Four gu immortals worked with practiced coordination. They had performed the same actions about thirty times. Rank 6 supreme elders of Wind Cloud Manor and Ancient Soul Sects—Feng Chan Zi and Yu Yi Ye Zi—acted as well-trained assistants. They weren't the only ones offering their support. Nearly thousand experienced hairy men slaves worked in quick succession, their skills paling in comparison to Yu Yi Ye Zi but far more admirable when evaluated against Feng Chan Zi's subtle awkwardness and clumsiness.
Leading the immortal gu refinement were none other than Yuan Qiong Du and Bei Feng. They were notable rank 8 gu immortals even among their peers. Yuan Qiong Du was the greatest refinement path expert in Central Continent while Bei Feng's battle strength was in a class of its own. They were the first supreme elders of Ancient Soul Sect and Wind Cloud Manor respectively.
All these individuals gathered in a large and spacious hall. It was more like a small village sealed in a box. The thousand hairy men slaves had isolated but visible spaces dedicated to their minor support in the gu refinement. They refined and processed countless mortal materials while Yu Yi Ye Zi and Feng Chan Zi focused on immortal materials. Yuan Qiong Du, on the other hand, inspected every material and scrutinized the tiniest detail before adding them into the refinement 'pot.'
Before him and Bei Feng was an open plot with no flooring at all. It was simply a bed of soil. However, this soil let out a sweet fragrance and every other grain twinkled like stars in the night sky. This soil was not ordinary but a huge batch of immortal material! Whenever Yuan Qiong Du acted, the processed immortal material would turn into a stream of light and embed itself deep within the bed of soil. It dug further down as the ground rumbled and the soil threatened to move.
Bei Feng acted at such moments, controlling the entire refinement area and keeping even a single grain of soil from moving an inch!
This was a strenuous activity more than capable of obstructing most rank 6 and 7 gu immortals. The required control and mental state could only be achieved after years of agonizing and disciplined cultivation. Yet, Bei Feng appeared expressionless. In fact, he didn't feel spent at all. Yuan Qiong Du was the same.
Comparatively, Feng Chan Zi was soaked in sweat and Yu Yi Ye Zi only appeared slightly more relaxed.
At the end of the day, they were refining a rank 6 immortal gu worm. The process was undoubtedly complex and time-consuming, but it didn't bother the rank 8 monsters too much.
*Rumble*
A patch of the soil suddenly exploded upwards before scattering soil everywhere despite Bei Feng's control as both the rank 8 gu immortals suppressed the disappointments in their hearts. Feng Chan Zi couldn't help but reveal an ugly expression as Yu Yi Ye Zi's heart sank.
Another failure.
There was nothing wrong with their steps and materials processed. So, they encountered a natural chance of failure. And they were so close!
Yuan Qiong Du, however, met Bei Feng's knowing gaze.
"It seems this immortal gu worm exists. I had the same feeling of success just before the end of the refinement process once again but we ended up failing. There's nothing we can do about this, Old Bei."
The two rank 8 gu immortals conversed secretly.
"That appears to be the case," sighed Bei Feng. "Let's stop now. I would rather preserve the materials for Preservation Immortal Gu. Some of the crucial materials are already extinct. It's better to use information and wisdom path methods to first deduce if we can obtain this immortal gu through other means and expenses of such a venture."
They were brilliant individuals and did not sulk. They readily chose to cut their losses short and moved on.
<<<>>>
'Oh, it's refined.'
Lo Jik blinked as he prepared to leave. Just because he was recuperating and healing the two immortal gu worms did not mean he did not do anything else. The countless clones assisted his will within his human blessed land to activate and refine another immortal gu worm within Undefeated Refinement Cauldron!
Lang Ya Land Spirit had one portion of the materials left for Preservation Immortal Gu. He intended to accumulate more materials before trying to refine this immortal gu. But just one portion was enough for Lo Jik, who wielded the ungodly refinement immortal gu house.
Preservation Immortal Gu, much like Beast Enslavement Immortal Gu, shed its mortal limitations at rank 6 and was no longer a one-time consumable gu meant to sacrifice itself and preserve another gu worm. Instead, it could be used to preserve other expendable immortal gu worms.
But being a refinement path immortal gu, its effects on consumable immortal gu worms of other paths received even more restrictions due to heightened conflict between the dao marks.
Either way, Preservation Immortal Gu was a huge asset, one no different from Blood Asset Immortal Gu.
'Sigh. I can't spend more time digesting my gains right away. I need to return to Tian Ti Mountain already. The clones should be used to deduce and advance my mortal gu houses and modify Undefeated Refinement Cauldron immortal gu house.'
Lo Jik had utilized a wood and soul path immortal gu worm within this immortal gu house. Not only did these not coordinate well, but Lo Jik also used up a great wood path defensive immortal gu and a soul path offensive immortal gu worm. Now, he could use the additional refinement path immortal gu worms—even the rank 8 Water Refinement Immortal Gu—to create a true piece of art!
'Incorporating a rank 8 immortal gu would be a huge project.' Lo Jik thought about the immortal gu house. It currently had one weakness.
Its 100% gu refinement success rate was tied to the immortal killer move utilizing Undefeated Myriad Battles Immortal Gu. As such, even if he advanced the immortal gu house to the level of a rank 8 immortal gu house by adding Water Refinement Immortal Gu, it would still only have a 100% success rate in refining rank 6 immortal gu worms.
There were a few ways to tackle this issue.
First and the easiest method was simply to add Accumulation Immortal Gu. It should reliably augment the effects of the killer move and assure a 100% success rate in refining rank 7 immortal gu worms. However, this method failed to utilize the treasure that was rank 8 Water Refinement Immortal Gu. Furthermore, it drastically reduced Lo Jik's flexibility in dealing with external circumstances. Accumulation Immortal Gu was simply too crucial for Lo Jik. Even monsters at the level of Qin Bai Sheng fell prey to its effects.
Second method and admittedly more time consuming one was to entirely modify the immortal killer move by adding rank 8 Water Refinement Gu as a supplementary gu worm. Lo Jik could even add rank 6 Multiply Immortal Gu to the list of supplementary gu worms alongside Blood Asset Immortal Gu to create an immortal killer move of great power, the kind that could assure 100% success rate not only for rank 7 but even rank 8 immortal gu worms! And then, he'd design a gu house around this killer move. Both these tasks were monumental in their own rights.
The abhorrent number of deductions needed to conceptualize rank 8 immortal killer moves, though heavily mitigated by his shocking attainments, took too long. And nothing needed to be said about deducing a rank 8 immortal gu house.
'To do this, I must first advance Pool of Wisdom to the level of an immortal gu house. That will bring about a qualitative change in the speed of my deductions. Mortal clones would still use mortal level gu houses while my immortal clones could enter the immortal level gu house and deduce matters at an even greater pace.'
'So, I also need to deduce another immortal gu house before even tackling the issue of Undefeated Refinement Cauldron.' The thought failed to discourage Lo Jik as he smiled. 'So be it. Either way, immortal gu houses are fun to deduce in the first place. Perhaps all my clones can even be used to create a battle formation.'
He only held appreciation and great curiosity towards formation path. The rise of his refinement path also allowed him to deduce and refine immortal gu houses more intuitively.
'There's also dream path.' Lo Jik considered his next course of action. Dream Creation Battlefield proved quite useful but he didn't always need to rely on this immortal battlefield killer move. He could use Dream Creation immortal killer move on lone targets, too.
'But I left many clues in Lang Ya Blessed Land.'
Though Lo Jik cleared his tracks in Lang Ya Blessed Land, the fact that he caused such a great destruction was bound to leave behind some clues. The more he used dream path to assert his superiority, the greater the chance of the enemies adapting to the circumstances and countering his methods. Fortunately, Lang Ya Blessed Land was in Northern Plains and the entire invasion was quite… secretive. His methods might not even be known in Northern Plains but he was quite sure that Qin Bai Sheng and the organization behind him must have realized that the so-called Heavenly Thief Immortal was not only a fraud but a swindler equipped with a great dream path immortal killer move. After all, they developed a dream path extreme physique! Their foundation in dream path was far from inspiring and already surpassed the state of the current world.
Perhaps only Lo Jik was ahead of them in this regard.
'I need to carefully select my targets. They must possess a great attainment and a good number of immortal gu worms else using dream path methods is not worthwhile. I might as well deepen my food path foundation. After all… I just ate and digested true meaning. The same can be done with dao marks. In fact, Fickle Body Strength relies on this aspect of the food path. If I can eat and digest the target's dao marks… that will only leave assimilating their immortal apertures.'
Lo Jik already had methods of snatching attainments, memories, and immortal gu worms.
Soul foundation could also be assimilated using Lo Jik's Fake Soul, False Guts, and Soul Pacifying Fog. What remained was the enemy's accumulation of dao marks and their immortal apertures.
But both these topics were complex in their own rights.
'I need more clones.' He thought greedily. 'Not only do I need to consider all these things, but I also need to develop my strength, human, food, dream, and refinement path methods and cover all the aspects of battle. There's also advancing pill and painting paths.'
He had a sudden thought in his bout of greed.
'Dream path is currently supreme. What if I used it to invade the greatest grotto-heaven instead of the number one blessed land.'
Lang Ya Blessed Land could be considered the number one blessed land in the entire gu world.
So, what was the number one grotto-heaven?
Of course, Heavenly Court!
'Go big or go home…' Lo Jik mused. 'Heavenly Court has an accumulation of the greatest elites of Central Continent alongside reserves of immortal materials maintained for three million years! The immortal gu worms they must possess… the wealth they safeguard… can't I simply take it all for myself?'
Lo Jik had yet to properly digest all of his accumulated gains when he already started scheming against the greatest super force in the gu world.
His thoughts stirred and he recalled another piece of information.
'That's right. There's still another Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's true inheritance in Luo Po Valley. I must have Ghostly Concealment!'
His gaze flashed as he recalled Qin Bai Sheng and his fearsome might.
But… wasn't he an equally demonic entity from Qin Bai Sheng's point of view?
<<<>>>
Qin Bai Sheng adopted a grave expression as he convened with three rank 6 and one rank 7 gu immortal inside a simple cave. Cold light flickered in his eyes as he recalled the earlier battled and felt a slight chill run down his back.
So close.
They were all so close to dying!
Disasters truly struck at unexpected moments. The confidence with which they invaded blessed land was nowhere to be seen. Su Guang, Han Dong, Hui Feng Zi, and the remaining rank 7 transformation path gu immortal stayed inside another cave and recuperated.
"To think dream path has already developed to this extent…" He finally uttered after prolonged silence. His subordinates were none other than the rank 6 female gu immortal, the rank 7 immortal zombie with an extreme physique, and two rank 6 hairy men gu immortals. Aside from the latter two, the remaining three gu immortal felt quite uncomfortable. It was as if they had lost something crucial to them, something much greater than their own identity!
One's attainment came from years of dedicated cultivation—the act of comprehending the very nature itself. This crucial part of their intuition towards the great dao was unceremoniously ripped out of their cores. While the three gu immortals retained their earlier knowledge and experiences, they could no longer make much of it. Before, their thoughts instinctively gravitated towards new ideas and methods. Now, they struggled to think properly.
The loss of attainment was simply too grave!
"He must be a theft path gu immortal but not a rank 8 gu immortal. As we expected, it was merely a disguise. But none of us could predict such a sophisticated dream path immortal killer move." Qin Bai Sheng recalled the holes in Lang Ya Blessed Land and taint of dream path corroding several refinement path gu worms that made up Refinement Cauldron immortal gu house. "That Heavenly Thief Immortal could have killed us but he prioritized his benefits. Dream path immortal battlefield killer moves can actually have such a great effect in blessed lands… its partly because Lang Ya Land Spirit himself fell prey to this immortal killer move and could not resist it using his heavenly power."
As Lo Jik suspected, he might have snatched their attainments, but he did not have the time to steal their memories and deprive them of their experiences. Qin Bai Sheng came to several right conclusions after thinking momentarily. Just because Qin Bai Sheng was deprived of his attainment did not imply Lo Jik stole his ability to deduce and his general wisdom.
"If he was confident in stealing our attainment then he must have a method of assimilating with them. Heavenly Thief Immortal might not be a rank 8 gu immortal but he is no less dangerous in the current era. One skill to dominate! Dream path is emerging and nobody can account for it except gu immortals who have certain fortuitous encounters."
"Furthermore, he stole the rank 8 Heavenly Essence Treasure Imperial Lotus from right under our noses. He readily gave up on your accumulated true meaning." Qin Bai Sheng gazed at the two hairy men gu immortals who were actually traitors residing within Lang Ya Blessed Land. Earlier, they revealed themselves and helped Qin Bai Sheng finally snatch the immortal gu house.
"His refinement path attainment probably cannot be increased using dream path any longer." Qin Bai Sheng's gaze turned brilliant. "The enemy was forced to reveal countless clues for he sought immortal treasures. Who knows what else he stole in Lang Ya Blessed Land. Lang Ya Land Spirit has no method of countering dream path."
"Dream path… Great Dream Immortal Venerable's era…"
Qin Bai Sheng looked up. His gaze pierced past the cave and observed the dark sky.
"We must stop her from emerging. We must stop Fate Immortal Gu from healing completely. The great era must be stalled."
Cold conviction supported his words as he looked determined.
"We must continue moving. Refinement Cauldron is simply one of the targets. I already sent all the relevant clues to Old Man Yan Shi but even he is unable to use his wisdom path methods to deduce and divine Heavenly Thief Immortal. It appears that he has a deep theft path foundation to the point of mimicking wisdom path and now he even possesses Steal Life Immortal Gu. We must treat this enemy with the greatest severity!"
"The loss of our attainment means nothing in the grand scheme of things."
"As a theft path gu immortal, Heavenly Thief Immortal must have a great thirst for Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's inheritance in our hands. I will leave behind a few lines of defenses here alongside those four suppressed gu immortals. Let them stall against Heavenly Thief."
Qin Bai Sheng smiled coldly.
"Even if he arrives here, he won't get the inheritance. After all, I inspected his soul. He is not an otherworldly demon!"
His words roused everyone.
"You should go to Northern Plains' Zombie Alliance Branch and make preparations." Qin Bai Sheng ordered the rank 7 immortal zombie.
"Yes, Lord Vice Envoy."
"And you two, go with Jiang Yu and continue stalking the targets. We must acquire those immortal gu houses."
The female and the two hairy men gu immortals nodded as Qin Bai Sheng continued.
"The immortal gu we are nurturing inside Luo Po Valley is too crucial. I will join you once the immortal gu is completely refined."
As everyone left, Qin Bai Sheng couldn't help but frown to himself.
'Has it already begun? Was this truly a scheme by Heaven's Will? Even Yan Shi is not completely aware of this matter which is shocking enough. But this is too soon.'
'Or…'
Qin Bai Sheng thought of another matter.
'Luck. Luck is a mysterious variable. We have luck path methods of our own and shouldn't have any deficiency in this aspect. But what if Heavenly Thief's luck is simply… better.'
'Either way, we cannot afford to accumulate losses like this in the long run. We also cannot spend resources to search and kill this thorn in our path. Hmph! Live your life for now, Heavenly Thief Immortal. It will surely be a short one after we complete our plan. Shadow Sect existed for thousands of years for one reason alone. What is one Heavenly Thief when we aim to defy the very heaven itself?'
This one brief confrontation between Lo Jik and the mysterious Shadow Sect left a lasting impression on both the parties.
***
Alternate Title: Bei Feng and Yuan Qiong Du's slave-driven refinement method VS Gu Yue Lo Jik's vacation gu house refinement method; The world struggling to refine immortal gu while Lo Jik sips cool tea, creates harem, and sneezes to simply refine immortal gu; Another rank 6 reward; The joy of challenge; Lo Jik: I love constructing gu houses *Pin drop silence for the rest of the world*; Lo Jik, the barbaric gu lego enthusiast; Shadow Sect: Gu Yue Lo Jik must be Heaven's Will arrangement; Lo Jik: Fuck! Shadow Sect must be Heaven's Will arrangement; Heaven's Will actual arrangement: *Wolf howling and mating noises*; Stealing the 500-year-old demonic overlord's attainment; Lo Jik's shocking greed; Heavenly Court: *Exists*; Lo Jik and Fang Yuan: *Eyes gleaming with benefits*; Peak demon gu time; Next goals?; Great danger level; Heaven's Will: Seeking every way to fuck Lo Jik in the ass *Lo Jik later down the line when sneaking through Heavenly Court's back: Behold, a human!*
***
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