26 Upgrade

It had been three weeks since Gu Guangzhi broke through to Rank 3. He had been receiving a few marriage proposals from several elders ever since. It wasn't like all the beauties in the village were fawning over him either. After all, he was still viewed as a D-grade gu master despite being Rank 3 and his 'insights' weren't verified by the elders. If it turned out that Gu Guangzhi's insights weren't actually useful to the clan, they would be making a loss by trying to rope Gu Guangzhi into their faction.

Since it was a really big decision, he asked for some time to decide. The clan leader had given him one month to come to a decision. Gu Guangzhi was not sure what to do. He didn't want to marry someone just for the sake of becoming an elder. He wanted a meaningful relationship. As an external member of the clan, he was always aloof and reclusive trying to hide the secret of his boiling primeval essence from everyone. He never had a girlfriend even back on Earth. So, he simply ignored about the proposals and focused on upgrading his gu insects.

Gu Guangzhi wanted to depend on himself for the refinement. This was because when he had no primeval stones, he couldn't refine gu insects of higher rank because it would become more dangerous than what he could handle. So this would be his first Rank 3 gu refinement. Yu Wen Zi, despite being a Rank 2 gu master, had enough experience to avoid the dangers while refining a higher rank gu. Gu Guangzhi could ask him for help at any time but he wanted to do it on his own.

Yu Wen Zi spoke up, "Are you sure you want to upgrade your Bamboo fire flower Gu to Bamboo swamp Gu? There is practically no attack power for this gu. It can be used for defense but it is not too powerful in defense. It can be used to restrict multiple opponents' movements in the vicinity but it is not too difficult to escape either. Why don't you use my recipe to refine Bamboo firework Gu? It has a higher attack power and can be used for long range attacks as well. With your new aptitude, you can sustain this gu comfortably. I have deduced a partial recipe for Rank 4 Bamboo rocket Gu. With your knowledge in bamboo family gu worms, you can definitely develop it further. I can guide you in cultivating the fire path as well. Bamboo swamp Gu is an earth path gu worm with water path characteristics. I can't assist you with that path."

Gu Guangzhi replied, "Initially, I wanted to refine Bamboo firework Gu as well. But my fight with Bai Ning Bing gave me new ideas to fight back. Even with a Bamboo firework Gu, I may not defeat Bai Ning Bing but with Bamboo swamp Gu, I think I have a good way to beat him. Bamboo swamp Gu is rather difficult to refine, so I want to refine my vital gu into Bamboo swamp Gu to raise its chance of success. However, I will refine another Bamboo fire flower Gu for another recipe I've discovered."

Yu Wen Zi thought for a while and said, "Hmm. Bamboo family gu are often overlooked because of their weak attack power or excessive primeval essence consumption. But it seems the greatest strength of these bamboo family gu lie in their ability to traverse different paths through refinement. Most gu insects have very limited paths for refinement but bamboo family gu seem to have spread into several paths. I hope you know what you're doing by this refinement."

Gu Guangzhi went into the mountains to carry out his refinement. He had obtained lava nourished loose soil, quick death camphor, flash absorb roots, permafrost decayed soil, bamboo slither vines and Muddy Gu for this refinement. Gu Guangzhi chose a spot and used his primeval essence to place the Bamboo fire flower Gu and flash absorb roots in the lava nourished loose soil. Then he proceeded to light quick death camphor with Bamboo fire flower Gu. As the quick death camphor burnt, it produced an intense flash. The flash absorb roots drained the lava nourished loose soil and fed it to the Bamboo fire flower Gu. The Bamboo fire flower Gu burned brightly and injured Gu Guangzhi. At the same time, he activated Muddy gu on the permafrost decayed soil to form permafrost swamp. This produced an intense chill in Gu Guangzhi but he endured it. He placed the brightly burning Bamboo fire flower Gu and the permafrost swamp together and wrapped them tightly in bamboo slither vines.

As he sensed the refinement going successfully, he felt happy but for a moment he lost control over his primeval essence and the bamboo slither vines slipped away revealing a gap. Intense steam was about to burn Gu Guangzhi but his water wolf immediately appeared from his hair band and used Water veil Gu to protect Gu Guangzhi. He was connected to his water wolf through soul bonding so his water wolf knew what Gu Guangzhi wanted. Thus he was able to prevent the failure of refinement and controlled bamboo slither vines again properly. After a few hours, the bamboo slither vines dried up and a green murky looking Rank 3 Bamboo swamp Gu remained. After, the refinement was over, the wolf returned back into the hair band.

Gu Guangzhi used Rank 3 Bamboo stalk Gu to heal himself of the burns and frost bite. As he poured his primeval essence into the Bamboo stalk Gu, a sweet liquid was generated in the Bamboo stalk gu. Gu Guangzhi drank this liquid and felt that his injuries were healing. As he drank more and more of the liquid, he completely forgot the pain and his injuries healed completely. Soon, he went into a dizzy state. The inheritance he received from his parents mentioned clearly that Bamboo stalk Gu produced a sweet liquid with intoxicating effects similar to green bamboo wine but he underestimated the effects of the wine.

As he was intoxicated, he stumbled on his way back down the mountain and was about to fall into a trap laid by some hunters in the forest for wild boars. As Gu Guangzhi was intoxicated, his water wolf residing in the hair band had no idea about it either. Just as he was about to be impaled by the boar trap, he was pulled back from the edges of death by a young woman.In a drunken state, he saw her beautiful face under the moon light. Under the influence, he caressed her face and she involuntarily slapped him. This alerted the water wolf and it appeared out of his hair band once again. The girl was visibly scared upon seeing this and ran away. The water wolf sensed no danger from the fleeing girl and picked up Gu Guangzhi and made its way to Xiong village.

As the it became morning, Gu Guangzhi was still dreaming about the girl. Her face was hazy but she was slapping him repeatedly. As Gu Guangzhi opened his eyes, he saw Yu Wen Zi slapping him awake. He grumbled at the sight as he woke up.

"Hahaha. You're a Rank 3 gu master but you still can't handle some wine? Wake up and get ready. Xiong Jiao Mei is here to see you about a marriage proposal.", said Yu Wen Zi.

"Xiong Jiao Mei? Isn't she the mother of our clan beauty, Xiong Jiao Man? Don't tell me she wants me to marry Xiong Jiao Man!"

"Hahaha. In your dreams, kid. Apparently, Xiong Jiao Man has a step sister called Xiong Jiao Lin. I heard that she was pretty neglected as a kid but now they want to use her as a tool to rope you into their faction."

"Teacher, why don't you understand? I can't take some random girl as my wife. I want to have a meaningful relationship with her.", said Gu Guangzhi adamantly. As he casually glanced at Xiong Jiao Lin in the picture Yu Wen Zi was holding, he was shocked. "I know her! We used to be in the same team!"