We made our way down the mountain slowly and carefully. Every now and then, I had to activate my mortal killer move, Echo Location, to avoid unnecessary trouble. I could kill just about any threat that came my way, but I had to consider my two companions.
If they died, I'd lose this event since it's a team mission. So, I had to avoid certain dangers I foresaw to protect them. But that didn't mean I could avoid everything. As we walked down, a swarm of gu came right after us. There were so many of them, they looked like a large cloud of smoke. The closer they came, the louder they became, as if a cicada were flying near our ears.
I couldn't let them get any closer, or they might harm my companions. I used my mortal killer move, Hell Screech, releasing a loud, powerful sound that caused the entire swarm of gu to freeze—some fell to the ground dead or injured. The ones still able to fly reacted quickly, taking off and fleeing as if escaping a fire.
Bolin ran up to the fallen gu and began collecting the injured ones.
"Yes! Some of them are still alive!" he said, beginning to refine them, shoving as many as he could into his pockets.
"I wouldn't bother with those gu," I told him. "Their only ability is to vibrate and create a loud noise."
These gu were similar to bees surrounding wasps and vibrating to generate heat, but instead of heat, they produced loud sounds to immobilize their prey. Alone, they're harmless unless they're right in your ear. That's why they travel in swarms—to amplify their sound-based attacks.
They're only truly useful in large numbers, and even then, you'd need a lot of primeval sea essence or certain gu to reduce their cost. Having only a few—especially injured ones—is nearly pointless. But that didn't stop Bolin from gathering as many as he could before he had to catch up with me and Hioshi.
Hell Screech took care of the unavoidable problems. Besides our ability to descend the mountain, the only thing slowing us down was a cave that seemed to contain a gu inheritance. From what little I could tell, it was likely a demonic inheritance.
My top priority was finding the beast we were supposed to subjugate. Who knows if I'll be able to defeat it or not? If I can't, I'll have to adjust my plans. After descending about a quarter of the mountain, we set up camp for the night. We were all tired, but luckily I had prepared in advance and brought small tools like flint and steel to start a fire.
I used Echo Location to understand the surrounding terrain before a masked will flew out of my head. I handed it several sound-path gu and went straight to sleep. Gu of other paths can't be used, but their after-effects can still work if they're already on the body. Any of the wills inside my blessed land couldn't come out, but the ones in my head could.
As we sat around the campfire, Bolin was controlling the loud gu that could still fly. Hioshi pulled a paper scroll from his pocket and began to read. After an hour, Hioshi put the scroll away and went to sleep. Bolin continued working with the gu.
"You should go to sleep—otherwise you're going to have a bad day tomorrow."
Bolin flinched. The one who had spoken was a flying mask.
"Are you a will?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm Insatiable's Will, and like I said, you should sleep. There's still a long way to go."
Bolin nodded. "Yeah, I should. But it's not easy, since I don't feel safe."
"Relax. With me here, nothing should be able to harm you."
Bolin shook his head. "It's not that. I know that. But I don't feel safe without gu of my own to protect myself."
The masked will turned toward him.
"You mean you want to rely on your own strength to feel secure?"
"Wouldn't you prefer your own strength over depending on someone else?" Bolin asked.
The masked will let out a quiet laugh. "Everyone would. But remember—every powerful person was once a helpless baby, a naïve toddler, and an arrogant teen. You're simply still in your growing stage."
"There is no growing stage for me. Remember, I'm a D-grade talent. I'll be stuck in rank 1 forever."
The mask shook its head. "I plan on starting a sect. In this sect, everyone will be given a Liquor Worm, and as long as you follow my instructions, I can even give you talent-raising gu or gu that stores primeval sea essence to help you ascend."
"A sect? But why would you give me rare gu like that? Is it because I'm in the Tudi clan?"
"That's part of it, yes. But there are many with good spawn locations who have bad cultivation talent. Most give up—but those who don't, those who keep progressing, must have valid reasons. Like you, being part of the Tudi clan. My sect will gather useful people from all over, and they'll receive gu to help them cultivate. Whether you rise in your clan or not is still up to you."
Bolin placed the loud gu in his aperture. "Then I'd like to join your sect."
"Once this event is over, I plan on recruiting in the Players' Shop. Keep an eye out."
Bolin nodded and laid down.
Halfway through the night, I was awakened when my masked will had to use Hell Screech to kill a dark grey Rat Beast King. I examined its body and found two gu—one was dead, but the other was still alive: a rank 2 Soft Sound Gu. It significantly reduces the sound made by the user. I healed and refined it immediately using my high-ranked gu to suppress it.
"This gu is called Soft Sound. It can reduce the noise you make. It'll pair well with your gu, Hioshi." I tossed it to him, and he gladly accepted it. Then I retrieved my masked will, gaining all its memories from the night.
"Let's go."
"But there are at least two hours left before daylight," Hioshi said.
"Yeah, but with all the noise made here, I'm sure something else is bound to come check it out."
No one argued with my logic, and we continued down the mountain.
Even though it was dark, there were actually more threats than during the day. The worst were birds of prey that made no sound while swooping to attack. After three Hell Screeches, the sky attacks stopped—thanks mostly to the rising sun.
"How far are we from the valley?" Bolin asked.
"Almost halfway. We don't need to go all the way, just far enough for me to identify the beast we need to defeat."
We traveled for nearly seven hours, taking breaks only when necessary.
As we descended, the temperature increased more than expected. Even after using my investigative methods, I couldn't find the cause. Meaning the source was likely at the mountain's base.
"Is there a magma pool down there? Why is it so hot?" Bolin asked.
"I'm not sure. We're not close enough for me to find out."
"There could also be a fire down there, or a powerful fire-path beast," Hioshi added.
"Could be anything. But the odds of it being fire-related are low. This is a sound-path event—it should be filled with sound-path threats."
Even as I said that, I wasn't completely sure. I wouldn't have questioned strong winds, beastly screeches, or even deathly silence. But elemental heat? That was unexpected. Eventually, we had to stop.
"What now? Without the right kind of defensive gu, we won't be able to keep going," Bolin said.
"I have a method, but it can only protect me. I'll leave a will here to guard you two while I scout ahead."
I released my masked will and some gu, then set off.
Dao Devourer appeared, shielding me from the heat—which meant a strong presence of fire dao was nearby. The terrain shifted from lush green to dry, sandy hills. Eventually, I reached the base of the mountain, a red desert.
Stepping on the red sand triggered Dao Devourer to work harder. I examined the sand closely. It looked like tiny pieces of coal—possibly a fire-path resource inside a sound-path event. Rare and strange, but not impossible.
I'd collect the sand later. A fire-path Gu Immortal would definitely be interested. It could help raise all kinds of fire-path beasts and resources. As I continued, I encountered two kinds of beasts: a camel that stored heat in its hump, and a dark grey rattlesnake the size of a horse with a flaming rattle.
Both were clearly fire-path beasts. Perhaps the one we had to subdue was fire-path beast as well. Using Echo Location, I detected a large mound ahead. As I approached, I noticed some vegetation—cactus-like plants with purple flowers. The camels ate them before moving on, while I saw a group of rattlesnakes feasting on a camel. A self-sufficient food chain.
Suddenly, a large explosion shook the ground, and sand rained from the sky.
"Now that sounds interesting," I muttered.
I used Sound Steps, my killer move that propels the user via sound. Within five steps, I arrived at the source of the blast.
Two massive beasts were fighting. One was a building-sized camel shooting sand from its hump. The other was a football field-length rattlesnake with a fiery mane—it radiated the aura of an emperor. So did the camel.
I immediately wanted to subdue them and store them in my blessed land, where my masked wills stood ready to harvest any goods. Emperor-class beasts were valuable and wonderful trading cards among immortals. But the snake gave off a stronger aura—it was likely a mutated beast emperor.
Suddenly, I felt the aura of an immortal gu activate. A loud sizzling sound rang out—and the camel burst into flames, crying in agony. Dao Devourer consumed a full immortal essence bead to counter the surge in heat.
It attacked me, too? Wait—the sizzling sound came before the flames. Could it be a sound-path immortal gu that ignites targets upon hearing it? That would make sense. I've never heard of a different-path immortal gu appearing in a certain path event.
This is going to be tough. Even with Dao Devourer absorbing dao attacks, I'm vulnerable to physical ones. If that snake hits or coils around me, I could die.
The rattlesnake began tearing into the camel and eating it. One thing's certain—this is the beast we have to subdue. I released a small Fly Gu from my pocket. It landed on the snake's scales. Now I can track it.
Time to meet back up with my group.