017. Slow Soul Foundation Progress
Nanqiu Garden, secret room.
Qitian sat cross-legged on the cushion. After using a Gu worm, Qitian opened his eyes.
"Strengthening the soul is indeed not easy. A month's effort has only accumulated to the level of ten men soul, and this includes me using some tricks to enhance the effects of soul nurturing and soul refining Gu."
Qitian's highest achievement in his previous life was in Soul Path. As a Soul Path Grandmaster, he had profound attainments in nurturing, using, and refining Soul Path Gu worms, and understood the soul extremely well.
Therefore, when nurturing and refining his soul, his efficiency was much higher than ordinary Gu Masters.
Despite this, even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice. Although the Gu worms bought for two hundred thousand primeval stones were valuable, they were still insignificant for soul accumulation.
Fortunately, he didn't plan to immediately cultivate Soul Path or Enslavement Path. This slow accumulation was barely enough to meet the current demands of Gu refinement and using killer moves.
Especially Qitian's current killer move, Qi Yuan Slash; as the number of Gu worms involved increased, the consumption of soul and mental energy also grew.
Blade Qi Gu, Blade Intent Gu, Qi Source Gu, Lock Qi Gu, Chase Qi Gu, Connected Qi Linked Branches Gu, plus a recently added Cold Qi Gu – this number placed a huge drain on a Gu Master's primeval essence and mind, especially since Qitian was currently only Rank 3 peak stage.
To fully activate Three Yuan Slash once would consume thirty percent of his Snow Silver primeval essence.
Additionally, simultaneously controlling six Gu worms while also activating the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus for constant essence recovery forced Qitian to add the One Heart Three Uses Gu. However, primeval essence consumption increased considerably because of this.
Considering that a single battle couldn't possibly be resolved with just one use of a killer move, Qitian could fully utilize his killer move twice per battle. Consequently, Qitian hadn't used the full power of Qi Yuan Slash in the performance field yet.
Connected Qi Linked Branches Gu and Eagle Wing Gu were kept as trump cards by Qitian; he wouldn't easily reveal them before fighting Ju Kai Bei and Yan Tu.
"I've been in seclusion for so long. Having missed matches for over twenty days, my net loss count has probably been marked as two. There must be quite a few people outside wanting to challenge me now! It's time to make a move!"
Qitian's previous large-scale purchases, without concealing his identity, naturally attracted the attention of many people.
Upon hearing that Qitian had only just broken into the fourth inner city's performance field, many immediately set their sights on him. After all, Qitian's revealed wealth was enough to incite the greed of some Rank 3 Gu Masters.
However, Qitian's dominance in the fifth inner city made many wary.
Of course, fighting was forbidden within Shang Clan's inner city, so they wouldn't act recklessly there. But in the performance field, they could challenge him legitimately, provided they could defeat him.
Due to Qitian's month-long seclusion, many interpreted it as cowardice, waiting for Qitian's reappearance to defeat or even kill him and seize his Gu worms and primeval stones.
Those harboring such thoughts were mostly Gu Masters with mid-to-low tier Rank 3 strength.
The established experts wouldn't target a newcomer like Qitian for such minor benefits. Winning was expected, but losing would make them Qitian's stepping stone. At the very least, they'd let someone else test Qitian's strength first.
Qitian came out of seclusion and arrived at the performance field. Today was his first battle in the fourth inner city.
At the performance field, heads bobbed in the crowd, discussions buzzing.
"Heard this kid was quite dominant in the fifth inner city. Coming to the fourth inner city, shouldn't he tuck his tail between his legs?"
"Yeah! This isn't the fifth inner city; there are many experts here. This time, Sun Lei won't be so easy to deal with."
"Facing Sun Lei, this kid is in trouble!"
...
This was a mid-sized performance arena; the terrain was ordinary sand.
Qitian's opponent, Sun Lei, was short, less than a meter tall, practically a dwarf.
In this world, whether mortals or Gu Masters, heights were generally above 1.5 meters. Sun Lei being less than a meter tall clearly indicated he had used Gu worms to modify his body.
Actually, body modification was very common in the Gu Master world.
Strength Path Gu Masters often modified their tendons, bones, and muscles to increase their tolerance for force. Many flight path Gu Masters would modify their bones to be hollow, reducing their weight.
And Qitian, by chance, had modified his body into Ice Muscle Jade Bone. Ice Muscle Jade Bone was optimal for Ice Path Gu Masters, but offered no benefit to Qitian cultivating Qi Path.
Removing it would cost considerable primeval stones, and more importantly, he lacked a better modification plan, so he was using it for now. Choosing to add the Cold Qi Gu earlier was also partly to synergize with the Ice Muscle Jade Bone.
Sizing up the dwarf-like Sun Lei before him, Qitian formed a plan.
'This Sun Lei is short, probably used Shrinking Bone Gu or similar to modify his body. Thus, it's highly likely he's an earth escape Gu Master. The sandy terrain also favors his earth escape. This will be tricky!'
'This Qitian is said to have a fierce reputation in the fifth inner city, skilled in offense, with quite a few Gu Masters dead by his hand. But why should I fear him? As long as I burrow underground, he can't do anything to me.'
Both had their own thoughts.
After the match began, Sun Lei was the first to burrow into the sand.
Qitian couldn't stop him even if he wanted to and could only try to detect Sun Lei's position.
However, the sand on the surface showed no movement. Qitian quickly activated Gu worms to investigate.
But the result disappointed Qitian.
Qitian had two scouting Gu, Chase Qi Gu and Mist Sparrow Gu.
Mist Sparrow Gu couldn't see through objects and couldn't detect underground movements. Chase Qi Gu could track Sun Lei's aura, but it failed this time.
Sun Lei had already found out Qitian possessed the Chase Qi Gu and naturally had countermeasures. Although Sun Lei didn't have a Lock Qi Gu to seal his aura, he used a Fart Gu to leave a stench in the arena, nullifying Qitian's Chase Qi Gu.
Gu worms all had their own characteristics. Once a Gu Master's Gu worms were exposed, enemies had a chance to find ways to counter them. Even without a direct counter, they would be prepared. This was why Qitian kept important methods hidden.
Suddenly, Qitian sensed danger approaching from below and quickly dodged. He saw a black shadow disappear back underground.
'Good thing I dodged that relying on my past life's centuries of survival instincts! But relying on intuition won't let me dodge attacks every time. What should I do?'
'Against earth escape Gu Masters like this, there are usually several methods. One is using scouting Gu to pinpoint the opponent's location. This allows one to attack or defend freely, securing an invincible position. But earth escape Gu Masters often consider this and put great effort into hiding. In the current situation, I cannot detect the opponent.'
'Second is to use methods to destroy the conditions for earth escape. But I don't have Gu worms to restrain the earth or harden the surface. Directly destroying the terrain violently isn't suitable either, as this is sandy ground, unless I remove all the sand.'
'Third is to stall, waiting for the opponent to exhaust their primeval essence. Although he's short, earth escape consumes essence. Recovering essence underground isn't ideal, and Rank 3 earth escape effects are far inferior to Rank 5, especially regarding duration. This requires constantly guarding against surprise attacks.'
'The best method is to directly use the Eagle Wing Gu and fly. Stalling like this, I'm Rank 3 peak with Heavenly Essence Lotus support; victory is certain. However, this will expose my flying ability, and future opponents will surely prepare countermeasures.'
'Fine! Expose it then! Trump cards are meant to be used anyway.'
Although numerous analyses flashed through his mind, only an instant passed in the outside world.
Qitian spread his wings and flew into the air, holding his jade blade, coldly watching the ground below.
"What? Th-this works too?"
"Didn't expect this kid to have a flight Gu. But flight Gu aren't easy to control. Let's see if he can outlast Sun Lei."
The spectators, who had quieted down after Sun Lei burrowed, expecting a battle of wits, couldn't help but start discussing again.
Although flight Gu were precious, they weren't hard to buy in Shang Clan City. The key was that training flight was too troublesome, requiring a huge amount of practice over a long period, needing patient effort.
Ordinary Gu Masters were quite cautious about using flight Gu. Often, they needed two or three years of training just for travel. For combat use, the training time was even longer, at least five years or more.
After all, humans walk on two legs on the ground; they aren't flying creatures.
Mastering flight and being able to use it in combat was a qualitative leap in combat power for a Gu Master.
Of course, Qitian was currently just hovering in the air, not displaying his true flight mastery. But even stably hovering like this required at least one or two years of training.
Although many surpassed Qitian in flight mastery – referring to the level Qitian displayed – the key was Qitian's youth combined with his impressive combat performance. No wonder everyone was astonished.
"Not fighting anymore! Old Sun admits defeat!" In the end, Sun Lei conceded first. After all, his strength lay mostly in surprise attacks. With no chance to ambush Qitian, Sun Lei proactively surrendered to avoid being killed by Qitian, showing self-awareness.