As Zhou Ming made his choice, the halo gradually subsided, forming a Gu.
The appearance of this Gu was no different from before; it still looked like a mask as thin as a cicada's wing, lying quietly in Zhou Ming's palm.
Like the previous Gu, this Gu was naturally refined by Zhou Ming.
Zhou Ming activated the Gu, testing its effects, and then his eyes gradually filled with pleasant surprise.
This Gu could not only conceal a Gu Master's Qi to appear lower than their true cultivation, but also disguise it to appear higher!
For example, Zhou Ming was currently exuding the Qi of a Rank Five Gu Master!
That was the Rank Five Gu Master Qi Zhou Ming had once been fortunate enough to witness when Zhou Qitian, the Zhou Family Clan Chief and the Zhou Family's only Rank Five Gu Master, took action.
This was also a condition for using Deception Gu to disguise oneself: one had to know it first to be able to disguise it.
"Disguise, deception, so that's how it is!" Zhou Ming couldn't help but laugh out loud.
This Gu sacrificed the deceiver's mask's original ability to disguise a person's appearance and voice, in exchange for an improved ability to disguise Qi.
Perhaps this was compensation from Heavenly Dao to Zhou Ming?
Compared to his recent act of forcefully seizing the World Tree leaf, Zhou Ming actually felt as if he had gained immense benefits now.
"Am I being brainwashed by the Heavenly Dao?"
This thought suddenly popped into his mind, disgusting Zhou Ming immensely, and he fiercely raised his middle finger towards the sky.
"Damn it!"
Putting away the Mushroom House Gu, Zhou Ming mounted the Azure Wolf and headed towards the Family.
The Azure Wolf was rented from the Family and had been tethered in the Mushroom House Gu's livestock pen last night. Zhou Ming had spent a month in the plot world, which was just an instant for the Gu World. The time in the Gu World was synchronized with the night Zhou Ming slept after returning to the Main God Space.
"With 99% Aptitude, the possibility of becoming a Ten Extreme Physique is too great. Moreover, it's very likely to transform when I advance to Rank Three, so I must prepare early to deal with this terrible situation."
On the way back, Zhou Ming's mind raced, trying to find a solution to his problem from the Gu of the Gu World and the Main God's exchange list.
"If I become a Ten Extreme Physique when advancing to Rank Three, I might explode my Aperture and die on the spot due to its fragility during advancement."
"If there's a Gu that can reduce Aptitude, that would be best, like the Yin-Yang Reversal Gu. Although the reduced Aptitude would slowly recover due to the Ten Extreme Physique's powerful effect, it could at least buy me the time I need most."
"If I can't get a Gu that reduces Aptitude, then a Gu with special effects like the Stone Aperture Gu, which transforms the Aperture into a hard stone Aperture, could also withstand the immense pressure of 100% true essence."
Stone Aperture Gu is a Rank Three Gu, whose function is to completely consume the Aperture's foundation and potential, allowing the Gu Master to instantly reach the Peak cultivation of their current Realm.
For example, a Gu Master who had just advanced to Rank Three and used Stone Aperture Gu could instantly reach Rank Three Peak.
However, the cost was that the Aperture wall would become a hard stone wall, thereby losing the possibility of further cultivation advancement, and the stone wall dead Aperture would also lose the ability to self-recover true essence, only being able to replenish it by absorbing true essence from primeval stones.
However, Stone Aperture Gu, like other Gu that reduce Aptitude, could not completely suppress the Ten Extreme Physique.
Even if the Aperture became a stone Aperture, the Ten Extreme Physique would slowly revive the stone Aperture, transforming it back into a living Aperture.
Therefore, for Zhou Ming, whether it was Stone Aperture Gu or other Gu that reduced Aptitude, they all served only one purpose: to buy Zhou Ming more time.
With time, Zhou Ming could find a way to seek a solution from the Main God.
The Main God's exchanges were vast and endless; perhaps Zhou Ming could find a way to solve the drawbacks of the Ten Extreme Physique.
And before finding this method, Zhou Ming had to do everything possible to suppress his cultivation advancement and find ways to weaken his Aptitude.
"Wait!" Like a flash of lightning across his mind, Zhou Ming suddenly understood something.
"That's it! Heavenly Dao changing my Aptitude to Ten Extreme Physique isn't to kill me, but to restrict me, to force me!"
"It doesn't want my cultivation to advance too quickly, and it wants me to exchange for more items from the Main God to bring back to the Gu World, so Heavenly Dao can gain more Laws from other worlds."
"So, Heavenly Dao used such a method, forcing me to do this just to survive. This is an open conspiracy, an open conspiracy that I have no choice but to follow."
"What a trick!"
Having understood this, Zhou Ming did not get angry again, but just gave a cold laugh in his heart.
What did the Main God wanting more Gu World Laws and the Gu World's Heavenly Dao wanting more other-world Laws have to do with Zhou Ming?
He only needed to be clear about one thing: if they wanted him to do something, they had to give him enough benefits.
The Main God used reward points to tempt him, allowing him to bring a large number of Gu into the Main God Space, achieving a win-win situation.
The Gu World's Heavenly Dao, however, never learned this point, or perhaps disdained to trade equally with Zhou Ming, resorting to coercion, threats, forced buying and selling, and a mixture of kindness and severity... In this regard, the Gu World's Heavenly Dao was far less straightforward than the Main God.
It didn't matter; one day, when Zhou Ming's strength was sufficient, the first thing he would definitely deal with would be the Gu World's Heavenly Dao.
Zhou Ming, riding the Azure Wolf, was getting closer to the Family, but he didn't return to the Family. Instead, he made a turn and went to another Market.
Why not go to the Market he visited yesterday (from the Gu World's perspective)?
It was because he had just been there yesterday (from the Gu World's perspective), and the Gu Masters in the shops at that Market probably felt familiar with Zhou Ming. Going there again now would easily attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.
Instead, he took a detour, and Zhou Ming arrived at the first Market he had visited during the previous mission interval, which was also the Market closest to the Warm Pool Gu.
From his last visit to this Market until now, nearly half a month (from the Gu World's perspective) had passed, so the Gu Masters there should no longer have any impression of Zhou Ming.
Before entering the Market, Zhou Ming disguised his Qi as a Rank Four Gu Master and concealed his true appearance through makeup and other methods.
Since Deception Gu only had the function of disguising Qi left, Zhou Ming decided to buy another Gu that could disguise his face, to facilitate his next plan.
His primeval stones were almost depleted in the previous plot world, so Zhou Ming had to sell the ten Scarlet Iron Relic Gu he held first.
Fortunately, a Rank Four cultivation was already enough to walk around here unimpeded. Even if he sold several Scarlet Iron Relic Gu at once, his identity as a Rank Four Gu Master would not attract much trouble.
If he had revealed his true cultivation of Rank Two Peak, he would never have dared to directly put all ten Scarlet Iron Relic Gu out for sale like this.
Zhou Ming tethered the Azure Wolf and stepped into the Market.