Chapter 13: Ambition
Hello, I hope you all are having a good day. :)
Here are today's questions:
1. When a Gu master ascends to Gu immortal, they need to face a Heavenly Tribulation and an Earthly Calamity. How do you think someone without the assistance of another Gu immortal would go about dealing with the tribulations?
2. Do you think Heavenly Court members lose some of their strength after contributing their aperture to Heavenly Court?
3. Any good French dishes you might be willing to recommend?
Zhao Wen POV
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As Zhao Wen dragged his weary and damaged body back towards the Han branch estate, he kept thinking about his recent breakthrough.
Using the inspiration brought about by the Flash Inspiration Gu and the assistance of the ascension formation, Zhao Wen had managed to combine his strength path foundation with his cultivation of phantom path.
During his inspired state, he had made a connection between the phenomenon known as beast phantoms and a killer move Phantom Fiend had left behind.
The killer move, Phantom Fiend Regalia, combined Phantom Rotation and Phantom Fiend Gu, harmonizing these two and turning the summoned Phantom Fiend into armor or a pilotable suit around the Gu master.
By condensing both the Gu master and the Phantom Fiend Gu, a partial fusion could be achieved, effectively giving the Gu master the body of a rank 4 puppet-type Gu.
In his inspired state, Zhao Wen had realized that if the Phantom Fiend Gu could be used like this, then why couldn't he also harmonize with a summoned beast phantom?
The experimentation was actually a very dangerous process. Not only did he cause self-harm to induce the berserker bear beast phantom to appear, but he also needed to use Condense Phantom precisely enough to cause a partial fusion and not a real fusion.
If Zhao Wen had miscalculated, not only could he have faced the backlash of an incomplete killer move, but he could also have died by fusing with the materialized berserker bear.
[But I succeeded.]
Grinning widely despite the pain he was experiencing, Zhao Wen pondered what he should name his first self-created killer move.
[Hmm, if I follow the naming convention, then this new killer move should be called Berserker Bear Regalia or Phantom Bear Regalia.
On one hand, I want to honor Fang Long by naming my killer move after his trump card Phantom Fiend Regalia. On the other hand, I don't really like those names.
Whatever, this move can only be considered partially completed anyway. I can come up with a name when I figure out a way to reliably summon the berserker bear phantom on demand.
The inheritances of this body's parents should have some clues. This body's father Zhao Ping cultivated berserker bear strength, after all.]
Dragging his body to the estate's gates, Zhao Wen was greeted by the two guards. Although it was already night, the guards of the Han branch all had good investigative Gu and recognized Zhao Wen by the time he approached the gates.
"Elder Zhao! Are you alright? Do you want us to find a healing Gu master for you?"
Waving his hand to dismiss the concerned guards, Zhao Wen simply asked to enter the estate. He needed to rest now so that he could use the ascension formation again tomorrow.
As he walked to his residence, he pondered,
[Sigh, it seems I actually need to try and get back the inheritances of this body's parents. Didn't that old man mention that Jia Shui's inheritance contained a rank 3 Hatred Gu?
If I integrate it with my new killer move, I might be able to summon the berserker bear phantom at will. Hmm, I need to ask that old man if I can borrow the Gu for experimentation. If it helps, then I can exchange some recipes for it. If it doesn't, then I'll simply ignore it.]
Seeing one of the maids waiting quietly in front of his door, Zhao Wen gave some instructions on what he wanted prepared the following morning before he entered his bedroom and promptly fell asleep from the day's exhaustion.
---
The following morning, as Zhao Wen was eating, he received the reply of Lord Han from one of the servants.
[He denied my request to borrow the Hatred Gu?]
Frowning, Zhao Wen contemplated this as he ate his breakfast.
On the table in front of him were various fruits like pears, peeled oranges, and watermelon, along with various meats like chicken, pork, and turtle. The most extravagant addition to the table was, however, the fried fragrant vine Gu.
[Whatever, I don't have the time to argue with him over this. I need to use my remaining time in the ascension hall. I will need to ask him when our refinement lessons begin next week.]
Returning his attention to the meal in front of him, Zhao Wen picked up part of the fragrant vine Gu with his chopsticks, observing the dead Gu for a few seconds before placing it inside his mouth.
Chewing slowly and carefully, Zhao Wen savored the delicious mix of sensations and tastes of the fragrant vine Gu. This Gu was a rank 1 wood path Gu that produced a wondrous fragrance.
From time to time, the vines coiling around the fruit trees the Ye clan managed would transform into a fragrant vine Gu, drawing in beasts to consume the fruits from the fruit trees.
Because of this, they were generally removed from the trees as soon as they were found as they lured pests to the plantations managed by the clan. This did not, however, mean that these Gu were useless or valueless; quite the opposite, actually.
Many women bought these Gu to be used in perfume, and many restaurants bought them as they could be used to create wonderful condiments.
This meant that their price never went under 10 primeval essence stones, with many mortal families that lived in the Ye Hu oasis hunting for fragrant vine Gu as their livelihood.
While most clansmen would consider it very wasteful to actually eat the fragrant vine Gu, the higher-ups in the Ye clan regularly dined on this delicacy.
Swallowing the last remnants of the fragrant vine Gu, Zhao Wen savored the aftertaste for a bit before drinking the remnants of his green tea.
[It's about time I start to head towards the ascension hall. They should be in the process of activating the formation now. Hmm, I didn't manage to get that Hatred Gu, so I can't experiment in that direction.
Ah well, then I will focus on my original plan. Mastering the Flying Phantom killer move and utilizing the second level of the Phantom Rotation style. I also need to meditate on my understanding of the various paths in this world.
With the help of a formation explicitly designed to bring out any buried memories and use them to generate insights, it would be foolish of me not to use it to understand this world better.]
Leaving the estate, Zhao Wen also ruminated,
[In the future, I should also look around for beast strength Gu from phantom path beasts. I have a feeling it would be way easier to integrate them into my combat system than the emotion path berserker bear.]
---
During the following two days, Zhao Wen used 12 hours each day to train and refine his utilization of the killer move Flying Phantom. He made quick progress inside the formation, learning things that would have taken him weeks outside in mere hours.
Originally, he had estimated that in roughly four months he would manage to utilize the killer move effectively, but after spending these two days training the move both inside the ascension formation and outside it, he grew confident he would be able to master it in less than two more months.
Observing the ascension hall on the fourth and final day, Zhao Wen couldn't help but marvel at the ascension formation and the usefulness of formations and, by extension, formation path.
[I fully understand the demand for formation path Gu masters now. Building something like the ascension formation that can boost the comprehensive strength of an entire clan is amazing.
Because of Gu houses, I knew that the righteous path super forces valued formation path Gu masters and Gu immortals highly, but now I think that offensive formations are only a shallow part of formation path.
Formation path Gu masters are like this world's version of engineers and architects; they build almost all of this world's high-end cultivation infrastructure.
I don't think the super forces could maintain their lead over lone and demonic cultivators without the formations created by formation path experts.
When I become rank four or five, I definitely want to get my hands on a complete formation path inheritance. At the very least, when I become an immortal, one of the first things I will buy from Treasure Yellow Heaven are formation path inheritances.]
Entering the ascension hall, the elder greeted Zhao Wen again, saying,
"Welcome, Elder Zhao, punctual as always. The formation is almost ready. Remember that this is the last day, and you have 20 hours of usage left."
Smiling faintly as he talked with the elder, Zhao Wen eventually separated himself from the middle-aged man as he entered the formation for the final time this week.
Taking the familiar pose, Zhao Wen closed his eyes and started thinking with the assistance of the formation.
His purpose for these final 20 hours was to consolidate his understanding of his path, starting with answering the question: [What is a Phantom?]
Ruminating on this question, various definitions and impressions floated around in his mind,
[An illusion without material substance, a dream image, a mirage, or an optical illusion.
Something fictitious or nonexistent resembling the real thing, used to deceive others.
Something heard, seen, or sensed but has no physical reality. An apparition, a ghost, or a specter deceiving the observer.
Something real yet false, a projection of things past.]
These were Zhao Wen's impressions of Phantoms from his past life.
Holding the final Flash of Inspiration Gu in his hands, Zhao Wen observed it with a faint smile.
[Although my accumulation in this new life can only be considered lacking at best, I still have my previous life experience to draw from. Furthermore, I have already comprehended my first step on my path to understanding the Dao.
Now, with this Gu and this formation, I will speed up my comprehension, reducing what might otherwise take months of careful self-reflection to a day of accelerated comprehension.]
Activating the Gu, Zhao Wen's eyes glowed with brilliance as he rapidly went through his memories about Phantom Path, connecting various concepts mentioned in Fang Long's or Phantom Fiend's inheritance with things he remembered from the book Reverend Insanity.
[I see. When I turn Phantom, I never truly become false; at best, I become immaterial. There is still something real about me when I turn Phantom. Phantom Path does not truly turn true to false or false to true.
Phantom Path is not the True / False Rule; that is Rule Path. What Phantom Path does is straddle the line between True and False, creating a mixture of both.
How can something truly false exist in this world? Falsehood exists, yet something truly false cannot exist. Even if it existed, once it is observed by existence, by humans, by heaven, it would become real to some extent. It would become… an illusory Phantom.
The two supreme profundities of Phantom Path mentioned in Reverend Insanity, Phantom apertures and Phantom Void… Are these not false things that become real to some extent?]
As the hours rolled by, Zhao Wen continued to deduce and summarize his understanding of Phantom Path. Each hour he made various speculations on what he might be able to accomplish walking on this path.
[As long as you can create something partially real that can imitate the real thing, you might be able to achieve great effects with less effort and energy.
Is this how Heavenly Court's Phantom apertures work? Instead of creating a complete aperture, they create a phantom close enough to the real thing that it fools the world?
I don't know, I don't know. So far I have been focusing on methods that manipulate my state, turning myself into a phantom or partially condensing phantoms to attack an enemy.
I know that the creation of phantom terrain and phantom constructs is possible, as is the creation of phantom imitations of elements like fire, water, lightning, and so on.
I need to experiment, I need to study, and I need to experience more about the Phantom Path.
I want to learn how to distort reality, tricking the world into believing that reality is false and that phantoms are real.
I want to deceive Heaven and Earth! I want to deceive the Dao! I wish to impose my will on reality. This is my ambition, this is my Zhao Wen´s meager wish.]