Wealth

Ren Zu borrows perseverance Gu from the miniman and finds he cannot use it, and cognition Gu tells him the perseverance is the miniman’s and not his. Unable to command the feathermen’s love directly, he asks cognition Gu what else he might do, and it suggests he create a Gu of his own to lure them instead, pointing to how the miniman earned his. Ren Zu resolves to make something the whole world would want. ^{ch. 1473}

At the blue sea, the source of all life, Ren Zu finds that drinking only deepens his thirst, so he takes much of the water away, meaning whoever obtains his Gu will never feel satisfied. On the exposed seabed he also gathers urchin shaped difficulty Gu. Walking the road of life inside the Door of Life and Death, he gathers worry Gu, so its owner will fear losing it. Along the way he meets sadness Gu, so losing the finished Gu will bring grief enough to keep people from giving it up. ^{ch. 1473}

Back at his fire, stupidity Gu is drawn by the smoke. It enters the flame to see for itself, never to come out again. Wisdom Gu flies into the smoke, loses its sight and blunders out again, saying it already knows what Ren Zu intends. Ren Zu calls it a pity, and says his finished Gu will now enslave the stupid and blind the wise for a time. Days of failed refinement pile the smoke into storm clouds, until cognition Gu says one step remains and Ren Zu decides only human hands can finish it. ^{ch. 1473}

He cuts off both his own hands and throws them into the fire, and the flame bursts as the clouds clear. A girl steps out, calls him father, and names herself Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence. She opens her palm and presents him the Gu inside it, telling him it is called wealth. ^{ch. 1473}