New battle tactics

Gu Guangzhi's Bamboo sword had been destroyed in his battle against Bai Ning Bing. He refined a new one but he was so used to its powerful strikes when he was in Rank 2 that he didn't feel like using a Rank 2 Bamboo sword Gu again whilst painstakingly building up its power over time. So he refined it into another gu insect. As the Bai clan gu masters surrounded him, he calmly used Bamboo swamp Gu to turn his surroundings to a green swamp and controlled the swamp to form a chair. He then used the Turn Rock Gu to solidify the chair and sat on it.

"You've all made a mistake. You should've attacked me from the start instead of focusing on my water wolf."

Looking at the arrogant attitude of Gu Guangzhi, the Bai clan gu masters' veins popped.

"How dare a D-grade gu master look down on us?"

"Yeah. We wanted to capture you alive to bring you to lord Bai Ning Bing. But now we'll beat you to death and drag your corpse to him."

"You can't escape your death now. Don't beg for mercy and fight like a real man.", saying so the Bai clan gu master rushed forward to attack Gu Guangzhi using Rank 2 Ice punch Gu.

Gu Guangzhi activated his Rank 2 Grass Puppet Gu. The grass around him grew quickly as it formed into the shape of a grass soldier. A grass soldier puppet ordinarily had the strength to kill only mortals and not gu masters. But when the Bai clan gu master attacked, he narrowly missed and the grass puppet soldier blocked his attack. It punched him back. The punch was so heavy that the Rank 1 defenses of the attacking gu master broke. All the Bai clan gu masters were shocked.

The gu master was embarrassed by this and tried to destroy the grass soldier puppet but all his attacks narrowly missed and he was pummeled by the grass soldier. As the gu master continued to fight sloppily, one Bai clan gu master noticed something and exclaimed, "He is manipulating the ground to make the punches miss!" Then all the Bai clan gu masters began to notice that just when the gu master was about to land an ice punch, the swampy ground would shift ever so slowly making the punch miss. Even the attacking gu master didn't notice it as he felt that his punches missed due to the swampy terrain. Once this was pointed out, his face became flush with anger and shame.

"Gu Guangzhi, you coward! Fight me like a man."

"You don't deserve to be fought one on one. Guys let's attack him together."

"Gu Guangzhi, have a taste of my Ice pellet Gu."

Several attacks came flying towards Gu Guangzhi but he didn't move from his spot. Instead, several grass soldier puppets were formed and took the hits for him. Some of the grass soldiers perished while some fought back. Sometimes, Gu Guangzhi would even suddenly shift the ground around the Bai clan gu masters to make them shoot icicles at each other. Six of the eight Bai clan gu master were currently engaged in battle with Gu Guangzhi but he was able to battle them with ease.

"Damn! Why are these grass soldiers so strong? If I had a Rank 2 defensive gu worm, I would've beaten them easily."

"Gu Guangzhi! I'll make you suffer ten times the humiliation I had to suffer today!"

"Shit! Isn't Gu Guangzhi supposed to have a D-grade aptitude? Why are we having such a tough time against a Rank 2 gu master?"

One of the gu masters who stood behind suddenly jumped into the air and used her Rank 3 Black ice Gu. The ground in the surroundings became extremely slippery covered with ice. The Bai clan gu masters were also taken aback for a second but since they were used to such attacks while training, they quickly used ice blades to stick them in the ground and stabilize themselves. The grass soldier puppets however couldn't find a footing and fell to the ground. Most of them fell softly but a few fell on the ice with a thud. Gu Guangzhi was startled with this sudden reversal.

"Those grass soldier puppets aren't ordinary puppets. They are much heavier than the rest. You must have combined several gu to achieve that effect. That's why they are much more powerful. Also, you can't control too many of those modified grass puppets. That's why only few of them are powerful.", said the gu master who used Rank 3 Black ice Gu.

Gu Guangzhi was amazed by the analysis of this gu master. Gu Guangzhi had indeed used Bamboo swamp Gu and Grass Puppet Gu in tandem to produce puppets with bamboo swamp grass. He then used the Turn Rock Gu as a follow up to further strengthen these puppets. Since they were much more heavier and powerful, they depended on Gu Guangzhi's soul foundation more than ordinary grass puppets. So he couldn't create endless amount of these new puppets.

As Gu Guangzhi's defenses were down, the Bai clan gu masters used this opportunity to attack him. As they were closing in, Gu Guangzhi used his Rank 3 Turn Rock Gu to form small spears in the ground to break up the black ice and then his Rank 3 Bamboo swamp Gu to create a small wave throwing everyone off balance. Earlier, he had diluted his Rank 3 white silver primeval essence in small amounts to Rank 2 red steel primeval essence to hide his true cultivation. Since the movement of the ground using Bamboo swamp Gu was minimal, he could manage it using Rank 2 primeval essence. But now, as he used Bamboo swamp Gu in large capacity, his Rank 3 primeval essence was exposed. The six attacking gu masters were shocked at this revelation.

The Rank 3 Bai clan gu master said, "It's just as I guessed. You've indeed reached Rank 3 initial stage. No matter, how efficient you were in using primeval essence, there was no way you could control those many modified puppets on Rank 2 cultivation alone."

"You are good. Who are you?", asked Gu Guangzhi.

The Rank 3 Bai clan gu master replied, "Look it up when they write my name on your gravestone."