[You focused your efforts for the remaining year entirely on cultivation and the refinement of your fourth Gu]
[However, you actually had options now and more things to consider than just your immediate survivalibility]
[As a Rank 1 Gu Master, you could not afford to have too many Gu Worms.
Your Aperture had the strength to hold only so much and you were bound to struggle with their individual feeding requirements sooner or later]
[With this thought in mind, you decided that your fourth Gu should be a…]
[A.
Defense-oriented Gu.
You already had offense and support-oriented Gu Worms, a defensive one would perfectly compliment them and form a harmonious trio!]
[B.
Cultivation-assisting Gu.
You were already close to having been in this world for a decade now, and yet you have not even reached Rank 2.
You needed something that would make this process easier, and you needed it fast!]
[C.
Healing Gu.
Who’s to say only magical jackal girls could heal people?
The Blood Path might be considered demonic, but you’ve always wanted to be a miracle doctor!]
Faced with these choices, I had much to consider.
A healing Gu would definitely work wonders for Michizane’s reputation.
It seemed perfectly aligned with the ‘heart of gold’ option from back in that scene with Michinaka.
In addition, Mizu wasn’t going to be there to heal him forever and such a Gu would be a good safety net to have.
Unlike doctors, who usually had a harder time tending to their own wounds than that of others, it shouldn’t matter to a healing-type Gu Worm whether the person they’re healing was their Gu Master or someone else.
However, I ended up choosing the cultivation-assisting Gu over it.
After all, this was just a simulation.
I didn’t really care whether Michizane got hurt or not as all of that was surely for the sake of his character development.
What really mattered to me was my own situation back in the real world…
What would a healing Gu do against Zouken’s worm pit?
Nothing!
On the other hand, if I could learn the refinement method of the cultivation-assisting Gu, my strength would naturally soar.
As for the defense-oriented Gu, I could only shake my head regretfully.
The chosen Gu would still be Rank 1.
How much could a Rank 1 really defend against the threats of the Type Moon universe?
At that point, it would be better to just not get hit in the first place.
A defense-oriented Gu would be essential at higher Ranks.
However, with our current level, it really wasn’t worth the trouble.
As I confirmed my choice, the next sequence started with the clink of a ceramic bottle.
Mizukume giggled as she set four bottles of what appeared to be alcoholic beverages on the floor of Michizane’s room.
“Fufufu~!
I’d never thought you’d ask me to get you sake, Michi-kun.
Aren’t we a little too young to be messing around like this?” She teased, probably already aware that they weren’t going to be drinking, but still fully taking advantage of the situation anyway.
“Maybe you are,” the two-faced boy snorted as he sat down to inspect each individual bottle.
“Did you get the flavours I asked for?”
“Yep. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
There’s amazake for the sweet flavour, black sake and white sake that I took from the shrines for the bitter and clear flavours, as well as this foreign drink called shaojiu for the strong flavour!”
I widened my eyes at this selection of alcoholic beverages.
‘Sweet, bitter, strong, and clear…
could it be?’
If this was really what I thought it was, then I might have just hit the jackpot!
“Thank you for being so reliable.” Michizane made sure to pay his part of the exchange first, that being to verbally express his gratitude as Mizu beamed under the praise.
“Don’t mention it.
I’ll do anything for you…”
Michizane then abruptly took off his upper clothing and discarded it aside, revealing his somewhat toned body for a boy his age and the large mouth that rested at his navel.
He laid on the floor after that as he pointed at his navel mouth.
“Dump it all in.”
“Huh, are you actually going to drink it?” Mizukume voiced with audible surprise as she obediently followed his instruction despite her disbelief.
Michizane remained silent as the four alcoholic beverages were poured into his navel mouth.
He closed his eyes and willed his Primeval Essence to seep into the alchoholic mixture.
‘Now that I think about it, that second mouth of his is where the Aperture is supposed to be, right?’ I hummed in realization.
Naturally, the Aperture did not exist in the same space as one’s internal organs.
After all, it was very similar to the typical dantian often utilized by other cultivation novels.
However, its position was indeed supposed to be somewhere in the area around the abdomen.
The thing about Michizane though was that his abdomen had a large opening.
…Could it be that his Aperture was actually metaphysically superimposed inside his navel mouth?
That meant he was using the Mystery of it to refine his Gu!
Mystery was a strong force here in the Type Moon universe, especially in the Heian era when it was stronger than reality.
What people believed often became much more than mere fiction, and the actual truth mattered little when Mystery was involved.
Doing something like this to refine a Gu in the Reverend Insanity world might not work, but here?
Just believe in yourself and convince others it will work, it’s that simple.
Though I did find this method rather annoying.
How was I supposed to replicate this in real life without a navel mouth?
The Mystery of my era was also much weaker, so it probably wouldn’t work even if I had such a mouth.
As the Primeval Essence settled in the alcohol, Michizane’s body trembled.
He gritted his teeth as sweat began to perspire from his brows.
Immediately, he requested help from the Yakan, “Help me!”
“W-What?
What am I supposed to do!?” Mizu shouted in return, panic apparent in her features.
“Are you going to explode?”
“No, I just need you to ease my mind so that the alcohol doesn’t get to my head.
Use your powers or whatever that can help!”
Michizane seemed worried that the refinement process would fail if he lost his reason and became inebriated.
However, instead of doing what he told her to do, Mizukume decided on a better course of action as she sat beside his torso and clasped her hands together in a praying gesture.
Her jackal ears and tail stood erect as she closed her eyes and muttered with deep reverence.
“Oh, Omikami-sama…
Nothing happened at first, yet as the mixture in his navel mouth stirred, an extraordinary reaction occured before his Primeval Essence took solid shape, completely draining the alchoholic liquids and congealing it into a single mass.
It was a cocoon, the kind that a silk worm would have made.
Emerging shortly from that cocoon was what looked like an ordinary grub, though one that was noticeably quite fat.
The moment I saw this Gu, I wanted to scream in delight.
When it came to cultivation-assisting Gu that had strong relations to alcohol and resembled a silk worm, only one came to the mind.
The Liquor Worm!
Some Gu had the ‘Gu’ part of their names omitted whenever they were mentioned in daily conversation.
A good example would be the Spring Autumn Cicada, the Gu that Fang Yuan used to regress 500 years into the past.
Another would be the Liquor Worm.
The Liquor Worm was an immensely valuable Gu that had strong plot relevance in the early chapters of Reverend Insanity.
Were it not for the Spring Autumn Cicada slumbering within his Aperture, Fang Yuan would have taken this Gu as his Vital Gu.
It was a Rank 1 Gu Worm of the Food Path that could temporarily increase the quality of one’s Primeval Essence by a single minor stage.
If Michizane were to use it at his current level, his emerald green Primeval Essence would turn a darker shade, embodying the traits of Rank 1 Upper Stage Primeval Essence.
This might not seem like much, but it would no doubt greatly assist in the nourishing and shattering of his Aperture walls.
Think of it like this, if the Aperture walls were like a school grade’s final test, then the Primeval Essence would be the student’s level of intellect.
A 7th grader might not be so different from a 6th grader, but they would obviously have an easier time doing the 6th grader’s final test.
Likewise, a Gu Master with Upper Stage Primeval Essence would have a much easier time breaking down their Middle Stage Aperture walls!
Furthermore, having higher quality Primeval Essence would also indirectly increase the potency of all other Gu…
That being said, it wasn’t all great as the Liquor Worm unfortunately could not increase the Primeval Essence of a Gu Master who was already at the Peak Stage, the last of the minor stages.
Thus if Michizane truly wanted to make use of the Liquor Worm, he had to refine it as soon as possible and use it before he reached Rank 1 Peak Stage!
Good thing he acquired it now rather than later.
Michizane stood back up, retrieved his upper clothing that Mizu had intuitively handed to him, and then grinned as he affectionately gazed at the Liquor Worm as though it was his newborn child.
Without hesitation, he stored it within his Aperture and immediately sent forth his Primeval Essence as the Liquor Worm took affect, turning his previously emerald green Primeval Essence into forest green!
[Year 9: Having successfully refined the Liquor Worm Gu, your cultivation speed increased dramatically.
You managed to breakthrough to Rank 1 Upper Stage not long after]
[In this life, despite facing many setbacks, you felt triumph and satisfaction]
[Perhaps this thrill of seeking power was the one thing you’ve been missing your whole previous life]
[After all, wasn’t toiling for success, overcoming tribulations, and surviving calamities the things mankind thrived upon?]
[But you knew you were not singularly responsible for your current achievements.
Mizukume’s help had been vital and could not be dismissed]
[She was the person that helped you the most in this second life, aside from maybe your father]
[You wanted to gift her a gift since she has already given you so many.
Although you weren’t as outwardly expressive as she was and didn’t show it, you actually paid attention to her all the time and knew of her preferences]
[Thus you prepared her a suitable gift.
You sewed a kimono for her by hand since you felt a bit bad for puking on her that one time.
You even gave it a Six-Fingered Toad motif to commerate your first meeting]
[Unfortunately, you wouldn’t get the chance to give it to her any time soon.
In fact, you wouldn’t even get the chance to see her again for a very long time]
[After all, the day you refined the Liquor Worm was also the last day she visited your room]