Jiang Dongqu

The courtyard Jiang Xiyu had arranged for Gu Jinlai was not in the central urban district.

It was twenty li from the City Lord Mansion, which stood at the heart of the city.

The grounds were spacious enough to accommodate fifty or sixty people with ease.

Gu Jinlai had once been an Organ Refining elder, after all. A small courtyard would hardly have been presentable for him, even by the Jiang Household's standards.

By the time Shao Hong escorted him to the courtyard, it had already been thoroughly cleaned and stocked with some daily necessities. However, the staff had already been withdrawn, leaving the place cold and deserted.

Before leaving Changjun City, Gu Jinlai had already sent word to the Gu Clan in Red Wind City, asking Gu Xiangyang to bring people to Starlight City and place them at his disposal.

As soon as he entered the city, he had told Shao Hong to send someone with the message. Less than two hours after reaching the courtyard, Gu Xiangyang arrived with more than twenty people and settled them inside.

They were all members of the Gu Clan or had served the Gu Clan for generations. Their loyalty was beyond question.

While Gu Xiangyang led people around the courtyard to check for anything unusual, Gu Jinlai had already stored away each treasure in the study.

At the same time, he opened the bag Shao Hong had given him.

The bag contained not only his identity documents but also an account of his life.

Just as Shao Hong had said, he was a collateral-line member of the Jiang Household who had followed a Heavenly Master in cultivation since childhood.

However, this man had already been devoured by Demonic Beasts three years ago, together with his Heavenly Master teacher. That was what allowed Gu Jinlai to assume his identity.

"Jiang Dongqu."

Gu Jinlai murmured the name.

A Heavenly Master's apprentice.

"Next, I need to cultivate the Great Sun Ninefold Refinement Visualization Method as quickly as possible and transform from a Heavenly Master's apprentice into a true Heavenly Master."

Gu Jinlai spoke.

There was no denying that the Heavenly Master Lineage had been swept away by history and no longer possessed its former glory.

But Heavenly Masters refined qi into spirit. Whether in artifact forging or beast-taming, they could create astonishing value. Their physically frail bodies were also reassuring, since there was little need to worry about them losing control after becoming too powerful.

For that reason, Heavenly Masters were highly sought after by major powers.

Some Heavenly Masters with outstanding artifact-forging or beast-taming skills were not necessarily inferior in status to Spirit Refining True Persons.

Of course, that referred only to status.

It was like the ancient Minister of Works and Minister of War. Though both were ministers of the Six Ministries, their importance differed as greatly as heaven and earth.

"Ancestor."

At that moment, Gu Xiangyang entered.

"The Gu Clan shares both my glory and my disgrace. If I don't go to Huayin County to take office, the Gu Clan will inevitably be implicated. Return once and tell Patriarch Gu Changfeng that, for the time being, the Gu Clan must keep its claws sheathed and focus on holding what we have."

After making a rough calculation, Gu Jinlai said, "In addition, train a thousand elite soldiers, in case of the unexpected."

"A thousand elite soldiers? With our Gu Clan's income, I'm afraid we can't afford to support a thousand men..."

Gu Xiangyang spoke.

Gu Jinlai handed him the treasure box containing the Glimmerstone. "Give this to the patriarch. The funds needed for a thousand elite soldiers will no longer be a problem."

Gu Xiangyang did not know what was inside the box, but the fact that it could support an army of a thousand showed how valuable it was.

He solemnly put the box away. "Even if I have to stake my life, I'll protect this item."

"As for the Purgatory Sect, I'll write a letter to Sect Master Lu Dengxian to stall for time. Once our Gu Clan gains momentum, refusing the post in Huayin County won't be worth mentioning."

"The Purgatory Sect..."

Gu Xiangyang said, "Red Wind City is a frontier city of Chi Province. The Yellow Springs Sect and Dragon Sparrow Manor are entrenched there, and our Gu Clan's influence in Red Wind City is not weak. If the Purgatory Sect pushes our ancestor too hard, we can defect to the Yellow Springs Sect. I believe they would be glad to accept us."

"They would indeed be glad to accept us, but that would only be a temporary measure for the Yellow Springs Sect to seize Red Wind City. If we truly did that, then no matter whether the Purgatory Sect or the Yellow Springs Sect eventually became the lord of Red Wind City, our Gu Clan would be purged."

Gu Jinlai said, "Only our own strength can serve as the foundation for the Gu Clan's inheritance across ten thousand generations."

Gu Xiangyang nodded.

He naturally understood that principle as well.

The Gu Clan had also been striving in that direction over the years.

But achieving the Gu Clan's magnificent rise was no easy matter.

"Right. Did you get anywhere with finding disciples of good character for me?"

"Yes. We selected thirty-four candidates, and twelve of them have shown interest."

"That's a little few."

Gu Jinlai pondered for a moment before saying, "Send them over. I transformed into a Heavenly Master after cultivating in the Spirit Refining path, so my understanding of cultivation far surpasses that of orthodox Heavenly Masters. Though the spiritual sense of a Heavenly Master differs somewhat from Spirit Refining, it should still be enough to assist my disciples in cultivation."

"Our ancestor truly intends to switch to the Heavenly Master path!?"

Gu Xiangyang could not help asking.

"Rest assured. I've considered it carefully. Success in Spirit Refining is enough to dominate a region, but progress as a Heavenly Master may allow the Gu Clan to vie for the mountaintop."

Gu Jinlai spoke.

Gu Xiangyang wanted to dissuade him, but his own ancestor had never tolerated others questioning his actions. Now that his mind was made up, there was little more to say.

"I brought twenty people this time. To avoid attracting attention, only four of them have refined true qi. They'll stay by the ancestor's side and await your orders. The other sixteen have reached the peak of Blood Changing and can only rely on the ancestor's guidance in your spare time."

Gu Xiangyang spoke.

Gu Jinlai nodded.

Qi Refining experts already counted as capable fighters. Having more than a dozen suddenly appear would arouse too much suspicion.

Four Qi Refining experts and a dozen or so Blood Changing experts was just right.

"Among the twenty, the three with the greatest talent are Gu Chaoyang, Nian Buwang, and Gu Lingsha. Chaoyang and Buwang are in the True Qi Realm, while Lingsha is in the Blood Changing Realm. Of the three, Buwang is the most talented."

Gu Xiangyang said, "He's the son of Third Aunt's younger brother. He began practicing martial arts at fourteen, reached Organ Refining at fifteen, Blood Changing at seventeen, and refined true qi at twenty-one. He's twenty-four now and has already reached the same level as twenty-nine-year-old Gu Chaoyang—the peak of Qi Refining!"

"Peak Qi Refining at twenty-four."

That achievement was indeed impressive.

In the present world, direct disciples of major sects often needed ten to twenty years to refine true qi, and that was with a Spirit Refining True Person teaching them.

Without guidance from a Spirit Refining expert, even with the cultivation method of a major sect's direct disciple, it would take twenty or thirty years to refine true qi.

Of course, those born into noble families, raised in silks and fine food, and founded on precious medicines from childhood were excluded from this comparison.

Nian Buwang had refined true qi in seven years without guidance from a Spirit Refining expert. His extraordinary talent was evident.

"I'll pay close attention to those three."

Gu Jinlai spoke.

Gu Xiangyang nodded.

As he was leaving, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Ancestor, although our Gu Clan will be tightening its defenses for the time being, the clan has no Spirit Refining expert stationed here. At most a year from now, I'm afraid unrest will arise unless we're willing to give up a portion of our interests..."

"One year is enough."

Gu Jinlai spoke.

Seeing that his ancestor had everything under control, Gu Xiangyang said no more and took his leave.

After they departed, Gu Jinlai summoned the four Qi Refining disciples and arranged for them to patrol the courtyard.

He studied the Great Sun Ninefold Refinement Visualization Method while waiting for Su Nanxing to arrive.

Ten days later.

After recovering from his injuries, Su Nanxing followed the markers Gu Jinlai had left behind and arrived at Starlight City.

With a Core Forming protector, Gu Jinlai's safety while refining qi into spirit was guaranteed to a greater degree.

Inside a modified cultivation room.

Gu Jinlai sat quietly, adjusting his condition.

"The Great Sun Ninefold Refinement, first step: visualize the Great Sun."

He sensed his spiritual world.

There were three strands of clear light there.

One from Fang Cai and two from the mysterious assassin.

He had no intention of slowly perfecting the Great Sun Visualization step by step. After all, he had forgotten most of what he knew about the Great Sun.

He recalled how the Myriad Phenomena Sword Qi had emerged when he had used clear light to perfect the Red Lotus Sword Qi. He intended to use clear light to retrace his memories and form a new Great Sun core.

Although this would waste one strand of clear light, if his theory proved correct, he would be able to earn that strand back soon enough.

"This strand of clear light will put my brain into an overclocked state. I not only need to recall every detail of the Great Sun but also memorize a type of material. These things will determine the direction of my future development!"

What was the most profitable path for a Heavenly Master?

Artifact forging and beast-taming.

Of these, Spirit Artifacts were difficult to refine.

The materials were expensive, and the spiritual essence required was immense. Unless one could extract spiritual essence from large numbers of Demonic Spirits to make up for the deficiency, one might not be able to refine a single Spirit Artifact even in several decades.

When they could not refine Spirit Artifacts, Heavenly Masters made their living by forging treasure artifacts.

The essence of treasure swords and treasure armor was the forging of high-strength implements by combining materials such as cold iron and black gold.

In other words, treasure swords and treasure armor used alloy materials.

That was why, at the same weight, they were sturdier and sharper than iron armor, iron swords, steel armor, and tempered swords.

The techniques and formulas for combining alloy materials were held by artifact-forging masters, each one a unique secret skill.

These alloys had also been developed by artifact-forging masters through countless attempts and accumulated experience.

They might not understand the principles behind the formation of these high-strength materials.

But Gu Jinlai was different.

He knew that it involved the arrangement of atoms.

Therefore, to open up the market by forging a new type of treasure armor or treasure sword and complete his initial capital accumulation, he needed a material that was inexpensive yet high-performing.

"So, should I choose carbon steel, titanium alloy, or carbon fiber...?"