The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 67: (2): Ma Wus Scheme

Relying on his abundant spiritual power, Long Xuan didn't know how many Life-destruction Palms he had landed on the Earth Bear's head. He didn't stop until the bear's heartbeat completely ceased. Only then did he cautiously extend his hand to its nose.

Seeing no breath coming out, he finally relaxed his guard.

He then gave the bear's nose another palm strike for good measure.

At this point, everyone finally realized that the Earth Bear was dead. It had died silently, and they didn't even know when or how it happened, leaving them completely baffled.

"How is this possible? How did he do it?" Ma Wu's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched Long Xuan effortlessly kill the Earth Bear. His gaze gradually became more serious.

Long Qilin looked at Long Xuan with a shocked expression before finally retracting his Earth Hands ability. The massive hands that had been holding down the Earth Bear turned into a pile of dirt, scattering and raising a cloud of dust.

Long Qilin then sat down heavily, gasping for breath. It was clear that using that ability had been a significant drain on him, both in terms of spiritual power and physical strength. Fortunately, Long Xuan had dealt with the Earth Bear, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Excitement filled Long Qilin's eyes as he looked at the Earth Bear's corpse. Despite his exhaustion, he hurried over, eager to see what treasures the bear had dropped. He couldn't wait to take out a high-quality blade and easily cut open the Earth Bear's chest, retrieving the spirit core hidden within.

The location of a spirit beast's core varied; some were in the head, others in the chest. For the Earth Bear, its core was typically in the chest and was as large as a basketball, glowing faintly and emitting immense spiritual energy.

However, as Long Qilin looked at the spirit core in his hand, his expression froze, unable to smile. His mentality completely collapsed.

As Long Xuan had predicted, despite the Earth Bear's overwhelming combat strength, its body contained nothing of value. It hadn't dropped anything.

In other words, all their hard work and effort had been for nothing. They had exhausted themselves, lost several Gu, and even had one of their own injured, all for nothing.

"How could this happen? This shouldn't be!" The rogue cultivators' faces turned grim as they looked at the spirit core that didn't contain any spirit insect. A creature as powerful as the Earth Bear should have at least dropped a high-grade spirit insect, if not an exceptional one. The fact that it hadn't dropped even a low-grade worm was unfathomable and left everyone feeling dejected.

Only Long Xuan, who had foreseen this outcome, remained unfazed.

"Well, it seems we were just unlucky and wasted our efforts," Long Qilin sighed. "But the Earth Bear's materials are still worth some spirit stones. Let's divide them up to make up for our losses."

"The Earth Bear's meat is also quite good. Let's replenish our strength before we move on. Those with larger storage bags can take some meat with them."

As soon as Long Qilin finished speaking, Long Xuan headed straight for the bear's paw. The paw was the most delicious part of the bear, a rare delicacy that he was finally able to enjoy today.

Despite their frustration, the others reluctantly began dividing the bear's materials and meat. Ma Wu, however, didn't rush to join them. Instead, he started a fire and set up a pot.

Long Xuan, ever suspicious, had been watching Ma Wu closely. As a rogue cultivator, Ma Wu's behavior seemed too generous, which didn't fit the typical mindset of a struggling cultivator. This only deepened Long Xuan's suspicions about Ma Wu's true identity.

While processing the meat, Long Xuan used his Eye of Heavenly secret to secretly observe Ma Wu, watching for any tricks he might pull with the cooking.

This cautiousness paid off. He noticed Ma Wu placing a black incense burner into the fire and lighting it, causing thick smoke to rise.

"An incense burner? Why would he need that for cooking meat?" Long Xuan's suspicions grew, prompting him to use his Eye of Heavenly secret to closely examine the fire.

What he saw shocked him. Hidden in the thick smoke were countless tiny, grotesque insects emerging from the incense burner and spreading with the smoke towards the others who were dividing the bear's materials.

"Shit!" Long Xuan's expression changed drastically. He quickly stood up and ran away, shouting a warning, "Get away from the smoke! There are bugs in it!"

"What?" The others were alarmed, immediately dropping the meat and covering their mouths and noses as they fled, nearly tripping over themselves in their haste.

Long Qilin, who had been meditating to recover his spiritual power, was also startled. Despite not fully understanding what was happening, his survival instincts kicked in, and he ran.

Once everyone had run a safe distance, Li Laodao turned back to Ma Wu with an ashen face, furious. "How could you? Putting bugs in the smoke! Just for a bit of beast material? Are you even human?"

Li Laodao, being an expert in such Gu insects, had never encountered such a devious method before. He was shaken, realizing how close they had come to disaster, and was grateful for Long Xuan's warning.

The others glared at Ma Wu, ready to tear him apart if he didn't give a satisfactory explanation.

Ma Wu looked at Long Xuan with hatred, cursing him silently. How had he seen through his plan again?

But with no time to think, Ma Wu could only forcefully deny the accusations. "You’re slandering me! I'm standing in the smoke myself, and I'm fine. Where's your evidence?"

Seeing Ma Wu's explanation, the others turned their gaze to Long Xuan.

Long Xuan couldn't reveal the power of his Eye of Heavenly secret, so he simply said, "Believe it or not, but if you trust him, go ahead and step into the smoke."

Despite Long Xuan's lack of evidence, no one dared to test the smoke. The stakes were too high, and no one wanted to gamble with their lives.

Even Long Qilin hesitated, unsure whom to believe but unwilling to take the risk.

Seeing no one willing to step forward, Ma Wu knew his plan had failed and that further denial was pointless. He called out, "The plan has failed. There's no need to hide. Attack!"

As soon as he spoke, nine people emerged from the surrounding trees, bushes, and rocks, quickly encircling the group.

"Ha ha ha... Long Qilin, you’re alone now!" A red-robed man exuded the powerful aura of a marrow cleansing Gu cultivator, causing everyone's faces to turn pale.

"Long Qilin, even though you survived the previous battle, you're now exhausted. How can you possibly fight me and my brother?" Another man, similar in appearance, also revealed his Marrow cleansing cultivation level, causing the rogue cultivators' hearts to sink.

Realizing they had walked into a trap, the rogue cultivators felt despair. Even with Long Qilin's help, their chances of survival against two marrow cleansing Gu cultivators were slim.

Long Xuan sighed in his heart. There were progress numbers everywhere in the forest. Even every weed on the ground had progress numbers. The numbers were so dense that his vision was too messy. In addition, his attention was always on Ma Wu, so he really didn't notice that there was someone behind the cover.

He couldn't help but look at Li Laodao and asked, "Is this what you call 100% safe? Is this what you call reliable?"

However, at this moment, Li Laodao was in no mood to say these things. He said with a very grim expression, "We are probably in big trouble. This group of people are Gu cultivators from the Feng family. The Long and Feng families have always been enemies."

"That Ma Wu is obviously a spy they planted. This is a long-planned assassination against Long Qilin, and we are now caught in the crossfire"

"We've run into trouble by teaming up with Long Qilin! Now let's think about how to survive!"

Li Laodao words cast a gloom over the hearts of the rogue cultivators, and despair gradually appeared in their eyes.

Even though they were cautious enough and even found an expert to escort them for 100% safety, accidents were everywhere and the ship they were on was not only unsafe, but a dangerous one.

No matter how careful they had been, If fate wants you to die, no matter how careful you are or how well you prepare, it will be useless. It had led them into this deadly trap.

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