Chapter 98: Difficulty of refining Gu Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow "What? That lad, he’s a Rank two Gu Master now, and even applied for the asset-splitting mission from the internal affairs hall!" Uncle Gu Yue Dong Tu’s furious and shocked voice reverbed throughout the main hall. "That is indeed so. Although I accepted your primeval stones, I cannot do much to stop him, I only managed to tell him to collect the mission in three days. I can only stall that long for you, that is my limit." The middle-aged Gu Master beside him said. Gu Yue Dong Tu snorted in his heart, he could sense the hidden meaning in the internal affairs hall’s Gu Master’s words. ‘Stall for three days, it is the limit’, such words were merely an excuse to extort even more money. "But, top priority now is still to do all I can to retain the assets. This rascal is really too troubling!" Gu Yue Dong Tu’s sweat poured from his forehead as Fang Yuan’s growth was so rapid it gave him the feeling of a heart attack. "I came here especially to tell you this, so I’ll take my leave now." The middle-aged man stood up to depart. "Don’t be in such a rush, brother. There are some things I still need for you to assist me a little with." Gu Yue Dong Tu hurriedly stood up, retrieving a money bag and stuffing it into the middle-aged Gu Master’s hand. The male Gu Master took the entire bag of primeval stones and stuffed it into his chest pocket, his tone quickly changing, laughing loudly. "Brother Dong Tu, you are too polite. We have such a great relationship, we’ve known each other for over ten years. Don’t worry, I will prepare the toughest mission for Fang Yuan, but he might employ other Gu Masters to help him. You have to watch out for this." "Hehehe, you can be rest assured. Although I have retired, I still have my relationships, I’ve sent people to observe him. If that lad employs outsiders, that is against the clan rules, and I am still waiting to get a hold of his weakness. Hehe..." "Then I am at ease, goodbye." "Let me send you out." "It is okay, please stay." Gu Yue Dong Tu stared at the leaving Gu Master, his smile slowly collapsing. "This Fang Yuan, he is only C grade, how can he advance to Rank two so soon?! Dammit, what were Jiao San and the others doing! Can’t even guard against a newbie." "Sigh, now Jiao San and the team were all killed by the beast horde, what incompetent fools. Fang Yuan also advanced to Rank two, this way he can definitely receive the family asset mission. My previous methods to block him will no longer work. But he is now working alone, and aiming to complete the asset inheritance mission alone is really difficult." "No! This lad’s luck is absurd, first I got Jiao San and the rest to suppress him, and immediately the beast horde came. If he relies on this luck again and completes the mission, what then? I have to prepare for the worst!" An old sly fox, Gu Yue Dong Tu being able to enter and leave the fighting life peacefully and live up until now, it represented success already. Compared to the newly independent Fang Yuan, his interpersonal relationships were much stronger. "Collecting honey wine?" When Fang Yuan received the asset mission, his eyes shone with cold glimmer. This mission was very troublesome, it was to collect five Liang(1) of golden bee’s honey wine. Golden bees were all fist-sized with gold and black stripes, and they had a sharp stinger packed with a strong attack. That was not all. Among normal small hives, there was only honey. Only those large or medium hives had the precious honey wine made from a large accumulation of honey. "This mission, even for a five-man group, is very difficult. Because the number of people no longer matter, the Gu Master collecting honey wine has to have a defensive-type Gu to withstand the stings. It seems that uncle’s relationship has struck and is bullying my lack of a defensive Gu worm. Unfortunately for him... " Fang Yuan laughed coldly in his heart. At this point, it showed the inherent benefits of the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance. Easy to do things secretly, difficult to do things openly. The more one worked openly, the more their trump cards get revealed, and they become easier to trap. Conversely, working secretly helps to hide trump cards and lets others be unable to assess your situation, thus not being able to nip the problem in the bud. "But, if I want to collect honey wine, the Jade Skin Gu isn’t enough. Jade Skin Gu is only a Rank one Gu, but if it can advance to the Rank two White Jade Gu, I would be able to do it easily." WIthout the need to attempt to take risks, his rich life experience allowed him to take less pointless steps. Speaking of which, Fang Yuan is already a Rank two initial stage Gu Master, but the Gu worms on him, other than the Spring Autumn Cicada, were all Rank one Gu worms. This situation is like a grown man who is able to wield a halberd only holding a small dagger. The dagger is unable to display the full extent of the man’s strength, and only with a halberd is it the most suitable. Fang Yuan had seven Gu worms in his possession. The vital Gu Spring Autumn Cicada, Moonlight Gu, Liquor worm, White Boar Gu, Jade Skin Gu and two Little Light Gu. In this mix, the Moonlight Gu can fuse with the two Little Light Gu to form the Moonglow Gu. The White Boar Gu and Jade Skin Gu can fuse into White Jade Gu. Moonglow Gu represents a surge in attack power, while White Jade Gu is an increase in defense. If Fang Yuan had enough primeval stones, he would choose to refine them both. But not long ago, in order to push his cultivation to Rank two, he expended most of his primeval stones. Now, with the primeval stones on hand, it was only enough for one use. "Undoubtedly, choosing to refine the White Jade Gu is a better choice. With the White Jade Gu, I can retrieve the honey wine. And with the White Jade Gu, I can advance better in the Flower Wine Monk’s inheritance. But if this fusion fails, the results will be dire. My finances are on the brink of collapse, so without the White Jade Gu, I cannot get my parent’s assets. Stuck at this point, it will greatly slow my growth." Fang Yuan felt a subtle pressure. He knew that he was at a crossroad, and if this fusion succeeds, the future is bright. If he fails, then he would fall into the abyss. To get back to the current point, he would need even more effort in management and spend a longer time. ...... "Gu Masters use their primeval sea as the base, and Gu worms as the method. Gu is a Gu Master’s necessity, without Gu they are not Gu Masters. Other than their own cultivation, Gu Masters also have to refine, nurture and use Gu." In the room, clan leader Gu Yue Bo meticulously explained to Fang Zheng. "Refine, nurture, and use. These three aspects, whichever one is also a huge knowledge trove. Even if you spend an entire lifetime, you cannot completely finish it. On the aspect of refining Gu, you already know how to refine a Gu and make it yours. But this is only a single refinement. There is also the more important aspect of fusion. "Through fusion, you can fuse multiple Gu worms into one with a higher rank. This is the evolution of life. Fang Zheng, you are already a Rank two Gu Master, but your Gu worms are all Rank one. It is time you refine a Rank two Gu worm." Fang Zheng asked, "Clan leader, how do I do fusion?" Gu Yue Bo said, "To fuse, you have to know the recipe. Some Gu worms cannot be fused together. Through many eons of trial and error, and endless failures, our ancestors have come up with several recipes. Our Gu Yue clan has the most in-depth research with the Moonlight Gu, and we now have two Rank five recipes on hand." "What is a Rank five recipe?" "In accordance to this recipe, through multiple fusions, one can finally refine up to a Rank five Gu worm. Fang Zheng, you have one Jade Skin Gu and a Moonlight Gu on hand, it satisfies the condition for one of the Rank five recipes. If you follow this recipe, you will get the Rank five Gu eventually — Moonlight Treasure King Gu!" "Moonlight Treasure King Gu?" Fang Zheng’s face was full of desire. "Hehehe, telling you about a Rank five Gu now is still too early. Come, take out your Jade Skin and Moonlight Gu, I’ll teach you how to fuse these two Gu into the Rank two Moon Raiment!" Saying so, Gu Yue Bo’s expression turned solemn, "The most important thing about fusing Gu is parallel thinking, fusing your consciousness. The Moonlight Gu and Jade Skin Gu in your hands now have no wild consciousness anymore, overwritten by your own consciousness. What you have to do now is to fuse these two thoughts together." "Fuse together?" Fang Zheng blinked, confused. Gu Yue Bo smiled, "No worries, practise more, you will be able to grab hold of this feeling. Let’s begin." "Mm." Fang Zheng nodded, and under Gu Yue Bo’s guidance, his light red-coloured red steel primeval essence rose like smoke, enveloping the Jade Skin Gu and the Moonlight Gu in midair. Fang Zheng shut his eyes, feeling and manipulating the two Gu worm’s consciousness. Gu Yue Bo was outside watching, and saw the Jade Skin Gu and Moonlight Gu circling each other like two planets. As the consciousness fused, the distance between the two Gu worms shortened. After three hours of continuous tries, their consciousness was finally controlled by Fang Zheng, and fused together perfectly. At once, the Jade Skin Gu and Moonlight Gu both erupted in a bright white light. The two lights linked together, forming a lump as big as a face. "Maintain this condition, and throw primeval stones into the light." Gu Yue Bo advised. Fang Zheng took out a primeval stone and threw it into the light. Strangely, after throwing the primeval stones in, the stones turned into a surge of pure natural essence, completely fusing with the lump of light. Only rock powder remained, scattering on the bed. "Continue throwing until the Rank two Gu is complete." Gu Yue Bo said. Fang Zheng was about to throw a second piece, but at this point, the light disappeared, and the two Gu flew in two opposite directions like they were pushed away ruthlessly by each other. The fusion failed. "Damn, I forgot to maintain the fusion of the consciousness earlier." Fang Zheng immediately realized his mistake. "No worries, failing at the start is normal." Gu Yue Bo consoled, but reminded, "But be careful, you cannot fail too many times, if not both the Moonlight and Jade Skin Gu will perish." Fang Zheng recalled back the Jade Skin Gu and Moonlight Gu, and found cracks on the Moonlight Gu’s surface, while the Jade Skin Gu looked like it was weakened. His heart sank, feeling the difficulty of refining Gu. (1) Liang - one Liang is 31.25grams. (2) So to make it clear just in case: 炼蛊 - refine Gu, 合炼蛊 - fusion/fusing Gu. Fusion is part of the process of refining a Gu.