Dark clouds receded into a pale and young man. The clouds turned into silvery markings on the gu immortal's black armored attire. His long hair was tied up by a band while two thick locks of black hair framed his thin face. He was not extraordinarily tall or muscular but his disposition left other mortals in the dust.
Rank 6 Dark Cloud Immortal, Yin Yun!
He floated above an ordinary plateau, far from the sights of common man. There were several beast groups in the region but no desolate beasts, making it a spot that was hard for gu masters to explore and perfect for gu immortals like Yin Yun to spar and exchange pointers. Below Yin Yun's feet was a small patch of pitch-black cloud, its surface, again, quite turbulent as if made from chaotic waves. It was the effect of Yin Yun's mortal killer move.
Meanwhile, Lo Jik looked up at the gu immortal while standing on a branch.
"I've long heard of your famous killer move." Yin Yun began slowly, no longer maintaining the air of self-importance and aloofness he used to indirectly suppress other mortals. His pitch-black eyes regarded Lo Jik curiously. "Self Dharma, is it? Created by an expert from Southern Border, Imaginative Strength Immortal, and further improved by you to the level of surpassing the strength of mortal killer moves. Unfortunately, such moves are only good against mindless beasts."
"Ah, so Brother Yin Yun studied my killer move," Lo Jik replied with a smile, seeing through Yin Yun's attempt of discreetly affecting his morale and thoughts using speech. Unfortunately, Lo Jik had modified the killer move extensively, adding new aspects to it. "Let's go easy on each other. Please critique my skills."
Saying this, the discreet grey dot in the center of Lo Jik's palm glowed and transformed into a savage bow as tall as him! It was a rank 5 gu worm, observed Yin Yun.
'Could this bow be part of the killer move?' He had a recording of Lo Jik's arrow piercing the defenses in Reincarnation Battlefield, revealing supreme might of an immortal gu worm! This bow was fashioned from a thick bone with gruesome ridges and countless scars on its surface. Connecting the two ends was not an ordinary string but a mixture of tendons and flesh. Yet, in Lo Jik's hands, even this massive bow felt natural.
"Please." Yin Yun spoke plainly and activated his methods. He did not use a killer move but activated a rank 5 cloud path defensive gu worm. Comically plump yellow clouds poured out of his aperture and formed a thick line of defense.
Lo Jik smiled and adjusted the bow against the tree. These trees were ancient and decent rank 3 materials. The various mutated beast birds settled on these trees flew away in a panic once they sensed Lo Jik and Yin Yun's aura. The branches of this tree not only supported Lo Jik's mass but also rank 5 Little Giant Bone Bow Gu Worm's fearsome weight.
Lo Jik pulled the string, its resistance not even worthy of being registered by a gu immortal boasting Great Strength True Martial Physique. It was as easy as breathing for the current Lo Jik. The bow siphoned Lo Jik's strength, transforming it into a massive arrow made from strength qi. Yet, his physique instantly recovered the trace of stamina lost in the act. Great Strength True Martial Physique had the greatest stamina recovery and healing abilities, a fact that made Bai La especially annoyed.
Yin Yun didn't dare look down on this gu immortal.
*Twang*
The arrow shot forward with a shocking force! The branch underneath Lo Jik cracked and splintered as he fell on the ground. However, he never lost his footing and landed calmly. On the other hand, the arrow shot through the layers of plump yellow clouds before loosing its momentum and dissipating. Looking at things, nearly half of Yin Yun's defensive cloud remained.
"Haha! I've won this round, Fickle Consort. Our foundations are truly too far apart. The cloud path dao marks on my body far exceeds the strength path dao marks on your body! The effects of my cloud path gu worms will always surpass your output using strength path gu worms. Perhaps the rumor of your physique is just that—a rumor."
Lo Jik furrowed his brows. Of course, he did not go all out. The benefits of an extreme physique only stacked with time. A gu immortal with an extreme physique was significantly more terrifying and dangerous after losing the threat of self-detonation. However, he acted as if his strength path foundation was truly low.
Yin Yun was also calm. He was fishing for information. Despite his words, he wouldn't believe Lo Jik was an ordinary gu master just because of the sheer volume and density of human qi he generated during his ascension.
'But what if he ran into troubles during his breakthrough?' Yin Yun thought. 'Could it be that he wasn't thoroughly prepared for his advancement and ended up with a severe loss in potential?'
'No. I cannot underestimate this man. He might just be acting and trying to lower my guard.'
He heard Lo Jik sighing.
"You are truly outstanding, Brother Yin Yun. To think you could actually defend against my probing attack. But did you not notice it?" Lo Jik questioned with a smile.
"Notice what?" Yin Yun narrowed his eyes.
"You said something about our foundations being too far apart. This defensive gu worm of yours, it must be Rank 5 Plump Cloud Protection Gu, right? It is a rare defensive gu worm capable of reducing the force of attacks and destroying momentum. However, the gu worm alone can only create a small patch of cloud. Yet, look around you. Just one rank 5 gu worm generated such a huge patch! Looking at it, it's about six times its original strength."
Yin Yun smiled and nodded.
"That is so, Fickle Consort. But I still do not understand what you're trying to say."
The source of a gu immortal's strength and their ability to firmly dominate any mortal, even those with extreme aptitudes, could be divided into three major considerations.
The first one was naturally unlimited primeval essence. With this aspect alone, a gu immortal could activate countless mortal killer moves to protect, heal, escape, and attack at once! Mortal had no way of countering this benefit even with gu worms like the Lotus Series. These killer moves themselves could reach the peak of the mortal realm. And this gap between a mortal and a gu immortal was extremely wide! Of course, this advantage only mattered for newbie gu immortals like Little Immortal Xing Luo.
The second advantage was the existence of a blessed land. Blessed land nursed life and became a gu immortal's foundation. Unless a mortal successfully advanced, the only way to catch-up to this aspect would be by inheriting a blessed land, but even this method would fall short.
The third advantage could only be fully experienced by veteran rank 6 gu immortals like Yin Yun and beyond. This advantage truly put into perspective how wide was the gap between a mortal killer move and the effects of a lone immortal gu. The foundation of all gu cultivation was only one thing—dao.
Gu worms had fragments of the dao. Mortal ones only mimicked these fragments using dao marks while immortal gu worms hosted complete fragments of the great dao! Why did the effects of rank 6 immortal gu exceed their mortal counterparts? It was because of the difference of dao marks! Mortal gu worms had too little dao marks. Furthermore, these dao marks were mostly fragmented and shards, loose and sparse. Meanwhile, an immortal gu contained a unique fragment of the great dao. What did this fragment consist of? It was made from dao marks. These dao marks were complete and coordinated with each other extremely well, weaving together into an elegant creation called an immortal gu worm.
Lo Jik's Accumulation Gu worm targeted this aspect of gu cultivation, multiplying and adding dao marks in a killer move in such a way that it would resemble a tightly woven network of dao marks only seen within an immortal gu worm. That's how his mortal killer moves reached such a stunning state of power.
Similar to gu worms, gu masters and gu immortals had the same difference. When gu masters cultivate, they would occasionally use body refinement methods to carve their body with dao marks. But these dao marks were too incomplete. They were not even a one-thousandth of a complete dao mark! Meanwhile, during ascension, a gu immortal would be cleansed by the lump of unified qi. Their bodies, souls, and mind would elevate to a higher state of being. This was the effect of dao marks. During this stage, heaven and earth itself imparted the gu immortal with dao marks of their main paths, the number of which depended on one's foundation. Lo Jik's mind, body, and soul were carved with strength path dao marks.
Yin Yun's body, mind, and soul were carved with cloud path dao marks.
The third advantage lay in this foundation.
Look at Yin Yun. He managed to elevate the use of a mortal gu worm by six times without using any other gu worm! Did he spend more primeval essence on it?
Lo Jik knew the answer—no, Yin Yun did not. Was it not a supreme advantage? Yin Yun could use one rank 5 gu worm to defend against attacks of six rank 5 gu masters with the same amount of effort and no additional expense.
How could this be possible?
Dao marks.
"What I'm trying to say is…" Lo Jik sighed and aimed elsewhere. He drew the string and shot another arrow. The arrow flew with a shocking momentum and power, creating a devastating attack that cleaved through the forest and left an impressive gash ranging hundreds of meters!
"… that this is the usual strength of my rank 5 Little Giant Bone Bow Gu."
Yin Yun's pupils shrunk instantly.
How could this be? Such immense strength using a single rank 5 gu worm? Yin Yun suddenly thought of something and he paled slightly.
'So, Lo Jik did not even make use of the amplification from dao marks resonance when attacking me?'
The third advantage of the gu immortals could be summed with the term—dao resonance. Take Yin Yun for example. He had plenty of cloud path dao marks on his body being a cloud path gu immortal. Using cloud path gu worms would show great effects while using gu worms of other paths such as strength and earth path would show weaker effects. Not only that, the effects might be even lower than the usual output. This was because of the conflict of dao marks. But when he used a cloud path defensive gu worm, the cloud path dao marks on his body would resonate with the gu worm and multiply its effects greatly without any additional use of primeval essence. This multiplication of force also did not damage the gu worms because a gu master was not overdrawing a gu worm's strength. Instead, this was the strength granted by the dao marks on their bodies!
How could any mortal compete with this? There was simply no competition.
Thinking about it, how does a gu master with an extreme aptitude display greater strength when using gu worms of certain paths? The answer lay with dao marks again!
As a gu immortal with an extreme aptitude who prepared immensely for his breakthrough, how could Lo Jik be lacking in dao marks. Ordinary gu immortals with an extreme aptitude would already obtain a huge number of dao marks corresponding to their paths when they ascend, much less Lo Jik, whose human qi was truly monstrous.
'If that arrow without any resonance from the dao marks of his body could unleash such damage then…' Yin Yun felt his heart shivering in fright. He cultivated steadily and accumulated his foundation bit by bit with each calamity and tribulation.
A hundred dao marks of the same path meant nearly 10% multiplication in output due to dao resonance.
His output was already at six times the usual strength, implying that his body had nearly 6000 cloud path dao marks on his body.
Lo Jik smilingly pulled back the string and let himself go. He felt a strange connection with the gu worm. Dao resonance was not just a multiplier. It was the way of immortal cultivation. At this state, Lo Jik felt extremely close to the bow gu worm. The strength path dao marks on his body and the gu worms resonated. Each resonance added to his understanding of the strength path and eventually transform into a qualitative change!
But now wasn't the time for cultivation.
Lo Jik let loose.
The arrow made from qi tore through the space like a grey-white lightning without any sound. Yin Yun hurriedly increased his defenses as the arrow instantly zipped past the yellow clouds and collided against Dark Cloud Immortal's defensive killer move.
*Bang*
The arrow broke apart and the traces of strength qi dissipated with the wind. Meanwhile, a massive crack appeared on the pitch-black mirror defensive killer move.
Lo Jik raised his eyebrow, thoroughly impressed.
'But that's the limit of mortal gu worms. This expression of multiplication cannot go on forever. Someone with millions of dao marks cannot just forcefully use mortal gu worm to compete against immortal gu worms.' Lo Jik sighed.
It was because of dao resonance that gu immortals could create killer moves reaching the peak of mortal realm. The so-called 'immortal might' displayed by gu immortals was something mortals had a hope of accomplishing… if they had dao marks similar to a rank 6 gu immortal.
But who could achieve that?
Lo Jik shook his head internally.
'Ordinary gu immortals obtain dao marks relevant to the grades of their immortal aperture ranging from zero to four hundred, and sometimes more. I currently possess 480 human path dao marks.' Lo Jik knew the precise amount due to killer moves like Scan the Dao. But his most impressive accumulation came from strength path. His immortal aperture was truly blessed at the peak of perfect grade apertures. And his strength path dao marks reached a shocking number of 2200 dao marks!
This was the fearsome talent of an extreme aptitude gu immortal. This advantage would keep on stacking. Not only were these dao marks related to adding strength to the body, there were also many that directly enhanced the quality of his body, allowing him to display great might without the fear of hurting himself.
The amplification from the resonance of dao marks coupled with the potent strength of his bone bow surpassed Yin Yun's imagination as he stared at Lo Jik with an ugly expression.
He thought he could use his cloud path foundation to bully Lo Jik. It was true that Lo Jik's foundation was still shallow. But it wasn't as shallow as a newbie. In fact, he could compete with many gu immortals who tackled their first heavenly tribulation!
"Shall we continue?" Lo Jik asked gently.
Yin Yun's gaze shifted. He was never afraid of challenges, but he detested suffering losses, especially financial ones.
'Most of my mortal killer moves won't work on Lo Jik. His strength path foundation exceeded my original estimation. The only method would be to utilize my immortal gu worm. But using an immortal gu worm will expend my reserves of green grape immortal essence. Furthermore, it's not even a cloud path immortal gu and will conflict with the cloud path dao marks on my body. Lo Jik, on the other hand, must have refined at least one strength path immortal gu. He has a great advantage.'
'I was only paid enough to probe Lo Jik. The compensation would not cover the loss of my immortal essence!' He regretted his earlier action of betting his prized recipe. 'I was asked to try and snatch his strength path recipe. Betting it in front of everyone was a wise move… but I underestimated Lo Jik too much. Extreme aptitudes are truly terrifying.'
Although proud, Yin Yun knew when to submit to circumstances. He did not continue this battle just to maintain his face and slowly floated down, reaching Lo Jik's level. His tone shifted and he regarded Lo Jik warmly.
"Forgive my earlier error in judgment, Brother Lo Jik." He finally called Lo Jik by his name. "I hope we can move past this embarrassing mistake."
"Hahaha! No mistake, no mistake!" Lo Jik laughed. "Good friends only find each other after a misunderstanding. Your defensive killer move also had a shocking might. To think my gu worm was unable to pierce it… sigh, that just shows how important it is to cultivate good killer moves. But it would seem that this round was my victory, yes?"
Yin Yun smiled bitterly and nodded.
He took out an information path gu worm with a heavy heart and gave it to Lo Jik.
"This is the recipe for my Cloud Phantom Gu series." He acted as if he was feeling heartache but how could Lo Jik not understand that this recipe was most likely modified and might hide crucial details. After all, they did not use information path gu worms to seal their bet, giving Yin Yun a greater flexibility in tampering with the recipe. But that was fine. Lo Jik was confident in peering the truth with his attainments.
'Lo Jik is a strength path expert and also has a great refinement path expertise. But my Cloud Phantom Gu recipe involves aspect of cloud and rule paths. He will spend years before actually refining my Cloud Phantom Gu. In the meantime, I will deduce a rank 6 recipe for this gu worm and find a way to advance it!'
"There is another matter, Brother Yin Yun." Lo Jik's words froze Dark Cloud Immortal as the latter grew wary. He nodded, indicating he was listening to Lo Jik as the Fickle Consort Immortal handed him an information path gu worm with a smile. Unwilling to look down on Lo Jik, Dark Cloud Immortal first used his methods of confirming that the gu worm wasn't tampered before using it. All of it happened quickly.
"This…" Yin Yun's eyes briefly widened before he let out a soft sigh. He truly underestimated Lo Jik too much. This information path gu worm was Lo Jik's proposal for a trade. Yin Yun had already known about Bandit Giants. He tried to collect a lot of information about Lo Jik before challenging him. Now, however, he realized that Lo Jik was not only strong but well-versed in managing personal relationships!
Lo Jik proposed a trade of one Bandit Giant for two of Yin Yun's desolate beasts. These beasts can be of any path but they had to be of different varieties. This trade was extremely beneficial for Yin Yun despite trading two desolate beasts for one. Why? First, Lo Jik did not release any desolate level Bandit Giants or subsequent materials in Treasure Yellow Heaven. Second, Yin Yun came here to challenge Lo Jik due to his connection with Wind Cloud Manor. This result did not yield any positive result. In fact, considering potential losses, Yin Yun readily forfeited the match. Even if Wind Cloud Manor swallowed this loss, they would still hold it against Yin Yun. But sharing this new breed of desolate beast will ease things over.
So, not only did Lo Jik defeat Yin Yun, he was actively building a relationship with the man!
'I see.' Yin Yun thought of a reason. 'Lo Jik is strong but he just advanced. He is unlike us veteran who had years to build our network. And due to his reputation being ruined because of Tian Ti's mess, he is trying his best to develop more connections and rebuild his reputation.'
Regardless, Yin Yun was quite pleased. He hurriedly agreed to the trade and sold two different desolate beasts filled with cloud path dao marks for one Bandit Giant.
"This is good." Lo Jik grinned happily, already treating Yin Yun as a good friend. "Do this one last favor, Brother Yin Yun."
Yin Yun also boasted a pleasant smile. He nodded after hearing Lo Jik's request. The favor Lo Jik asked also forced Yin Yun to further Fickle Consort's evaluation in his heart.
***
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