Gu Insect

Biodata

Classification

Other listed classifications include natural, enhancement, animal, plant, dark, demon, special, and production types. 5

Refinement

• Gu refinement places multiple Spirit Insects in a vessel, where they devour one another until a new species may emerge. The resulting insect is a Gu Insect. 1
• The material combination capable of producing a particular Gu is recorded as a Gu Recipe. Recipes are valuable inherited secrets because many combinations produce nothing at all. 1
• Failed refinement consumes every material used in the attempt. 5
• A recipe’s primary material is the Spirit Insect expected to survive the internal slaughter. Its quality determines the refined Gu Insect’s quality. 5
• A Low-Grade primary material produces a Low-Grade Gu even if the resulting ability is unusually useful; a Supreme-grade primary material can produce a Supreme-grade Gu. 5
• Material quantity can affect a Gu’s power among insects of equal quality, but more ingredients do not automatically create a stronger or more practical ability. 15

Natural Gu

Naturally born Gu Insects also exist. A Spirit Insect that devours enough other insects in a short period may transform by chance, while hibernating Gu may form thick stone shells that conceal them within fossils. 9

Growth and Transformation

• A newly refined Gu Insect begins with its growth progress reset to 0%. 16
• Mature Gu are vastly stronger than juvenile Gu, making efficient feeding and shortened maturation periods highly valuable to cultivators. 2
• Gu Insects do not use the same advancement system as Gu cultivators. Their equivalent process is called transformation. 17
• Transformation is achieved by feeding. Possible transformation materials include other Gu Insects, natural substances, and artificial products such as pills. 17
• Each Gu possesses numerous possible transformation paths; its cultivator must discover which materials lead to the desired result. 17
• Altering a Gu’s innate lifespan can raise its grade. A single-use Longevity Gu nearly doubled Thatch Gu’s lifespan and promoted it from Low-Grade to Mid-Grade. 186

Gu Master Bonds

• A Gu Master forms a blood pact by offering blood to a Gu Insect, establishing a soul connection through which the master can perceive its abilities. 5
• Blood-contracted Gu Insects and their masters share their fate: if the cultivator dies, the Gu Insect dies as well. 54
• Gu Insects of the same type repel and devour one another, so a cultivator can normally keep only one Gu of each type. 5
• Gu cultivators also have a limited number of total Gu slots, making each blood contract a strategic choice. 23

Abilities and Combat Use

Gu abilities are innate gifts rather than spiritual arts. They can include effects beyond what spiritual-power techniques can reproduce, such as mind reading, spatial teleportation, precognition, and time reversal. 23

Ability Development

A Gu Insect commonly possesses a single innate ability, but a cultivator can develop multiple applications through imagination and technique. An ordinary Fireball Gu, for example, may be developed into larger fireballs or a fireball barrage. 9

• Unknown Gu species offer a tactical advantage because opponents may not know their abilities, pairings, or counters. 6
• A Gu’s practical value depends on its application, not solely on its grade or raw power. 9 15
• Low-Grade Gu can become highly dangerous when combined with numbers, equipment, formations, or specialized tactics. 87 303

Equipment and Formations

Certain large and powerful Gu Insects can wear Insect Armor. Earthworker demonstrated that armor, Artifact Inscriptions, and Formation Bases can turn suitable Gu Insects into mobile defensive weapons or moving formations. 87

• The spread of armored Gu created the profession of Insect Armor Smith. 124
• Insect Armor is not limited to Earthworkers; any Gu species with sufficient size and strength can potentially use it. 124
• Formation-equipped Earthworkers have been used to form a mobile Mountain-Protecting Formation despite being only Low-Grade Gu. 303

Notable Gu Insects

Trivia

• Gu Insects cannot reproduce; only Spirit Insects can breed in large numbers. 1 68
• The Five Poisons—centipedes, venomous snakes, scorpions, spiders, and toads—are regarded as the strongest conventional insect materials and are widely used in Gu refinement. 3
• Powerful Gu may require thousands of years to mature, and their feeding costs can exceed their original refinement costs. 2
• There are no inherently useless Gu Insects; their true value depends on the cultivator’s knowledge, imagination, and ability to develop their innate gifts. 9