Thus, only Gu Immortals who possessed Blessed Lands had the capital to collect complete sets of Rank 5 Gu.
For mortals, such a cost was simply unbearable.
Therefore, amongst mortals, many Rank 5 Gu Masters didn't even have a single Rank 5 Gu. Only figures like Hei Lou Lan and Dongfang Yu Liang had one or two Rank 5 Gu, backed by the power behind them.
And in the information from the Eastern Window Gu, there was only one Rank 5 Dark Path Gu that could be exchanged for battle credits.
"My Slave Path Gu insects originate from Chang Shan Yin. They are almost all Rank 4 Gu. Raising them to Rank 5 in a short time is too difficult. So I can only focus on collecting Gu recipes, just in case."
"As for my Strength Path Gu insects, they come from the Southern Border. Rather than refining them, it would be better to just buy them directly. After all, these insects aren't my Lifebound Gu. If the refinement fails and they are destroyed, I'll have to start from scratch if I want to refine more Gu."
Fang Yuan's plan was also the wise choice many foreign Gu Masters would make in the chaotic times to come.
He made his selections one by one.
Among the supplies, there was only one Rank 5 Gu, but a considerable number of Rank 4 Gu, including Strength Gu, Dolus Flower, and Elder Gu.
But there was no Rank 4 Blitz Gu.
Fang Yuan had to settle for the next best thing and chose two pairs of Rank 3 Dashing Gu and Ramming Gu, intending to combine and refine them himself.
The Self-Reliance Gu was a perfect match for a Strength Path Gu Master; it was a rare Gu. Within Hei Clan's vast supplies, there was a Self-Reliance Gu. Unfortunately, its rank was even lower than the one Fang Yuan originally had—it was only Rank 2.
A Rank 3 Self-Reliance Gu cost as much as forty-five thousand primeval stones, with the corresponding battle credits being forty-five hundred.
If it were a Rank 4 Self-Reliance Gu, its value would be comparable to a Rank 5 Gu, so the chance of it appearing in the supplies was very low.
Fang Yuan thought it over and bought this Rank 2 Self-Reliance Gu as well. If there was really no other way, he would just have to try refining the Gu.
If Self-Reliance Gu was like this, then Power Gu was even worse.
Power Gu had long been extinct from the mortal market. Fang Yuan's Power Gu had been obtained through reverse refining a Rank 4 Windflower Gu.
But Windflower Gu was only at Rank 4, a niche Gu, and quite rare.
If Fang Yuan wanted to obtain Power Gu, he could only use a Windflower Gu from the Northern Plains and reverse refine it into a Rank 3 Power Gu.
He was now a Rank 5 cultivator. Even if he obtained a Rank 3 Power Gu, it wouldn't be useful. Rank 3 Gu were of minimal help to him.
"It's fine if I can't buy Exhaustion Gu, since this Gu is used to counter the Strength Path and has few uses. But if I lose the Power Gu, that would be truly terrible, because I would lack long-range means. I would fall again into the most common predicament of contemporary Strength Path Gu Masters."
Although Power Gu wasn't a core Gu, it was extremely crucial for Strength Path Gu Masters.
"In that case, I can only try my best to collect Rank 4 and Rank 5 recipes for Power Gu. The Qi Path has long been extinguished. Even if there are some in the Yellow Treasure Heaven, they are extremely expensive. Perhaps the Lang Ya Blessed Land is the greatest hope. But the Lang Ya Land Spirit is also not easy to deal with. To obtain the recipe, I will have to pay a great price."
Just as Fang Yuan was secretly agonizing over this problem, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind.
"Eh? That's not right." His heart shook slightly.
"Even if I have no long-range attacks in the Strength Path, I can make up for it with the Slave Path! The situation is different now. I have two apertures. I cultivate both the Slave Path and the Strength Path. I can completely learn from each other's strong points."
Thinking of this, Fang Yuan suddenly saw the light.
Although he was a reincarnator and his thoughts were thorough, he couldn't help but fall into inertial thinking for a moment.
In his previous life, he only had one aperture. Even if he dabbled in other paths, it was mostly after becoming a Gu Immortal. But now, while still a mortal, he was already cultivating two paths.
"Slave Path Gu Masters are most afraid of decapitation tactics, so I will use the Strength Path to protect myself. Conversely, the shortcomings of the Strength Path can be made up by the Slave Path. I can completely give up on the Power Gu."
Because of his cultivation of two paths, this problem that plagued Strength Path Gu Masters was easily solved.
Then, Fang Yuan used his battle credits to exchange for many Space Path Gu and a large amount of Gu refinement materials.
These Space Path Gu insects and materials were all prepared for entering the Fallen Asylum later.
Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable had set up a method back then, sealing the Fallen Asylum. To enter it, ordinary methods wouldn't work. A Rank 5 Open Door Gu was necessary.
The Open Door Gu could allow the fated to enter the Fallen Asylum. But to close the tunnel, one also had to refine a Rank 5 Close Door Gu, to prevent the tunnel from being exposed and letting others in.
"Lord Wolf King actually exchanged for quite a few Strength Path Gu, a large number of Space Path Gu insects, and such a huge amount of Gu refinement materials." The female Gu Master was secretly astonished by the supplies Fang Yuan was requesting.
Exchanging for Strength Path Gu insects was understandable. After all, though the Strength Path was waning, it consumed little primeval essence. Once one's primeval essence was nearly depleted, it became a Gu Master's final reliance.
Therefore, in the war-torn Northern Plains, Gu Masters almost all had some level of cultivation in the Strength Path.
But what was Lord Wolf King going to do with these Space Path Gu insects?
Perhaps he wanted to use Space Path Gu insects to effectively protect himself? After all, Slave Path Gu Masters were often countered by decapitation tactics.
And what about this astonishing amount of Gu refinement materials? Could it be that Lord Wolf King had become interested in the Refinement Path? Or was he researching some brand new Slave Path Gu?
The female Gu Master had questions in her heart, but she did not voice them.
Casually probing into such secrets was a great offense to a Gu Master.