Making of an Urban Legend (3)

Gu Guangzhi had a Rank 2 Wolf Enslavement Gu with him that the clan leader had given him. He told Yu Wen Zi his plan and Yu Wen Zi was initially shocked. Yu Wen Zi told him that he might not be able to protect him during this process. Gu Guangzhi was determined to go with the plan none the less. Both of them disappeared into the wolf tide.

They started spreading ghost entrapping grass in small amounts around the battlefield and reached a peak in the middle of the battlefield. Gu Guangzhi then burned wolf enchantment incense in soul braving fire using his primeval essence. Soul braving fire was a relatively expensive mortal material and its smoke quickly spread across the battlefield in a thin layer. The souls of the wolves trapped by the ghost entrapping grass started to move towards the peak. An ominous wind started to gather around the peak and the wolves nearby were irritated by it. They started attacking Gu Guangzhi and Yu Wen Zi.

This also caught the attention of gu masters fighting nearby. Though there were no soul path gu masters in Xiong clan, some of them who tried their hand in enslavement path, had experience in soul cultivation before. Devouring ghosts of beasts was one of the methods to increase soul foundation. However, it was not the ideal way to improve one's soul due to incompatibility with human soul. Moreover, gu masters would do this method with one or two ghosts. The hundreds of ghosts of the wolves killed in battle would over whelm any gu master. When Yuan Shuren saw this, he thought that Gu Guangzhi had gone mad trying to improve his soul foundation rapidly.

As the ominous wind was closing in, Yu Wen Zi was trying his best to keep the wolves at bay and Gu Guangzhi was busy with a second refinement. He was refining the Wolf Enslavement Gu into Wolf soul bonding Gu. Wolf Enslavement Gu allowed a gu master to give commands to a wolf. Wolf soul bonding Gu, on the other hand, made a soul connection to the gu master and the wolf. No one was slave to one another but they would deeply understand one another and work selflessly for one another. If one suffered, the other would suffer as well.

After using the Wolf soul bonding Gu, Gu Guangzhi started his soul cultivation using Ghost devouring Gu. One after the other, he devoured the ghosts of the wolves that were killed in battle. Their resentment towards humans was overwhelming him but his water wolf suppressed the ghosts. As he increased his soul foundation, due to the effect of soul bonding, the water wolf's soul foundation was increasing as well. This, in turn increased its vitality, and started healing it. As it grew stronger and stronger, the water wolf broke through and mutated into a nether river wolf. However, Gu Guangzhi had no idea about it as mutations were very rare. Only a true enslavement path master would recognize the mutation.

Gu Guangzhi had used Condensing essence Gu and primeval stones to replenish his primeval essence in parallel during this refinement. Yu Wen Zi told him that it would have a negative effect on his aptitude when he reached Rank 3 but Gu Guangzhi took the loss for his water wolf. As soon as he noticed that his water wolf was healed, he doused the soul braving fire and collapsed. The nether river wolf picked him up and motioned Yu Wen Zi to leave. They sneakily made their way into the camp.

Three days later, Gu Guangzhi was summoned to the battle camp. He told the elders that he had taken a risk to improve upon his soul foundation during the battle and it paid off. Further, he had now enslaved the water wolf. Since there were no soul path experts in the clan, they could not differentiate enslavement from soul bonding.

One of the elders felt that the water wolf was looking a bit different but when he saw the water wolf's Rank 3 strength, he didn't want to mention it anymore.

…

"Hey, did you hear? It turns out Gu Guangzhi is actually a descendant of Gu Yue clan. He gave up his family name when he was nine years old."

"Yeah. I heard it just a few hours ago. Do you think he will be kicked out of the clan?"

"Are you crazy? He is a great fighter. He has excellent battle tactics. He can do some refinement too. His water wolf is really powerful. Why would any clan kick him out?"

"That's true. He only has a D grade aptitude but he is great asset to the clan. I wish I was like him."

"Haha. You've changed bro."

…

"Hey, why are you so moody?"

"I heard that Gu Guangzhi broke into Rank 2 upper stage."

"Really? He must be putting in all the effort."

"It just pisses me off. I have a better aptitude than him. Why can't I progress in my cultivation?"

"Hmm… Maybe it's because you sit idly and gossip all day."

"You are right. From now on, I will meet you again only when I make a breakthrough in my cultivation."

"Bro, I was just joking. Bro…"

…

"Yes. I finally made a breakthrough to Rank 2 peak stage."

"Congratulations. You've worked really hard these past few years. Especially during this wolf tide."

"Yeah. My desire to surpass Gu Guangzhi helped me focus on my cultivation and overcome all obstacles."

"Gu Guangzhi? You're still obsessed with him? It is true that he has great battle prowess and he has broke through to Rank 2 peak stage in only seven years since he joined the clan. But it has been three years since he made any further progress. Seems like Rank 2 is the ceiling for a D-grade gu master."

"Sigh. It is a pity. Now that I'm caught up to him, I don't feel motivated anymore."

"Oh really? Why don't you go compete with Bai Ning Bing of the Bai clan then?"

"What? You want me to die? There's no way I'm going to do that!"

…

Gu Guangzhi slowly made his way to the the outskirts of Bai clan. There was a detached looking youth sitting on a tree, gazing at the sky. Gu Guangzhi raised his voice and shouted, "Bai Ning Bing! I've come to challenge you to a battle. Come and face me!"