The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 180: Yan Pojun's Decision

The battle between the Gu Kings was earth-shattering. Soon, the sky transformed into a sea of fire, covering the entire Blackstone City like a massive burning cloud. Countless mutated microorganisms in the air were buried in the vast inferno.

On the ground, hordes of plague zombies were also consumed by the fire. Beyond the city walls, fire spread everywhere, the scorching heat baking the earth and setting the sky ablaze.

Everyone inside the city was drenched in sweat, fearfully gazing at the sea of flames engulfing the sky.

"Is this the kind of commotion caused by a Gu King battle? Is this the destructive power of Yan Pojun?" Long Xuan watched in shock.

It seemed Yan Pojun had been pushed to his limit, recklessly releasing such a vast firestorm, intent on burning away every microorganism in the air.

Could the microorganisms in the air really have grown strong enough to breach the peak defense of a Gu King? That seemed unlikely, Long Xuan thought with a start.

At this point, the faces of the Yan Clan Gu cultivators turned grim.

"What exactly is happening? Something forced the City Lord to use the Yang Flame technique!"

"It seems Shi Haojun released something from an insect bag. It appears to be a batch of carefully cultivated micro-insect, and these insects have the terrifying power to threaten even a peak Gu King."

"The City Lord couldn’t detect their location, so in order to protect the other Gu Kings, he had no choice but to use this large-scale move and burn all the micro-insects in the air."

"This isn’t good. Yang Flame is a forbidden technique. If the City Lord uses it, his body will suffer tremendous damage. Has the situation really become this dire?"

The Yan Clan Gu cultivators murmured amongst themselves, worry evident on their faces. The battlefield situation looked grim, and many had already shown signs of despair.

"This is bad." At that moment, Long Yuanshan approached Long Xuan, his face solemn as he spoke. "Yang Flame is a forbidden technique that requires the fusion of nine different Spirit Flames to be released."

"You can imagine how dangerous it is to have nine Spirit Flames in a single body. Yan Pojun only became the strongest in the Western Lands because of his control over the nine flames."

"Not only did Yan Pojun use Yang Flame just now, but he also detonated three Spirit Flames. If the situation weren't absolutely critical, he would never resort to this."

"Blackstone City is likely on the brink of collapse. Tonight, you must escape through the space hut and return to the Far West."

"You are the rare prodigy of our Long Clan in ten thousand years. You cannot perish here."

Hearing this, Long Xuan was shocked. Had the situation truly become so dire?

No way, right? So many Gu Kings were fighting one opponent, yet they couldn't defeat him? Shi Hao Jun's combat power seemed absurdly exaggerated.

Is the power of forbidden Gu arts really this immense? And this is just a reduced version.

At this moment, even Long Xuan began to panic and hastily asked, "Isn’t it too late to leave tonight? Should I leave now?"

For the first time, he felt genuinely anxious. Shi Hao Jun’s overwhelming combat strength was starting to scare him.

Long Yuanshan shot him a glance. If it weren't for the fact that Long Xuan was the Long Clan's genius, and he had no right to discipline him, Long Yuanshan would’ve berated him for being such a coward. How could the Long Clan's genius be afraid of death?

"Rest assured, even if all the Gu Kings outside perish, Blackstone City won’t fall for at least a month."

"There's a Spirit Vein underneath Blackstone City, and the protective formation is anchored by this massive vein. Even if Shi Hao Jun exhausts himself, he can’t breach the formation in a short time."

"Blackstone City is the strongest fortress in the Western Lands and has never been breached throughout history. You can rely on the city's defenses."

"Even if you leave in a month, you'll still be perfectly safe."

"That's good to hear." Upon hearing this, Long Xuan finally felt at ease and continued to observe the distant battle.

However, when he looked at the battlefield again, he noticed the battle had already ended. The group of Gu Kings was frantically fleeing, desperately running for their lives.

Behind them came a sea of flames, like a tsunami of fire sweeping across the land, engulfing the fleeing Gu Kings. Soon, their agonized screams echoed from within the flames.

Witnessing this scene, everyone inside the city was horrified. They retreated in fear, worried that if the Gu Kings charged into the city, the flames would spread and affect them.

Long Yuanshan's face grew heavy, and he sighed softly, "They’ve already activated the second plan, haven't they?"

Long Xuan's eyes narrowed. He was well aware of what the second plan entailed.

If they were at a disadvantage, all the Gu Kings would retreat into the city's protective array to save their lives.

To prevent the plague from spreading, the City Lord would unleash a massive fire to burn them, incinerating any microorganisms on their bodies.

However, this would also mean that weaker Gu Kings, unable to withstand the fire, would perish in the flames.

It was a cruel plan, but at the time, no one had taken it seriously. They had all signed the life-and-death agreement without hesitation.

No one believed they would lose the battle. With so many Gu Kings fighting one opponent, how could they possibly lose?

But things had gone entirely differently. In the end, they couldn’t win.

A tiny, invisible Plague Demon Gu had wreaked havoc among them, and coupled with a swarm of plague zombies at the Gu King level, there weren’t many Gu Kings left to actually face Shi Hao Jun.

As a result, they lost—and they lost quickly. The battlefield was littered with the corpses of Gu Kings, their armor and weapons abandoned in defeat. In a matter of moments, they suffered a total rout, and the remaining Gu Kings fled in disarray.

Everyone had been utterly stunned.

No one expected the second plan to be put into action. Suddenly, a firestorm swept over them from behind, catching them completely off guard.

Yan Po Jun was ruthless. Facing such a terrifying plague, he dared not hold back. He unleashed the full power of the sea of flames.

Three of the Nine Great Spirit Flames had self-detonated, leaving only six. The remaining six Spirit Flames merged together, forming a deep crimson flame. The temperature of the fire was terrifyingly high—this was no ordinary flame. Even a Gu King could not easily withstand it.

Immediately, more than ten Gu Kings were reduced to ashes in the sea of fire, leaving them only a few steps away from the city's protective formation.

The surviving Gu Kings, their faces twisted with pain, frantically rushed into the city's defensive formation. Flames still engulfed them, and even if they survived, they would likely be left half-dead.

Once inside the protective formation, the Gu practitioners rushed over, pouring specially made water over them to extinguish the flames on their bodies.

The fire created by Yan Pojun, through the fusion of six Spirit Fires, was terrifyingly intense. Ordinary water could not put it out—it required special Spirit Water.

After the flames on the Gu Kings were finally extinguished, the pain on their faces subsided significantly. They collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted, gasping for air, their faces showing the relief of having narrowly escaped death.

The alchemists from the Yao and Dan clans hurried over to check their injuries and to see if there were any remnants of the plague.

Even though they had been scorched by such a terrifying flame, the Plague Demon Gu was so horrifying that no one dared guarantee that the plague it created had been entirely burned away by the fire. No one was willing to take that risk.

The stakes were too high, as the entire city's lives were on the line. No one dared to gamble and could only proceed with the utmost caution.

All of this took place outside the city walls. According to the second plan, after a defeat, all Gu Kings were to be quarantined outside the city for a while, and only allowed to enter once the alchemists had confirmed they posed no danger.

Yan Pojun was the last to enter the protective formation. A figure ablaze with fire suddenly rushed into the array. As the flames gradually dissipated, the city lord’s figure was revealed. He staggered a few steps before members of the Yan clan hurried to support him.

"City Lord!"

"City Lord!"

...

"How is this possible? How could he be this strong? Wasn’t the Plague Demon Gu incomplete? How could it be this powerful?" Yan Pojun muttered in a daze, his face pale as if he had lost his mind.

Suddenly, he pushed away those supporting him and looked towards the surviving Gu Kings.

Upon seeing the scene before him, his heart sank.

The losses were simply too heavy. Among the ten clans of the Western Lands, many Gu Kings had fallen in this battle. Of the more than 150 Gu Kings that had set out, only about 90 returned—dropping their number below 100.

Of the four peak-stage Gu Kings, one had also fallen. Now, besides himself, only Cai Xuan and Jiu Kang remained.

Moreover, both of them were in dire straits. Even though Yan Pojun had used a forbidden technique, their injuries were still worse than his own.

Several Gu practitioners from the Jiu clan gathered around Jiu Kang, sobbing. The rest of the clans were equally devastated, their expressions dull and spirits low. The atmosphere was heavy with grief.

No one had expected that even a hundred Gu Kings, working together, would lose. They all felt as though they were dreaming, or hallucinating.

If even a hundred Gu Kings couldn’t win, and with a small portion already lost, organizing a second attack was impossible.

Everyone understood what this meant: no one could stop Shi Haojun. Blackstone City was likely to be slaughtered by him. The city's demise seemed to be counting down, and everyone still inside was destined to die.

The Gu practitioners of the various clans were all filled with despair, many feeling pessimistic about their fate.

The city was now surrounded by the plague, making it impossible to break through and escape. They were trapped, awaiting death.

The city's food and water supplies were limited. Even if Shi Haojun couldn’t break through in a short time, how long could they hold out? Despair was written all over everyone’s faces.

"City Lord! What should we do next?"

Someone in the crowd finally asked in a low voice.

Yan Pojun looked up at the sky and sighed heavily, "Hold our ground. All we can do now is defend."

"We cannot leave the city again—we simply can’t win."

"Shi Haojun has grown too strong. There are likely few people in the world who can stop him now."

"We have to wait—wait for reinforcements. Shi Haojun has refined a Forbidden Gu, and those who refine Forbidden Gu are hunted by the world."

"Before the city was sealed, I made arrangements. I sent word to spread this news."

"Faced with an old demon who slaughters cities and refines Gu, the Gu Emperor City will not stand idly by. They will surely issue the Demon Extermination Order and mobilize a vast number of Gu Kings to hunt down Shi Haojun."

"All we need to do is hold out until the Gu Emperor City issues the Demon Extermination Order. At that point, Shi Haojun will either face the Gu Kings of the world or retreat. The crisis of Blackstone City will be resolved."

"But this place is so remote that it will likely take a long time for the news to reach the central region and the Gu Emperor City. Gathering Gu Kings from various regions will also take considerable time."

"Stall. Stall for as long as we can. From now on, the entire city is to switch to one meal every two days. Even urine must be collected—don’t discard it."

"Everyone in the city must comply, regardless of wealth or status. Anyone who disobeys will be executed."

"Prepare for a long battle. If we do not hold out until reinforcements arrive, we will burn with the city…"

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