Originally, Lin Yan planned to focus on Flame Path before reaching the immortal stage. First, the Western Desert had plenty of related resources and strong combat power. Second, Flame Path still had potential in the later stages. In the future, when the sun collapsed, most of the fragments would fall into the Western Desert, causing Flame Path to rise greatly, and even a Rank 9 Immortal Gu, Fire Gu, would appear.
After reaching the immortal stage, he planned to move into Dream Path and follow the trend of the great era, since there were very few Dream Path Gu at the mortal level right now.
As for other paths, he also knew about some opportunities, like Qi Path. With the coming of the great era, Qi tides would appear, and it would become important. However, in the early stage, it was very weak and hard to develop, so he did not plan to choose it.
Wanting everything was not realistic. A person's energy was limited, and even focusing on one path was already difficult if he wanted to stand out.
If he tried to learn everything, he would end up knowing a little of each but mastering none. His combat system would be messy and easy to break.
Just like the four Gu Lin Yan had now. They covered different paths and looked versatile, but his actual combat strength was average.
But with this Dream Path Gu, things were different. He could spend much more time training and work on multiple paths at the same time. He planned to include Refinement Path and Wisdom Path. Refinement Path was the base for everything, and Wisdom Path was important to deal with the plans of heaven's will and other powerful figures.
"And in the dream, I don't have to worry about getting injured… I can even practice killer moves."
Lin Yan's eyes lit up. What was a killer move? It was when multiple Gu worked together, linking their effects and releasing much stronger power.
In theory, any Gu could be combined into a killer move. But in reality, because of limits in energy and resources, most people only started creating them at Rank 3, when their Gu were stronger and more compatible.
This compatibility meant more than just being from the same path. The Gu also had to support and strengthen each other.
Even then, it was not easy. It took a lot of time, many failures, and often injuries before a Gu Master could create a working killer move. There were many cases of people getting seriously hurt while trying.
It was said that the Shan Family's Flame Path inheritance only had three Rank 5 killer moves, and from those, many Rank 4 and Rank 3 moves were developed.
"And I don't have that problem… I have time."
Lin Yan felt confident. Even though the four Gu he had were not well matched and their effects were average, as long as he had enough time, he could still develop his own killer moves.
There were no useless Gu, only Gu Masters who lacked ability.
"I might be one of the few Rank 1 Gu Masters trying to create killer moves this early," he thought.
But then he paused. That wasn't completely true. From what he remembered, someone named Sha Xiao had once created a Rank 1 killer move using three support-type Gu.
That person was the guardian of Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable, so his talent was naturally exceptional. Coincidentally, Thieving Heaven also came from the Western Desert, and the Gu he used included Clear Water Gu and Sand Pit Gu.
If he followed a similar idea and spent enough time improving it, he should be able to recreate something similar. Of course, his priority was still to improve his control over Fire Line Gu.
Lin Yan closed his eyes and focused. In the quiet dream space, another figure soon appeared. It was Shan Shayuan.
He smiled faintly and said to the figure, "Run." In an instant, he raised his hand, and a red fire line shot out.
Time passed slowly, about two hours.
Lin Yan withdrew from the dream space, his mind completely exhausted. He lay down at once and fell into a deep sleep, faint snoring soon filling the tent.
Early the next morning, he woke up and got ready as the caravan packed up and set off again. While moving, he recalled his training from the dream last night, his expression turning bitter. After two hours of fighting, he had not landed a single hit.
Shan Shayuan was a Rank 3 expert, experienced and fast. It was normal that he couldn't hit him.
For now, he had no better training target. To bring someone into the dream, he needed to be very familiar with them. Only his uncle had shown his strength clearly, and he didn't know the others well enough.
"Sigh… I'll take it step by step. Maybe after getting used to fighting stronger opponents, dealing with Rank 1 or 2 later will be easier."
Lin Yan felt both frustrated and excited. Even though he kept losing, he did not feel discouraged at all.
He named his vital Gu "Dream Derivation Gu." For a Rank 1 Gu to have such an effect was already incredible. It truly showed the strength of Dream Path. No wonder it was said that Great Dream Immortal Venerable would surpass all the previous Venerables.
Lin Yan also had another concern. What should he feed the Dream Derivation Gu? He had no way to get rare Dream Path materials right now.
He had no answer and could only take it step by step. This Gu was too valuable, so he had to keep it safe. Fortunately, there were other ways to feed Gu. For example, a Rank 2 Feeding Gu could be used once to feed another Gu.
Using a Rank 2 Gu to feed a Rank 1 Gu was clearly expensive, but in this case, it was worth it.
As the days passed, the caravan moved closer to the Flame Wolf Desert. Lin Yan trained day and night, not slowing down at all. Seeing this, even the other Gu Masters were affected and started to train more seriously.
Shan Xia noticed his constant effort and felt satisfied. There were many hardworking people, but very few who could keep going like this every day. She decided to invest in him and called Shan Shayuan over.
Shan Shayuan asked, "Leader, what do you need?"
Shan Xia smiled slightly and raised her hand. In her palm was a silkworm-like Gu, glowing with a soft white light. Its body was round and looked very delicate.
"This is…"
Shan Shayuan's expression changed in shock.