Gu

Humans are the spirit of all living beings and Gu are the essence of heaven and earth, the essence of the world itself. In the Gu world, there are countless species and an ever-increasing number of (new) Gu. Wild Gu are able to use naturally occurring primeval energy and create wondrous effects. In nature, under the right conditions, Gu can form from lifeforms such as insects, they live everywhere in the deepest crevices of the earth, the highest of clouds, on the bodies of wild beasts, and most dangerous of plants, and even in the dreams of man.

The scholars of the past have gradually uncovered the mysteries of the Gu, mortals who have opened their aperture, were able to use primeval essence to refine, manipulate, feed, and raise Gu. Such people are called Gu Masters.

## The Rank of a Gu

Just like Gu Masters, Gu themselves are ranked but with the exception that they are ranked from 1 to 10. The rank of a Gu is important as such that it needs to complement their Gu Master, this is done so by having the same rank (or as close as possible) as the Gu Master.

* A rank 1 Gu Master should use a rank 1 Gu. If the rank of the Gu is lower than the Gu Master's, then using the Gu would be equivalent to a strong man using a small stick, the strength output would be small. If the rank of the Gu is higher than the Gu Master's, then using the Gu would be equivalent to a small child using a heavy ax, the primeval essence or immortal essence to use it effectively would be beyond their capability as well as creating the risk of endangering themselves by using it.

* The rank of a Gu also determines their food intake, the higher the rank the longer the period until it becomes hungry again after it was fed but also at the same time more food would be necessary to feed it until it's full. In other words, a low ranked Gu would eat a small portion of food after a short period of time. A high ranked Gu would eat a large portion of food after a long period of time. (The time period until feeding can shorten when the Gu is used excessively).
* The higher the rank of a Gu, the more primeval essence or immortal essence is being expended while using it.

### Mortal Gu

Mortal Gu represent the *traces* of the Great Dao. They rank from 1 to 5 and it's their rank that determines their rarity, strength, and worth in the Gu World, as an example, Gu of rank 4 are very precious and already hard to purchase while rank 5 Gu are practically not circulated in the (mortal) market. Most mortal Gu expend primeval essence to be activated and used.

#### Regional Suppression (1.1)

A Gu Master also has to take note of the region their mortal Gu was refined in because it can only display its full power in the region it was refined in, as an example, a rank 4 Gu refined in Southern Border would only be able to display the strength of a rank 3 Gu when used in another region such as Northern Plains. This can be circumvented to some degree by refining a rank 4 (Southern Border) Gu to rank 5 in Northern Plains, at this point, it would be counted as a Northern Plains Gu and would be able to display its full power.

### Immortal Gu

Immortal Gu represent the intact *fragments* of the Great Dao. They rank from 6 to 10 and it's their rank that determines their rarity, strength, and worth in the Gu World. In the realm of mortals, they are practically legends, but if one were to appear and this information made public, the resulting 'war' of mortal Gu Masters and their clans/sect/tribes would cause a huge massacre. Most Immortal Gu expend immortal essence to be activated and used. In comparison to mortal Gu their worth far exceeds them with a few exceptions such as Lifespan Gu. Their worth is so high that for Gu Immortals it's only feasible to trade an Immortal Gu with another Immortal Gu. Most Gu Immortals don't even possess one Immortal Gu.

Immortal Gu are unique and only one of them can exist at any given time. The name of an Immortal Gu **does not change** with their increasing rank, for example, a rank 6 Spring Autumn Cicada will still be called the same after reaching rank 7.

During the immortal ascension, Gu Masters have a chance to refine one or more rank 5 mortal Gu into Immortal Gu with the leftover heaven and earth qi (after their immortal aperture has formed). If and how many Immortal Gu can be refined, depends on the remaining volume of the leftover qi with a higher volume equating to a higher number of Immortal Gu.

#### Regional Suppression (2.1)

Unlike mortal Gu, Immortal Gu are not suppressed in the different regions (where they were not refined) and can display their full power in every region.

### Dream Path Gu

Dream path Gu are an anomaly as they can almost only exclusively be found or refined inside a dream realm unless one refines them from the body of a dream beast. Dream path Gu ranked from 1 to 5, don't have a physical form that can be observed in the outside world, and can only be used inside a dream realm. Dream path Immortal Gu ranked from 6 to 10, on the other hand, can be brought out of a dream realm into the outside world, be refined in the outside world, as well as being usable in the outside world.

### Special Cases

* Some special Gu can only be activated using other sources of power aside from primeval essence and immortal essence or need to use two or more power sources, a few examples are as follows, blood, mental energy, the Gu Master's soul foundation, or dao marks.
* Some Gu can create a long-lasting effect even after ceasing their supply with primeval essence, immortal essence, or other sources of power by carving dao marks on their target, for example, Gu like Black Boar Gu, Thousand Jun Strength Gu or Jade Bone Gu are able to do so.

## Refining Gu

A major aspect of a Gu Master's cultivation is the refinement of Gu. The term refinement is rather broad and encompasses:

* Forcing the Gu Master's will into a wild Gu until none of its own original will remains. (It's theoretically possible to refine an infinite number of Gu but due to the requirements of having to feed all of them it's neither practical nor feasible for a mortal Gu Master)
* Creating one or more new Gu out of refinement materials (possibly including Gu).
* Increasing the rank of an already existing Gu with the use of refinement materials (possibly including Gu).
* Fusing two or more Gu into a brand new Gu.

### Refinement: Will Enforcing

Forcing the will of the Gu Master into a wild Gu, or the already refined Gu of another Gu Master, is the act of making it theirs and allowing the Gu to be used by Gu Master who refined it. The refinement process is dependent on various variables which are as follows:

* The rank of the Gu, the higher the rank the harder it is to refine.
	+ Gu two ranks or more ranks higher can pressure other Gu into submission, making them easier to be refined.
* The type of will, if it is a wild will it will be easier than refining a Gu which is containing a Gu Master's will.
	+ A Gu Master can willingly let other people refine their Gu making the process a lot easier, almost effortless.
	+ If the Gu Master was an enemy beforehand, their Gu will be harder to refine.

The will inside the Gu also serves as a deterrent, it allows the Gu Master who refined the Gu to detonate it with just a thought at any time, making it virtually impossible to forcefully obtain their Gu (without special methods or instantly killing them).

### Refinement: Vital Gu

Every Gu Master starts their cultivation journey by refining (mostly will enforcing) a Gu of their choice that becomes their vital Gu. A vital Gu (Note: "v*ital" or other translation "life bound"*) is in a very special and close relationship with the Gu Master because its grade mostly determines the future prospects of the Gu Master.

If the vital Gu is destroyed or removed and refined by someone else, the Gu Master will at best suffer a heavy injury and at worst die. If a Gu Master happens to find an extremely good Gu and wishes to make it their vital Gu while having one already it would prove difficult but not impossible to change it, but this meant destroying their vital Gu first and in the process suffering heavy injuries from the backlash.

The vital Gu is most often the first Gu to have its rank increased as it is the 'core' strength of any Gu Master, and unlike other Gu, it has also the characteristic of not being destroyed when being refined to increase it's rank, at most it would be heavily injured and would need to recuperate.

### Refinement: Gu Creation and Increasing Rank

The aspect of refining Gu from materials and other Gu is an act of fusing and making traces or fragments of the Great Dao interact with each other. This process is more mystical than chemistry, and even more dangerous than processing gunpowder. Refining Gu is costly because each attempt needs a high number of different materials and Gu in sometimes large quantities. There are multiple known and unknown factors which determine a successful refinement, the following factors are ones that increase the chance at succeeding:

* High familiarity with the Gu or materials needed for the refinement.
* Using materials that are not maliciously tampered with.
* High attainment in refinement path.
* Using the 'best' recipe for the refinement.
* Using the nature Gu refinement technique / hairy man heaven and earth style.
* Parallel refinement.
* And many more...

Even then there is a certain chance of the naturally occurring failure rate that's unavoidable, and each failed refinement attempt is met with a loss of, at best, part of the materials, at worst, all of the materials as well as an injury to the soul. History has shown that the refinement of a Gu only rarely succeeds at the first attempt, therefore Gu Masters always plan on many portions to refine a Gu, either by using many low-ranked refinement materials or a few higher-ranked ones. This can cause a financial burden on a Gu Master even creating debt as well as weakening them for a time.

During the immortal ascension, Gu Masters have a chance to refine one or more rank 5 mortal Gu into Immortal Gu with the leftover heaven and earth qi (after their immortal aperture has formed). If and how many Immortal Gu can be refined, depends on the remaining volume of the leftover qi with a higher volume equating to a higher number of Immortal Gu.

#### Gu Recipes

There is not only one way to bake a cake, and the same also applies to Gu. Not every Gu is a naturally occurring one and Gu Masters have the possibility to refine a Gu from other Gu and refinement materials. But this is not without its difficulties. To create such a recipe the Gu Master preferably needs to have a high enough attainment in refinement path and the path of the Gu to be refined, for example, a dark path Gu recipe would be easier to deduce with high dark path attainment than without. The materials have also to be chosen with great care, as their dao mark composition is of utmost significance to the refinement. Some materials might be suited more to be used in the refinement, making it easier or complementing the used refinement method which results in a more stable refinement process.

#### Refinement Path Methods

There are countless of refinement path methods some have special characteristics like group refinement, human isolation style refinement, and nature refinement, or being part of another path such as fire refinement, ice refinement, time refinement, and so on. Some people are innately suited for fire refinement methods, while others are better suited for water refinement methods.

The suitability is mostly depended on the character of the Gu Master, for example, people with an active and bright nature are suited for metal refinement and fire refinement while people with a patient and persistent nature are more suited for ice refinement.

## Taking Care of Gu

The common saying among Gu Masters is that raising a Gu is like raising a mistress.

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A Gu Master refines Gu, uses Gu, feeds Gu and tends to the needs of their Gu and for that, the Gu Master needs knowledge on how to raise them, this knowledge is extensive and profound because there are all kinds of Gu there are all kinds of needs that need to be tended to. Some Gu need to swallow soil, some need starlight, some require tears and some feed on the clouds, air, and other unorthodox 'food'.

Rank 1 and 2 Gu need to be fed every few days, rank 4's need to be fed once every few months, and rank 5's need only to be fed every one or two years, Immortal Gu need to be at least fed every 5 to 6 years and each time they eat, it would be extremely expensive.

The higher the rank of a Gu, the higher the costs to feed and raise it, but the interval between each feeding session would increase greatly as well. It often gave a Gu Master too many difficulties to cope with, making them have unceasing headaches over it. (The amount of primeval essence in the aperture is another limiting factor, once it was consumed, the Gu could not be used until the essence was replenished. Therefore, Gu Masters only refined and kept a select few Gu of their respective rank.)

Mortal Gu Masters ranked 1 to 5 would usually only raise at most 5 to 6 (mortal Gu) at the same time, while Gu Immortals rank 6 and above could raise a million or even ten million mortal Gu at the same time, the difference between the capabilities of a mortal and an immortal is as far as the clouds are from the mud.

## Wild Gu

Wild Gu possess their own will and can absorb the natural primeval energy in the surrounding by themselves. However, after a Gu is refined by a Gu Master, its will would be dominated by the Gu Master's, and it would lose the ability to absorb the Primeval Energy, and only be able to absorb the primeval essence found in the Gu Master's aperture.

Wild Gu naturally also possess their own survival instincts, even though they can exhibit wondrous and powerful effects most Gu are very fragile and therefore search for a safe place. Those safe places are mostly extreme ones, for example, beasts, that contain their corresponding dao marks. A time path Gu would feel that a time path beast would be the best habitat for it, the more time path dao marks it has the more desirable it would be, because the more dao marks a beast has the stronger it is and the higher the chances for its own and the Gu's survival. The beasts would have a certain symbiotic capacity for Gu, which when reached, wouldn't allow any more Gu to form a symbiosis with the beast, akin it would be like an overcrowded territory not having any more space for more to enter.

## Gu Types

There are various types of Gu that can fulfill different purposes. These types also extend to more complex aspects of Gu usage, such as killer moves, formations, and Gu Houses. (work in progress)

## The True Essence of Mortal & Immortal Gu "Great Dao"

After a Gu Master's cultivation reaches a profound level, they would understand a deep underlying principle. A Gu Master using Gu is not simply using the Gu as a tool, but rather, it is a way to understand the Great Dao that encompasses heaven and earth. Gu are the vessels that carry the law traces and fragments of the Great Dao and a Gu Master would in fact not cultivate Gu but cultivate the Great Dao. When Gu Masters refine Gu, they would be fusing laws and forming (new) laws. This is one reason why the hope for finding the law of immortality and becoming an eternal being still remains in the hearts of countless Gu Masters.

Man is the spirit of all living beings, Gu is the essence of heaven and earth, a vessel of the Great Dao. If a mortal Gu is said to hold only a tiny trace of the law of heaven and earth, then an Immortal Gu would hold a corner of the Great Dao, a unique and intact piece of the rules of heaven and earth, something akin to a puzzle piece that can't exist more than once, because of this, there can only exist one Immortal Gu of each kind at any given time. Every time an Immortal Gu is 'born', other Immortal Gu in the surroundings would tremble and respond. The more closely related or conflicting the law inside the bodies of the other Gu are, the stronger the resonance between each other, and the greater the extent at which they would tremble.

## Sealed Gu & Gambling Rocks

 File:Gambling Rock.png
Heaven and earth always leave a chance for survival, a small number of Gu that got gravely injured, or ran out of food, might go into hibernation. Through long periods of time, a rock layer would form around their bodies and would get thicker with time accumulating more and more layers until a typical fossil is created. These rocks wrap around the Gu Worms, and due to the influence of the law fragments in the Gu Worms, they become different from other rocks and look very different compared to the surrounding soil. People find these fossils, and collect them, this is what gambling rocks actually are. A Gu Master who gambles and obtains a rock in which a sealed Gu is, could open the rock and refine it with little effort, such a reawakened Gu would be a stroke of fortune for them. Some of the Gu Masters became successful due to this, for that was "the" turning point in their lives.

**Gambling Rocks Classification:**

 2) Low
 3) Medium
 4) High
 5) Super

**List of** **Gambling Rocks:**

* Purple Gold Rock
* Old Man Stone
* Pushing Cart Stone
* Cold Ice Stone
* Stellar Stone
* Black Rock

## Top 10 Gu

### List of Mystical Gu

The list of mystical Gu was constantly changing and the top 10 seldom adjusted. Most of the top 10 mystical Gu are related to the rank 9 venerables.

### List of Great Immortal Gu

 2nd
 3rd
 4th
 5th
 6th
 8th
 9th
 10th

### List of Great Demonic Gu

 2nd
 3rd
 4th
 5th
 6th
 7th
 10th

## Trivia

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1. ↑ ch. 647
2. ↑ ch. 1480 - It is, however, unclear if this applies to every Gu refinement or only to this specific one.
3. ↑ ch. 1440
4. ↑ ch. 1431
5. ↑ An obsolete Gu classification, as they are only mentioned at the beginning parts of the novel and are later replaced by the more fleshed out concept of wood path Gu, poison path Gu, and food path Gu.
6. ↑ ch. 40