Twelve days later.
In the sealed chamber, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged upon his meditation cushion, eyes closed, every muscle in his body alternating between tension and relaxation. His mind was calm and tranquil, focused on the Turtle Jade Wolf Skin Gu within his Empty Orifice.
At this moment, the Gu hovered above the True Essence sea in his first Empty Orifice, continuously infused with True Essence, emanating a jade-green radiance.
The light penetrated the Empty Orifice, shining from within outward across every inch of Fang Yuan's skin.
Gradually, the glow dimmed. The entire Turtle Jade Wolf Skin Gu dissolved into motes of luminous dust, ultimately perishing completely.
Fang Yuan had long prepared himself for this outcome. The Turtle Jade Wolf Skin Gu was a consumptive Gu — it branded its Dao Marks directly onto the Gu Master's body, similar to the Copper Skin Gu and Iron Bone Gu he had once used.
"All these days, I have been in seclusion, cultivating without cease. Finally, I have refined all the skin on my body into Turtle Jade Wolf Skin."
Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes and rolled up his sleeve, examining the skin on his forearm.
His skin still appeared to be its normal flesh tone. But the moment Fang Yuan drew a dagger and slashed viciously at his own arm, the Turtle Jade Wolf Skin Gu's effect was immediately activated.
The skin where the dagger cut instantly turned a shade of blue-green, with faint patterns resembling a tortoise shell emerging beneath the surface.
The dagger striking against such skin was like iron meeting jade — yet it possessed a certain pliability.
Fang Yuan nodded with satisfaction. "The Turtle Jade Wolf Skin Gu is a Fifth Transformation Gu, and its defensive power is truly outstanding. More importantly, it doesn't need to be actively activated — it manifests its defensive effect the moment an attack lands, consuming no True Essence at all. It's extremely practical."
Fifth Transformation Gu were not difficult for Gu Immortals to obtain. But for mortal Gu Masters, they were exceedingly rare.
Many Fifth Transformation Gu Masters possessed only a single Fifth Transformation Gu. Some didn't even have one, forced to make do with Fourth Transformation Gu to maintain appearances.
Hei Loulan, upon their first meeting, had used the Turtle Jade Wolf Skin Gu to win Fang Yuan over. In the eyes of onlookers, this was an extravagant gesture.
Though the Fifth Transformation Gu held no high standing in Fang Yuan's heart, he could still appreciate Hei Loulan's sincerity.
"With the Turtle Jade Wolf Skin complete, the next step is Strength Path cultivation." Fang Yuan remained seated upon his meditation cushion, seizing every precious moment to tirelessly bolster his strength.
He summoned a Ten Jun Strength Gu.
This Gu resembled a small iron counterweight. Once infused with True Essence, it floated up and hovered above Fang Yuan's head, then radiated an enigmatic glow that enveloped his entire body, etching segments of Strength Path Dao Patterns onto his frame.
With the passage of time, Fang Yuan's strength was growing — slowly but surely.
He had never once ceased his Strength Path cultivation.
The five Ten Jun Strength Gu he had purchased before were already spent. The ones he now used came from the Hei Clan treasury.
By this point, sixty jun of strength had accumulated deep within his body, settled and condensed in its innermost depths.
One jun equaled three hundred jin of force. Sixty jun meant eighteen hundred jin of power.
On Earth, even the legendary Green Dragon Crescent Blade weighed a mere eighty-two jin.
"Now that I have refined all the skin on my body into Turtle Jade Wolf Skin, I can bear at least a hundred jun of strength. A hundred jun or above — that is Fifth Transformation-level power."
The secret recipes for Jin Strength Gu and Jun Strength Gu had been uniquely created by the Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal Chu Du. They were easier to refine than the traditional Beast Strength Gu, and cheaper as well. That was why they had spread widely throughout the Northern Plains.
Fang Yuan had abandoned the Beast Shadow Gu in favor of the Jun Strength Gu not merely to keep with the times, but also to facilitate future cultivation and better disguise his identity.
But the Jun Strength Gu still could not solve the core problem of the Strength Path.
Fang Yuan possessed sixty jun of strength, yet only a small fraction of it could actually be brought to bear.
To solve this problem, he would have to rely on the All-Out Effort Gu.
The All-Out Effort Gu could allow a Gu Master to unleash their full strength without any restraint — it was the undisputed core Gu of the Strength Path.
That was why Fang Yuan had designated it as the Life Gu of his second Empty Orifice.
But this All-Out Effort Gu was only Third Transformation level. After arriving in the Northern Plains, it had been further suppressed by the foreign land's restrictions, its effect reduced to that of a mere Second Transformation Gu.
What Fang Yuan now lacked was the secret recipe for refining a Fourth Transformation All-Out Effort Gu. As long as he remained in the Northern Plains and upgraded this Gu to the Fourth Transformation, it would be like being reborn in this land — free from its suppressive effects.
"But... accumulating strength further is not so easy. The Turtle Jade Wolf Skin helps bear greater force, but does nothing for the Slavery Path. Though I possess two Empty Orifices, I have only one body."
In this world, precious few things allowed one to have it both ways.
If one catered to the Strength Path, one could not simultaneously tend to the Slavery Path.
If he wished to tend to the Slavery Path, Fang Yuan should not have used the Turtle Jade Wolf Skin Gu, but rather another Fifth Transformation Gu called the Wolf Map Gu.
This Gu was designed to store wolf packs. It could be imprinted upon the host's skin, and for each wild wolf stored, a tattoo of that wolf would appear upon Fang Yuan's flesh.
Many Slavery Path Gu Masters chose a corresponding Beast Map Gu and stored their trump card forces directly on their own bodies.
At the critical moment, the Gu Master needed only to shake their entire body, and this ace force would be summoned forth at once, fighting on their behalf.
Just as before, Fang Yuan had used the Fourth Transformation Impermanence Bone Gu to allow his physical body to bear a more powerful soul.
But the Impermanence Bone Gu did nothing for the Strength Path.
Fang Yuan cultivating both the Strength Path and the Slavery Path was no easy feat. It was all too easy to spread himself thin and fail to excel at either one.