Chapter 275: Strength Path and Ice Path Translator: ChibiGeneral Editor: ChibiGeneral Nurture, use and refinement, those were the three aspects of a Gu Master’s cultivation. No matter which aspect, they were extremely profound, and each contained knowledge that was wide as the sea. Many people spent their entire lives without venturing fully into one of them. "Please advise me brother Wei." At the feast, Fang Yuan cupped his fists. "We hit it off so well, I shall not beat around the bush." Wei Yang cleared his throat, before officially teaching: "From the general aspect, Gu Masters are split into nine ranks, rank one to five are mortal, while six to nine are immortal. Among ten million Gu Masters, not even one might become an immortal. It is too tough to become one, even recognised geniuses may not reach it. But let’s not talk about immortals, but focus on mortals." "The five mortal ranks, rank one and two are beginners, and rank four to five are a high level fighting force. Rank three is in the middle, it is what connects the two. By this point, both of you are already full-fledged Gu Masters, rank three is the most important stage, because here, you will build upon your foundations, and choose the right direction to advance, it will definitely result in a better future for you." "By rank three, a Gu Master’s strength is already a force to be reckoned with. In many villages, rank three are clan elders. At this stage, the Gu Master has to determine the direction they want to go, and create a set of Gu worms along that line. If you want to be a support Gu Master, your Gu worms will be mainly storage type. If you want to be an investigative Gu Master, the core of your Gu worms will be investigative types. If you want a future in Gu refinement, you can choose to work on existing recipes to create your own new recipe. If someone likes to plot, they can collect thinking-assist type Gu worms, like the lightning thoughts Gu or the immortal showing the way Gu." Wei Yang introduced again. The so called direction refers to attack, defense, healing, storage, movement, and investigative, the six aspects. Healing Gu Masters were known as doctors, having a grand status. Storage Gu Masters were support Gu masters, every force and clan needed them. Wei Yang was a movement type Gu Master, his core Gu worm was the rainbow light Gu. Of course, other than these six, there were other smaller branches. Like a Gu Master specializing in substitute refinement, they had Gu worms that increased refinement speed or helped to weaken the Gu worm’s will. Or maybe those Gu Masters who specialized in catching Gu, they were good at finding and capturing wild Gu worms. All in all, by rank three, Gu masters would have started to classify into their specific classes, and they become more specialized, becoming an expert in one domain. Saying so, Wei Yang paused, then looked at Fang and Bai, asking: "Have both of you thought about your advancement direction?" "Attack." Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing said at the same time with no hesitation. The two were focused on attack, they had an inborn fighting nature, and could not be easily subdued. Wei Yang nodded, not surprised at all, he had seen many people, and could guess their choices. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂 He continued: "Then next, you have to choose Gu worms, and form a set, a group of Gu worms that chains into one system." Forming a set of Gu worms had many benefits. Firstly, in terms of feeding, similar Gu worms had similar requirement for food, it was easier to collect, store and trade for these food. Next, in terms of use, Gu worms could be used together and increase their ability or cover up their weaknesses. For example: Wei Yang’s rainbow light Gu had great expenditure issues, but using the light source Gu, it reduced the weakness. Lastly, in terms of refinement, placing similar Gu worms together to refine them into higher ranks, it not only saves money, but also has higher chances of success compared to refining an array of Gu worms. "Both of you chose attack, then without doubt, an attack type Gu will have to be your core. Other Gu worms will have to support this core. Take for example Little Xiao, he chose the red fire Gu as his main attack method, then I advised him to use the duplicate Gu, to increase the number of his flames. I next chose the enlarge Gu, causing the flame to enlarge in size and become stronger. After that, I chose the fire source Gu, to reduce his primeval essence expenditure. Lastly, I chose the fire discharge Gu, as his movement type Gu." Wei Yang patted Xiao Yan’s shoulders as he said. Xiao Yan purposely showed a bitter expression: "Big brother Wei, you dug up all my secrets." Wei Yang did not mind it: "Haha, your secrets are well known to everyone. Among the people in the battle stage now, who does not know what Gu you own?" Wei Yang then turned to Fang Yuan: "It is no matter even if your Gu worms are exposed; as long as you pair it well, you can deal with all situations. Your core Gu worm is the foundation of the entire set. Have you thought of what attack type Gu worms you want to use as your core?" Fang Yuan clenched his fist: "Before this, i have already used many Gu to raise my strength. Strength is my advantage, I want to continue on it, and crush my foes with overwhelming strength." Bai Ning Bing said the name of a Gu: "Frost demon Gu." Speaking of which, Bai Ning Bing had a rank three frost demon Gu in the past, it allowed the Gu Master to turn into the frost demon, Bai Ning Bing had a great compatibility with it. But during the battle with Gu Yue Qing Shu, it was destroyed. This caused Bai Ning Bing to still have lingering emotions towards the Gu. Wei Yang heard this and frowned: "You want to go on the strength path and ice path... For ice path, the advantage lies in defense. Frost demon Gu, snow fairy Gu, ice crystal Gu, these are the three most famous transformation type Gu. Frost demon Gu and snow fairy Gu are for women, while ice crystal Gu is more suited for men." "As for Fang Zheng’s strength path..." Wei Yang shook his head: "I’m not trying to discourage you, but this would not work. The strength path is the most common route people choose, why is that? Because it is cheap and affordable, most of the Gu related to the strength path are cheap, but because of this, the Gu Masters do not stand out and are very ordinary." "I’ll tell you the truth, I tried the strength path in the past, but wasted a lot of primeval stones later to remove the increased strength in my body. Most demonic Gu Masters lack resources, and use the strength path as a stepping stone. But brother Fang Zheng, you have the purple thorn token and hundreds of thousands of primeval stones, you do not have to take this narrow path, the strength path makes it hard to succeed in life!" Hearing Wei Yang’s words, Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing looked at each other, nodding. Wei Yang smiled, he did not waste his efforts. Xiao Yan laughed too: "After hearing brother Wei’s words, I have gained much insight as well." "Brother Wei makes sense, but I still want to walk on the strength path." Fang Yuan cupped his fist. "Yes, I have decided to give up on the frost demon Gu, and choose the ice crystal Gu!" Beside him, Bai Ning Bing also made her decision. "Huh..." Wei Yang’s smile froze on his face. "Hey, hey, hey, did you listen to what he said at all." Xiao Yan shouted. Bai Ning Bing smiled as determination shone across her eyes. Precisely because the ice crystal Gu is suited for males, that is why I chose it, heh. Fang Yuan rubbed his nose: "I am thankful to brother Wei for the advice, but I still like the strength path. Others might not achieve success out of it, but if I can, doesn’t that show my superiority? Hahaha, challenges lie in difficulty, and there is only a sense of accomplishment if there is a challenge. I was hesitant before, but now that brother Wei has said it, I am definitely choosing this!" Choosing the strength path was part of Fang Yuan’s plans; it involves the three kings inheritance in a few years. Of course, he cannot mention that to anyone. "You two..." Xiao Yan stared in a daze, unsure of what to say. "This... you have to reconsider, this is not a joke!" Wei Yang’s expression was solemn, his tone was anxious, he did not expect his heartfelt advice to work in the opposite direction. "No need to say anything else brother Wei, paths are made by men, my decision is final. Hahaha, let’s continue drinking." Fang Yuan said, showing his determination, causing Wei Yang to swallow his words. "Sigh..." Wei Yang lifted his glass helplessly, but swore in his heart, that he had to convince them otherwise. Especially this Fang Zheng, he was truly messing around! Treating his future as a game, he should not do this. At this rate, it would put his superior aptitude to waste! Wei Yang really could not stand it. He had to quickly adjust Fang Zheng’s mindset, this was a future star that the clan leader wanted to recruit. After the banquet ended, and the nagging Wei Yang left together with Xiao Yan, Fang and Bai arrived at the Gu shop. After showing their purple thorn token, Bai Ning Bing spent twenty-eight thousand primeval stones and bought the rank three ice crystal Gu. Fang Yuan chose a rank two brown bear innate strength Gu, spending four thousand one hundred primeval stones. "You really intend to make the ice crystal Gu your vital Gu?" Out of the shop, Fang Yuan frowned and asked. Bai Ning Bing knew what he truly meant, she was rank three peak stage, if she advanced further, it would be rank four realm. She can totally purchase a rank four Gu worm in advance instead. But Bai Ning Bing shook her head, her expression grim: "I do not intend to advance to rank four, just yesterday, I found that my aptitude rose by one percent again." The northern dark ice soul physique was a curse coiling around Bai Ning Bing. As she continued to cultivate, Bai Ning Bing’s aptitude would eventually return to a hundred percent, regaining the ten extreme physique status. Thus, she would rather give up on advancing. Rank four yellow gold primeval essence had better quality than white silver primeval essence, it could nurture the aperture better and would cause Bai Ning Bing"s aptitude to recover more quickly. Fang Yuan’s steps halted: "Is that so, in that case, you can’t live without the Yang Gu in my hands. Hehehe, maybe you can go to Feng Yu Manor and ask them. They specialize in selling information, they might have what you need." "You are not going with me?" Bai Ning Bing stopped, looking at Fang Yuan. "I am going to walk around the gambling den." Fang Yuan laughed. "Alright." Seeing Bai Ning Bing walk away, Fang Yuan’s smile vanished. He returned to the shop: "Shopkeeper, I forgot to buy some things earlier, do you have them?" He gave a list. Shopkeeper did not dare to make a purple thorn token owner wait, he quickly looked at the list and nodded: "Yes esteemed guest, we have them all." "Good, prepare one portion for me, immediately!" "Yes, yes, yes." A moment later, he walked out of the backdoor of the shop, and went into another path, going to a lower level and arriving at the gambling den. "Now then, let me see that sealed legendary Gu fossil." Moving according to his memories, Fang Yuan entered an extravagant gambling den. Translator’s Thoughts ChibiGeneral ChibiGeneral A truly helpful lesson.