The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 215: The Hidden Moves of the Long Clan

After half a year of effort, Long Xuan finally completed the recipe for the Disaster Poison Gu.

Currently, with the strength of his soul, he can only slow time by a factor of three. However, don't think that this means his speed of crafting Gu recipe only increases by three times.

On one hand, as he creates more Gu recipe, his accumulated knowledge and experience allow him to reduce the time needed for future creations.

On the other hand, in the Soul Library, the paper on the table is illusory. Since the paper can be conjured, so too can the writing on it.

With just a thought, words instantly appear on the paper, eliminating the need for manual writing. This greatly saves time, allowing him to craft Gu recipe much faster.

So, even though it took half a year to complete this Gu recipe, that is considered slow. If he hadn't been frequently interrupted, breaking his concentration, he could have worked even faster.

At this point, he was no longer stationed at the Mithril Vein. He had returned to Blackstone City. After all, sending someone ranked fifth in talent to guard a mere mining vein was somewhat beneath his capabilities, so he was quickly recalled.

After returning to Blackstone City, Long Xuan simultaneously worked on the Gu recipe while sending his clones to collect the necessary materials for the Gu recipe.

The materials he lists in the Gu recipe must be present in this world, though many of them are rare and difficult to obtain.

Fortunately, the Long Clan’s network of Suo Gu houses has spread everywhere over the years, thanks to the clan’s extensive development across various regions.

Now, even rare species of Gu from other regions, which were once hard to find, are easily collected. All it takes is a trivial amount of contribution points.

After opening up these resource channels, Long Xuan had access to ten times more Gu species, providing him with an enormous variety of choices, enough to support his research into a ten-thousand-level Gu recipe.

However, the number of Gu insects required for a ten-thousand-level Gu recipe is not only vast, but their overall quality is also extremely high. Some even require peak-grade Gu Insect, which left Long Xuan feeling overwhelmed.

The 200 million contribution points he earned last time were far from enough. As a result, he had no choice but to submit the recipe for the "Longevity Gu" that could extend human lifespan.

As soon as this happened, the upper echelon of the Long Clan went wild. It’s important to note that three Long Clan patriarchs in the Western Lands were on the verge of death. Their attempt to use Living Wood to extend their lives had failed, and they had been hanging on for a while, but were close to dying.

However, with the sudden appearance of the Longevity Gu, they became lively once more. Their backs no longer ached, their legs no longer hurt, and they were laughing happily every day.

With these patriarchs' lives extended, the Long Clan effectively gained a few more Gu Kings. The arrival of the Longevity Gu was a massive boon for the clan, especially for those near-death patriarchs, like rain in a drought.

Moreover, with the emergence of the Longevity Gu, the number of Gu Kings in the Long Clan would far exceed that of the past.

The increased longevity of all the Gu Kings means that, for a certain period, more Gu Kings will coexist, which greatly enhances the clan’s fortune and strength.

In gratitude, the upper echelon of the Long Clan rewarded Long Xuan with 200 million contribution points and tattooed a fierce, majestic black dragon on his back.

When Long Lao (Elder Long) learned that Long Xuan had finally developed the Longevity Gu formula, he couldn't hold back his tears. That night, he drank several jars of wine and sat at Long Hongyu's grave for a long time.

It’s worth mentioning that under the scheming of Long Yuanshan, the three Gu King patriarchs who had consumed the Longevity Gu pretended to die of old age and were secretly buried.

Long Yuanshan intended to have these patriarchs fake their deaths, hiding them as a secret force for future use.

In this uncertain war, concealing three Gu Kings would surely prove invaluable and might even save the Long Clan from a potential extinction crisis.

Thus, by submitting the Longevity Gu formula, Long Xuan gained a massive amount of contribution points. With the Long Clan’s resource network across various regions, he used those points to exchange for a vast number of rare spiritual Gu insects.

He had hoarded so many experimental materials from the Western Lands’ Long Clan that he still hadn't used them all. Combining these, he finally managed to gather the necessary materials to refine the Disaster Poison Gu, allowing him to breathe a long sigh of relief.

However, what now troubled him was that his body was already covered in dragon tattoos—there was hardly any space left for more.

The Earth Master, Suo Gu, Cement, Dragon Blood Battle Gu, and two types of Longevity Gu had each added another dragon tattoo on his body. With six ferocious dragons now covering him from head to toe, there was no room left.

Who tattoos like this? He was quite distressed.

After receiving the final batch of materials delivered by his Fire Clone, Long Xuan immediately began refining the Gu.

First, he used the Suo Gu hut to transport himself to a valley filled with toxic gases. The valley had a natural basin-like shape, making it an ideal location for refining Gu.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to refine the Gu at home, but the sheer number of Gu insect required for the formula was too vast for his home to contain.

To refine such high-level Gu insect, one must use a valley as the container, with the land itself as the vessel, and even a city could serve as a suitable vessel. Cities with walls, being concave, are also ideal containers for Gu refinement and are often the favorite places for demonic cultivators to craft Gu.

Since the best environment for refining the Disaster Poison Gu is one filled with poisonous miasma, Long Xuan had carefully chosen this valley after much deliberation.

Although it was far from Blackstone City, it was a natural toxic zone, forbidden to humans, so hardly anyone ventured there. Thus, Long Xuan boldly decided to refine his Gu there.

In this remote area, after setting up formations and placing a clone to guard it, everything was in place for the process to proceed without any risk of failure.

Long Xuan was not afraid of the toxins from the Ten Thousand Poison Bead, so how could he fear the poison in this place? Boldly, he walked in and placed the Ten Thousand Poison Bead at the center of the valley.

Then, along with several of his clones, he opened insect cultivation bags one by one, releasing all the poisonous insects into the valley.

Indeed, without exception, the spirit insects in the cultivation bags were all poisonous, and each was more venomous than the last. Some species were so toxic they could corrode a hole in the ground.

It was precisely because this Gu recipe only used poisonous insects that Long Xuan discarded more than half of the spirit insects. This was one of the reasons why the Disaster Poison Gu recipe was developed so quickly.

To be honest, he didn't understand the refining principles of the Disaster Poison Gu or the role of the Ten Thousand Poison Bead in the process. He was entirely clueless.

He had guessed the recipe and had no idea what the Ten Thousand Poison Bead's function was during the Gu refining process.

He only needed to follow instructions, throwing the Ten Thousand Poison Bead into the Gu refining site. As for the process, he didn’t need to know; the result was all that mattered.

His only task was to wait patiently.

Following the steps from the last time he refined the Blade Gu, he immobilized all the poisonous insects. After about thirty attempts, he finally saw significant progress at the refining site.

He smiled, snapped his fingers lightly, and all the poisonous insects instantly regained consciousness. They immediately turned their fierce gazes on each other, and a brutal fight ensued. The battle was intense and thrilling.

One particularly ferocious poisonous toad, its body bulging with veins, devoured its opponents one by one. It turned the battlefield into its personal feast. Neither high-grade nor peak-grade Gu insects could withstand even one attack.

But the strong always meet stronger opponents. The poisonous toad was quickly swallowed in one bite by a larger, more venomous toad. This toad, in turn, soon encountered a formidable opponent—a giant poisonous snake with a flickering tongue that bit down viciously.

The scene was complete chaos.

This was Gu refining—you eat me, I eat you—until only the strongest remained.

The last survivor, having consumed so many poisonous insects, concentrated all the toxins within itself. It would evolve into an even more terrifying existence, becoming the king of insects, also known as a Gu.

After watching with great interest for a while, Long Xuan finally turned and left.

Judging by the progress, it seemed the Disaster Poison Gu would take a long time to complete, at least over a year. He dared not stay here waiting.

Knowing the wait would be lengthy, he decided to spend this time studying the second level of the Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art.

The second level of the Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art was much harder and more complex than the first, requiring significantly more time.

At the same time, the second accompanying soul technique, Heavenly Demon Devouring God Technique, was also a major time consumer, demanding vast amounts of time to research.

However, with the Soul Library, a time-cheating tool, he believed he could master both the second level of the Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art and the time-consuming Heavenly Demon Devouring God Technique within two years.

Time always passed quickly while focusing on cultivation. In the blink of an eye, a year and a half had passed.

During this long period, the war still had not ended. The Western Lands had become a complete meat grinder, with countless Gu cultivators dying in battle. All the factions suffered heavy casualties and were severely weakened.

Before the war, the Western Lands had been cleansed by Shi Haojun, and both low- and high-level Gu cultivators had died in great numbers. It would take a long time for their strength to recover.

When the Great Yin Dynasty launched their attack, the forces of the Western Lands naturally found themselves at a disadvantage.

At the start of the war, only the Long Clan managed to gain an advantage. On the other battlefields, the Western Lands forces were clearly at a disadvantage. After all, the physical cultivators of the Great Yin Dynasty were too numerous, and their Gu cultivators were not fewer than those of the Western Lands. How could the Western Lands possibly compete?

In the end, no one knew what method the City Lord Yan Pojun used, but he managed to draw the forces from the barren lands like the Far West and the West Sea into the war. Through the Sou Gu Hut, the Gu cultivators from these distant lands could instantly appear on the Western Lands battlefield.

With the support of so many allies, the Western Lands barely managed to halt their decline and began to hold their own against the Great Yin Dynasty.

Despite the chaos of the war outside, Long Xuan remained indifferent, focusing entirely on his cultivation, ignoring all outside events.

Whenever a battle arose and the clan assigned him tasks, he would pass them off to his clones. He, meanwhile, avoided the war and secretly focused on his cultivation.

Fortunately, his clones were strong enough, never failing any mission, and earning him massive contributions.

He had faced extremely dangerous tasks before. Once, one of his Fire Clones had to confront Yu Chao, ranked third on the Great Yin Dynasty’s Prodigy List.

Without any peak-grade Gu insects, the battle was incredibly difficult for him. Under the fierce assault of Yu Chao’s peak-grade Gu insects, he narrowly escaped death several times.

In the end, he had to flee in haste, with Yu Chao laughing wildly as he pursued him relentlessly.

“Never chase a desperate enemy,” they say. After chasing for a while, Yu Chao ran into a trap set by Long Xuan's other four clones. Outnumbered five to one, Yu Chao was beaten to death by the combined attacks of the five clones.

Yu Chao’s death boosted Long Xuan's reputation once again, and his rank soared to third on the Western Lands’ Top Demonic Prodigy List. For a time, his fame was unmatched, and his influence reached new heights.