Capítulo 3: privilege
In a three-story stone house with intricate carvings, an old man with fiery red hair and a young woman of great beauty sat facing a long table with empty seats holding tens of emptied bottles and a mostly devoured feast of expensive delicacies, even more so now that the ten-year blizzard was ongoing.
"Hahaha, the heavens have finally blessed our family at last." Xue Rong once again laughed even when all the guests had already left. He took a big gulp of rising dragon, emptied the bottle of top-quality wine, and ate the small dragon inside in one bite.
Xue Rong's face turned red faint smoke escaped his mouth and nose. His back straightened, his eyes glinted with renewed energy, and his bulging belly about to explode deflated returning to its thin shape.
'Rising Dragon is close to being a Food Path Gu worm but what is missing?' Xue Xing lay back on the chair and once again thought of the information few knew. 'Most wine, tea, and foods are incomplete Food Path Gu recipes finishing them will give gu worms such as liquor worm but some foods themselves have special properties like the teas of Paradise Earth that can give dao marks.'
Xue Xing reviewed the rank 8 food path inheritance she had in her head the inheritance was simply massive but from the countless Gu recipes only about ten thousand were of food path Gu worms showing how rare they were for even a food path great expert.
As for Xue Xing the list of food path Gu worms she could refine right now was reduced to a hundred although the inheritance was updated to the current era the materials were either too expensive or extinct at least in the mortal world that is.
Xue Xing sighed 'Food Path is not feasible right now but I need some of the Gu worms no matter what.'
Xue Xing already had in mind a couple of food path gu worms she desired to the point of spending a great deal of effort modifying the recipes to make do with the available materials she had at hand.
"Xue Xing, are you okay?" Xue Rong asked, pulling Xue Xing out of her thoughts.
"I'm okay Grandpa I'm just anxious to cultivate." Xue Xing responded.
Xue Rong nodded with a smile and stood up. "Good, we already wasted enough time with pointless politics."
Xue Rong signaled Xue Xing to follow him. "I planned to teach you tomorrow. Today is a day to celebrate after all but it doesn't matter."
On the way to the first floor, the duo passed through long corridors with intricate carvings. The walls had white pelts hanging on them containing the portraits of the deceased family members of the Xue family.
The ceiling had a realistic painting depicting a battle that simply looked divine; it reminded Xue Xing of the ceilings of the Palace of Versailles on earth.
'He doesn't seem like it but he doesn't hide his wealth.' Xue Xing had visited the homes of various elders and even the tribe leader when Xue Rong brought her along as his assistant but none were as flashy as Xue Rong as if he wasn't afraid of being targeted.
"We are here." Xue Rong stood in a prayer room the servants could only enter with permission. On the walls hung the portraits of 5 Gu masters beneath the images was a fragrant incense burning slowly on a jar that had the word ancestors.
Xue Rong's eyes were filled with regret; he clenched his hands in anger but in the end loosened his fists, impotency filling his heart. What use was crying about losing multiple rank 5 inheritances when keeping them would have spelled his death back then even now he couldn't protect them.
'I'm a disappointment a descendant from a family that gave birth to 5 rank 5 Gu masters the most recent fathered me and I had to be a D grade failure a cowardly weakling if my A grade brother hadn't taken my place in battle and died I wouldn't have lost the family's inheritance I wouldn't be a weakling who can't even do his own decisio-'
Xue Rong's body shook and his thoughts were disrupted. He turned around and saw his granddaughter holding his shoulder with a worried face. 'Right not everything is lost, the Xue bloodline won't die out.'
Xue Rong placed his hand on the portrait in the middle, the pure white eyes of a pale man oozing with disappointment didn't seem that overwhelming anymore.
'Father, you brought great prosperity to the tribe. You were brave, but look where bravery left you: dead in the imperial court. Barely anyone whom you helped remembers you. Kong Xue Jun, known as the Soul King, is nothing more than a relic of the past.'
After infusing primeval essence a stone moved slightly barely noticeable; it revealed a small needle-thin hole. Xue Rong grabbed an incense stick and pushed it down the small hole.
The left wall rumbled after a moment it opened up revealing a file of stairs leading down.
'Silence Stone.' Xue Xing touched the silvery walls made of a Gu material that specialized in isolating sound. It was an expensive material; its price remained consistent at 2000 primeval stones a kilo.
Silence Stone was used to build soundproof rooms that defended against various investigation methods.
The ones of Shang Clan's restaurants were an example but usually they were made with a mix of other materials only the rich Gu Masters could afford a room made of pure Silence Stone showcased the obscene wealth Xue Rong possessed which was unimaginable for a rank 2 Gu Master.
After walking down the stairs the duo found an enormous room made of thick bricks of Silent Stone storing various precious Gu materials in orderly rows. At the end of the room was an ample space with some furniture and equipment perfect for refining Gu.
If anyone saw this hidden place they would think this was all the treasures Xue Rong kept hidden but they would be wrong Xue Rong had grown cautious over the years.
Xue Rong walked towards a table after injecting primeval essence a wall opened up revealing a wine cellar cellar made of regular stone it stored a great quantity and variety of top quality wines the value of such a collection reached a million primeval stones an unimaginable amount for something that in most cases was just for recreation.
But… that was not the end.
Xue Rong walked towards a corner of the room and touched the floor once again injecting primeval essence the floor opened finally revealing the true vault of Xue Rong.
There was an even bigger hidden room than the first. It was separated into 2 one storing materials and an obscene amount of primeval stones. The other was for refining Gu or cultivating without interruptions.
"We are finally here." Xue Rong sat on a chair resting his old bones and took various Gu worms, placing them on the table. "These are all yours but I'll keep some until you are ready for them."
Xue Xing looked at the 9 Relic Gu 3 of rank 1, 3 of rank 2 and 3 of rank 3 respectively and a rare rank 3 fire path Gu worm any Fire Path cultivator would kill to have quietly sitting on the table for anyone to see as if it didn't have hundreds of thousands of primeval stones worth on top of it several millions more if one included the fire path Gu worm.
Sure they were in a hidden room but the pressure was still there.
"There are a couple of liquor worms in storage. If you lend me one, I can definitely reach rank 1 peak stage, maybe even rank 2 initial stage within the year the academy lasts." Xue Xing tried to dissuade Xue Rong, mostly because she would feel more indebted than she already was. Quickly advancing might cause unnecessary problems, and Xue Xing thought it would make it harder to advance once she didn't have Relic Gu.
After all, breaking through minor realms was different from major realms; the former was about nurturing the aperture walls and the latter was about breaking the aperture walls.
Xue Rong smiled bitterly "Yes normally I would give you a liquor worm but I don't think I have much time left."
Xue Rong had a melancholic expression for a moment but quickly wiped it away and took out a rank 1 Gu worm from his aperture and placed it on the table.
"Refine this Gu and remember don't use any Gu worms that carve dao marks in your body except those that carve fire path dao marks otherwise fire origin Gu won't be as useful and might even lose its ability." Xue Rong pointed at the rare rank 3 fire path Gu worm that looked like a fireball the size of a fist inside was a cocoon the size of a finger.
"Yes, Grandpa." Xue Xing took the rank 1 Gu worm. It was from the refinement path it looked like a regular spider after taking a quick look she began refining it.
Rank 1 Refinement Web had been previously refined by Xue Rong. Xue Rong's will cooperated with Xue Xing and in a few moments it was completely hers it also became her vital Gu.
Then Xue Xing took the 3 green copper relic gu and refined them one by one using them as soon as she refined them.
Once again with the cooperation of Xue Rong's will in less than a minute, she jumped from rank 1 initial stage to rank 1 peak stage.
'Cultivation is truly almost all about resources.' Xue Xing inwardly confirmed what was mentioned in the novel.
The average A grade talent even if they worked hard would still take time to reach peak stage and yet she did it in less than half an hour.
Xue Xing could only imagine how fast her cultivation would skyrocket with her 99% aptitude and ample resources.
'Now I just need to break through to the next major realm and I'll be able to reach the peak of rank 2.' Xue Xing could already see the benefits of having a high cultivation. 'I'll be able to train my use of Gu worms faster, practice Gu refinement, and increase my attainment by doing both.'
"Don't get lazy just because you quickly increased your cultivation, you still need to break through the major realms." Xue Rong interrupted Xue Xing's thoughts believing she was in shock.
Xue Rong took a bookworm and a Jade Skin Gu from his aperture like before Xue Xing refined them in a few moments.
After a few instructions, Xue Xing activated her bookworm and information flooded her mind not only about a myriad of Gu recipes but also about the use of various Gu worms and cultivation experiences.
Xue Xing had to admit that the information she just received was like a pebble compared to the immortal inheritance she had but she was still grateful and expressed it to her grandfather.
Xue Rong waved his hand.
"Let's begin, there is no time to lose." Xue Rong didn't wait for Xue Xing to respond he placed the rank 3 fire origin Gu back in his aperture and took out a big red toad from his aperture the size of a cat and placed it on the ground.
The toad opened its small cute mouth with a glistening pink tongue where not even a fist could fit. The next moment it spewed out a huge bag the size of a cow containing egg shaped objects.
"Ribbit."
Xue Xing stared at the frog with wide eyes even after seeing that rank 3 Gu do the same thing every time Xue Rong refined Gu she still couldn't help but be surprised.
"What are we going to refine?" Xue Xing asked with unconcealed excitement. She had theoretical and even practical experience in Refinement Path but she had never refined a single Gu worm as she lacked an aperture.
"The tribe's signature Gu Fire Gale Gu." Xue Rong spoke as he pointed at the materials on the table signaling Xue Xing to start processing them.
Xue Xing started she had done it countless times before and Xue Rong, like usual, began monologuing.
"The rank 1 and 2 versions sell great outside the tribe but they won't be able to sell for a few months with the blizzard out there." Xue Rong reminisced with a little sadness in his eyes.
"As always commerce mostly stops during the blizzard things get even worse for refinement Gu masters no commerce means no resource variety and limited refinements. Thankfully I had plenty of work before the blizzard and the tribe placed an order of 100 fire gale gu for the new academy students. The tribe is also handing subsidies to the tribesmen. There is going to be much work for the refinement hall."
Xue Rong finished distributing the primeval stones into 100 portions and then he looked at Xue Xing whose hands quickly grabbed and placed back Gu materials she processed them at record time her fingers leaving afterimages behind.
'Truly a refinement genius she has just awoken her aperture and her skills are on par… maybe even surpass mine.' Xue Rong could already see the bright future her granddaughter would have if she were to reach central continent and join a sect.
'But it is too soon. Sigh, I know I've already lived a century. It is greedy of me to ask for more time but may the heavens allow it until she reaches rank 3.' Xue Rong then focused on the present.
"The tribe leader also wants to advance some of his Gu worms to rank 4 and is pressuring me for the rank 4 version of Fire Gale Gu." Xue Rong already had a hunch the tribe would go through another war.
"There is going to be a war soon. It is clear when you go to the academy don't show off in combat even the strong die in wars the same goes with refinement they are one if not the biggest assassination targets but don't overdo it the tribe wouldn't hesitate to get rid of dead weight try to not to gather attention." Xue Rong was worried and once again told the story of various assassinated geniuses.
"I promise Grandpa and about the rank 4 fire gale gu the recipe is 90 percent complete but it has reached the greatest bottleneck from all my Gu recipes. I need more resources and attempt to refine it myself for inspiration." Xue Xing lied she had finished it long ago and was even halfway done with the rank 5 version.
'Supreme talent truly was one of the best choices.' Xue Xing didn't plan to reveal any secrets to anyone no matter how much she trusted them.
She threw that thought to the back of her head and started listing Gu materials among them some were for a food path Gu worm she had desired for a long time.
Xue Rong listened closely and wrote down the materials she requested.
'A liter of Bile from a myriad beast king, the stomach of a Rock Vulture, a branch from a tree spirit.' Xue Rong raised an eyebrow some of the materials were bizarre and didn't relate to a fire path Gu, some were rare, and some couldn't be bought with money.
The first material was just a matter of money.
Rock Vultures were rare beasts with low fertility. They were only similar in strength to a thousand beast king, but they were literal goldmines to whoever possessed one.
They could eat anything, even rocks and soil. As long as their diet wasn't varied, their excrement would be top-notch Gu materials. In some cases, they could even produce materials to refine rank 5 Gu. Taking their stomach would naturally kill them; their body would have a sliver chance of being sold in an auction house once they died of natural causes but not their stomach it simply was too valuable.
As for the wood of a tree spirit, it was rare to find most were extinct but it could be solved if a Gu master completely transformed into one using a wood charm Gu but it was a rare Gu worm not to mention the resulting wood wouldn't be the same thing.
As for the death of the Gu Master? 'A slave will need to die but I wonder how long it will take to find a Wood Charm Gu.'
'Maybe she is trying to create another Gu recipe? No, most likely she is trying to embezzle funds… I've taught her well.' Xue Rong finished writing and placed the paper aside. He planned to submit the list to the refinement hall elder for approval and financing.
He knew most materials wouldn't be obtained but the tribe would still try with all their efforts no matter how out of the place the materials seemed. There was an unspoken rule of how much every tribesman was able to embezzle, not to mention 'he' had created many new gu worms from various paths in the last 15 years he benefited from the sales but naturally, the tribe benefited the most.
'If someone finds out my famous Gu recipes were created by my granddaughter who wasn't even a Gu master, where would my reputation go?' Xue Rong felt embarrassed for taking the credit his granddaughter deserved but he knew if the truth were to come out she might lose her life.
'The tribe knows I've taught her since childhood but they don't know her capabilities and naturally look down on her for being a woman. Even when she awakened an A grade aperture the elders focused more on the other A grade geniuses.' Xue Rong knew no secrets could be kept when there were more than a pair of eyes that knew them.
'I need others to think she is a pampered trash.' Xue Rong lived at almost the bottom of the food chain for a long time he knew not to trust the tribe they would backstab him if needed but he needed to compromise from time to time and know when and who thus he developed a great political evaluation over the years.
Xue Rong knew the value her granddaughter had and the advantage she could give to whoever married her.
Xue Rong was already informed by the refinement hall elder that the influential elders had made a competition among the youngsters to see which of their descendants would marry Xue Xing without her consent of course.
'It is a common fact women bring the downfall of a hero.' Xue Rong knew such competition would cause internal conflict among the youngsters and even enmity despite the culture left behind by Giant Sun Immortal Venerable. The enemy tribe naturally knew too and thus would shift the assassination attempts to the male counterparts unless she was perceived as a greater threat like having monstrous talent in refinement.
"Done." Xue Rong's thoughts were interrupted by Xue Xing who placed the processed Gu materials into 100 separate batches.
Xue Rong lent Xue Xing Fire Origin Gu and 2 Flame Gu and told her to start. He watched on the side and remained alert as she attempted her first refinement.
Xue Rong saw Xue Xing grabbing a big turtle shell the size of a cauldron and warned her. "Don't use such a complicated method in your first refinement; it is almost a guaranteed failure and backlash to your soul."
"I need to try it for myself and see how to improve it." Xue Xing's eyes shone with determination causing Xue Rong to stop knowing he couldn't dissuade her.
'Why did she have to inherit my stubbornness?' Xue Rong then said. "If you fail I will forbid you from using that method until you refine a rank 3 gu worm."
"Is that a bet? Then if I win I want to borrow a few beast strength gu worms."
Xue Rong found his granddaughter's confidence amusing but he still shook his head "We already talked about this if you add dao marks to your body other than fire path it will make Fire Origin Gu useless It will be like being stranded in the ocean a plank being in front of you but being useless as you refuse to let go of a bag of rocks."
Then he laughed thinking of a way to make her more cautious. "But what do I have to worry about? you will fail either way alright if you win not only will I allow you to cultivate strength path I'll even let you cultivate enslavement path and I swear by my name I'll get you a rank 4 enslavement gu."
Xue Rong kept laughing trying to annoy Xue Xing in a way manipulating her emotions.
'Once she fails I will point out her mistakes and correct her. After all, without pain, there is no greatness… I'm truly soft only using words. If it were my father he would beat her up till she broke a few bones… maybe not she is a woman after all' Xue Rong remembered his father's training and shivered slightly before returning to the present.
Xue Rong didn't believe Xue Xing would succeed in her first refinement attempt. Sure, she had practical experience matching his, but how could she succeed using a method that he, a refinement expert with 100 years of experience, found difficult?
'If only you knew I have non-conflicting dao marks.' Xue Xing looked at Xue Rong and already imagined a part of what went through his mind. 'Is this the drama that god likes? Daddy issues?'
"First the fire." Xue Xing focused on what was important in her journey to survival; she placed the rank 1 Flame Gu on the base of a burner situated on a stone table.
Flame Gu had the appearance of a red ant. It raised its head looking at the ceiling and Xue Xing activated it; her primeval sea immediately took a hit, falling by 5 percent.
A slender flame spewed out of the ant's mouth. It had the shape of a toothpick and the height of a hand.
Xue Xing then placed the shell of a Hundred Beast King turtle upside down on the grates of the burner and started adding the Gu materials one by one while controlling the temperature.
Xue Xing was using her own refinement method that contained food path profundity, an unexpected gain from reading the legends of Ren Zu and mixing it with the knowledge of the rank 8 food path inheritance and the concepts of totem killer moves.
While refining Xue Xing started going over what she knew, trying to see if her comprehension could increase.
'Refinement, fire, and food path share a lot of similarities. Fire Path is used in a myriad of gu recipes to various degrees. There are other refinements that don't use Fire Path like water or ice but Fire Paths is the most prevalent no matter which path the gu worm is.' Xue Xing saw the different materials fusing into one and glowing an intense red.
"Gu cultivation consists in refining, nurturing, and using Gu. Refinement Path specializes in the first. Food Path is the second in a way Fire Path is similar to Food Path it consumes to grow bigger and stronger in a sense nurturing itself."
Xue Xing casually tossed the rest of the Gu materials into the scorching turtle shell. A bubble formed on the surface and quickly grew in size and threatened to explode and throw melted fire path materials at Xue Xing.
In response, Xue Xing activated Jade Skin Gu a barrier appeared the next instant covering Xue Xing's body she grabbed the other Flame Gu and simultaneously activated Fire Origin Gu the flame was thicker, bigger, and stronger and consumed less than one percent of her primeval essence.
Xue Xing felt as if she was holding a lightsaber and trying to pierce the bubble with it but in reality, she was nurturing it through the refinement method she called melting pot merging various gu materials of lower quality into an improved version taking blood path profundity of quantity makes quality and then arranging the dao marks into the appropriate pattern by various means to create Gu Worms.
It sounded good on paper, but the refinement method was still in its early stages and thus flawed. People who used it needed Gu worms to see the dao marks, had to have high refinement path attainment to rely on their instincts, or had to take the rough approach of trying until it worked, wasting many materials in the process.
Xue Xing didn't have the appropriate Gu worms she believed she had at least master attainment in Refinement Path but it would still be difficult, and the third option would be painfully inefficient thankfully that is where one of her cheats came into play.
Xue Xing concentrated and she became able to see dao marks.
'perfect non-conflicting dao marks allow me to sense and interact with my dao marks. That god was quite generous in letting me see foreign Dao marks… I wonder why he gave me this ability he seemed a bit psychopathic maybe he is going to throw me into a mess...' Xue Xing put that thought on the back of her head and saw the faint traces of dao marks of the merged materials.
Xue Xing used Flame Gu to move the dao marks into the desired locations and tossed the primeval stones in the surroundings of the bubble.
After a few moments, the bubble grew three times bigger but was stable and only half of the lava-like materials remained.
'Now!'
Xue Xing tossed a fang at the bubble and it popped as soon as it made contact.
The lava wrapped around the fang and fire danced around the fang a few moments later the fire died down and the fang glowed with a fiery hue.
Success!
Xue Xing grabbed the Gu worm and played with it in her hands while Xue Rong stared with wide eyes. 'Why did I have to be cocky?'
Xue Xing gave the just refined Fire Gale Gu to Xue Rong and cracked her hands "1 down 99 left."
'There is 40 percent remaining!' Xue Rong looked at the skull, noting the leftover materials. 'This… I knew this refinement method could increase efficiency and save many materials, but it is so complicated it takes many attempts to see the benefits, essentially making the method useless. This is my first time seeing success on the first try. If this continues, just how much can we save?'
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