The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 135: Long Wanli's Conspiracy

Long Wanli also had the desire to compete, so he smiled and said, "No problem! It's normal for geniuses to have a bit of pride. Let's just consider this a friendly spar between our two clans."

"However, the place where he resides is quite far from here. To save time, let's take the dragon boats and visit him personally," Long Wanli suggested.

"That's the right thing to do. It's not reasonable to challenge someone and make them come all the way here. Lets go him personally, so we don't waste his cultivation time."

And so, two green dragon boats, carrying a group of people, flew towards Long Xuan's Little Strong Peak at an astonishing speed.

Long Xuan was completely unaware of all this, still sitting in the cold, lofty pavilion, practicing his body technique with intense focus, completely immersed in a state of self-forgetfulness.

At this point, he had progressed his body technique to 30%, and he could now successfully concentrate 30% of his total strength on a single point, unleashing immense destructive power.

He had already conducted experiments and found that even just 30% of his total strength was not something that someone at the same level could easily withstand. The power of this move was far greater than he had imagined.

However, the research time was still short, and he had not yet successfully developed the hidden force.

But during this period, his clone had already pushed his cultivation to the mid-stage of the Marrow Cleansing realm, allowing him to wake up one day and find that he had inexplicably broken through, completely unaware of it.

Since his clone often went to the Long Clan’s library to study diligently, the clan was aware that he had broken through to the mid-stage of the Marrow Cleansing realm.

This was also the reason why Long Wanli had immense confidence in him. After the Ten Absolute Body breaks through to the mid-stage, only those at the peak of the Marrow Cleansing realm can suppress it. There was no way that Long Biao, who was at the same level, could be his opponent.

While Long Xuan was completely unaware, a large group of uninvited guests had already arrived outside his grand formation, blocked by the Rubik's Cube Formation.

"This is a formation designed by our clan’s genius. The formation has only one life gate, and the concealment of this life gate is such that no one can find it. It’s said that no formation master in the world can break it. What do you think, Brother Qian?" Long Wanli asked with a sly smile as he looked at Long Qian, his eyes revealing his ill intentions.

Long Qian did not respond immediately. He stared at the formation intently, with his right hand supporting his chin, occasionally nodding in amazement. He was a famous formation master from the Western Lands, so how could he not see the extraordinary nature of this formation?

This was a formation he had never heard of or seen before, and he couldn’t understand it at all, which only piqued his interest and curiosity even more.

What interests a formation master the most? It's always the formations that stump them. The more difficult the formation, the more excited they become.

It’s like someone who is interested in mathematics; they enjoy challenging high-difficulty problems and tend to have a masochistic tendency.

The Rubik's Cube Formation, which doesn’t belong to the concepts of this world, was enough to arouse his interest.

His disciple, Long Ruoxue, had the same expression. She quickly closed the formation book in her hand and walked over with great interest to study the formation. The more she looked, the more fascinated she became, with wisdom shining in her eyes.

"Interesting, interesting. This formation uses barriers to stitch together many small worlds, forming a massive maze composed of these small worlds."

"This is the first time such a mind-blowing idea has appeared in this world. Before this, such a large-scale formation couldn’t be realized because it would occupy too much space, and the cost of the formation base would be too high for any power to bear."

"But with the advent of cement technology, the idea of a world maze has become possible. This is the charm of cement technology; it has made many impossible formations possible."

"Unfortunately, if the cement were just a bit stronger, it would be even better. Stronger cement would be enough to spark a revolution in formations worldwide, leading to the emergence of all kinds of unprecedented dangerous formations. The power of formations in this world would collectively increase by more than one level. It’s truly a pity," Long Ruoxue sighed.

However, Long Biao dismissed the formation with disdain, saying, "So you're saying that this formation couldn’t be realized with conventional materials. Even though it can be realized with cement, the formation base is too fragile and can be destroyed by brute force. In that case, isn't this formation utterly useless?"

Long Biao's thoughts echoed those of many others. Many of the Long Clan's Gu cultivators knew this formation was extraordinary, but they didn’t take it seriously, thinking that this seemingly extraordinary formation was nothing more than a paper tiger.

Even the upper echelons of the Long Clan held this view, which was exactly the effect Long Xuan had intended when he introduced cement technology.

It seems that the effect was very successful. Everyone was successfully deceived by him, so they didn’t pay much attention to this formation.

"You can't say that," Long Ruoxue replied impatiently, giving him a glance. "This is a combination formation that merges trapping, illusion, and defense formations. Do you have any idea how many formations need to be stitched together to cover such a vast area? And to do so without any flaws is an incredibly terrifying feat."

"And you probably can't imagine that the formations used to stitch this grand formation together are all basic formations. That makes it even more terrifying."

"This person managed to stump us both using nothing but the combination of countless basic formations. My master is a third-grade formation master, and this is simply an unbelievable achievement. Do you know how much wisdom it takes to accomplish this?"

"Exactly," Long Qian said with a bitter smile. "I never thought I would one day be stumped by basic formations. Although combining formations can achieve many terrifying functions as long as one’s imagination is broad enough, to achieve such functions using only basic formations and to stump a third-grade formation master is incredibly difficult. It also shows this person’s immense wisdom."

A flash of light crossed Long Qian's eyes. Far from underestimating the formation due to Long Biao's words, his interest was piqued even more.

"Although this is a combination of basic formations, it is the most exquisite formation I have seen in my life. It would be a great regret if I didn’t personally experience it. However, there is no formation in this world that I cannot break. Let me go inside and meet this genius formation master."

Long Qian suddenly turned his head to look at Long Ruoxue and said, "Ruoxue, there are always people better than us. The fact that this person can use basic formations to such a masterful degree shows that his talent in formations surpasses yours."

"Follow me into the formation. You may learn a lot from this formation, and it will also help you understand the importance of the basics—everything returns to its root."

Hearing his words, the clan elders were taken aback. Was he really going to break into the formation? He seemed so eager!

At this moment, Long Wanli spoke up again, "I have studied this formation for some time. It's quite brain-taxing, and so far, no one has been able to find their way out. It's said that only a god can break this formation."

"If you can't break it, don't resort to brute force. If you damage the formation base, your only option will be to find the life gate and walk out, or the formation master will have to guide you out."

Upon hearing this, Long Qian immediately felt underestimated and turned his head, saying, "You're underestimating me too much. Do you really think a third-grade formation master like me would need brute force to break a formation? That would be an embarrassment. Your words are an insult to me. Even if I starve or die of exhaustion inside, I will never break the formation by force!"

"Ruoxue! Let's go! I want to see what formation dares to claim that no formation master in the world can break it. Such arrogance!"

With those words, Long Qian no longer listened to any advice and flew straight into the formation. Long Ruoxue, her eyes flashing with excitement, quickly followed him.

Unexpectedly, Long Biao, after curling his lips in disdain, also followed behind Long Ruoxue and entered the formation.

Watching the three of them leave, Long Wanli revealed a sly, conspiratorial smile. "What a formation fanatic. The moment he sees a clever formation, he has to go in and explore."

"I was deliberately goading him just now to eliminate the possibility of him using brute force to break the formation. Without brute force, he won't be able to find his way out of this formation for the rest of his life."

"Finding the life gate in this formation is a pipe dream. As I said, only a god can break this formation. Unless he’s a god, he’ll tire himself out before he finds that life gate."

"Do you know why I lured him here? Do you know why I tempted him to enter just now?"

"My goal is to trap him here. When he can't get out, I'll deliberately show a flaw and let him out. With his level of expertise, how could he not realize it? So, he'll owe me a favor."

"Tsk tsk! A favor from a third-grade formation master is worth a lot. I have to make good use of it."

Long Wanli's smile grew even more cunning, exuding as much treachery as possible.

Upon hearing this, the clan elders widened their eyes and stared at him in astonishment. They were shocked by his maneuver. So, this was his true motive—to deceive someone into owing him a favor? How shameless could he be? What would Long Qian do if he knew Long Wanli had schemed against him like this? He might die of anger.

The clan elders showed expressions of sympathy, but at the same time, they were alarmed by the power of this formation. Was it really that terrifying? Could it truly trap even a third-grade formation master? Long Wanli seemed to have a very high opinion of this formation.

"Clan leader, how are you so familiar with this formation?" one of the ten elders suddenly asked, showing his cleverness.

An embarrassed look briefly flashed in Long Wanli's eyes. Should he tell them that he was trapped by this damned formation for three days and three nights when he first came to negotiate the cement technology?

No one knew better than him, as a victim, how bizarre this formation could be.

...

"We’ve come to this marshland world again. Here’s the mark I left."

Long Ruoxue frowned deeply as she looked at the suddenly erected branch on the ground.

At this moment, Long Qian furrowed his brows even more, looking around with a bewildered gaze, his thoughts growing increasingly muddled.

"It's really strange. This location should clearly be the marshland world, filled with poisonous gas and miasma. How did it suddenly turn into a world of ice? It's so cold that it could freeze a person to death."

"What’s even more baffling is that this terrain is clearly one we’ve walked through before, yet it somehow mysteriously reappeared in front of us. What is going on?"

Long Qian's mind was completely confounded. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. He had studied formations his entire life, but this was the first time he had encountered such an eerie formation.

After pondering for a moment with her own wisdom, Long Ruoxue slowly said, "This world maze is quite interesting. It contains various terrains with harsh environments, but all these terrains can be shuffled and reassembled."

"That’s why the path we’ve walked may change at any time. We could have just walked through a world of lava, and right after we leave, it’s replaced by a desert world."

"So, leaving marks on the path in such a maze is useless. Once the worlds are shuffled, we’ll be completely trapped in this world maze. It's truly a mind-blowing concept."

Long Ruoxue's eyes sparkled with wisdom as she confidently said, "However, although these worlds are reassembled periodically, there must be a pattern. If we find that pattern, we can find our way out."