In the secret chamber, Wei Yang gazed at the Gu in his hand, sighing with emotion, a strange gleam flickering in his eyes.
The Full Effort Gu was shaped like a rhinoceros beetle.
At this moment, it sat quietly on Wei Yang's palm, occupying his entire hand with its heavy weight.
It was an elongated oval, clad in an armor-like shell with a domed back. Its head bore a stout, powerful horn that looked both massive and imposing.
It had three pairs of long legs, all strong and sturdy, its entire body a deep brownish color that radiated an oily metallic sheen. One look was enough to know this was no ordinary Gu.
"That's right. This is the Third Transformation Full Effort Gu. When used, it summons a spectral beast phantom, letting you act as you wish." Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged on the cushion opposite Wei Yang, answering in response to Wei Yang's words.
Wei Yang let out a deep sigh and returned the Full Effort Gu to Fang Yuan.
"Such is fate, such is destiny. Brother Fang Zheng, are you truly set on the Force Path?" He still wanted to try persuading him.
Fang Yuan nodded without a word, but his resolute gaze said everything.
Wei Yang sighed once more.
If he had tried to persuade him earlier, he might have had some confidence. But now that Fang Yuan had actually obtained the Full Effort Gu, he knew that Fang Yuan's decision to walk the Force Path was set in stone.
"Fate truly works in mysterious ways, brother. Obtaining the Full Effort Gu will be of tremendous help to you on the Force Path. Without a doubt, the Full Effort Gu is the core around which a complete set of Gu is built. Since you're so insistent, I won't try to persuade you any further. But there are still a few things I'd like to remind you of. Just treat it as me being long-winded."
Fang Yuan straightened his expression. "Not at all. Please, Brother Wei, do share your guidance!"
"Even though you've obtained the Full Effort Gu, times are different now. If this Gu is to serve as your core, you must ensure its safety. It's only a Third Transformation Gu at present, and to develop further, it will need to be refined up to the Fourth and Fifth Transformation Full Effort Gu. But it isn't your Life Gu, and refinement carries risks. If the Full Effort Gu is destroyed during the process, your entire set of Gu will face collapse. So, my first piece of advice is to change your Life Gu. In this regard, the Shang Clan can help you."
"To assemble a set of Gu, a single core is far from enough. You'll need several key supporting Gu as well. For this, you must choose carefully and think things through. Choose wrong, and you won't be able to bring out the Full Effort Gu's true value. In ancient times, the Force Path was flourishing, and there were many Gu that paired well with the Full Effort Gu. But now, most of them have gone extinct. To build your supporting set, you can't simply copy the ancients—you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"There's one more critically important thing you must pay attention to. Even though you have the Full Effort Gu, you don't have the corresponding refinement recipes. Fortunately, most ancient recipes have been passed down. Some recipe masters should have them—you'll need to collect them. Or perhaps..."
At this point, Wei Yang hesitated briefly.
"You could try seeking out Force Path inheritances from the ancient era. The Wu Family has been developing one such inheritance for several years now. If you could stumble upon something like that, your future would surely be bright. I'd very much love to see the Force Path flourish once more through you, brother!"
After saying all this, Wei Yang took his leave.
Fang Yuan walked him to the door and watched as Wei Yang transformed into light and flew away.
Fang Yuan stood at the entrance to the secret chamber, his gaze deep and contemplative.
Wei Yang's suggestions—Fang Yuan had actually considered all of them long ago and already had his own strategies in mind.
As for the Full Effort Gu refinement recipes, he already had one in hand, obtained from Li Ran.
The Wu Family had provided Li Ran with the Full Effort Gu, so naturally they had also supplied the recipes.
However, these recipes could only refine the Third Transformation Full Effort Gu up to the Fourth Transformation. To go further, Fang Yuan would have to find his own solutions.
That said, Fang Yuan was currently only at the Initial Stage of the Third Transformation, so he didn't need to worry about Fifth Transformation recipes anytime soon.
As for which Gu to choose as key supports to pair with the Full Effort Gu, Fang Yuan already had his plans.
He had always been the type to take one step and calculate ten ahead. He already had everything figured out.
"For the Force Path setup, the Full Effort Gu should serve as the core, with the Self-Reliance Gu and Toil Gu as the key supports. Combined with all the other Gu, this set would be considered minimally complete. But for true completion, he'd need the Three Kings Inheritance."
In Shang Clan City, over two or three years, he would gather a set of Gu to achieve minimal completion.
When the Three Kings Inheritance opened, he would leverage his advantage from rebirth to supplement the set, achieving its full completion.
This was Fang Yuan's next plan.
"This plan must be executed well, because after the Three Kings Inheritance came the great battle between the Righteous and Demonic Paths at Yitian Mountain. Only with sufficient personal strength could he snatch benefits from the flames. Time was truly running short..."
As for the third point—the issue of his Life Gu.
Fang Yuan's Life Gu was the Spring Autumn Cicada, and that was not something that could be changed.
This made refining the Full Effort Gu rather difficult. Using Gu carried risks, and refining Gu required caution.
If Fang Yuan had bad luck and the Full Effort Gu was destroyed during refinement, his entire set would lose its most fundamental pillar—like a person losing their soul.
If that happened, the consequences would be catastrophic, essentially equivalent to the total failure of his Force Path cultivation.
However, there were ways to ensure the Full Effort Gu's survival during refinement even without it being his Life Gu.
Wei Yang didn't know about them—that was simply because his level was too low.
But Fang Yuan knew of three methods.
The first was to travel to the "Invincible Land." This was the Invincible Inheritance, far away in the Central Continent—a sacred ground that all Gu refinement masters yearned for.
The second was the Hundred Battles Unharmed Gu—using it during refinement guaranteed one hundred percent success.
The third was also a Gu, called "Green Mountain Remains." As the saying goes, as long as the green mountain remains, there's no worry about firewood—preserving a useful form is the key to turning the tide. Using this Gu could protect the core Gu. Even if the refinement failed and all the other Gu were destroyed, the Full Effort Gu would still remain.