The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 199: Long Panpan's Scheme

As time passed, evening arrived. Large groups of Gu practitioners began walking out of the mine. After eating a communal meal, they returned to the recently built wooden cabins to rest.

Of course, not everyone came out to rest. Some continued working through the night, and some even boldly slept inside the mine, undeterred by the dangers lurking within.

Those who stayed in the mine included Long Qilin, who was determined to win the bet and had no intention of resting. He was prepared to stay up all night to dig out as much Geng Metal as possible.

Another one who stayed was Long Dan, whose eyes were unnaturally sharp. He could spot the weaknesses in the rocks at a glance, easily identifying the stone’s grain. By following the grain, he could effortlessly split the rocks open.

His mining efficiency was astonishing. In just one day, he had filled up half a storage bag with Geng Metal ore, even surpassing Long Qilin in terms of output.

With a smirk on his face, he too prepared for an all-nighter to dig up more Geng Metal. Every moment of idleness would result in less Geng Metal, and he was willing to push himself to the limit to mine as much as possible.

As for Long Ruoxue and Long Panpan, these two girls lacked strength and stamina, so they had only mined a small amount of Geng Metal ore. Exhausted, with blisters on their hands, they staggered out of the mine and retreated to their wooden cabins to rest, preparing for the next day’s work.

However, Long Panpan, the clever one, was no stranger to shirking hard labor. Although she appeared adorably innocent, she wasn’t one to be underestimated—she was the most devious of them all, always full of schemes.

Late into the night, while others slept, she started plotting again.

She suddenly thought, Why should I dig myself? There are so many miners here; why not let them do it for me? She figured she could exchange something for their Geng Metal ore.

The miners were required to hand over all the Geng Metal ore they dug up, no matter how much they collected. The only incentive was that the more they mined, the more contribution points the family would reward them.

While Geng Metal sold for astronomical prices outside, it was dirt cheap in the hands of the miners.

Long Panpan realized she could use minimal resources to acquire a massive amount of Geng Metal ore from the miners. All she needed to do was offer them something worth more than the contribution points they would earn.

Moreover, she wasn’t obligated to hand over any Geng Metal ore she gathered herself. By the end of the month, she could carry home an enormous amount of Geng Metal ore, making a huge profit.

With a sweet smile on her face, Long Panpan drifted off to sleep, her dreams filled with whatever scheme she had concocted.

Meanwhile, Long Xuan remained unaware of Long Panpan's sly plans. He also stayed inside the mine, opting not to rest in the wooden cabins.

Instead, he found a secluded spot, dug out a small cave, and set up a bed inside to rest.

But he wasn’t truly resting. The moment he closed his eyes, he entered his Origin Realm, eager to explore the marked mine tunnel.

Long Xuan had already deduced which of the marked tunnels led to the ancient cultivator’s cave.

The slower the Origin Realm was at replicating something, the more complex it was. The ancient cultivator's cave likely contained peak-grade treasures, making it hard to replicate quickly.

When he noticed a specific area was being replicated slowly, Long Xuan became certain that the ancient cultivator’s cave was hidden there.

Once inside his Origin Realm, he sprinted toward the marked tunnel.

Since he couldn’t die in the illusionary realm, he wasn’t cautious despite knowing the danger. He charged ahead recklessly, racing to the deepest part of the tunnel. ?

In truth, this tunnel was no longer as dangerous as it once was. The three Spiritual Sea level Gu cultivators from the Bai Clan had entered this place countless times. If there had been any real threats, they would have been eliminated long ago.

With his many lives in the illusionary realm, Long Xuan had no fear and continued to charge forward with abandon.

Before long, he reached the end of the tunnel and slammed into a barrier. The impact threw him back, but he quickly regained his footing, his eyes fixed on the large formation ahead.

With the Eye Of Heavenly Secret, breaking formations was his forte.

Long Xuan was no novice when it came to formations. As a formation master capable of setting up deadly arrays, his understanding of formations was unmatched in the region.

So breaking this formation posed no problem for him. In fact, he could do it much faster than the Bai Clan’s Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators. Even though they had the advantage of numbers, they couldn't match someone with his abilities.

However, this formation had been left by an ancient cultivator, and many aspects of it were beyond his current knowledge, touching upon areas he had yet to learn. Therefore, breaking it instantly wasn’t possible.

It would take him several days to fully understand the formation’s intricacies before he could successfully break it. There was no rushing it.

Still, even at his slower pace, Long Xuan was progressing much faster than the Bai Clan’s Gu cultivators.

If nothing unexpected happened, by the time the Bai Clan's cultivators managed to break the formation in reality, Long Xuan would already know how to do it in the illusionary realm.

That night, Long Xuan was breaking through the formation in the illusion, while the group of Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators from the Bai clan secretly sneaked over to break the formation at night. Long Panpan, on the other hand, was up to no good, with everyone harboring their own ulterior motives. The night passed silently.

Long Panpan burst out of the small wooden house, full of energy after quickly eating a few buns and drinking a bowl of porridge, and rushed into the mine.

Seeing her working so eagerly, the three supervisors from the Long clan exchanged smiles. Little did they know that if they learned what Long Panpan was about to do, they wouldn’t be smiling.

As soon as Long Panpan entered the mine, she began executing the plan she had thought up overnight.

She wasn’t foolish—she knew she couldn’t be too greedy or make too big a move. If she were to take half of the Geng Metal ore, it would be impossible for the supervisors outside not to notice.

So, she only planned to take 10% and would only choose clever people to engage in this business with her. The timid and honest people wouldn’t be invited, as they might give themselves away at the sight of a supervisor, making it impossible to keep things secret.

Thus, while others were busy working, Long Panpan slacked off, wandering around selecting potential long-term partners for her scheme.

As expected, those she approached readily agreed to the deal. Mining, after all, was largely dependent on luck. The amount mined each day varied, so secretly sneaking out a few pieces of Geng Metal ore from the cave wouldn't attract the supervisors' attention.

With little risk involved, who wouldn’t take the chance? Who would say no to easy money?

And so, Long Panpan’s storage pouch around her waist gradually bulged, and her smile grew wider.

As her activity spread, she sometimes mistakenly identified the dusty Long Xuan, almost blurting out her plan.

After some time, she became puzzled. Wasn’t Long Xuan supposed to be in the west mining area? How was he suddenly in the south mining area?

Did she see it wrong, or was she imagining things? Long Panpan blinked, her face full of confusion.

...

In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed. Long Qilin, that workaholic, had not rested for even a single day, tirelessly mining for ten days straight, extracting an unknown amount of Geng Metal ore.

But no matter how hard he worked, he still couldn't match Long Dan’s output. Long Dan could observe the weak points in the rocks with his eyes, shattering them with a single strike, making his mining efficiency far superior. Even with Long Qilin working all night, he couldn’t keep up.

As for Long Panpan, there was even less to say—she was taking the lazy way out, skimming off the top from the Long clan of Western land, taking away 10% of the Geng Metal ore produced by the entire vein.

However, compared to Long Xuan, Long Panpan’s greed paled in comparison.

Long Xuan not only cheated by using a swarm of clones to mine but could also easily locate all the Geng Metal ore, ensuring that every strike hit its mark.

He even monopolized the purest Geng Metal ores, showing a level of greed unmatched by anyone.

With these major players working together, it was no wonder that the ore production of this entire mining vein was sharply declining.

The Long clan of Western land made a grave mistake by letting these greedy people into the mine. With such little vampires in the clan, they were bound to suffer misfortune for generations to come.

That morning, after spending ten nights in the Origin realm, Long Xuan finally cracked the formation in the ancient cultivator's cave. A proud smile curled on his lips.

Although it took him ten nights to break the formation in the illusion, he now knew how to dismantle it in reality. It wouldn’t take long at all to break the formation in the real world.

He could now go to the cave and dismantle the protective formation at any time.

But there was no rush. First, he wanted to see what treasures the cave held.

Excitement gleamed in Long Xuan’s eyes as he eagerly rushed into the stone chamber after removing the outer formation in the illusion.

As he pushed open the door to the stone chamber, the first thing he saw was a skeleton sitting cross-legged on the ground. Who knows which great figure this was in life, but even in death, the aura of authority remained.

Taking a deep breath, Long Xuan boldly walked into the chamber.

Since it was an illusion, he acted much more decisively, without his usual caution.

He quickly inspected the area. The stone chamber was vast and connected to several small hidden rooms, each filled with numerous treasures, dazzling to the eye.

Unfortunately, the cave had existed for far too long, and most of the treasures had decayed over time. The spiritual energy in the elixirs and herbs had long since dissipated, turning them into dust at the slightest touch.

The various spiritual tools on the wooden racks were rusted and had lost their spiritual essence.

The only usable items were some metals and other hard materials, which left Long Xuan feeling regretful.

Among the few usable treasures, the most valuable were a Soul-Nourishing Tree and three cultivation manuals.

As Long Xuan gazed at the only still-living spiritual herb in the hidden room, his eyes lit up with burning excitement, and his breathing grew rapid.

In front of such a treasure, he couldn't help but feel thrilled. The Soul-Nourishing Tree was one of the rarest in the world, known as one of the three greatest spiritual trees in existence.

Being given such a title meant that the Soul-Nourishing Tree was one of the most extraordinary spiritual trees in the world. Its rarity and value were beyond imagination.

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