Effort Gu

After Hei Lou Lan, Yellow Bell Tribe Leader, and Fang Yuan’s clone Zhan Bu Du kill a Predicament together on the heavenly road, Hei Lou Lan’s hand brushes an invisible Gu worm on the ground, senses its strength path aura, and wonders whether it is a rank eight Immortal Gu. ^{ch. 2117}

In The Legends of Ren Zu, chapter five section thirty-four, Ren Zu travels with his seventh child Great Strength True Martial toward Qian Kun Crystal Wall along a road of upslopes and downslopes. Strong Gu tells Great Strength True Martial that good things are often found on the Upslope Road, and searching the ground by hand he finds an invisible Gu and names it effort Gu, saying he saw its appearance the moment he obtained it and that every expert should know what effort is. Ren Zu doubts it is worth much, since his son visibly struggles and sweats climbing, but Great Strength True Martial answers that effort does not guarantee success, only a result, the ground he gains with every step. Ren Zu also repeats a rumor he has heard, that effort Gu can sometimes lie to a person. Walking the Upslope Road, he gains authority Gu and fortitude Gu, and later humility Gu and forgiveness Gu follow him on their own, each calling itself an expert’s authority to begin with. Cognition Gu tells Ren Zu there is no easier road, since the more valuable the thing pursued, the more Upslope Road and the more Predicaments a person has to cross. The Upslope Road also awakens ability Gu within Great Strength True Martial, which he calls effort Gu’s own result; when ability Gu insists hope alone cannot beat a Predicament, Great Strength True Martial defeats many with it, and Ren Zu admits he has underestimated his son’s effort and ability. ^{ch. 2117}

In Longevity Heaven, South Desolation Immortal Yao Huang privately credits effort Gu, among other factors, for Hei Lou Lan’s rapidly progressing cultivation level and killer moves. ^{ch. 2203}