Dog Guts Gu
Fang Yuan walks silently through the fog toward the next round, his dog army beside him: eleven hedgedogs, a hundred and thirty two lightning symbol dogs, seventeen chrysanthemum akita dogs, and the hundred beast king Big Lightning Symbol Dog. His goal for this first attempt is the thirtieth round. Even with over a hundred dogs and a hundred beast king, the three kings inheritance is tough enough that he can only stabilize his current position, and one careless round could cost him everything he has built, even his life. ch. 350
His head is still dizzy from the mental strain of the last battle. He reasons that an enslavement path Gu Master with a strong soul would suffer far less, since the blessed land does not restrict soul enhancement at all and the deeper rounds favor that path more and more. In his previous life he walked the enslavement path himself, but this life he chose strength path instead. He weighs why: an enslavement path Gu Master’s beasts demand constant food as their numbers grow, recruiting strong beasts risks a backlash that can turn a Gu Master into an idiot, and a Gu Master who leans on beasts is weak and easily killed alone. Across the wider Gu world, qi path has vanished, strength path is declining, and enslavement path stays ordinary, its rare rising stars burning bright only briefly before fading. Even a mid sized clan struggles to feed an enslavement path Gu Master, only large or super clans nurture a few for war, and within the demonic path such Gu Masters barely exist at all. ch. 350
As his dizziness clears, three shadows sharpen around him. On the left sit around two hundred chrysanthemum akita dogs, whose beast king grows smaller rather than larger with strength and hides itself inside the group, so Fang Yuan cannot spot it. Winning there would earn a rank two dog guts Gu, a supplementary Gu that strips fear from dogs in range and lets them fight at their full strength; higher ranks resist the aura of a thousand beast king, then a myriad beast king, and the rank five version, dog guts above heaven Gu, can drive dogs into a frenzy with the courage to overturn even the emperor of dogs. In the middle sit black steel armor dogs, plated in defenses as strong as steel, whose beast king matches the lightning symbol king’s size and stands out clearly. Winning there would earn a rank two dog enslavement Gu, the same kind he has already used. On the right, no dogs appear at all: only a mountain scene marking a chance to leave the inheritance entirely and reappear on San Cha mountain itself. ch. 350
Fang Yuan turns the exit down, unwilling to waste resources he can still use, even knowing there may be no later chance to leave. He has always wanted a dog guts Gu, but the akita dogs’ unity in group combat and their hidden king make that path too dangerous. He chooses the steel armor dogs instead, since their king stands in plain sight and he already holds a tool that is extremely effective against them. Lacking a dog enslavement Gu in hand right now, he does not attack as he steps out of the fog, but only watches the vigilant steel armor dogs gather at their howling king’s side. ch. 350
