The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 3: Far Western Market

Long Xuan slowly set down the "Eternal Life Sutra," his expression somewhat distant. Isn't the purpose of cultivation to attain immortality? If the "Eternal Life Sutra" could truly grant him thousands of years of life, then he would essentially achieve immortality, fulfilling the ultimate goal of cultivation, allowing him to retire peacefully.

Of course, this was just a passing thought for him. Even if a mere ordinary person like him could achieve immortality, longevity might still be elusive.

After all, this was a world where might was revered. The immediate priority should be refining the first Gu.

In his previous life as an entomologist, he possessed a keen sense of integration among insects.

In his view, genetic fusion didn't necessarily require the strongest pairings. For example, the lion and tiger, despite being the strongest on the surface, when combined to produce the Liger, had compromised overall abilities and extremely low immunity, making survival difficult.

On the other hand, ants, though weak, could produce terrifying effects when combined with certain species.

Because he was an expert in the field, he conducted various forbidden experiments at no cost and created a Gu formula that wasn't particularly difficult.

However, considering the initial shortage of funds for beginners, it was an extravagance to create a transcendent Gu.

So the first Gu formula he created was extremely cheap. But don't be fooled by its low cost; Gu worms made from inexpensive materials might not necessarily be weak.

His philosophy was that stronger combinations didn't always result in greater strength. Utilizing genes from certain weaker insects could produce terrifying effects.

In his previous life, centipedes, poisonous snakes, scorpions, spiders, and toads, though not insects, were classified as such by Gu masters and used in Gu refinement.

It was the same in this world. These five types of creatures were not only classified as insects but also as the five strongest insect species, known as the Five Poisons in this world.

As the strongest insect species, most Gu cultivators used the Five Poisons to refine Gu.

Long Xuan had never heard of anyone using flies or caterpillars to refine Gu.

Not because flies and caterpillars weren't insects, but because these two types of insects were simply too weak.

The reason Long Xuan's Gu formula was inexpensive was solely due to the use of these unpopular insect types.

For example, cockroaches. Although cockroaches were weak in combat, the people of this world probably didn't know that cockroaches were practically indestructible.

Cockroaches could withstand pressures hundreds of times their own weight without injury, survive for months without food or water, and even regenerate limbs. Even if their heads were cut off, they could survive for nine days.

In a place where an atomic bomb exploded in a corner of his previous life, all living things died except for cockroaches, which survived, which was simply unreasonable.

Cockroaches were not strong in combat, but in this world, there was a setting for internal Gu. By implanting a Gu worm in the body and feeding them with blood and spiritual energy, the Gu worms would reciprocate the host with magical powers, forming a symbiotic relationship and mutual benefit.

Can humans gain the immortality of cockroaches through this method?

It is important to know that this world is a world with spiritual power, and all spirit insects have spiritual power. The cockroaches in this world are far more terrifying than those in the previous world, with all their data being pulled up. Once refined into Gu, the data will be further pulled up.

Immortality in this magical world may not be a fantasy.

So Long Xuan's first task in this world was to study how to make humans have an immortal body.

Considering that the ability to be born by various spiritual insects devouring each other was uncontrollable and unpredictable.

So when Long Xuan created the Gu formula himself, he deliberately only wrote various types of cockroaches on it, so that the immortal genes of various types of cockroaches could be perfectly integrated.

He didn't think such a Gu formula would give birth to other abilities.

Now everything is ready except for the east wind. After a year of accumulation, he has accumulated a lot of spiritual medicines, and he can get the funds to refine the first Gu as long as he sells them.

Long Xuan stood up excitedly, he first went into the medicine garden, pulled out all the spiritual medicines with a 100% figure, put them into the storage bag, and replanted them. He then hurried out.

He was ready to take the spiritual medicine to the nearby Far Western Market and sell it. Today, he will try to refine Gu, and he can't wait.

It is worth mentioning that it is forbidden to kill for treasures in the Far Western Market and near the market. This is a rule that must be followed for a prosperous market, otherwise no one would dare to expose treasures in the market.

So as long as the traded materials are not too shocking, Long Xuan basically doesn't have to worry about killing and seizing treasures. This novice protection village is enough to allow him to develop steadily for a period of time.

Great stone Village is very close to the market, and Long Xuan arrived in half an hour.

Although the market is close to the village, this is his first time here. As soon as he entered, he was immediately amazed by the bustling scene here. Everywhere, scattered cultivators sat on the ground, selling various treasures such as elixirs, spiritual insects, spiritual medicines, martial arts, spiritual artifacts, mineral materials, and animal materials, all of which were dazzling.

An area dominated by Gu cultivators naturally trades mostly in Gu insects. After entering here, Long Xuan witnessed a variety of Gu insects, which greatly broadened his horizons.

There were many wandering cultivators who possessed Gu formulas, but they never sold the formulas themselves. Instead, they refined the Gu insects and placed them on their stalls for continuous sales.

This was not only because all Gu cultivators cherished their own secrets, but also because once a Gu formula spread, others could research countermeasures against it. Moreover, increased competition would arise with more people refining the same Gu.

With Long Xuan's current wealth, purchasing an ordinary Gu insect was not an issue. However, after some thought, he quickly abandoned the idea.

It was generally better not to buy second-hand Gu insects, as they were susceptible to tampering. Gu insects refined personally were the most loyal and reliable.

The more owners a Gu insect had, the more complex its thoughts became, increasing the likelihood of backlash against its master.

Therefore, for the sake of his own safety, Long Xuan decided to create his own Gu formulas and refine Gu himself.

First, Long Xuan found a consortium and sold all the spiritual medicines, earning a total of three hundred and seven low-grade spiritual stones. However, he immediately spent most of it here on materials for his created Gu formula and ten Gu refining vessels.

Long Xuan was surprised at how low the selling price of first-grade spiritual medicines was. A full storage bag of spiritual medicines only fetched three hundred and seven low-grade spiritual stones.

Upon inquiry, he learned that low-grade spiritual medicines had no environmental restrictions and could be mass-produced with the hiring of ordinary people. Therefore, first-grade spiritual medicines were now very common and practically worthless.

Perhaps even if he completely stripped the medicine garden of spiritual medicines and ran away, Long Lao probably wouldn't even bat an eye.

Realizing this reality, Long Xuan could only wander the lively market with the remaining ten spiritual stones. He wondered what he could buy with so little.

Wandering cultivators were generally poor, and there wasn't much particularly valuable on their stalls. However, they ventured into the deep mountains and forests, finding all sorts of miscellaneous items. While it was impossible for there to be absolutely nothing valuable, there were plenty of opportunities for others to pick up bargains.

Another significant characteristic of wandering cultivators was their lack of education and short knowledge. They didn't recognize many treasures, often underselling valuable items, which gave others the chance to profit.

This made it a paradise for bargain hunters among the larger clans of Gu cultivators, who came here every day to try their luck. Some became wealthy overnight, while others ended up losing everything to scams.

At this moment, Long Xuan once again discovered another use for his "golden finger."

He could see the progress of all items on the stalls.

One should not underestimate this ability, as it could discern many things.

For example, if an item's progress hadn't reached eighty percent, it was likely a fake, such as nonsensical martial arts techniques or remnants picked up by others.

There were also rare instances of black iron Ore nearing one hundred percent progress. Long Xuan strongly suspected that once it reached one hundred percent, it would turn into profound iron essence, increasing its value by more than a hundred times.

Unfortunately, even if it was just ordinary profound iron, he couldn't afford it right now and could only reluctantly give up.

The same applied to spiritual stones. Once the progress of high-grade spiritual stones approached one hundred percent, they were likely to undergo a transformation into peak-grade spiritual stones.

Peak-grade spiritual stones were priceless treasures that only appeared once in a hundred years, with immeasurable value.

As for living creatures, it was even more needless to say. For example, some Gu insects had progress of 15.0%, while others had progress of 25.6800%, with a string of digits after the decimal point.

This was easy to understand; the longer the maturation period of the Gu insect, the higher the precision required after the decimal point.

If you saw Gu insects with a very high number of decimal places, you had to pay attention.

Such insects definitely had long lifespans, and the longer the lifespan of a Gu insect, the stronger it was. It could be said that the lifespan and strength of Gu insects were directly proportional.

As a result, there were many opportunities for picking up bargains. Although Long Xuan was a novice and didn't recognise any treasures, when it came to picking up bargains, everyone else here couldn't compare to him.