Dao and Attainment

Man is the spirit of all livings beings, among all living beings, humans have the highest intelligence and comprehension ability, Gu Masters are people who are in pursuit of understanding heaven and earth and experience the Great Dao. While mortal Gu and contain meager traces of the Great Dao, their immortal counterparts contain fragments of the Great Dao, the amount of traces or fragment size is dependent on the Gu's rank and path. Therefore Gu are also known as the essence of heaven and earth, a uniqueness among all other living beings.

Dao is everywhere, it is the water that flows downwards, the humans that die from hunger, the trees that grow because of rain and fertilizers, all of these are dao. Gu Masters utilize Gu and experience the Great Dao through them by lighting up fires, making rivers flow upwards, shooting out lightning, heal injuries... all of these are dao.

Humans nurture, use, and refine Gu, they are making use of the Gu to display the might of heaven and earth. By living, procreating and accumulating experiences over generations, they eventually understand the laws of the world. After becoming a Gu Immortal, the aperture becomes an immortal aperture, and dao marks are carved on it. One could say that Gu Masters are nurturing "dao" when they nurture Gu, they are using "dao" when they use Gu, and they are refining "dao" when they refine Gu. There are Gu Masters of all sorts of paths, cultivating all the different aspects of the Great Dao.

Realm of a Great Dao
"Great Dao is a closed book, and for a Gu Master to study and explore heaven and earth, Gu Master have to use Gu Worms to approach the Great Dao with different methods, Gu Master need to constantly summarize their comprehensions, need insights and require sufficient experience."

- Realm represented the understanding of Great Dao. Great Dao is the realm of every path. Gu Masters walk on the path of the Great Dao. The path that a Gu Master has the highest amount of intimacy with is the one related to their vital Gu, e.g. if the Gu Master has a wisdom path Gu as a vital Gu, the Gu Master will have an easier time to comprehend the Great Dao of wisdom than that of the other path's. Another example is one's attainment in strength path which equates to the comprehension of the Great Dao of strength.

Regardless of the path, every advancement of the attainment and elevation to a higher realm means an astonishing increase to one's battle strength. It is so because a higher realm means a deeper understanding of the law fragments of heaven and earth. It allows Gu Masters to refine new and better Gu, create more killer moves and formations, and display greater dominance in battles with their path. Gu Masters with a high attainment are known to develop a subtle sense towards things relating to their path, for example, luck path Gu Masters are able to vaguely sense the luck of themselves, time path Gu Masters are able to sense the flow of time more clearly and know how much lifespan they have left with much more precision than those of other paths, and wisdom path Gu Masters have an easier time thinking and deducing even without the use of Gu.

Attainment
Attainment in itself is like a special kind of intuition that helps the Gu Master to make the correct choices to solve a problem at hand. The different levels are like the comprehension of mathematical problems and their solutions. By answering many  'mathematics'  questions, a Gu Master can accumulate experiences when getting the correct answer, eventually, they will understand the crux of them, gaining enlightenment and raising the Gu Master's attainment level. With newfound comprehension, they can now solve other related  'mathematics' questions more easily. When a Gu Master encounters a very unfamiliar question, they can use their existing knowledge of the other solved problems to answer at least a portion of the unfamiliar question.

Attainment can be gained by slow accumulation during the nurturing and use of Gu but also through true meaning, found in dream realms and inheritances of supreme experts. When the attainment is raised through the latter two methods, the Gu Master needs to accumulate experiences to make full use of their attainment.

The following are the attainment levels/realms of the Great Dao:

Foundation of a Gu Immortal's Cultivation
Once a mortal Gu Master becomes a Gu Immortal, their mortal aperture would become an immortal aperture. The immortal aperture is the blessed land or grotto-heaven, it is a small world that 'contains' the dao in it. The dao in the immortal aperture is a kind of dao that cannot be compared to that of the outside Gu world and is only expressed in dao marks. There are different kinds/types of immortal apertures, a few are listed below.

Enslavement Path Immortal Aperture
Taking an enslavement path blessed land like Hu Immortal Blessed Land as an example, it has the basic time path dao marks, thus it can draw in a tributary of the River of Time, allowing the concept of time to exist in the blessed land, and for time to flow. It also has a large number of space path dao marks, thus the blessed land's space is vast. The existing land spirit can, due to this, even teleport freely. In a blessed land with few space path dao marks, it would have a smaller area and the land spirit wouldn't be able to teleport. It is most abundant in enslavement path dao marks, precisely because of these dao marks, an enslavement path blessed land is helpful for raising specific beast-type creatures, in addition, it can help in enslaving beast groups that are similar in body structure that correlate with the native beast-type structure, for example, having an easier time enslaving wolf type beasts in a fox type enslavement path blessed land compared to a crocodile enslavement path blessed land. If it is managed correctly it can even promote the growth of desolate beasts inside it.

(Note: this is based on Hu Immortal Blessed Land, and may not entirely apply to other enslavement path immortal apertures.)

Time Path Immortal Aperture
Taking Tai Bai Yun Sheng's Tai Bai Blessed Land, a time path blessed land as an example, it is most numerous in time path dao marks, thus time path resources are the easiest to produce in high quantity and quality. One day in the outside world can be roughly 33 days (a few more or less) inside a time path blessed land. It has the least earth path dao marks, thus there are no mountains in time path blessed land, and the soil is infertile as well. In terms of space path dao marks, it is only ordinary, in total, the horizontal area is not large, but the sky is very high.

(Note: this explanation based on Tai Bai Yun Sheng's Tai Bai Blessed Land, and may not entirely apply to other time path immortal apertures.)

Immortal Aperture's Heavenly Power
Blessed lands are a small world, they can restrict enemies and seal their mortal Gu. The reason is because of the large number of dao marks in the blessed land, it is like a pond. Mortal Gu contain traces of dao, they are like drops of water, sparks of fire. One drop of water entering the pond would be fused into it easily. One spark of fire entering the pond will get extinguished easily. Thus, once the dao marks in the blessed land are activated, the heavenly power would be enforced and mortal Gu would lose effect. As for Immortal Gu, they are unrestricted by blessed lands. Because Immortal Gu are the law fragments, they are unique entities, just like a rock. When a rock is tossed into a pond, no matter how the surface ripples, the entry of the rock cannot be stopped. But although it cannot be sealed, it can be suppressed. When an Immortal Gu is used in blessed lands to battle, its power would be weakened or strengthened by the blessed land's dao marks.

Enemy Invasion
As for Gu Immortals, when they invade blessed lands, they would be suppressed by the dao marks as well. But Gu Immortals have an immortal body, they are fundamentally different from mortals. What are immortal bodies, to put it simply, they are bodies that have dao marks carved on them. When Gu Immortals invade blessed land, the more dao marks in the blessed land, the more suppression the Gu Immortal would feel. In contrast, the more dao marks on the Gu Immortal's body, the less suppression they would experience.

Mixed Immortal Aperture
A mixed immortal aperture or a public blessed land is a blessed land that have been mixed together forming into one large scale blessed land. Although "public blessed land" had a lot of dao marks, it was very mixed. Public blessed lands have a territorial advantage and it could cause the Gu Immortals to be unable to use their mortal Gu. But mostly heavenly power of public blessed land could not seal Immortal Gu and immortal killer moves, because public blessed land heavenly power was limited, it could not mobilize all of the dao marks.

"Public blessed land" have a weak defense, they are formed by numerous Gu Immortals sacrificing a portion of their blessed lands, they were pieced together. These types of blessed lands are very mixed in dao mark varieties, they cancel out each other and cannot form a cohesive strength, it is like having a finger each from five people, they can only act individually, they cannot form into a fist.

(Note: Example "public blessed land" = Jade Pool Blessed Land, Yin-Yang Blessed Land, Shi Huang Blessed Land and Iron Eagle Blessed Land. Based on explaining was taken from Dong Fang Tribe's Jade Pool Blessed Land)

Conclusion
Blessed land that have a sole origin also have dao marks that are pure. If there are land spirits, they can expend immortal essence and mobilize the dao marks to use the heavenly power. Immortal Gu are the law fragments, there are dao marks on the desolate beast's bodies, Gu Immortals have been mentioned already, immortal Gu Houses are formed by combining Immortal Gu, while immortal killer moves are the fusion of many types of dao marks, they are an effect or great power formed from varying sources. Thus, be it the blessed land or grotto-heaven, the purer the dao marks, the harder it is to take down. land spirit, immortal essence, they are all to assist the use of dao marks.

Dao Marks
At the core, Gu Immortals cultivate the Great Dao, part of which is their chosen path with its corresponding dao marks. A Gu Master can receive dao marks through different methods but the four most common ones are:


 * 1) The ascension from mortal to immortal.
 * 2) The calamities and tribulations during the Gu Immortal's cultivation.
 * 3) Detonating the immortal aperture of another Gu Immortal inside their own.
 * 4) And annexing the immortal aperture (blessed land or grotto-heaven of Gu Immortals).

The amount and type of dao marks received during an ascension are dependent on the path the Gu Master cultivates primarily, as well as their understanding and attainment in said path. The amount and type of dao marks received during a calamity or tribulation is dependent the power or difficulty of those as well as of which type they are, for example, a fire path Gu Immortal will not only face fire path calamities and tribulations but may also face those of a different path and therefore acquire dao marks of different paths.

Calamities and Tribulations
Every time a Gu Immortal passed a calamity or tribulation, they would gain a number of dao marks, below is a list of how many they receive:


 * An earthly calamity, on average, would give two hundred and fifty dao marks (250 dao marks)
 * A heavenly tribulation would give seven hundred and fifty dao marks (750 dao marks).
 * A grand tribulation would give seven thousand two hundred and fifty dao marks (7250 dao marks).
 * A myriad tribulation would give eighty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty dao marks (86750 dao marks).

Battle Strength
Dao marks are concentrated in the living immortal aperture of a Gu Immortal and influence the amplification, or the reduction, of a Gu's effect, for example, a Gu Immortal with lots of fire path dao marks will have a greater effect when using a fire path Gu but also faces a greater reduction of power or a lesser effectiveness when using a water path Gu (to the point that the effect is even weaker than when a mortal Gu Master uses it).

Dao Mark Interference
Due to their inherent nature, dao marks of each respective path interfere with those of other paths. This interference differs from one combination of paths to another, for example, earth path dao marks would be weakened by 50-60% in the presence of water path dao marks, while the dao marks of other paths such as sound path would only experience a 20-30% weakening of their power.undefinedWork in Progress (Above)

Paths
(Note: This part is concerned with the paths of the Great Dao and should not be mistaken for the classification system of the righteous path and demonic path.)

A path is a part or an aspect of the Great Dao which was painstakingly explored by Gu Masters walking down an unknown and oftentimes perilous path which is later over generations changed and refined. To be able to be called a path it has to have a clear 'direction' like an element (fire), a prospect of reality (time) or life (blood), or a specific effect (transformation). Furthermore, the path needs to cover the basic aspects like attack, defense, healing, movement, storage, and investigation. But even then with each passing generation, old and obsolete paths decline and are forgotten, this can have various reasons like the decline of a Gu refinement material or the emergence of a new and more effective path. Every path has its strengths and weaknesses and can to some degree emulate tactics or characteristics of other paths, for example, a Gu Master with a deep enough foundation in time path can exhibit the effects of luck path with the use time path killer moves regardless of their path's difference and specialty. Some paths excel at in battle strength while others do at movement or healing. Paths are also divided into major and minor paths, the former enjoying broad use by many Gu Masters, while the latter are sometimes less developed and less popular. No matter the differences between each path, they share the same origin.undefined

Due to the amount of work and effort that goes into cultivating, accumulating attainment and becoming proficient in a path, Gu Masters generally cultivate only one primary (main) path and one secondary path on the side, but of course, there are numerous exceptions to this 'rule'. Especially after ascending to immortal status, Gu Immortals have to keep their immortal aperture's dao mark composition in mind, because dao marks can interfere with each other, it's best to focus and specialize in one path.

Gu Immortals who have reached a certain level of cultivation and accumulated experiences in the path they cultivate would have "senses" that tell them about minute details and aspects concerning their path, for example, refinement path Gu Immortals refinement abilities would rise sharply, when refining Gu, and they would be able to sense minute details. For fire path Gu Immortals, they would have a certain sense towards fire path Immortal Gu and desolate beasts. For wisdom path Gu Immortals, even without using any Gu, their own deduction abilities would be very strong. As for luck path Gu Immortals, they would have some sensation towards their own luck or the luck around them.

Sub-Paths, are paths that developed from an already existing path and focus even more intently on one specific aspect of the path they originated from.

(Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, these are the five most mainstream paths, they are even more popular than cloud path and sound path. Strength path and qi path are much less so.)undefined

(Metal path, fire path, lightning path, sword path, blood path, these five paths are publicly recognized as the paths with the highest battle strength.)undefined

(Note: For further information about each path please consider visiting the respective articles by clicking on the name of the path.)

Trivia

 * Realm of a Great Dao's heading section: Chapter 687
 * Heading section of Dao and Foundation of a Gu Immortal's cultivation: chapter 821.
 * Attainment's heading section: Chapter 916
 * Though the paths don't exist yet, life and death dao marks do exist.