Shining Trouts can live in just about any sea and thrive. With such a good environment, of course, they'd be thriving," Formless Land Spirit said, puffing up his chest proudly in his bird form.
Hmm... I hadn't thought about getting a beast that could live in any sea and thrive. I had a way to make lots of Qi Dao Water, but all I ever did was use it and sell it. Well, now that I plan to take over this place, I'll gladly raise these beasts to their fullest potential.
"Let's go back, but let me see the other materials we'll use. I want to make sure we get it right this time, so I want no mishaps," I told the Land Spirit.
He took me back to the castle and had his Storage Gu release all the materials we would use for the refinement.
Taking a deep breath after activating Aurora Scent Gu, I could see many more auroras from the materials. Most of them were fine, but there were a good number that were too old to be used for refinement. Still, most were just fine, showing that the Land Spirit had ensured his materials were suitable for refinement, with only a few that could have fooled most.
Even with my food path Gu to help with the selection, it wasn't 100% foolproof. The ones truly capable of knowing what was good or not were refinement path immortals.
"The rest seem good to me. Now, let's get started. Last time we failed because the beast was too strong. So, as long as we have no errors on our part, we should succeed. Are you ready?" I said.
"Do you even have to ask? I've waited more than a lifetime to refine this Gu. So, let's get to it." He said, his face serious.
...
We went through all the steps again, from the Qi Dao water being heated to the animal limbs being added until the water became a dark gold color. Then, we added the fruits, which caused the water to change into four colors: green, purple, orange, and rusty red.
Next, we added the Myriad Beast Kings from the orders of sea, land, sky, fire, and, lastly, ice. This time, there was no issue with the lava crocodile that went in. Then, we added the plants that had to be included. After putting them all in and allowing them to merge with the water, the water in the pot began changing into various animals and plants while shifting between different colors.
The Land Spirit had given me one of his Rank 5 Qi Shape Gu since mine had died in the previous refinement attempt. I quickly activated it to create the open sphere while the Land Spirit poured the water into it slowly. Once all the water was in, I condensed it all the way to a grape-sized bead and then had the Rank 5 Qi Shape Gu consume it.
The Gu's aura began to surge as a new appendage sprouted from it, growing slower than the last time. Its limb grew alongside its aura until it reached the same length as the other tentacles, causing its aura to surge into a powerful Rank 6 aura. Its growth and aura then stabilized as it landed in my hands.
There was no notification from the system that I was the first to refine an immortal Gu. This meant the reward had already been given, most likely to someone who refined a Gu naturally. So, unless they were a child of an immortal, they were dead— even if they were a child of an immortal, their parent would 100% take the Gu unless they were incapable of doing so.
Many immortals lack immortal Gu. Just look at the Formless Land Spirit. When he was alive, although he did well in managing his aperture and gathering enough money to buy materials, he still couldn't succeed in his refinement attempts, and he was considered well off. Many Gu immortals were broke and had no means to make money or trade, especially since Treasure Yellow Heaven doesn't exist here. This makes it even harder for immortals to acquire the goods they want.
"We... WE DID IT! YESSSSSS! How I've longed for this day! Hahahahahah!" The Formless Land Spirit shouted in joy next to me as he looked at the new Rank 6 Gu. "Here, take a look at it. And while you're at it, take me back to the castle and hand me your full Gu inheritance."
I handed him the Gu, and he held it as if it were a delicate feather.
"Yes, master." He took me back to the castle and into the large living room. As he admired the new Qi Shape Gu, he then handed me my Information Path Gu that I had given him. Inside was his complete inheritance.
Just as I suspected, the Qi Shape Gu was his vital Gu and the main one in his Gu set. As for the other Gu he used most often, they were Gu that hardened the Qi, or heated it up or froze it. It was a standard low-Rank 6 Gu immortal's inheritance. He also lacked a good healing and movement Gu.
Overall, if I had to compare his inheritance to that of the Masked Immortal, the Masked Immortal's inheritance was better— even just his normal Gu set was superior. The Formless Land Spirit was just better off financially, but he only had a few strong killer moves compared to the Masked Immortal. And that's not even counting the use of his immortal Gu.
The only killer move he had that I actually liked was a resource-based one that could turn normal water into Qi Dao water in exchange for any Qi Path materials. I could add Liquid Gu to this and elevate the killer move to the point where it could actually be used in combat.
"Here, master," the formless land spirit was trying to hand me back the Qi Shape Gu. "You hold on to it. Besides, it's not like I can use it yet. By the way, do you have any Relic Gu that I can use?" I asked the land spirit, who rummaged through a Gu for a bit.
"No, master. I only have three, and they're all for lower ranks," he said, looking sad.
"It's fine. I knew the odds were low for you to have the ones I need. I'm assuming you have some Primeval Springs here, right?" The formless land spirit turned into a river in the air as he said, "I definitely have those here. I have six of them in total," he said cheerfully. He seemed useful.
"Good. Go get all the Primeval Essence Stones and bring them to the refinement area. I'll wait for you there." The formless land spirit turned into a bird and flew off, and I walked toward the center of the castle. I was still going through the formless land spirit's inheritance. He actually had a lot of useful information on maintaining and improving his blessed land.
Well, it was to be expected. He focused more on his resources in his blessed land so he could refine an Immortal Gu. That's why his killer moves weren't that impressive compared to the Masked Immortals, who did the opposite. The only reason the Masked Immortal was able to gather enough materials to refine an Immortal Gu was because he went around doing services for other immortals.
His most popular service was making contracts with other immortals using his killer move, Masked Oath. A righteous Wisdom Path Immortal was welcome everywhere. Meanwhile, the formless Immortal was a secluded, lone cultivator who only interacted with other immortals for selling or exchanging goods.
"I'm back, master! I've collected them all. Now what?" The formless land spirit landed next to me.
"Put them all in the cauldron, along with the ones in here." I tossed him my storage Gu. "Then use this Gu to turn them all into Primeval Dao Water for me, and make sure to let the Gu rest after 55 uses." I handed him Liquid Gu.
The formless land spirit took my Gu and flew up to the cauldron to begin converting the stones into water. I pulled out the other storage Gu, which also had a lot of Primeval Essence Stones, but these weren't for converting—they were for currency. I should check what the players are selling.
Entering the player shop, I saw a group of people standing around me.
[Venom_ven]: "He's back!"
[Diddy_Orochimaru]: "About time! We've waited forever!"
[Goldboy]: "Insatiable, we want to buy your Primeval Dao Water."
[Pawfreak]: "I'm willing to use real-life cash to buy it all."
[Bob_Uchiha]: "You will submit to the CreedWithFollowers sect so we can continue killing our enemies to deepen our Blood Path attainment. If you don't join, you'll be next."
[MilfLover69]: "Join our mature sect and you'll get a Rule Path inheritance."
[Zoro]: "Wait... where am I?"
Oh, looks like some players have been waiting for me to resupply them with Primeval Dao Water. I am the only player who can create it... if I just deny them, they'll throw a fit and annoy me. Worst part is, you can only have one persona on the player shop, so it's best not to get shunned here.
[Insatiable]: "I plan to restock as soon as I can for you all. The Primeval Dao Water belongs to my clan, and we're currently at war, so I can't get as much as I'd like right now. I need what little I do get to stay alive. After all, I'm just a C-grade talent, and my clan is very small. Obviously, we have no other players, or they'd be selling it too. So if I die, no other players will be able to get their hands on it again."
[Xxx_R18_webnovels_Xxx]: "Just sell me what you have left, then."
[Insatiable]: "No, I have to think about myself too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to see what's for sale. Anyone who bothers me further, don't be surprised when I ban you and any sect you're associated with from buying it ever again."
I didn't stay to hear their complaints as I walked away. It was easy to lose them, as the player shop had a ton of people buying and selling goods. Now, what goods can I find?