The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 77: (2): The Bet with the Little Medicine Boy

Indeed, why would the master of the cave mansion make the path home so winding instead of a straight line? It would only inconvenience himself and waste his time.

At first, he didn't think much about this question and instinctively thought it would be more concealed. But upon further reflection, this approach seems unnecessary, akin to taking off one's pants to fart.

When he accidentally landed on the first stone pillar, he tested all the stone paths with trial and error. How could this be hidden? It wouldn't stop anyone; it would only trouble himself. He might even forget the path someday and fall off.

It would be better to make a straight line.

Di Xin said solemnly, "This is an ancient formation. You just made a mistake. In the lava, there isn't a single connected curved stone pillar but a field of stone pillars. The number of pillars could be countless."

"And among these many stone pillars, only a very few are correct. These pillars connect to form a path."

"The remaining stone pillars are all wrong. If a stone is thrown onto them, nothing will happen, but if a person steps on them, it will trigger a mechanism causing the pillars to sink or pose other dangers."

"Your luck is truly remarkable, managing to perfectly avoid all the wrong options and finding the correct path with just one life. How did you do it?" Di Xin looked at him with a peculiar gaze.

Upon hearing this, Li Laodao's mouth fell open, and he broke out in a cold sweat, thoroughly terrified and filled with lingering fear.

How did he do it? He didn't even know himself. He just felt incredibly lucky. It was so dangerous, yet he survived, which even surprised him.

Long Xuan looked at him with astonished eyes, equally shocked.

What kind of luck is this? In a field of stone pillars, with only one correct path, the odds of passing are unimaginably low. How did he manage to survive?

Could this Old Li Laodao be a child of fortune? Is this going to be a tale of an old man becoming an immortal?

Long Xuan's heart was greatly shaken, and he looked at him differently.

"So, can I fly over?"

Long Xuan thought he could step on his right foot and fly over, but he wasn't sure if it would work.

Di Xin glanced at him again with a peculiar look. Fly over? Does he think he's some sort of aerial acrobat? If he tries to fly over, he might as well aim for the sky!

"If you don't want to be sucked into the lava, go ahead and fly."

"To come here, you must follow the rules of the cave mansion master. Climbing ropes, jumping over, riding spirit beasts... none of that will work."

"The cave mansion master has already considered all the options you could think of. How could he leave such an obvious loophole?" Di Xin said, rolling her eyes at Long Xuan.

"Alright, let's pretend I didn't say anything." Long Xuan smiled awkwardly.

He was just talking casually; he wouldn't be so reckless. Even if he tried to fly over, he would test it with his flame avatar first to ensure safety.

"In that case, Li Laodao found the stone door of the cave mansion last time purely due to incredible luck. Now that he has forgotten the route, does that mean we have no other options?" Li Dashan frowned and asked.

"There is a way: have a line of people try the path one by one. When one person dies, the next one steps up. We can quickly find the correct path this way," Di Xin said calmly.

Long Xuan was shocked. Isn't this like the Squid Game from his previous life? But they only have five people in their group, which isn't enough. Even if he goes last, it will still be his turn eventually.

"Li Laodao, you have good luck. You go first!" Long Xuan said to the child of fortune.

"I... no, no, no!" Li Laodao shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum, stuttering in fear.

"You go first. I've used up all my luck last time, even borrowed some. This time, I'm sure to step wrong."

"No, you are the child of fortune. You go first. Respecting the elderly is my tradition."

"No, no, no! You go first..."

"At a time like this, you still have the leisure to joke around." Di Xin rolled his eyes at them and said, "Actually, there's another way. I can try to break the formation directly."

"But I don't know if it will work. We can give it a try first. If it doesn't work, you two will have to step up and test the path."

Long Xuan nodded and said, "Then please go ahead. I'll be right back. I need to use the bathroom. You start without me."

Di Xin scoffed, "Your Excellency always have a lot of business. Go quickly and don't fall into the lava. If I open the cave mansion and you're not back, we won't wait for you."

"No need to wait for me. Just hold my share of the treasure," Long Xuan said as he ran off.

Turning left and right, Long Xuan ran to a very hidden corner. After ensuring no one was following him and confirming with his celestial eye that there were no tracking bugs, he released his flame avatar.

He didn't really need to go to the bathroom. According to his plan, he was going to switch places with his clone at the cave entrance.

No one could guarantee 100% safety inside the cave mansion. Anything could happen.

Moreover, he didn't trust Li Dashan and Di Xin. They were not to be underestimated.

He felt it was unsafe for him to enter the cave mansion, so he decided to have his fire clone go in instead, while he hid outside.

In case of any unforeseen events, the clone would die instead of him.

After releasing his Fire clone, Long Xuan also released his water and earth clones. His wood clone was tending the spiritual herbs in Elder Long's medicine garden, and his metal clone was at home watching over his own herb garden. With the fire clone gone, he only had two clones left to use.

He didn't expect there to be a magma area near the market. This was the terrain he had been searching for a long time.

Over the years, he had been sending his clone to various harsh environments to collect different types of supreme water bears. Now, he had almost collected them all, except for those adapted to extreme heat in magma areas.

Now that he had found the magma environment, he took the opportunity to collect the last type of peak-grade water bear.

After this, he could start refining the water bear Gu, which he had long anticipated. He couldn't wait to finish this trip and start refining the Gu immediately.