Chapter 12 – First Battle
The next morning...
Li Tianyu left the camp.
Rather than venturing into the battlefield alone...
He joined a temporary hunting squad.
Its captain was a Rank Three Gu Master named Zhao Ming.
After everyone had gathered...
Zhao Ming swept his gaze across the group.
"There are only a few rules."
"No wandering off alone."
"Stay with the team."
"Fight opponents of your own rank."
"If you can't win..."
"Retreat immediately."
"Your life is worth more than contribution points."
Everyone nodded.
Zhao Ming continued.
"Has everyone prepared enough Gu food?"
"And filled your Storage Gu with food and water?"
After receiving affirmative replies...
He waved his hand.
"Let's move."
...
The group entered the dense forest.
Ancient trees towered overhead.
The forest floor was covered in thick roots and fallen leaves.
Hours quietly passed.
Suddenly...
Zhao Ming raised his hand.
"Stop."
His expression became serious.
"There are enemies ahead."
Everyone immediately became alert.
Crystal green primeval essence surged within their apertures.
One Gu worm after another activated.
Li Tianyu also acted.
Compound Killer Move...
Blazing Insight.
Heat Vision Gu.
Flame Lotus Gu.
Several supporting Gu activated in rapid succession.
Within little more than a second...
His pupils faintly glowed crimson.
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At first...
He saw nothing.
Then...
Several faint heat signatures gradually appeared in the distance.
"They're coming."
A few moments later...
The enemy emerged from the forest.
Tiger-eared beastmen.
Wolf-eared beastmen.
Fox-eared beastmen.
Some possessed razor-sharp claws.
Others wielded heavy tails.
Each bore the characteristics of a different beast.
Without hesitation...
Both sides chose their opponents.
The Rank Three leaders confronted one another.
The Rank Two Gu Masters selected Rank Two opponents.
The Rank One Gu Masters rushed toward enemies of their own cultivation.
The battlefield instantly descended into chaos.
...
Li Tianyu's opponent was a tiger-eared beastman.
Golden eyes filled with contempt stared at him.
"So it's a weak human."
The beastman sneered.
Crystal green primeval essence poured into his Gu worm.
A brilliant blade of light shot toward Li Tianyu.
Li Tianyu calmly raised his hand.
Wind Barrier Gu activated.
A wall of compressed wind instantly formed before him.
The blade of light struck it.
The attack was completely blocked.
Li Tianyu had intentionally refined Gu worms with extremely high primeval essence consumption.
To ordinary Gu Masters...
Such Gu were difficult to sustain.
To him...
They were perfect.
...
Ordinary Gu worms could usually be activated with a single thought.
Compound killer moves were entirely different.
Several Gu worms had to be activated in a precise sequence.
Their timing had to be flawless.
Even the slightest mistake could interrupt the activation and produce backlash.
Normally...
Executing a compound killer move required several seconds.
Even experienced Gu Masters could not avoid this.
Li Tianyu...
Was different.
Every compound killer move he possessed had been deduced by Ember Spark Gu.
Every activation sequence.
Every point of failure.
Every variation.
Every adjustment.
All of it had been directly imprinted into his mind.
To him...
Using these killer moves was as natural as breathing.
Within barely more than a second...
His killer move was complete.
His palm glowed crimson.
He thrust it forward.
"Compound Killer Move..."
"Blazing Pilfering Palm."
A gigantic crimson palm condensed from blazing flames shot toward the beastman.
The tiger-eared beastman reacted instantly.
One blade of light after another slashed toward the flaming palm.
Each strike weakened it slightly.
Immediately afterward...
He activated his defensive Gu.
The flaming palm shrank even further.
Yet...
It still successfully entered his aperture.
The beastman's expression immediately changed.
"No!"
"Damn human!"
He hurriedly tried to intercept the invading palm before it reached his Gu worms.
At that exact moment...
Li Tianyu attacked again.
"Compound Killer Move..."
"Blazing Sunburst."
A massive fireball roared through the forest.
Its terrifying heat distorted the surrounding air.
The beastman had no choice.
He abandoned his attempt to stop the flaming palm.
Instead...
He activated his defensive Gu once again.
Boom!
The fireball exploded.
Meanwhile...
The flaming palm quietly completed its task.
A Rank One Light Path Gu disappeared from the beastman's aperture.
The next instant...
It appeared inside Li Tianyu's aperture.
The stolen Gu instantly became quiet.
No resistance.
No struggle.
Li Tianyu's Primordial Flame Physique immediately suppressed it.
Any Gu worm of the same rank that entered his body...
Would instantly become completely docile.
Unlike the Sovereign Immortal Body...
His Primordial Flame Physique still possessed a Vital Gu.
Ember Spark Gu.
...
Another flaming palm flew forward.
This time...
It failed.
The beastman successfully defended against it.
Li Tianyu showed no disappointment.
He simply launched another.
Then another.
His casting speed was astonishing.
Each activation required barely more than a second.
Ordinary Rank One Gu Masters would have exhausted their primeval essence long ago.
Li Tianyu...
Was the sole exception.
Flame Lotus Gu continuously gathered the free primeval essence of Heaven and Earth.
After refining it...
It directly replenished the primeval sea within his aperture.
Compared to the legendary Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus...
Its recovery speed was vastly superior.
At the same time...
His Primordial Flame Physique possessed one hundred percent aptitude.
Its natural recovery had already surpassed even the legendary Extreme Physiques.
If both stood at the same rank...
It would even surpass the Sovereign Immortal Body.
The two complemented one another perfectly.
Every moment his primeval essence was consumed...
It was immediately replenished.
His physique restored roughly twenty-five percent of his primeval essence every second.
Flame Lotus Gu contributed another sixty percent every second.
Together...
His recovery approached complete restoration almost instantly.
To ordinary Gu Masters...
Such regeneration was simply unimaginable.
...
The Gu World of today...
Was different from the ancient era.
In ancient times...
Primeval essence recovery was measured by the minute.
The Gu Masters of that age had to carefully conserve every trace of primeval essence during battle.
Once they exhausted their reserves...
Their combat strength plummeted.
The current Gu World was far stronger.
Primeval essence recovery was now measured by the second.
Even ordinary Gu Masters recovered much faster than their ancient predecessors.
Even so...
Li Tianyu still stood at the absolute pinnacle.
His recovery speed was so overwhelming that no ordinary Rank One Gu Master could hope to match it.
...
Thief Path Gu Masters were among the rarest cultivators.
Normally...
They only attempted to steal an opponent's Gu after completely suppressing them.
Even then...
Success was never guaranteed.
Failure often resulted in severe backlash.
Because of this...
Very few Gu Masters cultivated Thief Path.
Li Tianyu...
Was completely different.
His compound killer move produced virtually no backlash upon failure.
Combined with his terrifying primeval essence recovery...
He could launch one attempt after another without pause.
Less than a minute passed.
One Gu.
Then another.
Then another.
The tiger-eared beastman's entire Gu set was stolen one by one.
Seven Gu worms.
Not a single one remained.
Even his Vital Gu was taken.
The beastman coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His eyes became bloodshot.
Hatred filled his gaze.
For a Gu Master...
Losing every Gu worm was a fate worse than death.
He wished he could tear Li Tianyu apart with his bare hands.
Unfortunately...
He no longer possessed the strength.
He collapsed onto the ground.
His fellow beastmen were too occupied fighting their own opponents to rescue him.
They simply did not possess the spare primeval essence.
Not everyone...
Could recover primeval essence as monstrously as Li Tianyu.
Even the nearby human Gu Masters couldn't help but twitch their lips.
They had expected a fierce battle.
Instead...
They had watched a Gu Master be stripped clean of every Gu worm he possessed.
Li Tianyu glanced at the unconscious beastman.
He made no move to kill him.
His goal had never been slaughter.
It was accumulation.
A living enemy...
Could always return carrying more Gu worms.
To Li Tianyu...
That was far more valuable than a corpse.