The reverence towards his master couldn't be greater in Old Man Desolate's heart as he watched different variant humans live together without an ounce of hostility towards each other. The stubborn hairy men did not trouble the arrogant snow men. The noble minimen lived harmoniously with tribes of mushroommen and boasted a great relationship with the witches of the latter's tribes. Mermen lived in the aquatic depths while the freedom-seeking feathermen held no rebellious thoughts. Inkmen and rockmen also lived peacefully. The former cultivated information and qi paths while the latter dug into the ground and worked tirelessly without any complaints. The only species of variant humans not present in Immemorial Desolate Grotto-Heaven were the near-extinct beastmen.
'Master's gu worms and killer moves are amazing. He already discovered so many methods from the mysterious human path. Not even feathermen posed any problems! We can enslave them all… ah, no. This is not slavery. Master says he just gave their lives new meaning.'
'Meaning… it's just like <
Old Man Desolate observed a gu worm in his small and rough hand. It didn't look like an insect but a venomous snake instead. However, the worm-sized, dark-green snake lay dormant and coiled atop Old Man's hand, entirely unmoved.
Rank 5 Meaning Gu.
Lo Jik had spent a lot of resources developing ways to put variant humans in his control because he understood the sheer advantage of maintaining several variant humans' groups in a blessed land's development. All variant humans were born with certain dao marks and influenced their surroundings.
For instance, minimen were natural born farmers due to the wood path dao marks on their bodies since their births. Their surroundings would thrive and grow plants and flowers alike.
As such, he first developed rank 3 Leader and Follower Gu. It was used in the killer move Follow the Leader to manipulate variant humans who had yet to awaken their apertures. Of course, it could not replace Slavery Gu. The affected variant humans or humans could still refuse to acknowledge the user's words if it went against their true instincts.
Lo Jik had also refined Descendant Gu around the same time and deduced a human path killer move Descendant's Debt Trap. This killer move used Descendant Gu alongside Leader and Follower Gu to perfectly enslave a gu master who used Descendant Gu to increase their lifespan. This, however, did not influence any gu immortals.
Only after comprehending some secrets from <<>> did Lo Jik deduce recipes for more useful gu worms like Self Chant and Meaning!
Self Chant Gu was already amazing enough for Lo Jik and bypassed almost all information path restrictions. Meanwhile, Meaning Gu was Lo Jik's most recent and reliable answer of mimicking enslavement path's Slavery Gu through human path.
When used alone, it thoroughly changed the target's mindset similar to how Vital Human killer move fucked over Hu Mei Er's mind. Different from the effects of vital human, Meaning Gu ensured the target followed Lo Jik's words to a T. His instructions became the target's sole reason to exist! So, where Hu Mei Er could still defy Lo Jik's words if she held his best interest in her heart, the targets affected by Meaning Gu were reduced to mere tools.
Qing Lao was the best example.
Lo Jik had used Meaning Gu on the inner disciple as he disguised its use during the gu refinement process. In fact, the act of spending so many resources to attract gu masters to refine for him was not only to sow the seeds of his faction in Spirit Affinity House but to also control Qing Lao and use him to inherit Immemorial Desolate Grotto-Heaven.
All things considered, Lo Jik earned unimaginable profits!
Now, Lo Jik left Meaning Gu and the subsequent killer move Meaning of Life with Old Man Desolate to purchase several variant humans in Treasure Yellow Heaven and make them live harmoniously.
'While not as perfect as Slavery Gu, Meaning Gu has its advantage. Its greatest strength is that its use does not rely on the strength of one's soul to control others. As such, there is no burden on the gu master's mind when controlling those affected by Meaning Gu. But, Meaning Gu is also rigid and cannot be changed once set. As such, the affected variant humans would only fully accept the first set of instructions.'
'However, master already tackled this issue and developed Meaning of Life killer move, which uses another one of his human path gu worms—Leader and Follower Gu. Using this allows me to actively change the meaning of the targets' lives with greater flexibility!'
'Now, not only do the minimen live peacefully with others, but they continue working for me and improve the vegetation in the grotto-heaven. Hmm. Human path is awesome! Because the killer move marks targets with human path dao marks, and the targets themselves are variant humans or humans… it forms a great compatibility. They aren't even aware they are being manipulated as one would feel deep down when under the effects of Slavery Gu.'
Old Man Desolate would have controlled every human in the grotto-heaven if not for Lo Jik's instructions of leaving them as is. Nobody in the grotto-heaven knew it had already been inherited and now everyone, including the four residential gu immortals, had a new master.
Currently, the hairy men boasted the highest population with the rockmen being the lowest.
Sensing something, Old Man Desolate skipped from his current position and returned to an appropriately lit chamber overflowing with mixed scent of medicine and a bloody stench.
"Master!" He called out affectionately as Lo Jik smiled softly.
"You are here, Old Man. Look at this killer move."
Old Man ignored dozens of Hairy Men Gu and Refiner Gu clones quietly refining several batches of gu worms in the room. Lo Jik had increased the number of his clones as several of his attainments shot through the roof. It was truly no joke. A portion of five MILLION hairy men refining wealth gu, which was then fed to Dreamer Gu, only meant one thing.
It was a monstrous number, truly. Lo Jik wouldn't have dared advancing past a grandmaster without a grotto-heaven's foundation.
Fifteen rank 5 gu worms allowed someone with Dreamer Gu to attain mastery of said path.
It took 1500 rank 5 gu worms to become a grandmaster in a path.
As for a step beyond that?
150,000 rank 5 gu worms…
It was more time-consuming to use all those gu worms by the Dreamer Gu clones than it was to refine such a number of gu worms.
Yet, the difference between a grandmaster and a great grandmaster was even more immense than the difference between a master and a grandmaster.
"T-This?!" Old Man Desolate's eyes popped wide open as he observed the killer move.
"It's just a killer move. However, it's better if this killer move is used as a basis to transform it into a formation or a gu house. I'll leave that to you, Old Man." Lo Jik smiled softly, his very being oozing a strange sense of serenity.
"Yes, master. I will immediately work on it!" Old Man nodded with excitement. "We're going to be so rich, master!"
"Of course. I would be too embarrassed to call myself a human path great grandmaster if I couldn't even achieve something so simple."
He stood up and stretched slightly.
"I also underestimated the sheer advantages of being a great grandmaster. I predicted forming a proper gu set would take me a decade… but that's no longer necessary. Send me to that core beast we selected. I need some practical results to ascertain the viability of my set."
Old Man Desolate nodded as Lo Jik disappeared from his location and appeared before a core beast.
It was not one of the desolate core beasts but a core beast comparable to beast emperors and mutated beast kings.
However, this core beast was considered the most troublesome of its kind to the point that Immemorial Desolate Immortal refused to use Core Beast Formation on it and advance its ability to a state comparable to a desolate beast.
Alerted by Lo Jik's arrival, a tiny, red-eyed, white-furred rabbit instantly perked up and observed the grotto-heaven's master with twitching ears. It was truly a rabbit and not some oversized monstrosity. A child would find such a core beast cute and soon find themselves an arm lighter once they eventually tried petting the beast.
'Endless Rabbit.'
Lo Jik narrowed his eyes, serious and cautious of the deceptively dangerous creature.
His illustrious record of killing a weaker desolate beast itself would not allow him to look down on such a creature because he was well-aware of its ability.
The rabbit beast instantly shot towards Lo Jik. It was slower than most beast and had no power behind its bite. It chewed on Lo Jik's leg but failed to pierce his skin.
It was due to the effects of rank 5 Thickest Skin Gu.
'Let's see…' Lo Jik cupped his chin and thought how to play things out. With his great experience and the several tragedies that he'd survived by the skin of his teeth, Lo Jik knew what to expect from his gu set and refined things accordingly. So, he was confident in his human path gu set and wasn't here just to see how it fared in dangerous circumstances but also understand their extreme limits.
The simplest way would be to use an offensive gu worm. However, Lo Jik had already noticed how human path was great in support but restricted in offense. It was similar to refinement path in this aspect.
Lo Jik observed two gu worms in his second aperture.
First was a rank 5 Aperture Puncture Gu. It could target and puncture rank 5 gu masters' apertures and leave it in a ruined state. If left unchecked, the injury would cause all their aperture's essence to disappear before it would collapse and completely crippling the gu master. It was undoubtedly a vicious gu worm and one of the greatest imaginable offensive gu worm against a gu master.
Second was another rank 5 gu worm resembling a dark-blue leech.
Rank 5 Decay Touch.
Once used, a target in physical contact with the user's left or right hand would instantly crumble into dust and die. Yet, Lo Jik still preferred Aperture Puncture Gu.
Killing someone was easy, but crippling and capturing them was more difficult. Aperture Puncture Gu fit such a role perfectly. Furthermore, most gu masters do not possess gu worms meant to protect one's aperture so Aperture Puncture Gu could hit them instantly. Meanwhile, the restriction of being in physical contact with the target made rank 5 Decay Touch a less useful option.
'Let's not jump to second stage right away.' Lo Jik crouched down and let the rabbit forcefully chew on his index finger. Only after a few minutes of hate-fueled chewing could the rabbit split Lo Jik's skin as the bald monster pulled his hand back and activated a gu worm.
His injuries healed in a pace visible to the naked eye without any external indications of the use of a gu worm. Inside Lo Jik's second aperture glowed a red butterfly—rank 5 Everlasting Health Gu. Its function was not to heal injuries but to revert the gu master's state to their healthiest condition—effectively dealing with injuries and diseases alike. However, this rank 5 gu worm consumed a lot of primeval essence. Its greatest advantage, of course, was being able to bypass the usual dao marks conflict when healing gu masters of other paths.
Lo Jik's gaze shimmered. Since he formed a complete set, he also possessed a rare human path investigation gu worm. Its use, however, was narrow. Human path was proficient in dealing with matters related to humans and variant humans themselves. Similarly, the investigation gu worm Lo Jik refined catered to an aspect of living beings. Not that he was complaining. Such was the truth of the gu world. No gu worm alone could fulfill all demands and there were going to be better gu worms for scouting the environment.
Still, his rank 5 Hopeful Sight was nothing short of wondrous for organizations across the gu world!
It allowed Lo Jik to scout the very apertures of his targets!
Alas, the rabbit didn't have any aperture for Lo Jik to scout. Still, he activated the gu worm.
Why?
Because Hopeful Sight Gu could still be used on living beings who had yet to awaken their apertures to scout one thing—their aptitudes.
The shade of Lo Jik's irides shifted from brown to golden as he observed the creature.
'Nothing. Well, it was worth a check. Who knows if one of the core beasts gained human aptitude through all the fusions? I recall Old Man saying his main body also used variant humans and humans with some beasts in Core Beast Formation.'
Lo Jik smiled and stopped using Hopeful Sight Gu.
'That's all I can test with Endless Rabbit still being weak. His bite is barely as strong as an ordinary beast.'
Grinning, Lo Jik shot forward and grabbed the rabbit at once. A dark-blue dot appeared in the center of his left palm as the rabbit instantly squeaked loudly. His body broke apart in a cloud of dust the next instance under the effects of Decay Touch Gu.
*Poof*
*Poof*
*Poof*
*Poof*
*Poof*
A massive wave of smoke exploded from around Lo Jik as each particle of dust spread into a plume of smoke before transforming into an Endless Rabbit!
Endless Rabbit—a rule path core beast with the ability to multiply endlessly and hit the very limits of mortal strength the more it multiplied!
It simply couldn't be killed through physical means. One might assume targeting its soul was the way to go. However, the core beast had another passive ability defending its soul. Most rank 5 soul path gu masters would feel a headache trying to pierce through such a defense.
Loud screeches filled the lush forest as thousands of rabbits attacked Lo Jik at once. Unfazed, Lo Jik let himself get drowned by the furry creatures as he measured the strength behind their bites.
'Nearly as good as a thousand-beast king.' He observed before shaking his head. 'Not enough.'
He waved his hand. Rabbits turned into clouds of dust wherever his palm passed before smoke and more rabbits drowned Lo Jik!
While the rabbits could theoretically multiply endlessly, their strength didn't surpass a beast emperor after a certain point of multiplication. In essence, this rabbit alone was an enslavement path gu master's dream creature! A gu master could use one rank 5 Slavery Gu to control a pack of beast emperors numbering… millions. That itself was a fraction of power and ability displayed by a rank 8 gu immortal.
'Finally!'
Lo Jik instantly activated another gu worm the second a rabbit managed to bite deep into his arm.
A five-layered glow enveloped Lo Jik. The one closest to his skin was green, the second layer was red, the third layer was silver, the fourth layer was gold, and the fifth layer was purple. However, the rabbits could not notice such details. Only Lo Jik, the user of this defensive gu worm, could accurately describe such intricacies and view the outside world. From the outside, he looked like a glowing purple humanoid.
'Come on.'
Lo Jik licked his lips as the rabbits surprisingly bit past the purple layer instantly. It took them slightly longer to destroy the golden layer. The same biting force could no longer leave the silver glow with deep gashes. It took the rabbits a significant and rabid effort to get past the silver glow and all their crazy scratching and biting amounted to nothing against the red glow surrounding Lo Jik.
Still not done, Lo Jik activated his defensive gu worm again. The rabbits, however, could not even scratch the surface of the purple glow this time around. It was like an iron wall that could not be taken down no matter how harshly the rabbits tried. Some rabbits even got pressured to death before they multiplied again.
Human path defensive gu worm—rank 5 Adaptive Spirit.
As they say, human is the spirit of all living beings. It wasn't some philosophical saying but was rooted in real-life examples such as gu masters' ability to adapt to different regional qi. Where Lo Jik struggled to refine anything more sophisticated than rank 5 Aperture Puncture Gu in terms of human path offensive gu worms, it took him no time in refining this outstanding defensive gu worm.
This gu worm did not use any primeval essence but required the user's mental energy to activate. Even a rank 1 gu master could use it. However, its best use could only be displayed in the hands of a rank 5 gu master because it created one layer of adaptable defense for the aperture's ranking each. A rank 1 gu master could only form a one layer of a green-colored defense, a rank 2 gu master would conjure both green and silver layers of protection, and so on.
Its most outstanding aspect was the fact that it adapted to the attack instead of defending against it. As such, the outermost layer's defensive property was about the same as an ordinary rank 1 defensive gu worm's strength. However, the second layer's defensive property against the attack that shattered the first layer was more than double! Once that was destroyed, the third layer was even more challenging to destroy.
As such, the rabbits never had any chance of getting past Lo Jik's defenses.
Of course, this gu worm was not without its limitations despite its amazing qualities. First and foremost, this gu worm could not be used continuously. Once used, a gu master could only reapply the gu worm's effects after all the previous layers were destroyed or they stopped its use willingly through the gu worm. It meant that the new layers of protection would need to adjust to the enemy's attacks again.
Furthermore, the defensive lights only defended greatly against the attacks they were adjusted to. So, for instance, the last two defensive layers would still be weak against any new attacks the rabbit could muster—like an errand gu worm on either of their bodies. This was Adaptive Spirit's greatest weakness.
Endless Rabbit was a simple creature despite its ferocity. Lo Jik's defensive gu worm already adapted to its physical strength. Gu masters, however, possess several trump cards. Heck, even ordinary beast kings have more than one gu worms.
What made Adaptive Spirit truly envious was the killer move Lo Jik deduced using Adaptive Spirit, Accumulation, and a few other gu worms.
Rank 5 killer move—Infallible Adaption.
It not only allowed Lo Jik to reapply the defensive layers but it also did not override the earlier adaption. As such, the adaption to the previous attacks could be carried forward to the outermost layer.
"That's it… get angrier!" Lo Jik grinned as he activated another gu worm.
Rank 5 Explorer Gu.
Lo Jik vanished from the view of the sea of rabbits as he appeared on top of a nearby branch. The glowing purple layer of defense around his body instantly attracted the nearest rabbit's attention as it screeched and drew others to attack Lo Jik.
He disappeared again.
As such Lo Jik led rabbits around wherever he pleased. His appearance was more than eye-catching due to the effects of Adaptive Spirit Gu.
Explorer Gu was a human path movement gu allowing the user to explore their surroundings of five-kilometer radius as long as they'd seen it once. So, it wasn't reliant on one's vision at the time of movement itself! Its downside, again, was the high primeval essence consumption.
'Ah, whatever I will do?' Lo Jik laughed as the consistent use of the movement gu forced his essence reserves to drop. Instead of using the Lotus Gu or relying on the essence of his first aperture, Lo Jik merely activated another rank 5 human path gu worm.
What a joke! Lo Jik already wanted to refine such a gu worm himself the second he realized the Lotus Gu was a wood path gu mimicking human path effects. It wasn't the only one.
Lo Jik studied the Imperial Essence Formation in Immemorial Desolate Grotto-Heaven. It was a rank 8 formation connected with Wish Dragon's core, a human path immemorial desolate core beast. The Imperial Essence Formation allowed the grotto-heaven to produce immortal essence even when Immemorial Desolate Immortal died and left behind a heavenly spirit.
How could a human path great grandmaster not achieve something similar?
Rank 5 Bountiful Aperture.
A crystal-like, noble-looking toad opened its mouth in the depths of Lo Jik's aperture and suddenly let out a massive jet of primeval essence! Its appearance changed as it let out glimmering purple essence.
The top of the toad lost a minor portion of its crystal surface. However, one use of the gu worm was enough to refill the entirety of Lo Jik's aperture.
Rank 5 Bountiful Aperture, unlike the Lotus Gu, did not reset in use every day. It produced essence at the same rate as the aperture it resided in but stored up to hundred portions of a hundred percent essence. Being a gu master with an extreme aptitude, Lo Jik simply kept this gu worm in his first aperture and enjoyed the monstrous sixty percent essence regeneration speed.
There was one thing that stalled him.
No matter how he tried, Lo Jik failed to mimic the recreation of primeval stones. Then again, the Lotus Gu was a venerable's creation. He might not have completely comprehended the secrets within the lotus gu.
Offensive, defensive, investigation, healing, and movement gu worms—Lo Jik was quite satisfied with such a set.
***
Alternate Title: Literally Mahoraga vs Escape Rabbit; Meaning of Life; Lo Jik getting too op, please nerf, heavenly will!; New killers moves; Human path set; What happens when Shigaraki gives birth to Megumi's child: Lo Jik; Lo Jik single-handedly raising human path stocks from the ground up; Old Man's utmost reverence; A shy away from a venerable-level creation; Paradise of variant humans; Preparing a foundation; More clones; The secrets of primeval stones; Stages of Endless Rabbit; An enslavement path gu master's dream beast; Coughing furry nuke; One step closer to the next stage; Lo Jik's attainment with a grotto-heaven's foundation: I am speed; Human path great grandmaster; A mortal great grandmaster and still not the strongest mortal in the history *Looks at Goat Limitless with immortal level dao marks as a mortal*; Extravagant cost of 150000 RANK 5 GU WORMS!; Dream path realms watching Dreamer Gu in disgust: Look what they have to do to mimic a fraction of my power!
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