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A week later after Dio's first trial...

There were a myriad of beasts, encircling the 'academy', the place where new young Gu masters would study about the usage, nurturing and refinement of Gu's.

With multiple elders, and students watching patiently as a figure approached.

That figure was obviously, Dio.

He was in front of this crowd, and he heaved a sigh, while he approached silently at the lake.

This 'lake' was composed of a whiteish substance, the water was filled with a rich Primeval aura.

The lake was naturally one of the many Spirit Springs of the Ma tribe.

A low-tier Spirit Spring which could produce a few millions of Primeval Stones over the decades, nurture Gu's and allow the production of a steady supply of Hope Gu's.

It was such the density of Primeval energy that there were multiple phenomena which resembled the one of an aperture.

With multiple dark green leaf's 'dancing' below the ground, floating on a strange pattern.

Those leaf's were as abundant as the star on the skies.

Below them, there were many multiple roses, strawberries and other fruits, scattered through the water, those fruits were rich of Primeval Essence and could even be used to replenish Primeval Essence directly.

Obviously, they had other many uses such as for the feeding of many strange man-made Gu's.

Below them, at the mid point there were multiple snowdrop flowers which resonated with an overwhelming aura, those flowers could be used to aid on the 'natural' production of Relic Gu's.

Those flowers were also used to increase mildly the strength of some Formations made by Ma Hon, the only Formation quasi-master on the tribe.

Below them, there were multiple golden sprouts of energy, which represented the 'birth' of many pseudo-Relic Gu's.

Whether they'd grow or collapse would depend on many factors such as the quality of the essence, time, foundation, environment and luck.

Finally, below all of that there was a 'dark-purple' ink layer, below everything else.

This was the pseudo-Immortal material known as Black Oil, which practically all tribes on the Northern Plains produced, as Longevity Heaven bought them all, on a reasonable price.

They had been doing this for a hundred thousand years!

No one knew why would they need such an absurd amount of Black Oil and no one cared, the most important thing were the benefits it brought to them.

Anyway, as it may be obvious, this quantity and quality of materials couldn't be produced normally, so how they did solve this issue?

Well, it's simple.

This 'zone' also holds another property, which is to 'attract' Primeval Essence and 'repel' anything else.

If whoever who comes uses a low amount of Primeval Essence they'll float and be pushed out of the arena, if they use too much, then they will sink.

This is useful for two reasons, one it helps newby Gu masters to familiarize with controlling and being mindful of their expenditure of resources, and also is useful to constantly nourish this Spirit Spring, due to this odd method it has managed to survive for over a thousand years!

Without any more delay, Dio injected a tiny fraction of his Primeval Essence on his feet and began to walk on water, he frowned lightly at the announcer, awaiting for his speech.

"Gentlemen, I know you may have heard many rumors, about the new 'dazzling star', that Ma Shan Hu, the strongest contender to become the next tribe leader brought alongside him.

Funnily enough, even though he clearly HAD the fighting strength, he used a special Gu to raise his body foundation at the expense of reducing his Cultivation to rank 1!

Thus, he can't do the standard test of measuring himself against another of our elders, right?

Heh, this is when a new 'idea' came to us."

The announcer raises his hand and points towards a screen.

In the screen there was Dio and the number '2000.'

"This is the number of points of Dio.

What are points you may ask, well, allow me to give you some context."

Two other images appeared, one showed many items, all with a different 'value' on them.

On the other there was a list which included phrases like:

If you make Dio stumble you'll receive 100 points, if you manage to force Dio underwater you'll receive 250 points and so on.

The announcer chuckled.

"I guess you already got it, but, just to be clear.

You, the students will be allowed to fight against this new elder, who I repeat, currently has a rank 1 aperture, for each of your actions, you'll get a certain amount of 'points' to aid on your Cultivation path.

If you reduce Dio's point to zero, he'll fail this trial.

However, this offer only last to the next dawn, at that point, if Dio still has any merit points, he'll have officially have passed the trial.

And he'll be able to exchange his remaining amount of points various resources, hah, hah...

Now, I'll add a last rule, which is that only rank 2 or lower are able to fight against Dio and that only a set of 100 Cultivators can fight against him at once.

If you're kicked out of the arena you can only return after at least another hour.

Lastly, you can't use flying Gu worms.

Having said this, have fun!"

Dio who was listening to his words, fell on a daze.

"...

Why do I feel like a carnival clown, or a hooker.

Everyone is looking at me with clear desire and greed on their faces!"

He said annoyed, he had not been felt so humiliated since the last century.

Dio glanced with contempt at the group of reckless youngsters who rushed at him, without any reservation in their minds.

One of the youths, ran straight to him, his feet were shining with a celeste light.

"Water steps."

Another, lifted his sword which shone with a silver aura.

"Sword pursuit."

And yet another, laughed crazedly, he smiled widely at him and shouted.

"Vanity charge."

Dio rolled his eyes, while thinking inwardly.

"Sigh, I can't use as I please my techniques, after all, Blood path is forbidden, and I'm also supposedly a mere 'rank 1' Gu master, hence, I can't showcase all my techniques, as I'd like to..."

He turned his body and said plainly.

"Even so, I still have more than enough strength to take care of those fools."

Dio waved his hand, the water was distorted, the vague image of a figure appeared, over and over and over again.

A dolphin which left an afterimage which extended for over a dozen of meters, rushed towards the three kicking them out.

That was a technique he had devised by mimicking the 'Ripple' of the Hamon experts of his worlds.

Basically, Hamon experts used a 'medium' to extend their Hamon, be it a special material, their bodies, bloodstream and other mediums.

On Dio's case, he used those Strength phantoms on succession to slowly carve and create a pathway where he'd extend their usage.

To put it simply, if a Strength phantom had a reach of 2 meters, he'd create 5 Strength phantoms to move up to 10 meters, together with the activation of 'Stable Refinement' Gu, to keep the connection of the Strength phantoms complete.

Stolen novel; please report.

When it was applied 'perfectly' Dio would have to use 5 times his output of energy for the same effect, yes, it was wasteful in many regards, but, it was the compromise had to made to extend his reach and acquire other new abilities.

Dio smiled lightly.

"Now, for my next trick."

He clapped lightly.

From the afterimages of his dolphin phantoms, he created yet another dolphin, extending his reach even further, diagonally, horizontally, vertically, he could attack from all angles on a diversity of ways.

Naturally, this increased the tiredness he felt an incredible speed, but it also held another purpose.

He was trying to intimidate his opponents.

Dio laughed.

"Did you really thought I was so weak?

That merely because I'm now a rank 1 Gu master, you can all bully me with numbers superiority?

Pff, don't make me laugh.

All of you, mark my words, I Dio, the 'Myriad Phantom' Gu master, has studied this particular branch of Strength path for over a decade, thus, my body foundation has increased to a terrifying level.

Hence, even if I were to become a cripple, I'd still not fear your puny efforts-"

His pupils shrank, one of the many youngsters, muttered.

"Water erasure."

With its effect, one of the myriad of his phantoms was cleansed away, after this, there was a chain reaction where all the posterior phantoms exploded and collapsed.

"Grah." Dio tossed blood.

When he recovered, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"I was planning to hide this weakness to the best of my ability, until I found the proper supplementary Gu to diminish this disadvantage, but fine.

If you want to play like this, then...

Don't blame for being rude!"

After finishing his phrase he roared, his strength-aura expanded considerably, everything at its surrounds began to sink down in the water due to sheer pressure of his aura and the natural attraction of this Spirit Spring to energy.

"Horse Strength." "Dolphin Strength." "Rabbit Strength." "Boar Strength..."

Multiple Strength phantoms were released at the same time.

He charged madly towards the one who held the 'Water Erasure' Gu on their hands.

Naturally, he was met with many adversaries, principally those whose defenses or methods were amplified by the water.

"Water Push." "Water Shield." "Water Barrage." "Ice spike." and other Gu's.

Unfortunately for them, even their added strength was nothing much for the current Dio.

In fact, to show some of his 'madness', he allowed himself to be impaled by the ice spikes, as he ran.

On a matter of seconds, he appeared before him, then, he kicked his legs and arms, breaking most of those bones.

Finally, after this, Dio tossed him out of the arena.

"Everyone, let me remind you something, there can only be a hundred or so in this arena, thus, I can more or less, select those who I wish to fight.

As long as you behave, I'll let you remain here for a long time, on this way, sooner or later you'll get your chance to score big, don't you think?

Those who aren't planning to hear my words, nor abide to my rules, will experience the same thing that I just show you all."

From afar, a young man, shouted.

"Don't listen to him, he just wishes to scatter our forces."

Dio laughed again.

"Aha, so, do we have a volunteer?"

After finishing his sentence, he began to rush towards his opponent again.

Once more, he blocked all the upcoming attacks with ease.

Until, finally when he was about to strike him...

The young man chuckled.

"Charred potato Gu."

Dio frowned, he realized that there was a mirage of water, which was concealing the little potato.

The potato expanded and on a blink, there was a huge explosion which covered all his vision.

Dio tried to retreat, he tensed all his muscle fibers, manipulating the wind's flow to push his body away, but it was too late.

He was caught in by many microscopic seeds which after exploding revealed multiple dense vines, yes, he broke them all, but for the fraction of the second that they caught him, he simply couldn't escape on time.

Dio gritted his teeth, his eyes were bloodshot red, even though he was previously faking it, this time, he was mad and bewildered for real.

"Why is everyone in this world, so...cunning?"

He glanced at his opponent and then sighed.

"My intimidation tactic, has been a huge failure!

I underestimated the intelligence of the Gu masters, from now on, I'll consider each men and women, half a Joseph-Joestar in terms of wits.

As for my next tactic, sigh, I wish to rip him apart, but I CAN'T, not in front of so many people, so, I'll simply, remind his face and wait for the right moment to get my vengeance...

For the meanwhile however, I must plan my game up, for starters, even though they may have been toying with me so far, the truth is that they haven't gotten a single point yet!

They're the ones who must take me down, not me, hence, I must change my tactics...

And tone down my anger."

Dio let his breathe in and out, as he did, a faint pink aura surged violently, his strength phantoms were all released at all directions, stunning all his nearby opponents who were trying to sneak-attack on him.

As he did, his wounds were all covered by a hard 'scar' which resembled a rock, similar to the state of Pillar Men when they're exposed to sunlight.

At the end, the 'ability' they had was a consequence of their natural amount of 'Earth Qi' they had due to their natural adaptation to live on caves.

Obviously, the keen Gu masters noticed this, their fighting spirit surged.

"Everyone, we can't let him heal right before our noses, attack."

One of the leaders, of a small group of 8 said.

"Mini-tornado drill." A Killer Move was activated by the cooperation of 3 Gu masters, which they used to drag 10 others with them.

Thus, there were currently 13 Gu masters right in front of him, at all angles, at all directions.

Dio's lips curved lightly, he turned his head to who threw him those Explosive Seeds and Charred Potato.

"Y'know, even though you pissed me off, you also gave me a wonderful idea!"

Tiny fragments of his flesh and blood scattered which were floating at the air began to shake intensively.

Those flesh buds charged towards the nearest target, and attacked fiercely, they're all being commanded by Dio.

Dio frowned lightly, cold sweat gathered on his forehead.

Even though his Soul foundation was absurdly high, his soul was at the end, damaged.

Hence, controlling such an horde of 'beasts', even if they're his own, was exhausting.

Still, with this strategy, he managed to scare off many of the youngest of Gu masters.

"He not only holds a high body foundation, but also a high Soul foundation, he clearly has no weak spots...

Seriously, from where he comes from, did he receive an inheritance?"

Those were the thoughts of many Gu masters, whilst the tribe leader, Ma Shang Feng looked at this like the most natural thing on the world.

"Someone with a Careless Children of Fortune and Disaster Physique, naturally has passed through a myriad of 'fortuitous encounter' over his years.

Though, I wonder, just how many has he killed on his countless 'expeditions', hah."

His browns lowered, at the end, each holder of an Extreme Physique not only had the obvious advantages of a stronger aperture and Gu's, but also had many mysterious qualities.

Those with a Carefree Wisdom Heart on the day they awaken their apertures would become geniuses over night, whilst those with Desolate Ancient Moon would have their metabolisms accelerated and would recover from wounds 10 times faster!

Finally those with Dio's Extreme Physique would naturally bring death and chaos to wherever he went like a plague bearer, only those who the user 'recognized' and 'respected' would be exempt of this rule.

This gave him, yet another reason to not kill Dio, after all, if Dio at the end of his life desired nothing but the destruction of his tribe, there would be likely many side-effects.

Even though they'd not be destroyed by just the 'last will' of his, they'd still have a few months of misfortune.

...

A Gu master suddenly appeared behind him by using 'Shadow teleportation' Gu rank 2.

Then, he activated the Gu, 'Fire Wave' to burn his body behind his back.

Dio frowned, with all his effort, he manipulated all the wind's flow, so the fire wouldn't receive any external air, and hence it would vanish by itself.

That was yet another technique called 'Air isolation' which he created on the past few days, even though it was mostly specialized on suffocating the adversary until their death, it also had this minor use.

Dio kept dodging and evading all their attacks, he barely found the room to attack.

Luckily due to the natural law of the Gu world, where 'non-harmonizing' Dao marks would repel each other, it implied that the higher the strength and the higher the density of Dao marks the more friction there would be!

This meant that even though rank 1 Gu masters could cooperate and use over 90% of their fighting strength even if they attacked at the same time with opposite Gu's, rank 2 Gu master may at best conservate around 60% of their fighting strength.

Hence, the higher their rank, the harder it was, for a Gu master to cooperate with another.

An hour passed on a blink.

At this point, Dio had figured that his best strategy was to overwhelm his opponents with his 'Devil's screech', as almost no Gu master held any defenses against a Sound path method.

This, and due to the steady decrease of Primeval reserves on those groups, their fighting strength was diminishing rapidly, few could attack him with a fierce strength constantly.

Obviously, it would be far more effective to just let themselves go out of the arena, but few where as selfless to do so.

After all, if they gave up after so much effort wouldn't they have been working for the benefit of others?

Nobody wanted to be the stupid person, who wasted all his energy, just so 'another' person could have an easier victory.

Three hours passed on a blink.

At this point, the remaining Gu masters had already devised multiple group tactics to overwhelm Dio, but, it was almost completely useless, after all, even though nobody had realized yet, he had been activating a tiny Killer Move since he arrived.

It was called 'Aggressive Learning' which used at his core 'Battle Thoughts' Gu.

This Killer Move would increase the speed of learning by 'fighting', this Killer Move suited Dio's nature almost perfectly.

At this point, he had already figured and improved many of his techniques and vague concepts, tremendously, hence, his superiority was just getting more obvious as the time passed.

...

The hours kept passing, the more time it passed, the weaker his opponents became, obviously, there were still few who had been waiting since the beginning to surprise Dio with their full force, but for Dio, a Vampire, for as long as his opponents didn't overwhelm him for a long period, he could always recover from the tiredness.

The fight went and went on, even though it was getting more boring as the time passed, the interest of many elders over Dio increased.

One of them, the 'Elemental Strength borrower' elder, looked at Dio with curiosity.

This elder had been for decades studying Strength path to its fullest, during his years of study he found a way to replicate partially the power of the Gu 'Borrow Strength' Gu, with a Killer Move of his own.

Upon seeing Dio's Ripple phantoms, he noticed that they had a resemblance with Strength Qi Gu.

He 'realized' that similarly as him, Dio had been studying a way to mimic a certain Gu through an special technique.

A natural investigator such as him, could barely hold his urge to jump to the stage and make an exchange to get that Killer Move.

To get it, he was even willing to give him one of his rank 3 Gu's!

...

Dio whose back had already turned red from his own blood, glanced at the twilight, realizing that before he even realized the sun had already set.

He had won!