"Boss, are you here to inspect our work?"
Arataki Itto puffed out his chest confidently as he watched Gu Sanqiu tapping away at the maze's walls.
"Anything made under my watch is guaranteed to be flawless. You've got nothing to worry about, Boss!"
"I'm not here to inspect the quality. I'm here to make some modifications," Gu Sanqiu replied, casting a sideways glance at him. "How much experience do you have with navigating mazes?"
"Mazes? Where in Inazuma would I have encountered something so fancy?"
Itto shook his head repeatedly. "If not for you setting this up, Boss, I wouldn't even know what a maze looks like."
"No maze puzzles or books to practice on?"
"None."
Well, that explained a lot.
Gu Sanqiu gestured for the group to follow him. "Alright then. Go in and see if you can make it out quickly."
"Huh? Boss, are you underestimating me? I just walked out of there a few minutes ago—there's no way I'd forget the path I took."
Itto exuded confidence. "Just you wait and see!"
"Fine. I'll wait at the entrance," Gu Sanqiu replied, sparing a glance at the hefty red oni club slung over Itto's shoulder. "And no brute-forcing your way out. You're not allowed to smash a path through the walls."
After all, this maze had just been completed. If this iron-headed fool wrecked it before it even had a chance to intimidate someone, Gu Sanqiu might actually consider tossing him off Yashiori Island.
"Don't worry!"
Itto marched into the maze with his underlings trailing behind, his confidence unshaken.
---
Twenty minutes later—
"BOSS, HELP ME!"
Gu Sanqiu sighed, shaking his head in resignation. "As expected."
"What's going on?!" Itto yelled, his frustration spilling over as he began doubting his own intelligence.
"I followed the exact same route I took earlier! Why did it feel like a straight line when we left but now I'm just going in circles? I even climbed the walls to scout the path!"
"Count yourself lucky," Gu Sanqiu replied dryly. "If I'd had more time, I would've carved some optical illusions into the maze walls. That would've made things even trickier for you."
He offered an example. "Say there's a critical turn in the maze. I'd carve patterns on both the side and forward walls that merge into a cohesive design when viewed from a specific angle. It'd trick your brain into overlooking the turn altogether."
A truly diabolical design, but highly effective.
"Relax. It's not your fault you're stuck."
With a satisfied nod, Gu Sanqiu added, "The experiment's a success. Now you can all go about your business."
"Uh… Boss, this is such a big place. Don't you have someone watching it overnight?"
Itto looked puzzled. "If you need someone to guard it, we could handle that for you!"
"There's nothing particularly valuable here. No need."
Gu Sanqiu hauled a massive ordered stone slab to block the entrance.
"If someone tries to break in, they'll get stuck in the maze and lose their minds trying to escape."
"And I've got an extra layer of security."
Light gleamed as Gu Sanqiu drew a long blade and etched a mark into the stone. Itto squinted reflexively, as if the mark itself had hurt his eyes, while his underlings staggered back in awe, some falling flat on the ground.
"What's this?"
Itto gaped, completely baffled. "Is this some kind of mystical technique?"
"This is why I keep telling you to read more," Gu Sanqiu sighed, motioning for Itto to help his underlings up. "This is a sword mark imbued with my understanding of swordsmanship—a kind of advanced psychological suggestion."
"Anyone who comes here, whether a samurai seeking a duel or a thief scouting the area, will feel its intimidation. It's a deterrent to keep troublemakers in check."
Itto's eyes sparkled with newfound admiration. "So this is the insurance you mentioned? That sounds so cool!"
"Of course it's cool," Gu Sanqiu replied, his tone calm but firm. "It's the perfect way to silence fools with strength alone."
"As for the maze? That's just for fun."
"For anyone truly determined to challenge me and improve themselves, the maze won't stop them."
"The maze and the sword mark are filters, nothing more."
"Can I learn it?" Itto's face lit up with excitement. "If I could do that, I'd carve one right on my front door!"
"This is a dojo, not your house. What if a friend comes to visit? You need to think things through before pulling stunts like that."
Gu Sanqiu rolled his eyes. How does this guy's brain even function?
"Now that you mention it, that does make sense… Alright, I won't do it then."
"Good. Now go home. Be back here tomorrow on time for work. I'm not dragging people out of the maze on my own."
Once Itto and his crew were gone, Gu Sanqiu turned to look at the newly purchased dojo. A small smile tugged at his lips.
"In the end, it's still just me."
Mazes and sword marks were great for deterring honorable people. But when it came to those with ill intent, honor meant nothing.
For them?
The best insurance is myself.
"Rock-Shaking Sutra: capable of shaking mountains, a technique passed down by the Arhat Dragon King, wielding the power to stabilize the eight directions."
"Incense Sutra: a legacy that carries all things, the essence of my Gu family's thousand-year tradition—part mystic art, part scripture, part everything else!"
"Liyue Sutra: grounded in the land, traversing mountains and seas, walking the world under the personal instruction of the Geo Archon himself!"
Within Gu Sanqiu, three distinct energies began to circulate around his elemental power, clear and unmixed. Guided by his will, they began to merge, harmonizing into a unified force.
Power made my own.
"If not for elemental energy as a mediator, blending these forces might have killed me countless times over," he muttered, understanding dawning upon him.
To a practitioner, a Vision was a prized tool, but never irreplaceable.
Through training, practitioners could channel their efforts into drawing power from the world itself—be it through runes linking elemental language or through physical transformations enabling the body to wield elemental force, akin to how elemental creatures functioned.
These methods were detailed in the Incense Sutra, the cornerstone of the Gu family's teachings. Beyond being a training manual, it was scripture, law, and archive all in one.
The Sutra was so vast that every text within the family's records stemmed from it.
However, one anomaly stood out: the Gu family lacked a genealogy. Or rather, it had been deliberately erased by their ancestors.
Gu Sanqiu had once sealed away his memories of this heritage, fearing that its immense scope would overwhelm him.
It was Albedo who noticed the fractures in his spirit and soul. Before his journey into the unknown, Albedo had lent a hand, helping Sanqiu fully integrate this knowledge.
The Incense Sutra—the foundation of the Gu family's adaptable, ever-evolving lineage.
Even the Liyue Sutra, gifted by the Geo Archon, had been consumed to enrich the Incense Sutra rather than exist as a separate path.
As one bold Gu ancestor once declared:
"The Gu family will always advance, always stand at the peak!"