Bab 33: Collecting a set of Rank 2 Gu
Time passed, autumn ended and the winter atmosphere intensified. It was only two months before the end of the academic year.
Chi Yan sat at a low desk in his room in a seiza position, his shins resting against a soft flat pillow.
His sight was aimed in front of him, at a ball of light. As he threw in the last primeval stone, the ball of light suddenly flourished before disappearing completely.
Then a Gu worm appeared from within.
Chi Yan willed and the Gu flew over, landing on the top of his palm.
The Gu looked like an eagle's claw except it was fully made of fire.
Rank 2 Fire Claw Gu!
'Success! I finally refined this Gu!' Chi Yan felt excited as he looked down at the Gu on his palm.
Chi Yan summoned the Fire Claw Gu into his Aperture and quickly aimed to try its effect.
He made a clawing motion with his right hand, activated his new Gu, and an imprint of a claw flashed on his palm. Then there was the sound of flames blazing as in the blink of an eye a fiery claw formed in the air, shooting out of his palm and floating a meter away from his hand.
The fiery claw did not have an 'arm' and instead looked like an eagle's claw with three sharp digits, being fully made from orange-red flames. It was quite large, twice as big as an adult's hand, large enough to claw apart even the biggest human head.
As Chi Yan gently waved his hand and controlled the Gu, the fiery claw followed, flying and scratching the air. Feeling the scorching hot temperature in the air, Chi Yan was satisfied with the effect.
Nodding, Chi Yan thought, 'Great, I planned this Gu to be my main close range attack for now. Now let's try the maximum range.'
Following that, Chi Yan recalled the Fire Claw Gu and quickly went to the Chi family's training room.
Within the training area, Chi Yan activated the Fire Claw once again.
As a result, the claw of fire shot out of his palm in an instant and then flew straight in the air as far as it could.
Chi Yan nodded. 'Good, the maximum range it extends to is up to around six meters. In reality this is a great reach for a melee method!'
The Fire Claw Gu at Rank 2 should only have a reach of around 4 meters up to 4,5 meters. The reason that Chi Yan's fire claw could extend up to 6 meters was because of the amplification of his Extreme Physique.
'At this moment I'm only at Rank 2 initial stage, so as my cultivation increases, the amplification of my Extreme Physique should also get stronger along with the strength of my Fire Claw Gu. At that time the size, strength, speed and reach of the fire claw will also increase.'
Wishing to test something, Chi Yan then activated a Rank 1 Enlarge Gu together with the Fire Claw Gu.
At that time, the entire Fiery Claw grew in size by around 20%, the intensity of the flames also seemed to increase, but the maximum range didn't appear to have changed.
Unfortunately the Enlarge Gu he owns is only a Rank 1 Gu and it has a limited effect on Rank 2 Gu worms. If it was a Rank 2 Enlarge Gu, then the fire claw might have even tripled in size, becoming a humongous fiery claw of doom; naturally the primeval essence cost would have tripled as well.
Chi Yan recalled the Fiery Claw. He then walked toward one of the grass puppets inside the room.
From a range of a few meters, Chi Yan made a clawing motion with his hand at the puppet.
A fiery claw shot out from his palm, shot through the air for around five meters and then clawed across the Grass Puppet like a fiery claw of death. Before the claw even physically reached the puppet, the intense heat coming off of it decimated the puppet's body in its entirety, burning it to ash.
The effect looked spectacular.
Chi Yan then spent some time testing the Fire Claw Gu. Unlike a Moonblade or a Fire Pellet, the claw lingered in the air and could be manipulated, flying after the enemy at a great speed. Its summon speed was also quick.
After twenty minutes of practice Chi Yan had a number of other findings.
This Rank 2 Fiery Claw seemed like a very powerful and quick Gu, also having good maximum range and maneuverability, but it also had a few huge weaknesses.
Chi Yan analyzed, 'The main and biggest weakness is that the Fire Claw itself is an extension of Fire Claw Gu. Thanks to that it can be manipulated and change directions, but it also means that the Gu itself can get damaged and destroyed once the fiery claw is fully extinguished.'
Sending out a Gu worm itself to attack was a fatal weakness for a mortal Gu Master! Chi Yan had already done some research before and because of it didn't make a Gu worm like Fire Claw Gu his Vital Gu. If the Fire Claw suffered damage or was destroyed in combat, then he would receive a great backlash himself. It would be a very dumb move.
'Another point is that the fire claw has a low primeval essence maintenance and manipulation cost, but a considerable amount is consumed each time it performs an attack. On each contact the intensity of the flames of the fire claw diminishes, even when the claw strikes the ground or a tree. Then the Gu Master must pour in primeval essence into Fire Claw Gu for the fire claw to recover its full strength.'
'The weakness of it is that each time the fire claw suffers damage from the enemy's attacks, it would also weaken and rapidly drain the Gu Master's primeval essence if he wants to maintain it.'
Thus the best way to deal with a Fire Claw would be to maintain distance and bombard it with powerful attacks, greatly draining the opponent's primeval essence or even destroying the Fire Claw Gu if the opponent didn't infuse enough primeval essence into it to maintain it.
Eventually, using this tactic would at least force the Fire Claw user to summon back his Fire Claw Gu.
This was also a huge weakness. For normal people, if the opponent knows these weaknesses well and can maintain a distance larger than the claw's reach, then the Fire Claw Gu would mostly be useful as a form of sneak attack or close-range trump card.
However, Chi Yan wasn't too worried about the primeval essence drain, as it didn't concern him too much. With his Extreme Physique primeval essence consumption shouldn't be a problem for him.
Chi Yan laughed and nodded. 'These are huge weaknesses indeed. But that's only if the enemy actually knows about these weaknesses and can use them well, actually being successful at maintaining a long-range distance and striking the Fire Claw with enough power. And even despite these weaknesses, I still believe that Fire Claw Gu is a powerful Gu that will have a place in my arsenal.'
Chi Yan felt that with Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance Extreme Physique the Fire Claw Gu was great to have. He would destroy his enemies with overwhelming offense and speed! And he could always quickly replenish the flames of the fire claw or call it back.
Chi Yan sighed. 'Unfortunately I don't have access to the recipe of a Rank 3 Fire Claw Gu. Rank 2 will be the limit for this Gu for now. Next I need to refine a Rank 2 Fire Snake Gu and later advance it to Rank 3 - it would be my main versatile weapon. In addition, if I manage to refine one more Rank 2 Fire Claw Gu, then I can fuse two of them into the Fire Snake Gu to display a portion of might of a clawed Rank 4 Fire Dragon Gu, similar to what Yan Tu on Shang clan's battle should be doing.'
It was a powerful combination move that he knew thanks to the novel, so he naturally planned to use it.
When it came to the Fire Snake Gu, it had a similar weakness as Fire Claw Gu, because the fire snake it forms is an extension of the Fire Snake Gu. The differences were that the Fire Snake extended all the way from the user's body for a dozen meters, having more mass, higher range and being more versatile. Usually a Gu Master would also have the Fire Snake emerge from his nostrils to manipulate it, freeing both his hands.
Fire Snake Gu, Fire Arrow Gu, Fire Pellet Gu and Fire Cloak Gu - the recipes of these four Gu up to Rank 3 were widely spread and Chi Yan planned to refine these three in the future.
As for Rank 4 recipes, these were really difficult to get.
Manipulating fire snakes was not really the fighting method that Chi Yan wanted to develop, but he quickly realized that while he was still here on the Qing Mao Mountain he had very limited access to fire type Gu worms and recipes, along with Gu Materials and Gu food.
The Gu Yue village was simply too poor and too isolated, a backwater place where even Black Boar Gu or White Jade Gu was a luxury, whereas Fire Path was not a very popular cultivation direction. Chi Yan was not surprised that Fang Yuan wanted to quickly leave after reaching Rank 3.
For the time being Chi Yan could only try his best to build a powerful set of the best Gu he could actually get his hands on and not search for fancy things. It's only once he gets to Shang Clan city that he can truly experiment and aim to build his ideal and unique combat style.
Though despite the limited resources, Chi Yan believed that his set would still be far more powerful than that of any Rank 3 Gu Masters here, including Bai Ning Bing.
More importantly, as the wolf tide begins, there would be a lot of Lightning Path Gu worms on the bodies of the Lightning Wolf beast kings that he could use to compliment his set!
After playing with the Fire Claw Gu a little more, Chi Yan dispersed the claw and looked into his Aperture.
These last few weeks he had made many attempts at refining Rank 2 Gu and refined many of them.
Not only did Chi Yan want to complete a set of Rank 2 Gu, but practicing refinement, both succeeding and failing, was a great way for him to strengthen his soul.
With a stronger soul a Gu Master has more mental energy and is able to activate and control more Gu worms at the same time, thus Chi Yan put great focus on his soul cultivation. Instead of asking for the help of someone more skilled in refinement, he frequently practiced refinement on his own every few days once his soul fully recovered and when his Gu worm materials also recovered after the previous failed attempts.
Chi Yan took a look at his current Gu worm set.
At Rank 2 he had: Fire Claw Gu and Double Orifice Charcoal Gu for close and mid-range attack, Fire Pellet Gu to restrict opponents at range and to shoot out projectiles in large quantities, Fire Arrow Gu, refined from his Vital Gu, as his ranged trump card. And then there was also Fire Cloak Gu for defense.
These Gu were all refined by Chi Yan himself.
Upon seeing how shockingly talented Chi Yan was in controlling so many new Gu and how successful he actually was in refinement of his Rank 2 Gu, Gu Yue Chi Lian was quite generous and helpful when it came to completing Chi Yan's Gu worm set.
Gu Yue Chi Lian wouldn't allow Chi Yan to take whatever he wanted from the family warehouse freely without consultation, but when Chi Yan asked for something, Chi Lian would always agree after questioning the reason.
Furthermore, Chi Yan promised that if Chi Lian was apprehensive, then he would pay back for any materials he takes out when the wolf tide begins and he goes out to hunt lightning wolves and lightning wolf beast kings, even willing to write a loan recipe, so perhaps that also played a role.
Chi Yan was once again secretly grateful that he didn't transmigrate into the Mo family. If he was actually Gu Yue Mo Bei instead, then he expected that he surely wouldn't have received as much support from Gu Yue Mo Chen, being left on his own.
Apart from the Gu that Chi Yan refined, Clearing Heat Gu was now his main Rank 2 healing Gu. Although this Gu specialized in detoxifying poison, its healing ability was still better than that of common healing Gu worms that Gu Masters on Qing Mao Mountain used.
Clearing Heat Gu was also extremely easy to nurture, as it fed on the Gu Master's internal body heat, so Chi Yan came in favor of keeping it.
Chi Yan now also possessed Rank 2 Blood Essence Gu which replaced his Yellow Camel Longhorn Beetle Gu. He used Lightning Step Gu for movement, Wolf Eye Gu for scouting and Clam Shell Gu for storage.
These four Rank 2 Gu were taken out from the Chi family's warehouse.
In addition Chi Yan still owned the Shadow Follower Gu as a concealment type Gu. Because even Wang Da was able to nurture it in the wild, it was naturally easy to feed and didn't cost him anything.
As for Rank 1 Gu, Chi Chang had: Enlarge Gu, Whirlwind Gu and Orange Fire Gu as supplementary Gu. And then there was also Bookworm and Jade Skin Gu.
For this kind of Gu worm set, most veteran Rank 2 Gu Masters wouldn't get to this point in their entire lives!
'This set is already great! Once I fully master it in real combat, I will be really really strong. At this moment in time most other students my age only own two Gu worms. It's only thanks to my Extreme Physique's natural talent for using Gu, rapid primeval essence recovery and high cultivation that I can have so many Gu worms without being overwhelmed. Now that I acquired Fire Claw Gu, after sparring with Chi Lian and Fang Yuan so much, I believe that I'm already one of the strongest Rank 2 Gu Masters on Qing Mao Mountain. Even if I fought against Chi Shan or Xiong Li, I might not lose. Even if I lack experience, my Gu worms are just too strong.'
'When it comes to my set, my movement Gu is great. Only my scouting Gu and storage Gu are average and could use replacement in the future, but they are not bad at all.'
'Fire Cloak Gu isn't a strong Gu defensively, weaker than White Jade Gu, but thanks to the amplification of my physique it will still be more powerful than Moonveil Gu, White Jade Gu and Water Shield Gu, and I also know the recipes to advance it to Rank 3.'
'If there are some things that I lack in my set right now then that would definitely be the Rank 2 Fire Snake Gu. It was supposed to be my main fighting method that would make me a more versatile fighter than if I only possessed Fire Claw Gu, because Fire Claw Gu is more of a trump card against a single enemy. Unfortunately I repeatedly failed in refining Fire Snake Gu these days, so I can only try again.'
'One more thing is that I now lack a Rank 1 Fire Pellet Gu that I could use in the year-end exam.'
To refine all of the Fire type Gu worm that Chi Yan now possessed, he used up many Red Fire Gu, Orange Fire Gu, Yellow Fire Gu, four Fire Pellet Gu and a large amount of other Gu materials that were in the possession of the Chi family, including what was especially bought during the last caravan. Gu Yue Chi Lian also acquired some more for him by utilizing his connections.
'I have really used up a lot of materials to refine my Gu set. There are now barely any Fire Path materials left in the Chi family's warehouse for me to use on the Rank 2 Fire Snake Gu. At this point, with how many Gu worms I already possess, Gu Yue Chi Lian is slowly becoming apprehensive about allowing me to refine more Gu. It seems like I need to acquire these materials on my own.'
'There is still one more Orange Fire Gu that I have on me, so right now to refine a Rank 2 Fire Snake Gu I only lack one Red Fire Gu if I don't fail. To refine the second Fire Claw Gu I lack at least one more Red Fire Gu and one Orange Fire Gu. I also need one Rank 1 Fire Pellet Gu to not bully others during the year-end exam and to use as a cheap spammable attack.'
At this moment Chi Yan wasn't in a hurry to refine more Gu, it's just the Fire Snake Gu was the only one he really needed. His plan was to reach Rank 2 middle stage as soon as possible and use his current set to practice with it when his primeval sea is full and overflowing.
Even with Chi Yan's amazing primeval essence regeneration and Aperture limit, Rank 2 initial stage primeval essence reserves were very insufficient to display the true strength of a Rank 2 Gu worm set, so raising cultivation first was also very important.
However, since Fire Snake Gu would be his main active fighting method, he naturally couldn't miss out on having his core Gu as he gains proficiency with his Gu set.
Having made up his mind, Chi Yan planned to quickly refine Fire Snake Gu and then in the future another Fire Claw Gu, improving his refinement ability and soul strength. Then he might think of refining some other Rank 2 Gu that might be useful in his killer moves.
He now needed to acquire at least one Red Fire Gu and one Fire Pellet Gu. To also refine the second Fire Claw Gu he needed one more Red Fire Gu and one more Orange Fire Gu. If some of the Gu died during refinement, then he would need even more materials.
Fire Pellet Gu was the most popular fireball attacking type Gu in the entire Gu world and was also a Gu refinement ingredient in many recipes, being very common. The Red and Orange Fire Gu were even more common, often used in refinement.
However, although normally common, these Gu were not that common on Qing Mao Mountain. Chi Yan couldn't simply go to a store on the street and buy them. He needed to have some connections.
'But if I want to acquire these at this time myself then it isn't impossible. Although the clan leader faction and the Mo faction would not want to trade them with the Chi faction easily, they definitely have some. With a little plotting, I can easily get them,' Chi Yan thought.
******
Chi Yan's current Gu set:
Rank 2: Fire Claw Gu, Double Aperture Charcoal Gu, Fire Pellet Gu, Fire Arrow Gu, Fire Cloak Gu, Lightning Step Gu, Blood Essence Gu, Clear Heat Gu, Wolf Eye Gu, Clam Shell Gu and Shadow Follower Gu.
Rank 1: Enlarge Gu, Whirlwind Gu, Orange Fire Gu, Bookworm and Jade Skin Gu.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone